Development of a prototype customer-oriented virtual factory system

Current Computer integrated manufacturing/Enterprise Resource Planning (CIM/ERP) systems require harmony and communication between humans and facilities. A user’s preferences should also be considered in CIM/ERP systems. Virtual factory (VF), also known as virtual manufacturing (VM), systems can fulfill the requirements of current CIM/ERP systems. A VF system simulates virtual production in a virtual factory environment on the computer system which allows optimization prior to going into production. In this paper, we defined a VF system as a pre-analyzing system for designing, engineering and manufacturing a product in the enterprise system of the real world. The objective of this paper is to design a VF system and to develop a prototype system that the customer can participate in and be satisfied with. We selected a telephone as a sample product for the VF system. The VF system consists of four subsystems: virtual product ordering, design, manufacturing, and CIM/ERP interface. The prototype system aims to develop a virtual product ordering and design system.     

Biomimetic micropatterning of silica by surface-initiated polymerization and microcontact printing

Micropatterns of silica on a gold substrate were generated by a biomimetic approach, namely, the biosilicification of silicic acids. The procedure consists of three simple steps: pattern generation of a polymerization initiator, (BrC(CH(3))(2)COO(CH(2))(11)S)(2), by microcontact printing; surface-initiated, atom-transfer radical polymerization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) from the patterned area; and polycondensation of silicic acids. The tertiary amine-containing polymer, pDMAEMA, aided in the spatially controlled polycondensation of silicic acids on surfaces in the presence of phosphate ions, and micropatterns of silica on a gold substrate were successfully generated in combination with the technique of microcontact printing. The procedure could be extended to the controlled fabrication of silica patterns with any size, shape, or thickness.     

Selective Coloration of Melanin Nanospheres through Resonant Mie Scattering

Black melanin inks are prepared to selectively exhibit colors under strong light, inspired by human hair. High absorbance of melanin suppresses multiple scattering, causing resonant Mie scattering predominant. Various colors can be developed as the resonant wavelength dictated by nanosphere diameter. Therefore, the melanin inks can be used to encrypt and selectively disclose multicolor patterns for anticounterfeiting applications.     

Chemical Processing of Nanostructured Cemented Carbide

Chemical processing is becoming a vital component in the economic development of advanced engineering materials. Our research group on chemical processing has been focussed on the development of process to produce nanophase cemented carbide. It is a much more direct route for making WC/Co than traditional processing methods, and offers the potential for lower cost production of novel materials with homogeneous nanophase microstructures and improved properties. This paper addresses the scientific and technical issues relating to the chemical processing of nanophase WC/Co composite powder and their sintering.     

Classification and prediction of burr formation in micro drilling of ductile metals

In the micro drilling of precision miniature holes, the formation of exit burrs is a topic of interest, especially for ductile materials. Because such burrs are difficult to remove, it is important to be able to predict various burr types and to employ burr minimisation schemes that consider burrs’ micro-scale characteristics. In the present work, an artificial neural network (ANN) was used to predict the formation of burrs in the micro drilling of copper and brass, along with burr formation/optimisation analysis specialised for micro drills. The influence of cutting conditions, including cutting speed, feed and drill diameter, upon exit micro burr characteristics such as burr size and type was observed, analysed and classified. Based on the results, an empirical equation to predict micro burr height is proposed herein. The classification results were compared with conventional burr cases using burr control charts. Then, micro burr types were predicted by means of an ANN, using the influential parameters as input vectors. The usefulness of the proposed scheme was demonstrated by comparing the experimental and prediction/analysis results.     

The effects of process conditions and substrate on copper MOCVD using liquid injection of (hfac)Cu(vtmos)

Copper MOCVD (metalorganic chemical vapor deposition) using liquid injection for effective delivery of the (hfac)Cu(vtmos) [1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentadionato(vinyltrimethoxysilane) copper(I)] precursor has been performed to clarify growth behavior of copper films onto TiN, <100> Si, and Si₃N₄ substrates. Especially, we have studied the influences of process conditions and the substrate on growth rates, impurities, microstructures, and electrical characteristics of copper films. As the reactor pressure was increased, the growth rate was governed by a pick-up rate of (hfac)Cu(vtmos) in the vaporizer. The apparent activation energy for copper growth over the surface-reaction controlled regime from 155°C to 225°C was in the range 12.7–32.5 kcal/mol depending upon the substrate type. It revealed that H₂ addition at 225°C substrate temperature brought about a maximum increase of about 25% in the growth rate compared to pure Ar as the carrier gas. At moderate deposition temperatures, the degree of a <111> preferred orientation for the deposit was higher on the sequence of <Cu/Si<Cu/TiN<Cu/Si₃N₄. The relative impurity content within the deposit was in the range 1.1 to 1.8 at.%. The electrical resistivity for the Cu films on TiN illustrated three regions of the variation according to the substrate temperature, so the deposit at 165°C had the optimum resistivity value. However, the coarsened microstructures of Cu on TiN prepared above 275°C gave rise to higher electrical resistivities compared to those on Si and Si₃N₄ substrates.     

Endometrial Epithelial ARID1A Is Required for Uterine Immune Homeostasis during Early Pregnancy

A growing body of work suggests epigenetic dysregulation contributes to endometriosis pathophysiology and female infertility. The chromatin remodeling complex subunit AT-rich interaction domain 1A (ARID1A) must be properly expressed to maintain normal uterine function. Endometrial epithelial ARID1A is indispensable for pregnancy establishment in mice through regulation of endometrial gland function; however, ARID1A expression is decreased in infertile women with endometriosis. We hypothesized that ARID1A performs critical operations in the endometrial epithelium necessary for fertility besides maintaining gland function. To identify alterations in uterine gene expression resulting from loss of epithelial ARID1A, we performed RNA-sequencing analysis on pre-implantation uteri from Ltf^iCre/+Arid1a^f/f and control mice. Differential expression analysis identified 4181 differentially expressed genes enriched for immune-related ingenuity canonical pathways including agranulocyte adhesion and diapedesis and natural killer cell signaling. RT-qPCR confirmed an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokine and macrophage-related gene expression but a decrease in natural killer cell signaling. Immunostaining confirmed a uterus-specific increase in macrophage infiltration. Flow cytometry delineated an increase in inflammatory macrophages and a decrease in uterine dendritic cells in Ltf^iCre/+Arid1a^f/f uteri. These findings demonstrate a role for endometrial epithelial ARID1A in suppressing inflammation and maintaining uterine immune homeostasis, which are required for successful pregnancy and gynecological health.     

Generalized Approach towards Secretion-Based Protein Production via Neutralization of Secretion-Preventing Cationic Substrate Residues

Many heterologous proteins can be secreted by bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, provided that they are fused with the C-terminal signal sequence, but some proteins are not secretable even though they carry the right signal sequence. The invention of a method to secrete these non-secretable proteins would be valuable both for understanding the secretory physiology of ABC transporters and for industrial applications. Herein, we postulate that cationic “supercharged” regions within the target substrate protein block the secretion by ABC transporters. We also suggest that the secretion of such substrate proteins can be rescued by neutralizing those cationic supercharged regions via structure-preserving point mutageneses. Surface-protruding, non-structural cationic amino acids within the cationic supercharged regions were replaced by anionic or neutral hydrophilic amino acids, reducing the cationic charge density. The examples of rescued secretions we provide include the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, glutathione-S-transferase, streptavidin, lipase, tyrosinase, cutinase, growth factors, etc. In summary, our study provides a method to predict the secretability and a tool to rescue the secretion by correcting the secretion-blocking regions, making a significant step in understanding the physiological properties of ABC transporter-dependent protein secretion and laying the foundation for the development of a secretion-based protein-producing platform.     

Intratracheal Transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Attenuates Hyperoxia-Induced Microbial Dysbiosis in the Lungs,Brain, and Gut in Newborn Rats

We attempted to determine whether intratracheal (IT) transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could simultaneously attenuate hyperoxia-induced lung injuries and microbial dysbiosis of the lungs, brain, and gut in newborn rats. Newborn rats were exposed to hyperoxia (90% oxygen) for 14 days. Human umbilical cord blood-derived MSCs (5 × 10⁵) were transplanted via the IT route on postnatal day (P) five. At P14, the lungs were harvested for histological, biochemical, and microbiome analyses. Bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA genes from the lungs, brain, and large intestine were amplified, pyrosequenced, and analyzed. IT transplantation of MSCs simultaneously attenuated hyperoxia-induced lung inflammation and the ensuing injuries, as well as the dysbiosis of the lungs, brain, and gut. In correlation analyses, lung interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly positively correlated with the abundance of Proteobacteria in the lungs, brain, and gut, and it was significantly inversely correlated with the abundance of Firmicutes in the gut and lungs and that of Bacteroidetes in the lungs. In conclusion, microbial dysbiosis in the lungs, brain, and gut does not cause but is caused by hyperoxic lung inflammation and ensuing injuries, and IT transplantation of MSCs attenuates dysbiosis in the lungs, brain, and gut, primarily by their anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects.     

Structural dynamic displacement vision system using digital image processing

This study introduces dynamic displacement vision system (DDVS), which is applicable for imaging unapproachable structures using a hand-held digital video camcorder and is more economical than the existing contact and contactless measurement methods of dynamic displacement and deformation. This proposed DDVS method is applied to the Region of Interest (ROI) resizing and coefficient updating at each time step to improve the accuracy of the measurement from the digital image. Thus, after evaluating the algorithms conducted in this study by the static and dynamic verification, the measurement's usability by calculating the dynamic displacement of the masonry specimen, and the two-story steel frame specimen is evaluated under uniaxial seismic loading. The algorithm of the proposed method in this study, despite the relatively low resolution during frozen, slow, and seismic motions, has precision and usability that can replace the existing displacement transducer. Moreover, the method can be effectively applied to even fast behavior for multi-measurement positions like the seismic simulation test using large scale specimen. DDVS, using the consecutive images of the structures with an economic, hand-held digital video camcorder is a more economical displacement sensing concept than the existing contact and contactless measurement methods.