Exploiting supplier capabilities to maximise product design opportunities in the fuzzy front end activities

This paper explores the Fuzzy Front-End (FFE), i.e. the first phase of the Product Design and Development process where a company formulates a product concept to be developed and decides whether or not to invest resources in the further development of an idea. Our goal is to understand how companies leverage supply chain capabilities to improve product design opportunities in order to obtain optimized product concepts in the FFE. From the analysis of our pilot study, the results suggest that FFE is organized differently depending on design requirements and supply chain capabilities and that matching design requirements with supplier capabilities during the FFE improves performance. Therefore, the findings indicate that the proposed Conceptual Framework has the potential to be used by companies to design their FFE and to enhance the use of supply chain capabilities in their product design activities

PyHST2: an hybrid distributed code for high speed tomographic reconstruction with iterative reconstruction and a priori knowledge capabilities

We present the PyHST2 code which is in service at ESRF for phase-contrast and absorption tomography. This code has been engineered to sustain the high data flow typical of the third generation synchrotron facilities (10 terabytes per experiment) by adopting a distributed and pipelined architecture. The code implements, beside a default filtered backprojection reconstruction, iterative reconstruction techniques with a-priori knowledge. These latter are used to improve the reconstruction quality or in order to reduce the required data volume and reach a given quality goal. The implemented a-priori knowledge techniques are based on the total variation penalisation and a new recently found convex functional which is based on overlapping patches. We give details of the different methods and their implementations while the code is distributed under free license. We provide methods for estimating, in the absence of ground-truth data, the optimal parameters values for a-priori techniques

A Dictionary Learning Approach with Overlap for the Low Dose Computed Tomography Reconstruction and Its Vectorial Application to Differential Phase Tomography

X-ray based Phase-Contrast Imaging (PCI) techniques have been demonstrated to enhance the visualization of soft tissues in comparison to conventional imaging methods. Nevertheless the delivered dose as reported in the literature of biomedical PCI applications often equals or exceeds the limits prescribed in clinical diagnostics. The optimization of new computed tomography strategies which include the development and implementation of advanced image reconstruction procedures is thus a key aspect. In this scenario, we implemented a dictionary learning method with a new form of convex functional. This functional contains in addition to the usual sparsity inducing and fidelity terms, a new term which forces similarity between overlapping patches in the superimposed regions. The functional depends on two free regularization parameters: a coefficient multiplying the sparsity-inducing L-1 norm of the patch basis functions coefficients, and a coefficient multiplying the L-2 norm of the differences between patches in the overlapping regions. The solution is found by applying the iterative proximal gradient descent method with FISTA acceleration. The gradient is computed by calculating projection of the solution and its error backprojection at each iterative step. We study the quality of the solution, as a function of the regularization parameters and noise, on synthetic data for which the solution is a-priori known. We apply the method on experimental data in the case of Differential Phase Tomography. For this case we use an original approach which consists in using vectorial patches, each patch having two components: one per each gradient component. The resulting algorithm, implemented in the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility tomography reconstruction code PyHST, has proven to be efficient and well-adapted to strongly reduce the required dose and the number of projections in medical tomography

A Dictionary Learning Approach with Overlap for the Low Dose Computed Tomography Reconstruction and Its Vectorial Application to Differential Phase Tomography

X-ray based Phase-Contrast Imaging (PCI) techniques have been demonstrated to enhance the visualization of soft tissues in comparison to conventional imaging methods. Nevertheless the delivered dose as reported in the literature of biomedical PCI applications often equals or exceeds the limits prescribed in clinical diagnostics. The optimization of new computed tomography strategies which include the development and implementation of advanced image reconstruction procedures is thus a key aspect. In this scenario, we implemented a dictionary learning method with a new form of convex functional. This functional contains in addition to the usual sparsity inducing and fidelity terms, a new term which forces similarity between overlapping patches in the superimposed regions. The functional depends on two free regularization parameters: a coefficient multiplying the sparsity-inducing L-1 norm of the patch basis functions coefficients, and a coefficient multiplying the L-2 norm of the differences between patches in the overlapping regions. The solution is found by applying the iterative proximal gradient descent method with FISTA acceleration. The gradient is computed by calculating projection of the solution and its error backprojection at each iterative step. We study the quality of the solution, as a function of the regularization parameters and noise, on synthetic data for which the solution is a-priori known. We apply the method on experimental data in the case of Differential Phase Tomography. For this case we use an original approach which consists in using vectorial patches, each patch having two components: one per each gradient component. The resulting algorithm, implemented in the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility tomography reconstruction code PyHST, has proven to be efficient and well-adapted to strongly reduce the required dose and the number of projections in medical tomography

Slow fashion and sustainability in Spain: How can local manufacturing improve sustainability and how do consumers respond?

"Slow Fashion" attempts to offset the demand for fast fashion and mass production (Fletcher, 2007). Consumers' response to sustainability-based practices is a limited discourse and studies for slow fashion concept are scarce. This study thus aims to enlighten the subject of how slow fashion concept could improve local economies and how Spanish consumers respond to such initiatives. This paper is based on an exploratory qualitative research for which focus group interviews including three group discussions with Spanish consumers were held. The data was examined by constant comparison analysis to present consumer insights. Moreover, a case study was conducted with a Spanish apparel brand. Saint Brissant was chosen since it manufactures in Spain to (i) ensure its products? high quality and (ii) to empower Spanish economy. This paper provides empirical insights. Even though local manufacturing was perceived to have a higher quality, Spanish consumers? behavioural intentions of using local brands were not high.Self-interest, mainly price and design, was recorded as the most influential purchase criteria. Furthermore, Saint Brissant case demonstrated that local manufacturing could boost local economies by creating workforce. However, governmental subsidies should be rearranged and consumers? perceptions should be improved to support local manufacturers in Spain

Nanoroughness, Surface Chemistry and Drug Delivery Control by Atmospheric Plasma Jet on Implantable Devices

Implantable devices need specific tailored surface morphologies and chemistries to interact with the living systems or to actively induce a biological response also by the release of drugs or proteins. These customised requirements foster technologies that can be implemented in additive manufacturing systems. Here we present a novel approach based on spraying processes that allows to control separately topographic features in the submicron range ( 3d 60 nm - 2 \ub5m), ammine or carboxylic chemistry and fluorophore release even on temperature sensitive biodegradable polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL). We developed a two-steps process with a first deposition of 220 nm silica and poly(lactic-co-glycolide) (PLGA) fluorescent nanoparticles by aerosol followed by the deposition of a fixing layer by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ). The nanoparticles can be used to create the nano-roughness and to include active molecule release, while the capping layer ensures stability and the chemical functionalities. The process is enabled by a novel APPJ which allows deposition rates of 10 - 20 nm\ub7s-1 at temperatures lower than 50 \ub0C using argon as process gas. This approach was assessed on titanium alloys for dental implants and on PCL films. The surfaces were characterized by FT-IR, AFM and SEM. Titanium alloys were tested with pre-osteoblasts murine cells line, while PCL film with fibroblasts. Cell behaviour was evaluated by viability and adhesion assays, protein adsorption, cell proliferation, focal adhesion formation and SEM. The release of a fluorophore molecule was assessed in the cell growing media, simulating a drug release. Osteoblast adhesion on the plasma treated materials increased by 20% with respect to commercial titanium alloys implants. Fibroblast adhesion increased by a 100% compared to smooth PCL substrate. The release of the fluorophore by the dissolution of the PLGA nanoparticles was verified and the integrity of the encapsulated drug model confirmed

Mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma of the caecum presenting as extensive ileocolonic intussusception.

n/

What is the Value of an IT eProcurement System

a b s t r a c t E-procurement is gaining in popularity in business practice and its benefits encourage its adoption for a variety of areas, including IT (Information Technology) purchases. The problem with assessing the value associated with e-procurement has been addressed by researchers and practitioners, but a clear methodology to determine the benefits related to e-procurement adoption is still missing, especially for IT. This paper defines e-procurement and identifies the six most significant drivers for e-procurement adoption, which are the pillars of the proposed value assessment methodology. The authors have also applied the developed methodology to real cases in order to verify its validity and robustness. Finally, although the developed model takes into account the peculiarities of IT purchases, it also raises more research opportunities for other purchasing categories

The decision making process of your company is really integrated?

The paper describes the development of a study of production planning decision-making process. The internal and the external integration of the supply chain have become essential for many industries. However, according to a global survey of the supply chain: companies have put so much attention about supply chain integration that they have forgotten about the internal integration. The literature about internal integration defines it as a key element in the performance of the company and the entire supply chain. Besides there is a problem of misconception of their own level of internal integration. Companies could trust to be integrated based in misconceptions or incomplete information. This could lead to miss valuable synergies that could reduce the overall cost. Using a survey among production planning practitioners, we investigate the decision-making process of the internal planning, operation scheduling and inventory control at the shop level. The degree of integration is analysed using the decision-making process and other drivers suggested in other studies. We conclude that many companies have a misalignment in the implementation of their philosophies. Consequently, the possibility of enhance is lost by silo decisions and managers should implement the internal integration practices in the different areas of the production planning