Implementation of ERP in an Automobile Manufacturing Shop Floor

The implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has been known to be much more difficult than the development of a computer application supporting a single business function. This paper addresses the implementation of an ERP system in an automobile manufacture shop floor. This paper examines step by step procedure for implementing an ERP system within the shop floor and also looks improve business process and operations through good business communication system. The Development of a planning module by visual basic programming language were also discussed

The Role of the Hydrolysis and Zirconium Concentration on the Structure and Anticorrosion Performances of a Hybrid Silicate Sol-Gel Coating

In sol-gel chemistry, hydrolysis is the key step in the formation of the reactive hydroxide groups that are responsible for the formation of inorganic networks via the occurrence of condensation reactions. Though previous studies have investigated the effect of the hydrolysis conditions on the structure of organically modified silicates (ormosils), no study, to our knowledge, has investigated this variable on the structure of hybrid materials prepared by combinations of an ormosil and a transition metal (TM). Here, we propose to investigate this effect in a hybrid material composed of 3-trimethoxysilylpropylmethacrylate and a zirconium complex. To also highlight the effects of the precursor’s concentrations on the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of the hybrid materials, their relative content was altered along with the hydrolysis degree. The anticorrosion barrier properties were identified by characterisation of coatings deposited on AA2024-T3 substrates and correlation between the structure and the anticorrosion properties of the coatings were performed based on results obtained from structural characterisations (DLS, FTIR, 29Si-NMR, DSC, AFM and SEM) and corrosion testing (EIS and NSS). It is demonstrated that competition in the formation of siloxane and Si-O-Zr bonds takes place and can be controlled by the degree of hydrolysis and the concentration of the zirconium complex. This effect was found to dramatically alter the morphology of the coatings and their subsequent anticorrosion performances. At shortterm exposure times, it is found that the most condensed materials exhibited a higher corrosion resistance while over longer periods the performances were found to level. This article highlighted the critical impact of the hydrolysis degree and zirconium concentration on the connectivity of hybrid sol-gel coatings and the impact this has on corrosion performances

Bioinformatics in crosslinking chemistry of collagen with selective cross linkers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Identifying the molecular interactions using bioinformatics tools before venturing into wet lab studies saves the energy and time considerably. The present study summarizes, molecular interactions and binding energy calculations made for major structural protein, collagen of Type I and Type III with the chosen cross-linkers, namely, coenzyme Q₁₀, dopaquinone, embelin, embelin complex-1 & 2, idebenone, 5-O-methyl embelin, potassium embelate and vilangin.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Molecular descriptive analyses suggest, dopaquinone, embelin, idebenone, 5-O-methyl embelin, and potassium embelate display nil violations. And results of docking analyses revealed, best affinity for Type I (- 4.74 kcal/mol) and type III (-4.94 kcal/mol) collagen was with dopaquinone.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Among the selected cross-linkers, dopaquinone, embelin, potassium embelate and 5-O-methyl embelin were the suitable cross-linkers for both Type I and Type III collagen and stabilizes the collagen at the expected level.</p

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Localized corrosion evaluation of newly developed stainless-steel alloys in chloride medium through dynamic and localized micro electrochemical techniques

Novel Fe–Cr SS alloys were fabricated by alloying with 0, 0.10 and 0.20 wt-% Sn respectively to investigate the effect of the Sn addition on the microstructure, passive characteristics and localized corrosion behavior in chloride medium at room temperature. The advanced scanning micro-electrochemical techniques along with the traditional electrochemical methods were used for in-depth investigations. Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic test results exhibited that the addition of Sn in SS alloys increased the resistance against pitting corrosion in NaCl medium. The acquired dynamic impedance data confirmed the effective electrochemical stability of the alloy SS3 (SS with 0.20 wt-% Sn) at applied anodic potential, suggesting the presence of a compact and stable passive film in Sn containing alloys, which contributed to their improved localized corrosion resistance in chloride solution. The scanning electrochemical microscopic results corroborated that the alloy SS3 remained stable even after 24 h of exposure and displayed no noticeable surface heterogeneity. A reduced anodic current density in scanning vibrative electrode technique mapping images was observed even after 24-h of exposure in alloy SS3 compared to other samples, indicating that the anodic metal dissolution was successfully obstructed by forming a compact and dense passive film on this alloy

Electrochemical Corrosion and In Vitro Bioactivity of Nano-Grained Biomedical Ti-20Nb-13Zr Alloy in a Simulated Body Fluid

The bioactivity and the corrosion protection for a novel nano-grained Ti-20Nb-13Zr at % alloy were examined in a simulated body fluid (SBF). The effect of the SPS’s temperature on the corrosion performance was investigated. The phases and microstructural details of the developed alloy were analyzed by XRD (X-ray Diffraction), SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope). The electrochemical study was investigated using linear potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a SBF, and the bioactivity was examined by immersing the developed alloy in a SBF for 3, 7, and 14 days. The morphology of the depositions after immersion was examined using SEM. Alloy surface analysis after immersion in the SBF was characterized by XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy). The results of the bioactivity test in SBF revealed the growth of a hydroxyapatite layer on the surface of the alloy. The analysis of XPS showed the formation of protective oxides of TiO2, Ti2O3, ZrO2, Nb2O5, and a Ca3(PO4)2 compound (precursor of hydroxyapatite) deposited on the alloy surface, indicating that the presented alloy can stimulate bone formation. The corrosion resistance increased by increasing the sintering temperature and the highest corrosion resistance was obtained at 1200 °C. The improved corrosion protection was found to be related to the alloy densification. The bioactivity and the corrosion resistance of the developed nanostructured alloy in a SBF renders the nanostructured Ti-20Nb-13Zr alloy a promising candidate as an implant material

Chemically-Derived Cuo/In2O3-Based Nanocomposite For Diode Applications

Nowadays, oxide-based semiconducting nanostructures are widely regarded as one of the most essential elements of the modern semiconductor industry and for a number of advanced technological functions in electronics and optoelectronic platforms. In this regard, a CuO-based nanocomposite was synthesized through a facile surfactant-free wet chemical strategy, and its potential for photoelectronic applications has been demonstrated. The nature of the composite phase and its other structural characteristics were studied in detail using Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic tools. The particulate characteristics of the composite were inferred using transmission electron microscopic measurements. Room temperature luminescence measurements revealed that the optical activity of the composite spreads across the red and near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum through corresponding transitions. The optoelectronic capabilities of the processed composite were investigated through fabricating a CuO composite/ZnO nanowire-based p-n heterostructure and studying its associated current-voltage (I-V) characteristics under photon illumination. The nature of charge carriers, flat band potential, charge transfer resistance and carrier density were also studied individually and collectively for each component comprising the heterostructure through Mott-Schottky and Nyquist type impedance plots