Os trípodes do Castelo de Castro Marim

O sítio arqueológico do Castelo de Castro Marim localiza-se no Distrito de Faro, no Concelho de Castro Marim. O Castelo está erigido numa colina de forma irregular com cerca de 42 m de altitude, na margem direita do Guadiana. Nos dias de hoje, está rodeado de terra firme e alguns sapais, testemunho da extensão que o rio teria tido na antiguidade. A geografia e topografia do “Cerro do Castelo” propiciam excelentes condições naturais de defesa, e daí que do seu topo se domine visualmente um vasto território, que engloba a entrada do Guadiana e uma larga porção de mar (Arruda, 1997: 109). Assim, o sítio teria a navegação facilitada, o que à partida incentivaria o comércio e logo a deslocação de bens e pessoas para o interior não só por via fluvial, mas também possivelmente por via terrestre. Os trabalhos arqueológicos aí efectuados revelaram uma extensa ocupação humana, que remonta ao Bronze Final, sendo particularmente intensa durante a Idade do Ferro e Época Romana (Arruda et al. , 2004: 154)

A proposal to improve marketing efectiveness in a business to business model

Um projecto de apresentação de uma proposta de melhoria da eficácia e eficiência de marketing e retorno de investimentos em marketing (ROMI), numa empresa multinacional de embalagens para alimentos líquidos. Iniciando por uma análise da abordagem actual da empresa na maximização e garantia do retorno dos seus investimentos indirectos com os seus clientes da industria alimentar. Procurando respostas às questões que normalmente rodeiam a temática de eficiência e eficácia de investimentos em marketing como: estão os nossos investimentos indirectos com os nossos clientes da indústria alimentar realmente a beneficiar a nossa quota de mercado e o nosso volume de vendas a logo prazo? O projecto assenta no pressuposto base do quadro conceptual utilizado que a modelação adequada do ROMI contribui significativamente para o aumento deste. A recomendação de melhoria assenta na implementação uma abordagem de modelação proposta pelo Boston Consulting Group (BCG), que dê cobertura à maioria dos investimentos que a companhia faz indirectamente com a indústria alimentar. Os resultados esperados são uma significativa melhoria no ROMI e uma linha no orçamento anual da empresa especialmente para suportar os três elementos fundamentais de uma cultura de marketing effectiveness: medição de desempenho, modelação e simulação, e gestão e monitorização. Se desempenha funções em marketing e está pressionado para demonstrar a sua contribuição para os resultados no longo prazo, se está preocupado com o impacto publicitário dos seus investimentos, ou se está preocupado em valorizar marcas ou em como atribuir orçamento por categorias de produtos, então este documento merece definitivamente uma leitura.A project presenting a proposal for marketing effectiveness and return on marketing investments (ROMI) improvement in a business to business company that operates in food packaging industry, starting from the analysis of the company’s actual approach to maximize effectiveness. Answers to questions surrounding the effectiveness of marketing investments like: are our investments together with our partners (customers) really benefiting our market shares and derived long term sales volume? The project’s basic framework assumption is that proper ROMI modelling tends to contribute significantly to increase ROMI. The key recommendation is to implement marketing effectiveness modelling based on the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) approach covering the majority of the company’s marketing investment with their business partners (customers). The expected results will be a significant improved ROMI and a line item in the budget specifically designated to support the three elements of the marketing effectiveness culture: measurement and metrics, modelling and simulation, and management and monitoring. If you work in marketing in a business to business environment and you are pressurized to demonstrate the contribution of marketing in the long term, worried about your advertising’s effects, want to value your partner’s brands and wondering how to allocate marketing budget across partners and categories, so this document should definitely read on

Genetic Land - Modeling land use change using evolutionary algorithms

Future land use configurations provide valuable knowledge for policy makers and economic agents, especially under expected environmental changes such as decreasing rainfall or increasing temperatures, or scenarios of policy guidance such as carbon sequestration enforcement. In this paper, modelling land use change is designed as an optimization problem in which landscapes (land uses) are generated through the use of genetic algorithms (GA), according to an objective function (e.g. minimization of soil erosion, or maximization of carbon sequestration), and a set of local restrictions (e.g. soil depth, water availability, or landscape structure). GAs are search and optimization procedures based on the mechanics of natural selection and genetics. The GA starts with a population of random individuals, each corresponding to a particular candidate solution to the problem. The best solutions are propagated; they are mated with each other and originate “offspring solutions” which randomly combine the characteristics of each “parent”. The repeated application of these operations leads to a dynamic system that emulates the evolutionary mechanisms that occur in nature. The fittest individuals survive and propagate their traits to future generations, while unfit individuals have a tendency to die and become extinct (Goldberg, 1989). Applications of GA to land use planning have been experimented (Brookes, 2001, Ducheyne et al, 2001). However, long-term planning with a time-span component has not yet been addressed. GeneticLand, the GA for land use generation, works on a region represented by a bi-dimensional array of cells. For each cell, there is a number of possible land uses (U1, U2, ..., Un). The task of the GA is to search for an optimal assignment of these land uses to the cells, evolving the landscape patterns that are most suitable for satisfying the objective function, for a certain time period (e.g. 50 years in the future). GeneticLand develops under a multi-objective function: (i) Minimization of soil erosion – each solution is validated by applying the USLE, with the best solution being the one that minimizes the landscape soil erosion value; (ii) Maximization of carbon sequestration – each solution is validated by applying atmospheric CO2 carbon uptake estimates, with the best solution being the one that maximizes the landscape carbon uptake; and (iii) Maximization of the landscape economic value – each solution is validated by applying an economic value (derived from expert judgment), with the best solution being the one that maximizes the landscape economic value. As an optimization problem, not all possible land use assignments are feasible. GeneticLand considers two sets of restrictions that must be met: (i) physical constraints (soil type suitability, slope, rainfall-evapotranspiration ratio, and a soil wetness index) and (ii) landscape ecology restrictions at several levels (minimum patch area, land use adjacency index and landscape contagion index). The former assures physical feasibility and the latter the spatial coherence of the landscape. The physical and landscape restrictions were derived from the analysis of past events based on a time series of Landsat images (1985-2003), in order to identify the drivers of land use change and structure. Since the problem has multiple objectives, the GA integrates multi-objective extensions allowing it to evolve a set of non-dominated solutions. An evolutive type algorithm – Evolutive strategy (1+1) – is used, due to the need to accommodate the very large solution space. Current applications have about 1000 decision variables, while the problem analysed by GeneticLand has almost 111000, generated by a landscape with 333*333 discrete pixels. GeneticLand is developed and validated for a Mediterranean type landscape located in southern Portugal. Future climate triggers, such as the increase of intense rainfall episodes, is accommodated to simulate climate change . This paper presents: (1) the formulation of land use modelling as an optimization problem; (2) the formulation of the GA for the explicit spatial domain, (3) the land use constraints derived for a Mediterranean landscape, (4) the results illustrating conflicting objectives, and (5) limitations encountered.

A joint replenishment competitive location problem

Competitive Location Models seek the positions which maximize the market captured by an entrant firm from previously positioned competitors. Nevertheless, strategic location decisions may have a significant impact on inventory and shipment costs in the future affecting the firm’s competitive advantages. In this work we describe a model for the joint replenishment competitive location problem which considers both market capture and replenishment costs in order to choose the firm’s locations. We also present an metaherusitic method to solve it based on the Viswanathan’s (1996) algorithm to solve the Replenishment Problem and an Iterative Local Search Procedure to solve the Location Problem.N/

Cooperative Platooning and Servicing for Spacecraft Formation Flying using Model Predictive Control

This work was partially funded by FCT project REPLACE (PTDC/EEIAUT/32107/2017) which includes Lisboa 2020 and PIDDAC funds, project CAPTURE (PTDC/EEIAUT/1732/2020).This paper addresses two complementary problems of spacecraft formation flying, namely spacecraft platooning and on-orbit spacecraft servicing, using Model Predictive Control (MPC). With the proposed solutions, these space formation scenarios can be regarded as a cooperative system composed of several spacecraft with a common goal, which may have clear advantages relative to other approaches. For each application scenario, a different optimization problem and MPC design is presented, including relevant constraints to deal with physical limitations, visibility problems, and also to guarantee a collision-free trajectory from other spacecraft or obstacles. The proposed methods are validated with realistic simulation results, showing that all vehicles demonstrate reliable performance following a given trajectory or goal in a formation, while satisfying all the considered constraints.publishersversionpublishe

A regret model applied to the maximum coverage location problem with queue discipline

This article discusses issues related to the location and allocation problems where is intended to demonstrate, through the random number generation, the influence of congestion of such systems in the final solutions. It is presented an algorithm that, in addition to the GRASP, incorporates the Regret with the pminmax method to evaluate the heuristic solution obtained in regard to its robustness for different scenarios. To the well know Maximum Coverage Location Problem from Church and Revelle [1] an alternative perspective is added in which the choice behavior of the server does not only depend on the elapsed time from the demand point looking to the center, but also includes the waiting time for service conditioned by a waiting queue.N/

A regret model applied to the facility location problem with limited capacity facilities

This article addresses issues related to location and allocation problems. Herein, we intend to demonstrate the influence of congestion, through the random number generation, of such systems in final solutions. An algorithm is presented which, in addition to the GRASP, incorporates the Regret with the pminmax method to evaluate the heuristic solution obtained with regard to its robustness for different scenarios. Taking as our point of departure the Facility Location Problem proposed by Balinski [27], an alternative perspective is added associating regret values to particular solutions.N/

A regret model applied to the maximum capture location problem

This article addresses issues related to location and allocation problems. Herein, we intend to demonstrate the influence of congestion, through the random number generation, of such systems in final solutions. An algorithm is presented which, in addition to the GRASP, incorporates the Regret with the pminmax method to evaluate the heuristic solution obtained with regard to its robustness for different scenarios. Taking as our point of departure the Maximum Capture Location Problem proposed by Church and Revelle [1, 26], an alternative perspective is added in which the choice behavior of the server does not depend only on the elapsed time from the demand point looking to the center, but includes also the service waiting time.N/

Mantle dynamics and volcanism emplacement in the Azores

The Azores plateau is a triangular shaped topographic feature encompassing the boundary zone where three major tectonic plates (EU, NU and NA) meet. The eastern side of the plateau is delimited by two major tectonic discontinuities: the Mid Atlantic Ridge, and the Terceira Rift, a recently formed ultra-slow-spreading ridge. The origin of the plateau is still under debate. One hypothesis argues that the plateau would have been formed by successive NE jumps of the oblique spreading axis, where the present TR is the latest stage. Other hypotheses invoke the northward jump of the Azores triple junction, during which the Azores region would have been transferred from the Eurasian plate to the Nubian plate. For some authors, the presence of the Azores plume, a low seismic velocity zone in the mantle beneath, is required to explain the observations: the anomalously shallow seafloor depth as well as the geochemistry of the basaltic lavas erupted within the plateau. Here we use a highly resolved tomography model to quantify the influence of this plume and the surrounding mantle.We model the convection pattern, the induced dynamic topography and stresses, and compare them with the surface observations. The dynamic topography shows two maxima: one northwest of St. Miguel, the other encompassing the Terceira, Graciosa, S. Jorge, Faial and Pico islands. Both swells are approximately located on the Terceira Ridge. The convection pattern displays two distinct upwelling towards these two groups of Islands. This may explain the difference in the geochemical signatures, in particular the unique isotopic ratios observed in some lavas from S. Miguel. The stresses induced by the underlying mantle convection are compared with the surface observations (topographic features, seismic and GPS velocities). The modeled and observed tresses fairly correlate west of our study area but their directions depart east