The role of national institutions and product architecture in joint decision-making in supply chains

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A WBEM based solution for a 4G network integrated management

Next generation networks will put a new set of challenges related to operation and management, due to the increased complexity arising by the seamless integration of different kinds of technologies, services and terminals, and with the expected offered bandwidth. In this paper we present a Policy-based management system that is being developed inside the Daidalos IST project for such environments. This system uses Policy Based Management concepts associated with Web-Based Enterprise Management to control QoS aspects in this complex network

Living with HIV : men, masculinities and health in Portugal

Portugal has traditionally had the highest HIV incidence in Western Europe, currently\ud standing at 0.6% (UNAIDS, 2011). In addition, men in Portugal are disproportionately\ud infected with HIV. Portuguese men are traditionally expected to initiate sexual activity\ud earlier than women and not to worry about safer sex. However, little is known about\ud how prevailing norms of masculinity may influence their experiences of living with\ud HIV. Informed by an interpretivist epistemology and utilising multiple methods, data\ud were gathered from in-depth interviews with 20 men living with HIV and 10\ud professionals involved in their care, as well as observation of clinical and social\ud support spaces. A number of structural issues impact on men's experiences of living\ud with HIV. In particular, for some men there was a sense of social death, one that\ud drew on the apparent invisibility of HIV, overall ignorance regarding the virus and its\ud effects, reduced government HIV prevention efforts, and feelings of rejection towards\ud people living with HIV. Despite an apparent move from HIV being a fatal disease to a\ud chronic illness globally, participants indicated that HIV in Portugal is still regarded as\ud a dangerous disease at both social and institutional levels. Concomitantly, some men\ud successfully adapted to living with HIV in positive and meaningful ways. Adaptation\ud was facilitated if there had been previous experience of biographical disruption: in\ud particular among gay men or men from ethnic minorities. The close focus, qualitative\ud methods employed allowed for deeper insights into the complexities of structural\ud factors associated with men's experiences of living with HIV. In particular, this study\ud captured some of the struggles, tensions and challenges inherent to living with HIV in\ud a developed country today

Investigating the potential for energy flexibility in an office building with a vertical BIPV and a PV roof system

ABSTRACT: Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) are becoming an attractive solution in the context of high penetration of photovoltaics (PV) in buildings caused by the strive to achieve net or nearly zero energy status. Besides retrieving solar radiation to produce electricity, BIPV also offers aesthetical advantages because of its architectural feature. This paper reports on the electrical energy performance of a passive solar office building, Solar XXI, located in Lisbon, Portugal, which has installed on the South façade a BIPV (12 kWp) and an additional photovoltaic roof system in a nearby car park facility (12 kWp) for electricity generation. The main objective is to investigate the potential to increase load matching between energy generation and consumption and improve grid interaction for two scenarios using the energy flexibility enabled by the integration of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) with capacities ranging from 13.5 kWh to 54 kWh. To collect the required results, real consumption and generation data are used, together with numerical simulations related to the integration of the BESS. The results show that load matching and grid interaction related metrics can be significantly improved by using the energy flexibility provided by a BESS and that the implementation of such system can be economically viable for a 10-year period.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sensitivity Analysis Through Error Function of Crystalline-Si Photovoltaic Cell Model Integrated in a Smart Grid

The paper is based on the device representation of PV cell there are different internal parameters that representing their behavior. The internal parameters have impacts on the PV power generation. In this work, a single diode solar cell five parameter model is used to understand the internal parameters’ sensitivity not the efficiency. Sensitivity is important because of giving idea about parameters response to the total system. The more a parameter is sensitive, the more the system is dependent on those parameters. Here the internal parameters called photocurrent, diode saturation current, series resistance, shunt resistance, diode ideality factor, and cell temperature are investigated through the simulation for getting their sensitivity which aims to identify the parameters having much impact on total system, this identification would help to make a better model for the PV panel which could be more faster in real time system to give estimation of the power generation. Better understanding about the parameters is identically significant for modelling the PV system. At the end of this work a simplified model is built with simplified PV structure

Constraining of peripheral vision reduces standing long jump performance in children

Peripheral vision appears to be more important than central vision for tasks where precision or ocular coordination are essential. To determine whether this effect is observedwhile performing a task for which precision is not critical, the performance of 34 children (6–9 years old) in standing long jumpwastested. Adapted swimming goggles, which induced different levels of constraint of field of vision,were used to provide full field vision, restrictthe use of central vision, and restrict the use of peripheral vision. The obtained results showed a strong detrimental effect onstanding horizontal jump length (both best and mean results) when the peripheral field of vision was restricted (approximately 5% less; p < 0.001). However, thedetrimental effect was not observed when only the central field of vision was absent. These results indicatethat peripheral vision is essentialfor this locomotor task. Although standing long jump canbe considered as a non-precision task, the children tested were able to jump farther both when vision was not restricted and when peripheral vision was allowed. A reasonable explanation is that the absence of access to optic flow detection inhibits normal motor behaviour perhaps owing to worse posture and stability. The obtainedresults suggest that information that arrives through peripheral vision is more important for jumping performance thaninformation from central vision. Furthermore, jumping biomechanics may be more hampered by the absence of these peripheral stimuli than by the impossibility of gazing straight inthe jumping direction.Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that special attention should be paid to the use of peripheral vision in physical activity tasks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Numerical study of the optimal nozzle width and jet orientation in a downward blowing air curtain

This paper presents a numerical study of the performance of an air curtain device (ACD) installed on top of the access door of a refrigerated room, aiming to quantify the influence of some parameters (nozzle width, initial orientation and discharge velocity of the jet) towards the maximization of the sealing effect. For this purpose, a numerical model was developed to simulate the turbulent non-isothermal 3D airflow generated by the ACD jet, focusing on the period after the door is opened. The situation when the ACD is switched off is taken as the reference for the performance evaluation. The results allow identifying an optimum jet nozzle width corresponding to maximum sealing efficiency and lower jet airflow rate (lower energy consumption in the air curtain operation). For the present conditions (ACD installed outside the refrigerated room), the sealing efficiency is highest with the ACD oriented vertically and is practically unaffected if the jet discharge is directed towards the warmer space. On the contrary, a jet discharged towards the cooler space is very detrimental to the ACD sealing effectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The forgotten whale : a bibliometric analysis and literature review of the North Atlantic sei whale Balaenoptera borealis

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2012. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Mammal Review 42 (2012): 235-272, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00195.x.1. A bibliometric analysis of the literature on the sei whale Balaenoptera borealis is presented. Research output on the species is quantified and compared with research on four other whale species. The results show a significant increase in research for all species except the sei whale. Research output is characterized chronologically and by oceanic basin. 2. The species’ distribution, movements, stock structure, feeding, reproduction, abundance, acoustics, mortality and threats are reviewed for the North Atlantic, and the review is complemented with previously unpublished data. 3. Knowledge on the distribution and movements of the sei whale in the North Atlantic is still mainly derived from whaling records. Movement patterns and winter distribution are not clear. Surveys in some known summering areas show that the species has changed its distribution in parts of its previously known range. 4. With the present information, it is impossible to determine whether or not the North Atlantic sei whale population is subdivided into biological units. Abundance estimates are fragmentary and cover a restricted part of the summering habitat. 5. In the North Atlantic, sei whales seem to be stenophagous, feeding almost exclusively on calanoid copepods and euphausiids. On feeding grounds, they are associated with oceanic frontal systems, but how they find and explore these structures has not been fully investigated. 6. The available data on vital rates are based on whaling-derived studies and are 25 years old or older. Despite increasing human and environmentally induced pressures, there are no current estimates for mortality and population trends. 7. Current research needs include the clear definition of stock units, reliable abundance estimates, studies of distribution and migration that incorporate the identification of wintering areas, acquisition of up-to-date data on reproduction and mortality, and investigations into the consequences of environmental changes for the species.Mónica Silva was supported by an FCT postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/29841/2006), and Rui Prieto was supported by an FCT doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/32520/2006)