Supply chain agility in semiconductor shortage

The semiconductor shortage is an ongoing global crisis that has operationally and financially impacted companies’ supply chains due to the supply disruptions it caused. This crisis is a wake-up call for organizations to rethink agility in the supply chain. This Master’s thesis aims to study how supply chain agility can be utilized in disruption management during the semiconductor shortage. The conceptual framework of the thesis provides a link between the theories of supply chain agility and supply disruption management, which acts as a guideline for companies to plan agility in managing supply disruptions caused by the semiconductor shortage or similar crises. This research was conducted based on qualitative multi-case study through semi-structured interviews with five companies from different industries. The case companies are those operating mainly in Finland, whose product offerings are associated with semiconductors. The collected data was analyzed with thematic analysis to identify the implications of agility elements at different phases of the disruption management cycle. The conceptual framework of the thesis was developed through a synthesis of existing literature and refined based on the empirical findings. The findings suggest that it is important to apply supply chain agility in managing supply disruptions caused by the semiconductor shortage, due to this crisis's unpredictability and severity. In pre-disruption phase, successful implementation of proactive approaches requires alertness and accessibility enabled by risk management, market sensitivity and supply chain alignment. During and after the disruption, quick and flexible responses to sudden changes in supply are enabled by utilizing existing risk management practices in addition to operational flexibility and demand management. It is also important to have a recovery plan and to foster continuous learning from the crisis. Furthermore, maintaining agility throughout the whole crisis requires a culture of change, supportive top management, and strategic collaboration between supply chain partners as well as information technology capabilities

ANTIBACTERIAL AND PHOTOCATALYTIC ABILITY OF THE Ag/TiO2 COATING ON THE GLASS SURFACE.

The coating on the glass surface was made by heating the mixture of resinate Ag and tetra-n-butyl orthotitanate (TBO) at 570 oC for 1 hour. The characteristics and structure of the mixture Ag/TiO2 with the content of Ag : TiO2 from 0 – 8 (% mol) were studied by the methods such as XRD, FTIR, UV-viz, SEM, EDS. The research results of antibacterial ability and the degradation of blue methylene (MB) were shown that this coating can be used for antibacterial and photocatalytic abilit

Assisted phytoextraction by rhamnolipids of Cu contaminated soils

La fitoextracción de elementos potencialemente tóxicos (EPTs) es una técnica de recuperación de suelos medioambientalmente atractiva debido a que no precisa de excavaciones y transporte del suelo. Además, el uso de plantas hace que visualmente afecte muy poco al paisaje. Sin embargo la baja biodisponibilidad de los EPTs, hace que su aplicación sea muy reducida en suelos reales contaminados. Este trabajo presenta los estudios preliminares de la adición de ramnolípidos a 2 suelos con distintas propiedades contaminados con Cu para aumentar la disponibilidad del metal, y así incrementar la efectividad de la fitoextracción. Esta técnica se denomina fitoextracción asistida por quelatos. Los ramnolípidos son compuestos naturales de baja toxicidad con características biosurfactantes. En este ensayo no se ha encontrado un efecto positivo de la aplicación de ramnolípidos a una dosis de 1 g kg-1 en la capacidad de acumulación de Cu de dos cultivos, cebada y mostaza parda, así como tampoco se ha observado efecto incrementando la disponibilidad de metales en suelo. Esto parece indicar que el efecto de los ramnolípidos en el aumento de la capacidad de extracción de Cu en suelo es insuficiente para ser aplicados como sustancias que favorezcan la eficacia de la fitorecuperación asistida de Cu en suelos contaminados.Phytoextraction of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) is a friendly soil restoration technique. It is environmentally attractive because excavation and soil transportation are not needed. Furthermore, plant use usually have a positive impact on the landscape. Nevertheless, low bioavailability of most PTEs, reduce drastically its real application in soil contamination. This research shows preliminary results of the addition of rhamnolipids to two Cu contaminated soils to increase metal availability, in order to get better results in soil phytoextraction. This technique is known as chelate assisted phytoextraction. Rhamnolipids are natural compounds showing low toxicity and biosurfactant characteristics. In this research a positive effect of rhamnolipids application (1 g kg-1 soil) on soil Cu extraction by two different crops (barley and Indian mustard) have not been observed. Similarly, increases in Cu soil bioavailability neither have been observed. It seems to indicate that the effect of rhamnolipids on the increases of Cu extractable content are not enough for using them as chelating agents to improve soil phytoextraction of Cu contaminated soils

Effect of soil type on adsorption-desorption processes of the fungicide Thiabendazole

Se han realizado ensayos de adsorción-desorción del fungicida Tiabendazol (TBZ) en once suelos con propiedades fisicoquímicas diferentes con el objetivo de estudiar su comportamiento en el sistema suelo-agua. Las isotermas de adsorción de TBZ se ajustaron a la ecuación de Freundlich, variando el valor de Kf entre 1.41 y 107. En gran parte de los suelos estudiados las Kf se relacionaron de forma directa con el contenido en materia orgá- nica, obteniéndose un valor medio de la constante Kfoc de 1650, por lo que ésta juega un papel importante en la adsorción. Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta todos los suelos estudiados, Kfoc varió dentro de un amplio rango (210-5474), lo que indica que en ciertos suelos hay otras propiedades que también influyen en la adsorción, tales como el pH de los mismos y la presencia de óxidos amorfos. La desorción de TBZ presentó histéresis positiva en la mayoría de los suelos, indicando la parcial irreversibilidad de la adsorción. La adsorción se mostró más irreversible cuanto menor fué la cantidad adsorbida.In order to study the behavior of the fungicide Thiabendazole (TBZ) in the soil-water system, adsorptiondesorption tests were performed in eleven soils with different physicochemical properties. TBZ adsorption isotherms were well fitted to the Freundlich equation, and Kf values varied in the range 1.41-107. Kf was directly related to organic matter content in a great part of the soils, with an average Kfoc value of 1650, playing an important role in TBZ adsorption. However, taking into account all the studied soils, Kfoc varied in a wide range (210- 5474), indicating that in some soils other properties may influence on adsorption, such as their pH and the presence of amorphous oxides. Positive hysteresis was observed in TBZ desorption in most of the soils, indicating a partially irreversible adsorption. It was showed more irreversible as lower the adsorbed ammount

Disturbance observer-based controller for inverted pendulum with uncertainties: Linear matrix inequality approach

A new approach based on linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique for stabilizing the inverted pendulum is developed in this article. The unknown states are estimated as well as the system is stabilized simultaneously by employing the observer-based controller. In addition, the impacts of the uncertainties are taken into consideration in this paper. Unlike the previous studies, the uncertainties in this study are unnecessary to satisfy the bounded constraints. These uncertainties will be converted into the unknown input disturbances, and then a disturbance observer-based controller will be synthesized to estimate the information of the unknown states, eliminate completely the effects of the uncertainties, and stabilize inverted pendulum system. With the support of lyapunov methodology, the conditions for constructing the observer and controller under the framework of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) are derived in main theorems. Finally, the simulations for system with and without uncertainties are exhibited to show the merit and effectiveness of the proposed methods

A Schrödinger Equation for Evolutionary Dynamics

We establish an analogy between the Fokker–Planck equation describing evolutionary landscape dynamics and the Schrödinger equation which characterizes quantum mechanical particles, showing that a population with multiple genetic traits evolves analogously to a wavefunction under a multi-dimensional energy potential in imaginary time. Furthermore, we discover within this analogy that the stationary population distribution on the landscape corresponds exactly to the ground-state wavefunction. This mathematical equivalence grants entry to a wide range of analytical tools developed by the quantum mechanics community, such as the Rayleigh–Ritz variational method and the Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory, allowing us not only the conduct of reasonable quantitative assessments but also exploration of fundamental biological inquiries. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these tools by estimating the population success on landscapes where precise answers are elusive, and unveiling the ecological consequences of stress-induced mutagenesis—a prevalent evolutionary mechanism in pathogenic and neoplastic systems. We show that, even in an unchanging environment, a sharp mutational burst resulting from stress can always be advantageous, while a gradual increase only enhances population size when the number of relevant evolving traits is limited. Our interdisciplinary approach offers novel insights, opening up new avenues for deeper understanding and predictive capability regarding the complex dynamics of evolving populations

Isogeometric Analysis for BIM-Based Design and Simulation of Sub-Rectangular Tunnel

The design and analysis of segmental tunnel lining is today often based on empirical solutions with simplified assumptions. This work showcases the application of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) for computationally efficient simulations of tunnel linings [1, 2]. In our past research, we developed a design-through-analysis procedure that consists of i) parametric modeling of the segmented tunnel lining; ii) development of an IGA computational framework, iii) reconstruction of the BIM lining model for IGA analysis, and iv) simulation model for lining including a reconstructed IGA model, contact interfaces between the joints, and a non-linear soil-structure interaction model based on the Variational Hyperstatic Reaction Method (VHRM) [3].In this paper, we extend our method for the analysis of subrectangular tunnel linings and demonstrate its efficiency using the example of the Shanghai express tunnel. The advantage of our novel method is the flexibility in adapting the tunnel alignment with the help of NURBS/CAD technology. Employing the high-order geometry definition, convergence of the mesh refinement procedure can be obtained with much faster rate. As a result, the modelling effort and computational time are reduced significantly. Moreover, this approach allows to capture the bending moment with better regularity. The combination with an existing BIM modelling approach via geometryreconstruction leads to a very efficient framework for tunnel lining analysis and design

A Schr\"odinger Equation for Evolutionary Dynamics

We establish an analogy between the Fokker-Planck equation describing evolutionary landscape dynamics and the Schr\"{o}dinger equation which characterizes quantum mechanical particles, showing how a population with multiple genetic traits evolves analogously to a wavefunction under a multi-dimensional energy potential in imaginary time. Furthermore, we discover within this analogy that the stationary population distribution on the landscape corresponds exactly to the ground-state wavefunction. This mathematical equivalence grants entry to a wide range of analytical tools developed by the quantum mechanics community, such as the Rayleigh-Ritz variational method and the Rayleigh-Schr\"{o}dinger perturbation theory, allowing us to not only make reasonable quantitative assessments but also explore fundamental biological inquiries. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these tools by estimating the population success on landscapes where precise answers are elusive, and unveiling the ecological consequences of stress-induced mutagenesis -- a prevalent evolutionary mechanism in pathogenic and neoplastic systems. We show that, even in a unchanging environment, a sharp mutational burst resulting from stress can always be advantageous, while a gradual increase only enhances population size when the number of relevant evolving traits is limited. Our interdisciplinary approach offers novel insights, opening up new avenues for deeper understanding and predictive capability regarding the complex dynamics of evolving populations

Informing Policy on Built Environments to Safeguard Children in Environmental Justice Communities: Case Study of Five AAP Climate Advocates

Climate change’s health effects are most strongly felt in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities which are predominantly people of color. This results in a disproportionate burden of climate change health effects on EJ communities. Climate change is a public health crisis, and more importantly to pediatricians – it is a pediatric public health crisis. We are five pediatricians who are part of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Climate Advocate Program representing four diverse regions; Colorado, California, Puerto Rico, and North Carolina. We are applied research practitioners, as we live in the world between academic research and clinical practice. We are natural advocates to ensure that the future world is rebuilt with children’s health, especially children of EJ communities, at the center. Each of us has seen the direct effects of climate change adversely impact EJ Communities. In this article, we will briefly review the literature on the dangers that children face in the air they breathe, the lack of natural green spaces, and the increasingly hostile built environments, especially to children in EJ communities. We will review opportunities in our local areas to change the built environment that will work toward reducing carbon emissions and increase overall pediatric health. We will illustrate the commonalities that helped us succeed as Climate Advocates including collaboration, working locally, and purposefully choosing to identify ourselves as climate advocates and child-advocates. The intersection between public health, policy, and medicine will now become increasingly important as we head into this new decade and approach the point of no return on climate change