Immersive Computing Technology to Investigate Tradeoffs Under Uncertainty in Disassembly Sequence Planning

The scientific and industrial communities have begun investigating the possibility of making product recovery economically viable. Disassembly sequence planning may be used to make end-of-life product take-back processes more cost effective. Much of the research involving disassembly sequence planning relies on mathematical optimization models. These models often require input data that is unavailable or can only be approximated with high uncertainty. In addition, there are few mathematical models that include consideration of the potential of product damage during disassembly operations. The emergence of Immersive Computing Technologies (ICT) enables designers to evaluate products without the need for physical prototypes. Utilizing unique 3D user interfaces, designers can investigate a multitude of potential disassembly operations without resorting to disassembly of actual products. The information obtained through immersive simulation can be used to determine the optimum disassembly sequence. The aim of this work is to apply a decision analytical approach in combination with immersive computing technology to optimize the disassembly sequence while considering trade-offs between two conflicting attributes: disassembly cost and damage estimation during disassembly operations. A wooden Burr puzzle is used as an example product test case. Immersive human computer interaction is used to determine input values for key variables in the mathematical model. The results demonstrate that the use of dynamic programming algorithms coupled with virtual disassembly simulation is an effective method for evaluating multiple attributes in disassembly sequence planning. This paper presents a decision analytical approach, combined with immersive computing techniques, to optimize the disassembly sequence. Future work will concentrate on creating better methods of estimating damage in virtual disassembly environments and using the immersive technology to further explore the feasible design space

Brain on FIRES: Super Refractory Seizure in a 7 year Old Boy

How to Cite This Article: Tavasoli AR, Gharib B, Alizadeh H, Farshadmoghaddam H, Memarian S, Ashrafi MR, Sharifzade M. Brain on FIRES: Super refractory seizure in a 7 year old boy. Iran J Child Neurol. Autumn 2016; 10(4):80-85.AbstractWe present a 7 year old boy afflicted with super-refractory seizure that responded poorly to antiepileptic drugs and sustained a long course of hospitalization and complications of high doses of medications as well as longstanding stay in hospital. The differential diagnoses were, fever-induced refractory epileptic encephalopathy (FIRES), and infectious and autoimmune encephalitis.However, work-ups had not revealed any evidence of any specific diagnosis, so we assumed that he was afflicted by viral infectious encephalitis as he had, fever, vomiting, and prodromal symptoms of infectious (most probably viral) disease prior to onset of the seizure attacks. References1. William H. Theodore, Epilepsy and Viral Infections, Epilepsy Currents, Vol. 14, No. 1 Supplement 2014 pp. 35–422. Rima Nabbout, AnnamariaVezzani, Olivier Dulac, Catherine Chiron. Acute encephalopathy with inflammation-mediated status epilepticus. Lancet Neurol 2011; 10: 99–108.3. Uri Kramer, Ching-Shiang Chi, Kuang-Lin Lin, Nicola Specchio, Mustafa Sahin, Heather Olson, Rima Nabbout, Gerhard Kluger, Jainn-Jim Lin, Andreas van Baalen. Febrile infection–related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES): Pathogenesis, treatment, and outcome, A multicenter study on 77 children. Epilepsia ; 201152(11):1956–1965.4. Yael Hacohen, Sukhvir Wright, Patrick Waters, Shakti Agrawal, Lucinda Carr, Helen Cross et al. Paediatric autoimmune encephalopathies: clinical features, laboratory investigations and outcomes in patients with or without antibodies to known central nervous system autoantigens. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2012;0:1–8.5. Pedro J, Serrano-Castro, Pablo Quiroga-Subirana, Manuel Payan-Ortiz, Javier Fernandez-Perez. The expanding spectrum of febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES). Seizure 22 (2013), 153-155.6. R Kneen BD, Michael E, Menson B, Mehta A, Easton C, Hemingway PE, Klapper A, Vincent M, Lim E, Carrol T. Solomon, On behalf of the National Encephalitis Guidelines Development and Stakeholder Groups. Management of suspected viral encephalitis in children e Association of British Neurologists and British Paediatric Allergy Immunology and Infection Group National Guidelines. J Infect 2012; 64, 449-477.7. Raoul Sutter, Stephan Rüegg. Refractory Status Epilepticus: Epidemiology, Clinical Aspects and Management of a Persistent Epileptic Storm. Epileptologie 2012; 29: 186 – 193.8. Simon Shorvon. Super-refractory status epilepticus: An approach to therapy in this difficult clinical situation. Epilepsia, 52(Suppl. 8):53–56, 2011.9. Mustafa AM, Salih Heba Y, El Khashab Hamdy H, Hassan Amal Y. Kentab, Sara S. Al Subaei, Radwan M. Zeidan, Mohammed N. Al-Nasser, Saleh A. Othman. A Study on Herpes Simplex Encephalitis in 18 Children, Including 3 Relapses. Open Pediatr Med J 2009, 3, 48-57.10. Thais Armangue, Josep O. Dalmau. Autoimmune Encephalitis. In: Robert M. Kliegman, Bonita F. Stanton, Joseph W. St. Geme III, Nina F. Schor, Richard E. Behrman, et al, editors. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 20th Edition. Philadelphia, United States of America: Saunders; 2016: p. 2905-2910

Leveraging Virtual Reality Experiences With Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming Visualization of Disassembly Sequence Planning Under Uncertainty

Disassembly sequence planning at the early conceptual stage of design leads to enormous benefits including simplification of products, lower assembly and disassembly costs, and design modifications which result in increased potential profitability of end-of-life salvaging operations. However, in the early design stage, determining the best disassembly sequence is challenging. First, the required information is not readily available and very time-consuming to gather. In addition, the best solution is sometimes counterintuitive, even to those with experience and expertise in disassembly procedures. Integrating analytical models with immersive computing technology (ICT) can help designers overcome these issues. A two-stage procedure for doing so is introduced in this paper. In the first stage, a stochastic programming model together with the information obtained through immersive simulation is applied to determine the optimal disassembly sequence, while considering uncertain outcomes, such as time, cost, and the probability of causing damage. In the second stage, ICT is applied as a tool to explore alternative disassembly sequence solutions in an intuitive way. The benefit of using this procedure is to determine the best disassembly sequence, not only by solving the analytic model but also by capturing human expertise. The designer can apply the obtained results from these two stages to analyze and modify the product design. An example of a Burr puzzle is used to illustrate the application of the method

The Association between Neonatal Icterus or Neonatal Phototherapy and the Likelihood of Childhood Asthma among Iranian Children

Background: There might be a close link between neonatal icterus and/or neonatal phototherapy and childhood asthma. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between neonatal icterus and/or phototherapy and the likelihood of childhood asthma among Iranian population. Materials and Methods The present case-control study was performed on 102 consecutive asthmatic children hospitalized at Children’s Medical Center, Tehran, Iran. Asthma was diagnosed by a pediatric asthma and allergy specialist based on clinical manifestations and/or spirometry results for children older than 5 years. A total of 113 sex and age-matched children without asthma who were admitted to other wards during the same period of time were selected as the control group. Data were collected by a researcher-made checklist including data regarding participants’ age, gender, and gestational age, history of neonatal icterus and history and duration of phototherapy, filled by participants’ parents/guardians. Results: There was a significant difference between cases and controls with respect to preterm birth, history of phototherapy and duration of phototherapy. History of icterus was not associated with childhood asthma. In the multivariable logistic regression model, both history of phototherapy (P=0.029), and duration of phototherapy (P=0.03) were considered as determinants for occurrence of childhood asthma. Conclusion According to the results, history of neonatal icterus was not associated with childhood asthma, but history and duration of phototherapy were both determinants of childhood asthma

Rectal adenocarcinoma in an 9 year old girl. A case report

Rectal adenocarcinoma is rare in children. The patient described here is a 9-year-old girl who presented with rectorrhagia. Her problem started 3 months ago and she had been treated for infectious diarrhea. A colonoscopy was performed 3 months after the onset of symptoms and a non-pedunculated polyp in the rectum was noted and resected. After the colonoscopy signs and symptoms of peritonitis developed and in laparotomy a rectal perforation was noted and a biopsy from rectal mucosa was taken. The result of biopsy was adenocarcinoma. Then a low anterior resection of rectum with protective ileostomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy was performed. During a 15 month follow-up the patient had no problems and no clinical, radiological or laboratory signs or symptoms of recurrence was found. However rectal adenocarcinoma is rare but it should be considered in the differentialdiagnosis of intestinal problems

PCRR E-waste Stream Analysis

The problem addressed in this paper is that the incoming stream of “feedstock” from product take-back systems is known to be widely variable, but the type and extent of that variability have not been well defined. This paper presents an analysis of data from an incoming e-waste stream for a computer refurbisher, and analyzes the type and degree of variability. The implications for design for sustainability are presented, along with a discussion of suggested future research needs.published or submitted for publicationnot peer reviewe