Operator interfaces for the lifecycle support of component based automation systems

Current manufacturing automation systems (specifically the powertrain sector) have been facing challenges with constant pressures of globalisation, environmental concerns and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) innovations. These challenges instigate new demands for shorter product lifecycles and require customised products to be manufactured as efficiently as possible. Manufacturing systems must therefore be agile to remain competitive by supporting frequent reconfigurations involving distributed engineering activities. [Continues.

AC/DC conductivity and dielectric relaxation behavior of aqueous solutions of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride

The complex relative dielectric function ɛ*(f) = ɛ' - jɛ" of aqueous solutions of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [BMiM][Cl] of varying concentrations, has been measured using precision LCR meter in the frequency range 20 Hz to 2 MHz at four different temperatures 293.15, 303.15, 313.15 and 323.15 K. Complex ac conductivity σ*(f) of the liquid samples have been determined from the measured ɛ*(f). DC conductivity σdc of the samples have also been determined. Values of σdc at different concentrations have been fitted to the empirical Casteel-Amis (CA) equation. The influence of concentration and temperature variation on the complex permittivity and electrical conductivity of the solutions of [BMiM][Cl] in distilled water has been discussed. The molar conductivities and the infinite dilution conductance of these ionic liquids have also been determined. Orientational relaxation behavior of the aqueous solutions of [BMiM][Cl] has also been studied by measuring complex permittivity in the frequency range 1 GHz to 20 GHz using vector network analyzer. Various processes contributed to the electrical/dielectric properties of the solutions of [BMiM][Cl] in distilled water have been explored

Systematic review: the barriers and facilitators for minority ethnic groups in accessing urgent and prehospital care

Introduction Research addressing inequalities has focused predominantly on primary and community care; few initiatives relate to the prehospital environment. We aimed to identify in the literature barriers or facilitators experienced by patients from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in accessing prehospital care and to explore the causes and consequences of any differences in delivery. Methods We conducted a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. Electronic and journal hand searches from 2003 through 2013 identified relevant evaluative studies (systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental, case and observational studies). A researcher extracted data to determine characteristics, results and quality, each checked by a second reviewer. The main outcome measures were delays in patient calls, mortality rates and 30-days survival post discharge. Results Eighteen studies met criteria for the review: two concerned services in England and Wales and 15 were United States based. Reported barriers to accessing care were generic (and well-known) given the heterogeneity of BME groups: difficulties in communication where English was the patient’s second language; new migrants’ lack of knowledge of the health care system leading to inappropriate emergency calls; and cultural assumptions among clinical staff resulting in inappropriate diagnoses and treatment. There were limited reported facilitators to improvement, such as the need for translation services and staff education, but the latter were poorly described or developed. Where outcomes were discussed, there was evidence for race-related disparity in mortality and survival rates. This could reflect differences in condition severity, delays between onset and initiation of calls, or the scope of response and assistance. Conclusion The paucity of literature and difficulties of transferring findings from US to UK context identified an important research gap. Further studies should be undertaken to investigate UK differences in prehospital care and outcomes for BME groups, followed by qualitative approaches to understand barriers and enablers to equitable access

Distribution of machine information using Blackboard designed component for remote monitoring of reconfigurable manufacturing systems

A blackboard-based design for a system component called the "Broadcaster" is described in this paper. It supports remote monitoring of reconfigurable manufacturing systems using a novel system architecture coupled with the Component-Based system paradigm. The design of this component has been evaluated using a case study on a web services-enabled test rig funded by the Ford Motor Company, U. K. The test rig has been implemented using a fully distributed control device called FTB, designed by the Schneider Electric Company. Evaluation of this component has been carried out using three scenario test cases which demonstrate the potentials offered when deploying this solution to a real production environment. The system component not only operates in a heterogeneous reconfigurable manufacturing environment, offering a vendor-independent solution to monitoring machines, but it also supports remote monitoring of the machines throughout their development and management lifecycles

Good Timing for Computational Models of Narrative Discourse

The temporal order in which story events are presented in discourse can greatly impact how readers experience narrative; however, it remains unclear how narrative systems can leverage temporal order to affect comprehension and experience. We define structural properties of discourse which provide a basis for computational narratologists to reason about good timing, such as when readers learn about event relationships

Valuing Ecological Services of Peri-Urban Open Spaces: A Case Study of the West Tatnuck Neighborhood of Worcester, Massachusetts

Ecological services are the goods and services provided by an ecosystem that help sustain human life. Traditional economic valuation lacks the flexibility to account for all these services. Ecological economics uses different approaches to account for these services and provides a more accurate value of open space. A study of the West Tatnuck neighborhood of Worcester, Massachusetts highlights the differences between the schools of thought and shows the value of ecological services to an urban area

A WORLDWIDE 3D GCP DATABASE INHERITED FROM 20 YEARS OF MASSIVE MULTI-SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS

Abstract. High location accuracy is a major requirement for satellite image users. Target performance is usually achieved thanks to either specific on-board satellite equipment or an auxiliary registration reference dataset. Both methods may be expensive and with certain limitations in terms of performance. The Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN) and Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) have worked together for almost 20 years, to build reference data for improving image location using multi-satellite observations. The first geometric foundation created has mainly used SPOT 5 High Resolution Stereoscopic (HRS) imagery, ancillary Ground Control Points (GCP) and Very High Resolution (VHR) imagery, providing a homogenous location accuracy of 10m CE90 almost all over the world in 2010.Space Reference Points (SRP) is a new worldwide 3D GCP database, built from a plethoric SPOT 6/7 multi-view archive, largely automatically processed, with cloud-based technologies. SRP aims at providing a systematic and reliable solution for image location (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, VHR satellite imagery, High Altitudes Pseudo-Satellite…) and similar topics thanks to a high-density point distribution with a 3m CE90 accuracy.This paper describes the principle of SRP generation and presents the first validation results. A SPOT 6/7 smart image selection is performed to keep only relevant images for SRP purpose. The location of these SPOT 6/7 images is refined thanks to a spatiotriangulation on the worldwide geometric foundation, itself improved where needed. Points making up the future SRP database are afterward extracted thanks to classical feature detection algorithms and with respect to the expected density. Different filtering methods are applied to keep the best candidates. The last step of the processing chain is the formatting of the data to the delivery format, including metadata. An example of validation of SRP concept and specification on two tests sites (Spain and China) is then given. As a conclusion, the on-going production is shortly presented

Persistent Homology Over Directed Acyclic Graphs

We define persistent homology groups over any set of spaces which have inclusions defined so that the corresponding directed graph between the spaces is acyclic, as well as along any subgraph of this directed graph. This method simultaneously generalizes standard persistent homology, zigzag persistence and multidimensional persistence to arbitrary directed acyclic graphs, and it also allows the study of more general families of topological spaces or point-cloud data. We give an algorithm to compute the persistent homology groups simultaneously for all subgraphs which contain a single source and a single sink in $O(n^4)$ arithmetic operations, where $n$ is the number of vertices in the graph. We then demonstrate as an application of these tools a method to overlay two distinct filtrations of the same underlying space, which allows us to detect the most significant barcodes using considerably fewer points than standard persistence.Comment: Revised versio

“Broadcaster”: An architectural description of a prototype supporting real-time remote data propagation in distributed manufacturing

Globalisation of manufacturing activities tend to geographically distribute manufacturing entities, resulting into each entity adopting its own mechanism, for aggregating and analysing real-time shop floor machines' information. The enterprise systems normally employ sophisticated and computationally expensive techniques to access this data, even if they operate remotely having limited network connectivity and system legacies. There is a need to propagate machine information in soft real-time basis to these entities regardless of their geographic locations and / or mechanisms. Authors are presenting an architectural description of a prototype system called the ldquoBroadcasterrdquo which efficiently distributes manufacturing machine information to a number of remotely located global engineering partners. This prototype addresses the emergent system issues like maintainability, reliability, integrity, robustness, flexibility and performance using a heterogeneous composition of ldquoBlackboardrdquo repository model with an event-driven invocation technique, implemented using interface-based strategy. The design and implementation assumes the control environment description to be engineered using the component-based system paradigm. Presently, the prototype is evaluated on a demonstration test rig provided by the Ford Motor Company, which is implemented using a fully Web services distributed control device called FTB, designed by the Schneider Electric Company. Based on the evaluation from the implementation stage, authors have justified and concluded the paper highlighting the key benefits of this approach, and described any future research that is to be carried out