Testing the Quality of Manufactured Disks and Balls

We consider the problem of testing the roundness of manufactured disks and balls using the finger probing model of Cole and Yap. The running time of our procedures depends on the quality of the object being considered. Quality is a parameter that is negative when the object is not sufficiently round and positive when it is. Quality values close to zero represent objects that are close to the boundary between sufficiently round and insufficiently round. When the object being tested is a disk and its center is known, we describe a procedure that uses O(n) probes and O(n) computation time. (Here n =| 1/q|, where q is the quality of the object.) When the center of the object is not known, a procedure using O(n) probes and O(n log n) computation time is described. When the object is a ball, we describe a procedure that requires O(n²) probes and O(n⁴) computation time. Lower bounds are also given that show that these procedures are optimal in terms of the number of probes used. These results extend previous results in two directions by relaxing some of the assumptions required by previous results and by extending these results for three-dimensional objects.     

The Irish dairy industry – Recent history and strategy,current state and future challenges

This study explores drivers and resulting changes in the structure and technical efficiency of Irish dairy farms from 2005 to 2018 (covering pre‐ and post‐milk quotas) during which milk production increased by 54%. Over this period, farm structure changed dramatically (fourfold increase in farmers milking >100 cows) and farmers improved technical efficiency and profitability and reduced the greenhouse gas emission intensity of milk produced. The impact of the adoption of key technologies at farm level and the contribution of strategic direction nationally (the Irish Government's Food Harvest 2020 Strategy) influencing this development are explored as are future sector challenges.     

Design improvement using process capability data

Historical process capability data (PCD) is commonly used during product design. Such data can be stored in a formal database known as a process capability database (PCDB). PCD is primarily used during product design to allocate tolerances or forecast and manage manufacturing variation. However using a PCDB for these purposes alone does not exploit its full potential. This paper describes a method by which PCD can be applied to predict product performance variation early in the design process, thus saving time and reducing subsequent redesign costs. More specifically it describes the use of PCD during the initial design stage to predict how the product will operate, in terms of functional reliability, after it has been manufactured. An illustrative example based on the design of an electrical connector is provided. In this case connector beam normal force is a strong indicator of connector reliability and the example shows how the variation of this normal force can be predicted during initial connector design.     

Aging and prospective memory: The influence of increased task demands at encoding and retrieval.

A feature of prospective memory tasks is that they tend to be embedded into other background activities. Two experiments examined how the demands of these background activities affect age differences in prospective memory. The first experiment showed that increasing the demands of the background activities (by adding a digit-monitoring task) significantly reduced prospective memory performance. Planned comparisons revealed that age differences in prospective memory were reliable only in the more demanding background condition. The second experiment revealed significant prospective memory declines when the demands were selectively increased at encoding for both younger and older adults. When the demands were selectively increased at retrieval, older adults were particularly affected. The authors propose a model that relies on both automatic retrieval processes and working memory resources to explain prospective memory remembering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconfiguring Triangulations with Edge Flips and Point Moves

We examine reconfigurations between triangulations and near-triangulations of point sets. We give new bounds on the number of point moves and edge flips sufficient for any reconfiguration. We show that with O(n log n) edge flips and point moves, we can transform any geometric near-triangulation on n points to any other geometric near-triangulation on n possibly different points. This improves the previously known bound of O(n²) edge flips and point moves. We then show that with a slightly more general point move, we can further reduce the complexity to O(n) point moves and edge flips.     

Wavelet Projections for Radiosity

One important goal of image synthesis research is to accelerate the process of obtaining realistic images using the radiosity method. Two important concepts recently introduced are the general framework of projection methods and the hierarchical radiosity method. Wavelet theory, which explores the space of hierarchical basis functions, offers an elegant framework that unites these two concepts and allows us to more formally understand the hierarchical radiosity method. Wavelet expansions of the radiosity kernel have negligible entries in regions where high frequency/fine detail information is not needed. A sparse system remains if these entries are ignored. This is similar to applying a lossy compression scheme to the form factor matrix. The sparseness of the system allows for asymptotically faster radiosity algorithms by limiting the number of matrix terms that need to be computed. The application of these methods to 3D environments is described in⁴. Due to space limitations in that paper many of the subtleties of the construction could not be explored there. In this paper we discuss some of the mathematical details of wavelet projections and investigate the application of these methods to the radiosity kernel of a flatland environment, where many aspect are easier to visualize.     

The retailer's perspective

As the last stop in the supply chain, retailers are in direct contact with the most important customer base: the man and woman in the street. Subsequently, they possess a detailed knowledge of the market and sophisticated concepts have emerged as a means of targeting potential customers. Tony Winfield suggests that manufacturers would benefit if they thought in terms of the same market segments.     

Survey of Controllable Suspension System for Off-road Vehicles

The controllable suspension system can improve the performances of off-road vehicles both on road and cross-country. So far, four controllable suspensions, that is, body height control, active, semi-active and slow-active suspensions, have been developed. For off-road vehicles, the slow-active suspension and the semi-active suspension which have controllable stiffness, damping and body height are more appropriate to use. For many years, some control methodologies for controllable suspension systems have been developed along with the development of modern control theory, and two or more original control methods are integrated as a new control method. Today, for military or civilian off-road vehicles, the R&D of controllable suspension systems is ongoing.     

Change in emotion-regulation strategy for women with metastatic breast cancer following supportive-expressive group therapy.

Four relatively independent emotion-regulation constructs (suppression of negative affect, restraint, repression, and emotional self-efficacy) were tested as outcomes in a randomized trial of supportive-expressive group therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer. Results indicate that report of suppression of negative affect decreased and restraint of aggressive, inconsiderate, impulsive, and irresponsible behavior increased in the treatment group as compared with controls over 1 year in the group. Groups did not differ over time on repression or emotional self-efficacy. This study provides evidence that emotion-focused therapy can help women with advanced breast cancer to become more expressive without becoming more hostile. Even though these aspects of emotion-regulation appear trait-like within the control group, significant change was observed with treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)