Sequence Of Processing Steps Research Articles

Automated Transportation of Biological Cells for Multiple Processing Steps in Cell Surgery

Most studies on automated cell transportation are single-task oriented. Results from these investigations hardly meet the increasing demand for emerging cell surgery operations that usually require a series of manipulation tasks with multiple processing steps. In this paper, automated cell transportation to accomplish a multistep process in cell surgery was investigated. A novel control system that can manipulate grouped cells to move into different task regions sequentially and continuously without interruption was developed based on a robot-aided optical tweezers manipulation system. A potential field-based controller was designed to achieve multistep processing control, where the new concepts of contractive coalition and switching region were incorporated into tweezers–cell coalition. The success of this controller lies in simultaneously controlling the positions of the optical tweezers, trapping multiple cells effectively, and avoiding collisions in a unified manner. Simulations and experiments of transferring a group of cells to a number of task regions were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Note to Practitioners —This paper was motivated by the challenging problem of automated transportation of grouped cells to several predefined task regions in emerging cell surgery with multiple processing steps. Existing automated cell transportation studies are mainly single-task oriented, thereby making them inapplicable to cell surgery operations, because a series of sequential processing steps are usually involved in these operations. This paper provides a novel control strategy based on a robot-aided optical tweezers manipulation system to efficiently transport cells into different task regions sequentially without interruption. Unlike the previous cell transportation studies where the goal positions of single cells must be specified early, here only the desired task regions are identified in the controller implementation, making the proposed strategy a better fit for actual cell surgery practice.

The Model of Value-Based Curriculum for Medicine and Surgery Education in Iran

Background: The need for internalization of values for professional development in medicine and surgery, and sense of duty linked to the practice of the medical professionalism were recognized in Iran. With regard to the shortcomings currently existed in the curriculum of the medical education, in 2013, the design of an operational model for the curriculum based on values was placed on the agenda through the PhD thesis. Objectives: The aim of this study is to develop the operational model of the value-based curriculum for medicine and surgery education with respect to indigenous values in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Methods: Our value-based curriculum model was developed through qualitative ontology foundations of Hugh McKenna concept analysis. Finally we developed our operational model by comparing our domestic extracted attributes with what is existed and experienced in other countries through systematized searching, determined the process of value curriculum, the sequence of process steps, menu and taxonomy for operationalization of each step, and recommended practices for each step for integration of values in medicine and surgery education in Iran. Results: Ten steps of curriculum model for integration of values in medicine and surgery education include: general need assessment of values, designing hierarchy system of values, need assessment of targeted learners’ values, developing value programme statement, determination of value outcomes and objectives, production of value rich content, value based teaching and learning methods, value based settings, value themes management, determination of values evaluation and assessment methods. Conclusions: This Indigenous operational model of value based curriculum proposes the process with exact sequence for the concrete implementation of values education in medicine and surgery, accordance with our country offers. The operational value based curriculum model was prepared in order to develop a practical guideline for value based experiments in medicine and surgery, helps to move from the information level and expressing factual knowledge, to the conceptual and judgment level, understanding the connections and interactions between facts and analysis them.

Hierarchical regression models for dendroclimatic standardization and climate reconstruction

Tree-ring based paleoclimate reconstructions entail several sequential estimation or processing steps. Consequently, it can be difficult to isolate climatic from non-climatic variability in the raw ring width measurements, estimate the uncertainty associated with a reconstruction, and directly infer how specific techniques used to sequentially fit growth curves or to reconstruct climate influence the final estimates. This paper explores the use of hierarchical regression models to address these problems. The proposed models simultaneously model the entire reconstruction process in a way that is consistent with the existing step-by-step estimation framework, but allow for uncertainty estimation and propagation across steps, which can help determine how best to improve a candidate model. The utility of hierarchical models is tested for an example, the reconstruction of summertime temperatures in northern Sweden in a cross-validated framework relative to 1) a sequential process of growth curve fitting followed by chronology development, 3) an iterative, “signal-free” approach, and 2) a signal-free regional curve standardization (RCS-SF). Further, an exploration of different structures within the unifying hierarchical framework is provided to illustrate how one could easily test a variety of choices of model design. We focus on a subset of choices relevant to recent dendroclimatic studies using hierarchical methods and related to 1) data transformation, 2) the benefits of biological detrending and climate reconstruction in a single step 3) partial pooling of the age model across trees, 4) the homogeneity of variance across tree-ring residuals, 5) the structural form of the age model, and 6) the inclusion of autoregressive processes for the tree-ring residuals. The work described here represents part of a series of ongoing explorations of potential advances over current dendroclimatic reconstruction approaches and commonly implemented ways in which they have and are specifically implemented. The results show that hierarchical modeling appears to offer improved climate reconstructions over the standardization techniques explored in this exercise, substantially so for the non-RCS sequential and iterative methods.

The Fusion of HRV and EMG Signals for Automatic Gender Recognition during Stepping Exercise

In this paper, a new gender recognition framework based on fusion of features extracted from healthy people electromyogram (EMG) and heart rate variability (HRV) during stepping activity using a stepper machine is proposed. An approach is investigated for the fusion of EMG and HRV which is feature fusion. The feature fusion is carried out by concatenating the feature vector extracted from the EMG and HRV signals. A proposed framework consists of a sequence of processing steps which are preprocessing, feature extraction, feature selection and lastly the fusion. The results shown that the fusion approach had improved the performance of gender recognition compared to solely on EMG or HRV based gender identifier.

Influence of Oxide Interlayer by TiN Metal Gate in High-k First CMOS Devices

Due to its good film stability and electric property of high effective work function, TiN film has been widely used as high-k gate dielectric capping layer or work function metal in advanced High-k/metal gate CMOS devices. In this work, different TiN films were prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma vapor deposition (PVD) respectively, their thermal stability and interaction with gate stack films were investigated. Furthermore, their impacts on interface properties of interfacial oxide/high-k and interfacial oxide/silicon were also studied. The results show that both ALD and PVD TiN films have good thermal stability, while they tend to gather oxygen from atmosphere during sequential process steps. After high temperature annealing, the gathered oxygen in TiN film is easy to diffuse upward into TiN/poly-Si interface to form a thin TiSixOy layer above TiN film, and diffuse downward through high-k dielectric film resulting in interfacial oxide layer (IL) regrowth.

An integrated cost model for metal cutting operations based on engagement time and a cost breakdown approach

In all manufacturing processes, it is important to determine the costs and their distribution between different sequential processing steps. A cost equation based directly on the losses during manufacturing, such as rejection rate, stops and waste of workpiece materials, also provides a valuable aid in giving priority to various development activities and investments. The present work concerns how a cost model presented earlier for calculating part costs can be developed to describe part costs as a function of the cutting data and tool life time T selected. This enables a tool life model to be a directly integrated into the cost model by use of tool engagement time. The model presented also takes into account the part costs for scrap incurred in connection with forced tool changes. Examples are also given of how the model developed can be used in the economic evaluation of various cutting tools and workpiece materials. [Received 20 April 2017; Accepted 22 April 2017]

Scientific Workflows

Modern scientific collaborations have opened up the opportunity to solve complex problems that require both multidisciplinary expertise and large-scale computational experiments. These experiments typically consist of a sequence of processing steps that need to be executed on selected computing platforms. Execution poses a challenge, however, due to (1) the complexity and diversity of applications , (2) the diversity of analysis goals , (3) the heterogeneity of computing platforms , and (4) the volume and distribution of data . A common strategy to make these in silico experiments more manageable is to model them as workflows and to use a workflow management system to organize their execution. This article looks at the overall challenge posed by a new order of scientific experiments and the systems they need to be run on, and examines how this challenge can be addressed by workflows and workflow management systems. It proposes a taxonomy of workflow management system (WMS) characteristics, including aspects previously overlooked. This frames a review of prevalent WMSs used by the scientific community, elucidates their evolution to handle the challenges arising with the emergence of the “fourth paradigm,” and identifies research needed to maintain progress in this area.

Correlation coefficient based supervised locally linear embedding for pulmonary nodule recognition

Background and objectiveDimensionality reduction techniques are developed to suppress the negative effects of high dimensional feature space of lung CT images on classification performance in computer aided detection (CAD) systems for pulmonary nodule detection. MethodsAn improved supervised locally linear embedding (SLLE) algorithm is proposed based on the concept of correlation coefficient. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is introduced to adjust the distance metric in the SLLE algorithm to ensure that more suitable neighborhood points could be identified, and thus to enhance the discriminating power of embedded data. The proposed Spearman's rank correlation coefficient based SLLE (SC2SLLE) is implemented and validated in our pilot CAD system using a clinical dataset collected from the publicly available lung image database consortium and image database resource initiative (LICD-IDRI). Particularly, a representative CAD system for solitary pulmonary nodule detection is designed and implemented. After a sequential medical image processing steps, 64 nodules and 140 non-nodules are extracted, and 34 representative features are calculated. The SC2SLLE, as well as SLLE and LLE algorithm, are applied to reduce the dimensionality. Several quantitative measurements are also used to evaluate and compare the performances. ResultsUsing a 5-fold cross-validation methodology, the proposed algorithm achieves 87.65% accuracy, 79.23% sensitivity, 91.43% specificity, and 8.57% false positive rate, on average. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the original locally linear embedding and SLLE coupled with the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. ConclusionsBased on the preliminary results from a limited number of nodules in our dataset, this study demonstrates the great potential to improve the performance of a CAD system for nodule detection using the proposed SC2SLLE.

Development of a new staking process for an automotive part

This paper systematically investigates the infrared staking (IS) process via process modeling, numerical simulations, and experimental validation. The objective of this work is to optimize process parameters for improving the joint strength of polypropylene car door trim. A holistic approach based upon numerical simulation was proposed considering the manufacturing history of sequential processing steps, including heating, forming, and cooling. The process parameters evaluated were heating time, cooling time, and airflow rate, while the structural testing force was considered as the objective. Firstly, numerical simulations were applied in conjunction with the Box-Behnken design (BBD) experimental method and a response surface methodology (RSM) to create the quadratic mathematical model of the testing force. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was then conducted to investigate the adequacy of the model and to identify significant factors. Finally, a multi-island genetic algorithm (MIGA) was applied to determine optimal values of process parameters and the resulting response. The testing force was maximized at the optimal parameters of 14 s, 14 s, and 60 ft3/h for heating time, cooling time, and airflow rate, respectively. Correlation between simulated and experimental results was conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. This work is expected to contribute toward improving the manufacturing efficiency of the infrared staking process.

Foliage and Grass as Fuel Pellets–Small Scale Combustion of Washed and Mechanically Leached Biomass

The high contents of disadvantageous elements contained in non-woody biomass are known to cause problems during small and large scale combustion, typically resulting in a higher risk of slagging, corrosion, and increased emissions. Mechanically leaching the respective elements from the biomass through a sequence of process steps has proven to be a promising solution.The florafuel process used here is comprised of size reduction followed by washing and subsequent mechanical dewatering of the biomass. Densification of the upgraded biomass into standardized pellets (Ø 6mm) enables an application in existing small-scale boilers. The presented combustion trials investigated the performance of pellets made from leached grass, foliage and a mixture of both in two small-scale boilers (<100 kWth) with slightly different technology (moving grate versus water-cooled burner tube) during a 4-h measurement period. Emissions were in accordance with German emissions standards except for NOx (threshold is 0.50 g/m3) in the case of pure grass pellets (0.51 g/m3) and particulate matter (PM) in all but one case (foliage, 13–16 mg/m3). An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) unit installed with one of the boilers successfully reduced PM emission of both the grass and mixture fuel below the threshold of 20 mg/m3 (all emission values refer to 13 vol.% O2, at standard temperature and pressure (STP)). Bottom ash composition and grate temperature profiles were analyzed and discussed for one of the boilers.

Signal processing in urodynamics: towards high definition urethral pressure profilometry.

BackgroundUrethral pressure profilometry (UPP) is used in the diagnosis of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) which is a significant medical, social, and economic problem. Low spatial pressure resolution, common occurrence of artifacts, and uncertainties in data location limit the diagnostic value of UPP. To overcome these limitations, high definition urethral pressure profilometry (HD-UPP) combining enhanced UPP hardware and signal processing algorithms has been developed. In this work, we present the different signal processing steps in HD-UPP and show experimental results from female minipigs.MethodsWe use a special microtip catheter with high angular pressure resolution and an integrated inclination sensor. Signals from the catheter are filtered and time-correlated artifacts removed. A signal reconstruction algorithm processes pressure data into a detailed pressure image on the urethra’s inside. Finally, the pressure distribution on the urethra’s outside is calculated through deconvolution. A mathematical model of the urethra is contained in a point-spread-function (PSF) which is identified depending on geometric and material properties of the urethra. We additionally investigate the PSF’s frequency response to determine the relevant frequency band for pressure information on the urinary sphincter.ResultsExperimental pressure data are spatially located and processed into high resolution pressure images. Artifacts are successfully removed from data without blurring other details. The pressure distribution on the urethra’s outside is reconstructed and compared to the one on the inside. Finally, the pressure images are mapped onto the urethral geometry calculated from inclination and position data to provide an integrated image of pressure distribution, anatomical shape, and location.ConclusionsWith its advanced sensing capabilities, the novel microtip catheter collects an unprecedented amount of urethral pressure data. Through sequential signal processing steps, physicians are provided with detailed information on the pressure distribution in and around the urethra. Therefore, HD-UPP overcomes many current limitations of conventional UPP and offers the opportunity to evaluate urethral structures, especially the sphincter, in context of the correct anatomical location. This could enable the development of focal therapy approaches in the treatment of SUI.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12938-016-0145-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Survey of Algorithmic Shapes

In the context of computer-aided design, computer graphics and geometry processing, the idea of generative modeling is to allow the generation of highly complex objects based on a set of formal construction rules. Using these construction rules, a shape is described by a sequence of processing steps, rather than just by the result of all applied operations: shape design becomes rule design. Due to its very general nature, this approach can be applied to any domain and to any shape representation that provides a set of generating functions. The aim of this survey is to give an overview of the concepts and techniques of procedural and generative modeling, as well as their applications with a special focus on archeology and architecture.

Secretion of Polypeptide Crystals from Tetrahymena thermophila Secretory Organelles (Mucocysts) Depends on Processing by a Cysteine Cathepsin, Cth4p.

In many organisms, sophisticated mechanisms facilitate release of peptides in response to extracellular stimuli. In the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, efficient peptide secretion depends on specialized vesicles called mucocysts that contain dense crystalline cores that expand rapidly during exocytosis. Core assembly depends of endoproteolytic cleavage of mucocyst proproteins by an aspartyl protease, cathepsin 3 (CTH3). Here, we show that a second enzyme identified by expression profiling, Cth4p, is also required for processing of proGrl proteins and for assembly of functional mucocysts. Cth4p is a cysteine cathepsin that localizes partially to endolysosomal structures and appears to act downstream of, and may be activated by, Cth3p. Disruption of CTH4 results in cells (Δcth4) that show aberrant trimming of Grl proproteins, as well as grossly aberrant mucocyst exocytosis. Surprisingly, Δcth4 cells succeed in assembling crystalline mucocyst cores. However, those cores do not undergo normal directional expansion during exocytosis, and they thus fail to efficiently extrude from the cells. We could phenocopy the Δcth4 defects by mutating conserved catalytic residues, indicating that the in vivo function of Cth4p is enzymatic. Our results indicate that as for canonical proteins packaged in animal secretory granules, the maturation of mucocyst proproteins involves sequential processing steps. The Δcth4 defects uncouple, in an unanticipated way, the assembly of mucocyst cores and their subsequent expansion and thereby reveal a previously unsuspected aspect of polypeptide secretion in ciliates.

Integrated modelling of transitions in mechanical conditions during casting and heat treatment

The mechanical material behaviour of a cast component changes significantly during casting and heat treatment. The big difference in temperature levels during the different process steps causes different deformation mechanisms to be active. The thermal gradients promote transient stresses that can lead to inelastic deformations, residual stresses and in some cases to defects in the final part. It is a big challenge to make a reasonable transition in the mechanical model, and hence material data, when modelling several different coupled process steps. It is important to use an integrated approach where the transition is included in the full load history of the part. When industrial examples are considered, the sequence of process steps typically also changes the thermal and mechanical boundary conditions significantly e.g. going from being mechanically constrained during casting to being supported point-wise during the heat treatment process. This change includes mapping of results and obtaining equilibrium in a new global system, where the further reaction forces from the supports must be handled with contact conditions to e.g. predict deformations due to gravity during solution heat treatment. The work presented in this paper is focused on modelling the mechanical fields, taking into account the changes in the mechanical material model at different temperature levels, and the transition in mechanical behaviour when the microstructure is changing during the different steps of the heat treatment process. The approach used is based on a unified model where creep effects are considered at high temperature and rate effects are included in general during cooling. Proposals are made to include cooling rate sensitivity, annealing and precipitation hardening via modification of mechanical properties in the different process steps.

BUILT BY ALGORITHMS – STATE OF THE ART REPORT ON PROCEDURAL MODELING –

Abstract. The idea of generative modeling is to allow the generation of highly complex objects based on a set of formal construction rules. Using these construction rules, a shape is described by a sequence of processing steps, rather than just by the result of all applied operations: Shape design becomes rule design. Due to its very general nature, this approach can be applied to any domain and to any shape representation that provides a set of generating functions. The aim of this report is to give an overview of the concepts and techniques of procedural and generative modeling as well as their applications with a special focus on Archaeology and Architecture.

Shrinking Package Footprint by Embedding Top-Side Real Estate Using Core-to-Core Joining

The electronics industry trend continues to be to continually increase capability and performance within an existing or smaller footprint. Shoehorning all of the required components onto the exterior surface of the PCB has become an increasingly difficult puzzle. The use of stacked microvias instead of plated through holes and stacked ICs in various configurations has freed up some real estate. The use of ever smaller passive devices also saves space, but reintroduces old issues such as tombstoning. The ideal solution would be to provide ‘surface’ real estate within the architecture of the circuit board – like moving items from a desk to a bookshelf – by embedding components into the board. In this paper, an alternative strategy is presented for embedded components. Sub-PCB constructions are built and populated on both sides, and then are joined using an interposer with sintering conductive paste interconnects. Sintering paste z-axis interconnections have been successfully used in this type of core-to-core joining for many years. The combination of the sintering paste interconnect and an interposer element is the key to enabling this architecture. This manufacturing strategy presents a number of advantages. The board may be broken down into logical substructures such as high density, core or RF portions. Each of the sub-PCBs can be fabricated according to best manufacturing practices for that portion of the circuit board rather than trying to fabricate a single complicated board. Yield losses from sequential process steps and multiple laminations may be reduced. The embedded components may be assembled onto the sub-PCBs using conventional solder reflow technology. The component placement can facilitate point-of-source architecture for high electrical performance. The process flow and some laboratory demonstrations of this technique will be presented in this paper.

Towards Sustainability Information Systems

Abstract Companies have to submit the postulate of sustainability. Therefore, they necessarily need comprehensive support by efficient information for remaining competitive taking sustainability into account. But such type of information systems are neither existing in practice nor are they treated scientifically in a comprehensive manner. Merely, concerning sustainability mission statements and reporting knowledge and results are available. But this will describe but not support or force sustainability. Sustainability is defined as the optimization of not only its three components but also its mutual integration. Strategic information management suggests strategic situation analysis, strategic target planning, strategy development and strategic information system planning as sequence of process steps for developing corporate relevant portfolio of information systems. Precondition for an individual design of such a portfolio is the availability of a common sustainability target system. Therefore, it will be necessary to prepare a hierarchical target system for each of the three components of sustainability and to examine the relationships between all identified target elements in how far they are harmonic or whether it will be possible to harmonize them. By the availability of such a harmonized integrative sustainability target system precondition are given to develop a portfolio of sustainability information systems.

An overview of pre-ribosomal RNA processing in eukaryotes.

Ribosomal RNAs are the most abundant and universal noncoding RNAs in living organisms. In eukaryotes, three of the four ribosomal RNAs forming the 40S and 60S subunits are borne by a long polycistronic pre-ribosomal RNA. A complex sequence of processing steps is required to gradually release the mature RNAs from this precursor, concomitant with the assembly of the 79 ribosomal proteins. A large set of trans-acting factors chaperone this process, including small nucleolar ribonucleoparticles. While yeast has been the gold standard for studying the molecular basis of this process, recent technical advances have allowed to further define the mechanisms of ribosome biogenesis in animals and plants. This renewed interest for a long-lasting question has been fueled by the association of several genetic diseases with mutations in genes encoding both ribosomal proteins and ribosome biogenesis factors, and by the perspective of new anticancer treatments targeting the mechanisms of ribosome synthesis. A consensus scheme of pre-ribosomal RNA maturation is emerging from studies in various kinds of eukaryotic organisms. However, major differences between mammalian and yeast pre-ribosomal RNA processing have recently come to light. WIREs RNA 2015, 6:225–242. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1269

Simulation of hyperspectral radiance images with quantification of adjacency effects over rugged scenes

Simulation of hyperspectral remote sensing images can be applied to the generation of simulated datasets and validation of the data processing algorithms, as well as to deriving the ground reflectance of rugged areas from remote sensing images. Realistic simulations require capabilities dealing with rugged scenes and accurate modeling of the adjacency effects. Estimation of adjacency effects remains a difficulty because of the complex phenomena induced by rugged terrains. To find the optimal tradeoff between the accuracy and the computation time, this paper describes a method of simulating hyperspectral radiance images over rugged scenes with quantitative estimation of the adjacency effects under the assumptions of Lambertian surface and single scattering. In the quantification of adjacency effects, molecular/aerosol scattering phase functions, topographic features and ground heterogeneity are taken into account. Radiance images are generated by several sequential processing steps, which create atmospheric effects using a radiative transfer model, model topographic effects based on digital elevation model and simulate the instrument response function of a given sensor. The method has been applied to the complete scene simulation and the validity of various assumptions is checked using experimental datasets from Hyperion.

A markov prediction model for data-driven semi-structured business processes

In semi-structured case-oriented business processes, the sequence of process steps is determined by case workers based on available document content associated with a case. Transitions between process execution steps are therefore case specific and depend on independent judgment of case workers. In this paper, we propose an instance-specific probabilistic process model (PPM) whose transition probabilities are customized to the semi-structured business process instance it represents. An instance-specific PPM serves as a powerful representation to predict the likelihood of different outcomes. We also show that certain instance-specific PPMs can be transformed into a Markov chain under some non-restrictive assumptions. For instance-specific PPMs that contain parallel execution of tasks, we provide an algorithm to map them to an extended space Markov chain. This way existing Markov techniques can be leveraged to make predictions about the likelihood of executing future tasks. Predictions provided by our technique could generate early alerts for case workers about the likelihood of important or undesired outcomes in an executing case instance. We have implemented and validated our approach on a simulated automobile insurance claims handling semi-structured business process. Results indicate that an instance-specific PPM provides more accurate predictions than other methods such as conditional probability. We also show that as more document data become available, the prediction accuracy of an instance-specific PPM increases.