Photovoltaic power plants: a multicriteria approach to investment decisions and a case study in western Spain

his paper proposes a compromise programming (CP) model to help investors decide whether to construct photovoltaic power plants with government financial support. For this purpose, we simulate an agreement between the government, who pursues political prices (guaranteed prices) as low as possible, and the project sponsor who wants returns (stochastic cash flows) as high as possible. The sponsor s decision depends on the positive or negative result of this simulation, the resulting simulated price being compared to the effective guaranteed price established by the country legislation for photovoltaic energy. To undertake the simulation, the CP model articulates variables such as ranges of guaranteed prices, tech- nical characteristics of the plant, expected energy to be generated over the investment life, investment cost, cash flow probabilities, and others. To determine the CP metric, risk aver- sion is assumed. As an actual application, a case study on photovoltaic power investment in Extremadura, western Spain, is developed in detail.Garcia-Bernabeu, A.; Benito Benito, A.; Bravo Selles, M.; Pla Santamaría, D. (2015). Photovoltaic power plants: a multicriteria approach to investment decisions and a case study in western Spain. Annals of Operations Research. 1-12. doi:10.1007/s10479-015-1836-2S112Andrews, R. W., Pollard, A., & Pearce, J. M. (2012). Improved parametric empirical determination of module short circuit current for modelling and optimization of solar photovoltaic systems. Solar Energy, 86(9), 2240–2254.Anwar, Y., & Mulyadi, M. S. (2011). Income tax incentives on renewable energy industry: Case of geothermal industry in USA and Indonesia. African Journal of Business Management, 5(31), 12264–12270.Aouni, B., & Kettani, O. (2001). Goal programming model: A glorious history and a promising future. European Journal of Operational Research, 133(2), 225–231.Ballestero, E. (1997). 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Selecting portfolios for mutual funds. Omega, 32(5), 385–394.Ballestero, E., & Pla-Santamaria, D. (2005). Grading the performance of market indicators with utility benchmarks selected from Footsie: A 2000 case study. Applied Economics, 37(18), 2147–2160.Ballestero, E., & Romero, C. (1996). Portfolio selection: A compromise programming solution. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 47, 1377–1386.Bastian-Pinto, C., Brandão, L., & de Lemos Alves, M. (2010). Valuing the switching flexibility of the ethanol–gas flex fuel car. Annals of Operations Research, 176(1), 333–348.Branker, K., Pathak, M., & Pearce, J. M. (2011). A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(9), 4470–4482.Casares, F., Lopez-Luque, R., Posadillo, R., & Varo-Martinez, M. (2014). Mathematical approach to the characterization of daily energy balance in autonomous photovoltaic solar systems. Energy, 72, 393–404.Chatterji, A. K., Levine, D. I., & Toffel, M. W. (2009). How well do social ratings actually measure corporate social responsibility? Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 18(1), 125–169.Copeland, T. E., & Weston, J. (1988). Financial theory and corporate policy. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.Gallagher, K. S. (2013). Why & how governments support renewable energy. Daedalus, 142(1), 59–77.García-Cascales, M. S., Lamata, M. T., & Sánchez-Lozano, J. M. (2012). Evaluation of photovoltaic cells in a multi-criteria decision making process. Annals of Operations Research, 199(1), 373–391.Gupta, S. (2012). Financing renewable energy. In F. L. Toth (Ed.), Energy for development (pp. 171–186). Springer.Karaarslan, A. (2012). Obtaining renewable energy from piezoelectric ceramics using Sheppard–Taylor converter. International Review of Electrical Engineering, 7(2), 3949–3956.Koellner, T., Weber, O., Fenchel, M., & Scholz, R. (2005). Principles for sustainability rating of investment funds. 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Higgs particle detection using jets

We study the possibility of detecting the Higgs boson in the intermediate mass range via its two jet channel. We consider only Higgs bosons produced in association with a $t \bar{t}$ pair. Both $t$ and $\bar{t}$ are required to decay semileptonically to reduce the QCD background. The signal is compared with the main background, $t \bar{t} + 2$ jets, after appropriate cuts. A sizable signal above background is seen in our simulation at the parton level. Use of the $t\bar{t}Z$ channel with $Z$ decaying to $l^+ l^-$ is suggested for eliminating theoretical uncertainties in determining the $t \bar{t}H$ signal.Comment: 10 pages, Fig.1 a,b,c,d(surve on request), plain tex, PVAM-HEP-93-

Superradiance mediated by Graphene Surface Plasmons

We demonstrate that the interaction between two emitters can be controlled by means of the efficient excitation of surface plasmon modes in graphene. We consider graphene surface plasmons supported by either two-dimensional graphene sheets or one-dimensional graphene ribbons, showing in both cases that the coupling between the emitters can be strongly enhanced or suppressed. The super- and subradiant regimes are investigated in the reflection and transmission configurations. Importantly, the length scale of the coupling between emitters, which in vacuum is fixed by the free space wavelength, is now determined by the wavelength of the graphene surface plasmons that can be extremely short and be tuned at will via a gate voltage

Coupling of individual quantum emitters to channel plasmons.

Efficient light-matter interaction lies at the heart of many emerging technologies that seek on-chip integration of solid-state photonic systems. Plasmonic waveguides, which guide the radiation in the form of strongly confined surface plasmon-polariton modes, represent a promising solution to manipulate single photons in coplanar architectures with unprecedented small footprints. Here we demonstrate coupling of the emission from a single quantum emitter to the channel plasmon polaritons supported by a V-groove plasmonic waveguide. Extensive theoretical simulations enable us to determine the position and orientation of the quantum emitter for optimum coupling. Concomitantly with these predictions, we demonstrate experimentally that 42% of a single nitrogen-vacancy centre emission efficiently couples into the supported modes of the V-groove. This work paves the way towards practical realization of efficient and long distance transfer of energy for integrated solid-state quantum systems.E.B.-U., R.M., M.G. and R.Q. acknowledge the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (grant ERC- Plasmolight; no. 259196) and Fundació privada CELLEX. E.B.-U. acknowledges support of the FPI fellowship from the Spanish MICINN. R.M. acknowledges support of Marie Curie and NEST fellowships. C.G.-B. and F.J.G.-V. acknowledge the European Research Council (ERC-2011-AdG, Proposal No. 290981). C.G.-B., E.M., and F.J.G.-V. acknowledge the Spanish MINECO (Contract No. MAT2011-28581-C02-01). C.G.-B. acknowledges support of the FPU fellowship from the Spanish MECD. I.P.R., T.H. and S.I.B. acknowledge financial support for this work from the Danish Council for Independent Research (the FTP project ANAP, Contract No. 09-072949) and from the European Research Council, Grant No. 341054 (PLAQNAP). Y.A. acknowledges the support of RYC-2011-08471 fellowship from MICINN. We thank Luis Martin-Moreno and Cesar E. García for fruitful discussions, Jana M. Say and Louise J. Brown for providing the ND solution, and Ioannis Tsioutsios for support with the AFM manipulation technique.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150807/ncomms8883/full/ncomms8883.html

Restos humanos, contextos funerarios y diversidad formal: los yacimientos calcolíticos de El Hornazo y El Túmulo IL.C1 de Cótar (Burgos)

El trabajo centra su atención en los restos humanos documentados en los yacimientos calcolíticos de El Hornazo y Túmulo IL.C1 de Cótar (Burgos). Estas evidencias no son muy habituales en el registro arqueológico de la zona oriental de la Meseta Norte, por lo que se ha realizado un estudio antropológico con el fin de obtener la mayor información posible de los mismos. No obstante, los datos obtenidos no se pueden desligar de su contexto por lo que también se presenta la información arqueológica relacionada con ellos. Los casos de estudio difieren en cuanto a patrones funerarios y cronología. Esta discrepancia necesita ser explicada. El estudio pretende no sólo presentar y discutir los aspectos formales desde un punto de vista antropológico sino plantear inferencias e hipótesis en relación al marco social donde se generaran las evidencias arqueológicas. En este sentido, se propone como hipótesis que debieron ser generadas por comunidades cuya organización se llevase a cabo bajo esquemas sociales segmentarios.

Human remains, funerary contexts and formal diversity: the chalcolithic sites of El Hornazo and The Burial Mound il.c1 from Cótar (Burgos)

El trabajo centra su atención en los restos humanos documentados en los yacimientos calcolíticos de El Hornazo y Túmulo IL.C1 de Cótar (Burgos). Estas evidencias no son muy habituales en el registro arqueológico de la zona oriental de la Meseta Norte, por lo que se ha realizado un estudio antropológico con el fin de obtener la mayor información posible de los mismos. No obstante, los datos obtenidos no se pueden desligar de su contexto por lo que también se presenta la información arqueológica relacionada con ellos. Los casos de estudio difieren en cuanto a patrones funerarios y cronología. Esta discrepancia necesita ser explicada. El estudio pretende no sólo presentar y discutir los aspectos formales desde un punto de vista antropológico sino plantear inferencias e hipótesis en relación al marco social donde se generaran las evidencias arqueológicas. En este sentido, se propone como hipótesis que debieron ser generadas por comunidades cuya organización se llevase a cabo bajo esquemas sociales segmentarios.The work focuses on human remains documented in the Chalcolithic sites of El Hornazo and Túmulo IL.C1 from Cótar. These remains are not very common in the archaeological record from eastern of North Plateau. So it has made an anthropological study in order to get as much information as possible from them. However, the data obtained cannot be separated from its context so that also presents archaeological information related with them. The cases of study differ as to the funerary patterns and chronology. This discrepancy needs to be explained. Therefore, the study aims not only to present and discuss the formal aspects from an anthropological point of view but to raise inferences and hypotheses regarding the social context where the archaeological evidence was generated. In this regard, it is proposed as a hypothesis that they should be created by communities who were organized under segmentary social schemes

Economic costs of invasive alien ants worldwide

Invasive ants are amongst the most destructive and widespread invaders across the globe; they can strongly alter invaded ecosystems and are responsible for the loss of native ant species. Several studies have reported that invasive ants can also lead to substantial economic costs. In this study, we search, describe and analyse 1342 reported costs of invasive ants compiled in the InvaCost database. Economic costs, reported since 1930 for 12 ant species in 27 countries, totalled US$51.93 billion, from which US$ 10.95 billion were incurred, and US$40.98 billion were potential costs (i.e., expected or predicted costs). More than 80$ 1.79 billion), with much lower amounts dedicated to prevention (US$ 235.63 million). Besides the taxonomic bias, cost information was lacking for an average of 78% of the invaded countries. Moreover, even in countries where costs were reported, such information was available for only 56% of the invaded locations. Our synthesis suggests that the global costs of invasive ants are massive but largely biased towards developed economies, with a huge proportion of underreported costs, and thus most likely grossly underestimated. We advocate for more and improved cost reporting of invasive ants through better collaborations between managers, practitioners and researchers, a crucial basis for adequately informing future budgets and improving proactive management actions of invasive ants

La edad pupilar y la mayoría de edad en la Valencia medieval

The present work considers the study and the juridical consequences of the transition from minority to adulthood in the former Kingdom of Valencia. More specifi cally, it addresses issues such as the necessary presence of the tutor or guardian of the minor, his juridical incapacity or the prohibitions to which they were subjected. Regarding adulthood, the focus is primarily on the so-called benefi t of the age and its application in the contractual sphere.El presente trabajo aborda el estudio y las consecuencias jurídicas del tránsito de la edad pupilar a la mayoría de edad en el antiguo Reino de Valencia. En concreto, con relación al menor se abordan cuestiones como la necesaria presencia del tutor o curador para el menor, su incapacidad jurídica o las prohibiciones a las que se hallaban sometidos. Por lo que hace referencia a la mayoría de edad, nos centramos fundamentalmente en el denominado beneficio de la edad y su aplicación en el ámbito contractual

A multiobjective model for passive portfolio management: an application on the S&P 100 index

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published in: “Journal of Business Economics and Management"; Volume 14, Issue 4, 2013; copyright Taylor & Francis; available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2012.668859Index tracking seeks to minimize the unsystematic risk component by imitating the movements of a reference index. Partial index tracking only considers a subset of the stocks in the index, enabling a substantial cost reduction in comparison with full tracking. Nevertheless, when heterogeneous investment profiles are to be satisfied, traditional index tracking techniques may need different stocks to build the different portfolios. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology that enables a fund s manager to satisfy different clients investment profiles but using in all cases the same subset of stocks, and considering not only one particular criterion but a compromise between several criteria. For this purpose we use a mathematical programming model that considers the tracking error variance, the excess return and the variance of the portfolio plus the curvature of the tracking frontier. The curvature is not defined for a particular portfolio, but for all the portfolios in the tracking frontier. This way funds managers can offer their clients a wide range of risk-return combinations just picking the appropriate portfolio in the frontier, all of these portfolios sharing the same shares but with different weights. An example of our proposal is applied on the S&P 100.García García, F.; Guijarro Martínez, F.; Moya Clemente, I. (2013). A multiobjective model for passive portfolio management: an application on the S&P 100 index. Journal of Business Economics and Management. 14(4):758-775. doi:10.3846/16111699.2012.668859S758775144Aktan, B., Korsakienė, R., & Smaliukienė, R. (2010). TIME‐VARYING VOLATILITY MODELLING OF BALTIC STOCK MARKETS. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 11(3), 511-532. doi:10.3846/jbem.2010.25Ballestero, E., & Romero, C. (1991). A theorem connecting utility function optimization and compromise programming. Operations Research Letters, 10(7), 421-427. doi:10.1016/0167-6377(91)90045-qBeasley, J. E. (1990). OR-Library: Distributing Test Problems by Electronic Mail. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 41(11), 1069-1072. doi:10.1057/jors.1990.166Beasley, J. E., Meade, N., & Chang, T.-J. (2003). An evolutionary heuristic for the index tracking problem. European Journal of Operational Research, 148(3), 621-643. doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(02)00425-3Canakgoz, N. A., & Beasley, J. E. (2009). Mixed-integer programming approaches for index tracking and enhanced indexation. European Journal of Operational Research, 196(1), 384-399. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2008.03.015Connor, G., & Leland, H. (1995). Cash Management for Index Tracking. Financial Analysts Journal, 51(6), 75-80. doi:10.2469/faj.v51.n6.1952Corielli, F., & Marcellino, M. (2006). Factor based index tracking. Journal of Banking & Finance, 30(8), 2215-2233. doi:10.1016/j.jbankfin.2005.07.012Derigs, U., & Nickel, N.-H. (2004). On a Local-Search Heuristic for a Class of Tracking Error Minimization Problems in Portfolio Management. Annals of Operations Research, 131(1-4), 45-77. doi:10.1023/b:anor.0000039512.98833.5aDose, C., & Cincotti, S. (2005). Clustering of financial time series with application to index and enhanced index tracking portfolio. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 355(1), 145-151. doi:10.1016/j.physa.2005.02.078Focardi, S. M., & Fabozzi 3, F. J. (2004). A methodology for index tracking based on time-series clustering. Quantitative Finance, 4(4), 417-425. doi:10.1080/14697680400008668Gaivoronski, A. A., Krylov, S., & van der Wijst, N. (2005). Optimal portfolio selection and dynamic benchmark tracking. European Journal of Operational Research, 163(1), 115-131. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2003.12.001Hallerbach, W. G., & Spronk, J. (2002). The relevance of MCDM for financial decisions. Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, 11(4-5), 187-195. doi:10.1002/mcda.328Jarrett, J. E., & Schilling, J. (2008). DAILY VARIATION AND PREDICTING STOCK MARKET RETURNS FOR THE FRANKFURTER BÖRSE (STOCK MARKET). Journal of Business Economics and Management, 9(3), 189-198. doi:10.3846/1611-1699.2008.9.189-198Roll, R. (1992). A Mean/Variance Analysis of Tracking Error. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 18(4), 13-22. doi:10.3905/jpm.1992.701922Rudolf, M., Wolter, H.-J., & Zimmermann, H. (1999). A linear model for tracking error minimization. Journal of Banking & Finance, 23(1), 85-103. doi:10.1016/s0378-4266(98)00076-4Ruiz-Torrubiano, R., & Suárez, A. (2008). A hybrid optimization approach to index tracking. Annals of Operations Research, 166(1), 57-71. doi:10.1007/s10479-008-0404-4Rutkauskas, A. V., & Stasytyte, V. (s. f.). Decision Making Strategies in Global Exchange and Capital Markets. Advances and Innovations in Systems, Computing Sciences and Software Engineering, 17-22. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6264-3_4Tabata, Y., & Takeda, E. (1995). Bicriteria Optimization Problem of Designing an Index Fund. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 46(8), 1023-1032. doi:10.1057/jors.1995.139Teresienė, D. (2009). LITHUANIAN STOCK MARKET ANALYSIS USING A SET OF GARCH MODELS. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 10(4), 349-360. doi:10.3846/1611-1699.2009.10.349-36