An aggregated fridge-freezer peak shaving and valley filling control strategy for enhanced grid operations

The need for fast response demand side participation (DSP) has never been greater due to increased wind power penetration. White domestic goods suppliers are currently developing a `smart' chip for a range of domestic appliances (e.g. refrigeration units, tumble dryers and storage heaters) to support the home as a DSP unit in future power systems. This paper presents an aggregated population-based model of a single compressor fridge-freezer. Two scenarios (i.e. energy efficiency class and size) for valley filling and peak shaving are examined to quantify and value DSP savings in 2020. The analysis shows potential peak reductions of 40 MW to 55 MW are achievable in the Single wholesale Electricity Market of Ireland (i.e. the test system), and valley demand increases of up to 30 MW. The study also shows the importance of the control strategy start time and the staggering of the devices to obtain the desired filling or shaving effect.

Failure to produce an anti-poverty strategy: The Committee on the Administration’s Application [2015] NIQB 59, June 30, 2015

This is a note on the Northern Ireland High Court decision of 30 June 2015 that the Northern Ireland Executive had acted unlawfully in failing to fulfil its statutory duty to adopt a strategy setting out proposals for tackling poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need.

Towards the 2021 UK Census imputation strategy: Response mode as a matching variable in a donor-based approach?

Since July 2014, the Office for National Statistics has committed to a predominantly online 2021 UK Census. Item-level imputation will play an important role in adjusting the 2021 Census database. Research indicates that the internet may yield cleaner data than paper based capture and attract people with particular characteristics. Here, we provide preliminary results from research directed at understanding how we might manage these features in a 2021 UK Census imputation strategy. Our findings suggest that if using a donor-based imputation method, it may need to consider including response mode as a matching variable in the underlying imputation model.

An Association of Cancer Physicians' strategy for improving services and outcomes for cancer patients

The Association of Cancer Physicians in the United Kingdom has developed a strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients and identified the goals and commitments of the Association and its members.

A comprehensive strategy to detect the fraudulent adulteration of herbs: The oregano approach

Fraud in the global food supply chain is becoming increasingly common due to the huge profits associated with this type of criminal activity. Food commodities and ingredients that are expensive and are part of complex supply chains are particularly vulnerable. Both herbs and spices fit these criteria perfectly and yet strategies to detect fraudulent adulteration are still far from robust. An FT-IR screening method coupled to data analysis using chemometrics and a second method using LC-HRMS were developed, with the latter detecting commonly used adulterants by biomarker identification. The two tier testing strategy was applied to 78 samples obtained from a variety of retail and on-line sources. There was 100% agreement between the two tests that over 24% of all samples tested had some form of adulterants present. The innovative strategy devised could potentially be used for testing the global supply chains for fraud in many different forms of herbs.

Mindfulness - As a coping strategy

Mindfulness has been described as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). It is a technique where one focuses on the present, gradually letting go of thoughts about the past or the future. Mindfulness is becoming more popular as a technique to help people manage stress. Research suggests, for example, that individuals who have higher levels of mindfulness have increased performance in attention and cognitive flexibility (Moore & Malinowski, 2009); report higher levels of relationship satisfaction (Kozlowski, 2013), and lower levels of perceived stress (Roeser et al., 2013). As a therapeutic technique mindfulness has been shown to be effective through, for example, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Nevanper, 2012). Aims of Research The argument offered here is that mindfulness is likely to act in the same way as other types of coping i.e. that it is not a ‘silver bullet’ and that it is likely to be a preferred strategy used by some and not others. The aim of this research therefore is to compare the impact of mindfulness compared to other types of coping on well-being - operationalised as happiness, selfcompassion and stress.

An Evaluation of the Dual Diagnosis (substance use and mental health )Strategy in the South Eastern Trust Workers and Service Users Perceptions of Dual Diagnosis Issues

In the UK it is estimated that over 33% of psychiatric patients with enduring mental illness have a substance misuse problem, whilst over 50 % of clients currently accessing drug and alcohol services have a mental health problem. Between 2003 and 2013 in Northern Ireland, there were 741 recorded suicides by patients who were in contact with mental health services. Of this number, 68% (n=501) had a history of either alcohol or drug misuse or both, resulting in an average of 46 patient suicides per year associated with dual diagnosis (University of Manchester 2015).
The current evaluation examined staff attitudes towards working with dual diagnosis (co-existing difficulties) issues, staff confidence in working with clients with dual diagnosis, workers’ perceptions of the South Eastern dual diagnosis strategy and service user perspectives of dual diagnosis service provision.
The purpose of the evaluation was to provide evidence regarding the following in accordance with the current dual diagnosis strategy;
Staff understanding of the concept of dual diagnosis,
Staff attitudes towards working with dual diagnosis,
Staff confidence in working with individuals, who present with dual diagnosis,
Service users’ perspectives of SE Trust provision for dual diagnosis.
Staff views on the South Eastern Trust Dual Diagnosis Strategy.

Web 2.0 e a competência comunicativa em língua inglesa

O presente projeto pretende investigar as potencialidades das ferramentas Web 2.0 no desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa em língua inglesa no ensino superior. O referencial teórico que serve de sustentáculo ao estudo ancorou-se nas diretrizes emanadas pelos organismos nacionais e europeus no âmbito do Processo de Bolonha, analisando, por um lado, o papel da língua inglesa na consecução das metas de Bolonha e, por outro, os desafios ao nível pedagógico e metodológico decorrentes dos objetivos e linhas de ação traçados. Por sua vez, o Processo de Bolonha tem de ser enquadrado num vasto conjunto de mudanças de cariz económico e social, a que não são alheias as constantes inovações ao nível das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, que têm gerado um ritmo acelerado de produção e disseminação da informação à escala global. Esta realidade implicou novos desafios e oportunidades, nomeadamente a criação de um contexto de aprendizagem dinâmico, potenciador de uma aprendizagem dialógica e dialética, contribuindo para um incremento de oportunidades para comunicar e agir em língua inglesa. A abordagem metodológica arquitetada caraterizou-se pela conceção e implementação de um projeto de investigação-ação ao longo de dois semestres nas unidades curriculares de Inglês II e Inglês III no curso de licenciatura em Turismo da Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Viseu. Tomando como ponto de partida os resultados de aprendizagem e o tema aglutinador de cada unidade curricular, implementaram-se tarefas interacionais com recurso a ferramentas Web 2.0 (rede social, wiki, podcast) que implicaram a criação e manutenção de processos dialógicos com vista à produção de outputs colaborativos. A análise da informação recolhida aponta para um impacto marcadamente positivo da implementação de tarefas dialógicas com recurso à Web social no âmbito da aprendizagem da língua inglesa no ensino superior. Destaca-se, nomeadamente, um envolvimento ativo dos estudantes na resolução de atividades autênticas do ponto de vista situacional e interacional, a harmonização entre o estudo contextualizado da língua com a descoberta da cultura, bem como o desenvolvimento de capacidades de gestão do processo individual e colaborativo de aprendizagem.

Implementation of a service quality strategy: application to the Algarve hotel industry

Tese dout., Doctor of Philisophy, Sheffield Hallam University, 2001

Implementing self-regulated strategy development for teaching argumentative writing : a multidimensional approach

Tese de doutoramento, Psicologia (Psicologia da Educação), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, 2015

Influence of Different Performance Levels on Pacing Strategy During the Women's World Championship Marathon Race.

Purpose To analyse pacing strategies displayed by athletes achieving differing levels of performance during an elite level marathon race. Methods Competitors in the 2009 IAAF Women’s Marathon Championship were split into Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 comprising the first, second, third, and fourth 25% of finishers respectively. Final, intermediate, and personal best (PB) times of finishers were converted to mean speeds, and relative speed (% of PB speed) was calculated for intermediate segments. Results Mean PB speed decreased from Group 1 to 4 and speed maintained in the race was 98.5 + 1.8%, 97.4 + 3.2%, 95.0 + 3.1% and 92.4 + 4.4% of PB speed for Groups 1-4 respectively. Group 1 was fastest in all segments and differences in speed between groups increased throughout the race. Group 1 ran at lower relative speeds than other groups for the first two 5 km segments, but higher relative speeds after 35km. Significant differences (P<0.01) in the percentage of PB speed maintained were observed between Groups 1 and 4, and 2 and 4 in all segments after 20 km, and Groups 3 and 4 from 20-25 km and 30-35 km. Conclusions Group 1 athletes achieved superior finishing times relative to their PB than athletes in other Groups who selected unsustainable initial speeds resulting in subsequent significant losses of speed. It is suggested that psychological factors specific to a major competitive event influenced decision making by athletes and poor decisions resulted in final performances inferior to those expected based on PB times.