Empowering open science with reflexive and spatialised indicators

Bibliometrics have become commonplace and widely used by authors and journals to monitor, to evaluate and to identify their readership in an ever-increasingly publishing scientific world. This contribution introduces a multi-method corpus analysis tool, specifically conceived for scientific corpuses with spatialised content. We propose a dedicated interactive application that integrates three strategies for building semantic networks, using keywords (self-declared themes), citations (areas of research using the papers) and full-texts (themes derived from the words used in writing). The networks can be studied with respect to their temporal evolution as well as to their spatial expressions, by considering the countries studied in the papers under inquiry. The tool is applied as a proof-of-concept on the papers published in the online open access geography journal Cybergeo since its creation in 1996. Finally, we compare the three methods and conclude that their complementarity can help go beyond simple statistics to better understand the epistemological evolution of a scientific community and the readership target of the journal. Our tool can be applied by any journal on its own corpus, fostering thus open science and reflexivity

QUANTIFICATION OF ACCELERATED WEAR FOR ROAD MATERIALS BY USING A NEW TESTING APPARATUS

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on problem of loss aggregates on the surface layer of pavements in particular sites such as approaches to roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. Obtaining a long life-wearing course requires more than can be achieved by improving the properties of the wearing course in it. Generally, the traffic loads, temperature variations, the intrusion of water and freeze-thaw cycles, which will reduce the life of the wearing course, regardless of how well it is designed and constructed. The wearing course is an important interdependent component of the whole pavement. A durable and faultless wearing course acts to protect the base layers against the intrusion of water from above, which is essential to maintain its strength and serviceable life. The objective of this study is to evaluate the wear of a controlled set of pavements with various aggregate mixtures. A single parameter is not enough to describe the mechanisms of surface damage but we propose relationships between the constituents used in pavements and loss of aggregates

Unveiling relationships between crime and property in England and Wales via density scale-adjusted metrics and network tools

Scale-adjusted metrics (SAMs) are a significant achievement of the urban scaling hypothesis. SAMs remove the inherent biases of per capita measures computed in the absence of isometric allometries. However, this approach is limited to urban areas, while a large portion of the world’s population still lives outside cities and rural areas dominate land use worldwide. Here, we extend the concept of SAMs to population density scale-adjusted metrics (DSAMs) to reveal relationships among different types of crime and property metrics. Our approach allows all human environments to be considered, avoids problems in the definition of urban areas, and accounts for the heterogeneity of population distributions within urban regions. By combining DSAMs, cross-correlation, and complex network analysis, we find that crime and property types have intricate and hierarchically organized relationships leading to some striking conclusions. Drugs and burglary had uncorrelated DSAMs and, to the extent property transaction values are indicators of affluence, twelve out of fourteen crime metrics showed no evidence of specifically targeting affluence. Burglary and robbery were the most connected in our network analysis and the modular structures suggest an alternative to "zero-tolerance" policies by unveiling the crime and/or property types most likely to affect each other

How to conduct more systematic reviews of agent-based models and foster theory development: Taking stock and looking ahead

Agent-based models (ABMs) are increasingly utilized in ecology and related fields, yet concerns persist regarding the lack of consideration for lessons learned from previous models. This study explores the potential of systematically conducted ABM reviews to contribute to cumulative science and theory development by synthesizing individual ABM findings more effectively. We are conducting a meta-review of ABM reviews to assess current practices, compare them to systematic literature review (SLR) literature recommendations, and evaluate their engagement with theory and theory development. Our analysis of the ecology and social science sample reveals that many reviews are not conducted systematically and lack transparency. The analysis step of SLRs holds significant potential to advance theory development. Reviews primarily focus on model design, while other avenues of theory development receive less attention. Our findings suggest ways to improve current practices and may guide future ABM reviews via benchmarks for methodological decisions and dimensions for advancing theory development.Urban Studie

Static and dynamic testing of a damaged post tensioned concrete beam

In this paper are reported the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a post tensioned concrete beam with the aim of investigating the possibility to detect early warning signs of deterioration basing on static and/or dynamic tests. The beam was tested in several configurations aimed to reproduce several different phases of the ‘life’ of the beam: the original undamaged state, increasing loss of tension in the post tensioning cables, a strengthening intervention carried out by means of a second tension cable, formation of further cracks on the strengthened beam. Responses of the beam were measured by an extensive set of instruments consisting of accelerometers, inclinometers, displacement transducers, strain gauges and optical fibres. The paper discusses the tests program and the dynamic characterization of the beam in the different damage scenarios. The modal properties of the beam in the different phases were recovered basing on the responses recorded on the beam during sine-sweep and impact hammer tests. The variation of the first modal frequency was studied to investigate the sensitivity of this parameter to both the cracking of the concrete section and the tension in the cables and also to compare results given by different types of experimental tests

Experimental damage identification in a post tensioned concrete beam

The paper deals with the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a post tensioned concrete beam with the aim of investigating the possibility to detect early warning signs of deterioration based on static and/or dynamic tests. The beam was tested in several configurations aimed to reproduce 5 different phases of the ‘life‘ of the beam: the original undamaged state, under increasing loss of tension in the post tensioning cables, during and after the formation of cracks at mid span, after a strengthening intervention carried out by means of a second tension cable, during and after the formation of further cracks on the strengthened beam. Responses of the beam were measured by an extensive set of instruments consisting of accelerometers, inclinometers, displacement transducers, strain gauges and optical fibers. The paper presents the test program and the dynamic characterization of the beam in the different damage scenarios in terms of the first modal frequency identified from dynamic tests. The evolution of the bending stiffness monitored during static tests is also reported and a simplified mechanical model of the cracked beam was proposed to interpret the correlation between the two parameters

Bridging the divide: Demographic dynamics and urban–rural polarities during economic expansion and recession in Greece

Demographic processes such as international migration, internal rural–urban movements, and short-range residential mobility are increasingly driven by economic cycles. To assess how economic downturns have influenced demographic dynamics across regions in Greece—perhaps the European country most affected by the 2007 recession—the present study investigates spatial patterns of population increase and decline (2002–2017) in 51 prefectures, evaluating the contribution of natural balance (births minus deaths) and migration to total population growth during economic expansion (2002–2009) and recession (2010–2017). Population increased during economic expansion in semicentral regions with medium-size urban centres, upper economic functions (university and international airport), and road infrastructures. Although natural balance was positive in almost all prefectures, migration contributed the most to population growth during 2002–2009. A generalised population decline was observed during recession, except in coastal areas specialised in tourism, the only regions still attracting migratory flows and maintaining a slightly positive natural balance. The largest urban areas (Athens, Salonika) experienced the highest rate of population decline, thanks to accelerated emigration and a moderately negative natural balance. Population dynamics during economic expansion contributed to increase a traditional density gap between urban and rural areas. Conversely, population dynamics during recession led to a spatial redistribution of population, reducing the gap between urban areas and rural, tourism-specialised coastal districts. Evidence in our study supports a need for further investigation into the role of economic downturns in future population redistribution processes, specifically “shrinking” regions