A MODEL FOR THE OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF SEA BASS DICENTRARCHUS LABRAX AQUACULTURE

A bioeconomic model for the simulation and the optimal management of a fish farm for sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax is presented. Growth and mortality, considered as a Markovian process, are described by a biological submodel, taking into account the effects of water temperature, feeding level, oxygen content, and water supply. Stochastic effects in growth and mortality, relating to the effects of genetic differences, can be also considered in the model. An economic submodel evaluates costs and revenues relating to plant management. The model exhibits good capabilities in predicting the effects of operating variables on fish growth and on economic outcomes and in determining the optimal strategies for plant management in different scenarios, considering the complex interactions of technical, biological, and economic aspects.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

SMEs finance and bankruptcies: The role of credit guarantee schemes in the UK

With reference to consideration on the future of credit guarantees in the world, it may be interesting to analyze the UK framework of guarantee schemes in favour of SMEs, where there are no private guarantee providers and where there is a substantial public monopoly. In particular, in this paper it emerges that among the countries examined by the OECD, the country where the credit guarantees are least widespread is the United Kingdom. However, the trend in bankruptcies recorded in recent years by British firms is better than the median of the other countries considered. Results from the regression analysis show that among years of operation where EFG has been introduced, possibly this kind of government loan guarantees scheme for SMEs played a minor role, compared to macroeconomic indicators as GDP, in dealing with SMEs bankruptcies

Gli strumenti finanziari nazionali di supporto alla riduzione dei consumi energetici negli edifici delle pubbliche amministrazioni

Public Administrations are currently constrained, in their aims of carrying out actions and projects for the limitation of the energy consumption of buildings, by the scarcity of adequate budgets and by the need of observing the Growth and Stability Pact. On the contrary, the availability of (and the access to) suitable financial sources would represent significant opportunities for an economic development characterized by energy and environmental sustainability. This paper, after a short review of the domestic financial tools actually available for the reduction of their energy consumption of municipalities, analyses the technical and economic barriers that limit their effective utilization and that should be properly removed

Quantum Computation in a radio single mode cavity: the dissipative Jaynes and Cummings Model

Our aim is to give an account, trough an analysis of a number of papers by F.Petruccione, H.J.Charmicael, J.C. Raimond and their contemporaries, of the specific answer that we gave to the problem of Open Quantum Systems dynamical evolution and how this idea evolves and develops in physical research and in the scientific debate of the following decades. Permanent solution should not been accepted from physical research, but analysis of the real work of scientists, of the difficulties they face and the ever changing solutions they offer is, we believe, part of our understanding of science and an indispensable basis for further methodological inquiries. In this paper we have chosen to analyze a dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model assuming the common electrodynamics free field for the bipartite system and an another independent bath for the cavity, so taking into account loosing of energy because of the imperfect mirrors. The Nud theorem application leads to predict new cooperative effects between the atom and the cavity mode as the creation of conditional transient entanglement, tending to become stationary as the coupling constant take a well defined value

A bottom-up method for evaluating the whole energy demand of large residential building stocks: an application to a regional scale

In this paper a method is described, originally conceived during the compilation of the Energy and Environmental Regional Plan of Sicily, aimed to: a) set up a lay-out model of an overall regional residential estate into a certain number of different building and heating system types; b) calculate the energy needs of every single type according to the procedures established by the national and European regulations; The method is particularly designed to evaluate the possible energy savings from the implementation of different interventions concerning the envelope and the HVAC systems to the various building types. The method, although based on several assumptions, shows to be reliable enough and is also characterized by a simple structure easily adoptable by planners and technicians in their attempt to lead regional energy policies toward more sustainable paths. The method has been validated against the aggregate value of the real energy demand deriving from the regional energy balance

How to track behaviours’ changes toward more sustainable mobility habits: the serious game of TrafficO2

Social science and new communication technologies are influencing deeply the transportation domain and new models of urban sustainable development are constantly emerging as new possible solutions. One of the principal reasons is the capability to reach the motivations that foster us to choose one or other urban transportation systems. It’s already feasible to develop solutions to aim the implementation and the rooting of more efficient and sustainable habits in urban transportation. The present exploratory paper presents the activities conducted by innovation lab PUSH, with the Italian Ministry of Innovation and Research, for the development and the application of the social innovation project “trafficO2” in the city of Palermo Italy. The project is a technology driven (a mobile app) serious game for sustainable urban mobility that tries to foster citizens, through information and tailor made incentives, to choose low emission means instead of using cars. In a very controversial context given by the urban mobility of the city of Palermo, aim of the game is to build a strong and values driven self-organized community, able to change the actual urban condition without any command and control policies or any structural transformation. The system was already tested twice with the community of students of the Palermo University; the paper shows the first results in terms of CO2 reduction and testers engagement

a novel energy efficiency metric for model based fault diagnosis of telecommunication central offices

Abstract A novel energy metric is presented, to be adopted for monitoring and diagnosis of telecommunication (TLC) central offices (COFs). Such an activity is motivated by the TLC players need to substantially reduce their energy demand, both to increase their market competitiveness and meet the stringent green-house gas (GHG) emission regulations. The proposed metric, the utilization factor (UF), was thus defined according to the energy break-down of TLC-COFs. Then, suitable data-processing techniques were applied to develop a diagnosis-oriented UF model. Model accuracy, found to be always capable of guaranteeing UF estimation errors safely below 15 % for all non-faulty COFs, was proven adequate to perform model-based fault detection and isolation of relevant malfunctioning, such as abnormal data acquisition and non-optimal energy management

Synthetic environmental appraisal of waste management system: an application to the Sicilian region

This paper addresses the problem of synthetically evaluating the environmental performances of urban solid waste systems. This, in fact, represents a crucial point in the management process of complex systems that local administrations are called to cope with, in order to provide decisions about policy options that involve different issues characterising the quality of life of people. Suitable methods of evaluation are clearly required for this aim. This work introduces the dashboard of sustainability and the ecological footprint approaches as aggregate indicators of the performances of solid waste management systems. The methods have been selected due to their intrinsic simplicities, provided that the required data are available, although the first one can be defined as a political tool, while the second one can be defined as a technical tool. An application of both methods to the situation of Sicily is proposed here

Optimal Modulation of Regenerative Braking in Through-The-Road Hybridized Vehicles

Regenerative braking can significantly improve the energy efficiency of hybrid and electric vehicles, and many studies have been carried out in order to improve and optimize the energy recovery of the braking energy. In the paper, the optimization of regenerative braking by means of braking force modulation is analysed, with specific application to the case of cars converted into Through-the-road (TTR) hybrid vehicles, and an optimal modulation strategy is also proposed. Car hybridization is an emerging topic since it may be a feasible, low-cost, intermediate step toward the green transition of the transport system with a potential positive impact in third-world countries. In this case, the presence of two in-wheel-motors installed on the rear axle and of the original mechanical braking system mounted on the vehicle can result in limited braking energy recovery in the absence of proper braking management strategies. A vehicle longitudinal model has been integrated with an algorithm of non-linear constrained optimization to maximize the energy recovery for various starting speed and stopping time, also considering the efficiency map and power limitations of the electric components. In the best conditions, the recovery can reach about 40% of the vehicle energy, selecting the best deceleration at each speed and proper modulation, and with a realistic estimate of the grip coefficient

Embedding "roadside equipment" in the environmental assessment of transportation system: the case of safety barriers

The work arises from the consideration that the environmental impact of a road cannot be limited to the analysis of its constituent materials, even if correctly analyzed in their life cycle. In fact, a given road not only consists of the pavement and subgrade, but also includes several different components and accessories (e.g., road marking, drainages, safety barriers, etc.) that contribute to set a road infrastructure in operative condition. As a matter of fact, only limited attention has been paid in the scientific literature to roadside components, unlike pavement and traffic flow. In the present work, the environmental burden of one of these components, i.e., the safety barrier has been investigated using the LCA methodology and critically compared with that exerted by pavement and traffic flow, in order to establish their relative contributions. To accomplish this task, an application referring to a segment of a typical Italian highway is proposed. This case study seems to confirm that the environmental burden of the guardrail cannot be neglected, because it is often even numerically comparable with that of the pavements. This paper concludes that, in order to obtain a more comprehensive environmental evaluation, this type of analysis should be extended to this component and also to all of the other components and activities that make a road transportation system ready to be used. Such an integrated approach may be useful for administrations to better comply with the current sustainability standards and guidelines