How should we measure the return on public investment in a VAR?

A new method of empirically computing the macroeconomic returns to public investment is proposed. Pereira's (2000) technique is modified, and a measure which accounts for both public and private investment costs is suggested. An empirical application to US data shows that differences between alternative ways of measuring rates of return are non-trivial - taking into consideration the full investment effort halves estimated returns when partial public costs only are considered.

Developing an Inquiry-based Laboratory Project for CHEM 142L Course at BSU

In addition to content knowledge, critical and independent thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem-solving skills are essential in preparing next generation of successful workforce. Since one of the biggest advantages of STEM disciplines is a “must-have” hands-on laboratory experience, it is intuitive to exploit this learning space to reinforce afore-mentioned skills. In this context, project-based (PBL) or inquiry-based (IBL) laboratory experiences are rapidly becoming mainstream pedagogical choice for many STEM instructors across United States.[1-4] PBL, and IBL are learning experiences that offer students an opportunity to experience realistic scientific process of discovery through carefully designed inquiry-driven and/or open-ended investigative laboratory experiences.[1-4] PBL and IBL learning experiences also provide instructors with an opportunity to create projects that are related to real-world problems.[1-4] In this context, the work described in this thesis sought to adapt and redesign a semester long project on phytoremediation of copper from soil, published in the Journal of Chemical Education [5], into a collection of mini-projects to be done by students over a period of 3 – 4 weeks. Specifically, work presented herein focuses on general chemistry (CHEM 142L) students exploring the effects of mass, pH and temperature of a commercially available garden soil on its adsorption capability of copper ions and understanding these effects in terms of equilibrium processes and thermodynamics of adsorption processes. The motivation for this work stems from the fact that the Chemistry Department at BSU is currently redesigning its second semester of general chemistry laboratory (CHEM 142L) curriculum with an environmental science focus

Report on raising public awareness and participation (Deliverable D20)

The purpose of this document is to present actions taken during the Cyclops project lifetime in order to raise public awareness and participation, as well as the outcomes of these actions. Dissemination and outreach have always been considered key points for accomplishing this, ever since the project planning phases. The actions are generally framed in the Work Package devoted to dissemination (WP5), although some of them may well be regarded as a horizontal action of the project

Mid-Term Project Workshop (Deliverable D12)

This document is intended to provide a report of the Mid-Term Project Workshop. The Conference was fully integrated within the 2nd Iberian Grid Infrastructure Conference, held in Oporto on 12th – 14th May, 2008, at FEUP, Faculdade de Engenharia de Universidade de Porto.FP

Is small the new big? : challenges in the retailing industry

In the last decade the Industry of Grocery retail has seen its biggest changes since distribution became organized. From the empowerment of private label products and the introduction of sophisticated loyalty programs, retailers have been able to shape the market and the preferences of their consumers. But what happens when these preferences change due to factors that fall outside retailers capabilities? This study describes the changes in an industry that seemed to reach its maturity due to a change in consumer purchasing habits for smaller store formats. Players in the grocery retail industry in Portugal that have been focusing on Hyper and Super formats are facing new challenges. Consumers start to demonstrate preference for a commerce based on proximity at the same time as they are threaten by new entrants in smaller formats and cheaper business models. We focus on the example of Meu Super, the new proximity chain of small grocery stores launched by Sonae MC in order to respond to the introduction of Amanhecer, a similar concept created by its main competitor Grupo Jeronimo Martins and adaptation of already existing brands like Dia’s group Minipreço or Spar. The problem is that for a company that holds a heavy-weight brand in the grocery retail in Portugal like Sonae may be a bigger than expected challenge to penetrate in segment with many different features that the ones where Sonae is competing in. We present a Case Study based on Meu Super strategy by Sonae to point out the main challenges and threats of this strategy and promote the discussion of whether Sonae should leverage its already successful brand Continente in order to beneficiate from its synergies, or if the choice of creating a new separate brand was the right one, taking in consideration the company’s resources and limitations.Na última década a Indústria do Retalho Alimentar assistiu às maiores mudanças desde que a distribuição se tornou organizada. Desde o fortalecimento das marcas de distribuidor e da introdução de programas de lealdade mais sofisticados, os retalhistas tem sido capazes de moldar o mercado e os hábitos de compra dos seus consumidores. Mas o que será que acontece quando estes hábitos de consumo mudam devido a fatores que caem fora do controlo e das capacidades dos retalhistas? Este estudo descreve as mudanças numa indústria que parece estar a atingir a sua maturidade graças a uma mudança dos hábitos de compra dos consumidores para formatos de lojas mais pequenos. As empresas na indústria de retalho alimentar em Portugal que até agora tem focado em formatos “Hyper” e “Super” enfrentam um novo desafio. Os consumidores começam a demonstrar preferências por um comércio baseado na proximidade, ao mesmo tempo que são ameaçados pela entrada de novos concorrentes em formatos mais pequenos e com modelos de negócio mais baratos. Focámo-nos no exemplo do Meu Super, a nova cadeia de pequenas lojas de proximidade lançada pela Sonae MC de forma a responder à introdução do Amanhecer, conceito semelhante lançado pelo seu maior concorrente, o Grupo Jerónimo Martins, e pela adaptação das insígnias já existentes como o Minipreço do grupo Dia ou a Spar. O problema é que para uma empresa que detém o peso pesado Continente, o desafio pode ser maior do que o esperado em penetrar num segmento com características muito diferentes daquelas que definem o segmento onde se insere o Continente. Apresentamos um Case Study baseado na estratégia adotada pela Sonae em lançar o Meu Super com o objetivo de salientar os maiores desafios e ameaças desta estratégia e promover a discussão se a Sonae deveria ter aproveitado as marcas de sucesso já existentes como o Continente e assim beneficiar de sinergias, ou se a decisão de lançar uma nova marca de lojas separada daquelas já existentes foi acertada, tendo em conta as capacidades e limitações da empresa

Cristalización de sulfatos de estroncio en presencia de sílice disuelta

Depto. de Mineralogía y PetrologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEUniversidad Complutense de MadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma)pu

A WCS-based approach to integrate satellite imagery data in wildfire simulation

This paper describes the integration of multi-dimensional data from satellite sensors in a Civil Protection application that simulates fire spread. The approach uses standard Web Coverage Services from OGC to fetch and process land cover and recently burned areas, available in the form of satellite imagery data previously captured by the MODIS sensor, to automatically generate renovated fuel maps. The proposed architecture is based on rasdaman, a domain-independent database management system (DBMS) that offers a suite of WCS services on top of the DBMS. In the current work we extended rasdaman with facilities to: (i) insert and retrieve multi-layer coverages from WCS, (ii) support new formats, such as HDF, adequate for satellite imagery and multi-layer files, and (iii) support Coordinate Reference Systems. We also demonstrate that it is feasible to use MODIS datasets to automatically compute valuable and regularly updated fuel maps, used as input of fire spread simulations. The results also show that in spite of using inexpensive general and low resolution (500m) MODIS maps, we obtained quite acceptable results when compared with the static ones, which are tailored and higher resolution (80m).Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT