bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Los polinomios particulares: Una deﬁnición para exploraciones cartesianas
Authors: Mendoza Guzmán Jorge Enrique
Published: December 2015

Resumen:  En la historia de la probabilidad encontramos diferentes paradojas que permiten al profesor organizar actividades didácticas en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Como ejemplo, en este trabajo analizamos la paradoja del niño o niña, su historia, algunas variantes, soluciones, objetos matemáticos trabajados y dificultades de los estudiantes, tales como la sesgo de equiprobabilidad y confusión entre probabilidad condicional y conjunta.

Palabras clave:  Probabilidad, probabilidad condicional, paradojas, aplicaciones docentes.

Abstract:  In the history of probability there are various paradoxes which aid in organizing teaching and learning activities. As an example, in this paper we analyze the Boy and Girl paradox, its history, several variations, solutions, and the mathematical objects involved and students' potential difficulties, such as the equiprobability bias and confusion between joint and conditional probability.

KeyWords:  Probability, conditional probability, paradoxes, didactic application.
Funciones: desarrollo histórico del concepto y actividades de enseñanza aprendizaje
Authors: Ugalde William J.
Published: December 2015

Resumen: La principal intención de este trabajo es motivar a los docentes e investigadores en educación matemática a integrar en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje de las matemáticas relacionados con el concepto de función, el desarrollo histórico de dicho objeto de estudio. Como segundo objetivo se desea sugerir diferentes actividades que se pueden utilizar para estudiar el concepto de función en los varios niveles de la educación formal. Este artículo se divide en tres secciones. La primera sección es una revisión del desarrollo del concepto de función a través de la historia. La segunda sección es un breve estudio de los tipos de deﬁnición existentes y las diferentes formas de representar funciones. La tercera sección es un recuento de actividades o situaciones de interés, con la intención de indicar facetas interesantes a la hora de estudiar el concepto de función.

Palabras clave: historia de las matemáticas, función, actividades de enseñanza aprendizaje.

Abstract: The main intention of this work is to motivate teachers and researchers in math education to integrate in the processes of teaching and learning mathematics related to the concept of function, the historical development of such an object of study. As a second objective, it is intended to suggest different activities that can be used to study the concept of function in the various levels of formal education. The ﬁrst of three sections in this paper is a historical review of the development of the concept of function . The second section is a brief study of the types of existing deﬁnitions and the different ways to represent a function. The third section lists activities of situations of interest, aiming to identify interesting stages during the study of the concept of function.

KeyWords: history of mathematics, function, learning-teaching activities.
Software educativo en línea para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de temas de Cálculo Numérico
Authors: Ascheri Eva , Pizarro Rubén , Astudillo Gustavo , García Pablo , Culla M. Eugenia
Published: December 2015

En un proyecto de investigación finalizado, se diseñó un software de escritorio para laenseñanza y el aprendizaje del tema Resolución Numérica de Ecuaciones no Lineales, usando el paqueteMatLab. Considerando los resultados obtenidos, se propuso elaborar un software educativo que in-cluyera, además de ese contenido, los temas Interpolación y Aproximación Polinomial y Ajuste de Curvaspor Mínimos Cuadrados, pero ahora utilizando software libre y con la condición de que fuera accesibledirectamente desde la Web.Se busca que este nuevo software actúe como herramienta de soporte para el desarrollo del curso deCálculo Numérico y que los estudiantes dispongan de una aplicación educativa, disponible en la Weby de acceso libre.El artículo presenta una descripción del software, sus principales características y los resultadosobtenidos en el proceso de evolución del mismo.
Evaluación de los aprendizajes en la educación media: características técnicas de las pruebas escritas en matemática
Authors: Meza C. Luis G. , Agüero C. Evelyn
Published: December 2015

El artículo reporta resultados del proyecto de investigación ?Evaluación de los aprendizajesen matemática en la educación media: características técnicas de las pruebas escritas?, desarrolladoen la Escuela de Matemática del Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR) en el año 2011, bajo elcódigo 5402-1440-3101. El estudio, de tipo exploratorio y descriptivo, utilizó como parámetros para laevaluación los establecidos en la obra La prueba escrita, por ser el documento oficial del Ministerio deEducación Pública (MEP) en la materia. Los hallazgos indican que existe, en términos generales, unalto grado de cumplimiento de las directrices emitidas por el MEP para la formulación de las pruebas.Situación similar se observa con algunas de las directrices establecidas para el diseño de los ítems,aunque se detectaron algunas donde el cumplimiento no es satisfactorio.
La solución de algunas EDO de Riccati
Authors: Jiménez Moscoso José Alfredo
Published: December 2015

En este artículo, se presenta un enfoque nuevo y eficaz para determinar la solución general de la ecuación diferencial no lineal de Riccati cuando los coeficientes son variables y están relacionados entre sí mediante otra ecuación diferencial ordinaria. La ecuación de Riccati se convierte de una vez a una ecuación diferencial ordinaria de Bernoulli y tiene la ventaja que no se necesita conocer a priori una solución particular. Estos métodos de solución permiten explicar este tipo de EDO de manera sencilla en las aulas.
Un matemático comprometido política , social y académicamente: José Luis Massera.
Authors: Arguedas Vernor
Published: December 2015

Se analizan algunos aspectos de la vida de José Luis Massera, tanto académicos como políticos.
Determinación del módulo de elasticidad por los métodos dinámico y estático para madera termo-tratada de Gmelina arborea y Tectona grandis
Authors: Méndez-Mejías Luis Diego
Published: December 2015

Se estudió el efecto del tratamiento térmico sobre el módulo de elasticidad (MOE) de la madera para dos especies forestales Gmelina arborea (melina) y Tectona grandis (teca). Las muestras fueron expuestas a cuatro niveles de temperatura 160, 180, 200 y 220 °C por 2 horas, además se definió un tratamiento testigo (sin termo-tratamiento). A las muestras sometidas al tratamiento térmico se les determinó el módulo de elasticidad por ultrasonido (EUS) en sentido transversal y longitudinal y módulo de elasticidad en flexión estática (EES). Asimismo, se determinó la densidad y contenido de humedad (CH). Los resultados mostraron que la densidad varió entre 444,32 a 531,54 kg/m3 y de 594,11 a 697,25 kg/m3 para melina y teca respectivamente. El CH fluctuó de 3,77 a 11,47 % y de 2,90 a 8 % para melina y teca respectivamente, con una tendencia a disminuir conforme aumenta la temperatura de termo-tratamiento en las piezas. El EUS en sentido transversal varió de 1,16 a 2,35 GPa, el EUS en sentido longitudinal varió de 9,80 a 12,53 GPa y el EES fluctúo de 6,15 a 7,98 GPa, para melina. Para teca los resultados variaron de 1,90 a 3,07 GPa para EUS en sentido transversal, de 16,13 a 18,12 GPa para EUS en sentido longitudinal y de 9,41 a 11,47 GPa para EES. Finalmente, se obtuvo que los mejores valores de MOE para melina corresponde a los tratamientos de 160 y 180 °C de temperatura. En tanto para teca, corresponden a los tratamientos con 180 y 200 °C de temperatura.
Propiedades energéticas de biomasa torrefaccionada de Dipteryx panamensis Pittier y Gmelina arborea Roxb. ex Sm.
Authors: Gaitán-Álvarez Johanna
Published: December 2015

Se cuantificaron las propiedades energéticas de la biomasa torrefaccionada de dos especies forestales, Dipteryx panamensis y Gmelina arborea. Se tomaron 500 gramos de aserrín provenientes del proceso de aserrío primario de cada especie y se dividió en tres partes para aplicar tres tipos de tiempos a la exposición de temperatura, denominado como tratamientos: el tratamiento número 1 es el testigo, el cual no se torrefaccionó (0 minutos). El tratamiento número 2 consistió en aplicar una temperatura de 200 °C por 15 minutos, y el tratamiento número 3 consistió en aplicar una temperatura de 200 °C por 20 minutos. A este se le determinó densidad, contenido de cenizas, poder calórico, contenido de humedad e índice de combustibilidad. Las densidades de ambas especies variaron entre 155,48 kg/m3 a 191,86 kg/m3. El poder calórico paso de 9749,00 kJ/kg a 18126,35 kJ/kg con el proceso de torrefacción. Los porcentajes de cenizas se mantuvieron en un rango de 0,39 % a 1,07 %, y para el índice de combustibilidad en un rango de 109,31 a 6675,93; los valores más bajos los presentó el tratamiento a 0 minutos en ambas especies. Se logró determinar que la torrefacción incrementa las propiedades energéticas del material y que Dipteryx panamensis fue la que presentó un mejor comportamiento como combustible.
Emisión de compuestos tóxicos del aire de fuentes móviles en la Gran Área Metropolitana de Costa Rica en 2007
Authors: Rodríguez-Yáñez Javier E.
Published: December 2015

Se realizó una estimación de las emisiones de compuestos tóxicos generados por la flota vehicular en la Gran Área Metropolitana de Costa Rica para el año 2007. El cálculo se realizó mediante factores de emisión obtenidos con el modelo MOBILE 6 de la EPA, así como los datos de actividad aportados por la Dirección Sectorial de Energía y el Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes. 

Del total de 914.486 toneladas emitidas por fuentes móviles, de los contaminantes tóxicos evaluados, el 46% está asociada al benceno y el 26,8% al formaldehído. Las emisiones provienen principalmente de automóviles particulares y microbuses o transporte de carga liviana a gasolina, que representan el 70% del total. 
Evaluación integral financiera, económica, social, ambiental y de productividad del uso de bagazo de caña y combustibles fósiles para la generación de energía eléctrica en Nicaragua
Authors: Blanco-Orozco Napoleón Vicente , Arce-Díaz Eduardo , Zúñiga-Gonzáles Carlos
Published: December 2015

En este artículo se presentan los resultados de una evaluación integral del uso del recurso energético bagazo de caña y derivados del petróleo para la generación de energía eléctrica en Nicaragua. Para ello se utiliza un modelo de evaluación que integra fácilmente, mediante el uso de la lógica difusa, los elementos de evaluación financiera, económica, social, ambiental y de productividad. Se determinó que el empleo del bagazo de caña es integralmente rentable y presenta más beneficios que el uso de derivados del petróleo para la generación de energía eléctrica en Nicaragua. 
Quantifying the factors affecting leaf litter decomposition across a tropical forest disturbance gradient
Authors: Paudel Ekananda , Dossa Gbadamassi G.O. , de Blécourt Marleen , Beckschäfer Philip , Xu Jianchu , Harrison Rhett D.
Published: December 2015

Deforestation and forest degradation are driving unprecedented declines in biodiversity across the tropics, and understanding the consequences of these changes for ecosystem functioning is essential for human well‐being. Forest degradation and loss alter ecosystem functioning through changes in species composition and abiotic conditions. However, the consequences of these changes for heterospecific processes are often poorly understood. Leaf litter decomposition is a major source of atmospheric carbon and critical for carbon and nutrient cycling. Through a highly replicated litter‐bag experiment (3360 bags), we quantified the effects of litter quality, decomposer functional diversity and seasonal precipitation regime on litter decomposition along a tropical disturbance gradient in SW China. In addition, using soil and litter from sites selected from across the disturbance gradient, we established replicated litter‐bed treatments and exposed these to a gradient of simulated canopy cover in a shade‐house. Across the landscape, mass loss from litter‐bags after 12 months varied from 7% to 98%. Even after 12 months, litter‐bags installed at the beginning of the dry season had much lower mass loss than those installed at the beginning of the wet season. As expected, litter quality and faunal exclusion had substantial effects on decomposition rates. Decomposition rates declined along the disturbance gradient from mature forest, through regenerating forest to open land, although the effect size was strongly dependent on installation season. The effect of excluding meso‐ and macro‐invertebrates increased with increasing forest degradation, whereas the effect of litter quality declined. Results from the shade‐house experiment strongly suggested that forest degradation effects were driven predominantly by changes in micro‐climatic conditions resulting from increased canopy openness. To better model the impacts of anthropogenic global change on litter decomposition rates, it will be important to consider landscape scale processes, such as forest degradation.
Long‐term fragmentation effects on the distribution and dynamics of canopy gaps in a tropical montane forest
Authors: Vaughn Nicholas R. , Asner Gregory P. , Giardina Christian P.
Published: December 2015

Fragmentation alters forest canopy structure through various mechanisms, which in turn drive subsequent changes to biogeochemical processes and biological diversity. Using repeated airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) mappings, we investigated the size distribution and dynamics of forest canopy gaps across a topical montane forest landscape in Hawaii naturally fragmented by lava >100 yr ago. The combined effects of long‐term isolation were evaluated using edge‐proximity patterns in the distribution of gaps identified in year 1 (“existing gaps”). In addition, using the data from year 2, we investigated patterns in the loss of canopy (“new gaps”) and regrowth of canopy (“filled gaps”). The size distributions of the three gap types were modelled using the power‐law exponent, λ. We found that fragmentation has resulted in some large changes in gap dynamics, with both the total area of gaps and the relative proportion of large existing gaps increased with distance to fragment edge. In models of power‐law distribution scaling, λ estimates decreased to asymptotic values within 20 m of fragment edges for existing gaps. The size distributions of new and filled gaps were surprisingly similar. However, the total area of filled gaps was less than that of new gaps, and this difference was greatest near fragment edges. From these results, we conclude that fragmentation may be capable of continuously altering gap‐phase dynamics of a forest for more than a century.
Family Impact of Military Mental Health Stigma: A Narrative Ethical Analysis
Authors: Gibbons Susanne W. , Howe Edmund (Randy)
Published: December 2015

Our past lessons from war trauma have taught us that mental health-care stigma and other issues surrounding mental health–seeking behaviors can negatively impact the healing trajectory and long-term function for service members and their families. It can take years to decades before a service member seeks professional help for psychological distress, if he or she seeks it at all. Unfortunately, signs of personal and family problems can be subtle, and consequences, such as suicide, tragic. In this chapter, we consider the story one military health-care provider submitted in response to a study solicitation that read:
Work Organization and Professionalization in New Media Industry – The Case of a Finnish Company
Authors: Haapakorpi Arja
Published: December 2015

The article explores work organization in one new media company in a turning point of the business, in the 2000s. The company had changed from a small workshop to a medium-sized company in a few years. Growth, increasing competition, and uncertainty of profitability had altered the management and work organization. An approach of governance, aimed at efficiency and economy, was systematically implemented; the working methods were standardized, strict division of labor was carried out, and the professional qualifications were mainstreamed according to the business. The professional employees appreciated the new business-like management, but discovered that their opportunities for creative work were diminished with decreasing resources and a new project management pattern.
“The Staircase Model” – Labor Control of Temporary Agency Workers in a Swedish Call Center
Authors: Olofsdotter Gunilla
Published: December 2015

The article explores the labor control practices implemented in a call center with extensive contracting of temporary agency workers (TAWs). More specifically, the article focuses on how structural and ideological power works in this setting and on the effects of this control for TAWs’ working conditions. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted with TAWs, regular employees, and a manager in a call center specializing in telecommunication services in Sweden. The results show that ideological power is important in adapting the interests of TAWs to correspond with those of temporary work agencies (TWAs) and their client companies, in this case the call center. The results also show how ideological power is mixed with structural control in terms of technological control systems and, most importantly, a systematic categorization of workers in a hierarchical structure according to their value to the call center. By systemically categorizing workers in the staircase model, a structural inequality is produced and reproduced in the call center. The motives for working in the call center are often involuntary and are caused by the shortage of work other than a career in support services. As a consequence, feelings of insecurity and an awareness of the precarious nature of their assignment motivate TAWs to enhance their performance and hopefully take a step up on the staircase. This implies new understandings of work where job insecurity has become a normal part of working life.
Beyond Planning: The Implementation of a Worksite Health Promotional Scheme
Authors: Bjørnstad Thor Christian , Steen-Johnsen Kari
Published: December 2015

The aim of this article is to provide insight into how the presence of diverging organizational logics influences the outcome of worksite health promotion projects. The study is based on a one-year qualitative single-case study of the implementation of a health promotional physical exercise program in a transnational transport and logistics company based in Norway. While the program that was implemented was based on dominant logics in Norway, i.e., the emphasis on worker participation and influence, the organizational logics of the transport company defined company–worker relationships in other terms. We found that the logic of a highly specialized work organization that combined strict work distribution with a set of narrowly defined work tasks contradicted the logic that underpinned the health promotional program, and that this contradiction is an important reason why the initiative failed. We therefore conclude that in implementing health promotion projects at the workplace, there is a need to observe the relationship between logics related both to the project and to the organization.
Why work beyond 65? Discourse on the Decision to Continue Working or Retire Early
Authors: Nilsson Kerstin
Published: December 2015

This study examined retirement decisions among people who had left working life before 65 years of age and those working beyond 65 years in an extended working life. The results were used to make a model about their considerations, weighting and decision making, and important factors and themes in working beyond 65 years of age or retiring before 65. The interviewees seemed to have considered and weighed their own best life balance to finally result in their identity as (older) worker or early retiree. They included their work situation and social surroundings in descriptions of their planning and retirement decision making. The most important themes in these descriptions were (i) personal health and well-being; (ii) personal finances; (iii) possibilities for social inclusion; and (iv) possibilities for self-crediting by meaningful activities. Those identifying themselves as older workers had possibilities in their life situation to manage their work in relation to their functional ageing and health situation; felt important to others and socially included in the workplace; and did meaningful tasks and felt empowered in their working life. Those who had left the working life before 65 years of age describe a better possibility to this outside the working life and left as soon as they acquire a sufficient pension. The results and model presented here on how people perceive their identity as older worker or early retiree will hopefully contribute to understanding retirement planning and to the formulation of strategies to extend working life.
Effects of Companies’ Initiatives to Reduce Early Retirement Among Older Workers
Authors: Midtsundstad Tove , Hermansen Åsmund , Nielsen Roy A.
Published: December 2015

Although active ageing policy and practice vary between countries, we believe that knowledge about the effects of Norwegian companies’ initiatives to delay early retirement is of interest for all countries striving to increase the employment rates of older workers. Since the agreement on a more inclusive working life (IW agreement) was signed in 2001, the Norwegian government and social partners have encouraged companies to develop a more senior-friendly policy and implement special measures to retain older workers. In this article, we evaluate the effects of such measures. Our research question is, have preventive measures offered by companies to employees aged 62 years and older contributed to reduced rates of early retirement? We use a ‘difference-in-differences’ approach and examine whether measures at the company level to counteract early retirement actually affect older employees’ retirement decisions, controlling for different individual and enterprise factors. This is done by comparing changes and differences in the individual likelihood of early retirement on the contractual pension (AFP scheme) and disability pension in the period 2002–2007 among employees 62 years of age in businesses with and without the corresponding preventive measures/instruments. The analyses show that the likelihood that a 62-year-old worker will retire on the AFP scheme has increased from 2002 to 2007. This applies equally to 62-year-old employees in enterprises that have enacted special measures to retain older workers as well as 62-year-olds in enterprises that have not enacted any such measures. On the other hand, the likelihood that a 62-year-old worker will retire because of disability decreased from 2002 to 2007, among employees in both the intervention enterprises and the control enterprises. However, when controlling for other relevant characteristics of individuals and enterprises, the analysis indicates that the measures as such have had no effect on the likelihood of 62-year-olds retiring.
Inauthenticity at Work: Moral Conflicts in Marketoriented Welfare Organizations
Authors: Thunman Elin
Published: December 2015

The number of employees who develop work-related problems due to stress and other mental tensions has increased in Europe during the last decades, especially among women. One explanation of the female dominance is that women more often than men work in the service and health care sector. Consequently, they are more involved in human relations at work, involving more “emotion work” or “interaction work”. Emotion researchers have described low well-being and mental disorders related to work stress in terms of inauthenticity, as suppressing one’s true emotions. In this article, a social constructivist and contextual perspective on the self is adopted. Based on case studies at Swedish work settings, the article explores the connection between authenticity and values attached to the self and the impact of the organizational setting for their realization in interaction work. Work-related stress is examined in the light of the implementation of new public management rationales and directives in welfare organizations, with particular focus on customer-orientated management. The main conclusion is that, regardless of gender, stress and mental problems could be seen as effects of feelings of inauthenticity, caused by experiences of being prevented from realizing interpersonal self-values in personal encounters at work. Women more often work in the welfare sector and are consequently more often subjected to these moral dilemmas, enhanced by customer orientation. These premises form the background for the article’s understanding of women’s more frequent development of mental stress symptoms. The article contributes to the understanding of women’s stress-related problems at work as a phenomenon in the intersection point between the individual and the organization and to the revealing of the interpersonal consequences of the increased customer orientation in the welfare area. Furthermore, by examining the contextual and situational dimensions of authenticity at work, the article adds to the knowledge about being authentic in today’s world.
Social Relations at the Collective Level: The Meaning and Measurement of Collective Control in Research on the Psychosocial Work Environment
Authors: Saksvik Per Øystein , Hammer Tove Helland , Nytrø Kjell
Published: December 2015

In this article, we suggest that organizational-level social relations should be defined and measured as workplace norms. We base this argument on new research on the components of the psychosocial work environment and on the availability of new techniques for measuring and analyzing workplace norms as organizational properties. Workplace norms emerge from interactions and negotiations among organizational actors, through which patterns of behavior, attitudes, and perspectives become defined as legitimate. This is an underestimated dimension of the psychosocial work environment that should be assessed with two types of data: self-reports by employees of their experiences in the workplace (task-level control) and self-reports by employees and employers of collective or group-level norms. Hierarchical linear modeling is an especially useful tool for analyzing the relationships between workplace norms and different organizational outcomes because it allows researchers to separate the effects of individual-level variables from group or organizational-level factors. Our approach is anchored in the Nordic perspective of the work environment developed over the past 50 years.
Quality in Modern Nordic Working Life—Investigating Three Related Research Perspectives and Their Possible Cross-Fertilization
Authors: Jacobsen Stine , Bramming Pia , Holt Helle , Larsen Henrik Holt
Published: December 2015

Nordic working life balance is important in the context of a highly developed welfare state, budget collaboration between the State and municipalities, and a unified labor movement. In working life studies, various research perspectives create meaning around and propose solutions for the many quality issues of modern working life. Welfare research, working environment research, and human resource management (HRM) research attack the multiple challenges of working life in different ways and share the overall objective of solving issues in modern working life. Research from the three perspectives, however, tends to compartmentalize life spheres. They conceptualize the modern working person as an individual, employee, or citizen, neglecting the complexity of lived life where all three spheres blur together, which possibly reflects the difficulty of making modern work life function well. This article is based on a structured literature review of the three main research perspectives (welfare, working environment, and HRM). We review existing international research, observing where the three perspectives show overlaps and identify 24 studies which cross-fertilize in the sense that two or more of the perspectives are applied at the same time in the same study. Our results show that while the perspectives share a common interest in solving the problems of the overlapping working life (OWL), they do so with different methods and criteria for success, and offer different solutions. We propose the concept “OWL” to analyze how working life studies create meaning around quality issues of modern working life. OWL’s main focus is the multiple challenges faced by working people who are simultaneously individuals, citizens, and employees. We arrive at two main cross-disciplinary themes: boundary and quality. The boundary theme reflects an approach to solving the issues of modern working life through improvements of the working life balance. The quality theme reflects an approach to solving issues in modern working life by addressing quality of work, preventing stress, burnout, etc. The review only finds three studies which try to encompass all three life spheres (employee, citizen, and employee), and even when the research perspectives are cross-fertilized, knowledge of possible effects of cross-fertilization is sparse. We propose further research in initiatives aiming at improving the complementing and supplementing of the three perspectives especially with regard to facilitation of families with small children, an intensified focus on inclusive workplaces, and a higher degree of correlation between HRM, working environment, and welfare policies.
Cultural Identity in Everyday Interactions at Work: Highly Skilled Female Russian Professionals in Finland
Authors: Lahti Malgorzata
Published: December 2015

The dominant research strands into social interaction in culturally diverse workplaces have focused on issues of organizational efficiency and discrimination, and they have treated cultural identity as static, monolithic, and universally shared. This study aims to problematize this view. It is argued that our understanding of cultural workplace diversity could be extended through the integration of interpretive and critical interpersonal communication theorizing on cultural identity as dynamic and processual, constructed between and among people in everyday workplace interactions and in relation to larger social, political, and historical forces. This argument is illustrated by an analysis of in-depth interviews with 10 female Russian immigrants in Finland who performed interactionintense knowledge work. The women talked about their everyday workplace interactions and how they thought Russian identity mattered in them. These data were analyzed with the inductive method of interpretive description designed to provide a systematic description of the phenomenon delineating its characteristic themes and accounting for individual variations within it. The analysis led to the identification of four communication sites for distinct formations of Russian identity: expressing professionalism, managing initial encounters, facing stigma, and facilitating intercultural learning. The findings offer novel insights into social interaction in culturally diverse workplaces with implications for both employee well-being and organizational processes.
Autonomy and Control when Working with Humans—A Reflection on Sociotechnical Concepts
Authors: Amble Nina
Published: December 2015

The sociotechnical concepts of responsible autonomy and to be in control were originally developed from men’s work in order to describe and develop mostly industrial work. This article explores how these conceptions may be useful in modern service work, when working with humans. It is based on a set of development projects in mainly municipal care institutions in Norway, between 2000 and 2011. The projects were theoretically grounded in the Norwegian and international sociotechnical system theory (STS) tradition. It argues that there are many valuable lessons to be learnt from this tradition also concerning nursing and care work in the municipalities. However, the article points to a need for development of the concept control as autonomy to embrace “working with humans.” A central finding is that assistance and support from and to colleagues are prerequisites for “being in control.” Moreover, that development of trust through communication alongside work is necessary in order to establish relations of mutual support. Trust and mutual support point to the social relations at work; so in this way it takes the concept control as autonomy from an individual to a more collective concept as Trist et al. (1963) and Herbst (1974/1993) defined their concept of control as collective responsible autonomy. In a prospective perspective, the article sets up the hypothesis that an organization that combines the two, an individual together with a more collective scope on autonomy when working with humans, will meet what Kira (2006) calls as regenerative work. This means sustainability—in resources involved; health, quality, and milieu—through the staff ’s dominion over the conditions of their work.
A river system modelling platform for Murray-Darling Basin, Australia
Authors: Yang Ang , Podger Geoff , Seaton Shane , Power Robert
Published: December 2015

Global climate change and local development make water supply one of the most vulnerable sectors in Australia. The Australian government has therefore commissioned a series of projects to evaluate water availability and the sustainable use of water resources in Australia. This paper discusses a river system modelling platform that has been used in some of these nationally significant projects. The platform consists of three components: provenance, modelling engine and reporting database. The core component is the modelling engine, an agent-based hydrological simulation system called the Integrated River System Modelling Framework (IRSMF). All configuration information and inputs to IRSMF are recorded in the provenance component so that modelling processes can be reproduced and results audited. The reporting database is used to store key statistics and raw output time series data for selected key parameters. This river system modelling platform has for the first time modelled a river system at the basin level in Australia. It provides practitioners with a unique understanding of the characteristics and emergent behaviours of river systems at the basin level. Although the platform is purpose-built for the Murray-Darling Basin, it would be easy to apply it to other basins by using different river models to model agent behaviours.
Prediction of hydrological time-series using extreme learning machine
Authors: Atiquzzaman Md , Kandasamy Jaya
Published: December 2015

Applying feed-forward neural networks has been limited due to the use of conventional gradient-based slow learning algorithms in training and iterative determination of network parameters. This paper demonstrates a method that partly overcomes these problems by using an extreme learning machine (ELM) which predicts the hydrological time-series very quickly. ELMs, also called single-hidden layer feed-forward neural networks (SLFNs), are able to well generalize the performance for extremely complex problems. ELM randomly chooses a single hidden layer and analytically determines the weights to predict the output. The ELM method was applied to predict hydrological flow series for the Tryggevælde Catchment, Denmark and for the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, USA. The results confirmed that ELM's performance was similar or better in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) compared to ANN and other previously published techniques, namely evolutionary computation based support vector machine (EC-SVM), standard chaotic approach and inverse approach.
Mathematical modeling for solute transport in aquifer
Authors: Singh Mritunjay Kumar , Singh Vijay P. , Das Pintu
Published: December 2015

Groundwater pollution may occur due to human activities, industrial effluents, cemeteries, mine spoils, etc. This paper deals with one-dimensional mathematical modeling of solute transport in finite aquifers. The governing equation for solute transport by unsteady groundwater flow is solved analytically by the Laplace transform technique. Initially, the aquifer is subjected to the spatially dependent source concentration with zero-order production. One end of the aquifer receives the source concentration and is represented by a mixed-type boundary condition in the splitting time domain. The concentration gradient at the other end of the porous media is assumed to be zero. The temporally dependent velocity and the dispersion coefficients are considered. A numerical solution is obtained by using an explicit finite difference scheme and compared with the analytical result. Accuracy of the solution is discussed by using the root mean square error method. Truncation error is also explored for the parameters like numerical dispersion and velocity terms. The impact of Peclet number is examined. For graphical interpretation, unsteady velocity expressions (i.e., such as exponential, sinusoidal, asymptotic, and algebraic sigmoid) are considered. The work may be used as a preliminary predictive tool for groundwater resource and management.
Haar wavelet-based adaptive finite volume shallow water solver
Authors: Haleem Dilshad A. , Kesserwani Georges , Caviedes-Voullième Daniel
Published: December 2015

This paper presents the formulation of an adaptive finite volume (FV) model for the shallow water equations. A Godunov-type reformulation combining the Haar wavelet is achieved to enable solution-driven resolution adaptivity (both coarsening and refinement) by depending on the wavelet's threshold value. The ability to properly model irregular topographies and wetting/drying is transferred from the (baseline) FV uniform mesh model, with no extra notable efforts. Selected hydraulic tests are employed to analyse the performance of the Haar wavelet FV shallow water solver considering adaptivity and practical issues including choice for the threshold value driving the adaptivity, mesh convergence study, shock and wet/dry front capturing abilities. Our findings show that Haar wavelet-based adaptive FV solutions offer great potential to improve the reliability of multiscale shallow water models.
Incorporating ecological adaptation in a multi-objective optimization for the Three Gorges Reservoir
Authors: Li Fang-Fang , Qiu Jun
Published: December 2015

Evidence from ecological studies has suggested that alteration of river flows downstream of reservoirs can threaten native aquatic ecosystems. The Three Gorges Reservoir has been controversial since its design and construction stage, and the ecological damage downstream is an important concern. However, protecting long-term health of the river ecosystem has a low priority in reservoir operation compared to other human demands, and is traditionally treated as a constraint of minimum water release. A multi-objective reservoir optimization model incorporating ecological adaption is proposed. Range of variability approach is first used to quantify the hydrological alteration. A satisfying ecological flow scenario is then worked out if it is necessary to take ecological issues into consideration. With the aim of eco-compensation, the reservoir release should be as close to satisfying ecological flow as possible, which is set to be the objective for ecological adaption. Together with other objectives, such as flood control and power generation, a multi-objective optimization model is established, which is optimized by NSGA-II algorithm. Results not only provide the operational references in both wet and dry years, but also illustrate the negative impacts on the river ecosystem by reservoirs can be alleviated with low economic cost. Quantitative relationships among different objectives can also be used for trading markets.
A recipe for standards-based data sharing using open source software and low-cost electronics
Authors: Sadler Jeffrey M. , Ames Daniel P. , Khattar Rohit
Published: December 2015

Environmental data are critical to understanding environmental phenomena, yet their consistent collection and curation can be cost-prohibitive. This paper describes a recipe for the design, development, and deployment of a low-cost environmental data logging and transmission system for environmental sensors and its connection to an open source data-sharing network. The hardware is built using several low-cost, open-source, mass-produced components. The system automatically ingests data into HydroServer, a standards-based server in the open source hydrologic information system (HIS) created by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences Inc. (CUAHSI). By publishing data in this way, they are discoverable through the geographic information system (GIS)-based CUAHSI tools, HydroDesktop and HydroShare. In addition, because they follow WaterML encoding, open hardware data stored in the HIS can be included in international catalog such as the global earth observation system of system catalog. A recipe for building the system is provided. Multiple deployments used to test proof-of-concept of the system are described and their results are given. Ease of deployment and reliability of the logging and transmission system is also addressed.
A Bayesian network-based data analytical approach to predict velocity distribution in small streams
Authors: Genc Onur , Dag Ali
Published: December 2015

Developing a reliable data analytical method for predicting the velocity profile in small streams is important in that it substantially decreases the amount of money and effort spent on measurement procedures. In recent studies it has been shown that machine learning models can be used to achieve such an important goal. In the proposed framework, a tree-augmented Naïve Bayes approach, a member of the Bayesian network family, is employed to address the aforementioned two issues. Therefore, the proposed study presents novelty in that it explores the relations among the predictor attributes and derives a probabilistic risk score associated with the predictions. The data set of four key stations, in two different basins, are employed and the eight observational variables and calculated non-dimensional parameters were utilized as inputs to the models for estimating the response values, u (point velocities in measured verticals). The results showed that the proposed data-analytical approach yields comparable results when compared to the widely used, powerful machine learning algorithms. More importantly, novel information is gained through exploring the interrelations among the predictors as well as deriving a case-specific probabilistic risk score for the prediction accuracy. These findings can be utilized to help field engineers to improve their decision-making mechanism in small streams.
Supporting M5 model trees with sensitivity information derived from conceptual hydrological models
Authors: Massmann Carolina
Published: December 2015

The main objective of this paper is assessing the usefulness of parameter sensitivity information from conceptual hydrological models for data-driven models, an approach which might allow us to take advantage of the strengths of both data-based and process-based models. This study uses the parameter sensitivity of three widely used conceptual hydrological models (GR4J, Hymod and SAC-SMA) and combines them with M5 model trees. The study was carried out for three case studies dealing with different problems to which model trees are applied: one using model trees as error correctors and two case studies in which model trees were used as rainfall–runoff models and which differ in how the sensitivity information is used. The results show that sensitivity time series can improve the predictions of M5 model trees, especially when they do not include the time series of previous discharge as predictor variables. The use of parameter sensitivity information for clustering the time series resulted in model trees that had a structure consistent with the hydrological processes that were taking place in the considered cluster, indicating that the use of sensitivity indices could be a viable way of introducing hydrological knowledge into data-based models.
Optimal closure of system actuators for transient control: an analytical approach
Authors: Skulovich Olya , Sela Perelman Lina , Ostfeld Avi
Published: December 2015

The effect of downstream valve closure scheduling was analyzed to find optimal closure parameters that lead to the minimal maximum pressure head in the water distribution system. Several valve closure strategies were explored, combining the known valve performance curve (change in flow as a function of change in valve's opened area) with unknown valve closure curve (change in valve's opened area as a function of time). Second-order polynomial curve, power function curve, and piece-wise linear curve were implemented and compared. Genetic algorithm and quasi-Newton (QN) optimization methods were applied. The methodology was tested for three networks, including looped gravitational and pressurized networks. The results demonstrate that flexible multi-parametric valve closure curve and QN optimization method are more effective in minimizing the maximum pressure head in the system.
A multi-objective approach towards urban drainage development prioritization and project definition structure
Authors: Rad Iman Zahedi , Ardeshir Abdollah
Published: December 2015

In developing countries, policy-makers at all levels are confronted with the problem of prioritizing different projects which needs to be done in a systematic method for the optimal allocation of funds. The current study is focused in addressing the above-mentioned problem for urban storm water drainage networks, and it aims to address two key questions: ‘Which drainage projects should be tackled first?’ and ‘Does the project definition structure influence the prioritized projects?’ The north-eastern part of Tehran is selected as the case study and the first question is addressed through a prioritization method based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Three different criteria including investment costs, flood damage costs, and exposure costs are considered. It is concluded that the multi-objective approach can better handle the problem in hand. To deal with the second question, two levels of project definition are investigated. The results reveal that the project definition structure has a clear impact on the objectives and its enhancement can lead to better system performance in terms of objective functions. This finding implies that despite the current trend in the city of Tehran, project definition structure should receive appropriate attention before the results are evaluated in a subsequent prioritizing framework.