A decision-making framework for school infrastructure improvement programs

School infrastructure affects the quality of education and the performance of children and youth. Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and landslides, threaten critical infrastructure such as school facilities. Additionally, problems related to the functionality of these facilities are common in the region, such as an inadequate number of classrooms, poor lighting, and insufficient ventilation, among others. At a national level, the decision-making process to prioritize schools’ interventions becomes even more challenging due to limited resources and lack of information. Furthermore, there is a lack of a systematic approach to address the need of improving existing infrastructure taking into consideration limited resources. Considering this, a novel decision-making framework is proposed that prioritizes school infrastructure investment with limited budgets, using clustering procedures, a multi-criteria utility function, and an optimization component. This framework allows better public policy decisions and benefits students in terms of buildings quality with a multi-criteria perspective, improving both safety and functional conditions. The framework is illustrated with a case study applied to the public-school infrastructure in the Dominican Republic

Towards disaster risk mitigation on large-scale school intervention programs

Education infrastructure is one of the main barriers on school quality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (L&MICs), since it is insufficient and unevenly distributed. Improving the school infrastructure is needed to provide a high-quality education environment. Although research on how to improve the infrastructure is available, there is still a lack of a consistent and systematic approach to develop large-scale interventions at the national or regional level. To fill this gap, we propose a data-driven methodology with the purpose of developing a prioritization of interventions to carry out a seismic disaster risk reduction program. The method starts by identifying groups of similar buildings using clustering analysis, starting with a seismic taxonomy as descriptor (i.e., model input). Then, domain experts analyze the suggested clusters to design scalable interventions for the representative building of each cluster. The proposed data-driven methodology requires experts’ criteria in each step to validate the results and make them applicable, but significantly reduces the bias by automating the decision-making process. We use as case study the Dominican Republic public school infrastructure and present the results of the application of the proposed method. The method presented herein is extensible to other infrastructure portfolios, as well as to other types of hazards

Comparison of visual and refractive results of Toric Implantable Collamer Lens with bioptics for myopic astigmatism

PURPOSE: To compare visual and refractive results of Toric Implantable Collamer Lens (TICL) and bioptics (ICL plus excimer corneal surgery) to treat myopic astigmatism. METHODS: Eighty-one eyes underwent TICL implantation and 83 eyes were treated with bioptics (corneal ablation was performed between 1.5 and 6 months after ICL implantation). Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), refraction, adverse events, safety, and efficacy were evaluated 12 months postoperatively. RESULTS: At 12 months postoperatively, the mean spherical equivalent was -0.15 ± 0.36 diopters (D) in the TICL group and -0.08 ± 0.26 D in the bioptics group (p = 0.099). Sixty-six (81.5 %) and 78 (94.0 %) eyes were within ±0.50 D for TICL and bioptics groups, respectively. The mean Snellen UDVA was not statistically different between both procedures (p = 0.909); 53 (65.4 %) and 54 (65.1 %) eyes achieved at least 20/25 or better in TICL and bioptics groups, respectively. No eye had lost more than two lines of CDVA, and 32.1 % of eyes (26/81) in the TICL group and 57.8 % of eyes (48/83) in the bioptics group had better postoperative UDVA than preoperative CDVA (p < 0.001). Safety was not statistically different between groups (p = 0.464) while efficacy was significantly higher in the bioptics group (p = 0.000). Two eyes with a TICL were treated to correct TICL decentration. CONCLUSIONS: Bioptics showed slightly better outcomes in some clinical measures such as uncorrected visual acuity, efficacy, and refractive predictability. TICL implantation shows reliable results similar to bioptics. A single procedure with TICL implantation might be preferred, eliminating the inherent risks of laser treatments and the risks of a second surgical procedure.The authors have no proprietary interests in any of the materials mentioned in this article. This research was supported in part by a Universitat de Valencia Research Grant to Robert Montes-Mico (#SAF2009-13342 and #SAF2008-01114-E#) and Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia of Portugal through a Grant to Paulo Fernandes (#FCT-SFRH-BD-34303-2007#)

Model for resource allocation in decentralized networks using Interaction nets

This article presents the description of a model for allocating resources using Interaction Nets and a strategy for playing public goods. In the description of the model first shows the behavior of the allocation of resources towards the nodes depending on the usefulness of the network and the satisfaction of the agents. Then the generalization of the model with Interaction Nets is described, and a simulation of this behavior is made. It is found that there is an emerging behavior condition in the dynamics of the interaction when assigning resources. To test the model, the interaction of sharing the Internet in an ad hoc network is done. The interaction is shown in the general model obtained

Estimation of the solubility parameters of model plant surfaces and agrochemicals: a valuable tool for understanding plant surface interactions

Background Most aerial plant parts are covered with a hydrophobic lipid-rich cuticle, which is the interface between the plant organs and the surrounding environment. Plant surfaces may have a high degree of hydrophobicity because of the combined effects of surface chemistry and roughness. The physical and chemical complexity of the plant cuticle limits the development of models that explain its internal structure and interactions with surface-applied agrochemicals. In this article we introduce a thermodynamic method for estimating the solubilities of model plant surface constituents and relating them to the effects of agrochemicals. Results Following the van Krevelen and Hoftyzer method, we calculated the solubility parameters of three model plant species and eight compounds that differ in hydrophobicity and polarity. In addition, intact tissues were examined by scanning electron microscopy and the surface free energy, polarity, solubility parameter and work of adhesion of each were calculated from contact angle measurements of three liquids with different polarities. By comparing the affinities between plant surface constituents and agrochemicals derived from (a) theoretical calculations and (b) contact angle measurements we were able to distinguish the physical effect of surface roughness from the effect of the chemical nature of the epicuticular waxes. A solubility parameter model for plant surfaces is proposed on the basis of an increasing gradient from the cuticular surface towards the underlying cell wall. Conclusions The procedure enabled us to predict the interactions among agrochemicals, plant surfaces, and cuticular and cell wall components, and promises to be a useful tool for improving our understanding of biological surface interactions

PLXNB1 (plexin B1)

Review on PLXNB1 (plexin B1), with data on DNA, on the protein encoded, and where the gene is implicated

What Does It Drive the Relationship Between Suicides and Economic Conditions? New Evidence from Spain

In this paper we analyse suicides across the 17 Spanish regions over the period 2002?2013. In doing so, we estimate count panel data models considering gender differences taking into account before and during economic crisis periods. A range of aggregate socioeconomic regional-level factors have been considered. Our empirical results show that: (1) a socioeconomic urban?rural suicide differentials exist, (2) there exists a Mediterranean suicide pattern; and (3) unemployment levels have a marked importance during the crisis period. The results of this study may have usefulness for suicide prevention in Spain

Phylogenenetic approach of the section Bulbocodii D.C. of Narcissus based on cpDNA. A case of taxonomic inflation ?

In this paper, we analyzed the phylogeny of the section Bulbocodii (genus Narcissus; Amarillydaceae) using the matK and trnL-F fragments of cpDNA in order to review the validity of the recognized taxa. Our results indicate that Narcissus obesus should be considered a valid species, and that N. blancoi is a distinct taxon. In addition, seven previously recognized species, N. juressianus, N. subnivalis, N. graellsii, N. conspicuus, N. citrinus, N. nivalis, and N. quintanilhae, should be assigned to an infraspecific rank under N. bulbocodium, as they are not valid species. In addition, we analyzed the distribution of the three morphological characters widely used in the systematics of this section and found that their variation does not agree with the phylogenetic results, rendering these characters limited taxonomical utility. This result suggests that the section Bulbocodii shows high morphological lability, which can explain the proliferation of nominal speciesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio