Maintenance chain integration using Petri-net enabled multiagent system modeling and implementation approach

Engineering asset management (EAM) is a broad discipline and the EAM functions and processes are characterized by its distributed nature. However, engineering asset nowadays mostly relies on self-maintained experiential rule bases and periodic maintenance, which is lacking a collaborative engineering approach. This research proposes a collaborative environment integrated by a service center with domain expertise such as diagnosis, prognosis, and asset operations. The collaborative maintenance chain combines asset operation sites, service center (i.e., maintenance operation coordinator), system provider, first tier collaborators, and maintenance part suppliers. Meanwhile, to realize the automation of communication and negotiation among organizations, multiagent system (MAS) technique is applied to enhance the entire service level. During the MAS design processes, this research combines Prometheus MAS modeling approach with Petri-net modeling methodology and unified modeling language to visualize and rationalize the design processes of MAS. The major contributions of this research include developing a Petri-net enabled Prometheus MAS modeling methodology and constructing a collaborative agent-based maintenance chain framework for integrated EAM.

Assessment of corneal dynamics with high-speed swept source optical coherence tomography combined with an air puff system

We present a novel method and instrument for in vivo imaging and measurement of the human corneal dynamics during an air puff. The instrument is based on high-speed swept source optical coherence tomography (ssOCT) combined with a custom adapted air puff chamber from a non-contact tonometer, which uses an air stream to deform the cornea in a non-invasive manner. During the short period of time that the deformation takes place, the ssOCT acquires multiple A-scans in time (M-scan) at the center of the air puff, allowing observation of the dynamics of the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces as well as the anterior lens surface. The dynamics of the measurement are driven by the biomechanical properties of the human eye as well as its intraocular pressure. Thus, the analysis of the M-scan may provide useful information about the biomechanical behavior of the anterior segment during the applanation caused by the air puff. An initial set of controlled clinical experiments are shown to comprehend the performance of the instrument and its potential applicability to further understand the eye biomechanics and intraocular pressure measurements. Limitations and possibilities of the new apparatus are discussed.

Sustainable assessment for large science classes : non-multiple choice, randomised assignments through a Learning Management System

This paper reports on the development of a tool that generates randomised, non-multiple choice assessment within the BlackBoard Learning Management System interface. An accepted weakness of multiple-choice assessment is that it cannot elicit learning outcomes from upper levels of Biggs’ SOLO taxonomy. However, written assessment items require extensive resources for marking, and are susceptible to copying as well as marking inconsistencies for large classes. This project developed an assessment tool which is valid, reliable and sustainable and that addresses the issues identified above. The tool provides each student with an assignment assessing the same learning outcomes, but containing different questions, with responses in the form of words or numbers. Practice questions are available, enabling students to obtain feedback on their approach before submitting their assignment. Thus, the tool incorporates automatic marking (essential for large classes), randomised tasks to each student (reducing copying), the capacity to give credit for working (feedback on the application of theory), and the capacity to target higher order learning outcomes by requiring students to derive their answers rather than choosing them. Results and feedback from students are presented, along with technical implementation details.

Design and development of automatic visual inspection system for PCB manufacturing

Inspection of solder joints has been a critical process in the electronic manufacturing industry to reduce manufacturing cost, improve yield, and ensure product quality and reliability. This paper proposes two inspection modules for an automatic solder joint classification system. The “front-end” inspection system includes illumination normalisation, localisation and segmentation. The “back-end” inspection involves the classification of solder joints using the Log Gabor filter and classifier fusion. Five different levels of solder quality with respect to the amount of solder paste have been defined. The Log Gabor filter has been demonstrated to achieve high recognition rates and is resistant to misalignment. This proposed system does not need any special illumination system, and the images are acquired by an ordinary digital camera. This system could contribute to the development of automated non-contact, non-destructive and low cost solder joint quality inspection systems.

School system as axiological medium : the state's primary macro-proposing context and its expanding moral role in Australia

This paper analyses the Australian Values Education Program (VEP) within the framework of late-classical political economy. using analytical methods from systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis, we demonstrate that the VEP is an unwitting restatement of the principles of ideology as developed by the likes of Destutt de Tracy and the Young Hegelians. We conclude that the sudden shock of globalisation and the post-national cultures this has entailed is in many ways similar to the shock of formal nationalism that emerged in the late-Seventeenth and early- Eighteenth centuries. The overall result of the VEP for the Australian school system is a massive procedural burden that is unlikely to produce the results at which the program is aimed.

An efficient public key management system : an application in vehicular ad hoc networks

The major purpose of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) is to provide safety-related message access for motorists to react or make a life-critical decision for road safety enhancement. Accessing safety-related information through the use of VANET communications, therefore, must be protected, as motorists may make critical decisions in response to emergency situations in VANETs. If introducing security services into VANETs causes considerable transmission latency or processing delays, this would defeat the purpose of using VANETs to improve road safety. Current research in secure messaging for VANETs appears to focus on employing certificate-based Public Key Cryptosystem (PKC) to support security. The security overhead of such a scheme, however, creates a transmission delay and introduces a time-consuming verification process to VANET communications. This paper proposes an efficient public key management system for VANETs: the Public Key Registry (PKR) system. Not only does this paper demonstrate that the proposed PKR system can maintain security, but it also asserts that it can improve overall performance and scalability at a lower cost, compared to the certificate-based PKC scheme. It is believed that the proposed PKR system will create a new dimension to the key management and verification services for VANETs.

An assessment of Georgia's National Integrity System : the GNISA project

Georgia’s ‘National Integrity Systems’ are the institutions, laws, procedures, practices and attitudes that encourage and support integrity in the exercise of power in modern Georgian society. Integrity systems function to ensure that power is exercised in a manner that is true to the values, purposes and duties for which that power is entrusted to, or held by, institutions and individual office-holders. This report presents the results of the Open Society Institute / Open Society – Georgia Foundation funded project Georgian National Integrity Systems Assessment (GNISA), conducted in 2005–2006 by Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Transparency International Georgia, Georgian Young Lawyers Association, in close cooperation with Griffith University Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law (Australia), and Tiri Group (UK), into how different elements of integrity systems interact, which combinations of institutions and reforms make for a strong integrity system, and how Georgia’s integrity systems should evolve to ensure coherence, not chaos in the way public integrity is maintained. Nevertheless all participants of the research may not share some conclusions given in the GNISA report.