AgShare : Building Community and Content with Multiple Partners

Michigan State University and OER Africa are creating a win-win collaboration of existing organizations for African publishing, localizing, and sharing of teaching and learning materials that fill critical resource gaps in African MSc agriculture curriculum. By the end of the 18-month planning and pilot initiative, African agriculture universities, faculty, students, researchers, NGO leaders, extension staff, and farmers will participate in building AgShare by demonstrating its benefits and outcomes and by building momentum and support for growth.

Building a Manifesto for OER sustainability : UK experiences

Evidence of sustainability, or the potential to achieve this, is increasingly a pre-requisite for OER activity, whether imposed by funders, by institutions requiring a 'business case' for OER, or practitioners themselves - academics, educational technologists and librarians, concerned about how to justify engagement with a unfamiliar, and unproven practices, in today's climate of limited resource. However, it is not clear what is meant by 'sustainability' in relation to OER, what will be needed to achieve or demonstrate this, nor who the expectation of sustainability relates to. This paper draws on experiences of UK OER projects to identify aspirations that those involved in delivering OER activity have for OER sustainability ¿ what a 'manifesto' for OER sustainability beyond project funding, based on OER use, might look like.

Lightweight monitoring of label switched paths for bandwidth management

The purpose of resource management is the efficient and effective use of network resources, for instance bandwidth. In this article, a connection oriented network scenario is considered, where a certain amount of bandwidth is reserved for each label switch path (LSP), which is a logical path, in a MPLS or GMPLS environment. Assuming there is also some kind of admission control (explicit or implicit), these environments typically provide quality of service (QoS) guarantees. It could happen that some LSPs become busy, thus rejecting connections, while other LSPs may be under-utilised. We propose a distributed lightweight monitoring technique, based on threshold values, the objective of which is to detect congestion when it occurs in an LSP and activate the corresponding alarm which will trigger a dynamic bandwidth reallocation mechanism

NetEye - Network Monitoring, Zabbix implementation

Con este proyecto se pretende implementar en un entorno real la herramienta Zabbix de monitoring de red. La idea es realizar un estudio de las necesidades, instalar la plataforma base, comprobar con ejemplos reales que la plataforma cumple con las necesidades corporativas y por último diseñar el plan de acción para el despliegue final a la organización.

Monitoring switch-type sensors and powering autonomous sensors via inductive coupling: application to removable seats in vehicles

Aquesta tesi explora la possibilitat de fer servir enllaços inductius per a una aplicació de l’automòbil on el cablejat entre la centraleta (ECU) i els sensors o detectors és difícil o impossible. S’han proposat dos mètodes: 1) el monitoratge de sensors commutats (dos possibles estats) via acoblament inductiu i 2) la transmissió mitjançant el mateix principi físic de la potència necessària per alimentar els sensors autònoms remots. La detecció d'ocupació i del cinturó de seguretat per a seients desmuntables pot ser implementada amb sistemes sense fils passius basats en circuits ressonants de tipus LC on l'estat dels sensors determina el valor del condensador i, per tant, la freqüència de ressonància. Els canvis en la freqüència són detectats per una bobina situada en el terra del vehicle. S’ha conseguit provar el sistema en un marge entre 0.5 cm i 3 cm. Els experiments s’han dut a terme fent servir un analitzador d’impedàncies connectat a una bobina primària i sensors comercials connectats a un circuit remot. La segona proposta consisteix en transmetre remotament la potència des d’una bobina situada en el terra del vehicle cap a un dispositiu autònom situat en el seient. Aquest dispositiu monitorarà l'estat dels detectors (d'ocupació i de cinturó) i transmetrà les dades mitjançant un transceptor comercial de radiofreqüència o pel mateix enllaç inductiu. S’han avaluat les bobines necessàries per a una freqüència de treball inferior a 150 kHz i s’ha estudiat quin és el regulador de tensió més apropiat per tal d’aconseguir una eficiència global màxima. Quatre tipus de reguladors de tensió s’han analitzat i comparat des del punt de vista de l’eficiència de potència. Els reguladors de tensió de tipus lineal shunt proporcionen una eficiència de potència millor que les altres alternatives, els lineals sèrie i els commutats buck o boost. Les eficiències aconseguides han estat al voltant del 40%, 25% i 10% per les bobines a distàncies 1cm, 1.5cm, i 2cm. Les proves experimentals han mostrat que els sensors autònoms han estat correctament alimentats fins a distàncies de 2.5cm.

Monitorización de estructuras y gestión de edificios: Building Management

El objetivo del proyecto es realizar un sistema de monitorizacion de estructuras y gestión de edificios para controlar en todo momento el estado de los mismos. Se controlará cualquier aspecto que pueda afectar al edificio, como es la temperatura, la humedad, la oscilación del edificio; además de otros aspectos que ayuden a que el edificio se mantenga seguro y en perfecto estado como alarmas de seguridad, luminosidad, etc.

Monitoring procedures in environmental geochemistry and compositional data analysis theory

First discussion on compositional data analysis is attributable to Karl Pearson, in 1897. However, notwithstanding the recent developments on algebraic structure of the simplex, more than twenty years after Aitchison’s idea of log-transformations of closed data, scientific literature is again full of statistical treatments of this type of data by using traditional methodologies. This is particularly true in environmental geochemistry where besides the problem of the closure, the spatial structure (dependence) of the data have to be considered. In this work we propose the use of log-contrast values, obtained by asimplicial principal component analysis, as LQGLFDWRUV of given environmental conditions. The investigation of the log-constrast frequency distributions allows pointing out the statistical laws able togenerate the values and to govern their variability. The changes, if compared, for example, with the mean values of the random variables assumed as models, or other reference parameters, allow definingmonitors to be used to assess the extent of possible environmental contamination. Case study on running and ground waters from Chiavenna Valley (Northern Italy) by using Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3-, SO4 2- and Cl- concentrations will be illustrated

The building blocks of international ecological footprint inequality: a regression-based decomposition

This paper performs an empirical Decomposition of International Inequality in Ecological Footprint in order to quantify to what extent explanatory variables such as a country’s affluence, economic structure, demographic characteristics, climate and technology contributed to international differences in terms of natural resource consumption during the period 1993-2007. We use a Regression-Based Inequality Decomposition approach. As a result, the methodology extends qualitatively the results obtained in standard environmental impact regressions as it comprehends further social dimensions of the Sustainable Development concept, i.e. equity within generations. The results obtained point to prioritizing policies that take into account both future and present generations.

The Building Blocks of International Ecological Footprint inequality: A Regression-Base Decomposition

This paper performs an empirical Decomposition of International Inequality in Ecological Footprint in order to quantify to what extent explanatory variables such as a country’s affluence, economic structure, demographic characteristics, climate and technology contributed to international differences in terms of natural resource consumption during the period 1993-2007. We use a Regression- Based Inequality Decomposition approach. As a result, the methodology extends qualitatively the results obtained in standard environmental impact regressions as it comprehends further social dimensions of the Sustainable Development concept, i.e. equity within generations. The results obtained point to prioritizing policies that take into account both future and present generations. Keywords: Ecological Footprint Inequality, Regression-Based Inequality Decomposition, Intragenerational equity, Sustainable development.

Developing methodologies to allow the robust prediction dynamic context dominated by perturbations

El principal objectiu del projecte era desenvolupar millores conceptuals i metodològiques que permetessin una millor predicció dels canvis en la distribució de les espècies (a una escala de paisatge) derivats de canvis ambientals en un context dominat per pertorbacions. En un primer estudi, vàrem comparar l'eficàcia de diferents models dinàmics per a predir la distribució de l'hortolà (Emberiza hortulana). Els nostres resultats indiquen que un model híbrid que combini canvis en la qualitat de l'hàbitat, derivats de canvis en el paisatge, amb un model poblacional espacialment explícit és una aproximació adequada per abordar canvis en la distribució d'espècies en contextos de dinàmica ambiental elevada i una capacitat de dispersió limitada de l'espècie objectiu. En un segon estudi abordarem la calibració mitjançant dades de seguiment de models de distribució dinàmics per a 12 espècies amb preferència per hàbitats oberts. Entre les conclusions extretes destaquem: (1) la necessitat de que les dades de seguiment abarquin aquelles àrees on es produeixen els canvis de qualitat; (2) el biaix que es produeix en la estimació dels paràmetres del model d'ocupació quan la hipòtesi de canvi de paisatge o el model de qualitat d'hàbitat són incorrectes. En el darrer treball estudiarem el possible impacte en 67 espècies d’ocells de diferents règims d’incendis, definits a partir de combinacions de nivells de canvi climàtic (portant a un augment esperat de la mida i freqüència d’incendis forestals), i eficiència d’extinció per part dels bombers. Segons els resultats dels nostres models, la combinació de factors antropogènics del regim d’incendis, tals com l’abandonament rural i l’extinció, poden ser més determinants per als canvis de distribució que els efectes derivats del canvi climàtic. Els productes generats inclouen tres publicacions científiques, una pàgina web amb resultats del projecte i una llibreria per a l'entorn estadístic R.

Non-invasive monitoring of diaphragmatic timing by means of surface contact sensors: an experimental study in dogs

Background: Non-invasive monitoring of respiratory muscle function is an area of increasing research interest, resulting in the appearance of new monitoring devices, one of these being piezoelectric contact sensors. The present study was designed to test whether the use of piezoelectric contact (non-invasive) sensors could be useful in respiratory monitoring, in particular in measuring the timing of diaphragmatic contraction.Methods: Experiments were performed in an animal model: three pentobarbital anesthetized mongrel dogs. The motion of the thoracic cage was acquired by means of a piezoelectric contact sensor placed on the costal wall. This signal is compared with direct measurements of the diaphragmatic muscle length, made by sonomicrometry. Furthermore, to assess the diaphragmatic function other respiratory signals were acquired: respiratory airflow and transdiaphragmatic pressure. Diaphragm contraction time was estimated with these four signals. Using diaphragm length signal as reference, contraction times estimated with the other three signals were compared with the contraction time estimated with diaphragm length signal.Results: The contraction time estimated with the TM signal tends to give a reading 0.06 seconds lower than the measure made with the DL signal (-0.21 and 0.00 for FL and DP signals, respectively), with a standard deviation of 0.05 seconds (0.08 and 0.06 for FL and DP signals, respectively). Correlation coefficients indicated a close link between time contraction estimated with TM signal and contraction time estimated with DL signal (a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.98, a reliability coefficient of 0.95, a slope of 1.01 and a Spearman's rank-order coefficient of 0.98). In general, correlation coefficients and mean and standard deviation of the difference were better in the inspiratory load respiratory test than in spontaneous ventilation tests.Conclusion: The technique presented in this work provides a non-invasive method to assess the timing of diaphragmatic contraction in canines, using a piezoelectric contact sensor placed on the costal wall.

Towards a User-Friendly Platform for Building Language Resources based on Web Services

This paper presents the platform developed in the PANACEA project, a distributed factory that automates the stages involved in the acquisition, production, updating and maintenance of Language Resources required by Machine Translation and other Language Technologies. We adopt a set of tools that have been successfully used in the Bioinformatics field, they are adapted to the needs of our field and used to deploy web services, which can be combined to build more complex processing chains (workflows). This paper describes the platform and its different components (web services, registry, workflows, social network and interoperability). We demonstrate the scalability of the platform by carrying out a set of massive data experiments. Finally, a validation of the platform across a set of required criteria proves its usability for different types of users (non-technical users and providers).

Immigration and contested nation-building : explaining the political salience of immigration in multi-national societies

Multi-national societies present a complex setting for the politics of immigration, as migration’s linguistic, economic and cultural effects may coincide with existing contestation over nationhood between sub-units and the central state. Empirically, though, political actors only sometimes, and in some places, explicitly connect the politics of immigration to the stakes of multi-level politics. With reference to Canada, Belgium and the United Kingdom, this paper examines the conditions under which political leaders link immigration to ongoing debate about governance in multi-national societies. The paper argues that the distribution of policy competencies in the multi-level system is less important for shaping immigration and integration politics than is the perceived impact (positive or negative) on the sub-unit’s societal culture or its power relationship with the center. Immigration and integration are more often politicized where center and sub-unit hold divergent views on migration and its place in national identity.

Financiación capitativa, articulación entre niveles asistenciales y descentralización de las organizaciones sanitarias

Public organisations are subjected to weak incentivesfor competition. Therefore, institutional Darwinismcannot apply. Regulation and performance monitoring isrequired to protect the public interest. This isparticularly the case of organisations in the healthcare arena, since strong incentives may risk the wholesupply of public health services. Regarding to the pathdependence of the Spanish public health institutionswith respect to the international experience and theobserved health technological changes, this paper triesto ground some theoretical bases for the organisationalchange in our health system. We do this by building ourargument from the very basic public goal: the improvementof the health status of the Spanish population. Thisrequires a better integration of health care services.To this regard, capitation in finance shows somecomparative advantages: it takes an integral view forthe care of the population, it allows for a betterdecentralisation ('deconcentration') of risks to healthproviders and favours managed care under a globalperspective, replacing partial payment to differentproviders. However, the paper shows some potentiallimitations for this purpose and the need of a gradualstrategy for its implementation.