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[title] => Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/diet-and-exercise-programs-alone-wont-tackle-childhood-obesity/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 20:41:50 +0000
[category] => sciencechildhooddietexerciseobesityprogramstackleWont
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84632
[description] => Journal Reference: Wanchuang Zhu, Roman Marchant, Richard W. Morris, Louise A. Baur, Stephen J. Simpson, Sally Cripps. Bayesian network modelling to identify on-ramps to childhood obesity. BMC Medicine, 2023; 21 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12916-023-02789-8 Coordinated by the University of Sydney?s Charles Perkins Centre the study finds children whose parents did not complete high school and who ... Read more
The post Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Wanchuang Zhu, Roman Marchant, Richard W. Morris, Louise A. Baur, Stephen J. Simpson, Sally Cripps. Bayesian network modelling to identify on-ramps to childhood obesity. BMC Medicine, 2023; 21 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12916-023-02789-8
Coordinated by the University of Sydney?s Charles Perkins Centre the study finds children whose parents did not complete high school and who live with social disadvantage, were more likely to be affected by overweight or obesity in mid-adolescence. High school completion is a strong indicator of socio-economic status.
These factors were ?on ramps? which flow down to influence the body mass index (BMI) of parents, in turn providing immediate lifestyle impacts (diet, sedentary time) on a child?s risk of developing obesity.
Paediatrician Professor Louise Baur of the University of Sydney said the research explains why most current public health policies to prevent childhood obesity have had limited success.
?We tend to ignore the root causes of childhood obesity which include social disadvantage, and of course, this is not something parents or children choose for themselves,? said Professor Baur, co-author from the University?s Charles Perkins Centre.
?While healthy eating and activity interventions are important, the solutions lie not just in the domain of health departments. We need to see many government departments working together to consider how to make structural changes to reduce social inequality if we want to change Australia?s current trajectory.?
Other interesting findings from the research include how different drivers of obesity play out at different life stages, particularly the influence of free time activity after the age of eight.
There are also different influences on how free time is spent and influenced for boys versus girls. For boys, more electronic gaming leads to less active free time. For girls, better sleep quality leads to longer sleep time and more active free time.
Obesity in children
Childhood obesity occurs when a child is significantly overweight for their age and height. It can lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, psychological effects and even premature death.
In Australia, 1 in 4 school-aged children and adolescents are affected by overweight or obesity, with 1 in 12 affected by obesity. It is more common in those living in regional and remote areas, those from lower socioeconomic areas, those from one-parent families and those with a disability.
How was the study conducted?
The study, published in BMC Medicine today, drew on data from ?Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children,? a nationally representative sample of over 10,000 Australian Children.
The team of leading scientists and clinicians ? bringing together the fields of data science, biology, paediatrics and public health ? spent close to two years using state-of-the-art statistical modelling (Bayesian network modelling) and informed analysis to untangle a complex web of on-ramps and causal factors, many of which interplay.
Senior author Professor Sally Cripps of the University of Technology Sydney said the knowledge gained from this study is vital for policy makers moving forward and could not have been achieved without this diverse skill-set.
?This is a truly multidisciplinary piece of research. Data alone is never enough to uncover the complex set of interacting factors which lead to childhood obesity. But by combining the skills of mathematicians and computer scientists with obesity and nutritional experts we have been able to predict and model what has never been clearly articulated before ? showing the complex interplay between multiple upstream, downstream and causal factors, and how these play out over time for children and families,? said Cripps, Director of Technology at the Human Technology Institute.
Lead author and statistician Wanchuang Zhu, also of the University of Technology Sydney and an affiliate of the Charles Perkins Centre said: ?To our knowledge this is first time anyone has used the advanced statistical network modelling to analyse the complex factors that lead to childhood obesity. It provides us with a much more complete picture.?
Key findings
- Childhood obesity is largely a by-product of socio-economic status
- Parental high school levels (both paternal and maternal) serve as on-ramps to childhood obesity
- When children are aged 2 to 4 years the causal pathway is: socio-economic status/parental high school level -> parental BMI -> child BMI
- When children are aged 8 to 10 years an additional pathway emerged focused on how children spend their leisure time: parental high school level /socio economic status -> electronic games ->free time activity-> child BMC
- The upstream influences on free time activity were different in boys compared with girls.
- The strong and independent link between parent?s BMIs and childhood BMI suggests a biological link ? high weight runs in families, and this is in part because of shared genes.
The work is a collaboration between scientists and clinicians from the University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and CSIRO ? brought together by the Charles Perkins Centre, a research initiative committed to collaborative and multidisciplinary research to tackle obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and related conditions.
?This study is exactly why the Charles Perkins Centre was founded, to bring together people with special skill sets from different academic and clinical backgrounds to find new ways of thinking about and solving the most complex challenges of our time,? said Professor Stephen Simpson, Academic Director of the Charles Perkins Centre and Executive Director of Obesity Australia.
The authors express sincere gratitude to the families who contributed their data and acknowledge the generous support of Paul Ramsay Foundation.
Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity
The post Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Wanchuang Zhu, Roman Marchant, Richard W. Morris, Louise A. Baur, Stephen J. Simpson, Sally Cripps. Bayesian network modelling to identify on-ramps to childhood obesity. BMC Medicine, 2023; 21 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12916-023-02789-8 Coordinated by the University of Sydney?s Charles Perkins Centre the study finds children whose parents did not complete high school and who ... Read more
The post Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Wanchuang Zhu, Roman Marchant, Richard W. Morris, Louise A. Baur, Stephen J. Simpson, Sally Cripps. Bayesian network modelling to identify on-ramps to childhood obesity. BMC Medicine, 2023; 21 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12916-023-02789-8
Coordinated by the University of Sydney?s Charles Perkins Centre the study finds children whose parents did not complete high school and who live with social disadvantage, were more likely to be affected by overweight or obesity in mid-adolescence. High school completion is a strong indicator of socio-economic status.
These factors were ?on ramps? which flow down to influence the body mass index (BMI) of parents, in turn providing immediate lifestyle impacts (diet, sedentary time) on a child?s risk of developing obesity.
Paediatrician Professor Louise Baur of the University of Sydney said the research explains why most current public health policies to prevent childhood obesity have had limited success.
?We tend to ignore the root causes of childhood obesity which include social disadvantage, and of course, this is not something parents or children choose for themselves,? said Professor Baur, co-author from the University?s Charles Perkins Centre.
?While healthy eating and activity interventions are important, the solutions lie not just in the domain of health departments. We need to see many government departments working together to consider how to make structural changes to reduce social inequality if we want to change Australia?s current trajectory.?
Other interesting findings from the research include how different drivers of obesity play out at different life stages, particularly the influence of free time activity after the age of eight.
There are also different influences on how free time is spent and influenced for boys versus girls. For boys, more electronic gaming leads to less active free time. For girls, better sleep quality leads to longer sleep time and more active free time.
Obesity in children
Childhood obesity occurs when a child is significantly overweight for their age and height. It can lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, psychological effects and even premature death.
In Australia, 1 in 4 school-aged children and adolescents are affected by overweight or obesity, with 1 in 12 affected by obesity. It is more common in those living in regional and remote areas, those from lower socioeconomic areas, those from one-parent families and those with a disability.
How was the study conducted?
The study, published in BMC Medicine today, drew on data from ?Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children,? a nationally representative sample of over 10,000 Australian Children.
The team of leading scientists and clinicians ? bringing together the fields of data science, biology, paediatrics and public health ? spent close to two years using state-of-the-art statistical modelling (Bayesian network modelling) and informed analysis to untangle a complex web of on-ramps and causal factors, many of which interplay.
Senior author Professor Sally Cripps of the University of Technology Sydney said the knowledge gained from this study is vital for policy makers moving forward and could not have been achieved without this diverse skill-set.
?This is a truly multidisciplinary piece of research. Data alone is never enough to uncover the complex set of interacting factors which lead to childhood obesity. But by combining the skills of mathematicians and computer scientists with obesity and nutritional experts we have been able to predict and model what has never been clearly articulated before ? showing the complex interplay between multiple upstream, downstream and causal factors, and how these play out over time for children and families,? said Cripps, Director of Technology at the Human Technology Institute.
Lead author and statistician Wanchuang Zhu, also of the University of Technology Sydney and an affiliate of the Charles Perkins Centre said: ?To our knowledge this is first time anyone has used the advanced statistical network modelling to analyse the complex factors that lead to childhood obesity. It provides us with a much more complete picture.?
Key findings
- Childhood obesity is largely a by-product of socio-economic status
- Parental high school levels (both paternal and maternal) serve as on-ramps to childhood obesity
- When children are aged 2 to 4 years the causal pathway is: socio-economic status/parental high school level -> parental BMI -> child BMI
- When children are aged 8 to 10 years an additional pathway emerged focused on how children spend their leisure time: parental high school level /socio economic status -> electronic games ->free time activity-> child BMC
- The upstream influences on free time activity were different in boys compared with girls.
- The strong and independent link between parent?s BMIs and childhood BMI suggests a biological link ? high weight runs in families, and this is in part because of shared genes.
The work is a collaboration between scientists and clinicians from the University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and CSIRO ? brought together by the Charles Perkins Centre, a research initiative committed to collaborative and multidisciplinary research to tackle obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and related conditions.
?This study is exactly why the Charles Perkins Centre was founded, to bring together people with special skill sets from different academic and clinical backgrounds to find new ways of thinking about and solving the most complex challenges of our time,? said Professor Stephen Simpson, Academic Director of the Charles Perkins Centre and Executive Director of Obesity Australia.
The authors express sincere gratitude to the families who contributed their data and acknowledge the generous support of Paul Ramsay Foundation.
Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity
The post Diet and exercise programs alone won?t tackle childhood obesity first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679517710
)
[1] => Array
(
[title] => Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/human-and-ocean-health-impacts-of-ocean-plastics/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 19:36:17 +0000
[category] => sciencehealthhumanimpactsoceanplastics
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84630
[description] => Journal Reference: Philip J. Landrigan, Hervé Raps, Maureen Cropper, Caroline Bald, Manuel Brunner, Elvia Maya Canonizado, Dominic Charles, Thomas C. Chiles, Mary J. Donohue, Judith Enck, Patrick Fenichel, Lora E. Fleming, Christine Ferrier-Pages, Richard Fordham, Aleksandra Gozt, Carly Griffin, Mark E. Hahn, Budi Haryanto, Richard Hixson, Hannah Ianelli, Bryan D. James, Pushpam Kumar, Amalia Laborde, ... Read more
The post Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Philip J. Landrigan, Hervé Raps, Maureen Cropper, Caroline Bald, Manuel Brunner, Elvia Maya Canonizado, Dominic Charles, Thomas C. Chiles, Mary J. Donohue, Judith Enck, Patrick Fenichel, Lora E. Fleming, Christine Ferrier-Pages, Richard Fordham, Aleksandra Gozt, Carly Griffin, Mark E. Hahn, Budi Haryanto, Richard Hixson, Hannah Ianelli, Bryan D. James, Pushpam Kumar, Amalia Laborde, Kara Lavender Law, Keith Martin, Jenna Mu, Yannick Mulders, Adetoun Mustapha, Jia Niu, Sabine Pahl, Yongjoon Park, Maria-Luiza Pedrotti, Jordan Avery Pitt, Mathuros Ruchirawat, Bhedita Jaya Seewoo, Margaret Spring, John J. Stegeman, William Suk, Christos Symeonides, Hideshige Takada, Richard C. Thompson, Andrea Vicini, Zhanyun Wang, Ella Whitman, David Wirth, Megan Wolff, Aroub K. Yousuf, Sarah Dunlop. The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Annals of Global Health, 2023; 89 (1) DOI: 10.5334/aogh.4056
The report was led by scientists at the Minderoo Foundation, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and Boston College. Researchers Mark Hahn and John Stegeman at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) were lead authors on a section focusing on the impacts of plastics on the ocean.
The Commission?s key findings include:
- Plastics cause disease, impairment, and premature mortality at every stage of their life cycle, with the health repercussions disproportionately affecting vulnerable, low-income, minority communities, particularly children.
- Toxic chemicals that are added to plastics and routinely detected in people are, among other effects, known to increase the risk of miscarriage, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancers.
- Plastic waste is ubiquitous in the global environment, with microplastics occurring throughout the ocean and the marine food chain.
?It?s only been a little over 50 years since we?ve been aware of the presence of plastics throughout the ocean,? said John Stegeman, a senior scientist the Department of Biology at WHOI. ?The Minderoo-Monaco Commission?s work is a significant leap forward in connecting the broad health implications of plastics ? to the ocean and to humanity.?
The Commission concluded that current plastic production, use, and disposal patterns are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harm to human health, the economy, and the environment ? especially the ocean ? as well as deep societal injustices. Plastics, the report notes, account for an estimated 4 to 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions across their lifecycle, equivalent to emissions from Russia, making them a large-scale contributor to climate change.
The study also calculated the cost of the health repercussions attributed to plastic production to be $250 billion in a 12-month period, which is more than the GDP of New Zealand or Finland in 2015, the year the data were collected. In addition, health care costs associated with chemicals in plastics are estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The research also noted that the ubiquity of fast food and discount stores in poorer communities increased exposure to plastic packaging, products, and associated chemicals and impacts.
?Plastic waste endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being,? said Dr. Hervé Raps, Physician Delegate for Research at Centre Scientifique de Monaco. ?Besides their intrinsic effects, plastics can also be a vector for potentially pathogenic microorganisms and other chemicals adsorbed from polluted water. And alongside the new findings of this report, linking toxic chemicals to human harms, this is not the time to slow down our understanding of impacts in the ocean.?
Although plastics? potential harm to human health might be news to some, the oceanographic and marine biology communities have been acutely aware of its negative environmental impacts for decades. Despite this head start, the Commission?s findings reveal a pressing need for better understanding and monitoring of the effects of plastics and plastic-associated chemicals on marine species. The authors also highlight a significant lack of knowledge concerning the concentrations of the smallest micro- and nano-plastic particles (MNPs) in the marine environment and their potential impacts on marine animals and ecosystems, from the coasts to the abyss.
As a result of its findings, the Commission urged that a cap on global plastic production be a defining feature of the Global Plastics Treaty currently being negotiated at the UN, and that the Treaty focus beyond marine litter to address the impacts of plastics across their entire life cycle, including the many thousands of chemicals incorporated into plastics and the human health impacts. The positive news is that the Commission reports that many of plastics? harms can be avoided via better production practices, alternative design, less toxic chemicals, and decreased consumption.
?Ocean health is intimately and intricately connected to human health,? said Mark Hahn, a senior scientist in the Department of Biology at WHOI. ?Our attention now needs to be on creating a broadly acceptable international agreement that addresses the full life cycle of plastics in order to prioritize the health of the ocean that supports us all.?
In addition to Hahn and Stegeman, co-authors on the ocean section of the report included Sea Education Association Research Professor and WHOI Guest Investigator Kara Lavender-Law, MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Jordan Pitt and WHOI Postdoctoral Investigator Bryan James. Primary support for preparation of the report was provided by the Minderoo Foundation, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. The participation of WHOI researchers was also made possible by grants from WHOI Sea Grant, the March Marine Initiative (March Limited, Bermuda), the WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar Program, an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (funding from the NIH/NIEHS grant P01ES028938 and the NSF grant OCE-1840381).
Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics
The post Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Philip J. Landrigan, Hervé Raps, Maureen Cropper, Caroline Bald, Manuel Brunner, Elvia Maya Canonizado, Dominic Charles, Thomas C. Chiles, Mary J. Donohue, Judith Enck, Patrick Fenichel, Lora E. Fleming, Christine Ferrier-Pages, Richard Fordham, Aleksandra Gozt, Carly Griffin, Mark E. Hahn, Budi Haryanto, Richard Hixson, Hannah Ianelli, Bryan D. James, Pushpam Kumar, Amalia Laborde, ... Read more
The post Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Philip J. Landrigan, Hervé Raps, Maureen Cropper, Caroline Bald, Manuel Brunner, Elvia Maya Canonizado, Dominic Charles, Thomas C. Chiles, Mary J. Donohue, Judith Enck, Patrick Fenichel, Lora E. Fleming, Christine Ferrier-Pages, Richard Fordham, Aleksandra Gozt, Carly Griffin, Mark E. Hahn, Budi Haryanto, Richard Hixson, Hannah Ianelli, Bryan D. James, Pushpam Kumar, Amalia Laborde, Kara Lavender Law, Keith Martin, Jenna Mu, Yannick Mulders, Adetoun Mustapha, Jia Niu, Sabine Pahl, Yongjoon Park, Maria-Luiza Pedrotti, Jordan Avery Pitt, Mathuros Ruchirawat, Bhedita Jaya Seewoo, Margaret Spring, John J. Stegeman, William Suk, Christos Symeonides, Hideshige Takada, Richard C. Thompson, Andrea Vicini, Zhanyun Wang, Ella Whitman, David Wirth, Megan Wolff, Aroub K. Yousuf, Sarah Dunlop. The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Annals of Global Health, 2023; 89 (1) DOI: 10.5334/aogh.4056
The report was led by scientists at the Minderoo Foundation, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and Boston College. Researchers Mark Hahn and John Stegeman at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) were lead authors on a section focusing on the impacts of plastics on the ocean.
The Commission?s key findings include:
- Plastics cause disease, impairment, and premature mortality at every stage of their life cycle, with the health repercussions disproportionately affecting vulnerable, low-income, minority communities, particularly children.
- Toxic chemicals that are added to plastics and routinely detected in people are, among other effects, known to increase the risk of miscarriage, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancers.
- Plastic waste is ubiquitous in the global environment, with microplastics occurring throughout the ocean and the marine food chain.
?It?s only been a little over 50 years since we?ve been aware of the presence of plastics throughout the ocean,? said John Stegeman, a senior scientist the Department of Biology at WHOI. ?The Minderoo-Monaco Commission?s work is a significant leap forward in connecting the broad health implications of plastics ? to the ocean and to humanity.?
The Commission concluded that current plastic production, use, and disposal patterns are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harm to human health, the economy, and the environment ? especially the ocean ? as well as deep societal injustices. Plastics, the report notes, account for an estimated 4 to 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions across their lifecycle, equivalent to emissions from Russia, making them a large-scale contributor to climate change.
The study also calculated the cost of the health repercussions attributed to plastic production to be $250 billion in a 12-month period, which is more than the GDP of New Zealand or Finland in 2015, the year the data were collected. In addition, health care costs associated with chemicals in plastics are estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The research also noted that the ubiquity of fast food and discount stores in poorer communities increased exposure to plastic packaging, products, and associated chemicals and impacts.
?Plastic waste endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being,? said Dr. Hervé Raps, Physician Delegate for Research at Centre Scientifique de Monaco. ?Besides their intrinsic effects, plastics can also be a vector for potentially pathogenic microorganisms and other chemicals adsorbed from polluted water. And alongside the new findings of this report, linking toxic chemicals to human harms, this is not the time to slow down our understanding of impacts in the ocean.?
Although plastics? potential harm to human health might be news to some, the oceanographic and marine biology communities have been acutely aware of its negative environmental impacts for decades. Despite this head start, the Commission?s findings reveal a pressing need for better understanding and monitoring of the effects of plastics and plastic-associated chemicals on marine species. The authors also highlight a significant lack of knowledge concerning the concentrations of the smallest micro- and nano-plastic particles (MNPs) in the marine environment and their potential impacts on marine animals and ecosystems, from the coasts to the abyss.
As a result of its findings, the Commission urged that a cap on global plastic production be a defining feature of the Global Plastics Treaty currently being negotiated at the UN, and that the Treaty focus beyond marine litter to address the impacts of plastics across their entire life cycle, including the many thousands of chemicals incorporated into plastics and the human health impacts. The positive news is that the Commission reports that many of plastics? harms can be avoided via better production practices, alternative design, less toxic chemicals, and decreased consumption.
?Ocean health is intimately and intricately connected to human health,? said Mark Hahn, a senior scientist in the Department of Biology at WHOI. ?Our attention now needs to be on creating a broadly acceptable international agreement that addresses the full life cycle of plastics in order to prioritize the health of the ocean that supports us all.?
In addition to Hahn and Stegeman, co-authors on the ocean section of the report included Sea Education Association Research Professor and WHOI Guest Investigator Kara Lavender-Law, MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Jordan Pitt and WHOI Postdoctoral Investigator Bryan James. Primary support for preparation of the report was provided by the Minderoo Foundation, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. The participation of WHOI researchers was also made possible by grants from WHOI Sea Grant, the March Marine Initiative (March Limited, Bermuda), the WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar Program, an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (funding from the NIH/NIEHS grant P01ES028938 and the NSF grant OCE-1840381).
Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics
The post Human and ocean health impacts of ocean plastics first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679513777
)
[2] => Array
(
[title] => Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/cascading-failures-in-urban-traffic-systems-tied-to-hidden-bottlenecks/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 18:29:41 +0000
[category] => sciencebottlenecksCascadingfailureshiddensystemstiedtrafficurban
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84628
[description] => Journal Reference: Zhuoran Chen, Chao Yang, Jiang-Hai Qian, Dingding Han, Yu-Gang Ma. Recursive traffic percolation on urban transportation systems. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 2023; 33 (3): 033132 DOI: 10.1063/5.0137726 Scientists from Fudan University and Shanghai University of Electric Power in China developed a modeling technique to study urban traffic flows and verified ... Read more
The post Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Zhuoran Chen, Chao Yang, Jiang-Hai Qian, Dingding Han, Yu-Gang Ma. Recursive traffic percolation on urban transportation systems. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 2023; 33 (3): 033132 DOI: 10.1063/5.0137726
Scientists from Fudan University and Shanghai University of Electric Power in China developed a modeling technique to study urban traffic flows and verified it with real-world data from Shanghai. They describe their approach in Chaos, by AIP Publishing, and show that their model can be used to find previously unknown bottlenecks that could lead to failure of the entire road network.
This research sits at the intersection of physics and information science and is an innovative model involving the study of smart cities. The model uses a modified form of percolation theory, widely used to understand flow of liquids through porous media, such as soil and gels. When liquid flows through a network of pores, it is occasionally blocked in much the same way the flow of vehicles through roads can be blocked.
In constructing their model, the investigators considered the existing road network and population distribution in Shanghai. They generated trips between various population centers, assigning those trips to roads that provided the shortest travel distance.
?The urban area is an open system where, in addition to intraregional flows, there is also an exchange of flows between external regions. To simulate the effect of commuting, we increased the population of bordering regions,? author Yu-Gang Ma said.
The traffic load on each road was converted to a velocity. When the flow of traffic reached an unacceptably low velocity on a given road, that road was deemed dysfunctional and removed from the model.
By repeating this process in a recursive fashion, the investigators discovered that a massive cascading failure of the urban transportation system occurred in a sudden and discontinuous fashion, much the way a phase transition occurs suddenly when ice melts or water boils.
Author and project leader Dingding Han said, ?We used publicly available maps for the Yangpu District in Shanghai and identified four roads that serve as major commuting thoroughfares. By applying our recursive traffic percolation model, we were able to identify one particular thoroughfare, Zhonghuan Road, as a potential bottleneck that could lead to cascading failure of the entire urban traffic system.?
When Zhonghuan Road becomes blocked, traffic flows into side streets that are eventually unable to handle the flow of vehicles. This leads to additional blockages and a breakdown of the entire system. When this occurs, the network of roads breaks into disconnected fragments.
?It is worth noting that the Zhonghuan Road bottleneck was found during the fifth round of road removal in our model,? author Jiang-Hai Qian said. ?Through the dynamic process of cascading failure, the hidden bottleneck was discovered.?
Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks
The post Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Zhuoran Chen, Chao Yang, Jiang-Hai Qian, Dingding Han, Yu-Gang Ma. Recursive traffic percolation on urban transportation systems. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 2023; 33 (3): 033132 DOI: 10.1063/5.0137726 Scientists from Fudan University and Shanghai University of Electric Power in China developed a modeling technique to study urban traffic flows and verified ... Read more
The post Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Zhuoran Chen, Chao Yang, Jiang-Hai Qian, Dingding Han, Yu-Gang Ma. Recursive traffic percolation on urban transportation systems. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 2023; 33 (3): 033132 DOI: 10.1063/5.0137726
Scientists from Fudan University and Shanghai University of Electric Power in China developed a modeling technique to study urban traffic flows and verified it with real-world data from Shanghai. They describe their approach in Chaos, by AIP Publishing, and show that their model can be used to find previously unknown bottlenecks that could lead to failure of the entire road network.
This research sits at the intersection of physics and information science and is an innovative model involving the study of smart cities. The model uses a modified form of percolation theory, widely used to understand flow of liquids through porous media, such as soil and gels. When liquid flows through a network of pores, it is occasionally blocked in much the same way the flow of vehicles through roads can be blocked.
In constructing their model, the investigators considered the existing road network and population distribution in Shanghai. They generated trips between various population centers, assigning those trips to roads that provided the shortest travel distance.
?The urban area is an open system where, in addition to intraregional flows, there is also an exchange of flows between external regions. To simulate the effect of commuting, we increased the population of bordering regions,? author Yu-Gang Ma said.
The traffic load on each road was converted to a velocity. When the flow of traffic reached an unacceptably low velocity on a given road, that road was deemed dysfunctional and removed from the model.
By repeating this process in a recursive fashion, the investigators discovered that a massive cascading failure of the urban transportation system occurred in a sudden and discontinuous fashion, much the way a phase transition occurs suddenly when ice melts or water boils.
Author and project leader Dingding Han said, ?We used publicly available maps for the Yangpu District in Shanghai and identified four roads that serve as major commuting thoroughfares. By applying our recursive traffic percolation model, we were able to identify one particular thoroughfare, Zhonghuan Road, as a potential bottleneck that could lead to cascading failure of the entire urban traffic system.?
When Zhonghuan Road becomes blocked, traffic flows into side streets that are eventually unable to handle the flow of vehicles. This leads to additional blockages and a breakdown of the entire system. When this occurs, the network of roads breaks into disconnected fragments.
?It is worth noting that the Zhonghuan Road bottleneck was found during the fifth round of road removal in our model,? author Jiang-Hai Qian said. ?Through the dynamic process of cascading failure, the hidden bottleneck was discovered.?
Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks
The post Cascading failures in urban traffic systems tied to hidden bottlenecks first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679509781
)
[3] => Array
(
[title] => Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer?
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/cans-or-bottles-whats-better-for-a-contemporary-stable-beer/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:25:10 +0000
[category] => sciencebeerbottlescansContemporarystableWhats
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84626
[description] => Journal Reference: Kathryn Fromuth, Jacqueline M. Chaparro, Dana Sedin, Charlene Van Buiten, Jessica E. Prenni. Characterizing the Impact of Package Type on Beer Stability. ACS Food Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00351 In addition to water and ethanol, beer contains thousands of flavor compounds, which are metabolites produced by yeast, hops and other ingredients. During ... Read more
The post Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer? first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Kathryn Fromuth, Jacqueline M. Chaparro, Dana Sedin, Charlene Van Buiten, Jessica E. Prenni. Characterizing the Impact of Package Type on Beer Stability. ACS Food Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00351
In addition to water and ethanol, beer contains thousands of flavor compounds, which are metabolites produced by yeast, hops and other ingredients. During storage, chemical reactions break down some of those components while forming others. This reduces the content of some tasty flavors while generating unappetizing ones, contributing to the aging, or staling, of beer. To help brewers prolong shelf life, researchers have studied beer aging, but they?ve concentrated on light lagers and a limited group of chemicals. Jessica Prenni and colleagues wanted to extend that work to amber ale and IPA, as well as additional compounds. The team also wanted to conduct the first stability comparison of beer packaged in glass bottles versus aluminum cans.
Cans and brown bottles of amber ale and IPA were chilled for a month and then kept at room temperature for five months to mimic typical storage conditions. Every two weeks, the researchers analyzed the metabolites in newly opened containers. Throughout this time, the concentration of certain metabolites in amber ale ? including some amino acids and esters ? differed significantly depending on whether it was packaged in a bottle or can. IPA, however, was much less sensitive to packaging type, possibly because of its higher concentration of polyphenols from hops. These compounds not only prevent oxidation but also bind to amino acids, thus retaining them in the beer rather than allowing them to get stuck to the inside of a container.
The researchers also found that the metabolic profile of both amber ale and IPA changed over time, whether packaged in a can or bottle. However, amber ale in cans showed the greatest variation during aging. Once scientists find out how all of these changes affect flavor, brewers will be able to make more-informed decisions about the best type of packaging for their particular type of beer.
Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer?
The post Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer? first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Kathryn Fromuth, Jacqueline M. Chaparro, Dana Sedin, Charlene Van Buiten, Jessica E. Prenni. Characterizing the Impact of Package Type on Beer Stability. ACS Food Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00351 In addition to water and ethanol, beer contains thousands of flavor compounds, which are metabolites produced by yeast, hops and other ingredients. During ... Read more
The post Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer? first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Kathryn Fromuth, Jacqueline M. Chaparro, Dana Sedin, Charlene Van Buiten, Jessica E. Prenni. Characterizing the Impact of Package Type on Beer Stability. ACS Food Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00351
In addition to water and ethanol, beer contains thousands of flavor compounds, which are metabolites produced by yeast, hops and other ingredients. During storage, chemical reactions break down some of those components while forming others. This reduces the content of some tasty flavors while generating unappetizing ones, contributing to the aging, or staling, of beer. To help brewers prolong shelf life, researchers have studied beer aging, but they?ve concentrated on light lagers and a limited group of chemicals. Jessica Prenni and colleagues wanted to extend that work to amber ale and IPA, as well as additional compounds. The team also wanted to conduct the first stability comparison of beer packaged in glass bottles versus aluminum cans.
Cans and brown bottles of amber ale and IPA were chilled for a month and then kept at room temperature for five months to mimic typical storage conditions. Every two weeks, the researchers analyzed the metabolites in newly opened containers. Throughout this time, the concentration of certain metabolites in amber ale ? including some amino acids and esters ? differed significantly depending on whether it was packaged in a bottle or can. IPA, however, was much less sensitive to packaging type, possibly because of its higher concentration of polyphenols from hops. These compounds not only prevent oxidation but also bind to amino acids, thus retaining them in the beer rather than allowing them to get stuck to the inside of a container.
The researchers also found that the metabolic profile of both amber ale and IPA changed over time, whether packaged in a can or bottle. However, amber ale in cans showed the greatest variation during aging. Once scientists find out how all of these changes affect flavor, brewers will be able to make more-informed decisions about the best type of packaging for their particular type of beer.
Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer?
The post Cans or bottles: What?s better for a contemporary, stable beer? first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679505910
)
[4] => Array
(
[title] => Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/solar-industry-feeling-the-heat-over-disposal-of-80-million-panels/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 15:14:00 +0000
[category] => sciencedisposalfeelingHeatindustrymillionPanelsSolar
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84624
[description] => Journal Reference: Peter Majewski, Rong Deng, Pablo R Dias, Megan Jones. Product stewardship considerations for solar photovoltaic panels. AIMS Energy, 2023; 11 (1): 140 DOI: 10.3934/energy.2023008 Paradoxically, one of the reasons people are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in huge numbers is to help the environment, but the industry is now grappling with the anticipated ... Read more
The post Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Peter Majewski, Rong Deng, Pablo R Dias, Megan Jones. Product stewardship considerations for solar photovoltaic panels. AIMS Energy, 2023; 11 (1): 140 DOI: 10.3934/energy.2023008
Paradoxically, one of the reasons people are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in huge numbers is to help the environment, but the industry is now grappling with the anticipated waste generated by 100,000 tonnes of panels due to be dismantled in Australia from 2035.
A new study led by the University of South Australia has proposed a comprehensive product stewardship scheme for solar panels, which was prioritised by the Federal Government several years ago.
In a paper published in AIMS Energy, UniSA researcher Professor Peter Majewski says incentives are needed for producers to design solar panels that can be more easily recycled if they are damaged or out of warranty.
?Australia has one of the highest uptakes of solar panels in the world, which is outstanding, but little thought has been given to the significant volume of panels ending up in landfill 20 years down the track when they need to be replaced,? Prof Majewski says.
?There are some simple recycling steps that can be taken to reduce the waste volume, including removing the panels? frames, glass covers and solar connectors before they are disposed of.
?Landfill bans are already in place in Victoria, following the lead of some European countries, encouraging existing installers to start thinking about recyclable materials when making the panels.?
Prof Majewski says landfill bans are a powerful tool but require legislation that ensures waste is not just diverted to other locations with less stringent regulations.
Serial numbers that can track a history of solar panels could also monitor their recycling use and ensure they are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.
?Several European nations have legislation in place for electric car manufacturers to ensure they are using materials that allow 85 per cent of the car to be recycled at the end of their life. Something similar could be legislated for solar panels.?
Weatherproof polymers used in solar panels pose environmental risks, releasing harmful hydro-fluorite gas when incinerated. Exposure to the gas can severely irritate and burn the eyes, causing headaches, nausea, and pulmonary edema in the worst cases, sometimes leaving permanent damage.
Another primary material used in solar cells is silicon, the second most abundant material on Earth after oxygen and the most common conductor used in computer chips.
?The demand for silicon is huge, so it?s important it is recycled to reduce its environmental footprint.
?About three billion solar panels are installed worldwide, containing about 1.8 million tons of high-grade silicon, the current value of which is USD 7.2 billion. Considering this, recycling of solar PV panels has the potential to be commercially viable.?
Prof Majewski says a second-hand economy could also be generated by re-using solar panels that are still functioning.
?Solar panel re-use offers a variety of social and environmental benefits, but consumers will need guarantees that second-hand panels will work properly and provide a minimum capacity in watts.?
Any end-of-life legislation will need to address existing and new panels and support the creation of a second-hand economy, Prof Majewski says.
A levy on the panels may also be needed to help finance an end-of-life scheme.
Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels
The post Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Peter Majewski, Rong Deng, Pablo R Dias, Megan Jones. Product stewardship considerations for solar photovoltaic panels. AIMS Energy, 2023; 11 (1): 140 DOI: 10.3934/energy.2023008 Paradoxically, one of the reasons people are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in huge numbers is to help the environment, but the industry is now grappling with the anticipated ... Read more
The post Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Peter Majewski, Rong Deng, Pablo R Dias, Megan Jones. Product stewardship considerations for solar photovoltaic panels. AIMS Energy, 2023; 11 (1): 140 DOI: 10.3934/energy.2023008
Paradoxically, one of the reasons people are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in huge numbers is to help the environment, but the industry is now grappling with the anticipated waste generated by 100,000 tonnes of panels due to be dismantled in Australia from 2035.
A new study led by the University of South Australia has proposed a comprehensive product stewardship scheme for solar panels, which was prioritised by the Federal Government several years ago.
In a paper published in AIMS Energy, UniSA researcher Professor Peter Majewski says incentives are needed for producers to design solar panels that can be more easily recycled if they are damaged or out of warranty.
?Australia has one of the highest uptakes of solar panels in the world, which is outstanding, but little thought has been given to the significant volume of panels ending up in landfill 20 years down the track when they need to be replaced,? Prof Majewski says.
?There are some simple recycling steps that can be taken to reduce the waste volume, including removing the panels? frames, glass covers and solar connectors before they are disposed of.
?Landfill bans are already in place in Victoria, following the lead of some European countries, encouraging existing installers to start thinking about recyclable materials when making the panels.?
Prof Majewski says landfill bans are a powerful tool but require legislation that ensures waste is not just diverted to other locations with less stringent regulations.
Serial numbers that can track a history of solar panels could also monitor their recycling use and ensure they are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.
?Several European nations have legislation in place for electric car manufacturers to ensure they are using materials that allow 85 per cent of the car to be recycled at the end of their life. Something similar could be legislated for solar panels.?
Weatherproof polymers used in solar panels pose environmental risks, releasing harmful hydro-fluorite gas when incinerated. Exposure to the gas can severely irritate and burn the eyes, causing headaches, nausea, and pulmonary edema in the worst cases, sometimes leaving permanent damage.
Another primary material used in solar cells is silicon, the second most abundant material on Earth after oxygen and the most common conductor used in computer chips.
?The demand for silicon is huge, so it?s important it is recycled to reduce its environmental footprint.
?About three billion solar panels are installed worldwide, containing about 1.8 million tons of high-grade silicon, the current value of which is USD 7.2 billion. Considering this, recycling of solar PV panels has the potential to be commercially viable.?
Prof Majewski says a second-hand economy could also be generated by re-using solar panels that are still functioning.
?Solar panel re-use offers a variety of social and environmental benefits, but consumers will need guarantees that second-hand panels will work properly and provide a minimum capacity in watts.?
Any end-of-life legislation will need to address existing and new panels and support the creation of a second-hand economy, Prof Majewski says.
A levy on the panels may also be needed to help finance an end-of-life scheme.
Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels
The post Solar industry feeling the heat over disposal of 80 million panels first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679498040
)
[5] => Array
(
[title] => Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/batteries-passivation-layer-mystery-solved/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 14:08:04 +0000
[category] => sciencebatterieslayermysteryPassivationsolved
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84622
[description] => Journal Reference: Meysam Esmaeilpour, Saibal Jana, Hongjiao Li, Mohammad Soleymanibrojeni, Wolfgang Wenzel. A Solution?Mediated Pathway for the Growth of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Lithium?Ion Batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 2023; 2203966 DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202203966 From smartphones to electric cars ? wherever a mobile energy source is required, it is almost always a lithium-ion battery that does ... Read more
The post Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Meysam Esmaeilpour, Saibal Jana, Hongjiao Li, Mohammad Soleymanibrojeni, Wolfgang Wenzel. A Solution?Mediated Pathway for the Growth of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Lithium?Ion Batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 2023; 2203966 DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202203966
From smartphones to electric cars ? wherever a mobile energy source is required, it is almost always a lithium-ion battery that does the job. An essential part of the reliable function of this and other liquid electrolyte batteries is the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). This passivation layer forms when voltage is applied for the first time. The electrolyte is being decomposed in the immediate vicinity of the surface. Until now, it remained unclear ow the particles in the electrolytes form a layer that is up to 100 nanometers thick on the surface of the electrode since the decomposition reaction is only possible in a few nanometers distance from the surface.
The passivation layer on the anode surface is crucial to the electrochemical capacity and lifetime of a lithium-ion battery because it is highly stressed with every charging cycle. When the SEI is broken up during this process, the electrolyte is further decomposed and the battery?s capacity is reduced ? a process that determines the lifetime of a battery. With the right knowledge on the SEI?s growth and composition, the properties of a battery can be controlled. But so far, no experimental or computer-aided approach was sufficient to decipher the SEI?s complex growth processes that take place on a very wide scale and in different dimensions.
Study as Part of the EU Initiative BATTERY 2030+
Researchers at the KIT Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) now managed to characterize the formation of the SEI with a multi-scale approach. ?This solves one of the great mysteries regarding an essential part of all liquid electrolyte batteries ? especially the lithium-ion batteries we all use every day,? says Professor Wolfgang Wenzel, director of the research group ?Multiscale Materials Modelling and Virtual Design? at INT, which is involved in the large-scale European research initiative BATTERY 2030+ that aims to develop safe, affordable, long-lasting, sustainable high-performance batteries for the future. The KIT researchers report on their findings in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.
More than 50,000 Simulations for Different Reaction Conditions
To examine the growth and composition of the passivation layer at the anode of liquid electrolyte batteries, the researchers at INT generated an ensemble of over 50,000 simulations representing different reaction conditions. They found that the growth of the organic SEI follows a solution-mediated pathway: First, SEI precursors that are formed directly at the surface join far away from the electrode surface via a nucleation process. The subsequent rapid growth of the nuclei leads to the formation of a porous layer that eventually covers the electrode surface. These findings offer a solution to the paradoxical situation that SEI constituents can form only near the surface, where electrons are available, but their growth would stop once this narrow region is covered. ?We were able to identify the key reaction parameters that determine SEI thickness,? explains Dr. Saibal Jana, postdoc at INT and one of the authors of the study. ?This will enable the future development of electrolytes and suitable additives that control the properties of the SEI and optimize the battery?s performance and lifetime.? (or)
Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved
The post Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Meysam Esmaeilpour, Saibal Jana, Hongjiao Li, Mohammad Soleymanibrojeni, Wolfgang Wenzel. A Solution?Mediated Pathway for the Growth of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Lithium?Ion Batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 2023; 2203966 DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202203966 From smartphones to electric cars ? wherever a mobile energy source is required, it is almost always a lithium-ion battery that does ... Read more
The post Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Meysam Esmaeilpour, Saibal Jana, Hongjiao Li, Mohammad Soleymanibrojeni, Wolfgang Wenzel. A Solution?Mediated Pathway for the Growth of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Lithium?Ion Batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 2023; 2203966 DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202203966
From smartphones to electric cars ? wherever a mobile energy source is required, it is almost always a lithium-ion battery that does the job. An essential part of the reliable function of this and other liquid electrolyte batteries is the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). This passivation layer forms when voltage is applied for the first time. The electrolyte is being decomposed in the immediate vicinity of the surface. Until now, it remained unclear ow the particles in the electrolytes form a layer that is up to 100 nanometers thick on the surface of the electrode since the decomposition reaction is only possible in a few nanometers distance from the surface.
The passivation layer on the anode surface is crucial to the electrochemical capacity and lifetime of a lithium-ion battery because it is highly stressed with every charging cycle. When the SEI is broken up during this process, the electrolyte is further decomposed and the battery?s capacity is reduced ? a process that determines the lifetime of a battery. With the right knowledge on the SEI?s growth and composition, the properties of a battery can be controlled. But so far, no experimental or computer-aided approach was sufficient to decipher the SEI?s complex growth processes that take place on a very wide scale and in different dimensions.
Study as Part of the EU Initiative BATTERY 2030+
Researchers at the KIT Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) now managed to characterize the formation of the SEI with a multi-scale approach. ?This solves one of the great mysteries regarding an essential part of all liquid electrolyte batteries ? especially the lithium-ion batteries we all use every day,? says Professor Wolfgang Wenzel, director of the research group ?Multiscale Materials Modelling and Virtual Design? at INT, which is involved in the large-scale European research initiative BATTERY 2030+ that aims to develop safe, affordable, long-lasting, sustainable high-performance batteries for the future. The KIT researchers report on their findings in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.
More than 50,000 Simulations for Different Reaction Conditions
To examine the growth and composition of the passivation layer at the anode of liquid electrolyte batteries, the researchers at INT generated an ensemble of over 50,000 simulations representing different reaction conditions. They found that the growth of the organic SEI follows a solution-mediated pathway: First, SEI precursors that are formed directly at the surface join far away from the electrode surface via a nucleation process. The subsequent rapid growth of the nuclei leads to the formation of a porous layer that eventually covers the electrode surface. These findings offer a solution to the paradoxical situation that SEI constituents can form only near the surface, where electrons are available, but their growth would stop once this narrow region is covered. ?We were able to identify the key reaction parameters that determine SEI thickness,? explains Dr. Saibal Jana, postdoc at INT and one of the authors of the study. ?This will enable the future development of electrolytes and suitable additives that control the properties of the SEI and optimize the battery?s performance and lifetime.? (or)
Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved
The post Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679494084
)
[6] => Array
(
[title] => ?Rock stars? solve long
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/rock-stars-solve-long/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:03:09 +0000
[category] => scienceLongRocksolvestars
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84620
[description] => Journal Reference: Carl Walsh, Balz S. Kamber, Emma L. Tomlinson. Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond. Nature, 2023; 615 (7952): 450 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05665-2 The paper ?Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond,? has been published in the academic journal Nature by lead author QUT PhD student Carl Walsh, along with QUT Professor ... Read more
The post ?Rock stars? solve long first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Carl Walsh, Balz S. Kamber, Emma L. Tomlinson. Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond. Nature, 2023; 615 (7952): 450 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05665-2
The paper ?Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond,? has been published in the academic journal Nature by lead author QUT PhD student Carl Walsh, along with QUT Professor Balz Kamber and Emma Tomlinson from Trinity College, Ireland.
Mr Walsh said the study, for his MSc research, involved computer modelling on a rock from the African continent and recovered from the bottom of the lithosphere, the outer part of the Earth between about 30km and 250km below the surface.
Mr Walsh said the dominant part of a continent was the part that you never see.
?If you think of an iceberg ? the visible part ? if you just had an iceberg floating on the ocean surface it would tip over like a boat. This is like the keel of an iceberg,? Mr Walsh said.
?We basically had a known starting composition of a rock, which is representative of the earth?s mantle at an early time in the history of the earth before all the continents were formed,? Mr Walsh said.
?We took that starting composition and modelled what would happen to it if it was progressively melted, and what would be left over. And that material is what forms the bulk of the roots of ancient continents that are still around today.?
Professor Kamber, from QUT?s Faculty of Science, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said the aim of this research was to use a computer model to see how these deep roots might have formed.
?The model essentially predicts which minerals and melts will be present as you change the temperature of the mantle. So, it?s a predictive tool you can compare with the composition of actual minerals and rocks,? Prof Kamber said.
The piece of rock used for the advanced computer modelling was mined sometime between 1871 and 1914 and ended up in the ?waste-pile? of the legendary Kimberley diamond mine, best known as ?The Big Hole? ? a combination open-pit and underground mine ? in Kimberley, Northern Cape in South Africa.
The piece of rock they have modelled, garnet harzburgite, was brought to the surface in a kimberlite pipe. The rock was retrieved by Professor Kamber ? who specialises in petrology, a branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form.
He carefully sledgehammered the rock down to a size that he could successfully ship home.
?It contains a jumble of minerals that were entrained on the way up as they ripped through the base of the whole continent in a supersonic volcanic eruption ? the likes of which we have never seen,? Professor Kamber said.
?The minerals in this rock sample are so badly hurt, they are screaming still today, they were absolutely smashed.?
?It is so exciting to see this preserved, it is extremely old ? 3.3 billion years old. Probably the oldest rock most people will ever hold in their hands,? Professor Kamber said.
Mr Walsh said the study solved the conundrum of diamonds and the temperatures in which they formed, given a diamond will turn into graphite if heated up too much.
?But yet, when we look at the rocks that contain diamonds, they must have been heated to massive temperatures,? Mr Walsh said.
?So why is it that it is exactly those rocks that experienced the highest temperatures that ended up having diamonds??
Their research challenges the existing two-step shallow ?melting and stacking? explanation.
?Previously, it was believed that most of the ancient deep roots of continents would have been host to diamonds, and that these diamonds were destroyed over time, because the base of the continent is continually invaded and eroded by volatile rich melts and fluids,? Mr Walsh said.
?Our work suggests that actually this might not be the case, that diamonds are rare today ? and were in fact always rare.?
?And that?s because we can for the first time know what is missing from the cradle of the diamond and we can go hunt for it at the surface.?
Professor Kamber said on the present-day earth the heat and temperature distribution in the mantle is not uniform.
?We have areas of relatively uniform mantle temperature, and areas where the mantle is a lot hotter. These are known as mantle plumes. And we have expressions of these in Hawaii and Iceland,? Professor Kamber said.
?What we?re studying is the effect of ancient plumes ? when much hotter plumes than we have now would have hit the base of a growing continent.?
Since conducing the research, Mr Walsh has travelled to Canberra to recreate similar rocks in the lab at the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University.
?Rock stars? solve long-standing diamond conundrum
The post ?Rock stars? solve long first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Carl Walsh, Balz S. Kamber, Emma L. Tomlinson. Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond. Nature, 2023; 615 (7952): 450 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05665-2 The paper ?Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond,? has been published in the academic journal Nature by lead author QUT PhD student Carl Walsh, along with QUT Professor ... Read more
The post ?Rock stars? solve long first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Carl Walsh, Balz S. Kamber, Emma L. Tomlinson. Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond. Nature, 2023; 615 (7952): 450 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05665-2
The paper ?Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond,? has been published in the academic journal Nature by lead author QUT PhD student Carl Walsh, along with QUT Professor Balz Kamber and Emma Tomlinson from Trinity College, Ireland.
Mr Walsh said the study, for his MSc research, involved computer modelling on a rock from the African continent and recovered from the bottom of the lithosphere, the outer part of the Earth between about 30km and 250km below the surface.
Mr Walsh said the dominant part of a continent was the part that you never see.
?If you think of an iceberg ? the visible part ? if you just had an iceberg floating on the ocean surface it would tip over like a boat. This is like the keel of an iceberg,? Mr Walsh said.
?We basically had a known starting composition of a rock, which is representative of the earth?s mantle at an early time in the history of the earth before all the continents were formed,? Mr Walsh said.
?We took that starting composition and modelled what would happen to it if it was progressively melted, and what would be left over. And that material is what forms the bulk of the roots of ancient continents that are still around today.?
Professor Kamber, from QUT?s Faculty of Science, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said the aim of this research was to use a computer model to see how these deep roots might have formed.
?The model essentially predicts which minerals and melts will be present as you change the temperature of the mantle. So, it?s a predictive tool you can compare with the composition of actual minerals and rocks,? Prof Kamber said.
The piece of rock used for the advanced computer modelling was mined sometime between 1871 and 1914 and ended up in the ?waste-pile? of the legendary Kimberley diamond mine, best known as ?The Big Hole? ? a combination open-pit and underground mine ? in Kimberley, Northern Cape in South Africa.
The piece of rock they have modelled, garnet harzburgite, was brought to the surface in a kimberlite pipe. The rock was retrieved by Professor Kamber ? who specialises in petrology, a branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form.
He carefully sledgehammered the rock down to a size that he could successfully ship home.
?It contains a jumble of minerals that were entrained on the way up as they ripped through the base of the whole continent in a supersonic volcanic eruption ? the likes of which we have never seen,? Professor Kamber said.
?The minerals in this rock sample are so badly hurt, they are screaming still today, they were absolutely smashed.?
?It is so exciting to see this preserved, it is extremely old ? 3.3 billion years old. Probably the oldest rock most people will ever hold in their hands,? Professor Kamber said.
Mr Walsh said the study solved the conundrum of diamonds and the temperatures in which they formed, given a diamond will turn into graphite if heated up too much.
?But yet, when we look at the rocks that contain diamonds, they must have been heated to massive temperatures,? Mr Walsh said.
?So why is it that it is exactly those rocks that experienced the highest temperatures that ended up having diamonds??
Their research challenges the existing two-step shallow ?melting and stacking? explanation.
?Previously, it was believed that most of the ancient deep roots of continents would have been host to diamonds, and that these diamonds were destroyed over time, because the base of the continent is continually invaded and eroded by volatile rich melts and fluids,? Mr Walsh said.
?Our work suggests that actually this might not be the case, that diamonds are rare today ? and were in fact always rare.?
?And that?s because we can for the first time know what is missing from the cradle of the diamond and we can go hunt for it at the surface.?
Professor Kamber said on the present-day earth the heat and temperature distribution in the mantle is not uniform.
?We have areas of relatively uniform mantle temperature, and areas where the mantle is a lot hotter. These are known as mantle plumes. And we have expressions of these in Hawaii and Iceland,? Professor Kamber said.
?What we?re studying is the effect of ancient plumes ? when much hotter plumes than we have now would have hit the base of a growing continent.?
Since conducing the research, Mr Walsh has travelled to Canberra to recreate similar rocks in the lab at the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University.
?Rock stars? solve long-standing diamond conundrum
The post ?Rock stars? solve long first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679490189
)
[7] => Array
(
[title] => ?Y
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/y/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 11:58:38 +0000
[category] => science
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84618
[description] => Journal Reference: Hisao Kobayashi, Yui Sakaguchi, Hayato Kitagawa, Momoko Oura, Shugo Ikeda, Kentaro Kuga, Shintaro Suzuki, Satoru Nakatsuji, Ryo Masuda, Yasuhiro Kobayashi, Makoto Seto, Yoshitaka Yoda, Kenji Tamasaku, Yashar Komijani, Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman. Observation of a critical charge mode in a strange metal. Science, 2023; 379 (6635): 908 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc4787 The results of the ... Read more
The post ?Y first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Hisao Kobayashi, Yui Sakaguchi, Hayato Kitagawa, Momoko Oura, Shugo Ikeda, Kentaro Kuga, Shintaro Suzuki, Satoru Nakatsuji, Ryo Masuda, Yasuhiro Kobayashi, Makoto Seto, Yoshitaka Yoda, Kenji Tamasaku, Yashar Komijani, Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman. Observation of a critical charge mode in a strange metal. Science, 2023; 379 (6635): 908 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc4787
The results of the experiments, aided by the insights of theoretical physicists at Rutgers, could play a role in the development of revolutionary technologies and devices.
?It?s likely that that quantum materials will drive the next generation of technology and that strange metals will be part of that story,? said Piers Coleman, a Distinguished Professor at the Rutgers Center for Materials Theory in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and one of the theoreticians involved in the study. ?We know that strange metals like Y-ball exhibit properties that need to be understood to develop these future applications. We?re pretty sure that understanding this strange metal will give us new ideas and will help us design and discover new materials.?
Reporting in the journal Science, an international team of researchers from Rutgers, the University of Hyogo and the University of Tokyo in Japan, the University of Cincinnati and Johns Hopkins University described details of electron motion that provide new insight into the unusual electrical properties of Y-ball. The material, technically known as the compound YbAlB4, contains the elements ytterbium, aluminum and boron. It was nicknamed ?Y-ball? by the late Elihu Abrahams, founding director of the Rutgers Center for Materials Theory.
The experiment revealed unusual fluctuations in the strange metal?s electrical charge. The work is groundbreaking, the researchers said, because of the novel way the experimenters examined Y-ball, firing gamma rays at it using a synchrotron, a type of particle accelerator.
The Rutgers team ? including Coleman, fellow physics professor Premala Chandra and former postdoctoral fellow Yashar Komijani (now an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati) ? have spent years exploring the mysteries of strange metals. They do so through the framework of quantum mechanics, the physical laws governing the realm of the ultra-small, home of the building blocks of nature such as electrons.
Analyzing the material using a technique known as Mossbauer spectroscopy, the scientists probed Y-ball with gamma rays, measuring the rate at which the strange metal?s electrical charge fluctuates. In a conventional metal, as they move, electrons hop in and out of the atoms, causing their electrical charge to fluctuate, but at a rate that is thousands of times too fast to be seen by Mossbauer spectroscopy. In this case, the change happened in a nanosecond, a billionth of a second.
?In the quantum world, a nanosecond is an eternity,? said Komijani. ?For a long time, we have been wondering why these fluctuations are actually so slow.? ?We reasoned,? continued Chandra, ?that each time an electron hops into an ytterbium atom, it stays there long enough to attract the surrounding atoms, causing them to move in and out. This synchronized dance of the electrons and atoms slows the whole process so that it can be seen by the Mossbauer.?
They moved to the next step. ?We asked the experimentalists to look for these vibrations,? said Komijani, ?and to our delight, they detected them.?
Coleman explained that when an electrical current flows through conventional metals, such as copper, random atomic motion scatters the electrons causing friction called resistance. As the temperature is raised, the resistance increases in a complex fashion and at some point it reaches a plateau.
In strange metals such as Y-ball, however, resistance increases linearly with temperature, a much simpler behavior. In addition, further contributing to their ?strangeness,? when Y-ball and other strange metals are cooled to low temperatures, they often become superconductors, exhibiting no resistance at all.
The materials with the highest superconducting temperatures fall into this strange family. These metals are thus very important because they provide the canvas for new forms of electronic matter ? especially exotic and high temperature superconductivity.
Superconducting materials are expected to be central to the next generation of quantum technologies because, in eliminating all electrical resistance, they allow an electric current to flow in a quantum mechanically synchronized fashion. The researchers see their work as opening a door to future, perhaps unimaginable possibilities.
?In the 19th century, when people were trying to figure out electricity and magnetism, they couldn?t have imagined the next century, which was entirely driven by that understanding,? Coleman said. ?And so, it?s also true today, that when we use the vague phrase ?quantum materials,? we can?t really envisage how it will transform the lives of our grandchildren.?
?Y-ball? compound yields quantum secrets
The post ?Y first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Hisao Kobayashi, Yui Sakaguchi, Hayato Kitagawa, Momoko Oura, Shugo Ikeda, Kentaro Kuga, Shintaro Suzuki, Satoru Nakatsuji, Ryo Masuda, Yasuhiro Kobayashi, Makoto Seto, Yoshitaka Yoda, Kenji Tamasaku, Yashar Komijani, Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman. Observation of a critical charge mode in a strange metal. Science, 2023; 379 (6635): 908 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc4787 The results of the ... Read more
The post ?Y first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Hisao Kobayashi, Yui Sakaguchi, Hayato Kitagawa, Momoko Oura, Shugo Ikeda, Kentaro Kuga, Shintaro Suzuki, Satoru Nakatsuji, Ryo Masuda, Yasuhiro Kobayashi, Makoto Seto, Yoshitaka Yoda, Kenji Tamasaku, Yashar Komijani, Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman. Observation of a critical charge mode in a strange metal. Science, 2023; 379 (6635): 908 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc4787
The results of the experiments, aided by the insights of theoretical physicists at Rutgers, could play a role in the development of revolutionary technologies and devices.
?It?s likely that that quantum materials will drive the next generation of technology and that strange metals will be part of that story,? said Piers Coleman, a Distinguished Professor at the Rutgers Center for Materials Theory in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and one of the theoreticians involved in the study. ?We know that strange metals like Y-ball exhibit properties that need to be understood to develop these future applications. We?re pretty sure that understanding this strange metal will give us new ideas and will help us design and discover new materials.?
Reporting in the journal Science, an international team of researchers from Rutgers, the University of Hyogo and the University of Tokyo in Japan, the University of Cincinnati and Johns Hopkins University described details of electron motion that provide new insight into the unusual electrical properties of Y-ball. The material, technically known as the compound YbAlB4, contains the elements ytterbium, aluminum and boron. It was nicknamed ?Y-ball? by the late Elihu Abrahams, founding director of the Rutgers Center for Materials Theory.
The experiment revealed unusual fluctuations in the strange metal?s electrical charge. The work is groundbreaking, the researchers said, because of the novel way the experimenters examined Y-ball, firing gamma rays at it using a synchrotron, a type of particle accelerator.
The Rutgers team ? including Coleman, fellow physics professor Premala Chandra and former postdoctoral fellow Yashar Komijani (now an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati) ? have spent years exploring the mysteries of strange metals. They do so through the framework of quantum mechanics, the physical laws governing the realm of the ultra-small, home of the building blocks of nature such as electrons.
Analyzing the material using a technique known as Mossbauer spectroscopy, the scientists probed Y-ball with gamma rays, measuring the rate at which the strange metal?s electrical charge fluctuates. In a conventional metal, as they move, electrons hop in and out of the atoms, causing their electrical charge to fluctuate, but at a rate that is thousands of times too fast to be seen by Mossbauer spectroscopy. In this case, the change happened in a nanosecond, a billionth of a second.
?In the quantum world, a nanosecond is an eternity,? said Komijani. ?For a long time, we have been wondering why these fluctuations are actually so slow.? ?We reasoned,? continued Chandra, ?that each time an electron hops into an ytterbium atom, it stays there long enough to attract the surrounding atoms, causing them to move in and out. This synchronized dance of the electrons and atoms slows the whole process so that it can be seen by the Mossbauer.?
They moved to the next step. ?We asked the experimentalists to look for these vibrations,? said Komijani, ?and to our delight, they detected them.?
Coleman explained that when an electrical current flows through conventional metals, such as copper, random atomic motion scatters the electrons causing friction called resistance. As the temperature is raised, the resistance increases in a complex fashion and at some point it reaches a plateau.
In strange metals such as Y-ball, however, resistance increases linearly with temperature, a much simpler behavior. In addition, further contributing to their ?strangeness,? when Y-ball and other strange metals are cooled to low temperatures, they often become superconductors, exhibiting no resistance at all.
The materials with the highest superconducting temperatures fall into this strange family. These metals are thus very important because they provide the canvas for new forms of electronic matter ? especially exotic and high temperature superconductivity.
Superconducting materials are expected to be central to the next generation of quantum technologies because, in eliminating all electrical resistance, they allow an electric current to flow in a quantum mechanically synchronized fashion. The researchers see their work as opening a door to future, perhaps unimaginable possibilities.
?In the 19th century, when people were trying to figure out electricity and magnetism, they couldn?t have imagined the next century, which was entirely driven by that understanding,? Coleman said. ?And so, it?s also true today, that when we use the vague phrase ?quantum materials,? we can?t really envisage how it will transform the lives of our grandchildren.?
?Y-ball? compound yields quantum secrets
The post ?Y first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679486318
)
[8] => Array
(
[title] => Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/study-highlights-complicated-relationship-between-ai-and-law-enforcement/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 10:53:17 +0000
[category] => sciencecomplicatedenforcementhighlightslawrelationshipStudy
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84616
[description] => Journal Reference: Ronald P. Dempsey, James R. Brunet, Veljko Dubljevi?. Exploring and Understanding Law Enforcement?s Relationship with Technology: A Qualitative Interview Study of Police Officers in North Carolina. Applied Sciences, 2023; 13 (6): 3887 DOI: 10.3390/app13063887 ?Law enforcement agencies have a crucial role to play in implementing public policies related to AI technologies,? says Veljko ... Read more
The post Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Ronald P. Dempsey, James R. Brunet, Veljko Dubljevi?. Exploring and Understanding Law Enforcement?s Relationship with Technology: A Qualitative Interview Study of Police Officers in North Carolina. Applied Sciences, 2023; 13 (6): 3887 DOI: 10.3390/app13063887
?Law enforcement agencies have a crucial role to play in implementing public policies related to AI technologies,? says Veljko Dubljevi?, corresponding author of the study and an associate professor of science, technology and society at North Carolina State University.
?For example, officers will need to know how to proceed if they pull over a vehicle being driven autonomously for a traffic violation. For that matter, they will need to know how to pull over a vehicle being driven autonomously. Because of their role in maintaining public order, it?s important for law enforcement to have a seat at the table in crafting these policies.?
?In addition, there are a number of AI-powered technologies that are already in use by law enforcement agencies that are designed to help them prevent and respond to crime,? says Ronald Dempsey, first author of the study and a former graduate student at NC State. ?These range from facial recognition technologies to technologies designed to detect gunshots and notify relevant law enforcement agencies.
?However, our study suggests that many officers do not understand how these technologies work, which makes it difficult or impossible for them to appreciate the limitations and ethical risks of those technologies. And that can pose significant problems for both law enforcement and the public.?
For this study, the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 20 law enforcement professionals who work in North Carolina. The interviews addressed a range of issues, including the values and qualities that the study participants felt were critical for law enforcement officers.
While there was no consensus across a majority of study participants, there were several characteristics that cropped up repeatedly as important qualities for a law enforcement professional, with integrity, honesty and empathy being cited most often.
?Understanding what law enforcement deems to be desirable characteristics in officers is valuable, because these characteristics can inform the development of responsible design guidelines for AI technologies that law enforcement will use,? Dempsey says.
?Design guidelines can be used to inform AI decision-making, and it is easier for end users to work with AI tools if the values guiding AI decisions are consistent ? or at least not in conflict ? with the values of the end users,? says Dubljevi?.
The researchers also asked study participants about their views on AI in general, as well as existing and emerging AI technologies.
?We found that study participants were not familiar with AI, or with the limitations of AI technologies,? says Jim Brunet, co-author of the study and director of NC State?s Public Safety Leadership Initiative. ?This included AI technologies that participants had used on the job, such as facial recognition and gunshot detection technologies. However, study participants expressed support for these tools, which they felt were valuable for law enforcement.?
The study participants also expressed concern about the future of autonomous vehicles, and what challenges they may pose to the law enforcement community.
?However, study participants did say that they would welcome public use of autonomous vehicles if that would reduce car accidents,? says Dubljevi?. ?Specifically, the participants welcomed the idea of spending less time responding to vehicle accidents, which would allow them to focus on addressing crime.?
?There are always dangers when law enforcement adopts technologies that were not developed with law enforcement in mind,? says Brunet. ?This certainly applies to AI technologies such as facial recognition. As a result, it?s critical for law enforcement officials to have some training in the ethical dimensions surrounding the use of these AI technologies. For example, where a law enforcement agency chooses to deploy AI tools will affect which portions of the public are subject to additional scrutiny.?
?It?s also important to understand that AI tools are not foolproof,? says Dubljevi?. ?AI is subject to limitations. And if law enforcement officials don?t understand those limitations, they may place more value on the AI than is warranted ? which can pose ethical challenges in itself.?
Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement
The post Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Ronald P. Dempsey, James R. Brunet, Veljko Dubljevi?. Exploring and Understanding Law Enforcement?s Relationship with Technology: A Qualitative Interview Study of Police Officers in North Carolina. Applied Sciences, 2023; 13 (6): 3887 DOI: 10.3390/app13063887 ?Law enforcement agencies have a crucial role to play in implementing public policies related to AI technologies,? says Veljko ... Read more
The post Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Ronald P. Dempsey, James R. Brunet, Veljko Dubljevi?. Exploring and Understanding Law Enforcement?s Relationship with Technology: A Qualitative Interview Study of Police Officers in North Carolina. Applied Sciences, 2023; 13 (6): 3887 DOI: 10.3390/app13063887
?Law enforcement agencies have a crucial role to play in implementing public policies related to AI technologies,? says Veljko Dubljevi?, corresponding author of the study and an associate professor of science, technology and society at North Carolina State University.
?For example, officers will need to know how to proceed if they pull over a vehicle being driven autonomously for a traffic violation. For that matter, they will need to know how to pull over a vehicle being driven autonomously. Because of their role in maintaining public order, it?s important for law enforcement to have a seat at the table in crafting these policies.?
?In addition, there are a number of AI-powered technologies that are already in use by law enforcement agencies that are designed to help them prevent and respond to crime,? says Ronald Dempsey, first author of the study and a former graduate student at NC State. ?These range from facial recognition technologies to technologies designed to detect gunshots and notify relevant law enforcement agencies.
?However, our study suggests that many officers do not understand how these technologies work, which makes it difficult or impossible for them to appreciate the limitations and ethical risks of those technologies. And that can pose significant problems for both law enforcement and the public.?
For this study, the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 20 law enforcement professionals who work in North Carolina. The interviews addressed a range of issues, including the values and qualities that the study participants felt were critical for law enforcement officers.
While there was no consensus across a majority of study participants, there were several characteristics that cropped up repeatedly as important qualities for a law enforcement professional, with integrity, honesty and empathy being cited most often.
?Understanding what law enforcement deems to be desirable characteristics in officers is valuable, because these characteristics can inform the development of responsible design guidelines for AI technologies that law enforcement will use,? Dempsey says.
?Design guidelines can be used to inform AI decision-making, and it is easier for end users to work with AI tools if the values guiding AI decisions are consistent ? or at least not in conflict ? with the values of the end users,? says Dubljevi?.
The researchers also asked study participants about their views on AI in general, as well as existing and emerging AI technologies.
?We found that study participants were not familiar with AI, or with the limitations of AI technologies,? says Jim Brunet, co-author of the study and director of NC State?s Public Safety Leadership Initiative. ?This included AI technologies that participants had used on the job, such as facial recognition and gunshot detection technologies. However, study participants expressed support for these tools, which they felt were valuable for law enforcement.?
The study participants also expressed concern about the future of autonomous vehicles, and what challenges they may pose to the law enforcement community.
?However, study participants did say that they would welcome public use of autonomous vehicles if that would reduce car accidents,? says Dubljevi?. ?Specifically, the participants welcomed the idea of spending less time responding to vehicle accidents, which would allow them to focus on addressing crime.?
?There are always dangers when law enforcement adopts technologies that were not developed with law enforcement in mind,? says Brunet. ?This certainly applies to AI technologies such as facial recognition. As a result, it?s critical for law enforcement officials to have some training in the ethical dimensions surrounding the use of these AI technologies. For example, where a law enforcement agency chooses to deploy AI tools will affect which portions of the public are subject to additional scrutiny.?
?It?s also important to understand that AI tools are not foolproof,? says Dubljevi?. ?AI is subject to limitations. And if law enforcement officials don?t understand those limitations, they may place more value on the AI than is warranted ? which can pose ethical challenges in itself.?
Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement
The post Study highlights complicated relationship between AI and law enforcement first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[date_timestamp] => 1679482397
)
[9] => Array
(
[title] => Bushfire safe rooms may save lives
[link] => http://genesisblocknews.com/bushfire-safe-rooms-may-save-lives/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Maureen Willis
)
[pubdate] => Wed, 22 Mar 2023 09:48:47 +0000
[category] => scienceBushfireLivesroomssafesave
[guid] => https://genesisblocknews.com/?p=84614
[description] => Journal Reference: Sahani Hendawitharana, Anthony Ariyanayagam, Mahen Mahendran, Edward Steau. Evaluating the bushfire resistance of a safe room using full-scale experiments. Structures, 2023; 49: 995 DOI: 10.1016/j.istruc.2023.01.126 Led by Dr Anthony Ariyanayagam from the QUT Faculty of Engineering, the full-scale safe room was constructed at the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) facility in Lytton ... Read more
The post Bushfire safe rooms may save lives first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[content] => Array
(
[encoded] =>
Journal Reference:
- Sahani Hendawitharana, Anthony Ariyanayagam, Mahen Mahendran, Edward Steau. Evaluating the bushfire resistance of a safe room using full-scale experiments. Structures, 2023; 49: 995 DOI: 10.1016/j.istruc.2023.01.126
Led by Dr Anthony Ariyanayagam from the QUT Faculty of Engineering, the full-scale safe room was constructed at the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) facility in Lytton and tested under simulated bushfire conditions.
Built with cavity insulated light gauge steel framed walls, the roof lined externally with Autoclaved Aerated Concrete panels and internally with fire-rated gypsum plasterboards, during testing the external wall temperature reached a maximum of 958 °C at 30 mins during peak flame exposure, while internal surfaces remained under 29 °C with less than 1 °C rise in internal air temperatures.
The results have now been published in the paper, ?Evaluating the bushfire resistance of a safe room using full-scale experiments,? in the journal Structures.
?The bushfire safe room demonstrated excellent bushfire heat resistance and is a viable solution for storage of valuables,? Dr Ariyanayagam said.
?In theory, people could survive in this shelter for up to two hours, but we need to test other conditions like air quality before recommending human survivability too,? he said.
Australia recorded 33 deaths and more than 3000 houses damaged during the Black Summer Fires of 2019/2020.
Dr Ariyanayagam said limited studies had investigated bushfire performance of buildings, but full-scale experiments on heat transfer and structural performance of bushfire safe rooms using realistic bushfire exposure conditions had not been conducted before.
?During past bushfire events, an estimated 30 per cent of all recorded bushfire fatalities happened due to late evacuations, therefore, increasing the need for standardised shelters as a last resort option when evacuation is no longer safe,? he said.
?Short notice, blocked roads or exits, unknown fire directions or speed, and psychological attachment to a house or belongings are among the reasons someone might find themselves needing to a shelter.?
Dr Ariyanayagam said affordable land, lifestyle changes, population growth had also increased the number of houses at the urban-bush interface ? exposing more people to bushfire risk.
?The main bushfire attack mechanisms include direct flame contact, radiant heat and ember attacks. Buildings located near vegetation such as forests are subjected to all three of those threats,? he said.
?Building materials used in bushfire flame zones only have a standard recommendation of 30 min standard fire exposure (AS1530.4).
?But, unlike a structural fire, bushfire temperatures can reach 1100°C in a very short time and building performance can be highly affected by this sudden increase.?
Dr Ariyanayagam said that after the 2009 Black Saturday fires, the Australian Building Codes Board released performance standards for the construction of private bushfire shelters, but they were not mandatory and more research was needed to improve them.
?The performance standard for private bushfire shelters specify that an able-bodied person should be able to stay in a bushfire shelter for about one hour to withstand the fire front but, as conditions vary, they might need to stay in there for few hours,? he said.
Research team member Sahani Hendawitharana said they used an LP gas-fired burner to generate three bushfire phases ? approaching fire, fire immersion, and post-fire radiant heat from a nearby forest fuel and burning building situated 10 m away from the safe room.
?We used heat fluxes proposed by the CSIRO and the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) performance standards to simulate real bushfire exposure conditions,? she said.
?Our test duration was 67 mins, but temperature readings were logged on the fire side wall for more than two hours to measure the heat transfer during the cooling phase.?
The tests were the first to demonstrate a viable bushfire shelter that would survive an approaching bushfire and the radiation from a nearby building fire.
?However, while the full-scale tests added to knowledge of building structure bushfire performance, a fire front would be more than 100 m wide and only testing a vacant structure in a real bushfire would provide definitive results,? Dr Ariyanayagam said.
The other members of the research team were Professor Mahen Mahendran and Dr Edward Steau.
The project was funded by QUT and the Australian Research Council with testing facilities and resources provided by the QFES, and support from members of the QUT Wind and Fire Lab and Banyo and GP campus O-Block technical staff.
Bushfire safe rooms may save lives
The post Bushfire safe rooms may save lives first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
)
[summary] => Journal Reference: Sahani Hendawitharana, Anthony Ariyanayagam, Mahen Mahendran, Edward Steau. Evaluating the bushfire resistance of a safe room using full-scale experiments. Structures, 2023; 49: 995 DOI: 10.1016/j.istruc.2023.01.126 Led by Dr Anthony Ariyanayagam from the QUT Faculty of Engineering, the full-scale safe room was constructed at the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) facility in Lytton ... Read more
The post Bushfire safe rooms may save lives first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
[atom_content] =>
Journal Reference:
- Sahani Hendawitharana, Anthony Ariyanayagam, Mahen Mahendran, Edward Steau. Evaluating the bushfire resistance of a safe room using full-scale experiments. Structures, 2023; 49: 995 DOI: 10.1016/j.istruc.2023.01.126
Led by Dr Anthony Ariyanayagam from the QUT Faculty of Engineering, the full-scale safe room was constructed at the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) facility in Lytton and tested under simulated bushfire conditions.
Built with cavity insulated light gauge steel framed walls, the roof lined externally with Autoclaved Aerated Concrete panels and internally with fire-rated gypsum plasterboards, during testing the external wall temperature reached a maximum of 958 °C at 30 mins during peak flame exposure, while internal surfaces remained under 29 °C with less than 1 °C rise in internal air temperatures.
The results have now been published in the paper, ?Evaluating the bushfire resistance of a safe room using full-scale experiments,? in the journal Structures.
?The bushfire safe room demonstrated excellent bushfire heat resistance and is a viable solution for storage of valuables,? Dr Ariyanayagam said.
?In theory, people could survive in this shelter for up to two hours, but we need to test other conditions like air quality before recommending human survivability too,? he said.
Australia recorded 33 deaths and more than 3000 houses damaged during the Black Summer Fires of 2019/2020.
Dr Ariyanayagam said limited studies had investigated bushfire performance of buildings, but full-scale experiments on heat transfer and structural performance of bushfire safe rooms using realistic bushfire exposure conditions had not been conducted before.
?During past bushfire events, an estimated 30 per cent of all recorded bushfire fatalities happened due to late evacuations, therefore, increasing the need for standardised shelters as a last resort option when evacuation is no longer safe,? he said.
?Short notice, blocked roads or exits, unknown fire directions or speed, and psychological attachment to a house or belongings are among the reasons someone might find themselves needing to a shelter.?
Dr Ariyanayagam said affordable land, lifestyle changes, population growth had also increased the number of houses at the urban-bush interface ? exposing more people to bushfire risk.
?The main bushfire attack mechanisms include direct flame contact, radiant heat and ember attacks. Buildings located near vegetation such as forests are subjected to all three of those threats,? he said.
?Building materials used in bushfire flame zones only have a standard recommendation of 30 min standard fire exposure (AS1530.4).
?But, unlike a structural fire, bushfire temperatures can reach 1100°C in a very short time and building performance can be highly affected by this sudden increase.?
Dr Ariyanayagam said that after the 2009 Black Saturday fires, the Australian Building Codes Board released performance standards for the construction of private bushfire shelters, but they were not mandatory and more research was needed to improve them.
?The performance standard for private bushfire shelters specify that an able-bodied person should be able to stay in a bushfire shelter for about one hour to withstand the fire front but, as conditions vary, they might need to stay in there for few hours,? he said.
Research team member Sahani Hendawitharana said they used an LP gas-fired burner to generate three bushfire phases ? approaching fire, fire immersion, and post-fire radiant heat from a nearby forest fuel and burning building situated 10 m away from the safe room.
?We used heat fluxes proposed by the CSIRO and the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) performance standards to simulate real bushfire exposure conditions,? she said.
?Our test duration was 67 mins, but temperature readings were logged on the fire side wall for more than two hours to measure the heat transfer during the cooling phase.?
The tests were the first to demonstrate a viable bushfire shelter that would survive an approaching bushfire and the radiation from a nearby building fire.
?However, while the full-scale tests added to knowledge of building structure bushfire performance, a fire front would be more than 100 m wide and only testing a vacant structure in a real bushfire would provide definitive results,? Dr Ariyanayagam said.
The other members of the research team were Professor Mahen Mahendran and Dr Edward Steau.
The project was funded by QUT and the Australian Research Council with testing facilities and resources provided by the QFES, and support from members of the QUT Wind and Fire Lab and Banyo and GP campus O-Block technical staff.
Bushfire safe rooms may save lives
The post Bushfire safe rooms may save lives first appeared on Genesisblocknews.
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