The XWS open access catalogue of extreme European windstorms from 1979 to 2012

The XWS (eXtreme WindStorms) catalogue consists of storm tracks and model-generated maximum 3 s wind-gust footprints for 50 of the most extreme winter windstorms to hit Europe in the period 1979–2012. The catalogue is intended to be a valuable resource for both academia and industries such as (re)insurance, for example allowing users to characterise extreme European storms, and validate climate and catastrophe models. Several storm severity indices were investigated to find which could best represent a list of known high-loss (severe) storms. The best-performing index was Sft, which is a combination of storm area calculated from the storm footprint and maximum 925 hPa wind speed from the storm track. All the listed severe storms are included in the catalogue, and the remaining ones were selected using Sft. A comparison of the model footprint to station observations revealed that storms were generally well represented, although for some storms the highest gusts were underestimated. Possible reasons for this underestimation include the model failing to simulate strong enough pressure gradients and not representing convective gusts. A new recalibration method was developed to estimate the true distribution of gusts at each grid point and correct for this underestimation. The recalibration model allows for storm-to-storm variation which is essential given that different storms have different degrees of model bias. The catalogue is available at www.europeanwindstorms.org.

Extracting Causal Graphs from an Open Provenance Data Model

The open provenance architecture (OPA) approach to the challenge was distinct in several regards. In particular, it is based on an open, well-defined data model and architecture, allowing different components of the challenge workflow to independently record documentation, and for the workflow to be executed in any environment. Another noticeable feature is that we distinguish between the data recorded about what has occurred, emphprocess documentation, and the emphprovenance of a data item, which is all that caused the data item to be as it is and is obtained as the result of a query over process documentation. This distinction allows us to tailor the system to separately best address the requirements of recording and querying documentation. Other notable features include the explicit recording of causal relationships between both events and data items, an interaction-based world model, intensional definition of data items in queries rather than relying on explicit naming mechanisms, and emphstyling of documentation to support non-functional application requirements such as reducing storage costs or ensuring privacy of data. In this paper we describe how each of these features aid us in answering the challenge provenance queries.

Can Open Access Save Us?

Just about every time I open a journal or read a blog online, I see something about e-books saving newspapers and magazines. Both magazines and newspapers–and really all scholalry communication–are going the way of all flesh, we’re told, but e-book reading may provide a stay of execution, however short that may be. It got me to thinking if there might be something else that would provide a similarDies Irae proroguement for scholarly communication in general. That’s when it occurred to me it could well be open access (OA), or at least as I envision it here.

Minimal cross-subsidies approach for loss allocation in distribution networks with open access

Open access philosophy applied by regulatory agencies may lead to a scenario where captive consumers will solely face the responsibility on distribution network's losses even with Independent Energy Producers (also known as Distributed Generation) and Independent Energy Consumers connected to the system. This work proposes the utilization of a loss allocation method in distribution systems where open access is allowed, in which cross-subsidies, that appear due to the influence the generators have over the system losses, are minimized. Thus, guaranteeing to some extent the efficiency and transparency of the economic signals of the market. Results obtained through the Zbus loss allocation method adapted for distribution networks are processed in such a way that the corresponding allocation to the generation buses is divided among the consumer buses, while still considering consumers spatial characteristics. © 2007 IEEE.

'Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome: providing an open access future for diabetes research'

Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome (D&MS), the official journal of the Brazilian Diabetes Society (SBD), is a new open access, peer reviewed journal publishing research on all aspects of the pathophysiology of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. With the many ongoing and upcoming challenges for diabetes diagnosis, treatment and care, a dedicated journal providing unrestricted access for researchers and health care professionals working in the field of diabetes is needed. Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome aims to fulfil this need.

White paper sobre Open Source, Open Access, open Standards e o futuro da catalogação

The discussions on the future of cataloging has received increased attention in the last ten years, mainly due to the impact of rapid development of information and communication technologies in the same period, which has provided access to the Web anytime, anywhere. These discussions revolve around the need for a new bibliographic framework to meet the demand of this new reality in the digital environment, ie how libraries can process, store, deliver, share and integrate their collections (physical, digital or scanned), in current post-PC era? Faced with this question, Open Access, Open Source and Open Standards are three concepts that need to receive greater attention in the field of Library and Information Science, as it is believed to be fundamental elements for the change of paradigm of descriptive representation, currently based conceptually on physical item rather than intellectual work. This paper aims to raise and discuss such issues and instigate information professionals, especially librarians, to think, discuss and propose initiatives for such problems, contributing and sharing ideas and possible solutions, in multidisciplinary teams. At the end is suggested the effective creation of multidisciplinary and inter-institutional study groups on the future of cataloging and its impact on national collections, in order to contribute to the area of descriptive representation in national and international level

University of São Paulo, Brazil: open access movement

USP scientific production. USP journals. USP Open Access Movement.

Entrevista radiofónica sobre la incorporación de las tesis de Acceda en Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)

Entrevista realizada a María del Carmen Martín Marichal, directora de la Biblioteca Universitaria de la ULPGC, por la periodista Teresa Cárdenes en el programa de radio Teresa a las 8. La entrevista versa sobre la incorporación de las tesis de Acceda en Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD), también sobre los distintos servicios qu se ofrecen a los usuarios de la Biblioteca.

Bringing results to fruition through publication: An analysis of a peer-reviewed, open access and context-focused journal's editorial practice

When it comes to helping to shape sustainable development, research is most useful when it bridges the science–implementation/management gap and when it brings development specialists and researchers into a dialogue (Hurni et al. 2004); can a peer-reviewed journal contribute to this aim? In the classical system for validation and dissemination of scientific knowledge, journals focus on knowledge exchange within the academic community and do not specifically address a ‘life-world audience’. Within a North-South context, another knowledge divide is added: the peer review process excludes a large proportion of scientists from the South from participating in the production of scientific knowledge (Karlsson et al. 2007). Mountain Research and Development (MRD) is a journal whose mission is based on an editorial strategy to build the bridge between research and development and ensure that authors from the global South have access to knowledge production, ultimately with a view to supporting sustainable development in mountains. In doing so, MRD faces a number of challenges that we would like to discuss with the td-net community, after having presented our experience and strategy as editors of this journal. MRD was launched in 1981 by mountain researchers who wanted mountains to be included in the 1992 Rio process. In the late 1990s, MRD realized that the journal needed to go beyond addressing only the scientific community. It therefore launched a new section addressing a broader audience in 2000, with the aim of disseminating insights into, and recommendations for, the implementation of sustainable development in mountains. In 2006, we conducted a survey among MRD’s authors, reviewers, and readers (Wymann et al. 2007): respondents confirmed that MRD had succeeded in bridging the gap between research and development. But we realized that MRD could become an even more efficient tool for sustainability if development knowledge were validated: in 2009, we began submitting ‘development’ papers (‘transformation knowledge’) to external peer review of a kind different from the scientific-only peer review (for ‘systems knowledge’). At the same time, the journal became open access in order to increase the permeability between science and society, and ensure greater access for readers and authors in the South. We are currently rethinking our review process for development papers, with a view to creating more space for communication between science and society, and enhancing the co-production of knowledge (Roux 2008). Hopefully, these efforts will also contribute to the urgent debate on the ‘publication culture’ needed in transdisciplinary research (Kueffer et al. 2007).

Wissenschaftliches E-Publizieren mit 'Open Access' - Initiativen und Widerstände

Der Beitrag plädiert im Sinne des 'Open-Access'-Movement dafür, wissenschaftliche Publikationen kostenfrei und ohne restriktive 'permission barriers' im Internet weltweit zugänglich zu machen. Er stellt Projekte und Initiativen sowohl in den USA als auch in Deutschland vor und tritt für eine stärkere Rezeption der amerikanischen Ansätze hierzulande ein. 'Open Access' ist nach Auffassung des Artikels die geeignete Antwort auf die Krise der wissenschaftlichen Literatur, die sich nicht nur auf die Zeitschriftenpreise auswirkt, sondern auch dazu führt, dass etwa ein Sammelband in vierfacher Weise von der öffentlichen Hand subventioniert wird und der Staat so seine eigenen Forschungsergebnisse von kommerziellen Verlagen zurückkauft. Es werden Überlegungen angestellt, 'Open Access' nicht nur für Artikel und Bücher zu gewährleisten. Abschließend werden Widerstände und Barrieren thematisiert und Lösungsmöglichkeiten erwogen, wobei den rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen besondere Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt wird.