Permanent Casting Marking Methods and Optical Identification Methods

Drought events or the combination of drought and heat conditions are expected to become more frequent due to global warming, and wheat yields may fall below their long-term average. One way to increase climate-resilience of modern high-yielding varieties is by their genetic improvement with beneficial alleles from crop wild relatives. In the present study, the effect of two beneficial QTLs introgressed from wild emmer wheat and incorporated in the three wheat varieties BarNir, Zahir and Uzan was studied under well-watered conditions and under drought stress using non-destructive High-throughput Phenotyping (HTP) throughout the life cycle in a single pot-experiment. Plants were daily imaged with RGB top and side view cameras and watered automatically. Further, at two time points, the quantum yield of photosystem II was measured with a top view FluorCam. The QTL carrying near isogenic lines (NILs) were compared with their corresponding parents by t-test for all non-invasively obtained traits and for the manually determined agronomic and yield parameters. Data quality of phenotypic traits (repeatability) in the controlled HTP experiment was above 85% throughout the life cycle and at maturity. Drought stress had a strong effect on growth in all wheat genotypes causing biomass reduction from 2% up to 70% at early and late points in the drought period, respectively. At maturity, the drought caused 47–55% decreases in yield-related traits grain weight, straw weight and total biomass and reduced TKW by 10%, while water use efficiency (WUE) increased under drought by 29%. The yield-enhancing effect of the introgressed QTLs under drought conditions that were previously demonstrated under field/screenhouse conditions in Israel, could be mostly confirmed in a greenhouse pot experiment using HTP. Daily precision phenotyping enabled to decipher the mode of action of the QTLs in the different genetic backgrounds throughout the entire wheat life cycle. Daily phenotyping allowed a precise determination of the timing and size of the QTLs effect (s) and further yielded information about which image-derived traits are informative at which developmental stage of wheat during the entire life cycle. Maximum height and estimated biovolume were reached about a week after heading, so experiments that only aim at exploring these traits would not need a longer observation period. To obtain information on different onset and progress of senescence, the CVa curves represented best the ongoing senescence of plants. The QTL on 7A in the BarNir background was found to improve yield under drought by increased biomass growth, a higher photosynthetic performance, a higher WUE and a “stay green effect.”

Currently, Energy and Environmental issues are worldwide concerns. Energy savings is also without doubt the most effective strategy for environmental protection. This paper introduces a new general product design method. Our research effort will be directed towards the following three primary objectives: (1) investigating all the aspects related to energy-saving issues throughout the entire product life cycle; (2) developing a mathematical model (called Energy Factor) to calculate the products' energy consumption throughout the entire life cycle; (3) establishing the theoretical frame of the new innovative product design method. In this innovative method, the energy-saving concept will be applied at the first step of product life cycle, i.e. product design. And we believe that it will bring the product design to a new stage, which can design the energy-saving products and manufacturing systems. In order to reduce the energy consumption throughout the entire product life cycle (from cradle to grave), this design method is based on axiomatic design theory, and integrates design unit and energy factor concepts. In this paper, the theory frame will be described in detail, and the new concept called energy factor will be introduced briefly.

A review of sustainable mining and resource management: Transitioning from the life cycle of the mine to the life cycle of the mineral

Superinsulating materials have seen very strong development in recent years and have become standard materials in a number of industrial applications (especially in refrigeration). In the last decade, they have also started to develop significantly in the construction sector, so it is very important to optimise their entire life cycle and to consider the possibility of recycling or reuse (depending on the type of insulator). The paper summarizes the current state of the art in this area and presents possible directions and procedures in the field of complex life cycle solutions for superinsulating materials (especially vacuum insulation), especially with an orientation to the construction industry.

The collected information related to the activities along the life cycle of an automation solution serves as basis for the comparative evaluation between a classically developed system and a mechatronicly developed decentralized system. The following results have been worked out with the characteristics from decentralized automation use cases as introduced in Section 3 in combination with the described mechatronic engineering approaches. The general advantages of engineering with mechatronic modules, such as, for instance, cross-discipline- work and the improved reuse or standardization of partial solutions, were already discussed in other papers and shall not be described here any further (Thramboulidis 2008, Löwen & Wagner 2009, VDI 2206). Application Effort and Complexity: The applicability and manageability of a modular, decentralized automation approach ­ particularly regarding the modularization of automation and control functionalities ­ must still be ensured. For this purpose, one must differentiate between the creation of the mechatronically modules in a predevelopment project and their application in the particular engineering projects. Overall, it can be expected that the specification and implementation effort to be performed in advance and the complexity for the creation of mechatronic modules with integrated automation and control functions, which are autonomous and can be integrated independently of each other, will increase substantially. For this purpose, bases for modules have to be created that are usable for different projects and configurable for the specific applications. This requires detailed knowledge of the domain, extensive technological expertise, and an understanding of the core functionality of the modules. One example for a starting point for this approach is the INTEGRA standard specifying first consistent mechatronic viewpoints for automotive production lines. These pre-produced modules facilitate the engineering for project-specific applications. The more plug&play modules are available the less effort is required for the engineering. In addition, project risks can be reduced by early validation of fulfillment of customer requirements due to availability of module descriptions and models. This, however, only applies if module adaptations occur which can be done by configuration, selection of variants, or extensions, and in which do not require any changes to the predefined core

This mini-review addresses the critical problem of significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the global construction industry, which accounts for 37% of energy-related carbon emissions. With global building areas expected to double by 2060, this paper aims to analyze carbon emission characteristics and control strategies throughout the buildings' entire life cycle, emphasizing the urgent need for effective life cycle carbon management. We introduce and contextualize life cycle assessment (LCA) methods, focusing particularly on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions across different life cycle stages of buildings—from design through demolition. Our key findings highlight the potential of intelligent grid energy management systems (EMS) to optimize carbon efficiency in real-time, a pioneering approach that has yet to be widely implemented. The review synthesizes global advancements in green building practices, particularly in regions like Europe, America, and China, and discusses the varied success of these regions in integrating comprehensive carbon management strategies throughout the building life cycle. We conclude with strategic recommendations for future research directions, policy-making, and international cooperation to enhance the sustainability of the construction industry. This study ultimately aims to contribute robust evidence supporting the adoption of advanced LCA methodologies and intelligent EMS in reducing the construction sector's carbon footprint.Graphical

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as an environmental-impact assessment tool has received increasing attention over the years. Unlike the water footprint (WF) and carbon footprint (CF) assessments, whose focus is only on a single environmental aspect, the LCA systematically analyzes the different impacts along the entire life cycle, making possible the identification of potential environmental tradeoffs. In Korea, LCA has drawn much attention from both industry and academia since the mid-1990s. However, the level of Korean-related LCA studies with respect to different sectors in the last 20 years has not been analyzed. This study, therefore, sought to assess the status of environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies in South Korea. Specifically, the study focused on a bibliometric review of LCAs conducted in South Korea in the last 20 years and identified potential research gaps. Online searches of English-written articles published between 2000 and 2019 were conducted on Google, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, using eligible keywords. At the end of the search, about 91 LCA-related studies were discovered for South Korea within the study period. The majority of these studies focused on the construction (47%) and energy (30%) sectors, with fewer environmental studies on manufacturing (11%), transportation (9%), agriculture (2%), and information and communication (1%) industries. Based on publication trends, results show that LCA studies in South Korea have been on the rise in the past 20 years, even though the number of publications has not followed a constant pace. In comparison with the economic sectors of the country, reports show an inadequacy in the coverage of major industries of growing economic relevance, such as tourism, health, and agriculture, suggesting a need to increase and improve LCA-related studies in these sectors.

Bearings are important components in nuclear plant system, which are widely applied in different types of pump, electromotor and generator. In long term operation status, bearing performance would degenerate due to fatigue and bad lubrication. The damage of bearings would influence the performance and even the safety of devices. Therefore, it is extremely essential to obtain the operational condition information of bearings during the entire life cycle. In order to monitor and identify the bearing conditions in the entire life cycle, a degradation stage recognition method is proposed in this study. The recognition method consists of 4 main steps: firstly, extract a part of samples from the four stages (normal, early fault, medium fault, terminal fault) of bearing life cycle data set; secondly, extract the signal feature with multiscale permutation entropy technique; then, using the dimensional reduced sample features to train a pattern recognition classifier; finally, applying the classifier to identify the signal samples from the life cycle data set. With this automatic recognition method, the performance and degradation stages in the entire life cycle of bearings can be efficiently and effectively identified without additional manual assistance. The feasibility of this method depends on both of the effective recognition technique and the completion of data for classifier training. Thence, the processing technique improvement and the sustained operation data collection are indispensable for extending the method application to other components and devices.

With the massive growth of the global capacity of photovoltaics (PV) over the last decade, the PV waste is expected to increase dramatically in the near future. Having potential to reduce the use of raw materials and preserve natural resources, PV recycling is attracting more and more attention. This being said, the environmental impacts over the life cycle of PV technologies, including the end-of-life (EoL) stage, should be evaluated carefully. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is currently the most common methodology to assess the potential environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire life cycle. However, the modelling of recycling in LCA has always been a challenge and no consensus has yet been reached, since the treatment of recycling does not only involve an EoL management of waste, but also the production of recycled material. Perovskite on silicon tandem is a widely investigated emerging PV technology having the potential to overcome the power conversion efficiency (PCE) limit of the single-junction crystalline silicon technology. The EoL modelling seems more challenging in the case of emerging technologies for which the EoL is more uncertain than for established technologies. In this article, six common and important approaches of EoL modelling in LCA were applied to future perovskite/silicon tandem modules to analyze the effect of the different EoL modelling approaches on the LCA results. The aim was to identify the most suitable methodological approaches to account for recycling, when modelling the life cycle of PV modules. The environmental performance of perovskite/silicon tandem modules was assessed over their life cycle and expressed in terms of impacts per m2of module. After testing the six EoL modelling approaches and comparing the LCA results, the EoL modelling choice was found to lead to non-negligible differences. For example, in terms of climate change, the impact of the tandem modules ranges from 45 to 59 kg CO2-eq/m2. Among the six EoL modelling options, the approaches of simple cut-off and cut-off with economic allocation are more oriented towards the promotion of high rates of recycled material integrated as an input to the assessed product among industrial actors, while the approach of closed-loop allocation provides incentives to maximize the ratio of recycling at the EoL, regardless the initial ratio of recycled content within the product. Some approaches such as the circular footprint formula (CFF) tend to provide both incentives to increase the content of recycled input material in the manufacturing of the product and the recycling ratio at the EoL of such product. After applying the different alternatives, a set of recommendations to select the relevant EoL modelling approaches are provided: 1) the CFF is recommended as a representative approach due to its wide applicability, tending to provide an intermediate result and reflecting the characteristics of materials; 2) sensitivity analysis should be applied to check the robustness of the results, 3) the cut-off approach and the closed-loop allocation should be used at least for the sensitivity analysis.

The relevance of collaborative Product Development (PD) is rising with the decrease of product life cycles combined with growing customer demands. Industrial manufacturers now experience competition in the global market where differentiation is necessary for survival. Hence, in order to differentiate from low-cost competitors and increase PD performance, some industrial manufacturers now seek competitive advantage by experimenting with new ways for collaborative PD. This includes integrating customer-focused agile process models like Scrum from the software industry into their existing PD models. Thus, instead of replacing traditional stage-gate models, agile methods are currently integrated in existing PD models generating hybrid solution for collaborative PD. This paper includes a study of three industrial cases that have successfully integrated Scrum into the stage-gate process model for collaborative PD. The paper introduces the three functional hybrid models, including the impact on PD performance, PD roles and customer collaboration.

Toxic properties of lead has led to strong demands by the public for the development of Pb-free products. Since the lead in solder used in electrical products risks being emitted into the environment if not properly collected at the end of its life cycle, switching conventional solders to Pb-free versions is regarded as especially important. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a quantitative assessment method for evaluating environmental burdens and impacts of product systems over their entire life cycles, is expected to be used as an accurate assessment tool for Pb-free solders. In the current survey, mid-term prediction of the social effect as a result of switching to Pb-free solder is assessed and examined. The effects on the whole of society were assessed by making an analysis of the time series and using the Population Balance Model (PBM). The effects are expressed as reduced external costs by using a method of life cycle impact assessment

Sensitivity analysis in a life cycle assessment of an aged red wine production from Catalonia, Spain

Although classical work continues, particularly on the trematodes, for the most part the basic life cycle patterns must be regarded as worked out. Helminthologists are increasingly turning attention to the mechanics of the life cycle with the result that parasitology is becoming an experimental science. Worms are now under study from the biochemical, physiological, and behavioral points of view. As a result, ideas of specificity have been altered, new physiological races of parasites discovered, and a number of new human helminthiases recognized, chiefly zoonotic and involving larval forms. The number of parasitic worms successfully adapted to laboratory propagation in animal hosts steadily increases, providing new and fruitful models for investigation. Even more striking is the great breakthrough in the last decade involving in vitro culture. Several cestodes and a variety of nematodes can now be reared through various stages, if not their entire life cycle, in partially defined media, and progress is being made with trematodes and acanthocephalans. Behavioral studies are beginning to shed light on how parasites find their hosts and how they locate each other inside the host. And in spite of long-held views to the contrary, evidence increases that certain activities of helminths may be under hormonal control.

The planetary boundaries framework contains regional boundaries in addition to global boundaries. Geographically resolved methods to assess regional environmental impacts are therefore needed. Existing planetary boundaries-based life cycle assessment (PB-LCA) methods have limited geographical resolution or are not applicable to full product systems, due to high spatial requirements on inventory data. Here, we enable PB-LCA of full product systems across a comprehensive set of regional and global PB impact categories. We propose comparing environmental impacts of individual processes within a product system to assigned shares of regional or global safe operating space (SOS). This is followed by aggregation of process-level results so that accumulated exceedance of assigned SOS is derived across the entire life cycle. We then present a procedure for aggregating geographically resolved characterization factors (CFs) and SOS to country, continent and global levels, ensuring compatibility with typical life cycle inventory results. We then apply the new techniques to a model laundry case study. It involves 61 selected processes, two geographically resolved PB-LCA methods, related to impacts from freshwater use and nitrogen emissions, and a largely spatially generic PB-LCA method that covers a comprehensive set of impact categories. The calculation of accumulated exceedance of assigned SOS may help inform decisions about where in a life cycle to focus impact reduction efforts most urgently. The number of case study processes that exceed their assigned SOS differs when applying the geographically resolved methods, as opposed to the largely spatially generic method. Case study results differ greatly across PB-LCA impact categories, reaffirming the importance of covering a comprehensive set. Geographically resolved methods are needed for all regional impact categories and software support would be advantageous. Existing methods will require periodic updates to reflect ongoing advancements in PB science. Best practice approaches or a consensus for assigning regional SOS to processes are needed. Our study provides a step towards greater operability of geographically resolved PB-LCA methods by enabling application to a full product system within an assessment that covers a comprehensive set of impact categories. The case study application shows potential advantages of the process-level approach and points to the need for quantifying uncertainties in such assessments. Future studies should seek to explore the potential role of PB-LCA in decision support compared with conventional LCA.

Life cycle assessment of seawater neutralised red mud for treatment of acid mine drainage