The work reported here addresses load matching improvement in Net Zero Energy Buildings (Net-ZEBs). The related relevant literature shows that currently research work is mainly focused on improving the load matching of individual buildings. In this paper the concept of a Cooperative Net Zero Energy Community (CNet-ZEC) is introduced, extending discussion to the enhancement of load matching at a wider community level. Both building and community levels are compared in order to assess the work proposed here, through the analysis of three distinct scenarios where five Net-ZEBs work individually or in community.

The results presented here were obtained through a detailed simulation based on 1-min resolution stochastic load profiles and recorded weather data. The results indicate that over the period of a year the CNet-ZEC has the potential to increase the electrical demand covered by onsite electricity generation up to 21% and the on-site generation that is used by the building up to 15%. The following elements are considered by the CNet-ZEC in order to produce those results: (i) demand heterogeneity of the buildings integrating the community; (ii) the higher number of controllable devices; and (iii) the potential higher amount of energy available to satisfy the community demand.

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We present copositivity tests based on new necessary and sufficient conditions which require the solution of linear complementarity problems (LCP). We propose methodologies involving Lemke’s method, an enumerative algorithm and a linear mixed-integer programming formulation to solve the required LCPs. Moreover, we discuss a new necessary condition for (strict) copositivity based on solving a linear program, which can be used as a preprocessing step. The algorithms with these three different variants are thoroughly applied to test matrices from the literature and to max-clique instances with matrices of order up to 496×496. We compare our procedures with three other copositivity tests from the literature as well as with a general global optimization solver. The numerical results are very promising and equally good and in many cases better than the results reported elsewhere.

A large collection of vertebrate coprolites from black lacustrine shales in the Late Triassic (Rhaetian–Sinemurian) Kap Stewart Formation, East Greenland is examined with regard to internal and external morphology, prey inclusions, and possible relationships to the contemporary vertebrate fauna. A number of the coprolites were mineralogically examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), showing the primary mineral composition to be apatite, clay minerals, carbonates and, occasionally, quartz in the form of secondary mineral grains. The coprolite assemblage shows multiple sizes and morphotypes of coprolites, and different types of prey inclusions, demonstrating that the coprolite assemblage originates from a variety of different producers.Supplementary material: A description of the size, shape, structure, texture, contents and preservation of the 328 specimens is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.2134335

Five experimental cyclic tests were carried out on reinforced concrete rectangular columns with rounded corners, different condition (new and damaged) and different strengthening systems: that included confinement through carbon fiber (CFRP) jackets, anchor dowels, high strength repair mortar and external longitudinal stainless steel bars. Lateral load - displacement relationship, energy dissipation, ductility and curvature results were analyzed together with two different damage assessment classifications. The overall evaluation concludes that the use of external confinement with CFRP on RC columns is viable and of effective performance enhancement alone and combined with other techniques. Damaged columns that were retrofitted showed an increased load capacity up to 20% along with good ductile behavior within the limits of the US, European, Canadian and Japanese codes, with minor/moderate degree of damage at 1% drift ratio and moderate degree of damage at 2% drift ratio.

http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/lblm/files/methodsmolbiol-2016-1424-81.pdf

The purpose of this application, under Articles 78.1 and 81.1 of the Code, is to replace Diplodocus longus Marsh, 1878 as the type species of the sauropod dinosaur genus Diplodocus by the much better represented D. carnegii Hatcher, 1901, due to the undiagnosable state of the holotype of D. longus (YPM 1920, a partial tail and a chevron). The holotype of D. carnegii, CM 84, is a well-preserved and mostly articulated specimen. Casts of it are on display in various museums around the world, and the species has generally been used as the main reference for studies of comparative anatomy or phylogeny of the genus. Both species are known from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States. The genus Diplodocus is the basis for the family-level taxa diplodocinae Marsh, 1884, diplodocidae Marsh, 1884, diplodocimorpha Marsh, 1884 (Calvo & Salgado, 1995) and diplodocoidea Marsh, 1884 (Upchurch, 1995). It is also a specifier of at least 10 phylogenetic clades. With the replacement of D. longus by D. carnegii as type species, Diplodocus could be preserved as a taxonomic name with generally accepted content. Taxonomic stability of the entire clade diplodocoidea, and the proposed definitions of several clades within Sauropoda, could be maintained.

An alternative technique for production of devices which uses both silicon crystalline wafers (p-type) and heavy doped amorphous silicon thin films (n-type) is reported. The amorphous silicon acts as a finite source of dopant and is deposited (at low temperature, 70 °C) by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon wafers. Afterwards, the process of dopant diffusion into the crystalline silicon occurs in a diffusion furnace at 1000 °C for 2 h, to create p–n junctions. Using SIMS analyses, a dopant (P) transfer into c-Si of about 30% is verified and 87% of the dopant transferred is electrically active. Consequently, n-MOSFET devices are produced using a gate oxide thermally grown at the same diffusion temperature for one hour. The preliminary results of the MOSFET (channel length and width of 0.5 and 5 mm, respectively) show a depletion behavior with a threshold voltage, Vth=−8.2 V and afield-effect mobility, µ_FE=187.8 cm²/(Vs).

In this study, amorphous indium-tungsten oxide (IWO) semiconductor thin films were prepared by an eco-friendly spin-coating process using ethanol and water as solvents. The electrical properties of IWO thin-film transistors (TFTs), together with the structural and morphological characteristics of IWO thin films, were systematically investigated as functions of tungsten concentration and annealing temperature. The optimized IWO channel layer was then integrated on an aqueous aluminum oxide (AlOx) gate dielectric. It is observed that the solution-processed IWO/AlOx TFT presents high stability and improved characteristics, such as an on/off current ratio of 5 × 107, a field-effect mobility of 15.3 cm2 V-1 s-1, a small subthreshold slope of 68 mV dec-1, and a threshold voltage shift of 0.15 V under bias stress for 2 h. The IWO/AlOx TFT could be operated at a low voltage of 2 V, which was 15 times lower than that of conventional SiO2-based devices. The solution-processed IWO thin films synthesized in a green route would be promising candidates for large-area and high-performance low-cost devices. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016.

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Software refactoring is a well-known technique that provides transformations on software artifacts with the aim of improving their overall quality.

In the past, we have proposed a catalog of refactoring for spreadsheet models expressed in the ClassSheets modeling language, which allows us to specify the business logic of a spreadsheet in an object-oriented fashion.

Reasoning about spreadsheets at the model level enhances a model-driven spreadsheet environment where a ClassSheet model and its conforming instance (the spreadsheet data) automatically co-evolves after a refactoring is applied at the model level. Our motivation for such research was to improve the model and its conforming instance: the spreadsheet data.

In this paper we define such refactorings using previously proposed evolution steps for models and instances.

We also present an empirical study we designed and conducted in order to confirm our original intuition that these refactorings have a positive impact on end-user productivity, both in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

The results are presented not only in terms of productivity changes between refactored and non-refactored scenarios, but also in terms of overall user satisfaction, relevance, and experience.

In almost all cases the refactorings indeed improved end-users productivity. Moreover, in most cases users were more engaged with the refactored version of the spreadsheets they worked with.