A Multi-Criteria GIS-Based Route Selection Tool for Hazardous Material Transport: Consideration of Environmental Consequence, Traffic Congestions and Costs

Hazardous materials are substances that, if not regulated, can pose a threat to human populations and their environmental health, safety or property when transported in commerce. About 1.5 million tons of hazardous material shipments are transported by truck in the US annually, with a steady increase of approximately 5% per year. The objective of this study was to develop a routing tool for hazardous material transport in order to facilitate reduced environmental impacts and less transportation difficulties, yet would also find paths that were still compelling for the shipping carriers as a matter of trucking cost. The study started with identification of inhalation hazard impact zones and explosion protective areas around the location of hypothetical hazardous material releases, considering different parameters (i.e., chemicals characteristics, release quantities, atmospheric condition, etc.). Results showed that depending on the quantity of release, chemical, and atmospheric stability (a function of wind speed, meteorology, sky cover, time and location of accidents, etc.) the consequence of these incidents can differ. The study was extended by selection of other evaluation criteria for further investigation because health risk as an evaluation criterion would not be the only concern in selection of routes. Transportation difficulties (i.e., road blockage and congestion) were incorporated as important factor due to their indirect impact/cost on the users of transportation networks. Trucking costs were also considered as one of the primary criteria in selection of hazardous material paths; otherwise the suggested routes would have not been convincing for the shipping companies. The last but not least criterion was proximity of public places to the routes. The approach evolved from a simple framework to a complicated and efficient GIS-based tool able to investigate transportation networks of any given study area, and capable of generating best routing options for cargos. The suggested tool uses a multi-criteria-decision-making method, which considers the priorities of the decision makers in choosing the cargo routes. Comparison of the routing options based on each criterion and also the overall suitableness of the path in regards to all the criteria (using a multi-criteria-decision-making method) showed that using similar tools as the one proposed by this study can provide decision makers insights in the area of hazardous material transport. This tool shows the probable consequences of considering each path in a very easily understandable way; in the formats of maps and tables, which makes the tradeoffs of costs and risks considerably simpler, as in some cases slightly compromising on trucking cost may drastically decrease the probable health risk and/or traffic difficulties. This will not only be rewarding to the community by making cities safer places to live, but also can be beneficial to shipping companies by allowing them to advertise as environmental friendly conveyors.

Insulator-to-metal transition in vanadium supersaturated silicon: variable-range hopping and Kondo effect signatures

We report the observation of the insulator-to-metal transition in crystalline silicon samples supersaturated with vanadium. Ion implantation followed by pulsed laser melting and rapid resolidification produce high quality single-crystalline silicon samples with vanadium concentrations that exceed equilibrium values in more than 5 orders of magnitude. Temperature-dependent analysis of the conductivity and Hall mobility values for temperatures from 10K to 300K indicate that a transition from an insulating to a metallic phase is obtained at a vanadium concentration between 1.1 × 10^(20) and 1.3 × 10^(21) cm^(−3) . Samples in the insulating phase present a variable-range hopping transport mechanism with a Coulomb gap at the Fermi energy level. Electron wave function localization length increases from 61 to 82 nm as the vanadium concentration increases in the films, supporting the theory of impurity band merging from delocalization of levels states. On the metallic phase, electronic transport present a dispersion mechanism related with the Kondo effect, suggesting the presence of local magnetic moments in the vanadium supersaturated silicon material.

L'inscription des genres et de l'intertexte dans Les Bergères de l'apocalypse de Françoise d'Eaubonne

Les bergères de l'Apocalypse est le récit de la protagoniste Ariane qui projette de réécrire, en marge du discours officiel, les événements qui ont conduit à la création d'une société gynocentrique. À la diversité des préoccupations qui alimentent cette vision utopiste de la société répond une indétermination générique qui rend le récit difficile à classer. Mettant en scène une société idéale qui n'en est pas une (puisque les femmes, après l'extermination des hommes, ont reproduit certaines structures de pouvoir patriarcales), l’ouvrage ne peut pas être identifié uniquement comme un roman de science-fiction puisqu'il emprunte à la fois à l'essai, à l’utopie féministe et au récit apocalyptique. Cette hybridation apparaît comme l’un des traits de cet ouvrage éclaté qui multiplie les techniques narratives et les récits dans un cadre où l’intertextualité joue un rôle important. L'hypothèse que je propose pour expliquer une telle variation générique est que le roman représente ici une forme modulable qui marie à la complexité des propositions apportées au discours féministe ambiant. Grâce au mélange des genres et des discours, l'auteure, à travers Ariane, parvient à dialoguer avec une panoplie d'intertextes dont le contrepoint original et touffu ne peut que déconcerter la lectrice. Afin d'analyser le roman, j'observerai comment l’oeuvre exploite les potentiels de généricité dans la forme, les techniques narratives, leur liens avec les motifs écoféministes, ainsi que le mode d'inscription des différents discours.

El merchandising de las marcas de distribución vs. marcas de fabricantes, en productos de alimentación de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid

El presente trabajo se centra en el estudio de ciertos elementos de Marchandising relacionados con la pujanza que en los últimos años han conseguido las marcas propias de la Distribución y sus efectos sobre las marcas de fabricantes, fundamentalmente, líderes. OBJETIVOS Y RESULTADOS: Durante la década analizada, crecieron las Marcas Privadas (MDD) en alimentación y apareció la segunda generación de Marcas Propias (Marcas de Primer Precio: MPP) La bibliografía de Marketing es escasa en referencias al Merchandising y, menos con métodos cuantitativos. De aquí nuestra motivación para abordar este tema que consideramos de gran importancia. Por todo ello nos hemos propuesto cubrir los siguientes objetivos, aunque obviamente se detallan en las hipótesis a corroborar son los siguientes: • Espacio dedicado en el lineal de las MDD vs MF • Situación en el lineal de las MDD vs MF • Comparación de actividades promocionales y sus clases entre las MDDs y las MFs • Comparación de calidad de envases de las MDDs vs MFs • Finalmente hemos querido modernizar y actualizar ciertos contenidos académicos. HIPÓTESIS A CORROBORAR HIPÓTESIS TEÓRICA: Las enseñas con marcas de distribución, con el objetivo de incrementar el margen bruto de los productos con estas marcas, tienden a optimizar las acciones de marketing de sus marcas vs. las marcas líderes, en sus mismos mercados. HIPÓTESIS BÁSICAS: H1.- Las Marcas de Distribuidor gozan de, al menos, igual longitud de lineal que las marcas de fabricante líderes de su categoría de producto... NOTA 520 8 The current research focuses on certain Merchandising elements related to the push that in the latest years have gotten distribution private labels and its effects over manufactureŕs brand, mainly, leaders. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES During the analyzed decade, the explosion of the Private Brands (PB) happened in the food market of Spain. In this period of time the second generations of Private Brands (First Price Brands) were launched. In Marketing bibliography there is only a few Merchandising references. And among the latter, there are even fewer when it comes to quantitative publications. This is the reason why the target of this research is mainly quantitative. Due to these considerations, the objectives to cover (detailed in the hypothesis to corroborate) have been: Share of shelf of PB vs MB Shelf position of PB vs MB Comparison of PB́s packaging vs MB Promotional activities and types of PB vs MB Below the Line And also an update of certain academic content The main statements investigated are based on the following hypothesis: THEORETICAL ASSUMPTION: Distributors that own private brands, with the objective to increase the gross margin of these brands, tend to optimize Marketing tactics of their own brands vs. manufactureŕs brands...

La règle des syzygies et le dualisme dans les Homélies et les Reconnaissances pseudo-clémentines: Études littéraires

Les Homélies et les Reconnaissances du Pseudo-Clément, aussi appelées Pseudo-Clémentines, sont des témoins privilégiés du foisonnement intellectuel et théologique des premiers siècles chrétiens. Alors que la recherche moderne a longtemps tenté de déterminer les différentes étapes de leur constitution (ne posant pour seule conclusion certaine que l’existence d’un « Écrit de base » à leur origine), le présent mémoire offre une enquête littéraire qui permettra de situer l’état final des Pseudo-Clémentines dans leur contexte rédaction, en établissant comment elles dialoguent avec les principaux groupes religieux de leur milieu (chrétiens, judéo-chrétiens, juifs, gnostiques et païens). Dans ce cadre, cette étude définit le dualisme pseudo-clémentin selon ses quatre aspects : la règle de syzygies ou des couples antagonistes, qui veut que tout, dans la création, soit organisé par Dieu en couples opposés ; les prophéties masculine et féminine, dont la première apporte la vérité alors que la seconde apporte le mensonge ; la doctrine des deux rois, dont l’un, qui est bon, gouverne le royaume du monde à venir, alors que l’autre, qui est mauvais, règne sur le monde présent ; la doctrine des deux voies, dont l’une mène au salut et l’autre à la perdition. Après une analyse de ces thèmes au sein des Pseudo-Clémentines, qui révèle les différences qui existent entre les deux textes, ces mêmes motifs sont recherchés dans la littérature apparentée, en particulier dans les textes gnostiques de la bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi, les textes découverts à Qumrân et la littérature judéo-chrétienne. Les conclusions dégagées permettent de définir précisément le dualisme des Homélies et celui des Reconnaissances, d’identifier des fonctions polémiques et rhétoriques de ce dualisme et de cerner des groupes religieux possiblement alliés et ennemis des Pseudo-Clémentines.

L'Afrique du Sud post-apartheid : le temps de la reconstruction, des réformes et des mutations à travers le Globe and Mail de Toronto et le Times de Londres (1994-2004)

La décennie 1994-2004 est d’une importance majeure pour l’Afrique du Sud nouvellement démocratique. Au cours de cette période, le pays jette les bases de sa reconstruction à travers la mise en place de réformes politiques, économiques et sociales afin de combattre les méfaits de quarante années d’apartheid et de poser les jalons de son développement. Dans ce contexte, les médias internationaux ont porté une attention particulière à ces nombreux changements, plus spécifiquement la presse écrite canadienne et britannique, en particulier le Globe and Mail et le Times. Notre mémoire s’intéresse donc au traitement fait par ces deux quotidiens, l’un torontois l’autre londonien, de la reconstruction sud-africaine et ce, à travers l’analyse de thèmes précis et de ses réformes marquantes. Il sera plus spécifiquement question des réformes politiques et constitutionnelles avec la figure de Nelson Mandela, héros de la lutte contre l’apartheid, père de la « nation arc-en-ciel » ainsi que celle de son successeur à la présidence sud-africaine en 1999, Thabo Mbéki. Aussi, la Commission Vérité et Réconciliation et la nouvelle Constitution, toutes deux mises en place durant l’année 1996 sont majeures puisqu’elles dictent la nouvelle identité donnée au pays. Les réformes socioéconomiques de la reconstruction ont également attirés l’attention de nos deux journaux. Particulièrement, nous analyserons les points de vue de ceux-ci concernant le Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) ainsi que de la « discrimination positive » et du Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), deux mesures censées contribuer à l’amélioration de la qualité de vie de la population et à effacer les profondes inégalités socioéconomiques léguées par l’apartheid. Or, cet espoir d’une vie meilleure laisse rapidement place à un désenchantement. La forte criminalité et la dramatique explosion du VIH-sida dans une nouvelle Afrique du Sud qui cherche à se reconstruire a beaucoup retenu l’attention du Globe and Mail et du Times. Ces deux défis de taille s’avèrent être l’envers de la médaille du miracle sud-africain et ne manquent pas d’attirer l’attention des deux journaux, mettant clairement en évidence les « ratés » socioéconomiques » de la reconstruction.

Desafíos de la movilización social para generar transformaciones en las instituciones: la movilización fallida en Egipto periodo 2010-2013

Este estudio de caso busca evaluar los alcances y limitaciones que tiene la movilización social para lograr transformaciones en las instituciones a partir del estudio de la movilización social en Egipto durante el período 2010-2013. Se analiza y se explica en qué sentido las instituciones de movimiento lento, como las estructuras de poder y estructuras mentales, han frustrado lo acontecido en Egipto conocido como la primavera árabe. Siguiendo la perspectiva de las instituciones de Gérard Roland y Alejandro Portes, se avanza hacia el resultado de la investigación de que las instituciones de movimiento lento tienen en cuenta aspectos estructurales de una sociedad tales como el poder y la cultura. Por ello, no pueden ser cambiadas con facilidad ya que cuentan con bases sólidas que han sido construidas mediante procesos históricos fundamentados en ideologías y valores.

Viabilidad Hotel Bosques de Araguaney

El Hotel Bosques de Araguaney es un proyecto de largo plazo que busca promover y consolidar el desarrollo de la región de Puerto Gaitán y del Meta, gracias a las grandes rentas que se han generado en la región por motivo de su riqueza en recursos naturales. Como su nombre lo indica este proyecto se encuentra segmentado en la prestación de servicios de alojamiento, conteniendo otros servicios como la prestación de servicios de restaurante.

Procesos hopping a través del modelo difusional en materiales nanocristalinos usados para aplicaciones fotovoltaicas

Se presentan los modelos de hopping de rango variable (variable range hopping; VRH), vecinos cercanos (nearest neighbor hopping; NNH) y barreras de potencial presentes en las fronteras de grano; como mecanismos de transporte eléctrico predominantes en los materiales semiconductores para aplicaciones fotovoltaicas. Las medidas de conductividad a oscuras en función de temperatura fueron realizadas para región de bajas temperaturas entre 120 y 400 K con Si y compuestos Cu3BiS2 y Cu2ZnSnSe4. Siguiendo la teoría de percolación, se obtuvieron parámetros hopping y la densidad de estados cerca del nivel de Fermi, N(EF), para todas las muestras. A partir de los planteamientos dados por Mott para VRH, se presentó el modelo difusional, que permitió establecer la relación entre la conductividad y la densidad de estados de defecto o estados localizados en el gap del material. El análisis comparativo entre modelos, evidenció, que es posible obtener mejora hasta de un orden de magnitud en valores para cada uno de los parámetros hopping que caracterizan el material.

MECÂNICA DOS SOLOS E FUNDAÇÕES

O texto encontra-se organizado de modo a cumprir uma parte do programa da disciplina de Mecânica dos Solos e Fundações II da Universidade de Évora, abordando nomeadamente: • As estruturas geotécnicas e importância da Geotecnia. • Os diferentes conceitos de tensão em maciços terrosos resultantes do peso próprio destes ou induzidos por cargas exteriores; • Os impulsos de terras e os diferentes métodos de cálculo desses impulsos para as estruturas de suporte de terras mais usuais e tendo em conta as características mais frequentes dos terraplenos; • Os tipos de muros de suporte, dando particular destaque aos muros de gravidade, apresentando-se o método tradicional de avaliação da segurança dos muros de gravidade baseado em coeficientes globais de segurança.

The locations of recent supernovae near the Sun from modelling 60Fe transport

The signature of 60Fe in deep-sea crusts indicates that one or more supernovae exploded in the solar neighbourhood about 2.2 million years ago1–4. Recent isotopic analysis is consistent with a core-collapse or electron-capture supernova that occurred 60 to 130 parsecs from the Sun5. Moreover, peculiarities in the cosmic ray spectrum point to a nearby supernova about two million years ago6. The Local Bubble of hot, diffuse plasma, in which the Solar System is embedded, originated from 14 to 20 supernovae within a moving group, whose surviving members are now in the Scorpius– Centaurus stellar association7,8. Here we report calculations of the most probable trajectories and masses of the supernova progenitors, and hence their explosion times and sites. The 60Fe signal arises from two supernovae at distances between 90 and 100 parsecs. The closest occurred 2.3 million years ago at present-day galactic coordinates l = 327°, b = 11°, and the second-closest exploded about 1.5 million years ago at l = 343°, b = 25°, with masses of 9.2 and 8.8 times the solar mass, respectively. The remaining supernovae, which formed the Local Bubble, contribute to a smaller extent because they happened at larger distances and longer ago (60Fe has a half- life of 2.6 million years9,10). There are uncertainties relating to the nucleosynthesis yields and the loss of 60Fe during transport, but they do not influence the relative distribution of 60Fe in the crust layers, and therefore our model reproduces the measured relative abundances very well.

Experimental determination of burning velocity in metal dust explosions

The modeling of metal dust explosion phenomenon is important in order to safeguard industries from potential accidents. A key parameter of these models is the burning velocity, which represents the consumption rate of the reactants by the flame front, during the combustion process. This work is focused on the experimental determination of aluminium burning velocity, through an alternative method, called "Direct method". The study of the methods used and the results obtained is preceded by a general analysis on dust explosion phenomenon, flame propagation phenomenon, characteristics of the metals combustion process and standard methods for determining the burning velocity. The “Direct method” requires a flame propagating through a tube recorded by high-speed cameras. Thus, the flame propagation test is carried out inside a vertical prototype made of glass. The study considers two optical technique: the direct visualization of the light emitted by the flame and the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. These techniques were used simultaneously and allow the determination of two velocities: the flame propagation velocity and the flow velocity of the unburnt mixture. Since the burning velocity is defined by these two quantities, its direct determination is done by substracting the flow velocity of the fresh mixture from the flame propagation velocity. The results obtained by this direct determination, are approximated by a linear curve and different non-linear curves, which show a fluctuating behaviour of burning velocity. Furthermore, the burning velocity is strongly affected by turbulence. Turbulence intensity can be evaluated from PIV technique data. A comparison between burning velocity and turbulence intensity highlighted that both have a similar trend.

Development and Implementation of the Plasma Focus Technology for Radiation Therapy Applications

A Plasma Focus device can confine in a small region a plasma generated during the pinch phase. When the plasma is in the pinch condition it creates an environment that produces several kinds of radiations. When the filling gas is nitrogen, a self-collimated backwardly emitted electron beam, slightly spread by the coulomb repulsion, can be considered one of the most interesting outputs. That beam can be converted into X-ray pulses able to transfer energy at an Ultra-High Dose-Rate (UH-DR), up to 1 Gy pulse-1, for clinical applications, research, or industrial purposes. The radiation fields have been studied with the PFMA-3 hosted at the University of Bologna, finding the radiation behavior at different operating conditions and working parameters for a proper tuning of this class of devices in clinical applications. The experimental outcomes have been compared with available analytical formalisms as benchmark and the scaling laws have been proposed. A set of Monte Carlo models have been built with direct and adjoint techniques for an accurate X-ray source characterization and for setting fast and reliable irradiation planning for patients. By coupling deterministic and Monte Carlo codes, a focusing lens for the charged particles has been designed for obtaining a beam suitable for applications as external radiotherapy or intra-operative radiation therapy. The radiobiological effectiveness of the UH PF DR, a FLASH source, has been evaluated by coupling different Monte Carlo codes estimating the overall level of DNA damage at the multi-cellular and tissue levels by considering the spatial variation effects as well as the radiation field characteristics. The numerical results have been correlated to the experimental outcomes. Finally, ambient dose measurements have been performed for tuning the numerical models and obtaining doses for radiation protection purposes. The PFMA-3 technology has been fully characterized toward clinical implementation and installation in a medical facility.

Advancing digital healthcare research and machine learning-aided knowledge extraction amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

The rapid progression of biomedical research coupled with the explosion of scientific literature has generated an exigent need for efficient and reliable systems of knowledge extraction. This dissertation contends with this challenge through a concentrated investigation of digital health, Artificial Intelligence, and specifically Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing's (NLP) potential to expedite systematic literature reviews and refine the knowledge extraction process. The surge of COVID-19 complicated the efforts of scientists, policymakers, and medical professionals in identifying pertinent articles and assessing their scientific validity. This thesis presents a substantial solution in the form of the COKE Project, an initiative that interlaces machine reading with the rigorous protocols of Evidence-Based Medicine to streamline knowledge extraction. In the framework of the COKE (“COVID-19 Knowledge Extraction framework for next-generation discovery science”) Project, this thesis aims to underscore the capacity of machine reading to create knowledge graphs from scientific texts. The project is remarkable for its innovative use of NLP techniques such as a BERT + bi-LSTM language model. This combination is employed to detect and categorize elements within medical abstracts, thereby enhancing the systematic literature review process. The COKE project's outcomes show that NLP, when used in a judiciously structured manner, can significantly reduce the time and effort required to produce medical guidelines. These findings are particularly salient during times of medical emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, when quick and accurate research results are critical.

Studio del ciclo geochimico del Mercurio all'interfaccia aria-neve nel plateau Antartico

Lo studio si basa sull’analisi di campioni di neve superficiale (0-3 cm) e sub-superficiale (3-6 cm) raccolti nei pressi della “clean area” di Concordia Station, nel plateau Antartico, e di campioni di deposizione raccolti a seguito di eventi di precipitazione nello stesso sito. Il sito di campionamento “clean area” è designato allo studio dei valori di fondo nel plateau antartico, poiché ritenuto privo di contaminazione antropica. L’obiettivo è la quantificazione delle concentrazioni in ultra-tracce di mercurio per lo studio di eventuali patterns relativi al ciclo geochimico dell’elemento nei periodi interessati da radiazione solare. Inoltre, per studiare i processi che controllano il ciclo del mercurio nel plateau Antartico sono stati considerati sia i parametri meteorologici che le variazioni di elementi chimici usati per tracciare le possibili sorgenti emissive ed i meccanismi di scambio che avvengono per il mercurio all’interfaccia aria-neve. Le analisi sono state svolte con ICP-SFMS, una tecnica di spettrometria in grado di rilevare concentrazioni nell’ordine del ppt. A causa dei limiti di rilevazione molto bassi, tutte le provette usate per le analisi e la conservazione dei campioni sono state trattate al fine di minimizzare la contaminazione. I campioni destinati alle analisi di mercurio sono stati trattati con acido, seguendo la procedura per la stabilizzazione di metalli volatili. Il lavoro svolto non ha identificato particolari processi di trasporto e di scambio mentre invece riporta episodi di contaminazione della “clean area” dovuti in parte alla non usuale provenienza del vento ed in parte al crescente impatto antropico dovuto alle attività delle stazioni di ricerca. Lo studio ha messo in luce le problematiche legate al possibile impatto della base di ricerca Concordia Station sui processi naturali evidenziando la necessità di ulteriori studi e approfondimenti sul tema della contaminazione della designata “area pulita” per il campionamento di neve.