An Application of Context-sensitive Computing for Flexible Manufacturing System Optimization

Recent advancements in embedded systems, computing, networking, WS and SOA have opened the door for seamless integration of plant floor devices to higher enterprise level applications. Semantic web technologies, knowledge-based systems, context-sensitive computing and associated application development are widely explored in this regard. Ubiquitous and pervasive computing are the main domains of interest among many researchers so far. However, context-sensitive computing in manufacturing, particularly, relevant research and development in a production environment like FMS is relatively new and growing.Dynamic job (re)scheduling and dispatching are becoming an essential part of modern FMS controls. The foremost drive is to deal with the chaotic nature of the production environment while keeping plant performance indicators unaffected. Process plans in FMS need to consider several dynamic factors, like demand fluctuations, extreme product customizations and run time priority changes. To meet this plant level dynamism, complex control architectures are used to provide an automatic response to the unexpected events. These runtime responses deal with final moment change of the control parameters that eventually influences the key performance indicators (KPIs) like machine utilization rate and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). In response, plant controls are moving towards more decentralized and adaptive architectures, promoting integration of different support applications. The applications aim to optimize the plant operations in terms of autonomous decision making, adaptation to sudden failure, system (re) configuration and response to unexpected events for global factory optimization.The research work documented in this thesis presents the advantages of bridging the mentioned two domains of context-sensitive computing and FMS optimization, mainly to facilitate context management at factory floor for improved transparency and to better respond for real time optimization through context-based optimization support system.This manuscript presents a context-sensitive optimization approach for FMS, considering machine utilization rate and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) as the KPIs. Runtime contextual entities are used to monitor KPIs continuously to update an ontology-based context model, and subsequently convert it into business relevant information via context management. The delivered high level knowledge is further utilized by an optimization support system (OSS) to infer: optimal job (re) scheduling and dispatching, keeping a higher machine utilization rate at runtime. The proposed solution is presented as add-on functionality for FMS control, where a modular development of the overall approach provides the solution generic and extendable across other domains. The key components are functionally implemented to a practical FMS use-case within SOA and WS-based control architecture, resulting improvement of the machine utilization rate and the enhancement of the OEE at runtime

An Application of Context-sensitive Computing for Flexible Manufacturing System Optimization

Recent advancements in embedded systems, computing, networking, WS and SOA have opened the door for seamless integration of plant floor devices to higher enterprise level applications. Semantic web technologies, knowledge-based systems, context-sensitive computing and associated application development are widely explored in this regard. Ubiquitous and pervasive computing are the main domains of interest among many researchers so far. However, context-sensitive computing in manufacturing, particularly, relevant research and development in a production environment like FMS is relatively new and growing.Dynamic job (re)scheduling and dispatching are becoming an essential part of modern FMS controls. The foremost drive is to deal with the chaotic nature of the production environment while keeping plant performance indicators unaffected. Process plans in FMS need to consider several dynamic factors, like demand fluctuations, extreme product customizations and run time priority changes. To meet this plant level dynamism, complex control architectures are used to provide an automatic response to the unexpected events. These runtime responses deal with final moment change of the control parameters that eventually influences the key performance indicators (KPIs) like machine utilization rate and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). In response, plant controls are moving towards more decentralized and adaptive architectures, promoting integration of different support applications. The applications aim to optimize the plant operations in terms of autonomous decision making, adaptation to sudden failure, system (re) configuration and response to unexpected events for global factory optimization.The research work documented in this thesis presents the advantages of bridging the mentioned two domains of context-sensitive computing and FMS optimization, mainly to facilitate context management at factory floor for improved transparency and to better respond for real time optimization through context-based optimization support system.This manuscript presents a context-sensitive optimization approach for FMS, considering machine utilization rate and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) as the KPIs. Runtime contextual entities are used to monitor KPIs continuously to update an ontology-based context model, and subsequently convert it into business relevant information via context management. The delivered high level knowledge is further utilized by an optimization support system (OSS) to infer: optimal job (re) scheduling and dispatching, keeping a higher machine utilization rate at runtime. The proposed solution is presented as add-on functionality for FMS control, where a modular development of the overall approach provides the solution generic and extendable across other domains. The key components are functionally implemented to a practical FMS use-case within SOA and WS-based control architecture, resulting improvement of the machine utilization rate and the enhancement of the OEE at runtime

Role of Parental Smoking in Severe Bronchiolitis: A Hospital Based Case-Control Study

Objective. Bronchiolitis is one of the commonest causes of hospitalization of infants and young children in Bangladesh. About 21% of under 5 children attending different hospitals of Bangladesh have bronchiolitis. Fifty percent (50%) men and three percent (3%) women of Bangladesh are smokers. Parental smoking is an important risk factor for both susceptibility and severity of bronchiolitis. The aim of this study was to find out the role of parental smoking in severe bronchiolitis. Design. Case-control study. Place and Duration of Study. The study was conducted in the Department of Paediatrics, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh, from July 2013 to December 2015. Patients and Methods. Sixty-four patients admitted into the ward with severe bronchiolitis were enrolled as cases and sixty-four suitably matched apparently healthy children attending EPI centre and outpatient department presenting with nonrespiratory illness were enrolled as controls. Sample size was calculated using Guilford and Frucher formula. The technique was systematic random sampling. Every second case satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria was enrolled in the study. Results. The mean age of the patients was 7.53 (SD ± 4.75) months. Forty (62.5%) patients were male and twenty four (37.5%) patients were female. Male-to-female ratio was 1.7 : 1. Most of the cases (60.95%) came from low socioeconomic background. More than half of the cases (53.13%) were not exclusively breastfed babies. Mean length of hospital stay was 6.41 (SD ± 2.82) days. Thirty eight (59%) cases and twenty six (34%) controls were exposed to parental smoking. Result was highly significant (p=0.005). Odds ratio was 2.8 (95% CI from 1.36 to 5.72). Conclusion. Exposure to parental smoking causes a statistically significant (p=0.005, odds ratio = 2.8) increase in the risk of developing severe bronchiolitis in the first year of life

CAUSALITY BETWEEN EXCHANGE RATE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN BANGLADESH

This paper attempts to examine the relationship between Exchange Rate (ER) and Economic Growth (EG) proxied by Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) in Bangladesh for a period of 41 years ranges from 1973 to 2013 by using time series econometric technique. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between ER and EG. The results also advocate the presence of long-run equilibrium relationship between ER and EG. This is evidenced from Granger’s Causality Test that there is a bi-directional causality runs through ER to EG and EG to ER

Proximate chemical composition of sea grapes Caulerpa racemosa (J. Agardh, 1873) collected from a sub-tropical coast

Background: Nutritional fact study has prime importance to make the species edible and commercially viable to the consumers. Proximate chemical composition and amino acid profile were investigated to understand the nutritional value and protein quality of an edible algae Caulerpa racemosa. Methods: Samples were collected randomly by hand from the intertidal zone of the sub-tropical coastal Island St. Martin’s Island from February 2013 to May 2014. Samples were preserved using standard methods for chemical analysis. Proximate composition was determined using standard methods, Kjeldahl method for protein, Soxhlet method for crude lipid, H2SO4 (0.3 N) and NaOH (0.5 N) for dietary fibre, muffle furnace method for moisture content, ion-exchange chromatography for amino acid and statistical package used for validating the data. Results: The result of the study reveals that C. racemosa contains higher amount of proteins (19.72±0.77%), crude lipid (7.65±1.19%) and fibre (11.51±1.32%) compared to other green and brown algae. The higher concentration of aspartic acid (12.7±0.2%) and glutamic acid (9.2±0.7%) were observed in C. racemosa, while histidine (2.6±0.7%), methionine (1.4±0.4%) and tyrosine (3.8±0.2%) were the limiting amino acids. Lysine (6.6±0.2%), leusine (6.9±0.6%), glycine (6.5±0.4%), arginine (6.4±0.3%), alanine (7.6±0.6%) and threonine (6.2±0.5%) were obtained at a higher percentage of total amino acids. Conclusion: This study suggests that C. racemosa could be potentially used as a nutritious and functional food item for human consumption. Further studies on this edible species should be focused on fatty acid composition, vitamins, non-starch polysaccharide constituents, trace elements and sensory perceptions in order to depict safer and versatile utilization

Factors associated with relapse amongst substance abusers

Background: Relapse amongst substance abusers is common throughout the world, and Bangladesh is no exception to this. In Bangladesh, drug related problems are gradually becoming a burning issue in context of social, economical and medical perspective. The present study aimed to find out factors indicating relapse amongst substance abuser. Methods: This descriptive type of observational study was conducted in the combined military hospital and other government/private hospital/institute, especially the central drug addict treatment center, Dhaka. Informed consent was obtained prior to data collection. Collected data was classified, edited, coded, and entered into the computer for statistical analysis by using SPSS-23. The chi-Square test was used to analyze the categorical variables, and a p<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The study involved 100 patients who had a history of substance abuse. The most common substance abused was Yaba (27%), followed by cannabis (21%). The average duration of abuse for Yaba was 5.8 years, while the longest mean duration was for Alcohol (14.2 years). In the 2nd admission, the largest percentage of patients was aged 21-30 years and were male. The majority of patients were Muslim and were either unemployed or had a lower socioeconomic status. Patients age, occupation, socioeconomic status, peer pressure, and family problems all had a significant association (p<0.05) with relapse at different admissions. Peer pressure and family problems were also identified as factors affecting relapse, with 67.57% and 56.76% of patients experiencing them during their 2nd admission, respectively. Conclusions: The study found Yaba to be the most commonly used drug, followed by cannabis, phensedyl, heroin, etc. Alcohol was found to have the longest duration of abuse. Most patients were aged 21-30 and unemployed in multiple admissions. Peer pressure and unemployment were major factors in substance abuse, and psychiatric illness was a common factor in relapse. The results align with global findings and highlight the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing substance abuse, considering all relevant factors.

Factors affecting the Risk-taking Behavior of Commercial Banks in Bangladesh

This study examines the capital regulation, profitability, bank size, liquidity, off-balance sheet activities, charter value, dividend payout ratio and macroeconomic variables as determinants of bank risk (credit risk and overall risk) by using information from 30 Bangladeshi commercial banks over a period of 2005-2013. We use Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) in a balanced dynamic panel data framework. The empirical results show a negative relation between credit risk and capital regulation and a mixed relation between overall risk and capital regulation. We find a negative relation between credit risk and profitability and a positive relation between overall risk and profitability. The results also show that larger banks take higher credit and overall risk. It is also evident that off-balance sheet activities are positively related with both credit and overall risk. We also find that banks with high liquidity take more credit risk. Negative association is found between credit risk and charter value and mixed evidence is found on the relationship between charter value and overall risk. We also observe that dividend payout ratio is not an important factor of bank risk. With regard to the impact of macroeconomic variables we find no significant impact on risk. Finally we find that lagged risk is an important determinant of bank risk

HR Award II. na UK - KA7

Příspěvek představí aktivity open access univerzitní knihovny chystané v projektech výzvy Rozvoj kapacit pro VaV (MŠMT)

Drought-Induced Accumulation of Root Exudates Supports Post-drought Recovery of Microbes in Mountain Grassland

Droughts strongly affect carbon and nitrogen cycling in grasslands, with consequences for ecosystem productivity. Therefore, we investigated how experimental grassland communities interact with groups of soil microorganisms. In particular, we explored the mechanisms of the drought-induced decoupling of plant photosynthesis and microbial carbon cycling and its recovery after rewetting. Our aim was to better understand how root exudation during drought is linked to pulses of soil microbial activity and changes in plant nitrogen uptake after rewetting. We set up a mesocosm experiment on a meadow site and used shelters to simulate drought. We performed two 13C-CO2 pulse labelings, the first at peak drought and the second in the recovery phase, and traced the flow of assimilates into the carbohydrates of plants and the water extractable organic carbon and microorganisms from the soil. Total microbial tracer uptake in the main metabolism was estimated by chloroform fumigation extraction, whereas the lipid biomarkers were used to assess differences between the microbial groups. Drought led to a reduction of aboveground versus belowground plant growth and to an increase of 13C tracer contents in the carbohydrates, particularly in the roots. Newly assimilated 13C tracer unexpectedly accumulated in the water-extractable soil organic carbon, indicating that root exudation continued during the drought. In contrast, drought strongly reduced the amount of 13C tracer assimilated into the soil microorganisms. This reduction was more severe in the growth-related lipid biomarkers than in the metabolic compounds, suggesting a slowdown of microbial processes at peak drought. Shortly after rewetting, the tracer accumulation in the belowground plant carbohydrates and in the water-extractable soil organic carbon disappeared. Interestingly, this disappearance was paralleled by a quick recovery of the carbon uptake into metabolic and growth-related compounds from the rhizospheric microorganisms, which was probably related to the higher nitrogen supply to the plant shoots. We conclude that the decoupling of plant photosynthesis and soil microbial carbon cycling during drought is due to reduced carbon uptake and metabolic turnover of rhizospheric soil microorganisms. Moreover, our study suggests that the maintenance of root exudation during drought is connected to a fast reinitiation of soil microbial activity after rewetting, supporting plant recovery through increased nitrogen availability