Cloud service-oriented dashboard for work cell management in RFID-enabled ubiquitous manufacturing

This article aims at developing a service-oriented dashboard for operators and supervisors of manufacturing shopfloor work-cells to realize information visibility and traceability effectively with cloud and RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies. The work is based on a case of an illustrative assembly line consisting of a number of work cells. The dashboard is deployed for facilitating assembly operations in ubiquitous manufacturing environment. The utilization of the system leads to significant improvements in work cell productivity and quality, operational flexibility and decision efficiency. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system for discrete manufacturing: Software design and implementation

Discrete manufacturing (DM) refers to produce products in non-sequential processes so as to respond to market and customer requirements quickly under limited lead-time. However, in shop-floor management, DM companies usually confront challenges such as information gaps between different manufacturing units, slow responsiveness to customer changes, and poor visualization. The main reasons are lacking of efficient manufacturing data collection manners and software to support shop-floor management. This paper introduces an RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system (RT-MES) for improving DM shop-floor management level in the perspective of illustrating the RT-MES software design and implementation. Several contributions from this paper are significant. First, a framework of RFID-enabled RT-MES is proposed, which is generic and helpful for enterprise information system (EIS) construction. Second, a plug-universal database-aided design (PUDAD) concept and its realization are elaborated, which could reduce RT-MES development and implementation cycle. Third, an interface middleware is reported to enable RT-MES real-time intercommunication with other EISs such as SAP ERP. Fourth, a real-life case study describes how RT-MES to enhance a typical DM firm's shop-floor management, which can be referenced by other DM companies when they initiate and implement RFID-enabled solutions. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 2011 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control (ICNSC 2011), Delft, the Netherlands, 11-13 April 2011. In Proceedings of ICNSC, 2011, p. 311-31

Establishing production service system and information collaboration platform for mold and die products

This paper investigates how the new concept of product service systems can be used and extended to transform, elevate, and revitalize traditional equipment manufacturing industry such as the Mold and Die (MD) sector. A mold and die production service systems (MPSS) framework is established based on recent developments within our industrial collaborators. Within the MPSS framework, MD manufacturers become more specialized in producing MD products and components while sharing and outsourcing manufacturing-oriented services (MOS) from a service provider. Typical services include collaborative order pooling and release, collaborative project progress status tracking, contractor-managed collaborative outsourcing, collaborative product design, collaborative production planning and scheduling, and after-sales technical supports. MOSs are designed, developed, and deployed as SaaS (software as application services) following the service-oriented architecture. Collectively, they form iMPSS-an Information and Collaboration Platform that enables MPSS. The use of iMPSS leads to benefits for stakeholders involved in providing mold and die functionality including better shopfloor decisions and reduced IT investments. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

Waterproofed Photomultiplier Tube Assemblies for the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment

In the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment 960 20-cm-diameter waterproof photomultiplier tubes are used to instrument three water pools as Cherenkov detectors for detecting cosmic-ray muons. Of these 960 photomultiplier tubes, 341 are recycled from the MACRO experiment. A systematic program was undertaken to refurbish them as waterproof assemblies. In the context of passing the water leakage check, a success rate better than 97% was achieved. Details of the design, fabrication, testing, operation, and performance of these waterproofed photomultiplier-tube assemblies are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Met

Supply chain simulation in a Big Data context: risks and uncertainty analysis

Due to their complex and dynamic nature, Supply Chains are prone to risks that may occur at any time and place. To tackle this problem, simulation can be used. However, such models should use Big Data technologies, in order to provide the level of data and detail contained in the data sources associated to the business processes. In this regard, this paper considered a real case of an automotive electronics Supply chain. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to propose a simulation tool, which uses real industrial data, provided by a Big Data Warehouse, and use such decision-support artifact to test different types of risks. More concretely, risks in the supply and demand end of the network are analyzed. The presented results also demonstrate the possible benefits that can be achieved by using simulation in the analysis of risks in a Supply Chain.This work has been supported by FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e Tec-nologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019 and by the Doctoral scholarship PDE/BDE/114566/2016 funded by FCT, the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology andHigher Education, through national funds, and co-financed by the European Social Fund(ESF) through the Operational Programme for Human Capital (POCH)

The Ankyrin Repeat Domain of the TRPA Protein Painless Is Important for Thermal Nociception but Not Mechanical Nociception

The Drosophila TRPA channel Painless is required for the function of polymodal nociceptors which detect noxious heat and noxious mechanical stimuli. These functions of Painless are reminiscent of mammalian TRPA channels that have also been implicated in thermal and mechanical nociception. A popular hypothesis to explain the mechanosensory functions of certain TRP channels proposes that a string of ankyrin repeats at the amino termini of these channels acts as an intracellular spring that senses force. Here, we describe the identification of two previously unknown Painless protein isoforms which have fewer ankyrin repeats than the canonical Painless protein. We show that one of these Painless isoforms, that essentially lacks ankyrin repeats, is sufficient to rescue mechanical nociception phenotypes of painless mutant animals but does not rescue thermal nociception phenotypes. In contrast, canonical Painless, which contains Ankyrin repeats, is sufficient to largely rescue thermal nociception but is not capable of rescuing mechanical nociception. Thus, we propose that in the case of Painless, ankryin repeats are important for thermal nociception but not for mechanical nociception

Smoking and COX-2 Functional Polymorphisms Interact to Increase the Risk of Gastric Cardia Adenocarcinoma in Chinese Population

BACKGROUND: Over-expression and increased activity of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 induced by smoking has been implicated in the development of cancer. This study aimed to explore the interaction between smoking and functional polymorphisms of COX-2 in modulation of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) risk. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Three COX-2 polymorphisms, including -1195G>A (rs689466), -765G>C (rs20417), and 587Gly>Arg (rs3218625), were genotyped in 357 GCA patients and 985 controls. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that the -1195AA, -765GC, and 587Arg/Arg genotypes were associated with increased risk of GCA (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.05-2.13; OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.29-3.29 and OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.04-2.66, respectively). Haplotype association analysis showed that compared with G(-1195)-G(-765)- G(Gly587Arg), the A(-1195)-C(-765)-A(Gly587Arg) conferred an increased risk of GCA (OR = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.54-4.01). Moreover, significant multiplicative interactions were observed between smoking and these three polymorphisms of -1195G>A, -765G>C, and 587Gly>Arg, even after correction by false discovery rate (FDR) method for multiple comparisons (FDR-P(interaction) = 0.006, 5.239×10(-4) and 0.017, respectively). Similarly, haplotypes incorporating these three polymorphisms also showed significant interaction with smoking in the development of GCA (P for multiplicative interaction = 2.65×10(-6)). CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that the functional polymorphisms of COX-2, in interaction with smoking, may play a substantial role in the development of GCA

Targeted gene therapy of nasopharyngeal cancer in vitro and in vivo by enhanced thymidine kinase expression driven by human TERT promoter and CMV enhancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background/Aim</p> <p>To explore the therapeutic effects of thymidine kinase (TK) expressed by enhanced vector pGL3-basic- hTERTp-TK-EGFP-CMV driven by human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter (hTERTp) as well as cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter enhancer (CMV).</p> <p>Materials/Methods</p> <p>Enhanced TK-EGFP expression was confirmed by fluorescent microscopy, real time PCR and telomerase activity. Its effects were examined by survival of tumor cells NPC 5-8F and MCF-7, index of xenograft implanted in nude mice and histology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared with non-enhanced vector pGL3-basic-TK-hTERTp-EGFP, TK expressed by the enhanced vector significantly decreased NPC 5-8F and MCF-7 cell survival rates after ganciclovir (GCV) treatment (p < 0.001) and tumor progress in nude mice with NPC xenograft and treated with GCV, without obvious toxicity to mouse liver and kidney.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The enhanced TK expression vector driven by hTERTp with CMV enhancer has brighter clinical potentials in nasopharyngeal carcinoma therapy than the non-enhanced vector.</p

Predicted Disappearance of Cephalantheropsis obcordata in Luofu Mountain Due to Changes in Rainfall Patterns

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>In the past century, the global average temperature has increased by approximately 0.74°C and extreme weather events have become prevalent. Recent studies have shown that species have shifted from high-elevation areas to low ones because the rise in temperature has increased rainfall. These outcomes challenge the existing hypothesis about the responses of species to climate change.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>With the use of data on the biological characteristics and reproductive behavior of <em>Cephalantheropsis obcordata</em> in Luofu Mountain, Guangdong, China, trends in the population size of the species were predicted based on several factors. The response of <em>C. obcordata</em> to climate change was verified by integrating it with analytical findings on meteorological data and an artificially simulated environment of water change. The results showed that <em>C. obcordata</em> can grow only in waterlogged streams. The species can produce fruit with many seeds by insect pollination; however, very few seeds can burgeon to become seedlings, with most of those seedlings not maturing into the sexually reproductive phase, and grass plants will die after reproduction. The current population's age pyramid is kettle-shaped; it has a Deevey type I survival curve; and its net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of increase, as well as finite rate of increase are all very low. The population used in the artificial simulation perished due to seasonal drought.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The change in rainfall patterns caused by climate warming has altered the water environment of <em>C. obcordata</em> in Luofu Mountain, thereby restricting seed burgeoning as well as seedling growth and shortening the life span of the plant. The growth rate of the <em>C. obcordata</em> population is in descending order, and models of population trend predict that the population in Luofu Mountain will disappear in 23 years.</p> </div