Marginal Cost of Energy Volatility in the Brazilian Interconnected Power System

From 2018 to 2022, on average, 70% of the Brazilian effective electric generation was produced by hydropower, 10% by wind power, and 20% by thermal power plants. Over the last five years, Brazil suffered from a series of severe droughts. As a result, hydropower generation was reduced, but demand growth was also declined as results of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession. From 2012 to 2022, the Brazilian reservoir system operated with, on average, only 40% of the active storage, but storage recovered to normal levels in the first three months of 2022. Despite large capacity of storage reservoirs, high volatility of the marginal cost of energy was observed in recent years. In this paper, we used two optimization models, NEWAVE and HIDROTERM for our study. These two models were previously developed for mid-range planning of the operation of the Brazilian interconnected power system. We used these two models to optimize the operation and compared the results with observed operational records for the period of 2018-2022. NEWAVE is a stochastic dual dynamic programming model which aggregates the system into four subsystems and 12 equivalent reservoirs. HIDROTERM is a nonlinear programming model that considers each of the 167 individual hydropower plants of the system. The main purposes of the comparison are to assess cooperation opportunities with the use of both models and better understand the impacts of increasing uncertainties, seasonality of inflows and winds, demand forecasts, decisions about storage in reservoirs, and thermal production on energy prices. © World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2023.All rights reserved

Motives for security and sexual activity among single individuals at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

Amidst a global pandemic, survival needs become salient and the ability of individuals to regulate feelings and actions might be particularly relevant to protecting themselves from harm. Drawing from Regulatory Focus Theory individuals who are more focused on prevention are also more likely to enact health-protective behaviours, including sexual health behaviours, because they are more aware of threats. Extending this reasoning to the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a pre-registered longitudinal study with 174 individuals from 23 countries (M age = 30.66, SD = 11.81;77.6% women), to examine the role of regulatory focus in predicting the sexual activity of single individuals. We assessed demographic information, regulatory focus, and personality traits at baseline (T1), perceived threats two weeks later (T2), and sexual activity indicators two weeks later (T3). As hypothesised, results showed that single individuals who reported a greater focus on prevention at the onset of the pandemic perceived more pandemic-related threats and, in turn, reported less frequent sexual activity. These effects were consistent even when controlling for promotion (i.e. pleasure motives), personality, geographic location, local social distancing policies, gender, and sexual orientation. Findings are discussed considering their implications for the sexual functioning and sexual health of single individuals. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

TELENEUROLOGY AS A SUPPORT STRATEGY FOR STROKE PATIENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN RECIFE-BRAZIL

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the importance of using Telehealth technologies to offer medical care to patients. Teleneurology can provide access to specialists with quality and safety, in addition to presenting great potential in reducing care gaps, especially in the Brazilian public system. Objective: Demonstrate the profile and impact of the population assisted by Teleneurology during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, in addition to the outcomes at the end of this strategy in a city located in the northeast Brazil's territory. Methodology: Retrospective and cross-sectional analysis of medical records of patients treated by the team of neurologists at Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, through the Regula Mais Brasil Collaborative project in 2020 and 2021, using telehealth strategies. Results: 657 teleconsultations (video or phone) were carried out, all from users of the public health system, and referred for neurological assessment from primary care. The median age was 45,03 ± 15,9 years and 79,3% were women. According to the international code of diseases (ICD-10), the main diagnoses referred to were Headache (51.6%), followed by Epilepsy (16.6%) and Stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic) at 2.8%. After the first teleconsultation, 56.2% were followed by teleconsultation and 27.4% returned to primary care. Conclusion: Using teleneurology as strategy helped to reduce the gaps in healthcare due to the closing of Primary Care Centers during the coronavirus pandemic, avoided unnecessary displacements, especially of patients with several comorbidities, in addition to ensuring the safety of users, since they were cared for in their respective homes.

Love in the Time of COVID: Perceived Partner Responsiveness Buffers People From Lower Relationship Quality Associated With COVID-Related Stressors

External stressors can erode relationship quality, though little is known about what can mitigate these effects. We examined whether COVID-related stressors were associated with lower relationship quality, and whether perceived partner responsiveness-the extent to which people believe their partner understands, validates, and cares for them-buffers these effects. When people in relationships reported more COVID-related stressors they reported poorer relationship quality at the onset of the pandemic (N = 3,593 from 57 countries) and over the subsequent 3 months (N = 1,125). At the onset of the pandemic, most associations were buffered by perceived partner responsiveness, such that people who perceived their partners to be low in responsiveness reported poorer relationship quality when they experienced COVID-related stressors, but these associations were reduced among people who perceived their partners to be highly responsive. In some cases, these associations were buffered over the ensuing weeks of the pandemic.