Modeling preventive maintenance of manufacturing processes with probabilistic Boolean networks with interventions

Recent developments in intelligent manufacturing have validated the use of probabilistic Boolean networks (PBN) to model failures in manufacturing processes and as part of a methodology for Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA). This paper expands the application of PBNs in manufacturing processes by proposing the use of interventions in PBNs to model an ultrasound welding process in a preventive maintenance (PM) schedule, guiding the process to avoid failure and extend its useful work life. This bio-inspired, stochastic methodology uses PBNs with interventions to model manufacturing processes under a PM schedule and guides the evolution of the network, providing a new mechanism for the study and prediction of the future behavior of the system at the design phase, assessing future performance, and identifying areas to improve design reliability and system resilience. A process engineer designing manufacturing processes may use this methodology to create new or improve existing manufacturing processes, assessing risk associated with them, and providing insight into the possible states, operating modes, and failure modes that can occur. The engineer can also guide the process and avoid states that can result in failure, and design an appropriate PM schedule. The proposed method is applied to an ultrasound welding process. A PBN with interventions model was simulated and verified using model checking in PRISM, generating data required to conduct inferential statistical tests to compare the effects of probability of failures between the PBN and PBN with Interventions models. The obtained results demonstrate the validity of the proposed methodology.     

Metal ion sorption properties of water-insoluble resins based on sodium styrene sulfonate and different comonomers

A set of water-insoluble resins based on sodium styrene sulfonate and different comonomers were synthesized. The resins poly(mono-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl succinate-co-sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) P(MOES-co-SSNa), poly(2-acrylamido glycolic acid-co-sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) P(AGA-co-SSNa), poly(acrylamide-co-sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) P(AAm-co-SSNa), and poly(2-(dimethylamine)ethyl acrylate-co-sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) P(DMAEA-co-SSNa) were synthesized by solution radical polymerization. The metal ion retention properties were studied by batch procedure for Cd(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), and Hg(II). Resins performance was compared with a poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSSNa) resin in order to evaluate the effect of comonomer on sorption properties. The effect of pH, time, temperature, and maximum retention capacity were studied. In addition, sorption experiments were carried out under competitive ion conditions to study the selectivity of resins. The resins P(AAm-co-SSNa) and P(AGA-co-SSNa), showed the most important differences compared with PSSNa resin, the former present higher sorption and the latter presented selectivity for Hg(II) at pH 2.     

Poly(sodium 4‐styrene sulfonate) and poly(2‐acrylamido glycolic acid) polymer–clay ion exchange resins with enhanced mechanical properties and metal ion retention

This research presents the synthesis of novel nanocomposite ion exchange resins based on poly(sodium 4‐styrene sulfonate) and poly(2‐acrylamido glycolic acid). Nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ radical polymerization using organic modified montmorillonite as filler and different clay contents. Loaded resins showed improvements in mechanical properties compared with unloaded resins: specifically, when the nominal montmorillonite content was 2.5 wt%, poly(sodium 4‐styrene sulfonate) nanocomposite increased its shear modulus from 323 to 910 Pa and doubled its elastic recovery ratio, and the yield point was almost 20 times higher than for unloaded resins. In the case of metal ion retention, the effect of pH and clay content were studied for Cd(II), Pb(II), Cu(II), Cr(III) and Al(III) by a batch procedure. Results showed high efficiency, reaching over 80% after only 1 h of contact. Poly(2‐acrylamido glycolic acid) presented a higher pH dependence than poly(sodium 4‐styrene sulfonate). In addition, it was observed that montmorillonite contributes to retention capacity from the increase in distribution coefficients for loaded resins compared with unloaded resins. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of fructooligosaccharide on nutritional parameters and mineral bioavailability in rats

The effect of fructooligosaccharide on protein digestibility and mineral absorption was studied in rats fed diets containing 5 g kg^?1 fructooligosaccharide, 5 g kg^?1 cellulose/fructooligosaccharide (1:1) or 5 g kg^?1 cellulose as a source of dietary fibre. Addition of cellulose/fructooligosaccharide or fructooligosaccharide to the diet did not significantly modify the daily food intake and food efficiency. However, the fructooligosaccharide‐fed group showed a significant decrease in body weight gain compared with cellulose‐fed groups. Faecal excretion was significantly lower when there was fructooligosaccharide intake, despite there being no significant differences in cellulose‐fed groups. Intake of fructooligosaccharide produced an increase in caecal content and an enlargement of the caecal wall. This trophic effect could be attributed to short‐chain fatty acids produced from the anaerobic fermentation of fructooligosaccharide by intestinal bacteria. Cellulose/fructooligosaccharide enhanced the apparent absorption and apparent retention of Ca, Mg, Zn and Fe. Fructooligosaccharide‐fed rats experienced an increase in apparent absorption and apparent retention of Mg compared with cellulose‐fed rats. Fructooligosaccharide intake at the lowest dose was enough to provide a desirable effect on mineral bioavailability in rats without any modification of nutritional parameters. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Nutrients and antinutritional factors in faba beans as affected by processing

 The influence on the nutrients content (soluble sugars, starch, dietary fibre and calcium) and antinutritional factors (α-galactosides and phytic acid) of faba beans (Vicia faba, L. major) of soaking in different solutions (distilled water, citric acid, and sodium bicarbonate solutions), cooking the presoaked seeds, dry-heating and germination have been studied. Soaking brought about a decrease in starch, sucrose, fructose, α-galactoside, dietary fibre and calcium content. Glucose was detected in soaked faba beans and soaking did not modify the phytic acid content. Cooking the presoaked faba beans produced a slight decrease in starch, and caused a general drop in α-galactosides, dietary fibre, calcium and phytic acid, with the exception of seeds presoaked in sodium bicarbonate in which cooking did not cause any appreciable changes in comparison with the unprocessed faba beans. Germination caused a sharp reduction in α-galactoside and phytic acid content after 6 days, whilst starch and dietary fibre decreased slightly. Calcium, however, enjoyed a slight increment during germination which was related to the decrease in the content of hemicellulose and phytic acid. Dry-heating caused a noticeable reduction in all the nutrients and antinutritional factors investigated. Of all the treatments studied, germination appears to be the best processing method to obtain nutritive faba bean flour, since it caused a minor decrease in starch content (15% loss), the largest α-galactoside and phytic acid removal (94% and 45%, respectively) and provided an appreciable amount of dietary fibre. Received: 21 December 1997 / Revised version: 19 February 1998     

Digestive utilisation of protein and amino acids from raw and heated lentils by growing rats

The effect of autoclave treatment on the digestive utilisation of protein and amino acids from lentils was studied in growing rats. Twenty 3‐week‐old Wistar rats (mean live weight 59 ± 4.8 g) were fed two experimental diets (n = 10 rats per diet) consisting of raw lentils (Lens culinaris M, var vulgaris, cv magda‐20) (diet RL) or lentils autoclaved at 120 °C and 1 atm for 30 min (diet AL). An additional group of 10 animals was fed a low‐protein (4%) diet and used to estimate metabolic nitrogen and amino acid excretion. Autoclaving caused a 76% reduction in the levels of trypsin inhibitor activity, but failed to improve the faecal digestive utilisation of protein or total amino acids. Lowest essential amino acid true digestibility in diets RL and AL was found for cysteine (60.2 vs 60.1%) and methionine (68.9 vs 66.6%). The protein digestibility‐corrected amino acid score was 71.2 and 66.4% and the availability of sulphur amino acid‐corrected amino acid score was 57.1 and 52.1% for diets RL and AL respectively. Sulphur amino acids were the first limiting ones. Overall, autoclave treatment did not improve protein or total amino acid digestibility from lentils, but caused a significant improvement in leucine and lysine digestibility and a significant decrease in the digestive utilisation of tyrosine and methionine. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

SMA Numerical Modeling Versus Experimental Results: Parameter Identification and Model Prediction Capabilities

In this work, we briefly review the one-dimensional version of a well-known phenomenological shape memory alloy (SMA) constitutive model able to represent the main macroscopic SMA macroscopic behaviors (i.e., superelasticity and shape-memory effect). We then show how to identify the needed parameters from experimental results and, in particular, from strain-temperature tests. We finally use the obtained material parameters to test the prediction properties of the model, comparing numerical results with some experiments (different from those used for the identification), and we discuss model capabilities and further required enhancements.     

IRT-Related Factor Analytic Procedures for Testing the Equivalence of Paper-and-Pencil and Internet-Administered Questionnaires.

This article describes a general item response theory-based factor analytic procedure that allows assessment of the equivalence between 2 administrative modes of a questionnaire: paper and pencil, and Internet based. The theoretical relations between the present procedure and other methods used in previous empirical research are shown, and the advantages of the procedure are discussed. An empirical application based on 2 personality questionnaires is given, and the results are compared with the results of using traditional procedures for assessing equivalence. The substantive implications of the results, as well as suggestions for further research and methodology, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)