Transparent Support Research Articles

Risk-based cost-benefit analysis for evaluating microbial risk mitigation in a drinking water system.

Waterborne outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases can cause large costs to society. Risk management needs to be holistic and transparent in order to reduce these risks in an effective manner. Microbial risk mitigation measures in a drinking water system were investigated using a novel approach combining probabilistic risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Lake Vomb in Sweden was used to exemplify and illustrate the risk-based decision model. Four mitigation alternatives were compared, where the first three alternatives, A1-A3, represented connecting 25, 50 and 75%, respectively, of on-site wastewater treatment systems in the catchment to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. The fourth alternative, A4, represented installing a UV-disinfection unit in the drinking water treatment plant. Quantitative microbial risk assessment was used to estimate the positive health effects in terms of quality adjusted life years (QALYs), resulting from the four mitigation alternatives. The health benefits were monetised using a unit cost per QALY. For each mitigation alternative, the net present value of health and environmental benefits and investment, maintenance and running costs was calculated. The results showed that only A4 can reduce the risk (probability of infection) below the World Health Organization guidelines of 10-4 infections per person per year (looking at the 95th percentile). Furthermore, all alternatives resulted in a negative net present value. However, the net present value would be positive (looking at the 50th percentile using a 1% discount rate) if non-monetised benefits (e.g. increased property value divided evenly over the studied time horizon and reduced microbial risks posed to animals), estimated at 800-1200 SEK (€100-150) per connected on-site wastewater treatment system per year, were included. This risk-based decision model creates a robust and transparent decision support tool. It is flexible enough to be tailored and applied to local settings of drinking water systems. The model provides a clear and holistic structure for decisions related to microbial risk mitigation. To improve the decision model, we suggest to further develop the valuation and monetisation of health effects and to refine the propagation of uncertainties and variabilities between the included methods.

A Transparent Decision Support Tool in Screening for Laryngeal Disorders Using Voice and Query Data

The aim of this study is a transparent tool for analysis of voice (sustained phonation /a/) and query data capable of providing support in screening for laryngeal disorders. In this work, screening is concerned with identification of potentially pathological cases by classifying subject’s data into ’healthy’ and ’pathological’ classes as well as visual exploration of data and automatic decisions. A set of association rules and a decision tree, techniques lending themselves for exploration, were generated for pathology detection. Data pairwise similarities, estimated in a novel way, were mapped onto a 2D metric space for visual inspection and analysis. Accurate identification of pathological cases was observed on unseen subjects using the most discriminative query parameter and six audio parameters routinely used by otolaryngologists in a clinical practice: equal error rate (EER) of 11.1% was achieved using association rules and 10.2% using the decision tree. The EER was further reduced to 9.5% by combining results from these two classifiers. The developed solution can be a useful tool for Otolaryngology departments in diagnostics, education and exploratory tasks.

A broadband helical saline water liquid antenna for wearable systems

ABSTRACTA broadband helical liquid antenna made of saline water is proposed. A transparent hollow support is employed to fabricate the antenna. The rotation structure is fabricated with a thin flexible tube. The saline water with a concentration of 3.5% can be injected into or be extracted out from the tube to change the quantity of the solution. Thus, the tunability of the radiation pattern could be realised by applying the fluidity of the liquid. The radiation feature of the liquid antenna is compared with that of a metal one, and fairly good agreement has been achieved. Furthermore, three statements of the radiation performance corresponding to the ratio of the diameter to the wavelength of the helical saline water antenna have been proposed. It has been found that the resonance frequency increases when the length of the feeding probe or the radius of the vertical part of the liquid decreases. The fractional bandwidth can reach over 20% with a total height of 185 mm at 1.80 GHz. The measured results indicate reasonable approximation to the simulated. The characteristics of the liquid antenna make it a good candidate for various wireless applications, especially the wearable systems.

Ingens

Memory capacity and demand have grown hand in hand in recent years. However, overheads for memory virtualization, in particular for address translation, grow with memory capacity as well, motivating hardware manufacturers to provide TLBs with thousands of entries for larger pages, or huge pages. Current OSes and hypervisors support huge pages with a hodge-podge of best-effort algorithms and spot fixes that make less and less sense as architectural support for huge pages matures. The time has come for a more fundamental redesign. Ingens is a framework for providing transparent huge page support in a coordinated way. Ingens manages contiguity as a first-class resource, and tracks utilization and access frequency of memory pages, enabling it to eliminate pathologies that plague current systems. Experiments with a Linux/KVM-based prototype show improved fairness and performance, and reduced tail latency and memory bloat for important applications such as Web services and Redis. We report early experiences with our in-progress port of Ingens to the ESX Hypervisor.

Turn-on ratiometric fluorescence sensor film for ammonia based on salicylaldehyde-ionic liquid

We developed a novel and highly optical sensitive ammonia sensor film with merits including fluorescence turn-on, ratiometric measurements and large Stocks shift. The film was designed based on the incorporation of pH probe methylimidazolium salicylaldehyde ionic liquid (MeIm-Sal-IL) and a reference pH insensitive dye meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin (TFPP) in commercial polystyrene (PS) matrix. The pH probe provides dual solubility, large Stocks shift and fluorescence turn on in basic medium over other pH fluorophores; that makes it promising candidate for the development of a new ammonia sensor film. All homogeneous components are dissolved in a single film then spread on an optically inert transparent polyester support. PS displays a good permeability for ammonia and inhibits protons penetrations that make the sensor film insensitive to pH changes outside the matrix. As ammonia penetrate the PS matrix it converts the doped pH probe MeIm-Sal-IL from protonated form to deprotonated form inducing large spectroscopic changes in both absorption and fluorescence as turn-on obviously occurs in fluorescence. The new film measures the ammonia in moderate low concentration from 0.5 up to 2.5μM with a low limit of detection (LOD) 0.07μM. The sensor film exhibits high reversibility by cycling between ammonia and water.

Requalifying public buildings and utilities using a group decision support system

Public buildings and utilities are responsible for a significant share of energy consumption and other related CO2 emissions. There is therefore an acute need for energy requalification interventions. Unfortunately, municipalities are under tight budget constraints – but decisions have to be made.A new hybrid group decision support system has been proposed in a bid to provide them with firm, transparent support. The system is based on a combination of the analytic hierarchy process, the K-means algorithm, and the 0–1 knapsack model. The first two methods aim at sorting alternatives into ordered classes of importance. To help in this task, the Bezier curve-fitting approach is used to construct the preference functions of decision-makers based on reference points. Then, the knapsack model selects the alternatives from the generated classes while complying with the budget constraints. A case study carried out in an Italian municipality allowed us to verify the validity of our new method in a real setting, and to highlight the advantages of an automatic sorting procedure in practice.

Multicycle photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) over transparent PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films under visible light

Photocatalytic reduction of hexavalent chromium in wastewater has been widely investigated as an attractive treatment method. In this work, we reported an efficient method for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) over transparent polyvinyl alcohol/titanium dioxide (PVA/TiO2) nanocomposite films under sunlight irradiation. The transparent PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method combined with a solution casting process. The results revealed that the anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with size less than 10 nm were in-situ generated in PVA matrix, which endowed the films with high transparency. Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) over PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films exhibited superior visible light photocatalytic activity. Mechanism investigation demonstrated that the PVA acted not only as a transparent support for TiO2 nanoparticles, but also as holes scavengers simultaneously to improve the separation of photogenerated holes and electrons. Meanwhile, the transparent PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films displayed remarkable stability and excellent recyclability during multicycle Cr(VI) photoreduction. Furthermore, the PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films showed selective adsorption ability for Cr(III), and thus totally removal of Cr(VI) was achieved after photoreduction process.

Evaluation and prioritization of rice production practices and constraints under temperate climatic conditions using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP)

Due to overwhelming complex and vague nature of interactions between multiple factors describing agriculture, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods are widely used from farm to fork to facilitate systematic and transparent decision support, figure out multiple decision outcomes and equip decision maker with confident decision choices in order to choose best alternative. This research proposes a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) based decision support to evaluate and prioritize important factors of rice production practices and constraints under temperate climatic conditions and provides estimate of weightings, which measure relative importance of critical factors of the crop under biotic, abiotic, socio-economic and technological settings. The results envisage that flood, drought, water logging, late sali, temperature and rainfall are important constraints. However, regulating transplantation time; maintaining planting density; providing training to the educated farmers; introducing high productive varieties like Shalimar Rice-1 and Jhelum; better management of nutrients, weeds and diseases are most important opportunities to enhance rice production in the region. Therefore, the proposed system supplements farmers with precise decision information about important rice production practices, opportunities and constraints.

Decision Support for Intelligent Energy Management in Buildings Using the Thermal Comfort Model

The main objective of this paper is to present a transparent Decision Support System (DSS) for the energy managers of buildings, which can assist them in setting indoor temperature set point, based on the feedback received by the occupants. Within the proposed DSS, the Thermal Comfort Validator (TCV) tool is introduced, a fully responsive and cross-platform web-app which exploits the Predicted Mean Vote comfort theory by considering real-time feedback of the occupants. The TCV facilitates the detection of the range of accepted temperature inside a building, by correlating “real” with “predicted” thermal comfort, to overcome the limits of the standardized approaches. The proposed system can reveal an important potential for achieving energy savings by means of dynamic event driven data collection and processing, while ensuring high levels of comfort.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS. CHANGE OF PARADIGMS OF DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS IN THE MEDIUM-RANGE PERSPECTIVE

The article presents an analysis of issues around the operations of state development institutions in the scientific-technical and innovation fields. There are suggested hypothesis and models, by which there are offered measures for improving the systems of development institutions. The basis for accepting an investment solution inside any developmental institution should be a confirmed commitment of the end consumer of the technology, product, innovation enterprise. It is necessary to accept the system of regulatory measures to stimulate the coordination between developmental institutions, provision of a transparent support for projects within the whole chain of innovative development. The solution for issues with the deficiency of investment resources at the stage of creation and expansion of the prototype (Stage B+), specialised expertise, lays in new field foundations, created with the state capital.

An Efficient PMIPv6-Based Handoff Scheme for Urban Vehicular Networks

In urban vehicular networks, traveling users can enjoy Internet multimedia services through various mobile devices, such as smart phones and laptops. To maintain seamless and ubiquitous Internet connectivity, an efficient handoff scheme has to be employed when mobile users travel across different access networks. However, in the urban vehicular environment, the high velocity of vehicles and the random mobility of users impose great challenges to the design of an effective handoff scheme. In this paper, we propose an Efficient Proxy Mobile IPv6 (E-PMIPv6)-based handoff scheme that guarantees session continuity for urban mobile users. In the registration process, E-PMIPv6 enables mobile users to obtain seamless Internet connectivity either from fixed roadside units or mobile routers and improves cache utilization at the local mobility anchor by merging the binding cache entries of the mobile users. In the handoff process, E-PMIPv6 comprehensively considers various handoff scenarios in the urban vehicular environment and provides transparent network-based mobility support to individual mobile users or a group of users in the same mobile network without disrupting ongoing sessions. In addition, E-PMIPv6 eliminates packet loss by either packet buffering or packet tunneling to improve handoff performance in each handoff scenario. Finally, a detailed analytical model is developed to study the performance of E-PMIPv6 in terms of handoff latency, signaling overhead, buffering cost, and tunneling cost. Analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed E-PMIPv6 successfully extends the scalability of user mobility and greatly improves handoff efficiency in urban vehicular networks.

Self-organized transparent 1D TiO 2 nanotubular photoelectrodes grown by anodization of sputtered and evaporated Ti layers: A comparative photoelectrochemical study

TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays directly grown on a transparent conductive support such as e.g. a layer of fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) are highly desirable for solar energy application including dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC-WS). In this paper we report on the fabrication of fully transparent TNT arrays formed by complete self-organizing electrochemical anodization of metallic Ti thin layers deposited on the FTO glass substrate by using electron beam evaporation and/or magnetron sputtering. It is clearly shown for the first time that the quality of the deposited titanium film (e.g. amount and size of pinholes) governs its adherence to the substrate and subsequently the anodization process itself. Mechanical properties of the deposited Ti films were investigated by tribology experiments. The main difference between the sputtered and evaporated titanium layers are the lower film density and considerably higher amount of pinholes of the latter. The grown TNT films were further characterized by SEM, X-ray diffraction, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The sputtered layers overperformed the evaporated layers by 20% when applied for DSSC. An even greater difference was observed in the case of aqueous electrolyte based PEC-WS, where the sputtered layers showed five times higher activity.

Implementation of the four-flux model for spectral and color prediction of 2.5D prints

Optical models to predict visual appearance of 2D prints are relatively well-known. Two-flux models, such as the Kubelka-Munk (KM) theory, are the most commonly used and offer good prediction rates. However, most two-flux models assume that the ink layer and the printing support have the same optical indices neglecting their wavelength dependency. An improvement of such constraint would be to include detailed optical indices of the inks in current models. In this paper we compute optical indices of our inks by printing ink stacks of different thicknesses on a transparent support for reflectance and transmittance measurements. Since KM-based models work under limited conditions, we input our computed indices into a more robust model. By taking additional fluxes into account, one can address the limitations of the two-flux approaches. For instance, the four-flux model considers two collimated and two diffuse fluxes propagating upward and downward the layer stack offering better reflectance and transmittance predictions especially when translucent materials are involved. Our four-flux theory including inks optical indices enables us to make spectral predictions of 2.5D prints without any preliminary measurements. The model is fairly accurate with primary colorants since the ΔE94 values do not exceed 1 unit.

Multicriteria decision support in local energy planning: An evaluation of alternative scenarios for the Sustainable Energy Action Plan

One of the major challenges for the implementation of local energy planning is the successful development of a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) by the local authorities (especially within the framework of their participation to the Covenant of Mayors’ initiative). This aspect constitutes a decision making problem, since the local authorities have to identify the best fields of actions and opportunities for reaching their long-term CO2 reduction target. However, the already available methods and tools do not offer an integrated framework for the SEAPs’ development and especially the selection of sustainable Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Rational Use of Energy (RUE) technologies. In this context, the aim of this paper is to present a participatory supportive framework for the implementation of local energy planning. At the first level, the proposed approach incorporates the development of alternative Scenarios of Actions (using knowledge-based process, participatory approach and aspiration level). At the second level, a direct and transparent multicriteria decision support is introduced, in order to evaluate the feasible Scenarios. It includes the application of a multicriteria ordinal regression approach and an extreme ranking analysis method for the estimation of the best and worst possible ranking position of each Scenario. The results from the pilot appraisal of the methodological approach to a “real” problem are presented and discussed. The adopted approach contributes to the selection of the most appropriate combination of RES/RUE actions, supporting in this way the local authorities to the development of their SEAP.

Parallel preparation of plan-view transmission electron microscopy specimens by vapor-phase etching with integrated etch stops

Specimen preparation remains a practical challenge in transmission electron microscopy and frequently limits the quality of structural and chemical characterization data obtained. Prevailing methods for thinning of specimens to electron transparency are serial in nature, time consuming, and prone to producing artifacts and specimen failure. This work presents an alternative method for the preparation of plan-view specimens using isotropic vapor-phase etching with integrated etch stops. An ultrathin amorphous etch-stop layer simultaneously serves as an electron transparent support membrane whose thickness is defined by a controlled growth process such as atomic layer deposition with sub-nanometer precision. This approach eliminates the need for mechanical polishing or ion milling to achieve electron transparency, and reduces the occurrence of preparation induced artifacts. Furthermore, multiple specimens from a plurality of samples can be thinned in parallel due to high selectivity of the vapor-phase etching process. These features enable dramatic reductions in preparation time and cost without sacrificing specimen quality and provide advantages over wet etching techniques. Finally, we demonstrate a platform for high-throughput transmission electron microscopy of plan-view specimens by combining the parallel preparation capabilities of vapor-phase etching with wafer-scale micro- and nanofabrication.

Operaciones encubiertas, su obscuridad legal: Figura vulnerante de las garantías de certeza y de seguridad jurídica

La figura de la operación encubierta y con ello el agente infiltrado, se justifica bajo la necesidad de realizar investigaciones en organizaciones delictivas internacionales. Las preguntas que respondemos en el presente trabajo son: ¿Existen leyes que permiten su uso? ¿Qué requisitos previos deben satisfacerse para poder utilizarlas? ¿Quién autoriza su empleo? ¿Existen plazos dentro de los cuales pueden usarse? ¿Existe alguna supervisión o vigilancia independiente de estas técnicas? ¿Pueden usarse en juicio los resultados de estas técnicas? ¿Existen normas especiales de admisibilidad de la prueba?. La inquietud de analizar las operaciones encubiertas es analizar si esta figura es vulnerante de los derechos humanos de las personas sujetas a esta técnica, y con ello verificar si contamos con un soporte jurídico amplio y transparente que proporcione a la ciudadanía la certidumbre de legalidad que requiere la implementación de este tipo de figuras legales.

A system dynamics simulation model of chemical supply chain transportation risk management systems

Unforeseen events can interrupt the operational process and have a negative impact on the chemical supply chain transportation (CSCT) system. A number of research studies have addressed the risk management issues in chemical supply chain (CSC) or CSCT. However, most of the existing methodologies lack inbuilt and practical techniques that take into consideration the complex interactions and dynamic feedback effects, which can significantly affect the reliability of risk management outcomes. This paper suggests a novel modelling and simulation method to address the dynamic risks effects in the CSCT, especially the consideration of time-dependent system behaviour in different operational conditions. Furthermore, the flexibility of the model modification is adapted to enhance the practice in risk mitigation. A transparent decision support tool is provided to compare the outcomes of different risk mitigation processes, which offers decision makers an alternative CSCRM mitigation package.

MoOx/TiO2 immobilized on quartz support as structured catalyst for the photocatalytic oxidation of As(III) to As(V) in aqueous solutions

In the present paper, a stable MoOx/TiO2 photocatalyst, active in the photocatalytic oxidation of As(III) to As(V), was successfully immobilized on quartz flakes and tested under different UV irradiation intensities and initial As(III) concentration. The structured photocatalyst was prepared in two steps, realizing a coating of TiO2 on quartz flakes by sol–gel method, and then transferring the molybdenum species through an equilibrium adsorption method. The obtained samples were characterized by SEM–EDAX analysis, N2 adsorption at −196°C and Laser Raman spectra. SEM–EDAX results showed the preferential interaction between Mo species and titania layer and a very good dispersion of MoOx on the TiO2 film deposited on the transparent support. Raman spectra confirmed the presence of hydrated octahedrally polymolybdate species well anchored to the TiO2 surface. Photocatalytic oxidation tests showed that the complete conversion of As(III) to As(V) was achieved in the presence of MoOx/TiO2 catalyst supported on quartz flakes within 120min of UV irradiation. The catalyst maintained an excellent photocatalytic activity and durability after four cycles in aerated water avoiding the photoreduction of the MoOx species. The developed structured photocatalyst can be easily separated from the reaction mixture, making it a very promising catalyst to be employed in continuous reactors for the photocatalytic treatment of arsenic polluted water.

Tunable Plasmonic Nanohole Arrays Actuated by a Thermoresponsive Hydrogel Cushion.

New plasmonic structure with actively tunable optical characteristics based on thermoresponsive hydrogel is reported. It consists of a thin, template-stripped Au film with arrays of nanoholes that is tethered to a transparent support by a cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm)-based polymer network. Upon a contact of the porous Au surface with an aqueous environment, a rapid flow of water through the pores enables swelling and collapsing of the underlying pNIPAAm network. The swelling and collapsing could be triggered by small temperature changes around the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the hydrogel. The process is reversible, and it is associated with strong refractive index changes of Δn ∼ 0.1, which characteristically alters the spectrum of surface plasmon modes supported by the porous Au film. This approach can offer new attractive means for optical biosensors with flow-through architecture and actively tunable plasmonic transmission optical filters.

Efficient etching-free transfer of high quality, large-area CVD grown graphene onto polyvinyl alcohol films

Graphene transfer is a procedure of paramount importance for the production of graphene-based electronic devices. The transfer procedure can affect the electronic properties of the transferred graphene and can be detrimental for possible applications both due to procedure induced defects which can appear and due to scalability of the method. Hence, it is important to investigate new transfer methods for graphene that are less time consuming and show great promise. In the present study we propose an efficient, etching-free transfer method that consists in applying a thin polyvinyl alcohol layer on top of the CVD grown graphene on Cu and then peeling-off the graphene onto the polyvinyl alcohol film. We investigate the quality of the transferred graphene before and after the transfer, using Raman spectroscopy and imaging as well as optical and atomic force microscopy techniques. This simple transfer method is scalable and can lead to complete transfer of graphene onto flexible and transparent polymer support films without affecting the quality of the graphene during the transfer procedure.