Integrating personnel movement simulation into preliminary ship design

Traditionally, when designing a ship the driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strength and seakeeping. Issues related to ship operations and evolutions are investigated later in the design process, within the constraint of a fixed layout. This can result in operational inefficiencies and limitations, excessive crew numbers and potentially hazardous situations. University College London and the University of Greenwich are in the final year of a three year EPSRC funded research project to integrate the simulation of personnel movement into early stage ship design. This allows the assessment of onboard operations while the design is still amenable to change. The project brings together the University of Greenwich developed maritimeEXODUS personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation of the Design Building Block approach to early stage ship design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team. Central to the success of this project is the definition of a suitable series of Naval Combatant Human Performance Metrics which can be used to assess the performance of the design in different operational scenarios. The paper outlines the progress made on deriving the human performance metric from human factors criteria measured in simulations and their incorporation into a Behavioural Matrix for analysis. It describes the production of a series of SURFCON ship designs based on the RN Type 22 Batch 3 frigate, and their analysis using the PARAMARINE and maritimeEXODUS software. Conclusions to date will be presented on the integration of personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process.

Integrating personnel movement simulation into prelimary ship design

Traditionally, when designing a ship the driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strength and seakeeping. Issues related to ship operations and evolutions are investigated later in the design process, within the constraint of a fixed layout. This can result in operational inefficiencies and limitations, excessive crew numbers and potentially hazardous situations. This paper summarises work by University College London and the University of Greenwich prior to the completion of a three year EPSRC funded research project to integrate the simulation of personnel movement into early stage ship design. This integration is intended to facilitate the assessment of onboard operations while the design is still highly amenable to change. The project brings together the University of Greenwich developed maritimeEXODUS personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation of the Design Building Block approach to early stage ship design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team and has been implemented within the PARAMARINE ship design system produced by Graphics Research Corporation. Central to the success of this project is the definition of a suitable series of Performance Measures (PM) which can be used to assess the human performance of the design in different operational scenarios. The paper outlines the progress made on deriving the PM from human dynamics criteria measured in simulations and their incorporation into a Human Performance Metric (HPM) for analysis. It describes the production of a series of SURFCON ship designs, based on the Royal Navy’s Type 22 Batch 3 frigate, and their analysis using the PARAMARINE and maritimeEXODUS software. Conclusions on the work to date and for the remainder of the project are presented addressing the integration of personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process.

Personnel radiation dose considerations in the use of an integrated PET–CT scanner for radiotherapy treatment planning of an integrated PET-CT scanner for radiotherapy treatment planning

The acquisition of radiotherapy planning scans on positron emission tomography (PET)-CT scanners requires the involvement of radiotherapy radiographers. This study assessed the radiation dose received by these radiographers during this process. Radiotherapy planning F- fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET-CT scans were acquired for 28 non-small cell lung cancer patients. In order to minimise the radiation dose received, a two-stage process was used in which the most time-consuming part of the set-up was performed before the patient received their F-FDG injection. Throughout this process, the radiographers wore electronic personal dosemeters and recorded the doses received at different stages of the process. The mean total radiation dose received by a radiotherapy radiographer was 5.1±2.6 mSv per patient. The use of the two-stage process reduced the time spent in close proximity to the patient by approximately a factor of four. The two-stage process was effective in keeping radiation dose to a minimum. The use of a pre-injection set-up session reduces the radiation dose to the radiotherapy radiographers because of their involvement in PET-CT radiotherapy treatment planning scans by approximately a factor of three.

Confined Site Construction and its Impact on Personnel Productivity

Inner city, confined site construction is quickly becoming the norm within the construction sector. The aim of this paper is to identify and document the effect, if any, that a confined construction site environment has on the productivity of on-site personnel. In order to compile the relevant information and attain appropriate results on the matter in question, a qualitative analytical approach is adopted. This process incorporates multiple cases studies from Ireland, Northern Ireland and USA. From the resulting case studies, a minimum of three individual interviews and focus group seminars are conducted to aid in the collection of the data while also assisting in the confirmation of the factors identified from a critique of the relevant literature. From the resulting case studies and discussions, a list of the key issues pertaining to the on-site productivity of personnel emerged and is documented as follows; 1) Overcrowding of personnel at workstations, 2) Lack of space for the effective movement of personnel on-site, 3) Numerous trades working within the one space on-site. Through identifying the issues highlighted and proactively mitigating or eliminating the factors detailed, on-site management professionals can strive to ensure maximum productivity from the industry’s most important resource – people.

Body shadowing mitigation using differentiated LOS/NLOS channel models for RSSI-based Monte Carlo personnel localization

Research into localization has produced a wealth of algorithms and techniques to estimate the location of wireless network nodes, however the majority of these schemes do not explicitly account for non-line of sight conditions. Disregarding this common situation reduces their accuracy and their potential for exploitation in real world applications. This is a particular problem for personnel tracking where the user's body itself will inherently cause time-varying blocking according to their movements. Using empirical data, this paper demonstrates that, by accounting for non-line of sight conditions and using received signal strength based Monte Carlo localization, meter scale accuracy can be achieved for a wrist-worn personnel tracking tag in a 120 m indoor office environment. © 2012 IEEE.

Facteurs associés à l'intégration stratégique des TIC par le personnel enseignant

Le présent mémoire porte sur l'analyse des facteurs qui incitent le personnel enseignant au primaire et au secondaire à faire une intégration stratégique des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC). Lors de nos visites dans les écoles au Québec et au Luxembourg, nous avons remarqué qu'une partie des enseignants et des enseignantes, en faible proportion, réussissent à faire une telle intégration. L'objectif de cette recherche est d'identifier les facteurs qui tendent à avoir une influence sur ce phénomène, de saisir leur rôle et de comprendre comment ils opèrent. Dans une première partie, nous décrivons l'influence des TIC sur la société et analysons en quoi les technologies peuvent constituer un apport substantiel dans le processus de l'apprentissage. Par la suite, nous définissons le rôle du personnel enseignant dans l'intégration des TIC et nous démontrons qu'il y a une grande variabilité sur ce plan chez le personnel enseignant, tant au niveau primaire que secondaire. Quant au cadre théorique, il présente une définition de"l'intégration stratégique des TIC" basée sur les caractéristiques du paradigme de l'apprentissage et des cinq potentialités des TIC dans un contexte éducatif.

Le rapport au travail en collaboration du personnel enseignant d'écoles secondaires du Québec

Cette recherche a pour but de connaitre le rapport au travail en collaboration du personnel enseignant d'écoles secondaires du Québec. Ce rapport comporte deux dimensions, à savoir les représentations dont les dispositions à collaborer et les pratiques de collaboration. La recension des écrits soulève quatre types d'éléments qui sont mis en cause dans le travail en collaboration chez le personnel enseignant : des facteurs de contexte, entre autres, la réforme de l'éducation au Québec (1997-1998), les représentations du personnel enseignant au regard du travail en collaboration, des représentations au regard des pratiques d'enseignement, l'identité professionnelle des enseignantes et enseignants. Sur le plan méthodologique, cette étude s'inscrit dans le paradigme compréhensif, interprétatif. La cueillette des informations, par entrevues semi-structurées, a été réalisée auprès de trente-cinq enseignantes et enseignants issus de trois écoles de tailles différentes en 2006 et en 2007. Les résultats révèlent qu'une forte proportion du personnel interrogé montre des dispositions positives ou plutôt positives à la collaboration. Par ailleurs, un peu plus des trois quarts des participantes et participants ont des pratiques de collaboration très développées ou développées. Quant au rapport à la collaboration, une majorité des participantes et participants présente un rapport positif ou plutôt positif. Les résultats de notre recherche ont permis d'identifier quatre types de collaboratrices et de collaborateurs : la personne solitaire et individualiste, la collaboratrice ou le collaborateur occasionnel, la collaboratrice ou le collaborateur sélectif, la collaboratrice ou le collaborateur engagé. Plusieurs facteurs conditionnent le travail en collaboration et ils se regroupent en quatre catégories : les facteurs personnels, la relation, la production, la dimension organisationnelle et contextuelle. Les résultats de cette recherche contribuent à mieux connaître le rapport au travail en collaboration du personnel enseignant ainsi que ce qui influence la dynamique de collaboration.