The Accessibility City. When Transport Infrastructure Matters in Urban Spatial Structure

Suburbanization is changing the urban spatial structure and less monocentric metropolitan regions are becoming the new urban reality. Focused only on centers, most works have studied these spatial changes neglecting the role of transport infrastructure and its related location model, the “accessibility city”, in which employment and population concentrate in low-density settlements and close to transport infrastructure. For the case of Barcelona, we consider this location model and study the population spatial structure between 1991 and 2006. The results reveal a mix between polycentricity and the accessibility city, with movements away from the main centers, but close to the transport infrastructure.

Is it redistribution or centralization? On the determinants of government investment in infrastructure

The dilemma efficiency versus equity, together with political partisan interests, has received increasing attention to explain the territorial allocation of investments. However, centralization intended to introduce or reinforce hierarchization in the political system has not been object as of now of empirical analysis. Our main contribution to the literature is providing evidence that meta-political objectives related to the ordering of political power and administration influence regional investment. In this way, we find evidence that network mode’s (roads and railways) investment programs are influenced by the centralization strategy of investing near to the political capital, while investment effort in no-network modes (airports and ports) appears to be positively related to distance. Since investment in surface transportation infrastructures is much higher than that in airports and ports, and taken into account that regions surrounding the political capital are poorer than the average, we suggest that centralization rather than redistribution has been the driver for the concentration of public investment on these regions.

Scheduling in virtual infrastructure

For the execution of the scientific applications, different methods have been proposed to dynamically provide execution environments for such applications that hide the complexity of underlying distributed and heterogeneous infrastructures. Recently virtualization has emerged as a promising technology to provide such environments. Virtualization is a technology that abstracts away the details of physical hardware and provides virtualized resources for high-level scientific applications. Virtualization offers a cost-effective and flexible way to use and manage computing resources. Such an abstraction is appealing in Grid computing and Cloud computing for better matching jobs (applications) to computational resources. This work applies the virtualization concept to the Condor dynamic resource management system by using Condor Virtual Universe to harvest the existing virtual computing resources to their maximum utility. It allows existing computing resources to be dynamically provisioned at run-time by users based on application requirements instead of statically at design-time thereby lay the basis for efficient use of the available resources, thus providing way for the efficient use of the available resources.

Proposition d'un concept de contrôle de gestion pour la division "infrastructure routière" de l'Office fédéral des routes (OFROU)

La présente étude propose une méthodologie aboutissant à la conception d'un système de contrôle de gestion pour la division « infrastructure routière » ou « I » de l'Office fédéral des routes (OFROU). La première partie de ce travail situe l'OFROU dans son contexte de réformes et identifie les raisons qui justifient l'implantation d'un système de contrôle de gestion à l'OFROU. La deuxième partie pose les jalons permettant d'établir un contrôle de gestion dans sa division « I ». Elle cherche d'abord à donner une définition du contrôle de gestion dans le secteur public, puis présente un état des lieux du système de gestion existant. Finalement, les systèmes de contrôle de gestion de deux autres offices GMEB, MétéoSuisse et armasuisse immobilier, sont analysés afin d'en tirer des éléments pertinents pouvant servir à la conception du contrôle de gestion à l'OFROU. La troisième propose un contrôle de gestion pour la division « I ». Le travail montre que la réalisation d'un concept de contrôle de gestion pour la division « I » n'est pas évidente. Cette dernière, qui est en train de se mettre en place, manque encore d'expérience pour identifier clairement les éléments clé à insérer dans le système. On observe un grand embarras entre le stade du savoir et celui du savoir faire concret. La méthodologie et l'analyse présentées dans ce travail pourraient contribuer à développer un savoir faire interne aboutissant rapidement à la mise sur pied d'un système de contrôle de gestion pour la division « I ». Die vorliegende Studie schlägt eine Methodik zur Erarbeitung eines Management-Kontrollsystems für die Abteilung « Strasseninfrastruktur » oder « I » des Bundesamts für Strassen (ASTRA) vor. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit stellt das ASTRA im Spannungsfeld dieser Reformen. Ihre Konsequenzen lassen die Einführung eines Management-Kontrollsystems im ASTRA folgerichtig erscheinen. Im zweiten Teil geht es darum, Wegmarken zu setzen, die die Einführung einer Managementkontrolle in der Abteilung « I » in die richtigen Bahnen lenken. Es wird versucht, eine Begriffsbestimmung der Managementkontrolle im öffentlichen Sektor sowie eine Bestandesaufnahme der bestehenden Systeme vorzunehmen. Schliesslich werden die Management-Kontrollsysteme zweier anderer FLAG-Ämter, MeteoSchweiz und armasuisse immobilier, auf mögliche Nutzen für den Aufbau der Managementkontrolle des ASTRA analysiert. Der dritte Teil beinhaltet einen Vorschlag, wie die Management-Kontrolle für die Abteilung « I » aussehen könnte. Die Arbeit zeigt, dass die Erarbeitung eines Management-Kontrollkonzepts für die Abteilung « I » keine einfache Aufgabe ist. Es fehlt an Erfahrung, um die Schlüsselbausteine des Systems erkennen zu können. Zwischen dem Stadium des Wissens und dem des konkreten Know-hows klafft ein empfindlicher Graben. Methodik und Analyse, wie sie in der vorliegenden Arbeit beschrieben werden, könnten zum Aufbau eines internen Know-hows beitragen, das die rasche Verwirklichung eines Management-Kontrollsystems für die Abteilung « I » erlauben könnte.

Transformació de dades pel comerç electrònic de Tous

Aquest projecte es tracta de la creació d'una aplicació que ens ajudarà a establir comunicació entre la web de comerç on-line de l'empresa “Joieria Tous”, que estarà administrat per “GSI Commerce” i el sistema informàtic de la nostra central logística. Observarem que el sistema actual és totalment propietari i fet a mida, llavors per poder tenir una comunicació amb les noves botigues on-line s'ha de crear una plataforma que transformi les dades d'entrada al sistema informàtic de la nostra empresa i les dades de sortida al sistema informàtic de la empresa externa que gestionarà el comerç on-line: “GSI Commerce”.

Bridging the Gap: establishing the necessary infrastructure and knowledge for teaching and research in neuroscience in Africa.

Advances in neuroscience research over the last few decades have increased our understanding of how individual neurons acquire their specific properties and assemble into complex circuits, and how these circuits are affected in disease. One of the important motives driving neuroscience research is the development of new scientific techniques and interdisciplinary cooperation. Compared to developed countries, many countries on the African continent are confronted with poor facilities, lack of funding or career development programs for neuroscientists, all of which deter young scientists from taking up neuroscience as a career choice. This article highlights some steps that are being taken to promote neuroscience education and research in Africa.

Self-Development of Competences for Social Inclusion Using the TENCompetence Infrastructure

This paper describes a pilot study centred on the technology-enhanced self-development of competences in lifelong learning education carried out in the challenging context of the Association of Participants Àgora. The pilot study shows that the use of the TENCompetence infrastructure, i.e. in this case the Personal Development Planner tool, provides various kinds of benefits for adult participants with low educational profiles and who are traditionally excluded from the use of innovative learning technologies and the knowledge society. The selforganized training supported by the PDP tool aims at allowing the learners to create and control their own learning plans based on their interests and educational background including informal and non-formal experiences. In this sense, the pilot participants had the opportunity to develop and improve their competences in English language (basic and advanced levels) and ICT competence profiles which are mostly related to functional and communicative skills. Besides, the use of the PDP functionalities, such as the self-assessment, the planning and the self-regulating elements allowed the participants to develop reflective skills. Pilot results also provide indications for future developments in the field of technology support for self-organized learners. The paper introduces the context and the pilot scenario, indicates the evaluation methodology applied and discusses the most significant findings derived from the pilot study.

Supporting life-long competence development using the TENCompetence infrastructure: a first experiment

This paper describes an experiment to explore the effects of the TENCompetence infrastructure for supporting lifelong competence development which is now in development. This infrastructure provides structured, multi-leveled access to learning materials, based upon competences. People can follow their own learning path, supported by a listing of competences and their components, by competence development plans attached to competences and by the possibility to mark elements as complete. We expected the PCM to have an effect on (1) control of participants of their own learning, and (2) appreciation of their learning route, (3) of the learning resources, (4) of their competence development, and (5) of the possibilities of collaboration. In the experiment, 44 Bulgarian teachers followed a distance learning course on a specific teaching methodology for six weeks. Part of them used the TENCompetence infrastructure, part used an infrastructure which was similar, except for the characterizing elements mentioned above. The results showed that in the experimental condition, more people passed the final competence assess-ment, and people felt more in control of their own learning. No differences between the two groups were found on the amount and appreciation of collaboration and on further measures of competence development.

@neurIST infrastructure for advanced disease management through integration of heterogeneous data, computing, and complex processing services

The increasing volume of data describing humandisease processes and the growing complexity of understanding, managing, and sharing such data presents a huge challenge for clinicians and medical researchers. This paper presents the@neurIST system, which provides an infrastructure for biomedical research while aiding clinical care, by bringing together heterogeneous data and complex processing and computing services. Although @neurIST targets the investigation and treatment of cerebral aneurysms, the system’s architecture is generic enough that it could be adapted to the treatment of other diseases.Innovations in @neurIST include confining the patient data pertaining to aneurysms inside a single environment that offers cliniciansthe tools to analyze and interpret patient data and make use of knowledge-based guidance in planning their treatment. Medicalresearchers gain access to a critical mass of aneurysm related data due to the system’s ability to federate distributed informationsources. A semantically mediated grid infrastructure ensures that both clinicians and researchers are able to seamlessly access andwork on data that is distributed across multiple sites in a secure way in addition to providing computing resources on demand forperforming computationally intensive simulations for treatment planning and research.

Annual Infrastructure Report, 2007

Major maintenance; health, safety, loss of use; and Americans with Disablities Act deficiencies at the Capitol Complex and statewide for twelve agencies and divisions participating in the Vertical Infrastructure Program in collaboration with the Governor's Vertical Infrastructure Advisory Committee, including the Department of Administrative Services; the Department of Commerce, Alcoholic Beverages Division; the Department of Corrections; the Department of Cultural Affairs; the Department of Education, including Iowa Public Television and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services; the Department of Human Services; Iowa Law Enforcement Academy; the Department of Public Safety; Terrace Hill; Iowa Veterans Home and Iowa Workforce Development. The advisory committee meets on a monthly basis to review the progress of the work and to make recommendations on procedures and priorities. Additional information on major maintenance projects is available in the advisory committee's Eighth Annual Report to the Governor, dated December 15, 2006.

Annual Infrastructure Report, 2006

In accordance with the Code of Iowa, Section 8.57, this annual report summarizes the status of all ongoing building related projects for which an appropriation from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, the Vertical Infrastructure Fund or the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund has been made to the Department of Administrative Services. The report includes projects for which funding reverted in 2006 as well as ongoing projects.

Improving Transition Outcomes: Henry County Transition Partners: Infrastructure Building Replication Template

Replication Template for Improving Transition Outcomes Henry County Transition Partners Prototype. This concise document will help you build a community team and the infrastructure necessary to implement and plan for sustaining specific initiatives.

Logistics-production, logistics-marketing and external integration: Their impact on performance

Highly competitive environments are leading companies to implement SupplyChain Management (SCM) to improve performance and gain a competitiveadvantage. SCM involves integration, co-ordination and collaborationacross organisations and throughout the supply chain. It means that SCMrequires internal (intraorganisational) and external (interorganisational)integration. This paper examines the Logistics-Production and Logistics-Marketing interfaces and their relation with the external integrationprocess. The study also investigates the causal impact of these internaland external relationships on the company s logistical service performance.To analyse this, an empirical study was conducted in the Spanish Fast MovingConsumer Goods (FMCG) sector.

Iowa Department of Transportation report on funds received from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, the State Recreational Trails Fund, the Health Restricted Capitals and the Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program in fiscal year 2007

House file 2782 (2007 Infrastructure Appropriations Act) requires state agencies that receive appropriations from specific funds to report that information. The Iowa Department of Transportation received funds from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, the State Recreational Trails Fund, the Health Restricted Capitals, and the Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program in FY 2007. These are the status reports for those funds and the status of the FY2006 funds received from the State Recreational Trails Fund, the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund and the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund.

Report and Recommendations of the Iowa Vertical Infrastructure Advisory Committee, December 17, 2007

This report summaries the work of the committee over the last year and its vision for the future. The committee is followed with interest the work of the Department of Corrections and the Department of Veterans Affairs in evaluating the needs of their facilities and recommends similar evaluations of facilities around the state by other agencies. The committee members are ready to offer advice on the needs of the state's again infrastructure and steps that could be taken to evaluate vacant and underutilized buildings and reduce operational and maintenance costs.