150 research outputs found

    The influence factors of e-logistics towards customer satisfaction in China

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    Since from last decade, the e-logistic industry of China facing different issues due to high volume worldwide. To address these issues, this study is quantity and use regression to test the hypotheses.11 introduced a framework to mitigate various issues of e-logistic in China. Therefore, the prime objective of the current study is to examine factors influencing e-logistics in China. To achieve this objective, the current study examines the effect of distribution rate (DR), transit time ( TT ), E-payment ( EP ), E-traceability ( ET), Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) on E-logistics Customer Satisfaction ( ELCS ). This study, each items will be tested by survey. Moreover, there are 501 useful responds from e-logistics customers who live in Shaanxi province. Five hypotheses were formulated. Generally, the results were found to support the hypotheses. DR, TT, EP, ET, ICT have positive relationship with ELCS. Additionally, ICT was seen to partially mediate between EPET and ELCS. The findings of this study imply that the managers of e-logistics performance in China need to pay more attention on DR, TT, EP, ET and ICT, as they can be used to improve e-logistics activities. Especially, ICT, which is a key influence factor and can partially mediate between EPIET and ELCS, this could attract more investment and improved

    The influence factors of e-logistics implementation in China: The conceptual framework

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    Since from last decade, the e-logistic industry of China facing different issues due to high volume worldwide.To address this issue, this study introducing a framework to mitigate various issues of e-logistic in China. Therefore, the prime objective of the current study is to examine the factors influencing e-logistics in China.To achieve this objective, the current study examines the effect of distribution rate, transit time, payment and information and communication technology (ICT) on e-logistic.It is found that distribution rate and transit time has a significant positive relationship with e-logistic. Moreover, it is found that ICT playing a mediating role between payment and e-logistic. Hence, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by introducing a research framework to enhance the performance of e-logistic, particularly in China. Furthermore, this research study introduced information and communication technology (ICT) by updating the concept of IT (information technology).Thus, the current study is beneficial for the e-logistic industry to enhance the performance by employing the current model

    Design of a pneumatic muscle based continuum robot with embedded tendons

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    © 1996-2012 IEEE. Continuum robots have attracted increasing focus in recent years due to their intrinsic compliance that allows for dexterous and safe movements. However, the inherent compliance in such systems reduces the structural stiffness, and therefore leads to the issue of reduced positioning accuracy. This paper presents the design of a continuum robot employing tendon embedded pneumatic muscles. The pneumatic muscles are used to achieve large-scale movements for preliminary positioning, while the tendons are used for fine adjustment of position. Such hybrid actuation offers the potential to improve the accuracy of the robotic system, while maintaining large displacement capabilities. A three-dimensional dynamic model of the robot is presented using a mass-damper-spring-based network, in which elastic deformation, actuating forces, and external forces are taken into account. The design and dynamic model of the robot are then validated experimentally with the help of an electromagnetic tracking system

    Scalable Reinforcement-Learning-Based Neural Architecture Search for Cancer Deep Learning Research

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    Cancer is a complex disease, the understanding and treatment of which are being aided through increases in the volume of collected data and in the scale of deployed computing power. Consequently, there is a growing need for the development of data-driven and, in particular, deep learning methods for various tasks such as cancer diagnosis, detection, prognosis, and prediction. Despite recent successes, however, designing high-performing deep learning models for nonimage and nontext cancer data is a time-consuming, trial-and-error, manual task that requires both cancer domain and deep learning expertise. To that end, we develop a reinforcement-learning-based neural architecture search to automate deep-learning-based predictive model development for a class of representative cancer data. We develop custom building blocks that allow domain experts to incorporate the cancer-data-specific characteristics. We show that our approach discovers deep neural network architectures that have significantly fewer trainable parameters, shorter training time, and accuracy similar to or higher than those of manually designed architectures. We study and demonstrate the scalability of our approach on up to 1,024 Intel Knights Landing nodes of the Theta supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility.Comment: SC '19: IEEE/ACM International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, November 17--22, 2019, Denver, C

    FGF10 Protects Against Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury by Regulating Autophagy and Inflammatory Signaling

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    Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) is a common cause of acute kidney injury (AKI), which is associated with high mortality and poor outcomes. Autophagy plays important roles in the homeostasis of renal tubular cells (RTCs) and is implicated in the pathogenesis of AKI, although its role in the process is complex and controversial. Fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10), a multifunctional FGF family member, was reported to exert protective effect against cerebral ischemia injury and myocardial damage. Whether FGF10 has similar beneficial effect, and if so whether autophagy is associated with the potential protective activity against AKI has not been investigated. Herein, we report that FGF10 treatment improved renal function and histological integrity in a rat model of renal I/R injury. We observed that FGF10 efficiently reduced I/R-induced elevation in blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine as well as apoptosis induction of RTCs. Interestingly, autophagy activation following I/R was suppressed by FGF10 treatment based on the immunohistochemistry staining and immunoblot analyses of LC3, Beclin-1 and SQSTM1/p62. Moreover, combined treatment of FGF10 with Rapamycin partially reversed the renoprotective effect of FGF10 suggesting the involvement of mTOR pathway in the process. Interestingly, FGF10 also inhibited the release of HMGB1 from the nucleus to the extracellular domain and regulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Together, these results indicate that FGF10 could alleviate kidney I/R injury by suppressing excessive autophagy and inhibiting inflammatory response and may therefore have the potential to be used for the prevention and perhaps treatment of I/R-associated AKI

    The Function of MoGlk1 in Integration of Glucose and Ammonium Utilization in Magnaporthe oryzae

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    Hexokinases are conserved proteins functioning in glucose sensing and signaling. The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae contains several hexokinases, including MoHxk1 (hexokinase) and MoGlk1 (glucokinase) encoded respectively by MoHXK1 and MoGLK1 genes. The heterologous expression of MoGlk1 and MoHxk1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae confirmed their conserved functions. Disruption of MoHXK1 resulted in growth reduction in medium containing fructose as the sole carbon source, whereas disruption of MoGLK1 did not cause the similar defect. However, the ΔMoglk1 mutant displayed decreased proton extrusion and a lower biomass in the presence of ammonium, suggesting a decline in the utilization of ammonium. Additionally, the MoGLK1 allele lacking catalytic activity restored growth to the ΔMoglk1 mutant. Moreover, the expression of MoPMA1 encoding a plasma membrane H+-ATPase decreased in the ΔMoglk1 mutant that can be suppressed by glucose and G-6-P. Thus, MoGlk1, but not MoHxk1, regulates ammonium utilization through a mechanism that is independent from its catalytic activity

    Recent Trends in Monitoring of European Water Framework Directive Priority Substances Using Micro-Sensors: A 2007–2009 Review

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    This review discusses from a critical perspective the development of new sensors for the measurement of priority pollutants targeted in the E.U. Water Framework Directive. Significant advances are reported in the paper and their advantages and limitations are also discussed. Future perspectives in this area are also pointed out in the conclusions. This review covers publications appeared since December 2006 (the publication date of the Swift report). Among priority substances, sensors for monitoring the four WFD metals represent 81% of published papers. None of analyzed publications present a micro-sensor totally validated in laboratory, ready for tests under real conditions in the field. The researches are mainly focused on the sensing part of the micro-sensors. Nevertheless, the main factor limiting micro-sensor applications in the environment is the ruggedness of the receptor towards environmental conditions. This point constitutes the first technological obstacle to be overcome for any long-term field tests
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