Florina Piroi

Software module for switch electromechanics failure detection

We present in this work the use of the CONMac software, named so by authors, for the switch electromechanics failure diagnosis, when the failure cause is absence of electric control. The software is created in response to the need of quick and reliable methods for failure diagnosis as well as a way to safely operate remedies to the switch electromechanics. The software can be used by the traffic security maintenance staff of the Romanian Railroad Company (CFR). CONMac makes use of the diagnosis chart we created for handling such types of failures, a chart that shows the user questions and, according to the given answers, guiding her through finding the cause of the failure in loosing the electric control of the electromechanic switch. Absence of electric control to the switch electromechanics leads, every single time, to train delays, and, when operating rules are not respected for these failures, can lead to serious railway incidents. CONMac is an interactive software which allows a safe and quick failure detection from any Electrodynamic Centralized Traffic Control Station (CED), and can be used both as a PC application as well as on a mobile device.

ABS Failure Diagnosis Charts for a Blocked CL

The Automatic Block Signal installations (ABS) is a system of powering and receiving circuits that ensure train traffic command, control, and signals between two consecutive train stations. The circuits are usually electronically or electrodynamically synchronized. Because the distance between two stations is at least 4 kilometers, any failure to these installations cause long traffic delays, especially since the maintenance staff must travel on foot to the site of the failure. To fix failures in the operation of BLA installations it is required that the maintenance staff is well acquainted with the systems wiring diagrams and their interrelations. The complexity of the wiring diagrams poses some problems in failure fixes. To ease the decision taking process in failure detection we present here diagnosis charts that lead to a quick and correct remedy decision. The diagnosis charts presented here are to be applied for cases when the current line (CL) is signaled as being occupied by rolling stock, but is in reality empty.

PROMISE retreat report prospects and opportunities for information access evaluation

The PROMISE network of excellence organized a two-days brainstorming workshop on 30th and 31st May 2012 in Padua, Italy, to discuss and envisage future directions and perspectives for the evaluation of information access and retrieval systems in multiple languages and multiple media. This document reports on the outcomes of this event and provides details about the six envisaged research lines: search applications; contextual evaluation; challenges in test collection design and exploitation; component-based evaluation; ongoing evaluation; and signal-aware evaluation. The ultimate goal of the PROMISE retreat is to stimulate and involve the research community along these research lines and to provide funding agencies with effective and scientifically sound ideas for coordinating and supporting information access research.

Diagnosis Charts for Regular Inversion Failures of an Automatic Block Signal Installation

In train traffic, traffic security installations failure recovery is time consuming, causing time delays the the railroad traffic. Automatic Block Signal Installations (ABS) are on type of installations that ensure railroad traffic security. To decrease the failure diagnosis and remedy times for ABS Installations in cases where the installations do not regularly invert, we defined a set of diagnosis charts. Based on these charts we devised a diagnosis software tool, called INVBla, which can be used by the technical maintenance staff on both mobile devices (tablet, smart phone) and PCs. The use of the INVBla diagnosis tool is a fast and secure tool that assists the maintenance staff in determining the failures in ABS regular inversion, triggered by dispatch commands, for a unified ABS installation depending on an Electrodynamic Centralized Traffic Control Station of type 4 (CED-CR4).

An Information Retrieval Ontology for Information Retrieval Nanopublications

Retrieval experiments produce plenty of data, like various experiment settings and experimental results, that are usually not all included in the published articles. Even if they are mentioned, they are not easily machine-readable. We propose the use of IR nanopublications to describe in a formal language such information. Furthermore, to support the unambiguous description of IR domain aspects, we present a preliminary IR ontology. The use of the IR nanopublications will facilitate the assessment and comparison of IR systems and enhance the degree of reproducibility and reliability of IR research progress.

Automatic Block Signaling Installation Failure Diagnosis with LCOBla

We present in this paper a software module for the diagnosis of Automatic Bloc Signaling installation failures in situations where the train open line figures as blocked, although it is, in reality, free. The software module created by us, LCOBla, is designed for the use of maintenance staff specialized in Signals, Centralizations, Blocking (SCB) at the Romanian Railroad Company (CFR). LCOBla allows a quick and correct design of the failure causes associated with these kinds of signaling and contributes to the maintenance staff performance. Fast failure remedy improves train traffic flow and reduces train delay times. The LCOBla software module uses the diagnosis chart created for these kinds of failures, which, in turn, is based on the actual block schemes and on technical recommendations for these types of installations. The module is one of a series of modules designed to diagnose each failure type, for the various railway traffic safety installation types.

Patent images - a glass-encased tool: opening the case

The paper discusses the problem of patent image retrieval. It describes the issues faced when extracting semantic data of images in patents, as well as an integration framework between the data thus extracted and semantic information extracted from text. Combining the two sources of knowledge is on the wish list of many patent information users, as current systems either search only the textual data, or have extremely limited image processing functionality. In practice in the patent domain, depictions of the product or method are often vital to the understanding of the invention. Yet they are almost completely unsearchable. They are tools enclosed in a glass case, at which we can look, but of which we cannot really make use. The IMPEx Project (Image Mining for Patent Exploration) cracks open this case with a new focus on processing this particular type of images. This paper presents the motivations, status and aims of the project.

Fixed-Cost Pooling Strategies Based on IR Evaluation Measures

Recent studies have reconsidered the way we operationalise the pooling method, by considering the practical limitations often encountered by test collection builders. The biggest constraint is often the budget available for relevance assessments and the question is how best – in terms of the lowest pool bias – to select the documents to be assessed given a fixed budget. Here, we explore a series of 3 new pooling strategies introduced in this paper against 3 existing ones and a baseline. We show that there are significant differences depending on the evaluation measure ultimately used to assess the runs. We conclude that adaptive strategies are always best, but in their absence, for top-heavy evaluation measures we can continue to use the baseline, while for P@100 we should use any of the other non-adaptive strategies.

Effects of language and topic size in patent IR: an empirical study

We revisit the effects that various characteristics of the topic documents have on the effectiveness of the systems for the task of finding prior art in the patent domain. In doing so, we provide the reader interested in approaching the domain a guide of the issues that need to be addressed in this context. For the current study, we select two patent based test collections with a common document representation schema and look at topic characteristics specific to the objectives of the collections. We look at the effect of languages on retrieval and at the length of the topic documents. We present the correlations between these topic facets and their retrieval results, as well as their relevant documents.

Computerized diagnostic of the red and white entry lighting signal indications

This article presents a method for the computerized diagnosis of entry lighting signals in a CFR1 railway station. The railway station is controlled by a Electrodynamic Centralized type 4 block-and-interlocking installation. The work presented here deals with interrupted glowing wire signals of the red light and with the inability to command the call signal. The proposed method substantially shortens the diagnosis time and, therefore, shortens the delays in railroad traffic. The method is based on diagnosis charts which, in turn, are used to devise a specialized software, which allows fast and accurate detection of signal defects. The diagnosis software does not interfere with the traffic security, can be used in maintenance staff training sessions. The software runs on personal computers as well as on mobile devices.