Unlock the Sharing Economy: The Case of the Parking Sector for Recurrent Commuting Trips

This study examines the pricing strategy of a parking sharing platform that rents the daytime-usage rights of private parking spaces from parking owners and sells them to parking users. In an urban area with both shared parking and curbside parking, a choice equilibrium model is proposed to predict the number of shared parking users under any given pricing strategy of the platform. We analytically analyze how the pricing strategy of the platform (price charged on users and rent paid to parking owners or sharers) would affect the parking choice equilibrium and several system efficiency metrics. It is shown that the platform is profitable when some parking owners have a relatively small inconvenience cost from sharing their spaces, but its profit is always negative at minimum social cost. Numerical studies are conducted to illustrate the analytical results and provide further understanding.

Photonic crystal emitter design and associated efficiency optimization of radioisotope thermophotovoltaic generators

The radioisotope batteries have drawn extensive attention due to the high energy density. Nowadays, the radioisotope thermophotovoltaic systems are one of the most promising radioisotope batteries. In this work, the crystal emitter design and the associated performance of the radioisotope thermophotovoltaic generators are investigated. First, the design of photonic crystal emitter together with the adoptions of both the multi-layer insulation and supporting materials are discussed. In order to optimize the system efficiency, the effects of the area of emitters are mainly investigated. We have analyzed the efficiency of system using GaSb cells and Si cells, respectively. With Si cells, the system efficiency can computationally reach about [Formula: see text] with an output power of 7 W. When GaSb cells are employed, the system performance is estimated to an efficiency of [Formula: see text] with 61.6 W output.

DESEMPENHO DE DOIS SISTEMAS DE BOMBEAMENTO POR ENERGIA FOTOVOLTAICA NO MEIO RURAL

DESEMPENHO DE DOIS SISTEMAS DE BOMBEAMENTO POR ENERGIA FOTOVOLTAICA NO MEIO RURAL ALARISSE COSTA AVELAR1; VANESSA DE FÁTIMA GRAH PONCIANO2; EZEQUIEL SARETTA3; ISAAC DE MATOS PONCIANO4; EVERTON FARIAS COUTRIM5 E MURILLO RIBEIRO DE GONÇALVES NUNES6 1 Discente do curso de Agronomia, Instituto Federal Goiano, IF Goiano Campus Iporá, Av. Oeste, 350, Parque União, Iporá, Goiás, Brasil. [email protected] 2 Professora Doutora, IF Goiano Campus Iporá, Av. Oeste, 350, Parque União, Iporá, Goiás, Brasil. [email protected] 3 Professor Adjunto, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Rua Ernesto Barros, 1345, Santo Antônio, 96506-322, Cachoeira do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. [email protected] 4 Professor Doutor, Faculdade de Iporá, R. Serra Cana Brava, 512, Boa Vista, Iporá, Goiás, Brasil. [email protected] 5 Discente do curso de Agronomia, Instituto Federal Goiano, IF Goiano Campus Iporá, Av. Oeste, 350, Parque União, Iporá, Goiás, Brasil. [email protected] 6 Discente do curso de Agronomia, Instituto Federal Goiano, IF Goiano Campus Iporá, Av. Oeste, 350, Parque União, Iporá, Goiás, Brasil. [email protected] 1 RESUMO Apesar da oferta interna de energia do Brasil ser composta em sua maioria por fontes não renováveis, o uso das fontes de energias renováveis no Brasil é três vezes maior que a média mundial. O uso de energia fotovoltaica para o bombeamento de água é uma das utilizações mais promissoras dessa fonte energética. Sendo que a energia solar é variável para os diferentes locais, seja pelo padrão climático, latitude e componentes atmosféricos, a avaliação do desempenho de bombeamento em diferentes localidades é de extrema importância para a obtenção de informações mais precisas. Diante do exposto, o presente trabalho visa avaliar o desempenho de duas motobombas fotovoltaicas, uma submersa e outra de superfície, para o bombeamento de água para uso rural, no município de Iporá-GO. Utilizou-se uma motobomba submersa Anauger R-100 e uma de superfície Shurflo 2088 instaladas a painéis fotovoltaicos. Através das análises dos dados coletados por sensores observou-se que para as mesmas condições a motobomba Anauger R-100 apresentou um melhor desempenho em bombeamento, obtendo maior vazão, maior tempo de funcionando e eficiência global do sistema. Palavras-chave: eficiência, irradiância, viabilidade. AVELAR, A.C.; GRAH PONCIANO, V.F.; SARETTA, E.; PONCIANO, I.M.; COUTRIM, E.F.; NUNES, M.R.G. PERFORMANCE OF TWO PHOTOVOLTAIC PUMPING SYSTEMS IN THE RURAL AREA 2 ABSTRACT Although Brazil's energy matrix is composed mostly of nonrenewable sources, the use of renewable energy sources in Brazil is three times greater than in the world. The use of photovoltaic energy for pumping water is one of the most promising uses of this energy source. Since solar energy is variable for different locations, whether due to weather pattern, latitude and atmospheric components, evaluation of pumping performance in different locations are extremely important to obtain relevant information. Given the above, this study aims to evaluate the performance of two photovoltaic motor pumps, one submerged and one surface, for pumping water for rural use, in the municipality of Iporá-GO. An Anauger R-100 submerged motor pump and a Shurflo 2088 surface motor pump installed in photovoltaic panels were used. An Anauger R-100 submerged motor pump and a Shurflo 2088 surface motor pump installed on photovoltaic panels were used. Through the analysis of the data collected by sensors, it was observed that for the same conditions the Anauger R-100 motor pump presented a better pumping performance, obtaining greater flow, longer running time and overall system efficiency. Keywords: efficiency, irradiance, viability.

THE UPGRADE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EFFICIENCY AND TECHNOLOGIC TRANSFORMATION OF ACCOUNTANT SPECIALIZATION

В статье исследуется тема разработки многофункциональной автоматизированной системы эффективного управления персоналом бухгалтерской службы банка с применением экономико-математического моделирования. The article studies the creating of the multifunctional automated personnel efficient management system of bank’s accounting staff based the economic and mathematical modeling. The author describes the relevance and feasibility of this task due to technological transformation of accountant functions.

Power Allocation for 5G Mobile Multiuser Cooperative Networks

With the fifth generation (5G) communication technology, the mobile multiuser networks have developed rapidly. In this paper, the performance analysis of mobile multiuser networks which utilize decode-and-forward (DF) relaying is considered. We derive novel outage probability (OP) expressions. To improve the OP performance, we study the power allocation optimization problem. To solve the optimization problem, we propose an intelligent power allocation optimization algorithm based on grey wolf optimization (GWO). We compare the proposed GWO approach with three existing algorithms. The experimental results reveal that the proposed GWO algorithm can achieve a smaller OP, thus improving system efficiency. Also, compared with other channel models, the OP values of the 2-Rayleigh model are increased by 81.2% and 66.6%, respectively.

Examining health sector stakeholder perceptions on the efficiency of county health systems in Kenya

Efficiency gains is a potential strategy to expand Kenya’s fiscal space for health. We explored health sector stakeholders’ understanding of efficiency and their perceptions of the factors that influence the efficiency of county health systems in Kenya. We conducted a qualitative cross-sectional study and collected data using three focus group discussions during a stakeholder engagement workshop. Workshop participants included health sector stakeholders from the national ministry of health and 10 (out 47) county health departments, and non-state actors in Kenya. A total of 25 health sector stakeholders participated. We analysed data using a thematic approach. Health sector stakeholders indicated the need for the outputs and outcomes of a health system to be aligned to community health needs. They felt that both hardware aspects of the system (such as the financial resources, infrastructure, human resources for health) and software aspects of the system (such as health sector policies, public finance management systems, actor relationships) should be considered as inputs in the analysis of county health system efficiency. They also felt that while traditional indicators of health system performance such as intervention coverage or outcomes for infectious diseases, and reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health are still relevant, emerging epidemiological trends such as an increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases should also be considered. The stakeholders identified public finance management, human resources for health, political interests, corruption, management capacity, and poor coordination as factors that influence the efficiency of county health systems. An in-depth examination of the factors that influence the efficiency of county health systems could illuminate potential policy levers for generating efficiency gains. Mixed methods approaches could facilitate the study of both hardware and software factors that are considered inputs, outputs or factors that influence health system efficiency. County health system efficiency in Kenya could be enhanced by improving the timeliness of financial flows to counties and health facilities, giving health facilities financial autonomy, improving the number, skill mix, and motivation of healthcare staff, managing political interests, enhancing anticorruption strategies, strengthening management capacity and coordination in the health sector.

Energy Efficient Lighting in Plant Factories: Addressing Utilance

Vertical farming is considered to play a crucial role in future food supply. Until today, the high amount of electrical energy required for artificial lighting has been problematic in this context. Various possibilities for increasing efficiency through adapted lighting conditions have been and are being investigated. However, comparably little attention is paid to increasing utilance, i.e., the amount of photons that can effectively be used by the plant. In this work, a novel targeted lighting strategy is therefore proposed that allows for a dynamic adaptation of the luminaires’ light distribution to match the effective crop size at each stage of plant growth in a fully-automated manner. It is shown that the resulting utilance can significantly be increased compared to standard full-coverage lighting. Moreover, it is found that the proposed strategy is likely to consume less than half of the electrical energy usually required for the latter. An additional increase in system efficiency can be prognosticated and the potential energy savings are estimated based on assumptions of future LED generations derived from literature.

INDICATORS OF SA-19 “GRISON” ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN MISSILE SYSTEM EFFICIENCY WHEN FIRING AT NONTYPICAL TARGETS OF THE ROCKET AND ARTILLERY WEAPONS

In modern conditions of combat use the SA-19 “Grison” anti-aircraft gun missile system fires at small targets (drones) and typical targets (helicopters and attack aircraft), so a number of problems arise. In particular, they include: finding the value of the probabilities of hitting the target with n shots and one shot; assessing the effectiveness of the SA-19 “Grison” platoon‟s concentrated fire on a single target; estimating errors of missile guidance and warhead detonation system; estimating the values of conditional probabilities of hitting a target with a single missile, depending on the value of particular mishit. When calculating the slant range to the far edge of the SA-19 “Grison” weapon's kill zone under different conditions of use, factors that reduce these ranges should be taken into account. An analysis of the main studies and publications presented in [1-9] does not make it possible to determine the performance of missile and artillery weapons in shooting at small-size targets. This literature provides general approaches to solving this problem. The purpose of this article is to develop a model for calculating the values of conditional probabilities of destruction of small targets, to form the best options for repelling an enemy‟s air strike, as well as to justify the general directions of improvement of weapon‟s elements.