Fès and its Medina: a key-case study of architectural contamination

The Fès Medina, UNESCO site, represents today a key case study to acknowledge the contamination of architectural and urban heritage. The Medina is a unique example in the Mediterranean area of an intact Islamic urban centre of large dimensions, characterized by a drift road system and ancestral construction techniques: tadelakt, raw earth, fired bricks, lime mortar. Today the city of Fès grows outside its Medina, with a strong western character: boulevard instead of small-market streets, reinforced concrete instead of Atlas stones. The thrust of modern ville, which began with the French colonialism, is also changing the Medina: the absence of an up-to-date plan for the maintenance and protection of the historic centre and its tangible and intangible heritage, is driving rapid change in the ancient Islamic core, contaminating usual techniques and materials with more western uses. This form of contamination can be considered a form of wealth, when studied and organized. The city is into a seismic area, and the use of innovative materials can improve parts of Medina in abandonment conditions or hydrogeological risks, while maintaining the use of more traditional techniques by respecting historic buildings and the urban form. In conclusion, the proposal for a studied and wellplanned contamination between innovative techniques and traditional knowledge can lead to a more modern but not different Medina, and can address necessities of a contemporary society, whose heritage is effectively protected

Lifelong Disadvantage and Late Adulthood Frailty

Frailty is a complex state of objective and subjective vulnerability. It tends to increase with age, but the process is influenced by previous life course, especially previous disadvantages. The aim of this paper is to examine how the disadvantages suffered in adulthood (25 to 59 years) in four domains (unemployment, financial hardship, stress, and bad health) affect frailty in late adulthood (60 to 79 years). Using linear regression models on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (2004–2017), we estimate frailty levels for several age groups (60–64, 65–69, 70–74, 75–79) accounting for both the persistence of these disadvantages over time and their coexistence, i.e., the number of years when they were simultaneously experienced. Results show that while frailty increases with age, as expected, there is also evidence of an accumulation of risks: the longer the periods of adult life affected by unemployment, stress, financial hardship or, most importantly, bad health, the frailer individuals are in their late years. Furthermore, periods of coexisting disadvantages in adulthood translate into additional frailty in late life. Our findings highlight the importance of fighting disadvantages early in life: long-term improvements in terms of reduced frailty (a concept interrelated with health) may be substantial

Nonlinear Control of an AC-connected DC MicroGrid

New connection constraints for the power network (Grid Codes) require more flexible and reliable systems, with robust solutions to cope with uncertainties and intermittence from renewable energy sources (renewables), such as photovoltaic arrays. A solution for interconnecting such renewables to the main grid is to use storage systems and a Direct Current (DC) MicroGrid. A "Plug and Play" approach based on the "System of Systems" philosophy using distributed control methodologies is developed in the present work. This approach allows to interconnect a number of elements to a DC MicroGrid as power sources like photovoltaic arrays, storage systems in different time scales like batteries and supercapacitors, and loads like electric vehicles and the main AC grid. The proposed scheme can easily be scalable to a much larger number of elements.Comment: IEEE IECON 2016, the 42nd Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, October 24-27, 201

Nonlinear Control of a DC MicroGrid for the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels

New connection constraints for the power network (Grid Codes) require more flexible and reliable systems, with robust solutions to cope with uncertainties and intermittence from renewable energy sources (renewables), such as photovoltaic arrays. The interconnection of such renewables with storage systems through a Direct Current (DC) MicroGrid can fulfill these requirements. A "Plug and Play" approach based on the "System of Systems" philosophy using distributed control methodologies is developed in the present work. This approach allows to interconnect a number of elements to a DC MicroGrid as power sources like photovoltaic arrays, storage systems in different time scales like batteries and supercapacitors, and loads like electric vehicles and the main AC grid. The proposed scheme can easily be scalable to a much larger number of elements.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1607.0848