The Economic Impact of a New Type of Ripening Chamber in Traditional Cheese Manufacturing

A new prototype of a ripening chamber was proposed in the CFD4CHEESE project aiming to evaluate the application of computational fluid dynamics in the optimization of traditional cheeses ripening conditions. With the purpose of evaluating the possible impact on the energy cost of cheese ripening in three Portuguese regions (Setúbal, Évora, and Beja), we demonstrated the potential economic benefits of the prototype. The proposed automation process would imply higher productive efficiency, reducing the consumption of water and electricity. The simple consideration of the reduction of electricity costs is enough to recover the investment needed to have the new ripening chambers, meaning that the investment is economically viable. In addition to the economic impact in firms, which are mostly small and medium firms, our results also contribute to an increase on the sustainable use of natural resources.

Art and Space

The duo “art and space” looks very easy to understand: art interacts with spaces, uses spaces, or simply fills spaces. However, starting from this simple consideration, what this chapter would like to propose is a reflection about a kind of art that creates spaces and places instead, expanding the discussion about the interdisciplinary approach of artists to creation. Considering the works of some artists that have made the intervention on spaces one of their prerogatives, the research focuses on the new connections that arise between the artist and the public through these creations. The imagery of Yayoi Kusama, Tomas Saraceno, Anish Kapoor, Cristina Iglesias, Carsten Nicolai, Rudolf Stingel, among others, allows a different perception, most of time asking to the spectator itself an active part in the work of art. The chapter offers a specific case study dedicated to the work of the Dutch artist Krijn de Koning.

Union

A simple consideration of God’s relation to space is insufficient to elucidate God’s omnipresence. God can be not just present at a space but also present with and to a person occupying that space. In addition, the assumption of a human nature ensures that God is never without the ability to empathize with human persons and to mind-read them. In the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God can be more powerfully present with a human person in grace than any human person could be. In the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God’s union with a human person is a matter of God’s being present with a human person in grace as much as eternal divine power permits and mutual love allows. The implementation of this union to the fullest degree possible in this life (and the next) is the end to which the atonement is the means.

A Design Based Approach to Material Selection for Advanced High Temperature Reactor Components

Material selection decisions for advanced reactor concepts are frequently based on simple consideration of required wall thickness for a particular component and the resultant cost based on averaged cost per unit, usually by weight. However, this approach does not take into consideration the overall impact of other material properties on design feasibility. An example would be the interrelated roles of thermal conductivity, thermal expansion and creep-strength on the design of components to withstand cyclic and sustained loading. The problem is that this would nominally require a detailed design and loading definition. However, as presented herein, a meaningful comparison can be achieved by selective evaluation of the ratios of the material properties required to achieve a particular performance goal for a particular design objective; for example, the relative ability to accommodate axial thermal gradients in a pressurized cylindrical vessel. This paper covers the development of such critical parametric ratios for a number of component elements and loadings and illustrates their application.

Art and Space

The duo “Art and Space” looks very easy to understand: art interacts with spaces, uses spaces or simply fills spaces. However, starting from this simple consideration, what this chapter would like to propose is a reflection about a kind of art that creates spaces and places instead, expanding the discussion about the interdisciplinary approach of artists to creation. Considering the works of some artist that have made the intervention on spaces one of their prerogatives, the research would like to focus on the new connections that arise between the artist and the public through these creations. The imagery of Yayoi Kusama, Tomas Saraceno, Anish Kapoor, Cristina Iglesias, Carsten Nicolai, Rudolf Stingel, among others, allows a different perception and fruition, most of time asking to the spectator itself to be an active part in the work of art.

A Study on the Safety Criteria for Dike and Slope Exposed to Vibration

Problems and flaws of existing safety criteria for vibration are reviewed. A simple consideration of particle vibration velocity cannot fully reflect the inherent law of effects of explosion earthquake on structures. Sometimes the occurrence of explosions exceeding the standard velocity for safety will not necessarily cause damage to structures and those below the standard velocity for safety may destroy structures. For this reason, the free vibration frequency of structures and the safety margin of the structure should be considered. Based on safe, practical and convenient conditions, that in respect of safety criteria for dike and slope exposed to vibration, two indicators, i.e., stability factor of dike and slope and vibration velocity of particle, can be used to determine the effect of vibration on them is proposed. That is to say, pseudo-static method is adopted to make vibration inertia force equivalent to a static force on slope bars and then strength reduction method or limit equilibrium method is used to calculate the safety factor, which can directly evaluate the stability of slope. In combination with the particle vibration velocity given in specifications, the safety of dike and slope can be determined. Lastly, specific engineering cases are used to validate the rationality of this criterion. This method can serve as a reference for similar projects

MALAKITE: AN AUTOMATIC TOOL FOR CHARACTERISATION OF STRUCTURE OF RELIABLE BLOCKS IN MULTIPLE ALIGNMENTS OF PROTEIN SEQUENCES

It makes sense to speak of alignment of protein sequences only within the regions, where the sequences are related to each other. This simple consideration is often disregarded by programs of multiple alignment construction. A package for alignment analysis MAlAKiTE (Multiple Alignment Automatic Kinship Tiling Engine) is introduced. It aims to find the blocks of reliable alignment, which contain related regions only, within the whole alignment and allows for dealing with them. The validity of the detection of reliable blocks' was verified by comparison with structural data.

Statistical Prediction of Weekly Tropical Cyclone Activity in the Southern Hemisphere

A statistical prediction scheme, employing logistic regression, is developed to predict the probability of tropical cyclone (TC) formation in zones of the Southern Hemisphere during forthcoming weeks. Through physical reasoning, examination of previous research, and some new analysis, five predictors were chosen for this purpose: one representing the climatological seasonal cycle of TC activity in each zone, two representing the eastward propagation of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), and a further two representing the leading patterns of interannual sea surface temperature variability in the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Cross-validated hindcasts were generated, being careful to use the predictors at lags that replicate what can be performed in real time. All predictors contribute significantly to the skill of the hindcasts for at least some leads in the majority of zones. In particular, it is found that inclusion of indices of the MJO as predictors leads to increased skill out to about the third week. Beyond the third week, the skill asymptotically approaches that which can be achieved through consideration of the seasonal cycle and interannual variability alone. Furthermore, the importance of a simple consideration of the seasonal cycle of TC activity for intraseasonal TC prediction, for all forecast leads, is demonstrated.