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Design and optimal sizing of a hydrogen uninterruptable power supply (UPS) system for addressing residential power cutoffs.
Get PDFHydrogen (H2) offers a green medium for storing the excess from renewables production instead of dumping it, thus being crucial to decarbonisation efforts. Hydrogen also offers a storage medium for the grid's cheap electricity to be used during grid peak demand or grid power cutoffs. Funded by the Scottish Government's Emerging Energy Technologies, this paper presents the design and performance analysis of a hydrogen uninterruptible power supply (H2GEN) for Cygnas Solutions Ltd., which is intended to enable continuity of supply in the residential sector while eradicating the need for environmentally and health risky lead–acid batteries and diesel generator backup. This paper presents the design, optimal sizing and analysis of two H2Gen architectures, one powered by the grid alone and the other powered by both the grid and a renewable (PV) source. By developing a model of each architecture in the HOMER space and using residential location weather data, the home yearly load–demand profile, and the grid yearly power outages profile in the developed models, the optimal sizing of each H2Gen design was realised by minimising the costs while ensuring the H2Gen meets the home power demand during grid outages To enable HOMER to optimise its selection, the sizes, technical specifications and costs of all the market-available H2GEN components were added in the HOMER search space. Moreover, the developed models were also used in assessing the sensitivity of the simulation outputs to several changes in the modelled system design and settings. Using a residential home with frequent power outages in New Delhi, India as a case study, it was found that the optimal sizing of H2Gen Architecture 1 is comprised of a 2 kW electrolyser, a 0.2 kg type-I tank, and a 2 kW water-cooled fuel cell directly connected to the AC bus, offering an operational lifetime of 14.3 years. It was also found that the optimal sizing of Architecture 2 is comprised of a 1 kV PV utilised with the same 2 kW electrolyser, 0.2 kg type-I tank and 2 kW water-cooled fuel cell connected to the AC bus. While the second design was found to have a higher capital cost due to the added PV, it offered a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly architecture, which contributes to the ongoing energy transition. This paper further investigated the capacity expansion of each H2GEN architecture to meet higher load demands or increased grid power outages. From the analysis of the simulation results, it has been concluded that the most feasible and cost-effective H2GEN system expansion for meeting increased power demands or increased grid outages can be realised by using the developed models for optimally sizing the expanded H2Gen on a case-by-case basis because the increase in these profiles is highly time-dependent (for example, an increased load demand or increased grid outage in the morning can be met by the PV, while in the evening, it must be met by the H2GEN). Finally, this paper investigated the impact of other environmental variables, such as the temperature and relative humidity, on the H2GEN's performance and provided further insights into increasing the overall system efficiency and cost benefit through utilising the H2GEN's exhaust heat in the home space for heating/cooling and selling the electrolyser exhaust's O2 as a commodity
Creative practice, collaboration and industry engagement: the launch of the digital marketing subject discipline and the development of the "Inverted T Curriculum".
No full textThis case study evaluates the 10-year evolution of the Digital Marketing subject discipline within Robert Gordon University (RGU), reflecting on how collaborative and creative practice was embedded throughout the subject area and beyond; the impact of industry collaboration on student engagement and participation; and the circular nature of the interactions between industry and academia ensuring subject matter remained current and industry-relevant. The paper outlines the creation of the "Inverted T Curriculum" which brings together the principles of T-Shaped professional with the progression of learning described by Bloom's Taxonomy. In 2014 RGU launched Scotland's first MSc in Digital Marketing, with a pedagogy focused on collaborative and creative professional practice, with experiential learning, live client projects and industry mentorship being embedded at the heart of the curriculum. The course design was based around an Agency structure, which was embedded within the curricula, with students working on a range of live client projects and design sprints for internal and external clients to develop campaign concepts, strategies and creative outputs with the support of academic and industry experts. In addition to supervision from academic staff, students were allocated an industry mentor who provided support and guidance. As the MSc developed and grew in popularity, many of these practices were embedded elsewhere across the school and university. This approach has informed the ethos, curriculum design and pedagogy of not only the subsequent course developments and the approaches of other subject areas within the school, but the growth of the entire Digital Marketing subject discipline. Ten years on and Digital Marketing provision within RGU has developed beyond a single master's course to an entire subject area encompassing an MSc, an undergraduate suite, a highly successful short course, accreditation agreements with three professional bodies, several research projects and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), and modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level embedded across the school and wider institution. Throughout these developments, the focus on industry engagement and collaboration has remained the team's guiding ethos
FusDreamer: label-efficient remote sensing world model for multimodal data classification.
Get PDFWorld models significantly enhance hierarchical understanding, improving data integration and learning efficiency. To explore the potential of the world model in the remote sensing (RS) field, this paper proposes a label-efficient remote sensing world model for multimodal data fusion (FusDreamer). The FusDreamer uses the world model as a unified representation container to abstract common and high-level knowledge, promoting interactions across different types of data, i.e., hyperspectral (HSI), light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and text data. Initially, a new latent diffusion fusion and multimodal generation paradigm (LaMG) is utilized for its exceptional information integration and detail retention capabilities. Subsequently, an open-world knowledge-guided consistency projection (OK-CP) module incorporates prompt representations for visually described objects and aligns language-visual features through contrastive learning. In this way, the domain gap can be bridged by fine-tuning the pre-trained world models with limited samples. Finally, an end-to-end multitask combinatorial optimization (MuCO) strategy can capture slight feature bias and constrain the diffusion process in a collaboratively learnable direction. Experiments conducted on four typical datasets indicate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed FusDreamer
Controlled application of nanoparticles for remediation in oil and gas application: strategies, challenges, and innovations.
Get PDFThis review provides a detailed examination of strategies for controlling the deposition of nanoparticles in porous media, emphasising the factors influencing their long-term stability and the challenges faced in practical applications. The review explores fundamental mechanisms of nanoparticle retention, including surface modification, intelligent materials, and optimised injection techniques, while discussing environmental and operational variables such as flow velocity, pH, ionic strength, and particle size. The review highlights innovative strategies to maintain nanoparticle stability over time, including responsive ligands, smart nanoparticles, self-healing coatings, and encapsulation techniques. Real-world case studies, including projects from Lockheed Martin, NanoRem, and NANO IRM, illustrate the practical application of these strategies in environmental remediation, emphasising the need for regulatory compliance and long-term monitoring. Overall, this review offers critical insights into the controlled application of nanoparticles for remediation, providing a roadmap for addressing the technical and regulatory challenges associated with their deployment in porous media
Using a disclosure index instrument to quantify attributes of corporate disclosure.
Get PDFCorporate disclosure is a theoretical concept that cannot be measured directly. However, the literature provides two approaches to measure it. The first approach investigates actual information disclosure and tries to operationalize the concept of disclosure into its main attributes such as quantity and quality. The second approach relies on the fact that corporate disclosure is an unobservable variable and uses some observable variables to proxy for it such as firm size. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Also, the choice of research philosophy affects how a researcher approaches and measures corporate disclosure. As a positivist, I approach corporate disclosure as an objective and measurable phenomenon that has identifiable causes and consequences. I measured attributes of corporate disclosure using the first approach, mainly a disclosure index method, whether self-constructed or developed by a third party. I have made extensive use of the disclosure index method in my doctorate project and several publications. In this Case Study, I explain what a disclosure index is, the different variations of a disclosure index, how to develop a disclosure index for your study using examples from my research, and how to test its reliability and validity. The purpose is to help readers develop their own disclosure indices for their research
What we know about high-growth firms, and what we do not: a systematic review.
Get PDFHigh-growth firms are at the forefront of academic research and policymaking in support of job creation. This article provides an overview of what we know about these firms and what we do not. It is based on a systematic review of 159 papers published in higher-ranked academic journals from 1985 to 2022, supplemented by key papers published subsequently. The growing volume of research is channelled along what are becoming well-worn paths. It has entered a phase of diminishing returns before reaching any consensus on two pivotal questions: What are the antecedents of a high-growth episode, and why are these so short-lived? There is also growing scepticism among scholars on the feasibility and merit of having high-growth firms as a policy focus. It concludes by assessing the field and suggesting new research approaches and methods
Frequency-domain guided swin transformer and global-local feature integration for remote sensing images semantic segmentation.
Get PDFConvolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), transformers, and the hybrid methods have been significant application in remote sensing. However, existing methods are limited in effectively modeling frequency domain information, which affects their ability to capture detailed information. Therefore, we propose a frequency-domain guided feature coupled mechanism and a global-local feature integration method (FGNet) for semantic segmentation. Specifically, a frequency-domain guided Swin transformer (FGSwin) is designed by introducing dilation group convolution, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and learnable weights to enhance the expression capability of frequency-domain and space-domain, local and global features, simultaneously. In addition, a global-local feature integration module (GLFI) is proposed for aggregating features to further enhance the discrimination of each category. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrate that, compared to existing methods, the proposed method achieves superior performance in terms of mean intersection over union (mIoU), reaching 71.46% and 74.04% on the ISPRS Potsdam and Vaihingen, two widely used datasets
Pharmacology of non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids and their potential for treatment of cardiometabolic disease.
No full textThe use of Cannabis sativa by humans dates back to the third millennium BC, and it has been utilized in many forms for multiple purposes, including production of fibre and rope, as food and medicine, and (perhaps most notably) for its psychoactive properties for recreational use. The discovery of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) as the main psychoactive phytocannabinoid contained in cannabis by Gaoni and Mechoulam in 1964 (J Am Chem Soc 86, 1646–1647), was the first major step in cannabis research; since then the identification of the chemicals (phytocannabinoids) present in cannabis, the classification of the pharmacological targets of these compounds and the discovery that the body has its own endocannabinoid system (ECS) have highlighted the potential value of cannabis-derived compounds in the treatment of many diseases, such as neurological disorders and cancers. Although the use of Δ9-THC as a therapeutic agent is constrained by its psychoactive properties, there is growing evidence that non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids, derived from both Cannabis sativa and other plant species, as well as non-cannabinoid compounds found in Cannabis sativa, have real potential as therapeutics. This chapter will focus on the possibilities for using these compounds in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and related metabolic disturbances
Understanding the lived experience of low-income UK parents’ and carers’, management of infant feeding challenges in the context of the current cost of living crisis: the Diet and Health Inequalities (DIO Food) project.
Get PDFAs the cost-of-living crisis continues, food charities report increased demand from families with young children and babies, suggesting, infants in low-income UK households are amongst the most food insecure of our citizens. This is concerning, firstly, due to the nutritional requirements during pregnancy and breastfeeding and secondly, because the first 1000 days of life are recognised as a critical period in child development and a time when good nutrition is essential. For families choosing to bottle feed, the high cost of infant formula presents an additional challenge, especially food banks don't typically provide formula due to UNICEF breastfeeding guidelines. While much has been done to track and monitor household level food insecurity in the UK recently, maternal and infant food insecurity is poorly characterised and understood. Qualitative investigation of low-income parents infant feeding intentions and practices in the UK as part of the UKRI-funded DIO-Food Project. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eligible parents or carers living in Scotland and England between December and June 2024. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Seven key themes were identified: 1. The struggle to afford food and formula in the face of reduced income reflects the challenge faced by parents trying to feed more mouths on reduced income or benefits; 2. Hard work and sacrifice: parents actions to secure food for their baby relates to strategies used and compromises made by parents to ensure their baby is fed; 3. Don't ask, don't tell; conversations with health professionals highlights the lack of discussion with healthcare professionals around parents financial situation and strained conversations surrounding bottle feeding; 4. Acknowledging breastfeeding benefits but encountering challenges; 5. Earning but struggling: not eligible for financial assistance specifically focuses on financial challenges experienced by parents in work; 6. Income shortfall struggles: the essential support of family and the 3rd sector to meet needs highlights the role of family and third sector organisations in alleviating parents' financial shortfall; 7. Stigma and guilt accessing and receiving support relates to the mental and emotional toll parents experience when accessing support to provide for their baby. Parents use agency to secure food for themselves and their families on a limited budget. Feeding related challenges may be exacerbated by a lack of conversations between healthcare professionals and new parents on their financial situation and creates a missed opportunity to ensure new parents and infants have the financial support they are entitled to. Open and honest discussions around both breast and bottle feeding may be necessary to support parents feeding intentions. Family and third sector organisations play a crucial role in the provision of instrumental support for new parents
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for sustainable development. [Dataset]
No full textThis questionnaire aims to gather insights and experiences from students participating in a COIL project. The focus is on understanding cross-cultural collaboration, knowledge of sustainable building materials, and the impact of the project on participants' learning
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