Application of outranking methods to economic and financial justificaton of CIM systems

Traditional economic evaluation methods concentrate on maximizing or minimizing a single objective such as net present value and pay back period. In the last decade, there has been an increased awareness of the need to consider multiple attributes in the evaluation of advanced manufacturing systems. Various methods have recently been developed for the evaluation of CIM systems. This paper discusses multiattribute methods for justification of CIM systems and outranking methods including ELECTRE, ORESTE, and PROMETHEE.     

MEASUREMENT OF THE SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA OF POWDERS BY THIN LAYER WICKING

The specific surface areas (A) of different clay mineral powders were measured by both the BET method and by thin layer wicking. The values of A for the BET and the wicking experiments coincided within a few percent. Thus, the simple and inexpensive thin layer wicking approach may well suffice to obtain reliable specific surface area values for most powders. From the wicking data it is also possible to obtain a rough estimate of the average particle size.     

Use of gas plasmas to increase breakdown strengths in polycarbonatefilm/foil capacitors

It is shown that the electrical breakdown voltages of polycarbonate film/metal foil capacitors can be increased. This can be achieved by briefly exposing the metal foil in these spirally wound film foil sections to a low-pressure, low-temperature gas plasma. Exposure of tin/lead foil to a 96% CF₄/4% O₂ gas plasma for four min, for example, produced >500% increase in breakdown voltage of sealed polycarbonate capacitors     

Langzeitiges Kriechrißverhalten kennzeichnender Kraftwerksstähle

Long Term Creep Crack Behaviour of Typical Power Plant Steels The creep crack behaviour of the steels was investigated in a wide loading range up to a test duration of 40 000 h and down to a creep crack growth rate of 2 · 10^?5 mm/h with specimens of different shape and size. For steels of type l%Cr-l%Mo-0.6%Ni-0.3%V, 1%Cr-0.9%Mo-0.7%Ni-03.%V, 12%Cr-1%Mo-0.3%V-0.22%C and 12%Cr-l%Mo-0.3%V-0.20%C tested at 550°C, the creep crack growth rate could be described by the parameter C₂* with significantly smaller scatter bands than by the parameter C₁* or the stress intensity factor K_I. For steel 12%Cr-2%Ni-1%Mo tested at 450°C, parameter K_I leads to the smallest scatter band. The creep crack initiation can be described in a two-criteria diagram based on nominal stress and stress intensity factor. However the method is assumed to be over-conservative in case of increasing specimen size. As a result of several aperiodic creep fatigue crack tests, precracking under fatigue conditions gave a weak increase of the creep crack growth rate whereas by precracking under creep conditions the fatigue crack rate was strongly decreased.     

Establishment and characterization of three cell lines from Aedes triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

The objectives of this study were to develop sex-, age-, and body size-specific nomograms and partition values for upper and lower limits of M-mode echocardiographic aortic root measurements derived from a large population-based cohort. The study sample consisted of 1433 male and 1816 female participants in the Framingham Heart Study and Framingham Offspring Study who were normotensive and free of clinically apparent heart disease at the baseline examination. Aortic root measurements were obtained by M-mode echocardiography by a leading-edge to leading-edge technique. The relations of age and measures of body size with aortic root dimensions were evaluated with sex-specific correlations and multiple stepwise linear regression analyses. Age was the most important determinant of aortic root size in both men and women in the multivariable regression models. Models with age and body surface area yielded R2 values of 0.214 in men and 0.222 in women. Models with age and height yielded lower R2 values of 0.136 in men and 0.181 in women. Thus aortic root dimensions vary widely with the age, sex, and body size of individuals. Sex-specific reference nomograms of aortic root dimensions in relation to age and body size (body surface area or height) are presented to facilitate the detection of abnormalities of aortic root size.     

Determination of trace levels of niguldipine in urine and blood by adsorptive stripping voltammetry at the hanging mercury drop electrode

Smyth line (SL) chickens spontaneously develop a posthatch autoimmune loss of pigment cells (vitiligo) in the feather. Concurrent with the development of Smyth line vitiligo (SLV), mononuclear cell infiltration and altered T cell profiles can be observed in the pulp of developing feathers. To determine whether the development of SLV is preceded by or associated with alterations in blood lymphocyte and leukocyte populations, blood leukocyte profiles were established at various times prior to and throughout the spontaneous development of SLV. The proportions among various blood leukocyte populations (percentage of lymphocytes, monocytes, heterophils, eosinophils, and basophils) were determined by immunofluorescence and flow cytometric analyses. Lymphocyte markers included fluorescence-conjugated monoclonal antibodies to identify T cells (CD3), T helper cells (CD4), cytotoxic T cells (CD8), and B cells (IgM). The proportions among blood lymphocyte populations examined did not differ between SL and MCH-matched parental Brown line (BL) control chickens prior to and throughout the development of SLV. Compared to BL controls, SL chickens had, however, increased proportions of inflammatory leukocytes in the blood, particularly at the time when most hatchmates developed SLV. Examination of leukocyte alterations with respect to first observation of SLV revealed that inflammatory leukocyte levels were elevated early in SLV. Although altered leukocyte profiles in the blood were observed during the development of SLV, blood from SL chickens did not reflect alterations in lymphocyte populations known to occur at the site of melanocyte destruction. The role of inflammatory blood leukocytes in the development of SLV needs to be further investigated.     

Urinalysis in clinical diagnosis

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine if the addition of alfentanil to propofol is more effective than propofol alone to provide adequate conditions for placement of a retrobulbar block prior to cataract surgery. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blinded study. SETTING: Outpatients at a university hospital. PATIENTS: 40 adult ASA physical status I, II, and III outpatients scheduled for elective cataract surgery. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to receive one of four drug combinations prior to the placement of a retrobulbar block: Group 1, propofol alone; Group 2, alfentanil 5 micrograms/kg plus propofol; Group 3, alfentanil 10 micrograms/kg plus propofol; Group 4, alfentanil 15 micrograms/kg plus propofol. All patients were preoxygenated by face mask for two minutes prior to drug administration. The quality of conditions for block placement were determined by: (1) assessing the amount of movement by the patients while the block needle was in place, (2) cooperativeness of the patients during the operation, (3) hemodynamic side effects, (4) incidence and severity of respiratory depression, (5) incidence of nausea and vomiting, (6) recall of placement of the block, and (7) time to discharge from the hospital. Measurements and Main Results: The addition of alfentanil to propofol for sedation prior to placement of the retrobulbar block resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in movement by the patients. However, the highest dose of alfentanil (15 micrograms/kg) resulted in the greatest frequency (40% of the patients in this group) of respiratory depression (SpO2 < 90%). All patients were cooperative during the operation and responsive to verbal command within 5 minutes of placement of the block. In addition, all of the patients denied being nauseated, having vomited, or recalling block placement in the recovery room or the next day. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of alfentanil and propofol may be used to sedate patients in order to limit movement and provide a cooperative, alert patient with stable hemodynamics and limited respiratory depression during placement of retrobulbar block prior to ophthalmic surgery. However, excessive dosage of these drugs may result in hazardous respiratory depression in this patient population.