Abstract
The most popular weight restrictions are assurance regions (ARs), which impose ratios between weights to be within certain ranges. ARs can be categorized into two types: ARs type I (ARI) and ARs type II (ARII). ARI specify bounds on ratios between input weights or between output weights, whilst ARII specify bounds on ratios that link input to output weights. DEA models with ARI successfully maximize relative efficiency, but in the presence of ARII the DEA models may under-estimate relative efficiency or may become infeasible. In this paper we discuss the problems that can occur in the presence of ARII and propose a new nonlinear model that overcomes the limitations discussed. Also, the dual model is described, which enables the assessment of relative efficiency when trade-offs between inputs and outputs are specified. The application of the model developed is illustrated in the efficiency assessment of Portuguese. secondary schools.

Abstract
The problem of predicting the next request during a user's navigation session has been extensively studied. In this context, higher-order Markov models have been widely used to model navigation sessions and to predict the next navigation step, while prediction accuracy has been mainly evaluated with the hit and miss score. We claim that this score, although useful, is not sufficient for evaluating next link prediction models with the aim of finding a sufficient order of the model, the size of a recommendation set, and assessing the impact of unexpected events on the prediction accuracy. Herein, we make use of a variable length Markov model to compare the usefulness of three alternatives to the hit and miss score: the Mean Absolute Error, the Ignorance Score, and the Brier score. We present an extensive evaluation of the methods on real data sets and a comprehensive comparison of the scoring methods.

Abstract
It is well known that the definition of bus schedules is critical for the service reliability of public transports. Several proposals have been suggested, using data from Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems, in order to enhance the reliability of public transports. In this paper we study the optimum number of schedules and the days covered by each one of them, in order to increase reliability. We use the Dynamic Time Warping distance in order to calculate the similarities between two different dimensioned irregularly spaced data sequences before the use of data clustering techniques. The application of this methodology with the K-Means for a specific bus route demonstrated that a new schedule for the weekends in non-scholar periods could be considered due to its distinct profile from the remaining days. For future work, we propose to apply this methodology to larger data sets in time and in number, corresponding to different bus routes, in order to find a consensual cluster between all the routes. ©2010 IEEE.

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract
There is an increasing recognition that the competitive advantage of firms depends on their ability to create, transfer, utilize, develop and protect the Organisational knowledge assets, so it is logical to expect that more effective management of the creation and use of knowledge would accelerate a company's natural rate of learning, allow it to outpace competitors and create value for both customers and shareholders. The organisational learning can be seen as a combination of two phases, extraction and dissemination of management lessons, as we go from one project to another. The managers, executives and researchers in project management have to "learn how to learn", and maintain a consistent rate of improvement in learning processes. In a second phase of the organisational learning, it is necessary to learn how to code and disseminate knowledge for additional improvement of the organisation management. The research here reported is the first phase of a twofold objective it intends to identify the key elements that contribute to a learning environment and methodologies, processes and technologies that enhance the Organisational knowledge; and it intends to develop a corporative IT-tool, based on the conclusions and remarks obtained. It is our belief that the opinions gathered from people sensible to this topic, will allow us, among other things, to conclude some important aspects that will defiantly contribute for increasing the awareness given to knowledge acquisition and learning by the different team members.