Is implementation of continuous improvement possible? An evolutionary model of enablers and inhibitors

The purpose of this article is to present an evolutionary model of the enablers and inhibitors affecting the implementation and sustainability of continuous improvement. With this aim, a qualitative study using the grounded theory was carried out. Interviews were conducted with managers responsible for continuous improvement in first‐tier suppliers in the automotive sector. As a result, two existing lines of research in the continuous improvement literature are synthesized: on one hand, the literature concerning the enablers and barriers associated with continuous improvement sustainability; and on the other, the literature concerning the evolutionary model. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Confidence voting method ensemble applied to off-line signature verification

In this paper, a new approximation to off-line signature verification is proposed based on two-class classifiers using an expert decisions ensemble. Different methods to extract sets of local and a global features from the target sample are detailed. Also a normalization by confidence voting method is used in order to decrease the final equal error rate (EER). Each set of features is processed by a single expert, and on the other approach proposed, the decisions of the individual classifiers are combined using weighted votes. Experimental results are given using a subcorpus of the large MCYT signature database for random and skilled forgeries. The results show that the weighted combination outperforms the individual classifiers significantly. The best EER obtained were 6.3 % in the case of skilled forgeries and 2.31 % in the case of random forgeries.     

Preparation of grids for simulations of groundwater flow in fractured porous media

This work presents an extension of grid generation techniques for finite-volume discretizations of density-driven flow in fractured porous media, in which fractures are considered as low-dimensional manifolds and are resolved by sides of grid elements. The proposed technique introduces additional degrees of freedom for the unknowns assigned to the fractures and thus allows to reconstruct jumps of the solution over a fracture. Through the concept of degenerated elements, the proposed technique can be used for arbitrary junctions of fractures but is sufficiently simple regarding the implementation and allows for the application of conventional numerical solvers. Numerical experiments presented at the end of the paper demonstrate the applicability of this technique in two and three dimensions for complicated fracture networks.     

Augmented Lyapunov functional approach for stability of neutral systems with mixed delays

This paper is concerned with the neutral‐delay‐dependent and discrete‐delay‐dependent stability for uncertain neutral systems with mixed delays and norm‐bounded uncertainties. Through constructing a new augmented Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional and proving its positive definiteness, introducing some slack matrices and using integral inequality, the improved delay‐dependent stability criteria are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the significant improvement on the conservatism of the delay bound over some existing results. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

Topology optimization of free vibrating continuum structures based on the element free Galerkin method

In this paper, the topology optimization design of the free vibrating continuum structures is formulated based on the element free Galerkin (EFG) method. Considering the relative density of nodes as design variable, and the maximization of the fundamental eigenvalue as an objective function, the mathematical formulation of the topology optimization model is developed using the solid isotropic microstructures with penalization (SIMP) interpolation scheme. The topology optimization problem is solved by the optimality criteria method. Finally, the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method are illustrated with several 2D examples that are widely used in the topology optimization design.     

基于样本熵与时频分析的手部抓握运动意图预测

针对上肢外骨骼控制信号产生与外部设备响应存在时间滞后导致脑机接口(BCI)系统实时性差的问题,采集被试手部自主抓握前运动相关皮质电位(MRCP) ,提出基于非线性复杂度特征样本熵 (SampEn)与线性幅值特征融合算法的手部运动意图预测方法. 从时频、神经复杂度分析不同大脑状态之间存在的差异,通过特征融合实现对手部抓握运动意图的预测. 基于特征融合意图离线预测准确率最高可达88.46%,可以在人体手部自主运动发生时刻?1 400 ms实现对手部运动预测. 与平静时期手部静止状态相比,被试产生手部抓握运动意图时脑电信号的功率谱与复杂度均产生明显变化,为基于手部运动意图预测提前驱动机器人实现人机协同提供控制策略.     

激光辐照下反射镜热变形特性分析

激光致反射镜热变形引起光束质量下降是强激光系统优化设计的关注热点.为了在不同反射膜和不同基底的多种材质组合中筛选出热变形最小的情况,对反射镜热变形特性开展了理论分析,讨论了激光参数的影响.首先模拟了不同反射镜的温升和热变形,发现温升和热变形的最大位置始终位于被激光辐照镜面上;然后筛选出热变形最小的镜体组合是镀Ag膜的硅基底反射镜,并且随着入射激光波长的增大,反射镜温升变小,热变形量也减小;激光功率越小,反射镜的温升越低,热变形量越小;激光光斑半径越大,最大热变形量越小.研究结果可以为反射镜的优化设计,以及反射镜的激光损伤等方面提供理论参考.     

不同处理方法对马银花扦插生根特性的影响研究

[目的]选择不同基质和不同浓度的生根剂进行处理,研究不同浓度梯度下生根剂及不同基质对植物生根特性的影响.[方法]以马银花为对象,采用200、400和1000 mg/L浓度梯度的IBA分别进行浸泡和速蘸,并使用河沙:纯黄土=1:2、河沙:纯黄土:泥炭土=2:2:1和纯黄土三种基质进行扦插生根.[结果]不同生长基质和生长调节剂浓度梯度对马银花扦插生根有显著差异.马银花扦插最佳组合为采用400mg/LIBA浓度浸泡8h和采用河沙:纯黄土:泥炭土(2:2:1)为扦插基质,其生根率为49.21％.平均不定根数量最高为9.3条,平均根长为4.67 cm,最长不定根为5.38 cm,生根指数为21.59 cm.[结论]本文研究结果为马银花扩繁技术提供了新的科学依据,对马银花保护和繁育都具有重要的指导意义.     

Therapeutic Potential for Regulation of the Nuclear Factor Kappa-B Transcription Factor p65 to Prevent Cellular Senescence and Activation of Pro-Inflammatory in Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells have an important potential in the treatment of age-related diseases. In the last years, small extracellular vesicles derived from these stem cells have been proposed as cell-free therapies. Cellular senescence and proinflammatory activation are involved in the loss of therapeutic capacity and in the phenomenon called inflamm-aging. The regulators of these two biological processes in mesenchymal stem cells are not well-known. In this study, we found that p65 is activated during cellular senescence and inflammatory activation in human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell. To demonstrate the central role of p65 in these two processes, we used small-molecular inhibitors of p65, such as JSH-23, MG-132 and curcumin. We found that the inhibition of p65 prevents the cellular senescence phenotype in human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Besides, p65 inhibition produced the inactivation of proinflammatory molecules as components of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) (interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 (IL-6 and IL-8)). Additionally, we found that the inhibition of p65 prevents the transmission of paracrine senescence between mesenchymal stem cells and the proinflammatory message through small extracellular vesicles. Our work highlights the important role of p65 and its inhibition to restore the loss of functionality of small extracellular vesicles from senescent mesenchymal stem cells and their inflamm-aging signature.     

A Degeneration Gradient of Poplar Trees Contributes to the Taxonomic,Functional, and Resistome Diversity of Bacterial Communities in Rhizosphere Soils

Bacterial communities associated with roots influence the health and nutrition of the host plant. However, the microbiome discrepancy are not well understood under different healthy conditions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that rhizosphere soil microbial diversity and function varies along a degeneration gradient of poplar, with a focus on plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) and antibiotic resistance genes. Comprehensive metagenomic analysis including taxonomic investigation, functional detection, and ARG (antibiotics resistance genes) annotation revealed that available potassium (AK) was correlated with microbial diversity and function. We proposed several microbes, Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas, Mesorhizobium, Nocardioides, Variovorax, Gemmatimonadetes, Rhizobacter, Pedosphaera, Candidatus Solibacter, Acidobacterium, and Phenylobacterium, as candidates to reflect the soil fertility and the plant health. The highest abundance of multidrug resistance genes and the four mainly microbial resistance mechanisms (antibiotic efflux, antibiotic target protection, antibiotic target alteration, and antibiotic target replacement) in healthy poplar rhizosphere, corroborated the relationship between soil fertility and microbial activity. This result suggested that healthy rhizosphere soil harbored microbes with a higher capacity and had more complex microbial interaction network to promote plant growing and reduce intracellular levels of antibiotics. Our findings suggested a correlation between the plant degeneration gradient and bacterial communities, and provided insight into the role of high-turnover microbial communities as well as potential PGPB as real-time indicators of forestry soil quality, and demonstrated the inner interaction contributed by the bacterial communities.