A framework for detecting unnecessary industrial data in ETL processes

Extract transform and load (ETL) is a critical process used by industrial organisations to shift data from one database to another, such as from an operational system to a data warehouse. With the increasing amount of data stored by industrial organisations, some ETL processes can take in excess of 12 hours to complete; this can leave decision makers stranded while they wait for the data needed to support their decisions. After designing the ETL processes, inevitably data requirements can change, and much of the data that goes through the ETL process may not ever be used or needed. This paper therefore proposes a framework for dynamically detecting and predicting unnecessary data and preventing it from slowing down ETL processes - either by removing it entirely or deprioritizing it. Other advantages of the framework include being able to prioritise data cleansing tasks and determining what data should be processed first and placed into fast access memory. We show existing example algorithms that can be used for each component of the framework, and present some initial testing results as part of our research to determine whether the framework can help to reduce ETL time.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/INDIN.2014.694555

A skin abscess model for teaching incision and drainage procedures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Skin and soft tissue infections are increasingly prevalent clinical problems, and it is important for health care practitioners to be well trained in how to treat skin abscesses. A realistic model of abscess incision and drainage will allow trainees to learn and practice this basic physician procedure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed a realistic model of skin abscess formation to demonstrate the technique of incision and drainage for educational purposes. The creation of this model is described in detail in this report.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This model has been successfully used to develop and disseminate a multimedia video production for teaching this medical procedure. Clinical faculty and resident physicians find this model to be a realistic method for demonstrating abscess incision and drainage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This manuscript provides a detailed description of our model of abscess incision and drainage for medical education. Clinical educators can incorporate this model into skills labs or demonstrations for teaching this basic procedure.</p

An investigation of the chemistry of ship emission plumes during ITCT 2002

A ship emission plume experiment was conducted about 100 km off the California coast during the NOAA Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation (ITCT) 2K2 airborne field campaign. Measurements of chemical species were made from the NOAA WP-3D aircraft in eight consecutive transects of a ship plume around midday during 2.5 hours of flight. The measured species include NOx, HNO3, peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN), SO2, H2SO4, O3, CO, CO2, nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and particle number and size distributions. Observations demonstrate a NOx lifetime of ∼1.8 hours inside the ship plume compared to ∼6.5 hours (at noontime) in the moderately polluted background marine boundary layer of the experiment. This confirms the earlier hypothesis of highly enhanced in-plume NOx destruction. Consequently, one would expect the impact of ship emissions is much less severe than those predicted by global models that do not include rapid NOx destruction. Photochemical model calculations suggest that more than 80% of the NOx loss was due to the NO2 + OH reaction; the remainder was by PAN formation. The model underestimated in-plume NOx loss rate by about 30%. In addition, a comparison of measured to predicted H2SO4 in the plumes suggests that the photochemical model predicts OH variability reasonably well but may underestimate actual values. Predictions of in-plume O3 production agree well with the observations, suggesting that model-predicted peroxy radical (HO2 + RO2) levels are reasonable. The model estimated ozone production efficiency ranges from 6 to 30. The largest model bias was seen in the comparison with measured HNO3. The model overestimated in-plume HNO3 by about a factor of 6. This is most likely caused by underestimated HNO3 sinks possibly involving particle scavenging. However, limited data availability precluded a conclusive test of this possible loss process. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union

Gas-phase chemical characteristics of Asian emission plumes observed during ITCT 2K2 over the eastern North Pacific Ocean

The gas-phase chemical characteristics of emission plumes transported from Asia across the Pacific Ocean observed during the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation experiment in 2002 (ITCT 2K2) are described. Plumes measured in the troposphere from an aircraft were separated from the background air in data analysis using 1-s measurements of carbon monoxide (CO), total reactive nitrogen (NOy), and other gasphase species along with back trajectory analysis. On the basis of these measurements, Asian transport plumes with CO mixing ratios greater than 150 ppbv were observed on seven flights. Correlations between 1-s observations of CO, ozone (O3), and NOy are used to characterize the plumes. The NOy/CO ratios were similar in each plume and significantly lower than those derived from estimated Asian emission ratios, indicating substantial removal of soluble NOy species during transport. Observations of nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) nitric acid (HNO3) peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), peroxypropionyl nitrate (PPN), and alkyl nitrates are used with the NOy measurements to further distinguish the transport plumes by their NOy partitioning. NOy was primarily in the form of PAN in plumes that were transported in cold high-latitude and high-altitude regions, whereas in plumes transported in warmer, lower latitude and altitude regions, NOy was mainly HNO3. Additional gas-phase species enhanced in these plumes include sulfuric acid, methanol, acetone, propane, and ethane. The O3/CO ratio varied among the plumes and was affected by the mixing of anthropogenic and stratospheric influences. The complexity of this mixing prevents the determination of the relative contribution of anthropogenic and stratospheric influences to the observed O3 levels. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union

Chemical composition of air masses transported from Asia to the U.S. West coast during ITCT 2K2: Fossil fuel combustion versus biomass-burning signatures

As part of the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation experiment in 2002 (ITCT 2K2), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) WP-3D research aircraft was used to study the long-range transport of Asian air masses toward the west coast of North America. During research flights on 5 and 17 May, strong enhancements of carbon monoxide (CO) and other species were observed in air masses that had been transported from Asia. The hydrocarbon composition of the air masses indicated that the highest CO levels were related to fossil fuel use. During the flights on 5 and 17 May and other days, the levels of several biomass-buming indicators increased with altitude. This was true for acetonitrile (CH3CN), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), the ratio of acetylene (C2H2) to propane (C3H8), and, on May 5, the percentage of particles measured by the particle analysis by laser mass spectrometry (PALMS) instrument that were attributed to biomass burning based on their carbon and potassium content. An ensemble of back-trajectories, calculated from the U.S. west coast over a range of latitudes and altitudes for the entire ITCT 2K2 period, showed that air masses from Southeast Asia and China were generally observed at higher altitudes than air from Japan and Korea. Emission inventories estimate the contribution of biomass burning to the total emissions to be low for Japan and Korea, higher for China, and the highest for Southeast Asia. Combined with the origin of the air masses versus altitude, this qualitatively explains the increase with altitude, averaged over the whole ITCT 2K2 period, of the different biomass-burning indicators. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union

Effect of petrochemical industrial emissions of reactive alkenes and NO\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3e on tropospheric ozone formation in Houston, Texas

Petrochemical industrial facilities can emit large amounts of highly reactive hydrocarbons and NOx to the atmosphere; in the summertime, such colocated emissions are shown to consistently result in rapid and efficient ozone (O3) formation downwind. Airborne measurements show initial hydrocarbon reactivity in petrochemical source plumes in the Houston, TX, metropolitan area is primarily due to routine emissions of the alkenes propene and ethene. Reported emissions of these highly reactive compounds are substantially lower than emissions inferred from measurements in the plumes from these sources. Net O3 formation rates and yields per NOx molecule oxidized in these petrochemical industrial source plumes are substantially higher than rates and yields observed in urban or rural power plant plumes. These observations suggest that reductions in reactive alkene emissions from petrochemical industrial sources are required to effectively address the most extreme O3 exceedences in the Houston metropolitan area

Particle growth in urban and industrial plumes in Texas

Particle size distributions and gas-phase particle precursors and tracer species were measured aboard an aircraft in the plumes downwind from industrial and urban sources in the vicinity of Houston, TX during the daytime in late August and early September 2000. Plumes originating from the Parish gas-fired and coal-fired power plant, petrochemical industries along the Houston ship channel, the petrochemical facilities near the Gulf coast, and the urban center of Houston were studied. Most of the particle mass flux advected downwind of Houston came from the industries and electrical utilities at the periphery of the city rather than from sources in the urban core. In SO2-rich plumes that did not contain elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particle volume increased with increasing plume oxidation (age) at a rate consistent with condensation and neutralization of the gas-phase oxidation products Of SO2. In plumes that were rich in both SO2 and VOCs, observed particle growth greatly exceeded that expected from SO2 oxidation, indicating the formation of organic particulate mass. In plumes that were enhanced in VOCs but not in SO2, and in the plume of the Houston urban center, no particle volume growth with increasing plume oxidation was detected. Since substantial particle volume growth was associated only with SO2-rich plumes, these results suggest that photochemical oxidation of SO2 is the key process regulating particle mass growth in all the studied plumes in this region. However, uptake of organic matter probably contributes substantially to particle mass in petrochemical plumes rich in both SO2 and VOCs. Quantitative studies of particle formation and growth in photochemical systems containing nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2 ), VOCs, and SO2 are recommended to extend those previously made in NOx-VOC systems

Reference procedures for the measurement of gaseous emissions from livestock houses and stores of animal manure.

In the ten years before the EMILI 2012 symposium, gaseous losses from animal farms became increasingly important in the m edia. The paradox of this tendency was the great number of publications, scientific or not, even though the emissions of most animal farms had never been measured. Therefor e, the development of reference tools to measure greenhouse gas and ammonia emissio ns was important. Such tools allow recognition and remuneration of the best pract ices and equipment. Accordingly, ADEME funded an international project associating several research and development organizations involved with the animal production chain. The project proposed an initial set of 18 procedures to measure ammonia and greenho use gas emissions from animal houses and manure stores. These were adapted to the diversity of animal farms found throughout the world. Some methods were compared duri ng a ?building? and a ?liquid manure? experiment. Results showed a high difference among methods (ca. 80%), much higher than the estimated uncertainty. Associat ing independent emission measurements, together with a mass balance of the system, is necessary for the reliability of further results. However, previously published references lack uncertainty estimates of measurements that conform to GUM 2008. In the coming years, this is one of the major concerns for measuring emission factor s. Uncertainty estimates should depend on the measurand (temporal: hourly, per batch, yearly; spatial: animal, house, national) and include the uncertainties associated with system representativity and temporal interpolation.Edited by Mélynda Hassouna and Nadine Guingand