Downstream performance prediction for a manufacturing system using neural networks and six-sigma improvement techniques

Intelligent techniques have been applied in a range of industrial environments [Meziane F, Vadera S, Kobbacy K, Proudlove N. Intelligent systems in manufacturing: current developments and future prospects. Integrated Manuf Syst 2000;11(4):218–38; Stephanopoulos G, Han C. Intelligent systems in process engineering: a review. Comput Chem Eng, 1996;20 (6–7):743–91; Johnston AB, Maguire LP, McGinnity TM. Using business improvement techniques to inform the optimisation of production cycle time: an industrial case study. Proceedings of the IEEE SMC UK-RI Chapter conference 2004 on intelligent cybernetic systems. September 7–8, 2004 ISSN:1744–9189; Proudlove NC, Vadera S, Kobbacy KAH. Intelligent management systems in operations: A review. J Oper Res Soc, 1998;49(7):682–99] although their implementation is not the first choice of many process engineers. In contrast process engineers in a diverse range of manufacturing environments regularly deploy business improvement techniques, such as the six-sigma methodology. Such techniques aim to control and subsequently identify the relationship between the process inputs and outputs so that a process engineer can more accurately predict how the process output shall perform based on the system inputs. Factors such as cost reduction, automatic process control or simply process prediction may be the defining factors in establishing prediction models.     

WindSat radio-frequency interference signature and its identification over land and ocean

Radio-frequency interference (RFI) in the spaceborne multichannel radiometer data of WindSat and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS is currently being detected using a spectral difference technique. Such a technique does not explicitly utilize multichannel correlations of radiometer data, which are key information in separating RFI from natural radiations. Furthermore, it is not optimal for radiometer data observed over ocean regions due to the inherent large natural variability of spectral difference over ocean. In this paper, we first analyzed multivariate WindSat and Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data in terms of channel correlation, information content, and principal components of WindSat and SMMR data. Then two methods based on channel correlation were developed for RFI detection over land and ocean. Over land, we extended the spectral difference technique using principal component analysis (PCA) of RFI indices, which integrates statistics of target emission/scattering characteristics (through RFI indices) and multivariate correlation of radiometer data into a single statistical framework of PCA. Over ocean, channel regression of X-band can account for nearly all of the natural variations in the WindSat data. Therefore, we use a channel regression-based model difference technique to directly predict RFI-free brightness temperature, and therefore RFI intensity. Although model difference technique is most desirable, it is more difficult to apply over land due to heterogeneity of land surfaces. Both methods improve our knowledge of RFI signatures in terms of channel correlations and explore potential RFI mitigation, and thus provide risk reductions for future satellite passive microwave missions such as the NPOESS Conical Scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder. The new RFI algorithms are effective in detecting RFI in the C- and X-band Windsat radiometer channels over land and ocean.     

Visual search in complex displays: factors affecting conflict detection by air traffic controllers

Recent free flight proposals to relax airspace constraints and give greater autonomy to aircraft have raised concerns about their impact on controller performance. Relaxing route and altitude restrictions would reduce the regularity of traffic through individual sectors, possibly impairing controller situation awareness. We examined the impact of this reduced regularity in four visual search experiments that tested controllers' detection of traffic conflicts in the four conditions created by factorial manipulation of fixed routes (present vs. absent) and altitude restrictions (present vs. absent). These four conditions were tested under varying levels of traffic load and conflict geometry (conflict time and conflict angle). Traffic load and conflict geometry showed strong and consistent effects in all experiments. Color coding altitude also substantially improved detection times. In contrast, removing altitude restrictions had only a small negative impact, and removing route restrictions had virtually no negative impact. In some cases conflict detection was actually better without fixed routes. The implications and limitations of these results for the feasibility of free flight are discussed. Actual or potential applications include providing guidance in the selection of free flight operational concepts.     

A two-term MEDLINE search strategy for identifying randomized trials in obstetrics and gynecology

In this study, we examined whether endothelin (ET) plays a role in the short-term increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) after nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition with N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSPs). Experiments were performed by using Inactin-anesthetized male SHRSPs that were pretreated with chlorisondamine to block reflex autonomic cardiovascular effects. Injection of L-NAME (10 mg/kg, i.v.), but not D-NAME, produced rapid and marked increases (74 +/- 3 mm Hg) in MAP that were sustained for >1 h. In SHRSPs that were treated with the ET(A/B) receptor antagonist, L-754,142 (15 mg/kg + 15 mg/kg/h), L-NAME increased MAP by 45 +/- 4 mm Hg (p < 0.0001 compared with L-NAME alone). L-754,142 blocked pressor responses to big ET-1 by >90% but was without effect on pressor responses to norepinephrine. Plasma levels of ET-1 averaged 5 +/- 1 pg/ml in animals given vehicle and were slightly increased in animals given either L-NAME alone (7 +/- 2 pg/ml) or L-754,142 alone (7 +/- 2 pg/ml) but increased markedly when L-NAME and L-754,142 were given together (114 +/- 18 pg/ml). This may relate to an effect of L-754,142 to block ET-receptor-mediated clearance of ET-1. We conclude that ET plays a role in the short-term pressor response after NOS inhibition in SHRSPs.     

Swyer James syndrome following Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia: report of one case

Systemic vasculopathy in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 is rare. We describe a case of unusual cerebral and renal involvement in a young, 29-year-old patient, who died of a cerebral ischemic attack one year after our observation.     

Active Wegener's granulomatosis is associated with HLA-DR+ CD4+ T cells exhibiting an unbalanced Th1-type T cell cytokine pattern: reversal with IL-10

Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is a granulomatous vasculitis that affects the upper respiratory tract, lung, and kidney. Since T cells make up a significant proportion of cells infiltrating granulomatous lesions in WG, we investigated the proliferative response and cytokine profile of T cells from these patients. PBMCs were isolated from 12 patients with active WG, 7 patients with inactive disease, and 12 healthy normal donors. PBMCs from clinically active WG patients exhibited increased proliferation following stimulation with either PMA/ionomycin or anti-CD2 and anti-CD28, when compared with normal donors. In addition, these PBMCs exhibited increased secretion of IFN-gamma, but not of IL-4, IL-5, or IL-10. Furthermore, TNF-alpha production from PBMCs and CD4+ T cells isolated from patients with WG was elevated, when compared with healthy donors. In further studies, we investigated the ability of WG patients' monocytes to produce IL-12 and showed that both inactive and active patients produced increased amounts of IL-12. Finally, the in vitro IFN-gamma production by WG PBMC is inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by exogenous IL-10. These data suggest that T cells from WG patients overproduce IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, probably due to dysregulated IL-12 secretion, and that IL-10 may therefore have therapeutic implications for this disease.     

Diabetes education on wheels

Diabetes education programs remain underdeveloped in the pediatric setting, resulting in increased consumer complaints and financial liability for hospitals. The Diabetes Education on Wheels program was designed to provide comprehensive, outcome-oriented education for patients with juvenile diabetes. The primary goal of the program was to enhance patients' and family members' ability to achieve self-care in the home setting. The program facilitated sequential learning, improved consumer satisfaction, and promoted financial viability for the hospital.