Expert systems and finite element structural analysis - a review

Finite element analysis of many engineering systems is practised more as an art than as a science . It involves high level expertise (analytical as well as heuristic) regarding problem modelling (e .g. problem specification,13; choosing the appropriate type of elements etc .), optical mesh design for achieving the specified accuracy (e .g . initial mesh selection, adaptive mesh refinement), selection of the appropriate type of analysis and solution13; routines and, finally, diagnosis of the finite element solutions . Very often such expertise is highly dispersed and is not available at a single place with a single expert. The design of an expert system, such that the necessary expertise is available to a novice to perform the same job even in the absence of trained experts, becomes an attractive proposition. 13; In this paper, the areas of finite element structural analysis which require experience and decision-making capabilities are explored . A simple expert system, with a feasible knowledge base for problem modelling, optimal mesh design, type of analysis and solution routines, and diagnosis, is outlined. Several efforts in these directions, reported in the open literature, are also reviewed in this paper

Consistency aspects of out-of-plane bending, torsion and shear in a quadratic curved beam element

Curved beams in civil engineering applications call for out-of-plane bending and torsion under the action of13; out-of-plane transverse shear loads. The design of a quadratic displacement curved beam element capable of13; representing shear deformation as in the Timoshenko beam theory requires special attention to the manner in which the shear strain is represented. Field-inconsistent representations of the out-of-plane transverse shear strain will result in a loss of efficiency and introduce spurious oscillations in the bending moment, torsional moment and shear force. The optimal field-consistent assumed strain interpolation for shear is derived and it is demonstrated to posses very high accuracy which is free from spurious force and moment oscillations

E-resources usage and research productivity

The best performing laboratories in the CSIR from the point ofview of optimally accessing and using e-resources are identified using performance indicators derived from number of scientists in the laboratory, number of downloads during a prescribed window, number of publications during the same window and the total citations earned by these papers during a citation window of one year following the publications window

From ‘The Book of Life’ to ‘Freedom of Belief’

India continues to stand at the cross-roads of having to choose from the two roads that lead to Belief. For Belief can be founded on Faith, or it can be founded on Reason. Faith is a non-rational belief system. Science is a rational belief system. One of the ironies of life that is seriously emerging from recent research in evolutionary biology is that the acceptance of non-rational belief systems confers a greater ability to survive. At the same time, a society that has no rational thinkers will probably be wiped out. Therefore, for long term survival, every social group needs a small group of individuals who have the rational compass to guide the rest on the Road to Reason, and away from the Road of Faith that is pot-holed with mindless superstitions and rituals. Without this, we would be condemned to lead narrow-minded lives of quiet desperation

Testing a modified model of stress process for understanding quality of life among informal caregivers and assessing their formal service use

Informal caregivers provide timely care to family members who are disabled or have a chronic condition that requires close monitoring or constant assistance. To provide adequate support to informal caregivers there is a need to assess ways to improve their quality of life (QOL) and understand how formal services can be improved. This dissertation strives to extend the knowledge available for policy makers by examining the factors that can be targeted by policy makers to improve QOL of informal caregivers as well as the factors that enable the use of formal services provided to support informal caregivers. The psychometric properties of the QOL instrument should be established before assessing QOL in informal caregivers. First we assessed the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life – Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) in the sample of informal caregivers. The WHOQOL-BREF was found to be psychometrically sound for use in assessment of QOL among informal caregivers with good internal consistency reliability convergent and discriminant validity and known-groups validity. Overall the results provide basis for the use of WHOQOL-BREF for the assessment of QOL in informal caregivers. Secondly we explored the role of personality in influencing psychosocial factors and QOL of informal caregivers and whether its influence differs between two groups of informal caregivers. We found that only specific personality traits were associated with coping measures and QOL where they also differed in their effect at different levels of the personality trait. However the effect of personality was different when compared between the two groups of informal caregivers. This resulted in two different models unique to the informal caregivers of the two groups. Lastly we explored the factors that were associated with the use of each of the formal services that included paid help respite care and training sessions in a national sample of caregivers to get generalizable results. Paid help respite care and training sessions all had some unique factors that predicted their use that shows that each service should be treated separately. These factors can serve as starting points for practitioners and policy makers extending the use of these formal services