Distributed planning and control systems for the virtual enterprise: organizational requirements and development life-cycle

This paper describes the requirements analysis and system specification of an Order Promise module to be used as part of a broader Decision Support System for production and operations planning of a Virtual Enterprise. This work is part of a broader project with a particular focus on the microelectronics industry which is a good example of Virtual Enterprise, and where a quick response to the customers needs and to unpredictable changes in production conditions is considered a major factor for success. First, the analysis and specification are presented within a development framework that involves the study of organizational issues of semiconductor enterprises. The use of ontological engineering for supporting the communication and shared understanding of the system concepts is explained and a virtual enterprise ontology is outlined. Following the clarification of the concept of virtual enterprise, the generic techno-organizational requirements for the information system are derived. Finally, a specification of the global planning module and a more detailed one regarding the order promise module is presented.     

Poly(amino acid)-facilitated electrochemical growth of metal nanoparticles

Poly(amino acids) are natural chelating agents for various metal ions. Zinc ions were encapsulated in situ in a conductive polypyrrole film using polyglutamic acid as a localized complexing agent within the film. The subsequent electrochemical reduction of the metal ions to zero-valent metal leads to the formation of the nanoparticles. The electrochemical approach demonstrated in this report provides facile regeneration of the particles and also prevents aggregation of nanoparticles in the conductive polymeric film. The correlation of the amount of zinc with the thickness of the film indicates that the zinc resides largely in the outer layer of the film. TEM and EDS data show that the nanoparticles formed are composed of zinc and are 18 +/- 7 nm in diameter. The nanoparticle/ polymer composite was used to reduce halogenated organics, indicating its potential usefulness in remediation applications.     

UbiComp 2006 Workshops, Part 2

This article presents summaries of five of the UbiComp 2006 Workshops: System Support for Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Image Capture and Sharing, Usable Ubiquitous Computing in Next-Generation Conference Rooms, Nurturing Technologies in the Domestic Environment, and UbiHealth. The other summaries appeared in the January--March 2007 issue.     

Acute myeloma

This patient had an acute onset of myeloma, with hypercalcemia, a high M-component in the plasma, Bence Jones proteinuria, and 37% plasma cells in the bone marrow sample. After melphalan treatment (210 mg totally) he seems to have a complete cure, with total disappearance of the M-component, Bence Jones proteinuria, myeloma cells, hypercalcemia and elevated ESR for almost three years.     

Supercritical fluid chromatographic analysis of fish oils

Various natural and processed fish oil triglyceride mixtures have been analyzed by capillary supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The analyses were performed on nonpolar columns to separate the components by lipid class and by the number of carbon atoms. The compounds separated included free fatty acids, squalene, α-tocopherol, cholesterol, wax esters, cholesteryl esters, di- and triglycerides. This kind of analysis is not possible by gas chromatography or high-performance liquid chromatography methods without prior treatment of the fish oil, making SFC superior for this application. Applications of SFC to fish oils are given, including a control analysis of the various process steps in the refining of a fish oil, analysis of a lipase-catalyzed transesterification of a fish oil and the detection of polymeric artifacts.     

A Look at Tokyo Youth at Leisure: Towards the Design of New Media to Support Leisure Outings

In this paper we present a set of studies designed to explore Japanese young people’s practices around leisure outings (how they are discovered, planned, coordinated, and conducted), and the resources they use to support these practices. Tokyo youth have a wealth of leisure opportunities and tools to choose from; they are technologically savvy, and are in the vanguard of those for whom the new mobile Internet technologies are available. We characterize typical leisure outings described by our study participants, how they are structured, and the tools used to support them. We found that discovery of leisure options tends to occur serendipitously, often through personal recommendations from friends and family. For leisure research and planning, the Internet is the tool of choice, but accessed via PC, not the mobile phone (or “keitai”), which is primarily used to communicate and coordinate, not to search for information. These and related findings suggest some emerging issues and opportunities for the design of future leisure support technologies.     

Solubility of fish oil fatty acid ethyl esters in suband supercritical carbon dioxide

Mutual solubilities and K-values of fish oil fatty acid ethyl esters, prepared from sand launce oil, and sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide have been measured in an apparatus originally designed for phase equilibrium, density and gasoil ratio measurements of reservoir fluids. The measurements were performed at pressures from 2 to 22 MPa at temperatures of 283.2, 313.2 and 343.2°K. Experimental temperatures, pressures, solubilities, K-values and densities are reported. The K-values of ethyl myristate, palmitate, oleate, eicosapentaenoate and docosahexaenoate are compared with published experimental binary and/or multicomponent data. Because both vapor and liquid solubilities are reported, such data are applicable in the design of supercritical extraction plants.     

Partition Coefficients and Solubility of Urea-Fractionated Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters from Fish Oil in Supercritical CO2

Solubilities and K-values of urea-fractionated fish oil fatty acid ethyl esters, prepared from sandeel oil, have been measured in supercritical carbon dioxide experimentally. The measurements were performed at the temperatures of 313.2 and 343.2 K in the pressure range of 8 to 26 MPa. Experimental temperatures, pressures, and densities of the equilibrium phases are tabulated. The K-values of the ethyl esters of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and oleic acid of the urea-fractionated mixture are compared with previously published experimental binary and multicomponent data on the same mixture before performing the urea-fractionation. K-value data of this type are essential to conceive proper equipment design for separation of the various polyunsaturated ω-3 fatty acids present in fish oil as esters.