Edp: getting re: dy for the future

This Case Study describes the optimization process completed by the Portuguese utility firm EDP – Energias de Portugal in order to improve the performance of its most recent energy management solution: re:dy. Grounded on a product management perspective, this paper addresses the issues faced by re:dy at its early stage in the market, as well as product, place, promotion and price related solutions implemented to solve them. It also seeks to demonstrate the importance of strategical product development in companies’ ability to adapt to a fast changing and uncertain market environment

Hyperscale Data Processing With Network-Centric Designs

Today’s largest data processing workloads are hosted in cloud data centers. Due to unprecedented data growth and the end of Moore’s Law, these workloads have ballooned to the hyperscale level, encompassing billions to trillions of data items and hundreds to thousands of machines per query. Enabling and expanding with these workloads are highly scalable data center networks that connect up to hundreds of thousands of networked servers. These massive scales fundamentally challenge the designs of both data processing systems and data center networks, and the classic layered designs are no longer sustainable. Rather than optimize these massive layers in silos, we build systems across them with principled network-centric designs. In current networks, we redesign data processing systems with network-awareness to minimize the cost of moving data in the network. In future networks, we propose new interfaces and services that the cloud infrastructure offers to applications and codesign data processing systems to achieve optimal query processing performance. To transform the network to future designs, we facilitate network innovation at scale. This dissertation presents a line of systems work that covers all three directions. It first discusses GraphRex, a network-aware system that combines classic database and systems techniques to push the performance of massive graph queries in current data centers. It then introduces data processing in disaggregated data centers, a promising new cloud proposal. It details TELEPORT, a compute pushdown feature that eliminates data processing performance bottlenecks in disaggregated data centers, and Redy, which provides high-performance caches using remote disaggregated memory. Finally, it presents MimicNet, a fine-grained simulation framework that evaluates network proposals at datacenter scale with machine learning approximation. These systems demonstrate that our ideas in network-centric designs achieve orders of magnitude higher efficiency compared to the state of the art at hyperscale

Data-Driven Aggregation Control for Thermoelectric Loads in Demand Response

Within the concept of a smart grid, aggregators have the task of coordinating the behavior of large sets of Distributed Energy Resources, each of them offering small power/energy capacities, which help to balance the power grid and can serve as providers of services. Adequate coordination strategies are required to optimally exploit these resources in the ancillary services market. However, deriving model-based control policies for them is complex due to the heterogeneity and uncertainty related to the large set of associated agents. Then, a data-driven model is an adequate solution for this sort of situation. This paper presents the application of the Youla-Kucera Data-Driven Control strategy for the development of an aggregator to regulate the power consumption of a set of thermoelectric refrigerators, avoiding the modeling process and directly designing a controller from data. A detailed simulation framework was executed to verify the validity of the proposed methodology. It is shown that the derived aggregator is able to offer frequency containment reserves service, achieving the required settling time of 30 seconds and with a tracking error below 4.7%. Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Adopting Indonesian Folklore as an Instructional Media Through Cards Games

Psychologically, humans tend to love games compared to learning. Therefore, learning should be delivered through fun ways and not boring just like a game. This research aims to develop card games as learning media of Interpersonal Skill Course at STMIK STIKOM Indonesia. This course was chosen based on the availability of minimum teaching materials, the level of material abstractness which is high enough, and there is still no innovative learning that can support the learning. Beside easing the students in comprehending the materials of Interpersonal Skill through fun ways, this card game at once also reminds the students about deep philosophy contained in Indonesian folklores. The chosen folklores cover the stories developing and frequently told in the society such as Timun Emas, Malin Kundang, and so on. The research design used research and development method referring to ADDIE model which is limited until the developing stage. The result of this research is learning media the card game which is an innovation in learning process replacing conventional learning. Based on the results of expert test conducted, the learning media in the form of card games adopting Indonesian folklores is valid and successfully developed

Evaluation of endoscopic vein extraction on structural and functional viability of saphenous vein endothelium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>Endothelial injury during harvest influences graft patency post CABG. We have previously shown that endoscopic harvest causes structural and functional damage to the saphenous vein (SV) endothelium. However, causes of such injury may depend on the extraction technique. In order to assess this supposition, we evaluated the effect of VirtuoSaph endoscopic SV harvesting technique (VsEVH) on structural and functional viability of SV endothelium using multiphoton imaging, biochemical and immunofluorescence assays.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nineteen patients scheduled for CABG were prospectively identified. Each underwent VsEVH for one portion and "No-touch" open SV harvesting (OSVH) for another portion of the SV. A two cm segment from each portion was immersed in GALA conduit preservation solution and transported overnight to our lab for processing. The segments were labeled with fluorescent markers to quantify cell viability, calcium mobilization and generation of nitric oxide. Morphology, expression, localization and stability of endothelial caveolin, eNOS, von Willebrand factor and cadherin were evaluated using immunofluorescence, Western blot and multiphoton microscopy (MPM).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Morphological, biochemical and immunofluorescence parameters of viability, structure and function were well preserved in VsEVH group as in OSVH group. However, tonic eNOS activity, agonist-dependent calcium mobilization and nitric oxide production were partially attenuated in the VsEVH group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study indicates that VirtuoSaph endoscopic SV harvesting technique preserves the structural and functional viability of SV endothelium, but may differentially attenuate the vasomotor function of the saphenous vein graft.</p> <p>Ultramini-Abstract</p> <p>Endoscopic extraction preserved the structure and function, but attenuated the calcium mobilization and nitric oxide generation in human SV endothelium.</p

Examining Combat Effectiveness in Asymmetric Engagements with Balanced Forces Using the Information Age Combat Model

With advances in networked communications, the capabilities of command and control (C2) have come to play an increasingly larger role in battlefield success. Within the past two decades a new military strategy has evolved, known as Network-Centric Operations (NCO), which puts information superiority on the frontline. Moreover, the information advantage that is gained through information superiority is translated into a tactical war-fighting advantage. A research gap has been identified in the investigation of networked combat force configurations in the realm of asymmetric engagements. Specifically, the research question is, how should an information age combat force be networked in order to increase its combat effectiveness in asymmetric engagements with balanced forces? The objective of this research is to identify which performance metrics are best suited in measuring combat effectiveness in the situations of asymmetric engagements with balanced force sizes. In order to reach conclusions on the research objective, a series of experiments have been conducted using a discrete-event simulation based on the Information Age Combat Model (IACM). The experiments investigate all of the possible engagements for balanced configurations in the format of X-Y-X, ranging from 3 ≤ X ≤ 10, and 3 ≤ Y ≤ X, where X represents the number of sensors and influencers, and Y represents the number of deciders in the network. A total of 1,457,801 unique combat engagement simulations were conducted for data collection. The exact combat network configurations and percentage of wins for both sides were collected for use in the data analysis. Several computer programs were written in order to calculate the various performance metrics associated with each combat configuration. These data, in addition to the win percentages, are used in order to conduct both linear and nonlinear regression models, so that the value of the metrics may be evaluated as combat network performance indicators. Results indicate that the actual size of the network is a greater predictor for combat performance than any of the metrics calculated from the network configurations. However, it has been determined that network configuration does still play a vital role in combat performance in the case of asymmetric engagements with balanced forces. Moreover, results show that it is possible to configure a network in order to increase its chances of winning in an asymmetric engagement against a larger force size

The Second NASA Formal Methods Workshop 1992

The primary goal of the workshop was to bring together formal methods researchers and aerospace industry engineers to investigate new opportunities for applying formal methods to aerospace problems. The first part of the workshop was tutorial in nature. The second part of the workshop explored the potential of formal methods to address current aerospace design and verification problems. The third part of the workshop involved on-line demonstrations of state-of-the-art formal verification tools. Also, a detailed survey was filled in by the attendees; the results of the survey are compiled

IoT Middleware Platforms for Smart Energy Systems: An Empirical Expert Survey

Middleware platforms are key technology in any Internet of Things (IoT) system, considering their role in managing the intermediary communications between devices and applications. In the energy sector, it has been shown that IoT devices enable the integration of all network assets to one large distributed system. This comes with significant benefits, such as improving energy efficiency, boosting the generation of renewable energy, reducing maintenance costs and increasing comfort. Various existing IoT middlware solutions encounter several problems that limit their performance, such as vendor locks. Hence, this paper presents a literature review and an expert survey on IoT middleware platforms in energy systems, in order to provide a set of tools and functionalities to be supported by any future efficient, flexible and interoperable IoT middleware considering the market needs. The analysis of the results shows that experts currently use the IoT middleware mainly to deploy services such as visualization, monitoring and benchmarking of energy consumption, and energy optimization is considered as a future application to target. Likewise, non-functional requirements, such as security and privacy, play vital roles in the IoT platforms’ performances