1,721,152 research outputs found
Design of a digital tool for the identification of confined spaces
No full textStatistics on accidents in confined spaces reveal that many workers are injured and killed each year while working in confined spaces. The main cause of accidents and fatalities due to work in confined spaces is related to the lack of awareness about the presence and the risks of such unconventional workplaces. A confined space hazard assessment and risk control program should be implemented prior to access a confined space, aiming to control the risks associated with working in a confined space. This paper introduces a structured procedure and a digital tool for mobile devices, which aim to increase workers’ awareness about the risks of working in confined spaces.
The proposed tool investigates four different categories of confinement that characterize confined spaces: geometry, access, internal configuration, and atmosphere. After completing the procedure on the mobile application, the user, e.g. the employer or the company's safety professional, receives a list of potential issues that should be addressed before entering the space. Three case studies show the application of the proposed methodology to three suspected confined spaces
Design of digital tool for the identification of confined spaces
Full text linkStatistics on accidents in confined spaces reveal that many workers are injured and killed each year while working in confined spaces. The main cause of accidents and fatalities due to work in confined spaces is related to the lack of awareness about the presence and the risks of such unconventional workplaces. A confined space hazard assessment and risk control program should be implemented prior to access a confined space, aiming to control the risks associated with working in a confined space. This paper introduces a structured procedure and a digital tool for mobile devices, which aim to increase workers’ awareness about the risks of working in confined spaces.
The proposed tool investigates four different categories of confinement that characterize confined spaces: geometry, access, internal configuration, and atmosphere. After completing the procedure on the mobile application, the user, e.g. the employer or the company's safety professional, receives a list of potential issues that should be addressed before entering the space. Three case studies show the application of the proposed methodology to three suspected confined spaces
Modeling inclusive food supply chains toward sustainable ecosystem planning
No full textThe increasing global food demand is forcing the food industry to identify new effective strategies for production and distribution, as was already experienced in the 1960s and 1970s with the birth of green chemistry and the explosion of fossil-fueled agriculture.
The globalization of the food trade has bridged the barriers between production and consumption without respecting the balance of natural resources, resulting in enlarged gaps between developed and developing countries. In the food sector many issues affect the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. These include land-use change and deforestation to widen farms, pastures, and biofuel cultivations, land grabbing to establish intensive agriculture, clean water consumption, soil and air pollution, lack of supply chain infrastructures, volatile prices, and climate change. Together these issues make current food supply chains (FSCs) unsustainable over the long term and challenge the future of the food industries and society as well. Such issues also reveal the lack of connections and coordination among actors involved in FSCs and open debate about the neglected role of the physical and logistic/distribution infrastructures in addressing long-term sustainability targets.
This chapter illustrates a hierarchical framework aimed at modeling production and distribution food ecosystems through a set of interdisciplinary parameters and decision variables. The decision levers identified in this framework describe how the food ecosystem behaves according to an input-output flow analysis. The framework formulates a set of planning decision problems via mixed linear programming. The definition of the inclusive food ecosystem inspires collecting multidisciplinary parameters that impose collaboration between decision-makers. Furthermore, as part of the ecosystem, logistics and distribution processes are involved in the planning issues beyond the common perception that sees an FSC as a sequence of independent stages
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Automated entry technologies for confined space work activities: a survey
No full textWork in confined spaces poses a significant risk to workers and rescuers involved in the emergency response when an accident occurs. Despite several standards and regulations define the safety requirements for such activities, injuries, and fatalities still occur. Furthermore, the on-site inspections after accidents often reveal that both employers and employees fail to implement safe entry procedures. Removing the risk is possible by avoiding the worker entry, but many activities require the presence of the operator inside the confined space to perform manual tasks. The following study investigates the available technologies for hazardous confined space work activities, e.g., cleaning, inspecting, and maintenance tasks. The aim is to provide a systematic review of the automated solutions for high-risk activities in confined spaces, considering the non-man entry as the most effective confined space safety strategy. Second, this survey aims to provide suggestions for future research addressing the design of new technologies. The survey consists of about 60 papers concerning innovative technologies for confined space work activities. The document review shows that several solutions have been developed and automation can replace the workers for a limited number of hazardous tasks. Several activities still require the manual intervention due to the complex characteristics of confined spaces, e.g., to remove the remains of the automatic cleaning process from the bottom of a tank. The results show that available technologies require more flexibility to adapt to such occupational environments and further research is needed
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
New Kanban model for tow-train feeding system design
No full textPurpose – This paper aims to introduce, apply and validate, through a realistic case study, an analytical cost model to support the design of the
tow-train feeding system for mixed-model assembly lines managed according to the just-in-time concept. The fleet size and inventory level,
minimizing the total annual cost, are the key model goals, while the tow-train shipping capacity and the service level are the decisional variables
to set.
Design/methodology/approach – The model computes the material handling, inventory and stockout rising costs of the tow-train feeding system
and looks for their minimization. It further computes the expected lead time between consecutive round-trips and the Kanban card number,
distinguishing among parts and assembly lines, overcoming the simplifying hypothesis assuming a constant lead time for all parts. The model is
validated against a dedicated case study stressing its strengths in terms of cost and inventory-level reduction.
Findings – The proposed approach is found to be effective if compared to the standard literature in the field of Kanban system design. The 10.76
per cent cost saving is experienced for the considered case study, and the inventory level is closer to the field-experienced profile.
Practical implications – The model adopts a practical perspective, making it easy and applicable to common operative industries.
Originality/value – The literature neglects to consider the differences in the part consumption when estimating the lead time between tow-train
round-trips. The proposed model overcomes such limitations and strengthens the model applicability and performances
Fresh food sustainable distribution: cost, delivery time and carbon footprint three-objective optimization
No full textThis paper presents a three-objective distribution planner to tackle the tactical optimization of fresh food
distribution networks considering operating cost, carbon footprint and delivery time goals. The developed
expert system overcomes the widely adopted methodologies mainly focused on the cost minimization
only. These three independent goals are jointly included in a unique tool, called Food Distribution
Planner, to support the tactical planning of multi-modal distribution networks of perishable produces.
This expert system implements a three-objective linear programming model, considering the typical
food distribution constraints, i.e. the food quality dependence on the delivery time, the geographically
distributed market demand and the farmer production capacities.
This paper further applies the proposed system to a real case study dealing with the distribution of
fresh fruits and vegetables from a set of Italian producers to several European retailers. The most effective
distribution network is studied best balancing the economic, environmental and delivery time objective
functions. Such a tactical network planning leads to 9.6% CO2 emission reduction with 2.7% cost increase
compared to the correspondent single-objective configurations. Finally, the delivery time allows no
produce waste due to the food quality preservation during shipmen
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