Open Access to Research: A Broad Take On Understanding policy, preparing for the future

Looking at the Wider Picture of Open Access and other Open Agendas affecting Universities

Curso de iniciaci??n : sistema operativo MS-DOS, procesador de textos de Open Access, base de datos de Open Access

El Seminario Permanente de Inform??tica del CEP de Zamora presenta un manual de inform??tica para formaci??n del profesorado y para que lo utilicen como material de apoyo en el aula. Consta de tres partes: sistema operativo de MS-DOS, procesador de textos y base de datos estos dos ??ltimos de Open Access. Se dan nociones generales de inform??tica para familiarizarse con el uso del ordenador y se ense??a el manejo de los paquetes inform??ticos antes mencionados.

Elaboración de materiales de trabajo en Física y Química usando la hoja de cálculo de Open Access II.

Se presenta una experiencia de elaboración de materiales de Física y Química usando la hoja de cálculo de Open Access II aplicada a tercero de BUP y COU. Se analiza el contexto del centro en el que se desarrolla la experiencia y se procede a la presentación del proyecto, especificando los objetivos propuestos, las posibles aplicaciones didácticas de la hoja de cálculo, la metodología de trabajo en el aula y los conocimientos informáticos necesarios para utilizar el material elaborado. Se presentan los modelos sobre los que se trabaja: 1. Cinética química, 2. Equilibrio químico, 3. Valoración ácido-base, 4. Reacciones de precipitación, 5. Farmacocinética: dosificación de medicamentos, 6. Tiros, 7. Oscilador armónico lineal, 8. Composición de movimientos vibratorios armónicos, 9. Ondas. 10. Interferencias y pulsaciones. Para cada modelo se presenta una guía del profesor y un guión de trabajo para el alumno. El uso de estas aplicaciones acerca al alumno a las técnicas de modelización y simulación. Se adjuntan transparencias y diskettes de apoyo.

'Nature Conservation': a new dimension in Open Access publishing bridging science and application

This Editorial presents the focus, scope and policies of the inaugural issue of Nature Conservation, a new open access, peer-reviewed journal bridging natural sciences, social sciences and hands-on applications in conservation management. The journal covers all aspects of nature conservation and aims particularly at facilitating better interaction between scientists and practitioners. The journal will impose no restrictions on manuscript size or the use of colour. We will use an XML-based editorial workflow and several cutting-edge innovations in publishing and information dissemination. These include semantic mark-up of, and enhancements to published text, data, and extensive cross-linking within the journal and to external sources. We believe the journal will make an important contribution to better linking science and practice, offers rapid, peer-reviewed and flexible publication for authors and unrestricted access to content.

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.

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.

The utility of open-access biodiversity information in representing anurans in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)