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Modified Flower Pollination Algorithm for Energy Forecasting and Demand Management Coupled with Improved Battery Life for Smart Building Micro-Grid
Full text linkThis paper presents the Modified Flower Pollination Algorithm-based Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MFPA-MLPNN) as an optimization technique for efficient power flow management in a Smart Building Microgrid (SBMG) integrated with solar and wind generation, and Electric Vehicle Batteries (EVBs) within grid connected structure while concurrently reducing optimization processing time. To achieve both technical and economic superiority, two optimization objectives are addressed. Firstly, a Demand Response (DR) framework is harnessed to accommodate the stochastic behavior and forecasting errors associated with intermittent sources. Secondly, the degradation of EVBs is considered, ensuring an economically viable power flow proposed strategy for both EV owners and microgrid (MG) authorities. Power generation of Variable Renewable Energy Sources (VRES) has been forecasted using MLPNN. Battery degradation and system stability under the action of the proposed topology have been evaluated using a simulation-based environment. Results show a significant decrease in battery degradation and processing time using the proposed MFPA-MLPNN optimization architectur
A close-packed sphere model for characterising porous networks in atomistic simulations and its application in energy storage and conversion
Full text linkHierarchical (micro, meso & macro) porosity in materials plays a crucial role in influencing the movement of ions which governs the energy and power density during energy storage and conversion. The extant available methods to characterise porosity across scales (nano to meso to macro) lacks rigour and accuracy. Having accurate assessment of the porosity in materials can unlock new designs of electrodes for energy efficient energy storage and conversion devices such as batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells. Through this work, we report the systematic development of a method to fully characterise the carbon porous networks using a molecular dynamics simulation testbed. Our work entails modelling and simulation of porous carbon structures using quenched molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations using Gaussian Approximation potential (GAP) and benchmarking the results with prior literature. This modelling technique can reliably be used for quantitative characterisation of the interconnectivity in porous structures to study ionic movements and charge transfer mechanisms. A new parameter, namely nearest neighbour search (NNS) coefficient was introduced to quantify homogeneity and networking in the porous structures. NNS coefficient increased from 1.62 to 1.92 with decrease of the annealing temperature from 8000 K to 4000 K in carbon. The procedure outlined was although tested on porous carbon networks, but adaptable to study any other material system at multi-length scales
Complex Relationships: Marriage and Relationship Status, Procreation and Criminal Law
Full text linkThis chapter explores the relationship between marital law, on the one hand, and criminal law, in particular criminal offences relating to deception and sexual activity, on the other. Focusing primarily on England and Wales, it discusses several notable criminal cases of recent years – including McNally and Lawrance – highlighting the ongoing role of procreation in criminal law and what this may indicate about aspects of marital law. Before concluding, it goes on to suggest that analysis of sexual hierarchies and a procreative ideal in criminal law may inform further reflection on contemporary marital law issues, particularly in relation to ongoing debate over the availability of same-sex marriage within the Church of England
Climate Litigation Unleashed: Catalysing Action against States and Corporations
Full text linkThis report follows the discussions at the one-day workshop ‘Climate Litigation Unleashed: Catalysing Action against States and Corporations’ held on 22 November 2023 at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights in Oxford
The Impact of Postures and Moving Directions in Fire Evacuation in a Low-Visibility Environment
Full text linkWalking speed is a significant aspect of evacuation efficiency, and this speed varies during fire emergencies due to individual physical abilities. However, in evacuations, it is not always possible to keep an upright posture, hence atypical postures, such as stoop walking or crawling, may be required for survival. In this study, a novel 3D passive vision-aided inertial system (3D PVINS) for indoor positioning was used to track the movement of 20 volunteers during an evacuation in a low visibility environment. Participants’ walking speeds using trunk flexion, trunk–knee flexion, and upright postures were measured. The investigations were carried out under emergency and non-emergency scenarios in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. Results show that different moving directions led to a roughly 43.90% speed reduction, while posture accounted for over 17%. Gender, one of the key categories in evacuation models, accounted for less than 10% of the differences in speed. The speeds of participants under emergency scenarios when compared to non-emergency scenarios was also found to increase by 53.92–60% when moving in the horizontal direction, and by about 48.28–50% when moving in the vertical direction and descending downstairs. Our results also support the social force theory of the warming-up period, as well as the effect of panic on the facilitating occupants’ moving speed
SRNT Europe Debate: The use of nicotine oral products in adults may be a rationale behaviour
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Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater: Preserving children’s undergraduate nurse education in the move towards genericism in nursing
Full text linkVortioxetine
Full text linkIn this column, Sharon Rees aims to refresh knowledge and interest in some of the commonly used drugs in a series of posts on X. This month she is talking about #vortioxetin
Autism and anaesthesia: a simple framework for everyday practice
Full text linkKey points:
At least 1–2% of people are autistic. Most are adults without intellectual disability. Many are unrecognised.
Autistic people are more likely to have co-occurring medical conditions; they experience well-described barriers to healthcare, adverse health outcomes and premature mortality.
Illness or injury may present atypically and delayed presentation is common.
Person-centred adaptations improve the experience of perioperative care.
“Autistic SPACE” offers a framework for meeting the needs of autistic patients: Sensory needs, Predictability, Acceptance, Communication, Empathy
Impact of Speckle Deformability on Digital Imaging Correlation
Full text linkDigital Image Correlation (DIC) has been widely used as a non-contact deformation measurement technique. Nevertheless, its accuracy is greatly affected by the speckle pattern on the specimen. To systematically evaluate how speckle deformability affects the precision of DIC algorithms. In this study, a test dataset of 2D speckle patterns with various prescribed deformation fields was numerically generated, containing two categories of speckles, i.e., the deformable and the non-deformable (rigid) ones. This dataset
was used to evaluate the performance of inverse compositional Gauss-Newton (ICGN)-based DIC algorithms with two types of shape function (first-order and second-order), in the different scenarios of the deformation field. The results showed that imaging noise had a significant influence on the DIC algorithm. The first-order shape function (ICGN-1) performed better when tracking the simple linear deformation field. While the second-order shape function (ICGN-2) was proved to perform better on non-linear deformations. Moreover, the deformability of the speckle was found to have an obvious impact on the performance of the DIC algorithm. ICGN-2 could effectively reduce so-called speckle rigidity induced (SRI) error. Conclusively, ICGN-2 should be chosen as priority, because of its feasibility on non-linear deformation fields and speckle rigidity. While in the linear deformation scenarios, ICGN-1 was still a robust and efficient method