Safer by design: using computer simulation to predict the evacuation performance of passenger ships

When designing a new passenger ship or modifiying an existing design, how do we ensure that the proposed design is safe from an evacuation point of view? In the building and aviation industries, computer based evacuation models are being used to tackle similar issues. In these industries, the traditonal restrictive prescriptive approach to design is making way for performance based design methodologies using risk assessment and computer simulation. In the maritime industry, ship evacuation models off the promise to quickly and efficiently bring these considerations into the design phase, while the ship is "on the drawing board". This paper describes the development of evacuation models with applications to passenger ships and further discusses issues concerning data requirements and validation.

A finite volume unstructured mesh approach to dynamic fluid–structure interaction: an assessment of the challenge of predicting the onset of flutter

Computational modelling of dynamic fluid–structure interaction (DFSI) is a considerable challenge. Our approach to this class of problems involves the use of a single software framework for all the phenomena involved, employing finite volume methods on unstructured meshes in three dimensions. This method enables time and space accurate calculations in a consistent manner. One key application of DFSI simulation is the analysis of the onset of flutter in aircraft wings, where the work of Yates et al. [Measured and Calculated Subsonic and Transonic Flutter Characteristics of a 45° degree Sweptback Wing Planform in Air and Freon-12 in the Langley Transonic Dynamic Tunnel. NASA Technical Note D-1616, 1963] on the AGARD 445.6 wing planform still provides the most comprehensive benchmark data available. This paper presents the results of a significant effort to model the onset of flutter for the AGARD 445.6 wing planform geometry. A series of key issues needs to be addressed for this computational approach. • The advantage of using a single mesh, in order to eliminate numerical problems when applying boundary conditions at the fluid-structure interface, is counteracted by the challenge of generating a suitably high quality mesh in both the fluid and structural domains. • The computational effort for this DFSI procedure, in terms of run time and memory requirements, is very significant. Practical simulations require even finer meshes and shorter time steps, requiring parallel implementation for operation on large, high performance parallel systems. • The consistency and completeness of the AGARD data in the public domain is inadequate for use in the validation of DFSI codes when predicting the onset of flutter.

Assessment of microInductors for DC-DC converters

There are increasing demands on the power density and efficiency of DC-DC power converters due to the soaring functionality and operational longevity required for today's electronic products. In addition, DC-DC converters are required to operate at new elevated frequencies in the MHz frequency regime. Typical ferrite cores, whose useable flux density falls drastically at these frequencies, have to be replaced and a method of producing compact component windings developed. In this study, two types of microinductors, pot-core and solenoid, for DC-DC converter applications have been analyzed for their performance in the MHz frequency range. The inductors were manufactured using an adapted UV-LIGA process and included electrodeposited nickel-iron and the commercial alloy Vitrovac 6025 as core materials. Using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and a Hewlett Packard 4192A LF- impedance analyzer, the inductor characteristics such as power density, efficiency, inductance and Q-factor were recorded. Experimental, finite element and analytical results were used to assess the suitability of the magnetic materials and component geometries for low MHz operation.

The impact of the passenger response time distribution on ship evacuation performance

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has adopted the use of computer simulation to assist in the assessment of the assembly time for passenger ships. A key parameter required for this analysis and specified as part of the IMO guidelines is the passenger response time distribution. It is demonstrated in this paper that the IMO specified response time distribution assumes an unrealistic mathematical form. This unrealistic mathematical form can lead to serious congestion issues being overlooked in the evacuation analysis and lead to incorrect conclusions concerning the suitability of vessel design. In light of these results, it is vital that IMO undertake research to generate passenger response time data suitable for use in evacuation analysis of passenger ships. Until this type of data becomes readily available, it is strongly recommended that rather than continuing to use the artificial and unrepresentative form of the response time distribution, IMO should adopt plausible and more realistic response time data derived from land based applications. © 2005: Royal Institution of Naval Architects.

Socialising young literacy learners into a discourse of failure: Dominant discourses in literacy teaching and assessment and their impact on the progression of young literacy learners into employment

This paper argues that contemporary literacy programmes are a mismatch for the expectations of both the government and employers as well as the goals of learners. It submits that the dominant discourses in literacy provision have led to the emergence of a learning culture which not only fails the learners but is also incapable of meeting the aspirations of both the government and employers. To support this argument, the paper reports a small scale research project that analyses the perceptions of learners, teachers and employers who were involved in a work placement scheme for young literacy learners in a college of further education. Data for the study were collected through focus group and face to face interviews and analysed using the framework of discourse analysis provided by Gill (2000) with findings codified and analysed thematically. The study found that teachers were aware that their learners were not adequately prepared for the world of work because of the demands of the dominant discourses of quality and performance measurement which were most obviously manifested in their assessment, teaching methods and the attitudes of learners. It found that employers perceive young learners as inadequate in terms of the workplace expectations. Learners in the study revealed that their workplace culture and expectations were totally different from the culture to which they had been socialised in their studies. The study concludes that unless the dominance of these discourses is ameliorated, young literacy learners will continue to be socialised into a discourse of failure.

Assessment of existing soakaways for reuse

This paper describes a practical approach for the investigation, assessment and design of existing soakaways. This method can be utilised for measuring the performance and capacity of the systems and examining whether the systems are suitable for reuse when information about the design and installation of the systems is not available. The requirements for field observations and the procedure for a soil infiltration test for the installed system are suggested for successful assessment. The soil infiltration rate of the system is estimated from the field test data without requiring information on the design and construction details of the system. The system's working condition is measured by a performance indicator related to the time taken to empty the soakaway. This is then employed to evaluate the potential reuse of the system. The system's drain capacity is determined by the design principles of current practice and the effect of climate change on its drain capacity is considered. Contamination of soils around the systems after long-term use of discharge service and the water present in soakaway chambers are also investigated. A detailed case study for the reuse of four installed soakaways for a new housing development demonstrates how the proposed approach provides a straightforward process for the infiltration performance and drain capacity assessment of the existing systems. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach are further demonstrated from the assessments for a number of installed systems over various sites

The Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Center

As part of the Sentinel-3 mission and in order to ensure the highest quality of products, ESA in cooperation with EUMETSAT has set up the Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Centre (S-3 MPC). This facility is part of the Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) and aims at controlling the quality of all generated products, from L0 to L2. The S-3 MPC is composed of a Coordinating Centre (CC), where the core infrastructure is hosted, which is in charge of the main routine activities (especially the quality control of data) and the overall service management. Expert Support Laboratories (ESLs) are involved in calibration and validation activities and provide specific assessment of the products (e.g., analysis of trends, ad hoc analysis of anomalies, etc.). The S-3 MPC interacts with the Processing Archiving Centres (PACs) and the Marine centre at EUMETSAT.

COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT USING THE KINARM EXOSKELETON ROBOT IN PATIENTS WITH TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACK

Background: Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a condition causing focal neurological deficits lasting less than 24hrs. TIA patients present similarly to other conditions with rapid onset of neurological symptoms such as migraine. The accurate diagnosis of TIA is critical because it serves as a warning for subsequent stroke. Furthermore, cognitive deficit associated with TIA may predict the development of dementia. Therefore, characterizing the cognitive symptoms of TIA patients and discriminating these patients from those with similar symptoms is important for proper diagnosis and treatment. Currently the diagnosis of TIA is made on clinical and radiographic evidence. Robotic assessment, with instruments such as the KINARM, may improve the identification of cognitive impairment in TIA patients. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, two KINARM tests, trail making task (TMT) and spatial span task (SST), were used to detect cognitive deficits. Two study groups were made. The TIA group was tested at 5 time points over the span of a year. The migraine active control group had one initial visit and another a year later. Both of these groups were compared to a normative database of approximately 400 healthy volunteers. From this database age and sex matched normative data was used to calculate Z-scores for the TMT. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was also administered to both groups. Results: 31 participants were recruited, 20 TIA group and 11 active controls (mean ± SD age= 66 ± 11.3 and 62 ± 14.5). There was no significant difference in TIA and active control group MoCA scores. The TMT was able to detect cognitive impairment in TIA and migraine group. Also, both KINARM tasks could detect significant differences in performance between TIA and migraine patients while the MoCA could not. Changes in TIA and migraine performance on the MoCA, TMT, and SST were observed. Conclusions: The robotic KINARM exoskeleton can be used to assess cognitive deficits in TIA patients.

Assessment of resuscitation skills of Foundation Year 1 hospital doctors

An objective and subjective assessment of performance of CPR by 38 foundation year 1 doctors in a major teaching hospital. The study clearly demonstrated that males are more effective than females, BMI has a significant effect on chest compression depth and that females, especially those with a BMI of <24 are more effective at CPR when using a 15:2 rather than a 30:2 ratio of chest compressions to ventilations.

The role of previous experience and attitudes toward statistics in statistics assessment outcomes among undergraduate psychology students

Previous research has demonstrated that students’ cognitions about statistics are related to their performance in statistics assessments. The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of the relationships between undergraduate psychology students’ previous experiences of maths, statistics and computing; their attitudes toward statistics; and assessment on a statistics course. Of the variables examined, the strongest predictor of assessment outcome was students’ attitude about their intellectual knowledge and skills in relation to statistics at the end of the statistics curriculum. This attitude was related to students’ perceptions of their maths ability at the beginning of the statistics curriculum. Interventions could be designed to change such attitudes with the aim of improving students’ learning of statistics.

A work-based research assessment of the impact of 'lean manufacturing' on health and safety education within an SME

Globalisation has had a major impact on the engineering industry as pacific Rim countries undercut manufacturing costs and provide a more cost-effective location for many businesses. Engineering in Nortehrn Ireland has mostly declined owing to increased competition from these countries. Engineering companies are now forced to streamline their production processes and employ cost-reducing practices in order to meet customer demands at reduced prices. This article aims to analyse the effects of one such streamlining endeavour which was first introduced after World War II in Japan- 'lean manufacturing' . 'Lean manufacturing' aims to reduce all wasteful activities within the production process in order to improve productivity, while reducing manufacturing costs. The work-based project under consideration was concerned with the impact 'lean manufacturing' may have on health and safety performance and education within an engineering company. The focus of the project was to determine through work-based research, and quantitative analysis, the employee perception on health and safety: has it changed (either positively or negatively), as a consequence of implementing 'lean manufacturing'.

Assessment of specific binding proteins suitable for the detection of paralytic shellfish poisons using optical biosensor technology

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin monitoring in shellfish is currently performed using the internationally accredited AOAC mouse bioassay. Due to ethical and performance-related issues associated with this bioassay, the European Commission has recently published directives extending procedures that may be used for official PSP control. The feasibility of using a surface plasmon resonance optical biosensor to detect PSP toxins in shellfish tissue below regulatory levels was examined. Three different PSP toxin protein binders were investigated: a sodium channel receptor (SCR) preparation derived from rat brains, a monoclonal antibody (GT13-A) raised to gonyautoxin 2/3, and a rabbit polyclonal antibody (R895) raised to saxitoxin (STX). Inhibition assay formats were used throughout. Immobilization of STX to the biosensor chip surface was achieved via amino-coupling. Specific binding and inhibition of binding to this surface was achieved using all proteins tested. For STX calibration curves, 0 - 1000 ng/mL, IC50 values for each binder were as follows: SCR 8.11 ng/mL; GT13-A 5.77 ng/mL; and R895 1.56 ng/mL. Each binder demonstrated a different cross-reactivity profile against a range of STX analogues. R895 delivered a profile that was most likely to detect the widest range of PSP toxins at or below the internationally adopted regulatory limits.

High-Frequency Ultrasound Assessment of the Murine Heart From Embryo Through to Juvenile

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the murine heart of normal embryos, neonates, and juveniles using high-frequency ultrasound. Methods: Diastolic function was measured with E/A ratio (E wave velocity/A wave velocity) and isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT), systolic function with isovolumetric contraction time (ICT), percentage fractional shortening (FS%), percentage ejection fraction (EF%). Global cardiac performance was quantified using myocardial performance index (MPI). Results: Isovolumetric relaxation time remained stable from E10.5 to 3 weeks. Systolic function (ICT) improved with gestation and remained stable from E18.5 onward. Myocardial performance index showed improvement in embryonic lift (0.82-0.63) and then stabilized from 1 to 3 week (0.60-0.58). Percentage ejection fraction remained high during gestation (77%-69%) and then decreased from the neonate to juvenile (68%-51%). Conclusion: The ultrasound biomicroscope allows for noninvasive in-depth assessment of cardiac function of embryos and pups. Detailed physiological and functional cardiac function readouts can be obtained, which is invaluable for comparison to mouse models of disease.