A systematic transition to flexible manufacturing

The transition from basic automation to flexible manufacturing is an expensive and tedious procedure. It requires meticulous planning and almost clairvoyant forecasting to insure that the initial flexibility obtained is sufficient to allow growth and expansion in the future. This paper will suggest a systematic and methodological approach to achieve optimal flexibility and describe the present results of its application to an ongoing system transformation.

Conclusions based on existing levels of completion are presented along with identification of critical and non critical flexibility requirements. The considerations and steps taken are summarized in a procedural format which may then be applied to a wide variety of system transformations.     

Clinical investigation of traumatic injuries of permanent incisors in Izmir, Turkey

470 injured teeth of 370 patients who consulted the Dental Clinic of Ege University, Izmir, Turkey for examination or treatment between 1981-1993 were evaluated. Information concerning sex, age of patients at the time of injury, cause of trauma, number of injured teeth, type of tooth and type of trauma were recorded. More boys suffered traumatic injuries (64.8%) than girls (35.2%). Patients aged 11-15 years old exhibited the highest number of injuries (34.4%) followed by the 6-10 years old group (24.5%). Most injuries involved one tooth (60%) and maxillary central incisors were the most often affected teeth (66.2%). The leading cause of injury was undefined falls (45.1%). At the initial examination, cases seen after a long posttraumatic period showed more complications than those presented within a short time period. Educational programs about the importance of dental trauma, the benefits of immediate attendance and conservation of avulsed and fractured teeth would be very helpful for patients. Additionally improving the knowledge of the dental practitioner about trauma would be another important point in solving the problem.     

Introducing fuzziness in object models and database interfaces through aspects

Imperfection in information can be considered a crosscutting concern that manifests itself in diverse kinds of imprecision, uncertainty, or inconsistency in the data models of a software system. The extension of existing programming and querying interfaces for the different aspects of information imperfection requires a proper modularization of the different concerns of numerical imprecision handling, so that the extensions do not interfere with existing programming practices and do not obscure the original design. Aspect‐oriented design (AOD) enables such a form of nonintrusive extensions to be added to existing software libraries, clearly separating fuzziness or other imperfections in data as a differentiated concern that can be considered from the early phases of development. In this article, a general framework for aspect‐based extension of data models and fuzzy databases is described, and some design and implementation issues of such AOD‐based extensions on OJB database libraries are described as a case study. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 1199–1216, 2006.     

The End of Black and White

It's no longer just black hats or white hats in computer security. The more someone has to lose, the less likely they should be to trust the computer. It means that all people, all programs, all transactions are shades of grey. Black and white are just a memory.     

Destillation im Fein- und Hochvakuum

The distillation in the fine and high vacuum range requires not only appropriate vacuum pumps but also special apparatus and machines. The principle and the design of laboratory and industrial plants are explained. New mathematical methods are supporting laboratory and pilot testing required for process development and plant layout. An example was chosen for demonstration purposes.     

Embryonal metabolism

It is very difficult to have a clear and homogeneous idea of the embryo metabolism. In fact it may vary from one species to another and also according to the embryonic stage: i.e. before and after genomic activation. Basic compounds such as glucose may be toxic, but obviously, it is more the problem of the quantity introduced in the culture media and an unsuitable balance between the metabolites which may impair the embryonic development. At low concentration glucose is actively metabolised by embryos. High levels of amino acids are deleterious (due to release of ammonia), but they are necessary at low concentrations. Addition of serum or other biological fluids is generally useless. Further knowledge on embryo metabolism is necessary to avoid culture medium related delay or developmental blocks. Sequential media are at least partly the answer.