887 research outputs found
Enabling Self-aware Smart Buildings by Augmented Reality
Conventional HVAC control systems are usually incognizant of the physical
structures and materials of buildings. These systems merely follow pre-set HVAC
control logic based on abstract building thermal response models, which are
rough approximations to true physical models, ignoring dynamic spatial
variations in built environments. To enable more accurate and responsive HVAC
control, this paper introduces the notion of "self-aware" smart buildings, such
that buildings are able to explicitly construct physical models of themselves
(e.g., incorporating building structures and materials, and thermal flow
dynamics). The question is how to enable self-aware buildings that
automatically acquire dynamic knowledge of themselves. This paper presents a
novel approach using "augmented reality". The extensive user-environment
interactions in augmented reality not only can provide intuitive user
interfaces for building systems, but also can capture the physical structures
and possibly materials of buildings accurately to enable real-time building
simulation and control. This paper presents a building system prototype
incorporating augmented reality, and discusses its applications.Comment: This paper appears in ACM International Conference on Future Energy
Systems (e-Energy), 201
Satellite based methane emission estimation for flaring activities in oil and gas industry: A data-driven approach(SMEEF-OGI)
Klimaendringer, delvis utlÞst av klimagassutslipp, utgjÞr en kritisk global utfordring. Metan, en svÊrt potent drivhusgass med et globalt oppvarmings potensial pÄ 80 ganger karbondioksid, er en betydelig bidragsyter til denne krisen. Kilder til metanutslipp inkluderer olje- og gassindustrien, landbruket og avfallshÄndteringen, med fakling i olje- og gassindustrien som en betydelig utslippskilde.
Fakling, en standard prosess i olje- og gassindustrien, antas ofte Ä vÊre 98 % effektiv ved omdannelse av metan til mindre skadelig karbondioksid. Nyere forskning fra University of Michigan, Stanford, Environmental Defense Fund og Scientific Aviation indikerer imidlertid at den allment aksepterte effektiviteten pÄ 98 % av fakling ved konvertering av metan til karbondioksid, en mindre skadelig klimagass, kan vÊre unÞyaktig. Denne undersÞkelsen revurderer fakkelprosessens effektivitet og dens rolle i metankonvertering.
Dette arbeidet fokuserer pÄ Ä lage en metode for uavhengig Ä beregne metanutslipp fra olje- og gassvirksomhet for Ä lÞse dette problemet. Satellittdata, som er et nyttig verktÞy for Ä beregne klimagassutslipp fra ulike kilder, er inkludert i den foreslÄtte metodikken. I tillegg til standard overvÄkingsteknikker, tilbyr satellittdata en uavhengig, ikke-pÄtrengende, rimelig og kontinuerlig overvÄkingstilnÊrming.
PĂ„ bakgrunn av dette er problemstillingen for dette arbeidet fĂžlgende
"Hvordan kan en datadrevet tilnÊrming utvikles for Ä forbedre nÞyaktigheten og kvaliteten pÄ estimering av metanutslipp fra faklingsaktiviteter i olje- og gassindustrien, ved Ä bruke satellittdata fra utvalgte plattformer for Ä oppdage og kvantifisere fremtidige utslipp basert pÄ maskinlÊring mer effektivt?"
For Ä oppnÄ dette ble fÞlgende mÄl og aktiviteter utfÞrt.
* Teoretisk rammeverk og sentrale begreper
* Teknisk gjennomgang av dagens toppmoderne satellittplattformer og eksisterende litteratur.
* Utvikling av et Proof of Concept
* ForeslÄ en evaluering av metoden
* Anbefalinger og videre arbeid
Dette arbeidet har tatt i bruk en systematisk tilnÊrming, som starter med et omfattende teoretisk rammeverk for Ä forstÄ bruken av fakling, de miljÞmessige implikasjonene av metan, den nÄvÊrende «state-of-the-art» av forskning, og «state-of-the-art» i felt for fjernmÄling via satellitter.
Basert pÄ rammeverket utviklet i de innledende fasene av dette arbeidet, ble det formulert en datadrevet metodikk, som benytter VIIRS-datasettet for Ä fÄ geografiske omrÄder av interesse. Hyperspektrale data og metandata ble samlet fra Sentinel-2 og Sentinel-5P satellittdatasettet. Denne informasjonen ble behandlet via en foreslÄtt rÞrledning, med innledende justering og forbedring. I dette arbeidet ble bildene forbedret ved Ä beregne den normaliserte brennindeksen.
Resultatet var et datasett som inneholdt plasseringen av kjente fakkelsteder, med data fra bÄde Sentinel-2 og Sentinel-5P-satellitten.
Resultatene understreker forskjellene i dekningen mellom Sentinel-2- og Sentinel-5P-data, en faktor som potensielt kan pÄvirke nÞyaktigheten av metanutslippsestimater. De anvendte forbehandlingsteknikkene forbedret dataklarheten og brukervennligheten markant, men deres effektivitet kan avhenge av fakkelstedenes spesifikke egenskaper og rÄdatakvaliteten. Dessuten, til tross for visse begrensninger, ga kombinasjonen av Sentinel-2 og Sentinel-5P-data effektivt et omfattende datasett egnet for videre analyse.
Avslutningsvis introduserer dette prosjektet en oppmuntrende metodikk for Ä estimere metanutslipp fra fakling i olje- og gassindustrien. Den legger et grunnleggende springbrett for fremtidig forskning, og forbedrer kontinuerlig presisjonen og kvaliteten pÄ data for Ä bekjempe klimaendringer. Denne metodikken kan sees i flytskjemaet nedenfor.
Basert pÄ arbeidet som er gjort i dette prosjektet, kan fremtidig arbeid fokusere pÄ Ä innlemme alternative kilder til metan data, utvide interesseomrÄdene gjennom industrisamarbeid og forsÞke Ä trekke ut ytterligere detaljer gjennom bildesegmenteringsmetoder. Dette prosjektet legger et grunnlag, og baner vei for pÄfÞlgende utforskninger Ä bygge videre pÄ.Climate change, precipitated in part by greenhouse gas emissions, presents a critical global challenge. Methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 80 times that of carbon dioxide, is a significant contributor to this crisis. Sources of methane emissions include the oil and gas industry, agriculture, and waste management, with flaring in the oil and gas industry constituting a significant emission source.
Flaring, a standard process in the Oil and gas industry is often assumed to be 98% efficient when converting methane to less harmful carbon dioxide. However, recent research from the University of Michigan, Stanford, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Scientific Aviation indicates that the widely accepted 98% efficiency of flaring in converting methane to carbon dioxide, a less harmful greenhouse gas, may be inaccurate. This investigation reevaluates the flaring process's efficiency and its role in methane conversion.
This work focuses on creating a method to independently calculate methane emissions from oil and gas activities to solve this issue. Satellite data, which is a helpful tool for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from various sources, is included in the suggested methodology. In addition to standard monitoring techniques, satellite data offers an independent, non-intrusive, affordable, and continuous monitoring approach.
Based on this, the problem statement for this work is the following
âHow can a data-driven approach be developed to enhance the accuracy and quality of methane emission estimation from flaring activities in the Oil and Gas industry, using satellite data from selected platforms to detect and quantify future emissions based on Machine learning more effectively?"
To achieve this, the following objectives and activities were performed.
* Theoretical Framework and key concepts
* Technical review of the current state-of-the-art satellite platforms and existing literature.
* Development of a Proof of Concept
* Proposing an evaluation of the method
* Recommendations and further work
This work has adopted a systematic approach, starting with a comprehensive theoretical framework to understand the utilization of flaring, the environmental implications of methane, the current state-of-the-art of research, and the state-of-the-art in the field of remote sensing via satellites.
Based upon the framework developed during the initial phases of this work, a data-driven methodology was formulated, utilizing the VIIRS dataset to get geographical areas of interest. Hyperspectral and methane data were aggregated from the Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P satellite dataset. This information was processed via a proposed pipeline, with initial alignment and enhancement. In this work, the images were enhanced by calculating the Normalized Burn Index.
The result was a dataset containing the location of known flare sites, with data from both the Sentinel-2, and the Sentinel-5P satellite.
The results underscore the disparities in coverage between Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P data, a factor that could potentially influence the precision of methane emission estimates. The applied preprocessing techniques markedly enhanced data clarity and usability, but their efficacy may hinge on the flaring sites' specific characteristics and the raw data quality. Moreover, despite certain limitations, the combination of Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P data effectively yielded a comprehensive dataset suitable for further analysis.
In conclusion, this project introduces an encouraging methodology for estimating methane emissions from flaring activities within the oil and gas industry. It lays a foundational steppingstone for future research, continually enhancing the precision and quality of data in combating climate change. This methodology can be seen in the flow chart below.
Based on the work done in this project, future work could focus on incorporating alternative sources of methane data, broadening the areas of interest through industry collaboration, and attempting to extract further features through image segmentation methods. This project signifies a start, paving the way for subsequent explorations to build upon.
Climate change, precipitated in part by greenhouse gas emissions, presents a critical global challenge. Methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 80 times that of carbon dioxide, is a significant contributor to this crisis. Sources of methane emissions include the oil and gas industry, agriculture, and waste management, with flaring in the oil and gas industry constituting a significant emission source.
Flaring, a standard process in the Oil and gas industry is often assumed to be 98% efficient when converting methane to less harmful carbon dioxide. However, recent research from the University of Michigan, Stanford, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Scientific Aviation indicates that the widely accepted 98% efficiency of flaring in converting methane to carbon dioxide, a less harmful greenhouse gas, may be inaccurate. This investigation reevaluates the flaring process's efficiency and its role in methane conversion.
This work focuses on creating a method to independently calculate methane emissions from oil and gas activities to solve this issue. Satellite data, which is a helpful tool for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from various sources, is included in the suggested methodology. In addition to standard monitoring techniques, satellite data offers an independent, non-intrusive, affordable, and continuous monitoring approach.
Based on this, the problem statement for this work is the following
âHow can a data-driven approach be developed to enhance the accuracy and quality of methane emission estimation from flaring activities in the Oil and Gas industry, using satellite data from selected platforms to detect and quantify future emissions based on Machine learning more effectively?"
To achieve this, the following objectives and activities were performed.
* Theoretical Framework and key concepts
* Technical review of the current state-of-the-art satellite platforms and existing literature.
* Development of a Proof of Concept
* Proposing an evaluation of the method
* Recommendations and further work
This work has adopted a systematic approach, starting with a comprehensive theoretical framework to understand the utilization of flaring, the environmental implications of methane, the current state-of-the-art of research, and the state-of-the-art in the field of remote sensing via satellites.
Based upon the framework developed during the initial phases of this work, a data-driven methodology was formulated, utilizing the VIIRS dataset to get geographical areas of interest. Hyperspectral and methane data were aggregated from the Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P satellite dataset. This information was processed via a proposed pipeline, with initial alignment and enhancement. In this work, the images were enhanced by calculating the Normalized Burn Index.
The result was a dataset containing the location of known flare sites, with data from both the Sentinel-2, and the Sentinel-5P satellite.
The results underscore the disparities in coverage between Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P data, a factor that could potentially influence the precision of methane emission estimates. The applied preprocessing techniques markedly enhanced data clarity and usability, but their efficacy may hinge on the flaring sites' specific characteristics and the raw data quality. Moreover, despite certain limitations, the combination of Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P data effectively yielded a comprehensive dataset suitable for further analysis.
In conclusion, this project introduces an encouraging methodology for estimating methane emissions from flaring activities within the oil and gas industry. It lays a foundational steppingstone for future research, continually enhancing the precision and quality of data in combating climate change. This methodology can be seen in the flow chart below.
Based on the work done in this project, future work could focus on incorporating alternative sources of methane data, broadening the areas of interest through industry collaboration, and attempting to extract further features through image segmentation methods. This project signifies a start, paving the way for subsequent explorations to build upon
Moderating effect of social support on personal financial constraints and job stress relationship
The aim of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of social support (which may be supervisory, friends, family and relatives) on the relationship of personal financial constraints and job stress relationship. Sample consists of 294 respondents from randomly selected 28 branches of 22 banks located across all major cities of Pakistan. Moderated regression analysis has been used to test the hypothesized relationships. Personal financial constraints enhance job stress and social support moderates this relationship. Job stress increases when an employee faces financial constraints but decreases in the presence of social support. Practical and theoretical implications are drawn. This research is conducted in banking industry, so its results canât be generalized to other industries. This paper is the first which examines the impact of a non-work related variable, personal financial constraint on job stress along with buffering role of social support. Its findings have great implications for employers for increasing productivity of employees.Job stress, personal financial constraints, social support, moderating, banking, Pakistan
Dynamism in the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from Pakistan
One of the main caveats of Pakistanâs economic development
history is the persistence of gender inequality with respect to almost
all socioeconomic indicators. For instance, Pakistan ranks 66, out of 75
countries, with respect to the Gender Empowerment Measure (Human
Development Report, 2006) with a GEM value of 0.377, largely a
manifestation of very low estimated female to male earned income ratio,
which is a depressing 0.29. GEM and other labour force statistics
confirm the gender gap in labour force participation. One of the
possible explanations of this gender gap is gender discrimination in the
labour market, particularly in wages. Evidence with respect to gender
discrimination in Pakistanâs labour market is welldocumented. Siddique,
et al. (2006), Nasir and Nazli (2000), Siddique, et al. (1998) and
Ashraf and Ashraf (1993) all confirm that men earn higher wages than
women even after controlling for measurable characteristics affecting
their productivity. These studies, however, analyse the gender wage gap
by comparing the mean male/female wage. Studies which compare the gender
wage gap at different points along the wage distribution are not
available for Pakistan
Province-wise Growth Patterns in Human Capital Accumulation
It is apparent from various labour force surveys that during
the past 20 years Pakistanâs employed labour force has become more
âeducatedâ. For instance, according to the Labour Force Survey 1982-83,
28 percent of the employed labour force had attained formal education.12
In comparison, the literate employed labour force in 1999- 2000 is
estimated at 46 percent, while the formally educated is 43 percent.
However, the pattern of growth in educated labour force is not uniform
in all four provinces of the country. A closer look at disaggregated
provincial level data reflects the disparity in employed labour force in
the four provinces: Punjab, Sind, NWFP, and Baluchistan
Surgery transformations and spectral estimates of beam operators
We introduce type vertex conditions for beam operators, the fourth
derivative operator, on metric graphs and study the effect of certain
geometrical alterations (graph surgery) of the graph on the spectra of beam
operators on compact metric graphs. Results are obtained for a class of vertex
conditions which can be seen as an analogue of {\delta} vertex conditions for
quantum graphs. There are a number of possible candidates of {\delta} type
conditions for beam operators. We develop surgery principles and record the
monotonicity properties of the spectrum, keeping in view the possibility that
vertex conditions may change within the same class after certain graph
alterations. We also demonstrate the applications of surgery principles by
obtaining several lower and upper estimates on the eigenvalues
Renal and visceral protection in thoracoabdominal aortic surgery
ObjectivesOpen thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair traditionally carries substantial perioperative morbidity and mortality, primarily from distal aortic ischemia. Advances in surgical techniques, adjuncts, and strategies have greatly improved outcomes.MethodsWe analyzed outcomes of 1267 open consecutive TAAA repairs between January 2005 and September 2013. We provided cold crystalloid renal perfusion whenever the renal ostia were accessible; according to extent of repair, we selectively used left heart bypass and provided isothermic blood to the celiac axis and superior mesenteric artery. Repair was extensive (Crawford extent I and II) in 717 cases (57%). Left heart bypass was used in 645 (51%) cases, cold crystalloid renal perfusion in 987 (78%), and isothermic visceral perfusion in 318 (25%). Additional patient-specific surgical adjuncts included endarterectomy of renal or visceral vessels, open stent placement within these vessels, or use of both techniques; at least one was used in 447 repairs (35%).ResultsThirty-day survival was 95% (1198/1267); overall operative mortality was 8% (104/1267). Acute renal dysfunction occurred in 155 (12%), renal failure requiring hemodialysis at hospital discharge in 84 (7%), and bowel ischemia in 9 (<1%). Extent II and III TAAA repairs carried the highest risks of postoperative renal dysfunction and renal failure requiring hemodialysis at hospital discharge.ConclusionsContemporary protective strategies allow open TAAA repair with substantially fewer renal and visceral ischemic complications. Although bowel ischemia is uncommon, renal failure remains a concern, especially in extent II and extent III TAAA repairs. Additional studies are needed to identify and improve renal protection strategies
Respuesta del sector pĂșblico y privado a los fondos mutuos en PakistĂĄn utilizando la regresiĂłn logĂstica binaria
To study the influence of risk perception, socio-economic environments, return perception, venality level, a revolution in investment scheme and awareness about investor behavior-based mutual funds. The result of this primary survey from Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad based on 460 questionnaire responses with snowball sampling. From all over the Pakistan individual investors were included in our population. Results from the study reveal that investors could behave confidently with innovative investment schemes, awareness, criteria of preference for an investor. These solid reasons could enhance the investor base mutual funds. While some factors having adverse effects on the behavior of investors such as venality level, perception of returns and precarious institutional factors. Whereas gender, level of education, saving level are social demographics which could affect the behavior of investors positively towards the mutual fund investment although age having a negative effect. This study inferring the management of mutual funds, regulators and investors. While these results highlight the inadequacy of awareness in a certain section of society. Therefore, for awareness of old age people, females considered more explicitly to collect an extensive period of investment of mutual funds. And to put a stronghold on the roots of venality level regulators to control the adverse effects of management.Estudiar la influencia de la percepciĂłn del riesgo, los entornos socioeconĂłmicos, la percepciĂłn del rendimiento, el nivel de venalidad, una revoluciĂłn en el esquema de inversiĂłn y la conciencia sobre los fondos mutuos basados ââen el comportamiento de los inversores. El resultado de esta encuesta primaria de Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad basada en 460 respuestas al cuestionario con muestreo de bola de nieve. De todo el PakistĂĄn, se incluyeron inversores individuales en nuestra poblaciĂłn. Los resultados del estudio revelan que los inversores podrĂan comportarse con confianza con esquemas de inversiĂłn innovadores, conciencia, criterios de preferencia para un inversor. Estas razones sĂłlidas podrĂan mejorar la base de inversores de fondos mutuos. Si bien algunos factores tienen efectos adversos en el comportamiento de los inversores, como el nivel de venalidad, la percepciĂłn de los rendimientos y los factores institucionales precarios. Mientras que el gĂ©nero, el nivel de educaciĂłn y el nivel de ahorro son datos demogrĂĄficos sociales que podrĂan afectar positivamente el comportamiento de los inversores hacia la inversiĂłn de fondos mutuos, aunque la edad tenga un efecto negativo. Este estudio infiere la gestiĂłn de fondos mutuos, reguladores e inversores. Si bien estos resultados destacan la insuficiencia de la conciencia en un determinado sector de la sociedad. Por lo tanto, para concienciar a las personas de edad avanzada, las mujeres consideran mĂĄs explĂcitamente recaudar un extenso perĂodo de inversiĂłn de fondos mutuos. Y para poner una fortaleza en las raĂces de los reguladores de nivel de venalidad para controlar los efectos adversos de la gestiĂłn
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