Multi-criteria analysis applied to multi-objective optimal pump scheduling in water systems

This work presents a multi-criteria-based approach to automatically select specific non-dominated solutions from a Pareto front previously obtained using multi-objective optimization to find optimal solutions for pump control in a water supply system. Optimal operation of pumps in these utilities is paramount to enable water companies to achieve energy efficiency in their systems. The Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) is used to rank the Pareto solutions found by the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) employed to solve the multi-objective problem. Various scenarios are evaluated under leakage uncertainty conditions, resulting in fuzzy solutions for the Pareto front. This paper shows the suitability of the approach for quasi real-world problems. In our case-study, the obtained solutions for scenarios including leakage represent the best trade-off among the optimal solutions, under some considered criteria, namely, operational cost, operational lack of service, pressure uniformity and network resilience. Potential future developments could include the use of clustering alternatives to evaluate the goodness of each solution under the considered evaluation criteria

THE DRIFT OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC FUNCTIONALISM.

Abstract: In the wider scenario of the internationalization of legal concepts, marked by phenomena of legal transplants, migration of constitutional ideas, constitutional dialogues, …, the constitutional foundations and their related historical semantics are manipulated by the international process. The “legal flows” have emerged as useful tools to move concepts, cultures and histories through the formal channels of the legislative and judicial processes. Geopolitical relationships of power and especially of economic interest are hidden behind the “dialogues”, covered by words that “do not cost” and in the dialogue between courts, fundamental rights are de-socialized, eradicated from their related social context. In this framework, the continuous migration flows have cultural elements suitable to require new forms of local interaction, a new governance for the future sustainability that takes into account changes on the territory, possible socio-environmental conflicts, a new balance between nature and human structures, a new relationship between the local environment, people's movements and human rights. The European constitutionalism of the global era discusses the “culture of rights” by linking the constitutional development of the irreversible conquest of “new” rights, within a “neutral” framework of economic development and apart from the role of the state within the development itself.  RESUMO: No cenário mais amplo da internacionalização dos conceitos jurídicos, marcado por fenômenos de legal transplants, migração de ideias constitucionais, diálogos constitucionais, ..., as bases constitucionais e sua semântica históricos são manipulados pelo processo internacional. Os "legal flows" surgiram como úteis para mover conceitos, culturas e histórias através dos canais formais dos processos legislativos e judiciais. Relações geopolíticas do poder e, especialmente, de interesse económico estão escondidos por "diálogos" e por palavras que "não custam"; no diálogo entre os tribunais, os direitos fundamentais são deslocalizados, arrancados de seu contexto social. Neste quadro, os fluxos migratórios contínuos têm elementos culturais apropriados para exigir novas formas de interação local, uma nova governança para a sustentabilidade futura que leva em conta as mudanças no território, os possíveis conflitos sócio-ambientais, um novo equilíbrio entre a natureza e estruturas humanas , uma nova relação entre o meio ambiente local, os movimentos das pessoas e os direitos humanos. O constitucionalismo europeu da era global discute a "cultura de direitos", relacionando o desenvolvimento constitucional da conquista irreversível de "novos" direitos, dentro de um quadro "neutro" do desenvolvimento económico e para além do papel do estado dentro do próprio desenvolvimento

How do Supranational Processes Anesthetize National Political Powers?

The theme of revision of the Constitution is a central point in the analysis of the constitutional text and its relationship with the State and popular sovereignty. On one hand, it is linked to a question of legitimacy and effectiveness of the regulations, given that it represents the process of written rules; on the other hand, it is also linked to the recognition of the authority of “pouvoir constituant” on which the whole legitimacy of the Constitution is based. But in the global scenario, characterized by an indefinite multiplication of sovereignties, where the law is fragmented into the “law of peculiarity”, the law of global market exchanges produces not only anti‑states but also undemocratic effects

How do Supranational Processes Anesthetize National Political Powers?

The theme of revision of the Constitution is a central point in the analysis of the constitutional text and its relationship with the State and popular sovereignty. On one hand, it is linked to a question of legitimacy and effectiveness of the regulations, given that it represents the process of written rules; on the other hand, it is also linked to the recognition of the authority of “pouvoir constituant” on which the whole legitimacy of the Constitution is based. But in the global scenario, characterized by an indefinite multiplication of sovereignties, where the law is fragmented into the “law of peculiarity”, the law of global market exchanges produces not only anti‑states but also undemocratic effects

STUDYING THE “LEGAL FLOWS” AS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY METHOD TO PROMOTE CONSTITUTIONALISM AS A COMMON PROPERTY OF MANKIND

This paper tackles the problems concerned the constitutional comparison, paying special attention to the “legal flows” in the Era of globalization of information and legal practices. With “legal flows” we mean the communicative interactions that occur between the legal operators from different parts of the world. These “flows” produce “imitations”, judicial dialogue, migrations of constitutional ideas, constitutional borrowing between various legal orders. The analysis of these dynamic phenomena requires two methodological needs: the transdisciplinarity opening to social history, to sociolinguistics and anthropology of communication; and the knowledge of the ideological dimensions of geopolitics and geography in the globalized Era. The comparison of “legal flows” becomes a necessary tool for the contemporary education of each legal scholar, dealing him to be used to dialogue, to accept the “other”, to understand the difficulties of the comparison and the respect of the complexity of cultures. This is the only way to promote constitutionalism as common property of mankind

A Mathematical model for Alzheimer's disease: An approach via stochastic homogenization of the Smoluchowski equation

In this note, we apply the theory of stochastic homogenization to find the asymptotic behavior of the solution of a set of Smoluchowski's coagulation-diffusion equations with non-homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. This system is meant to model the aggregation and diffusion of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) in the cerebral tissue, a process associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. In contrast to the approach used in our previous works, in the present paper we account for the non-periodicity of the cellular structure of the brain by assuming a stochastic model for the spatial distribution of neurons. Further, we consider non-periodic random diffusion coefficients for the amyloid aggregates and a random production of Aβ in the monomeric form at the level of neuronal membranes

A mathematical model for Alzheimer's disease: An approach via stochastic homogenization of the Smoluchowski equation

In this note, we apply the theory of stochastic homogenization to find the asymptotic behavior of the solution of a set of Smoluchowski's coagulation-diffusion equations with non-homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. This system is meant to model the aggregation and diffusion of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) in the cerebral tissue, a process associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. In contrast to the approach used in our previous works, in the present paper we account for the non-periodicity of the cellular structure of the brain by assuming a stochastic model for the spatial distribution of neurons. Further, we consider non-periodic random diffusion coefficients for the amyloid aggregates and a random production of Aβ in the monomeric form at the level of neuronal membranes

groundwater supply and climate change management by means of global atmospheric datasets preliminary results

Abstract Climate change influences hydrological cycle with a direct effect on groundwater resources, one of the most important supply sources for human consumption and irrigation. In a scenario where General Circulation Models do not represent yet a usual tool for water industry managers, potentially the use of global atmospheric datasets is of great interest for evaluating groundwater resources. In this paper data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) are compared to local water table measurements. With particular regard to unconfined aquifers, the good correlation between the trend of soil moisture and local water table data is pointed out. Such a promising result authorizes further insights in order to refine reliable tools for evaluating available groundwater resources in a climate change scenario