scholarly journals Development of a hybrid fuzzy-mathematical cleaner production evaluation tool for surface finishing

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Arnesh Telukdarie
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Visual Basic ◽  
Cleaner Production ◽  
Plant Operator ◽  
Audit System ◽  
Metal Finishing ◽  
Plant Data ◽  
The Individual

The metal finishing industry has been rated among the most polluting industries worldwide. This industry has traditionally been responsible for the release of heavy metals such as chrome, nickel, tin, copper etc into the environment. The application of cleaner production systems to a range of industries, including the metal finishing industry has provided significant financial and environmental benefits. An example of a successful application cleaner production in the metal finishing industry is the reduction in the typical water consumption from 400 1/m² to less than 10 1/m² of plated product. The successful application of cleaner production to the mental finishing industry has encountered many barriers. These barriers include the need for a highly skilled cleaner production auditor and the need for rigorous plant data to effectively quantify the cleaner production potential of the company under consideration. This study focuses on providing an alternate user-friendly audit system for the implementation of cleaner production in the mental finishing industry. The audit system proposed eliminates the need for the need for both a technical auditor and rigid plant data. The proposed system functions solely on plant operator inputs. The operator’s knowledge is harnessed and used to conduct an efficient and effective cleaner production audit. The research is based on expert knowledge, which was gained by conducting audits on some 25 companies using traditional auditing tools. This company audits were used to construct a database of data that was used in the verification of the models developed in this study. The audit is separated into different focus components. The first system developed was based on fuzzy logic multi variable decision-making. For this system the plant was categorized into different sections and appropriate fuzzy ratings were allocated based on experience. Once the allocations were completed multi variable decision analysis was used to determine the individual variable impact. The output was compared and regressed to the database equivalent. Operator inputs can then be used to determine the individual category outputs for the cleaner for the production rating for the company under consideration. The second part of this study entails the development of mathematical models for the quantification of chemical and water consumptions. This was based on the present and ideal (cleaner production) plant configuration. Cleaner production operations are compared to present operations and potential savings quantified. Mathematical models were developed based on pilot scale experiments for the acid, degreaser and zinc plating process. The pilot experiments were carried out on a PLC controlled pilot plant. These models were developed form factorial experimentation on the variables of each of the plating processes. The models developed aid in the prediction of the relevant optimum consumptions. The key challenge in traditional evaluation systems has been the quantification of the plant production. The most effective measure of production is by means of the surface area plated. In this study a novel approach using the modeled acid consumption is proposed. It was assumed that the operator inputs for the above models would not be precise. The models developed allowed for input variations. These variations were incorporated into the model using the Monte Carlo technique. The entire cleaner production evaluation system proposed is based on an operator questionnaire, which is completed in visual basic. The mathematical model was incorporated into the visual basic model. For the purpose of model verification the mathematical models were programmed and tested using the engineering mathematical software, Mat Lab. The combined fuzzy logic and mathematical models prove to be a highly effective means of completing the cleaner production evaluation in minimal time and with minimal resources. A comparative case study was conducted at a local metal finishing company. The case study compares the input requirements and outputs from the traditional systems with the system proposed in this study. The traditional model requires 245 inputs whilst the model proposed in this study is based on 56 inputs. The data requirements for the model proposed in this study is obtained from a plant operator in less than one hour whilst previous models required high level expertise over a period of up to two weeks. The quality of outputs from the model proposed is found to be very comparable to previous models. The model is actually found to be superior to previous models with regards predicting operational variations, water usages, chemical usages and bath chemical evolution. The research has highlighted the potential to apply fuzzy-mathematical hybrid systems for cleaner production evaluation. The two limitations of the research were found to be the usage of a linear experimental design for model development and the availability of Mat Lab software for future application. These issues can be addressed as future work. It is recommended that a non-linear model be developed for the individual processes so as to obtain more detailed process models.

The Development of Language-Training Programs for Postrubella Hearing-Impaired Children

1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Lynch ◽  
Annette Tobin
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Individual Treatment ◽  
Target Behaviors ◽  
Systematic Fashion ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

This paper presents the procedures developed and used in the individual treatment programs for a group of preschool, postrubella, hearing-impaired children. A case study illustrates the systematic fashion in which the clinician plans programs for each child on the basis of the child’s progress at any given time during the program. The clinician’s decisions are discussed relevant to (1) the choice of a mode(s) for the child and the teacher, (2) the basis for selecting specific target behaviors, (3) the progress of each program, and (4) the implications for future programming.

‘A Routh O’ Auld Nick-Nackets’ – the antiquarian collection of John Rae

2015 ◽  
Vol 36-37 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-183
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
National Museums ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

John Rae, a Scottish antiquarian collector and spirit merchant, played a highly prominent role in the local natural history societies and exhibitions of nineteenth-century Aberdeen. While he modestly described his collection of archaeological lithics and other artefacts, principally drawn from Aberdeenshire but including some items from as far afield as the United States, as a mere ‘routh o’ auld nick-nackets' (abundance of old knick-knacks), a contemporary singled it out as ‘the best known in private hands' (Daily Free Press 4/5/91). After Rae's death, Glasgow Museums, National Museums Scotland, the University of Aberdeen Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, as well as numerous individual private collectors, purchased items from the collection. Making use of historical and archive materials to explore the individual biography of Rae and his collection, this article examines how Rae's collecting and other antiquarian activities represent and mirror wider developments in both the ‘amateur’ antiquarianism carried out by Rae and his fellow collectors for reasons of self-improvement and moral education, and the ‘professional’ antiquarianism of the museums which purchased his artefacts. Considered in its wider nineteenth-century context, this is a representative case study of the early development of archaeology in the wider intellectual, scientific and social context of the era.

Drowning in negativism, self-hate, doubt, madness: Linguistic insights into Sylvia Plath’s experience of depression

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Demjén
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Medical Humanities ◽  
Sylvia Plath ◽  
Individual Experience ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Linguistic Methods ◽  
Linguistic Approach

This paper demonstrates how a range of linguistic methods can be harnessed in pursuit of a deeper understanding of the ‘lived experience’ of psychological disorders. It argues that such methods should be applied more in medical contexts, especially in medical humanities. Key extracts from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath are examined, as a case study of the experience of depression. Combinations of qualitative and quantitative linguistic methods, and inter- and intra-textual comparisons are used to consider distinctive patterns in the use of metaphor, personal pronouns and (the semantics of) verbs, as well as other relevant aspects of language. Qualitative techniques provide in-depth insights, while quantitative corpus methods make the analyses more robust and ensure the breadth necessary to gain insights into the individual experience. Depression emerges as a highly complex and sometimes potentially contradictory experience for Plath, involving both a sense of apathy and inner turmoil. It involves a sense of a split self, trapped in a state that one cannot overcome, and intense self-focus, a turning in on oneself and a view of the world that is both more negative and more polarized than the norm. It is argued that a linguistic approach is useful beyond this specific case.

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS CASE STUDY OF 2012 INDIAN OCEAN EARTHQUAKES ON THAILAND’S

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raya Muttarak ◽  
Wiraporn Pothisiri
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Disaster Experience ◽  
Individual Household ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Individual

In this paper we investigate how well residents of the Andaman coast in Phang Nga province, Thailand, are prepared for earthquakes and tsunami. It is hypothesized that formal education can promote disaster preparedness because education enhances individual cognitive and learning skills, as well as access to information. A survey was conducted of 557 households in the areas that received tsunami warnings following the Indian Ocean earthquakes on 11 April 2012. Interviews were carried out during the period of numerous aftershocks, which put residents in the region on high alert. The respondents were asked what emergency preparedness measures they had taken following the 11 April earthquakes. Using the partial proportional odds model, the paper investigates determinants of personal disaster preparedness measured as the number of preparedness actions taken. Controlling for village effects, we find that formal education, measured at the individual, household, and community levels, has a positive relationship with taking preparedness measures. For the survey group without past disaster experience, the education level of household members is positively related to disaster preparedness. The findings also show that disaster related training is most effective for individuals with high educational attainment. Furthermore, living in a community with a higher proportion of women who have at least a secondary education increases the likelihood of disaster preparedness. In conclusion, we found that formal education can increase disaster preparedness and reduce vulnerability to natural hazards.

IMF Stabilization Programs, Policy Conduct and Macroeconomic Outcomes: A Case Study of Pakistan

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-62
Author(s):  
Nawaz A. Hakro ◽  
Wadho Waqar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Current Account ◽  
Inflation Rate ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Macroeconomic Policies ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Fiscal Balance ◽  
Macroeconomic Impacts ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Imf

This study is designed to assess the macroeconomic performance of fund-supported programs, and the sequencing and ordering of macroeconomic policies in the context of the Pakistan economy. The generalized evaluation estimator technique has been used to assess the macroeconomic impacts of the IMF supported programs. GDP growth, inflation rate, current account balance, fiscal balance and unemployment are used as the target variables in order to gauge economic performance during the program years. The vector of policy variables (that might have been adopted in the absence of programs) and the vector of foreign exogenous variables are also taken as explanatory variables in the model, so that the individual effect of the IMF supported programs could be assessed. The result suggests that as the IMF prescriptions were applied, the current account balance has worsened, the unemployment rate has significantly increased, and the inflation rate has increased during the years of fund-supported programs. Only the budget balance has shown signs of improvement. Furthermore an inadequate sequencing of reforms has contributed to the further worsening of the economic scenario during the program period.

Withdrawn: Diabetes Mellitus Prognosis Using Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks Case Study: Alexandria Vascular Center (AVC)

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abeer A. Amer ◽  
Soha M. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Vascular Center ◽  
Copyright Permission ◽  
Legal Right

The following article has been withdrawn on the request of the author of the journal Recent Advances in Computer Science and Communications (Recent Patents on Computer Science): Title: Diabetes Mellitus Prognosis Using Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks Case Study: Alexandria Vascular Center (AVC) Authors: Abeer A. Amer and Soha M. Ismail* Bentham Science apologizes to the readers of the journal for any inconvenience this may cause BENTHAM SCIENCE DISCLAIMER: It is a condition of publication that manuscripts submitted to this journal have not been published and will not be simultaneously submitted or published elsewhere. Furthermore, any data, illustration, structure or table that has been published elsewhere must be reported, and copyright permission for reproduction must be obtained. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, and by submitting the article for publication the authors agree that the publishers have the legal right to take appropriate action against the authors, if plagiarism or fabricated information is discovered. By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree that the copyright of their article is transferred to the publishers if and when the article is accepted for publication.

scholarly journals Between Pleasure and Resistance: The Role of Substance Consumption in an Italian Working-Class Subculture

Societies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Placido
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Critical Criminology ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Youth Cultures ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Substance Consumption ◽  
North Western

In this article I discuss how illegal substance consumption can act as a tool of resistance and as an identity signifier for young people through a covert ethnographic case study of a working-class subculture in Genoa, North-Western Italy. I develop my argument through a coupled reading of the work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) and more recent post-structural developments in the fields of youth studies and cultural critical criminology. I discuss how these apparently contrasting lines of inquiry, when jointly used, shed light on different aspects of the cultural practices of specific subcultures contributing to reflect on the study of youth cultures and subcultures in today’s society and overcoming some of the ‘dead ends’ of the opposition between the scholarly categories of subculture and post-subculture. In fact, through an analysis of the sites, socialization processes, and hedonistic ethos of the subculture, I show how within a single subculture there could be a coexistence of: resistance practices and subversive styles of expression as the CCCS research program posits; and signs of fragmentary and partial aesthetic engagements devoid of political contents and instead primarily oriented towards the affirmation of the individual, as argued by the adherents of the post-subcultural position.

A Case Study Demonstrating the Utility of Surveillance Video in Assessing Gait Dynamics and Behavior During a Slip and Fall

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 550-554
Author(s):  
Leah S. Hartman ◽  
Stephanie A. Whetsel Borzendowski ◽  
Alan O. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Gait Pattern ◽  
Personal Injury ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Surveillance Video ◽  
Gait Dynamics ◽  
Fall Incident ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior

As the use of surveillance video at commercial properties becomes more prevalent, it is more likely an incident involving a personal injury will be captured on film. This provides a unique opportunity for Human Factors practitioners involved in forensic investigations to analyze the behavior of the individual prior to, during, and after the event in question. It also provides an opportunity to gather unique and objective data. The present work describes a case study of a slip and fall where surveillance video and onsite measurements were combined and analyzed to quantify a plaintiff’s gait pattern. Using this type of analysis, we were able to determine that the plaintiff was likely aware that the floor was slippery and adjusted her gait and behavior prior to the slip and fall incident.

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