On-site measurement & monitoring by NDT in infrastructures

The purpose of the article is to improve procedures of computerized monitoring and control of technological processes of growing greenhouse crops by substantiating methods of improving the accuracy of computer-integrated devices for measuring irrigation solution acidity. The article solves the topical scientific and applied problem of determining the conversion characteristics of computerized acidity monitoring systems with integral and differential assessment of their metrological parameters. Theoretical and experimental studies were obtained based on structural-algorithmic synthesis methods for information-measuring systems; methods of mathematical planning of experiments; regression analysis of experimental data and the concept of uncertainty. The computerized acidity meter was implemented on the basis of an ion-selective pH electrode, Arduino microprocessor platform, and ThingSpeak cloud computing service. The relative total boundary uncertainty of acidity measurement is not more than ±1.1 %. Methods of compensating of the random component of uncertainty based on the median filtering algorithm and additional uncertainty from the destabilizing effect of temperature were introduced when implementing the measuring device. Promising areas of priority research to improve the efficiency of the developed computerized acidity meter were justified. The developed device can be used in the complex automation of greenhouse cultivation processes. The developed and implemented measuring tool can be used when planning agricultural operations in greenhouse conditions.

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Protocols for the measurement, monitoring, and reporting of structure, biomass, carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions in tropical peat swamp forests

10.17528/cifor/006429 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Kauffman J.B. ◽

Arifanti V.B. ◽

Basuki I. ◽

Kurnianto S. ◽

Novita N. ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Biomass Carbon ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Measurement Monitoring ◽

Tropical Peat ◽

Peat Swamp ◽

Tropical Peat Swamp

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The promise of a four-day week? A critical appraisal of a management-led initiative

Employee Relations ◽

10.1108/er-02-2021-0056 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Helen Delaney ◽

Catherine Casey

Keyword(s):

Financial Services ◽

Working Hours ◽

Business Case ◽

Work Hours ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Content Type ◽

Services Sector ◽

Measurement Monitoring ◽

Critical Scrutiny

PurposeThis article critically investigates a management-led experiment to institute a four-day work week with stated intentions of improving productivity and worker wellbeing. The article analyses the framing and implementation of the reduced work hours (RWH) trial, the responses of employees and the outcomes and implications of the trial. It raises concerns regarding the managerial appropriation of employee aspirations for more autonomy over time and improved work life.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a qualitative case study of a medium-sized company operating in the financial services sector in New Zealand. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees.FindingsOur study finds that the promise of a four-day week attracted employee favour and individualised benefits. However, entrenched managerialist practices of performance measurement, monitoring and productivity pressures were intensified. Pro-social and collective interests evident in labour-led campaigns were absent. We urge greater critical scrutiny into seemingly advantageous “business case” initiatives for reduced work hours.Originality/valueLittle is known about what happens to concern for social and employee interests entailed in reduced working hours initiatives when a management-led initiative is implemented. Indeed, the majority of research focuses on the macro-level rather than interrogating the “black box” of firms. Our inquiry contributes to these debates by asking, how does a management-led RWH initiative affect employees?

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FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF UWB SIGNAL IN A BEATING HEART

Biomedical Engineering Applications Basis and Communications ◽

10.4015/s1016237220500416 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 2050041

Author(s):

Kedar Nath Sahu ◽

Challa Dhanunjaya Naidu ◽

Ravindharan Ethiraj ◽

Jaya Sankar Kottareddygari

Keyword(s):

Transmission Coefficient ◽

Pulse Propagation ◽

Continuous Wave ◽

Power Transmission ◽

Cardiac Activity ◽

Ultra Wideband ◽

Human Beings ◽

Rescue Operation ◽

Modeling And Analysis ◽

Measurement Monitoring

The measurement, monitoring of heartbeat and its rate are necessary to know the health of the heart of human beings. In addition, they are needed for extended applications like criminal investigation, law enforcement, defense and military usage, search, rescue operation, etc. The ultra-wideband (UWB) radars found growing interest in recent years as they are able to overcome the limitations of continuous-wave (CW) Doppler radars in detecting human heartbeat. Modeling and analysis of the UWB pulse propagation behavior through a human body is important before developing a practical UWB radar. Several researchers have estimated the reflected signals to study if their variations correlate with the heartbeat rate. However, the reflected signal strength carrying Doppler information received at the radar after a two-way propagation of the RF signal was found to be too weak for detection. This paper presents (i) a model for UWB wave propagation through a human thorax and (ii) estimation via simulation, of transmission coefficient at various frequencies in the UWB range 1–10[Formula: see text]GHz using CST Microwave Studio. The study clearly indicates that the variation of power transmission coefficient of UWB signal has a strong correlation to the instantaneous dimension of the heart in a cardiac cycle, a feature that can be exploited in detecting cardiac activity of human being using radar-based principles.

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