Multi-agent negotiation for coalition formation and management in electricity markets

Negotiation is a fundamental tool for reaching understandings that allow each involved party to gain an advantage for themselves by the end of the process. In recent years, with the increasing of compe-titiveness in most sectors, negotiation procedures become present in practically all of them. One particular environment in which the competitiveness has been increasing exponentially is the electricity markets sector. This work is directed to the study of electricity markets’ partici-pating entities interaction, namely in what concerns the formation, management and operation of aggregating entities – Virtual Power Players (VPPs). VPPs are responsible for managing coalitions of market players with small market negotiating influence, which take strategic advantage in entering such aggregations, to increase their negotiating power. This chapter presents a negotiation methodology for the creation and management of coalitions in Electricity Markets. This approach is tested using MASCEM, taking advantage of its ability to provide the means to model and simulate VPPs. VPPs are represented as coalitions of agents, with the capability of negotiating both in the market, and internally, with their members, in order to combine and manage their individual specific characteristics and goals, with the strategy and objectives of the VPP itself.

Motivations and management factors of volunteer work in nonprofit organisations: a literature review

The objective of this paper is to review and discuss the literature about volunteers’ motivations to donate their time to NPOs and the management factors that can influence volunteer work. Firstly, the paper illustrates and compares the different types of motivation followed by a presentation of a typology that organises the volunteers’ motivations into four types: (i) altruism, (ii) belonging, (iii) ego and social recognition and (iv) development and learning. Secondly we discuss the key management factors in volunteering: recruitment, training and rewarding. Finally, we present four gaps in the literature that justify the scope for further research: (i) omission of differences between motivations related to volunteers’ "Attraction" versus "Retention"; (ii) focus of the research on the USA, UK and Australia context; (iii) absence of comparative analyses that relate motivations by NPO types and (iv) comprehension of how management factors (recruitment, training and rewarding) influence volunteers’ satisfaction and retention.

Volunteers and management factors in nonprofit organisations: a brief literature review

The objective of this paper is to review and discuss the literature about the management factors that can influence volunteer work. First we present the different management factors. This discussion is followed by the identification of the key management factors in volunteering: recruitment, training and rewarding. Finally, we present two main gaps in the literature that justify the scope for further research: (i) how management factors (recruitment, training and rewarding) influence volunteers’ satisfaction and retention; and (ii) predominance of the investigations in the North American context, followed by English and Australian context.

Importância da avaliação de desempenho nas organizações: estudo de caso numa empresa portuguesa no sector alimentar

Dissertação de Mestrado em Finanças Empresariais

Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) ecology and management in the North Atlantic

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências do Mar, especialidade em Ecologia Marinha.

Environmental mycology in public health: fungi and mycotoxins risk assessment and management

Fungi are essential to the survival of our global ecology, but they might pose a significant threat to the health of occupants when they grow in our buildings. The exposure to fungi in homes is a significant risk factor for a number of respiratory symptoms. Well-known illnesses caused by fungi include allergy and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Environmental monitoring for fungi and their disease agents are important aspects of exposure assessment, but few guidelines exist for interpreting their health impacts. This book answers the questions: How does one detect and measure the presence of indoor fungi? What is an acceptable level of indoor fungi? How do we relate this information to human health problems?

Peroxidase antibody test for mucocutaneous leishmaniasis serology performance indexes and comparison with a fluorescent antibody test: Comparação com o desempenho da reação de imunofluorescência

Performance indexes of the peroxidase antibody test were compared to that of the fluorescent antibody test. The peroxidase antibody test had a statistically higher sensitivity and negative predictive value and a higher efficiency than the fluorescent antibody test but its specificity and positive predictive value were within the 95% confidence limits for the values found for the fluorescent antibody test. Such differences did not change when Chagas' disease and visceral leishmaniasis sera were included in index calculations. Statistical analysis showed that the two tests have a substantial degree of agreement but the immunofluorescent test had a specificity index and a positive predictive value equal to 100.0% when Chagas' disease and visceral leishmaniasis sera were not included in the calculations of the performance index; in this instance, a positive test result equals a disclosure of the disease attribute due to the inexistence of false positive results. The enzyme/ protein ratio of the peroxidase conjugate, resulting in heavy or light-labeled conjugates may pose technical problems to its use in serology tests.

Teaching accounting and management through business simulation:

Everyday accounting and management teachers face the challenge of creating learning environments that motivate students. This chapter describes the Business Simulation (BS) experience that has taken place at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Institute of Accounting and Administration (IPP/ISCAP). The chapter presents students’ perceptions about the course and the teaching/learning approach. The results show that pedagogical methods used (competency-oriented), generic competencies (cooperation and group work), and interpersonal skills (organisational and communication skills) are relevant for future accounting professionals. In addition, positive remarks and possible constraints based on observation, staff meetings, and past research are reported. The chapter concludes with some recommendations from the project implementation.

Off-the-person electrocardiography: performance assessment and clinical correlation

Previous work by our group introduced a novel concept and sensor design for “off-the-person” ECG, for which evidence on how it compares against standard clinical-grade equipment has been largely missing. Our objectives with this work are to characterise the off-the-person approach in light of the current ECG systems landscape, and assess how the signals acquired using this simplified setup compare with clinical-grade recordings. Empirical tests have been performed with real-world data collected from a population of 38 control subjects, to analyze the correlation between both approaches. Results show off-the-person data to be correlated with clinical-grade data, demonstrating the viability of this approach to potentially extend preventive medicine practices by enabling the integration of ECG monitoring into multiple dimensions of people’s everyday lives. © 2015, IUPESM and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Virtual Power Players Internal Negotiation and Management in MASCEM

Electricity Markets are not only a new reality but an evolving one as the involved players and rules change at a relatively high rate. Multi-agent simulation combined with Artificial Intelligence techniques may result in very helpful sophisticated tools. This paper presents a new methodology for the management of coalitions in electricity markets. This approach is tested using the multi-agent market simulator MASCEM (Multi-Agent Simulator of Competitive Electricity Markets), taking advantage of its ability to provide the means to model and simulate Virtual Power Players (VPP). VPPs are represented as coalitions of agents, with the capability of negotiating both in the market and internally, with their members in order to combine and manage their individual specific characteristics and goals, with the strategy and objectives of the VPP itself. A case study using real data from the Iberian Electricity Market is performed to validate and illustrate the proposed approach.

A new model for EEZ surveillance and management in Portugal

Management Information Systems 2000, p. 103-111

Domestic Consumption Simulation and Management Using a Continuous Consumption Management and Optimization Algorithm

The recent changes concerning the consumers’ active participation in the efficient management of load devices for one’s own interest and for the interest of the network operator, namely in the context of demand response, leads to the need for improved algorithms and tools. A continuous consumption optimization algorithm has been improved in order to better manage the shifted demand. It has been done in a simulation and user-interaction tool capable of being integrated in a multi-agent smart grid simulator already developed, and also capable of integrating several optimization algorithms to manage real and simulated loads. The case study of this paper enhances the advantages of the proposed algorithm and the benefits of using the developed simulation and user interaction tool.

Autonomous guided vehicles applied to industrial engineering and management studies

This article presents a framework to an Industrial Engineering and Management Science course from School of Management and Industrial Studies using Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGV) to supply materials to a production line as an experimental setup for the students to acquire knowledge in the production robotics area. The students must be capable to understand and put into good use several concepts that will be of utmost importance in their professional life such as critical decisions regarding the study, development and implementation of a production line. The main focus is a production line using AGVs, where the students are required to address several topics such as: sensors actuators, controllers and an high level management and optimization software. The presented framework brings to the robotics teaching community methodologies that allow students from different backgrounds, that normally don’t experiment with the robotics concepts in practice due to the big gap between theory and practice, to go straight to ”making” robotics. Our aim was to suppress the minimum start point level thus allowing any student to fully experience robotics with little background knowledge.

Clinical guideline for diagnosis and management of melioidosis

Melioidosis is an emerging infection in Brazil and neighbouring South American countries. The wide range of clinical presentations include severe community-acquired pneumonia, septicaemia, central nervous system infection and less severe soft tissue infection. Diagnosis depends heavily on the clinical microbiology laboratory for culture. Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacterial cause of melioidosis, is easily cultured from blood, sputum and other clinical samples. However, B. pseudomallei can be difficult to identify reliably, and can be confused with closely related bacteria, some of which may be dismissed as insignificant culture contaminants. Serological tests can help to support a diagnosis of melioidosis, but by themselves do not provide a definitive diagnosis. The use of a laboratory discovery pathway can help reduce the risk of missing atypical B. pseudomallei isolates. Recommended antibiotic treatment for severe infection is either intravenous Ceftazidime or Meropenem for several weeks, followed by up to 20 weeks oral treatment with a combination of trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and doxycycline. Consistent use of diagnostic microbiology to confirm the diagnosis, and rigorous treatment of severe infection with the correct antibiotics in two stages; acute and eradication, will contribute to a reduction in mortality from melioidosis.