The Impact of Romania's Accession to the EU. An Analysis of the Effects of Regional Development Policy Through a Multi-regional I-O Model

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of labour income and employment in Romania which will be produced by rural development and structural policies defined in the proposed 2007-09 financial package related to accession to the EU. The methodology used is based on a multi-regional I-O model derived from a three-stage estimation procedure. The main results show that accession to the EU will lead to great positive effects in Romania, which vary according to the region considered. Regarding these, the Southern and the North-Eastern regions are those in which benefits tend to be concentrated. In all the regions, policy seems to be able to absorb unemployment. Finally, policy gives the impression of reducing regional and sectoral income disparities, leading to a more balanced development. On the contrary, in terms of employment, policy increases divergences, albeit, at a regional level, there is a general tendency towards a reduction of sectoral disparities.accession to the EU, rural development, structural measures, policy impact, Romanian NUTS-2 level development regions, multiregional I-O model, Labor and Human Capital, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

The Impact of EU Accession in Romania: An Analysis of Regional Development Policy Effects by a Multiregional I-O Model

The objective of this article is to assess labour income and employment effects in Romania coming from rural development and structural policies defined in the proposed 2007-09 EU accession financial package. The methodology used is based on a multiregional I-O model derived by a three-stage estimation procedure. Main results show that EU accession will lead to large positive effects in Romania, which vary according to the region considered. In this connection, the South and the North- East regions are those on which benefits tend to concentrate. Finally, policy would seem to reduce regional and sectoral income disparities, leading to more balanced development. On the contrary, in terms of employment, policy would increase divergences, albeit, from an analysis of single region economy, a general tendency to a reduction of sector disparities is noticed.EU accession, rural development, structural actions, policy impact, multiregional I-O model, International Relations/Trade, C82, R15, R58,

Assessing the Economic Impact of an Agricultural Project in a Petroleum-Exporting Country. The Case of Palm Oil in the Republic of Congo

Agribusiness,

Definition and Experimental Validation of a Simplified Model for a Microgrid Thermal Network and its Integration into Energy Management Systems

The present paper aims at defining a simplified but effective model of a thermal network that links the thermal power generation with the resulting temperature time profile in a heated or refrigerated environment. For this purpose, an equivalent electric circuit is proposed together with an experimental procedure to evaluate its input parameters. The paper also highlights the simplicity of implementation of the proposed model into a microgrid Energy Management System. This allows the optimal operation of the thermal network to be achieved on the basis of available data (desired temperature profile) instead of a less realistic basis (such as the desired thermal power profile). The validation of the proposed model is performed on the Savona Campus Smart Polygeneration Microgrid (SPM) with the following steps: (i) identification of the parameters involved in the equivalent circuit (performed by minimizing the difference between the temperature profile, as calculated with the proposed model, and the measured one in a set of training days); (ii) test of the model accuracy on a set of testing days (comparing the measured temperature profiles with the calculated ones); (iii) implementation of the model into an Energy Management System in order to optimize the thermal generation starting from a desired temperature hourly profile

Direct X-ray photoconversion in flexible organic thin film devices operated below 1 v

The application of organic electronic materials for the detection of ionizing radiations is very appealing thanks to their mechanical flexibility, low-cost and simple processing in comparison to their inorganic counterpart. In this work we investigate the direct X-ray photoconversion process in organic thin film photoconductors. The devices are realized by drop casting solution-processed bis-(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) onto flexible plastic substrates patterned with metal electrodes; they exhibit a strong sensitivity to X-rays despite the low X-ray photon absorption typical of low-Z organic materials. We propose a model, based on the accumulation of photogenerated charges and photoconductive gain, able to describe the magnitude as well as the dynamics of the X-ray-induced photocurrent. This finding allows us to fabricate and test a flexible 2 × 2 pixelated X-ray detector operating at 0.2 V, with gain and sensitivity up to 4.7 × 10^4 and 77,000 nC mGy ^(-1) cm^(-3), respectively

Electrical-Loss Analysis of Power-Split Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The growing development of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) has seen the spread of architectures with transmission based on planetary gear train, realized thanks to two electric machines. This architecture, by continuously regulating the transmission ratio, allows the internal combustion engine (ICE) to work in optimal conditions. On the one hand, the average ICE efficiency is increased thanks to better loading situations, while, on the other hand, electrical losses are introduced due to the power circulation between the two electrical machines mentioned above. The aim of this study is then to accurately evaluate electrical losses and the average ICE efficiency in various operating conditions and over different road missions. The models used in this study are presented for both the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) architecture and the Discontinuously Variable Transmission (DVT) architecture. In addition, efficiency maps of the main components are shown. Finally, the simulation results are presented to point out strengths and weaknesses of the CVT architecture

Approximate characterization of large Photovoltaic power plants at the Point of Interconnection

The aim of the present article is that of proposing a calculation procedure to assess electric quantities at the Point of Interconnection (POI) of large PhotoVoltaic (PV) power plants on the basis of rated data and main design elements of the plant itself. The quantities of inters are active and reactive power available at the POI in order to extrapolate the power plant capability starting from the capabilities of PWM inverters. The procedure also allows evaluating the POI voltage variations, an important element due to the increasing requirements for renewable generation units to participate in voltage regulation. The main interest in such a methodology lays in its simplicity of application, that allows avoiding the usage of dedicated software for load flow calculations, and flexibility, that makes it suitable for the support of the bidding and pre-design phase of large photovoltaic power plants

Spray-Coated, Magnetically Connectable Free-Standing Epidermal Electrodes for High Quality Biopotential Recordings

Acquiring biopotentials from the surface of the body is a common procedure both in the clinical practice and in non-clinical applications as sport and human- machine interfaces. To avoid bulky recording systems and to allow optimal long-term measurements, several tattooable solutions were recently developed, aiming at high-quality and imperceptible electrodes. However, a seamless connection with epidermal electrodes still represents one of the biggest challenges in this field. In this paper, we propose a simple and efficient approach for the fabrication of free-standing epidermal electrodes that can be contacted using small magnetic connectors, thus directly tackling this issue. The proposed electrodes are fabricated using a conductive ink based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) deposited by spray coating, and can be easily contacted using magnetic connectors without disrupting their conformability, thanks to the presence of ferrite nanoparticles integrated within the thin film itself. These electrodes have been successfully employed for the detection of different biopotentials, namely electrocardiogram, electromyogram and electro-oculogram, demonstrating excellent performances for the detection of biosignals from delicate body parts, such as the face, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach for the development of a new generation of magnetically connectable epidermal electrodes for critical biopotentials monitoring