Optimised design of systems and processes using algebraic inequalities

A method for optimising the design of systems and processes has been introduced that consists of interpreting the left- and the right-hand side of a correct algebraic inequality as the outputs of two alternative design configurations delivering the same required function. In this way, on the basis of an algebraic inequality, the superiority of one of the configurations is established. The proposed method opens wide opportunities for enhancing the performance of systems and processes and is very useful for design in general. The method has been demonstrated on systems and processes from diverse application domains. The meaningful interpretation of an algebraic inequality based on a single-variable sub-additive function led to developing a light-weight design for a supporting structure based on cantilever beams. The interpretation of a new algebraic inequality based on a multivariable sub-additive function led to a method for increasing the kinetic energy absorbing capacity during inelastic impact. The interpretation of a new inequality has been used for maximising the mass of deposited substance during electrolysis.

The Problematic of Judicial Accountability

Judicial officers are critical actors in the operation of the justice system. Because of the powers inherent in this role, protections for judicial independence and protections against judicial misconduct are equally essential elements in the design and operation of the justice system. Judicial self-regulation has been the primary arrangement for responding to substantiated allegations of misconduct that is deemed insufficient to warrant referral to parliament for consideration of removal from office. Reflecting on the relatively recent performance of systems and processes in responding to alleged judicial misbehaviour, this article seeks to foster discussion on the best means for achieving the balance between the power of the position and accountability for its exercise.

A historical perspective on development of systems engineering discipline : a review and analysis

Since its inception, Systems Engineering (SE) has developed as a distinctive discipline, and there has been significant progress in this field in the past two decades. Compared to other engineering disciplines, SE is not affirmed by a set of underlying fundamental propositions, instead it has emerged as a set of best practices to deal with intricacies stemming from the stochastic nature of engineering complex systems and addressing their problems. Since the existing methodologies and paradigms (dominant pat- terns of thought and concepts) of SE are very diverse and somewhat fragmented. This appears to create some confusion regarding the design, deployment, operation, and application of SE. The purpose of this paper is 1) to delineate the development of SE from 1926-2017 based on insights derived from a histogram analysis, 2) to discuss the different paradigms and school of thoughts related to SE, 3) to derive a set of fundamental attributes of SE using advanced coding techniques and analysis, and 4) to present a newly developed instrument that could assess the performance of systems engineers. More than Two hundred and fifty different sources have been reviewed in this research in order to demonstrate the development trajectory of the SE discipline based on the frequency of publication.

A new sustained system performance metric for scientific performance evaluation

Because of the increasing complexities of systems and applications, the performance of many traditional HPC benchmarks, such as HPL or HPCG, no longer correlates strongly with the actual performance of real applications. To address the discrepancy between simple benchmarks and real applications, and to better understand the application performance of systems, some metrics use a set of either real applications or mini applications. In particular, the Sustained System Performance (SSP) metric Kramer et al. (The NERSC sustained system performance (SSP) metric. Tech Rep LBNL-58868, 2005), which indicates the expected throughput of different applications executing with different datasets, is widely used. Whereas such a metric should lead to direct insights on the actual performance of real applications, sometimes more effort is necessary to port and evaluate complex applications. In this study, to obtain the approximate performance of SSP representing real applications, without running real applications, we propose a metric called the Simplified Sustained System Performance (SSSP) metric, which is computed based on several benchmark scores and their respective weighting factors, and we construct a method evaluating the SSSP metric of a system. The weighting factors are obtained by minimizing the gap between the SSP and SSSP scores based on a small set of reference systems. We evaluated the applicability of the SSSP method using eight systems and demonstrated that our proposed SSSP metrics produce appropriate performance projections of the SSP metrics of these systems, even when we adopted a simple method for computing the weighting factors. Additionally, the robustness of our SSSP metric was confirmed via computation of the weighting factors based on a smaller set of reference systems and computation of the SSSP metrics of other systems.

ASTEROID and the Replica-Aware Co-scheduling for Mixed-Criticality

The ASTEROID project developed a cross-layer fault-tolerance solution to provide reliable software execution on unreliable hardware under soft errors. The approach is based on replicated software execution with hardware support for error detection that exploits future many-core platforms to increase reliability without resorting to redundancy in hardware. This chapter gives an overview of ASTEROID and then focuses on the performance of replicated execution and the proposed replica-aware co-scheduling for mixed-criticality. The performance of systems with replicated execution strongly depends on the scheduling. Standard schedulers, such as Partitioned Strict Priority Preemptive (SPP) and Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)-based ones, although widely employed, provide poor performance in face of replicated execution. By exploiting co-scheduling, the replica-aware co-scheduling is able to achieve superior performance.

The Study of Progressive Collapse in Dual Systems

Throughout this paper, the progressive collapse of steel structure with dual system is studied by considering the removing column scenario. Due to this objective, two lateral load resisting systems are modeled in ABAQUS software with omitting various columns, and the performance of systems against progressive collapse are compared with each other. The results of performed finite element simulations represent that whenever a structure is experiencing an unusual external load such as collision of a vehicle, the most critical columns are those placed at the nearest external frame of the structure. Thus, these members should be considered as highly important members because they could play a significant role in progressive collapse potential reduction as key members.

The study of progressive collapse in dual systems

Throughout this paper, progressive collapse of steel structure with dual system considering the removing column scenario is studied. Due to this objective, two lateral load resisting systems, are modeled in ABAQUS software with omitting various columns, and the performance of systems against progressive collapse are compared with each other. The results represent that whenever a structure is experiencing an unusual external load such as the collision of a vehicle, the most critical columns are those placed at the nearest external frame of the structure. Thus, these members should be considered as highly important members because they could play a significant role in progressive collapse potential reduction as key members.

Benefits and Limitations of MARD as a Performance Parameter for Continuous Glucose Monitoring in the Interstitial Space

High-quality performance of medical devices for glucose monitoring is important for a safe and efficient usage of this diagnostic option by patients with diabetes. The mean absolute relative difference (MARD) parameter is used most often to characterize the measurement performance of systems for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Calculation of this parameter is relatively easy and comparison of the MARD numbers between different CGM systems appears to be straightforward on the first glance. However, a closer look reveals that a number of complex aspects make interpretation of the MARD numbers provided by the manufacturer for their CGM systems difficult. In this review, these aspects are discussed and considerations are made for a systematic and appropriate evaluation of the MARD in clinical trials. The MARD should not be used as the sole parameter to characterize CGM systems, especially when it comes to nonadjunctive usage of such systems.