Supply chain risk assessment approach for process quality risks

Purpose- The purpose of the paper is to proactively analyse and mitigate root causes of the process quality risks. The case study approach examines the effectiveness of the fuzzy logic approach for assessing the product and process related failure modes within global supply chain context. Design/Methodology/approach- The case study of a printed circuit board company in China is used as a platform for conducting the research. Using data triangulation, the data is collected and analysed through interviews, questionnaires, expert opinions and quantitative modelling for drawing useful insights. Findings- The fuzzy logic approach to FMEA provides a structured approach for understanding complex behaviour of failure modes and their associated risks for products and processes. Supply Chain Managers should conduct robust risk assessment during the design stage to avoid product safety and security risks. Research Limitations/implications- The research is based on a single case study. Multiple cases from different industry sectors may support in generalising the findings. Originality/Value- The study attempts to mitigate the root causes of product and processes using fuzzy approach to FMEA in supply chain network

Observation of inter-Landau-level quantum coherence in semiconductor quantum wells

Using three-pulse four-wave-mixing femtosecond spectroscopy, we excite a non-radiative coherence between the discrete Landau levels of an undoped quantum well and study its dynamics. We observe quantum beats that reflect the time evolution of the coherence between the two lowest Landau level magnetoexcitons. We interpret our observations using a many-body theory and find that the inter Landau level coherence decays with a new time constant, substantially longer than the corresponding interband magnetoexciton dephasing times. Our results indicate a new intraband excitation dynamics that cannot be described in terms of uncorrelated interband excitations.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Communication

Click-based porous cationic polymers for enhanced carbon dioxide capture

Imidazolium based porous cationic polymers were synthesized using an innovative and facile approach, which takes advantage of the Debus Radziszewski reaction to obtain meso- and microporous polymers following click chemistry principles. In the obtained set of materials, click based porous cationic polymers have the same cationic backbone, whereas they bear the commonly used anions of imidazolium poly(ionic liquid)s. These materials show hierarchical porosity and a good specific surface area. Furthermore, their chemical structure was extensively characterized using ATR FTIR and SS NMR spectroscopies, and HR MS. These polymers show good performance towards carbon dioxide sorption, especially those possessing the acetate anion. This polymer has an uptake of 2 mmol per g of CO2 at 1 bar and 273 K, a value which is among the highest recorded for imidazolium poly(ionic liquid)s. These polymers were also modified in order to introduce N-heterocyclic carbenes along the backbone. Carbon dioxide loading in the carbene-containing polymer is in the same range as that of the non-modified versions, but the nature of the interaction is substantially different. The combined use of in situ FTIR spectroscopy and microcalorimetry evidenced a chemisorption phenomenon that brings about the formation of an imidazolium carboxylate zwitterion.Comment: 29 page, 33 figure

Consent for orthopaedic trauma surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a series of new challenges to the management of surgical patients. The consent process relies on a foundation of open and non-coerced discussion between clinician and patient, which includes all the potential risks of surgery. This must be updated to incorporate the additional risks of surgery during the pandemic including infection with the SARS-CoV-2 and increased risks of complications with the potential requirement for intensive care support. AIM: The aim of this multi-cycle quality improvement project was to ensure all patients were fully informed of the risks of developing COVID-19 and the possible need for intensive care unit (ICU) support. METHODS: We investigated the quality of the consent process for patients undergoing surgery for trauma at our major trauma centre. Our baseline data collection included a review of all orthopaedic trauma consent forms over a 4-week period in March 2020. We subsequently undertook three further Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles over separate 4-week periods. First, in June 2020, after education measures and presentation of baseline data, second in July 2020 after further education and regular digital reminders were sent to staff, and third in September 2021 after the implementation of an electronic consent form. RESULTS: At baseline, only 2.6% of consent forms mentioned the risk of COVID-19 and none mentioned the risk of requiring ITU support. Through three PDSA cycles this increased to 97% of cases where consent forms displayed the additional risks of COVID-19 and the potential need for ITU admission. CONCLUSION: Our quality improvement project improved the informed consent procedure at our trust. By incorporating these additional risks into the template of an electronic consent form, we hope to achieve sustained improvement in practice

Ultrametric Logarithm Laws, II

We prove positive characteristic versions of the logarithm laws of Sullivan and Kleinbock-Margulis and obtain related results in Metric Diophantine Approximation.Comment: submitted to Montasefte Fur Mathemati

HybridDeepRx: Deep Learning Receiver for High-EVM Signals

In this paper, we propose a machine learning (ML) based physical layer receiver solution for demodulating OFDM signals that are subject to a high level of nonlinear distortion. Specifically, a novel deep learning based convolutional neural network receiver is devised, containing layers in both time- and frequency domains, allowing to demodulate and decode the transmitted bits reliably despite the high error vector magnitude (EVM) in the transmit signal. Extensive set of numerical results is provided, in the context of 5G NR uplink incorporating also measured terminal power amplifier characteristics. The obtained results show that the proposed receiver system is able to clearly outperform classical linear receivers as well as existing ML receiver approaches, especially when the EVM is high in comparison with modulation order. The proposed ML receiver can thus facilitate pushing the terminal power amplifier (PA) systems deeper into saturation, and thereon improve the terminal power-efficiency, radiated power and network coverage.Comment: To be presented in the 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communication

Does collaboration pay in agricultural supply chain? An empirical approach

This paper examines the effect of different types of collaboration on the level of Postharvest Food Losses (PHFL) and the proportion of low-quality peaches produced using a unique data-set of Greek peach producers. Quantile regression techniques are adopted to estimate the effects at different points of the conditional distribution of our variables of interest. The findings of this study suggest that high levels of collaboration between producers and cooperatives are associated with both low levels of PHFL and a low proportion of low-quality peaches. We also find that specific types of collaboration, such as ‘goal congruence’, can play a significant role in reducing PHFL and improving the quality of peach production at the extremes of the distribution. Important policy implications regarding collaborative practices and systems that can be implemented to reduce PHFL and boost a producer’s performance together with sustainability credentials are drawn from this study

Dnmt3a regulates emotional behavior and spine plasticity in the nucleus accumbens.

Despite abundant expression of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts) in brain, the regulation and behavioral role of DNA methylation remain poorly understood. We found that Dnmt3a expression was regulated in mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc) by chronic cocaine use and chronic social defeat stress. Moreover, NAc-specific manipulations that block DNA methylation potentiated cocaine reward and exerted antidepressant-like effects, whereas NAc-specific Dnmt3a overexpression attenuated cocaine reward and was pro-depressant. On a cellular level, we found that chronic cocaine use selectively increased thin dendritic spines on NAc neurons and that DNA methylation was both necessary and sufficient to mediate these effects. These data establish the importance of Dnmt3a in the NAc in regulating cellular and behavioral plasticity to emotional stimuli

Patch antenna microcavity terahertz sources with enhanced emission

We study the emission properties of an electroluminescent THz frequency quantum cascade structure embedded in an array of patch antenna double-metal microcavities. We show that high photon extraction efficiencies can be obtained by adjusting the active region thickness and array periodicity as well as high Purcell factors (up to 65), leading to an enhanced overall emitted power. Up to a 44-fold increase in power is experimentally observed in comparison with a reference device processed in conventional mesa geometry. Estimation of the Purcell factors using electromagnetic simulations and the theoretical extraction efficiency are in agreement with the observed power enhancement and show that, in these microcavities, the overall enhancement solely depends on the square of the total quality factor

Rir para refletir : um pedacinho do mundo de Luis Fernando Veríssimo (Caderno de leitura)

Recurso pedagógico desenvolvido como parte da dissertação: SANTANA, Catiana Santos Correia. Crônica de humor : objeto de ensino-aprendizagem na perspectiva do interacinismo sociodiscursivo. 2016. 180 f. Dissertação (Mestrado Profissional em Letras) - Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Itabaiana, SE, 2016.Itabaiana, S