A method for predicting the probability of business network profitability

In the design phase of business collaboration, it is desirable to be able to predict the profitability of the business-to-be. Therefore, techniques to assess qualities such as costs, revenues, risks, and profitability have been previously proposed. However, they do not allow the modeler to properly manage uncertainty with respect to the design of the considered business collaboration. In many real collaboration projects today, uncertainty regarding the business’ present or future characteristics is so significant that ignoring it becomes problematic. In this paper, we propose an approach based on the predictive, probabilistic architecture modeling framework (P²AMF), capable of advanced and probabilistically sound reasoning about profitability risks. The P²AMF-based approach for profitability risk prediction is also based on the e³-value modeling language and on the object constraint language. The paper introduces the prediction and modeling approach, and a supporting software tool. The use of the approach is illustrated by means of a case study originated from the Stockholm Royal Seaport smart city project.     

Model development and validation: Co-combustion of residual char, gases and volatile fuels in the fast fluidized combustion chamber of a dual fluidized bed biomass gasifier

A one-dimensional steady state model has been developed for the combustion reactor of a dual fluidized bed biomass steam gasification system. The combustion reactor is operated as fast fluidized bed (riser) with staged air introduction (bottom, primary and secondary air). The main fuel i.e., residual biomass char (from the gasifier), is introduced together with the circulating bed material at the bottom of the riser. The riser is divided into two zones: bottom zone (modelled according to modified two phase theory) and upper zone (modelled with core-annulus approach). The model consists of sub-model for bed hydrodynamic, conversion and conservation. Biomass char is assumed to be a homogeneous matrix of C, H and O and is modelled as partially volatile fuel. The exit gas composition and the temperature profile predicted by the model are in good agreement with the measured value.     

机械总院研发立式冷摆动辗压机填补国内空白

机械科学研究总院北京机电研究所承担“2000KN立式冷摆动辗压机开发研究”项目通过验收,研发的2000kN矿式冷摆动辗压机具有自主知识产权,填补了国内空白,达到国际先进水平,人选“2013度中关村科技园区首台（套）重大技术装备试验、示范项目。     

我国成功研制机载大气污染探测系统

正中国科学院合肥物质科学研究院安徽光学精密机械研究所成功研制出1种用于机载、可快速获取区域环境大气污染成分的环境大气成分探测系统,并通过了安徽省科技成果转化服务中心组织的科技成果鉴定。该机载环境大气成分探测系统由大气环境激光雷达、差分吸收光谱仪和多角度偏振辐射计及主控管理器等4个子系统组成。研究人员研制出了国内首台探测气溶胶和云的双波长偏振航空遥感激光雷达。     

The challenge of predicting spinnability: Investigating benefits of adding lignin to cellulose solutions in air-gap spinning

In this study, the underlying mechanism for improved spinnability when mixing lignin and cellulose in solution was investigated. Co-processing of lignin and cellulose has previously been identified as a potential route for production of inexpensive and bio-based carbon fibers. The molecular order of cellulose contributes to the strength of the fibers and the high carbon content of lignin improves the yield during conversion to carbon fibers. The current work presents an additional benefit of combining lignin and cellulose; solutions that contain both lignin and cellulose could be air-gap spun at substantially higher draw ratios than pure cellulose solutions, that is, lignin improved the spinnability. Fibers were spun from solutions containing different ratios of lignin, from 0 to 70 wt%, and the critical draw ratio was determined at various temperatures of solution. The observations were followed by characterization of the solutions with shear and elongational viscosity and surface tension, but none of these methods could explain the beneficial effect of lignin on the spinnability. However, by measuring the take-up force it was found that lignin seems to stabilize against diameter fluctuations during spinning, and plausible explanations are discussed.     

Comparison of 2D simultaneous multi-slice and 3D GRASE readout schemes for pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling of cerebral perfusion at 3 T

Objective

In this perfusion magnetic resonance imaging study, the performances of different pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (PCASL) sequences were compared: two-dimensional (2D) single-shot readout with simultaneous multislice (SMS), 2D single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI) and multishot three-dimensional (3D) gradient and spin echo (GRASE) sequences combined with a background-suppression (BS) module.

Materials and methods

Whole-brain PCASL images were acquired from seven healthy volunteers. The performance of each protocol was evaluated by extracting regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) measures using an inline morphometric segmentation prototype. Image data postprocessing and subsequent statistical analyses enabled comparisons at the regional and sub-regional levels.

Results

The main findings were as follows: (i) Mean global CBF obtained across methods was were highly correlated, and these correlations were significantly higher among the same readout sequences. (ii) Temporal signal-to-noise ratio and gray-matter-to-white-matter CBF ratio were found to be equivalent for all 2D variants but lower than those of 3D-GRASE.

Discussion

Our study demonstrates that the accelerated SMS readout can provide increased acquisition efficiency and/or a higher temporal resolution than conventional 2D and 3D readout sequences. Among all of the methods, 3D-GRASE showed the lowest variability in CBF measurements and thus highest robustness against noise.

     

Influence of motion correction on the visual analysis of cardiac magnetic resonance stress perfusion imaging

Objective

Image post-processing corrects for cardiac and respiratory motion (MoCo) during cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) stress perfusion. The study analyzed its influence on visual image evaluation.

Materials and methods

Sixty-two patients with (suspected) coronary artery disease underwent a standard CMR stress perfusion exam during free-breathing. Image post-processing was performed without (non-MoCo) and with MoCo (image intensity normalization; motion extraction with iterative non-rigid registration; motion warping with the combined displacement field). Images were evaluated regarding the perfusion pattern (perfusion deficit, dark rim artifact, uncertain signal loss, and normal perfusion), the general image quality (non-diagnostic, imperfect, good, and excellent), and the reader’s subjective confidence to assess the images (not confident, confident, very confident).

Results

Fifty-three (non-MoCo) and 52 (MoCo) myocardial segments were rated as ‘perfusion deficit’, 113 vs. 109 as ‘dark rim artifacts’, 9 vs. 7 as ‘uncertain signal loss’, and 817 vs. 824 as ‘normal’. Agreement between non-MoCo and MoCo was high with no diagnostic difference per-patient. The image quality of MoCo was rated more often as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ (92 vs. 63%), and the diagnostic confidence more often as “very confident” (71 vs. 45%) compared to non-MoCo.

Conclusions

The comparison of perfusion images acquired during free-breathing and post-processed with and without motion correction demonstrated that both methods led to a consistent evaluation of the perfusion pattern, while the image quality and the reader’s subjective confidence to assess the images were rated more favorably for MoCo.

     

Innovative User Interfaces in Automation Engineering by Application of Usability Engineering Methods Shown by the Example of a Three-Dimensional Plant Representation

This article is the first of 3 that focus on user-centered design and usability in the field of industrial process control. This article starts with an introduction to this special domain and sets out the need for user-centered design of innovative user interfaces. The MediaPlant research project is then introduced. This project aims to generate innovative user interface solutions for process control. The usability engineering methods presented are well known in relation to office application software and were applied in the course of the project to (a) evaluate the potential and application fields of innovative multimedia technology and 3-dimensional information presentation (described at the end of this article), (b) define innovative user interface building blocks for process control that can be applied across sectors (described in the second article, Komischke & Burmester [this issue]) and (c) develop human-centered user interfaces for controlling paper recycling plants (described in the third article, Epstein & Beu [this issue]).     

Spatial inverse query processing

Traditional spatial queries return, for a given query object q, all database objects that satisfy a given predicate, such as epsilon range and k-nearest neighbors. This paper defines and studies inverse spatial queries, which, given a subset of database objects Q and a query predicate, return all objects which, if used as query objects with the predicate, contain Q in their result. We first show a straightforward solution for answering inverse spatial queries for any query predicate. Then, we propose a filter-and-refinement framework that can be used to improve efficiency. We show how to apply this framework on a variety of inverse queries, using appropriate space pruning strategies. In particular, we propose solutions for inverse epsilon range queries, inverse k-nearest neighbor queries, and inverse skyline queries. Furthermore, we show how to relax the definition of inverse queries in order to ensure non-empty result sets. Our experiments show that our framework is significantly more efficient than naive approaches.