Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Applicability of Analytical Supply Chain Disruption Models for Selecting the Optimum Contingency Strategies for Electronic Supply Chain Disruption Management: A Comparison With Simulation

Due to the nature of the manufacturing and support activities associated with long life cycle products, the parts that products required need to be dependably and consistently available. However, the parts that comprise long lifetime products are susceptible to a variety of supply chain disruptions. In order to minimize the impact of these unavoidable disruptions to production, manufacturers can implement proactive mitigation strategies. Two mitigation strategies in particular have been proven to decrease the penalty costs associated with disruptions: second sourcing and buffering. Second sourcing involves selecting two distinct suppliers from which to purchase parts over the life of the part’s use within a product or organization. Second sourcing reduces the probability of part unavailability (and its associated penalties), but at the expense of qualification and support costs for multiple suppliers. An alternative disruption mitigation strategy is buffering (also referred to as hoarding). Buffering involves stocking enough parts in inventory to satisfy the forecasted part demand (for both manufacturing and maintenance requirements) for a fixed future time period so as to offset the impact of disruptions. Careful selection of the mitigation strategy (second sourcing, buffering, or a combination of the two) is key, as it can dramatically impact a part’s total cost of ownership.This paper studies the effectiveness of traditional analytical models compared to a simulation-based approach for the selection of an optimal disruption mitigation strategy. A verification case study was performed to check the accuracy and applicability of the simulation-based model. The case study results show that the simulation model is capable of replicating results from operations research models, and overcomes significant scenario restrictions that limit the usefulness of analytical models as decision-making tools. Four assumptions, in particular, severely limit the realism of most analytical models but do not constrain the simulation-based model. These limiting assumptions are: 1) no fixed costs associated with part orders, 2) infinite-horizon, 3) perfectly reliable backup supplier, and 4) disruptions lasting full ordering periods (as opposed to fractional periods). Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Factory physics : foundations of manufacturing management

PART I THE LESSONS OF HISTORY1. Manufacturing in America 2. Inventory Control: From EOQ to RDP 3. The MRP Crusade4. The JIT Revolution5. What Went WrongPART II FACTORY PHYSICS6. A Science of Manufacturing7. Basic Factory Dynamics8. Variability Basics9. The Corrupting Influence of Variability10. Push and Pull Production Systems 11. The Human Element in Operations Management 12. Total Quality Manufacturing PART III PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE13. A Pull Planning Framework 14. Shop Floor Control15. Production Scheduling 16. Aggregate and Workforce Planning 17. Supply Chain Management 18. Capacity Management 19. Synthesis-Pulling It All Together References Index
Finite element analysis of an optimized hybrid stiffened plate

This paper is devoted to the modal analysis and buckling of a stiffened plate with simple supported conditions within the framework of shell theory. The main objective of the finite element analysis is to investigate the natural frequencies of this stiffened structure subjected to uniaxial compression on two opposite edges of the plate. In this study, the numerical analysis is performed for such a design of the stiffed plate which has already been optimized for uniaxial compression, some design variables and the cost of welding, and the objective function to be minimized is defined as the material cost. The various Young’s modulus of the base plate and the stiffeners are given thus assuming that the plate parts (the base plate and ribs) were made of different steel materials.
Performance Assessment of a Prototype Trapped Vortex Combustor Concept for Gas Turbine Application

GE Aircraft Engines and the Air Force Research Laboratory have been jointly developing a novel combustor technology concept for potential application in gas turbine engines. This novel combustor concept is known as the Trapped Vortex Combustor (TVC). The GE and AFRL team began work on the design of a prototypical TVC test rig in 1996. This effort represents the extension of earlier AFRL research with the TVC [1,2]. This work led to the fabrication of a 30.5 cm wide rectangular sector test rig capable of operation at inlet pressures up to 20.5 atmospheres, inlet temperatures up to 900 K, and to stoichiometric discharge conditions. Testing of the rectangular sector rig was initiated in mid year 1998. The performance evaluation performed on the test rig covered all aspects of gas turbine combustor performance and operability including ground start ignition, lean blowout, altitude re-light, emissions, combustion efficiency, exit gas temperature profile, and structural metal temperatures. Test rig operating conditions provided simulations of current commercial and military aircraft gas turbine engine cycles as well as some advanced engine cycles, with JP-8 type fuel. Data was also obtained at selected operating conditions for the LM2500 marine Navy duty cycle using DL-1 type fuel. The prototype rig has been operated for a total of approximately 300 run hours. 60 hours of run time at pressures exceeding 13.6 atmospheres and temperatures exceeding 675 K. 12 hours of run time at pressures exceeding 15.3 atmospheres, temperatures exceeding 780 K. Over 700 data points were obtained. The assessment of the demonstrated performance revealed the prototype TVC test rig had exceeded all initial expectations. Demonstrated ignition, blow out, and altitude re-light were up to 50% improved over current technology conventional swirl stabilized combustors. NOx emissions were in the range from 40% to 60% of the 1996 ICAO standard. Combustion efficiency at or above 99% was maintained over a 40% wider operating range than a conventional combustor. The performance and operability achieved with this prototype test rig has clearly demonstrated the validity and potential performance payoffs of the TVC concept. This paper will summarize the TVC rectangular sector test rig configurations evaluated as part of this test program, and the performance and operability achieved.Copyright © 2001 by ASME
Effect of Temperature Variations across the Lubricant Films in the Theory of Hydrodynamic Lubrication

The effects of temperature variations within the thickness of the oil film, and the ensuing viscosity variations which are thought to be responsible for the lift in parallel surface bearings, are studied with reference to the classical case of an infinitely wide inclined pad. A numerical solution for a typical bearing is obtained for different thermal boundary conditions and a comparison with results of the classical analysis is made. Very considerable differences from the classical analysis are obtained. Some results of the heat balance in bearings are presented.
Skill changes in maintenance work in British Telecom: an alternative view

Here the author presents an alternative view of recent changes in skilled work in British Telecom to that provided by Roger Penn in a recent article in NTWE. In particular, he argues for a detailed analysis of changing work tasks, a clear definition of skill, and a greater focus on the changing distribution of tasks and skills between different occupational groups.
VEHICLE-BRIDGE INTERACTION

SUMMARY With the emergence of high-speed trains, dynamic loads on bridges have changed. A method for estimation of the time-dependent vehicle-bridge interaction forces has been developed in the present paper. The increase (or decrease) of the bridge response due to dynamic effects is determined. The moving constant-force problem is reviewed in some detail. Results obtained by the present method for the moving-mass problem are compared with existing experimental and theoretical results as reported in the literature. A parametric study of bridge responses is made. The parameters varied are the vehicle speed, the ratio of vehicle mass to bridge mass, the ratio of vehicle eigenfrequency to bridge eigenfrequency, and the relative damping of the vehicle. Finally, the influence of an initial bridge deflection is discussed.
Effect of Correlated Color Temperature and S/P-ratio of LED Light Sources on Reaction Time in Off-axis Vision and Mesopic Lighting Levels

ABSTRACT The increasing replacement of traditional lamps by LED technology opens the door to research into visual performance under their multiple possible spectral power distributions. The correlated color temperature and S/P-ratio are considered parameters characterizing the spectrum of a light source. The lack of firm conclusions motivates the analysis in this work of the influence of LED spectrum, which is defined by the correlated color temperature and S/P-ratio, on a representative night-driving task, visual reaction time. A two-channel and four primaries photostimulator was used as set-up for measuring reaction time in off-axis vision, at mesopic illumination conditions and for a range of stimulus contrasts. The experimental conditions included a wide range of correlated color temperatures, ranging from 1870 to 6350 K, and different S/P-ratios for the same temperature. A total of 16 young subjects participated in the experiments. The results show significant shorter reaction times for those conditions in which the spectrum has greater short-wavelength content. This is corroborated by the greater stimulation of rods and S-cones obtained in the calculation of their excitation level. However, the definition of the spectrum using the correlated color temperature and S/P-ratio does not equally define the results obtained. For the same temperature, a higher S/P-ratio provides lower reaction time values, but for the same S/P ratio reaction time is independent of the temperature. LED light sources with high short-wavelength content provide faster response on the basis of a greater excitation of rods and S-cones. The S/P-ratio is the best parameter to justify the effect of spectrum on reaction time, as considers the spectral sensitivity of the visual system in its calculation.
Critical Success Factors of Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation in Construction: Case of Turkey

AbstractConstruction is considered as one of the highly fragmented, inefficient, and low-performing industries. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have been used to overcome such problems. However, due to a number of technical and organizational barriers, ERP implementation is very challenging. The major objective of the research reported in this paper is to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) of ERP implementation in the construction industry in developing countries. In this respect, based on an extensive literature review, 14 CSFs were identified and a questionnaire survey was conducted to analyze the role of those CSFs on the performance of ERP implementation. The data is collected from 90 construction firms from Turkey. The statistical analysis results show that top management support and commitment, clear goals and objectives, project team competence, effectiveness of the project leader, and cooperation between team members are the most significant drivers of success. Factor analysis .
Intelligent infrastructure-based queue-end warning system for avoiding rear impacts

Accident avoidance is a very important part of enhancing road safety. The development of a queue-end warning system for highway work zones which automatically predicts queue-end location and alerts drivers so that rear-end collisions can be avoided has been described. In the absence of the widespread use of in-vehicle collision warning devices, dynamic messages about queue-end, displayed on portable variable message sign (PVMS) boards, are necessary for improving road safety. Although queues at selected locations along the road can be detected by the simple use of sensors, the changing nature of queue length would require numerous sensors to find the end of traffic queue. The reported queue-end warning system is based on a combination of sensors for detecting traffic and an artificial neural network (ANN) model-based algorithm for predicting queue-end location and issuing warning messages displayed on PVMS. Following the characterisation of work zones in terms of functional areas and geometrics, a microsimulator was calibrated and validated. Simulations were carried out next with traffic sensors and queue counter looped-in and the resulting data were used for training and validation of ANN models for queue length prediction. An automated information system was synthesised that integrates traffic sensors, ANN models, PVMS and potential links with other media. Selected results of ANN models illustrate their application in the queue-end warning system.
Determination of the Equation of State for the Detonation Products of Emulsion Explosives

In this workcylinder testswere performed for two emulsion explosives (Emulinit 8L and Emulinit GM1) used in the mining industry. Based on the results of the tests, the detonation pressure and energy of these explosives were estimated. The detonation characteristics obtained, the profile of the expanding copper tube and the results of the numerical simulation enabled the constants in the JWL(JonesWilkins-Lee) equation of state to be determine for the detonation products of these two explosives.
The Behavior of Tip Clearance Flow at Near-Stall Condition in a Transonic Axial Compressor Rotor

It is known that the tip clearance flow is dominant and very important flow phenomena in axial compressor aerodynamics because the tip clearance flow has a great influence on the stability as well as aerodynamic loss of compressors. Our goal is to clarify the behavior of tip clearance flow at near-stall condition in a transonic axial compressor rotor (NASA Rotor 37). In the present work, steady and unsteady RANS simulations were performed to investigate vortical flow structures and separated flow field near the tip for several different clearance cases. Boundary layer separation on the casing wall and blade suction surface was investigated in detail for near-stall and stall condition. In order to understand such complicated flow field, vortex cores were identified using the critical point theory and a topology of the three-dimensional separated and vortical flows was analyzed. In the nominal clearance case, the breakdown of tip leakage vortex has occurred at a near-stall operating condition because of the interaction of the vortex with the shock wave, leading to a large blockage and unsteadiness in the rotor tip. On the other hand, the calculation with no clearance suggested that the separation on the suction surface was different from that with the nominal clearance. Since the shock wave induced the boundary layer separation on the blade suction surface in the transonic axial compressor rotor, focal-type critical points appeared on the suction surface near the tip at near-stall condition.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Diclofenac Administered After the Initiation of Luteinizing Hormone Surge Increases Live Births in Natural-Cycle IVF-ET: A Cohort Study

Background: Diclofenac inhibits follicle rupture and its use in natural-cycle in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) has been reported to increase oocyte retrieval chances but has not been reported to improve the therapeutic outcome (live birth). The question is whether the therapeutic utility of diclofenac is demonstrable when administered to a subgroup of women with an imminent LH surge, a higher risk group for premature ovulation.Methods: Infertile women indicated for the natural-cycle IVF-ET between September 2014 and February 2015 (n=183) were recruited in a private infertility clinic and diclofenac use (50 mg suppositories, thrice every 8 h before oocyte retrieval) was offered when their serum LH level was ≥14.0 IU/L on an LH-triggering day (n=137). Of the 137 women, 108 electively used diclofenac and 29 did not. Oocytes were retrieved from both dominant and subordinate nondominant follicles and were fertilized. The resulting blastocysts were frozen, thawed, and transferred one by one in the following spontaneous ovulatory or hormone replacement cycles. Results: Cumulative live birth rate (after the single oocyte retrieval) was calculated from the dominant and nondominant follicles. The live birth rate from dominant follicles was higher in the diclofenac group (21/108, 19%) than in the no diclofenac group (1/29, 3%) (P < .05). Conversely, the live birth rate from nondominant follicles, which had no potential for ovulation, was not different between the diclofenac group (13/108, 12%) and the no diclofenac group (3/29, 10%). Conclusion: Diclofenac improved the live birth rate from dominant follicles when it was administered to women with an imminent LH surge. However, diclofenac did not affect the live birth rate from non-dominant follicles which were not at risk of follicle rupture.
The influence of the operating environment on manual and automated load-haul-dump machines: a fault tree analysis

The automated load-haul-dump (LHD) machines have the potential to increase productivity and improve safety, but there are many issues to be considered when optimising the operation of LHDs. Today's focus on improved equipment reliability is part of the problem, and another difficult issue is the special conditions and constraints of the operating environment. For automated LHDs, the latter issue is even more important, as humans have been removed from the production area and are not close by to solve the problems. The purpose of this paper is to find the causes of LHD idle time and to study their impact on the operation of LHDs. In this study, real-time process data and maintenance data from an underground mine in Sweden have been refined and integrated. The study takes into account the complexity of the mine environment, discusses the factors to be considered when optimising and automating the operation and uses fault tree analysis (FTA) to analyse the idle time.
Prevalence and risk factors of subjective musculoskeletal symptoms among cooks in Taiwan

This study investigated musculoskeletal symptoms prevalence and risk factors for restaurant cooks in Taiwan. A cross-sectional survey of a convenient sample of 765 participants was conducted in 2009. The results showed that 652 (85.2%) participants reported that they had at least one musculoskeletal symptom within the previous year. The most common musculoskeletal symptoms-affected body sites included the shoulders (63.5%), neck (59.9%), and lower back (56.9%). Multiple logistic regression analysis suggested that frequent lifting of objects has a strong relationship with musculoskeletal symptoms of the neck (odds ratio, OR = 1.70), shoulders (OR = 1.70), upper back (OR = 1.58), lower back (OR = 1.75), elbow (OR = 1.61), fingers/wrists (OR = 1.68), hips/thighs (OR = 1.50), and knees (OR = 1.53). The working hours per day were associated with elbow (OR = 1.11), fingers/wrists (OR = 1.09), and knees (OR = 1.12). Female cooks had a higher risk of musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper back than male cooks (OR = 1.55). Higher body mass index was also related to musculoskeletal symptoms of the shoulders and ankles/feet. In conclusion, this study shows that cooks are at high risk for musculoskeletal symptoms, and some lifestyle and occupational factors are related to this higher prevalence among cooks.
Novel unilateral circuits for MMIC circulators

A circuit which is equivalent to a four-port circulator with one port terminated, called a quasi-circulator, is proposed. The quasi-circulator can replace a conventional circulator even though it is not a complete circulator. Examples of novel three-port unilateral circuit modules, called quasi-circulator modules, which are the main part of the quasi-circulator are presented to realize very wide band circulators in monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) form without using ferrite materials and external magnets. The proposed modules are composed of an active out-of-phase divider and an active in-phase combiner or an active in-phase divider and an active out-of-phase combiner. The modules have many variations. All are very small and operate over a very wide frequency range. Two types of quasi-circulator modules that have very broadband operation up to X or Ku band are demonstrated. A quasi-circulator is also demonstrated. It is shown how an active circulator is realized by quasi-circulator modules. >
FFT enabled ECC for WSN nodes without hardware multiplier support

: ECC is a popular cryptographic algorithm for key distribution in wireless sensor networks where power eﬀiciency is desirable. A power eﬀicient implementation of ECC without using hardware multiplier support was proposed earlier for wireless sensor nodes. The proposed implementation utilized the number theoretic transform to carry operands to the frequency domain, and conducted Montgomery multiplication, in addition to other finite field operations, in that domain. With this work, we perform in the frequency domain only polynomial multiplication and use the fast Fourier transform to carry operands between the time and frequency domains. Our ECC implementation over GF ((2 13 − 1) 13 ) on the MSP430 microcontroller implements multiplications without using a hardware multiplier. It achieves scalar multiplication with fixed and random points in only 0.89 s and 1.74 s, respectively. Our implementation achieves ECC point multiplication of fixed and random points 10% and 13% faster, and consuming 12% and 15% less energy, in comparison to the existing work.
Responses of Weedy Rice to Drought Stress at Germination and Seedling Stages

Drought is a world-spread problem seriously influencing grain production and quality, the loss of which is the total for other natural disasters, with increasing global climate change making the situation more serious. Rice is the staple food for more than 23% of world population, so rice anti-drought physiology study is of importance to rice production and biological breeding for the sake of coping with abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research is involved in this hot topic, but the pace of progress is not so large because of drought resistance being a multiple-gene-control quantitative character. On the other hand, stress adaptive mechanisms are quite different, with stress degree, time course, materials, soil quality status and experimental plots, thus increasing the complexity of the issue in question. Additionally, a little study is related to weedy rice.In order to investigate the effects of drought stress on germination and early seedling growth of weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea L.) and cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.), polyethyleneglycol-6000 (PEG-6000) are used to generate -1.33MPa and 0MPa water stress in a laboratory condition (28±3°C). Complete randomized design with three replications is used in the study. After 10 days of germination, shoot length, the longest root length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight and root numbers are measured; germination percentage, and root to shoot ratio are calculated. Germination index (GI), shoot length stress index (SLSI), root length stress index (RLSI) and dry matter stress index (DMSI) are used to evaluate the response of different genotypes to PEG-induced water stress. Results of ANOVA analysis show that responses of weedy rice accessions and cultivated rice varieties to water stress are significant different, demonstrating the germplasm of weedy rice and cultivated rice are diverse which enables us to screen the germplasm tolerant to drought stress.