Safety in vicinity of industrials plants: risk assessment and land use planning

The aim of this book is to survey on different Land Use Planning and safety approaches in vicinity of industrial plants. As this research is associated with three broad fields of Land Use Planning, safety and security, the set principle is to avoid unnecessary and over detailed information, but including the useful ones to provide a comprehensive resource which can be applicable for several purposes. Besides, the proposed method, which is explained in Chapter 7, can initiate a new field for future of Land Use Planning in vicinity of industrial plants.

University and Network Society : research report (synthesis document)

Document de síntesi d'aquest estudi que analitza -seguint una metodologia quantitativa basada en una mostra representativa de 2.093 professors i 23.864 estudiants i reforçada amb elements qualitatius- la transició que es produeix en el sistema universitari públic català cap a un model més adaptat a les noves necessitats de la societat xarxa. Per a això, es posa especial èmfasi en l'anàlisi dels usos que es fa d'Internet (l'eina clau de la societat xarxa) en el món universitari i en les transformacions que es donen o es donaran com a conseqüència d'aquests usos.

Research librarians in a virtual environment : new skills, new services

This paper highlights both the new functions taken on by UOC research librarians and the new skills that this professional profile requires, based on the experience of the UOC Virtual Library. By setting up a series of bibliometric units, the Library has been able to integrate itself into the University through bibliometric studies and other research support services. A group of research librarians provides support to researchers from the start of the research process to the assessment of their scientific output. They also provide support for the University's strategic decision-making through the analysis of bibliometric data.

Research librarians in a virtual environment : new skills, new services

This poster highlights both the new functions taken on by UOC research librarians and the new skills that this professional profile requires, based on the experience of the UOC Virtual Library. By setting up a series of bibliometric units, the Library has been able to integrate itself into the University through bibliometric studies and other research support services. A group of research librarians provides support to researchers from the start of the research process to the assessment of their scientific output. They also provide support for the University's strategic decision-making through the analysis of bibliometric data.

Resource management research in Passive Optical Networks (PON)

Next Generation Access Networks (NGAN) are the new step forward to deliver broadband services and to facilitate the integration of different technologies. It is plausible to assume that, from a technological standpoint, the Future Internet will be composed of long-range high-speed optical networks; a number of wireless networks at the edge; and, in between, several access technologies, among which, the Passive Optical Networks (xPON) are very likely to succeed, due to their simplicity, low-cost, and increased bandwidth. Among the different PON technologies, the Ethernet-PON (EPON) is the most promising alternative to satisfy operator and user needs, due to its cost, flexibility and interoperability with other technologies. One of the most interesting challenges in such technologies relates to the scheduling and allocation of resources in the upstream (shared) channel. The aim of this research project is to study and evaluate current contributions and propose new efficient solutions to address the resource allocation issues in Next Generation EPON (NG-EPON). Key issues in this context are future end-user needs, integrated quality of service (QoS) support and optimized service provisioning for real time and elastic flows. This project will unveil research opportunities, issue recommendations and propose novel mechanisms associated with the convergence within heterogeneous access networks and will thus serve as a basis for long-term research projects in this direction. The project has served as a platform for the generation of new concepts and solutions that were published in national and international conferences, scientific journals and also in book chapter. We expect some more research publications in addition to the ones mentioned to be generated in a few months.

Companies in Conflict Situations: Advancing the Research Agenda. Seminar proceedings. Barcelona, october 2011

Seminar proceedings about the Seminar “Companies in Confict Situations”, organized by ICIP, with the aim of reflecting on the causes, the dynamics and the consequences of the participation of companies in armed conflicts. Over thirty international experts will be participating in the conferences to analyze the role and responsibilities of companies in connection with the international arms market (especially regarding small arms, light weapons and conventional weapons), the provision of military and security services, and the exploitation of, and trade in, natural resources.

Application of the european customer satisfaction index to postal services. Structural equation models versus partial least squars

Customer satisfaction and retention are key issues for organizations in today’s competitive market place. As such, much research and revenue has been invested in developing accurate ways of assessing consumer satisfaction at both the macro (national) and micro (organizational) level, facilitating comparisons in performance both within and between industries. Since the instigation of the national customer satisfaction indices (CSI), partial least squares (PLS) has been used to estimate the CSI models in preference to structural equation models (SEM) because they do not rely on strict assumptions about the data. However, this choice was based upon some misconceptions about the use of SEM’s and does not take into consideration more recent advances in SEM, including estimation methods that are robust to non-normality and missing data. In this paper, both SEM and PLS approaches were compared by evaluating perceptions of the Isle of Man Post Office Products and Customer service using a CSI format. The new robust SEM procedures were found to be advantageous over PLS. Product quality was found to be the only driver of customer satisfaction, while image and satisfaction were the only predictors of loyalty, thus arguing for the specificity of postal services

From MuSIASEM theory to practice: report and reflections from field research in Kampot province, Cambodia

This document contains a report and summary of the field research activities in a rural community of rice farmers in Kampot province, Cambodia in 2011, which I conducted within the context of my PhD research at ICTA-UAB (Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain). The purpose of the field research was to gather data for a MuSIASEM analysis (Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism) at the village and household level, in order to analyze the multidimensional challenges that small farmers may face nowadays within the context of global rural change and declining access to land. While the literature on MuSIASEM offers a great variety of theoretical explanations and practical applications, there is little information available for students regarding the practical steps required for doing a MuSIASEM analysis at the local level. Within this context, this report offers not only a documentation of the field research design and data collection methods, but further provides a general overview on some organizational and preparative aspects, including some personal reflections, that one may face when preparing and conducting field research for MuSIASEM analysis. In summary, this document thus serves three objectives: (i) to assure methodological transparency for the future work, based on the collected data during field research, (ii) to share my personal experience on the preparative and practical steps required for field research and data collection for a MuSIASEM analysis at the local level, and (iii) to make available for the further interested reader some more detailed background information on the case study village.

Domestic and International Research Joint Ventures: The Effect of Collusion

We analyze the effect of research joint ventures (RJVs) on consumer welfare in an international context when collusion can occur. The main novelty of our analysis is to study the differentiated effect of domestic and international RJVs. The recent literature shows that RJVs with collusion harm consumers. However, our results introduce a qualifi cation to this statement: international RJVs with collusion might be bene ficial for consumers when internationalization costs are high. The EU and US competition policy advises against RJVs that facilitate collusion on the grounds of their expected negative effects. Our results suggest that antitrust authorities should distinguish between domestic and international RJVs and, in certain cases, be more benevolent with international RJVs. Keywords: collusion; domestic research joint venture; international research joint venture JEL Classi fication Numbers: K21, L24, L44, O32