Implications For Process Design Research Articles

In-vitro and In-vivo Characterization of Anti-Onychomycotic Transungual patches - A Systematic Review

Transungual drug delivery systems distribute therapeutic agents through the human nail, a unique way for delivering medications for nail disorders caused by fungal infections. The human nail is a hydrophilic barrier made up of keratinized cells that cover the nail bed and matrix underneath. For nail diseases, the systemic or oral mode of drug delivery reduces the drug's potency at the site of action. To achieve longer contact duration at the application site, it is necessary to increase drug absorption to the nail unit. The primary goal of this review paper is to provide an overview of characterization studies on physicochemical characteristics; in-vitro and in-vivo approaches for transungual drug delivery to treat nail fungal infections using medicated nail patches. However, in order to acquire a wide overview of the characterization elements of this rapidly increasing multidisciplinary field of study, a number of articles and technical studies dealing with nail patches were investigated. It also included the methodology employed in the characterization studies, as well as the implications for process design.

Deliberative Quality and Expertise: Uses of Evidence in Citizens’ Juries on Wind Farms

When addressing socio-scientific wicked problems, there is a need to negotiate across and through multiple modes of evidence, particularly technical expertise and local knowledge. Democratic innovations, such as deliberative citizens’ juries, have been proposed as a means of managing these tensions and as a way of creating representative, fairer decision making. But there are questions around participatory processes, the utilization of expertise, and deliberative quality. This paper considers forms of argumentation in the 2013-2014 “Citizens’ juries on wind farm development in Scotland.” Through a critical-interpretative research methodology drawing on rhetoric and argumentation, we demonstrate that arguments relating to the topoi of the environment and health functioned as de facto reasoning, whereas arguments using social scientific evidence around economics more prominently interacted with local knowledge. The findings offer implications for process design to improve and promote deliberative quality in mini-publics and other forms of participatory engagement on socio-scientific issues.

Side Products in the Water-Tolerant Synthesis of Poly(oxymethylene) Dimethyl Ethers: Formation Kinetics and Implications for Process Design

Poly(oxymethylene) dimethyl ethers (OME) offer excellent fuel properties such as soot-free combustion and are discussed as potential diesel fuels. Formation of side products during their production, a crucial factor for the feasibility of the process, has been of minor consideration so far. This work investigates the formation of side products during the OME synthesis via a recently proposed route from methanol and concentrated aqueous formaldehyde solution over the acidic ion exchange resin Amberlyst 46 as heterogeneous catalyst. Batch experiments under elevated temperatures and pressures and long residence time are carried out. The kinetics of the formation of the side products trioxane, methyl formate, and formic acid are quantified and modeled. Implications for the process design are examined in process simulation studies. Some side products accumulate within the process, and thus, their removal is indispensible. Introducing a purge stream results in 2.7% loss of product at a reactor temperature of 343.15 K, which emphasizes the need for further investigations regarding side product formation under process conditions, advanced removal methods, or improved catalysts.

Interfacial tension and equilibrium contact angle of corn oil on polished stainless steel in supercritical CO2 and N2

Lipids and bioactive components have been isolated using supercritical fluid fractionation (SFF) and packed columns with carbon dioxide from complex lipid mixtures. Lack of information about the wettability of the packing materials by different lipids was the motivation for this study. The interfacial tension (IFT) and equilibrium contact angle (CAeq) of corn oil in air, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) and SC-N2 on polished stainless steel (SS) metal sheet were measured at 20, 40, 60, 80 °C and 0.1, 16, 20, 24 MPa in triplicate. IFT and CAeq were determined using Young-Laplace equation and height/width method, respectively. CAeq values of less than 10° demonstrated the complete wetting of corn oil on polished SS surface under unsaturated SC-N2 and SC-CO2, and saturated SC-CO2, but pressure and temperature had a significant effect on IFT and CAeq under these environments. Bouncing of drops on a completely wettable surface was observed under CO2 environment. The findings contribute to better understanding of wetting behaviour of SS surfaces by lipids, with implications for process design.

Looking Back to Move Forward: Collaborative Planning to Revise the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests Land and Resource Management Plans

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service) manages 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. National Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (forest plans) form the basis for land and resource management of national forests in the United States. For more than a decade the Forest Service has been attempting to incorporate innovative, collaborative public involvement strategies into the process for revising forest plans. In 2012 and 2015 the Forest Service codified new regulations for developing, revising, and amending forest plans. Collaboration and public involvement are explicit goals of the new regulations. This paper briefly reviews the literature on collaborative planning on national forests and explores a successful collaborative planning process used by the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests, located in Vermont and New York respectively, to develop their 2006 forest plans. This paper shows how the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests developed parallel public and internal collaborative processes to build trust, relationships, and partnership, and discusses the implications for process design, capacity building, and facilitating agreements. By looking back at this successful case of collaborative forest planning, key lessons can provide ideas for developing collaborative processes for future planning efforts.

Formation of solids in ammonia-based CO2 capture processes — Identification of criticalities through thermodynamic analysis of the CO2–NH3–H2O system

The formation of solid intermediate compounds may lead to equipment clogging and plant shutdown in ammonia-based CO2 capture processes. In this work, the thermodynamics of the CO2–NH3–H2O system are analyzed with a focus on solid formation. The critical streams and unit operations that may be concerned with solid formation are identified based on an exemplary process simulation and on ranges of operating conditions typically reached according to the literature. Implications for process design and energy consumption are discussed and ternary phase diagrams mapping the composition regimes of solid formation and the typical operating conditions are presented.

Interactions Between Suspended Biomass and Biofilm in Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) Bioreactors: Process Design Implications for IFAS Systems

Interactions Between Suspended Biomass and Biofilm in Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) Bioreactors: Process Design Implications for IFAS Systems

Process Design Implications due to Differences in Anaerobic COD Stabilization Models

Process Design Implications due to Differences in Anaerobic COD Stabilization Models

Experimental assessment of an innovation knowledge system for decision support

PurposeToday, a second generation of computer‐based innovation tools employs knowledge systems technology to automate and support key intellectual activities required for effective process design. But a central question remains as to the effectiveness of innovation through such knowledge systems. The research described in this paper is focused on testing the effectiveness of knowledge‐based process‐innovation systems.Design/methodology/approachOne such system called “KOPeR‐lite” is employed as a platform for experimentation to assess the relative efficacy of process designs generated by people using this tool versus that of designs developed by people without it.FindingsPerforming in a decision‐support role, KOPeR‐lite helps people to perform comparatively well in certain respects, but human subjects without this tool outperform their KOPeR‐lite‐supported counterparts in others.Originality/valueThe results provide evidence to support some claims of innovation efficacy through knowledge systems, and they offer insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of knowledge systems in the innovation domain. This study further opens up new lines of research and highlights implications for process design and practice, including issues associated with leading adoption of knowledge system technology and extension of innovation‐support systems such as KOPeR‐lite.

Modeling of direct wafer bonding: Effect of wafer bow and etch patterns

Direct wafer bonding is an important technology for the manufacture of silicon-on-insulator substrates and microelectromechanical systems. As devices become more complex and require the bonding of multiple patterned wafers, there is a need to understand the mechanics of the bonding process. A general bonding criterion based on the competition between the strain energy accumulated in the wafers and the surface energy that is dissipated as the bond front advances is developed. The bonding criterion is used to examine the case of bonding bowed wafers. An analytical expression for the strain energy accumulation rate, which is the quantity that controls bonding, and the final curvature of a bonded stack is developed. It is demonstrated that the thickness of the wafers plays a large role and bonding success is independent of wafer diameter. The analytical results are verified through a finite element model and a general method for implementing the bonding criterion numerically is presented. The bonding criterion developed permits the effect of etched features to be assessed. Shallow etched patterns are shown to make bonding more difficult, while it is demonstrated that deep etched features can facilitate bonding. Model results and their process design implications are discussed in detail.

Investigation of how agitation during precipitation, and subsequent processing affects the particle size distribution and separation of α-lactalbumin enriched whey protein precipitates

In this work, α-lactalbumin (α-la) rich precipitate particles are formed and aged in a batch stirred-tank from a whey protein concentrate (WPC) dispersion. Precipitation of the proteins occurs during a period of acid-addition followed by an ageing period. This study investigates how stirred-tank impeller agitation and subsequent processing, by means of passing precipitate suspensions through a capillary tube or a partially open ball-valve, affect particle size and composition. Precipitate particles are largely unaffected when subjected to laminar capillary tube flow. However, as flow becomes transitional and thereafter turbulent, particle breakage increases, especially for precipitates formed and aged under mild agitation conditions. Precipitates passed through the ball-valve experience even greater particle size reduction as a sharp geometrical transition results in highly turbulent flow. Moreover, particles formed and aged under low shear conditions, though initially larger, are in fact weaker and fragment to a greater extent during turbulent processing through the ball-valve. This has process design implications for separation processes where particle size is important, as shear history can influence particle toughness. Substantial size reduction of particles can best be mitigated by identifying regions of high turbulence or sudden changes in flow geometry, and by redesigning these regions so as to reduce these effects.

Fishing products from the sea—rational downstream processing of marine bioproducts

In this paper, the implications for process design for various classes of marine bioproducts are reviewed. The potential of a thermodynamic framework to structure and quantify downstream processing alternatives for a wide range of marine bioproducts is demonstrated and the application of the framework is illustrated for two process options.

Waste stabilization ponds: effluent quality requirements and implications for process design

Waste stabilization ponds: effluent quality requirements and implications for process design

Waste stabilization ponds: Effluent quality requirements and implications for process design

Waste stabilization ponds: Effluent quality requirements and implications for process design