Effective RFID-based object tracking for manufacturing

International audienceAbstract Automated Identification and in particular, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) promises to assist with the automation of mass customised production processes by simplifying the retrieval, tracking and usage of highly specialised components. RFID has long been used to gather a history or trace of object movements, but its use as an integral part of the automated control process is yet to be fully exploited. Such (automated) use places stringent demands on the quality of the sensor data collected and the method used to interpret that data. In particular, this paper focuses on the issue of correctly identifying, tracking and dealing with aggregated objects in customised production with the use of RFID. In particular, this work presents approaches for making best use of RFID data in this context. The presented approach is evaluated in the context of a laboratory manufacturing system that produces customised gift boxes

Ba3Ga3N5 - A Novel Host Lattice for Eu2+ - Doped Luminescent Materials with Unexpected Nitridogallate Substructure

The alkaline earth nitridogallate Ba3Ga3N5 was synthesized from the elements in a sodium flux at 760°C utilizing weld shut tantalum ampules. The crystal structure was solved and refined on the basis of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. Ba3Ga3N5 (space group C2/c (No. 15), a = 16.801(3), b = 8.3301(2), c = 11.623(2) Å, β = 109.92 (3)°, Z = 8) contains a hitherto unknown structural motif in nitridogallates, namely, infinite strands made up of GaN4 tetrahedra, each sharing two edges and at least one corner with neighboring GaN4 units. There are three Ba2+ sites with coordination numbers six or eight, respectively, and one Ba2+ position exhibiting a low coordination number 4 corresponding to a distorted tetrahedron. Eu2+ - doped samples show red luminescence when excited by UV irradiation at room temperature. Luminescence investigations revealed a maximum emission intensity at 638 nm (FWHM =2123 cm−1). Ba3Ga3N5 is the first nitridogallate for which parity allowed broadband emission due to Eu2+ - doping has been found. The electronic structure of both Ba3Ga3N5 as well as isoelectronic but not isostructural Sr3Ga3N5 was investigated by DFT methods. The calculations revealed a band gap of 1.53 eV for Sr3Ga3N5 and 1.46 eV for Ba3Ga3N5

“It’s hard to tell”. The challenges of scoring patients on standardised outcome measures by multidisciplinary teams: a case study of Neurorehabilitation

Background Interest is increasing in the application of standardised outcome measures in clinical practice. Measures designed for use in research may not be sufficiently precise to be used in monitoring individual patients. However, little is known about how clinicians and in particular, multidisciplinary teams, score patients using these measures. This paper explores the challenges faced by multidisciplinary teams in allocating scores on standardised outcome measures in clinical practice. Methods Qualitative case study of an inpatient neurorehabilitation team who routinely collected standardised outcome measures on their patients. Data were collected using non participant observation, fieldnotes and tape recordings of 16 multidisciplinary team meetings during which the measures were recited and scored. Eleven clinicians from a range of different professions were also interviewed. Data were analysed used grounded theory techniques. Results We identified a number of instances where scoring the patient was 'problematic'. In 'problematic' scoring, the scores were uncertain and subject to revision and adjustment. They sometimes required negotiation to agree on a shared understanding of concepts to be measured and the guidelines for scoring. Several factors gave rise to this problematic scoring. Team members' knowledge about patients' problems changed over time so that initial scores had to be revised or dismissed, creating an impression of deterioration when none had occurred. Patients had complex problems which could not easily be distinguished from each other and patients themselves varied in their ability to perform tasks over time and across different settings. Team members from different professions worked with patients in different ways and had different perspectives on patients' problems. This was particularly an issue in the scoring of concepts such as anxiety, depression, orientation, social integration and cognitive problems. Conclusion From a psychometric perspective these problems would raise questions about the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the scores. However, from a clinical perspective, such characteristics are an inherent part of clinical judgement and reasoning. It is important to highlight the challenges faced by multidisciplinary teams in scoring patients on standardised outcome measures but it would be unwarranted to conclude that such challenges imply that these measures should not be used in clinical practice for decision making about individual patients. However, our findings do raise some concerns about the use of such measures for performance management

Application of pharmacogenomics and bioinformatics to exemplify the utility of human <i>ex vivo</i> organoculture models in the field of precision medicine

Here we describe a collaboration between industry, the National Health Service (NHS) and academia that sought to demonstrate how early understanding of both pharmacology and genomics can improve strategies for the development of precision medicines. Diseased tissue ethically acquired from patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was used to investigate inter-patient variability in drug efficacy using ex vivo organocultures of fresh lung tissue as the test system. The reduction in inflammatory cytokines in the presence of various test drugs was used as the measure of drug efficacy and the individual patient responses were then matched against genotype and microRNA profiles in an attempt to identify unique predictors of drug responsiveness. Our findings suggest that genetic variation in CYP2E1 and SMAD3 genes may partly explain the observed variation in drug response

Value-Chain Wide Food Waste Management: A Systematic Literature Review

© 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The agriculture value chain, from farm to fork, has received enormous attention because of its key role in achieving United Nations Global Challenges Goals. Food waste occurs in many different forms and at all stages of the food value chain, it has become a worldwide issue that requires urgent actions. However, the management of food waste has been traditionally segmented and in an isolated manner. This paper reviews existing work that has been done on food waste management in literature by taking a holistic approach, in order to identify the causes of food waste, food waste prevention strategies, and elicit recommendations for future work. A five step systematic literature review has been adopted for a thorough examination of the existing research on the topic and new insights have been obtained. The findings suggest that the main sources of food waste include food overproduction and surplus, food waste caused by processing, logistical inconsistencies, and households. Main food waste prevention strategies have been revealed in this paper include policy solutions, packaging solutions, date-labelling solutions, logistics solutions, changing consumers’ behaviours, and reuse and redistribution solutions. Future research directions such as using value chain models to reduce food waste and forecasting food waste have been identified in this paper. This study makes a contribution to the extant literature in the field of food waste management by discovering main causes of food waste in the value chain and eliciting prevention strategies that can be used to reduce/eliminate relevant food waste

Patient-centred measurement in ophthalmology – a paradigm shift

Ophthalmologists and researchers in ophthalmology understand what a rapidly evolving field ophthalmology is, and that to conduct good research it is essential to use the latest and best methods. In outcomes research, one modern initiative has been to conduct holistic measurement of outcomes inclusive of the patient's point of view; patient-centred outcome. This, of course, means including a questionnaire. However, the irony of trying to improve outcomes research by being inclusive of many measures is that the researcher may not be expert in all measures used. Certainly, few people conducting outcomes research in ophthalmology would claim to be questionnaire experts. Most tend to be experts in their ophthalmic subspecialty and probably simply choose a popular questionnaire that appears to fit their needs and think little more about it. Perhaps, unlike our own field, we assume that the field of questionnaire research is relatively stable. This is far from the case. The measurement of patient-centred outcomes with questionnaires is a rapidly evolving field. Indeed, over the last few years a paradigm shift has occurred in patient-centred measurement

Impacts of cultural dynamics on conservation of Suakin, Sudan

This article was published in the journal Proceedings of the ICE- Engineering Sustainability [http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/serial/ensu]. Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of these PDF files is subject to reprint fees.The aim of this work was to explore the impact of local cultural dynamics on the conservation of the built heritage of Suakin, an abandoned historic port on the Red Sea coast of Sudan, through a collaborative stakeholder approach. Key representatives of local stakeholder groups attended a two-day workshop and took part in a series of collaborative activities. These encompassed the production of a rank-ordered list of the key local cultural dynamics impacting on the port's conservation, agreement to a number of actions to address obstacles to conservation, identification of local cultural values collectively determined by stakeholder and confirmation of the value of an integrated conservation approach. The workshop enabled a shared understanding and responsibility between stakeholders and established a commitment to further action to address the key local cultural dynamics impacting on the conservation. This collaborative stakeholder participation represented a new step in the port's conservation and invited the development of more formal protocols to enable the equal representation and participation of stakeholders in future conservation activities and initiatives

The comprehensive English National Lynch Syndrome Registry: development and description of a new genomics data resource

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). Background: Lynch Syndrome (LS) is a cancer predisposition syndrome caused by constitutional pathogenic variants in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes. To date, fragmentation of clinical and genomic data has restricted understanding of national LS ascertainment and outcomes, and precluded evaluation of NICE guidance on testing and management. To address this, via collaboration between researchers, the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), NHS Genomic Medicine Service Alliances (GMSAs), and NHS Regional Clinical Genetics Services, a comprehensive registry of LS carriers in England has been established. Methods: For comprehensive ascertainment of retrospectively identified MMR pathogenic variant (PV) carriers (diagnosed prior to January 1, 2023), information was retrieved from all clinical genetics services across England, then restructured, amalgamated, and validated via a team of trained experts in NDRS. An online submission portal was established for prospective ascertainment from January 1, 2023. The resulting data, stored in a secure database in NDRS, were used to investigate the demographic and genetic characteristics of the cohort, censored at July 25, 2023. Cancer outcomes were investigated via linkage to the National Cancer Registration Dataset (NCRD). Findings: A total of 11,722 retrospective and 570 prospective data submissions were received, resulting in a comprehensive English National Lynch Syndrome Registry (ENLSR) comprising 9030 unique individuals. The most frequently identified pathogenic MMR genes were MSH2 and MLH1 at 37.2% (n = 3362) and 29.1% (n = 2624), respectively. 35.9% (n = 3239) of the ENLSR cohort received their LS diagnosis before their first cancer diagnosis (presumptive predictive germline test). Of these, 6.3% (n = 204) developed colorectal cancer, at a median age of initial diagnosis of 51 (IQR 40–62), compared to 73 years (IQR 64–80) in the general population (p &lt; 0.0001). Interpretation: The ENLSR represents the first comprehensive national registry of PV carriers in England and one of the largest cohorts of MMR PV carriers worldwide. The establishment of a secure, centralised infrastructure and mechanism for routine registration of newly identified carriers ensures sustainability of the data resource. Funding: This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and Bowel Cancer UK. The funder of this study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report

Listening to patients: using verbal data in the validation of the Aberdeen Measures of Impairment, Activity Limitation and Participation Restriction (Ab-IAP)

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