Search results for "Other Engineering and Technologies"
showing 10 items of 2057 documents
Governance of Projects: Generating value by linking projects with their permanent organisation
2019
Abstract There exists little research into how value is effectively generated by temporary projects from the wider perspective of a permanent organisation. This paper investigates empirically how ‘Governance of Projects’ – the way in which a single, permanent organisation identifies, creates, and subsequently harvests value through multiple projects – occurs in four private-sector case companies. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with a wide range of employees and from internal operational documents. These data were codified and analysed as evidence of the types and intensity of links between organisational elements. The results illuminate the complex interplay of links that are …
The Complexity of Value and the Evaluation of Complexity: Social Use Value and Multi-criteria Analysis
2018
The “challenge of complexity” is one of the many points of convergence between the Encyclical Laudato si’ and the evolution of post-modern scientific thought. This study aims to analyze how complexity represents the essential element of the profound renewal in the scientific paradigm of the discipline of evaluation, particularly in regard to the theory of value, the categories of value, and the instruments of multi-criteria evaluation. Some contemporary theories of value propose, in fact, a complex source of value, such as surpluses of energy and of information (Ecological Economics) or as the creative and synergistic combination of three surpluses, namely energetic and non-entropic, geneal…
Perceived safety and attributed value as predictors of the intention to use autonomous vehicles: A national study with Spanish drivers
2019
Abstract Sooner than later, the growing development of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) will represent not only an imminent transformation of transportation dynamics, but also further advantages for their users, including many improvements in road crash prevention, efficiency and sustainability. However, different concerns and constraints may affect the intention of adopting this technology among its potential customers, especially for what concerns those constraints related to safety, viability and stability. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of perceived safety and value attributed to the AV in the drivers’ intention to use it, considering the drivers’ demographic factors,…
Revista electrónica interuniversitaria de formación del profesorado
2019
Abstract
 This article presents the Council of Europe’s educational policy, indicating its major milestones and characteristics when it comes to issues of cultural heritage. First it offers an analysis of the strategic documents (i.e. recommendation No. R (98) 5 of the committee of ministers to member states concerning heritage education and conventions, with emphasis on the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention). The notion of a common European Cultural Heritage as a shared and non-renewable resource is presented in the human rights approach to cultural heritage. The article pays special attention to intercultural dialogu…
A value sensitive ABM of the refugee crisis in The Netherlands
2019
We develop an agent based model to characterize the wellbeing of newcomers (i.e. asylum seeking refugees) in the context of asylum logistics using Schwartz’s theory of values. The model produces recommendations for decision-makers with respect to avoiding catastrophic outcomes and maximizing best case outcomes. We conduct analysis to show that while a relatively simple set of conditions is necessary to avoid catastrophic outcomes, these conditions are insufficient to maximize the best case outcomes. Furthermore, the conditions that maximize one best case outcome do so at the expense of another. The result is a platform for decision-makers to understand tradeoffs in policies for government a…
Sustainability focused decision-making in building renovation
2017
Abstract An overview of recent research related to building renovation has revealed that efforts to date do not address sustainability issues comprehensively. The question then arises in regard to the holistic sustainability objectives within building renovation context. In order to deal with this question, the research adopts a multi-dimensional approach involving literature review, exploration of existing assessment methods and methodologies, individual and focus group interviews, and application of Soft Systems Methodologies (SSM) with Value Focused Thinking (VFT). In doing so, appropriate data about sustainability objectives have been collected and structured, and subsequently verified …
Dual Inequalities for Stabilized Column Generation Revisited
2014
Column generation (CG) models have several advantages over compact formulations: they provide better linear program bounds, may eliminate symmetry, and can hide nonlinearities in their subproblems. However, users also encounter drawbacks in the form of slow convergence, also known as the tailing-off effect, and the oscillation of the dual variables. Among different alternatives for stabilizing the CG process, Ben Amor et al. [Ben Amor H, Desrosiers J, Valério de Carvalho JM (2006) Dual-optimal inequalities for stabilized column generation. Oper. Res. 54(3):454–463] suggest the use of dual-optimal inequalities (DOIs) in the context of cutting stock and bin packing problems. We generalize th…
Retrieval of vegetation height in rice fields using polarimetric SAR interferometry with TanDEM-X data
2017
This work presents for the first time a demonstration with satellite data of polarimetric SAR interferometry (PolInSAR) applied to the retrieval of vegetation height in rice fields. Three series of dual-pol interferometric SAR data acquired with large baselines (2–3 km) by the TanDEM-X system during its science phase (April–September 2015) are exploited. A novel inversion algorithm especially suited for rice fields cultivated in flooded soil is proposed and evaluated. The validation is carried out over three test sites located in geographically different areas: Sevilla (SW Spain), Valencia (E Spain), and Ipsala (W Turkey), in which different rice types are present. Results are obtained duri…
The FLuorescence EXplorer Mission Concept-ESA's Earth Explorer 8
2017
In November 2015, the FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) was selected as the eighth Earth Explorer mission of the European Space Agency. The tandem mission concept will provide measurements at a spectral and spatial resolution enabling the retrieval and interpretation of the full chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum emitted by the terrestrial vegetation. This paper provides a mission concept overview of the scientific goals, the key objectives related to fluorescence, and the requirements guaranteeing the fitness for purpose of the resulting scientific data set. We present the mission design at the time of selection, i.e., at the end of project phase Phase A/B1, as developed by two independent indus…
First Retrievals of ASCAT-IB VOD (Vegetation Optical Depth) at Global Scale
2021
Global and long-term vegetation optical depth (VOD) dataset are very useful to monitor the dynamics of the vegetation features, climate and environmental changes. In this study, the radar-based global ASCAT (Advanced SCATterometer) IB (INRAE-BORDEAUX) VOD was retrieved using a model which was recently calibrated over Africa. In order to assess the performance of IB VOD, the Saatchi biomass and three other VOD datasets (ASCAT V16, AMSR2 LPRM V5 and VODCA LPRM V6) derived from C-band observations were used in the comparison. The preliminary results show that IB VOD has a promising ability to predict biomass $(\mathrm{R}=0.74,\ \text{RMSE} =44.82\ \text{Mg}\ \text{ha}^{-1})$ , which is better …