Analysis of the Iberian Power Forward Price Formation

The price formation of the Iberian Energy Derivatives Market-the power futures market-starting in July 2006, is assessed until November 2011, through the evolution of the difference between forward and spot prices in the delivery period (“ex-post forward risk premium”) and the comparison with the forward generation costs from natural gas (“clean spark spread”). The premium tends to be positive in all existing mechanisms (futures, Over-the-Counter and auctions for catering part of the last resort supplies). Since year 2011, the values are smaller due to regulatorily recognized prices for coal power plants. The power futures are strongly correlated with European gas prices. The spreads built with prompt contracts tend also to be positive. The biggest ones are for the month contract, followed by the quarter contract and then by the year contract. Therefore, gas fired generation companies can maximize profits trading with contracts of shorter maturity.

X-Ray Diffraction, Calorimetric and Dielectric Relaxation Study of the Amorphous and Smectic States of a Main Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymer

Los polímeros cristales líquidos (LCP) son sistemas complejos que forman mesofases que presentan orden orientacional y polímeros amorfos. Con frecuencia, el estado amorfo isotrópico no puede ser estudiado debido a la rápida formación de mesofases. En este trabajo se ha sintetizado y estudiado un nuevo LCP: poli(trietilenglicol metil p, p '-bibenzoato), PTEMeB. Este polímero presenta una formación de mesofase bastante lenta haciendo posible estudiar de forma independiente tanto los estados amorfo y de cristal líquidos. La estructura y las transiciones de fase del PTEMeB han sido investigados por calorimetría (DSC), con MAXS / WAXS con temperatura variable que emplean radiación de sincrotrón y con difracción de rayos X. Estos estudios han mostrado la existencia de dos transiciones vítreas, relacionadas con las fases amorfa y cristal líquido. Se ha realizado un estudio de relajación dieléctrica en amplios intervalos de temperatura y presión. Se ha encontrado que la transición vítrea dinámica de la fase amorfa es más lenta que la del cristal líquido. El estudio de la relajación ? nos ha permitido seguir la formación isoterma de la mesofase a presión atmosférica. Además, con el estudio el comportamiento dinámico a alta presión se ha encontrado que se produce la formación rápida de la mesofase inducida por cambios bruscos de presión. Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) are complex systems that include features of both orientationally ordered mesophases and amorphous polymers. Frequently, the isotropic amorphous state cannot be studied due to the rapid mesophase formation. Here, a new main chain LCP, poly(triethyleneglycol methyl p,p'-bibenzoate), PTEMeB, has been synthesized. It shows a rather slow mesophase formation making possible to study independently both the amorphous and the liquid crystalline states. The structure and phase transitions of PTEMeB have been investigated by calorimetry, variable-temperature MAXS/WAXS employing synchrotron radiation, and X-ray diffraction in oriented fibers. These experiments have pointed out the presence of two glass transitions, related to the amorphous or to the liquid crystal phases. Additionally, the mesophase seems to be a coexistence of orthogonal and tilted smectic phases. A dielectric relaxation study of PTEMeB over broad ranges of temperature and pressure has been performed. The dynamic glass transition turns out to be slower for the amorphous state than for the liquid crystal. Monitoring of the α relaxation has allowed us to follow the isothermal mesophase formation at atmospheric pressure. Additionally, the dynamical behavior at high pressures has pointed out the fast formation of the mesophase induced by sudden pressure changes.

Effect of the Wake of the Transducer Supports on the Ultrasonic Anemometer Measurements

The wake produced by the structural supports of the ultrasonic anemometers (UAs)causes distortions in the velocity field in the vicinity of the sonic path. These distortions are measured by the UA, inducing errors in the determination of the mean velocity, turbulence intensity, spectrum, etc.; basic parameters to determine the effect of wind on structures. Additionally, these distortions can lead to indefinition in the calibration function of the sensors (Cuerva et al., 2004). Several wind tunnel tests have been dedicated to obtaining experimental data, from which have been developed fit models to describe and to correct these distortions (Kaimal, 1978 and Wyngaard, 1985). This work explores the effect of a vortex wake generated by the supports of an UA, on the measurement of wind speed done by this instrument. To do this, the Von Karman¿s vortex street potential model is combined with the mathematical model of the measuring process carried out by UAs developed by Franchini et al. (2007). The obtained results are the correction functions of the measured wind velocity, which depends on the geometry of the sonic anemometer and aerodynamic conditions. These results have been validated with the ones obtained in a wind tunnel test done on a single path UA, especially developed for research. The supports of this UA have been modified in order to reproduce the conditions of the theoretical model. Good agreements between experimental and theoretical results have been found.

Speech features of the domain of the word in heterosexual twins during the second yeard of life

Speech is the major function, emergence and which development radically changes all course of formation of the identity of the child already in the early childhood. If language and speech development in solitary born children is investigated today quite well, at twin children this process practically is not studied. Our research was carried out for the purpose of studying of an originality of mastering by speech by heterosexual children of pair of twins within communicative and pragmatist approach (T.N. Ushakov,G. V. Chirkina). Application of this approach to the analysis of process of communication at twin children allowed us to allocate those peculiar receptions and means of communication which they functionally develop in a situation of pair of twins, as allows them to show the phenomena of the speech which are not meeting at solitary born contemporaries. In this work results of supervision and research of pair of heterosexual twins of the second year of the life, carried out by a technique developed by us under the scientific guide of G. V. Chirkina

The influence of transparency on self-evaluation as part of the university accreditation process in Peru.

In order to show the choice of transparency as the guiding principle of the accreditation process, the article evaluates its influence on the fundamental subprocess of self-evaluation, thereby confirming that transparency is an essential tool for continuous improvement of academic processes and those of educational quality management. It fosters educational innovation and permits the sustainability of the continuous accreditation process over time, resulting in greater probabilities of university self-regulation through systemization of the process, with the objective of continuous improvement of university degree programs. The article analyzes the influence of transparency on each activity of the self-evaluation process according to the Peruvian accreditation model prepared under the total quality approach, as a reference for other accreditation models, proposing concrete transparency actions and evaluating its influence on the stakeholder groups in the self-evaluation process, as well as on the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. It is concluded that transparency has a positive influence on the training of human capital and the formation of the university?s organizational culture, facilitating dissemination, understanding and involvement of the stakeholder groups in the continuous improvement of accreditation activities and increasing their acceptance of change and commitment to the process. It is confirmed that transparency contributes toward increasing the efficiency index of the self-evaluation process by reducing operating costs through adequate, accessible, timely contribution of information by the stakeholders and through the optimization of the time spent gathering relevant information. In addition, it is concluded that transparency contributes toward increasing the effectiveness index of self-evaluation by facilitating the achievement of its objectives through synthetic, useful, reliable interpretation of the education situation and the formulation of feasible improvement plans based on the adequacy, relevance, visibility, pertinence and truthfulness of the information analyzed.

Validation Study of the Use of Matlab/Simulink Synchronous-Machine Block for Accurate Power-Plant Stability Studies

This paper presents results of the validity study of the use of MATLAB/Simulink synchronous-machine block for power-system stability studies. Firstly, the waveforms of the theoretical synchronous-generator short-circuit currents are described. Thereafter, the comparison between the currents obtained through the simulation model in the sudden short-circuit test, are compared to the theoretical ones. Finally, the factory tests of two commercial generating units are compared to the response of the synchronous generator simulation block during sudden short-circuit, set with the same real data, with satisfactory results. This results show the validity of the use of this generator block for power plant simulation.

A theoretical study on the formation of iodine oxide aggregates and monohydrates

Biotic and abiotic emissions of molecular iodine and iodocarbons from the sea or the ice surface and the intertidal zone to the coastal/polar marine boundary layer lead to the formation of iodine oxides, which subsequently nucleate forming iodine oxide particles (IOPs). Although the link between coastal iodine emissions and ultrafine aerosol bursts is well established, the details of the nucleation mechanism have not yet been elucidated. In this paper, results of a theoretical study of a range of potentially relevant aggregation reactions of different iodine oxides, as well as complexation with water molecules, are reported. Thermochemical properties of these reactions are obtained from high level ab initio correlated calculations including spin–orbit corrections. The results show that the nucleation path most likely proceeds through dimerisation of I2O4. It is also shown that water can hinder gas-to-particle conversion to some extent, although complexation with key iodine oxides does not remove enough of these to stop IOP formation. A consistent picture of this process emerges from the theoretical study presented here and the findings of a new laboratory study reported in the accompanying paper (Gomez Martin et al., 2013).

Theoretical investigation on iodine oxides formation in the production of atmospheric aerosols

In this contribution, results of a theoretical study on different reactions that odine oxides, in the presence of water, can undergo to form iodine oxides particles in the atmosphere. Thermodynamic and kinetic properties of these reactions have been obtained at high level ab initio correlated calculations.