Two-Stage Multi-Objective Meta-Heuristics for Environmental and Cost-Optimal Energy Refurbishment at District Level

Energy efficiency and environmental performance optimization at the district level are following an upward trend mostly triggered by minimizing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) to 20% by 2020 and 40% by 2030 settled by the European Union (EU) compared with 1990 levels. This paper advances over the state of the art by proposing two novel multi-objective algorithms, named Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) and Multi-Objective Harmony Search (MOHS), aimed at achieving cost-effective energy refurbishment scenarios and allowing at district level the decision-making procedure. This challenge is not trivial since the optimisation process must provide feasible solutions for a simultaneous environmental and economic assessment at district scale taking into consideration highly demanding real-based constraints regarding district and buildings’ specific requirements. Consequently, in this paper, a two-stage optimization methodology is proposed in order to reduce the energy demand and fossil fuel consumption with an affordable investment cost at building level and minimize the total payback time while minimizing the GWP at district level. Aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed two-stage multi-objective approaches, this work presents simulation results at two real district case studies in Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain) for which up to a 30% of reduction of GWP at district level is obtained for a Payback Time (PT) of 2–3 years.Part of this work has been developed from results obtained during the H2020 “Optimised Energy Efficient Design Platform for Refurbishment at District Level” (OptEEmAL) project, Grant No. 680676

Short Range Interactions in the Hydrogen Atom

In calculating the energy corrections to the hydrogen levels we can identify two different types of modifications of the Coulomb potential $V_{C}$, with one of them being the standard quantum electrodynamics corrections, $\delta V$, satisfying $\left|\delta V\right|\ll\left|V_{C}\right|$ over the whole range of the radial variable $r$. The other possible addition to $V_{C}$ is a potential arising due to the finite size of the atomic nucleus and as a matter of fact, can be larger than $V_{C}$ in a very short range. We focus here on the latter and show that the electric potential of the proton displays some undesirable features. Among others, the energy content of the electric field associated with this potential is very close to the threshold of $e^+e^-$ pair production. We contrast this large electric field of the Maxwell theory with one emerging from the non-linear Euler-Heisenberg theory and show how in this theory the short range electric field becomes smaller and is well below the pair production threshold

The geometric tensor for classical states

We use the Liouville eigenfunctions to define a classical version of the geometric tensor and study its relationship with the classical adiabatic gauge potential (AGP). We focus on integrable systems and show that the imaginary part of the geometric tensor is related to the Hannay curvature. The singularities of the geometric tensor and the AGP allows us to link the transition from Arnold-Liouville integrability to chaos with some of the mathematical formalism of quantum phase transitions

Reconfigurable interconnects in DSM systems: a focus on context switch behavior

Recent advances in the development of reconfigurable optical interconnect technologies allow for the fabrication of low cost and run-time adaptable interconnects in large distributed shared-memory (DSM) multiprocessor machines. This can allow the use of adaptable interconnection networks that alleviate the huge bottleneck present due to the gap between the processing speed and the memory access time over the network. In this paper we have studied the scheduling of tasks by the kernel of the operating system (OS) and its influence on communication between the processing nodes of the system, focusing on the traffic generated just after a context switch. We aim to use these results as a basis to propose a potential reconfiguration of the network that could provide a significant speedup

The Schwinger action principle for classical systems

We use the Schwinger action principle to obtain the correct equations of motion in the Koopman-von Neumann operational version of classical mechanics. We restrict our analysis to non-dissipative systems and velocity-independent forces. We show that the Schwinger action principle can be interpreted as a variational principle in these special cases

Projective representation of the Galilei group for classical and quantum-classical systems

A physically relevant unitary irreducible non-projective representation of the Galilei group is possible in the Koopman-von Neumann formulation of classical mechanics. This classical representation is characterized by the vanishing of the central charge of the Galilei algebra. This is in contrast to the quantum case where the mass plays the role of the central charge. Here we show, by direct construction, that classical mechanics also allows for a projective representation of the Galilei group where the mass is the central charge of the algebra. We extend the result to certain kind of quantum-classical hybrid systems

The use of Reading Tasks based on Authentic texts to Improve Reading Comprehension on English Learners

102 Páginas.Esta investigación examina las suposiciones de trabajar con actividades de lectura basadas en textos auténticos a través de una red social (Edmodo), con el fin de mejorar los niveles de comprensión de lectura de un grupo de diez estudiantes de nivel pre-intermedio desde el Centro de Idiomas de Inglés en la Universidad de Córdoba en Montería Colombia y desde la Institución Educativa San Bernardo en Montelibano Colombia. Una metodología de investigación-acción se llevó a cabo en este estudio. El primer paso en este proceso fue a reconocer el problema y recopilar algunos datos preliminares para el estudio adicional del enunciado del problema. Después de eso, se hizo énfasis en el problema principal y en los datos recogidos preliminarmente con el fin de dar respuesta a la pregunta de investigación. El siguiente paso fue el diseño e implementación de las herramientas para recolectar datos incluyendo las tareas de lectura propuestas. Los datos obtenidos a lo largo de la intervención fueron analizados principalmente a través de procedimientos cualitativos teniendo en cuenta la teoría de Grounded y también otros procedimientos para validar los datos a través de triangulación. Al final de todo el proceso, los resultados de este estudio de investigación sugieren que el uso de estrategias de lectura, los niveles de comprensión de lectura, así como el desarrollo del auto aprendizaje y autonomía en los alumnos tuvieron una mejoría significativa mediante el uso de las tareas de lecturas basadas en textos auténticos que fueron trabajadas por los mismos estudiantes con algo de ayuda del profesor