Does size matter in group decision making? Simulation experiments with LNG professionals bidding in auction markets

Purpose: An important issue in decision-making processes is whether groups decide better than individuals. This paper compares the bidding behavior of groups of professionals while playing a business game that simulates, in a controlled environment, the sequential unit capacity auctions in the Spanish LNG market. Design/methodology/approach: First, we randomly grouped professionals in groups of different size—SOLOs, DUOs, and TRIOs—and played the game in-situ under both First and Second price unit capacity auctions, with SOLOs outperforming groups. Second, we ran non-parametric simulations mixing professionals in groups of different size, in which bids were coupled with those registered during the in-situ sessions. Third, we ran non-parametric simulations in which the players were either ‘rational machines’ that bid according to Nash equilibrium or groups of ‘professionals’ of different size. Findings: The size of the decision group does matter. After the in-situ and the bootstrapped simulated games, the main result is that size does matter, and groups are not necessarily superior to individuals bidding alone. SOLO players bid closer to MACHINEs and lower than DUOs or TRIOs, while obtaining about the same number of units and higher payoffs than groups. Additionally, the ‘degree of rationality’ of the participants does also matter. Research limitations/implications: Even after applying the hybrid simulation methodology to increase sample size and allow for additional experimental settings, some of the scenarios are fictitious. Modification of the business game to allow for an even more realistic game could be implemented. Practical implications: After the hybrid simulation approach, the main implication of the paper is that to increase efficiency in resource allocation professionals should bid individually while using the theoretical knowledge of rational machines. Originality/value: To our knowledge, this is the first time that this double-experiment simulation methodology is used to analyze bidding behavior in auctionsPeer Reviewe

Improving electricity market price scenarios by means of forecasting factor models

In liberalized electricity markets, generation Companies must build an hourly bid that is sent to the market operator. The price at which the energy will be paid is unknown during the bidding process and has to be forecast. In this work we apply forecasting factor models to this framework and study its suitability

Dynamic Corrosion Test Using LiNO3 Containing Molten Salt for CSP Applications

Low melting point thermal energy storage (TES) materials have been proposed in the last years to reduce the storage cost in concentrating solar power (CSP) technology. One of the most interesting additive due to the enhancement in thermal properties is lithium nitrate. However, there is a lack of dynamic corrosion tests to simulate real operation conditions in CSP plants. In this work, we present a dynamic reactor set up where a mixture of 30 wt.% LiNO3 + 57 wt.% KNO3 + 13 wt.%. NaNO3 is moved through a mechanical stirrer obtaining a lineal speed of 0.30 m/s. A commercial carbon steel A516 was tested as container material at 390 °C during 1000 h. Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 were obtained as the main corrosion products by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) with a metallographic corrosion rate of 0.015 mm/year.The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group (GREiA 2017 SGR 1537). GREiA is certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia

Hake recruitment in the southern stock (ICES divisions Vlllc and IXa).

Spatial distribution and year class strength for hake in the Southern stock (ICES Oivisions Vlllc and IXa) are analysed from historical series from spanish bottom trawl surveys (1980-1990). A nursery ground in the continental shelf of the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula is compared with the recruitment in adjacent areas (Portuguese and French waters)

Four-Legs D-STATCOM for Current Balancing in Low-Voltage Distribution Grids

The fast deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) is creating a series of challenges that should be addressed in the coming years. In particular, distribution grids are playing an increasingly important role in the electricity system. Moreover, the three-phase four-wire structure of this network contribute to the appearance of imbalances and a series of problems derived from them. In this context, distribution system operators (DSOs), as the main responsible for the distribution grid, must ensure the quality of supply to consumers. This paper takes advantage of a four-legs D-STATCOM to remove current imbalances in low-voltage power lines. A 35-kVA prototype has been developed and installed in an urban distribution grid. The effect of the D-STATCOM has been analyzed during its first month of operation, studying and measuring the advantages of providing DERs the ability to perform active balancing to the utility grid. The results show a reduction in current imbalances from 21 % to 0 % and neutral current from 10.3 A to 0.4 A. In addition, a 13 % decrease in cable losses has been estimated and a slight improvement in voltage unbalance factor can be noted

Towards Automatic Parallelization of Stream Processing Applications

Parallelizing and optimizing codes for recent multi-/many-core processors have been recognized to be a complex task. For this reason, strategies to automatically transform sequential codes into parallel and discover optimization opportunities are crucial to relieve the burden to developers. In this paper, we present a compile-time framework to (semi) automatically find parallel patterns (Pipeline and Farm) and transform sequential streaming applications into parallel using GrPPI, a generic parallel pattern interface. This framework uses a novel pipeline stage-balancing technique which provides the code generator module with the necessary information to produce balanced pipelines. The evaluation, using a synthetic video benchmark and a real-world computer vision application, demonstrates that the presented framework is capable of producing parallel and optimized versions of the application. A comparison study under several thread-core oversubscribed conditions reveals that the framework can bring comparable performance results with respect to the Intel TBB programming framework

Feeding ecology of fish larvae from Chilean Patagonia during austral winter

Feeding habits of the ichthyoplankton from Chilean Patagonia (44-46°30’S) were studied during June-July 2012 (austral winter). Ichthyoplankton assemblage was composed by 10 species, with low abundance (3.8 to 16.73 ind. 1000 m-3). Most abundant larvae were Maurolicus parvipinnis, Leptonotus blainvilleanus and Sprattus fuegensis. These three species fed mainly on calanoid copepodites, Paracalanus indicus and Calanus sp. copepodites, and cyphonautes. Trophic overlap among dominant fish larvae was high (Schoener’s D > 0.69) and no significant differences were detected in prey composition and size. Therefore, no resource partitioning occurred in planktonic fish larvae during winter 2012 in Chilean Patagonia