Optimal maintenance policies for machines subject to deterioration and intermittent breakdowns

Optimal preventive maintenance policies, for a machine subject to deterioration with age and intermittent breakdowns and repairs, are derived using optimal control theory. The optimal policies are shown to be of bang-bang nature. The extension to the case when there are a large number of identical machines and several repairmen in the system is considered next. This model takes into account the waiting line formed at the repair facility and establishes a link between this problem and the classical ``repairmen problem.''

On pattern oriented software architecture for the grid

Precision, sophistication and economic factors in many areas of scientific research that demand very high magnitude of compute power is the order of the day. Thus advance research in the area of high performance computing is getting inevitable. The basic principle of sharing and collaborative work by geographically separated computers is known by several names such as metacomputing, scalable computing, cluster computing, internet computing and this has today metamorphosed into a new term known as grid computing. This paper gives an overview of grid computing and compares various grid architectures. We show the role that patterns can play in architecting complex systems, and provide a very pragmatic reference to a set of well-engineered patterns that the practicing developer can apply to crafting his or her own specific applications. We are not aware of pattern-oriented approach being applied to develop and deploy a grid. There are many grid frameworks that are built or are in the process of being functional. All these grids differ in some functionality or the other, though the basic principle over which the grids are built is the same. Despite this there are no standard requirements listed for building a grid. The grid being a very complex system, it is mandatory to have a standard Software Architecture Specification (SAS). We attempt to develop the same for use by any grid user or developer. Specifically, we analyze the grid using an object oriented approach and presenting the architecture using UML. This paper will propose the usage of patterns at all levels (analysis. design and architectural) of the grid development.

Comparison of North American universities with and without medical schools and their technology transfer initiatives

Empirical research available on technology transfer initiatives is either North American or European. Literature over the last two decades shows various research objectives such as identifying the variables to be measured and statistical methods to be used in the context of studying university based technology transfer initiatives. AUTM survey data from years 1996 to 2008 provides insightful patterns about the North American technology transfer initiatives, we use this data in our paper. This paper has three sections namely, a comparison of North American Universities with (n=1129) and without Medical Schools (n=786), an analysis of the top 75th percentile of these samples and a DEA analysis of these samples. We use 20 variables. Researchers have attempted to classify university based technology transfer initiative variables into multi-stages, namely, disclosures, patents and license agreements. Using the same approach, however with minor variations, three stages are defined in this paper. The first stage is to do with inputs from R&D expenditure and outputs namely, invention disclosures. The second stage is to do with invention disclosures being the input and patents issued being the output. The third stage is to do with patents issued as an input and technology transfers as outcomes.

The role of research and research institutes in fisheries development in the 1980's

An indication is given as to areas in Nigerian fisheries development which require research in the 1980's: fish resource surveys, fishing technology, fish processing and preservation technology, and aquaculture. The role of research institutes is also considered

Revealing, illuminating, and modifying proteins in human diseases using noncanonical amino acids

To better understand human diseases, much recent work has focused on proteins to either identify disease targets through proteomics or produce therapeutics via protein engineering. Noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) are tools for altering the chemical and physical properties of proteins, providing a facile strategy not only to label proteins but also to engineer proteins with novel properties. My thesis research has focused on the development and applications of noncanonical amino acids in identifying, imaging, and engineering proteins for studying human diseases. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of ncAAs and reveals insights to how I chose my thesis projects.

ncAAs have been incorporated to tag and enrich newly synthesized proteins for mass spectrometry through a method termed BONCAT, or bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging. Chapter 2 describes the investigation of the proteomic response of human breast cancer cells to induced expression of tumor suppressor microRNA miR-126 by combining BONCAT with another proteomic method, SILAC or stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture. This proteomic analysis led to the discovery of a direct target of miR-126, shedding new light on its role in suppressing cancer metastasis.

In addition to mass spectrometry, ncAAs can also be utilized to fluorescently label proteins. Chapter 3 details the synthesis of a set of cell-permeant cyclooctyne probes and demonstration of selective labeling of newly synthesized proteins in live mammalian cells using azidohomoalanine. Similar to live cell imaging, the ability to selectively label a particular cell type within a mixed cell population is important to interrogating many biological systems, such as tumor microenvironments. By taking advantage of the metabolic differences between cancer and normal cells, Chapter 5 discusses efforts to develop selective labeling of cancer cells using a glutamine analogue.

Furthermore, Chapter 4 describes the first demonstration of global replacement at polar amino acid positions and its application in developing an alternative PEGylation strategy for therapeutic proteins. Polar amino acids typically occupy solvent-exposed positions on the protein surface, and incorporation of noncanonical amino acids at these positions should allow easier modification and cause less perturbation compared to replacements at the interior positions of proteins.

Programming chemical kinetics: engineering dynamic reaction networks with DNA strand displacement

Over the last century, the silicon revolution has enabled us to build faster, smaller and more sophisticated computers. Today, these computers control phones, cars, satellites, assembly lines, and other electromechanical devices. Just as electrical wiring controls electromechanical devices, living organisms employ "chemical wiring" to make decisions about their environment and control physical processes. Currently, the big difference between these two substrates is that while we have the abstractions, design principles, verification and fabrication techniques in place for programming with silicon, we have no comparable understanding or expertise for programming chemistry.

In this thesis we take a small step towards the goal of learning how to systematically engineer prescribed non-equilibrium dynamical behaviors in chemical systems. We use the formalism of chemical reaction networks (CRNs), combined with mass-action kinetics, as our programming language for specifying dynamical behaviors. Leveraging the tools of nucleic acid nanotechnology (introduced in Chapter 1), we employ synthetic DNA molecules as our molecular architecture and toehold-mediated DNA strand displacement as our reaction primitive.

Abstraction, modular design and systematic fabrication can work only with well-understood and quantitatively characterized tools. Therefore, we embark on a detailed study of the "device physics" of DNA strand displacement (Chapter 2). We present a unified view of strand displacement biophysics and kinetics by studying the process at multiple levels of detail, using an intuitive model of a random walk on a 1-dimensional energy landscape, a secondary structure kinetics model with single base-pair steps, and a coarse-grained molecular model that incorporates three-dimensional geometric and steric effects. Further, we experimentally investigate the thermodynamics of three-way branch migration. Our findings are consistent with previously measured or inferred rates for hybridization, fraying, and branch migration, and provide a biophysical explanation of strand displacement kinetics. Our work paves the way for accurate modeling of strand displacement cascades, which would facilitate the simulation and construction of more complex molecular systems.

In Chapters 3 and 4, we identify and overcome the crucial experimental challenges involved in using our general DNA-based technology for engineering dynamical behaviors in the test tube. In this process, we identify important design rules that inform our choice of molecular motifs and our algorithms for designing and verifying DNA sequences for our molecular implementation. We also develop flexible molecular strategies for "tuning" our reaction rates and stoichiometries in order to compensate for unavoidable non-idealities in the molecular implementation, such as imperfectly synthesized molecules and spurious "leak" pathways that compete with desired pathways.

We successfully implement three distinct autocatalytic reactions, which we then combine into a de novo chemical oscillator. Unlike biological networks, which use sophisticated evolved molecules (like proteins) to realize such behavior, our test tube realization is the first to demonstrate that Watson-Crick base pairing interactions alone suffice for oscillatory dynamics. Since our design pipeline is general and applicable to any CRN, our experimental demonstration of a de novo chemical oscillator could enable the systematic construction of CRNs with other dynamic behaviors.

System architecture and deployment scenarios for SESAME: Small cEllS coordinAtion for Multi-tenancy and Edge services

The surge of the Internet traffic with exabytes of data flowing over operators mobile networks has created the need to rethink the paradigms behind the design of the mobile network architecture. The inadequacy of the 4G UMTS Long term Evolution (LTE) and even of its advanced version LTE-A is evident, considering that the traffic will be extremely heterogeneous in the near future and ranging from 4K resolution TV to machine-type communications. To keep up with these changes, academia, industries and EU institutions have now engaged in the quest for new 5G technology. In this paper we present the innovative system design, concepts and visions developed by the 5G PPP H2020 project SESAME (Small cEllS coordinAtion for Multi-tenancy and Edge services). The innovation of SESAME is manifold: i) combine the key 5G small cells with cloud technology, ii) promote and develop the concept of Small Cellsas- a-Service (SCaaS), iii) bring computing and storage power at the mobile network edge through the development of nonx86 ARM technology enabled micro-servers, and iv) address a large number of scenarios and use cases applying mobile edge computing. Topics:

Dia de rebelião: as margens do Estado no cotidiano civil-prisional da Ilha Anchieta (1942-1955)

A Ilha Anchieta está localizada no litoral norte do Estado de São Paulo, no município de Ubatuba. Um importante sítio que apresenta em seu passado a presença de uma prisão, que perpassou múltiplas formas de encarceramento entre 1908-1955. O escopo da presente dissertação restringe-se ao período entre 1942-1955, quando era denominada Instituto Correcional da Ilha Anchieta (ICIA), tendo como momento de inflexão e reflexão uma grande rebelião prisional ocorrida em 20 de junho de 1952. A partir das pesquisas etnográfica, documental e bibliográfica realizadas, procurei entender, principalmente, como eram organizadas as redes de sociabilidade entre militares, funcionários civis, mulheres, crianças e os indivíduos privados da liberdade, que lá se encontravam encarcerados e ilhados. Durante o percurso historiográfico e micro sociológico, as relações foram sendo reveladas no plano das práticas cotidianas em escalas e perspectivas distintas, mas congruentes, que passaram a ser descritas, revelando uma intrincada malha de sociabilidade que misturava interesses e agentes variados, uma minuciosa trama de conflitos e dinâmicas sociais. O que está em voga são as fronteiras que operam nos momentos de interação social, subdivididas em cotidiano e rebelião, de como as dinâmicas sociais de um sujeito denominado Ilha Anchieta operam com a população residente e observar, principalmente, a dicotomia entre margens e Estado. A pesquisa permitiu ver como os indivíduos e as categorias operavam tanto no cotidiano, quanto no momento de evento crítico, de rebelião, levando-me a afirmar que, em momentos de ruptura, há um deslaçamento das dinâmicas previamente construídas para, no momento da ruptura, os indivíduos retornarem discursiva e praticamente às suas esferas categóricas de pertencimento, levando-me a crer que é no cotidiano e nas dinâmicas do dia a dia que as formas de nomeação e conceitualização, usualmente marginalizadas, entrelaçam-se tanto para dentro, como para fora do Estado. Desse choque surgem possibilidades de análise dos conflitos, contextos políticos e seus desdobramentos na história do sistema prisional paulista.

Study on primary production and its importance in an integrated fisheries research programme

The importance of the ocean as a source of cheap protein food is too well-known to be emphasised. In recent years there has been a tremendous increase in the fishing activity in all maritime nations and during the last few years the total world production has markedly grown. This study explains the importance of a planned exploitation according to scientific principles to preserve the availability and natural fluctuations in the abundance of stocks of marine fish and other commercially important organisms.

Technology management - Structuring the strategic dialogue

Successful innovation requires effective communication within and between technical and nontechnical communities, which can be challenging due to different educational backgrounds, experience, perceptions, and attitudes. Roadmapping has emerged as a method that can enable effective dialogue between these groups, and the way in which information is structured is a key feature that enables this communication. This is an area that has not received much attention in the literature, and this article seeks to address this gap by describing in detail the structures that have been successfully applied in roadmapping workshops and processes, from which key learning points and future research directions are identified.

Soil mix technology for land remediation: Recent innovations

The past 15 years have seen increasing applications of soil mix technology in land remediation, mainly in stabilisation/solidification treatments and the construction of low-permeability cut-off walls and permeable reactive barriers; clear evidence of the versatility of the technology and its wide-ranging applications. This paper provides an overview of some of the recent innovations of soil mix technology in land remediation covering equipment developments and applications, including systems for rectangular panels and trenching systems, treatments, such as chemical oxidation, and additives, such as modified clays, zeolites and reactive magnesia. The paper also provides case studies for such innovations. The paper concludes with an overview of an on-going research and development project SMiRT (Soil Mix Remediation Technology) which will involve field trials on a contaminated site and will employ some of the innovations discussed in the paper. The range of significant advantages that soil mix technology now offers compared to other remediation techniques is likely to place this remediation method at the forefront of remedial options for future brownfield projects.

Exploring the impacts of the interactions between lifecycles and other dynamics that influence the development of technology-based industries

To address future uncertainty within strategy and innovation, managers extrapolate past patterns and trends into the future. Several disciplines make use of lifecycles, often with a linear sequence of identified phases, to make predictions and address likely uncertainties. Often the aggregation of several cycles is then interpreted as a new cycle - such as product lifecycles into an industry lifecycle. However, frequently different lifecycle terms - technology, product, industry - are used interchangeably and without clear definition. Within the interdisciplinary context of technology management, this juxtaposition of dynamics can create confusion, rather than clarification. This paper explores some typical dynamics associated with technology-based industries, using illustrative examples from the automotive industry. A wide range of dimensions are seen to influence the path of a technology-based industry, and stakeholders need to consider the likely causality and synchronicity of these. Some curves can simply present the aggregation of components; other dynamics incur time lags, rather than being superimposed, but still have a significant impact. To optimise alignment of the important dimensions within any development, and for future strategy decisions, understanding these interactions will be critical. © 2011 IEEE.

External corporate venture capital investment: Towards a framework for capturing and measuring strategic value

This paper presents the initial results of on-going research in the field of external Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) investments, i.e. equity investments of large corporations in entrepreneurial ventures which originated outside the corporation. The research is motivated by the fact that external CVC plays an increasingly important role within the strategy of corporations. Driven by a general trend towards a more open approach to innovation, companies see particular value in external corporate venturing as a tool to gain, for example, access to complementary technologies and a general window on technology developments. The review of literature in the field of external corporate venturing clearly reveals that theoretical gaps exist in understanding mechanisms for capturing value and measurements of this value. To help close these gaps, the research addresses the underlying question "How do corporations and start-ups capture and measure strategic value through external CVC investments" by using embedded, multiple case studies. Following an initial set of case studies, steps towards the development of a framework for capturing and measuring strategic value from CVC investments are outlined within this paper and the resulting preliminary framework is presented. The paper closes with an outlook on ongoing and future research steps. © 2009 PICMET.