Quality engineering of a traction alternator by robust design

Robust design is an engineering methodology for improving productivity during research and development so that high-quality products can be developed and produced quickly and at low cost. A large electrical company was developing traction alternators for a diesel electrical engine. Customer requirement was to obtain very high efficiency which, in turn, was influenced by several design parameters. The usual approach of the 'design-build-test' cycle was considered time-consuming and costly; it used to take anywhere from 4 months to 1 year before finalizing the product design parameters as it involved physical assembly and also testing. Instead, the authors used Taguchi's parameter design approach. This approach took about 8 weeks to arrive at optimum design parameter values; clearly demonstrating the cutting edge of this methodology over the traditional design-build-test approach. The prototype built and tested accordingly gave satisfactory overall performance, meeting and even exceeding customer requirements

Continuous improvement implementation models:a reconciliation and holistic metamodel

The purpose of this paper is to review and aggregate the guidance for continuous improvement (CI) implementation from existing implementation models. A sample of ultimately 27 implementation models is collected from the practitioner and academic literature. The models are assessed on quality and completeness using a research framework comprising organizational dimensions, phases in time, readiness factors, activities, and sustainability factors, leading to 415 coded observations. Subsequently, these 27 implementation models are integrated with one holistic metamodel, providing a detailed account of the existing CI deployment guidance to date. Based on the metamodel, knowledge gaps about implementation processes are identified and detailed needs for future research are presented. Thereby, repeated scholarly calls for better and more scientifically proven implementation guidance is addressed.</p

The Bell Laboratories (13)CO Survey: Longitude-Velocity Maps

A survey is presented of the Galactic plane in the J=1-0 transition of (13)CO. About 73,000 spectra were obtained with the 7 m telescope at Bell Laboratories over a ten-year period. The coverage of survey is (l, b) = (-5 to 117, -1 to +1), or 244 square degrees, with a grid spacing of 3' for |b| < 0.5, and a grid spacing of 6' for |b| > 0.5. The data presented here have been resampled onto a 3' grid. For 0.68 km/s channels, the rms noise level of the survey is 0.1 K on the $T_R^*$ scale. The raw data have been transformed into FITS format, and all the reduction processes, such as correcting for emission in the reference positions, baseline removal and interpolation were conducted within IRAF using the FCRAO task package and additional programs. The reduced data are presented here in the form of longitude-velocity color maps at each latitude. These data allow identification and classification of molecular clouds with masses in excess of ~ 1,000 solar masses throughout the first quadrant of the Galaxy. Spiral structure is manifested by the locations of the largest and brightest molecular clouds.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, ApJS submitted (out of 41 frames of Figure4, only one is included becaue of size limit

Induction and function of the phage shock protein extracytoplasmic stress response in Escherichia coli

The phage shock protein (Psp) F regulon response in Escherichia coli is thought to be induced by impaired inner membrane integrity and an associated decrease in proton motive force (pmf). Mechanisms by which the Psp system detects the stress signal and responds have so far remained undetermined. Here we demonstrate that PspA and PspG directly confront a variety of inducing stimuli by switching the cell to anaerobic respiration and fermentation and by down-regulating motility, thereby subtly adjusting and maintaining energy usage and pmf. Additionally, PspG controls iron usage. We show that the Psp-inducing protein IV secretin stress, in the absence of Psp proteins, decreases the pmf in an ArcB-dependent manner and that ArcB is required for amplifying and transducing the stress signal to the PspF regulon. The requirement of the ArcB signal transduction protein for induction of psp provides clear evidence for a direct link between the physiological redox state of the cell, the electron transport chain, and induction of the Psp response. Under normal growth conditions PspA and PspD control the level of activity of ArcB/ArcA system that senses the redox/metabolic state of the cell, whereas under stress conditions PspA, PspD, and PspG deliver their effector functions at least in part by activating ArcB/ArcA through positive feedback

Review Study on Pharmacological Importance of Simarouba Glauca

Simarouba glaucanbspis a species of flowering tree that is native to Florida in the United States, southern Florida, South America, and the Lesser Antilles. Common names include paradise-tree, dysentery-bark, and bitter wood. Its seeds produce edible oil. Different parts of the tree are used to treat various diseases. The plant has been reported to contain many important phyto constituents which have significant pharmacological importance. The aim of this paper is to highlight the Pharmacological importance of different parts of the plant simaruba glauca and it may give a good platform for future researcher to carry out the various research activities on simarouba glauca plant.nbs

Introduction, dispersal and naturalisation of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum in British estuaries, 1980-2010

The introduction of the Manila clam into British coastal waters in the 1980s was contested by conservation agencies. While recognizing the value of the clam for aquaculture, the government decided that it posed no invasive risk, as British sea temperatures would prevent naturalization. This proved incorrect. Here we establish the pattern of introduction and spread of the species over the first 30 years of its presence in Britain. We report archival research on the sequence of licensed introductions and examine their relationship in time and space to the appearance of wild populations as revealed in the literature and by field surveys. By 2010 the species had naturalized in at least 11 estuaries in southern England. These included estuaries with no history of licensed introduction. In these cases activities such as storage of catch before market or deliberate unlicensed introduction represent the probable mechanisms of dispersal. In any event naturalization is not an inevitable consequence of introduction and the chances of establishment over the period in question were finely balanced. Consequently in Britain the species is not currently aggressively invasive and appears not to present significant risk to indigenous diversity or ecosystem function. However it is likely to gradually continue its spread should sea surface temperatures rise as predicted

Quadratic Lagrangians and Topology in Gauge Theory Gravity

We consider topological contributions to the action integral in a gauge theory formulation of gravity. Two topological invariants are found and are shown to arise from the scalar and pseudoscalar parts of a single integral. Neither of these action integrals contribute to the classical field equations. An identity is found for the invariants that is valid for non-symmetric Riemann tensors, generalizing the usual GR expression for the topological invariants. The link with Yang-Mills instantons in Euclidean gravity is also explored. Ten independent quadratic terms are constructed from the Riemann tensor, and the topological invariants reduce these to eight possible independent terms for a quadratic Lagrangian. The resulting field equations for the parity non-violating terms are presented. Our derivations of these results are considerably simpler that those found in the literature