Multi-Source Information Monitoring Test of Fractured Rock Mass Destruction Characteristics and Sensitivity Analysis of Precursor Phenomena

The accuracy of the monitoring information is particularly important for exploring fractured rock mass deformation and failure mechanisms and precursor characteristics. Appropriate monitoring methods can not only timely and effectively reflect the failure laws of fractured rock masses but also play an early warning role. To explore more reasonable monitoring methods, uniaxial compression experiments and real-time non-destructive monitoring on prefabricated fractured rock specimens through DIC, AE, and IRT were conducted; the strain field, temperature field, ringing frequency, standard deviation, etc. were analyzed; and correlation between the three methods in the information of audience was explored. The results show the following. (1) The failure evolution process of fractured rock mass can be divided into four stages. DIC can detect the initiation and propagation of cracks near the fractures of the specimen at the earliest stages. (2) The order of occurrence of precursor phenomena in multi-source monitoring information is different, which is vertical strain field > shear strain field > horizontal strain field > temperature field > ringing times. (3) The dispersion degree of standard deviation of each field is obviously different; the infrared temperature field is greater, but the strain field and temperature field show the same trend. (4) There are obvious precursors before the specimen is on the verge of instability; acoustic emission detected two consecutive increases in the cumulative number of ringing before destruction, which means the most obvious precursors. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the precursory information capture and damage early warning of the fractured rock mass destruction process.

Recent Progress and Perspectives on Non-Invasive Glucose Sensors

Self-monitoring of blood glucose forms an important part of the management of diabetes and the prevention of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. Current glucose monitoring methods either use needle-prick enzymatic glucose-meters or subcutaneous continuous glucose sensors (CGM) and thus, non-invasive glucose measurements could greatly improve the self-management of diabetes. A wide range of non-invasive sensing techniques have been reported, though achieving a level of precision comparable to invasive meters remains a challenge. Optical sensors, which utilise the interactions between glucose and light, offer the potential for non-invasive continuous sensing, allowing real-time monitoring of glucose levels, and a range of different optical sensing technologies have been proposed. These are primarily based upon optical absorption and scattering effects and include infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT), with other optical techniques such as photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) and polarimetry also reported. This review aims to discuss the current progress behind the most reported optical glucose sensing methods, theory and current limitations of optical sensing methods and the future technology development required to achieve an accurate optical-based glucose monitoring device.

Municipal environmental management and regional conservation in eastern Amazon: perceived performance by public agents in the Pará state, Brazil

Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.

Multi-surveyor detection-mark-redetection as a powerful tool for butterfly population monitoring in the pre-imaginal stage

1. For many elusive insect species, which are difficult to cover by standard monitoring schemes, innovative monitoring methods are needed to gain robust data on population trends. We suggest a monitoring of overwintering larvae for the endangered nymphalid butterfly Limenitis reducta. 2. We tested one removal and three detection-mark-redetection (DMR) approaches in a field study in the “Alb-Donau” region, Germany. We replaced movement of the study organisms by random movement of multiple different surveyors, and we examined the model assumption of equal detectability using simulations. 3. Our results indicate that multi-surveyor removal/DMR techniques are suitable for estimating abundance of overwintering L. reducta larvae. Detection probabilities varied with surveyor experience and the uncertainty of population estimates increased with a decrease in personnel expenditure. Estimated larval densities on a spruce clear-cut ranged between one and three individuals per 100 m². 4. We suggest a detection-mark-redetection (DMR) approach with three trained surveyors for the monitoring of L. reducta populations in the pre-imaginal stage. Besides L. reducta, the proposed method is likely to be suitable for other insect taxa with specific immobile life-stages and some sessile organisms, e.g. corals, elusive plants, or fungi.

Fault Identification Based on Local Feature Correlation

Industrial data variables show obvious high dimension and strong nonlinear correlation. Traditional multivariate statistical monitoring methods, such as PCA, PLS, CCA, and FDA, are only suitable for solving the high-dimensional data processing with linear correlation. The kernel mapping method is the most common technique to deal with the nonlinearity, which projects the original data in the low-dimensional space to the high-dimensional space through appropriate kernel functions so as to achieve the goal of linear separability in the new space. However, the space projection from the low dimension to the high dimension is contradictory to the actual requirement of dimensionality reduction of the data. So kernel-based method inevitably increases the complexity of data processing.

Laparoscopy in diagnosis and complex treatm ent of malignant ovarian tumors

To study the possibilities of laparoscopy in diagnosis of malignant ovarian tumors 635 patients at different stages of the disease were examined. High informing characteristics make it possible to recommend laparoscopy as a method of improved diagnostics of tumors in smallpelvic with the aim of early revealingof malignant tumors, morphologic verification and evaluation of tumor extensiveness, diagnosis of preclinical recurrent tumors in case of diverse results of non-invasive monitoring methods.

Comparison of methods of monitoring structure deformations based on tests of a column-plate slab

This work includes a comparison of the methods of monitoring the deformations of a structure on the example of a flat plate slab test. Classic ESG (electrofusion strain gauges) and modern DFOS (distributed fiber optic sensors) were compared. During the research, both types of sensors were used on some of the reinforcing bars. The study aims to indicate the differences between the compared monitoring methods, both in terms of the obtained results and their utility values.

Towards harmonization of DNA metabarcoding for monitoring marine macrobenthos: the effect of technical replicates and pooled DNA extractions on species detection

DNA-based monitoring methods are potentially faster and cheaper compared to traditional morphological benthic identification. DNA metabarcoding involves various methodological choices which can introduce bias leading to a different outcome in biodiversity patterns. Therefore, it is important to harmonize DNA metabarcoding protocols to allow comparison across studies and this requires a good understanding of the effect of methodological choices on diversity estimates. This study investigated the impact of DNA and PCR replicates on the detection of macrobenthos species in locations with high, medium and low diversity. Our results show that two to three DNA replicates were needed in locations with a high and medium diversity to detect at least 80% of the species found in the six DNA replicates, while three to four replicates were needed in the location with low diversity. In contrast to general belief, larger body size or higher abundance of the species in a sample did not increase its detection prevalence among DNA replicates. However, rare species were less consistently detected across all DNA replicates of the location with high diversity compared to locations with less diversity. Our results further show that pooling of DNA replicates did not significantly alter diversity patterns, although a small number of rare species was lost. Finally, our results confirm high variation in species detection between PCR replicates, especially for the detection of rare species. These results contribute to create reliable, time and cost efficient metabarcoding protocols for the characterization of macrobenthos.

Project Management in Public Administration. Risks and Challenges

Project risk is the object of interest of people and institutions implementing and financing project activities. Each project brings new challenges and risks but also a chance to gain knowledge and development. That is why project management is becoming a standard that receives more and more attention. At the stage of launching a project, it is necessary to conduct risk analysis, which allows risks identification, characterisation and proper assessment. This analysis enables the development of a risk prevention plan, indicating ways to respond to challenging situations when they occur. It also allows the introduction of risk monitoring methods. The specified stages of risk management are well known in public administration, especially to those institutions that raise funds for implementing projects and then manage them. In public administration, institutions implementing projects are obliged to carry out management control, and some responsibilities related to risk management have been imposed on applicants. Therefore, it becomes necessary for project managers and unit managers to understand its (risk) importance for achieving the objectives of the organisation’s projects and the potential benefits that can be obtained after its effective implementation. Organisations that can take into account risk management awareness in projects will be able to use the risk management process to improve the results and increase the satisfaction of all parties interested in the implementation of projects. This article aims to present the identification and risk assessment in projects and challenges faced by the public administration, including the security system, which has been dynamically acquiring funds for implementing projects in recent years.

Carbon Dioxide Sensing—Biomedical Applications to Human Subjects

Carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring in human subjects is of crucial importance in medical practice. Transcutaneous monitors based on the Stow-Severinghaus electrode make a good alternative to the painful and risky arterial “blood gases” sampling. Yet, such monitors are not only expensive, but also bulky and continuously drifting, requiring frequent recalibrations by trained medical staff. Aiming at finding alternatives, the full panel of CO2 measurement techniques is thoroughly reviewed. The physicochemical working principle of each sensing technique is given, as well as some typical merit criteria, advantages, and drawbacks. An overview of the main CO2 monitoring methods and sites routinely used in clinical practice is also provided, revealing their constraints and specificities. The reviewed CO2 sensing techniques are then evaluated in view of the latter clinical constraints and transcutaneous sensing coupled to a dye-based fluorescence CO2 sensing seems to offer the best potential for the development of a future non-invasive clinical CO2 monitor.