Seakeeping index as generalized indicator of ship seakeeping performance

Object and purpose of research. This paper discusses the possibility of a ship design process that would consider seakeeping performance to the greatest extent possible. The purpose of this study was to work out a numerical indicator, an index, reflecting all the seakeeping properties relevant for suitability of given ship to its intended operational conditions. Materials and methods. The study was based on the data about various operational parameters of the ship under investigation. These data were further synthesized so as to obtain the most comprehensive picture of ship seakeeping behaviour in different operational conditions. Main results. The study yielded the method and the algorithm for the “seakeeping index” as an average annual probability that seakeeping performance of given ship will be adequate to the conditions of given water area. The method sug-gested in this paper for a generalized comparison of seakeeping properties can handle whatever variety of target parameters and whatever seakeeping standards for any kind of ship intended to operate in given water area, and the result of this comparison is given in form of a single number that can be further used to improve seakeeping parameters of given ship, as well as to estimate possible time of its fully-featured operation in given conditions, including cost efficiency analysis. Conclusion. For more accurate comparison, it is recommended to analyse target parameters as functions of both ship speed and wave heading angle keeping in mind that the assumption introduced, i.e. that these curves as functions of wave heading angle are cosines, is not necessarily true. In other words, it is recommended to rely on more accurate data, experimental or analytical, so as to take into account the effect of apparent frequencies upon these curves.

Determining the absolute sustainability of products with case studies on laundry and food production

In this work, a new metric called ‘Service-weighted Product Level Absolute Sustainability’ is proposed as a numerical indicator to determine if a product is sustainable. The service offered by a product was found to be crucial to normalize its environmental impact and permit comparisons between products. Service-weighted Product Level Absolute Sustainability is demonstrated here with examples of water use for laundry and food production. The maximum justifiable environmental impact of these products has been calculated based on their performance, i.e., the quantity of clothes washed or nutritional content. Now the environmental impact of products can be rationalized as either sustainable or unsustainable, informing sustainable choices by manufacturers as well as consumers.

New approaches to multiciterial evaluation of alternatives in decision-making

This work is devoted to the development of mathematical models that make it possible to generalize the data obtained in the multicriteria assessment of alternatives when making decisions under certainty conditions. A typical problem in multi-criteria assessment is the integration of particular criteria-based assessments of alternatives into some integral indicator reflecting the degree of attractiveness of alternatives. Traditionally, for these purposes, an additive method was used, which consists in the fact that the final assessment of the alternative is the sum of the assessments by the criteria, possibly multiplied by the weights of the criteria. However, this approach has a number of significant disadvantages, which include the following. When evaluating alternatives, such an indicator of their validity as feasibility is not taken into account, which leads to a distortion of the result due to too simple or difficult criteria. Evaluations of alternatives by qualitative and attributive criteria are subjective, since they are obtained by expert methods, which introduces subjectivity into the integral assessment of the alternative. The integral assessment of an alternative depends on the composition and number of assessed alternatives and on the set of assessment criteria. To eliminate the second drawback, a model for evaluating qualitative alternatives is proposed, which implies the introduction of a certain numerical indicator for a qualitative criterion, which for each alternative have a different meaning, while the attractiveness of the alternative depends on the indicator value. The set of alternatives in relation to the indicator is considered fuzzy, with the belonging function depending on the indicator.

The Method of Creating and Measuring the Printability of Fine-Grained Concrete

One of the factors hindering the normal development of additive construction technologies is the lack of reasonable methods for evaluating the suitability of mixtures for printing. This makes it almost impossible to compare remotely the compositions of different developers, makes it difficult to develop equipment and regulatory documentation, without which it is impossible to complete industrial production. The paper considers the feasibility of introducing the concept of “printability” of compositions and “rheological technological index of mixtures” as a numerical indicator for its evaluation. The design of the device for determining the rheological technological index is described. The developed device has a low cost of production, is linked to standard equipment of construction laboratories and emulates the main types of effects on the mixture during the extrusion process. The effective method for ensuring the printability of fine-grained concretes is considered based on the joint use of traditional plasticizing additives with entrained agents – foaming agents for cellular concretes. The effect of these additives is realized at different scale levels (micro-and mesolevels (cement paste) – traditional superplasticizers; macro-level (fine aggregate) - entrained agents), which together provides high rheological technological indices and effectiveness of mixtures with increased amounts of sand, low W/C ratios and small dosages of these additives. The use of additional mineral or organic rheology modifiers that increase the cost of the mixture is not required in this case. The structural features and basic properties of the developed composites are studied, allowing making comparisons with the solutions of other developers, assessing the prospects of the proposed method of ensuring printability, and outlining directions for its further improvement.

Some Issues Quantifying Low-carbon of an Achievement Energy and Industry

In this work, for use as a unified tool within the framework of ISO 50001, a methodology for rating assessment of the processing of emissions with global pollutants is proposed, which was developed by the authors and recommended for use by state documents of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. It is distinguished by the absence of not transparences elements. As the initial data, the actual background concentrations (according to WMO data), the annual ceiling of greenhouse gas emissions and the maximum permissible emissions of toxic compounds, information on the characteristics of emission sources are taken for the enterprise, and as operational constants, the global warming potentials of greenhouse gases (GWP100) and officially approved values of maximum permissible concentrations of toxic compounds (MPC). The method is based on the equation (presented here at annotation in a simplified form), which gives a numerical indicator (rating) R of the efficiency of a production facility in terms of hazardous emissions into the atmosphere, taking into account greenhouse gases and energy costs arising from their removal. Currently, the technique is adapted to the energy sector; for wider adaptation to various industries, a low-carbon rating program has been drawn up for boiler houses, thermal power plants and industrial enterprises. It also meets the needs of understanding and predicting possible deviations of emission parameters from the standardized indicators. Therefore, it can serve as a tool within the framework of ISO 50001, providing objective control over the choice of means to ensure compliance with the requirements for harmful components emissions including greenhouse gases in the design and modernization of production facilities. The developed program is embedded for Russian enterprises in the shell of the ‘1C: Enterprise’ platform – a software product for automating accounting and management at enterprises. The program can also be used in the software shell of the automated accounting of the activities of a particular organization in a one or the other country.

Proposal for the application of a quality indicator to medico-legal consultations in the field of medical liability.

Introduction: In recent decades, the number of professional liability disputes has increased, especially in the civil sector. In these liability assessments, medico-legal experts have become the linchpin. Law No. 24/2017, concerning professional liability in Italy, requires that guidelines and best practices be established to identify the necessary elements for writing expert reports in the legal sector. Materials and methods: The authors have created a numerical indicator to be applied to 150 legal expert reports on professional liability, enabling them to evaluate the methodological quality of those reports. The results are then compared with the outcome of the legal proceedings in order to establish the suitability of this quality index for evaluating the work of medico-legal experts. Results : Of the 150 reports considered, 14 were scored inadequate, 75 adequate and 31 good. These inadequate (according to the indicator) reports presented a higher probability of being scored inadequate in court proceedings, compared to the risk of inadequacy of all the reports OR 4.6 (95% CI 1.25 - 16.90). This probability significantly increased on comparing the inadequate reports with the adequate OR 5.6 (95% CI 1.28 - 24.41), and the inadequate with the good OR 7.73 (95% CI 1.50 - 39.87). Discussion: Application of the proposed indicator is simple and produces a high-quality result, thus ensuring an accurate and tenable appraisal of methodological quality. Conclusion: The indicator proposed serves as a useful starting point for creating the necessary methodological standards for medico-legal experts in the field of professional liability as recommended by Law No. 24/2017.

Impact of Building Orientation on Daylight Availability and Energy Savings Potential in an Academic Classroom

In this paper, daylight availability depending on building orientation in a typical educational classroom was investigated. Measurements of daylight illuminance distributions in the room depth for different illuminance outside the building allowed to determine the conditions when the luminaires in a classroom could be turned off, turned on, or dimmed. The outdoor daylight illuminance on the south-east and north façade of the building was recorded and the numbers of hours per year of university activity during which the lighting had to be switched on (up to 100% or brightened) were determined. Based on these numbers and luminaires powers the electricity consumption for lighting was estimated. It was proven that by using dimming control depending on daylight distribution in a room, comparable energy savings could be achieved for different building orientations. These savings of over 30% were greater than through the implementation of on/off control which, for a south-east oriented classroom reached about 28% and for a north-oriented one they were two times lower. Economic analysis showed payback time for dimming control around two years, which was longer than for on/off control. The electricity consumption estimated experimentally was also compared with the lighting energy numerical indicator (LENI) calculated according the standard EN 15193 1: 2017.

A quantitative grading system of vesicoureteral reflux by contrastenhanced voiding urosonography

Aims: Contrast-enhanced voiding urosonography (ceVUS) is a well-established imaging modality for the diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). However, discrepancies of grading diagnosis of VUR exist due to the qualitative grading criteria currently used in clinics. This study aimed to evaluate numerical markers for a quantitative VUR grading system.Material and methods: CeVUS images of grade II-VVUR were analysed. A quantitative indicator, i.e. sectional area ratio (SAR), on the imaging section with maximum cross-section area and the presence of kidney hilum was calculated to distinguish different grades of VUR. The diagnostic performance of SAR was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, and the maximum Youden Index was used to determine the optimal cut-off values.Results: A total of 63 patients with 126 PelviUreteral Units were enrolled. The SAR value increased significantly along with the increase of VUR grade. SAR had an excellent diagnostic performance in grading VUR. For differentiating VUR of grade II vs III, III vs IV and IV vs V, the area under the ROC curve values of SAR were 0.967, 0.943 and 0.865, respectively, while the optimal SAR cut-off values were 14.3%, 34.9% and 51.0%, respectively. The quantitative grading system based on the optimal SAR cut-off values showed excellent consistency with the qualitative grading system of VUR currently used in clinic.Conclusions: The numerical indicator SAR calculated from ceVUS may be used to establish a quantitative VUR grading system with excellent diagnostic performance and can potentially serve as a reliable tool for the evaluation and follow-up of VUR.