Application of multi-criteria decision-making to risk prioritisation in tidal energy developments

This paper presents an analytical multi-criterion analysis for the prioritisation of risks for the development of tidal energy projects. After a basic identification of risks throughout the project and relevant stakeholders in the UK, classified through a political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental analysis, relevant questionnaires provided scores to each risk and corresponding weights for each of the different sectors. Employing an extended technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution as well as the weighted sum method based on the data obtained, the risks identified are ranked based on their criticality, drawing attention of the industry in mitigating the ones scoring higher. Both methods were modified to take averages at different stages of the analysis in order to observe the effects on the final risk ranking. A sensitivity analysis of the results was also carried out with regard to the weighting factors given to the perceived expertise of participants, with different results being obtained whether a linear, squared or square root regression is used. Results of the study show that academics and industry have conflicting opinions with regard to the perception of the most critical risks.     

Ammonia as hydrogen carrier for transportation; investigation of the ammonia exhaust gas fuel reforming

In this paper we show, for the first time, the feasibility of ammonia exhaust gas reforming as a strategy for hydrogen production used in transportation. The application of the reforming process and the impact of the product on diesel combustion and emissions were evaluated. The research was started with an initial study of ammonia autothermal reforming (NH₃ – ATR) that combined selective oxidation of ammonia (into nitrogen and water) and ammonia thermal decomposition over a ruthenium catalyst using air as the oxygen source. The air was later replaced by real diesel engine exhaust gas to provide the oxygen needed for the exothermic reactions to raise the temperature and promote the NH₃ decomposition. The main parameters varied in the reforming experiments are O₂/NH₃ ratios, NH₃ concentration in feed gas and gas – hourly – space – velocity (GHSV). The O₂/NH₃ ratio and NH₃ concentration were the key factors that dominated both the hydrogen production and the reforming process efficiencies: by applying an O₂/NH₃ ratio ranged from 0.04 to 0.175, 2.5–3.2 l/min of gaseous H₂ production was achieved using a fixed NH₃ feed flow of 3 l/min. The reforming reactor products at different concentrations (H₂ and unconverted NH₃) were then added into a diesel engine intake. The addition of considerably small amount of carbon – free reformate, i.e. represented by 5% of primary diesel replacement, reduced quite effectively the engine carbon emissions including CO₂, CO and total hydrocarbons.     

Direct strain tensor approximation for full‐field strain measurement methods

Full‐field strain measurement techniques are based on computing the spatial derivatives of numerical or functional approximations of the underlying displacement fields extracted from digital imaging methods. These methods implicitly assume that the medium satisfies the strain compatibility conditions, which are only true in the case of a continuum body that remains continuum throughout its deformation history. In the present work, we introduce a method that can be used to calculate the strain components directly from typical digital imaging data, without the need of the continuum hypothesis and the need for displacement field differentiation. Thus, it enables the measurement of strain fields from imaged surfaces that may or may not contain discontinuities. Numerical comparisons are performed on the basis synthetic data produced from an analytical solution for an elastically orthotropic open‐hole domain in tension. For performance comparison purposes, the mean absolute error distributions are calculated for the cases of both the traditional meshless random grid method, and the direct strain method introduced herein. It is established that the more refined representation of strain provided by our present approach is more accurate everywhere in the domain, but most importantly, near its boundaries. Published 2013. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Two‐dimensional model of methane thermal decomposition reactors with radiative heat transfer and carbon particle growth

A two‐dimensional model of methane thermal decomposition reactors is developed which accounts for coupled radiative heat and polydisperse carbon particle nucleation, growth, and transport. The model uses the Navier–Stokes equations for the fluid dynamics, the radiative transfer equation for methane and particle species radiation absorption, the advection–diffusion equation for gas and particle species transport, and a sectional method for particle species nucleation, heterogenous growth, and coagulation. The model is applied to a tubular laminar flow reactor. The simulation results indicate the development of a reaction boundary layer inside the reactor, which results in significant variation of the local particle size distribution across the reactor. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 2545–2556, 2012     

Identification of lactic acid bacteria isolated from poultry carcasses by high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a complex group of Gram-positive bacteria belonging to different genera with common morphological, metabolic and physiological characteristics. Their classification was initially based on biochemical methods, but nowadays molecular methods are usually applied for the identification of LAB. Herein, real-time PCR assay coupled with high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis was developed for identifying and distinguishing LAB isolates coming from poultry carcasses. The 16S rRNA gene from these isolates was amplified using primers that annealed to conserved regions. The melting curve analysis of the amplicons classified all isolates into ten LAB species and generated ten distinct HRM curve profiles. The results from HRM analysis were compared to those produced by API 50 CH biochemical microkits and ribosomal DNA sequencing, suggesting the superiority of HRM against API. In conclusion, HRM was proven to be a fast, reliable and cost-effective method for identification of LAB isolates. HRM analysis could be used in order to reduce the time needed for the identification assay and the cost of sequencing the entire group of LAB isolates. The melting profile of known LAB species could be used as a reference for the rapid identification of unknown LAB isolates without the need of sequencing.     

Free and immobilized Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 on whey protein as starter cultures for probiotic Feta-type cheese production

The use of free and immobilized Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 on whey protein as starter culture in probiotic Feta-type cheese production was evaluated. The probiotic cultures resulted in significantly higher acidity; lower pH; reduced counts of coliforms, enterobacteria, and staphylococci; and improved quality characteristics compared with cheese with no culture. Microbiological and strain-specific multiplex PCR analysis showed that both free and immobilized L. casei ATCC 393 were detected in the novel products at levels required for conferring a probiotic effect at the end of the ripening. The effect of starter culture on production of volatile compounds was investigated by the solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis technique. The immobilized cells resulted in an improved profile of aroma-related compounds and the overall high quality of the novel products was ascertained by the preliminary sensory test. Finally, the high added value produced by exploitation of whey, which is an extremely polluting industrial waste, was highlighted and assessed.     

A 1 V CMOS programmable accurate charge pump with wide output voltage range

A 1 V, programmable, accurate, high speed, single-ended charge pump is proposed, suitable for low voltage PLLs. It is designed in TSMC 90-nm digital CMOS process and it consists of four switches in a current steering configuration, a unity gain rail to rail buffer for the charge sharing effect elimination, one more rail to rail amplifier for minimizing the DC current mismatch, a programmable current bias circuitry and two drivers based on the standard cell XOR gates specific configuration for achieving good synchronization between all charge pump input pulses at the PLL lock state. Replica biasing technique is applied to all charge pump switches. Current glitches and charge mismatch are suppressed by employing a mechanism with additional switches at the output. It exhibits a maximum DC current mismatch of 1% and charge mismatch of 6% over a wide output voltage range of 0.7 V for the entire range of output currents. The wide range of the output voltage remains relatively constant and independent of the selected charge pump current amplitude. This is attained by applying appropriate variation of the W/L ratios of the bias cascode current sources via the employment of additional programmable switches such that their saturation voltages remain relatively constant, something which in turn enables the output currents range to be as wide as it is required.     

The tocopherol content of greek olive oils

Four types of Greek olive oil were analysed for α-and γ-tocopherols by high performance liquid chromatography. Certain seed oils widely consumed in Greece were also analysed for comparison with the olive oils. Virgin, pure, residual and refined oils contained an average of 113,81,156 and 37 mg kg^?1 of α-tocopherol, respectively. The α-tocopherol level within each type of olive oil appeared to be influenced by different factors. The content of y-tocopherol averaged 17 and 33 mg kg^?1of virgin and residual oil, respectively. Refined and pure olive oil contained very low levels of y-tocopherol. The α-tocopherol equivalent per gram of polyunsaturated fatty acids was calculated to be 1·48, 0·60, 0·88, 1·07 and 0·58 for edible olive oils, corn, cottonseed, sunflower and partially hydrogenated soya bean oil, respectively.     

Combinatorial Treatment of Tinzaparin and Chemotherapy Can Induce a Significant Antitumor Effect in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer (PC) is recognized as a highly thrombogenic tumor; thus, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) such as tinzaparin is routinely used for PC patients. On the basis of combinatorial therapy approaches to treat highly malignant and refractory cancers such as PC, we hypothesized that tinzaparin can augment the effectiveness of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs and induce efficient antitumor activity. PANC-1 and MIAPaCa-2 were incubated alone or in combination with tinzaparin, nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine. In vivo evaluation of these compounds was performed in a NOD/SCID mouse using a model injected with PANC-1. Tinzaparin enhances the anti-tumor effects of nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in mtKRAS PC cell lines via apoptosis in in vitro experiments. The triple combination power acts through the induction of apoptosis, reduction of the proliferative potential and angiogenesis; hence, contributing to a decrease in tumor volume observed in vivo. The triple regimen provided an extra 24.3% tumor reduction compared to the double combination (gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel). Combinatorial strategies can create novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of patients with PC, achieving a better clinical outcome and prolonged survival. Further prospective randomized research is needed and the investigation of various concentrations of tinzaparin above 150 UI/Kg, would potentially provide a valuable synergistic effect to the conventional therapeutic compounds.