The design and simulation of an autonomous system for aircraft maintenance scheduling

International audienceOperational support is a key issue for aircraft maintenance, which aims to improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs under the premise of ensuring flight safety. Although many works have emerged to achieve this aim, they mostly address the concept of maintenance systems, the relationship between stakeholders and the loop of maintenance information separately. Hence, the cooperation between stakeholders could be impeded especially when urgent decisions should be made, relying on historical data and real-time data. In this paper, we propose an innovative design of an autonomous system supporting the automatic decision-making for maintenance scheduling. The design starts from the proposition of the analysis framework, to concept formulation of the system, to information transitional level interface, and ends with an instance of system module interactions. The underlying architecture illustrates the high-level fusion of technical and business drives; optimizes strategies and plans with regard to maintenance costs, service level and reliability. An agent-based simulation system is developed as a proof to illustrate the feasibility of the system principle and algorithms. Furthermore, the simulation experiment analyzing the impact of maintenance sequence strategies on maintenance costs and service level has demonstrated the algorithm functionality and the feasibility of the proposed approach

Lessons from Formally Verified Deployed Software Systems (Extended version)

The technology of formal software verification has made spectacular advances, but how much does it actually benefit the development of practical software? Considerable disagreement remains about the practicality of building systems with mechanically-checked proofs of correctness. Is this prospect confined to a few expensive, life-critical projects, or can the idea be applied to a wide segment of the software industry? To help answer this question, the present survey examines a range of projects, in various application areas, that have produced formally verified systems and deployed them for actual use. It considers the technologies used, the form of verification applied, the results obtained, and the lessons that can be drawn for the software industry at large and its ability to benefit from formal verification techniques and tools. Note: a short version of this paper is also available, covering in detail only a subset of the considered systems. The present version is intended for full reference.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1211.6186 by other author

Network analysis of affect, emotion regulation, psychological capital, and resilience among Chinese males during the late stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundPrevious studies have confirmed that both affect and emotion regulation strategies are closely associated with psychological capital (PsyCap) and resilience. These factors are assumed to buffer the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, especially among males. However, these interactions have not been closely examined to date. To fill this gap, this paper explores the dimension-level relationships of these psychological constructs among Chinese males during the late stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and identified critical bridge dimensions using network analysis.MethodsA total of 1,490 Chinese males aged 21–51 years completed self-report scales assessing emotion regulation strategies, affect, PsyCap, and psychological resilience. Two regularized partial correlation networks, namely the affect and emotion regulation-PsyCap network and the affect and emotion regulation-psychological resilience network, were then constructed to examine links between the dimensions of these constructs. The bridge expected influence (BEI) index was also calculated for each node to identify important bridge nodes.ResultsPositive affect, negative affect, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression showed distinct and complex links to various dimensions of PsyCap or psychological resilience. In both networks, positive affect, cognitive reappraisal, and negative affect were identified as critical bridge nodes, with the first two having positive BEI values and the third having a negative value.ConclusionThe findings elucidate the specific role of the dimensions of emotion regulation or affect in relation to PsyCap and psychological resilience, which facilitates further understanding of the mechanisms underlying these interrelationships. These findings also provide implications for developing effective intervention strategies to increase PsyCap and psychological resilience

In Vivo Anti-Tumor Activity of Polypeptide HM-3 Modified by Different Polyethylene Glycols (PEG)

HM-3, designed by our laboratory, is a polypeptide composed of 18 amino acids. Pharmacodynamic studies in vivo and in vitro indicated that HM-3 could inhibit endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis, thereby inhibiting tumor growth. However, the half-life of HM-3 is short. In this study, we modified HM-3 with different polyethylene glycols (PEG) in order to reduce the plasma clearance rate, extend the half-life in the body, maintain a high concentration of HM-3 in the blood and increase the therapeutic efficiency. HM-3 was modified with four different types of PEG with different molecular weights (ALD-mPEG5k, ALD-mPEG10k, SC-mPEG10k and SC-mPEG20k), resulting in four modified products (ALD-mPEG5k-HM-3, ALD-mPEG10k-HM-3, SC-mPEG10k-HM-3 and SC-mPEG20k-HM-3, respectively). Anti-tumor activity of these four modified HM-3 was determined in BALB/c mice with Taxol as a positive control and normal saline as a negative control. Tumor weight inhibition rates of mice treated with Taxol, HM-3, ALD-mPEG5k-HM-3, ALD-mPEG10k-HM-3, SC-mPEG10k-HM-3 and SC-mPEG20k-HM-3 were 44.50%, 43.92%, 37.95%, 31.64%, 20.27% and 50.23%, respectively. Tumor inhibition rates in the Taxol, HM-3 and SC-mPEG20k-HM-3 groups were significantly higher than that in the negative control group. The efficiency of tumor inhibition in the SC-mPEG20k-HM-3 group (drug treatment frequency: once per two days) was better than that in the HM-3 group (drug treatment frequency: twice per day). In addition, tumor inhibition rate in the SC-mPEG20k-HM-3 group was higher than that in the taxol group. We conclude that SC-mPEG20k-HM-3 had a low plasma clearance rate and long half-life, resulting in high anti-tumor therapeutic efficacy in vivo. Therefore, SC-mPEG20k-HM-3 could be potentially developed as new anti-tumor drugs

Unlocking the mystery of the hard-to-sequence phage genome: PaP1 methylome and bacterial immunity

BACKGROUND: Whole-genome sequencing is an important method to understand the genetic information, gene function, biological characteristics and survival mechanisms of organisms. Sequencing large genomes is very simple at present. However, we encountered a hard-to-sequence genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage PaP1. Shotgun sequencing method failed to complete the sequence of this genome. RESULTS: After persevering for 10 years and going over three generations of sequencing techniques, we successfully completed the sequence of the PaP1 genome with a length of 91,715 bp. Single-molecule real-time sequencing results revealed that this genome contains 51 N-6-methyladenines and 152 N-4-methylcytosines. Three significant modified sequence motifs were predicted, but not all of the sites found in the genome were methylated in these motifs. Further investigations revealed a novel immune mechanism of bacteria, in which host bacteria can recognise and repel modified bases containing inserts in a large scale. This mechanism could be accounted for the failure of the shotgun method in PaP1 genome sequencing. This problem was resolved using the nfi(-) mutant of Escherichia coli DH5α as a host bacterium to construct a shotgun library. CONCLUSIONS: This work provided insights into the hard-to-sequence phage PaP1 genome and discovered a new mechanism of bacterial immunity. The methylome of phage PaP1 is responsible for the failure of shotgun sequencing and for bacterial immunity mediated by enzyme Endo V activity; this methylome also provides a valuable resource for future studies on PaP1 genome replication and modification, as well as on gene regulation and host interaction. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-803) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Comparative genomics and DNA methylation analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolate PA3 by single-molecule real-time sequencing reveals new targets for antimicrobials

IntroductionPseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa) is an important opportunistic pathogen with broad environmental adaptability and complex drug resistance. Single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technique has longer read-length sequences, more accuracy, and the ability to identify epigenetic DNA alterations.MethodsThis study applied SMRT technology to sequence a clinical strain P. aeruginosa PA3 to obtain its genome sequence and methylation modification information. Genomic, comparative, pan-genomic, and epigenetic analyses of PA3 were conducted.ResultsGeneral genome annotations of PA3 were discovered, as well as information about virulence factors, regulatory proteins (RPs), secreted proteins, type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) pairs, and genomic islands. A genome-wide comparison revealed that PA3 was comparable to other P. aeruginosa strains in terms of identity, but varied in areas of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Phylogenetic analysis showed that PA3 was closely related to P. aeruginosa 60503 and P. aeruginosa 8380. P. aeruginosa's pan-genome consists of a core genome of roughly 4,300 genes and an accessory genome of at least 5,500 genes. The results of the epigenetic analysis identified one main methylation sites, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and 1 motif (CATNNNNNNNTCCT/AGGANNNNNNNATG). 16 meaningful methylated sites were picked. Among these, purH, phaZ, and lexA are of great significance playing an important role in the drug resistance and biological environment adaptability of PA3, and the targeting of these genes may benefit further antibacterial studies.DisucssionThis study provided a detailed visualization and DNA methylation information of the PA3 genome and set a foundation for subsequent research into the molecular mechanism of DNA methyltransferase-controlled P. aeruginosa pathogenicity

Aircraft maintenance information system design and verification

Le soutien opérationnel est l’un des aspects les plus importants pour la maintenance aéronautique. Il vise essentiellement à fournir un portefeuille de services permettant d’implémenter la maintenance avec un niveau élevé d’efficacité, de fiabilité et d’accessibilité. L’une des principales difficultés du support opérationnel est qu’il n’existe pas de plate-forme intégrant tous les processus de maintenance des avions afin de réduire les coûts et d’améliorer le niveau de service. Il est donc nécessaire de réaliser un système autonome de maintenance des avions dans lequel toutes les informations de maintenance peuvent être collectées, organisées, analysées et gérées de manière à faciliter la prise de décision. Pour ce faire, une méthodologie innovante a été proposée, qui concerne la modélisation, simulation, vérification formelle et analyse des performances du système autonome mentionné. Trois axes ont été abordés dans cette thèse. Premier axe concerne la conception et simulation d'un système autonome pour la maintenance aéronautique. Nous proposons une conception innovante d'un système autonome prenant en charge la prise de décision automatique pour la planification de la maintenance. Deuxième axe vise la vérification de modèles sur des systèmes de simulation. Nous proposons une approche plus complète de la vérification des comportements globaux et des comportements opérationnels des systèmes. Troisième axe porte sur l'analyse de la performance des systèmes de simulation. Nous proposons une approche consistant à combiner un système de simulation à base d’agent avec une approche « Fuzzy Rough Nearest Neighbor », afin de mettre en œuvre la classification et prévision efficaces des pannes pour la maintenance des avions avec des données manquantes. Finalement, des modèles et systèmes de la simulation ont été proposés. Des expérimentations de la simulation illustrent la faisabilité de l’approche proposée.Operational support is one of the most important aspects of aeronautical maintenance. It aims to provide a portfolio of services to implement maintenance with a high level of efficiency, reliability and accessibility. One of the major difficulties in operational support is that there is no platform that integrates all aircraft maintenance processes in order to reduce costs and improve the level of service. It is therefore necessary to build an autonomous aircraft maintenance system in which all maintenance information can be collected, organized, analyzed and managed in a way that facilitates decision-making. To do this, an innovative methodology has been proposed, which concerns modelling, simulation, formal verification and performance analysis of the autonomous system mentioned. Three axes were addressed in this thesis. The first axis concerns the design and simulation of an autonomous system for aeronautical maintenance. We offer an innovative design of an autonomous system that supports automatic decision making for maintenance planning. The second axis is the verification of models on simulation systems. We propose a more comprehensive approach to verifying global behaviours and operational behaviours of systems. The third axis focuses on the analysis of the performance of simulation systems. We propose an approach of combining an agent-based simulation system with the “Fuzzy Rough Nearest Neighbor” approach, in order to implement efficient classification and prediction of aircraft maintenance failures with missing data. Finally, simulation models and systems have been proposed. Simulation experiments illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approach

Conception et vérification du système d'Information pour la maintenance aéronautique

Operational support is one of the most important aspects of aeronautical maintenance. It aims to provide a portfolio of services to implement maintenance with a high level of efficiency, reliability and accessibility. One of the major difficulties in operational support is that there is no platform that integrates all aircraft maintenance processes in order to reduce costs and improve the level of service. It is therefore necessary to build an autonomous aircraft maintenance system in which all maintenance information can be collected, organized, analyzed and managed in a way that facilitates decision-making. To do this, an innovative methodology has been proposed, which concerns modelling, simulation, formal verification and performance analysis of the autonomous system mentioned. Three axes were addressed in this thesis. The first axis concerns the design and simulation of an autonomous system for aeronautical maintenance. We offer an innovative design of an autonomous system that supports automatic decision making for maintenance planning. The second axis is the verification of models on simulation systems. We propose a more comprehensive approach to verifying global behaviours and operational behaviours of systems. The third axis focuses on the analysis of the performance of simulation systems. We propose an approach of combining an agent-based simulation system with the “Fuzzy Rough Nearest Neighbor” approach, in order to implement efficient classification and prediction of aircraft maintenance failures with missing data. Finally, simulation models and systems have been proposed. Simulation experiments illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.Le soutien opérationnel est l’un des aspects les plus importants pour la maintenance aéronautique. Il vise essentiellement à fournir un portefeuille de services permettant d’implémenter la maintenance avec un niveau élevé d’efficacité, de fiabilité et d’accessibilité. L’une des principales difficultés du support opérationnel est qu’il n’existe pas de plate-forme intégrant tous les processus de maintenance des avions afin de réduire les coûts et d’améliorer le niveau de service. Il est donc nécessaire de réaliser un système autonome de maintenance des avions dans lequel toutes les informations de maintenance peuvent être collectées, organisées, analysées et gérées de manière à faciliter la prise de décision. Pour ce faire, une méthodologie innovante a été proposée, qui concerne la modélisation, simulation, vérification formelle et analyse des performances du système autonome mentionné. Trois axes ont été abordés dans cette thèse. Premier axe concerne la conception et simulation d'un système autonome pour la maintenance aéronautique. Nous proposons une conception innovante d'un système autonome prenant en charge la prise de décision automatique pour la planification de la maintenance. Deuxième axe vise la vérification de modèles sur des systèmes de simulation. Nous proposons une approche plus complète de la vérification des comportements globaux et des comportements opérationnels des systèmes. Troisième axe porte sur l'analyse de la performance des systèmes de simulation. Nous proposons une approche consistant à combiner un système de simulation à base d’agent avec une approche « Fuzzy Rough Nearest Neighbor », afin de mettre en œuvre la classification et prévision efficaces des pannes pour la maintenance des avions avec des données manquantes. Finalement, des modèles et systèmes de la simulation ont été proposés. Des expérimentations de la simulation illustrent la faisabilité de l’approche proposée