Search Results (14)

Technological advances continually reduce the effort to digitally transform health-related activities such as rehabilitation and training. Exemplary systems use tracking and vital sign monitoring to assess physical condition and training progress. This paper presents a system for body stability training and coordination evaluation, using cost-efficient tracking and monitoring solutions. It implements the use case of app-guided back posture tracking on the ICAROS Pro training device via SteamVR Tracking 2.0, with pulse and respiration rate monitoring via Zephyr BioHarness 3.0. A longitudinal study on training effects with 20 subjects was conducted, involving a representative procedure created with a sports manager. Posture errors served as the main progress indicator, and pulse and respiration rates as co-indicators. Outcomes suggest the system’s capabilities to foster comprehension of effects and steering of exercises. Further, a secondary study presents a self-developed VR-based exergame demo for future system expansion. The Empatica EmbracePlus smartwatch was used as an alternative for vital sign acquisition. The user experiences of five subjects gathered via a survey highlight its motivating and entertaining character. For both the main and secondary studies, a thorough discussion elaborates on potentials and current limitations. The developed training system can serve as template and be adjusted for further use cases, and the exergame’s reception revealed prospective extension directions. Software components are available via GitHub. Full article

Eye-movement assessment is a key component of neurological evaluation, offering valuable insights into neural deficits and underlying mechanisms. This narrative review explores the emerging subject of digital eye-movement outcomes (DEMOs) and their potential as sensitive biomarkers for neurological impairment. Eye tracking has become a useful method for investigating visual system functioning, attentional processes, and cognitive mechanisms. Abnormalities in eye movements, such as altered saccadic patterns or impaired smooth pursuit, can act as important diagnostic indicators for various neurological conditions. The non-invasive nature, cost-effectiveness, and ease of implementation of modern eye-tracking systems makes it particularly attractive in both clinical and research settings. Advanced digital eye-tracking technologies and analytical methods enable precise quantification of eye-movement parameters, complementing subjective clinical evaluations with objective data. This review examines how DEMOs could contribute to the localisation and diagnosis of neural impairments, potentially serving as useful biomarkers. By comprehensively exploring the role of eye-movement assessment, this review aims to highlight the common eye-movement deficits seen in neurological injury and disease by using the examples of mild traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s Disease. This review also aims to enhance the understanding of the potential use of DEMOs in diagnosis, monitoring, and management of neurological disorders, ultimately improving patient care and deepening our understanding of complex neurological processes. Furthermore, we consider the broader implications of this technology in unravelling the complexities of visual processing, attention mechanisms, and cognitive functions. This review summarises how DEMOs could reshape our understanding of brain health and allow for more targeted and effective neurological interventions. Full article

With the development of new construction technology, increasing attention is being paid to 3D printing due to its construction efficiency as well as its sustainability. Numerous researchers have determined its benefits in cost reduction, resource savings, safety assurance, etc. Although various advantages have been identified, there are limitations and challenges in technology implementation. Especially since it is a new construction method, 3D printing construction projects will have a very different supply chain compared to traditional projects. As part of a research programme investigating the 3D printing construction supply chain in a New Zealand context, this study systematically analysed the research about 3D printing adoption and supply chain challenges in the construction sector. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was adopted as the guideline for literature selection. PRISMA is designed to assist researchers in reporting the review research focus and methodology, and examining the findings from published literature. NVivo was then adopted to code and analyse the selected publications to gather the data necessary for our study. The literature was analysed from the perspectives of the research focus, research methods, and findings. Studies about 3D printing implementation, benefits and barriers, as well as its significance are also analysed. As a result, this research found existing research gaps, including the fragmented situation of management-related research in the 3D printing construction sector, insufficient research in top management for 3D printing construction implementation, and changes to supply chain management practices in 3D printing construction projects. A decision support system demo for supply chain management is drafted in this paper, which requires further study. The research outcome highlighted the existing studies in 3D printing construction implementation and supply chain, and initiated a research topic on supply chain decision making. The result contributes to the theoretical and practical development of 3D printing technology in the construction industry. This review paper also inspires future studies on supply chain frameworks and theoretical models. Full article

Ridesharing is part of the innovative shared transport regime which aims to maximize the utilization of mobility resources. Gaining knowledge of ridesharing’s impacts and how to assess them can significantly improve such services and thus contribute to their adoption among broader groups of travelers and to travel behavior change. This paper presents the framework deployed for assessing the impacts of a first-/last-mile ridesharing pilot in Athens, Greece, and capturing stakeholders’ (i.e., a researcher organization, a public authority and an infrastructure provider) point of view about planning objectives. Four impact areas are defined in total, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used. In parallel, in order to understand the stakeholder priorities when designing ridesharing services, the Analytical Hierarchical Process is implemented to estimate weights for each impact area. Increasing rail ridership is considered the top priority for all stakeholders during the planning phase for a first-/last-mile ridesharing service, which may have various implications for future initiatives. In total, 28 participants used the ridesharing service as drivers and passengers during the demonstration period. Results show that although a ridesharing service is expected to be an asset in daily transport for city travelers, the technological constraints currently burden its usage. However, as supported by demo results and travelers’ experience, there is great potential of ridesharing to contribute to a sustainable transport system and serve as a first- and last-mile solution to public transport. Full article

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is an innovative mobility service that aims to redesign the future of urban mobility by integrating multi-modal transportation and app-based technologies to enable seamless urban mobility. While MaaS pilot demonstrations and schemes implementation have taken place in different cities at a global level, and relevant studies focus on the MaaS barriers and users’ characteristics, the planning process for implementing MaaS is rarely presented. This paper summarizes the services to be integrated into the MaaS Athens’ demo site in Greece and describes the planning process that was followed to showcase the demo. The demo site is located within the urban area of Athens, including a public transport operator, a bike-sharing service, a taxi operator, and a municipality public transport operator. The demonstration runs developments in a real corridor that has the potential to prepare the MaaS eco-system deployment and market uptake. Three travel cases are planned: (1) Multimodal work trip; (2) MaaS for tourists; and (3) Interurban/urban interfaces, for work and shopping/leisure trips. The user journeys are defined in detail and the main information for each user journey is presented. The study concludes with challenges that were faced during the demo planning and recommendations for achieving the MaaS goals. Full article

In the EU, the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Breeding Blanket (BB) concept is one of the candidates for the design of the DEMO reactor. From the past campaign of analysis emerged that the thermal-induced stress led to the failure in the verification of the RCC-MRx structural criteria. Hence, in this paper the classic conceptual design approach, based on a pure FEM thermal and structural analysis, is compared to a coupled thermofluid-dynamic/structural one. Even though the coupled approach requires tremendous modelling effort and computational burden, it surely allows determining the thermal field with a higher level of detail than the FEM analysis. Therefore, in this work, the focus is put on the impact of a more detailed thermal field on the DEMO WCLL BB global structural performances, focusing on the Top Cap region of its Central Outboard Blanket segment. The obtained results have allowed confirming the soundness of the design solution of the Top Cap region, except for concerns arising on the mass flow rate distribution. Moreover, results have shown that, globally, the pure FEM approach allows for obtaining more conservative results than the coupled one. This is a positive outcome in sight of the follow-up of the DEMO WCLL BB design, as it will be still possible adopting the pure FEM approach to quickly down-select design alternatives, using the most onerous coupled approach to finalise the most promising. Full article

The outcome of the electromagnetic (EM) analyses carried out during the DEMO pre-conceptual phase demonstrated that EM loads are relevant for the structural assessment of the breeding blanket (BB) and, in particular, for the definition of the boundary conditions at the attachment system with the vacuum vessel. However, within the scope of the previous campaign, the results obtained using simplified models only give a rough estimation of the EM loads inside the BB structure. This kind of data has been considered suitable for a preliminary assessment of the BB segments, but it is not considered representative as input for structural analysis in which a detailed BB internal structure (that considers cooling channels, thin plates, etc.) is analyzed. Indeed, mesh dimensions and computational time usually limit EM models that simulate a whole DEMO sector. In many cases, these constraints lead to a strong homogenization of the BB structure, not allowing the calculation of the EM loads on the internal structure with high precision. To overcome such limitations, an EM sub-modeling procedure was investigated using ANSYS EMAG. The sub-modeling feasibility is studied using the rigid boundary condition method. This method consists of running a global “coarse” mesh, including all the conducting structures that can have some impact on the component under investigation and inputting the obtained results on the detailed sub-model of the structure of interest as time-varying boundary conditions. The procedure was tested on the BB internal structure, taking as reference a DEMO 2017 baseline sector and the helium cooled pebble bed (HCPB) concept with its complex internal structure made by pins. The obtained results show that the method is also reliable in the presence of non-linear magnetic behaviour. The methodology is proposed for application in future BB system assessments. Full article

This study investigated the effects of integrating the “CloudClassRoom” (CCR) and the DEmo-CO-design/teach-feedback-DEbriefing (DECODE) model to improve pre-service teachers’ online technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). The DECODE model includes four stages: Teacher’s DEmonstrations, Students CO-train in using CloudClassRoom, Students CO-design a CloudClassRoom-integrated course, Students CO-teach, and finally DE-brief what they have learned through the stages mentioned above. This model integrates teacher-student experiences, teaching-learning processes, and technology-embedded systems to promote collaborative and active learning, information and resources sharing, and creative communication. A self-evaluating questionnaire with open-ended questions evaluated participants’ technological pedagogical and content knowledge outcomes. CloudClassRoom significantly increases technology-related knowledge considering the current social distancing measures provoked by COVID-19. The findings show that DECODE with CloudClassRoom provides an integrated process for improving pre-service teachers’ technological pedagogical and content knowledge, assisting pre-service teachers in designing educational technology-integrated courses. Full article

In the frame of the pre-conceptual design activities of the DEMO work package DIV-1 “Divertor Cassette Design and Integration” of the EUROfusion program, a mock-up of the divertor outer vertical target (OVT) was built, mainly in order to: (i) demonstrate the technical feasibility of manufacturing procedures; (ii) verify the hydraulic design and its capability to ensure a uniform and proper cooling for the plasma facing units (PFUs) with an acceptable pressure drop; and (iii) experimentally validate the computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model developed by the University of Palermo. In this context, a research campaign was jointly carried out by the University of Palermo and ENEA to experimentally and theoretically assess the hydraulic performances of the OVT mock-up, paying particular attention to the coolant distribution among the PFUs and the total pressure drop across the inlet and outlet sections of the mock-up. The paper presents the results of the steady-state hydraulic experimental test campaign performed at ENEA Brasimone Research Center as well as the relevant numerical analyses performed at the Department of Engineering at the University of Palermo. The test facility, the experimental apparatus, the test matrix and the experimental results, as well as the theoretical model, its assumptions, and the analyses outcomes are herewith reported and critically discussed. Full article

Introduction: The clinical outcome of different chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) phenotypes is still unclear. Objectives: This study was designed to detect the effect of different COPD phenotypes on disease outcomes. Material and methods: One hundred stable COPD patients were included. They were divided into 3 phenotypes; 45 patients in exacerbator phenotype, 37 patients in non-exacerbator, and 18 patients in asthma COPD overlap (ACO) phenotype. Patient demo-graphics, respiratory symptoms, grading of COPD, co-morbidities, spirometry, six minute walk test, and systemic inflammatory markers were measured. Also, exacerbation frequency and severity were assessed throughout the study period. Results: COPD Assessment Test (CAT) score was significantly higher in exacerbator phenotype versus the other phenotypes(14.7 ± 1.5; p = 0.04).In addition, about 60% and 42% of exacerbator phenotype were in Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) class D and C respectively which were significantly higher than the other phenotypes(p = 0.001), while 58% and 50% of non-exacerbator and ACO patients respectively were in class B of GOLD. Twenty eight percent of patients of ACO had no comorbidity and this was significantly higher versus the other phenotypes (p = 0.03), while 40% of non-exacerbator had one comorbidity (p = 0.003) and 86% of exacerbator had ≥ 2 comorbidities (p = 0.002). COPD comorbidity index was significantly higher in exacerbator phenotype (2.5 ± 0.8; p = 0.01). Although patients of exacerbator phenotype had more and severe form of exacerbations than the other phenotypes, no significant difference in in-hospital outcome was found (p = 0.3). Conclusions: Exacerbator phenotype has worse disease outcome than those of non-exacerbator and ACO phenotypes. These results support the need for more treatment options to alleviate the morbidity of COPD especially among exacerbator phenotype. Full article

The Breeding Blanket (BB) is one of the key components of the European Demonstration (EU-DEMO) fusion reactor. Its main subsystems, the Breeder Zone (BZ) and the First Wall (FW), are cooled by two independent cooling circuits, called Primary Heat Transfer Systems (PHTS). Evaluating the BB PHTS performances in anticipated transient and accident conditions is a relevant issue for the design of these cooling systems. Within the framework of the EUROfusion Work Package Breeding Blanket, it was performed a thermal-hydraulic analysis of the PHTS during transient conditions belonging to the category of “Decrease in Coolant System Flow Rate”, by using Reactor Excursion Leak Analysis Program (RELAP5) Mod3.3. The BB, the PHTS circuits, the BZ Once Through Steam Generators and the FW Heat Exchangers were included in the study. Selected transients consist in partial and complete Loss of Flow Accident (LOFA) involving either the BZ or the FW PHTS Main Coolant Pumps (MCPs). The influence of the loss of off-site power, combined with the accident occurrence, was also investigated. The transient analysis was performed with the aim of design improvement. The current practice of a standard Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) was adopted to propose and study actuation logics related to each accidental scenario. The appropriateness of the current PHTS design was demonstrated by simulation outcomes. Full article

The present paper describes the experimental campaign executed at the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre aiming at supporting the development of a PbLi/water heat exchanger suitable for the lithium–lead loops of the dual coolant lithium lead and the water cooled lithium lead breeding blankets of the EU DEMO fusion reactor. The experiments were performed in a test section named HERO, installed inside the main vessel of the lead–bismuth eutectic-cooled pool-type facility CIRCE. The test section hosts a steam generator bayonet tube mock-up in relevant scale, which was selected as a promising configuration for DEMO purposes. For the thermal-hydraulic characterization of the component, five tests were executed at different water pressures (6, 8, 12 MPa, two tests at 10 MPa), and liquid metal flow rates (40, 33, 27, 20, 10 kg/s). The experimental outcomes proved the technological feasibility of this novel steam generator and its suitability for the DEMO PbLi loops. The activity was completed with a post-test analysis using two versions of the system code RELAP5. Because the experiments were executed with lead–bismuth eutectic, a scaling analysis is proposed to find the equivalence with PbLi. RELAP5 code was applied to recalculate the experimental data using PbLi as working fluid. Full article

There is a multitude of experimentation, pilot and demonstration projects across Europe aiming to reconfigure energy consumption and production systems. Demo-projects and experiments have been recognized as important instruments to implement sustainability transitions in practice. Transition scholars have done much to clarify how we should understand experiments and pilot projects, focusing on involved actors, what is learned, and how the knowledge is used. In this paper we study two pilot project and discuss their qualities as sites that bundle new systemic properties, technologies, regulations, business models and user practices in new ways. We discuss these cases as new configurations with promising transformative implications. The two cases studied are a Norwegian and an Austrian smart grid demonstration. Both cases represent companies that have transformed their relation to and participation in the transport system as an outcome of pilot projects and experiments. The study analyses the complexity of factors influencing the effectiveness and success of these reconfigurations in providing destabilization and change within until now relatively stable regimes. Full article

Entropy applications in hydrometric network design problems have been extensively studied in the most recent decade. Although many studies have successfully found the optimal networks, there have been assumptions which could not be logically integrated into their methodology. One of the major assumptions is the uncertainty that can arise from data processing, such as time series simulation for the potential stations, and the necessary data quantization in entropy calculations. This paper introduces a methodology called ensemble-based dual entropy and multiobjective optimization (EnDEMO), which considers uncertainty from the ensemble generation of the input data. The suggested methodology was applied to design hydrometric networks in the Nelson-Churchill River Basin in central Canada. First, the current network was evaluated by transinformation analysis. Then, the optimal networks were explored using the traditional deterministic network design method and the newly proposed ensemble-based method. Result comparison showed that the most frequently selected stations by EnDEMO were fewer and appeared more reliable for practical use. The maps of station selection frequency from both DEMO and EnDEMO allowed us to identify preferential locations for additional stations; however, EnDEMO provided a more robust outcome than the traditional approach. Full article