Development of the Integrated Model of the Automotive Product Quality Assessment

Issues on building an integrated model of the automotive product quality assessment are studied herein basing on widely applicable methods and models of the quality assessment. A conceptual model of the automotive product quality system meeting customer requirements has been developed. Typical characteristics of modern industrial production are an increase in the production dynamism that determines the product properties; a continuous increase in the volume of information required for decision-making, an increased role of knowledge and high technologies implementing absolutely new scientific and technical ideas. To solve the problem of increasing the automotive product quality, a conceptual structural and hierarchical model is offered to ensure its quality as a closed system with feedback between the regulatory, manufacturing, and information modules, responsible for formation of the product quality at all stages of its life cycle. The three module model of the system of the industrial product quality assurance is considered to be universal and to give the opportunity to explore processes of any complexity while solving theoretical and practical problems of the quality assessment and prediction for products for various purposes, including automotive

Emergent Universe in the Braneworld Scenario

According to Padmanabhan's proposal, the difference between the surface degrees of freedom and the bulk degrees of freedom in a region of space may result in the acceleration of Universe expansion through the relation $\Delta V/\Delta t = N_{\rm sur}-N_{\rm bulk}$ where $N_{\rm bulk}$ and $N_{\rm sur}$ are referred to the degrees of freedom related to the matter and energy content inside the bulk and surface area, respectively \cite{Pad1}. In this paper, we study the dynamical effect of the extrinsic geometrical embedding of an arbitrary four dimensional brane in a higher dimensional bulk space and investigate the corresponding degrees of freedom. Considering the modification of Friedmann equations arising from a general braneworld scenario, we obtain a correction term in Padmanabhan's relation, denoting the number of degrees of freedom related to the extrinsic geometry of the brane embedded in higher dimensional spacetime as $\Delta V /\Delta t=N_{\rm sur}-N_{\rm bulk}-N_{\rm extr}$ where $N_{\rm extr}$ is referred to the degree of freedom related to the extrinsic geometry of the brane while $N_{\rm sur}$ and $N_{\rm bulk}$ are as well as before. Finally, we study the validity of the first and second laws of thermodynamics for this general braneworld scenario in the state of thermal equilibrium and in the presence of confined matter fields to the brane with the induced geometric matter fields.Comment: 16 pages, Major revisio

Braneworld Black Holes and Entropy Bounds

The Bousso's D-bound entropy for the various possible black hole solutions on a 4-dimensional brane is checked. It is found that the D-bound entropy here is apparently different from that of obtained for the 4-dimensional black hole solutions. This difference is interpreted as the extra loss of information, associated to the extra dimension, when an extra-dimensional black hole is moved outward the observer's cosmological horizon. Also, it is discussed that N-bound entropy is hold for the possible solutions here. Finally, by adopting the recent Bohr-like approach to black hole quantum physics for the excited black holes, the obtained results are written also in terms of the black hole excited states.Comment: 13 pages, accepted for publication in Physics Letters

D-bound and Bekenstein Bound for the Surrounded Vaidya Black Hole

We study the Vaidya black hole surrounded by the exotic quintessence-like, phantom-like and cosmological constant-like fields by means of entropic considerations. Explicitly, we show that for this thermodynamical system, the requirement for the identification of D-bound and Bekenstein entropy bound can be considered as a thermodynamical criterion by which one can rule out the quintessence-like and phantom-like fields, and prefer the cosmological constant as a vi{\th}able cosmological field.Comment: 12 pages, minor revisio

Emergent Cosmos in Einstein-Cartan Theory

Based on the Padmanabhan's proposal, the accelerated expansion of the universe can be driven by the difference between the surface and bulk degrees of freedom in a region of space, described by the relation $dV/dt=N_{sur}-N_{bulk}$ where $N_{sur}$ and $N_{bulk}=-N_{em}+N_{de}$ are the degrees of freedom assigned to the surface area and the matter-energy content inside the bulk such that the indexes $"em"$ and $"de"$ represent energy-momentum and dark energy, respectively. In the present work, the dynamical effect of the Weyssenhoff perfect fluid with intrinsic spin and its corresponding spin degrees of freedom in the framework of Einstein-Cartan (EC) theory are investigated. Based on the modification of Friedmann equations due to the spin-spin interactions, a correction term for the Padmanabhan's original relation $dV/dt=N_{sur}+N_{em}-N_{de}$ including the number of degrees of freedom related to this spin interactions is obtained through the modification in $N_{bulk}$ term as $N_{bulk}=-N_{em}+N_{spin}+N_{de}$ leading to $dV /d t=N_{sur}+N_{em}-N_{spin} -N_{de}$ in which $N_{spin}$ is the corresponding degrees of freedom related to the intrinsic spin of the matter content of the universe. Moreover, the validity of the unified first law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics for the Einstein-Cartan cosmos are investigated. Finally, by considering the covariant entropy conjecture and the bound resulting from the emergent scenario, a total entropy bound is obtained. Using this bound, it is shown that the for the universe as an expanding thermodynamical system, the total effective Komar energy never exceeds the square of the expansion rate with a factor of $\frac{3}{4\pi}$.Comment: 12 Pages, Accepted for Publication in Eur. Phys. J.

Coxsackie B2 Virus Infection Causing Multiorgan Failure and Cardiogenic Shock in a 42-Year-Old Man

Infections from coxsackie B2 viruses often cause viral myocarditis and, only rarely, multisystem organ impairment. We present the unusual case of a 42-year-old man in whom coxsackie B2 virus infection caused multiorgan infection, necessitating distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy, renal dialysis, and venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with mechanical ventilation. In addition, the patient had a rapid-eye-movement sleep-related conduction abnormality that caused frequent sinus pauses of longer than 10 s, presumably due to myocarditis from the coxsackievirus infection. He recovered after permanent pacemaker placement and was discharged from the hospital. We discuss our aggressive supportive care and the few other reports of multiorgan impairment from coxsackieviruses

Neural correlates of cognitive intervention in persons at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Cognitive training is an emergent approach that has begun to receive increased attention in recent years as a non-pharmacological, cost-effective intervention for Alzheimer's disease (AD). There has been increasing behavioral evidence regarding training-related improvement in cognitive performance in early stages of AD. Although these studies provide important insight about the efficacy of cognitive training, neuroimaging studies are crucial to pinpoint changes in brain structure and function associated with training and to examine their overlap with pathology in AD. In this study, we reviewed the existing neuroimaging studies on cognitive training in persons at risk of developing AD to provide an overview of the overlap between neural networks rehabilitated by the current training methods and those affected in AD. The data suggest a consistent training-related increase in brain activity in medial temporal, prefrontal, and posterior default mode networks, as well as increase in gray matter structure in frontoparietal and entorhinal regions. This pattern differs from the observed pattern in healthy older adults that shows a combination of increased and decreased activity in response to training. Detailed investigation of the data suggests that training in persons at risk of developing AD mainly improves compensatory mechanisms and partly restores the affected functions. While current neuroimaging studies are quite helpful in identifying the mechanisms underlying cognitive training, the data calls for future multi-modal neuroimaging studies with focus on multi-domain cognitive training, network level connectivity, and individual differences in response to training