A systematic way of achieving Total Continuous Process Improvement (TCPI) in an industry

This paper highlights the steps that are required to achieve total continuous process improvement in the production of products in a manufacturing industry. The importance of each step will be discussed and the strategies that need to be taken to achieve the objectives of each of the steps will be mentioned. The aim of this paper is to provide essential guidelines for operators, supervisors, engineers and managers so that they are aware of the various steps that need to be taken in achieving TCPI

Performance comparison of the exact run-length distribution between the run sum X and EWMA X charts

The run sum (RS) X and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) X charts are very effective in detecting small and moderate process mean shifts. The design of the RS X and EWMA X charts based on the average run length (ARL) alone, can be misleading and confusing. This is due to the fact that the run-length distribution of a control chart is highly right-skewed when the process is in-control or slightly out-of-control; while that for the out-ofcontrol cases, the run-length distribution is almost symmetric. On the other hand, the percentiles of the run-length distribution provide the probability of getting a signal by a certain number of samples. This will benefit practitioners as the percentiles of the run-length distribution give comprehensive information regarding the behaviour of a control chart. Accordingly, this paper provides a thorough study of the run-length properties (ARL, standard deviation of the run length and percentiles of the run-length distribution) for the RS X and EWMA X charts. Comparative studies show that the EWMA X chart outperforms the RS X charts for detecting small mean shifts when all the control charts are optimized with respect to a small shift size. However, the RS X charts surpass the EWMA X chart for all sizes of mean shifts when all the control charts are optimized with respect to a large shift size

Identification of material properties of orthotropic composite plate using hybrid non-destructive evaluation approach

Identification of material properties is one of the key issues in composite materials research. The mechanical properties of composite materials depend on diverse factors such as configuration of the laminates, constituent materials used and production method adopted. Conventional testing approach tends to be time-consuming, expensive and destructive. As an alternative, a rapid, inexpensive, hybrid and non-destructive evaluation approach which utilises experimental modal analysis and finite element analysis is proposed. Experimental modal data which consist of natural frequencies and mode shapes of an orthotropic composite plate are utilised for correlation purpose with its finite element model. This finite element model of the composite plate is continuously updated and achieves less than 5% in difference of natural frequencies and over 70% in modal assurance criterion. Material properties such as Young's moduli, inplane shear modulus and Poisson ratio of the composite plate are then successfully determined using the well-correlated FE model

Exponential-time differencing schemes for low-mass DPD systems

Several exponential-time differencing (ETD) schemes are introduced into the method of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to solve the resulting stiff stochastic differential equations in the limit of small mass, where emphasis is placed on the handling of the fluctuating terms (i.e., those involving the random forces). Their performances are investigated numerically in some test viscometric flows. Results obtained show that the present schemes outperform the velocity-Verlet algorithm regarding both the satisfaction of equipartition and the maximum allowable time step

Cranked Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov Theory: Superdeformed Bands in the A∼190A\sim 190 Region

Cranked Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (CRHB) theory is presented as an extension of Relativistic Mean Field theory with pairing correlations to the rotating frame. Pairing correlations are taken into account by a finite range two-body force of Gogny type and approximate particle number projection is performed by Lipkin-Nogami method. This theory is applied to the description of yrast superdeformed rotational bands observed in even-even nuclei of the $A\sim 190$ mass region. Using the well established parameter sets NL1 for the Lagrangian and D1S for the pairing force one obtains a very successful description of data such as kinematic ($J^{(1)}$) and dynamic ($J^{(2)}$) moments of inertia without any adjustment of new parameters. Within the present experimental accuracy the calculated transition quadrupole moments $Q_t$ agree reasonably well with the observed data.Comment: 6 pages including 4 PostScript figures, uses RevTex, revised version, Phys.Rev. C, Rapid Communications, in pres

vitro synergy and enhanced murine brain penetration of saquinavir coadministered with mefloquine

ABSTRACT Highly active antiretroviral therapy has substantially improved prognosis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, the integration of proviral DNA, development of viral resistance, and lack of permeability of drugs into sanctuary sites (e.g., brain and lymphocyte) are major limitations to current regimens. Previous studies have indicated that the antimalarial drug chloroquine (CQ) has antiviral efficacy and a synergism with HIV protease inhibitors. We have screened a panel of antimalarial compounds for activity against HIV-1 in vitro. A limited efficacy was observed for CQ, mefloquine (MQ), and mepacrine (MC). However, marked synergy was observed between MQ and saquinavir (SQV), but not CQ in U937 cells. Furthermore, enhancement of the antiviral activity of SQV and four other protease inhibitors (PIs) by MQ was observed in MT4 cells, indicating a class specific rather than a drug-specific phenomenon. We demonstrate that these observations are a result of inhibition of multiple drug efflux proteins by MQ and that MQ also displaces SQV from orosomucoid in vitro. Finally, coadministration of MQ and SQV in CD-1 mice dramatically altered the tissue distribution of SQV, resulting in a Ͼ3-fold and Ͼ2-fold increase in the tissue/blood ratio for brain and testis, respectively. This pharmacological enhancement of in vitro antiviral activity of PIs by MQ now warrants further examination in vivo

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Separation of early afterdepolarizations from arrhythmogenic substrate in the isolated perfused hypokalaemic murine heart through modifiers of calcium homeostasis

In human type 1 diabetes (T1D) and in its murine model, the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules, human leukocyte antigens (HLA)-DQ and -DR and their murine orthologues, IA and IE, are the major genetic determinants. In this report, we have ranked HLA class II molecule-associated T1D risk in a two-sided gradient from very high to very low. Very low risk corresponded to dominant protection from T1D. We predicted the protein structure of DQ by using the published crystal structures of different allotypes of the murine orthologue of DQ, IA. We discovered marked similarities both within, and cross species between T1D protective class II molecules. Likewise, the T1D predisposing molecules showed conserved similarities that contrasted with the shared patterns observed between the protective molecules. We also found striking inter-isotypic conservation between protective DQ, IA allotypes and protective DR4 subtypes. The data provide evidence for a joint action of the class II peptide-binding pockets P1, P4 and P9 in disease susceptibility and resistance with a main role for P9 in DQ/IA and for P1 and P4 in DR/IE. Overall, these results suggest shared epitope(s) in the target autoantigen(s), and common pathways in human and murine T1D