Integrated network design for forest bioenergy value chain - decisions support system for the transformation of the Canadian forest industry

Les usines de bioénergie devraient jouer un rôle important dans la production d'énergie verte à partir de la biomasse forestière. Pour intégrer l'usine de bioénergie dans la chaîne d'approvisionnement forestière, l'industrie a besoin de nouveaux investissements ainsi que de la conception et de la gestion de la chaîne de valeur. D'un autre côté, les incertitudes associées aux nouveaux produits sur le marché peuvent ajouter des risques supplémentaires à un investissement aussi important dans la chaîne d'approvisionnement forestière instable. Par conséquent, l'objectif principal de cette thèse est d'étudier la conception du réseau de bioénergie forestière dans un contexte déterministe et stochastique. La première partie de la thèse propose une plate-forme expérimentale pour intégrer la conception et le pilotage de la chaîne de valeur puisque le nouveau design ne sera réalisable que s'il considère au préalable la planification. La plateforme a inclus plusieurs actions collaboratives entre tous les partenaires impliqués dans la chaîne d'approvisionnement. Cette plateforme est la base d’un nouvel outil éducatif appelé jeu de transport. Ensuite, la plate-forme a été utilisée pour concevoir un réseau optimisé de bioénergie forestière. La chaîne d'approvisionnement forestière de Terre-Neuve, composée de quatre acteurs majeurs de l’industrie forestière, a été considérée comme notre étude de cas. La rentabilité de l'ajout de nouvelles installations de bioénergie ainsi que de nouveaux terminaux dans plusieurs emplacements potentiels ont été évalués. Enfin, à la troisième partie de la thèse, nous repensons le réseau bioénergétique en tenant compte de l'incertitude de la demande et des prix de tous les produits finaux de la nouvelle chaîne de valeur. Plusieurs bioprocédés potentiels avec différentes technologies ont été évalués dans notre étude de cas. Pour fournir une solution tenant compte du risque, nous avons développé deux nouveaux modèles de gestion des risques. Les résultats dans les trois parties ont clairement démontré l'impact de la planification intégrée, des usines de bioénergie et de la collaboration sur l'amélioration de la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement forestière. En général, le travail accompli dans ce projet permettra une transformation en douceur de la chaîne d'approvisionnement forestière en tenant compte des risques d'investissement. En ce qui concerne les résultats obtenus grâce aux études de cas, nous croyons que la plateforme et les approches proposées dans cette thèse peuvent être considérées comme des outils novateurs et pratiques pour le problème de la conception des réseaux de bioénergie forestière.Bioenergy plants are expected to play an important role in green energy production from forestry biomass. To incorporate bioenergy plant in the forest supply chain, the industry requires new investments as well as new value chain design and management. On the other side, the uncertainties associated with demand and price of new products in the market may add risks to such large investment in current forest supply chain. Hence, the main objective of this thesis is to analyze and to propose new design of the forest bioenergy network in both a deterministic and a stochastic context. The first part of the thesis has proposed four optimization models for strategic, tactical and operational planning levels of the supply chain. The models have included several collaborative actions between all involved stakeholders of the supply chain. They have been integrated in a new educational tool called hierarchical transportation game. In the second part of the thesis, we have integrated the developed optimization models to propose an integrated value chain design and value chain management optimization model. This model has been used to analyze a forest bioenergy network in Newfoundland. Newfoundland forest supply chain comprising four major stakeholders was considered as our case study. The profitability of adding a new bioenergy plant as well as new terminals in several potential locations have been evaluated. Finally, in a third part of the thesis we have proposed the bioenergy network taking into account uncertainty on demand and price of all final products of a new value chain. Several potential bioprocesses with different technologies have been evaluated for our case study. To provide a risk-averse solution, we have proposed two risk management models. The results from the three parts of the thesis have demonstrated the impact of integrated planning, bioenergy plants and collaboration on improvement of forest value chain. In general, the work in this thesis can support an efficient transformation of the forest supply chain considering investment risks. The optimization models and approaches proposed in this thesis are novel and practical for the forest bioenergy network design problem

STUDY OF HOLE-BLOCKING AND ELECTRON-BLOCKING LAYERS IN A InAs/GaAs MULTIPLE QUANTUM-WELL SOLAR CELL

In this work, a GaAs-based quantum well solar cell with a 25-layer InAs/GaAs intermediate layer is simulated in Silvaco Atlas TCAD software. In order to reduce the recombination caused by the presence of the quantum layers and increase the absorption of photons, electron blocking layers (EBLs) and hole blocking layers (HBLs) have been added to the solar cell in an In0.5(Al0.7Ga0.3)0.5P semiconductor. The results show that the efficiency of the proposed solar cell increases 17.38% by obtaining impurity the thickness and doping of the EBL and HBL layers. It can be concluded that the use of the In0.5(Al0.7Ga 0.3)0.5P semiconductor with EBL and HBL layers decreases the open circuit voltage (Voc) caused in the quantum wells. The efficiency of the proposed solar cell with EBL and HBL layers was found to be 44.65%

Admission Process of Low Risk Women in Labour: Development of an Evidence-based Protocol

Abstract Introduction: To protect normal birth, admission of pregnant women in labour units is one of the most important decisions. This study developed a protocol for admission of women during labour in order to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of onset of labour. Methods: First the admission processes of 25 pregnant women were observed in the study hospital. Then the multi-disciplinary team searched and reviewed the Iranian database using related key words. Evidence-based medicine resources and other databases were searched using related key words for the most important symptoms in relation to the onset of active labour as well as early labour assessment programs. Results: The results of observation of the admission process in the study hospital and review of the literature indicated that low-risk pregnant women in labour were admitted using different criteria. The evidence-based protocol for admission of women in labour was developed using these criteria to provide a guide, which lists the necessary measures in dealing with women in various situations during the onset of labour. Presence of regular uterine contractions, cervical dilatation ≥ 4 cm and effacement should be considered as signs of starting labour, which may be accompanied by spontaneous rupture of membranes or bloody show. Conclusions: Protocols are appropriate clinical tools for the design and standardization of clinical processes based on the available evidence. This protocol could be used in a multi-center clinical trial to assess its effectiveness

A review on role of medicinal plants in polycystic ovarian syndrome: Pathophysiology, neuroendocrine signaling, therapeutic status and future prospects

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most important gynecological disorders among reproductive-age women. In patients with PCOS, the secretion rate and metabolism of androgens and estrogens are disrupted. With regards to the increasing prevalence of PCOS and associated physical and mental problems as well as the effects of changes in sex hormones in development of this disease, our aim is to investigate the effects of different herbal extracts on changes in the serum levels of sex hormones and ovarian tissue. To conduct this review, an extensive literature search was conducted using, relevant publications published between 1990 and 2017, and indexed in Google Scholar, PubMed, Elsevier, Scientific Information Database, and Science Direct were studied. The search terms used to retrieve the publications were as follows: Herbal medical extract، Names of medicinal plants ، polycystic ovary syndrome, PCOS, the mechanism of hormone. According to the evidence, herbal extracts containing phytoestrogens cause decrease in hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance, and ovary weight as well as increase in ovulation. Therefore, these plants can be partly effective in this syndrome via affecting the serum levels of different hormones and ovarian weight and morphology, representing an opportunity to investigate and discovery new bioactive products. © 2018 Middle East Fertility Societ

INTRODUCING A NOVEL HIGH-EFFICIENCY ARC LESS HETEROUNCTION DJ SOLAR CELL

The present study was undertaken to examine the structure and performance of hetero junctions on the fill factor, short circuit current and open circuit voltage of aInGaP/GaAsdual-junction solar cell. This goal of this work was to reduce recombination in the bottom cell so that the electrons and holes produced in the top cell with the lowest recombination participate in the output current. Semiconductors with a high bandwidth from the ѵш group were studied in order to obtain a high open circuit voltage. By observing mobility and lattice constant semiconductors (Al0.52In0.48P, GaAs and In0.49Ga0.51P), it was concluded that the semiconductor Al0.52In0.48P has high electron mobility and hole mobility and that the lattice constant matched to the GaAs semiconductor can be effective in reducing recombination. The cathode current and absorbed photons show that the composition InGaP/AlInP increased the number of charge carriers in the top cell. The structure of InGaP-AlInP/GaAs-AlInP was obtained by inserting an InGaP-AlInP heterojunction at the top and GaAs-AlInP heterojunction at the bottom of aInGaP/GaAs dual-junction cell. For this structure, short circuit current (JSC)  = 22.96 mA/cm2, open circuit voltage (Voc) = 2.72 V, fill factor (FF) = 93.26% and efficiency(η)= 58.28% were obtained under AM1.5 (1 sun) of radiation

The protective effect of Liza klunzingeri protein hydrolysate on carbon tetrachloride-induced oxidative stress and toxicity in male rats

Objective(s): Today, consumers are looking for food products providing health benefits in addition to meeting the basic nutritional needs of the body. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant and cytotoxic effects of Liza klunzingeri protein hydrolysate both in vivo and in vitro. Materials and Methods: Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) was prepared using enzymatic hydrolysis with papain. In vitro antioxidant activity was assessed using five different antioxidant assays. The cytotoxic effect on 4T1 cell line was evaluated using the MTT assay. The distribution of the molecular weight of FPH was measured using HPLC. In the in vivo study, CCl4-exposed Wistar rats were orally treated with FPH (150, 300, and 600 mg/kg) or gallic acid (50 mg/kg) for 28 consecutive days. Results: Enzymatic hydrolysis gave hydrolysate rich in low molecular weight peptides (<1000 Da) with strong free radicals (ABTS, DPPH, and OH) scavenging activity and cytotoxicity. Treatment of CCl4-exposed rats with all doses of FPH significantly lowered serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). FPH at doses of 300 and 600 mg/kg significantly decreased lipid peroxidation and improved total antioxidant capacity in serum, liver, and kidney of the CCl4 exposed rats. All doses of L.klunzingeri protein hydrolysate reduced CCl4-induced nitric oxide production of the kidney. Liver histopathological damage caused by CCl4 also ameliorated with all doses of FPH. Conclusion: L. klunzingeri protein hydrolysate can be considered as a functional food to alleviate oxidative stress. Keywords Author Keywords:Antioxidant activity; Cytotoxicity; Liza klunzingeri; Oxidative stress; Protein hydrolysat

Conception et analyse thermodynamique d'une microturbine pour la production d'électricité

Dans ce travail, un prototype de turbine activée par une décharge d’air comprimé a été produit et testé pour trouver sa géométrie optimale, et ce, sur la base d'un modèle thermodynamique. Un dispositif expérimental, a été spécialement conçu pour tester la turbine. Il comprend un système de piston et de valves servant à charger un réservoir d’air comprimé, ainsi qu'une valve de fin de course servant à déclencher la décharge du réservoir à travers la turbine. L'appareil expérimental permet la mesure directe de la pression et de la température dans le réservoir et utilise un système d'acquisition de données basé sur LabVIEW. Pour assurer une mesure précise de ces paramètres, des thermocouples à réponse rapide et des capteurs de pression sont utilisés. Le modèle thermodynamique de charge et de décharge d'un réservoir est déterminé par un processus polytropique afin de prévoir la pression et la température de l’air à l'intérieur du réservoir. De plus, l’influence des paramètres de la turbine, tels que la vitesse angulaire initiale de l’arbre de la turbine et les bords avant ou arrière des aubes du rotor et du stator, a été étudiée en fonction de ses performances. Les résultats montrent que la turbine avec une vitesse angulaire initiale peut fournir un rendement supérieur à chaque impulsion. De plus, la plus grande vitesse angulaire initiale de la turbine contribue à une puissance plus élevée. En outre, les angles appropriés peuvent limiter la probabilité de séparation sur la trajectoire du mouvement du fluide

The Transportation Game

This paper presents an online educational game focusing on hierarchical procurement planning in a simulated forest supply chain with multiple companies. The purpose is to provide an understanding of the importance of individual decisions and their medium- to long-term impacts on the entire supply chain. The transportation game comprises three phases, each simulating hierarchical decision making when three competing companies (i.e., the game players) are making simultaneous decisions on the available resources. Each game phase also requires concurrent collaboration and competition. The phases represent different planning levels from long-term to short-term planning, considering the collaboration concept within the supply chain. The simulated supply chain objective is to minimize resource purchasing and transportation costs. The purchasing cost will be fixed after the first phase. The chance of decreasing transportation costs, however, is available until the end of the game. We develop three optimization models for each game phase. Once the game is finished, it compares the players’ results with optimal solutions prepared upfront. Finally, we present some comments about the game experience in various classrooms.publishedVersio