Production Scheduling Requirements to Smart Manufacturing

The production scheduling has attracted a lot of researchers for many years, however most of the approaches are not targeted to deal with real manufacturing environments, and those that are, are very particular for the case study. It is crucial to consider important features related with the factories, such as products and machines characteristics and unexpected disturbances, but also information such as when the parts arrive to the factory and when should be delivered. So, the purpose of this paper is to identify some important characteristics that have been considered independently in a lot of studies and that should be considered together to develop a generic scheduling framework to be used in a real manufacturing environment.authorsversionpublishe

What causes hidradenitis suppurativa? - 15 years after

The 14 authors of the first review article on hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) pathogenesis published 2008 in EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY cumulating from the 1st International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium held March 30?April 2, 2006 in Dessau, Germany with 33 participants were prophetic when they wrote "Hopefully, this heralds a welcome new tradition: to get to the molecular heart of HS pathogenesis, which can only be achieved by a renaissance of solid basic HS research, as the key to developing more effective HS therapy." (Kurzen et al. What causes hidradenitis suppurativa? Exp Dermatol 2008;17:455). Fifteen years later, there is no doubt that the desired renaissance of solid basic HS research is progressing with rapid steps and that HS has developed deep roots among inflammatory diseases in Dermatology and beyond, recognized as ?the only inflammatory skin disease than can be healed?. This anniversary article of 43 research-performing authors from all around the globe in the official journal of the European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation e.V. (EHSF e.V.) and the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation, Inc (HSF USA) summarizes the evidence of the intense HS clinical and experimental research during the last 15 years in all aspects of the disease and provides information of the developments to come in the near future

What causes hidradenitis suppurativa ?—15 years after

The 14 authors of the first review article on hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) pathogenesis published 2008 in EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY cumulating from the 1st International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium held March 30–April 2, 2006 in Dessau, Germany with 33 participants were prophetic when they wrote “Hopefully, this heralds a welcome new tradition: to get to the molecular heart of HS pathogenesis, which can only be achieved by a renaissance of solid basic HS research, as the key to developing more effective HS therapy.” (Kurzen et al. What causes hidradenitis suppurativa? Exp Dermatol 2008;17:455). Fifteen years later, th

A simple model for the hygroscopy of sulfuric acid

Sulphuric acid is a highly hygroscopic substance, increasing its volume by absorbing water from high relative-humidity environment. In this paper, we present a mathematical model that describes the hygroscopy of a uniform layer of sulphuric acid with a given initial concentration and relative humidity of the surrounding gaseous environment. We assume that water is absorbed across the gas–liquid interface at a rate proportional to the difference in concentration from the equilibrium value. Our numerical results compare well with asymptotic predictions for small Sherwood number, where we derive an explicit solution. The theory agrees well with experimental data, which supports the validity of the model, and we are able to use the model to determine the rate of absorption, which cannot be found by a direct experimental measurement

[B]MFI membrane: Synthesis, physico-chemical properties and catalytic behavior in the double-bond isomerization of 1-butene

An MFI type borosilicate, [B]MFI (Si/B=56), membrane was synthesized on the external surface of tubular -alumina support. The structure, morphology and acidity of the synthesized membrane were characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM and FT-IR spectroscopy. A flow-through membrane reactor was constructed and the simultaneous catalytic and separation selectivity of the membrane was tested in the double-bond isomerization of 1-butene in the temperature range of 120-250°C and at 1-butene partial pressure of 18 and 50 kPa. No product of skeletal isomerization was formed under these conditions. The catalytic selectivity is attributed to the low acid strength of the Brønsted sites generated by the framework boron. Equilibrium trans/cis-2-butenes ratio was obtained in the retentate stream (1.4-1.5), whereas, that ratio at the permeate stream was up to ~2.2 at 250 oC. The high trans/cis ratio was attributed to the permeation selectivity of the MFI membrane for trans-2-butene

In vitro and in silico investigations of drug delivery via zeolite BEA

A combination of experiment and theory has been used to assess the potential use of the zeolite BEA as a drug delivery agent. Molecular dynamics (MD) has been used to examine the diffusion of two different drug molecules, salbutamol and theophylline, inside the zeolite BEA. MD shows that the two molecules display different diffusion behaviour, with the salbutamol molecule able to diffuse more freely than theophylline within the internal channel system of the zeolite. Several experimental techniques have been used to investigate the loading and release of the drug molecules from the BEA host. The results obtained support the observations from the modelling and suggest that modelling has an important role to play in screening zeolite–drug combinations prior to experimental investigation

Lack of association between endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms and risk of premature coronary artery disease in the Greek population

Objective - Genetic polymorphisms in the gene for endothelial nitric oxide synthase have been considered as potential risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease in some populations. Methods - We studied two polymorphisms of the NOS3 gene, the VNTR in intron 4 (4VNTR) and the Glu298Asp polymorphism in exon 7, in relation to the existence of premature coronary artery disease and the occurrence of myocardial infarction. A total number of 370 individuals of the Greek population was examined by PCR-RFLP method. The patient group consisted of 209 subjects, aged less than 58 years presenting symptomatic coronary artery disease, documented by coronary angiography. Results - The frequencies for bb, ab and aa genotypes of 4VNTR polymorphism were 0.67, 0.29, 0.04, respectively, for the patient group and 0.73, 0.24, 0.03 for the control group. The frequencies for GG (Glu/ Glu), GT (Glu/Asp), TT (Asp/Asp) of the Glu298Asp polymorphism were 0.52, 0.41, 0.07, respectively, in patients compared to 0.47, 0.46, 0.07, in control subjects. Statistical analysis indicated that there are no significant differences in the frequencies of the genotypes between patients and control subjects for both polymorphisms. The combined analysis of the two polymorphisms indicated no synergistic effect of the a and T alleles on coronary artery disease. Conclusions - We have found no evidence for association between the a allele of the 4VNTR polymorphism, or the T allele of Glu298Asp polymorphism and the risk for premature coronary artery disease or occurrence of myocardial infarction. Furthermore, no synergistic contribution of these polymorphisms to the development of premature coronary artery disease has been observed