A comparative value of electricity storage within GB market mechanisms

This paper investigates the value of a generic storage system within two GB market mechanisms and one ancillary service provision: the wholesale power market, the Balancing Mechanism and Firm Frequency Response (FFR). Three models are evaluated under perfect foresight and fixed horizon which is subsequently extended to explore the impact of a longer foresight on market revenues. The results show that comparatively, the balancing mechanism represents the highest source of potential revenues followed by the wholesale power market and Firm Frequency Response respectively. Longer horizons show diminishing returns, with the 1 day horizon providing the vast majority of total revenues. However storage power capacity utilization benefits from such long horizons. These results could imply that short horizons are very effective in capturing revenues in both the wholesale market and balancing mechanism whereas sizing of a storage system should take into consideration horizon foresight and accuracy for greater benefit.

Contrasting responses to drought stress in herbaceous perennial legumes

Background and aims Medicago sativa L. is widely grown in southern Australia, but is poorly adapted to dry, hot summers. This study aimed to identify perennial herbaceous legumes with greater resistance to drought stress and explore their adaptive strategies. Methods Ten herbaceous perennial legume species/accessions were grown in deep pots in a sandy, low-phosphorus field soil in a glasshouse. Drought stress was imposed by ceasing to water. A companion M. sativa plant in each pot minimised differences in leaf area and water consumption among species. Plants were harvested when stomatal conductance of stressed plants decreased to around 10% of well watered plants. Results A range of responses to drought stress were identified, including: reduced shoot growth; leaf curling; thicker pubescence on leaves and stems; an increased root:shoot ratio; an increase, decrease or no change in root distribution with depth; reductions in specific leaf area or leaf water potential; and osmotic adjustment. The suite of changes differed substantially among species and, less so, among accessions. Conclusions The inter- and intra-specific variability of responses to drought-stress in the plants examined suggests a wide range of strategies are available in perennial legumes to cope with drying conditions, and these could be harnessed in breeding/selection programs.

Using proxies to calculate the carbon impact of investment into electricity network assets

Replacement and upgrading of assets in the electricity network requires financial investment for the distribution and transmission utilities. The replacement and upgrading of network assets also represents an emissions impact due to the carbon embodied in the materials used to manufacture network assets. This paper uses investment and asset data for the GB system for 2015-2023 to assess the suitability of using a proxy with peak demand data and network investment data to calculate the carbon impacts of network investments. The proxies are calculated on a regional basis and applied to calculate the embodied carbon associated with current network assets by DNO region. The proxies are also applied to peak demand data across the 2015-2023 period to estimate the expected levels of embodied carbon that will be associated with network investment during this period. The suitability of these proxies in different contexts are then discussed, along with initial scenario analysis to calculate the impact of avoiding or deferring network investments through distributed generation projects. The proxies were found to be effective in estimating the total embodied carbon of electricity system investment in order to compare investment strategies in different regions of the GB network.

Exploring methods to evaluate the carbon impact of network investment deferral

Replacement, expansion and upgrading of assets in the electricity network represents financial investment for the distribution utilities. Network Investment Deferral (NID) is a well discussed benefit of wider adoption of Distributed Generation (DG). There have been many attempts to quantify and evaluate the financial benefit for the distribution utilities. While the carbon benefits of NID are commonly mentioned, there is little attempt to quantify these impacts. This paper explores the quantitative methods previously used to evaluate financial benefits in order to discuss the carbon impacts. These carbon impacts are important for companies owning DG equipment for internal reporting and emissions reductions ambitions. Currently, a GB wide approach is taken as a means for discussing more regional and local methods to be used in future work. By investigating these principles, the paper offers a novel approach to quantifying carbon emissions from various DG technologies.

Examining the relationships between Holocene climate change, hydrology, and human society in Ireland

This thesis explores human-environment interactions during the Mid-Late Holocene in raised bogs in central Ireland. The raised bogs of central Ireland are widely-recognised for their considerable palaeoenvironmental and archaeological resources: research over the past few decades has established the potential for such sites to preserve sensitive records of Holocene climatic variability expressed as changes in bog surface wetness (BSW); meanwhile archaeological investigations over the past century have uncovered hundreds of peatland archaeological features dating from the Neolithic through to the Post-Medieval period including wooden trackways, platforms, and deposits of high-status metalwork. Previous studies have attempted to explore the relationship between records of past environmental change and the occurrence of peatland archaeological sites reaching varying conclusions. More recently, environmentally-deterministic models of human-environment interaction in Irish raised bogs at the regional scale have been explicitly tested leading to the conclusion that there is no relationship between BSW and past human activity. These relationships are examined in more detail on a site-by-site basis in this thesis. To that end, testate amoebae-derived BSW records from nine milled former raised bogs in central Ireland were produced from sites with known and dated archaeological records. Relationships between BSW records and environmental conditions within the study area were explored through both the development of a new central Ireland testate amoebae transfer function and through comparisons between recent BSW records and instrumental weather data. Compilation of BSW records from the nine fossil study sites show evidence both for climate forcing, particularly during 3200-2400 cal BP, as well as considerable inter-site variability. Considerable inter-site variability was also evident in the archaeological records of the same sites. Whilst comparisons between BSW and archaeological records do not show a consistent linear relationship, examination of records on a site-by-site basis were shown to reveal interpretatively important contingent relationships. It is concluded therefore, that future research on human-environment interactions should focus on individual sites and should utilise theoretical approaches from the humanities in order to avoid the twin pitfalls of masking important local patterns of change, and of environmental determinism.

Dysregulation of granulosal bone morphogenetic protein receptor 1B density is associated with reduced ovarian reserve and the age-related decline in human fertility

Reproductive ageing is linked to the depletion of ovarian primordial follicles, which causes an irreversible change to ovarian cellular function and the capacity to reproduce. The current study aimed to profile the expression of bone morphogenetic protein receptor, (BMPR1B) in 53 IVF patients exhibiting different degrees of primordial follicle depletion. The granulosa cell receptor density was measured in 403 follicles via flow cytometry. A decline in BMPR1B density occurred at the time of dominant follicle selection and during the terminal stage of folliculogenesis in the 23-30 y good ovarian reserve patients. The 40+ y poor ovarian reserve patients experienced a reversal of this pattern. The results demonstrate an association between age-induced depletion of the ovarian reserve and BMPR1B receptor density at the two critical time points of dominant follicle selection and pre-ovulatory follicle maturation. Dysregulation of BMP receptor signalling may inhibit the normal steroidogenic differentiation required for maturation in older patients.

The COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE): investigating the origins of heavy precipitation in the southwestern UK

A recent field campaign in southwest England used numerical modeling integrated with aircraft and radar observations to investigate the dynamic and microphysical interactions that can result in heavy convective precipitation. The COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE) was a joint UK-US field campaign held during the summer of 2013 in the southwest peninsula of England, designed to study convective clouds that produce heavy rain leading to flash floods. The clouds form along convergence lines that develop regularly due to the topography. Major flash floods have occurred in the past, most famously at Boscastle in 2004. It has been suggested that much of the rain was produced by warm rain processes, similar to some flash floods that have occurred in the US. The overarching goal of COPE is to improve quantitative convective precipitation forecasting by understanding the interactions of the cloud microphysics and dynamics and thereby to improve NWP model skill for forecasts of flash floods. Two research aircraft, the University of Wyoming King Air and the UK BAe 146, obtained detailed in situ and remote sensing measurements in, around, and below storms on several days. A new fast-scanning X-band dual-polarization Doppler radar made 360-deg volume scans over 10 elevation angles approximately every 5 minutes, and was augmented by two UK Met Office C-band radars and the Chilbolton S-band radar. Detailed aerosol measurements were made on the aircraft and on the ground. This paper: (i) provides an overview of the COPE field campaign and the resulting dataset; (ii) presents examples of heavy convective rainfall in clouds containing ice and also in relatively shallow clouds through the warm rain process alone; and (iii) explains how COPE data will be used to improve high-resolution NWP models for operational use.

Detecting defects in the UK new-build housing sector: a learning perspective

Rapid growth in the production of new homes in the UK is putting build quality under pressure as evidenced by an increase in the number of defects. Housing associations (HAs) contribute approximately 20% of the UK’s new housing supply. HAs are currently experiencing central government funding cuts and rental revenue reductions. As part of HAs’ quest to ramp up supply despite tight budget conditions, they are reviewing how they learn from defects. Learning from defects is argued as a means of reducing the persistent defect problem within the UK housebuilding industry, yet how HAs learn from defects is under-researched. The aim of this research is to better understand how HAs, in practice, learn from past defects to reduce the prevalence of defects in future new homes. The theoretical lens for this research is organizational learning. The results drawn from 12 HA case studies indicate that effective organizational learning has the potential to reduce defects within the housing sector. The results further identify that HAs are restricting their learning to focus primarily on reducing defects through product and system adaptations. Focusing on product and system adaptations alone suppresses HAs’ abilities to reduce defects in the future.

La picaresca en Mortadelo y Filemón

Mort and Phil (Mortadelo y Filemón) are one of the most famous Spanish comics in thehistory. As some of the characters of Spanish comic they have been sometimes described aspicaresque. The objective of our study is finding out if Mort and Phil play the role of thepicaro. Our study follows the hermeneutic method, taking into consideration the role of thecomic in Spanish society and the concept of picaresque novel. In order to carry out theanalysis, we will look for the characteristics of the picaresque in three stories of theadventures of Mort and Phil. Along the study we will notice the lack of consensus in order todecide what it can be considered a picaresque novel or what not besides showing allcharacteristics of picaresque are not present in this comic. Therefore, we conclude that Mortand Phil can not be considered a picaresque novel but it could be understood as a work ofpicaresque spirit.

Model Configuration And Data Management In The Short-Term Water Information Forecasting Tools

The Short-term Water Information and Forecasting Tools (SWIFT) is a suite of tools for flood and short-term streamflow forecasting, consisting of a collection of hydrologic model components and utilities. Catchments are modeled using conceptual subareas and a node-link structure for channel routing. The tools comprise modules for calibration, model state updating, output error correction, ensemble runs and data assimilation. Given the combinatorial nature of the modelling experiments and the sub-daily time steps typically used for simulations, the volume of model configurations and time series data is substantial and its management is not trivial. SWIFT is currently used mostly for research purposes but has also been used operationally, with intersecting but significantly different requirements. Early versions of SWIFT used mostly ad-hoc text files handled via Fortran code, with limited use of netCDF for time series data. The configuration and data handling modules have since been redesigned. The model configuration now follows a design where the data model is decoupled from the on-disk persistence mechanism. For research purposes the preferred on-disk format is JSON, to leverage numerous software libraries in a variety of languages, while retaining the legacy option of custom tab-separated text formats when it is a preferred access arrangement for the researcher. By decoupling data model and data persistence, it is much easier to interchangeably use for instance relational databases to provide stricter provenance and audit trail capabilities in an operational flood forecasting context. For the time series data, given the volume and required throughput, text based formats are usually inadequate. A schema derived from CF conventions has been designed to efficiently handle time series for SWIFT.

Esporte na escola : contradicoes e alternativas

Investigamos a prática do esporte nas escolas de 1º e 2º graus, públicas e particulares de Porto Alegre, na Visão dos professores de Educação Física. Os objetivos que norteam nosso estudo foram: identificar os aspectos fundamentais da prática do esporte na escola; estabelecer se o professor de Educação Física de 1º e 2º graus relaciona criticamente a prática do esporte na escola com o contexto social que a envolve; elaborar um conjunto de sugestões que vise aprimorar a prática esportiva na escola, tendo presente a ênfase no desenvolvimento intelectual do ser humano para uma educação e uma sociedade mais justas. O estudo é de natureza descritivo-explicativa, a população alvo é constituída de todos os professores de Educação Física das escolas públicas e particulares de Porto Alegre, num total de 1.838 lotados nas 403 escolas existentes no município. A todos eles, foi enviado o questionário. Retornaram 218, constituindo-se assim a amostra. Observamos 17 escolas e realizamos 12 entrevistas. Descrevemos os professores de Educação Física quanto à idade, sexo, tipo de escola em que trabalham, nível de formação profissional, tempo de serviço, grau de ensino em que atuam, carga horária semanal e modalidades esportivas preferidas. Segundo os professores de Educação Física de Porto Alegre, a importância do esporte na escola para o aluno está distribuída nas seguintes categorias: Movimento; Socialização; Desenvolvimento Moral e Intelectual; Saúde; Afetivo; Superação. A importância do esporte escolar para a escola, segundo os professores de Educação Física, agrupa-se nas seguintes categorias: Promoção e desenvolvimento da escola; Formação e desenvolvimento do aluno; Socialização. Quanto à importância do esporte na escola para a sociedade, os professores manifestaram-se nas seguintes categorias: Saúde; Socialização; Moral; Estrutural-crítica; Estrutural-alienada; Cultural. Observamos neste estudo que os professores de Educação Física têm dificuldade em relacionar sua prática com o contexto social. O ensino é desprovido de reflexão. A visão do esporte na escola é funcionalista e sua prática é conservadora. Prevenção da saúde e do uso de drogas são as funções do esporte, sobre as quais os professores têm maior clareza. A maior dificuldade dos professores é trabalhar com a liberdade de movimentos, daí o caráter disciplinar das práticas esportivas Há duas posições diferenciadas com relação à importância do esporte na escola para a sociedade: uma que faz a crítica ao caráter reprodutor do esporte na escola e outra que não se dá conta desta manipulação. O professor escolhe o esporte a ser praticado na escola segundo quatro referenciais: aluno; recursos físicos e materiais; instituição; professor. Estes referenciais variam em ordem de prioridade da escola pública para a escola particular. Por fim, é necessário, para a mudança deste quadro, que as discussões acadêmicas cheguem o mais rápido possível ao professor que está diuturnamente envolvido na escola, através de programas de atualização. os sistemas de ensino deverão priorizar a escola pública com recursos físicos e materiais, além de levar em consideração, prioritariamente, o interesse do aluno na efetivação de políticas específicas para o setor. Devemos estimular o hábito da leitura de obras de cunho social, político, e cultural entre os professores, através da liberação de carga horária de trabalho e fazendo com que esta bibliografia chegue até a escola. Urge que os professores críticos desenvolvam, com seus alunos, estratégias que visem à transformação da instituição escolar, com vista a uma sociedade mais justa e igualitária.

Bem comum, razoabilidade prática e direito : a fundamentação do conceito de bem comum na obra de John M. Finnis

Esta dissertação expõe a fundamentação do conceito de bem comum no pensamento de JOHN MITCHELL FINNIS. Este jusfilósofo tem como ponto de partida para sua reflexão uma reinterpretação da ética tomista. Dela interessa o tratamento dado à separação das quatro ordens de conhecimento, particularmente a separação entre ordem natural e prática. A ordem prática de conhecimento tem suas próprias diretrizes. Logo, assim como na ordem natural de conhecimento a primeira diretriz é o princípio da não contradição, na ordem prática o primeiro princípio é o bem é para ser feito e buscado e o mal evitado. Estes postulados não são imperativos e nem indicativos, mas diretivos; e, no caso da ordem prática, uma diretiva para ação. A implicação epistemológica está em que a fundamentação imediata do agir humano não reside na natureza humana, mas na percepção prática de bens a serem realizados e dos males a serem evitados. Há um número determinado de bens humanos básicos, que são as razões primeiras para o agir humano. Eles são objetivos, incomensuráveis, auto-evidentes e pré-morais. O rol que FINNIS propõe é vida, conhecimento, matrimônio, excelência na realização, sociabilidade/amizade, razoabilidade prática e ‘religião’. O conteúdo da moral resulta destes bens humanos e tem como princípio supremo toda a escolha deve favorecer e respeitar o bem humano integral. Além de sintetizar a correção para o agir individual, a moral também fundamenta e demanda um agir social correto, que está expresso no conceito de bem comum. FINNIS define bem comum nos seguintes termos: um conjunto de condições que tornam aptos os membros de uma comunidade a alcançar por si mesmos objetivos razoáveis, ou realizar razoavelmente por si mesmos o(s) valor(es) pelos quais eles têm razão em colaborar uns com os outros (positiva e/ou negativamente) em uma comunidade. O conteúdo específico do bem comum da comunidade política é constituído pela justiça. O direito é o objeto da justiça e, assim, meio pelo qual o Estado a realiza e, por conseqüência, o bem comum.