Inter-comparison of stratospheric mean-meridional circulation and eddy mixing among six reanalysis data sets

The stratospheric mean-meridional circulation (MMC) and eddy mixing are compared among six meteorological reanalysis data sets: NCEP-NCAR, NCEP-CFSR, ERA-40, ERA-Interim, JRA-25, and JRA-55 for the period 1979–2012. The reanalysis data sets produced using advanced systems (i.e., NCEP-CFSR, ERA-Interim, and JRA-55) generally reveal a weaker MMC in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) compared with those produced using older systems (i.e., NCEP/NCAR, ERA-40, and JRA-25). The mean mixing strength differs largely among the data products. In the NH lower stratosphere, the contribution of planetary-scale mixing is larger in the new data sets than in the old data sets, whereas that of small-scale mixing is weaker in the new data sets. Conventional data assimilation techniques introduce analysis increments without maintaining physical balance, which may have caused an overly strong MMC and spurious small-scale eddies in the old data sets. At the NH mid-latitudes, only ERA-Interim reveals a weakening MMC trend in the deep branch of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC). The relative importance of the eddy mixing compared with the mean-meridional transport in the subtropical lower stratosphere shows increasing trends in ERA-Interim and JRA-55; this together with the weakened MMC in the deep branch may imply an increasing age-of-air (AoA) in the NH middle stratosphere in ERA-Interim. Overall, discrepancies between the different variables and trends therein as derived from the different reanalyses are still relatively large, suggesting that more investments in these products are needed in order to obtain a consolidated picture of observed changes in the BDC and the mechanisms that drive them.

Application execution management on the InteGrade opportunistic grid middleware

The InteGrade project is a multi-university effort to build a novel grid computing middleware based on the opportunistic use of resources belonging to user workstations. The InteGrade middleware currently enables the execution of sequential, bag-of-tasks, and parallel applications that follow the BSP or the MPI programming models. This article presents the lessons learned over the last five years of the InteGrade development and describes the solutions achieved concerning the support for robust application execution. The contributions cover the related fields of application scheduling, execution management, and fault tolerance. We present our solutions, describing their implementation principles and evaluation through the analysis of several experimental results. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Forskningscirklar och skolutveckling - ett lärarperspektiv

Den genomförda undersökningen är en kvalitativ fallstudie, vars syfte är att belysa forskningscirkeln som företeelse i skolan. I det här sammanhanget fokuseras följande frågeställningar:a) Hur uppfattar lärare sitt deltagande i forskningscirklar i fråga om:- förväntningar på detta sätt att arbeta och på forskningscirkeln som arbetsform- hur deras yrkeskunskaper påverkas - det sker någon påverkan på de kolleger som inte deltar- skolans verksamhet generellt sett påverkasb) Kan forskningscirklar ses som ett uttryck för en bakomliggande kunskapssynResultatet tyder på att forskningscirkelformen är ett av de flesta deltagare uppskattat och stimulerande sätt att arbeta på. Skälen till detta är bl a att arbetsformen ger stort utrymme för deltagarna att själva bestämma innehållet, inte minst för att det kan anknytas till vardagens arbete. Samtidigt är tidsperioden, som regel två terminer, som en forskningscirkel vanligen pågår för kort för att deltagarna skall hinna bli förtrogna med att kunna tillägna sig ett vetenskapligt förhållningssätt. Det finns dock flera exempel på att arbetet i en forskningscirkel leder till att deltagarna reflekterar över sin egen roll i undervisningen och att detta leder fram till att ett konkret pedagogiskt utvecklingsarbete genomförs, vis-serligen med skiftande resultat.Då de ekonomiska och tidsmässiga resurserna för lärare är be-gränsade tenderar forskningscirkeln att bli ett forum för mer eller mindre entusiastiska lärare. Ett problem tycks vara att det bara är de som är direkt involverade i forskningscirkelarbetet och de pedagogiska projekt som deltagarna bedriver som direkt kommer att påverkas. Sammantaget gör det att forskningscirkel-formen förefaller vara och kanske också så förblir en företeelse för de “intresserade“. Det skall villigt erkännas att studiens em-piriska material inte tillåter att dra några mera långtgående slut-satser om vad som sker utanför forskningscirkelns ram. Ett kon-staterande är emellertid att forskningscirkeln i ett kort tidsper-spektiv har få skönjbara effekter på verksamheten i övrigt. Trots detta framstår forskningscirkeln som att ha en inbyggd potential för att kunna utöva påverkan även på deltagarnas kollegor som på skolans verksamhet i en generell mening.

On the Use of Agents in a Bioinformatics Grid

MyGrid is an e-Science Grid project that aims to help biologists and bioinformaticians to perform workflow-based in silico experiments, and help them to automate the management of such workflows through personalisation, notification of change and publication of experiments. In this paper, we describe the architecture of myGrid and how it will be used by the scientist. We then show how myGrid can benefit from agents technologies. We have identified three key uses of agent technologies in myGrid: user agents, able to customize and personalise data, agent communication languages offering a generic and portable communication medium, and negotiation allowing multiple distributed entities to reach service level agreements.

Proposição de modelo de desenvolvimento municipal sustentável com apoio de sistema de informações geográficas : o caso Pinhalão - PR

O objetivo principal deste estudo é definir um modelo referencial para obtenção e tratamento de informações técnicas, sociais, econômicas e ambientais atualizadas, confiáveis e integráveis dos principais sistemas de produção de um município, visando o desenvolvimento municipal sustentável, com apoio de sistema de informações geográficas (SIG). O SIG permite analisar informações de forma mais rápida, segura e de fácil interpretação, viabilizando a implementação de ações com vistas a um desenvolvimento crescente e duradouro, melhorando as condições de vida das famílias de agricultores e o aproveitamento e preservação dos recursos naturais. O desenvolvimento municipal sustentável em Pinhalão, estado do Paraná, Brasil foi potencializado através do uso de SIG e da instituição de um núcleo de informações que visa mediar as forças do governo e da comunidade local. Os indivíduos, grupos e instituições formais tiveram sua organização e acesso às informações e tecnologias facilitados e passaram a ter possibilidade de participar nas decisões de interesse da coletividade, garantindo o uso correto dos recursos e a transparência da gestão pública. O modelo participativo de desenvolvimento municipal sustentável resulta na manutenção e viabilização das propriedades rurais e das bacias hidrográficas, através de atividades que valorizem o uso da mão-de-obra e gerem alta renda por unidade de área, estabelecendo um equilíbrio entre os fatores sociais, econômicos e ambientais.

Brazilian regional development distribution, evidences for socio-economic policy

As to many Latin american countries, the impacts of the recent economic globalization on the Brazilian economy have revealed a diversified tendency in spatial development when regional economic indicators are observed. This is due to the specificities or each region, as regard their sector structure, the availability of human resources and the degree of technological innovation undertaken by local enterprises. From a situation of regional inequalities observed in lhe socio-economic levels of development at the beginning of the eighties the dynamics of the Brazilian regional evolution has presented different speeds and intensities in the several spaees. This paper aims to evaluate the dynamics of Brazilian regional development during the 1985-95 period and the impacts over the working population and regional disparities in order to offer some elements to assist social and economic policy. For this purpose Dispersion Quotients and Dispersion lntensity Coefficients were calculated based on two variables, the Regional Gross Domestic Product anel the Working Population. The results of the analysis confirm the existence of considerable regional disparities and it was observed that thc sector and regional redistribution of the GDP indicate that in a general way, no remarkable changes occurred in the regional development in the period. The results show that although the economic policies did stimulate a global convergence process of the per capita product among regions, those policies did not attenuate economic dynamism concentration to the desired extent.

Productive restructuring: effects on Brazilian regional development distribution

This paper aims to evaluate the dynamics of Brazilian regional development during the 1985-95 period. First, regional inequalities indexes were calculated for the whole country’s economy based on the per capita regional income (Williamson Inequality Index), in order to test the convergence or divergence. After this, the analysis aimed to verify the sector and regional dynamics in a more detailed exam, and for this purpose Dispersion Quotients and Dispersion Intensity Coefficients were calculated based on two variables, the Regional Gross Domestic Product and the Working Population. The results of the analysis confirm the existence of considerable regional disparities and it was verified that the sector and regional redistribution of the GDP indicate that, in a general way, no remarkable changes occurred in the regional productive structures in the period. It is also inferred that the economic policy at that period, in spite of resulting in a global regional convergence process of the per capita product, did not avoid the continuation of the concentration of greater economic dynamism in the most advanced regions, nor did it diminish in any considerable way the difference in the degree of development of the Northeast region.

Service industries and service economy

The study analyses the role of services in modern and less-developed economies. It shows the different meanings of the value, definition and classification of service activities found in economic literature. It discusses the relation between service production growth and economic development observing the role of these activities in the dynamics of economic restructuring. Further, it also examines the differences between private and public sector service restructuring and the consequences of internationalization of services. It concludes that economic restructuring also caused by changes in the nature of goods and services has important regional effects.

Public policies impacts on Latin American labor structures, preparing for integration

One of the Main Subjects to Be Discussed, in Order to Adjust Latin American Economies to a Regional Integration Network, as Imposed By Mercosul or Other Economic Common Markets, is Related to the Employment and Other Labor Markets Public Policies. the Question to Be Posed Is: Having in Mind the Characteristics of Different Labor Markets and Labor Forces, What are the Impacts of Governmental Measures Presented in the Diverse Economic Conditions of Those Countries. Having in Mind These Impacts, This Paper Aims to Examine the Requisites to Adjust the Labor Structure Standards of Latin American Countries and What Would Be the Reforms to Be Performed By These Countries in Order to Prepare These Markets and Labor Forces to Adapt to Regional Integration Networks Represented By Mercosul, Alca or Other Common Markets. There are Evaluated the Impacts of the Globalization Process, Economic Stabilization and Reform Policies Undertaken By Some Selected Latin American Countries Since the Eighties on the Labor Structure Standards, Considering the Specific Adjustment Measures to Cope With the Negative Effects of These Policies. Next, Some Cases of Europe Union (Eu) Countries Measures to Prepare to Integration is Examined, in Order to Provide Some Elements to Better Understand the Possibilities to Handle With the Extensive Changes in External Conditions. in Sequence Some Statistical Indicatives of the Impacts of These Measures on the Occupational Structuring are Analyzed For a Group of Selected Latin American and Eu Countries.