Equipment Planning Research Articles

Scheduling of emergency tasks for multiservice UAVs in post-disaster scenarios

Single-task UAVs are increasingly being employed to carry out surveillance, parcel delivery, communication support, and other specific tasks. When the geographical area of operation of single-task missions is common, e.g., in post-disaster recovery scenarios, it is more efficient to have multiple tasks carried out as part of a single UAV mission. In these scenarios, the UAVs’ equipment and mission plan must be carefully selected to minimize the carried load and overall resource consumption. In this paper, we investigate the joint planning of multitask missions leveraging a fleet of UAVs equipped with a standard set of accessories enabling heterogeneous tasks. To this end, an optimization problem is formulated yielding the optimal joint planning and deriving the resulting quality of the delivered tasks. In addition, two heuristic solutions are developed for large-scale environments to cope with the increased complexity of the optimization framework. The joint planning is applied to a specific scenario of a flood in the San Francisco area. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic solutions, which provide good performance and allow for drastic savings in the computational time required to plan the UAVs’ trajectories with respect to the optimal approach, thus enabling prompt reaction to the emergency events.

Inpatient Dialysis Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Single-Center Experience and Review of the Literature.

BackgroundCOVID-19 has created havoc in healthcare systems worldwide, including shortages in equipment and supplies for dialysis in the acute setting.MethodsWe compared our planning and experience at a tertiary care academic medical center to recommendations in the literature.ResultsPublished literature and our experience underscored the need to plan for adequate dialysis equipment, particularly for continuous renal replacement therapy in the ICU setting, adequate nursing, and flexible scheduling of chronic patients to accommodate the surge in acute patients. We discovered other “shortages” not mentioned in the literature: shortages in the number of portable reverse osmosis (RO) machines needed to prepare dialysis water, inadequate number of rooms in units designated for COVID-19 patients with plumbing for dialysis, and lack of temperature blending valves on sinks that necessitated using cold water only, and damaging the RO membranes. We identified the need for cooperation between nephrology and critical care medicine, hospital-based and community nephrologists and community dialysis units as well as nephrologists at other hospitals in the region. We turned to guidance from the hospital ethics committee.ConclusionPlanning for an expected surge in hospitalized patients requiring RRT demands coordination between critical care, dialysis and nursing services as well as community and hospital providers to make certain there are adequate dialysis resources. Our experience suggests that continuous dialysis is in greatest demand early in the illness, and that plans to increase supplies should be put in place. But, planning should also focus on unforeseen hospital-specific infrastructure shortages that can develop over time and hamper intermittent dialysis delivery to all patients who require treatment.

Transcranial cavitation localization by time difference of arrival algorithm using four sensors

Cavitation is widely existing in focused ultrasound (FUS)-mediated therapies in the brain, such as FUS in combination with microbubble-induced blood-brain barrier disruption, nonthermal ablation, as well as transcranial histotripsy therapy. Accurately knowing the 3-D location of cavitation in real time can improve the treatment targeting accuracy and avoid off-target tissue damage. However, the skull induces strong phase and amplitude aberration to the cavitation signals and presents a significant challenge to the transcranial cavitation localization. Existing techniques for 3-D cavitation localization use hemispherical multi-element arrays combined with passive beamforming and adaptive skull-specific correction algorithm. However, these techniques require expensive equipment and treatment planning. Their time-consuming computations limit applications in real-time cavitation monitoring, which is critically needed to ensure the safety and efficacy of the FUS treatment. The object of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using a four-sensor network to transcranially locate the cavitation source in 3-D by time difference of arrival algorithm. The positional error of transcranial cavitation localization with the human skull along x, y, and z axes were 1.7 ± 1.2 mm, 1.6 ± 1.7 mm, and 4.1 ± 1.5 mm, respectively. For comparison, the positional error of without the human skull were 1.2 ± 1.8 mm, 0.9 ± 1.6 mm, and 3.1 ± 2.3 mm, respectively.

Correlates of Perceived Physical Activity Transitions during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Canadian Adults.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to explore socio‐ecological predictors of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) as a result of the COVD‐19 pandemic restrictions.MethodA representative sample of 1,055 English‐speaking Canadians (18+ years) completed measures of MVPA during the COVID‐19 restrictions and reflecting on MVPA prior to these restrictions, as well as demographics, COVID‐19‐related cognitions and behavior (i.e. perceived threat, social distancing), psychological factors (e.g. personality traits, habit, identity, strategic planning), social factors (e.g. dependent children, co‐habitation), home environment affordances (exercise equipment, programming) and the neighborhood environment (e.g. access to outdoor recreation, neighborhood safety).ResultsParticipants perceived that they had decreased weekly MVPA (p < .01) and the availability of home equipment and strategic planning were critical predictors (p < .01). Profiles by MVPA guidelines, however, showed that 58 per cent of the sample had not changed and 6 per cent had increased MVPA. Identity was the critical predictor of the different MVPA profiles, followed by habit, extraversion, availability of home equipment, and the age of the participant (p < .01).ConclusionPandemic restrictions have affected the MVPA of many Canadians, and variables across the socio‐ecological spectrum explain who has been able to maintain MVPA during this unprecedented time.

Construction of a value-based equipment development decision analysis index system

This article summarizes the feasibility and related achievements of the value-focused thinking in the field of equipment development. On this basis, in response to previous equipment development decisions that mainly considered combat effectiveness, this paper analyzes equipment development decision-making issues from the two dimensions of mission and resource constraints from the perspective of value, constructs a decision value model, and sets a scoring function for it, Using the final value score as the basis for the selection of equipment plans, aiming to provide a method reference for the decision-making of China’s equipment construction plans.

Estimation of the future fracture epidemiology in the patients applying to the emergency department with long short time memory method

Operation rooms, human resources and equipment planning are essential for increasing the effectiveness of diagnostic and treatment methods in line with the needs of emergency cases. In this study, 151822 patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) within 3 years were examined in three categories including gender, fracture sites and causes of fracture. However, fracture cases were treated as time series and Long Short Time Memory (LSTM) method was used to estimate the number of future fracture cases. In the learning phase, the number of monthly cases in the next 6 months was estimated using 30-month case numbers. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean relative Error (MRE) values of the error rate between the estimated and actual number of cases were given.

Simulation-Based Multi-Criteria Optimization of Parallel Heat Treatment Furnaces at a Casting Manufacturer

This paper presents the development and evaluation of a digital method for multi-criteria optimized production planning and control of production equipment in a case-study of an Austrian metal casting manufacturer. Increased energy efficiency is a major requirement for production enterprises, especially for energy intensive production sectors such as casting. Despite the significant energy-efficiency potential through optimized planning and the acknowledged application potential for sophisticated simulation-based methods, digital tools for practical planning applications are still lacking. The authors develop a planning method featuring a hybrid (discrete-continuous) simulation-based multi-criteria optimization (a multi-stage hybrid heuristic and metaheuristic method) for a metal casting manufacturer and apply it to a heat treatment process, that requires order batching and sequencing/scheduling on parallel machines, considering complex restrictions. The results show a ~10% global goal optimization potential, including traditional business goals and energy efficiency, with a ~6% energy optimization. A basic feasibility demonstration of applying the method to synchronize energy demand with fluctuating supply by considering flexible energy prices is conducted. The method is designed to be included in the planning loop of metal casting companies: receiving orders, machine availability, temperature data and (optional) current energy market price-data as input and returning an optimized plan to the production-IT systems for implementation.

A Semi-quantitative Approach Development for Risk-based Inspection in a Petrochemical Plant

BACKGROUND: Recently, oil and gas industries have focused on risk-based methods to specifically compile inspection, maintenance, and management strategies worldwide.&#x0D; AIM: The provided method in this study is a management tool to recognize and then prioritize the equipment’s risks and, consequently, propose an inspection plan based on these risks. In fact, it is a risk analysis aspect of an inspection plan for industrial equipment.&#x0D; MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study is performed on de-ethanizer unit, considering variety of process equipment including distillation tower, exchanger, pressure vessel, drum, and related piping. To initiate the study, first, the risk-based inspection (RBI) team formed, then all required data were gathered and 22 equipment were identified based on the method.&#x0D; RESULTS: After RBI be performed and risks are estimated, 13.6% of equipment rated on high risk, 63.63% rated on medium risk, and 22.72% rated on low-risk classification. Based on specific risk criteria for equipment, we determined new parameters as inspection level and type of inspection and finally integrated them. As one of the obtained results, the overhaul maintenance of the unit was postponed to a later time and for equipment that should inspect before this year, reduction risk strategy and advance none distractive test defined, and their inspection time also postpone to 2015 from 2012 to 2013.&#x0D; CONCLUSION: This decision results in saving a shutdown cost, inspection cost, reduction of failure, and increasing of equipment reliability factor. The result of this study will be helpful to assist similar industries improving their risk management plans.

ОЦЕНКА ТЕМПЕРАТУРНОГО ШУМА СВОБОДНОЙ ТЕПЛОВОЙ КОНВЕКЦИИ В ВОДОНАПОЛНЕННЫХ БУРОВЫХ СКВАЖИНАХ ПО ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНЫМ ДАННЫМ

Актуальность. Температурные исследования в скважинах используются для решения широкого круга разведочных, промыслово-геофизических, экологических, гидрогеологических, геодинамических задач. Появление новых температурных датчиков и систем регистрации существенно расширяет возможности скважинной термометрии, одновременно предъявляя повышенные требования к точности измерений, которые часто не могут быть удовлетворены в реальных скважинных условиях вследствие влияния температурного шума, вызываемого свободной тепловой конвекцией жидкости. Эффективное планирование аппаратуры и методик температурных измерений в скважинах требует оценки амплитуды температурного шума. Цель: обоснование математических моделей, позволяющих оценивать уровень температурного шума, вызываемого свободной тепловой конвекцией. Методы: статистический анализ данных, полученных с помощью лабораторных экспериментов, в ходе температурного каротажа и мониторинга температуры в реальных скважинах. Результаты. Обоснован оптимальный параметр оценки уровня температурного шума – среднеквадратическое отклонение температурных колебаний. Разработаны модели различной сложности, позволяющие оценивать амплитуду конвективного шума в зависимости от геотермического градиента, внутреннего радиуса скважины и числа Рэлея. Предложенные модели позволяют более эффективно обосновать выбор аппаратуры и методики температурного каротажа и температурного мониторинга скважин в зависимости от соотношения «полезный сигнал/температурный шум».

OBLIQUE IMAGES AND DIRECT PHOTOGRAMMETRY WITH A FIXED WING PLATFORM: FIRST TEST AND RESULTS IN HIERAPOLIS OF PHRYGIA (TK)

Abstract. The complex archaeological site documentation benefits for a long time now from the aerial point of view and remote sensing methods. Moreover, the recent research on UAV photogrammetry platform equipment and flight planning actively contribute in this sense for a scaling improvement and cost-benefits balance. Frequently, the experiences on articulated topographic profiles in archaeological excavations require not only a multi-sensor approach but also and above all a multiscale one. According to this line, in a general time-cost ration framework, the geometric content of the generated DSMs should be complete of nadir and oblique point of view for the accurate 3D reconstruction of both upstanding buildings and excavations. In the same way, also the radiometric content closely depends on sensor payload quality and is strictly affected by excavation site condition, related to the site material and light. In this research, carried out in the impressive archaeological site of the ancient city of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey) in the autumn 2019 campaign, the main goal was to evaluate and validate the overall performance of a novel UAV fix-wing ultralight platform with onboard GNSS receiver for RTK/PPK processing of cameras positioning and with the possibility of oblique images capturing. The expected contribute in terms of the acquisition, processing time, radiometric enhancement and geometry 3D reconstruction will be explored with preliminary test and outcomes, and with the results of the high-scale DSM and orthoimage generation of the complete Hierapolis site.

Research on Open Mining Intelligent Equipment Based on Internet

Based on the establishment of mines, the use of advanced industrial Internet technology, based on the solid model and block model, using 3DMine smart equipment software to study the intelligent collection equipment of open pit mines, through the intelligent research of equipment, research and development It has developed advanced quota intelligent equipment, including intelligent sorting system and intelligent collection device system, etc., and discussed the influence and application of different intelligent equipment in the state of open pit mine. The preliminary design provides a technical plan and decision basis for smart equipment.

Resilience‐based tri‐level framework for simultaneous transmission and substation expansion planning considering extreme weather‐related events

In this study, a new resilience-based framework is presented for multi-period simultaneous transmission and substation expansion planning (ST&SEP) considering extreme weather-related events (EWEs). The formation of the proposed planning framework falls into a tri-level optimisation problem with the aim of strengthening power network resilience in response to the EWEs. In the lower-level problem, short-term remedial corrective strategies of the independent system operator (ISO) after the EWEs are determined by applying network reconfiguration and generation redispatch. In the intermediate-level problem, an enhanced scenario-building approach is developed to model and analyse the EWEs, as non-random uncertain events, and their subsequent detrimental effects using the notion of the fragility curves corresponding to power network components. In the upper-level problem, however, long-term remedial preventive strategies of the ISO, as network planner, after the EWEs are obtained through integrated decisions between multi-period ST&SEP and transmission switching equipment planning. The newly proposed planning framework is formulated as a large-scale mixed-integer non-linear tri-level optimisation problem and is solved by a powerful symphony orchestra search algorithm in order to obtain the final optimal solution. The proposed planning framework is examined on the real-world large-scale Iranian 400-kV power transmission network and its profitableness is assured by thorough simulation studies.

Current Possession Status of Laboratories and Laboratory Equipment and Measures for Standardization for Biomedical Laboratory Science

In this study, we tried to develop a standardization plan for practical biomedical laboratory science training equipment. We did this by researching biomedical laboratory science labs, experimental training rooms, and practical equipment possession status. A questionnaire survey was conducted canvassing professors of biomedical laboratory science from May 10, 2019 to August 31, 2019. In regards to clinical pathology and laboratory holdings, 87.8% of the respondents had 3 or more laboratories. The same was true for biomedical laboratory science where 87.8% of respondents had 3 or more laboratories. It was found that 43.5% of the respondents said that they had one training preparation room, and 17.4% did not have any. This survey discovered that more than 90% of the biomedical laboratory science departments are equiped with spectrophotometer and practice equipment set and blood glucometer, blood collection practice set, manual blood cell count practice set, staining practice equipment and facilities, ESR practice set, blood type training set, general bacteria incubators, rotary microtome, water bath for histology, and PCR equipment set.

The Management of Heavy Equipment Retribution on the Increasing of Original Local Government Revenue in Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing of Aceh Jaya Regency

The purpose of this research is to find out and analyze the management of heavy equipment levies to increase original local government revenue of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Aceh Jaya Regency. And also To find out and analyze the management of heavy equipment rental services in original local government revenue of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Aceh Jaya Regency. The conclusion of the research shows that the management of heavy equipment levies on the increase in original local government revenue of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Aceh Jaya Regency both related to the planning, regulation and supervision of heavy equipment has not been going well. While the financing aspect shows that the large operational budget needed for heavy equipment maintenance causes and puts a burden on the region, because the budget comes from the Aceh Jaya Regency APBk. Whereas the original local government revenue of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Aceh Jaya Regency deposit is always below the target set, the heavy equipment solid has a great potential for increasing original local government revenue of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Aceh Jaya Regency. Management of heavy equipment rental services related to service procedures, service commitments and time of rental. In connection with the procedure of renting services, it can run well because in the service procedure for renting heavy equipment rental activities, it must fill out the form provided and attach an identity in the form of a Identity Card and then ferment it. This is going well and in accordance with the rules that have been determined so that it can run well. Likewise with the commitment to leasing heavy equipment has been agreed between parties both personal leasing and rental for groups. Likewise with the time of rental daily and also monthly is not a problem, but many do rent on a monthly basis.

Global Anesthesia in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Anesthesia for oral and maxillofacial procedures during volunteer surgical missions requires careful planning of personnel, equipment, supplies, and coordination with the host medical institution. Cleft lip and palate repair are the most common oral and maxillofacial surgeries performed, and can be performed safely in low-resource environments when proper care and planning is taken.

Design of a Magnet and Gradient Coils for a Tabletop Liquid-Helium-Free, Persistent-Mode 1.5-T MgB$_2$ Osteoporosis MRI

We have finalized the design of a full-scale tabletop 1.5-T/90-mm MgB <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> finger MRI magnet system for osteoporosis screening based on our preliminary test results of small coils and superconducting joints. The magnet will operate in persistent mode at 10 K with an additional 5 K temperature margin. The magnet design which includes six main coils and an iron shield satisfies the required specification of a field intensity of 1.5 T, homogeneity of ≤5 ppm over a 20-mm diameter of spherical volume, and a fringe field of ≤5 gauss at 0.5 m in radius from the magnet center. An active protection method using external heaters will be applied to prevent a local hot spot in the MgB <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> windings from being overheated when quench occurs. Active shield transverse and axial gradient coils for this tabletop osteoporosis MRI, having primary and shield coil pairs, are designed to minimize stray fields that can induce eddy currents on nearby metal surface and thus imaging artifacts. This paper covers design and analysis of: 1) the main coils and iron shield; 2) coil former; 3) quench protection; and 4) active shield gradient coils. We also discuss design changes of the cryostat and equipment plan for the overall system. The magnet system will be completed and then, equipped with other MRI hardware components including an in-house-made gradient coil assembly and RF coils for demonstration of 1.5-T finger MRI in 2020.

Dividing the Emergency Department into Red, Yellow, and Green Zones to Control COVID-19 Infection; a Letter to Editor.

COVID-19, in certain respects, can be viewed as a CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear) event due to being a consequence of SARS-CoV2 virus (the "contaminant"). We, thus, reorganized our emergency department (ED) into 3 distinct zones (red, yellow, and green) for the purpose of infection control. Patients with high or medium risk of COVID-19 infection are managed in the red zones. Low-risk patients are managed in the yellow zones. All patients are prohibited to enter the green zones. Green zones are used by healthcare providers (HCPs) for personal protective equipment (PPE) donning, inventory, planning, and dining. Only HCPs who work in the red zones are required to use full level PPE (aerosol precaution). HCPs working in the yellow zones require less PPE (contact and droplet precaution). No PPE is required in the green zones. Establishing red, yellow, and green zones in the ED can be helpful in reducing cross-infections and minimizing demand for PPE.

Building services in timber construction – Investigation on difficulties and reliefs during the installation procedures in multi-storey timber residential buildings

Multi-storey timber construction has undergone a strong positive development in Austria in recent years. However, while there are constant advancements in materials, construction technologies, production stages and assembly methods in timber construction itself, the design as well as the installation procedures of building services in multi-storey timber buildings lags far behind these technological progresses. The principles of planning and installation of building equipment are generally similar to those within solid mineral constructions that could be identified in the holistic research project TGA-Timber. A comprehensive investigation of the installation procedure on 3 multi-storey timber-construction projects has been carried on site and during prefabrication within the past 2 years in Austria at Graz University of Technology. The emphasis was set on the identification of disorders and delays caused by installation procedure of HVAC-building equipment in timber construction. The results of this research release the large potential of optimisation of piping runs as well as time- und cost savings within the installations process of building equipment as part of an overall economical optimisation. This publication is an excerpt of the results generated for these construction site analysis and deals in particular with difficulties and disturbances that have occurred.

Application of multiparameter method as an assistance to the evaluation of the need for replacement of medical equipments

– The medical equipments (EM) are increasingly decisive and essential in modern medicine and medical and hospital care. For the EM contribute effectively and to the health organizations to use them more productively, it is necessary to carry out the management of the life cycle of the same. A decisive factor in this cycle of life is to know when a piece of equipment must be replaced. It is observed the absence of defined and clear methods to assist in the clinical engineering and hospital management, in deciding and prioritizing which EM need to be replaced. This work demonstrates a practical application in an equipment park. As a result, the classification of EM as the prioritization of substitution was obtained with respect to diversity, quantity and cost of the equipment shown to be replaced. The application of this method may contribute to increased quality of installed equipment and budget planning of hospital investments.

Perencanaan Kebutuhan Alat Gali-Muat dan Angkut dengan Kapasitas Ore Getting 200 m3/jam pada Rencana Penambangan PT Timah (Persero) Tbk

PT Timah (Persero) Tbk is a company engaged in mining especially tin. Tin is one of the most important deposits in the development of world technology. PT Timah (Persero) Tbk has an important role in the procurement of tin in the world. In mining, the mine planning stage is very important before the exploitation stage. At the planning stage of a mine will be planned in such a way as to obtain optimal results. One of the stages of mine planning is the planning of the required load equipment and haul equipment. PT Timah (Persero) Tbk plans to open a mine with open pit system that is using mechanical equipment in Mining Permit Area of West Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province. The mine plan has an ore-gain capacity of 200 m3/hour, requiring the planning of load and haul equipment to meet the ore getting capacity and stripping of overburden and haul geometry in general. Based on the factors that exist in the mine, the load equipment used is the excavator and haul equipment used is Articulared Dumpt Truck. By taking the cycle time as a reference and then converted by the distance of overburden stripping and ore getting activity every year, then can be known the productivity of equipment and the amount of equipment required each activity every year. The number of equipment required is at least 1 load equipment and 4 haul equipment, while the most are 4 load equipment and 13 haul equipment. The geometry of the haul road based on the specification of the haul equipment at the location of the plan has the width of the haul road on a 12 meter straight road, the haul road width at 21 meters, and the 9,1 meter bend radius