Energy resources management for more sustainable distribution systems: an intelligent approach

Energy Resources Management can play a very relevant role in future power systems in SmartGrid context, with high penetration of distributed generation and storage systems. This paper deals with the importance of resources management in incident situation. The system to consider a high penetration of distributed generation, demand response, storage units and network reconfiguration. A case study evidences the advantages of using a flexible SCADA to control the energy resources in incident situation.

Emergency energy resource management in SmartGrids

Energy resources management can play a very relevant role in future power systems in a SmartGrid context, with intensive penetration of distributed generation and storage systems. This paper deals with the importance of resource management in incident situations. The paper presents DemSi, an energy resources management simulator that has been developed by the authors to simulate electrical distribution networks with high distributed generation penetration, storage in network points and customers with demand response contracts. DemSi is used to undertake simulations for an incident scenario, evidencing the advantages of adequately using flexible contracts, storage, and reserve in order to limit incident consequences.

Distributed energy resources management with cyber-physical SCADA in the context of future smart grids

In the energy management of a small power system, the scheduling of the generation units is a crucial problem for which adequate methodologies can maximize the performance of the energy supply. This paper proposes an innovative methodology for distributed energy resources management. The optimal operation of distributed generation, demand response and storage resources is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model (MILP) and solved by a deterministic optimization technique CPLEX-based implemented in General Algebraic Modeling Systems (GAMS). The paper deals with a vision for the grids of the future, focusing on conceptual and operational aspects of electrical grids characterized by an intensive penetration of DG, in the scope of competitive environments and using artificial intelligence methodologies to attain the envisaged goals. These concepts are implemented in a computational framework which includes both grid and market simulation.

A novel flow cytometric protocol for assessment of yeast cell adhesion

Microbial adhesion is a field of recognized relevance and, as such, an impressive array of tools has been developed to understand its molecular mechanisms and ultimately for its quantification. Some of the major limitations found within these methodologies concern the incubation time, the small number of cells analyzed, and the operator's subjectivity. To overcome these aspects, we have developed a quantitative method to measure yeast cells' adhesion through flow cytometry. In this methodology, a suspension of yeast cells is mixed with green fluorescent polystyrene microspheres (uncoated or coated with host proteins). Within 2 h, an adhesion profile is obtained based on two parameters: percentage and cells-microsphere population's distribution pattern. This flow cytometry protocol represents a useful tool to quantify yeast adhesion to different substrata in a large scale, providing manifold data in a speedy and informative manner.

Scheduling in holonic manufacturing systems

This chapter presents some of the issues with holonic manufacturing systems. It starts by presenting the current manufacturing scenario and trends and then provides some background information on the holonic concept and its application to manufacturing. The current limitations and future trends of manufacturing suggest more autonomous and distributed organisations for manufacturing systems; holonic manufacturing systems are proposed as a way to achieve such autonomy and decentralisation. After a brief literature survey a specific research work is presented to handle scheduling in holonic manufacturing systems. This work is based on task and resource holons that cooperate with each other based on a variant of the contract net protocol that allow the propagation of constraints between operations in the execution plan. The chapter ends by presenting some challenges and future opportunities of research.

A new strategy for the synthesis of 3-cinnamoyl-2-styrylchromones and their transformation into new xanthenodiones derivatives

23rd ISHC Congress will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from July 31 August 4, 2011.

Compounds identified on hexane and dichloromethane extracts of Salicornia ramosissima

3rd Portuguese Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry and 1st Portuguese-Spanish-Brazilian Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry, Aveiro, 28-30 Novembro 2012.

Some aromatic compounds from dichloromethane extract of Salicornia ramosissima.

6th Spanish-Portuguese-Japanese Organic Chemistry Symposium, Lisboa, de 18 a 20 de Julho de 2012 (Poster Communication).

Gestão e monitorização de uma rede departamental: um caso de estudo

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Distributed Model Predictive Control for Housing with Hourly Auction of Available Energy

This paper presents a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) for indoor thermal comfort that simultaneously optimizes the consumption of a limited shared energy resource. The control objective of each subsystem is to minimize the heating/cooling energy cost while maintaining the indoor temperature and used power inside bounds. In a distributed coordinated environment, the control uses multiple dynamically decoupled agents (one for each subsystem/house) aiming to achieve satisfaction of coupling constraints. According to the hourly power demand profile, each house assigns a priority level that indicates how much is willing to bid in auction for consume the limited clean resource. This procedure allows the bidding value vary hourly and consequently, the agents order to access to the clean energy also varies. Despite of power constraints, all houses have also thermal comfort constraints that must be fulfilled. The system is simulated with several houses in a distributed environment.

Solução doméstica para televisão digital

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Efeito agudo do exercício físico na rigidez arterial

Este estudo pretendeu reproduzir uma tarefa da vida diária (marcha com transporte de peso nos membros superiores) realizada de forma rotineira e até aconselhada no contexto da prevenção e reabilitação de patologia cardiovascular, desta forma, teve como objectivo avaliar o efeito agudo de uma sessão de exercício aeróbio associado a exercício isométrico na rigidez arterial em indivíduos jovens. Foram recrutados 14 indivíduos do sexo masculino com média de idade de 30,3±3,6 anos. Foram realizadas duas sessões de exercício com uma semana de intervalo. Em ambas as sessões de exercício, os sujeitos caminharam num tapete rolante a uma velocidade de 5,0 km/h por um período de dez minutos, sendo que, numa das sessões, determinada aleatoriamente, carregaram o equivalente a 10% do seu peso corporal distribuído igualmente pelos dois membros superiores em dois garrafões de água. Avaliou-se em repouso e imediatamente após o exercício, a pressão arterial periférica, a frequência cardíaca e a rigidez arterial. A análise da rigidez arterial foi efectuada na artéria radial do membro superior direito com um sistema transdutor automático de pressão. Os parâmetros reportados neste estudo são a frequência cardíaca, a pressão arterial sistólica e diastólica, a pressão arterial média, a pressão central (aórtica) sistólica, a pressão de pulso central, a pressão de aumentação e o índice de aumentação a 75 bmp (Aix@75). Em repouso, não se verificaram diferenças significativas entre as duas sessões de exercício nos parâmetros avaliados. O principal resultado do presente estudo indica que a rigidez arterial aumenta de forma aguda com a realização de caminhada (exercício aeróbio) apenas quando esta é acompanhada do transporte nos membros superiores de uma carga externa (exercício isométrico) [Aix@75: -5.5(8.4) para -1.36(8.17)%, p<0.05]. Relativamente ao protocolo exclusivamente aeróbio não se verificaram diferenças significativas na rigidez arterial [Aix@75: -4.2(9.1) para -4.69(7.93)%, p>0.05]. Em conclusão, os resultados do presente estudo indicam que a rigidez arterial, em indivíduos jovens e aparentemente saudáveis, aumenta de forma significativa apenas quando o exercício aeróbio é acompanhado de exercício isométrico de membros superiores com transporte de carga adicional.

Demand response in future power systems management – a conceptual framework and simulation tool

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrotécnica – Sistemas Eléctricos de Energia

A denoising approach for iterative side information creation in distributed video coding

In distributed video coding, motion estimation is typically performed at the decoder to generate the side information, increasing the decoder complexity while providing low complexity encoding in comparison with predictive video coding. Motion estimation can be performed once to create the side information or several times to refine the side information quality along the decoding process. In this paper, motion estimation is performed at the decoder side to generate multiple side information hypotheses which are adaptively and dynamically combined, whenever additional decoded information is available. The proposed iterative side information creation algorithm is inspired in video denoising filters and requires some statistics of the virtual channel between each side information hypothesis and the original data. With the proposed denoising algorithm for side information creation, a RD performance gain up to 1.2 dB is obtained for the same bitrate.

A formação dos educadores de infância na área das ciências: implicações para a supervisão

Dissertação de Mestrado, Supervisão Pedagógica (Educação de Infância), 23 de Abril de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.