Architecture of Environmental Risk Modelling: for a faster and more robust response to natural disasters

Demands on the disaster response capacity of the European Union are likely to increase, as the impacts of disasters continue to grow both in size and frequency. This has resulted in intensive research on issues concerning spatially-explicit information and modelling and their multiple sources of uncertainty. Geospatial support is one of the forms of assistance frequently required by emergency response centres along with hazard forecast and event management assessment. Robust modelling of natural hazards requires dynamic simulations under an array of multiple inputs from different sources. Uncertainty is associated with meteorological forecast and calibration of the model parameters. Software uncertainty also derives from the data transformation models (D-TM) needed for predicting hazard behaviour and its consequences. On the other hand, social contributions have recently been recognized as valuable in raw-data collection and mapping efforts traditionally dominated by professional organizations. Here an architecture overview is proposed for adaptive and robust modelling of natural hazards, following the Semantic Array Programming paradigm to also include the distributed array of social contributors called Citizen Sensor in a semantically-enhanced strategy for D-TM modelling. The modelling architecture proposes a multicriteria approach for assessing the array of potential impacts with qualitative rapid assessment methods based on a Partial Open Loop Feedback Control (POLFC) schema and complementing more traditional and accurate a-posteriori assessment. We discuss the computational aspect of environmental risk modelling using array-based parallel paradigms on High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms, in order for the implications of urgency to be introduced into the systems (Urgent-HPC).Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, 1 text box, presented at the 3rd Conference of Computational Interdisciplinary Sciences (CCIS 2014), Asuncion, Paragua

Study of Particle Size Effect on the Performance of TiO2 Nanoparticles as Lubricant Additives on Vegetable Oil-Based Nanolubricants

Recently there has been an increase in concern regarding the use of petroleum-based lubricants. This has created an interest in readily available biodegradable lubricants such as vegetable oils. This work evaluates the rheological and tribological performance of grapeseed, and sunflower oils altered with 5, 18, and 40 nanometer titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles at differing concentrations. Block-on-ring tests were performed using the ASTM G-077-05 standard procedure. The effect of nanoparticle size and concentration and shear rate on the viscosity were evaluated and the experimental data was compared to conventional models. Roughness tests were performed on the wear scar of the blocks used. From the experimental results, it was found that the use of nanoparticles in vegetable lubricants were able to reduce the coefficient of friction, volumetric wear, and torque of the system. The development of these vegetable oil nanolubricants show great potential as possible replacements to mineral and some synthetic oils

Political competition and the allocation of public investment in Mexico

This paper examines the causality between central government spending in regions and local elections, in an environment of increasing electoral competition and a undefined decentralisation. This study examines Mexican elections during the period 1990-1995 where the main party started loosing part of its influence and there were many claims of use of the budget to favour the central governing party. We employ data on public investment and municipalities ruled by the PRI in each Mexican region. The evidence shows that there is opportunistic behaviour of the central government using public investment to gain local control of pressures for decentralisation.

TV series and movies in the teaching of legal english vocabulary

76 Páginas.This project was the result of searching for a meaningful way in which to teach Legal English. This research study examines how movies and TV series can be used for this purpose. This project was conducted at Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá branch, with a group of 22 students studying their ninth semester of Law with an Upper Intermediate level of proficiency. In previous courses, these students had to learn legal concepts in their L1 (Spanish) and this course was their first one dealing with legal concepts in their L2 (English). TV series such as The Simpsons and Shark were used for this purpose as well as extracts from movies namely Liar Liar and The Green Mile. In order to take advantage of these types of videos, several workshops were designed. A Qualitative Action Research Study was used to conduct this project. In order to collect data diaries and surveys were used and video transcripts were taken from the students’ trials. The findings of this project suggest the manner in which students learned and were also able to enjoy this experience. The researcher found a meaningful way to teach legal vocabulary. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the participants did not only learn legal vocabulary but also legal content. Thus, when movies and TV series are well exploited, they become an excellent aid for the language class

The mathematical model of Schizosaccharomyces pombe : Batch and repeated batch simulations.

Mathematical models are playing an important part in the current developments in engineering, science and biotechnology. Within this field the most fashionable and representative organisms are the ones who are genetically and physiologically tractable. Since the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe plays a role model among them and its behaviour has medical, genetic and industrial links (related to cancer research, metabolic pathways and beer production), this makes it a particularly interesting organism for study. This dissertation presents the first physiological model ever developed for the yeast S. pombe. The model allows for the simulation and prediction of batch and repeated batch experiments which are an important engineering tool in terms of optimization of industrial processes improving yield in bioreactors by predicting precise values of harvest fraction (HF) and dilution cycle times (DCT). The model has been developed within the generic modelling framework of CelCyMUS (Cell Cycle Model University of Surrey). As part of the research being carried out CelCyMUS has been up-dated by introducing the new Fortran 95 features and utilities in order to exploit its powerful new features and to keep the generic model in pace with technological software advancements. The model is a one-dimensional age-based population balance for the fission yeast S. pombe. It includes the four typical phases (S, G2, M and G1) with the G2 phase divided into two phases (G2A, G2B) and two checkpoints that govern the movement of cells between G1 and S, and G2B and M phases. The transitions (movement of cells between phases) are determined by a probability function related to the consumption of glucose. The G2B-M transition is also dependent on cell size, but since individual growth of cells is related to the consumption of the carbon source (in this case glucose), cell size is dependent upon the amount of glucose consumed per cell. The model also includes a phase for cells facing starvation before going into a meiotic cycle, with some chance of coming back to the mitotic cycle, and a death phase that accounts for cells dying with no chance of recovering at all. Parameters in the S. pombe model have been gathered from experimental data in batch culture reported in literature. Data generated from this specific model have been compared with data from experiments (Fotuhi, 2002) in batch and repeated batch cultures of S. pombe following the behaviour of population balance, consumption of nutrients, and production of metabolites. The new code was tested by successftilly reproducing data from mm-321 hybridoma cell line, the first specific model of a cell line developed in CelCyMUS. As a new feature a model of mass transfer has been incorporated in the generic framework. This mass transfer module accounts for interactions of metabolites (oxygen and carbon dioxide) in the gas and liquid phase of bioreactors. The new S. pombe model was fitted to the experiments of Creanor (1992) on synchronised cultures where the consumption of oxygen was being measured. Such experiments identify two points (G2B and G1) where the rate of oxygen uptake increased in the cycle, doubling the consumption at the end of every cycle. With the model fitted to experimental results in synchronised cultures of S. pombe the model was then used to simulate desynchronised cultures. S. pombe was successfully tested when reproducing experimental data generated by Fotuhi (2002) in S.pombe for batch and repeated batch bioreactors. The S. pombe model was able to simulate cell number, oxygen and glucose consumption. Carbon dioxide and ATP production were predicted by the model however there was no experimental data to compare with. Now that the S. pombe model has been tested against experimental data it will be applied in a model-based observer strategy for the online control of bioreactors

Ionic liquids at the air/water interface

We present molecular dynamics experiments of Langmuir monolayers of iodide and chloride salts of 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium adsorbed at water/air interfaces, covering a concentration range that spans from a dilute regime up to the experimental surface saturation for both systems. For the chloride case we observed a propensity to form monolayers with nearly equal surface concentration of both cations and anions; whereas for the iodide system, the more marked propensity to surface solvation of the anionic species leads to the appearance of quasi-double-layered structures. At the surface, the imidazolium rings remain in contact with the aqueous substrate, with a wide variety of orientations with respect to the surface normal direction. Theglobal tilt of the hydrophobic tail of the cations was found to be θtl~40°and 50°, for the chloride and iodide salts, respectively. Polarization fluctuations of the interface are analyzed in terms of those describing charge distributions of the adsorbed species and the electrical response of the solvent as well. The characteristics of the local densities for the ionic species at the interface provide arguments for the microscopic interpretation of the differences observed in scattering experiments on the dependence of the surface tension with the surfactant concentration.Fil: Clavero, Esteban Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Javier. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Proactive analysis for the construction of accessible web environments in higher education

Se presenta un estudio preliminar sobre las barreras socio-tecnológicas que presentan las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación utilizadas por personas con discapacidad visual. Desde el marco conceptual del Dispositivo Hipermedial Dinámico, se adopta un enfoque sistémico complejo. Se toma como caso de estudio el Campus Virtual de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina). Para el análisis se introdujo la noción Accesibilidad-DHD, que integra aspectos técnicos y sociales sobre la conformación de redes socio-técnicas educativas. Los resultados preliminares confirman que las personas con discapacidad visual se encuentran en desventaja en cuanto a su participación, constatándose la necesidad de ponderar el carácter socio-organizacional de la problemática sobre la accesibilidad.Fil: Rodriguez, Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Centro Internacional Franco Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y Sistemas; ArgentinaFil: Laitano, María Inés. Universite de Paris; FranciaFil: Andres, Gonzalo Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Centro Internacional Franco Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y Sistemas; Argentin

The quest for corporate growth

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-122).by Gabriel D. Obrador Ramos and Edmundo E. Ruiz Rodriguez.M.S