Comments on the Relativity of Shape

In this talk I address three topics related to the shape of hadrons: 1. The Lorentz contraction of bound states. Few dedicated studies of this exist - I describe a recent calculation for ordinary atoms (positronium). 2. Does the A-dependence of nuclear structure functions indicate a change of proton shape in the nuclear environment? (My short answer is no.) 3. The size of Fock states contributing to processes involving large momentum transfers. End-point configurations can be transversally extended and yet sufficiently short-lived to contribute coherently to hard scattering.Comment: Talk at the Workshop on the Shape of Hadrons, 27-29 April 2006 in Athens, Greece. 11 pages, 15 figure

Towards an alignment of national research programmes and funding for CST technologies in Europe

ABSTRACT: One of the STAGE-STE project work packages aims to develop relations with public bodies relevant to Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) research, such as national research funding agencies, ministries and other leading decision making bodies, in order to foster coordination and alignment of research programmes and funding at European level. Working groups have been created in eight European countries and concept notes were prepared regarding each group’s position on national CST research and funding programmes and its possible alignment at European scale. General trends and main conclusions drawn from the concept notes are presented, aiming to provide clues and common themes to the development of aligned CST research and funding programmes. Although the National Working Groups present different approaches there are coincident points, thus a common Research and Technological Development agenda for CST can be achieved at European scale. The alignment of CST research funding represents an harder task and will demand the improvement of available funding schemes or the development of a new one. However, there is some convergence regarding the general characteristics of the scheme and the kind of projects to be funded.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Concentrating Solar Thermal Technologies – Status, Cost and Research Trends

This article presents an overview of the status of CST technologies, their cost, and their future trends. The information regarding the trends in CST technologies is based on the informed opinion of the authors, many of which have decades of experience in the CST field in academia and industry. Thus, it does not pretend to be an exhaustive list of all lines of research and commercial innovations being explored around the world, but a summary of the lines of research that the institutions and groups that the authors belong to are explorin

A new approach in the refurbishment of the office buildings – from standard to alternative nearly zero energy buildings

The government of Cyprus has developed packages addressing the energy performance of non-residential buildings, in order to achieve the national energy reduction objectives. Currently, Decree 366/2014 is in force, defining the requirements for a building to qualify as a nearly Zero Energy Building (nΖΕΒ). However, this falls short of addressing sufficiently the high cooling energy demand of buildings in Cyprus. This paper examines the energy and economic viability of various refurbishment scenarios by considering a public office building in the city of Limassol as a case study. The energy performance of the building was analysed first for its current state and also according to nZEB standards. In addition, a set of supplementary measures was examined, to develop a cost-effective alternative nZEB energy refurbishment model. Based on the results, the existing legislation, defining an nZEB is reconsidered prompting a proactive discussion towards the improvement of the current energy regulating Directives