ISO Certifications: Trends & Scope in Pakistan

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the trends and scope of ISO Certifications awarded in Pakistan, based on survey and literature review during last decade from 2004-2014. This research is descriptive & exploratory in nature. Data source for the study is ISO Survey of Management System Standard Certifications – 2014 and literature review on ISO Certification from Pakistan’s context. Analysis of data is carried out using statistical tools i.e. SPSS, Excel. The analysis of data shows that the number of certifications awarded over a period of time represents continuous positive increasing trends & wide scope for adoption of ISO in Pakistan in most of industrial and business sectors not limited to exports only.  Increasing trends are predicting good future of ISO certification in Pakistan and a great business opportunity for certification bodies and career opportunities for professionals. It also depicts commitment to Quality Management Practices & organizational competitiveness. It could have long lasting effects on import and export sectors also and new investments in Pakistan. Negative impacts could be financial challenges for smaller firms as they could invest on these certifications to compete in market. This paper could be very useful for students and researchers to further investigate in this area and a knowledge sources. On the basis of ISO Survey (2014), it could be asserted that there is a strong potential for positive trends & scope of ISO certifications in Pakistan in coming years in different business sectors. Keywords: ISO, Certifications, Trends, Quality Management, Competitivenes

EVALUATION OF PHOTOGRAMMETRIC BLOCK ORIENTATION USING QUALITY DESCRIPTORS FROM STATISTICALLY FILTERED TIE POINTS

Due to the increasing number of low-cost sensors, widely accessible on the market, and because of the supposed granted correctness of the semi-automatic workflow for 3D reconstruction, highly implemented in the recent commercial software, more and more users operate nowadays without following the rigorousness of classical photogrammetric methods. This behaviour often naively leads to 3D products that lacks metric quality assessment. This paper proposes and analyses an approach that gives the users the possibility to preserve the trustworthiness of the metric information inherent in the 3D model, without sacrificing the automation offered by modern photogrammetry software. At the beginning, the importance of Data Quality Assessment is outlined, together with some recall of photogrammetry best practices. With the purpose of guiding the user through a correct pipeline for a certified 3D model reconstruction, an operative workflow is proposed, focusing on the first part of the object reconstruction steps (tie-points extraction, camera calibration, and relative orientation). A new GUI (Graphical User Interface) developed for the open source MicMac suite is then presented, and a sample dataset is used for the evaluation of the photogrammetric block orientation using statistically obtained quality descriptors. The results and the future directions are then presented and discussed

A Method to Optimize Geometric Errors of Machine Tool based on SNR Quality Loss Function and Correlation Analysis

Instead improving the accuracy of machine tool by increasing the precision of key components level blindly in the production process, the method of combination of SNR quality loss function and machine tool geometric error correlation analysis to optimize five-axis machine tool geometric errors will be adopted. Firstly, the homogeneous transformation matrix method will be used to build five-axis machine tool geometric error modeling. Secondly, the SNR quality loss function will be used for cost modeling. And then, machine tool accuracy optimal objective function will be established based on the correlation analysis. Finally, ISIGHT combined with MATLAB will be applied to optimize each error. The results show that this method is reasonable and appropriate to relax the range of tolerance values, so as to reduce the manufacturing cost of machine tools

Literature Review of Mixed Reality Research

In the global context, while mixed reality has been an emerging concept for years, recent technological and scientific advancements have now made it poised to revolutionize industries and daily life by offering enhanced functionalities and improved services. Besides reviewing the highly cited papers in the last 20 years among over a thousand research papers on mixed reality, this systematic review provides the state-of-the-art applications and utilities of the mixed reality by primarily scrutinizing the associated papers in 2022 and 2023. Focusing on the potentials that this technology have in providing digitally supported simulations and other utilities in the era of large language models, highlighting the potential and limitations of the innovative solutions and also bringing focus to emerging research directions, such as telemedicine, remote control and optimization of direct volume rendering. The paper's associated repository is publicly accessible at https://aizierjiang.github.io/mr

From topos to oikos: the standardization of glass containers as epistemic boundaries in modern laboratory research (1850–1900)

Argument: Glass vessels such as flasks and test tubes play an ambiguous role in the historiography of modern laboratory research. In spite of the strong focus on the role of materiality in the last decades, the scientific glass vessel – while being symbolically omnipresent – has remained curiously neglected in regard to its materiality. The popular image ortoposof the transparent, neutral, and quasi-immaterial glass container obstructs the view of the physico-chemical functionality of this constitutive inner boundary in modern laboratory environments and its material historicity. In order to understand how glass vessels were able to provide a stable epistemic containment of spatially enclosed experimental phenomena in the new laboratory ecologies emerging in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, I will focus on the history of thematerialstandardization of laboratory glassware. I will follow the rise of a new awareness for measurement errors due to the chemical agency of experimental glass vessels, then I will sketch the emergence of a whole techno-scientific infrastructure for the improvement of glass container quality in late nineteenth-century Germany. In the last part of my argument, I will return to the laboratory by looking at the implementation of this glass reform that created a newoikosfor the inner experimental milieus of modern laboratory research

Performance analysis and comparison of Virtual Image Correlation algorithms applied to additively manufactured lattice structure

openCon l'ampio utilizzo dei processi di Additive Manufacturing nell'industria, i requisiti funzionali per la verifica dimensionale e le tolleranze hanno subito cambiamenti significativi. I prodotti realizzati mediante AM presentano geometrie particolarmente complesse, come le strutture reticolari, che vengono create riempiendo il volume con celle elementari composte da geometrie semplici o complesse. A causa di queste differenze radicali rispetto alle tecnologie tradizionali, è necessario sviluppare metodi di misura adatti ai requisiti funzionali di tali prodotti. A tale scopo, diversi comitati ISO e GPS sono impegnati nello sviluppo di standard specifici per i processi di AM. Lo scopo di questa ricerca, condotta durante un tirocinio presso il laboratorio LURPA dell'Ecole Normale Supérieur Paris-Saclay, è confrontare i metodi tradizionali descritti dalle normative standard con approcci alternativi promettenti. In particolare, si è esaminata la metodologia della Virtual Image Correlation (VIC), che consente di ricostruire una geometria e ottenere misurazioni a partire da immagini. Questo metodo confronta due immagini: quella reale del componente e una virtuale che rappresenta la geometria nominale, cercando di deformare quest'ultima per adattarla alla geometria reale. L'obiettivo di questo lavoro è valutare le prestazioni di tali metodi rispetto alle normative GPS attuali e fornire spunti per nuovi orizzonti nella metrologia applicata all'AM. Durante la ricerca, sono stati esaminati tre metodi. Il primo metodo, rappresentativo degli standard attuali, è la metodologia ISO50%, seguita da tutti i passaggi di analisi dati necessari per ottenere i risultati di misura corrispondenti. I due approcci VIC proposti si basano invece su contorni definiti da funzioni matematiche. Il primo, chiamato V2C e sviluppato in studi precedenti, scompone il contorno finale in una serie finita di modi che rappresentano specifiche deviazioni geometriche. Il secondo, denominato DBACD, sviluppato durante questa ricerca, definisce il contorno tramite una curva parametrica di tipo B-spline. Tutti e tre i metodi sono stati testati su immagini ottenute da macchine di misura a tomografia computerizzata di strutture reticolari con geometrie cilindriche.With the increasingly widespread use of Additive Manufacturing processes in industrial practice, the functional requirements for dimensional verification and tolerances have also changed. AM products are characterized by particularly complex geometries. Consider, for example, lattice structures; the basic idea is to fill the part's volume with a series of elementary cells formed by combining more or less simple geometries. Due to the radical difference between these types of products and those produced using more traditional technologies, the development of measurement processes suitable for functional requirements is necessary. The development of standards that meet the needs of AM processes is at the forefront of the work of various ISO and GPS committees. The focus of this research, carried out through an internship at the LURPA laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieur Paris-Saclay, is to compare the classical methods described by standard regulations with some promising alternative approaches. The methodology under examination is Virtual Image Correlation (VIC), which allows the reconstruction of geometry from images and subsequently derives measurements. The working principle involves comparing two images: the real physical image and a virtual image representing the nominal geometry, and then deforming the nominal geometry to better match the real geometry. The objective of this work is to assess how these methods perform when compared to current GPS standards, providing insights into new horizons in metrology applied to AM. In particular, three methods were examined during this research. The first method, representing current standards, is the ISO50% methodology followed by all the necessary data analysis steps to obtain the respective measurement results. The two proposed VIC approaches are based on contours defined by mathematical functions. The first one, called V2C and developed in other studies, decomposes the final contour into a finite series of modes representing specific geometric deviations. The second one, called DBACD and developed in the course of this research, defines the contour identified through a parametric B-spline curve. All three methodologies were tested on images obtained from computed tomography measurement machines of lattice structures with cylindrical geometries

Innovation, networking and globalisation:the role of regional innovation systems in the global innovation processes

In the global economy, innovation is one of the most important competitive assets for companies willing to compete in international markets. As competition moves from standardised products to customised ones, depending on each specific market needs, economies of scale are not anymore the only winning strategy. Innovation requires firms to establish processes to acquire and absorb new knowledge, leading to the recent theory of Open Innovation. Knowledge sharing and acquisition happens when firms are embedded in networks with other firms, university, institutions and many other economic actors. Several typologies of innovation and firm networks have been identified, with various geographical spans. One of the first being modelled was the Industrial Cluster (or in Italian Distretto Industriale) which was for long considered the benchmark for innovation and economic development. Other kind of networks have been modelled since the late 1970s; Regional Innovation Systems represent one of the latest and more diffuse model of innovation networks, specifically introduced to combine local networks and the global economy. This model was qualitatively exploited since its introduction, but, together with National Innovation Systems, is among the most inspiring for policy makers and is often cited by them, not always properly. The aim of this research is to setup an econometric model describing Regional Innovation Systems, becoming one the first attempts to test and enhance this theory with a quantitative approach. A dataset of 104 secondary and primary data from European regions was built in order to run a multiple linear regression, testing if Regional Innovation Systems are really correlated to regional innovation and regional innovation in cooperation with foreign partners. Furthermore, an exploratory multiple linear regression was performed to verify which variables, among those describing a Regional Innovation Systems, are the most significant for innovating, alone or with foreign partners. Furthermore, the effectiveness of present innovation policies has been tested based on the findings of the econometric model. The developed model confirmed the role of Regional Innovation Systems for creating innovation even in cooperation with international partners: this represents one of the firsts quantitative confirmation of a theory previously based on qualitative models only. Furthermore the results of this model confirmed a minor influence of National Innovation Systems: comparing the analysis of existing innovation policies, both at regional and national level, to our findings, emerged the need for potential a pivotal change in the direction currently followed by policy makers. Last, while confirming the role of the presence a learning environment in a region and the catalyst role of regional administration, this research offers a potential new perspective for the whole private sector in creating a Regional Innovation System

Wages, labour market, and living standards in China, 1530-1840

Historical wages continue to provide new insights into the long-term development of the economy. In early modern Europe, the standard wage narrative hypothesises a “little divergence” in which England and the Low Countries outperformed other economies between 1500 and 1750. However, our knowledge of Chinese wage history remains considerably limited when it comes to the “great divergence” debate between China and leading economies in Europe. This article contributes to building a wage series in Lower Yangzi China from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It shows that despite the continued increase of nominal wages over this period, real day wages witnessed a sharp decline between 1620 and 1640, followed by a substantial improvement after1650, until a quick decline between 1740 and 1760. A wage gap between the Lower Yangzi and London may open up in the early eighteenth century, but this implication still awaits further examination considering the measurement limits in the current approach

The role of organisms in hyporheic processes : gaps in current knowledge, needs for future research and applications

Fifty years after the hyporheic zone was first defined (Orghidan, 1959), there are still gaps in the knowledge regarding the role of biodiversity in hyporheic processes. First, some methodological questions remained unanswered regarding the interactions between biodiversity and physical processes, both for the study of habitat characteristics and interactions at different scales. Furthermore, many questions remain to be addressed to help inform our understanding of invertebrate community dynamics, especially regarding the trophic niches of organisms, the functional groups present within sediment, and their temporal changes. Understanding microbial community dynamics would require investigations about their relationship with the physical characteristics of the sediment, their diversity, their relationship with metabolic pathways, their inter- actions with invertebrates, and their response to environmental stress. Another fundamental research question is that of the importance of the hyporheic zone in the global metabolism of the river, which must be explored in relation to organic matter recycling, the effects of disturbances, and the degradation of contaminants. Finally, the application of this knowledge requires the development of methods for the estimation of hydro- logical exchanges, especially for the management of sediment clogging, the optimization of self-purification, and the integration of climate change in environmental policies. The development of descriptors of hyporheic zone health and of new metrology is also crucial to include specific targets in water policies for the long-term management of the system and a clear evaluation of restoration strategies