Operationalizing sustainability in urban coastal systems: A system dynamics analysis

We propose a system dynamics approach for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) in urban coastal systems. A systematic analysis based on theoretical considerations, policy analysis and experts' knowledge is followed in order to define the concept of ESD. The principles underlying ESD feed the development of a System Dynamics Model (SDM) that connects the pollutant loads produced by urban systems' socioeconomic activities with the ecological condition of the coastal ecosystem that it is delineated in operational terms through key biological elements defined by the EU Water Framework Directive. The receiving waters of the Athens Metropolitan area, which bears the elements of typical high population density Mediterranean coastal city but which currently has also new dynamics induced by the ongoing financial crisis, are used as an experimental system for testing a system dynamics approach to apply the concept of ESD. Systems' thinking is employed to represent the complex relationships among the components of the system. Interconnections and dependencies that determine the potentials for achieving ESD are revealed. The proposed system dynamics analysis can facilitate decision makers to define paths of development that comply with the principles of ESD.     

Structural analysis and design against failure of fusion power plant components with special reference to pulsed operation

This study presents the theory of structural analysis and design code rules and constraints as applied to predict lifetime and prevent failure of components and is tailored to deal with the specific design requirements of fusion components. Example calculations are performed for a proposed ITER-like first wall using finite element analysis codes and an assessment of the structural behaviour is also included. The results of the calculations are used to arrive at a proposed design methodology, which accounts for the structural mechanisms likely to occur when operating a tokamak in pulsed mode, as proposed for ITER.     

Can the crowd tell how I feel? Trait empathy and ethnic background in a visual pain judgment task

Many advocate for artificial agents to be empathic. Crowdsourcing could help, by facilitating human-in-the-loop approaches and data set creation for visual emotion recognition algorithms. Although crowdsourcing has been employed successfully for a range of tasks, it is not clear how effective crowdsourcing is when the task involves subjective rating of emotions. We examined relationships between demographics, empathy, and ethnic identity in pain emotion recognition tasks. Amazon MTurkers viewed images of strangers in painful settings, and tagged subjects’ emotions. They rated their level of pain arousal and confidence in their responses, and completed tests to gauge trait empathy and ethnic identity. We found that Caucasian participants were less confident than others, even when viewing other Caucasians in pain. Gender correlated to word choices for describing images, though not to pain arousal or confidence. The results underscore the need for verified information on crowdworkers, to harness diversity effectively for metadata generation tasks.     

Hyperplane Grouping and Pipelined Schedules: How to Execute Tiled Loops Fast on Clusters of SMPs

This paper proposes a novel approach for the parallel execution of tiled Iteration Spaces onto a cluster of SMP PC nodes. Each SMP node has multiple CPUs and a single memory mapped PCI-SCI Network Interface Card. We apply a hyperplane-based grouping transformation to the tiled space, so as to group together independent neighboring tiles and assign them to the same SMP node. In this way, intranode (intragroup) communication is annihilated. Groups are atomically executed inside each node. Nodes exchange data between successive group computations. We schedule groups much more efficiently by exploiting the inherent overlapping between communication and computation phases among successive atomic group executions. The applied non-blocking schedule resembles a pipelined datapath, where group computation phases are overlapped with communication ones, instead of being interleaved with them. Our experimental results illustrate that the proposed method outperforms previous approaches involving blocking communication or conventional grouping schemes.     

Performance of growing–fattening lambs fed whole cotton seed

Effects of diets containing increasing levels of whole cotton seed (WCS) on feed intake, liveweight gain, feed conversion, feeding margin and carcass characteristics were studied. Diets contained 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30% WCS and were fed ad libitum to growing lambs for 54 days. All diets were approximately isonitrogenous (163–186 g crude protein kg⁻¹ dry matter) and isocaloric (19–20 MJ gross energy kg⁻¹ of dry matter). During the first 28 days, four groups of 10 Karagouniko male lambs with initial liveweights of approximately 17·6 kg were fed diets containing 0, 5, 10 and 15% WCS and then, for the next 26 days, diets containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% WCS, respectively. Lambs fed the 15–30% WCS diet ingested about 20 mg kg liveweight⁻¹ day⁻¹ of free gossypol. At 54 days and liveweights of approximately 34·7 kg, five lambs from each treatment were slaughtered and carcass data were collected. There were significant differences in feed intake, liveweight gain, cooler shrink, rumen contents, intestinal fat and liver weight among the lambs fed these diets. Cooler shrink and intestinal fat, and perirenal fat and the combined weight of intestinal and perirenal fat, were significantly (P < 0·05) correlated. Pelleting of the WCS diets reduced the concentration of free gossypol in these diets. It was concluded that WCS was satisfactory as a feed ingredient for growing sheep and can be incorporated into ruminant diets as a source of energy and protein. No indication of gossypol toxicity was detected. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry     

A novel three‐dimensional contact finite element based on smooth pressure interpolations

This article proposes a new three‐dimensional contact finite element which employs continuous and weakly coupled pressure interpolations on each of the interacting boundaries. The resulting formulation circumvents the geometric bias of one‐pass methods, as well as the surface locking of traditional two‐pass node‐on‐surface methods. A Lagrange multiplier implementation of the proposed element is validated for frictionless quasi‐static contact by a series of numerical simulations. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.