Effects of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion on queueing performance

Pooling,unpooling/specialization,and discretionary task completion are typical operational strategies in queueing systems that arise in healthcare,call centers,and online sales.These strategies may have advantages and disadvantages in different operational environments.This paper uses the M/M/1 and M/M/2 queues to study the impact of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion on the average queue length.Closed-form solutions for the average M/M/2 queue length are derived.Computational examples illustrate how the average queue length changes with the strength of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion.Finally,several conjectures are made in the paper.

Bayesian partial pooling to reduce uncertainty in overcoring rock stress estimation

The state of in situ stress is a crucial parameter in subsurface engineering,especially for critical projects like nuclear waste repository.As one of the two ISRM suggested methods,the overcoring(OC)method is widely used to estimate the full stress tensors in rocks by independent regression analysis of the data from each OC test.However,such customary independent analysis of individual OC tests,known as no pooling,is liable to yield unreliable test-specific stress estimates due to various uncertainty sources involved in the OC method.To address this problem,a practical and no-cost solution is considered by incorporating into OC data analysis additional information implied within adjacent OC tests,which are usually available in OC measurement campaigns.Hence,this paper presents a Bayesian partial pooling(hierarchical)model for combined analysis of adjacent OC tests.We performed five case studies using OC test data made at a nuclear waste repository research site of Sweden.The results demonstrate that partial pooling of adjacent OC tests indeed allows borrowing of information across adjacent tests,and yields improved stress tensor estimates with reduced uncertainties simultaneously for all individual tests than they are independently analysed as no pooling,particularly for those unreliable no pooling stress estimates.A further model comparison shows that the partial pooling model also gives better predictive performance,and thus confirms that the information borrowed across adjacent OC tests is relevant and effective.

A Pooling Method Developed for Use in Convolutional Neural Networks

In convolutional neural networks,pooling methods are used to reduce both the size of the data and the number of parameters after the convolution of the models.These methods reduce the computational amount of convolutional neural networks,making the neural network more efficient.Maximum pooling,average pooling,and minimum pooling methods are generally used in convolutional neural networks.However,these pooling methods are not suitable for all datasets used in neural network applications.In this study,a new pooling approach to the literature is proposed to increase the efficiency and success rates of convolutional neural networks.This method,which we call MAM(Maximum Average Minimum)pooling,is more interactive than other traditional maximum pooling,average pooling,and minimum pooling methods and reduces data loss by calculating the more appropriate pixel value.The proposed MAM pooling method increases the performance of the neural network by calculating the optimal value during the training of convolutional neural networks.To determine the success accuracy of the proposed MAM pooling method and compare it with other traditional pooling methods,training was carried out on the LeNet-5 model using CIFAR-10,CIFAR-100,and MNIST datasets.According to the results obtained,the proposed MAM pooling method performed better than the maximum pooling,average pooling,and minimum pooling methods in all pool sizes on three different datasets.

Expanding the liver donor pool worldwide with hepatitis C infected livers, is it the time?

Liver transplantation(LT)provides a life-saving option for cirrhotic patients with complications and hepatocellular carcinoma.Despite the increasing number of liver transplants performed each year,the number of LT candidates on the waitlist remains unchanged due to an imbalance between donor organ supply and the demand which increases the waitlist time and mortality.Living donor liver transplant had a great role in increasing the donor pool and shortened waitlist time for LT candidates.Nevertheless,further strategies can be implemented to increase the pool of potential donors in deceased donor LT,such as reducing the rate of organ discards.Utilizing hepatitis C virus(HCV)seropositive liver grafts is one of the expanded donor organ criteria.A yearly increase of hundreds of transplants is anticipated as a result of maximizing the utilization of HCV-positive organs for HCV-negative recipients.Direct-acting antiviral therapy's efficacy has revolutionized the treatment of HCV infection and the use of HCV-seropositive donors in transplantation.The American Society of Transplantation advises against performing transplants from HCV-infected liver donors(D+)into HCV-negative recipient(R-)unless under Institutional Review Board-approved study rules and with full informed consent of the knowledge gaps associated with such transplants.Proper selection of patients to be transplanted with HCV-infected grafts and confirming their access to direct-acting antivirals if needed is im-portant.National and international consensuses are needed to regulate this process to ensure the maximum benefit and the least adverse events.

U-Net Based Dual-Pooling Segmentation of Bone Metastases in Thoracic SPECT Bone Scintigrams

In order to enhance the performance of the CNN-based segmentation models for bone metastases, this study proposes a segmentation method that integrates dual-pooling, DAC, and RMP modules. The network consists of distinct feature encoding and decoding stages, with dual-pooling modules employed in encoding stages to maintain the background information needed for bone scintigrams diagnosis. Both the DAC and RMP modules are utilized in the bottleneck layer to address the multi-scale problem of metastatic lesions. Experimental evaluations on 306 clinical SPECT data have demonstrated that the proposed method showcases a substantial improvement in both DSC and Recall scores by 3.28% and 6.55% compared the baseline. Exhaustive case studies illustrate the superiority of the methodology.

Experimental Study on the Interaction of Fine Water Spray with Liquid Pool Fires

An experimental study of the interaction of a fine water spray with liquid pool fires was performed. Spatially resolved droplet size, velocity distributions, and volume flux of the fine water spray have been obtained in two types of pressure-atomized fine spray, using LDAIAPV technology. A method to correct for the presence of droplets is presented and used to determine the heat release rate using a cone calorimeter system, the effects of water spray application on the heat release rate for liquid pool fires were studied. It was found that the volume flux of the water spray is an important factor to determine the liquid pool fire behavior. For the current experimental conditions, the flame was enlarged when lower volume flux of water is used, and suppressed significantly when larger volumes of water are used. Two opposing mechanisms compete when water sprays are applied, which is more complex than the halon agents, such as 1301. The combustion enhancement becomes insignificant when water sprays with the proper characteristics such as adequate volume flux are applied to the diffusion flame in a confined space.

Experimental Investigation on Flame Characterization and Temperature Profile of Single/Multiple Pool Fire in Cross Wind

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the flame characterization and temperature profile for single and multiple pool fire with the influence of cross wind.There were 13 test cases in total,categorized into circle and rectangle fuel pans,with diameter(or equivalent diameter)ranged from 50 mm to 300 mm.Kerosene was used for the fuel of pool fire.Some K-type thermocouples were arranged around the flame to monitor the flame temperature,while the flame tilt angle was measured based on the photograph of flame for different case.Firstly,it can be found that there are three phases,including preheating,steady burning and extinguishing phase,during the flame evolution.The maximum temperature near the fuel surface is~1040 K,which is higher than that of flame plume(~600 K),in the steady burning phase of circle single pool fire(D=300 mm),while the average burning rate is~1.525 g/s.In addition,the burning rates of all cases were measured and compared with the current predicted method.Typically,the flame morphology of single/multiple pool fire at different cross wind speed(ranging from 0 to 3.5 m/s)was analyzed,and it is found that the results for single pool fire agree with Thomas model and AGA model well,which are not suitable for multiple pool fire.Finally,the temperature profile of different case was measured with various wind speed.

The Study of the Damage Laws of Pool Fires

This paper studies pool fires in open air and their damage laws. First, it discusses the damage criteria of thermal radiation, then presents an algorithm to predict damage radii of pool fires, and performs numerical calculations by using a software called POOLFIRE, which has been developed by the authors, finally discusses the possible ways to improve the algorithm and gives the conclusions obtained from the study.

Experimental study on burning rate of small scale heptane pool fires

Burning characteristics of small scale thin-layer n-heptane pool fires were experimentally studied.Flame height,burning rate and fuel temperature distribution of pool fires with different diameters were measured.Fuel surface temperature and wall heat flux were analyzed.Four typical burning phases,which include pre-burning,quasi-steady state burning,boiling burning and decaying phases,are revealed based on the experimental data and phenomenological analysis.It is shown that flame height and burning rate of boiling burning phase are both significantly greater than those of quasi-steady state burning phase.Fuel surface temperature rises to boiling point rapidly in the early stage of pool fire,and then remains almost unchanged.Boiling burning will occur when the wall temperature is not less than the fuel boiling point.

Experimental study on the interaction of fine water mist with solid pool fires

This paper describes experimental study of the interaction of fine water mists with solid pool fires. Fine water mist was generated by a single pressure nozzle and solid pool fires were produced from solid red pine or polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA). The LDV/APV system was em-ployed to determine the water mist characteristics. The water mist droplet sizes and velocities from the nozzle were measured under varying conditions and at different locations. The effects of solid type, water flow rate, and nozzle distance from the sample surface on extinguishments time were examined. At a given water flow rate, the extinguishment time is much longer for PMMA fires than for solid pine fires. The extinguishment time was found to decrease with increasing water flow rate. At very low water flow, the extinguishment time decreases when the nozzle is positioned further from the sample surface. On the contrary, at high water flow, the extinguishment time appears to be independent of the distance between the nozzle and the sample surface. The experimental re-sults show that flame extinguishments is due primarily to fuel surface cooling and wetting.

Simulation of single bubble dynamic process in pool boiling process under microgravity based on phase field method

We use the phase field method to track the gas-liquid interface based on the gas-liquid two-phase flow in the pool boiling process,and study the bubble nucleation,growth,deformation,departure and other dynamic behaviors on the heating surface under microgravity.By simulating the correlation between liquid undercooling and bubble dynamics,we find that the bubble growth time increases with the increase of liquid undercooling,but the effect of liquid undercooling on bubble height is not significant.Meanwhile,the gas-liquid-solid three-phase contact angle and the gravity level will also have an effect on the bubble growth time and bubble height.With the increase of the contact angle,the bubble growth time and bubble height when the bubble departs also increase.While the effect of gravity level is on the contrary,the smaller the gravity level is,the larger the bubble height and bubble growth time when the bubble separates.

Genotyping ex situ trees of Abies nebrodensis translocated from the original Sicilian population to enrich the gene pool

As a dynamic ex situ conservation strategy,a clonal seed orchard was started in a nursery in Pomaio(POM)in central Italy in 1993 for an assisted migration experiment of Abies nebrodensis(Lojac.)Mattei.Two artifi cial ex situ populations were planted with this gene pool:a seedling arboretum in Pieve Santo Stefano(PSS)and a small dendrological collection in Papiano(PAP),both originating from the Sicilian relict population.Here,using AFLP markers,we estimated the relatedness among the relocated genotypes of the three collections to check whether the three collections had suffi cient genetic variability to be considered as additional sources of variability to the original gene pool for the assisted migration strategy.High individual genetic variability was found in the collections;each plant had a diff erent genotype and was confi rmed to belong to its population of origin.PAP and PSS trees were shown to be only from the original population of A.nebrodensis species and were derived from a limited set of maternal fertile genotypes.Based on the Sicilian fi r population inventory,nursery production in Sicily,and structure clustering analysis,close genetic relationships among POM,PAP and several PSS trees(1–35)were evident.Similarly,the PSS group(36–78)was genetically close to tree 1 of POM and in a lesser proportion to plants 7 and 9 of POM.The sampling of seedlings used to form batches in the nursery might have infl uenced the structure of the resultant plantations.All genotypes will be useful for enriching the original gene pool.

Pooled Sputum for Xpert MTB/RIF Testing: A Cost-Saving Strategy in Mwanza, Tanzania

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics, such as Xpert MTB/RIF, is still limited by cost. Testing of pooled samples from presumptive TB patients has been thought as a cost-saving strategy to diagnose TB. We assessed the utility and cost-saving of pooled Xpert MTB/RIF testing strategy for the diagnosis of TB in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods: Sputum samples from Presumptive TB patients were submitted to TB laboratory for routine diagnosis of TB using Xpert MTB/RIF. The TB results from the individual sputum samples were used as the reference standard and were concealed to the investigating laboratory technicians. The remainder of samples were collected serially and were pooled (5 samples per pool) for testing. The agreement of the results between individual sample testing against pooled sample testing and cost-savings was assessed. Results: A total of 250 sputum samples from presumptive TB patients were analyzed and 50 pools were made with each pool containing 5 samples. Of the 50 sputum pools made, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was detected in 17 (34.0%) pools. Results from the individual sputum samples MTB/RIF testing were retrieved for all 250 samples and there were 28 (11.2%) samples in which MTB was detected whereas 222 (88.8%) samples had no MTB detected. Following re-analysis of positive pools, all 28 (100%) individual positive MTB samples were detected within the 17 positive pools, with 1 to 3 individual MTB positive samples per pool. The individual sputum samples were correctly identified by pooled sputum on Xpert MTB/RIF testing, with the sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 100%. Using pooling of sputum samples strategy, we saved 46.0% (115/250) of the cartridges. Conclusion: The pooled sputum testing strategy reduced cartridge costs by 46.0% and has the potential to increase the affordability of Xpert MTB/RIF testing in countries with limited resources, such as Tanzania.

Comparisons of Structured Surface Floors for Pool Boiling Enhancement at Low Heat Fluxes: Hands-On Learning Setup for Heat Transfer Classroom

Various enhanced surfaces have been proposed over the years to improve boiling heat transfer. This paper introduces an experimental setup designed for boiling demonstration in the graduate-level Heat Transfer course. The pool boiling performance of water under atmospheric pressure of 1.025 bar is investigated by using several structured surfaces at heat fluxes of 28 and 35 kW/m2. Surfaces with holes, rectangular grooves, and mushroom fins are manufactured by an NC-controlled vertical milling machine. The heat flux versus excess temperature graph is plotted by using thermocouple measurements of water and base temperatures of the boiling vessel. The separation, rise, and growth of individual vapor bubbles from the surface during boiling were recorded with a digital camera. The results for the plain surface are compared to the Rohsenow correlation. The enhancement of heat transfer coefficient (h) ranged between 15% - 44.5% for all structured surfaces. The highest heat transfer coefficient enhancement is observed between 41% - 56.5% for holed surface-3 (405 holes) compared to the plain surface. The excess temperature dropped around 29% - 34% for holed surface-3 (405 holes) compared to the plain surface. The heat transfer coefficient increases as the spacing between channels or holes decreases. While the bubbles on holed and mushroomed surfaces were spherical, the bubbles on the flat and grooved surfaces were observed as formless. The suggested economical test design could be appropriate to keep students focused and participating in the classroom.

基于改进Faster R-CNN的热轧带钢表面缺陷检测

热轧带钢是钢铁行业的重要产品,其表面缺陷是影响产品质量的重要因素。针对传统缺陷检测算法存在的过程繁琐、精度不足和效率低下等问题,提出一种基于改进更快速区域卷积神经网络(faster region-based convolutional neural network,Faster R-CNN)的检测算法,实现对热轧带钢表面缺陷的高效、高精度检测。首先,采用特征相加的方法对底层细节特征和高层语义特征进行融合;然后,采用精准的感兴趣区域池化(precise region of interest pooling,Precise ROI Pooling)获取固定大小的特征向量,避免特征出现位置偏差;最后,利用均值偏移聚类算法对带钢数据集进行聚类,获得适用于热轧带钢表面缺陷检测的先验框尺寸。实验结果表明,所提算法在热轧带钢表面缺陷检测数据集上的平均精度均值达到了85.34%,检测速度为23.5帧/s,且鲁棒性良好,满足实际的工业检测需求。

池火灾环境下喷涂涂料液化石油气储罐热响应机理试验研究

以无机水性非膨胀型防火涂料为研究对象、以涂层厚度为主要影响因素,进行了池火灾环境下的液化石油气罐热响应试验,研究了喷涂防火涂料后池火灾环境中储罐的壁温响应、毁坏时间和失效模式。结果表明:无机水性非膨胀型防火涂层对于迟滞储罐在火灾作用下发生爆炸的时间效果显著。对于民用液化石油气储罐,充装水平相同时,涂层厚度2 cm的储罐在池火灾环境下的持续时间是裸罐的6.91倍,涂层厚度3 cm的储罐持续时间是涂层厚度2 cm储罐的1.20倍,涂层厚度4 cm的储罐持续时间是涂层厚度3 cm储罐的1.05倍。增加涂层厚度对迟滞储罐在池火灾环境下毁坏时间的效果逐渐降低,因此,建议储罐涂层厚度以3 cm为宜。研究结果对池火灾环境下储罐的安全防护应用和防火涂料研究具有一定的意义。

基于FDS的风扇舱双油池火温度变化特征

航空发动机燃油泄漏形成的油池火威胁发动机运行和飞机安全,为描述风扇舱内油池火复杂的物理传播过程,开展双油池火温度变化特征的研究。首先,基于火灾动力学模拟软件(FDS)建立CFM56-7B发动机风扇舱物理计算模型;然后,比较Trent 800发动机风扇舱单油池火温度计算值与试验值,验证网格独立性;最后,借助探测器和切片分析舱内双油池火的发展过程和温度变化特征。结果表明:双油池火温度在舱内环向上经历增加和振荡准稳态2个变化阶段,其变化幅度与探测器和油池的间距相关;油池火向左偏斜现象导致左半边温度较高;火焰在轴向上经历火羽流上浮、火焰开始融合、融合扩大和完全融合等阶段。

高高原受限空间内小尺度油池火燃烧特性试验研究

为研究我国高高原地区的受限空间内液体燃料小尺度油池火燃烧特性,在高高原康定机场自主搭建受限空间内油池火的试验平台。共选取3类典型液体燃料(航空煤油、航空汽油、正庚烷)进行燃烧试验,测量火焰高度、火焰温度和烟气成分等变化规律,研究了高高原受限空间内小尺度油池火行为。研究发现:在高高原地区,正庚烷稳定燃烧阶段的平均火焰高度可以通过模型L/D=k+0.254Q^(2/5)/D表示,其中,火焰高度与压力之间的关系式为L/D~p^(-2/9)。3种燃料的火焰最高温度均超过600℃,而羽流轴线温升与火焰高度呈现-5/3的指数关系。产烟速率则表现出对环境压力的依赖性,其关系可表示为:v~p^(-1/3)。

基于贝叶斯网络的储油罐区事故情景分析

为确定储油罐区事故引发多米诺效应中各关键节点因素的重要性,基于情景构建过程中不同发展阶段的孕灾环境、处置措施和演化结果等要素,引入贝叶斯网络方法,提出1种在储油罐区事故情景构建下的演化网络,通过敏感性和影响强度分析,筛选出事故发展过程中的关键节点,并通过提炼事故支链来论证事故演化网络构建的合理性。研究结果表明:在事故进程中,火灾熄灭、火势隔离、人员撤离、危化品残存、全员撤离、组织搜救节点因素对多米诺效应的影响较大;提炼的各事故支链符合情景构建演化趋势,说明该事故演化网络具备一定合理性。研究结果可为储油罐区事故应急辅助决策技术的建设提供支持和参考。

Image processing of weld pool and keyhole in Nd:YAG laser welding of stainless steel based on visual sensing

In order to obtain good welding quality, it is necessary to apply quality control because there are many influencing factors in laser welding process. The key to realize welding quality control is to obtain the quality information. Abundant weld quality information is contained in weld pool and keyhole. Aiming at Nd：YAG laser welding of stainless steel, a coaxial visual sensing system was constructed. The images of weld pool and keyhole were obtained. Based on the gray character of weld pool and keyhole in images, an image processing algorithm was designed. The search start point and search criteria of weld pool and keyhole edge were determined respectively.