Multitarget Tracking Using Orientation Estimation for Optical Belt Sorting

In optical belt sorting, accurate predictions of the bulk material particles’ motions are required for high-quality results. By implementing a multitarget tracker tailored to the scenario and deriving novel motion models, the predictions are greatly enhanced. The tracker’s reliability is improved by also considering the particles’ orientations. To this end, new estimators for directional quantities based on orthogonal basis functions are presented and shown to outperform the state of the art

Optimal conclusive sets for comparator networks

AbstractA set of input vectors S is conclusive for a certain functionality if, for every comparator network, correct functionality for all input vectors is implied by correct functionality for all vectors in S. We consider four functionalities of comparator networks: sorting, merging, sorting of bitonic vectors, and halving. For each of these functionalities, we present two conclusive sets of minimal cardinality. The members of the first set are restricted to be binary, while the members of the second set are unrestricted. For all the above functionalities, except halving, the unrestricted conclusive set is much smaller than the binary one

The Effects of Cross-cultural Experience on Travel Participants

The principal hypothesis of this study is that within a group of travel participants, individuals\u27 perceptions of the effects of the trip will differ, but at the same time there will be identifiable convergence of perception. The specific problem addressed is how the lives of Project Minnesota/Leon trip participants have been affected by visiting Nicaragua. The research methodology used was the speech communication theory of Symbolic Convergence and the data was examined by quantal analysis. Three distinct types of participants were found, supporting the validity of this theory and soundly defending the principal hypothesis. A corollary hypothesis is that cross-cultural experiential programs have the potential to promote multiculturalism required for effective leadership in today\u27s interdependent world. While the research design does not permit a quantified link between attitudes and experiences, trip participants exhibited mutuality with Nicaraguans as well as some understanding of cultural pluralism and diversity

Realizing the physics of motile cilia synchronization with driven colloids

Cilia and flagella in biological systems often show large scale cooperative behaviors such as the synchronization of their beats in "metachronal waves". These are beautiful examples of emergent dynamics in biology, and are essential for life, allowing diverse processes from the motility of eukaryotic microorganisms, to nutrient transport and clearance of pathogens from mammalian airways. How these collective states arise is not fully understood, but it is clear that individual cilia interact mechanically,and that a strong and long ranged component of the coupling is mediated by the viscous fluid. We review here the work by ourselves and others aimed at understanding the behavior of hydrodynamically coupled systems, and particularly a set of results that have been obtained both experimentally and theoretically by studying actively driven colloidal systems. In these controlled scenarios, it is possible to selectively test aspects of the living motile cilia, such as the geometrical arrangement, the effects of the driving profile and the distance to no-slip boundaries. We outline and give examples of how it is possible to link model systems to observations on living systems, which can be made on microorganisms, on cell cultures or on tissue sections. This area of research has clear clinical application in the long term, as severe pathologies are associated with compromised cilia function in humans.Comment: 31 pages, to appear in Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physic

A Performance evaluation of several ATM switching architectures

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the performance of three Asynchronous Transfer Mode switching architectures. After examining many different ATM switching architectures in literature, the three architectures chosen for study were the Knockout switch, the Sunshine switch, and the Helical switch. A discrete-time, event driven system simulator, named ProModel, was used to model the switching behavior of these architectures. Each switching architecture was modeled and studied under at least two design configurations. The performance of the three architectures was then investigated under three different traffic types representative of traffic found in B-ISDN: random, constant bit rate, and bursty. Several key performance parameters were measured and compared between the architectures. This thesis also explored the implementation complexities and fault tolerance of the three selected architectures

Being Proactive to Increasing Supply Chain Security Challenges: A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach

Supply chain security has become relevant to both practitioners and academics for years, yet the understanding of this topic is still incomplete. The literature produces relatively few explanatory and confirmatory studies, offers ambiguous definitions and terminology and the theoretical development is inconsistent. In this dissertation, I review relevant research streams and employ four in-depth case studies to conceptualize supply chain security (SCS). I also utilize the principles of human immunology to propose a taxonomy of supply chain security management (SCSM) mechanisms. Building on institutional theory and the taxonomy, I further examine the antecedents as well as the consequences of SCSM mechanisms via a large empirical data set collected during 2011-2013. The sample includes responses from 462 firms. Specifically, in my first model I draw on the institutional theory and posit that five institutional isomorphism pressures (i.e., government, customer, peer, normative, and performance pressure) impact four classes of SCSM mechanisms (i.e., prevention, detection, reaction, and restoration). In addition, shared SCS perception (SSP) and top management commitment (TMC) are hypothesized to moderate (strengthen) the relationships between institutional pressures and SCSM mechanisms. In my second model, I propose that the four classes of mechanisms explain five different supply chain performance dimensions (i.e., security performance, cost performance, supply chain responsiveness, supply chain resilience, and supply chain visibility). I also specify differential effects for both models; some effects are more salient than others. The results suggest that not all institutional pressures motivate the implementation of SCSM mechanisms. While normative pressure and performance pressure act as predominantly powerful predictors of SCSM mechanisms, other pressures appear to have negligible or even adverse effects. Surprisingly, data analysis suggests that coercive institutional pressures (i.e., government pressure and customer pressure) do not exhibit the strongest effects on SCSM mechanisms as the literature would suggest. As far as the moderation effect is concerned, the results illustrate that neither SSP nor TMC interact with all institutional pressures to affect the employment of SCSM mechanisms. In addition, TMC can even impede the implementation of reaction- and restoration-oriented SCSM mechanisms when interacting with government pressure. Regarding supply chain performance, the results demonstrate that SCSM mechanisms have strong effects on multiple supply chain performance measures. Further assessments reveal that the effect of SCSM mechanisms on supply chain security performance is stronger than its effects on other performance dimensions

Man hours budgets - an aid in managing a woolen and worsted mill.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Forestry Kaimin, 1978

Annual yearbook of the University of Montana’s Forestry Student Association (Forestry Club).https://scholarworks.umt.edu/forestrykaimin/1048/thumbnail.jp

Transport of a dilute active suspension in pressure-driven channel flow

Confined suspensions of active particles show peculiar dynamics characterized by wall accumulation, as well as upstream swimming, centerline depletion and shear-trapping when a pressure-driven flow is imposed. We use theory and numerical simulations to investigate the effects of confinement and non-uniform shear on the dynamics of a dilute suspension of Brownian active swimmers by incorporating a detailed treatment of boundary conditions within a simple kinetic model where the configuration of the suspension is described using a conservation equation for the probability distribution function of particle positions and orientations, and where particle-particle and particle-wall hydrodynamic interactions are neglected. Based on this model, we first investigate the effects of confinement in the absence of flow, in which case the dynamics is governed by a swimming Peclet number, or ratio of the persistence length of particle trajectories over the channel width, and a second swimmer-specific parameter whose inverse measures the strength of propulsion. In the limit of weak and strong propulsion, asymptotic expressions for the full distribution function are derived. For finite propulsion, analytical expressions for the concentration and polarization profiles are also obtained using a truncated moment expansion of the distribution function. In agreement with experimental observations, the existence of a concentration/polarization boundary layer in wide channels is reported and characterized, suggesting that wall accumulation in active suspensions is primarily a kinematic effect which does not require hydrodynamic interactions. Next, we show that application of a pressure-driven Poiseuille flow leads to net upstream swimming of the particles relative to the flow, and an analytical expression for the mean upstream velocity is derived in the weak flow limit. In stronger imposed flows .....