Coaxial rotors can be found in multirotor vehicles for the added thrust compared to independent rotors while keeping similar area footprints but, performance losses should be considered. This experimental study analyzes the effects of varying motor throttle and propeller pitch values in motor-propeller systems with two to four coaxial rotors. The results show that in a two-rotor coaxial system, to lessen the adverse effects of a front rotor’s backwash and to operate at the maximum performance, only the back motor should be operated initially up to 75% duty cycle before using the front motor up to its 75% duty cycle. Additional thrust requirements should be generated from the back rotor and then from the front rotor up to their maximum duty cycles. In two, three, and four-rotor coaxial setups, total thrust output generated is 1.6, 2.1, and 2.5 times the thrust output at system thrust performance of 86%, 76%, and 66%, respectively of that of an isolated rotor. In a four-rotor coaxial setup, maximum system performance is achieved when the propeller pitch values are gradually increased from the first to the last rotor. The gradual increments in propeller pitch values also result in more uniform thrust sharing among rotors.

In the past decades, a significant rise in the adoption of streaming applications has changed the decision-making process for the industry and academia sectors. This movement led to the emergence of a plurality of Big Data technologies such as Apache Storm, Spark, Heron, Samza, Flink, and other systems to provide in-memory processing for real-time Big Data analysis at high throughput. Spark Streaming represents one of the most popular open-source implementations which handles an ever-increasing data ingestion and processing by using the Unified Memory Manager to manage memory occupancy between storage and processing regions dynamically, which is the focus of this study. The problem behind memory management for data-intensive stream processing pipelines is that the incoming data is faster than the downstream operators can consume. Consequently, the backpressure of Spark acts in the opposite direction of downstream operators. In such a case, the incoming data overwhelms the memory manager and provokes memory leak issues. As a result, it affects the performance of applications generating, e.g., high latency, low throughput, or even data loss. In such a case, the initial intuition motivating our work is that memory management became the critical factor in keeping processing at scale and system stability of Spark. This work provides a deep dive into Spark backpressure, evaluates its structure, presents the main characteristics to support data-intensive streaming pipelines, and investigates the current in-memory-based performance issues.

Weaving is an ancient and effective structural forming technique characterized by the ability to convert two-dimensional ribbons to three-dimensional structures. However, most 3D structures woven from straight ribbons have topological defects. Baek et al. proposed a method to weave smoother continuous 3D surface structures using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbons, obtained a new surface structure with relatively continuous variation of Gaussian curvature, and analyzed its geometric properties. We believe that this new 3D surface structure with smooth geometric properties must correspond to new mechanical properties. To this end, we investigated a 3D surface structure using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbon weaving, and the results of calculations and experiments show that such structures have better buckling stability than those woven with straight ribbons. It is observed that the number of ribbons influences the buckling behavior of different types of woven structures.

Three-phase motors are commonly adopted in several industrial contexts and their failures can result in costly downtime causing undesired service outages; this way, motor diagnostics is an issue that assumes great importance. To prevent their failures and timely face the considered service outages, a non-invasive method to identify electrical and mechanical faults in three-phase asynchronous electric motors is proposed in the paper. In particular, a measurement strategy along with a machine learning algorithm based on Artificial Neural Network is exploited to properly classify failures. In particular, digitized current samples of each motor phase are first processed by means of FFT and PSD in order to estimate the associated spectrum. Suitable features (in terms of frequency and amplitude of the spectral components) are then singled out to either train or feed a neural network acting as a classifier. The method is preliminary validated on a set of 28 electric motors, and its performance is compared with common state-of-art machine learning techniques. The obtained results show that the proposed methodology is able to reach accuracy levels greater than 98\% in identifying anomalous conditions of three-phase asynchronous motors.

This paper presents the first demonstrations of the memristor-CMOS logic family for phase-frequency detection. We systematically design and simulate basic AND, OR, NOT, and more complex XOR and D flip-flop (DFF) cells that use a set of basic logic functions. The results obtained from the outputs show the correct operation of the designed PFD block. The proposed memristor-based cell can have significant advantages over other similar transistor-based cells in terms of low power dissipation, lower number of devices, chip area and dense fabrication. This PFD can be used to design phase-locked circuits with charge pump (CP-PLL) at high-frequency input clocks up to a few GHz. Our simulations are performed in 50nm process with the KNOWM memristor model at VDD=1V supply voltage.

In future automated vehicles we will often engage in non-driving tasks and will not watch the road. This will affect postural stabilization and may elicit discomfort or even motion sickness in dynamic driving. Future vehicles shall accommodate this by properly designed seats and interiors whereas comfortable vehicle motion shall be achieved with smooth driving styles and well de-signed (active) suspensions. To support research and development in dynamic comfort, this paper presents validation of a multi-segment full body human model including visuo-vestibular and muscle spindle feedback for postural stabilization. Dynamic driving is evaluated using a “sicken-ing drive” including a 0.2 Hz 4 m/s2 slalom. Vibration transmission is evaluated with compliant automotive seats, applying 3D platform motion and evaluating 3D translation and rotation of pelvis, trunk and head. The model matches human motion in dynamic driving and reproduces fore-aft, lateral and vertical oscillations. Visuo-vestibular and muscle spindle feedback are shown to be essential in particular for head-neck stabilization. Active leg muscle control at the hips and knees is shown to be essential to stabilize the trunk in the high amplitude slalom condition but not in low amplitude horizontal vibrations. However, active leg muscle control can strongly affect 4-6 Hz vertical vibration transmission. Compared to the vibration tests, the dynamic driving tests show enlarged postural control gains to minimize trunk and head roll and pitch, and to align head yaw with the driving direction. Human modelling can create the required insights to achieve breakthrough comfort enhance-ments while enabling efficient development for a wide range of driving conditions, body sizes and other factors. Hence, modelling human postural control can accelerate innovation of seats and vehicle motion control strategies for (automated) vehicles.

This article identifies promising research areas on the PETROLEUM SCIENCE topic via bibliometric analysis of the 2018-2021 publications in the highly cited Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, which is included in the Journal Citation Reports Section: ENERGY & FUELS — Q2 Quartile, ENGINEERING, PETROLEUM — Q1 Quartile. Bibliometric metadata from Web of Science were used for 866 articles in 2018, 1,142 — in 2019, 1,138 — in 2020, and 1,832 in 2021. The clustering of articles was performed using the texts of the Title, Abstract, Keywords, and Keywords Plus fields. The demo version of the Lingo3G algorithm was used. For the two major clusters, the most promising research topics were determined by comparing the titles of the 350 most cited and 350 least cited articles for each year. The hypothesis that low-cited papers often have the same subject matter as high-cited papers of previous years is discussed.

Large structures such as wind turbines are subject to environmental factors and varying operational loads which may result in structural damage, making components of these large structures prone to performance and mechanical degradation. The use of high-definition optical vision sensors in digital image correlation (DIC) allow for the application of a non-destructive image registration technique in which it measures finite three-dimensional deformations on surfaces through correlations of a unique pattern or set of unique localized patterns. However, the physical placement of an artificial marker such as a unique speckled pattern on the surface of the structure is time-consuming and often impractical for large structures. Therefore, we propose a novel auto-mated methodology that searches and segments salient and unique regions of an image as well as for all subsequent images to assist in performing efficient displacement measurements for vibrational study and structural health monitoring purposes. Our algorithm is validated on a con-trolled set of images, as well as on a small structure and large real-world wind turbine, which suggests the algorithm’s efficacy without the use of artificial markers for large structural health monitoring.

The article presents the results of tests related to failure analysis and finding ways to diagnose used semiconductor elements, among other, in power electronics converter systems on vessels and offshore facilities (drilling and production rigs, wind turbines). Diagnostic relationships were found between the temperature change in the above systems and the signals generated in form of elastic waves of acoustic emission. The authors confirmed the influence of the transistor's working temperature on its amplitude-frequency spectrum of acoustic emission signal emitted. The range of 'safe temperatures' was considered which we mean a temperatures that does not directly affect the damage of the component.

This study quantified effluents generated during processing in three industry types, estimated the energy potential from the quantified effluents in form of biogas generation, and determined the economic viability of the biogas recovered. Data were procured from relevant scientific publications to quantify the effluents generated from the production processes in the industry types examined using industrial process calculations. The effluent data generated was used on the 2-module biogas energy recovery model to estimate the bioenergy recovery potential within it. Economic and financial analysis was based on cash flow comparison of all costs and benefits resulting from its activities. The effluents generated average daily biogas of 2559 Nm³/gVS, having a daily potential combined heat and power of 0.52 GWh and 0.11 GWh respectively. The Life Cycle Analysis and cost-benefit analysis show the quantity of avoided emissions from using the effluents to generate heat and power for processes, and also the profitability of the approach. Conclusively, the study shows the use of biomass effluents to generate biogas for CHP is a viable one based on the technologies of a reciprocating engine, gas turbine, microturbine, and fuel cell. However, it is recommended that the theoretical estimation be validated using a field-scale project.

Fusion device and its structure may be designed by various means. Two of most popular are; weight basis (described in previous study by author) and energy basis. In present research, later method is explored and described. Energy basis is based on amount of energy released from device upon detonation followed by explosion. Its beneficial in a sense that device size can be kept as independent variable as compared to dependent in former case. Further, it shortens the design procedure. For example, heat transfer pattern in such approach directly helps in quantifying wall thickness which dictates material, fabrication, and manufacturing route. It may also eliminate anisotropy as wall thickness is direct function of amount of heat at which it will rupture and can be much thinner. Device geometry can also be flexibility controlled as it is no longer dependent on pay load bay capacity. This allows more freedom in designing subsystems (compartments, their locations, focusing, switches, and mixers). Such devices can be more compact and simpler. Few such design configurations are proposed.

Methane fermentation of organic waste is one way to minimize organic waste, which accounts for 77% of the global municipal waste stream. The use of biowaste treatment technologies helps to improve the energy independence of the regions. Improving the efficiency of the methane fermentation process by using additives from waste may be an attractive alternative to the original technology. The use of biochar as an additive for methane fermentation has been shown to increase the production potential of biogas. The reasons for the improvement in efficiency are complex among others, it is assumed that the specific surface area of ​​biochar may increase the population of anaerobic organisms. Up to date, there are many researches on the effect of biochar additions on methane fermentation, but there is no research on the effect of sulfur-biochar composite. The composite product in the form of a mixture of biochar and molten sulfur is an interesting area of ​​research. In this experiment additions of the sulfur-biochar composite were tested to improve the fermentation process. The composite consisted of 40% biochar and 60% of sulfur and was added to the process. As results the addition of 1% of the composite increased the biogas potential by 4%.

In the development of the safety-critical systems, it is important to perform Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) process to identify potential failures. However, traditional FMEA activities tend to be considered difficult and time-consuming tasks. To compensate for the difficulty of the FMEA task, various types of tools are used to increase the quality and the effectiveness of the FMEA reports. This paper explains an Automatic FMEA tool which integrates the Model-based Design (MBD), FMEA, and Simulated Fault Injection techniques in a single environment. The Automatic FMEA tool has the following advantages compared to the existing FMEA analysis tool. First, the Automatic FMEA tool automatically generates FMEA reports compared to the traditional spreadsheet-based FMEA tools. Second, the Automatic FMEA tool analyzes the causality between the failure modes and the failure effects by performing model-based fault injection simulation. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the Automatic FMEA, we used the electronic fuel injection system (EFI) Simulink model. The results of the Automatic FMEA were compared to that of the legacy FMEA.

The fatigue life of concrete is affected by many interwoven factors whose effect is nonlinear. Be-cause of its unique self-learning ability and strong generalization capability, the Bayesian regu-larized backpropagation neural network (BR-BPNN) is proposed to predict concrete behavior in tensile fatigue. The optimal model was determined through various combinations of network parameters. The average relative impact value (ARIV) was constructed to evaluate the correla-tion between fatigue life and its influencing parameters (maximum stress level Smax, stress ratio R, static strength f, failure probability P). ARIV results were also compared with other factor as-sessment methods (weight equation and multiple linear regression analyses). Using BR-BPNN, S-N curves were then obtained for the combinations of R=0.1, 0.2, 0.5; f=5, 6, 7MPa; P=5%, 50%, 95%. The tensile fatigue results under different testing conditions were finally compared for compatibility. It was concluded that Smax has the most significant negative effect on fatigue life; the degree of influence of R, P, and f, which positively correlate with fatigue life, decreases suc-cessively. ARIV is confirmed as a feasible way to analyze the importance of parameters and could be recommended for future applications. The tensile fatigue performance of plain concrete under different stress states (flexural tension, axial tension, splitting tension) does not differ sig-nificantly. Besides utilizing the valuable fatigue test data scattered in the literature, insights gained from this work could provide a reference for subsequent fatigue test program design and fatigue evaluation.

Fundamental science and applied research and technology development (RTD) are facing significant challenges that particularly compound to the notorious credibility, reproducibility, funding and sustainability crises. The underlying, serious shortcomings are substantially amplified by a metrics-obsessed publication culture, and a growing cohort of academics fishing for fairly stagnant (public) funding budgets. This work presents, for the first time, a groundbreaking strategy to successfully address these severe issues; the novel strategy proposed here leverages the distributed ledger technology (DLT) “blockchain” to capitalize on cryptoeconomic mechanisms, such as tokenization, consensus, crowdsourcing, smart contracts, reputation systems as well as staking, reward and slashing mechanisms. This powerful toolbox, which is so far widely unfamiliar to traditional scientific and RTD communities (“TradSci”), is synergistically combined with the exponentially growing computing capabilities for virtualizing experiments through digital twin methods in a future scientific “metaverse”. Project contributions, such as hypotheses, methods, experimental data, modelling, simulation, assessment, predictions and directions are crowdsourced using blockchain, and captured by so-called non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). The so enabled, highly integrative approach, termed decentralized science (“DeSci”), is destined to move research out of its present silos, and to markedly enhance quality, credibility, efficiency, transparency, inclusiveness, sustainability, impact, and sustainability of a wide spectrum of academic and commercial research initiatives.

The article suggests methods that allow creating the most complicated type of polygonal masonry found in Peru. This masonry type consists of large stone blocks weighing from several hundred kilograms to several tons fitted close to each other almost without a gap between complicated curved surfaces over a large area. The work provides a description of techniques, which apparently were used by builders who arrived from Europe. The techniques under discussion are based on the use of a reduced clay model, 3D-pantograph, topography translator and replicas. The use of a reduced clay model and a pantograph provides not only the unique appearance and high quality of masonry with large blocks, but also allows to significantly increase the productivity of the builders. As machines coping-scaling three-dimensional objects are known since the beginning of the 18th century, the stone structures under consideration should be approximately dated by this time. The remaining simpler types of polygonal masonry with smaller stones or fitted surfaces are almost flat, or stones contact with each other by a small area, or there are significant gaps between stones, are quite consistent with the well-known methods of stone processing of those and earlier years, and, therefore, they do not require any additional explanations.

The microgrid is a small-scale, autonomous decentralized power plant with its own distributed generation, storage capacity and multiple loads, with the capacity to function in grid interconnected and an island mode. The decentralized control of microgrids with parallel operated voltage source converters (VSCs) is proposed in this paper to improve power quality using a machine learning approach. The DNN based MPPT controller is proposed and its best performance is presented. The SRF-PLL is utilized for AC side synchronization in VSC control. The proposed microgrid involves two PV arrays fed to two voltage source converters along with their independent controls, connected in parallel through LC filters and line coupling transformers and serves the loads at PCC. The proposed model is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink. The dq-framed inner loop control is employed to individually regulate the real and reactive power at the point of common coupling. Furthermore, the proposed model is analyzed and compared by employing a mathematical model of AC system dynamics, inner loop control, output voltage quality, AC harmonic spectrum analysis, and total harmonic distortion (THD) in both grid interconnected and island mode. In island mode, AC harmonic spectrum and THD are accomplished within the permissible range.

The problem of water drinking supply is very important in the world, especially for developing countries, in particular Algeria. In this work we propose to study a distillation system based on solar energy process using an artificial intelligence approach in order to enhance the performance and the daily production. For this purpose, a conventional solar still and capillary film solar still was used. The operating parameters of the two distilleries are analyzed and the neural network approach was used to predict the performance through the amount of distillate, solar radiation and ambient temperature. The sensitivity between the operating parameters of the solar still for two case have been studied through the artificial neuron network model. The obtained results are promising, analyzed and discussed.

The gasification of sugarcane cutting residues (RAC) is a process that occurs in a gasifier where the transformation of this raw material into a solid-state and a gasifying agent with a moderate calorific value occurs, thanks to the application of heat. And under restricted oxygen levels, we can say that there are several styles of gasifiers for air, steam, oxygen, and hydrogen, all of which have a performance that can be analyzed and categorized by their performance to avoid damage to the environment. (1) The objective of this article is based on the mathematical development using simulation of the gasification of cane cutting residues. (2) In the methodology, the simulation of the gasification and CO₂ capture process was developed from the biomass residues of the sugarcane cutting residues; it was carried out as a transformation of the primary fuel into a gas stream whose main components are CO₂ and H₂, which can be separated relatively easily by their concentrations, available pressures and in some cases, their temperatures; (3) According to the kinetic data obtained, the second-order reaction in the transformation and improvement of the process was identified; applying to the optimization of development in the capture of CO₂, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases. (4) The gasification simulation process results in a biomass conversion corresponding to 93% of its feed and the formation of volatiles whose molar fraction corresponds to 37% H₂, 12% CH₄, 37% CO and 12 % CO₂.

This article presents a case study on the structural assessment of a reinforced concrete (RC) foundation exposed to low temperatures. The foundation supports a 19,500 m³-capacity tank with low-temperature (-89°C) ethane. Icing and bubbling were observed on the tank’s surface soon after it started operations. Condensation was also observed at the bottom of the 0.8 m-depth RC slab, which raised concerns about the structural condition of the concrete. This study provides details of the field and analytical investigations conducted to assess the structural condition of the foundation. Heat transfer finite element (FE) analyses were performed to examine the concrete sections subjected to low temperatures. It was found that the ethane leakage produced a low temperature on the top side of the concrete foundation of +9.7°C. Overall, the temperatures calculated by the FE analyses were in good agreement with actual field measurements, within a ±5% accuracy. The simplified heat transfer equation for porous media used in this study was sufficiently accurate to model the effects of the ethane leakage in the concrete foundation, provided the ambient temperature at the site is taken into account in the analysis. The results also confirm that reinforcing bars can be neglected in the thermal analysis of massive concrete slabs. The results from the field measurements and FE analyses confirmed that the structural integrity of the RC foundation was never compromised. The approaches, methods and techniques discussed in this article are deemed suitable to solve the practical and scientific challenges involved in the structural assessment and repairs of large special structures. Accordingly, they can serve as useful reference and guidance for engineers and practitioners working in the field of forensic engineering.

The battle of currents between AC and DC reignited as a result of the development in the field of power electronics. The efficiency of DC distribution systems is highly dependent on the efficiency of distribution converter, which calls for optimized schemes for efficiency enhancement of distribution converters. Modular solid-state transformers play a vital role in DC Distribution Networks and Renewable Energy systems (RES).This paper deals with efficiency-based load distribution for Solid State Transformers (SSTs) in DC distribution networks. Aim is to achieve a set of minimum inputs that are consistent with output while considering constraints and efficiency. As the main feature of modularity is associated with a three-stage structure of SSTs. This modular structure has been optimized using Ant Lion Optimizer (ALO) and validated by applying it EIA (Energy Information Agency) DC Distribution Network which contains SSTs. In the DC distribution grid, modular SSTs provide promising conversion of DC power from medium voltage to lower DC range (400V). The proposed algorithm is simulated in MATLAB and also compared with two other metaheuristic algorithms. The obtained results prove that the proposed method can significantly reduce input requirements for producing the same output while satisfying the specified constraints.

Agricultural wastes have posed as a treat to the environment over the years and they are found in large quantities due to domestic and industrial utilization of such materials in under developed and developing countries. The inability to recycle this waste has led to researches on how to use them in carrying out productive industrial activities. The aim of this study is to use Central Composite Design (CCD) to optimize the bleaching effects by snail shell as adsorbents on crude palm oil. The predictive ability of the model was close to accurate using MINITAB 19 software with the design application for the process simulation for % FFA yield to have 75.856% for experimental and 77.587% for predicted yield with just 1.731% residual. The saponification value increased with adsorption, and it indicates that palm oil can be used for soap making.

This paper proposes and demonstrates, in full scale, a novel type of energy geostructure (“the Climate Road”) that combines a ground source heat pump (GSHP) with a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) by utilizing the gravel roadbed simultaneously as energy source and rainwater retarding basin. The Climate Road measures 50m x 8m x 1m (length, width, depth) and has 800 m of geothermal piping embedded in the roadbed, serving as the heat collector for a GSHP that supplies a nearby kindergarten with domestic hot water and space heating. Model analysis of operational data from 2018-2021 indicates sustainable annual heat production levels around 0.6 MWh per meter road, with a COP of 2.9-3.1. The continued infiltration of rainwater to the roadbed increases the amount of extractable heat by an estimated 17% compared to the case of zero infiltration. Using the developed model for scenario analysis we find that draining rainwater from three single family houses and storing 30% of the annual heating consumption in the roadbed, increases the predicted extractable energy by 56% compared to zero infiltration with no seasonal energy storage. The Climate Road is capable of supplying three single family houses with heating, cooling and rainwater management year-round.

Despite significant advances in metallurgy and the potential to create high and very high-strength steel, all international specifications for steel design provided little information about the limits of slenderness for high-strength steel sections (HSSs) and didn’t give anything about the design of very high-strength steel sections (VHSSs). The American structural steel design specification covers circular hollow sections (CHS) of steel grades up to S690, while it isn't in ANSI/AISC 360-16 and ASTM A514/A514M. Euro code EN 1993-1-1 can be applicable only to steel grades up to S460. EN 1993-1-3 and EN 1993-1-12 contain supplementary rules for cold-formed members and HSS (S460- S700), respectively. Though ductility requirements for (HSS) are specifically established in EN 1993-1-12, it is largely a continuation of the normal-strength-steel design procedures standardized in EN 1993-1-1, where (HSSs) are largely treated as normal-strength steels in these rules, and the same design approaches are used. The behavior of high and very high-strength steel circular hollow sections under axial compression load is studied in this research. A total of 16 nonlinear finite-element (FE) models were generated to replicate stub column tests that were experimentally tested by others in previous research. Hence, a parametric study is conducted using forty FE models developed to investigate the local buckling behavior under various slenderness ratios comprehensively. The developed models cover slenderness ratios ranging from 20 to 1226 and steel grades S460 and S1100 with yield stress equal 460 MPa and 1152 MPa, respectively. The FE results were combined with 105 previously collected experimental results to assess the applicability of existing codified design methodologies in the Euro code and the North American codes of cold-formed CHS. Based on the results of this study, new cross-sectional slenderness limits and new design equations for more efficient simple designs were presented for high and very-high strength steel circular hollow sections and Compared with the results of experimental tests and FE models.

The cold-formed steel sections are becoming popular for different steel structures because it has a high resistance against the different straining actions with minimum weight compared with hard steel sections. Recently, the perforated cold-formed steel (PCFS) sections are used in many applications such as storage perforated uprights racks. Experimental research into the behaviour of steel storage rack uprights subjected to axial compression is presented in this paper. The material qualities of cold-formed steel uprights were determined by tensile tests. The seventeen perforated specimens were examined under axial compression, with five different cross-sections, three different web heights and thicknesses, and varying lengths. The study's goals are to find out how perforations affect the performance and failure mode of steel storage rack uprights, discuss the interaction of distortional and global buckling, and verify the accuracy of using the Direct Strength Method (DSM) for predicting the ultimate strength of uprights failing in buckling interactions for perforated uprights. It is found that the failure modes of perforated specimens with stiffeners generally cannot be well predicted by the Direct Strength Method. But when the modifications proposed by Xianzhong Zhao etc. al. are used, their accuracy is acceptable.

All over the world, externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer systems used to strengthen concrete elements improve building sustainability. However, reports issued by the American Concrete Institute Committee 440 called for heavy scrutinizing before actual field implementation. The very limited number of proposed equations lacks reliability and accuracy. Thus, further investigation in this area is needed. In addition, machine learning techniques are being implemented successfully in developing strength models for complex problems. This study aims to provide a reliable machine learning model based on an experimental database. The proposed model was developed and validated against the experimental database and the very limited models in the literature. The model showed improved agreement with the experimental results compared to the previous models.

Bus services play a significant role as the main public transportation, especially in urban areas throughout the years. Since bus services compete greatly with other types of public transportation, such as e-hailing service and private vehicles, they have recently attracted scholars to conduct many relevant studies. However, most past research studies in the Asian region were not focused on engineering, social science, and Internet of Things (IOT). This present study concentrated on the service quality of bus services in Asia by using systematic literature review of articles. This study conducted a review based on previous studies, specifically on the service quality of performance. Several previous studies were selected by using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRIMSA) approach. SCOPUS and Science Direct were chosen as the main journal database. By using this method, 41 articles were selected for further analysis. This study was merely focused on three primary themes, such as study approach, stakeholder, and service quality attributes. Advanced analysis on these primary themes was used to formulate another 18 sub-themes. All themes and sub-themes which reflected the significant impacts of service quality towards bus services were discussed in detail. This study had addressed several qualities of bus services of bus performance towards improvement of urban transportation polices. Lastly, several recommendations that could provide necessary knowledge and information for future research were presented.

The service conditions of underground coal mine equipment are poor, and it is difficult to accurately extract the fault characteristics of rolling bearings. In order to better improve the accuracy of fault identification of rolling bearings, a fault detection method based on multiscale permutation entropy and SOA-SVM is proposed. First, the whale optimization algorithm is used to select the modal analysis number K and the penalty factor α of the variational mode decomposition algorithm. Then, the vibration signal of rolling bearings is dissolved according to the optimized variational mode decomposition algorithm, and the multi-scale permutation entropy of the main intrinsic mode function is calculated. Finally, the feature values of the matrix are entered into the SVM algorithm optimized by the seagull optimization algorithm to obtain the classification result. The experimental results based on the published rolling bearing datasets of Western Reserve University show that the identification success rate of the proposed method can reach 98.75%. The fault detection of the rolling bearings can be completed accurately and efficiently.

The new millennium has witnessed a pervasive shift of trend from AC to DC in residential sector. The shift of trend is predominantly due to independent residential solar PV systems at rooftops and escalating electronic loads with better energy saving potential integrated with diminishing prices as well as commercial availability of DC based appliances. DC has ousted AC in generation, transmission, and utilization sectors with the advent of DC based generating systems (e-g solar PV), high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission and the utilization of DC based loads respectively. However, the war of currents (AC vs DC) is still ON as regards to distribution sector. Efficiency is the parameter that once wiped DC out of the power systems scenario as compared to AC-at the time of Tesla and Edison. Therefore, the same parameter is utilized to determine which is better for distribution sector under current conditions; AC or DC? A comprehensive sensitivity analysis considering real load profile is missing in the present body of knowledge. In order to fill that gap, this paper is an attempt to include comprehensive sensitivity analysis of DC distribution system and its simulation-based comparison with AC counterpart considering real load profile. The paper uses Monte Carlo technique and probabilistic approach to add diversity in residential loads consumption and in turn to obtain instantaneous load profile. The paper also presents a futuristic perspective of power electronic converter (PEC) efficiency variation on the efficiency comparison of both AC and DC distribution systems. Since the present body of knowledge generally compares AC and DC distribution based upon assumptions and limited scenarios which results in conflicting outcomes; in contrast, the discoveries of the current examination are useful to reduce the confusions and conflictions regarding which is better at distribution scale; AC or DC?

In this work, we have developed a non-ordinary state-based peridynamic model for multiple crack initiation and propagation due to compression-compression fatigue load. In each loading cycle, the fatigue loading is redistributed among the peridynamic solid body, leading to the progressive fatigue damage initiation and propagation in an autonomous fashion. The proposed fatigue model parameters are firstly validated by 3D numerical benchmark tests, and then it is applied to simulate widespread fatigue damage evolution of the aircraft wing corner box. The modified constitutive damage model has been implemented into the peridynamics framework at finite strain. Furthermore, the criterion algorithm from multiple initiation to propagation is discussed. It is shown that the numerical results obtained from peridynamics simulations are in general agreement with those from the experiment data. The comparison of experimental and numerical results indicates that the proposed non-ordinary state-based peridynamics fatigue model has the ability to capture the multiple crack initiation and propagation and other features of the aluminium alloy material.

Two modal decomposition techniques, including proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD), are used to identify the wake patterns past single and two crossing cylinders in 60° and 90° arrangements with gap ratio G = 4. The flow is simulated using direct numerical simulations (DNS) for Reynolds numbers Re = 100. The spatial scale of flow decreases with increasing modal frequency from the modal analysis. Two main modes are identified in the wake of the cylinders, namely spatially antisymmetric and symmetric modes. Antisymmetric and symmetric modes are related to cylinders’ vortex shedding and shedding vortices’ shift motion, respectively, whose frequencies are odd and even multiples of cylinders’ lift force frequency. In addition, a low-frequency mode concerning the shadowing effect of the downstream cylinder (DC) in 90° arrangement is found in the wake of the DC centre.

Additive manufacturing (3D printing) and computer-aided design (CAD) still have limited up-take in biomedical and bioengineering research and education, despite the significant potential of these technologies. The utility of organ-scale 3D-printed models of living structures is widely appreciated, while the workflows for microscopy data translation into tactile-accessible replicas are not well developed yet. Here, we demonstrate an accessible and reproducible CAD-based methodology for generating 3D-printed scalable models of human cells cultured in vitro and imaged using conventional scanning confocal microscopy and fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing. We termed this technology CiTo-3DP (Cells-in-Touch for 3D Printing). As a proof-of-concept, we created CiTo-3DP models of human pancreatic cancer cells and healthy dermal fibroblasts by using selectively stained nuclei and the cytoskeleton components (f-actin and α-smooth muscle actin). The production of dismountable sets of cellular components was al-so shown. The CiTo-3DP approach can be adapted to comprehensively present various cell types, subcellular structures and extracellular matrices. We envisage that the resulting CAD and 3D printed models could be used for further applications, including but not limited to in silico simulations for biology, medicine, pharmacological research, tissue engineering, morphometrical analysis, multiphysics modelling, education, rehabilitation of visually impaired people, and integration into virtual reality.

In the next decade, further digitalisation of the entire wind energy project lifecycle is expected to be a major driver for reducing project costs and risks. In this paper, a literature review on the challenges related to implementation of digitalisation in the wind energy industry is first carried out, showing that there is a strong need for new solutions that enable co-innovation within and between organisations. Therefore, a new collaboration method called the WeDoWind Ecosystem is developed and demonstrated. The method is centred around specific "challenges", which are defined by "challenge providers" within a topical "space" and made available to participants via a digital platform. The data required in order to solve a particular "challenge" is provided by the "challenge providers" under the confidentiality conditions they specify. The method is demonstrated via a case study, the EDP Wind Turbine Fault Detection Challenge. Six submitted solutions using diverse approaches are evaluated. Two of the methods perform significantly better than EDP’s existing method in terms of Total Prediction Costs (saving up to €120,000). The WeDoWind Ecosystem is found to be a promising solution for enabling co-innovation in wind energy, providing a number of tangible benefits for both challenge and solution providers.

Spatial crowdsourcing emerges as a new computing paradigm that enables mobile users to accomplish spatio- temporal tasks in order to solve human-intrinsic problems. Existing crowdsourcing systems critically use centralized servers for interacting with workers and making task assignment decisions. These systems are hence susceptible to issues such as the single point of failure and the lack of operational transparency. Prior work, therefore, turns to blockchain-based decentralized crowdsourcing systems, yet still suffers from problems of lacking efficient task assignment scheme, requiring a deposit to an untrusted system, low block generation speed, and high transaction fees. To address these issues, we design a blockchain-based decentralized framework for spatial crowdsourcing, which we call SC-EOS. Our system does not rely on any trusted servers, while providing efficient and user-customizable task assignment, low monetary cost, and fast block generation. More importantly, it frees users from making a deposit into an untrusted system. Our framework can also be extended and applied to generic crowdsourcing systems. We implemented the proposed system on the EOS blockchain. Trace-driven evaluations involving real users show that our system attains the comparable task assignment performance against a clairvoyant scheme. It also achieves 10× cost savings than an Ethereum-based implementation.

This study develops into the application of a combined MFC unit with chemical coagulation for total treatment of inert contaminants in complex substrates. Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology converts chemical energy in the form of organic matter, into bioelectricity in an environmentally friendly and effi-cient manner, reducing carbon emissions and increasing bioenergy production. An evaluation of a la-boratory scale chemical coagulation using an aluminum and poly-based coagulant on how effective it can remove bulk impurities such as particulate COD and turbidity to obtain the purest and most cost-effectively treated wastewater using a jar test is being conducted in this current study. This study aims to find the most effective treatment technologies for wastewater recovery in breweries in order to achieve zero liquid effluent discharge (ZLED). The preliminary results showed that adding a modest amount of poly and a 50 % alum alone treatment improved COD, color, and turbidity reduction. The turbidity removal efficiency achieved after chemical coagulation treatment was 90.50 % and 59.36 % COD removal, demonstrating the benefits of adopting an alum/poly based technique. To determine ZLED, this study clearly advised a combined treatment technique, specifically the MFC-flocculator unit for efficient organics and inorganics removal.

Smart cities will undoubtedly be the distinguishing characteristic of human geography in the twenty-first century. Throughout 1.3 million people move to cities every week around the world, and it is estimated that by 2040, cities will house 65 percent of the world's population. While the world's largest cities now contribute for 60% of global GDP, this percentage will continue to climb as cities get larger and smarter. According to experts, cities will account for up to 80% of future economic development in developing regions. Smart cities are no longer the wave of the future; they have here and are rapidly expanding as the Internet of Things (IoT) grows. With dozens of towns throughout the world, the smart city sector is expected to grow into a massive business as time goes on. Cities have been an increasingly crucial engine of the global economy and wealth over time. As a result, it is critical to guarantee that they are optimized to maximize efficiency and sustainability while also ensuring that each citizen's quality of life is improved. We can describe the need for smart cities through this project, and it also shows us how IoT technology and smart city enablers may be deployed in urban settings to help cities perform better for their residents and achieve overall sustainable growth. This initiative will educate urban planners, researchers, ICT professionals, and other city officials about the facilitators of IoT for smart cities and their long-term growth.

Open-cell metallic foams used as catalyst supports exhibit excellent transport properties. In this work, a unique application of metallic foam, as pelletized catalyst in a packed bed reactor, is examined. By using a wall-segment Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) setup, parametric analyses are carried out to investigate the influence of foam morphologies (cell size ϕ=0.45-3 mm and porosity ε=0.55-0.95) and intrinsic conductivity on flow and heat transport characteristics in a slender packed bed (N=Ddp=6.78) made of cylindrical metallic foam pellets. The transport processes have been modeled using an extended version of conventional particle-resolved CFD, i.e., flow and energy in inter-particle spaces are fully resolved, whereas porous-media model is used for the effective transport processes inside highly-porous foam pellets. Simulation inputs include the processing parameters relevant to Steam Methane Reforming (SMR), analyzed for low (Rep~100) and high (Rep~5000) flow regimes. The effect of foam morphologies on packed beds has shown that the desired requirements contradict each other, i.e., increase in cell size and porosity favor the reduction in pressure drop, however lowering the heat transfer efficiency. A design study is also conducted to find the optimum foam morphology of a cylindrical foam pellet at higher Rep~5000, which yields ϕ = 0.45, ε = 0.8. Suitable correlations to predict the friction factor and the overall heat transfer coefficient in a foam packed bed have been presented, which considers the effect of different foam morphologies over a range of particle Reynolds number, 100≤Rep≤5000.

In the current research work, electrical resistance tomography (ERT) was employed for crystallization process monitoring and visualization. A first-of-its-kind MATLAB-based interactive GUI application “ERT-Vis” is presented. Two case studies involving varied crystallization methods were undertaken. The experiments involving calcium carbonate reactive (precipitative) crystallization for the high conductivity solution-solute media and the cooling crystallization for sucrose crystallization representing the lower conductivity solution-solute combination were designed and performed. The software successfully provided key insights regarding the process progress in both crystallization systems. It could detect and separate the crystal agglomerations in the low as well as high conductivity solutions using visual analytics tools provided. The performance and utility of the software were studied using a software evaluation case study involving domain experts. Participant feedback indicated that ERT-Vis software helps in reconstructing images instantaneously, interactively visualizing, and evaluating the output of the crystallization process monitoring data.

Load variations in any power system result in losses escalation and voltage drops. With the sensible and optimal allocation of distributed generators (DGs), these problems could be considerably mitigated. It has been seen in the priorly existing methods that ideally allocation of DGs has been carried out during fixed loads and constant power requirements. However, in real scenarios the loads are always variable and allocation of DGs must be done in accordance to the variations of the connected load. Therefore, the current paper addressed the aforementioned problem by distinctive optimal allocation of DGs for each variability of 24hour load horizon. However, the single exclusive solution is considered among all allocations of 24 hours. The min-max regret concept has been utilized in order to deal with such methodology. Altogether, 24 scenarios are analyzed wherein each scenario corresponds to a specific hour of the respective day. The optimal allocation of DGs in terms of their optimal sizing and placement has been carried out by using three algorithms including battle royal optimization (BRO), accelerated particle swarm optimization (APSO) and genetic algorithm (GA). The multi-objective optimization problem is evaluated on the basis of minimum value criterion of the multi-objective index (MO). MO comprises of active and reactive power losses and voltage deviation. Hence, in order to find robustness of proposed technique, Conseil international des grands réseaux electriques (CIGRE’s) MV benchmark model incorporating 14 buses has been considerably used as a test network. In the end the results of three proposed algorithms have been compared.

The issue of monitoring and early warning of rock instability has received increasing critical attention in the study of rock engineering. To investigate the damage evolution process of granite under triaxial compression tests, acoustic emission (AE) tests were performed simultaneously. This study firstly introduced two novel parameters, i.e., the coefficient of variation (CoV) of the information entropy and correlation dimension of the amplitude data from the AE tests, to identify the precursor of the failure of granite. Then the relationship between the changes in these parameters and the stress-time curve was compared and analyzed. The results of this study show that: (1) There is a strong correlation between the CoV of the information entropy and the failure process of granite. The granite failed when the CoV curve raised to a plateau. (2) The fluctuation of the correlation dimension indicates the different stages of the loading process, i.e., the initial compaction stage, the linear elastic stage, the yield stage, and the failure stage. Each stage contains a descending and a rising process in the correlation dimension curve, which indicates that this parameter could be used to identify the precursor of the failure as well. (3) The combined analysis of the two can improve the accuracy of rock instability prediction. This study provides new insights into the prediction of rock instability, which has theoretical implications for the stability of subsurface engineering rock masses.

The North Sea Offshore Grid concept has been envisioned as a promising alternative to: 1) ease the integration of offshore wind and onshore energy systems, and 2) increase the cross-border capacity between the North Sea region countries at low cost. In this paper we explore the techno-economic benefits of the North Sea Offshore Grid using two case studies: a power-based offshore grid, where only investments in power assets are allowed (i.e. offshore wind, HVDC/HVAC interconnectors); and a power-and-hydrogen offshore grid, where investments in offshore hydrogen assets are also permitted (i.e. offshore electrolysers, new hydrogen pipelines and retrofitted natural gas pipelines). We compare these scenario results with a business as usual scenario, in which offshore wind is connected radially to the shore and no offshore grid is deployed. All scenarios are run with the IESA-NS model, without any specific technology ban and under open optimization. This paper also presents a novel methodology, combining Geographic Information Systems and Energy System Models, to cluster offshore spatial data and define meaningful offshore regions and offshore hub locations. This novel methodology is applied to the North Sea region to define nine offshore clusters taking into account offshore spatial claims, and identifying suitable areas for single-use and multi-use of space for renewable energy purposes. The scenario results show that the deployment of an offshore grid provides relevant cost savings, ranging from 1% to 4.1% of relative cost decrease (2.3 bn € to 8.7 bn €) in the power-based, and ranging from 2.8% to 7% of relative cost decrease (6 bn € to 14.9 bn €) in the power-and-hydrogen based. In the most extreme scenario (H2) an offshore grid permits to integrate 283 GW of HVDC connected offshore wind and 196 GW of HVDC meshed interconnectors. Even in the most conservative scenario (P1) the offshore grid integrates 59 GW of HVDC connected offshore wind capacity and 92 GW of HVDC meshed interconnectors. When allowed, the deployment of offshore electrolysis is considerable, ranging from 61 GW to 96 GW, with capacity factors of around 30%. Finally, we also find that, when imported hydrogen is available at 2 €/kg (including production and transport costs), large investments in an offshore grid are not optimal anymore. In contrast, at import costs over 4 €/kg imported hydrogen is not competitive.

Cladding is typically used to protect components from wear and corrosion while also improving the aesthetic value and reliability of the substrate. The cladding process induces significant residual stresses due to the temperature difference between the substrate and the clad layer. However, these residual stresses could be effectively utilized by modifying processes and geometrical parameters. This paper introduces a novel methodology for using the weld-cladding process as a cost-effective alternative to various existing reinforcement techniques. The numerical analyses are performed to maximize the reinforcement of a cylindrical tool. The investigation of how the weld cladding develops compressive stresses on the specimen in response to a change in the weld beads and the welding sequence is presented. For the benchmark shape, experimental verification of the numerical model is performed. The impact of the distance between the weld beads and the effect of the tool diameter is numerically investigated. Furthermore, the variation in compressive stresses due to temperature fluctuations during the extrusion process has been evaluated. The results showed that adequate compressive stresses are generated on the welded parts through the cladding process after cooling. Hence, the targeted reinforcement of the substrate can be achieved by optimizing the welding sequence and process parameters.

The authors of the article performed computer simulation of buffer amplifiers (BA), which have medium and extremely small values of the offset voltage's systematic component (V_off), for different technological processes (Si, GaAs and GaN). The proposed control units are distinguished by a small number of elements and allow operation in the range of low and high temperatures. The variants of circuitry implementation of control units based on GaAs, GaN depletion-mode CMOS and JFET technological processes are considered. The results of the comparative modeling showed that the basic circuit of the BA on two field-effect transistors, when implemented on various modifications of GaN MOS and depletion-mode MOS transistors, provides sufficiently low values of the offset voltage's systematic component (less than 2 μV). The proposed BAs are designed for use in the structure of the Sallen-Key low-pass filter (LPF) when they are implemented both on mid-frequency Si CJFET and on GaAs microwave transistors. Low values of the LPF V_off have a positive effect on the effective capacity of the ADC. An example of switching on a BA in the JFET OpAmp structure based on the depletion-mode MOS input stage and a “folded” cascode, which, with 100% negative feedback, can be used in the Sallen-Key LPF, is considered. Computer simulation of the JFET/MOS OpAmp showed that the OpAmp has an open-loop voltage gain of 76-85dB, and its V_off is within 7µV in the temperature range from -60°C to +120°C. The presented circuitry of buffer amplifiers is intended, first of all, for the tasks of designing precision Sallen-Key low-pass filter (low-pass filter, high-pass filter, PF, RF).

Buildings can generate heats which are mostly generated from the machinery using inside the buildings, and these heats generally released to the atmosphere. Buildings can also block the wind flow by their canopies and trap the heat by using low albedo materials. These causes pointedly contribute to urban heat island and greenhouse effects. Likewise, urban development and building construction in Cambodia are growing rapidly. The construction has been recognized as a key development sector while thousands of buildings are being built and have been operated in the main cities. However, those buildings mostly have not been considered to incorporate sustainability concepts while the major final energy consumers in the country are buildings. The buildings’ energy consumption is also projected to increase more than double until 2040. Hence, sustainable building promotion in Cambodia is necessary, and sustainable building criteria are completely required. This research aims to find out significant sustainable building criteria for Cambodia and focused on planning and design criteria because having proper planning and design is a smart start leading to achieving building sustainability in all stages. This research used the Delphi methods to validate the relevant sustainable building criteria available in the literature and then select the significant ones for Cambodia based on the Delphi consensus. The results showed that ninety-nine consensus planning and design criteria were found to be significant for sustainable buildings in Cambodia.

The age of information (AoI) metric was proposed to measure the freshness of messages obtained at the terminal node of a status updating system. In this paper, the AoI of discrete time status updating system with probabilistic packet preemption is investigated by analyzing the steady state of a three-dimensional discrete stochastic process. Assuming the queue used in system is Ber/Geo/1/2*/η, which represents that the system size is 2 and the packet in buffer can be preempted by fresher packet with probability η. Instead of considering system’s AoI separately, we use a three-dimensional state vector (n,m,l) to simultaneously track the real time changes of the AoI, the age of packet in server, and the age of packet waiting in buffer. We give the explicit expression of system’s average AoI, and show that the average AoI of system without packet preemption is obtained by letting η=0. When η is set to 1, the mean of AoI of system having Ber/Geo/1/2* queue is obtained as well. Combining the results we have obtained and comparing them with corresponding average continuous AoIs, we propose a possible relationship between average discrete AoI with Ber/Geo/1/c queue and the average continuous AoI with M/M/1/c queue. For each of two extreme cases where η=0 and η=1, we also determine the stationary distribution of AoI using the probability generation function (PGF) method. The relations between average AoI and the packet preemption probability η, as well as AoI’s distribution curves in two extreme cases are illustrated by numerical simulations. Notice that the probabilistic packet preemption may occur, for example, in an energy harvest (EH) node of wireless sensor network, where the packet in buffer can be replaced only when the node collects enough energy. In particular, to exhibit the usefulness of our idea and methods and highlight the merits of considering discrete time systems, in this paper we give much more explanations showing that how the results about continuous AoI is derived by analyzing the corresponding discrete time system, and how the discrete age analysis is generalized to the system with multiple sources. In terms of packet service process, we also propose our idea to analyze system’s AoI when the service time distribution is relaxed to be arbitrary.

The new climate law introduces a policy of sustainable construction, the assumption of which is the reduction of CO2 by the construction industry and the use of environmentally friendly materials, such as agricultural, mineral, and recycled waste, while limiting the consumption of natural resources. The article is a literature review that analyzes selected waste materials from various sectors of the economy that can be used as additives or partial substitutes for natural resources in the production of cement and in and cement building materials, the production of which reduces CO2 emissions, producing materials with high mechanical strength and environmentally friendly.

Intending to analyze the role of nuclear power in an integrated energy system, we used the IESA-Opt-N cost minimization model focusing on four key themes: system-wide impacts of nuclear power, uncertain technological costs, flexible generation, and cross-border electricity trade. We demonstrate that the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) alone should not be used to demonstrate the economic feasibility of a power generation technology. For instance, under the default techno-economic assumptions, particularly the 5% discount rate and exogenous electricity trade potentials, it is cost-optimal for the Netherlands to invest in 9.6 GWe nuclear capacity by 2050. However, its LCOE is 34 €/MWh higher than offshore wind. Moreover, we found that nuclear power investments can reduce demand for variable renewable energy sources in the short term and higher energy independence (i.e., lower imports of natural gas, biomass, and electricity) in the long term. Furthermore, investing in nuclear power can reduce the mitigation costs of the Dutch energy system by 1.6% and 6.2% in 2040 and 2050, and 25% lower national CO₂ prices by 2050. However, this cost reduction is not significant given the odds of higher nuclear financing costs and longer construction times. In addition, this study has shown that lower financing costs (e.g., EU taxonomy support) considerably reduce the relevance of nuclear cost uncertainties on its investments. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the economic feasibility of national nuclear power investments can vary considerably depending on the cross-border electricity trade assumptions. Additionally, we found that lowering the cost of small modular reactors has more impact on their economic feasibility than increasing their generation flexibility. In conclusion, under the specific assumptions of this study, nuclear power can play a complementary role (in parallel to the wind and solar power) in supporting the Dutch energy transition from the sole techno-economic point of view.

Whereas the use of distributed ledger technologies has previously been limited to cryptocurrencies, other sectors—such as healthcare, supply chain, and finance—can now benefit from them because of bitcoin scripts and smart contracts. However, these applications rely on oracles to fetch data from the real world, which cannot reproduce the trustless environment provided by blockchain networks. Despite their crucial role, academic research on blockchain oracles is still in its infancy, with few contributions and a heterogeneous approach. This study undertakes a bibliometric analysis and aims to shed light on the institutions and authors that are actively contributing to the oracle literature, intending to promote progress and cooperation. On the one hand, although worldwide collaboration is still lacking, various authors and institutions are working in similar directions. On the other hand, most areas of research are scarcely explored, and others are even untouched.

In epithelia, breakdown of tensional homeostasis is closely associated with E-cadherin dysfunction and disruption of tissue function and integrity. In this study, we investigated the effect of E-cadherin mutations affecting distinct protein domains on tensional homeostasis of gastric cancer cells. We used micropattern traction microscopy to measure temporal fluctuations of cellular traction forces in AGS cells transfected with the wild-type E-cadherin or with variants affecting the extracellular, the juxtamembrane, and the intracellular domains of the protein. We focused on the dynamic aspect of tensional homeostasis, namely the ability of cells to maintain a consistent level of tension, with low temporal variability around a set point. Cells were cultured on hydrogels micropatterned with different extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins to test whether the ECM adhesion impacts cell behavior. A combination of Fibronectin and Vitronectin was used as a substrate that promotes the adhesive ability of E-cadherin dysfunctional cells, whereas Collagen VI was used to test an unfavorable ECM condition. Our results showed that mutations affecting distinct E-cadherin domains influenced differently cell tensional homeostasis, and pinpointed the juxtamembrane and intracellular regions of E-cadherin as the key players in this process. Furthermore, Fibronectin and Vitronectin might modulate cancer cell behavior towards tensional homeostasis.

Trash mulches are very effective in preventing soil erosion; reduce sediment transport rate, runoff rate and increasing infiltration. The study was carried out with the objectives to observe the sediment outflow from sugar cane leaf (trash) mulch treatments at selected land slopes under simulated rainfall conditions by using rainfall simulator of size 10 m × 1.2 m × 0.5 m with the locally available soil material collected from Pantnagar. In the present study, trash mulches with different quantities were selected to observe the effect of mulching in soil loss reduction. The quantity of mulch was taken as, 6 t/ha, 8 t/ha and 10 t/ha, three rainfall intensities viz. 11cm/h, 13cm/h and 14.65cm/h at 0%, 2% and 4% land slopes were selected. The duration of rainfall was fixed (10 minutes) for every mulch treatment. The total runoff volume was found to be varying with different mulch rates for particular rainfall input and land slope. The runoff distribution pattern was observed to be increasing with the increase in land slope. The average sediment concentration (SC) and outflow was found to be increasing with the increasing land slope, but SC and outflow decreased with increasing mulch rate for particular land slope and rainfall intensity. The SOR (SOR) for no mulch treated land was higher as compared to trash mulch treated lands. Mathematical relationships were developed for relating SOR, SC, land slope and rainfall intensity for a particular mulch treatment. It was observed that values of SOR and average SC had a good correlation with rainfall intensity and land slope for each mulch treatment. The correlation coefficients of developed models were found to be more than 90%.

Silicon photonics is emerging as a competitive platform for electronic-photonic integrated circuits (EPICs) at the 2 µm wavelength band where GeSn photodetectors (PDs) have proven to be efficient PDs. Here, we present a comprehensive theoretical study of GeSn vertical p-i-n homojunction waveguide photodetectors (WGPDs) that have a strain-free and defect-free GeSn active layer for 2-µm Si-based EPICs. The use of a narrow-gap GeSn alloy as the active layer can fully cover entire the 2 µm wavelength band. The waveguide structure allows for decoupling the photon-absorbing path and the carrier-collection path, thereby allowing for simultaneous achievement of high-responsivity and high-bandwidth (BW) operation at the 2-µm wavelength band. We present the theoretical models to calculate the carrier saturation velocities, optical absorption coefficient, responsivity, 3-dB bandwidth, zero-bias resistance, and detectivity, and optimize this device structure to achieve highest performance at the 2-µm wavelength band. The results indicate that the performance of the GeSn WGPD has strong dependence on the Sn composition and geometric parameters. The optimally designed GeSn WGPD with 10% Sn concentration can give responsivity of 1.55 A/W, detectivity of 6.12×1010 cmHz½W-1 at 2 µm wavelength, and ~97 GHz BW. Therefore, this optimally designed GeSn WGPD is a potential candidate for silicon photonic EPICs offering high-speed optical communications.

Reducing office buildings’ energy consumption can contribute significantly towards carbon reduction commitments since it represents 10% of total energy consumption. Major components are lighting (40% of consumption), electrical equipment (35%), and heating and central cooling systems (25\%). Occupants’ behaviours impact these energy consumption components, with solid evidence on the role of individual behaviours. In this work, we propose a methodology that uses virtual choreographies to identify and prioritize behaviour-change interventions towards office users based on the potential impact on energy consumption. The data shows that some behaviours with significant consumption have little potential for behavioural change impact, while other behaviours hold substantial potential for lowering energy consumption via behavioural change.

Voltage Stability & Control, is very crucial compared to other Power System (PS) Quality and Stability issues. Long-Vertical-Power-Flows in Conventional Grids, causes voltage drops which in turn causes huge power losses, especially in the Medium Voltage (MV) and Low Voltage (LV) Distribution Networks. Such technical losses in abysmally-planned weak distribution networks, lead to substantial loss of revenues to the utility grid. Apart from classic Voltage Regulation (VR) techniques, with the rise of Distributed Generation (DG) based on Renewable Energy Sources (RES), Horizontal-Power-Flows can be introduced in the network, through various Smart Grid techniques. Coupling such sources, near load centers shall mitigate long flows from expensive conventional sources at times of huge demands, improving feeders’ Voltage Profile. This Ancillary Service of Voltage Support from DG RESs shall thereby alleviate revenue losses caused by long-power-flows in weak distribution grids. For a developing country like Pakistan, loss of revenue from an already expensive utility gives huge blow to the economy. So, a similar technique for voltage support is proposed for an 11-kV feeder, which faces similar problem, and the results are remarkable. The technique is implemented using OpenDSS Tool by modelling 3MWp PV Penetration along with some future storage.

Based on the textured controllable interface effect, the dynamic performances of the textured and ordinary pilot valve are analyzed experimentally, and the influence of the textured controllable interface on the response of pilot valve is studied. Results show that when Pin is small, the textured surface shortens the reciprocating time of valve core, increasing the flow rate, and speeds up the piston stroke of oil cylinder. The valve core actions much more stable and sensitivity. Meanwhile, combined with the theoretical calculation, the operation mechanism of texturing the pilot valve is analyzed. It is concluded that the stress of textured valve core sealing surface is greater than that of ordinary one, and the pressure difference gradually decreases with the increase of Pin, and the flow difference is basically the same as the force on the sealing surface. This indicates that the textured surface improves lubrication characteristics, reduces the friction between components. The textured valve makes the velocity changes gently, and enhances the responsiveness and stability of the valve. Those related results provide a new idea for enhancing the response design of the pilot valve.

Quantitative dynamic strain measurements of the ground would be useful for engineering scale problems such as monitoring for natural hazards, soil-structure interaction studies and non-invasive site investigation using full waveform inversion (FWI). Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), a promising technology for these purposes, needs to be better understood in terms of its directional sensitivity, spatial position, and amplitude for application to engineering-scale problems. This study investigates whether the physical measurements made using DAS are consistent with the theoretical reception patterns and experimental measurements of ground strain made by geophones. Results show that DAS and geophone measurements are consistent in both phase and amplitude for broadband (10s of Hz), high amplitude (10s of microstrain) and complex wavefields originating from different positions around the array when: (1) the DAS channels and geophone locations are properly aligned, (2) the DAS cable provides good deformation coupling to the internal optical fiber, (3) the cable is coupled to the ground through direct burial and compaction, and (4) laser phase noise is mitigated in the DAS measurements. The theoretical relationship between DAS-measured and point-wise strain for vertical and horizontal active sources is introduced using 3D elastic finite-difference simulations. The implications of using DAS strain measurements are discussed including directionality and magnitude differences between the actual and DAS-measured strain fields. A method for spatially aligning the DAS channels with the geophone locations at tolerances less than the spatial resolution of the DAS system is proposed.

Pedestrian multi-target tracking technology plays an important role in artificial intelligence, driverless, virtual reality and other fields. The pedestrian multi-target tracking algorithm DeepSORT based on detection is widely used in industry. It mainly tracks multiple pedestrian targets continuously and keeps their ID unchanged. In order to improve the applicability and tracking accuracy of DeepSORT algorithm, this paper improved the IOU distance measurement in the matching process. At the same time, ResNet50 is used as the feature extraction backbone network, and combined with FPN (Feature Pyramid Network), the appearance features of multi-layer pedestrians are fused to improve the tracking accuracy of DeepSORT algorithm. The proposed algorithm is verified on the public data set MOT-16 and it’s tracking accuracy is enhanced to 4.1%.

With the rapid development of global offshore wind power, the demand for offshore wind power operation and maintenance is also increasing. Wisdomization of offshore wind farms is a practical need to improve the operation level and benefit of offshore wind farms. This paper first introduces the current development situation and characteristics of global offshore wind power, and expounds the current situation and main challenges of offshore wind power operation and maintenance market. Therefore, our paper discusses the innovation of offshore wind power operation and maintenance from the aspects of operation and maintenance management of offshore wind power, monitoring and analysis technology of units, far-reaching wind field monitoring and operation and maintenance risks. Then, combined with information technology and lean management concept, a smart operation and maintenance management platform for wind farms in far-reaching sea areas is built to explore centralized and intelligent operation and maintenance management mode, improve operation and maintenance efficiency of wind farms in far-reaching sea areas, and minimize operation and maintenance costs. Finally, through the research on the characteristics of 5G technology, combined with the practical experience of operation and maintenance, and in view of the characteristics of offshore wind farms, we analyze and propose several typical application scenarios of 5G technology in the intelligent operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms, which provides a new solution for the efficient operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms.

Following the occurrence of a typhoon, quick damage assessment related to residents can facilitate quick dispatch of house repair and disaster insurance works. Employing a deep learning method, this study used aerial photos of the Chiba prefecture obtained following the Typhoon Faxai in 2019 to automatically detect and evaluate the roof damage. This study comprised three parts: training deep learning model, detecting the roof damage using trained model, and classifying the level of roof damage. The detection object comprised roof outline, blue tarps, and roof completely destroyed. The roofs were divided into three categories: roof without damage, roof with blue tarps and roof completely destroyed. the F value obtained using the proposed method was higher than those obtained using other methods. In addition, it can be further divided into 5 levels from level 0 to 4. Finally, the spatial distribution of the roof damage was analyzed using ArcGIS tools. The proposed method is expected to provide certain reference for the real-time detection of the roof damage after the occurrence of a typhoon.

This paper presents an approach to the elastic analysis of beams subjected to Saint-Venant torsion using Green’s theorem and the finite difference method (FDM). The Saint-Venant torsion of beams, also called free torsion or unrestrained torsion, is characterized by the absence of axial stresses due to torsion; only shear stresses are developed. The solution to this torsion problem consists of finding a stress function that satisfies the governing equation and the boundary conditions. The FDM is an approximate method for solving problems described with differential or partial differential equations; it does not involve solving differential equations, equations are formulated with values at selected nodes of the structure. In this paper, the beam’s cross-section was discretized using a two-dimensional grid and additional nodes were introduced at the boundaries. The introduction of additional nodes allowed us to apply the governing equations at boundary nodes and satisfy the boundary conditions. Beam’s cross-sections of various shapes and openings were analyzed using this model; shear stresses, torsion constant, and warping were determined. Furthermore, beams with thin-walled closed sections, single-cell or multiple-cell, were analyzed using the stress function whereby the linear distribution of the shear stresses over the thickness was considered; closed-form solutions for shear stresses and torsion constant were presented. For rectangular cross-sections, the results obtained in this study showed good agreement with the exact results, and the accuracy was increased through a grid refinement. For thin-walled closed sections it was noted that the maximal shear stress in the midline occurs at the position with the smallest thickness, which is in agreement with Bredt’s analysis, but the maximal shear stress in the cross-section did not necessarily occur at that position; moreover, the values of torsion constant were higher than those calculated using Bredt’s analysis

The zero offset voltage in anti-aliasing low-pass filters (LPF) included at the ADC input has a significant effect on the effective bit rate of the ADC. The article discusses methods for minimizing the systematic component of the zero offset voltage (V_OS) of operational amplifiers (Op-Amp) in the structure of the LPF, due to the degradation of the current gain of the base (b) of bipolar transistors for an extremely common subclass of Op-Amp with one high-impedance node. The methods of matching a high-impedance Op-Amp node and a buffer amplifier with the help of special correcting SCM^p and SCMⁿ multipolars are proposed. Methods of description and formation of the given coefficients of weak current asymmetry of typical Op-Amp functional units (current mirrors, input DS, buffer amplifiers, SRC, etc.) are presented. As an example, the results of computer simulation of GaAs Op-Amp with small V_OS performed on JFET field and p-n-p bipolar transistors are given.

Solar assisted hybrid cooling systems are promising for the energy saving of refrigeration systems. In most cases, the solar thermal gain is only able to power the heat-driven process of facilities in part of the working period. Therefore, the reduction of compressor power strongly depends upon the duration of heat-driven processes, which has not been addressed properly. Motivated by such knowledge gap, the thermodynamic understanding of solar assisted hybrid cooling systems is deepened through considering the duration in heat-driven processes. Three absorption-compression integrated cooling cycles were taken as examples. It is found that optimal parameters, e.g., inter-stage pressure and temperature, corresponding to various performance indicators trend to be identical, as the duration of heat-driven processes is taken into account. Furthermore, the optimal parameter for different working conditions was obtained. It is displayed that the dimensionless optimal intermediate temperature of layout with the cascade condensation process varies slightly, e.g., 4%, for different conditions. Moreover, the fall of compressor power in entire working periods is nearly independent upon the intermediate temperature. The paper is favorable for the efficient design and operation of solar assisted hybrid cooling systems.

Zinc protection of galvanized steel is initially dissolved in alkaline solutions. However, passive layer is formed over time which protects the steel from corrosion. The behavior of galvanized steel exposed to strong alkaline solutions (pH values of 12.7) with a fixed concentration of sulfate ion of 0.04M is studied. Electrochemical measurement techniques such as corrosion potential, linear polarization resistance and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are used. Synergistic effect of sulfate ion is also studied together with other anions such as chloride Cl- or bicarbonate ion HCO3- and with other cations such as calcium Ca2+, ammonium NH4+ and magnesium Mg2+. Presence of sulfate ions can depassivate the steel, leading to corrosion density of 0.3 µA/cm2 at the end of the test. The presence of other ions in the solution increases this effect. The increase in corrosion density caused by cations and anions responds to the following order (greater to lesser influence): NH4+>Ca2+>Mg2+ and HCO3- >Cl- >SO42-.

In Europe, the recent application of regulations oriented to zero-energy buildings and climate neutrality in 2050 has led to a reduction in energy consumption for heating and cooling in the construction sector. The thermal insulation of the building envelope plays a key role in this process and the requirements about the maximum allowable thermal transmittance are defined by country-specific guidelines. Typically, high insulation values provide low energy consumption for heating, however, they may paradoxically imply the risk of overheating in summer period and thus negatively affect the overall performance of the building. In addition, the embodied energy and related emissions caused by the manufacturing and transportation processes of thermal insulation cannot be further neglected in the evaluation of the best optimal solution. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the influence in terms of embodied and operational energy of various walls’ thermal insulation thicknesses on residential buildings in Europe. To this end, the EnergyPlus engine was used for the energy simulation within Ladybug & Honeybee tools, by parametrically conducting multiple iterations; 53 variations of external wall U-value, considering high and low thermal mass scenarios, were simulated for 100 reference cities of the European context, using a representative multifamily building as a reference. The results demonstrate that massive walls generally perform better than lightweight structures and, of course, the best solution in terms of energy varies according to each climate. The optimal values are graphically reported on the map of Europe according to specific climatic features, providing a guidance for new constructions and building retrofit.

This work aims to investigate the influence of reaction time and catalyst-to-residual fat ratio by catalytic upgrading from pyrolysis vapors of residual fat at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, on the yields of reaction products, physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value) and chemical composition of bio-oils, over a catalyst fixed bed reactor of activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH, in semi pilot scale. The experiments were carried out at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using a process schema consisting of a thermal cracking reactor of 2.0 L coupled to a catalyst fixed bed reactor of 53 mL, without catalyst and using 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0% (wt.) activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH, in batch mode. Samples of liquid phase products were withdrawn during the course of reaction at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 120 minutes in order to investigate the process kinetics. The physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value) of bio-oils were determined by official methods. The chemical composition of bio-oils determined by GC-MS. The thermal catalytic cracking of residual fat show bio-oils yields from 55.55 to 30.22 (wt.%), aqueous phase yields between 2.83 and 3.19 (wt.%), solid phase yields between 13.56 and 9.75 (wt.%), and gas yields from 27.89 to 55.60 (wt.%). The yields of bio-oil decreases from 74.41 to 30.22% (wt.) with increasing catalyst-to-Tallow kernel oil ratio, while that of gaseous phase increases from 12.87 to 55.60% (wt.). For all the thermal and thermal catalytic cracking experiments, the density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value of bio-oils decreases as the reaction time increases varying from 0.9266 to 0.8220 g/cm³, 8.10 to 2.24 mm²/s, and 144.14 to 2.37 mg KOH/g. The GC-MS of liquid reaction products identified the presence of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, ring-containing alkanes, ring-containing alkenes, and aromatics) and oxygenates (carboxylic acids, ketones, esters, alcohols, and aldehydes). For all the pyrolysis and catalytic cracking experiments, the hydrocarbon selectivity in bio-oil increases with increasing reaction time, while those of oxygenates decrease, reaching concentrations of hydrocarbons up to 95.35% (area.). The best results for the physicochemical properties density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value were 0.8220 g/cm³, 3.03 mm2/s, and 2.37 mg KOH/g, respectively, with a maximum hydrocarbon concentration of 97.194% (area.) and 2.806% ketones (area.) were obtained at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, 80 minutes, without catalyst. For the catalytic cracking experiments, the maximum hydrocarbon content of 75.763% (area.) and 17.041% (area.) carboxylic acids, 4.702% (area.) ketones (area.), and 2.494% (area.) non-identified oxygenates was obtained at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, 90 minutes, using a catalyst fixed bed reactor, with 10.0% (wt.) activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH as catalyst.

This paper presents a study on the idle vibration reduction of a diesel sport utility vehicle (SUV). To reduce idle vibration, the transmission paths of vibration from the engine to the driver seat floor were investigated with the vehicle components related to idle vibration. Furthermore, operational deflection shape (ODS) tests were conducted to visualize the vibration shapes during engine idling. Experimental modal analyses were performed to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Through the ODS and modal tests, the vibration characteristics of the diesel SUV during idling were identified. Considering these vibration characteristics, a multi-body dynamic model for the diesel SUV described by differential equations of motion was established to evaluate the idle vibration. To implement the dynamic model effectively, the equivalent stiffnesses and damping coefficients included in the model were determined experimentally or analytically. The established dynamic model was verified by comparing the natural frequencies and idle vibration levels between simulations. Using this dynamic model, we analyzed the effects of various design variables on idle vibration and obtained an optimal design for reducing the idle vibration level. Finally, we present a design guide to reduce the idle vibration for diesel SUVs.

Terzaghi proposed two-dimensional (2D) arching theory through trapdoor tests based on the assumption of a vertical slip surfaces. However, the original 2D assumption is different from a real three-dimensional (3D) excavation condition and an actual slip surfaces caused by downward movement of a trapdoor is an inclined surface. Therefore, a 3D theoretical model was proposed in this study considering inclined slip surfaces. Horizontal thin layer differential element method was used to obtain the loosening soil pressure. Using the 3D theoretical model, the effects of buried depth ratio of loose area, length of loose area, soil parameters, and lateral earth pressure coefficient were investigated. The loosening earth pressure was highly affected by inclination angle of slip surface, buried depth ratio and length of loose area. Neglecting the inclined slip surface will underestimate the value of the loosening earth pressure, which will lead to the insecurity of the design. Loosening earth pressure calculated by this study was also compared with trapdoor tests. Results from this study was in good agreement with the experimental results. Compared with the traditional 2D solution, results from this study can more accurately analyze the soil arching effect in 3D excavation cases.

Buildings can generate heats, which are mostly generated from the machinery using inside the buildings, while these waste heats generally released into the atmosphere. Buildings can also block the wind flow by their canopies and trap the heat by using low albedo materials. These causes pointedly contribute to urban heat island and greenhouse effects. Likewise, urban development and building construction in Cambodia are growing rapidly. The construction has been recognized as a key development sector while thousands of buildings are being built and have been operated in the main cities. However, those buildings mostly have not been considered to incorporate sustainability concepts while the major final energy consumers in the country are buildings. The buildings’ energy consumption is also projected to increase more than double until 2040. Hence, sustainable building promotion in Cambodia is necessary, and sustainable building criteria are completely required. This research aims to find out significant sustainable building criteria for Cambodia and focused on planning and design criteria because having proper planning and design is a smart start leading to achieving building sustainability in all stages. This research used the Delphi methods to validate the relevant sustainable building criteria available in the literature and then select the significant ones for Cambodia based on the Delphi consensus. The results showed that ninety-nine consensus planning and design criteria were found to be significant for sustainable buildings in Cambodia.

The health of the landing gear retraction and extension hydraulic system may be assessed using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE), however the traditional FCE method depends solely on human assessment by specialists, which is excessively subjective. To address the issue of excessive human subjective variables in the assessment, an improved FCE model based on enhanced risk coefficient is provided, which includes four consideration indexes: failure probability, failure severity, failure detection difficulty, and failure repair difficulty. To reduce subjective human judgment errors entirely due to expert experience, the improved FCE takes into account the likelihood of failure using a statistical method, the severity of failure using a fault simulation analysis based on the LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim simulation platform, and the difficulty of fault detection and repair using the aircraft manufacturer's professional maintenance information. As part of the evaluation model, the range of health assessment values and accompanying treatment methods are included, making it easier to implement on a daily basis in aircraft maintenance. As a final step, the simulation is evaluated and the simulated faults are calculated.

The on-site wastewater treatment system (OWTS) with a sand trench is an economical option for residents in rural areas or the countryside where a centralised sewer system is inaccessible. 2A sand achieves improved filtration, microbial activity and consistent long term performance when compared to gravel or scoria based trench systems. However, it is expensive and only readily available in a few areas across New Zealand. Additionally, it has a reputation for premature blockage when overloaded or compacted. The aim of this study is not only to critically evaluate the performance of Crushed Glass (CG) with respect to 2A sand, but also to investigate different loading rates for CG when treating primary treated effluent from a septic tank. A test rig was designed and constructed to simulate the real environment of the sand column in a discharge control trench. The treatment efficiency of three filters was recorded and compared in this study. Overall, the CG loaded at 25mm/day (CG₂₅) and 50mm/day (CG₅₀) provided an average of 13% and 6% more Total Nitrogen (TN) reduction than the sand filter, respectively. The removal rates for the TN were up to 69.5%. The CG₅₀ filter performed similarly at 50mm/day as the 2A sand filter in terms of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)₅ removal of more than 94%. The CG₂₅ removal rates for TSS and BOD₅ at the start of the trial (likely due to residual liquid contamination from the bottles when crushed) improved over the sampling period and ultimately achieved similar results of 92% and 91.3% to the filters loaded at 50mm/day. Lifecycle cost analyses and carbon balances were completed for the two media. It highlighted that the current price of CG is only half of 2A sand, yet it produces significantly less CO₂ emissions than 2A sand. A 3-bedroom dwelling could save up to $500 and reduce 200kg of CO₂ released to the environment annually when 2A sand is substituted for CG. Based on the findings of this paper, it is likely that the reduced installation cost, lessened environmental impact and theoretical availability will lead to CG systems becoming more common in New Zealand and abroad.

Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) is a training module designed to provide basic surgical skills. During skill training of the FLS "suturing and intracorporeal knot-tying" task – the most difficult among the five psychomotor FLS tasks, learning from errors is one of the basic principles of motor skill acquisition where appropriate contextual switching of the brain state on error is postulated. This study investigated changes in the brain state following an error event based on the fusion of simultaneously acquired functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) signals. Here, human error processing is postulated to differentiate experts from novices based on the differences in the error-related chain of mental processes. Thirteen right-handed novice medical students and nine expert surgeons participated in this study. Error-related microstate analysis was performed using 32-channel EEG data at a high temporal resolution. Six microstate prototypes were identified from combined EEG data from experts and novices during the FLS task. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) found that the proportion of the total time spent in different microstates during the 10 sec error epoch was significantly affected by the skill level (p<0.01), microstate type (p<0.01), and the interaction between the skill level and the microstate type (p<0.01). Then, the EEG band power (1-40Hz) related to slower oxyhemoglobin (HbO) changes were found using regularized temporally embedded Canonical Correlation Analysis of the fNIRS-EEG signals. The HbO signal from the fNIRS channel overlying ‘Frontal_Inf_Oper_L’, ‘Frontal_Mid_Orb_L’, ‘Postcentral_L’, ‘Temporal_Sup_L’, ‘Frontal_Mid_Orb_R’ cortical areas from Automatic Anatomical Labelling showed significant (p<0.05) difference between experts and novices in the 10-sec error epoch. Here, the frontal/prefrontal cortical areas are postulated to be related to the perception and the activation of the primary somatosensory cortex at the postcentral cortical area is hypothesized to be related to the action underpinning perception-action coupling model for the error-related chain of mental processes. Therefore, our study highlighted the importance of error-related brain states from portable brain imaging when comparing complex surgical skill levels.

An extended classification of active RC- and RLC- filters with Sallen-Key architectures, including those created in the last three years, is proposed. This makes it possible to formulate new design directions for an extended family of active RC- and RLC- Sallen-Key filters (PF, LPF, HPF, RF) for the tasks of high-speed and ultra-fast analog-to-digital signal conversion.

This article presents new PEM fuel cell models with hexagonal and pentagonal designs. After observing cell performance improvement in these models, we optimized them. Inlet pressure and temperature were used as input parameters, and consumption and output power were the target parameters of the multi-objective optimization algorithm. Then we used artificial intelligence techniques, including deep neural networks and polynomial regression, to model the data. Next, we employed the RSM (Response Surface Method) method to derive the target functions. Furthermore, we applied the NSGA-II multi-objective genetic algorithm to optimize the targets. Compared to the base model (Cubic), the optimized Pentagonal and Hexagonal models averagely increase the output current density by 21.819\% and 39.931\%, respectively.

The article shows that active RC- and RLC- filters based on the simplest wideband SiGe transistor stages are quite promising for RF and microwave frequency ranges. The results of computer simulation of the RC- and RLC-filters proposed by the authors of this article, which are oriented for use in communication and telecommunications devices, incl. with tunable and adaptive parameters.

In the context of all-digital radar systems, phase-modulated continuous wave (PMCW) based on pseudorandom binary sequences (PRBSs) appears a prominent candidate modulation scheme for applications such as autonomous driving. Among the reasons for that are its simplified transmitter architecture and lower linearity requirements, e.g., compared to orthogonal-frequency division multiplexing radars, as well as its high velocity unambiguity and multiple-input multiple-output operation capability that are characteristic of digital radars. For appropriate operation of a PMCW radar, choosing a PRBS whose periodic autocorrelation function (PACF) has low sidelobes and high robustness to Doppler shifts is paramount. In this sense, this article performs an analysis of Doppler shift tolerance of the PACFs of typically adopted PRBSs in PMCW radar systems supported by simulation and measurement results. To accurately measure the Doppler-shift-induced degradation of PACFs, peak power loss ratio (PPLR), peak sidelobe level ratio (PSLR), and integrated-sidelobe level ratio (ISLR) were used as metrics. Furthermore, to account for effects on targets whose ranges are not multiples of the range resolution, oversampled PACFs are analyzed.

Intending to analyze the role of nuclear power in an integrated energy system, we used the IESA-Opt-N cost minimization model focusing on four key themes: system-wide impacts of nuclear power, uncertain technological costs, flexible generation, and cross-border electricity trade. We demonstrate that the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) alone should not be used to demonstrate the economic feasibility of a power generation technology. For instance, under the default techno-economic assumptions, particularly the 5% discount rate and exogenous electricity trade potentials, it is cost-optimal for the Netherlands to invest in 9.6 GWe nuclear capacity by 2050. However, its LCOE is 34 €/MWh higher than offshore wind. Moreover, we found that nuclear power investments can reduce demand for variable renewable energy sources in the short term and higher energy independence (i.e., lower imports of natural gas, biomass, and electricity) in the long term. Furthermore, investing in nuclear power can reduce the mitigation costs of the Dutch energy system by 1.6% and 6.2% in 2040 and 2050, and 25% lower national CO₂ prices by 2050. However, this cost reduction is not significant given the odds of higher nuclear financing costs and longer construction times. In addition, this study has shown that lower financing costs (e.g., EU taxonomy support) considerably reduce the relevance of nuclear cost uncertainties on its investments. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the economic feasibility of national nuclear power investments can vary considerably depending on the cross-border electricity trade assumptions. Additionally, we found that lowering the cost of small modular reactors has more impact on their economic feasibility than increasing their generation flexibility. In conclusion, under the specific assumptions of this study, nuclear power can play a complementary role (in parallel to the wind and solar power) in supporting the Dutch energy transition from the sole techno-economic point of view.

Memristors were proposed in the early ’70s of the XXth century by Leon Chua as a new electrical element linking the charge and the flux. Since that first introduction, these devices have positioned themselves to be considered as possibly fundamental for the new generations of electronic devices. It has to be mentioned that actual memristors have only been recognized to exist as physical elements. In this paper, we apply a modeling framework to generate a model describing experimental measurements performed on a ReRAM. We show how to apply the Dynamic Route Map technique in the general case to obtain an approximation to the differential equation that determines the behaviour of the device.

Nowadays, wearable devices for human health monitoring are increasingly become popular and widely used. Typically, the wearable device is small size and operates with batteries. Therefore, the wearable device acquires bio-signals and transfers to smartphones or personal computers (PC) via WiFi/ Bluetooth for processing data. To reduce power consumption is one of the most important challenges of designing wearable devices. To solve this problem, the proposed signal quality valuation (SQV) method can be select the high-quality signal and reduce the transfer time to other devices. In this paper, the proposed SQV and data compression method rely on real-time PPG signals analysis to retain important information of PPG signal, improve performance and power consumption of PPG devices. Besides, we also proposed Heuristic rules for heart rate (HR) estimation with compression data. The experimental results show that the highest compression ratio (CR) is 387.8 with BIDMC Physionet database (sampling frequencies of 125 Hz) and HR error as 1.43 bpm for averaging absolute error (avAE), the standard deviation absolute error (sdAE as 0.4) and relative error mean (avRE as 0.019). The proposed real-time PPG measurement system (sampling frequency as 100/ 200/ 400 Hz) reduce power consumption and open the new structure for healthcare application systems

Flood events and their associated damages have escalated significantly in the last few decades. To add to the gruesome situation, many reports and studies warn that flood risk would aggravate significantly in future periods due to significant alterations in the climate patterns and socio-economic dynamics. Floodplain mapping is looked upon as a viable option to tackle this global issue as it provides both quantitative and qualitative information on flood dynamics. Moreover, with the increasing availability of global data and enhancement in computational simulations, it has become easier to simlate flooding patterns at large scales. This study deter-mines the usability of publicly available datasets in capturing flood hazards over Canada. Run-off data set from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), along with a few other rele-vant inputs are fed to CaMa-Flood, a robust global hydrodynamic model to generate flooding patterns for 1 in 100 and 1 in 200-yr return period events over Canada . The simulated maps are compared and validated with the existing maps of a few flood-prone regions in Canada, thereby establishing their performance over both regional and country-scale. Later, the simulated flood-plain maps are used in conjunction with property related information at 34 cities (within the top 100 populous cities in Canada) to determine the degree of exposure due to flooding in 1991, 2001, and 2011. The results indicate that around 80 percent of inundated spots belong to high and very-high hazard classes in a 200-yr event, which is roughly 4 percent more than simulated for 100-yr event. NARR derived floodplain maps perform very well while compared over the six flood-prone regions. While analyzing the exposure of properties to flooding, we notice an in-crease in the number during the last three decades, with the maximum rise observed in Toronto, followed by Montreal, and Edmonton. To disseminate the extensive flood-related information, a web-based public tool, Flood Map Viewer (http://www.floodmapviewer.com/) is developed. The development of the tool was motivated by the commitment of the Canadian government to provide $63 M over the next three years for the completion of flood maps for higher-risk areas. The study reaches out to demonstrate how publicly available datasets can be utilized with a lesser degree of uncertainty in representing flooding patterns over large regions. The flood re-lated information derived from the study can be used along with vulnerability for quantifying flood risk, which will help in developing appropriate pathways for resilience building for long-term sustainable benefits.

This review summarises the main numerical models of fuel droplet heating and evaporation (DHE) in combustion engines across the different scales by accessing the nano/micro, meso and macroscopic fluid elements. The phenomena of multi-physics, multi-scale and multi-phase fluid flow and heat transfer are fully investigated when the fuel droplet (dodecane) is heating and evaporated into a background gas (nitrogen) crossing the liquid-vapour (LV) interface, kinetic region (i.e., Knudsen layer) and the bulk regions of liquid and gas in terms of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, kinetic theory modelling (i.e., direct numerical solutions of Boltzmann equations) and convectional fluid dynamics approach, respectively. The evaporation coefficient of fuel evaporating molecules and their velocity distributions at the LV interface derived from MD simulations formulate a new kinetic boundary condition (KBC). Moreover, a novel kinetic model considering the inelastic collision between fuel molecules alongside the new KBC enables us to describe the non-equilibrium gas dynamics of fuel vapour and gas mixture in Knudsen layer (KL). Heat and mass flux analysis of the fuel droplet under combustion engine conditions can be accurately assessed by implementing the inelastic collision between fuel molecules in KL and a temperature-dependent evaporation coefficient at the LV interface into DHE. The surface temperature of fuel droplet and its evaporation time, which play a significant role in resolving the ignition delay and hence the combustion phasing in engines, can also be well estimated. The multi-scale modelling of fuel DHE will make significantly potential input into the cleaner engine targeting the low-carbon emissions and enhance the capability of the existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers.

The gasification of sugarcane cutting waste (RAC) is a process that occurs in a gasifier where the transformation of this raw material into a solid-state and a gasifying agent with a moderate calorific value occurs, thanks to the application of heat. Under restricted oxygen levels, we can say that several styles of air gasifiers, water vapor, oxygen, and hydrogen have a performance that can be analyzed and categorized by their performance to avoid damage to the environment. The objective of this article is based on the mathematical development of gasification of cane cutting waste; it was carried out as a transformation of the primary fuel into a stream of gases whose main components are CO₂ and _H2, which can be separated relatively easily by their concentrations, and available pressures and in some cases in their temperatures; which helped to identify the second-order reaction in the transformation and improvement of the process; applying to the optimization of development in the capture of carbon dioxide, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Recently, hybrid logic circuits based on magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) have been widely investigated to realize zero standby power. However, such hybrid CMOS/MTJ logic circuits suffer from a severe sensing reliability due to the limited tunnel magnetoresistance ratio (TMR≤150%) of the MTJ and the large process variation in the deep sub-micrometer technology node. In this paper, a novel differential sensing amplifier (DSA) is proposed, in which two PMOS transistors are added to connect the discharging branches and evaluation branches. Owing to the positive feedback realized by these two added PMOS transistors, it can achieve a large sensing margin. By using an industrial CMOS 40 nm design kit and a physics-based MTJ compact model, hybrid CMOS/MTJ simulations have been performed to demonstrate its functionality and evaluate its performance. Simulation results show that it can achieve a smaller sensing error rate of 9% in comparison with the previously proposed DSAs with the TMR ratio of 100% and process variation of 10%, while maintaining almost the same sensing delay of 74.5 ps and sensing energy of 1.92 fJ/bit.

Petrochemicals, which convert oil and gas into products such as plastics, are fundamental to modern societies. Chemists recognize their role in the design of materials and the adverse effects that these may have on the environment, preventing sustainable development. Several methodological frameworks and sustainability assessment approaches have been developed to evaluate the resources used in the petrochemical sector in terms of environmental costs. A combination of Life Cycle Assessment and Emergy Accounting - to assess the environmental support for resource use - is applied in this study of the PET production chain in Europe. The Unit Emergy Values of several intermediates are calculated or updated to facilitate discernment of the quality of energy used and the processes' efficiency. Several routes for synthesizing renewable para-xylene and ethylene glycol from biomass are discussed and confronted with the efforts focused on recycling and recovering the final product providing concurrently a procedure and a valuable data set for future CP actions. The results show that understanding the efficiencies changing across the production chain may help stakeholders make wise choices as to where and when interventions to promote a circular economy are most effective along a petrochemical production chain.

Nowadays, energy saving is considered a key issue worldwide, as it brings a variety of benefits: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing demand for energy imports, and lowering costs on a household and economy-wide level. Researchers and building designers are looking to optimize building efficiency by means of new energy technologies. Changes in existing buildings can also be made to reduce energy consumption and costs. These may include the usage of new heat transfer fluids based on nanofluids. In this work, an extended experimental campaign (from February 2020 to March 2021) has been carried out on an educational building in the Campus of University of Salento, Lecce – Italy, in order to evaluate the increase in performance of the HVAC system, due to the usage of a nanofluid. The results show that, under optimal operating conditions, plant performance improves more than 10%, with average daily peaks of about 15%.

This work aims to investigate the effect of catalyst content and reaction time by catalytic upgrading from pyrolysis vapors of residual fat at 450 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, on the yields of reaction products, physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, refractive index, and acid value) and chemical composition of organic liquid products (OLP), over a catalyst fixed bed reactor, in semi pilot scale. Pellets of Red Mud chemically activated with 1.0 M HCl were used as catalysts. The experiments were carried out at 450 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using a process schema consisting of a thermal cracking reactor of 2.0 L coupled to a catalyst fixed bed reactor of 53 mL, without catalyst and using 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0% (wt.) Red Mud pellets activated with 1.0 M HCl, in batch mode. Samples of liquid phase products were withdrawn during the course of reaction at 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 min in order to analyze the process kinetics. The physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, acid value, and refractive index) of OLP were determined by official methods. The chemical functions present in OLP determined by FT-IR and the chemical composition by GC-MS. The thermal catalytic cracking of residual fat show OLP yields from 54.4 to 84.88 (wt.%), aqueous phase yields between 2.21 and 2.80 (wt.%), solid phase yields (coke) between 1.30 and 8.60 (wt.%), and gas yields from 11.61 to 34.22 (wt.%). The yields of OLP increases with increasing catalyst content while those of aqueous, gaseous and solid phase decreases. For all the thermal and thermal catalytic cracking experiments, the density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value of OLP decreases with increasing reaction time. The GC-MS of liquid reaction products identified the presence of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes, and aromatics) and oxygenates (carboxylic acids, ketones, esters, alcohols, and aldehydes). For all the thermal and thermal catalytic cracking experiments, the hydrocarbon content within OLP increases with reaction time, while those of oxygenates decrease, reaching concentrations of hydrocarbons up to 95.35% (area.). The best results for the physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value) and the maximum hydrocarbon content of OLP were obtained at 450 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using a catalyst fixed bed reactor, with 5.0% (wt.) Red Mud pellets activated with 1.0 M HCl as catalyst.

Risk management of electric power transmission lines requires knowledge from different areas such as environment, land, investors, regulations, and engineering. Despite the widespread availability of databases for most of those areas, integrating them into a single database or model is a challenging problem. Instead, in this paper, we use a single source, the Brazilian National Electric Energy Agency’s (ANEEL) weekly reports, which contains decisions about the electrical grid, comprising most of the areas. Since the data is unstructured (text), we employed NLP techniques such as stemming and tokenization to identify keywords related to common causes of risks provided by an expert group on energy transmission. Then, we used models to estimate the probability of each risk. Our results show that we were able to estimate the probability of 97 risks out of 233.

This paper presents an approach to the elastic analysis of beams subjected to Saint-Venant torsion using Green’s theorem and the finite difference method (FDM). The Saint-Venant torsion of beams, also called free torsion or unrestrained torsion, is characterized by the absence of axial stresses due to torsion; only shear stresses are developed. The solution to this torsion problem consists of finding a stress function that satisfies the governing equation and the boundary conditions. The FDM is an approximate method for solving problems described with differential or partial differential equations; it does not involve solving differential equations, equations are formulated with values at selected nodes of the structure. In this paper, the beam’s cross-section was discretized with a two-dimensional grid and additional nodes were introduced at the boundaries. The introduction of additional nodes allowed us to apply the governing equations at boundary nodes and satisfy the boundary conditions. Beam’s cross-sections of various shapes and openings were analyzed using this model; shear stresses, torsion constant, and warping were determined. Furthermore, beams with thin-walled closed sections, single-cell or multiple-cell, were analyzed using the stress function whereby the linear distribution of the shear stresses over the thickness was considered; closed-form solutions for shear stresses and torsion constant were presented. For rectangular cross-sections, the results obtained in this study showed good agreement with the exact results, and the accuracy was increased through a grid refinement. For thin-walled closed sections the values of torsion constant and maximal shear stress were higher than those calculated using Bredt’s analysis; moreover, regarding the closed-form solution, the maximal shear stress in the cross-section does not necessarily occur at the position with the smallest thickness.

Background: Cervical laminoplasty is a useful for treatment of cervical myelopathy. However, this procedure has limitations for kyphotic cervical alignments. We used the finite element (FE) analysis and investigated the biomechanical changes in an intact and laminoplasty models with lordosis, straight, and kyphosis cervical alignments. Methods: A three-dimensional FE model of the cervical spine (C2-C7) with ligaments was created from computed tomography. The model was modified with the following cobb angles and the C3-C6 laminoplasty was conducted; a) laminoplasty-lordotic model (LM-L; C2-C7 angle: -10°), b) laminoplasty-straight model (LM-S; C2-C7 angle: 0°), and c) laminoplasty-kyphotic model (LM-K; C2-C7 angle: 10°). A pure moment with a compressive follower load of 100N to represent the weight of the head/cranium and cervical muscle stabilization was applied to these models. The range of motion (ROM), annular stress, nucleus stress and facet forces were analyzed. Results: ROM of LM-K increased when compared to the other models except for flexion. The LM-K had the highest mobility with 49% increase in ROM observed under extension, compared to the intact model. In all motion except for flexion, LM-L models’ ROM decreased by more than 10%, and LM-S and LM-K models’ ROM increased by more than 10% at C2-C7 compared to the intact model. The annular stresses and nucleus stresses in LM-K were higher compared to the other models. The maximum increase in annular stresses was about 194% in LM-K compared to the intact model, observed at the C3-C4 segment. The facet contact forces were lowest in the LM-K, compared to the other models.Conclusions: Patients with a cervical kyphosis alignment are at a disadvantage of increased kyphosis compared to cases with lordosis or straight alignment and should be treated with caution.

In the context of all-digital radar systems, phase-modulated continuous wave (PMCW) based on pseudorandom binary sequences (PRBSs) appears a prominent candidate modulation scheme for applications such as autonomous driving. Among the reasons for that are its simplified transmitter architecture and lower linearity requirements, e.g., compared to orthogonal-frequency division multiplexing radars, as well as its high velocity unambiguity and multiple-input multiple-output operation capability that are characteristic of digital radars. For appropriate operation of a PMCW radar, choosing a PRBS whose periodic autocorrelation function (PACF) has low sidelobes and high robustness to Doppler shifts is paramount. In this sense, this article performs an analysis of Doppler shift tolerance of the PACFs of typically adopted PRBSs in PMCW radar systems supported by simulation and measurement results. To accurately measure the Doppler-shift-induced degradation of PACFs, peak power loss ratio (PPLR), peak sidelobe level ratio (PSLR), and integrated-sidelobe level ratio (ISLR) were used as metrics. Furthermore, to account for effects on targets whose ranges are not multiples of the range resolution, oversampled PACFs are analyzed.

This work presents results of property researches of fabricated samples of silica few-mode optical fiber (FMF) with induced chirality under twisting 10 and 66 revolutions per meter, core diameter 11 µm, typical “telecommunication” cladding diameter 125 µm and improved height of quasi-step refractive index profile. Proposed FMF supports 4 guided modes over “C”-band. We represent results of computed characteristics, as well as experimentally measured spectral responses of laser-excited optical signals, including researches and analysis of few-mode effects, occurring after fiber Bragg grating writing.

Advanced manufacturing techniques, aimed at implants with high dependability, flexibility, and low manufacturing costs, are crucial in meeting the growing demand for high-quality products like biomedical implants. Incremental sheet forming is a promising flexible manufacturing approach for rapidly prototyping sheet metal components using low-cost tools. Titanium and its alloys are used to shape most biomedical implants because of its superior mechanical qualities, biocompatibility, low weight, and great structural strength. The poor formability of titanium sheets at room temperature, however, limits their widespread use. The goal of this research is to show that gradual sheet formation of a titanium biomedical implant is possible. The possibility of creative and cost-effective concepts for the manufacturing of such complicated shapes with significant wall angles is explored in this study. A numerical simulation based on finite element modeling as well as a design process tailored to metal forming is used to complete the development. The mean of uniaxial tensile tests with a constant strain rate was used to study the flow behavior of the studied material. To forecast the crack, the obtained flow behavior was modeled using the behavior model and failure model.

The extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology allows the fabrication of permanent formwork with intricate shapes, into which fresh concrete is cast to build structural members with complex geometry. This significantly enhances the geometric freedom of concrete structures without the use of expensive temporary formwork. In addition, with proper material choice for the permanent formwork, the load-bearing capacity and durability of the resulting structure can be improved. This paper investigates 3DCP of permanent formwork for reinforced concrete (RC) beam construction. A 3D-printable engineered geopolymer composite (3DP-EGC, or strain-hardening geopolymer composite, 3DP-SHGC) recently developed by the authors was used for fabrication of the permanent formwork. The 3DP-EGC exhibits strain-hardening behaviour under direct tension. Two different printing patterns were used for the soffit of the permanent formwork to investigate the effect of this parameter on the flexural performance of RC beams. A conventionally mould-cast RC beam was also prepared as the control beam for comparison purposes. The results showed that the RC beams constructed using the 3DP-EGC permanent formwork exhibited superior flexural performance to the control beam. Such beams yielded significantly higher cracking load (up to 43%), deflection at ultimate load (up to 60%), ductility index (50%) and absorbed energy (up to 107%) than those of the control beam. The ultimate load was comparable with or slightly higher than that of the control beam. Furthermore, the printing pattern at the soffit of the permanent formwork was found to have a significant influence on the flexural performance of the RC beams.

Micro-grids’ operations offer local reliability; in the event of faults or low voltage/frequency events on the utility side, micro-grids can disconnect from the main grid and operate autonomously while providing the continued supply of power to local customers. With the ever-increasing penetration of renewable generation, however, the operations of micro-grids become increasingly complicated because of the associated fluctuations of voltages. As a result, transformer taps are adjusted frequently, thereby leading to the fast degradation of expensive tap-changer transformers. In the islanding mode, the difficulties also come from the drop of voltage and frequency upon disconnecting from the main grid. To appropriately model the above, the nonlinear AC power flow constraints are necessary. Computationally, the discrete nature of tap-changer operations and the stochasticity caused by renewables add two layers of difficulty on top of a complicated AC-OPF problem. To resolve the above computational difficulties, the main principles of the recently-developed "l1-proximal" Surrogate Lagrangian Relaxation are extended. Testing results based on 9-bus system demonstrate the efficiency of the method to obtain the exact feasible solutions for micro-grid operations thereby avoiding approximations inherent to existing methods, while demonstrating that through the optimization, 1. the number of tap changes is drastically reduced, and 2. the method is capable of handling networks with meshed topologies.

Calculation of the pressure field on and around solid bodies exposed to external flow is of paramount importance to a number of engineering applications. However, conventional pressure measurement techniques are inherently linked to problems principally caused by their point-wise and/or intrusive nature. In the present paper, we attempt to calculate the time-averaged two-dimensional pressure field by integrating PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) velocity measurements into a CFD code and modifying them by the respective correction step of the SIMPLE algorithm. Boundary conditions are applied from the PIV data as a three-layer area of constant velocities, adjacent to the boundaries. A novel characteristic of the approach is the straightforward inclusion of the Reynolds Stresses into the source terms of the momentum equations, calculated directly from the PIV statistics. The methodology is applied to three regions of the symmetry plane parallel to the main boundary layer flow past a surface mounted cube. In spite of findings of deviations from the planar 2D flow assumption, the derived pressure fields and the adjusted velocity fields are found to be reliable, while the intrinsic turbulent nature of the flow is considered without modelling of the Reynolds stresses.

Integrating large-scale wind energy in modern power systems is demanding more efficient mathematical models to properly address classical assumptions in power system problems. In particular, there are two main assumptions in power system problems with wind integration that have not been adequately studied yet; First, non-linear AC power flow equations have been linearized in most of the literature. Such simplifications can lead to inaccurate power flow calculations that may result in other technical issues. Second, wind power uncertainties are inevitable and have been mostly modelled using the traditional uncertainty modelling approaches, that may not be suitable for large-scale wind power integration. In this paper, we address both challenges: we present a tight second-order conic relaxation (SOCR) for optimal power flow (OPF) problem, and simultaneously, implement the new effective budget of uncertainty approach for uncertainty modelling that determines the maximum wind power admissibility first and then addresses the uncertainty in the model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that proposes an effective robust second-order conic programming (ERSOCP) model that simultaneously addresses the issues of power flow linearization and wind power uncertainty with the new paradigm on the budget of uncertainty approach. Our numerical results show the merit of the proposed model against traditional linearized power flow equations as well as traditional uncertainty modelling approaches.

This research aims to investigate the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) when subjected to tensile, bending, and compression. Half of the specimens are also subjected to water to find out how water influences. The CFRP is created using a combination of carbon fiber layers and epoxy resin Bisphenol A Epichlorohydrin with hardener and is formed using the vacuum infusion method. From the water absorption test, it was found that the average weight gain of the specimens was 2.9% and the lowest value was at 0.6%, it was concluded that the increase in wet specimen weight was not too significant and water absorption tended to be slow. Mechanical testing ob-tained the highest average tensile stress, bending stress, compressive stress, and modulus of elasticity of 195 MPa, 295 MPa, 96 MPa, and 8914 MPa were from dry specimens while the lowest average values were 146 MPa, 286 MPa, 81 MPa, and 6160 MPa from wet specimens. The results of micro-photo observations on the tensile test fracture show that the specimen has a XGM fracture character with delamination and splitting fractures happening in multiple areas. In the bending test, the specimens experienced buckling fracture due to the fiber breaking and the inability of the matrix to withstand the additional stress. Shear fracture happened during the compressive test. In conclusion, water absorption has a bad impact towards the composite strength.

White-rot fungi (WRF) have specific enzymes to degrade lignocellulosic and phenolic compounds. Therefore, their direct application could be an alternative to biodegrade complex lignocellulosic biomass such as olive mill solid waste (OMSW). The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of A. discolor and S. hirsutum to grow in OMSW as the sole substrate under static conditions and evaluate the phenolic removal compounds and lignin degradation. The lignolytic enzyme activity was determined, as was the phenolic compound removal. At the same time, lignin degradation and structural changes were evaluated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. Both strains were able to grow using OMSW as the sole substrate without adding other nutrients, oxygen and/or agitation. The higher ligninolytic enzyme activity was found at day 8, and the highest phenolic removal (more than 80% with both strains) was reached after 24 days of incubation. The CLSM analysis confirmed lignin degradation through the drop in lignin fluorescence from 3967 for untreated OMSW to 235 and 221 RFU after 24 days of treatment by A. discolor and S. hirsutum respectively. The results indicate that both WRF could be suitable candidates to design an in-situ pretreatment step of OMSW, as long as in future research the WRFs have the same performance in non-sterile conditions.

Purpose: This research aims to model a police agency ordering problem based on criteria that measure the performance of operational and logistical variables, using a multicriteria method. Design/methodology/approach: The multicriteria method PROMETHEE II was used, which with the aid of the Visual PROMETHEE software, emulated the systematized data in the impact matrix and produced the final ordering of the most efficient police agencies in equalizing the operational, logistical, financial, and human resources applied in the combating crime and reducing criminal indices. Findings: The results confirmed that the resources made available to police agencies located in different municipalities in the metropolitan region of the state of Rio de Janeiro are better applied by managers compared to police units in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. Research limitations/implications: As implications of the research, it can be inferred that the use of multicriteria methods in modelling problems in ​​public security can contribute to the rationalization of the use of available resources to fight crime in large cities. Research has shown that it is possible to use the multicriteria methodology in ordering police agencies that best equalize the available resources. Practical implications: The practical impact of this research lies in optimizing the resources available to law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime in general. Social implications: The results can influence the decision making of the local government in the allocation of resources, as well as offering sectors of the economy information relevant to local development. Originality/value: The results of the MCDA analysis can be used to help police agencies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to be more efficient. In addition, the application of MCDA can be a new approach to measuring the efficiency of police services.

The lateral pressure generated by liquefied soil on pile is a critical parameter in the analysis of soil-pile interaction in liquefaction-susceptible sites. Previous studies have shown that liquefied sand behaves like a non-Newton fluid, and its effect on piles has rate-dependent properties. In this study, a simplified pseudo-static method for liquefiable soil-pile interaction analysis is proposed by treating the liquefied soil as a thixotropic fluid, which considers the rate-dependent behavior. The viscous shear force generated by the relative movement between the viscous fluid (whose viscosity coefficient varies with excess pore pressure and shear strain rate) and the pile was assumed to be the lateral load on the pile. The results from the simplified analysis show that the distribution of bending moment is in good agreement with experiments data. Besides, the effects of various parameters, including relative density, thickness ratio of non-liquefiable layer to liquefiable layer, and frequency of input ground motion, on the pile-soil rate-dependent interaction were discussed in detail.