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During the process of bionic design, the discrepancies between biological systems and engineering systems often result in designers being unable to handle the knowledge involved in biological systems effectively, thereby leading to a low utilisation rate of biological knowledge. This study proposes a model for the transformation of biological systems to engineering systems on the basis of feature transfer. First, the basic system is determined according to user requirements, followed by the search for suitable biological systems and the performance of similarity analysis. Second, the element model of extenics is used to represent biological systems, and the extension analysis method is used to extend biological systems. Then, on the basis of substance-field theory in TRIZ combined with the extension transformation method, three approaches for transforming biological systems into engineering systems are proposed: no processing, forward processing, and reverse processing. After transformation, the features of the engineering system are extracted and incorporated into the basic system to complete the structural design. The container bag outlet folding device is taken as an engineering case to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In electrical power system engineering, the economic load dispatch (ELD) problem is a critical issue for fuel cost minimization. This ELD problem is often characterized by non-convexity and subject to multiple constraints. These constraints include valve-point loading effects (VPLEs), generator limits, emissions, and wind power integration. In this study, both emission constraints and wind power are incorporated into the ELD problem formulation, with the influence of wind power quantified using the incomplete gamma function (IGF). This study proposes a novel metaheuristic algorithm, the modified moth flame optimization (MMFO), which improves the traditional moth flame optimization (MFO) algorithm through an innovative flame selection process and adaptive adjustment of the spiral length. MMFO is a population-based technique that leverages the intelligent behavior of flames to effectively search for the global optimum, making it particularly suited for solving the ELD problem. To demonstrate the efficacy of MMFO in addressing the ELD problem, the algorithm is applied to four well-known test systems. Results show that MMFO outperforms other methods in terms of solution quality, speed, minimum fuel cost, and convergence rate. Furthermore, statistical analysis validates the reliability, robustness, and consistency of the proposed optimizer, as evidenced by the consistently low fitness values across iterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many efforts from multiple academic and industrial disciplines have studied the notion of context. The systems engineering and human systems integration fields, however, lack a generalized definition and characterization of context, in particular the operational context of complex sociotechnical systems. This paper reviews context definitions and builds a generalized definition of the operational context of complex sociotechnical systems. The objective is then to identify and extract context properties which are often implicit in the literature and do not necessarily appear in the definitions. However, eliciting them is helpful for understanding what context is made of, how it relates to complex sociotechnical systems comprising human and non‐human agents, and how an early understanding of the operational context can prove valuable to designing efficient and robust systems. Our analysis is followed by an example of how our definition and derived properties apply to the case study of the design of a remote and virtual air traffic control center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test and evaluation (TE) planning is a critical part of systems engineering. However, it has not received as much attention from digital engineering efforts as early‐stage design and analysis. Digital engineering has the potential to reduce the risk and effort associated with TE, while leveraging existing digital capabilities to add value. One aspect in particular that may benefit from such attention is the Department of Defense's Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP). The purpose of the TEMP is to identify the key processes with respect to the TE of a product, and to specify the roles and responsibilities of key personnel and organizations. Concerns have been raised regarding the document‐based nature of the TEMP and the increased risk and reduced reward that this entails. In this paper, we investigate the potential benefits of digitalizing the TEMP and outline an incremental approach for achieving this. We also present a set of ontologies, collectively known as the Digital TEMP (dTEMP), and investigate potential benefits and limitations by applying the dTEMP to an example test program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) is a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) of the US Department of Defense (DoD) formed in 2008 with more than 20 collaborator universities in the United States. Over the last decade, SERC has conducted research with Principal Investigators from universities within the SERC network, as reflected in technical reports (TR). These reports describe detailed information and analysis of the conducted research for every project under SERC support, such as written records of experiments or results of a scientific project. We analyzed the TRs from 2009 to early 2023 to identify research streams, topics, and evolution in systems engineering (SE) research using text mining and network analysis techniques, such as Louvain Community Detection and word similarity. As a result, we identified four major research streams over a decade of research projects, along with insights about topics and the evolution of SE within this time frame. Finally, we distinguished most profile authors and their most significant collaborations and networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the shortage of international oil resources and rising oil prices, the acetylene chemical industry has been revitalized. As an important basic raw material in the petrochemical industry, it can produce many chemical products and extend the acetylene production chain. Firstly, the production, conversion, and utilization of acetylene are outlined. Subsequently, this paper focuses on reviewing the core production process routes and the corresponding research progress in the acetylene production chain and points out the development trends of the domestic acetylene downstream conversion. Then, considering that acetylene is produced by calcium carbide technology in Ningdong and the extended downstream polyvinyl chloride industry chain is a large energy consumer and the focus of environmental safety monitoring, the entire process from coal-based calcium carbide acetylene production to polyvinyl chloride synthesis is elaborated from the perspective of process systems engineering. The resource utilization status and bottlenecks in the process are declared, and the direction of process improvement and optimization is proposed. Finally, the entire acetylene production chain is briefly analyzed and reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient production systems are necessary for the realization of products that fulfil customer needs and delivery requirements. However, the process of designing the production system has received little academic attention and today's manufacturing system design processes and architecture are still based on traditional engineering methods. This study covers a case study using visual requirements modeling for the design of a production system for a new product. A comprehensive prescriptive study was designed combined with attempts to verify the methods used. A total of six workshops, development of models to define requirements to select concepts, and two validation studies are documented. A total of 166 persons participated, and up to 15 persons participated in the validation workshops. The analysis shows that the method addressed several of the gaps identified in literature: (1) the lack of systematic and effective systems engineering design methods in production system design, and (2) the lack of inclusion of human aspects in the production system design. The gaps in the effectiveness of the methods remain to be fully evaluated, as the project is still running and will not be concluded until 2025. Recommendations for future work include exploring further the management mechanisms of systems engineering, which type of competences does the future engineer need and how production system design engineers can learn more from other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Aim: This study aims to describe the transition-in-care work process for sepsis survivors going from hospitals to home health care (HHC) and identify facilitators and barriers to enable practice change and safe care transitions using a human factors and systems engineering approach. Background: Despite high readmission risk for sepsis survivors, the transition-in-care work process from hospitals to HHC has not been described. Methods: We analyzed semi-structured needs assessment interviews with 24 stakeholders involved in transitioning sepsis survivors from two hospitals and one affiliated HHC agency participating in the parent implementation science study, I-TRANSFER. The qualitative data analysis was guided by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) framework to describe the work process and identify work system elements. Results: We identified 31 tasks characterized as decision making, patient education, communication, information, documentation, and scheduling tasks. Technological and organizational facilitators lacked in HHC compared to the hospitals. Person and organization elements in HHC had the most barriers but few facilitators. Additionally, we identified specific task barriers that could hinder sepsis information transfer from hospitals to HHC. Conclusion: This study explored the complex transition-in-care work processes for sepsis survivors going from hospitals to HHC. We identified barriers, facilitators, and critical areas for improvement to enable implementation and ensure safe care transitions. A key finding was the sepsis information transfer deficit, highlighting a critical issue for future study. Application: We recommend using the SEIPS framework to explore complex healthcare work processes before the implementation of evidence-based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vital role of extensive information exchange among stakeholders across diverse sectors and the interconnection of various scientific fields with nonhomogeneous technology readiness levels has created a new form of a complex engineering problem in the climate change era. Comprehensive sustainability assessment to enable the realization of needs requires transdisciplinary thinking to achieve systematic solutions that bridge the gap between multiple collaborative systems in a portfolio. Although the principal aim of dedicated sustainability regulations is to force companies to move toward sustainability development, general and non-engineered metrics that have not defined clear thresholds for evaluation have encountered severe challenges regarding implementation and economic viability. Therefore, adopting a transdisciplinary systems engineering approach can address multifaceted challenges like sustainability by overcoming collaboration barriers, and traditional disciplinary limits. This paper systematically reviews sustainability-dictated regulations from a transdisciplinary perspective. Different standards are compared, raised opportunities and challenges are discussed, and future remarks are highlighted. The sustainability problem is analyzed from a transdisciplinary systems engineering lens. Finally, a two-level resilient system sustainability assessment framework is proposed to effectively handle and enhance the resilience of companies' sustainability development roadmaps by enabling decision makers to find robust and highly reliable solutions regarding sustainable system design. The impact of this research is to create a new insight into addressing climate change which not only assesses the current situation but also considers uncertainty sources that affect decision making for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard mitigation planning requires disparate agencies to negotiate through the planning and implementation processes. These agencies must strategize, develop, and implement plans for addressing scenarios of natural and human-caused hazards. Competing perspectives exist in systems engineering at multiple levels of governance. This paper introduces a framework to understand and coordinate when one or more agencies have outlier perspectives of the priority ordering of initiatives in regional hazard mitigation. Each agency perspective is represented as a scenario that disrupts system order. The paper presents a mathematical framework with 40 initiatives, six ordering criteria, and eight scenarios. The method coordinates evidence and experience that are essential to negotiation of requirements among emergency managers in hazard mitigation planning in the postpandemic era. Practical Applications: Unprecedented combinations of natural and human-caused stressors are challenging to plan for since the perspectives of participating agencies can differ significantly. The agencies that collaborate on emergency management include transportation, law enforcement, environment, prisons, parks and recreation, forestry, energy, and others. This paper facilitates negotiations among these various agencies in the hazard mitigation planning process by introducing a framework to understand and coordinate when one or more agencies have outlier perspectives of the priorities for investments in hazard mitigation. The application of the framework identifies where negotiation among the agencies is most needed in determining hazard mitigation priorities. This approach, grounded in principles of systems engineering and risk analysis, reduces cost overrun and schedule delay in the life cycle of emergency management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechatronic systems become ever more complex because of their increasing number of interconnected safety critical components and sophistication. MBSE (Model‐based Systems Engineering) and MBSA (Model‐Based Safety Assessment) are the most commonly adopted approaches to deal with the design and safety analysis of mechatronic systems. Unfortunately, both approaches are normally adopted separately, especially in the earlier phases of system design, thus leading to a lack of communication between system engineers and the safety team. This work aims to fill that gap at a high level, that is, through process interaction. This paper proposes an enhanced V‐model for the design of safety‐critical mechatronic systems. It relates a system development process with specific safety assessment methods. Specifically, the proposed workflow details exchange flows between the RFLP (Requirements, Functional, Logical, Physical) method, the FHA (Functional Hazard Analysis), the FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), the MBSA and simulation, and the FTA (Fault Tree Analysis). These analyses are complemented with multiphysics modeling and simulation to observe system behavior in functional and failure scenarios, with the aim of requirements verification. The design workflow has been applied to a winged Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to apply the parallel process and the necessary interaction of MBSE and MBSA approaches. The information flows between the individual activities proved effective for designing a safe system before the verification phase. The main benefit of the proposed workflow is providing both the design and safety team with some interaction points, thus avoiding a lack of safety‐critical analysis in the early phases of system design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient resources and high costs are hindering industrial development, potentially impeding adaptation to market demands. Overcoming this challenge necessitates advancements in software engineering techniques to streamline processes and meet industrial requirements. Crucially, automating manual tasks and enhancing interoperability between engineering stages can yield efficiency gains. This paper presents a model‐based system engineering approach aimed at automating the transition from design to implementation, incorporating autonomous generation and validation features. Implemented as plugins and utilizing model transformation techniques, this solution targets reducing engineering time and facilitating the adoption of new technologies. Developed, implemented, and tested within the Arrowhead framework, the approach is followed by a discussion on its benefits and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust and trusted digital human representations are necessary to successfully account for human considerations in model‐based systems engineering (MBSE). Multiple domains and modeling frameworks leverage verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A) processes to characterize when and under what conditions a model is valid to establish credibility. A literature review was completed on mathematical, physics‐based, software development, discrete event simulation, agent‐based, system dynamics, and MBSE models with the goal of proposing a process for performing VV&A on digital engineering (DE) and MBSE models for sociotechnical systems. However, this research also revealed the need for a broader framework to characterize the risk associated with using these models for making high‐consequence decisions. While accomplishing the literature review, another approach to building credibility was identified that is used heavily in the financial industry, namely model risk management (MRM). This process is extended by leveraging MRM approaches from within the financial community to propose a framework for sociotechnical model users to characterize the risk of using MBSE models to make programmatic decisions. The primary contribution of this work is to document a meta‐analysis of model VV&A while proposing an alternative approach to characterizing and communicating credibility that was discovered during this analysis. This approach could be a viable option for ensuring the credibility of human systems integration in MBSE models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the effectiveness of common engineering processes in conducting system assessments, with a focus on legacy system assessments, which are currently a barrier to legacy system evolution. These processes include reverse systems engineering (RSE), which remains in its infancy, and more established processes such as software and hardware reverse engineering. The study assesses these methods to better understand their ability to define systems of interest and meet the criteria set by the four horsemen of traditional systems engineering, as defined by Rebovich and White, and the International Council of Systems Engineering. Additionally, RE techniques are reviewed to ensure that a formal, systems‐level process—with detailed steps and diagrams—is documented and accessible to systems or reverse engineers. Lastly, this investigation elucidates the ability of each reverse engineering process to discover, recover, or reproduce information pertaining to the systems of interest that is missing, incomplete, or outdated in documentation relevant to the development or operations of that system. This information can be used to better understand the areas of RSE that still need to be developed and aid in the maturation of a repeatable process that is applicable to legacy systems. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the further development of the Enterprise Lifecycle Model proposed by Terry and Chandrasekar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a system‐theoretic study of how System‐of‐Systems (SoS) evolution can be steered towards any desirable direction. For practitioners, this is a non‐trivial undertaking because of the potential resistance to change from the independent constituents. In this paper, we highlight this subject as a gap in the literature on SoS evolution, but not only. We review the characteristics of the SoS evolution context to establish that, despite the limitations in visibility and control, a SoS will still exhibit many evolutionary tendencies and dynamics, which can be harnessed for steering its evolution. Based on that, we present a set of six 6 prescriptive heuristics which practitioners can turn to when they need a SoS to move in any desired direction. These heuristics optimize for making the best use of one's available (direct and indirect) leverages. The usefulness and broad applicability of the proposed heuristics are illustrated through case studies of two distinct real‐world SoSs, namely, the Internet and the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value is crucial to lean product development (LPD) and set‐based design (SBD). Nevertheless, the literature needs to present more research on value definition and deployment to support exploring the design space. This scenario hinders the operationalization of lean initiatives in product development. This paper proposes a value deployment (VD) method for SBD, applying quality function deployment (QFD) matrices. We undertook a research action on the design of a TRL‐6 magnetic air conditioner. As a result, we aligned teams and development efforts toward value, building clarity and cohesion about the contribution of subsystems to product performance. Furthermore, VD enabled the integration of manufacturing in decision‐making. Our work paves the way for SBD in terms of practical relevance for industrial and systems engineering, assisting managers in adopting LPD and aligning integrated product teams toward value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing models for the safe, timely and effective delivery of health and social care are challenged by an ageing population. Services and care pathways are often optimised for single-disease management, while many older people are presenting with multiple long-term conditions and frailty. Systems engineering describes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to change that is focused on people, system understanding, design and risk management. These principles are the basis of many established quality improvement (QI) tools in health and social care, but implementation has often been limited to single services or condition areas. Newer engineering techniques may help reshape more complex systems. Systems thinking is an essential component of this mindset to understand the underlying relationships and characteristics of a working system. It promotes the use of tools that map, measure and interrogate the dynamics of complex systems. In this New Horizons piece, we describe the evolution of systems approaches while noting the challenges of small-scale QI efforts that fail to address whole-system problems. The opportunities for novel soft-systems approaches are described, along with a recent update to the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model, which includes human-centred design. Systems modelling and simulation techniques harness routine data to understand the functioning of complex health and social care systems. These tools could support better-informed system change by allowing comparison of simulated approaches before implementation, but better effectiveness evidence is required. Modern systems engineering and systems thinking techniques have potential to inform the redesign of services appropriate for the complex needs of older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 20 years, there have been high-profile examples of Department of the Navy (DON) unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) programs with expensive cost overruns and late deliveries. While best practices exist to account for cost and schedule risk, this article presents a practical approach to assessing the likelihood of success through model-based conceptual design (MBCD) within a real-world problem context. The author applies model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to quantify the impact MBCD has on the success of a critical UUV software update when applied prior to expensive design, test, and delivery. First, the scope is framed with a realistic narrative, then the existing UUV development architecture is modeled to set the existing DON process in context. Next, a formal time and cost model is simulated to set baseline values for the modeled scenario, including user-focused MBCD. Finally, simulation and analysis of four scenarios capturing varying levels of rework demonstrate a significant reduction in time and cost. While narrowly focused on a UUV development scenario, future work can generalize the approach and quantify the impact of these methods to quantify, track, and mitigate program risk across DON acquisition programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domain of Enterprise Information Systems Engineering uses many different conceptual modelling languages and methods to specify the requirements of a system under development. The complexity of the systems under development may require addressing different perspectives with different models, such as the data and process perspectives. The modeller will thus have to choose the appropriate (set of) modelling languages according to their specific modelling goal. Given that the different aspects relate to a single system, ideally, the models that capture the different perspectives should be aligned and consistent to ensure their integration. Each candidate (set of) modelling languages comes with advantages and disadvantages. To make an informed choice in this matter, the modeller should select a number of criteria relevant to their problem domain and compare candidate modelling languages based on these criteria. A comprehensive evaluation framework for integrated modelling approaches, that considers more general aspects such as understandability, ease of use, model quality, etc. besides the ability to model the desired aspects, does not yet exist and is therefore the focus of this paper. In recent years, several combinations of modelling languages have been investigated. Amongst these combinations, data + process modelling has attracted a lot of interest, and, interestingly, evaluation frameworks for this combination have been proposed as well. Therefore, this paper will primarily focus on the integrated multi-modelling of data and processes, including the process-related viewpoints of users and authorisations. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: on a theoretical level, the paper provides an overview of existing evaluation frameworks in the literature, builds a more complete set of evaluation criteria and proposes a unified taxonomy for the classification of these evaluation criteria (TEC-MAP); on a practical level, the paper provides guidance and support to the modeller for selecting the appropriate evaluation criteria for their problem domain and presents three examples of the application of TEC-MAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We design, build, and validate an optical system for generating light beams with complex spatial coherence properties in real time. Beams of this type self-focus and are resistant to turbulence degradation, making them potentially useful in applications such as optical communications. We begin with a general theoretical analysis of our proposed design. Our approach starts by generating a Schell-model (uniformly correlated or shift-invariant) source by spatially filtering incoherent light. We then pass this light through an optical coordinate transformer, which converts the Schell-model source into a nonuniformly correlated field. After the general analysis, we discuss system engineering, including trade-offs among system parameters and expected performance. Finally, we test and validate the system by comparing experimental results to theoretical predictions. We conclude with a brief summary and a discussion of future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Systems Engineering & Electronics is the property of Journal of Systems Engineering & Electronics Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Systems Engineering & Electronics is the property of Journal of Systems Engineering & Electronics Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Formal requirements modeling and traceability management are essential for effectively implementing Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). However, few studies have explored the integration of requirement modeling, traceability management, and verification within MBSE-based systems engineering methodologies. Moreover, the predominant modeling language for MBSE, SysML, lacks sufficient capabilities for requirement description and traceability management and for depicting physical attributes and executable capabilities, making it challenging to verify functional and non-functional requirements collaboratively. This paper proposes an integrated approach for requirement modeling, traceability management, and verification, building on the previously proposed integrated modeling and the simulation language called X language. Our contributions primarily include defining the ReqXL specification for MBSE-oriented requirement modeling based on X language, proposing an algorithm for automatically generating requirement traces, and an integrated framework for requirements modeling, traceability management, and verification was developed by combining the X language with ReqXL. These functionalities were customized on the self-developed integrated modeling and simulation platform, XLab, which is specifically tailored for the X language. Furthermore, we showcase the efficacy and promise of our approach through a case study involving the design of an aircraft electrical system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), model reuse technology is an important method to improve the modeling efficiency and credibility, and the research difficulties and hotspots in the field of complex system simulation. However, model reuse still faces challenges due to the existence of text structure bias and feature mismatch. To this end, this paper presents a structure-based model similarity quantization algorithm to obtain the similarities among models. In the first stage, the properties of the structure between the models are obtained by the structural vectorization method, and different module data are accounted. In the second stage, weights are assigned to the module data using the AHP–CRITIC assignment method. The experiment is based on the circuit amplifier model as a case study, and the experimental results verify the feasibility of structure-based model similarity quantification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aircraft industry, there is a shift towards more and all-electric power systems resulting in great research efforts on single components like batteries. At the same time there is an increasing need to investigate and evaluate the long-term behavior of the whole electric power system to ensure safe and sustainable aircraft operation. Focusing on this challenge, the objective of this article is to propose a framework for electric power system assessment in the early design stages. In particular, the focus is on identifying and handling uncertainties regarding failure behavior and degradation, both on the component and system level. The evaluation of different power system topologies is based on the integration of Model-Based Systems Engineering and robust design methods. In this context, another central aspect is the definition of system and component requirements derived from the flight mission profile. SysML diagrams are used to define use cases and possible system topologies. Sensitivity of degradation effects are evaluated using robust design methods. The application of the framework and these methods is illustrated using a short-range aircraft with an all-electric power system. The results highlight the applicability of the framework to cope with the uncertainties that occur in the early design stages and point out fields of further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As embedded systems become increasingly complex, traditional reliability analysis methods based on text alone are no longer adequate for meeting the requirements of rapid and accurate quantitative analysis of system reliability. This article proposes a method for automatically generating and quantitatively analyzing dynamic fault trees based on an improved system model with consideration for temporal characteristics and redundancy. Firstly, an "anti-semantic" approach is employed to automatically explore the generation of fault modes and effects analysis (FMEA) from SysML models. The evaluation results are used to promptly modify the system design to meet requirements. Secondly, the Profile extension mechanism is used to expand the SysML block definition diagram, enabling it to describe fault semantics. This is combined with SysML activity diagrams to generate dynamic fault trees using traversal algorithms. Subsequently, parametric diagrams are employed to represent the operational rules of logic gates in the fault tree. The quantitative analysis of dynamic fault trees based on probabilistic models is conducted within the internal block diagram of SysML. Finally, through the design and simulation of the power battery management system, the failure probability of the top event was obtained to be 0.11981. This verifies that the design of the battery management system meets safety requirements and demonstrates the feasibility of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the practical demands for data sharing and exchange in the field of rack railway systems engineering, as well as to address the gaps in the rack railway domain within the framework of the IFC4 standard, we extend and define the rack railway domain through entity extension and custom attribute sets. By utilizing the ongoing construction of the Dujiangyan to Mount Siguniang Railway as a case study, we validate the utility of this IFC extension and modeling approach. Leveraging IfcOpenShell, we incorporate the extended data content into the generated IFC file. We present a process for extension tailored to the characteristics of rack railway engineering. This study aims to provide broader information support for the digital construction of track structures in the design phase of rack railway engineering and to facilitate more efficient data exchange and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spain has one of Europe's most extraordinary biodiverse environments and a significant risk of fires in its forests. At the same time, rural areas are affected by several challenges, such as desertification, population decrease, and loss of income. Fortunately, some green sparks arise on the horizon. Among them, we use critical enabling technologies for fire prevention and extinction, renewable energy, and resilience solutions by adopting a system of systems approach given by the systems engineering frameworks. We analyse recent Research and Development (R&D) projects focused on fire prevention to detect (1) the key enabling technologies used and (2) engineering practices. A motivational case is presented, which evaluates the potential interest of the mineral water industry sector in applied R&D with key enabling technologies, including the replicability potential and the replicability potential for using the R&D results. After that, the authors initialize an innovative R-ISSUES model to promote early interoperability between energy and environment systems engineering towards the shared mission of designing digital and rural jobs to preserve our biosphere. The model is used to answer specific research questions and detect gaps or potential improvements for the model itself by using the recent scientific literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the research of new reactors, lithium has become a research direction as a new coolant after sodium. Lithium working fluids introduce various metallic and non-metallic impurities such as oxygen, calcium, carbon, nitrogen, etc. to a greater or lesser extent during production, filling, and even operation. In addition, the processing, welding, and cleaning steps of the pipeline and equipment in the circuit during manufacturing inevitably result in residual dirt, grease, surface oxides, and moisture. These will have a certain impact on the performance of heat transfer and circuit safety through accelerated corrosion or plugging. Therefore, in high-temperature lithium circuits, the impurity concentration of lithium working fluid must be strictly controlled and purified before use. At present, the detection methods for impurity content in lithium working fluids can be divided into two categories: sampling analysis method and online measurement method. Sampling analysis is the most direct detection and analysis method, which can directly obtain the content of various impurities in lithium working fluids, and the results are relatively accurate; The online detection method can generally only detect non-metallic impurities, but it is relatively fast and simple, and is currently a commonly used measurement method on lithium working fluid devices. The plugging meter method has been studied and used as a rather convenient online detection method. This article introduces a small, self-heating, and mobile high-temperature lithium plugging meter system to meet the online detection of different points in the lithium circuit of system engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanobodies are single-domain antibody fragments that have garnered considerable use as diagnostic and therapeutic agents as well as research tools. However, obtaining pure VHHs, like many proteins, can be laborious and inconsistent. High level cytoplasmic expression in E. coli can be challenging due to improper folding and insoluble aggregation caused by reduction of the conserved disulfide bond. We report a systems engineering approach leveraging engineered strains of E. coli , in combination with a two-stage process and simplified downstream purification, enabling improved, robust, soluble cytoplasmic nanobody expression, as well as rapid cell autolysis and purification. This approach relies on the dynamic control over the reduction potential of the cytoplasm, incorporates lysis enzymes for purification, and can also integrate dynamic expression of protein folding catalysts. Collectively, the engineered system results in more robust growth and protein expression, enabling efficient scalable nanobody production, and purification from high throughput microtiter plates, to routine shake flask cultures and larger instrumented bioreactors. We expect this system will expedite VHH development. • AutoDC REdox robustly expresses VHHs. • 50% of VHHs expressed exceed the highest reported titer for cytoplasmic expression. • Consistent expression with minimal optimization across various VHH sequences. • Scalable fermentations up to a 1L bioreactor with VHH titers reaching up to 2 g/L. • Efficient autolysis and filtration process simplifies downstream purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of multi-source survey data sharing in power system engineering by proposing two improved methods: a survey data sharing method combined with differential privacy and a permission change method based on attribute encryption. The survey data sharing method integrated with differential privacy achieves effective cross-professional and cross-departmental data sharing while ensuring data security by introducing multi-discriminator architecture and dynamic noise adjustment. To reduce the computational and communication overhead when user permissions change during survey data sharing, the attribute encryption-based permission change method supports dynamic changes in user permissions. The effectiveness of the proposed methods has been validated through targeted experiments in different scenarios. The work in this thesis provides a new solution for dynamic sharing of survey data in power network engineering. It contributes to the digital transformation of power network projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the resilience of modern infrastructure systems is recognized as a priority by both the International Council on Systems Engineering and the National Academy of Engineering. Resilience answers the key stakeholder need for a stable and predictable system by withstanding, adapting to, and recovering from unexpected faults. Increasing resilience in multi‐agent systems is especially challenging because resilience is an emergent system‐level property rather than the sum of individual agent functions. This paper uses biological systems as a source of inspiration for resilient functions, examining the central question How can biologically inspired design be used to increase the emergent property of resilience in multi‐agent systems? The paper uses functional decomposition to break down the individual functions that result in resilience and transfer the properties to generalized systems. Accordingly, the central hypothesis examined in this article is If functional decomposition is performed on eusocial insect colonies, then generalizable approaches to increase the emergent property of multi‐agent system resilience can be identified. The results provide two contributions. The first contribution is the identification of six general functions based on eusocial insect behavior that influence resilience. The second contribution is a description of the process of identifying and transferring insect behaviors into generalized design‐for‐resilience guidance. To support these contributions, a case study applies biologically inspired functions to an emergency power service system and proposes tactics for the power system to improve its resilience. Thus, this article provides a key step towards our goal of using biologically inspired design to influence the emergent property of resilience in multi‐agent systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systems engineering's evolutionary trajectory has been far from linear, and its future direction is uncertain. We present an assessment and vision of how SE might evolve to enduringly be impactful and relevant, despite growing complexity and radical technological change. We discuss how SE started out focused on achieving technical objectives, then drifted towards a more process and methodology focus, and is now responding to calls to return to its roots under the banner of "attaining elegant solutions to complex problems." We discuss how SE has always been a transdiscipline, although it was not always so recognized, and how SE is now increasingly recognizing and valuing its transdisciplinary nature. We present our view that the future of SE as an impactful and relevant engineering discipline lies in the strengthening of its transdisciplinarity and an increased focus on attaining elegant solutions to complex problems. We present a framework for understanding the nature of SE and the way in which it evolves in terms of its principles, methods and purposes. We show that SE is informed by, and informs many disciplines and social institutions in a dynamic ecology of discovery, achievement and vision. Lastly, we discuss the value of this framework, and show how it can serve as a basis for developing a common understanding of the value and potential of SE, and support institutions such as INCOSE as they engage in the wider social agenda of building a better and more sustainable world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have increasingly been used in a wide variety of missions that range from surveillance to delivery. Unlike aircraft that always carry goods and passengers from an airport to another, UAVs do not systematically implement the same type of mission. UAVs are indeed multi‐mission during their time in operation, and the systems engineering approaches developed for one mission aircraft must be adapted to the multi‐mission context. Therefore, UAV design requires application of mission engineering upstream systems engineering, either to assess there is a UAV system that may accomplish a new mission, or to specify a new UAV system according to a given mission. To achieve that goal, the authors of the paper support the use of Model‐Based Mission Engineering. A three‐layer architecture ‐ purpose, operation, functions or capabilities ‐ is proposed as a design framework for missions. The Goal‐Oriented Requirements Language (GRL) serves as mission description language. The paper extends GRL to better address mission‐based design of UAVs. It is proposed to distinguish between internal and external resources. A goal detailing mechanism is introduced. A degraded mode evaluation becomes possible. GRL tools make it possible to evaluate how much a UAV system ‐ at least, an operator, a ground station, and a UAV ‐ may satisfy every stakeholder in both nominal and degraded modes. The proposed approach is applied to a high voltage surveillance UAV. The case study enables the introduction of four actors—Authority, Client, UAV and MissionSupervisor—that turn out to be generic and can be reused for other missions and UAV designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the bacteria chemotaxis control process utilizing the System Modeling Language (SysML) to leverage well‐defined and proven engineering tools for architecting, analyzing, and refining complex systems. It proposes a new methodology called reverse‐engineering object‐oriented systems engineering method (RE‐OOSEM) that converts descriptive biology research information into descriptive systems engineering information. It utilizes SysML and model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) to capture system architecture from biological system knowledge and inputs them into systems engineering tools. From an engineering point of view, this allows greater insight into how biological systems operate and suggests how much model detail is required to uncover a top‐down system understanding. RE‐OOSEM methodology guides the SysML chemotaxis control capture process. SysML syntax is used instead of biological syntax to facilitate biological chemotaxis control system analysis from an engineered system point of view. The model can act as a scaffolding to help uncover system function, the relationships of system components and processes, and bioinformatic phenotype and genotype correlation. An executable MathWorks Stateflow chemotaxis control process model based on the SysML architectural model is included. The results show the following engineering perspective observations. (1) Several control components are not dedicated but are available and utilized when needed. (2) Individual chemoreceptors act together as a sensor array. (3) Phosphate groups act as a signaling mechanism. (4) Methylation via CH3 groups of the chemoreceptor results in sensitivity adaptation. (5) Closed‐loop control collaboratively utilizes ligand bonding, phosphorylation, and methylation. (6) Timing relationships of the control subprocesses give insight into the system's architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise measurements of the magnetic field are essential for particle accelerators, and the harmonic coil measurement system is especially suitable for the multipole field because of its unique advantages. The accurate placement of magnets is essential for accurate magnetic field measurements. The current positioning technique employed for harmonic coil measurement is inefficient due to its labor-intensive and time-consuming nature. The aim of this study is to automate the positioning of the quadrupole magnet. Therefore, a close-range photogrammetry system is utilized to monitor the position of the magnet due to its non-contact feature, and an electrically driven Stewart platform is utilized to manipulate the magnet. Meanwhile, a control system has been developed to regulate the automatic positioning. The system is capable of receiving measurements from the close-range photogrammetry system in order to ascertain the displacements of the magnet from its current position to the target. Subsequently, it can transmit commands to Stewart platform to regulate its movement. The experiments indicate that the efficiency of the quadrupole magnet positioning has increased significantly by at least 5 times, and the final positioning accuracy was verified by the laser tracker. The study also addresses the potential application of this technology in high radiation environments that are otherwise inaccessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) operations require a significant reduction in the time between decision making and decision execution. This calls for effective decision support to improve situational awareness (SA) at the lowest practical echelon. Applied Research Associates, Inc. conducted a 22-month project to research Avoidance and Protection, the CBRN phase with greatest uncertainty and cognitive work demands, to determine how the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) could best support operator procedures and decision making. We confirmed U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) CBRN doctrine, created battalion commander, medical officer, CBRN Specialist, and Soldier or Marine use cases, developed a concept video around existing CBRN passive defense workflows and tasking, then reviewed the concept with CBRN Specialists returning from deployment as well as Integrated Early Warning and CBRN Support to Command-and-Control developers. Resulting improvement to decision support can more effectively sustain the operator's observe, orient, decide, and act (OODA) loop while minimizing cognitive load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has expanded their emphasis on the application of systems engineering to ‘missions’ – that is, engineering a system of systems (SoS), which includes organizations, people, and technical systems, to provide desired impact on mission outcomes. Traditionally, SoS engineering focused on designing systems or SoS to achieve specified technical performance. Mission engineering goes one step further to evaluate the performance of the SoS in achieving the mission or capability objectives when implemented in a realistic scenario in a simulated environment. Mission engineering not only evaluates whether the SoS has the expected impacts, it also determines whether those impacts result in mission success. The DoD mission engineering methodology applies digital model-based engineering approaches to assess how well a SoS achieves mission objectives and closes mission capability gaps. An approach to implementing this DoD mission engineering methodology was developed and implemented in support of the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER) initiative for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (OUSD) for Research and Engineering (R&E). This paper presents the current US DoD mission engineering methodology and describes the approach to apply it to mission engineering analyses in support of the RDER initiative using a notional example to illustrate the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In industrial vehicle design processes, most companies have implemented model-based systems engineering (MBSE). As a consequence, design processes are nowadays not driven by documents, but by digital models of the vehicle to be developed and its components. These models exist on different levels of abstraction. The models on the requirements level are already well defined as well as the models of the defined product behavior and product properties. In recent years, the specification of models on the level of product functions was largely clarified, and elaborate frameworks already exist. However, this is not yet true for the level between functions and definite properties; this level can be referred to as "abstract physics". The enormous importance of this level, which, amongst others, can represent the physical effect chains which allow a vehicle component to function, is expressed by several researchers. Several research works aim at specifying models on this level, but, until now, no general consensus can be identified, and the existing model specifications are less appropriate for the early stages of vehicle design. This paper explains an Integrated Framework for Abstract Physics Modeling (IF4APM), which incorporates different perspectives of abstract physics and is suited for the early phases. The explanation is based on typical components of several kinds of vehicles. The main advantages of the proposed approach are the consistent interconnection of abstract product models, the clearness and understandability of the resulting matrices, and the aptitude to be used in the early phases of a vehicle design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel integration of Systems Engineering (SE) methodologies and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies in the design of robotic systems, focusing on enhancing underwater robotic missions. Using the conceptual design of an underwater exploration vehicle as a case study, we demonstrate how SE can systematically incorporate I4.0 tools to improve mission performance and meet stakeholder expectations. The study begins with an overview of the SE approach, emphasizing the conceptual design stage and aligning it with the application and case study of design theories. We then explore various I4.0 technologies, highlighting their functional benefits rather than technical specifics and addressing design methods for I4.0. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are examined in terms of classification, components, and tasks, showcasing their evolution driven by technological advancements, thus tackling the complexity and design of complex systems. The core of our study involves defining stakeholder expectations, using quality function deployment for requirements definition, and performing a functional and logical decomposition of the ROV system. To deal with design fixation within the design team, we developed a tool to help integrate new technologies by also empathizing with their functional capabilities rather than the technology itself. Our approach underscores the importance of understanding and incorporating new technologies functionally, aligning with the transition towards Industry/Society 5.0. This work not only illustrates the synergy between SE and I4.0, but also offers a structured methodology for advancing the design and functionality of complex systems, setting a blueprint for future developments in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge Management (KM) plays a pivotal role in contemporary businesses, facilitating the identification, management, and utilization of existing knowledge for organizational benefit. This article underscores the indispensability of effective KM processes in the insurance industry, which is undergoing profound digital transformation. Through a systematic review utilizing the PRISMA framework, we meta-analyzed 85 high-quality scientific papers sourced from prominent databases spanning 2008 to 2022. Our examination centers on the diverse implementation processes of KM worldwide, emphasizing the integration of information technologies to enhance data collection, analysis, processing, and distribution within insurance companies. The objective of this review is twofold: to devise efficient methods for implementing KM systems in the insurance sector and to delineate practical research directions in this domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) has been widely used in complex system design. A multi-level progressive architecture design process based on MBSE is proposed by constructing the relationship between function, behavior and structure. Subsequently, guided by the demand for altitude control, an example modeling of the civil aircraft flight control system is conducted. The results indicate the multi-level progressive architecture design of civil aircraft flight control system architecture based on MBSE leverages the advantages of reusable digital models, ensuring a close integration of requirements with functional, logical, and physical architecture. Meanwhile, the method improves the traceability of system design and provides an architectural reference for subsequent domain level model design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of systems following model-driven engineering can include models from different domains. For example, to develop a mechatronic component one might need to combine expertise about mechanics, electronics, and software. Although these models belong to different domains, the changes in one model can affect other models causing inconsistencies in the entire system. Only few tools, however, support management of models from different domains. Indeed, these models are created using different modeling notations and it is not plausible to use a multitude of parsers geared toward each and every modeling notation. Therefore, to ensure maintenance of multi-domain systems, we need a uniform approach that would be independent from the peculiarities of the notation. Notation independence implies that such a uniform approach can only be based on elements commonly present in models of different domains, i.e., text, boxes, and lines. In this study, we investigate the suitability of optical character recognition (OCR) as a basis for such a uniformed approach. We select graphical models from various domains that typically combine textual and graphical elements. We start by analyzing the performance of Google Cloud Vision and Microsoft Cognitive Services, two off-the-shelf OCR services. Google Cloud Vision performed better than Microsoft Cognitive Services being able to detect text of 70% of model elements. Errors made by Google Cloud Vision are due to absence of support for text common in engineering formulas, e.g., Greek letters, equations, and subscripts. We identified the multi-line text error as one of the main issues of using OCR to recognize textual elements in models from different domains. This error happens when OCR misinterprets one textual element as two separate elements. To address the multi-line text error, we build Xamã on top of Google Cloud Vision. Xamã includes two approaches to identify whether the elements are positioned on a single line or multiple lines, and merge those identified as positioned on multiples lines. With and without shape detection, Xamã correctly identified 956 and 905 elements, respectively, out of 1171. Additionally, we compared the accuracy of Xamã and state-of-the-art tool img2UML, and we observe that Xamã outperformed img2UML in both precision and recall, being able to recognize 433 out of 614 textual elements as opposed to 171 by img2UML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) serves as an intervention strategy for the management of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients. However, owing to its complex nature and the potential for complications, the implementation of CRRT demands continuous monitoring to prevent patient safety risks. This study aims to identify and validate prevalent risks linked to CRRT within a real-world clinical setting, intending to propose preventive measures grounded in expert insights. To systematically categorize and visually depict the risks, their consequences, preventive measures, and recovery controls, our study employed the Bowtie method in conjunction with the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model. In addition to considering patient-related factors that exhibit variability among critically ill individuals, our key findings showed that the most influential risks impacting the effective delivery of CRRT are incidents of clotted filters, bleeding risks arising from the necessity of anticoagulation for filter efficacy, vascular catheter-related bloodstream infections, variations in proficiency levels among healthcare professionals regarding CRRT modalities, especially in operating the CRRT machines, high nursing workload, frequent nursing turnover, occurrences of hypophosphatemia, variability in CRRT prescribing patterns, and issues related to communication among stakeholders. This research sheds light on the primary risks associated with CRRT and provides practical and viable strategies for effective management. Furthermore, the Bowtie diagram developed as part of this study serves as a valuable tool for visually representing the healthcare system and facilitating the identification of system-related risks within healthcare settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Wildland Fire Science is the property of Journal of Wildland Fire Science Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examines how ESG risks and opportunities can be systematically identified, assessed, and incorporated into the early-stage design and planning of natural resources projects. The focus for this study will be on the mining activities required to source the resources for the global decarbonization effort. The need for a framework to incorporate ESG risks and opportunities into the strategic mine planning process was first identified in the de Beers Sustainability Valuation Approach. The Social Value Capital Decision Model advanced by BHP represents an advance on the de Beers model. This is the first example of a structured methodology for systematically considering stakeholder values and incorporating these into the capital decision framework. To test the applicability of a new approach to mine design by using Quality Function Deployment (QFD), a case study involving a copper mine located in South America was developed. This case study demonstrates how QFD can provide clear line-of-sight to connect design decisions with priority stakeholder concerns. The framework provides a communications tool for aligning the ESG design process across functional silos within complex organizations. The development of appropriate software tools could assist in managing the inherent complexity associated with integrating stakeholder value concerns into early stage design decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart cities will be smart if they improve their citizens' quality of life; to do so, it is essential to listen to citizens and collaborate with service and technological companies. For that, digitalization seems essential. Environmental management systems are complex and expensive. If their lifecycle costs are reduced, these systems would be more sustainable. This can be achieved through citizen collaboration (CS), the use of low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and collaboration with local renewable energy businesses. All this leads to a real interoperability challenge. Systems engineering offers a valid framework for managing information and knowledge for environmental systems. It offers a range of guides for processes that can improve the quality of the related information and the reusability of knowledge throughout the lifecycles of these systems. After quantifying the opportunity and the cost for a motivational case of atmospheric neighborhood odor impact and introducing trends and opportunities in energy management, the authors propose a model for renewable energy-linked interoperable smart and sustainable urban environmental systems (re-ISSUES). The model's ontology is used to discover research trends and potential for improvements to the model itself, enabling semantic interoperability and knowledge reuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Coal Science & Technology (0253-2336) is the property of Coal Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)