Geometric Modeling of Cellular Materials for Additive Manufacturing in Biomedical Field: A Review

Advances in additive manufacturing technologies facilitate the fabrication of cellular materials that have tailored functional characteristics. The application of solid freeform fabrication techniques is especially exploited in designing scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this review, firstly, a classification of cellular materials from a geometric point of view is proposed; then, the main approaches on geometric modeling of cellular materials are discussed. Finally, an investigation on porous scaffolds fabricated by additive manufacturing technologies is pointed out. Perspectives in geometric modeling of scaffolds for tissue engineering are also proposed

New Zealand Building Project Cost and Its Influential Factors: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Construction industry significantly contributes to New Zealand's economic development. However, the delivery of construction projects is usually plagued by cost overruns, which turn potentially successful projects into money-losing ventures, resulting in various other unexpected negative impacts. The objectives of the study were to identify, classify, and assess the impacts of the factors affecting project cost in New Zealand. The proposed research model was examined with structural equation modelling. Recognising the lack of a systematic approach for assessing the influencing factors associated with project cost, this study identified 30 influencing factors from various sources and quantified their relative impacts. The research data were gathered through a questionnaire survey circulated across New Zealand construction industry. A total of 283 responses were received, with a 37% response rate. A model was developed for testing the relationship between project cost and the influential factors. The proposed research model was examined with structural equation modelling (SEM). According to the results of the analysis, market and industry conditions factor has the most significant effect on project cost, while regulatory regime is the second-most significant influencing factor, followed by key stakeholders' perspectives. The findings can improve project cost performance through the identification and evaluation of the cost-influencing factors. The results of such analysis enable industry professionals to better understand cost-related risks in the complex environment

Development of canopy vigour maps using UAV for site-specific management during vineyard spraying process

Site-specific management of crops represents an important improvement in terms of efficiency and efficacy of the different labours, and its implementation has experienced a large development in the last decades, especially for field crops. The particular case of the spray application process for what are called “specialty crops” (vineyard, orchard fruits, citrus, olive trees, etc.)FI-DGR grant from Generalitat de Catalunya (2018 FI_B1 00083). Research and improvement of Dosaviña have been developed under LIFE PERFECT project: Pesticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000205)This research was partially funded by the “Ajuts a les activitats de demostració (operació 01.02.01 de Transferència Tecnològica del Programa de desenvolupament rural de Catalunya 2014-2020)” and an FI-DGR grant from Generalitat de Catalunya (2018 FI_B1 00083). Research and improvement of Dosaviña have been developed under the LIFE PERFECT project: Pesticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000205).This research was partially funded by the “Ajuts a les activitats de demostració (operació 01.02.01 de Transferència Tecnològica del Programa de desenvolupament rural de Catalunya 2014-2020)” and an FI-DGR grant from Generalitat de Catalunya (2018 FI_B1 00083). Research and improvement of Dosaviña have been developed under LIFE PERFECT project: Pesticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000205)Postprint (updated version

Digital design of medical replicas via desktop systems: shape evaluation of colon parts

In this paper, we aim at providing results concerning the application of desktop systems for rapid prototyping of medical replicas that involve complex shapes, as, for example, folds of a colon. Medical replicas may assist preoperative planning or tutoring in surgery to better understand the interaction among pathology and organs. Major goals of the paper concern with guiding the digital design workflow of the replicas and understanding their final performance, according to the requirements asked by the medics (shape accuracy, capability of seeing both inner and outer details, and support and possible interfacing with other organs). In particular, after the analysis of these requirements, we apply digital design for colon replicas, adopting two desktop systems. ,e experimental results confirm that the proposed preprocessing strategy is able to conduct to the manufacturing of colon replicas divided in self-supporting segments, minimizing the supports during printing. ,is allows also to reach an acceptable level of final quality, according to the request of having a 3D presurgery overview of the problems. ,ese replicas are compared through reverse engineering acquisitions made by a structured-light system, to assess the achieved shape and dimensional accuracy. Final results demonstrate that low-cost desktop systems, coupled with proper strategy of preprocessing, may have shape deviation in the range of ±1 mm, good for physical manipulations during medical diagnosis and explanation

Optical network technologies for future digital cinema

Digital technology has transformed the information flow and support infrastructure for numerous application domains, such as cellular communications. Cinematography, traditionally, a film based medium, has embraced digital technology leading to innovative transformations in its work flow. Digital cinema supports transmission of high resolution content enabled by the latest advancements in optical communications and video compression. In this paper we provide a survey of the optical network technologies for supporting this bandwidth intensive traffic class. We also highlight the significance and benefits of the state of the art in optical technologies that support the digital cinema work flow

Membrane structures and their use in civil engineering

This paper is focused on the static analysis of membrane structures, which are typical for their ability to transfer only tensile forces. Membrane structures are becoming more popular owing to their lower initial cost and potential for use in structures with higher aesthetic claims. However, the designs of membrane face some challenges related to the specific properties of these support systems. This paper aims to analyse the current possibilities for using membrane structures and to evaluate these structures in terms of materials and design details and using numerical methods