Interlocking System Research Articles

Processing of the Quench Detection Signals for CS Model Coil of CFETR

The Center Solenoid Model Coil (CSMC) is a pre-research project of CFETR, and its task is to design and manufacture the CS superconducting model coil to gain wider experience in solving the related technical problems existing in design and construction of CFETR CS coils. The expected achievement is to charge the CSMC up to the operation current of 47.65 kA and the maximum magnetic field to 12 T with a swift rump rate of 1.5 T/s without quench. Although adequate operational margins have been taken into in the design to avoid the quenches, such events cannot be completely excluded in the life of the CSMC. In order to prevent quench from damaging the CSMC, the quench detection by voltage measurements plays an important role in the protection of the CSMC during commissioning and operation scenarios. To improve the accuracy and reliability of CSMC quench detection, an all-digital quench detection system based on FPGA has been designed for the processing of quench detection signals. This paper describes the design of the quench detection signal processing system, including the composition of quench detection units, the auxiliary compensation for further denoising, the discriminant of quench, and the safety interlock system.

Traffic Capacity Assessment of the Selected Track Section on the Slovak Railways Network after the Implementation of ETCS L3 Based on Signaling Principle

In the field of railway operation, it is essential to establish uniform conditions for interconnectivity requirements and compatibility of equipment in the Pan-European railway area to ensure effective interoperability. It also includes, for example, the introduction of a control system with modern and advanced interlocking systems (safety devices). The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a single European train protection system that will increase safety in rail transport. Nevertheless, this system may have an impact on the throughput on those railway lines where it is applied. The main research objective is to determine the impacts and effects of the configuration of track signaling equipment on the operational management of traffic and especially on the creation of a traffic plan. The optimization of transport processes on the railway infrastructure means creating the conditions for achieving higher throughput performance, especially including a higher number of train paths into the train traffic diagram. This paper examines and compares the impacts of ETCS and its levels (in particular ETCS L3) on the practical throughput of the selected national infrastructure manager. A heuristic procedure is used with the application of the analytical methodology of the Railways of the Slovak Republic (ŽSR), which uses the principles of mathematical statistics and probability. Significant comparative indicators are occupancy times and the degree of utilization of practical throughput. These are used in investment decisions in the modernization of line sections to achieve interoperability of the railway system.

Surgical Fixation of Three- and Four-Part Proximal Humeral Fractures Using the Proximal Humeral Interlocking System Plate.

IntroductionThe management of proximal humeral fractures ranges greatly from conservative management to surgical treatment. For those fractures requiring surgical treatment, internal fixation is the primary method. The aim of internal fixation is to achieve rigid fracture fixation until union occurs, return of shoulder range of motion, and minimise intra-and postoperative complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the Proximal Humeral Interlocking System Plate (PHILOS) used for the treatment of three-and four-part proximal humeral fractures.Materials and methodsThis study included 30 patients with a mean age of 54 years (range 20-80 years). Results were checked post-operatively with standard radiographs and clinical evaluation according to the Constant-Murley shoulder score. All patients were followed up for 12 months.ResultsUnion was achieved in all patients with a mean neck/shaft angle of 130° (range 108°-150°). The mean Constant-Murley score at the final follow-up was 82.28 (range 67-96) correlating with good results. No patients developed an intraoperative or postoperative vascular injury, wound complications, or avascular necrosis of the humeral head.ConclusionOur study has shown that the surgical treatment of three- and four-part proximal humeral fractures with the use of the PHILOS plate leads to a good functional outcome. It has also demonstrated the PHILOS plate and is an effective system for fracture stabilisation provided the correct surgical technique is used with awareness of potential hardware complications.

Perceptions of Sexual Risk and HIV/STI Prevention Among Black Adolescent Girls in a Detention Center: an Investigation of the Role of Parents and Peers.

Black American adolescent girls constitute approximately one third of the US youth legal system population. Their overrepresentation in the youth punishment system is an indicator of significant physical, sexual, and/or behavioral health needs. Since less is known about perceptions of HIV/STI risk among Black girls with juvenile justice histories, we used intersectionality theory to explore the following: (1) how a sample of Black girls in detention endorse their perceptions of sexual safety given the multiple intersections of their race, gender, and SES and (2) how their endorsements align with interlocking systems of social inequality for system-involved Black at the social structural level. We examined relational and behavioral factors associated perceived HIV/STI risk. Among a sample of 188 Black girls (ages 13-17 years), we examined parent and partner sexual communication, fear of condom negotiation, a positive STI test, and partner risk profile as significant correlates. Major findings indicated that greater partner communication was associated with higher perceived HIV/STI risk, whereas having had a risky sexual partner, fear of condom negotiation, and having had a positive STI test were correlated with lower perceived risk. The significant factors identified in this study can be the focus of STI prevention and intervention programs for Black girls with youth punishment histories.

Countering master narratives with narratives of persistence: A liberation perspective in career counseling

As of 2019, the global youth population between the ages of 15 and 24 was 1.2 billion and growing (UNDESA, 2019). A sizable number of youth face discrimination and marginalization daily, often based on their social identities and related interlocking systems of power and oppression (Brewster & Molina, 2021). Minoritized youth, particularly, find themselves trapped in culturally manufactured master narratives that serve to reproduce the very systems of privilege that exist in their country (Liu, 2017). Considering these master narratives can be a significant step in our work with marginalized youth. Building on the contributions of leading scholars in career counselling, as well as other historically influential scholars in fields such as philosophy, education, and literature, we propose using narrative counselling and its related concepts to dismantle master narratives. In doing so, open spaces can emerge for alternative stories for the hopes, dreams, and futures of marginalized youth.
 Keywords: Career; Master Narratives; Narrative Career Counselling

Countering master narratives with narratives of persistence: A liberation perspective in career counseling

As of 2019, the global youth population between the ages of 15 and 24 was 1.2 billion and growing (UNDESA, 2019). A sizable number of youth face discrimination and marginalization daily, often based on their social identities and related interlocking systems of power and oppression (Brewster & Molina, 2021). Minoritized youth, particularly, find themselves trapped in culturally manufactured master narratives that serve to reproduce the very systems of privilege that exist in their country (Liu, 2017). Considering these master narratives can be a significant step in our work with marginalized youth. Building on the contributions of leading scholars in career counselling, as well as other historically influential scholars in fields such as philosophy, education, and literature, we propose using narrative counselling and its related concepts to dismantle master narratives. In doing so, open spaces can emerge for alternative stories for the hopes, dreams, and futures of marginalized youth.
 Keywords: Career; Master Narratives; Narrative Career Counselling

Reduction of lead time in an automobile rubber components manufacturing process through value stream mapping

Increasing demand for cost reduction triggers an organisation to focus on optimisation of all the resources and efficiency improvement. Value stream mapping (VSM) finds application in the manufacturing process for achieving this result. VSM is one of the lean manufacturing tools for the identification and reduction of waste in an organisation. This article provides a case study on application of VSM in a automotive rubber parts manufacturing industry where oil seal is produced and supplied to vehicle manufacturers. Purpose of this research is collecting the performance data of the organisation, analyse the gap, apply VSM technique and measure the improved performance. Conceptual framework developed for employees to understand the overall concept and for future researcher to directly apply relevant leans tools for particular problems. As a result of the implementation of VSM, there is a reduction in lead time and waste by increasing the number of cavities from 30 to 36 in curing machine, providing interlock system in curing machine, introducing 3.7 m3 oven, auto trimming machine, magnetic flash separator, auto spring fitting machine, modification of inspection table and packing stacker in the manufacturing process. After implementation there was 81% reduction in lead time, 38% reduction in cycle time, 70% reduction in setup changeover time, 91% reduction in work in process (WIP) inventory and 90% reduction in scrap leading to 69.6% increase in process cycle efficiency by reducing breakdown, setup changeover time and implementing kanban system. Results indicates that implementation of lean tools improves the performance of the organisation.

PERCEPTUAL STUDY OF PLASTIC WASTE BRICKS FOR SHARIA APARTMENT IN INDONESIA

Bricks from plastic waste have the potential to become the wall material for apartment units because they are lightweight and have an interlock system that makes it easy to dismantle and reuse. Sharia Apartments in Indonesia exist because of the market potential for the majority of Muslims who are interested in a halal lifestyle. This article identifies Muslim perceptions of the application of bricks from plastic waste to sharia apartment residential units. The perception is carried out by comparing three plastic waste brick product companies. The method used is through questionnaires and interviews based on regional demographics. It was found that brick of plastic waste can be received positively by Muslim respondents, but its use is limited to particular spaces to avoid negative perceptions.

DFT modeling approach for operational risk assessment of railway infrastructure

Reliability engineering of railway infrastructure aims to understand failure processes and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of investments and maintenance planning such that a high quality of service is achieved. While formal methods are widely used to verify the design specifications of safety-critical components in train control, quantitative methods to analyze the service reliability associated with specific system designs are only starting to emerge. In this paper, we strive to advance the use of formal fault-tree modeling for providing a quantitative assessment of the railway infrastructure’s service reliability in the design phase. While, individually, most subsystems required for route-setting and train control are well understood, the system’s reliability to globally provide its designated service capacity is less studied. To this end, we present a framework based on dynamic fault trees that allows to analyze train routability based on train paths projected in the interlocking system. We particularly focus on the dependency of train paths on track-based assets such as switches and crossings, which are particularly prone to failures due to their being subject to weather and heavy wear. By using probabilistic model checking to analyze and verify the reliability of feasible route sets for scheduled train lines, performance metrics for reliability analysis of the system as a whole as well as criticality analysis of individual (sub-)components become available. The approach, which has been previously discussed in our paper at FMICS 2019, is further refined, and additional algorithmic approaches, analysis settings and application scenarios in infrastructure and maintenance planning are discussed.

PANDORE: an environmental box for ITk integration tests

PANDORE is the environmental box that is going to be used for the quality control of loaded local supports of the ATLAS ITk Pixel Outer Barrel at LAPP (Annecy, France). First PANDORE, its interlock system, diphasic CO2 cooling station, and data acquisition system are described. Subsequently, the results of the qualification tests are shown. Given the complexity of the ITk Pixel Outer Barrel system, several loading sites are going to be needed. By documenting the state-of-the-art of PANDORE, this note aims to help the wide ITk Pixel community in the discussion for standardizing the quality control procedure and equipment of the loaded local supports.

Research on automatic test sequence generation method of computer interlocking test

Railway computer interlocking system is the core equipment of station signal control system, which directly affects the reliability and safety of the whole system. It is essential to test the interlocking software comprehensively and strictly [1]. The traditional interlocking test is conducted by testers to control the quality and efficiency of the test. According to the reference railway transportation “Interim Measures for railway signal interlocking test”, combined with the signal interlocking relationship test checklist, compared with the actual station yard of railway station, relying on manual preparation and manual implementation of test items, the test efficiency is relatively low. Therefore, the realization of automatic interlocking test has become a research hotspot at present. Interlocking function test belongs to the research field of black box test. On the premise of ensuring the comprehensiveness of test, generating efficient test sequence is the research focus of this subject.

Robustness-Oriented Optimization of Train Platforming Problem in Busy Complex Railway Station

In this paper, we present a track-circuits-based model for robust train platforming problem (RTPP) at busy complex stations. First, we explicitly explained the operation process of different train types and fixed track utilization rule. Second, we propose a multicriterion scheduling model for RTPP with objectives of minimizing the weighted number of delayed trains, minimizing trains that break rules, and maximizing robustness based on sectional-release interlocking system. Third, we design a hybrid heuristic algorithm to solve the above model based on dispatching rules and present different new solution generation strategies to further optimize rule-based solutions. Performance of the new solution generation strategies and algorithm is evaluated based on a case study for Guangzhou East Station. To validate the effectiveness of robustness indicator, we compared its performance on delay propagation counteraction with a TPP model without robustness objective under the same perturbation scenario.

An Intersectional Approach to Problem Drinking in the Nepali/Bhutanese Community in Northeast Ohio

Akron, Ohio, is home to many who came to the United States as refugees from Bhutan. Originally of Nepali background, they fled Bhutan during a period of ethnic cleansing beginning in the 1990s. As the Nepali/Bhutanese population grew, local providers (e.g., resettlement agencies, social services, emergency room personnel) noted significant levels of problem drinking compared to other local refugee populations. We use a Critical Medical Anthropology framework informed by intersectionality to illuminate the ways that both the intersecting identities and the interlocking systems of oppression experienced by refugees shape Nepali/Bhutanese experiences in the United States, particularly relating to drinking as a coping mechanism. This study focused on gaining local understandings surrounding alcohol use in the Nepali/Bhutanese community in order to inform culturally sustaining solutions for those who suffer from alcohol misuse. We found demographic variables of the Nepali/Bhutanese, particularly those related to gender and generation, intersect with additional identities acquired in the sociocultural system of the United States, such as that of “refugee,” resulting in unique reasons for problem drinking. Results indicate that these unique reasons for problem drinking necessitate a range of interventions. We provide recommendations for providers, community members, and future research.

Racial micropolitical literacy: Examining the sociopolitical realities of teachers of color co-constructing student transformational resistance

In connection with the historical legacy and imaginations of youth of Color advocating for more just and equitable futures, I consider the complex political terrain through which teachers of Color cultivate students’ agency for social change within the narrow confines of schooling institutions. In this article, I conceptualize racial micropolitical literacy to analyze how teachers identify context-specific reproductions of whiteness and interlocking systems of oppression while learning to politically confront, navigate, and transform race and power through daily, embodied, and interactional practices. Through video recordings, ethnographic field notes, and interview data, I apply this framework to document the day-to-day practices of an Asian American teacher co-constructing student transformational resistance within a southeast Los Angeles, California public middle school. My analysis reveals that the teacher: (1) used critical artifacts to reconstruct carceral conditions of schooling into communal learning spaces of solidarity and activism, (2) engaged students in everyday dialogue about racism, power, and just possibilities, and (3) subverted scripted curricula by drawing on students and his own counternarratives as resources for sociopolitical learning. These practices were improvisationally leveraged on the day of a US national student-led walkout to expand multiple opportunities for politically marginalized Latinx students to organize collective action against gun violence. Offering a more intergenerational and intersectional lens of resistance and social change, I provide implications for eradicating oppressive schooling conditions that constrain the potential of students and teachers of Color as movement-makers and civic leaders in daily classroom life.

Incomplete Institutional Change and the Persistence of Racial Inequality: The Contestation of Institutional Misalignment in South Africa*

AbstractThis study explores the role that organizations and institutions play in reproducing inequality even after significant political transitions intended to undermine the sources of such inequality. Our analysis reveals how incomplete institutional transitions may give rise to contradictory institutional logics and how this can contribute to high levels of contestation as actors and organizations vie to maintain, disrupt, and create new institutions. We analyse the dynamics of a conflict set within a broader institutional contestation in post‐apartheid South Africa by examining the farmworkers strike and unrest of 2012. We expose a complex interlocking system of exploitation and oppression at micro, meso, and macro institutional levels and highlight misalignments between de facto and de jure institutional environments. Our study shows how actors and organizations can exhibit and constrain agency legitimating the unequal access to resources and opportunities and why this can result in the persistence of inequality.

Vulnerable to the State? The Indefinite Imprisonment of People with Intellectual Disability Under Forensic Mental Health Law as Structural Violence

ABSTRACT Violence against people with intellectual disability is commonly understood to occur as a result of an individual’s heightened ‘vulnerability’, based on their disability status. Critical disability studies scholars have problematised ‘vulnerability’, critiquing this term as being socially produced and based in a negative ontology of disability. In this article, we critically reflect on the ways in which people with intellectual disability labels are subjected to structural violence via criminalisation and indefinite detention in prison through the operation of interlocking and multi-layered systems, such as police systems, prison systems, guardianship systems, and the operation of forensic mental health systems. We argue that vulnerability framings used by these systems serve to obscure the structural violence that they ultimately perpetuate. To conduct this analysis, we engage with a testimony: Sue’s story. Sue is an intellectually disabled woman, whose entry into the criminal legal system in Victoria begins with police contact and summary offence charges and ends in indefinite detention after an assessment of unfitness is made under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (Vic) (CMIA). Through an examination of Sue’s case and treatment under the CMIA, we argue that one of the key limitations of vulnerability theories is that notions of ‘vulnerability’ imply a need for protection that can both obscure and animate the use of carceral responses which reproduce harm and embed the ongoing debilitation of criminalised disabled people in society.

I*-Based Goal-Oriented Modeling and Requirements Specification of an Urban Railway Interlocking System

Urban railway interlocking system is a safety-critical system, for which interlocking rules are well-defined by international standards to assure safe operations. However, it is very difficult to extract all of the safety requirements in the requirements engineering stage itself and construct a goal model as well. One approach to fulfill this goal is to extract safety requirements from regulations and analyze them at the early stage of the model. Improper specifications regarding the environs of an interlocking system are realized to be accountable for any faults in requirements specifications. Furthermore, nonfunctional requirements are kept aside from requirements specifications. To make an interlocking system operate in an ultra-dependable range we need to address variability issues, so in this paper, we used i*-based goal-oriented requirements language called TGRL to address variability issues as well as blend early and late requirements. The developed model can also be visualized and analyzed using jUCMNav. Finally, the safety requirements to be verified are specified with Formal Tropos, a formal specification language for the i* model.

Investigating performance of compound heating furnace subject to heating by two elements and (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) SCR control at 1600ᴼC

The present research examines the performance of a resistance heating furnace using two different heating elements, Silicon Carbide (SiC) heating rods and Molybdenum Di-Silicide (MoSi2) to raise working chamber temperature to 1600ᴼC. SiC rods are used first, starting from the beginning (ambience) temperature 35ᴼC up to 1300ᴼC, followed by MoSi2 heating elements to raise chamber temperature from 1300ᴼC to set temperature at 1600ᴼC. Transition from SiC to MoSi2, heating system is uninterrupted, and swift in heating element effected by inter-locking system (an electronic device or an electro-magnetic system) without any drop in effect. The system under analysis consists of Programmable (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) PID, (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) Thyristor power pack, recrystallised alumina tubes, sensing elements: thermo-couple, Pt-Pt/13%.Rh, semiconductor based circuit that controls power and current to the system requirement (step down) and thereby control voltage automatically with transformer (depending on size of working area, and 53 amp (I), 220 V for single phase, reduced to 60V by a step down transformer) and auto current limiting facilities. Present analysis is designed for programmable and also for non-programmable type of cycles of operations set before starting the furnace within maximum working temperature of 1600ᴼC to achieve objectives, like saving of amperage (current consumption 53 amp) and power at reduced voltage (40V), long life of the heating elements (2 years and more) and optimization of thermal efficiency (60%) for high working temperature 1600ᴼC for long hours of operation in a Compound Heating Resistance (CHR) furnace.

To measure thermal resistance to heat flow at 1600ᴼc in a compound heating resistance furnace for optimization of furnace efficiency

The present paper examines the performance of a resistance heating furnace by measuring the resistance of two different heating elements, namely, Silicon Carbide (SiC) heating rods and Molybdenum Di-Silicide (MoSi2) heating elements, to raise the working chamber temperature to 1600ᴼC for heating the charge materials. SiC rods are used to raise the working chamber temperature, starting from the beginning (ambience) temperature of 35ᴼC up to 1300ᴼC. Then MoSi2 heating elements will be used to raise the chamber temperature from 1300ᴼC to the set temperature at 1600ᴼC. Transition from SiC to MoSi2, heating system is uninterrupted, and swift in heating element effected by inter-locking system (an electronic device or an electro-magnetic system) without any drop in effect. Use of two different heating elements has been tested to achieve many objectives, like saving amperage (current consumption), long life of the heating elements, and optimization of thermal efficiency for high working temperature at 1600ᴼC for long hours. This is achieved by creating resistance to the flow of electrons through an element (a good conductor for electricity as well as heat). Thus, due to high friction, a temperature is developed and heats the charged materials, up to a temperature as high as 1600ᴼC. This method is applied in an environment of air, inert gas, vacuum, etc. with no pollution, for programmable and also for non-programmable types of cycles of operations set before starting the furnace within a maximum working temperature of 1600ᴼC to achieve the objectives of a Compound Heating Resistance (CHR) furnace satisfactorily.

Communication platform concept for virtual testing of novel applications for railway traffic management systems

In recent years, the railway system has been facing the various challenges of the “digital age”. To increase its attractiveness, capacity, sustainability, and security, it needs to improve its’ everyday operational and planning process. This can be enabled using new generation digitised and automated Traffic Management Systems (TMS). Nowadays, railway dispatchers need a TMS that offers precise and real-time traffic information as fundamental condition for effective traffic management, and whose performance can be further improved by increasing availability and diversity of sources and data, for which an effective data management platform is required. The EU-funded OPTIMA project is designing and developing a communication platform to manage the connection between several services supporting TMS applications, also enabling their testing. It represents one of the steps required for the development and implementation of a new generation of TMS. This paper describes the concept for the OPTIMA platform which will link TMS applications used by railway dispatchers with infrastructure systems such as signalling and interlocking systems, maintenance, and energy management, as well as with data services (such a weather information) with the aim of providing standardised interfaces and common data structures as basis of a common and standardised communication.