Open University of Catalonia

About: Open University of Catalonia is a education organization based out in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Higher education. The organization has 1943 authors who have published 4646 publications receiving 64200 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya & UOC.

Decongestion of Urban Areas with Hotspot Pricing

Abstract: The rapid growth of population in urban areas is jeopardizing the mobility and air quality worldwide. One of the most notable problems arising is that of traffic congestion which in turn affects air pollution. With the advent of technologies able to sense real-time data about cities, and its public distribution for analysis, we are in place to forecast scenarios valuable to ameliorate and control congestion. Here, we analyze a local congestion pricing scheme, hotspot pricing, that surcharges vehicles traversing congested junctions. The proposed tax is computed from the estimation of the evolution of congestion at local level, and the expected response of users to the tax (elasticity). Results on cities’ road networks, considering real-traffic data, show that the proposed hotspot pricing scheme would be more effective than current mechanisms to decongest urban areas, and paves the way towards sustainable congestion in urban areas.

Anomaly Detection Using RFID-Based Information Management in an IoT Context

Abstract: IoT-based environments may infer anomalies based on the data processed from their heterogeneous sensors. Within the technologies evolving the IoT concept, nowadays the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is a de facto standard in areas like retail or logistics. For instance, most retailers attach RFID-labels to their items to avoid stock-out in the inventory or speed up cash processes. Besides identification, RFID provides further RF data which can be used for information management like anomaly detection (i.e. a shoplifting in a RFID loss prevention system). This manuscript presents two IoT scenarios to detect anomalies using multivariate outlier detection methods, uniquely using RFID data. This research empirically evaluates the authors' proposed methods by reproducing a RFID-enabled store, and the two proposed scenarios. The evaluation achieved a False Positive Rate around 0.1% and a True Positive Rate around 87%.

Why Simheuristics? Benefits, Limitations, and Best Practices When Combining Metaheuristics with Simulation

Abstract: From smart cities to factories and business, many decision-making processes in our society involve NP-hard optimization problems. In a real environment, these problems are frequently large-scale, which limits the potential of exact optimization methods and justifies the use of metaheuristic algorithms in their resolution. Real-world problems are also distinguished by high levels of dynamism and uncertainty, which affect the formulation of the optimization model, its input data, and constraints. However, metaheuristic algorithms usually assume deterministic inputs and constraints, and thus end up solving oversimplified models of the real system being considered, casting doubt on validity and even meaning of the results and recommendations. Accordingly, this paper argues that approaches combining simulation with metaheuristics, i.e., simheuristics, not only constitute a natural extension of metaheuristics, but also should be considered as a “first resort” method when dealing with large-scale stochastic optimization problems, which constitute most realistic problems in industry and business. To this end, this paper highlights the main benefits and limitations of these simheuristic algorithms, reviews some examples of applications to different fields, and analyzes the most suitable simulation paradigms to be used within a simheuristic. Finally, we outline a series of best practices to consider during the design and implementation stages of a simheuristic algorithm.

Responsible research and innovation indicators for science education assessment: how to measure the impact?

Abstract: The emerging paradigm of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the European Commission policy discourse identifies science education as a key agenda for better equipping students with skills...

Exploring the Relationship between Despotic Leadership and Job Satisfaction: The Role of Self Efficacy and Leader–Member Exchange

Abstract: This study explores the effects of despotic leadership (DL) on employee job satisfaction (JS) using self-efficacy (SE) as a mediating variable and leader-member exchange (LMX) as a moderated variable. Building on the social learning and social exchange theory, our research proposes a research model. In this model, despotic leadership affects employee job satisfaction both directly and indirectly through self-efficacy and leader-member exchange. We used a questionnaire survey analysis approach to collect data. Data were collected from the employees of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in Guangdong Province, P.R. China. A pilot test of 20 participants with similar demographics as the final sample was performed to test the usability of the questionnaire. We distributed 500 questionnaires among the target population. In total, 230 usable questionnaires were returned, resulting in a response rate of 53%. To estimate the proposed relationships in the theoretical framework, we used SPSS and AMOS. The results of this study confirmed that despotic leadership has a negative impact on employee job satisfaction. Moreover, the outcomes of this study indicate that self-efficacy has a mediating effect between despotic leadership and employee job satisfaction. Similarly, the results also confirm that LMX has a moderating effect between despotic leadership and employee self-efficacy. Therefore, we conclude that the community is understanding of the mechanism of despotic leadership, identify the mechanism to effectively deal with its negative effects, broaden the relevant research on the antecedent variable of self-efficacy, and provide practical enlightenment enterprises to retain and employ people.