27 research outputs found
Predicting the amount of air traffic demand regulations using machine learning
No full textDemand for air transportation is expected to continue growing. Within Europe one of the biggest impacts of this traffic growth, is an increase of air travel delay. As it happened during the summer of 2018, where demand from aircraft intending to enter an air sector was not complemented with capacity to safely accommodate it. Incentivised by this event, in this article the problem of predicting a class of measures for demand-capacity balancing, known as Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) regulations, is investigated. A Random Forest model was trained on public ATFCM notification messages to predict the amount of ATFCM regulations over different European air sectors for varying prediction horizons. In addition to the predictive model, in this paper a new way to estimate the maximum prediction horizon is proposed. Using the Hurst exponent, the time-scale at which random behaviour is initiated is found. Comparison of the proposed method with the prediction horizon obtained from the largest Lyapunov exponent indicates that the method is a valid technique for estimating the prediction horizon. By extending the prediction horizon of the model, it is found that the proposed method can reasonably estimate the prediction horizon above which prediction accuracy starts to degrade. Aerospace Engineerin
Palladium core superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for imaged – guided thermotherapy: comparison between synthesized and commercial nanoparticles
No full textHeat in thermal therapy can be produced by exposing superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) to alternating magnetic fields in order to treat cancer. In addition, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses SPIONs as T2 contrasts agents for diagnostic purposes. This attribute gives SPIONs potential to be used as theranostic agents in MRI – guided thermotherapy in order to visualize the concentration of the particles within the tumour and monitor the effect of the treatment. The performance of SPIONs as heating and contrast agents is highly dependent on their physical and magnetic properties. In this study, six different samples of palladium core superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Pd – SPIONs), a formulation that has not been found in literature until today, synthesized at the Reactor Institute Delft were provided. The goal of this MSc Thesis was to determine the structural and magnetic particle parameters of Pd - SPIONs that were related with optimal heating and contrast enhancing performance in thermotherapy and MRI, respectively. For this purpose, all samples were fully characterized and their performances as heating and MRI contrast agents were investigated and compared along with commercial nanoparticles. In addition, MRI phantom and CT studies were performed using the commercial nanoparticles in order to determine whether quantification of different concentrations was possible.Biomedical Engineerin
Using a systematic mapping review to examine equine-assisted activities and therapies for people with mental health through an occupational therapy lens
No full text2017 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Equine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) are one type of complementary and/or alternative treatment for persons with mental illness. Various approaches have been used to improve individual's self-esteem, self-efficacy, and overall health (Bizub, Joy, & Davidson, 2003; Burgon, 2003; Klontz, Bivens, Leinart, & Klontz, 2007). However, literature on the psychosocial benefits of EAAT is fragmented and often lacks rigor (Anestis, Anestis, Zawilinski, Hopkins, & Lilienfeld, 2014; Bachi, 2012). Moreover, occupational therapy is underrepresented in the literature despite its roots in mental health. Therefore, this study uses a systematic mapping review to ascertain theories, interventions, and outcomes within literature on EAAT specific to individuals with mental health concerns. Findings from the study were examined through the perspective of a conceptual framework specific to occupational therapy, the Model of Human Occupation, which consists of three subsystems: volition, habituation, and performance capacity. Specifically, this conceptual framework was used to identify how occupational therapy may address occupational performance deficits with horses and the equine environment. Current theories, interventions, and outcomes within the literature suggest horses and the equine environment may be used to improve aspects of volition, such as self-efficacy and self-esteem, habituation, and performance capacity. Occupational therapy using horses and the equine environment may be particularly well-suited for adolescents who have eating disorder or who have experienced abuse considering the high frequency at which this population is studied. In conclusion, there is great potential for occupational therapy to develop unique interventions that focus on occupational performance deficits using the equine environment
Bellway Homes "The Future Home" Baseline Performance Report
No full textThis report examines the fabric thermal performance of a prototype home (The Future Home, or TFH) built by Bellway Homes. The home was designed and built to meet the anticipated Future Homes Standard in terms of fabric performance. The research was carried out under controlled conditions at the Energy House 2.0 facility at the University of Salford (UK). The aim of the research was to characterise the building and identify any gaps between the design values and the actual performance.The researchers examined the whole house heat loss, measured U-values, and the airtightness characteristics of the home. The overall fabric heat loss of TFH was 7.7% worse than the SAP design model predicted, a significant contribution to this underperformance was the measured air permeability of TFH, which was found to be worse 61% than the design. However when this whole house heat loss is compared to other studies on new build homes then this is considered to be well performing
Saint Gobain & Barratt Developments “eHome2” Baseline Performance Report
No full textThis report examines the fabric thermal performance of a prototype home (eHome2) built through a partnership with Saint Gobain and Barratt homes. The home was designed and built to meet the anticipated Future Homes Standard in terms of fabric performance. The research was carried out under controlled conditions at the Energy House 2.0 facility at the University of Salford (UK). The aim of the research was to characterise the building and identify any gaps between the design values and the actual performance.The researchers examined the whole house heat loss, measured U-values, and the airtightness characteristics of the home. The overall fabric heat loss of eHome2 was 3.9% worse than the SAP design model predicted, the majority of the 3.9% difference was due to the plane element heat loss, such as walls, roofs, doors, and windows, being greater than the design value. The measured air permeability of eHome2, was found to be better than the design, with an over-performance of 6.3%. When this whole house heat loss is compared to other studies on new build homes then this is considered to be well performing
Energy House 2.0 Study on Future Homes Standard Heating Systems
No full textThis research provides information on the performance on a large collection of different heating systems present in the Future Homes test houses at the Energy House 2.0 facility at the University of Salford. These houses were built by Bellway Homes and a partnership between Saint Gobain and Barratt developments. The report follows up on a report published in 2023 on the fabric performance of both of these homes. The systems were selected, designed and installed by the housebuilders and their partners. The research team had no input on the design of these systems and were focussed only on the measurement of the performance of these systems, which number 28 in total, and covered a range of technologies including, infrared heat panels and air source heat pumps (floor mounted and roof mounted) different heat emitter technologies were also tested including underfloor heating, skirting board heating and radiators.All methods of heating the home were measured in the same chamber conditions reflecting typical (5 °C) and more extreme (-5 °C) winter temperatures found in the UK. This allows for a comparison between these technologies that up to this moment has not been possible and represents unique research
A vine-based approach for defining critical infrastructure loads: Designing a breakwater in Galveston Bay, Texas
No full textThe design of offshore and coastal infrastructures, sand nourishment and other ’soft’ coastal interventions require the analysis of environmental variables (e.g. wind, waves, rainfall) that can potentially cause the failure of such structures. Processes such as overtopping, beach erosion, and coastal flooding can result from a combined action of two or more physical processes. Traditional infrastructure design practices assume the highest load previously experienced as the design load, regardless of possible interactions between variables (or processes). This may lead to a misrepresentation of critical design loads. This thesis presents a methodology for defining infrastructure design loads accounting for their interdependence. The methodology is general and is based on regular vines. Vines are graphical tools for defining high dimensional distribution functions through pair-copula construction. With this premise in mind, the main effort was concentrated in formulating a series of steps to integrate several stages of the design: from the processing of raw data up to the choice of design loads for any specific design purpose. The vine-based methodology was applied to the design of a breakwater in Galveston Bay, Texas. This application showed that accounting for the interdependence between design variables provides a more comprehensive description of the physical system acting on the infrastructure. However, the vine-based method is computationally demanding. Hence, the applicability of this methodology should be evaluated on a case by case basis. In parallel, the possibility to define goodness of fit test for vine-copula based on the concept of tree-equivalent classes is explored. The focus is on model selection strategies based on graphical and statistical properties of the vines. The main motivation to investigate model selection strategies for vines is the considerably large computational time needed to fit all regular vines in more than 6 nodes to the data. In this thesis, a novel algorithm is developed to facilitate the implementation of vines in higher dimensions (vines with more than 6 nodes). This algorithm significantly reduces the computational effort to select a regular vine by allowing the user to test only a subgroup of vines in n-nodes constructed on specific characteristics of the vines in (n-1)-nodes.Civil Engineering | Hydraulic Engineerin
Application of voltage oriented control technique in a fully renewable, wind powered, autonomous system with storage capabilities
No full textComparison study of the technical characteristics and financial analysis of electric battery storage systems for residential grid
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