80 research outputs found
Bayesian statistics-based procedure for sampling of contaminated sites
No full textA variable density sampling pattern based on Bayesian statistics is presented and compared to a uniform density statistical pattern and a judgmental approach in a real case study. The Bayesian statistics, supported by a software tool, supplied a soil sampling plan similar to the judgmental one, especially for the number of sampling points and their location. It allowed statistical goals to be set and expert judgment to be included in the sampling strategy in a transparent and systematic procedure. For these reasons, it appears quite suitable for inclusion into Quality Assurance Quality Control plans
Generic and site‐specific criteria in assessment of human health risk from contaminated soil
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Quantification of thermal resilience in buildings: Evaluation of Building Envelope Performance and Operational Parameters
No full textClimate change and extreme heat are critical issues which have been faced all over the world. Consequently, designers strive to monitor and assess the performance of facades by developing environmental assessments at the early design stages, since design changes do not require many resources. Rapid urban expansion in many parts of the world is leading to increased exposure to extreme natural hazards, exacerbated by climate change. It is essential to come up with strategies for mitigating the vulnerability of the built environment. The concept of thermal resilience and adaptation to climate change have gained ground and international attention in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Resilience is a multi-facet property which defines the vulnerability of the built environment. Although the qualitative assessment of resilience value, the quantification of urban resilience is not yet representative enough and there is a lack of calculating the resilience in the built environment. However, designers are called to develop building and planning proposals with taking into consideration the thermal resilience of buildings against extreme hazards. This thesis aims to fill the gap between the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of thermal resilience in buildings by considering the operational building performance and the thermal performance of the building envelope in case of extreme heat waves. Towards this direction, the most influential parameters of thermal resilience are identified by implementing a sensitivity analysis process, in the first part. Secondly, a quantification method is presented and the thermal resilience performance for buildings in Amsterdam is calculated. Last, this thesis attempts to develop a computational workflow in order to assist designers and engineers in defining the thermal resilience index from the early design stage. Defining a less computational cost and time-consuming workflow is also a goal. Due to time limitations, the multi-facet aspect of resilience and the difficulty of quantification of its indicators, this research focuses on the ex-ante evaluation of the building envelope by identifying its vulnerability to extreme heat waves.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Borders and Territorie
3D Transesophageal echocardiography using a fast-rotating transducer
No full textEchocardiography is a diagnostic modality which is widely used in cardiology, using ultrasound to image the living heart and assess its physiological function. Three-dimensional echocardiography surpasses the visual limitations of conventional echocar-diography, offering a three-dimensional perspective of the heart. Traditional techniques for acquiring three-dimensional echocardiographic images have been successfully applied to the transesophageal approach to echocardiography. The important clinical contribution of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D TEE), as well as the unique diagnostic opportunities it offers, have been acknowledged. However, the applied tech-niques are based on a slow procedure, cumbersome for the patient and present certain pit-falls. Recent technological advancements have allowed more flexible approaches to 3D TEE. Such approaches are, nonetheless, based on an expensive solution with inherent limitations, available only with specialized, high-end imaging systems. The present thesis is a description of the authors work on the realization of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography using a TEE probe with a fast-rotating transducer array. It describes the entire endeavor of visualizing the heart and its inherent structures in three dimensions by implementing a novel approach in transesophageal echocardiographic imaging. The approach itself and subsequent research to implement and optimize it are portrayed. The authors work was carried out in its entirety at the Biomedical Engineering department of the Thoraxcenter, Erasmus Medical Center, Rot-terdam, the Netherlands, within the Experimental Echocardiography group (ExpEcho) in close cooperation with Oldelft Ultrasound B.V (Oldelft), Delft, the Netherlands. The organizational structure of the thesis attempts to introduce the reader to back-ground knowledge necessary for understanding the subject, present the technical aspects involved and discuss the results and conclusions of the work. The first chapter establishes the background for concepts and terminology related to the thesis subject. In the second chapter, the details on resources and devices used are illustrated, connecting them with the work involved. Further, the design concepts are justified according to specific re-quirements of the approach. Chapters 3 and 4 describe the associated experimental work. The outcome of that work and its implications about the success of the initial concept are portrayed. The images in these two chapters which correspond to avi-files located in the accompanying CD-ROM are marked with the tag Video available. Finally, chapter 5 sum-marizes the results of the work, presenting certain conclusions extracted from that work. Suggestions regarding the future direction of research on the topic are provided.Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Assessing exposure to pedogenic arsenic contamination at a dwelling in Northamptonshire, UK: a case study
No full textValidating the Simulated Impacts of Urban Freight Transport
No full textThis paper provides a comprehensive guide for assessing the impacts of an urban freight transport system through traffic simulation software. Based on a calibrated and validated city wide urban traffic model that integrates the freight trips of six freight vehicles in the examined day, aim of the paper is to establish an impact assessment framework that evaluates model’s environmental and transport impacts. The analysis of the freight trips showed that they account for 22009.2 g of CO2 emissions and 84.17 h of total network delays on a daily basis. Other impact assessment indicators’ values such as average vehicle speed, first attempt successful deliveries, freight vehicles’ number of roundtrips, load factor, utilization factor, emissions, traffic throughput, etc. were also computed. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Investigating the Travel Information-Seeking Behavior for Daily Trips in a Greek Medium Sized City
No full textThe deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have created new options for travel information seeking. Dissemination of travel information to travelers could have immediate benefits such as reduction of travelers’ uncertainty, congestion alleviation, reduction of travel time and cost. However, daily trips in a medium sized city are often based on habitual patterns and not on received travel information. By addressing the factors that urge the users to access travel information in a medium sized city, an information provision strategy could be developed, to serve the needs of the commuters and improve the daily traffic situation. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect the travel information seeking in the urban environment of Volos city, in Greece. A digital questionnaire was formulated to investigate the seeking of travel information for daily trips and its impact on commuters’ mobility and travel choices. The final sample size comprised 108 users. The analysis of the data was done through descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that online sources of travel information are more preferable by the respondents. Moreover, information about traffic congestion or rerouting is often used by non-sustainable mode users, while sustainable mode users are more interested in information about public transport itineraries. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
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