Floating urbanization is a promising solution to reduce the vulnerability of cities against climate change, population growth or land scarcity. Although this type of construction introduces changes to aquatic systems, there is a lack of research studies addressing potential impacts. Water quality data collected under/near floating structures were compared with the corresponding parameters measured at the same depth at open water locations by (i) performing scans with underwater drones equipped with in situ sensors and video cameras and (ii) fixing two sets of continuous measuring in situ sensors for a period of several days/months at both positions. A total of 18 locations with different types of floating structures were considered in this study. Results show small differences in the measured parameters, such as lower dissolved oxygen concentrations or higher temperature measured underneath the floating structures. The magnitudes of these differences seem to be linked with the characteristics and type of water system. Given the wide variety and types of water bodies considered in this study, results suggest that water quality is not critically affected by the presence of the floating houses. Underwater images of biofouling and filter feeders illustrate the lively ecosystems that can emerge shortly after the construction of floating buildings.
DOCUMENT
In this work, in situ measurements of the radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure have been conducted for an indoor massive MIMO 5G base station operating at 26–28 GHz. Measurements were performed at six different positions (at distances between 9.94 and 14.32 m from the base station), of which four were in line-of-sight and two were in non-line-of-sight. A comparison was performed between the measurements conducted with an omnidirectional probe and with a horn antenna, for scenarios with and without a user equipment used to actively create an antenna traffic beam from the base station towards the measurement location. A maximum exposure of 171.9 mW/m2 was measured at a distance of 9.94 m from the base station. This is below 2% of the ICNIRP reference level. Moreover, the feasibility to measure the power per resource element of the Synchronization Signal Block - which can be used to extrapolate the maximum exposure level - with a conventional spectrum analyzer was shown by comparison with a network decoder.
MULTIFILE
This paper describes a participatory design-oriented study of an ambient assisted living system for monitoring the daily activities of elderly residents. The work presented addresses these questions 1) What daily activities the elderly participants like to be monitored, 2) With whom they would want to share this monitored data and 3) How a monitoring system for the elderly should be designed. For this purpose, this paper discusses the study results and participatory design techniques used to exemplify and understand desired ambient-assisted living scenarios and information sharing needs. Particularly, an interactive dollhouse is presented as a method for including the elderly in the design and requirements gathering process for residential monitoring. The study results indicate the importance of exemplifying ambient-assisted living scenarios to involve the elderly and so to increase acceptance and utility of such systems. The preliminary studies presented show that the participants were willing to have most of their daily activities monitored. However, they mostly wanted to keep control over their own data and share this information with medical specialists and particularly not with their fellow elderly neighbours.
MULTIFILE
Nano and micro polymeric particles (NMPs) are a point of concern by environmentalists and toxicologist for the past years. Their presence has been detected in many environmental bodies and even in more recently human blood as well. One of the most common paths these particles take to enter living organisms is via water consumption. However, despite the efforts of different academic and other knowledge groups, there is no consensus about standards methods which can be used to qualifying and quantifying these particles, especially the submicrometric ones. Many different techniques have been proposed like field flow fractionation (FFF) followed by multi angle laser scattering (MALS), pyrolysis-GC and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Additionally, the sampling collection and preparation is also considered a difficult step, as such particles are mostly present in very low concentration. Nanocatcher proposes the use of submerged drones as a sampling collection tool to monitor the presence of submicrometric polymeric particles in water bodies. The sample collections will be done using special membrane systems specially designed for the drone. After collected, the samples will be analysed using FFF+MALS, SEM and Py-GC. If proven successful, the use of submerged drones can strongly facilitate sampling and mapping of submicrometric polymeric particles in water bodies and will provide an extensive and comprehensive map of the presence of these particles in such environment.
Vezelversterkte kunststoffen (composieten) worden in veeleisende toepassingen gebruikt, zoals in tanks voor chemicaliën of als lichtgewicht constructie-delen in vliegtuigen. Voor deze toepassingen zijn de composieten optimaal ontworpen en getest, maar ze worden met het oog op veiligheid gedurende het gebruik ook regelmatig geïnspecteerd, vaak met ultrasone analyse. Het permanent kunnen monitoren van het vervormingsgedrag van het materiaal levert een voordeel op voor zowel de veiligheid als de kosten. Zo kunnen onregelmatigheden die optreden direct worden gesignaleerd. Een intensief inspectieprogramma wordt zo verlaagd in frequentie. Met high-performance rek-sensoren op een composietproduct wordt het vervormingsgedrag gemeten en met datacommunicatie kunnen dan gegevens continue worden doorgestuurd voor beoordeling elders. Zo ontstaat een ‘smart composite structure’ waarbij permanente monitoring van composiet mogelijk is. Echter kennis ontbreekt nog over de correlatie tussen vervormingsgedrag en resultaten van een ultrasone analyse. Verder is nog niet bekend hoe de high-performance rek-sensoren functioneren over een langere tijd bij heersende bedrijfsinvloeden zoals vochtinwerking, temperatuurfluctuaties en lokale belastingen. Het project richt zich op het onderzoeken van de haalbaarheid van rek-sensortechniek die geschikt is voor het langdurig continu monitoren van het vervormingsgedrag van composieten in bedrijfssituaties. Daarbij moet binnen dit project een antwoord komen wat de voorspellende waarde is van deze monitoring t.b.v. optimaliseren van in-situ preventieve inspecties met ultrasone analyses. Daarnaast moet het onderzoek tijdens dit 1-jarige onderzoek een eerste inzicht geven op het functioneren van de high-performance rek-sensoren en de elektronica in de heersende omstandigheden over langere tijd. Het Lectoraat Kunststoftechnologie verzorgt de projectleiding en het onderzoek. Het lectoraat heeft expertise op het gebied van high-performance rek-sensoren voor vervormingsmeting op composieten. De deelnemende partners hebben belang bij de resultaten van het project. Daarnaast brengen zij specifieke expertise in die met de kennis bij het lectoraat kan leiden tot succesvolle resultaten in het onderzoek.
