Manufacture

As long ago as the sixteenth century, Paracelsus recognized that 'the dose makes the poison'. Indeed, environmental concentrations of pharmaceuticals excreted by humans are limited, most importantly because a defined dose is given to just a fraction of the population. By contrast, recent studies have identified direct emission from drug manufacturing as a source of much higher environmental discharges that, in some cases, greatly exceed toxic threshold concentrations. Because production is concentrated in specific locations, the risks are not linked to usage patterns. Furthermore, as the drugs are not consumed, metabolism in the human body does not reduce concentrations. The environmental risks associated with manufacturing therefore comprise a different, wider set of pharmaceuticals compared with those associated with risks from excretion. Although pollution from manufacturing is less widespread, discharges that promote the development of drug-resistant microorganisms can s...

Recent papers reporting CMOS RF building blocks have aroused great expectations for RF receivers using deep-submicron technologies. This paper examines the trend in CMOS scaling, in order to establish the required current levels and achievable performance for different feature sizes, if robust, easily manufacturable designs are to be implemented for cellular applications. The boundary conditions (system-level constraints) for such designs, in terms of the number of trimmed and untrimmed external components and the roles they play in relaxing active circuit requirements, are emphasized throughout to make comparison of active RF circuits meaningful. At 1 GHz, 0.25-μm CMOS appears to be the threshold for robust, low-NF RF front ends with current consumption competitive with today's BJT implementations

The development of parenteral emulsions continues to play an important role in the formulation and delivery of many drugs. In addition to solubilization and stabilization applications, appropriately designed parenteral emulsions are effective delivery systems for sustained release and targeting of drugs. Control of the strict requirements of globule size and surface charge is important in the design and ultimate stability of the formulation. This review highlights the important issues and suggests strategies to assist the scientist in the development, manufacture and stability of this essential dosage form.

The effect of run-out is clearly noticed in micro-end-milling operations, while the same run-out creates negligible change at the cutting force profile of conventional end-milling operations. In this paper, the cutting force characteristics of micro-end-milling operations with tool run-out are investigated. An analytical cutting force model is developed for micro-end-milling operations with tool run-out. The proposed model has a compact set of expressions to be able to estimate the cutting force characteristics very quickly compared to the numerical approaches. The cutting forces of micro-end-milling operations simulated by the proposed model had good agreement with the experimental data.

For high-temperature usage (200 C and above) such as in certain supersonic aircraft structures, the adhesives used are either bismaleimides or polyimides, generally supplied as films, with or without a carrier. Other adhesives, such as modified epoxies, can also be used up to 200 C.

The origins of raw glass used to fashion Mycenaean beads were explored using trace elements analyzed by laser ablation ICP-TOFMS. The use of this minimally destructive technique for the in-situ analysis of these beads was ideal given that the material is exceedingly rare and thus too sensitive to make use of traditional micro-sampling (e.g., by scalpel). A wide range of trace elements were measured to compare these Greek glasses to other Late Bronze Age glass coming from Egypt and Mesopotamia. Of the eleven beads analyzed, four blue glasses colored with cobalt and two blue/green glasses colored with copper have trace element compositions consistent with an Egyptian origin of manufacture. The other five of the glasses, all colored with copper, were found to conform to the composition of Mesopotamian glass. These data are the first to demonstrate direct and clear evidence for the trade of raw glass to the Mycenaean states.

The electronics manufacturing sector has played a prominent role in export-oriented development strategies, as participation in this high-tech industry promises access to new technology, high skilled jobs and a fast-growing market. Against this background, many governments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have sought to attract investment in this sector, where foreign firms became the key actors in reshaping after 1989 and where integrating into global production networks (GPNs) was widely embraced as a means to modernize and upgrade local industries. We assess to what extent the potential benefits arising from integrating into electronics GPNs have materialized in Hungary, an established player and the most important electronics exporting country in the region, and Romania, a newcomer country in electronics manufacturing. To analyse these questions, we look at the organizational and geographical configuration of the electronics sector and examine the impact integration into these networks has had on local firms and workers and to what extent this integration has led to economic and social upgrading. With regard to economic upgrading processes, we suggest that the upgrading concept needs to pay more attention to the 'reach' of economic upgrading. This is particularly important when integration into GPNs takes place via foreign direct investment (FDI), where economic upgrading processes may be focused on transnational corporations (TNCs) with limited spillovers to local firms. The social upgrading trajectory is influenced importantly by global industry dynamics, for example high flexibility pressures and the tiered nature of the workforce in electronics GPNs, and countries' specific institutional and regulatory contexts.

Studies on a platform technology able to deliver low-cost viral capsomeres and virus-like particles are described. The technology involves expression of the VP1 structural protein from murine polyomavirus (MuPyV) in Escherichia coli, followed by purification using scaleable units and optional cell-free VLP assembly. Two insertion sites on the surface of MuPyV VP1 are exploited for the presentation of the M2e antigen from influenza and the J8 peptide from Group A Streptococcus (GAS). Results from testing on mice following subcutaneous administration demonstrate that VLPs are self adjuvating, that adding adjuvant to VLPs provides no significant benefit in terms of antibody titre, and that adjuvanted capsomeres induce an antibody titre comparable to VLPs but superior to unadjuvanted capsomere formulations. Antibodies raised against GAS J8 peptide following immunization with chimeric J8-VP1 VLPs are bactericidal against a GAS reference strain. E. coli is easily and widely cultivated, and well understood, and delivers unparalleled volumetric productivity in industrial bioreactors. Indeed, recent results demonstrate that MuPyV VP1 can be produced in bioreactors at multi-gram-per-litre levels. The platform technology described here therefore has the potential to deliver safe and efficacious vaccine, quickly and cost effectively, at distributed manufacturing sites including those in less developed countries. Additionally, the unique advantages of VLPs including their stability on freeze drying, and the potential for intradermal and intranasal administration, suggest this technology may be suited to numerous diseases where adequate response requires large-scale and low-cost vaccine manufacture, in a way that is rapidly adaptable to temporal or geographical variation in pathogen molecular composition.

Despite the urgent need for sustainable materials for mass-produced commercial products, and the incredible diversity of naturally biodegradable materials with desired structural properties, the use of regenerated biomaterials in modern engineering remains extremely limited. Chitin is a prime example: although it is responsible for some of the most remarkable mechanical properties exhibited by natural materials, including nacre, insect cuticle, and crustacean shells, and it is the most abundant organic compound on earth after cellulose, it has not been utilized in manufacturing strategies for commercial applications. Here we describe how analysis of differences in the molecular arrangement and mechanical properties of chitosan polymer that result from different processing methods led to development of a scalable manufacturing strategy for production of large three-dimensional (3D) objects of chitosan. This chitosan fabrication method offers a new pathway for large-scale production of fully compostable engineered components with complex forms, and establishes chitosan as a viable bioplastic that could potentially be used in place of existing nondegradable plastics for commercial manufacturing.

Zirconia is widely used for load-bearing functional structures in medicine and dentistry. The quality of engineered zirconia surfaces determines not only the fracture and fatigue behaviour but also the low temperature degradation (ageing sensitivity), bacterial colonization and bonding strength of zirconia devices. This paper reviews the current manufacturing techniques for fabrication of zirconia surfaces in biomedical applications, particularly, in tooth and joint replacements, and influences of the zirconia surface quality on their functional behaviours. It discusses emerging manufacturing techniques and challenges for fabrication of zirconia surfaces in biomedical applications.

This paper describes an ongoing study in improving entry-level engineering education through the deployment of new teaching and learning tools. We introduce a computer-aided interactive multimedia manufacturing courseware. Manufacturing has realized significant conceptual and technological advances over the past decade. Manufacturing education, however, is not current with recent advances of industry. To improve manufacturing education we need to change not only the process of teaching and learning, but also provide new tools and technology that promote efficient learning and make it widely available and continuously improving. To address this manufacturing education challenge, we are presently designing a program based on a new computer-aided education paradigm that embodies total quality management (TQM) and critical thinking (CT) concepts. An interactive multimedia manufacturing courseware lies at the heart of this new computer-aided education paradigm. The courseware targets early and comprehensive understanding of interdisciplinary applications of engineering systems with focus on manufacturing. The manufacturing engineering multimedia courseware (MEMC) includes: on-line lectures, audiovideo education tools, interactive computer software (process and equipment design, simulation and animation software), on-line assignment and exams, information about faculty, and on-line evaluation tools to obtain users' feedback to enhance teaching. It also makes access available to related academia, industry, and government research and education information through the World Wide Web. Such a learning system is also believed to be the stepping stone to one that generates and rewards "active, independent, self-directed learning" for students to gather and assess data rigorously and critically. In this paper, we briefly review the status of engineering education in the United States and describe the appropriateness of unifying the concepts of TQM and CT. Additionally, we provide details of how these concepts can be used in an educational model.

By examining their rock sources and mode of manufacture, the author offers a new interpretation for the Neolithic polished axe blades found in the western Alpine region. The dominant examples were made from rock extracted on the Italian side of the Alps (eclogitic) and finished in workshops on the French side. These first appeared as large blades with symbolic status, as part of the Neolithic expansion in North Italy. By the middle Neolithic the blades were reduced in size, but enjoying their widest distribution, creating a cultural zone on the left bank of the Rhône, more than 200 km from their source. In the late Neolithic, although the zone of influence was still large, the eclogites in the Rhône Valley were giving way to more local rock sources and copper. The fluctuations in this supply are interpreted as reflecting the varied political relations of Alpine communities.

This study attempted to investigate the possibility of using some types of probiotic bacteria in the production of ice cream and was aimed at making a contribution to the manufacture of new functional foods. For this purpose, different cream levels (5% and 10%) and different strains of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum and both) were used in ice cream production to determine their effects on the quality of the ice creams in each group. During storage of 1, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days, L. acidophilus, B. bifidum counts and sensory analyses were performed. The results obtained at the end of storage demonstrated that the counts of L. acidophilus and B. bifidum continued to decrease during the storage but all types of ice cream sample seemed to preserve their probiotic property even after 90 days. Higher counts of probiotic bacteria were observed in the samples with L. acidophilus, B. bifidum, and L. acidophilus and B. bifidum in double-cultured samples respectively. In general, it appeared that the ice cream samples with 5% cream content were found to be more delectable. All ice cream samples have shown good results in preserving their probiotical properties for more than 3 months. Although sensory scores of probiotic ice cream samples reduced during this time, they rated as 'tasty' throughout the storage.

Evidence based vaccinology (EBV) is the identification and use of the best evidence in making and implementing decisions during all of the stages of the life of a vaccine, including pre-licensure vaccine development and post-licensure manufacture and research, and utilization of the vaccine for disease control. Vaccines, unlike most pharmaceuticals, are in a continuous process of development both before and after licensure. Changes in biologics manufacturing technology and changes that vaccines induce in population and disease biology lead to periodic review of regimens (and sometimes dosage) based on changing immunologic data or public perceptions relevant to vaccine safety and effectiveness. EBV includes the use of evidence based medicine (EBM) both in clinical trials and in national disease containment programs. The rationale for EBV is that the highest evidentiary standards are required to maintain a rigorous scientific basis of vaccine quality control in manufacture and to ensure valid determination of vaccine efficacy, field effectiveness and safety profiles (including post-licensure safety monitoring), cost-benefit analyses, and risk:benefit ratios. EBV is increasingly based on statistically validated, clearly defined laboratory, manufacturing, clinical and epidemiological research methods and procedures, codified as good laboratory practices (GLP), good manufacturing practices (GMP), good clinical research practices (GCRP) and in clinical and public health practice (good vaccination practices, GVP). Implementation demands many data-driven decisions made by a spectrum of specialists pre-and post-licensure, and is essential to maintaining public confidence in vaccines.

We study the relationship between offshoring and job stability in Italy in the period 1995-2001 by using an administrative dataset on manufacturing workers. We find that the international fragmentation of production negatively affects job stability. Service offshoring and material purchases from developed countries foster job-to-job transitions within manufacturing of all workers and white collars, respectively. However, the most detrimental effects for job stability come from material offshoring to low income countries which drives blue collar workers out of manufacturing. Therefore, policy interventions should especially focus on this latter category of workers more exposed to fragmentation processes and foreign competition.

Microsphere-based controlled release technologies have been utilized for the long-term delivery of proteins , peptides and antibiotics, although their synthesis poses substantial challenges owing to formulation complexities, lack of scalability, and cost. To address these shortcomings, we used the electrospray process as a reproducible, synthesis technique to manufacture highly porous (>94%) microspheres while maintaining control over particle structure and size. Here we report a successful formulation recipe used to generate spherical poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microspheres using the electrospray (ES) coupled with a novel thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) process with a tailored Liquid Nitrogen (LN 2) collection scheme. We show how size, shape and porosity of resulting microspheres can be controlled by judiciously varying electrospray processing parameters and we demonstrate examples in which the particle size (and porosity) affect release kinetics. The effect of electrospray treatment on the particles and their physicochemical properties are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, confocal Raman microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The microspheres manufactured here have successfully demonstrated long-term delivery (i.e. 1 week) of an active agent, enabling sustained release of a dye with minimal physical degradation and have verified the potential of scalable electrospray technologies for an innovative TIPS-based microsphere production protocol.

This paper analyses efficiency and productivity changes in 12 broad segments of food manufacturing industries during pre and post liberalisation periods, covering a period of two decades, from 1980-1981 to 2001-2002. The nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach is used to compute the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (TFP) change, which has been further decomposed into efficiency and technical change. This paper also evaluates the performance of major inputs used in the food processing industry and identifies the causes of inefficiency across various segments. Based on the findings, the paper gives suggestions that can be used by policy makers and food processors in making decisions regarding various technical and managerial aspects to improve productivity and efficiency.

This study develops an intertemporally linked market model to explore the relationships between price-cost margins, market concentration, and advertising outlay. The study used data from 48 four-digit SIC (standardized industrial classification) codes for the Food and Tobacco Processing Industries during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The authors' findings provide evidence that both high and low levels of performance provide signals

Many trace elements (TE) occur naturally in marine environments and accomplish decisive functions in humans to maintain good health. Mytilus galloprovincialis (MG) is a rich source of TE, but since it is grown near industrial outfalls, they become polluted with elevated levels of TE concentration and serve as biomarkers of pollution. As bioremediation is increasingly reliant on machine learning data processing techniques, we propose the information theoretic concept of using MG for bioremediation. The in situ bioremediation in MG is accomplished by reduction in concentration of TE by the technique of determinant inequalities and the maximization of Mutual Information (MI) without adding any chemical element externally. We bring out the superiority of our technique of MI over that of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in predicting lower concentration for bioremediation of Cd and Pb in MG.

Pre-mould processing for syntactic foams made of starch and ceramic hollow microspheres was studied. A statistical model to relate various parameters such as volume expansion rate (VER) of initial bulk volume of microspheres (IBVMS), microsphere size, microsphere volume fractions, minimum inter-microsphere distance (MID), and mixing ratio of microspheres was developed for theoretical relations. The statistical model consists of cubic cells which can optionally be simple cubic (SC) or face centred cubic (FCC) or body centred cubic (BCC) cells. The theoretical relations were verified with experimental/numerical data for various mixtures of microspheres and found to be capable of predicting effects of microsphere size and mixture ratio of microsphere size groups on VER under various conditions arising from starch content in binder and IBVMS.

The aim of the paper is to present the results obtained by our group in the very exciting field of micromachined structures dedicated to microwave circuits. The main results are: the manufacturing of dielectric membranes on high resistivity silicon substrates, as well as of thin GaAs membranes, the design, manufacturing and characterization of membrane supported distributed and lumped microwave circuit elements. This novel technology has promising prospects regarding the development of microwave and millimeter wave monolithic integrated circuits.

Neuroevolution techniques have been successful in many sequential decision tasks such as robot control and game playing. This paper aims at establishing whether they can be useful in numerical optimization more generally, by comparing neuroevolution to Linear Programming in a manufacturing optimization domain. It turns out that neuroevolution can learn to compensate for uncertainty in the data and outperform Linear Programming when the number of variables in the problem is small and the required accuracy is low, but the current techniques do not (yet) provide an advantage in problems where many variables must be optimized with high accuracy.

Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy @EM) have been used to compare samples of YBa,CuaO, (YBCO) synthesised by the solid-state method and a novel co-precipitation technique. XRD results indicate that YBCO prepared by these two methods are phase pure, however the Raman and SEM results show marked differences between these samples.

This research considers the application of a distributed virtual laboratory (DVL)t od eliver continuous education and training in manufacturing-related disciplines via the global Internet. This presentation begins by reviewing motivations for the research. Ap ilot implementation of the DVL that employs a networked clientserver approach using readily available information technologies is then described. An assessment case-study application of the DVL within the training center of a Pittsburgh-area industrial engineering consulting firm is considered. Results from this study suggest that implementations of the distributed virtual laboratory may be feasible alternatives to face-to-face continuous manufacturing education and training. Index Terms continuous education, distributed virtual laboratory, WorldWide Web browser, Java applet. BEND From full-standing position; no input parameters. PLACE Input parameters: dwell time, waist bend angle, shoulder angle,and elbow angle. REACH Input parameters: side (left, right, or both), dwell, shoulder angle, elbow angle, waist angle, twist angle, wrist bend angle,and wrist twist angle. RISE From full-bend to full-standing positions. Input parameters: shoulder angle,and elbow angle.

The flow of multiple concurrent jobs in an automated manufacturing system (AMS), all competing for a finite set of resources, often leads to a deadlock situation. In this paper, we develop Petri net and Markov chain models for manufacturing systems with blocking and deadlock. We compute the probability that the system in an absorbing (deadlocked) state, the mean time to deadlock, and the throughput before deadlock, etc., which can be used to compare performance of various prevention and avoidance strateges. A systematic method for designing locks and interlocks for deadlock avoidance using the reachability graph of the Petri net model is presented.

Although small heings such as the qupirruit (insects and worms) appear in many different contexts in Inuit culture, they have not received much attention from scholars. In this paper we examine the symbolism associated with these small animals. We show that their small size makes them suitable to operate on the level of the tarniq, a miniature image of a being. We discuss how insects often connect different scales and easily transform into other beings. We first deal with the perceptions of insects as they take shape in narratives and practices, and their roles in the manufacture and use of amulets. Then we move to a more specific analysis of the distinctive features of the various qupirruit.

A small-scale stirred-cell device was used to separate an antivenom antibody precipitate from a suspension containing contaminating soluble proteins. The device has a total volume of 200 ml and is equipped with a filter membrane with a cutoff size of 3 µm. About 90 % of the antibody-precipitate particles in the feed were 29 µm or smaller, and the concentration of solids was 12 % (w/w). The microfiltration cell was operated in a constant-volume (continuous/diafiltration) mode, and its performance was compared with an industrial disc-stack centrifuge currently used in the manufacture of antibody precipitate. In terms of product purity, the separation performance of the microfiltration operation was found to be comparable with the discstack centrifuge, whereas the overall yield was 10 % better than that obtained from the centrifuge. This was attributed to the ability of microfiltration to reduce material losses by integrating a number of operations in a single piece of equipment. These included separation, concentration and buffer exchange, as well as dissolution and final recovery of the antibody in an appropriate buffer. The results obtained from the stirred cell are potentially scaleable, and dynamic microfiltration is shown to be an attractive process option.

This paper describes a new paradigm, known as "functional build," for finalizing design specifications on manufactured components prior to the start of regular production. Under functional build, manufacturers use a preproduction assembly to evaluate whether components build dimensionally correct assembled products, even if some individual component characteristics do not meet their original specifications. If the components form a functionally acceptable assembly, manufacturers then adjust component design specifications based on the dimensional data of the physical parts. Although a functional build tolerance adjustment strategy is applicable to any assembly, it appears most useful for those containing nonrigid components such as a car body where the sheet metal components can change shape or deform during assembly. This paper examines the advantages of using a functional build strategy over the traditional approach to tolerance adjustment during process validation.

Mechanical strength properties and dimensional stability of composite wood prod ucts are determined to some extent by the environment within the mat during press ing. The objectives of this study were to define time-related temperature and vaporpressure parameters occurring in a mat during different steam injection pressing (SIP) schedules and to relate these conditions to board properties. thick aspen flakeboards made with either phenol formaldehyde or isocyanate resin using a 12-min conventional press schedule were compared to boards made with four different SIP schedules of shorter duration. Maximum temperatures in the SIP boards varied from 220°F to 302°F (104°C to 150°C) as compared to a maximum of 270°F (132°C) in the conventional boards. Measured temperatures sometimes deviated from temperatures predicted from saturated steam tables at the measured va por pressures. Vapor pressure differentials of >30 lb/in 2 (>207 kPa) occurred for short periods at different locations within a board. The vapor pressures at various board locations tended to equalize and simultaneously rose and fell at different rates depend ing on the dynamics of the system, their relative position, and the permeability of the board.

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

For many centuries, the customs duties, the quantitative restrictions and other similar stipulations have represented the instruments specific to historical progress of any countries, from one moment of time to another; such instruments were emphasized either by increasing the revenues, by supporting the development of some areas, thus protecting them against to foreign competition, or by other reasons. The protectionist systems have had followers within all structures of the society, where each of them have brought substantiations dictated by own faith or interests.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches to Finite Element Analysis (FEA), have had tentative degrees of success over the last few years and some authors have argued that effective FEA can help in the manufacture reliability and safety aspects of engineered artefacts. The author of this paper reviews how such AI techniques have been applied and in this light, the author then uses a Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM), to develop a framework for the management of intelligence-assisted FEA.

This work describes the use of multimedia modules contained on compact disks to help the student learn fundamental concepts of transport phenomena. The modules also describe commercial processes to manufacture computer chips and synthetic fibers, so the student learns the engineering fundamentals within the context of real-life applications.

The aim of this paper is to present a componentbased approach for the design of transitic systems and their implementation on operational architecture. It considers a flow that applies from specifications to integration the same model. This model is obtained from design requirements. Two steps are then conjointly performed: validation and prototyping. Validation is based on simulation and a more formal approach. Prototyping enables choice of parameters and control elaboration. The last step is the integration. The different parts of the workshop have to be installed and controls implemented on classical Programmable Logic Controllers or on dedicated ones: the nano-controllers.

This study performed a preliminary assessment on manufacturer's point calibration method by comparing it with a modified calibration setup by using an Air Bladder. Rather than having a subject participated in the calibration process, the modified calibration setup used the calibration bladder to mimic the force applied by the subject to generate a calibration fit. This assessment also includes a sensor performance evaluation by using both methods to monitor the overall performance of the sensor after every experiment. Result shows a large difference between manufacturer's calibration and modified calibration where the manufacturer's calibration tends to show an irregular sensor performance. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-69139-6_108