Design of experiments for non-manufacturing processes : benefits, challenges and some examples

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a powerful technique for process optimization that has been widely deployed in almost all types of manufacturing processes and is used extensively in product and process design and development. There have not been as many efforts to apply powerful quality improvement techniques such as DoE to improve non-manufacturing processes. Factor levels often involve changing the way people work and so have to be handled carefully. It is even more important to get everyone working as a team. This paper explores the benefits and challenges in the application of DoE in non-manufacturing contexts. The viewpoints regarding the benefits and challenges of DoE in the non-manufacturing arena are gathered from a number of leading academics and practitioners in the field. The paper also makes an attempt to demystify the fact that DoE is not just applicable to manufacturing industries; rather it is equally applicable to non-manufacturing processes within manufacturing companies. The last part of the paper illustrates some case examples showing the power of the technique in non-manufacturing environments

Social referencing and social appraisal: commentary on the Clément and Dukes (2016) and Walle et al. (2016) articles

We comment on two articles on social referencing and social appraisal. We agree with Walle, Reschke, and Knothe’s (2017) argument that at one level of analysis, social referencing and social appraisal are functionally equivalent: In both cases, another person’s emotional expression is observed and this expression informs the observer’s own emotional reactions and behavior. However, we also agree with Clément and Dukes’s (2017) view that (at another level of analysis), there is an important difference between social referencing and social appraisal. We also argue that they are likely to occur at different stages of emotion process

The 21cm angular-power spectrum from the dark ages

At redshifts z >~ 30 neutral hydrogen gas absorbs CMB radiation at the 21cm spin-flip frequency. In principle this is observable and a high-precision probe of cosmology. We calculate the linear-theory angular power spectrum of this signal and cross-correlation between redshifts on scales much larger than the line width. In addition to the well known redshift-distortion and density perturbation sources a full linear analysis gives additional contributions to the power spectrum. On small scales there is a percent-level linear effect due to perturbations in the 21cm optical depth, and perturbed recombination modifies the gas temperature perturbation evolution (and hence spin temperature and 21cm power spectrum). On large scales there are several post-Newtonian and velocity effects; although negligible on small scales, these additional terms can be significant at l <~ 100 and can be non-zero even when there is no background signal. We also discuss the linear effect of reionization re-scattering, which damps the entire spectrum and gives a very small polarization signal on large scales. On small scales we also model the significant non-linear effects of evolution and gravitational lensing. We include full results for numerical calculation and also various approximate analytic results for the power spectrum and evolution of small scale perturbations.Comment: 29 pages; significant extensions including: self-absorption terms (i.e. change to background radiation due to 21cm absorption); ionization fraction perturbations; estimates of non-linear effects; approximate analytic results; results for sharp redshift window functions. Code available at http://camb.info/sources

Evolutionary conservation of excision repair in Schizosaccharomyces pombe: Evidence for a family of sequences related to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD2 gene

Cells mutated at the rad13 locus in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe are deficient in excision-repair of UV damage. We have cloned the S.pombe rad13 gene by its ability to complement the UV sensitivity of a rad13 mutant. The gene is not essential for cell proliferation. Sequence analysis of the cloned gene revealed an open reading-frame of 1113 amino acids with structural homology to the RAD2 gene of the distantly related Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The sequence similarity is confined to three domains, two close to the N-terminus of the encoded protein, the third being close to the C-terminus. The central region of about 500 amino acids shows little similarity between the two organisms. The first and third domains are also found in a related yet distinct pair of homologous S.pombe/S.cerevisiae DNA repair genes (rad2/YKL510), which have only a very short region between these two conserved domains. Using the polymerase chain reaction with degenerate primers, we have isolated fragments from a gene homologous to rad13/RAD2 from Aspergillus nidulans. These findings define new functional domains involved in excision-repair, as well as identifying a conserved family of genes related to RAD2

Differential associations between actual and expected GP practice prescribing rates for statins, ACE inhibitors, and beta-blockers: a cross-sectional study in England

AIM: To explore the relationship between actual and expected general medical practitioner (GP) practice prescribing rates for statins, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and beta-blockers. BACKGROUND: There is a growing body of literature highlighting inequities in GP practice prescribing rates for many drug therapies. The equity of prescribing is of central importance in the area of therapeutics since it explores the interface between those patients who should and those who actually do receive a drug therapy. SETTING: Four primary care trusts (PCTs 1–4) in the North West of England, including 132 GP practices. METHODS: Actual and expected prescribing rates for statins, beta-blockers, and ACE inhibitors were specifically developed for each GP practice. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant correlations between actual and expected prescribing rates in PCT2 and PCT3, although in PCT1 there were statistically significant correlations for statins (0.286, p < 0.05) and ACE inhibitors (0.381, p < 0.01). In PCT4, correlations were moderate to high for beta-blockers (0.693, p < 0.01), and moderate for statins (0.541, p < 0.05) and ACE inhibitors (0.585, p < 0.01). Scatterplots highlighted large variations between individual GP practices (both within and between PCTs) in terms of the relationship between actual and expected prescribing rates. CONCLUSION: This paper highlights variability between PCTs and GP practices in terms of the relationship between actual and expected prescribing rates. The findings from this paper may further advance the suggestion of inequities in prescribing rates for coronary heart disease (CHD) drugs, and studies such as this may be repeated in different therapeutic areas, healthcare settings, and countries

Appraisal of the socio-economic status of fishers among the different sectors in Kerala, south-west coast of India

The present study assessed the levels of literacy, health, income and livelihood security of fisher households across different fisheries sectors in Kerala. Primary data collected across 567 households during January to December, 2011were used for the study. The general trend in Kerala shows that majority of the fisherfolk were of the age group 36-55, with a small family norm and high literacy rate. The marine capture sector has the highest annual income in comparison with other sectors but registered higher indebtedness. While the highest income from non-fishery activity was from labour  followed by business, other sectors and agriculture. The study revealed that the fishers spend their major share of income towards food expenditure. Inspite of the income from various sources, majority of the households are swamped with debts which make them to rely on private money lenders for sustaining their living standards. The study is a cross sectoral analysis of the fisher households in Kerala and provides a base for implementing developmental plans for the betterment of the fishing community

Impact Fracture of Composite and Homogeneous Nanoagglomerates

It is not yet clear on whether the fracture characteristics of structured composite capsules and homogeneous nanoagglomerates differ significantly under impact loading conditions. Experimental measurement of impact fracture properties of such small agglomerates is difficult, due to the length and time scales associated with this problem. Using computer simulations, here we show that nanoagglomerates are subjected to normal impact loading fracture within a few nanoseconds in a brittle manner. The restitution coefficient of the nanoagglomerates varies nonlinearly with initial kinetic energy. The fracture of nanoagglomerates does not always happen at the moment when they experience the maximum wall force, but occurs after a time lag of a few nanoseconds as characterised by impact survival time (IST) and IST index. IST is dependant on the initial kinetic energy, mechanical and geometric properties of the nanoagglomerates. For identical geometries of the capsules, IST index is higher for capsules with a soft shell than for these with a hard shell, an indication of the enhanced ability of the soft nanocapsules to dissipate impact energy. The DEM simulations reported here based on theories of contact mechanics provide fundamental insights on the fracture behaviour of agglomerates—at nanoscale, the structure of the agglomerates significantly influences their breakage behaviour

REVIEW: A RECENT REVIEW IN APPLICATIONS OF HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS AS ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT

A wide development in the field of multidrug resistance in antimicrobial activity which enhance the search for development of new medicinal drugs with high potential. Schiff base heterocyclic metal complex with imine moiety, act as important antimicrobial agents due to their versatile properties such as chelation, adaptability of fine structure for a specific biological action, and chemotheraptic drugs. Schiff base compounds derived from various heterocyclic platforms have been competently reviewed.Â

Parsing (malicious) pleasures:schadenfreude and gloating

We offer the first empirical comparison of the pleasure in seeing (i.e., schadenfreude) and in causing (i.e., gloating) others’ adversity. In Study 1, we asked participants to recall and report on an (individual or group) episode of pleasure that conformed to our formal definition of schadenfreude, gloating, pride, or joy, without reference to an emotion word. Schadenfreude and gloating were distinct in the situational features of the episode, participants’ appraisals of it, and their expressions of pleasure (e.g., smiling, boasting). In Study 2, we had participants imagine being in an (individual or group) emotion episode designed to fit our conceptualization of schadenfreude or gloating. Individual and group versions of the emotions did not differ much in either study. However, the two pleasures differed greatly in their situational features, appraisals, experience, and expression. This parsing of the particular pleasures of schadenfreude and gloating brings nuance to the study of (malicious) pleasure, which tends to be less finely conceptualized and examined than displeasure despite its importance to social relations