371,100 research outputs found
Context-aware GPS Integrity Monitoring for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)
The integrity of positioning systems has become an increasingly important requirement
for location-based Intelligent Transports Systems (ITS). The navigation systems, such
as Global Positioning System (GPS), used in ITS cannot provide the high quality
positioning information required by most services, due to the various type of errors
from GPS sensor, such as signal outage, and atmospheric effects, all of which are
difficult to measure, or from the map matching process. Consequently, an error in the
positioning information or map matching process may lead to inaccurate determination
of a vehicle’s location. Thus, the integrity is require when measuring both vehicle’s
positioning and other related information such as speed, to locate the vehicle in the
correct road segment, and avoid errors. The integrity algorithm for the navigation
system should include a guarantee that the systems do not produce misleading or faulty
information; as this may lead to a significant error arising in the ITS services. Hence, to
achieve the integrity requirement a navigation system should have a robust mechanism,
to notify the user of any potential errors in the navigation information.
The main aim of this research is to develop a robust and reliable mechanism to support
the positioning requirement of ITS services. This can be achieved by developing a high
integrity GPS monitoring algorithm with the consideration of speed, based on the
concept of context-awareness which can be applied with real time ITS services to adapt
changes in the integrity status of the navigation system. Context-aware architecture is
designed to collect contextual information about the vehicle, including location, speed
and heading, reasoning about its integrity and reactions based on the information
acquired.
In this research, three phases of integrity checks are developed. These are, (i)
positioning integrity, (ii) speed integrity, and (iii) map matching integrity. Each phase
uses different techniques to examine the consistency of the GPS information. A receiver
autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm is used to measure the quality of
the GPS positioning data. GPS Doppler information is used to check the integrity of
vehicle’s speed, adding a new layer of integrity and improving the performance of the
map matching process. The final phase in the integrity algorithm is intended to verify
the integrity of the map matching process. In this phase, fuzzy logic is also used to
measure the integrity level, which guarantees the validity and integrity of the map
matching results.
This algorithm is implemented successfully, examined using real field data. In addition,
a true reference vehicle is used to determine the reliability and validity of the output.
The results show that the new integrity algorithm has the capability to support a various
types of location-based ITS services.Saudi Arabia Cultural Burea
OECD guidelines and validated methods for in vivo testing of reproductive toxicity
This chapter discusses the methods adapted by the OECD and some other protocols, including the general principles of the study, the main aspects of the procedure, the endpoints and the observations, data reporting and criteria for interpreting results, and summarizing the guidelines. OECD 414 provides general information concerning the effects of prenatal exposure on the pregnant test animal and on the developing organism. OECD 415 is designed to provide general information concerning the effects of the tested substance on male and female reproductive performance. OECD 416 test is designed to provide general information concerning the effects of a tested substance on the integrity and performance of the male and female reproductive systems, including gonadal function, the estrus cycle, mating behavior, conception, gestation, parturition, lactation and weaning, and the growth and development of the offspring. The study also provides information about the effects on the first generation (F1) including neonatal morbidity, mortality and preliminary data on prenatal and postnatal developmental toxicity. OECD 421 offers only limited means of detecting postnatal manifestations of prenatal exposure, or effects that may be induced during postnatal exposure. OECD 422 is intended for identification of possible health hazards likely to arise from repeated exposure over a relatively limited period of time. OECD 426 is designed to provide data, including dose–response characterization, on the potential functional and morphological effects on the developing nervous system of the offspring that may arise from exposure in uterus and during early life
In vivo testing of gold nanoparticles using the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are present in many man-made products and cosmetics, and are also used by the food and medical industries. Tight regulations regarding the use of mammalian animals for product testing can hamper the study of the specific interactions between engineered nanoparticles and biological systems. Invertebrate models, such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), can offer alternative approaches during the early phases of nanoparticle discovery.
Here, we thoroughly evaluated the biodistribution of 11-nm and 150-nm citrate-capped AuNPs in the model organism C. elegans at multiple scales, moving from micrometric to nanometric resolution and from the organismal to cellular level. We confirmed that the nanoparticles were not able to cross the intestinal and dermal barriers. We investigated the effect of AuNPs on the survival and reproductive performance of C. elegans, and correlated these effects with the uptake of AuNPs in terms of their number, surface area, and metal mass. In general, exposure to 11-nm AuNPs resulted in a higher toxicity than the larger 150-nm AuNPs. NP aggregation inside C. elegans was determined using absorbance microspectroscopy, which allowed the plasmonic properties of AuNPs to be correlated with their confinement inside the intestinal lumen, where anatomical traits, acidic pH and the presence of biomolecules play an essential role on NP aggregation. Finally, quantitative PCR of selected molecular markers indicated that exposure to AuNPs did not significantly affect endocytosis and intestinal barrier integrity.
Statement of significance
This work highlights how the simple, yet information-rich, animal model C. elegans is ideally suited for preliminary screening of nanoparticles or chemicals mitigating most of the difficulties associated with mammalian animal models, namely the ethical issues, the high cost, and time constraints. This is of particular relevance to the cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical industries, which all have to justify the use of animals, especially during the discovery, development and initial screening phases. This work provides a detailed and thorough analysis of 11-nm and 150-nm AuNPs at multiple levels of organization (the whole organism, organs, tissues, cells and molecules).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Development of a manufacturing engineering system for the motor industry : executive summary
Manufacturing Engineering is concerned with converting a product specification
into the most appropriate method of manufacture to produce the product to the
correct cost and quality. Lack of integration and 'over the wall' engineering
between design and manufacturing engineering adds to the time and cost of
product development, and has significant effects on the subsequent cost and quality
of the product. Because of the size and complexity of manufacturing engineering
within the motor industry, the task is often divided between disparate, isolated,
departments that traditionally have their own goals and objectives, supported by
different business processes and systems. The adverse effects of the lack of
integration between design and manufacturing engineering re-emerge within
manufacturing engineering itself.
As a part of this research, the author analysed the existing information flows
through manufacturing engineering within Rover Group, and showed that the
business processes and systems generated a high duplication of effort and data, and
reinforced functional demarcation between the departments. The new Rover
Integrated Manufacturing Engineering System (RIMES) has been developed to
address these issues. RIMES has been developed using TQM techniques and
evolutionary delivery, new to Rover, to involve the manufacturing engineering
customer in all aspects of business analysis and system development. The resultant
system deliverables have therefore more closely met the customer requirements
and have consequently been implemented with greater customer support. The
subsequent changes to manufacturing engineering culture have been promoted
from within manufacturing engineering, with the RIMES system acting as a lever
for the change.
The research has been primarily concerned with the analysis and development of
appropriate solutions in three main areas: integration of design and manufacturing
engineering, change control procedures to maintain data integrity, and business
processes to improve efficiency of manufacturing engineering and the quality of its
output. These are all issues that are important for supporting concurrent
engineering but were found not to have been adequately addressed, either in the
research literature or in commercial systems, for applications involving large,
complex products.
The new system provides support for the electronic integration of design and
manufacturing engineering information, which is based on a technique developed
that combines data 'push' and 'pull' principles, and enables the efficient
communication of product specification to manufacturing engineering. It provides
a single system and repository of manufacturing engineering knowledge, a common
fundamental business process, and a common and consistent way of presenting
manufacturing engineering information and reports. Concurrent engineering is
promoted through early availability of information for downstream processes and
strict change control procedures have been developed to maintain data integrity.
The previously disparate departments of process engineering and industrial
engineering are now working concurrently from the same data which has improved
the accuracy, consistency and understanding of information both internally and in
external reporting. The time to market has been reduced because product
specification information is provided earlier and simultaneously to all
manufacturing engineering functions. The manufacturing engineering process and
its output have been redesigned. New working methods introduced through the
RIMES system have promoted reorganisation and the elimination of demarcation
within manufacturing engineering to further facilitate concurrent engineering.
Newly designed multi media forms for communication of process information to
manufacturing, developed in consultation with the RIMES user community, has
promoted team working on the shop-floor
Linking bayesian belief networks and GIS to assess the ecosystem integrity in the brazilian Amazon.
Deforestation and climate change heavily impact the ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest threatening its resilience and the sustainability of many human activities. Land protection may prevent ecosystems and their services to deteriorate from the pressures of agricultural expansion, population growth and wood harvesting. In the Brazilian Amazon land protection occurs in several forms such as environmental conservation, setting biodiversity priority areas and the delineation of indigenous lands. Still, the effects are not clear as understanding of the ecosystems is incomplete and responses to human actions are highly uncertain. Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) are models that probabilistically represent correlative and causal relationships among variables. BBNs have been successfully applied to natural resource management to address environmental management problems and to assess the impact of alternative management measures. By training the probabilistic relationships using field data, Remote Sensing data and GIS data the BBN can provide information on the ecosystems: the ecosystem integrity and their likely response to climate change or alternative management actions. An increasing number of studies train and apply BBNs with evidence originating from GIS data; a cumbersome and error prone soft-linking method requiring manual conversion of data files between the BBN and GIS software systems. This paper presents the full integration of a BBN software system within an existing GIS based Discussion Support System (DSS) illustrated by the case of the ecosystem integrity of the Brazilian amazon. The full integration speeds up the processing and thereby allows doing multiple runs within a short period of time such as a stakeholder workshop. Each consecutive run is based upon insights from a previous one. Furthermore, the DSS provides the management of different options, visualize spatial summaries and trade-offs between different impact indicators and see regional differences
Ecosystem properties and principles of living systems as foundation for sustainable agriculture – Critical reviews of environmental assessment tools, key findings and questions from a course process
With increasing demands on limited resources worldwide, there is a growing interest in sustainable patterns of utilisation and production. Ecological agriculture is a response to these concerns.
To assess progress and compliance, standard and comprehensive measures of resource requirements, impacts and agro-ecological health are needed. Assessment tools should also be rapid, standardized, userfriendly, meaningful to public policy and applicable to management. Fully considering these requirements confounds the development of integrated methods.
Currently, there are many methodologies for monitoring performance, each with its own foundations, assumptions, goals, and outcomes, dependent upon agency agenda or academic orientation. Clearly, a concept of sustainability must address biophysical, ecological, economic, and sociocultural foundations.
Assessment indicators and criteria, however, are generally limited, lacking integration, and at times in conflict with one another. A result is that certification criteria, indicators, and assessment methods are not based on a consistent, underlying conceptual framework and often lack a management focus.
Ecosystem properties and principles of living systems, including self-organisation, renewal, embeddedness, emergence and commensurate response provide foundation for sustainability assessments and may be appropriate focal points for critical thinking in an evaluation of current methods and standards. A systems framework may also help facilitate a comprehensive approach and promote a context for meaningful discourse. Without holistic accounts, sustainable progress remains an illdefined concept and an elusive goal.
Our intent, in the work with this report, was to use systems ecology as a pedagogic basis for learning and discussion to:
- Articulate general and common characteristics of living systems.
- Identify principles, properties and patterns inherent in natural ecosystems.
- Use these findings as foci in a dialogue about attributes of sustainability to:
a. develop a model for communicating scientific rationale.
b. critically evaluate environmental assessment tools for application in land-use.
c. propose appropriate criteria for a comprehensive assessment and expanded definition of ecological land use
- …