Production Process Modelling Architecture to Support Improved Cyber-Physical Production Systems

With the proliferation of intelligent networks in industrial environments, manufacturing SME’s have been in a continuous search for integrating and retrofitting existing assets with modern technologies that could provide low-cost solutions for optimizations in their production processes. Their willingness to support a technological evolution is firmly based on the perception that, in the future, better tools will guarantee process control, surveillance and maintenance. For this to happen, the digitalization of valuable and extractable information must be held in a cost-effective manner, through contemporary approaches such as IoT, creating the required fluidity between hardware and software, for implementing Cyber-Physical modules in the manufacturing process. The goal of this work is to develop an architecture that will support companies to digitize their machines and processes through an MDA approach, by modeling their production processes and physical resources, and transforming into an implementation model, using contemporary CPS and IoT concepts, to be continuously improved using forecasting/predictive algorithms and analytics.authorsversionpublishe

Current and future role of instrumentation and monitoring in the performance of transport infrastructure slopes

Instrumentation is often used to monitor the performance of engineered infrastructure slopes. This paper looks at the current role of instrumentation and monitoring, including the reasons for monitoring infrastructure slopes, the instrumentation typically installed and parameters measured. The paper then investigates recent developments in technology and considers how these may change the way that monitoring is used in the future, and tries to summarize the barriers and challenges to greater use of instrumentation in slope engineering. The challenges relate to economics of instrumentation within a wider risk management system, a better understanding of the way in which slopes perform and/or lose performance, and the complexities of managing and making decisions from greater quantities of data

Inadequacy of zero-width approximation for a light Higgs boson signal

In the Higgs search at the LHC, a light Higgs boson (115 GeV <~ M_H <~ 130 GeV) is not excluded by experimental data. In this mass range, the width of the Standard Model Higgs boson is more than four orders of magnitude smaller than its mass. The zero-width approximation is hence expected to be an excellent approximation. We show that this is not always the case. The inclusion of off-shell contributions is essential to obtain an accurate Higgs signal normalisation at the 1% precision level. For gg (-> H) -> VV, V= W,Z, O(10%) corrections occur due to an enhanced Higgs signal in the region M_VV > 2 M_V, where also sizable Higgs-continuum interference occurs. We discuss how experimental selection cuts can be used to exclude this region in search channels where the Higgs invariant mass cannot be reconstructed. We note that the H -> VV decay modes in weak boson fusion are similarly affected.Comment: 26 pages, 18 figures, 6 tables; added references, expanded introduction, version to appear in JHE

Oporność na kwas acetylosalicylowy we wtórnej prewencji udaru mózgu

Wstęp. Autorzy zbadali czynność płytek krwi u pacjentów po udarze mózgu leczonych kwasem acetylosalicylowym (ASA, acetylsalicylic acid), w celu zapobieżenia kolejnemu udarowi. Okres obserwacji wynosił 1 rok. Metoda. W badaniu prospektywnym wzięło udział 291 pacjentów, u których po raz pierwszy włączono ASA (300 mg/d.) w celu wtórnej prewencji udaru mózgu. Pomiary agregacji płytek wykonano po 24 godzinach, 3, 6 i 12 miesiącach od rozpoczęcia leczenia. Wyniki. Dwudziestu jeden pacjentów (7,2%) spośród 291 uznano za pierwotnie nieodpowiadających na ASA (początkowa niewystarczająca inhibicja płytek), a 4,1% jako wtórnie nieodpowiadających (niewystarczająca inhibicja płytek w czasie obserwacji). Nie stwierdzono istotnych różnic w odniesieniu do wieku, płci, czynników ryzyka i typu udaru między grupami pacjentów odpowiadajacych i nieodpowiadających na leczenie ASA. Wniosek. Oporność na ASA wśród pacjentów po udarze mózgu nie jest zjawiskiem rzadkim. Kliniczną przydatność rutynowych testów czynności płytek powinno się ocenić w przyszłych badaniach klinicznych

Dual in-aquifer and near surface processes drive arsenic mobilization in Cambodian groundwaters

Millions of people globally, and particularly in South and Southeast Asia, face chronic exposure to arsenic from reducing groundwater in which arsenic release is widely attributed to the reductive dissolution of arsenic-bearing iron minerals, driven by metal reducing bacteria using bioavailable organic matter as an electron donor. However, the nature of the organic matter implicated in arsenic mobilization, and the location within the subsurface where these processes occur, remains debated. In a high resolution study of a largely pristine, shallow aquifer in Kandal Province, Cambodia, we have used a complementary suite of geochemical tracers (including 14C, 3H, 3He, 4He, Ne, δ18O, δD, CFCs and SF6) to study the evolution in arsenic-prone shallow reducing groundwaters along dominant flow paths. The observation of widespread apparent 3H-3He ages of 30 m, and the relationships between age-related tracers and arsenic suggest that this surface-derived organic matter is likely to contribute to in-aquifer arsenic mobilization. A strong relationship between 3H-3He age and depth suggests the dominance of a vertical hydrological control with an overall vertical flow velocity of ~0.4 ± 0.1 m·yr−1 across the field area. A calculated overall groundwater arsenic accumulation rate of ~0.08 ± 0.03 μM·yr−1 is broadly comparable to previous estimates from other researchers for similar reducing aquifers in Bangladesh. Although apparent arsenic groundwater accumulation rates varied significantly with site (e.g. between sand versus clay dominated sequences), rates are generally highest near the surface, perhaps reflecting the proximity to the redox cline and/or depth-dependent characteristics of the OM pool, and confounded by localized processes such as continued in-aquifer mobilization, sorption/desorption, and methanogenesis

Primjena iskustava biološke fizike u savremenom ribarstvu

The EPSRC doctoral training grant supported RP (DTG grant: 1518070)). The EPSRC (EP/M003868/1) is also acknowledged for funding (JAF&PD).The scope of carbon monoxide-free Asymmetric Transfer HydroFormylation (ATHF) procedures using a highly active single catalyst system derived from 1,2-bis-((2,5)-diphenylphospholano)ethane as chiral ligand has been studied. This reveals some highly successful reactions, but also significant limitations. The development of a new protocol in which a catalyst for formaldehyde decomposition to CO and H2 is combined with the catalyst of choice for the subsequent asymmetric hydroformylation is described. This enables ATHF reactions that were problematic to be significantly improved. The new method has been used in the synthesis of several key precursors to biologically active molecules.PostprintPeer reviewe

The Schro¨\ddot{o}dinger-Poisson equations as the large-N limit of the Newtonian N-body system: applications to the large scale dark matter dynamics

In this paper it is argued how the dynamics of the classical Newtonian N-body system can be described in terms of the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger-Poisson equations in the large $N$ limit. This result is based on the stochastic quantization introduced by Nelson, and on the Calogero conjecture. According to the Calogero conjecture, the emerging effective Planck constant is computed in terms of the parameters of the N-body system as $\hbar \sim M^{5/3} G^{1/2} (N/)^{1/6}$, where is $G$ the gravitational constant, $N$ and $M$ are the number and the mass of the bodies, and $$ is their average density. The relevance of this result in the context of large scale structure formation is discussed. In particular, this finding gives a further argument in support of the validity of the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger method as numerical double of the N-body simulations of dark matter dynamics at large cosmological scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Euro. Phys. J.

Dark Force Detection in Low Energy e-p Collisions

We study the prospects for detecting a light boson X with mass m_X < 100 MeV at a low energy electron-proton collider. We focus on the case where X dominantly decays to e+ e- as motivated by recent "dark force" models. In order to evade direct and indirect constraints, X must have small couplings to the standard model (alpha_X 10 MeV). By comparing the signal and background cross sections for the e- p e+ e- final state, we conclude that dark force detection requires an integrated luminosity of around 1 inverse attobarn, achievable with a forthcoming JLab proposal.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures; v2, references adde

Physics Beyond the Standard Model: Supersymmetry

This collection of studies on new physics at the LHC constitutes the report of the supersymmetry working group at the Workshop `Physics at TeV Colliders', Les Houches, France, 2007. They cover the wide spectrum of phenomenology in the LHC era, from alternative models and signatures to the extraction of relevant observables, the study of the MSSM parameter space and finally to the interplay of LHC observations with additional data expected on a similar time scale. The special feature of this collection is that while not each of the studies is explicitely performed together by theoretical and experimental LHC physicists, all of them were inspired by and discussed in this particular environment.Comment: SUSY workking group report: Les Houches 200

Molecular monitoring of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin in Tanzania

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are recommended for use against uncomplicated malaria in areas of multi-drug resistant malaria, such as sub-Saharan Africa. However, their long-term usefulness in these high transmission areas remains unclear. It has been suggested that documentation of the S769N PfATPase6 mutations may indicate an emergence of artemisinin resistance of Plasmodium falciparum in the field. The present study assessed PfATPase6 mutations (S769N and A623E) in 615 asymptomatic P. falciparum infections in Tanzania but no mutant genotype was detected. This observation suggests that resistance to artemisinin has not yet been selected in Tanzania, supporting the Ministry of Health's decision to adopt artemether+lumefantrine as first-line malaria treatment. The findings recommend further studies to assess PfATPase6 mutations in sentinel sites and verify their usefulness in monitoring emergency of ACT resistance