Utilizing Quality Function Deployment to Create a Quality Requirement Matrix for Biofuel Refinery Inputs via Voice of Customer Techniques

There is currently no useful method in place for researchers to determine what qualities of biomass the ethanol refineries desire. However, an industrial engineering quality tool typically used in new product development, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), could be adapted to the biomass supply situation. This tool will be applied to an input supply system specifically for production of advanced biofuels from biomass feedstocks to determine desired qualities of biomass and provide the best product to the refineries. This requires gathering and analyzing the Voice of the Customer (VOC) from biomass conversion experts and constructing a House of Quality (HOQ) that details the qualities desired by those customers in order to propose engineering measures for satisfying those requirements. Quality Function Deployment will be demonstrated as a quality tool that can be applied towards a supply process within agricultural engineering.The adapted tool could be used by biomass producers to solicit the qualities desired by biorefineries and develop engineering specifications to work towards. It could also be used by the biofuel production facility to define and rank the required qualities of biomass and create product specifications that the facility could provide to the supplier to ensure a consistent high-quality supply. Implementation of such a method would also create a research tool to supplement research proposals to help ensure that the project addresses the specific areas of concern to those affected by the research results.This study shows that QFD can be successfully applied to the biofuel supply system and gives the process for carrying out the analysis.Biosystems and Agricultural Engineerin

Aplikasi Kamus Penyakit Manusia Berbasis Android

Perkembangan terhadap teknologi mendorong untuk mengembangkan aplikasi kamus penyakit manusia berbasis Android. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk membuat suatu aplikasi kamus penyakit manusia untuk mengetahui tentang istilah-istilah penyakit, yang disertai dengan visualisasi gambar, text to speech, definisi tentang istilah penyakit serta keterangan tentang gejala-gejala penyakit sehingga membuat penggunaan kamus menjadi lebih praktis, karena mudah dibawa kemana. Batasan dari aplikasi ini yaitu hanya memiliki 1000 istilah penyakit, dan tidak dilengkapi dengan fitur update. Metode pengembangan aplikasi ini menggunakan RUP dan berorientasi objek. Pembuatan aplikasi menggunakan bahasa pemograman Java dengan kakas Eclipse dan juga SQLite untuk penyimpanan data. Aplikasi ini dapat melakukan text to speech, menampilkan gambar hasil pencarian dan keterangan penyakit

The nuclear and organellar tRNA-derived RNA fragment population in Arabidopsis thaliana is highly dynamic

In the expanding repertoire of small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), tRNA-derived RNA fragments (tRFs) have been identified in all domains of life. Their existence in plants has been already proven but no detailed analysis has been performed. Here, short tRFs of 19-26 nucleotides were retrieved from Arabidopsis thaliana small RNA libraries obtained from various tissues, plants submitted to abiotic stress or fractions immunoprecipitated with ARGONAUTE 1 (AGO1). Large differences in the tRF populations of each extract were observed. Depending on the tRNA, either tRF-5D (due to a cleavage in the D region) or tRF-3T (via a cleavage in the T region) were found and hot spots of tRNA cleavages have been identified. Interestingly, up to 25% of the tRFs originate from plastid tRNAs and we provide evidence that mitochondrial tRNAs can also be a source of tRFs. Very specific tRF-5D deriving not only from nucleus-encoded but also from plastid-encoded tRNAs are strongly enriched in AGO1 immunoprecipitates. We demonstrate that the organellar tRFs are not found within chloroplasts or mitochondria but rather accumulate outside the organelles. These observations suggest that some organellar tRFs could play regulatory functions within the plant cell and may be part of a signaling pathway.Cognat, Valerie Morelle, Geoffrey Megel, Cyrille Lalande, Stephanie Molinier, Jean Vincent, Timothee Small, Ian Duchene, Anne-Marie Marechal-Drouard, Laurence eng England 2016/12/03 06:00 Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Apr 7;45(6):3460-3472. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkw1122.PMC538970

Parents’ experiences of having an excessively crying baby and implications for enhancing support services

Evidence suggests that around 20% of healthy babies cry for long periods without apparent reason, causing significant distress to parents and a range of adverse outcomes. This study explored parents' experiences of having an excessively crying baby and their suggestions for improved NHS support. Focus groups and interviews with 20 parents identified three key themes: disrupted expectations and experiences of parenthood; stigma and social isolation; seeking support and validation of experience. Parents experienced shock, anxiety and a sense of failure, leading to self-imposed isolation and a reluctance to seek help. Other people's reactions sometimes reinforced their feelings. Parents need more support, including from health professionals, to cope with excessive crying, and recommendations for this support are given