22 research outputs found
Rapid modeling of field maintenance using discrete event simulation
No full textDiscrete event simulation has been applied to a wide range of applications areas
due to its ability to represent stochastic systems over time. Maintenance,
particularly field maintenance, is complex due to the interaction of different
sub-systems of use, maintenance, repair and inventory and the conflicting
demands of minimizing cost and maximizing availability. The area of simulation
of maintenance systems receives little treatment in the literature and tends to
focus on reliability modeling of individual assets. The work presented here
documents research to fill this gap by specifying, creating and testing
simulation functionality to rapidly model field maintenance systems
Acceptance-by-Design Elicitation of Social Requirements for Intelligent Infrastructures
No full textEngineering Systems and ServicesTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Understanding the effects of different levels of product monitoring on maintenance operations: A simulation approach
No full textThe move towards integrating products and services has increased significantly. As a result, some business models, such as Product Service Systems (PSS) have been developed. PSS emphasises the sale of use of the product rather than the sale of the product itself. In this case, product ownership lies with the manufacturers/suppliers. Customers will be provided with a capable and available product for their use.
In PSS, manufacturers/suppliers are penalised for any down time of their product according to the PSS contract. This has formed a pressure on the service providers (maintenance teams) to assure the availability of their products in use. This pressure increases as the products are scattered in remote places (customer locations).
Authors have urged that different product monitoring levels are applied to enable service providers to monitor their products remotely allowing maintenance to be performed accordingly. They claim that by adopting these monitoring levels, the product performance will increase. Their claim is based on reasoning, not on experimental/empirical methods. Therefore, further experimental research is required to observe the effect of such monitoring levels on complex maintenance operations systems as a whole which includes e.g. product location, different types of failure, labour and their skills and locations, travel times, spare part inventory, etc.
In the literature, monitoring levels have been classified as Reactive, Diagnostics, and Prognostics. This research aims to better understand and evaluate the complex maintenance operations of a product in use with different levels of product monitoring strategies using a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) approach. A discussion of the suitability of DES over other techniques has been provided. DES has proven its suitability to give a better understanding of the product monitoring levels on the wider maintenance system. The requirements for simulating a complex maintenance operation have been identified and documented. Two approaches are applied to gather these generic requirements. The first is to identify those requirements of modelling complex maintenance operations in a literature review. This is followed by conducting interviews with academics and industrial practitioners to find out more requirements that were not captured in the literature. As a result, a generic conceptual model is assimilated.
A simulation module is built through the Witness software package to represent different product monitoring levels (Reactive, Diagnostics, and Prognostics). These modules are then linked with resources (e.g. labour, tools, and spare parts). To ensure the ease of use and rapid build of such a complex maintenance system through these modules, an Excel interface is developed and named as Product Monitoring Levels Simulation (PMLS).
The developed PMLS tool needed to be demonstrated and tested for tool validation purposes. Three industrial case studies are presented and different experimentations are carried out to better understand the effect of different product monitoring levels on the complex maintenance operations. Face to face validation with case companies is conducted followed by an expert validation workshop.
This work presents a novel Discrete Event Simulation (DES) approach which is developed to support maintenance operations decision makers in selecting the appropriate product monitoring level for their particular operation. This unique approach provides numerical evidence and proved that the higher product monitoring level does not always guarantee higher product availability
Acceptance of Privacy-Sensitive Technologies: Smart Metering Case in The Netherlands
No full textOver recent years there have been several initiatives around the world that aim to roll out smart metering systems, especially within North America and member states of the European Union. Smart metering systems, giving essential conditions for smart grids in the energy sector, can offer services aimed at achieving many different goals beyond the main task of metering electricity consumption of households. Despite the many advantages gained by the smart metering system, there is a number of serious issues that may lead to the system’s failure or inability to reach its goals. One such obstacle which can lead to consumers’ rejection of smart meters is perceived security and privacy violations of consumers’ information. The social rejection of smart meters poses a significant threat to a successful rollout and operation of the system as consumers represent a cornerstone in the fulfillment of goals such as energy efficiency and savings, by their active interaction with the smart meters. To investigate consumers’ perception of smart meters theories and models from the technology acceptance literature can be used for understanding consumers’ behaviors, and exploring possible factors that can have a significant impact on consumers’ acceptance and usage of a smart meter. In this paper, a first-stage hybrid model of a two well-known technology acceptance theories is presented. These theories are: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology- UTAUT, and Innovation Diffusion Theory- IDT. The hybrid model is further extended with additional acceptance determinants derived from the smart metering case in the Dutch context. The model aims to investigate determinants that can help shed the light on consumers’ perception of the system and its acceptance.Infrastructures, Systems and ServicesTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Acceptance of Privacy-Sensitive Infrastructure Systems: A Case of Smart Metering in The Netherlands
No full textOver recent years there have been several initiatives around the world that aim to roll out smart metering systems, especially within North America and member states of the European Union. Smart metering systems, giving essential conditions for smart grids in the energy sector, can offer services aimed at achieving many different goals beyond the main task of metering electricity consumption of households. Despite the many advantages gained by the smart metering system, there is a number of serious issues that may lead to the system's failure or inability to reach its goals. One such obstacle which can lead to consumers' rejection of smart meters is perceived security and privacy violations of consumers' information. The social rejection of smart meters poses a significant threat to a successful rollout and operation of the system as consumers represent a cornerstone in the fulfillment of goals such as energy efficiency and savings, by their active interaction with the smart meters. To investigate consumers' perception of smart meters theories and models from the technology acceptance literature can be used for understanding consumers' behaviors, and exploring possible factors that can have a significant impact on consumers' acceptance and usage of a smart meter. In this paper, a first-stage hybrid model of a two well-known technology acceptance theories is presented. These theories are: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology-UTAUT, and Innovation Diffusion Theory-IDT. The hybrid model is further extended with additional acceptance determinants derived from the smart metering case in the Dutch context. The model aims to investigate determinants that can help shed the light on consumers' perception of the system and its acceptance
Imaging mass spectrometry application in colorectal cancer liver metastasis pathological evaluation
No full textColorectal Cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in North America. Death from CRC is largely due to metastatic disease and the liver is the most common site of distant metastasis. Surgery when feasible carries the only chance of cure for Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastasis (CRCLM) patients. Post surgical resection further patient management and choice of adjuvant chemotherapy relies on pathological assessment of tumor grade. Multiple histopathologic assessment methods have been developed with variable correlation with patients' outcome. Until recently the Tumor Regression Grade (TRG) had the strongest correlation with patients' outcome. It scores lesions according to the ratio of fibrosis against the sum of viable tumor and necrosis. However with the widespread use of anti-angiogenic agents that causes necrosis as a form of response in the preoperative setting the modified Tumor Regression Grade (mTRG) evolved. It differentiates between two types of necrosis with different prognostic roles, Usual Necrosis (UN) and Infarct-Like Necrosis (ILN). Nonetheless pathological evaluation remains limited by its subjective nature. Our works describes the use of Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption and Ionization (MALDI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) to generate lipid signatures for different topographies. To do so we initially applied a semi-supervised histology driven approach to build our spectral library using an automated clustering method (k-means) and direct visual histological correlations (5-stain panel) on a training set (n=12). We identified six histologically correlated lipid signatures and further mined them for discriminate lipid markers. We used partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) to implement our spectral library on an independent validation cohort (n=40). Additionally, by dissecting out the lipid signatures we have identified single lipid moieties that are unique to UN and ILN that could potentially be used as new biomarkers for assessing response to therapy. Using these signatures and lipid markers we obtained a histologically quantitative and objective mTRG score.Le cancer colorectal (CCR) est la deuxième cause la plus importante de mortalité dérivée du cancer en Amérique du Nord. La mort causée par le CCR peut être attribuée à la métastase du cancer. Le site le plus fréquent de métastase éloignée de l'origine du CCR est le foie. Si cela est possible, la chirurgie donne la seule occasion de traitement pour les patients avec des métastases hépatiques du cancer colorectal (MHCCR). Les soins administrés après résection ainsi que le choix de chimiothérapie adjuvante dépendent de l'évaluation pathologique du grade de la tumeur. Plusieurs méthodes d'évaluation histopathologique ont été dévelopées, mais leurs corrélations avec les résultats des patients sont variables. Jusqu'à date, le « Tumor Regression Grade » (TRG) avait la plus forte corrélation avec les résultats des patients. Celui-ci marque les lésions selon la proportion de fibrose sur la somme de tumeurs viables et de nécrose. Pourtant, l'usage répandu d'agents anti-angiogéniques qui causent la nécrose lors de la période préopératoire a poussé le TRG à évoluer en TRG modifié (mTRG). Le mTRG différencie entre deux types de nécrose qui ont des rôles prognostiques différents : la Nécrose Commune (NC) et la Necrose qui ressemble à une infarctus (ILN). De plus, les évaluations pathologiques restent quand-même limitées par leur nature subjective. Le projet présenté dans ce mémoire décrit l'utilisation de l'imagerie de spectroscopie de masse (ISM) par Désorption/Ionisation Laser assistée par Matrice (MALDI) afin de définir les signatures lipidiques signatures pour des topographies différentes. Nous avons initialement appliqué une approche histologique semi-supervisée afin de construire notre banque spectrale par une méthode automatique de classification (k-means) et des corrélations histologiques visuelles directes (panneau de 5 couleurs) sur une série d'échantillons préparatoire (n=12). Nous avons identifié six signatures lipidiques qui sont mises en corrélation par histologie et puis, nous les avons exploitées afin de découvrir des marqueurs lipidiques discriminants. Nous avons utilisé la méthode d'analyse « Partial Least Squares-Discriminant » (PLS-DA) afin de mettre en place notre banque spectrale sur une cohorte de validation indépendante de 40 patients. De plus, en analysant les signatures lipidiques, nous avons identifié des fractions lipidiques uniques distinguant les NC et les ILN, qui peuvent potentiellement être utilisées comme biomarqueurs pour évaluer la réaction au traitement. En utilisant ces signatures et marqueurs lipidiques, nous avons obtenu un score de mTRG quantifié par histologie et objectif
Intellectual Property Rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia In Light of Sharia and the TRIPS Agreement
No full textThis study aims to illustrate the current state of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Saudi Arabia in light of certain international agreements, specifically TRIPS, as well as Sharia law, that have informed the Saudi legislature in its creation and handling of intellectual property matters. Various matters of IP today may be debated among Saudi\u27s Islamic jurists, which in turn may bring such issues into conflict with Sharia. Such conflicts over matters of IP cannot be dismissed lightly by the Saudi legislators. They must determine the proper enforcement and protection of IRP as stipulated by modern Saudi IP laws and/or by international agreements signed by the Saudi government. Potential deficiencies in the proper protection and enforcement of IPR may foster dear among IPR owners regarding access to legal protection for their IP. The main objective of this study is to prove the possibility of reducing IPR infringement in Saudi Arabia. This study also argues that it is possible for Saudi to provide strong enforcement and protection of IPR through the enforcement of religious law, and through other means and measures that are compatible with Sharia and the cultural environment of Saudi Arabia, which is in general strongly religious, traditional, and conservative. Such legal and religious measures may place Saudi\u27s IPR laws on par with international IPR standards and the laws of other countries, and may assist in elaborating a more globalized vision about IPR systems in Saudi Arabia.
This study will analyze and evaluate current Saudi IPR legislation, including Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents from the viewpoint of Islamic and Saudi laws. The methodology adopted in this study is reflective of traditional Saudi IPR laws and international IPR conventions, with reference to other jurisdictions when needed to compare the legislation and practices of diverse countries. Special attention is paid to countries such as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that have a culture similar to Saudi Arabia\u27s and comply with Sharia. This study will serve the important purpose of educating Saudi and international IP owners and lawyers, Saudi authorities who regulate IPR, Islamic countries, and scholars and practitioners in other legal fields seeking to understand the status of IPR in Saudi Arabia, especially as related to Sharia.
In additione to the above mentioned analysis, the author will employ other methods for certain matters, including the critiques and reforms of IP laws and practices. In addition, an attempt has been made to close-read the test of Saudi statutes in light of Sharia and its theories related to IPR.
The scope of this study is to examine the aspects of protection, enforcement, and infringement of IPR in the framework of Sharia, the TRIPS agreement, and the current Saudi IPR laws. This study is divided into three main parts and eight chapters, as follows. Part I comprises Chapters 2 and 3, and deals with the general background of intellectual property rights in TRIPS, Saudi statutes, Jurisprudence, and Sharia. Various theories related to IPR are discussed with respect to modern laws and Sharia. Part II comprises Chapters 4, 5, and 6, and discusses infringement and enforcement of IPR in Sharia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. The underlying concepts and reasons for IPR infringement and enforcement, and the criminal and civil remedies regarding IPR, are elucidated with respect to Saudi and Sharia law. An examination of the enforcement of religious law by the religious police as related to Sharia and its modern practices is provided. Recommendations and improvements that might be made to current legal practices are illustrated. Part III comprises Chapters 7, 8, and 9, and examines matters of IPR that might raise issues related to the implementation of proper IPR protection and enforcement. Such matters are related to trademarks, and concern the function, ownership, and protection of banned trademarks in Saudi Arabia with reference to Sharia and other legislation. Likewise, matters of copyrights concerning moral and financial rights, duration, and protection are deliberated. Regarding patents matters concerning monopolies, public interest, infringement and remedies are discussed. Recommendations are provided as important results in the conclusion of this study
Intellectual Property Rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia In Light of Sharia and the TRIPS Agreement
No full textThis study aims to illustrate the current state of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Saudi Arabia in light of certain international agreements, specifically TRIPS, as well as Sharia law, that have informed the Saudi legislature in its creation and handling of intellectual property matters. Various matters of IP today may be debated among Saudi\u27s Islamic jurists, which in turn may bring such issues into conflict with Sharia. Such conflicts over matters of IP cannot be dismissed lightly by the Saudi legislators. They must determine the proper enforcement and protection of IRP as stipulated by modern Saudi IP laws and/or by international agreements signed by the Saudi government. Potential deficiencies in the proper protection and enforcement of IPR may foster dear among IPR owners regarding access to legal protection for their IP. The main objective of this study is to prove the possibility of reducing IPR infringement in Saudi Arabia. This study also argues that it is possible for Saudi to provide strong enforcement and protection of IPR through the enforcement of religious law, and through other means and measures that are compatible with Sharia and the cultural environment of Saudi Arabia, which is in general strongly religious, traditional, and conservative. Such legal and religious measures may place Saudi\u27s IPR laws on par with international IPR standards and the laws of other countries, and may assist in elaborating a more globalized vision about IPR systems in Saudi Arabia.
This study will analyze and evaluate current Saudi IPR legislation, including Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents from the viewpoint of Islamic and Saudi laws. The methodology adopted in this study is reflective of traditional Saudi IPR laws and international IPR conventions, with reference to other jurisdictions when needed to compare the legislation and practices of diverse countries. Special attention is paid to countries such as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that have a culture similar to Saudi Arabia\u27s and comply with Sharia. This study will serve the important purpose of educating Saudi and international IP owners and lawyers, Saudi authorities who regulate IPR, Islamic countries, and scholars and practitioners in other legal fields seeking to understand the status of IPR in Saudi Arabia, especially as related to Sharia.
In additione to the above mentioned analysis, the author will employ other methods for certain matters, including the critiques and reforms of IP laws and practices. In addition, an attempt has been made to close-read the test of Saudi statutes in light of Sharia and its theories related to IPR.
The scope of this study is to examine the aspects of protection, enforcement, and infringement of IPR in the framework of Sharia, the TRIPS agreement, and the current Saudi IPR laws. This study is divided into three main parts and eight chapters, as follows. Part I comprises Chapters 2 and 3, and deals with the general background of intellectual property rights in TRIPS, Saudi statutes, Jurisprudence, and Sharia. Various theories related to IPR are discussed with respect to modern laws and Sharia. Part II comprises Chapters 4, 5, and 6, and discusses infringement and enforcement of IPR in Sharia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. The underlying concepts and reasons for IPR infringement and enforcement, and the criminal and civil remedies regarding IPR, are elucidated with respect to Saudi and Sharia law. An examination of the enforcement of religious law by the religious police as related to Sharia and its modern practices is provided. Recommendations and improvements that might be made to current legal practices are illustrated. Part III comprises Chapters 7, 8, and 9, and examines matters of IPR that might raise issues related to the implementation of proper IPR protection and enforcement. Such matters are related to trademarks, and concern the function, ownership, and protection of banned trademarks in Saudi Arabia with reference to Sharia and other legislation. Likewise, matters of copyrights concerning moral and financial rights, duration, and protection are deliberated. Regarding patents matters concerning monopolies, public interest, infringement and remedies are discussed. Recommendations are provided as important results in the conclusion of this study
Intellectual Property Rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia In Light of Sharia and the TRIPS Agreement
No full textThis study aims to illustrate the current state of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Saudi Arabia in light of certain international agreements, specifically TRIPS, as well as Sharia law, that have informed the Saudi legislature in its creation and handling of intellectual property matters. Various matters of IP today may be debated among Saudi\u27s Islamic jurists, which in turn may bring such issues into conflict with Sharia. Such conflicts over matters of IP cannot be dismissed lightly by the Saudi legislators. They must determine the proper enforcement and protection of IRP as stipulated by modern Saudi IP laws and/or by international agreements signed by the Saudi government. Potential deficiencies in the proper protection and enforcement of IPR may foster dear among IPR owners regarding access to legal protection for their IP. The main objective of this study is to prove the possibility of reducing IPR infringement in Saudi Arabia. This study also argues that it is possible for Saudi to provide strong enforcement and protection of IPR through the enforcement of religious law, and through other means and measures that are compatible with Sharia and the cultural environment of Saudi Arabia, which is in general strongly religious, traditional, and conservative. Such legal and religious measures may place Saudi\u27s IPR laws on par with international IPR standards and the laws of other countries, and may assist in elaborating a more globalized vision about IPR systems in Saudi Arabia.
This study will analyze and evaluate current Saudi IPR legislation, including Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents from the viewpoint of Islamic and Saudi laws. The methodology adopted in this study is reflective of traditional Saudi IPR laws and international IPR conventions, with reference to other jurisdictions when needed to compare the legislation and practices of diverse countries. Special attention is paid to countries such as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that have a culture similar to Saudi Arabia\u27s and comply with Sharia. This study will serve the important purpose of educating Saudi and international IP owners and lawyers, Saudi authorities who regulate IPR, Islamic countries, and scholars and practitioners in other legal fields seeking to understand the status of IPR in Saudi Arabia, especially as related to Sharia.
In additione to the above mentioned analysis, the author will employ other methods for certain matters, including the critiques and reforms of IP laws and practices. In addition, an attempt has been made to close-read the test of Saudi statutes in light of Sharia and its theories related to IPR.
The scope of this study is to examine the aspects of protection, enforcement, and infringement of IPR in the framework of Sharia, the TRIPS agreement, and the current Saudi IPR laws. This study is divided into three main parts and eight chapters, as follows. Part I comprises Chapters 2 and 3, and deals with the general background of intellectual property rights in TRIPS, Saudi statutes, Jurisprudence, and Sharia. Various theories related to IPR are discussed with respect to modern laws and Sharia. Part II comprises Chapters 4, 5, and 6, and discusses infringement and enforcement of IPR in Sharia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. The underlying concepts and reasons for IPR infringement and enforcement, and the criminal and civil remedies regarding IPR, are elucidated with respect to Saudi and Sharia law. An examination of the enforcement of religious law by the religious police as related to Sharia and its modern practices is provided. Recommendations and improvements that might be made to current legal practices are illustrated. Part III comprises Chapters 7, 8, and 9, and examines matters of IPR that might raise issues related to the implementation of proper IPR protection and enforcement. Such matters are related to trademarks, and concern the function, ownership, and protection of banned trademarks in Saudi Arabia with reference to Sharia and other legislation. Likewise, matters of copyrights concerning moral and financial rights, duration, and protection are deliberated. Regarding patents matters concerning monopolies, public interest, infringement and remedies are discussed. Recommendations are provided as important results in the conclusion of this study
