Design of tool management systems for flexible manufacturing systems

The objective of this thesis is to study the design and analysis of tool management system in the automated manufacturing systems. The thesis is focused on two main areas, namely design and experiment. In the first part of the thesis, the design facility created has been reported. The model has been designed using a hybrid approach in which the power of both algorithmic and knowledge based approaches is utilised. Model permits detail, more accurate and complete solutions for the management of tools in a generic manufacturing system. In the second part of the thesis, to add more understanding to the tool management problems, the interactions of the major tool management design parameters have been investigated using a well known design technique, the Taguchi method. For this purpose, a large number of design experiments have been configured where some have been suggested by the Taguchi method and some have been created by the author to add more confidence, using a large body of real industrial data. The experiments results give deeper understanding of TMS problems and allow design guide-lines to be drawn for the designers. The design approach and the experiments have been proven to be an accurate and valid tool for the design of tool management systems for automated manufacturing systems. This is indicated in the conclusion of the thesis

Osteoid osteoma: A pathology that is confused with ankylosing spondylitis

Osteoid osteoma is a small and benign osteoblastic tumor seen typically in males aged below 25 years. Although it is rarely seen in the vertebrae, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of spondyloarthropathies, especially for those which occur in young people, along with back and lumbar pain, which increases during the night. Early diagnosis is essential to alleviate symptoms and prevent the risk of structural spinal deformities, such as scoliosis. Here, we describe the case of a 28-year-old man with vertebral osteoid osteoma that was misdiagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis and provide a detailed account of the radiological investigations

A Rarely Seen Late Complication, Radiation-Induced Lower Motor Neuron Syndrome

There is a dramatic increase in the number of cancer patients nowadays. Improvement of treatment results in the field of radiotherapy provided an increase in life expectancy of cancer patients, but on the other hand, a lot of late complications, including the nervous system, have started to be encountered. In this case report, a patient with rarely seen radiation-induced lower motor neuron syndrome (LMNS) will be discussed

A Rapidly Progressive Variant of Psoriatic Arthritis: Psoriatic Onycho-Pachydermo-Periostitis

We present a case with psoriatic onychodystrophy, onycholysis, connective tissue thickening above the distal phalanx as well as specific radiologic changes diagnosed as psoriatic onycho-pachydermo-periostitis who responded dramatically to methotrexate with current literature review. In this article, we report a 53-year-old male patient with psoriatic onycho-pachydermo-periostitis who responded dramatically to methotrexate

SPLIT CORD MALFORMATION: BECOMING FIRST SYMPTOMATIC IN AN ELDERLY PATIENT AS A NECK PAIN AND SCOLIOSIS

Split cord malformation represents a closed neural tube defect in which the spinal cord splits into two parts. The majority of cases symptoms onset during childhood Although it can occur at any level, malformation is more commonly detected in lower thoracic and upper lumbar regions. The case reported herein is unique; in contrast to other split cord malformation patients our case was diagnosed in adulthood, with the condition manifesting at the level of the cervical vertebrae, and with no neurological deficit and concomitant neurocutaneous symptoms vertical bar; but the vertebral anomalies such as scoliosis, hemivertebra and vertebral fusion existing all together. We emphasize the need to consider split cord malformation in the differential diagnosis of elderly patients presenting with neck pain and scoliosis and also we mention that conservative treatment should be preferred in patients without progressive neurologic deficit

Systems dynamics modelling of a manufacturing supply chain system

International audienceWe study the effects of an economic policy in an endogenous growth general equilibrium framework where production of consumption goods requires two resource inputs: a polluting non-renewable resource and a non-polluting labour resource. The use of the former contributes to the accumulation of pollution in the atmosphere, which affects welfare. There is a specific research sector associated with each of those resources. We provide a full welfare analysis, and we describe the equilibrium paths in a decentralized economy. We go on to study the effects of three associated economic policy tools: a tax on the polluting resource, and two research subsidies. We show that the optimal environmental policy has two main effects; it delays the extraction of the resource and with it the level of polluting emissions and it reallocates research efforts, decreasing the amount put into “grey” research to the benefit of “green” research.We also show that the environmental policy is grey-biased in the short-term, and green-biased in the long-term. Finally, we compute the optimal values for these tools