GPACK-I—an application software for drawing calibration curves

GPACK-I is an off-line menu-driven user-friendly application software for drawing calibration curves. The software is general in nature and may be used in any analytical instrument that uses a calibration curve for analysis. The software has been written in BASIC using advanced graphics features. The software is efficient, easy to use and has several additional advantages over commercially available software.     

Specification, Refinement and Verification of Concurrent Systems—An Integration of Object-Z and CSP

This paper presents a method of formally specifying, refining and verifying concurrent systems which uses the object-oriented state-based specification language Object-Z together with the process algebra CSP. Object-Z provides a convenient way of modelling complex data structures needed to define the component processes of such systems, and CSP enables the concise specification of process interactions. The basis of the integration is a semantics of Object-Z classes identical to that of CSP processes. This allows classes specified in Object-Z to be used directly within the CSP part of the specification.In addition to specification, we also discuss refinement and verification in this model. The common semantic basis enables a unified method of refinement to be used, based upon CSP refinement. To enable state-based techniques to be used for the Object-Z components of a specification we develop state-based refinement relations which are sound and complete with respect to CSP refinement. In addition, a verification method for static and dynamic properties is presented. The method allows us to verify properties of the CSP system specification in terms of its component Object-Z classes by using the laws of the CSP operators together with the logic for Object-Z.     

Conceptual process planning – an improvement approach using QFD,FMEA, and ABC methods

Conceptual process planning (CPP) is an important technique for assessing the manufacturability and estimating the cost of conceptual design in the early product design stage. This paper presents an approach to develop a quality/cost-based conceptual process planning (QCCPP). This approach aims to determine key process resources with estimation of manufacturing cost, taking into account the risk cost associated to the process plan. It can serve as a useful methodology to support the decision making during the initial planning stage of the product development cycle. Quality function deployment (QFD) method is used to select the process alternatives by incorporating a capability function for process elements called a composite process capability index (CCP). The quality characteristics and the process elements in QFD method have been taken as input to complete process failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) table. To estimate manufacturing cost, the proposed approach deploys activity-based costing (ABC) method. Then, an extended technique of classical FMEA method is employed to estimate the cost of risks associated to the studied process plan, this technique is called cost-based FMEA. For each resource combination, the output data is gathered in a selection table that helps for detailed process planning in order to improve product quality/cost ratio. A case study is presented to illustrate this approach.     

Shape optimisation by design of experiments and finite element methods—an application of steel wheels

The requirements made on industry, and particularly on development departments, are increasing constantly due to demands to reduce costs and development times and the introduction of new quality guidelines (Toutenburg and Gössl, Versuchsplanung in der industrie; moderne methoden und softwarelösungen. Proceedings des workshops versuchsplanung in der industrie der boehringer mannheim GmbH und SAS-Institute, Tutzing 30./31.10.1995. Prentice Hall Verlag, München, 1996). In particular, several loops are usually required within the development process during the development of new parts to obtain an optimal part shape. This process is extensively influenced by the experience and know-how of the developer or design engineer. A method that enables a specific and structured approach to part shape optimisation is presented in this paper. Design of experiments and the finite element method are interlinked in this method.     

Quantifying tropical cyclone cloud cover using Envisat retrievals – an example of a recent severe tropical cyclone, ‘Thane’

The eastern coast of peninsular India routinely receives the onslaught of devastating cyclonic storms. We suggest a novel method involving Envisat retrievals followed by application of the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Earth Observation Link Stand-Alone (EOLI–SA) catalogue for the calculation of cloud cover (CC) of tropical storms. In particular, we focus on the northeast monsoon, which is less studied as compared with the more regularly investigated southwest monsoon. We found that the CC was of the order of 946,598 km² on 23 November 2011. In contrast, we also calculated the CC of tropical cyclone Thane that occurred on 31 December 2011, which was found to be 1,222,224 km² – an increase of 197.5%. To further increase CC calculation accuracy, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals were used simultaneously over both visible and shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectra. The precipitable water levels were analysed using Tool for High-resolution Observation Review (THOR) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) retrievals. Envisat data were then used to track Thane's trajectory. These multiple-image analyses are coupled with large-eddy simulation runs – large velocities from sheared eddies were obtained at landfall. The runs were simultaneously performed over two locales on 29 December 2011 – first at Karaikal, where the impact of Thane was severe, and then at Chennai, where the cyclone's fury had become somewhat curtailed. This procedural analysis, coupled with model simulations, can be used effectively by Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) personnel and decision-makers of the municipal corporations of vulnerable cities along coastal Tamil Nadu.     

A novel type of a microfluidic system using ferrofluids for an application of μ-TAS

This paper shows the novel type of microfluidic system for the purpose of applications to delivery systems, which is the core device of -TAS (micro Total Analysis System) in medicine and biology. The proposed microfluidic control device in this work has been designed for precisely actuating and fast sampling in submicroliter range. Also, the biological liquids have not been contaminated since they have been isolated from the ferrofluids. The magnetic dipoles in ferrofluids line up with the applied field due to the permanent magnet with surface gauss 3400. The maximum net pressure by ferrofluid flows in the rounded microchannel was more than 2 kPa. The device was fabricated by MEMS technology with silicon wafer. The stepping motor with 20 steps was used for the control of delivering the liquids. One step makes the permanent magnet move 18° in the circumferential direction and the liquids can be sampled in nanoliter level. This study presents a significant point that a microfluidic delivery system for sampling biological liquids with high pressure in a microchannels can be integrated in -TAS.This work was supported by the Korea Research Fundation Grant (KRF-2002–005-D00003).     

Multiobjective optimization using an immunodominance and clonal selection inspired algorithm

Based on the mechanisms of immunodominance and clonal selection theory, we propose a new multiobjective optimization algorithm, immune dominance clonal multiobjective algorithm （IDCMA）. IDCMA is unique in that its fitness values of current dominated individuals are assigned as the values of a custom distance measure, termed as Ab-Ab affinity, between the dominated individuals and one of the nondominated individuals found so far. According to the values of Ab-Ab affinity, all dominated individuals （antibodies） are divided into two kinds, subdominant antibodies and cryptic antibodies. Moreover, local search only applies to the subdominant antibodies, while the cryptic antibodies are redundant and have no function during local search, but they can become subdominant （active） antibodies during the subsequent evolution. Furthermore, a new immune operation, clonal proliferation is provided to enhance local search. Using the clonal proliferation operation, IDCMA reproduces individuals and selects their improved maturated progenies after local search, so single individuals can exploit their surrounding space effectively and the newcomers yield a broader exploration of the search space. The performance comparison of IDCMA with MISA, NSGA-Ⅱ, SPEA, PAES, NSGA, VEGA, NPGA, and HLGA in solving six well-known multiobjective function optimization problems and nine multiobjective 0/1 knapsack problems shows that IDCMA has a good performance in converging to approximate Pareto-optimal fronts with a good distribution.     

Human-robot cooperative rope turning—an example of mechanical coordination through rhythm entrainment

In this paper, we deal with human-robot mechanical coordination through rhythm entrainment. We present a method of realizing cooperative rope turning by a man and a manipulator. The rotating motion of the manipulator arm for rope turning can be specified by the frequency and phase difference between the arm and the rope. The frequency is determined in real-time by rhythm entrainment using a phase-locked loop (PLL). The phase difference is related to the quantity of local interaction, i.e. energy transfer from the arm to the rope. Therefore it is controlled to realize the desired energy transfer, which is estimated from human demonstration. In the experiment the manipulator can successfully adapt its motion to that of the human partner.     

Experiences and expectations with CASE technology — An example from Slovenia

Adoption and current use, perceived benefits, problems, and expectations in the application of information system development methods and tools, specifically CASE technologies, are presented in the settings of Slovenia. Current practices and trends in the use of CASE technology were surveyed; major differences in the IS development approaches in organizations that currently use or do not use CASE were identified. The findings are believed to be indicative of some other new Central and Eastern European democracies that are at a comparable stage in developing their IS technology markets. Although most IS managers in Slovenia are aware of CASE technology or have considered its use, organizations with a comparatively high level of IS maturity - ones with some corporate IS development standards in place - actually use it. More than limited funding for investments in advanced information technology, the lack of related methodological and management knowledge and skills seems to be the major reason why system developers do not adopt it or, with limited use, slowly adopt CASE.     

Optical link in the Delft Parallel Processor — an example of MOMI-connection in MIMD-supercomputers

Much attention is given to the problem how to avoid transfer-bound processing in MIMD supercomputers. The interactivity between processing tasks is compared with the interconnectability that exists between processors in the case of a multi-bus communication system. For this purpose quantitative measures are introduced for both the task interactivity and the processor interconnectability.For a MIMD computer with p processors and p busses the asymptotic speed-up is proportional to p both for tightly and loosely coupled tasks. For tightly coupled tasks a still larger speed-up can be achieved by taking more than p busses.For a MIMD computer with p processors in the case of 2-level parallelization considerably more speed-up can be obtained, but that requires at the 2nd level of parallelization p powerful interconnects (one per processor). Full processor interconnectability is ideal in the sense that no queueing problems can arise. In case of 1-level parallelization with p processors full interconnectability requires p² (one-word wide) interconnections. In the Delft Parallel Processor (DPP), instead of using a p²-tuple bus communication system, for this purpose a multibroadcast system with p data channels has been applied, where each data channel has p taps (one per processor) and each processor has a p-tuple accessible input memory (one input per channel). In the DPP84 (with maximally 16 processors) electric data channels have been applied. But for technical reasons for large p full interconnectability is only feasible by the way of optical data channels. This optical interconnect must be provided with electro-to-optic (E/O) and opto-to-electric (O/E) transducers as long as optical computing is not yet practically possible. The resulting Electro-Optic Communication System (EOCS) will be implemented in the DPP8X. The EOCS will consist of a combination of guided-wave and a p-tuple way starcoupler technique. Special E/O and O/E transducers have to be developed as well. An intelligent Opto-Electric logic element, the POWERRAM, is realized as a prototype p-tuple accessible input memory IC, capable to accept the multidata stream at the input of a processor in one clock cycle.     

DNA algorithms for fractal construction—an application of the SInsDelP system

The SInsDelP system with single contextual insertion and (u, v)-contextual deletion was introduced by Murugan and Easwarakumar. In this paper we discuss an application of the SInsDelP system for the construction of fractal images. The fractal images considered are of self-similar types, such as Koch Snowflake, Anti-Koch Snowflake, Fractal Tree and Sierpinski Triangle. This is performed in two stages. A DNA sequence for the fractal image is generated first by a sequence of SInsDelP operations, and then the respective image is produced through the specialized recognition algorithm.     

Estimation of behavioral user state based on eye gaze and head pose—application in an e-learning environment

Most e-learning environments which utilize user feedback or profiles, collect such information based on questionnaires, resulting very often in incomplete answers, and sometimes deliberate misleading input. In this work, we present a mechanism which compiles feedback related to the behavioral state of the user (e.g. level of interest) in the context of reading an electronic document; this is achieved using a non-intrusive scheme, which uses a simple web camera to detect and track the head, eye and hand movements and provides an estimation of the level of interest and engagement with the use of a neuro-fuzzy network initialized from evidence from the idea of Theory of Mind and trained from expert-annotated data. The user does not need to interact with the proposed system, and can act as if she was not monitored at all. The proposed scheme is tested in an e-learning environment, in order to adapt the presentation of the content to the user profile and current behavioral state. Experiments show that the proposed system detects reading- and attention-related user states very effectively, in a testbed where children’s reading performance is tracked.

Modelling stress–strain and volume change behaviour of unsaturated soils using an evolutionary based data mining technique,an incremental approach

Modelling of unsaturated soils has been the subject of many research works in the past few decades. A number of constitutive models have been developed to describe the complex behaviour of unsaturated soils. However, many have proven to be unable to predict all aspects of the behaviour of unsaturated soils in a unified manner. In this paper an alternative new approach is presented, based on the Evolutionary Polynomial Regression (EPR) technique. EPR is a data mining technique that generates a transparent and structured representation of the behaviour of a system directly from input test data. The capabilities of the proposed EPR-based framework in modelling of behaviour of unsaturated soils are illustrated using results from a comprehensive set of triaxial tests on samples of compacted unsaturated soils from literature. The main parameters used for modelling of the behaviour of unsaturated soils during shearing are initial water content, initial dry density, mean net stress, axial strain, suction, volumetric strain, and deviator stress. The model developed is used to predict different aspects of the behaviour of unsaturated soils for conditions not used in the model building process. The results show that the proposed approach provides a useful framework for modelling of unsaturated soils. The merits and advantages of the proposed approach are highlighted.     

Revealing perceptual–cognitive expertise in law enforcement: an iterative approach using verbal-report,temporal-occlusion,and option-generation methods

Despite the attention garnered in the media about police use of force, there have been relatively few investigations of perceptual–cognitive skill in law enforcement using the naturalistic-decision-making approach. In this paper, we provide an overview of a series of four studies in which we investigated experience-based differences in police officer decision making in complex, rapidly unfolding, and uncertain situations. In these naturalistic situations, decision makers must first generate—for themselves—at least one option before intervening or taking action. We sought to test hypotheses about option-generation processes derived from apparently competing theories of skilled decision making and expert sensemaking. These two theories can be considered as representing two phases of decision making: skilled decision making focuses on selecting an appropriate course of action, while expert sensemaking addresses situational assessment and diagnosis. In the studies, we employed a variety of cognitive task analysis techniques, including experiments using option-generation and temporal-occlusion methods and process tracing measures (e.g., retrospective verbal reports, video-stimulated recall). Based on the data, we conclude that the two theoretical approaches—skilled decision making and expert sensemaking—appear to be complementary rather than competing. When the situation is relatively familiar, officers can quickly recognize the situation and identify an appropriate response. However, when situations are less familiar, more complex, and/or more uncertain, officers may need to engage in rapid sensemaking or situational diagnosis so that they can quickly comprehend the situation. We discuss implications for law enforcement officers and for law enforcement training.     

Optimization of friction stir welding using space mapping and manifold mapping—an initial study of thermal aspects

The aim of this paper is to optimize a thermal model of a friction stir welding process by finding optimal welding parameters. The optimization is performed using space mapping and manifold mapping techniques in which a coarse model is used along with the fine model to be optimized. Different coarse models are applied and the results and computation time are compared to gradient based optimization using the full model. It is found that the use of space and manifold mapping reduces the computational cost significantly due to the fact that fewer function evaluations and no fine model gradient information is required.     

An integrated new product development framework – an application on green and low-carbon products

Companies need to be innovative to survive in today's competitive market; thus, new product development (NPD) has become very important. This research constructs an integrated NPD framework for developing new products. In stage one, customer attributes (CAs) and engineering characteristics (ECs) for developing products are collected, and fuzzy interpretive structural modelling (FISM) is applied to understand the relationships among these critical factors. Based on quality function deployment (QFD), a house of quality is then built, and fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) is adopted to calculate the relative importance of ECs. In stage two, fuzzy failure mode and effects analysis (FFMEA) is applied to understand the potential failures of the ECs and to determine the importance of ECs with respect to risk control. In stage three, a goal programming (GP) model is constructed to consider the outcome from the FANP-QFD, FFMEA and other objectives, in order to select the most important ECs. Due to pollution and global warming, environmental protection has become an important topic. With both governments and consumers developing environmental consciousness, successful green and low-carbon NPD provides an important competitive advantage, enabling the survival or renewal of firms. The proposed framework is implemented in a panel manufacturing firm for designing a green and low-carbon product.     

Model referenced monitoring and diagnosis — application to the manufacturing system

This paper describes “model referenced monitoring and diagnosis” a systematic method of monitoring and diagnosis. In this method, a model is used either to generate standard values for the monitoring parameters, or to derive a systematic diagnostic algorithm. As examples of the model referenced monitoring in manufacturing systems, the cutting torque prediction system and tool breakage detection system are described. In the former example, the cutting torque values at each point in time, which can be used as reference values in monitoring the abnormal cutting condition, are evaluated based on a solid modelling system. In the latter, an autoregressive (AR) model is adaptively fitted to the cutting torque signal in order to detect any sudden change in the cutting state due to tool breakage. Two examples are also described for the case of model referenced diagnosis; the diagnosis of sequentially controlled machines using the state graph model, and diagnosis by means of a failure causality model. The former method is applicable to machines controlled by sequence control. Based on the state graph of the machine and the controller, the diagnostic programme can be generated in combination with the control programme. The failure causality model represents the propagation of the effects of failures in the machine. All possible combinations of failure causes are obtained by solving the simultaneous Boolean equations derived from the model.