Valuing Flexibility: The case of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Power Plant

In this paper we analyze the valuation of options stemming from the flexibility in an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Power Plant. First we use as a base case the opportunity to invest in a Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) Power Plant, deriving the optimal investment rule as a function of fuel price and the remaining life of the right to invest. Additionally, the analytical solution for a perpetual option is obtained. Second, the valuation of an operating IGCC Power Plant is studied, with switching costs between states and a choice of the best operation mode. The valuation of this plant serves as a base to obtain the value of the option to delay an investment of this type. Finally, we derive the value of an opportunity to invest either in a NGCC or IGCC Power Plant, that is, to choose between an inflexible and a flexible technology, respectively. Numerical computations involve the use of one- and two-dimensional binomial lattices that support a mean-reverting process for the fuel prices. Basic parameter values refer to an actual IGCC power plant currently in operation.

Analysis of volatility transmissions in integrated and interconnected markets: The case of the Iberian and French markets

This paper models the mean and volatility spillovers of prices within the integrated Iberian and the interconnected Spanish and French electricity markets. Using the constant (CCC) and dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) bivariate models with three different specifications of the univariate variance processes, we study the extent to which increasing interconnection and harmonization in regulation have favoured price convergence. The data consist of daily prices calculated as the arithmetic mean of the hourly prices over a span from July 1st 2007 until February 29th 2012. The DCC model in which the variances of the univariate processes are specified with a VARMA(1,1) fits the data best for the integrated MIBEL whereas a CCC model with a GARCH(1,1) specification for the univariate variance processes is selected to model the price series in Spain and France. Results show that there are significant mean and volatility spillovers in the MIBEL, indicating strong interdependence between the two markets, while there is a weaker evidence of integration between the Spanish and French markets. We provide new evidence that the EU target of achieving a single electricity market largely depends on increasing trade between countries and homogeneous rules of market functioning.

Parametric Study of the Device Angle Dependency of a Single Vortex Generator on a Flat Plate

Ponencia presentada en el 10th World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM 2012), Sao Paulo (Brazil).Publicados los abstracts en documento con ISBN: 978-85-86686-69-6.

Efficient Gate-tunable light-emitting device made of defective boron nitride nanotubes: from ultraviolet to the visible

Boron nitride is a promising material for nanotechnology applications due to its two-dimensional graphene-like, insulating, and highly-resistant structure. Recently it has received a lot of attention as a substrate to grow and isolate graphene as well as for its intrinsic UV lasing response. Similar to carbon, one-dimensional boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have been theoretically predicted and later synthesised. Here we use first principles simulations to unambiguously demonstrate that i) BN nanotubes inherit the highly efficient UV luminescence of hexagonal BN; ii) the application of an external perpendicular field closes the electronic gap keeping the UV lasing with lower yield; iii) defects in BNNTS are responsible for tunable light emission from the UV to the visible controlled by a transverse electric field (TEF). Our present findings pave the road towards optoelectronic applications of BN-nanotube-based devices that are simple to implement because they do not require any special doping or complex growth

Towards a participatory integrated assessment approach for planning and managing Natura 2000 network sites

Managing protected areas implies dealing with complex social-ecological systems where multiple dimensions (social, institutional, economic and ecological) interact over time for the delivery of ecosystem services. Uni-dimensional and top-down management approaches have been unable to capture this complexity. Instead, new integrated approaches that acknowledge the diversity of social actors in the decision making process are required. In this paper we put forward a novel participatory assessment approach which integrates multiple methodologies to reflect different value articulating institutions in the case of a Natura 2000 network site in the Basque Country. It integrates within a social multi-criteria evaluation framework, both the economic values of ecosystem services through a choice experiment model and ecological values by means of a spatial bio-geographic assessment. By capturing confronting social and institutional conflicts in protected areas the participatory integrated assessment approach presented here can help decision makers for better planning and managing Natura 2000 sites.

Towards a Participatory Integrated Assessment Approach for Planning and Managing Natura 2000 Network Sites

36 p.

Literature Review of Integrated Impact Assessment Models of Climate Change with Emphasis on Damage Functions

35 p.

New climate scenario framework implementation in the GCAM integrated assessment model

48 p.

Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management in the Ebro River Basin: From Theory to Facts

JA-925

Integrated treatment of first episode psychosis with online training (e-learning): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: The integrated treatment of first episode psychosis has been shown to improve functionality and negative symptoms in previous studies. In this paper, we describe a study of integrated treatment (individual psychoeducation complementary to pharmacotherapy) versus treatment as usual, comparing results at baseline with those at 6-month re-assessment (at the end of the study) for these patients, and online training of professionals to provide this complementary treatment, with the following objectives: 1) to compare the efficacy of individual psychoeducation as add-on treatment versus treatment as usual in improving psychotic and mood symptoms; 2) to compare adherence to medication, functioning, insight, social response, quality of life, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, between both groups; and 3) to analyse the efficacy of online training of psychotherapists. Methods/design: This is a single-blind randomised clinical trial including patients with first episode psychosis from hospitals across Spain, randomly assigned to either a control group with pharmacotherapy and regular sessions with their psychiatrist (treatment as usual) or an intervention group with integrated care including treatment as usual plus a psychoeducational intervention (14 sessions). Training for professionals involved at each participating centre was provided by the coordinating centre (University Hospital of Alava) through video conferences. Patients are evaluated with an extensive battery of tests assessing clinical and sociodemographic characteristics (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorders, Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, Morisky Green Adherence Scale, Functioning Assessment Short Test, World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument WHOQOL-BREF (an abbreviated version of the WHOQOL-100), and EuroQoL questionnaire), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels are measured in peripheral blood at baseline and at 6 months. The statistical analysis, including bivariate analysis, linear and logistic regression models, will be performed using SPSS. Discussion: This is an innovative study that includes the assessment of an integrated intervention for patients with first episode psychosis provided by professionals who are trained online, potentially making it possible to offer the intervention to more patients.

Diseño y evaluación de métodos de supresión del artefacto causado en el ECG por las compresiones torácicas proporcionadas por el dispositivo mecánico LUCAS.

[Es]En este proyecto se analizan el diseño y la evaluación de dos métodos para la supresión de la interferencia generada por las compresiones torácicas proporcionadas por el dispositivo mecánico LUCAS, en el electrocardiograma (ECG) durante el masaje de resucitación cardiopulmonar. El objetivo es encontrar un método que elimine el artefacto generado en el ECG de una manera efectiva, que permita el diagnóstico fiable del ritmo cardiaco. Encontrar un método eficaz sería de gran ayuda para no tener que interrumpir el masaje de resucitación para el análisis correcto del ritmo cardiaco, lo que supondría un aumento en las probabilidades de resucitación. Para llevar a cabo el proyecto se ha generado una base de datos propia partiendo de registros de paradas cardiorrespiratorias extra-hospitalarias. Esta nueva base de datos contiene 410 cortes correspondientes a 86 pacientes, siendo todos los episodios de 30 segundos de duración y durante los cuales el paciente, recibe masaje cardiaco. Por otro lado, se ha desarrollado una interfaz gráfica para caracterizar los métodos de supresión del artefacto. Esta, muestra las señales del ECG, de impedancia torácica y del ECG tras eliminar el artefacto en tiempo. Mediante esta herramienta se han procesado los registros aplicando un filtro adaptativo y un filtro de coeficientes constantes. La evaluación de los métodos se ha realizado en base a la sensibilidad y especificidad del algoritmo de clasificación de ritmos con las señales ECG filtradas. La mayor aportación del proyecto, por tanto, es el desarrollo de una potente herramienta eficaz para evaluar métodos de supresión del artefacto causado en el ECG por las compresiones torácicas al realizar el masaje de resucitación cardiopulmonar, y su posterior diagnóstico. Un instrumento que puede ser implementado para analizar episodios de resucitación de cualquier tipo de procedencia y capaz de integrar nuevos métodos de supresión del artefacto.

Integrated assessment of environmental pollution using diverse sentinel organisms within Basque marine environments

294 p.

Building up a frequency stabilisation based on a wavemeter for a diode laser and characterisation for a digital mirror device for artificial potentials

It has built and characterised a laser and It has learned what each of the components does. It has been able to run the laser in single-mode and stabilised it around a desired setpoint thanks to a PID controller that It has programmed. It has established a communication between the PID controller programmed in LabVIEW and Arduino Due, the DAC that It has chosen after comparing it with another candidate. It has learned some basics of how the LightCrafter 4500 DMD works. The projected light is the composition of the lights of three LED’s, each of which has a certain on-time. The mirrors chose to be in on- or off-stages depending to the amount of intensity that we want for each colour.