Abstract
The share of renewable energy sources (RESs) in the overall power production is on the upward trend in many power systems. Especially in recent years, considerable amounts of RES type distributed generations (DGs) are being integrated in distribution systems, albeit several challenges mainly induced by the intermittent nature of power productions using such resources. Optimal planning and efficient management of such resources is therefore highly necessary to alleviate their negative impacts, which increase with the penetration level. This paper deals with the optimal allocation (i.e. size and placement) of RES type DGs in coordination with reconfiguration of distribution systems (RDS). Moreover, the paper presents quantitative analysis with regards to the impacts of RDS on the integration level of such DGs in distribution systems. To this end, a tailor-made genetic algorithm (GA) based optimization model is developed. The proposed model is tested on a 16-node network system. Numerical results show the positive contributions of network reconfiguration on increasing the level of renewable DG penetration, and improving the overall performance of the system in terms of reduced costs and losses as well as a more stabilized voltage profile.

Abstract
In obstructive sleep apnea, respiratory effort is maintained but ventilation decreases/disappears because of the partial/total occlusion in the upper airway. It affects about 4% of men and 2% of women in the world population. The aim was to define an auxiliary diagnostic method that can support the decision to perform polysomnography (standard test), based on risk and diagnostic factors. Our sample performed polysomnography between January and May 2015. Two Bayesian classifiers were used to build the models: Naive Bayes (NB) and Tree augmented Naive Bayes (TAN), using all 39 variables or just a selection of 13. Area under the ROC curve, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values were evaluated using cross-validation. From a collected total of 241 patients, only 194 fulfill the inclusion criteria. 123 (63%) were male, with a mean age of 58 years old. 66 (34%) patients had a normal result and 128 (66%) a diagnostic of obstructive sleep apnea. The AUCs for each model were: NB39 - 72%; TAN39 - 79%; NB13 - 75% and TAN13 - 75%. The high (34%) proportion of normal results confirm the need for a pre-evaluation prior to polysomnography. The constant seeking of a validated model to screen patients with suspicion of obstructive sleep apnea is essential, especially at the level of primary care.

Abstract

Abstract
Purpose: Police in Europe are facing increased demands and diminished resources, and this is particularly prominent among emergency response officers (EROs) working in poorer countries such as Portugal. Considering that daily stress and limited coping skills can result in detrimental consequences for officers’ health and society welfare, the purpose of this paper is to investigate stress and coping among Portuguese EROs. Design/methodology/approach: EROs completed daily diaries over 11 working days. Each diary entry included an open-ended stressor, coping section and a Likert-type scale to evaluate coping effectiveness. Data were analyzed using inductive and deductive content analysis procedures. The frequency of stressors, coping and coping effectiveness were calculated. Findings: EROs reported facing more operational stressors, particularly public disorder situations. However, gun situations were perceived as the most intense stressor. Emotion-focused coping (i.e. peer support) was more used than problem-focused. Despite variation in coping effectiveness in accordance to stressor experienced, longitudinal analysis suggests that problem-focused coping is more effective. Research limitations/implications: Longitudinal methodologies should contemplate stress appraisal and coping effectiveness in order to fully understand stress and coping. Future studies should employ this methodology at a larger scale and over longer periods. Practical implications: Intervention programs for EROs should be multidimensional, targeting work conditions and resources, stress management, and coping effectiveness. Originality/value: Findings provide strong recommendations for future research and applied implications for stress prevention and effective coping interventions. © 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.

Abstract

Abstract
The privacy of information is an increasing concern of software applications users. This concern was caused by attacks to cloud services over the last few years, that have leaked confidential information such as passwords, emails and even private pictures. Once the information is leaked, the users and software applications are powerless to contain the spread of information and its misuse. With databases as a central component of applications that store almost all of their data, they are one of the most common targets of attacks. However, typical deployments of databases do not leverage security mechanisms to stop attacks and do not apply cryptographic schemes to protect data. This issue has been tackled by multiple secure databases that provide trade-offs between security, query capabilities and performance. Despite providing stronger security guarantees, the proposed solutions still entrust their data to a single entity that can be corrupted or hacked. Secret sharing can solve this problem by dividing data in multiple secrets and storing each secret at a different location. The division is done in such a way that if one location is hacked, no information can be leaked. Depending on the protocols used to divide data, functions can be computed over this data through secure protocols that do not disclose information or actually know which values are being calculated. We propose a SQL database prototype capable of offering a trade-off between security and query latency by using a different secure protocol. An evaluation of the protocols is also performed, showing that our most relaxed protocol has an improvement of 5% on the query latency time over the original protocol. © 2017 ACM.