Spatial and performance optimality in power distribution networks

(c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.Complex network theory has been widely used in vulnerability analysis of power networks, especially for power transmission ones. With the development of the smart grid concept, power distribution networks are becoming increasingly relevant. In this paper, we model power distribution systems as spatial networks. Topological and spatial properties of 14 European power distribution networks are analyzed, together with the relationship between geographical constraints and performance optimization, taking into account economic and vulnerability issues. Supported by empirical reliability data, our results suggest that power distribution networks are influenced by spatial constraints which clearly affect their overall performance.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Service Orientation and the Smart Grid state and trends

The energy market is undergoing major changes, the most notable of which is the transition from a hierarchical closed system toward a more open one highly based on a “smart” information-rich infrastructure. This transition calls for new information and communication technologies infrastructures and standards to support it. In this paper, we review the current state of affairs and the actual technologies with respect to such transition. Additionally, we highlight the contact points between the needs of the future grid and the advantages brought by service-oriented architectures.

Italian good practice recommendations on management of persons with Long-COVID

A significant number of people, following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, report persistent symptoms or new symptoms that are sustained over time, often affecting different body systems. This condition, commonly referred to as Long-COVID, requires a complex clinical management. In Italy new health facilities specifically dedicated to the diagnosis and care of Long-COVID were implemented. However, the activity of these clinical centers is highly heterogeneous, with wide variation in the type of services provided, specialistic expertise and, ultimately, in the clinical care provided. Recommendations for a uniform management of Long-COVID were therefore needed. Professionals from different disciplines (including general practitioners, specialists in respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, internal medicine, geriatrics, cardiology, neurology, pediatrics, and odontostomatology) were invited to participate, together with a patient representative, in a multidisciplinary Panel appointed to draft Good Practices on clinical management of Long-COVID. The Panel, after extensive literature review, issued recommendations on 3 thematic areas: access to Long-COVID services, clinical evaluation, and organization of the services. The Panel highlighted the importance of providing integrated multidisciplinary care in the management of patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and agreed that a multidisciplinary service, one-stop clinic approach could avoid multiple referrals and reduce the number of appointments. In areas where multidisciplinary services are not available, services may be provided through integrated and coordinated primary, community, rehabilitation and mental health services. Management should be adapted according to the patient's needs and should promptly address possible life-threatening complications. The present recommendations could provide guidance and support in standardizing the care provided to Long-COVID patients

Spatial optimality in power distribution networks

Critical infrastructures can be characterized as networks where nodes and edges are embedded in space. Transportation networks, the internet, and power grids, are examples of networks where spatial constrains are relevant. An important consequence of space is that there is a cost associated with the length of edges which in turn has important effects on the topological structure of and on the dynamical processes which take place on these spatial networks. In this paper we investigate the effect of the wiring cost in the spatial organization of a sample of power distribution networks by means of shuffling the networks in systematic ways. We show that although they share similar topologies, suboptimal networks (i.e., those with topologies not organized to reduce the wiring cost) seem to accumulate more failures. Consequences of these results and further work are finally discussed and outlined.Peer Reviewe

Spatial and performance optimality in power distribution networks

(c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.Complex network theory has been widely used in vulnerability analysis of power networks, especially for power transmission ones. With the development of the smart grid concept, power distribution networks are becoming increasingly relevant. In this paper, we model power distribution systems as spatial networks. Topological and spatial properties of 14 European power distribution networks are analyzed, together with the relationship between geographical constraints and performance optimization, taking into account economic and vulnerability issues. Supported by empirical reliability data, our results suggest that power distribution networks are influenced by spatial constraints which clearly affect their overall performance.Peer Reviewe

Knowing power grids and understanding complexity science

Complex networks theory has been well established as a useful framework for studying and analysing structure, dynamics and evolution of many complex systems. Infrastructural and man-made systems like power grids, gas and water networks and the internet, have been also included in this network framework, albeit sometimes ignoring the huge historical body of knowledge surrounding them. Although there seems to exist clear evidence that both complexity approach in general, and complex networks in particular, can be useful, it is necessary and profitable to put forward some of the limits that this scheme is facing when dealing with not so complex but rather complicated systems like the power grid. In this introductory paper, we offer a critical revision of the usefulness of the complexity and complex networks’ approach in this later case, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. At the same time we emphasise the disconnection between the so called complex and the more traditional engineering communities as one of the major drawbacks in the advent of a true body of understanding, more than simply knowing the subtleties of this kind of complex systems.Peer Reviewe