Appraisal of planning regulations regarding large urban distressed areas in European countries

LUDA is a research project of Key Action 4 "City of Tomorrow & Cultural Heritage" of the programme "Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development" within the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission

The undergraduate level (1st study cycle) as a fundamental platform/standard for the development of Urban and Regional Planning in higher education programs

LUDA is a research project of Key Action 4 "City of Tomorrow & Cultural Heritage" of the programme "Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development" within the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission

Concurrent Planning in the U.K.

O Planeamento Concomitante teve a sua origem no Reino Unido. É um método radical de intervenção social, baseado na Teoria de Afecto (Attachment Theory). O Planeamento Concomitante procura garantir que as crianças vulneráveis nas casas de acolhimento do Estado sejam adoptadas mais rapidamente possível. As crianças são acolhidas no âmbito deste Planeamento durante o período em que está em curso a avaliação da capacidade acolhedora dos pais adoptivos. As crianças sem condições de retorno para as suas famílias são desta forma legalmente adoptadas pelos pais adoptivos com quem as crianças já conseguiram desenvolver laços afectivos.

Scenario Planning and Evaluation of Pricing Strategies in the Portuguese Bulk LPG Market

Portugal has the largest LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) share of primary energy demand in the EU (about 5%). Due to the increasing international cost of LPG in the last years and the high price sensitivity of the consumers the preference for substitute energy sources in new and existing consumers has been increasing. To select the kind of energy, some consumer estimate and compare the total costs while others follow agents (equipment sellers) recommendations. It takes time to build agents perception about the most advantageous source of energy, which is seen as an important resource that drives client resource accumulation and retention. Marketing strategies have to take into consideration some market dynamic effects derived from the accumulation and depletion of these resources. A simple system dynamics model was built, combined with Economic Value Added framework, to evaluate some pricing strategies under different scenarios of LPG international cost.

Scenario Planning and Evaluation of Pricing Strategies in the Portuguese Bulk LPG Market

Portugal has the largest LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) share of primary energy demand in the EU (about 5%). Due to the increasing international cost of LPG in the last years and the high price sensitivity of the consumers the preference for substitute energy sources in new and existing consumers has been increasing. To select the kind of energy, some consumer estimate and compare the total costs while others follow agents (equipment sellers) recommendations. It takes time to build agents perception about the most advantageous source of energy, which is seen as an important resource that drives client resource accumulation and retention. Marketing strategies have to take into consideration some market dynamic effects derived from the accumulation and depletion of these resources. A simple system dynamics model was built, combined with Economic Value Added framework, to evaluate some pricing strategies under different scenarios of LPG international cost.

Enterprise Resource Planning governamental: a percepção dos servidores atuantes no Projeto Ciclo do Ministério da Justiça quanto à implementação

Indubitavelmente, a implementação de sistemas de gestão integrada é fator consolidado em empresas privadas; no entanto, em empresas públicas é relativamente recente e inovadora. Em 2009, o Ministério da Justiça (MJ) foi um dos pioneiros ao firmar parceria com a Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) para a implantação de sistemas de gestão integrada. Com o decorrer dos processos de implementação surge a necessidade de identificar se o acordo surtiu os efeitos a que se destinou, bem como é pertinente a análise da implementação de um Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) governamental em uma empresa pública, haja vista que existe uma tendência de que se repita em outras instituições governamentais. Assim, o principal objetivo deste artigo é identificar a percepção dos usuários quanto ao processo de implementação de sistemas integrados de gestão vinculados ao Projeto Ciclo, no âmbito da Secretaria Executiva do MJ, destacando suas principais dificuldades e benefícios. A fim de atingir o objetivo da pesquisa foi realizada uma pesquisa quali-quantitativa, cujo procedimento técnico foi o estudo de caso. Verificou-se que os usuários do sistema reconhecem sua importância como apoio à tomada de decisão, que estão cientes do papel que desempenham no processo de implementação e que a tecnologia da informação (TI) é fundamental para se obter melhoria nos processos executados. Ademais, percebe-se os avanços que um ERP governamental pode proporcionar a empresas públicas, destacando-se o planejamento e a confiabilidade das informações.

An appraisal of the health planning method proposed by the Pan-American Health Organization for Latin America

A brief description of the main features of the health planning technique developed by the "Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo" (CENDES) in Venezuela, and proposed by the Pan-American Health Organization for use in Latin America, is presented. This presentation is followed by an appraisal of the planning method which includes comments both upon its positive aspects and upon its negative points. Comments are also made referring to other recent publications of the WHO/PAHO on health planning. In conclusion, the CENDES technique is considered a health planning method of great potential for use especially in underdeveloped areas, the success of its application depending upon the hability of the health planners to introduce the necessary modifications to adapt to the local circunstamces.

Notes on health care planning in Latin America and the Caribbean

Attention is called to the fact that the efforts to improve health of populations in Latin America have generally failed. The inequality in the distribution of ill-health is great. The authors accept the fact that the lack of resources available to the health sector may be a restriction towards the improvement of the situation, but they argue that a much more important issue is the misuse of such resources and their maldistribution within the health sector. The lack of integration and coordination between the health services, the conflict of public and private health systems, the under-utilization of existing services and the gap between planning and real implementation are discussed.

Direct Power Control of Matrix Converter Based Unified Power Flow Controllers

This paper presents the Direct Power Control of Three-Phase Matrix Converters (DPC-MC) operating as Unified Power Flow Controllers (UPFC). Since matrix converters allow direct AC/AC power conversion without intermediate energy storage link, the resulting UPFC has reduced volume and cost, together with higher reliability. Theoretical principles of DPC-MC method are established based on an UPFC model, together with a new direct power control approach based on sliding mode control techniques. As a result, active and reactive power can be directly controlled by selection of an appropriate switching state of matrix converter. This new direct power control approach associated to matrix converters technology guarantees decoupled active and reactive power control, zero error tracking, fast response times and timely control actions. Simulation results show good performance of the proposed system.

Impact of a 1755-like tsunami in Huelva, Spain

Coastal areas are highly exposed to natural hazards associated with the sea. In all cases where there is historical evidence for devastating tsunamis, as is the case of the southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, there is a need for quantitative hazard tsunami assessment to support spatial planning. Also, local authorities must be able to act towards the population protection in a preemptive way, to inform 'what to do' and 'where to go' and in an alarm, to make people aware of the incoming danger. With this in mind, we investigated the inundation extent, run-up and water depths, of a 1755-like event on the region of Huelva, located on the Spanish southwestern coast, one of the regions that was affected in the past by several high energy events, as proved by historical documents and sedimentological data. Modelling was made with a slightly modified version of the COMCOT (Cornell Multi-grid Coupled Tsunami Model) code. Sensitivity tests were performed for a single source in order to understand the relevance and influence of the source parameters in the inundation extent and the fundamental impact parameters. We show that a 1755-like event will have a dramatic impact in a large area close to Huelva inundating an area between 82 and 92 km(2) and reaching maximum run-up around 5 m. In this sense our results show that small variations on the characteristics of the tsunami source are not too significant for the impact assessment. We show that the maximum flow depth and the maximum run-up increase with the average slip on the source, while the strike of the fault is not a critical factor as Huelva is significantly far away from the potential sources identified up to now. We also show that the maximum flow depth within the inundated area is very dependent on the tidal level, while maximum run-up is less affected, as a consequence of the complex morphology of the area.

Immune cell changes in response to a swimming training session during a 24-h recovery period

Understanding the impact of training sessions on the immune response is crucial for the adequate periodization of training, to prevent both a negative influence on health and a performance impairment of the athlete. This study evaluated acute systemic immune cell changes in response to an actual swimming session, during a 24-h recovery period, controlling for sex, menstrual cycle phases, maturity, and age group. Competitive swimmers (30 females, 15 ± 1.3 years old; and 35 males, 16.5 ± 2.1 years old) performed a high-intensity training session. Blood samples were collected before, immediately after, 2 h after, and 24 h after exercise. Standard procedures for the assessment of leukogram by automated counting (Coulter LH 750, Beckman) and lymphocytes subsets by flow cytometry (FACS Calibur BD, Biosciences) were used. Subjects were grouped according to competitive age groups and pubertal Tanner stages. Menstrual cycle phase was monitored. The training session induced neutrophilia, lymphopenia, and a low eosinophil count, lasting for at least 2 h, independent of sex and maturity. At 24 h postexercise, the acquired immunity of juniors (15-17 years old), expressed by total lymphocytes and total T lymphocytes (CD3+), was not fully recovered. This should be accounted for when planning a weekly training program. The observed lymphopenia suggests a lower immune surveillance at the end of the session that may depress the immunity of athletes, highlighting the need for extra care when athletes are exposed to aggressive environmental agents such as swimming pools

Evaluating Tsunami Impact on the Gulf of Cadiz Coast (Northeast Atlantic).

The Gulf of Cadiz coasts are exposed to tsunamis. Emergency planning tools are now taking into account this fact, especially because a series of historical occurrences were strikingly significant, having left strong evidence behind, in the mareographic records, the geological evidence or simply the memory of the populations. The study area is a strip along the Algarve coast, south Portugal, an area known to have been heavily impacted by the 1 November 1755 event. In this study we use two different tsunami scenarios generated by the rupture of two thrust faults identified in the area, corresponding to 8.1-8.3 magnitude earthquakes. Tsunami propagation and inundation computation is performed using a non-linear shallow water code with bottom friction. Numerical modeling results are presented in terms of flow depth and current velocity with maximum values of 7 m and 8 m/s for inundation depth and flow speed, respectively. These results constitute a valuable tool for local authorities, emergency and decision planners to define the priority zones where tsunami mitigation measures must be implemented and to develop tsunami-resilient communities.

Magma flow, exsolution processes and rock metasomatism in the Great Messejana-Plasencia dyke (Iberian Peninsula)

Magma flow in dykes is still not well understood; some reported magnetic fabrics are contradictory and the potential effects of exsolution and metasomatism processes on the magnetic properties are issues open to debate. Therefore, a long dyke made of segments with different thickness, which record distinct degrees of metasomatism, the Messejana-Plasencia dyke (MPD), was studied. Oriented dolerite samples were collected along several cross-sections and characterized by means of microscopy and magnetic analyses. The results obtained show that the effects of metasomatism on rock mineralogy are important, and that the metasomatic processes can greatly influence anisotropy degree and mean susceptibility only when rocks are strongly affected by metasomatism. Petrography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and bulk magnetic analyses show a high-temperature oxidation-exsolution event, experienced by the very early Ti-spinels, during the early stages of magma cooling, which was mostly observed in central domains of the thick dyke segments. Exsolution reduced the grain size of the magnetic carrier (multidomain to single domain transformation), thus producing composite fabrics involving inverse fabrics. These are likely responsible for a significant number of the 'abnormal' fabrics, which make the interpretation of magma flow much more complex. By choosing to use only the 'normal' fabric for magma flow determination, we have reduced by 50 per cent the number of relevant sites. In these sites, the imbrication angle of the magnetic foliation relative to dyke wall strongly suggests flow with end-members indicating vertical-dominated flow (seven sites) and horizontal-dominated flow (three sites).

Thick dyke emplacement and internal flow: A structural and magnetic fabric study of the deep-seated dolerite dyke of Foum Zguid (southern Morocco)

Knowledge on forced magma injection and magma flow in dykes is crucial for the understanding of how magmas migrate through the crust to the Earth's surface. Because many questions still persist, we used the long, thick, and deep-seated Foum Zguid dyke (Morocco) to investigate dyke emplacement and internal flow by means of magnetic methods, structural analysis, petrography, and scanning electron microscopy. We also investigated how the host rocks accommodated the intrusion. Regarding internal flow: 1. Important variations of the rock magnetic properties and magnetic fabric occur with distance from dyke wall; 2. anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization reveals that anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) results mainly from the superposition of subfabrics with distinct coercivities and that the imbrication between magnetic foliation and dyke plane is more reliable to deduce flow than the orientation of the AMS maximum principal axis; and 3. a dominant upward flow near the margins can be inferred. The magnetic fabric closest to the dyke wall likely records magma flow best due to fast cooling, whereas in the core the magnetic properties have been affected by high-temperature exsolution and metasomatic effects due to slow cooling. Regarding dyke emplacement, this study shows that the thick forceful intrusion induced deformation by homogeneous flattening and/or folding of the host sedimentary strata. Dewatering related to heat, as recorded by thick quartz veins bordering the dyke in some localities, may have also helped accommodating dyke intrusion. The spatial arrangement of quartz veins and their geometrical relationship with the dyke indicate a preintrusive to synintrusive sinistral component of strike slip.

Experiencing flow while teaching and learning in individual tuition settings

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