LEAP Product and Manufacturing Design Support System

The aim of this chapter is to show the development of the so-called "LEAP model for design support." The introduction highlights the importance of pursuing a product life cycle approach during the design phase, in order to gain economic and environmental impact savings. We use the life cycle costing and life cycle assessment methodologies, which we will define and criticize. In the light of the gaps identified, this chapter presents the life cycle optimization model, highlighting its development and implementation. We will also describe a first application in the industrial context, referred to as the COMAU use case. Finally, our conclusion summarizes the results and suggests possible extensions of the model

Towards a Reference Procedure for Designing and Modelling a PSS in the Automotive Industry

Nowadays, PSS lifecycle models are a crucial issue. The management of both the product and the service lifecycle together is recent: to date, there is no evidence of an accepted and operational combined lifecycle model. Furthermore, PSS lifecycle models are based on top-down approach, which are not always suitable from an engineering point of view. The aim of this paper is to propose a reference procedure, built on a bottom-up methodology, for the designing and modeling of PSSs and its lifecycles, applied to the automotive sector

Human capital, social capital, and income attainment in Canada.

This thesis uses the 1989 General Social Survey of Canada in an effort to investigate the potential influence of social capital on income attainment for full-time members of the Canadian workforce. As well, it evaluates the comparative effects of social capital and human capital. More specifically, the analysis investigates whether social capital provides an alternative explanation to human capital for income attainment in the context of ethnicity/race, gender, and immigrant status. Other variables that have been shown to influence income are controlled for, including age, occupation, employment sector, and region. The analysis reveals that both human and social capital have significant independent effects on income attainment. Human capital exerts a stronger effect than social capital and each appear to explain income attainment for some groups. Finally, despite the importance of these predictors, ethnicity/race, gender, immigrant status, as well as region, occupation, and employment sector are found to have independent effects on income attainment. Theoretical implications of findings are discussed.Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2002 .C39. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 41-04, page: 0974. Adviser: M. R. Nakhaie. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2002

The role of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for individualisation and service quality of a PSS

Nowadays, product manufacturers are compelled to increasingly becoming Product Service System (PSS) providers for surviving and managing the increased global competition. 20% of the enterprises have already integrated services in their product offerings. Meanwhile, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to grow significantly in the next years. Smart products are growing fast and are expected to reach 212 billion entities at the end of 2020. From an economic point of view, it is estimated that the impact of IoT is in a range of $2.7 to$6.2 trillion by 2025. IoT is surely an enabler of PSSs, allowing the collection and sharing of vast quantities of information along the whole solution life. This article aims to evaluate the impact that IoT technologies can have on the PSS provision when aiming at the satisfaction of highly diverting customer needs. Particularly, the analysis considers three dimensions: the typology of services enabled, the customization approach enabled, and the service quality gaps disclosed by IoT. By means of multiple use cases, the authors found out that IoT technologies have a huge impact on the different phases of the whole PSS lifecycle. Several advantages were detected for the different stakeholders involved in terms of both service efficiency and effectiveness. Based on these results, the strategic contact points to cope with possible trade-offs between the PSS individualization approach and its service quality are proposed

The impact of IoT technologies on product-oriented PSS: The 'home delivery' service case

The contribution aims to evaluate the impact that IoT technologies can have on PSS and services. Particularly, the analysis considers two dimensions: the typology of services enabled by the IoT, and the PSS lifecycle phases of the home delivery. By means of multiple use cases, authors found out that IoT technologies have huge impacts both on order placement and delivery phases. Particularly, they have a two-fold advantage for the main stakeholders involved: on one side they speed up operations and on the other they reduce the number of activities for completing the overall home delivery process

Hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry of an alkaline volcanic area: the NE Mt. Meru slope (East African Rift – Northern Tanzania)

The objective of this study is to analyze the geochemical conditions associated with the presence of fluoride (F−) in the groundwater of an area of Northern Tanzania. The studied aquifers are composed of volcanic rocks such as phonolitic and nephelinitic lavas, basalts, lahars of various ages and mantling ash. Sedimentary rocks consisting of fine-grained alluvial and lacustrine deposits occur as well. Samples collected from springs, borehole and surface water, during two monitoring surveys, were analyzed for the various physico-chemical and isotopic parameters. The geochemical composition of water is typically sodium bicarbonate. High values of F− (up to 68 mg l−1) were recorded. The highest values of fluoride agreed with the highest values of pH, sodium and bicarbonate. Dissolution of major ions, exchange processes and precipitation of Ca2+ from supersaturated solutions joined with the local permeability and hydraulic gradients, control the fluoride mobilization and the contamination of the area

Lifecycle optimization in the refrigeration industry: a Decision-Support Simulation Toolbox (DSST)

AbstractThis paper presents a set of intermediate results related to the ELICiT project, whose purpose is the application of magnetic cooling technology within domestic refrigeration appliances. An innovative Simulation Toolbox, able to offer a better support to designers during the design process, was implemented. This way, a real time comparison of both economic and environmental variables related to magnetic cooling systems will be available. After the implementation phase, the Simulation Toolbox was directly tested in a real industrial context. Finally, gathered data were compared with conventional refrigeration solutions

Comparative treatments of a green tattoo ink with Ruby, Nd: YAG nano- and picosecond lasers in normal and array mode

The tattoos removal has become an issue upon spread of the tattooing practice worldwide and hindsight regrets. Lasers are typically used for the purpose, though some colours such as green are considered “recalcitrant” to the treatment. In the current investigation, we aim at determining the efcacy of removal of a green ink water dispersion, using 5 laser treatments: Nd:YAG nano- and picosecond lasers in normal and array mode and Ruby nanosecond laser, keeping the total irradiated energy constant. The UV–Vis spectroscopy of the treated samples indicate that Nd:YAG picosecond laser is most efective, and the Ruby nanosecond laser is the least efcient. Fragment compounds generated from the pigment and siloxanes are common to all treatments, whereas hydrocarbon emerge by a larger amount upon Nd:YAG nanosecond treatment. Fibres are formed upon picosecond treatments and when operating in array mode, and lamellae are achieved by Ruby nanosecond laser treatment. Residual particles suspensions are very heterogeneous upon nanosecond treatments

CT colonography: Preliminary assessment of a double-read paradigm that uses computer-aided detection as the first reader

Purpose: To compare diagnostic performance and time efficiency of double-reading first-reader computer-aided detection (CAD) (DR FR CAD) followed by radiologist interpretation with that of an unassisted read using segmentally un-blinded colonoscopy as reference standard. Materials and Methods: The local ethical committee approved this study. Written consent to use examinations was obtained from patients. Three experienced radiologists searched for polyps 6 mm or larger in 155 computed tomographic (CT) colonographic studies (57 containing 10 masses and 79 polyps >= 6 mm). Reading was randomized to either unassisted read or DR FR CAD. Data sets were reread 6 weeks later by using the opposite paradigm. DR FR CAD consists of evaluation of CAD prompts, followed by fast two-dimensional review for mass detection. CAD sensitivity was calculated. Readers' diagnoses and reviewing times with and without CAD were compared by using McNemar and Student t tests, respectively. Association between missed polyps and lesion characteristics was explored with multiple regression analysis. Results: With mean rate of 19 (standard deviation, 14; median, 15; range, 4-127) false-positive results per patient, CAD sensitivity was 90% for lesions 6 mm or larger. Readers' sensitivity and specificity for lesions 6 mm or larger were 74% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 65%, 84%) and 93% (95% CI: 89%, 97%), respectively, for the unassisted read and 77% (95% CI: 67%, 85%) and 90% (95% CI: 85%, 95%), respectively, for DR FR CAD (P = .343 and P = .189, respectively). Overall unassisted and DR FR CAD reviewing times were similar (243 vs 239 seconds; P = .623); DR FR CAD was faster when the number of CAD marks per patient was 20 or fewer (187 vs 220 seconds, P < .01). Odds ratio of missing a polyp with CAD decreased as polyp size increased (0.6) and for polyps visible on both prone and supine scans (0.12); it increased for flat lesions (9.1). Conclusion: DR FR CAD paradigm had similar performance compared with unassisted interpretation but better time efficiency when 20 or fewer CAD prompts per patient were generated. (C) RSNA, 201