Time efficiency and physical workload in manual picking from large containers

A common task in both trade and manufacturing, manual picking from large containers often involves considerable physical workload, as well as low efficiency and varying picking times. With quantitative evidence from an industrial setting, the paper provides detailed insights into how physical workload and picking time vary in picking from large containers. Components at a short horizontal distance from the picker and at the top instead of the bottom of the pallet are associated with shorter picking time and lower physical workload. Moreover, pallets tilted 45° towards the picker are associated with picking times that are significantly shorter on average and display smaller variations than horizontal pallets. The effects that the tilting of the pallets has on physical workload differs depending on component characteristics and from which section of the containers picking was performed. In the study, the greatest values of physical workload were observed for the tilted pallets.     

Efficient DVFS for low power HEVC software decoder

Low power design is a primary concern for modern battery-driven devices and video applications such as video decoding are often the most resource intensive applications of consumer electronics devices. Modern embedded processors are now proven to support video applications with software. They are also equipped with advanced features including Dynamic Voltage Frequency Scaling and Dynamic Power Management in order to reduce their power consumption. High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is the latest MPEG video standard offering state-of-the-art compression rates and advanced parallel processing solutions. This paper presents a low power real-time software architecture for a HEVC decoder. Software decoding fosters short time-to-market as it relies on software designs for a general purpose processor. The proposed architecture exploits the characteristics of the multicore ARM big.LITTLE System-on-a-Chip to provide a low power design. Extensive power measurements as well as real-time metrics are provided to compare the proposed architecture with state-of-the-art.     

The Influence of Multi-class Feature Selection on the Prediction of Diagnostic Phenotypes

In this work, we evaluate two schemes for incorporating feature selection processes in multi-class classifier systems on high-dimensional data of low cardinality. These schemes operate on the level of the systems’ individual base classifiers and therefore do not perfectly fit in the traditional categories of filter, wrapper and embedded feature selection strategies. They can be seen as two examples of feature selection networks that are only loosely related to the structure of the multi-class classifier system. The architectures are tested for their application in predicting diagnostic phenotypes from gene expression profiles. Their selection stability and the overall generalization ability are evaluated in \(10 \times 10\) cross-validation experiments with support vector machines, random forests and nearest neighbor classifiers on eight publicly available multi-class microarray datasets. Overall the feature selecting multi-class classifier systems were able to outperform their counterparts on at least five of eight datasets.     

Intrinsic subtype-associated changes in the plasma proteome in breast cancer

Breast cancers are classified into five intrinsic subtypes: Luminal subtype A, Luminal subtype B, HER2+, Basal, and Normal-like. In this study, we compared the plasma proteome of patients with Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2+, and Basal subtype with plasma from healthy individuals. Protein changes were considered significant if q-value (false discovery rate) was less than 5%. The highest number of changes in the plasma proteome was observed in patients with Luminal type B followed by Basal type breast cancers. The plasma proteome of Luminal A and HER2+ breast cancer patients did not differ significantly from healthy individuals. In Basal breast cancer, a significant number of plasma proteins were downregulated compared with healthy individuals. Acute phase-response proteins α-glycoprotein orosomucoid 1 and serum amyloid protein P were specifically upregulated in the plasma of Luminal B breast cancer patients, suggesting prevalence of low-grade inflammation. Proteins involved in immune response and free radical scavenging were downregulated in the plasma of Luminal B patients, which is in agreement with defective immune system observed in cancer patients. These results reveal intrinsic subtype specific changes in the plasma proteome that may influence tumor progression as well as the systemic effects of cancer.     

CONOPS and autonomy recommendations for VTOL small unmanned aerial system based on Hurricane Katrina operations

This field study examines vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) small unmanned aerial system (SUAS) operations conducted as part of an 8‐day structural inspection task following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. From the observations of the 32 flights spread over 12 missions, four key findings are identified for concept of operations (CONOPS) and the next level of artificial intelligence for rotary‐wing SUASs operating in cluttered urban environments. These findings are (1) the minimum useful standoff distance from inspected structures is 2–5 m, (2) omnidirectional sensor capabilities are needed for obstacle avoidance, (3) global positioning system waypoint navigation is unnecessary, and (4) these operations require three operators for one SUAS. Based on the findings and other observations, a crewing organization and flight operations protocol for SUASs are proposed. Needed directions in research and development are also discussed. These recommendations are expected to contribute to the design of platforms, sensors, and artificial intelligence as well as facilitate the acceptance of SUASs in the workplace. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Assessing the value of human factors initiatives

This paper examines the effectiveness of human factors initiatives and addresses some difficulties reported in calculating the value of such interventions. Company representatives and researchers applied a novel probabilistic assessment tool to estimate the financial impact of two macro-ergonomic projects. Key benefits of the company intranet project include reduced administrative and operational costs compared to a paper-based system; time savings for users asking for, providing and receiving information; and improved system usability and higher levels of usage. The communities of practice project demonstrates value through more efficient distribution and retrieval of information; reduced duplication by re-using technical knowledge to solve similar problems and improved sharing of good working practices, lessons and resources. The strengths of the tool include transparency, being quick and easy to learn and the collaborative workshop format, involving researches and key representatives from the organization. It makes a useful contribution to the challenge of assessing the financial value of ergonomic interventions, and, by exploiting its diagnostic and planning capabilities, could be extended to other domains.     

Children's posture and muscle activity at different computer display heights and during paper information technology use

OBJECTIVE: The 3-D posture and muscle activity in the neck and upper limb were assessed in children using high-, mid-, and book-level displays, which correspond to working conditions frequently observed when children interact with computers or books and paper. BACKGROUND: The 3-D posture and muscle activity of children reading and inputting data with computers and paper had not been previously assessed. METHODS: Twenty-four children aged 10 to 12 years and of normal height performed an interactive task involving reading from a book and writing on paper or reading from a computer display and inputting data using a mouse and keyboard. RESULTS: Head and neck flexion increased as the visual target was lowered. The high display resulted in mainly upper cervical relative extension, and the book display resulted in both upper and lower cervical flexion. The book condition resulted in greater cervical erector spinae and upper trapezius activity than did the mid and high conditions. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that a mid-level display may be more appropriate for children than a high display (e.g., when the display is placed on top of the central processing unit). The mid display also results in a more upright and symmetrical posture and lower mean muscle activity than does working with books and paper flat on the desk. APPLICATION: This study provides short-term laboratory study evidence for the formulation of guidelines for workstation design and adjustment for children. Use of computers by children is increasing, yet ergonomic guidelines lag behind those for adults.     

Preparation,characterisation and activity of an iron/sodalite catalyst for the oxidation of methane to methanol

An iron sodalite catalyst similar to that reported to have good selectivity for the oxidation of methane to methanol by Lyons et al. has been prepared, tested and characterised. In a limited range of temperature at 34 bar total pressure the selectivity of the catalyst to methanol is a little better than that of an empty silica glass reactor. Before reaction, X-ray powder diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy confirm the presence of Fe(III) in the sodalite framework. After reaction Mössbauer spectroscopy identifies Fe(II) and also small particles of iron(III) oxide, < 1 m in size.     

Biocorrosion Zoomed In: Evidence for Dealloying of Nanometric Intermetallic Particles in Magnesium Alloys

Biodegradable magnesium alloys generally contain intermetallic phases on the micro‐ or nanoscale, which can initiate and control local corrosion processes via microgalvanic coupling. However, the experimental difficulties in characterizing active degradation on the nanoscale have so far limited the understanding of how these materials degrade in complex physiological environments. Here a quasi‐in situ experiment based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is designed, which enables the initial corrosion attack at nanometric particles to be accessed within the first seconds of immersion. Combined with high‐resolution ex situ cross‐sectional TEM analysis of a well‐developed corrosion‐product layer, mechanistic insights into Mg‐alloys' degradation on the nanoscale are provided over a large range of immersion times. Applying this methodology to lean Mg–Zn?Ca alloys and following in detail the dissolution of their nanometric Zn‐ and Ca‐rich particles the in statu nascendi observation of intermetallic‐particle dealloying is documented for magnesium alloys, where electrochemically active Ca and Mg preferentially dissolve and electropositive Zn enriches, inducing the particles' gradual ennoblement. Based on electrochemical theory, here, the concept of cathodic‐polarization‐induced dealloying, which controls the dynamic microstructural changes, is presented. The general prerequisites for this new dealloying mechanism to occur in multicomponent alloys and its distinction to other dealloying modes are also discussed.     

Lessons learned in integrating sensing into autonomous mobile robot architectures

This article discusses the impact of sensing on each aspect of the design of the CSM autonomous mobile robot architecture, in particular, the overall control scheme, coordination of behaviours, and representation of different types of knowledge. The CSM/ deliberative reactive system uses three novel mechanisms for maintaining robust perception: a perceptual schema for behavioural sensing, a sensing manager to globally allocate sensing resources, and abstract navigation behaviours to coordinate diverse sensing demands in addition to simplifying motor control. Examples of the operation of each are taken from software developed for the two CSM mobile robots operating in indoor and outdoor task domains.