Cloud data warehousing solution in the banking sector

Mestrado Bolonha em Data Analytics for BusinessThe Covid-19 pandemic brought about many changes in the business world, and one of the most significant was the accelerated adoption of digital technologies. Commercial banks were no exception, launching several IT projects to support remote work and digital customer experiences. However, this surge in IT projects led to an overload of project management issues. With limited resources and competing priorities, project managers struggled to keep up with the increased workload. To address this problem, banks searched for means to store and analyze important data that would allow them to improve their resource allocation and operational efficiency. Some of Portugal’s largest commercial banks substantially invested in data warehousing and analysis solutions to achieve these goals. The present study is a result of these investments and seeks to create a robust data warehousing solution in which data can be safely stored and develop a business intelligence report for data analysis purposes. The objective of this project is to combine these two components into a decision support system capable of providing up-to-date and accurate information that empowers the bank’s managers to make informed business decisions. This data warehousing solution is deployed on the cloud and involves the creation of an architecture that can handle massive amounts of data while remaining highly scalable. This architecture leverages the Data Lakehouse concept with Kimball's Data Bus principles to achieve its scalability and efficiency. Although some concerns were raised regarding its dependencies on external sources, the solution was implemented successfully and proved to be effective in this specific business context.A pandemia da Covid-19 proporcionou muitas mudanças no mercado de trabalho e uma das mais significativas foi a adoção acelerada das tecnologias digitais. Os bancos comerciais que naturalmente não foram exceção, lançaram diversos projetos de TI para apoio ao trabalho remoto e às ferramentas digitais disponibilizadas aos seus clientes. No entanto, a este aumento de projetos TI acresceram problemas na sua gestão. Com recursos limitados e outras prioridades, os gestores de projeto depararam-se com um exponencial aumento de trabalho. Para ultrapassar esses problemas, os bancos procuraram formas de armazenar e analisar dados essencias que permitissem uma melhor alocação de recursos e eficiência operacional. Assim, para atingir estes objetivos, alguns dos maiores bancos comerciais portugueses investiram de forma substancial em soluções de armazenamento e análise de dados. O presente estudo resulta desses investimentos e foca-se no desenvolvimento de um data warehouse, no qual os dados possam ser armazenados com segurança, bem como a construção de um relatório de análise de dados com recurso a um software de business intelligence. O objetivo deste projeto resulta da conjugação de ambos e tem o intuito de fornecer aos gerentes do banco informações atualizadas para a tomada de decisões. Esta solução de data warehousing é implementada na cloud e envolve uma arquitetura de altamente escalável e com elevada capacidade de armazenar grandes quantidades de dados. Para alcançar escalabilidade e eficiência, esta arquitetura combina o conceito de Data Lakehouse com os princípios do Data Bus de Kimball. Embora algumas preocupações tenham surgido quanto à sua dependência para com fontes de dados externas, esta solução provou ser eficaz quando aplicada ao contexto de negócio em questão.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inter and intra-raters reproducibility of flow-mediated slowing using local estimates of brachial artery pulse wave velocity

INTRODUÇÃO: A desaceleração mediada pelo fluxo (DMF) mede de forma não invasiva a função endotelial braquial por meio de alterações na velocidade da onda de pulso (VOP) induzidas por uma hiperemia reativa, e é sugerido para mitigar as limitações bem conhecidas da dilatação mediada por fluxo (DMF), incluindo a reprodutibilidade subotima e a alta dependência da experiência do operador. No entanto, os poucos estudos que examinaram a reprodutibilidade da DMF mostraram resultados controversos, e usaram apenas medições regionais de VOP efetuadas por um único avaliador. Tal pode não refletir verdadeiramente as respostas exatas da rigidez da artéria braquial à hiperemia reativa e a sua aplicabilidade clínica. No presente trabalho avaliámos a reprodutibilidade inter- e intra- avaliadores das análises off-line do DMF através dos sinais brutos de distensibilidade arterial obtidos do procedimento DMF. MÉTODOS: Vinte e quatro participantes saudáveis do sexo masculino com idades entre 23-75 anos, foram examinados por 2 avaliadores, em dois dias separados, para avaliar a reprodutibilidade inter- e intra-dias. As alterações na rigidez beta braquial e na VOP beta (DMF) induzidas pela hiperemia reativa foram calculadas de acordo com as fórmulas do fabricante através da utilização de um script R personalizado. A reprodutibilidade inter- e intra- avaliador foi examinada com coeficiente de correlação intraclasse (ICC), coeficiente de variação (CV) e gráficos Bland-Altman. RESULTADOS: A reprodutibilidade inter- avaliador da DMS mostrou uma boa reprodutibilidade para as análises intra (bias: -0.12%; ICC: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.57 to 0.94; CV: 19%) e inter- dia (bias: -0.25%; ICC: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.57 to 0.92; CV: 16%). A reprodutibilidade intra avaliador mostrou uma reprodutibilidade moderada a boa para a análise inter- dia (1º Avaliador: bias: 0.39%; ICC: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.51 to 0.91; CV: 21%; 2º Avaliador: bias:0.14%; ICC: 0.53; 95% CI: -0.07 to 0.80; CV: 36%). CONCLUSÕES: As análises off-line do DMS através dos sinais brutos de ultrassonografia são reprodutíveis entre diferentes avaliadores.INTRODUCTION: Flow-mediated slowing (FMS) measures brachial endothelial function non-invasively through reactive hyperemia-induced changes on pulse wave velocity (PWV), and it is suggested to mitigate well-known pitfalls of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) including suboptimal reproducibility and high-operator dependency. However, the few studies that examined FMS reproducibility have shown controversial results and used only regional measurements of PWV performed by a single rater This might not truly reflect the exact stiffness responses of the brachial artery to reactive hyperemia and limit its clinical usefulness. In the present study we assessed inter- and intra-raters reproducibility of off-line analyses of FMS using the raw distensibility signals obtained from the FMD procedure. METHODS: Twenty-four healthy male participants aged 23 – 75 yr, were examined on two separate days to assess inter- and intra-day reproducibility. Reactive hyperemia-induced changes on brachial beta stiffness and beta PWV (FMS) were calculated according to the manufacturer's formulas using a tailored R-script. Inter- and int-rater reproducibility was examined with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV), and Bland-Altman plot estimates. RESULTS: Inter-rater reproducibility of FMS showed an overall good reproducibility for both intra (bias: -0.12%; ICC: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.57 to 0.94; CV: 19%) and inter-day (bias: -0.25%; ICC: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.57 to 0.92; CV: 16%) analyses. Intra-rater reproducibility showed an overall moderate-to-good reproducibility for inter-day (1st rater: bias: 0.39%; ICC: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.51 to 0.91; CV: 21%; 2nd rater: bias:0.14%; ICC: 0.53; 95% CI: -0.07 to 0.80; CV: 36%) analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Off-line analyses of FMS using raw signals from ultrasonography were reproducible among different raters

Development of a Modular Controller to Minimize Current Ripple in Low Inductance Coreless Permanent Magnet Motor

In this paper, a development of a modular controller to minimize current ripple in a low inductance coreless permanent magnet synchronous motor (CPMSM) is described. Based on individual modules, the controller uses a 60 degree commutation scheme instead of the conventional 120 degree. The neutral point of the motor’s windings is connected to an intermediate voltage level provided by a capacitor bank relative to the DC power bus. This feature allows the utilization of a single current sensing point that is used to regulate the motor’s torque by hysteretic current level control. With this simplification of the control strategy it was possible to use a single Programable Logic Device (PLD) to implement all the processing in the controller. The controller was built and tested, and the results showed efficient and smooth operation of the motor. Keywords: Current ripple, Permanent magnet motor, Low inductanc

Gossip-based service monitoring platform for wireless edge cloud computing

Edge cloud computing proposes to support shared services, by using the infrastructure at the network's edge. An important problem is the monitoring and management of services across the edge environment. Therefore, dissemination and gathering of data is not straightforward, differing from the classic cloud infrastructure. In this paper, we consider the environment of community networks for edge cloud computing, in which the monitoring of cloud services is required. We propose a monitoring platform to collect near real-time data about the services offered in the community network using a gossip-enabled network. We analyze and apply this gossip-enabled network to perform service discovery and information sharing, enabling data dissemination among the community. We implemented our solution as a prototype and used it for collecting service monitoring data from the real operational community network cloud, as a feasible deployment of our solution. By means of emulation and simulation we analyze in different scenarios, the behavior of the gossip overlay solution, and obtain average results regarding information propagation and consistency needs, i.e. in high latency situations, data convergence occurs within minutes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Aircraft Propellers, an Outdated Innovation?

The race for speed ruled the early Jet Age on aviation. Aircraft manufacturers chased faster and faster planes in a fight for pride and capability. In the early 1970s, dreamed that the future would be supersonic, but fuel economy and not acceptable noise levels made that era never came. After the 1973 first oil crisis, the paradigm changed. The average cruise speed on newly developed aircraft started to decrease in exchange for improvements in many other performance parameters. At the same pace, the airliner’s powerplants are evolving to look more like a ducted turboprop, and less like a pure jet engine as the pursuit for the higher bypass ratios continues. However, since the birth of jet aircraft, the propeller-driven plane lost its dominant place in the market. Associated with the idea of going back to propeller-driven airplanes, and what it represented in terms of modernity and security, it started a propeller avoidance phenomenon on the travelers and thus on the airlines. Today, even with the modest research effort since the 1980s, the advanced propellers are getting closer efficiencies to the jet-powered engines at their contemporary typical cruise speeds. This paper gives a brief overview of the performance trends in aviation since the last century. Comparison examples between aircraft designed on different paradigms are presented. The use of propellers as a reborn propulsive device is discussed. Keywords: Propeller, Aircraft, Turboprop, Flight efficiency, Flight spee

Mechanical properties of phenine nanotubes

Phenine Nanotubes (PhNT) are cylinder-shaped molecules synthetized from 1,3,5-trisubstituted benzene ring building blocks that can form tubular segments of different sizes. Small nanotube segments have been recently synthetized, and efforts are being made to increase the nanotubes’ length by adding more “phenine” units. To the authors’ best knowledge, a complete characterization of the mechanical properties of these nanotubes has not yet been accomplished. In this work, Reax and AIREBO forcefields were used to model armchair and zigzag PhNTs and Molecular Dynamics simulations were employed to determine their mechanical properties for tensile, compressive, bending and twisting loadings. It was found that PhNTs have a much lower Young’s modulus (about 30%) and tensile strengths (about 45%) than carbon nanotubes (CNTs), but can endure longer tensile strains without breaking apart. Although possessing a lower bending and twisting stiffness than CNTs, PhNT have highly flexible sidewalls due to their superior porosity, and therefore can withstand higher angles of twist and angles of bend without breaking bonds. This extra flexibility; extended porosity; possibility for heteroatom doping and reasonable strength, make PhNTs very promising candidates for a wide range of applications, such as sensing, ionic transistors or molecular sieving. Finally, a brief study on the application of elastic continuum shell formulas to predict the critical stress (compression), critical moment (bending) and critical torque (twisting) is also presented

Individual satisfaction and economic growth in an agent-based economy

We combine macro and microeconomic perspectives in an agent-based endogenous growth model that uses individual satisfaction as a driver of human capital accumulation. The micro perspective is based on individual satisfaction: an utility function computed from the income variation in space (relative to others) and time. The macro perspective emerges from micro decisions that, at an aggregate level, determine an important social decision about the share of the working population engaged in producing ideas (i.e. skilled workers). Underlying our analysis is the Easterlin hypothesis (Easterlin, in: David, Melvin (eds) Nations and households in economic growth: essays in Honor of Moses Abramowitz, Academic Press, New York, 1974, J Econ Behav Organ 27(1):35–47, 1995) which states that individuals care much more about their relative income than about increases in their own income, weakening the link between growth and income. Simulations show that growth and satisfaction levels are higher when relative and absolute incomes are equally weighted in satisfaction computation and are lower when satisfaction only depends on relative incomes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Economic growth and individual satisfaction in an agent-based economy

Macro and micro-economic perspectives are combined in an eco- nomic growth model. An agent-based modeling approach is used to develop an overlapping generation framework where endogenous growth is supported by work- ers that decide to study depending on their relative (skilled and unskilled) indi- vidual satisfaction. The micro perspective is based on individual satisfaction: an utility function computed from the variation of the relative income in both space and time. The macro perspective emerges from micro decisions, and, as in other growth models of this type, concerns an important allocative social decision the share of the working population that is engaged in producing ideas (skilled work- ers). Simulations show that production and satisfaction levels are higher when the evolution of income measured in both space and time are equally weighted

Modelo de desarrollo para el aprovechamiento de nopal verdura en Milpa Alta, Ciudad de México

At the present time, three times more food than required to feed all humanity is produced, however a third of this production is wasted due to current shrinkage between production and the final marketing stage. In Mexico, 88 million tons of food are wasted annually. Regarding the nopal vegetable (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill), it is estimated that 63.3% of total production is discarded because of excess production. The aim of this research was to design a Community Development Model, for the industrialization and trade of nopal, by applying an integrating and organizational process, based on a cooperative for the production, dehydration and trade of organic nopal, in order to promote local participation, taking into account the well-being of producers and the sustainability of this process. This proposal was based on the three apects of sustainable rural development: economy, environment and society; and was evaluated at the five stages that comprise the integral development model. The result of this evaluation suggests that it is viable to implement this development model in the Milpa Alta municipality, as here we find the necessary environmental, social and economic conditions.Actualmente se producen tres veces más los alimentos necesarios para alimentar a toda la humanidad, sin em­bargo, un tercio de esta producción se desperdicia por la merma existente desde la producción hasta la etapa final de mercado. En México se desperdician anualmente 88 millones de toneladas de alimentos. Con respecto al nopal verdura (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill) se estima que 63.3% de la producción total se tira a la basura ya que hay un exceso de producción. El objetivo de la investigación fue diseñar un Modelo de Desarrollo Comunitario, para la industrialización y comercialización de nopal verdura a través de un proceso integrador y organizacional, con base en una cooperativa para la producción, deshidratación y comercialización de nopal orgánico, a fin de promover la participación local, considerando el bienestar de los productores y la susten­tabilidad de este proceso. La propuesta se basó en los tres pilares del desarrollo rural sostenible: economía, medio ambiente y sociedad y se evaluó con las cinco etapas que comprende el modelo de desarrollo integral. El resultado de esta evaluación sugiere que es viable llevar a cabo el modelo de desarrollo en la Alcaldía Milpa Alta, ya que existen las condiciones ambientales, sociales y económicas