Impact of Employing Weather Forecast Data as Input to the Estimation of Evapotranspiration by Deep Neural Network Models

Reference Evapotranspiration (ET0) is a key parameter for designing smart irrigation scheduling, since it is related by a coefficient to the water needs of a crop. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, proposed a standard method for ET0 computation (FAO56PM), based on the parameterization of the Penman-Monteith equation, that is widely adopted in the literature. To compute ET0 using the FAO56-PM method, four main weather parameters are needed: temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation (SR). One way to make daily ET0 estimations for future days is to use freely available weather forecast services (WFSs), where many meteorological parameters are estimated up to the next 15 days. A problem with this method is that currently, SR is not provided as a free forecast parameter on most of those online services or, normally, such forecasts present a financial cost penalty. For this reason, several ET0 estimation models using machine and deep learning were developed and presented in the literature, that use as input features a reduced set of carefully selected weather parameters, that are compatible with common freely available WFSs. However, most studies on this topic have only evaluated model performance using data from weather stations (WSs), without considering the effect of using weather forecast data. In this study, the performance of authors' previous models is evaluated when using weather forecast data from two online WFSs, in the following scenarios: (i) direct ET0 estimation by an ANN model, and (ii) estimate SR by ANN model, and then use that estimation for ET0 computation, using the FAO56-PM method. Employing data collected from two WFSs and a WS located in Vale do Lobo, Portugal, the latter approach achieved the best result, with a coefficient of determination (R2) ranging between 0.893 and 0.667, when considering forecasts up to 15 days.Comment: A partial version of the work submitted to ESRE/INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND RENEWABLE ENERG

Ant colony optimization routing mechanisms with bandwidth sensing

The study and understanding of the social behavior of insects has contributed to the definition of some algorithms that are capable of solving several types of optimization problems. In 1997 Di Caro and Dorigo developed the first routing algorithm for wired networks, called AntNet, using an approach which was inspired in the behavior of ant colonies. At each node, AntNet, similar to others Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) based algorithms, forward ants based in the amount of pheromones present in the links and in response to the node's queue lengths. In this paper, an adaptation of the e-DANTE algorithm for discrete problems, as an IP based routing mechanism, was implemented. We also propose the inclusion of a new parameter for the computation of paths for both the AntNet and the newly proposed algorithm: the available bandwith. Those methods were tested in ns-2 using two dense network architectures and their efficiency is compared with the original AntNet and a Link-State routing algorithm, when considering the transmission of competing traffic flows between distinct nodes. © 2011 IEEE

DANTE - The combination between an ant colony optimization algorithm and a depth search method

The ε-DANTE method is an hybrid meta-heuristic. In combines the evolutionary Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms with a limited Depth Search. This Depth Search is based in the pheromone trails used by the ACO, which allows it to be oriented to the more promising areas of the search space. Some results are presented for the multiple objective k-Degree Spanning Trees problem, proving the effectiveness of the method when compared with other already tested evolutionary methods. © 2008 IEEE

A distributed load scheduling mechanism for micro grids

Several protocols have recently been defined for smart grids that enable the communication between electric devices and energy management systems. While these protocols and architectures can already be applied in different fields of micro grids, it is still not clear how the distributed resources and constraints of such electrical grids can be managed in an optimum way. In order to achieve a reduction in electricity costs and maximizing investments made in renewable sources, an optimization mechanism should be used to perform load scheduling, considering different variables such as forecasted power generation curve from renewable sources, different tariffs' rates, electric circuit constraints, user restrictions and correspondent comfort levels. Given these considerations, this work defines and evaluates a distributed micro grid resource management architecture and protocol which is able to optimize load scheduling while considering all the mentioned restrictions and parameters. The proposed architecture was implemented on a multi-agent simulator and the performed tests show that significant reductions in electricity cost can be achieved using this methodology. © 2014 IEEE

A Cohort Study

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Introduction: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare disease with high mortality. Acute kidney injury (AKI) following ALF is frequent. We assessed AKI impact on long-term kidney function among ALF survivors. Methods: Observational cohort study including consecutive adult (age ≥16 years) patients with ALF or acute liver injury (ALI) admitted to a Portuguese tertiary center intensive care unit (ICU) between October 2013 and February 2020. KDIGO criteria were used to define AKI and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Primary outcome was the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), defined by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration formula, at least 1 year after index ICU admission. Results: Among 104 patients with ALF (n = 74) or ALI (n = 30), mean (SD) age was 43.7 (18.0) years, and 44 were male. Among all patients (n = 104), following adjustment for age and SOFA score, AKI during the first 7 ICU days (n AKI = 57 and n renal replacement therapy [RRT] = 32) was independently associated with all-cause mortality (adjusted HR [95% CI] 11.61 [1.49-90.34]; p = 0.019). Among hospital survivors with long-term kidney function available (n = 56), median (interquartile range) >1 year eGFR was 95.3 (75.0-107.7) mL/min/1.73 m2 (mean [SD] follow-up of 3.1 [1.6] years). Among these hospital survivors, following adjustment for baseline eGFR, AKI during the first 7 ICU days (n AKI = 19 and n RRT = 10) was not associated with >1 year eGFR (p = 0.15). At least 1 year after index ICU admission, 5 patients developed CKD, none RRT-dependent. Conclusions: Among ALF or ALI survivors, AKI was not associated with significant long-term loss of kidney function.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

A visual programming language for soccer

The use of Information Technologies (IT) in high competition sports is an instrument often used. However, the majority of the performers, including technical teams, do not have skills to program those IT tools to their needs. In this paper we present the low level implementation of a visual programming language (VPL) that allows the user without programming expertise to produce relatively complex programs by drawing them on a web application. The VPL tool application is illustrated by applying it to detect programmed situations from a soccer game, using previously obtained tracking data. The tool can be applied to other collective ball sports

What every Intensivist should know about the role of ammonia in liver failure

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsPurpose: Acute liver failure (ALF) or acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) patients have high short-term mortality and morbidity. In the context of liver failure, increased serum ammonia is associated with worse neurological outcomes, including high-grade hepatic encephalopathy (HE), cerebral edema, and intracranial hypertension. Besides its neurotoxicity, hyperammonemia may contribute to immune dysfunction and the risk of infection, a frequent trigger for multi-organ failure in these patients. Material and methods: We performed a literature-based narrative review. Publications available in PubMed® up to June 2023 were considered. Results: In the ICU management of liver failure patients, serum ammonia may play an important role. Accordingly, in this review, we focus on recent insights about ammonia metabolism, serum ammonia measurement strategies, hyperammonemia prognostic value, and ammonia-targeted therapeutic strategies. Conclusions: Serum ammonia may have prognostic value in liver failure. Effective ammonia targeted therapeutic strategies are available, such as laxatives, rifaximin, L-ornithine-L-aspartate, and continuous renal replacement therapy.proofepub_ahead_of_prin

Open source technologies involved in constructing a web-based football information system

The current information systems and match analysis software associated to professional football output a huge amount of statistics. Many football professionals are particularly interested in real time information about the tactical plan occurring during the match, and the relations between that information and what was prepared in the training sessions. It is fundamental to have on the bench, and on-the-fly, the most relevant information each time they have to take a decision. In this paper, we present a set of open source technologies involved in building a multi-platform web based integrated football information system, supported in three main modules: user interfaces, databases, and the tactical plan detection and classification. We show that the selected technologies are suitable for those modules, allowing field occurrences to trigger meaningful information

Augmented reality and holograms for the visualization of mechanical engineering parts

There is an increasing number of students using tablets in schools. Mobile devices gained popularity as an educational tool and there are many schools that use them frequently in educational activities to improve learning. We found that first year students of mechanical engineering in general have difficulties in understanding 3D shapes from 2D views. There are many Augmented Reality (AR) applications available that can be used to create educational contents for these mobile devices. On the other hand, there is an increasing interest in making holograms. In this paper we studied the most popular AR systems and show examples of using an AR system for the visualization of 3D models. We also present the creation of a low cost prototype, the EducHolo, that enables the visualization of holograms supported by tablets. With this prototype students can visualize the hologram of mechanical parts, providing a better perception of the model 3D shape and improving the ability of making the 2D orthographic views and perspectives that they study in the first year of mechanical engineer

GyGSLA: A portable glove system for learning sign language alphabet

The communication between people with normal hearing with those having hearing or speech impairment is difficult. Learning a new alphabet is not always easy, especially when it is a sign language alphabet, which requires both hand skills and practice. This paper presents the GyGSLA system, standing as a completely portable setup created to help inexperienced people in the process of learning a new sign language alphabet. To achieve it, a computer/mobile game-interface and an hardware device, a wearable glove, were developed. When interacting with the computer or mobile device, using the wearable glove, the user is asked to represent alphabet letters and digits, by replicating the hand and fingers positions shown in a screen. The glove then sends the hand and fingers positions to the computer/mobile device using a wireless interface, which interprets the letter or digit that is being done by the user, and gives it a corresponding score. The system was tested with three completely inexperience sign language subjects, achieving a 76% average recognition ratio for the Portuguese sign language alphabet.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio