Product involvement and consumer food-elicited emotional associations: Insights from emoji questionnaires.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaeger, Sara R; Lee, Pui-Yee; Ares, Gastón

2018-04-01

Individual differences in food-related consumer behaviour are well documented, but lack thorough exploration in relation to product-elicited emotional associations. In this research, focus is directed to product involvement as a factor that modulates emotional associations to tasted products (dried fruit, n = 4) and written descriptions of consumption situations (drinking red wine, cooking dinner using seafood). Emoji questionnaires were used (as check-all-that-apply questions: CATA), and across two studies with consumers in New Zealand (n = 352) and China (n = 450), higher levels of involvement were associated with more positive emotional associations. For example, consumers with higher involvement for dried fruit used emoji with positive meanings (e.g., face savouring delicious food (), smiling face with heart-shaped eyes () and smiling face with smiling eyes () more frequently than those with lower levels of involvement. Conversely, emoji with negative or neutral meanings (e.g., confused face (), confounded face (), neutral face ()), were more frequently used by consumers with lower levels of product involvement. The number of significant differences between the samples of dried fruit were lower in the less involved consumer segment, and these consumers, on average, used less emoji to characterise the samples. A similar pattern of results were established for the written stimuli, which were used with Chinese consumers. For example, in the segment with greater involvement with seafood, associations to emoji with positive meanings were higher when responding to the situation "cooking dinner using frozen seafood as one of the ingredients." In the case of "drinking French red wine," the strategy used to define segments (median vs. triadic split of summed involvement scores) additionally influenced the results, and bigger differences were established when comparing more discrete segments (two extreme groups following triadic split). Copyright © 2018

Effect of herd cues and product involvement on bidder online choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi-Fen; Wang, Ya-Ju

2010-08-01

Previous works have shown that consumers are influenced by others in decision making. Herd behavior is common in situations in which consumers infer product quality from other consumer choices and incorporate that information into their own decision making. This research presents two studies examining herd effect and the moderating role of product involvement on bidder choices in online auctions. The two studies addressed the influence on bidder online choices of herd cues frequently found in online auctions, including feedback ratings and number of questions and answers. The experimental results demonstrated that bidders use online herd cues when making decisions in online auctions. Additionally, the effects of herd cues on bidder online choices were stronger in high-involvement than low-involvement participants. Results and implications are discussed.

Attitudinal and behavioral response to coo cues for low involvement product

OpenAIRE

Khalique, Muhammad; Chan, Angelina Wan Sian; de Run, Ernest Cyril

2012-01-01

A considerable number of empirical studies on country-of-origin had indicated its influence on consumer product evaluation as well as purchase intention. Previous research also suggests the outcomes of country-of-origin effect differ by product type investigated in addition to countries selected for examination. The main crux of this study to explore the role that country-of-origin cue plays on Malaysian consumer’s product evaluation as well as purchase intention of a low involvement product ...

Torrefaction of agricultural by-products: Effects of temperature and time on energy yields

Science.gov (United States)

Agricultural by-products, such as apple, grape, olive, and tomato pomaces as well as almond and walnut shells, were torrefied at different temperatures and times. Torrefaction of biomass involves heating in an inert atmosphere to remove volatile components for improved grindability and increased ene...

The Effect of Religiosity on Product Involvement in a Muslim Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dursun Yener

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Religion has an important place in social life. It does not only affect the structure of society by shaping behavior and attitudes of people but also is affected from the social construct. Since religion has been perceived as a taboo subject, the number of researches about the relationship between religiosity and marketing are limited. Most of existing papers is relevant to Christianity and other religions. This study aims to present the effect of religiosity on product involvement using Allport’s intrinsic/extrinsic religious orientation scale (ROS in a Muslim sample. Three different product categories were selected (food, cosmetics and cleaning products to analyze. Sample size of the research is 282 people which were selected by convenience sampling method. In metho dology part, correlation and regression analyses and ANOVA and independent sample t-test were used. As a result, participants' level of involvement for each product group is differentiated according to their religiosity orientation. Since the scale was app lied on a Muslim sample in Turkey, the study is also important.

Real time production optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saputelli, Luigi; Otavio, Joao; Araujo, Turiassu; Escorcia, Alvaro [Halliburton, Houston, TX (United States). Landmark Division

2004-07-01

Production optimization encompasses various activities of measuring, analyzing, modeling, prioritizing and implementing actions to enhance productivity of a field. We present a state-of-the-art framework for optimizing production on a continuous basis as new sensor data is acquired in real time. Permanently acquired data is modeled and analyzed in order to create predictive models. A model based control strategy is used to regulate well and field instrumentation. The optimum field operating point, which changes with time, satisfies the maximum economic return. This work is a starting point for further development in automatic, intelligent reservoir technologies which get the most out of the abilities of permanent, instrumented wells and remotely activated downhole completions. The strategy, tested with history-matched data from a compartmentalised giant field, proved to reduce operating costs while increasing oil recovery by 27% in this field. (author)

Warped product space-times

Science.gov (United States)

An, Xinliang; Wong, Willie Wai Yeung

2018-01-01

Many classical results in relativity theory concerning spherically symmetric space-times have easy generalizations to warped product space-times, with a two-dimensional Lorentzian base and arbitrary dimensional Riemannian fibers. We first give a systematic presentation of the main geometric constructions, with emphasis on the Kodama vector field and the Hawking energy; the construction is signature independent. This leads to proofs of general Birkhoff-type theorems for warped product manifolds; our theorems in particular apply to situations where the warped product manifold is not necessarily Einstein, and thus can be applied to solutions with matter content in general relativity. Next we specialize to the Lorentzian case and study the propagation of null expansions under the assumption of the dominant energy condition. We prove several non-existence results relating to the Yamabe class of the fibers, in the spirit of the black-hole topology theorem of Hawking–Galloway–Schoen. Finally we discuss the effect of the warped product ansatz on matter models. In particular we construct several cosmological solutions to the Einstein–Euler equations whose spatial geometry is generally not isotropic.

Time-explicit methods for joint economical and geological risk mitigation in production optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Lasse Hjuler; Capolei, Andrea; Jørgensen, John Bagterp

2016-01-01

Real-life applications of production optimization face challenges of risks related to unpredictable fluctuations in oil prices and sparse geological data. Consequently, operating companies are reluctant to adopt model-based production optimization into their operations. Conventional production...... of mitigating economical and geological risks. As opposed to conventional strategies that focus on a single long-term objective, TE methods seek to reduce risks and promote returns over the entire reservoir life by optimization of a given ensemble-based geological risk measure over time. By explicit involvement...... of time, economical risks are implicitly addressed by balancing short-term and long-term objectives throughout the reservoir life. Open-loop simulations of a two-phase synthetic reservoir demonstrate that TE methods may significantly improve short-term risk measures such as expected return, standard...

Consumer involvement with products: comparison of PII and NIP scales in the Brazilian context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Manoel Cunha de Almeida

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims to evaluate the extent to which two scales of consumer involvement with products converge: PII (Personal Involvement Inventory, by Zaichkowsky (1994, and NIP (New Involvement Profile, by Jain and Srinivasan (1990. The literature review encompasses the main studies on measuring the involvement of consumers with products. Data was collected through a survey that was applied to a nonprobabilistic quota sample of undergraduate students from different institutions across the state of Rio de Janeiro. A total of 1,122 questionnaires were collected, of which 1,025 (91.4% were considered valid. In order to investigate the different levels of consumer involvement through different product categories, four products were used – sneakers, mobile phone, sports drinks and soft drinks. ANOVA and post hoc tests were used to verify the existence of significant difference on answers among product groups. This study’s substantive hypothesis, the degree of convergence between the classification results of the PII and NIP scales, was verified in two ways: through Spearman’s non-parametric correlation test and through the observation of the scales’ similar classification proportion rates. The scores’ independence was evaluated through the nonparametric Chi-Square test. Results show high classification convergence. The main contribution of this study is thus to empirically test the PII and NIP scales in the Brazilian context. Furthermore, the convergence of the scores of these scales suggests the possibility of comparing results of studies, using either scale.

CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT IN BUYING DECISIONS – THE EXAMPLE OF THREE FOOD PRODUCTS IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerko MARKOVINA

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of this research was to create an instrument suitable for the measurement of consumer involvement construct and to verify its metric characteristics. The involvement scale was tested on a sample of 283 consumers of wine, cheese and honey. The statistical analysis of results showed satisfactory validity and reliability of the instrument. High level of consumer involvement was found for wine and cheese, whereas consumer involvement for honey was somewhat lower. These results show that consumers, when buying wine, cheese and honey, do not make their buying decisions impulsively, but they search for the additional information about the products. The scale used in this article can also be used to measure involvement levels for different food and other products in the Croatian market.

Productivity improvement: Implementation and analysis of clustering technique in manufacturing of timing gearbox cover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satbir Singh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Productivity is an indicator of efficiency with which resources, both human and material, are transformed into useful services and goods. The vital purpose of the prevailing work was to analyze the factors involved in the improvement of productivity in all its types such as material, capital, labor, machine and total productivity at the plant. This was obtained by decreasing the manufacturing cost per component by reducing its cycle time and increasing the monthly production rate. The experimentation revealed that using proposed processes and improved tooling, monthly production rate has increased by 16.2% due to reduced cycle time, the number of defected components i.e. rejection rate has reduced up to 2%. A reduction of 6.78% in manufacturing cost per component was recorded. Tooling cost has reduced by more than 12%. Saving up to 50% in inspection cost has been recorded due to close dimensional tolerances and high surface finish achieved on components. An increase of 4.84% was recorded in total productivity.

Influence of dispatching rules on average production lead time for multi-stage production systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hübl, Alexander; Jodlbauer, Herbert; Altendorfer, Klaus

2013-08-01

In this paper the influence of different dispatching rules on the average production lead time is investigated. Two theorems based on covariance between processing time and production lead time are formulated and proved theoretically. Theorem 1 links the average production lead time to the "processing time weighted production lead time" for the multi-stage production systems analytically. The influence of different dispatching rules on average lead time, which is well known from simulation and empirical studies, can be proved theoretically in Theorem 2 for a single stage production system. A simulation study is conducted to gain more insight into the influence of dispatching rules on average production lead time in a multi-stage production system. We find that the "processing time weighted average production lead time" for a multi-stage production system is not invariant of the applied dispatching rule and can be used as a dispatching rule independent indicator for single-stage production systems.

Has patients' involvement in the decision-making process changed over time?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brink-Muinen, A. van den; Dulmen, A.M. van; Haes, H.C.J.M. de; Visser, A.P.; Schellevis, F.G.; Bensing, J.M.

2006-01-01

Objective: To get insight into the changes over time of patients' involvement in the decision-making process, and into the factors contributing to patients' involvement and general practitioners' (GPs) communication related to the Medical Treatment Act (MTA) Issues: information about treatment,

Has patients’ involvement in the decision-making process changed over time?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brink-Muinen, A. van den; Dulmen, S.M. van; Haes, H.C.J.M. de; Visser, A.P.; Schellevis, F.G.; Bensing, J.

2006-01-01

Objective To get insight into the changes over time of patients’ involvement in the decision-making process, and into the factors contributing to patients’ involvement and general practitioners’ (GPs) communication related to the Medical Treatment Act (MTA) issues: information about treatment,

Participatory methods for initiating manufacturing employees' involvement in product innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Anna Rose Vagn; Jensen, Christian Schou; Broberg, Ole

2016-01-01

approach that we apply to two case companies, this paper presents an empirical study of how to initiate involvement of manufacturing employees in R&D activities. We have used participatory methods from design thinking that has the ability to create relations between employees from different backgrounds......Employee-driven innovation has the potential to improve product innovation by involving employees as innovative resources. However, it can be a challenge to turn the potential into a reality of collaboration practices across organizational structures and culture. Through an interactive research...... and through a series of facilitated workshops we have investigated how these methods can initiate employee involvement. We see that participatory methods can improve understanding and relation between R&D and manufacturing departments, and thereby support a creative collaboration and emergence of employee...

Worker's perceptions of time, time-use-attitudes and productivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Ben-Baruch

1991-06-01

Full Text Available Decreasing productivity and increasing wage demands are singled out as being crucial problems facing the economy of South Africa. Changes in the time perceptions and time-use-attitudes of workers could play a decisive role in increasing productivity. The relationships between time perception, needs, motivation and productivity are analysed. Culture, tradition, economy, and environment lend a specific significance to these variables. Workers in a technological society should be guided to adapt to and live by the value system needed to uphold productivity. Opsomming Voortdurende afnemende produktiwiteit teenoor looneise wat styg, is een van die kritieke probleme waarmee die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie gekonfronteer word. Die verandering van werkers se tydpersepsie en verandering van houdinge teenoor die benutting van tyd kan deurslaggewend in die verhoging van produktiwiteit wees. In die lig hiervan is die verwantskap tussen tydpersepsie, behoeftes, motivering en prodrktiwiteit ondersoek. In die ontleding word aandag geskenk aan die invloed wat kultuur, tradisie, ekonomie en die omgewing op hierdie veranderlikes het. Opieiding in 'n tegnologiese samelewmg behoort daarop gerig te wees om 'n waardesisteem by werkers te laat ontwikkel wat produktiwiteit kan bevorder.

Understanding the benefits of product-service system for involved parties in remanufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Priyono, A.

2017-01-01

This study aims to analyse the benefit provided by interested parties in remanufacturing including manufacturing companies, original equipment manufacturers and customers. Existing studies examining Produc-Service System (PSS) focus on relationship between two parties, either between OEMs and customers or between remanufacturers with customers. This study attempts to fill the gap by investigating how the PSS offers benefit to OEMs, remanufacturers and customers. Methodology: This research used case study method to examine the practice of PSS in remanufacturing companies. Qualitative approach was employed to analyse emerging problems in the case companies and the researcher collaborate with the involved parties to create new knowledge. Thus, this process can offer theoretical insights as well as practical insights. Findings: All parties involved in PSS consistently gain benefit from adopting the practice. From the perspective of remanufacturers, the major benefit of remanufacturers adopting PSS is that it can help reduce the uncertainties regarding time, quantity and quality of returned cores. Due to reduced uncertainties, remanufacturers gain benefit from higher profitability and more environmental friendly products. These benefits provide multiplier effects to both customers and OEMs. Practical implications: This study offers benefits to managers in the sense that it provides guidance for managers of remanufacturers to better manage remanufacturing operation so that it becomes more environmentally friendly and economically profitable. Originality/value: It is the first time that the benefits of PSS to support remanufacturing are viewed from integrative perspective – i.e. manufacturers, remanufacturers, and customers.

Understanding the benefits of product-service system for involved parties in remanufacturing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Priyono, A.

2017-07-01

This study aims to analyse the benefit provided by interested parties in remanufacturing including manufacturing companies, original equipment manufacturers and customers. Existing studies examining Produc-Service System (PSS) focus on relationship between two parties, either between OEMs and customers or between remanufacturers with customers. This study attempts to fill the gap by investigating how the PSS offers benefit to OEMs, remanufacturers and customers. Methodology: This research used case study method to examine the practice of PSS in remanufacturing companies. Qualitative approach was employed to analyse emerging problems in the case companies and the researcher collaborate with the involved parties to create new knowledge. Thus, this process can offer theoretical insights as well as practical insights. Findings: All parties involved in PSS consistently gain benefit from adopting the practice. From the perspective of remanufacturers, the major benefit of remanufacturers adopting PSS is that it can help reduce the uncertainties regarding time, quantity and quality of returned cores. Due to reduced uncertainties, remanufacturers gain benefit from higher profitability and more environmental friendly products. These benefits provide multiplier effects to both customers and OEMs. Practical implications: This study offers benefits to managers in the sense that it provides guidance for managers of remanufacturers to better manage remanufacturing operation so that it becomes more environmentally friendly and economically profitable. Originality/value: It is the first time that the benefits of PSS to support remanufacturing are viewed from integrative perspective – i.e. manufacturers, remanufacturers, and customers.

Production Time Loss Reduction in Sauce Production Line by Lean Six Sigma Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ritprasertsri, Thitima; Chutima, Parames

2017-06-01

In all industries, time losses, which are incurred in processing are very important. As a result, losses are incurred in productivity and cost. This research aimed to reduce lost time that occurs in sauce production line by using the lean six sigma approach. The main objective was to reduce the time for heating sauce which causes a lot of time lost in the production line which affects productivity. The methodology was comprised of the five-phase improvement model of Six Sigma. This approach begins with defining phase, measuring phase, analysing phase, improving phase and controlling phase. Cause-and-effect matrix and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) were adopted to screen the factors which affect production time loss. The results showed that the percentage of lost time from heating sauce reduced by 47.76%. This increased productivity to meet the plan.

Managing Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: A Multiple-Case Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.E.A. van Echtelt (Ferrie); J.Y.F. Wynstra (Finn); A.J. van Weele (Arjan); G.M. Duysters (Geert)

2006-01-01

textabstractExisting studies of supplier involvement in new product development have mainly focused on project-related short-term processes and success-factors. This study validates and extends an existing exploratory framework, which comprises both long-term strategic processes and short-term

Managing supplier involvement in new product development : a multiple-case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Echtelt, van F.E.A.; Wynstra, J.Y.F.; Weele, van A.J.; Duysters, G.M.

2008-01-01

Existing studies of supplier involvement in new product development have mainly focused on project-related short-term processes and success factors. This study validates and extends an existing exploratory framework, which comprises both long-term strategic processes and short-term operational

Room for manoeuvre in time of the workforce in dairy production systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joel Carneiro dos Santos Filho

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to characterize and to analyze the room for manoeuvre in time in dairy production systems (DPS. Two interviews were conducted in twenty DPS in the Northern region of Paraná, Brazil, with the following objectives: to know the management and practices involving the herd, the land area and the commercialization; and to qualify and evaluate the work organization. In order to build the variables, the repertory grid method was used, and for the typology, the graphic methodology of Bertin adapted to small samples was used. The results showed that the room for manoeuvre in time of the DPS, quantified in hours available per year, varied between the farmers and was related to routine work and seasonal work durations, as well as the autonomy of farmers to perform both works. The routine work was related to the number of cows, but was also explained by the herd management, by the transport equipment for the feed and by the workforce composition. Four types of work organization were identified between sampled DPS, based on room for manoeuvre in time and how they were built. Knowing the room for manoeuvre time and its variables, it is possible to guide the farmers to adjust their dairy production system in order to have more time available for other activities or to develop the dairy production system.

Internal dosimetry from IPEN workers involved in the medical radioisotopes production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cesar, R.B.P.; Mesquita, C.H. de

1988-01-01

The internal dose from IPEN workers involved in the medical radioisotopes products is related. In the workers population, six groups were classified: development and research, routine production, quality control, package, radioprotection supervision and maintenance. The internal doses were calculated according to the methodology described by the ICRP-30, using resuls from a whole-body counter. The results described were obtained from 970 whole-body radioactivity measurements during the last three years (1985 a 1987). (author) [pt

Least-squares methods involving the H{sup -1} inner product

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pasciak, J.

1996-12-31

Least-squares methods are being shown to be an effective technique for the solution of elliptic boundary value problems. However, the methods differ depending on the norms in which they are formulated. For certain problems, it is much more natural to consider least-squares functionals involving the H{sup -1} norm. Such norms give rise to improved convergence estimates and better approximation to problems with low regularity solutions. In addition, fewer new variables need to be added and less stringent boundary conditions need to be imposed. In this talk, I will describe some recent developments involving least-squares methods utilizing the H{sup -1} inner product.

Means-End Chains for low involvement food products: A study of Danish consumers' cognitions regarding different applications of vegetable oil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Nielsen, Niels Asger; Grunert, Klaus G.

to the use of laddering with low involvement products (Durgee, 1986), the neglecting of the situational factor when doing laddering interviews (eg, Pieters, Steenkamp, & Wedel, 1992), and the lack of a from means-ends chains to constructs which ar e closer to the actual behaviour of consumers (Grunert......In recent years, means-end chains and the laddering technique as a way to measure them have become popular in consumer reserach. At the same time, however, a substantial amount of critique regarding the validity of the theory as well as the method been publsihed. Some of this critique relates...... & Gruenert, 1995). This paper reports on a study in which laddering was used to measure means-end chains for a low involvement product, explicitly controlling for situational factors. Also, a possible way of linking means-ends data to overall product percpetions is presented. The study is part of the Danish...

Heuristics for the Economic Production Quantity Problem under Restrictions on Production and Maintenance Time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Xu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an economic production quantity problem with the maximal production run time and minimal preventive maintenance time over a finite planning horizon. The objective is to find the efficient production and maintenance policy to minimize the total cost composed of production, maintenance, shortages, and holding costs under the restriction on the production run time and the preventive maintenance time. The production and maintenance decisions include the production and maintenance frequencies and the production run and the maintenance time. The variability and the boundedness of the production run and maintenance time make the problem difficult to solve. Two heuristic algorithms are developed using different techniques based on the optimal properties of the relaxed problem. The performance comparison between the two algorithms is illustrated by numerical examples. The numerical results show that, for the most part, there exists a heuristic algorithm which is more effective than the other.

Collaborative innovation: Internal and external involvement in new product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Timenes Laugen, Bjørge; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

2011-01-01

Industry and academia alike are increasingly becoming aware of the fact that innovation does not take place in isolated cells or functions within the firm. During the last the years the term open innovation has emphasized the importance of internal and external collaboration in order to increase...... strategic priorities influence the degree of external and internal involvement in the NPD process, moderated by contextual factors. Results based on analyses of 584 companies from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) 2005 indicate that suppliers are heavily involved in the NPD process...... in firms in B2C markets aiming at increasing the innovation volume. For B2B companies the reverse picture emerges. However, when the aim is to increase the radicality of new products, suppliers and customers are heavily involved for firms in B2B markets. Further, market uncertainty, and to some extent...

Modality effects in Second Life: the mediating role of social presence and the moderating role of product involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Seung-A Annie

2009-12-01

The rapid growth of virtual worlds is one of the most recent Internet trends. Some distinguishing features of virtual environments include the employment of avatars and multimodal communication among avatars. This study examined the effects of the modality (text vs. audio) of message presentation on people's evaluation of spokes-avatar credibility and the informational value of promotional messages in avatar-based advertising inside 3D virtual environments. An experiment was conducted in the virtual Apple retail store inside Second Life, the most popular and fastest growing virtual world. The author designed a two-group (textual advertisement vs. auditory advertisement) comparison experiment by manipulating the modality of conveying advertisement messages. The author also created a spokes-avatar that represents a real-life organization (Apple) and presents promotional messages about its innovative product, the iPhone. Data analyses showed that (a) textual modality (vs. auditory modality) resulted in greater source expertise, informational value of the advertisement message, and social presence; and that (b) high product involvement (vs. low product involvement) resulted in a more positive attitude toward the product, higher buying intention, and a higher level of perceived interactivity. In addition to the main effects of product involvement and modality, results showed significant interaction between involvement and modality. Modality effects were stronger for people with low product involvement than for those with high product involvement, thus confirming the moderating effects of product involvement. Results of a path analysis also showed that social presence mediated the effects of modality on the perceived informational value of the advertisement message.

New Product Development in an Emerging Economy: Analysing the Role of Supplier Involvement Practices by Using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanagi Kanapathy

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The research question is whether the positive relationship found between supplier involvement practices and new product development performances in developed economies also holds in emerging economies. The role of supplier involvement practices in new product development performance is yet to be substantially investigated in the emerging economies (other than China. This premise was examined by distributing a survey instrument (Jayaram’s (2008 published survey instrument that has been utilised in developed economies to Malaysian manufacturing companies. To gauge the relationship between the supplier involvement practices and new product development (NPD project performance of 146 companies, structural equation modelling was adopted. Our findings prove that supplier involvement practices have a significant positive impact on NPD project performance in an emerging economy with respect to quality objectives, design objectives, cost objectives, and “time-to-market” objectives. Further analysis using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, yielding a more credible and feasible differentiation, confirmed these results (even in the case of an emerging economy and indicated that these practices have a 28% impact on variance of NPD project performance. This considerable effect implies that supplier involvement is a must have, although further research is needed to identify the contingencies for its practices.

Understanding the benefits of product-service system for involved parties in remanufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anjar Priyono

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This study aims to analyse the benefit provided by interested parties in remanufacturing including manufacturing companies, original equipment manufacturers and customers. Existing studies examining Produc-Service System (PSS focus on relationship between two parties, either between OEMs and customers or between remanufacturers with customers. This study attempts to fill the gap by investigating how the PSS offers benefit to OEMs, remanufacturers and customers. Methodology: This research used case study method to examine the practice of PSS in remanufacturing companies. Qualitative approach was employed to analyse emerging problems in the case companies and the researcher collaborate with the involved parties to create new knowledge. Thus, this process can offer theoretical insights as well as practical insights. Findings: All parties involved in PSS consistently gain benefit from adopting the practice. From the perspective of remanufacturers, the major benefit of remanufacturers adopting PSS is that it can help reduce the uncertainties regarding time, quantity and quality of returned cores. Due to reduced uncertainties, remanufacturers gain benefit from higher profitability and more environmental friendly products. These benefits provide multiplier effects to both customers and OEMs. Practical implications: This study offers benefits to managers in the sense that it provides guidance for managers of remanufacturers to better manage remanufacturing operation so that it becomes more environmentally friendly and economically profitable. Originality/value: It is the first time that the benefits of PSS to support remanufacturing are viewed from integrative perspective – i.e. manufacturers, remanufacturers, and customers.

Technical investigation of a pyrophoric event involving corrosion products from HEU ZPPR fuel plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Totemeier, T. C.

2000-01-01

A pyrophoric event recently occurred which involved corrosion products collected from highly-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel plates used in the Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR). This paper summarizes the event and its background, and presents the results of an investigation into its source and mechanism. The investigation focused on characterization of corrosion product samples similar to those involved in the event using thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Burning curve TGA tests were performed to measure the ignition temperature and hydride fractions of corrosion products in several different conditions to assess the effects of passivation treatment and long-term storage on chemical reactivity. The hydride fraction and ignition temperature of the corrosion products were found to be strongly dependent on the corrosion extent of the source metal. The results indicate that the energy source for the event was a considerable quantity of uranium hydride present in the corrosion products, but the specific ignition mechanism could not be identified

Investigation of large α production in reactions involving weakly bound 7Li

Science.gov (United States)

Pandit, S. K.; Shrivastava, A.; Mahata, K.; Parkar, V. V.; Palit, R.; Keeley, N.; Rout, P. C.; Kumar, A.; Ramachandran, K.; Bhattacharyya, S.; Nanal, V.; Palshetkar, C. S.; Nag, T. N.; Gupta, Shilpi; Biswas, S.; Saha, S.; Sethi, J.; Singh, P.; Chatterjee, A.; Kailas, S.

2017-10-01

The origin of the large α -particle production cross sections in systems involving weakly bound 7Li projectiles has been investigated by measuring the cross sections of all possible fragment-capture as well as complete fusion using the particle-γ coincidence, in-beam, and off-beam γ -ray counting techniques for the 7Li+93Nb system at near Coulomb barrier energies. Almost all of the inclusive α -particle yield has been accounted for. While the t -capture mechanism is found to be dominant (˜70 % ), compound nuclear evaporation and breakup processes contribute ˜15 % each to the inclusive α -particle production in the measured energy range. Systematic behavior of the t capture and inclusive α cross sections for reactions involving 7Li over a wide mass range is also reported.

Humor and Comparatives in Ads for High- and Low-Involvement Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Bob T. W.; And Others

1989-01-01

Investigates the effectiveness of humor in advertising, comparative advertising, and consumer involvement with the product. Finds that humorous ads are more eye catching but less impressive and less sufficient in information than nonhumorous ads. Finds the performance of comparative ads is generally negative and especially so in the high…

Factors influencing first-time fathers' involvement in their wives' pregnancy and childbirth: A correlational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Weilin Lynn; He, Hong-Gu; Chua, Ying Jie; Wang, Wenru; Shorey, Shefaly

2018-03-20

To examine factors influencing first-time fathers' involvement in their wives' pregnancy and childbirth in Singapore. A cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was conducted in a public tertiary hospital in Singapore. A total of 182 first-time fathers whose wives were hospitalized at four obstetric wards were recruited from November 2015 to January 2016. Data were collected by three newly developed and validated instruments, namely Father's Involvement in Pregnancy and Childbirth, Father's Informational and Sources of Support, and Father's Attitude Towards Involvement in Pregnancy and Childbirth, as well as the 16-item Couple Satisfaction Index and Family of Origin Questionnaire. The participants were generally involved in their wives' pregnancy and childbirth, with 35.2% being highly involved. There was no significant difference in fathers' levels of involvement between or among any sociodemographic subgroups. Significant Spearman's correlations were found between fathers' levels of involvement and levels of informational support as well as fathers' attitudes towards involvement. However, the logistic regression showed the level of informational support was the only significant factor that influenced first-time fathers' high levels of involvement in their wives' pregnancy and childbirth. The study revealed the importance of providing sufficient informational support to first-time fathers so that they can be highly involved in their wife's pregnancy and childbirth. Future studies can develop technology-based intervention programmes to improve fathers' involvement in their wife's pregnancy and childbirth. Healthcare professionals should examine and improve the existing informational support for first-time fathers and ensure its relevance and convenient access. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient involvement in a scientific advisory process: setting the research agenda for medical products.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elberse, J.E.; Pittens, C.A.C.M.; de Cock Buning, J.T.; Broerse, J.E.W.

2012-01-01

Patient involvement in scientific advisory processes could lead to more societally relevant advice. This article describes a case study wherein the Health Council of the Netherlands involved patient groups in an advisory process with a predefined focus: setting a research agenda for medical products

Flexibility of production systems and prepare-finish time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukićević Milan R.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available One of the specificities of the large-serial and mass production is the almost neglected percentage of prepare-finish time in the production cycle. In the conditions of today dominant discontinuous production, it becomes a significant element of the production cycle. The eastern (Japan doctrine of increasing the flexibility of the production systems, is based inter alia also on the extreme reduction of the prepare-finish time. For this reason, the aim of this study was to identify the types and percentages of individual jobs within the group of prepare-finish jobs. The sample consisted of 3 (three production systems for the production of joinery, with the discontinuous production system. The research shows that the percentage of time of the jobs installation of work instruments, regulation of processing regime, and removal of work instruments is extremely long and that it ranges between 11.83% and 18.93% of the shift time. The reasons of the high percentage of these jobs are the wide range of products and the absence of the rationalisation of prepare-finish jobs. Within the efforts to minimize the effects of disruption and to increase the flexibility of the production systems, the rationalisation of prepare-finish jobs is the unavoidable condition.

Analysis of labor employment assessment on production machine to minimize time production

Science.gov (United States)

Hernawati, Tri; Suliawati; Sari Gumay, Vita

2018-03-01

Every company both in the field of service and manufacturing always trying to pass efficiency of it’s resource use. One resource that has an important role is labor. Labor has different efficiency levels for different jobs anyway. Problems related to the optimal allocation of labor that has different levels of efficiency for different jobs are called assignment problems, which is a special case of linear programming. In this research, Analysis of Labor Employment Assesment on Production Machine to Minimize Time Production, in PT PDM is done by using Hungarian algorithm. The aim of the research is to get the assignment of optimal labor on production machine to minimize time production. The results showed that the assignment of existing labor is not suitable because the time of completion of the assignment is longer than the assignment by using the Hungarian algorithm. By applying the Hungarian algorithm obtained time savings of 16%.

Certain fractional integral formulas involving the product of generalized Bessel functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Baleanu, D; Agarwal, P; Purohit, S D

2013-01-01

We apply generalized operators of fractional integration involving Appell's function F 3(·) due to Marichev-Saigo-Maeda, to the product of the generalized Bessel function of the first kind due to Baricz. The results are expressed in terms of the multivariable generalized Lauricella functions. Corresponding assertions in terms of Saigo, Erdélyi-Kober, Riemann-Liouville, and Weyl type of fractional integrals are also presented. Some interesting special cases of our two main results are presented. We also point out that the results presented here, being of general character, are easily reducible to yield many diverse new and known integral formulas involving simpler functions.

Certain Fractional Integral Formulas Involving the Product of Generalized Bessel Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Baleanu, D.; Agarwal, P.; Purohit, S. D.

2013-01-01

We apply generalized operators of fractional integration involving Appell's function F 3(·) due to Marichev-Saigo-Maeda, to the product of the generalized Bessel function of the first kind due to Baricz. The results are expressed in terms of the multivariable generalized Lauricella functions. Corresponding assertions in terms of Saigo, Erdélyi-Kober, Riemann-Liouville, and Weyl type of fractional integrals are also presented. Some interesting special cases of our two main results are presented. We also point out that the results presented here, being of general character, are easily reducible to yield many diverse new and known integral formulas involving simpler functions. PMID:24379745

The Involved Ostrich

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davies, Andrea; Dobscha, Susan; Geiger, Susi

2008-01-01

that the transition into parenthood can be difficult for men due to their lack of a physical connection to the pregnancy, a perception that the baby industry is not designed for them, the continuance of male stereotypes in the media, and also the time available to men to become involved in consumption activities......-natal data. Data revealed that men, according to their partner’s perceptions, used consumption as a virtual umbilical cord, although levels of consumption involvement varied from co-involvement for most purchases, to limited involvement, and/or involvement for ‘large’ items, particularly travel systems...... and technical items. This research also revealed that men partook in highly masculinized forms of “nesting,” and in general shunned pregnancy book reading; although some did engage in “research” activities such as searching the internet for product safety information. We conclude from this study...

29 CFR 570.64 - Occupations involved in the manufacture of brick, tile, and kindred products (Order 13).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Occupations involved in the manufacture of brick, tile, and... Detrimental to Their Health or Well-Being § 570.64 Occupations involved in the manufacture of brick, tile, and... term clay construction products shall mean the following clay products: Brick, hollow structural tile...

Workload assessment on foundry SME to enhance productivity using full time equivalent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sari Amarria Dila

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Aluminium SME aims to increase the production amount by producing wok as much as 300 Units. The problem is workload analysis of operator on the wok production line in the wok foundry SME as well as the production cycle-making cycle time and analyze the workload received by the operator when producing 300 woks using the full time equivalent (FTE method. This study aims to measure the workload of each division worker in the production process with a total of 13 workers observed. This study provides a work division recommendation based on the workload that has been carefully examined. This research involves percentage of workload effectiveness and the wages of workers. In lathe division have overload workload. While the printing division, melting inspection division, packaging and transportation division including normal workload category and the percentage of good work effectiveness. The result provides recommendations for the addition of 2 workers in each division that includes the category of overload of the lathe division with the number of initial workers as many as 13 workers to 15 workers. In the last stage perform a simulation by comparing the system of prefix work and proposal. The simulation results obtained with the initial work system to get an average of 223 woks / day. Meanwhile, for the proposed work system to get an average output of 291 woks.

GC of catalytic reactions products involved in the promising fuel synthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheivot, V.; Sazonova, N. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation). Boreskov Inst. of Catalysis

2012-09-15

Catalytic reactions involved in the synthesis of the promising kinds of novel fuel and products formed in these reactions were systematized according to the resulting fuel type. Generalization of the retention of the substances comprising these products is presented. Chromatograms exhibiting their separation on chromatographic materials with the surface of different chemical properties are summarized. We propose procedures for gas-chromatographic analysis of the catalytic reactions products formed in the synthesis of hydrogen, methanol, dimethyl ether and hydrocarbons as a new generation of fuel alternative to petroleum and coal. For partial oxidation of methane into synthesis gas, on-line determination of the components obtained in the reaction was carried out by gas chromatography and gas analyzer based on different physicochemical methods (IR spectroscopy and electrochemical methods). Similarity of the results obtained using these methods is demonstrated. (orig.)

Space-time dependence between energy sources and climate related energy production

Science.gov (United States)

Engeland, Kolbjorn; Borga, Marco; Creutin, Jean-Dominique; Ramos, Maria-Helena; Tøfte, Lena; Warland, Geir

2014-05-01

and solar power production and their co-fluctuation at small time scales. The multi-scale nature of the variability is less studied, i.e., the potential adverse or favorable co-fluctuation at intermediate time scales involving water scarcity or abundance, is less present in the literature.Our review points out that it could be especially interesting to promote research on how the pronounced large-scale fluctuations in inflow to hydropower (intra-annual run-off) and smaller scale fluctuations in wind- and solar-power interact in an energy system. There is a need to better represent the profound difference between wind-, solar- and hydro-energy sources. On the one hand, they are all directly linked to the 2-D horizontal dynamics of meteorology. On the other hand, the branching structure of hydrological systems transforms this variability and governs the complex combination of natural inflows and reservoir storage.Finally, we note that the CRE production is, in addition to weather, also influenced by the energy system and market, i.e., the energy transport and demand across scales as well as changes of market regulation. The CRE production system lies thus in this nexus between climate, energy systems and market regulations. The work presented is part of the FP7 project COMPLEX (Knowledge based climate mitigation systems for a low carbon economy; http://www.complex.ac.uk)

Production planning of a perishable product with lead time and non-stationary demand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pauls-Worm, K.G.J.; Haijema, R.; Hendrix, E.M.T.; Rossi, R.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.

2012-01-01

We study a production planning problem for a perishable product with a fixed lifetime, under a service-level constraint. The product has a non-stationary stochastic demand. Food supply chains of fresh products like cheese and several crop products, are characterised by long lead times due to

Metaproteomics and ultrastructure characterization of Komagataeibacter spp. involved in high-acid spirit vinegar production.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrés-Barrao, Cristina; Saad, Maged M; Cabello Ferrete, Elena; Bravo, Daniel; Chappuis, Marie-Luise; Ortega Pérez, Ruben; Junier, Pilar; Perret, Xavier; Barja, François

2016-05-01

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are widespread microorganisms in nature, extensively used in food industry to transform alcohols and sugar alcohols into their corresponding organic acids. Specialized strains are used in the production of vinegar through the oxidative transformation of ethanol into acetic acid. The main AAB involved in the production of high-acid vinegars using the submerged fermentation method belong to the genus Komagataeibacter, characterized by their higher ADH stability and activity, and higher acetic acid resistance (15-20%), compared to other AAB. In this work, the bacteria involved in the production of high-acid spirit vinegar through a spontaneous acetic acid fermentation process was studied. The analysis using a culture-independent approach revealed a homogeneous bacterial population involved in the process, identified as Komagataeibacter spp. Differentially expressed proteins during acetic acid fermentation were investigated by using 2D-DIGE and mass spectrometry. Most of these proteins were functionally related to stress response, the TCA cycle and different metabolic processes. In addition, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and specific staining of polysaccharide SDS-PAGE gels confirmed that Komagataeibacter spp. lacked the characteristic polysaccharide layer surrounding the outer membrane that has been previously reported to have an important role in acetic acid resistance in the genus Acetobacter. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

29 CFR 570.63 - Occupations involved in the operation of paper-products machines, scrap paper balers, and paper...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Occupations involved in the operation of paper-products machines, scrap paper balers, and paper box compactors (Order 12). 570.63 Section 570.63 Labor Regulations... involved in the operation of paper-products machines, scrap paper balers, and paper box compactors (Order...

A model of the supplier involvement in the product innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kumar Manoj

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we examine the product innovation in a supply chain by a supplier and derive a model for a supplier’s product innovation policy. The product innovation of a supplier can contribute to the long-term competitiveness for the supply chain, and as it is for many supply chains a major factor, it should be considered in the development of strategies for a supplier. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of supplier product innovation as a strategic tool to enhance the competitiveness and viability of supply chain. This paper explores the dynamic research performance of a supplier with endogenous time preference under a given arrangement of product innovation. We find that the optimal effort level and the achieved product innovation obey a saddle point path, or show tremendous fluctuations even without introducing the stochastic nature of product innovative activity. We also find that the fluctuation frequency is largely dependent both on the supplier’s characteristics such as supplier’s product innovative ability and on the nature of product innovation process per se. Short-run analyses are also made on the effect of supply chain cooperation in the product innovation process.

System-theoretic analysis of due-time performance in production systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Jacobs

1995-01-01

Full Text Available Along with the average production rate, the due-time performance is an important characteristic of manufacturing systems. Unlike the production rate, the due-time performance has received relatively little attention in the literature, especially in the context of large volume production. This paper is devoted to this topic. Specifically, the notion of due-time performance is formalized as the probability that the number of parts produced during the shipping period reaches the required shipment size. This performance index is analyzed for both lean and mass manufacturing environments. In particular, it is shown that, to achieve a high due-time performance in a lean environment, the production system should be scheduled for a sufficiently small fraction of its average production rate. In mass production, due-time performance arbitrarily close to one can be achieved for any scheduling practice, up to the average production rate.

Short time ahead wind power production forecast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sapronova, Alla; Meissner, Catherine; Mana, Matteo

2016-01-01

An accurate prediction of wind power output is crucial for efficient coordination of cooperative energy production from different sources. Long-time ahead prediction (from 6 to 24 hours) of wind power for onshore parks can be achieved by using a coupled model that would bridge the mesoscale weather prediction data and computational fluid dynamics. When a forecast for shorter time horizon (less than one hour ahead) is anticipated, an accuracy of a predictive model that utilizes hourly weather data is decreasing. That is because the higher frequency fluctuations of the wind speed are lost when data is averaged over an hour. Since the wind speed can vary up to 50% in magnitude over a period of 5 minutes, the higher frequency variations of wind speed and direction have to be taken into account for an accurate short-term ahead energy production forecast. In this work a new model for wind power production forecast 5- to 30-minutes ahead is presented. The model is based on machine learning techniques and categorization approach and using the historical park production time series and hourly numerical weather forecast. (paper)

Short time ahead wind power production forecast

Science.gov (United States)

Sapronova, Alla; Meissner, Catherine; Mana, Matteo

2016-09-01

An accurate prediction of wind power output is crucial for efficient coordination of cooperative energy production from different sources. Long-time ahead prediction (from 6 to 24 hours) of wind power for onshore parks can be achieved by using a coupled model that would bridge the mesoscale weather prediction data and computational fluid dynamics. When a forecast for shorter time horizon (less than one hour ahead) is anticipated, an accuracy of a predictive model that utilizes hourly weather data is decreasing. That is because the higher frequency fluctuations of the wind speed are lost when data is averaged over an hour. Since the wind speed can vary up to 50% in magnitude over a period of 5 minutes, the higher frequency variations of wind speed and direction have to be taken into account for an accurate short-term ahead energy production forecast. In this work a new model for wind power production forecast 5- to 30-minutes ahead is presented. The model is based on machine learning techniques and categorization approach and using the historical park production time series and hourly numerical weather forecast.

Reported implementation lessons from a national quality improvement initiative; Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™. A qualitative, ward-based team perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Mark; Butterworth, Tony; Wells, John S G

2017-10-01

To explore the experiences of participants involved in the implementation of the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™ initiative in Ireland, identifying key implementation lessons. A large-scale quality improvement programme Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™ was introduced nationwide into Ireland in 2011. We captured accounts from ward-based teams in an implementation phase during 2013-14 to explore their experiences. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 24 members of ward-based teams from nine sites involved in the second national phase of the initiative were conducted. Interviews were analysed and coded under themes, using a seven-stage iterative process. The predominant theme identified was associated with the implementation and management of the initiative and included: project management; training; preparation; information and communication; and participant's negative experiences. The most prominent challenge reported related to other competing clinical priorities. Despite the structured approach of Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™, it appears that overstretched and busy clinical environments struggle to provide the right climate and context for ward-based teams to engage and interact actively with quality improvement tools, methods and activities. Findings highlight five key aspects of implementation and management that will help facilitate successful adoption of large-scale, ward-based quality improvement programmes such as Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™. Utilising pre-existing implementation or quality frameworks to assess each ward/unit for 'readiness' prior to commencing a quality improvement intervention such as Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™ should be considered. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Attributes of low involvement products: A comparison of five elicitation techniques and a test of their nomological validity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Nielsen, Niels Asger; Grunert, Klaus G.

attributes, which are important to consumers, is the critical first step in the majority of consumer behavior studies. 2. A number of techniques, ranging from the complicated elicitation of idiosyncratic attributes, to simpler techniques, as picking from a pre-specified list of attributes, has been developed...... negatively to the abstraction level and the number of attributes involved in the choice task. 4. The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to: (a) compare different elicitation techniques on a number of different criteria, such as: importance to consumers, ability to discriminate between brands......, predictive ability, time use, and number of attributes elicited; and to (b) test the nomological validity of the basic assumptions regarding attributes and consumer choices for a low involvement product (veg oil). 5. The study presented is part of the project Rape seed oil for human consumption. Although...

Time Domain Partitioning of Electricity Production Cost Simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrows, C. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hummon, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jones, W. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hale, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-01-01

Production cost models are often used for planning by simulating power system operations over long time horizons. The simulation of a day-ahead energy market can take several weeks to compute. Tractability improvements are often made through model simplifications, such as: reductions in transmission modeling detail, relaxation of commitment variable integrality, reductions in cost modeling detail, etc. One common simplification is to partition the simulation horizon so that weekly or monthly horizons can be simulated in parallel. However, horizon partitions are often executed with overlap periods of arbitrary and sometimes zero length. We calculate the time domain persistence of historical unit commitment decisions to inform time domain partitioning of production cost models. The results are implemented using PLEXOS production cost modeling software in an HPC environment to improve the computation time of simulations while maintaining solution integrity.

Managing product complexity: It`s just a matter of time

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinckley, C.M.

1998-06-01

It has long been the goal of designers to identify a robust measure of product complexity to guide product decisions. Using Design for Assembly evaluations from over 225 assemblies and subassemblies, alternative measures of product complexity are identified and compared. Time is shown to be the most consistently predicted, useful, and fungible measure. The distribution of assembly times for a product can be modeled by Pareto`s law. This leads to a new, more effective product design guideline and a predictive tool that enables rapid and accurate prediction of assembly times for redesigned products without having to repeat DFMA analysis.

Growth with Time Zone Differences

OpenAIRE

Toru Kikuchi; Sugata Marjit

2010-01-01

We propose a two-country growth model of intermediate business-services trade that captures the role of time zone differences. It is shown that a time-saving improvement in intermediate business-services trade involving production in different time zones can have a permanent impact on productivity.

Developmental changes in brain activation involved in the production of novel speech sounds in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Hashizume, Hiroshi; Taki, Yasuyuki; Sassa, Yuko; Thyreau, Benjamin; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Nouchi, Rui; Kotozaki, Yuka; Jeong, Hyeonjeong; Sugiura, Motoaki; Kawashima, Ryuta

2014-08-01

Older children are more successful at producing unfamiliar, non-native speech sounds than younger children during the initial stages of learning. To reveal the neuronal underpinning of the age-related increase in the accuracy of non-native speech production, we examined the developmental changes in activation involved in the production of novel speech sounds using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Healthy right-handed children (aged 6-18 years) were scanned while performing an overt repetition task and a perceptual task involving aurally presented non-native and native syllables. Productions of non-native speech sounds were recorded and evaluated by native speakers. The mouth regions in the bilateral primary sensorimotor areas were activated more significantly during the repetition task relative to the perceptual task. The hemodynamic response in the left inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis (IFG pOp) specific to non-native speech sound production (defined by prior hypothesis) increased with age. Additionally, the accuracy of non-native speech sound production increased with age. These results provide the first evidence of developmental changes in the neural processes underlying the production of novel speech sounds. Our data further suggest that the recruitment of the left IFG pOp during the production of novel speech sounds was possibly enhanced due to the maturation of the neuronal circuits needed for speech motor planning. This, in turn, would lead to improvement in the ability to immediately imitate non-native speech. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Employee self-rated productivity and objective organizational production levels: effects of worksite health interventions involving reduced work hours and physical exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica; Hasson, Henna

2011-08-01

To investigate how worksite health interventions involving a 2.5-hour reduction of weekly working hours with (PE) or without (RWH) mandatory physical exercise affects productivity. Six workplaces in dental health care were matched and randomized to three conditions (PE, RWH and referents). Employees' (N = 177) self-rated productivity and the workplaces' production levels (number of patients) were examined longitudinally. Number of treated patients increased in all conditions during the intervention year. While RWH showed the largest increase in this measure, PE showed significant increases in self-rated productivity, that is, increased quantity of work and work-ability and decreased sickness absence. A reduction in work hours may be used for health promotion activities with sustained or improved production levels, suggesting an increased productivity since the same, or higher, production level can be achieved with lesser resources.

Production and Comprehension of Time Reference in Korean Nonfluent Aphasia

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jiyeon; Kwon, Miseon; Na, Hae Ri; Bastiaanse, Roelien; Thompson, Cynthia K.

2015-01-01

Objectives Individuals with nonfluent agrammatic aphasia show impaired production and comprehension of time reference via verbal morphology. However, cross-linguistic findings to date suggest inconsistent evidence as to whether tense processing in general is impaired or time reference to the past is selectively difficult in this population. This study examined production and comprehension of time reference via verb morphology in Korean-speaking individuals with nonfluent aphasia. Methods A group of 9 healthy controls and 8 individuals with nonfluent aphasia (5 for the production task) participated in the study. Sentence priming production and auditory sentence to picture matching tasks were used, parallel with the previous cross-linguistic experiments in English, Chinese, Turkish, and others. Results The participants with nonfluent aphasia showed different patterns of impairment in production and comprehension. In production, they were impaired in all time references with errors being dominated by substitution of incorrect time references and other morpho-phonologically well-formed errors, indicating a largely intact morphological affixation process. In comprehension, they showed selective impairment of the past, consistent with the cross-linguistic evidence from English, Chinese, Turkish, and others. Conclusion The findings suggest that interpretation of past time reference poses particular difficulty in nonfluent aphasia irrespective of typological characteristics of languages; however, in production, language-specific morpho-semantic functions of verbal morphology may play a significant role in selective breakdowns of time reference. PMID:26290861

Effects of deceptive packaging and product involvement on purchase intention: an elaboration likelihood model perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammers, H B

2000-04-01

From an Elaboration Likelihood Model perspective, it was hypothesized that postexposure awareness of deceptive packaging claims would have a greater negative effect on scores for purchase intention by consumers lowly involved rather than highly involved with a product (n = 40). Undergraduates who were classified as either highly or lowly (ns = 20 and 20) involved with M&Ms examined either a deceptive or non-deceptive package design for M&Ms candy and were subsequently informed of the deception employed in the packaging before finally rating their intention to purchase. As anticipated, highly deceived subjects who were low in involvement rated intention to purchase lower than their highly involved peers. Overall, the results attest to the robustness of the model and suggest that the model has implications beyond advertising effects and into packaging effects.

Being Involved in the Country: Productive Ageing in Different Types of Rural Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Sandra; Crothers, Natalie; Grant, Jeanette; Young, Sari; Smith, Karly

2012-01-01

Productive ageing recognises the contribution of older people to economic, social and cultural growth and helps build a sustainable community. Being involved in community life is good for individuals and good for society. However, we know very little about the participation of and contribution by people aged 50 and over in rural communities. This…

A stochastic surplus production model in continuous time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Martin Wæver; Berg, Casper Willestofte

2017-01-01

surplus production model in continuous time (SPiCT), which in addition to stock dynamics also models the dynamics of the fisheries. This enables error in the catch process to be reflected in the uncertainty of estimated model parameters and management quantities. Benefits of the continuous-time state......Surplus production modelling has a long history as a method for managing data-limited fish stocks. Recent advancements have cast surplus production models as state-space models that separate random variability of stock dynamics from error in observed indices of biomass. We present a stochastic......-space model formulation include the ability to provide estimates of exploitable biomass and fishing mortality at any point in time from data sampled at arbitrary and possibly irregular intervals. We show in a simulation that the ability to analyse subannual data can increase the effective sample size...

Understanding the differentiating impacts of the communication strategies of a high involvement service (investment advisory services) and a high involvement product (precious jewellery) on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

OpenAIRE

Gupta, Gauri

2009-01-01

While marketing literature has largely focused on high and low involvement purchases and the positive relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty; the differentiating impacts of communication strategies for a high involvement service and a high involvement product on customer satisfaction and loyalty has received little academic attention. Consequently, this study examines the differentiating impacts of the communication strategies for investment advisory services and precious jewe...

Time-ordered products and Schwinger functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckmann, J.P.; Epstein, H.

1979-01-01

It is shown that every system of time-ordered products for a local field theory determines a related system of Schwinger functions possessing an extended form of Osterwalder-Schrader positivity and that the converse is true provided certain growth conditions are satisfied. This is applied to the phi 3 4 theory and it is shown that the time-ordered functions and S-matrix elements admit the standard perturbation series as asymptotic expansions. (orig.) [de

System-theoretic analysis of due-time performance in production systems

OpenAIRE

Jacobs David; Meerkov Semyon M.

1995-01-01

Along with the average production rate, the due-time performance is an important characteristic of manufacturing systems. Unlike the production rate, the due-time performance has received relatively little attention in the literature, especially in the context of large volume production. This paper is devoted to this topic. Specifically, the notion of due-time performance is formalized as the probability that the number of parts produced during the shipping period reaches the required shipme...

THE EFFECT OF DISSOLVED WORKPLACE ROMANCES ON THE PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING AND PRODUCTIVITY OF THE EMPLOYEES INVOLVED

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verhoef, Hendrika

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on research that explored the effects of dissolved romances on the psychosocial functioning and productivity of the employees involved at an industrial clothing factory in Cape Town in 2012-2013. Also explored is the consequent need for appropriate intervention through the existing Employee Assistance Programme (EAP. A qualitative research approach is applied. The main conclusion confirms the overall negative effect of the breakdown of workplace romances on the psychosocial functioning and productivity of the employees involved in the workplace and gives an indication of how the EAP could most effectively respond to this phenomenon. Mediation as a possible strategy is recommended to deal with workplace romances.

Norm-times : a design for production time and variability reduction for Faes Cases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karandeinos, Georgios

2008-01-01

This project deals with the production process of Faes Cases business unit. This company is producing custom-made packaging and sells standard solutions with customized interior. During the last years, it was observed that the throughput time of the production is increasing and is hard to forecast

Influence of involvement and motivation to correction on product evaluation: Asymmetry for strong and weak brands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Styśko-Kunkowska Małgorzata A.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In previous research, studies on motivated correction in the evaluation of branded products are rare. This experimental study with 246 participants examined how the motivation to correct the impact of brand knowledge influences the product evaluation of actual strong and weak brands in low and high involvement situations. As predicted, asymmetry between the strong and weak brands was observed. After the induction of the motivation to correction, the smaller brand effect occurred only in the cases of low involvement and the weak (negative brand. The effect of motivated correction was smaller than the effect of high involvement; therefore, the overall results suggest that conscious explicit motivation to correction evokes correction only in cases of weak brands under certain circumstances. However, this impact is not as strong as the influence of high motivation or a strong brand, even though explicit instructions are given to avoid the negative influence of the brand.

"Everybody Gotta Have a Dream": Rap-centered Aspirations among Young Black Males Involved in Rap Music Production - A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, B Brian

Youth express diverse desires for their educational and occupational futures. Sometimes these aspirations are directed towards somewhat unconventional careers such as rapping and other types of involvement in rap music production. Although many studies have examined traditional educational and occupational aspirations, less is known about the factors that give rise to rap-centered aspirations and how individuals pursue them, particularly as they transition to early adulthood. Drawing on 54 semi- and unstructured interviews with 29 black young men involved in rap music production, I find that rap-centered aspirations are shaped by a range of factors, most notably feedback regarding one's rap skills, access to recording and production equipment, and the financial means to maintain involvement in rap music production while also ensuring personal and family economic stability. The young men in the study attached different meanings to their aspirations and sometimes recast their motivations for participating in rap music production in response to various social and economic factors.

THE EFFECT OF BRAND LOYALTY OF INVOLVEMENT TO PRODUCTS: THE SAMPLE OF MOBILE PHONE

OpenAIRE

Armagan, Ece; Akel, Gokhan

2017-01-01

Brands in a highly competitive environment is consideredas the main assets of businesses, businesses that create brand loyalty ensuresthat there is a long period of time. In order to ensure brand loyalty alsoconsumers’ involvement need to be investigated. Brand loyalty is also a greatbenefit in understanding consumers' level of involvement on the brand. Theproduct involvement required to understand consumer behavior is an importantfactor on brand loyalty. In this study, the effect of the...

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, BRAND IMAGE AND HIGH INVOLVEMENT PRODUCT TOWARDS CUSTOMER PURCHASE INTENTION: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF EAST MALAYSIAN CONSUMER

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Mohd Amirul Adenan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This research strives to understand East Malaysian consumers’ purchase intention when being exposed to the effects of brand image and country of origin (COO image in the case of high involvement pro­ducts. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 225 consumers in East Malaysia. The result of this study shows that East Malaysian consumers’ put a large importance on brand and country of origin image in high involvement products as they are more involved in information searching and decision ma­king when purchases these products. Implication and future research also discussed.

Neural correlates of time versus money in product evaluation

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Sebastian eLehmann

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The common saying time is money reflects the widespread belief in many people’s everyday life that time is valuable like money. Psychologically and neurophysiologically, however, these concepts seem to be quite different. This research replicates prior behavioral investigations by showing that merely mentioning time (compared to merely mentioning money leads participants to evaluate a product more positively. Beyond this finding, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI experiment provides novel insight into the neurophysiological underpinnings of this behavioral effect by showing that more positive product evaluations in the time primes (compared to money primes are preceded by increased activation in the insula. Our data, therefore, support the idea of a time mindset that is different from a money mindset. Studies on the functional neuroanatomy of the insula have implicated this brain area in distinct but related psychological phenomena such as urging, addiction, loss aversion, and love. These functions imply greater personal connection between the consumer and a target subject or object and, thus, help explain why time-primed consumers rate products more positively.

Real-Time Tropospheric Delay Estimation using IGS Products

Science.gov (United States)

Stürze, Andrea; Liu, Sha; Söhne, Wolfgang

2014-05-01

The Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) routinely provides zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) parameter for the assimilation in numerical weather models since more than 10 years. Up to now the results flowing into the EUREF Permanent Network (EPN) or E-GVAP (EUMETNET EIG GNSS water vapour programme) analysis are based on batch processing of GPS+GLONASS observations in differential network mode. For the recently started COST Action ES1206 about "Advanced Global Navigation Satellite Systems tropospheric products for monitoring severe weather events and climate" (GNSS4SWEC), however, rapid updates in the analysis of the atmospheric state for nowcasting applications require changing the processing strategy towards real-time. In the RTCM SC104 (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services, Special Committee 104) a format combining the advantages of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) is under development. The so-called State Space Representation approach is defining corrections, which will be transferred in real-time to the user e.g. via NTRIP (Network Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol). Meanwhile messages for precise orbits, satellite clocks and code biases compatible to the basic PPP mode using IGS products are defined. Consequently, the IGS Real-Time Service (RTS) was launched in 2013 in order to extend the well-known precise orbit and clock products by a real-time component. Further messages e.g. with respect to ionosphere or phase biases are foreseen. Depending on the level of refinement, so different accuracies up to the RTK level shall be reachable. In co-operation of BKG and the Technical University of Darmstadt the real-time software GEMon (GREF EUREF Monitoring) is under development. GEMon is able to process GPS and GLONASS observation and RTS product data streams in PPP mode. Furthermore, several state-of-the-art troposphere models, for example based on numerical weather prediction data, are implemented. Hence, it

Family involvement in timely detection of changes in health of nursing homes residents: A qualitative exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Catherine; Blighe, Alan; Froggatt, Katherine; McCormack, Brendan; Woodward-Carlton, Barbara; Young, John; Robinson, Louise; Downs, Murna

2018-01-01

To explore family perspectives on their involvement in the timely detection of changes in their relatives' health in UK nursing homes. Increasingly, policy attention is being paid to the need to reduce hospitalisations for conditions that, if detected and treated in time, could be managed in the community. We know that family continue to be involved in the care of their family members once they have moved into a nursing home. Little is known, however, about family involvement in the timely detection of changes in health in nursing home residents. Qualitative exploratory study with thematic analysis. A purposive sampling strategy was applied. Fourteen semi-structured one-to-one interviews with family members of people living in 13 different UK nursing homes. Data were collected from November 2015-March 2016. Families were involved in the timely detection of changes in health in three key ways: noticing signs of changes in health, informing care staff about what they noticed and educating care staff about their family members' changes in health. Families suggested they could be supported to detect timely changes in health by developing effective working practices with care staff. Families can provide a special contribution to the process of timely detection in nursing homes. Their involvement needs to be negotiated, better supported, as well as given more legitimacy and structure within the nursing home. Families could provide much needed support to nursing home nurses, care assistants and managers in timely detection of changes in health. This may be achieved through communication about their preferred involvement on a case-by-case basis as well as providing appropriate support or services. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Music and Sound Elements in Time Estimation and Production of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD

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Luiz Rogerio Jorgensen Carrer

2015-09-01

Full Text Available ADHD involves cognitive and behavioral aspects with impairments in many environments of children and their families’ lives. Music, with its playful, spontaneous, affective, motivational, temporal and rhythmic dimensions can be of great help for studying the aspects of time processing in ADHD. In this article we studied time processing with simple sounds and music in children with ADHD with the hypothesis that children with ADHD have a different performance when compared with children with normal development in tasks of time estimation and production. The main objective was to develop sound and musical tasks to evaluate and correlate the performance of children with ADHD, with and without methylphenidate, compared to a control group with typical development. The study involved 36 participants age 6 to 14 years, recruited at NANI-Unifesp/SP, sub-divided into three groups with 12 children in each. Data was collected through a musical keyboard using Logic Audio Software 9.0 on the computer that recorded the participant's performance in the tasks. Tasks were divided into sections: spontaneous time production, time estimation with simple sounds and time estimation with music. Results: 1. Performance of ADHD groups in temporal estimation of simple sounds in short time intervals (30 ms were statistically lower than control group (p<0,05; 2. In the task comparing musical excerpts of the same duration (7s, ADHD groups considered the tracks longer when the musical notes had longer durations, while in the control group, the duration was related to the density of musical notes in the track. The positive average performance observed in the three groups in most tasks perhaps indicates the possibility that music can, in some way, positively modulate the symptoms of inattention in ADHD.

Joint optimization of economic production quantity and preventive maintenance with considering multi-products and reserve time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Xuejuan; Wang, Binrong

2017-01-01

Purpose: We deal with the problem of the joint determination of optimal economic production quantity (EPQ) and optimal preventive maintenance (PM) for a system that can produce multiple products alternately. The objective is to find the optimal number of production cycles and the PM policy simultaneously by minimizing the cost model. Design/methodology/approach: Considering the products go through the system in a sequence and a complete run of all products forms a production cycle. In each cycle, beyond production time we also consider some reserve time for maintenance and setup, shortage and overproduction may occur. We study the integrated problem based on two PM policies, and explain the situation with the other PM policies. The delay – time concept is used to model PM decisions. Findings: Using the integrated EPQ and PM model, we can calculate the optimal production planning and PM schedule simultaneously, especially we consider multiple products in each production cycle, which is more practical and economic than previous works. Originality/value: In modern companies, the production planning and maintenance schedule share the same system, and traditional research about two activities is separated, that always generate conflicts, such as inadequate or excessive maintenance, and shortages, etc., so we develop the integrated EPQ and PM model to avoid these undesirable effects.

Joint optimization of economic production quantity and preventive maintenance with considering multi-products and reserve time

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Xuejuan; Wang, Binrong

2017-07-01

Purpose: We deal with the problem of the joint determination of optimal economic production quantity (EPQ) and optimal preventive maintenance (PM) for a system that can produce multiple products alternately. The objective is to find the optimal number of production cycles and the PM policy simultaneously by minimizing the cost model. Design/methodology/approach: Considering the products go through the system in a sequence and a complete run of all products forms a production cycle. In each cycle, beyond production time we also consider some reserve time for maintenance and setup, shortage and overproduction may occur. We study the integrated problem based on two PM policies, and explain the situation with the other PM policies. The delay – time concept is used to model PM decisions. Findings: Using the integrated EPQ and PM model, we can calculate the optimal production planning and PM schedule simultaneously, especially we consider multiple products in each production cycle, which is more practical and economic than previous works. Originality/value: In modern companies, the production planning and maintenance schedule share the same system, and traditional research about two activities is separated, that always generate conflicts, such as inadequate or excessive maintenance, and shortages, etc., so we develop the integrated EPQ and PM model to avoid these undesirable effects.

Public involvement in the priority setting activities of a wait time management initiative: a qualitative case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruni, Rebecca A; Laupacis, Andreas; Levinson, Wendy; Martin, Douglas K

2007-11-16

As no health system can afford to provide all possible services and treatments for the people it serves, each system must set priorities. Priority setting decision makers are increasingly involving the public in policy making. This study focuses on public engagement in a key priority setting context that plagues every health system around the world: wait list management. The purpose of this study is to describe and evaluate priority setting for the Ontario Wait Time Strategy, with special attention to public engagement. This study was conducted at the Ontario Wait Time Strategy in Ontario, Canada which is part of a Federal-Territorial-Provincial initiative to improve access and reduce wait times in five areas: cancer, cardiac, sight restoration, joint replacements, and diagnostic imaging. There were two sources of data: (1) over 25 documents (e.g. strategic planning reports, public updates), and (2) 28 one-on-one interviews with informants (e.g. OWTS participants, MOHLTC representatives, clinicians, patient advocates). Analysis used a modified thematic technique in three phases: open coding, axial coding, and evaluation. The Ontario Wait Time Strategy partially meets the four conditions of 'accountability for reasonableness'. The public was not directly involved in the priority setting activities of the Ontario Wait Time Strategy. Study participants identified both benefits (supporting the initiative, experts of the lived experience, a publicly funded system and sustainability of the healthcare system) and concerns (personal biases, lack of interest to be involved, time constraints, and level of technicality) for public involvement in the Ontario Wait Time Strategy. Additionally, the participants identified concern for the consequences (sustainability, cannibalism, and a class system) resulting from the Ontario Wait Times Strategy. We described and evaluated a wait time management initiative (the Ontario Wait Time Strategy) with special attention to public

Public involvement in the priority setting activities of a wait time management initiative: a qualitative case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laupacis Andreas

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As no health system can afford to provide all possible services and treatments for the people it serves, each system must set priorities. Priority setting decision makers are increasingly involving the public in policy making. This study focuses on public engagement in a key priority setting context that plagues every health system around the world: wait list management. The purpose of this study is to describe and evaluate priority setting for the Ontario Wait Time Strategy, with special attention to public engagement. Methods This study was conducted at the Ontario Wait Time Strategy in Ontario, Canada which is part of a Federal-Territorial-Provincial initiative to improve access and reduce wait times in five areas: cancer, cardiac, sight restoration, joint replacements, and diagnostic imaging. There were two sources of data: (1 over 25 documents (e.g. strategic planning reports, public updates, and (2 28 one-on-one interviews with informants (e.g. OWTS participants, MOHLTC representatives, clinicians, patient advocates. Analysis used a modified thematic technique in three phases: open coding, axial coding, and evaluation. Results The Ontario Wait Time Strategy partially meets the four conditions of 'accountability for reasonableness'. The public was not directly involved in the priority setting activities of the Ontario Wait Time Strategy. Study participants identified both benefits (supporting the initiative, experts of the lived experience, a publicly funded system and sustainability of the healthcare system and concerns (personal biases, lack of interest to be involved, time constraints, and level of technicality for public involvement in the Ontario Wait Time Strategy. Additionally, the participants identified concern for the consequences (sustainability, cannibalism, and a class system resulting from the Ontario Wait Times Strategy. Conclusion We described and evaluated a wait time management initiative (the Ontario

Exploring purchasing involvement in product development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wynstra, J.Y.F.; Weggeman, M.C.D.P.; Weele, van A.J.

2003-01-01

With increasing outsourcing and the growing importance of product innovation as a means for creating competitive advantage, the integration of purchasing and product development processes has become a key issue for many firms. Although, consequently, the integration of purchasing and suppliers in

Effects of Variable Production Rate and Time-Dependent Holding Cost for Complementary Products in Supply Chain Model

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Mitali Sarkar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, a major trend is going to redesign a production system by controlling or making variable the production rate within some fixed interval to maintain the optimal level. This strategy is more effective when the holding cost is time-dependent as it is interrelated with holding duration of products and rate of production. An effort is made to make a supply chain model (SCM to show the joint effect of variable production rate and time-varying holding cost for specific type of complementary products, where those products are made by two different manufacturers and a common retailer makes them bundle and sells bundles to end customers. Demand of each product is specified by stochastic reservation prices with a known potential market size. Those players of the SCM are considered with unequal power. Stackelberg game approach is employed to obtain global optimum solution of the model. An illustrative numerical example, graphical representation, and managerial insights are given to illustrate the model. Results prove that variable production rate and time-dependent holding cost save more than existing literature.

Influence of Employee Involvement in Total Productive Maintenance Practices on Job Characteristics: The Malaysian Scenario

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Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin

2005-09-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this study is to examine whether the extent of involvement in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM practices has a positive effect on job characteristics. Data was gathered from a sample of 184 respondents derived from manufacturing companies in Malaysia. Results from the regression analyses revealed that the extent of employee’s involvement in TPM practices is positively related to the five core job dimensions (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Study of relationship between time overrun and productivity on construction sites

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Ameh, Oko John

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The history of the construction industry worldwide is full of projects that were completed with significant time and cost overruns. In an attempt to reverse this trend, this study aims at establishing the relationship between time overrun and labour productivity on construction sites in Lagos, Nigeria. 43 technical and management staff of some medium and large construction firms based in Lagos, Nigeria were sampled and administered a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire contained 18 causes of project time overrun and 14 causes of low labour productivity which had been identified from the literature reviewed. With these a relationship between project time overrun and low labour productivity was established. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the data. Results indicate that inadequate funds for the project, inadequate planning before project takeoff, inadequate tools and equipment and delay in delivery of material top the list of major causes of time overrun while the use of wrong construction methods, inadequate construction materials and inaccurate drawing/specification are the key factors causing low labour productivity on construction sites. Significant negative relationship was found between time overrun and labour productivity in construction sites in Nigeria. The study concludes by recommending that early appointment of project managers could ensure proper management of both the human and material resources that could guarantee improved productivity and ultimately save projects from time overrun.

An economic production model for time dependent demand with rework and multiple production setups

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S.R. Singh

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a model for time dependent demand with multiple productions and rework setups. Production is demand dependent and greater than the demand rate. Production facility produces items in m production setups and one rework setup (m, 1 policy. The major reason of reverse logistic and green supply chain is rework, so it reduces the cost of production and other ecological problems. Most of the researchers developed a rework model without deteriorating items. A numerical example and sensitivity analysis is shown to describe the model.

Fluoroscopically guided transforaminal epidural steroid injections at a quaternary-care teaching institution: effect of trainee involvement and patient body mass index on fluoroscopy time and patient dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiegs-Heiden, C.A.; Murthy, N.S.; Geske, J.R.; Diehn, F.E.; Schueler, B.A.; Wald, J.T.; Kaufmann, T.J.; Lehman, V.T.; Carr, C.M.; Amrami, K.K.; Morris, J.M.; Thielen, K.R.; Maus, T.P.

2016-01-01

Aim: To investigate whether there are differences in fluoroscopy time and patient dose for fluoroscopically guided lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs) performed by staff radiologists versus with trainees and to evaluate the effect of patient body mass index (BMI) on fluoroscopy time and patient dose, including their interactions with other variables. Materials and methods: Single-level lumbar TFESIs (n=1844) between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2013 were reviewed. Fluoroscopy time, reference point air kerma (K_a_,_r), and kerma area product (KAP) were recorded. BMI and trainee involvement were examined as predictors of fluoroscopy time, K_a_,_r, and KAP in models adjusted for age and gender in multivariable linear models. Stratified models of BMI groups by trainee presence were performed. Results: Increased age was the only significant predictor of increased fluoroscopy time (p<0.0001). K_a_,_r and KAP were significantly higher in patients with a higher BMI (p<0.0001 and p=0.0009). When stratified by BMI, longer fluoroscopy time predicted increased K_a_,_r and KAP in all groups (p<0.0001). Trainee involvement was not a statistically significant predictor of fluoroscopy time or K_a_,_r in any BMI category. KAP was lower with trainees in the overweight group (p=0.0009) and higher in male patients for all BMI categories (p<0.02). Conclusion: Trainee involvement did not result in increased fluoroscopy time or patient dose. BMI did not affect fluoroscopy time; however, overweight and obese patients received significantly higher K_a_,_r and KAP. Male patients received a higher KAP in all BMI categories. Limiting fluoroscopy time and good collimation practices should be reinforced in these patients. - Highlights: • Trainee involvement did not contribute to increased fluoroscopy time or dose. • BMI did not affect fluoroscopy time. • Overweight and obese patients received significantly higher Ka,r and KAP.

A comparison of five elicitation techniques for elicitation of attributes of low involvement products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Nielsen, Niels Asger

1999-01-01

of dimensions directed from theories of consumer buying behaviour. Although a number of differences between the techniques are identified in the study, the main findings are that the robustness of the different techniques for attribute elicitation is considerable Udgivelsesdato: JUN......The critical first step for most instruments used in analysing consumer choice and motivation is the identification of product attributes which are important to the consumer and for which there are differences among the available product alternatives. A number of techniques, ranging from...... the complex elicitation of idiosyncratic attributes or simpler picking procedures, has been developed to elicitate such attributes. The purpose of the study presented here is to com-pare attributes of a low involvement product, viz. vegetable oil, elicited by five different techniques on a number...

ABC transporters from Aspergillus nidulans are involved in protection against cytotoxic agents and antibiotic production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andrade, A.C.; Nistelrooy, van J.G.M.; Peery, R.B.; Skatrud, P.L.; Waard, de M.A.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the characterization of atrC and atrD (ABC transporters C and D), two novel ABC transporter-encoding genes from the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, and provides evidence for the involvement of atrD in multidrug transport and antibiotic production. BLAST analysis of the

Evidence for the involvement of 5-lipoxygenase products in ethanol-induced intestinal plasma protein loss

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beck, I.T.; Boyd, A.J.; Dinda, P.K.

1988-01-01

In this study the authors investigated whether the products of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) were involved in the jejunal microvascular injury induced by intraluminal ethanol (ETH). A group of rabbits was given orally a selective inhibitor of 5-LO in two 10-mg doses, 24, and 2 h before the experiments. A jejunal segment was perfused with a control solution (control segment) and an adjacent segment with an ETH-containing solution (ETH-perfused segment). In a series of experiments, they measured 5-LO activity of the jejunal segments of both groups using the generation of leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4 ) as an index. In a second series of experiments, they determined the ETH-induced intraluminal protein loss, which was taken as a measure of mucosal microvascular damage. The ETH-induced increase in protein loss was significantly lower in the treated than in the untreated group. These findings suggest that products of 5-LO are involved in the ETH-induced jejunal microvascular injury

Real-Time Tropospheric Product Establishment and Accuracy Assessment in China

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, M.; Guo, J.; Wu, J.; Song, W.; Zhang, D.

2018-04-01

Tropospheric delay has always been an important issue in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) processing. Empirical tropospheric delay models are difficult to simulate complex and volatile atmospheric environments, resulting in poor accuracy of the empirical model and difficulty in meeting precise positioning demand. In recent years, some scholars proposed to establish real-time tropospheric product by using real-time or near-real-time GNSS observations in a small region, and achieved some good results. This paper uses real-time observing data of 210 Chinese national GNSS reference stations to estimate the tropospheric delay, and establishes ZWD grid model in the country wide. In order to analyze the influence of tropospheric grid product on wide-area real-time PPP, this paper compares the method of taking ZWD grid product as a constraint with the model correction method. The results show that the ZWD grid product estimated based on the national reference stations can improve PPP accuracy and convergence speed. The accuracy in the north (N), east (E) and up (U) direction increase by 31.8 %,15.6 % and 38.3 %, respectively. As with the convergence speed, the accuracy of U direction experiences the most improvement.

Accelerated stress testing in a time-driven product development process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, Y.; Loh, H.T.; Brombacher, A.C.; Ouden, den P.H.

2000-01-01

In order to compete in the market, companies have to produce the right products with a shorter time to market and at lower costs than before. Shorter time to market requires the product development process (PDP) to change the way of working from the classical ‘wait and react’ to anticipating and

The proteins of Fusobacterium spp. involved in hydrogen sulfide production from L-cysteine.

Science.gov (United States)

Basic, Amina; Blomqvist, Madeleine; Dahlén, Gunnar; Svensäter, Gunnel

2017-03-14

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is a toxic foul-smelling gas produced by subgingival biofilms in patients with periodontal disease and is suggested to be part of the pathogenesis of the disease. We studied the H 2 S-producing protein expression of bacterial strains associated with periodontal disease. Further, we examined the effect of a cysteine-rich growth environment on the synthesis of intracellular enzymes in F. nucleatum polymorphum ATCC 10953. The proteins were subjected to one-dimensional (1DE) and two-dimensional (2DE) gel electrophoresis An in-gel activity assay was used to detect the H 2 S-producing enzymes; Sulfide from H 2 S, produced by the enzymes in the gel, reacted with bismuth forming bismuth sulfide, illustrated as brown bands (1D) or spots (2D) in the gel. The discovered proteins were identified with liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Cysteine synthase and proteins involved in the production of the coenzyme pyridoxal 5'phosphate (that catalyzes the production of H 2 S) were frequently found among the discovered enzymes. Interestingly, a higher expression of H 2 S-producing enzymes was detected from bacteria incubated without cysteine prior to the experiment. Numerous enzymes, identified as cysteine synthase, were involved in the production of H 2 S from cysteine and the expression varied among Fusobacterium spp. and strains. No enzymes were detected with the in-gel activity assay among the other periodontitis-associated bacteria tested. The expression of the H 2 S-producing enzymes was dependent on environmental conditions such as cysteine concentration and pH but less dependent on the presence of serum and hemin.

Consumer perception of food products involving genetic modification: Results from a qualitative study in four Nordic countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus G.; Lähteenmäki, Liisa; Nielsen, Niels Asger

2000-01-01

1. The present study addresses consumer acceptance of food products involving the use of different applications of genetic modification in four Nordic countries. Three food products were used as examples: hard cheese, hard candy, and salmon. Three types of applications of genetic modification were...... in the final product has a clear impact on consumer acceptance. When the GM material is present and viable/able to function, acceptance is lowest. 5. The type of application of genetic modification has an impact on consumer acceptance as well, but it differs across products. Still, there is a clear tendency...

Transcriptome and Gene Ontology (GO) Enrichment Analysis Reveals Genes Involved in Biotin Metabolism That Affect L-Lysine Production in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hong-Il; Kim, Jong-Hyeon; Park, Young-Jin

2016-03-09

Corynebacterium glutamicum is widely used for amino acid production. In the present study, 543 genes showed a significant change in their mRNA expression levels in L-lysine-producing C. glutamicum ATCC21300 than that in the wild-type C. glutamicum ATCC13032. Among these 543 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 28 genes were up- or downregulated. In addition, 454 DEGs were functionally enriched and categorized based on BLAST sequence homologies and gene ontology (GO) annotations using the Blast2GO software. Interestingly, NCgl0071 (bioB, encoding biotin synthase) was expressed at levels ~20-fold higher in the L-lysine-producing ATCC21300 strain than that in the wild-type ATCC13032 strain. Five other genes involved in biotin metabolism or transport--NCgl2515 (bioA, encoding adenosylmethionine-8-amino-7-oxononanoate aminotransferase), NCgl2516 (bioD, encoding dithiobiotin synthetase), NCgl1883, NCgl1884, and NCgl1885--were also expressed at significantly higher levels in the L-lysine-producing ATCC21300 strain than that in the wild-type ATCC13032 strain, which we determined using both next-generation RNA sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. When we disrupted the bioB gene in C. glutamicum ATCC21300, L-lysine production decreased by approximately 76%, and the three genes involved in biotin transport (NCgl1883, NCgl1884, and NCgl1885) were significantly downregulated. These results will be helpful to improve our understanding of C. glutamicum for industrial amino acid production.

Productivity analysis to overcome the limited availability of production time in SME FBS

Science.gov (United States)

Nurhasanah, N.; Jingga; Aribowo, B.; Gayatri, AM; Mardhika, DA; Tanjung, WN; Suri, QA; Safitri, R.; Supriyanto, A.

2017-12-01

Good industrial development should pay attention to the human factor as the main driver. Condition of work procedures, work area, and environment can affect the production result because if not optimal, the production will run slowly. If the work system is less than optimal, the productivity will do so, the operator will work uncomfortably and be easy to undergo work fatigue, even it can cause work accidents. Thus, the optimal and ergonomic arrangement of the the overall work system mechanism and work environment design is required for workers to work well, regularly, safely and comfortably with the aim of improving work productivity. This research measures the performance in textile SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) located in Sukabumi which is SME FBS which produces children’s clothing. This performance measurement is aimed at improving the competitiveness of the textile IKM so that it has the equal competitiveness with other SMEs or with textile industries that already have their name in market. Based on the method of hour standard time and TOC calculation at 2 FBS CMT (Cut-Make-Trim) in Sukabumi, which are the CMT Margaluyu Village and CMT Purabaya Village, the result is that the standard time of shirt work on CMT Margaluyu Village is less than that of CMT Desa Purabaya. It can be seen that more effective in SME FBS production is by process method.

Goods-Time Elasticity of Substitution in Health Production.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Juan; Yagihashi, Takeshi

2017-11-01

We examine how inputs for health production, in particular, medical care and health-enhancing time, are combined to improve health. The estimated elasticity of substitution from a constant elasticity of substitution production function is significantly less than one for the working-age population, rejecting the unit elasticity of substitution used in previous studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The YJR127C/ZMS1 gene product is involved in glycerol-based respiratory growth of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Lin; Roberts, George G; Oszust, Cynthia; Hudson, Alan P

2005-10-01

A putative yeast mitochondrial upstream activating sequence (UAS) was used in a one-hybrid screening procedure that identified the YJR127C ORF on chromosome X. This gene was previously designated ZMS1 and is listed as a transcription factor on the SGD website. Real time RT-PCR assays showed that expression of YJR127C/ZMS1 was glucose-repressible, and a deletion mutant for the gene showed a growth defect on glycerol-based but not on glucose- or ethanol-based medium. Real time RT-PCR analyses identified severely attenuated transcript levels from GUT1 and GUT2 to be the source of that growth defect, the products of GUT1 and GUT2 are required for glycerol utilization. mRNA levels from a large group of mitochondria- and respiration-related nuclear genes also were shown to be attenuated in the deletion mutant. Importantly, transcript levels from the mitochondrial OLI1 gene, which has an associated organellar UAS, were attenuated in the DeltaYJR127C mutant during glycerol-based growth, but those from COX3 (OXI2), which lacks an associated mitochondrial UAS, were not. Transcriptome analysis of the glycerol-grown deletion mutant showed that genes in several metabolic and other categories are affected by loss of this gene product, including protein transport, signal transduction, and others. Thus, the product of YJR127C/ZMS1 is involved in transcriptional control for genes in both cellular genetic compartments, many of which specify products required for glycerol-based growth, respiration, and other functions.

Analysis of the enzyme network involved in cattle milk production using graph theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Sholeh; Tahmoorespur, Mojtaba; Masoudi Nejad, Ali; Nasiri, Mohammad; Asgari, Yazdan

2015-06-01

Understanding cattle metabolism and its relationship with milk products is important in bovine breeding. A systemic view could lead to consequences that will result in a better understanding of existing concepts. Topological indices and quantitative characterizations mostly result from the application of graph theory on biological data. In the present work, the enzyme network involved in cattle milk production was reconstructed and analyzed based on available bovine genome information using several public datasets (NCBI, Uniprot, KEGG, and Brenda). The reconstructed network consisted of 3605 reactions named by KEGG compound numbers and 646 enzymes that catalyzed the corresponding reactions. The characteristics of the directed and undirected network were analyzed using Graph Theory. The mean path length was calculated to be4.39 and 5.41 for directed and undirected networks, respectively. The top 11 hub enzymes whose abnormality could harm bovine health and reduce milk production were determined. Therefore, the aim of constructing the enzyme centric network was twofold; first to find out whether such network followed the same properties of other biological networks, and second, to find the key enzymes. The results of the present study can improve our understanding of milk production in cattle. Also, analysis of the enzyme network can help improve the modeling and simulation of biological systems and help design desired phenotypes to increase milk production quality or quantity.

Shift level analysis of cable yarder availability, utilization, and productive time

Science.gov (United States)

James R. Sherar; Chris B. LeDoux

1989-01-01

Decision makers, loggers, managers, and planners need to understand and have methods for estimating utilization and productive time of cable logging systems. In making an accurate prediction of how much area and volume a machine will log per unit time and the associated cable yarding costs, a reliable estimate of the availability, utilization, and productive time of...

Study on the Control Strategy of Shifting Time Involving Multigroup Clutches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Zhu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the control strategy of shifting time involving multigroup clutches for a hydromechanical continuously variable transmission (HMCVT. The dynamic analyses of mathematical models are presented in this paper, and the simulation models are used to study the control strategy of HMCVT. Simulations are performed in Simulation X platform to investigate the shifting time of clutches under different operating conditions. On this basis, simulation analysis and test verification of two typical conditions, which play the decisive roles for the shifting quality, are carried out. The results show that there are differences in the shifting time of the two typical conditions. In the shifting process from the negative transmission of hydromechanical ranges to the positive transmission of hydromechanical ranges, the control strategy based on the shifting time is switching the clutches of shifting mechanism firstly and then disengaging a group of clutches of planetary gear mechanism and engaging another group of the clutches of planetary gear mechanism lastly. In the shifting process from the hydraulic range to the hydromechanical range, the control strategy based on the shifting time is switching the clutches of hydraulic shifting mechanism and planetary gear mechanism at first and then engaging the clutch of shifting mechanism.

Relevance and feasibility of women's involvement in promoting sustainable food production and security in Southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Never Assan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Harnessing women’s potential for food production and security has been a challenge in Southern Africa. The face of food production in Southern Africa is often female, but more often than not, their roles are generally undervalued and constrained by gender inequalities and limitations on their access to resources, services, and market opportunities. This chapter explores how women involvement in food production can have a positive impact on food security in Southern Africa. The gender aspect of food security assume significance, as it is widely recognized that women are the custodian of food production in many communities in Southern Africa. There is a tendency of men and women participating unevenly in food production, have unequal access to productive resources and exhibit different levels of engagement in rural, urban and home-based food production. Despite this anomaly, there is still a common understanding that food production needs to be increased in order to cope with the increased human population and achieving food security in the region. With this in mind, food production and security have emerged as key development targets in Southern Africa. This has propelled the urgent need for promoting food production, reducing food insecurity and poverty reduction in its totality. One of the factors contributing to perpetual low food production and insecurity has been gender discrimination and/or lack of participation of women in agricultural programs and projects. In this chapter there is an attempt to describe the impact of gender-based discrimination on food production and its implication on food security. The indispensable role and challenges faced by women in food production are highlighted. The need to invest in education and training of women to support food production systems in order to accrue maximum benefit is acknowledged. In this regard, it is imperative that planning and implementation of any food production programs focusing on

Cortisol production patterns in young children living with birth parents vs children placed in foster care following involvement of Child Protective Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Kristin; Butzin-Dozier, Zachary; Rittenhouse, Joseph; Dozier, Mary

2010-05-01

To examine differences in waking to bedtime cortisol production between children who remained with birth parents vs children placed in foster care following involvement of Child Protective Services (CPS). Between-subject comparison of cortisol patterns among 2 groups of children. Children referred from the child welfare system. Three hundred thirty-nine children aged 2.9 to 31.4 months who were living with birth parents (n = 155) or placed in foster care (n = 184) following CPS involvement as well as 96 unmatched children from low-risk environments. Main Exposures Involvement by CPS and foster care. Main Outcome Measure Salivary cortisol samples obtained at waking and bedtime for children on 2 days. Child Protective Services-involved children who continued to live with birth parents and CPS-involved children placed in foster care differed in cortisol production, with children living with their birth parents showing flatter slopes in waking to bedtime values. Continuing to live with birth parents following involvement of CPS is associated with greater perturbation to the diurnal pattern of cortisol production than living with foster parents. Foster care may have a regulating influence on children's cortisol among children who have experienced maltreatment.

Exploring Mediating and Moderating Influences on the Links between Cycle Time, Proficiency in Entry Timing and New Product Profitability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Langerak, F.; Hultink, E.J.; Griffin, A.

2006-01-01

Development cycle time is the elapsed time from the beginning of idea generation to the moment that the new product is ready for market introduction. Market entry timing is contingent upon the new product’s cycle time. Only when the product is completed can a firm decide whether and when to enter

Analytical model for advective-dispersive transport involving flexible boundary inputs, initial distributions and zero-order productions

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jui-Sheng; Li, Loretta Y.; Lai, Keng-Hsin; Liang, Ching-Ping

2017-11-01

A novel solution method is presented which leads to an analytical model for the advective-dispersive transport in a semi-infinite domain involving a wide spectrum of boundary inputs, initial distributions, and zero-order productions. The novel solution method applies the Laplace transform in combination with the generalized integral transform technique (GITT) to obtain the generalized analytical solution. Based on this generalized analytical expression, we derive a comprehensive set of special-case solutions for some time-dependent boundary distributions and zero-order productions, described by the Dirac delta, constant, Heaviside, exponentially-decaying, or periodically sinusoidal functions as well as some position-dependent initial conditions and zero-order productions specified by the Dirac delta, constant, Heaviside, or exponentially-decaying functions. The developed solutions are tested against an analytical solution from the literature. The excellent agreement between the analytical solutions confirms that the new model can serve as an effective tool for investigating transport behaviors under different scenarios. Several examples of applications, are given to explore transport behaviors which are rarely noted in the literature. The results show that the concentration waves resulting from the periodically sinusoidal input are sensitive to dispersion coefficient. The implication of this new finding is that a tracer test with a periodic input may provide additional information when for identifying the dispersion coefficients. Moreover, the solution strategy presented in this study can be extended to derive analytical models for handling more complicated problems of solute transport in multi-dimensional media subjected to sequential decay chain reactions, for which analytical solutions are not currently available.

Multilevel Production Systems with Dependent Demand with Uncertainty of Lead Times

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haibatolah Sadeghi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study considers a multilevel assembly system with several components in each sublevel. It is assumed that actual lead time for all components is probabilistic; and periodic order quantity (POQ policy for ordering is utilized. If at a certain level a job is not received at the expected time, a delay is incurred at the delivery of production at this level and this may result in backorders of the finished product. It is assumed in this case that a fixed percentage of the shortage is backlogged and other sales are lost. In the real situation, some but not all customers will wait for backlogged components during a period of shortage, such as for fashionable commodities or high-tech products with the short product life cycle. The objective of this study is to find the planned lead time and periodicity for the total components in order to minimize the expected fixed ordering, holding, and partial backlogging costs for the finished product. In this study, it is assumed that a percentage of components at each level are scrap. A general mathematical model is suggested and the method developed can be used for optimization planned lead time and periodicity for such an MRP system under lead time uncertainties.

Consumer Attitudes Toward Advertisement and Brand, Based on the Number of Endorsers and Product Involvement: An Experimental Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanti Handriana

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Utilizing endorsers in the advertising industry to promote products is currently on the rise, and employing celebrities as the endorsers is still the marketers’ favorite method. This study aims to analyze the influence of the number of endorsers and the product’s involvement on the consumers’ attitude towards the advertisement and the brand. The research’s approach used a 2x2 factorial experimental design. A total of 120 undergraduate students, who were further divided into 4 groups, were selected as the respondents of this study. The results show the differences in consumer attitudes towards advertisements and the brand, based on the number of endorsers and the product’s involvement. The study also reveals that if there is low involvement with the product, multiple celebrity endorsements will generate a better consumers’ attitude towards it than a single celebrity endorsement. Multiple celebrity endorsements will also generate a better attitude among the consumers towards the brand than a single celebrity endorsement will produce.

ASPECTS REGARDING THE SETTING OF TIME STANDARDS FOR THE PRODUCTION AND SEWING OPERATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SECAN Cristina

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the technological process of manufacture of a shoe for women in IL system in order to establish the time and the production norm in the processing-sewing procedure. The sequence of operations is presented in a case study that analyzed how can be obtained the upper assembly of a footwear product that later becomes integral part into the finished product. Drawing up the technological process is done considering both the manual operations and the manual-mechanical operations for processing and assembling the parts that make the whole upper assembly by gluing the parts, by seaming and securing the joints. The type of equipment chosen to carry out operations is influencing through its productivity the necessary material calculated and hence the labour force required. The amount of time consists of time needed for preparation-finishing time, operative time, time of working place service and time of regulated interruptions. These periods of times were determined basically by timing assistance of the manufacturing process throughout its development. Production norm is calculated on the basis of the standard time, taking into account that it represents the amount of products manufactured in a work shift In order to improve the process by reducing the time of production and the number of workers engaged we are considering the automation of the manufacturing process by using modern methods using laser cutting or cutting under running water, automatic sewing machines, strip conveyor belts with pace imposed etc.

Asthmatic airway smooth muscle CXCL10 production: mitogen-activated protein kinase JNK involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Alrashdan, Yazan A.; Alkhouri, Hatem; Chen, Emily; Lalor, Daniel J.; Poniris, Maree; Henness, Sheridan; Brightling, Christopher E.; Burgess, Janette K.; Armour, Carol L.; Ammit, Alaina J.

2012-01-01

CXCL10 (IP10) is involved in mast cell migration to airway smooth muscle (ASM) bundles in asthma. We aimed to investigate the role of cytokine-induced MAPK activation in CXCL10 production by ASM cells from people with and without asthma. Confluent growth-arrested ASM cells were treated with inhibitors of the MAPKs ERK, p38, and JNK and transcription factor NF-κB, or vehicle, and stimulated with IL-1β, TNF-α, or IFN-γ, alone or combined (cytomix). CXCL10 mRNA and protein, JNK, NF-κB p65 phosphorylation, and Iκ-Bα protein degradation were assessed using real-time PCR, ELISA, and immunoblotting, respectively. Cytomix, IL-1β, and TNF-α induced CXCL10 mRNA expression more rapidly in asthmatic than nonasthmatic ASM cells. IL-1β and/or TNF-α combined with IFN-γ synergistically increased asthmatic ASM cell CXCL10 release. Inhibitor effects were similar in asthmatic and nonasthmatic cells, but cytomix-induced release was least affected, with only JNK and NF-κB inhibitors halving it. Notably, JNK phosphorylation was markedly less in asthmatic compared with nonasthmatic cells. However, in both, the JNK inhibitor SP600125 reduced JNK phosphorylation and CXCL10 mRNA levels but did not affect CXCL10 mRNA stability or Iκ-Bα degradation. Together, the JNK and NF-κB inhibitors completely inhibited their CXCL10 release. We concluded that, in asthmatic compared with nonasthmatic ASM cells, JNK activation was reduced and CXCL10 gene expression was more rapid following cytomix stimulation. However, in both, JNK activation did not regulate early events leading to NF-κB activation. Thus JNK and NF-κB provide independent therapeutic targets for limiting CXCL10 production and mast cell migration to the ASM in asthma. PMID:22387292

Means-end chains for low involvement products: A study of Danish consumers' cognitions regarding different applications of vegetable oil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Nielsen, Niels Asger; Grunert, Klaus G.

value maps', which are normally used for analysing laddering data, have been criticised for being questionable representations of raw data. 3. This paper reports on a study in which laddering was used to measure means-end chains for a low involvement product (vegetable oil), explicitly controlling....... 2. Some of the critique relates to the use of laddering with low involvement products, neglect of the situational factor when making laddering interviews, and the lack of a link from means-ends chains to constructs which are closer to the actual behaviour of consumers. Furthermore 'hierarchical...... for the situation. Also, a possible way of linking means-ends data to overall product perceptions and alternat the 'hierarchical value map' analysis are presented. 4. The study presented is part of the Danish research project Rape seed oil for human consumption. Although modern Danish rape seed oil has nutritional...

Use of dwell time concept in fission product inventory assessment for CANDU reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, C.J.; Choi, J.H.; Hwang, H.R.; Seo, J.T.

2003-01-01

A realistic approach in calculating the initial fission product inventory within the CANFLEX-NU fuel has been assessed for its applicability to the single channel event safety analysis for CANDU reactors. This approach is based on the dwell time concept in which the accident is assumed to occur at the dwell time when the summation of fission product inventory for all isotopes becomes largest. However, in the current conservative analysis, the maximum total inventory and the corresponding gap inventory for each isotope are used as the initial fission product inventories regardless of the accident initiation time. The fission product inventory analysis has been performed using ELESTRES code considering power histories and burnup of the fuel bundles in the limiting channel. The analysis results showed that the total fission product inventory is found to be largest at 20% dwell time. Therefore, the fission product inventory at 20% dwell time can be used as the initial condition for the single channel event for the CANDU 6 reactors. (author)

Empirical testing of forecast update procedure forseasonal products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wong, Chee Yew; Johansen, John

2008-01-01

Updating of forecasts is essential for successful collaborative forecasting, especially for seasonal products. This paper discusses the results of a theoretical simulation and an empirical test of a proposed time-series forecast updating procedure. It involves a two-stage longitudinal case study...... of a toy supply chain. The theoretical simulation involves historical weekly consumer demand data for 122 toy products. The empirical test is then carried out in real-time with 291 toy products. The results show that the proposed forecast updating procedure: 1) reduced forecast errors of the annual...... provided less forecast accuracy improvement and it needed a longer time to achieve relatively acceptable forecast uncertainty....

Producing complex spoken numerals for time and space

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meeuwissen, M.H.W.

2004-01-01

This thesis addressed the spoken production of complex numerals for time and space. The production of complex numerical expressions like those involved in telling time (e.g., 'quarter to four') or producing house numbers (e.g., 'two hundred forty-five') has been almost completely ignored. Yet, adult

The peak of oil production-Timings and market recognition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almeida, Pedro de; Silva, Pedro D.

2009-01-01

Energy is essential for present societies. In particular, transportation systems depend on petroleum-based fuels. That world oil production is set to pass a peak is now a reasonably accepted concept, although its date is far from consensual. In this work, we analyze the true expectations of the oil market participants about the future availability of this fundamental energy source. We study the evolution through time of the curves of crude oil futures prices, and we conclude that the market participants, among them the crude oil producers, already expect a near-term peak of oil production. This agrees with many technical predictions for the date of peak production, including our own, that point to peak dates around the end of the present decade. If this scenario is confirmed, it can cause serious social and economical problems because societies will have little time to perform the necessary adjustments

Harbor porpoise clicks do not have conditionally minimum time bandwidth product

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beedholm, Kristian

2008-01-01

The hypothesis that odontocete clicks have minimal time frequency product given their delay and center frequency values is tested by using an in-phase averaged porpoise click compared with a pure tone weighted with the same envelope. These signals have the same delay and the same center frequency...... values but the time bandwidth product of the artificial click is only 0.76 that of the original. Therefore signals with the same parameters exist that have a lower time bandwidth product. The observation that porpoise clicks are in fact minimum phase is confirmed for porpoise clicks and this property...... is argued to be incompatible with optimal reception, if auditory filters are also minimum phase....

Time series analysis of gold production in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Muda, Nora; Hoon, Lee Yuen

2012-05-01

Gold is a soft, malleable, bright yellow metallic element and unaffected by air or most reagents. It is highly valued as an asset or investment commodity and is extensively used in jewellery, industrial application, dentistry and medical applications. In Malaysia, gold mining is limited in several areas such as Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor and Sarawak. The main purpose of this case study is to obtain a suitable model for the production of gold in Malaysia. The model can also be used to predict the data of Malaysia's gold production in the future. Box-Jenkins time series method was used to perform time series analysis with the following steps: identification, estimation, diagnostic checking and forecasting. In addition, the accuracy of prediction is tested using mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). From the analysis, the ARIMA (3,1,1) model was found to be the best fitted model with MAPE equals to 3.704%, indicating the prediction is very accurate. Hence, this model can be used for forecasting. This study is expected to help the private and public sectors to understand the gold production scenario and later plan the gold mining activities in Malaysia.

Productivity for librarians how to get more done in less time

CERN Document Server

Hines, Samantha

2010-01-01

Productivity for Librarians provides tips and tools for organizing, prioritizing and managing time along with reducing stress. The book presents a resources guide for continued learning about and exploration of productivity in relation to individual circumstances featuring motivation, procrastination and time management guidelines. Addressing the unique challenges faced by librarians, the author supplies a balanced view of a variety of tools and techniques for dealing with overwork and stress.there are many books on productivity, but none specifically targeted at library workers. We face uniqu

Effects of oncoming target velocities on rapid force production and accuracy of force production intensity and timing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Yoichi

2017-12-01

The present study aimed to clarify the effects of oncoming target velocities on the ability of rapid force production and accuracy and variability of simultaneous control of both force production intensity and timing. Twenty male participants (age: 21.0 ± 1.4 years) performed rapid gripping with a handgrip dynamometer to coincide with the arrival of an oncoming target by using a horizontal electronic trackway. The oncoming target velocities were 4, 8, and 12 m · s -1 , which were randomly produced. The grip force required was 30% of the maximal voluntary contraction. Although the peak force (Pf) and rate of force development (RFD) increased with increasing target velocity, the value of the RFD to Pf ratio was constant across the 3 target velocities. The accuracy of both force production intensity and timing decreased at higher target velocities. Moreover, the intrapersonal variability in temporal parameters was lower in the fast target velocity condition, but constant variability in 3 target velocities was observed in force intensity parameters. These results suggest that oncoming target velocity does not intrinsically affect the ability for rapid force production. However, the oncoming target velocity affects accuracy and variability of force production intensity and timing during rapid force production.

Consumer perceptions of food products involving genetic modification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus G.; Lähteenmäki, L.; Nielsen, Niels Asger

2001-01-01

Product descriptions of cheese, candy and salmon products were presented to samples of respondents in four Nordic countries. The descriptions represented various applications of genetic modification (GM), varied along a "distance" dimension and a "what is modified" dimension, and were presented...... along with a conventionally produced product. Respondents ranked the products according to preference, and their perceptions were ascertained by the laddering method. Results indicate that respondents regard "non-GM" as a value in itself, and associate the use of GM with a host of negative consequences...... were product specific....

The Impacts of Country-of-origin, Product Involvement, and Product Familiarity on Product Evaluation

OpenAIRE

Nugroho, Sahid Susilo; Rostiani, Rokhima; Gitosudarmo, Indriyo

2014-01-01

One of the most interesting phenomena in global business is the existence of a product’scountry-of-origin (COO). COO as an informational cue has been proven to affect consumer’spurchasing decisions in terms of their perception towards the product’s attributes as well astheir overall evaluation of the product. The objective of this study is to investigate the impacts ofcountry-of-origin on product evaluation in the Indonesian market by considering consumers’product familiarity and consumers’ p...

A continuous-time control model on production planning network ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A continuous-time control model on production planning network. DEA Omorogbe, MIU Okunsebor. Abstract. In this paper, we give a slightly detailed review of Graves and Hollywood model on constant inventory tactical planning model for a job shop. The limitations of this model are pointed out and a continuous time ...

Essential time management how to become more productive and effective

CERN Document Server

Hilder, Brett

2011-01-01

Time is a resource like any other. Using your time effectively can transform your personal productivity and determine your level of success. Moreover, it can change your level of job satisfaction and confidence.

Assessment of Multiple GNSS Real-Time SSR Products from Different Analysis Centers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiyu Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The real-time State Space Representation (SSR product of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System orbit and clock is one of the most essential corrections for real-time precise point positioning (PPP. In this work, the performance of current SSR products from eight analysis centers were assessed by comparing it with the final product and the accuracy of real-time PPP. Numerical results showed that (1 the accuracies of the GPS SSR product were better than 8 cm for the satellite orbit and 0.3 ns for the satellite clock; (2 the accuracies of the GLONASS (GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema SSR product were better than 10 cm for orbit RMS (Root Mean Square and 0.6 ns for clock STD (Standard Deviation; and (3 the accuracies of the BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and Galileo SSR products from CLK93 were about 14.54 and 4.42 cm for the orbit RMS and 0.32 and 0.18 ns for the clock STD, respectively. The simulated kinematic PPP results obtained using the SSR products from CLK93 and CLK51 performed better than those using other SSR products; and the accuracy of PPP based on all products was better than 6 and 10 cm in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. The real-time kinematic PPP experiment carried out in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang, China indicated that the SSR product CLK93 from Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES had a better performance than CAS01. Moreover, the PPP with GPS + BDS dual systems had a higher accuracy than those with only a GPS single system.

Discrete-Time Filter Synthesis using Product of Gegenbauer Polynomials

OpenAIRE

N. Stojanovic; N. Stamenkovic; I. Krstic

2016-01-01

A new approximation to design continuoustime and discrete-time low-pass filters, presented in this paper, based on the product of Gegenbauer polynomials, provides the ability of more flexible adjustment of passband and stopband responses. The design is achieved taking into account a prescribed specification, leading to a better trade-off among the magnitude and group delay responses. Many well-known continuous-time and discrete-time transitional filter based on the classical polynomial approx...

Effect of Retention Time on Biogas Production from Poultry ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A study was carried out on different retention times in the anaerobic fermentation of slurry from poultry droppings and cassava peels. The system adopted in this work was batch-type. Daily gas production fell slightly from 130 to 32 litres as retention time was increased from 10 to 40 days for poultry droppings. For cassava ...

Highly reconfigurable production systems controlled by real-time agents

OpenAIRE

Schütz, D.;Schraufstetter, M.;Folmer, J.;Vogel-Heuser, B.;Gmeiner, T.;Shea, K.

2017-01-01

Flexible plant components can significantly increase the flexibility of manufacturing systems and enable concepts like mass-customized production. This paper presents an approach for production planning and execution for flexible manufacturing system components, based on software agents. The agents are implemented directly on a PLC, making them capable of real-time operation. Additionally, a service-interface contributes to the vertical integration of the approach into the higher level planni...

INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES USED BY EPA, SCDHEC, AND DOE TO INCREASE STAKEHOLDER AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE CLEANUP OF NUCLEAR PRODUCTION FACILITIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mccollum, L

2007-01-01

This paper will describe the importance of public and stakeholder involvement to the decisions being made at Savannah River Site (SRS) regarding the cleanup of major production facilities. For over a decade the Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) have operated under a three party agreement (known as the Federal Facilities Agreement or FFA) to clean up the SRS from the remnants of the Cold War plutonium production at SRS. During this time, the 3 agencies have consulted with the surrounding and impacted public to gain stakeholder input on the decisions concerning the clean up of various wastes at the SRS. The primary instrument of public input has been and remains the SRS Community Advisory Board (CAB). Much progress has been made over the years in cleaning up the SRS and the CAB has provided invaluable stakeholder input. Many planned decisions have been modified and changed as a result of the input of the CAB. Recently, DOE has decided to move forward with the Decommissioning of excess facilities at the SRS. These facilities include many buildings involved in the various missions of radioactive isotope production at the SRS, including the reactors and the plutonium processing facilities. The discussions of the 3 agencies on how to best accomplish this work have always included discussions about how to best involve and receive input from all stakeholders. The innovative way the 3 agencies have worked together through the public involvement format has application nationally and DOE-Complex wide. The decisions made will impact the surrounding community and the country for years. Multiple meetings with the CAB and other stakeholders will be required and it will be incumbent on the 3 agencies to reach out to and involve all interested parties. At least 3 different approaches could be used for stakeholder involvement. (1) a typical CERCLA ''proposed plan

The time of day effects of warm temperature on flowering time involve PIF4 and PIF5

Science.gov (United States)

Thines, Bryan C.; Duarte, Maritza I.; Harmon, Frank G.

2014-01-01

Warm temperature promotes flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana and this response involves multiple signalling pathways. To understand the temporal dynamics of temperature perception, tests were carried out to determine if there was a daily window of enhanced sensitivity to warm temperature (28 °C). Warm temperature applied during daytime, night-time, or continuously elicited earlier flowering, but the effects of each treatment were unequal. Plants exposed to warm night (WN) conditions flowered nearly as early as those in constant warm (CW) conditions, while treatment with warm days (WD) caused later flowering than either WN or CW. Flowering in each condition relied to varying degrees on the activity of CO , FT , PIF4 , and PIF5 , as well as the action of unknown genes. The combination of signalling pathways involved in flowering depended on the time of the temperature cue. WN treatments caused a significant advance in the rhythmic expression waveform of CO, which correlated with pronounced up-regulation of FT expression, while WD caused limited changes in CO expression and no stimulation of FT expression. WN- and WD-induced flowering was partially CO independent and, unexpectedly, dependent on PIF4 and PIF5 . pif4-2, pif5-3, and pif4-2 pif5-3 mutants had delayed flowering under all three warm conditions. The double mutant was also late flowering in control conditions. In addition, WN conditions alone imposed selective changes to PIF4 and PIF5 expression. Thus, the PIF4 and PIF5 transcription factors promote flowering by at least two means: inducing FT expression in WN and acting outside of FT by an unknown mechanism in WD. PMID:24574484

On a higher order multi-term time-fractional partial differential equation involving Caputo-Fabrizio derivative

OpenAIRE

Pirnapasov, Sardor; Karimov, Erkinjon

2017-01-01

In the present work we discuss higher order multi-term partial differential equation (PDE) with the Caputo-Fabrizio fractional derivative in time. We investigate a boundary value problem for fractional heat equation involving higher order Caputo-Fabrizio derivatives in time-variable. Using method of separation of variables and integration by parts, we reduce fractional order PDE to the integer order. We represent explicit solution of formulated problem in particular case by Fourier series.

Using time management to achieve balance.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, R E

1998-01-01

A recent MGMA survey showed work-life balance as the number one issue facing group practice managers. This article explains techniques from the field of time management that will enable group practice managers to gain control of their schedules, reduce time pressures and stress and increase productivity. The article covers: goal setting, daily lists, handling paperwork, delegating and limiting involvement, socializing, communicating, overachieving, planning, writing, telephone calling, attending meetings, reading, financial planning, developing a philosophy, involving family, evaluating skills and teaching time management to employees.

A Review of Just-In-Time Scheduling for Production and Logistics

OpenAIRE

田村, 隆善

1999-01-01

The Just-In-Time (JIT) production has been developed as a subsystem of the "whole" Toyota production system (TPS). Currently JIT or JIT production means the TPS especially in foreign countries. It is recognized that JIT is a key concept for enterprises competing in the diversified-products market. The technologies used in JIT are comprehensive and include technologies to design, install and control a production system, which are classified into three categories : hardware, information and sof...

OPTIMIZATION OF TIMES AND COSTS OF PROJECT OF HORIZONTAL LAMINATOR PRODUCTION USING PERT/CPM TECHNICAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Henrique Lermen

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The PERT/CPM is a technique widely used in both the scheduling and in the project feasibility in terms of cost control and time.  In order to optimize time and costs involved in production, the work presented here aims to apply the PERT/CPM technique in the production project of the Horizontal Laminator, a machine used to cut polyurethane foam blocks in the mattresses industries. For the application of PERT/CPM technique in the project of Horizontal Laminator production were identified the activities that compose the project, the dependence between them, the normal and accelerated durations and the normal and accelerated costs. In this study, deterministic estimates for the duration of the activities were considered. The results show that the project can be completed in 520 hours at a total cost of R$7,042.50, when all activities are performed in their normal durations.  When all the activities that compose the critical path are accelerated, the project can be completed in 333.3 hours at a total cost of R$9,263.01. If the activities slacks have been exploited, it can obtain a final total cost of R$6,157.8, without changing the new duration of the project. It is noteworthy that the final total cost of the project if the slacks are used, will be lower than the initial cost. Regarding the initial cost of the project, after the application of the PERT/CPM technique, it presents a decrease of 12.56% of the total project cost.

Involvement of DNA polymerase δ in DNA repair synthesis in human fibroblasts at late times after ultraviolet irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dresler, S.L.; Gowans, B.J.; Robinson-Hill, R.M.; Hunting, D.J.

1988-01-01

DNA repair synthesis following UV irradiation of confluent human fibroblasts has a biphasic time course with an early phase of rapid nucleotide incorporation and a late phase of much slower nucleotide incorporation. The biphasic nature of this curve suggests that two distinct DNA repair systems may be operative. Previous studies have specifically implicated DNA polymerase δ as the enzyme involved in DNA repair synthesis occurring immediately after UV damage. In this paper, the authors describe studies of DNA polymerase involvement in DNA repair synthesis in confluent human fibroblasts at late times after UV irradiation. Late UV-induced DNA repair synthesis in both intact and permeable cells was found to be inhibited by aphidicolin, indicating the involvement of one of the aphidicolin-sensitive DNA polymerases, α or δ. In permeable cells, the process was further analyzed by using the nucleotide analogue (butylphenyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-triphosphate, which inhibits DNA polymerase α several hundred times more strongly than it inhibits DNA polymerase δ. The (butylphenyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-triphosphate inhibition curve for late UV-induced repair synthesis was very similar to that for polymerase δ. It appears that repair synthesis at late time after UV irradiation, like repair synthesis at early times, is mediated by DNA polymerase δ

Time-ordered product expansions for computational stochastic system biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mjolsness, Eric

2013-01-01

The time-ordered product framework of quantum field theory can also be used to understand salient phenomena in stochastic biochemical networks. It is used here to derive Gillespie’s stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA) for chemical reaction networks; consequently, the SSA can be interpreted in terms of Feynman diagrams. It is also used here to derive other, more general simulation and parameter-learning algorithms including simulation algorithms for networks of stochastic reaction-like processes operating on parameterized objects, and also hybrid stochastic reaction/differential equation models in which systems of ordinary differential equations evolve the parameters of objects that can also undergo stochastic reactions. Thus, the time-ordered product expansion can be used systematically to derive simulation and parameter-fitting algorithms for stochastic systems. (paper)

Micro wholesaling businesses involved in the sector of confectionary products - strategies of survival and growth

OpenAIRE

Raptopoulos, PS

2011-01-01

It can be argued that the problematic situation where micro Greek wholesaling businesses find themselves has been a result of the strong presence of supermarkets and superstores in the last years. The researcher attempts to picture the current market reality that constitutes the background of the Thesis by posing the main research question: "How can micro Greek wholesaling businesses involved in the confectionary products' sector identify and implement suitable survival and growth strategies ...

SACE_5599, a putative regulatory protein, is involved in morphological differentiation and erythromycin production in Saccharopolyspora erythraea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirm, Benjamin; Magdevska, Vasilka; Tome, Miha; Horvat, Marinka; Karničar, Katarina; Petek, Marko; Vidmar, Robert; Baebler, Spela; Jamnik, Polona; Fujs, Štefan; Horvat, Jaka; Fonovič, Marko; Turk, Boris; Gruden, Kristina; Petković, Hrvoje; Kosec, Gregor

2013-12-17

Erythromycin is a medically important antibiotic, biosynthesized by the actinomycete Saccharopolyspora erythraea. Genes encoding erythromycin biosynthesis are organized in a gene cluster, spanning over 60 kbp of DNA. Most often, gene clusters encoding biosynthesis of secondary metabolites contain regulatory genes. In contrast, the erythromycin gene cluster does not contain regulatory genes and regulation of its biosynthesis has therefore remained poorly understood, which has for a long time limited genetic engineering approaches for erythromycin yield improvement. We used a comparative proteomic approach to screen for potential regulatory proteins involved in erythromycin biosynthesis. We have identified a putative regulatory protein SACE_5599 which shows significantly higher levels of expression in an erythromycin high-producing strain, compared to the wild type S. erythraea strain. SACE_5599 is a member of an uncharacterized family of putative regulatory genes, located in several actinomycete biosynthetic gene clusters. Importantly, increased expression of SACE_5599 was observed in the complex fermentation medium and at controlled bioprocess conditions, simulating a high-yield industrial fermentation process in the bioreactor. Inactivation of SACE_5599 in the high-producing strain significantly reduced erythromycin yield, in addition to drastically decreasing sporulation intensity of the SACE_5599-inactivated strains when cultivated on ABSM4 agar medium. In contrast, constitutive overexpression of SACE_5599 in the wild type NRRL23338 strain resulted in an increase of erythromycin yield by 32%. Similar yield increase was also observed when we overexpressed the bldD gene, a previously identified regulator of erythromycin biosynthesis, thereby for the first time revealing its potential for improving erythromycin biosynthesis. SACE_5599 is the second putative regulatory gene to be identified in S. erythraea which has positive influence on erythromycin yield. Like bld

Real Time Part Input Control of a Pull Production System by Finding IF-THEN Rules

Science.gov (United States)

Ramli, Rizauddin; Yamamoto, Hidehiko; Abu Qudeiri, Jaber

This paper considers the part input problem of a production system where two Flexible Transfer Lines (FTLs) consisting of an up-stream production line and a down-stream production line while operating under Just In Time (JIT) production management. The up-stream production line processes the raw material after receiving them from suppliers, and after processing them, delivers the processed product to a down-stream production line via a conveyer. In this paper, we have proposed a novel idea for a part input real time control system, known as Algorithm for Real Time Control of Part Input Systems (ARTCOPS). The algorithm is useful when FTLs are in operation under a production order that is different from the pre-decided production schedule. Simulations of virtual production systems have been carried out to verify that ARTCOPS is useful in real time control, although the production orders are different from the pre-decided production scheduling.

Identification of the glutaminase genes of Aspergillus sojae involved in glutamate production during soy sauce fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Kotaro; Koyama, Yasuji; Hanya, Yoshiki

2013-01-01

Glutaminase, an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of L-glutamine to L-glutamate, enhances the umami taste in soy sauce. The Aspergillus sojae genome contains 10 glutaminase genes. In this study, we estimated that approximately 60% of the glutamate in soy sauce is produced through the glutaminase reaction. To determine which glutaminase is involved in soy sauce glutamate production, we prepared soy sauces using single and multiple glutaminase gene disruptants of A. sojae. The glutamate concentration in soy sauce prepared using the ΔgahA-ΔgahB-ΔggtA-Δgls disruptant was approximately 60% lower than that in the control strain, whereas it was decreased by approximately 20-30% in the ΔgahA-ΔgahB disruptant. However, the glutamate concentration was unchanged in the soy sauces prepared using the ΔgahA-ΔggtA-Δgls and ΔgahB-ΔggtA-Δgls disruptants. These results indicate that four glutaminases are involved in glutamate production in soy sauce, and that the peptidoglutaminase activities of GahA and GahB increase the glutamate concentration in soy sauce.

Designing life-time recycling loops for elastomer products

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noordermeer, Jacques; Dierkes, Wilma; Blume, Anke; Dijkhuis, Kuno; van Hoek, Hans; Reuvekamp, Louis; Saiwari, Siti

2017-01-01

With depletion of natural resources and growing awareness of the limited capabilities of the globe to cope with pollution, the need to design life-time recycling loops for all types of products is steadily increasing. Rubber articles of all sorts and the need for a proper disposal of these at the

Arrests for child pornography production: data at two time points from a national sample of U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolak, Janis; Finkelhor, David; Mitchell, Kimberly J; Jones, Lisa M

2011-08-01

This study collected information on arrests for child pornography (CP) production at two points (2000-2001 and 2006) from a national sample of more than 2,500 law enforcement agencies. In addition to providing descriptive data about an understudied crime, the authors examined whether trends in arrests suggested increasing CP production, shifts in victim populations, and challenges to law enforcement. Arrests for CP production more than doubled from an estimated 402 in 2000-2001 to an estimated 859 in 2006. Findings suggest the increase was related to increased law enforcement activity rather than to growth in the population of CP producers. Adolescent victims increased, but there was no increase in the proportion of arrest cases involving very young victims or violent images. Producers distributed images in 23% of arrest cases, a proportion that did not change over time. This suggests that much CP production may be primarily for private use. Proactive law enforcement operations increased, as did other features consistent with a robust law enforcement response.

Portable inference engine: An extended CLIPS for real-time production systems

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Thach; Homeier, Peter

1988-01-01

The present C-Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) architecture has not been optimized to deal with the constraints of real-time production systems. Matching in CLIPS is based on the Rete Net algorithm, whose assumption of working memory stability might fail to be satisfied in a system subject to real-time dataflow. Further, the CLIPS forward-chaining control mechanism with a predefined conflict resultion strategy may not effectively focus the system's attention on situation-dependent current priorties, or appropriately address different kinds of knowledge which might appear in a given application. Portable Inference Engine (PIE) is a production system architecture based on CLIPS which attempts to create a more general tool while addressing the problems of real-time expert systems. Features of the PIE design include a modular knowledge base, a modified Rete Net algorithm, a bi-directional control strategy, and multiple user-defined conflict resolution strategies. Problems associated with real-time applications are analyzed and an explanation is given for how the PIE architecture addresses these problems.

Products cooked in preheated versus non-preheated ovens. Baking times, calculated energy consumption, and product quality compared.

Science.gov (United States)

Odland, D; Davis, C

1982-08-01

Plain muffins, yellow cake, baked custard, apple pie, tuna casserole, frozen tuna casserole, cheese soufflé, and meat loaf were baked in preheated and non-preheated standard gas, continuous-clean gas, standard electric, and self-cleaning electric ovens. Products generally required 5 min. or less extra baking time when cooked in non-preheated rather than in preheated ovens. The variability in baking times often was less between preheated and non-preheated ovens than among oven types. Calculated energy consumption values showed that usually less energy was required to bake products in non-preheated than in preheated ovens; savings averaged about 10 percent. Few significant differences were found in physical measurements or eating quality either between preheated and non-preheated ovens or among oven types. Overall, for the products tested, findings confirmed that preheating the oven is not essential for good product quality and, therefore, is an unnecessary use of energy.

Job Involvement of Part-Time Faculty: Exploring Associations with Distributive Justice, Underemployment, Work Status Congruence, and Empowerment

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Jae Young

2013-01-01

For decades, higher education institutions have been increasingly reliant upon part-time faculty. As the role of part-time faculty in colleges and universities has evolved and gained prominence, it is increasingly important to gain a deeper understanding of their perceptions of job involvement considered as potential predictor of turnover and…

Electric Car Users’ Time of Charging Problem under Peak Load Pricing When Delay in Charging Time Involves Uncertain Cost

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fetene, Gebeyehu Manie

The problem of peak load arises when demand fluctuates over time while the pro- duction technology is not flexible (or making it flexible is economically inefficient) and/or when a product is non-storable (or storage cost is huge). Peak load is a com- mon problem in consumption of public utilities......, on the one hand, observed cost saving benefit of postponing the time of charging to off-peak lower fee of charging and, on the other hand, the cost of delay in departure time for planned trips and uncertain cost of late charging associated with likelihood occur- rence of unanticipated trip before the car...... of electricity. The electric vehicle (EV) users choice of time of charging problem under PLP is different from that of general households using energy for house appliances since there is uncertain cost to the former as- sociated with likelihood occurrence of unanticipated trips such as visiting hospital...

Discrete-Time Filter Synthesis using Product of Gegenbauer Polynomials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Stojanovic

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A new approximation to design continuoustime and discrete-time low-pass filters, presented in this paper, based on the product of Gegenbauer polynomials, provides the ability of more flexible adjustment of passband and stopband responses. The design is achieved taking into account a prescribed specification, leading to a better trade-off among the magnitude and group delay responses. Many well-known continuous-time and discrete-time transitional filter based on the classical polynomial approximations(Chebyshev, Legendre, Butterworth are shown to be a special cases of proposed approximation method.

Intramuscular tendon involvement on MRI has limited value for predicting time to return to play following acute hamstring injury.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Made, Anne D; Almusa, Emad; Whiteley, Rod; Hamilton, Bruce; Eirale, Cristiano; van Hellemondt, Frank; Tol, Johannes L

2018-01-01

Hamstring injury with intramuscular tendon involvement is regarded as a serious injury with a delay in return to play (RTP) of more than 50 days and reinjury rates up to 63%. However, this reputation is based on retrospective case series with high risk of bias. Determine whether intramuscular tendon involvement is associated with delayed RTP and elevated rates of reinjury. MRI of male athletes with an acute hamstring injury was obtained within 5 days of injury. Evaluation included standardised MRI scoring and scoring of intramuscular tendon involvement. Time to RTP and reinjury rate were prospectively recorded. Out of 70 included participants, intramuscular tendon disruption was present in 29 (41.4%) injuries. Injuries without intramuscular tendon disruption had a mean time to RTP of 22.2±7.4 days. Injuries with Injuries with full-thickness disruption took longer to RTP compared with injuries without disruption (p=0.025). Longitudinal intramuscular tendon disruption was not significantly associated with time to RTP. Waviness was present in 17 (24.3%) injuries. Mean time to RTP for injuries without and with waviness was 22.6±7.5 and 30.2±10.8 days (p=0.014). There were 11 (15.7%) reinjuries within 12 months, five (17.2%) in the group with intramuscular tendon disruption and six (14.6%) in the group without intramuscular tendon disruption. Time to RTP for injuries with full-thickness disruption of the intramuscular tendon and waviness is significantly longer (by slightly more than 1 week) compared with injuries without intramuscular tendon involvement. However, due to the considerable overlap in time to RTP between groups with and without intramuscular tendon involvement, its clinical significance for the individual athlete is limited. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

String Chopping and Time-ordered Products of Linear String-localized Quantum Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Cardoso, Lucas T.; Mund, Jens; Várilly, Joseph C.

2018-03-01

For a renormalizability proof of perturbative models in the Epstein-Glaser scheme with string-localized quantum fields, one needs to know what freedom one has in the definition of time-ordered products of the interaction Lagrangian. This paper provides a first step in that direction. The basic issue is the presence of an open set of n-tuples of strings which cannot be chronologically ordered. We resolve it by showing that almost all such string configurations can be dissected into finitely many pieces which can indeed be chronologically ordered. This fixes the time-ordered products of linear field factors outside a nullset of string configurations. (The extension across the nullset, as well as the definition of time-ordered products of Wick monomials, will be discussed elsewhere).

Re-orientating time in product design : a phenomenology-inspired perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stienstra, J.T.; Hengeveld, B.J.; Hummels, C.C.M.

2015-01-01

This paper presents a work in progress design case that is used to exemplify how a phenomenology-inspired perspective on time can impact the design of highly interactive systems and products. The design presents a calendar with a re-orientated layout that is based on a bodily relationship with time,

Seeds of Cross-Media Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bødker, Susanne; Petersen, Anja Bechmann

2007-01-01

separately and of cross-media production. Since cross-media production is in the making, we study the instruments currently used for planning and coordination, and analyze them as seeds that will eventually make cross-media production happen. Time and timing are important in news production in general......We present an empirical study of an organization that has recently moved from traditional newspaper production towards cross-media production involving the integrated digital production of newspaper, television, radio and web-news. The paper focuses on the daily production rhythms of the media...... with planning and coordination. We demonstrate how the production rhythms of the individual media collide with that of cross-media, and how product lifecycle rhythms add to the list of causes of problems that may jeopardize crossmedia production. We propose to strengthen planning and overview support elements...

Involving Motion Graphics in Spatial Experience Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steijn, Arthur

2013-01-01

elements such as e.g. space, tone, color, movement, time and timing. Developing this design model has two purposes. The first is as a tool for analyzing empirical examples or cases of where motion graphics is used in spatial experience design. The second is as a tool that can be used in the actual design...... process, and therefore it should be constructed as such. Since the development of the design model has this double focus, I involve design students in design laboratories related to my practice as a teacher in visual communication design and production design. I also reflect on how an initial design...

Consumer involvement in oral nutritional supplements purchasing behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwi Meilia Fitriyani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper aimed to get insight of consumer involvement in purchasing behavior towards ONS (Oral Nutritional Supplements for children. By implementing an online survey with sample size of 100, the research investigated the factors (motivation and stimulus factor influencing consumer involvement and the causality between consumer involvement with the product knowledge as well as purchasing behavior. The research tool used was a 5-points Likert questionnaire in which respondents were asked to show their agreements about 40 items of 5 constructs. A partial least square - structural equation modeling by Smart-PLS software used to test the model. The results of this research also comes to conclusion that motivation and stimulus factor had significant affects on consumer involvement, consumer involvement had significant influence to product knowledge as well as ONS purchasing behavior, however product knowledge did not have significant affects on purchasing behavior. The results also showed that the product involvement has an important influence on consumers behavior.

Dexter Time: The Space, Time, and Matterings of School Absence Registration

Science.gov (United States)

Bodén, Linnea

2016-01-01

Working with a posthumanist approach, this article explores how the computer software Dexter, used for the registration of students' absences and presences, is part of the production of different practices of time, place, space, and matter in Swedish schools. The empirical material engaged with comes from two schools, and the students involved are…

Precipitation Analysis at Fine Time Scales Using Multiple Satellites: Real-time and Research Products and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert; Huffman, George; Bolvin, David; Nelkin, Eric; Curtis, Scott; Pierce, Harold

2004-01-01

Quasi-global precipitation analyses at fine time scales (3-hr) are described. TRMM observations (radar and passive microwave) are used to calibrate polar-orbit microwave observations from SSM/I (and other satellites instruments, including AMSR and AMSU) and geosynchronous IR observations. The individual data sets are then merged using a priority order based on quality to form the Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA). Raingauge information is used to help constrain the satellite-based estimates over land. The TRMM standard research product (Version 6 3B-42 of the TRMM products) will be available for the entire TRMM period (January 1998-present) in 2004. The real-time version of this merged product has been produced over the past two years and is available on the U.S. TRMM web site (trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov) at 0.25" latitude-longitude resolution over the latitude range from 5O"N-5O0S. Validation of daily totals indicates good results, with limitations noted in mid-latitude winter over land and regions of shallow, orographic precipitation. Various applications of these estimates are described, including: 1) detecting potential floods in near real-time; 2) analyzing Indian Ocean precipitation variations related to the initiation of El Nino; 3) determining characteristics of the African monsoon; and 4) analysis of diurnal variations.

OMPS Near Real-time Products Available Through NASA LANCE (Land Atmosphere Near Real-time Capability for EOS)

Science.gov (United States)

Warnock, A.; Durbin, P. B.; Cechini, M. F.; Masuoka, E.

2017-12-01

Near real-time (NRT) images from the NASA Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) for sulfur dioxide, total column ozone and aerosol index products are now available through NASA's online Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) system. Color palettes, image dimensions and data ranges have been aligned with the corresponding OMI products, allowing for direct comparison of OMPS NRT images with OMI NRT images already available in NASA Worldview. The images are delivered to LANCE within hours of satellite observation. LANCE NRT imagery can be interactively viewed through Worldview and the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS).

Mathematical supply-chain modelling: Product analysis of cost and time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Easters, D J

2014-01-01

Establishing a mathematical supply-chain model is a proposition that has received attention due to its inherent benefits of evolving global supply-chain efficiencies. This paper discusses the prevailing relationships found within apparel supply-chain environments, and contemplates the complex issues indicated for constituting a mathematical model. Principal results identified within the data suggest, that the multifarious nature of global supply-chain activities require a degree of simplification in order to fully dilate the necessary factors which affect, each sub-section of the chain. Subsequently, the research findings allowed the division of supply-chain components into sub-sections, which amassed a coherent method of product development activity. Concurrently, the supply-chain model was found to allow systematic mathematical formulae analysis, of cost and time, within the multiple contexts of each subsection encountered. The paper indicates the supply-chain model structure, the mathematics, and considers how product analysis of cost and time can improve the comprehension of product lifecycle management

Mathematical supply-chain modelling: Product analysis of cost and time

Science.gov (United States)

Easters, D. J.

2014-03-01

Establishing a mathematical supply-chain model is a proposition that has received attention due to its inherent benefits of evolving global supply-chain efficiencies. This paper discusses the prevailing relationships found within apparel supply-chain environments, and contemplates the complex issues indicated for constituting a mathematical model. Principal results identified within the data suggest, that the multifarious nature of global supply-chain activities require a degree of simplification in order to fully dilate the necessary factors which affect, each sub-section of the chain. Subsequently, the research findings allowed the division of supply-chain components into sub-sections, which amassed a coherent method of product development activity. Concurrently, the supply-chain model was found to allow systematic mathematical formulae analysis, of cost and time, within the multiple contexts of each subsection encountered. The paper indicates the supply-chain model structure, the mathematics, and considers how product analysis of cost and time can improve the comprehension of product lifecycle management.

A systematic literature review of Releasing Time to Care: The Productive Ward.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Stella; McSherry, Wilfred

2013-05-01

This systematic review provides an overview of the literature published on Releasing Time to Care: The Productive Ward between 2005 and June 2011. Releasing Time to Care: The Productive Ward programme was developed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and launched in England in 2007. The programme comprises thirteen modules that aim to increase time for direct patient care, improve the patient and staff experience and make changes to the ward environment to improve efficiency. A systematic literature review. The terms 'Releasing Time to Care' and 'Productive Ward' were applied to key healthcare databases; CINAHL, Medline, Science Direct, ProQuest, Health Business Elite, British Nursing Index, Embase, Health Management Information Consortium and PsychInfo. All papers were read and subject to a quality assessment. The literature search identified 95 unique sources. A lack of research on The Productive Ward programme meant it was necessary to include non-empirical literature. In total, 18 articles met the inclusion criteria. Seven key themes were identified: the patient and staff experience, direct care time, patient safety, financial impact, embedding and sustainability, executive support and leadership, and common barriers and determinants of success. It also highlighted areas that require further exploration such as long-term sustainability of the programme and consistent data measurement between organisations. The review tentatively reports how The Productive Ward programme has been used to transform nursing practice for the benefit of patients and frontline staff, and how it resulted in cost savings. The literature review identified a potential positive results bias in the current literature whereby favourable outcomes were reported. This paper summarises the types of evidence and current literature on The Productive Ward providing a reference for frontline staff implementing the programme. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Effect Of Resting Time To Work Productivity On Surya Hutani Jaya Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Purbawati

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Purbawati Rachmat M Ruslim Y B.D.A.S.Simarangkir. 2016. The Effect of resting time to work produktivity to the activity of Seedling Eucalyptus Pellitawith mini cutting.Productivity is the ratio between the output and the input. Rated productivity indicates how effectively the production process has been empowered to increase the output and how efficiently are also sources of input has been successfully saved. Many factors can affect productivity example is the resting time factor. In this study which examined is how the influence of rest periods of the Productivity and how much the standard output produced by the female labor force.Research conducted on women workers who are working at the cutting shoots cutting house.Nurseries with mini cutting process is done by cutting the of the leaves on each leaf so that the remaining 2 to 3 pairs of strands shoots that have undergone a process of cutting in its leaves called ready plant bud shoot. Ready plant bud is the output of this research while the input is the time used to do the cutting. This study aims to determine the influence of rest periods of the productivity of female workers and to determine the standard output produced by the female labor force. Data processing method used is the partial productivity measurement methods and measurement methods of working time. The results stated that the amount of labor productivity of women without giving time off is 0.0911 shoots second -1 whereas labor productivity by granting time off for 5 minutes every hour C1 by granting a 10 minute break every two hours C2 by granting time off for 30 minutes per one working day C3 by granting time off for 60 minutes per one working day C4 and the provision of rest periods combined mixed which is 5 minutes every hour and 60 minutes per one working day C5 respectively is 00908 shoots second -1 0.0761 shoots second-1 0.0972 shoots second-1 0.0857 shoots second-1 and 0.0860 shoots second -1. The calculation output

Involvement of purinergic signaling on nitric oxide production by neutrophils stimulated with Trichomonas vaginalis.

Science.gov (United States)

Frasson, Amanda Piccoli; De Carli, Geraldo Attilio; Bonan, Carla Denise; Tasca, Tiana

2012-03-01

Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasite from the human urogenital tract that causes trichomonosis, the most prevalent non-viral sexually transmitted disease. The neutrophil infiltration has been considered to be primarily responsible for cytological changes observed at infection site, and the chemoattractants can play an important role in this leukocytic recruitment. Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most widespread mediator compounds, and it is implicated in modulation of immunological mechanisms. Extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides are signaling molecules involved in several processes, including immune responses and control of leukocyte trafficking. Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase members, ecto-5'-nucleotidase, and adenosine deaminase (ectoADA) have been characterized in T. vaginalis. Herein, we investigated the effects of purinergic system on NO production by neutrophils stimulated with T. vaginalis. The trophozoites were able to induce a high NO synthesis by neutrophils through iNOS pathway. The extracellular nucleotides ATP, ADP, and ATPγS (a non-hydrolyzable ATP analog) showed no significant change in NO secretion. In contrast, adenosine and its degradation product, inosine, promoted a low production of the compound. The immunosuppressive effect of adenosine upon NO release by neutrophils occurred due to adenosine A(2A) receptor activation. The ecto-5'-nucleotidase activity displayed by T. vaginalis was shown to be important in adenosine generation, indicating the efficiency of purinergic cascade. Our data suggest the influence of purinergic signaling, specifically adenosinergic system, on NO production by neutrophils in T. vaginalis infection, contributing to the immunological aspects of disease.

Characterization of uranium corrosion products involved in the March 13, 1998 fuel manufacturing facility pyrophoric event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Totemeier, T.C.

1999-01-01

Uranium metal corrosion products from ZPPR fuel plates involved in the March 13, 1998 pyrophoric event in the Fuel Manufacturing Facility at Argonne National Laboratory-West were characterized using thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and BET gas sorption techniques. Characterization was performed on corrosion products in several different conditions: immediately after separation from the source metal, after low-temperature passivation, after passivation and extended vault storage, and after burning in the pyrophoric event. The ignition temperatures and hydride fractions of the corrosion product were strongly dependent on corrosion extent. Corrosion products from plates with corrosion extents less than 0.7% did not ignite in TGA testing, while products from plates with corrosion extents greater than 1.2% consistently ignited. Corrosion extent is defined as mass of corrosion products divided by the total mass of uranium. The hydride fraction increased with corrosion extent. There was little change in corrosion product properties after low-temperature passivation or vault storage. The burned products were not reactive and contained no hydride; the principal constituents were UO 2 and U 3 O 7 . The source of the event was a considerable quantity of reactive hydride present in the corrosion products. No specific ignition mechanism could be conclusively identified. The most likely initiator was a static discharge in the corrosion product from the 14th can as it was poured into the consolidation can. The available evidence does not support scenarios in which the powder in the consolidation can slowly self-heated to the ignition point, or in which the powder in the 14th can was improperly passivated

Characterization of uranium corrosion products involved in the March 13, 1998 fuel manufacturing facility pyrophoric event.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Totemeier, T.C.

1999-04-26

Uranium metal corrosion products from ZPPR fuel plates involved in the March 13, 1998 pyrophoric event in the Fuel Manufacturing Facility at Argonne National Laboratory-West were characterized using thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and BET gas sorption techniques. Characterization was performed on corrosion products in several different conditions: immediately after separation from the source metal, after low-temperature passivation, after passivation and extended vault storage, and after burning in the pyrophoric event. The ignition temperatures and hydride fractions of the corrosion product were strongly dependent on corrosion extent. Corrosion products from plates with corrosion extents less than 0.7% did not ignite in TGA testing, while products from plates with corrosion extents greater than 1.2% consistently ignited. Corrosion extent is defined as mass of corrosion products divided by the total mass of uranium. The hydride fraction increased with corrosion extent. There was little change in corrosion product properties after low-temperature passivation or vault storage. The burned products were not reactive and contained no hydride; the principal constituents were UO{sub 2} and U{sub 3}O{sub 7}. The source of the event was a considerable quantity of reactive hydride present in the corrosion products. No specific ignition mechanism could be conclusively identified. The most likely initiator was a static discharge in the corrosion product from the 14th can as it was poured into the consolidation can. The available evidence does not support scenarios in which the powder in the consolidation can slowly self-heated to the ignition point, or in which the powder in the 14th can was improperly passivated.

Contribution of student involvement in production/service unit and experience of industry practices to entrepreneurial attitude and the impact entrepeneurship readiness of vocational high school students of great Malang

Science.gov (United States)

Mukminna, Halimahtus; Isnandar, Muladi

2017-09-01

Purpose of this research was to determine the contribution of student involvement in production/ service unit (X1), experience of industry practices (X2), and entrepreneurial attitude (Y) towards readiness entrepreneurship (Z) of vocational student regional Malang. The design of the study using a quantitative approach. The samples used as many as 130 respondents. Instruments used for collecting data in the form of questionnaires. Data analysis included descriptive and test of hypothesis. The result showed: that the description of data on the level of student involvement in production/ service unit, experience of industry practices, entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurship readiness in the high category. The contribution student involvement in production/ service unit of entrepreneurial attitude of 10.6%. The contribution experience of industry practices of entrepreneurial attitude of 17.4%. The contribution student involvement in production/ service unit and experience of industry practices simultaneously to entrepreneurial attitude of 44.1%. The contribution student involvement in production/ service unit of readiness entrepreneurship of 4%. The contribution experience of industry practices of readiness entrepreneurship of 5%. The contribution entrepreneurial attitude of readiness entrepreneurship of 16%. Finally, the contribution student involvement in production/ service unit, experience of industry practices, and entrepreneurial attitude simultaneously to readiness entrepreneurship of 50.3%.

Production, staff, working time and financial planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orlando Boiteux

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Aggregate planning can be a tool for coordinating the tactical decisions belonging to some functional areas of a company. This potential has been limited due to methodological and technical reasons, but nowadays it is possible to solve very sophisticated models integrating, with a high level of detail, a great number of decisions of several functional areas and that permit to include new management schemes. In this paper, a production, staff, working time and cash management model is introduced.

TIME MANAGEMENT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION AT PRODUCTION COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yurii Safonov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose and objectives. Time management is still not a very popular element in many enterprises, while its implementation significantly increases staff productivity and, ultimately, the effectiveness of the company. For this reason, the purpose of the article is to promote time management in a business environment by providing specific tools, principles, methods and systems, and to show its importance to the company and describe the influence of time management for the enterprise. Methods. The study used a generalization, systematization, empirical research, systematic and logical approach to the development of theoretical and methodological provisions for instrumental support management performance of the industrial enterprise. Results. Time management is one of the most important strategic tools of the modern manager. It can help both existing companies and companies that are just launched (the project. Practical implications. The current goal of time management as a mechanism to improve the efficiency of the company. Value/originality. To implement it, the company offered a popular time management system, allowing the company to increase the effectiveness of its activities.

Modulation of Human Time Processing by Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation

Science.gov (United States)

Timmermann, Lars; Reck, Christiane; Maarouf, Mohammad; Jörgens, Silke; Ploner, Markus; Südmeyer, Martin; Groiss, Stefan Jun; Sturm, Volker; Niedeggen, Michael; Schnitzler, Alfons

2011-01-01

Timing in the range of seconds referred to as interval timing is crucial for cognitive operations and conscious time processing. According to recent models of interval timing basal ganglia (BG) oscillatory loops are involved in time interval recognition. Parkinsońs disease (PD) is a typical disease of the basal ganglia that shows distortions in interval timing. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a powerful treatment of PD which modulates motor and cognitive functions depending on stimulation frequency by affecting subcortical-cortical oscillatory loops. Thus, for the understanding of BG-involvement in interval timing it is of interest whether STN-DBS can modulate timing in a frequency dependent manner by interference with oscillatory time recognition processes. We examined production and reproduction of 5 and 15 second intervals and millisecond timing in a double blind, randomised, within-subject repeated-measures design of 12 PD-patients applying no, 10-Hz- and ≥130-Hz-STN-DBS compared to healthy controls. We found under(re-)production of the 15-second interval and a significant enhancement of this under(re-)production by 10-Hz-stimulation compared to no stimulation, ≥130-Hz-STN-DBS and controls. Milliseconds timing was not affected. We provide first evidence for a frequency-specific modulatory effect of STN-DBS on interval timing. Our results corroborate the involvement of BG in general and of the STN in particular in the cognitive representation of time intervals in the range of multiple seconds. PMID:21931767

Modulation of human time processing by subthalamic deep brain stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtecki, Lars; Elben, Saskia; Timmermann, Lars; Reck, Christiane; Maarouf, Mohammad; Jörgens, Silke; Ploner, Markus; Südmeyer, Martin; Groiss, Stefan Jun; Sturm, Volker; Niedeggen, Michael; Schnitzler, Alfons

2011-01-01

Timing in the range of seconds referred to as interval timing is crucial for cognitive operations and conscious time processing. According to recent models of interval timing basal ganglia (BG) oscillatory loops are involved in time interval recognition. Parkinsońs disease (PD) is a typical disease of the basal ganglia that shows distortions in interval timing. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a powerful treatment of PD which modulates motor and cognitive functions depending on stimulation frequency by affecting subcortical-cortical oscillatory loops. Thus, for the understanding of BG-involvement in interval timing it is of interest whether STN-DBS can modulate timing in a frequency dependent manner by interference with oscillatory time recognition processes. We examined production and reproduction of 5 and 15 second intervals and millisecond timing in a double blind, randomised, within-subject repeated-measures design of 12 PD-patients applying no, 10-Hz- and ≥ 130-Hz-STN-DBS compared to healthy controls. We found under(re-)production of the 15-second interval and a significant enhancement of this under(re-)production by 10-Hz-stimulation compared to no stimulation, ≥ 130-Hz-STN-DBS and controls. Milliseconds timing was not affected. We provide first evidence for a frequency-specific modulatory effect of STN-DBS on interval timing. Our results corroborate the involvement of BG in general and of the STN in particular in the cognitive representation of time intervals in the range of multiple seconds.

Effect of Retention Time on Biogas Production from Poultry ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

JPC

Daily gas production fell slightly from 130 to 32 litres as retention time was ... The continuing energy crisis has reawakened interest in the anaerobic ... and hydrogen sulfide (H2S2): 0.3 vol.%. ..... Nigerian Journal of Solar Energy 15: 80 – 85.

Improving wheat productivity through source and timing of nitrogen fertilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jan, M.T.; Khan, A.; Afridi, M.Z.; Arif, M.; Khan, M.J.; Farhatullah; Jan, D.; Saeed, M.

2011-01-01

Efficient nitrogen (N) fertilizer management is critical for the improved production of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and can be achieved through source and timing of N application. Thus, an experiment was carried out at the Research Farm of KPK Agricultural University Peshawar during 2005-06 to test the effects of sources and timing of N application on yield and yield components of wheat. Nitrogen sources were ammonium (NH/sub 4/) and nitrate (NO/sub 3/) applied at the rate of 100 kg ha/sup -1/ at three different stages i.e., at sowing (S1), tillering (S2) and boot stage (S3). Ammonium N increased yield component but did not affect the final grain yield. Split N application at sowing, tillering and boot stages had increased productive tillers m-2, and thousand grains weight, whereas grain yield was higher when N was applied at tillering and boot stages. Nitrogen fertilization increased 20% grain yield compared to control regardless of N application time. It was concluded from the experiment that split application of NH/sub 4/-N performed better than full dose application and/or NO/sub 3/-N for improved wheat productivity and thus, is recommended for general practice in agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar. (author)

Optimal Consumer Electronics Product Take-Back Time with Consideration of Consumer Value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Tse Fang

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Rapid economic growth in recent years has transformed our lifestyle to massively produce, consume, and dispose of products, especially for consumer electronics. This change has put great threat to our environment and caused natural resource depletion. Moreover, short product life cycles and quick replacements of consumer electronics create enormous electronic wastes (e-wastes. Without proper waste management, immense environmental damage is expected. In this empirical study, we notice that lots of valuable materials that can still be recycled from these used consumer electronics are left unused at home instead of being recycled at the appropriate time, which causes a low collection rate and a decrease in residual value for the used products. Therefore, it is important for the government and the recyclers to handle them efficiently by increasing the used product take-back rate. Our study develops an assessment model for customer value based on the idea of value engineering and the perspective of product life cycle. We also explore the relationship between product value and the total cost of ownership with an evaluation of their time variation, considering different usage modes for various consumer groups and different recycling award schemes (fixed and variable recycling awards. Proper take-back management is likely to create a win-win situation both for consumers and environmental protection. This study regards the notebook computer as an example to determine the optimal time for recycling laptops based on usage patterns and provides consumers a reference for when to replace their used product. The results from our modeling firstly clearly indicate that consumers with higher frequency of usage have shorter take back times and higher maximum consumer value. Secondly, a variable recycling award scheme with higher maximum consumer value is more practical than a fixed recycling award scheme.

Seeds of Cross-Media Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bødker, Susanne; Petersen, Anja Bechmann

2007-01-01

We present an empirical study of an organization that has recently moved from traditional newspaper production towards cross-media production involving the integrated digital production of newspaper, television, radio and web-news. The paper focuses on the daily production rhythms of the media...... separately and of cross-media production. Since cross-media production is in the making, we study the instruments currently used for planning and coordination, and analyze them as seeds that will eventually make cross-media production happen. Time and timing are important in news production in general......, and our analyses focus on the rhythm of the daily planning, coordination and production processes. Specifically, we analyze the temporal coordination of the activities in and around the Superdesk – the current center of coordination of the news organization, and of the persons who work specifically...

Faculty Time Allocations and Research Productivity: Gender, Race, and Family Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellas, Marcia L.; Toutkoushian, Robert K.

1999-01-01

A study using data from 14,614 full-time faculty examined total work hours, research productivity, and allocation of work time among teaching, research, and service. The study found variation in time expenditures and research output influenced by gender, race/ethnicity, and marital/parental status, but findings were also sensitive to definitions…

Timing of product introduction in network economies under heterogeneous demand

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winther, Christian Dahl

This paper studies the introduction of a new and incompatible technology in a spatial market with network externalities. In competition with an established network, the entrant chooses how long to do research and a level of product differentiation, which determine the adoption patterns of consumers...... level of product differentiation that should be chosen by the sponsor of the new technology in equilibrium. Third, the formal relationship between these variables are derived under compatibility.  Fourth, the entering firm's problem is solved by numerical methods to gain insight into the optimal linkage...... between research time and product design....

Shelf Life of Food Products: From Open Labeling to Real-Time Measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Corradini, Maria G

2018-03-25

The labels currently used on food and beverage products only provide consumers with a rough guide to their expected shelf lives because they assume that a product only experiences a limited range of predefined handling and storage conditions. These static labels do not take into consideration conditions that might shorten a product's shelf life (such as temperature abuse), which can lead to problems associated with food safety and waste. Advances in shelf-life estimation have the potential to improve the safety, reliability, and sustainability of the food supply. Selection of appropriate kinetic models and data-analysis techniques is essential to predict shelf life, to account for variability in environmental conditions, and to allow real-time monitoring. Novel analytical tools to determine safety and quality attributes in situ coupled with modern tracking technologies and appropriate predictive tools have the potential to provide accurate estimations of the remaining shelf life of a food product in real time. This review summarizes the necessary steps to attain a transition from open labeling to real-time shelf-life measurements.

Delimbing and Cross-cutting of Coniferous Trees–Time Consumption, Work Productivity and Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arcadie Ciubotaru

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This research established the time consumption, work time structure, and productivity for primary processing in felling areas of coniferous trees felled with a chainsaw. Delimbing and partial cross-cutting were taken into consideration. The research was conducted in a mixed spruce and fir tree stand situated in the Carpathian Mountains. The team of workers consisted of a chainsaw operator and assistant with over 10 years of experience. The results indicated a total time of 536.32 s·m−3 (1145.26 s·tree−1, work performance (including delays of 6.716 m3·h−1 (3.14 tree·h−1, and work productivity (without delays of 35.459 m3·h−1 (16.58 tree·h−1. The chainsaw productivity during tree cross-cutting was 82.29 cm2·s−1. Delimbing accounted for 96.18% of the real work time, while cross-cutting accounted for 3.82%. The time consumption for delimbing and cross-cutting, as well as the work productivity and performance in the primary processing of coniferous trees in the felling area, were influenced by the breast height diameter, stem length, and tree volume, while the chainsaw productivity was influenced by the diameter of the cross-cut sections. The relationships between the aforementioned dependent and independent variables were determined by simple and linear multiple regression equations.

Optimization of nutritional and non-nutritional factors involved for production of antimicrobial compounds from Lactobacillus pentosus SJ65 using response surface methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Appukuttan Saraniya

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria are ribosomal synthesized antibacterial proteins/ peptides having wide range of applications. Lactobacillus pentosus SJ65, isolated from fermented Uttapam batter (used to prepare south Indian pan cake, produces bacteriocin having a broad spectrum of activity against pathogens. Optimization studies are of utmost important to understand the source of utilization and the conditions to enhance the production of metabolites. In the present study, an attempt was made to identify the parameters involved for maximal production of antimicrobial compounds especially bacteriocin from the isolate L. pentosus SJ65. Initially, optimal conditions, such as incubation period, pH, and temperature were evaluated. Initial screening was done using methodology onevariable-at-a-time (OVAT for various carbon and nitrogen sources. Further evaluation was carried out statistically using Plackett-Burman design and the variables were analyzed using response surface methodology using central composite design. The optimum media using tryptone or soy peptone, yeast extract, glucose, triammonium citrate, MnSO4, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate and tween 80 produced maximum bacteriocin activity.

Real time information management for improving productivity in metallurgical complexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bascur, O.A.; Kennedy, J.P.

1999-01-01

Applying the latest information technologies in industrial plants has become a serious challenge to management and technical teams. The availability of real time and historical operations information to identify the most critical part of the processing system from mechanical integrity is a must for global plant optimization. Expanded use of plant information on the desktop is a standard tool for revenue improvement, cost reduction, and adherence to production constraints. The industrial component desktop supports access to information for process troubleshooting, continuous improvement and innovation by plant and staff personnel. Collaboration between groups enables the implementation of an overall process effectiveness index based on losses due to equipment availability, production and product quality. The key to designing technology is to use the Internet based technologies created by Microsoft for its marketplace-office automation and the Web. Time derived variables are used for process analysis, troubleshooting and performance assessment. Connectivity between metallurgical complexes, research centers and their business system has become a reality. Two case studies of large integrated mining/metallurgical complexes are highlighted. (author)

Real-Time Shop-Floor Production Performance Analysis Method for the Internet of Manufacturing Things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingfeng Zhang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Typical challenges that manufacturing enterprises are facing now are compounded by lack of timely, accurate, and consistent information of manufacturing resources. As a result, it is difficult to analyze the real-time production performance for the shop-floor. In this paper, the definition and overall architecture of the internet of manufacturing things is presented to provide a new paradigm by extending the techniques of internet of things (IoT to manufacturing field. Under this architecture, the real-time primitive events which occurred at different manufacturing things such as operators, machines, pallets, key materials, and so forth can be easily sensed. Based on these distributed primitive events, a critical event model is established to automatically analyze the real-time production performance. Here, the up-level production performance analysis is regarded as a series of critical events, and the real-time value of each critical event can be easily calculated according to the logical and sequence relationships among these multilevel events. Finally, a case study is used to illustrate how to apply the designed methods to analyze the real-time production performance.

Association between the time perspective and type of involvement in bullying among adolescents: A cross-sectional study in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizuta, Akiko; Okada, Eisaku; Nakamura, Mieko; Yamaguchi, Hisayoshi; Ojima, Toshiyuki

2018-04-01

To examine the association between the types of involvement in bullying and the time perspective among Japanese adolescents. A questionnaire was conducted among Japanese junior high school students at eight public schools that were located in two cities in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Shirai's Experiential Time Perspective Scale was used, which comprises four subscales: goal-directedness, hopefulness, self-fulfillment, and acceptance of the past. An analysis of covariance was applied, with the time-perspective subscales as the objective variable, type of involvement in bullying as a fixed factor, and grade, family structure, and economic status as the covariates. The analysis sample included 2630 adolescents (valid response rate: 88.6%). The bullying rate of the boys was 10.8% and 4.1% for the girls, for the male victims it was 10.1% and 14.5% for the female victims, and for both the bully and the victim, it was 8.5% and 5.4%, respectively. The students who were not involved in bullying had the highest scores of hopefulness, self-fulfillment, and acceptance of the past. For both sexes, bullying was significantly associated with hopefulness, self-fulfillment, and acceptance of the past. Goal-directedness was not associated with the type of involvement in bullying. The victims of bullying had low time perspectives of hopefulness, self-fulfillment, and acceptance of the past. Providing support that increases hopefulness, self-fulfillment, and acceptance of the past might help to prevent pessimistic decision-making, such as that seen in cases of suicide. © 2017 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

Influence of the Time Perspective on New Product Development Success Indicators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazerouni, Afrooz M.; Achiche, Sofiane; Hisarciklilar, Onur

2011-01-01

Understanding the underlying reasons for new product development success is central to effective new product management. However, difficulties related to estimating to what extent the objectives are being fulfilled and assessing the trade-offs between different project goals makes the new product...... of this research is to determine the appropriate sets of metrics to be used for assessing success during each phase of a product lifecycle. A practical case study was carried out by investigating 28 companies from Canadian and Danish industries. The companies are various industrial sectors. The data collection...... as they change depending on where a product is in its lifecycle. The influence of this time perspective on success indicators of new product developments has not been explored very extensively. In this paper, we investigate the success criteria during different phases of the product lifecycle. The goal...

Time to Innovate: Reflections and Recommendations on Time Management for Innovation Managers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J. Crawhall

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Effective time management is a critical success factor for most projects; however, it is particularly challenging for projects involving substantial innovation. For most projects, time (i.e., the schedule becomes a management "red flag" that signals when something goes wrong or gets out of control. The challenge for projects involving significant innovation is that one or more critical activities may be of an unknown duration or involve factors outside the normal design process and require "red flagging" from the outset. Managers of innovation projects have to distinguish between those activities or work packets that are a part of “business as usual” and those that involve innovation. They must identify and quantify the schedule risks and develop strategies to mitigate them. For example, one strategy to manage time-related risk is to decouple the innovation value as perceived by the customer (innovation output from the technology innovation that is needed to deliver the product value in a cost-effective manner (innovation input. This strategy should take into account the likely consequences of longer-than-anticipated innovation time. Two common risks associated with poor time management for innovation are running out of financial runway to reach sustainable revenue and missing a critical market window. In this article, the author reflects on almost 30 years of experience in the Canadian innovation system across several industry sectors and provides some practical recommendations on time management for innovation managers.

Part-time Work, Wages and Productivity:Evidence from Belgian Matched Panel Data

OpenAIRE

Garnero, Andrea; Kampelmann, Stephan; Rycx, François

2013-01-01

The authors use matched employer-employee panel data on Belgian private-sector firms to estimate the relationship between wage/productivity differentials and the firm’s labor composition in terms of part-time and sex. Findings suggest that the groups of women and part-timers generate employer rents, but also that the origin of these rents differs (relatively lower wages for women, relatively higher productivity for part-timers). Interactions between gender and part-time suggest that the posit...

Choice of foods: Allocation of time and money, household production and market services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonke, Jens

1992-01-01

of meals as a case of household production with four kinds of input: the food products bought, the time used for shopping, cooking, and washing up, ho capital like kitchen appliances, and human capital like cooking skills. Maximum welfare will result when these inputs are optimised given the household...... somewhat in the same period, the overall disposable time for households has been going down. At the same time, incomes have been rising. Rational economic behaviour would imply that households react to these changed constraints by employing time-saving and time-buying strategies in meal preparation. 4......'s constraints of disposable income and disposable time. 3. In recent decades, women's participation in the labour market has increased significantly, with non-employed women becoming employed part-time, and part-time employed women becoming employed full-time. Even though men's working time has decreased...

The problem of the involvement of the off-balance reserves of the metallic ores into the production process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. I. Golik

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The underground mining of the ore deposits by means of the intensive methods of the traditional technologies is characterized by the loss of the reserves, which are off-balance for the technologies applied. The experience, which was accumulated by the state-of-the-art enterprises before the economic reforms and the crisis indicates, that it is possible to decrease the loss of metals. This can be assumed by means of involving the off-balance reserves into the production process with the metal lixiviation during closed work. The purpose of the present-day research is the substantiation of the technical possibility and economic reasonability of the lixiviation of metals from the off-balance reserves and poorly balance ores. The correct estimation of the perspectives of those combined technology is still one of the purposes. It is a matter of fact that combining traditional technologies of the underground mining with new ones concerned with the creation of the effective lixiviation of metals from ores can be carried out with the two-stage processing. It happens when the excavation of some amount of the balance reserves creates the compensational space for crushing off-balance reserves. Involving off-balance ores into the production process solves a set of the mining production problems. For example, the fullness of mineral resources usage, the strengthening of the resource base, the reduction of load of the environment and the security of works. The involvement of the off-balance reserves into the development in the course of the revaluation of the resources and in the technological facilities of the development in the context of the growth of the scale of production reduces the production price to the competitive level. The field of application of these results is in the mining enterprises which extract solid metal-containing ores by means of the underground mining. These ores are mostly of the nonferrous, rare and precious metals, which are easily

Evaluation of the stages involved in cold ischemia time in renal transplants in Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Elgueta, S; Fuentes, C; Arenas, A; Labraña, C; Gajardo, J G; Lopez, M; Hernandez, J; Rodriguez, H; Rodriguez, L

2010-01-01

Cold ischemia time (CIT) is one of the factors that determine the evolution of a renal transplant; taking measures to reduce this time requires knowledge of its stages. The objective of this study was to evaluate the times in the stages that determine CIT in renal transplants. We analyzed 108 donors and 201 kidney transplantations performed in Chile in 2008, establishing the CIT for the kidney transplanted by the center that extracted the kidneys (local kidney) and for the kidney transplanted in another center (shared kidney). Average CIT was 18.8 hours: namely, 16.9 hours for local and 20.2 hours for shared kidneys (P = .0001484). CIT for cases in which samples were sent to histocompatibility laboratory prior to nephrectomy was 7.3 hours less than for those sent postnephrectomy. The mean time between the allocation of the kidney and the transplant was 7.3 hours; 5.6 hours for local kidneys and 8.4 hours for shared kidneys (P = .000007124). We identified the stages at which intervention is possible to reduce the CIT, mainly for shared kidneys. All involved parties should make an effort to reduce this time.

Synthetic addiction extends the productive life time of engineered Escherichia coli populations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rugbjerg, Peter; Sarup-Lytzen, Kira; Nagy, Mariann

2018-01-01

range of genetic variants that disrupt the biosynthetic capacity of the engineered organism. Synthetic product addiction that couples high-yield production of a desired metabolite to expression of nonconditionally essential genes could offer a solution to this problem by selectively favoring cells...... with biosynthetic capacity in the population without constraining the medium. We constructed such synthetic product addiction by controlling the expression of two nonconditionally essential genes with a mevalonic acid biosensor. The product-addicted production organism retained high-yield mevalonic acid production...... through 95 generations of cultivation, corresponding to the number of cell generations required for >200-m3 industrial-scale production, at which time the nonaddicted strain completely abolished production. Using deep DNA sequencing, we find that the product-addicted populations do not accumulate genetic...

The optimal production-run time for a stock-dependent imperfect production process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jain Divya

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper develops an inventory model for a hypothesized volume flexible manufacturing system in which the production rate is stock-dependent and the system produces both perfect and imperfect quality items. The demand rate of perfect quality items is known and constant, whereas the demand rate of imperfect (non-conforming to specifications quality items is a function of discount offered in the selling price. In this paper, we determine an optimal production-run time and the optimal discount that should be offered in the selling price to influence the sale of imperfect quality items produced by the manufacturing system. The considered model aims to maximize the net profit obtained through the sales of both perfect and imperfect quality items subject to certain constraints of the system. The solution procedure suggests the use of ‘Interior Penalty Function Method’ to solve the associated constrained maximization problem. Finally, a numerical example demonstrating the applicability of proposed model has been included.

Analysis of oil-pipeline distribution of multiple products subject to delivery time-windows

Science.gov (United States)

Jittamai, Phongchai

This dissertation defines the operational problems of, and develops solution methodologies for, a distribution of multiple products into oil pipeline subject to delivery time-windows constraints. A multiple-product oil pipeline is a pipeline system composing of pipes, pumps, valves and storage facilities used to transport different types of liquids. Typically, products delivered by pipelines are petroleum of different grades moving either from production facilities to refineries or from refineries to distributors. Time-windows, which are generally used in logistics and scheduling areas, are incorporated in this study. The distribution of multiple products into oil pipeline subject to delivery time-windows is modeled as multicommodity network flow structure and mathematically formulated. The main focus of this dissertation is the investigation of operating issues and problem complexity of single-source pipeline problems and also providing solution methodology to compute input schedule that yields minimum total time violation from due delivery time-windows. The problem is proved to be NP-complete. The heuristic approach, a reversed-flow algorithm, is developed based on pipeline flow reversibility to compute input schedule for the pipeline problem. This algorithm is implemented in no longer than O(T·E) time. This dissertation also extends the study to examine some operating attributes and problem complexity of multiple-source pipelines. The multiple-source pipeline problem is also NP-complete. A heuristic algorithm modified from the one used in single-source pipeline problems is introduced. This algorithm can also be implemented in no longer than O(T·E) time. Computational results are presented for both methodologies on randomly generated problem sets. The computational experience indicates that reversed-flow algorithms provide good solutions in comparison with the optimal solutions. Only 25% of the problems tested were more than 30% greater than optimal values and

Influence of production time on quality and height of yield of crisp lettuce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odziemkowski, S.; Gajc-Wolska, J.; Skapski, H.

1998-01-01

The cultivar of crisp lettuce Saladin, was grown in the field in 10 production terms starting from spring to autumn in 1993-95. The highest average weight of head of crisp lettuce was obtained in earlier terms of production. The head weight at the time of harvest depended on the amount of solar radiation during the time of lettuce head formation

Evaluation and analysis of real-time precise orbits and clocks products from different IGS analysis centers

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liang; Yang, Hongzhou; Gao, Yang; Yao, Yibin; Xu, Chaoqian

2018-06-01

To meet the increasing demands from the real-time Precise Point Positioning (PPP) users, the real-time satellite orbit and clock products are generated by different International GNSS Service (IGS) real-time analysis centers and can be publicly received through the Internet. Based on different data sources and processing strategies, the real-time products from different analysis centers therefore differ in availability and accuracy. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate availability and accuracy of different real-time products and their effects on real-time PPP. A total of nine commonly used Real-Time Service (RTS) products, namely IGS01, IGS03, CLK01, CLK15, CLK22, CLK52, CLK70, CLK81 and CLK90, will be evaluated in this paper. Because not all RTS products support multi-GNSS, only GPS products are analyzed in this paper. Firstly, the availability of all RTS products is analyzed in two levels. The first level is the epoch availability, indicating whether there is outage for that epoch. The second level is the satellite availability, which defines the available satellite number for each epoch. Then the accuracy of different RTS products is investigated on nominal accuracy and the accuracy degradation over time. Results show that Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) of satellite orbit ranges from 3.8 cm to 7.5 cm for different RTS products. While the mean Standard Deviations of Errors (STDE) of satellite clocks range from 1.9 cm to 5.6 cm. The modified Signal In Space Range Error (SISRE) for all products are from 1.3 cm to 5.5 cm for different RTS products. The accuracy degradation of the orbit has the linear trend for all RTS products and the satellite clock degradation depends on the satellite clock types. The Rb clocks on board of GPS IIF satellites have the smallest degradation rate of less than 3 cm over 10 min while the Cs clocks on board of GPS IIF have the largest degradation rate of more than 10 cm over 10 min. Finally, the real-time kinematic PPP is

A Timed Colored Petri Net Simulation-Based Self-Adaptive Collaboration Method for Production-Logistics Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengang Guo

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Complex and customized manufacturing requires a high level of collaboration between production and logistics in a flexible production system. With the widespread use of Internet of Things technology in manufacturing, a great amount of real-time and multi-source manufacturing data and logistics data is created, that can be used to perform production-logistics collaboration. To solve the aforementioned problems, this paper proposes a timed colored Petri net simulation-based self-adaptive collaboration method for Internet of Things-enabled production-logistics systems. The method combines the schedule of token sequences in the timed colored Petri net with real-time status of key production and logistics equipment. The key equipment is made ‘smart’ to actively publish or request logistics tasks. An integrated framework based on a cloud service platform is introduced to provide the basis for self-adaptive collaboration of production-logistics systems. A simulation experiment is conducted by using colored Petri nets (CPN Tools to validate the performance and applicability of the proposed method. Computational experiments demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the event-driven method in terms of reductions of waiting time, makespan, and electricity consumption. This proposed method is also applicable to other manufacturing systems to implement production-logistics collaboration.

Online Time Series Analysis of Land Products over Asia Monsoon Region via Giovanni

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Suhung; Leptoukh, Gregory G.; Gerasimov, Irina

2011-01-01

Time series analysis is critical to the study of land cover/land use changes and climate. Time series studies at local-to-regional scales require higher spatial resolution, such as 1km or less, data. MODIS land products of 250m to 1km resolution enable such studies. However, such MODIS land data files are distributed in 10ox10o tiles, due to large data volumes. Conducting a time series study requires downloading all tiles that include the study area for the time period of interest, and mosaicking the tiles spatially. This can be an extremely time-consuming process. In support of the Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS) program, NASA GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center) has processed MODIS land products at 1 km resolution over the Asia monsoon region (0o-60oN, 60o-150oE) with a common data structure and format. The processed data have been integrated into the Giovanni system (Goddard Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure) that enables users to explore, analyze, and download data over an area and time period of interest easily. Currently, the following regional MODIS land products are available in Giovanni: 8-day 1km land surface temperature and active fire, monthly 1km vegetation index, and yearly 0.05o, 500m land cover types. More data will be added in the near future. By combining atmospheric and oceanic data products in the Giovanni system, it is possible to do further analyses of environmental and climate changes associated with the land, ocean, and atmosphere. This presentation demonstrates exploring land products in the Giovanni system with sample case scenarios.

Effect of Resident Involvement on Operative Time and Operating Room Staffing Costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Robert William; Pruitt, Mark; Taaffe, Kevin M

The operating room (OR) is a major driver of hospital costs; therefore, operative time is an expensive resource. The training of surgical residents must include time spent in the OR, but that experience comes with a cost to the surgeon and hospital. The objective of this article is to determine the effect of surgical resident involvement in the OR on operative time and subsequent hospital labor costs. The Kruskal-Wallis statistical test is used to determine whether or not there is a difference in operative times between 2 groups of cases (with residents and without residents). This difference leads to an increased cost in associated hospital labor costs for the group with the longer operative time. Cases were performed at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Greenville Memorial Hospital is part of the larger healthcare system, Greenville Health System, located in Greenville, SC and is a level 1 trauma center with up to 33 staffed ORs. A total of 84,997 cases were performed at the partnering hospital between January 1st, 2011 and July 31st, 2015. Cases were only chosen for analysis if there was only one CPT code associated with the case and there were more than 5 observations for each group being studied. This article presents a comprehensive retrospective analysis of 29,134 cases covering 246 procedures. The analysis shows that 45 procedures took significantly longer with a resident present in the room. The average increase in operative time was 4.8 minutes and the cost per minute of extra operative time was determined to be $9.57 per minute. OR labor costs at the partnering hospital was found to be $2,257,433, or $492,889 per year. Knowing the affect on operative time and OR costs allows managers to make smart decisions when considering alternative educational and training techniques. In addition, knowing the connection between residents in the room and surgical duration could help provide better estimates of surgical time in the future and increase the predictability of

Computations of concentration of radon and its decay products against time. Computer program; Obliczanie koncentracji radonu i jego produktow rozpadu w funkcji czasu. Program komputerowy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Machaj, B. [Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw (Poland)

1996-12-31

This research is aimed to develop a device for continuous monitoring of radon in the air, by measuring alpha activity of radon and its short lived decay products. The influence of alpha activity variation of radon and its daughters on the measured results is of importance and requires a knowledge of this variation with time. Employing the measurement of alpha radiation of radon and of its short lived decay products, require knowledge of radon concentration variation and its decay products against the time. A computer program in Turbo Pascal language was therefore developed performing the computations employing the known relations involved, the program being adapted for IBM PC computers. The presented program enables computation of activity of {sup 222}Rn and its daughter products: {sup 218}Po, {sup 214}Pb, {sup 214}Bi and {sup 214}Po every 1 min within the period of 0-255 min for any state of radiation equilibrium between the radon and its daughter products. The program permits also to compute alpha activity of {sup 222}Rn + {sup 218}Po + {sup 214}Po against time and the total alpha activity at selected interval of time. The results of computations are stored on the computer hard disk in ASCII format and are used a graphic program e.g. by DrawPerfect program to make diagrams. Equations employed for computation of the alpha activity of radon and its decay products as well as the description of program functions are given. (author). 2 refs, 4 figs.

Improving Post-Hurricane Katrina Forest Management with MODIS Time Series Products

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Mark David; Spruce, Joseph; Evans, David; Anderson, Daniel

2012-01-01

Hurricane damage to forests can be severe, causing millions of dollars of timber damage and loss. To help mitigate loss, state agencies require information on location, intensity, and extent of damaged forests. NASA's MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data products offers a potential means for state agencies to monitor hurricane-induced forest damage and recovery across a broad region. In response, a project was conducted to produce and assess 250 meter forest disturbance and recovery maps for areas in southern Mississippi impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The products and capabilities from the project were compiled to aid work of the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory (MIFI). A series of NDVI change detection products were computed to assess hurricane induced damage and recovery. Hurricane-induced forest damage maps were derived by computing percent change between MODIS MOD13 16-day composited NDVI pre-hurricane "baseline" products (2003 and 2004) and post-hurricane NDVI products (2005). Recovery products were then computed in which post storm 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 NDVI data was each singularly compared to the historical baseline NDVI. All percent NDVI change considered the 16-day composite period of August 29 to September 13 for each year in the study. This provided percent change in the maximum NDVI for the 2 week period just after the hurricane event and for each subsequent anniversary through 2009, resulting in forest disturbance products for 2005 and recovery products for the following 4 years. These disturbance and recovery products were produced for the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory's (MIFI) Southeast Inventory District and also for the entire hurricane impact zone. MIFI forest inventory products were used as ground truth information for the project. Each NDVI percent change product was classified into 6 categories of forest disturbance intensity. Stand age

Functional Characterization of NAC and MYB Transcription Factors Involved in Regulation of Biomass Production in Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruiqin Zhong

Full Text Available Switchgrass is a promising biofuel feedstock due to its high biomass production and low agronomic input requirements. Because the bulk of switchgrass biomass used for biofuel production is lignocellulosic secondary walls, studies on secondary wall biosynthesis and its transcriptional regulation are imperative for designing strategies for genetic improvement of biomass production in switchgrass. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a group of switchgrass transcription factors, including several NACs (PvSWNs and a MYB (PvMYB46A, for their involvement in regulating secondary wall biosynthesis. PvSWNs and PvMYB46A were found to be highly expressed in stems and their expression was closely associated with sclerenchyma cells. Overexpression of PvSWNs and PvMYB46A in Arabidopsis was shown to result in activation of the biosynthetic genes for cellulose, xylan and lignin and ectopic deposition of secondary walls in normally parenchymatous cells. Transactivation and complementation studies demonstrated that PvSWNs were able to activate the SNBE-driven GUS reporter gene and effectively rescue the secondary wall defects in the Arabidopsis snd1 nst1 double mutant, indicating that they are functional orthologs of Arabidopsis SWNs. Furthermore, we showed that PvMYB46A could activate the SMRE-driven GUS reporter gene and complement the Arabidopsis myb46 myb83 double mutant, suggesting that it is a functional ortholog of Arabidopsis MYB46/MYB83. Together, these results indicate that PvSWNs and PvMYB46A are transcriptional switches involved in regulating secondary wall biosynthesis, which provides molecular tools for genetic manipulation of biomass production in switchgrass.

The neuropsychology and functional anatomy of timing.

OpenAIRE

Jones, C. R. G.

2005-01-01

This thesis explores the neural correlates of motor and perceptual timing. Motor timing involves the production of a timed movement (e.g. dancing), whereas perceptual timing requires a perceptual judgement (e.g. deciding which of two events lasted longer). A body of research has investigated this type of timing, concentrating on millisecond- and seconds-range intervals. Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cerebellar pathology exhibit motor and perceptual timing deficits, which has led ...

Near-extreme system condition and near-extreme remaining useful time for a group of products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Hai-Kun; Li, Yan-Feng; Huang, Hong-Zhong; Jin, Tongdan

2017-01-01

When a group of identical products is operating in field, the aggregation of failures is a catastrophe to engineers and customers who strive to develop reliable and safe products. In order to avoid a swarm of failures in a short time, it is essential to measure the degree of dispersion from different failure times in a group of products to the first failure time. This phenomenon is relevant to the crowding of system conditions near the worst one among a group of products. The group size in this paper represents a finite number of products, instead of infinite number or a single product. We evaluate the reliability of the product fleet from two aspects. First, we define near-extreme system condition and near-extreme failure time for offline solutions, which means no online observations. Second, we apply them to a continuous degradation system that breaks down when it reaches a soft failure threshold. By using particle filtering in the framework of prognostics and health management for a group of products, we aim to estimate near-extreme system condition and further predict the remaining useful life (RUL) using online solutions. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. - Highlights: • The aggregation of failures is measured for a group of identical products. • The crowding of failures is quantitated by the near-extreme evaluations. • Near-extreme system condition are given for offline solutions. • Near-extreme remaining useful time are provided for online solutions.

All energy production involves danger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pleym, H.

1976-01-01

s pointed out that while the protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere is threatened by supersonic air traffic and releases of freon, there is an increase in the concentration of ozone in the biosphere. The biological effect of ozone in forming free radicals is similar to the biological effect of ionising rad radiation, and the normal atmospheric concentration of ozone produces 3600 times the number of free radicals per person per year as does a background radiation of 100 mrem per year. It is also pointed out that the limits for sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere are 100 and 5 times the background levels respectively, while the limit for radioactive release is 1/100 th of the background level. The transmission of solar energy from space stations by microwave is also thought to be dubious due to possible biological effects of such radiation. In conclusion a balanced view on the biological and environmental hazards of power generation from all sources, and not only nuclear, is called for. (JIW)

Real time evolution at finite temperatures with operator space matrix product states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pižorn, Iztok; Troyer, Matthias; Eisler, Viktor; Andergassen, Sabine

2014-01-01

We propose a method to simulate the real time evolution of one-dimensional quantum many-body systems at finite temperature by expressing both the density matrices and the observables as matrix product states. This allows the calculation of expectation values and correlation functions as scalar products in operator space. The simulations of density matrices in inverse temperature and the local operators in the Heisenberg picture are independent and result in a grid of expectation values for all intermediate temperatures and times. Simulations can be performed using real arithmetics with only polynomial growth of computational resources in inverse temperature and time for integrable systems. The method is illustrated for the XXZ model and the single impurity Anderson model. (paper)

Real time evolution at finite temperatures with operator space matrix product states

Science.gov (United States)

Pižorn, Iztok; Eisler, Viktor; Andergassen, Sabine; Troyer, Matthias

2014-07-01

We propose a method to simulate the real time evolution of one-dimensional quantum many-body systems at finite temperature by expressing both the density matrices and the observables as matrix product states. This allows the calculation of expectation values and correlation functions as scalar products in operator space. The simulations of density matrices in inverse temperature and the local operators in the Heisenberg picture are independent and result in a grid of expectation values for all intermediate temperatures and times. Simulations can be performed using real arithmetics with only polynomial growth of computational resources in inverse temperature and time for integrable systems. The method is illustrated for the XXZ model and the single impurity Anderson model.

Characterizing Global Flood Wave Travel Times to Optimize the Utility of Near Real-Time Satellite Remote Sensing Products

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, G. H.; David, C. H.; Andreadis, K. M.; Emery, C. M.; Famiglietti, J. S.

2017-12-01

Earth observing satellites provide valuable near real-time (NRT) information about flood occurrence and magnitude worldwide. This NRT information can be used in early flood warning systems and other flood management applications to save lives and mitigate flood damage. However, these NRT products are only useful to early flood warning systems if they are quickly made available, with sufficient time for flood mitigation actions to be implemented. More specifically, NRT data latency, or the time period between the satellite observation and when the user has access to the information, must be less than the time it takes a flood to travel from the flood observation location to a given downstream point of interest. Yet the paradigm that "lower latency is always better" may not necessarily hold true in river systems due to tradeoffs between data latency and data quality. Further, the existence of statistical breaks in the global distribution of flood wave travel time (i.e. a jagged statistical distribution) would represent preferable latencies for river-observation NRT remote sensing products. Here we present a global analysis of flood wave velocity (i.e. flow celerity) and travel time. We apply a simple kinematic wave model to a global hydrography dataset and calculate flow wave celerity and travel time during bankfull flow conditions. Bankfull flow corresponds to the condition of maximum celerity and thus we present the "worst-case scenario" minimum flow wave travel time. We conduct a similar analysis with respect to the time it takes flood waves to reach the next downstream city, as well as the next downstream reservoir. Finally, we conduct these same analyses, but with regards to the technical capabilities of the planned Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, which is anticipated to provide waterbody elevation and extent measurements at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. We validate these results with discharge records from paired

Pair production in an electric field in a time-dependent gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barut, A.O.; Duru, I.H.

1989-07-01

A new nonperturbative method of calculation of the pair production in a constant electric field is presented in which the propagator is evaluated entirely by path-integration in a time-dependent potential. This gauge and the path integration correctly define all the normalizations. As a by-product we get also the Unruh formula since the constant electric field provides an accelerated frame. (author). 11 refs

On the stability analysis of a general discrete-time population model involving predation and Allee effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merdan, H.; Duman, O.

2009-01-01

This paper presents the stability analysis of equilibrium points of a general discrete-time population dynamics involving predation with and without Allee effects which occur at low population density. The mathematical analysis and numerical simulations show that the Allee effect has a stabilizing role on the local stability of the positive equilibrium points of this model.

The impact of product configurators on lead times in engineering-oriented companies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haug, Anders; Hvam, Lars; Mortensen, Niels Henrik

2011-01-01

This paper presents a study of how the use of product configurators affects business processes of engineering-oriented companies. A literature study shows that only a minor part of product configuration research deals with the effects of product configuration, and that the ones that do are mostly...... vague when reporting the effects of configurator projects. Only six cases were identified, which provide estimates of the actual size of lead time reduction achieved from product configurators. To broaden this knowledge, this paper presents the results of a study of 14 companies concerning the impact...

Corporate Involvement in C AI

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Justine C.

1978-01-01

Historic perspective of computer manufacturers and their contribution to CAI. Corporate CAI products and services are mentioned, as is a forecast for educational involvement by computer corporations. A chart of major computer corporations shows gross sales, net earnings, products and services offered, and other corporate information. (RAO)

Trace Metal Requirements for Microbial Enzymes Involved in the Production and Consumption of Methane and Nitrous Oxide

Science.gov (United States)

Glass, Jennifer B.; Orphan, Victoria J.

2011-01-01

Fluxes of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are heavily influenced by microbiological activity. Microbial enzymes involved in the production and consumption of greenhouse gases often contain metal cofactors. While extensive research has examined the influence of Fe bioavailability on microbial CO2 cycling, fewer studies have explored metal requirements for microbial production and consumption of the second- and third-most abundant greenhouse gases, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Here we review the current state of biochemical, physiological, and environmental research on transition metal requirements for microbial CH4 and N2O cycling. Methanogenic archaea require large amounts of Fe, Ni, and Co (and some Mo/W and Zn). Low bioavailability of Fe, Ni, and Co limits methanogenesis in pure and mixed cultures and environmental studies. Anaerobic methane oxidation by anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) likely occurs via reverse methanogenesis since ANME possess most of the enzymes in the methanogenic pathway. Aerobic CH4 oxidation uses Cu or Fe for the first step depending on Cu availability, and additional Fe, Cu, and Mo for later steps. N2O production via classical anaerobic denitrification is primarily Fe-based, whereas aerobic pathways (nitrifier denitrification and archaeal ammonia oxidation) require Cu in addition to, or possibly in place of, Fe. Genes encoding the Cu-containing N2O reductase, the only known enzyme capable of microbial N2O conversion to N2, have only been found in classical denitrifiers. Accumulation of N2O due to low Cu has been observed in pure cultures and a lake ecosystem, but not in marine systems. Future research is needed on metalloenzymes involved in the production of N2O by enrichment cultures of ammonia oxidizing archaea, biological mechanisms for scavenging scarce metals, and possible links between metal bioavailability and greenhouse gas fluxes in anaerobic environments where metals may be limiting due to sulfide

An ecological approach to prospective and retrospective timing of long durations: a study involving gamers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Tobin

Full Text Available To date, most studies comparing prospective and retrospective timing have failed to use long durations and tasks with a certain degree of ecological validity. The present study assessed the effect of the timing paradigm on playing video games in a "naturalistic environment" (gaming centers. In addition, as it involved gamers, it provided an opportunity to examine the effect of gaming profile on time estimation. A total of 116 participants were asked to estimate prospectively or retrospectively a video game session lasting 12, 35 or 58 minutes. The results indicate that time is perceived as longer in the prospective paradigm than in the retrospective one, although the variability of estimates is the same. Moreover, the 12-minute session was perceived as longer, proportionally, than the 35- and 58-minute sessions. The study also revealed that the number of hours participants spent playing video games per week was a significant predictor of time estimates. To account for the main findings, the differences between prospective and retrospective timing are discussed in quantitative terms using a proposed theoretical framework, which states that both paradigms use the same cognitive processes, but in different proportions. Finally, the hypothesis that gamers play more because they underestimate time is also discussed.

Comparison of Higher Fashion Involvement Group and Lower Fashion Involvement Group in Taiwan

OpenAIRE

Huang, Yu-Chiao

2013-01-01

Fashion collaboration becomes a common marketing strategy for many fashion brands in order to attract consumers’ attentions and stand out from competitors. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the formation of consumers’ attitudes toward fashion collaboration. First, it intends to distinguish different types of consumers, which are higher fashion involvement and lower fashion involvement. Second, by utiliseing four different variables, which are prior attitudes, product fit, brand, ...

Tensor-product preconditioners for higher-order space-time discontinuous Galerkin methods

Science.gov (United States)

Diosady, Laslo T.; Murman, Scott M.

2017-02-01

A space-time discontinuous-Galerkin spectral-element discretization is presented for direct numerical simulation of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. An efficient solution technique based on a matrix-free Newton-Krylov method is developed in order to overcome the stiffness associated with high solution order. The use of tensor-product basis functions is key to maintaining efficiency at high-order. Efficient preconditioning methods are presented which can take advantage of the tensor-product formulation. A diagonalized Alternating-Direction-Implicit (ADI) scheme is extended to the space-time discontinuous Galerkin discretization. A new preconditioner for the compressible Euler/Navier-Stokes equations based on the fast-diagonalization method is also presented. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of these preconditioners for the direct numerical simulation of subsonic turbulent flows.

Tensor-Product Preconditioners for Higher-Order Space-Time Discontinuous Galerkin Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Diosady, Laslo T.; Murman, Scott M.

2016-01-01

space-time discontinuous-Galerkin spectral-element discretization is presented for direct numerical simulation of the compressible Navier-Stokes equat ions. An efficient solution technique based on a matrix-free Newton-Krylov method is developed in order to overcome the stiffness associated with high solution order. The use of tensor-product basis functions is key to maintaining efficiency at high order. Efficient preconditioning methods are presented which can take advantage of the tensor-product formulation. A diagonalized Alternating-Direction-Implicit (ADI) scheme is extended to the space-time discontinuous Galerkin discretization. A new preconditioner for the compressible Euler/Navier-Stokes equations based on the fast-diagonalization method is also presented. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of these preconditioners for the direct numerical simulation of subsonic turbulent flows.

Status of IGS Ultra-Rapid Products for Real-Time Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, J.; Griffiths, J.

2008-12-01

Since November 2000 the International GNSS Service (IGS) has produced Ultra-rapid (IGU) products for near real-time and real-time applications. They include GPS orbits, satellite clocks, and Earth rotation parameters for a sliding 48-hr period. The first day of each update is based on the most recent GPS observational data from the IGS hourly tracking network. At the time of release, these observed products have an initial latency of 3 hr. The second day of each update consists of predictions. So the predictions between about 3 and 9 hr into the second half are relevant for true real-time uses. Originally updated twice daily, the IGU products since April 2004 have been issued four times per day, at 3, 9, 15, and 21 UTC. Up to seven Analysis Centers (ACs) contribute to the IGU combinations: Astronomical Institute of the University of Berne (AIUB), European Space Operations Center (ESOC), Geodetic Observatory Pecny (GOP), GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, Natural Resources Canada (NRC), Scripps Insitution of Oceanography (SIO), U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO). This redundancy affords a high measure of reliability and enhanced orbit accuracy. IGU orbit precision has improved markedly since late 2007. This is due to a combination of factors: decommissioning of the old, poorly behaved PRN29 in October 2007; upgraded procedures implemented by GOP around the same time, by SIO in spring 2008, and by USNO in June 2008; better handling of maneuvered satellites at the combination level starting June 2008; and stricter AC rejection criteria since July 2008. As a consequence, the weighted 1D RMS residual of the IGU orbit predictions over their first 6 hr is currently about 20 to 30 mm (after a Helmert transformation) compared to the IGS Rapid orbits, averaged over the constellation. The median residual is about 15 to 20 mm. When extended to the full 24 hr prediction period, the IGU orbit errors approximately double. Systematic rotational offsets are probably more important than

Time delays between core power production and external detector response from Monte Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valentine, T.E.; Mihalczo, J.T.

1996-01-01

One primary concern for design of safety systems for reactors is the time response of external detectors to changes in the core. This paper describes a way to estimate the time delay between the core power production and the external detector response using Monte Carlo calculations and suggests a technique to measure the time delay. The Monte Carlo code KENO-NR was used to determine the time delay between the core power production and the external detector response for a conceptual design of the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor. The Monte Carlo estimated time delay was determined to be about 10 ms for this conceptual design of the ANS reactor

An economic production model for deteriorating items and time dependent demand with rework and multiple production setups

Science.gov (United States)

Uthayakumar, R.; Tharani, S.

2017-12-01

Recently, much emphasis has given to study the control and maintenance of production inventories of the deteriorating items. Rework is one of the main issues in reverse logistic and green supply chain, since it can reduce production cost and the environmental problem. Many researchers have focused on developing rework model, but few of them have developed model for deteriorating items. Due to this fact, we take up productivity and rework with deterioration as the major concern in this paper. In this paper, a production-inventory model with deteriorative items in which one cycle has n production setups and one rework setup (n, 1) policy is considered for deteriorating items with stock-dependent demand in case 1 and exponential demand in case 2. An effective iterative solution procedure is developed to achieve optimal time, so that the total cost of the system is minimized. Numerical and sensitivity analyses are discussed to examine the outcome of the proposed solution procedure presented in this research.

Charge-transfer collisions involving few-electron systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, T.

2016-01-01

Ion-atom collision systems that involve more than one electron constitute nonseparable few-body problems, whose full solution is difficult to say the least. At impact energies well below 1 keV/amu an expansion of the stationary scattering wave function in terms of a limited number of products of nuclear and molecular state wave functions (amended to satisfy scattering boundary conditions) is feasible and usually sufficient to obtain accurate charge-transfer cross sections provided the electronic wave functions include configuration interaction. At energies above 1 keV/amu this approach becomes inefficient and close-coupling methods within the semi classical approximation are better suited to treat the problem. For bare-ion collisions from helium target atoms explicit solutions of the two-electron time-dependent Schrödinger equation can be achieved, but are computationally costly and cannot be extended to problems which involve more than two electrons.

Agrotourist products-feedback and suggestions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramona Ciolac

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Currently tourism activity is rising, and the fierce competition between destinations, plus the stress conditions of the present time makes, lately, searching rural areas for rest and recreation to be a general trend in world practice of current tourism. In this context, each community has a chance of developing it, but to accomplishing it must highlight the valences through competitive agrotourist products. The content of agrotourist product involves complex packages of products and services, both from the "base" area and in the "entertainment" area.

Development and use of dynamic product-line architectures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andersson, J; Bosch, J

Software product families are used to shorten time-to-market, improve quality and lower cost, by means of effective reuse. The paper presents the results of case study conducted at four Swedish companies that are involved in either the development of or development with a software product family.

Inactivation of the Medial-Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Interval Timing Precision, but Not Timing Accuracy or Scalar Timing in a Peak-Interval Procedure in Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalin V. Buhusi

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Motor sequence learning, planning and execution of goal-directed behaviors, and decision making rely on accurate time estimation and production of durations in the seconds-to-minutes range. The pathways involved in planning and execution of goal-directed behaviors include cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuitry modulated by dopaminergic inputs. A critical feature of interval timing is its scalar property, by which the precision of timing is proportional to the timed duration. We examined the role of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC in timing by evaluating the effect of its reversible inactivation on timing accuracy, timing precision and scalar timing. Rats were trained to time two durations in a peak-interval (PI procedure. Reversible mPFC inactivation using GABA agonist muscimol resulted in decreased timing precision, with no effect on timing accuracy and scalar timing. These results are partly at odds with studies suggesting that ramping prefrontal activity is crucial to timing but closely match simulations with the Striatal Beat Frequency (SBF model proposing that timing is coded by the coincidental activation of striatal neurons by cortical inputs. Computer simulations indicate that in SBF, gradual inactivation of cortical inputs results in a gradual decrease in timing precision with preservation of timing accuracy and scalar timing. Further studies are needed to differentiate between timing models based on coincidence detection and timing models based on ramping mPFC activity, and clarify whether mPFC is specifically involved in timing, or more generally involved in attention, working memory, or response selection/inhibition.

Assimilation of LAI time-series in crop production models

Science.gov (United States)

Kooistra, Lammert; Rijk, Bert; Nannes, Louis

2014-05-01

Agriculture is worldwide a large consumer of freshwater, nutrients and land. Spatial explicit agricultural management activities (e.g., fertilization, irrigation) could significantly improve efficiency in resource use. In previous studies and operational applications, remote sensing has shown to be a powerful method for spatio-temporal monitoring of actual crop status. As a next step, yield forecasting by assimilating remote sensing based plant variables in crop production models would improve agricultural decision support both at the farm and field level. In this study we investigated the potential of remote sensing based Leaf Area Index (LAI) time-series assimilated in the crop production model LINTUL to improve yield forecasting at field level. The effect of assimilation method and amount of assimilated observations was evaluated. The LINTUL-3 crop production model was calibrated and validated for a potato crop on two experimental fields in the south of the Netherlands. A range of data sources (e.g., in-situ soil moisture and weather sensors, destructive crop measurements) was used for calibration of the model for the experimental field in 2010. LAI from cropscan field radiometer measurements and actual LAI measured with the LAI-2000 instrument were used as input for the LAI time-series. The LAI time-series were assimilated in the LINTUL model and validated for a second experimental field on which potatoes were grown in 2011. Yield in 2011 was simulated with an R2 of 0.82 when compared with field measured yield. Furthermore, we analysed the potential of assimilation of LAI into the LINTUL-3 model through the 'updating' assimilation technique. The deviation between measured and simulated yield decreased from 9371 kg/ha to 8729 kg/ha when assimilating weekly LAI measurements in the LINTUL model over the season of 2011. LINTUL-3 furthermore shows the main growth reducing factors, which are useful for farm decision support. The combination of crop models and sensor

The Triggers, Timing and Speed of New Product Price Landings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C. Hernández-Mireles (Carlos); D. Fok (Dennis); Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans)

2008-01-01

textabstractMany high-tech products and durable goods exhibit exactly one significant price cut some time after their launch. We call this sudden transition from high to low prices the price landing. In this paper we present a new model that describes two important features of price landings: their

An integrated production inventory model of deteriorating items subject to random machine breakdown with a stochastic repair time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huynh Trung Luong

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In a continuous manufacturing environment where production and consumption occur simultaneously, one of the biggest challenges is the efficient management of production and inventory system. In order to manage the integrated production inventory system economically it is necessary to identify the optimal production time and the optimal production reorder point that either maximize the profit or minimize the cost. In addition, during production the process has to go through some natural phenomena like random breakdown of machine, deterioration of product over time, uncertainty in repair time that eventually create the possibility of shortage. In this situation, efficient management of inventory & production is crucial. This paper addresses the situation where a perishable (deteriorated product is manufactured and consumed simultaneously, the demand of this product is stable over the time, machine that produce the product also face random failure and the time to repair this machine is also uncertain. In order to describe this scenario more appropriately, the continuously reviewed Economic Production Quantity (EPQ model is considered in this research work. The main goal is to identify the optimal production uptime and the production reorder point that ultimately minimize the expected value of total cost consisting of machine setup, deterioration, inventory holding, shortage and corrective maintenance cost.

Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production involving continuous processes – A process system engineering (PSE)-assisted design framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cervera Padrell, Albert Emili; Skovby, Tommy; Kiil, Søren

2012-01-01

and fermentation-based products. The method exploits the synergic combination of continuous flow technologies (e.g., microfluidic techniques) and process systems engineering (PSE) methods and tools for faster process design and increased process understanding throughout the whole drug product and process...... kg of product – was reduced to half of its initial value, with potential for further reduction. The case-study includes reaction steps typically used by the pharmaceutical industry featuring different characteristic reaction times, as well as L–L separation and distillation-based solvent exchange...

Global, real-time ionosphere specification for end-user communication and navigation products

Science.gov (United States)

Tobiska, W.; Carlson, H. C.; Schunk, R. W.; Thompson, D. C.; Sojka, J. J.; Scherliess, L.; Zhu, L.; Gardner, L. C.

2010-12-01

Space weather’s effects upon the near-Earth environment are due to dynamic changes in the energy transfer processes from the Sun’s photons, particles, and fields. Of the space environment domains that are affected by space weather, the ionosphere is the key region that affects communication and navigation systems. The Utah State University (USU) Space Weather Center (SWC) is a developer and producer of commercial space weather applications. A key system-level component for providing timely information about the effects of space weather is the Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurements (GAIM) system. GAIM, operated by SWC, improves real-time communication and navigation systems by continuously ingesting up to 10,000 slant TEC measurements every 15-minutes from approximately 500 stations. Using a Kalman filter, the background output from the physics-based Ionosphere Forecast Model (IFM) is adjusted to more accurately represent the actual ionosphere. An improved ionosphere leads to more useful derivative products. For example, SWC runs operational code, using GAIM, to calculate and report the global radio high frequency (HF) signal strengths for 24 world cities. This product is updated every 15 minutes at http://spaceweather.usu.edu and used by amateur radio operators. SWC also developed and provides through Apple iTunes the widely used real-time space weather iPhone app called SpaceWx for public space weather education. SpaceWx displays the real-time solar, heliosphere, magnetosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere drivers to changes in the total electron content, for example. This smart phone app is tip of the “iceberg” of automated systems that provide space weather data; it permits instant understanding of the environment surrounding Earth as it dynamically changes. SpaceWx depends upon a distributed network that connects satellite and ground-based data streams with algorithms to quickly process the measurements into geophysical data, incorporate those

Are known cyanotoxins involved in the toxicity of picoplanktonic and filamentous North Atlantic marine cyanobacteria?

Science.gov (United States)

Frazão, Bárbara; Martins, Rosário; Vasconcelos, Vitor

2010-06-21

Eight marine cyanobacteria strains of the genera Cyanobium, Leptolyngbya, Oscillatoria, Phormidium, and Synechococcus were isolated from rocky beaches along the Atlantic Portuguese central coast and tested for ecotoxicity. Strains were identified by morphological characteristics and by the amplification and sequentiation of the 16S rDNA. Bioactivity of dichloromethane, methanol and aqueous extracts was assessed by the Artemia salina bioassay. Peptide toxin production was screened by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Molecular analysis of the genes involved in the production of known cyanotoxins such as microcystins, nodularins and cylindrospermopsin was also performed. Strains were toxic to the brine shrimp A. salina nauplii with aqueous extracts being more toxic than the organic ones. Although mass spectrometry analysis did not reveal the production of microcystins or other known toxic peptides, a positive result for the presence of mcyE gene was found in one Leptolyngbya strain and one Oscillatoria strain. The extensive brine shrimp mortality points to the involvement of other unknown toxins, and the presence of a fragment of genes involved in the cyanotoxin production highlight the potential risk of cyanobacteria occurrence on the Atlantic coast.

A cluster merging method for time series microarray with production values.

Science.gov (United States)

Chira, Camelia; Sedano, Javier; Camara, Monica; Prieto, Carlos; Villar, Jose R; Corchado, Emilio

2014-09-01

A challenging task in time-course microarray data analysis is to cluster genes meaningfully combining the information provided by multiple replicates covering the same key time points. This paper proposes a novel cluster merging method to accomplish this goal obtaining groups with highly correlated genes. The main idea behind the proposed method is to generate a clustering starting from groups created based on individual temporal series (representing different biological replicates measured in the same time points) and merging them by taking into account the frequency by which two genes are assembled together in each clustering. The gene groups at the level of individual time series are generated using several shape-based clustering methods. This study is focused on a real-world time series microarray task with the aim to find co-expressed genes related to the production and growth of a certain bacteria. The shape-based clustering methods used at the level of individual time series rely on identifying similar gene expression patterns over time which, in some models, are further matched to the pattern of production/growth. The proposed cluster merging method is able to produce meaningful gene groups which can be naturally ranked by the level of agreement on the clustering among individual time series. The list of clusters and genes is further sorted based on the information correlation coefficient and new problem-specific relevant measures. Computational experiments and results of the cluster merging method are analyzed from a biological perspective and further compared with the clustering generated based on the mean value of time series and the same shape-based algorithm.

A Timed Colored Petri Net Simulation-Based Self-Adaptive Collaboration Method for Production-Logistics Systems

OpenAIRE

Zhengang Guo; Yingfeng Zhang; Xibin Zhao; Xiaoyu Song

2017-01-01

Complex and customized manufacturing requires a high level of collaboration between production and logistics in a flexible production system. With the widespread use of Internet of Things technology in manufacturing, a great amount of real-time and multi-source manufacturing data and logistics data is created, that can be used to perform production-logistics collaboration. To solve the aforementioned problems, this paper proposes a timed colored Petri net simulation-based self-adaptive colla...

Single product lot-sizing on unrelated parallel machines with non-decreasing processing times

Science.gov (United States)

Eremeev, A.; Kovalyov, M.; Kuznetsov, P.

2018-01-01

We consider a problem in which at least a given quantity of a single product has to be partitioned into lots, and lots have to be assigned to unrelated parallel machines for processing. In one version of the problem, the maximum machine completion time should be minimized, in another version of the problem, the sum of machine completion times is to be minimized. Machine-dependent lower and upper bounds on the lot size are given. The product is either assumed to be continuously divisible or discrete. The processing time of each machine is defined by an increasing function of the lot volume, given as an oracle. Setup times and costs are assumed to be negligibly small, and therefore, they are not considered. We derive optimal polynomial time algorithms for several special cases of the problem. An NP-hard case is shown to admit a fully polynomial time approximation scheme. An application of the problem in energy efficient processors scheduling is considered.

Tricyclic Antidepressant Amitriptyline-induced Glial Cell Line-derived Neurotrophic Factor Production Involves Pertussis Toxin-sensitive Gαi/o Activation in Astroglial Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Hisaoka-Nakashima, Kazue; Miyano, Kanako; Matsumoto, Chie; Kajitani, Naoto; Abe, Hiromi; Okada-Tsuchioka, Mami; Yokoyama, Akinobu; Uezono, Yasuhito; Morioka, Norimitsu; Nakata, Yoshihiro; Takebayashi, Minoru

2015-05-29

Further elaborating the mechanism of antidepressants, beyond modulation of monoaminergic neurotransmission, this study sought to elucidate the mechanism of amitriptyline-induced production of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in astroglial cells. Previous studies demonstrated that an amitriptyline-evoked matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)/FGF receptor (FGFR)/FGFR substrate 2α (FRS2α)/ERK cascade is crucial for GDNF production, but how amitriptyline triggers this cascade remains unknown. MMP is activated by intracellular mediators such as G proteins, and this study sought to clarify the involvement of G protein signaling in amitriptyline-evoked GDNF production in rat C6 astroglial cells (C6 cells), primary cultured rat astrocytes, and normal human astrocytes. Amitriptyline-evoked GDNF mRNA expression and release were inhibited by pertussis toxin (PTX), a Gα(i/o) inhibitor, but not by NF449, a Gα(s) inhibitor, or YM-254890, a Gαq inhibitor. The activation of the GDNF production cascade (FGFR/FRS2α/ERK) was also inhibited by PTX. Deletion of Gα(ο1) and Gα(i3) by RNAi demonstrated that these G proteins play important roles in amitriptyline signaling. G protein activation was directly analyzed by electrical impedance-based biosensors (CellKey(TM) assay), using a label-free (without use of fluorescent proteins/probes or radioisotopes) and real time approach. Amitriptyline increased impedance, indicating Gα(i/o) activation that was suppressed by PTX treatment. The impedance evoked by amitriptyline was not affected by inhibitors of the GDNF production cascade. Furthermore, FGF2 treatment did not elicit any effect on impedance, indicating that amitriptyline targets PTX-sensitive Gα(i/o) upstream of the MMP/FGFR/FRS2α/ERK cascade. These results suggest novel targeting for the development of antidepressants. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Precipitation Analysis at Fine Time Scales using TRMM and Other Satellites: Real-time and Research Products and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert; Huffman, George; Bolvin, David; Nelkin, Eric; Curtis, Scott; Pierce, Harold; Gu, Guo-Jon

2004-01-01

Quasi-global precipitation analyses at fine time scales (3-hr) are described. TRMM observations (radar and passive microwave) are used to calibrate polar-orbit microwave observations from SSM/I (and other satellites instruments, including AMSR and AMSU) and geosynchronous IR observations. The individual data sets are then merged using a priority order based on quality to form the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA). Raingauge information is used to help constrain the satellite-based estimates over land. The TRMM standard research product (Version 6 3B-42 of the TRMM products) will be available for the entire TRMM period (January 1998-present) by the end of 2004. The real-time version of this merged product has been produced over the past two years and is available on the U.S. TRMM web site (trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov) at 0.25" latitude-longitude resolution over the latitude range from 5O0N-50"S. Validation of daily totals indicates good results, with limitations noted in mid-latitude winter over land and regions of shallow, orographic precipitation. Various applications of these estimates are described, includmg: 1) detecting potential floods in near real-time; 2) analyzing Indian Ocean precipitation variations related to the initiation of El Nino; 3) determining characteristics of the African monsoon; and 4) analysis of diurnal variations.

The Influence of Brand Associations on Brand Loyalty in Accordance with Product Involvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Canan Eryigit

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine whether the influence of brand associations on brand loyalty differ for high involved and low involved consumers. The study is conducted on the followers of professional football teams. The results of the Chow test revealed that influence of brand associations on brand loyalty differ for high involved and low involved consumers. The affects of attributes are greater for high involved consumers rather than low involved consumers. The affect of brand attitude is greater for low involved consumers rather than low involved consumers.

Production Cells in Construction: Considering Time, Space and Information Linkages to Seek Broader Implementations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renato Nunes Mariz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The use of production cells in manufacturing has achieved many benefits, motivating researchers to apply them in the construction environment. The aim of this research is to identify time, space, and information linkages in construction’s production cells applications, seeking opportunities for broader implementations. We adopted a literature review approach focusing on cases in the Brazilian construction sector that addressed cell applications. Subsequently, comparative tables of these publications were prepared, analyzing the consideration of time, space, and information linkages, as well as identified results. The article pointed out that there is a gap in publications that address the application of a production cell in almost all construction flows, except the job site flow, reflecting the tendency of most companies of applying lean concepts firstly in physical flows. By analyzing these aspects (group of features that enhance the use of the cell, it was found that “material flow and pull systems” and “operators interaction” were the aspects most often considered, but mostly partially. Few cases reported the use of “flexibility” and “equipment maintenance”. No case reported comprehensive considerations of the three important linkages of time, space, and information. Space was the linkage better considered compared to time and information linkages. Lead time reduction, cost savings and increased productivity were among the greatest benefits reported from the applications of production cells. There is also a positive correlation between the linkages coverage and the number of benefits obtained. Further research is suggested in order to investigate the results of a more comprehensive application considering all linkages.

Hopf bifurcations of a ratio-dependent predator–prey model involving two discrete maturation time delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karaoglu, Esra; Merdan, Huseyin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A ratio-dependent predator–prey system involving two discrete maturation time delays is studied. • Hopf bifurcations are analyzed by choosing delay parameters as bifurcation parameters. • When a delay parameter passes through a critical value, Hopf bifurcations occur. • The direction of bifurcation, the period and the stability of periodic solution are also obtained. - Abstract: In this paper we give a detailed Hopf bifurcation analysis of a ratio-dependent predator–prey system involving two different discrete delays. By analyzing the characteristic equation associated with the model, its linear stability is investigated. Choosing delay terms as bifurcation parameters the existence of Hopf bifurcations is demonstrated. Stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions is determined by using the center manifold theorem and the normal form theory introduced by Hassard et al. Furthermore, some of the bifurcation properties including direction, stability and period are given. Finally, theoretical results are supported by some numerical simulations

Consumer involvement profiles: An application of consumer involvement in mobile industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Homa Rahbarian

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates consumer involvement profile among people who intend to purchase mobile devises. The study considers the effects of various factors influencing on purchase intention including consumers’ personal characteristics such as age, gender, income as well as some external factors including advertisement. The study uses a questionnaire in Likert scale, originally developed by O’Cass (2000 [O’Cass, A. (2000. An assessment of consumers' product, purchase decision, advertising and consumption involvement in fashion clothing. Journal of Economic Psychology, 21, 545-576.]. The questionnaire has been distributed among 385 people, randomly who purchased mobile devices from a mall in city of Tehran, Iran. Using Pearson correlation test, the study has concluded that oral advertisement as well as consumer purchase involvement have positive and strong relationship with consumer’s purchase intention. In terms of age, people aged 20-30 maintained the highest purchase intention. In addition, in terms of gender, men had more purchase involvement than women did.

Continuous-Time Classical and Quantum Random Walk on Direct Product of Cayley Graphs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salimi, S.; Jafarizadeh, M. A.

2009-01-01

In this paper we define direct product of graphs and give a recipe for obtaining probability of observing particle on vertices in the continuous-time classical and quantum random walk. In the recipe, the probability of observing particle on direct product of graph is obtained by multiplication of probability on the corresponding to sub-graphs, where this method is useful to determining probability of walk on complicated graphs. Using this method, we calculate the probability of continuous-time classical and quantum random walks on many of finite direct product Cayley graphs (complete cycle, complete K n , charter and n-cube). Also, we inquire that the classical state the stationary uniform distribution is reached as t → ∞ but for quantum state is not always satisfied. (general)

Leisure-time Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Older People: The Influence of Sport Involvement on Behaviour Patterns in Later Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy M. Gayman

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Given the dramatic demographic change underway in most industrialized nations, the health of older adults is a major concern, particularly given the prevalence of sedentary behaviours and physical inactivity among ageing populations. Researchers have suggested sport participation in later life promotes other health-related behaviours, however, these relationships are poorly understood. It is possible for individuals to be classified as sufficiently active and still spend most of their day involved in sedentary pursuits. Moreover, there is little information on older sport participants’ use of time compared to leisurely active or inactive peers and whether type of physical activity involvement is associated with differences in older adults’ behaviour patterns. With this in mind, data from 1,723 respondents (65 years and older who completed the sport module of the 2010 Canadian General Social Survey–Time Use were used to investigate the influence of physical activity involvement (competitive sport vs. non-competitive sport vs. physically active leisure vs. inactivity on time spent in leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Results indicated that competitive sport participants spent less time engaging in sedentary behaviours compared to the physically active leisure or inactive respondents; however, sport participants (both competitive and non-competitive also spent less time engaging in leisure-time physical activities than the physically active leisure group. Implications of these findings to assumptions related to the activity levels of older sport participants, suggestions for future research, and considerations for sport-related interventions aimed at enhancing health in older adulthood are discussed.

Leisure-time Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Older People: The Influence of Sport Involvement on Behaviour Patterns in Later Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Gayman, Amy M; Fraser-Thomas, Jessica; Spinney, Jamie E L; Stone, Rachael C; Baker, Joseph

2017-01-01

Given the dramatic demographic change underway in most industrialized nations, the health of older adults is a major concern, particularly given the prevalence of sedentary behaviours and physical inactivity among ageing populations. Researchers have suggested sport participation in later life promotes other health-related behaviours, however, these relationships are poorly understood. It is possible for individuals to be classified as sufficiently active and still spend most of their day involved in sedentary pursuits. Moreover, there is little information on older sport participants' use of time compared to leisurely active or inactive peers and whether type of physical activity involvement is associated with differences in older adults' behaviour patterns. With this in mind, data from 1,723 respondents (65 years and older) who completed the sport module of the 2010 Canadian General Social Survey-Time Use were used to investigate the influence of physical activity involvement (competitive sport vs. non-competitive sport vs. physically active leisure vs. inactivity) on time spent in leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Results indicated that competitive sport participants spent less time engaging in sedentary behaviours compared to the physically active leisure or inactive respondents; however, sport participants (both competitive and non-competitive) also spent less time engaging in leisure-time physical activities than the physically active leisure group. Implications of these findings to assumptions related to the activity levels of older sport participants, suggestions for future research, and considerations for sport-related interventions aimed at enhancing health in older adulthood are discussed.

The Times Higher Education Ranking Product: Visualising Excellence through Media

Science.gov (United States)

Stack, Michelle L.

2013-01-01

This paper will examine the Times Higher Education's (THE) World University Rankings as a corporate media product. A number of empirical studies have critiqued the methodology of the THE, yet individuals, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and governments continue to use them for decision-making. This paper analyses the influence of…

Design of Real Time Data Acquisition System Framework for Production Workshop Based on OPC Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yue-xin Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the low level of production management information in a hydraulic torque converter enterprise is presented. It is needed to develop a digital assembly shop MES to solve this problem. There is a high demand for the real-time data acquisition of the production line in the digital assembly shop MES. According to the actual needs of MES in digital assembly workshop, a real time data acquisition system framework based on OPC technology and database technology is proposed. The framework can be used to meet the actual needs of the real time monitoring system and production business information processing in MES.

Method for Hot Real-Time Sampling of Gasification Products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pomeroy, Marc D [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-09-29

The Thermochemical Process Development Unit (TCPDU) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a highly instrumented half-ton/day pilot scale plant capable of demonstrating industrially relevant thermochemical technologies from lignocellulosic biomass conversion, including gasification. Gasification creates primarily Syngas (a mixture of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide) that can be utilized with synthesis catalysts to form transportation fuels and other valuable chemicals. Biomass derived gasification products are a very complex mixture of chemical components that typically contain Sulfur and Nitrogen species that can act as catalysis poisons for tar reforming and synthesis catalysts. Real-time hot online sampling techniques, such as Molecular Beam Mass Spectrometry (MBMS), and Gas Chromatographs with Sulfur and Nitrogen specific detectors can provide real-time analysis providing operational indicators for performance. Sampling typically requires coated sampling lines to minimize trace sulfur interactions with steel surfaces. Other materials used inline have also shown conversion of sulfur species into new components and must be minimized. Sample line Residence time within the sampling lines must also be kept to a minimum to reduce further reaction chemistries. Solids from ash and char contribute to plugging and must be filtered at temperature. Experience at NREL has shown several key factors to consider when designing and installing an analytical sampling system for biomass gasification products. They include minimizing sampling distance, effective filtering as close to source as possible, proper line sizing, proper line materials or coatings, even heating of all components, minimizing pressure drops, and additional filtering or traps after pressure drops.

Pattern of leisure-time physical activity involvement of Academic and non-Academic staff in tertiary Institutions in Ondo State, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ajibua M.A.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Leisure signifies individual’s choice to spend his/her discretionary time fulfilling certain interest or needs or performing a gratifying experience for the sake of wellness or personal development. The aim of this study was to look into the pattern of leisure-time physical activity involvement among academic and non-academic staff in tertiary institution in Ondo State. For the purpose of the study, 40 academic and 40 non-academic staff were selected from the five Government-owned tertiary institutions in the state using convenience sampling techniques. Thus, total respondents were 400. The instrument employed in the study was a structured and validated questionnaire, Pattern of Leisure Involvement Questionnaire (PLIQ to collect information on the pattern of leisure-time physical activity involvement among staff. The reliability test of the instrument was carried out by obtaining Cronbach’s Alpha statistic which is a measure of how reliable and consistent the instrument was. The result showed that Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.896. Since the value was above 0.5 which was the average, it showed that the research instrument was reliable and consistent. The information gathered from the subjects through the questionnaire was analyzedusing descriptive (mean, standard deviation and standard error and inferential statistics (t-test. The findings showed that academic and non-academic staff in tertiary institutions in Ondo State participate in leisure-time physical activity differently. It thus suggested that variety of leisure-time physical activities must be provided for members of tertiary institutions so that some groups will not be taken care of, while others will be isolated.

Application of Product Configuration Systems in Engineering Companies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristjansdottir, Katrin

Engineering companies increasingly face the challenge of delivering highly customized products where time, cost, and quality are critical factors. To provide customized products efficiently, a product configuration system (PCS) is commonly implemented. A PCS supports the product configuration...... process, which consists of activities that involve gathering requirements from customers and generating the required product-related specifications. The application of a PCS in the industry has revealed benefits that include shorter lead-times, improved quality of specifications and products, and lower...... overall cost of the product. However, many PCS projects do encounter failure. With an increased focus on customized and personalized products, there is a growing need for the automation of business processes. For this reason, a PCS is becoming an essential part of IT strategy in different industries...

Considering Time in Orthophotography Production: from a General Workflow to a Shortened Workflow for a Faster Disaster Response

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, G.

2015-08-01

This article overall deals with production time with orthophoto imagery with medium size digital frame camera. The workflow examination follows two main parts: data acquisition and post-processing. The objectives of the research are fourfold: 1/ gathering time references for the most important steps of orthophoto production (it turned out that literature is missing on this topic); these figures are used later for total production time estimation; 2/ identifying levers for reducing orthophoto production time; 3/ building a simplified production workflow for emergency response: less exigent with accuracy and faster; and compare it to a classical workflow; 4/ providing methodical elements for the estimation of production time with a custom project. In the data acquisition part a comprehensive review lists and describes all the factors that may affect the acquisition efficiency. Using a simulation with different variables (average line length, time of the turns, flight speed) their effect on acquisition efficiency is quantitatively examined. Regarding post-processing, the time references figures were collected from the processing of a 1000 frames case study with 15 cm GSD covering a rectangular area of 447 km2; the time required to achieve each step during the production is written down. When several technical options are possible, each one is tested and time documented so as all alternatives are available. Based on a technical choice with the workflow and using the compiled time reference of the elementary steps, a total time is calculated for the post-processing of the 1000 frames. Two scenarios are compared as regards to time and accuracy. The first one follows the "normal" practices, comprising triangulation, orthorectification and advanced mosaicking methods (feature detection, seam line editing and seam applicator); the second is simplified and make compromise over positional accuracy (using direct geo-referencing) and seamlines preparation in order to achieve

Supplier's involvement and success of radical new product development in new ventures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Song, Michael; Di Benedetto, Anthony

2008-01-01

Supplier involvement is essential to a new venture seeking to develop a radical innovation. Despite this, prior literature has not adequately addressed supplier involvement in radical innovation, nor what the antecedents to increased supplier involvement are. We build and test a conceptual model of

Covariance of time-ordered products implies local commutativity of fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenberg, O.W.

2006-01-01

We formulate Lorentz covariance of a quantum field theory in terms of covariance of time-ordered products (or other Green's functions). This formulation of Lorentz covariance implies spacelike local commutativity or anticommutativity of fields, sometimes called microscopic causality or microcausality. With this formulation microcausality does not have to be taken as a separate assumption

Customer Involvement in the Game Development Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaja Prystupa-Rządca

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The creative industry is a fast developing sector of economy in many countries. Growing competition in this area has led many companies to implement strategy of users' involvement in product development in order to deliver products that are more aligned with customers’ needs. On the other hand, the attempt to align the customers’ expectations with artistic creativity may create tensions. Therefore, the aim of the research is to examine the methods of users’ involvement in product development and real impact of the users on project design. The obtained findings are based on two-year qualitative research project conducted in game development companies.

Deletion of genes involved in glutamate metabolism to improve poly-gamma-glutamic acid production in B. amyloliquefaciens LL3.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; He, Yulian; Gao, Weixia; Feng, Jun; Cao, Mingfeng; Yang, Chao; Song, Cunjiang; Wang, Shufang

2015-02-01

Here, we attempted to elevate poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) production by modifying genes involved in glutamate metabolism in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LL3. Products of rocR, rocG and gudB facilitate the conversion from glutamate to 2-oxoglutarate in Bacillus subtillis. The gene odhA is responsible for the synthesis of a component of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex that catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate to succinyl coenzyme A. In-frame deletions of these four genes were performed. In shake flask experiments the gudB/rocG double mutant presented enhanced production of γ-PGA, a 38 % increase compared with wild type. When fermented in a 5-L fermenter with pH control, the γ-PGA yield of the rocR mutant was increased to 5.83 g/L from 4.55 g/L for shake flask experiments. The gudB/rocG double mutant produced 5.68 g/L γ-PGA compared with that of 4.03 g/L for the wild type, a 40 % increase. Those results indicated the possibility of improving γ-PGA production by modifying glutamate metabolism, and identified potential genetic targets to improve γ-PGA production.

The FlbA-regulated predicted transcription factor Fum21 of Aspergillus niger is involved in fumonisin production.

Science.gov (United States)

Aerts, David; Hauer, Esther E; Ohm, Robin A; Arentshorst, Mark; Teertstra, Wieke R; Phippen, Christopher; Ram, Arthur F J; Frisvad, Jens C; Wösten, Han A B

2018-03-01

Aspergillus niger secretes proteins throughout the colony except for the zone that forms asexual spores called conidia. Inactivation of flbA that encodes a regulator of G-protein signaling results in colonies that are unable to reproduce asexually and that secrete proteins throughout the mycelium. In addition, the ΔflbA strain shows cell lysis and has thinner cell walls. Expression analysis showed that 38 predicted transcription factor genes are differentially expressed in strain ΔflbA. Here, the most down-regulated predicted transcription factor gene, called fum21, was inactivated. Growth, conidiation, and protein secretion were not affected in strain Δfum21. Whole genome expression analysis revealed that 63 and 11 genes were down- and up-regulated in Δfum21, respectively, when compared to the wild-type strain. Notably, 24 genes predicted to be involved in secondary metabolism were down-regulated in Δfum21, including 10 out of 12 genes of the fumonisin cluster. This was accompanied by absence of fumonisin production in the deletion strain and a 25% reduction in production of pyranonigrin A. Together, these results link FlbA-mediated sporulation-inhibited secretion with mycotoxin production.

Reservoir characterization using production data and time-lapse seismic data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dadashpour, Mohsen

2009-12-15

The most commonly encountered, and probably the most challenging task in reservoir engineering, is to describe the reservoir accurately and efficiently. An accurate description of a reservoir is crucial to the management of production and efficiency of oil recovery. Reservoir modeling is an important step in a reservoir's future performance, which is in direct proportion to reservoir management, risk analysis and making key economic decisions. The purpose of reservoir modeling is to not only build a model that is consistent with currently available data, but to build one that gives a good prediction of its future behavior. Updating a reservoir model to behave as closely as possible to the real reservoir is called history matching, and the estimation of reservoir properties using this method is known as parameter estimation problem, which is an inversion process. Parameter estimation is a time consuming and non-unique problem with a large solution space. Saturation and pressure changes, and porosity and permeability distributions are the most common parameters to estimate in the oil industry. These parameters must be specified in every node within a petroleum reservoir simulator. These parameters will be adjusted until the model prediction data match the observation data to a sufficient degree. The solution space reduction in this project is done by adding time-lapse seismic data as a new set of dynamic data to the traditional production histories. Time-lapse (or 4D) seismic consists of two or more 3D seismic surveys shot at different calendar times. Time-lapse seismic surveys produce images at different times in a reservoir's history. The seismic response of a reservoir may change due to changes in pressure, fluid saturation and temperature. These changes in seismic images due to a variation in saturation and pressure can be used as additional observation data. Time-lapse seismic data are dynamical measurements which have a high resolution in the

Production of pizza dough with reduced fermentation time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simone Limongi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to reduce the fermentation time of pizza dough by evaluating the development of the dough during fermentation using a Chopin® rheofermentometer and verifying the influence of time and temperature using a 2² factorial design. The focus was to produce characteristic soft pizza dough with bubbles and crispy edges and soft in the center. These attributes were verified by the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA. The dough was prepared with the usual ingredients, fermented at a temperature range from 27 to 33 ºC for 30 to 42 minutes, enlarged, added with tomato sauce, baked, and frozen. The influence of the variables time and temperature on the release of carbon dioxide (H'm was confirmed with positive and significant effect, using a rheofermentometer, which was not observed for the development or maximum height of the dough (Hm. The same fermentation conditions of the experimental design were used for the production of the pizza dough in the industrial process; it was submitted to Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA, in which the samples were described by nine attributes. The results showed that some samples had the desired characteristics of pizza dough, demonstrated by the principal component analysis (PCA, indicating a 30 % fermentation time reduction when compared to the conventional process.

An Evolutionary Genomic Approach to Identify Genes Involved in Human Birth Timing

Science.gov (United States)

Orabona, Guilherme; Morgan, Thomas; Haataja, Ritva; Hallman, Mikko; Puttonen, Hilkka; Menon, Ramkumar; Kuczynski, Edward; Norwitz, Errol; Snegovskikh, Victoria; Palotie, Aarno; Fellman, Vineta; DeFranco, Emily A.; Chaudhari, Bimal P.; McGregor, Tracy L.; McElroy, Jude J.; Oetjens, Matthew T.; Teramo, Kari; Borecki, Ingrid; Fay, Justin; Muglia, Louis

2011-01-01

Coordination of fetal maturation with birth timing is essential for mammalian reproduction. In humans, preterm birth is a disorder of profound global health significance. The signals initiating parturition in humans have remained elusive, due to divergence in physiological mechanisms between humans and model organisms typically studied. Because of relatively large human head size and narrow birth canal cross-sectional area compared to other primates, we hypothesized that genes involved in parturition would display accelerated evolution along the human and/or higher primate phylogenetic lineages to decrease the length of gestation and promote delivery of a smaller fetus that transits the birth canal more readily. Further, we tested whether current variation in such accelerated genes contributes to preterm birth risk. Evidence from allometric scaling of gestational age suggests human gestation has been shortened relative to other primates. Consistent with our hypothesis, many genes involved in reproduction show human acceleration in their coding or adjacent noncoding regions. We screened >8,400 SNPs in 150 human accelerated genes in 165 Finnish preterm and 163 control mothers for association with preterm birth. In this cohort, the most significant association was in FSHR, and 8 of the 10 most significant SNPs were in this gene. Further evidence for association of a linkage disequilibrium block of SNPs in FSHR, rs11686474, rs11680730, rs12473870, and rs1247381 was found in African Americans. By considering human acceleration, we identified a novel gene that may be associated with preterm birth, FSHR. We anticipate other human accelerated genes will similarly be associated with preterm birth risk and elucidate essential pathways for human parturition. PMID:21533219

Quality Improvement, Inventory Management, Lead Time Reduction and Production Scheduling in High-Mix Manufacturing Environments

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-13

Quality Improvement , Inventory Management, Lead Time Reduction and Production Scheduling in High-mix Manufacturing Environments by Sean Daigle B.S...Mechanical Engineering Chairman, Department Committee on Graduate Theses 2 Quality Improvement , Inventory Management, Lead Time Reduction and... Production Scheduling in High-mix Manufacturing Environments by Sean Daigle Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering on January 13, 2017, in

Different frontal involvement in ALS and PLS revealed by Stroop event-related potentials and reaction times

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ninfa eAmato

2013-12-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence suggests a link between cognitive and pathological changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and in frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD. Cognitive deficits have been investigated much less extensively in primary lateral sclerosis (PLS than in ALS. OBJECTIVE: to investigate bioelectrical activity to Stroop test, assessing frontal function, in ALS, PLS and control groups. METHODS: 32 non-demented ALS patients, 10 non-demented PLS patients and 27 healthy subjects were included. Twenty-nine electroencephalography (EEG channels with binaural reference were recorded during covert Stroop task performance, involving mental discrimination of the stimuli and not vocal or motor response. Group effects on event related potentials (ERPs latency were analyzed using statistical multivariate analysis. Topographic analysis was performed using low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA. RESULTS: ALS patients committed more errors in the execution of the task but they were not slower, whereas PLS patients did not show reduced accuracy, despite a slowing of reaction times (RTs. The main ERP components were delayed in ALS, but not in PLS, compared with controls. Moreover, RTs speed but not ERP latency correlated with clinical scores. ALS had decreased frontotemporal activity in the P2, P3 and N4 time windows compared to controls. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a different pattern of psychophysiological involvement in ALS compared with PLS. The former is increasingly recognized to be a multisystems disorder, with a spectrum of executive and behavioural impairments reflecting frontotemporal dysfunction. The latter seems to mainly involve the motor system, with largely spared cognitive functions. Moreover, our results suggest that the covert version of the Stroop task used in the present study, may be useful to assess cognitive state in the very advanced stage of the disease, when other cognitive tasks are not

The productivity and cost-efficiency of models for involving nurse practitioners in primary care: a perspective from queueing analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Nan; D'Aunno, Thomas

2012-04-01

To develop simple stylized models for evaluating the productivity and cost-efficiencies of different practice models to involve nurse practitioners (NPs) in primary care, and in particular to generate insights on what affects the performance of these models and how. The productivity of a practice model is defined as the maximum number of patients that can be accounted for by the model under a given timeliness-to-care requirement; cost-efficiency is measured by the corresponding annual cost per patient in that model. Appropriate queueing analysis is conducted to generate formulas and values for these two performance measures. Model parameters for the analysis are extracted from the previous literature and survey reports. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the model performance under different scenarios and to verify the robustness of findings. Employing an NP, whose salary is usually lower than a primary care physician, may not be cost-efficient, in particular when the NP's capacity is underutilized. Besides provider service rates, workload allocation among providers is one of the most important determinants for the cost-efficiency of a practice model involving NPs. Capacity pooling among providers could be a helpful strategy to improve efficiency in care delivery. The productivity and cost-efficiency of a practice model depend heavily on how providers organize their work and a variety of other factors related to the practice environment. Queueing theory provides useful tools to take into account these factors in making strategic decisions on staffing and panel size selection for a practice model. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Balancing development costs and sales to optimize the development time of product line additions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Langerak, F.; Griffin, A.; Hultink, E.J.

2010-01-01

Development teams often use mental models to simplify development time decision making because a comprehensive empirical assessment of the trade-offs across the metrics of development time, development costs, proficiency in market-entry timing, and new product sales is simply not feasible.

Global Near Real-Time Satellite-based Flood Monitoring and Product Dissemination

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, M.; Slayback, D. A.; Policelli, F.; Brakenridge, G. R.; Tokay, M.

2012-12-01

Flooding is among the most destructive, frequent, and costly natural disasters faced by modern society, with several major events occurring each year. In the past few years, major floods have devastated parts of China, Thailand, Pakistan, Australia, and the Philippines, among others. The toll of these events, in financial costs, displacement of individuals, and deaths, is substantial and continues to rise as climate change generates more extreme weather events. When these events do occur, the disaster management community requires frequently updated and easily accessible information to better understand the extent of flooding and better coordinate response efforts. With funding from NASA's Applied Sciences program, we have developed, and are now operating, a near real-time global flood mapping system to help provide critical flood extent information within 24-48 hours after flooding events. The system applies a water detection algorithm to MODIS imagery received from the LANCE (Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS) system at NASA Goddard. The LANCE system typically processes imagery in less than 3 hours after satellite overpass, and our flood mapping system can output flood products within ½ hour of acquiring the LANCE products. Using imagery from both the Terra (10:30 AM local time overpass) and Aqua (1:30 PM) platforms allows an initial assessment of flooding extent by late afternoon, every day, and more robust assessments after accumulating imagery over a longer period; the MODIS sensors are optical, so cloud cover remains an issue, which is partly overcome by using multiple looks over one or more days. Other issues include the relatively coarse scale of the MODIS imagery (250 meters), the difficulty of detecting flood waters in areas with continuous canopy cover, confusion of shadow (cloud or terrain) with water, and accurately identifying detected water as flood as opposed to normal water extents. We have made progress on some of these issues

Effects of Time-Compressed Speech Training on Multiple Functional and Structural Neural Mechanisms Involving the Left Superior Temporal Gyrus.

Science.gov (United States)

Maruyama, Tsukasa; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Motoki, Kosuke; Jeong, Hyeonjeong; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nakagawa, Seishu; Nouchi, Rui; Iizuka, Kunio; Yokoyama, Ryoichi; Yamamoto, Yuki; Hanawa, Sugiko; Araki, Tsuyoshi; Sakaki, Kohei; Sasaki, Yukako; Magistro, Daniele; Kawashima, Ryuta

2018-01-01

Time-compressed speech is an artificial form of rapidly presented speech. Training with time-compressed speech (TCSSL) in a second language leads to adaptation toward TCSSL. Here, we newly investigated the effects of 4 weeks of training with TCSSL on diverse cognitive functions and neural systems using the fractional amplitude of spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), fractional anisotropy (FA), and regional gray matter volume (rGMV) of young adults by magnetic resonance imaging. There were no significant differences in change of performance of measures of cognitive functions or second language skills after training with TCSSL compared with that of the active control group. However, compared with the active control group, training with TCSSL was associated with increased fALFF, RSFC, and FA and decreased rGMV involving areas in the left STG. These results lacked evidence of a far transfer effect of time-compressed speech training on a wide range of cognitive functions and second language skills in young adults. However, these results demonstrated effects of time-compressed speech training on gray and white matter structures as well as on resting-state intrinsic activity and connectivity involving the left STG, which plays a key role in listening comprehension.

Biotin in microbes, the genes involved in its biosynthesis, its biochemical role and perspectives for biotechnological production.

Science.gov (United States)

Streit, W R; Entcheva, P

2003-03-01

Biotin (vitamin H) is one of the most fascinating cofactors involved in central pathways in pro- and eukaryotic cell metabolism. Since its original discovery in 1901, research has led to the discovery of the complete biotin biosynthesis pathways in many different microbes and much work has been done on the highly intriguing and complex biochemistry of biotin biosynthesis. While humans and animals require several hundred micrograms of biotin per day, most microbes, plants and fungi appear to be able to synthesize the cofactor themselves. Biotin is added to many food, feed and cosmetic products, creating a world market of 10-30 t/year. However, the majority of the biotin sold is synthesized in a chemical process. Since the chemical synthesis is linked with a high environmental burden, much effort has been put into the development of biotin-overproducing microbes. A summary of biotin biosynthesis and its biological role is presented; and current strategies for the improvement of microbial biotin production using modern biotechnological techniques are discussed.

Body size and the timing of egg production in parasitoid wasps.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ellers, J.; Jervis, M.

2003-01-01

In insects several key fitness-related variables are positively correlated with intraspecific variation in body size, but little is known about size-related variation in the timing of egg production within species. Female insects are known to vary in the degree to which they concentrate egg

Allocation and Productivity of Time in New Ventures of Female and Male Entrepreneurs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I. Verheul (Ingrid); M.A. Carree (Martin); A.R. Thurik (Roy)

2007-01-01

textabstractThis paper investigates time allocation decisions in new ventures of female and male entrepreneurs using a model that distinguishes between effects of preferences and productivity on the number of working hours. Using data of 1,158 entrepreneurs we find that the preference for work time

Allocation and productivity of time in new ventures of female and male entrepreneurs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I. Verheul (Ingrid); M.A. Carree (Martin); A.R. Thurik (Roy)

2009-01-01

textabstractThis paper investigates time allocation decisions in new ventures of female and male entrepreneurs using a model that distinguishes between effects of preferences and productivity on the number of working hours. Using data of 1,158 entrepreneurs we find that the preference for work time

Use of Real Time Satellite Infrared and Ocean Color to Produce Ocean Products

Science.gov (United States)

Roffer, M. A.; Muller-Karger, F. E.; Westhaver, D.; Gawlikowski, G.; Upton, M.; Hall, C.

2014-12-01

Real-time data products derived from infrared and ocean color satellites are useful for several types of users around the world. Highly relevant applications include recreational and commercial fisheries, commercial towing vessel and other maritime and navigation operations, and other scientific and applied marine research. Uses of the data include developing sampling strategies for research programs, tracking of water masses and ocean fronts, optimizing ship routes, evaluating water quality conditions (coastal, estuarine, oceanic), and developing fisheries and essential fish habitat indices. Important considerations for users are data access and delivery mechanisms, and data formats. At this time, the data are being generated in formats increasingly available on mobile computing platforms, and are delivered through popular interfaces including social media (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and others), Google Earth and other online Geographical Information Systems, or are simply distributed via subscription by email. We review 30 years of applications and describe how we develop customized products and delivery mechanisms working directly with users. We review benefits and issues of access to government databases (NOAA, NASA, ESA), standard data products, and the conversion to tailored products for our users. We discuss advantages of different product formats and of the platforms used to display and to manipulate the data.

Implementation of Releasing Time to Care - the productive ward.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Gwyneth

2009-07-01

This paper describes the implementation of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement Productive Ward - releasing time to care programme. It will discuss the benefits and key successes and provides advice for those wishing to implement the programme. In Lord Darzi's Next Stage Review, he advocates an ambitious vision of patient centred - clinician led, locally driven NHS. The Releasing Time to Care programme is a unique opportunity for everyone working within the NHS to improve effectiveness, safety and reliability of the services we provide. Whilst being situated within a National Health Service policy environment learning from this work can be translated nationally and internationally, as the principles underpin the provision of high quality care. Evaluation is currently in relation to each of the 15 modules rather than as the programme as a whole. It uses various methods including audit, observation, activity follow through, satisfaction surveys and process mapping. Each month data is colated for each of the 11 metrics which has shown a reduction in falls, drug administration errors and improvement in the recording of patient observations. One of the key issues is that an essential component for the success of the programme lies in the tangible support of the Trust Board/Board of Directors. Evidence shows that this programme improves patient satisfaction as it enables the provision of an increase in direct patient care by staff and subsequently improved clinical and safety outcomes. Ward Sister/Charge Nurse development includes Leadership, Project management and Lean Methodology techniques. The Releasing Time to Care programme is a key component of the Next Stage Review. It will create productive organisations by being a catalyst for the transformation of Trust services, enabling staff to spend more time caring for patients and users. This release in time will result in better outcomes and subsequent improvement with patient and staff satisfaction and

MOPITT Near Real-Time Data for LANCE: Automatic Quality Assurance and Comparison to Operational Products

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Alonso, S.; Deeter, M. N.; Worden, H. M.; Ziskin, D.

2017-12-01

Terra-MOPITT (the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere instrument) near real-time (NRT) carbon monoxide (CO) products have been selected for distribution through NASA's LANCE (the Land, Atmosphere Near Real-Time Capability for EOS). MOPITT version 7 NRT data will be made publicly available within 3 hours from observation. The retrieval process is the same for both MOPITT NRT and operational products, albeit for the former it is constrained to use ancillary data available within the latency time. Among other requirements, LANCE NRT products must be examined for quality assurance (QA) purposes and relative errors between NRT and operational products must be quantified. Here we present an algorithm for automatic MOPITT NRT QA aimed to identify artifacts and separate those from anomalously high but real CO values. The algorithm is based on a comparison to the statistics of MOPITT operational products. We discuss the algorithm's performance when tested by applying it to three MOPITT datasets: a known (and corrected) artifact in version 4 operational data, anomalously high CO values in operational data during the 2015 Indonesia fires, and actual NRT data. Last, we describe results from a quantitative comparison between MOPITT NRT data and their operational counterparts.

JOINT INVOLVEMENT IN SYPHILIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. I. Zlobina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Joint involvement in syphilis has been considered as casuistry in recent years. At the same time, the high incidence of primary syphilis and the notified cases of late neurosyphilis may suggest that joint involvement in this disease is by no means always verified. Traditionally there are two forms of syphilitic arthritis: primary synovial (involving the articular membranes and sac and primary bone (involving the articular bones and cartilages ones. The paper describes the authors' clinical case of the primary bone form of articular syphilis in a 34-year-old man. 

Fathers' and Mothers' Involvement with Their Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Phares, Vicky; Fields, Sherecce; Kamboukos, Dimitra

2009-01-01

We explored mothers' and fathers' time spent with their adolescents and found that mothers reported spending more time with their adolescents than did fathers. Developmental patterns were found for some aspects of time involvement, with both mothers and fathers reporting higher involvement with younger adolescents. Ratings of time-spent were not…

Modelling maintenance practice of production plant using the delay-time concept

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Christer, A.H.; Wang, Wenbin; Baker, R.D.; Sharp, J.

1995-01-01

In this paper we present a study carried out for a copper products manufacturing company, developing and applying the delay-time modelling technique to model and thus optimize preventive maintenance (PM) of the plant. A key machine in the plant is used to illustrate the modelling process and

Early user involvement in designing intelligent products and environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijt-Evers, L.; Steen, M.

2008-01-01

A literature review was conducted on user involvement in design. The focus of the review was on how researchers and designers attempt to cooperate with end-users, with the goal of making a better match with end-users’ needs and preferences. The main goal of the research was to get insight in which

TIME ZONE DIFFERENCE, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE AND TRADE: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alaka Shree Prasad

2017-09-01

Full Text Available With the growing development in communication technology and increased fragmentation of production process, services that were once considered non-tradable can now be traded across different nations. In this respect, trading countries located in different time zones of the world with non-overlapping working hours are able to develop a comparative advantage together for the supply of these services. Disintegrating the production of a service across different time zones can allow the production to be completed efficiently and make the product available in the market meeting consumer demand in a timely fashion. In this paper, we have reviewed some of important research that has been conducted in the area of time zone differences and trade. This type of trade further affects the factor market and production patterns of the involved countries and has also been significant for their growth and welfare.

Research on the time optimization model algorithm of Customer Collaborative Product Innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guodong Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To improve the efficiency of information sharing among the innovation agents of customer collaborative product innovation and shorten the product design cycle, an improved genetic annealing algorithm of the time optimization was presented. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the analysis of the objective relationship between the design tasks, the paper takes job shop problems for machining model and proposes the improved genetic algorithm to solve the problems, which is based on the niche technology and thus a better product collaborative innovation design time schedule is got to improve the efficiency. Finally, through the collaborative innovation design of a certain type of mobile phone, the proposed model and method were verified to be correct and effective. Findings and Originality/value: An algorithm with obvious advantages in terms of searching capability and optimization efficiency of customer collaborative product innovation was proposed. According to the defects of the traditional genetic annealing algorithm, the niche genetic annealing algorithm was presented. Firstly, it avoided the effective gene deletions at the early search stage and guaranteed the diversity of solution; Secondly, adaptive double point crossover and swap mutation strategy were introduced to overcome the defects of long solving process and easily converging local minimum value due to the fixed crossover and mutation probability; Thirdly, elite reserved strategy was imported that optimal solution missing was avoided effectively and evolution speed was accelerated. Originality/value: Firstly, the improved genetic simulated annealing algorithm overcomes some defects such as effective gene easily lost in early search. It is helpful to shorten the calculation process and improve the accuracy of the convergence value. Moreover, it speeds up the evolution and ensures the reliability of the optimal solution. Meanwhile, it has obvious advantages in efficiency of

Issues Involved in Developing Ada Real-Time Systems

Science.gov (United States)

1989-02-15

expensive modifications to the compiler or Ada runtime system to fit a particular application. Whether we can solve the problems of programming real - time systems in...lock in solutions to problems that are not yet well understood in standards as rigorous as the Ada language. Moreover, real - time systems typically have

Product Maturation Guide - A Digital Simulation Outcome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boorla, Srinivasa Murthy; Howard, Thomas J.

2016-01-01

. Tolerance analysis tools, those optimizing the individual part tolerances at the time of design can generate a product maturation guide that eliminates many problem solving procedures and saves time on root cause analysis. Assume a first product built on a new assembly line was found to need improvements....... To conclude the actions we need information about all the dimensions of child parts and processes involved and their influence. At the time of product design, the tolerance analysis system works with the same variables with a given range of variations virtually. For a practical build, instead of variation...... range, it has to consider one fixed value measured from initial parts. By adding information about process characteristics, like speed, cost, etc. to all the dimensions, the system can directly guide the manufacturing team, on which parameter to modify, which direction and how much. At the same time...

Evaluation of cochlear involvement by distortion product otoacoustic emission in Behçet's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Dagli, Muharrem; Eryilmaz, Adil; Tanrikulu, Salih; Aydin, Acar; Gonul, Muzeyyen; Gul, Ulker; Gocer, Celil

2008-09-01

The aim of this study was to investigate cochlear involvement in patients with Behçet's disease. Twenty-six Behçet's disease patients (52 ears) and 24 sex and age-matched healthy control subjects (48 ears) were included in the study. Pure-tone audiometry at frequencies 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000 Hz, immittance measures including tympanometry and acoustic reflex testing and DPOAE (distortion product otoacoustic emission) testing were performed in the patients and controls. A sensorineural hearing loss was found in eight patients (30.7%) as it was bilateral in five and unilateral in three patients. Although no typical audiometric configuration was found, one patient had a flat type audiogram, and the others had a high frequency hearing loss. The DPOAE responses of the patients and controls were significantly different in all frequencies (p<0.05). These results indicate that cochlea is affected by damage of outer hair cells in Behçet's disease.

Cofactor and CO2 donor regulation involved in reductive routes for polymalic acid production by Aureobasidium pullulans CCTCC M2012223.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Xiang; Tu, Guangwei; Zan, Zhanquan

2014-10-01

Polymalic acid (PMA) is a water-soluble polyester with many attractive properties for biomedical application. Its monomer L-malic acid is widely used in the food industry and also a potential C4 platform chemical. Cofactor and CO2 donor involved in the reductive routes were investigated for PMA production by Aureobasidium pullulans. Biotin as the key cofactor of pyruvate carboxylase was favor for the PMA biosynthesis. Na2CO3 as CO2 donor can obviously improved PMA titer when compared with no CO2 supplier NaOH, and also exhibit more advantages than the other donor CaCO3 because of its water-soluble characteristic. A combinational process with addition of biotin 70 mg/L and Na2CO3 as the CO2 donor was scaled-up in 50 L fermentor, achieving the high product 34.3 g/L of PMA and productivity of 0.41 g/L h. This process provides an efficient and economical way for PMA and malic acid production, and is promising for industrial application.

A double-edged sword: the effects of challenge and hindrance time pressure on new product development teams

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chong, D.S.F.; van Eerde, W.; Chai, K.H.; Rutte, C.G.

2011-01-01

Bringing new products to market requires team effort. New product development teams often face demanding schedules and high deliverable expectations, making time pressure a common experience at the workplace. Past literature have generally associated the relationship between time pressure and

Optimal batch production strategies under continuous price decrease and time discounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mandal S.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Single price discount in unit cost for bulk purchasing is quite common in reality as well as in inventory literature. However, in today's high-tech industries such as personal computers and mobile industries, continuous decrease in unit cost is a regular phenomenon. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to investigate the effects of continuous price decrease and time-value of money on optimal decisions for inventoried goods having time-dependent demand and production rates. The proposed models are developed over a finite time horizon considering both shortages and without shortages in inventory. Numerical examples are taken to illustrate the developed models and to examine the sensitivity of model parameters.

A fatal poisoning involving 2-fluorofentanyl

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Mette Findal; Hardlei, Tore Forsingdal; Rosendal, Ingrid

Background/introduction: A fatal intoxication involving 2-fluorofentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid analgesic, is reported. This is the first serious case associated with 2-fluorofentanyl that to our knowledge have been reported. 2-fluorofentanyl is the common name for N-(2-fluorophenyl)-N-[1...... and gastric content samples were submitted for toxicological examination; all samples were screened by ultra-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-HR-TOFMS) and quantified by specific UPLC-MS/MS methods. Powder recovered from the scene of death was identified......-mortem femoral blood concentrations found were: 2-fluorofentanyl 0.012 mg/kg (UPLC-MS/MS); alcohol production as the body was moderate decomposed; buprenorphine 0.0004 mg/kg (UPLC-MS/MS) prescribed; quetiapine 0.088 mg/kg (UPLC-MS/MS) prescribed; venlafaxine 0.089 mg...

Order Level Inventory Models for Deteriorating Seasonable/Fashionable Products with Time Dependent Demand and Shortages

OpenAIRE

Skouri, K.; Konstantaras, I.

2009-01-01

An order level inventory model for seasonable/fashionable products subject to a period of increasing demand followed by a period of level demand and then by a period of decreasing demand rate (three branches ramp type demand rate) is considered. The unsatisfied demand is partially backlogged with a time dependent backlogging rate. In addition, the product deteriorates with a time dependent, namely, Weibull, deterioration rate. The model is studied under the following different replenishment p...

Developing what customers really need : involving customers in innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weber, M.E.A.; Weggeman, M.C.D.P.; Aken, van J.E.

2012-01-01

Involving users in new product design and development is in itself not a new phenomenon. Academic research on the subject, however, is relatively new. Since this new millennium research on user involvement in innovations has multiplied, exhibiting that firms who actively involve users in their

Real-time product attribute control to manufacture antibodies with defined N-linked glycan levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Zupke, Craig; Brady, Lowell J; Slade, Peter G; Clark, Philip; Caspary, R Guy; Livingston, Brittney; Taylor, Lisa; Bigham, Kyle; Morris, Arvia E; Bailey, Robert W

2015-01-01

Pressures for cost-effective new therapies and an increased emphasis on emerging markets require technological advancements and a flexible future manufacturing network for the production of biologic medicines. The safety and efficacy of a product is crucial, and consistent product quality is an essential feature of any therapeutic manufacturing process. The active control of product quality in a typical biologic process is challenging because of measurement lags and nonlinearities present in the system. The current study uses nonlinear model predictive control to maintain a critical product quality attribute at a predetermined value during pilot scale manufacturing operations. This approach to product quality control ensures a more consistent product for patients, enables greater manufacturing efficiency, and eliminates the need for extensive process characterization by providing direct measures of critical product quality attributes for real time release of drug product. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Antecedents and effects of consumer involvement in fish as a product group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juhl, Hans Jørn; Poulsen, Carsten Stig

2000-01-01

important to marketing strategies. However, the potential effects of involvement did not differ between the segments. Rather, the customer's involvement ensures that sign value and utility have effects such as greater enjoyment of shopping and higher frequency of usage....

Expertise, Time, Money, Mentoring, and Reward: Systemic Barriers That Limit Education Researcher Productivity-Proceedings From the AAMC GEA Workshop.

Science.gov (United States)

Yarris, Lalena M; Juve, Amy Miller; Artino, Anthony R; Sullivan, Gail M; Rougas, Steven; Joyce, Barbara; Eva, Kevin

2014-09-01

To further evolve in an evidence-based fashion, medical education needs to develop and evaluate new practices for teaching, learning, and assessment. However, educators face barriers in designing, conducting, and publishing education research. To explore the barriers medical educators face in formulating, conducting, and publishing high-quality medical education research, and to identify strategies for overcoming them. A consensus workshop was held November 5, 2013, at the Association of American Medical Colleges annual meeting. A working group of education research experts and educators completed a preconference literature review focusing on barriers to education research. During the workshop, consensus-based and small group techniques were used to refine the broad themes into content categories. Attendees then ranked the most important barriers and strategies for overcoming them with the highest potential impact. Barriers participants faced in conducting quality education research included lack of (1) expertise, (2) time, (3) funding, (4) mentorship, and (5) reward. The strategy considered most effective in overcoming these barriers involved building communities of education researchers for collaboration and networking, and advocating for education researchers' interests. Other suggestions included trying to secure increased funding opportunities, developing mentoring programs, and encouraging mechanisms to ensure protected time. Barriers to education research productivity clearly exist. Many appear to result from feelings of isolation that may be overcome with systemic efforts to develop and enable communities of practice across institutions. Finally, the theme of "reward" is novel and complex and may have implications for education research productivity.

Fostering employee involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Beecher, G P

1997-11-01

Every year, the ODA's Economics of Practice Committee, with the help of an independent consulting firm, carries out the Cost of Practice Monitor which tracks the various costs of running a dental practice in Ontario. This article is the result of a joint ODA-Arthur Andersen initiative to provide members with detailed information from the Monitor. Over the next year, there will be a series of articles published under the heading "Best practises for Ontario's Dental Practices." The article featured in this issue focuses on wage expenses in dental practices and how to foster employee involvement as a means of addressing cost-productivity issues. Furthermore, information relating to wage expenses may be used by practitioners to benchmark their practice against the average Ontario dental practice. Appendix C was developed for this purpose. Through benchmarking, the practitioner may gain insight into ways of evaluating their practice and in addressing issues that could improve the management of the practice. For a long time, concepts of best business practises were applied only to manufacturing organizations or large multi-national corporations but experience has demonstrated that these activities are universal to all organizations, including service companies, schools, government and not-for-profit organizations.

Time-dependent histamine release from stored human blood products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Hans Jørgen; Edvardsen, L; Vangsgaard, K

1996-01-01

storage. Whole blood (six units), plasma-reduced whole blood (six units), and plasma- and buffy coat-reduced (saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol) (SAGM) blood (six units) from unpaid healthy donors were stored in the blood bank for 35 days at 4 degrees C. Plasma histamine and total cell-bound histamine......Perioperative transfusion of whole blood has been shown to amplify trauma-induced immunosuppression, which could be attenuated by perioperative administration of histamine2 receptor antagonists. Supernatants from different blood products were, therefore, analysed for histamine content during.......0 (range 176.0-910.0) nmol/l in whole blood and 475.0 (range 360.0-1560.0) nmol/l in plasma-reduced whole blood, while it was undetectable in SAGM blood. Spontaneous histamine release increased in a time-dependent manner from a median of 6.7 (range 2.2-17.4) nmol/l at the time of storage to 175.0 (range 33...

A comparison of modern investment-linked pension savings products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linneman, Per; Bruhn, Kenneth; Steffensen, Mogens

2015-01-01

price changes in the financial market. Our results show that not only investment profiles define the stability of annuity benefits over time. In addition, more fundamental elements of the product design are important. The perspective on product design and development is Danish, but two of the compared......This paper is a continuation of and a supplement to the paper by Jørgensen & Linnemann. Both papers deal with TimePension – a (formula-based) smoothed investment-linked annuity pension scheme. Both papers compare TimePension with other pension savings products using stochastic financial simulation....... TimePension as well as the financial model and simulation concept being used in both papers were introduced in the paper op cit. Jørgensen & Linnemann compare TimePension with a traditional with-profits scheme involving bonus entitlement and an investment-linked Unit Link scheme with a fixed proportion...

Near Real Time Operational Satellite Ocean Color Products From NOAA OSPO CoastWatch Okeanos System:: Status and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Banghua Yan, B.

2016-02-01

Near real-time (NRT) ocean color (OC) satellite operation products are generated and distributed in NOAA Okeanos Operational Product System, by using the CWAPS including the Multi-Sensor Level (MSL) 12 and the chlorophyll-a frontal algorithms. Current OC operational products include daily chlorophyll concentration (anomaly), water turbidity, remote sensing reflectance and chlorophyll frontal products from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Aqua. The products have been widely applied to USA local and state ecosystem research, ecosystem observations, and fisheries managements for coastal and regional forecasting of ocean water quality, phytoplankton concentrations, and primary production. Users of the products have the National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Weather Service, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Recently, the OC products are being extended to S-NPP VIIRS to provide global NRT ocean color products to user community suh as National Weatrher Service for application for Global Data Assimilation System and Real-Time Ocean Forecast System. However, there remain some challenges in application of the products due to certain product quality and coverage issues. Recent efforts were made to provide a comprehensive web-based Quality Assurance (QA) tool for monitoring OC products quality in near real time mode, referring to http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/color_new/color.htm. The new QA monitoring tool includes but not limited to the following advanced features applicable for MODIS/Aqua and NPP/VIIRS OC products: 1) Monitoring product quality in NRT mode; 2) Monitoring the availability and quality of OC products with time; 3) Detecting anomalous OC products due to low valid pixels and other quality issues. As an example, potential application and challenges of the ocean color products to oceanic oil spill detection are investigated. It is thus expected that the Okeanos ocean color operational system in

A framework for public involvement at the design stage of NHS health and social care research: time to develop ethically conscious standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandya-Wood, Raksha; Barron, Duncan S; Elliott, Jim

2017-01-01

Researchers who conduct studies in health and social care are encouraged to involve the public as early as possible in the process of designing their studies. Before their studies are allowed to start researchers must seek approval from a Research Ethics Committee, which will assess whether the study is going to be safe and ethical for patients or healthy volunteers to take part in. The process of ethical review does not consider how researchers work with patients and the public early on to design their studies. Furthermore, there is no requirement for researchers to seek ethical approval for public involvement. However, in our work advising researchers about public involvement we have found that the ways in which researchers involve the public in the design of their studies are sometimes unintentionally unethical, and this is the focus of our paper. We have observed ten areas where ethical issues may arise because of the actions researchers may or may not take and which might consequently have a negative impact. Therefore, we have used these observations to develop a "framework" to help researchers and the public work together at the early design stage in ways that are ethical. Our intention for the framework is to help researchers be mindful of these ten areas and how easily ethical issues can arise. The framework suggests some ways to overcome the potential issues in each of the ten areas. The ten areas are: 1) Allocating sufficient time for public involvement; 2) Avoiding tokenism; 3) Registering research design stage public involvement work with NHS Research & Development Trust Office at earliest opportunity; 4) Communicating clearly from the outset; 5) Entitling public contributors to stop their involvement for any unstated reasons; 6) Operating fairness of opportunity; 7) Differentiating qualitative research methods and public involvement activities; 8) Working sensitively; 9) Being conscious of confidentiality and 10) Valuing, acknowledging and rewarding

Bifurcation and complex dynamics of a discrete-time predator-prey system involving group defense

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. M. Sohel Rana

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of a discrete-time predator-prey system involving group defense. The existence and local stability of positive fixed point of the discrete dynamical system is analyzed algebraically. It is shown that the system undergoes a flip bifurcation and a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation in the interior of R+2 by using bifurcation theory. Numerical simulation results not only show the consistence with the theoretical analysis but also display the new and interesting dynamical behaviors, including phase portraits, period-7, 20-orbits, attracting invariant circle, cascade of period-doubling bifurcation from period-20 leading to chaos, quasi-periodic orbits, and sudden disappearance of the chaotic dynamics and attracting chaotic set. The Lyapunov exponents are numerically computed to characterize the complexity of the dynamical behaviors.

Fission product retention during faults involving steam generator tube rupture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodliffe, R.S.

1983-08-01

In some PWR fault conditions, such as stuck open safety relief valve in the secondary circuit or main steam line break, the release of fission products to the atmosphere may be increased by the leakage of primary coolant into the secondary circuit following steam generator tube rupture. The release may be reduced by retention either within the primary circuit or within the affected steam generator unit (SGU). The mechanisms leading to retention are reviewed and quantified where possible. The parameters on which any analysis will be most critically dependent are identified. Fission product iodine and caesium may be retained in the secondary side of a SGU either by partition to retained water or by droplet deposition on surfaces and subsequent evaporation to dryness. Two extreme simplifications are considered: SGU 'dry', i.e. the secondary side is steam filled, and SGU 'wet', i.e. the tube bundle is covered with water. Consideration is given to: the distribution of fission products between gaseous and aerosol forms; mechanisms for droplet formation, deposition and resuspension; fission product retention during droplet or film evaporation primary coolant mixing and droplet scrubbing in a wet SGU; and the performance of moisture separators and steam driers. (author)

Calcium-dependent nitric oxide production is involved in the cytoprotective properties of n-acetylcysteine in glycochenodeoxycholic acid-induced cell death in hepatocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Rubio, Sandra; Linares, Clara I.; Bello, Rosario I.; Gonzalez, Raul; Ferrin, Gustavo; Hidalgo, Ana B.; Munoz-Gomariz, Elisa; Rodriguez, Blanca A.; Barrera, Pilar; Ranchal, Isidora; Duran-Prado, Mario; Aguilar-Melero, Patricia; De la Mata, Manuel; Muntane, Jordi

2010-01-01

The intracellular oxidative stress has been involved in bile acid-induced cell death in hepatocytes. Nitric oxide (NO) exerts cytoprotective properties in glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GCDCA)-treated hepatocytes. The study evaluated the involvement of Ca 2+ on the regulation of NO synthase (NOS)-3 expression during N-acetylcysteine (NAC) cytoprotection against GCDCA-induced cell death in hepatocytes. The regulation of Ca 2+ pools (EGTA or BAPTA-AM) and NO (L-NAME or NO donor) production was assessed during NAC cytoprotection in GCDCA-treated HepG2 cells. The stimulation of Ca 2+ entrance was induced by A23187 in HepG2. Cell death, Ca 2+ mobilization, NOS-1, -2 and -3 expression, AP-1 activation, and NO production were evaluated. GCDCA reduced intracellular Ca 2+ concentration and NOS-3 expression, and enhanced cell death in HepG2. NO donor prevented, and L-NAME enhanced, GCDCA-induced cell death. The reduction of Ca 2+ entry by EGTA, but not its release from intracellular stores by BAPTA-AM, enhanced cell death in GCDCA-treated cells. The stimulation of Ca 2+ entrance by A23187 reduced cell death and enhanced NOS-3 expression in GCDCA-treated HepG2 cells. The cytoprotective properties of NAC were related to the recovery of intracellular Ca 2+ concentration, NOS-3 expression and NO production induced by GCDCA-treated HepG2 cells. The increase of NO production by Ca 2+ -dependent NOS-3 expression during NAC administration reduces cell death in GCDCA-treated hepatocytes.

Calcium-dependent nitric oxide production is involved in the cytoprotective properties of n-acetylcysteine in glycochenodeoxycholic acid-induced cell death in hepatocytes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez-Rubio, Sandra; Linares, Clara I; Bello, Rosario I [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Gonzalez, Raul; Ferrin, Gustavo [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Hepaticas y Digestivas (CIBEREH o Ciberehd) (Spain); Hidalgo, Ana B [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Munoz-Gomariz, Elisa [Department of Biostatistics, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Rodriguez, Blanca A [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Barrera, Pilar; Ranchal, Isidora [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Hepaticas y Digestivas (CIBEREH o Ciberehd) (Spain); Duran-Prado, Mario [Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina Lopez Neyra, CSIC, Granada (Spain); CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion CB06/03, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo (Spain); Aguilar-Melero, Patricia [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); De la Mata, Manuel [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Hepaticas y Digestivas (CIBEREH o Ciberehd) (Spain); Muntane, Jordi [Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba (Spain); Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Hepaticas y Digestivas (CIBEREH o Ciberehd) (Spain)

2010-01-15

The intracellular oxidative stress has been involved in bile acid-induced cell death in hepatocytes. Nitric oxide (NO) exerts cytoprotective properties in glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GCDCA)-treated hepatocytes. The study evaluated the involvement of Ca{sup 2+} on the regulation of NO synthase (NOS)-3 expression during N-acetylcysteine (NAC) cytoprotection against GCDCA-induced cell death in hepatocytes. The regulation of Ca{sup 2+} pools (EGTA or BAPTA-AM) and NO (L-NAME or NO donor) production was assessed during NAC cytoprotection in GCDCA-treated HepG2 cells. The stimulation of Ca{sup 2+} entrance was induced by A23187 in HepG2. Cell death, Ca{sup 2+} mobilization, NOS-1, -2 and -3 expression, AP-1 activation, and NO production were evaluated. GCDCA reduced intracellular Ca{sup 2+} concentration and NOS-3 expression, and enhanced cell death in HepG2. NO donor prevented, and L-NAME enhanced, GCDCA-induced cell death. The reduction of Ca{sup 2+} entry by EGTA, but not its release from intracellular stores by BAPTA-AM, enhanced cell death in GCDCA-treated cells. The stimulation of Ca{sup 2+} entrance by A23187 reduced cell death and enhanced NOS-3 expression in GCDCA-treated HepG2 cells. The cytoprotective properties of NAC were related to the recovery of intracellular Ca{sup 2+} concentration, NOS-3 expression and NO production induced by GCDCA-treated HepG2 cells. The increase of NO production by Ca{sup 2+}-dependent NOS-3 expression during NAC administration reduces cell death in GCDCA-treated hepatocytes.

Consumer involvement profiles: An application of consumer involvement in mobile industry

OpenAIRE

Homa Rahbarian; Fattaneh Alizadeh Meshkani

2014-01-01

This paper investigates consumer involvement profile among people who intend to purchase mobile devises. The study considers the effects of various factors influencing on purchase intention including consumers’ personal characteristics such as age, gender, income as well as some external factors including advertisement. The study uses a questionnaire in Likert scale, originally developed by O’Cass (2000) [O’Cass, A. (2000). An assessment of consumers' product, purchase decision, advertising a...

User involvement in the innovation process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Dan Saugstrup

2008-01-01

User involvement in the innovation process is not a new phenomenon. However, combined with the growing individualisation of demand and with highly competitive and dynamic environments, user involvement in the innovation process and thereby in the design, development, and manufacturing process, can...... nevertheless provide a competitive advantage. This is the case as an intensified user involvement in the innovation process potentially results in a more comprehensive understanding of the user needs and requirements and the context within which these are required, and thereby provides the possibility...... of developing better and more suitable products. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on user involvement in the innovation process and how user involvement in the innovation process can be deployed in relation to deriving and colleting user needs and requirements, and thereby serves...

TIME MANAGEMENT AS A SHOW OF WORLD VIEW OF MODERN HUMAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Yevtushevska

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Planning of time always was an inalienable part of social and economic life. However, nowadays time management became so current be-cause of essential changes in society development. Massive production, strict competition, secularization, modern cult of success caused sufficient changes in time perception. Workers, producers, agents, especially in developed countries involved into dynamic economic relations, which demand planning of time and strict daily routine. In our opinion, two main reasons of time management popularity are world-view changes, which make modern secular society radically transforms surroundings of existing and high competition between producers and workers. Time management has its positive advantages, namely it discipline peoples, rise their productivity, reduce wasting of time. However, time management can turn into end in itself.

Time-bound product returns and optimal order quantities for mass merchandisers

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Min-Chun; Goh, Mark

2012-01-01

The return guidelines for a mass merchandiser usually entail a grace period, a markdown on the original price and the condition of the returned items. This research utilises eight scenarios formed from the variation of possible return guidelines to model the cost functions of single-product categories for a typical mass merchandiser. Models for the eight scenarios are developed and solved with the objective of maximising the expected profit so as to obtain closed form solutions for the associated optimal order quantity. An illustrative example and sensitivity analysis are provided to demonstrate the applicability of the model. Our results show that merchandisers who allow for returns within a time window, albeit with a penalty cost imposed and the returned products being recoverable, should plan for larger order amounts as such products do not affect the business. Similarly, the merchandisers who allow for returns beyond a grace period and without any penalty charges, but where the returned products are irrecoverable, should manage their stocks in this category more judiciously by ordering as little as possible so as to limit the number of returns and carefully consider the effects of their customer satisfaction-guaranteed policies, if any.

Research Regarding The Purchase Decision Process Of Consumer Of Food Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Marin

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Consumer behavior includes all thoughts,feelings and actions involved in the selection, purchase, use of products orservices. When they watching an advertisement on TV, when they read a book orrecycled packaging, people fall into a certain behavior. The decision processis the software of the whole model, and involves the crossing of some specificstages: recognition of the problem, gathering the information, evaluation ofalternatives, product selection and post-purchase evaluation. The succession ofthese stages can be interrupted at a moment in time temporarily or permanently.

Restricting access time at pasture and time of grazing allocation for Holstein dairy cows: Ingestive behaviour, dry matter intake and milk production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mattiauda, D.A.; Tamminga, S.; Gibb, M.J.; Soca, P.; Bentancur, O.; Chilibroste, P.

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of restricting access time to pasture and time of grazing allocation on grazing behaviour, daily dry matter intake (DMI), rumen fermentation, milk production and composition in dairy cows. Twenty-one autumn-calving Holstein cows were assigned to

Design of Real Time Data Acquisition System Framework for Production Workshop Based on OPC Technology

OpenAIRE

Yue-xin Yang; Gong-chang Ren

2017-01-01

In this paper, the low level of production management information in a hydraulic torque converter enterprise is presented. It is needed to develop a digital assembly shop MES to solve this problem. There is a high demand for the real-time data acquisition of the production line in the digital assembly shop MES. According to the actual needs of MES in digital assembly workshop, a real time data acquisition system framework based on OPC technology and database technology is proposed. The framew...

Pair production of Dirac particles in a d + 1-dimensional noncommutative space-time

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ousmane Samary, Dine [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada); University of Abomey-Calavi, International Chair in Mathematical Physics and Applications (ICMPA-UNESCO Chair), Cotonou (Benin); N' Dolo, Emanonfi Elias; Hounkonnou, Mahouton Norbert [University of Abomey-Calavi, International Chair in Mathematical Physics and Applications (ICMPA-UNESCO Chair), Cotonou (Benin)

2014-11-15

This work addresses the computation of the probability of fermionic particle pair production in d + 1-dimensional noncommutative Moyal space. Using Seiberg-Witten maps, which establish relations between noncommutative and commutative field variables, up to the first order in the noncommutative parameter θ, we derive the probability density of vacuum-vacuum pair production of Dirac particles. The cases of constant electromagnetic, alternating time-dependent, and space-dependent electric fields are considered and discussed. (orig.)

Organisation of working time: Implications for productivity and working conditions. Overview Report

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goudswaard, A.; Dhondt, S.; Vergeer, R.; Oeij, P.; Leede, J. de; Adrichem, K. van C; Csizmadia, P.; Makó, C.; Illésy, M.; Tóth, A.

2012-01-01

Companies in search of improved productivity use a wide range of approaches, from financial incentives and skills upgrading and training to increased autonomy of individuals and teams. Working time flexibility has the added advantage in that it can benefit both workers and employers: it gives

Feasibility of an energy conversion system in Canada involving large-scale integrated hydrogen production using solid fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gnanapragasam, Nirmal V.; Reddy, Bale V.; Rosen, Marc A.

2010-01-01

A large-scale hydrogen production system is proposed using solid fuels and designed to increase the sustainability of alternative energy forms in Canada, and the technical and economic aspects of the system within the Canadian energy market are examined. The work investigates the feasibility and constraints in implementing such a system within the energy infrastructure of Canada. The proposed multi-conversion and single-function system produces hydrogen in large quantities using energy from solid fuels such as coal, tar sands, biomass, municipal solid waste (MSW) and agricultural/forest/industrial residue. The proposed system involves significant technology integration, with various energy conversion processes (such as gasification, chemical looping combustion, anaerobic digestion, combustion power cycles-electrolysis and solar-thermal converters) interconnected to increase the utilization of solid fuels as much as feasible within cost, environmental and other constraints. The analysis involves quantitative and qualitative assessments based on (i) energy resources availability and demand for hydrogen, (ii) commercial viability of primary energy conversion technologies, (iii) academia, industry and government participation, (iv) sustainability and (v) economics. An illustrative example provides an initial road map for implementing such a system. (author)

Active Involvement of End Users When Developing Web-Based Mental Health Interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek de Beurs

2017-05-01

Full Text Available BackgroundAlthough many web-based mental health interventions are being released, the actual uptake by end users is limited. The marginal level of engagement of end users when developing these interventions is recognized as an important cause for uptake problems. In this paper, we offer our perceptive on how to improve user engagement. By doing so, we aim to stimulate a discourse on user involvement within the field of online mental health interventions.MethodsWe shortly describe three different methods (the expert-driven method, intervention mapping, and scrum that were currently used to develop web-based health interventions. We will focus to what extent the end user was involved in the developmental phase, and what the additional challenges were. In the final paragraph, lessons learned are summarized, and recommendations provided.ResultsEvery method seems to have its trade-off: if end users are highly involved, availability of end users and means become problematic. If end users are less actively involved, the product may be less appropriate for the end user. Other challenges to consider are the funding of the more active role of technological companies, and the time it takes to process the results of shorter development cycles.ConclusionThinking about user-centered design and carefully planning, the involvement of end users should become standard in the field of web-based (mental health. When deciding on the level of user involvement, one should balance the need for input from users with the availability of resources such as time and funding.

Molecular quantification of lactic acid bacteria in fermented milk products using real-time quantitative PCR.

Science.gov (United States)

Furet, Jean-Pierre; Quénée, Pascal; Tailliez, Patrick

2004-12-15

Real-time quantitative PCR assays were developed for the absolute quantification of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, L. casei, L. paracasei, L. rhamnosus, L. acidophilus and L. johnsonii) in fermented milk products. The results of molecular quantification and classic bacterial enumeration did not differ significantly with respect to S. thermophilus and the species of the L. casei group which were detected in the six commercial fermented products tested, thus showing that DNA extraction was efficient and that genomic DNA solutions were free of PCR inhibitors. For L. delbrueckii, the results of bacterial enumeration were generally lower by a factor 10 to 100 than those of PCR quantification, suggesting a loss of viability during storage of the dairy products at 1-8 degrees C for most of the strains in this species. Real-time quantitative assays enabled identification of the species of lactic acid bacterial strains initially present in commercial fermented milk products and their accurate quantification with a detection threshold of 10(3) cells per ml of product.

Real-Time Analysis of Online Product Reviews by Means of Multi-Layer Feed-Forward Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reinhold Decker

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In the recent past, the quantitative analysis of online product reviews (OPRs has become a popular manifestation of marketing intelligence activities focusing on products that are frequently subject to electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM. Typical elements of OPRs are overall star ratings, product at- tribute scores, recommendations, pros and cons, and free texts. The first three elements are of pa r- ticular interest because they provide an aggregate view of reviewers’ opinions about the products of interest. However, the significance of individual product attributes in the overall evaluation pro c- ess  can  vary  in  the  course  of  time.  Accordingly,  ad  hoc  analyses  of  OPRs  that  have  been downloaded at a certain point in time are of limited value for dynamic eWOM monitoring because of their snapshot character. On the other hand, opinion platforms can increase the meaningfulness of the OPRs posted there and, therewith, the usefulness of the platform as a whole, by directing eWOM activities to those product attributes that really matter at present. This paper therefore in- troduces a neural network-based approach that allows the dynamic tracking of the influence the posted scores of product attributes have on the overall star ratings of the concerning products. By using an elasticity measure, this approach supports the identification of those attributes that tend to lose or gain significance in the product evaluation process over time. The usability of this ap- proach is demonstrated using real OPR data on digital cameras and hotels.

LAI, FAPAR and FCOVER products derived from AVHRR long time series: principles and evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Verger, A.; Baret, F.; Weiss, M.; Lacaze, R.; Makhmara, H.; Pacholczyk, P.; Smets, B.; Kandasamy, S.; Vermote, E.

2012-04-01

Continuous and long term global monitoring of the terrestrial biosphere has draught an intense interest in the recent years in the context of climate and global change. Developing methodologies for generating historical data records from data collected with different satellite sensors over the past three decades by taking benefits from the improvements identified in the processing of the new generation sensors is a new central issue in remote sensing community. In this context, the Bio-geophysical Parameters (BioPar) service within Geoland2 project (http://www.geoland2.eu) aims at developing pre-operational infrastructures for providing global land products both in near real time and off-line mode with long time series. In this contribution, we describe the principles of the GEOLAND algorithm for generating long term datasets of three key biophysical variables, leaf area index (LAI), Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetic Active Radiation (FAPAR) and cover fraction (FCOVER), that play a key role in several processes, including photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration. LAI, FAPAR and FCOVER are produced globally from AVHRR Long Term Data Record (LTDR) for the 1981-2000 period at 0.05° spatial resolution and 10 days temporal sampling frequency. The proposed algorithm aims to ensure robustness of the derived long time series and consistency with the ones developed in the recent years, and particularly with GEOLAND products derived from VEGETATION sensor. The approach is based on the capacity of neural networks to learn a particular biophysical product (GEOLAND) from reflectances from another sensor (AVHRR normalized reflectances in the red and near infrared bands). Outliers due to possible cloud contamination or residual atmospheric correction are iteratively eliminated. Prior information based on the climatology is used to get more robust estimates. A specific gap filing and smoothing procedure was applied to generate continuous and smooth time series of decadal

Self-reported sitting time and physical activity: interactive associations with mental well-being and productivity in office employees.

Science.gov (United States)

Puig-Ribera, Anna; Martínez-Lemos, Iván; Giné-Garriga, Maria; González-Suárez, Ángel Manuel; Bort-Roig, Judit; Fortuño, Jesús; Muñoz-Ortiz, Laura; McKenna, Jim; Gilson, Nicholas D

2015-01-31

Little is known about how sitting time, alone or in combination with markers of physical activity (PA), influences mental well-being and work productivity. Given the need to develop workplace PA interventions that target employees' health related efficiency outcomes; this study examined the associations between self-reported sitting time, PA, mental well-being and work productivity in office employees. Descriptive cross-sectional study. Spanish university office employees (n = 557) completed a survey measuring socio-demographics, total and domain specific (work and travel) self-reported sitting time, PA (International Physical Activity Questionnaire short version), mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale) and work productivity (Work Limitations Questionnaire). Multivariate linear regression analyses determined associations between the main variables adjusted for gender, age, body mass index and occupation. PA levels (low, moderate and high) were introduced into the model to examine interactive associations. Higher volumes of PA were related to higher mental well-being, work productivity and spending less time sitting at work, throughout the working day and travelling during the week, including the weekends (p employees, higher sitting times on work days and occupational sitting were associated with decreased mental well-being (p employees. Employees' PA levels exerts different influences on the associations between sitting time, mental well-being and work productivity. The specific associations and the broad sweep of evidence in the current study suggest that workplace PA strategies to improve the mental well-being and productivity of all employees should focus on reducing sitting time alongside efforts to increase PA.

EFFECT OF AGING TIME TOWARD CRYSTALLINITY OF PRODUCTS IN SYNTHESIS OF MESOPOROUS SILICATES MCM-41

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Suyanta Suyanta

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Researches about the effects of aging time toward crystallinity of products in the synthesis of mesoporous silicates MCM-41 have been done. MCM-41 was synthesized by hydrothermal treatment to the mixture of sodium silicate, sodium hydroxide, cetyltrimetylammoniumbromide (CTMAB and aquadest in the molar ratio of 8Na2SiO3 : CTMAB : NaOH : 400H2O. Hydrothermal treatment was carried out at 110 °C in a teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave heated in the oven, with variation of aging time, i.e.: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h respectively. The solid phase were filtered, then washed with deionised water, and dried in the oven at 100 °C for 2 h. The surfactant CTMAB was removed by calcinations at 550 °C for 10 h with heating rate 2 °C/min. The as-synthesized and calcined powders were characterized by using FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction method. The relative crystallinity of products was evaluated based on the intensity of d100 peaks. The best product was characterized by using N2 physisorption method in order to determine the specific surface area, mean pore diameter, lattice parameter, and pore walls thickness. It was concluded that the relative crystallinity of the products was sensitively influenced by the aging time. The highest relative crystallinity was achieved when used 36 h of aging time in hydrothermal treatment. In this optimum condition the product has 946.607 m2g-1 of specific surface area, 3.357 nm of mean pore diameter, 4.533 nm of lattice parameter, and 1.176 nm of pore walls thickness.

Coproduct and star product in field theories on Lie-algebra noncommutative space-times

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni; Arzano, Michele

2002-01-01

We propose a new approach to field theory on κ-Minkowski noncommutative space-time, a popular example of Lie-algebra space-time. Our proposal is essentially based on the introduction of a star product, a technique which is proving to be very fruitful in analogous studies of canonical noncommutative space-times, such as the ones recently found to play a role in the description of certain string-theory backgrounds. We find to be incorrect the expectation, previously reported in the literature, that the lack of symmetry of the κ-Poincare coproduct should lead to interaction vertices that are not symmetric under exchanges of the momenta of identical particles entering the relevant processes. We show that in κ-Minkowski the coproduct and the star product must indeed treat momenta in a nonsymmetric way, but the overall structure of interaction vertices is symmetric under exchange of identical particles. We also show that in κ-Minkowski field theories it is convenient to introduce the concepts of 'planar' and 'nonplanar' Feynman loop diagrams, again in close analogy with the corresponding concepts previously introduced in the study of field theories in canonical noncommutative space-times

Power Ultrasound to Process Dairy Products

Science.gov (United States)

Bermúdez-Aguirre, Daniela; Barbosa-Cánovas, Gustavo V.

Conventional methods of pasteurizing milk involve the use of heat regardless of treatment (batch, high temperature short time - HTST or ultra high temperature - UHT sterilization), and the quality of the milk is affected because of the use of high temperatures. Consequences of thermal treatment are a decrease in nutritional properties through the destruction of vitamins or denaturation of proteins, and sometimes the flavor of milk is undesirably changed. These changes are produced at the same time that the goal of the pasteurization process is achieved, which is to have a microbiological safe product, free of pathogenic bacteria, and to reduce the load of deteriorative microorganisms and enzymes, resulting in a product with a longer storage life.

Quantum and classical strong direct product theorems and optimal time-space tradeoffs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Klauck (Hartmut); R. Spalek (Robert); R. M. de Wolf (Ronald)

2007-01-01

textabstractA strong direct product theorem says that if we want to compute $k$ independent instances of a function, using less than $k$ times the resources needed for one instance, then our overall success probability will be exponentially small in $k$. We establish such theorems for the

Validation of Product Properties Considering a High Variety of Complex Products

OpenAIRE

Kortler, S.;Kohn, A.;Lindemann, U.

2017-01-01

Validation processes are becoming more and more complex. Due to rising technical capabilities and a wide variety of customer requirements, OEMs are increasing their product variety in order to increase profits. According to the various characteristics of subcontracted components involved in complex products, the product variety can be very high. The impacts of the involved subcontracted components on the composed product variety during the product’s application are difficult to predict. This ...

REDUCTION OF MORTADELLA COOKING TIME AND EVALUATION OF THE FINAL PRODUCT QUALITY

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Diones Orsolin

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In food industry, the cooking is one of the most important processes for the conservation and quality assurance of the final product, especially mortadella. However, this process requires high investment in modern equipment besides having energy and steam expenses.. In this context, the objective of this study was to propose a cooking method of mortadella produced with pork and chicken, by reducing time and increasing temperature inside the baking oven. Evaluations of behavior of water activity, pH and texture of the mortadella were carried out throughout shelf life. From the results, we found that both pork and chicken mortadella that were cooked by the current process and those that passed through the cooking process with reduced time showed no significant differences at the level of 95% confidence for the analyzed characteristics. Therefore, all treatments had similar values and can be considered within the established standards of product quality for both water activity and for pH and texture.

Involvement of major components from Sporothrix schenckii cell wall in the caspase-1 activation, nitric oxide and cytokines production during experimental sporotrichosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonçalves, Amanda Costa; Maia, Danielle Cardoso Geraldo; Ferreira, Lucas Souza; Monnazzi, Luis Gustavo Silva; Alegranci, Pâmela; Placeres, Marisa Campos Polesi; Batista-Duharte, Alexander; Carlos, Iracilda Zeppone

2015-02-01

Sporotrichosis is a chronic infection caused by the dimorphic fungus Sporothrix schenckii, involving all layers of skin and the subcutaneous tissue. The role of innate immune toll-like receptors 2 and 4 in the defense against this fungus has been reported, but so far, there were no studies on the effect of cell wall major components over the cytosolic oligo-merization domain (NOD)-like receptors, important regulators of inflammation and responsible for the maturation of IL-1β and IL-18, whose functions are dependents of the caspase-1 activation, that can participate of inflammasome. It was evaluated the percentage of activation of caspase-1, the production of IL-1β, IL-18, IL-17, IFN-γ and nitric oxide in a Balb/c model of S. schenckii infection. It was observed a decreased activity of caspase-1 during the fourth and sixth weeks of infection accompanied by reduced secretion of the cytokines IL-1β, IL-18 and IL-17 and high production of nitric oxide. IFN-γ levels were elevated during the entire time course of infection. This temporal reduction in caspase-1 activity coincides exactly with the reported period of fungal burden associated with a transitory immunosuppression induced by this fungus and detected in similar infection models. These results indicate the importance of interaction between caspase-1, cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 in the host defense against S. schenckii infection, suggesting a participation the inflammasome in this response.

The time-course of feature interference in agreement comprehension: Multiple mechanisms and asymmetrical attraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, Darren; Nicol, Janet; Brehm, Laurel

2014-10-01

Attraction interference in language comprehension and production may be as a result of common or different processes. In the present paper, we investigate attraction interference during language comprehension, focusing on the contexts in which interference arises and the time-course of these effects. Using evidence from event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and sentence judgment times, we show that agreement attraction in comprehension is best explained as morphosyntactic interference during memory retrieval. This stands in contrast to attraction as a message-level process involving the representation of the subject NP's number features, which is a strong contributor to attraction in production. We thus argue that the cognitive antecedents of agreement attraction in comprehension are non-identical with those of attraction in production, and moreover, that attraction in comprehension is primarily a consequence of similarity-based interference in cue-based memory retrieval processes. We suggest that mechanisms responsible for attraction during language comprehension are a subset of those involved in language production.

Estimating primary production from oxygen time series: A novel approach in the frequency domain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cox, T.J.S.; Maris, T.; Soetaert, K.; Kromkamp, J.C.; Meire, P.; Meysman, F.J.R.

2015-01-01

Based on an analysis in the frequency domain of the governing equation of oxygen dynamics in aquatic systems, we derive a new method for estimating gross primary production (GPP) from oxygen time series. The central result of this article is a relation between time averaged GPP and the amplitude of

New product development projects evaluation under time uncertainty

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Thiago Augusto de Oliveira Silva

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The development time is one of the key factors that contribute to the new product development success. In spite of that, the impact of the time uncertainty on the development has been not fully exploited, as far as decision supporting models to evaluate this kind of projects is concerned. In this context, the objective of the present paper is to evaluate the development process of new technologies under time uncertainty. We introduce a model which captures this source of uncertainty and develop an algorithm to evaluate projects that incorporates Monte Carlo Simulation and Dynamic Programming. The novelty in our approach is to thoroughly blend the stochastic time with a formal approach to the problem, which preserves the Markov property. We base our model on the distinction between the decision epoch and the stochastic time. We discuss and illustrate the applicability of our model through an empirical example.O tempo de desenvolvimento é um dos fatores-chave que contribuem para o sucesso do desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Apesar disso, o impacto da incerteza de tempo no desenvolvimento tem sido pouco considerado em modelos de avaliação e valoração deste tipo de projetos. Neste contexto, este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar projetos de desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias mediante o tempo incerto. Introduzimos um modelo capaz de captar esta fonte de incerteza e desenvolvemos um algoritmo para a valoração do projeto que integra Simulação de Monte Carlo e Programação Dinâmica. A novidade neste trabalho é conseguir integrar meticulosamente o tempo estocástico a uma estrutura formal para tomada de decisão que preserva a propriedade de Markov. O principal ponto para viabilizar este fato é distinção entre o momento de revisão e o tempo estocástico. Ilustramos e discutimos a aplicabilidade deste modelo por meio de um exemplo empírico.

Resonant e+e- production by time-varying electromagnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farakos, K.; Koutsoumbas, G.; Tiktopoulos, G.

1990-01-01

As pointed out by Cornwall and Tiktopoulos (CT) strong, time-varying electric fields may produce e + e - pairs in a resonant fashion. This effect could be related to the sharp peaks in the e + e - spectrum observed in the GSI heavy-ion collision experiments. We attempt to go beyond the case of spatially uniform fields discussed by CT. We find that resonant e + e - production indeed takes place for electric fields derived from four-potentials of the form A 1 =A 2 =A 0 =0, A 3 =δ(t)b(x 3 ) provided by b(x) has discontinuities with a jump at least equal to π. (orig.)

Pattern of leisure-time physical activity involvement of Academic and non-Academic staff in tertiary Institutions in Ondo State, Nigeria

OpenAIRE

Ajibua M.A.; Alla J.B

2012-01-01

Leisure signifies individual’s choice to spend his/her discretionary time fulfilling certain interest or needs or performing a gratifying experience for the sake of wellness or personal development. The aim of this study was to look into the pattern of leisure-time physical activity involvement among academic and non-academic staff in tertiary institution in Ondo State. For the purpose of the study, 40 academic and 40 non-academic staff were selected from the five Government-owned tertiary in...

Household production and consumption over the life cycle: National Time Transfer Accounts in 14 European countries

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Lili Vargha

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background: While the importance of unpaid household labour is recognised in total economic output, little is known about the demographics of household production and consumption. Objective: Our goal is to give a comprehensive estimation on the value of household production and its consumption by age and gender and analyse nonmarket economic transfers in 14 European countries based on publicly available harmonised data. Methods: We introduce a novel imputation method of harmonised European time use (HETUS data to the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC in order to assign time spent on home production to consumers in households and estimate time transfers. Moreover, monetary values are attributed to household production activities using data on earnings from the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES. Results: We show that the nonmarket economic life cycle of men differs from that of women. The gender gap in household production is not evenly distributed over the life cycle. Women of working age contribute the most in net terms, while the main beneficiaries of household goods and services are children and to a lesser extent adult men. These patterns are similar across countries, with variations in the gender- and age-specific levels of home production and consumption. Conclusions: In Europe, in the national economy, intergenerational flows are important in sustaining both childhood and old age. In contrast, in the household economy, intergenerational transfers flow mostly towards children. Contribution: We add a new focus to the research on household production: While keeping the gender aspect, we demonstrate the importance of the life cycle component in household production.

Fusion of product and process data: Batch-mode and real-time streaming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vincent De Sapio; Spike Leonard

1999-12-01

In today's DP product realization enterprise it is imperative to reduce the design-to-fabrication cycle time and cost while improving the quality of DP parts (reducing defects). Much of this challenge resides in the inherent gap between the product and process worlds. The lack of seamless, bi-directional flow of information prevents true concurrency in the product realization world. This report addresses a framework for product-process data fusion to help achieve next generation product realization. A fundamental objective is to create an open environment for multichannel observation of process date, and subsequent mapping of that data onto product geometry. In addition to the sensor-based observation of manufacturing processes, model-based process data provides an important complement to empirically acquired data. Two basic groups of manufacturing models are process physics, and machine kinematics and dynamics. Process physics addresses analytical models that describe the physical phenomena of the process itself. Machine kinematic and dynamic models address the mechanical behavior of the processing equipment. As a secondary objective, an attempt has been made in this report to address part of the model-based realm through the development of an open object-oriented library and toolkit for machine kinematics and dynamics. Ultimately, it is desirable to integrate design definition, with all types of process data; both sensor-based and model-based. Collectively, the goal is to allow all disciplines within the product realization enterprise to have a centralized medium for the fusion of product and process data.

Effective production planning for purchased part under long lead time and uncertain demand: MRP Vs demand-driven MRP

Science.gov (United States)

Shofa, M. J.; Moeis, A. O.; Restiana, N.

2018-04-01

MRP as a production planning system is appropriate for the deterministic environment. Unfortunately, most production systems such as customer demands are stochastic, so that MRP is inappropriate at the time. Demand-Driven MRP (DDMRP) is new approach for production planning system dealing with demand uncertainty. The objective of this paper is to compare the MRP and DDMRP for purchased part under long lead time and uncertain demand in terms of average inventory levels. The evaluation is conducted through a discrete event simulation with the long lead time and uncertain demand scenarios. The next step is evaluating the performance of DDMRP by comparing the inventory level of DDMRP with MRP. As result, DDMRP is more effective production planning than MRP in terms of average inventory levels.

EOS Data Products Latency and Reprocessing Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Ramapriyan, H. K.; Wanchoo, L.

2012-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) program has been processing, archiving, and distributing EOS data since the launch of Terra platform in 1999. The EOSDIS Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and Science-Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPSs) are generating over 5000 unique products with a daily average volume of 1.7 Petabytes. Initially EOSDIS had requirements to make process data products within 24 hours of receiving all inputs needed for generating them. Thus, generally, the latency would be slightly over 24 and 48 hours after satellite data acquisition, respectively, for Level 1 and Level 2 products. Due to budgetary constraints these requirements were relaxed, with the requirement being to avoid a growing backlog of unprocessed data. However, the data providers have been generating these products in as timely a manner as possible. The reduction in costs of computing hardware has helped considerably. It is of interest to analyze the actual latencies achieved over the past several years in processing and inserting the data products into the EOSDIS archives for the users to support various scientific studies such as land processes, oceanography, hydrology, atmospheric science, cryospheric science, etc. The instrument science teams have continuously evaluated the data products since the launches of EOS satellites and improved the science algorithms to provide high quality products. Data providers have periodically reprocessed the previously acquired data with these improved algorithms. The reprocessing campaigns run for an extended time period in parallel with forward processing, since all data starting from the beginning of the mission need to be reprocessed. Each reprocessing activity involves more data than the previous reprocessing. The historical record of the reprocessing times would be of interest to future missions, especially those involving large volumes of data and/or computational loads due to

Functional characterization of a three-component regulatory system involved in quorum sensing-based regulation of peptide antibiotic production in Carnobacterium maltaromaticum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quadri Luis EN

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Quorum sensing is a form of cell-to-cell communication that allows bacteria to control a wide range of physiological processes in a population density-dependent manner. Production of peptide antibiotics is one of the processes regulated by quorum sensing in several species of Gram-positive bacteria, including strains of Carnobacterium maltaromaticum. This bacterium and its peptide antibiotics are of interest due to their potential applications in food preservation. The molecular bases of the quorum sensing phenomenon controlling peptide antibiotic production in C. maltaromaticum remain poorly understood. The present study was aimed at gaining a deeper insight into the molecular mechanism involved in quorum sensing-mediated regulation of peptide antibiotic (bacteriocin production by C. maltaromaticum. We report the functional analyses of the CS (autoinducer-CbnK (histidine protein kinase-CbnR (response regulator three-component regulatory system and the three regulated promoters involved in peptide antibiotic production in C. maltaromaticum LV17B. Results CS-CbnK-CbnR system-dependent activation of carnobacterial promoters was demonstrated in both homologous and heterologous hosts using a two-plasmid system with a β-glucuronidase (GusA reporter read-out. The results of our analyses support a model in which the CbnK-CbnR two-component signal transduction system is necessary and sufficient to transduce the signal of the peptide autoinducer CS into the activation of the promoters that drive the expression of the genes required for production of the carnobacterial peptide antibiotics and the immunity proteins that protect the producer bacterium. Conclusions The CS-CbnK-CbnR triad forms a three-component regulatory system by which production of peptide antibiotics by C. maltaromaticum LV17B is controlled in a population density-dependent (or cell proximity-dependent manner. This regulatory mechanism would permit the bacterial

On solving wave equations on fixed bounded intervals involving Robin boundary conditions with time-dependent coefficients

Science.gov (United States)

van Horssen, Wim T.; Wang, Yandong; Cao, Guohua

2018-06-01

In this paper, it is shown how characteristic coordinates, or equivalently how the well-known formula of d'Alembert, can be used to solve initial-boundary value problems for wave equations on fixed, bounded intervals involving Robin type of boundary conditions with time-dependent coefficients. A Robin boundary condition is a condition that specifies a linear combination of the dependent variable and its first order space-derivative on a boundary of the interval. Analytical methods, such as the method of separation of variables (SOV) or the Laplace transform method, are not applicable to those types of problems. The obtained analytical results by applying the proposed method, are in complete agreement with those obtained by using the numerical, finite difference method. For problems with time-independent coefficients in the Robin boundary condition(s), the results of the proposed method also completely agree with those as for instance obtained by the method of separation of variables, or by the finite difference method.

IDEA and Family Involvement

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Mehmet Emin Öztürk

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA gives many rights to parents with special needs in terms of involvement and participation. Given the importance of family involvement in the special education process, and federal legislation that increasingly mandated and supported such involvement over time, considerable research has focused on the multiple ways that relationships between schools and families in the special education decision making process have played out. Educational professionals should create a positive climate for CLD families so that they feel more comfortable and therefore are able to participate more authentically and meaningfully.

Increased Production of Hydrogen Peroxide by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus upon Aeration: Involvement of an NADH Oxidase in Oxidative Stress

Science.gov (United States)

Marty-Teysset, C.; de la Torre, F.; Garel, J.-R.

2000-01-01

The growth of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus) on lactose was altered upon aerating the cultures by agitation. Aeration caused the bacteria to enter early into stationary phase, thus reducing markedly the biomass production but without modifying the maximum growth rate. The early entry into stationary phase of aerated cultures was probably related to the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the medium. Indeed, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in aerated cultures was two to three times higher than in unaerated ones. Also, a similar shift from exponential to stationary phase could be induced in unaerated cultures by adding increasing concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. A significant fraction of the hydrogen peroxide produced by L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus originated from the reduction of molecular oxygen by NADH catalyzed by an NADH:H2O2 oxidase. The specific activity of this NADH oxidase was the same in aerated and unaerated cultures, suggesting that the amount of this enzyme was not directly regulated by oxygen. Aeration did not change the homolactic character of lactose fermentation by L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and most of the NADH was reoxidized by lactate dehydrogenase with pyruvate. This indicated that NADH oxidase had no (or a very small) energetic role and could be involved in eliminating oxygen. PMID:10618234

Effect of sowing time on productivity of fenugreek varieties (Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Trigonella coerulea (Desr. Ser.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

І. М. Бобось

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Determination of sowing time effect on productivity of various fenugreek species in the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine. Methods. Field study, laboratory test, analytical approach and statistical evaluation. Results. Effect of sowing time on economic characters of common fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum L. and blue fenugreek (Trigonella coerulea (Desr. Ser. was investigated. It was found that sowing time significantly influenced the individual productivity of plants and average yield of their fresh and dry matter. In particular, common and blue fenugreek plants formed not only the most developed vegetation but also higher productivity and fresh and dry matter yield, respectively, due to early-spring sowing. In case of summer sowing, the poorest yield of dry matter per unit was obtained for these species caused by a low fresh yield, though the moisture loss index was lower. Conclusions. Common fenugreek is promising for producing “mushroom grass” spices, and the conveyor supply of production in the Forest-Steep zone of Ukraine can be ensured by the first sowing time (the first or the second decades of April and the se­cond sowing time (the third decade of April as during this period more developed vegetation is formed that favored the higher yield of dry matter (1,3–1,5 t/ha.

Clinical evaluation of marketed orthodontic products: are researchers behind the times? A meta-epidemiological study

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Jadbinder Seehra

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The role of marketing and industry in the treatment decisions of orthodontists has received increasing attention in recent years with clinical research typically undertaken subsequent to established use of these devices and often failing to confirm the promise of manufacturers’ claims. This meta-epidemiological study was undertaken to assess the proportion of clinical trials in orthodontics evaluating commercially marketed products and to evaluate the direction of the results of these studies. Methods Electronic searching was undertaken to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs published over a 5-year period (1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016. Data obtained included the type of marketed intervention, direction of effect and declaration of both industry sponsorship and conflict of interest. Results Eighty-four RCTs published in 23 scientific journals were included with the highest percentage in the American Journal of Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJO-DO (23.8%, followed by the European Journal of Orthodontics (EJO (14.3%, Journal of Orthodontics (JO (10.7% and Angle Orthodontist (AO (10.7%. Overall, 45% (38/84 of clinical trials assessed involved analysis of marketed products after their introduction. Interventions to improve oral health or circumvent the risk of iatrogenic damage, such as white spot lesions, were most commonly assessed (15.8%, with the relative merits of non-surgical adjuncts (14.1% and other orthodontic auxiliaries (13.1% also frequently evaluated. In 44% of RCTs, a positive effect of the marketed intervention was not reported. Industry sponsorship of the research was declared in 9.5% RCTs. No significant associations between the direction of the effect and both declaration of industry sponsorship (p = 0.56 and conflict of interest (p = 0.96 were detected. Moreover, for marketed and non-marketed products, no significant associations for both declaration of industry sponsorship (p = 0.44 and

Radioisotopes In Animal Production Research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eduvie, L.O.

1994-05-01

Animal productivity may be measured among others, in terms of two important physiological processes of reproduction and growth each of which involves a number of integrated disciplines. Both physiological processes are controlled by interactions of genotype and environment. Reproduction essentially involves complex physiological processes controlled by secretions of endocrine glands known as hormones. On the other hand growth is determined largely by availabilty of essential nutrients. In order to achieve good reproductive and growth rates adequate and constant nutrition for livestock include pasture, cereals, tubers and their by-products as well as industrial by-products. While reproduction is essential to provide the required number and replacement of livestock, growth guarantees availability of meat. Another aspect of livestock production is disease control. An animal needs a good health to adequately express its genetic make up and utilize available nutrition. Research in animal production is aimed at improving all aspects of productivity of livestock which include reproduction, growth, milk production, egg production, good semen etc. of livestock. In order to achieve this an understanding of the biochemical and physiological processes occurring in the animal itself, and in the feedstuff fed to the animal as well as the aetiology and control of diseases affecting the animal among other factors, is desirable. A number of methods of investigation have evolved with time. These include colorimetry, spectrophotometry, chromatography, microscopy and raidoisotopic tracer methods. While most of these methods are cumbersome and use equipment with low precision, radioisotopic tracer methods utilize equipment with relatively high precision

Enterobacter gergoviae membrane modifications are involved in the adaptive response to preservatives used in cosmetic industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Périamé, Marina; Pagès, Jean-Marie; Davin-Regli, Anne

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to understand the adaptive mechanisms in Enterobacter gergoviae which are involved in recurrent contaminations in cosmetic products that are incorporated with preservatives. Bacterial strains from two backgrounds were examined for a profound understanding of the mechanisms of adaptation against preservatives. It included a series of Ent. gergoviae strain-ATCC 33028 derivatives, isolated using increasing methylisothiazolinone-chloromethylisothiazolinone (MIT-CMIT) and triclosan concentrations. The other series was of Ent. gergoviae isolates from cosmetic products exhibiting MIT-CMIT and triclosan resistance. We evaluated the outer membrane protein modifications and efflux mechanisms activities responsible for the resistant trait via immunoblotting assays. Additionally, for understanding the efflux activity real-time efflux, experiments were performed. A cross-insusceptibility between preservatives and some disinfectants was observed in MIT-CMIT-resistant derivative isolates, but antibiotics susceptibility was not altered. Resistance to EDTA was significant in all preservatives insusceptible derivative strains, indicating modifications in the LPS layer. Furthermore, an array of real-time efflux assays indicated different activity levels while no variations were detected in porins and AcrAB-TolC pumps production. Overexpression of a specific flagellin-type protein was observed in one of the MIT-CMIT- and triclosan-resistant strains. Another candidate, a 25-kDa peroxiredoxin enzyme involved in oxidative detoxification, was identified to be overexpressed in MIT-CMIT derivative. A similar profile was also observed among strains isolated from cosmetic products. Our study highlights the existence of adaptive mechanisms such as overexpression of detoxifying enzymes, flagellin, modification of membrane structure/function in Ent. gergoviae. They might be involved in recurrent episodes of contaminations occurring in the cosmetic production

Consumer involvement in oral nutritional supplements purchasing behavior

OpenAIRE

Fitriyani, Dwi Meilia; Yuliati, Lilik Noor; Simanjuntak, Megawati

2017-01-01

The paper aimed to get insight of consumer involvement in purchasing behavior towards ONS (Oral Nutritional Supplements) for children. By implementing an online survey with sample size of 100, the research investigated the factors (motivation and stimulus factor) influencing consumer involvement and the causality between consumer involvement with the product knowledge as well as purchasing behavior. The research tool used was a 5-points Likert questionnaire in which respondents were asked to ...

A Preliminary Examination of the Second Generation CMORPH Real-time Production

Science.gov (United States)

Joyce, R.; Xie, P.; Wu, S.

2017-12-01

The second generation CMORPH (CMORPH2) has started test real-time production of 30-minute precipitation estimates on a 0.05olat/lon grid over the entire globe, from pole-to-pole. The CMORPH2 is built upon the Kalman Filter based CMORPH algorithm of Joyce and Xie (2011). Inputs to the system include rainfall and snowfall rate retrievals from passive microwave (PMW) measurements aboard all available low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, precipitation estimates derived from infrared (IR) observations of geostationary (GEO) and LEO platforms, and precipitation simulations from the NCEP operational global forecast system (GFS). Inputs from the various sources are first inter-calibrated to ensure quantitative consistencies in representing precipitation events of different intensities through PDF calibration against a common reference standard. The inter-calibrated PMW retrievals and IR-based precipitation estimates are then propagated from their respective observation times to the target analysis time along the motion vectors of the precipitating clouds. Motion vectors are first derived separately from the satellite IR based precipitation estimates and the GFS precipitation fields. These individually derived motion vectors are then combined through a 2D-VAR technique to form an analyzed field of cloud motion vectors over the entire globe. The propagated PMW and IR based precipitation estimates are finally integrated into a single field of global precipitation through the Kalman Filter framework. A set of procedures have been established to examine the performance of the CMORPH2 real-time production. CMORPH2 satellite precipitation estimates are compared against the CPC daily gauge analysis, Stage IV radar precipitation over the CONUS, and numerical model forecasts to discover potential shortcomings and quantify improvements against the first generation CMORPH. Special attention has been focused on the CMORPH behavior over high-latitude areas beyond the coverage of the first

Metric integration architecture for product development

Science.gov (United States)

Sieger, David B.

1997-06-01

Present-day product development endeavors utilize the concurrent engineering philosophy as a logical means for incorporating a variety of viewpoints into the design of products. Since this approach provides no explicit procedural provisions, it is necessary to establish at least a mental coupling with a known design process model. The central feature of all such models is the management and transformation of information. While these models assist in structuring the design process, characterizing the basic flow of operations that are involved, they provide no guidance facilities. The significance of this feature, and the role it plays in the time required to develop products, is increasing in importance due to the inherent process dynamics, system/component complexities, and competitive forces. The methodology presented in this paper involves the use of a hierarchical system structure, discrete event system specification (DEVS), and multidimensional state variable based metrics. This approach is unique in its capability to quantify designer's actions throughout product development, provide recommendations about subsequent activity selection, and coordinate distributed activities of designers and/or design teams across all design stages. Conceptual design tool implementation results are used to demonstrate the utility of this technique in improving the incremental decision making process.

Universal real-time control framework and Internet of Things for fast-paced research and development based production environments

KAUST Repository

Chaoui, Hicham

2017-05-13

This paper introduces a universal real-time control platform for complex research and development (R&D) based products design. The inherent complexity in R&D projects makes products development a difficult task to undertake. The use of state of the art development tools for modeling, simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation contributes to a complexity reduction. However, R&D projects still require significant development time since many design iterations are usually necessary before final solution, which increases the cost. In most R&D processes, these tools are not used beyond rapid prototyping since development for mass production is usually performed in another environment, using different tools. This paper presents a fast and cost effective way of R&D-based products development, speeding-up time to market.

Universal real-time control framework and Internet of Things for fast-paced research and development based production environments

KAUST Repository

Chaoui, Hicham; Aljarboua, Abdullah Abdulaziz; Miah, Suruz

2017-01-01

This paper introduces a universal real-time control platform for complex research and development (R&D) based products design. The inherent complexity in R&D projects makes products development a difficult task to undertake. The use of state of the art development tools for modeling, simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation contributes to a complexity reduction. However, R&D projects still require significant development time since many design iterations are usually necessary before final solution, which increases the cost. In most R&D processes, these tools are not used beyond rapid prototyping since development for mass production is usually performed in another environment, using different tools. This paper presents a fast and cost effective way of R&D-based products development, speeding-up time to market.

The Impact of Parental Involvement on Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Sylvia A.

2017-01-01

Education begins at home. The responsibility to socialize and educate children is a shared obligation between parents and schools. In order for a child to reach academic achievement, parents must be involved and participate in the educational process. The more parental involvement, the more students are likely to become productive members of…

Order Level Inventory Models for Deteriorating Seasonable/Fashionable Products with Time Dependent Demand and Shortages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Skouri

2009-01-01

Full Text Available An order level inventory model for seasonable/fashionable products subject to a period of increasing demand followed by a period of level demand and then by a period of decreasing demand rate (three branches ramp type demand rate is considered. The unsatisfied demand is partially backlogged with a time dependent backlogging rate. In addition, the product deteriorates with a time dependent, namely, Weibull, deterioration rate. The model is studied under the following different replenishment policies: (a starting with no shortages and (b starting with shortages. The optimal replenishment policy for the model is derived for both the above mentioned policies.

Biochemical and molecular characterization of Coriolopsis rigida laccases involved in transformation of the solid waste from olive oil production.

Science.gov (United States)

Díaz, Rosario; Saparrat, Mario C N; Jurado, Miguel; García-Romera, Inmaculada; Ocampo, Juan Antonio; Martínez, María Jesús

2010-09-01

Two laccase isoenzymes were purified and characterized from the basidiomycete Coriolopsis rigida during transformation of the water-soluble fraction of "alpeorujo" (WSFA), a solid residue derived from the olive oil production containing high levels of toxic compounds. Zymogram assays of laccases secreted by the fungus growing on WSFA and WSFA supplemented with glucose showed two bands with isoelectric points of 3.3 and 3.4. The kinetic studies of the two purified isoenzymes showed similar affinity on 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), used as phenolic and non-phenolic model substrate, respectively. The molecular mass of both proteins was 66 kDa with 9% N-linked carbohydrate. Physico-chemical properties of the purified laccases from media containing WSFA were similar to those obtained from medium with glucose as the main carbon source. In-vitro studies performed with the purified laccases revealed a 42% phenol reduction of WSFA, as well as changes in the molecular mass distribution. These findings indicate that these laccases are involved in the process of transformation, via polymerization by the oxidation of phenolic compounds present in WSFA. A single laccase gene, containing an open reading frame of 1,488 bp, was obtained in PCR amplifications performed with cDNA extracted from mycelia grown on WSFA. The product of the gene shares 90% identity (95% similarity) with a laccase from Trametes trogii and 89% identity (95% similarity) with a laccase from Coriolopsis gallica. This is the first report on purification and molecular characterization of laccases directly involved in the transformation of olive oil residues.

Strategic WIP Inventory Positioning for Make-to-Order Production with Stochastic Processing Times

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingjing Jiang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is vital for make-to-order manufacturers to shorten the lead time to meet the customers’ requirements. Holding work-in-process (WIP inventory at more stations can reduce the lead time, but it also brings about higher inventory holding cost. Therefore, it is important to seek out the optimal set of stations to hold WIP inventory to minimize the total inventory holding cost, while meeting the required due date for the final product at the same time. Since the problem with deterministic processing times at the stations has been addressed, as a natural extension, in this study, we address the problem with stochastic processing times, which is more realistic in the manufacturing environment. Assuming that the processing times follow normal distributions, we propose a solution procedure using genetic algorithm.

Integrating ergonomics into the product development process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Broberg, Ole

1997-01-01

and production engineers regarding information sources in problem solving, communication pattern, perception of ergonomics, motivation and requests to support tools and methods. These differences and the social and organizational contexts of the development process must be taken into account when considering......A cross-sectional case study was performed in a large company producing electro-mechanical products for industrial application. The purpose was to elucidate conditions and strategies for integrating ergonomics into the product development process thereby preventing ergonomic problems at the time...... of manufacture of new products. In reality the product development process is not a rational problem solving process and does not proceed in a sequential manner as decribed in engineering models. Instead it is a complex organizational process involving uncertainties, iterative elements and negotiation between...

Influence of water activity, temperature and time on mycotoxins production on barley rootlets.

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, J M M; Cavaglieri, L R; Fraga, M E; Direito, G M; Dalcero, A M; Rosa, C A R

2006-02-01

The objective of this study was to determine the ochratoxin (OT) and aflatoxin (AF) production by three strains of Aspergillus spp. under different water activities, temperature and incubation time on barley rootlets (BR). Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus flavus were able to produce mycotoxins on BR. Aspergillus ochraceus produced ochratoxin A (OTA) at 0.80 water activity (a(w)), at 25 and 30 degrees C as optimal environmental conditions. The OTA production varies at different incubation days depending on a(w). Aflatoxin B(1) (AFB1) accumulation was obtained at 25 degrees C, at 0.80 and 0.95 a(w), after 14 and 21 incubation days respectively. Temperature was a critical factor influencing OTA and AFB(1) production. This study demonstrates that BR support OTA and AFB(1) production at relatively low water activity (0.80 a(w)) and high temperatures (25-30 degrees C). The study of ecophysiological parameters and their interactions would determine the prevailing environmental factors, which enhance the mycotoxin production on BR used as animal feed.

The construct of food involvement in behavioral research: scale development and validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Rick; Marshall, David W

2003-06-01

The construct of involvement has been found to influence brand loyalty, product information search processing, responses to advertising communications, diffusion of innovations, and ultimately, product choice decisions. Traditionally, involvement has been defined as being a characteristic of either a product or of an individual. In the present research, we make an assumption that an individual's 'food involvement' is a somewhat stable characteristic and we hypothesized that involvement with foods would vary between individuals, that individuals who are more highly involved with food would be better able to discriminate between a set of food samples than would less food involved individuals, and that this discrimination would operate both in affective and perceptive relative judgments. Using standard scale construction techniques, we developed a measure of the characteristic of food involvement, based on activities relating to food acquisition, preparation, cooking, eating and disposal. After several iterations, a final 12-item measure was found to have good test-retest reliability and internal consistency within two subscales. A behavioral validation study demonstrated that measures of food involvement were associated with discrimination and hedonic ratings for a range of foods in a laboratory setting. These findings suggest that food involvement, as measured by the Food Involvement Scale, may be an important mediator to consider when undertaking research with food and food habits.

A Low-involvement Choice Model for Consumer Panel Data

OpenAIRE

Brugha, Cathal; Turley, Darach

1987-01-01

The long overdue surge of interest in consumer behaviour texts in low-involvement purchasing has only begun to gather momemtum. It often takes the form of asking whether concepts usually associated with high-involvement purchasing can be applied, albeit in a modified form, to low-involvement purchasing. One such concept is evoked set, that is the range of brands deemed acceptable by a consumer in a particular product area. This has characteristically been associated with consumption involving...

Farming Systems Involving Fruit Crops Production And Research In ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Research interventions to expand the scope of the farmers have shown that greater efficiency of land utilization is exhibited. New areas of research for the evaluation, as well as suggests consideration for intercropping with fruit trees are suggested. The current challenges to fruit production were also identified, while the ...

Time characteristics of distortion product otoacoustic emissions recovery function after moderate sound exposure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Toro, Miguel Angel Aranda; Ordoñez, Rodrigo Pizarro; Hammershøi, Dorte

2006-01-01

Exposure to sound of moderate level temporarily attenuates the amplitude of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). These changes are similar to the changes observed in absolute hearing thresholds after similar sound exposures. To be able to assess changes over time across a broad...

Effects of pollination timing and distance on seed production in a dioecious weed Silene latifolia

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Jay F.; Duddu, Hema S. N.; Shirtliffe, Steven J.; Benaragama, Dilshan; Syrovy, Lena D.; Stanley, Katherine A.; Haile, Teketel A.

2015-11-01

Silene latifolia Poir. (white cockle or white campion) is an important invasive weed in North American agriculture. It exhibits dioecy, therefore, both male and female plants are required in order for seed production to occur. However, dioecious species being invasive is not common because of their limitations in pollination and subsequent seed production. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of pollination timing and distance on seed production of Silene latifolia. A series of experiments including pollination exclusion, timing and pollination distance were conducted in 2009 and 2010 at or around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. For pollination exclusion, exclosures were built around the natural female plants for exclosure, sham-exclosure, and male and female combined treatments. Pollination timing was studied by applying exclosure, non-exclosure, night-exclosure, and day-exclosure treatments to individual female plants. Female plants were transplanted along a linear interval at six different distances from the pollen source to study the effect of pollination distance. S. latifolia was exclusively insect-pollinated and pollination occurred both day and night; however, in one year, pollination occurred mainly at night. Female plants that were in the range of 0-4 m from a compatible pollen source experienced no limitation to pollination. However, when the distance was increased further up to 128 m, pollination levels and subsequent seed production were declined. Moreover, there were differences in seed production between years suggesting that pollination was affected by the environmental conditions during pollination and the crop that white cockle was grown in. These experiments indicate that seed production in S. latifolia is limited by insect-pollination. Although there was pollination limitation for seed production at greater distances from a pollen source, the high fecundity rate (3000-18000 seeds per plant) resulted in a large seed output. Thus, we

Time Perception in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Patients: A Study Comparing Different Methodologies

Science.gov (United States)

Mioni, G.; Mattalia, G.; Stablum, F.

2013-01-01

In this study, we investigated time perception in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fifteen TBI patients and 15 matched healthy controls participated in the study. Participants were tested with durations above and below 1s on three different temporal tasks that involved time reproduction, production, and discrimination tasks. Data…

Capacity optimization and scheduling of a multiproduct manufacturing facility for biotech products.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaik, Munawar A; Dhakre, Ankita; Rathore, Anurag S; Patil, Nitin

2014-01-01

A general mathematical framework has been proposed in this work for scheduling of a multiproduct and multipurpose facility involving manufacturing of biotech products. The specific problem involves several batch operations occurring in multiple units involving fixed processing time, unlimited storage policy, transition times, shared units, and deterministic and fixed data in the given time horizon. The different batch operations are modeled using state-task network representation. Two different mathematical formulations are proposed based on discrete- and continuous-time representations leading to a mixed-integer linear programming model which is solved using General Algebraic Modeling System software. A case study based on a real facility is presented to illustrate the potential and applicability of the proposed models. The continuous-time model required less number of events and has a smaller problem size compared to the discrete-time model. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Examining elite Parasport athletes with sport involvement and sports equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hambrick, Marion E; Hums, Mary A; Bower, Glenna G; Wolff, Eli A

2015-01-01

Elite athletes require the most advanced sports equipment to maintain their competitive edge, but manufacturers cannot always satisfy these athletes' specific equipment needs. Sport involvement can influence sports-equipment selections and is described as the process by which individuals rely on attitudes and belief systems to make sports-related consumption decisions. This study involved semistructured interviews with 5 elite Parasport athletes to identify and analyze the role of sport involvement in their selection of sports equipment. The results revealed that the athletes identified product limitations, created a collaborative environment, and promoted a culture of innovation to develop new sports products and address existing limitations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The role of Customer Involvement in Library E-services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scupola, Ada; Nikolajsen, H. W.

2009-01-01

We investigate customer involvement in the development of e-service within research Libraries. By revisiting earlier research on innovation processes as well as newer research on new product and new service development we derive a conceptual model on different actors that are important in the pro......We investigate customer involvement in the development of e-service within research Libraries. By revisiting earlier research on innovation processes as well as newer research on new product and new service development we derive a conceptual model on different actors that are important...

Employee Involvement and Organizational Citizenship: Implications for Labor Law Reform and "Lean Production."

Science.gov (United States)

Cappelli, Peter; Rogovsky, Nikolai

1998-01-01

Organizational citizenship--behavior that promotes organizations without explicit reward--was measured in a survey of 512 employees and 91 supervisors. Involvement in work organization increased citizenship behavior indirectly by changing job characteristics. Involvement in decisions about employment practices had little or no effect. (SK)

Global, Daily, Near Real-Time Satellite-based Flood Monitoring and Product Dissemination

Science.gov (United States)

Slayback, D. A.; Policelli, F. S.; Brakenridge, G. R.; Tokay, M. M.; Smith, M. M.; Kettner, A. J.

2013-12-01

provide better spatial resolution, this typically comes at the cost of being less timely. Since late 2011, this system has been providing daily flood maps of the global non-antarctic land surface. These data products are generated in raster and vector formats, and provided freely on our website. To better serve the disaster response community, we have recently begun providing the products via live OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) services, allowing easy access in a variety of platforms (Google Earth, desktop GIS software, mobile phone apps). We are also working with the Pacific Disaster Center to bring our product into their Disaster Alert system (including a mobile app), which will help simplify product distribution to the disaster management community.

Use of absorption spectroscopy for refined petroleum product discrimination

Science.gov (United States)

Short, Michael

1991-07-01

On-line discrimination between arbitrary petroleum products is necessary for optimal control of petroleum refinery and pipeline operation and process control involving petroleum distillates. There are a number of techniques by which petroleum products can be distinguished from one another. Among these, optical measurements offer fast, non-intrusive, real-time characterization. The application examined here involves optically monitoring the interface between dissimilar batches of fluids in a gasoline pipeline. After examination of near- infrared and mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform mid-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was chosen as the best candidate for implementation. On- line FTIR data is presented, verifying the applicability of the technique for batch interface detection.

Cycle Time Optimization of Chamomile Package 120 MI Product at Blow Molding Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuni Hermawan

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Chamomile is a package which is applied for cosmetic. In industry this package is being processed by blow molding. Thereare many parameters that influence cycle time during production; in this project only three of them were varied, i.e. blowingpressure, blowing time and stopping time. Each parameter is determined three chosen level. Middle level is taken fromstandard setting of machining which is being used by industry. Top and bottom level is randomized. Three stopping time are0.1, 0.55, and 1.0 second. Blowing time are 10.5, 11.5 and 12.5 second. Where as, blowing pressures is 4, 5 and 6 bar.Combination of among levels is based on Box Behnken design. Those three parameters are called variable process. In theother hand, variable responses are cycle time and net weight. Each combination is replicated 5 times and then averaged. Thedata then is processed by using Minitab version 14th. Square regression of the model for cycle time is ?CT = 21,1300 - 0,0912X1 + 0,2000 X2 + 0,6313 X3 + 0,6100 X12 + 0,6975 X22 – 0,1000 X1 X2 – 0,1725 X1 X3 + 0,1100 X2 X3 and Net = 19,2933 –0,0088 X1 + 0,0175 X2 + 0,0712 X3 + 0,0133 X 21 + 0.0158 X22- 0.0217 X 23 + 0.0125 X1X2 - 0,0150 X1 X3 for product netweight. Where X1 is blowing pressure, X2 is blowing time and X3 is stopping time.The model developed then tested by lack offit testing, variance by ANOVA and R square. Second stage of model testing is residual test. Three tests are carry out, i.e.identically test and independency test and normality. Optimization of both values, cycle time and net weight, are searched byResponse Surface Method. By the method it is found that the optimum condition of cycle time is 20.5 seconds and net weightis 19.19 grams. The optimum condition is achieved when stopping is 0.1 second, blowing time 11.35 second and blowingpressure 5.1 bars.

Closed-form expressions for time-frequency operations involving Hermite functions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Korevaar, C.W.; Oude Alink, M.S.; de Boer, Pieter-Tjerk; Kokkeler, Andre B.J.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

2016-01-01

The product, convolution, correlation, Wigner distribution function (WDF) and ambiguity function (AF) of two Hermite functions of arbitrary order n and m are derived and expressed as a bounded, weighted sum of n+m Hermite functions. It was already known that these mathematical operations performed

Involvement of methyltransferases enzymes during the energy

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mgina

INVOLVEMENT OF METHYLTRANSFERASES ENZYMES DURING THE. ENERGY METABOLISM OF ..... cell extract still exhibited relatively high methanogenesis with methanol (Fig ... product CH3-CoM into methane (see Fig. 1). The HS-CoM ...

ANALYZING THE POSTPONEMENT OF TIME PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN MAKE-TO-STOCK AND SEASONAL DEMAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Cesar Chagas Rodrigues

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The supply chain management, postponement and demand management functions are of strategic importance to the economic success of organizations because they influence the production process, when viewed in isolation and empirically may hinder understanding of their behavior. The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of the postponement in an enterprise production system with make-to-stock and with seasonal demand. The research method used was a case study, the instruments of data collection were semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis and site visits. This research is restricted to analysis of the influence that different levels of delay and the company's position in the supply chain have on the practice of demand management in the productive segment graphic, product spiral notebook and also in relation to geographical focus (region of the state São Paulo, in which it will seek to interview the managers and directors. As a way to support the research on the analysis of case study and the final considerations will be discussed the following issues: supply chain management, postponement, demand management and production system make-to-stock. The demand management can be understood as a practice that allows you to manage and coordinate the supply chain in reverse, i.e. the consumer to the supplier, in which consumers trigger actions for the supply of products can make the process more efficient. The purpose of managing the supply chain is able to allow the addition of value, exceeding the expectations of consumers, it is necessary to develop a relationship with suppliers and customers win-win. The postponement strategy must fit the characteristics of the turbulent environment within the markets along with demands that require variety of customized products and services and reasonable costs, aiming to support decision making. The postponement of time can be a way to soften the increase in inventory of finished product in the company

Integrated Assessment of Crop-Livestock Production Systems Beyond Biophysical Methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Masikati, Patricia; Homann Kee-Tui, Sabine; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Sisito, Gevious; Senda, Trinity; Crespo, Olivier; Nhamo, Nhamo

2017-01-01

Crop-livestock farming systems that are predominant in Africa, are complex with various interrelated ecological and economic factors. They involve multiple products or benefits (intended and nonintended), with trade-offs and synergies occurring both on- and off-site and varying over time.

Marine mammal distribution in the open ocean: a comparison of ocean color data products and levant time scales

Science.gov (United States)

Ohern, J.

2016-02-01

Marine mammals are generally located in areas of enhanced surface primary productivity, though they may forage much deeper within the water column and higher on the food chain. Numerous studies over the past several decades have utilized ocean color data from remote sensing instruments (CZCS, MODIS, and others) to asses both the quantity and time scales over which surface primary productivity relates to marine mammal distribution. In areas of sustained upwelling, primary productivity may essentially grow in the secondary levels of productivity (the zooplankton and nektonic species on which marine mammals forage). However, in many open ocean habitats a simple trophic cascade does not explain relatively short time lags between enhanced surface productivity and marine mammal presence. Other dynamic features that entrain prey or attract marine mammals may be responsible for the correlations between marine mammals and ocean color. In order to investigate these features, two MODIS (moderate imaging spectroradiometer) data products, the concentration as well as the standard deviation of surface chlorophyll were used in conjunction with marine mammal sightings collected within Ecuadorian waters. Time lags between enhanced surface chlorophyll and marine mammal presence were on the order of 2-4 weeks, however correlations were much stronger when the standard deviation of spatially binned images was used, rather than the chlorophyll concentrations. Time lags also varied between Balaenopterid and Odontocete cetaceans. Overall, the standard deviation of surface chlorophyll proved a useful tool for assessing potential relationships between marine mammal sightings and surface chlorophyll.

Time-invariant PT product and phase locking in PT -symmetric lattice models

Science.gov (United States)

Joglekar, Yogesh N.; Onanga, Franck Assogba; Harter, Andrew K.

2018-01-01

Over the past decade, non-Hermitian, PT -symmetric Hamiltonians have been investigated as candidates for both a fundamental, unitary, quantum theory and open systems with a nonunitary time evolution. In this paper, we investigate the implications of the former approach in the context of the latter. Motivated by the invariance of the PT (inner) product under time evolution, we discuss the dynamics of wave-function phases in a wide range of PT -symmetric lattice models. In particular, we numerically show that, starting with a random initial state, a universal, gain-site location dependent locking between wave-function phases at adjacent sites occurs in the PT -symmetry-broken region. Our results pave the way towards understanding the physically observable implications of time invariants in the nonunitary dynamics produced by PT -symmetric Hamiltonians.

The diagnosis of microorganism involved in infective endocarditis (IE by polymerase chain reaction (PCR and real-time PCR: A systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Faraji

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Broad-range bacterial rDNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR followed by sequencing may be identified as the etiology of infective endocarditis (IE from surgically removed valve tissue; therefore, we reviewed the value of molecular testing in identifying organisms' DNA in the studies conducted until 2016. We searched Google Scholar, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, PubMed, and Medline electronic databases without any time limitations up to December 2016 for English studies reporting microorganisms involved in infective endocarditis microbiology using PCR and real-time PCR. Most studies were prospective. Eleven out of 12 studies used valve tissue samples and blood cultures while only 1 study used whole blood. Also, 10 studies used the molecular method of PCR while 2 studies used real-time PCR. Most studies used 16S rDNA gene as the target gene. The bacteria were identified as the most common microorganisms involved in infective endocarditis. Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. were, by far, the most predominant bacteria detected. In all studies, PCR and real-time PCR identified more pathogens than blood and tissue cultures; moreover, the sensitivity and specificity of PCR and real-time PCR were more than cultures in most of the studies. The highest sensitivity and specificity were 96% and 100%, respectively. The gram positive bacteria were the most frequent cause of infective endocarditis. The molecular methods enjoy a greater sensitivity compared to the conventional blood culture methods; yet, they are applicable only to the valve tissue of the patients undergoing cardiac valve surgery.

The diagnosis of microorganism involved in infective endocarditis (IE) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Faraji, Reza; Behjati-Ardakani, Mostafa; Moshtaghioun, Seyed Mohammad; Kalantar, Seyed Mehdi; Namayandeh, Seyedeh Mahdieh; Soltani, Mohammadhossien; Emami, Mahmood; Zandi, Hengameh; Firoozabadi, Ali Dehghani; Kazeminasab, Mahmood; Ahmadi, Nastaran; Sarebanhassanabadi, Mohammadtaghi

2018-02-01

Broad-range bacterial rDNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by sequencing may be identified as the etiology of infective endocarditis (IE) from surgically removed valve tissue; therefore, we reviewed the value of molecular testing in identifying organisms' DNA in the studies conducted until 2016. We searched Google Scholar, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, PubMed, and Medline electronic databases without any time limitations up to December 2016 for English studies reporting microorganisms involved in infective endocarditis microbiology using PCR and real-time PCR. Most studies were prospective. Eleven out of 12 studies used valve tissue samples and blood cultures while only 1 study used whole blood. Also, 10 studies used the molecular method of PCR while 2 studies used real-time PCR. Most studies used 16S rDNA gene as the target gene. The bacteria were identified as the most common microorganisms involved in infective endocarditis. Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. were, by far, the most predominant bacteria detected. In all studies, PCR and real-time PCR identified more pathogens than blood and tissue cultures; moreover, the sensitivity and specificity of PCR and real-time PCR were more than cultures in most of the studies. The highest sensitivity and specificity were 96% and 100%, respectively. The gram positive bacteria were the most frequent cause of infective endocarditis. The molecular methods enjoy a greater sensitivity compared to the conventional blood culture methods; yet, they are applicable only to the valve tissue of the patients undergoing cardiac valve surgery. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.

Monitoring Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in real-time on oil and natural gas production sites

Science.gov (United States)

Lupardus, R.; Franklin, S. B.

2017-12-01

Oil and Natural Gas (O&NG) development, production, infrastructure, and associated processing activities can be a substantial source of air pollution, yet relevant data and real-time quantification methods are lacking. In the current study, O&NG fugitive emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were quantified in real-time and used to determine the spatial and temporal windows of exposure for proximate flora and fauna. Eleven O&NG sites on the Pawnee National Grassland in Northeastern Colorado were randomly selected and grouped according to production along with 13 control sites from three geographical locations. At each site, samples were collected 25 m from the wellhead in NE, SE, and W directions. In each direction, two samples were collected with a Gasmet DX4040 gas analyzer every hour from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm (6 hours total), July to October, 2016 (N=864). VOC concentrations generally increased during the 6 hr. day with the exception of N2O and were predominately the result of O&NG production and not vehicle exhaust. Thirteen of 24 VOCs had significantly different levels between production groups, frequently above reference standards and at biologically relevant levels for flora and fauna. The most biologically relevant VOCs, found at concentrations exceeding time weighted average permissible exposure limits (TWA PELs), were benzene and acrolein. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) measured the relative quality of statistical models predicting benzene concentrations on sites. The data not only confirms that O&NG emissions are impacting the region, but also that this influence is present at all sites, including controls. Increased real-time VOC monitoring on O&NG sites is required to identify and contain fugitive emissions and to protect human and environmental health.

Ethanol production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolleurp, F; Daugulis, A J

1985-05-01

Extractive fermentation is a technique that can be used to reduce the effect of end-product inhibition through the use of a water-immiscible phase which removes fermentation products in situ. This has the beneficial effect of not only removing inhibitory products as they are formed (thus keeping reaction rates high) but also has the potential for reducing product recovery costs. We have chosen to examine the ethanol fermentation as a model system for end product inhibition and extractive fermentation, and have developed a computer model predicting the productivity enhancement possible with this technique. The model predicts an ethanol productivity of 82.6 g/L-h if a glucose feed of 750 g/L is fermented with a solvent having a distribution coefficient of 0.5 at a dilution rate of 5.0 h . This is more than 10 times higher than for a conventional chemostat fermentation of a 250 g/L glucose feed. In light of this, a systematic approach to extractive fermentation has been undertaken involving the screening of more than 1,000 solvents for their extractive properties. UNIFAC and UNIQUAC estimates of distribution coefficients and selectivities were compiled and ranked in a database, together with other important physical properties, such as density, surface tension and viscosity. Preliminary shake-flask and chemostat biocompatibility studies on the most promising solvents have been undertaken. The previous predictive, data base and experimental results are discussed.

75 FR 32160 - Certain Hot-Rolled Flat-Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel Products from Brazil: Extension of Time Limit...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-07

...-Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel Products from Brazil: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of...-quality steel products from Brazil. See Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation on Hot... duty order on certain hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel products from Brazil. See Initiation...

Yeast genes involved in regulating cysteine uptake affect production of hydrogen sulfide from cysteine during fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chien-Wei; Walker, Michelle E; Fedrizzi, Bruno; Gardner, Richard C; Jiranek, Vladimir

2017-08-01

An early burst of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae during fermentation could increase varietal thiols and therefore enhance desirable tropical aromas in varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc. Here we attempted to identify genes affecting H2S formation from cysteine by screening yeast deletion libraries via a colony colour assay on media resembling grape juice. Both Δlst4 and Δlst7 formed lighter coloured colonies and produced significantly less H2S than the wild type on high concentrations of cysteine, likely because they are unable to take up cysteine efficiently. We then examined the nine known cysteine permeases and found that deletion of AGP1, GNP1 and MUP1 led to reduced production of H2S from cysteine. We further showed that deleting genes involved in the SPS-sensing pathway such as STP1 and DAL81 also reduced H2S from cysteine. Together, this study indirectly confirms that Agp1p, Gnp1p and Mup1p are the major cysteine permeases and that they are regulated by the SPS-sensing and target of rapamycin pathways under the grape juice-like, cysteine-supplemented, fermentation conditions. The findings highlight that cysteine transportation could be a limiting factor for yeast to generate H2S from cysteine, and therefore selecting wine yeasts without defects in cysteine uptake could maximise thiol production potential. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Implementation of Lean System on Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier Manufacturing Process to Reduce Production Time

Science.gov (United States)

Maneechote, T.; Luangpaiboon, P.

2010-10-01

A manufacturing process of erbium doped fibre amplifiers is complicated. It needs to meet the customers' requirements under a present economic status that products need to be shipped to customers as soon as possible after purchasing orders. This research aims to study and improve processes and production lines of erbium doped fibre amplifiers using lean manufacturing systems via an application of computer simulation. Three scenarios of lean tooled box systems are selected via the expert system. Firstly, the production schedule based on shipment date is combined with a first in first out control system. The second scenario focuses on a designed flow process plant layout. Finally, the previous flow process plant layout combines with production schedule based on shipment date including the first in first out control systems. The computer simulation with the limited data via an expected value is used to observe the performance of all scenarios. The most preferable resulted lean tooled box systems from a computer simulation are selected to implement in the real process of a production of erbium doped fibre amplifiers. A comparison is carried out to determine the actual performance measures via an analysis of variance of the response or the production time per unit achieved in each scenario. The goodness of an adequacy of the linear statistical model via experimental errors or residuals is also performed to check the normality, constant variance and independence of the residuals. The results show that a hybrid scenario of lean manufacturing system with the first in first out control and flow process plant lay out statistically leads to better performance in terms of the mean and variance of production times.

Detecting subsurface fluid leaks in real-time using injection and production rates

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Harpreet; Huerta, Nicolas J.

2017-12-01

CO2 injection into geologic formations for either enhanced oil recovery or carbon storage introduces a risk for undesired fluid leakage into overlying groundwater or to the surface. Despite decades of subsurface CO2 production and injection, the technologies and methods for detecting CO2 leaks are still costly and prone to large uncertainties. This is especially true for pressure-based monitoring methods, which require the use of simplified geological and reservoir flow models to simulate the pressure behavior as well as background noise affecting pressure measurements. In this study, we propose a method to detect the time and volume of fluid leakage based on real-time measurements of well injection and production rates. The approach utilizes analogies between fluid flow and capacitance-resistance modeling. Unlike other leak detection methods (e.g. pressure-based), the proposed method does not require geological and reservoir flow models to simulate the behavior that often carry significant sources of uncertainty; therefore, with our approach the leak can be detected with greater certainty. The method can be applied to detect when a leak begins by tracking a departure in fluid production rate from the expected pattern. The method has been tuned to detect the effect of boundary conditions and fluid compressibility on leakage. To highlight the utility of this approach we use our method to detect leaks for two scenarios. The first scenario simulates a fluid leak from the storage formation into an above-zone monitoring interval. The second scenario simulates intra-reservoir migration between two compartments. We illustrate this method to detect fluid leakage in three different reservoirs with varying levels of geological and structural complexity. The proposed leakage detection method has three novelties: i) requires only readily-available data (injection and production rates), ii) accounts for fluid compressibility and boundary effects, and iii) in addition to

Effect of cycle time on polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production in aerobic mixed cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozdemir, Sebnem; Akman, Dilek; Cirik, Kevser; Cinar, Ozer

2014-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cycle time on polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production under aerobic dynamic feeding system. The acetate-fed feast and famine sequencing batch reactor was used to enrich PHB accumulating microorganism. Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was operated in four different cycle times (12, 8, 4, and 2 h) fed with a synthetic wastewater. The system performance was determined by monitoring total dissolved organic carbon, dissolved oxygen, oxidation-reduction potential, and PHB concentration. In this study, under steady-state conditions, the feast period of the SBR was found to allow the PHB storage while a certain part of stored PHB was used for continued growth in famine period. The percentage PHB storages by aerobic microorganism were at 16, 18, 42, and 55% for the 12, 8, 4, and 2-h cycle times, respectively. The PHB storage was increased as the length of the cycle time was decreased, and the ratio of the feast compared to the total cycle length was increased from around 13 to 33% for the 12 and 2-h cycle times, respectively.

Prevention of burn injuries to children involving nightwear.

Science.gov (United States)

Laing, R M; Bryant, V

1991-08-28

The effectiveness of legislative intervention in the New Zealand market for children's nightclothes as an injury prevention strategy has been reassessed by examining those hospital admissions for the period 1980-8 (with emphasis on the 1985-8 period) in which clothing and/or nightclothes were involved. The profiles of the production of children's nightclothes (1977-86) and domestic heating (1984-8) were also examined. Ninety-five cases of burn injury discharges were identified (1985-8), and of those cases involving clothing 42% involved nightwear (49% 1981-4). Some of the 27% unspecified cases may have also involved nightwear (23%, 1981-4). A very strong linear downward trend for nightwear incidents was noted (chi 2 slope = 31.06, p less than 0.001). Forty-eight percent of cases involved children aged 1-6 years, and 68% involved pajamas. Stoves were the main specified ignition agent for nightclothes (36%). Open fires as a form of household heating decreased from 49% to 34% of households (1984-8). Estimated production of nightdresses in New Zealand also decreased (460,000 to 80,000 units, 1973-86). The pronounced decrease in injuries attributable to ignition of children's nightclothes is likely to be the result of mandatory controls on children's nightclothes, increased use of pyjamas, and a steady decrease in use of open fires and portable electric heaters. The typical injury event portrayed to the public of a girl in front of a heater or open fire needs to be corrected.

Physics in Design : Real-time Numerical Simulation Integrated into the CAD Environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwier, Marijn P.; Wits, Wessel W.

2017-01-01

As today's markets are more susceptible to rapid changes and involve global players, a short time to market is required to keep a competitive edge. Concurrently, products are integrating an increasing number of functions and technologies, thus becoming progressively complex. Therefore, efficient and

Relating lab to life: Decrements in attention over time predict math productivity among children with ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Fosco, Whitney D; Hawk, Larry W

2017-02-01

A child's ability to sustain attention over time (AOT) is critical in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet no prior work has examined the extent to which a child's decrement in AOT on laboratory tasks relates to clinically-relevant behavior. The goal of this study is to provide initial evidence for the criterion validity of laboratory assessments of AOT. A total of 20 children with ADHD (7-12 years of age) who were enrolled in a summer treatment program completed two lab attention tasks (a continuous performance task and a self-paced choice discrimination task) and math seatwork. Analyses focused on relations between attention task parameters and math productivity. Individual differences in overall attention (OA) measures (averaged across time) accounted for 23% of the variance in math productivity, supporting the criterion validity of lab measures of attention. The criterion validity was enhanced by consideration of changes in AOT. Performance on all laboratory attention measures deteriorated as time-on-task increased, and individual differences in the decrement in AOT accounted for 40% of the variance in math productivity. The only variable to uniquely predict math productivity was from the self-paced choice discrimination task. This study suggests that attention tasks in the lab do predict a clinically-relevant target behavior in children with ADHD, supporting their use as a means to study attention processes in a controlled environment. Furthermore, this prediction is improved when attention is examined as a function of time-on-task and when the attentional demands are consistent between lab and life contexts.

Influence of capacity- and time-constrained intermediate storage in two-stage food production systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Akkerman, Renzo; van Donk, Dirk Pieter; Gaalman, Gerard

2007-01-01

In food processing, two-stage production systems with a batch processor in the first stage and packaging lines in the second stage are common and mostly separated by capacity- and time-constrained intermediate storage. This combination of constraints is common in practice, but the literature hardly...... of systems like this. Contrary to the common sense in operations management, the LPT rule is able to maximize the total production volume per day. Furthermore, we show that adding one tank has considerable effects. Finally, we conclude that the optimal setup frequency for batches in the first stage...... pays any attention to this. In this paper, we show how various capacity and time constraints influence the performance of a specific two-stage system. We study the effects of several basic scheduling and sequencing rules in the presence of these constraints in order to learn the characteristics...

IL-1β Suppresses the Formation of Osteoclasts by Increasing OPG Production via an Autocrine Mechanism Involving Celecoxib-Related Prostaglandins in Chondrocytes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yusuke Watanabe

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Elevated interleukin (IL-1 concentrations in synovial fluid have been implicated in joint bone and cartilage destruction. Previously, we showed that IL-1β stimulated the expression of prostaglandin (PG receptor EP4 via increased PGE2 production. However, the effect of IL-1β on osteoclast formation via chondrocytes is unclear. Therefore, we examined the effect of IL-1β and/or celecoxib on the expression of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF, receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL, and osteoprotegerin (OPG in human chondrocytes, and the indirect effect of IL-1β on osteoclast-like cell formation using RAW264.7 cells. OPG and RANKL expression increased with IL-1β; whereas M-CSF expression decreased. Celecoxib blocked the stimulatory effect of IL-1β. Conditioned medium from IL-1β-treated chondrocytes decreased TRAP staining in RAW264.7 cells. These results suggest that IL-1β suppresses the formation of osteoclast-like cells via increased OPG production and decreased M-CSF production in chondrocytes, and OPG production may increase through an autocrine mechanism involving celecoxib-related PGs.

Drug involvement in fatal overdoses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher J. Ruhm

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Death certificate data from the Multiple Cause of Death (MCOD files were analyzed to better understand the drug categories most responsible for the increase in fatal overdoses occurring between 1999 and 2014. Statistical adjustment methods were used to account for the understatement in reported drug involvement occurring because death certificates frequently do not specify which drugs were involved in the deaths. The frequency of combination drug use introduced additional uncertainty and so a distinction was made between any versus exclusive drug involvement. Many results were sensitive to the starting and ending years chosen for examination. Opioid analgesics played a major role in the increased drug deaths for analysis windows starting in 1999 but other drugs, particularly heroin, became more significant for recent time periods. Combination drug use was important for all time periods and needs to be accounted for when designing policies to slow or reverse the increase in overdose deaths.

Multiperiod planning tool for multisite pig production systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadal-Roig, E; Plà, L M

2014-09-01

This paper presents a multiperiod planning tool for multisite pig production systems based on Linear Programming (LP). The aim of the model is to help pig managers of multisite systems in making short-term decisions (mainly related to pig transfers between farms and batch management in fattening units) and mid-term or long-term decisions (according to company targets and expansion strategy). The model skeleton follows the structure of a three-site system that can be adapted to any multisite system present in the modern pig industry. There are three basic phases, namely, piglet production, rearing pigs, and fattening. Each phase involves a different set of farms; therefore, transportation between farms and delivering of pigs to the abattoir are under consideration. The model maximizes the total gross margin calculated from the income of sales to the abattoir and the production costs over the time horizon considered. Production cost depends on each type of farm involved in the process. Parameters like number of farms per phase and distance, farm capacity, reproduction management policies, feeding and veterinary expenses, and transportation costs are taken into account. The model also provides a schedule of transfers between farms in terms of animals to be transported and number of trucks involved. The use of the model is illustrated with a case study based on a real instance of a company located in Catalonia (Spain).

Energy Savings by Wireless Control of Speed, Scheduling and Travel Times for Hauling Operation

OpenAIRE

Rylander, David; Axelsson, Jakob; Wallin, Peter

2014-01-01

A Quarry and Aggregate production site consist of sequential production processes and activities to process and produce the output products. Compared to a fixed manufacturing plant, the quarry processes involve mobile machines such as wheel loaders, trucks and articulated haulers and a highly dynamic road infrastructure. Today, the mobile machines are generally not synchronized or controlled towards the overall throughput of the site in real time. This indicates a general improvement potentia...

Animal DNA identification in food products and animal feed by real time polymerase chain reaction method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Людмила Мар’янівна Іщенко

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Approbation of diagnostic tests for species identification of beef, pork and chicken by real time polymerase chain reaction method was done. Meat food, including heat treated and animal feed, was used for research. The fact of inconsistencies was revealed for product composition of some meat products that is marked by manufacturer 

Characteristics of liquid product from the pyrolysis of waste plastic mixture at low and high temperatures: Influence of lapse time of reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kyong-Hwan; Shin, Dae-Hyun

2007-01-01

Pyrolysis of a waste plastic mixture (high-density polyethylene: low-density polyethylene: polypropylene: polystyrene = 3:2:3:1) into a liquid product was carried out in a stirred semi-batch reactor at low (350 deg. C) and high (400 deg. C) temperatures. The effect of lapse time of reaction in the reactor and also degradation temperature on the characteristics of the liquid product from pyrolysis of the mixture was investigated. Liquid products were described by cumulative amount distribution, paraffin, olefin, naphthene and aromatic (PONA) distribution and molecular weight distribution. Their characteristic was quite differed with a lapse time of reaction and also at a low and high degradation temperatures, because of the different physicochemical properties of the plastic types in the mixture. With increase of lapse time of reaction, the order for the main products in PONA components obtained at 350 deg. C was firstly aromatic products and then olefin products, while at 400 deg. C the order was firstly aromatic products, then olefin products and finally paraffin products. The experiments also showed from the molecular weight distribution of liquid PONA components that the paraffin and olefin products had a wide distribution by mainly random scission of polymer, but in the case of olefin products were produced by an end-chain scission mechanism as well as random scission mechanism, as evidenced by much more light olefin products. This phenomenon was evident at a higher degradation temperature. Also, both the light olefin and naphthene products with a molecular weight of around 120, as a main product, showed a similar trend as a function of lapse time, which had a maximum fraction at 343 min (at 350 deg. C) and 83 min (at 400 deg. C). Among PONA components, the highest concentrations of aromatic products were obtained with a molecular weight of around 100 at the fastest lapse time of reaction, regardless of degradation temperature. It was concluded that the

Characteristics of liquid product from the pyrolysis of waste plastic mixture at low and high temperatures: influence of lapse time of reaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyong-Hwan; Shin, Dae-Hyun

2007-01-01

Pyrolysis of a waste plastic mixture (high-density polyethylene: low-density polyethylene: polypropylene: polystyrene = 3:2:3:1) into a liquid product was carried out in a stirred semi-batch reactor at low (350 degrees C) and high (400 degrees C) temperatures. The effect of lapse time of reaction in the reactor and also degradation temperature on the characteristics of the liquid product from pyrolysis of the mixture was investigated. Liquid products were described by cumulative amount distribution, paraffin, olefin, naphthene and aromatic (PONA) distribution and molecular weight distribution. Their characteristic was quite differed with a lapse time of reaction and also at a low and high degradation temperatures, because of the different physicochemical properties of the plastic types in the mixture. With increase of lapse time of reaction, the order for the main products in PONA components obtained at 350 degrees C was firstly aromatic products and then olefin products, while at 400 degrees C the order was firstly aromatic products, then olefin products and finally paraffin products. The experiments also showed from the molecular weight distribution of liquid PONA components that the paraffin and olefin products had a wide distribution by mainly random scission of polymer, but in the case of olefin products were produced by an end-chain scission mechanism as well as random scission mechanism, as evidenced by much more light olefin products. This phenomenon was evident at a higher degradation temperature. Also, both the light olefin and naphthene products with a molecular weight of around 120, as a main product, showed a similar trend as a function of lapse time, which had a maximum fraction at 343 min (at 350 degrees C) and 83 min (at 400 degrees C). Among PONA components, the highest concentrations of aromatic products were obtained with a molecular weight of around 100 at the fastest lapse time of reaction, regardless of degradation temperature. It was

NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Centers Near Real-Time Data Products

Science.gov (United States)

Davenport, T.; Parker, L.; Rinsland, P. L.

2014-12-01

Over the past decade the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center has archived and distributed a variety of satellite mission data sets. NASA's goal in Earth science is to observe, understand, and model the Earth system to discover how it is changing, to better predict change, and to understand the consequences for life on Earth. The ASDC has collaborated with Science Teams to accommodate emerging science users in the climate and modeling communities. The ASDC has expanded its original role to support operational usage by related Earth Science satellites, support land and ocean assimilations, support of field campaigns, outreach programs, and application projects for agriculture and energy industries to bridge the gap between Earth science research results and the adoption of data and prediction capabilities for reliable and sustained use in Decision Support Systems (DSS). For example; these products are being used by the community performing data assimilations to regulate aerosol mass in global transport models to improve model response and forecast accuracy, to assess the performance of components of a global coupled atmospheric-ocean climate model, improve atmospheric motion vector (winds) impact on numerical weather prediction models, and to provide internet-based access to parameters specifically tailored to assist in the design of solar and wind powered renewable energy systems. These more focused applications often require Near Real-Time (NRT) products. Generating NRT products pose their own unique set challenges for the ASDC and the Science Teams. Examples of ASDC NRT products and challenges will be discussed.

75 FR 18153 - Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products from the Republic of Korea: Extension of Time...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-09

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [C-580-818] Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products from the Republic of Korea: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of... countervailing duty order on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (CORE) from Korea. See Countervailing...

77 FR 16810 - Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea: Extension of Time...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-22

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [C-580-818] Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of... Register the countervailing duty order on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (CORE) from Korea...

76 FR 20954 - Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea: Extension of Time...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-14

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [C-580-818] Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of... Register the countervailing duty order on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (CORE) from Korea...

Identification of lipases involved in PBAN stimulated pheromone production in Bombyx mori using the DGE and RNAi approaches.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengfang Du

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN is a neurohormone that regulates sex pheromone synthesis in female moths. Bombyx mori is a model organism that has been used to explore the signal transduction pattern of PBAN, which is mediated by a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR. Although significant progress has been made in elucidating PBAN-regulated lipolysis that releases the precursor of the sex pheromone, little is known about the molecular components involved in this step. To better elucidate the molecular mechanisms of PBAN-stimulated lipolysis of cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs, the associated lipase genes involved in PBAN- regulated sex pheromone biosynthesis were identified using digital gene expression (DGE and subsequent RNA interference (RNAi. RESULTS: Three DGE libraries were constructed from pheromone glands (PGs at different developed stages, namely, 72 hours before eclosion (-72 h, new emergence (0 h and 72 h after eclosion (72 h, to investigate the gene expression profiles during PG development. The DGE evaluated over 5.6 million clean tags in each PG sample and revealed numerous genes that were differentially expressed at these stages. Most importantly, seven lipases were found to be richly expressed during the key stage of sex pheromone synthesis and release (new emergence. RNAi-mediated knockdown confirmed for the first time that four of these seven lipases play important roles in sex pheromone synthesis. CONCLUSION: This study has identified four lipases directly involved in PBAN-stimulated sex pheromone biosynthesis, which improve our understanding of the lipases involved in releasing bombykol precursors from triacylglycerols (TAGs within the cytoplasmic LDs.

Benefits to US industry from involvement in fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waganer, L.M.; Davis, J.W.; Schultz, K.R.

2002-01-01

Over the past decades, fusion has created a cooperative relationship between the DOE national laboratories, leading universities, and high technology industries. This relationship in the fusion community has helped to solve difficult technical problems, which will hopefully lead toward the commercialization of fusion. The US industry, with high technology skills, provides relevant cutting-edge designs, tools, and processes to help solve unique and technically challenging problems associated with fusion energy development. Together, these relationships have developed new and improved technologies and processes to achieve and demonstrate solutions to help advance fusion toward its ultimate goal. The benefits to industry, in terms of commercial applications to their product lines, are subjective. The involvement of US industry has been limited to a few high technology firms, with Boeing and General Atomics being the longest lasting and most involved. Widespread industrial involvement has been constrained with limited funding for the fusion budgets. Even with the funding constraints, industry has contributed to all aspects and systems for MFE and IFE experiments, demonstration reactors, and commercial power plant designs. While several technology and product spin-offs are identified and examined, the more prevalent transfer of information arises from subtle two-way transition of technologies between the fusion related efforts and those of the parent industrial firms. Examples of this transfer include CAD/CAM, independent product team structures, computer simulation/modeling/assessment, extended material property databases, tailored material processing, improved and lower cost fabrication processes, and component designs/applications. Specific examples of transitioned components or technologies involve superconducting magnets, neutral beam components, laser machining, and microwave/RF technologies

A product feature-based user-centric product search model

OpenAIRE

Ben Jabeur, Lamjed; Soulier, Laure; Tamine, Lynda; Mousset, Paul

2016-01-01

During the online shopping process, users would search for interesting products and quickly access those that fit with their needs among a long tail of similar or closely related products. Our contribution addresses head queries that are frequently submitted on e-commerce Web sites. Head queries usually target featured products with several variations, accessories, and complementary products. We present in this paper a product feature-based user-centric model for product search involving in a...

Steps of Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Natural Products and Their Characteristic Times

OpenAIRE

Sovová, H. (Helena)

2012-01-01

Kinetics of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) from plants is variable due to different micro-structure of plants and their parts, different properties of extracted substances and solvents, and different flow patterns in the extractor. Variety of published mathematical models for SFE of natural products corresponds to this diversification. This study presents simplified equations of extraction curves in terms of characteristic times of four single extraction steps: internal diffusion, exter...

OceanNOMADS: Real-time and retrospective access to operational U.S. ocean prediction products

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, J. M.; Cross, S. L.; Bub, F.; Ji, M.

2011-12-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) provides both real-time and archived atmospheric model output from servers at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) respectively (http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/txt_descriptions/marRutledge-1.pdf). The NOAA National Ocean Data Center (NODC) with NCEP is developing a complementary capability called OceanNOMADS for operational ocean prediction models. An NCEP ftp server currently provides real-time ocean forecast output (http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/newNCOM/NCOM_currents.shtml) with retrospective access through NODC. A joint effort between the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI; a NOAA Cooperative Institute) and the NOAA National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC; a division of NODC) created the developmental version of the retrospective OceanNOMADS capability (http://www.northerngulfinstitute.org/edac/ocean_nomads.php) under the NGI Ecosystem Data Assembly Center (EDAC) project (http://www.northerngulfinstitute.org/edac/). Complementary funding support for the developmental OceanNOMADS from U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) through the Southeastern University Research Association (SURA) Model Testbed (http://testbed.sura.org/) this past year provided NODC the analogue that facilitated the creation of an NCDDC production version of OceanNOMADS (http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/ocean-nomads/). Access tool development and storage of initial archival data sets occur on the NGI/NCDDC developmental servers with transition to NODC/NCCDC production servers as the model archives mature and operational space and distribution capability grow. Navy operational global ocean forecast subsets for U.S waters comprise the initial ocean prediction fields resident on the NCDDC production server. The NGI/NCDDC developmental server currently includes the Naval Research Laboratory Inter-America Seas

Value of dual-time-point 18FDG PET-CT imaging on involved-field radiotherapy for hilar and mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes in non-small cell lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Man; Sun Xindong; Liu Ningbo; Gong Heyi; Fu Zheng; Ma Li; Li Xinke; Xu Xiaoqing; Yu Jinming

2008-01-01

Objective: To discuss the value of dual-time-point 18 FDG PET-CT imaging on involved-field radiotherapy for hilar and mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Fifty-four patients with NSCLC were included in this analysis, including 34 men and 20 women with mean age of 59 (34-76) years. Two sequential PET-CT scans given 3-5 days before surgery were standard single-time-point imaging for the whole body and delayed imaging for the thorax. The pathologic data were used as golden standard to determine the difference between the standard single-time-point and dual-time-point PET-CT imaging in the definition of gross target volume (GTV) of involved-field radiotherapy for metastatic lymph nodes. Results: For hilar metastatic lymph nodes, the GTV defined by single-time-point imaging was consistent with pathologic GTV in 21 patients (39%), comparing with 31 patients (57%) by dual-time-point imaging. Using pathologic data as golden standard, GTV alteration defined by single-time-point imaging had statistically significant difference comparing with that defined by dual-time-point imaging( =519.00, P=0.023). For mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes, the GTV defined by single-time-point imaging was consistent with pathologic GTV in 30 patients (56%), comparing with 36 patients (67%) by dual-time-point imaging. Using pathologic data as golden standard, GTV alteration defined by single-time-point imaging had no statistically significant difference comparing with that defined by dual-time-point imaging (u= 397.50, P=0.616). Conclusions: For patients with NSCLC receiving involved-field radiotherapy, GTV definition for hilar and mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes by dual-time-point imaging is more consistent with that by pathologic data. Dual-time-point imaging has a larger value in terms of target delineation for hilar and mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes. (authors)

On the evaluation of product customization strategies in a vertically differentiated market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wong, Hartanto Wijaya; Lesmono, Dharma

2013-01-01

This paper presents a formal approach to evaluate the value of enhancing product customization in a vertically differentiated market. Different from most existing studies that tend to associate the level of customization with the number of product variants, we take a rather different view...... to the level of customization which we define as the degree to which consumers are involved along the value chain. Consequently, a higher level of customization is achieved when consumers are involved further upstream in the chain. The novelty of our approach stems from the integration of both marketing......- and production-related factors that enable us to: consider trade-offs between customization, lead times and manufacturing costs; and analyze how these trade-offs should be addressed in a market in which one group of consumers is highly concerned about product customization, whereas the other group is more...

Target life time of laser ion source for low charge state ion production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanesue,T.; Tamura, J.; Okamura, M.

2008-06-23

Laser ion source (LIS) produces ions by irradiating pulsed high power laser shots onto the solid state target. For the low charge state ion production, laser spot diameter on the target can be over several millimeters using a high power laser such as Nd:YAG laser. In this case, a damage to the target surface is small while there is a visible crater in case of the best focused laser shot for high charge state ion production (laser spot diameter can be several tens of micrometers). So the need of target displacement after each laser shot to use fresh surface to stabilize plasma is not required for low charge state ion production. We tested target lifetime using Nd:YAG laser with 5 Hz repetition rate. Also target temperature and vacuum condition were recorded during experiment. The feasibility of a long time operation was verified.

Time-dependent radiolytic product concentrations in the water flow of a spinning wheel target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, W.G.; Goodall, J.A.B.

1989-01-01

Using the Harwell Facsimile computer simulation package, values of water radiolytic product concentrations, for both transient radicals and stable molecules were calculated for a single revolution of the cooling water at 75 0 C in a spallation neutron source target wheel irradiated with 1000 MeV protons and consequential secondary radiation. The radiation was pulsed except for part of the γ radiation, which was continuous. The stable product concentrations at first rose and eventually came to steady values before the end of the revolution. Comparison with results for steady radiation suggested that with the mixed radiation molecular products from the more densely ionizing radiation were largely destroyed by the radicals from the more lightly ionizing radiation. The distribution of the dose rate in time and space also tended to give a lower extent of radiolysis than calculated for uniform irradiation at the arithmetic mean dose rate. The effect of a second revolution on the diluted products showed a smaller increase in product concentrations than for the first revolution. The Authors consider that the extent of radiolysis should be manageable. (author)