Radiation-cooled Dew Water Condensers Studied by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD)

Harvesting condensed atmospheric vapour as dew water can be an alternative or complementary potable water resource in specific arid or insular areas. Such radiation-cooled condensing devices use already existing flat surfaces (roofs) or innovative structures with more complex shapes to enhance the dew yield. The Computational Fluid Dynamic - CFD - software PHOENICS has been programmed and applied to such radiation cooled condensers. For this purpose, the sky radiation is previously integrated and averaged for each structure. The radiative balance is then included in the CFD simulation tool to compare the efficiency of the different structures under various meteorological parameters, for complex or simple shapes and at various scales. It has been used to precise different structures before construction. (1) a 7.32 m^2 funnel shape was studied; a 30 degree tilted angle (60 degree cone half-angle) was computed to be the best compromise for funnel cooling. Compared to a 1 m^2 flat condenser, the cooling efficiency was expected to be improved by 40%. Seventeen months measurements in outdoor tests presented a 138 % increased dew yield as compared to the 1 m^2 flat condenser. (2) The simulation results for 5 various condenser shapes were also compared with experimental measurement on corresponding pilots systems: 0.16 m^2 flat planar condenser, 1 m^2 and 30 degree tilted planar condenser, 30 m^2 and 30 degree tilted planar condenser, 255 m^2 multi ridges, a preliminary construction of a large scale dew plant being implemented in the Kutch area (Gujarat, India)

Fog and Dew Collection Projects in Croatia

The present paper discusses the fog and dew water collection in Croatia. Zavizan, the highest meteorological station in Croatia(1594m) is chosen for collecting of fog water with a standard fog collector (SFC). The highest daily collection rate was 27.8 L / m2. The highest daily collection rate in days without rain was 19.1 l/m2. Dew is also a noticeable source of water, especially during the drier summer season. Dew condensers in Croatia have been installed on the Adriatic coast (Zadar) and islands Vis and Bisevo. We report and discuss the data collected since 2003. In the small Bisevo island, a special roof has been designed to improve the formation and collection of dew on a house. Data from April 2005 will be presented and discussed.Comment: accessible sur http://balwois.mpl.ird.fr/balwois/administration/full_paper/ffp-587.pd

Fog and Dew as Potable Water Resources: Maximizing Harvesting Potential and Water Quality Concerns

Fog and dew are often viewed as economic nuisances causing significant financial losses in the transportation industry and agricultural sector. However, they are also critical components of the hydrological cycle, especially in water scarce environments. Water scarcity is one of the major threats to mankind in the 21st century, and this can be due to development pressures, pollution, and/or expanding populations. In water scarce environments, fog and dew represent potentially exploitable ancillary water resources that could ameliorate the water scarce situation, if efficiently harvested. However, two important issues are often overlooked in relation to fog and dew harvesting and potability. First, current fog and dew harvesting technologies are low yielding with great potential for improvements. Second and more importantly, the potability of these water resources is often based on simple analyses that often omit trace metal and biological analyses. The few studies that report trace metal or biological measurements suggest elevated trace metal concentrations or biological contamination that could be of concern to public health. We discuss the potential for fog and dew harvesting technologies and the need for trace metal and biological analyses of these waters before use

A citizen-centred approach to education in the smart city: incidental language learning for supporting the inclusion of recent migrants

Smart cities are often developed in a top-down approach and designers may see citizens as bits within data flows. A more human-centred perspective would be to consider what the smart city might afford its citizens. A high speed, pervasive network infrastructure offers the opportunity for ubiquitous mobile learning to become a reality. The MASELTOV project sees the smart city as enabling technology enhanced incidental learning: unplanned or unintentional learning that takes place in everyday life, in any place, at any time, with the city itself the context and the prompt for learning episodes. Migrants in particular will benefit: limited in their opportunity to attend formal education yet with a pressing need for language learning to support their integration. Incidental learning services, like smart city planning, need interdisciplinary communication for successful development. We describe the MASELTOV Incidental Learning Framework which will act as a boundary object to facilitate this process.

A produção sobre aprendizagem informal nas organizações no Brasil: mapeando o terreno e rastreando possibilidades futuras

A aprendizagem informal é entendida como aquela baseada na experiência intencional, mas não formalmente estruturada; induzida por um processo de reflexão crítica, ação, pró-atividade e criatividade; incrustada no contexto organizacional e nas práticas cotidianas. Pode ser planejada ou não, embora envolva algum grau de consciência de quem aprende. Sua relevância para o ambiente de trabalho tem sido atestada por vários autores. Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar, descrever e analisar a produção a respeito dessa temática no Brasil, no período de 2006 a 2012. O conjunto de 21 artigos selecionados para fazer parte desta revisão reúne estudos teóricos e empíricos publicados em periódicos nacionais da área de Administração e avaliados com conceito B2 ou superior pelo WebQualis da CAPES. O estudo envolveu duas etapas. Numa primeira etapa definiram-se as fontes de dados e amostra a ser trabalhada. Uma segunda etapa consistiu na análise dos artigos a partir das seguintes dimensões: foco dos estudos (origem, tema e objetivos), nível de aprendizagem, autores referenciados, perspectivas teóricas, posicionamentos epistemológicos, tipos de pesquisa, dados de contexto da produção e principais achados. Os resultados mostram uma produção dispersa que ainda precisa ser aprimorada em relação aos arcabouços teóricos tomados como referência para o aprofundamento do tema

Source water, phenology and growth of two tropical dry forest tree species growing on shallow karst soils

Seasonally dry tropical forests are dominated by deciduous and evergreen tree species with a wide range of leaf phenology. We hypothesized that Piscidia piscipula is able to extend leaf senescence until later in the dry season due to deeper and more reliable water sources than Gymnopodium floribundum, which loses leaves earlier in the dry season. Physiological performance was assessed as timing of leaf production and loss, growth, leaf water potential, depth of water uptake determined by stable isotopes, and leaf stable isotopic composition of carbon (δ¹³C) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O). P. piscipula took water primarily from shallow sources, whereas G. floribundum took water from shallow and deep sources. The greatest variation in water sources occurred during the onset of the dry season, when G. floribundum was shedding old leaves and growing new leaves, but P. piscipula maintained its leaves from the previous wet season. P. piscipula showed greater relative growth rate, greater leaf expansion rates, and more negative predawn and midday water potentials than G. floribundum. P. piscipula also exhibited greater leaf organic δ¹³C and lower δ¹⁸O values, indicating that the decrease in photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination was associated with greater stomatal conductance and greater photosynthesis. Our results indicate that the contrasting early and late dry season leaf loss phenology of these two species is not simply determined by rooting depth, but rather a more complicated suite of characteristics based on opportunistic use of dynamic water sources, maximizing carbon gain, and maintenance of water potential during the dry season

The use of virtual reality in patients with eating disorders: Systematic review

© Damien Clus, Mark Erik Larsen, Christophe Lemey, Sofian Berrouiguet. Background: Patients with eating disorders are characterized by pathological eating habits and a tendency to overestimate their weight and body shape. Virtual reality shows promise for the evaluation and management of patients with eating disorders. This technology, when accepted by this population, allows immersion in virtual environments, assessment, and therapeutic approaches, by exposing users to high-calorie foods or changes in body shape. Objective: To better understand the value of virtual reality, we conducted a review of the literature, including clinical studies proposing the use of virtual reality for the evaluation and management of patients with eating disorders. Methods: We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science up to April 2017. We created the list of keywords based on two domains: virtual reality and eating disorders. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to identify, select, and critically appraise relevant research while minimizing bias. Results: The initial database searches identified 311 articles, 149 of which we removed as duplicates. We analyzed the resulting set of 26 unique studies that met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 8 studies were randomized controlled trials, 13 were nonrandomized studies, and 5 were clinical trials with only 1 participant. Most articles focused on clinical populations (19/26, 73%), with the remainder reporting case-control studies (7/26, 27%). Most of the studies used visual immersive equipment (16/26, 62%) with a head-mounted display (15/16, 94%). Two main areas of interest emerged from these studies: virtual work on patients' body image (7/26, 27%) and exposure to virtual food stimuli (10/26, 38%). Conclusions: We conducted a broad analysis of studies on the use of virtual reality in patients with eating disorders. This review of the literature showed that virtual reality is an acceptable and promising therapeutic tool for patients with eating disorders

Roofs as dew collectors: III. Special Polyethylene foil on a school in Sayara (NW India)

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