Realising the open virtual commissioning of modular automation systems

To address the challenges in the automotive industry posed by the need to rapidly manufacture more product variants, and the resultant need for more adaptable production systems, radical changes are now required in the way in which such systems are developed and implemented. In this context, two enabling approaches for achieving more agile manufacturing, namely modular automation systems and virtual commissioning, are briefly reviewed in this contribution. Ongoing research conducted at Loughborough University which aims to provide a modular approach to automation systems design coupled with a virtual engineering toolset for the (re)configuration of such manufacturing automation systems is reported. The problems faced in the virtual commissioning of modular automation systems are outlined. AutomationML - an emerging neutral data format which has potential to address integration problems is discussed. The paper proposes and illustrates a collaborative framework in which AutomationML is adopted for the data exchange and data representation of related models to enable efficient open virtual prototype construction and virtual commissioning of modular automation systems. A case study is provided to show how to create the data model based on AutomationML for describing a modular automation system

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Internet Commerce: The Application of the Royalty and Volunteer Exceptions to Unrelated Business Taxable Income

The Internet has created new opportunities for both large and small tax-exempt organizations (EOs) to raise funds through relationships with online vendors and “charity malls.” EOs provide hyperlinks to online vendors\u27 websites through affiliate arrangements. In return, EOs receive payments based on a percentage of sales made at the vendor websites attributable to the EOs\u27 hyperlinks. EOs also enter into payment arrangements with charity malls. Charity malls are commercial websites that provide hyperlinks to online vendors and attract consumers by pledging to donate a percentage of any purchases made through the malls to charity. There is no express authority stating how such payments should be characterized for unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) purposes when affiliate and charity mall arrangements are regularly carried on and not substantially related to an EO\u27s exempt purpose. This article proposes two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Revenue Rulings. The Rulings establish that, in certain instances, the payments to an EO attributable to relationships with online vendors and charity malls should be treated as royalty income exempt from unrelated business income tax (UBIT) under § 512(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The proposed Revenue Rulings would recognize the circumstances under which payments from online vendors and charity malls to EOs constitute nontaxable royalty income, rather than UBTI

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Internet Commerce: The Application of the Royalty and Volunteer Exceptions to Unrelated Business Taxable Income

The Internet has created new opportunities for both large and small tax-exempt organizations (EOs) to raise funds through relationships with online vendors and “charity malls.” EOs provide hyperlinks to online vendors\u27 websites through affiliate arrangements. In return, EOs receive payments based on a percentage of sales made at the vendor websites attributable to the EOs\u27 hyperlinks. EOs also enter into payment arrangements with charity malls. Charity malls are commercial websites that provide hyperlinks to online vendors and attract consumers by pledging to donate a percentage of any purchases made through the malls to charity. There is no express authority stating how such payments should be characterized for unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) purposes when affiliate and charity mall arrangements are regularly carried on and not substantially related to an EO\u27s exempt purpose. This article proposes two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Revenue Rulings. The Rulings establish that, in certain instances, the payments to an EO attributable to relationships with online vendors and charity malls should be treated as royalty income exempt from unrelated business income tax (UBIT) under § 512(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The proposed Revenue Rulings would recognize the circumstances under which payments from online vendors and charity malls to EOs constitute nontaxable royalty income, rather than UBTI

Exploring the Impact of Infertility on Women

Background: In the United States, approximately 16% of couples, or roughly five million individuals, are diagnosed with infertility (Collins, 2019). The literature demonstrates that the experience of infertility limits the ability to participate in daily occupations and fulfill occupational roles. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of how occupations and roles are impacted by the experience of infertility and use that information to determine whether there is a potential role for occupational therapy in providing care to this population. Methods: This study took a qualitative approach using interviews and photo elicitation to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of infertility. Seven women, between the ages of 29 to 45 years, participated in the study. Following data collection, data analysis was completed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis. Results: Two main themes were uncovered: shift in how to participate in occupations and shift in individual role and role of others. Each main theme was also broken down into subthemes. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated various ways in which occupations and roles were impacted by the experience of infertility, which supports a potential role for occupational therapy in providing services and support to this population.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2021/1005/thumbnail.jp

Perceptions of fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection: factors that predict acceptance.

BackgroundDespite the effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for treating recurrent Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection, some patients are reluctant to accept this therapy. Our study examined attitudes towards FMT and factors that contribute to patients' acceptance of this treatment.MethodsWe distributed patient surveys at a Veterans Affairs hospital, a public hospital, and an academic faculty practice. Multivariable logistic regression was performed, adjusting for factors associated with FMT acceptance on univariate analysis and prior experience with C. difficile infection.ResultsOf 267 patients, only 12% knew of FMT prior to the survey, but 77% would undergo the procedure if medically indicated. On multivariable analysis, those with children and with college degrees or higher were more likely to agree to FMT (odds ratio [OR] 2.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-4.35; OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.11-4.60 respectively). Sixty-five respondents (71%) chose colonoscopy as the preferred vehicle for FMT, while nasogastric tube was least preferred. Disease transmission was the most common concern (30%, n=242), and FMT success rate was the least selected concern (9.1%).ConclusionsMost patients in a diverse sample of gastroenterology clinics had no prior knowledge of FMT, but were receptive to the procedure. Having children and higher education levels were predictors for FMT acceptance. Our findings suggest that barriers to FMT utilization may be overcome with counseling about safety concerns. More data on the risk of transmitting diseases or clinical characteristics, such as obesity, through FMT are needed and will be important for the acceptance of this procedure

Design of a very high-resolution small animal PET scanner using a silicon scatter detector insert

A small animal positron emission tomography (PET) instrument using a high-resolution solid-state detector insert in a conventional PET system was investigated for its potential to achieve sub-millimeter spatial resolution for mouse imaging. Monte Carlo simulations were used to estimate the effect of detector configurations (thickness, length and radius) on sensitivity. From this initial study, a PET system having an inner cylindrical silicon detector (4 cm ID, 4 cm length and 1.6 cm thickness composed of 16 layers of 300 µm × 300 µm × 1 mm pads), for scattering, surrounded by an outer cylindrical BGO scintillation detector (17.6 cm ID, 16 cm length and 2 cm thickness segmented into 3 mm × 3 mm × 20 mm crystals), for capture was evaluated in detail. In order to evaluate spatial resolution, sensitivity and image quality of the PET system, 2D images of multiple point and cylinder sources were reconstructed with the simulation data including blurring from positron range and annihilation photon acollinearity using filtered backprojection (FBP). Simulation results for 18F demonstrate 340 µm FWHM at the center of the field of view with 1.0% sensitivity from the coincidence of single scattering events in both silicon detectors and 1.0 mm FWHM with 9.0% sensitivity from the coincidence of single scattering in the silicon and full energy absorption of the second photon in the BGO detector.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58095/2/pmb7_15_019.pd

Web-Based VR Experiments Powered by the Crowd

We build on the increasing availability of Virtual Reality (VR) devices and Web technologies to conduct behavioral experiments in VR using crowdsourcing techniques. A new recruiting and validation method allows us to create a panel of eligible experiment participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Using this panel, we ran three different crowdsourced VR experiments, each reproducing one of three VR illusions: place illusion, embodiment illusion, and plausibility illusion. Our experience and worker feedback on these experiments show that conducting Web-based VR experiments using crowdsourcing is already feasible, though some challenges---including scale---remain. Such crowdsourced VR experiments on the Web have the potential to finally support replicable VR experiments with diverse populations at a low cost.Comment: The Web Conference 2018 (WWW 2018); update citation forma

Single-fiber lightwave centralized WDM-OFDMA- PON with colorless optical network units

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a carrier-reuse, single-feeder, wavelength-division-multiplexed, orthogonal-frequency-division-multiple-access passive optical network (WDM-OFDMA-PON) with colorless direct-detection optical network units and coherent detection optical line terminals. We examine two strategies by adjusting the frequency occupancy and the modulation format of the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) signals. We investigate the impact of DL signal-to-carrier ratio on performance of both UL and DL via simulations and identify impairments limiting system performance. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate on a single wavelength channel, a realization of each of the two scenarios investigated using orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM). A quadrature phase-shift keying approach with wide spectrum and narrow guard band achieves 21.6 Gb/s. A 32-ary quadrature amplitude modulation approach with narrow spectrum and wide guard band achieves 14.5 Gb/s and a span of over 80 km