Improving Preventive Maintenance Management in an Energy Solutions Company

30th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2021)In industry, production processes and assets are constantly evolving, Thus, continually improving and updating them is essential to their sustainability. This work intended to apply a set of methods and philosophies to improve the Preventive Maintenance Management process in a case study company dedicated to the development, production and maintenance of power and distribution transformers. Thus, a Action – Research methodology was used. After identifying the main problems, a mixed maintenance strategy based on Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) was applied. The following achievements were obtained by this work: (a) method of grading equipment critically based on its importance to the production process was developed and implemented;(b) a new flowchart of decisions and actions was developed for Preventive Maintenance Plan Management; (c) a reduction of the waste time in Preventive Maintenance (PM) was obtained; (d) the implementation of Autonomous Maintenance (AM) resulted in a reduction of 66% in equipment failures; (e) a set of new Key Performance Indicators (KPI´s) were introduced; (f) maintenance plans compliance rates increased by 12%. At the end of the work a reduction of € 120 060 could be achieved. Thus, the main contribution of this work was to show that bringing to the action different tool together in an organized way and share the information and responsibilities with the workers can result in important savings to the company, becoming the maintenance function more effective.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Role of abrasive material on micro-abrasion wear tests

Micro-abrasion wear tests with ball-cratering configuration are widely used. Sources of variability are already studied by different authors and conditions for testing are parameterized by BS EN 1071-6: 2007 standard which refers silicon carbide as abrasive. However, the use of other abrasives is possible and allowed. In this work, ball-cratering wear tests were performed using four different abrasive particles of three dissimilar materials: diamond, alumina and silicon carbide. Tests were carried out under the same conditions on a steel plate provided with TiB2 hard coating. For each abrasive, five different test durations were used allowing understanding the initial wear phenomena. Composition and shape of abrasive particles were investigated by SEM and EDS. Scar areas were observed by optical and electronic microscopy in order to understand the wear effects caused by each of them. Scar geometry and grooves were analyzed and compared. Wear coefficient was calculated for each situation. It was observed that diamond particles produce well-defined and circular wear scars. Different silicon carbide particles presented dissimilar results as consequence of distinct particle shape and size distribution

Short-range charge-order in RRNiO3_{3} perovskites (RR=Pr,Nd,Eu) probed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy

The short-range organization around Ni atoms in orthorhombic $R$NiO$_{3}$ ($R$=Pr,Nd,Eu) perovskites has been studied over a wide temperature range by Ni K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate that two different Ni sites, with different average Ni-O bond lengths, coexist in those orthorhombic compounds and that important modifications in the Ni nearest neighbors environment take place across the metal-insulator transition. We report evidences for the existence of short-range charge-order in the insulating state, as found in the monoclinic compounds. Moreover, our results suggest that the two different Ni sites coexists even in the metallic state. The coexistence of two different Ni sites, independently on the $R$ ion, provides a common ground to describe these compounds and shed new light in the understanding of the phonon-assisted conduction mechanism and unusual antiferromagnetism present in all $R$NiO$_{3}$ compounds.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted PRB - Brief Report Dec.200

Linking forest cover, soil erosion and mire hydrology to late-Holocene human activity and climate in NW Spain

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Forest clearance is one of the main drivers of soil erosion and hydrological changes in mires, although climate may also play a significant role. Because of the wide range of factors involved, understanding these complex links requires long-term multi-proxy approaches and research on the best proxies to focus. A peat core from NW Spain (Cruz do Bocelo mire), spanning the last ~3000 years, has been studied at high resolution by physical (density and loss on ignition (LOI)), geochemical (elemental composition) and palynological (pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs) analyses. Proxies related to mineral matter fluxes from the catchment (lithogenic tracers, Glomus and Entorrhiza), rainfall (Bromine), mire hydrology (HdV-18), human pressure (Cerealia-type, nitrophilous taxa and coprophilous fungi) and forest cover (mesophilous tree taxa) were the most useful to reconstruct the evolution of the mire and its catchment. Forest clearance for farming was one of the main drivers of environmental change from at least the local Iron Age (~2685 cal. yr BP) onwards. The most intense phase of deforestation occurred during Roman and Germanic times and the late Middle Ages. During these phases, the entire catchment was affected, resulting in enhanced soil erosion and severe hydrological modifications of the mire. Climate, especially rainfall, may have also accelerated these processes during wetter periods. However, it is noteworthy that the hydrology of the mire seems to have been insensitive to rainfall variations when mesophilous forest dominated. Abrupt changes were only detected once intense forest clearance commenced during the Iron Age/Roman transition (~2190 cal. yr BP) phase, which represented a tipping point in catchment's ability to buffer impacts. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of studying ecosystems' long-term trajectories and catchment-wide processes when implementing mire habitat protection measures.This work was funded by the projects CGL2010-20672 (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and 10PXIB200182PR (General Directorate of I+D, Xunta de Galicia). N Silva-Sánchez and L López-Merino are currently supported by a FPU predoctoral scholarship (AP2010-3264) funded by the Spanish Government and a MINT postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Brunel Institute for the Environment, respectively

RNA-Seq analysis of ileocecal valve and peripheral blood from Holstein cattle infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis revealed dysregulation of the CXCL8/IL8 signaling pathway

17 páginas, 5 tablas, 5 figuras.Paratuberculosis is chronic granulomatous enteritis of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Whole RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a promising source of novel biomarkers for early MAP infection and disease progression in cattle. Since the blood transcriptome is widely used as a source of biomarkers, we analyzed whether it recapitulates, at least in part, the transcriptome of the ileocecal valve (ICV), the primary site of MAP colonization. Total RNA was prepared from peripheral blood (PB) and ICV samples, and RNA-Seq was used to compare gene expression between animals with focal or diffuse histopathological lesions in gut tissues versus control animals with no detectable signs of infection. Our results demonstrated both shared, and PB and ICV-specific gene expression in response to a natural MAP infection. As expected, the number of differentially expressed (DE) genes was larger in the ICV than in the PB samples. Among the DE genes in the PB and ICV samples, there were some common genes irrespective of the type of lesion including the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8/IL8), apolipoprotein L (APOLD1), and the interferon inducible protein 27 (IF127). The biological processes (BP) enriched in the PB gene expression profiles from the cows with diffuse lesions included the killing of cells of other organism, defense response, immune response and the regulation of neutrophil chemotaxis. Two of these BP, the defense and immune response, were also enriched in the ICV from the cows with diffuse lesions. Metabolic analysis of the DE genes revealed that the N-glycan biosynthesis, bile secretion, one-carbon pool by folate and purine metabolism were significantly enriched in the ICV from the cows with focal lesions. In the ICV from cows with diffuse lesions; the valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation route, purine metabolism, vitamin digestion and absorption and the cholesterol routes were enriched. Some of the identified DE genes, BP and metabolic pathways will be studied further to develop novel diagnostic tools, vaccines and immunotherapeutics.This work was supported by grants from the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) and by European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER) (INIA RTA2014-00009-C02 and RTA2018-094192). The study is partially funded by the Principado de Asturias (PCTI 2018-2020, GRUPIN: IDI2018-000237). Maria Canive and Cristina Blanco-Vazquez are recipients of INIA fellowships. The authors thank ASTEGA Veterinary services for their assistance on sample collection. We are also grateful to Kyle Hearn for the careful editing of the manuscript

Cutting Forces Assessment in CNC Machining Processes: A Critical Review

Machining processes remain an unavoidable technique in the production of high-precision parts. Tool behavior is of the utmost importance in machining productivity and costs. Tool performance can be assessed by the roughness left on the machined surfaces, as well as of the forces developed during the process. There are various techniques to determine these cutting forces, such as cutting force prediction or measurement, using dynamometers and other sensor systems. This technique has often been used by numerous researchers in this area. This paper aims to give a review of the different techniques and devices for measuring the forces developed for machining processes, allowing a quick perception of the advantages and limitations of each technique, through the literature research carried out, using recently published worksThe present work was done and funded under the scope of the project ON-SURF (ANI | P2020 | POCI-01-0247-FEDER-024521, co-funded by Portugal 2020 and FEDER, through COMPETE 2020-Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation. F.J.G. Silva also thanks INEGI-Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industria, due to its support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Spatial and temporal distribution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection in Eurasian badger (Meles meles) and cattle in Asturias, Spain

Trabajo presentado al: 69th Wildlife Disease Association and 14th European Wildlife Disease Association Conference. Cuenca, Spain. p. 66. 31 agosto-2 septiembre

Raman phonons as a probe of disorder, fluctuations and local structure in doped and undoped orthorhombic and rhombohedral manganites

We present a rationalization of the Raman spectra of orthorhombic and rhombohedral, stoichiometric and doped, manganese perovskites. In particular we study RMnO3 (R= La, Pr, Nd, Tb, Ho, Er, Y and Ca) and the different phases of Ca or Sr doped RMnO3 compounds as well as cation deficient RMnO3. The spectra of manganites can be understood as combinations of two kinds of spectra corresponding to two structural configurations of MnO6 octahedra and independently of the average structure obtained by diffraction techniques. The main peaks of compounds with regular MnO6 octahedra, as CaMnO3, highly Ca doped LaMnO3 or the metallic phases of Ca or Sr doped LaMnO3, are bending and tilt MnO6 octahedra modes which correlate to R-O(1) bonds and Mn-O-Mn angles respectively. In low and optimally doped manganites, the intensity and width of the broad bands are related to the amplitude of the dynamic fluctuations produced by polaron hopping in the paramagnetic insulating regime. The activation energy, which is proportional to the polaron binding energy, is the measure of this amplitude. This study permits to detect and confirm the coexistence, in several compounds, of a paramagnetic matrix with lattice polaron together with regions without dynamic or static octahedron distortions, identical to the ferromagnetic metallic phase. We show that Raman spectroscopy is an excellent tool to obtain information on the local structure of the different micro or macro-phases present simultaneously in many manganites.Comment: Submitted to PR

Social marketing applied to HIV/AIDS prevention: the case of a five-year governmental response in Portugal

HIV infection has been a concerning health issue prioritised by health governmental institutions that has required the development of public health policies with an integrated social marketing intervention in an upstream dimension. A behaviour change strategy should invest in segmented communication for priority targets, in partnership with multiple stakeholders. This case explores and discusses the integrated social marketing programme developed by the Portuguese Ministry of Health to prevent HIV/AIDS in the period 2006–2011 and its long-term evaluation in behaviour change, comparing data from 2005 and 2017. This case shows the initial diagnosis; the social marketing strategy developed for different targets in partnership with civil society organisations, following a variety of theoretical frameworks; and effectiveness evaluation in epidemic outcomes. A guide is provided with questions for discussion.FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(UID/SOC/04521/2013

Black Holes at Future Colliders and Beyond: a Topical Review

One of the most dramatic consequences of low-scale (~1 TeV) quantum gravity in models with large or warped extra dimension(s) is copious production of mini black holes at future colliders and in ultra-high-energy cosmic ray collisions. Hawking radiation of these black holes is expected to be constrained mainly to our three-dimensional world and results in rich phenomenology. In this topical review we discuss the current status of astrophysical observations of black holes and selected aspects of mini black hole phenomenology, such as production at colliders and in cosmic rays, black hole decay properties, Hawking radiation as a sensitive probe of the dimensionality of extra space, as well as an exciting possibility of finding new physics in the decays of black holes.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures To appear in the Journal of Physics