The Impact on Public Trust of Image Manipulation in Science

Aim/PurposeIn this paper, we address the theoretical challenges today’s scientific community faces to precisely draw linesbetween true and false pictures. In particular, we focus onproblems related to the hiddenwonders ofscience and the shiny im-ages produced for scientific papers or to appeal towider audiences. BackgroundAs rumors (hoaxes) and false news (fake news)explode acrosssociety and the current network, severalinitiatives using current technologyhave been launched to study this phenomena and limit the social impact. Over the last two decades, inappropriate scientific behavior has raisedmore questions about whether some scientific images are valid.MethodologyThis work is not about analyzing whethertoday’s imagesare objective.Instead,weadvocate for a general approach thatmakes it easier to truly believe in all kinds of knowledge, scientific or otherwise (Goldman, 1967; Goldman, & Ol-son, 2009). This need to believe is closely related to social order (Shapin, 1994). ContributionWe conclude that we must ultimately move away from older ideas about truth and objectivity in research to broadly approach howscience and knowledge are represented and move forward with this theoretical approach when communi-catingscience tothe public.FindingsContemporary visual culture suggests that our world is expressed through im-ages, which areall around us. Therefore,we need to promote thereliability of scientific pictures, which visually represent knowledge, to add meaning in a world of complex high-tech science (Allamel-Raffin, 2011; Greenberg, 2004; Rosenberger, 2009). Since the time of Galileo, and today more than ever, scien-tific activity should be understood as knowledgeproduced toreveal, and there-fore inform us of, (Wise, 2006) all that remains unexplained in our world , as well as everything beyond our senses

UNPLUGGED CITY Escaping from Global Networks and Flows Trap? New Geographies of Logistics :: Urban and Regional Implications

The urban and regional influence of contemporary passengers, goods and information traffic within the new global economy based on knowledge and logistics, and the physical structures that shape the networks (harbours, airports, train stations, motorways) are assumed as capitally important. Nevertheless, so far, the impact of these dynamics is much more attached to hierarchical processes of socio-spatial fragmentation-segmentation-polarization rather than balanced re-distributive systems. Global connectivity has as much strengths as threats, and the integration within the new production, consumption and distribution geographies generates as much opportunities as irreversible mutations. Unplugged City is presented as an incursion on connectivity and accessibility, exploring the strengths and threats derived from the management of logistics and freight transport flows within the frame of the so-called “catch-up†economy. The Trans-European Transport Network Plan (TEN-T) will be on focus as the main policy-making framework behind the new geographical transformation in Europe. The importance of the exponential growing freight transport and logistic sector has been exposed as a key factor to understand the bases of current globalisation. The sharp changes generated by the dropping of transport cost in patterns of production-consumption-distribution geographies have to be contrasted with deep transformations of labour market, linkages between transport and industrial location and new network models. What is close is just what is cheap. Distances nowadays are no measured in kilometres or hours but in Euros, imposing a new logic for the global geographic structure. Regions with better access to locations of input materials and markets are assumed to be more productive, more competitive and hence more successful than more peripheral and isolated regions. But this hypothesis has to be urgently reformulated, contrasting transport policies with quantitative research and the appraisal of real socio-economic impact of the new transport geographies. The assumed idea of connectivity as pure benefiting will be critically discussed as a much complex phenomena. Corridors are fostering the survival of core regional centres meanwhile a growing regional imbalance is monitored; regions that still have to deal with environmental, budgetary and indirect issues derived from the management of these flows.

Regulating privatized rail transport

Traditionally, transport regulation has been viewed as an exercise in second-best optimization, acknowledging the existence of huge information problems. Then the rail industry was deeply restructured worldwide to halt erosion of the sector's share of transportation markets. Restructuring took different forms in different countries, ranging from simple reorganization measures to extreme restructuring -with the private sector increasingly participating in the sector and with the provision of infrastructure separated from the provision of services. The authors argue that regulation of the rail industry cannot remain unaffected by these changes. New regulatory scenarios and issues have emerged. For example, contracts have to be defined for private participation and quality surveillance instruments must be defined. Traditional price controls have to be adapted to, and mechanisms designed to manage and plan infrastructure investments in, the new environment. Restructuring has brought new problems, too. Where licenses have been used, for example, several concessionaires have been unable to meet the objectives spelled out in the concession contract. Contracts should be flexible enough to take account of novel situations that may affect company performance. And yet, for the system to be credible, there cannot be systematic, unjustified deviations from the franchise objectives. Regulation of the sector should be simple and flexible, with license contracts designed to include the private sector and with industry organization adapted to local circumstances. Regulation should be governed by principles that foster competition and market mechanisms, wherever possible. At the same time, it should provide a stable legal and institutional framework for economic activity. Otherwise, regulators should refrain from intervening in the market-unless the goal of economic efficiency (subject to the socially demanded levelof equity) is in jeopardy.Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Decentralization,Enterprise Development&Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Railways Transport,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Water and Industry,Public Sector Economics&Finance

La locución conjuntiva “CASO QUE”: testimonios de su variación y usos.

En el presente estudio proponemos el análisis de la locución conjuntiva caso que y de las variantes relacionadas con ella: en caso (de) que, supuesto caso que, puesto caso que, dado caso que, etc., a través de las cuales se precisa el carácter hipotético de los enunciados. Para el análisis de las locuciones utilizaremos los recursos que nos proporcionan los corpus, en especial, el CORDE. Igualmente, exploraremos otros corpus como CHARTA, CODEA y CODEMA de menor masa textual pero de la misma esfera jurídico-administrativa. Analizaremos también los matices condicionales o concesivos de cada una de las locuciones y su adscripción a las diferentes tradiciones discursivas, las de la lengua elaborada y tradiciones asociadas a la inmediatez comunicativa.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Transients in the Synchronization of Oscillator Arrays

The purpose of this note is threefold. First we state a few conjectures that allow us to rigorously derive a theory which is asymptotic in N (the number of agents) that describes transients in large arrays of (identical) linear damped harmonic oscillators in R with completely decentralized nearest neighbor interaction. We then use the theory to establish that in a certain range of the parameters transients grow linearly in the number of agents (and faster outside that range). Finally, in the regime where this linear growth occurs we give the constant of proportionality as a function of the signal velocities (see [3]) in each of the two directions. As corollaries we show that symmetric interactions are far from optimal and that all these results independent of (reasonable) boundary conditions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

La palabra y los textos: acercamiento léxico a la documentación andaluza

En el presente trabajo atenderemos a los aspectos vinculados con la historia de las hablas andaluzas desde el punto de vista léxico a partir del análisis de los corpus CODEMA y DITECA, de cuyas características y elementos se da cuenta en http://www.arinta.uma.es/.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

El gasto público en I+D+I en el sistema energético español

La política energética española durante los últimos años ha estado muy sesgada hacia la sustitución de fuentes energéticas tradicionales, muy contaminantes, por otras renovables. La gran cantidad de recursos públicos que se están destinando a financiar la producción de estas energías contrasta con la creciente escasez general de recursos y con la reducida aportación pública a la I+D+i en el sector energético. Utilizando un modelo de Curva de Kuznets Ambiental, hemos obtenido evidencia sobre la relación de las políticas de I+D+i energéticas con las emisiones de gases contaminantes. Además, nuestros resultados indican que el apoyo público a la I+D+i en eficiencia energética podría ser más eficaz que el mismo gasto aplicado a la investigación en el sector de las energías renovables, aunque estos últimos resultados no son concluyentes

Las cartas de profesión. Análisis linguístico

Análisis lingüístico de un corpus de cartas de profesión desde el punto de vista de los modos de expresión que pertenecen al dominio de las tradiciones discursivas y de los rasgos de variación lingüística como elementos propios de la expresión de la lengua histórica.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech