Assessment and Feedback Control of Paving Quality of Earth-Rock Dam Based on OODA Loop

Paving thickness and evenness are two key factors that affect the paving operation quality of earth-rock dams. However, in the recent study, both of the key factors characterising the paving quality were measured using finite point random sampling, which resulted in subjectivity in the detection and a lag in the feedback control. At the same time, the on-site control of the paving operation quality based on experience results in a poor and unreliable paving quality. To address the above issues, in this study, a novel assessment and feedback control framework for the paving operation quality based on the observe–orient–decide–act (OODA) loop is presented. First, in the observation module, a cellular automaton is used to convert the location of the bulldozer obtained by monitoring devices into the paving thickness of the levelling layer. Second, in the orient module, the learning automaton is used to update the state of the corresponding and surrounding cells. Third, in the decision module, an overall path planning method is developed to realise feedback control of the paving thickness and evenness. Finally, in the act module, the paving thickness and evenness of the entire work unit are calculated and compared to their control thresholds to determine whether to proceed with the next OODA loop. The experiments show that the proposed method can maintain the paving thickness less than the designed standard value and effectively prevent the occurrence of ultra-thick or ultra-thin phenomena. Furthermore, the paving evenness is improved by 21.5% as compared to that obtained with the conventional paving quality control method. The framework of the paving quality assessment and feedback control proposed in this paper has extensive popularisation and application value for the same paving construction scene.

Study on Competency Elements of Excellent Front-Line Health Inspector Based on BEI

Background: In order to find out the competency elements of excellent front-line health inspector, and to improve the comprehensive quality and law enforcement level, we conducted this study. Methods: From May to September in 2020, seven health inspectors engaged in front-line inspection and law enforcement work in the Pudong New Area Health Inspection agency were interviewed by using the method of key Behavior Event Interview (BEI). The competency differences of front-line personnel with different performance levels were compared. Combined with the results of expert consultation, the prominent competency elements of excellent front-line health inspector were found out. Results: The total 6 prominent competency elements were investigation and evidence collection ability, on-site control ability, legal awareness, career love, communication and coordination ability, teamwork ability. Cohen's Kappa coefficient of the two coders was more than 0.6, which had high consistency. Conclusion: The key Behavior Event Interview (BEI) is scientific and reasonable method to find out prominent competency elements of excellent front-line health inspector, and the prominent competency elements found out will be helpful in the human resources planning and management of health inspection in the future.

Effect of alpha-monolaurin on perfomance of fattening pigs under industrial conditions

Relevance. Monoglycerides of organic acids are considered as a promising replacement for feed antibiotics in the diets of pigs and poultry, as they have pronounced bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties. Alpha-monolaurin is a one of the most promising compound, which has a significant antibacterial effect on gram-positive microorganisms.Methods. The experiment was carried out at one of the pig farms of the Rostov region on September 5–27, 2020 on fattening pigs weighing from 36 kg and up to achievinga live weight of 75 kg. Piglets of the experimental group received 0.4 kg/t of alpha-monolaurin as part of the premix for compound feed CK-5. In the conditions of the production site, control weighing was carried out before the beginning and at the end of the experiment. Weight gain, feed consumption, survival rate and feed conversion were recorded.Results. The possibility of using alpha-monoglyceride lauric acid (GML, glycerol monolaurate) in the ration of pigs of the first period of fattening under the industrial conditions of an operating pig farm has been studied. It has been found that alphamonolaurin improves feed conversion, reduces feed intake, and also increases the survival rate of fattening pigs. The use of alpha-monolaurin led to an increase in the economic efficiency of raising pigs by 37.63 rubles/head, or 1:2.38 ROI.

An Internal Model-Based PID Control for Smart Shot Peening Operation

Current control systems for the shot peening operation merely rely on old technologies, which often require repetitive processes to obtain pre-validated Almen systems to guide industrial productions. These designs for the manufacturing paradigm are not efficient for complicated workflows in modern manufacturing operation. Thus, in this study, we propose a practical model-based control system to address the issues; especially for a smarter and automated shot peening machine. In particular, the closed-loop control system development utilizes a model-based proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control technology and extreme gradient boosting (XGBOOST) machine learning algorithm. The control system includes an internal process model, a proxy model, a model-based PID controller, and pressure sensors with a low-pass filter for feedback control. The developed control system is integrated into a physical shot peening machine for on-site control validation and demonstration. In both in-silico and on-site control demonstrations, the obtained control performance is stable, robust, and reliable for different operational conditions. The measurement intensities are very close to targeted setting intensities. All the differences are smaller than the industrial threshold of (±0.01 mmA). It implies that the control system can use in industrial peening operations without the need for Almen system development for operational guidance. In other words, the control system can significantly reduce the total cost of the actual production by eliminating the cost, time, and labor of the iterative trials to build the Almen system.

Assessment of effectiveness of the on-site tax control based on the optimal system of quality indicators

The study of different methods for assessment the effectiveness of tax control shows that the same quantitative indicators characterizing the results of tax audits are used. However, the authors group them into a system in different ways and give them definitions and interpretation with some degree of variability. Some of them pay attention to the development of general indicator, while others offer systematic approach. Therefore, the question of creating an optimal system of indicators remains. In this article, the author proposes and justifies a system of indicators that will allow quickly determine the effectiveness of both the on-site control of the tax inspectorate and the control activities in general.