The right to spatial development for human flourishing

This paper explores the literature on spatial development for people’s multifaceted well-being and the rights to the city, and argues for people’s right to live with dignity in cities. Nature and people-friendly spatial developments are fundamental to nourishing capabilities of human beings and realising their well-being. However, in reality, spatial developments are determined by legal planning and development regimes and socio-cultural discourses. These allocate different ‘claims, privileges and power rights’ to different stakeholders, and the results may not contribute to human flourishing. This paper attempts to synthesise an evaluation framework to achieve flourishing life with dignity in cities

Strong interaction of a turbulent spot with a shock-induced separation bubble

Direct numerical simulations have been conducted to study the passage of a turbulent spot through a shock-induced separation bubble. Localized blowing is used to trip the boundary layer well upstream of the shock impingement, leading to mature turbulent spots at impingement, with a length comparable to the length of the separation zone. Interactions are simulated at free stream Mach numbers of two and four, for isothermal (hot) wall boundary conditions. The core of the spot is seen to tunnel through the separation bubble, leading to a transient reattachment of the flow. Recovery times are long due to the influence of the calmed region behind the spot. The propagation speed of the trailing interface of the spot decreases during the interaction and a substantial increase in the lateral spreading of the spot was observed. A conceptual model based on the growth of the lateral shear layer near the wingtips of the spot is used to explain the change in lateral growth rat

Case studies in implementing dynamic production planning and scheduling system in make-to-order high-mix-low-volume small and medium-scaled industries for production efficiency

To manage a high-mix manufacturing environment efficiently is a big challenge for the small and medium-scaled industries (SMIs) because of the nature of its dynamic and ever changing production environment. This has added extra challenges for the SMIs to adopt the right and suitable computerized system for improvement. This paper reviews the implementation of computerized planning and scheduling system to the make-to-order (MTO) high-mix-low-volume (HMLV) SMIs to overcome their daily production challenges in managing the products, processes and resources. Investigation has been conducted in two local manufacturing companies to study the effectiveness of implementing the planning and scheduling system that has brought improvement to the MTO HMLV production environment. The research was conducted in mixed mode of qualitative and quantitative methods after the software being implemented for a year. The findings show the implementation of the system that can bring improvements overall. However, there are some other challenges not related to the software have been discovered such as human factors. The issues are listed in discussion section. The outcome of this research will accrue to manufacturers through an improved understanding of the operation and performance of implementing the system. The authors recommend further research works to be carried out to determine the other key success factors for MTO HMLV SMIs to implement computerize system to improve overall production efficiency

A case study: maturity assessment of product lifecycle management (PLM) implementation in Malaysia automotive components manufacturing company

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) adoption is very important for companies to sustain and stay competitive in market particularly to the organizations that involving from design to manufacturing. However many companies struggle with implementing PLM because PLM is rather a concept than a system, as its main purpose is to increase product collaboration for effective product innovation with integrated streamline business processes across all functional departments to achieve operational excellence. In order to improve these challenges, maturity assessment for PLM is carried out prior to the actual implementation permitted to define the effective PLM strategic roadmap in according to the current environment condition. In this paper, case study and maturity assessment for local automotive components manufacturing company was conducted. The results are discussed in the theoretical and empirical aspects. The finding showed the importance and practicality of the PLM readiness to the companies. The assessment required to be comprehensive to cover the readiness of (1) data readiness, (2) process readiness and (3) people, culture and IT infrastructure. In general, the PLM maturity assessment is a useful and beneficial tool in the implementation and development of PLM framework

Mapping giant magnetic fields around dense solid plasmas by high resolution magneto-optical microscopy

We investigate distribution of magnetic fields around dense solid plasmas generated by intense p-polarized laser (~10^{16} W.cm^{-2}, 100 fs) irradiation of magnetic tapes, using high sensitivity magneto optical microscopy. We present evidence for giant axial magnetic fields and map out for the first time the spatial distribution of these fields. By using the axial magnetic field distribution as a diagnostic tool we uncover evidence for angular momentum associated with the plasma. We believe this study holds significance for investigating the process under which a magnetic material magnetizes or demagnetizes under the influence of ultrashort intense laser pulses.Comment: 17 pages of text with 4 figure

Counter-Regulation of Interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and IL-1 Receptor Antagonist in Murine Keratinocytes

Interleukin-1α (IL-1α) is a potent proinflammatory cytokine constitutively expressed by keratinocytes, which also synthesize a specific inhibitor of IL-1 activity, intracellular IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra). Although homeostatic regulation of the IL-1 system in keratinocytes has long been suspected, there is currently little evidence for this. To explore this issue, the PAM212 murine keratinocyte cell line was exposed to increasing concentrations of either IL-1α or IL-1ra and the opposing ligand was assessed by ELISA. Release of IL-1ra was induced following stimulation by murine IL-1α in a concentration-dependent manner and, conversely, IL-1ra stimulation increased IL-1α release. To determine whether a similar homeostatic circuit operates in vivo, epidermis from transgenic mice in which overexpression of IL-1α or IL-1ra was targeted to keratinocytes was analyzed. Epidermal sheets derived from IL-1α transgenic mice released eight times more IL-1ra than those from wild-type mice following ex vivo culture and similarly, IL-1α release was increased 3–4-fold in epidermal sheets derived from IL-1ra transgenic epidermis, Use of specific neutralizing antibodies against type I and type II IL-1 receptors indicated that the counter-regulation mechanism is mediated extracellularly through the type I IL-1 receptor alone. Taken together, these observations provide the first demonstration of mutual counter-regulation of IL-1 receptor ligands in keratinocytes

Luminescence Mechanisms in Quaternary Al\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3eIn\u3csub\u3ey\u3c/sub\u3eGa\u3csub\u3e1-x-y\u3c/sub\u3eN Materials

Low-temperature photoluminescence investigations have been carried out in the quaternary AlInGaN epilayers and AlInGaN/AlInGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown by pulsedmetalorganic chemical-vapor deposition (PMOCVD). With increasing excitation power density, the emission peaks in both AlInGaN epilayers and MQWs show a strong blueshift and theirlinewidths increase. The luminescence of the samples grown by PMOCVD is attributed to recombination of carriers/excitons localized at band-tail states. We also demonstrate theluminescence properties of AlInGaN and AlGaN materials grown by a pulsed atomic-layerepitaxy and conventional MOCVD, respectively

Time-Resolved Photoluminescence of Quaternary AlInGaN-Based Multiple Quantum Wells

Time-resolvedphotoluminescence(PL)dynamics has been studied in AlInGaN/AlInGaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs) grown by a pulsed metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (PMOCVD) procedure. The PL decay kinetics was found to be sensitive to the emission energy and temperature. The PL decay time increases with decreasing emission energy, which is a characteristic of localized carrier/exciton recombination due to alloy fluctuations. Its temperature dependence shows radiative recombination to be the dominant process at low temperatures, indicating a high quality of PMOCVD grown quaternary AlInGaN MQWs and establishing them as promising structures for the active region of deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes

Developmental Functions of miR156-Regulated \u3cem\u3eSQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL)\u3c/em\u3e Genes in \u3cem\u3eArabidopsis thaliana\u3c/em\u3e

Correct developmental timing is essential for plant fitness and reproductive success. Two important transitions in shoot development—the juvenile-to-adult vegetative transition and the vegetative-to-reproductive transition—are mediated by a group of genes targeted by miR156, SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN (SBP) genes. To determine the developmental functions of these genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, we characterized their expression patterns, and their gain-of-function and loss-of-function phenotypes. Our results reveal that SBP-LIKE (SPL) genes in Arabidopsis can be divided into three functionally distinct groups: 1) SPL2, SPL9, SPL10, SPL11, SPL13 and SPL15 contribute to both the juvenile-to-adult vegetative transition and the vegetative-to-reproductive transition, with SPL9, SP13 and SPL15 being more important for these processes than SPL2, SPL10 and SPL11; 2) SPL3, SPL4 and SPL5 do not play a major role in vegetative phase change or floral induction, but promote the floral meristem identity transition; 3) SPL6 does not have a major function in shoot morphogenesis, but may be important for certain physiological processes. We also found that miR156-regulated SPL genes repress adventitious root development, providing an explanation for the observation that the capacity for adventitious root production declines as the shoot ages. miR156 is expressed at very high levels in young seedlings, and declines in abundance as the shoot develops. It completely blocks the expression of its SPL targets in the first two leaves of the rosette, and represses these genes to different degrees at later stages of development, primarily by promoting their translational repression. These results provide a framework for future studies of this multifunctional family of transcription factors, and offer new insights into the role of miR156 in Arabidopsis development