Operation-Level Sequence- Dependent Setup Time Reduction In Dynamic Cellular Manufacturing Systems

In closed job shop, in which a fixed number of products are produced on a repetitive basis, when there are significant sequence dependent setup times and costs involved, cell formation (CF) problem should consider minimizing the sequence-dependent setup times in order to minimize the production cost. Setup time reduction in CMS has gained little to modest attention in the literature. This could be attributed to the fact that the fundamental problem in cell formation in CMS has been mainly about material handling and machine utilization while setup time was presumed to normally decrease as a result of grouping similar parts in a manufacturing cell. Despite more than three decades of history of CMS’s it has been relatively recent that setup time has been included in cell formation problems and found a place in the existing models. Sequence-dependent setup time in the literature has been dealt with mostly for scheduling part-families in a single manufacturing cell or in allocation of parts to cells in a pure flow shop. In this thesis, the issue of setup time has been extended to the members of a part family and to its lowest level which is operation-level and incorporated in general cell formation problem in a dynamic CMS. In this thesis we have developed a multi-period integer programming CF model to address the reduction of the sequence-dependent setup time as well as considering the dynamic nature of today’s manufacturing environment in CMS, where the product mix demanded would change in different time periods. Due to time complexity of the problem, a two stage solution approach has been adopted. First a GA-based heuristic was developed that provides near optimal solutions for single-period problems of the global model. The performance of the GA-based heuristic was successfully evaluated versus optimization software. Second, a dynamic programming (DP)-based heuristic was developed that reintegrates the single-period solutions into a multi-period solution. The performance of the DP-based heuristic was also evaluated against optimization softwar

Pinball tendons crack closure technology

Concrete is a popular construction material due to its unyielding nature. Although concrete is resistant to erosion, rotting, and rusting, due to its low tensile strength, reinforced concrete is prone to cracking. Also, because the cracks expand and become bigger over time, they can be a potential risk for concrete elements and lead to the failure of structures. Consequently, effective and early crack-closing and concrete healing can greatly enhance and improve concrete structures’ lifespan. Mechanical closing of the cracks by tendons has been one of the successful solutions. These tendons act based on a stored force in a balanced system. The new generation of tendons being investigated on a laboratory scale is Pinball Tendons (PBT). In addition to the simple activation phase, these tendons can store much more force due to their sleeve being made from steel. The significant feature of PBTs is that they do not need to receive any energy or recharge after the casting in concrete, so their service life lasts until they are activated to close the crack and release the prestressed force. According to the recorded CMOD data in this study, the tendons managed to close more than 65% of the crack aperture. The speed of the crack closure is another positive aspect of PBTs, 90% of crack closure has been done within the first 8 seconds. Because of this performance, in addition to the self-healing during the life span of structures, tendons can be a helpful alternative for repairing and enhancing concrete in sudden events like earthquakes and explosions

Smart activation system for the hybrid tendons crack closure technology

Cracks are a typical characteristic of a concrete structure, formed as a direct consequence of the concrete’s low tensile strength. They represent a risk to the longevity of a concrete structure; over time, under the effects of loads and environmental factors, cracks tend to grow and coalesce. It is widely known that cracks reduce the mechanical properties of, and significantly increase the diffusion of deleterious materials through a concrete structure, thus shortening its service-life. The need for enhanced structural longevity and reduced maintenance costs have driven an increased demand for self-healing technologies. Smart crack-closure technologies can lead to the production of more adaptable structural elements, with reduced associated waste and CO2 emissions. The work will cover the developments of a digitally controlled system that uses smart hybrid tendons (HTs) embedded in concrete to detect and close cracks. In particular the work will focus on the digital activation system for the HTs. This technology comprises a shape memory polymer tubular sleeve hosting a pre-stressed strong core which act together to provide an effective crack-closing action and offer flexural reinforcement to the concrete element. The HTs have been the object of a lab-scale study and the digital activation system will complete their design, paving the way for their use in the real world

Patients Perception and Satisfaction of the Ambulance Service (115) at Shahrekord, Iran

The services provided to the patients of pre-hospital emergency center and their satisfactions indicate the quality of pre-hospital emergency services. The goal of this study is to investigate the satisfaction of patients with Ambulance Service services (115) in Shahrekord in the first half of (2012). In this descriptive and analytic study, 450 patients transferred to the hospital by pre-hospital emergency center were chosen using simple random sampling method and data was collected by using satisfaction evaluation questionnaire. The information obtained under SPSS software version 16 was analyzed by statistical descriptive test, independent t test, variance analysis test and Pierson Correlation test. The findings showed that satisfaction level with pre-hospital emergency services in men, low-educated people, married people, those with the record of using emergency services and those with emergency problems was significantly higher than others. Satisfaction level in all fields was above 50% and was totally 71.12. The highest level of satisfaction was for the efficiency of emergency center (58, 78) and the lowest level of satisfaction in the questions was for the performance of technicians (58, 73). Patients' satisfaction with emergency services and their quality is considered as one of the main concepts in pre-hospital emergency procedures, in the manner that the results of this study showed that patients' satisfaction in different fields were high and satisfactory and the technicians should allocate much more time for interaction with patients in order to improve their satisfaction. sharifi M, Baraz S, Mohammadi F, ramezani R, Esmaeili Vardanjani SA. Patients Perception and Satisfaction of the Ambulance Service (115) at Shahrekord, Iran. Life Sci J 2012; 9(4):2196-2201] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 32

Comparison of C-Reactive Protein Concentrations of Patients with Preeclampsia and Normal Pregnancies

Abstract: Preeclampsia is one of the complications of pregnancy and is one of the most important causes of maternal and fetal death. This disease usually occurs after the 20 th week of pregnancy. Hypertension, proteinuria and different degrees of end organ damage may be present in this disease. The aim of this study was to compare CRP levels in normal pregnancies with pregnancies involved with preeclampsia. This was a cross sectional study that was conducted in 2012 among pregnant women who attended Shariati Hospital of Bandar Abbas. About 200 participants were included in this study and were divided into three groups with a 1:1:2 ratios. Blood samples were taken from all the participants and the CRP level was measured by the Latex Agglutination test. Data was analyzed with SPSS v.21 software using t-test and descriptive statistics. The CRP level was 17.858 ± 19.7457 in patients of the severe group, 15.106 ± 18.2851 among the mild group and 6.576 ± 7.5491 among the control group. The differences between the CRP levels of the three groups were statistically significant (P < 0.001). On the other hand the difference of the CRP levels of the severe and mild preeclampsia group was not significant ( P-value > 0.05). Our results show that CRP can be known as a risk factor for preeclampsia among pregnant women. Although performing a systematic review i

Regional Energy Supply Planning: Chance Constraint Programming

Regional energy planning under uncertainty is an important concept in energy-economy models which makes the planning outcomes closer to reality and enables the decision maker to select the best decision. Reliability of local energy supply and the possibility of long-term access to resources and emissions reduction is an essential step.   In this study, an urban energy demand which is supplied by electricity network is investigated with an optimal combination of alternative energy resources such as solar, wind and natural gas during the next 10 years. The optimal combination of fossil energy as well as renewable energies are determined by goal stochastic programming model.  Isfahan province in Iran has been selected as a case study. Empirical results indicate that due to the importance of investment and operation costs, the dominant share of energy supply will belong to natural gas, while the shares of solar and wind energies remain constant in the next decade. In sum, the share of solar and wind energies increases by 8% in 10 years and therefore, it is not necessary to increase electricity supply by the network in order to meet annual increasing demand. CO2 and NOx emissions will decrease significantly. Keywords: Stochastic programming, Goal programming, Local energy planning, Iran. JEL Classifications: Q43, Q47 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.787

Correlation of Preoperative and Radical Prostatectomy Gleason Score: Examining the Predictors of Upgrade and Downgrade Results

Preoperative Gleason score (GS) obtained from Trans Rectal Ultra Sonography (TRUS) is the most common grading system to evaluate the appropriate treatment for patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. But this method showed upgraded and downgraded results in comparison to Gleason score obtained from radical prostatectomy. The current study aimed to determine clinical or pathological variables to reduce the differences between biopsy and radical prostatectomy Gleason scores.Through retrospective review of 52 patients with radical prostatectomy, this study examined the correlations of preoperative Gleason score with age, prostate volume, PSA level, PSA density, digital rectal exam findings and percentage of positive core needle biopsies across two groups, including patients with preoperative GS≤6 (i.e. group one) and patients with preoperative GS≥7 (group two). The discordance between biopsy GS and radical prostatectomy GS was observed to be 52% in the current study. Among patients with preoperative GS≤6, prostate volume (P=0.026), PSA density (P=0.032) and percentage of positive core needle biopsies (P=0.042) were found to be significant predictors for upgrade. There was no significant predictor for downgrade in patients with preoperative GS≥7. Findings of this study revealed that in patients with preoperative GS≤6, smaller prostate volume, higher prostate density and higher positive results of core needle biopsies were associated with theupgrade of GS. Therefore, it should be considered when selecting treatment modalities among these patients

Determination of Osteoblast Cell Viability and Histological Changes of Samples Obtained from Different Implant Drills during Osteotomy

Statement of the Problem: The bone particles collected during osteotomy could be used as autogenous bone graft materials for dental implant surgery. Different factors such as drill design may influence its clinical viability.Purpose: This study examined the effect of drill design on the osteoblast viability and histopathology parameters of bone collected during the preparation of dental implant site.Materials and Method: In this experimental study, 90 samples were obtained from three different bone drilling systems including Bego, Implantium, and Dio during fixture installation in patients requiring treatment at the Department of Periodontology, Dentistry University Hamedan. The MTT (3-4,5-Dimethylthiazol2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) was used to determine percentage of cell viability. Samples were fixed in 10% formaldehyde for histological evaluation. Then, they were kept in 10% EDTA solution for 4 weeks for decalcification. The provided slides were evaluated regarding bone structure and osteocytes counts for assessment of viability. Tukey test and SPPS 21 software were used for statistical analysis.Results: The result showed the viability of osteoblast obtained by Dio (0.45±0.04) was significantly better than Bego (0.37±0.05) and Implantium (0.37±0.04) systems. In histopathological evaluation, the grafting material obtained by Dio presented the best osteoblast morphology.Conclusion: It might be concluded that drill geometry has significantly influenced the viability of bone particles collected during the preparation of implant sites .Moreover, characteristic geometry alone cannot represent the performance of a particular drill, and several geometric features should be concerned. The results of this study showed that the geometry of the Dio drill was the best considering the viability and histopathological evaluations

Molecular Identification and Phylogenetic Classification of Leishmania spp. Isolated from Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Iran: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: In Iran, both forms of cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have been reported; so the accurate species identification of the parasite(s) and the analysis of genetic diversity are necessary. Methods: The smears were collected from lesions samples of 654 patients with CL, who attended local health centers in 12 provinces of Iran during 2013-2015. The smears were checked for the presence of amastigotes by light microscopy. DNA of 648 Leishmania isolates, amplified by targeting a partial sequence of ITS (18S rRNA–ITS1–5.8S rRNA–ITS2) gene. Twenty-five of all the amplicons were sequenced and analyzed with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using the Taq1 enzyme. Results: All the smears were positive microscopically. The PCR-RFLP analysis revealed that 176 (27%) CL patients were infected with L. tropica and, 478 (73%) with L. major. The dominant species in all over Iran is L. major. The sequencing results of all CL patients and RFLP analysis confirmed each other. Based on our phylogenetic tree, 25 ITS DNA sequences were grouped into two clusters representing L. major and L. tropica species. Phylogenetic tree derived from the ITS sequences supports a clear divergence between L. major from the other species. Conclusion: Discrimination of Iranian Leishmania isolates using ITS gene gives us this opportunity to detect, identify, and construct the phylogenetic relationship of Iranian isolates

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe