Reliability-based economic model predictive control for generalized flow-based networks including actuators' health-aware capabilities

This paper proposes a reliability-based economic model predictive control (MPC) strategy for the management of generalized flow-based networks, integrating some ideas on network service reliability, dynamic safety stock planning, and degradation of equipment health. The proposed strategy is based on a single-layer economic optimisation problem with dynamic constraints, which includes two enhancements with respect to existing approaches. The first enhancement considers chance-constraint programming to compute an optimal inventory replenishment policy based on a desired risk acceptability level, leading to dynamically allocate safety stocks in flow-based networks to satisfy non-stationary flow demands. The second enhancement computes a smart distribution of the control effort and maximises actuators’ availability by estimating their degradation and reliability. The proposed approach is illustrated with an application of water transport networks using the Barcelona network as the considered case study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A distributed predictive control approach for periodic flow-based networks: application to drinking water systems

This paper proposes a distributed model predictive control approach designed to work in a cooperative manner for controlling flow-based networks showing periodic behaviours. Under this distributed approach, local controllers cooperate in order to enhance the performance of the whole flow network avoiding the use of a coordination layer. Alternatively, controllers use both the monolithic model of the network and the given global cost function to optimise the control inputs of the local controllers but taking into account the effect of their decisions over the remainder subsystems conforming the entire network. In this sense, a global (all-to-all) communication strategy is considered. Although the Pareto optimality cannot be reached due to the existence of non-sparse coupling constraints, the asymptotic convergence to a Nash equilibrium is guaranteed. The resultant strategy is tested and its effectiveness is shown when applied to a large-scale complex flow-based network: the Barcelona drinking water supply system.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A service reliability model predictive control with dynamic safety stocks and actuators health monitoring for drinking water networks

This paper presents a model predictive control strategy to assure reliability in drinking water networks given a customer service level and a forecasting demand. The underlying idea concerns a two-layer hierarchical control structure. The upper layer performs a local steady-state optimization to set up an inventory replenishment policy based on dynamic safety stocks for each tank in the network. At the same stage, actuators health is revised to set up their next maximum allowable degradation in order to efficiently distribute overall control effort and guarantee system availability. In the lower layer, a model predictive control algorithm is implemented to compute optimal control set-points to minimize a multiobjective cost function. Simulation results in the Barcelona drinking water network have shown the effectiveness of the dynamic safety stocks allocation and the actuators health monitoring to assure service reliability and optimizing network operational costs.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Self-paced cycling improves cognition on institutionalized older adults without known cognitive impairment: A 15-month randomized controlled trial

This study aimed at identifying the effects of self-paced cycling on the cognitive and functional status and fall risk on institutionalized older adults without cognitive impairment. A total of 39 individuals were randomly assigned to an exercise group or to a control group. The exercise group participants cycled at their self-selected intensity at least for 15 min daily during 15 months. The control group participants performed recreational activities. The Mini-Mental State Examination, Fuld object memory evaluation, and symbol digit modality test were used for cognitive assessments. The Katz index, the timed "Up & Go" test, and the World Health Organization questionnaire were used to assess functional independence, mobility, and fall risk. Significant improvements were observed in the exercise group for global cognition and attention, visual scanning, and processing speed. Long-term self-paced cycling training seems to have a protective effect on cognitive status and attention, visual scanning, and processing speed in older institutionalized individuals

La formación de los recursos humanos en la Región de Murcia

In this work, the authors show evidence of the level of social agreement about the outstanding role that education and training play in the economic system progress. They analyse the training level of the active, working and unemployed population in Region de Murcia and Spain. They also study the relationship between the occupation demand, the kind of contract and the training level of manpower.En este trabajo se deja constancia del grado de consenso social alcanzado acerca del relevante papel que la educación y la formación tienen en el progreso del sistema económico. Se analiza el nivel de instrucción de la población activa, la ocupada y la parada en la Región de Murcia y España. También se estudia la relación existente entre demanda de ocupaciones, tipo de contrato y nivel de instrucción de la mano de obra

Temperature and relative humidity estimation and prediction in the tobacco drying process using artificial neural networks

Producción CientíficaThis paper presents a system based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for estimating and predicting environmental variables related to tobacco drying processes. This system has been validated with temperature and relative humidity data obtained from a real tobacco dryer with a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). A fitting ANN was used to estimate temperature and relative humidity in different locations inside the tobacco dryer and to predict them with different time horizons. An error under 2% can be achieved when estimating temperature as a function of temperature and relative humidity in other locations. Moreover, an error around 1.5 times lower than that obtained with an interpolation method can be achieved when predicting the temperature inside the tobacco mass as a function of its present and past values with time horizons over 150 minutes. These results show that the tobacco drying process can be improved taking into account the predicted future value of the monitored variables and the estimated actual value of other variables using a fitting ANN as proposed.Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI), proyecto "Mejora de la competitividad del sector del tabaco en Extremadura: nuevos procesos y productos" (under project IDI-20100986)Junta de Castilla y León, financiado por el Plan Regional de Proyectos de Investigación (proyecto VA034A10-2

Spike Processing on an Embedded Multi-task Computer: Image Reconstruction

There is an emerging philosophy, called Neuro-informatics, contained in the Artificial Intelligence field, that aims to emulate how living beings do tasks such as taking a decision based on the interpretation of an image by emulating spiking neurons into VLSI designs and, therefore, trying to re-create the human brain at its highest level. Address-Event-Representation (AER) is a communication protocol that has embedded part of the processing. It is intended to transfer spikes between bioinspired chips. An AER based system may consist of a hierarchical structure with several chips that transmit spikes among them in real-time, while performing some processing. There are several AER tools to help to develop and test AER based systems. These tools require the use of a computer to allow the higher level processing of the event information, reaching very high bandwidth at the AER communication level. We propose the use of an embedded platform based on a multi-task operating system to allow both, the AER communication and processing without the requirement of either a laptop or a computer. In this paper, we present and study the performance of a new philosophy of a frame-grabber AER tool based on a multi-task environment. This embedded platform is based on the Intel XScale processor which is governed by an embedded GNU/Linux system. We have connected and programmed it for processing Address-Event information from a spiking generator.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TEC2006-11730-C03-0

EL ROL DEL CAPITAL INTELECTUAL EN LA INNOVACIÓN DE LAS EMPRESAS (ARTÍCULO DE REVISIÓN)

The purpose of this article is to show the relationship of the intellectual capital of companies and innovativeness of the products and services they placed on the market. Intellectual capital (IC) is the sum of human, structural and relational resources that exist in the company, as well as the interplay between them established it. Innovation is the transforming power of the company. If a company does not invest intellectual capital to promote the development of innovation capabilities, this competitive advantage will be diminished. This article is a review of the literature published in various sources. It includes the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of knowledge management, Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting and the Journal of Intellectual Capital. The results of the literature review reveal that IC management influences innovation capabilities of companies, whether radical or incremental

Evaluación de eventos deportivos por el deportista con discapacidad : aporte individual (Modelos de regresión) vs. interacción (Qca)

El presente estudio pretende analizar el impacto que variables de gestión (Calidad del Servicio, Valor Percibido y Satisfacción General), así como variables de la propia discapacidad (origen y tipo de discapacidad) influyen sobre las Intenciones Futuras de volver al evento de los deportistas con discapacidad. Se trata de un estudio particularmente interesante teniendo en cuenta la escasa literatura existente, así como por incluir variables propias de la discapacidad en el análisis y por combinar modelos de regresión tradicionales y un modelo fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). La muestra del presente estudio consistió en 231 deportistas con discapacidad que participaron en 14 competiciones deportivas durante las temporadas 2013-2014 y 2014-2015. El modelo de regresión jerárquica sugiere que las variables de gestión parecen más relevantes que las relacionadas con la propia discapacidad. Por su parte, en base a los resultados de los modelos fsQCA, la única variable necesaria para la intención de volver al evento es el no tener una discapacidad visual, mientras que la condición suficiente más explicativa resulta de la combinación de tener la discapacidad de nacimiento, alto Valor percibido, alta Satisfacción y alta Calidad Servicio.This study aims to analyze the impact of management variables (Service Quality, Perceived Value and General Satisfaction) and variables of disability itself (origin and type of disability) on the future intentions to attend again of disabled athletes. This is a particularly interesting study taking into account the limited existing literature, the inclusion of disability variables in the analysis and due to the combination of traditional regression models and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis models (fsQCA). The sample of this study consisted of 231 disabled athletes participating in 14 sports competitions during 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons. The hierarchical regression model suggests that management variables seem more relevant than those related to the disability itself. Meanwhile, based on the results of the fsQCA model, the only necessary condition for future intentions to return to the event is not having a visual impairment, while the most explanatory sufficient condition results from the combination of having a disability from birth, high perceived value, high general satisfaction and high service quality

Economic MPC for the management of drinking water networks

This paper addresses the management of drinking water networks (DWNs) regarding a multi-objective cost function by means of economically-oriented model predictive control (EMPC) strategies. Specifically, assuming the water demand and the energy price as periodically time-varying signals, this paper shows that the EMPC framework is flexible to enhance the control of DWNs without relying on hierarchical control schemes that require the use of real-time optimisers (RTO) or steady-state target optimisers (SSTO) in an upper layer. Four different MPC strategies are discussed in this paper: a hierarchical two-layer approach, a standard EMPC where the multi-objective cost function is optimised directly, and two different modifications of the latter, which are meant to overcome possible feasibility losses in the presence of changing operating patterns. The discussed schemes are tested andcompared by means of a case study taken from a part of the Barcelona DWN.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft