Industrial agents: emerging applications of software agents in industry

The objective of this book is to address both industry practitioners and academia, providing the vision, on-going efforts, example applications, assessments, and roadmaps associated with industrial agents used in multiple industries. Such a book provides an introduction to the “industrial agents” domain by discussing up-to-date examples of their applications in industry, and it offers a view of future challenges with an accompanying roadmap. Part I introduces industrial agents, as well as the benefits, limitations, and applicability of agent technology, and it considers competing and complementary approaches for designing, deploying, and assessing industrial agent systems. Part II discusses related concepts and technologies that are complementary to the implementation of the agent technology, namely service orientation, integration with low-level controls using IEC6113-3 and IEC 61499 standards, resilience and security, and the requirements for the application of industrial agents in virtual enterprises and at production automation levels. Part III provides a catalog of industrial agent-based applications, considering different sectors. Each chapter describes an existing industrial application or an innovative future application currently being developed in cutting-edge R&D projects. This catalog is structured around motivation/overview, detailed application description, benefits, assessment, and conclusion. Finally, Part IV provides a survey analysis identifying the factors that impact the industrial acceptance of this paradigm and the market and application domains that better benefit from using agents. This part finishes with a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis for the application of agent technology in industrial environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Alcohol sclerosing therapy is not an effective treatment for interdigital neuroma

Alcohol sclerosing therapy administered in the clinic setting without alcohol is not an effective treatment in the nonoperative management of painful interdigital neuromas and has been abandoned in our clinic