Simulation and optimisation techniques for sawmill yard operation : A literature review

Increasing costs and competitive business strategies are pushing sawmill enterprises to make an effort for optimization of their process management. Organizational decisions mainly concentrate on performance and reduction of operational costs in order to maintain profit margins. Although many efforts have been made, effective utilization of resources, optimal planning and maximum productivity in sawmill are still challenging to sawmill industries. Many researchers proposed the simulation models in combination with optimization techniques to address problems of integrated logistics optimization. The combination of simulation and optimization technique identifies the optimal strategy by simulating all complex behaviours of the system under consideration including objectives and constraints. During the past decade, an enormous number of studies were conducted to simulate operational inefficiencies in order to find optimal solutions. This paper gives a review on recent developments and challenges associated with simulation and optimization techniques. It was believed that the review would provide a perfect ground to the authors in pursuing further work in optimizing sawmill yard operations.

A Unified Load Generator for Geographically Distributed Generation ofNetwork Traffic

During the last decade, the Internet usage has been growing at an enormous rate which has beenaccompanied by the developments of network applications (e.g., video conference, audio/videostreaming, E-learning, E-Commerce and real-time applications) and allows several types ofinformation including data, voice, picture and media streaming. While end-users are demandingvery high quality of service (QoS) from their service providers, network undergoes a complex trafficwhich leads the transmission bottlenecks. Considerable effort has been made to study thecharacteristics and the behavior of the Internet. Simulation modeling of computer networkcongestion is a profitable and effective technique which fulfills the requirements to evaluate theperformance and QoS of networks. To simulate a single congested link, simulation is run with asingle load generator while for a larger simulation with complex traffic, where the nodes are spreadacross different geographical locations generating distributed artificial loads is indispensable. Onesolution is to elaborate a load generation system based on master/slave architecture.

Variabeltryck med inkjet i dagspress : Möjligheten att införa anpassade upplagor

På uppdrag av Tidningsutgivarna har en studie utförts angående olika möjligheter att införa tryck av variabeldata med tryckmetoden inkjet i svensk dagspress. Målet var att undersöka tekniska möjligheter och begränsningar samt att utreda om det fanns något intresse på marknaden som skulle kunna ge någon avkastning. Studien utfördes med hjälp av noggranna källstudier och ett fortlöpande samarbete med olika företag med intresse för dagspress. Rapporten beskriver också företag som arbetar med den här typen av innovationer idag och diverse tidigare projekt med variabeltryckta tidningar. Nya teknologier som eventuellt kan vara av intresse för framtida utveckling har också beskrivits och hur tidningens framtid kommer att se ut ur ett kortare och ett längre perspektiv. Studien visar att inkjetpressar inte klarar av den hastighet som de moderna tidningspressarna håller idag. Men i takt med minskade upplagor och utvecklad teknologi, samt ett stort marknadsmässigt intresse så tyder det på att det kommer att finnas möjlighet att tillverka anpassade digitaltryckta tidningsupplagor inom en överskådlig framtid. Inkjet kan fungera som ett bra komplement till offset. Inlinepressar ger möjligheten att införa variabeltryck i stora tidningsupplagor medan separata inkjetpressar passar bra för tryck av mindre lokala upplagor.

Essentialism i religionsundervisningen : Ett religionsdidaktiskt problem

Essentialist concepts of religion are common in the teaching of religion in schools and to a certain extent also in the academic discipline of religious studies. In this article, a number of problems with essentialist perceptions of religion are discussed. In the first part of the article a thesis is maintained, according to which essentialist conceptions of religion or specific religions are too limited to be of value in the teaching of religion. This is done through examples of essentialist expressions about religion. The examples are grouped according to a typology of different kinds of essentialism. Two main categories, each with two sub-categories are identified. Thus, the category of essentialism regarding the substance of religion is divided into transcendental or theological essentialism (which presupposes the existence of a sacred power of some kind, the experience of which is the basis for religion), and core essentialism (where it is presupposed that certain ideas or concepts constitute religion as a general category or specific religions). Likewise, the category of essentialism regarding the function of religion has two sub-categories: positive and negative essentialism. These kinds of essentialism presuppose that religion or specific religions are inherently good or harmful respectively to human beings. Examples from each of these categories are given and discussed. In the second part of the article, Benson Saler’s open concept of religion is presented as an alternative to essentialist or bounded perceptions. It is based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s idea of family resemblances and on prototype theory. In connection with this, it is argued that a certain kind of conscious ethnocentrism is needed as a point of departure in the study and teaching of religion. The metaphor of education as a journey from the familiar out into the unfamiliar and back again is suggested as a possible pattern for such teaching. Finally,some examples of non-essentialist ways to introduce religions are offered.