6,970 research outputs found
On the ground thermal conductivity estimation with coaxial borehole heat exchangers according to different undisturbed ground temperature profiles
No full textThis paper concerns the modeling of vertical coaxial heat exchangers for Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) applications. Vertical coaxial borehole heat exchangers (CBHEs) can be buried at depths which are even higher than the conventional ones. In this case they are referred as Deep Borehole Heat Exchangers (DBHEs). As it is known, there is indeed a strong recent tendency, especially in the Scandinavian regions, to use high depth (500–1000 m) underground heat exchangers for the GSHP applications. This study is aimed at the analysis of the BHE behaviour in the early period, say for Fourier numbers typical of the Thermal Response Test (TRT) measurements. The novelty of the present numerical results is related to the applicability of standard TRT methods when referred to DBHEs and different geothermal gradients can be found. To this aim a Fortran code has been developed for describing a 2D transient conduction and convection problem able to provide the fluid and ground temperature evolution as a function of a series of boundary conditions, including the initial and far field ground temperature distribution along the depth. The application of the present model is related to coaxial BHEs for the assessment of the effects of the undisturbed ground temperature profile and the direction of the carrier fluid on the ground thermal conductivity estimation in TRT experiments. It is here demonstrated that different BHE depths (ranging from 150 to 800 m) and different undisturbed temperature profiles (including zero and positive geothermal gradients) can severely affect the TRT ground conductivity estimation (errors up to 25%) if the flow direction is based on the annular pipe or the central pipe inlets
Suggestioni dal confronto con la regione urbana milanese
No full textRivista mensile monografica Anno XIII - supplemento al n°224 di Urbanistica Informazioni
Modelli di sviluppo di aree urbane di piccole dimensioni - Atti dei seminari della Scuola Estiva UNICAL 2008 a cura di M. Francin
Vision, Image and Symbol
No full textDuring the Fifties and the Early Sixties Hans Jonas developed a theory of man based on a series of concepts as separation of form from matter, image and symbol. By reflecting on these themes, Jonas seems to refer to the aesthetic abilities man embodies as the essence of human life. In this article I try to analyse Jonas’ thoughts on man and to determine to what extent it is possible to consider his theory as an aesthetic anthropology. Eventually, I discuss what Aesthetics may win by directing its attention to this author.</p
The anatomy of interatrial communications - what does the interventionist need to know?
No full textIncreasingly, the interventional cardiologist is seeking to close interatrial communications by inserting devices by means of catheterisation. So as to optimise these procedures, it is adavantageous to have a firm grasp of the anatomy of the normal atrial septal structures, this then providing the basis to understand the morphology of the holes which can exist between the chambers, not all of which are true septal defects.A true septal structure can be removed without exiting from the cavities of the heart. It is the flap valve of the oval fossa, along with the anterior rim of the fossa, which fulfill this criterion. The remainder of the extensive rim of the normal fossa is no more than an infolding between the walls of the right and left atriums and their venous tributaries, and has different dimensions at various points around the ircumference. The so-called muscular atrioventricular “septum” is a sandwich incorporating a layer of epicardial fibro-adipose tissue. True defects of the atrial septum, therefore, exist because of deficiency, perforation, or absence of the flap valve. Most of these defects will prove suitable for interventional closure, but potential caveats include multiple defects, aneurysm of the flap valve, or adjacency of the fossa to the venous orifices. The other interatrial communications, namely the sinus venosus, coronary sinus, and “ostium primum” defects are outside the confines of the oval fossa. Recognition of this feature is the key to their diagnosis, and their ifferentiation from true atrial septal defects. Of these defects, only the coronary sinus defect is likely to be suitable for device closure, and then only in the very rare circumstances when it is seen in isolatio
Etica funzionale. Considerazioni filosofiche sulla teoria dell’agire morale artificiale
No full textThe purpose of Machine Ethics is to develop autonomous technologies that are able to manage not just the technical aspects of a tasks, but also the ethical ones. As a consequence, the notion of Artificial Moral Agent (AMA) has become a fundamental element of the discussion. Its meaning, however, remains rather unclear. Depending on the author or the context, the same expression stands for essentially different concepts. This casts a suspicious light on the philosophical significance of Machine Ethics. In particular, the risk arises of discarding Machine Ethics as a whole on the basis of accusations that, however, apply exclusively to one specific understanding of what AMAs are – but not to other, more adequate and convincing conceptualisations. To avoid this pitfall, this essay tries to elaborate a philosophically sound interpretation of AMAs and to sketch its primary component, i.e., the notion of functional ethics
Chapter 13: Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring in posterior fossa surgery
No full textSurgical treatment of pediatric posterior fossa tumors has undergone many changes in the past century. The advent of operative magnification and ultrasonic surgical aspirator coupled with the introduction and refinement of MRI technology and with the advances in neuroanesthesia and neurointensive care has facilitated the resection of these tumors
Autonomy and Automation: The Case of Connected and Automated Vehicles
No full textThis short paper offers a preliminary inquiry into the impacts of driving automation on personal autonomy. Personal autonomy is a key ethical value in western culture, and one that buttresses fundamental components of the moral life such as the exercise of responsible behaviour and the full enjoyment of human dignity. Driving automation simultaneously enhances and constrains it in significant ways. Hence, its moral profile with reference to the value of personal autonomy is uncertain. Ethical analysis shows that such uncertainty is due not just to the complexity of the technology, but also to the multifaceted normative profile of personal autonomy, which offers reasons to support both conditional and full driving automation. The paper sheds light on this duplicity, underlines the challenges this poses to the ethics of driving automation, and advocates for further research aimed at providing practitioners with more fine-grained guidelines on such a delicate issue
Legal Fictions and the Essence of Robots: Thoughts on Essentialism and Pragmatism in the Regulation of Robotics
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to offer some critical remarks on the so-called pragmatist approach to the regulation of robotics. To this end, the article mainly reviews the work of Jack Balkin and Joanna Bryson, who have taken up such ap- proach with interestingly similar outcomes. Moreover, special attention will be paid to the discussion concerning the legal fiction of ‘electronic personality’. This will help shed light on the opposition between essentialist and pragmatist methodologies. After a brief introduction (1.), in 2. I introduce the main points of the methodological debate which opposes pragmatism and essentialism in the regulation of robotics and I examine how legal fictions are framed from a pragmatist, functional perspective. Since this approach entails a neat separation of ontological analysis and legal rea- soning, in 3. I discuss whether considerations on robots’ essence are actually put into brackets when the pragmatist approach is endorsed. Finally, in 4. I address the problem of the social valence of legal fictions in order to suggest a possible limit of the pragmatist approach. My conclusion (5.) is that in the specific case of regulating robotics it may be very difficult to separate ontological considerations from legal reasoning—and vice versa—both on an epistemological and social level. This calls for great caution in the recourse to anthropomorphic legal fictions
Agenti morali artificiali: un errore categoriale? Note sul gioco linguistico dell'estensione semantica
No full textEficiência do lodo de fossa asséptica, na compostagem de resíduos de fumo
No full textProjeto acadêmico (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Curitibanos. Ciências Rurais.O lodo de fossa séptica é o subproduto principal do tratamento de esgoto, apresenta muitos problemas relacionados ao seu descarte ao meio ambiente. Apresentando esse contesto, objetivou-se nesse estudo, apresentar uma forma eficaz, no quesito de descarte de lodo de fossa séptica (LFS) através de compostagem do mesmo e resíduos sólidos de fumo (RSF) e determinar a importância da temperatura, umidade para o processo de sanitização, controle do pH e as relações ecológicas presentes nos reatores. Primeiramente, será trabalhado a fase termófila da compostagem através da secagem do lodo. O experimento com processo aeróbico. Será consistido de dezoito reatores aeróbios com 100 litros de capacidade. Delineamento será o inteiramente casualizado com seis tratamentos e três repetições. Nos tratamentos dos resíduos serão utilizados nas seguintes proporções: - T1: 100% RSF; T2: 10% LFS + 90% RSF; T3: 20% LFS + 80% RSF; T4: 30% LFS + 70% RSF; T5: 40% LFS + 60% RSF; T6: 50% LFS + 50% RSF. Após o processo de compostagem realizar-se-á os testes biológicos com minhocas (Eisenia andrei), e o teste toxicológicos com Colêmbolos (Folsomia candida)) e a avaliação dos efeitos para as plantas. Será testado no cultivo de duas espécies de hortaliças (alface e rabanete). Os resultados esperado para essa compostagem será. 1) Ser livre de ovos viáveis de helmintos; 2) Compostagem madura (em um tempo limitado); 3) Apresentar-se livre de toxicidade; 4) Boa qualidade sem excesso de qualquer gênero de nutrientes; 5) Formação do composto devesse se apto para a produção de diversas hortaliças. Sendo fundamentais para tal, a temperatura, o pH e as relações ecológicas presentes nos reatores
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