Jewellery multiplicity: digital architectures.

This paper presents a live project developed with students of architecture, landscape and jewellery at Birmingham School of Architecture and Design in 2020. This project took place in the context of a module called Co.LAB (collaborative practice), which is part of the curriculum of eight different courses at the School. With the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to quickly adjust our teaching environments to the tools available, to be able to continue the development of our teaching and professional activities. This digital transition also created difficulties for practitioners in showcasing their work, especially those works that required a more physical or tactile approach, as in the case of jewellery or artistic installations. This paper examines the creation of digital pedagogical environments, which bring together students and academics from different disciplines to construct creative dialogues that can be applied to the creation of knowledge in various fields - architecture amongst them

Multicriteria generation and transmission expansion planning in Paraguay

The purpose of this research is to develop a methodology using welfare economics expanded with multi attribute decision making for portfolio selection of renewable sources in Paraguay’s regulated hydroelectric market. This approach considers expansion planning of the Paraguayan Interconnected System (SIN), including generation, transmission, and 2016 Paraguay’s Energy Policy. This optimization of the generation expansion problem involves a study period from 2017-2040 assuming a rate of 9.84% per year increasing demand. This study models the SIN using Stochastic Dynamic Dual Programming (SDDP), a probabilistic hydrothermal operation cost optimizer. Based on this Base Case, generation expansion is needed after 2026. Using the Optimization Expansion-Operation Module (OPTGEN-SDDP) software to solve the Expansion Case Optimization, after 2029 the transmission system cannot sustain the demand increase. By 2040, the new installed capacity needed is 26,900 MW. By 2040, there is a need for 13,571 MVA transmission expansion to connect mostly South systems to the Metro system. At 2014 prices, the generation expansion would be at a cost of $7.1 million per MVA of new generation capacity. A mixed-integer linear optimization formulation is implemented outside the OPTGEN-SDDP Module. The multicriteria expansion problem is analyzed using a utility function to consider socio-economical, technology and environmental criteria of energy policy interest. The result is then incorporated back to the OPTGEN-SDDP Module. Analyzing a sustainability index for each case, in all cases the Net Import index has a decreasing trend in the period of study. Furthermore, due to transmission constraints, the Reliability index cannot be improved without transmission expansion in any study case. The resultant generation portfolio in both expansion problems includes 26% solar generation, a scale in line with Paraguay’s Energy Policy of diversification of the energy matrix. Small hydro and solar generation sources are a viable alternative to build an electricity generation portfolio mix for the Paraguayan electricity market, by using both a welfare economics optimization and an extended welfare economics optimization with a multi attribute decision making approach. But transmission constraints are still a major issue for the full exploitation of these resources.Energy and Earth Resource

Modelling Euro-Mediterranean Agricultural Trade

This paper examines the methodological problems to define a modelling approach to assess the impact of full or limited bilateral liberalisation of agricultural trade flows in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The bilateral trade liberalisation process in the region is framed by complexity, in policy instruments and in the characteristics of the products, in particular fruits and vegetables. Advantages and disadvantages of the general equilibrium and partial equilibrium approaches to simulate trade policy impacts are assessed. Caveats of existing models are related to the representation of specific policy instruments (tariffs, entry prices and other non-tariff measures) and on the seasonal nature of horticultural trade, which is of major importance in the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Are. The paper provides an illustration of how an imperfect substitute product model could be helpful to describe the trade effects of bilateral price changes, for given seasons.

F&V Trade Model to Assess Euro-Med Agreements. An Application to the Fresh Tomato Market

The complexity derived from the bilateral trade liberalisation process in the Mediterranean region is difficult to represent in a trade model, not only because of the range of instruments still constraining trade but also because of the special nature of the most important traded goods (product differentiation and seasonality). Tariff-rate quotas (TRQ's) and the entry price system are clearly defined on a monthly basis for the fruits and vegetables trade flows towards the European Union (EU). This point makes efforts to model such a trade in yearly basis not representative of reality. We propose a static partial equilibrium model tailored to model trade impacts of specific policy instruments which considers imports from different sources as imperfect substitutes, following the non-linear Armington type model. Different policy scenarios have been run using the model, considering changes in TRQ's and Entry Price regimes, its tariffication and preference erosion. The results of model runs show that, as regards to EU producers, bilateral trade liberalisation with extension of TRQs would be the least dramatic scenario. By contrast, the phasing out of the entry price system would have serious consequences on EU producers. The model has also given detailed information on Morocco's interests in the negotiation, although it could easily include a larger number of suppliers. Morocco appears to be interested in multilateral liberalisation as well as in bilateral liberalisation. In fact, multilateral liberalisation will not cause a great deal of preference erosion against Moroccan exporters, unless tariff reductions only affect MFN suppliers.International Relations/Trade,

Nueva ruralidad, la "remake" del término pluriactividad

La globalización ha generado variaciones en la economía mundial, justificada en la necesidad de modificar e integrar los sistemas financieros, sociales y tecnológicos. En este marco, la racionalidad de los procesos de cambio, no puede ser pensada al margen de la globalización y de las diferentes relaciones que ella suscita, tampoco sin tener en cuenta los diversos contextos en los cuales opera. Como resultado de estas variaciones económicas, sociales y políticas, se ha formado un escenario nuevo, dentro del cual ha perdido valor como herramienta explicativa, la concepción tradicional conocida como la ciudad vs. el campo, que interpretaba las características de cada uno de estos espacios como opuestas y en la cual la primera (ciudad) sublevaba a la segunda (campo). Este contexto ha motivado el desarrollo de una ¨nueva ruralidad¨, que analiza entre otros aspectos, las nuevas características que definen el espacio rural en la actualidad, y también su impacto a través de la modificación de los esquemas tradicionales relacionados a lo rural. Este trabajo se refiere sintéticamente a dos de las características más notables de esta nueva concepción; el aumento de las actividades no agrícolas y la pluriactividad, para reflexionar más tarde sobre la necesidad de reeditar este último concepto enfocándonos ya no en lo sobreentendido de término, sino con la mirada puesta en el análisis de los diferentes tipos de pluriactividad (agrícola, para agrícola, no agrícola, intersectorial, campesina), su comportamiento en este nuevo contexto, los porqués de la elección y/o de la movilidad de los hogares rurales desde un tipo hacia otro tipo de estrategia pluriactiva y sus consecuencias.The globalisation has generated variations in the world-wide economy, justified in the necessity to modify and to integrate the financial, social and technological systems. About this frame, the rationality of the change processes, cannot either be thought besides the globalisation and of the different relations that it provokes, without considering the diverse contexts in which it operates. As a result of these economic variations, social and political, a new scene has formed, within which there is lost value like explanatory tool, the well-known traditional conception like the city versus the field, by means of which the characteristics of each of these spaces like opposed and in which were interpreted first (city) incited to rebellion to second (field). This context has motivated the development of one ¨new rurality¨, that it analyzes aspects among others, the new characteristics that define the rural space at present, and also their impact through the modification of the related traditional schemes to the rural thing. This work talks about synthetically to two of the most remarkable characteristics of this new conception; the increase of the activities nonagriculturists and the pluriactivity, to reflect later on the necessity to reedit this last concept no longer focusing to us in the understood thing of term, but with the glance put in the analysis of the different types from pluriactivity (agricultural, for agricultural, nonagriculturist, inter-sectoral, farmer), its behavior in this new context, because of the election and/or the mobility of the rural homes from a type towards another type of pluriactivity strategy and its consequences.Fil: Martinez, Maria Jose de Las Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones Laborales; Argentin

Estimation of Energy Consumption in Street Lighting using Mobile Devices

The growing energy consumption is not sustainable in the long run. Taking into account that street lighting is one of the highest energy consumers in cities, this paper aims to develop a methodology to estimate the energy consumption of these installations with as few input variables as possible. In addition, the paper presents a mobile application developed to help lighting managers not only on the energy consumption evaluation, but suggesting the possible improvements on current systems which can save energy in case that they are implemented

Maintenance of street lighting systems using mobile phones

There is no doubt that street lighting systems have an important role in cities promoting comfort, as well as enhancing safety and security. These kinds of systems require maintenance in order to guarantee operation and reduce energy consumption. To help with certain maintenance tasks, a new smartphone application has been developed. The aim of this tool is to set up street lighting energy efficiency level at the same time that the illuminance level is evaluated. The benefit of this tool is that maintenance staff can assess energy efficiency on an easy and quick way, achieving a result report. In addition, a new Bluetooth device was created to perform the measurements, being necessary to perform a brief study about its accuracy compared with a mobile phone ambient light sensor and an external sensor

Regional high-speed rail services typology, demand and spatial implications

The paper focuses on the role of HSR services in the regional framework and connection between intermediate cities along the line. The purpose is making a contribution in the interesting field of research related with spatial impacts of HSR in the regional networks and cities besides big agglomerations. First, the paper draws a typology of regional high-speed services in Europe, based on relevant factors interesting for analyze the usefulness and possibilities of the HSR for the cities. Specifically it looks at mid-run services in Great Britain, France and Spain and analyses cities along the lines regarding population, station location, type of services, destinies and frequencies as key factors to distinguish between models. Then the paper goes through passenger data to acknowledge how links between these cities are being working and have a better understanding about real collaboration between nodes by looking at the demand and flows in the regional high-speed services. The last part of the research deepens in the air-rail coordination analyzing the relation between modes in the European cases where a HSR station is available in an airport: Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Paris-Charles de Gaule and Frankfurt-Airrail Center. The aim is also introduce the Spanish paradigmatic case of the Ciudad Real-Central Airport, which is the first country's private airport and its creation probably responds to the HSR network proximity and the direct link to a newly created station. The paper wants to reflect on the role of the HSR in regional cities and the increasing importance of this infrastructure in these areas trying to learn about similarities and differences and introducing the increasing complexity of transport networks