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Enabling Human-Autonomy Teaming in Aviation : A Framework to Address Human Factors in Digital Assistants Design
No full textThe introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in aviation necessitates more research into human-autonomy teaming in these domain settings. This paper describes the development of a design framework for supporting Human Factors novices in considering human factors, improving human-autonomy collaboration, and maintaining safety when developing AI tools for aviation settings. Combining elements of Hierarchical Task Analysis, Coactive Design, and Types and Levels of Autonomy, the design framework provides guidance in three phases: modelling and understanding the existing system and associated tasks; producing a new function allocation for optimal Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT); and assessing HAT-related risks of the proposed design. In this framework, designers generate a comprehensive set of design considerations to support subsequent development processes. Framework limitations and future research avenues are discussed. This research was conducted in the SafeTeam project. SafeTeam has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101069877</p
Interfacial Adsorption of Oil-Soluble Kraft Lignin and Stabilization of Water-in-Oil Emulsions
No full textIn this paper, the potential of esterified Kraft lignin as a novel oil-soluble surfactant was examined. The lignin was chemically modified by esterification with lauric or stearic acid, making it soluble in solvents such as toluene or n-decane. Adsorption at the oil-water interface was then studied by the Du Noüy ring-method. The oil-soluble lignin behaved similar to water-soluble lignin surfactants, both the qualitative and quantitative progression of interfacial tension. Modeling revealed a surface excess of 7.5-9.0 × 10-7 mol/m2, area per molecule of 185-222 Å2, and a diffusion coefficient within the range 10-10 to 10-14 m2/s; all of which are in line with existing literature on water-soluble lignosulfonates. The data further suggested that the pendant alkyl chains were extended well into the paraffinic solvent. At last, bottle tests showed that the oil-soluble lignin was able to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions. The emulsion stability was affected by the concentration of lignin or NaCl as well as the oil phase composition. Aromatic oils exhibited lower emulsion stability in comparison to the aliphatic oil. In conclusion, a new type of surfactant was synthesized and studied, which may contribute to developing green surfactants and novel approaches to valorize technical lignin.This work was carried out as a part of project “LignoWax─Green Wax Inhibitors and Production Chemicals based on Lignin”, grant number 326876. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Norwegian Research Council, Equinor ASA, and ChampionX Norge AS. The authors would further like to thank Fredrik Heen Blindheim for help with the FTIR analysis.</p
Nutritional profile of plant-based dairy alternatives in the Swedish market
No full textThe market for plant-based dairy alternatives is growing; therefore, focusing on the nutritional quality of these products is important. This study evaluates the nutritional profile of plant-based alternatives to milk, yoghurt, cheese, cream, ice cream and fat spread in the Swedish market and compares them to corresponding dairy products. The nutritional quality of organic vs non-organic and plain vs flavoured plant-based milk and yoghurt alternatives was also assessed. Nutritional data for 222 plant-based dairy alternatives were collected from the manufacturers’ websites, and data for corresponding dairy products were obtained from the Swedish Food Composition Database. Plant-based dairy alternatives had higher fibre content than dairy products, while their protein content was lower, except for soy-based products. The saturated fat content of plant-based dairy alternatives was similar to or lower than dairy products, except for coconut-based yoghurt and plant-fat-based cheese. Their energy content was also similar to or lower than dairy products, except for coconut-based yoghurt, plant-based fat spread and plant-based ice cream, which contained higher energy than yoghurt, blended margarine, and ice cream, respectively. The micronutrient fortification was mainly in plant-based milk, yoghurt, and cheese alternatives; thus, compared to dairy, they had similar or higher vitamins D, B2, and B12 (except in plant-based milk alternatives), calcium and iodine content. Furthermore, organic plant-based milk and yoghurt alternatives had a lower micronutrient content (e.g., vitamins B2 and B12, iodine and calcium) except for vitamin D than non-organic varieties. Flavoured plant-based milk and yoghurt alternatives were higher in energy and total sugar than plain varieties. In summary, plant-based dairy alternatives have nutritional strengths and weaknesses compared to dairy products that should be considered when replacing dairy. This study was part of the FINEST (Food Innovation Enabling Sustainable Transition) project. FINEST is supported by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) [Grant no. 2020-02839].</p
Trajectories of mental health outcomes following COVID-19 infection : a prospective longitudinal study
No full textBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global mental health crisis. Yet, we know little about the lasting effects of COVID-19 infection on mental health. This prospective longitudinal study aimed to investigate the trajectories of mental health changes in individuals infected with COVID-19 and to identify potential predictors that may influence these changes. Methods: A web-survey that targeted individuals that had been infected with COVID-19 was used at three time-points: T0 (baseline), T1 (six months), and T2 (twelve months). The survey included demographics, questions related to COVID-19 status, previous psychiatric diagnosis, post-COVID impairments, fatigue, and standardized measures of depression, anxiety, insomnia. Linear mixed models were used to examine changes in depression, anxiety, and insomnia over time and identify factors that impacted trajectories of mental health outcomes. Results: A total of 236 individuals completed assessments and was included in the longitudinal sample. The participants’ age ranged between 19 and 81 years old (M = 48.71, SD = 10.74). The results revealed notable changes in mental health outcomes over time. The trajectory of depression showed significant improvement over time while the trends in anxiety and insomnia did not exhibit significant changes over time. Younger participants and individuals who experienced severe COVID-19 infection in the acute phase were identified as high-risk groups with worst mental ill-health. The main predictors of the changes in the mental health outcomes were fatigue and post-COVID impairments. Conclusions: The findings of our study suggest that mental health outcomes following COVID-19 infection exhibit a dynamic pattern over time. The study provides valuable insights into the mental health trajectory following COVID-19 infection, emphasizing the need for ongoing assessment, support, and interventions tailored to the evolving mental health needs of this population. Corresponding author: Farzaneh Badinlou.</p
Performance of various water-based fire suppression systems in tunnels with longitudinal ventilation
No full textLow pressure, medium pressure and high pressure water-based fire suppression systems were tested in a medium scale tunnel (scale 1:3). The primary objective was to investigate which of these systems are most effective in the suppression or control of different types of tunnel fires. The default low, medium and high pressure systems refer to full scale water flow rates of 10 mm/min, 6.8 mm/min and 3.7 mm/min, respectively. Some other water densities were also tested to investigate the effects, as well as different ventilation velocities and activation criteria. Several series of fire tests were conducted for different fire scenarios. The fire scenarios considered included idle wood pallet fires, loosely packed wood crib fires, loosely packed wood and plastic crib fires, and pool fires, with or without a top cover on the fuel load. Comparisons of the three default systems based on the three parameters: heat release rate, energy released and possibility of fire spread, show that the performance of the default low pressure system is usually the most effective based on the parameters studied. The default high pressure system usually yields results less effective in comparison to the default low pressure system. The performance of the default medium pressure system usually lies in between them. The high pressure system behaves very differently in comparison to the others, in terms of tunnel ventilation velocity, water density, operating pressure, and the presence of the top cover. © 2024 The AuthorsThe work was financially supported by the Swedish Research Council Formas (2019-00521), which is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to Prof. Patrick van Hees at Lund University for his valuable input in the test planning process. Thanks also to our colleague Joel Blom, and other technicians at RISE for the great assistance in conducting the tests, and the Södra Älvsborg's Rescue Service for the support on site.</p
Buildings' Transition to Active Nodes: Assessing the Viability of DC Distribution, PV and Battery Storage
No full textHistorically, buildings have been passive nodes in the electric grid system with one-way power flows. However, with the recent market development of solar photovoltaic (PV) and stationary behind-the-meter battery storage systems, buildings are now transitioning to active nodes, offering bi-directional power flows. Various system topologies and modelling aspects are of interest for these active nodes and their viability. This thesis compares internal building direct current (DC) distribution with the conventional alternating current (AC) distribution for single-family and office buildings. For both building types, the geographical location is altered to examine the effect of PV and load correlation on the DC performance. The energy loss over a year and the loss distribution across various components are examined for three DC topologies, including one with constant power electronic converter (PEC) efficiencies, to quantify the loss discrepancy to experimentally derived PEC efficiency characteristics. Using constant efficiencies for a single-family building underestimates the annual losses by 34% (63 kWh/a). With load-dependant PEC efficiencies and without battery storage, DC operation shows no performance enhancements compared to AC. Depending on the studied case, DC operation results in loss savings, −16.3 to −43.6% with PV and battery. Two methods are proposed to reduce the grid-tied converter (GC) losses from partial load operation. One method—a modular GC design consisting of a smaller and a larger GC—is modelled for two cases: a single-family building and an office building, and presents an optimal GC size configuration of 15/85%. The loss savings relative to AC operations for a 15/85% configuration are 26% for the single-family building and 15–40% for the office. The savings depend on the office’s location and system design (PV and battery sizing). For the offices, the effect on DC loss savings is examined via a parametric sweep by varying PV and battery sizes, with resulting savings up to 40% (−12.8 MWh/a) compared to AC operation. The results highlight the effect of GC sizing on the DC performance, the effect of battery storage, and how the PV and load correlation affects the DC performance. Furthermore, a battery model is derived from experimental measurements of the cell’s current—resistance and open-circuit voltage (OCV)—state-of-charge (SOC) dependencies. The battery model is verified against the measured voltage with good compliance (RMSE<7 mV). Three representations—including the round trip efficiency approximation—are compared for annual battery system losses. The results indicate that the cell’s losses—making up 22–45% of losses for the examined case—and that the internal resistance’s current dependency is essential for an accurate representation. The loss discrepancy for the round trip approximation varies between −5% to 29%, relative to the experimentally derived representation, depending on the modelled battery size. The role of PV and battery storage for an airport micro grid is examined in a forward-looking case with electric aviation (EA) and electric vehicles (EVs). Seven scenarios are studied, including four with battery storage and different operation algorithms. One of the algorithms is a novel operation combining self-consumption (SC) and peak power shaving. Compared to the current situation, the techno-economic evaluation shows a significant increase in energy (89.4%) and power (+1 MW) demands from EA and EV. For the nominal battery price and peak power tariff (Ct), the novel operation shows the shortest Payback Period (PBP) of 4.8 years for the battery scenarios. With varying battery prices and peak power tariffs, the sensitivity analysis shows that Ct can significantly affect the PBP. Lastly, the effect of PV module operating temperature on performance is empirically evaluated and quantified for seven arrays from annual operation. For the Building–Applied PV (BAPV) c-Si modules, the elevated operating temperature adds 1% to the total losses and 2% for the c-Si Building–Integrated PV (BIPV). Examining the results of SC and self-sufficiency (SS) verifies the correlation between SC and power rating and introduces the correlation between SS and annual yield, considering the effect of system design, level of roof integration and PV cell type. For this case study, comparing two systems with and without battery storage shows the weekly variation in SS and SC and highlights the drawback of single-objective dispatch
Hållbar Interiör Kriteriedokument : Version 1.0 Maj 2024
No full textInteriörer står för en betydande del av en byggnads totala miljöpåverkan under dess livscykel. Det har uppskattats att tusentals ton interiörer kan återbrukas och att dessa representerar tusentals ton koldioxidekvivalenter i klimatbesparingspotential. Kravkriterierna för Hållbar Interiör har utvecklats i syfte att komma åt just den potentialen och till rekommendationer på praxis som kan öka återbruk (IVL NrB 2351). Kriterierna fokuserar på att förebygga vanligt förekommande fenomen inom interiör- och inredningsområdet. Till exempel är det vanligt att objekt i interiören rivs eller monteras ner under inredningsprojekt oavsett skick och behov, vilket innebär att befintlig interiör ersätts med nyproducerad interiör. Det sker ofta utan analys av möjligheter att tillvarata befintlig interiör. Kriterierna tar också hänsyn till utmaningar avseende hållbara val vid planering och drift av lokaler och hållbara val av interiörer. Kravkriterierna i Hållbar Interiör bygger på en logik som följer prioritetsordningen: 1. Tillräcklighetsprincipen: Utvärdera om objektet behövs, identifiera alternativa lösningar som uppfyller behoven av interiör. 2. Använd länge: Behåll inredning, laga eller renovera vid behov. 3. Återbruka inredning från extern part 4. Inköp av ny inredning med hög miljöprestanda Kravkriterierna omfattar tre delar som viktas samman under en slutlig bedömning av uppfyllelse av kraven i detta dokument
Understanding Fire and Rescue Service Practices Through Problems and Problem-Solving Networks : An Analysis of a Critical Incident
No full textThis study explores how the Fire and Rescue Service can better prepare for solving complex problems in emergencies by using the concept of problems and problem-solving networks. Primary and secondary data from an extensive fire incident were analysed, including semi-structured interviews and incident assessment reports. Complex problems that arise during emergencies can be challenging to define, and solutions can be difficult to identify. However, this study demonstrates that breaking down complex problems into sub-problems can facilitate the identification of what kind of problem-solving network is needed to be able to solve problems in emergencies. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the rationale behind problem-solving network in emergency situations and highlights the importance of relationships in problem-solving network to address complex problems during emergencies. The research for this paper was financially supported by NordForsk within theproject Nordic Fire and Rescue Services in the Twenty First Century, No. 97830.</p
The broken windows theory applies to technical debt
No full textContext: The term technical debt (TD) describes the aggregation of sub-optimal solutions that serve to impede the evolution and maintenance of a system. Some claim that the broken windows theory (BWT), a concept borrowed from criminology, also applies to software development projects. The theory states that the presence of indications of previous crime (such as a broken window) will increase the likelihood of further criminal activity; TD could be considered the broken windows of software systems. Objective: To empirically investigate the causal relationship between the TD density of a system and the propensity of developers to introduce new TD during the extension of that system. Method: The study used a mixed-methods research strategy consisting of a controlled experiment with an accompanying survey and follow-up interviews. The experiment had a total of 29 developers of varying experience levels completing system extension tasks in already existing systems with high or low TD density. Results: The analysis revealed significant effects of TD level on the subjects’ tendency to re-implement (rather than reuse) functionality, choose non-descriptive variable names, and introduce other code smells identified by the software tool SonarQube, all with at least 95% credible intervals. Coclusions: Three separate significant results along with a validating qualitative result combine to form substantial evidence of the BWT’s existence in software engineering contexts. This study finds that existing TD can have a major impact on developers propensity to introduce new TD of various types during development. The computationswere enabled by resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC), partiallyfunded by the Swedish Research Council through grant agreement no. 2018–05973. Part of this research wasfunded by Marianne & Marcus Wallenberg(2017.0071).</p
Impact of Post Manufacturing Handling of Protein-Based Biologic Drugs on Product Quality and User Centricity
No full textThis article evaluates the current gaps around the impact of post-manufacturing processes on the product qualities of protein-based biologics, with a focus on user centricity. It includes the evaluation of the regulatory guidance available, describes a collection of scientific literature and case studies to showcase the impact of post-manufacturing stresses on product and dosing solution quality. It also outlines the complexity of clinical handling and the need for communication, and alignment between drug providers, healthcare professionals, users, and patients. Regulatory agencies provide clear expectations for drug manufacturing processes, however, guidance supporting post-product manufacturing handling is less defined and often misaligned. This is problematic as the pharmaceutical products experience numerous stresses and processes which can potentially impact drug quality, safety and efficacy. This article aims to stimulate discussion amongst pharmaceutical developers, health care providers, device manufacturers, and public researchers to improve these processes. Patients and caregivers’ awareness can be achieved by providing relevant educational material on pharmaceutical product handling. This project has received funding from the Innovative MedicinesInitiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement N°101007939 (RealHOPE). This Joint Undertaking receives support fromthe European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA.</p