Commercial Software Tools Research Articles

Design, simulation and feasibility study of a combined CO2 mineralization and brackish water desalination process

This study presents a novel process integration scheme between CO2 mineralization and brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO). The integration is based on the reciprocal nature of these two processes: While CO2 mineralization needs metal ions such as Na+ to convert CO2 into mineral carbonates like sodium bicarbonate, BWRO is designed to reject such ions to produce fresh water. Thus, there is a potential synergy that can be gained through their integration. To examine the feasibility of such process integration, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and CO2 life cycle assessment (LCA) are conducted for various possible configurations of the integrated process. A key requirement for TEA and CO2 LCA is the availability of mass and energy balance data. Therefore, the process is simulated with the commercial simulation software tool of Aspen Plus combined MATLAB. Another requirement is the selection of appropriate evaluation scenarios. Based on a market analysis, the proposed process is assumed to be installed either in the US or in the China to replace a respective conventional benchmark process. Also, two sources of electricity (coal and wind onshore) are considered in the evaluation in order to investigate the sensitivity of the process performance on the type of electricity used. As a result of the analysis, the CO2 avoidance cost of the designed process is calculated to be 132˜245$/metric ton of CO2 with wind-based electricity. Given other advantages of the mineralization over the geological storage, the presented process integration between CO2 mineralization and BWRO deserves further investigation as a means to produce useful chemicals and fresh water while curbing CO2 emission.

Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Model Development and Simulation Using nlmixr and Related R Open-Source Packages.

nlmixr is a free and open‐source R package for fitting nonlinear pharmacokinetic (PK), pharmacodynamic (PD), joint PK‐PD, and quantitative systems pharmacology mixed‐effects models. Currently, nlmixr is capable of fitting both traditional compartmental PK models as well as more complex models implemented using ordinary differential equations. We believe that, over time, it will become a capable, credible alternative to commercial software tools, such as NONMEM, Monolix, and Phoenix NLME.

Optimization Approaches in Design for Additive Manufacturing

AbstractNowadays, topology optimization and lattice structures are being re-discovered thanks to Additive Manufacturing technologies, that allow to easily produce parts with complex geometries.The primary aim of this work is to provide an original contribution for geometric modeling of conformal lattice structures for both wireframe and mesh models, improving previously presented methods. The secondary aim is to compare the proposed approaches with commercial software solutions on a piston rod as a case study.The central part of the rod undergoes size optimization of conformal lattice structure beams diameters using the proposed methods, and topology optimization using commercial software tool. The optimized lattice is modeled with a NURBS approach and with the novel mesh approach, while the topologically optimized part is manually remodeled to obtain a proper geometry. Results show that the lattice mesh modelling approach has the best performance, resulting in a lightweight structure with smooth surfaces and without sharp edges at nodes, enhancing mechanical properties and fatigue life.

Comprehensive Review of 3D Segmentation Software Tools for MRI Usable for Pelvic Surgery Planning.

Patient-specific 3D modeling is the first step towards image-guided surgery, the actual revolution in surgical care. Pediatric and adolescent patients with rare tumors and malformations should highly benefit from these latest technological innovations, allowing personalized tailored surgery. This study focused on the pelvic region, located at the crossroads of the urinary, digestive, and genital channels with important vascular and nervous structures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances of different software tools to obtain patient-specific 3D models, through segmentation of magnetic resonance images (MRI), the reference for pediatric pelvis examination. Twelve software tools freely available on the Internet and two commercial software tools were evaluated using T2-w MRI and diffusion-weighted MRI images. The software tools were rated according to eight criteria, evaluated by three different users: automatization degree, segmentation time, usability, 3D visualization, presence of image registration tools, tractography tools, supported OS, and potential extension (i.e., plugins). A ranking of software tools for 3D modeling of MRI medical images, according to the set of predefined criteria, was given. This ranking allowed us to elaborate guidelines for the choice of software tools for pelvic surgical planning in pediatric patients. The best-ranked software tools were Myrian Studio, ITK-SNAP, and 3D Slicer, the latter being especially appropriate if nerve fibers should be included in the 3D patient model. To conclude,this study proposed a comprehensive review of software tools for 3D modeling of the pelvis according to a set of eight criteria and delivered specific conclusions for pediatric and adolescent patients that can be directly applied to clinical practice.

Helical resonator filters with improved multipactor performance exploiting rigorous modelling and the large gap approach

The power handling capability of helical resonator filters is studied by means of the parallel plate model (employed in the European Cooperation for Space Standardisation) and more rigorous modelling techniques (like the one available in the commercial software tool SPARK3D™) as well as through an experimental test campaign. The results indicate that the parallel plate model provides conservative power handling capabilities for this class of filters, while rigorous modelling can better capture the impact of the geometrical features on multipactor evolution. Although the accuracy of the estimated power handling depends on the knowledge of the practical secondary emission yield values, the use of such rigorous modelling tools enables the design of helical resonator filters with improved power handling capability by exploiting the large gap approach, therefore opening opportunities to avoid additional dielectric fillings.

Simultaneous multiple-parameter control in flexible power systems for its stability enhancement

In the paper, a practical and innovative approach for determining control parameters of multiple and/or multi-parametric controllable elements with the aim of handling electromechanical dynamic phenomena in a power system, is presented. For the sake of a clear representation, a Unified Power-Flow Controller (as some kind of a synonym for multi-parametric devices) is provided, even though the suggested idea may be easily extended to coordinated control of arbitrary number of other devices as well. Application of a power-system transient energy function enables the strategy to reach a global optimum in the Lyapunov sense. Setting of controlled damping-device parameters pursues minimization of the time derivative of the transient energy function, which corresponds to the fastest possible dissipation of the energy surplus, gained during a disturbance. This is achieved by putting into use its newly presented predictable relationship with the damping-device parameter setting. Optimality of the strategy was demonstrated on both the single-machine infinite-bus model as well as on the Slovenian power-system model for damping of reconstructed power oscillations. An additional important contribution of the strategy is its easy-to-implement feature within existing commercial power-system dynamic analysis software tools, as transient energy function approach normally requires special software solutions.

Creating a Multimodal Translation Tool and Testing Machine Translation Integration Using Touch and Voice

Commercial software tools for translation have, until now, been based on the traditional input modes of keyboard and mouse, latterly with a small amount of speech recognition input becoming popular. In order to test whether a greater variety of input modes might aid translation from scratch, translation using translation memories, or machine translation postediting, we developed a web-based translation editing interface that permits multimodal input via touch-enabled screens and speech recognition in addition to keyboard and mouse. The tool also conforms to web accessibility standards. This article describes the tool and its development process over several iterations. Between these iterations we carried out two usability studies, also reported here. Findings were promising, albeit somewhat inconclusive. Participants liked the tool and the speech recognition functionality. Reports of the touchscreen were mixed, and we consider that it may require further research to incorporate touch into a translation interface in a usable way.

Assisting Pottery Restoration Procedures with Digital Technologies

The fragmentary nature of pottery is considered a common place. Conservators are requested to apply a proper restoration solution by taking under consideration a wide range of morphological features and physicochemical properties that derive from the artefact itself. In this work, the authors discuss on a low-cost pottery-oriented restoration pipeline that is based on the exploitation of technologies such as 3D digitisation, data analysis, processing and printing. The pipeline uses low-cost commercial and open source software tools and on the authors' previously published 3D pose normalisation algorithm that was initially designed for 3D vessel shape matching. The authors objectively evaluate the pipeline by applying it on two ancient Greek vessels of the Hellenistic period. The authors describe in detail the involved procedures such as the photogrammetric 3D digitisation, the 3D data analysis and processing, the 3D printing procedures and the synthetic shreds post processing. They quantify the pipeline's applicability and efficiency in terms of cost, knowledge overhead and other aspects related to restoration tasks.

Validation Methods of Geometric 3D-CityGML Data for Urban Wind Simulations

Validation of the geometric data such as 3D city model is quite crucial for simulation tasks, since the simulation process strongly correlates to the quality of geometric data being meshed. Validation methodology and healing of the 3D city models using different tools are presented. The most common inherited geometrical errors are checked and analyzed. Accordingly, an appropriate healing process to the case study is performed, which illustrates that the required closed solids and closed shells are obtained within the geometrical structures of the 3D city model being processed. Also, in this paper we compare some related open source and commercial software tools for the validation and healing process. It is noticed that they differ from each other in performing the required healing process. Some of them are quite good in healing specific errors, whereas not successful in healing the rest of errors. The goal of the paper is to obtain more understanding of the geometric validation and healing capabilities of various software tools, and the qualities of generated meshes, to lead to more effective and reliable simulations in the field of urban wind flow simulation.

Optimization of Build Time and Support Material Quantity for the Additive Manufacturing of Non-Assembly Mechanisms

In the context of modern industrial manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing processes are gaining more and more importance. Thus, the required quantity of material as well as the production time, which is mainly influenced by the build time required for the layerwise manufacturing process, are decisive for a successful industrial application. At component level, various approaches for minimizing the build time and the quantity of material are discussed in literature and are yet implemented in commercial software tools for preprocessing, the so-called slicing software. However, there is a lack of suitable methods for expediting the manufacturing process of non-assembly mechanisms. Although the positions and orientations of the individual, mutually movable linkages of a mechanism, which are defined in the CAD model, have a significant influence on the resulting build time and quantity of support material, the optimization potential has remained untapped so far.Motivated by this shortcoming, the paper introduces a method for achieving minimum build time and support material quantity using a meta-heuristic optimization technique. By integrating a suitable slicing software in the optimization process, the analysis of build time and support material quantity is based on the machine code, which is adapted to the applied machine and its various settings of the process parameters. The novelty of the contribution can be found in the optimization of build time and support material quantity for the additive manufacturing of non-assembly mechanisms by determining an optimal positioning of the individual movable links for the manufacturing process. A parallel 3RRR mechanism serves as a case study to show the benefits and the applicablity of the proposed method.

Conductive Layer Modeling by Improved Second-Order Artificial Material Single-Layer Method

An improved second-order artificial material single-layer (AMSL) method is proposed to predict the electromagnetic field in the presence of conductive thin layers by the finite-element method (FEM). The AMSL method is based on the replacement of the material physical constants of a conductive shield region with those of an artificial material. The new AMSL physical constants are analytically extracted by equating the equivalent transmission line equations governing the field propagation inside the shield with the FEM solution. This new formulation of the method is a significant improvement of the original AMSL as it is much more robust and accurate for near field solutions, and, above all, it is much more easily implementable in commercial software tools.

Electromechanical Milling - Conception and Design of the Excitation System

The novel electromechanical milling principle is a solution providing reduced energy consumption with milling beads directly moved with a time- and local-variable magnetic field, which is generated in a working chamber by an external, electrical excitation system. Hence, the main design parameters of such machines for electromechanical milling (so-called EMZ plants) must be derived from the time- and local-variable magnetic flux density, the resulting vector gradient and the electromagnetic force distribution in the process room. For the calculation and optimization of these distributions we developed a numerical model on the basis of the commercial software tool ANSYS Maxwell®. We verified this model with experimental measurements of the electromagnetic field in the process room. Furthermore, we have studied the influence of the excitation system design on the vector gradient distribution and discuss selected results in this paper. The study identifies potentials for the further improvement of electromechanical units built in the past.

Fault tree analysis in the R programming environment. Treatmentof common cause failures

Aim. This paper is the continuation of [1] that proposes using the R programming language for fault tree analysis (FTA). In [1], three examples are examined: fault tree (FT) calculation per known probabilities, dynamic FT calculation per known distributions of times to failure for a system’selements. In the latter example, FTA is performed for systems with elements that are described by different functional and service models. Fault tree analysis (FTA) is one of the primary methods of dependability analysis of complex technical systems. This process often utilizes commercial software tools like Saphire, Risk Spectrum, PTC Windchill Quality, Arbitr, etc. Practically each software tool allows calculating the dependability of complex systems subject to possible common cause failures (CCF). CCF are the associated failures of a group of several elements that occur simultaneously or within a short time interval (i.e. almost simultaneously) due to one common cause (e.g. a sudden change in the climatic service conditions, flooding of the premises, etc.). An associated failure is a multiple failure of several system elements, of which the probability cannot be expressed simply as the product of the probabilities of unconditional failures of individual elements. There are several generally accepted models used in CCF probability calculation: the Greek letters model, the alpha, beta factor models, as well as their variations. The beta factor model is the most simple in terms of associated failures simulation and further dependability calculation. The other models involve combinatorial search associated events in a group of n events, that becomes labor-consuming if the number n is large. Therefore, in the above software tools there are some restrictions on the n, beyond which the probability of CCF is calculated approximately. In the current R FaultTree package version there are no above CCF models, therefore all associated failures have to be simulated manually, which is not complicated if the number of associated events is small, as well as useful in terms of understanding the various CCF models. In this paper, for the selected diagram a detailed analysis of the procedure of associated failures simulation is performed for alpha and beta factor models. The Purposeof this paper consists in the detailed analysis of the alpha and beta factor methods for a certain diagram, in the demonstration of fault tree creation procedure taking account of ССF using R’s FaultTree package. Methods. R’s FaultTree scripts were used for the calculations and FTA capabilities demonstration.Conclusions. Two examples are examined in detail. In the first example, for the selected block diagram that contains two groups of elements subject to associated failures, the alpha factor model is applied. In the second example, the beta factor model is applied. The deficiencies of the current version of FaultTree package are identified. Among the main drawbacks we should indicate the absence of some basic logical gates.

Artificial Material Single-Layer Method Applied to Model the Electromagnetic Field Propagation Through Anisotropic Shields

This paper deals with the extension of the artificial material single-layer (AMSL) method, recently developed to model electromagnetically a thin conductive material using the finite-element method (FEM), to the more general case of transversally anisotropic shields. The analogy between the field equations and the multiconductor transmission line (MTL) equations is here used to calculate the admittance matrix of a thin anisotropic material. This admittance matrix is then imposed to be that of an equivalent circuit with lumped parameters. Thus, it is possible to synthetize the AMSL tensors containing the specific constants to be used in commercial software tools. The adoption of the AMSL method in FEM simulations avoids a fine discretization inside the thin conductive anisotropic material required at high frequency. Simple tests are finally carried out to validate the proposed method.

Techno-economic assessment of chemical looping reforming of natural gas for hydrogen production and power generation with integrated CO2 capture

The current study presents the techno-economic analysis of the CLR-CC process. The CLR-CC process comprises of chemical looping reforming (CLR) of Natural Gas, water gas shift, CO2 capture and compression, and combined cycle power plant. A 1-D phenomenological model was developed using MATLAB and is used to study the performance of CLR, whereas the remaining part of the process was analysed using commercial software tools like Aspen and Thermoflow. The effect of design conditions in CLR, mainly the air flowrate to the oxidation reactor, oxidation reactor outlet temperature and the steam flowrate to the fuel reactor of CLR, on the overall techno-economic performance of the CLR-CC process is reported. The CH4 conversion in CLR, net electrical efficiency, CO2 avoidance rate and the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) have been identified as techno-economic performance indicators. For the sensitivity study carried out in this study through 12 cases, the net electrical efficiency of the CLR-CC process varies between 40.0 and 43.4%, whereas the LCOE varies between 75.3 and 144.8 $/MWh, which is highly dependent on the fuel cost and process contingency rates.

Characteristic changes of the ablation zone on contrast-enhanced computed tomography after radiofrequency ablation of hepatic metastases.

Purpose:Size and density measurements of the ablation zones on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatic metastases of primary breast or colorectal cancer were acquired over time.Materials and Methods:Twenty-five liver metastases [colorectal cancer (CRC): n = 16; mean size: 19.6 ± 8.5 mm; breast cancer (BC): n = 9; 27.9 ± 13.6 mm] in 15 patients (CRC: n = 11; age: 65.4 ± 6.5 years; BC: n = 4; 62.0 ± 13.8 years) treated by RFA were included in this retrospective study. All patients had undergone postinterventional serial follow-up using multidetector CT (MDCT) (1 day/1/4/7/10/14/18/23/>24 months) without evidence of local tumor recurrence during the follow-up. The ablation zones were evaluated using a commercial software tool (Syngo CT Oncology) in order to determine volumetric, RECIST-, WHO- and density changes over the course of time. Results were compared by applying repeated measures analysis of variance and displayed graphically.Results:The RF ablation zones demonstrated significant shrinkage (P ≤ 0.05) over the first 7 months (volume, RECIST, WHO) of the follow-up. Follow-up after 7 months did not show any significant changes in size (P > 0.05) (mean volume (ml): 55.2/34.7/26.3/16.5/12.7/10.0/8.9/8.1/7.5; RECIST (mm): 58.7/49.3/43.7/37.8/34.2/31.3/29.1/27.3/24.8; WHO (mm2): 2458.3/1769.3/1341.8/1027.1/870.1/720.2/649.0/570.4/511.3). Mean density values decreased significantly between 1 day (58.9 HU) and 1 month (47.5 HU) after the procedure.Conclusion:Typical changes in size and density values of RF-induced, recurrence-free ablation zones after RFA of hepatic metastases of colorectal and breast cancer were acquired, showing a significant decrease in density of the ablation zone within the first month and significant shrinkage within the first 7 months after RFA.

Medical Image Segmentation Techniques, a Literature Review, and Some Novel Trends

Segmentation requires the separation or division of an image into regions of similar properties. Image amplitude is the most basic attribute for image segmentation. Image texture and edges are also useful properties for the segmentation process. There is no standard approach for segmentation of an image; no single theory for image segmentation. Segmentation of an image is usually used to mark and determine boundaries and objects (curves, lines, etc.) in an image. More precisely, image segmentation is the process of labeling of every pixel in the image where pixels having the same properties have the same visual properties and share the same group. The result of segmentation process is a number of regions or segments that cover the whole image, or a number of extracted edges and contours of the image. All pixels in the same region are similar according to some characteristics or properties, such as texture, intensity, or color. In this paper a literature review of the various segmentation methods that are available for medical images is presented. Because of image segmentation importance, a set of image segmentation techniques namely; Thresholding techniques, Clustering techniques, Artificial Neural Networks, Edge based techniques, Region based techniques, Watershed, Graph based and Deformable models have been discussed and compared. The features and requirements of several freely and commercial software tools for image segmentation are clarified. The paper is ended by focusing on the novel trends on the topic.

Estimating Ultralow Permeability at Multiple Locations Using Simultaneous-Impulse Tests: A Fit-for-Purpose Pressure-Transient Solution and Its Field Application

Summary One of the major challenges in efficiently developing ultratight or shale reservoirs is to obtain reliable permeability distribution. Ultralow permeability and very strong stratification or heterogeneity in the formations require conducting long-duration tests at multiple locations in a well to attain a complete reservoir characterization. Because of these characteristics, existing tools or methods that work well for conventional reservoirs are usually not applicable for ultralow-permeability formations. An innovative reservoir-monitoring/testing tool system was developed and successfully applied to fields in both the United States and Canada (Zhan et al. 2016). The tool created multiple pressure pulses at targeted locations simultaneously along monitoring wells for zonal in-situ permeability estimations as well as long-term formation-pressure monitoring. Existing pressure-transient solutions are incapable of handling the measured data when potential zonal-pressure interferences appear. A fit-for-purpose pressure solution, the associated optimization algorithm, and a suitable data-interpretation work flow were developed to analyze the data whenever commercial software tools are inadequate. The new solution fully considers all impulses as well as potential interferences among them through suitable superposition. In-situ permeability values at all involved zones can be obtained through a combination of individual-impulse analyses and systematic multiple-impulse inversions. The new pressure-transient solution was verified through comprehensive synthetic cases using numerical simulations. The results show that the solution can handle either fully or partially open wellbores in each zone and properly considers crossflow between formation layers. In addition, it allows any number of perforated intervals and formation layers where the number of perforated intervals is fewer than that of the formation layers. Field examples demonstrate the applicability of the new solution and the data-interpretation work flow to formation permeability down to tens of nanodarcies. The detailed zonal-permeability distribution in the formation enables a more-representative reservoir model for better hydraulic-fracturing design and field-development optimization.

Effect of gate dielectric on the performance of ZnO based thin film transistor

The paper report the fabrication and characterization of two different sets of bottom gate top contact ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs) using SiO2 and Al2O3 dielectric layers in an attempt to compare and contrast the effect of gate dielectrics on performance of the two devices. ZnO thin film and dielectric layers were deposited at room temperature by radio frequency (RF) sputtering method. The results were validated by those obtained using commercial software tool ATLAS and an analytical model reported by others. The ZnO TFT with Al2O3 dielectric exhibited superior electrical performance as compared to the ZnO TFT with SiO2 dielectric. The study also revealed that the performance of ZnO/Al2O3 based TFTs are far more consistent and reliable as compared to their ZnO/SiO2 counterpart.

Improving the Efficiency and the Accuracy of 2D Gel Electrophoresis Spot Detection Using Graphics Processing Units

Background: Proteomics was built around two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis. Accurately analyzing the images generated from 2D gel electrophoresis for spot detection is a timeconsuming process especially for high-resolution and large images. Objective: In this paper, we present an accurate GPU-accelerated software tool for the detection and quantification of protein spots in 2D gel electrophoresis images. Method: We adopt pixel-based approach that employs wavelet relational fuzzy C-means clustering and distance transform to detect and quantify the protein spots. This pixel-based spot detection approach is more accurate than the contour-based approaches; however it is compute-intensive. So, along with algorithmic optimizations, we present the mapping and optimization of the pixel-based spot detection algorithm onto graphics processing units (GPUs); including NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. Results: This approach is proved to exhibit better spot detection in quantitative comparisons with the commercial software tools. Specifically, it achieves a degree of improvement in F-measure of 21.237% and 11.716% on the average compared to Delta2D and Melanie, respectively. We carry out experiments on images of large size and high resolution for healthy and diseased samples. Our implementation has accomplished up to five orders of magnitude speedup compared to the single-threaded MATLAB implementation. Conclusion: We proposed an accurate and efficient tool for detecting and quantifying the protein spots in 2D Gel Electrophoresis images. Our tool outperforms commercial software tools in accuracy of detecting protein spots while achieving significantly better performance than single-threaded MATLAB implementation by utilizing the GPU accelerators. Keywords: Image processing, 2D gel electrophoresis, heterogeneous computing, parallel computing, GPU, OpenCL.