Suchergebnisse

In this paper I address the issue of incorporating environmental sustainability in project appraisal. I extend the results of Barbier, Markandya, and Pearce on 'operationalizing' a concept of sustainability into appraisal methods for practical decisionmaking. I generalize their results in two directions. First, I abandon their implicit assumption that benefits and costs of a given project in a given period depend only on the level of activity of the project in the same period. Second, I address the issue of which portfolio of projects to choose. My results show how to modify the net present value criterion for choosing a set of projects in the presence of a sustainability constraint.

In this note I solve the problem formalized by Barbier, Markandya, and Pearce in "Environmental sustainability and cost–benefit analysis". I show that the optimality conditions of that problem imply but are not implied by the conditions presented by Barbier et al.

Abstract. This paper tests a methodology for tsunami wave-form inversion, based on the adjoint method. The method is designed to perform the direct optimization of the tsunami fault parameters, from tide-gauge data, imposing strong geophysical constrains to the inverted solutions, leading to a substantial enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio, when compared with the classical technique based on Green's functions of the linear long-wave model. A 4-step inversion proce-dure, which can be fully automated, consists (i) in the source area delimitation by adjoint backward ray-tracing, (ii) ad-joint optimization of the initial sea state, from a vanishing first-guess, (iii) non-linear adjustment of the fault model and (iv) final adjoint optimization in the fault parameter space. That methodology is systematically tested with four different idealized bathymetry and coastline setups (flat bathymetry in an open domain, closed conical circular lake, islands in an open domain and submarine mountains in an open domain) and different amounts of synthetic observation data, and of observational and bathymetric errors. Results show that the method works well in the presence of reasonable amounts of error and it provides, as a by-product, a resolution matrix that contains information on the inversion error, identifying the combinations of source parameters that are best and worst resolved by the inversion

From the 1990s until the pre-COVID-19 outbreak, commercial nightlife has become central to the urban branding, and tourism marketing strategies of many European cities. However, the night-time leisure industry has stalled in Europe as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented lock-down and physical distancing measures imposed by several national governments. This short paper aims to picture the uncertain scenario that the nightlife industry of Europe, and Portugal, might have to face in post-pandemic times. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Considering the increasing demand towards "ready-to-cook" processed seafood products, recognised as being potential contributors to high sodium (Na) intake by consumers, this study aimed to assess the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) reduction on physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) sausages stored in chilling conditions during 5 weeks. Three formulations were tested in comparison with a control (100% NaCl, CTR): (i) 50% NaCl+50% ME (oleoresins microcapsules) (F1); (ii) 50% NaCl+50% KCl (F2); and (iii) only 50% NaCl (F3). The NaCl reduction mainly affected the texture and the salty taste, resulting in softer and perceived as less salty sausages after processing. However, hardness differences disappeared after 5 weeks. It seems that an antioxidant protection was obtained in sausages formulated with oleoresins microcapsules. No or low growth of psychrotrophic and mesophilic bacteria was observed (≤2.40 log CFU/g). Decreasing NaCl content and/or partially replacing it (50%) by KCl or oleoresins microcapsules seem to be suitable solutions to reduce Na (30.9–36.3%) levels, while maintaining the chilled sausages quality for 5 weeks. The partial replacement of NaCl by KCl also allows obtaining a product richer in K (997.2 mg/100 g), which ingestion may contribute for a cardiovascular protective effect. ; This research was supported by European and national funds through the SEAFOODTOMORROW (European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 773400), SmoKlean (Mar 2020 FEAMP-0025) and Saltreduction (where oleoresins microcapsules were developed) projects as well as Foundation for Science and Technology (projects: UIDB/04077/2020, UIDB/ 04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020).