Multiobjective decision making approach for determining alternate routing in a flexible manufacturing system

In a Flexible Manufacturing System a particular operation on a job can be performed at several machines because of inherent capability of the machines to load multiple tools. There is a choice in the system as to which workstation each operation should be performed. Any entering workpiece therefore has the choice of several different routes. In such a complex scenario productivity could be improved by selecting an efficient routing under computer control.

This paper formulates the problem as a Coal Programming model which provides a way of striving towards several objectives simultaneously. Thus the goals to be considered are - (i) to satisfy the forecasted demand, (ii) to minimize the material movements and (iii) to minimize the workload imbalance on all the machines. The solutions obtained on solving this model specify the efficient routing to be implemented. Non-preemptive penalty values are considered for comparing the goal programming formulation with prevailing single criterion objective formulations. Appropriate reasoning for the determined penalty values for the deviations from each goals are given.

An illustrative example is considered to study alternate routing under multiple criteria. Lastly, utilization of the goal programming tool lies in evaluating the different layouts and determining the best layout. The layout with minimum workload imbalance and comparatively less material movement is recommended to be the best layout.     

Design and Prototype of a Performance Tool Interface for OpenMP

This paper proposes a performance tools interface for OpenMP, similar in spirit to the MPI profiling interface in its intent to define a clear and portable API that makes OpenMP execution events visible to runtime performance tools. We present our design using a source-level instrumentation approach based on OpenMP directive rewriting. Rules to instrument each directive and their combination are applied to generate calls to the interface consistent with directive semantics and to pass context information (e.g., source code locations) in a portable and efficient way. Our proposed OpenMP performance API further allows user functions and arbitrary code regions to be marked and performance measurement to be controlled using new OpenMP directives. To prototype the proposed OpenMP performance interface, we have developed compatible performance libraries for the Expert automatic event trace analyzer [17, 18] and the TAU performance analysis framework [13]. The directive instrumentation transformations we define are implemented in a source-to-source translation tool called OPARI. Application examples are presented for both Expert and TAU to show the OpenMP performance interface and OPARI instrumentation tool in operation. When used together with the MPI profiling interface (as the examples also demonstrate), our proposed approach provides a portable and robust solution to performance analysis of OpenMP and mixed-mode (OpenMP+MPI) applications.     

Live cell imaging: a computational perspective

One of the primary challenges in understanding complex living systems requires a good understanding of the interactions between cellular and molecular functional units. Live cell imaging is the process of non-invasively analyzing dynamic processes in living cells using state-of-the-art microscopy and computer vision techniques. Live cell imaging research provides exciting and novel insights into cell biology. In this paper, we present an overview of live cell imaging research and detail the role of computational image processing in live cell imaging.

A new look at dual purpose, water and power, plants - economy and design features

In light of rapidly rising equipment and fuel costs, recent studies have shown some important results in the economy and optimum designs for dual purpose power/desalting complexes. The desalination cycle chosen for- detailed comparisons in this study is the well known multistage flash (MSF) evaporator, which uses brine recirculation and polyphosphate scale prevention. The multi- stage flash evaporator has found wide spread application in large plants throughout the world. Single units of up to 1400 m3/hr (9.5 MGD), acid dosing, have been built and are now in operation. In general due to corrosion problems, polyphosphate plants are now preferred over the acid one.

A number of schemes for the combined production of power and. water were chosen, mainly a combination of MSF Unit with each of the following power cycle:

• 1- Automatic extraction steam turbine

• 2- Simple gas turbine with waste heat boiler

• 3- Back pressure steam turbineThis paper presents a study of the economic aspects, thermodynamic features and optimization analysis of each of these combined power and water production plants.

The optimum value of the performance ratio and its effect on reducing the cost of water in each of the above mentioned schemes would be discussed in this paper.     

Understanding stability relationships among three curcumin polymorphs

Understanding thermodynamic stability relationship among polymorphs of any active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is a necessary step for drug formulation development. Knowledge of such relationship enables identification of a stable polymorphic form at the prevalent conditions. Curcumin, a pharmaceutically active ingredient found in herbal spice turmeric, exists in three polymorphic forms; a monoclinic form (Form 1) and two orthorhombic forms (Form 2 and Form 3). However, thermodynamic stability relationships among curcumin polymorphs have not been ascertained yet. This work therefore, was focused on understanding thermodynamic stability relationships among curcumin polymorphs. During purification of curcumin, the pressure applied for vacuum evaporation of organic solvent was found to significantly affect the polymorphic outcome. Form 1 was obtained at pressures ranging from 300 to 400?mbar whereas Form 2 was obtained at pressures ranging from 100 to 200?mbar. Form 3 was obtained by liquid antisolvent precipitation using ultrasound and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) as an additive. The obtained polymorphs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Relative stability of polymorphs was established by conducting solvent mediated transformation studies, thermal analysis through DSC and variable temperature X-ray diffraction studies (VT-XRD). It was observed that Form 2 and Form 3 irreversibly convert to Form 1 upon heating. Further, Form 2 and Form 3 convert to Form 1 in aqueous organic solutions at temperatures ranging from 0?°C to 50?°C. Thus, the curcumin polymorphs were found to be monotropically related to each other with the monoclinic form (Form 1) being the most stable form.     

An Optimal Method for High-Resolution Population Geo-Spatial Data

Mainland China has a poor distribution of meteorological stations. Existing models’ estimation accuracy for creating high-resolution surfaces of meteorological data is restricted for air temperature, and low for relative humidity and wind speed (few studies reported). This study compared the typical generalized additive model (GAM) and autoencoder-based residual neural network (hereafter, residual network for short) in terms of predicting three meteorological parameters, namely air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed, using data from 824 monitoring stations across China’s mainland in 2015. The performance of the two models was assessed using a 10-fold cross-validation procedure. The air temperature models employ basic variables such as latitude, longitude, elevation, and the day of the year. The relative humidity models employ air temperature and ozone concentration as covariates, while the wind speed models use wind speed coarse-resolution reanalysis data as covariates, in addition to the fundamental variables. Spatial coordinates represent spatial variation, while the time index of the day captures time variation in our spatiotemporal models. In comparison to GAM, the residual network considerably improved prediction accuracy: on average, the coefficient of variation (CV) R² of the three meteorological parameters rose by 0.21, CV root-mean square (RMSE) fell by 37%, and the relative humidity model improved the most. The accuracy of relative humidity models was considerably improved once the monthly index was included, demonstrating that varied amounts of temporal variables are crucial for relative humidity models. We also spoke about the benefits and drawbacks of using coarse resolution reanalysis data and closest neighbor values as variables. In comparison to classic GAMs, this study indicates that the residual network model may considerably increase the accuracy of national high spatial (1 km) and temporal (daily) resolution meteorological data. Our findings have implications for high-resolution and high-accuracy meteorological parameter mapping in China.     

A mixed-mode crack analysis of rectilinear anisotropic solids

A simple numerical method is presented for analysing the mixed mode of rectilinear anisotropic solids. The method is formulated on the basis of a finite element and the crack closure integral approach in conjunction with fundamental relationships in fracture mechanics. A simple and efficient solution procedure is developed involving only the known auxiliary solution for evaluating the strain energy release rate. The finite element solution converges to an accurate solution for small crack extensions. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed approach.     

Formulation and Comparative Characterization of Chitosan,Gelatin, and Chitosan–Gelatin-Coated Liposomes of CPT-11–HCl

Liposomes containing phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol (uncoated) and coated by chitosan, gelatin, and combination of chitosan and gelatin were prepared by the modified ethanol injection method. The aim of this work was to formulate and characterize liposomes of camptothecin (CPT)-11–HCl (Irinotecan HCl) containing chitosan, gelatin, and both polymers as coating materials; and also to increase its circulation longevity when compared with the free drug while maintaining the agent in its active lactone form. Size, shape, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, stability study, in vitro, and in vivo release study were used for characterization of liposomes. The size of liposomes was in the order of uncoated?<?chitosan coated?<?gelatin coated?<?combination of chitosan and gelatin coated. The zeta potential of liposomes was in the order of combination of chitosan and gelatin coated?>?chitosan coated?>?gelatin coated?>?uncoated. The formulations showed the long-term stability. The encapsulation efficiency of liposomes was in order of combination of chitosan and gelatin coated?>?gelatin coated?>?chitosan coated?>?uncoated. The in vitro and in vivo release of drug was observed in the order of combination chitosan and gelatin coated?>?gelatin coated?>?chitosan coated?>?uncoated.