Assessing the usability and potential value of seasonal climate forecasts in land management decisions in the southwest UK: challenges and reflections

The potential usability and benefits of seasonal climate forecasts (SCF) to help inform decision-making processes is widely accepted. However, the practical use of SCF in Europe is still fairly recent and, as such, current knowledge of the added benefits of SCF in supporting and improving decision-making is limited. This study is based on research conducted to co-develop a semi-operational climate service prototype – the Land Management Tool (LMTool) – with farmers in South West regions of the UK. The value of the SCF provided to the farmers was examined to help us understand the usability and (potential) value of these forecasts in farmers' decisions during the winter months of 2015/2016. The findings from the study point to the need to explore and develop (new) research methods capable of addressing the complexity of the decision-making processes, such as those in the farming sector. The farmers who used the SCF perceived it as useful and usable as it helped them change and adapt their decision-making and thus, avoid unnecessary costs. However, to fully grasp the potential value of using SCF, farmers emphasised the need for the provision of SCF for longer periods of time to allow them to build trust and confidence in the information provided. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions about how to assess the use and value of SCF in decision-making processes in a meaningful and effective way

Barriers and enablers to the use of seasonal climate forecasts amongst organisations in Europe

Seasonal climate forecasts (SCF) provide information about future climate variability that has the potential to benefit organisations and their decision-making. However, the production and availability of SCF does not guarantee its use in decision-making per se as a range of factors and conditions influence its use in different decision-making contexts. The aim of this paper is to identify the barriers and enablers to the use of SCF across organisations in Europe. To achieve that, we conducted 75 in-depth interviews with organisations working across eight sectors (including energy, transport, water and agriculture) and 16 countries. The majority of the organisations interviewed do not currently use SCF. This was due to the low reliability and skill of SCF in Europe but also with other non-technical aspects such as the lack of relevance and awareness of SCF in the organisations. Conversely, the main enabler to the use of SCF was the interactions with the providers of SCF. In addition, the level of organisational resources, capacity and expertise were also significant enablers to the use of SCF in organisations. This paper provides the first empirical assessment of the use of SCF in Europe. Such insights provide not only an overview of the existing barriers and enablers to the use of SCF in Europe and how these can be overcome and negotiated to enhance the usability of SCF, but can also help inform the broader and emerging context of climate services development in Europe

Investment optimization in distribution network based on fuzzy outage parameters

This paper presents a methodology that aims to increase the probability of delivering power to any load point of the electrical distribution system by identifying new investments in distribution components. The methodology is based on statistical failure and repair data of the distribution power system components and it uses fuzzy-probabilistic modelling for system component outage parameters. Fuzzy membership functions of system component outage parameters are obtained by statistical records. A mixed integer non-linear optimization technique is developed to identify adequate investments in distribution networks components that allow increasing the availability level for any customer in the distribution system at minimum cost for the system operator. To illustrate the application of the proposed methodology, the paper includes a case study that considers a real distribution network

Scoping the potential usefulness of seasonal climate forecasts for solar power management

Solar photovoltaic energy is widespread worldwide and particularly in Europe, which became in 2016 the first region in the world to pass the 100 GW of installed capacity. As with all the renewable energy sources, for an effective management of solar power, it is essential to have reliable and accurate information about weather/climate conditions that affect the production of electricity. Operations in the solar energy industry are normally based on daily (or intra-daily) forecasts. Nevertheless, information about the incoming months can be relevant to support and inform operational and maintenance activities. This paper discusses a methodology to assess whether a seasonal climate forecast can provide a useful prediction for a specific sector, in this paper the European solar power industry. After evaluating the quality of the forecasts in providing probabilistic information for solar radiation, we describe how to assess their potential usefulness for a generic user by proposing an approach that takes into account not only their accuracy but also other potentially relevant factors. This approach is called index of opportunity and is then illustrated by presenting an example for the European solar power sector. The index of opportunity provides indications about where and when seasonal climate forecasts can benefit the decision-making in the photovoltaic sector. Even more importantly, it suggests an approach on how to evaluate their usefulness for the user's decision-making. This approach has the advantage of not limiting the definition of the usefulness only to the quality of the forecasts but rather considering, in an explicit way, all the factors that must be combined with the forecast's quality to define what is useful or not for the user

Validation of a wireless bluetooth photoplethysmography sensor used on the earlobe for monitoring heart rate variability features during a stress-inducing mental task in healthy individuals

Heart rate variability (HRV), using electrocardiography (ECG), has gained popularity as a biomarker of the stress response. Alternatives to HRV monitoring, like photoplethysmography (PPG), are being explored as cheaper and unobtrusive non-invasive technologies. We report a new wireless PPG sensor that was tested in detecting changes in HRV, elicited by a mentally stressful task, and to determine if its signal can be used as a surrogate of ECG for HRV analysis. Data were collected simultaneously from volunteers using a PPG and ECG sensor, during a resting and a mentally stressful task. HRV metrics were extracted from these signals and compared to determine the agreement between them and to determine if any changes occurred in the metrics due to the stressful task. For both tasks, a moderate/good agreement was found in the mean interbeat intervals, SDNN, LF, and SD2, and a poor agreement for the pNN50, RMSSD|SD1, and HF metrics. The majority of the tested HRV metrics obtained from the PPG signal showed a significant decrease caused by the mental task. The disagreement found between specific HRV features imposes caution when comparing metrics from different technologies. Nevertheless, the tested sensor was successful at detecting changes in the HRV caused by a mental stressor.This work has been funded by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) - project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020; and by the projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Bruno Correia was supported by a four-year Ph. D. grant from FCT, with the reference PD/BDE/135569/2018

Virtual Trip to the Abric Romaní site and its lithic procurement areas

This paper introduces the virtual field trip organised on the occasion of the 13th International Symposium on Knappable Materials in Tarragona from 4th to 6th October 2021, showing the Abric Romaní site (NE Iberian Peninsula) and the chert procurement areas located within a 30 km radius. The Abric Romaní section consists of a general presentation of the Middle Palaeolithic site, including a brief description of its 50 m stratigraphic sequence, where more than 20 archaeological levels have been identified dating from 110 to 39 ka BP, and some of the main traits of the archaeological assemblages have been recovered. This was followed by an introduction of the siliceous outcrops of the Panadella cherts approximately 24 km from the Abric Romaní; the Sant Martí de Tous chert outcrops 16 km away and the Valldeperes and Ca l’Alemany chert outcrops at distances of 24 and 25 km, respectively. In all cases, the geological formations, as well as the main chert macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, are described. This paper yields the most relevant aspects of a field trip that had to be recorded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but which brought us back together and facilitated the presentation of the main source areas frequented by the Neanderthals groups of this referential site.En este trabajo se presenta la salida de campo virtual organizada con motivo del 13th International Symposium on Knappable Materials organizado en Tarragona del 4 al 6 de octubre de 2021, en el que se muestra el yacimiento de Abric Romaní (NE de la Península Ibérica) y las zonas de captación de sílex situadas en un radio de 30 km. La sección del Abric Romaní consiste en una presentación general del yacimiento del Paleolítico Medio, incluyendo una breve descripción de su secuencia estratigráfica de 50 m, donde se han identificado más de 20 niveles arqueológicos datados entre 110 y 39 ka BP, y se presentan de manera general los principales rasgos de los conjuntos arqueológicos. A continuación, se han introducido los afloramientos silíceos de los sílex de la Panadella a unos 24 km del Abric Romaní; los afloramientos de sílex de Sant Martí de Tous a 16 km y los afloramientos de sílex de Valldeperes y Ca l'Alemany a distancias de 24 y 25 km, respectivamente. En todos los casos se describen las formaciones geológicas, así como las principales características macroscópicas y microscópicas del sílex. En este trabajo se recogen los aspectos más relevantes de la salida de campo que tuvo que ser grabada debido a la pandemia del COVID-19, pero que nos volvió a reunir y facilitó la presentación de las principales zonas de captación silícea frecuentadas por los grupos neandertales de este yacimiento en cuestión

Impact of content storage and retrieval mechanisms on the performance of vehicular delay-tolerant networks

“Copyright © [2010] IEEE. Reprinted from 18th International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM 2010). ISBN: 978-1-4244-8663-2 . This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to [email protected]. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.”Vehicular Delay-Tolerant Networking (VDTN) is a new disruptive network architecture based on the concept of delay tolerant networks (DTNs). VDTNs handle non-real time applications using vehicles to carry messages on their buffers, relaying them only when a proper contact opportunity occurs. Therefore, the network performance is directly affected by the storage capacity and message retrieving of intermediate nodes. This paper proposes a suitable content storage and retrieval (CSR) mechanism for VDTN networks. This CSR solution adds additional information on control labels of the setup message associated to the corresponding data bundle (aggregated traffic) that defines and applies caching and forwarding restrictions on network traffic (data bundles). Furthermore, this work presents a performance analysis and evaluation of CSR mechanisms over a VDTN application scenario, using a VDTN testbed. This work presents the comparison of the network behavior and performance using two DTN routing protocols, Epidemic and Spray and Wait, with and without CSR mechanisms. The results show that CSR mechanisms improve the performance of VDTN networks significantly.Part of this work has been supported by the Instituto de Telecomunicações, Next Generation Networks and Applications Group (NetGNA), Portugal in the framework of the Project VDTN@Lab, and by the Euro-NF Network of Excellence from the Seventh Framework Programme of EU, in the framework of the Specific Joint Research Project VDTN

Qualidade físico-química e microbiológica da água de piscinas do distrito de Bragança

A piscina é utilizada para fins recreativos, formativos, terapêuticos ou desportivos e de forma a impedir que a sua água seja um veiculo de infeções é importante a sua desinfeção. Por conseguinte, os utilizadores de piscinas e os vários grupos profissionais que aí desempenham atividades podem estar sujeitos a diversos perigos, nomeadamente biológicos e químicos. A contaminação biológica relaciona-se com o desenvolvimento de diferentes microrganismos onde se pode distinguir os de origem fecal e origem não-fecal. Quanto aos perigos químicos, estes estão relacionados principalmente com a exposição a substâncias químicas tóxicas presentes na água

Solutions for vehicular communications: a review

Vehicular networks experience a number of unique challenges due to the high mobility of vehicles and highly dynamic network topology, short contact durations, disruption intermittent connectivity, significant loss rates, node density, and frequent network fragmentation. All these issues have a profound impact on routing strategies in these networks. This paper gives an insight about available solutions on related literature for vehicular communications. It overviews and compares the most relevant approaches for data communication in these networks, discussing their influence on routing strategies. It intends to stimulate research and contribute to further advances in this rapidly evolving area where many key open issues that still remain to be addressed are identified.Part of this work has been supported by the Instituto de Telecomunicações, Next Generation Networks and Applications Group (NetGNA), Portugal, in the framework of the Project VDTN@Lab, and by the Euro-NF Network of Excellence of the Seventh Framework Programme of EU, in the framework of the Specific Joint Research Project VDTN

An integrated approach to assess the sublethal effects of colloidal gold nanorods in tadpoles of Xenopus laevis

Gold nanorods (AuNR) have been explored for many applications, including innovative nanomedicines, which also might contribute to its increase in the environment, namely due to inadequate disposable of wastes into aquatic environments. Early-life stages of amphibians are usually aquatic and sensitive to chemical contamination. Accordingly, this study aimed to determine the sublethal effects of CTAB functionalized AuNR on Xenopus laevis tadpoles. As such, tadpoles were exposed to serial concentrations of AuNR for 72 h. A reduction in the rate of feeding (EC50 = 4 μg.L-1), snout to vent growth (EC50 = 5 μg.L-1) and weight gain (EC50 = 6 μg.L-1), was observed for AuNR-exposed tadpoles. Also, tadpoles actively avoided concentrations ≥ 4 μg.L-1 of AuNR, after 12 h of exposure. At the biochemical level, AuNR caused impairments in antioxidant and nervous system related enzymes. Exposure to CTAB alone caused a high mortality. Results indicated that CTAB functionalized AuNR may induce several sublethal effects that may compromise the organism's fitness. Avoidance behavior (which corresponds to the disappearance of organisms, thus, similar to their death), observed at concentrations matching those inducing sublethal effects, suggest that it should be considered in the risk assessment for amphibians.publishe