An Autonomous Surface Vehicle for Long Term Operations

Environmental monitoring of marine environments presents several challenges: the harshness of the environment, the often remote location, and most importantly, the vast area it covers. Manual operations are time consuming, often dangerous, and labor intensive. Operations from oceanographic vessels are costly and limited to open seas and generally deeper bodies of water. In addition, with lake, river, and ocean shoreline being a finite resource, waterfront property presents an ever increasing valued commodity, requiring exploration and continued monitoring of remote waterways. In order to efficiently explore and monitor currently known marine environments as well as reach and explore remote areas of interest, we present a design of an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) with the power to cover large areas, the payload capacity to carry sufficient power and sensor equipment, and enough fuel to remain on task for extended periods. An analysis of the design and a discussion on lessons learned during deployments is presented in this paper.Comment: In proceedings of MTS/IEEE OCEANS, 2018, Charlesto

1H, 15N and 13C resonance assignments of the HR1c domain of PRK1, a protein kinase C-related kinase.

Funder: A.G. Levintis FoundationPRK1 is a member of the protein kinase C-related kinase (PRK) family of serine/threonine kinases and a downstream effector of Rho GTPases. PRK1 has three N-terminal Homology Region 1 (HR1) domains (HR1a, HR1b and HR1c), which form antiparallel coiled coils that interact with Rho family GTPases. PRK1 also has a C2-like domain that targets it to the plasma membrane and a kinase domain, which is a member of the protein kinase C superfamily. PRK1 is involved in cytoskeletal regulation, cell adhesion, cell cycle progression and the immune response, and is implicated in cancer. There is currently no structural information for the HR1c domain. The 1H, 15N and 13C NMR backbone and sidechain resonance assignment of the HR1c domain presented here forms the basis for this domain's structural characterisation. This work will also enable studies of interactions between the three HR1 domains in an effort to obtain structural insight into the regulation of PRK1 activity

Investigation and determination of the geothermal parameters of the ground in Cyprus for the exploitation of geothermal energy and the impact of the results in the design of the geothermal systems

The Energy Service of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism has the overall responsibility for Energy matters in Cyprus and specifically for preparing and implementing programmes for energy conservation, the promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) and the development of technologies for the utilization of RES. The Government of Cyprus being aware of the benefits of geothermal energy and in order to increase the share of energy from renewable sources consumed in heating and cooling in 2020, promotes the geothermal energy systems through a Scheme that provides financial incentives for the utilization of RES for heating and cooling. However, the lack of valid data for the ground thermal properties in Cyprus was one of the main obstacles for the design of efficient geothermal systems, the implementation of the Schemes in the field of geothermal energy and the calculation of the share of energy from renewable sources for heating and cooling according to the methodology defined by the E.U in the directive 2009/28/EC. In an effort to identify suitable energy efficient systems for heating and cooling of buildings and the correct calculations of their contribution to the national targets, the Energy Service participated in a project founded by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus to investigate and determine the geothermal parameters of the ground of Cyprus at six representative sites in Cyprus, for use in the design of ground heat exchanger applications and ground thermal storage. The paper presents the importance of the Isothermal map that helps consultants to design efficiently geothermal energy systems, calculate effectively heat losses of buildings to the ground and design the thermal energy storage equipment. The importance’s of the results are analyzed by national authorities’ experts’ point of view for evaluating geothermal applications bridging in this way the gap between technical output and commercial reality

Dyslexia and English as a foreign language

According to Richardson (1992), dyslexia means a specific language disorder that involves difficulties with reading and often an associated impediment with the spoken word and/or writing. Dyslexia is a very broad subject with many aspects of study. Thus, this research paper will only concentrate on a specific issue: the spelling difficulties that young Greek-Cypriot dyslexics face when they try to learn English as a foreign language.After defining dyslexia the spelling difficulties that dyslexics face with their native language will be referred. Moreover, a reference will be made to how the educational system treats these children. Then, a great importance will be given (a) on the spelling problems faced by dyslexics when they learn English as a foreign language, (b) on how we can help those children to cope with their difficulties.Finally, an examination of the actual difficulties that Greek-Cypriot dyslexics face will be exemplified by means of original data and will indicate how the theory corresponds to reality

Geothermal properties of the ground in Cyprus and their effect on the efficiency of ground coupled heat pumps

Presented at World Renewable Energy Congress XI, 2010, 25-30 September, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesA Project funded by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus was undertaken by the Cyprus University of Technology and other collaborators, to investigate and determine the geothermal parameters of the ground in Cyprus since such information is currently unavailable. The purpose of this paper is to report on the ground temperatures collected by now, at the six representative sites in relation to depth, time of the year, structure of the ground and altitude and report on their impact on the efficiency of Ground Coupled Heat Pumps. Every month since October 2009, the temperature of the ground is being recorded along the depth of the boreholes. It is anticipated that the project will be completed by the end of 2010 and geothermal information will be collected and reported for all six locations. The data collected until now clearly indicate that there is a potential for the efficient use of GCHPs in Cyprus leading to significant savings in power

The geothermal characteristics of the ground and the potential of using ground coupled heat pumps in Cyprus

The ground can be used as an energy source, an energy sink, or for energy storage and for this reason ground characteristics should be available. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to present the recorded ground temperatures at eight representative sites of Cyprus, in relation to depth, time of year, geology and altitude and discuss the efficiency of Ground Coupled Heat Pumps. The ground temperature was recorded for a period of one year, from October 2009 to October 2010. According to the results obtained, in several locations in Cyprus the surface zone reaches a depth of 0.5 m. The shallow zone penetrates to 7–8 m and there after the deep zone follows in which the temperature remains constant throughout the year with a range between 18 and 23 °C. For the eight boreholes, additional geothermal data were also recorded like the type of ground and thermal conductivities of the various geologic layers. The data collected clearly indicate that there is a potential for the efficient use of Ground Coupled Heat Pumps (GCHPs) in Cyprus leading to significant savings in heating and cooling energy consumptio

Comparison of the thermal characteristics and temperature profile of the ground in Cyprus with other Mediterranean countries

The purpose of this study is to record and compare the ground temperatures and other thermal characteristics of the ground at eight representative sites in Cyprus with other studies both in the island and the nearby Mediterranean countries. Paul Morgan in the 1970s measured the geothermal gradient in 33 boreholes in Cyprus. Since then, the thermal behaviour of the ground has not been sufficiently studied and recorded, especially in inhabited areas, resulting in limited information for the design of ground heat exchangers and its effect on the efficiency of Ground Coupled Heat Pumps (GCHPs). As simulation studies indicate the ground temperature is one of the main system parameters that affect the performance of GCHPs. Measurements carried out on the representative locations in Cyprus show that the surface zone reaches a depth of 0.5m. The shallow zone penetrates to 7-8 m and there after the deep zone follows. Also the temperature of the ground at the deep zone has a range between 18-23 °C and is usually higher than that of the ambient air during the cold months of the year and lower during the warm months, showing suitable temperatures for the efficient use of GCHPs. Ground temperatures in Cyprus are lower than those examined in Jordan and higher than the ones in Portugal