An Ontological Approach to Representing the Product Life Cycle

The ability to access and share data is key to optimizing and streamlining any industrial production process. Unfortunately, the manufacturing industry is stymied by a lack of interoperability among the systems by which data are produced and managed, and this is true both within and across organizations. In this paper, we describe our work to address this problem through the creation of a suite of modular ontologies representing the product life cycle and its successive phases, from design to end of life. We call this suite the Product Life Cycle (PLC) Ontologies. The suite extends proximately from The Common Core Ontologies (CCO) used widely in defense and intelligence circles, and ultimately from the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), which serves as top level ontology for the CCO and for some 300 further ontologies. The PLC Ontologies were developed together, but they have been factored to cover particular domains such as design, manufacturing processes, and tools. We argue that these ontologies, when used together with standard public domain alignment and browsing tools created within the context of the Semantic Web, may offer a low-cost approach to solving increasingly costly problems of data management in the manufacturing industry

Radiation Shielding Properties of Synthetic Ca-Al2O3 Polymer Based Composites

Ionizing radiation exposure from medical diagnostic equipment, industries, nuclear research facilities, and nuclear weapon development has led to health impacts such as cancer and acute radiation syndrome, necessitating the use of proper radiation shielding. The optical and radiation shielding capabilities of Ca-Al2O3 polymer-based composites were explored in this article. The composites were made by combining synthesized Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) with calcium (Ca) formed from Periwinkle shells, Snail shells, and Seashells and calcining them at 1000 oC for 13 hours. The synthesized Ca-Al2O3 powders were dispersed into polymeric materials in a ratio of 1:1 using an effective melt-mixing process, then cast in a 10 cm by 10 cm square Mold with a thickness of 10 mm and allowed to set overnight at ambient temperature. The composite samples obtained were transferred to the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NNRA) in Ibadan for radiographic examinations and analyses. X-ray transmission through the manufactured composites samples was investigated using a well-collimated point source. The produced x-rays' initial intensity (Io) was determined. With the sample in front of the detector, the transmitted x-ray beam (I) was measured. The measurements were repeated three times for each composite sample, and the average value was calculated. Using relevant and referenced equations, the linear attenuation coefficient, half-value layer, relaxation length, and absorbance for each sample were calculated. The radiation shielding composites' x-ray photon absorptions were determined using transmission data by Beer's Lambert law. The XRF results revealed that the calcined samples were mostly calcium with only a few traces of other elements, with percentage calcium quantities of approximately 32, 37, and 34 for snail shells, seashells, and periwinkle shells, respectively, and the XRD result confirmed the Al2O3 polymorphs at approximately 32o and 57 o and the Aluminum phase at 46 o. For the three radiation shielding composites under investigation, the x-ray photon transmittance is quite low at 40 keV to 60 keV and comparatively high at 100 keV to 200 keV. From 100 keV to 200 keV, the transmittance of periwinkle shells and snail shell calcium sources polymer-based composites was similar, and their differences became significant at lower energies. For Ca-Al2O3 polymer-based composites with calcium contents sourced from seashells, periwinkle shells, and snail shells, the maximum linear attenuation coefficients were 1.0 cm-1, 0.79 cm-1, and 0.65 cm-1, respectively. At 60 keV and below, the radiation shielding composites have the highest attenuation coefficient. The half-value layer (HVL) of all the samples under investigation reduced abruptly at 40 and 60 keV and grew linearly as the energy increased from 100 to 200 keV. The relaxation length is comparatively low at 40 and 60 keV compared to other x-ray sources utilized at higher energies. Each radiation shielding composite's properties are determined by the amount of calcium present in the samples. Over a certain photon energy range (40 keV–200 keV), the Ca-Al2O3 polymer-based composites with calcium contents sourced from seashells were found to have higher x-ray attenuating characteristics than other composites. The attenuating capacity of all the composites under this study can be enhanced by increasing the radiation shielding composite thickness.     &nbsp

Meat yield of Bolinus brandaris (Gastropoda: Muricidae): comparative assessment of the influence of sex, size and reproductive status

The present study assessed the influence of sex, size and reproductive status on the meat yield (soft tissues proportion) of the purple dye murex (Bolinus brandaris) from the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal). During one year of monthly sampling (October 2008-September 2009), average meat yield of B. brandaris was 40.5 +/- 6.1% (range: 25.8-56.1% wet weight), with no significant differences between sexes. Relationships established between specimen size and soft parts weight indicated that both shell length and total weight are excellent indicators of meat yield. Significant differences in meat yield between size classes further reinforced the trend of increasing meat yield during ontogeny. Meat yield exhibited significant monthly variation and a similar temporal trend in both sexes, which were directly related to the reproductive status. Meat yield of B. brandaris was compared with that of other muricid species and the marked influence of the reproductive status on meat yield prompted a comparative assessment of the spawning season and peak of three sympatric muricids (B. brandaris, Hexaplex trunculus and Stramonita haemastoma). Overall, these findings have implications at diverse levels, including the management, regulation and inspection of this fishing/ harvesting activity and the commercialization and consumption of this seafood product.postdoctoral grant [SFRH/BPD/26348/2006]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT - Portugal); Fisheries Operational Programme (PROMAR); European Fisheries Fund [EFF 2007-2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Turning Seashell Waste into Electrically Conductive Particles

Biomaterials such as seashells are intriguing due to their remarkable properties, including their hierarchical structure from the nanometer to the micro- or even macroscopic scale. Transferring this nanostructure to generate nanostructured polymers can improve their electrical conductivity. Here, we present the synthesis of polypyrrole using waste seashell powder as a template to prepare a polypyrrole/CaCO3 composite material. Various synthesis parameters were optimized to produce a composite material with an electrical conductivity of 2.1 x 10(-4) +/- 3.2 x 10(-5) S/cm. This work presents the transformation of waste seashells into sustainable, electronically conductive materials and their application as an antistatic agent in polymers. The requirements of an antistatic material were met for a safety shoe sole

Subbarrel patterns in somatosensory cortical barrels can emerge from local dynamic instabilities

Complex spatial patterning, common in the brain as well as in other biological systems, can emerge as a result of dynamic interactions that occur locally within developing structures. In the rodent somatosensory cortex, groups of neurons called "barrels" correspond to individual whiskers on the contralateral face. Barrels themselves often contain subbarrels organized into one of a few characteristic patterns. Here we demonstrate that similar patterns can be simulated by means of local growth-promoting and growth-retarding interactions within the circular domains of single barrels. The model correctly predicts that larger barrels contain more spatially complex subbarrel patterns, suggesting that the development of barrels and of the patterns within them may be understood in terms of some relatively simple dynamic processes. We also simulate the full nonlinear equations to demonstrate the predictive value of our linear analysis. Finally, we show that the pattern formation is robust with respect to the geometry of the barrel by simulating patterns on a realistically shaped barrel domain. This work shows how simple pattern forming mechanisms can explain neural wiring both qualitatively and quantitatively even in complex and irregular domains. © 2009 Ermentrout et al

Taxonomy of some Galeommatoidea (Mollusca, Bivalvia) associated with deep-sea echinoids: A reassessment of the bivalve genera Axinodon Verrill & Bush, 1898 and Kelliola Dall, 1899 with descriptions of new genera Syssitomya gen. nov. and Ptilomyax gen. nov.

The type species of Axinodon ellipticus Verrill & Bush, 1898 and Kellia symmetros Jeffreys, 1876 are re-described. It is concluded that the two species are not conspecific and that K. symmetros cannot be placed in the genus Axinodon. The family affinity of Axinodon is not resolved, although it is probable that this genus belongs to the Thyasiridae. Kellia symmetros is the type species of Kelliola and is placed in the Montacutidae. Kelliola symmetros is most probably associated with the echinoid Aeropsis rostrata and is not the species previously recorded from North Atlantic Pourtalesia echinoids under the name of Axinodon symmetros. This commensal associated with the North Atlantic Pourtalesia is here described as new and placed in the new genus as Syssitomya pourtalesiana gen. nov. sp. nov., Syssitomya gen. nov. differs from all other genera in the Montacutidae by having laminar gill filaments modified for harbouring symbiotic bacteria and it is thus assumed to be chemosymbiotic. A montacutid associated with the hadal Pourtalesia heptneri is described as Ptilomyax hadalis gen. nov. sp. nov