Evaluation of the human factor in the scheduling of smart appliances in smart grids

Recently there has been an increase of interest in implementing a new set of home appliances, known as Smart Appliances that integrate Information Technologies, the Internet of Things and the ability of communicating with other devices. While Smart Appliances are characterized as an important milestone on the path to the Smart Grid, by being able to automatically schedule their loads according to a tariff or reflecting the power that is generated using renewable sources, there is not a clear understanding on the impact that the behavior of such devices will have in the comfort levels of users, when they shift their working periods to earlier, or later than, a preset time. Given these considerations, in this work we analyse the results of an assessment survey carried out to a group of Home Appliance users regarding their habits when dealing with these machines and the subjective impact in quality caused by either finishing its programs before or after the time limit set by the user. The results of this work are expected to be used as input for the evaluation of load scheduling algorithms running in energy management systems. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.

Thermal performance in a conventional fireplace and in an inset appliance

The objective of this study is to compare the performance of the equipment currently employed in the domestic heating with firewood, the conventional fireplace and the inset appliance with close firedoors. For such, it was followed the European Standard EN13229:2001/A2:2004. Efficiency and heat output is determined and the major heat losses that penalize the appliance performance are identified and calculated. Tests in laboratory were developed in two inset appliances, and tests in situ in one conventional fireplace. One of the appliances uses only staging as primary air, and the other only grate air In inset appliances, with a heat output near 10 kW, the average efficiency varies between 67% and 73%, while in a conventional fireplace that value lies at 30%. In all these devices the major losses take place as sensible heat in the flue gases, 23% to 30 % in inset appliances and above 50% in a conventional fireplace. The second most important heat loss happens by chemical losses in the flue gases. It takes values near 17% in a conventional fireplace and may be disregarded in an inset appliance.

Estudo da contribuição dos smart polymers na eficácia e segurança do tratamento antineoplásico

O cancro é uma das mais conhecidas e temidas doenças existentes e, como tal, existe um grande interesse no desenvolvimento de métodos de tratamento das afeções tumorais. Os grandes avanços da quimioterapia têm dado ótimos resultados no tratamento do cancro. Contudo, a administração de fármacos antineoplásicos não garante uma elevada eficácia pois os tecidos tumorais apresentam propriedades estruturais que dificultam o transporte de agentes terapêuticos, como a disposição heterogénea dos vasos sanguíneos, a ausência de sistema linfático funcional, as inúmeras barreiras de transporte que o fármaco enfrenta até chegar às células alvo ou a disparidade da expressão de antigénios e recetores nas próprias células. Para além disso, os agentes quimioterapêuticos exibem elevada toxicidade não específica, afetando tanto as células tumorais como as células saudáveis, o que resulta frequentemente em severos efeitos secundários. Se a dose for reduzida para diminuir estes efeitos, a eficácia do tratamento diminuirá também; por outro lado, o aumento da dose, apesar de permitir um melhor controlo do crescimento do tumor, leva também a uma maior toxicidade nos tecidos saudáveis. Para contornar este efeito têm-se desenvolvido diferentes tipos de sistemas de libertação de fármacos com o objetivo de maximizar o direcionamento para os tumores e minimizar a toxicidade sistémica. Entre estas alternativas figuram os chamados smart polymers, que são macromoléculas que sofrem rápidas e reversíveis mudanças na sua estrutura em resposta a estímulos, os quais correspondem geralmente a pequenas alterações no meio, como pH, temperatura, incidência de radiação ou presença de determinadas substâncias químicas. Assim, associando um fármaco a um destes polímeros, em geral recorrendo a técnicas de encapsulação, é possível fazer com que a libertação do fármaco ocorra apenas nas células tumorais, seja por estas apresentarem as características necessárias para alterar a estrutura dos polímeros (acidez ou temperatura diferente das células saudáveis, por exemplo) ou por se conferir externamente à zona do tumor essas mesmas características (por exemplo, incidindo radiação na zona afetada). Os smart polymers têm outras vantagens. Os fármacos conjugados com estes polímeros têm tendência para se acumularem nos tecidos tumorais devido aos altos efeitos de permeabilidade e retenção nestas células e também demonstram menor toxicidade sistémica comparativamente com o fármaco livre. Além disso, os sistemas de libertação poliméricos podem permitir o aumento do tempo de semivida plasmático e da solubilidade dos fármacos de baixo peso molecular, assim como a sua libertação controlada. Com este trabalho pretende-se estudar mais profundamente de que forma é que a utilização dos smart polymers pode aumentar a eficácia e diminuir a toxicidade sistémica das terapias anticancerígenas no tratamento de afeções tumorais.

Big data warehouse framework for smart revenue management

Revenue Management’s most cited definitions is probably “to sell the right accommodation to the right customer, at the right time and the right price, with optimal satisfaction for customers and hoteliers”. Smart Revenue Management (SRM) is a project, which aims the development of smart automatic techniques for an efficient optimization of occupancy and rates of hotel accommodations, commonly referred to, as revenue management. One of the objectives of this project is to demonstrate that the collection of Big Data, followed by an appropriate assembly of functionalities, will make possible to generate a Data Warehouse necessary to produce high quality business intelligence and analytics. This will be achieved through the collection of data extracted from a variety of sources, including from the web. This paper proposes a three stage framework to develop the Big Data Warehouse for the SRM. Namely, the compilation of all available information, in the present case, it was focus only the extraction of information from the web by a web crawler – raw data. The storing of that raw data in a primary NoSQL database, and from that data the conception of a set of functionalities, rules, principles and semantics to select, combine and store in a secondary relational database the meaningful information for the Revenue Management (Big Data Warehouse). The last stage will be the principal focus of the paper. In this context, clues will also be giving how to compile information for Business Intelligence. All these functionalities contribute to a holistic framework that, in the future, will make it possible to anticipate customers and competitor’s behavior, fundamental elements to fulfill the Revenue Management

The smart vision local navigation aid for blind and visually impaired persons

The SmartVision prototype is a small, cheap and easily wearable navigation aid for blind and visually impaired persons. Its functionality addresses global navigation for guiding the user to some destiny, and local navigation for negotiating paths, sidewalks and corridors, with avoidance of static as well as moving obstacles. Local navigation applies to both in- and outdoor situations. In this article we focus on local navigation: the detection of path borders and obstacles in front of the user and just beyond the reach of the white cane, such that the user can be assisted in centering on the path and alerted to looming hazards. Using a stereo camera worn at chest height, a portable computer in a shoulder-strapped pouch or pocket and only one earphone or small speaker, the system is inconspicuous, it is no hindrence while walking with the cane, and it does not block normal surround sounds. The vision algorithms are optimised such that the system can work at a few frames per second.