Quick Scan Research Articles

Conceptual market potential framework of high temperature aquifer thermal energy storage - A case study in the Netherlands

High temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) can contribute to the integration of renewable energy sources in the energy system, the replacement of fossil fuel-based heat supply and the utilization of surplus heat from industrial sources. However, there is limited understanding on the drivers, barriers and conditions of HT-ATES implementation. The objective of this study is to partly fill this knowledge gap by developing a methodological framework for a quick scan on market potential of HT-ATES. Based on the application of this framework to a case study in the Netherlands, it is concluded that the proposed method is suitable for a pre-feasibility analysis on the HT-ATES market potential. The investigated case study has a planned district heating system with geothermal energy as the heat source. HT-ATES is found to be cost-effective compared to a reference technology, i.e. a natural gas boiler, in the scenarios under existing and more sustainable alternative policies. The lifetime of HT-ATES and the size of heat demand have a strong influence on the market potential.

IMPACT: A Tool for R&D Management of Circular Economy Innovations

It has been suggested that the transition towards a more circular economy requires multiple value creation, but classical R&D management tools are not developed for easy assessment of circular economy innovations. We have developed a framework to support R&D in the assessment of such innovations on three levels of implementation (project, production chain and society) and on three levels of detail (quick scan, brief assessment and thorough assessment). On the project level, capacity building is analysed; on the production chain level, ‘circular’ performance is measured; on the societal level, the sustainability of the product is evaluated. The framework is being applied to wood products for the construction sector. Waste wood in the Netherlands is currently often incinerated with energy recovery, but in consultation with stakeholders we are considering several potentially more valuable alternatives. With this case study, the developed framework is showing potential to steer R&D decisions in support of a more circular economy.

Clash of Videos in the Cutting-Edge Medical Publications

Analysis of the whole spectrum of peer-reviewed scientific publications shows first that an urgent need among both readers and practitioners (surgeons, radiologists) for integration of videos/cine loops into papers and books exists. Second, the videos/cine loops should be integrated into print and electronic versions of journals via combination of usage web-links (for the online users or PDF readers) and QR codes. This approach from one hand allows the readers of print versions to watch cine loops/videos via quick scan of QR code. And on other hand the users of online/electronic version of the publication will not lose time with smartphones for scanning QR codes. All that will be needed is just click at the web link. But for the companies that don’t want to share electronic copies of the book is more reasonable to use only QR codes. Nancy McKinstry, CEO Wolters Kluwer, in Management Scope Interview notes that “the customers were no longer looking purely for information, but also ‘actionable’ information to tell them what to do.” And those words are the holy truth. The role of this ‘actionable’ information in publications is constantly increasing. And maybe the scientific publication which gives us the best combination of text-picture-video material can win the battle for readers and authors attention.

Template-based field map prediction for rapid whole brain B0 shimming.

PurposeIn typical MRI protocols, time is spent acquiring a field map to calculate the shim settings for best image quality. We propose a fast template‐based field map prediction method that yields near‐optimal shims without measuring the field.MethodsThe template‐based prediction method uses prior knowledge of the B0 distribution in the human brain, based on a large database of field maps acquired from different subjects, together with subject‐specific structural information from a quick localizer scan. The shimming performance of using the template‐based prediction is evaluated in comparison to a range of potential fast shimming methods.ResultsStatic B0 shimming based on predicted field maps performed almost as well as shimming based on individually measured field maps. In experimental evaluations at 7 T, the proposed approach yielded a residual field standard deviation in the brain of on average 59 Hz, compared with 50 Hz using measured field maps and 176 Hz using no subject‐specific shim.ConclusionsThis work demonstrates that shimming based on predicted field maps is feasible. The field map prediction accuracy could potentially be further improved by generating the template from a subset of subjects, based on parameters such as head rotation and body mass index. Magn Reson Med 80:171–180, 2018. © 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Don't just dump your data and run: Authors should submit as much experimental information as possible when uploading sequence data.

If you have, in any way, been involved with genetic research over the past 10 years, then you have likely heard of the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), which is jointly housed at the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI), the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ), and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). And if you regularly work with genome or transcriptome sequence information, then you have probably extracted data from and/or deposited data into the SRA. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the SRA is an international public online archive for next‐generation sequencing (NGS) data, which was established about a decade ago under the guidance of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) [1], [2]. Despite nearly being shut down in 2011 [3], it has grown at a staggering rate over the past 10 years. As of September 1, 2017, it housed over five quadrillion (1015) open‐access bases of NGS data, coming from thousands of different species and spanning the entire gamut of cellular and viral life. It contains DNA‐ and RNA‐sequencing (DNA‐seq and RNA‐seq) reads of every kind, from bisulfite‐seq to strand‐specific RNA‐seq to single‐cell DNA‐seq, and it accepts reads from every type of NGS platform, be it Illumina, Ion Torrent, or PacBio sequencing. In other words, the SRA is a crucial and central resource in the fast‐paced and increasingly important domain of contemporary genetic research. > … the SRA is a crucial and central resource in the fast‐paced and increasingly important domain of contemporary genetic research. ### The Sequence Read Archive The SRA can be easily accessed and searched via the NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra), DDBJ (http://trace.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/dra/index_e.html), and EBI (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/submit/read-submission) websites. Once there, you will find yourself at a sequencing‐read superstore. With a decent Wi‐Fi connection, a couple of keyword searches, and a few clicks of the trackpad, you can quickly …

Lateral Reading: Reading Less and Learning More When Evaluating Digital Information

The Internet has democratized access to information but in so doing has opened the floodgates to misinformation, fake news, and rank propaganda masquerading as dispassionate analysis. To investigate how people determine the credibility of digital information, we sampled 45 individuals: 10 Ph.D. historians, 10 professional fact checkers, and 25 Stanford University undergraduates. We observed them as they evaluated live websites and searched for information on social and political issues. Historians and students often fell victim to easily manipulated features of websites, such as official-looking logos and domain names. They read vertically, staying within a website to evaluate its reliability. In contrast, fact checkers read laterally, leaving a site after a quick scan and opening up new browser tabs in order to judge the credibility of the original site. Compared to the other groups, fact checkers arrived at more warranted conclusions in a fraction of the time. We contrast insights gleaned from the fact checkers’ practices with common approaches to teaching web credibility.

Comparison Between a Detailed Pinch Analysis and the ‘Heat Load Model for Pulp and Paper’ – Case Study for a Swedish Thermo-Mechanical Pulp and Paper Mill

Pinch analysis has been used for several decades as a tool for making industrial processes more energy efficient by identifying process integration opportunities. Hakala et al. (2008) recognise that pinch analysis is a powerful tool when it comes to improving energy efficiency in mechanical pulp and paper mills, however often very time consuming due to the extensive need for input data. The heat load model for pulp and paper (HLMPP) tool was developed at Aalto University in Finland as a means of providing a flexible tool for a first quick scan of process integration potential. The intention of this study is to evaluate if the model can accurately estimate the data necessary for performing a pinch analysis for a Swedish thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP) and paper mill. Jonsson et al. (2010) used the HLMPP tool to evaluate the potential for steam savings for four Scandinavian TMP mills. It was found that the minimum steam demands were 2-20 % lower than the current consumptions in the mills. In this study, a detailed pinch analysis was carried out for one of the studied mills described by Jonsson (the mill with the lowest energy savings potential according to the HLMPP screening) to identify strengths and shortcomings of the HLMPP tool. An initial comparison shows that the pinch temperature and demand for hot and cold utility predicted by the HLMPP tool, as presented by Jonsson, differs from the detailed pinch analysis. However, further investigation showed that the HLMPP results can be aligned to the detailed data with good accuracy if more time and knowledge about the process is put in to the model.

Assessing the resilience of urban areas to traffic-related air pollution: Application in Greater Paris

Recent studies report that outdoor air pollution will become the main environmental cause of premature death over the next few decades (OECD, 2012; WHO, 2014; World Bank, 2016). Cities are considered hot spots and urban populations are particularly exposed. There is therefore an urgent need to adapt urban systems and urban design to tackle this issue. While most European cities have introduced measures to reduce emissions, action is still required to reduce concentrations and exposure, and a holistic approach to urban design is badly needed.The concept of urban resilience, defined by Holling (1987) as the ability of a city to absorb a disturbance while maintaining its functions and structures, may offer a new paradigm for tackling urban air pollution. We propose to adapt the concept of urban resilience to outdoor air pollution.A method has been developed to assess the resilience of an urban area to outdoor air pollution. Three “resilience capacities” have been identified: the capacity of an urban area to decrease air pollution emissions, the capacity to decrease concentrations and the capacity to decrease exposure. The calculation is based on the analysis of urban design, defined as the pattern of buildings as well as the structural elements that define an urban area (urban morphology; transport network, services and land use). For each resilience capacity, indicators are calculated using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a grid-based approach.This method has been implemented in the Greater Paris area within a 500m grid-cell system. Greater Paris is one of the densest urban areas in Europe and experiences high air pollution levels. The proposed “quick scan” method helps to localize areas where specific action is needed.

Laser ablation ICP-MS for impurity analysis in multicrystalline silicon wafers

Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) is an important characterization technique for elemental analysis of solid samples. It has been extensively used for analysing geological and forensic samples, but its use for silicon photovoltaics has been limited. In the last four decades, detailed studies have shown that the presence of metallic impurities in silicon wafers is detrimental for cell performance and reliability. In this study, we explore the potential of LA-ICPMS to provide a fast, accurate and sensitive measurement technique for measuring metallic contamination in industrially manufactured multicrystalline silicon (multi-Si) wafers. A quick scan using a LA-ICPMS system is used to measure the gettering effectiveness of a phosphorus diffusion process. We observe that transition elements are more concentrated at the grain boundaries than within the grains of high-performance multi-Si wafers. Thus, LA-ICPMS could be used to monitor wafer quality during manufacturing. We also study the elemental compositions of regions of a multi-Si wafer that degrade to different extents during light elevated temperature induced degradation and observe that there is a positive correlation between the extent of degradation and spatial concentration of certain transition elements.

Institutional Framework in Flood Management in France and Recommendations for Turkey

The purpose of this study is to; make proposals regarding the authority, duty and responsibility distribution in the Flood Risk Management through the examination of the example from an EU member country and comparison with the existing practices in Turkey in order to provide flood management plans prepared at the basin scale in Turkey with the active participation of all stakeholders and to provide the necessary coordination on flood management at all scales. Within this context, a quick scan study on Member States of the European Union was carried out, legal framework, institutional framework, responsibility distribution and the major institutions involved in flood risk management in France were examined and compared with the implementation in Turkey. By taking the advantage of the information gained from this assessment and taking into consideration the current situation, the proposals were made regarding the duties and responsibilities of the Flood Risk Management Turkey.

Institutional Framework in Flood Management in France and Recommendations for Turkey

The purpose of this study is to; make proposals regarding the authority, duty and responsibility distribution in the Flood Risk Management through the examination of the example from an EU member country and comparison with the existing practices in Turkey in order to provide flood management plans prepared at the basin scale in Turkey with the active participation of all stakeholders and to provide the necessary coordination on flood management at all scales. Within this context, a quick scan study on Member States of the European Union was carried out, legal framework, institutional framework, responsibility distribution and the major institutions involved in flood risk management in France were examined and compared with the implementation in Turkey. By taking the advantage of the information gained from this assessment and taking into consideration the current situation, the proposals were made regarding the duties and responsibilities of the Flood Risk Management Turkey.

Distribution of peak shear stress in finite element models of reinforced concrete slabs

Existing reinforced concrete solid slab bridges in the Netherlands are re-assessed for shear based on a Unity Check: the ratio of the shear stress caused by the applied loads to the shear capacity of the concrete cross-section. The governing shear stress resulting from the self-weight, weight of the wearing surface, distributed and concentrated live loads, can be determined with a simplified spreadsheet-based method, the Quick Scan (Level of Assessment I) as well as with a linear finite element model (Level of Assessment II). When a finite element model is used, a distribution of shear stresses over the width of the slab bridge is automatically found. To compare the governing shear stress caused by the loads to the shear capacity, it is necessary to determine over which width the peak shear stress from the finite element model can be distributed. To answer this question, a finite element model is compared to an experiment. The experiment consists of a continuous, reinforced concrete slab subjected to a single concentrated load close to the support. Seven bearings equipped with load cells that measure the reaction force profile along the width of the slab are used to compare to the stress profile obtained from the finite element model. From this analysis, it is found that the peak shear stress in a linear finite element model can be distributed over 4dl with dl the effective depth to the longitudinal reinforcement of the slab. The comparison of measured reaction force profiles over the support to the stress profile from a finite element model results in a research-based distribution width that replaces the rules of thumb that were used until now.

Recognizing Challenges and Opportunities in the Quest to End Hunger

As an attorney and professor that does not focus on intellectual property law, I was a bit apprehensive about providing a keynote address for a Symposium focusing on “Agriculture, Intellectual Property, and Feeding the World in the 21st Century.” As I thought about this topic, knowing that there were other speakers who would focus more on the IP issues and technical aspects of various topics, I kept coming back to the importance of technology as we worktowards the goal of feeding the world, and the many ways in which innovation plays a role in meeting that goal. It also brought to mind some of the broader issues involving technology that can both impede and support attempts to successfully feed the world, both now and looking to the future. Food. Agriculture. Technology. There is no doubt that when it comes to these areas of law, regulation, policy, and practice, there is much that binds them, and yet they are also very divisive. A quick scan of almost any major and reputable news source will provide articles on a daily basis that pertain to not just one, but often all three of these topics. They are independent industries—science, agricultural production, and food manufacturing, but the truth is that in today’s world, they intersect more than ever. Consumer understanding of each of these industries is far from complete, and that can lead to many issues when it comes to the adoption of technology, agricultural production, and consumer food choices. When you incorporate government regulation, international relations, and infrastructure challenges, it becomes clear that technology alone will not feed the world. Feeding the world requires looking at issues beyond production and manufacturing, and into the challenges and issues that limit access to food and inputs. When it comes to feeding the world, I believe that technology and innovation will be a key driver and a major part of any successful attempts at addressing this challenge. Technology does not just mean increased use of genetically engineered crops, although that may likely be a part of the solution. To successfully feed the growing world, we need to take a broader look at technology and how it can be used to address challenges that impact the ability to increase or sustain production. We also need to look at the barriers to the adoption of various forms of technology, and what needs to be done on a global scale to support sustainable and self-sufficient food production across the world. Strong communication across sectors and working collaboratively will be required to tackle broader issues surrounding food access and in protecting the interests of everyone involved from supplier to grower to consumer.

One, two, three phytoliths: assessing the minimum phytolith sum for archaeological studies

The number of phytolith studies has increased steadily in the last decades in palaeoecological as well as archaeological research, and phytolith analysis is currently recognised as a proper area of expertise within archaeobotany. This has led towards a strengthening in the standardisation of the different steps involved in analysis; e.g. sampling strategies, laboratory extraction or processing of plant material/soils for the creation of reference collections. In spite of this, counting procedures remain one of the areas that could be further developed. The aim of this paper is to assess representativeness of phytolith count size in archaeological samples and specifically to assess whether an increase in total number of individuals counted influences the number or distribution of morphotypes observed. Two statistical tests are performed to evaluate the representativeness of count size: phytolith sum variability analysis (PSVA) and morphotype accumulation curve (MAC). The analyses show the relationship among the number of counted phytoliths, the variability (that is, the number of different morphotypes identified) and the stabilisations of the MACs. Results allow us to support the standard count size in phytolith studies, which ranges from 250 to 300 particles. Together with a quick scan, this strategy should produce a precise and clear phytolith assemblage for archaeological studies.

Levels of approximation for the shear assessment of reinforced concrete slab bridges

Many existing reinforced concrete bridges in The Netherlands are suspected of having insufficient shear strength, hence a methodical approach is necessary to assess them. The aim of this paper is to provide a structured approach for assessment of the reinforced concrete slab bridges, which make up a considerable proportion of the Dutch bridge stock. The proposed method uses the levels of approximation introduced in the fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010. The recommendations at all levels are linked to experimental research. The different levels include spreadsheet-based calculations (the “Quick Scan”), linear finite element models, nonlinear finite element models, the analysis of a structure with cracked concrete, and, for exceptional cases, proof loading of the structure. The result of this approach is a structured method of levels of assessment that can be used when many bridges need to be assessed. For most bridges, assessment at the lowest level will prove sufficient. For a limited number of cases, higher levels of assessment will offer options and guidelines for a more in-depth study of the structure being assessed.

Flood model Bergen Norway and the need for (sub-)surface INnovations for eXtreme Climatic EventS (INXCES)

Urban flooding has become a key issue for many cities around the world. The project ‘INnovations for eXtreme Climatic EventS’ (INXCES) developed new innovative technological methods for risk assessment and mitigation of extreme hydroclimatic events and optimization of urban water-dependent ecosystem services at the catchment level. DEMs (digital elevation maps) have been used for more than a decade now as quick scan models to indicate locations that are vulnerable to urban flooding. In the last years the datasets are getting bigger and multidisciplinary stakeholders are becoming more demanding and require faster and more visual results. In this paper, the development and practical use of DEMs is exemplified by the case study of Bergen (Norway), where flood modelling using DEM is carried out in 2017 and in 2009. We can observe that the technology behind tools using DEMs is becoming more common and improved, both with a higher accuracy and a higher resolution. Visualization tools are developed to raise awareness and understanding among different stakeholders in Bergen and around the world. We can conclude that the evolution of DEMS is successful in handling bigger datasets and better (3D) visualization of results with a higher accuracy and a higher resolution. With flood maps the flow patterns of stormwater are analysed and locations are selected to implement (sub-)surface measures as SuDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage systems) that store and infiltrate stormwater. In the casestudy Bergen the following (sub-)surface SuDS have been recently implemented with the insights of DEMS: settlement storage tank, rainwater garden, swales, permeable pavement and I/T-drainage. The research results from the case study Bergen will be shared by tools to stimulate international knowledge exchange. New improved DEMs and connected (visualization) tools will continue to play an important role in (sub-)surface flood management and climate resilient urban planning strategies around the world.

The role of intramolecular nonbonded interaction and angle sampling in single-step free energy perturbation.

Single-step free energy perturbation (sFEP) has often been proposed as an efficient tool for a quick free energy scan due to its straightforward protocol and the ability to recycle an existing molecular dynamics trajectory for free energy calculations. Although sFEP is expected to fail when the sampling of a system is inefficient, it is often expected to hold for an alchemical transformation between ligands with a moderate difference in their sizes, e.g., transforming a benzene into an ethylbenzene. Yet, exceptions were observed in calculations for anisole and methylaniline, which have similar physical sizes as ethylbenzene. In this study, we show that such exceptions arise from the sampling inefficiency on an unexpected rigid degree of freedom, namely, the bond angle θ. The distributions of θ differ dramatically between two end states of a sFEP calculation, i.e., the conformation of the ligand changes significantly during the alchemical transformation process. Our investigation also reveals the interrelation between the ligand conformation and the intramolecular nonbonded interactions. This knowledge suggests a best combination of the ghost ligand potential and the dual topology setting, which improves the accuracy in a single reference sFEP calculation by bringing down its error from around 5kBT to kBT.

Strategi Implementasi Produksi Bersih untuk Meningkatkan Kinerja Industri Gondorukem (Studi Kasus Nagreg Jawa Barat)

This study aimed to audit environmental performance in gondorukem (resina colophonium) industry, analyze the main problem of waste and formulate the direction of industry development by cleaner production method. Data collection was conducted by field observation, interview and expert surveys. The analysis method used in this research is cleaner production audit which consist quick scan on stages of production process and formulation the cleaner production option, continued prioritization with Analytic Hierarchy Process. This study was case study take place in nagreg west java. Results of the analysis showed that scheduling sap delivery to be a priority based alternative with the largest value analysis id 0,216 compared with other alternatives.

Red Tape: Developing and Validating a New Job‐Centered Measure

AbstractRed tape studies typically focus on burdensome rules that have negative effects on organizations, as perceived by managers. The one‐item general red tape scale is representative of this approach. However, scholars have called for improved measures that address the scale's shortcomings. This article introduces a new measurement scale that features (1) red tape as a two‐dimensional construct that includes compliance burden and lack of functionality and (2) a job‐centered approach that measures red tape as experienced by employees in their jobs rather than more generally in the organization. A set of survey questions derived from interviews with government employees was validated using data from 1,203 government employees. The findings indicate that the two‐dimensional job‐centered red tape scale is reliable and valid. The authors conclude that this measure can improve research and be used by managers for a “quick scan” to detect the location and severity of red tape.

A comparative study of manufacturing and service sector supply chain integration via the uncertainty circle model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences and similarities between the manufacturing and services sectors in order to develop a methodology that can provide the opportunity for the transfer of best practice between the two sectors. This paper aims to describe an audit methodology capable of yielding objective comparisons of supply chain integration performance that can assist practitioners and academics to transfer learned solutions. Design/methodology/approach – A robust, site-based, multi-method supply chain diagnostic for detecting manufacturing supply chain system uncertainty was amended for the service sector in order to yield objective comparisons of the (normalised) supply chain integration performances of 119 organisations. Findings – The research confirms the value of using a lens enabled by the uncertainty circle model (UCM) for generating meaningful comparative supply chain performances. The research found that services do not always exhibit unique attributes which effectively bar manufacturing-based supply chain best practice from being adopted within the service sector. Originality/value – Combining the UCM and Quick Scan Audit Methodology approach has the potential to assist the spread of proven good practice across both sectors. The framework provides realistic and repeatable performance vectors, capable of aligning estimates of value stream health status even when comparing supply chains with differing objectives, configurations, and performance goals.