Implications of additive manufacturing on complexity management within supply chains in a production environment.

This dissertation focuses on developing a generic framework for using additive manufacturing as an appropriate production method to address the management of complexity in supply chains. While several drivers such as changing customer demand patterns and intensifying global competition increase product complexity, the available number of product variants and related processes within the supply chain itself increase costs and dilute scale effects. Several concepts and tools like mass customization, modularization, and product platforms have been developed in the past decades, but most of them focus on the product structure. Currently, there is no comprehensive tool set developed in the field of complexity management that incorporates all aspects of supply chain performance (costs, service, quality, and lead time) and evaluates the impacts of additive manufacturing to manage the complexity in the supply chain. This dissertation was developed primarily to address this research gap. The literature review in this dissertation provides in-depth reviews on specific topics in the field of additive manufacturing production technology, supply chain management, complexity management, and complexity management in supply chains through additive manufacturing. The dissertation presents the development of a framework for supply chain performance and complexity measurement with a focus on costs and performance depending on production technology. This framework will be the basis for measuring the impacts of additive manufacturing on supply chain performance and level of complexity, by using modeling and reconfiguring supply chain models, and applying complexity management tools in conjunction with additive manufacturing. Based on the findings, a generic framework is developed to identify when and how to apply additive manufacturing to enhance complexity management capabilities in supply chains. Two case studies will be used to show an application field, where additive manufacturing would require additional time, while another case study suggests the usage of additive manufacturing in the context of supply chain complexity: A case study of a control panel supply chain will provide an overview of the implications of substituting an injection molding production technology with an additive manufacturing technology on the supply chain and its complexity. Another case study of teeth aligners shows how additive manufacturing helps to improve supply chain complexity by substituting plaster tools with an additive manufacturing technology

A grammar of Rapa Nui

This book is a comprehensive description of the grammar of Rapa Nui, the Polynesian language spoken on Easter Island. After an introductory chapter, the grammar deals with phonology, word classes, the noun phrase, possession, the verb phrase, verbal and nonverbal clauses, mood and negation, and clause combinations. The phonology of Rapa Nui reveals certain issues of typological interest, such as the existence of strict conditions on the phonological shape of words, word-final devoicing, and reduplication patterns motivated by metrical constraints. For Polynesian languages, the distinction between nouns and verbs in the lexicon has often been denied; in this grammar it is argued that this distinction is needed for Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui has sometimes been characterised as an ergative language; this grammar shows that it is unambiguously accusative. Subject and object marking depend on an interplay of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic factors. Other distinctive features of the language include the existence of a ‘neutral’ aspect marker, a serial verb construction, the emergence of copula verbs, a possessive-relative construction, and a tendency to maximise the use of the nominal domain. Rapa Nui’s relationship to the other Polynesian languages is a recurring theme in this grammar; the relationship to Tahitian (which has profoundly influenced Rapa Nui) especially deserves attention. The grammar is supplemented with a number of interlinear texts, two maps and a subject index

A critique of "understanding the unintended consequences of online teaching"

In an ever-changing environment, (of which the “ever-changing” was recently made more prominent due to a world-wide pandemic), humankind either needs to adapt or die. The question however remains: to what extent should we adapt to the “new”? Accepting the fact that each reader would glean and react to different aspects presented in the article “Understanding the unintended consequences of online teaching”, I herewith present my opinion and use this opportunity to raise my concerns regarding the article. The critique of a largely unchallenged characterization of online teaching is a sign of growing intellectual vibrancy in the field which can foster innovative ideas for teaching methods. The objective of this critical note is not to reiterate the case for understanding the unintended consequences of online teaching, rather it is written in the pursuit to expand on what has been published thus far to advance online higher education pedagogy and to highlight the importance and value of academic research in an ever-changing environment

Die aftrekbaarheid van werknemerverwante voorwaardelike aanspreeklikhede, met spesifieke verwysing na die verkoop of beeindiging van 'n besigheid

Thesis (MAcc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die belastingaftrekbaarheid van werknemerverwante voorwaardelike aanspreeklik-hede, met spesifieke verwysing na die verkoop of beëindiging van ʼn besigheid, is in meegaande studie ondersoek. Dit word bevind dat in die geval van die beëindiging van ‘n besigheid, alle voorwaardelike aanspreeklikhede op datum van beëindiging van die besigheid, waarskynlik nooit vervul kan word nie, spesifiek in geval waar dit gekoppel is aan die vereiste dat ʼn werknemer op ʼn toekomstige datum steeds in diens moet wees van die besigheid. Die voorwaardelike verpligting word dus nooit vervul nie en geen betalings hoef aan voormalige werknemers gemaak te word nie. Geen aftrekking aan die voormalige werkgewer word dus toegestaan in gevalle waar verlof- of bonusbetalings gemaak word na beëindiging van die besigheid, indien die verpligting nie reeds onvoorwaardelik bestaan het voordat die beëindiging van die besigheid plaasgevind het nie. Dit word verder bevind dat in die geval waar ʼn besigheid gelikwideer word, die voormalige en voornemende werkgewer se verpligting teenoor die werknemers se voorwaardelike aanspreeklikhede verval. Verder is dit ook waarskynlik dat geen belastingaftrekking toegestaan sal word nie, omrede die voorwaardelike aanspreeklikheid nie vervul is op datum van likwidasie nie. Dit word verder bevind dat in die geval waar ʼn besigheid as lopende saak verkoop word, die voornemende werkgewer ingevolge Artikel 197 van die Wet op Arbeidsverhoudinge verplig word om alle dienskontrakte, tesame met alle regte en verpligtinge wat bestaan tydens die oordrag, oor te neem asof hy in wese in die skoene tree van die voormalige werkgewer. Voorts word die voormalige werkgewer ook gebind aan die betaling van bedrae, soos deur die verkoopskontrak bepaal, of andersins in gevalle waar die voornemende werkgewer nie die verpligting om te betaal, kan nakom nie. Beide die voormalige en voornemende werkgewer bly dus wetlik aanspreeklik vir die betaling van bedrae soos uitgestippel in die verkoopskontrak, in gevalle waar ‘n besigheid as lopende saak verkoop word. Dit word verder bevind dat die Inkomstebelastingwet ‘n belastingaftrekking moet toestaan aan die voormalige of voornemende werkgewer wat ‘n werknemerverwante-betaling maak uit hoofde van die wette soos neergelê deur die Wet op Arbeidsverhoudinge. Sodoende sal die Inkomstebelastingwet die oogmerke van die Wet op Arbeidsverhoudinge onderskraag, met gevolglike voordelige uitwerking op die ekonomie en beskerming van werknemers se werksekuriteit.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the tax deductibility of employee-related contingent liabilities, with specific reference to the sale or discontinuation of a business. It is concluded that in the case of the discontinuation of business activities, all contingent liabilities at the date of discontinuation (with the specific requirement that employees will still be employed by the business at a future date) will probably never be fulfilled. The contingent liability is thus never fulfilled and no payments need be made to the former employees. No tax deduction is therefore granted to the former employer where leave or bonus payments were made after the discontinuance of business activities, if the liability did not unconditionally exist prior to the discontinuance of the business. It is further concluded that in the case of the liquidation of a business, the former and prospective employers are released from any obligation towards the contingent liabilities of the employees. Furthermore it is also unlikely that any tax deduction will be granted, due to the contingent liability being unfulfilled at the date of liquidation. It is further concluded that in the case where a business is sold as a going concern, the prospective employer is obliged to take over all existing employee contracts as well as all rights and obligations existing at the time of transfer, in terms of Section 197 of the Labour Relations Act. The former employer is also bound to the payment of amounts, as stipulated by the contract of sale, or otherwise in cases where the prospective employer cannot honour the liability to pay. Both former and prospective employers are legally liable for the payment of amounts as stipulated in the contract of sale, in cases where a business is sold as a going concern. It is further concluded that the Income Tax Act should allow a tax deduction to the former or prospective employer who makes an employee-related payment in terms of the Labour Relations Act. As a result the Income Tax Act will support the objectives of the Labour Relations Act, resulting in a positive effect on the economy as well as the protection of employees’ work security

Het nieuwe telen : energie onder de knie : komkommer

Vanuit het idee dat energiezuinig telen bereikt kan worden door goede isolatie, beheersing van de luchtvochtigheid en aanpassing van het teeltplan is project Het Nieuwe Telen komkommer uitgevoerd. Als doelstelling is geformuleerd een energieinput voor warmte van gelijk aan 25 m3 aardgas en handhaving van de de productie op 80 kg of wel 200 stuks per m2. Om de haalbaarheid van deze doelstelling te onderzoeken is een afdeling van 1000 m2 uitgerust met drie schermen- één vast folie en twee beweegbare schermen- en een installatie voor geavanceerde ventilatie

Growing into a different brain: The outcome of very preterm birth at school age

Oosterlaan, J. [Promotor]Lafeber, H.N. [Promotor]Elburg, R.M. van [Copromotor

One-Loop Dominance in the Imaginary Part of the Polarizability: Application to Blackbody and Non-Contact van der Waals Friction

Phenomenologically important quantum dissipative processes include black-body friction (an atom absorbs counterpropagating blue-shifted photons and spontaneously emits them in all directions, losing kinetic energy) and non-contact van der Waals friction (in the vicinity of a dielectric surface, the mirror charges of the constituent particles inside the surface experience drag, slowing the atom). The theoretical predictions for these processes are modified upon a rigorous quantum electrodynamic (QED) treatment, which shows that the one-loop "correction" yields the dominant contribution to the off-resonant, gauge-invariant, imaginary part of the atom's polarizability at room temperature, for typical atom-surface interactions. The tree-level contribution to the polarizability dominates at high temperature.Comment: 5 pages; RevTe

Theory of Noncontact Friction for Atom-Surface Interactions

The noncontact (van der Waals) friction is an interesting physical effect, which has been the subject of controversial scientific discussion. The direct friction term due to the thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field leads to a friction force proportional to 1/Z5 (where Z is the atom-wall distance). The backaction friction term takes into account the feedback of thermal fluctuations of the atomic dipole moment onto the motion of the atom and scales as 1/Z8. We investigate noncontact friction effects for the interactions of hydrogen, ground-state helium, and metastable helium atoms with α-quartz (SiO2), gold (Au), and calcium difluorite (CaF2). We find that the backaction term dominates over the direct term induced by the thermal electromagnetic fluctuations inside the material, over wide distance ranges. The friction coefficients obtained for gold are smaller than those for SiO2 and CaF2 by several orders of magnitude

Analyses of CD27++ Plasma Cells in Peripheral Blood from Patients with Bacterial Infections and Patients with Serum Antinuclear Antibodies

The number of CD27++ plasma cells (PCs) in peripheral blood may be a valuable biomarker for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease management. More insights into the behavior of the PC population are, however, required to validate CD27 as a reliable biomarker. In the current study, we have monitored the PC compartment of patients with acute bacterial infections and patients with SLE and, in addition, examined the relationship between the presence of serum antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) and the number of peripheral PCs. Kinetic analyses in patients with bacterial infection revealed a 10–60-fold expansion of the CD27++ PC compartment that peaked at day 2–5 and returned toward normal values at day 7–9 after hospital admission. The transient expansion of the PC population appeared to be a late phenomenon in the process of recovering from a bacterial infection. SLE subjects had significantly increased frequencies of PCs compared with patients suspected of a connective tissue disease and healthy controls. In patients suspected of a connective tissue disease, no relationship was found between the presence of serum ANAs and the number of CD27++ PCs. Additionally, the presence of serum ANAs was not associated with abnormalities in other peripheral B-cell subsets. It remains to be established at which stage of SLE development the expansion of the PC compartment is initiated