1,141 research outputs found
Total productive maintenance implementation in the newspaper printing industry:an action research approach
The objective of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is to maximise plant and equipment effectiveness, to create a sense of ownership for operators, and promote continuous improvement through small group activities involving production, engineering and maintenance personnel. This paper describes and analyses a case study of TPM implementation at a newspaper printing house in Singapore. However, rather than adopting more conventional implementation methods such as employing consultants or through a project using external training, a unique approach was adopted based on Action Research using a spiral of cycles of planning, acting observing and reflecting. An Action Research team of company personnel was specially formed to undertake the necessary fieldwork. The team subsequently assisted with administering the resulting action plan. The main sources of maintenance and operational data were from interviews with shop floor workers, participative observation and reviews conducted with members of the team. Content analysis using appropriate statistical techniques was used to test the significance of changes in performance between the start and completion of the TPM programme. The paper identifies the characteristics associated with the Action Research method when used to implement TPM and discusses the applicability of the approach in related industries and processes
Overview of Solid Target Studies for a Neutrino Factory
The UK programme of high power target developments for a Neutrino Factory is centred on the study of high-Z materials (tungsten, tantalum). A description of lifetime shock tests on candidate materials is given as part of the research into a solid target solution. A fast high current pulse is applied to a thin wire of the sample material and the lifetime measured from the number of pulses before failure. These measurements are made at temperatures up to ~2000 K. The stress on the wire is calculated using the LS-DYNA code and compared to the stress expected in the real Neutrino Factory target. It has been found that tantalum is too weak to sustain prolonged stress at these temperatures but a tungsten wire has reached over 26 million pulses (equivalent to more than ten years of operation at the Neutrino Factory). An account is given of the optimisation of secondary pion production from the target and the issues related to mounting the target in the muon capture solenoid and target station are discussed
Effects of rodent poisoning on Powelliphanta traversi
Rat predation is a threat to lowland Powelliphanta traversi (giant predatory land snail), and we have shown that ‘press’ poisoning of rodents (rats and mice) using brodifacoum baits significantly reduces rat abundance relative to non-poisoned areas. The effect on P. t. traversi was evident by the increase in population size, mainly due to adult migration, and a decrease in rat-damaged shells, for areas where rat predation occurs. A longer-term study is required to determine whether prolonged rat control benefits P. t. traversi recruitment. Mouse control was inadequate with use of brodifacoum baits. We document a concomitant rise in bird predation of P. traversi when rat abundance was reduced, suggesting that control of both is necessary to make real conservation gains. However, mortality related to other factors was more common than that caused by predators, possibly due to the habitat drying out periodically. We suggest that low recruitment rates, predator targeting of juveniles (i.e. blackbirds, song thrush and possibly mice and hedgehogs) and poor habitat conditions are the main threats to survival of lowland P. traversi
Habitat use of Tradescantia fluminensis by Powelliphanta traversi
This study was initiated owing to concern that removal of the invasive ground cover, Tradescantia fluminensis, might adversely effect the rare, giant predatory land snail, Powelliphanta traversi. Of 18 sites surveyed in the Horowhenua District, seven sites provide habitat for P. traversi and do not contain Tradescantia. Five colonies of P. traversi are affected by Tradescantia, these are: Waiopehu Scenic Reserve, Prouse’s Bush, Kimberley Scenic Reserve, Ohau River Bush, and Hillas Covenant. Tradescantia infestation at these sites varies from heavy (Prouse’s Bush) to forest edge only (Hillas Covenant). Overall, Tradescantia affects a small proportion of snail habitat in the Horowhenua District. Our study of P. traversi at Prouse’s Bush, using harmonic radar to follow long-term movements and cotton tracks for short-term movements, indicates that this snail commonly occurs under Tradescantia, sometimes exclusively, and that many of the snails move regularly between leaf litter and this weed. Moreover, Tradescantia provides an important refuge for juvenile snails at Prouse’s Bush. Hence, removing Tradescantia from this site would have a detrimental impact on P. traversi. Graduated control of Tradescantia and concomitant replacement with native ground cover could be of mutual benefit to P. traversi and other ground-dwelling invertebrates
Effects of removal of Tradescantia fluminensis on Powelliphanta traversi and other invertebrates
This study was initiated owing to concern that removal of the invasive ground cover weed Tradescantia fluminensis may adversely effect the rare giant predatory land snail Powelliphanta traversi. From field trials using hand removal and herbicide spraying, it was considered that graduated control of Tradescantia with concomitant replacement of native ground cover could be of benefit to P. traversi and other ground-dwelling invertebrates. Grazon® herbicide (active ingredient triclopyr) appears suitable for controlling Tradescantia at sites where P. t. traversi occurs, since the effects of triclopyr on ground-dwelling invertebrates in the field and first generation P. t. traversi in the laboratory were minimal. However, possible effects of triclopyr on subsequent P. t. traversi generations remain untested, and evidence from the literature suggests that there could be some detrimental effects. Similarly, the effects of triclopyr on the presumed earthworm prey of P. t. traversi remain untested
Ostracods from freshwater and brackish environments of the Carboniferous of the Midland Valley of Scotland : the early colonization of terrestrial water bodies
The Mississippian Strathclyde Group of the Midland Valley of Scotland yields some of the earliest non-marine ostracods. The succession records shallow marine, deltaic, estuarine, lagoonal, lacustrine, fluvial and swamp environments representing a series of staging-posts between fully marine and limnetic settings. Macrofossils and ostracods are assigned to marine, marginal marine, brackish and freshwater environments based on their faunal assemblage patterns. Key brackish to freshwater ostracods are Geisina arcuata, Paraparchites circularis n. sp., Shemonaella ornata n. sp. and Silenites sp. A, associated with the bivalves Anthraconaia, Carbonicola, Cardiopteridium, Curvirimula, Naiadites, the microconchid ‘Spirorbis’, Spinicaudata and fish. Many Platycopina and Paraparchiticopina ostracods are interpreted as euryhaline, which corresponds with their occurrence in marine to coastal plain water bodies, and supports the ‘estuary effect’ hypothesis of non-marine colonization. The success of non-marine colonization by ostracods was dependent on the intrinsic adaptations of ostracod species to lower salinities, such as new reproductive strategies and the timing of extrinsic mechanisms to drive non-marine colonization, such as sea-level change. The genus Carbonita is the oldest and most common freshwater ostracod, and went on to dominate freshwater environments in the Late Palaeozoic
Entanglement in bipartite generalized coherent states
Entanglement in a class of bipartite generalized coherent states is
discussed. It is shown that a positive parameter can be associated with the
bipartite generalized coherent states so that the states with equal value for
the parameter are of equal entanglement. It is shown that the maximum possible
entanglement of 1 bit is attained if the positive parameter equals .
The result that the entanglement is one bit when the relative phase between the
composing states is in bipartite coherent states is shown to be true for
the class of bipartite generalized coherent states considered.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; typos corrected and figures redrawn for better
clarit
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Structure and stress of Re(11%21); chiral terraces at a racemic surface
The surface structure and morphology of the clean Re(11%21) surface has been investigated through combined low energy electron diffraction intensity analysis of data taken at multiple angles of incidence, scanning tunneling microscopy, and first-principles density functional calculations. The results show how this globally racemic surface terminates in two chirally distinct terraces, which show largescale out-of-plane atomic relaxations and in-plane lateral movement of the uppermost atoms. We further identify and discuss the initial stages of step bunching upon adsorption of oxygen that leads ultimately to the large-scale faceting of the surface. Finally, we present calculations of surface stress and the response to applied surface strain, which suggest routes to the exertion of control over the expression of chirality at the surface
Entanglement, quantum phase transition and scaling in XXZ chain
Motivated by recent development in quantum entanglement, we study relations
among concurrence , SU(2) algebra, quantum phase transition and
correlation length at the zero temperature for the XXZ chain. We find that at
the SU(2) point, the ground state possess the maximum concurrence. When the
anisotropic parameter is deformed, however, its value decreases. Its
dependence on scales as in the XY metallic
phase and near the critical point (i.e. ) of the Ising-like
insulating phase. We also study the dependence of on the correlation length
, and show that it satisfies near the critical point. For
different size of the system, we show that there exists a universal scaling
function of with respect to the correlation length .Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev.
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