E-Cognocracy and the Participation of Immigrants in E-Governance

This paper develops a new approach for a political support system related to the integration of immigrants using e-governance. Through the Internet the participation of immigrants is possible in both societies, the original and the new one, and at the three different levels: local, regional and national. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), we discuss how to consider immigrants as e-citizens and, through a questionnaire, and we measure the relative importance of these attributes for party decision makers. The focus of this paper is less on technological aspects of e-decision making, or the diffusion of knowledge and e-learning; Rather on the new aspects as how to integrate immigrants in e-governance. The mission is to increase the society-oriented knowledge derived from participatory decision-making and to increase the background and the scope of the learning process that goes along with the modification of the initial preferences in the interactive political resolution process.E-cognocracy, E-democracy, E-citizen, E-participation, Immigration, Knowledge society

Sequential Monte Carlo for on-line estimation of the heat loss coefficient

The calibration of building energy models based on in-situ sensor information is generally performed after the measurement period, using all data in a single batch. Alternatively, on-line parameter estimation proposes updating a model every time a new data point is available: this allows observing a direct relation between external events and the identifiability of parameters. The present study uses the Sequential Monte Carlo method to train a RC model, and thus estimate a Heat Loss Coefficient, and other parameters, sequentially. Results show the direct impact of solicitations (solar irradiance and indoor heat input) on this estimation, in real time. The method is validated by comparing its results with the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm for off-line estimation

Riesgo Crediticio Bancario : Evaluación de Riesgo Crediticio mediante la aplicación del modelo scoring basado en la toma de decisiones al banco La Fise Bancentro en el periodo 2015

Al realizar el estudio estadístico para evaluar el riesgo crediticio mediante la aplicación de un modelo basado en la toma decisión, este permite pronosticar el riesgo de incumplimiento de operaciones futuras. El método scoring es un método de puntuación de las operaciones de crédito, basados en el cumplimiento del compromiso de pago de operaciones pasadas. Dichas operaciones se han estandarizado y analizado estadísticamente hasta determinar que variables influyen más a la hora de determinar el comportamiento de la entidad bancaria. Este estudio estadístico de las operaciones pasadas permite pronosticar el riesgo de incumplimiento de operaciones futuras. Para darle al seguimiento a los cliente que pueden caer en mora. La metodología a seguir para calificar a un emisor se fundamenta en varios apartados: recopilación de la información, análisis de la variable dependiente, la emisión de unas conclusiones que finalizan con la asignación de una calificación de acuerdo al análisis realizado. Periódicamente se revisan dichos emisores de deuda, para determinar si se ha producido una evolución favorable o desfavorable. Para la elaboración de este trabajo se basó en el método documental de toda la bibliografía acerca del tema y la implementación de los cálculos necesarios para el análisis, inducción y deducción de los resultados obtenidos. Crear un modelo de scoring es muy simple, si se cuenta con los datos apropiados para el otorgamiento de un crédito, en el cual se elaboran tabla de datos que le dan paso al análisis todas las variables que están relacionadas con la variable a predecir, sin importar si una o más variables están correlacionadas. La capacidad para analizar la cartera de cuenta habiente y detectar los riesgos a la hora de otorgamiento de créditos, es esencial en la determinación del incumplimiento de pago, siendo este análisis de la cartera una herramienta indispensable para la adecuada toma de decisiones del sistema bancario

AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN URBAN AREAS: EFFECTS OF INTRODUCING HYBRID CARS IN MADRID AND BARCELONA METROPOLITAN AREAS (SPAIN)

On-road traffic represents the largest source of pollutants’ emissions in urban areas. In southern Mediterranean countries exceedances of the NO2 and PM10 European air quality targets are observed in urban environments. Moreover the budget of urban emissions contributes to the emissions of O3 precursors (mainly NOx) in a region where the concentration of photochemical pollutants still remains a problem especially during summertime. Air quality modeling, used as a management tool, permits to test abatement emissions strategies in advance. Nowadays, the substitution of vehicles by introducing new technologies (e.g. cleaner fuels, hybrid vehicles, fuel cells) or alternative fuels (e.g. biofuels, natural gas or hydrogen) is a common practice in conurbations around Europe. This work focuses on the assessment of the impacts on air quality due to the introduction of hybrid cars in the largest urban areas of Spain: Madrid (within a more continental environment), and the urban coastal city of Barcelona. The WRFARW/ HERMES/CMAQ modeling system has been implemented and validated with a high resolution (1 km2 and 1 hr) thanks to the calculation power of the MareNostrum supercomputer (94.21 TFlops peak). Due to the complex topography and climatic particularities of the study areas it becomes necessary to use high spatial and temporal resolution and to have a highly-disaggregated emission inventory of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter (HERMES model developed specifically for Spain). The model was applied during a representative summertime polluted episode. The introduction of a 10% or a 30% of hybrid cars in substitution of the oldest petrol and diesel cars of both cities proved to be effective to reduce NO2, SO2 and PM10 concentrations in the conurbations (i.e. a 37% reduction in NO2 24-hr average concentration occurs in Madrid and a 18% in Barcelona when introducing a 30% of hybrid vehicles; moreover 24-hr average PM10 decreases up to 12% and 14% in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively). Nevertheless the O3 concentrations slightly arise (being the 8-hr average concentration a 3% higher in Madrid and a 24% in Barcelona respect to the base case). The selected domains present a similar behavior with respect to their impacts, with a noticeable reduction of ground-level NOx in downtown areas and an increase in the tropospheric ozone concentration in the VOC-limited areas. In downwind locations the precursors’ emissions control causes a reduction of O3 levels. The air quality modeling system proves to be a suitable and useful tool to manage urban air quality, especially when applied with this high resolution

Chapter Metabolomics for soil contamination assessment

Regional geograph

Lp self improvement of generalized Poincaré inequalities on spaces of homogeneous type

International audienceIn this paper we study self-improving properties in the scale of Lebesgue spaces of generalized Poincaré inequalities in spaces of homogeneous type. In contrast with the classical situation, the oscillations involve approximation of the identities or semigroups whose kernels decay fast enough and the resulting estimates take into account their lack of localization. The techniques used do not involve any classical Poincaré or Sobolev-Poincaré inequalities and therefore they can be used in general settings where these estimates do not hold or are unknown. We apply our results to the case of Riemannian manifolds with doubling volume form and assuming Gaussian upper bounds for the heat kernel of the semigroup $e^{-t\,\Delta}$ with $\Delta$ being the Laplace-Beltrami operator. We obtain generalized Poincaré inequalities with oscillations that involve the semigroup $e^{-t\,\Delta}$ and with right hand sides containing either $\nabla$ or $\Delta^{1/2}$

Obesity as a risk factor in COVID-19: Possible mechanisms and implications

Varios artículos recientes sugieren que la obesidad es un factor de riesgo para una enfermedad más grave por coronavirus. En este artículo se resume la evidencia científica disponible sobre el papel de la obesidad en COVID-19, con especial atención en las personas más jóvenes y los mecanismos biológicos propuestos para explicar tanto el mayor riesgo observado como la posible mayor contagiosidad de esta población. Se consideran varias implicaciones de la pandemia sobre las personas con obesidad, en relación con las posibles dificultades en el manejo de los pacientes ingresados, las implicaciones del confinamiento sobre el control y tratamiento de la obesidad, y el estigma que sufren estas personas por su condición, y que puede verse aumentado si se confirma la relación de la obesidad con COVID-19. Comprender el papel de la obesidad en COVID-19 debería ser una prioridad de salud pública, dada la alta prevalencia de esta condición en nuestro país.Recent reports suggest that obesity is a risk factor for more severe coronavirus disease. This article summarizes the available scientific evidence on the role of obesity in COVID-19. We focus on implications for younger patients and the proposed biological mechanisms that could explain both the higher risk observed and the possible higher contagiousness of people with obesity. We consider implications of the pandemic for people with obesity in relation to: difficulties in managing hospitalized patients, implications of confinement for the control and treatment of obesity, and the stigma people with obesity suffer, that could increase should the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 be confirmed. Understanding the role of obesity in COVID-19 should be a public health priority, given the high prevalence of this condition in our country

Kinetics and crystallization path of a Fe-based metallic glass alloy

The thermal stability and the quantification of the different transformation processes involved in the overall crystallization of the Fe50Cr15Mo14C15B6 amorphous alloy were investigated by several characterization techniques. Formation of various metastable and stable phases during the devitrification process in the sequence a-Fe, ¿-Cr6Fe18Mo5, M23(C,B)6, M7C3, ¿-Fe3Mo3C and FeMo2B2 (with M = Fe, Cr, Mo), was observed by in-situ synchrotron high energy X-ray diffraction and in-situ transmission electron microscopy. By combining these techniques with differential scanning calorimetry data, the crystallization states and their temperature range of stability under continuous heating were related with the evolution of the crystallized fraction and the phase sequence as a function of temperature, revealing structural and chemical details of the different transformation mechanisms.Postprint (published version

Relacionamentos Externos no âmbito da Inovação Empresarial: Modelo aplicado aos avanços inovadores

A inovação assume-se cada vez mais como um factor chave da competitividade empresarial. Várias abordagens teóricas, desenvolvidas nos últimos anos, sustentam que a inovação não é algo que resulta da acção isolada de um único actor, mas é vista como um processo não linear, complexo, evolucionário e interactivo entre a empresas e o seu meio envolvente. Esta investigação tem por finalidade analisar se a capacidade inovadora empresarial, ao nível dos avanços inovadores, é estimulada pelos relacionamentos estabelecidos com parceiros no âmbito da inovação. Para tal aplica-se um modelo de regressão logística aos dados do Segundo Inquérito Comunitário à Inovação – CIS II (Community Innovation Survey II).Relacionamentos externos, Inovação Empresarial, Avanços inovadores, Modelo de regressão linear generalizado, Função logit, CIS II.