26 research outputs found
Business process improvement using multi-objective optimisation
No full textBusiness process redesign and improvement has become an increasingly attractive subject in the wider area of business process intelligence. Although there have been many attempts to establish a business process redesign framework, there is little work on the actual optimisation of business processes with given objectives. Furthermore, most of the attempts to optimise a business process are manual and do not involve a formal automated methodology. This paper proposes a process improvement approach for automated multi-objective optimisation of business processes. The proposed framework uses a generic business process model that is formally defined. The formal definition of business processes is necessary to ensure that the optimisation will take place in a clearly defined, repeatable and verifiable way. Multi-objectivity is expressed in terms of process cost and duration as two key objectives for any business process. The business process model is programmed and incorporated into a software optimisation platform where a selection of multi-objective optimisation algorithms can be applied to a business process design. This paper outlines a case study of business process design that is optimised by the state-of-the-art multi-objective optimisation algorithm NSGA2. The results indicate that, although business process optimisation is a highly constrained problem with fragmented search space, a number of alternative optimised business processes that meet the optimisation criteria can be produced. The paper also provides directions for future research in this area
Project Execution and Offshore Field Development in the Current Oil Market Downturn
No full textThis Record of Study presents the author���s experience in the capacity of riser lead and technical advisor working on multiple engineering and management project assignments by Cuneiform Offshore Consulting (Cuneiform). Cuneiform is a consulting firm based in Houston, Texas, specialized in providing engineering, technical advisory and project management services to the offshore energy industry.
The author provided direct technical and managerial support to several of Noble Energy���s field developments in Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and Eastern Mediterranean; and, performed CVA (Certified Verification Agent) duties on behalf of BSEE (Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement) by conducting riser design, fabrication and installation verification for risers intended for operation in two different GOM developments.
The author���s assignments were comprised of different technical and managerial challenges related to design, engineering, fabrication and installation of offshore risers. A fundamental goal and imperative challenge was to minimize project execution and operational risks and costs.
The author emphasizes the importance of correct hazard identification, appropriate risk assessments, good decision making and judgement to ensure the health, safety and protection of the offshore personnel, the public and the environment, as well as the avoidance of incidents through proper riser design and proper execution to help safeguard the offshore asset and the interest of all stakeholders.
The engineering and execution of offshore dynamic risers require a detailed understanding of the internal and external environment and interfaces. Early assessment of key design considerations during feasibility and concept selection phases was of utmost importance as it allowed for the identification of technical gaps and risk evaluation. Indeed, particular attention was given to the riser type selection philosophy with respect to host floater types, field configurations, environmental conditions, and fluid properties amongst primary parameters.
Moreover, the author���s experience highlights the importance of staffing, teamwork, communication, planning, management, leadership and decision making as key factors and challenges to the overall project execution success.
Furthermore, organizational elements such as talent identification, retention and acquisition; continuous investment into innovation and R&D; risk assessment and minimization; ability to adapt to changing market demands; cost control; and maintaining a cash flow positive organization with access to capital are found to contribute to an enhanced operational efficiency.
The thorough assessment of outcomes for each project provided valuable technical and managerial lessons. The acquired experience and proper implementation of the gathered lessons from past projects enables better execution of future projects.
Finally, the overall outcome and success of any project can be judged by assessing its technical rigor and robustness as well as the efficacy in its managerial decisions, approaches, processes, priorities and execution
Intracranial xanthogranuloma of the dura in Hand-Schtiller-Christian disease
No full textThe authors describe a 37-year-old man with the classic clinical features of Hand-Schuller-Christian disease.
He presented with symptoms of increased intracranial pressure due to obstructive hydrocephalus secondary to
a huge xanthogranuloma involving falx cerebri and tentorium cerebelli. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural
studies failed to demonstrate Langerhans histiocytes, however. The implication of this finding is discussed
in light of the recent relevant literature.Corresponding Author:
Prof. Zain Alabedeen B. Jamjoom, Head, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, P.O. Box 2925, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia. Email: [email protected]
Plan d'Izmir 1923
No full textKnjiga faksimila planova Izmira iz 1923. godine objavljena je 2024. godine. Autor knjige je Çinar Atay, glavna urednica Dragana Lucija Ratković Aydemir, izdavač Doubletriangle Troas Production SRL, priprema za tisak i tisak Metro Basim Hizmetleri A. Ş. Knjiga je tvrdo uvezana, nosi oznaku ISBN 978-625-98335-0-7, širina knjige 35 cm, visina 51 cm, broj stranica 74, napisana je na engleskom jeziku. Sadrži faksimile 28 listova plana Izmira. Donator je bio H. Oğuz Aydemir.The book of facsimile plans of Izmir from 1923 was published in 2024. The author of the book is Çinar Atay, editor-in-chief Dragana Lucija Ratković Aydemir, publisher Doubletriangle Troas Production SRL, prepress and printing Metro Basim Hizmetleri A. Ş. The book is hardbound, with ISBN 978-625-98335-0-7; the width of the book is 35 cm, the height is 51 cm, the number of pages is 74, and it is written in English. It contains facsimiles of 28 sheets of the plan of Izmir. The donor was H. Oğuz Aydemir
USTALANIE AUTORSTWA LISTÓW SAMOBÓJCÓW: DOWODY NA PODSTAWIE OPINI BIEGŁYCH Z ZAKRESU JĘZYKOZNAWSTWA STOSOWANEGO
No full textAuthorship attribution is a branch of authorship identification whose aim is to examine the characteristic features of a piece of writing to establish its author. The present study applies the methods and techniques of forensic and applied linguistics to the analysis of a suicide note believed to have been written by a 49-year old brigadier in the Iraqi Army who was found shot in the head. The accident was regarded as a suicidal act, which the family of the deceased challenged. They suspected an assassination disguised as a suicide and claimed that the suicide note left close to the deceased was either a mere fabrication, or was written under duress. The present study attempts to verify these assumptions using the techniques commonly followed in authorship attribution in analyzing the form and content of the suicide note and comparing it to a text that is known to have been written by the deceased. The results indicate that the suicide note was not simulated or tampered with and was not written under threat or duress.Ustalanie autorstwa tesktów polega na analizie dyskursu stosowanego przez domniemnaego autora tekstu w celu odnalezienia typowych dla jego idiolektu cech. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono analizę listu samobójcy, którym był 49 letni brygadier z Armii Iraku, którego znaleziono z raną postrzałową głowy. Rodzina zmarłego poddała w wątpliwość fakt popełnienia przez niego samobójstwa, twierdząc, że list został bądź sfabrykowany bądż napisany pod wpływem groźby. Badanie listu przy wykorzystaniu technik językoznawstwa sądowego i stosowanego wykazało, że list nie był ani sfałszowany, ani napisanie go nie zostało wymuszone na autorze
TTT-plots for CM of rolling element bearings in paper mills
No full textIn general, it is easier to detect that some sort of damage has occurred in rolling element bearings than to accurately assess damage severity and the risk of failure if no replacement is done when using vibration-based maintenance. When the vibration level of a rolling element bearing is increasing, close to or greater than the predetermined replacement level, the assessment of the probability of a bearing's failure enhances the decision making process. Thus, at each vibration measurement a decision has to be made regarding whether the bearing needs to be replaced and how urgent it is actually. The paper describes a graphical method for both assessing the probability of failure of damaged rolling element bearing and predicting the residual of its effective life. It uses history of the bearing in question and life statistics as well as the vibration levels at failure/condition-based replacements of past bearings of the same design or very similar performing and duties. This method is based on the concept of Total Time on Test, M-plot. The application of TTT-plot on age and condition-based maintenance techniques are discussed and two examples are presented. This graphical method is developed from previous work by the author and others.</p
Total Time on Test, TTT-plots for Condition Monitoring of Rolling Element Bearings in Paper Mills
No full textWhen using vibration-based maintenance, it is easier to detect damage in rolling element bearings. But the damage severity and risk of bearing's failure, if no maintenance action such as replacement is done, can not be assessed accurately. When the vibration level of a rolling element bearing is increasing or it is close to (or greater than) a predetermined replacement level, the assessment of the probability of a bearing’s failure enhances the decision making process. Thus, at each vibration measurement occasion a decision has to be made regarding whether the bearing needs to be maintained and how urgent it actually is.The paper describes a graphical method for both assessing the probability of failure of damaged rolling element bearing and predicting the residual of its effective life. It uses history of the bearing in question and life statistics as well as the vibration levels at failure/condition-based replacements of past bearings of the same design or of very similar performance and duties. This method is based on the concept of Total Time on Test, TTT-plot. The application of TTT-plot on age and condition-based maintenance techniques are discussed and described by two examples. This graphical method is developed from previous work by the author and others. </p
Iraqi Arabic morphophonemics
No full textThis thesis gives an account of the alternations that occur in the root forms (in particular, in the triconsonantal verbal root) of Iraqi Arabic (IA) words as a result of morphological affixation (e.g. in the perfective and imperfective paradigm of verbs, nominative and accusative paradigms of nouns and in prepositional cliticization). The phonological alternations studied include vowel deletion, insertion, and lengthening, as well as consonant gemination and glide vocalization.^ In this thesis, the theoretical framework is that of generative phonology. Following Chomsky and Halle (1968), I assume that related words have identical segmental lexical representations down to affixes, and these representations are related to phonetic representations by rules of phonology. The segmental representations are given a hierarchical syllable structure analysis (Kahn(1976), Selkirk (1980, 1982)). These hierarchical structures are interpreted as X-bar type projections of vowels (Hong and Michaels (1985), Michaels (1985), Majdi and Michaels (1987)). That is, V\sp0 (the syllable head) projects a category V\sp\prime (the rhyme) which optionally licenses a C-position (Coda), and V\sp\prime projects a category V\sp{\prime\prime} (the syllable) which obligatorily licenses a C-position (Onset). Each position licensed at the X\sp0 level can contain no more than one segment. The rules which relate underlying and surface syllable structure representations are restricted to context-free operations in line with current work in syntax (Chomsky (1981), Lasnik and Saito (1984)) and are constrained by locality conditions and the requirements of syllable structure preservation.^ In this thesis, the above mentioned phonological alternations are investigated as automatic consequences of the interaction of syllable structure and stress assignment. As in other Semitic languages, consonantal roots must be preserved in IA. Fitting these consonantal roots into possible syllables requires the creation of syllable heads (vowel insertion) to license stranded consonants or the removal of syllable heads (vowel deletion) which are themselves stranded. Vowel lengthening and consonant gemination are investigated.^ The analysis also provides an account for the quality of affixation which affects the perfective and imperfective paradigms. The thesis argues that the two are formed by one affix system with an alternative realization in prefix and suffix forms. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
Bilateral femoral nerve compression by iliacus hematomas complicating anticoagulant therapy
No full textDivisions of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University.An unusual case of bilateral femoral nerve compression caused by iliacus hematomas in a patient on anticoagulant
therapy is herein reported with special reference to the comparative diagnostic value of ultra sonography,
computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The importance of early surgical decompression is also
emphasized
