Alternative Sequences Research Articles

Simulation-Based Optimization Approaches for Dealing with Dual-Command Crane Scheduling Problem in Unit-Load Double-Deep AS/RS Considering Energy Consumption

Automated storage/retrieval systems (AS/RS) have been increasingly used to support operations in manufacturing firms, warehouses, and distribution centers. Usually, AS/RSs are expensive. To achieve a good return on investment (ROI), an AS/RS must operate optimally. This research focuses on solving the crane scheduling problem, which has a great and immediate impact on the performance of an AS/RS. To optimize the design and operations of an AS/RS, many past studies have applied the simulation approach. However, the simulation and optimization have been often loosely coupled, resulting in a rigorous and labor-intensive optimization procedure. Using population- and evolution-based metaheuristics to deal with the crane scheduling problem of an AS/RS is one of the research trends. However, the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) and its variants have not been used for this purpose. To address the said gaps, this research first proposes a framework for coupling the simulation and optimization closely, in which various heuristics/metaheuristics, including first-come first-serve (FCFS), RANDOM, WOA, genetic algorithms (GAs), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and especially an improved WOA (IWOA), together with dynamic programming (DP), have been used as alternative sequencing methods. Based on this framework, different simulation-based optimization approaches have been developed for solving the dual-command crane scheduling problem in a unit-load double-deep AS/RS. The experimental results show that IWOA+DP outperforms the others in terms of energy consumption.

TESTING FOR STRICT STATIONARITY VIA THE DISCRETE FOURIER TRANSFORM

This paper proposes a model-free test for the strict stationarity of a potentially vector-valued time series using the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) approach. We show that the DFT of a residual process based on the empirical characteristic function weakly converges to a zero spectrum in the frequency domain for a strictly stationary time series and a nonzero spectrum otherwise. The proposed test is powerful against various types of nonstationarity including deterministic trends and smooth or abrupt structural changes. It does not require smoothed nonparametric estimation and, thus, can detect the Pitman sequence of local alternatives at the parametric rate $T^{-1/2}$ , faster than all existing nonparametric tests. We also design a class of derivative tests based on the characteristic function to test the stationarity in various moments. Monte Carlo studies demonstrate that our test has reasonarble size and excellent power. Our empirical application of exchange rates strongly suggests that both nominal and real exchange rate returns are nonstationary, which the augmented Dickey–Fuller and Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin tests may overlook.

Exercise order in resistance training – a brief review of the acute effects on cardiovascular response in the post-exercise period

This study aims to review the main effects of the performance order of resistance exercises on cardiovascular response in strength training (ST) sessions. To do so, a search was carried out in PubMed, BIREME, and Google Scholar databases using as descriptors: 'order', 'resistance training order', 'resistance exercise order', 'blood pressure' 'hypotension', 'effect hypotensive', 'post-exercise hypotension' and 'cardiovascular responses'. After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, six studies were considered in this review. The results suggest that ST can be considered as a non-pharmacological therapeutic option against arterial hypertension. Although the alternate exercise sequence and the sequence that progresses from multi-joint exercises towards single-joint ones present a longer duration of the hypotensive effect in hypertensive individuals, literature needs more studies that investigate the influence of different exercise orders in the hypertensive audience for further conclusions on the subject.

AML-055 Outcomes Based on Sequential Use of Venetoclax Based Therapy and Targeted Therapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Treatment options for patients with AML have expanded with the approval of targeted therapies including FLT3 and IDH1/IDH2 inhibitors and venetoclax-based therapies. However, therapeutic efficacy based on alternate sequencing of these agents is not well described yet. In addition, little is known regarding molecular predictors of response to targeted therapy after venetoclax-based therapy and for the reverse sequence. The objective of this study was to describe the efficacy of targeted therapies following venetoclax-based therapy and contrast it with the efficacy of venetoclax post-targeted therapy in AML. In this multicenter, retrospective cohort study, we included 97 patients who received venetoclax-based therapy preceding (n=53) or following treatment with FLT3, IDH1 or IDH2 inhibitors (n=44) at 3 academic cancer centers in the United States. Response to therapy was determined using the 2017 European LeukemiaNet response criteria for AML The overall response rate (ORR) was defined as a composite of complete response (CR), CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi), partial remission (PR) and morphologic leukemia-free state (MLFS). Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the time of initiation of venetoclax, FLT3, IDH1, or IDH2 inhibitor therapies. Among patients treated with venetoclax after targeted agents, the ORR was 59.5% (CR: 19%) with a median OS of 9.2 months. Conversely, use of FLT3 (n=31), IDH1 (n=5) or IDH2 (n=17) inhibitors following venetoclax yielded an ORR of 17.7% and median OS of 4.2 months. Eight of 9 patients responding to targeted agents after venetoclax received gilteritinib. Univariate analysis demonstrated mutations in TP53 (hazard ratio [HR] for death: 44.99; 95% CI: 2.81 - 719.42; p<0.001) and KRAS (HR: 3.05; 95% CI: 1.05 - 8.86; p=0.035) to be associated with shorter OS in the targeted agent group, while FLT3-ITD mutations were associated with a shorter median OS (HR: 3.25; 95% CI: 1.55-6.79; p=0.002) in the venetoclax-treated cohort. Venetoclax can be an effective salvage therapy in patients previously treated with targeted therapy. However, while the FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib retained clinical efficacy in patients previously treated with venetoclax, IDH1/2 inhibitors had very limited efficacy suggesting that alternative therapeutic strategies should be considered for these patients.

Decision Support System for Determining Vaccination Priorities Using the AHP TOPSIS Method

Vaccination is the administration of vaccines to a living being to stimulate the formation of an immune system against a virus, while mass vaccination is the simultaneous administration of vaccines to a group in the form of organizations, companies, or the wider community to create herd immunity. However, with the limited number of vaccines available, it is not possible to carry out a thorough vaccination of a group with a very large number of members. It requires determining in advance who will be prioritized for the vaccine. The purpose of this study is to build a system that can automatically determine vaccination priorities to be more effective and efficient by implementing a decision support system using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The result of this study is the formation of a Web-based decision support system application that produces the output of alternative ranking sequences as objects that will be prioritized for vaccines based on calculations against predetermined criteria.

Integration of TE Induces Cancer Specific Alternative Splicing Events.

Alternative splicing of messenger RNA (mRNA) precursors contributes to genetic diversity by generating structurally and functionally distinct transcripts. In a disease state, alternative splicing promotes incidence and development of several cancer types through regulation of cancer-related biological processes. Transposable elements (TEs), having the genetic ability to jump to other regions of the genome, can bring about alternative splicing events in cancer. TEs can integrate into the genome, mostly in the intronic regions, and induce cancer-specific alternative splicing by adjusting various mechanisms, such as exonization, providing splicing donor/acceptor sites, alternative regulatory sequences or stop codons, and driving exon disruption or epigenetic regulation. Moreover, TEs can produce microRNAs (miRNAs) that control the proportion of transcripts by repressing translation or stimulating the degradation of transcripts at the post-transcriptional level. Notably, TE insertion creates a cancer-friendly environment by controlling the overall process of gene expression before and after transcription in cancer cells. This review emphasizes the correlative interaction between alternative splicing by TE integration and cancer-associated biological processes, suggesting a macroscopic mechanism controlling alternative splicing by TE insertion in cancer.

Some parametric tests based on sample spacings

Assume that we have a random sample from an absolutely continuous distribution (univariate, or multivariate) with a known functional form and some unknown parameters. In this paper, we have studied several parametric tests based on statistics that are symmetric functions of m-step disjoint sample spacings. Asymptotic properties of these tests have been investigated under the simple null hypothesis and under a sequence of local alternatives converging to the null hypothesis. The asymptotic properties of the proposed tests have also been studied under the composite null hypothesis. We observed that these tests have similar asymptotic properties as the likelihood ratio test. Finite sample performances of the proposed tests are assessed numerically. A data analysis based on real data is also reported. The proposed tests provide alternative to similar tests based on simple spacings (i.e. $$m=1$$ ), that were proposed earlier in the literature. These tests also provide an alternative to likelihood ratio tests in situations where likelihood function may be unbounded, and hence, likelihood ratio tests do not exist.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Memories of Carbohydrate Fragments in Collision-Induced Dissociation.

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry is commonly used for carbohydrate structural determinations. In the CID tandem mass spectrometry approach, carbohydrates are dissociated into fragments, and this is followed by the structural identification of fragments through subsequent CID. The success of the structural analysis depends on the structural correlation of fragments before and after dissociation, that is, structural memory of fragments. Fragments that completely lose the memory of their original structures cannot be used for structural analysis. By contrast, fragments with extremely strong correlations between the structures before and after fragmentation retain the information on their original structures as well as have memories of their precursors' entire structures. The CID spectra of these fragments depend on their own structures and on the remaining parts of the precursor structures, making structural analysis impractical. For effective structural analysis, the fragments produced from a precursor must have good structural memory, meaning that the structures of these fragments retain their original structure, and they must not be strongly affected by the remaining parts of the precursors. In this study, we found that most of the carbohydrate fragments produced by low-energy CID have good memory in terms of linkage position and anomericity. Fragments with ugly memory, where fragment structures change with the remaining parts of the precursors, can be attributed to C ion formation in a linear form. Fragments with ugly memory can be changed to have good memory by preventing linear C ion generation by using an alternative CID sequence, or the fragments of ugly memory can become useful in structural analysis when the contribution of linear C ions in fragmentation patterns is understood.

Strategic Financial Management Part II: Seasoned Equity Offerings, Corporate Payout Policy, and the Case of Regulated Utilities

As discussed in the predecessor to this article that came out roughly two years ago, each of today's three dominant academic theories of capital structure has trouble explaining the financing behavior of public companies making seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) of their own stock. In conflict with the tradeoff theory, the authors' analysis of some 7,000 SEOs by U.S. industrial companies during the period 1970‐2017 finds that the vast majority, or roughly 80%, of them had the effect of moving the companies away from, rather than toward, their target leverage ratios. Inconsistent with the pecking order theory, SEO issuers have tended to be financially healthy companies with considerable unused debt capacity. And at odds with the market‐timing theory, SEOs appear to be driven more by the capital requirements associated with the large investment projects that tend to follow them than by favorable market conditions and overvalued stock prices.Nevertheless, consistent with the tradeoff theory, the authors also find that SEO issuers tend to follow their stock offerings with one or more debt offerings that have the effect of raising their leverage back toward their targets. And whereas all of the three theories are “single‐period models” suggesting some degree of shortsightedness and “opportunism” by financial managers, the authors' findings present a picture of long‐run‐value‐maximizing strategic management of corporate capital structures—one that takes account of the company's current leverage in relation to its longer‐run target, investment opportunities, and long‐term capital requirements, and the costs and benefits associated with alternative sequences of financing transactions.Building on their earlier article, the authors extend their analysis to examine the payout and well as leverage and investment decisions of SEO issuers—and expand their sample of some 7,000 industrial issuers to include another 1,500 SEOs by regulated utilities. In the wake of the SEOs, both dividends and repurchases tend to increase; but the payout rates for utilities were almost eight times higher than for industrials, and overwhelmingly take the form of dividends rather than buybacks.In the final sections of the article, the authors first attempt to explain the negative stock price reactions to the announcements of SEOs, and then speculate about the causes of the even more negative, and puzzling, long‐run stock returns to industrial, but not utility, SEO issuers.

Structural and mechanistic basis for recognition of alternative tRNA precursor substrates by bacterial ribonuclease P

Binding of precursor tRNAs (ptRNAs) by bacterial ribonuclease P (RNase P) involves an encounter complex (ES) that isomerizes to a catalytic conformation (ES*). However, the structures of intermediates and the conformational changes that occur during binding are poorly understood. Here, we show that pairing between the 5′ leader and 3′RCCA extending the acceptor stem of ptRNA inhibits ES* formation. Cryo-electron microscopy single particle analysis reveals a dynamic enzyme that becomes ordered upon formation of ES* in which extended acceptor stem pairing is unwound. Comparisons of structures with alternative ptRNAs reveals that once unwinding is completed RNase P primarily uses stacking interactions and shape complementarity to accommodate alternative sequences at its cleavage site. Our study reveals active site interactions and conformational changes that drive molecular recognition by RNase P and lays the foundation for understanding how binding interactions are linked to helix unwinding and catalysis.

The mIAA7 degron improves auxin-mediated degradation in Caenorhabditiselegans.

Auxin-inducible degradation is a powerful tool for the targeted degradation of proteins with spatiotemporal control. One limitation of the auxin-inducible degradation system is that not all proteins are degraded efficiently. Here, we demonstrate that an alternative degron sequence, termed mIAA7, improves the efficiency of degradation in Caenorhabditiselegans, as previously reported in human cells. We tested the depletion of a series of proteins with various subcellular localizations in different tissue types and found that the use of the mIAA7 degron resulted in faster depletion kinetics for 5 out of 6 proteins tested. The exception was the nuclear protein HIS-72, which was depleted with similar efficiency as with the conventional AID* degron sequence. The mIAA7 degron also increased the leaky degradation for 2 of the tested proteins. To overcome this problem, we combined the mIAA7 degron with the C. elegans AID2 system, which resulted in complete protein depletion without detectable leaky degradation. Finally, we show that the degradation of ERM-1, a highly stable protein that is challenging to deplete, could be improved further by using multiple mIAA7 degrons. Taken together, the mIAA7 degron further increases the power and applicability of the auxin-inducible degradation system. To facilitate the generation of mIAA7-tagged proteins using CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering, we generated a toolkit of plasmids for the generation of dsDNA repair templates by PCR.

Comparison of coal-to-ethanol product separation strategies

Given China's energy structure and the limitations of bioethanol, the coal-to-ethanol (CTE) pathway, from dimethyl ether to ethanol (DMTE) via carbonylation and hydrogenation, is highly anticipated. Ethanol, methanol, methyl acetate, and ethyl acetate are the crude hydrogenation products that need to be purified, requiring at least an eight-column scheme. However, the optimization of the existing separation strategy with ethanol as the priority is unfavorable in the following aspects: it is usually plagued by tedious rules of thumb and, due to the large scale of the process, is prone to falling into local minima; pre-designed heat integration inevitably neglects the interaction of parameter optimization and heat integration; reports on alternative feasible distillation sequences are scarce in publications, let alone comparisons amongst these counterparts. Therefore, four viable separation strategies are proposed in this paper to compare with this faulted separation strategy. A self-adapting dynamic differential evolution (SADDE) algorithm, which is accelerated by parallel computation, is used to search for optimal column parameters of all the configuration options and facilitates simultaneous heat integration structure synthesis. Two strategies stand out after 3000 generations of evolution. Splitting methanol outperforms in specific steam consumption (SSC) of ethanol (1.8177), much better than the benchmark (2.4840), and splitting ethyl acetate with ethyl acetate priority has the most competitive total annual cost (TAC), 23.98% lower than the benchmark.In summary, this paper provides a reference for optimizing complex distillation systems like CTE product separation, or more specifically, the DMTE route, before the appearance of the most suitable separation strategy in demand. Furthermore, it will also serve for the CTE superstructure to further explore the optimal distillation sequence.

Clinical validation of Wave-CAIPI susceptibility-weighted imaging for routine brain MRI at 1.5 T.

Wave-CAIPI (Controlled Aliasing in Parallel Imaging) enables dramatic reduction in acquisition time of 3D MRI sequences such as 3D susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) but has not been clinically evaluated at 1.5 T. We sought to compare highly accelerated Wave-CAIPI SWI (Wave-SWI) with two alternative standard sequences, conventional three-dimensional SWI and two-dimensional T2*-weighted Gradient-Echo (T2*w-GRE), in patients undergoing routine brain MRI at 1.5 T. In this study, 172 patients undergoing 1.5 T brain MRI were scanned with a more commonly used susceptibility sequence (standard SWI or T2*w-GRE) and a highly accelerated Wave-SWI sequence. Two radiologists blinded to the acquisition technique scored each sequence for visualization of pathology, motion and signal dropout artifacts, image noise, visualization of normal anatomy (vessels and basal ganglia mineralization), and overall diagnostic quality. Superiority testing was performed to compare Wave-SWI to T2*w-GRE, and non-inferiority testing with 15% margin was performed to compare Wave-SWI to standard SWI. Wave-SWI performed superior in terms of visualization of pathology, signal dropout artifacts, visualization of normal anatomy, and overall image quality when compared to T2*w-GRE (all p < 0.001). Wave-SWI was non-inferior to standard SWI for visualization of normal anatomy and pathology, signal dropout artifacts, and overall image quality (all p < 0.001). Wave-SWI was superior to standard SWI for motion artifact (p < 0.001), while both conventional susceptibility sequences were superior to Wave-SWI for image noise (p < 0.001). Wave-SWI can be performed in a 1.5 T clinical setting with robust performance and preservation of diagnostic quality. • Wave-SWI accelerated the acquisition of 3D high-resolution susceptibility images in 70% of the acquisition time of the conventional T2*GRE. • Wave-SWI performed superior to T2*w-GRE for visualization of pathology, signal dropout artifacts, and overall diagnostic image quality. • Wave-SWI was noninferior to standard SWI for visualization of normal anatomy and pathology, signal dropout artifacts, and overall diagnostic image quality.

The concept of a maximal network plan to enhance automated decision making in production steering

Digitalization is a major driver of competitiveness in industry. Especially, automated scheduling systems are broadly available to deal with production steering in complex production systems. Their underlying concept is the network plan to describe the logical relation between different production steps for the completion of a production process. The network plan, however, is limited to contain only one standard process and allows therefore basically only the automated variation of execution time of each step within the given logical sequence. This is sufficient as long as the production process and the boundary conditions, such as resource availability, are stable to a certain degree. This work introduces an enhancement of the concept of the network plan, the Maximal Network Plan, that is designed to automatically cope with disruptions. It stores additional alternative sequences, weighted according to their priority in comparison to the standard process. Therefore, a numerical decision making is possible in terms of also varying the order of production tasks to achieve a maximum performance for the overall process. Instead of waiting for a disruption in the standard process to be solved, an alternative sequence will be proposed to increase overall progress by circumventing the blocked step. This concept has been developed and tested for complex assembly tasks, such as the production of air- and spacecraft structures and systems. In conjunction with the use of mobile computing devices instead of paper-based work order documents it allows a very fast and dynamic production steering, also in the case of substantial disruptions in the standard process.

Read-out Segmented Echo Planar Imaging with Two-Dimensional Navigator Correction (RESOLVE): An Alternative Sequence to Improve Image Quality on Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Prostate.

We aimed to investigate if the use of read-out segmented echoplanar imaging with additional two-dimensional navigator correction (Readout Segmentation of Long Variable Echo, RESOLVE) for acquiring prostate diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) improves image quality, compared to single-shot echoplanar imaging (ss-EPI). This single-center prospective study cohort included 162 males with suspected prostate cancer, who underwent 3 Tesla multiparametric MRI (3T-mpMRI). Two abdominal radiologists, blinded to the clinical information, separately reviewed each 3T-mpMRI study to rank geometrical distortion, degree of rectal distention, lesion conspicuity, and anatomic details delineation first on ss-EPI-DWI and later on RESOLVE-DWI using 5-point scales (1 = excellent, 5 = poor). The average of the ranking scores given by two readers was generated and used as the final score. There was good-to-excellent interreader agreement for scoring image quality parameters on both ss-EPI and RESOLVE. Geometrical distortion scores > 3 was seen in 12.3% (20/162) of ss-EPI images, with all having geometrical distortion score <3 on RESOLVE (p < .001). The mean image distortion score was significantly less on RESOLVE than ss-EPI (1.16 vs 1.61, p < .01 regardless of rectal gas, p< .05 when stratified by the degree of rectal distention ). RESOLVE was superior to ss-EPI for lesion conspicuity (mean 1.35 vs 1.53, p< .002) and anatomic delineation (2.60 vs 2.68, p< .001) of prostate on DWI. Compared to conventional ss-EPI, the use of RESOLVE for acquisition of prostate DWI resulted in significantly enhanced image quality and reduced geometrical distortion. RESOLVE could be an alternative or replacement of ss-EPI for acquiring prostate DWI with significantly less geometrical distortion and significantly improved lesion conspicuity and anatomic delineation.

Rabbit IgA Hinges That Resist IgA1 Protease Action Provide Options for Improved IgA-Based Therapeutic Agents.

Immunoglobulin A provides a major line of defence against pathogens and plays a key role in the maintenance of the commensal microbiota in the intestinal tract. Having been shown to be more effective at tumour cell killing than IgG and strongly active against pathogens present in the mucosae, IgA antibodies have been attracting significant attention in recent years for use as therapeutic antibodies. To improve their therapeutic potential, bioengineered IgA forms with increased serum half-life and neutralizing abilities have been developed but the IgA hinge, which impacts susceptibility to bacterial proteases and ability to bridge between target and effector cells, has not yet been explored. The European rabbit has 15 IgA subclasses with exclusive hinge region motifs and varying lengths, constituting a unique model to evaluate the functional capabilities offered by incorporation of longer IgA hinges into immunoglobulins. Hinge regions from rabbit IgAs, featuring different lengths and sequences, were inserted into human IgA1 heavy chain to substitute the IgA1 hinge. These hinges did not appear to affect antigen binding nor the ability of the engineered chimeric IgA1 to bind and trigger FcαRI, as detected by IgA-mediated cell agglutination and release of superoxide by neutrophils. All rabbit hinge-human IgA1 hybrids were resistant to Clostridrum ramosum IgA protease enzyme digestion, as predicted by the lack of the cleavage site in the rabbit hinges. Some IgA1s featuring long rabbit hinges were cleaved by Neisseria meningitidis IgA1 protease cleavage type 1 or 2 enzymes, despite the lack of the predicted cleavage sites. More interestingly, the hybrid featuring the rabbit IgA15 hinge was not affected by any of the IgA proteases. The IgA15 hinge is longer than that found in human IgA1 and is composed by a unique motif with a stretch of nine consecutive Ser residues. These characteristics allow the preservation of a long hinge, with associated ability to bridge distantly spaced antigens and provide higher avidity binding, while remaining resistant to IgA protease degradation. The data suggest that the rabbit Cα15 hinge represents an interesting alternative hinge sequence for therapeutic human IgA antibodies that remains resistant to proteolytic cleavage.

The Robustness Requirement on Alternative Possibilities

In a series of recent papers, Justin Capes and Philip Swenson (together) and Michael Robinson (independently) have proposed new versions of the flickers of freedom reply to Frankfurt-style cases (FSCs). Both proposals claim, first, that what agents in FSCs are morally responsible for is performing a certain action on their own, and, second, that agents in FSCs retain robust alternative possibilities—alternatives in which the agent freely omits to perform the pertinent action on their own. In this paper, I argue that, by attending to the details of the omissions in question, it becomes clear that agents in FSCs lack robust alternatives of this sort, for in the alternative sequences such agents do not freely omit. Since the problem for these recent proposals arises from their attempt to show that agents in FSCs retain robust alternatives, I go on to consider whether the flicker theorist might be better off either revising or rejecting the robustness requirement on alternative possibilities. I argue that neither alternative is available to the flicker theorist, and yet I also point out that the reasons why these alternatives are unavailable serve to highlight what exactly is at issue in the debate between leeway and sourcehood theorists, namely the grounds of our freedom.

Structural phase transition and superconductivity of ytterbium under high pressure

Recent advances in theory and experiment declare the rare-earth (RE) hydrogen-rich compound $\mathrm{La}{\mathrm{H}}_{10}$ is a near room-temperature superconductor under high pressure. To understand the underlying mechanism of superconductivity and explore the crucial role of lanthanides in forming the RE-based polyhydrides, we here perform a theoretical study on the structural phase transition and superconductivity of late lanthanide ytterbium (Yb) metal under high pressure up to 240 GPa. Two alternative structures, $R\overline{3}m$ and $I4/mmm$ phases, of Yb are presented. Most interestingly, the $P{6}_{3}/mmc$ phase of Yb is serendipitously discovered to be a superior superconductor with a critical temperature value of 19.5 K at 160 GPa, which is higher than other known RE elemental superconductors. The present findings establish an alternative structural phase transition sequence of Yb, which offers insights for further understanding the vital physics mechanisms of a lanthanide-based superconductor.

TIPOLOGI SINTAKSIS DALAM BAHASA BATAK MANDAILING

This study discusses the word order of the Mandailing language in a syntactic typology review. In collecting data, the method of listening and literature review was used. In reviewing the data needed in this paper, the agih method is used. The results of data analysis in this paper are presented with informal methods and formal methods. In the Mandailing Batak language, there are two types of word order. Verbal word order and nominal word order. The dominant order pattern is found in sentences that begin with a verb and are followed by a noun that functions as a subject. While the alternative order pattern is found in the nouns that fill the function of the subject and object which are put forward. The word order in the Mandailing Batak language has a V-S-O dominant pattern, and the alternative sequence pattern is S-V-O, OVS, V-O-S. In the SVO sequence in the Mandailing language, the elements that fill the S function can be filled by three categories, namely nouns, personal pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns. The word order of type VOS is a variant of the word order of type SVO. This word order has two kinds of models. The first model is an element of the subject function filler category consisting of definite nouns, the second model is an element of the subject function filler category consisting of non-definite nouns. Keyywords: linguistic, typology, syntax, Mandailing’s language.

Influence of manufacturing processes on β-phase precipitates and corrosion properties of Zr-1Nb alloys

Zr-1Nb alloys manufactured by the alternate sequences between hot working and β-quenching were investigated in addition to an industry-fabricated Zr-1Nb material. Second phase particles, particularly composition and crystallography structure of β-phase precipitates, were characterized by electron microscopy. Pure steam corrosion test was performed to evaluate corrosion properties of the three Zr-1Nb alloys. Cross-sectional morphology and structure of the oxide films formed on the corroded alloys were analysed by scanning electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy. The results demonstrate strong effect of processing sequence on the β precipitates and corrosion properties. With the processing sequence of hot working and β-quenching, fine β-Nb particles are formed fully via precipitation from the Nb-supersaturated α-Zr grains, benefiting corrosion resistance. With the reverse sequence, the β phase and corrosion behavior are found dependent on hot working temperature in the phase regime of (α-Zr + β-Zr). Correlation between manufacturing processes and corrosion behavior is discussed in the light of second phase particles and oxides characterization.