Automated shot counter system for through-life support of target rifles

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Through-life Engineering ServicesCompetitive target shooting requires rifles with high levels of performance and small margins of error. Optimal performance of rifles in terms shot velocity can be expected over a period of use until an indeterminate but critical number of rounds has been fired when it will start to deteriorate. The rifle barrel must then be renewed. Accurate and reliable record-keeping of number of shots fired is therefore critical to minimise the through-life cost of owning a target rifle and also maintaining maximum performance. This can be most effectively done using an automated means for monitoring the number of rounds fired. In this paper the acoustic emission technique is used to monitor and identify shot rounds fired based solely on the features of Acoustic Emission (AE) signals for the first time. The results obtained from experiments showed unambiguous identification of shots fired and the capability to monitor degradation of the barrel as a function of number of shots fired

A research study of no fault found (NFF) in the Royal Air Force

The No Fault Found (NFF) problem continues to reduce operational availability and have an impact on cost and resources in the RAF. Following extensive research by the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Through-Life Engineering Services, access was provided to a significant number of RAF aircraft maintenance personnel under the sponsorship of Air Command at RAF High Wycombe. Maintenance personnel from seven different aircraft fleets, including large aircraft, fast jets and rotary platforms were involved. A number of substantial conclusions were made resulting in 26 recommendations. The paper reviews and substantiates these conclusions and recommendations

Towards standardisation of no fault found taxonomy

There is a phenomenon which exists in complex engineered systems, most notably those which are electrical or electronic which is the inability to diagnose faults reported during operation. This includes difficulties in detecting the same reported symptoms with standard testing, the inability to correctly localise the suspected fault and the failure to diagnose the problem which has resulted in maintenance work. However an inconsistent terminology is used in connection with this phenomenon within both scientific communities and industry. It has become evident that ambiguity, misuse and misunderstanding have directly compounded the issue. The purpose of this paper is to work towards standardisation of the taxonomy surrounding the phenomena popularly termed No Fault Found, Retest Okay, Cannot Duplicate or Fault Not Found amongst many others. This includes discussion on how consistent terminology is essential to the experts within organisation committees and, to the larger group of users, who do not have specialised knowledge of the field

Parasites of non-native freshwater fishes introduced into england and wales suggest enemy release and parasite acquisition

When non-native species are introduced into a new range, their parasites can also be introduced, with these potentially spilling-over into native hosts. However, in general, evidence suggests that a high proportion of their native parasites are lost during introduction and infections by some new parasites from the native range might occur, potentially resulting in parasite spill-back to native species. These processes were investigated here using parasite surveys and literature review on seven non-native freshwater fishes introduced into England and Wales. Comparison of the mean numbers of parasite species and genera per population for each fish species England andWaleswith their native ranges revealed\9 % of the native parasite fauna were present in their populations in England and Wales. There was no evidence suggesting these introduced parasites had spilled over into sympatric native fishes. The non-native fishes did acquire parasites following their introduction, providing potential for parasite spill-back to sympatric fishes, and resulted in non-significant differences in overall mean numbers of parasites per populations between the two ranges. Through this acquisition, the non-native fishes also had mean numbers of parasite species and genera per population that were not significantly different to sympatric native fishes. Thus, the non-native fishes in England and Wales showed evidence of enemy release, acquired new parasites following introduction providing potential for spill-back, but showed no evidence of parasite spill-over

Introduction

Since Jung and Film was first published in 2001, Jungian writing on the moving image in film and television has accelerated. Jung and Film II: The Return provides new contributions from authors across the globe willing to tackle the broader issues of film production and consumption, the audience and the place of film culture in our lives. As well as chapters dealing with particular film makers such as Maya Derren and films such as Birth, The Piano, The Wrestler and Breaking the Wave, there is also a unique chapter co-written by documentary film-maker Tom Hurvitz and New York Jungian analyst Margaret Klenck. Other areas of discussion include: •the way in which psychological issues come under scrutiny in many movies •the various themes that concern Jungian writers on film •how Jungian ideas on psychological personality types can be applied in fresh ways to analyse a variety of characters

Analysis of Short form Maintenance Records for NFF Using NLP, Phrase Matching, and Bayesian Learning

No Fault Found (NFF) is a well discussed phenomenon within the maintenance sector but which requires work to quantify how much of an issue it may be and provide metrics by which it may be tracked and various approaches to its reduction evaluated. Previous studies have relied on expert classification to identify NFF, however this approach is time consuming and costly. Maintainer classification (MC), expert classification (RC), phrase matching (PM), and Bayesian matching (NBPM) are all evaluated and contrasted as methods to identify NFF. The results demonstrate the utility of all 4 methods and discusses their place within a maintenance ecosystem

Defra Soil Protection Research in the Context of the Soil Natural Capital / Ecosystem Services Framework

Summary: "A Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself." This quote from, F.D. Roosevelt, 1937, from a letter written to all state Governors in the USA following the dust bowl, encapsulates the importance of soil protection. The dust bowl brought about legislation to protect and conserve soils as a fundamental natural resource in the USA between 1930 and 1936. In current times we are facing unprecedented pressure on land resources from multiple uses here in the UK and across Europe. In response to these increasing pressures Defra has produced soil protection reports and strategies including the report, ‘Safeguarding our Soils: A Strategy for England’ (PB13297). The vision statement of this document reads, ‘By 2030, all England’s soils will be managed sustainably and degradation threats tackled successfully. This will improve the quality of England’s soils and safeguard their ability to provide essential services for future generations.’ Similarly, the Welsh Assembly Government commissioned, ‘The Welsh Soils Action Plan’ (WSAP, 2009) which has a similar goal. These documents set out the pressing issues with regard to soils, their management and protection, and therefore serve as a useful contextual tool for synthesizing past Defra research with regard to current issues. This report synthesises soil protection research commissioned by Defra between 1990 and 2008, to provide the state of current Defra knowledge with regard to soil protection. Contextually, an attempt is made to fit the synthesized knowledge into the Natural Capital / Ecosystem Services framework. It offers a bold, fresh approach that will orient the report firmly in the context of strengthening the linking of science and policy through Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services, and firmly aligns the research with ongoing EU efforts. The report is comprised of 5 work packages for Defra project SP1607 “Defra research on soil protection 1990 - 2008: Synthesis of outputs’. Defra has made a firm commitment to adopt the ecosystems approach which is designed to convey the value of ecosystems, their capital, and their goods and services into the decision making / policy development process. The workpackages address the following: WP1: Chapter 1) Place England and Wales soil policy and research efforts in the wider context of European and International policy. Chapter 2) Identify and synthesize knowledge of needs of farmers, resource managers and the wider society. Chapter 3) Describe the soil natural capital / ecosystem services framework. WP2: Chapter 4) Evaluate current indicators and soil sampling/measurement strategy. Chapter 5) Evaluate work done on the quantification of soil capital. Chapter 6) Evaluate work done on the soil Ecosystem Services. WP3: Chapter 7) Identify Impact of climate change on soils, soil function, and threats to soil protection. Chapter 8) Identify threats to soils, for the England and Wales context; Evaluate research tackling threats that may degrade soil capital or reduce services. WP4: Chapter 9) Evaluate work done on the valuing of soil Natural Capital. WP5: Chapter 10) Future Vision