Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 1Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 1Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

Currently, preferential packet handling in transport networks is based solely upon application-level Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. No preferential packet handling is based upon the importance of the information being carried by the network. In future transport networks, packet handling should provide preferential transport to important, high precedence traffic, specifically during cond...

Many simulation-based performance studies of interconnection networks are carried out using synthetic workloads under the assumption of independent traffic sources. We show that this assumption, although may be useful for some traffic patterns, can lead to deceptive performance results for loads beyond saturation. Network throughput varies so much amongst the network nodes that average throughp...

In this paper, we investigate the performance of wireless ad hoc networks with traffic loads beyond saturation. While it is desirable to operate a network below saturation, an ad hoc network should be designed to degrade its performance gracefully under severe loads. Using AODV (ad hoc on-demand distance vector) and 802.11 as example routing and MAC (Medium Access Control) level protocols, we s...

This paper introduces the pickup and delivery traveling salesman problem with handling costs (PDTSPH). In the PDTSPH, a single vehicle has to transport loads from origins to destinations. Loading and unloading of the vehicle is operated in a last-in-firstout (LIFO) fashion. However, if a load must be unloaded that was not loaded last, additional handling operations are allowed to unload and rel...

INTRODUCTION In occupational, military and recreational activities, loads are often carried in a backpack. Modern backpacks utilise a hip belt and shoulder straps to redistribute the load from the back to the large muscle groups surrounding the hips and legs in an attempt to protect the lower back from injury. However, by redistributing these loads the lower limbs are subjected to repetitive me...

America’s workforce is becoming more diverse. Generally, this diversity includes workers with different anthropometry (size, shape), capabilities, work experiences, and ethnicities. More importantly, the workforce is also aging and becoming heavier. However, the impact of aging and obesity is typically not considered in traditional ergonomic modeling. This paper explores the potential impact of...

Numerous literature reviews indicate a moderate to strong association between manual material handling (MMH) and back injury. A few biomechanical studies contrasted the work techniques of female and male workers during MMH. Recently, Plamondon et al. (2014) found that one important biomechanical variable that characterized experienced females relative to male experts, during lifting of 15-kg bo...