Fixed drug eruption induced by atenolol

Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is characterized by recurrent well-defined lesions in the same location each time the responsible drug is taken. We report here a case of multiple FDE induced by atenolol in a 48-year-old woman confirmed by positive patch test in previously affected sites. Beta-blockers-induced FDE are very rare. Only two cases had been reported in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case reported of atenolol-induced FDE confirmed by a positive patch test

Reshoring: Reassessing the Offshoring Strategy

This paper examines the motives behind the growth of the offshoring movement embraced by most American manufacturing firms beginning the late part of the 20th century. The motives behind the offshoring trend started as a basic move to reduce the labor costs of manufacturing. It later evolves into a new business model for organizational growth and expansion into the global markets.But, beginning about 2010, the offshoring movement began to be replaced with a trend to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U. S. A. This became known as the reshoring movement. This paper examines the forces behind the reshoring movement as well as some of the reactionary forces and obstacles which the reshoring movement will have to address if it is be become and remain as a sustainable business strategy for American manufacturing

Multi-stage production cost optimization of semi-rigid steel frames using genetic algorithms

The response of a steel structure is closely related to the behavior of its joints. This means that it is necessary to take explicit account of joint properties in order to ensure a consistent approach to design optimization of steel frames. Semi-rigid design has been introduced into steel construction standards such as Eurocode 3 and AISC. However, in the absence of appropriate guidelines, engineers encounter difficulties when bringing in semi-rigid design to everyday engineering practice. Moreover, connection design significantly affects the production cost of steel frame structures. Thus, a realistic optimization of frame design should take into account the effective costs of different stages of production including manufacturing and erection activities. This paper presents a Genetic Algorithm based method for multistage cost optimization of steel structures. In the objective function, the total cost of different production stages is minimized. A new cost model is presented that itemizes costs of all stages of production (material supply, manufacturing, erection and foundation). Design examples are used to validate the proposed methodology. Numerical validation shows that the multi-stage design optimization results in substantial cost benefits between 10% and 25% compared to traditional design of steel frames. Furthermore, the developed methodology is shown to be capable of measuring the possible impact of design choices in the early design stage thus assisting designers to make better design decisions. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved