Built environment and modal choice; a case study

Compact, high density and mixed-used urban environments can exert a strong influence on the way people choose to travel. Very few studies, if any, have taken place in the developing world, particularly at the local scale. This paper reports on the relationship between the built environment and modal choice focusing mainly on three of its dimensions: density, diversity, and design. Such associations can provide urban and transportation professionals with valuable tools to assist them in policy appraisal and decision making. In order to analyze the relationship between modal choice and different measures of the built environment we use mobility and associated socio demographic data contained in the household travel survey performed in the city of Neuquen, Argentina during the year 2008. Urban environment variables are characterized for each of the zones in which the city was divided for the O-D survey. Generalized costs are considered as well. Modal split models are applied to assess the influence that built environment variables exert over the individual decision of traveling by car, ride transit, walk or bike. Dense, mixedused environments favor the decision to walk or bike to nearby destinations, discouraging private car use. Such environments also encourage the use of transit. Theoretical shortcomings, mixed and conflicting results and lack of consensus regarding methodological and variable measurement procedures are the main features of this trend of research. The analysis of a local case helps to clarify some of these points while widening the background for future research in an area that so far is limited to foreign experience. Our findings restate the importance of urban policies with regards to sustainable transportation.Fil: Riera, Alicia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación y Formación en Administración Pública; Argentina.Fil: Depiante, Violeta. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Otras Ingeniería Civi

Minor Street Gaps and Capacity at Unsignalized Intersections in Argentina

Capacity analysis for two way stop controlled (TWSC) intersections is mainly based on headway acceptance theory. Critical headways and follow up times are fundamental parameters in capacity estimation. Both factors clearly show the influence of driver behaviour on traffic operations. The critical headway parameter is typically associated with safety and operational performance of this intersection type. This paper explores critical headways and follow up times by analyzing data from video recorded tapes collected in urban intersections located in the city of Cordoba, Argentina in order to derive local values that can be used in capacity estimates at unsignalized intersections. Maximum likelihood methodology and regression analysis are employed. An exponential model is then used to assess the relationships between headways and capacity. Estimates for both headways are significantly smaller than the values given in version 2010 of the Highway Capacity Manual. Increased capacity, due to critical headway and follow up time reductions, becomes proportionally greater as conflicting flows grow. Percent differences increase while curves tend to get closer. From this point of view the conclusion is that intersections operate more efficiently, but also more dangerously.Fil: Depiante, Violeta S. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Maestría en Ciencias de la Ingeniería. Mención en Transporte; Argentina.Fil: Galarraga, Jorge J. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Maestría en Ciencias de la Ingeniería. Mención en Transporte; Argentina.Ingeniería del Transport

O impacto da publicação de relatórios de sustentabilidade no desempenho financeiro das empresas portuguesas

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar evidências empíricas sobre o impacto da divulgação de informação sobre práticas ambientais pelas empresas portuguesas no seu desempenho financeiro. Este estudo justifica-se pela perceção de que as empresas, em geral, estão muito preocupadas em divulgar as práticas ambientais praticadas para satisfazer a necessidade de informação dos stakeholders, cada vez mais conscientes dos problemas ambientais quer a nível local ou mundial. Perante este cenário, cada vez mais as empresas produzem relatórios de sustentabilidade, pelo que se torna evidente a necessidade de avaliar o retorno dessa decisão em termos financeiros. No seguimento de um enquadramento teórico sobre estudos realizados sobre esta temática e seus resultados, e adotando a metodologia sugerida por Lo et. al (2012) foi realizado um estudo de evento, cujo evento é a publicação do primeiro relatório de sustentabilidade para 38 empresas portuguesas, para analisar o retorno anormal dos indicadores ROA (Return On Assets), ROS (Retur On Sales) e SOA (Sales On Assets) e assim verificar a existência, ou não, de algum impacto. Com base nos resultados obtidos conclui-se que não podemos afirmar que a publicação voluntária do relatório de sustentabilidade tem algum impacto positivo no desempenho financeiro das empresas portuguesas

How much syntax is there in Metalinguistic Negation?

This paper explores the syntax of unambiguous metalinguistic negation (MN) markers in European Portuguese (EP) with the main goal of demonstrating the syntactic import of MN. Taking the EP facts as a means to gain insight into the grammatical encoding of MN in natural language, the paper shows that unambiguous MN markers split into two types: peripheral and internal. This split is confirmed by their contrasting behavior with respect to different syntactic tests, e.g.: availability in isolation and nominal fragments; ability to take scope over negation and emphatic/contrastive high constituents; compatibility with VP Ellipsis. Peripheral MN markers respond positively to all the tests, whereas internal ones respond negatively. These facts are derived from a syntactic analysis where CP plays a central and unifying role. It is proposed that while the cross-linguistically pervasive peripheral MN markers directly merge into Spec,CP, the more unusual sentence-internal MN markers are rooted in the TP domain and reach Spec,CP by movement. The centrality of the CP field is motivated by elaborating on Farkas and Bruce’s (2010) model of polarity features. Under the hypothesis that besides the relative polarity features [same] and [reverse], there is a feature [objection] that singles out MN declaratives among responding assertions, this is taken to be the edge feature that drives unambiguous MN markers into the CP space.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The syntax of deep and surface anaphora: A study of null complement anaphora and stripping/bare argument ellipsis

This dissertation provides new empirical support for Hankamer and Sag\u27s (1976) mixed theory of anaphora that argues for the existence of two types of anaphora: surface anaphors which are derived transformationally and deep anaphors which are not. The first part of the thesis investigates Null Complement Anaphora (NCA) in English, Spanish, and Italian (e.g: John\u27s mother asked Peter to clean up his room but he refused__). We show that deep anaphors differ from surface anaphors in that they do not allow extraction (*I know which journal Mary volunteered to read but I don\u27t know which book she volunteered__ (NCA) vs. I know which journal Mary read but I don\u27t know which journal Sally did (VP ellipsis)). ^ We propose that NCA is an element with no internal structure in the syntax; it is a pro-form, the null equivalent of overt predicative/propositional pro-forms (it, so). This accounts for the impossibility of extraction. In the semantics, NCA and other deep anaphors such as do it and do so (which we argue to be a deep anaphor) are free variables that fix their value from a salient property, proposition or question in the linguistic or non-linguistic context. ^ The second part of the thesis is a study of two different types of surface anaphors: stripping/bare-argument ellipsis in English and Spanish ( John read Hamlet, but not El Quijote); and a similar phenomenon in Spanish, which we term Pseudostripping (Juan leyó Hamlet pero El Quijote no/nunca ‘Juan read Hamlet but El Quijote not/never’). We propose that stripping is an instance of IP ellipsis following prior movement of the negation plus remnant to a Focus Position. Pseudostripping is an instance of IP ellipsis prior movement of the remnant to a Focus Position. The presence of a negative element at the end of it is taken as evidence that negation/emphasis (encoded in Sigma) in Spanish is a PF affix, similarly to Tense in English.

Preposition Stranding in Heritage Speakers of Spanish

In this research, we explore the linguistic structure of the Spanish of Heritage Speakers, those who have acquired Spanish as the home language in a minority language context (Iverson, 2010). We contribute to the discussion of the properties of Heritage Languages here by examining Preposition Stranding in Heritage Speakers versus native monolingual speakers of Spanish. We claim that the distinct behavior of Heritage Speakers of Spanish supports the claim that Heritage Languages may differ from native monolingual language in the narrow syntax, affecting uninterpretable features of the grammar.The Coyote Papers are made available by the Arizona Linguistics Circle at the University of Arizona and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] with questions about these materials