6,933 research outputs found

    Undergraduate Catalog of Studies, 2023-2024

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    Nexus between agriculture and photovoltaics (agrivoltaics, agriphotovoltaics) for sustainable development goal: A review

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordThe coexistence of agricultural land and solar photovoltaics (PV) can be named Agriphotovoltaics (APV). APV concept was developed two decades ago however its actual implementation is happening nowadays. APV directly solves SDGs 7, and 11 by generating benevolent renewable energy without damaging the land and keep producing food for people. In this work, a comprehensive review of the APV system is documented. Currently available software tools, field experiment results, and PV for APV are described in this work which identified that for forecasting APV, a more robust tool is required. Vertically placed Bifacial PV, transparent, and semitransparent tilted PVs can be suitable for shade-intolerant crops whereas opaque PVs are appropriate for shade-tolerant crops. The knowledge gap between various stakeholders such as solar PV researchers, agricultural researchers, and land users needs to be more rigorous. Economic and policymakers should share dialogue to improve the growth of APV which not only solves SDG 7, and 11 but also meets the target for SDG 5, 8, 9,12, and 15

    A portrait of the Higgs boson by the CMS experiment ten years after the discovery

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    In July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the CERN Large Hadron Collider announced the observation of a Higgs boson at a mass of around 125 gigaelectronvolts. Ten years later, and with the data corresponding to the production of a 30-times larger number of Higgs bosons, we have learnt much more about the properties of the Higgs boson. The CMS experiment has observed the Higgs boson in numerous fermionic and bosonic decay channels, established its spin–parity quantum numbers, determined its mass and measured its production cross-sections in various modes. Here the CMS Collaboration reports the most up-to-date combination of results on the properties of the Higgs boson, including the most stringent limit on the cross-section for the production of a pair of Higgs bosons, on the basis of data from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 teraelectronvolts. Within the uncertainties, all these observations are compatible with the predictions of the standard model of elementary particle physics. Much evidence points to the fact that the standard model is a low-energy approximation of a more comprehensive theory. Several of the standard model issues originate in the sector of Higgs boson physics. An order of magnitude larger number of Higgs bosons, expected to be examined over the next 15 years, will help deepen our understanding of this crucial sector

    Faster inference from state space models via GPU computing

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    Funding: C.F.-J. is funded via a doctoral scholarship from the University of St Andrews, School of Mathematics and Statistics.Inexpensive Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) offer the potential to greatly speed up computation by employing their massively parallel architecture to perform arithmetic operations more efficiently. Population dynamics models are important tools in ecology and conservation. Modern Bayesian approaches allow biologically realistic models to be constructed and fitted to multiple data sources in an integrated modelling framework based on a class of statistical models called state space models. However, model fitting is often slow, requiring hours to weeks of computation. We demonstrate the benefits of GPU computing using a model for the population dynamics of British grey seals, fitted with a particle Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Speed-ups of two orders of magnitude were obtained for estimations of the log-likelihood, compared to a traditional ‘CPU-only’ implementation, allowing for an accurate method of inference to be used where this was previously too computationally expensive to be viable. GPU computing has enormous potential, but one barrier to further adoption is a steep learning curve, due to GPUs' unique hardware architecture. We provide a detailed description of hardware and software setup, and our case study provides a template for other similar applications. We also provide a detailed tutorial-style description of GPU hardware architectures, and examples of important GPU-specific programming practices.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

    Southern Adventist University Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024

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    Southern Adventist University\u27s undergraduate catalog for the academic year 2023-2024.https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/undergrad_catalog/1123/thumbnail.jp

    Pristup specifikaciji i generisanju proizvodnih procesa zasnovan na inženjerstvu vođenom modelima

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    In this thesis, we present an approach to the production process specification and generation based on the model-driven paradigm, with the goal to increase the flexibility of factories and respond to the challenges that emerged in the era of Industry 4.0 more efficiently. To formally specify production processes and their variations in the Industry 4.0 environment, we created a novel domain-specific modeling language, whose models are machine-readable. The created language can be used to model production processes that can be independent of any production system, enabling process models to be used in different production systems, and process models used for the specific production system. To automatically transform production process models dependent on the specific production system into instructions that are to be executed by production system resources, we created an instruction generator. Also, we created generators for different manufacturing documentation, which automatically transform production process models into manufacturing documents of different types. The proposed approach, domain-specific modeling language, and software solution contribute to introducing factories into the digital transformation process. As factories must rapidly adapt to new products and their variations in the era of Industry 4.0, production must be dynamically led and instructions must be automatically sent to factory resources, depending on products that are to be created on the shop floor. The proposed approach contributes to the creation of such a dynamic environment in contemporary factories, as it allows to automatically generate instructions from process models and send them to resources for execution. Additionally, as there are numerous different products and their variations, keeping the required manufacturing documentation up to date becomes challenging, which can be done automatically by using the proposed approach and thus significantly lower process designers' time.У овој дисертацији представљен је приступ спецификацији и генерисању производних процеса заснован на инжењерству вођеном моделима, у циљу повећања флексибилности постројења у фабрикама и ефикаснијег разрешавања изазова који се појављују у ери Индустрије 4.0. За потребе формалне спецификације производних процеса и њихових варијација у амбијенту Индустрије 4.0, креиран је нови наменски језик, чије моделе рачунар може да обради на аутоматизован начин. Креирани језик има могућност моделовања производних процеса који могу бити независни од производних система и тиме употребљени у различитим постројењима или фабрикама, али и производних процеса који су специфични за одређени систем. Како би моделе производних процеса зависних од конкретног производног система било могуће на аутоматизован начин трансформисати у инструкције које ресурси производног система извршавају, креиран је генератор инструкција. Такође су креирани и генератори техничке документације, који на аутоматизован начин трансформишу моделе производних процеса у документе различитих типова. Употребом предложеног приступа, наменског језика и софтверског решења доприноси се увођењу фабрика у процес дигиталне трансформације. Како фабрике у ери Индустрије 4.0 морају брзо да се прилагоде новим производима и њиховим варијацијама, неопходно је динамички водити производњу и на аутоматизован начин слати инструкције ресурсима у фабрици, у зависности од производа који се креирају у конкретном постројењу. Тиме што је у предложеном приступу могуће из модела процеса аутоматизовано генерисати инструкције и послати их ресурсима, доприноси се креирању једног динамичког окружења у савременим фабрикама. Додатно, услед великог броја различитих производа и њихових варијација, постаје изазовно одржавати неопходну техничку документацију, што је у предложеном приступу могуће урадити на аутоматизован начин и тиме значајно уштедети време пројектаната процеса.U ovoj disertaciji predstavljen je pristup specifikaciji i generisanju proizvodnih procesa zasnovan na inženjerstvu vođenom modelima, u cilju povećanja fleksibilnosti postrojenja u fabrikama i efikasnijeg razrešavanja izazova koji se pojavljuju u eri Industrije 4.0. Za potrebe formalne specifikacije proizvodnih procesa i njihovih varijacija u ambijentu Industrije 4.0, kreiran je novi namenski jezik, čije modele računar može da obradi na automatizovan način. Kreirani jezik ima mogućnost modelovanja proizvodnih procesa koji mogu biti nezavisni od proizvodnih sistema i time upotrebljeni u različitim postrojenjima ili fabrikama, ali i proizvodnih procesa koji su specifični za određeni sistem. Kako bi modele proizvodnih procesa zavisnih od konkretnog proizvodnog sistema bilo moguće na automatizovan način transformisati u instrukcije koje resursi proizvodnog sistema izvršavaju, kreiran je generator instrukcija. Takođe su kreirani i generatori tehničke dokumentacije, koji na automatizovan način transformišu modele proizvodnih procesa u dokumente različitih tipova. Upotrebom predloženog pristupa, namenskog jezika i softverskog rešenja doprinosi se uvođenju fabrika u proces digitalne transformacije. Kako fabrike u eri Industrije 4.0 moraju brzo da se prilagode novim proizvodima i njihovim varijacijama, neophodno je dinamički voditi proizvodnju i na automatizovan način slati instrukcije resursima u fabrici, u zavisnosti od proizvoda koji se kreiraju u konkretnom postrojenju. Time što je u predloženom pristupu moguće iz modela procesa automatizovano generisati instrukcije i poslati ih resursima, doprinosi se kreiranju jednog dinamičkog okruženja u savremenim fabrikama. Dodatno, usled velikog broja različitih proizvoda i njihovih varijacija, postaje izazovno održavati neophodnu tehničku dokumentaciju, što je u predloženom pristupu moguće uraditi na automatizovan način i time značajno uštedeti vreme projektanata procesa

    Increasing Sustainable Bivalve Aquaculture Productivity Using Remote Non-Invasive Sensing and Upweller Technologies

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    The work and findings described by this thesis aim to develop technologies and approaches relevant to bivalve aquaculture, focusing on non invasive sensing to monitor bivalve shellfish, primarily the Pacific oyster (Magallana gigas). Following the introduction, Chapter 2 presents an overview of the Non Invasive Oyster Sensor (NOSy), a sensor developed at the University of Essex that records bivalve openness (gape). NOSy was conceived to automatically detect spawning as an aid to oyster growers and has proved useful in field and laboratory, work which underpins three chapters in this thesis. NOSy remains under development, and has potential for use in aquaculture, monitoring and research. Chapter 3 assesses the role of salinity in driving estuarine oyster behaviour. We replicated an estuarine tidal salinity cycle and recorded the gape of oysters exposed to it. Behaviours during the experiment did not resemble those in the estuary, suggesting that salinity alone does not drive estuarine oyster behaviour. We also discuss the challenges of controlling salinity in a laboratory, and suggest it is an under-studied area. Chapter 4 discusses land based systems for young oyster growing. Land-based systems have the potential to improve growth, condition and survival while reducing labour and maintenance costs. We trialled a system over three summers, with promising results. Reduction of localised densities improved growth rate and uniformity. Cost forecasts suggest that adoption of land based growing systems could result in substantial savings. Chapter 5 presents gaping records from an area where Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) have become non harvestable in recent years due to contamination. We used NOSy to assess gaping patterns of the mussel population to evaluate how their behaviours affect their vulnerability to contamination. Mussels in the bay closed over low tide as a response to extremely low salinity, inferring protection from contamination by limiting the mussel’s exposure

    An ensemble model for predictive energy performance:Closing the gap between actual and predicted energy use in residential buildings

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    The design stage of a building plays a pivotal role in influencing its life cycle and overall performance. Accurate predictions of a building's performance are crucial for informed decision-making, particularly in terms of energy performance, given the escalating global awareness of climate change and the imperative to enhance energy efficiency in buildings. However, a well-documented energy performance gap persists between actual and predicted energy consumption, primarily attributed to the unpredictable nature of occupant behavior.Existing methodologies for predicting and simulating occupant behavior in buildings frequently neglect or exclusively concentrate on particular behaviors, resulting in uncertainties in energy performance predictions. Machine learning approaches have exhibited increased accuracy in predicting occupant energy behavior, yet the majority of extant studies focus on specific behavior types rather than investigating the interactions among all contributing factors. This dissertation delves into the building energy performance gap, with a particular emphasis on the influence of occupants on energy performance. A comprehensive literature review scrutinizes machine learning models employed for predicting occupants' behavior in buildings and assesses their performance. The review uncovers knowledge gaps, as most studies are case-specific and lack a consolidated database to examine diverse behaviors across various building types.An ensemble model integrating occupant behavior parameters is devised to enhance the accuracy of energy performance predictions in residential buildings. Multiple algorithms are examined, with the selection of algorithms contingent upon evaluation metrics. The ensemble model is validated through a case study that compares actual energy consumption with the predictions of the ensemble model and an EnergyPlus simulation that takes occupant behavior factors into account.The findings demonstrate that the ensemble model provides considerably more accurate predictions of actual energy consumption compared to the EnergyPlus simulation. This dissertation also addresses the research limitations, including the reusability of the model and the requirement for additional datasets to bolster confidence in the model's applicability across diverse building types and occupant behavior patterns.In summary, this dissertation presents an ensemble model that endeavors to bridge the gap between actual and predicted energy usage in residential buildings by incorporating occupant behavior parameters, leading to more precise energy performance predictions and promoting superior energy management strategies

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum
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