TARH (Portugal)

In 2018 and 2022, three incidents occurred at two of these high-voltage cut-off stations, with significant consequences in the supply of the high-voltage network affecting the municipalities of Cascais, Loures, Mafra, Sintra and Oeiras. The equipment involved, measurement instrument transformers, in this case, current transformers (CT), suffered a catastrophic failure, with insulation rupture and consequent projection of porcelain that affected other adjacent panels in the same installation.

Anthropogenic barriers fragment Portuguese rivers, threatening endemic freshwater fish communities. This study compiled national inventories and peer-reviewed research (2002–2024) to quantify fishway implementation, evolution and typology, while evaluating fish performance from published research. One hundred fishways built between 1950 and 2024 were recorded, half of which were constructed after the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Portugal (29 Dec 2005), tripling the annual construction rate. Fishways were found to be associated mainly with weirs (46%) and small hydropower plants (44%), with typology being dominated by the pool-type design (67%), nature-like facilities (18%), fish locks and combined systems (6% each), fish lifts (2%) and a single eel pass. Forty scientific contributions addressed fishway effectiveness; three-quarters dealt with pool-type facilities, while 12.5% and 10% focused on nature-like fishways and lifts, respectively. Experimental and field studies highlighted species-specific hydraulic preferences, the benefits of vertical slot and multislot configurations, and the potential of retrofitting fishways with macro-rugosities (i.e., fixed structural elements placed on the bottom) to improve non-salmonid fish passage. However, low attraction efficiency, limited multi-season monitoring and risks of aiding invasive species remain a concern. Research needs are proposed, including the refinement of species-specific hydrodynamic criteria, and the development of standardized efficiency metrics and of selective passage solutions, to advance fishway performance under Mediterranean hydrological constraints.

This study comprehensively investigates the hygric performance of two commonly used types of granite in masonry, each characterized by distinct porosity levels. A series of experimental tests, including capillary absorption, one-dimensional drying, cup methods, vacuum saturation, sorption/desorption isotherms, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and ultrasonic pulse velocity, was conducted in different directions and by using both pure water and NaCl solutions. The results highlight pronounced anisotropy in the granite’s hygric response, with significant directional differences in liquid and vapor moisture movement, as well as ultrasonic wave propagation. Granite with lower porosity and a finer pore structure exhibited hysteresis effects and more pronounced hygroscopic behavior, while granite with higher porosity showed greater capillary activity. The presence of salt crystals within the pore network significantly influences vapor and liquid transport properties, porosity, and moisture storage capacity. The gradual formation of sodium chloride crystals on drying surfaces noticeably altered drying kinetics, influenced by salt concentration and pore characteristics. These findings provide valuable insights into the hygric properties of granite, essential for understanding its durability and informing moisture transfer numerical models.

Salt decay is widely recognized as one of the most common mechanisms for the deterioration of building materials in monuments, sculptures, and civil structures. Understanding how salt crystallization affects the integrity of historic structures is therefore essential. Numerical tools can be used for this purpose and for estimating the damage induced by salt crystallization; however, there is still a lack of standardized procedures for accurate simulation of this degradation mechanism. In this study, we critically review existing numerical models to identify their advantages and limitations. The considered primary balance equations, variable factors, constitutive laws, assumptions, test procedures, and boundary conditions are investigated in more detail to highlight essential features. This paper describes that numerical models are generally developed based on several simplifying presumptions, such as isothermal conditions, constant boundary conditions, and the presence of only one type of salt. The impact of hydraulic interface resistances in masonry assemblies of units and joints on the numerical analysis of salt crystallization remains unclear. Despite a general understanding of the mathematical problem, several challenges persist regarding the development of constitutive laws for salt mixtures. A more accurate and reliable predictive simulation for salt decay in masonry can be developed by addressing the open issues discussed in this paper.

epuis 2004, les médecins facturent leurs prestations au moyen du système TARMED, désormais obsolète et plus du tout approprié, qui repose sur des données des années 90. Bien que le TARMED représente l'un des tarifs les plus importants de l'assurance obligatoire des soins, avec un volume de près de 12 milliards de francs, les partenaires tarifaires ne sont pas encore parvenus à se mettre Chef de la division Médecine et tarifs ambulatoires, FMH Il est grand temps d'introduire le TARDOC.

A preventive instrument to ensure the protection of groundwater is the establishment of wellhead protect areas (WPA) for public supply wells. The shape of the WPA depends on the rate of pumping and aquifer characteristics, such as the transmissivity, porosity, hydraulic gradient, and aquifer thickness. If any parameter changes after the design of the WPA, it will no longer be effective in protecting the aquifer and its catchment. With population growth in urban areas, the pressure on groundwater abstraction increases. Changes in flow, drawdowns and hydraulic gradients often occur. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of the WPA after a long period of establishment, in public wells with continuous pumping, located in densely populated urban area of the municipality of Montijo (Portugal). Considering the aquifer scenario in 2019, new extended WPAs were calculated using the combined results of three analytical methods and numerical modelling. In 2009 the aquifer presented hydraulic gradients varying between 0.0005 and 0.002, giving rise to a protection area with essentially circular shape. Although there was no increase in extraction flow, in 2019 the hydraulic gradients vary from 0.0008 to 0.008, and the flow directions have changed because of the water level decline. The shape of the WPA in this case is essentially elliptical and longer upstream and it can pose difficulties in the protection of public water catchments, in an urban area with already defined and consolidated land use. The best protection of the public supply wells in disturbed aquifers is obtained through numerical modeling.

There are strong regulatory signals prompting European system operators to consider flexible resources as an active subject in the grid expansion planning. The present paper is based on the first results from H2020 project FlexPlan, namely a European regulatory analysis. The study combines results of literature screening and survey of the existing practices drawing a picture of the present pan-European regulation and political targets to ensure that the subsequent project activities are correctly oriented. The study is structured around several key issues: flexible resources, including consideration of these in planning, ownership of energy storage, cost-benefit analysis, including rules for allocation of costs; Interaction between TSOs and DSOs. The paper concludes that despite strong efforts from ENTSO-E to develop common methodologic principles, there are still several missing elements in the puzzle. This strengthens the importance and proper timing of FlexPlan project, both for testing novel grid planning methodologies coping with the present challenges and providing sound results considering different timeframes.

We consider a chain of weakly harmonic coupled oscillators perturbed by a conservative noise. We show that by tuning accordingly the coupling constant energy can diffuse like a Brownian motion or superdiffuse like a maximally 3/2-stable asymmetric Levy process. For a critical value of the coupling, the energy diffusion is described by a family of Levy processes which interpolates between these two processes.

Thin films containing monometallic (Ag,Au) and bimetallic (Ag–Au) noble nanoparticles were dispersed in TiO2, using reactive magnetron sputtering and post-deposition thermal annealing. The influence of metal concentration and thermal annealing in the (micro)structural evolution of the films was studied, and its correlation with the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) behaviours was evaluated. The Ag/TiO2 films presented columnar to granular microstructures, developing Ag clusters at the surface for higher annealing temperatures. In some cases, the films presented dendrite-type fractal geometry, which led to an almost flat broadband optical response. The Au/TiO2 system revealed denser microstructures, with Au nanoparticles dispersed in the matrix, whose size increased with annealing temperature. This microstructure led to the appearance of LSPR bands, although some Au segregation to the surface hindered this effect for higher concentrations. The structural results of the Ag–Au/TiO2 system suggested the formation of bimetallic Ag–Au nanoparticles, which presence was supported by the appearance of a single narrow LSPR band. In addition, the Raman spectra of Rhodamine-6G demonstrated the viability of these systems for SERS applications, with some indication that the Ag/TiO2 system might be preferential, contrasting to the notorious behaviour of the bimetallic system in terms of LSPR response.