Modeling framework for comparing taxi operational modes: case study in Barcelona

This paper presents an aggregated mathematical model for the estimation of key performance indicators of the taxi market based on the system’s generalized cost function, which is calculated using the expected statistical values of customers’ trip distance, waiting/access time and the cost of the involved actors, including externalities, who are the taxi drivers, the taxi customers and the city represented by the rest of the drivers and the citizens. Optimum values for the taxi supply are obtained from mathematical formulations depending on the demand level and the size of the city. The model is developed for stand, hailing and dispatching taxi markets and the results are compared, presenting conclusions for the best type of market for each demand level and city size. The model is applied in the city of Barcelona, presenting useful conclusions on the performance indicators of the taxi services and the impact of the applied policies as well as the optimum number of taxis for each operational mode, ranging between 30 and 40 vehicles per hour and km2.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Energy efficiency of social housing existing buildings – a portuguese case study

The European energy performance building regulations, Directive 2002/91/EC - Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) of the European Parliament and Council, require that new buildings present minimum standards of energy efficiency. Accordingly the Portuguese regulations require that new buildings comply with minimum requirements on the energy performance and must have an energy performance certification through witch an energy efficiency label is attributed to the housing. It also require that existing buildings must have an efficiency energy label when submitted to a commercial transaction or to a deep rehabilitation. To achieve this goal the study of energy performance of existing buildings must be done. As many essentials elements to determine the U-factor and other thermal parameters are unknown, Portugal developed a simplified methodology to achieve the thermal performance of existing buildings. The aim of this paper is to present the study of the energy performance of a set of social dwellings that were constructed during the decade of 80, constructed before the former building thermal comfort specifications came into force. During the study the referred methodology was applied and conclusions of the energy efficiency label obtained were put out as the encountered difficulties. The study also compares the results obtained by the simplified methodology and by the detailed methodology that is required by Portuguese building thermal comfort specifications

Social optimal shifts and fares of taxi services

[EN] This paper presents a mathematical model for supporting the decision and policy making related to the optimal determination of shifts and fares of taxi services in a major city. The model is based on the system’s generalized cost function and uses continuous approximations and geometric probabilities for estimating the key performance indicators of the taxi market, which are waiting and access time for the customers (in-vehicle travel time does not depend on the offer side) and benefits for the drivers. The model is based on an econometric model with the inclusion of an elastic demand, which allows the estimation of the optimal values for the two decision variables of the problem: fare structure and the taxi fleet size. The model also accounts for a full-day time period instead of the one-hour time frame models used in most of the taxi models, which allows for providing insights on the daily duration and distribution of the shifts that should be defined by the policy makers.Salanova Grau, JM.; Estrada Romeu, M. (2016). Social optimal shifts and fares of taxi services. En XII Congreso de ingeniería del transporte. 7, 8 y 9 de Junio, Valencia (España). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1000-1007. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.3254OCS1000100

Social optimal shifts and fares for the Barcelona taxi sector

This paper applies a mathematical model for supporting the decision and policy making in the city of Barcelona, presenting the key performance indicators of the Barcelona taxi market, which are waiting/access time and benefits of the drivers. The model accounts for demand elasticity, which allows for estimating the optimum fare level and estimating the related demand for taxi services, which allows the taxi decision makers to have a rough estimation of the taxi sector turn over. In addition, the model is applied to a full-day time period, allowing for useful insights on the duration and distribution of the taxi shifts that should be defined by the taxi policy makers as well as the optimal operation mode for each interval of the day. Finally, the model implementation in the city of Barcelona determines that the optimum fares for the taxi sector is 0.68 euros/kilometer and the optimum number of taxis is 19 taxis/km2. In this situation, the most effective taxi policy is to have 4 days with an 8-h shift and one day with two non-consecutive 4-h shifts every week.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The attitudes of mental health nurses that support a positive therapeutic relationship: the perspective of people diagnosed with BPD

Introduction: the therapeutic relationship between mental health nurses and people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is essential to successful treatment, and nurses' attitudes are a key component of this relationship. Some nurses develop positive therapeutic relationships with people diagnosed with BPD, while others have negative emotional reactions which in turn limit their ability to develop a positive therapeutic relationship. There is a gap in the literature with respect how people diagnosed with BPD perceive the attitudes of mental health nurses that foster a positive therapeutic relationship. Aim: to describe how people diagnosed with BPD who have experienced an improvement perceive the role of the attitudes of mental health nurses in building a positive therapeutic relationship. Method: qualitative descriptive design with 12 interviews; thematic content analysis. Results: participants identified five attitudes of mental health nurses as contributing to a positive therapeutic relationship: confidence in their ability to recover, non-judgement, humour, availability and humanity. Discussion: nurses' attitudes are key to the therapeutic relationship. It may be possible for nurses to improve their attitudes toward patients diagnosed with BPD through self-reflection. Implications for Practice: mental health nurses should incorporate methods that explore attitudes and attitudinal development of the workforce

El trato a las personas con trastorno límite de la personalidad: ¿es posible su recuperación?

Cuando hablamos del trastorno límite de la personalidad (TLP) no nos referimos en absoluto a algo fácil de diagnosticar. El TLP pertenece al grupo de diagnósticos de los trastornos de la personalidad que incluye el trastorno de la personalidad esquizoide, paranoide, esquizotípica, antisocial, límite, histriónica, narcisista, evasiva, dependiente y obsesivo-compulsiva. El abanico es amplio

The Japanese History Textbook Controversy Amid Post-War Sino-Japanese Relations

The relations between China and Japan are strained and continue to foster negative emotions partly because of China’s grievances about Japan’s actions during World War II and the allegedly false historiographical accounts found in Japanese history textbooks. This study will utilize historical analysis of the events leading up to the Nanjing Massacre in December of 1937, examine the Japanese Ministry of Education’s (MEXT) critical and contentious role in the selection of textbooks, used for primary and secondary schools, and will also juxtapose the controversial 2001 Atarashii rekishi kyōkasho with current Japanese history textbooks. The study will also include a syntactical analysis of key terms through my own original translations of multiple Japanese history textbooks, which are currently used in the Japanese school curriculum, to reveal that the textbook publishers, MEXT, and regulation councils are involved in adjusting the content causing the information to reveal various degrees of whitewashing

O impacto de biofilmes microbianos na higiene e segurança alimentar

Em 2012 foram reportados na União Europeia 5363 surtos de origem alimentar, resultando em 55453 casos humanos, os quais causaram 5118 hospitalizações e 41 mortes [1]. A maioria dos surtos notificados foi provocada por Salmonella, toxinas bacterianas, vírus e Campylobacter. Além destes microrganismos, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli e Staphylococcus aureus estão também entre os patogénicos alimentares mais problemáticos. A formação de biofilmes nas superfícies de processamento de alimentos é uma das principais causas destes surtos. De facto, todos estes microrganismos apresentam uma grande capacidade para formar biofilmes e estes podem desenvolver-se em todo o tipo de superfícies na indústria alimentar, incluindo aço inoxidável, polipropileno, vidro, etc. Os biofilmes constituem uma fonte de contaminação dos alimentos com que contactam e o seu desprendimento das superfícies causa ainda a contaminação do ambiente circundante. Pode definir-se biofilme como um agregado de células microbianas formado sobre uma superfície ou interface frequentemente envolto numa matriz de substâncias poliméricas, a maioria de origem microbiana [2]. Estas estruturas apresentam uma grande tolerância a agressões externas, nomeadamente a agentes antimicrobianos químicos. A tolerância inerente dos biofilmes a biocidas químicos tem suscitado o interesse no desenvolvimento de métodos alternativos de controlo de patogénicos alimentares. Neste artigo serão abordados os princípios fundamentais de adesão e persistência de patogénicos alimentares nas superfícies alimentares e de contacto com alimentos. Será referido o papel dos biofilmes na resistência cruzada e por fim serão apresentados 2 métodos inovadores de controlo de biofilmes

Un Record a Severo Ochoa: importància de la seva obra i llegat científic

Severo Ochoa is the best known Spanish biochemist and the one whose influence in the development of the science of the country in the last years is beyond doubt. Two characteristics in his biography must be pointed out: his long professional life and his fecund scientific production in amount, quality and diversity. The main contributions of Ochoa to the development of the biochemistry and molecular biology were: the studies that took to identify enzymes responsible for the reactions, mechanisms and regulation of part of the intermediary metabolism (pyruvate oxidation, carbon fixation, the enzymes of the citric acid cycle); the discovery of polynucleotide phosphorylase and the synthesis in vitro of RNA; the studies to resolve the genetic code; and the studies on the mechanisms and the regulation of the protein synthesis in prokaryotics and eukaryotics. The merit of his works was recognized with the Nobel Prize of Physiology or Medicine in 1959 jointly with Arthur Kornberg, by their discoveries in the mechanisms of the biological synthesis of the nucleic acids