Green Economy and Employment: employment potential of the ecological transition in Spain

The Green Economy offers real possibilities for productive innovation, economic growth and employment creation in Spain. These three factors are critical to facilitate the necessary change in the productive model to overcome the crisis. However, the measures taken by the current Conservative government have moved in the opposite direction: significant cutting in incentives for renewable, increasing tax burden on renewable energy production to self-consumption and privatizing public spaces of social and environmental interest. This hinders the achievement of the environmental objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. A strategy that is born already in itself highly limited, unambitious and subordinated to the interests of energy oligopolies and the imperatives of the Stability and Growth Pact (Maastricht) and the Austerity policies imposed from EU institutions to overcome the 2008 financial crisis. So the Ecological Transition goes further, claiming a substantially change in Economic Policy away form the increasing commodification proposed by the Green Economy. Despite these limitations, young and unemployed people have much to gain from a comprehensive development of environmental industries. Therefore, innovative-sustainable plans, investment and training in green sectors are necessary to make easier the transition from a services low-valued economy to an innovative and sustainable model to make our country an environmental reference in Europe.

Gestão Social em Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários: uma abordagem no Oeste Potiguar

The central research question was to search for data to ratify the theory and discourse of the so-called practitioners of economic solidarity, by defending the substantive rationality should guide the principles of economic solidary, designing the space economy incidental and not the primacy of relations in determining social as well, reflecting the predominance of dimensions of social management in administrative practices of ESS's. For both analyzed the theoretical dimensions of social management - sociopolitical, economic, organizational and environmental - manifested in organizational practices supportive of economic organization Potiguar West. For the success of the research realized the triangulation involving a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches. At first the research will use a quantitative approach, from the cluster analysis, to verify the behavior of the sample chosen for this study. In the second stage of the qualitative study was carried out focus group technique (FLICK, 2002) for further analysis of the dimensions of social management on organizational practices supportive of economic organization, related to the principles of Solidary Economy, established in a quantitative approach. In quantitative analysis, the socio-political dimension, it was clear that the more equity instruments of internal and external, from the purposeful living in public spaces, the best monetary results. Another point worth stressing concerns the economic dimension, with the practice reciprocity prevailing in market. Thus, the qualitative approach was possible to understand the processes of exchange of product or service. Rural enterprises surveyed in the allocation of the agro-ecological products have the following scale of priority, sequentially: self-consumption (domestic), market and exchange. The research leads to the fact that training and practices that enhance the socio-political dimension (knowledge, empowerment, sense of belonging) become the guiding principle for the strengthening of the social management in the context of other dimensions, leading to gains sociopolitical, economic, organizational and environmental. Despite the weaknesses found in the organizational dimension and environment, both in a quantitative as in qualitative, we determined that the practices of ESS's Potiguar West incorporate predominantly elements of social management and economic solidarity, with a preponderance of substantive rationality in the primacy of the instrumental. Finally, research has brought information that the participants of the ESS's do not give the money economy primacy in determining social relations, which in turn leads to the confirmation that, in practice the solidarity economy, prevailing the dominance of substantive rationality, as a guide for organizational practices

Simulation of a resonant inverter

Mostly developed since the Industrial Revolution, the automation of systems and equipment around us is responsible for a technological progress and economic growth without precedents, but also by a relentless energy dependence. Currently, fossil fuels still tend to come as the main energy source, even in developed countries, due to the ease in its extraction and the mastery of the technology needed for its use. However, the perception of its ending availability, as well as the environmental impact of this practice has led to a growing energy production originated from renewable sources. Easy maintenance, coupled with the fact that they are virtually inexhaustible, makes the solar and wind energy very promising solutions. In this context, this work proposes to facilitate energy production from these sources. To this end, in this work the power inverter is studied, which is an equipment responsible for converting DC power available by solar or wind power in traditional AC power. Then it is discussed and designed a new architecture which, in addition to achieve a high energy e - ciency, has also the ability to adapt to the type of conversion desired by the user, namely if he wants to sell electricity to the power grid, be independent of it or bet on a self consumption system. In order to achieve the promised energy e ciency, the projected inverter uses a resonant DC-DC converter, whose architecture signi cantly decreases the energy dissipated in the conversion, allowing a higher power density. The adaptability of the equipment is provided by an adaptive control algorithm, responsible for assessing its behavior on every iteration and making the necessary changes to achieve maximum stability throughout the process. To evaluate the functioning of the proposed architecture, a simulation is presented using the PLECS simulation software.

Development of a long-life vacuum-packaged ready-to-eat meat product based on a traditional Portuguese seasoned meat

Carne do alguidar is a Portuguese traditional pork fried meat, usually manufactured for self-consumption purposes. This study developed a ready-to-eat (RTE) meat product, to meet today's consumers’ convenience, manufactured at the industrial scale evaluating its quality and shelf-life, assessing the effect of vacuum packaging and the use of an antioxidant (50 ppm BHT) to enhance oxidative stability. Physicochemical and microbiological parameters were assessed and a sensory analysis was performed. Interestingly, no significant differences were recorded between control (non-BHT) and antioxidant (BHT) samples. Microbiological counts remained at low levels throughout the storage period, ensuring the product’s required microbiological quality. At later storage stages, higher values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances arose and off flavours and aromas were perceived. Still, overall appreciation was not affected until 12 months storage and a significant depreciation was perceived only after 15 months. Fibrousness and rising of off flavours were negatively correlated with overall appreciation.

Gestão Social em Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários: uma abordagem no Oeste Potiguar

The central research question was to search for data to ratify the theory and discourse of the so-called practitioners of economic solidarity, by defending the substantive rationality should guide the principles of economic solidary, designing the space economy incidental and not the primacy of relations in determining social as well, reflecting the predominance of dimensions of social management in administrative practices of ESS's. For both analyzed the theoretical dimensions of social management - sociopolitical, economic, organizational and environmental - manifested in organizational practices supportive of economic organization Potiguar West. For the success of the research realized the triangulation involving a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches. At first the research will use a quantitative approach, from the cluster analysis, to verify the behavior of the sample chosen for this study. In the second stage of the qualitative study was carried out focus group technique (FLICK, 2002) for further analysis of the dimensions of social management on organizational practices supportive of economic organization, related to the principles of Solidary Economy, established in a quantitative approach. In quantitative analysis, the socio-political dimension, it was clear that the more equity instruments of internal and external, from the purposeful living in public spaces, the best monetary results. Another point worth stressing concerns the economic dimension, with the practice reciprocity prevailing in market. Thus, the qualitative approach was possible to understand the processes of exchange of product or service. Rural enterprises surveyed in the allocation of the agro-ecological products have the following scale of priority, sequentially: self-consumption (domestic), market and exchange. The research leads to the fact that training and practices that enhance the socio-political dimension (knowledge, empowerment, sense of belonging) become the guiding principle for the strengthening of the social management in the context of other dimensions, leading to gains sociopolitical, economic, organizational and environmental. Despite the weaknesses found in the organizational dimension and environment, both in a quantitative as in qualitative, we determined that the practices of ESS's Potiguar West incorporate predominantly elements of social management and economic solidarity, with a preponderance of substantive rationality in the primacy of the instrumental. Finally, research has brought information that the participants of the ESS's do not give the money economy primacy in determining social relations, which in turn leads to the confirmation that, in practice the solidarity economy, prevailing the dominance of substantive rationality, as a guide for organizational practices

Socio-economic characterisation of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) growers and date value chains in Pakistan

Increasing food production to feed its rapidly growing population is a major policy goal of Pakistan. The production of traditional staples such as rice (Oryza sativa L.) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has been intensified in many regions, but not in remote, drought-ridden areas. In these arid, marginal environments dates and their by-products are an option to complement staples given their high nutritive value and storability. To fill knowledge gaps about the role of date palm in the household (HH) income of rural communities and the structure of date value chains, this project studied date palm production across six districts in four provinces of Pakistan. During 2012–2013 a total of 170 HHs were interviewed with a structured questionnaire using a snowball sampling approach. The results showed that most of the HH were headed by males (99 %) who were married (74 %) and often illiterate (40 %). Agriculture was the main occupation of date palm growers (56 %), while a few coupled agricultural activities with business (17 %) or extra-farm employment opportunities (government 9 %; private sector 8 %). Date sales contributed >50 % to the total income of 39 % of HH and 90–100 % to 24 % of HH. Overall farmers grew a total of 39 date palm cultivars and cultivated an average of 409 ± 559 mature date palms. The majority of the respondents sold dates to commission agents (35 %), contractors (22 %) and wholesalers (21 %), while 28 % of HH cultivated date palms only for self-consumption. Date palm growers had only limited knowledge about high quality date cultivars, optimized farm management and about effective post-harvest conservation. Changes in extension and marketing efforts are needed to allow farmers to better exploit value chains in date thereby reaping higher benefits from improved market access to secure their often marginal income.

Crop-Specific EU Aid and Smallholder Food Security in Sierra Leone

The article analyses the viability of promoting crop-specific programs as a mean to improve smallholder net farm income and food security. The case study explores the relevance of European Union Stabilisation of Export Earnings (STABEX) funds in supporting Sierra Leone’s agricultural development agenda. By analysing the drivers of food security for a number of targeted smallholders in the two most important agricultural zones of Sierra Leone, it is possible to compare the suitability of crop-specific support (in rice, cocoa and coffee) versus general aid programs (public infrastructure, on and off farm diversification opportunities, sustainable practices, access to productive assets, etc.). The results indicate that crop diversification strategies are widespread and closely related to risk minimisation and enhanced food security among smallholders. Similarly, crop-specific programs mainly focusing on commercialisation tend to overlook important constraints associated to self-consumption and productivity.

Load Profile Analysis Tool for Electrical Appliances in Households

This paper presents a methodology to forecast the hourly and daily consumption in households. The methodology was validated for households in Lisbon region, Portugal. The paper shows that the forecast tool allows obtaining satisfactory results for forecasting. Models of demand response allow the support of consumer’s decision in exchange for an economic benefit by the redefinition of load profile or changing the appliance consumption period. It is also in the interest of electric utilities to take advantage of these changes, particularly when consumers have an action on the demand-side management or production. Producers need to understand the load profile of households that are connected to a smart grid, to promote a better use of energy, as well as optimize the use of micro-generation from renewable sources, not only to delivering to the network but also in self-consumption.

Ocratossina A, metalli, insetticidi e fitoestratti: valutazione degli effetti e degli aspetti residuali nel pollame e in alimenti destinati all'uomo.

La presente tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca descrive le attività di ricerca riguardanti diversi ambiti della sicurezza alimentare, della farmacologia e tossicologia veterinaria. Sono presentati i dati relativi alla ricerca di ocratossina A (OTA) in campioni di bile, rene e fegato di polli, salami artigianali e diversi tipi di formaggio; le concentrazioni di diversi metalli pesanti in uova di galline rurali e 5 tipologie di uova industriali; i dati preliminari ottenuti dalle analisi dei primi campioni di uova e penne provenienti da allevamenti amatoriali di pollame, analizzati per la ricerca del fipronil e metaboliti. Sempre per fipronil, e la molecola foxim, sono presentati dati inerenti a studi di potenziale farmaco-resistenza di popolazioni naturali di Dermanyssus gallinae, e dell’attività insetticida di alcuni fitocomposti a base di tannini. Riguardo all’uso di fitoestratti, sono presentati i dati preliminari ottenuti nei primi mesi di una prova sperimentale in galline di razza Livornese allevata con metodo free-range, finalizzata allo studio della attività anti-infiammatoria e immuno-stimolante, nonché alla valutazione della sicurezza della integrazione nella dieta di Boswellia serrata e Salix alba. Sono stati condotti anche studi traslazionali con altri settori scientifici, relativamente la prevalenza sierologica e microbiologica per Salmonella enterica var. enteritidis e var. thiphymurium in allevamenti ornamentali e da auto-consumo di pollame, e di prevalenza e caratterizzazione di potenziali varianti virali e batteriche (incluse zoonosiche) di alcune malattie infettive del pollame ornamentale. In specie avicole ornamentali è riportato anche uno studio di campo sul trattamento off-label con Fenbendazolo e Flubendazolo in infestazioni massive da Cyathostoma bronchialis in oche esotiche ornamentali. A seguito di una collaborazione con l’Università di Firenze, sono presentati anche i risultati ottenuti da uno studio su modelli murini, dell’azione e funzionamento dei recettori Beta3, espressi nelle neoplasie più frequenti che si verificano nelle donne in gravidanza.

Power flow forecasting and smart charging for electric vehicle charging systems with photovoltaic integration

An essential role in the global energy transition is attributed to Electric Vehicles (EVs) the energy for EV traction can be generated by renewable energy sources (RES), also at a local level through distributed power plants, such as photovoltaic (PV) systems. However, EV integration with electrical systems might not be straightforward. The intermittent RES, combined with the high and uncontrolled aggregate EV charging, require an evolution toward new planning and paradigms of energy systems. In this context, this work aims to provide a practical solution for EV charging integration in electrical systems with RES. A method for predicting the power required by an EV fleet at the charging hub (CH) is developed in this thesis. The proposed forecasting method considers the main parameters on which charging demand depends. The results of the EV charging forecasting method are deeply analyzed under different scenarios. To reduce the EV load intermittency, methods for managing the charging power of EVs are proposed. The main target was to provide Charging Management Systems (CMS) that modulate EV charging to optimize specific performance indicators such as system self-consumption, peak load reduction, and PV exploitation. Controlling the EV charging power to achieve specific optimization goals is also known as Smart Charging (SC). The proposed techniques are applied to real-world scenarios demonstrating performance improvements in using SC strategies. A viable alternative to maximize integration with intermittent RES generation is the integration of energy storage. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) may be a buffer between peak load and RES production. A sizing algorithm for PV+BESS integration in EV charging hubs is provided. The sizing optimization aims to optimize the system's energy and economic performance. The results provide an overview of the optimal size that the PV+BESS plant should have to improve whole system performance in different scenarios.

Optimal energy management of smart households with electric vehicles, energy storage and distributed generation

In this thesis, the optimal operation of a neighborhood of smart households in terms of minimizing the total energy cost is analyzed. Each household may comprise several assets such as electric vehicles, controllable appliances, energy storage and distributed generation. Bi-directional power flow is considered for each household . Apart from the distributed generation unit, technological options such as vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid are available to provide energy to cover self-consumption needs and to export excessive energy to other households, respectively.

The differential role of alcohol expectancies, drinking refusal self-efficacy and coping resources in predicting alcohol consumption in community and clinical samples

This study explored the relationship between coping, alcohol expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy in predicting drinking behaviour in both community and clinical samples. These variables were found to have differential effects in their association with frequency and volume of alcohol consumption across the two samples. Generally, drinking refusal self-efficacy was a more salient factor in relation to frequency and volume of community drinking, while coping and expectancies were more strongly associated with frequency of drinking sessions by problem drinkers. The interaction between expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy was related to volume of consumption in both groups, while coping and expectancies interacted in their association with frequency in the clinical group. The findings are discussed with regard to the different patterns of cognitive variables governing the decision to drink and the amount consumed in each drinking session, which may differentiate community and problem drinkers.

Self-reported alcohol consumption and its association with adherence and outcome of antiretroviral therapy in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption leading to morbidity and mortality affects HIV-infected individuals. Here, we aimed to study self-reported alcohol consumption and to determine its association with adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and HIV surrogate markers. METHODS: Cross-sectional data on daily alcohol consumption from August 2005 to August 2007 were analysed and categorized according to the World Health Organization definition (light, moderate or severe health risk). Multivariate logistic regression models and Pearson's chi(2) statistics were used to test the influence of alcohol use on endpoints. RESULTS: Of 6,323 individuals, 52.3% consumed alcohol less than once a week in the past 6 months. Alcohol intake was deemed light in 39.9%, moderate in 5.0% and severe in 2.8%. Higher alcohol consumption was significantly associated with older age, less education, injection drug use, being in a drug maintenance programme, psychiatric treatment, hepatitis C virus coinfection and with a longer time since diagnosis of HIV. Lower alcohol consumption was found in males, non-Caucasians, individuals currently on ART and those with more ART experience. In patients on ART (n=4,519), missed doses and alcohol consumption were positively correlated (P<0.001). Severe alcohol consumers, who were pretreated with ART, were more often off treatment despite having CD4+ T-cell count <200 cells/microl; however, severe alcohol consumption per se did not delay starting ART. In treated individuals, alcohol consumption was not associated with worse HIV surrogate markers. CONCLUSIONS: Higher alcohol consumption in HIV-infected individuals was associated with several psychosocial and demographic factors, non-adherence to ART and, in pretreated individuals, being off treatment despite low CD4+ T-cell counts.

Trends in self-reported past alcoholic beverage consumption and ethanol intake from 1950 to 1995 observed in eight European countries participating in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

OBJECTIVE To describe the trends of self-reported past consumption of alcoholic beverages and ethanol intake from 1950 to 1995 within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). DESIGN Data on consumption of beer/cider, wine and liqueur/spirits were obtained retrospectively at age 20, 30 and 40 years to calculate average consumption and ethanol intake for the time periods 1950-1975 (at age 20), 1960-1985 (at age 30) and 1970-1995 (at age 40). Regression analysis was conducted with the time period data to assess trends in past alcoholic beverage consumption and ethanol intake with time. SETTING The EPIC project. SUBJECTS In total, 392 064 EPIC participants (275 249 women and 116 815 men) from 21 study centres in eight European countries. RESULTS Generally, increases in beer/cider consumption were observed for most EPIC centres for 1950-1975, 1960-1985 and 1970-1995. Trends in wine consumption differed according to geographical location: downward trends with time were observed for men in southern European EPIC centres, upward trends for those in middle/northern European study centres. For women, similar but less pronounced trends were observed. Because wine consumption was the major contributor to ethanol intake for both men and women in most study centres, time trends for ethanol intake showed a similar geographical pattern to that of wine consumption. CONCLUSION The different trends in alcoholic beverage consumption and ethanol intake suggest that information depicting lifetime history of ethanol intake should be included in analyses of the relationship between ethanol and chronic diseases, particularly in multi-centre studies such as EPIC.

Expressing the self in postmodern travel consumption: a case study of students

The study approaches student travel from the perspective of postmodern consumption. The background is in the observation that the student travel market has a vast potential, but it is not necessarily capitalized upon to the extent it could. This might partly have to do with the peculiarities of postmodernity: consumption is characterized by unpredictability and abstract motives. The research questions are built around what constitutes student travel consumption and how can students be categorized according to motivation, behaviour and values. Also identity and expressiveness are present and it is evaluated, if travel services facilitate these background is the observation that the student travel market has a vast potential, but it is not necessarily capitalized upon to the extent it could be. This might partly have to do with the peculiarities of postmodernity: consumption is characterized by unpredictability and abstract motives. The research questions are built around what constitutes student travel consumption and how can students be categorized according to motivation, behaviour and values. Also identity and expressiveness are present and it is evaluated whether travel services facilitate these constructs. The topic is approached by discovering the key concepts such as self-identity. This was done in order to create survey questions that reflect the underlying theories. The survey was sent to chosen student groups of Turku School of Economics. The data was analyzed using statistical methods, mainly principal component analysis, in order to categorize students’ motives and behaviour into distinct profiles. The findings indicate that students have a high level of awareness in their travel consumption choices. Travel services seem to facilitate identity and lifestyle expressiveness, one central dimension of postmodernity. Psychographics such as motivation seem to work well as a segmentation criteria when it comes to the student traveler market. Travel offers students an opportunity for relaxation, escape, enjoyment and gaining new experiences and social contacts. Furthermore, the enjoyment of the travel experience extends to the pre- and post-trip time.