APPLICATION OF FORMAL SAFETY ASSESSMENT FOR DRY DOCKING EVOLUTION

This research has evaluated the rules, guidelines and regulations related to docking a ship in floating-graving yards. Historical failure data analysis is carried out to identify associated components, equipment and the area of defects related to ship docking evolution problems. The current status of ship docking evolution is reviewed and possible sources which cause accidents are recognised. The major problems identified in this research are associated with risk modelling under circumstances where high levels of uncertainty exist. Following the identification of research needs, this work has developed several analytical models for the application of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA). Such models are subsequently demonstrated by their corresponding case studies with regards to application of FSA for ship docking evolution. Firstly, in this research a generic floating-graving docking model is constructed for the purpose of hazard identification and risk estimation. The hazards include various scenarios, identified from literature reviewed as the major contributors to ship docking failures. Then risk estimation is carried out utilising fault tree (FT) – FSA where there is sufficient data. Secondly, with increased lack of data, risk estimation is carried out using FT-Bayesian network (BN) where interdepencies exists amongst identified hazards. This risk estimation method is validated with the appropriate case study identified. Thirdly, fuzzy rule base and evidential reasoning approaches are used for risk estimation in terms of three risk parameters to select the major causes of component failure that can lead to pontoon deck failure in a floating dock. Possible risk control options (RCOs) are introduced, based on their effectiveness, to select the best RCO for minimising the risks. Finally, a cost benefit assessment is conducted to select the best risk control option using BN, where selections are based on economic terms. The four subjective novel FSA application methodologies in ship docking evolution are constructed from existing theoretical techniques and applied to real situations where data collection is otherwise not possible. The construction of the novel methodologies and the case study applications are the major contribution to knowledge in this thesis. It is concluded that the methodologies proposed possess significant potential for the application of FSA for ship docking evolution based on the validations of their corresponding case studies, which may also be applied with domain specification knowledge tailored to facilitate FSA application in other shipping industry sectors

Trends in Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences I

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: https://medwinpublishers.com/OAJPR/OAJPR16000eB001.pdfTrends in Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences I is the first issue of an open access E-book devoted to scientific and technical research that covers the entire spectrum of drug and food research, including medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, drug delivery, microbiology and biochemical studies, as well as relevant developments in nutrition, food safety and analytical innovation. The first chapter, Different techniques to detect G protein coupled receptor heteromers, describes state of the art techniques based in biophysical principles applied to detect oligomeric aggregates formed by G-protein coupled receptors in the cell membrane, and describes how the knowledge generated can be applied to design new compounds for the treatment of neurological and mental diseases. Obesity has become a worldwide problem and it is well known that causes and exacerbates many health problems by promoting profound changes in physiological functions. Chapter 2, Analysis of the role of diet in the appearance of neurodegenerative processes, reviews the consequences of these metabolic alterations while considering their effects in the development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and their role in the appearance of cognitive impairments such as the sporadic forms of Alzheimer’s disease. The development of new cultivars facing climate change is an issue of great interest for the agrochemical industry and can be approached in different ways. Chapter 3, Arabidopsis Thaliana A Model for the Study of Plant Speciation, reviews different aspects of the plant immune system and the different layers of the plant immune response and signaling. The emerging field in plant research that studies how soil microbiota influences plant basic mechanisms is also discussed. Chagas disease is endemic in Latin America, but recently and due to human migrations, it is becoming a global health problem. In chapter 4, Trypanosoma cruzi infection diagnosis: New insights, challenges and perspectives, a group of experts from several institutions describe the different techniques that can be used for the serological diagnosis of the infection and the characterization of Trypanosoma cruzi, discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each method and propose improvements that would entail important savings for health institutions. Chapter 5, Nutrients, Control of Gene Expression and Metabolic Homeostasis, focuses on the molecular mechanisms that control metabolism by means of regulating gene expression in response to dietary inputs, to design new therapeutic strategies based on nutritional interventions against metabolic diseases. In this context, involvement of FGF21 hormone in the regulation of lipid metabolism during amino acid starvation is described, thus reinforcing its important role as an endocrine factor in coordinating energy homeostasis under a variety of nutritional conditions. This raises the possibility of dietary modulation of circulating levels of FGF21 as an alternative approach to its pharmacological administration. Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles encapsulating neuroprotective drugs have enormous potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer´s disease and glaucoma. Recent advances in the field are described in chapter 6, Polymeric nanoparticles for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s disease and glaucoma, specifically the preparation of engineered polymeric nanoparticles with attached peptides or antibodies to increase their bioavailability, favoring their transport through the blood brain barrier and the blood retinal barrier, avoiding at the same time possible drug adverse and toxic effects. The last chapter, Pentacyclic triterpenes in table olives: Determination of their composition and bioavailability by LC-M, is a review on the pentacyclic triterpenes contained in table olives, natural compounds of enormous interest due to their beneficial effects on human health, including hepatoprotective, anti-diabetic, antiviral, cardioprotective and antitumor activities. Authors describe a selective and sensitive LC–MS method for the simultaneous determination of the main triterpenic compounds present in Olea europaea L. This opens the possibility to bioavailability studies after consumption of different foods, or administration of plants widely used in traditional medicine, with the aim of studying in depth the beneficial effects of these compounds in human beings. We hope that this new volume will attract the interest of all the scientific community, especially those working in the fields of pharmaceutical, medical, biological, chemical and food sciences

Preparation, Physico-Chemical Properties and Biomedical Applications of Nanoparticles

Nowadays, the impact of nanotechnology on applications in medicine and biomedical sciences has broader societal and economic effects, enhancing awareness of the business, regulatory, and administrative aspects of medical applications. The selected papers included in the present Special Issue gives readers a critical, balanced and realistic evaluation of existing nanomedicine developments and future prospects, allowing practitioners to plan and make decisions.The topics of this book covers the use of nanoparticles and nanotechnology in medical applications including biomaterials for tissue regeneration, diagnosis and monitoring, surgery, prosthetics, drug delivery systems, nanocarriers, and wound dressing. I would like to express my gratitude to all contributors to this issue, who have given so much of their time and effort to help create this collection of high quality papers

Global Risks 2013, Eighth Edition

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks 2013 report is developed from an annual survey of over 1,000 experts from industry,government, academia and civil society who were asked to review a landscape of 50 global risks. The global risk that respondents rated most likely to manifest over the next 10 years is severe income disparity, while the risk rated as having the highest impact if it were to manifest is major systemic financial failure. There are also two risks appearing in the top five of both impact and likelihood - chronic fiscal imbalances and water supply crisis

Quality assessment of e-commerce websites using Bayesian belief networks

This thesis raises the issue of quality in E-commerce websites and addresses methodologies and approaches to standardize their assessment. The thesis blends the knowledge of academic research with the opinions and insights from experts and practitioners in the field to provide a comprehensive view of the issues and their remedies. The most experienced and successful E-commerce companies are beginning to realize that key determinants of success or failure are not merely a web presence or a low price but delivering a high quality website. Recent research shows that price and promotion are no longer the main draws for customers to make a decision on a purchase. More sophisticated online customers would rather pay a higher price to a provider with high quality service. Given that the establishment of an E-commerce website is mainly a software development effort; there are several standards that apply in governing the quality of such development. There seems to be an almost overwhelming abundance of quality standards that lead to a high level of cynicism and skepticism surrounding them and the eventual lack of use. Furthermore, no standard can directly predict the quality a website under development is going to achieve. Past approaches concerning the quality of E-commerce websites emphasize usability standards using techniques like feature inspection and collecting data about end-users' opinion by questionnaires. These methods provide important feedback and their results can be utilized as a useful background for future work, however, they do not contribute directly to a dynamic model that enables forecasting. The study of quality in the domain of the Internet in general, and E-commerce in particular, poses new challenges as technology evolves, including methods and metrics for estimating, managing quality during the product life cycle and quality-of-use measurement. The solution proposed by this research is to use a Bayesian Belief Network model. This model provides a consistent and practical approach to assessing the quality of the website. The assessment can be carried out before the completion of the website development, thus, providing insight on the trend and direction for correction and improvements. It can also be carried out on completed and operational work, providing analysis of areas for improvement. The model should be relatively quick and practical in providing an overall comprehensive assessment with root-cause analysis that would lead to corrective measures to improve the quality of the E-commerce website. In this research idioms were applied in realizing a complete Bayesian Belief Network model. The conclusions are measured against comparative assessment to validate the practical benefits of the work accomplished. The WebQual method was utilized to validate the "belief" established by the model.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo