Forecasting coal resources and reserves in heterogeneous coal zones using 3D facies models (As Pontes Basin, NW Spain)

Forecasting coal resources and reserves is critical for coal mine development. Thickness maps are commonly used for assessing coal resources and reserves; however they are limited for capturing coal splitting effects in thick and heterogeneous coal zones. As an alternative, three-dimensional geostatistical methods are used to populate facies distributionwithin a densely drilled heterogeneous coal zone in the As Pontes Basin (NWSpain). Coal distribution in this zone is mainly characterized by coal-dominated areas in the central parts of the basin interfingering with terrigenous-dominated alluvial fan zones at the margins. The three-dimensional models obtained are applied to forecast coal resources and reserves. Predictions using subsets of the entire dataset are also generated to understand the performance of methods under limited data constraints. Three-dimensional facies interpolation methods tend to overestimate coal resources and reserves due to interpolation smoothing. Facies simulation methods yield similar resource predictions than conventional thickness map approximations. Reserves predicted by facies simulation methods are mainly influenced by: a) the specific coal proportion threshold used to determine if a block can be recovered or not, and b) the capability of the modelling strategy to reproduce areal trends in coal proportions and splitting between coal-dominated and terrigenousdominated areas of the basin. Reserves predictions differ between the simulation methods, even with dense conditioning datasets. Simulation methods can be ranked according to the correlation of their outputs with predictions from the directly interpolated coal proportion maps: a) with low-density datasets sequential indicator simulation with trends yields the best correlation, b) with high-density datasets sequential indicator simulation with post-processing yields the best correlation, because the areal trends are provided implicitly by the dense conditioning data.

La mort en el món actual i el seu tracte des del treball social

Aquest treball és un aprofundiment teòric sobre la mort en la realitat actual i un anàlisi de com es tractada des del Treball Social. La mort forma part de la vida i vivim en una societat on hi ha la percepció de que es fa negació de la mateixa. A través d'aquest projecte he volgut esbrinar si aquest fet, es veu reflexat en els recursos amb els que els/les treballadors/es socials fan la seva tasca amb persones properes a la mort. La visió de la mort en l’actualitat té moltes definicions i també està lligada al fet de com s'ha viscut al llarg de la història

Interoperability of learning objects copyright in the LUISA semantic learning management system

Semantic Web technology is able to provide the required computational semantics for interoperability of learning resources across different Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Object Repositories (LOR). The EU research project LUISA (Learning Content Management System Using Innovative Semantic Web Services Architecture) addresses the development of a reference semantic architecture for the major challenges in the search, interchange and delivery of learning objects in a service-oriented context. One of the key issues, highlighted in this paper, is Digital Rights Management (DRM) interoperability. A Semantic Web approach to copyright management has been followed, which places a Copyright Ontology as the key component for interoperability among existing DRM systems and other licensing schemes like Creative Commons. Moreover, Semantic Web tools like reasoners, rule engines and semantic queries facilitate the implementation of an interoperable copyright management component in the LUISA architecture.

The resource-based view of the firm - resources, capabilities and sustainable competitive advantage

The main objective of this research paper was to synthesize, integrate and analyze the theoretical foundation of the resource-based view of the firm on sustainable competitive advantage. Accordingly, this research was a literature research employing the methodology of interpretative study of concept and unobtrusive measures. The core and majority of the research data was gathered from the major online journal databases. Only peer-reviewed articles from highly-esteemed journals on the subject of competitive advantage were used. The theoretical core of the research paper was centred on resources, capabilities, and the sustainability dilemma of competitive advantage. Furthermore, other strategic management concepts relating to the resource-based view of the firm were used with reference to the research objectives. The resource-based view of the firm continues to be a controversial but important are of strategic management research on sustainable competitive advantage. Consequently, the theoretical foundation and the empirical testing of the framework needs further work. However, it is evident that internal organizational factors in the form of resources and capabilities are vital for the formation of sustainable competitive advantage. Resources and capabilities are not, however, valuable on their own - competitive advantage requires seamless interplay and complementarity between bundles of resources and capabilities.

Victimización en jóvenes de protección a la infancia y la adolescencia y de justicia juvenil

En Cataluña, un número significativo de niños y adolescentes se encuentra bajo la guarda y tutela del sistema de protección y otros son atendidos por el sistema de justicia juvenil. En muchos casos, estos jóvenes han vivido experiencias de maltratos y abusos por parte de las principales figuras cuidadoras, pero también otras formas de violencia en contextos diversos que pueden incluir: la calle, la escuela, el grupo de iguales, las nuevas tecnologías o los propios centros donde pueden residir provisionalmente. Esta multiplicidad de experiencias de violencia los convierte en lo que se conoce como polivíctimas. Pero entre la experiencia de victimización en la infancia y el desarrollo de problemas psicológicos podemos encontrar la resiliencia, la capacidad del ser humano para superar o recuperarse con éxito de circunstancias adversas. Y aquí es donde los profesionales pueden intervenir con éxito. Los objetivos principales de este estudio son conocer la prevalencia de experiencias de victimización en estos jóvenes, identificar los casos de polivictimización, analizar las características sociodemográficas, victimológicas y el nivel de desajuste psicológico que presentan. Asimismo, identificar perfiles de resiliencia y analizar su efecto en el nivel de malestar psicológico del joven víctima. Los resultados nos indican que son los recursos personales, relativos a la confianza en uno mismo, la fe en un futuro mejor, la capacidad de identificación y conexión con las propias emociones o las habilidades sociales, los que permiten al joven hacer frente a las dificultades con éxito. Estos recursos personales son los que marcarán la diferencia en la posterior reintegración social y correcto desarrollo del joven y, por lo tanto, los que los profesionales deben conocer, fortalecer y desarrollar.

Potential of antioxidant extracts produced by aqueous processing ofrenewable resources for the formulation of cosmetics

The performance of natural extracts obtained from underutilized and residual vegetal and macroalgal biomass processed with food-grade green solvents was compared with that of commercial antioxidants. Selected extracts were obtained from two terrestrial sources: winery byproducts concentrate (WBC) and chestnut burs hydrothermally fractionated extract (CBAE), and from two underutilized seaweeds: Sargassum muticum extracts, either extracted with ethanol (SmEE) or after alginate extraction and hydrothermal fractionation (SmAE) and from Ulva lactuca processed by mild acid extraction and membrane concentration (UlAE). These extracts showed in vitro antioxidant properties comparable to commercial antioxidants and were safe for topical use based on the absence of skin-irritant effects at 0.1% on reconstructed human tissues. The stability of several cosmetic model emulsions was assessed during accelerated oxidation assays. The incorporation of natural extracts produced from renewable underutilized resources at 0.4-0.5% in an oil-in-water emulsions reduced lipid oxidation during storage.

Asset freezing, corporate political resources and the Tullock paradox

In 1967, Gordon Tullock asked why firms do not spend more on campaign contributions, despite the large rents that could be generated from political activities. We suggest in this paper that part of the puzzle could come from the fact that one important type of political activity has been neglected by the literature which focuses on campaign contributions or political connections. We call this neglected activity "asset freezing": situations in which firms delay lay-offs or invest in specific technologies to support local politicians' re-election objectives. In doing so, firms bear a potentially significant cost as they do not use a portion of their economic assets in the most efficient or productive way. The purpose of this paper is to provide a first theoretical exploration of this phenomenon. Building on the literature on corporate political resources, we argue that a firm's economic assets can be evaluated based on their degree of "political freezability," which depends on the flexibility of their use and on their value for policy-makers. We then develop a simple model in which financial contributions and freezing assets are alternative options for a firm willing to lawfully influence public policy-making, and derive some of our initial hypotheses more formally.

Accessibility, equity and the sharing of water resources

While the supply of water to dry or arid mountain regions has long been a major challenge, the on-going processes of climatic and socio-economic change currently affecting the hydrosystems of the Alps raise the spectre of renewed pressure on water resources and possible local shortages. In such a context, questions relating to fair distribution of water are all the more sensitive given the tendency to neglect the social dimension of sustainability. The present paper makes both a conceptual and empirical contribution to this debate by analysing a system of distribution that has a long experience of water scarcity management: the community governance models traditionally linked to the irrigation channels, or bisses, typical of the Swiss Alpine canton of Valais. More specifically, we evaluate these models in terms of accessibility and equity, characteristics that we use to operationalize the notion of 'fair distribution'. We examine these dimensions in three case studies with a view to highlighting the limitations of the aforementioned models. Indeed, despite their cooperative and endogenous nature, they tend to not only exclude certain members of the population, but also to reproduce rather than reduce social inequalities within the community. In general, these results challenge the rosy picture generally found in the literature relating to these community governance models.

CLARIN: common language resources and technology infrastructure

Presentamos el proyecto CLARIN, un proyecto cuyo objetivo es potenciar el uso de instrumentos tecnológicos en la investigación en las Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales

Creative Commons lizentziak Estatu espainiarrean

Duela pare bat urte gutxi batzuk ezagutzen zituzten Creative Commons lizentziak, baina gaur egun termino hori sarean libre dauden obra digitaletarako lizentzien estandarrari lotzen ari zaio, GNU (GPL, LGPL) proiektuko lizentziak software librerako estandar bati lotzen zaizkion bezala