Proefschrift Universiteit Maastricht. / Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

This study investigated human exposure to inorganic arsenic (As), a risk factor for cancer and non-cancerous health effects, in Cornwall, UK - a region of elevated environmental As resulting from naturally occurring mineralisation and historical mining. Recent exposures to As from private water supplies (PWS) were detected by measuring As in drinking water samples (n=127) and urine samples (n=207). Exceedances of the WHO 10 As µg L-1 guidance value were measured in drinking waters from 5 % of households. The Spearman correlation calculated for drinking water versus unadjusted total urinary As concentrations was 0.36. Urinary As speciation was used to distinguish between environmental inorganic As exposure and non-toxic dietary sources. Seafood derived urinary arsenobetaine exclusion and osmolality hydration adjustment yielded an improved correlation of 0.62 between drinking water and urinary As concentrations. Urinary hydration adjustment methods were improved and comparatively assessed using data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Correlations of urinary concentrations of As, iodine (I), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) against urinary flow rate (UFR) (low correlations desired) and urinary Pb and Cd against respective blood concentrations (high correlations desired) were used as independent performance criteria. Osmolality adjustment and a modified UFR-based adjustment method using empirically derived coefficients (slopes of analyte concentrations as a function of UFR) generally performed better than creatinine, excretion rate and bodyweight-adjusted excretion rate methods. The findings demonstrated the analyte specific nature of adjustment methods, their misuse in the literature and suggested a pathway to a more robust adjustment framework. Prolonged exposure to As from PWS was identified by the stability of 127 drinking water As concentrations measured up to 31 months apart. Drinking water As concentrations were correlated with those measured in toenails (Pearson's r: 0.53; n=200) and hair (Pearson's r: 0.38; n=104). The successful elimination of external contamination of toenail samples was indicated by low As concentrations in final-stage rinse solutions (geometric mean contribution: 0.4 %). A positive association between seafood consumption and toenail As and a negative association between home-grown vegetable consumption and hair As was observed when As in drinking water was < 1 As μg/L. Elevated As concentrations measured in residential soil (12-992 mg kg-1; n=127) and household dust (3-1079 mg kg-1; n=99), particularly on mineralised geological domains and in the vicinity of former As mining sites, were indicative of additional As exposure routes. Bioaccessibility-adjusted assessment criteria of 190 (13 % bioaccessibility) and 129 (23 % bioaccessibility) As mg kg-1 were derived and 10 and 17 % of residential soils were in exceedance, respectively. The relative importance of different exposure routes in the study region, namely whether As intake from soil and dust is evident in the study population, will form the basis of further work. This will be addressed using multivariate analyses of drinking water, soil and dust in conjunction with urine, toenail and hair As concentrations.

The ACPD method is probably the most versatile of all the commercially available NDE techniques. However as applications of such systems increase so does the awareness of serious limitations in present ACPD knowledge. In particular high local crack and notch tip strains can have a marked effect on ACPD response leading to substantial errors in estimates of crackdepth and growth rates. In the present study an investigation has been undertaken into the influence of elastic/plastic notch tip strain on the response of ACPD crack monitoring systems. Experimental work has been undertaken to produce data on the ACPD response observed in two magnetically contrasting materials (EN1A mild steel, NE8 aluminium alloy) using a series of V and U notched bend specimens. An extensive elastic/plastic finite element analysis was conducted to accurately determine the different notch tip strain fields for both materials. A fundamental study was also undertaken into the influence of strain on the electrical resistivity and relative magnetic permeability, the two material parameters governing the ACPD response. The information obtained from the investigations together with results from the FE analysis has made it possible to understand and quantify the influence of elastic/plastic deformation on ACPD response. An electric field model has been successfully developed to explain and predict the effect of increasing strain on the ACPD response in materials where the skin effect is strong. Results have also shown the inapplicability of the compensation method of crack monitoring when levels of plasticity are appreciable and an alternative method has been proposed.

This thesis describes an investigation into the use of dual modality tomography to measure component concentrations within a cross-section. The benefits and limitations of using dual modality compared with single modality are investigated and discussed. A number of methods are available to provide imaging systems for process tomography applications and seven imaging techniques are reviewed. Two modalities of tomography were chosen for investigation (i.e. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) and optical tomography) and the proposed dual modality system is presented. Image reconstruction algorithms for EIT (based on modified Newton-Raphson method), optical tomography (based on back-projection method) and with both modalities combined together to produce a single tomographic imaging system are described, enabling comparisons to be made between the individual and combined modalities. To analyse the performance of the image reconstruction algorithms used in the EIT, optical tomography and dual modality investigations, a sequence of reconstructions using a series of phantoms is performed on a simulated vessel. Results from two distinct cases are presented, a) simulation of a vertical pipe in which the cross-section is filled with liquid or liquid and objects being imaged and b) simulation of a horizontal pipe where the conveying liquid level may vary from pipe full down to 14% of liquid. A computer simulation of an EIT imaging system based on a 16 electrode sensor array is used. The quantitative images obtained from simulated reconstruction are compared in term of percentage area with the actual cross-section of the model. It is shown from the results that useful reconstructions may be obtained with widely differing levels of liquid, despite the limitations in accuracy of the reconstructions. The test results obtained using the phantoms with optical tomography, based on two projections each of sixteen views, show that the images produced agree closely on a quantitative basis with the physical models. The accuracy of the optical reconstructions, neglecting the effects of aliasing due to only two projections, is much higher than for the EIT reconstructions. Neglecting aliasing, the measured accuracies range from 0.1% to 0.8% for the pipe filled with water. For the sewer condition, i.e. the pipe not filled with water, the major phase is measured with an accuracy of 1% to 3.4%. For the single optical modality the minor components are measured with accuracies 6.6% to 19%. The test results obtained using the phantoms show that the images produced by combining both EIT and optical tomography method agree quantitatively with the physical models. The EIT eliminates most of the aliasing and the results now show that the optical part of the system provides accuracies for the minor components in the range 1% to 5%. It is concluded that the dual modality system shows a measurable increase in accuracy compared with the single modality systems. The dual modality system should be investigated further using laboratory flow rigs in order to check accuracies and determine practical limitations. Finally, suggestions for future work on improving the accuracy, speed and resolution of the dual modality imaging system is presented.

The critically endangered grayling (Hipparchia hermione, syn.: alcyone) is one of the rapidly declining diurnal butterfly species which occupies only few remaining localities in the Czech Republic. Currently, its remaining local populations can be found in the central Povltavi area where they inhabit mostly sparse light oak forests with low cover of the herb layer. As a diploma thesis, the study was conducted during the season 2015. The populations of H. alcyone were researched around the Orlik water reservoir. The occurrence was confirmed at six localities out of which two had been unknown until then. Within four dense populations have been using the capture-recapture method evaluated the mobility and dispersal abilities of the species. The populations differed in their dispersal abilities. Various average long distances across localities and sexes were detected. The average long distances varied (males 142to300 m, females 78to261 m) across all locations. The flight probability were ascertained with two methods: the inverse power function (IPF) and the negative exponential function (NEF). The NEF method fitted better the flight probability at all localities. The interchanges of individuals between localities were noted only in a case of two closest populations. These one-way interchanges (three males and two females) were always directed from dense to smaller population. The adults of H. alcyone were typical by very low dispersions between separate populations, probably due to lower densities of populations and innapropriate structure of migration paths. Three overflights of males and two overflights of females to the neighbouring location were recorded. With respect to the size of local population and the structure of migration routes, the individuals expand with difficulties. In order to maintain and support habitats of new H. alcyone biotopes, the more open canopies and creation of a larger number of small clearings in the neighbourhood of the H. alcyone localities is necessary.

The first part of thesis is devoted to the environment of the room in which is monitoring device intended - server room. There are description of calculating algorithms for proper sizing of cooling due to the heat. Further in this part is description of suitable senzors for monitoring device - physical principle, their proper use and meaning. Theoretical part also contains a list of several available ready commercial solutions of monitoring stations and their characteristics. The second part is devoted to the assembly of monitoring device - physical build of hardware components, preparation s and connecting sensors, operating system installation, configuration and network preparation. The second part contains also instaling web server and configuration parts, that allows amek a web interface with presentation of measured physical quantities. Integration device with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for use with Zabbix monitoring system. Output from this work can be used for monitoring fundamental physical quantities in a small server room or in switch room.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.