Short Delivery Research Articles

Novel guanidinylated bioresponsive poly(amidoamine)s designed for short hairpin RNA delivery.

Two different disulfide (SS)-containing poly(amidoamine) (PAA) polymers were constructed using guanidino (Gua)-containing monomers (ie, arginine [Arg] and agmatine [Agm]) and N,N′-cystamine bisacrylamide (CBA) by Michael-addition polymerization. In order to characterize these two Gua-SS-PAA polymers and investigate their potentials as short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-delivery carriers, pSilencer 4.1-CMV FANCF shRNA was chosen as a model plasmid DNA to form complexes with these two polymers. The Gua-SS-PAAs and plasmid DNA complexes were determined with particle sizes less than 90 nm and positive ζ-potentials under 20 mV at nucleic acid:polymer weight ratios lower than 1:24. Bioresponsive release of plasmid DNA was observed from both newly constructed complexes. Significantly lower cytotoxicity was observed for both polymer complexes compared with polyethylenimine and Lipofectamine 2000, two widely used transfection reagents as reference carriers. Arg-CBA showed higher transfection efficiency and gene-silencing efficiency in MCF7 cells than Agm-CBA and the reference carriers. In addition, the cellular uptake of Arg-CBA in MCF7 cells was found to be higher and faster than Agm-CBA and the reference carriers. Similarly, plasmid DNA transport into the nucleus mediated by Arg-CBA was more than that by Agm-CBA and the reference carriers. The study suggested that guanidine and carboxyl introduced into Gua-SS-PAAs polymers resulted in a better nuclear localization effect, which played a key role in the observed enhancement of transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity. Overall, two newly synthesized Gua-SS-PAAs polymers demonstrated great potential to be used as shRNA carriers for gene-therapy applications.

Analyzing the Effect of Express Orders on Supply Chain Costs and Delivery Times

Delivery time differentiation is a supply chain concept that has been implemented in various industries, but not yet in the automotive industry. One reason is that the effects of delivery time differentiation on the supply chain are not well understood. The BMW Group, for instance, has considered offering an express order option, where express orders bypass standard orders in the supply chain processes to achieve short delivery times. Express orders distort planning processes, increase operations cost, and increase the delivery times of standard orders, however the effects have not been quantified yet. This study analyzes the impact of express orders on the supply chain, when express orders are built‐to‐order. To understand the supply chain consequences of express orders better, we analyzed the relevant supply chain processes at BMW Group. We determine the effect that built‐to‐order express orders have on delivery times and on component demand. To analyze the effect of introducing express orders on expected delivery times and expected cost, we use queuing theory and derive expressions for the transient behavior of a discrete time batch queue. Our analyses indicate that many supply chain processes are only marginally affected. However, the orders to the suppliers become considerably more uncertain, which must be compensated by additional safety stock. Our results indicate that express orders can be an attractive option for BMW and other automotive companies. If the fraction of express orders stays at a reasonable level, express orders can be delivered within about two weeks.

Practical application of the benchmarking technique to increase reliability and efficiency of power installations and main heat-mechaniс equipment of thermal power plants

Data on the comparative analysis variants of the quality of power installations (benchmarking) applied in the power industry is systematized. It is shown that the most efficient variant of implementation of the benchmarking technique is the analysis of statistical distributions of the indicators in the composed homogenous group of the uniform power installations. The benchmarking technique aimed at revealing the available reserves on improvement of the reliability and heat efficiency indicators of the power installations of the thermal power plants is developed in the furtherance of this approach. The technique provides a possibility of reliable comparison of the quality of the power installations in their homogenous group limited by the number and adoption of the adequate decision on improving some or other technical characteristics of this power installation. The technique provides structuring of the list of the comparison indicators and internal factors affecting them represented according to the requirements of the sectoral standards and taking into account the price formation characteristics in the Russian power industry. The mentioned structuring ensures traceability of the reasons of deviation of the internal influencing factors from the specified values. The starting point for further detail analysis of the delay of the certain power installation indicators from the best practice expressed in the specific money equivalent is positioning of this power installation on distribution of the key indicator being a convolution of the comparison indicators. The distribution of the key indicator is simulated by the Monte-Carlo method after receiving the actual distributions of the comparison indicators: specific lost profit due to the short supply of electric energy and short delivery of power, specific cost of losses due to the nonoptimal expenditures for repairs, and specific cost of excess fuel equivalent consumption. The quality loss indicators are developed facilitating the analysis of the benchmarking results permitting to represent the quality loss of this power installation in the form of the difference between the actual value of the key indicator or comparison indicator and the best quartile of the existing distribution. The uncertainty of the obtained values of the quality loss indicators was evaluated by transforming the standard uncertainties of the input values into the expanded uncertainties of the output values with the confidence level of 95%. The efficiency of the technique is demonstrated in terms of benchmarking of the main thermal and mechanical equipment of the extraction power-generating units T-250 and power installations of the thermal power plants with the main steam pressure 130 atm.

A New Supply Service Model for Retail Delivery Businesses

This study proposed a new delivery model that reduces both the company’s delivery cost and the customer’s stock cost, without any inconvenience to customers. Today, the retailing company offers red-carpet delivery services such as high-frequency and short lead-time delivery, leading to high operational costs and environmental burdens. So the transportation sector requires service companies to be environmentally friendly while maintaining delivery quality.

Designing Capacity Synchronization within the Regeneration of Complex Capital Goods

Regeneration service providers who are conducting maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) tasks in the field of complex capital goods face strong market-based requests like short delivery times and a high schedule reliability. Further they have to deal with uncertain workload information and high load fluctuations caused by different damages. In order to cope with these demanding challenges a holistic planning and control performance that includes all different regeneration processes is necessary. A main lever for planning and controlling internal supply chains is represented by the tasks of capacity synchronization. There are several so called design options available for synchronizing capacities. These design option influence the logistic performance and will help the service provider to reach their goals in terms of customer satisfaction.

New Ways of Creating Capacity

Objective/Hypothesis: We aimed to determine whether an 8-week online training program for developing skills in short course development and delivery was effective in establishing locally driven, sustainable, evidence-based training for Bangladeshi hand therapists. Materials and Methods: Five Bangladeshi therapists from a rehabilitation center participated in the course, which was facilitated online by an Australian university. They completed 8 prerecorded modules over a 3-month period and were assessed in situ on their ability to deliver a hand therapy tutorial to their peers. A qualitative explanatory case study design was used to evaluate outcomes, drawing on data gathered from precourse, postcourse, and 1-year follow-up surveys, observations (including interactions during the course and final participant presentations), and a postcourse focus group. Results: The course achieved 6 of its 9 objectives, with all participants satisfactorily planning and delivering an evidence-based interactive tutorial to their peers. Participants noted improved competence and confidence in searching for evidence, and developing and executing a teaching plan. This was sustained at 1-year review. The key theme was a shift in participants’ concept of learning from being an expert-driven to a self-driven exercise. Enablers were multimodal teaching techniques, the presence of a local leader, and the establishment of informal peer support. Barriers were logistical issues such as access to reliable Internet services, and late delivery of course materials. Conclusions: Online distance education can be effective in producing sustainable change in practitioner skills in developing countries. Future programs would benefit from a blended learning approach incorporating “face-to-face” instructor contact.

Hybrid Composite Electrodes for Supercapasitors Prepared By Simple Routes

Supercapacitors, which can store energy by a combination of electrostatic (double layer capacitance) and electrochemical (pseudocapacitance) storage of electrical energy, are an important energy storage device applicable for a variety of uses and technologies, especially in applications which requires rapid charge/discharge cycles and several thousands of cycles, e.g. short term energy storage and high power delivery. The asymmetric electrode configuration which allows for the use of aqueous electrolytes are a promising route to low-cost and environmentally friendly supercapacitors without compromising power and energy density. Here we present a novel approach based on easy synthesis methods to prepare hybrid electrode materials consisting of mixed transition metal oxides for the redox contribution together with carbonaceous materials contributing to the double layer response. The synthesis methods used are possible to scale up and results in nanosized, high surface area hybrid electrode materials. Three different methods have been selected resulting in significant different morphologies and characteristics. The electrode materials have been characterized by standard physical techniques, e.g. SEM, TEM, EDX and XRD. To prepare final electrode materials, inks using PTFE, ketjen black and H2O/isopropanol, was spray coated on carbon paper with a loading of approximately 1 mg/cm2. The electrodes were tested for electrochemical performance as capacitors, by use of techniques such as cyclic voltammetry and charge and discharge curves, as a function of electrode composition, time and type of aqueous based electrolyte, and compared with hybrid electrodes fabricated by e.g. electrodeposition methods.Preliminary results have shown that it is possible to produced hybrid materials through cheap and flexible processes in aqueous electrolytes.

Transmission Policies for Multi-Segment Short Messages

The performance of single-segment short messaging service (SMS) (i.e., the message sizes are smaller than 140 octets) has been intensively investigated. On the other hand, multisegment messages (with sizes larger than 140 octets) are seldom evaluated in the literature. This paper proposes analytical models to study two transmission policies for multisegment short messages. We show how to improve the performance of multisegment short message delivery by selecting appropriate transmission parameters: the retransmission interval and the maximum number of transmissions. The proposed models are validated by measured data collected from the largest telecom operator in Taiwan over a period of six months. We provide useful guidelines to configure parameters for SMS transmission policy. Numerical examples showed that the performance can be improved by over 20% in terms of successful delivery ratio.

Rapid Prototyping in Humanitarian Aid To Manufacture Last Mile Vehicles Spare Parts: An Implementation Plan

AbstractThis research examines the use of rapid prototyping technologies in the supply chain of spare parts. Spare parts are manufactured in small production lots and distributed in wide areas, eventually requiring short delivery times. The focus of this research is the use of rapid prototyping in humanitarian logistics. The demand of humanitarian aid is large, but it is very difficult to predict and also to supply. The use of rapid prototyping to produce spare parts can greatly increase the availability of scarce resources. In this paper, it is demonstrated that rapid prototyping of spare parts for last mile vehicles can help achieve a cost‐effective solution to increase vehicle availability. Also, a detailed implementation plan is developed to serve as a guideline for any organization to successfully introduce the equipment in their operations.

Establishing a maturity model for design automation in sales-delivery processes of ETO products

Short delivery times are considered a competitive advantage in the engineer-to-order (ETO) sector. Design-related tasks contribute to a substantial amount of delivery times and costs since ETO products have to be either fully developed or adapted to customer specifications within tendering or order fulfillment. Approaches aiming at a computerised automation of tasks related to the design process, often termed design automation or knowledge-based engineering, are generally regarded as an effective means to achieve lead time and cost reductions while maintaining, or even improving product quality. In this study we propose a maturity model as a framework for analyzing and improving such activities in ETO companies. We contribute to the literature in being the first to investigate design automation in the ETO sector from a maturity perspective. Beyond that, we extend the extant literature on design automation, which is of a highly technical nature, by providing a framework considering organizational and managerial aspects. The findings indicate that five different levels of maturity can be achieved across the dimensions strategies, processes, systems, and people. Empirical cases give insight into these different levels. Our investigation draws from extant literature and a comparative case study involving four companies over two years.

SU‐F‐T‐21: A Novel Beam‐Light View, Collimating Applicator for HDR Ocular Conjunctiva Brachytherapy‐Treatments

Purpose:We propose the use of a HDR X‐ray source collimator to apply a conformal, relatively small, radiation suitable for a single fraction with short delivery time. In addition, this technique can be applied using a radioactive source.Methods:We have built a stainless steel 1.5 mm thick applicator, to accommodate the needle applicator of the Intra‐Beam X‐ray source. Additional cavity is created in the applicator to allow the hosting/nesting/positioning of a LED diode. This LED is allowing a pre‐irradiation beam marking on the tissue. The visible light emitted from the opening of the collimated applicator will delineate/verify the aperture of the kV beam to be applied, as well as serve as distance indicator and will assist in the determination of dose to be delivered. For the evaluation of the collimated spatial dose distribution we have performed water tank measurements using (IBA Dosimetry) with a 0.4 cc ion chamber (IBA Dosimetry). We have scanned a two dimensional array with 1mm pitch in depth and 0.3 mm step size laterally. Additional verifications were conducted using Gaf‐Chromic film for PDD measurements and Optical Stimulated Luminescence Dosimetry (OSLD, Landauer inc.) for absolute dosimetry.Results:The collimated applicator enables a conformal irradiated cross‐section of about 3 mm square at the applicator surface was used in this study. A 180 seconds of 50 kVp delivery yielded 29 Gy, 20.6 Gy and 14.5 Gy at 5, 10 and 15 mm depths respectively. These results are in good agreement with the needle applicator depth dose curve published data.Conclusion:We have demonstrated the feasibility of focal HDR brachytherapy for conjunctival and ocular tumors, using the Intra‐Beam needle applicator with in‐house developed collimator. The delivery time was found to be several minutes‐ suitable for an intra‐operative procedure and will allow dose fractionation deliveries.

Induced Apoptosis Investigation in Wild-type and FLT3-ITD Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells by Nanochannel Electroporation and Single-cell qRT-PCR

Nanochannel electroporation (NEP) was applied to deliver precise dosages of myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1)-specific siRNA and molecular beacons to two types of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 wild-type (WT) and internal tandem duplications (ITD) type at the single-cell level. NEP, together with single-cell quantitative reverse transcription PCR, led to an observation showing nearly 20-folds more Mcl-1 siRNA than MCL1 mRNA were required to induce cell death for both cell lines and patient blasts, i.e., ~8,800 siRNAs for ~500 ± 50 mRNAs in ITD cells and ~6,000 siRNAs for ~300 ± 50 mRNAs in WT cells. A time-lapse study revealed that >75% MCL1 mRNA was downregulated within 1 hour after delivery of a small amount of siRNA. However, additional siRNA was required to inhibit the newly transcribed mRNA for >12 hours until the cell lost its ability of self-protection recovery. A multidelivery strategy of low doses and short delivery interval, which require 77% less siRNA and has the potential of lower side effects and clinical cost, was as effective as a single high-dose siRNA delivery. Our method provides a viable analytical tool to investigate gene silencing at the single-cell level for oligonucleotide-based therapy.

Perforated hollow-core optical waveguides for on-chip atomic spectroscopy and gas sensing.

A hollow-core waveguide structure for on-chip atomic spectroscopy is presented. The devices are based on Anti-Resonant Reflecting Optical Waveguides and may be used for a wide variety of applications which rely on the interaction of light with gases and vapors. The designs presented here feature short delivery paths of the atomic vapor into the hollow waveguide. They also have excellent environmental stability by incorporating buried solid-core waveguides to deliver light to the hollow cores. Completed chips were packaged with an Rb source and the F = 3 ≥ F' = 2, 3, 4 transitions of the D2 line in 85Rb were monitored for optical absorption. Maximum absorption peak depths of 9% were measured.

Arabin cervical pessary to prevent preterm birth in twin pregnancies with short cervix

A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Arabin cervical pessary in twin pregnancies with cervical length (CL) <25 mm between 21 and 31 weeks. Forty patients receiving pessary were matched with 40 controls without pessary. They were matched for gestational age (GA) at admission and CL. GA at delivery, delivery before 36, 34 and 32 weeks, latency between detection of short cervix and delivery, and duration of hospital admission were compared between groups. Women with the pessary delivered at higher GA compared to controls (35 vs. 33 weeks, p = 0.02). Cervical pessary significantly reduced the incidence of delivery <36 and < 34 weeks (p < 0.05), but not before 32 weeks. Interval between detection of short cervix and delivery was longer in the pessary group and duration of hospital admission was shorter (p = 0.03) compared to women without pessary.

Alternative approach to automated management of load flow in engineering networks considering functional reliability

The approach to automated management of load flow in engineering networks considering functional reliability was proposed in the article. The improvement of the concept of operational and strategic management of load flow in engineering networks was considered. The verbal statement of the problem for thesis research is defined, namely, the problem of development of information technology for exact calculation of the functional reliability of the network, or the risk of short delivery of purpose-oriented product for consumers

Customer-oriented Production System for Supplier Companies in CTO

Configure-to-Order (CTO) is one of the common market interaction strategies for suppliers. In CTO, the customer configures the product where bill of materials, drawings and working plans are elaborated automatically. Traditionally, the Order Penetration Point (OPP) is set too early which induces high costs of stock and long delivery times. For assuring short delivery times and low levels of stock, the supply chain should be triggered according to the customer demand.The paper presents an applied research project performed by a German medium-sized windows and doors production company, where a new customer oriented production system was developed and implemented. The main objective of the holistic production system is to allow a Just-in-Time (JIT) production of windows and doors with short operating costs. It is based on the CONstant Work In Progress (CONWIP) approach needed for assuring short delivery times. More in detail, it presents an approach for medium and short-term production planning needed for triggering JIT the first and second-tier supply chain. As a result, the paper presents design guidelines for production systems with short delivery times in the CTO-market interaction strategy.

A study on factors that increase customer value when conducting television shopping

This study examined the factors that influence customer value in a TV shopping context. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was then applied to obtain the weights of these factors, and their importance was decided based on this. The results reveal that the top five important factors are as follows: payment security, private data security, commodity discount, short delivery time, and product usage security. Among these, payment security, private data security and product usage security are within the category of cost of security/safety. The results suggest that TV shopping operators should pay attention to their reputations in order to maintain a good corporate image and reduce doubts about security/safety. Meanwhile, logistics efficiency should be raised in order to shorten delivery times, and offering more discounts will act as an incentive to attract more shoppers and enhance customer value.

紙管の製造における熟練者と非熟練者の違い

Many kinds of paper tubes are used as core of toilet paper craft tapes, print paper and film etc. Paper tubes are also used for subsidiary material, display and packing part, a part of an exhibition stand and its structure. In 1950s, the paper tubes were firstly produced in Japan. From then on, the technical innovation for machine structure to produce paper tubes is rarely seen except the NC control. Paper tubes are usually produced by expert workers who are trained for experience. The manufacture technology can also be developed by this empirical rule. Paperboards for paper tubes production are not stable and the paper tubes fabrication is different with the mass-produced goods that are produced in a certain size and shape, it belongs to the class of high-mix low-volume production. Even many orders are received with a short delivery time, it is also a career that the technology is inherited in the daily working. The so-called expert is non-expert person who is trained in the daily working and improve the technology by himself. It is a task for middle and small-sized enterprises in how to train the workers in a short time effectively. This is not only for paper tubes production, but also for a small factory on how to inherit its technology in a short time effectively. The objective of this is to analyze the motion for paper tubes fabricating by observe difference between expert and non-expert at work site as one of “Great master's work” in middle and small-sized enterprises.

Modelling and evaluation of investment strategies in human resources for logistics improvement

Logistics cost is an important factor that affects the competitiveness of nations as well as firms. High logistics costs and low levels of service are a barrier to trade and foreign direct investment and thus to economic growth. Shortening of production cycles, amplification of competition globally, sharing and outsourcing of production processes, shorter delivery times and plethora of choices for customers have made logistics a potential source of competitive advantage. The success of logistics depends on the quality, qualification, skills and commitment of the employees and to excel in future, firms need to attract, retain and develop individuals with the right skills and, capabilities. The paper evaluates various investment strategies for investment in human resources by an Indian-based logistics firm using system dynamics modelling to study the effect of improvement in human resources on the logistics performance index.

Knowledge-based machine scheduling under consideration of uncertainties in master data

The order-driven single and small series batch production is characterized by a high variety and the demand for short delivery times. Therefore, a robust production planning is essential. Usually the master data, which is used for scheduling, does not represent the current conditions on the shop floor, due to its static nature. Thus the planning results are of poor quality. To counteract that, this article describes an approach that uses production-condition-dependent execution times of all throughput time components under the consideration of uncertainty. The provision of the scheduling parameters is done with the help of a knowledge-based system that uses a previously on actual data set up case and rule base. A simulation based validation showed that this approach led to an adherence to delivery dates of 93 % in comparison to the utilization of static master data with 74 %.