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Article
Publication date: 1 October 1961

A.D. Hopkins

NOWADAYS IT is common for students at all levels in Metallurgy from craft to degree standard to view films at some stage in their training. Since there is apparently no shortage…

Abstract

NOWADAYS IT is common for students at all levels in Metallurgy from craft to degree standard to view films at some stage in their training. Since there is apparently no shortage of films dealing with metallurgical topics, the teacher is frequently faced with choosing between several films of apparently the same content. Because of the quantity of material the following notes have been drawn up in an attempt to assist the would‐be film user by suggesting a list of useful films.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 3 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Article
Publication date: 10 September 2024

Yanli Zhai, Gege Luo and Dang Luo

The purpose of this paper is to construct a grey incidence model for panel data that can reflect the incidence direction and degree between indicators.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to construct a grey incidence model for panel data that can reflect the incidence direction and degree between indicators.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, this paper introduces the concept of a negative matrix and preprocesses the data of each indicator matrix to eliminate differences in dimensions and magnitudes between indicators. Then a model is constructed to measure the incidence direction and degree between indicators, and the properties of the model are studied. Finally, the model is applied to a practical problem.

Findings

The grey-directed incidence degree is 1 if and only if corresponding elements between the feature indicator matrix and the factor indicator matrix have a positive linear relationship. This degree is −1 if and only if corresponding elements between the feature indicator matrix and the factor indicator matrix have a negative linear relationship.

Practical implications

The example shows the number of days with good air quality is negatively correlated with the annual average concentration of each pollutant index. PM2.5, PM10 and O3 are the main pollutants affecting air quality in northern Henan.

Originality/value

This paper introduces the negative matrix and constructs a model from the holistic perspective to measure the incidence direction and level between indicators. This model can effectively measure the incidence between the feature indicator and factor indicator by integrating information from the point, row, column and matrix.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 June 2024

Mohammed Atef and Sifeng Liu

The objective of this paper is to formulate the precise meanings of grey graphs and examine some of their properties.

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to formulate the precise meanings of grey graphs and examine some of their properties.

Design/methodology/approach

This article introduces innovative concepts of grey sets based on the grey number. We establish the grey graphs and examine their essential properties as isomorphisms of these graphs. Additionally, we explore the notion of a grey-complete graph and demonstrate certain properties of self-complementary grey-complete graphs.

Findings

We showcase novel facets of grey system theory through the establishment of the structures of grey graphs, and the subsequent analysis of their distinctive traits.

Practical implications

This article provides us with a new theoretical direction for grey system theory according to grey numbers. Thus, we present test examples that explain the routes between cities and the electrical wires between homes. Furthermore, the concept of grey graphs can be applied in several areas of engineering, computer science, neural networks, artificial intelligence, and medical diagnosis.

Originality/value

The proposed concepts are considered novel mathematical directions in grey system theory for the first time. Some operations of grey graphs are also explored.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 May 2024

Axel Buck and Christian Mundt

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models often perform poorly in shock/turbulence interaction regions, resulting in excessive wall heat load and incorrect representation of…

Abstract

Purpose

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models often perform poorly in shock/turbulence interaction regions, resulting in excessive wall heat load and incorrect representation of the separation length in shockwave/turbulent boundary layer interactions. The authors suggest that this can be traced back to inadequate numerical treatment of the inviscid fluxes. The purpose of this study is an extension to the well-known Harten, Lax, van Leer, Einfeldt (HLLE) Riemann solver to overcome this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

It explicitly takes into account the broadening of waves due to the averaging procedure, which adds numerical dissipation and reduces excessive turbulence production across shocks. The scheme is derived based on the HLLE equations, and it is tested against three numerical experiments.

Findings

Sod’s shock tube case shows that the scheme succeeds in reducing turbulence amplification across shocks. A shock-free turbulent flat plate boundary layer indicates that smooth flow at moderate turbulence intensity is largely unaffected by the scheme. A shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction case with higher turbulence intensity shows that the added numerical dissipation can, however, impair the wall heat flux distribution.

Originality/value

The proposed scheme is motivated by implicit large eddy simulations that use numerical dissipation as subgrid-scale model. Introducing physical aspects of turbulence into the numerical treatment for RANS simulations is a novel approach.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2019

Hümeyra Adıgüzel and Marios Floros

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study about the capacity utilization analysis in a small-sized manufacturing company through the application of time-driven…

1111

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study about the capacity utilization analysis in a small-sized manufacturing company through the application of time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). After a brief overview of development of the TDABC system, a detailed application of TDABC and capacity utilization analysis in a bakery is given.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a case study about the application of TDABC in a small-sized Greek manufacturing firm. In the case study, time equations were developed for the supporting, operating and manufacturing departments and product costs determined based on the model. Capacity utilization analysis made through the application of TDABC system.

Findings

The study shows that TDABC is more applicable in small-sized manufacturing companies because of their labor-intensive nature. In contrast to previous studies, authors argue that even in small firms simple excel sheets are not enough to capture the complexity of the time equations and business intelligence software and programming coding is required.

Research limitations/implications

Although the fundamental structure of TDABC is the same for all companies there is no strict form of application.

Practical implications

The practical implication of this paper is that each firm has unique characteristics that need to be reflected in the application of the TDABC model.

Originality/value

This paper contributes by providing insights into cost accounting in SMEs. More specifically, this paper contributes to the TDABC literature regarding the application of the system in small and medium sized manufacturing firms.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 69 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Li‐teh Sun

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…

Abstract

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 25 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2019

Ozge Celik and Recep Eren

Yarns of different types are unwound from bobbins in different processes like warping, weaving, doubling and re-winding. It is required that yarn tension remains constant during…

Abstract

Purpose

Yarns of different types are unwound from bobbins in different processes like warping, weaving, doubling and re-winding. It is required that yarn tension remains constant during unwinding in all these processes. Otherwise, it ends with product quality and process efficiency problems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate experimentally the effect of balloon length on yarn tension change with respect to bobbin diameter during unwinding in an attempt to obtain a minimum yarn tension variation.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental set up was built. Bobbin diameter was measured by a laser sensor and yarn tension was measured by a single yarn tension sensor. Both sensor outputs were interfaced to a PC via a DAQ cad. A software program was developed in C programming language to read and record the tension and bobbin diameter simultaneously. Experimental study was conducted with three different balloon lengths for both continuous filament and spun yarns of four different yarn numbers and five different unwinding speeds.

Findings

Results showed that yarn tension change with bobbin diameter was affected in different ways with balloon length depending on yarn number, unwinding speed and yarn type.

Originality/value

Available literature on the effect of balloon length on yarn tension bobbin diameter relation is limited and measurements were generally conducted for three different bobbin diameters. Yarn tension bobbin diameter relation is obtained in this research for at least eight different diameters and more for three different balloon lengths covering practical application ranges. The results obtained can be used in the design of tension control system for warping and winding machines as well as for setting these machines for optimum efficiency.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1988

Joseph W. Palmer

The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a…

Abstract

The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a substantial audience among public library patrons.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2020

Mahfooz Alam, Mahak, Raza Abbas Haidri and Dileep Kumar Yadav

Cloud users can access services at anytime from anywhere in the world. On average, Google now processes more than 40,000 searches every second, which is approximately 3.5 billion…

Abstract

Purpose

Cloud users can access services at anytime from anywhere in the world. On average, Google now processes more than 40,000 searches every second, which is approximately 3.5 billion searches per day. The diverse and vast amounts of data are generated with the development of next-generation information technologies such as cryptocurrency, internet of things and big data. To execute such applications, it is needed to design an efficient scheduling algorithm that considers the quality of service parameters like utilization, makespan and response time. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a novel Efficient Static Task Allocation (ESTA) algorithm, which optimizes average utilization.

Design/methodology/approach

Cloud computing provides resources such as virtual machine, network, storage, etc. over the internet. Cloud computing follows the pay-per-use billing model. To achieve efficient task allocation, scheduling algorithm problems should be interacted and tackled through efficient task distribution on the resources. The methodology of ESTA algorithm is based on minimum completion time approach. ESTA intelligently maps the batch of independent tasks (cloudlets) on heterogeneous virtual machines and optimizes their utilization in infrastructure as a service cloud computing.

Findings

To evaluate the performance of ESTA, the simulation study is compared with Min-Min, load balancing strategy with migration cost, Longest job in the fastest resource-shortest job in the fastest resource, sufferage, minimum completion time (MCT), minimum execution time and opportunistic load balancing on account of makespan, utilization and response time.

Originality/value

The simulation result reveals that the ESTA algorithm consistently superior performs under varying of batch independent of cloudlets and the number of virtual machines’ test conditions.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 August 2021

Kudret Demirli, Abdulqader Al Kaf, Mecit Can Emre Simsekler, Raja Jayaraman, Mumtaz Jamshed Khan and E. Murat Tuzcu

Increased demand and the pressure to reduce health-care costs have led to longer waiting time for patients to make appointments and during the day of hospital visits. The purpose…

Abstract

Purpose

Increased demand and the pressure to reduce health-care costs have led to longer waiting time for patients to make appointments and during the day of hospital visits. The purpose of this study is to identify opportunities to reduce waiting time using lean techniques and discrete-event simulation (DES).

Design/methodology/approach

A five-step procedure is proposed to facilitate the effective utilization of lean and DES to improve the performance of the Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Outpatient Clinic at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. While lean techniques were applied to reduce the potential sources of waste by aligning processes, a DES model was developed to validate the proposed solutions and plan patient arrivals under dynamic conditions and different scenarios.

Findings

Aligning processes resulted in an efficient patient flow reducing both waiting times. DES played a complementary role in verifying lean solutions under dynamic conditions, helping to plan the patient arrivals and striking a balance between the waiting times. The proposed solutions offered flexibility to improve the clinic capacity from the current 176 patients up to 479 (without violating the 30 min waiting time policy) or to reduce the patient waiting time during the visit from the current 33 min to 4.5 min (without violating the capacity goal of 333 patients).

Research limitations/implications

Proposing and validating lean solutions require reliable data to be collected from the clinic and such a process could be laborious as data collection require patient and resource tracing without interfering with the regular functions of the clinic.

Practical implications

The work enables health-care managers to conveniently conduct a trade-off analysis and choose a suitable inter-arrival time – for every physician – that would satisfy their objectives between resource utilization (clinic capacity) and average patient waiting time.

Social implications

Successful implementation of lean requires a supportive and cooperative culture from all stakeholders involved.

Originality/value

This study presents an original and detailed application of lean techniques with DES to reduce patient waiting times. The adopted approach in this study could be generalized to other health-care settings with similar objectives.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 12 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

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