Design of experiments for non-manufacturing processes : benefits, challenges and some examples

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a powerful technique for process optimization that has been widely deployed in almost all types of manufacturing processes and is used extensively in product and process design and development. There have not been as many efforts to apply powerful quality improvement techniques such as DoE to improve non-manufacturing processes. Factor levels often involve changing the way people work and so have to be handled carefully. It is even more important to get everyone working as a team. This paper explores the benefits and challenges in the application of DoE in non-manufacturing contexts. The viewpoints regarding the benefits and challenges of DoE in the non-manufacturing arena are gathered from a number of leading academics and practitioners in the field. The paper also makes an attempt to demystify the fact that DoE is not just applicable to manufacturing industries; rather it is equally applicable to non-manufacturing processes within manufacturing companies. The last part of the paper illustrates some case examples showing the power of the technique in non-manufacturing environments

HIV/AIDS and Agrarian Livelihoods in Zambia: a Test of the New Variant Famine Hypothesis.

1. Consistent with the New Variant Famine (NVF) hypothesis, the negative impact of drought on crop output and output per hectare is further exacerbated where HIV prevalence rates are relatively high, particularly in the low- and medium rainfall zones of the country (agro-ecological regions I and II). 2. HIV prevalence rates and AIDS-related mortality rates in Zambia are highest in the lowest rainfall and most drought-prone zone of the country (agro-ecological region I). 3. Only for districts in agro-ecological region I do we find evidence of a robust negative effect of HIV/AIDS on agrarian livelihood indicators. Relatively stable food production zones and/or areas with relatively low HIV prevalence rates appear to be less vulnerable to the adverse effects predicted by the NVF hypothesis, which suggests that HIV/AIDS exacerbates the effects of drought and other shocks on agrarian communities. 4. HIV/AIDS reduces the crop production gains associated with fertilizer subsidy increases in the highest rainfall areas. 5. Increases in the percentage of female-headed households in a district are related to declines in agricultural production indicators, but these effects do not appear to worsen when the HIV/AIDS epidemic is severe. 6. Only in districts whose borders encompass both agro-ecological regions II and III do we consistently find weak evidence that HIV/AIDS reduces the contribution of productive assets to crop output and output per unit of land as would be expected under the NVF hypothesis.food security, food policy, Zambia, HIV/AIDS, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Q20,

Robust Bayesian detection of unmodelled bursts

A Bayesian treatment of the problem of detecting an unmodelled gravitational wave burst with a global network of gravitational wave observatories reveals that several previously proposed statistics have implicit biases that render them sub-optimal for realistic signal populations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, submitted to CQG Amaldi proceedings special issu

Marketing Policy Options for Consumer Price Mitigation Actions in the 2008/09 Maize Marketing Season in Zambia.

1) Maize prices are rising rapidly in 2008 and are fast approaching import parity levels. 2) Maize traders, millers and farmers all agree that Zambia will likely require imports by early 2009 in order to avoid domestic maize supply shortages. 3) Official food balance sheets appear to have underestimated the demand for maize this year. They may also have slightly overestimated the size of the 2007/08 maize crop. Hence the slow government recognition of the need for maize imports. 4) As of late September 2008, neither the Government of Zambia (GRZ) nor the private sector have arranged to import maize from South Africa. Trade sources suggest informal imports from Tanzania are helping to relieve the likely shortfall. 5) Zambian policy makers face a delicate balancing act: they need to maintain remunerative prices for farmers, in order to stimulate maize supply response during the coming 2008/09 production season, while at the same time moderating maize meal price increases to protect urban consumers and the many rural households who are net buyers of maize. 6) The time to respond to this balancing act challenge is now rather than later in the marketing season when costs of supplies and transport will increase. 7) Several policy actions offer potential win/win options for balancing these twin concerns:food security, food policy, Zambia, maize, marketing, Crop Production/Industries, Q20,

Perfectionism and training distress in junior athletes: A longitudinal investigation

Perfectionistic athletes may train harder and for longer than non-perfectionistic athletes, leaving them susceptible to elevated levels of training distress. So far, however, no study has investigated the relationships between perfectionism and training distress, a key indicator of overtraining syndrome. Furthermore, no study has determined psychological predictors of overtraining syndrome. Using a two-wave design, the present study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and training distress in 141 junior athletes (mean age 17.3 years, range 16-19 years) over 3 months of active training. Multiple regression analyses were employed to test cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between perfectionism and training distress. In all analyses, perfectionism emerged as a significant predictor, but strivings and concerns showed differential relationships. When the cross-sectional relationships were regarded, perfectionistic concerns positively predicted training distress (p .05). The findings suggest that sports scientists who wish to identify athletes at risk of overtraining syndrome may monitor athletes’ perfectionistic concerns as a possible risk factor

Mountains of Maize, Persistent Poverty

The past two years are a tribute to Zambian farmers; they have responded admirably to government efforts to promote maize production. But ironically, rural poverty remains stubbornly high despite the fact that the government has spent over 2% of the nation’s gross domestic product in supporting maize production and subsidizing inputs for farmers. Why is it that maize production has increased so impressively without making a serious dent in rural poverty? And what are the lessons for the new government?maize, poverty, Zambia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty,

Effect of Lunar Dust Simulant on Human Epithelial Cell Lines

The purpose of this project is to assess the potential toxicity of lunar dust to cause the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by human lung cells. Some of this dust is on the scale of 1-2 micrometers and could enter the lungs when astronauts track dust into the habitat and inhale it. This could be a serious problem as NASA plans on going back to the moon for an extended period of time. Literature shows that quartz, which has a known cytoxicity, can cause acute cases of silicosis within 6 months, and in most cases cause silicosis after 3 years. The activation of lunar dust through impacts creates surface based radicals which, upon contact with water create hydroxl radicals and peroxyl radicals which are very reactive and potentially might even be as cytotoxic as quartz. These radicals could then react with lung cells to produce pro-inflammatory mediators such as interleukin-6 and interleukin-8, and TNF-alpha

Regeneration Rates of Dendrobium Bobby Messina Plbs with Ascorbic Acid Using PVS2 Vitrification

Cryopreservation techniques using PVS2 vitrification was applied on PLBs of Dendrobium Bobby Messina, with survival monitored through observations of growth rate and the 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) analyses. The parameters optimized were PLBs size, preculture concentration, preculture duration, PVS2 incubation temperature and duration. The optimized parameters obtained were 3-4mm of PLBs precultured in 0.2M sucrose for 1 day, treated with a mixture of 2M glycerol and 0.4M sucrose supplemented with half strength liquid MS media at 25°C for 20 minutes and subsequently dehydrated with plant vitrification solution 2 (PVS2) at 0°C for 20 minutes prior storage in liquid nitrogen. Following rapid warming in a water bath at 40°C for 90 seconds, PLBs were washed with a half strength liquid MS media supplemented with 1.2M sucrose. Subsequently, PLBs were cultured on half strength semi-solid MS media supplemented with 2% (w/v) sucrose in the absence of growth regulator. The optimized vitrification method was successful in preserving this orchid as it produced growth recovery in cryopreserved PLBs up to 40%. Ascorbic acid was added in the media to evaluate the regeneration process of cryopreserved PLBs. However, growth recovery rate was only 10% at 0.6mM ascorbic acid. RAPD analysis using 6 primers indicated that cryopreserved and non-cryopreserved PLBs from vitrification method were genetically faithful to the mother plant. However, 3 primers showed polymorphism and 1 primers indicated partial polymorphism between the cryopreserved and non-cryopreserved PLBs in comparative to the mother plant

Node clone detection using a stable overlay network

Wireless sensor networks consist of number of sensor nodes widely distributed in particular region to communicate and sharing the environmental information and also these data’s are stored in central location for further data prediction. Such nodes are susceptible to cloning attack where the adversary captures a node, replicates with the same identity as that of the captured node and deploys the clone back into the network, causing severe harm to the network. Hence to thwart such attacks, a distributed detection protocol is used with initiator-observer-inspector roles assigned randomly for the nodes to witness the clone and thereby broadcast the evidence through a balanced overlay network. Use of such balanced network provides high security level and reduces the communication cost when compared to other overlay networks with a reasonably less storage consumption