A behavioral choice model of the use of car-sharing and ride-sourcing services

There are a number of disruptive mobility services that are increasingly finding their way into the marketplace. Two key examples of such services are car-sharing services and ride-sourcing services. In an effort to better understand the influence of various exogenous socio-economic and demographic variables on the frequency of use of ride-sourcing and car-sharing services, this paper presents a bivariate ordered probit model estimated on a survey data set derived from the 2014-2015 Puget Sound Regional Travel Study. Model estimation results show that users of these services tend to be young, well-educated, higher-income, working individuals residing in higher-density areas. There are significant interaction effects reflecting the influence of children and the built environment on disruptive mobility service usage. The model developed in this paper provides key insights into factors affecting market penetration of these services, and can be integrated in larger travel forecasting model systems to better predict the adoption and use of mobility-on-demand servicesStatistic

Central Government Transfers and Regional Convergence in Portugal

Over the last decades, the Portuguese economy exhibited an outstanding growth performance. This period of fast economic growth allowed the country to consistently reduce its income gap with respect to the EU average. In spite of this, regions in Portugal exhibited large differences between each other in terms of GDP per capita. Yet, the Portuguese government did make attempts at regional intervention by means of some policy instruments, namely public transfers to local (and regional) government. How successful these policies have been in terms of achieving their goal is still an open question, especially as far as Portuguese Central Government transfers are concerned. The main purpose of the paper is to evaluate if the system of Central Government transfers has affected the intra-regional Portuguese convergence. We haven’t found unquestionable evidence that these policies have been effective at stimulating convergence among Portuguese regions and at improving the overall economies of the poorer regions. Keywords: Regional convergence, Central Government transfers, Regional policy JEL Classification: H71; O18; R58

Higher Harmonics in Non-Linear Vacuum from QED Effects Without Low Mass Intermediate Particles

We show that in the presence of a slowly rotating strong transverse magnetic field there is an infinite spectrum of harmonic wave functions $A_n$ due to the first order QED correction (in $\alpha^2$) given by the Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian. The frequency shifts are integer multiples $\pm \omega_0 n$ of the magnetic field angular frequency rotation $\omega_0=2\pi\nu_m$ and the several modes $n$ are coupled to the nearest harmonics $n\pm 1$. This is a new effect due to QED vacuum fluctuations, not exploit before, that can explain, both qualitatively and quantatively, the recent experimental results of the PVLAS collaboration without the need of a low mass intermediate particle, hence dismiss the recent claim of the discovery of the axion. [Erratum: The PVLAS signal cannot be explained by this mechanism.]Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; includes Erratum: The PVLAS signal cannot be explained by this mechanis

The predictors of financial well-being and its impact on overall well-being: the case of Portugal

Although overall well-being is a well study phenomenon, financial well-being only recently has taken interest in the research field. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to understand the relation between financial well-being, its predictors (financial status, financial behaviour, financial knowledge and financial attitudes) and overall well-being. Additionally, hypotheses were tested with age, gender, household income and area of residence. It was used the quantitative method to gather the data, and to analyse it, the SPPS through linear regression analysis, mediation analysis, independent t-test and an anova test. Regarding the results, the financial status is the only positive and significant impactor on financial well-being and the latter has a significant positive relation with overall well-being. It was also found that financial well-being was a mediator between financial status and overall well-being. Overall, the other predictors did not show a significant effect. Moreover, higher household incomes contribute to increase the financial well-being. Plus, I found that there were differences in financial wellbeing between groups. For example, the older you get does not necessarily implies a higher financial satisfaction. Overall, men appear to have a higher financial well-being than women. In sum, these results show a multidisciplinary concept of overall well-being and that individuals prioritise financial security over the other components. In terms of practical implications, this research is relevant because it highlights the evidence of financial status’ importance in predicting financial well-being, as well as the role of household income for individual financial satisfaction.Embora o bem-estar geral seja um fenómeno bem estudado, o bem-estar financeiro só recentemente se tornou interessante no campo da investigação. Consequentemente, o objetivo do estudo é entender a relação entre o bem-estar financeiro, seus antecedentes (status financeiro, comportamento financeiro, conhecimento financeiro e atitudes financeiras) e o bem-estar geral. Adicionalmente, foram testadas hipóteses com a idade, género, rendimento familiar e área de residência. Foi utilizado o método quantitativo para reunir os dados, e para a sua análise, o SPPS através da análise de regressão linear, análise de mediação, independente t-teste e o anova teste. Em relação aos resultados, o status financeiro é o único e significante fator positivo no bem-estar financeiro e este último tem uma relação positiva significativa com o bem-estar geral. Constatou-se também que o bem-estar financeiro é o mediador entre o status financeiro e bem-estar geral. No geral, os outros antecedentes não mostraram um efeito significativo. Além disso, elevado rendimento familiar contribui para aumentar o bem-estar financeiro. Adicionalmente, encontrei diferenças no bem-estar financeiro entre grupos. Por exemplo, ao envelhecer não implica necessariamente numa maior satisfação financeira. No geral, os homens têm um maior bem-estar financeiro do que as mulheres. Em suma, estes resultados mostram um conceito multidisciplinar de bem-estar geral e que os indivíduos dão primazia à segurança financeira sobre os outros componentes. Em termos de implicações práticas, esta pesquisa é relevante porque evidencia a importância do status financeiro na previsão do bem-estar financeiro, bem como o papel do rendimento familiar para satisfação financeira individual

Procedural aging techniques of synthetic cities and 3D scenarios

Today we live in an increasingly computerized and demanding world. A world where is constantly presented the need for, the industry of video games and movies, to find ways to create more realistic graphics environments, faster and longer with a huge level of variety. To address this need, the techniques for procedural generation appeared. These techniques were used by the computer graphics industry to create textures to simulate special effects and generate complex natural models, including mostly vegetation. Within these first techniques we can find a wide range of techniques. Subsequently, with the needs to create increasingly more complex and realistic environments, emerged the solution to adapt these algorithms, already known, to something more complex such as the generation of a road infrastructure, the generation of buildings or allowed to practically generate a world only with procedural generation and a set of rules. Although this development is increasingly felt, we noticed there is an interest in a new area, which is the procedural aging of buildings in these graphical worlds. Several authors had proposed to create new and better algorithms of procedural aging in building. These authors when approaching this subject, tend to follow a very unique and specific way, creating an algorithm capable of playing a unique phenomenon of aging. Thus, identified this gap in the literature, it was decided to seize this opportunity and present and develop a procedural aging algorithm applied to buildings that is capable of reproduce different aging phenomena, and that consumes low computational resources being capable of be applied to a huge 3D scenario.Hoje em dia vivemos num mundo cada vez mais computorizado e exigente. Um mundo onde cada vez mais está presente a necessidade de a industria dos jogos de vídeo e dos filmes arranjar maneiras de criar ambientes gráficos mais realistas, mais rapidamente e já com um nível de variedade grande. Para colmatar esta necessidade surgiu então as técnicas de geração procedural. Estas técnicas aliaram-se á industria de computação gráfica para criar texturas naturais, simular efeitos especiais e gerar modelos naturais complexos, incluindo maioritariamente vegetação. Dentro destas primeiras técnicas podemos encontrar as fractais, L-system e Perlin Noise, entre outros. Posteriormente, com a necessidades de criar cada vez mais ambientes mais complexos, surgiu a solução de adaptar estes algoritmos já conhecidos para algo mais complexo, como a geração de uma estrutura rodoviária, ou como a geração de edifícios podendo assim praticamente gerar um mundo inteiro somente com a geração procedural e um conjunto de regras. Apesar de esta evolução ser cada vez mais sentida, notou-se um crescente interesse num tema em partcular, sendo essa, o envelhecimento procedural dos edifícios nestes mundos gráficos. Vários autores até então tinham-se proposto a criar novos e cada vez melhores algoritmos de envelhecimento procedural dos edifícios. Estes autores ao abordar este tema, tendem em seguir um caminho muito singular e especifico, criando um algoritmo capaz de reproduzir um unico fenomeno de envelhecimento. Assim, identificada esta lacuna na literatura, decidiu-se agarrar esta oportunidade e apresentar e desenvolver um algoritmo de envelhecimento procedural aplicado aos edifícios que é capaz de reproduzir diferentes fenomenos de envelhecimento, e que consome poucos recursos computacionais sendo capaz de ser aplicado a um grande cenário 3D

Formative and professional narratives of a transsexual teacher

In this text, we reflect on the formative process and the professional performance of a transsexual teacher, based on the policies of bodily subjectivity and gender inscribed in the field of education. As for methodology, a qualitative post-critical approach was used, through the accomplishment of narrative interview. The narratives contribute to the beginning and/or development of the deconstruction of educational practices marked by the principle of normative regulation, stating that education can also be a field of (dis)learning of gender regulations, through the insertion, permanence and destabilization that transsexuals, as people, perform