Standardization of electronic test equipment

Simplified procedure for structural integrity's evaluation of monuments in constrained context: The case of a Buddhist Temple in Bagan (Myanmar)

This paper simplifies recycled aggregate testing procedures. Eleven physical and mechanical properties of aggregate are investigated: uncompacted bulk density; compacted bulk density; particle density; water absorption; aggregate crushing value; dry strength; wet strength; contaminant; weak particle; flakiness index; and particle shape. The experiments conducted are based on Australian Standard 1141 and HB 155. Eleven recycled aggregate samples collected from construction and demolition sites and centralised recycling plants located in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney, Australia are used. The simplified testing procedures are established by undertaking a regression analysis among different aggregate tests. From the results, three groups of tests are refined: group I (density, water absorption, strength and contaminant); group II (weak particle); and group III (shape). By implementing the prediction equations, reduction in testing by about 63·6% is achieved with full understanding of the quality of recycled aggregate. A reduced testing time can be used to test the properties of recycled aggregate at the source locations and to help realise the potential of recycled aggregate in high-grade concrete applications without averaging the recycled aggregate quality in centralised recycling plants.

Background: Legionnaires' disease is a potentially lethal pneumonia contracted through inhalation of aerosolized water contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Detection and control of L. pneumophila, the primary species responsible for the disease, is critical to public health. In Québec, cooling towers and evaporative condensers are required to follow a maintenance and testing program to ensure L. pneumophila concentrations remain at acceptable levels. Objective: This study compared a new culture method based on the most probable number approach, Legiolert®, with the formal culture method used at EnvironeX for regulatory compliance testing to quantify L. pneumophila from cooling tower waters in Québec. Methods: A split-sample analysis was performed in which 401 samples from cooling towers in Québec were tested with both methods. Results: Results with 74 positive samples showed that Legiolert provided a significant increase in sensitivity for L. pneumophila compared with the agar plate method. Cooling tower samples often contain non-Legionella flora that necessitate multiple treatment and plating conditions to prevent interference with the test. Legiolert showed little to no impact from non-Legionella organisms in this study. Conclusions: Overall, Legiolert showed several advantages over the agar plate method, including increased sensitivity, reduced interference, a simplified test procedure, and an easy-to-read positive signal.

Background: Population mail-out bowel screening programs are a convenient, cost-effective and sensitive method of detecting colorectal cancer (CRC). Despite increased survival rates associated with early detection of CRC, in many countries 50% or more of eligible individuals do not participate in such programs, resulting in a substantial amount of cancers progressing undetected and wasted public health resources. Aim: The current study aimed to systematically review all of the interventions that have been applied internationally to increase fecal occult blood test (FOBT) kit return, specifically in population mail-out programs, to make recommendations to policy makers and program organizers as to the most effective methods of increasing uptake. Method: Six electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, InformIT, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses) were searched for articles published in English before 10th of March 2018. Studies were included if they reported the results of an intervention designed to increase the return of FOBT kits that had been mailed to individuals' homes. Results: PRISMA systematic review reporting methods were applied and each study was assessed using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. The quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE guidelines. The review identified 53 interventions from 30 published studies. Nine distinct intervention strategy types were identified and pooled risk ratios and confidence intervals were estimated for each intervention type. Four key effective intervention strategies were identified including telephone contact, GP endorsement, simplified test procedures, and advance notification with small to moderate effect sizes. Conclusions: Interventions that combine program-level changes incorporating the issue of advance notification and alternative screening tools with the involvement of primary health professionals through endorsement letters and telephone contact should lead to increases in kit return in mail-out CRC screening programs. Future research should examine the benefit of combining intervention strategies and tailoring to specific populations.

In evaluating passenger cars on aspects related to personal comfort and ease of operation, subjective (judgment) as well as objective (measurement) methods can be used. Under contract with a consumers' association three groups of six passenger cars were tested. It was investigated whether an existing questionnaire (subjective method) could be replaced by a simpler one without loss of revelant information and also whether the test procedure could be shortened. The results are in favor of a much simplified and therefore economically more justified test procedure. /GMRL/

Is ‘Old School’ Equipment Testing the Way to Go in Developing Countries?

In this paper, the maintenance training characteristics and rules of a certain type of missile equipment is researched, and a framework for integrated maintenance training system for enhancing maintenance training effectiveness is constructed. The system can be equipped for teaching, information querying, system simulation, maintenance training etc. and it can be realized the individual training and military cooperation training. Introduction Because of missile equipment is a complex electronic equipment which has a broader professional field, higher system integration and more complex working relationship, there is a higher requirement for maintenance support of Missile equipment. Therefore, how to use information technology to improve the practice skills of equipment maintenance person and to upgrade efficiency of equipment maintenance training, how to explore the new equipment maintenance training mode which can adapt to the development equipment, have been a hot topic in which equipment maintenance field made great efforts to research. With the development of computer technology and virtual reality technology, the traditional method of maintenance training is replaced by the virtual maintenance technology. And now the virtual maintenance technology has become the main maintenance training method [1]. But at present maintenance training system is still in its infancy, the common problem is including: A. The research object is very simple The system is aimed at operation training for combination of machinery and equipment such as composition and decomposition etc, and is lack of maintenance training on the electrical electric performance of electronic equipment. B. The function of maintenance system is simple Its function is concentrated on the introduction, teaching, practice and soon on, and the system is not reflected the process of maintenance training. C. The training effect is not ideal Restricted by hardware development, there has a larger difference between the actual maintenance process and virtual maintenance training, so the maintenance person has a poor sense of training when using maintenance training system. D. The utility is not enough At present maintenance training system is mostly at the stage of laboratory, owing to the disadvantages such as higher costs of interactive device (helmet, sensors) and more complicate structure of the system, there is a lack of mature technology support for the practical application. E. The systemic research on maintenance theory and training mode is lack Nowadays, the research mainly focuses on solving material technical problem. Instead, the training pattern and system frame which is in order to improve the training effect are not much involved. In this paper, the maintenance training characteristics and rules of a certain type of missile equipment is researched, and a framework for integrated maintenance training system for enhancing International Conference on Intelligent Systems Research and Mechatronics Engineering (ISRME 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1298 maintenance training effectiveness is constructed. On this condition, a missile equipment maintenance training system used for army, maintenance agencies and colleges is developed. Structure of system Figure 1 is the whole structure of missile equipment maintenance training system. In the system, all the equipment resource data are stored in the data base server; the system is implemented by a combination of B/S and C/S soft patterns. Using B/S structure, the server port of the equipment information resource management platform is set on intelligent substation, in which all the teachers and students can connect equipment information resource management platform through a personal computer or maintenance guidance training unit to upload or download all kinds of equipment resource, courseware, test etc. Figure 1. Topology structure of general equipment maintenance training system Using C/S structure, the interactive development platform environment is mainly operated in the teacher's personal computer. Through which teacher can generate various kinds of courseware or tests and upload these data to the equipment information resource management platform. Similarly, using C/S structure, the teaching training platform environment is mainly operated in the maintenance instructions and maintenance training unit, by downloading different courseware or simulation training model to implement maintenance training and other functions. At the same time, it can be run on the personal computer to help students complete the self-learning function [2]. Finally, the maintenance training intelligent terminal guidance and training platform can cooperate to complete the function of maintenance process visualization instruction, fault injection, analog signal output. F. Organization, development of equipment maintenance information resource Figure 2. Structure diagram of interactive design platform Using C/S structure, Interactive design platform is mainly operated in the teacher's office client. The platform is designed for teacher to achieve the development and management function, in which teacher can describe and demonstrate the process information on the equipment structure, principle, equipment disassembly, interactive diagnosis, maintenance guide training by using some means such as text, graphics, tables, multimedia(video, audio, flash), 3Dmodel etc. On this condition, a set of simulation training platform including the mechanical fault analysis, electric fault analysis,

Recently IEC TC 81 decided to set up PWI 62561-8 in order to extend the IEC 62561 family (Lightning Protection Components) by a new part 8 (Requirements for components for isolated LPS). The paper works out the basic electric characteristics of components of isolated LPS which require standardization. It describes and discusses test procedures that cover the dielectric strength and the capability to withstand lightning current of components of isolated LPS in order to link the possibilities of (new) components for isolated LPS with the requirements of the IEC 62305 series. With the definition of a new wave shape 1/200μs which takes the negative first lightning stroke into account , some new approaches and requirements are considered in the test procedures. The paper briefly revisits the basics of the calculation of separation distances according to the current standards - impulse-voltage-time characteristic and the constant-area-criterion. Based on these facts a simplified high voltage impulse test is derived which works with the standardized voltage impulse 1.2/50 μs. This is a high voltage impulse test to cover the needs for testing the dielectric strength of the non-metallic or composite component design of an insulating fastener and the dielectric strength of the insulating layer of cables used as insulated down conductors. The same test also covers the creepage discharge behavior of the potential grading at insulated down conductors. A high current impulse test is discussed in order to classify insulated down conductors due to their lightning current withstand capability. Finally these tests procedures had been applied to insulating fasteners and cables used as insulated down conductors. The preliminary results of these tests are presented and discussed by means of their applicability for standardized testing. The aim of this contribution is to help to provide an acceptable, simple and physically correct basis for suitable electrical test procedures that support the development of the new 62561-8 standard.

The complexity of electronic-device testing varies widely, ranging from the simplest type manual testing to the most complex Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). Presently power controllers for electrostatic precipitator at industry are tested using simulators at the E-shop and controller development lab. The simulated inputs and outputs are generated manually through mechanical keys and push button switches. The verification process and documentation are also done manually and hence time consuming. To overcome these disadvantages, an intelligent, multipurpose simulator cum test equipment was proposed. ATE was developed using LPC2378 ARM processor with required input and output channels. The ATE has multiple communication interfaces like RS485, RS 232, CAN and Ethernet. It is also provided with Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), keypad and Local Area Network (LAN) communication. ATE completes the testing of controller without any manual intervention. Upon completion of testing, ATE sends out test reports to any computer connected to its LAN Port. The test report is generated in the form of Hyper Text Markup Language(HTML) pages with time stamping and controller particulars.

General Construction Supplies & Services (MIC: 3.3 SIC: 7359 NAIC: 532490)McGrath RentCorp is comprised of three business segments: Mobile Modular Management Corporation (MMMC), its modular building rental division; RenTelco, its electronic test equipment rental division; and Enviroplex, its 81.0%‐owned portable classroom manufacturing business. MMMC rents and sells modular buildings and accessories to fulfill customers' temporary and permanent space needs in California, Texas and Florida. RenTelco rents and sells electronic test and measurement equipment nationally and internationally from its Dallas, TX and Montreal, Canada facilities. Enviroplex sells its portable classrooms directly to the California public school districts.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">In contrast to the currently primarily used liquid fuels (diesel and gasoline), methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) as a fuel offers a high potential for a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This advantage can only be used if tailpipe CH<sub>4</sub> emissions are reduced to a minimum, since the GHG impact of CH<sub>4</sub> in the atmosphere is higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>). Three-way catalysts (TWC - stoichiometric combustion) and methane oxidation catalysts (MOC - lean combustion) can be used for post-engine CH<sub>4</sub> oxidation. Both technologies allow for a nearly complete CH<sub>4</sub> conversion to CO<sub>2</sub> and water at sufficiently high exhaust temperatures (above the light-off temperature of the catalysts). However, CH<sub>4</sub> combustion is facing a huge challenge with the planned introduction of Euro VII emissions standard, where stricter CH<sub>4</sub> emission limits and a decrease of the cold start starting temperatures are discussed.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The aim of the present study is to develop a reliable kinetic catalyst model for MOC conversion prediction in order to optimize the catalyst design in function of engine operation conditions, by combining the outputs from the predicted transient engine simulations as inputs to the catalyst model. Model development and training has been performed using experimental engine test bench data at stoichiometric conditions as well as engine simulation data and is able to reliably predict the major emissions under a broad range of operating conditions. Cold start (-7°C and +20°C) experiments were performed for a simplified worldwide light vehicle test procedure (WLTP) driving cycle using a prototype gas engine together with a MOC. For the catalyst simulations, a 1-D catalytic converter model was used. The model includes detailed gas and surface chemistry that are computed together with catalyst heat up. In a further step, a virtual transient engine cold start cycle is combined with the MOC model to predict tail-pipe emissions at transient operating conditions. This method allows to perform detailed emission investigations in an early stage of engine prototype development.</div></div>

The ever-increasing demand for the use of marginal lands for various human activities necessitates the need to understand the behavior of soft sediments under the action of external forces. As the segregated sediments are of common occurrence in a freshwater depositional environment, it is essential to understand the compressibility and permeability characteristics of segregated sediments, in addition to those of homogeneous sediments. The present paper discusses the compressibility and permeability behaviors of soft segregated and homogeneous sediments, making use of a simplified seepage consolidation testing procedure developed by the authors. The other variables included in the study are the clay mineralogy of the soil and the stress history of the sediments. The study clearly brings out the significant effect of clay mineralogy on the compressibility characteristics of segregated, normally consolidated sediments. The compressibility behavior of homogeneous soil sediments formed under a given depositional environment, having different clay mineralogy, appears to be similar. It is shown that the coefficient of permeability of any soil is a function of stress history in addition to void ratio and soil type.

Since the first subsea well started producing in Brazil, Campos Basin has turned out into a big laboratory where innovations and different concepts ranging from one-atmosphere chambers to diverless guidelineless wet Christmas trees have been tested. Supported by the operational experience acquired throughout the years, motivated by the large number of subsea wells to be drilled and completed in the new fields and pressed by the need of some rationalization to deal with rigs, tools, risers, wellheads, trees and spare parts for more than two hundred wells, PETROBAS started its own efforts on standardization of subsea equipment. To achieve the desired interchangeability with equipments manufactured in different occasions and even by different suppliers, it is necessary to define not only functional and performance requirements, normally found on API Specs, but also some crucial geometry and dimensions, mostly of interfaces. This paper describes the experience with some standardization made in the past, the programme being carried out in the present, the equipments and interfaces being standardized and how far PETROBAS is going into equipment definition. INTRODUCTION After hundreds of wells drilled in Brazilian waters, more than 170 wet x-mas trees installed in water depths from 70 to 781 meters, 10 floating production systems and 14 fixed platforms installed, and a considerable mileage of flowlines and umbilicals laid, the experience obtained with these offshore operations performed in Campos Basin has made it possible to evaluate the pros and cons of standardization of subsea equipment. The simple conclusion was that standardization really brings considerable benefits. The resulting operational flexibility associated to the use of proven equipment and procedures saves rig time and can reduce production loss during workovers. Savings can also be detected from the reduction of the number of spare parts and tools, but the savings in values related to the operations exceed considerably those ones connected to equipment acquisition and store. So the great benefit is the operational flexibility. On the other hand, non-standardized equipment serves as an open door to continuous modifications of equipment design, which is welcome when the equipment is not satisfying customer's requirements. But once the equipment is properly tested and proven, unnecessary proliferation of slightly differing designs need to be avoided. FIRST STEPS ON STANDARDIZATION The first significant interface adopted as a standard by PETROBAS in the early 1980's, was the subsea wellhead external profile and the sealing area for VX/Ax rings. At that time, the various rigs contracted to drill in Brazilian waters had BOPS provided with H4 connectors of different sizes: 21.1/4", 18.3/4", 16.3/4" and 13.5/8", leading to the use of different wellhead systems and x-mas trees connectors. PETROBR&3 then defined the 18.3/4" H4 profile as the standard external profile for all high pressure housings, and the BOPS were equipped with appropriate connectors. More recently, this definition had to be divided in accordance to the drilling system type:

Testing FPGA switching characteristics on general purpose electronic test equipment(GPETE) test platform has much lower financial cost and more accessibility than testing on Automatic Test Equipment(ATE). However, when testing on GPETE platform, test accuracy is more easily influenced by device under test(DUT) board and test equipment, and some kinds of stimuli such as maximum frequency stimulus is difficult to impose. This paper presents several test methods aiming to ensure the test accuracy and solve maximum frequency stimulus imposing problem of GPETE test platform. Our methods are: 1) Time-to-Digital Converter(TDC) method to reduce test equipment's impact on test accuracy; 2) Comparing technique to eliminate delay interference from DUT board and extra delay path inside the chip; and 3) Digital Clock Manager(DCM) method to solve maximum stimulus imposing problem. Test results of XC4VLX200 FPGA shows that our methods have a relatively good accuracy and the stimulus imposing problem has been solved to some extent.

To prove the feasibility of a semi-automated cross-match procedure using a commercially available solid-phase microplate test and standard laboratory equipment. The new procedure was evaluated against the conventional spin tube technique and the gel centrifugation system. The sensitivity of the method and the rate of non-specific reactions were equal to those for the other test systems. The samples taken from the red cell concentrates for cross-matching remained stable for the shelf-life of the product. The semi-automated cross-match was successfully introduced in our routine laboratory as a means to process large numbers of tests.