A sector analysis for RFID technologies: fundamental and technical analysis for financial decision making problems

Automatic identification technologies have been used in a wide range of applications for reducing the amount of time and labor needed to input data and improving data accuracy. As an important automatic identification technology, radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies allow contactless reading and these technologies are particularly successful in manufacturing and other environments where traditional identification technologies such as bar codes can not perform well. By integrating the RFID technology into their business models, companies may save time, lower labor cost, improve products quality and provide better service. RFID is the wireless technology that uses RF communication to identify, track and manage objects and collect and store data. RFID technology enables companies to develop applications that create value by tracking and identifying objects, animals or people. Business applications of RFID technology can be seen in areas such as manufacturing, supply chain management, software integration, security systems, asset tracking and many others. RFID technology was predicted to be one of the “top ten” technologies in 2004 by CNN. Although, the RFID market is less than five years old, it has been applied to many different industries, from retail industry to logistics, or from healthcare to service business industry – and it is still growing. Particularly, RFID has fundamental influences on today's retailing and supply chain management for applications like asset tracking the inventory control and management. RFID technology also finds major application in mobile phones and is widely used in toll collection of highways, for payments in restaurants, vending machines, retail and parking lots. There are a wide range of RFID systems currently being used or being developed. Examples to these systems include but not limited to the following; automatic vehicle and personnel access control for security (Simpson, 2006), airport passenger and baggage tracking (Ferguson, 2006), tracing blood for cutting down errors such as giving patients wrong blood types (Ranger, 2006), payment process systems (Ramachandran, 2006), production control in manufacturing (Liu & Miao, 2006), transfusion medicine (Knels, 2006) real-time inventory control by automated identification of items in warehouses, tracking and management of physical files, tracking of books in the libraries (Shadid, 2005). For some other applications, interested reader is referred to (Finkenzeller, 2003; Smith, 2004). RFID solution providers claim that their technology and solutions bring significant benefits and have valuable advantages in practice. As new RFID solutions being developed and more RFID tags and equipments being used, these solutions will become more cost effective and RFID businesses are expected to grow rapidly. Since RFID is fairly new, it’s difficult to measure resulting sales increases or heightened customer satisfaction quotients. On the other hand, according to IDC estimation (IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group, a leading technology media, research, and events company and provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets), companies in the retail sector will spend nearly $1.3 billion on RFID in their supply chain operations in 2008, compared to about$91.5 million in 2003 which corresponds to annual growth rate of 70 percent. In a similar look; the Wireless Data Research Group projected that the global market for RFID increased from $1 billion in 2003 to$3 billion in 2007 (Asif & Mandviwalla, 2005). There are two major drivers of this growth. The first one is the adoption of RFID technology by major retailers and government agencies. The second one is the reduction in the price of RFID tags, readers, and IT systems required to deploy RFID. Given the huge potential of RFID technology, there has been a huge emergence of RFID specialty companies and the development of RFID practices within many market-leading companies. Due to huge emergence, it is desirable to make a sector analysis. In this study, we perform a sector analysis for RFID technologies for researchers and analysts. We investigate public RFID companies traded on the stock exchange markets, summarize their financial performance, describe their RF products, services, and applications, and perform fundamental and technical analysis

The effect of anatomic differences on the relationship between renal artery and diaphragmatic crus

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of anatomic differences on the relationship between renal artery and diaphragmatic crus via the touch of two structures. Materials and methods: The study included dynamic computed tomography (CT) scans of 308 patients performed mainly for characterisation of liver and renal masses. Anatomic differences including the thickness of the diaphragmatic crus, the localisation of renal artery ostium at the wall of aorta, the level of renal artery origin with respect to superior mesenteric artery were evaluated. Statistical relationships between renal artery-diaphragmatic crus contact and the anatomic differences were assessed. Results: Thickness of the diaphragmatic crus at the level of renal artery origin exhibited a statistically significant relationship to renal artery-diaphragmatic crus contact at the left (p < 0.001) and right side (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant relationship between high renal artery origin and renal artery- -diaphragmatic crus contact at the left (p < 0.001) and right side (p = 0.01). The localisation of renal artery ostium at the wall of aorta (right side, p = 0.436, left side, p = 0.681) did not demonstrate a relationship to renal artery-diaphragmatic crus contact. Conclusions: Thickness of the diaphragmatic crus and high renal artery origin with respect to superior mesenteric artery are crucial anatomic differences determining the relationship of renal artery and diaphragmatic crus. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 1: 22–28)

Early postzygotic mutations contribute to de novo variation in a healthy monozygotic twin pair

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Background: Human de novo single-nucleotide variation (SNV) rate is estimated to range between 0.82-1.70×10-8 mutations per base per generation. However, contribution of early postzygotic mutations to the overall human de novo SNV rate is unknown. Methods: We performed deep whole-genome sequencing (more than 30-fold coverage per individual) of the whole-blood-derived DNA samples of a healthy monozygotic twin pair and their parents. We examined the genotypes of each individual simultaneously for each of the SNVs and discovered de novo SNVs regarding the timing of mutagenesis. Putative de novo SNVs were validated using Sanger-based capillary sequencing. Results: We conservatively characterised 23 de novo SNVs shared by the twin pair, 8 de novo SNVs specific to twin I and 1 de novo SNV specific to twin II. Based on the number of de novo SNVs validated by Sanger sequencing and the number of callable bases of each twin, we calculated the overall de novo SNV rate of 1.31×10-8 and 1.01×10-8 for twin I and twin II, respectively. Of these, rates of the early postzygotic de novo SNVs were estimated to be 0.34×10-8 for twin I and 0.04×10-8 for twin II. Conclusions: Early postzygotic mutations constitute a substantial proportion of de novo mutations in humans. Therefore, genome mosaicism resulting from early mitotic events during embryogenesis is common and could substantially contribute to the development of diseases

Evaluation of the genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in the buccal epithelial cells of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment with three light-cured bonding composites by using micronucleus testing

Objective: This study evaluated the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of fixed orthodontic treatment with three different light-cured orthodontic bonding composites by analyzing micronucleus (MN) formation in the buccal mucosa during a 6-month period. Methods: Thirty healthy volunteers were selected from consecutive patients referred for orthodontic treatment. Equilibrium 2 brackets and molar tubes (Dentaurum) were bonded with three different lightcured orthodontic bonding composites-Transbond XT (3M Unitek), Kurasper F (Kuraray Europe), or GrenGloo (Ormco Corporation)- to all teeth in both arches. Exfoliated buccal epithelial cells were scraped from the middle part of the inner cheeks with sterile cement spatulas before treatment and at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. MNs and nuclear alterations, such as karyorrhexis (KR), karyolysis (KL), and binucleated cells (BNs), were scored under a light microscope. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to calculate statistical differences in degenerative nuclear abnormalities. Results: MN rates did not significantly differ among different time points within the same cell type (p > 0.05). In contrast, the number of BNs in buccal epithelial cells significantly increased in all composite groups (p < 0.01, Transbond XT; p < 0.001, Kurasper F and GrenGloo). KL frequency significantly increased between the beginning and end of the study in the Kurasfer F (0.80 ± 0.79 to 1.90 ± 1.10; p < 0.05) and GrenGloo (1.30 ± 1.06 to 2.40 ± 1.08; p < 0.05) groups. Conclusions: After 6 months of fixed orthodontic treatment with different light-cured composites, morphological signs of cytotoxicity were observed but genotoxic effects were absent. © 2014 The Korean Association of Orthodontists

Impact of donation mode on the proportion and function of T lymphocytes in the liver

Background Liver T-cells respond to the inflammatory insult generated during organ procurement and contribute to the injury following reperfusion. The mode of liver donation alters various metabolic and inflammatory pathways but the way it affects intrahepatic T-cells is still unclear. Methods We investigated the modifications occurring in the proportion and function of T-cells during liver procurement for transplantation. We isolated hepatic mononuclear cells (HMC) from liver perfusate of living donors (LD) and donors after brain death (DBD) or cardiac death (DCD) and assessed the frequency of T-cell subsets, their cytokine secretion profile and CD8 T-cell cytotoxicity function, responsiveness to a danger associated molecular pattern (High Mobility Group Box1, HMGB1) and association with donor and recipient clinical parameters and immediate graft outcome. Results We found that T-cells in healthy human livers were enriched in memory CD8 T-cells exhibiting a phenotype of non-circulating tissue-associated lymphocytes, functionally dominated by more cytotoxicity and IFN-γ-production in DBD donors, including upon activation by HMGB1 and correlating with peak of post-transplant AST. This liver-specific pattern of CD8 T-cell was prominent in DBD livers compared to DCD and LD livers suggesting that it was influenced by events surrounding brain death, prior to retrieval. Conclusion Mode of liver donation can affect liver T-cells with increased liver damage in DBD donors. These findings may be relevant in designing therapeutic strategies aimed at organ optimization prior to transplantation

The Concordance Cosmic Star Formation Rate: Implications from and for the Supernova Neutrino and Gamma Ray Backgrounds

We constrain the Cosmic Star Formation Rate (CSFR) by requiring that massive stars produce the observed UV, optical, and IR light while at the same time not overproduce the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background as bounded by Super-Kamiokande. With the massive star component so constrained we then show that a reasonable choice of stellar Initial Mass Function and other parameters results in SNIa rates and iron yields in good agreement with data. In this way we define a `concordance' CSFR that predicts the optical SNII rate and the SNIa contribution to the MeV Cosmic Gamma-Ray Background. The CSFR constrained to reproduce these and other proxies of intermediate and massive star formation is more clearly delineated than if it were measured by any one technique and has the following testable consequences: (1) SNIa contribute only a small fraction of the MeV Cosmic Gamma-Ray Background, (2) massive star core-collapse is nearly always accompanied by a successful optical SNII, and (3) the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background is tantalizingly close to detectability.Comment: Improved discussion. Version accepted for publication in JCA

Photon, Neutrino and Charged Particle Spectra from R-violating Gravitino Decays

We study photonic, neutrino and charged particle signatures from slow decays of gravitino dark matter in supersymmetric theories where R-parity is explicitly broken by trilinear operators. Photons and (anti-)fermions from loop and tree-level processes give rise to spectra with distinct features, which, if observed, can give crucial input on the possible mass of the gravitino and the magnitude and flavour structure of R-violating operators. Within this framework, we make detailed comparisons of the theoretical predictions to the recent experimental data from PAMELA, ATIC and Fermi LAT.Comment: Version published in Phys. Lett.

Dark Matter Model Selection and the ATIC/PPB-BETS anomaly

We argue that we may be able to sort out dark matter models in which electrons are generated through the annihilation and/or decay of dark matter, by using a fact that the initial energy spectrum is reflected in the cosmic-ray electron flux observed at the Earth even after propagation through the galactic magnetic field. To illustrate our idea we focus on three representative initial spectra: (i)monochromatic (ii)flat and (iii)double-peak ones. We find that those three cases result in significantly different energy spectra, which may be probed by the Fermi satellite in operation or an up-coming cosmic-ray detector such as CALET.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

MSSM in view of PAMELA and Fermi-LAT

We take the MSSM as a complete theory of low energy phenomena, including neutrino masses and mixings. This immediately implies that the gravitino is the only possible dark matter candidate. We study the implications of the astrophysical experiments such as PAMELA and Fermi-LAT, on this scenario. The theory can account for both the realistic neutrino masses and mixings, and the PAMELA data as long as the slepton masses lie in the $500-10^6$TeV range. The squarks can be either light or heavy, depending on their contribution to radiative neutrino masses. On the other hand, the Fermi-LAT data imply heavy superpartners, all out of LHC reach, simply on the grounds of the energy scale involved, for the gravitino must weigh more than 2 TeV. The perturbativity of the theory also implies an upper bound on its mass, approximately $6-7$TeV.Comment: Published version, figures update

Damping of supernova neutrino transitions in stochastic shock-wave density profiles

Supernova neutrino flavor transitions during the shock wave propagation are known to encode relevant information not only about the matter density profile but also about unknown neutrino properties, such as the mass hierarchy (normal or inverted) and the mixing angle theta_13. While previous studies have focussed on "deterministic" density profiles, we investigate the effect of possible stochastic matter density fluctuations in the wake of supernova shock waves. In particular, we study the impact of small-scale fluctuations on the electron (anti)neutrino survival probability, and on the observable spectra of inverse-beta-decay events in future water-Cherenkov detectors. We find that such fluctuations, even with relatively small amplitudes, can have significant damping effects on the flavor transition pattern, and can partly erase the shock-wave imprint on the observable time spectra, especially for sin^2(theta_13) > O(10^-3).Comment: v2 (23 pages, including 6 eps figures). Typos removed, references updated, matches the published versio