An ergonomics design knowledge based expert system

The research scope and objectives are to investigate the use of 'geometric reasoning' using the knowledge based techniques established for expert systems. An Expert System is integrated within the SAMMIE (System for Aiding Man-Machine Interaction Evaluation) computer man modelling system and used for vehicle interior design. Vehicle design objectives are related to a rule base determined from national and international standards and legislation. Malaysia is now progressing towards becoming an Industrialised Country by the year 2020. In mid 1985 the Malaysian Motor Industry produced the Proton Saga which has since been exported to other countries. Although the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) is playing an important role in design activities and provision of standardisation information, some standards and legislation for vehicle interior design are not easily available. There is an important and urgent need for standards and legislation to facilitate vehicle design within Malaysia and Internationally. A literature survey on the relevance of ergonomics design to standards and legislation for vehicle interior design is presented. Knowledge and expertise required for the knowledge base were elicited from various resources; extracted from journals, research publications and standards reports from various international organisations. The SAMMIE system was used to develop a prototype design model for the vehicle interior and the KES expert systems hell was selected to develop the Ergonomics Design Knowledge Based Expert System (EDKBES). EDKBES has a modular structure for ease of software readability, editing and testing, and to readily facilitate further development. The knowledge base is divided into several sections related to the hierarchical structure of vehicle interior design

Role of Regional Healthcare Coalitions in Managing and Coordinating Disaster Response

A white paper prepared for the January 23-24, 2013 workshop on Nationwide Response to an Improvised Nuclear Device Attack, hosted by the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events together with the National Association of County and City Health Officials

Equipment, Supplies and Pharmaceuticals: How Much Might it Cost to Achieve Basic Surge Capacity?

The ability to deliver optimal medical care in the setting of a disaster event, regardless of its cause, will in large part be contingent on an immediately available supply of key medical equipment, supplies, and pharmaceuticals. Although the Department of Health and Human Services Strategic National Stockpile program makes these available through its 12-hour “push packs” and vendor-managed inventory, every local community should be funded to create a local cache for these items. This report explores the funding requirements for this suggested approach. Furthermore, the response to a surge in demand for care will be contingent on keeping available staff close to the hospitals for a sustained period. A proposal for accomplishing this, with associated costs, is discussed as well

Geometric reasoning for ergonomic vehicle interior design

The design of vehicles is heavily constrained by legislation and standards. The design of the passenger compartment presents particular challenges due to the variation and uncertainty connected with human activity. Computer aided design systems that address the ergonomic problems are available, but do not generally support the application of knowledge such as standards and legislation. This paper describes the combination of two aspects of the problem (a geometric model of the product and a knowledge base related to performance requirements) in the field of interior packaging of cars. The geometric modelling system handles the spatial aspects and supplies information to an appropriate expert system. The expert system evaluates proposed designs and sends suggestions for improvements back to the design system. The KES expert system and the .SAMMIE computer aided ergonomics design system have been combined to investigate aspects of reach to controls, visibility of instruments and mirror design

Efektifitas seleksi satu tongkol satu baris dan keturunan S1 pada populasi jagung putih sisih tombong=The Effectiveness of Ear to Row and S1 Progeny Selection in Cicih Tombong White Maize Populations

The research was designed to compare two methods of SI and Ear to Row using the same population â white maize Bali local variety "Cicih Tombong" with equal selection intensity and number of selected lines as well as the same selection environments. The objectives were to (i) evaluate changes in grain yield, (ii) compare effectiveness for both methods after one cycle of selection. It was a series of selection steps with four planting seasons at different location, i.e. development of breeding material, evaluation and selection, recombination, and evaluation, covering a period from April 2000 to August 2002. The experiment showed that variability coefficients for ear fresh weight and sun dried grain yield from both selection methods were higher than the other parameters, i.e. 29.21% and 30.65% for ear to row28.72% and 30.19% for SI recurrent selection, respectively. Both populations were homogenous, indicating that Cicih Tombong white maize populations had higher homogenity. Inbreeding depression of 50% (F=l/2) did not show any difference from open pollinated population, eventhough dry weight of grain increased about 4.36 g to 13.47 g for SI recurrent selection and about 1.79 g to 9.67 g for half sib recurrent selection, and also did not perform any significantly differences from the base populationit implied that both SI progeny selection ear to row selection were not effective in increasing the mean yield of Cicih Tombong, the white maize Bali local variety after one cycle of selection. Keywords: effectiveness -half-sib and SI -maize

Salvage Fractionated Stereotactic Re-irradiation (FSRT) for Patients with Recurrent High Grade Gliomas Progressed after Bevacizumab Treatment

Purpose/Objectives: Bevacizumab failure is a major clinical problem in the manage- ment of high grade gliomas (HGG), with a median overall survival of less than 4 months (m). This study evaluated the efficacy of fractionated stereotactic re-irradiation (FSRT) for patients with HGG after progression on Bevacizumab. Materials/Methods: Retrospective review was conducted of patients treated with FSRT after progression on bevacizumab. A total of 36 patients were identified. FSRT was most commonly delivered in 3.5 Gy fractions to a total dose of 35 Gy. Survival from initial diagnosis, as well as from recurrence and re-irradiation, were utilized as study endpoints. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed. Results: Among the 36 patients, 31 patients had recurrent glioblastoma, and 5 patients had recurrent anaplastic astrocytoma. The median time from initial bevacizumab treatment to FSRT was 8.5 m (range 2.3 – 32.0 m). The median plan target volume for FSRT was 27.5 cc (range 1.95 – 165 cc). With a median follow up of 20.4 m, the overall survival of the patients since initial diagnosis was also 24.9 m. The median overall survival after initiation of bevacizumab was 13.4 months. The median overall survival from FSRT was 4.8 m. FSRT treatment was well tolerated with no Grade \u3e3 toxicity. Conclusions: Favorable outcomes were observed in patients with recurrent HGG who received salvage FSRT after bevacizumab failure. The treatment was well tolerated. Prospective study is warranted to further evaluate the efficacy of salvage FSRT for selected patients with recurrent HGG amenable to FSRT, who had failed bevacizumab treatment

A Case Report of Water Hemlock Poisoning

Introduction: Water hemlock poisoning is an uncommon cause of seizures, gastrointestinal upset, and renal failure. This poisoning occurs infrequency and is likely to go unrecognized without a proper history and consideration in the differential diagnosis. Clinical Findings: A 23-year-old male with an unremarkable past medical history presented to the emergency department after being found unresponsive at a farm where he was employed. He had several tonic-clonic seizures en route. Initial evaluation was unremarkable and included toxicology screening, lumbar puncture, and brain imaging. Main diagnoses, therapeutics, interventions, and outcomes: The patient was treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and antivirals with a suspected diagnosis of viral encephalitis. Over the next several days of hospitalization, he developed severe rhabdomyolysis and renal failure, and dialysis was anticipated. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that on the morning of his presentation, the patient made himself tea with a plant he had dug up while fly fishing. He believed the plant was valerian root after researching it on the Internet. The plant was later identified as water hemlock. With supportive care, the patient’s mentation cleared, and his renal failure spontaneously resolved without the need for dialysis. His symptoms fully resolved, and he was discharged home. Conclusions: This case illustrates an unusual etiology of seizures and rhabdomyolysis and the need for careful history taking. The interest in nontraditional medicine and the ease of finding amateur foraging data on the internet have greatly raised the possibility of accidental toxic ingestions

Screening for Inhalational Anthrax Due to Bioterrorism: Evaluating Proposed Screening Protocols

Eleven known cases of bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax (IA) were treated in the United States during 2001. We retrospectively compared 2 methods that have been proposed to screen for IA. The 2 screening protocols for IA were applied to the emergency department charts of patients who presented with possible signs or symptoms of IA at Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Virginia) from 20 October 2001 through 3 November 2001. The Mayer criteria would have screened 4 patients (0.4%; 95% CI, 0.1%-0.9%) and generated charges of 1900 dollars. If 29 patients (2.6%; 95% CI, 1.7%-3.7%) with \u3eor=5 symptoms (but without fever and tachycardia) were screened, charges were 13,325 dollars. The Hupert criteria would have screened 273 patients (24%; 95% CI, 22%-27%) and generated charges of 126,025 dollars. In this outbreak of bioterrorism-related IA, applying the Mayer criteria would have identified both patients with IA and would have generated fewer charges than applying the Hupert criteria

Applicationof Computer Visionfor Polishing RobotinAutomotive Manufacturing Industries

Polishing is a highly skilled manufacturing process with a lot of constraints and interaction with environment. In general, the purpose of polishing is to get the uniform surface roughness distributed evenly throughout part’s surface. In order to reduce the polishing time and cope with the shortage of skilled workers, robotic polishing technology has been investigated. This paper studies about vision system to measure surface defects that have been characterized to some level of surface roughness. The surface defects data have learned using artificial neural networks to give a decision in order to move the actuator of arm robot. Force and rotation time have chosen as output parameters of artificial neural networks. Results shows that although there is a considerable change in both parameter values acquired from vision data compared to real data, it is still possible to obtain surface defects characterization using vision sensor to a certain limit of accuracy. The overall results of this research would encourage further developments in this area to achieve robust computer vision based surface measurement systems for industrial robotic, especially in polishing process.Keywords: polishing robot, vision sensor, surface defects, and artificial neural network

UPM,pemimpin pelajar kena bincang secara baik TPM mahu isu pemilihan diselesai segera elak krisis berlarutan

CHANGLUN: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mengarahkan Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) dan pemimpin pelajarnya berbincang bagi menyelesaikan kekecohan yang tercetus ketika bantahan pemilihan Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP), Kelmarin