scholarly journals Assessment of Subsampling Strategies in Microspectroscopy of Environmental Microplastic Samples

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Brandt ◽  
Franziska Fischer ◽  
Elisavet Kanaki ◽  
Kristina Enders ◽  
Matthias Labrenz ◽  
...  

The analysis of environmental occurrence of microplastic (MP) particles has gained notable attention within the past decade. An effective risk assessment of MP litter requires elucidating sources of MP particles, their pathways of distribution and, ultimately, sinks. Therefore, sampling has to be done in high frequency, both spatially and temporally, resulting in a high number of samples to analyze. Microspectroscopy techniques, such as FTIR imaging or Raman particle measurements allow an accurate analysis of MP particles regarding their chemical classification and size. However, these methods are time-consuming, which gives motivation to establish subsampling protocols that require measuring less particles, while still obtaining reliable results. The challenge regarding the subsampling of environmental MP samples lies in the heterogeneity of MP types and the relatively low numbers of target particles. Herein, we present a comprehensive assessment of different proposed subsampling methods on a selection of real-world samples from different environmental compartments. The methods are analyzed and compared with respect to resulting MP count errors, which eventually allows giving recommendations for staying within acceptable error margins. Our results are based on measurements with Raman microspectroscopy, but are applicable to any other analysis technique. We show that the subsampling-errors are mainly due to statistical counting errors (i.e., extrapolation from low numbers) and only in edge cases additionally impacted by inhomogeneous distribution of particles on the filters. Keeping the subsampling-errors low can mainly be realized by increasing the fraction of MP particles in the samples.

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Reid ◽  
J. Taborek

Heat recovery heat exchangers with gas as one of the streams depend on the use of finned tubes to compensate for the inherently low gas heat transfer coefficient. Standard frequency welded “plain” fins were generally used in the past, until the high-frequency resistance welding technology permitted a cost-effective manufacture of “segmented” fins. The main advantage of this fin design (Fig. 1) is that it permits higher heat flux and hence smaller, lighter weight units for most operating conditions. While the criteria that dictate optimum design, such as compactness, weight, and cost per unit area favor the segmented fin design, a few other considerations such as fouling, ease of cleaning, and availability of dependable design methods have to be considered. This paper analyzes the performance parameters that affect the selection of either fin type.


Author(s):  
Don R. Reid ◽  
Jerry Taborek

Heat recovery heat exchangers with gas as one of the streams depend on the use of finned tubes to compensate for the inherently low gas heat transfer coefficient. Standard frequency welded “plain” fins were generally used in the past, until the high frequency resistance welding technology permitted a cost-effective manufacture of “segmented” fins. The main advantage of this fin design (Fig. 1) is that it permits higher heat flux and hence smaller, lighter weight units for most operating conditions. While the criteria which dictate optimum design, such as compactness, weight and cost per unit area favor the segmented fin design, a few other considerations such as fouling, ease of cleaning and availability of dependable design methods have to be considered. This paper analyzes the performance parameters which affect the selection of either fin type.


2020 ◽  
pp. 133-139
Author(s):  
Sanatan Ratna ◽  
B Kumar

In the past few decades, there has been lot of focus on the issue of sustainability. This has occurred due to the growing concerns related to climate change and the growing awareness about environmental concerns. Also, the competition at global level has led to the search for the most sustainable route in the industries. The current research work deals with the selection of green supplier in a Nickle coating industry based on certain weighted green attributes. For this purpose, a hybrid tool comprising of Fuzzy AHP (Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy) and VIKOR (VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) is used. The Fuzzy AHP is used for assigning proper weights to the selected criteria for supplier evaluation, while VIKOR is used for final supplier selection based on the weighted criteria. The three criterions for green supplier selection are, Ecological packaging, Corporate socio-environmental responsibility and Staff Training. The outcome of the integrated model may serve as a steppingstone to other SMEs in different sectors for selecting the most suitable supplier for addressing the sustainability issue.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelby Devina ◽  
Waluyo Waluyo

The objective of this research was to examine the effect of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, speed, security and privacy and readiness technology tax payers information to e-Filing usage. The object of this study is the individual tax payers in Tangerang City, Karawaci District. The selection of the sample is determined based on convenience sampling method. Data used in this study was primary data, id est: questionnaires. The respondent in this study were 110. Data analysis technique in this study using multiple linear regression. The result of this study were (1) perceived usefulness have a significant impact towards e-Filing usage; (2) perceived ease of use have a significant impact towards e-Filing usage; (3) speed does not have a significant impact towards e-Filing usage; (4) security and privacy does not have a significant impact towards e-Filing usage; (5) readiness technology tax payers information does not have a significant impact towards e-Filing usage; (6) perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, speed, security and privacy and readiness technology tax payers information all simultaneously, have a significant impact towards e-Filing usage. Keywords: e-Filing usage, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, readiness technology tax payers information, security and privacy.


Author(s):  
John Hunsley ◽  
Eric J. Mash

Evidence-based assessment relies on research and theory to inform the selection of constructs to be assessed for a specific assessment purpose, the methods and measures to be used in the assessment, and the manner in which the assessment process unfolds. An evidence-based approach to clinical assessment necessitates the recognition that, even when evidence-based instruments are used, the assessment process is a decision-making task in which hypotheses must be iteratively formulated and tested. In this chapter, we review (a) the progress that has been made in developing an evidence-based approach to clinical assessment in the past decade and (b) the many challenges that lie ahead if clinical assessment is to be truly evidence-based.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross M. Lawrence ◽  
Eric W. Bridgeford ◽  
Patrick E. Myers ◽  
Ganesh C. Arvapalli ◽  
Sandhya C. Ramachandran ◽  
...  

AbstractUsing brain atlases to localize regions of interest is a requirement for making neuroscientifically valid statistical inferences. These atlases, represented in volumetric or surface coordinate spaces, can describe brain topology from a variety of perspectives. Although many human brain atlases have circulated the field over the past fifty years, limited effort has been devoted to their standardization. Standardization can facilitate consistency and transparency with respect to orientation, resolution, labeling scheme, file storage format, and coordinate space designation. Our group has worked to consolidate an extensive selection of popular human brain atlases into a single, curated, open-source library, where they are stored following a standardized protocol with accompanying metadata, which can serve as the basis for future atlases. The repository containing the atlases, the specification, as well as relevant transformation functions is available in the neuroparc OSF registered repository or https://github.com/neurodata/neuroparc.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayoshi Ishii ◽  
Nobuhito Mori

Abstract A large-ensemble climate simulation database, which is known as the database for policy decision-making for future climate changes (d4PDF), was designed for climate change risk assessments. Since the completion of the first set of climate simulations in 2015, the database has been growing continuously. It contains the results of ensemble simulations conducted over a total of thousands years respectively for past and future climates using high-resolution global (60 km horizontal mesh) and regional (20 km mesh) atmospheric models. Several sets of future climate simulations are available, in which global mean surface air temperatures are forced to be higher by 4 K, 2 K, and 1.5 K relative to preindustrial levels. Nonwarming past climate simulations are incorporated in d4PDF along with the past climate simulations. The total data volume is approximately 2 petabytes. The atmospheric models satisfactorily simulate the past climate in terms of climatology, natural variations, and extreme events such as heavy precipitation and tropical cyclones. In addition, data users can obtain statistically significant changes in mean states or weather and climate extremes of interest between the past and future climates via a simple arithmetic computation without any statistical assumptions. The database is helpful in understanding future changes in climate states and in attributing past climate events to global warming. Impact assessment studies for climate changes have concurrently been performed in various research areas such as natural hazard, hydrology, civil engineering, agriculture, health, and insurance. The database has now become essential for promoting climate and risk assessment studies and for devising climate adaptation policies. Moreover, it has helped in establishing an interdisciplinary research community on global warming across Japan.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Kougioumoutzis ◽  
Ioannis P. Kokkoris ◽  
Maria Panitsa ◽  
Arne Strid ◽  
Panayotis Dimopoulos

Human-induced biodiversity decline has been on the rise for the past 250 years, due to various causes. What is equally troubling, is that we are unaware which plants are threatened and where they occur. Thus, we are far from reaching Aichi Biodiversity Target 2, i.e., assessing the extinction risk of most species. To that end, based on an extensive occurrence dataset, we performed an extinction risk assessment according to the IUCN Criteria A and B for all the endemic plant taxa occurring in Greece, one of the most biodiverse countries in Europe, in a phylogenetically-informed framework and identified the areas needing conservation prioritization. Several of the Greek endemics are threatened with extinction and fourteen endemics need to be prioritized, as they are evolutionary distinct and globally endangered. Mt. Gramos is identified as the most important conservation hotspot in Greece. However, a significant portion of the identified conservation hotspots is not included in any designated Greek protected area, meaning that the Greek protected areas network might need to be at least partially redesigned. In the Anthropocene era, where climate and land-use change are projected to alter biodiversity patterns and may force many species to extinction, our assessment provides the baseline for future conservation research, ecosystem services maintenance, and might prove crucial for the timely, systematic and effective aversion of plant extinctions in Greece.


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