Intelligent “control” applications in the process industries

In this paper the author's experience in applying intelligent control in the process industries is discussed. A framework for intelligent control is presented in which intelligent control is defined in a broad sense to include items such as fault detection/isolation, modeling, and optimization. The focus of the paper is on techniques that have proven beneficial in the process industries. Methods utilizing multivariate statistical techniques are presented, with applications to soft sensing, batch process optimization, and fault detection/isolation. Potential problems with closing control loops around soft sensors are also discussed. The second broad technique considered involves model predictive control, and a wastewater application is discussed. Lastly, a brief discussion on expert systems and fuzzy control is presented, and finally a summary is given.     

Data administration in the organization: What is it,who does it and why?

Those who work in the field of database are constantly being challenged both by the burgeoning nature of the field and by the rapidity of new developments. One of the new emerging areas is ‘data administration’; this refers to the management, planning and documentation of the data resource of a company.The key concept in the move towards data administration has been that data, like people, money and materials should be treated as a critical resource that any company has to manage. Providing accurate, relevant and timely information entails a significant cost for a company and presents a substantial challenge.     

The role of modelling in achieving information systems success: UML to the rescue?

Much computer science literature addresses the mechanics of the Unified Modelling Language (UML) and requirements modelling, but little research has addressed the role of UML in the broader organizational and project development context. This study uses a socio-technical approach to consider UML as a technology embedded in a social environment. In this study, project developers were interviewed in detail about their use of UML along with influences on their decisions to use this approach and the results of using it. Data were analyzed using causal mapping. Major findings included: (1) that definitions of success may differ by unit of analysis (e.g., developer, project, organization) and that the relationship among these definitions are complex; (2) a very large number of variables impacting project success were identified; (3) a number of important variables exist in complex (non-linear) relationships with project success; and (4) the majority of interviewees linked the use of UML to project success.     

Do you believe in the advantage of expert systems in industrial ergonomics?

Reasons for reservations about accepting the recommendations of industrial ergonomics are first explored. A knowledge deficiency is ascertained which results in a general dependency on ergonomic experts. The experts, however, are rarely able to communicate their knowledge in a form applicable by a practitioner. The development and employment of expert systems suitable for use in work design problems are proposed to resolve this dilemma. The question of whether an interest in expert systems for industrial ergonomics can be assumed is considered. The necessary conditions for the successful development and introduction of expert systems for industrial ergonomics are derived. The extent to which currently available expert system technology can support the typical procedures in industrial ergonomics is subsequently examined.     

User experience: does it matter in complex systems?

This paper explores the concept of user experience (UX) within complex systems in the domain of nuclear power production. The specific context is the development of main control room solutions. As UX has become a prevalent concept in human–computer interaction and related research fields, it is a valid question, whether the concept could bring something new to the research concerning complex safety–critical systems also. In this paper, we introduce the concept of UX as an indicator of the users’ subjective feeling of the appropriateness of the proposed tool for the activity. Based on activity theoretical contemplation, we presume that UX is grounded in the feelings and emotions evoked in the usage of the systems and which concern the status of the whole activity. In the paper, a theory-based characterization of UXs in the particular domain is developed based on three general functions of a tool: instrument, psychological, and communicative. We present the operationalization of UX and three studies in which UXs concerning different control room systems during a control room transformation process were followed. Based on the results of the three studies, we find that the significance of UX as an indicator of quality in use lies in the ability to bring the professional users’ experiences, which are embedded in the inner characteristics of the work and not always observable by external evaluators, to the process of designing new systems. Evidence to support the initial background assumption that UXs may concern instrumental aspects of tools was identified in the studies.     

Intelligent backtracking in CLP(ℜ)

CLP() is a constraint logic programming language in which constraints can be expressed in the domain of real numbers. Computation in this specialized domain gives access to information useful in intelligent backtracking. In this paper, we present an efficient constraint satisfaction algorithm for linear constraints in the real number domain and show that our algorithm directly generates minimal sets of conflicting constraints when failures occur. We demonstrate how information gleaned during constraint satisfaction can be integrated with unification failure analysis. The resulting intelligent backtracking method works in the context of a two-sorted domain, where variables can be bound to either structured terms or real number expressions. We discuss the implementation of backtracking and show examples where the benefit of pruning the search tree outweights the overhead of failure analysis.     

Research on the Application of Bayesian Network in Agriculture Intelligent System

Bayesian network is a strong tool for uncertain knowledge representation and inference. This paper mainly introduces some technologies and methods about Bayesian network based on intelligent system. In the construction of Bayesian network, divorcing technology and noisy-or technology are used. In the inference of Bayesian network, VE algorithm and sampling algorithm are introduced. Finally, Bayesian network construction component and inference component are developed. Then an expert system about cow disease diagnosis is constructed based on the two components.     

What is biology?

The following work compares two different ways of fractionating or abstracting from an organism: (a) a Mendelian way, which views the organism as a discrete bundle of phenotypic characters, each controlled by a corresponding genetic "factor", and (b) as a bundle of particulate molecular fractions, as envisaged by molecular biology. It is generally believed that the latter completely subsumes the former, and that it further serves to subsume all of biology into contemporary physics. We argue herein that the first of these assertions, if true at all, does not follow from an initial positing of an identity between the Mendelian gene and DNA sequence, and may well be false in general. In either case, the second assertion becomes false as well. This has profound consequences, not only for biology, but for the physics which is presumed to underlie it; it constitutes a part of the "new physics" which Erwin Schr?dinger, in a famous essay [(1944) What is Life? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge], argued was inherent in biology.     

Computerized energy management systems—why and how

This paper discusses why computerized energy management systems have displaced the time clocks and mechanical controllers, and how these new systems perform. A brief review of the development of computerized energy management systems and how they compare with hard-wired digital controllers is presented first. Then the energy management needs of a facility are discussed. Various factors include size of operation, type of equipment and process, and geographical location. Four levels of energy management functions and the corresponding systems are identified. These are: (i) Level 1 system — basic energy management, (ii) Level 2 system — advanced energy management, (iii) Level 3 system — total energy management, and (iv) Level 4 system — total engineering applications. The hardware used in these systems range from simple demand controllers to minicomputers.The evaluation criteria for energy management systems (EMS) are discussed. A classification of EMS hardware and features is presented. This also includes discussion on the plant size and type, computer facility, number of control points and features.     

Maximizing the weighted number of just-in-time jobs in?several two-machine scheduling systems

The problem of maximizing the weighted number of just-in-time jobs in a two-machine flow shop scheduling system is known to be NP\mathcal {NP}-hard (Choi and Yoon in J. Shed. 10:237–243, 2007). However, the question of whether this problem is strongly or ordinarily NP\mathcal{NP}-hard remains an open question. We provide a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm to solve this problem, proving that it is NP\mathcal{NP}-hard in the ordinary sense. Moreover, we show how the pseudo-polynomial algorithm can be converted to a fully polynomial time approximation scheme (FPTAS). In addition, we prove that the same problem is strongly NP\mathcal{NP}-hard for both a two-machine job shop scheduling system and a two-machine open shop scheduling system.     

Patient care systems: do they meet the needs of nursing?

A consulting firm has interviewed nursing executives at 24 hospitals throughout the country assessing nursing automation needs and comparing two of the top 10 patient care systems vendors on a wide range of variables. Nursing involvement in system selection is vital.     

Can computational biology improve the phylogenetic analysis of insulin?

Using computational biology, we have depicted the insulin phylogenetics. We have also analyzed the sequence alignment and sequence logos formation for both the insulin chain A and B for three groups namely, the mammalian group, vertebrates group and fish group. We have also analyzed cladograms of insulin for the mammalian group. In accordance with that path lengths, matrix for distance analysis, matching representation of nodes of the cladogram and dissimilarity between two nodes have been performed for both of the A and B chains of the mammalian group. Our results show that 12 amino acid residues (GlyA1, IleA2, ValA3, TyrA19, CysA20, AsnA21, LeuB6, GlyB8, LeuB11, ValB12, GlyB23 and PheB24) are highly conserved for all groups and among them some (GlyA1, IleA2, ValA3);(TyrA19, CysA20, AsnA21) are continuous. This study shows a rapid method to calculate the amino acid sequences in terms of evolutionary conservation rates as well as molecular phylogenetics.     

Technology in the classroom: Burning the bridges to the gaps in gender-biased education?

This review introduces the concepts of gender bias and technology in education. It discusses the interaction between the two in the educational setting and the effects this interaction may have on teachers, students and materials used in the classroom. It is argued that areas in the educational setting that have been focused on as materials and practices that are biased have also been translated into the use of educational technology that is biased. This review makes the point that biases that have been pointed out and studied within the educational system have not been solved by the use of technology (as some had hoped). In fact, the biases have simply been converted into a new form and may have actually served to undo some the bias-eliminating practices that had been starting to take place in classrooms. Implications and suggestions for change are discussed.     

Information systems strategy: Quo vadis?

This article is a personal retrospective which traces the evolution of information systems strategy (ISS) since it emerged as a topic in the late 1970s and considers the nature of organisations’ ISSs and how they have been influenced by the interplay of many factors over that period. In addition to responding to the rapidly evolving underlying technologies, ISS practice in organisations has had to deal with the combined effects of economic cycles and an increasingly global business context, which effect both the organisations themselves and the development of the IT industry. This article argues that the changing fortunes of the IT suppliers and their strategies are two of the most significant influences on organisations’ ISSs. The influence and contribution of academics and their research is also discussed. The study of ISS has largely followed practice and attempted to explain its nature, role and impact using contemporary theoretical paradigms but often based on relatively limited empirical data. In conclusion it is suggested that a new multi-centred, collaborative approach, involving both academic and practitioner experts to develop a comprehensive evidence base, would enable greater understanding of how the range of factors interact to determine the nature and value of ISS in 21st century organisations.     

Designer®—Intelligent expert system for intelligent manufacturing systems design

This survey on expert systems activities and trends in Yugoslavia offers some results already obtained in the domain of manufacturing science and technology. In the scope of a long-term research project “Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS)—Theory and Application” a Designer® Intelligent Expert System for mafacturing engineering has been proposed and partially developed. Designer® IES is based on new developed knowledge automata theory enhanced with cellular automata concept. Induction learning by analogy and Quasimorphism knowledge mapping from real world to model world is used to generate a reasoning structure. The Intelligent Expert System is divided into three main subsystems, with a very large knowledge base:

• •Product designer
• •Process Designer, and
• •Production Planning and Control Designer.

All these segments were developed in pilot versions of expert systems for specific groups of activities inside each of these three domains.     

How does organisational absorptive capacity matter in the assimilation of enterprise information systems?

Extant literature offers two mostly distinct perspectives on enterprise systems assimilation – driven either by internal expertise and learning capability or by external institutional pressures. This study combines the two perspectives and subscribes to the view that organisations’ learning capability moderates their acquiescence to institutional pressures. The study then anchors organisational learning capability to the concept of absorptive capacity and proposes that its two dimensions – potential absorptive capacity (PACAP) and realised absorptive capacity (RACAP) – affect enterprise systems assimilation through different pathways. Our survey‐based empirical study of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in the post‐implementation stage reveals that while both PACAP and RACAP have a positive direct impact on assimilation, PACAP positively moderates the impact of mimetic (institutional) pressures, but not normative (institutional) pressures, on assimilation; whereas RACAP positively moderates the impact of normative pressures, but not mimetic pressures, on assimilation. Thus, our theoretical contribution lies in understanding the distinct ways in which PACAP and RACAP moderate the influence of external institutional pressures on enterprise systems assimilation.