Heavy Piece Research Articles

Health Conditions of Inter-State Migrants in Marine Fisheries: A Study of Kerala

The marine fisheries are one of the vital occupations in the southern parts of India. This industry is considered to be the foundation of revenue generation for these states. Kerala, being located at the southernmost part of India, is promoting this industry with support from inter-state migrant labourers. The inter-state migrants working in Kerala’s maritime industry are from northern and southern India. As a result of higher salaries and improved working conditions in this unskilled sector, people from the North and Eastern parts of the country have started to migrate to Kerala. Indeed, the continual cash flow in this sector makes it lucrative and invites a large influx of migrant labour to this region. These inter-state migrant labourers work for more than eight hours and spend 10 to 15 days at sea while fishing. They have to stay with heavy pieces of equipment at sea away from shore. This heart-wrenching situation deteriorates their health. They come across various kinds of professional injuries while fishing. Some of these fishermen and fisherwomen encounter long-term effects from those injuries. On the other hand, catering to their health needs seems challenging due to the lack of adequate medical facilities for migrant labourers. Following the increase in migratory flow, Kerala’s health system has faced several institutional impediments. The lack of identification of migrant labourers cripples the entire process of providing access to a better healthcare system to them. As a result, inter-state migrant labourers in the marine industry are facing various health-related challenges due to the nature of this profession and the apathy of state machinery. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the health issues affecting the inter-state migrant labourers in Kerala’s marine sector through a mixed-method research design.

Study on corrosion fatigue behavior of heavy piece Ti6Al4V titanium EBW joint in artificial seawater

Titanium alloy has been more and more used in the ocean engineering field. Since the crucial service environment, the corrosion fatigue behavior of the Ti6Al4V alloy EBW joint has been investigated and analyzed. The results show that the grain size of the molten zone decreases gradually from the central line to the base metal symmetrically and the acicular α’ martensite and β phase grain boundaries are the dominating phases of the seam zone. Moreover, the corrosion fatigue crack growth rate of the seam zone was insensitive to the texture of the base metal and crystal orientation of the ti6al4v alloy. It could also be seen that the base metal and the seam zone have different crack growth mechanisms, which is mainly during to the existence of the acicular α‘ martensite in the seam zone and the trend of crack tip energy release. The crack propagation rate of the seam is lower than that of the base metal.

Motion Control System Design for Barge-Type Surface Ships Using Tugboats

Barge ships are designed to transport and assemble heavy and massive pieces of equipment at sea. Active propulsion systems are not installed in this type of ship, so the desirable motion and positioning of these ships can only be achieved with the assistance of several tugboats. In this study, the dynamical characteristics of barge conveying systems were formulated and robust control systems were designed to ensure efficient barge operation. To achieve these objectives, we first developed a mathematical model of a barge ship, which incorporated a novel conveying system configuration using tugboats. We then designed a robust controller for the tugboats that used the sliding mode law to deliver the desired barge motion performance. Finally, the usefulness of the proposed configuration and controller was verified via simulation studies using another system with an H∞ controller. The proposed sliding mode controller showed superiority, especially in terms of robustness against disturbances.

My Mother's Facelift

My Mother's Facelift

Development of the Global Equipment Inventory and Network for Subsea Well Response

ABSTRACT 1141381 The Montara (2009) and Macondo (2010) incidents resulted in step change in safety for the oil & gas industry. Since then many improvements have been implemented to keep the highest standard of safety in drilling operations. Through industry collaboration subsea well response equipment not available at the time of these incidents is now globally accessible. Technology continues to be developed to provide comprehensive response capabilities. A recent area of focus for industry was how to cap an incident well in water depths less than 600 meters where vertical access may not be possible due to hydrocarbons at surface and a possible gas boil in the case of a gas well. An innovative concept was developed, manufactured and tested to deal with a loss of well control event in shallow water. The Offset Installation System (OIS) allows a capping stack to be deployed and installed on a blowing out well in shallow water, deployed and controlled by vessels offset from the incident well. In addition, the OIS can be used for debris clearance, removal of the lower marine riser package (LMRP), and deployment of other subsea response hardware. By virtue of their source control operational function capping stacks are relatively large and heavy pieces of hardware. Despite these physical characteristics, there is expectation by stakeholders and international regulators for capability to transport capping stack equipment across significant distances in an expeditious manner to respond to an incident. For remote areas of the globe, capping stacks air transported as a single unit could provide an effective solution. A key objective in responding to a subsea loss of well control event is the ability to effectively mobilise source control equipment and trained personnel to readily manage an emergency response scenario in a timely manner globally. A number of companies with a range of capabilities will be required to provide a comprehensive response. To further assist, initiatives focused on personnel resources have been developed including a global subsea response network, and continuing industry collaboration for mutual aid of personnel. This paper will provide information on the development of the global subsea response equipment inventory available to industry. Latest developments such as OIS and air freightable capping stacks for transportation to remote areas will be discussed in detail as well as the above-mentioned initiatives for personnel.

Controlling system based on neural networks with reinforcement learning for robotic manipulator

Introduction: Due to its advantages, such as high flexibility and the ability to move heavy pieces with high torques and forces, the robotic arm, also named manipulator robot, is the most used industrial robot. Purpose: We improve the controlling quality of a manipulator robot with seven degrees of freedom in the V-REP program's environment using the reinforcement learning method based on deep neural networks. Methods: Estimate the action signal's policy by building a numerical algorithm using deep neural networks. The action-network sends the action's signal to the robotic manipulator, and the critic-network performs a numerical function approximation to calculate the value function (Q-value). Results: We create a model of the robot and the environment using the reinforcement-learning library in MATLAB and connecting the output signals (the action's signal) to a simulated robot in V-REP program. Train the robot to reach an object in its workspace after interacting with the environment and calculating the reward of such interaction. The model of the observations was done using three vision sensors. Based on the proposed deep learning method, a model of an agent representing the robotic manipulator was built using four layers neural network for the actor with four layers neural network for the critic. The agent's model representing the robotic manipulator was trained for several hours until the robot started to reach the object in its workspace in an acceptable way. The main advantage over supervised learning control is allowing our robot to perform actions and train at the same moment, giving the robot the ability to reach an object in its workspace in a continuous space action. Practical relevance: The results obtained are used to control the behavior of the movement of the manipulator without the need to construct kinematic models, which reduce the mathematical complexity of the calculation and provide a universal solution.

Victoria Cabrera Site: A Middle Stone Age site at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a key site for the study and comprehension of human evolution in East Africa. However, the origin of Homo sapiens and the Middle Stone Age have been poorly understood in the Gorge thus far. In this study, we present the dating, taphonomic, technological and typological analyses of the lithic industry and faunal remains excavated at the Victoria Cabrera Site (VCS) during the 2017 fieldwork season. The stratigraphic sequence of the site contains several levels of fluvial origin, some of them with lithic and faunal remains. Most remains (lithics and bones) are affected by rounding processes. Infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating has provided ages between 90 and 70 ka BP for these layers that can be related to the Marine Isotope Stage 5a. Lithics are scarce and the dominant raw materials are Naibor Soit quarzite and basalt, followed by phonolite, chert and quartz as the most common raw materials. The lithic technology is based on the production of flakes obtained from prepared cores, with the discoid method and, to a lesser extent the Levallois method being the most frequently used. The retouched blanks are described as “substratum” or “domestic” tools (sidescrapers, notches or denticulates). There is just one heavy duty piece and points are absent. The faunal assemblage includes Alcelaphinae, Antilopinae and Equidae. The major parts of the unidentified faunal remains are size 3 ungulates, followed by carcasses of size 2 and size 4 species. We cannot relate lithic and bones because no cut marks or percussion marks have been identified and carnivore action is scarce. In sum, VCS represents the first accurately dated Middle Stone Age site, with lithic and faunal remains in Olduvai Gorge.

Failure of super 13Cr stainless steel due to excessive hardness in the welded joint

Supermartensitic stainless steels (SMSS) with 11–13%Cr were developed to show higher corrosion resistance, toughness and weldability than conventional martensitic stainless steels (MSS). The main compositional characteristics of SMSS's, in a comparison to common MSS's, are the extra low C content, Ni and Mo addition. This new sub-family of stainless steels has been used in the oil and gas offshore production, as tubulars and casings in the wheel. Despite of the extra low C (<0.03%), the mechanical resistance of SMSS's is maintained high due to the addition of Mo (up to 2.0%wt.), and other elements, such as N, W, Nb and or Ti. As a consequence of the extra low C, the martensite of SMSS's is relatively soft and tough, which makes these steels, in theory, much more resistant to cold cracking in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of welds. Nevertheless, for applications in saline environments with CO2 and/or H2S a post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is necessary to reduce the peak of hardness in the HAZ. In the present work, the failure of a mandril for chemical products injection in the wheel made of SMSS is reported. The failure occurred in a welded joint between two heavy forged pieces. The hardness of the HAZ was higher than the minimum allowable to sour service conditions, indicating that the PWHT was not performed or it was done uncorrectly.

Modulation of GABAA Receptors in the Treatment of Epilepsy.

A variety of evidence suggested that an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission could be one of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the occurrence and progression of seizures. Understanding the causes of this imbalance may provide essential insight into the basic mechanisms of epilepsy and may uncover novel targets for future drug therapies. Accordingly, GABA is the most important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS and its receptors (e.g., GABAARs) can still be relevant targets of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Up to now, a variety of modulating agents that directly or indirectly act at GABAARs have been proposed for restoring the physiological balance of excitation and inhibition in the epileptogenic brain. While benzodiazepine, barbiturates and allosteric modulators of GABAARs are well-known for their anticonvulsant effect, new compounds as modulators of chloride homeostasis or phytocannabinoids are not completely unraveled and their antiepileptic action is still matter of debate. In addition, several inflammatory mediators as cytokines and chemokines play an important role in the modulation of GABAAR function, even if further research is needed to translate these new findings from the bench to the bedside. Finally yet importantly, a new frontier in epilepsy research is represented by the observation that specific small noncoding RNAs, namely miRNAs, may regulate GABAAR function paving the road to therapeutic approaches based on the modulation of gene expression. Here, we review key physiological, neuropathological and functional studies that altogether strengthen the role of modulation of GABAARs function as therapeutic target. The discovery of the novel molecular mechanisms underlying the GABAergic transmission in epilepsy represents another heavy piece in the "epileptic puzzle". Even if GABAAR is an old story in the pharmacology of the epilepsy, the reviewed findings suggest that new players in the scenario need to be considered.

Influence of the machine tool compliance on the dynamic performance of the servo drives

The development of large machinery in the industry of the machine tool implies moving heavy structural components and pieces. The consequence is the apparition of inaccuracies at the tool tip during the motion due to the high inertial forces acting on the compliant machine. To predict the dynamic behavior of these machines, a three degree of freedom mechatronic model has been developed considering the dynamics of the transmission chain of the drive, the machine structural element dynamics, and the control. The model can be used in the design stage to estimate the maximum jerk that can be commanded without the appearance of overshoot at the tool tip. Also, it can be used to predict the bandwidth of the whole mechatronic system. The model has been tested in a ball screw-based test bench with a compliant mass that simulates the structural compliance of a real large machine tool.

Incidence of plastic debris in Sooty Tern nests: A preliminary study on Trindade Island, a remote area of Brazil

Plastic is abundant in the oceans, reaching pelagic zones away from continents. Here we present the first recordings of plastic used as nest material in Sooty Tern nests, on a remote oceanic island. We describe our findings in terms of quantity, size and color of plastic debris. A total of 78 plastics were noted in 54 nests. Four color categories were found: Blue, White, Green and Red. Blue fragments were the most frequent color, present three times as much as white debris. This pattern was present despite blue fragments being smaller and lighter. The plastic debris of lowest frequency were the larger and heavier pieces (red). To our knowledge this is the first record of plastic in Sooty Tern nests. Trindade Island is on an oceanic zone expected to accumulate garbage due to the dynamic ocean currents. Such findings call for a closer inspection of pollution in the Atlantic Ocean.

3D measuring and segmentation method for hot heavy forging

Non-contact, three-dimensional (3D) measurements of hot heavy forgings (HHFs) are desirable for permitting real-time process control, whereas most current methods are usually inconvenient or invalid due to the difficulty in dealing with the hot heavy forgings. This paper presents a new measuring and combined segmentation approach that employs a two-dimensional (2D) laser radar with additional rotation driven by the servomotor that scans the forgings to acquire a massive 3D point cloud dataset. From this dataset, the desired forging part is roughly distinguished from the background based on the angle and distance continuity constraints, and then refined by the curvature-based border extraction method and further segmented by the hierarchical clustering analysis method. Finally, the feature points are extracted based on the normal vector variation and fitted to convey the 3D information. This novel method has been verified by experiments both in the laboratory and the forging workshop for hot heavy forging pieces, with a dimension error of less than 2%. These results indicate that the proposed approach is more practical and convenient than current methods for real-time, on-site measurements of HHFs.

Handling Heavier Loads in Construction

Heavy lifting and exceptional transport equipment has been developed in an amazing way in the last two decades. Some years ago, transporting and lifting elements with the weights and sizes that we are capable to transport and lift nowadays was inconceivable. Big cranes were used to lift few hundreds of tons but now projects go up to thousand tons and at very important working radius, alternative heavy lift systems such as gantries, jacks, etc. are used for special jobs and, regarding transportation, Self- Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT) have been developing, increasing in number, and over 14.000 ton platforms have been moved on wheels. Shipping is also adapting fast to this scenario with higher capacity geared vessels and other type of multimodal ships.This capacity increase is being used in civil and industrial construction (occasionally even in building construction) by developing prefabrication and modularization since it opens the possibility to handle bigger and heavier pieces. The advantages for construction are very important: better safety because work can be achieved without working on heights, better quality because of working in a more controlled environment (prefabrication yards, factories, etc.), improving the schedules by working on several parts simultaneously, price reductions by optimizing construction methods, global sequence and locations.

Traumatic Rupture of the Coracobrachialis Muscle: A Case Report.

Rupture of the coracobrachialis muscle is extremely rare; to the best of our knowledge, rupture of this muscle from indirect, nonpenetrating trauma has yet to be reported1,2. This case report describes a distal coracobrachialis rupture that was caused by indirect trauma. Because of the progression of the injury and its clinical presentation, along with the rarity of a coracobrachialis rupture, the patient was initially diagnosed with a distal biceps tendon rupture at an outside institution, which delayed treatment. The coracobrachialis muscle functions as a flexor of the shoulder. Additionally, it serves as an adductor and internal rotator of the shoulder and stabilizes the shoulder joint when the arm is at the side. It inserts via a flat tendon in the middle third of the humerus, between the origins of the brachialis and triceps muscles3. It is important to be aware of the rare rupture of the coracobrachialis muscle because it may be misdiagnosed as a distal biceps tendon rupture. We aim to emphasize the importance of recognizing this unusual injury and to present a surgical treatment option. The patient was informed that data concerning the case would be submitted for publication, and he provided consent. A forty-one-year-old oil rig worker was lifting a heavy piece of equipment by elevating his arm and flexing his elbow when the machine suddenly jerked. He felt a tearing sensation and had substantial pain and deformity in the right arm. Initially, he was seen by an emergency physician, who diagnosed a distal biceps tendon rupture because of the bulging deformity at the medial aspect of the upper arm, as well as weakness and pain during elbow flexion. He did poorly with nonoperative treatment and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon for consultation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the right …

Two strings to choose from: do ravens pull the easier one?

There are simple co-occurrences as well as functional relationships between events. One may assume that animals detect and use causation rather than mere co-variation. However, understanding causation often requires concepts of hidden forces. In string pulling, obstacles may hamper the access to food. Here, I studied whether ravens have an abstract concept of effort. First, in a competitive situation, ravens (Corvus corax) could choose one out of two strings. The strings differed in whether they were baited with meat and in how far away the meat was. Ravens pulled mainly the string containing meat and where the meat was nearer to the perch, respectively. Second, ravens could choose between two strings that had either a functional obstacle or a non-functional obstacle. Optimal performance required the integration of at least two cues: object and height. In 5 ravens, the model that best matched behaviour took into account only that meat was on a string, ignoring the obstacle. However, 2 ravens' performance was best explained by a model that took into account both an object's identity (meat or wood) and its height on the string. Third, one string out of two was loaded with a heavy meat piece. In this overloaded string condition, 5 out of 7 ravens did not try to pull the heavy meat piece but went straight for pulling the smaller piece. The pattern of results indicated that ravens can judge the effort required to pull a string.

Artileria cetăţii Timişoara la 1716 / The Guns Of The Fortress Of Timişoara (Temesvar) in 1716

On October 13, 1716, the ottoman garrison of Timişoara (Temesvar) surrendered after a 43 days lasting siege to fi eldmarshall prince Eugene of Savoy, commander in chief of the Habsburg army. According to the terms of capitulation, Mustafa pasha, the last governor (beylerbey) of Timişoara, was forced to hand over all the guns, shells and gunpowder located in the fortress. Until October 26, prince Eugene’s offi cers have made a full inventory-list (kept today in Vienna, at the Kriegsarchiv, and published by us) of the captured Ottoman artillery material. On this basis, we are now in position to rebuild the image of the Ottoman artillery at Timişoara in the eve of the siege from September-October 1716, as well as the losses suff ered during the 43 days of the battle.On August 31, being surrounded, the ottoman fortress of Timişoara – the largest in the region after the fortress of Belgrade – was defended by 156 guns: 123 bronze fi eldguns (with calibers ranging from a quarter pound to 48 pounds/weight of the shells), 16 iron fi eldguns (with calibers ranging from half a pound to 70 pounds), 9 bronze morters (with calibers ranging from 60 to l00 pounds) end 8 howitzers (with calibers ranging from one pound to 48 pounds). During the siege, 62 guns (41%) were completely destroyed, while 92 pieces (59%) survived, being used by the Imperials to defend Timi şoara. 120 guns (76,9% from the originally 156 were small caliber pieces (from a quarter pound to 12 pounds), 23 (14,8%) were medium caliber guns (from 15 to 36 pounds) and the remaining 13 were heavy caliber pieces (from 48 to 100 pounds). 84 guns of Timişoara (53,8%) were made in Ottoman gunneries, while the remaining 72 (46,2%) were German, Austrian and Transylvanian pieces from the 16th–17th centuries, seized by the Ottoman army during the battles with the Habsburgic troops. While 41 ottoman guns (48,9%) were completely des troyed during the siege, the remaining 43 (51,1%) have been kept by the Imperials to defend Timişoara. As for the occidental guns, only 5 pieces were prior to 1552, when the fortress of Timişoara was taken after an Ottoman siege. Other 8 guns were from the second half of the 16th century, among them 2 Transylvanian pieces, most probably seized by the Ottomans during the unsuccesful siege of Timişoara by prince Sigismund Bathory in 1597. Several pieces are marked with the name of the German, Austrian or Italian gunmaster (e.g. from Nürnberg, Augsburg, Pressburg, Salzburg, Cremona or Milan) and the date of their manufacture. &amp; e 35 German and Austrian guns from the 17th century – most of them from the last two decades – landed in Timişoara as a result of the military clashes between the Habsburgs and the Ottomanic Porte, especially during the long war from 1683 to 1699. At the same time, we have to point out, that the Ottoman fortress of Timişoara was very well provided with shells and gunpowder. After its surrender, the imperial army captures here 13.022 diff erent shells, 2.823 centennials (about 158 metric tons) of gunpowder and about 2.000 centennials (about 112 metric tons) of leadplates.

Excerpt from Sasha's Harlem: Vol 1 of The Nightmares of Sasha Weitzwoman

Sasha’s Harlem Excerpt from The Nightmares of Sasha Weitzwoman Batya Weinbaum (bio) Isaac was proud to be a Jew, it was true, especially an Iranian, as there weren’t many of his sort of traditional Persian family in Israel. But he was sick of this keeping kosher, and of the blossoming put-on holy sacredness of the Mea Shearim neighborhood his ramshackle hotel was in, which is why inwardly he had been glad that Shy, who was really religious, had actually left him. This Isaac thought as he turned past the photography shop on his corner, passed the dry cleaners and falafel shop and turned towards the hotel. Old Daniel began singing under the torrential Jerusalem rain out in the courtyard as Isaac turned in. Isaac sat down at his desk, fingering his left earlobe. He was a twin in the Zodiac—a Gemini, with Sagittarius, and Cancer—he couldn’t remember the word in English. Once Tamir, holding Isaac’s palm after a massage in the baths around the block before the fanatical fundamentalist rabbis had burned them, saying there was no place for gays in Jerusalem, had told Isaac that he looked into the lives of all the people who came to him, and saw, underneath, [End Page 57] their living. Isaac ran a cheap hotel, a hostel-like place in the midst of Jerusalem for all the lost souls, people who couldn’t make it in the world, the Black Sheep, cut off from family. They returned to him, repeatedly. Like Sasha, that Americanit who poses as a journalist and says she comes to cover peace demonstrations of women. She couldn’t be, really. A woman that age should already be married, with children. How crazy to deny that life force within her. And like Old Daniel, in white beard and black coat singing. Daniel had an apartment, and children, but chose to stay here with the comforting Isaac rather than in his own place or with them. All the residents crawled on top of each other and burst out of the cracks, tripping over each other to get the free tea and coffee in themorning in the lobby, like flies crawling over a pail of garbage sometimes surprising those who had checked in taking the place for a normal hotel. But Isaac’s business wasn’t tourism. Now he could send the tourists over to Shy’s place, the hostel Isaac had helped Shy open by the bus station. Isaac had sent some of the excess furniture over to help his former employee once Isaac didn’t have so many rooms to equip any more, to indicate his blessings. Since Isaac’s mother had died, he had gouged out the communal kitchen that had been at the center of the hotel and—as a compromise with the neighborhood—he had rented space to a yeshiva. So the lobby before him and behind his back was piled high—the excess hostel furniture, the furniture that Shy hadn’t yet picked up from him. Shy thought it such a momentous labor to get all the damn heavy pieces out, the clutter of large mahogany. And so here Isaac sat in the crowded lobby filled with wardrobes, dressers, tables and beds, inlaid elaborately with mosaic wooden pieces. He knew anyway that the people he was interested in housing would come, over and over again. He could count on a steady stream of them to appear from all corners of the map and the bus station, be it from Jerusalem, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, NY, America or other cities, villages, frontier towns in Israel. They came to him, the lost and suffering Jews and Israelites whose souls and maybe even hearts needed binding. He continued ignoring demands for towels, hot water, heat and toilet paper from groups of Romanian religious clamoring in front of him. Though sitting behind his desk, Isaac was somewhere else, distractedly remp minding himself not to stare at the girl if she came back, claiming to cover some big demo, remembering how she had said enough is enough, tired and irritated with his overly-Zionist consciousness, when he was telling her in the kitchen...

A Doped Derivative-Free Algorithm

We propose a new class of algorithms to solve unconstrained nonlinear optimization problems, building on the framework of derivative-free methods. In many real applications, namely those involving running heavy pieces of software to compute the objective function, the derivatives are available, but at a prohibitive cost, involving finite differences or automatic differentiation. This justifies the use of derivative-free methods. The idea proposed in this paper is to improve the speed of convergence of such methods by allowing the algorithm to evaluate the derivatives from time to time, in such a way that the time spent in this evaluation is compensated by the faster convergence. We illustrate the superiority of the proposed approach on standard test problems.

A DOPED DERIVATIVE-FREE ALGORITHM

AbstractWe propose a new class of algorithms to solve unconstrained nonlinear optimization problems, building on the framework of derivative-free methods. In many real applications, namely those involving running heavy pieces of software to compute the objective function, the derivatives are available, but at a prohibitive cost, involving finite differences or automatic differentiation. This justifies the use of derivative-free methods. The idea proposed in this paper is to improve the speed of convergence of such methods by allowing the algorithm to evaluate the derivatives from time to time, in such a way that the time spent in this evaluation is compensated by the faster convergence. We illustrate the superiority of the proposed approach on standard test problems.

Le courant du Labrador et quelques-unes de ses conséquences géographiques

Le courant du Labrador et quelques-unes de ses conséquences géographiques