Atmospheric impacts on daytime urban heat island

Daytime urban heat island effects can be weak compared to night time and even reversed (as in the case of cool islands, where urban locations display lower temperatures than at a rural site), mostly due to shading effects from buildings, vegetation, and other possible obstructions. The study of the relationship between the sky-view factor, an indicator of urban geometry in terms of sky openness, and urban heat island intensity generally focus on night time periods; only a few report on the daytime effect of the SVF. Such effect will also vary according to background atmospheric conditions of the period of measurements. This article is a commentary on a recent publication by the authors on a study of diurnal intra-urban temperature differences in a location with Koeppen’s Cfb climate

Assessment of predicted versus measured thermal comfort and optimal comfort ranges in the outdoor environment in the temperate climate of Glasgow, UK

In a warming world, the risk of overheating is significant in temperate climate areas such as Glasgow, UK where adaptation to overheating is low. An easy-to-use thermal comfort evaluation is therefore a necessary first step towards developing effective coping mechanisms. In this study, we explore the effectiveness of Predicted Mean Vote, Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied and Physiologically Equivalent Temperature, together with air temperature in mimicking actual thermal sensation votes of street users obtained in 2011 in Glasgow City Centre. The Predicted Mean Vote/Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied indices developed for controlled indoors show a surprising similarity to actual thermal sensation votes derived from outdoor surveys, than the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature developed specifically for the outdoors. The method of calculation of mean radiant temperature is the key to improved performance of Physiologically Equivalent Temperature, with fish-eye lens photographs improving its performance. The results also show air temperature alone has nearly equal predictive power of the actual thermal sensation. A preliminary comfort range for Glasgow is also derived and its limitations are explored. Practical application: The strong relation between thermal sensation votes and air temperature (Ta) enables future thermal comfort studies to predict the thermal comfort using easy-to-access Ta only. A current thermal comfort study in Glasgow aiming at developing a link between urban morphology and Ta is already using this strong relation to predict outdoor thermal comfort in the city centre. This helps to establish a correlation between these three factors. </jats:p

Tracking Federated Queries in the Linked Data

Federated query engines allow data consumers to execute queries over the federation of Linked Data (LD). However, as federated queries are decomposed into potentially thousands of subqueries distributed among SPARQL endpoints, data providers do not know federated queries, they only know subqueries they process. Consequently, unlike warehousing approaches, LD data providers have no access to secondary data. In this paper, we propose FETA (FEderated query TrAcking), a query tracking algorithm that infers Basic Graph Patterns (BGPs) processed by a federation from a shared log maintained by data providers. Concurrent execution of thousand subqueries generated by multiple federated query engines makes the query tracking process challenging and uncertain. Experiments with Anapsid show that FETA is able to extract BGPs which, even in a worst case scenario, contain BGPs of original queries

Contribution de l'art théâtral à l'amélioration de l'expérience de service

Toujours plus de sociétés de service, une concurrence grandissante, telles sont les circonstances dans lesquelles évoluent les entreprises d'aujourd'hui. Comment se différencier et se faire sa place dans cette jungle toujours plus dense ? Outre l'originalité du service et les gros moyens, la différence peut se faire par la qualité de la prestation de service. C'est en effet la perception de la qualité du service par le client, au travers de son design et ses prestations, qui permettra aux entreprises de percer et de croître dans un marché toujours plus saturé. Pour améliorer la qualité du service, j'ai utilisé un angle d'approche original : celui de la parallèle entre la représentation théâtral et la prestation de service. Ainsi chacun des éléments de mise en scène est isolé. J'ai tissé des liens entre chacun d'entre eux et les diverses parties du service. Mon objectif est donc d'appliquer les diverses méthodes propres au théâtre à la prestation de service afin de pouvoir améliorer partie par partie l'ensemble de la prestation et, à travers elle, l'expérience vécue par le client

LPCVD synthesis of silicon nanodots from silane and for flash mamory devices

The increase of microelectronic device potentialities essentially derives from the reduction of feature size down to the nanometer scale. Multinanocrystals memories are one illustration of this trend. A multi-field study is reported, aiming to better understand phenomena involved in silicon nanocrystals elaboration. A first objective is to better control the density and the size of silicon nanocrystals formed during Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD). Some experimental results will be presented, aiming a reliable estimation of densities and sizes of nanocrystals using several techniques: ellipsometry measurements, SEM and TEM image analysis. These experimental data have been simulated at the reactor scale using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. A new kinetic scheme has been developed, which considers the various chemisorption sites existing on SiO2 substrates. This new modelling approach allows to correlate in transient mode the local composition of the gas phase near the substrate with the various sites number and with the density and the size of nanocrystals

Personal Linked Data: A Solution to Manage User's Privacy on the Web

National audienceWhile using modern applications, personal digital data is spread over hundreds of servers all around the world and users have very poor control over these data. To tackle this issue, based on the semantic Web, we are developing a framework, named Privacy-Lookout, to allow people to be on the lookout for transgressions of their personal data privacy. Concretely, we propose to construct a personal linked data view of individuals to organize and semantically enrich the meta information of their personal data existing in the Web. The mean idea is to allow users to know if the information the Web posses about them respects their privacy principles. This paper introduces the first ideas of such approach

Graduate Public Health Education in Africa: An Innovative Distance-Learning Model

This article describes the development and implementation of a distance graduate public health education program in Africa by Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, U.S.A. The program started in March 2000 and ended in September 2003 with formal teaching sessions on-site held twice a year at the University of Eastern Africa, Kenya. The instruction was given in English and French. Of the cohort of 67 students from 20 African countries who started the program, 57 received an M.P.H. degree and six received a certificate in public health. The experiential learning model allowed students to immediately put into practice what they had learned. Challenges included security-related problems, accommodation/travel logistics and communication. In addition to the graduates, successful outcomes included the formation of the Pan-African Public Health Association. The new cadre of trained public health professionals represents enhancement to public health capacity in Africa