External kanban systems in automotive assembly

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000.Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage .Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-105).For the past two decades, rising customer expectations and increased global competition have forced automotive manufacturers around the world to significantly improve the efficiency of their production operations. One critical area of improvement has been in external logistics, logistics involving shipment of materials from external suppliers to final assembly plants. This thesis focuses on potential cost savings and procedural improvements from the implementation of kanban systems for external logistics. These are called external kanban systems. This analysis covers many facets of external kanban systems, including their benefits over traditional external logistics systems, their impact on transportation methods, their effect on inventories, and their and their anticipated effect on organizational learning in the final assembly plant. This project was pursued to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of external logistics at Ford Motor Company's Saarlouis Assembly Plant (Ford-Saarlouis). At Ford-Saarlouis, the implementation of these external kanban systems served as a critical portion of the replenishment process, as a training tool to familiarize plant employees with kanban systems, and as a template for future external logistics improvements.by Roger (Chip) Zaenglein, Jr.S.M

Effect of Imagined Support on Perceptions of Stress

Social support is known to help buffer the effects of stress (Uchino et al., 1996). However, in many situations social support is unavailable, and imagining social support may help to reduce the impact of stress. Although imagined physical touch has been shown to be an effective stress buffer, little research has compared it to other types of imagined support (Feldman et al., 2010). Additionally, women tend to seek emotional support, whereas men tend to seek tangible support, but it is unknown if imagining those types of support will reduce stress (Reevy & Maslach, 2001). To gain greater insight into these processes, the purpose of this project was to identify whether imagining supportive touch, emotional social support, or giving emotional support is best at moderating stress during an impromptu speech task that was conducted over zoom. Participants completed initial measures of perceived stress, personality, and social support. Next, they indicated their stress levels after the manipulated social support condition and the stress task. Initial results showed that changes in perceived stress did not significantly vary by support condition. However, the control condition had the highest increase in stress during the speech task. Future research is needed to determine whether imagining social support can be effective in helping people cope with stressful situations

FACT - The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope: Status and Results

The First G-APD Cherenkov telescope (FACT) is the first telescope using silicon photon detectors (G-APD aka. SiPM). It is built on the mount of the HEGRA CT3 telescope, still located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, and it is successfully in operation since Oct. 2011. The use of Silicon devices promises a higher photon detection efficiency, more robustness and higher precision than photo-multiplier tubes. The FACT collaboration is investigating with which precision these devices can be operated on the long-term. Currently, the telescope is successfully operated from remote and robotic operation is under development. During the past months of operation, the foreseen monitoring program of the brightest known TeV blazars has been carried out, and first physics results have been obtained including a strong flare of Mrk501. An instantaneous flare alert system is already in a testing phase. This presentation will give an overview of the project and summarize its goals, status and first results

Epidemiologic Study of Malassezia Yeasts in Acne Patients by Analysis of 26S rDNA PCR-RFLP

Background: Although acne is a common follicular inflammatory dermatosis, studies of the relationship between Malassezia yeasts and acne have rarely been conducted. Objective: We sought to identify Malassezia yeasts from acne patients and establish a relationship between specific types of species of Malassezia and acne. Methods: Sixty acne patients were enrolled. Each strain obtained was identified as one of eleven species by 26S rDNA PCR-RFLP. We then compared these data with those of age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. Results: Growth of Malassezia was evident in fewer patients with acne (50%) in comparison to controls (70.6%). M. restricta was dominant in patients with acne (23.9%), whereas M. globosa was most common (26.7%) in healthy controls. In the patients group, the rate was the highest (71.7%) in the twenties and, in terms of body site, the rate was the highest (60%) in the chest. In the control group, the rate was the highest (75.0%) in the thirties and in the forehead (85.0%). Conclusion: The detection rate of Malassezia yeasts was conspicuously low in the acne patients group. Statistically significant differences were observed between the patient and the control groups in the twenties and thirties, and in terms of body site, in th

A systematic literature review of the human skin microbiome as biomarker for dermatological drug development

Aims: To explore the potential of the skin microbiome as biomarker in six dermatological conditions: atopic dermatitis (AD), acne vulgaris (AV), psoriasis vulgaris (PV), hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), seborrhoeic dermatitis/pityriasis capitis (SD/PC) and ulcus cruris (UC). Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. Two investigators independently reviewed the included studies and ranked the suitability microbiome implementation for early phase clinical studies in an adapted GRADE method. Results: In total, 841 papers were identified and after screening of titles and abstracts for eligibility we identified 42 manuscripts that could be included in the review. Eleven studies were included for AD, five for AV, 10 for PV, two for HS, four for SD and 10 for UC. For AD and AV, multiple studies report the relationship between the skin microbiome, disease severity and clinical response to treatment. This is currently lacking for the remaining conditions. Conclusion: For two indications - AD and AV - there is preliminary evidence to support implementation of the skin microbiome as biomarkers in early phase clinical trials. For PV, UC, SD and HS there is insufficient evidence from the literature. More microbiome-directed prospective studies studying the effect of current treatments on the microbiome with special attention for patient meta-data, sampling methods and analysis methods are needed to draw more substantial conclusions

Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies: types II, III, and IV

The hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN) encompass a number of inherited disorders that are associated with sensory dysfunction (depressed reflexes, altered pain and temperature perception) and varying degrees of autonomic dysfunction (gastroesophageal reflux, postural hypotention, excessive sweating). Subsequent to the numerical classification of four distinct forms of HSAN that was proposed by Dyck and Ohta, additional entities continue to be described, so that identification and classification are ongoing. As a group, the HSAN are rare diseases that affect both sexes. HSAN III is almost exclusive to individuals of Eastern European Jewish extraction, with incidence of 1 per 3600 live births. Several hundred cases with HSAN IV have been reported. The worldwide prevalence of HSAN type II is very low. This review focuses on the description of three of the disorders, HSAN II through IV, that are characterized by autosomal recessive inheritance and onset at birth. These three forms of HSAN have been the most intensively studied, especially familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome or HSAN III), which is often used as a prototype for comparison to the other HSAN. Each HSAN disorder is likely caused by different genetic errors that affect specific aspects of small fiber neurodevelopment, which result in variable phenotypic expression. As genetic tests are routinely used for diagnostic confirmation of HSAN III only, other means of differentiating between the disorders is necessary. Diagnosis is based on the clinical features, the degree of both sensory and autonomic dysfunction, and biochemical evaluations, with pathologic examinations serving to further confirm differences. Treatments for all these disorders are supportive

Which acne treatment has the best influence on health-related quality of life? Literature review by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Task Force on Quality of Life and Patient Oriented Outcomes

According to results of a recent literature search performed by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Task Forces (TF) on Quality of Life and Patient Oriented Outcomes (QoL and PO) and Acne, Rosacea and Hidradenitis Suppurativa (ARHS), most of the publications where health‐related (HR) QoL of acne patients was studied were clinical trials. Members of the EADV TF on QoL and PO decided to detect which acne treatment has the best influence on HRQoL of acne patients. A new literature search was organized to find publications on acne treatment where the HRQoL of patients was assessed as an outcome measure. From 186 papers with HRQoL assessment, 37 papers were included for further analysis. Our results revealed that oral isotretinoin had the best influence on HRQoL of acne patients. Several other treatment methods also showed good effects on the HRQoL of acne patients. Oral isotretinoin and norethindrone acetate/ethinyl estradiol, topical clindamycin phosphate/benzoyl peroxide and adapalene/benzoyl peroxide showed significantly better effect on HRQoL than placebo. There is limited number of the high‐quality studies on acne treatment where HRQoL was assessed. Dermatology‐specific and acne‐specific instruments showed much better sensitivity to successful therapeutic intervention than generic HRQoL instruments. The most frequently used HRQoL instrument was the Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire.FSW - Self-regulation models for health behavior and psychopathology - ou