Hasil untuk "Industry"

Antonio Kruljac, Anka Ozana Čavlović

Many materials used in wood industry are considered to have carcinogenic or mutagenic effects, which is a health risk for workers in production. Carcinogenic chemical compounds, apart from causing cancer, also pose a great risk for human health in other terms like respiratory issues, skin irritation, allergic reactions, congenital abnormalities in women, visual impairments, immune system and neurological disorders, hormonal imbalances, etc. Carcinogenic pollution in the wood industry is associated with activities related to the emission of wood dust, production of panel materials, drying and steaming of wood, sharpening tools, the activities of handling glues, paints, varnishes, coatings, wood preservatives, exposure to fossil and biofuel exhaust gases, and many others. The purpose of this paper was to present the carcinogenic substances to which workers in the wood industry are professionally exposed, to present previous research and currently valid regulations and protection measures in the EU. By reviewing the sources, it can be concluded that, although legislation often requires clearly defined etiological factors, scientists agree that the understanding of the relationship between occupational exposures and cancer is not yet complete and that occupational carcinogenic factors are considered occupationalexposures if a significant number of workers were exposed to significant levels.

Mohamed Imam, Alesandros Glaros, Cheney Chen et al.

This paper explores the potential of Building-Integrated Agriculture (BIA) as a strategy to align urban agriculture systems with building lifecycle sustainability goals. BIA systems such as indoor vertical farms, rooftop greenhouses, and soil-based urban farms promise to bolster urban food security and resource circularity. However, their environmental impacts can be further optimized via integration with building resources and strategic design, which requires a standardized framework for evaluating life-cycle metrics. This study develops a cross-industry Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework that harmonizes agricultural and building performance indicators, using carbon as a unifying metric to evaluate operational and embodied impacts. The research combines a meta-analysis of existing LCA studies, detailed case study evaluations, and novel paired metrics to quantify energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions within a case study. Key findings identify operational carbon hotspots, infrastructure inefficiencies, and embodied carbon challenges while highlighting opportunities for integrating resource recovery strategies, such as greywater reuse and waste heat recovery. The results reveal trade-offs between productivity and environmental impact, with vertical farms demonstrating high yields but significant energy intensity, while soil-based systems excel in resource efficiency but exhibit lower output. This work introduces a structured methodology for cross-industry data integration and offers actionable insights for designers, growers and developers. By redefining system boundaries and incorporating reciprocal benefits between BIA and host buildings, this framework provides a pathway toward more sustainable urban agricultural practices and resilient urban ecosystems.

Chenjing Shang, Li Sihui, Chunyuan Li et al.

Abstract Background Salt Overly Sensitive 1 (SOS1), a plasma membrane Na+/H+ exchanger, is essential for plant salt tolerance. Salt damage is a significant abiotic stress that impacts plant species globally. All living organisms require copper (Cu), a necessary micronutrient and a protein cofactor for many biological and physiological processes. High Cu concentrations, however, may result in pollution that inhibits the growth and development of plants. The function and production of mangrove ecosystems are significantly impacted by rising salinity and copper contamination. Results A genome-wide analysis and bioinformatics techniques were used in this study to identify 20 SOS1 genes in the genome of Kandelia obovata. Most of the SOS1 genes were found on the plasma membrane and dispersed over 11 of the 18 chromosomes. Based on phylogenetic analysis, KoSOS1s can be categorized into four groups, similar to Solanum tuberosum. Kandelia obovata's SOS1 gene family expanded due to tandem and segmental duplication. These SOS1 homologs shared similar protein structures, according to the results of the conserved motif analysis. The coding regions of 20 KoSOS1 genes consist of amino acids ranging from 466 to 1221, while the exons include amino acids ranging from 3 to 23. In addition, we found that the 2.0 kb upstream promoter region of the KoSOS1s gene contains several cis-elements associated with phytohormones and stress responses. According to the expression experiments, seven randomly chosen genes experienced up- and down-regulation of their expression levels in response to copper (CuCl2) and salt stressors. Conclusions For the first time, this work systematically identified SOS1 genes in Kandelia obovata. Our investigations also encompassed physicochemical properties, evolution, and expression patterns, thereby furnishing a theoretical framework for subsequent research endeavours aimed at functionally characterizing the Kandelia obovata SOS1 genes throughout the life cycle of plants.

Jian Yu, Renhui Shen, Le Zhou et al.

With the development of the photovoltaic industry; there will be an increasing demand for efficient, high-power density, and low-cost grid interface converters. Compared with two-level inverters, multilevel inverters have the following advantages: (1) lower device voltage ratings; (2) better output filtering spectrum; (3) lower electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise; and (4) higher switching speed capability. However, the complex switching circuit of the multilevel inverter will bring more parasitic inductance, resulting in severe switching overvoltage (ringing). Especially in order to reduce the cost of the inverter, using the long-loop modulation mode, the commutation loop will introduce more parasitic inductance, which will make the overvoltage more serious. Consider that commonly used overvoltage absorption schemes are effective only for overvoltage or suppression of oscillations. Therefore, a new overvoltage absorption circuit is proposed in this paper, which can not only alleviate the overvoltage and ringing phenomena but also suppress the effect of voltage jumps during low-frequency switching on high-frequency input voltage. This overvoltage absorption circuit is characterized by low overvoltage, fast ringing damping, and minimum capacitance. Experiments and simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of this overvoltage absorption circuit using a three-level ANPC inverter as a prototype. The results show that the proposed overvoltage absorption circuit can significantly reduce the overvoltage level, shorten the oscillation time, and reduce the voltage difference between the upper and lower DC bus capacitors.

Zhen-Yang Shen, Zhen-Yang Shen, Yi-Feng Wang et al.

Methionine is an essential sulfur-containing amino acid that finds widespread applications in agriculture, medicine, and the food industry. However, the complex and multibranched biosynthetic pathway of methionine has posed significant challenges to its efficient fermentation production. In this study, we employed a modularized synthetic biology strategy to improve the weakest branched pathway of methionine biosynthesis. Three exogenous modules were constructed and assembled to provide methyl donors, which are the primary limiting factors in methionine biosynthesis. The first module utilized added methanol, which was converted into 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate for methionine production but was hindered by the toxicity of methanol. To circumvent this issue, a non-toxic formate module was constructed, resulting in a visible improvement in the methionine titer. Finally, an exogenous betaine module was constructed, which could directly deliver methyl to methionine. The final strain produced 2.87 g/L of methionine in a flask, representing a 20% increase over the starting strain. This study presents a novel strategy for improving and balancing other metabolites that are synthesized through complex multibranched pathways.

Ahmed E. Radwan

The pore pressure gradient and fracture gradient (PPFG) are critical parameters for drilling mud weight design in the energy industry. Successful drilling operations can be achieved successfully through the understanding of the pore pressure and fracture pressure in the subsurface succession. The scope of this research is to use an integrated approach that encompasses well-logging, basin modeling, drilling-based interpretations, and reservoir measurement methods to gain a reasonable PPFG model and decrease the drilling uncertainties in the El Morgan oil field in the Gulf of Suez. Moreover, it investigates the overpressure generation mechanisms in the basin, which have not been studied before in this area. In this work, PPFGs of more than 16 km of cumulative thick sedimentary succession were modeled and evaluated using an integrated approach. This study utilizes Eaton’s sonic and resistivity-based methods for pore pressure evaluation, while vertical stress was calculated based on the composite density profile. The study revealed that the top geo-pressure was detected at a depth of 1,030 m of Tortonian sediments. Late Miocene sediments reveal hard over-pressure with a maximum gradient of 0.55 PSI/feet, while Middle Miocene sediments exhibit mildly over-pressured, normal, and sub-normal pore pressure zones. The lowest pore pressure values were measured in the Langhian-Serravalian Kareem reservoir with a gradient of 0.29 PSI/feet. With the exception of a slight difference in the reservoir section, the pore pressure profiles in the northern and southern parts of the El Morgan oil field are relatively similar. Reservoir connectivity is believed to be the main reason behind pore pressure magnitude differentiation in the Middle Miocene reservoirs. The key mechanism for generating overpressure has been identified as disequilibrium compaction, and reservoir overcharging may contribute as an excess-pressure generation mechanism at the reservoir level. The presented approach can be applied in PPFG studies for both development and exploratory geomechanical studies in other areas of the Gulf of Suez basin or elsewhere in the world.

Hongjie Jia, Huiyuan Wang, Yan Cao et al.

Abstract In modern society, system integration that enables multiple subsystems to function as one is emerging in various fields like industry, commerce, and infrastructure. Although it has been proved that integration value could be tapped to the maximum with controllable cost by optimising the integration schemes in certain fields, there is still a lack of a general method for modelling and analysing the process of system integration. To address this need, this paper proposes an analysis framework of system integration. The concepts of integration object, integration strategy, integration time, integration cost and integration value are introduced to describe the integration process. Further, three optimisation models of the local optimisation (OPT1), phase optimisation (OPT2) and integration optimisation (OPT3) are constructed. The proposed framework can also supervise and compare the performance of intermediate processes of different integration schemes. Two case studies in the commerce and energy fields are analysed to illustrate the function of the proposed framework.

Yong Piao, Dongkun Lee, Sangjin Park et al.

Forest fires are one of the most frequently occurring natural hazards, causing substantial economic loss and destruction of forest cover. As the Gangwon-do region in Korea has abundant forest resources and ecological diversity as Korea's largest forest area, spatial data on forest fire susceptibility of the region are urgently required. In this study, a forest fire susceptibility map (FFSM) of Gangwon-do was constructed using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and three machine learning algorithms: Classification and Regression Trees (CART), Random Forest (RF), and Boosted Regression Trees (BRT). The factors related to climate, topography, hydrology, and human activity were constructed. To verify the accuracy, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used. The AUC values were 0.846 (BRT), 0.835 (RF), 0.751 (CART). Factor importance analysis was performed to identify the important factors of the occurrence of forest fires in Gangwon-do. The results show that the most important factor in the Gangwon-do region is slope. A slope of approximately 17° (moderately steep) has a considerable impact on the occurrence of forest fires. Human activity and interference are the other important factors that affect forest fires. The established FFSM can support future efforts on forest resource protection and environmental management planning in Gangwon-do.

Pieter Schaap, Eileen Koekemoer, Marissa Brouwers

Orientation: Overreliance on goodness-of-fit (GoF) indices in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model fit evaluations appears to negatively influence the integrity and replicability of research findings in general, and on research to develop work-to-family enrichment (WFE) theory in particular. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to test for the conceptual replicability of the essentially unidimensional CFA model of the MACE Work-to-Family Enrichment scale (MACE-W2FE) using Bayesian structural equation modelling. Motivation for the study: Multidimensional and second-order factor models are commonly reported for WFE instruments, but the more tenable essentially unidimensional model has remained largely untested, because of the limitations of GoF indices. Research approach/design and method: Two independent cross-sectional study samples of 627 and 346 employees from various industry sectors was used. Bayesian structural equation modelling (BSEM) was applied to assess whether model misspecifications at local indicator level were substantive in terms of classical test theory, and justified the rejection of an essentially unidimensional CFA model (the breadth factor) for different MACE-W2FE versions. Main findings: In this study it was found that the essentially unidimensional model of the MACE-W2FE conceptually replicated across different studies, samples, MACE-W2FE versions and statistical theorems. Practical/managerial implications: The MACE-W2FE can be univocally scored as a single breadth factor for use in future research. Contribution/value-add: This study demonstrated the value of local indicator misspecification analysis using BSEM in countering deficient model testing in WFE studies.

Svetlana V. Domnina, Elena V. Savoskina, Oksana А. Guzhova

The aim of the study is to identify the role of the innovative component in the system of quality management of highways. An analysis of the proportion of new technologies and materials used to improve the quality of roads, the dynamics of accidents on sections of federal highways, where new technologies and materials were used, as well as the condition of roads was carried out. The data became the basis for the formation of factors that improve road safety. A regression model of the dependence of road safety on the quality of roads (with three variables) was developed. With the help of the model it is possible to predict the impact of changes in the variables on the number of road accidents. The study developed a system of quality management of roads and highlighted the innovative components, such as controlling effects, management tools, factors, innovative technologies and elements of the integral indicator of innovation. New horizons in the system of quality management of roads – innovation, which forms the need to improve all of its elements (planning, construction management, construction technology, its organization, organization of labor of employees), taking into account the practice of quality management of roads based on the standards of project management of the International Association of Project Management. This will improve the quality of the road object. As a result, there will be an economic effect from the introduction of the quality management system of road works. Roads are among the institutional support processes for the formation of public welfare and security of the country. However, there is still a problem of low satisfaction with the condition of roads by the population. Despite the active participation of the state in the development of the transport industry, quality management systems in Russian road organizations are not always effective. Most of them focus their attention on solving technical problems and issues of operational management. New horizons in the system of quality management of roads should open the program of innovative development of the state company “Russian Highways”. This program focuses on improving the quality of roads through the introduction of technological initiatives at all stages of road construction. Application of the principle “open innovations” strengthens the need to include the block of innovations in the standardized model of the quality management system (QMS). In this regard, it becomes obvious to develop a road quality management system taking into account the innovation component. The purpose of this study is to develop a system of quality management of roads, taking into account the innovative component. Method and methodology of work: in the process of work were used general scientific methods of research: analysis of scientific and educational literature; process approach; comparative analysis; system analysis, synthesis; method of correlation and regression analysis; methods of tabular and graphical representation of data, as well as standards of project management. Results: – A correlation and regression model of the dependence of road traffic safety on the quality of roads (on three variables) was developed; – developed a quality management system at all stages of road construction, taking into account the innovative component. Scope of the results: the proposed results can be used to improve the quality management system of roads in the Russian Federation.

Allan Niidu, Henrik Grénman, Kati Muldma et al.

Oxidation has been a long sought-after alternative to classical thermal processing of oil shale, in order to obtain valuable raw materials for the chemical industry. A number of different methods have been applied, but thus far, one of the most effective ways to transform oil shale to value added products, such as aliphatic terminal dicarboxylic acids, is oxidation with nitric acid. In order to obtain insight into the reactivity of oil shale in nitric acid, a study focusing on the kinetics and behavior of oil shale particles during oxidative leaching was performed. To that end, the particle size distribution, surface area, and carbon content were measured during the leaching process in addition to the amount of total residual solids. Determining the carbon content of the solid residue was proposed as a simple measure of the reaction progress, based on the hypothesis that all carbon measured by elemental analysis correspond to organic carbon since inorganic carbon is present as carbonate in the starting material and would have dissolved under the acidic conditions. To our surprise, the solid residue had a significant amount of organic carbon in the form of calcium oxalate mineral. Thus, measuring carbon content in the solid residue could provide only an indirect measure of the overall oxidation degree provided that the amount of oxalates was known. In general, the results revealed that the total solid residue amounts to between 20% and 34% of the initial values after 24 h of the reaction, while the total carbon content ranges from 4% to 14% of the starting values. These results show that we were able to extract around 90% of the organic carbon present in the solid phase.

Mandlenkosi G.R. Mahlobo, Lethu Chikosha, Peter A. Olubambi

Great efforts have been made in fabricating Ti–6Al–4V alloys that can be used in the biomedical implants industry. The increasing interest in using fabricated Ti–6Al–4V alloys in industrial applications is mainly due to the properties of alloys which include good combination of mechanical and corrosion resistance. This study was aimed at evaluating the corrosion properties of the Ti–6Al–4V alloy fabricated via powder rolling technique under various simulated human body solutions. A three-electrode electrochemical cell was used to carry out corrosion studies at 37 °C where the fabricated Ti–6Al–4V was immersed in 3.5% NaCl (pH = 6.5) and two simulated human body fluids, namely; Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS) and Ringers solution with the measured pH of 6.9 and 6.4 respectively. The electrochemical techniques used to investigate the corrosion studies included open circuit potential (OCP), potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The fabricated Ti–6Al–4V alloy was characterized before and after the corrosion experiments via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The potentiodynamic polarization curves revealed a passivation phenomenon on the anodic domain indicating high corrosion resistance of Ti–6Al–4V alloy in all three electrolytes. The Ti–6Al–4V alloy exhibited the highest corrosion resistance when immersed in 3.5% NaCl with the estimated corrosion rate of 0.480 μm/yr. The excellent corrosion resistance of Ti–6Al–4V alloy was mainly due to the formation of an oxide film formed on the alloy surface as deduced from the EIS analysis. No corrosion products were detected by XRD analysis on the Ti–6Al–4V alloy surface immersed in all electrolytes which confirmed an excellent corrosion resistance property.

Khaled Alhammadi, Luna Santos-Roldán, Luis Javier Cabeza-Ramírez

The past few years have seen significant demographic changes in most regions, including an increased elderly population. Subsequently, elderly citizens comprise an important market segment of consumers, with the food industry one of the most affected areas in this context. However, food market managers previously believed that elderly consumers’ needs were stereotyped in nature. The lack of focus on this sector, therefore, left elderly consumers as an untapped market, without realizing the financial independence of this segment regarding their nutrition. This research will attempt to provide the key determinant factors on elderly consumers’ behavior related to food. For that purpose, a complete literature review of more than 123 papers regarding these concepts has been carried out. Once analyzed, we highlight the common insights to give clear guidance for supermarket managers and food manufacturers to have a better knowledge of the reasons behind elderly people’s food acquisitions.

Ehsan Vaziri Goudarzi, Mahmoud Houshmand, Omid Fatahi Valilai et al.

Industry 4.0 is the digitalization of the manufacturing systems based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for developing a manufacturing system to gain efficiency and improve productivity. Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is a paradigm of Industry 4.0. Cloud Manufacturing System (CMS) considers anything as a service. The end product is developed based on the service composition in the CMS according to consumers’ needs. Also, composite services are developed based on the interaction of MCS providers from different geographical locations. Therefore, the appropriate Manufacturing Cloud Service (MCS) composition is an important problem based on the real-world conditions in CMS. The game theory studies the mathematical model development based on interactions between MCS providers according to real-world conditions. This research develops an Equilibrial Service Composition Model in Cloud Manufacturing (ESCM) based on game theory. MCS providers and consumers get benefits mutually based on ESCM. MCS providers are players in the game. The payoff function is developed based on a profit function. Also, the game strategies are the levels of Quality of Service (QoS) based on consumers’ needs in ESCM. Firstly, the article develops a composite service based on a non-cooperative game. The Nash equilibrium point demonstrates the QoS value of composite service and the payoff value for the players. Secondly, the article develops a composite service based on a cooperative game. The players participate in coalitions to develop the composite service based on formal cooperation. The grand coalition demonstrates the QoS value of composite service and the payoff value for the players in the cooperative game. The research has compared the games’ results. The players’ payoff and the QoS value are better in the cooperative game than in the non-cooperative game. Therefore, the MCS providers and consumers are satisfied mutually in the cooperative game based on ESCM. Finally, the article has applied ESCM in a Healthcare Service to equip 24 hospitals in the best time.

T. I. Rudneva

The article deals with significant changes in the educational process of a modern university, focuses on the change in motivation and value orientations of teachers of an innovative university in connection with globalization. Attention is drawn to the characteristics of modern education as a new social industry, due to the digital economy and the new generation of students. The article notes that digital learning (such a concept was introduced in the thesaurus of professional pedagogy) sets new lines in pedagogical activity, meeting resistance of some teachers who are not ready to use electronic tools and perform new professional functions, for example, monitoring learning outcomes. An increase in the teaching load causes teachers to distrust the reforms carried out in education, and sometimes professional deformation. It is proved that the quality of education is determined not only by digital technologies, but also by the quality of educational conditions, professional and pedagogical competence of the teacher. At the same time, methodological support of experienced teachers is required to adapt to innovations and beginners in order to compensate for the lack of knowledge, skills and abilities when performing innovative tasks. The article provides a link to the experience of organizing advanced training for teachers at Samara University, the essence of which is that the results of research on relevant pedagogical problems by its teachers become the basis for determining the content of programs in the system of further education.

Julius Mwaniki, Hui Lin, Zhiyong Dai

The increase in wind power penetration, at 456 GW as of June 2016, has resulted in more stringent grid codes which specify that the wind energy conversion systems (WECS) must remain connected to the system during and after a grid fault and, furthermore, must offer grid support by providing reactive currents. The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) WECS is a well-proven technology, having been in use in wind power generation for many years and having a large world market share due to its many merits. Newer technologies such as the direct drive gearless permanent magnet synchronous generator have come up to challenge its market share, but the large number of installed machines ensures that it remains of interest in the wind industry. This paper presents a concise introduction of the DFIG WECS covering its construction, operation, merits, demerits, modelling, control types, levels and strategies, faults and their proposed solutions, and, finally, simulation. Qualities for the optimal control strategy are then proposed. The paper is intended to cover major issues related to the DFIG WECS that are a must for an overview of the system and hence serve as an introduction especially for new entrants into this area of study.

Desquines Jean, Drouan Doris, Torres Elodie et al.

During a Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA), an important safety requirement is that the reflooding of the core by the emergency core cooling system should not lead to a complete rupture of the fuel rods. Several types of mechanical tests are usually performed in the industry to determine the degree of cladding embrittlement, such as ring compression tests or four-point bending of rodlets. Many other tests can be found in the open literature. However, there is presently no real intrinsic understanding of the failure conditions in these tests which would allow translation of the results from one kind of mechanical testing to another. The present study is an attempt to provide a unified description of the failure not directly depending on the tested geometry. This effort aims at providing a better understanding of the link between several existing safety criteria relying on very different mechanical testing. To achieve this objective, the failure mechanisms of pre-oxidized and pre-hydrided cladding samples are characterized by comparing the behavior of two different mechanical tests: Axial Tensile (AT) test and “C”-shaped Ring Compression Test (CCT). The failure of samples in both cases can be described by usual linear elastic fracture mechanics theory. Using interrupted mechanical tests, metallographic examinations have evidenced that a set of parallel cracks are nucleated at the inner and outer surface of the samples just before failure, crossing both the oxide layer and the oxygen rich alpha layer. The stress intensity factors for multiple crack geometry are determined for both AT and CCT samples using finite element calculations. After each mechanical test performed on high temperature steam oxidized samples, metallography is then used to individually determine the crack depth and crack spacing. Using these two important parameters and considering the applied load at fracture, the stress intensity factor at failure is derived for each tested sample. This procedure provides an assessment scheme to determine experimentally the fracture toughness of the prior-β region in the mid-wall of the oxidized samples. The obtained fracture toughness for CCT and AT samples are thus compared, confirming that the linear elastic fracture mechanics is a relevant tool to describe the strength of LOCA embrittled cladding alloys.

In this study the role ofcognitive and social factors in utilization of information sysyems (IS) andperformance outcomes are examined. Unlike common studies in informationsystems' acceptance which are based on one of cognitive factors or social ones,in this study both of these groups of factors are merged. The research model ofthis study is based on Task- Technology Fit (TTF) theory and Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) whichcan be considered as a socio-technical model. This is a descriptive correlationresearch based on Structural Equation Model (SEM). The data are gathered from186 users of information systems from 16 companies working in Iran automobileindustry. Also, the sampling method is stratified random.Theresults of this study indicate the goodness of fit for the model of researchand both groups of social and cognitive factors have direct impact oninformation systems' utilization and users' performance. Social factors havegreater impact in comparison to cognitive factors. Moreover, informationsystems' utilization is known to have positive effect on individual performanceand learning of employees.