Reactions to disturbances in the context of antipredatory behaviour in a solitary subterranean rodent

We investigated reactions of free-living silvery mole-rats (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) to anthropogenic disturbances. Mole-rats detected soil vibrations caused by man carefully walking at a distance of up to 6 m (proved by radio-telemetry). Occasionally, mole-rats encountered outside a nest retreated there after this type of disturbance. After having their burrows broken into, the mole-rats retreated into deep tunnels, separating themselves from the rest of the burrows by soil plugs. Trapping success of silvery mole-rats using live traps for subterranean rodents was low, which contrasts with data so far published on social bathyergids. Antipredatory function of examined behaviours is discussed.     

Enabling flexibility on a dual head placement machine by optimizing platform-tray-feeder picking operations

The typical circuit card assembly line includes one or more dual head placement machines (DHPMs), which are capable of highly accurate placement and promise the flexibility to assemble a broad variety of circuit card types, each in minimal time. Each DHPM stages components for picking from feeder racks and platform tray feeders (PTFs), which are well suited for components that are large or odd-shaped, contributing to DHPM flexibility. The purpose of this paper is to present a model that can optimize operations that pick from a PTF and/or a feeder rack with the goal of enabling the flexibility needed to assemble a variety of circuit card types efficiently. The primary objective of this paper is a model to optimize operations that pick from a PTF and/or a feeder rack; a secondary objective is computational testing to evaluate the solvability of the model within reasonable run times.