Reliable shop floor bottleneck detection for flow lines through process and inventory observations: the bottleneck walk

Bottleneck detection in manufacturing is the key to improving production efficiency and stability in order to improve capacity. Yet, common bottleneck detection methods in industry and academia lack either accuracy or practicability, or both, for dynamic systems. The new methodology is conducted by the observation of processes and inventories. Blocked processes and full inventories indicate a downstream bottleneck. Starved processes and empty inventories indicate an upstream bottleneck. Through subsequent observations of multiple process states and inventory levels within a system, it is possible to determine the direction of the bottleneck at the given time and hence to find the momentary bottleneck in the system. The shifting of bottlenecks can be observed directly. Work sampling techniques can be used to obtain a long-term picture of the dynamically shifting bottleneck. The new methodology does not require any calculations, statistics, or time measurements. Hence, the method is suited for practical use by shop floor supervisors and clerks. The direct observation of the bottleneck also gives additional information about the underlying causes of the bottlenecks, simplifying the improvement of the system capacity. Extensive field testing of the method received positive feedback not only from management but also from shop floor operators. The method is already in use at the Robert Bosch GmbH, where it is known as the bottleneck walk

Lysophosphatidate Induces Chemo-Resistance by Releasing Breast Cancer Cells from Taxol-Induced Mitotic Arrest

Taxol is a microtubule stabilizing agent that arrests cells in mitosis leading to cell death. Taxol is widely used to treat breast cancer, but resistance occurs in 25-69% of patients and it is vital to understand how Taxol resistance develops to improve chemotherapy. The effects of chemotherapeutic agents are overcome by survival signals that cancer cells receive. We focused our studies on autotaxin, which is a secreted protein that increases tumor growth, aggressiveness, angiogenesis and metastasis. We discovered that autotaxin strongly antagonizes the Taxol-induced killing of breast cancer and melanoma cells by converting the abundant extra-cellular lipid, lysophosphatidylcholine, into lysophosphatidate. This lipid stimulates specific G-protein coupled receptors that activate survival signals.In this study we determined the basis of these antagonistic actions of lysophosphatidate towards Taxol-induced G2/M arrest and cell death using cultured breast cancer cells. Lysophosphatidate does not antagonize Taxol action in MCF-7 cells by increasing Taxol metabolism or its expulsion through multi-drug resistance transporters. Lysophosphatidate does not lower the percentage of cells accumulating in G2/M by decreasing exit from S-phase or selective stimulation of cell death in G2/M. Instead, LPA had an unexpected and remarkable action in enabling MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells, which had been arrested in G2/M by Taxol, to normalize spindle structure and divide, thus avoiding cell death. This action involves displacement of Taxol from the tubulin polymer fraction, which based on inhibitor studies, depends on activation of LPA receptors and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.This work demonstrates a previously unknown consequence of lysophosphatidate action that explains why autotaxin and lysophosphatidate protect against Taxol-induced cell death and promote resistance to the action of this important therapeutic agent

PAX3 Expression in Normal Skin Melanocytes and Melanocytic Lesions (Naevi and Melanomas)

Background Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer, arising in cutaneous melanocytes. The transcription factor PAX3 regulates melanocyte specification from neural crest cells during development but expression in differentiated melanocytes is uncertain. By contrast it is frequently found in melanomas and naevi and is a marker for melanoma staging and detection. In this study we analysed the expression of PAX3 across the spectrum of melanocytic cells, from normal melanocytes to cells of benign and malignant lesions to better assess its function in these various tissues. Pax3 and PAX3 (italicized) refer to the mouse and human gene, respectively; whereas Pax3 and PAX3 (non-italicized) refer to the corresponding mouse and human protein. Methodology and Principal Findings PAX3 expression was analysed by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR. Immunofluorescence was used for co-expression with differentiation, migration and survival markers. As expected PAX3 expression was observed in naevi and melanoma cells. It was also found in melanocytes of normal skin where it co-expressed with melanocyte markers, MITF and MLANA. Co-expression with its downstream target, antiapoptotic factor BCL2L1 confirms PAX3 as a cell survival regulator. PAX3 was also co-expressed with melanoma cell migration marker MCAM in dermal naevi and melanoma cell nests, but this downstream target of PAX3 was not present in normal epidermal melanocytes, suggesting differential roles for PAX3 in normal epidermal melanocytes and melanoma cells. Most interestingly, a proportion of PAX3-positive epidermal melanocytes in normal skin show HES1 and Ki67 co-expression, indicating their less differentiated proliferative phenotype. Conclusions and Significance Our results suggest that a previously identified role for PAX3, that of regulator of an undifferentiated plastic state, may operate in melanocytes of normal skin. This role, possibly required for cellular response to environmental stimuli, may contribute to formation and development of melanocytic lesions in which PAX3 expression is prominent

Gas7-Deficient Mouse Reveals Roles in Motor Function and Muscle Fiber Composition during Aging

Background: Growth arrest-specific gene 7 (Gas7) has previously been shown to be involved in neurite outgrowth in vitro; however, its actual role has yet to be determined. To investigate the physiological function of Gas7 in vivo, here we generated a Gas7-deficient mouse strain with a labile Gas7 mutant protein whose functions are similar to wild-type Gas7. Methodology/Principal Findings: Our data show that aged Gas7-deficient mice have motor activity defects due to decreases in the number of spinal motor neurons and in muscle strength, of which the latter may be caused by changes in muscle fiber composition as shown in the soleus. In cross sections of the soleus of Gas7-deficient mice, gross morphological features and levels of myosin heavy chain I (MHC I) and MHC II markers revealed significantly fewer fast fibers. In addition, we found that nerve terminal sprouting, which may be associated with slow and fast muscle fiber composition, was considerably reduced at neuromuscular junctions (NMJ) during aging. Conclusions/Significance: These findings indicate that Gas7 is involved in motor neuron function associated with muscle strength maintenance

Monitoring biological wastewater treatment processes: Recent advances in spectroscopy applications

Biological processes based on aerobic and anaerobic technologies have been continuously developed to wastewater treatment and are currently routinely employed to reduce the contaminants discharge levels in the environment. However, most methodologies commonly applied for monitoring key parameters are labor intensive, time-consuming and just provide a snapshot of the process. Thus, spectroscopy applications in biological processes are, nowadays, considered a rapid and effective alternative technology for real-time monitoring though still lacking implementation in full-scale plants. In this review, the application of spectroscopic techniques to aerobic and anaerobic systems is addressed focusing on UV--Vis, infrared, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, chemometric techniques, valuable tools to extract the relevant data, are also referred. To that effect, a detailed analysis is performed for aerobic and anaerobic systems to summarize the findings that have been obtained since 2000. Future prospects for the application of spectroscopic techniques in biological wastewater treatment processes are further discussed.The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors also acknowledge the financial support to Daniela P. Mesquita and Cristina Quintelas through the postdoctoral Grants (SFRH/BPD/82558/2011 and SFRH/BPD/101338/2014) provided by FCT - Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio