Determining highway corridors

In the highway development process, the first planning stage is that of selecting a corridor along which the highway is to pass. Highway corridor selection represents a multicriteria decision process in which a variety of social, enviromental and economic factors must be evaluated and weighted for a large number of corridor alternatives. This paper proposes a demand-based approach to provide a set of potential corridors. The problem is formulated as a continuous location model which seeks a set of optimal corridors with respect to the demand of potential users while satisfying budget constraints. This model uses geographical information in order to estimate the length-dependent costs (such as pavement and construction cost) and the cost of earth movement. A procedure for finding the best local minima of the optimization model is proposed. This method is tested using the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm, two algorithms of the Simulated Annealing type and the Simplex Nedelmar method. An application using the Castilla-La Mancha\s geographic database is presented

Geographic information systems - GIS, a view from the water resource

This research paper presents an overview of the state of the art Geographic Information Systems - GIS, which has been defined and characterized important aspects about these systems and their contribution to the analysis of water bodies from various use and development, which allows the achievement of the Platform for water Resources Network of the Colombian Caribbea

Geographic information systems - GIS, a view from the water resource

This research paper presents an overview of the state of the art Geographic Information Systems - GIS, which has been defined and characterized important aspects about these systems and their contribution to the analysis of water bodies from various use and development, which allows the achievement of the Platform for water Resources Network of the Colombian Caribbea

Prediction of pig trade movements in different European production systems with exponential random graph models

In most European countries, data regarding movements of live animals are routinely collected and can greatly aid predictive epidemic modeling. However, the use of complete movements' dataset to conduct policy-relevant predictions has been so far limited by the massive amount of data that have to be processed (e.g., in intensive commercial systems) or the restricted availability of timely and updated records on animal movements (e.g., in areas where small-scale or extensive production is predominant). The aim of this study was to use exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to reproduce, understand, and predict pig trade networks in different European production systems. Three trade networks were built by aggregating movements of pig batches among premises (farms and trade operators) over 2011 in Bulgaria, Extremadura (Spain), and Côtes-d'Armor (France), where small-scale, extensive, and intensive pig production are predominant, respectively. Three ERGMs were fitted to each network with various demographic and geographic attributes of the nodes as well as six internal network configurations. Several statistical and graphical diagnostic methods were applied to assess the goodness of fit of the models. For all systems, both exogenous (attribute-based) and endogenous (network-based) processes appeared to govern the structure of pig trade network, and neither alone were capable of capturing all aspects of the network structure. Geographic mixing patterns strongly structured pig trade organization in the small-scale production system, whereas belonging to the same company or keeping pigs in the same housing system appeared to be key drivers of pig trade, in intensive and extensive production systems, respectively. Heterogeneous mixing between types of production also explained a part of network structure, whichever production system considered. Limited information is thus needed to capture most of the global structure of pig trade networks. Such findings will be useful to simplify trade networks analysis and better inform European policy makers on risk-based and more cost-effective prevention and control against swine diseases such as African swine fever, classical swine fever, or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome

Levels and patterns of objectively assessed physical activity and compliance with different public health guidelines in university students

ArticleBackground Physical activity (PA) is associated with health enhancement. The aim of this study was to assess: 1) levels and patterns of PA in university students by using accelerometers; and 2) the percentage of fulfilment of PA recommendations for adults, according to different public health guidelines. Methods Observational cross-sectional study (Cuenca’s Adults Study) involving 296 (206 women) healthy Spanish university students aged 18–25 years old. Participants wore the ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer for seven consecutive days. Total PA, steps and time spent in sedentary time, light, moderate, vigorous, and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was assessed, and the prevalence of sufficient PA was calculated according to various public health guidelines. Results No sex differences in total PA were found. University students were more sedentary during weekend days than weekdays (p<0.05). Only 30.3% of participants accumulated 30 min/day at least five days a week of MVPA. A total of 5.4% of students met the recommendation of 150 min/week of MVPA or 75 min/week of vigorous PA, in PA bouts of at least 10 min. using the same definition, but on five or more days a week, only 0.5% students were found to meet the recommendation. In addition, only 0.5% of students met the recommendation of 30 min/day of MVPA, at least five days a week and in bouts of at least 10 min. Finally, 28.1% of the students met the recommendation of 10,000 steps/day. Conclusions Our study shows a high incidence of sedentary time in university students. The number of students meeting PA recommendations significantly differed depending on the recommendation proposed. Specific strategies to promote PA in this population are necessary as well as an agreement as to which PA guidelines should be used.Fundación para la Investigación SanitariaMinistry of Health and Consumer AffairsInstituto de Salud Carlos IIIRed de Investigación en Actividades Preventivas y de Promoción de Salu

Difractómetro de grandes componentes para el reactor RA-10

En CNEA se encuentra en ejecución el ?Proyecto RA-10? para la construcción de un reactor multipropósito. Entre los objetivos principales del RA-10 está la provisión de haces de neutrones para la realización de experimentos dentro de un amplio espectro de disciplinas científicas y tecnológicas. Por sus múltiples aplicaciones, la difracción de neutrones es una de las técnicas neutrónicas más populares. El gran poder de penetración de los neutrones (del orden de cm) permite investigar el interior de un objeto sin necesidad de cortarlo. Así es posible estudiar en forma no-destructiva objetos macroscópicos y cuantificar la variación espacial de las fases cristalinas que lo componen, las orientaciones de esos cristalitos, y su nivel de deformación plástica y elástica.En particular, es posible determinar las tensiones internas en componentes mecánicos de gran porte, un tema de gran importancia dentro de la industria metal-mecánica. En este caso los planos cristalinos son utilizados como extensómetros microscópicos, y las pequeñas variaciones que existen en las distancias interplanares para las distintas direcciones de un objeto son utilizados para cuantificar el tensor completo de deformación elástica.La posibilidad de realizar experimentos de difracción sobre objetos intactos ha despertado también gran interés dentro de la comunidad dedicada al estudio y la conservación del patrimonio cultural.Presentamos aquí el diseño básico de un difractómetro para el estudio de grandes componentes, para ser instalado en un haz térmico de la sala del reactor RA-10, es decir, directamente contra la pared del mismo.Se propone equiparlo con dos monocromadores diferentes, para poder optar entre mayor intensidad o mayor resolución. Los monocromadores propuestos son doblemente curvados, a fin de enfocar el haz sobre la posición de medición y optimizar la resolución del equipo para la reflexión de mayor interés. Un componente central del instrumento es el portamuestras, consistente en una mesa con capacidad de posicionar componentes de hasta ~300kg de peso con una precisión de ~20um, una resolución espacial de ~1mm, y rotar los mismos a fin de explorar distintas direcciones. Presentaremos además avances realizados sobre un prototipo a menor escala, que comparte algunas características del diseño propuesto, que será instalado en el reactor RA-6 del Centro Atómico Bariloche.Fil: Santisteban, Javier Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez, F.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; ArgentinaFil: Moreira, F.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, S.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Tartaglione, Aureliano. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Malamud, Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Vicente Alvarez, Miguel Angel. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gimenez, M.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Vizcaino, Pablo. Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Gerencia de Area de Aplicaciones de la Tecnología Nuclear. Gerencia Ciclo del Combustible Nuclear. Laboratorio D/mat.d/la Fabrica de Aleaciones Especiales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Environment, vector, or host? Using machine learning to untangle the mechanisms driving arbovirus outbreaks

Climatic, landscape, and host features are critical components in shaping out-breaks of vector-borne diseases. However, the relationship between the outbreaks of vector-borne pathogens and their environmental drivers is typically complicated, nonlinear, and mayvary by taxonomic units below the species level (e.g., strain or serotype). Here, we aim tountangle how these complex forces shape the risk of outbreaks of Bluetongue virus (BTV); avector-borne pathogen that is continuously emerging and re-emerging across Europe, with sev-ere economic implications. We tested if the ecological predictors of BTV outbreak risk wereserotype-specific by examining the most prevalent serotypes recorded in Europe (1, 4, and 8).We used a robust machine learning (ML) pipeline and 23 relevant environmental features to fitpredictive models to 24,245 outbreaks reported in 25 European countries between 2000 and2019. Our ML models demonstrated high predictive performance for all BTV serotypes (accu-racies>0.87) and revealed strong nonlinear relationships between BTV outbreak risk andenvironmental and host features. Serotype-specific analysis suggests, however, that each of themajor serotypes (1, 4, and 8) had a unique outbreak risk profile. For example, temperature andmidge abundance were as the most important characteristics shaping serotype 1, whereas forserotype 4 goat density and temperature were more important. We were also able to identifystrong interactive effects between environmental and host characteristics that were also sero-type specific. Our ML pipeline was able to reveal more in-depth insights into the complex epi-demiology of BTVs and can guide policymakers in intervention strategies to help reduce theeconomic implications and social cost of this important pathogen