Implementação de uma solução open source de Business Intelligence com metodologia Ágil

A importância dos sistemas de data warehousing e business intelligence é cada vez mais pronunciada, no sentido de dotar as organizações com a capacidade de guardar, explorar e produzir informação de valor acrescido para os seus processos de tomada de decisão. Esta realidade é claramente aplicável aos sectores da administração pública portuguesa e, muito em particular, aos organismos com responsabilidades centrais no Ministério da Saúde. No caso dos Serviços Partilhados do Ministério da Saúde (SPMS), que tem como missão prover o SNS de sistemas centrais de business intelligence, o apelo dos seus clientes, para que possam contar com capacidades analíticas nos seus sistemas centrais, tem sido sentido de forma muito acentuada. Todavia, é notório que, tanto os custos, como a complexidade, de grande parte destes projetos têm representado uma séria ameaça à sua adoção e sucesso. Por um lado, a administração pública tem recebido um forte encorajamento para integrar e adotar soluções de natureza open source (modelo de licenciamento gratuito), para os seus projetos de sistemas de informação. Por outro lado, temos vindo a assistir a uma vaga de aceitação generalizada de novas metodologias de desenvolvimento de projetos informáticos, nomeadamente no que diz respeito às metodologias Agéis, que se assumem como mais flexíveis, menos formais e com maior grau de sucesso. No sentido de averiguar da aplicabilidade do open source e das metodologias Ágeis aos sistemas de business intelligence, este trabalho documenta a implementação de um projeto organizacional para a SPMS, com recurso a ferramentas open source de licenciamento gratuito e através de uma metodologia de desenvolvimento de natureza Ágil.

Thermo-hydro-mechanical analysis of CO2 injection into deep aquifers

One of the biggest challenges for humanity is global warming and consequently, climate changes. Even though there has been increasing public awareness and investments from numerous countries concerning renewable energies, fossil fuels are and will continue to be in the near future, the main source of energy. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is believed to be a serious measure to mitigate CO2 concentration. CCS briefly consists of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere or stationary emission sources and transporting and storing it via mineral carbonation, in oceans or geological media. The latter is referred to as carbon capture and geological storage (CCGS) and is considered to be the most promising of all solutions. Generally it consists of a storage (e.g. depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers) and sealing (commonly termed caprock in the oil industry) formations. The present study concerns the injection of CO2 into deep aquifers and regardless injection conditions, temperature gradients between carbon dioxide and the storage formation are likely to occur. Should the CO2 temperature be lower than the storage formation, a contractive behaviour of the reservoir and caprock is expected. The latter can result in the opening of new paths or re-opening of fractures, favouring leakage and compromising the CCGS project. During CO2 injection, coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena occur, which due to their complexity, hamper the assessment of each relative influence. For this purpose, several analyses were carried out in order to evaluate their influences but focusing on the thermal contractive behaviour. It was finally concluded that depending on mechanical and thermal properties of the pair aquifer-seal, the sealing caprock can undergo significant decreases in effective stress.

Application of geographic information system and modelling in health impact assessment for urban road mobility in Vietnam

Transport is an essential sector in modern societies. It connects economic sectors and industries. Next to its contribution to economic development and social interconnection, it also causes adverse impacts on the environment and results in health hazards. Transport is a major source of ground air pollution, especially in urban areas, and therefore contributing to the health problems, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, and physical injuries. This thesis presents the results of a health risk assessment that quantifies the mortality and the diseases associated with particulate matter pollution resulting from urban road transport in Hai Phong City, Vietnam. The focus is on the integration of modelling and GIS approaches in the exposure analysis to increase the accuracy of the assessment and to produce timely and consistent assessment results. The modelling was done to estimate traffic conditions and concentrations of particulate matters based on geo-references data. A simplified health risk assessment was also done for Ha Noi based on monitoring data that allows a comparison of the results between the two cases. The results of the case studies show that health risk assessment based on modelling data can provide a much more detail results and allows assessing health impacts of different mobility development options at micro level. The use of modeling and GIS as a common platform for the integration of different assessments (environmental, health, socio-economic, etc.) provides various strengths, especially in capitalising on the available data stored in different units and forms and allows handling large amount of data. The use of models and GIS in a health risk assessment, from a decision making point of view, can reduce the processing/waiting time while providing a view at different scales: from micro scale (sections of a city) to a macro scale. It also helps visualising the links between air quality and health outcomes which is useful discussing different development options. However, a number of improvements can be made to further advance the integration. An improved integration programme of the data will facilitate the application of integrated models in policy-making. Data on mobility survey, environmental monitoring and measuring must be standardised and legalised. Various traffic models, together with emission and dispersion models, should be tested and more attention should be given to their uncertainty and sensitivity

Dimensions of source credibility in the case of user-generated advertisements

User-generated advertising changed the world of advertising and changed the strategies used by marketers. Many researchers explored the dimensions of source credibility in traditional media and online advertising. However, little previous research explored the dimensions of source credibility in the context of user-generated advertising. This exploratory study aims to investigate the different dimensions of source credibility in the case of user-generated advertising. More precisely, this study will explore the following factors: (1) objectivity, (2) trustworthiness, (3) expertise, (4) familiarity, (5) attractiveness and (6) frequency. The results suggest that some of the dimensions of source credibility (objectivity, trustworthiness, expertise, familiarity and attractiveness) remain the same in the case of user-generated advertising. Additionally, a new dimension is added to the factors that explain source credibility (reputation). Furthermore, the analysis suggests that the dimension “frequency” is not an explanatory factor of credibility in the case of user-generated advertisement. The study also suggests that companies using user-generated advertisement as part of their overall marketing strategy should focus on objectivity, trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness and reputation when selecting users that will communicate sponsored user-generated advertisements.

Control of a white organic light emitting diode’s emission parameters using a single doped RGB active layer

White Color tuning is an attractive feature that Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) offer. Up until now, there hasn’t been any report that mix both color tuning abilities with device stability. In this work, White OLEDs (W-OLEDs) based on a single RGB blend composed of a blue emitting N,N′-Di(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine (NPB) doped with a green emitting Coumarin-153 and a red emitting 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM1) dyes were produced. The final device structure was ITO/Blend/Bathocuproine (BCP)/ Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminium (Alq3)/Al with an emission area of 0.25 cm2. The effects of the changing in DCM1’s concentration (from 0.5% to 1% wt.) allowed a tuning in the final white color resulting in devices capable of emitting a wide range of tunes – from cool to warm – while also keeping a low device complexity and a high stabilitty. Moreover, an explanation on the optoelectrical behavior of the device is presented. The best electroluminescense (EL) points toward 160 cd/m2 of brightness and 1.1 cd/A of efficiency, both prompted to being enhanced. An Impedance Spectroscopy (IS) analysis allowed to study both the effects of BCP as a Hole Blocking Layer and as an aging probe of the device. Finally, as a proof of concept, the emission was increased 9 and 64 times proving this structure can be effectively applied for general lighting.

MANGROVE BARK: A RENEWABLE RESIN SOURCE FOR WOOD ADHESIVES

From four solutions tested to extract tannins from mangrove bark for wood adhesives, hot water is recommended. Hot water extracted 21.4% of formaldehyde-hydrochloric acid reactive polyphenols on oven-dry bark basis.

Comprehensive comparison of a current-source and a voltage-source converter for three-phase EV fast battery chargers

This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of a current-source converter and a voltage-source converter for three-phase electric vehicle (EV) fast battery chargers. Taking into account that the current-source converter (CSC) is a natural buck-type converter, the output voltage can assume a wide range of values, which varies between zero and the maximum instantaneous value of the power grid phase-to-phase voltage. On the other hand, taking into account that the voltage-source converter (VSC) is a natural boost-type converter, the output voltage is always greater than the maximum instantaneous value of the power grid phase-to-phase voltage, and consequently, it is necessary to use a dc-dc buck-type converter for applications as EV fast battery chargers. Along the paper is described in detail the principle of operation of both the CSC and the VSC for EV fast chargers, as well as the main equations of the power theory and current control strategies. The comparison between both converters is mainly established in terms of the total harmonic distortion of the grid current and the estimated efficiency for a range of operation between 10 kW and 50 kW.

Three-phase three-level current-source converter for EVs fast battery charging systems

This paper presents a three-phase three-level fast battery charger for electric vehicles (EVs) based in a current-source converter (CSC). Compared with the traditional voltage-source converters used for fast battery chargers, the CSC can be seen as a natural buck-type converter, i.e., the output voltage can assume a wide range of values, which varies between zero and the maximum instantaneous value of the power grid phase-to-phase voltage. Moreover, using the CSC it is not necessary to use a dc-dc back-end converter in the battery side, and it is also possible to control the grid current in order to obtain a sinusoidal waveform, and in phase with the power grid voltage (unitary power factor). Along the paper is described in detail the proposed CSC for EVs fast battery charging systems: the circuit topology, the power control theory, the current control strategy and the grid synchronization algorithm. Several simulation results of the EV fast battery charger operating with a maximum power of 50 kW are presented.

Predictive control of a current-source inverter for solar photovoltaic grid interface

Solar photovoltaic systems are an increasing option for electricity production, since they produce electrical energy from a clean renewable energy resource, and over the years, as a result of the research, their efficiency has been increasing. For the interface between the dc photovoltaic solar array and the ac electrical grid is necessary the use of an inverter (dc-ac converter), which should be optimized to extract the maximum power from the photovoltaic solar array. In this paper is presented a solution based on a current-source inverter (CSI) using continuous control set model predictive control (CCS-MPC). All the power circuits and respective control systems are described in detail along the paper and were tested and validated performing computer simulations. The paper shows the simulation results and are drawn several conclusions.

Three-phase current-source shunt active power filter with solar photovoltaic grid interface

This paper presents the proposal of a three phase current source shunt active power filter (CS-SAPF) with photovoltaic grid interface. The proposed system combines the compensation of reactive power and harmonics with the injection of energy from a solar photovoltaic array into the electrical power grid. The proposed equipment presents the advantage of giving good use to the current source inverter, even when the solar photovoltaic array is not producing energy. The paper describes the control system of the CS SAPF, the energy injection control strategy, and the current harmonics and power factor compensation strategy. Simulation results to assess the performance of the proposed system are also presented.

Application of acoustic emission technique for bond characterization in FRP-masonry systems

The acoustic emission (AE) technique is used for investigating the interfacial fracture and damage propagation in GFRP-and SRG-strengthened bricks during debonding tests. The bond behavior is investigated through single-lap shear bond tests and the fracture progress during the tests is recorded by means of AE sensors. The fracture progress and active debonding mechanisms are characterized in both specimen types with the aim of AE outputs. Moreover, a clear distinction between the AE outputs of specimens with different failure modes, in both SRG-and GFRP-strengthened specimens, is found which allows characterizing the debonding failure mode based on acoustic emission data.

From a NoSQL data source to a business intelligence solution: An experiment

We are living in the era of Big Data. A time which is characterized by the continuous creation of vast amounts of data, originated from different sources, and with different formats. First, with the rise of the social networks and, more recently, with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), in which everyone and (eventually) everything is linked to the Internet, data with enormous potential for organizations is being continuously generated. In order to be more competitive, organizations want to access and explore all the richness that is present in those data. Indeed, Big Data is only as valuable as the insights organizations gather from it to make better decisions, which is the main goal of Business Intelligence. In this paper we describe an experiment in which data obtained from a NoSQL data source (database technology explicitly developed to deal with the specificities of Big Data) is used to feed a Business Intelligence solution.

Spectrum-based energy leak localization

Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Informática

Cost-effective energy and carbon emission optimization in building renovation – A case-study in a low income neighbourhood

Construction sector is one of the major responsible for energy consumption and carbon emissions and renovation of existing buildings plays an important role in the actions to mitigate climate changes. Present work is based on the methodology developed in IEA Annex 56, allowing identifying cost optimal and cost effective renovation scenarios improving the energy performance. The analysed case study is a residential neighbourhood of the municipality of Gaia in Portugal. The analysis compares a reference renovation scenario (without improving the energy performance of the building) with a series of alternative renovation scenarios, including the one that is being implemented.