How good are ideas identified by an automatic idea detection system?

Online communities can be an attractive source of ideas for product and process innovations. However, innovative user‐contributed ideas may be few. From a perspective of harnessing “big data” for inbound open innovation, the detection of good ideas in online communities is a problem of detecting rare events. Recent advances in text analytics and machine learning have made it possible to screen vast amounts of online information and automatically detect user‐contributed ideas. However, it is still uncertain whether the ideas identified by such systems will also be regarded as sufficiently novel, feasible and valuable by firms who might decide to develop them further. A validation study is reported in which 200 posts from an online home brewing community were extracted by an automatic idea detection system. Two professionals from a brewing company evaluated the posts in terms of idea content, idea novelty, idea feasibility and idea value. The results suggest that the automatic idea detection system is sufficiently valid to be deployed for the harvesting and initial screening of ideas, and that the profile of the identified ideas (in terms of novelty, feasibility and value) follows the same pattern identified in studies of user ideation in general.     

PLANTWIDE CONTROL STUDY OF A VINYL ACETATE MONOMER PROCESS DESIGN

A simulation of a vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) process design was developed and compared with the work of Luyben and Tyreus (1998). Two incremental changes were made to the two main control substructures. Specifically, the two schemes focus on improving the liquid inventory system control and controllability of the azeotropic distillation column. The level control strategy was tested and found to produce a faster response with less oscillatory behavior. Two alternative control techniques for the azeotropic distillation column were tested, a feed-forward model predictive controller and a static feed-forward ratio controller. The model predictive controller results illustrated the large difference between the water composition analyzer sample time and the controller step size. The static feed-forward ratio controller showed excellent disturbance rejection of large feed flow variations to the azeotropic distillation column. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the new control strategies.     

Concentration polarization and fouling

Concentration polarization is often the reason for the serious limitation of the membrane processes due to its negative influence on the transmembrane flux. Many theoretical studies on this polarization phenomena have resulted in mathematical models for concentration polarization. In most of them, solutions are sought for the coupled nonlinear system of the equations of continuity and motion. Each of these solutions makes use of some assumptions in order to simplify the equations which represent the phenomenon.Different kinds of flow systems have been constructed in order to reduce the concentration polarization. The aim of these flow systems has mainly been to improve the mass transport from the membrane surface back to the bulk solution.Fouling often is a result of concentration polarization, but can also have other reasons.The attention that was drawn to fouling ten to fifteen years ago mostly consisted of recognizing the fact as such and to roughly identify the foulant. Later, efforts to avoid the negative effects have basically followed the paths of altering the composition of the feed solution by a pretreatment to change or get rid of the foulant, to change the hydrodynamics of the membrane module or to alter the membrane itself.However, unveiling the basic mechanisms of fouling attracted little attention until the late seventies when for example fouling of an RO sea water desalination membrane could be subdivided into four consecutive steps.Also, studies of the chemistry and physics of fouling have being performed on whey lately and revealed in closer detail some of the responsible phenomena.     

Maternal fish oil supplementation in lactation: Effect on visual acuity and n−3 fatty acid content of infant erythrocytes

Studies on formula-fed infants indicate a beneficial effect of dietary DHA on visual acuity. Cross-sectional studies have shown an association between breast-milk DHA levels and visual acuity in breast-fed infants. The objective in this study was to evaluate the biochemical and functional effects of fish oil (FO) supplements in lactating mothers. In this double-blinded randomized trial, Danish mothers with habitual fish intake below the 50th percentile of the Danish National Birth Cohort were randomized to microencapsulated FO [1.3 g/d long-chain n−3 FA (n−3 LCPUFA)] or olive oil (OO). The intervention started within a week after delivery and lasted 4 mon. Mothers with habitual high fish intake and their infants were included as a reference group. Ninety-seven infants completed the trial (44 OO-group, 53 FO-group) and 47 reference infants were followed up. The primary outcome measures were: DHA content of milk samples (0, 2, and 4 mon postnatal) and of infant red blood cell (RBC) membranes (4 mon postnatal), and infant visual acuity (measured by swept visual evoked potential at 2 and 4 mon of age). FO supplementation gave rise to a threefold increase in the DHA content of the 4-mon milk samples (P<0.001). DHA in infant RBC reflected milk contents (r=0.564, P<0.001) and was increased by almost 50% (P<0.001). Infant visual acuity was not significantly different in the randomized groups but was positively associated at 4 mon with infant RBC-DHA (P=0.004, multiple regression). We concluded that maternal FO supplementation during lactation did not enhance visual acuity of the infants who completed the intervention. However, the results showed that infants with higher RBC levels of n−3 LCPUFA had a better visual acuity at 4 mon of age, suggesting that n−3 LCPUFA may influence visual maturation.     

The Vanderbilt University fast track to IAIMS: transition from planning to implementation

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is implementing an Integrated Advanced Information Management System (IAIMS) using a fast-track approach. The elapsed time between start-up and completion of implementation will be 7.5 years. The Start-Up and Planning phases of the project are complete. The Implementation phase asks one question: How does an organization create an environment that redirects and coordinates a variety of individual activities so that they come together to provide an IAIMS? Four answers to this question are being tested. First, design resources to be "scalable"--i.e., capable of supporting enterprise-wide use. Second, provide information technology planning activities as ongoing core functions that direct local efforts. Third, design core infrastructure resources to be both reusable and expandable at the local level. Fourth, use milestones to measure progress toward selected endpoints to permit early refinement of plans and strategies.     

Effects of cold stress on rats fed different levels of docosenoic acids

Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 4 weeks old, were subjected to an ambient temperature of 4 C for periods up to 24 days and fed a synthetic diet containing one of the following oils: peanut oil (PO), rapeseed oil (RO), low erucic acid rapeseed oil (LO), and partially hydrogenated marine oil (HO), each at 20% w/w. A parallel experiment using the same oils was performed at room temperature (23 C). During cold stress, animals on the RO diet showed higher mortality than all other groups; all 20 animals in this group died within 5 days. At room temperature, however, all animals survived. The lipid accumulation in the heart reached its peak in all groups after 3 days and then gradually declined. The accumulation was most pronounced in the RO animals and coincided with the high mortality at 4 C. The fatty acid composition of the cardiac triglycerides reflected that of the diet, while the composition of the cardiac lecithin was only marginally modified.     

ABSORPTION OF SO2 AND H2S IN SMALL-SCALE VENTURI SCRUBBERS

Small-scale venturi scrubbers having geometries of typical large-scale units were constructed from glass and were operated in a laboratory system. Carrier gas streams consisting of air or nitrogen and up to 30% (by volume) CO₂ were mixed with SO₂ or H₂S to give SO₂ or H₂S concentrations in the range of 1890-4400 ppm. These gas mixtures were then scrubbed in the Venturis using various injected liquids (plain water, NaOH solutions, NH₄OH solutions, and NaOH/NaHCO₃ solutions) at L/G ratios of 0.0004-0.0040 m³ liquid per standard (1 atm, 60°F)m³ of gas (3-30 gallons liquid per 1000 standard ft³ of gas). Absorption percentages for SO₂ and H₂S were determined as functions of the L/G ratio, initial liquid pH, and liquid composition. The effects of venturi throat length, gas velocity, and the presence of CO₂ in the gas stream were also determined.     

Computational studies of the activation of lipases and the effect of a hydrophobic environment

We have investigated the activation pathway of three wild type lipases and three mutants using molecular dynamics techniques combined with a constrained mechanical protocol. The activation of these lipases involves a rigid body hinge-type motion of a single helix, which is displaced during activation to expose the active site and give access to the substrate. Our results suggest that the activation of lipases is enhanced in a hydrophobic environment as is generally observed in experiments. The energy gain upon activation varies between the different lipases and depends strongly on the distribution of the charged residues in the activating loop region. In a low dielectric constant medium (such as a lipid environment), the electrostatic interactions between the residues located in the vicinity of the activating loop (lipid contact zone) are dominant and determine the activation of the lipases. Calculations of the pKas qualitatively indicate that some titratable residues experience significant pK shifts upon activation. These calculations may provide sufficient details for an understanding of the origin and magnitude of a given electrostatic effect and may provide an avenue for exploring the activation pathway of lipases.      

Hydrogels That Actuate Selectively in Response to Organophosphates

Nerve agents and pesticides represent a category of extremely toxic organophosphate compounds (OPs) that irreversibly inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, disturbing transmission in the synaptic clefts of muscles and nerves. Protection from these compounds necessitates the development of breathable barriers that can selectively block the passage of OPs. Hydrogels prepared from acrylamide, N,N′‐methylenebis(acrylamide), N,N′‐bis(acryloyl)cystamine, and hydrophilic pendant oximes are herein prepared, showing the ability to decontaminate and respond to the presence of OPs through a change in swelling. The oxime‐based hydrogels show selective response only to malaoxon when tested against chemicals that are found in sweat as well as other reactive chemicals that are found in the environment. Pore sealing is demonstrated in perforated equilibrated gels within 3–4 h after the addition of malaoxon, showing actuation of the gel in response to organophosphates. This strategy demonstrates the ability to couple oxime‐based decontamination and disulfide chemistry to produce hydrogels that can decontaminate organophosphate compounds, sense the decontamination product, and transduce this sensing response into actuation of the gel, which can be used to close pores in gel sheets or between fibers in a protective fabric coating.