Comparison between manual and automated techniques for assessment of data from dynamic antral scintigraphy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misiara, Gustavo P.; Troncon, Luiz E.A.; Secaf, Marie; Moraes, Eder R.

2008-01-01

This work aimed at determining whether data from dynamic antral scintigraphy (DAS) yielded by a simple, manual technique are as accurate as those generated by a conventional automated technique (fast Fourier transform) for assessing gastric contractility. Seventy-one stretches (4 min) of 'activity versus time' curves obtained by DAS from 10 healthy volunteers and 11 functional dyspepsia patients, after ingesting a liquid meal (320 ml, 437 kcal) labeled with technetium-99m ( 99m Tc)-phytate, were independently analyzed by manual and automated techniques. Data obtained by both techniques for the frequency of antral contractions were similar. Contraction amplitude determined by the manual technique was significantly higher than that estimated by the automated method, in both patients and controls. The contraction frequency 30 min post-meal was significantly lower in patients than in controls, which was correctly shown by both techniques. A manual technique using ordinary resources of the gamma camera workstation, despite yielding higher figures for the amplitude of gastric contractions, is as accurate as the conventional automated technique of DAS analysis. These findings may favor a more intensive use of DAS coupled to gastric emptying studies, which would provide a more comprehensive assessment of gastric motor function in disease. (author)

An automated quasi-continuous capillary refill timing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blaxter, L L; Morris, D E; Crowe, J A; Hayes-Gill, B R; Henry, C; Hill, S; Sharkey, D; Vyas, H

2016-01-01

Capillary refill time (CRT) is a simple means of cardiovascular assessment which is widely used in clinical care. Currently, CRT is measured through manual assessment of the time taken for skin tone to return to normal colour following blanching of the skin surface. There is evidence to suggest that manually assessed CRT is subject to bias from ambient light conditions, a lack of standardisation of both blanching time and manually applied pressure, subjectiveness of return to normal colour, and variability in the manual assessment of time. We present a novel automated system for CRT measurement, incorporating three components: a non-invasive adhesive sensor incorporating a pneumatic actuator, a diffuse multi-wavelength reflectance measurement device, and a temperature sensor; a battery operated datalogger unit containing a self contained pneumatic supply; and PC based data analysis software for the extraction of refill time, patient skin surface temperature, and sensor signal quality. Through standardisation of the test, it is hoped that some of the shortcomings of manual CRT can be overcome. In addition, an automated system will facilitate easier integration of CRT into electronic record keeping and clinical monitoring or scoring systems, as well as reducing demands on clinicians. Summary analysis of volunteer (n  =  30) automated CRT datasets are presented, from 15 healthy adults and 15 healthy children (aged from 5 to 15 years), as their arms were cooled from ambient temperature to 5°C. A more detailed analysis of two typical datasets is also presented, demonstrating that the response of automated CRT to cooling matches that of previously published studies. (paper)

Essence of Time in Construction Contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony Lim

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The building industry has in recent years seen huge costs incurreddue to disputes arising on notice requirement clauses. Theseclaims could have been averted if the parties had been diligent inproviding the necessary notices. This article sets out to explorethe law briefl y as interpreted by the courts in common law andequity and discuss the possibility of defence under the principle ofpromissory estoppel. More importantly it also shares the author’sview on how such pitfalls could have been prevented by givingthe proper notices within the timeline required by the contractconditions. It cannot be emphasised enough that contractorswould be wise to comply strictly with the notice provisions in thecontract instead of relying on the estoppel principle or waiver orunconscionability to save their day. Notice clauses essentiallyrequire a competent contracts administrator to follow the time lineprovided in the contract conditions and would be most effective ifthe project team worked closely with the contracts administratorto ensure that proper notices are given when directions orinstructions are received. Although it is common to see noticeclauses which make it a condition precedent for a contractor to beentitled to claim for an extension of time or loss and expense claimbeing interpreted restrictively, in any litigation or arbitration it isalways diffi cult to predict how the courts or tribunal would be willingto uphold such notice clause. It is therefore in the interest of theparties that notice clauses should be properly observed. Suffi ceto say, failure to comply with a notice clause and time bar may befatal to a claim.

Army Contract Writing System (ACWS)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Army Contract Writing System (ACWS) Defense Acquisition Management Information Retrieval...Information 4 Responsible Office 4 References 4 Program Description 5 Business Case 5 Program Status 6 Schedule 7 Performance...Program Information Program Name Army Contract Writing System (ACWS) DoD Component Army Responsible Office Program Manager References MAIS

Automated Real-Time Clearance Analyzer (ARCA), Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Automated Real-Time Clearance Analyzer (ARCA) addresses the future safety need for Real-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (RSSA) in aviation and progressively...

Expert Performance and Time Pressure: Implications for Automation Failures in Aviation

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-30

settled by these two studies. To help resolve the disagreement between the previous research findings, the present work used a computerized chess...communication between the automation and the pilots should also be helpful , but it is doubtful that the system designer or the real-time automation can...Performance and Time Pressure: Implications for Automation Failures in Aviation 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d

Automated real-time software development

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Denise R.; Walker, Carrie K.; Turkovich, John J.

1993-01-01

A Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) system has been developed at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (CSDL) under the direction of the NASA Langley Research Center. The CSDL CASE tool provides an automated method of generating source code and hard copy documentation from functional application engineering specifications. The goal is to significantly reduce the cost of developing and maintaining real-time scientific and engineering software while increasing system reliability. This paper describes CSDL CASE and discusses demonstrations that used the tool to automatically generate real-time application code.

Monitoring multi-party contracts for E-business

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, L.

2004-01-01

"Monitoring multi-party contracts for E-business" investigates the issues involved in the performance of econtract monitoring of business automations in business to business e-commerce environment. A pro-active monitoring contract model and monitoring mechanism have been designed and developed. A

10 CFR 603.1000 - Contracting officer's responsibilities at time of award.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Contracting officer's responsibilities at time of award. 603.1000 Section 603.1000 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Executing the Award § 603.1000 Contracting officer's responsibilities at time of award...

Winning PEMEX consulting contracts through international bidding : sharing a Canadian success strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, J.

1999-01-01

A series of brief notes and overhead viewgraphs accompanied this presentation which described how Enbridge Technology obtained a contract with Mexico's PEMEX Refining through an international open bid. The scope of the contract was to advise PEMEX on how to modernize and automate their national liquids pipeline system. The value of the contract was US$11.6 million. The time span was from April 1998 to October 1999. A flow chart was included which illustrated the typical international bidding process. Enbridge prepared their bid by paying attention to bid basis details and emphasized their technical qualifications. 1 fig

Driver Vigilance in Automated Vehicles: Hazard Detection Failures Are a Matter of Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenlee, Eric T; DeLucia, Patricia R; Newton, David C

2018-03-01

The primary aim of the current study was to determine whether monitoring the roadway for hazards during automated driving results in a vigilance decrement. Although automated vehicles are relatively novel, the nature of human-automation interaction within them has the classic hallmarks of a vigilance task. Drivers must maintain attention for prolonged periods of time to detect and respond to rare and unpredictable events, for example, roadway hazards that automation may be ill equipped to detect. Given the similarity with traditional vigilance tasks, we predicted that drivers of a simulated automated vehicle would demonstrate a vigilance decrement in hazard detection performance. Participants "drove" a simulated automated vehicle for 40 minutes. During that time, their task was to monitor the roadway for roadway hazards. As predicted, hazard detection rate declined precipitously, and reaction times slowed as the drive progressed. Further, subjective ratings of workload and task-related stress indicated that sustained monitoring is demanding and distressing and it is a challenge to maintain task engagement. Monitoring the roadway for potential hazards during automated driving results in workload, stress, and performance decrements similar to those observed in traditional vigilance tasks. To the degree that vigilance is required of automated vehicle drivers, performance errors and associated safety risks are likely to occur as a function of time on task. Vigilance should be a focal safety concern in the development of vehicle automation.

77 FR 36611 - Core Principles and Other Requirements for Designated Contract Markets

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-19

... vii. Sec. 38.156--Automated Trade Surveillance System viii. Sec. 38.157--Real-Time Market Monitoring...--Additional Requirements for Physical-Delivery Contracts iii. Sec. 38.253--Additional Requirements for Cash... Commission's oversight program, serving as a key tool for monitoring a DCM's compliance with the core...

Contract Req Detailed Design Report Version 1: A C-BASS Component Contract Req Detailed Design Report Version 1: A C-BASS Component

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McGurin, Denis

1999-01-01

.... As part of the Corporate Business Application Software System (C-BASS) suite of work flow applications, Contract Req automates preparation of a requestor's procurement package as part of the contracting process for the U.S...

Smart Contract Templates: foundations, design landscape and research directions

OpenAIRE

Clack, Christopher D.; Bakshi, Vikram A.; Braine, Lee

2016-01-01

In this position paper, we consider some foundational topics regarding smart contracts (such as terminology, automation, enforceability, and semantics) and define a smart contract as an automatable and enforceable agreement. We explore a simple semantic framework for smart contracts, covering both operational and non-operational aspects, and describe templates and agreements for legally-enforceable smart contracts, based on legal documents. Building upon the Ricardian Contract, we identify op...

Use of time and materials and cost reimbursement subcontracts for remedial actions under the alternative remedial contracting strategy contracts. Directive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The directive is intended to establish agency guidance on the use of time and materials and cost reimbursement contracts for remedial actions in general and to provide specific instruction regarding the use of these approaches in subcontracting under the Alternative Remedial Contracting Strategy (ARCS) contracts

Managing Automation: A Process, Not a Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Ellen

1988-01-01

Discussion of issues in management of library automation includes: (1) hardware, including systems growth and contracts; (2) software changes, vendor relations, local systems, and microcomputer software; (3) item and authority databases; (4) automation and library staff, organizational structure, and managing change; and (5) environmental issues,…

48 CFR 47.207-2 - Duration of contract and time of performance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... performance of segments of a major job; e.g., an office relocation for which the work phases must be... time of performance. 47.207-2 Section 47.207-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...-Related Services 47.207-2 Duration of contract and time of performance. The contracting officer shall— (a...

The Role of Future Time Perspective in Psychological Contracts: A Study among Older Workers

Science.gov (United States)

Bal, P. Matthijs; Jansen, Paul G. W.; van der Velde, Mandy E. G.; de Lange, Annet H.; Rousseau, Denise M.

2010-01-01

Using a sample of post-retirement workers (N = 176), this study investigated the role of future time perspective (FTP) in psychological contracts. The study aimed to test: (i) whether future time perspective is related to employer psychological contract fulfillment and (ii) whether it moderates relations between psychological contract fulfillment…

Determination of time delay between ventricles contraction using impedance measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewandowska, M; Poliński, A; Wtorek, J

2013-01-01

The paper presents a novel approach to assessment of ventricular dyssynchrony basing on multichannel electrical impedance measurements. Using a proper placement of electrodes, the sensitivity approach allows estimating time difference between chambers contraction from over determined nonlinear system of equations. The theoretical considerations which include Finite Element Method simulations were verified using measurements on healthy 28 year's old woman. The nonlinear least squares method was applied to obtain a time difference between heart chambers contraction. The obtained value was in a good agreement with theoretical values found in literature.

Real-time bioacoustics monitoring and automated species identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Mitchell Aide

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, animal species diversity and abundance is assessed using a variety of methods that are generally costly, limited in space and time, and most importantly, they rarely include a permanent record. Given the urgency of climate change and the loss of habitat, it is vital that we use new technologies to improve and expand global biodiversity monitoring to thousands of sites around the world. In this article, we describe the acoustical component of the Automated Remote Biodiversity Monitoring Network (ARBIMON, a novel combination of hardware and software for automating data acquisition, data management, and species identification based on audio recordings. The major components of the cyberinfrastructure include: a solar powered remote monitoring station that sends 1-min recordings every 10 min to a base station, which relays the recordings in real-time to the project server, where the recordings are processed and uploaded to the project website (arbimon.net. Along with a module for viewing, listening, and annotating recordings, the website includes a species identification interface to help users create machine learning algorithms to automate species identification. To demonstrate the system we present data on the vocal activity patterns of birds, frogs, insects, and mammals from Puerto Rico and Costa Rica.

A dynamical approach to time dilation and length contraction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de D.K.; Muynck, de W.M.

1996-01-01

Simple models of length and time measuring instruments are studied in order to see under what conditions a relativistic description of the dynamics of accelerated motion can be consistent with the kinematic prescriptions of Lorentz contraction and time dilation. The outcomes obtained for the

FPGA-Based Real-Time Motion Detection for Automated Video Surveillance Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjay Singh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Design of automated video surveillance systems is one of the exigent missions in computer vision community because of their ability to automatically select frames of interest in incoming video streams based on motion detection. This research paper focuses on the real-time hardware implementation of a motion detection algorithm for such vision based automated surveillance systems. A dedicated VLSI architecture has been proposed and designed for clustering-based motion detection scheme. The working prototype of a complete standalone automated video surveillance system, including input camera interface, designed motion detection VLSI architecture, and output display interface, with real-time relevant motion detection capabilities, has been implemented on Xilinx ML510 (Virtex-5 FX130T FPGA platform. The prototyped system robustly detects the relevant motion in real-time in live PAL (720 × 576 resolution video streams directly coming from the camera.

Adaptive Algorithms for Automated Processing of Document Images

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: ADAPTIVE ALGORITHMS FOR AUTOMATED PROCESSING OF DOCUMENT IMAGES Mudit Agrawal, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011...2011 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Adaptive Algorithms for Automated Processing of Document Images 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM...ALGORITHMS FOR AUTOMATED PROCESSING OF DOCUMENT IMAGES by Mudit Agrawal Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University

Modeling commodity salam contract between two parties for discrete and continuous time series

Science.gov (United States)

Hisham, Azie Farhani Badrol; Jaffar, Maheran Mohd

2017-08-01

In order for Islamic finance to remain competitive as the conventional, there needs a new development of Islamic compliance product such as Islamic derivative that can be used to manage the risk. However, under syariah principles and regulations, all financial instruments must not be conflicting with five syariah elements which are riba (interest paid), rishwah (corruption), gharar (uncertainty or unnecessary risk), maysir (speculation or gambling) and jahl (taking advantage of the counterparty's ignorance). This study has proposed a traditional Islamic contract namely salam that can be built as an Islamic derivative product. Although a lot of studies has been done on discussing and proposing the implementation of salam contract as the Islamic product however they are more into qualitative and law issues. Since there is lack of quantitative study of salam contract being developed, this study introduces mathematical models that can value the appropriate salam price for a commodity salam contract between two parties. In modeling the commodity salam contract, this study has modified the existing conventional derivative model and come out with some adjustments to comply with syariah rules and regulations. The cost of carry model has been chosen as the foundation to develop the commodity salam model between two parties for discrete and continuous time series. However, the conventional time value of money results from the concept of interest that is prohibited in Islam. Therefore, this study has adopted the idea of Islamic time value of money which is known as the positive time preference, in modeling the commodity salam contract between two parties for discrete and continuous time series.

Neural Signatures of Trust During Human-Automation Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

also automated devices such as a Global Positioning System. For instance, to provide advanced safety measures, the Transportation Safety...AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0160 Neural Signatures of Trust during Human- Automation Interactions Frank Krueger GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Final Report 04/01...SUBTITLE Neural Signatures of Trust during Human- Automation Interactions 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA9550-13-1-0017 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT

48 CFR 2452.239-70 - Background investigations for sensitive automated systems/applications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... for sensitive automated systems/applications. 2452.239-70 Section 2452.239-70 Federal Acquisition... automated systems/applications. As prescribed in 2439.107(a), insert the following clause: Background Investigations for Sensitive Automated Systems/Applications (OCT 1999) (a) General. This contract involves work...

A time-series method for automated measurement of changes in mitotic and interphase duration from time-lapse movies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederic D Sigoillot

Full Text Available Automated time-lapse microscopy can visualize proliferation of large numbers of individual cells, enabling accurate measurement of the frequency of cell division and the duration of interphase and mitosis. However, extraction of quantitative information by manual inspection of time-lapse movies is too time-consuming to be useful for analysis of large experiments.Here we present an automated time-series approach that can measure changes in the duration of mitosis and interphase in individual cells expressing fluorescent histone 2B. The approach requires analysis of only 2 features, nuclear area and average intensity. Compared to supervised learning approaches, this method reduces processing time and does not require generation of training data sets. We demonstrate that this method is as sensitive as manual analysis in identifying small changes in interphase or mitotic duration induced by drug or siRNA treatment.This approach should facilitate automated analysis of high-throughput time-lapse data sets to identify small molecules or gene products that influence timing of cell division.

Takeover Time in Highly Automated Vehicles: Noncritical Transitions to and From Manual Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, Alexander; Stanton, Neville A

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to review existing research into driver control transitions and to determine the time it takes drivers to resume control from a highly automated vehicle in noncritical scenarios. Contemporary research has moved from an inclusive design approach to adhering only to mean/median values when designing control transitions in automated driving. Research into control transitions in highly automated driving has focused on urgent scenarios where drivers are given a relatively short time span to respond to a request to resume manual control. We found a paucity in research into more frequent scenarios for control transitions, such as planned exits from highway systems. Twenty-six drivers drove two scenarios with an automated driving feature activated. Drivers were asked to read a newspaper, or to monitor the system, and to relinquish, or resume, control from the automation when prompted by vehicle systems. Significantly longer control transition times were found between driving with and without secondary tasks. Control transition times were substantially longer than those reported in the peer-reviewed literature. We found that drivers take longer to resume control when under no time pressure compared with that reported in the literature. Moreover, we found that drivers occupied by a secondary task exhibit larger variance and slower responses to requests to resume control. Workload scores implied optimal workload. Intra- and interindividual differences need to be accommodated by vehicle manufacturers and policy makers alike to ensure inclusive design of contemporary systems and safety during control transitions.

Automated real-time testing (ARTT) for embedded control systems (ECS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawkins, J; Howard, R; Nguyen, H.

2001-01-01

Many of today's automated real-time testing systems for embedded systems were developed using expensive custom hardware and software. In this article they describe how to use commercially available off-the-shelf hardware and software to design and develop an automated real-time test systems for Embedded Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Based Control Systems. The system development began with the implementation of the VALI/TEST Pro testing methodology as a means for structuring the testing. Using this methodology, they were able to decompose system requirement documents for a Personnel Safety System (PSS) into its high, intermediate and detail level requirements. next, the validation procedures for the PSS system were decomposed into testing units called builds, test runs and test cases. To measure the PSS system's test coverage three levels of system requirements were mapped to their respective unit level of test using a specially constructed validation matrix that was designed to handle over 150 test cases and requirements. All of the above work led to the development of an Automated Real-Time Test System (ARTTS) that is capable of performing complete black box testing in real-time for Embedded PLC Based Control Systems. Also note, that the PSS system under test and mentioned in this paper is located at the Advance Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory Basic Energy Science Facility in Argonne, Illinois

A Contract That Manages Itself: The Time Has Arrived

Science.gov (United States)

2015-02-01

technology inspires contracting. The Smart Contract The paradigm of a contract as a static document is about to change. The days of a contract being read...efficiency is of paramount importance in order for an organization to perform its mission. The Smart Contract as an Object In discussions about...the contract object ( smart contract ) exists, the contract will be able to interact with other objects. That will enable the contract to know how

The role of future time perspective in psychological contracts : A study among older workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P. Matthijs; Jansen, Paul G. W.; van der Velde, Mandy E. G.; de Lange, Annet H.; Rousseau, Denise M.

Using a sample of post-retirement workers (N = 176), this study investigated the role of future time perspective (FTP) in psychological contracts. The study aimed to test: (i) whether future time perspective is related to employer psychological contract fulfillment and (ii) whether it moderates

The role of future time perspective in psychological contracts: a study among older workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; Jansen, P.G.W.; van der Velde, M.E.G.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/183262107; de Lange, A.H.; Rousseau, D.M.

2010-01-01

Using a sample of post-retirement workers (N = 176), this study investigated the role of future time perspective (FTP) in psychological contracts. The study aimed to test: (i) whether future time perspective is related to employer psychological contract fulfillment and (ii) whether it moderates

The role of future time perspective in psychological contracts. A study among older workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; Jansen, P.G.W.; van der Velde, E.G.; de Lange, A.H.; Rousseau, D.M.

2010-01-01

Using a sample of post-retirement workers (N=176), this study investigated the role of future time perspective (FTP) in psychological contracts. The study aimed to test: (i) whether future time perspective is related to employer psychological contract fulfillment and (ii) whether it moderates

The role of future time perspective in psychological contracts: A study among older workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; Jansen, P.G.W.; Velde, M.E.G. van der; Lange, A.H. de; Rousseau, D.M.

2010-01-01

Using a sample of post-retirement workers (N = 176), this study investigated the role of future time perspective (FTP) in psychological contracts. The study aimed to test: (i) whether future time perspective is related to employer psychological contract fulfillment and (ii) whether it moderates

24 CFR 888.320 - One-time Contract Rent determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... PROGRAM, SECTION 202 SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY PROGRAM AND SECTION 811 SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES PROGRAM) SECTION 8 HOUSING ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS PROGRAM-FAIR MARKET RENTS AND... Elderly or Handicapped, and Special Allocations Projects § 888.320 One-time Contract Rent determination...

Using Multi-Viewpoint Contracts for Negotiation of Embedded Software Updates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sönke Holthusen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we address the issue of change after deployment in safety-critical embedded system applications. Our goal is to substitute lab-based verification with in-field formal analysis to determine whether an update may be safely applied. This is challenging because it requires an automated process able to handle multiple viewpoints such as functional correctness, timing, etc. For this purpose, we propose an original methodology for contract-based negotiation of software updates. The use of contracts allows us to cleanly split the verification effort between the lab and the field. In addition, we show how to rely on existing viewpoint-specific methods for update negotiation. We illustrate our approach on a concrete example inspired by the automotive domain.

Operational Based Vision Assessment Automated Vision Test Collection User Guide

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-15

AFRL-SA-WP-SR-2017-0012 Operational Based Vision Assessment Automated Vision Test Collection User Guide Elizabeth Shoda, Alex...June 2015 – May 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Operational Based Vision Assessment Automated Vision Test Collection User Guide 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER... automated vision tests , or AVT. Development of the AVT was required to support threshold-level vision testing capability needed to investigate the

A time-use model for the automated vehicle-era

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pudāne, Baiba; Molin, Eric J.E.; Arentze, Theo A.; Maknoon, Yousef; Chorus, Caspar G.

2018-01-01

Automated Vehicles (AVs) offer their users a possibility to perform new non-driving activities while being on the way. The effects of this opportunity on travel choices and travel demand have mostly been conceptualised and modelled via a reduced penalty associated with (in-vehicle) travel time. This

A Time-use Model for the Automated Vehicle-era

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pudane, B.; Molin, E.J.E.; Arentze, TA; Maknoon, M.Y.; Chorus, C.G.

2018-01-01

Automated Vehicles (AVs) offer their users a possibility to perform new non-driving activities while being on the way. The effects of this opportunity on travel choices and travel demand have mostly been conceptualised and modelled via a reduced penalty associated with (in-vehicle) travel time. This

Diagnostic Hearing Assessment in Schools: Validity and Time Efficiency of Automated Audiometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahomed-Asmail, Faheema; Swanepoel, De Wet; Eikelboom, Robert H

2016-01-01

Poor follow-up compliance from school-based hearing screening typically undermines the efficacy of school-based hearing screening programs. Onsite diagnostic audiometry with automation may reduce false positives and ensure directed referrals. To investigate the validity and time efficiency of automated diagnostic air- and bone-conduction audiometry for children in a natural school environment following hearing screening. A within-subject repeated measures design was employed to compare air- and bone-conduction pure-tone thresholds (0.5-4 kHz), measured by manual and automated pure-tone audiometry. Sixty-two children, 25 males and 37 females, with an average age of 8 yr (standard deviation [SD] = 0.92; range = 6-10 yr) were recruited for this study. The participants included 30 children who failed on a hearing screening and 32 children who passed a hearing screening. Threshold comparisons were made for air- and bone-conduction thresholds across ears tested with manual and automated audiometry. To avoid a floor effect thresholds of 15 dB HL were excluded in analyses. The Wilcoxon signed ranked test was used to compare threshold correspondence for manual and automated thresholds and the paired samples t-test was used to compare test time. Statistical significance was set as p ≤ 0.05. 85.7% of air-conduction thresholds and 44.6% of bone-conduction thresholds corresponded within the normal range (15 dB HL) for manual and automated audiometry. Both manual and automated audiometry air- and bone-conduction thresholds exceeded 15 dB HL in 9.9% and 34.0% of thresholds, respectively. For these thresholds, average absolute differences for air- and bone-conduction thresholds were 6.3 (SD = 8.3) and 2.2 dB (SD = 3.6) and they corresponded within 10 dB across frequencies in 87.7% and 100.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference between manual and automated air- and bone-conduction across frequencies for these thresholds. Using onsite automated diagnostic audiometry

Automated profiling of individual cell-cell interactions from high-throughput time-lapse imaging microscopy in nanowell grids (TIMING).

Science.gov (United States)

Merouane, Amine; Rey-Villamizar, Nicolas; Lu, Yanbin; Liadi, Ivan; Romain, Gabrielle; Lu, Jennifer; Singh, Harjeet; Cooper, Laurence J N; Varadarajan, Navin; Roysam, Badrinath

2015-10-01

There is a need for effective automated methods for profiling dynamic cell-cell interactions with single-cell resolution from high-throughput time-lapse imaging data, especially, the interactions between immune effector cells and tumor cells in adoptive immunotherapy. Fluorescently labeled human T cells, natural killer cells (NK), and various target cells (NALM6, K562, EL4) were co-incubated on polydimethylsiloxane arrays of sub-nanoliter wells (nanowells), and imaged using multi-channel time-lapse microscopy. The proposed cell segmentation and tracking algorithms account for cell variability and exploit the nanowell confinement property to increase the yield of correctly analyzed nanowells from 45% (existing algorithms) to 98% for wells containing one effector and a single target, enabling automated quantification of cell locations, morphologies, movements, interactions, and deaths without the need for manual proofreading. Automated analysis of recordings from 12 different experiments demonstrated automated nanowell delineation accuracy >99%, automated cell segmentation accuracy >95%, and automated cell tracking accuracy of 90%, with default parameters, despite variations in illumination, staining, imaging noise, cell morphology, and cell clustering. An example analysis revealed that NK cells efficiently discriminate between live and dead targets by altering the duration of conjugation. The data also demonstrated that cytotoxic cells display higher motility than non-killers, both before and during contact. broysam@central.uh.edu or nvaradar@central.uh.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

76 FR 44884 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Payments Under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-27

... under revised Alternate I. (b) Completion Voucher. The Allowable Cost and Payment, FAR clause 52.216-7.... * * * * * Payments Under Time-and-Material and Labor-Hour Contracts (Date) * * * * * (a) * * * (5) Vouchers may be... final payment under this contract, the Contracting Officer may request audit of the vouchers and...

Full-Time versus Part-Time Employees: Understanding the Links between Work Status, the Psychological Contract, and Attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Neil; Briner, Rob B.

2002-01-01

Analysis of psychological contract variables (affective and continuance commitment, intention to quit, well-being, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior)was conducted on two samples: 1,608 banking employees (71% part time) and 366 supermarket employees (65% part time). Part- and full-time workers had different attitudes; fulfilment…

Time reduction and automation of routine planning activities through the use of macros

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alaman, C.; Perez-Alija, J.; Herrero, C.; Real, C. del; Osorio, J. L.; Almansa, J.

2011-01-01

The use of macros in scheduler automates Adac Pinnacle3 much of the routine activities in the planning process, from the display options and placement of beams, to, among other possibilities, systematic naming them and export of the physical and clinical dosimetry. This automation allows reduction of the times associated with the planning process and an error reduction.

Biomechanical characteristics of skeletal muscles and associations between running speed and contraction time in 8- to 13-year-old children.

Science.gov (United States)

Završnik, Jernej; Pišot, Rado; Šimunič, Boštjan; Kokol, Peter; Blažun Vošner, Helena

2017-02-01

Objective To investigate associations between running speeds and contraction times in 8- to 13-year-old children. Method This longitudinal study analyzed tensiomyographic measurements of vastus lateralis and biceps femoris muscles' contraction times and maximum running speeds in 107 children (53 boys, 54 girls). Data were evaluated using multiple correspondence analysis. Results A gender difference existed between the vastus lateralis contraction times and running speeds. The running speed was less dependent on vastus lateralis contraction times in boys than in girls. Analysis of biceps femoris contraction times and running speeds revealed that running speeds of boys were much more structurally associated with contraction times than those of girls, for whom the association seemed chaotic. Conclusion Joint category plots showed that contraction times of biceps femoris were associated much more closely with running speed than those of the vastus lateralis muscle. These results provide insight into a new dimension of children's development.

Profiling Smart Contracts Interactions with Tensor Decomposition and Graph Mining

OpenAIRE

Charlier , Jérémy; Lagraa , Sofiane; State , Radu; Francois , Jerome

2017-01-01

International audience; Smart contracts, computer protocols designed for autonomous execution on predefined conditions, arise from the evolution of the Bit-coin's crypto-currency. They provide higher transaction security and allow economy of scale through the automated process. Smart contracts provides inherent benefits for financial institutions such as investment banking, retail banking, and insurance. This technology is widely used within Ethereum, an open source block-chain platform, from...

Do You Automate? Saving Time and Dollars

Science.gov (United States)

Carmichael, Christine H.

2010-01-01

An automated workforce management strategy can help schools save jobs, improve the job satisfaction of teachers and staff, and free up precious budget dollars for investments in critical learning resources. Automated workforce management systems can help schools control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve employee satisfaction.…

Efficiency of an automated reception and turnaround time management system for the phlebotomy room.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Soon Gyu; Shin, Jeong Won; Park, Eun Su; Bang, Hae In; Kang, Jung Gu

2016-01-01

Recent advances in laboratory information systems have largely been focused on automation. However, the phlebotomy services have not been completely automated. To address this issue, we introduced an automated reception and turnaround time (TAT) management system, for the first time in Korea, whereby the patient's information is transmitted directly to the actual phlebotomy site and the TAT for each phlebotomy step can be monitored at a glance. The GNT5 system (Energium Co., Ltd., Korea) was installed in June 2013. The automated reception and TAT management system has been in operation since February 2014. Integration of the automated reception machine with the GNT5 allowed for direct transmission of laboratory order information to the GNT5 without involving any manual reception step. We used the mean TAT from reception to actual phlebotomy as the parameter for evaluating the efficiency of our system. Mean TAT decreased from 5:45 min to 2:42 min after operationalization of the system. The mean number of patients in queue decreased from 2.9 to 1.0. Further, the number of cases taking more than five minutes from reception to phlebotomy, defined as the defect rate, decreased from 20.1% to 9.7%. The use of automated reception and TAT management system was associated with a decrease of overall TAT and an improved workflow at the phlebotomy room.

Automated real-time detection of tonic-clonic seizures using a wearable EMG device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beniczky, Sándor; Conradsen, Isa; Henning, Oliver

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of automated detection of generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) using a wearable surface EMG device. METHODS: We prospectively tested the technical performance and diagnostic accuracy of real-time seizure detection using a wearable surface EMG device....... The seizure detection algorithm and the cutoff values were prespecified. A total of 71 patients, referred to long-term video-EEG monitoring, on suspicion of GTCS, were recruited in 3 centers. Seizure detection was real-time and fully automated. The reference standard was the evaluation of video-EEG recordings...

ISS Operations Cost Reductions Through Automation of Real-Time Planning Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Timothy A.

2011-01-01

In 2008 the Johnson Space Center s Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) management team challenged their organization to find ways to reduce the costs of International Space station (ISS) console operations in the Mission Control Center (MCC). Each MOD organization was asked to identify projects that would help them attain a goal of a 30% reduction in operating costs by 2012. The MOD Operations and Planning organization responded to this challenge by launching several software automation projects that would allow them to greatly improve ISS console operations and reduce staffing and operating costs. These projects to date have allowed the MOD Operations organization to remove one full time (7 x 24 x 365) ISS console position in 2010; with the plan of eliminating two full time ISS console support positions by 2012. This will account for an overall 10 EP reduction in staffing for the Operations and Planning organization. These automation projects focused on utilizing software to automate many administrative and often repetitive tasks involved with processing ISS planning and daily operations information. This information was exchanged between the ground flight control teams in Houston and around the globe, as well as with the ISS astronaut crew. These tasks ranged from managing mission plan changes from around the globe, to uploading and downloading information to and from the ISS crew, to even more complex tasks that required multiple decision points to process the data, track approvals and deliver it to the correct recipient across network and security boundaries. The software solutions leveraged several different technologies including customized web applications and implementation of industry standard web services architecture between several planning tools; as well as a engaging a previously research level technology (TRL 2-3) developed by Ames Research Center (ARC) that utilized an intelligent agent based system to manage and automate file traffic flow

Noninvasive observation of skeletal muscle contraction using near-infrared time-resolved reflectance and diffusing-wave spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Belau, Markus; Ninck, Markus; Hering, Gernot; Spinelli, Lorenzo; Contini, Davide; Torricelli, Alessandro; Gisler, Thomas

2010-09-01

We introduce a method for noninvasively measuring muscle contraction in vivo, based on near-infrared diffusing-wave spectroscopy (DWS). The method exploits the information about time-dependent shear motions within the contracting muscle that are contained in the temporal autocorrelation function g(1)(τ,t) of the multiply scattered light field measured as a function of lag time, τ, and time after stimulus, t. The analysis of g(1)(τ,t) measured on the human M. biceps brachii during repetitive electrical stimulation, using optical properties measured with time-resolved reflectance spectroscopy, shows that the tissue dynamics giving rise to the speckle fluctuations can be described by a combination of diffusion and shearing. The evolution of the tissue Cauchy strain e(t) shows a strong correlation with the force, indicating that a significant part of the shear observed with DWS is due to muscle contraction. The evolution of the DWS decay time shows quantitative differences between the M. biceps brachii and the M. gastrocnemius, suggesting that DWS allows to discriminate contraction of fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers.

Iteration particle swarm optimization for contract capacities selection of time-of-use rates industrial customers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Tsung-Ying; Chen, Chun-Lung

2007-01-01

This paper presents a new algorithm for solving the optimal contract capacities of a time-of-use (TOU) rates industrial customer. This algorithm is named iteration particle swarm optimization (IPSO). A new index, called iteration best is incorporated into particle swarm optimization (PSO) to improve solution quality and computation efficiency. Expanding line construction cost and contract recovery cost are considered, as well as demand contract capacity cost and penalty bill, in the selection of the optimal contract capacities. The resulting optimal contract capacity effectively reaches the minimum electricity charge of TOU rates users. A significant reduction in electricity costs is observed. The effects of expanding line construction cost and contract recovery cost on the selection of optimal contract capacities can also be estimated. The feasibility of the new algorithm is demonstrated by a numerical example, and the IPSO solution quality and computation efficiency are compared to those of other algorithms

Platform for Automated Real-Time High Performance Analytics on Medical Image Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, William J; Gabr, Refaat E; Tefera, Getaneh B; Pednekar, Amol S; Vaughn, Matthew W; Narayana, Ponnada A

2018-03-01

Biomedical data are quickly growing in volume and in variety, providing clinicians an opportunity for better clinical decision support. Here, we demonstrate a robust platform that uses software automation and high performance computing (HPC) resources to achieve real-time analytics of clinical data, specifically magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. We used the Agave application programming interface to facilitate communication, data transfer, and job control between an MRI scanner and an off-site HPC resource. In this use case, Agave executed the graphical pipeline tool GRAphical Pipeline Environment (GRAPE) to perform automated, real-time, quantitative analysis of MRI scans. Same-session image processing will open the door for adaptive scanning and real-time quality control, potentially accelerating the discovery of pathologies and minimizing patient callbacks. We envision this platform can be adapted to other medical instruments, HPC resources, and analytics tools.

Prospective validation of a near real-time EHR-integrated automated SOFA score calculator.

Science.gov (United States)

Aakre, Christopher; Franco, Pablo Moreno; Ferreyra, Micaela; Kitson, Jaben; Li, Man; Herasevich, Vitaly

2017-07-01

We created an algorithm for automated Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score calculation within the Electronic Health Record (EHR) to facilitate detection of sepsis based on the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (SEPSIS-3) clinical definition. We evaluated the accuracy of near real-time and daily automated SOFA score calculation compared with manual score calculation. Automated SOFA scoring computer programs were developed using available EHR data sources and integrated into a critical care focused patient care dashboard at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. We prospectively compared the accuracy of automated versus manual calculation for a sample of patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic Hospitals in Rochester, Minnesota and Jacksonville, Florida. Agreement was calculated with Cohen's kappa statistic. Reason for discrepancy was tabulated during manual review. Random spot check comparisons were performed 134 times on 27 unique patients, and daily SOFA score comparisons were performed for 215 patients over a total of 1206 patient days. Agreement between automatically scored and manually scored SOFA components for both random spot checks (696 pairs, κ=0.89) and daily calculation (5972 pairs, κ=0.89) was high. The most common discrepancies were in the respiratory component (inaccurate fraction of inspired oxygen retrieval; 200/1206) and creatinine (normal creatinine in patients with no urine output on dialysis; 128/1094). 147 patients were at risk of developing sepsis after intensive care unit admission, 10 later developed sepsis confirmed by chart review. All were identified before onset of sepsis with the ΔSOFA≥2 point criterion and 46 patients were false-positives. Near real-time automated SOFA scoring was found to have strong agreement with manual score calculation and may be useful for the detection of sepsis utilizing the new SEPSIS-3 definition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All

It Is Time to Cancel Medicine's Social Contract Metaphor.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, John M

2017-09-01

There is agreement that the complex relationship between medicine and society is best described as a metaphorical social contract and that professionalism is the medical profession's contribution to this contract. Metaphors can help clarify abstract concepts, but they can also be abused if the counterfactual attributes of a metaphor become attributed to its subject. This seems to be happening with medical professionalism, which has sometimes been reduced to a contracted deliverable and a bargaining chip. The undesirable attributes of the social contract metaphor may be hindering efforts to understand and teach medical professionalism.Despite its theoretical weaknesses, the social contract metaphor has historical credibility because of its alleged association with the 1847 Code of Medical Ethics and the subsequent ascension of regular (allopathic) medicine in the early 20th century. However, the record does not support an argument that the intended purpose of the 1847 Code was to create a social contract or that one ever arose. The alternative account that a contract did arise, but physicians were poor partners, is neither satisfying nor explanatory.As now used, medicine's social contract metaphor has serious theoretical and historic weaknesses. Medical educators should remove this narrow and overworked metaphor from their discussions of professionalism. By doing this, educators and the profession in general would only lose the ability to threaten themselves with the cancellation of their social contract. In return they would open the door to a more complex and fruitful consideration of medical professionalism and medicine's relationship with society.

Gravitational time dilation and length contraction in fields exterior to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Here, we use our new metric tensor exterior to a massiv3e oblate spheroid to study the gravitational phenomena of time dilation and length contraction. It turns out most profoundly that, the above phenomena hold good in the gravitational field exterior to an oblate spheroid. We then use the oblate spheroidal Earth to ...

Third party bargaining and contract terms: a link over time?

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, John M; Doucette, William R; Sorofman, Bernard A

2002-01-01

To evaluate whether prior pharmacy bargaining process strategies and pharmacy dependence on third parties affect the bargaining power of pharmacies in price negotiations with third parties. One-time survey. Random sample of 900 independent and small chain pharmacies in nine states: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Two hundred sixteen of the returned surveys contained sufficient responses for this analysis. Survey data on pharmacy bargaining power and prior pharmacy bargaining strategies, pharmacy dependence, and market characteristics were analyzed using multiple regression in a previously developed and modified provider/third party bargaining model. Pharmacy bargaining power. Pharmacy bargaining power varied across our sample. Pharmacy bargaining power was positively related to whether a pharmacy previously bargained with the third parties, negatively related to prior requests for contract changes, and negatively related to the pharmacy's dependence on third parties in total. Pharmacy bargaining power is related to the bargaining strategies employed by pharmacies during the previous year and the dependence of pharmacies on third party payers in total. With the prevalence of "take-it-or-leave-it" contracts from third parties, prior pharmacy bargaining behavior may affect the initial terms of the contracts that pharmacies are offered.

Automation of Precise Time Reference Stations (PTRS)

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, P. J.

1985-04-01

The U.S. Naval Observatory is presently engaged in a program of automating precise time stations (PTS) and precise time reference stations (PTBS) by using a versatile mini-computer controlled data acquisition system (DAS). The data acquisition system is configured to monitor locally available PTTI signals such as LORAN-C, OMEGA, and/or the Global Positioning System. In addition, the DAS performs local standard intercomparison. Computer telephone communications provide automatic data transfer to the Naval Observatory. Subsequently, after analysis of the data, results and information can be sent back to the precise time reference station to provide automatic control of remote station timing. The DAS configuration is designed around state of the art standard industrial high reliability modules. The system integration and software are standardized but allow considerable flexibility to satisfy special local requirements such as stability measurements, performance evaluation and printing of messages and certificates. The DAS operates completely independently and may be queried or controlled at any time with a computer or terminal device (control is protected for use by authorized personnel only). Such DAS equipped PTS are operational in Hawaii, California, Texas and Florida.

Analysis of Real Time Technical Data Obtained While Shotcreting: An Approach Towards Automation

OpenAIRE

Rodríguez, Ángel; Río, Olga

2010-01-01

Automation of shotcreting process is a key factor in both improving the working conditions and increasing productivity; as well as in increasing the quality of shotcrete. The confidence in the quality of the automation process itself and shotcrete linings can be improved by real time monitoring of pumping as well as other shotcreting machine related parameters. Prediction of how the difIerent technical parameters of application are governing the whole process is being a subject of increasing ...

A system for time-resolved x-ray diffraction and its application to muscle contraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amemiya, Yoshiyuki; Hashizume, Hiroo.

1979-01-01

A data-collection system has been built which permits time-resolved studies of X-ray diffraction diagrams obtained from contracting muscle on millisecond time scale. The system consists of a linear delay-line position sensitive proportional counter (PSPC), a special data transfer unit and an on-line computer. The PSPC used with a mirror-monochromator camera can detect equatorial reflections from stimulated muscle in a total exposure time of a few seconds. Time-resolved data-collection is achieved by stimulating muscle at a regular time interval, dividing a complete cycle of muscle contraction into many successive time slices and accumulating in computer memory X-ray data for each time slice from many repeated cycles of stimulation. The performances of the system have been demonstrated by recording equatorial reflections from frog skeletal muscle during isometric and isotonic twitch with a time resolution of 25 ms. (author)

48 CFR 216.601 - Time-and-materials contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...-Hour Proposal Requirements—Non-Commercial Item Acquisition with Adequate Price Competition, with 252... contract type for non-commercial items if the price is expected to be based on adequate competition. [71 FR... of the contract or order; establishing fixed prices for portions of the requirement); and (D...

Automation &robotics for future Mars exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Schulte, W.; von Richter, A.; Bertrand, R.

2003-04-01

Automation and Robotics (A&R) are currently considered as a key technology for Mars exploration. initiatives in this field aim at developing new A&R systems and technologies for planetary surface exploration. Kayser-Threde led the study AROMA (Automation &Robotics for Human Mars Exploration) under ESA contract in order to define a reference architecture of A&R elements in support of a human Mars exploration program. One of the goals was to define new developments and to maintain the competitiveness of European industry within this field. We present a summary of the A&R study in respect to a particular system: The Autonomous Research Island (ARI). In the Mars exploration scenario initially a robotic outpost system lands at pre-selected sites in order to search for life forms and water and to analyze the surface, geology and atmosphere. A&R systems, i.e. rovers and autonomous instrument packages, perform a number of missions with scientific and technology development objectives on the surface of Mars as part of preparations for a human exploration mission. In the Robotic Outpost Phase ARI is conceived as an automated lander which can perform in-situ analysis. It consists of a service module and a micro-rover system for local investigations. Such a system is already under investigation and development in other TRP activities. The micro-rover system provides local mobility for in-situ scientific investigations at a given landing or deployment site. In the long run ARI supports also human Mars missions. An astronaut crew would travel larger distances in a pressurized rover on Mars. Whenever interesting features on the surface are identified, the crew would interrupt the travel and perform local investigations. In order to save crew time ARI could be deployed by the astronauts to perform time-consuming investigations as for example in-situ geochemistry analysis of rocks/soil. Later, the crew could recover the research island for refurbishment and deployment at another

Automated evaluation of matrix elements between contracted wavefunctions: A Mathematica version of the FRODO program

Science.gov (United States)

Angeli, C.; Cimiraglia, R.

2013-02-01

] hereafter to be referred to as papers I and II, respectively dedicated to the automated evaluation of the matrix elements of the molecular electronic Hamiltonian between internally contracted functions [3] (ICFs). In paper II the program FRODO (after Formal Reduction Of Density Operators) was presented with the purpose of providing working formulas for each occurrence of the ICFs. The original FRODO program was written in the MuPAD computer algebra system [4] and was actively used in our group for the generation of the matrix elements to be employed in the third-order n-electron valence state perturbation theory (NEVPT) [5-8] as well as in the internally contracted configuration interaction (IC-CI) [9]. We present a new version of the program FRODO written in the Mathematica system [10]. The reason for the rewriting of the program lies in the fact that, on the one hand, MuPAD does not seem to be any longer available as a stand-alone system and, on the other hand, Mathematica, due to its ubiquitousness, appears to be increasingly the computer algebra system most widely used nowadays. Restrictions: The program is limited to no more than doubly excited ICFs. Running time: The examples described in the Readme file take a few seconds to run. References: [1] C. Angeli, R. Cimiraglia, Comp. Phys. Comm. 166 (2005) 53. [2] C. Angeli, R. Cimiraglia, Comp. Phys. Comm. 171 (2005) 63. [3] H.-J. Werner, P. J. Knowles, Adv. Chem. Phys. 89 (1988) 5803. [4] B. Fuchssteiner, W. Oevel: http://www.mupad.de Mupad research group, university of Paderborn. Mupad version 2.5.3 for Linux. [5] C. Angeli, R. Cimiraglia, S. Evangelisti, T. Leininger, J.-P. Malrieu, J. Chem. Phys. 114 (2001) 10252. [6] C. Angeli, R. Cimiraglia, J.-P. Malrieu, J. Chem. Phys. 117 (2002) 9138. [7] C. Angeli, B. Bories, A. Cavallini, R. Cimiraglia, J. Chem. Phys. 124 (2006) 054108. [8] C. Angeli, M. Pastore, R. Cimiraglia, Theor. Chem. Acc. 117 (2007) 743. [9] C. Angeli, R. Cimiraglia, Mol. Phys. in press, DOI:10

Application of Automated NDE Data Evaluation to Missile and Aircraft Systems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hildreth, Joseph

1996-01-01

... from the inspection of solid rocket motors during fabrication. The computerized system, called the Automated NDE Data Evaluation System or ANDES, was developed under contract to Martin Marietta...

Just-in-time automated counseling for physical activity promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Bickmore, Timothy; Gruber, Amanda; Intille, Stephen

2008-11-06

Preliminary results from a field study into the efficacy of automated health behavior counseling delivered at the moment of user decision-making compared to the same counseling delivered at the end of the day are reported. The study uses an animated PDA-based advisor with an integrated accelerometer that can engage users in dialogues about their physical activity throughout the day. Preliminary results indicate health counseling is more effective when delivered just-in-time than when delivered retrospectively.

Integration of Real-Time Data Into Building Automation Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mark J. Stunder; Perry Sebastian; Brenda A. Chube; Michael D. Koontz

2003-04-16

The project goal was to investigate the possibility of using predictive real-time information from the Internet as an input to building management system algorithms. The objectives were to identify the types of information most valuable to commercial and residential building owners, managers, and system designers. To comprehensively investigate and document currently available electronic real-time information suitable for use in building management systems. Verify the reliability of the information and recommend accreditation methods for data and providers. Assess methodologies to automatically retrieve and utilize the information. Characterize equipment required to implement automated integration. Demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of using the information in building management systems. Identify evolutionary control strategies.

Home Automation

OpenAIRE

Ahmed, Zeeshan

2010-01-01

In this paper I briefly discuss the importance of home automation system. Going in to the details I briefly present a real time designed and implemented software and hardware oriented house automation research project, capable of automating house's electricity and providing a security system to detect the presence of unexpected behavior.

Modeling Real-Time Human-Automation Collaborative Scheduling of Unmanned Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-01

Bundle Algorithm (CBBA), a decentralized, polynomial-time, market based protocol (Choi, et al., 2009). More details on the AS can be found in (Whitten...infonned consent to panicipate in this research study. Signature oflnvesligator Date Approved on 31-0CT-2012 - MIT JRB Protocol #: 1110005179- Expires on...presented at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Karlsruhe, Germany. Miller, C. (2004). Human-Computer Etiquette : Managing

Improving automated disturbance maps using snow-covered landsat time series stacks

Science.gov (United States)

Kirk M. Stueve; Ian W. Housman; Patrick L. Zimmerman; Mark D. Nelson; Jeremy Webb; Charles H. Perry; Robert A. Chastain; Dale D. Gormanson; Chengquan Huang; Sean P. Healey; Warren B. Cohen

2012-01-01

Snow-covered winter Landsat time series stacks are used to develop a nonforest mask to enhance automated disturbance maps produced by the Vegetation Change Tracker (VCT). This method exploits the enhanced spectral separability between forested and nonforested areas that occurs with sufficient snow cover. This method resulted in significant improvements in Vegetation...

Semi-Automated Processing of Trajectory Simulator Output Files for Model Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

ARL-TR-8284 ● JAN 2018 US Army Research Laboratory Semi-Automated Processing of Trajectory Simulator Output Files for Model...Semi-Automated Processing of Trajectory Simulator Output Files for Model Evaluation 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...although some minor changes may be needed. The program processes a GTRAJ output text file that contains results from 2 or more simulations , where each

CCD characterization and measurements automation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotov, I.V.; Frank, J.; Kotov, A.I.; Kubanek, P.; O'Connor, P.; Prouza, M.; Radeka, V.; Takacs, P.

2012-01-01

Modern mosaic cameras have grown both in size and in number of sensors. The required volume of sensor testing and characterization has grown accordingly. For camera projects as large as the LSST, test automation becomes a necessity. A CCD testing and characterization laboratory was built and is in operation for the LSST project. Characterization of LSST study contract sensors has been performed. The characterization process and its automation are discussed, and results are presented. Our system automatically acquires images, populates a database with metadata information, and runs express analysis. This approach is illustrated on 55 Fe data analysis. 55 Fe data are used to measure gain, charge transfer efficiency and charge diffusion. Examples of express analysis results are presented and discussed.

Validated automated ultrasonic inspections of the Sizewell 'B' reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dikstra, B.J.; Farley, J.M.

1992-01-01

Automated ultrasonic inspection was applied extensively during manufacture of the RPV for Sizewell 'B'. This was an important element of the safety case presented at the Sizewell 'B' public enquiry. This requirement reflected concern in the United Kingdom as to the effectiveness and reliability of ultrasonic inspections. By applying automated inspections in addition to the manual ultrasonic inspection carried out by the vessel manufacturer, the overall reliability of the inspection of the vessel would be considerably enhanced. The automated inspections carried out in the manufacturer's workshops were termed 'automated shop inspections' (ASIs). The ASIs were carried out in two contracts: the first to inspect the component forgings of the RPV, the second to inspect the pressure retaining welds. (author)

Automated subsystems control development. [for life support systems of space station

Science.gov (United States)

Block, R. F.; Heppner, D. B.; Samonski, F. H., Jr.; Lance, N., Jr.

1985-01-01

NASA has the objective to launch a Space Station in the 1990s. It has been found that the success of the Space Station engineering development, the achievement of initial operational capability (IOC), and the operation of a productive Space Station will depend heavily on the implementation of an effective automation and control approach. For the development of technology needed to implement the required automation and control function, a contract entitled 'Automated Subsystems Control for Life Support Systems' (ASCLSS) was awarded to two American companies. The present paper provides a description of the ASCLSS program. Attention is given to an automation and control architecture study, a generic automation and control approach for hardware demonstration, a standard software approach, application of Air Revitalization Group (ARG) process simulators, and a generic man-machine interface.

[Time consumption and quality of an automated fusion tool for SPECT and MRI images of the brain].

Science.gov (United States)

Fiedler, E; Platsch, G; Schwarz, A; Schmiedehausen, K; Tomandl, B; Huk, W; Rupprecht, Th; Rahn, N; Kuwert, T

2003-10-01

Although the fusion of images from different modalities may improve diagnostic accuracy, it is rarely used in clinical routine work due to logistic problems. Therefore we evaluated performance and time needed for fusing MRI and SPECT images using a semiautomated dedicated software. PATIENTS, MATERIAL AND METHOD: In 32 patients regional cerebral blood flow was measured using (99m)Tc ethylcystein dimer (ECD) and the three-headed SPECT camera MultiSPECT 3. MRI scans of the brain were performed using either a 0,2 T Open or a 1,5 T Sonata. Twelve of the MRI data sets were acquired using a 3D-T1w MPRAGE sequence, 20 with a 2D acquisition technique and different echo sequences. Image fusion was performed on a Syngo workstation using an entropy minimizing algorithm by an experienced user of the software. The fusion results were classified. We measured the time needed for the automated fusion procedure and in case of need that for manual realignment after automated, but insufficient fusion. The mean time of the automated fusion procedure was 123 s. It was for the 2D significantly shorter than for the 3D MRI datasets. For four of the 2D data sets and two of the 3D data sets an optimal fit was reached using the automated approach. The remaining 26 data sets required manual correction. The sum of the time required for automated fusion and that needed for manual correction averaged 320 s (50-886 s). The fusion of 3D MRI data sets lasted significantly longer than that of the 2D MRI data. The automated fusion tool delivered in 20% an optimal fit, in 80% manual correction was necessary. Nevertheless, each of the 32 SPECT data sets could be merged in less than 15 min with the corresponding MRI data, which seems acceptable for clinical routine use.

76 FR 46840 - Time Extension To Accept Proposals, Select One Lessee, and Contract for Hydroelectric Power...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-03

... Lessee, and Contract for Hydroelectric Power Development at the Pueblo Dam River Outlet, a Feature of the... Lessee, and Contract for Hydroelectric Power Development at the Pueblo Dam River Outlet, a feature of the... considered timely only if it is received in the office of the Lease of Power Privilege Coordinator by or...

Optimization of automation: III. Development of optimization method for determining automation rate in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Min; Kim, Jong Hyun; Kim, Man Cheol; Seong, Poong Hyun

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We propose an appropriate automation rate that enables the best human performance. • We analyze the shortest working time considering Situation Awareness Recovery (SAR). • The optimized automation rate is estimated by integrating the automation and ostracism rate estimation methods. • The process to derive the optimized automation rate is demonstrated through case studies. - Abstract: Automation has been introduced in various industries, including the nuclear field, because it is commonly believed that automation promises greater efficiency, lower workloads, and fewer operator errors through reducing operator errors and enhancing operator and system performance. However, the excessive introduction of automation has deteriorated operator performance due to the side effects of automation, which are referred to as Out-of-the-Loop (OOTL), and this is critical issue that must be resolved. Thus, in order to determine the optimal level of automation introduction that assures the best human operator performance, a quantitative method of optimizing the automation is proposed in this paper. In order to propose the optimization method for determining appropriate automation levels that enable the best human performance, the automation rate and ostracism rate, which are estimation methods that quantitatively analyze the positive and negative effects of automation, respectively, are integrated. The integration was conducted in order to derive the shortest working time through considering the concept of situation awareness recovery (SAR), which states that the automation rate with the shortest working time assures the best human performance. The process to derive the optimized automation rate is demonstrated through an emergency operation scenario-based case study. In this case study, four types of procedures are assumed through redesigning the original emergency operating procedure according to the introduced automation and ostracism levels. Using the

A Simple Derivation of Time Dilation and Length Contraction in Special Relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Behroozi, Fred

2014-01-01

Undergraduate physics majors typically begin their study of modern physics with special relativity. It is here that physics students first encounter the counterintuitive concepts of time dilation and length contraction. Unfortunately, the derivations of these results are often cloaked in several layers of analysis that render them rather…

Automated spectral and timing analysis of AGNs

Science.gov (United States)

Munz, F.; Karas, V.; Guainazzi, M.

2006-12-01

% We have developed an autonomous script that helps the user to automate the XMM-Newton data analysis for the purposes of extensive statistical investigations. We test this approach by examining X-ray spectra of bright AGNs pre-selected from the public database. The event lists extracted in this process were studied further by constructing their energy-resolved Fourier power-spectrum density. This analysis combines energy distributions, light-curves, and their power-spectra and it proves useful to assess the variability patterns present is the data. As another example, an automated search was based on the XSPEC package to reveal the emission features in 2-8 keV range.

The Contract Management Body of Knowledge: A Comparison of Contracting Competencies

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

and supply chain management policies in an effort to deliver higher returns for their companies ( KPMG , 2012). As purchasing becomes increasingly more...conservation, hazardous materials , and ozone-depleting substances (NCMA, 2011). Contract Structures (1.5) has to do with identifying specific contract types...discusses time and material contracts as well as cost, performance, and delivery incentives. Incentive and award-fee contracts pertaining to fixed-price

Time-Motion Analysis of Four Automated Systems for the Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, James A; Eddleman, Laura; Pantone, Amy; Martinez, Regina; Young, Stephen; Van Der Pol, Barbara

2014-08-01

Next-generation diagnostics for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are available on semi- or fully-automated platforms. These systems require less hands-on time than older platforms and are user friendly. Four automated systems, the ABBOTT m2000 system, Becton Dickinson Viper System with XTR Technology, Gen-Probe Tigris DTS system, and Roche cobas 4800 system, were evaluated for total run time, hands-on time, and walk-away time. All of the systems evaluated in this time-motion study were able to complete a diagnostic test run within an 8-h work shift, instrument setup and operation were straightforward and uncomplicated, and walk-away time ranged from approximately 90 to 270 min in a head-to-head comparison of each system. All of the automated systems provide technical staff with increased time to perform other tasks during the run, offer easy expansion of the diagnostic test menu, and have the ability to increase specimen throughput. © 2013 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

ISS Operations Cost Reductions Through Automation of Real-Time Planning Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Timothy A.; Clancey, William J.; McDonald, Aaron; Toschlog, Jason; Tucker, Tyson; Khan, Ahmed; Madrid, Steven (Eric)

2011-01-01

In 2007 the Johnson Space Center s Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) management team challenged their organizations to find ways to reduce the cost of operations for supporting the International Space Station (ISS) in the Mission Control Center (MCC). Each MOD organization was asked to define and execute projects that would help them attain cost reductions by 2012. The MOD Operations Division Flight Planning Branch responded to this challenge by launching several software automation projects that would allow them to greatly improve console operations and reduce ISS console staffing and intern reduce operating costs. These tasks ranged from improving the management and integration mission plan changes, to automating the uploading and downloading of information to and from the ISS and the associated ground complex tasks that required multiple decision points. The software solutions leveraged several different technologies including customized web applications and implementation of industry standard web services architecture; as well as engaging a previously TRL 4-5 technology developed by Ames Research Center (ARC) that utilized an intelligent agent-based system to manage and automate file traffic flow, archive data, and generate console logs. These projects to date have allowed the MOD Operations organization to remove one full time (7 x 24 x 365) ISS console position in 2010; with the goal of eliminating a second full time ISS console support position by 2012. The team will also reduce one long range planning console position by 2014. When complete, these Flight Planning Branch projects will account for the elimination of 3 console positions and a reduction in staffing of 11 engineering personnel (EP) for ISS.

Reaction Times to Consecutive Automation Failures: A Function of Working Memory and Sustained Attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Jipp, Meike

2016-12-01

This study explored whether working memory and sustained attention influence cognitive lock-up, which is a delay in the response to consecutive automation failures. Previous research has demonstrated that the information that automation provides about failures and the time pressure that is associated with a task influence cognitive lock-up. Previous research has also demonstrated considerable variability in cognitive lock-up between participants. This is why individual differences might influence cognitive lock-up. The present study tested whether working memory-including flexibility in executive functioning-and sustained attention might be crucial in this regard. Eighty-five participants were asked to monitor automated aircraft functions. The experimental manipulation consisted of whether or not an initial automation failure was followed by a consecutive failure. Reaction times to the failures were recorded. Participants' working-memory and sustained-attention abilities were assessed with standardized tests. As expected, participants' reactions to consecutive failures were slower than their reactions to initial failures. In addition, working-memory and sustained-attention abilities enhanced the speed with which participants reacted to failures, more so with regard to consecutive than to initial failures. The findings highlight that operators with better working memory and sustained attention have small advantages when initial failures occur, but their advantages increase across consecutive failures. The results stress the need to consider personnel selection strategies to mitigate cognitive lock-up in general and training procedures to enhance the performance of low ability operators. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

The Automated Aircraft Rework System (AARS): A system integration approach

Science.gov (United States)

Benoit, Michael J.

1994-01-01

The Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC), under contract to the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1989, has been actively involved in providing the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) with a robotic workcell designed to perform rework automated defastening and hole location/transfer operations on F-15 wings. This paper describes the activities required to develop and implement this workcell, known as the Automated Aircraft Rework System (AARS). AARS is scheduled to be completely installed and in operation at WR-ALC by September 1994.

Specification of real-time automation systems with HybridUML; Spezifikation von Echtzeit-Automatisierungssystemen mit HybridUML

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berkenkoetter, K.; Bisanz, S.; Hannemann, U.; Peleska, J. [Univ. Bremen (Germany)

2004-07-01

Complex automation systems require specification formalisms supporting the description of real-time requirements with respect to both discrete and time-continuous observables. For this purpose, the authors have designed the HybridUML specification language. Discrete events, communication, and variable assignments are specified by state machines, timers, and invariant conditions. The time-continuous aspects of system behaviour are described by associating differential equations or time-dependent algebraic conditions with system states. The complexity of large systems is controlled by decomposing the specification into parallel components and hierarchical state machines. Instead of inventing a new language syntax, HybridUML is represented as a profile of the Unified Modeling Language UML 2.0. This allows to re-use the syntactic framework of well-accepted graphical UML constructs and development support provided by various UML case tools. The profile is associated with a precise language semantics linking unambiguous meaning to all HybridUML specifications. As a consequence, HybridUML specifications can be compiled into executable code which is suitable for execution in hard realtime on multi-processor computers. This serves both for the development of automation systems and for specification-based testing in real-time. This paper contains an introduction to HybridUML which is illustrated by an example from the field of automated train control. (orig.)

Decreasing Transition Times in Elementary School Classrooms: Using Computer-Assisted Instruction to Automate Intervention Components

Science.gov (United States)

Hine, Jeffrey F.; Ardoin, Scott P.; Foster, Tori E.

2015-01-01

Research suggests that students spend a substantial amount of time transitioning between classroom activities, which may reduce time spent academically engaged. This study used an ABAB design to evaluate the effects of a computer-assisted intervention that automated intervention components previously shown to decrease transition times. We examined…

Time consumption and quality of an automated fusion tool for SPECT and MRI images of the brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiedler, E.; Platsch, G.; Schwarz, A.; Schmiedehausen, K.; Kuwert, T.; Tomandl, B.; Huk, W.; Rupprecht, Th.; Rahn, N.

2003-01-01

Aim: Although the fusion of images from different modalities may improve diagnostic accuracy, it is rarely used in clinical routine work due to logistic problems. Therefore we evaluated performance and time needed for fusing MRI and SPECT images using a semiautomated dedicated software. Patients, material and method: In 32 patients regional cerebral blood flow was measured using 99m Tc ethylcystein dimer (ECD) and the three-headed SPECT camera MultiSPECT 3. MRI scans of the brain were performed using either a 0,2 T Open or a 1,5 T Sonata. Twelve of the MRI data sets were acquired using a 3 D-T1 w MPRAGE sequence, 20 with a 2D acquisition technique and different echo sequences. Image fusion was performed on a Syngo workstation using an entropy minimizing algorithm by an experienced user of the software. The fusion results were classified. We measured the time needed for the automated fusion procedure and in case of need that for manual realignment after automated, but insufficient fusion. Results: The mean time of the automated fusion procedure was 123 s. It was for the 2D significantly shorter than for the 3D MRI datasets. For four of the 2D data sets and two of the 3D data sets an optimal fit was reached using the automated approach. The remaining 26 data sets required manual correction. The sum of the time required for automated fusion and that needed for manual correction averaged 320 s (50-886 s). Conclusion: The fusion of 3D MRI data sets lasted significantly longer than that of the 2D MRI data. The automated fusion tool delivered in 20% an optimal fit, in 80% manual correction was necessary. Nevertheless, each of the 32 SPECT data sets could be merged in less than 15 min with the corresponding MRI data, which seems acceptable for clinical routine use. (orig.) [de

Bouncing back from psychological contract breach: How commitment recovers over time

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Solinger, O.N.; Hofmans, J.; Bal, P.M.; Jansen, P.G.W.

2016-01-01

The post-violation model of the psychological contract outlines four ways in which a psychological contract may be resolved after breach (i.e., psychological contract thriving, reactivation, impairment, and dissolution). To explore the implications of this model for post-breach restoration of

Automated observatory in Antarctica: real-time data transfer on constrained networks in practice

Science.gov (United States)

Bracke, Stephan; Gonsette, Alexandre; Rasson, Jean; Poncelet, Antoine; Hendrickx, Olivier

2017-08-01

In 2013 a project was started by the geophysical centre in Dourbes to install a fully automated magnetic observatory in Antarctica. This isolated place comes with specific requirements: unmanned station during 6 months, low temperatures with extreme values down to -50 °C, minimum power consumption and satellite bandwidth limited to 56 Kbit s-1. The ultimate aim is to transfer real-time magnetic data every second: vector data from a LEMI-25 vector magnetometer, absolute F measurements from a GEM Systems scalar proton magnetometer and absolute magnetic inclination-declination (DI) measurements (five times a day) with an automated DI-fluxgate magnetometer. Traditional file transfer protocols (for instance File Transfer Protocol (FTP), email, rsync) show severe limitations when it comes to real-time capability. After evaluation of pro and cons of the available real-time Internet of things (IoT) protocols and seismic software solutions, we chose to use Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and receive the 1 s data with a negligible latency cost and no loss of data. Each individual instrument sends the magnetic data immediately after capturing, and the data arrive approximately 300 ms after being sent, which corresponds with the normal satellite latency.

Improving the driver-automation interaction: an approach using automation uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Beller, Johannes; Heesen, Matthias; Vollrath, Mark

2013-12-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether communicating automation uncertainty improves the driver-automation interaction. A false system understanding of infallibility may provoke automation misuse and can lead to severe consequences in case of automation failure. The presentation of automation uncertainty may prevent this false system understanding and, as was shown by previous studies, may have numerous benefits. Few studies, however, have clearly shown the potential of communicating uncertainty information in driving. The current study fills this gap. We conducted a driving simulator experiment, varying the presented uncertainty information between participants (no uncertainty information vs. uncertainty information) and the automation reliability (high vs.low) within participants. Participants interacted with a highly automated driving system while engaging in secondary tasks and were required to cooperate with the automation to drive safely. Quantile regressions and multilevel modeling showed that the presentation of uncertainty information increases the time to collision in the case of automation failure. Furthermore, the data indicated improved situation awareness and better knowledge of fallibility for the experimental group. Consequently, the automation with the uncertainty symbol received higher trust ratings and increased acceptance. The presentation of automation uncertaintythrough a symbol improves overall driver-automation cooperation. Most automated systems in driving could benefit from displaying reliability information. This display might improve the acceptance of fallible systems and further enhances driver-automation cooperation.

77 FR 44059 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Payments Under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-26

... receive more frequent payments than every two weeks. The Contractor shall substantiate vouchers (including...] RIN 9000-AM01 Federal Acquisition Regulation; Payments Under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour... the authorization to use time-and-materials and labor-hour contract payment requirements. DATES...

Automation and Robotics for Human Mars Exploration (AROMA)

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Peter; von Richter, Andreas

2003-01-01

Automation and Robotics (A&R) systems are a key technology for Mars exploration. All over the world initiatives in this field aim at developing new A&R systems and technologies for planetary surface exploration. From December 2000 to February 2002 Kayser-Threde GmbH, Munich, Germany lead a study called AROMA (Automation and Robotics for Human Mars Exploration) under ESA contract in order to define a reference architecture of A&R elements in support of a human Mars exploration program. One of the goals of this effort is to initiate new developments and to maintain the competitiveness of European industry within this field. c2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Automation, Performance and International Competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kromann, Lene; Sørensen, Anders

This paper presents new evidence on trade‐induced automation in manufacturing firms using unique data combining a retrospective survey that we have assembled with register data for 2005‐2010. In particular, we establish a causal effect where firms that have specialized in product types for which...... the Chinese exports to the world market has risen sharply invest more in automated capital compared to firms that have specialized in other product types. We also study the relationship between automation and firm performance and find that firms with high increases in scale and scope of automation have faster...... productivity growth than other firms. Moreover, automation improves the efficiency of all stages of the production process by reducing setup time, run time, and inspection time and increasing uptime and quantity produced per worker. The efficiency improvement varies by type of automation....

Three Experiments Examining the Use of Electroencephalogram,Event-Related Potentials, and Heart-Rate Variability for Real-Time Human-Centered Adaptive Automation Design

Science.gov (United States)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Parasuraman, Raja; Freeman, Frederick G.; Scerbo, Mark W.; Mikulka, Peter J.; Pope, Alan T.

2003-01-01

Adaptive automation represents an advanced form of human-centered automation design. The approach to automation provides for real-time and model-based assessments of human-automation interaction, determines whether the human has entered into a hazardous state of awareness and then modulates the task environment to keep the operator in-the-loop , while maintaining an optimal state of task engagement and mental alertness. Because adaptive automation has not matured, numerous challenges remain, including what the criteria are, for determining when adaptive aiding and adaptive function allocation should take place. Human factors experts in the area have suggested a number of measures including the use of psychophysiology. This NASA Technical Paper reports on three experiments that examined the psychophysiological measures of event-related potentials, electroencephalogram, and heart-rate variability for real-time adaptive automation. The results of the experiments confirm the efficacy of these measures for use in both a developmental and operational role for adaptive automation design. The implications of these results and future directions for psychophysiology and human-centered automation design are discussed.

Laboratory Automation and Middleware.

Science.gov (United States)

Riben, Michael

2015-06-01

The practice of surgical pathology is under constant pressure to deliver the highest quality of service, reduce errors, increase throughput, and decrease turnaround time while at the same time dealing with an aging workforce, increasing financial constraints, and economic uncertainty. Although not able to implement total laboratory automation, great progress continues to be made in workstation automation in all areas of the pathology laboratory. This report highlights the benefits and challenges of pathology automation, reviews middleware and its use to facilitate automation, and reviews the progress so far in the anatomic pathology laboratory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ideational struggles over women's part-time work in Norway: Destabilizing the gender contract

OpenAIRE

Ellingsæter, Anne Lise; Mosesdottir, Lilja

2017-01-01

High rates of part-time work have been associated with high female employment rates in the Nordic countries, except for Finland. Part-time work has played a key role in the modification of the male breadwinner gender contract by enabling women to enter paid work while continuing to take on the main domestic responsibilities. Previously tacit and little disputed, this ‘normalization’ of women’s part-time work has increasingly become a contentious issue in the public debate in Norway, both in t...

Instrument calls and real-time code for laboratory automation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taber, L.; Ames, H.S.; Yamauchi, R.K.; Barton, G.W. Jr.

1978-01-01

These programs are the result of a joint Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Environmental Protection Agency project to automate water quality laboratories. They form the interface between the analytical instruments and the BASIC language programs for data reduction and analysis. They operate on Data General NOVA 840's at Cincinnati and Chicago and on a Data General ECLIPSE C330 at Livermore. The operating system consists of unmodified RDOS, Data General's disk operating system, and Data General's multiuser BASIC modified to provide the instrument CALLs and other functions described. Instruments automated at various laboratories include Technicon AutoAnalyzers, atomic absorption spectrophotometers, total organic carbon analyzers, an emission spectrometer, an electronic balance, sample changers, and an optical spectrophotometer. Other instruments may be automated using these same CALLs, or new CALLs may be written as described

Leveraging Long-term Seismic Catalogs for Automated Real-time Event Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Linville, L.; Draelos, T.; Pankow, K. L.; Young, C. J.; Alvarez, S.

2017-12-01

We investigate the use of labeled event types available through reviewed seismic catalogs to produce automated event labels on new incoming data from the crustal region spanned by the cataloged events. Using events cataloged by the University of Utah Seismograph Stations between October, 2012 and June, 2017, we calculate the spectrogram for a time window that spans the duration of each event as seen on individual stations, resulting in 110k event spectrograms (50% local earthquakes examples, 50% quarry blasts examples). Using 80% of the randomized example events ( 90k), a classifier is trained to distinguish between local earthquakes and quarry blasts. We explore variations of deep learning classifiers, incorporating elements of convolutional and recurrent neural networks. Using a single-layer Long Short Term Memory recurrent neural network, we achieve 92% accuracy on the classification task on the remaining 20K test examples. Leveraging the decisions from a group of stations that detected the same event by using the median of all classifications in the group increases the model accuracy to 96%. Additional data with equivalent processing from 500 more recently cataloged events (July, 2017), achieves the same accuracy as our test data on both single-station examples and multi-station medians, suggesting that the model can maintain accurate and stable classification rates on real-time automated events local to the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, with potentially minimal levels of re-training through time.

An Introduction to Archival Automation: A RAMP Study with Guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Michael

Developed under a contract with the International Council on Archives, these guidelines are designed to emphasize the role of automation techniques in archives and records services, provide an indication of existing computer systems used in different archives services and of specific computer applications at various stages of archives…

Optimization of automation: I. Estimation method of cognitive automation rates reflecting the effects of automation on human operators in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Min; Kim, Jong Hyun; Seong, Poong Hyun

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We propose an estimation method of the automation rate by taking the advantages of automation as the estimation measures. • We conduct the experiments to examine the validity of the suggested method. • The higher the cognitive automation rate is, the greater the decreased rate of the working time will be. • The usefulness of the suggested estimation method is proved by statistical analyses. - Abstract: Since automation was introduced in various industrial fields, the concept of the automation rate has been used to indicate the inclusion proportion of automation among all work processes or facilities. Expressions of the inclusion proportion of automation are predictable, as is the ability to express the degree of the enhancement of human performance. However, many researchers have found that a high automation rate does not guarantee high performance. Therefore, to reflect the effects of automation on human performance, this paper proposes a new estimation method of the automation rate that considers the effects of automation on human operators in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Automation in NPPs can be divided into two types: system automation and cognitive automation. Some general descriptions and characteristics of each type of automation are provided, and the advantages of automation are investigated. The advantages of each type of automation are used as measures of the estimation method of the automation rate. One advantage was found to be a reduction in the number of tasks, and another was a reduction in human cognitive task loads. The system and the cognitive automation rate were proposed as quantitative measures by taking advantage of the aforementioned benefits. To quantify the required human cognitive task loads and thus suggest the cognitive automation rate, Conant’s information-theory-based model was applied. The validity of the suggested method, especially as regards the cognitive automation rate, was proven by conducting

Optimal Hedging and Pricing of Equity-Linked Life Insurance Contracts in a Discrete-Time Incomplete Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norman Josephy

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We present a method of optimal hedging and pricing of equity-linked life insurance products in an incomplete discrete-time financial market. A pure endowment life insurance contract with guarantee is used as an example. The financial market incompleteness is caused by the assumption that the underlying risky asset price ratios are distributed in a compact interval, generalizing the assumptions of multinomial incomplete market models. For a range of initial hedging capitals for the embedded financial option, we numerically solve an optimal hedging problem and determine a risk-return profile of each optimal non-self-financing hedging strategy. The fair price of the insurance contract is determined according to the insurer's risk-return preferences. Illustrative numerical results of testing our algorithm on hypothetical insurance contracts are documented. A discussion and a test of a hedging strategy recalibration technique for long-term contracts are presented.

Automated observatory in Antarctica: real-time data transfer on constrained networks in practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Bracke

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In 2013 a project was started by the geophysical centre in Dourbes to install a fully automated magnetic observatory in Antarctica. This isolated place comes with specific requirements: unmanned station during 6 months, low temperatures with extreme values down to −50 °C, minimum power consumption and satellite bandwidth limited to 56 Kbit s−1. The ultimate aim is to transfer real-time magnetic data every second: vector data from a LEMI-25 vector magnetometer, absolute F measurements from a GEM Systems scalar proton magnetometer and absolute magnetic inclination–declination (DI measurements (five times a day with an automated DI-fluxgate magnetometer. Traditional file transfer protocols (for instance File Transfer Protocol (FTP, email, rsync show severe limitations when it comes to real-time capability. After evaluation of pro and cons of the available real-time Internet of things (IoT protocols and seismic software solutions, we chose to use Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT and receive the 1 s data with a negligible latency cost and no loss of data. Each individual instrument sends the magnetic data immediately after capturing, and the data arrive approximately 300 ms after being sent, which corresponds with the normal satellite latency.

It's all in the timing: modeling isovolumic contraction through development and disease with a dynamic dual electromechanical bioreactor system.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Kathy Ye; Black, Lauren Deems

2014-01-01

This commentary discusses the rationale behind our recently reported work entitled "Mimicking isovolumic contraction with combined electromechanical stimulation improves the development of engineered cardiac constructs," introduces new data supporting our hypothesis, and discusses future applications of our bioreactor system. The ability to stimulate engineered cardiac tissue in a bioreactor system that combines both electrical and mechanical stimulation offers a unique opportunity to simulate the appropriate dynamics between stretch and contraction and model isovolumic contraction in vitro. Our previous study demonstrated that combined electromechanical stimulation that simulated the timing of isovolumic contraction in healthy tissue improved force generation via increased contractile and calcium handling protein expression and improved hypertrophic pathway activation. In new data presented here, we further demonstrate that modification of the timing between electrical and mechanical stimulation to mimic a non-physiological process negatively impacts the functionality of the engineered constructs. We close by exploring the various disease states that have altered timing between the electrical and mechanical stimulation signals as potential future directions for the use of this system.

Automated high-throughput flow-through real-time diagnostic system

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, John Frederick

2012-10-30

An automated real-time flow-through system capable of processing multiple samples in an asynchronous, simultaneous, and parallel fashion for nucleic acid extraction and purification, followed by assay assembly, genetic amplification, multiplex detection, analysis, and decontamination. The system is able to hold and access an unlimited number of fluorescent reagents that may be used to screen samples for the presence of specific sequences. The apparatus works by associating extracted and purified sample with a series of reagent plugs that have been formed in a flow channel and delivered to a flow-through real-time amplification detector that has a multiplicity of optical windows, to which the sample-reagent plugs are placed in an operative position. The diagnostic apparatus includes sample multi-position valves, a master sample multi-position valve, a master reagent multi-position valve, reagent multi-position valves, and an optical amplification/detection system.

Designation of Contracting Officers Representatives and Oversight Framework Could Be Improved for Contracts in Afghanistan

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-30

Sea Systems issue guidance to contracting officers to obtain a quality assurance surveillance plan for all service contracts, and ensure that the...prepare a quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP) for service contracts in order to facilitate assessment of contractor performance.12 Furthermore...that the contracting activities received and paid for goods or services that did not meet contract performance standards. At the time of the audit

Adding Concurrency to Smart Contracts

OpenAIRE

Dickerson, Thomas; Gazzillo, Paul; Herlihy, Maurice; Koskinen, Eric

2017-01-01

Modern cryptocurrency systems, such as Ethereum, permit complex financial transactions through scripts called smart contracts. These smart contracts are executed many, many times, always without real concurrency. First, all smart contracts are serially executed by miners before appending them to the blockchain. Later, those contracts are serially re-executed by validators to verify that the smart contracts were executed correctly by miners. Serial execution limits system throughput and fails ...

QoS Negotiation in Real-Time Systems and its Application to Automated Flight Control

Science.gov (United States)

2000-11-01

QoS Negotiation in Real - Time Systems and Its Application to Automated Flight Control Tarek F. Abdelzaher, Member, IEEE, Ella M. Atkins, Member, IEEE...been committed to those that arrived earlier. In hard- real - time systems , a static analysis may be performed to guarantee a priori that all requests be...DATE 2000 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2000 to 00-00-2000 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE QoS Negotiation in Real - Time Systems and its

A Continuous-Time Agency Model of Optimal Contracting and Capital Structure

OpenAIRE

Peter M. DeMarzo; Yuliy Sannikov

2004-01-01

We consider a principal-agent model in which the agent needs to raise capital from the principal to finance a project. Our model is based on DeMarzo and Fishman (2003), except that the agent's cash flows are given by a Brownian motion with drift in continuous time. The difficulty in writing an appropriate financial contract in this setting is that the agent can conceal and divert cash flows for his own consumption rather than pay back the principal. Alternatively, the agent may reduce the mea...

Introduction matters: Manipulating trust in automation and reliance in automated driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Körber, Moritz; Baseler, Eva; Bengler, Klaus

2018-01-01

Trust in automation is a key determinant for the adoption of automated systems and their appropriate use. Therefore, it constitutes an essential research area for the introduction of automated vehicles to road traffic. In this study, we investigated the influence of trust promoting (Trust promoted group) and trust lowering (Trust lowered group) introductory information on reported trust, reliance behavior and take-over performance. Forty participants encountered three situations in a 17-min highway drive in a conditionally automated vehicle (SAE Level 3). Situation 1 and Situation 3 were non-critical situations where a take-over was optional. Situation 2 represented a critical situation where a take-over was necessary to avoid a collision. A non-driving-related task (NDRT) was presented between the situations to record the allocation of visual attention. Participants reporting a higher trust level spent less time looking at the road or instrument cluster and more time looking at the NDRT. The manipulation of introductory information resulted in medium differences in reported trust and influenced participants' reliance behavior. Participants of the Trust promoted group looked less at the road or instrument cluster and more at the NDRT. The odds of participants of the Trust promoted group to overrule the automated driving system in the non-critical situations were 3.65 times (Situation 1) to 5 times (Situation 3) higher. In Situation 2, the Trust promoted group's mean take-over time was extended by 1154 ms and the mean minimum time-to-collision was 933 ms shorter. Six participants from the Trust promoted group compared to no participant of the Trust lowered group collided with the obstacle. The results demonstrate that the individual trust level influences how much drivers monitor the environment while performing an NDRT. Introductory information influences this trust level, reliance on an automated driving system, and if a critical take-over situation can be

Automated selection of brain regions for real-time fMRI brain-computer interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Lührs, Michael; Sorger, Bettina; Goebel, Rainer; Esposito, Fabrizio

2017-02-01

Objective. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) implemented with real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) use fMRI time-courses from predefined regions of interest (ROIs). To reach best performances, localizer experiments and on-site expert supervision are required for ROI definition. To automate this step, we developed two unsupervised computational techniques based on the general linear model (GLM) and independent component analysis (ICA) of rt-fMRI data, and compared their performances on a communication BCI. Approach. 3 T fMRI data of six volunteers were re-analyzed in simulated real-time. During a localizer run, participants performed three mental tasks following visual cues. During two communication runs, a letter-spelling display guided the subjects to freely encode letters by performing one of the mental tasks with a specific timing. GLM- and ICA-based procedures were used to decode each letter, respectively using compact ROIs and whole-brain distributed spatio-temporal patterns of fMRI activity, automatically defined from subject-specific or group-level maps. Main results. Letter-decoding performances were comparable to supervised methods. In combination with a similarity-based criterion, GLM- and ICA-based approaches successfully decoded more than 80% (average) of the letters. Subject-specific maps yielded optimal performances. Significance. Automated solutions for ROI selection may help accelerating the translation of rt-fMRI BCIs from research to clinical applications.

[Automated analyzer of enzyme immunoassay].

Science.gov (United States)

Osawa, S

1995-09-01

Automated analyzers for enzyme immunoassay can be classified by several points of view: the kind of labeled antibodies or enzymes, detection methods, the number of tests per unit time, analytical time and speed per run. In practice, it is important for us consider the several points such as detection limits, the number of tests per unit time, analytical range, and precision. Most of the automated analyzers on the market can randomly access and measure samples. I will describe the recent advance of automated analyzers reviewing their labeling antibodies and enzymes, the detection methods, the number of test per unit time and analytical time and speed per test.

Process development for automated solar cell and module production. Task 4. Automated array assembly. Quarterly report No. 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hagerty, J. J.

1980-10-15

Work has been divided into five phases. The first phase is to modify existing hardware and controlling computer software to: (1) improve cell-to-cell placement accuracy, (2) improve the solder joint while reducing the amount of solder and flux smear on the cell's surface, and (3) reduce the system cycle time to 10 seconds. The second phase involves expanding the existing system's capabilities to be able to reject broken cells and make post-solder electrical tests. Phase 3 involves developing new hardware to allow for the automated encapsulation of solar modules. This involves three discrete pieces of hardware: (1) a vacuum platen end effector for the robot which allows it to pick up the 1' x 4' array of 35 inter-connected cells. With this, it can also pick up the cover glass and completed module, (2) a lamination preparation station which cuts the various encapsulation components from roll storage and positions them for encapsulation, and (3) an automated encapsulation chamber which interfaces with the above two and applies the heat and vacuum to cure the encapsulants. Phase 4 involves the final assembly of the encapsulated array into a framed, edge-sealed module completed for installation. For this we are using MBA's Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) in panels such as those developed by MBA for JPL under contract No. 955281. The GRC panel plays the multiple role of edge frame, substrate and mounting structure. An automated method of applying the edge seal will also be developed. The final phase (5) is the fabrication of six 1' x 4' electrically active solar modules using the above developed equipment. Progress is reported. (WHK)

Determination of the Optimized Automation Rate considering Effects of Automation on Human Operators in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Min; Seong, Poong Hyun; Kim, Jong Hyun; Kim, Man Cheol

2015-01-01

Automation refers to the use of a device or a system to perform a function previously performed by a human operator. It is introduced to reduce the human errors and to enhance the performance in various industrial fields, including the nuclear industry. However, these positive effects are not always achieved in complex systems such as nuclear power plants (NPPs). An excessive introduction of automation can generate new roles for human operators and change activities in unexpected ways. As more automation systems are accepted, the ability of human operators to detect automation failures and resume manual control is diminished. This disadvantage of automation is called the Out-of-the- Loop (OOTL) problem. We should consider the positive and negative effects of automation at the same time to determine the appropriate level of the introduction of automation. Thus, in this paper, we suggest an estimation method to consider the positive and negative effects of automation at the same time to determine the appropriate introduction of automation. This concept is limited in that it does not consider the effects of automation on human operators. Thus, a new estimation method for automation rate was suggested to overcome this problem

Bonneville Purchasing Instructions. Appendix 14A, Contracting Officer`s Technical Representatives` Guide for Services Contracts.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

1993-07-01

This guide outlines the duties of BPA personnel designated as Contracting Officers Technical Representatives (COTRs). The BPA Administrator gives contracting officers (COs) in BPA responsibility and authority for awarding and administering contracts. COs are authorized to designate other BPA employees to act as their representatives for purposes of contract administration, from the time of contract award until final receipt and acceptance of the contracted services. COTRs are the individuals primarily relied upon to perform technical contract administration functions. Similar functions for supply and construction contracts are performed by engineering representatives, construction inspectors, and inspectors. Although this Guide is written primarily with the COTR in mind, the concept and operation of teamwork is essential throughout the entire process of contract administration. The CO administers the contract during performance, but rarely has expertise in all of the relevant technical areas. Therefore, CO decisions rely on input from a team. The COTR is an indispensable member of that team. The instructions in this Guide are designed to facilitate this essential CO-COTR cooperation. COTR duties are usually additional to those required of the COTR in his or her assigned line organization. The COTR is still accountable to the line supervisor for performance of regularly-assigned duties. These duties are to be reflected appropriately in performance appraisals and job descriptions. For contract administration duties, however, the COTR reports directly to, and is accountable only to, the CO. The COTR`s supervisor must allow sufficient time to ensure that the COTR can adequately monitor the contract for technical compliance. This Guide is designed for COTRs who are performing service contract (including intergovernmental contract) administration functions as an adjunct to their normal technical duties.

Searching for Contracting Patterns over Time: Do Prime Contractor and Subcontractor Relations Follow Similar Patterns for Professional Services Provision?

Science.gov (United States)

Ponomariov, Branco; Kingsley, Gordon; Boardman, Craig

2011-01-01

This paper compares over a 12-year period (1) patterns of contracting between a state transportation agency and its prime contractors providing engineering design services with (2) patterns between these prime contractors and their subcontractors. We find evidence of different contracting patterns at each level that emerge over time and coexist in…

Asleep at the automated wheel-Sleepiness and fatigue during highly automated driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogelpohl, Tobias; Kühn, Matthias; Hummel, Thomas; Vollrath, Mark

2018-03-20

Due to the lack of active involvement in the driving situation and due to monotonous driving environments drivers with automation may be prone to become fatigued faster than manual drivers (e.g. Schömig et al., 2015). However, little is known about the progression of fatigue during automated driving and its effects on the ability to take back manual control after a take-over request. In this driving simulator study with Nö=ö60 drivers we used a three factorial 2ö×ö2ö×ö12 mixed design to analyze the progression (12ö×ö5ömin; within subjects) of driver fatigue in drivers with automation compared to manual drivers (between subjects). Driver fatigue was induced as either mainly sleep related or mainly task related fatigue (between subjects). Additionally, we investigated the drivers' reactions to a take-over request in a critical driving scenario to gain insights into the ability of fatigued drivers to regain manual control and situation awareness after automated driving. Drivers in the automated driving condition exhibited facial indicators of fatigue after 15 to 35ömin of driving. Manual drivers only showed similar indicators of fatigue if they suffered from a lack of sleep and then only after a longer period of driving (approx. 40ömin). Several drivers in the automated condition closed their eyes for extended periods of time. In the driving with automation condition mean automation deactivation times after a take-over request were slower for a certain percentage (about 30%) of the drivers with a lack of sleep (Mö=ö3.2; SDö=ö2.1ös) compared to the reaction times after a long drive (Mö=ö2.4; SDö=ö0.9ös). Drivers with automation also took longer than manual drivers to first glance at the speed display after a take-over request and were more likely to stay behind a braking lead vehicle instead of overtaking it. Drivers are unable to stay alert during extended periods of automated driving without non-driving related tasks. Fatigued drivers could

A fully automated and scalable timing probe-based method for time alignment of the LabPET II scanners

Science.gov (United States)

Samson, Arnaud; Thibaudeau, Christian; Bouchard, Jonathan; Gaudin, Émilie; Paulin, Caroline; Lecomte, Roger; Fontaine, Réjean

2018-05-01

A fully automated time alignment method based on a positron timing probe was developed to correct the channel-to-channel coincidence time dispersion of the LabPET II avalanche photodiode-based positron emission tomography (PET) scanners. The timing probe was designed to directly detect positrons and generate an absolute time reference. The probe-to-channel coincidences are recorded and processed using firmware embedded in the scanner hardware to compute the time differences between detector channels. The time corrections are then applied in real-time to each event in every channel during PET data acquisition to align all coincidence time spectra, thus enhancing the scanner time resolution. When applied to the mouse version of the LabPET II scanner, the calibration of 6 144 channels was performed in less than 15 min and showed a 47% improvement on the overall time resolution of the scanner, decreasing from 7 ns to 3.7 ns full width at half maximum (FWHM).

Activities of daily living measured by the Harvard Automated Phone Task track with cognitive decline over time in non-demented elderly

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Gad A.; Aghjayan, Sarah L.; Dekhtyar, Maria; Locascio, Joseph J.; Jethwani, Kamal; Amariglio, Rebecca E.; Johnson, Keith A.; Sperling, Reisa A.; Rentz, Dorene M.

2017-01-01

Background Impairment in activities of daily living is a major burden to both patients and caregivers. Mild impairment in instrumental activities of daily living is often seen at the stage of mild cognitive impairment. The field of Alzheimer’s disease is moving toward earlier diagnosis and intervention and more sensitive and ecologically valid assessments of instrumental or complex activities of daily living are needed. The Harvard Automated Phone Task, a novel performance-based activities of daily living instrument, has the potential to fill this gap. Objective To further validate the Harvard Automated Phone Task by assessing its longitudinal relationship to global cognition and specific cognitive domains in clinically normal elderly and individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Design In a longitudinal study, the Harvard Automated Phone Task was associated with cognitive measures using mixed effects models. The Harvard Automated Phone Task’s ability to discriminate across diagnostic groups at baseline was also assessed. Setting Academic clinical research center. Participants Two hundred and seven participants (45 young normal, 141 clinically normal elderly, and 21 mild cognitive impairment) were recruited from the community and the memory disorders clinics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Measurements Participants performed the three tasks of the Harvard Automated Phone Task, which consist of navigating an interactive voice response system to refill a prescription (APT-Script), select a new primary care physician (APT-PCP), and make a bank account transfer and payment (APT-Bank). The 3 tasks were scored based on time, errors, repetitions, and correct completion of the task. The primary outcome measure used for each of the tasks was total time adjusted for correct completion. Results The Harvard Automated Phone Task discriminated well between young normal, clinically normal elderly, and mild cognitive impairment

Defense Contracting: Use of Undefinitized Contract Actions Understand and Definitization Time Frames Often Not Met

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2007-01-01

...), which authorize contractors to begin work before reaching a final agreement on contract terms. The contractor has little incentive to control costs during this period, creating a potential for wasted taxpayer dollars...

Automation of radioimmunoassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Chisato; Yamada, Hideo; Iio, Masahiro

1974-01-01

Automation systems for measuring Australian antigen by radioimmunoassay under development were discussed. Samples were processed as follows: blood serum being dispensed by automated sampler to the test tube, and then incubated under controlled time and temperature; first counting being omitted; labelled antibody being dispensed to the serum after washing; samples being incubated and then centrifuged; radioactivities in the precipitate being counted by auto-well counter; measurements being tabulated by automated typewriter. Not only well-type counter but also position counter was studied. (Kanao, N.)

Optimal Geometrical Set for Automated Marker Placement to Virtualized Real-Time Facial Emotions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasanthan Maruthapillai

Full Text Available In recent years, real-time face recognition has been a major topic of interest in developing intelligent human-machine interaction systems. Over the past several decades, researchers have proposed different algorithms for facial expression recognition, but there has been little focus on detection in real-time scenarios. The present work proposes a new algorithmic method of automated marker placement used to classify six facial expressions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. Emotional facial expressions were captured using a webcam, while the proposed algorithm placed a set of eight virtual markers on each subject's face. Facial feature extraction methods, including marker distance (distance between each marker to the center of the face and change in marker distance (change in distance between the original and new marker positions, were used to extract three statistical features (mean, variance, and root mean square from the real-time video sequence. The initial position of each marker was subjected to the optical flow algorithm for marker tracking with each emotional facial expression. Finally, the extracted statistical features were mapped into corresponding emotional facial expressions using two simple non-linear classifiers, K-nearest neighbor and probabilistic neural network. The results indicate that the proposed automated marker placement algorithm effectively placed eight virtual markers on each subject's face and gave a maximum mean emotion classification rate of 96.94% using the probabilistic neural network.

Optimal Geometrical Set for Automated Marker Placement to Virtualized Real-Time Facial Emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Maruthapillai, Vasanthan; Murugappan, Murugappan

2016-01-01

In recent years, real-time face recognition has been a major topic of interest in developing intelligent human-machine interaction systems. Over the past several decades, researchers have proposed different algorithms for facial expression recognition, but there has been little focus on detection in real-time scenarios. The present work proposes a new algorithmic method of automated marker placement used to classify six facial expressions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. Emotional facial expressions were captured using a webcam, while the proposed algorithm placed a set of eight virtual markers on each subject's face. Facial feature extraction methods, including marker distance (distance between each marker to the center of the face) and change in marker distance (change in distance between the original and new marker positions), were used to extract three statistical features (mean, variance, and root mean square) from the real-time video sequence. The initial position of each marker was subjected to the optical flow algorithm for marker tracking with each emotional facial expression. Finally, the extracted statistical features were mapped into corresponding emotional facial expressions using two simple non-linear classifiers, K-nearest neighbor and probabilistic neural network. The results indicate that the proposed automated marker placement algorithm effectively placed eight virtual markers on each subject's face and gave a maximum mean emotion classification rate of 96.94% using the probabilistic neural network.

Contract theory and EU Contract Law

OpenAIRE

Hesselink, M.W.; Twigg-Flesner, C.

2016-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between contract theory and European contract law. In particular, it confronts the leading contract law theories with the main characteristics of EU contract law. The conclusion is that the two do not match well. In particular, monist normative contract theories are largely irreconcilable with the contract law of the EU. The paper further addresses the main implications of this mismatch, both for contract theory and for EU contract law. It suggests that in...

Tool-driven Design and Automated Parameterization for Real-time Generic Drivetrain Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schwarz Christina

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Real-time dynamic drivetrain modeling approaches have a great potential for development cost reduction in the automotive industry. Even though real-time drivetrain models are available, these solutions are specific to single transmission topologies. In this paper an environment for parameterization of a solution is proposed based on a generic method applicable to all types of gear transmission topologies. This enables tool-guided modeling by non- experts in the fields of mechanic engineering and control theory leading to reduced development and testing efforts. The approach is demonstrated for an exemplary automatic transmission using the environment for automated parameterization. Finally, the parameterization is validated via vehicle measurement data.

Time efficiency and diagnostic accuracy of new automated myocardial perfusion analysis software in 320-row CT cardiac imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rief, Matthias; Stenzei, Fabian; Kranz, Anisha; Schlattmann, Peter; Dewey, Marc [Dept. of Radiology, Charite - Universiteitsmedizin Berlin, Berlin (Greece)

2013-01-15

We aimed to evaluate the time efficiency and diagnostic accuracy of automated myocardial computed tomography perfusion (CTP) image analysis software. 320-row CTP was performed in 30 patients, and analyses were conducted independently by three different blinded readers by the use of two recent software releases (version 4.6 and novel version 4.71GR001, Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan). Analysis times were compared, and automated epi- and endocardial contour detection was subjectively rated in five categories (excellent, good, fair, poor and very poor). As semi-quantitative perfusion parameters, myocardial attenuation and transmural perfusion ratio (TPR) were calculated for each myocardial segment and agreement was tested by using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Conventional coronary angiography served as reference standard. The analysis time was significantly reduced with the novel automated software version as compared with the former release (Reader 1: 43:08 ± 11:39 min vs. 09:47 ± 04:51 min, Reader 2: 42:07 ± 06:44 min vs. 09:42 ± 02:50 min and Reader 3: 21:38 ± 3:44 min vs. 07:34 ± 02:12 min; p < 0.001 for all). Epi- and endocardial contour detection for the novel software was rated to be significantly better (p < 0.001) than with the former software. ICCs demonstrated strong agreement (≥ 0.75) for myocardial attenuation in 93% and for TPR in 82%. Diagnostic accuracy for the two software versions was not significantly different (p 0.169) as compared with conventional coronary angiography. The novel automated CTP analysis software offers enhanced time efficiency with an improvement by a factor of about four, while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.

The French market of solutions for active energy efficiency. Energy, central home automation systems, consumption monitoring software, distributed load shedding, energy performance contract... which tools will stand out?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-12-01

This article presents the content of a market study which aimed at proposing an overview of solutions for energy efficiency and at assessing their impact on energy consumption, at identifying the growth dynamics of three market segments (assisted efficiency, automated efficiency and contract-based efficiency), at comparing the posture and strategies of the different actors present on this market (energy providers, equipment manufacturers, pure players, NTIC...), at identifying actors who are in the best position to benefit market development, and at imagining tomorrow's supply for energy efficiency. The report addresses the definition of active energy efficiency, the rationale of its development, the European regulatory and legal context, the strengthening of regulatory and environmental constraints in France, the three different market segments (examples, opportunities), and the competition context

Automating Flood Hazard Mapping Methods for Near Real-time Storm Surge Inundation and Vulnerability Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Weigel, A. M.; Griffin, R.; Gallagher, D.

2015-12-01

Storm surge has enough destructive power to damage buildings and infrastructure, erode beaches, and threaten human life across large geographic areas, hence posing the greatest threat of all the hurricane hazards. The United States Gulf of Mexico has proven vulnerable to hurricanes as it has been hit by some of the most destructive hurricanes on record. With projected rises in sea level and increases in hurricane activity, there is a need to better understand the associated risks for disaster mitigation, preparedness, and response. GIS has become a critical tool in enhancing disaster planning, risk assessment, and emergency response by communicating spatial information through a multi-layer approach. However, there is a need for a near real-time method of identifying areas with a high risk of being impacted by storm surge. Research was conducted alongside Baron, a private industry weather enterprise, to facilitate automated modeling and visualization of storm surge inundation and vulnerability on a near real-time basis. This research successfully automated current flood hazard mapping techniques using a GIS framework written in a Python programming environment, and displayed resulting data through an Application Program Interface (API). Data used for this methodology included high resolution topography, NOAA Probabilistic Surge model outputs parsed from Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and the NOAA Census tract level Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI). The development process required extensive data processing and management to provide high resolution visualizations of potential flooding and population vulnerability in a timely manner. The accuracy of the developed methodology was assessed using Hurricane Isaac as a case study, which through a USGS and NOAA partnership, contained ample data for statistical analysis. This research successfully created a fully automated, near real-time method for mapping high resolution storm surge inundation and vulnerability for the

Efficient preloading of the ventricles by a properly timed atrial contraction underlies stroke work improvement in the acute response to cardiac resynchronization therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yuxuan; Gurev, Viatcheslav; Constantino, Jason; Trayanova, Natalia

2013-01-01

Background The acute response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been shown to be due to three mechanisms: resynchronization of ventricular contraction, efficient preloading of the ventricles by a properly timed atrial contraction, and mitral regurgitation reduction. However, the contribution of each of the three mechanisms to the acute response of CRT, specifically stroke work improvement, has not been quantified. Objective The goal of this study was to use an MRI-based anatomically accurate 3D model of failing canine ventricular electromechanics to quantify the contribution of each of the three mechanisms to stroke work improvement and identify the predominant mechanisms. Methods An MRI-based electromechanical model of the failing canine ventricles assembled previously by our group was further developed and modified. Three different protocols were used to dissect the contribution of each of the three mechanisms to stroke work improvement. Results Resynchronization of ventricular contraction did not lead to significant stroke work improvement. Efficient preloading of the ventricles by a properly timed atrial contraction was the predominant mechanism underlying stroke work improvement. Stroke work improvement peaked at an intermediate AV delay, as it allowed ventricular filling by atrial contraction to occur at a low diastolic LV pressure but also provided adequate time for ventricular filling before ventricular contraction. Diminution of mitral regurgitation by CRT led to stroke work worsening instead of improvement. Conclusion Efficient preloading of the ventricles by a properly timed atrial contraction is responsible for significant stroke work improvement in the acute CRT response. PMID:23928177

Automated multivariate analysis of multi-sensor data submitted online: Real-time environmental monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Eide, Ingvar; Westad, Frank

2018-01-01

A pilot study demonstrating real-time environmental monitoring with automated multivariate analysis of multi-sensor data submitted online has been performed at the cabled LoVe Ocean Observatory located at 258 m depth 20 km off the coast of Lofoten-Vesterålen, Norway. The major purpose was efficient monitoring of many variables simultaneously and early detection of changes and time-trends in the overall response pattern before changes were evident in individual variables. The pilot study was performed with 12 sensors from May 16 to August 31, 2015. The sensors provided data for chlorophyll, turbidity, conductivity, temperature (three sensors), salinity (calculated from temperature and conductivity), biomass at three different depth intervals (5-50, 50-120, 120-250 m), and current speed measured in two directions (east and north) using two sensors covering different depths with overlap. A total of 88 variables were monitored, 78 from the two current speed sensors. The time-resolution varied, thus the data had to be aligned to a common time resolution. After alignment, the data were interpreted using principal component analysis (PCA). Initially, a calibration model was established using data from May 16 to July 31. The data on current speed from two sensors were subject to two separate PCA models and the score vectors from these two models were combined with the other 10 variables in a multi-block PCA model. The observations from August were projected on the calibration model consecutively one at a time and the result was visualized in a score plot. Automated PCA of multi-sensor data submitted online is illustrated with an attached time-lapse video covering the relative short time period used in the pilot study. Methods for statistical validation, and warning and alarm limits are described. Redundant sensors enable sensor diagnostics and quality assurance. In a future perspective, the concept may be used in integrated environmental monitoring.

Automated DBS microsampling, microscale automation and microflow LC-MS for therapeutic protein PK.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qian; Tomazela, Daniela; Vasicek, Lisa A; Spellman, Daniel S; Beaumont, Maribel; Shyong, BaoJen; Kenny, Jacqueline; Fauty, Scott; Fillgrove, Kerry; Harrelson, Jane; Bateman, Kevin P

2016-04-01

Reduce animal usage for discovery-stage PK studies for biologics programs using microsampling-based approaches and microscale LC-MS. We report the development of an automated DBS-based serial microsampling approach for studying the PK of therapeutic proteins in mice. Automated sample preparation and microflow LC-MS were used to enable assay miniaturization and improve overall assay throughput. Serial sampling of mice was possible over the full 21-day study period with the first six time points over 24 h being collected using automated DBS sample collection. Overall, this approach demonstrated comparable data to a previous study using single mice per time point liquid samples while reducing animal and compound requirements by 14-fold. Reduction in animals and drug material is enabled by the use of automated serial DBS microsampling for mice studies in discovery-stage studies of protein therapeutics.

A plan for time-phased incorporation of automation and robotics on the US space station

Science.gov (United States)

Purves, R. B.; Lin, P. S.; Fisher, E. M., Jr.

1988-01-01

A plan for the incorporation of Automation and Robotics technology on the Space Station is presented. The time phased introduction of twenty two selected candidates is set forth in accordance with a technology development forecast. Twenty candidates were chosed primarily for their potential to relieve the crew of mundane or dangerous operations and maintenance burdens, thus freeing crew time for mission duties and enhancing safety. Two candidates were chosen based on a potential for increasing the productivity of laboratory experiments and thus directly enhancing the scientific value of the Space Station. A technology assessment for each candidate investigates present state of the art, development timelines including space qualification considerations, and potential for technology transfer to earth applications. Each candidate is evaluated using a crew workload model driven by crew size, number of pressurized U.S. modules and external payloads, which makes it possible to assess the impact of automation during a growth scenario. Costs for each increment of implementation are estimated and accumulated.

Programmable Automated Welding System (PAWS)

Science.gov (United States)

Kline, Martin D.

1994-01-01

An ambitious project to develop an advanced, automated welding system is being funded as part of the Navy Joining Center with Babcock & Wilcox as the prime integrator. This program, the Programmable Automated Welding System (PAWS), involves the integration of both planning and real-time control activities. Planning functions include the development of a graphical decision support system within a standard, portable environment. Real-time control functions include the development of a modular, intelligent, real-time control system and the integration of a number of welding process sensors. This paper presents each of these components of the PAWS and discusses how they can be utilized to automate the welding operation.

Widely applicable MATLAB routines for automated analysis of saccadic reaction times.

Science.gov (United States)

Leppänen, Jukka M; Forssman, Linda; Kaatiala, Jussi; Yrttiaho, Santeri; Wass, Sam

2015-06-01

Saccadic reaction time (SRT) is a widely used dependent variable in eye-tracking studies of human cognition and its disorders. SRTs are also frequently measured in studies with special populations, such as infants and young children, who are limited in their ability to follow verbal instructions and remain in a stable position over time. In this article, we describe a library of MATLAB routines (Mathworks, Natick, MA) that are designed to (1) enable completely automated implementation of SRT analysis for multiple data sets and (2) cope with the unique challenges of analyzing SRTs from eye-tracking data collected from poorly cooperating participants. The library includes preprocessing and SRT analysis routines. The preprocessing routines (i.e., moving median filter and interpolation) are designed to remove technical artifacts and missing samples from raw eye-tracking data. The SRTs are detected by a simple algorithm that identifies the last point of gaze in the area of interest, but, critically, the extracted SRTs are further subjected to a number of postanalysis verification checks to exclude values contaminated by artifacts. Example analyses of data from 5- to 11-month-old infants demonstrated that SRTs extracted with the proposed routines were in high agreement with SRTs obtained manually from video records, robust against potential sources of artifact, and exhibited moderate to high test-retest stability. We propose that the present library has wide utility in standardizing and automating SRT-based cognitive testing in various populations. The MATLAB routines are open source and can be downloaded from http://www.uta.fi/med/icl/methods.html .

Procedure automation: the effect of automated procedure execution on situation awareness and human performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andresen, Gisle; Svengren, Haakan; Heimdal, Jan O.; Nilsen, Svein; Hulsund, John-Einar; Bisio, Rossella; Debroise, Xavier

2004-04-01

As advised by the procedure workshop convened in Halden in 2000, the Halden Project conducted an experiment on the effect of automation of Computerised Procedure Systems (CPS) on situation awareness and human performance. The expected outcome of the study was to provide input for guidance on CPS design, and to support the Halden Project's ongoing research on human reliability analysis. The experiment was performed in HAMMLAB using the HAMBO BWR simulator and the COPMA-III CPS. Eight crews of operators from Forsmark 3 and Oskarshamn 3 participated. Three research questions were investigated: 1) Does procedure automation create Out-Of-The-Loop (OOTL) performance problems? 2) Does procedure automation affect situation awareness? 3) Does procedure automation affect crew performance? The independent variable, 'procedure configuration', had four levels: paper procedures, manual CPS, automation with breaks, and full automation. The results showed that the operators experienced OOTL problems in full automation, but that situation awareness and crew performance (response time) were not affected. One possible explanation for this is that the operators monitored the automated procedure execution conscientiously, something which may have prevented the OOTL problems from having negative effects on situation awareness and crew performance. In a debriefing session, the operators clearly expressed their dislike for the full automation condition, but that automation with breaks could be suitable for some tasks. The main reason why the operators did not like the full automation was that they did not feel being in control. A qualitative analysis addressing factors contributing to response time delays revealed that OOTL problems did not seem to cause delays, but that some delays could be explained by the operators having problems with the freeze function of the CPS. Also other factors such as teamwork and operator tendencies were of importance. Several design implications were drawn

The Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts: Laws Whose Time has Passed

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Pendolino, Timothy J

1994-01-01

In the Davis-Bacon and Service-Contract Acts, Congress attempted to protect the wages of workers in the construction and service industries by establishing a sort of minimum wage for Government contracts...

Choice of Contract Type and Other Policy Initiatives for Reducing Contract Prices

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

system franchise model). Assume that the contractor retained ownership of the design rights so that subsequent procurement lots are not open to...2 1. The Weapon System Franchise Model ..........................................................2 2. The Agency Problem and...40 2. Contracting for Time vs . Contracting for Performance ..............................41 B. Empirical Analysis of DoD Service

Contract theory and EU Contract Law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, M.W.; Twigg-Flesner, C.

2016-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between contract theory and European contract law. In particular, it confronts the leading contract law theories with the main characteristics of EU contract law. The conclusion is that the two do not match well. In particular, monist normative contract theories

Automation in Immunohematology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meenu Bajpai

2012-01-01

Full Text Available There have been rapid technological advances in blood banking in South Asian region over the past decade with an increasing emphasis on quality and safety of blood products. The conventional test tube technique has given way to newer techniques such as column agglutination technique, solid phase red cell adherence assay, and erythrocyte-magnetized technique. These new technologies are adaptable to automation and major manufacturers in this field have come up with semi and fully automated equipments for immunohematology tests in the blood bank. Automation improves the objectivity and reproducibility of tests. It reduces human errors in patient identification and transcription errors. Documentation and traceability of tests, reagents and processes and archiving of results is another major advantage of automation. Shifting from manual methods to automation is a major undertaking for any transfusion service to provide quality patient care with lesser turnaround time for their ever increasing workload. This article discusses the various issues involved in the process.

Process Improvement for Interinstitutional Research Contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

Varner, Michael; Logan, Jennifer; Bjorklund, Todd; Whitfield, Jesse; Reed, Peggy; Lesher, Laurie; Sikalis, Amy; Brown, Brent; Drollinger, Sandy; Larrabee, Kristine; Thompson, Kristie; Clark, Erin; Workman, Michael; Boi, Luca

2015-08-01

Sponsored research increasingly requires multiinstitutional collaboration. However, research contracting procedures have become more complicated and time consuming. The perinatal research units of two colocated healthcare systems sought to improve their research contracting processes. The Lean Process, a management practice that iteratively involves team members in root cause analyses and process improvement, was applied to the research contracting process, initially using Process Mapping and then developing Problem Solving Reports. Root cause analyses revealed that the longest delays were the individual contract legal negotiations. In addition, the "business entity" was the research support personnel of both healthcare systems whose "customers" were investigators attempting to conduct interinstitutional research. Development of mutually acceptable research contract templates and language, chain of custody templates, and process development and refinement formats decreased the Notice of Grant Award to Purchase Order time from a mean of 103.5 days in the year prior to Lean Process implementation to 45.8 days in the year after implementation (p = 0.004). The Lean Process can be applied to interinstitutional research contracting with significant improvement in contract implementation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Alternative contract mechanisms for environmental restoration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billings, R.M.; Geotze, P.; Billings, B.G.

1994-01-01

Remediation and investigation contracting mechanisms used by Billings and Associates, Inc. (BAI), for operations within New Mexico are described, and the advantages and disadvantages are considered. Methods discussed are: time and materials, unit pricing, and pay for performance. An emphasis is placed upon the pay for performance method. While there are alternative contracting mechanisms, the state has thus far been limited to traditional contract types, such as time and materials. While the undertaking of a pay for performance remediation scenario presents higher risk with an opportunity for comparable reward, application of this type of alternative contracting has been slow to materialize. The New Mexico Environment Department/Underground Storage Tank Bureau is mandated by regulation to seek complete remediation of petroleum contaminated soils and ground water within the shortest practicable period of time

Tensor contraction engine: Abstraction and automated parallel implementation of configuration-interaction, coupled-cluster, and many-body perturbation theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, So

2003-01-01

We develop a symbolic manipulation program and program generator (Tensor Contraction Engine or TCE) that automatically derives the working equations of a well-defined model of second-quantized many-electron theories and synthesizes efficient parallel computer programs on the basis of these equations. Provided an ansatz of a many-electron theory model, TCE performs valid contractions of creation and annihilation operators according to Wick's theorem, consolidates identical terms, and reduces the expressions into the form of multiple tensor contractions acted by permutation operators. Subsequently, it determines the binary contraction order for each multiple tensor contraction with the minimal operation and memory cost, factorizes common binary contractions (defines intermediate tensors), and identifies reusable intermediates. The resulting ordered list of binary tensor contractions, additions, and index permutations is translated into an optimized program that is combined with the NWChem and UTChem computational chemistry software packages. The programs synthesized by TCE take advantage of spin symmetry, Abelian point-group symmetry, and index permutation symmetry at every stage of calculations to minimize the number of arithmetic operations and storage requirement, adjust the peak local memory usage by index range tiling, and support parallel I/O interfaces and dynamic load balancing for parallel executions. We demonstrate the utility of TCE through automatic derivation and implementation of parallel programs for various models of configuration-interaction theory (CISD, CISDT, CISDTQ), many-body perturbation theory[MBPT(2), MBPT(3), MBPT(4)], and coupled-cluster theory (LCCD, CCD, LCCSD, CCSD, QCISD, CCSDT, and CCSDTQ)

Evaluation of an Automated Keywording System.

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, Linda C.; And Others

1990-01-01

Discussion of automated indexing techniques focuses on ways to statistically document improvements in the development of an automated keywording system over time. The system developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to automate the storage, categorization, and retrieval of information from military exercises is explained, and performance measures are…

Classification of Automated Search Traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Buehrer, Greg; Stokes, Jack W.; Chellapilla, Kumar; Platt, John C.

As web search providers seek to improve both relevance and response times, they are challenged by the ever-increasing tax of automated search query traffic. Third party systems interact with search engines for a variety of reasons, such as monitoring a web site’s rank, augmenting online games, or possibly to maliciously alter click-through rates. In this paper, we investigate automated traffic (sometimes referred to as bot traffic) in the query stream of a large search engine provider. We define automated traffic as any search query not generated by a human in real time. We first provide examples of different categories of query logs generated by automated means. We then develop many different features that distinguish between queries generated by people searching for information, and those generated by automated processes. We categorize these features into two classes, either an interpretation of the physical model of human interactions, or as behavioral patterns of automated interactions. Using the these detection features, we next classify the query stream using multiple binary classifiers. In addition, a multiclass classifier is then developed to identify subclasses of both normal and automated traffic. An active learning algorithm is used to suggest which user sessions to label to improve the accuracy of the multiclass classifier, while also seeking to discover new classes of automated traffic. Performance analysis are then provided. Finally, the multiclass classifier is used to predict the subclass distribution for the search query stream.

Selecting automation for the clinical chemistry laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Melanson, Stacy E F; Lindeman, Neal I; Jarolim, Petr

2007-07-01

Laboratory automation proposes to improve the quality and efficiency of laboratory operations, and may provide a solution to the quality demands and staff shortages faced by today's clinical laboratories. Several vendors offer automation systems in the United States, with both subtle and obvious differences. Arriving at a decision to automate, and the ensuing evaluation of available products, can be time-consuming and challenging. Although considerable discussion concerning the decision to automate has been published, relatively little attention has been paid to the process of evaluating and selecting automation systems. To outline a process for evaluating and selecting automation systems as a reference for laboratories contemplating laboratory automation. Our Clinical Chemistry Laboratory staff recently evaluated all major laboratory automation systems in the United States, with their respective chemistry and immunochemistry analyzers. Our experience is described and organized according to the selection process, the important considerations in clinical chemistry automation, decisions and implementation, and we give conclusions pertaining to this experience. Including the formation of a committee, workflow analysis, submitting a request for proposal, site visits, and making a final decision, the process of selecting chemistry automation took approximately 14 months. We outline important considerations in automation design, preanalytical processing, analyzer selection, postanalytical storage, and data management. Selecting clinical chemistry laboratory automation is a complex, time-consuming process. Laboratories considering laboratory automation may benefit from the concise overview and narrative and tabular suggestions provided.

Marketing automation supporting sales

OpenAIRE

Sandell, Niko

2016-01-01

The past couple of decades has been a time of major changes in marketing. Digitalization has become a permanent part of marketing and at the same time enabled efficient collection of data. Personalization and customization of content are playing a crucial role in marketing when new customers are acquired. This has also created a need for automation to facilitate the distribution of targeted content. As a result of successful marketing automation more information of the customers is gathered ...

Development of a prototype real-time automated filter for operational deep space navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Masters, W. C.; Pollmeier, V. M.

1994-01-01

Operational deep space navigation has been in the past, and is currently, performed using systems whose architecture requires constant human supervision and intervention. A prototype for a system which allows relatively automated processing of radio metric data received in near real-time from NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) without any redesign of the existing operational data flow has been developed. This system can allow for more rapid response as well as much reduced staffing to support mission navigation operations.

Virtual automation.

Science.gov (United States)

Casis, E; Garrido, A; Uranga, B; Vives, A; Zufiaurre, C

2001-01-01

Total laboratory automation (TLA) can be substituted in mid-size laboratories by a computer sample workflow control (virtual automation). Such a solution has been implemented in our laboratory using PSM, software developed in cooperation with Roche Diagnostics (Barcelona, Spain), to this purpose. This software is connected to the online analyzers and to the laboratory information system and is able to control and direct the samples working as an intermediate station. The only difference with TLA is the replacement of transport belts by personnel of the laboratory. The implementation of this virtual automation system has allowed us the achievement of the main advantages of TLA: workload increase (64%) with reduction in the cost per test (43%), significant reduction in the number of biochemistry primary tubes (from 8 to 2), less aliquoting (from 600 to 100 samples/day), automation of functional testing, drastic reduction of preanalytical errors (from 11.7 to 0.4% of the tubes) and better total response time for both inpatients (from up to 48 hours to up to 4 hours) and outpatients (from up to 10 days to up to 48 hours). As an additional advantage, virtual automation could be implemented without hardware investment and significant headcount reduction (15% in our lab).

Types of contracts and contracting procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zijl, N.A. van

1977-01-01

Contracting for a nuclear power plant can be carried out in many different ways, from a bilateral agreement between two countries to an international open bidding competition. Also the kind of contracts (turnkey, split-package or multi-contract type) are discussed with their pros and cons as well as the contracting procedures which can be followed to come to the conclusion of a contract. (orig.) [de

The Weapons Laboratory Technical Library: Automating with ’Stilas’

Science.gov (United States)

1990-03-01

version of the system to LC in October 1988. -X- A small business specializing in library automation, SIRSI was founded in 1979 by library and...computer specialists, and has a strong reputation based upon the success of their UNIX-based Unicorn Collection Management System. SIRSI offers a complete...system based on the Unicorn and BRS/ Search systems. The contracted STILAS package includes UNISYS hardware, software written in the C language

Expansionary fiscal contractions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergman, Ulf Michael; Hutchison, Michael

2010-01-01

The Expansionary Fiscal Contraction (EFC) hypothesis predicts that a major fiscal consolidation leads to an economic expansion under certain circumstances. We test this hypothesis, and the implied non-linear responses of the economy to large and small changes in fiscal policy, using data from...... that the exogenous fiscal contraction in Denmark was a credible regime shift and, together with other reforms undertaken at the time, increased both private consumption and aggregate output....

Automated multivariate analysis of multi-sensor data submitted online: Real-time environmental monitoring.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingvar Eide

Full Text Available A pilot study demonstrating real-time environmental monitoring with automated multivariate analysis of multi-sensor data submitted online has been performed at the cabled LoVe Ocean Observatory located at 258 m depth 20 km off the coast of Lofoten-Vesterålen, Norway. The major purpose was efficient monitoring of many variables simultaneously and early detection of changes and time-trends in the overall response pattern before changes were evident in individual variables. The pilot study was performed with 12 sensors from May 16 to August 31, 2015. The sensors provided data for chlorophyll, turbidity, conductivity, temperature (three sensors, salinity (calculated from temperature and conductivity, biomass at three different depth intervals (5-50, 50-120, 120-250 m, and current speed measured in two directions (east and north using two sensors covering different depths with overlap. A total of 88 variables were monitored, 78 from the two current speed sensors. The time-resolution varied, thus the data had to be aligned to a common time resolution. After alignment, the data were interpreted using principal component analysis (PCA. Initially, a calibration model was established using data from May 16 to July 31. The data on current speed from two sensors were subject to two separate PCA models and the score vectors from these two models were combined with the other 10 variables in a multi-block PCA model. The observations from August were projected on the calibration model consecutively one at a time and the result was visualized in a score plot. Automated PCA of multi-sensor data submitted online is illustrated with an attached time-lapse video covering the relative short time period used in the pilot study. Methods for statistical validation, and warning and alarm limits are described. Redundant sensors enable sensor diagnostics and quality assurance. In a future perspective, the concept may be used in integrated environmental monitoring.

Understanding Modern Banking Ledgers through Blockchain Technologies: Future of Transaction Processing and Smart Contracts on the Internet of Money

OpenAIRE

Peters, Gareth William; Panayi, Efstathios

2015-01-01

In this chapter we provide an overview of the concept of blockchain technology and its potential to disrupt the world of banking through facilitating global money remittance, smart contracts, automated banking ledgers and digital assets. In this regard, we first provide a brief overview of the core aspects of this technology, as well as the second-generation contract-based developments. From there we discuss key issues that must be considered in developing such ledger based technologies in a ...

The formation of molecules in contracting interstellar clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Hiroko; Miki, Satoshi; Sato, Katsuhiko; Kiguchi, Masayoshi; Nakagawa, Yoshitsugu

1976-01-01

The abundances of atoms, molecules and ions in contracting interstellar clouds are investigated in the wide ranges of density (from 10 cm -3 to 10 7 cm -3 ) and optical depth. Abundances of molecules are not in a steady state in optically thick stages because their reaction time scales are very long (10sup(12.5)-10sup(13.5) sec) compared with the contraction time scales. At some stage of contraction the abundances of neutral molecules become frozen, and the frozen abundances are considerably different from the steady-state abundances. The frozen abundances are mainly determined by the contraction time scale of the cloud. Especially, molecules containing carbon except for CO are less abundant for the cloud contracting more slowly. (auth.)

AUTOMATING ASSET KNOWLEDGE WITH MTCONNECT.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkatesh, Sid; Ly, Sidney; Manning, Martin; Michaloski, John; Proctor, Fred

2016-01-01

In order to maximize assets, manufacturers should use real-time knowledge garnered from ongoing and continuous collection and evaluation of factory-floor machine status data. In discrete parts manufacturing, factory machine monitoring has been difficult, due primarily to closed, proprietary automation equipment that make integration difficult. Recently, there has been a push in applying the data acquisition concepts of MTConnect to the real-time acquisition of machine status data. MTConnect is an open, free specification aimed at overcoming the "Islands of Automation" dilemma on the shop floor. With automated asset analysis, manufacturers can improve production to become lean, efficient, and effective. The focus of this paper will be on the deployment of MTConnect to collect real-time machine status to automate asset management. In addition, we will leverage the ISO 22400 standard, which defines an asset and quantifies asset performance metrics. In conjunction with these goals, the deployment of MTConnect in a large aerospace manufacturing facility will be studied with emphasis on asset management and understanding the impact of machine Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) on manufacturing.

User satisfaction with a real-time automated feedback system for general practitioners: a quantitative and qualitative study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bindels, Rianne; Hasman, Arie; Derickx, Mieke; van Wersch, Jan W. J.; Winkens, Ron A. G.

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The GRIF automated feedback system produces real-time comments on the appropriateness of diagnostic tests ordered by general practitioners (GPs) based on recommendations from accepted national and regional practice guidelines. We investigated the experiences of GPs with this system and,

A trace-based model for multiparty contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvitved, Tom; Klaedtke, Felix; Zălinescu, Eugen

2012-01-01

In this article we present a model for multiparty contracts in which contract conformance is defned abstractly as a property on traces. A key feature of our model is blame assignment, which means that for a given contract, every breach is attributed to a set of parties. We show that blame...... assignment is compositional by de¿ning contract conjunction and contract disjunction. Moreover, to specify real-world contracts, we introduce the contract speci¿cation language CSL with an operational semantics. We show that each CSL contract has a counterpart in our trace-based model and from...... the operational semantics we derive a run-time monitor. CSL overcomes limitations of previously proposed formalisms for specifying contracts by supporting: (history sensitive and conditional) commitments, parametrised contract templates, relative and absolute temporal constraints, potentially in¿nite contracts...

Temporary labour contracts

CERN Document Server

1999-01-01

The five contracts for Temporary Labour assignments on the CERN site (L020/PE, L021/PE, L022/PE, L023/PE and L024/PE) approved by the Finance Committee in March 1996 (CERN/FC/3857) will reach the end of their initial three-year contractual period at the end of December 1999. Following the satisfactory execution of these contracts during this period, CERN requests approval to extend them from January 2000 for the first of the two years foreseen in the original adjudication. The Finance Committee is invited: - to take note that the three-year expenditure for Temporary Labour contracts from 1997 to 1999 will not exceed 19 100 000 Swiss francs, compared to the 18 900 000 Swiss francs estimated at the time of the adjudication in March 1996; - to approve an extension of the present Temporary Labour contracts for the year 2000 for a total amount not exceeding 6 000 000 Swiss francs.

Quality of closed chest compression on a manikin in ambulance vehicles and flying helicopters with a real time automated feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Havel, Christof; Schreiber, Wolfgang; Trimmel, Helmut; Malzer, Reinhard; Haugk, Moritz; Richling, Nina; Riedmüller, Eva; Sterz, Fritz; Herkner, Harald

2010-01-01

Automated verbal and visual feedback improves quality of resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and was proven to increase short-term survival. Quality of resuscitation may be hampered in more difficult situations like emergency transportation. Currently there is no evidence if feedback devices can improve resuscitation quality during different modes of transportation. To assess the effect of real time automated feedback on the quality of resuscitation in an emergency transportation setting. Randomised cross-over trial. Medical University of Vienna, Vienna Municipal Ambulance Service and Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Unit (Christophorus Flugrettungsverein) in September 2007. European Resuscitation Council (ERC) certified health care professionals performing CPR in a flying helicopter and in a moving ambulance vehicle on a manikin with human-like chest properties. CPR sessions, with real time automated feedback as the intervention and standard CPR without feedback as control. Quality of chest compression during resuscitation. Feedback resulted in less deviation from ideal compression rate 100 min(-1) (9+/-9 min(-1), ptime. Applied work was less in the feedback group compared to controls (373+/-448 cm x compression; ptime automated feedback improves certain aspects of CPR quality in flying helicopters and moving ambulance vehicles. The effect of feedback guidance was most pronounced for chest compression rate. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated 741 document preparation: Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Automated Safeguards Information System (OASIS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Austin, H.C.; Gray, L.M.

1982-01-01

OASIS has been providing for Oak Ridge National Laboratory's total safeguards needs since being place on line in April 1980. The system supports near real-time nuclear materials safeguards and accountability control. The original design of OASIS called for an automated facsimile of a 741 document to be prepared as a functional by-product of updating the inventory. An attempt was made to utilize, intact, DOE-Albuquerque's automated 741 system to generate the facsimile; however, the five page document produced proved too cumbersome. Albuquerque's programs were modified to print an original 741 document utilizing standard DOE/NRC 741 forms. It is felt that the best features of both the automated and manually generated 741 documents have been incorporated. Automation of the source data for 741 shipping documents produces greater efficiency while reducing possible errors. Through utilization of the standard DOE/NRC form, continuity within the NMMSS system is maintained, thus minimizing the confusion and redundancy associated with facsimiles. OASIS now fulfills the original concept of near real-time accountability by furnishing a viable 741 document as a function of updating the inventory

Remote-Sensing and Automated Water Resources Tracking: Near Real-Time Decision Support for Water Managers Facing Drought and Flood

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, M. E.; Elliott, N.; Veloz, S.; Love, F.; Moody, D.; Hickey, C.; Fitzgibbon, M.; Reynolds, M.; Esralew, R.

2016-12-01

Innovative approaches for tracking the Earth's natural resources, especially water which is essential for all living things, are essential during a time of rapid environmental change. The Central Valley is a nexus for water resources in California, draining the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds. The distribution of water throughout California and the Central Valley, while dynamic, is highly managed through an extensive regional network of canals, levees, and pumps. Water allocation and delivery is determined through a complex set of rules based on water contracts, historic priority, and other California water policies. Furthermore, urban centers, agriculture, and the environment throughout the state are already competing for water, particularly during drought. Competition for water is likely to intensify as California is projected to experience continued increases in demand due to population growth and more arid growing conditions, while also having reduced or modified water supply due to climate change. As a result, it is difficult to understand or predict how water will be used to fulfill wildlife and wetland conservation needs. A better understanding of the spatial distribution of water in near real-time can facilitate adaptation of water resource management to changing conditions on the landscape, both over the near- and long-term. The Landsat satellite mission delivers imagery every 16-days from nearly every place on the earth at a high spatial resolution. We have integrated remote sensing of satellite data, classification modeling, bioinformatics, optimization, and ecological analyses to develop an automated near real-time water resources tracking and decision-support system for the Central Valley of California. Our innovative system has applications for coordinated water management in the Central Valley to support people, places, and wildlife and is being used to understand the factors that drive variation in the distribution and abundance of water

Studing Regional Wave Source Time Functions Using A Massive Automated EGF Deconvolution Procedure

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, J. "; Schaff, D. P.

2010-12-01

Reliably estimated source time functions (STF) from high-frequency regional waveforms, such as Lg, Pn and Pg, provide important input for seismic source studies, explosion detection, and minimization of parameter trade-off in attenuation studies. The empirical Green’s function (EGF) method can be used for estimating STF, but it requires a strict recording condition. Waveforms from pairs of events that are similar in focal mechanism, but different in magnitude must be on-scale recorded on the same stations for the method to work. Searching for such waveforms can be very time consuming, particularly for regional waves that contain complex path effects and have reduced S/N ratios due to attenuation. We have developed a massive, automated procedure to conduct inter-event waveform deconvolution calculations from many candidate event pairs. The procedure automatically evaluates the “spikiness” of the deconvolutions by calculating their “sdc”, which is defined as the peak divided by the background value. The background value is calculated as the mean absolute value of the deconvolution, excluding 10 s around the source time function. When the sdc values are about 10 or higher, the deconvolutions are found to be sufficiently spiky (pulse-like), indicating similar path Green’s functions and good estimates of the STF. We have applied this automated procedure to Lg waves and full regional wavetrains from 989 M ≥ 5 events in and around China, calculating about a million deconvolutions. Of these we found about 2700 deconvolutions with sdc greater than 9, which, if having a sufficiently broad frequency band, can be used to estimate the STF of the larger events. We are currently refining our procedure, as well as the estimated STFs. We will infer the source scaling using the STFs. We will also explore the possibility that the deconvolution procedure could complement cross-correlation in a real time event-screening process.

Contract Dynamics : Lessons from Empirical Analyses

OpenAIRE

Magali Chaudey

2010-01-01

Working paper GATE 2010-35; The recognition that contracts have a time dimension has given rise to a very abundant literature since the end of the 1980s. In such a dynamic context, the contract may take place over several periods and develop repeated interactions. Then, the principal topics of the analysis are commitment, reputation, memory and the renegotiation of the contract. Few papers have tried to apply the predictions of dynamic contract theory to data. The examples of applications int...

Automated workflows for critical time-dependent calibrations at the CMS experiment.

CERN Document Server

Cerminara, Gianluca

2015-01-01

Fast and efficient methods for the calibration and the alignment ofthe detector are a key asset to exploit the physics potential of theCompact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector and to ensure timely preparationof results for conferences and publications.To achieve this goal, the CMS experiment has set up a powerfulframework. This includes automated workflows in the context of a promptcalibration concept, which allows for a quick turnaround of thecalibration process following as fast as possible any change inrunning conditions.The presentation will review the design and operational experience ofthese workflows and the related monitoring system during the LHC RunIand focus on the development, deployment and commissioning in preparation of RunII.

An engineered approach to stem cell culture: automating the decision process for real-time adaptive subculture of stem cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dai Fei Elmer Ker

Full Text Available Current cell culture practices are dependent upon human operators and remain laborious and highly subjective, resulting in large variations and inconsistent outcomes, especially when using visual assessments of cell confluency to determine the appropriate time to subculture cells. Although efforts to automate cell culture with robotic systems are underway, the majority of such systems still require human intervention to determine when to subculture. Thus, it is necessary to accurately and objectively determine the appropriate time for cell passaging. Optimal stem cell culturing that maintains cell pluripotency while maximizing cell yields will be especially important for efficient, cost-effective stem cell-based therapies. Toward this goal we developed a real-time computer vision-based system that monitors the degree of cell confluency with a precision of 0.791±0.031 and recall of 0.559±0.043. The system consists of an automated phase-contrast time-lapse microscope and a server. Multiple dishes are sequentially imaged and the data is uploaded to the server that performs computer vision processing, predicts when cells will exceed a pre-defined threshold for optimal cell confluency, and provides a Web-based interface for remote cell culture monitoring. Human operators are also notified via text messaging and e-mail 4 hours prior to reaching this threshold and immediately upon reaching this threshold. This system was successfully used to direct the expansion of a paradigm stem cell population, C2C12 cells. Computer-directed and human-directed control subcultures required 3 serial cultures to achieve the theoretical target cell yield of 50 million C2C12 cells and showed no difference for myogenic and osteogenic differentiation. This automated vision-based system has potential as a tool toward adaptive real-time control of subculturing, cell culture optimization and quality assurance/quality control, and it could be integrated with current and

The effectiveness of Microsoft Project in assessing extension of time under PAM 2006 standard form of contract

Science.gov (United States)

Suhaida, S. K.; Wong, Z. D.

2017-11-01

Time is equal to money; and it is applies in the construction industry where time is very important. Most of the standard form of contracts provide contractual clauses to ascertain time and money related to the scenarios while Extension of Time (EOT) is one of them. Under circumstance and delays, contractor is allow to apply EOT in order to complete the works on a later completion date without Liquidated Damages (LD) imposed to the claimant. However, both claimants and assessors encountered problems in assessing the EOT. The aim of this research is to recommend the usage of Microsoft Project as a tool in assessing EOT associated with the standard form of contract, PAM 2006. A quantitative method is applied towards the respondents that consisted of architects and quantity surveyors (QS) in order to collect data on challenges in assessing EOT claims and the effectiveness of Microsoft Project as a tool. The finding of this research highlighted that Microsoft Project can serve as a basis to perform EOT tasks as this software can be used as a data bank to store handy information which crucial for preparing and evaluating EOT.

The effects of residential real-time pricing contracts on transco loads, pricing, and profitability: Simulations using the N-ABLE trademark agent-based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehlen, Mark A.; Scholand, Andrew J.; Stamber, Kevin L.

2007-01-01

An agent-based model is constructed in which a demand aggregator sells both uniform-price and real-time price (RTP) contracts to households as means for adding price elasticity in residential power use sectors, particularly during peak-price hours of the day. Simulations suggest that RTP contracts help a demand aggregator (1) shift its long-term contracts toward off-peak hours, thereby reducing its cost of power and (2) increase its short-run profits if it is one of the first aggregators to have large numbers of RTP contracts; but (3) create susceptibilities to short-term market demand and price volatilities. (author)

Optimal Time-Consistent Investment Strategy for a DC Pension Plan with the Return of Premiums Clauses and Annuity Contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

De-Lei Sheng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Defined contribution and annuity contract are merged into one pension plan to study both accumulation phase and distribution phase, which results in such effects that both phases before and after retirement being “defined”. Under the Heston’s stochastic volatility model, this paper focuses on mean-variance insurers with the return of premiums clauses to study the optimal time-consistent investment strategy for the DC pension merged with an annuity contract. Both accumulation phase before retirement and distribution phase after retirement are studied. In the time-consistent framework, the extended Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations associated with the optimization problem are established. Applying stochastic optimal control technique, the time-consistent explicit solutions of the optimal strategies and the efficient frontiers are obtained. In addition, numerical analysis illustrates our results and also deepens our knowledge or understanding of the research results.

Designing and evaluating an automated system for real-time medication administration error detection in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Yizhao; Lingren, Todd; Hall, Eric S; Leonard, Matthew; Melton, Kristin; Kirkendall, Eric S

2018-05-01

Timely identification of medication administration errors (MAEs) promises great benefits for mitigating medication errors and associated harm. Despite previous efforts utilizing computerized methods to monitor medication errors, sustaining effective and accurate detection of MAEs remains challenging. In this study, we developed a real-time MAE detection system and evaluated its performance prior to system integration into institutional workflows. Our prospective observational study included automated MAE detection of 10 high-risk medications and fluids for patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center during a 4-month period. The automated system extracted real-time medication use information from the institutional electronic health records and identified MAEs using logic-based rules and natural language processing techniques. The MAE summary was delivered via a real-time messaging platform to promote reduction of patient exposure to potential harm. System performance was validated using a physician-generated gold standard of MAE events, and results were compared with those of current practice (incident reporting and trigger tools). Physicians identified 116 MAEs from 10 104 medication administrations during the study period. Compared to current practice, the sensitivity with automated MAE detection was improved significantly from 4.3% to 85.3% (P = .009), with a positive predictive value of 78.0%. Furthermore, the system showed potential to reduce patient exposure to harm, from 256 min to 35 min (P patient exposure to potential harm following MAE events.

Glucose uptake and transport in contracting, perfused rat muscle with different pre-contraction glycogen concentrations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hespel, P; Richter, Erik

1990-01-01

1. Glucose uptake and transport, muscle glycogen, free glucose and glucose-6-phosphate concentrations were studied in perfused resting and contracting rat skeletal muscle with different pre-contraction glycogen concentrations. Rats were pre-conditioned by a combination of swimming exercise and diet......, resulting in either low (glycogen-depleted rats), normal (control rats) or high (supercompensated rats) muscle glycogen concentrations at the time their hindlimbs were perfused. 2. Compared with control rats, pre-contraction muscle glycogen concentration was approximately 40% lower in glycogen-depleted rats......, whereas it was 40% higher in supercompensated rats. Muscle glycogen break-down correlated positively (r = 0.76; P less than 0.001) with pre-contraction muscle glycogen concentration. 3. Glucose uptake during contractions was approximately 50% higher in glycogen-depleted hindquarters than in control...

Closed-Loop Real-Time Imaging Enables Fully Automated Cell-Targeted Patch-Clamp Neural Recording In Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Suk, Ho-Jun; van Welie, Ingrid; Kodandaramaiah, Suhasa B; Allen, Brian; Forest, Craig R; Boyden, Edward S

2017-08-30

Targeted patch-clamp recording is a powerful method for characterizing visually identified cells in intact neural circuits, but it requires skill to perform. We previously developed an algorithm that automates "blind" patching in vivo, but full automation of visually guided, targeted in vivo patching has not been demonstrated, with currently available approaches requiring human intervention to compensate for cell movement as a patch pipette approaches a targeted neuron. Here we present a closed-loop real-time imaging strategy that automatically compensates for cell movement by tracking cell position and adjusting pipette motion while approaching a target. We demonstrate our system's ability to adaptively patch, under continuous two-photon imaging and real-time analysis, fluorophore-expressing neurons of multiple types in the living mouse cortex, without human intervention, with yields comparable to skilled human experimenters. Our "imagepatching" robot is easy to implement and will help enable scalable characterization of identified cell types in intact neural circuits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DNA replication timing is maintained genome-wide in primary human myoblasts independent of D4Z4 contraction in FSH muscular dystrophy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin D Pope

Full Text Available Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD is linked to contraction of an array of tandem 3.3-kb repeats (D4Z4 at 4q35.2 from 11-100 copies to 1-10 copies. The extent to which D4Z4 contraction at 4q35.2 affects overall 4q35.2 chromatin organization remains unclear. Because DNA replication timing is highly predictive of long-range chromatin interactions, we generated genome-wide replication-timing profiles for FSHD and control myogenic precursor cells. We compared non-immortalized myoblasts from four FSHD patients and three control individuals to each other and to a variety of other human cell types. This study also represents the first genome-wide comparison of replication timing profiles in non-immortalized human cell cultures. Myoblasts from both control and FSHD individuals all shared a myoblast-specific replication profile. In contrast, male and female individuals were readily distinguished by monoallelic differences in replication timing at DXZ4 and other regions across the X chromosome affected by X inactivation. We conclude that replication timing is a robust cell-type specific feature that is unaffected by FSHD-related D4Z4 contraction.

Options for change in the NHS consultant contract.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, R W; Gray, C

The lead negotiators for the management and consultant sides in an NHS trust in northern England responded to debate in their trust about consultant contracts by offering to research the attitudes of their peers towards a variety of contract options. The options tested included the current contract; models already examined in the trust and elsewhere, such as time sensitive and mild performance related contracts; and some more radical and speculative possibilities, including consultants franchising their services to the trust. Beyond the predictable conclusion that consultants would prefer no change while managers desired it, a time sensitive contract emerged as having potential for successful negotiation. On the other hand, neither consultants nor managers favoured a strict performance related contract or a fee for service contract. There was a strong similarity of opinion between the two groups on the relative salary values of the options, though the consultants consistently priced these higher than the managers.

AmeriFlux Data Processing: Integrating automated and manual data management across software technologies and an international network to generate timely data products

Science.gov (United States)

Christianson, D. S.; Beekwilder, N.; Chan, S.; Cheah, Y. W.; Chu, H.; Dengel, S.; O'Brien, F.; Pastorello, G.; Sandesh, M.; Torn, M. S.; Agarwal, D.

2017-12-01

AmeriFlux is a network of scientists who independently collect eddy covariance and related environmental observations at over 250 locations across the Americas. As part of the AmeriFlux Management Project, the AmeriFlux Data Team manages standardization, collection, quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC), and distribution of data submitted by network members. To generate data products that are timely, QA/QC'd, and repeatable, and have traceable provenance, we developed a semi-automated data processing pipeline. The new pipeline consists of semi-automated format and data QA/QC checks. Results are communicated via on-line reports as well as an issue-tracking system. Data processing time has been reduced from 2-3 days to a few hours of manual review time, resulting in faster data availability from the time of data submission. The pipeline is scalable to the network level and has the following key features. (1) On-line results of the format QA/QC checks are available immediately for data provider review. This enables data providers to correct and resubmit data quickly. (2) The format QA/QC assessment includes an automated attempt to fix minor format errors. Data submissions that are formatted in the new AmeriFlux FP-In standard can be queued for the data QA/QC assessment, often with minimal delay. (3) Automated data QA/QC checks identify and communicate potentially erroneous data via online, graphical quick views that highlight observations with unexpected values, incorrect units, time drifts, invalid multivariate correlations, and/or radiation shadows. (4) Progress through the pipeline is integrated with an issue-tracking system that facilitates communications between data providers and the data processing team in an organized and searchable fashion. Through development of these and other features of the pipeline, we present solutions to challenges that include optimizing automated with manual processing, bridging legacy data management infrastructure with

Supporting the diversity of B2B E-contracting processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Angelov, S.; Grefen, P.W.P.J.

2004-01-01

In business relations, contracts specify the rights and obligations of the contracting parties. The processes of contract establishment and its enactment are often expensive and time-consuming. E-contracting aims at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the contracting process. Additionally,

High levels of time contraction in young children in dual tasks are related to their limited attention capacities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallez, Quentin; Droit-Volet, Sylvie

2017-09-01

Numerous studies have shown that durations are judged shorter in a dual-task condition than in a simple-task condition. The resource-based theory of time perception suggests that this is due to the processing of temporal information, which is a demanding cognitive task that consumes limited attention resources. Our study investigated whether this time contraction in a dual-task condition is greater in younger children and, if so, whether this is specifically related to their limited attention capacities. Children aged 5-7years were given a temporal reproduction task in a simple-task condition and a dual-task condition. In addition, different neuropsychological tests were used to assess not only their attention capacities but also their capacities in terms of working memory and information processing speed. The results showed a shortening of perceived time in the dual task compared with the simple task, and this increased as age decreased. The extent of this shortening effect was directly linked to younger children's limited attentional capacities; the lower their attentional capacities, the greater the time contraction. This study demonstrated that children's errors in time judgments are linked to their cognitive capacities rather than to capacities that are specific to time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Skeletal Muscle Contraction Time and Tone Decrease After 8 Weeks of Plyometric Training.

Science.gov (United States)

Zubac, Damir; Šimunič, Boštjan

2017-06-01

The aim of the study was to examine whether an improvement in jumping performance after 8 weeks of plyometric training (PT) runs in parallel with changes in lower-limb skeletal muscle contractile properties. Using noninvasive tensiomyography (TMG), we assessed contraction time (Tc) and the maximal amplitude of radial displacement (Dm) in 20 subjects (50% men; age 22.4 ± 4.7 years of age), randomly divided in PT group (N = 10; PLYO) and a control group (N = 10; CTRL). The PLYO performed 8 weeks of PT. Tensiomyography was measured in 5 leg skeletal muscles: vastus lateralis (VL), biceps femoris (BF), tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius medialis (GM), and gastrocnemius lateralis (GL). Additionally, we evaluated countermovement jump (CMJ) height improvement on a ground force plate. Assessments were repeated before and after PT. After 8 weeks of PT, CMJ height increased by 12.2% in PLYO (p = 0.015), but not in CRTL. Contraction time, which is related to myosin heavy-chain type 1 (MHC-1) proportion, decreased in VL (-8.7%; p muscle tone, decreased in BF (-26.5%; p = 0.032), GM (-14.9%; p = 0.017), GL (-31.5%; p = 0.017), but not in TA (-16.8%; p = 0.113) and VL (-6.0%; p = 0.654). After PT, jumping performance increased, which was paralleled by decreased Tc and decreased muscle tone. Additionally, adaptations to contractile properties were muscle specific, which is important for future studies. It seems that adjustments were dose dependent, being higher in muscles with lower habitual load.

Contract policy for CERN staff members

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2009-01-01

Public information meeting on Monday 28 September 2009 at 10.00 a.m. With effect from 1 August 2009, new provisions regarding staff employment contract policy have entered into force. These provisions are set out in: The Staff Rules and Regulations and Administrative Circular No. 2 (Rev. 4). Further details are available in: Frequently Asked Questions. The new provisions are outlined below: Limited-duration contracts From 1 August 2009, limited-duration contracts will be awarded for a maximum period of five years (instead of four years previously) and no extensions beyond five years will be granted. Contracts for periods shorter than five years can be exceptionally awarded, e.g. for a project whose mission or financial resources are time-limited. Indefinite contracts : award procedure A number of changes have been introduced regarding the procedure for the award of indefinite contracts. From now on, posts leading to the award of an indefinite contract will be opened at le...

Automated procedure for calculating time-dependent sensitivities in ORIGEN2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worley, B.A.; Wright, R.Q.

1985-10-01

ORIGEN2 is a widely used point-depletion and radioactive-decay computer code for use in simulating nuclear fuel cycles and/or spent fuel characteristics. This paper presents the application of the GRESS procedure to the ORIGEN2 code for performing a sensitivity analysis of a high-level waste disposal problem. The GRESS procedure uses computer calculus and the GRESS precompiler to automate the generation and calculation of gradients in a computer code. The GRESS version of ORIGEN2 is used to calculate the nuclide-dependent sensitivities of the decay heat and radioactivity of 1008 nuclides comprising reprocessed high-level waste to changes in data and input parameters. The sensitivities are calculated in a single execution of the revised code as compared to the conventional method of rerunning the code numerous times. The availability of sensitivity data as an option in ORIGEN2 reveals relationships not easily recognized even with reruns

A Review of Classification Techniques of EMG Signals during Isotonic and Isometric Contractions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurhazimah Nazmi

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In recent years, there has been major interest in the exposure to physical therapy during rehabilitation. Several publications have demonstrated its usefulness in clinical/medical and human machine interface (HMI applications. An automated system will guide the user to perform the training during rehabilitation independently. Advances in engineering have extended electromyography (EMG beyond the traditional diagnostic applications to also include applications in diverse areas such as movement analysis. This paper gives an overview of the numerous methods available to recognize motion patterns of EMG signals for both isotonic and isometric contractions. Various signal analysis methods are compared by illustrating their applicability in real-time settings. This paper will be of interest to researchers who would like to select the most appropriate methodology in classifying motion patterns, especially during different types of contractions. For feature extraction, the probability density function (PDF of EMG signals will be the main interest of this study. Following that, a brief explanation of the different methods for pre-processing, feature extraction and classifying EMG signals will be compared in terms of their performance. The crux of this paper is to review the most recent developments and research studies related to the issues mentioned above.

Automated Inadvertent Intruder Application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koffman, Larry D.; Lee, Patricia L.; Cook, James R.; Wilhite, Elmer L.

2008-01-01

The Environmental Analysis and Performance Modeling group of Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) conducts performance assessments of the Savannah River Site (SRS) low-level waste facilities to meet the requirements of DOE Order 435.1. These performance assessments, which result in limits on the amounts of radiological substances that can be placed in the waste disposal facilities, consider numerous potential exposure pathways that could occur in the future. One set of exposure scenarios, known as inadvertent intruder analysis, considers the impact on hypothetical individuals who are assumed to inadvertently intrude onto the waste disposal site. Inadvertent intruder analysis considers three distinct scenarios for exposure referred to as the agriculture scenario, the resident scenario, and the post-drilling scenario. Each of these scenarios has specific exposure pathways that contribute to the overall dose for the scenario. For the inadvertent intruder analysis, the calculation of dose for the exposure pathways is a relatively straightforward algebraic calculation that utilizes dose conversion factors. Prior to 2004, these calculations were performed using an Excel spreadsheet. However, design checks of the spreadsheet calculations revealed that errors could be introduced inadvertently when copying spreadsheet formulas cell by cell and finding these errors was tedious and time consuming. This weakness led to the specification of functional requirements to create a software application that would automate the calculations for inadvertent intruder analysis using a controlled source of input parameters. This software application, named the Automated Inadvertent Intruder Application, has undergone rigorous testing of the internal calculations and meets software QA requirements. The Automated Inadvertent Intruder Application was intended to replace the previous spreadsheet analyses with an automated application that was verified to produce the same calculations and

Comparison of QIAsymphony Automated and QIAamp Manual DNA Extraction Systems for Measuring Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Load in Whole Blood Using Real-Time PCR

OpenAIRE

Laus, Stella; Kingsley, Lawrence A.; Green, Michael; Wadowsky, Robert M.

2011-01-01

Automated and manual extraction systems have been used with real-time PCR for quantification of Epstein-Barr virus [human herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4)] DNA in whole blood, but few studies have evaluated relative performances. In the present study, the automated QIAsymphony and manual QIAamp extraction systems (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) were assessed using paired aliquots derived from clinical whole-blood specimens and an in-house, real-time PCR assay. The detection limits using the QIAsymphony and QIAam...

Realtime Automation Networks in moVing industrial Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Leidinger

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The radio-based wireless data communication has made the realization of new technical solutions possible in many fields of the automation technology (AT. For about ten years, a constant disproportionate growth of wireless technologies can be observed in the automation technology. However, it shows that especially for the AT, conven-tional technologies of office automation are unsuitable and/or not manageable. The employment of mobile ser-vices in the industrial automation technology has the potential of significant cost and time savings. This leads to an increased productivity in various fields of the AT, for example in the factory and process automation or in production logistics. In this paper technologies and solu-tions for an automation-suited supply of mobile wireless services will be introduced under the criteria of real time suitability, IT-security and service orientation. Emphasis will be put on the investigation and develop-ment of wireless convergence layers for different radio technologies, on the central provision of support services for an easy-to-use, central, backup enabled management of combined wired / wireless networks and on the study on integrability in a Profinet real-time Ethernet network [1].

Banking contracts

OpenAIRE

Durčáková, Klára

2010-01-01

Resumé - Bank Contracts Bank Contracts are an integral part of our everyday lives. Citizen and bussines entities used bank contracts very often. Despite this fact we can't find legal definition in the Czech law. Banking contracts understand contracts that are signed by banks in their business activities and obligations under these contracts arise. While the banking contracts have been widely used, in Czech law there is not too much literature and judgements abou this issue. Lack of legislatio...

Automations influence on nuclear power plants: a look at three accidents and how automation played a role.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Kara

2012-01-01

Nuclear power is one of the ways that we can design an efficient sustainable future. Automation is the primary system used to assist operators in the task of monitoring and controlling nuclear power plants (NPP). Automation performs tasks such as assessing the status of the plant's operations as well as making real time life critical situational specific decisions. While the advantages and disadvantages of automation are well studied in variety of domains, accidents remind us that there is still vulnerability to unknown variables. This paper will look at the effects of automation within three NPP accidents and incidents and will consider why automation failed in preventing these accidents from occurring. It will also review the accidents at the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi NPP's in order to determine where better use of automation could have resulted in a more desirable outcome.

Establishing contract periods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huffman, F.C.

1978-01-01

The lead time for executing the Adjustable Fixed-Commitment (AFC) contract and exceptions which may be considered are discussed. The initial delivery period is also discussed. Delays, deferrals, and schedule adjustment charges are finally considered

Automated Subsystem Control for Life Support System (ASCLSS)

Science.gov (United States)

Block, Roger F.

1987-01-01

The Automated Subsystem Control for Life Support Systems (ASCLSS) program has successfully developed and demonstrated a generic approach to the automation and control of space station subsystems. The automation system features a hierarchical and distributed real-time control architecture which places maximum controls authority at the lowest or process control level which enhances system autonomy. The ASCLSS demonstration system pioneered many automation and control concepts currently being considered in the space station data management system (DMS). Heavy emphasis is placed on controls hardware and software commonality implemented in accepted standards. The approach demonstrates successfully the application of real-time process and accountability with the subsystem or process developer. The ASCLSS system completely automates a space station subsystem (air revitalization group of the ASCLSS) which moves the crew/operator into a role of supervisory control authority. The ASCLSS program developed over 50 lessons learned which will aide future space station developers in the area of automation and controls..

The Public Sector and Obligation to Contract

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Karsten Naundrup; Indén, Tobias

2016-01-01

The paper concerns the situation where public sector bodies are forced to enter into contracts. These obligations to contract are analysed from two angles. First, the paper offers an analysis of the reasons for imposing such obligations to contract under Swedish and Danish law. Secondly the paper...... discusses some consequences of the public entities’ obligations to contract, more specific consequences for the use of rules that usually regulate contracts and the fact that obligations to contract imposed on public entities establish a new market and at the same time the obligations deprive the entities...... of the freedom to contract which is a fundamental to market behaviour. Finally attention is drawn to the fact that obligations to contract are also imposed on private entities. The paper takes Swedish and Danish regulations as a point of departure and provides an insight into regulations from these two countries...

The Science of Home Automation

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Brian Louis

Smart home technologies and the concept of home automation have become more popular in recent years. This popularity has been accompanied by social acceptance of passive sensors installed throughout the home. The subsequent increase in smart homes facilitates the creation of home automation strategies. We believe that home automation strategies can be generated intelligently by utilizing smart home sensors and activity learning. In this dissertation, we hypothesize that home automation can benefit from activity awareness. To test this, we develop our activity-aware smart automation system, CARL (CASAS Activity-aware Resource Learning). CARL learns the associations between activities and device usage from historical data and utilizes the activity-aware capabilities to control the devices. To help validate CARL we deploy and test three different versions of the automation system in a real-world smart environment. To provide a foundation of activity learning, we integrate existing activity recognition and activity forecasting into CARL home automation. We also explore two alternatives to using human-labeled data to train the activity learning models. The first unsupervised method is Activity Detection, and the second is a modified DBSCAN algorithm that utilizes Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) as a distance metric. We compare the performance of activity learning with human-defined labels and with automatically-discovered activity categories. To provide evidence in support of our hypothesis, we evaluate CARL automation in a smart home testbed. Our results indicate that home automation can be boosted through activity awareness. We also find that the resulting automation has a high degree of usability and comfort for the smart home resident.

Systematic review automation technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Systematic reviews, a cornerstone of evidence-based medicine, are not produced quickly enough to support clinical practice. The cost of production, availability of the requisite expertise and timeliness are often quoted as major contributors for the delay. This detailed survey of the state of the art of information systems designed to support or automate individual tasks in the systematic review, and in particular systematic reviews of randomized controlled clinical trials, reveals trends that see the convergence of several parallel research projects. We surveyed literature describing informatics systems that support or automate the processes of systematic review or each of the tasks of the systematic review. Several projects focus on automating, simplifying and/or streamlining specific tasks of the systematic review. Some tasks are already fully automated while others are still largely manual. In this review, we describe each task and the effect that its automation would have on the entire systematic review process, summarize the existing information system support for each task, and highlight where further research is needed for realizing automation for the task. Integration of the systems that automate systematic review tasks may lead to a revised systematic review workflow. We envisage the optimized workflow will lead to system in which each systematic review is described as a computer program that automatically retrieves relevant trials, appraises them, extracts and synthesizes data, evaluates the risk of bias, performs meta-analysis calculations, and produces a report in real time. PMID:25005128

Chronic levothyroxine and acute T3 treatments enhance the amplitude and time course of uterine contractions in human.

Science.gov (United States)

Corriveau, Stéphanie; Pasquier, Jean-Charles; Blouin, Simon; Bellabarba, Diego; Rousseau, Éric

2013-03-01

This study compares the functional consequences of levothyroxine (T4) treatment during pregnancy as well as the acute affects of triiodothyronine (T3) on spontaneous uterine contractile activities observed in vitro. Uterine biopsies were obtained from consenting women undergoing elective caesarean at term (n = 28). Spontaneous contractile activities from T4-treated pregnant women (n = 8) were compared with control patients (n = 20) by isometric tension measurements. Effects of acute T3 and T4 on control tissues were also monitored. Area under the curve, amplitude, time to peak, duration, and frequency were quantified. In uterine strips from women treated for hypothyroidism, phasic uterine contractions of larger amplitude (+77%) were observed, with a prolonged duration at 90% relaxation (+138%) and reduced frequency (-55%) compared with values of the control group. The addition of exogenous T3 in vitro on control strips induced a significant increase in the duration of the contractions and a significant decrease in frequency (P women. Significant modifications of contractile properties were observed in strips from pregnant women treated with levothyroxine, consistent with those observed with the addition of exogenous T3. Clinical practices of modern obstetrics should take into account the effect of thyroid hormones on uterine contractions' time course to ensure a tighter followup at the end of pregnancy to achieve safer delivery.

High throughput detection of Coxiella burnetii by real-time PCR with internal control system and automated DNA preparation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kramme Stefanie

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q-fever, a widespread zoonosis. Due to its high environmental stability and infectivity it is regarded as a category B biological weapon agent. In domestic animals infection remains either asymptomatic or presents as infertility or abortion. Clinical presentation in humans can range from mild flu-like illness to acute pneumonia and hepatitis. Endocarditis represents the most common form of chronic Q-fever. In humans serology is the gold standard for diagnosis but is inadequate for early case detection. In order to serve as a diagnostic tool in an eventual biological weapon attack or in local epidemics we developed a real-time 5'nuclease based PCR assay with an internal control system. To facilitate high-throughput an automated extraction procedure was evaluated. Results To determine the minimum number of copies that are detectable at 95% chance probit analysis was used. Limit of detection in blood was 2,881 copies/ml [95%CI, 2,188–4,745 copies/ml] with a manual extraction procedure and 4,235 copies/ml [95%CI, 3,143–7,428 copies/ml] with a fully automated extraction procedure, respectively. To demonstrate clinical application a total of 72 specimens of animal origin were compared with respect to manual and automated extraction. A strong correlation between both methods was observed rendering both methods suitable. Testing of 247 follow up specimens of animal origin from a local Q-fever epidemic rendered real-time PCR more sensitive than conventional PCR. Conclusion A sensitive and thoroughly evaluated real-time PCR was established. Its high-throughput mode may show a useful approach to rapidly screen samples in local outbreaks for other organisms relevant for humans or animals. Compared to a conventional PCR assay sensitivity of real-time PCR was higher after testing samples from a local Q-fever outbreak.

Altering user' acceptance of automation through prior automation exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Bekier, Marek; Molesworth, Brett R C

2017-06-01

Air navigation service providers worldwide see increased use of automation as one solution to overcome the capacity constraints imbedded in the present air traffic management (ATM) system. However, increased use of automation within any system is dependent on user acceptance. The present research sought to determine if the point at which an individual is no longer willing to accept or cooperate with automation can be manipulated. Forty participants underwent training on a computer-based air traffic control programme, followed by two ATM exercises (order counterbalanced), one with and one without the aid of automation. Results revealed after exposure to a task with automation assistance, user acceptance of high(er) levels of automation ('tipping point') decreased; suggesting it is indeed possible to alter automation acceptance. Practitioner Summary: This paper investigates whether the point at which a user of automation rejects automation (i.e. 'tipping point') is constant or can be manipulated. The results revealed after exposure to a task with automation assistance, user acceptance of high(er) levels of automation decreased; suggesting it is possible to alter automation acceptance.

Spaceport Command and Control System Automation Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Andrew

2017-01-01

The Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) launch control system for the Orion capsule and Space Launch System, the next generation manned rocket currently in development. This large system requires high quality testing that will properly measure the capabilities of the system. Automating the test procedures would save the project time and money. Therefore, the Electrical Engineering Division at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has recruited interns for the past two years to work alongside full-time engineers to develop these automated tests, as well as innovate upon the current automation process.

Spaceport Command and Control System Automated Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Meriel

2017-01-01

The Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) launch control system for the Orion capsule and Space Launch System, the next generation manned rocket currently in development. This large system requires high quality testing that will properly measure the capabilities of the system. Automating the test procedures would save the project time and money. Therefore, the Electrical Engineering Division at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has recruited interns for the past two years to work alongside full-time engineers to develop these automated tests, as well as innovate upon the current automation process.

Optimal Lease Contract for Remanufactured Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Iskandar, B. P.; Wangsaputra, R.; Pasaribu, U. S.; Husniah, H.

2018-03-01

In the last two decades, the business of lease products (or equipment) has grown significantly, and many companies acquire equipment through leasing. In this paper, we propose a new lease contract under which a product (or equipment) is leased for a period of time with maximum usage per period (e.g. 1 year). This lease contract has only a time limit but no usage limit. If the total usage per period exceeds the maximum usage allowed in the contract, then the customer (as a lessee) will be charged an additional cost. In general, the lessor (OEM) provides a full coverage of maintenance, which includes PM and CM under the lease contract. It is considered that the lessor offers the lease contract for a remanufactured product. We presume that the price of the lease contract for the remanufactured product is much lower than that of a new one, and hence it would be a more attractive option to the customer. The decision problem for the lessee is to select the best option offered that fits to its requirement, and the decision problem for the lessor is find the optimal maintenance efforts for a given price of the lease option offered. We first find the optimal decisions independently for each party, and then the joint optimal decisions for both parties.

Automated pure-tone audiometry: an analysis of capacity, need, and benefit.

Science.gov (United States)

Margolis, Robert H; Morgan, Donald E

2008-12-01

The rationale for automating pure-tone audiometry based on the need for hearing tests and the capacity of audiologists to provide testing is presented. The personnel time savings from automated testing are analyzed. Some possible effects of automated testing on the profession are explored. Need for testing was based on prevalence of hearing impairment, number of normal hearing patients seen for testing, and an assumption of the frequency of testing. Capacity is based on the number of audiologists and the number of audiograms performed in a typical workday. Time savings were estimated from the average duration of an audiogram and an assumption that 80% can be automated. A large gap exists between the need and the capacity of audiologists to provide testing. Automating 80% of audiograms would only partially close the gap. A significant time savings could accrue, permitting reallocation of time for doctoral level services. Although certain jobs could be affected, the gap between capacity and need is so great that automated audiometry will not significantly affect employment. Automation could increase the number of hearing impaired patients that could be served. The reallocation of personnel time would be a positive change for our patients and our profession.

Flexible automation and the loss of pooling synergy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slomp, Jannes; Zee, Durk-Jouke van der

This paper focuses on the effects of flexible automation on the performance of a job shop. Flexible automated machines may significantly improve the delivery performance and the flow time of jobs. The insertion of a flexible automated system in a job shop, however, also has a counter effect on the

The Automation-by-Expertise-by-Training Interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauch, Barry

2017-03-01

I introduce the automation-by-expertise-by-training interaction in automated systems and discuss its influence on operator performance. Transportation accidents that, across a 30-year interval demonstrated identical automation-related operator errors, suggest a need to reexamine traditional views of automation. I review accident investigation reports, regulator studies, and literature on human computer interaction, expertise, and training and discuss how failing to attend to the interaction of automation, expertise level, and training has enabled operators to commit identical automation-related errors. Automated systems continue to provide capabilities exceeding operators' need for effective system operation and provide interfaces that can hinder, rather than enhance, operator automation-related situation awareness. Because of limitations in time and resources, training programs do not provide operators the expertise needed to effectively operate these automated systems, requiring them to obtain the expertise ad hoc during system operations. As a result, many do not acquire necessary automation-related system expertise. Integrating automation with expected operator expertise levels, and within training programs that provide operators the necessary automation expertise, can reduce opportunities for automation-related operator errors. Research to address the automation-by-expertise-by-training interaction is needed. However, such research must meet challenges inherent to examining realistic sociotechnical system automation features with representative samples of operators, perhaps by using observational and ethnographic research. Research in this domain should improve the integration of design and training and, it is hoped, enhance operator performance.

A study on contraction of pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) for load-lifting

Science.gov (United States)

Najmuddin, W. S. W. A.; Mustaffa, M. T.

2017-10-01

Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs) have been known for its wide application in various aspects of industrial automation and robotic equipments. Many advantages in terms of high power-to-volume ratio, high power-to-weight ratio, stick-slip-free operation and high degree of safety offer by PAM compare to traditional actuators. However, behind this benefits lie a limitation of significant compatibility of PAM mechanism which have to be considered so as to fully understand how the PAM works during load-lifting. In this study, the mesh suitability experiment and the effect of force load on PAM contraction experiment have been carried out. PAM is constructed and compatibility of bladder and the braided mesh to produce uniform expansion is investigated. Moreover, the first experimental result of finding compatibility is used to verify the contraction value under various loads.

Smart Contracting: A Multidisciplinary and Proactive Approach for the EU Digital Single Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solarte-Vásquez María Claudia

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Smart contracting (SC is a proactive proposal to operationalize the relational contract theory for the upgrade and improvement of legally relevant exchange. The dynamic institutional environment of the European Union (EU is a suitable framework for this proposal. SC addresses the interests of the business management, law and information technology practices with a perspective of influence in digital exchange, communication processes and other human and human-machine interactions. This position paper restates the advantages of the concept by highlighting the practical transition pathway SC offers to moderate the growing haste towards the embeddedness of exchange in automated and distributed models. This theoretical contribution supports the systematization of the proactive and legal design research field, and explains the characterization, operationalization and specification of the SC concept.

Bound to treatment: the Ulysses contract.

Science.gov (United States)

Dresser, R

1984-06-01

Several commentators have proposed a novel legal mechanism, the "Ulysses contract" or "voluntary commitment contract," to permit mental patients with recurrent treatable disorders to consent in advance to treatment which they might reject at a time when their cognitive abilities are impaired. Dresser discusses the legal ramifications of precommitment, the implications of basing consent on a patient's past rather than current wishes, problems of enforcing Ulysses contracts given the uncertainties of psychiatric diagnosis, and the inherent paternalism of these precommitment agreements.

Automation of Educational Tasks for Academic Radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamar, David L; Richardson, Michael L; Carlson, Blake

2016-07-01

The process of education involves a variety of repetitious tasks. We believe that appropriate computer tools can automate many of these chores, and allow both educators and their students to devote a lot more of their time to actual teaching and learning. This paper details tools that we have used to automate a broad range of academic radiology-specific tasks on Mac OS X, iOS, and Windows platforms. Some of the tools we describe here require little expertise or time to use; others require some basic knowledge of computer programming. We used TextExpander (Mac, iOS) and AutoHotKey (Win) for automated generation of text files, such as resident performance reviews and radiology interpretations. Custom statistical calculations were performed using TextExpander and the Python programming language. A workflow for automated note-taking was developed using Evernote (Mac, iOS, Win) and Hazel (Mac). Automated resident procedure logging was accomplished using Editorial (iOS) and Python. We created three variants of a teaching session logger using Drafts (iOS) and Pythonista (iOS). Editorial and Drafts were used to create flashcards for knowledge review. We developed a mobile reference management system for iOS using Editorial. We used the Workflow app (iOS) to automatically generate a text message reminder for daily conferences. Finally, we developed two separate automated workflows-one with Evernote (Mac, iOS, Win) and one with Python (Mac, Win)-that generate simple automated teaching file collections. We have beta-tested these workflows, techniques, and scripts on several of our fellow radiologists. All of them expressed enthusiasm for these tools and were able to use one or more of them to automate their own educational activities. Appropriate computer tools can automate many educational tasks, and thereby allow both educators and their students to devote a lot more of their time to actual teaching and learning. Copyright © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists

Automated analysis technique developed for detection of ODSCC on the tubes of OPR1000 steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, In Chul; Nam, Min Woo

2013-01-01

A steam generator (SG) tube is an important component of a nuclear power plant (NPP). It works as a pressure boundary between the primary and secondary systems. The integrity of a SG tube can be assessed by an eddy current test every outage. The eddy current technique(adopting a bobbin probe) is currently the main technique used to assess the integrity of the tubing of a steam generator. An eddy current signal analyst for steam generator tubes continuously analyzes data over a given period of time. However, there are possibilities that the analyst conducting the test may get tired and cause mistakes, such as: missing indications or not being able to separate a true defect signal from one that is more complicated. This error could lead to confusion and an improper interpretation of the signal analysis. In order to avoid these possibilities, many countries of opted for automated analyses. Axial ODSCC (outside diameter stress corrosion cracking) defects on the tubes of OPR1000 steam generators have been found on the tube that are in contract with tube support plates. In this study, automated analysis software called CDS (computer data screening) made by Zetec was used. This paper will discuss the results of introducing an automated analysis system for an axial ODSCC on the tubes of an OPR1000 steam generator.

Claims in civil engineering contracts

CERN Document Server

Speirs, N A

1999-01-01

This paper considers claims arising during civil engineering construction contracts. The meaning of the word 'claim' is considered and its possible implications for additional cost and time to completion. The conditions of the construction contract selected will influence the risk apportionment between contractor and client and the price offered by the contractor for the work. Competitive bidding constraints and profit margins in the construction industry, however, may also influence the price offered. This in turn can influence the likelihood of claims arising. The client from his point of view is concerned to complete the work within an agreed time and budget. The circumstances under which claims may arise are reviewed in relation to typical conditions of contract. These circumstances are then related to the CERN LHC civil works. Ways of avoiding claims, where this is possible, are considered. Finally, the means of evaluation of claims and their settlement are considered.

Complacency and Automation Bias in the Use of Imperfect Automation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wickens, Christopher D; Clegg, Benjamin A; Vieane, Alex Z; Sebok, Angelia L

2015-08-01

We examine the effects of two different kinds of decision-aiding automation errors on human-automation interaction (HAI), occurring at the first failure following repeated exposure to correctly functioning automation. The two errors are incorrect advice, triggering the automation bias, and missing advice, reflecting complacency. Contrasts between analogous automation errors in alerting systems, rather than decision aiding, have revealed that alerting false alarms are more problematic to HAI than alerting misses are. Prior research in decision aiding, although contrasting the two aiding errors (incorrect vs. missing), has confounded error expectancy. Participants performed an environmental process control simulation with and without decision aiding. For those with the aid, automation dependence was created through several trials of perfect aiding performance, and an unexpected automation error was then imposed in which automation was either gone (one group) or wrong (a second group). A control group received no automation support. The correct aid supported faster and more accurate diagnosis and lower workload. The aid failure degraded all three variables, but "automation wrong" had a much greater effect on accuracy, reflecting the automation bias, than did "automation gone," reflecting the impact of complacency. Some complacency was manifested for automation gone, by a longer latency and more modest reduction in accuracy. Automation wrong, creating the automation bias, appears to be a more problematic form of automation error than automation gone, reflecting complacency. Decision-aiding automation should indicate its lower degree of confidence in uncertain environments to avoid the automation bias. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

42 CFR 423.509 - Termination of contract by CMS.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Termination of contract by CMS. 423.509 Section 423... Contracts with Part D plan sponsors § 423.509 Termination of contract by CMS. (a) Termination by CMS. CMS may at any time terminate a contract if CMS determines that the Part D plan sponsor meets any of the...

Automated reactor protection testing saves time and avoids errors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimondo, E.

1990-01-01

When the Pressurized Water Reactor units in the French 900MWe series were designed, the instrumentation and control systems were equipped for manual periodic testing. Manual reactor protection system testing has since been successfully replaced by an automatic system, which is also applicable to other instrumentation testing. A study on the complete automation of process instrumentation testing has been carried out. (author)

Automated registration of tail bleeding in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Johansen, Peter B; Henriksen, Lars; Andresen, Per R; Lauritzen, Brian; Jensen, Kåre L; Juhl, Trine N; Tranholm, Mikael

2008-05-01

An automated system for registration of tail bleeding in rats using a camera and a user-designed PC-based software program has been developed. The live and processed images are displayed on the screen and are exported together with a text file for later statistical processing of the data allowing calculation of e.g. number of bleeding episodes, bleeding times and bleeding areas. Proof-of-principle was achieved when the camera captured the blood stream after infusion of rat whole blood into saline. Suitability was assessed by recording of bleeding profiles in heparin-treated rats, demonstrating that the system was able to capture on/off bleedings and that the data transfer and analysis were conducted successfully. Then, bleeding profiles were visually recorded by two independent observers simultaneously with the automated recordings after tail transection in untreated rats. Linear relationships were found in the number of bleedings, demonstrating, however, a statistically significant difference in the recording of bleeding episodes between observers. Also, the bleeding time was longer for visual compared to automated recording. No correlation was found between blood loss and bleeding time in untreated rats, but in heparinized rats a correlation was suggested. Finally, the blood loss correlated with the automated recording of bleeding area. In conclusion, the automated system has proven suitable for replacing visual recordings of tail bleedings in rats. Inter-observer differences can be eliminated, monotonous repetitive work avoided, and a higher through-put of animals in less time achieved. The automated system will lead to an increased understanding of the nature of bleeding following tail transection in different rodent models.

Semi-automated vectorial analysis of anorectal motion by magnetic resonance defecography in healthy subjects and fecal incontinence.

Science.gov (United States)

Noelting, J; Bharucha, A E; Lake, D S; Manduca, A; Fletcher, J G; Riederer, S J; Joseph Melton, L; Zinsmeister, A R

2012-10-01

Inter-observer variability limits the reproducibility of pelvic floor motion measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our aim was to develop a semi-automated program measuring pelvic floor motion in a reproducible and refined manner. Pelvic floor anatomy and motion during voluntary contraction (squeeze) and rectal evacuation were assessed by MRI in 64 women with fecal incontinence (FI) and 64 age-matched controls. A radiologist measured anorectal angles and anorectal junction motion. A semi-automated program did the same and also dissected anorectal motion into perpendicular vectors representing the puborectalis and other pelvic floor muscles, assessed the pubococcygeal angle, and evaluated pelvic rotation. Manual and semi-automated measurements of anorectal junction motion (r = 0.70; P controls. This semi-automated program provides a reproducible, efficient, and refined analysis of pelvic floor motion by MRI. Puborectalis injury is independently associated with impaired motion of puborectalis, not other pelvic floor muscles in controls and women with FI. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Automation, consolidation, and integration in autoimmune diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Tozzoli, Renato; D'Aurizio, Federica; Villalta, Danilo; Bizzaro, Nicola

2015-08-01

Over the past two decades, we have witnessed an extraordinary change in autoimmune diagnostics, characterized by the progressive evolution of analytical technologies, the availability of new tests, and the explosive growth of molecular biology and proteomics. Aside from these huge improvements, organizational changes have also occurred which brought about a more modern vision of the autoimmune laboratory. The introduction of automation (for harmonization of testing, reduction of human error, reduction of handling steps, increase of productivity, decrease of turnaround time, improvement of safety), consolidation (combining different analytical technologies or strategies on one instrument or on one group of connected instruments) and integration (linking analytical instruments or group of instruments with pre- and post-analytical devices) opened a new era in immunodiagnostics. In this article, we review the most important changes that have occurred in autoimmune diagnostics and present some models related to the introduction of automation in the autoimmunology laboratory, such as automated indirect immunofluorescence and changes in the two-step strategy for detection of autoantibodies; automated monoplex immunoassays and reduction of turnaround time; and automated multiplex immunoassays for autoantibody profiling.

Development of an automated system of nuclear materials accounting for nuclear power stations with water-cooled, water-moderated reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babaev, N.S.

1981-06-01

The results of work carried out under IAEA Contract No. 2336/RB are described (subject: an automated system of nuclear materials accounting for nuclear power stations with water-cooled, water-moderated (VVER) reactors). The basic principles of an accounting system for this type of nuclear power plant are outlined. The general structure and individual units of the information computer program used to achieve automated accounting are described and instructions are given on the use of the program. A detailed example of its application (on a simulated nuclear power plant) is examined

AGENCY CONTRACTS – EXISTING REGULATIONS IN ROMANIAN LAWS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Cojocaru

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Agency contracts are created as legal instruments with a highly important role for the business activity, given that they are the basis for professional intermediation. Regulations have changed in time, in an attempt to offer a better apprehension of the notion and applicability of this type of contract through the legislative framework. In Romanian law, this type of contract was regulated for the first time by Law no. 509 in 2002 on permanent commercial agents, law that was repealed when the new Civil Code came into force on October 1, 2011.

Factors that influence standard automated perimetry test results in glaucoma: test reliability, technician experience, time of day, and season.

Science.gov (United States)

Junoy Montolio, Francisco G; Wesselink, Christiaan; Gordijn, Marijke; Jansonius, Nomdo M

2012-10-09

To determine the influence of several factors on standard automated perimetry test results in glaucoma. Longitudinal Humphrey field analyzer 30-2 Swedish interactive threshold algorithm data from 160 eyes of 160 glaucoma patients were used. The influence of technician experience, time of day, and season on the mean deviation (MD) was determined by performing linear regression analysis of MD against time on a series of visual fields and subsequently performing a multiple linear regression analysis with the MD residuals as dependent variable and the factors mentioned above as independent variables. Analyses were performed with and without adjustment for the test reliability (fixation losses and false-positive and false-negative answers) and with and without stratification according to disease stage (baseline MD). Mean follow-up was 9.4 years, with on average 10.8 tests per patient. Technician experience, time of day, and season were associated with the MD. Approximately 0.2 dB lower MD values were found for inexperienced technicians (P Technician experience, time of day, season, and the percentage of false-positive answers have a significant influence on the MD of standard automated perimetry.

Exchange relationships: examining psychological contracts and perceived organizational support.

Science.gov (United States)

Coyle-Shapiro, Jacqueline A-M; Conway, Neil

2005-07-01

The authors surveyed 347 public sector employees on 4 measurement occasions to investigate the conceptual distinctiveness of the psychological contract and perceived organizational support (POS) and how they are associated over time. Results support the distinctiveness of the 2 concepts. In terms of their interrelationships over time, by drawing on psychological contract theory the authors found little support for a reciprocal relationship between POS and psychological contract fulfillment. Under an alternative set of hypotheses, by drawing on organizational support theory and by separating psychological contract fulfillment into its 2 components (perceived employer obligations and inducements), the authors found that perceived employer inducements were positively related to POS, which, in turn, was negatively related to perceived employer obligations. The results suggest that POS and the components of psychological contract fulfillment are more important in predicting organizational citizenship behavior than psychological contract fulfillment. Copyright 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Equipment available for automating rig operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNair, W.L.

1990-01-01

Several manufacturers are producing automated rig equipment, from complete systems to individual functions for existing drilling rigs. Significant improvements in well site time, costs of operations, and improved drilling performance have led drilling contractors to install this equipment on their rigs. This paper details some of the equipment available for automating rigs

48 CFR 12.207 - Contract type.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... fixed-price with economic price adjustment contracts (e.g., by limiting the value or length of the time... when— (i) The prices are established based on a firm-fixed-price or fixed-price with economic price... pricing structure is not practicable. The D&F for this contract shall be approved one level above the...

Next Indefinite Contract review exercise

CERN Multimedia

2015-01-01

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to inform you that the 2015 LD2IC exercise (selection process for the conversion of limited-duration contracts into indefinite contracts) has been officially launched. The vacancy notices for posts opened with a view to the award of indefinite contracts will be published on 3 August 2015 for a period of four weeks (until 31 August 2015). The CERN Contract Review Boards (candidate interviews) will be held between the end of September and mid-November. The LD to IC procedure, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and a calendar for the exercise are now available in the Admin e-guide. In addition, general information sessions on the procedure will be organised for candidates on the following dates: We would like to remind you that all staff members holding a limited-duration contract who have successfully completed their probation period at the time of application and who meet the eligibility criteria in the vacancy notices (VNs) are eligible to apply for posts for the awa...

Next Indefinite Contract review exercise

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2015-01-01

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to inform you that the 2015 LD2IC exercise (selection process for the conversion of limited-duration contracts into indefinite contracts) has been officially launched. The vacancy notices for posts opened with a view to the award of indefinite contracts will be published on 3 August 2015 for a period of four weeks (until 31 August 2015). The CERN Contract Review Boards (candidate interviews) will be held between the end of September and mid-November. The LD to IC procedure, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and a calendar for the exercise are now available in the Admin e-guide. In addition, general information sessions on the procedure will be organised for candidates on the following dates: We would like to remind you that all staff members holding a limited-duration contract who have successfully completed their probation period at the time of application and who meet the eligibility criteria in the vacancy notices (VNs) are eligible to apply for posts for the award of a...

Phase II: Automated System for Aneuploidy Detection in Sperm Final Report CRADA No. TC-1554-98

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wyrobek, W. J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Dunlay, R. T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-09-28

This was a collaborative effort between the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Cellomics, Inc. (formerly BioDx and Biological Detection, Inc.) to develop an automated system for detecting human sperm aneuploidy. Aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes) is one of the major categories of chromosomally abnormal sperm, which results in chromosomally defective pregnancies and babies. An automated system would be used for testing the effects of toxic agents and for other research and clinical applications. This collaborated effort was funded by a National Institutes of Environmental Health Services, Phase II, Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) grant to Cellornics (Contract No. N44-ES-82004).

Informal contracting between and within firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricard Gil

Full Text Available Abstract While informal contracts are widely used in modern economies, limited systematic empirical evidence is available to researchers and policy makers. This paper aims to fill the gap by discussing a selected sample of empirical works through the lens of a theoretical framework that clarifies the role of informal contracts. We also highlight unexplored research opportunities offered by more recent theoretical models that investigate how informal contracts are built over time, how they are subject to path dependency, and how relational rents are created, and are awaiting empirical analysis.

Construction contract risk and reasonable evasions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Yunpeng

2012-01-01

Construction project has the characteristics such as large-scale investment, long-period implementation, excessive uncertainties,a single piece of production, etc. These characteristics determine the complexity of a construction project contract. To guarantee the time limit and quality of a project, finding ways to reduce and evade the contract risks as well as avoid unnecessary disputes are urgent requirements for each project manager. According to the practical situation, project contract risks are analyzed and illustrated in detail, and the concrete solutions for evading those risks are put forward. (authors)

Home Automation and Security System Using Android ADK

OpenAIRE

Deepali Javale; Mohd. Mohsin; Shreerang Nandanwar; Mayur Shingate

2013-01-01

Today we are living in 21st century where automation is playing important role in human life. Home automation allows us to control household appliances like light, door, fan, AC etc. It also provides home security and emergency system to be activated. Home automation not only refers to reduce human efforts but also energy efficiency and time saving. The main objective of home automation and security is to help handicapped and old aged people which will enable them to control home appliances a...

Flexible automation and the loss of pooling synergy

OpenAIRE

Slomp, Jannes; Zee, Durk-Jouke van der

2001-01-01

This paper focuses on the effects of flexible automation on the performance of a job shop. Flexible automated machines may significantly improve the delivery performance and the flow time of jobs. The insertion of a flexible automated system in a job shop, however, also has a counter effect on the manufacturing performance. This is caused by the reduction of pooling synergy due to the dedication implied by flexible automated machines. This paper investigates by means of a simulation study to ...

SU-G-201-03: Automation of High Dose Rate Brachytherapy Quality Assurance: Development of a Radioluminescent Detection System for Simultaneous Detection of Activity, Timing, and Positioning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jenkins, C; Xing, L; Fahimian, B [Stanford University, Stanford, CA (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: Accuracy of positioning, timing and activity is of critical importance for High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy delivery. Respective measurements via film autoradiography, stop-watches and well chambers can be cumbersome, crude or lack dynamic source evaluation capabilities. To address such limitations, a single device radioluminescent detection system enabling automated real-time quantification of activity, position and timing accuracy is presented and experimentally evaluated. Methods: A radioluminescent sheet was fabricated by mixing Gd?O?S:Tb with PDMS and incorporated into a 3D printed device where it was fixated below a CMOS digital camera. An Ir-192 HDR source (VS2000, VariSource iX) with an effective active length of 5 mm was introduced using a 17-gauge stainless steel needle below the sheet. Pixel intensity values for determining activity were taken from an ROI centered on the source location. A calibration curve relating intensity values to activity was generated and used to evaluate automated activity determination with data gathered over 6 weeks. Positioning measurements were performed by integrating images for an entire delivery and fitting peaks to the resulting profile. Timing measurements were performed by evaluating source location and timestamps from individual images. Results: Average predicted activity error over 6 weeks was .35 ± .5%. The distance between four dwell positions was determined by the automated system to be 1.99 ± .02 cm. The result from autoradiography was 2.00 ± .03 cm. The system achieved a time resolution of 10 msec and determined the dwell time to be 1.01 sec ± .02 sec. Conclusion: The system was able to successfully perform automated detection of activity, positioning and timing concurrently under a single setup. Relative to radiochromic and radiographic film-based autoradiography, which can only provide a static evaluation positioning, optical detection of temporary radiation induced luminescence enables dynamic

MUSCLEMOTION: A Versatile Open Software Tool to Quantify Cardiomyocyte and Cardiac Muscle Contraction In Vitro and In Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Sala, Luca; van Meer, Berend J; Tertoolen, Leon G J; Bakkers, Jeroen; Bellin, Milena; Davis, Richard P; Denning, Chris; Dieben, Michel A E; Eschenhagen, Thomas; Giacomelli, Elisa; Grandela, Catarina; Hansen, Arne; Holman, Eduard R; Jongbloed, Monique R M; Kamel, Sarah M; Koopman, Charlotte D; Lachaud, Quentin; Mannhardt, Ingra; Mol, Mervyn P H; Mosqueira, Diogo; Orlova, Valeria V; Passier, Robert; Ribeiro, Marcelo C; Saleem, Umber; Smith, Godfrey L; Burton, Francis L; Mummery, Christine L

2018-02-02

There are several methods to measure cardiomyocyte and muscle contraction, but these require customized hardware, expensive apparatus, and advanced informatics or can only be used in single experimental models. Consequently, data and techniques have been difficult to reproduce across models and laboratories, analysis is time consuming, and only specialist researchers can quantify data. Here, we describe and validate an automated, open-source software tool (MUSCLEMOTION) adaptable for use with standard laboratory and clinical imaging equipment that enables quantitative analysis of normal cardiac contraction, disease phenotypes, and pharmacological responses. MUSCLEMOTION allowed rapid and easy measurement of movement from high-speed movies in (1) 1-dimensional in vitro models, such as isolated adult and human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes; (2) 2-dimensional in vitro models, such as beating cardiomyocyte monolayers or small clusters of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes; (3) 3-dimensional multicellular in vitro or in vivo contractile tissues, such as cardiac "organoids," engineered heart tissues, and zebrafish and human hearts. MUSCLEMOTION was effective under different recording conditions (bright-field microscopy with simultaneous patch-clamp recording, phase contrast microscopy, and traction force microscopy). Outcomes were virtually identical to the current gold standards for contraction measurement, such as optical flow, post deflection, edge-detection systems, or manual analyses. Finally, we used the algorithm to quantify contraction in in vitro and in vivo arrhythmia models and to measure pharmacological responses. Using a single open-source method for processing video recordings, we obtained reliable pharmacological data and measures of cardiac disease phenotype in experimental cell, animal, and human models. © 2017 The Authors.

Data Distribution Service for Industrial Automation

OpenAIRE

Yang, Jinsong

2012-01-01

In industrial automation systems, there is usually large volume of data which needs to be delivered to right places at the right time. In addition, large number of nodes in the automation systems are usually distributed which increases the complexity that there needs to be more point-to-point Ethernet-connections in the network. Hence, it is necessary to apply data-centric design and reduce the connection complexity. Data Distributed Service for Real-Time Systems (DDS) is a data-centric middl...

Computerized automated remote inspection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The automated inspection system utilizes a computer to control the location of the ultrasonic transducer, the actual inspection process, the display of the data, and the storage of the data on IBM magnetic tape. This automated inspection equipment provides two major advantages. First, it provides a cost savings, because of the reduced inspection time, made possible by the automation of the data acquisition, processing, and storage equipment. This reduced inspection time is also made possible by a computerized data evaluation aid which speeds data interpretation. In addition, the computer control of the transducer location drive allows the exact duplication of a previously located position or flaw. The second major advantage is that the use of automated inspection equipment also allows a higher-quality inspection, because of the automated data acquisition, processing, and storage. This storage of data, in accurate digital form on IBM magnetic tape, for example, facilitates retrieval for comparison with previous inspection data. The equipment provides a multiplicity of scan data which will provide statistical information on any questionable volume or flaw. An automatic alarm for location of all reportable flaws reduces the probability of operator error. This system has the ability to present data on a cathode ray tube as numerical information, a three-dimensional picture, or ''hard-copy'' sheet. One important advantage of this system is the ability to store large amounts of data in compact magnetic tape reels

A Framework for Semi-Automated Implementation of Multidimensional Data Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilona Mariana NAGY

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Data warehousing solution development represents a challenging task which requires the employment of considerable resources on behalf of enterprises and sustained commitment from the stakeholders. Costs derive mostly from the amount of time invested in the design and physical implementation of these large projects, time that we consider, may be decreased through the automation of several processes. Thus, we present a framework for semi-automated implementation of multidimensional data models and introduce an automation prototype intended to reduce the time of data structures generation in the warehousing environment. Our research is focused on the design of an automation component and the development of a corresponding prototype from technical metadata.

Design, Construction, Demonstration and Delivery of an Automated Narrow Gap Welding System.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-06-29

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, DEMONSTRATION AND DELIVERY OF WE DA4I &NARROW GAP CONTRACT NO. NOOGOO-81-C-E923 TO DAVID TAYLOR NAVAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT...the automated * Narrow Gap welding process, is the narrow (3/8 - inch), square-butt joint *design. This narrow joint greatly reduces the volume of weld...AD-i45 495 DESIGN CONSTRUCTION DEMONSTRATION AiND DELIVERY OF RN 1/j AUrOMATED NARROW GAP WELDING SYSTEMI() CRC AUTOMATIC WELDING CO HOUSTON TX 29

Automated Liquibase Generator And ValidatorALGV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manik Jain

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper presents an automation tool namely ALGV Automated Liquibase Generator and Validator for the automated generation and verification of liquibase scripts. Liquibase is one of the most efficient ways of applying and persisting changes to a database schema. Since its invention by Nathan Voxland 1 it has become de facto standard for database change management. The advantages of using liquibase scripts over traditional sql queries ranges from version control to reusing the same scripts over multiple database platforms. Irrespective of its advantages manual creation of liquibase scripts takes a lot of effort and sometimes is error-prone. ALGV helps to reduce the time consuming liquibase script generation manual typing efforts possible error occurrence and manual verification process and time by 75. Automating the liquibase generation process also helps to remove the burden of recollecting specific tags to be used for a particular change. Moreover developers can concentrate on the business logic and business data rather than wasting their precious efforts in writing files.

How to obtain the Lorentz space contraction formula for a moving rod from knowledge of the positions of its ends at different times

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez Guasti, M; Zagoya, C [Lab. de Optica Cuantica, Depto. de Fisica, Universidad A. Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, 09340 Mexico D.F., Ap. postal. 55-534 (Mexico)], E-mail: mfgxanum@uam.mx

2009-03-15

The Lorentz length contraction for a rod in uniform motion is derived performing two measurements at arbitrary times. Provided that the velocity of the rod is known, this derivation does not require the simultaneous measurement of two events. It thus avoids uncomfortable superluminal relationships. Furthermore, since the observer's simultaneous measurement is not needed in order to observe spatial contraction, this procedure is more akin to the Lorentzian relativity approach and is better suited for more general schemes such as deformed spacetime versions of special relativity. An example of a space contraction measurement from the same rest position in the observer's frame illustrates the procedure.

How to obtain the Lorentz space contraction formula for a moving rod from knowledge of the positions of its ends at different times

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez Guasti, M; Zagoya, C

2009-01-01

The Lorentz length contraction for a rod in uniform motion is derived performing two measurements at arbitrary times. Provided that the velocity of the rod is known, this derivation does not require the simultaneous measurement of two events. It thus avoids uncomfortable superluminal relationships. Furthermore, since the observer's simultaneous measurement is not needed in order to observe spatial contraction, this procedure is more akin to the Lorentzian relativity approach and is better suited for more general schemes such as deformed spacetime versions of special relativity. An example of a space contraction measurement from the same rest position in the observer's frame illustrates the procedure

Automated-biasing approach to Monte Carlo shipping-cask calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, T.J.; Tang, J.S.; Parks, C.V.; Childs, R.L.

1982-01-01

Computer Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, under a contract with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has developed the SCALE system for performing standardized criticality, shielding, and heat transfer analyses of nuclear systems. During the early phase of shielding development in SCALE, it was established that Monte Carlo calculations of radiation levels exterior to a spent fuel shipping cask would be extremely expensive. This cost can be substantially reduced by proper biasing of the Monte Carlo histories. The purpose of this study is to develop and test an automated biasing procedure for the MORSE-SGC/S module of the SCALE system

Standard form contracts and a smart contract future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristin B. Cornelius

2018-05-01

Full Text Available With a budding market of widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Discourse on standard form contracts (SFCs and how they have been adopted in a digital environment is useful toward predicting how smart contracts might be interpreted. This essay provides a critical review of the discourse surrounding digitised SFCs and applies it to issues in smart contract regulation. An exploration of the literature surrounding specific instances SFCs finds that it lacks a close examination of the textual and documentary aspects of SFCs, which are particularly important in a digital environment as a shift in medium prompts a different procedural process. Instead, common perspectives are either based on outdated notions of paper versions of these contracts or on ideologies of industry and business that do not sufficiently address the needs of consumers/users in the digital age. Most importantly, noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of SFCs in this environment can help prevent them from being codified further with smart contracts.

Generic Automated Multi-function Finger Design

Science.gov (United States)

Honarpardaz, M.; Tarkian, M.; Sirkett, D.; Ölvander, J.; Feng, X.; Elf, J.; Sjögren, R.

2016-11-01

Multi-function fingers that are able to handle multiple workpieces are crucial in improvement of a robot workcell. Design automation of multi-function fingers is highly demanded by robot industries to overcome the current iterative, time consuming and complex manual design process. However, the existing approaches for the multi-function finger design automation are unable to entirely meet the robot industries’ need. This paper proposes a generic approach for design automation of multi-function fingers. The proposed approach completely automates the design process and requires no expert skill. In addition, this approach executes the design process much faster than the current manual process. To validate the approach, multi-function fingers are successfully designed for two case studies. Further, the results are discussed and benchmarked with existing approaches.

Myths in test automation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jazmine Francis

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Myths in automation of software testing is an issue of discussion that echoes about the areas of service in validation of software industry. Probably, the first though that appears in knowledgeable reader would be Why this old topic again? What's New to discuss the matter? But, for the first time everyone agrees that undoubtedly automation testing today is not today what it used to be ten or fifteen years ago, because it has evolved in scope and magnitude. What began as a simple linear scripts for web applications today has a complex architecture and a hybrid framework to facilitate the implementation of testing applications developed with various platforms and technologies. Undoubtedly automation has advanced, but so did the myths associated with it. The change in perspective and knowledge of people on automation has altered the terrain. This article reflects the points of views and experience of the author in what has to do with the transformation of the original myths in new versions, and how they are derived; also provides his thoughts on the new generation of myths.

Myths in test automation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jazmine Francis

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Myths in automation of software testing is an issue of discussion that echoes about the areas of service in validation of software industry. Probably, the first though that appears in knowledgeable reader would be Why this old topic again? What's New to discuss the matter? But, for the first time everyone agrees that undoubtedly automation testing today is not today what it used to be ten or fifteen years ago, because it has evolved in scope and magnitude. What began as a simple linear scripts for web applications today has a complex architecture and a hybrid framework to facilitate the implementation of testing applications developed with various platforms and technologies. Undoubtedly automation has advanced, but so did the myths associated with it. The change in perspective and knowledge of people on automation has altered the terrain. This article reflects the points of views and experience of the author in what has to do with the transformation of the original myths in new versions, and how they are derived; also provides his thoughts on the new generation of myths.

CONTRACTING AND ERUPTING COMPONENTS OF SIGMOIDAL ACTIVE REGIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Rui; Wang Yuming; Liu Chang; Wang Haimin; Török, Tibor

2012-01-01

It has recently been noted that solar eruptions can be associated with the contraction of coronal loops that are not involved in magnetic reconnection processes. In this paper, we investigate five coronal eruptions originating from four sigmoidal active regions, using high-cadence, high-resolution narrowband EUV images obtained by the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). The magnitudes of the flares associated with the eruptions range from GOES class B to class X. Owing to the high-sensitivity and broad temperature coverage of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board SDO, we are able to identify both the contracting and erupting components of the eruptions: the former is observed in cold AIA channels as the contracting coronal loops overlying the elbows of the sigmoid, and the latter is preferentially observed in warm/hot AIA channels as an expanding bubble originating from the center of the sigmoid. The initiation of eruption always precedes the contraction, and in the energetically mild events (B- and C-flares), it also precedes the increase in GOES soft X-ray fluxes. In the more energetic events, the eruption is simultaneous with the impulsive phase of the nonthermal hard X-ray emission. These observations confirm that loop contraction is an integrated process in eruptions with partially opened arcades. The consequence of contraction is a new equilibrium with reduced magnetic energy, as the contracting loops never regain their original positions. The contracting process is a direct consequence of flare energy release, as evidenced by the strong correlation of the maximal contracting speed, and strong anti-correlation of the time delay of contraction relative to expansion, with the peak soft X-ray flux. This is also implied by the relationship between contraction and expansion, i.e., their timing and speed.

A system-level approach to automation research

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, F. W.; Orlando, N. E.

1984-01-01

Automation is the application of self-regulating mechanical and electronic devices to processes that can be accomplished with the human organs of perception, decision, and actuation. The successful application of automation to a system process should reduce man/system interaction and the perceived complexity of the system, or should increase affordability, productivity, quality control, and safety. The expense, time constraints, and risk factors associated with extravehicular activities have led the Automation Technology Branch (ATB), as part of the NASA Automation Research and Technology Program, to investigate the use of robots and teleoperators as automation aids in the context of space operations. The ATB program addresses three major areas: (1) basic research in autonomous operations, (2) human factors research on man-machine interfaces with remote systems, and (3) the integration and analysis of automated systems. This paper reviews the current ATB research in the area of robotics and teleoperators.

Long-term contracts for European gas supply - an empirical analysis of the changing nature of pipeline and LNG-contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neumann, Anne

2005-01-01

As the structure of the European natural gas market is evolving towards more competition and more diverse market structures than before, the nature of the long-term contracts for European natural gas supply is also undergoing change. Experience from other liberalization processes, such as in the U.S. or the UK, suggests that the importance of long-term contracts diminishes over time, but that they remain an important element of supply. In Europe long-term contracts are still considered as a firm basis for investment and financing of capital-intensive infrastructure with a high degree of asset and relationship-specificity. Literature on institutional economics also suggests that long-term contracts act as a device to overcome the ''hold-up'' problem of relationship-specific investments in infrastructure (Klein, Crawford, and Alchian, 1987; Williamson, 1975, 1985). On the other hand, Hartley and Brito (2002) show that more flexible markets also imply a lower degree of asset specificity, thus requiring less fixed contracts. This paper explores the changing nature of long-term contracts for European natural gas supply, with a particular focus on differences between contracts for pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Traditionally, Europe relied on very long-term contracts for pipeline gas (Russia, Norway, Algeria). More recently, increasing LNG supplies are contemplated as a more flexible source of natural gas: The international LNG market is becoming more flexible, LNG can be sourced from a variety of sellers, and the cost of LNG supplies and infrastructure is coming down rapidly (Jensen, 2004). Thus, the evaluation of investing in LNG infrastructure (and the so bought flexibility and possibility of arbitraging profits) may be higher than committing to fixed/predetermined flows of pipeline gas. We ask whether this is reflected in the observed contracts. The paper is based on standard contract theory (Bolton and Dewatripont, 2005). We apply a microeconomic

Legal issues in power sale contract negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodwin, L.M.

1990-01-01

The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) is the foundation of the cogeneration industry. However, few cogeneration projects could be financed on the basis of PURPA alone. PURPA guarantees project owners the right to sell power at the purchasing utility's Avoided Cost, whatever that may be from time to time. However, the development and financing of a cogeneration project requires a secure and dependable income stream, not a mere guarantee of the right to receive the spot price for power. Accordingly, developers have found that a formal power sale contract with the purchasing utility is a prerequisite to successful project development. This paper summarizes some current issues in power sale contract negotiation, with a particular emphasis on contract terms which shift risks from the utility and its ratepayers to the developer. Many of these trends originally appeared before the advent of competitive bidding systems, but most will continue to affect power sale contracts under competitive bidding, and under IPP project development as well

Physics of automated driving in framework of three-phase traffic theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerner, Boris S

2018-04-01

We have revealed physical features of automated driving in the framework of the three-phase traffic theory for which there is no fixed time headway to the preceding vehicle. A comparison with the classical model approach to automated driving for which an automated driving vehicle tries to reach a fixed (desired or "optimal") time headway to the preceding vehicle has been made. It turns out that automated driving in the framework of the three-phase traffic theory can exhibit the following advantages in comparison with the classical model of automated driving: (i) The absence of string instability. (ii) Considerably smaller speed disturbances at road bottlenecks. (iii) Automated driving vehicles based on the three-phase theory can decrease the probability of traffic breakdown at the bottleneck in mixed traffic flow consisting of human driving and automated driving vehicles; on the contrary, even a single automated driving vehicle based on the classical approach can provoke traffic breakdown at the bottleneck in mixed traffic flow.

Physics of automated driving in framework of three-phase traffic theory

Science.gov (United States)

Kerner, Boris S.

2018-04-01

We have revealed physical features of automated driving in the framework of the three-phase traffic theory for which there is no fixed time headway to the preceding vehicle. A comparison with the classical model approach to automated driving for which an automated driving vehicle tries to reach a fixed (desired or "optimal") time headway to the preceding vehicle has been made. It turns out that automated driving in the framework of the three-phase traffic theory can exhibit the following advantages in comparison with the classical model of automated driving: (i) The absence of string instability. (ii) Considerably smaller speed disturbances at road bottlenecks. (iii) Automated driving vehicles based on the three-phase theory can decrease the probability of traffic breakdown at the bottleneck in mixed traffic flow consisting of human driving and automated driving vehicles; on the contrary, even a single automated driving vehicle based on the classical approach can provoke traffic breakdown at the bottleneck in mixed traffic flow.

SERVICE HANDBOOK FOR THE DESKTOP SUPPORT CONTRACT WIH IT DIVISION

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

A Desktop Support Contract has been running since January 1999 to offer help to all users at CERN with problems that occur with their desktop computers. The contract is run conjointly by the Swedish Company WM-data and the Swiss company DCS.The contract is comprised of the Computing Helpdesk, a General Service for all parts of CERN and also Local Service for those divisions and groups that want faster response times and additional help with their specific computer environment.In order to describe what services are being offered, and also to give a better understanding of the structure of the contract, a Service Handbook has been created. The intended audience for the Service Handbook is everyone that is using the contract, i.e. users, managers and also the service staff inside the contract. In the handbook you will find what help you can get from the contract, how to get in touch with the contract, and also what response times you can expect. Since the computer environment at CERN is a never-changing entity, ...

Automated Incident Detection Using Real-Time Floating Car Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maarten Houbraken

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of a live Automated Incident Detection (AID system using only Floating Car Data (FCD in one of the first large-scale FCD AID field trials. AID systems detect traffic events and alert upcoming drivers to improve traffic safety without human monitoring. These automated systems traditionally rely on traffic monitoring sensors embedded in the road. FCD allows for finer spatial granularity of traffic monitoring. However, low penetration rates of FCD probe vehicles and the data latency have historically hindered FCD AID deployment. We use a live country-wide FCD system monitoring an estimated 5.93% of all vehicles. An FCD AID system is presented and compared to the installed AID system (using loop sensor data on 2 different highways in Netherlands. Our results show the FCD AID can adequately monitor changing traffic conditions and follow the AID benchmark. The presented FCD AID is integrated with the road operator systems as part of an innovation project, making this, to the best of our knowledge, the first full chain technical feasibility trial of an FCD-only AID system. Additionally, FCD allows for AID on roads without installed sensors, allowing road safety improvements at low cost.

Energy Savings Performance Contract Energy Sales Agreement Toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2017-08-14

FEMP developed the Energy Savings Performance Contracting Energy Sales Agreement (ESPC ESA) Toolkit to provide federal agency contracting officers and other acquisition team members with information that will facilitate the timely execution of ESPC ESA projects.

Driver Response Times when Resuming Manual Control from Highly Automated Driving in Truck Platooning Scenarios.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, Bo; Wilschut, Ellen; Willemsen, D.; Martens, Marieke

2017-01-01

Automated platooning of trucks is getting increasing interest for its potentially beneficial effects on fuel consumption, driver workload, traffic flow efficiency and safety. Nevertheless, one major challenge lies in the safe and comfortable transitions of control from the automated system back to

Method Determining the Contents of the Contract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agus Yudha Hernoko

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The contents of the contract are primarily determined by what the real mutually agreed upon by the parties. By interpreting some certain statements, in this case to determine its meaning, to be clear based on what the parties committed themselves. Why is the interpretation required? In facts, on the many cases provided a valuable lesson, how many commercial disputes arise when the performance of the contract. The dispute begins when the parties have a different understanding of the statement that they use in the contract. Indeed, businesses are very familiar with the business processes that they do, but at the time of the business process are set forth in the contract language and designed by those who do not understand the legal aspects of the contract, the contract can be ascertained open possibility for disputes. The power of contract binding (the contents of the agreement toward to the characteristic and the wide spectrum of the rights and obligations contractually, basically a contract represents the power of performance among others in order implementing the rights and obligations of the parties. As an instrument to understand the contract, the method of determining the content of the contract (e.g., through interpretation, autonomous and heteronomous factors, further can be used to assess the reciprocation of rights and obligations in a meaningful and proportional contractual relationship.

Contract Award Decisions Resulting in Contract Termination for Default

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1996-01-01

.... Specifically, the audit focused on contracts terminated either for default or convenience and determined whether the contract terminations could have been averted based on information available before contract award...

Implementation and evaluation of an automated dispensing system.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarz, H O; Brodowy, B A

1995-04-15

An institution's experience in replacing a traditional unit dose cassette-exchange system with an automated dispensing system is described. A 24-hour unit dose cassette-exchange system was replaced with an automated dispensing system (Pyxis's Medstation Rx) on a 36-bed cardiovascular surgery unit and an 8-bed cardiovascular intensive care unit. Significantly fewer missing doses were reported after Medstation Rx was implemented. No conclusions could be made about the impact of the system on the reporting of medication errors. The time savings for pharmacy associated with the filling, checking, and delivery of new medication orders equated to about 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE). Medstation Rx also saved substantial nursing time for acquisition of controlled substances and for controlled-substance inventory taking at shift changes. A financial analysis showed that Medstation Rx could save the institution about $1 million over five years if all personnel time savings could be translated into FTE reductions. The automated system was given high marks by the nurses in a survey; 80% wanted to keep the system on their unit. Pilot implementation of an automated dispensing system improved the efficiency of drug distribution over that of the traditional unit dose cassette-exchange system.

42 CFR 422.510 - Termination of contract by CMS.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Termination of contract by CMS. 422.510 Section 422... Advantage Organizations § 422.510 Termination of contract by CMS. (a) Termination by CMS. CMS may at any time terminate a contract if CMS determines that the MA organization meets any of the following: (1...

Integrating Standard Operating Procedures with Spacecraft Automation, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Spacecraft automation can be used to greatly reduce the demands on crew member and flight controllers time and attention. Automation can monitor critical resources,...

AUTOMATED INADVERTENT INTRUDER APPLICATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koffman, L; Patricia Lee, P; Jim Cook, J; Elmer Wilhite, E

2007-01-01

The Environmental Analysis and Performance Modeling group of Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) conducts performance assessments of the Savannah River Site (SRS) low-level waste facilities to meet the requirements of DOE Order 435.1. These performance assessments, which result in limits on the amounts of radiological substances that can be placed in the waste disposal facilities, consider numerous potential exposure pathways that could occur in the future. One set of exposure scenarios, known as inadvertent intruder analysis, considers the impact on hypothetical individuals who are assumed to inadvertently intrude onto the waste disposal site. Inadvertent intruder analysis considers three distinct scenarios for exposure referred to as the agriculture scenario, the resident scenario, and the post-drilling scenario. Each of these scenarios has specific exposure pathways that contribute to the overall dose for the scenario. For the inadvertent intruder analysis, the calculation of dose for the exposure pathways is a relatively straightforward algebraic calculation that utilizes dose conversion factors. Prior to 2004, these calculations were performed using an Excel spreadsheet. However, design checks of the spreadsheet calculations revealed that errors could be introduced inadvertently when copying spreadsheet formulas cell by cell and finding these errors was tedious and time consuming. This weakness led to the specification of functional requirements to create a software application that would automate the calculations for inadvertent intruder analysis using a controlled source of input parameters. This software application, named the Automated Inadvertent Intruder Application, has undergone rigorous testing of the internal calculations and meets software QA requirements. The Automated Inadvertent Intruder Application was intended to replace the previous spreadsheet analyses with an automated application that was verified to produce the same calculations and

Low cost automation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-03-01

This book indicates method of building of automation plan, design of automation facilities, automation and CHIP process like basics of cutting, NC processing machine and CHIP handling, automation unit, such as drilling unit, tapping unit, boring unit, milling unit and slide unit, application of oil pressure on characteristics and basic oil pressure circuit, application of pneumatic, automation kinds and application of process, assembly, transportation, automatic machine and factory automation.

Automated drawing generation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshinaga, Toshiaki; Kawahata, Junichi; Yoshida, Naoto; Ono, Satoru

1991-01-01

Since automated CAD drawing generation systems still require human intervention, improvements were focussed on an interactive processing section (data input and correcting operation) which necessitates a vast amount of work. As a result, human intervention was eliminated, the original objective of a computerized system. This is the first step taken towards complete automation. The effects of development and commercialization of the system are as described below. (1) The interactive processing time required for generating drawings was improved. It was determined that introduction of the CAD system has reduced the time required for generating drawings. (2) The difference in skills between workers preparing drawings has been eliminated and the quality of drawings has been made uniform. (3) The extent of knowledge and experience demanded of workers has been reduced. (author)

Contraction mode itself does not determine the level of mTORC1 activity in rat skeletal muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Ato, Satoru; Makanae, Yuhei; Kido, Kohei; Fujita, Satoshi

2016-10-01

Resistance training with eccentric contraction has been shown to augment muscle hypertrophy more than other contraction modes do (i.e., concentric and isometric contraction). However, the molecular mechanisms involved remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of muscle contraction mode on mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling using a standardized force-time integral (load (weight) × contraction time). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups: eccentric contraction, concentric contraction, and isometric contraction. The right gastrocnemius muscle was exercised via percutaneous electrical stimulation-induced maximal contraction. In experiment 1, different modes of muscle contraction were exerted using the same number of reps in all groups, while in experiment 2, muscle contractions were exerted using a standardized force-time integral. Muscle samples were obtained immediately and 3 h after exercise. Phosphorylation of molecules associated with mTORC1 activity was assessed using western blot analysis. In experiment 1, the force-time integral was significantly different among contraction modes with a higher force-time integral for eccentric contraction compared to that for other contraction modes (P contraction compared to that for isometric contraction (P contraction than for other modes of contraction (P contraction was higher than isometric contraction (P contraction modes 3 h after exercise. Our results suggest that mTORC1 activity is not determined by differences in muscle contraction mode itself. Instead, mTORC1 activity is determined by differences in the force-time integral during muscle contraction. © 2016 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Physiological Society and The Physiological Society.

How does a collision warning system shape driver's brake response time? The influence of expectancy and automation complacency on real-life emergency braking.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruscio, Daniele; Ciceri, Maria Rita; Biassoni, Federica

2015-04-01

Brake Reaction Time (BRT) is an important parameter for road safety. Previous research has shown that drivers' expectations can impact RT when facing hazardous situations, but driving with advanced driver assistance systems, can change the way BRT are considered. The interaction with a collision warning system can help faster more efficient responses, but at the same time can require a monitoring task and evaluation process that may lead to automation complacency. The aims of the present study are to test in a real-life setting whether automation compliancy can be generated by a collision warning system and what component of expectancy can impact the different tasks involved in an assisted BRT process. More specifically four component of expectancy were investigated: presence/absence of anticipatory information, previous direct experience, reliability of the device, and predictability of the hazard determined by repeated use of the warning system. Results supply indication on perception time and mental elaboration of the collision warning system alerts. In particular reliable warning quickened the decision making process, misleading warnings generated automation complacency slowing visual search for hazard detection, lack of directed experienced slowed the overall response while unexpected failure of the device lead to inattentional blindness and potential pseudo-accidents with surprise obstacle intrusion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ADIABATIC HEATING OF CONTRACTING TURBULENT FLUIDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, Brant; Goldreich, Peter

2012-01-01

Turbulence influences the behavior of many astrophysical systems, frequently by providing non-thermal pressure support through random bulk motions. Although turbulence is commonly studied in systems with constant volume and mean density, turbulent astrophysical gases often expand or contract under the influence of pressure or gravity. Here, we examine the behavior of turbulence in contracting volumes using idealized models of compressed gases. Employing numerical simulations and an analytical model, we identify a simple mechanism by which the turbulent motions of contracting gases 'adiabatically heat', experiencing an increase in their random bulk velocities until the largest eddies in the gas circulate over a Hubble time of the contraction. Adiabatic heating provides a mechanism for sustaining turbulence in gases where no large-scale driving exists. We describe this mechanism in detail and discuss some potential applications to turbulence in astrophysical settings.

Automated fabrication, characterization and transport of ICF pellets. Final report, March 1, 1979-October 31, 1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clifford, .D.W.; Boyd, B.A.; Lilienkamp, R.H.

1980-12-01

The near-term objectives of the contract were threefold: (1) evaluate techniques for the production of frozen hydrogen microspheres and demonstrate concepts for coating them; (2) develop and demonstrate an optical characterization system which could lead to automated pellet inspection; and (3) develop and demonstrate a preliminary electrostatic pellet transport control system. This report describes the equipment assembled for these experiments and the results obtained

Automation from pictures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozubal, A.J.

1992-01-01

The state transition diagram (STD) model has been helpful in the design of real time software, especially with the emergence of graphical computer aided software engineering (CASE) tools. Nevertheless, the translation of the STD to real time code has in the past been primarily a manual task. At Los Alamos we have automated this process. The designer constructs the STD using a CASE tool (Cadre Teamwork) using a special notation for events and actions. A translator converts the STD into an intermediate state notation language (SNL), and this SNL is compiled directly into C code (a state program). Execution of the state program is driven by external events, allowing multiple state programs to effectively share the resources of the host processor. Since the design and the code are tightly integrated through the CASE tool, the design and code never diverge, and we avoid design obsolescence. Furthermore, the CASE tool automates the production of formal technical documents from the graphic description encapsulated by the CASE tool. (author)

75 FR 2109 - Notice of Availability of Final Contracting Policy

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-14

...-sector companies available to State and local government entities that have a need for the services... will continue to examine ways to improve its contracting processes, including minimizing the turnover frequency of contracting personnel and reducing the length of time required to award contracts and task...

Automated Array Assembly, Phase 2. Final technical progress report, 1979

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carbajal, B.G.

1979-11-01

The 1979 phase of this Automated Array Assembly, Phase 2 contract was devoted solely to the tasks of scaling up the Tandem Junction Cell (TJC) from 2 cm x 2 cm to 6.2 cm x 6.2 cm and the assembly of several modules using these large-area TJCs. The scale-up of the TJC was based on using the existing process and doing the necessary design activities to increase the cell area to an acceptably large area. The design was carried out using available device models. The design was verified and sample large-area TJCs were fabricated. Mechanical and process problems occurred causing a schedule slippage that resulted in contract expiration before enough large-area TCs were fabricated to populate the sample Tandem Junction Modules (TJMs). A TJM design was carried out in which the module interconnects served to augment the current collecting buses on the cell. The module was made up of a 5 x 6 TJC matrix mounted on a porcelainized steel substrate with a glass cover. The TJC matrix was series-parallel connected using copper clad Invar interconnects soldered to the TJC metallization. Sample cell matrices were assembled using dummy cells. No sample TJMs were assembled due to a shortage of large-area TJCs and contract expiration.

Polymorphic Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Belo, João Filipe; Greenberg, Michael; Igarashi, Atsushi; Pierce, Benjamin C.

Manifest contracts track precise properties by refining types with predicates - e.g., {x : Int |x > 0 } denotes the positive integers. Contracts and polymorphism make a natural combination: programmers can give strong contracts to abstract types, precisely stating pre- and post-conditions while hiding implementation details - for example, an abstract type of stacks might specify that the pop operation has input type {x :α Stack |not ( empty x )} . We formalize this combination by defining FH, a polymorphic calculus with manifest contracts, and establishing fundamental properties including type soundness and relational parametricity. Our development relies on a significant technical improvement over earlier presentations of contracts: instead of introducing a denotational model to break a problematic circularity between typing, subtyping, and evaluation, we develop the metatheory of contracts in a completely syntactic fashion, omitting subtyping from the core system and recovering it post facto as a derived property.

Army Contracting Command Workforce Model Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-09

Empresas in Madrid. His Air Force contracting experience includes F-22 Fighter, C-17 Cargo Transport , and a contingency deployment as director of Joint...and the University of Maryland (University College). He has also conducted visiting seminars at American University in Cairo and Instituto de ...the long total process times that are sometimes involved in weapon system contracting, such an assessment may equate to a de facto future work

Automated fault-management in a simulated spaceflight micro-world

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenz, Bernd; Di Nocera, Francesco; Rottger, Stefan; Parasuraman, Raja

2002-01-01

BACKGROUND: As human spaceflight missions extend in duration and distance from Earth, a self-sufficient crew will bear far greater onboard responsibility and authority for mission success. This will increase the need for automated fault management (FM). Human factors issues in the use of such systems include maintenance of cognitive skill, situational awareness (SA), trust in automation, and workload. This study examine the human performance consequences of operator use of intelligent FM support in interaction with an autonomous, space-related, atmospheric control system. METHODS: An expert system representing a model-base reasoning agent supported operators at a low level of automation (LOA) by a computerized fault finding guide, at a medium LOA by an automated diagnosis and recovery advisory, and at a high LOA by automate diagnosis and recovery implementation, subject to operator approval or veto. Ten percent of the experimental trials involved complete failure of FM support. RESULTS: Benefits of automation were reflected in more accurate diagnoses, shorter fault identification time, and reduced subjective operator workload. Unexpectedly, fault identification times deteriorated more at the medium than at the high LOA during automation failure. Analyses of information sampling behavior showed that offloading operators from recovery implementation during reliable automation enabled operators at high LOA to engage in fault assessment activities CONCLUSIONS: The potential threat to SA imposed by high-level automation, in which decision advisories are automatically generated, need not inevitably be counteracted by choosing a lower LOA. Instead, freeing operator cognitive resources by automatic implementation of recover plans at a higher LOA can promote better fault comprehension, so long as the automation interface is designed to support efficient information sampling.

Home Automation and Security System

OpenAIRE

Surinder Kaur,; Rashmi Singh; Neha Khairwal; Pratyk Jain

2016-01-01

Easy Home or Home automation plays a very important role in modern era because of its flexibility in using it at different places with high precision which will save money and time by decreasing human hard work. Prime focus of this technology is to control the household equipment’s like light, fan, door, AC etc. automatically. This research paper has detailed information on Home Automation and Security System using Arduino, GSM and how we can control home appliances using Android application....

Automated Structure Solution with the PHENIX Suite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zwart, Peter H.; Zwart, Peter H.; Afonine, Pavel; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Hung, Li-Wei; Ioerger, Tom R.; McCoy, A.J.; McKee, Eric; Moriarty, Nigel; Read, Randy J.; Sacchettini, James C.; Sauter, Nicholas K.; Storoni, L.C.; Terwilliger, Tomas C.; Adams, Paul D.

2008-06-09

Significant time and effort are often required to solve and complete a macromolecular crystal structure. The development of automated computational methods for the analysis, solution and completion of crystallographic structures has the potential to produce minimally biased models in a short time without the need for manual intervention. The PHENIX software suite is a highly automated system for macromolecular structure determination that can rapidly arrive at an initial partial model of a structure without significant human intervention, given moderate resolution and good quality data. This achievement has been made possible by the development of new algorithms for structure determination, maximum-likelihood molecular replacement (PHASER), heavy-atom search (HySS), template and pattern-based automated model-building (RESOLVE, TEXTAL), automated macromolecular refinement (phenix.refine), and iterative model-building, density modification and refinement that can operate at moderate resolution (RESOLVE, AutoBuild). These algorithms are based on a highly integrated and comprehensive set of crystallographic libraries that have been built and made available to the community. The algorithms are tightly linked and made easily accessible to users through the PHENIX Wizards and the PHENIX GUI.

Automated structure solution with the PHENIX suite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Terwilliger, Thomas C [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Zwart, Peter H [LBNL; Afonine, Pavel V [LBNL; Grosse - Kunstleve, Ralf W [LBNL

2008-01-01

Significant time and effort are often required to solve and complete a macromolecular crystal structure. The development of automated computational methods for the analysis, solution, and completion of crystallographic structures has the potential to produce minimally biased models in a short time without the need for manual intervention. The PHENIX software suite is a highly automated system for macromolecular structure determination that can rapidly arrive at an initial partial model of a structure without significant human intervention, given moderate resolution, and good quality data. This achievement has been made possible by the development of new algorithms for structure determination, maximum-likelihood molecular replacement (PHASER), heavy-atom search (HySS), template- and pattern-based automated model-building (RESOLVE, TEXTAL), automated macromolecular refinement (phenix. refine), and iterative model-building, density modification and refinement that can operate at moderate resolution (RESOLVE, AutoBuild). These algorithms are based on a highly integrated and comprehensive set of crystallographic libraries that have been built and made available to the community. The algorithms are tightly linked and made easily accessible to users through the PHENIX Wizards and the PHENIX GUI.

29 CFR 4.122 - Contracts for operation of postal contract stations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Application of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Specific Exclusions § 4.122 Contracts for operation of postal contract stations. The Act, in paragraph (7) of section 7, exempts from its provisions “any... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Contracts for operation of postal contract stations. 4.122...

The Construction of Academic Time: Sub/Contracting Academic Labour in Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hey, Valerie

2001-01-01

Offers a poststructuralist analysis of the UK higher education sector's academic division of labor, exploring some new contradictions from a contract researcher's standpoint. Raises political, social, and methodological questions about these divisions by exploring their class and gender dimensions. Too many academics remain silent about adverse…

Lighting Automation - Flying an Earthlike Habit Project

Science.gov (United States)

Falker, Jay; Howard, Ricky; Culbert, Christopher; Clark, Toni Anne; Kolomenski, Andrei

2017-01-01

Our proposal will enable the development of automated spacecraft habitats for long duration missions. Majority of spacecraft lighting systems employ lamps or zone specific switches and dimmers. Automation is not in the "picture". If we are to build long duration environments, which provide earth-like habitats, minimize crew time, and optimize spacecraft power reserves, innovation in lighting automation is a must. To transform how spacecraft lighting environments are automated, we will provide performance data on a standard lighting communication protocol. We will investigate utilization and application of an industry accepted lighting control protocol, DMX512. We will demonstrate how lighting automation can conserve power, assist with lighting countermeasures, and utilize spatial body tracking. By using DMX512 we will prove the "wheel" does not need to be reinvented in terms of smart lighting and future spacecraft can use a standard lighting protocol to produce an effective, optimized and potentially earthlike habitat.

MISENS DEVICE AS A NEW AUTOMATED BIOSENSING PLATFORM BASED ON REAL-TIME ELECTROCHEMICAL PROFILING (REP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

yıldız uludağ

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In various fields like health, environmental control, food security and military defense; there is an increasing demand for on-site detection, fast identification and urgent response which brings the necessity to employ laboratory detection procedures on standalone automatic devices. In response to that TUBITAK BILGEM’s Bioelectronic Devices and Systems Group has been developing portable and fully automated biosensor devices using optical and electrochemical biosensor detection techniques. Here we describe a new integrated and fully automated lab-on-a-chip based biosensor device ‘MiSens’. The key features of the MiSens include a new electrode array, an integrated microfluidic system and real-time amperometric measurements during the flow of enzyme substrate. While simple protocols can be controlled from the LCD display on the device, other main device control procedures can be run wireless by a tablet/PC using the MiCont™ software developed by the team. For the device, a new plug and play type sensor chip docking station has been designed that with one move it enables the formation of a ~ 7-10 µl capacity flow cell on the electrode array with the necessary microfluidic and electronic connections. The MiSens device has been developed by our multi-disciplinary team by integrating and automatising the earlier developed sensing platform REP™ (Real-time Electrochemical Profiling. The performance of the MiSens device has been tested using cyclic voltammetry and amperometry tests and the results were compared with an of the shelf potantiostat.

Autonomy and Automation

Science.gov (United States)

Shively, Jay

2017-01-01

A significant level of debate and confusion has surrounded the meaning of the terms autonomy and automation. Automation is a multi-dimensional concept, and we propose that Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) automation should be described with reference to the specific system and task that has been automated, the context in which the automation functions, and other relevant dimensions. In this paper, we present definitions of automation, pilot in the loop, pilot on the loop and pilot out of the loop. We further propose that in future, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) RPAS Panel avoids the use of the terms autonomy and autonomous when referring to automated systems on board RPA. Work Group 7 proposes to develop, in consultation with other workgroups, a taxonomy of Levels of Automation for RPAS.

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTS. DELIMITATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liana Teodora PASCARIU

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Article examines whether all contracts of public persons are administrative contracts; in other words, if the administration may conclude contracts that, according to their legal nature, are not administrative. If we start from the definition of administrative contracts as it appears in Law no. 554/2004, these include contracts by public authorities which concern the enhancement of public property execution of works of public interest, public services, public procurement and other administrative contracts provided by special laws and subject to the jurisdiction of the administrative courts.

Automated hierarchical time gain compensation for in-vivo ultrasound imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Moshavegh, Ramin; Hemmsen, Martin C.; Martins, Bo; Brandt, Andreas H.; Hansen, Kristoffer L.; Nielsen, Michael B.; Jensen, Jørgen A.

2015-03-01

Time gain compensation (TGC) is essential to ensure the optimal image quality of the clinical ultrasound scans. When large fluid collections are present within the scan plane, the attenuation distribution is changed drastically and TGC compensation becomes challenging. This paper presents an automated hierarchical TGC (AHTGC) algorithm that accurately adapts to the large attenuation variation between different types of tissues and structures. The algorithm relies on estimates of tissue attenuation, scattering strength, and noise level to gain a more quantitative understanding of the underlying tissue and the ultrasound signal strength. The proposed algorithm was applied to a set of 44 in vivo abdominal movie sequences each containing 15 frames. Matching pairs of in vivo sequences, unprocessed and processed with the proposed AHTGC were visualized side by side and evaluated by two radiologists in terms of image quality. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate whether radiologists preferred the processed sequences or the unprocessed data. The results indicate that the average visual analogue scale (VAS) is positive ( p-value: 2.34 × 10-13) and estimated to be 1.01 (95% CI: 0.85; 1.16) favoring the processed data with the proposed AHTGC algorithm.

Fully-automated identification of fish species based on otolith contour: using short-time Fourier transform and discriminant analysis (STFT-DA).

Science.gov (United States)

Salimi, Nima; Loh, Kar Hoe; Kaur Dhillon, Sarinder; Chong, Ving Ching

2016-01-01

Background. Fish species may be identified based on their unique otolith shape or contour. Several pattern recognition methods have been proposed to classify fish species through morphological features of the otolith contours. However, there has been no fully-automated species identification model with the accuracy higher than 80%. The purpose of the current study is to develop a fully-automated model, based on the otolith contours, to identify the fish species with the high classification accuracy. Methods. Images of the right sagittal otoliths of 14 fish species from three families namely Sciaenidae, Ariidae, and Engraulidae were used to develop the proposed identification model. Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) was used, for the first time in the area of otolith shape analysis, to extract important features of the otolith contours. Discriminant Analysis (DA), as a classification technique, was used to train and test the model based on the extracted features. Results. Performance of the model was demonstrated using species from three families separately, as well as all species combined. Overall classification accuracy of the model was greater than 90% for all cases. In addition, effects of STFT variables on the performance of the identification model were explored in this study. Conclusions. Short-time Fourier transform could determine important features of the otolith outlines. The fully-automated model proposed in this study (STFT-DA) could predict species of an unknown specimen with acceptable identification accuracy. The model codes can be accessed at http://mybiodiversityontologies.um.edu.my/Otolith/ and https://peerj.com/preprints/1517/. The current model has flexibility to be used for more species and families in future studies.

Does the Location of Bruch's Membrane Opening Change Over Time? Longitudinal Analysis Using San Diego Automated Layer Segmentation Algorithm (SALSA).

Science.gov (United States)

Belghith, Akram; Bowd, Christopher; Medeiros, Felipe A; Hammel, Naama; Yang, Zhiyong; Weinreb, Robert N; Zangwill, Linda M

2016-02-01

We determined if the Bruch's membrane opening (BMO) location changes over time in healthy eyes and eyes with progressing glaucoma, and validated an automated segmentation algorithm for identifying the BMO in Cirrus high-definition coherence tomography (HD-OCT) images. We followed 95 eyes (35 progressing glaucoma and 60 healthy) for an average of 3.7 ± 1.1 years. A stable group of 50 eyes had repeated tests over a short period. In each B-scan of the stable group, the BMO points were delineated manually and automatically to assess the reproducibility of both segmentation methods. Moreover, the BMO location variation over time was assessed longitudinally on the aligned images in 3D space point by point in x, y, and z directions. Mean visual field mean deviation at baseline of the progressing glaucoma group was -7.7 dB. Mixed-effects models revealed small nonsignificant changes in BMO location over time for all directions in healthy eyes (the smallest P value was 0.39) and in the progressing glaucoma eyes (the smallest P value was 0.30). In the stable group, the overall intervisit-intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV) were 98.4% and 2.1%, respectively, for the manual segmentation and 98.1% and 1.9%, respectively, for the automated algorithm. Bruch's membrane opening location was stable in normal and progressing glaucoma eyes with follow-up between 3 and 4 years indicating that it can be used as reference point in monitoring glaucoma progression. The BMO location estimation with Cirrus HD-OCT using manual and automated segmentation showed excellent reproducibility.

Electrical contracting

CERN Document Server

Neidle, Michael

2013-01-01

Electrical Contracting, Second Edition is a nine-chapter text guide for the greater efficiency in planning and completing installations for the design, installation and control of electrical contracts. This book starts with a general overview of the efficient cabling and techniques that must be employed for safe wiring design, as well as the cost estimation of the complete electrical contract. The subsequent chapters are devoted to other electrical contracting requirements, including electronic motor control, lighting, and electricity tariffs. A chapter focuses on the IEE Wiring Regulations an

Administrative contracts

OpenAIRE

Vukićević-Petković Milica

2015-01-01

Administrative contracts are a special type of contract where usually one of the contracting parties is a public law body and which is concluded for the performance of public service and the realization of a public interest. They go a long way since its inception to its eventual final acceptance of all the legal systems. One of the enduring characteristics of this type of contract is their disquised or unnoticed existence. This is why only monitoring their development may lead to a complete u...

Perspective on Automation: Three Talks to Educators.

Science.gov (United States)

Theobald, Robert; And Others

These papers take the view that automation impinges upon our socio-psychological as well as economic existence and we must take drastic measures to survive. Robert Theobald, presenting evidence that automation brings job displacement, suggests that we face the choice of trying to insure enough jobs, or of taking advantage of the new free time to…

Maintenance contract strategies for reliability at minimum cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamman, E.

1992-01-01

The conference paper deals with offshore contract philosophies concerning maintenance. The main philosophies of the contract should be built on the following key success factors: Safe operations and correct quality must be sustained at any time; the maintenance contractor should be viewed as a cooperation partner, not only as a supplier; optimum exploitation of learning curve effects and economies of scale. The paper illustrates the importance of each of them in a contract context with a few recommendations

Strictly contractive quantum channels and physically realizable quantum computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raginsky, Maxim

2002-01-01

We study the robustness of quantum computers under the influence of errors modeled by strictly contractive channels. A channel T is defined to be strictly contractive if, for any pair of density operators ρ, σ in its domain, parallel Tρ-Tσ parallel 1 ≤k parallel ρ-σ parallel 1 for some 0≤k 1 denotes the trace norm). In other words, strictly contractive channels render the states of the computer less distinguishable in the sense of quantum detection theory. Starting from the premise that all experimental procedures can be carried out with finite precision, we argue that there exists a physically meaningful connection between strictly contractive channels and errors in physically realizable quantum computers. We show that, in the absence of error correction, sensitivity of quantum memories and computers to strictly contractive errors grows exponentially with storage time and computation time, respectively, and depends only on the constant k and the measurement precision. We prove that strict contractivity rules out the possibility of perfect error correction, and give an argument that approximate error correction, which covers previous work on fault-tolerant quantum computation as a special case, is possible

Space power subsystem automation technology

Science.gov (United States)

Graves, J. R. (Compiler)

1982-01-01

The technology issues involved in power subsystem automation and the reasonable objectives to be sought in such a program were discussed. The complexities, uncertainties, and alternatives of power subsystem automation, along with the advantages from both an economic and a technological perspective were considered. Whereas most spacecraft power subsystems now use certain automated functions, the idea of complete autonomy for long periods of time is almost inconceivable. Thus, it seems prudent that the technology program for power subsystem automation be based upon a growth scenario which should provide a structured framework of deliberate steps to enable the evolution of space power subsystems from the current practice of limited autonomy to a greater use of automation with each step being justified on a cost/benefit basis. Each accomplishment should move toward the objectives of decreased requirement for ground control, increased system reliability through onboard management, and ultimately lower energy cost through longer life systems that require fewer resources to operate and maintain. This approach seems well-suited to the evolution of more sophisticated algorithms and eventually perhaps even the use of some sort of artificial intelligence. Multi-hundred kilowatt systems of the future will probably require an advanced level of autonomy if they are to be affordable and manageable.

Analysis of the 314th Contracting Squadrons Contract Management Capability Using the Contract Management Maturity Model (CMMM)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jackson, Jr, Carl J

2007-01-01

.... The purpose of this research project is to analyze the 314th Contracting Squadron contracting processes and requirement target areas for improvement efforts by the application of the Contract Management Maturity Model (CMMM...

Automated Bayesian model development for frequency detection in biological time series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oldroyd Giles ED

2011-06-01

the requirement for uniformly sampled data. Biological time series often deviate significantly from the requirements of optimality for Fourier transformation. In this paper we present an alternative approach based on Bayesian inference. We show the value of placing spectral analysis in the framework of Bayesian inference and demonstrate how model comparison can automate this procedure.

Automated Bayesian model development for frequency detection in biological time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Granqvist, Emma; Oldroyd, Giles E D; Morris, Richard J

2011-06-24

A first step in building a mathematical model of a biological system is often the analysis of the temporal behaviour of key quantities. Mathematical relationships between the time and frequency domain, such as Fourier Transforms and wavelets, are commonly used to extract information about the underlying signal from a given time series. This one-to-one mapping from time points to frequencies inherently assumes that both domains contain the complete knowledge of the system. However, for truncated, noisy time series with background trends this unique mapping breaks down and the question reduces to an inference problem of identifying the most probable frequencies. In this paper we build on the method of Bayesian Spectrum Analysis and demonstrate its advantages over conventional methods by applying it to a number of test cases, including two types of biological time series. Firstly, oscillations of calcium in plant root cells in response to microbial symbionts are non-stationary and noisy, posing challenges to data analysis. Secondly, circadian rhythms in gene expression measured over only two cycles highlights the problem of time series with limited length. The results show that the Bayesian frequency detection approach can provide useful results in specific areas where Fourier analysis can be uninformative or misleading. We demonstrate further benefits of the Bayesian approach for time series analysis, such as direct comparison of different hypotheses, inherent estimation of noise levels and parameter precision, and a flexible framework for modelling the data without pre-processing. Modelling in systems biology often builds on the study of time-dependent phenomena. Fourier Transforms are a convenient tool for analysing the frequency domain of time series. However, there are well-known limitations of this method, such as the introduction of spurious frequencies when handling short and noisy time series, and the requirement for uniformly sampled data. Biological time

Optimal contracts decision of industrial customers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsay, M.-T.; Lin, W.-M.; Lee, J.-L.

2001-01-01

This paper develops a software package to calculate the optimal contract capacities for industrial customers. Based on the time-of-use (TOU) rates employed by the Taiwan Power Company, the objective function is formulated, to minimize the electricity bill of industrial customers during the whole year period. Evolutionary programming (EP) was adopted to solve this problem. Users can get the optimal contract capacities for the peak load, semi-peak load, and off-peak load, respectively. Practical load consumption data were used to prove the validity of this program. Results show that the software developed in this paper can be used as a useful tool for industrial customers in selecting contract capacities to curtail the electricity bill. (author)

Real time control engineering systems and automation

CERN Document Server

Ng, Tian Seng

2016-01-01

This book covers the two broad areas of the electronics and electrical aspects of control applications, highlighting the many different types of control systems of relevance to real-life control system design. The control techniques presented are state-of-the-art. In the electronics section, readers will find essential information on microprocessor, microcontroller, mechatronics and electronics control. The low-level assembly programming language performs basic input/output control techniques as well as controlling the stepper motor and PWM dc motor. In the electrical section, the book addresses the complete elevator PLC system design, neural network plant control, load flow analysis, and process control, as well as machine vision topics. Illustrative diagrams, circuits and programming examples and algorithms help to explain the details of the system function design. Readers will find a wealth of computer control and industrial automation practices and applications for modern industries, as well as the educat...

Asset Allocation and Optimal Contract for Delegated Portfolio Management

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingjun; Liang, Jianfeng

This article studies the portfolio selection and the contracting problems between an individual investor and a professional portfolio manager in a discrete-time principal-agent framework. Portfolio selection and optimal contracts are obtained in closed form. The optimal contract was composed with the fixed fee, the cost, and the fraction of excess expected return. The optimal portfolio is similar to the classical two-fund separation theorem.

Contracting with the Enemy: The Contracting Officer’s Dilemma

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

contracting command xv KO contracting officer KTR contractor LSC lead service component MGAA Mesopotamia Group Atlas Apache NAT National Afghanistan...and Contract Authority Understanding the roles of contracting versus command authority and command relationships is a fundamental that must be...Audit 12-7 (2012) described the CENTCOM-JTSCC (C- JTSCC) formation and command relationship : In April 2010, CENTCOM issued a fragmentary order to

Sensors and Automated Analyzers for Radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grate, Jay W.; Egorov, Oleg B.

2003-01-01

The production of nuclear weapons materials has generated large quantities of nuclear waste and significant environmental contamination. We have developed new, rapid, automated methods for determination of radionuclides using sequential injection methodologies to automate extraction chromatographic separations, with on-line flow-through scintillation counting for real time detection. This work has progressed in two main areas: radionuclide sensors for water monitoring and automated radiochemical analyzers for monitoring nuclear waste processing operations. Radionuclide sensors have been developed that collect and concentrate radionuclides in preconcentrating minicolumns with dual functionality: chemical selectivity for radionuclide capture and scintillation for signal output. These sensors can detect pertechnetate to below regulatory levels and have been engineered into a prototype for field testing. A fully automated process monitor has been developed for total technetium in nuclear waste streams. This instrument performs sample acidification, speciation adjustment, separation and detection in fifteen minutes or less

Automated Array Assembly, Phase 2. Quarterly technical progress report, April-June 1979

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carbajal, B.G.

1979-07-01

The Automated Array Assembly Task, Phase 2 of the Low Cost Solar Array (LSA) Project is a process development task. This contract provides for the fabrication of modules from large area Tandem Junction Cells (TJC). The key activities in this contract effort are (a) Large Area TJC including cell design, process verification and cell fabrication and (b) Tandem Junction Module (TJM) including definition of the cell-module interfaces, substrate fabrication, interconnect fabrication and module assembly. The overall goal is to advance solar cell module process technology to meet the 1986 goal of a production capability of 500 megawatts per year at a cost of less than $500 per peak kilowatt. This contract will focus on the Tandem Junction Module process. During this quarter, effort was focused on design and process verification. The large area TJC design was completed and the design verification was completed. Process variation experiments led to refinements in the baseline TJC process. Formed steel substrates were porcelainized. Cell array assembly techniques using infrared soldering are being checked out. Dummy cell arrays up to 5 cell by 5 cell have been assembled using all backside contacts.

Automated and angular time-synchronized directional gamma-ray scintillation sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kronenberg, S.; Brucker, G.J.

1998-01-01

The authors' previous research resulted in directional sensors for gamma rays and X rays that have a 4π solid angle of acceptance and, at the same time, a high angular resolution that is limited only by their ability to measure small angles. Angular resolution of ∼1 s of arc was achieved. These sensors are capable of operating and accurately detecting high and very low intensity radiation patterns. Such a system can also be used to image broad area sources and their scattering patterns. The principle of operation and design of directional sensors used in this study was described elsewhere; however, for convenience, a part of that text is repeated here. It was shown analytically that the angular distribution of radiation incident on the sensor is proportional to the first derivative of the scan data, that is, of the events' count rate versus orientation of the detector. The previously published results were obtained with a annual operating system. The detector assembly was set at a specific angle, and a pulse rate count was made. This was repeated at numerous other angles of orientation, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. Recently, the authors automated this system, which is based on the detection of scintillations. The detector, which consists of a stack of plates of Lucite, plastic scintillator, and lead foils, rotates by means of a motor in front of a stationary photomultiplier tube (PMT). One revolution per second was chosen for the motor. At time zero, a trigger indicates that a revolution has started. The angle of orientation of the detector in the laboratory system is proportional to the time during one revolution. The process repeats itself a desired number of times. The trigger signal initiates a scan of a multichannel scalar (MCS). The detector assembly is allowed to rotate in the radiation field, and the MCS scans are repeated in an accumulated mode of operation until enough events are collected for the location of the radiation source to be

Is high automation a dead end? Cutbacks in production overengineering

OpenAIRE

Lay, Gunter; Schirrmeister, Elna

2001-01-01

For quite some time it seemed the trend towards high automation in the wage-intensive German economy showed no signs of slowing down. However, in practice it turns out that more than a third of companies which have chosen automated solutions have not had their expectations fulfilled. Many of these companies have already made reductions in automation levels for particular subsystems. The most important reason for dissatisfaction is the lack of flexibility in highly automated systems. Flexibili...

Automated implementation of rule-based expert systems with neural networks for time-critical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ramamoorthy, P. A.; Huang, Song; Govind, Girish

1991-01-01

In fault diagnosis, control and real-time monitoring, both timing and accuracy are critical for operators or machines to reach proper solutions or appropriate actions. Expert systems are becoming more popular in the manufacturing community for dealing with such problems. In recent years, neural networks have revived and their applications have spread to many areas of science and engineering. A method of using neural networks to implement rule-based expert systems for time-critical applications is discussed here. This method can convert a given rule-based system into a neural network with fixed weights and thresholds. The rules governing the translation are presented along with some examples. We also present the results of automated machine implementation of such networks from the given rule-base. This significantly simplifies the translation process to neural network expert systems from conventional rule-based systems. Results comparing the performance of the proposed approach based on neural networks vs. the classical approach are given. The possibility of very large scale integration (VLSI) realization of such neural network expert systems is also discussed.

Radiographic examination takes on an automated image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aman, J.

1988-01-01

Automation can be effectively applied to nondestructive testing (NDT). Until recently, film radiography used in NDT was largely a manual process, involving the shooting of a series of x-rays, manually positioned and manually processed. In other words, much radiographic work is being done the way it was over 50 years ago. Significant advances in automation have changed the face of manufacturing, and industry has shared in the benefits brought by such progress. The handling of parts, which was once responsible for a large measure of labor costs, is now assigned to robotic equipment. In nondestructive testing processes, some progress has been achieved in automation - for example, in real-time imaging systems. However, only recently have truly automated NDT begun to emerge. There are two major reasons to introduce automation into NDT - reliability and productivity. Any process or technique that can improve the reliability of parts testing could easily justify the capital investments required

An Optional Instrument for European Insurance Contract Law

OpenAIRE

Mandeep Lakhan; Helmut Heiss

2010-01-01

The Principles of European Insurance Contract Law, also referred tousing the acronym PEICL, were published in September 2009. They are the result of ten years of academic work undertaken by the"Restatement of European Insurance Contract Law" Project Group. In the time since its establishment in 1999, the project has been transformed from being a stand-alone project to a part of the CoPECL (Common Principles of European Insurance Contract Law) network, drafting a specific part of the Common Fr...

Building automation - terms, guidelines, norms. Regulations for a recent technology; Gebaeudeautomation - Begriffe, Richtlinien, Normen. Regelwerke einer jungen Technik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kranz, H.R. [Siemens AG, Karlsruhe (Germany)

1995-12-31

In chapter 22 of the anthology about building control the field of building automation with respect to terms, guidelines and norms is described. The following aspects are discussed: digital building automation ranging from the technology to the company, functions as basics of building automation, normative basics of technical building systems, overview of relevant norms in the field of heating, ventilation, climate, contract procedure for building works and supplies, standardisation of building cabling, standardisation ``electric system technology for houses and buildings``. (BWI) [Deutsch] Kapitel 22 des Sammelbandes ueber Building Control ist dem Themenbereich der Gebaeudeautomation vor dem Hintergrund der Begriffe, Richtlinien und Normen gewidmet. In diesem Zusammenhang werden folgende Themen angesprochen: Digitale GA - von der Technologie zum Gewerk; Funktionen als Grundlage der Gebaeudeautomation; Nomenklatur digitaler Gebaeudeautomation; Normative Grundlagen Technischer Gebaeudesysteme; Uebersicht ueber relevante Normen im HLK-Bereich; Verbingungsordnung fuer Bauleistungen; Normung der Gebaeudeverkabelung; Normung `Elektrische Systemtechnik fuer Heim und Gebaeude`. (BWI)

Launch Control System Software Development System Automation Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Andrew

2017-01-01

The Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) launch control system for the Orion capsule and Space Launch System, the next generation manned rocket currently in development. This system requires high quality testing that will measure and test the capabilities of the system. For the past two years, the Exploration and Operations Division at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has assigned a group including interns and full-time engineers to develop automated tests to save the project time and money. The team worked on automating the testing process for the SCCS GUI that would use streamed simulated data from the testing servers to produce data, plots, statuses, etc. to the GUI. The software used to develop automated tests included an automated testing framework and an automation library. The automated testing framework has a tabular-style syntax, which means the functionality of a line of code must have the appropriate number of tabs for the line to function as intended. The header section contains either paths to custom resources or the names of libraries being used. The automation library contains functionality to automate anything that appears on a desired screen with the use of image recognition software to detect and control GUI components. The data section contains any data values strictly created for the current testing file. The body section holds the tests that are being run. The function section can include any number of functions that may be used by the current testing file or any other file that resources it. The resources and body section are required for all test files; the data and function sections can be left empty if the data values and functions being used are from a resourced library or another file. To help equip the automation team with better tools, the Project Lead of the Automated Testing Team, Jason Kapusta, assigned the task to install and train an optical character recognition (OCR

Why radiologists lose their hospital contracts: is your contract secure?

Science.gov (United States)

Muroff, Lawrence R

2010-03-01

Previously, a hospital contract meant tenure for the incumbent group of radiologists; however, those days are long gone. Exclusive contracts have morphed into exclusive contracts with carve-outs. Turf erosion has become a fact of life for radiology practices. Now radiologists are losing their hospital contracts in record numbers. Group size, though helpful for a variety of reasons, does not ensure that a practice will be secure in its hospital setting. The reasons that groups lose their hospital contracts are varied, and in this paper, the author discusses the most common ones. Suggestions to help practices avoid this unfortunate fate are presented.

Reviving Ulysses contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Spellecy, Ryan

2003-12-01

Ulysses contracts have faced paternalism objections since they first were proposed. Since the contracts are designed to override a present request from a legally competent patient in favor of a past request made by that patient, enforcement of these contracts was argued to be unjustifiable strong paternalism. Recent legal developments and new theories of practical reasoning suggest that the discussion of Ulysses contracts should be revived. This paper argues that with a proper understanding of the future-directed planning embodied in Ulysses contracts, the charge of strong paternalism can be answered, and the enforcement of some Ulysses contracts may be justified under the rubric of weak paternalism.

Impact of Automation on Drivers' Performance in Agricultural Semi-Autonomous Vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Bashiri, B; Mann, D D

2015-04-01

Drivers' inadequate mental workload has been reported as one of the negative effects of driving assistant systems and in-vehicle automation. The increasing trend of automation in agricultural vehicles raises some concerns about drivers' mental workload in such vehicles. Thus, a human factors perspective is needed to identify the consequences of such automated systems. In this simulator study, the effects of vehicle steering task automation (VSTA) and implement control and monitoring task automation (ICMTA) were investigated using a tractor-air seeder system as a case study. Two performance parameters (reaction time and accuracy of actions) were measured to assess drivers' perceived mental workload. Experiments were conducted using the tractor driving simulator (TDS) located in the Agricultural Ergonomics Laboratory at the University of Manitoba. Study participants were university students with tractor driving experience. According to the results, reaction time and number of errors made by drivers both decreased as the automation level increased. Correlations were found among performance parameters and subjective mental workload reported by the drivers.

Game-Theoretic Models for Usage-based Maintenance Contract

Science.gov (United States)

Husniah, H.; Wangsaputra, R.; Cakravastia, A.; Iskandar, B. P.

2018-03-01

A usage-based maintenance contracts with coordination and non coordination between two parties is studied in this paper. The contract is applied to a dump truck operated in a mining industry. The situation under study is that an agent offers service contract to the owner of the truck after warranty ends. This contract has only a time limit but no usage limit. If the total usage per period exceeds the maximum usage allowed in the contract, then the owner will be charged an additional cost. In general, the agent (Original Equipment Manufacturer/OEM) provides a full coverage of maintenance, which includes PM and CM under the lease contract. The decision problem for the owner is to select the best option offered that fits to its requirement, and the decision problem for the agent is to find the optimal maintenance efforts for a given price of the service option offered. We first find the optimal decisions using coordination scheme and then with non coordination scheme for both parties.

Knowledge based support for real time application of multiagent control and automation in electric power systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saleem, Arshad; Nordstrom, Lars; Lind, Morten

2011-01-01

This paper presents a mechanism for developing knowledge based support for real time application of multiagent systems (MAS) in control, automation and diagnosis of electric power systems. In particular it presents a way for autonomous agents to utilize a qualitative means-ends based model...... for reasoning about control situations. The proposed mechanism has been used in different scenarios of electric power distribution system protection and control. Results show that agents can use local models of their environment and coordinate with other agents to analyze and understand a disturbance situation...

Something for Nothing: Cash Flow as a Contract Incentive

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

mented, delays our ability to recover a significant amount of costs incurred on a contract and thus affects the timing of our cash flows. Northrop...Defense AT&L: March-April 2016 16 Something for Nothing “ Cash Flow” as a Contract Incentive John Pritchard n John Krieger Pritchard and...The government actually has complete control over one of the strongest con-tract incentives possible— cash flow. Most important, in our fiscally

Conscientiousness and reactions to psychological contract breach: a longitudinal field study.

Science.gov (United States)

Orvis, Karin A; Dudley, Nicole M; Cortina, Jose M

2008-09-01

The authors examined the role of employee conscientiousness as a moderator of the relationships between psychological contract breach and employee behavioral and attitudinal reactions to the breach. They collected data from 106 newly hired employees within the 1st month of employment (Time 1), 3 months later (Time 2), and 8 months after Time 1 (Time 3) to observe the progression through contract development, breach, and reaction. Results suggest that conscientiousness is a significant moderator for 4 of the 5 contract breach-employee reaction relationships examined (turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, job satisfaction, and 1 of 2 facets of job performance). Specifically, employees who were lower in conscientiousness had more negative reactions to perceived breach with respect to turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, and job satisfaction. In contrast, employees who were higher in conscientiousness reduced their job performance to a greater degree in response to contract breach. Future research directions are discussed.

ORIGAMI Automator Primer. Automated ORIGEN Source Terms and Spent Fuel Storage Pool Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wieselquist, William A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Thompson, Adam B. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Bowman, Stephen M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Peterson, Joshua L. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-04-01

Source terms and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage pool decay heat load analyses for operating nuclear power plants require a large number of Oak Ridge Isotope Generation and Depletion (ORIGEN) calculations. SNF source term calculations also require a significant amount of bookkeeping to track quantities such as core and assembly operating histories, spent fuel pool (SFP) residence times, heavy metal masses, and enrichments. The ORIGEN Assembly Isotopics (ORIGAMI) module in the SCALE code system provides a simple scheme for entering these data. However, given the large scope of the analysis, extensive scripting is necessary to convert formats and process data to create thousands of ORIGAMI input files (one per assembly) and to process the results into formats readily usable by follow-on analysis tools. This primer describes a project within the SCALE Fulcrum graphical user interface (GUI) called ORIGAMI Automator that was developed to automate the scripting and bookkeeping in large-scale source term analyses. The ORIGAMI Automator enables the analyst to (1) easily create, view, and edit the reactor site and assembly information, (2) automatically create and run ORIGAMI inputs, and (3) analyze the results from ORIGAMI. ORIGAMI Automator uses the standard ORIGEN binary concentrations files produced by ORIGAMI, with concentrations available at all time points in each assembly’s life. The GUI plots results such as mass, concentration, activity, and decay heat using a powerful new ORIGEN Post-Processing Utility for SCALE (OPUS) GUI component. This document includes a description and user guide for the GUI, a step-by-step tutorial for a simplified scenario, and appendices that document the file structures used.

Improving patient safety via automated laboratory-based adverse event grading.

Science.gov (United States)

Niland, Joyce C; Stiller, Tracey; Neat, Jennifer; Londrc, Adina; Johnson, Dina; Pannoni, Susan

2012-01-01

The identification and grading of adverse events (AEs) during the conduct of clinical trials is a labor-intensive and error-prone process. This paper describes and evaluates a software tool developed by City of Hope to automate complex algorithms to assess laboratory results and identify and grade AEs. We compared AEs identified by the automated system with those previously assessed manually, to evaluate missed/misgraded AEs. We also conducted a prospective paired time assessment of automated versus manual AE assessment. We found a substantial improvement in accuracy/completeness with the automated grading tool, which identified an additional 17% of severe grade 3-4 AEs that had been missed/misgraded manually. The automated system also provided an average time saving of 5.5 min per treatment course. With 400 ongoing treatment trials at City of Hope and an average of 1800 laboratory results requiring assessment per study, the implications of these findings for patient safety are enormous.

Matrix Failure Modes and Effects Analysis as a Knowledge Base for a Real Time Automated Diagnosis Expert System

Science.gov (United States)

Herrin, Stephanie; Iverson, David; Spukovska, Lilly; Souza, Kenneth A. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis contain a wealth of information that can be used to create the knowledge base required for building automated diagnostic Expert systems. A real time monitoring and diagnosis expert system based on an actual NASA project's matrix failure modes and effects analysis was developed. This Expert system Was developed at NASA Ames Research Center. This system was first used as a case study to monitor the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF), a Space Shuttle payload that is used to house and monitor animals in orbit so the effects of space flight and microgravity can be studied. The techniques developed for the RAHF monitoring and diagnosis Expert system are general enough to be used for monitoring and diagnosis of a variety of other systems that undergo a Matrix FMEA. This automated diagnosis system was successfully used on-line and validated on the Space Shuttle flight STS-58, mission SLS-2 in October 1993.

Claims for Unabsorbed Overhead on Defense Contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-09-01

coat which, under the provisions of any pertinent law, regulation, or contract, cannot be included in prices, cost reimbureements , or settlements...ruled that the contractor was due some reimbursement . " - Allegheny appealed the contracting officer’s determination a second time questioning how much...amount of reimbursement . The final opinion also added the cost that was substantiated for replacement of operators and make-up pay. Therefore, the

Safeguards Automated Facility Evaluation (SAFE) methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, L.D.; Grady, L.M.; Bennett, H.A.; Sasser, D.W.; Engi, D.

1978-08-01

An automated approach to facility safeguards effectiveness evaluation has been developed. This automated process, called Safeguards Automated Facility Evaluation (SAFE), consists of a collection of a continuous stream of operational modules for facility characterization, the selection of critical paths, and the evaluation of safeguards effectiveness along these paths. The technique has been implemented on an interactive computer time-sharing system and makes use of computer graphics for the processing and presentation of information. Using this technique, a comprehensive evaluation of a safeguards system can be provided by systematically varying the parameters that characterize the physical protection components of a facility to reflect the perceived adversary attributes and strategy, environmental conditions, and site operational conditions. The SAFE procedure has broad applications in the nuclear facility safeguards field as well as in the security field in general. Any fixed facility containing valuable materials or components to be protected from theft or sabotage could be analyzed using this same automated evaluation technique

Automation, parallelism, and robotics for proteomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Alterovitz, Gil; Liu, Jonathan; Chow, Jijun; Ramoni, Marco F

2006-07-01

The speed of the human genome project (Lander, E. S., Linton, L. M., Birren, B., Nusbaum, C. et al., Nature 2001, 409, 860-921) was made possible, in part, by developments in automation of sequencing technologies. Before these technologies, sequencing was a laborious, expensive, and personnel-intensive task. Similarly, automation and robotics are changing the field of proteomics today. Proteomics is defined as the effort to understand and characterize proteins in the categories of structure, function and interaction (Englbrecht, C. C., Facius, A., Comb. Chem. High Throughput Screen. 2005, 8, 705-715). As such, this field nicely lends itself to automation technologies since these methods often require large economies of scale in order to achieve cost and time-saving benefits. This article describes some of the technologies and methods being applied in proteomics in order to facilitate automation within the field as well as in linking proteomics-based information with other related research areas.

Custom, contract, and kidney exchange.

Science.gov (United States)

Healy, Kieran; Krawiec, Kimberly D

2012-01-01

In this Essay, we examine a case in which the organizational and logistical demands of a novel form of organ exchange (the nonsimultaneous, extended, altruistic donor (NEAD) chain) do not map cleanly onto standard cultural schemas for either market or gift exchange, resulting in sociological ambiguity and legal uncertainty. In some ways, a NEAD chain resembles a form of generalized exchange, an ancient and widespread instance of the norm of reciprocity that can be thought of simply as the obligation to “pay it forward” rather than the obligation to reciprocate directly with the original giver. At the same time, a NEAD chain resembles a string of promises and commitments to deliver something in exchange for some valuable consideration--that is, a series of contracts. Neither of these salient "social imaginaries" of exchange--gift giving or formal contract--perfectly meets the practical demands of the NEAD system. As a result, neither contract nor generalized exchange drives the practice of NEAD chains. Rather, the majority of actual exchanges still resemble a simpler form of exchange: direct, simultaneous exchange between parties with no time delay or opportunity to back out. If NEAD chains are to reach their full promise for large-scale, nonsimultaneous organ transfer, legal uncertainties and sociological ambiguities must be finessed, both in the practices of the coordinating agencies and in the minds of NEAD-chain participants. This might happen either through the further elaboration of gift-like language and practices, or through a creative use of the cultural form and motivational vocabulary, but not necessarily the legal and institutional machinery, of contract.

The Weyl law for contractive maps

Science.gov (United States)

Spina, Maria E.; Rivas, Alejandro M. F.; Carlo, Gabriel

2013-11-01

We find an empirical Weyl law followed by the eigenvalues of contractive maps. An important property is that it is mainly insensitive to the dimension of the corresponding invariant classical set, the strange attractor. The usual explanation for the fractal Weyl law emergence in scattering systems (i.e., having a projective opening) is based on the classical phase space distributions evolved up to the quantum to classical correspondence (Ehrenfest) time. In the contractive case this reasoning fails to describe it. Instead, we conjecture that the support for this behavior is essentially given by the strong non-orthogonality of the eigenvectors of the contractive superoperator. We test the validity of the Weyl law and this conjecture on two paradigmatic systems, the dissipative baker and kicked top maps.

The Weyl law for contractive maps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spina, Maria E; Rivas, Alejandro M F; Carlo, Gabriel

2013-01-01

We find an empirical Weyl law followed by the eigenvalues of contractive maps. An important property is that it is mainly insensitive to the dimension of the corresponding invariant classical set, the strange attractor. The usual explanation for the fractal Weyl law emergence in scattering systems (i.e., having a projective opening) is based on the classical phase space distributions evolved up to the quantum to classical correspondence (Ehrenfest) time. In the contractive case this reasoning fails to describe it. Instead, we conjecture that the support for this behavior is essentially given by the strong non-orthogonality of the eigenvectors of the contractive superoperator. We test the validity of the Weyl law and this conjecture on two paradigmatic systems, the dissipative baker and kicked top maps. (paper)

24 CFR 983.206 - HAP contract amendments (to add or substitute contract units).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false HAP contract amendments (to add or... Contract § 983.206 HAP contract amendments (to add or substitute contract units). (a) Amendment to substitute contract units. At the discretion of the PHA and subject to all PBV requirements, the HAP contract...

Inventory management and reagent supply for automated chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzniar, E

1999-08-01

Developments in automated chemistry have kept pace with developments in HTS such that hundreds of thousands of new compounds can be rapidly synthesized in the belief that the greater the number and diversity of compounds that can be screened, the more successful HTS will be. The increasing use of automation for Multiple Parallel Synthesis (MPS) and the move to automated combinatorial library production is placing an overwhelming burden on the management of reagents. Although automation has improved the efficiency of the processes involved in compound synthesis, the bottleneck has shifted to ordering, collating and preparing reagents for automated chemistry resulting in loss of time, materials and momentum. Major efficiencies have already been made in the area of compound management for high throughput screening. Most of these efficiencies have been achieved with sophisticated library management systems using advanced engineering and data handling for the storage, tracking and retrieval of millions of compounds. The Automation Partnership has already provided many of the top pharmaceutical companies with modular automated storage, preparation and retrieval systems to manage compound libraries for high throughput screening. This article describes how these systems may be implemented to solve the specific problems of inventory management and reagent supply for automated chemistry.

Cassini-Huygens maneuver automation for navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Goodson, Troy; Attiyah, Amy; Buffington, Brent; Hahn, Yungsun; Pojman, Joan; Stavert, Bob; Strange, Nathan; Stumpf, Paul; Wagner, Sean; Wolff, Peter;

Administrative contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukićević-Petković Milica

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Administrative contracts are a special type of contract where usually one of the contracting parties is a public law body and which is concluded for the performance of public service and the realization of a public interest. They go a long way since its inception to its eventual final acceptance of all the legal systems. One of the enduring characteristics of this type of contract is their disquised or unnoticed existence. This is why only monitoring their development may lead to a complete understanding of the importance and essence of this institution as well as the need for its complete legal regulation.

Economic and workflow analysis of a blood bank automated system.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Kyung-Hwa; Kim, Hyung Hoi; Chang, Chulhun L; Lee, Eun Yup

2013-07-01

This study compared the estimated costs and times required for ABO/Rh(D) typing and unexpected antibody screening using an automated system and manual methods. The total cost included direct and labor costs. Labor costs were calculated on the basis of the average operator salaries and unit values (minutes), which was the hands-on time required to test one sample. To estimate unit values, workflows were recorded on video, and the time required for each process was analyzed separately. The unit values of ABO/Rh(D) typing using the manual method were 5.65 and 8.1 min during regular and unsocial working hours, respectively. The unit value was less than 3.5 min when several samples were tested simultaneously. The unit value for unexpected antibody screening was 2.6 min. The unit values using the automated method for ABO/Rh(D) typing, unexpected antibody screening, and both simultaneously were all 1.5 min. The total cost of ABO/Rh(D) typing of only one sample using the automated analyzer was lower than that of testing only one sample using the manual technique but higher than that of testing several samples simultaneously. The total cost of unexpected antibody screening using an automated analyzer was less than that using the manual method. ABO/Rh(D) typing using an automated analyzer incurs a lower unit value and cost than that using the manual technique when only one sample is tested at a time. Unexpected antibody screening using an automated analyzer always incurs a lower unit value and cost than that using the manual technique.

Contracting: The modern way to work. A professional's perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banks, C.D.; Pavan, E.A.

1991-01-01

The relationship between employers and employees in the oil and gas industry has undergone some fundamental changes, including increasing use of contract professionals, work sharing, more work done at home, individuals partnering or in association with groups of professionals, and transfer of properties to subsidiaries or contract management organizations. The use of contract professionals and technical personnel within an existing corporate structure is examined. Reasons for individuals to choose contracting include career choice, early- or semi-retired status, between jobs, and family/personal reasons. Contracting provides a more open relationship between the professional and the contractor, allows professionals to pursue a career of choice, and gives time flexibility. By contracting through a linking company, a professional can earn about the same annual income as through regular employment if 220 days of work a year can obtained. 1 tab

The circadian variation of premature atrial contractions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Bjørn Strøier; Kumarathurai, Preman; Nielsen, Olav W

2016-01-01

AIMS: The aim of the study was to assess a possible circadian variation of premature atrial contractions (PACs) in a community-based population and to determine if the daily variation could be used to assess a more vulnerable period of PACs in predicting later incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF...... variation in heart rate. After adjusting for relevant risk factors, the risk of AF was equal in all time intervals throughout the day. CONCLUSION: Premature atrial contractions showed a circadian variation in subjects with frequent PACs. No specific time interval of the day was more predictive of AF than...

Automated longitudinal intra-subject analysis (ALISA) for diffusion MRI tractography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aarnink, Saskia H; Vos, Sjoerd B; Leemans, Alexander

2014-01-01

the inter-subject and intra-subject automation in this situation are intended for subjects without gross pathology. In this work, we propose such an automated longitudinal intra-subject analysis (dubbed ALISA) approach, and assessed whether ALISA could preserve the same level of reliability as obtained....... The major disadvantage of manual FT segmentations, unfortunately, is that placing regions-of-interest for tract selection can be very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Although there are several methods that can identify specific WM fiber bundles in an automated way, manual FT segmentations across...... multiple subjects performed by a trained rater with neuroanatomical expertise are generally assumed to be more accurate. However, for longitudinal DTI analyses it may still be beneficial to automate the FT segmentation across multiple time points, but then for each individual subject separately. Both...

Flexible automated systems of real time mining operation management: concepts, architecture, models of network engineering for data transmission and processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Markhasin, A.B.

1987-11-01

Since the mid 1960's considerable effort has been invested by the mining industry and its research institutions and by universities to create real time mining management automation systems. Some of the shortcomings which still persist in realizing the efficiency such systems can offer are due to objective and subjective factors within and outside the management systems: the creation of the component base, automation equipment, and computer technology, on the one hand, and the organization, process, engineering, and coordination of mining work on the other. This review addresses several of these shortcomings with recommendations for their solution in a primary and systematic way and suggests methods for the implementation of microprocessors and a network of flexible data transmission and processing facilities for both surface and underground mining.

Army Contract Specialists’ Lack of Desire to Become Contracting Officers

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-01

response to question 2 was 1 or 2, choose all the responses that support the reasoning for your answer. B ). N o t en o u g h w el l tr ai n ed...contracting specialist set the goal of becoming a contracting officer? ACC 20 Contracting officer burnout Consider contracting officer rotations every 2 to

Post contract / Project management in Nuclear Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Jamil Hashim

2010-01-01

Full-text: Post contract is a period from issuance certificate of practical completion until final statement of account of the project. If this procedure not completed the whole project will at large, create customers un-satisfaction, contractual obligation not complied, record not completed and financial setback. With the usage terms of contract, standard JKR circulars, treasury circulars and JKR quality manual BKJ will produce new Standard operating procedure, SOP with regards to these matters. In doing so it shall increase customer satisfaction and reduce time to finalise project and provide good record system. Keywords: Post contract, certificate of practical completion, final account, customer satisfaction, Standard operating procedure. (author)

A robotic system for automation of logistics functions on the Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, J. C.; Purves, R. B.; Hosier, R. N.; Krein, B. A.

1988-01-01

Spacecraft inventory management is currently performed by the crew and as systems become more complex, increased crew time will be required to perform routine logistics activities. If future spacecraft are to function effectively as research labs and production facilities, the efficient use of crew time as a limited resource for performing mission functions must be employed. The use of automation and robotics technology, such as automated warehouse and materials handling functions, can free the crew from many logistics tasks and provide more efficient use of crew time. Design criteria for a Space Station Automated Logistics Inventory Management System is focused on through the design and demonstration of a mobile two armed terrestrial robot. The system functionally represents a 0 gravity automated inventory management system and the problems associated with operating in such an environment. Features of the system include automated storage and retrieval, item recognition, two armed robotic manipulation, and software control of all inventory item transitions and queries.

Challenges in automated estimation of capillary refill time in dogs

Science.gov (United States)

Cugmas, Blaž; Spigulis, Janis

2018-02-01

Capillary refill time (CRT) is a part of the cardiorespiratory examination in dogs. Changes in CRT can reflect pathological conditions like shock or anemia. Visual CRT estimation has low repeatability; therefore, optical systems for automated estimation have recently appeared. Since existing systems are unsuitable for use in dogs, we designed a simple, small and portable device, which could be easily used at veterinary clinic. The device was preliminarily tested on several measurement sites in two dogs. Not all measurement sites were suitable for CRT measurements due to underlying tissue optical and mechanical properties. The CRT measurements were possible on the labial mucosa, above the sternum and on the digit where CRT was in the range of values, retrieved from the color video of the visual CRT measurement. It seems that light penetration predominantly governs tissue optical response when the pressure is applied. Therefore, it is important to select a proper light, which reaches only superficial capillaries and does not penetrate deeper. Blue or green light is probably suitable for light skin or mucosa, on the other hand, red or near-infrared might be used for skin with pigmented or thick epidermis. Additionally, further improvements of the device design are considered, like adding a calibrated spring, which would insure application of consistent pressure.

Structural changes during contraction in vertebrate skeletal muscle as studied by time-resolved X-ray diffraction technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugi, H.; Tanaka, H.; Kobayashi, T.; Iwamoto, H.; Wakabayashi, K.; Hamanaka, T.; Mitsui, T.; Amemiya, Y.

1986-01-01

To obtain information about the structural changes in vertebrate skeletal muscle during contraction, time-resolved X-ray diffraction studies were performed on the intensity changes of the 59 A and 51 A actin layer lines from bullfrog sartorius muscle during the isometric force development, and the intensity changes of the 143 A and 215 A myosin meridional reflections and of the 1,0 and 1,1 equatorial reflections when isometrically contracting muscle was subjected to sinusoidal length changes (1%, 5-10Hz) with the following results. The integrated intensities of the 59 A and 51 A actin layer lines increased during the force development by 30-50% for the 59 A reflection, and by about 70% for the 51 A reflection compard to their respective resting values. These intensity changes were greater than those taking place during the transition from rest to rigor state, and observed to precede the intensity changes of the 429 A myosin off-meridional reflection and of equatorial reflections. When sinusoidal length changes were applied to the muscle generating steady isometric force, the resulting periodic intensity changes in the 1,0 and 1,1 equatorial reflections were in phase and in antiphase with the length changes, respectively. On the other hand, the 143 A myosin reflection exhibited a characteristic periodic change; its intensity reached a maximum at each boundary between the stretch and release phases of the length changes. These results are discussed in connection with the behavior of the cross-bridges during contraction. (author)

Process automation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moser, D.R.

1986-01-01

Process automation technology has been pursued in the chemical processing industries and to a very limited extent in nuclear fuel reprocessing. Its effective use has been restricted in the past by the lack of diverse and reliable process instrumentation and the unavailability of sophisticated software designed for process control. The Integrated Equipment Test (IET) facility was developed by the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) in part to demonstrate new concepts for control of advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. A demonstration of fuel reprocessing equipment automation using advanced instrumentation and a modern, microprocessor-based control system is nearing completion in the facility. This facility provides for the synergistic testing of all chemical process features of a prototypical fuel reprocessing plant that can be attained with unirradiated uranium-bearing feed materials. The unique equipment and mission of the IET facility make it an ideal test bed for automation studies. This effort will provide for the demonstration of the plant automation concept and for the development of techniques for similar applications in a full-scale plant. A set of preliminary recommendations for implementing process automation has been compiled. Some of these concepts are not generally recognized or accepted. The automation work now under way in the IET facility should be useful to others in helping avoid costly mistakes because of the underutilization or misapplication of process automation. 6 figs

Survey and comparison of automated UT systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neeley, V.I.; Avioli, M.J.

1988-01-01

In the past decade, the limitations of manual UT inspections have become more severe and adverse. Perhaps the best evidence of this has been the problem of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in boiling water reactors (BWR). The onset of this problem clearly showed that better and more sophisticated UT inspection methods must be developed to assure the industry that an appropriate level of inspection integrity could be maintained. While automated UT inspection systems have been under development for some time, this event certainly spurred this activity and has resulted in a variety of commercial systems. The intent of this project, sponsored by EPRI, is to develop a utility engineer's 'Buyer guide' to automated UT systems. Comparison of different automated UT systems along with results of questionnaires on manual UT versus automated UT costs and effectiveness are reviewed. (author)

Inflation Forecast Contracts

OpenAIRE

Gersbach, Hans; Hahn, Volker

2012-01-01

We introduce a new type of incentive contract for central bankers: inflation forecast contracts, which make central bankers’ remunerations contingent on the precision of their inflation forecasts. We show that such contracts enable central bankers to influence inflation expectations more effectively, thus facilitating more successful stabilization of current inflation. Inflation forecast contracts improve the accuracy of inflation forecasts, but have adverse consequences for output. On balanc...

Topical automation problems and their solution possibilities in power engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Besch, P.

1984-01-01

The state of control theory and the development of modern digital automation devices allow the practical application of new conceptions for the automation of technological plants. By use of multivariable and adaptive feedback control, the control of instationary process operation modes, real-time diagnosis and process securing on the basis of hierarchical automation structures the safety and economy of the energy transformation processes are increased. (author)

Automated Intelligent Assistant for mass spectrometry operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filby, E.E.; Rankin, R.A.; Yoshida, D.E.

1991-01-01

The Automated Intelligent Assistant is designed to insure that our mass spectrometers produce timely, high-quality measurement data. The design combines instrument interfacing and expert system technology to automate an adaptable set-point damage prevention strategy. When shutdowns occur, the Assistant can help guide troubleshooting efforts. Stored real-time data will help our development program upgrade and improve the system, and also make it possible to re-run previously-observed instrument problems as ''live'' training exercises for the instrument operators. Initial work has focused on implementing the Assistant for the instrument ultra-high vacuum components. 14 refs., 5 figs

Contract portfolio optimization for a gasoline supply chain

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shanshan

Major oil companies sell gasoline through three channels of trade: branded (associated with long-term contracts), unbranded (associated with short-term contracts), and spot market. The branded channel provides them with a long-term secured and sustainable demand source, but requires an inflexible long-term commitment with demand and price risks. The unbranded channel provides a medium level of allocation flexibility. The spot market provides them with the greatest allocation flexibility to the changing market conditions, but the spot market's illiquidity mitigates this benefit. In order to sell the product in a profitable and sustainable way, they need an optimal contract portfolio. This dissertation addresses the contract portfolio optimization problem from different perspectives (retrospective view and forward-looking view) at different levels (strategic level, tactical level and operational level). The objective of the retrospective operational model is to develop a financial case to estimate the business value of having a dynamic optimization model and quantify the opportunity values missed in the past. This model proves the financial significance of the problem and provides top management valuable insights into the business. BP has applied the insights and principles gained from this work and implemented the model to the entire Midwest gasoline supply chain to retrospectively review optimization opportunities. The strategic model is the most parsimonious model that captures the essential economic tradeoffs among different contract types, to demonstrate the need for a contract portfolio and what drives the portfolio. We examine the properties of the optimal contract portfolio and provide a comparative statics analysis by changing the model parameters. As the strategic model encapsulates the business problem at the macroscopic level, the tactical model resolves lower level issues. It considers the time dynamics, the information flow and contracting flow. Using

Computer-Assisted Automated Scoring of Polysomnograms Using the Somnolyzer System.

Science.gov (United States)

Punjabi, Naresh M; Shifa, Naima; Dorffner, Georg; Patil, Susheel; Pien, Grace; Aurora, Rashmi N

2015-10-01

Manual scoring of polysomnograms is a time-consuming and tedious process. To expedite the scoring of polysomnograms, several computerized algorithms for automated scoring have been developed. The overarching goal of this study was to determine the validity of the Somnolyzer system, an automated system for scoring polysomnograms. The analysis sample comprised of 97 sleep studies. Each polysomnogram was manually scored by certified technologists from four sleep laboratories and concurrently subjected to automated scoring by the Somnolyzer system. Agreement between manual and automated scoring was examined. Sleep staging and scoring of disordered breathing events was conducted using the 2007 American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria. Clinical sleep laboratories. A high degree of agreement was noted between manual and automated scoring of the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). The average correlation between the manually scored AHI across the four clinical sites was 0.92 (95% confidence interval: 0.90-0.93). Similarly, the average correlation between the manual and Somnolyzer-scored AHI values was 0.93 (95% confidence interval: 0.91-0.96). Thus, interscorer correlation between the manually scored results was no different than that derived from manual and automated scoring. Substantial concordance in the arousal index, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency between manual and automated scoring was also observed. In contrast, differences were noted between manually and automated scored percentages of sleep stages N1, N2, and N3. Automated analysis of polysomnograms using the Somnolyzer system provides results that are comparable to manual scoring for commonly used metrics in sleep medicine. Although differences exist between manual versus automated scoring for specific sleep stages, the level of agreement between manual and automated scoring is not significantly different than that between any two human scorers. In light of the burden associated with manual scoring, automated

Effect of Transmural Differences in Excitation-Contraction Delay and Contraction Velocity on Left Ventricle Isovolumic Contraction: A Simulation Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Vaverka

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recent studies have shown that left ventricle (LV exhibits considerable transmural differences in active mechanical properties induced by transmural differences in electrical activity, excitation-contraction coupling, and contractile properties of individual myocytes. It was shown that the time between electrical and mechanical activation of myocytes (electromechanical delay: EMD decreases from subendocardium to subepicardium and, on the contrary, the myocyte shortening velocity (MSV increases in the same direction. To investigate the physiological importance of this inhomogeneity, we developed a new finite element model of LV incorporating the observed transmural gradients in EMD and MSV. Comparative simulations with the model showed that when EMD or MSV or both were set constant across the LV wall, the LV contractility during isovolumic contraction (IVC decreased significantly (dp/dtmax⁡  was reduced by 2 to 38% and IVC was prolonged by 18 to 73%. This was accompanied by an increase of transmural differences in wall stress. These results suggest that the transmural differences in EMD and MSV play an important role in physiological contractility of LV by synchronising the contraction of individual layers of ventricular wall during the systole. Reduction or enhancement of these differences may therefore impair the function of LV and contribute to heart failure.

Honeywell experts on building automation 'Do it right, just the first time'. Honeywell-Fachleute zum Thema Gebaeudeautomation: 'Do it right, just the first time'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haltiner, E.W.

1992-11-01

Non-experts often have problems with the terms building automation and building management system as they often do not know their exact meaning. Building automation means services and products as a whole and a building management system is a particular part of automation. The article shows that building automation can also be sensibly used for smaller buildings. Centrepiece is the central control station with which all building services can be monitored and controlled. (BWI).

Comparison of automated and manual shielding block fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weeks, K.J.; Fraass, B.A.; McShan, D.L.; Hardybala, S.S.; Hargreaves, E.A.; Lichter, A.S.

1989-01-01

This work reports the results of a study comparing computer controlled and manual shielding block cutting. The general problems inherent in automated block cutting have been identified and minimized. A system whose accuracy is sufficient for clinical applications has been developed. The relative accuracy of our automated system versus experienced technician controlled cutting was investigated. In general, it is found that automated cutting is somewhat faster and more accurate than manual cutting for very large fields, but that the reverse is true for most smaller fields. The relative cost effectiveness of automated cutting is dependent on the percentage of computer designed blocks which are generated in the clinical setting. At the present time, the traditional manual method is still favored

Nonanalytic Laboratory Automation: A Quarter Century of Progress.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawker, Charles D

2017-06-01

Clinical laboratory automation has blossomed since the 1989 AACC meeting, at which Dr. Masahide Sasaki first showed a western audience what his laboratory had implemented. Many diagnostics and other vendors are now offering a variety of automated options for laboratories of all sizes. Replacing manual processing and handling procedures with automation was embraced by the laboratory community because of the obvious benefits of labor savings and improvement in turnaround time and quality. Automation was also embraced by the diagnostics vendors who saw automation as a means of incorporating the analyzers purchased by their customers into larger systems in which the benefits of automation were integrated to the analyzers.This report reviews the options that are available to laboratory customers. These options include so called task-targeted automation-modules that range from single function devices that automate single tasks (e.g., decapping or aliquoting) to multifunction workstations that incorporate several of the functions of a laboratory sample processing department. The options also include total laboratory automation systems that use conveyors to link sample processing functions to analyzers and often include postanalytical features such as refrigerated storage and sample retrieval.Most importantly, this report reviews a recommended process for evaluating the need for new automation and for identifying the specific requirements of a laboratory and developing solutions that can meet those requirements. The report also discusses some of the practical considerations facing a laboratory in a new implementation and reviews the concept of machine vision to replace human inspections. © 2017 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

77 FR 194 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts for Commercial Items

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-03

..., or a cost-plus term. Otherwise, the respondent thinks contracting officers are likely to read the... target cost), or both. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, the ceiling price or target price is... not possible to accurately estimate the extent or duration of the work or anticipated costs with any...

Reconciling Contracts and Relational Governance through Strategic Contracting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Bent; Østergaard, Kim

2018-01-01

on contract types, such as strategic versus conventional, may reconcile the enduring research controversy between the substitution and complements perspectives. Practical implications: Today, formal contracts with foreign distributors tend to resemble “prenuptial agreements”. The opportunity for relational...

Automated sampling and data processing derived from biomimetic membranes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perry, M; Vissing, T; Hansen, J S; Nielsen, C H; Boesen, T P; Emneus, J

2009-01-01

Recent advances in biomimetic membrane systems have resulted in an increase in membrane lifetimes from hours to days and months. Long-lived membrane systems demand the development of both new automated monitoring equipment capable of measuring electrophysiological membrane characteristics and new data processing software to analyze and organize the large amounts of data generated. In this work, we developed an automated instrumental voltage clamp solution based on a custom-designed software controller application (the WaveManager), which enables automated on-line voltage clamp data acquisition applicable to long-time series experiments. We designed another software program for off-line data processing. The automation of the on-line voltage clamp data acquisition and off-line processing was furthermore integrated with a searchable database (DiscoverySheet(TM)) for efficient data management. The combined solution provides a cost efficient and fast way to acquire, process and administrate large amounts of voltage clamp data that may be too laborious and time consuming to handle manually. (communication)

Automated sampling and data processing derived from biomimetic membranes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perry, M; Vissing, T; Hansen, J S; Nielsen, C H [Aquaporin A/S, Diplomvej 377, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark); Boesen, T P [Xefion ApS, Kildegaardsvej 8C, DK-2900 Hellerup (Denmark); Emneus, J, E-mail: Claus.Nielsen@fysik.dtu.d [DTU Nanotech, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark)

2009-12-15

Recent advances in biomimetic membrane systems have resulted in an increase in membrane lifetimes from hours to days and months. Long-lived membrane systems demand the development of both new automated monitoring equipment capable of measuring electrophysiological membrane characteristics and new data processing software to analyze and organize the large amounts of data generated. In this work, we developed an automated instrumental voltage clamp solution based on a custom-designed software controller application (the WaveManager), which enables automated on-line voltage clamp data acquisition applicable to long-time series experiments. We designed another software program for off-line data processing. The automation of the on-line voltage clamp data acquisition and off-line processing was furthermore integrated with a searchable database (DiscoverySheet(TM)) for efficient data management. The combined solution provides a cost efficient and fast way to acquire, process and administrate large amounts of voltage clamp data that may be too laborious and time consuming to handle manually. (communication)

Psychological Contracts and Their Implications for Commitment: A Feature-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

McInnis, Kate J.; Meyer, John P.; Feldman, Susan

2009-01-01

Two studies were conducted to examine the link between employee perceptions of the psychological contract and their affective and normative commitments to the organization. The authors adapt a new approach to the study of psychological contracts by developing a generalizable measure of "contract features" (e.g., scope; time frame). In Study 1…

HARMONIZATION OF THE CONSUMER CONTRACT DISPOSITIONS WITH THE GENERAL CONTRACT RULES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru MATEESCU

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This work contains and mainly tackles the contract of consumption, its differences and similitudes to a general contract, manners of applying it, and the way in which the former can be better coordinated and correlated to the general contracting terms, established by the civil law. Along the years, the consumption contract has undergone several addenda and it has come to represent an instrument of both refference and regulation for the socio-economical relations between two parties who have a commercial agreement. The general law frame has had a great influence in the development of the consumption contract, as well as on its applicability conditions and its manner of deployment. Through the development of the judicial law concerning the contract of concumption, this type of agreement has influenced, through its human and social nature, both the general contract, and the specific frame it relates to. The relationship between the two types of contract is one of interdependence, which is determined by the need of judicial regulation in the Romanian and European economy. The ceaselees development of interhuman relations pushes society towards maintaining a continuous study of the advancement of specific legislation and judicial regulation. The main purpose of this work is analyzing the general judicial frame and the way in which the differences between the general contract and the consumption one may represent a benefic and mutual influence on protecting the citizens’ rights, which in the case of the consumption contract encompasses the protection of consumers’ rights. Also, it will analyze the aspects that determine the manner of application and the the differences that can be surmounted in order to achieve a better cohesion between these types of contracts.

Computer automation in veterinary hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, H

1996-05-01

Computers have been used to automate complex and repetitive tasks in veterinary hospitals since the 1960s. Early systems were expensive, but their use was justified because they performed jobs which would have been impossible or which would have required greater resources in terms of time and personnel had they been performed by other methods. Systems found in most veterinary hospitals today are less costly, magnitudes more capable, and often underused. Modern multitasking operating systems and graphical interfaces bring many opportunities for automation. Commercial and custom programs developed and used in a typical multidoctor mixed species veterinary practice are described.

Retrieval-travel-time model for free-fall-flow-rack automated storage and retrieval system

Science.gov (United States)

Metahri, Dhiyaeddine; Hachemi, Khalid

2018-03-01

Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) are material handling systems that are frequently used in manufacturing and distribution centers. The modelling of the retrieval-travel time of an AS/RS (expected product delivery time) is practically important, because it allows us to evaluate and improve the system throughput. The free-fall-flow-rack AS/RS has emerged as a new technology for drug distribution. This system is a new variation of flow-rack AS/RS that uses an operator or a single machine for storage operations, and uses a combination between the free-fall movement and a transport conveyor for retrieval operations. The main contribution of this paper is to develop an analytical model of the expected retrieval-travel time for the free-fall flow-rack under a dedicated storage assignment policy. The proposed model, which is based on a continuous approach, is compared for accuracy, via simulation, with discrete model. The obtained results show that the maximum deviation between the continuous model and the simulation is less than 5%, which shows the accuracy of our model to estimate the retrieval time. The analytical model is useful to optimise the dimensions of the rack, assess the system throughput, and evaluate different storage policies.

48 CFR 227.7009-3 - Additional clauses-contracts except running royalty contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...-contracts except running royalty contracts. 227.7009-3 Section 227.7009-3 Federal Acquisition Regulations...—contracts except running royalty contracts. The following clauses are examples for use in patent release and settlement agreements, and license agreements not providing for payment by the Government of a running...

Construction contracting for the 1990s

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kane, C.; Lyon, V.F.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that power plant constructing during the 1980s is over. Demand growth projections presently anticipate a need for 100,000 MW of new capacity by the year 2000, with only a small percentage of the demand growth currently under construction. Given a six-year lead time for baseload plants, a surge of activity must now begin. Another development over the past five years has been a conscious decision by regulators in increase rates only for the costs of efficiently built plants. The cost of construction inefficiencies will no longer be shouldered by investors. Large construction claims, excessive cost overruns, and expensive delays will no longer be passed on to the consumer automatically. Utility commissions will require the inefficient builders to either clean up their act or forego building their own plants. The most traditional contracting scheme, general contracting, will probably be the lease desirable in the construction of new power plants. General contracting is a single, general construction contract based on a detailed design. The design is not performed by the general contractor

Social aspects of automation: Some critical insights

Science.gov (United States)

Nouzil, Ibrahim; Raza, Ali; Pervaiz, Salman

2017-09-01

Sustainable development has been recognized globally as one of the major driving forces towards the current technological innovations. To achieve sustainable development and attain its associated goals, it is very important to properly address its concerns in different aspects of technological innovations. Several industrial sectors have enjoyed productivity and economic gains due to advent of automation technology. It is important to characterize sustainability for the automation technology. Sustainability is key factor that will determine the future of our neighbours in time and it must be tightly wrapped around the double-edged sword of technology. In this study, different impacts of automation have been addressed using the ‘Circles of Sustainability’ approach as a framework, covering economic, political, cultural and ecological aspects and their implications. A systematic literature review of automation technology from its inception is outlined and plotted against its many outcomes covering a broad spectrum. The study is more focused towards the social aspects of the automation technology. The study also reviews literature to analyse the employment deficiency as one end of the social impact spectrum. On the other end of the spectrum, benefits to society through technological advancements, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) coupled with automation are presented.

Behavioural contracting as a tool to help patients achieve better health.

Science.gov (United States)

Neale, A V

1991-12-01

Behavioural contracting is an intervention technique in which a client signs an agreement to make certain behaviour changes within a specified time, usually with explicitly defined rewards for adherence or success. Contracting is being increasingly used by health professionals to assist patients in making beneficial life style changes. This paper presents data on the outcome of behavioural contracting interventions to lower serum cholesterol and to increase exercise activity. Of 223 primary care patients enrolled in a health promotion programme, 179 met with the project health educator to improve their cardiovascular risk profile; 144 of these were classified as having 'high cholesterol' and 51 signed contracts to adopt the American Heart Association guidelines diet within a 3-month period. Everyone was encouraged to sign a contract to engage in aerobic exercise three times per week; 96 did so. The results indicate that contractors achieved greater beneficial health changes than non-contractors, and that the group which fully met their contract obligations experienced the greatest health benefit of all (either a lowering of cholesterol or a decreased exercising heart rate).

Time reduction and automation of routine planning activities through the use of macros; Reduccion de tiempo y automatizacion de las actividades rutinarias de planificacion mediante el uso de macros

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alaman, C.; Perez-Alija, J.; Herrero, C.; Real, C. del; Osorio, J. L.; Almansa, J.

2011-07-01

The use of macros in scheduler automates Adac Pinnacle3 much of the routine activities in the planning process, from the display options and placement of beams, to, among other possibilities, systematic naming them and export of the physical and clinical dosimetry. This automation allows reduction of the times associated with the planning process and an error reduction.

Psychological contract breaches, organizational commitment, and innovation-related behaviors: a latent growth modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Thomas W H; Feldman, Daniel C; Lam, Simon S K

2010-07-01

This study examined the relationships among psychological contract breaches, organizational commitment, and innovation-related behaviors (generating, spreading, implementing innovative ideas at work) over a 6-month period. Results indicate that the effects of psychological contract breaches on employees are not static. Specifically, perceptions of psychological contract breaches strengthened over time and were associated with decreased levels of affective commitment over time. Further, increased perceptions of psychological contract breaches were associated with decreases in innovation-related behaviors. We also found evidence that organizational commitment mediates the relationship between psychological contract breaches and innovation-related behaviors. These results highlight the importance of examining the nomological network of psychological contract breaches from a change perspective.

Human-centered automation of testing, surveillance and maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhatt, S.C.; Sun, B.K.H.

1991-01-01

Manual surveillance and testing of instrumentation, control and protection systems at nuclear power plants involves system and human errors which can lead to substantial plant down time. Frequent manual testing can also contribute significantly to operation and maintenance cost. Automation technology offers potential for prudent applications at the power plant to reduce testing errors and cost. To help address the testing problems and to harness the benefit of automation application, input from utilities is obtained on suitable automation approaches. This paper includes lessens from successful past experience at a few plants where some island of automation exist. The results are summarized as a set of specifications for semi automatic testing. A human-centered automation methodology is proposed with the guidelines for optimal human/computer division of tasks given. Implementation obstacles for significant changes of testing practices are identified and methods acceptable to nuclear power plants for addressing these obstacles have been suggested

SHARP - Automated monitoring of spacecraft health and status

Science.gov (United States)

Atkinson, David J.; James, Mark L.; Martin, R. G.

1990-01-01

Briefly discussed here are the spacecraft and ground systems monitoring process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Some of the difficulties associated with the existing technology used in mission operations are highlighted. A new automated system based on artificial intelligence technology is described which seeks to overcome many of these limitations. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The system has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager 2 spacecraft was the initial focus for evaluation of the system in real-time operations during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August 1989.

SHARP: Automated monitoring of spacecraft health and status

Science.gov (United States)

Atkinson, David J.; James, Mark L.; Martin, R. Gaius

1991-01-01

Briefly discussed here are the spacecraft and ground systems monitoring process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Some of the difficulties associated with the existing technology used in mission operations are highlighted. A new automated system based on artificial intelligence technology is described which seeks to overcome many of these limitations. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The system has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager 2 spacecraft was the initial focus for evaluation of the system in real-time operations during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August 1989.

Automated Quantification of Pneumothorax in CT

Science.gov (United States)

Do, Synho; Salvaggio, Kristen; Gupta, Supriya; Kalra, Mannudeep; Ali, Nabeel U.; Pien, Homer

2012-01-01

An automated, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) algorithm for the quantification of pneumothoraces from Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) images has been developed. Algorithm performance was evaluated through comparison to manual segmentation by expert radiologists. A combination of two-dimensional and three-dimensional processing techniques was incorporated to reduce required processing time by two-thirds (as compared to similar techniques). Volumetric measurements on relative pneumothorax size were obtained and the overall performance of the automated method shows an average error of just below 1%. PMID:23082091

Automated Robust Maneuver Design and Optimization

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA is seeking improvements to the current technologies related to Position, Navigation and Timing. In particular, it is desired to automate precise maneuver...

Performance-Driven Interface Contract Enforcement for Scientific Components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dahlgren, Tamara Lynn [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

2008-01-01

Performance-driven interface contract enforcement research aims to improve the quality of programs built from plug-and-play scientific components. Interface contracts make the obligations on the caller and all implementations of the specified methods explicit. Runtime contract enforcement is a well-known technique for enhancing testing and debugging. However, checking all of the associated constraints during deployment is generally considered too costly from a performance stand point. Previous solutions enforced subsets of constraints without explicit consideration of their performance implications. Hence, this research measures the impacts of different interface contract sampling strategies and compares results with new techniques driven by execution time estimates. Results from three studies indicate automatically adjusting the level of checking based on performance constraints improves the likelihood of detecting contract violations under certain circumstances. Specifically, performance-driven enforcement is better suited to programs exercising constraints whose costs are at most moderately expensive relative to normal program execution.

Managing the relational character of public-private partnership contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvetković Predrag

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A public-private partnership contract has the character of a relational contract. Relational contracts are incomplete agreements governing transactions where the contracting parties have mutually agreed that it is impossible or economically inefficient to contractually define ex ante possible difficulties and contingencies in the contract implementation, nor the difficulties and contingencies underlying the ex post control of contract performance by a third entity (court or arbitration. Considering the methodology of managing relational contracts, it is essential that the theory of relational contracts does not advocate for the establishment of relational contracts as a separate category of contracts, with specifically designated contractual instruments. This theory defines the relational contract as a category which legitimizes 'the relational mode' of a particular contract. The methodology of relational contracts is important for contracts on public-private partnership as it ensures that the contractual relationship is aligned with the changes in the immediate environment where the PPP contract operates. The aforementioned alignment has two aspects. The first one is the ex ante aspect of the alignment which is primarily aimed at preventing the detrimental effect of such alignment to the public partner's interests. Therefore, the intent to prevent such an effect shall be taken into account when defining the criteria for the selection of the most favorable private partner and the best offer. At the same time, it is essential to establish verifiable standards for measuring the private partner performance in the phase of contract implementation. For this goal to be achieved, it is crucial to specify the subject matter of the private partner's obligations, to establish the priority rank of PPP project objectives, to elaborate on the specific requirements governing the eligibility of private partners to participate in the bidding process, to specify

Automated MAD and MIR structure solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Berendzen, Joel

1999-01-01

A fully automated procedure for solving MIR and MAD structures has been developed using a scoring scheme to convert the structure-solution process into an optimization problem. Obtaining an electron-density map from X-ray diffraction data can be difficult and time-consuming even after the data have been collected, largely because MIR and MAD structure determinations currently require many subjective evaluations of the qualities of trial heavy-atom partial structures before a correct heavy-atom solution is obtained. A set of criteria for evaluating the quality of heavy-atom partial solutions in macromolecular crystallography have been developed. These have allowed the conversion of the crystal structure-solution process into an optimization problem and have allowed its automation. The SOLVE software has been used to solve MAD data sets with as many as 52 selenium sites in the asymmetric unit. The automated structure-solution process developed is a major step towards the fully automated structure-determination, model-building and refinement procedure which is needed for genomic scale structure determinations

Drilling contract issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davison, G.B.; Worden, D.R.; Borbridge, G.K.D.

1997-01-01

Some selected issues which are facing both operators and contractors in drilling for oil and gas, such as the allocation of risk by contract and by statute and the implementation of new technologies, were discussed. There are three varieties of written drilling contracts used in Canada: (1) day work and meterage contracts, (2) master drilling agreements, and (3) contracts that are used in construction projects that do not specifically relate to drilling. Issues relevant to the contractual allocation of risk, to implementing new drilling technologies, to reconciling contract and statute liability, and the formation of strategic alliances for mutual benefit, and the factors contributing to the success of such alliances were explored. 12 refs

Individual employment contract - the fundamental condition of legal labour relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae ROMANDAŞ

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article contains the description and analysis of the most important institution of labour law – the individual employment contract. At the same time, we analyze the nature of the individual employment contract, the instruments that should be concluded by employers according to the labour law. Also, the article describes the main doctrinal opinions that ware used to elucidate the concept of the individual employment contract.

Ten years of R&D and full automation in molecular diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Greub, Gilbert; Sahli, Roland; Brouillet, René; Jaton, Katia

2016-01-01

A 10-year experience of our automated molecular diagnostic platform that carries out 91 different real-time PCR is described. Progresses and future perspectives in molecular diagnostic microbiology are reviewed: why automation is important; how our platform was implemented; how homemade PCRs were developed; the advantages/disadvantages of homemade PCRs, including the critical aspects of troubleshooting and the need to further reduce the turnaround time for specific samples, at least for defined clinical settings such as emergencies. The future of molecular diagnosis depends on automation, and in a novel perspective, it is time now to fully acknowledge the true contribution of molecular diagnostic and to reconsider the indication for PCR, by also using these tests as first-line assays.

TRANSPORT CONTRACT - EXCEPTION TO THE RELATIVITY EFFECTS OF LEGAL DOCUMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Elena Belu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The parts to the contract are the shipper freight and the carrier. But the beneficiary of the contract is the conignee, although he doesn’t take part to the signing of the contract, he is (if he is adhering to the contract acquirer of rights and obligations which result from the contract of carriage. The contract of carriage is considered an exception to the principle of relativity effects of the legal act and it is considered by some authors in the literature as a stipulation for another with certain features. Stipulation for another is the contract whereby one part (stipulate provide that the other side (promisor to give, to do or not to do something for the benefit of a third person (beneficiary who do not participate, and he doesn’t take part to the conclusion of the contract. It is considered the only real exception of the principle of relativity. Called contract for another's benefit, stipulation for another creates for the beneficiary third-part right, directly and immediately created in his benefit since the conclusion of the contract between the promisor and the stipulate. The right is created from the time of signing the contract, in the patrimony of beneficiary, regardless of beneficiary’s accepting or waivering this right.

Parallelize Automated Tests in a Build and Test Environment

OpenAIRE

Durairaj, Selva Ganesh

2016-01-01

This thesis investigates the possibilities of finding solutions, in order to reduce the total time spent for testing and waiting times for running multiple automated test cases in a test framework. The “Automated Test Framework”, developed by Axis Communications AB, is used to write the functional tests to test both hardware and software of a resource. The functional tests that tests the software is considered in this thesis work. In the current infrastructure, tests are executed sequentially...

Delineated Analysis of Robotic Process Automation Tools

OpenAIRE

Ruchi Isaac; Riya Muni; Kenali Desai

2017-01-01

In this age and time when celerity is expected out of all the sectors of the country, the speed of execution of various processes and hence efficiency, becomes a prominent factor. To facilitate the speeding demands of these diverse platforms, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is used. Robotic Process Automation can expedite back-office tasks in commercial industries, remote management tasks in IT industries and conservation of resources in multiple sectors. To implement RPA, many software ...

Parallel NGO networks for HIV control: risks and opportunities for NGO contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, Shehla; Gul, Xaher; Nishtar, Noureen Aleem

2012-12-27

Policy measures for preventive and promotive services are increasingly reliant on contracting of NGOs. Contracting is a neo-liberal response relying on open market competition for service delivery tenders. In contracting of health services a common assumption is a monolithic NGO market. A case study of HIV control in Pakistan shows that in reality the NGO market comprises of parallel NGO networks having widely different service packages, approaches and agendas. These parallel networks had evolved over time due to vertical policy agendas. Contracting of NGOs for provision of HIV services was faced with uneven capacities and turf rivalries across both NGO networks. At the same time contracting helped NGO providers belonging to different clusters to move towards standardized service delivery for HIV prevention. Market based measures such as contracting need to be accompanied with wider policy measures that facilitate in bringing NGOs groups to a shared understanding of health issues and responses.

VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference Automating vSphere Administration

CERN Document Server

Dekens, Luc; Sizemore, Glenn; van Lieshout, Arnim; Medd, Jonathan

2011-01-01

Your One-Stop Reference for VMware vSphere Automation If you manage vSphere in a Windows environment, automating routine tasks can save you time and increase efficiency. VMware vSphere PowerCLI is a set of pre-built commands based on Windows PowerShell that is designed to help you automate vSphere processes involving virtual machines, datacenters, storage, networks, and more. This detailed guide-using a practical, task-based approach and real-world examples-shows you how to get the most out of PowerCLI's handy cmdlets. Learn how to: Automate vCenter Server and ESX/ESX(i) Server deployment and

Special Relativity in Week One: 3) Introducing the Lorentz Contraction

Science.gov (United States)

Huggins, Elisha

2011-05-01

This is the third of four articles on teaching special relativity in the first week of an introductory physics course.1,2 With Einstein's second postulate that the speed of light is the same to all observers, we could use the light pulse clock to introduce time dilation. But we had difficulty introducing the Lorentz contraction until we saw the movie "Time Dilation, an Experiment with Mu-Mesons" by David Frisch and James Smith.3,4 The movie demonstrates that time dilation and the Lorentz contraction are essentially two sides of the same coin. Here we take the muon's point of view for a more intuitive understanding of the Lorentz contraction, and use the results of the movie to provide an insight into the way we interpret experimental results involving special relativity.

Community pharmacies automation: any impact on counselling duration and job satisfaction?

Science.gov (United States)

Cavaco, Afonso Miguel; Krookas, Anette Aaland

2014-04-01

One key indicator of the quality of health practitioners-patient interaction is the encounters' duration. Automation have been presented as beneficial to pharmacy staff work with patients and thus with a potential impact on pharmacists' and technicians' job satisfaction. To compare the interaction length between pharmacy staff and patients, as well as their job satisfaction, in community pharmacies with and without automation. Portuguese community pharmacies with and without automation. This cross-sectional study followed a quasi-experimental design, divided in two phases. In the first, paired community pharmacies with and without automation were purposively selected for a non-participant overt observation. The second phase comprised a job satisfaction questionnaire of both pharmacists and technical staff. Practitioners and patients demographic and interactional data, as well as job satisfaction, were statistically compared across automation. Interaction length and job satisfaction. Sixty-eight practitioners from 10 automated and non-automated pharmacies produced 721 registered interaction episodes. Automation had no significant influence in interaction duration, controlling for gender and professional categories, being significantly longer with older patients (p = 0.017). On average, staff working at the pharmacy counter had 45 % of free time from direct patient contact. The mean overall satisfaction in this sample was 5.52 (SD = 0.98) out of a maximum score of seven, with no significant differences with automation as well as between professional categories, only with a significant lower job satisfaction for younger pharmacists. As with previous studies in other settings, duration of the interactions was not influenced by pharmacy automation, as well as practitioners' job satisfaction, while practitioners' time constrains seem to be a subjective perception.

Thoughts in flight: automation use and pilots' task-related and task-unrelated thought.

Science.gov (United States)

Casner, Stephen M; Schooler, Jonathan W

2014-05-01

The objective was to examine the relationship between cockpit automation use and task-related and task-unrelated thought among airline pilots. Studies find that cockpit automation can sometimes relieve pilots of tedious control tasks and afford them more time to think ahead. Paradoxically, automation has also been shown to lead to lesser awareness. These results prompt the question of what pilots think about while using automation. A total of 18 airline pilots flew a Boeing 747-400 simulator while we recorded which of two levels of automation they used. As they worked, pilots were verbally probed about what they were thinking. Pilots were asked to categorize their thoughts as pertaining to (a) a specific task at hand, (b) higher-level flight-related thoughts (e.g.,planning ahead), or (c) thoughts unrelated to the flight. Pilots' performance was also measured. Pilots reported a smaller percentage of task-at-hand thoughts (27% vs. 50%) and a greater percentage of higher-level flight-related thoughts (56% vs. 29%) when using the higher level of automation. However, when all was going according to plan, using either level of automation, pilots also reported a higher percentage of task-unrelated thoughts (21%) than they did when in the midst of an unsuccessful performance (7%). Task-unrelated thoughts peaked at 25% when pilots were not interacting with the automation. Although cockpit automation may provide pilots with more time to think, it may encourage pilots to reinvest only some of this mental free time in thinking flight-related thoughts. This research informs the design of human-automation systems that more meaningfully engage the human operator.

Affective processes in human-automation interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Merritt, Stephanie M

2011-08-01

This study contributes to the literature on automation reliance by illuminating the influences of user moods and emotions on reliance on automated systems. Past work has focused predominantly on cognitive and attitudinal variables, such as perceived machine reliability and trust. However, recent work on human decision making suggests that affective variables (i.e., moods and emotions) are also important. Drawing from the affect infusion model, significant effects of affect are hypothesized. Furthermore, a new affectively laden attitude termed liking is introduced. Participants watched video clips selected to induce positive or negative moods, then interacted with a fictitious automated system on an X-ray screening task At five time points, important variables were assessed including trust, liking, perceived machine accuracy, user self-perceived accuracy, and reliance.These variables, along with propensity to trust machines and state affect, were integrated in a structural equation model. Happiness significantly increased trust and liking for the system throughout the task. Liking was the only variable that significantly predicted reliance early in the task. Trust predicted reliance later in the task, whereas perceived machine accuracy and user self-perceived accuracy had no significant direct effects on reliance at any time. Affective influences on automation reliance are demonstrated, suggesting that this decision-making process may be less rational and more emotional than previously acknowledged. Liking for a new system may be key to appropriate reliance, particularly early in the task. Positive affect can be easily induced and may be a lever for increasing liking.

Unfair contract terms in B2C contracts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, M.W.; Loos, M.B.M.

2012-01-01

Because of its textual similarity to the Unfair Terms Directive 1993, Chapter 8 of the proposed CESL, on ‘Unfair contract terms’, can benefit from two decades of interpretative experience which is likely to provide a comparably high degree of instant legal certainty to contracting parties.

Laboratory equipment maintenance contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Boudreau, D A; Scheer, W D; Catrou, P G

1985-12-01

The increasing level of technical sophistication and complexity found in clinical laboratory instrumentation today more than ever demands careful attention to maintenance service needs. The time-worn caution for careful definition of requirements for acquisition of a system should also carry over to acquisition of maintenance service. Guidelines are presented for specifications of terms and conditions for maintenance service from the perspective of the laboratorian in the automated clinical laboratory.

Teaching about Contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Froman, Michael; Kosnoff, Kathy

1978-01-01

Presents teaching strategies for introducing high school students to contract law. Offers as a case study a contract agreement between pro football players and team owners. Stresses basic elements of contracts (offer, acceptance, consideration, and understanding the bargaining process). Journal available from the American Bar Association, 1155…

Lean automation development : applying lean principles to the automation development process

OpenAIRE

Granlund, Anna; Wiktorsson, Magnus; Grahn, Sten; Friedler, Niklas

2014-01-01

By a broad empirical study it is indicated that automation development show potential of improvement. In the paper, 13 lean product development principles are contrasted to the automation development process and it is suggested why and how these principles can facilitate, support and improve the automation development process. The paper summarises a description of what characterises a lean automation development process and what consequences it entails. Main differences compared to current pr...

48 CFR 215.404-71-3 - Contract type risk and working capital adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

.... Cost-plus-incentive-free (4) 1.0 0 to 2. Cost-plus-fixed-fee (4) 0.5 0 to 1. Time-and-materials... considered cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts for the purposes of assigning profit values. They shall not receive... CONTRACTING BY NEGOTIATION Contract Pricing 215.404-71-3 Contract type risk and working capital adjustment. (a...

Automating the personnel dosimeter monitoring program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Compston, M.W.

1982-12-01

The personnel dosimetry monitoring program at the Portsmouth uranium enrichment facility has been improved by using thermoluminescent dosimetry to monitor for ionizing radiation exposure, and by automating most of the operations and all of the associated information handling. A thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) card, worn by personnel inside security badges, stores the energy of ionizing radiation. The dosimeters are changed-out periodically and are loaded 150 cards at a time into an automated reader-processor. The resulting data is recorded and filed into a useful form by computer programming developed for this purpose

Automated time activity classification based on global positioning system (GPS) tracking data.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jun; Jiang, Chengsheng; Houston, Douglas; Baker, Dean; Delfino, Ralph

2011-11-14

Air pollution epidemiological studies are increasingly using global positioning system (GPS) to collect time-location data because they offer continuous tracking, high temporal resolution, and minimum reporting burden for participants. However, substantial uncertainties in the processing and classifying of raw GPS data create challenges for reliably characterizing time activity patterns. We developed and evaluated models to classify people's major time activity patterns from continuous GPS tracking data. We developed and evaluated two automated models to classify major time activity patterns (i.e., indoor, outdoor static, outdoor walking, and in-vehicle travel) based on GPS time activity data collected under free living conditions for 47 participants (N = 131 person-days) from the Harbor Communities Time Location Study (HCTLS) in 2008 and supplemental GPS data collected from three UC-Irvine research staff (N = 21 person-days) in 2010. Time activity patterns used for model development were manually classified by research staff using information from participant GPS recordings, activity logs, and follow-up interviews. We evaluated two models: (a) a rule-based model that developed user-defined rules based on time, speed, and spatial location, and (b) a random forest decision tree model. Indoor, outdoor static, outdoor walking and in-vehicle travel activities accounted for 82.7%, 6.1%, 3.2% and 7.2% of manually-classified time activities in the HCTLS dataset, respectively. The rule-based model classified indoor and in-vehicle travel periods reasonably well (Indoor: sensitivity > 91%, specificity > 80%, and precision > 96%; in-vehicle travel: sensitivity > 71%, specificity > 99%, and precision > 88%), but the performance was moderate for outdoor static and outdoor walking predictions. No striking differences in performance were observed between the rule-based and the random forest models. The random forest model was fast and easy to execute, but was likely less robust

Both Automation and Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Purcell, Royal

1988-01-01

Discusses the concept of a paperless society and the current situation in library automation. Various applications of automation and telecommunications are addressed, and future library automation is considered. Automation at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana, is described as an example. (MES)

The effects of hospitals' governance on optimal contracts: bargaining vs. contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

Galizzi, Matteo M; Miraldo, Marisa

2011-03-01

We propose a two-stage model to study the impact of different hospitals' governance frameworks on the optimal contracts designed by third-party payers when patients' disease severity is the private information of the hospital. In the second stage, doctors and managers interact within either a bargaining or a contracting scenario. In the contracting scenario, managers offer a contract that determines the payment to doctors, and doctors decide how many patients to treat. In the bargaining scenario, doctors and managers strategically negotiate on both the payment to doctors and the number of patients to treat. We derive the equilibrium doctors' payments and number of treated patients under both scenarios. We then derive the optimal contract offered by the government to the hospital in the first stage. Results show that when the cost of capital is sufficiently low, the informational rent is lower, and the social welfare is higher, in the contracting scenario. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing incentive contracts for reducing residential electricity consumption: new experimental methods for new results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frachet, Laure

2013-01-01

Facing economic, political and environmental stakes, electricity providers are nowadays developing incentive tools, in order to reduce consumer's demand, particularly during peak demand periods. For residential customers, these tools can be tariffs (dynamic pricing of time-of-use tariffs), or informative devices or services (feedbacks on historical or real-time consumption, given on various media). They might go along with automation systems that can help cutting of some electric devices when needed. In order to evaluate the capacity of these settings among their customers, electricity utilities are developing quite a few studies, which are mainly field experiment often called pilots. During these pilots, demand response tools are implemented on a population sample. These long and expensive studies lid to quantitative and qualitative analysis. We have compiled about 40 of them and extract from this survey some generalizable teachings. We have shown what these results were and highlighted pilot programs' methodological limits. In order to propose a substitute to these heavy experimentations, we assessed the capacity or experimental economics. This relatively new discipline's objective is to evaluation the efficiency of institutions, like markets, but also to study what animate economic agents' behaviour, e.g. preferences, beliefs, cognitive biases, willingness to pay... We were also able to elaborate an experimental protocol dedicated to the evaluation of some demand response contracts' acceptability. The results collected during 14 experimental sessions gave us some innovative clues and insight on these contracts acceptability. But, beyond these results, we have demonstrated that even if experimental economics can't obviously be a substitute for field experiments, it can represent an interesting exploratory methodology. To sum up the experimental economics can take part of residential customers' behaviour understanding, performing

Automated Groundwater Screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, Glenn A.; Collard, Leonard B.

2005-01-01

The Automated Intruder Analysis has been extended to include an Automated Ground Water Screening option. This option screens 825 radionuclides while rigorously applying the National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP) methodology. An extension to that methodology is presented to give a more realistic screening factor for those radionuclides which have significant daughters. The extension has the promise of reducing the number of radionuclides which must be tracked by the customer. By combining the Automated Intruder Analysis with the Automated Groundwater Screening a consistent set of assumptions and databases is used. A method is proposed to eliminate trigger values by performing rigorous calculation of the screening factor thereby reducing the number of radionuclides sent to further analysis. Using the same problem definitions as in previous groundwater screenings, the automated groundwater screening found one additional nuclide, Ge-68, which failed the screening. It also found that 18 of the 57 radionuclides contained in NCRP Table 3.1 failed the screening. This report describes the automated groundwater screening computer application

Automated Installation Verification of COMSOL via LiveLink for MATLAB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowell, Michael W

2015-01-01

Verifying that a local software installation performs as the developer intends is a potentially time-consuming but necessary step for nuclear safety-related codes. Automating this process not only saves time, but can increase reliability and scope of verification compared to ''hand'' comparisons. While COMSOL does not include automatic installation verification as many commercial codes do, it does provide tools such as LiveLink"T"M for MATLAB® and the COMSOL API for use with Java® through which the user can automate the process. Here we present a successful automated verification example of a local COMSOL 5.0 installation for nuclear safety-related calculations at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR).

Automated Installation Verification of COMSOL via LiveLink for MATLAB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crowell, Michael W [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-01-01

Verifying that a local software installation performs as the developer intends is a potentially time-consuming but necessary step for nuclear safety-related codes. Automating this process not only saves time, but can increase reliability and scope of verification compared to ‘hand’ comparisons. While COMSOL does not include automatic installation verification as many commercial codes do, it does provide tools such as LiveLink™ for MATLAB® and the COMSOL API for use with Java® through which the user can automate the process. Here we present a successful automated verification example of a local COMSOL 5.0 installation for nuclear safety-related calculations at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR).

Lighting Automation Flying an Earthlike Habitat

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Toni A.; Kolomenski, Andrei

2017-01-01

Currently, spacecraft lighting systems are not demonstrating innovations in automation due to perceived costs in designing circuitry for the communication and automation of lights. The majority of spacecraft lighting systems employ lamps or zone specific manual switches and dimmers. This type of 'hardwired' solution does not easily convert to automation. With advances in solid state lighting, the potential to enhance a spacecraft habitat is lost if the communication and automation problem is not tackled. If we are to build long duration environments, which provide earth-like habitats, minimize crew time, and optimize spacecraft power reserves, innovation in lighting automation is a must. This project researched the use of the DMX512 communication protocol originally developed for high channel count lighting systems. DMX512 is an internationally governed, industry-accepted, lighting communication protocol with wide industry support. The lighting industry markets a wealth of hardware and software that utilizes DMX512, and there may be incentive to space certify the system. Our goal in this research is to enable the development of automated spacecraft habitats for long duration missions. To transform how spacecraft lighting environments are automated, our project conducted a variety of tests to determine a potential scope of capability. We investigated utilization and application of an industry accepted lighting control protocol, DMX512 by showcasing how the lighting system could help conserve power, assist with lighting countermeasures, and utilize spatial body tracking. We hope evaluation and the demonstrations we built will inspire other NASA engineers, architects and researchers to consider employing DMX512 "smart lighting" capabilities into their system architecture. By using DMX512 we will prove the 'wheel' does not need to be reinvented in terms of smart lighting and future spacecraft can use a standard lighting protocol to produce an effective, optimized and

Lighting Automation - Flying an Earthlike Habitat

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Tori A. (Principal Investigator); Kolomenski, Andrei

2017-01-01

Currently, spacecraft lighting systems are not demonstrating innovations in automation due to perceived costs in designing circuitry for the communication and automation of lights. The majority of spacecraft lighting systems employ lamps or zone specific manual switches and dimmers. This type of 'hardwired' solution does not easily convert to automation. With advances in solid state lighting, the potential to enhance a spacecraft habitat is lost if the communication and automation problem is not tackled. If we are to build long duration environments, which provide earth-like habitats, minimize crew time, and optimize spacecraft power reserves, innovation in lighting automation is a must. This project researched the use of the DMX512 communication protocol originally developed for high channel count lighting systems. DMX512 is an internationally governed, industry-accepted, lighting communication protocol with wide industry support. The lighting industry markets a wealth of hardware and software that utilizes DMX512, and there may be incentive to space certify the system. Our goal in this research is to enable the development of automated spacecraft habitats for long duration missions. To transform how spacecraft lighting environments are automated, our project conducted a variety of tests to determine a potential scope of capability. We investigated utilization and application of an industry accepted lighting control protocol, DMX512 by showcasing how the lighting system could help conserve power, assist with lighting countermeasures, and utilize spatial body tracking. We hope evaluation and the demonstrations we built will inspire other NASA engineers, architects and researchers to consider employing DMX512 "smart lighting" capabilities into their system architecture. By using DMX512 we will prove the 'wheel' does not need to be reinvented in terms of smart lighting and future spacecraft can use a standard lighting protocol to produce an effective, optimized and

Automated exchange transfusion and exchange rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Funato, M; Shimada, S; Tamai, H; Taki, H; Yoshioka, Y

1989-10-01

An automated blood exchange transfusion (BET) with a two-site technique has been devised by Goldmann et al and by us, using an infusion pump. With this method, we successfully performed exchange transfusions 189 times in the past four years on 110 infants with birth weights ranging from 530 g to 4,000 g. The exchange rate by the automated method was compared with the rate by Diamond's method. Serum bilirubin (SB) levels before and after BET and the maximal SB rebound within 24 hours after BET were: 21.6 +/- 2.4, 11.5 +/- 2.2, and 15.0 +/- 1.5 mg/dl in the automated method, and 22.0 +/- 2.9, 11.2 +/- 2.5, and 17.7 +/- 3.2 mg/dl in Diamond's method, respectively. The result showed that the maximal rebound of the SB level within 24 hours after BET was significantly lower in the automated method than in Diamond's method (p less than 0.01), though SB levels before and after BET were not significantly different between the two methods. The exchange rate was also measured by means of staining the fetal red cells (F cells) both in the automated method and in Diamond's method, and comparing them. The exchange rate of F cells in Diamond's method went down along the theoretical exchange curve proposed by Diamond, while the rate in the automated method was significantly better than in Diamond's, especially in the early stage of BET (p less than 0.01). We believe that the use of this automated method may give better results than Diamond's method in the rate of exchange, because this method is performed with a two-site technique using a peripheral artery and vein.

Automated prototyping tool-kit (APT)

OpenAIRE

Nada, Nader; Shing, M.; Berzins, V.; Luqi

2002-01-01

Automated prototyping tool-kit (APT) is an integrated set of software tools that generate source programs directly from real-time requirements. The APT system uses a fifth-generation prototyping language to model the communication structure, timing constraints, 1/0 control, and data buffering that comprise the requirements for an embedded software system. The language supports the specification of hard real-time systems with reusable components from domain specific component libraries. APT ha...

The resurgence of selective contracting restrictions.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsteller, J A; Bovbjerg, R R; Nichols, L M; Verrilli, D K

1997-10-01

As managed care has spread, so has legislation to force plans to contract with any willing provider (AWP) and give patients freedom of choice (FOC). Managed care organizations' selective networks and provider integration reduce patient access to providers, along with provider access to paying patients, so many providers have lobbied for AWP-FOC laws. In opposition are managed care organizations (MCOs), which want full freedom to contract selectively to control prices and utilization. This article comprehensively describes laws in all fifty-one jurisdictions, classifies their relative strength, and assesses the implications of the laws. Most are relatively weak forms and all are limited in application by ERISA and the federal HMO Act. The article also uses an associative multivariate analysis to relate the selective contracting environments to HMO penetration rates, rural population, physician density, and other variables. States with weak laws also have higher HMO penetration and higher physician density, but smaller rural populations. We conclude that the strongest laws overly restrict the management of care, to the likely detriment of cost control. But where market power is rapidly concentrating, not restricting selective contracting could diminish long-term competition and patient access to care. In the face of uncertainty about the impact of these laws, an intermediate approach may be better than all or nothing. States should consider mandating that plans offer point-of-service options, for a separate premium. This option expands patient choice of plans at the time of enrollment and of providers at the time of care, yet maintains plans' ability to control core providers.

Disaster recovery plan for Automation Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owens, M.J.

1997-06-01

Automation Technology provides a multitude of data processing and network services to the Environmental Restoration Contract (ERC). These services include: personal computers, local and wide area networks, and Internet and intranet support and services. ERC employees and client personnel receive these services primarily from the Data Center located on the ground floor in the Bechtel Corporate Center at 3350 George Washington Way, Richland, Washington. Centralized databases, server-based software, and network services for the Bechtel Local Area Network reside on servers located in the Data Center. The data communication circuits supported in this center allow for the transmission of business information to and from all project locations in the Hanford Site complex. The loss of one or more of these functions would seriously impact the ability of the ERC to conduct business and bring a virtual standstill to many ERC employees'' activities. Upon declaration of disaster by the Contingency Manager and the Disaster Recovery Coordinator, the disaster recovery plan will be implemented. 24 tabs

New Trends in Agent-Based Complex Automated Negotiations

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Minjie; Robu, Valentin; Fatima, Shaheen; Matsuo, Tokuro

2012-01-01

Complex Automated Negotiations represent an important, emerging area in the field of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Automated negotiations can be complex, since there are a lot of factors that characterize such negotiations. These factors include the number of issues, dependencies between these issues,  representation of utilities, the negotiation protocol, the number of parties in the negotiation (bilateral or multi-party), time constraints, etc. Software agents can support automation or simulation of such complex negotiations on the behalf of their owners, and can provide them with efficient bargaining strategies. To realize such a complex automated negotiation, we have to incorporate advanced Artificial Intelligence technologies includes search, CSP, graphical utility models, Bayes nets, auctions, utility graphs, predicting and learning methods. Applications could include e-commerce tools, decision-making support tools, negotiation support tools, collaboration tools, etc. This book aims to pro...

Standard IEC 61850 substation automation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bricchi, A.; Mezzadri, D. [Selta, Tortoreto (Italy)

2008-07-01

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61850 standard is the reference communication protocol for all electrical substations protection and control systems. It creates models of all the elements and functionalities of an electrical substation, including physical elements such as switches or circuit breakers, as well as protection, control and monitoring functionalities. Network managers need to renew power substation automation and control systems in order to improve the efficiency and quality of services offered by electric utilities. Selta has proposed a new integrated solution for the automation of power substations which is fully compliant with the IEC 61850 norms. The solution involves the integration of control, automation, protection, monitoring and maintenance functions and applies leading edge technology to its systems, particularly for the TERNA network. The system is based on the use of many electronic devices at a power plant, each one with a specialized function, and all interconnected via a Station LAN. This solution, was tested on the TERNA network in Italy, in VHV and HV stations. It was shown to offer many advantages, such as an architecture based on full interoperability between control, monitoring and protection equipment; centralized and distributed automation; a LAN station that allows full interoperability between different bay units and protection relays in order to integrate equipment from various suppliers; the integration of automation systems in existing bay units and protection relays equipped with standard communication buses or with proprietary interfaces; and time synchronization for the entire system through a station GPS reception system. 10 refs., 1 tab., 7 figs.

The Relationship between the Employment Contract and other Civil Contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Răzvan Radu Popescu

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The employment relationship is a contractual one and as such must have all the basic elements of an enforceable contract to make it legally binding. In strict contractual terms, the offer is made by the employer and formally accepted by the employee. Once the acceptance has taken place, there is a legally binding agreement and an action will lie against the party who breaches that agreement, even though it may only just have come into existence. An employment contract, however, is unlike most other contracts. Although the parties will have negotiated the main terms, we shall see that a large number of terms will be implied into the agreement from all sorts of different sources and will not have been individually negotiated by the parties at all. This is what makes an employment contract so different from other contracts. We think this article is an important step in the disclosure of the problem eraised by these two concepts.

EMG-Torque Dynamics Change With Contraction Bandwidth.

Science.gov (United States)

Golkar, Mahsa A; Jalaleddini, Kian; Kearney, Robert E

2018-04-01

An accurate model for ElectroMyoGram (EMG)-torque dynamics has many uses. One of its applications which has gained high attention among researchers is its use, in estimating the muscle contraction level for the efficient control of prosthesis. In this paper, the dynamic relationship between the surface EMG and torque during isometric contractions at the human ankle was studied using system identification techniques. Subjects voluntarily modulated their ankle torque in dorsiflexion direction, by activating their tibialis anterior muscle, while tracking a pseudo-random binary sequence in a torque matching task. The effects of contraction bandwidth, described by torque spectrum, on EMG-torque dynamics were evaluated by varying the visual command switching time. Nonparametric impulse response functions (IRF) were estimated between the processed surface EMG and torque. It was demonstrated that: 1) at low contraction bandwidths, the identified IRFs had unphysiological anticipatory (i.e., non-causal) components, whose amplitude decreased as the contraction bandwidth increased. We hypothesized that this non-causal behavior arose, because the EMG input contained a component due to feedback from the output torque, i.e., it was recorded from within a closed-loop. Vision was not the feedback source since the non-causal behavior persisted when visual feedback was removed. Repeating the identification using a nonparametric closed-loop identification algorithm yielded causal IRFs at all bandwidths, supporting this hypothesis. 2) EMG-torque dynamics became faster and the bandwidth of system increased as contraction modulation rate increased. Thus, accurate prediction of torque from EMG signals must take into account the contraction bandwidth sensitivity of this system.

Automation in biological crystallization.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Patrick Shaw; Mueller-Dieckmann, Jochen

2014-06-01

Crystallization remains the bottleneck in the crystallographic process leading from a gene to a three-dimensional model of the encoded protein or RNA. Automation of the individual steps of a crystallization experiment, from the preparation of crystallization cocktails for initial or optimization screens to the imaging of the experiments, has been the response to address this issue. Today, large high-throughput crystallization facilities, many of them open to the general user community, are capable of setting up thousands of crystallization trials per day. It is thus possible to test multiple constructs of each target for their ability to form crystals on a production-line basis. This has improved success rates and made crystallization much more convenient. High-throughput crystallization, however, cannot relieve users of the task of producing samples of high quality. Moreover, the time gained from eliminating manual preparations must now be invested in the careful evaluation of the increased number of experiments. The latter requires a sophisticated data and laboratory information-management system. A review of the current state of automation at the individual steps of crystallization with specific attention to the automation of optimization is given.

Negotiating Efficient PPP Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tvarnø, Christina D.

. An opportunity the member states should consider using when procuring a PPP. This paper looks at the negotiation and contracting of a PPP in an economic theoretical and EU public procurement perspective and discusses how to establish an efficient PPP contract under a strong public law doctrine. Governments......This paper concerns Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts in concern to the coming new 2014/24IEU public procurement directive. The new EU public procurement directive gives the public authority the opportunity to negotiate PPPs much more when they are implemented in national law...... procurement law. Furthermore, the paper seeks to establish a connection between public law, private law and the efficient PPP contract by drawing upon economic theory and empirical contract data from UK, US and Danish partnering contracts from the construction industry and the aim of contracting joint utility...

Exploring the Use of a Test Automation Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Cervantes, Alex

2009-01-01

It is known that software testers, more often than not, lack the time needed to fully test the delivered software product within the time period allotted to them. When problems in the implementation phase of a development project occur, it normally causes the software delivery date to slide. As a result, testers either need to work longer hours, or supplementary resources need to be added to the test team in order to meet aggressive test deadlines. One solution to this problem is to provide testers with a test automation framework to facilitate the development of automated test solutions.

The ECLSS Advanced Automation Project Evolution and Technology Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Dewberry, Brandon S.; Carnes, James R.; Lukefahr, Brenda D.; Rogers, John S.; Rochowiak, Daniel M.; Mckee, James W.; Benson, Brian L.

1990-01-01

Viewgraphs on Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) advanced automation project evolution and technology assessment are presented. Topics covered include: the ECLSS advanced automation project; automatic fault diagnosis of ECLSS subsystems descriptions; in-line, real-time chemical and microbial fluid analysis; and object-oriented, distributed chemical and microbial modeling of regenerative environmental control systems description.

78 FR 80369 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Service Contracts Reporting Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-31

... (e.g., cost-reimbursement, time-and- materials, and labor-hour contracts), which already require... contract costs and labor can significantly fluctuate each year or how this type of labor can be comingled... of direct labor hours expended on the services performed is extremely concerning, particularly in a...

Duration in Production Contracts

OpenAIRE

MacDonald, James M.; Korb, Penelope J.

2006-01-01

We use 2003 and 2004 ARMS data to analyze variations in contract duration among growers of broilers who hold production contracts. Most contracts cover just a single flock, but many extend for 1-2 years, and a significant minority of broiler contracts specify lengths of 5, 10, and even 15 years. We find that grower debt and production volume are inversely related to the choice of a short term (a year or less) contract, while lengthy prior experience with the contractor promotes short term con...

Department of Energy contract/business management initiatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, S.B.

1992-01-01

More than 40 years ago the Department of Energy (DOE) developed a unique contractual instrument called a management and operating contract, to be used for the operation of our weapons production plants and the national laboratories. The contracts are very broad in scope. There is no output objective set forth in the contract. There are no cost targets, nor any contractually motivated cost objectives. Performance is measured against criteria which is often subjective. The time has come to make changes in the structure of these contracts to reflect changes in the work being performed and to make the contractors more accountable. DOE's work now, at these sites, and for years to come, consists largely of major project-type work such as environmental restoration which lends itself to a more definitized structure. DOE is in the process of implementing a work order authorization control system (task order contracting) under its management and operating contracts. Target date for implementation for our for-profit contractors is FY 1992, and for the non-profit contractors is FY 1993. Under this system, requirements will be contracted for as entities of work and contractors will be held accountable for performance, schedules and costs. Billings, payments and award fee will be tied to the specific planning objectives set forth in the tasks, including costs and schedules. Incentives will be provided for outstanding performance, fee may be withheld if performance is unacceptable. These changes will necessitate more DOE oversight of contractor operations and sound business support systems, as well as effective management disciplines. US DOE will perform business management reviews to assure contractors' systems are adequate and to support this form of contracting. The Contractor Procurement Systems Review Program will be enhanced to assure good subcontractor procurement practices

The SSM/PMAD automated test bed project

Science.gov (United States)

Lollar, Louis F.

1991-01-01

The Space Station Module/Power Management and Distribution (SSM/PMAD) autonomous subsystem project was initiated in 1984. The project's goal has been to design and develop an autonomous, user-supportive PMAD test bed simulating the SSF Hab/Lab module(s). An eighteen kilowatt SSM/PMAD test bed model with a high degree of automated operation has been developed. This advanced automation test bed contains three expert/knowledge based systems that interact with one another and with other more conventional software residing in up to eight distributed 386-based microcomputers to perform the necessary tasks of real-time and near real-time load scheduling, dynamic load prioritizing, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR).

Automated Behavior Property Verification Tool

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Leo, John K

2008-01-01

.... A type of CGF in which the entities have limited autonomy is semi-automated forces (SAF). The SAF system for this thesis research is OneSAF, a near real-time SAF that offers raw data collection of the entities in a particular simulation scenario...

Automated model building

CERN Document Server

Caferra, Ricardo; Peltier, Nicholas

2004-01-01

This is the first book on automated model building, a discipline of automated deduction that is of growing importance Although models and their construction are important per se, automated model building has appeared as a natural enrichment of automated deduction, especially in the attempt to capture the human way of reasoning The book provides an historical overview of the field of automated deduction, and presents the foundations of different existing approaches to model construction, in particular those developed by the authors Finite and infinite model building techniques are presented The main emphasis is on calculi-based methods, and relevant practical results are provided The book is of interest to researchers and graduate students in computer science, computational logic and artificial intelligence It can also be used as a textbook in advanced undergraduate courses

Automation of the Jarrell--Ash model 70-314 emission spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, W.F.; Fisher, E.R.; Taber, L.

1978-01-01

Automation of the Jarrell-Ash 3.4-Meter Ebert direct-reading emission spectrometer with digital scaler readout is described. The readout is interfaced to a Data General NOVA 840 minicomputer. The automation code consists of BASIC language programs for interactive routines, data processing, and report generation. Call statements within the BASIC programs invoke assembly language routines for real-time data acquisition and control. In addition, the automation objectives as well as the spectrometer-computer system functions, coding, and operating instructions are presented

Experiments on supply chain contracting: effects of contract type and fairness concerns

OpenAIRE

Arabacı, Özge; Arabaci, Ozge

2013-01-01

In this thesis, we conduct experiments with human decision makers on supply chain contracting. We consider a simple manufacturer-retailer supply chain scenario where the retailer faces the newsvendor problem. Building on Sahin and Kaya (2011), we compare the experimental performance of three contract types (wholesale price, buyback and revenue sharing contracts) between the firms with theoretical predictions, and among each other. We are interested in the manufacturer’s contract parameter dec...

Comparison of manual and automated pretreatment methods for AMS radiocarbon dating of plant fossils

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, L.A.; Stafford, Thomas W.

1994-01-01

A new automated pretreatment system for the preparation of materials submitted for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) analysis is less time-consuming and results in a higher sample yield. The new procedure was tested using two groups of plant fossils: one group was pretreated using the traditional method, and the second, using the automated pretreatment apparatus. The time it took to complete the procedure and the amount of sample material remaining were compared. The automated pretreatment apparatus proved to be more than three times faster and, in most cases, produced a higher yield. A darker discoloration of the KOH solutions was observed indicating that the automated system is more thorough in removing humates from the specimen compared to the manual method. -Authors

Optimal design of uptime-guarantee contracts under IGFR valuations and convex costs

OpenAIRE

Hezarkhni, Behzad

2016-01-01

An uptime-guarantee contract commits a service provider to maintain the functionality of a customer’s equipment at least for certain fraction of working time during a contracted period. This paper addresses the optimal design of uptime-guarantee contracts for the service provider when the customer’s valuation of a contract with a given guaranteed uptime level has an Increasing Generalized Failure Rate (IGFR) distribution. We first consider the case where the service provider proposes only one...

ADGEN: An automated adjoint code generator for large-scale sensitivity analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pin, F.G.; Oblow, E.M.; Horwedel, J.E.; Lucius, J.L.

1987-01-01

This paper describes a new automated system, named ADGEN, which makes use of the strengths of computer calculus to automate the costly and time-consuming calculation of derivatives in FORTRAN computer codes, and automatically generate adjoint solutions of computer codes

Defense Contract Management: DOD's Lack of Adherence to Key Contracting Principles on Iraq Oil Contract Put Government Interests at Risk

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hutton, John P; Ahearn, Marie; Augustine, Penny B; Campbell, Greg; James, Jr., Arthur; Lesonsky, Eric; Lord, Stephen; McDonough-Hughes, Anne; McKelvey, Janet; Patton, Kenneth

2007-01-01

.... The contract was also used to ensure adequate fuel supplies inside Iraq. RIO I was a cost-plus-award-fee type contract that provided for payment of the contractor's costs, a fixed fee determined at inception of the contract, and a potential award fee...

Quantitative application study on the control system of contract progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Xiaocong; Kang Rujie; Zhan Li

2012-01-01

Quantitative application study on the control system of contract progress, which is based on project management theory and PDCA cycle methods, provides a new way for the contract business management of enterprise, in line with the current situation and the nuclear power enterprise performance management needs. The concept of the system, system development, program design and development of ERP (VBA design) which come from the work experience summary of business managers are convenient and feasible in practical applications. By way of the applications in 2009, 2010, 2011 three-year overhaul contract management and continuous adjustment it has become an important business management tool, which not only effectively guaranteed the contract time and efficiency, but also combines the performance management and contract progress management. This study has provided useful reference for the enterprise management. (authors)

CT imaging during microwave ablation: Analysis of spatial and temporal tissue contraction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Dong; Brace, Christopher L., E-mail: clbrace@wisc.edu [Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States)

2014-11-01

Purpose: To analyze the spatial distribution and temporal development of liver tissue contraction during high-temperature ablation by using intraprocedural computed tomography (CT) imaging. Methods: A total of 46 aluminum fiducial markers were positioned in a 60 × 45 mm grid, in a single plane, around a microwave ablation antenna in each of six ex vivo bovine liver samples. Ablations were performed for 10 min at 100 W. CT data of the liver sample were acquired every 30 s during ablation. Fiducial motion between acquisitions was tracked in postprocessing and used to calculate measures of tissue contraction and contraction rates. The spatial distribution and temporal evolution of contraction were analyzed. Results: Fiducial displacement indicated that the zone measured postablation was 8.2 ± 1.8 mm (∼20%) smaller in the radial direction and 7.1 ± 1.0 mm (∼10%) shorter in the longitudinal direction than the preablation tissue dimension. Therefore, the total ablation volume was reduced from its preablation value by approximately 45%. Very little longitudinal contraction was noted in the distal portion of the ablation zone. Central tissues contracted more than 60%, which was near an estimated limit of ∼70% based on initial water content. More peripheral tissues contracted only 15% in any direction. Contraction rates peaked during the first 60 s of heating with a roughly exponential decay over time. Conclusions: Ablation zones measured posttreatment are significantly smaller than the pretreatment tissue dimensions. Tissue contraction is spatially dependent, with the greatest effect occurring in the central ablation zone. Contraction rate peaks early and decays over time.

Effects of Automation Types on Air Traffic Controller Situation Awareness and Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Sethumadhavan, A.

2009-01-01

The Joint Planning and Development Office has proposed the introduction of automated systems to help air traffic controllers handle the increasing volume of air traffic in the next two decades (JPDO, 2007). Because fully automated systems leave operators out of the decision-making loop (e.g., Billings, 1991), it is important to determine the right level and type of automation that will keep air traffic controllers in the loop. This study examined the differences in the situation awareness (SA) and collision detection performance of individuals when they worked with information acquisition, information analysis, decision and action selection and action implementation automation to control air traffic (Parasuraman, Sheridan, & Wickens, 2000). When the automation was unreliable, the time taken to detect an upcoming collision was significantly longer for all the automation types compared with the information acquisition automation. This poor performance following automation failure was mediated by SA, with lower SA yielding poor performance. Thus, the costs associated with automation failure are greater when automation is applied to higher order stages of information processing. Results have practical implications for automation design and development of SA training programs.

Automated Array Assembly, Phase 2. Quarterly technical progress report, fourth quarter 1977. Texas Instruments report No. 03-77-56

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carbajal, B.G.

1978-01-01

The Automated Array Assembly Task, Phase 2 of the Low Cost Silicon Solar Array (LSSA) Project, is a process development task. This contract includes solar cell module process development activities in the areas of Surface Preparation, Plasma Processing, Diffusion, Cell Processing and Module Fabrication. In addition, a High Efficiency Cell Development Activity is included. During this quarter, effort was concentrated on wafer etching for saw damage removal, establishing a standard phosphorous diffusion process and a baseline solar cell process as a test bed, designing a large area square cell including test sites, analyzing module layouts for optimum packing efficiency and fabricating the first Tandem Junction Cells (TJC) for this contract. A TJC with backside contacts gave 15.1% efficiency at AM1.

Choreographies and Behavioural Contracts on the Way to Dynamic Updates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Bravetti

2014-11-01

Full Text Available We survey our work on choreographies and behavioural contracts in multiparty interactions. In particular theories of behavioural contracts are presented which enable reasoning about correct service composition (contract compliance and service substitutability (contract refinement preorder under different assumptions concerning service communication: synchronous address or name based communication with patient non-preemptable or impatient invocations, or asynchronous communication. Correspondingly relations between behavioural contracts and choreographic descriptions are considered, where a contract for each communicating party is, e.g., derived by projection. The considered relations are induced as the maximal preoders which preserve contract compliance and global traces: we show maximality to hold (permitting services to be discovered/substituted independently for each party when contract refinement preorders with all the above asymmetric communication means are considered and, instead, not to hold if the standard symmetric CCS/pi-calculus communication is considered (or when directly relating choreographies to behavioral contracts via a preorder, no matter the communication mean. The obtained maximal preorders are then characterized in terms of a new form of testing, called compliance testing, where not only tests must succeed but also the system under test (thus relating to controllability theory, and compared with classical preorders such as may/must testing, trace inclusion, etc. Finally, recent work about adaptable choreographies and behavioural contracts is presented, where the theory above is extended to update mechanisms allowing choreographies/contracts to be modified at run-time by internal (self-adaptation or external intervention.

THE PRINCIPLES OF CONTRACTUAL FREEDOM AND GOOD FAITH IN JURIDICAL CONTRACTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIHAELA IRINA IONESCU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The contract is the very heart of the Civil Code, and it is in fact also the cornerstone of any society, as without it relations and rapport amongst citizens could not occur nor unfold, and as such it is presently considered an effective legal instrument for organizing the behavior of all members of society. The importance of contracts, the extent of contractual freedoms, the rapports that contracts entertain with laws, norms and other regulations and the means to properly frame and limit the State’s intervention in the economy all hinge on the evolution of society and it’s general ideological proclivity. The contract acts as the mirror of all this and it comes as no surprise that a society that has shortly left an organization based on the tenants of communism still bears the full weight of this ideology when it comes to contracts. In the framework of the New Civil Code, the contract is viewed as based on a series of principles which are carefully drawn and well established in the general consciousness. As such, altering these principles would naturally cause important concern and uncertainty between the Parties to the Contract. Therefore, when times require repealing from a principle, this should be implemented with the greatest prudence by the legislature. This paper contains a summary of the guiding principles of contracts from the provisions of the New Civil Code. For the first time in our legal history, these provisions regulate the two most fundamental principles of contracts; contractual freedom and good faith, which is why the author chose to insist on these new regulations