Sunedison - an analysis of the biggest bankruptcy case in the renewable energy sector

In April 2016, SunEdison Inc. filed for bankruptcy as its debt obligations were impossible to maintain due to successive losses over the last three years, combined with a swift stock price decline since the summer of 2015. Financial media directs the blame towards the complexity of SunEdison’s business model, overconfidence and excessive risk taking. This work project investigates in more detail the renewable energy market, the fundamental drivers of SunEdison’s business model, the financial contracts prevailing, its functioning, benefits and drawbacks, the credit reliability of the company and, finally, the main failures in its strategy

Profile of practice, travel behaviour and motivations for geocaching

Geocaching is a recreational sport activity considered as apostmodern treasure hunting game. Associated with the movement to distant places, the search for new landscapes, culture and adventure, geocaching is being integrated into the tourism industry. In spite of its growth and economic significance, few studieshave been developed to understand this sport tourism activity. Thus, this study was developed to understand the geocaching practice profile, geocaching travel behaviour and the motivations for the practice of geocaching, and to examine whether these variables are associated with the socio-demographic characteristics of geocachers.An online questionnaire survey was applied to geocachers living in Portugal, and 613 responses were obtained. The results show that geocaching is a recent sport activity in Portugal, whose motivations for practice are related to nature and escape, and that geocachers have a strong disposition to travel, highlighting the potential of geocaching for sport tourism. Statistical tests also revealed that socio-demographic characteristics are not associated with the geocaching practice profile and geocaching travel behaviour. However, the socio-demographic characteristics are associated with the motivations for the practice of geocaching, particularly when compared by sex, age and education level. Management and marketing implications for sport tourism operators and destinations are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Scaling behavior of public procurement activity

Curado, A., Damásio, B., Encarnação, S., Candia, C., & Pinheiro, F. L. (2021). Scaling behavior of public procurement activity. PLoS ONE, 16(12), 1-19. [e0260806]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260806 Funding information: F.L.P. and B.D. acknowledge the financial support provided by FCT Portugal under the project UIDB/04152/2020 - Centro de Investigação em Gestão de Informação (MagIC). S.E. acknowledges the financial support of FCT and ESF, for project grant SFRH/BPD/1169337/2016 and FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project UIDB/04647/2020 of CICS.NOVA - Centro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Public procurement refers to the purchase by public sector entities—such as government departments or local authorities—of Services, Goods, or Works. It accounts for a significant share of OECD countries’ expenditures. However, while governments are expected to execute them as efficiently as possible, there is a lack of methodologies for an adequate comparison of procurement activity between institutions at different scales, which represents a challenge for policymakers and academics. Here, we propose using methods borrowed from urban scaling laws literature to study public procurement activity among 278 Portuguese municipalities between 2011 and 2018. We find that public procurement expenditure scales sublinearly with population size, indicating an economy of scale for public spending as cities increase their population size. Moreover, when looking at the municipal Scale-Adjusted Indicators (the deviations from the scaling law) by contract categories—Works, Goods, and Services—we are able to identify a richer local characterisation of municipalities based on the similarity of procurement activity. These results make up a framework for quantitatively studying local public expenditure by enabling policymakers a more appropriate foundation for comparative analysis.publishersversionotherpublishe

Autismo: Um síndromo resultante da disfunção de um sistema cerebral específico?

The syndrome of childhood autism possibly results from dysfunction in a system of bilateral neural structures that includes the ring of mesolimbic cortex located in the mesial frontal and temporal lobes, the neostriatum, and the anterior and medial nuclear groups of the thalamus. Since part of these structures constitute the target of dopaminergic mesencephalic neurons, autism may be related to neuromediator imbalance in those structures. The dysfunction could be consequent to macroscopic or microscopic changes in the target area or in structures functionally influencing them, and result from a variety of causes such as perinatal viral infection, insult to the periventricular watershed area, or genetically determined neurochemical abnormalities

Characterization of the Firm-Firm Public Procurement Co-Bidding Network from the State of Ceará (Brazil) Municipalities

Lyra, M. D. S., Curado, A., Damásio, B., Bação, F., & Pinheiro, F. L. (2021). Characterization of the Firm-Firm Public Procurement Co-Bidding Network from the State of Ceará (Brazil) Municipalities. Applied Network Science, 6, 1-10. [77]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41109-021-00418-y ---------------------------------- Funding Information: MSL was financially supported by Tribunal de Contas do Estado do Ceará through a Phd scholarship. BD, FLP, and FB acknowledge the financial support provided by FCT Portugal under the project UIDB/04152/2020 - Centro de Investigação em Gestão de Informação (MagIC). FB and FLP acknowledge the financial support provided by FCT Portugal under the project DSAIPA/DS/0116/2019.Fraud in public funding can have deleterious consequences for societies’ economic, social, and political well-being. Fraudulent activity associated with public procurement contracts accounts for losses of billions of euros every year. Thus, it is of utmost relevance to explore analytical frameworks that can help public authorities identify agents that are more susceptible to irregular activities. Here, we use standard network science methods to study the co-bidding relationships between firms that participate in public tenders issued by the 184 municipalities of the State of Ceará (Brazil) between 2015 and 2019. We identify 22 groups/communities of firms with similar patterns of procurement activity, defined by their geographic and activity scopes. The profiling of the communities allows us to highlight organizations that are more susceptible to market manipulation and irregular activities. Our work reinforces the potential application of network analysis in policy to unfold the complex nature of relationships between market agents in a scenario of scarce data.publishersversionpublishe

A quantitative analysis of knowledge production

Mendonça, S., Damásio, B., Freitas, L. C. D., Oliveira, L., Cichy, M., & Nicita, A. (2022). The rise of 5G technologies and systems: A quantitative analysis of knowledge production. Telecommunications Policy, 46(4), 1-28. [102327]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102327 --------------- Funding Information:The authors are thankful to the Special Issue editors and three reviewers for the iterations and advice. We would also like to express our gratitude to Erik Bohlin and Martin Richard Whitehead for their useful comments. Sandro Mendonça acknowledges support from FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), Portugal, and the support provided by Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL) and Research Unit on Complexity and Economics (UECE-REM). The work also benefited from grants UID/GES/00315/2013,UIDB/00315/2020; UIDB/05069/2020; PTDC/EGE-ECO/30690/2017 and is part of the project PTDC/EGE-ECO/30690/2017. Bruno Damásio acknowledges the financial support provided by FCT Portugal under the project UIDB/04152/2020 - Centro de Investigação em Gestão de Informação (MagIC). Although some of the authors have professional links with regulators and international institutions, in the present (ANACOM, Anatel, ECB, RCB, Italy, OECD) or in the recent past (AGCOM, UKE), this piece is written in their personal and scientific capacities. All the views and shortcomings remain the responsibility of the authors alone.The advent of a new generation of wireless communications has punctuated the dawn of every decade in recent times. Upgrades to mobile electronic systems represent faster and more robust capabilities of data transfer but bring with it a wide set of complementary changes as they are underpinned by harmonised specific spectrum bands, fresh international technical standards, new network operation requirements, innovative cellular devices as well as new services and a broader array of potential commercial use applications. This paper presents a systematic outline of the development of 5G-related research until 2020 as revealed by over 10,000 science and technology publications. The exercise addresses the emergence, growth, and impact of this body of work and offers insights regarding disciplinary distribution, international performance, and historical dynamics. Findings reveal the progressive growth of the 5G research over the years after original contributions in 2010 and point to a “take-off” around 2014. A set of stylised facts regarding this technology since its infancy are of interest to engineers, regulators and innovation strategists and policy-makers.publishersversionpublishe

Energy Storage Management for Grid Operation Purposes

The Horizon 2020 Storage ENabled SustaInable energy for BuiLdings and communitiEs (SENSIBLE) project is currently looking at the integration of small-scale storage technologies in buildings and distribution networks. In the demonstration site of the SENSIBLE project, EDP has already installed an experimental storage system supplying a university campus in MV. It was mainly designed to increase service quality to the university by providing backup power in the event of MV grid failure, but it can also control voltage profile and conduct peak-shaving. In parallel, small-scale storage is being also installed at the LV level. For these new grid assets, the SENSIBLE project is implementing a use case for centralized control approach that guarantees a coordinated operation of MV and LV storage. Furthermore, adding a MV switchgear, the resulting system will be able to isolate from the main grid thus effectively working as a microgrid with MV and LV Storage, PV generation and residential/commercial loads. This paper presents an overview of the technologies and software that will enable new grid support functions from small-scale storage

Innovations in sustainable agriculture: case study of Lis Valley irrigation district, Portugal

The innovation of agricultural systems management is a determinant factor that guarantees adaptation to a new paradigm of global economy, environmental protection, and social requirements. The conventional concepts of innovation, applicable to new products and processes, do not consider many characteristics of the agricultural sector, such as social innovation and innovation resulting from new or renewed processes. Nevertheless, the overall impact of innovation on yields, competitiveness, and value can be hampered by the limited understanding or misinterpretation of Agriculture Innovation paradigms. For instance, the Rural Development Program (RDP) applies a restrict concept of innovation, being unable to embrace the full range of activities intended to implement new practices within the framework of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). Stimulating innovation in agriculture demands a change in policy innovation of RDP in order to preserve natural resources and combine agricultural priorities and the rural environment with the concepts of innovation. This paper focuses on the different views of the concept of innovation within the Program of Operational Groups (OGs) of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI), analyzing the Portuguese case study of the Lis Valley Irrigation District whose main innovation objective was to achieve and implement new processes of water management aiming at the conservation of natural resources as well as sustainable social and economic agricultural development. The Portuguese experience highlights why the application of innovation in agriculture may not reach the desirable outcomesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The importance given in fitness according to the participants income

A participação em health clubs e academias de fitness tem ganho prevalência nos índices de prática desportiva em Portugal ao longo dos últimos anos, e os proprietários dos ginásios e health clubs competem, para atrair para as suas instalações, cada vez mais clientes. O conhecimento acerca do que os clientes esperam do serviço desempenha um papel-chave na adequação do serviço prestado em função do público-alvo. O objetivo deste estudo é caracterizar e comparar a importância atribuída à qualidade dos instrutores, qualidade dos serviços e motivos para a prática, segundo o rendimento líquido mensal. Participaram no estudo 560 praticantes de atividades de fitness, divididos em 7 grupos. Foi utilizado o questionário «Importância Atribuída no Fitness - Motivos de Prática, Qualidade do Serviço e Qualidade do Instrutor». Em termos gerais, os resultados mostram que os praticantes com maior rendimento apresentam valores mais altos de importância atribuída, nas três dimensões do questionário, particularmente nos Motivos de Prática. «Para melhorar a minha saúde em termos gerais» é mais importante para os clientes com rendimento superior (F = 2.440; p = 0.025; η2 = 0.027), como «para relaxar em termos mentais» (F = 3.815; p = 0.001; η2 = 0.042). Na dimensão Qualidade do Instrutor, «empatia» é mais relevante para clientes com maior rendimento (F = 2.196; p = 0.042; η2 = 0.024). Os proprietários de ginásios e health clubs podem utilizar estes resultados para adaptar o serviço às necessidades e expectativas dos clientes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio