Role of PTX3 and complement modulation in the tumor microenvironment

Pentraxin-3 (PTX3), the prototype of long pentraxins, seems to influence complement system (CS) modulation. PTX3 and CS sustain carcinogenesis, enriching tumor microenvironment (TME) with pro-inflammatory molecules promoting angiogenesis in prostate cancer (PC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Furthermore, cancer cells overexpress complement regulatory proteins, such as CD46, CD55 and CD59, which negatively affect complement pathways for support cancer cells survival. This viewpoint aims to elucidate the ambivalent role of PTX3 and the CS in the context of tumor microenvironment (TME).     

Dynamic Capabilities and Manufacturing Automation: Organizational Learning in the Italian Automobile Industry

The search for competitiveness in automobile assembly is tendingtowards more cautious and selected investment in flexible automationtechnology. During the 1980s a number of car makers were luredby the myth of computer-integrated manufacturing, but recentsurveys show that approaches to automation (especially in finalassembly) have changed. This longitudinal study illustrates,on the basis of a plant survey, the automation strategy of FiatAuto, one of the world’s largest auto producers, tracingits evolution from the experiments of the 19 70s driven by industrialrelations pressures, to the ‘pan-technologist’ philosophyunderlying the ‘highly automated factory’ of the1980s, to the more realistic concepts inspiring the ‘FabbricaIntegrata’ organizational model of the 1990s. The papershows that the implementation of automation techniques and thedevelopment of related know-how have a cumulative and path-dependentnature. Furthermore, it is argued that the technologies usedin a firm's plants result from a non-linear learning process,based on the internal development, external acquisition, imitation,analogical replication, combination and selection of capabilities.The knowledge incorporated into technologies becomes an integralpart of a firm's repertoire of capabilities. Parts of this knowledgecan be retrieved over time, to become modules of original technologicalsolutions. Similarly, the necessity to imitate competitors whohave successfully implemented organizational paradigms basedon lean manufacturing in order to respond to the ‘regimeof variety’ can cause a mismatch between the existingand the desired technological trajectory of a firm.     

NATURAL LANGUAGE GENERATION AND HYPERTEXT ACCESS

Abstract

An innovative framework is presented that responds to the needs of a user that may want to have punctual personalized information integrated with the possibility of accessing standard browsable information through the same generated text. An implemented system is illustrated for generating natural language texts immersed in a hypermedia network. The architecture of the system and the specific solution given to the various components and their integration are described: the strategic component and its relation to the knowledge representation and to the user model, the tactical component and its connection to the strategic one, and the hypertext manager that accomodates the new linked text. Throughout the article explicit reference is made to the implementation solutions adopted and to examples relative to the experimentation of the work as part of the ALFRESCO interactive system.     

Comparison of five three-parameter equations for the description of moisture sorption data of mustard seeds

Equilibrium moisture contents (EMC) of seeds of yellow, brown, and oriental mustards were determined at five different temperatures (2, 10, 25, 40, and 55°C) by equilibrating about 10-g samples at relative humidities in the range of 11–96%, obtained using saturated salt solutions. the EMCs of all three types of mustard decreased with an increase in temperature at constant relative humidity. At most temperatures and at the relative humidities tested, oriental mustard seeds had the lowest, yellow mustard the highest, and brown mustard intermediate EMC values. Differences in the moisture adsorption characteristics of the three mustards were attributed to differences in mucilaginous material, oil and protein contents of the seed. the modified GAB equation together with four other commonly used three-parameter equations (modified Henderson, Chung-Pfost, Halsey, and Oswin equations) were evaluated for their ability to fit the experimental data for the three types of mustard. the modified GAB equation gave the best fit to the experimental data and the modified Oswin equation was the second best model for describing the EMC data of mustard seeds. the predicted safe storage moisture contents of oriental, brown and yellow mustard seeds at 25°C were 10.0, 10.6 and 10.7% (db), respectively.     

A note on ‘A closed form solution for the G/M/r machine interference model’ by B. D. Bunday and E. Khorram

In this note, we characterize the scope of the product form solution that has been presented in the paper, ‘A closed form solution for the G/M/r machine interference model’ (International Journal of Production Research, 1988,26, 1811-1818). In this paper, the machine interference problem has been solved for JV heterogeneous machines that are ‘repaired’ by a set of r operatives, which repair the machines in a service-in-random-order fashion. The authors solve the model allowing for different, independent and identically distributed times between breakdowns for each machine and different negative-exponential repair times for each machine. In this short critique, we show that the solution presented by Bunday and Khorram does not solve the classical machine interference problem unless the hypothesis of heterogeneous machines is relaxed.     

FixtureNet: interactive computer-aided design via the World Wide Web

The Internet offers tremendous potential for rapid development of mechanical products to meet global competition. In the past several years, a variety of geometric algorithms have been developed to evaluate computer-aided design (CAD) models with respect to manufacturing properties such as feedability, fixturability, assemblability, etc. Unfortunately, most of these algorithms are tailored to a particular CAD system and format and so have not been widely tested by industry. The World Wide Web may offer a solution: its simple interface language offers ade factostandard for the exchange of geometric data with industry and research groups. In this paper, we describe a feasibility study for such an interactive system, which can be tested directly athttp://teamster.usc.edu/fixture/     

Switched-Reluctance Motor Performance Analysis Based On An Improved Modeling Of Its Magnetic Characteristics

ABSTRACT

A novel piecewise linear model of the magnetic characteristics of a switched-reluctance motor is formulated and the procedure to evaluate the model parameters is illustrated. On the basis of the model, the torque-position and average torque equations of the motor are calculated and expressed in a normalized form. A significant figure related to the motor performance is then introduced and discussed. The merit of the model over the existing ones in providing accurate results without complicating the analysis is pointed out.