Combining policy instruments for sustainable energy systems: An assessment with the GMM model

An assessment of the impact of an illustrative portfolio of policy instruments that address different sustainability concerns in the global energy system in areas of climate change, air pollution and introduction of renewable-energy resources is conducted. The effects of a policy set containing three instruments, implemented either individually or in combination, were examined. The policy instruments under examination in this work include: Cap-and-Trade policies imposing a CO2 emission reduction target on the global energy system, a renewable portfolio standard that forces a minimum share of renewable electricity generation, and the internalisation of external costs of power generation associated with local pollution. Implementation of these policy instruments significantly changes the structure and environmental performance of the energy sector, and particularly the structure of the electric-generation sector. The positive effects are amplified when the policy instruments are simultaneously applied, illustrating the potential for synergies between these energy-policy domains. The analysis has been conducted with the multi-regional, energy-system Global MARKAL Model (GMM), a "bottom-up” partial-equilibrium model that provides a detailed representation of energy technologies and endogenizes technology learnin

Information System Translators

Import 03/08/2012Cieľom tejto bakalárskej práce je vytvorenie informačného systému pre podporu prekladateľskej činnosti prekladateľov a znalcov jazyka. Práca sa zaoberá kompletným vývojom informačného systému od analýzy, spracovania návrhu, implementácie až po testovanie a nasadenie informačného systému. Systém bude umožňovať manažment objednávky od jej vytvorenia zákazníkom, schválenie tejto objednávky administrátorom, vypracovanie objednávky prekladateľom a dokončenia objednávky administrátorom. Systém bude určený pre zákazníkov, ktorí chcú využiť služby, ktoré ponúka prekladateľ a pre prekladateľov, ktorí si chcú evidovať informácie o svojej prekladateľskej činnosti. Práca sa skladá z objasnenia problematiky prekladateľov, analýzy, funkčných požiadaviek na informačný systém a následnej implementácie. Posledná časť hodnotí dosiahnuté výsledky.The main idea of this thesis is to create an information system in order to support the work of translators and language experts. The Thesis deals with complete development of the information system. This process starts with the analysis of requirements on the system, continues with the processing of draft, implementation and finally comes to the testing and deployment of the information system. The system will allow the management of orders from creating the order by customer, approval of the order by administrator, complete the order by translator and final check of the order by administrator. The system is designed for customers who want to use the services offered by translators and for translators, who want to keep records of their work. The Thesis consists of clarifying the issue of translation and analysis of functional requirements for the information system and subsequent implementation. The last section assesses the results of work.460 - Katedra informatikyvelmi dobř

Business Processes Effort Estimation

Import 04/11/2015Počas vytvárania a implementácie podnikových procesov sa často krát dostávame do situácie kedy je potrebné určit’ približný odhad úsilia, ktoré je potrebné vynaložit’ na vy- tvorenie podnikového procesu.Ide o komplexnú úlohu pretože odhad ovplyvnňuje množstvo faktorov. Pri odhadoch úsilia sa však často krát môžeme oprieť o známe vytvorené procesy a tak určitým spôsobom odvodit’ komplexnost’ procesu na základe už známych odhadov. Diplomová práca sa zaoberá implementáciou nástroja pre odhad úsilia spojeného s vytvorením podnikového procesu. Program využíva výhody umelých neurónových sietí, UML diagram aktivít a grafovo orientované metriky podnikového procesu. Vybrané metriky budú implementované a použité pri odhadoch úsilia v spojení s umelou neurónovou sieťou. Záver práce patrí zhodnoteniu výsledkov.During the design and implementation of business processes are often in a situation where it is necessary to determine the approximate estimate of effort that must be undertaken to create a business process. This is a complex task because the estimates are subject to a number of factors. When estimating the effort, however, often times we can rely on the known processes and thus created in a way to derive the complexity of the process based on the already known estimates. The thesis deals with the implementation of a tool for estimating the effort associated with creating a business process. The program takes advantage of artificial neural networks, UML activity diagram and graph-oriented business process metrics. Selected metrics are implemented and used in estimating the effort in conjunction with artificial neural networks. The conclusion includes evaluation of results.460 - Katedra informatikydobř

Identification of serum biomarkers in dogs naturally infected with <i>Babesia canis canis</i> using a proteomic approach

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Canine babesiosis is a tick-borne disease that is caused by the haemoprotozoan parasites of the genus Babesia. There are limited data on serum proteomics in dogs, and none of the effect of babesiosis on the serum proteome. The aim of this study was to identify the potential serum biomarkers of babesiosis using proteomic techniques in order to increase our understanding about disease pathogenesis.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Serum samples were collected from 25 dogs of various breeds and sex with naturally occurring babesiosis caused by B. canis canis. Blood was collected on the day of admission (day 0), and subsequently on the 1st and 6th day of treatment.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) of pooled serum samples of dogs with naturally occurring babesiosis (day 0, day 1 and day 6) and healthy dogs were run in triplicate. 2DE image analysis showed 64 differentially expressed spots with p ≤ 0.05 and 49 spots with fold change ≥2. Six selected spots were excised manually and subjected to trypsin digest prior to identification by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry on an Amazon ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Mass spectrometry data was processed using Data Analysis software and the automated Matrix Science Mascot Daemon server. Protein identifications were assigned using the Mascot search engine to interrogate protein sequences in the NCBI Genbank database.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; A number of differentially expressed serum proteins involved in inflammation mediated acute phase response, complement and coagulation cascades, apolipoproteins and vitamin D metabolism pathway were identified in dogs with babesiosis.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Our findings confirmed two dominant pathogenic mechanisms of babesiosis, haemolysis and acute phase response. These results may provide possible serum biomarker candidates for clinical monitoring of babesiosis and this study could serve as the basis for further proteomic investigations in canine babesiosis

Modeling endogenous learning and imperfect competition effects in climate change economics

In this two-part paper we evaluate the effect of "endogenizing” technological learning and strategic behavior of agents in economic models used to assess climate change policies. In the first part we show the potential impact of R&D policies or demonstration and deployment (D&D) programs in the context of stringent stabilization scenarios. In the second part we show how game-theoretic methods can be implemented in climate change economic models to take into account three types of strategic interactions: (i) the market power of the countries benefiting from very low abatement costs on international markets for CO2 emissions, (ii) the strategic behavior of governments in the domestic allocation of CO2 emissions quotas, and (iii) the non-cooperative behavior of countries and regions in the burden sharing of CO2 concentration stabilization. The two topics of endogenous learning and game-theoretic approach to economic modeling are two manifestations of the need to take into account the strategic behavior of agents in the evaluation of climate change policies. In the first case an R&D policy or a demonstration and deployment (D&D) program are put in place in order to attain a cost reduction through the learning effect; in the second case the agents (countries) reply optimally to the actions decided by the other agents by exploiting their strategic advantages. Simulations based on integrated assessment models illustrate the approaches. These studies have been conducted under the Swiss NCCR-Climate progra

Projecting the impact of air pollution on child stunting in India—synergies and trade-offs between climate change mitigation, ambient air quality control, and clean cooking access

Many children in India face the double burden of high exposure to ambient (AAP) and household air pollution, both of which can affect their linear growth. Although climate change mitigation is expected to decrease AAP, climate policies could increase the cost of clean cooking fuels. Here, we develop a static microsimulation model to project the air pollution-related burden of child stunting in India up to 2050 under four scenarios combining climate change mitigation (2 °C target) with national policies for AAP control and subsidised access to clean cooking. We link data from a nationally representative household survey, satellite-based estimates of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a multi-dimensional demographic projection and PM2.5 and clean cooking access projections from an integrated assessment model. We find that the positive effects on child linear growth from reductions in AAP under the 2 °C Paris Agreement target could be fully offset by the negative effects of climate change mitigation through reduced clean cooking access. Targeted AAP control or subsidised access to clean cooking could shift this trade-off to result in net benefits of 2.8 (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 1.4, 4.2) or 6.5 (UI: 6.3, 6.9) million cumulative prevented cases of child stunting between 2020–50 compared to business-as-usual. Implementation of integrated climate, air quality, and energy access interventions has a synergistic impact, reducing cumulative number of stunted children by 12.1 (UI: 10.7, 13.7) million compared to business-as-usual, with the largest health benefits experienced by the most disadvantaged children and geographic regions. Findings underscore the importance of complementing climate change mitigation efforts with targeted air quality and energy access policies to concurrently deliver on carbon mitigation, health and air pollution and energy poverty reduction goals in India

Modeling endogenous learning and imperfect competition effects in climate change economics

In this two-part paper we evaluate the effect of “endogenizing” technological learning and strategic behavior of agents in economic models used to assess climate change policies. In the first part we show the potential impact of R&D policies or demonstration and deployment (D&D) programs in the context of stringent stabilization scenarios. In the second part we show how game-theoretic methods can be implemented in climate change economic models to take into account three types of strategic interactions: (i) the market power of the countries benefiting from very low abatement costs on international markets for CO2 emissions, (ii) the strategic behavior of governments in the domestic allocation of CO2 emissions quotas, and (iii) the non-cooperative behavior of countries and regions in the burden sharing of CO2 concentration stabilization. The two topics of endogenous learning and game-theoretic approach to economic modeling are two manifestations of the need to take into account the strategic behavior of agents in the evaluation of climate change policies. In the first case an R&D policy or a demonstration and deployment (D&D) program are put in place in order to attain a cost reduction through the learning effect; in the second case the agents (countries) reply optimally to the actions decided by the other agents by exploiting their strategic advantages. Simulations based on integrated assessment models illustrate the approaches. These studies have been conducted under the Swiss NCCR-Climate program