Learning effects and the phenomenon of moving bottlenecks in a two-stage production system

This paper studies the effects of learning and forgetting on a two-stage production system and the position of a potential bottleneck in the system. We start with developing a model for a two-stage serial production system where semi-finished items are fed by the first stage to the second stage, which, in turn, processes the items to their final state. The finished items are transferred either to a subsequent stage or to customers. The paper assumes that both stages of the production system considered are subject to learning and forgetting effects. Learning quickens the production rate as more experience is gained (i.e., when the number of repetitions increases), while forgetting has the opposite effect when production is intermittent (i.e., experience is lost over production breaks). The paper studies how different values of the learning and forgetting parameters influence the ratio of the production rates of both stages and the flow of material in the system. The results of the paper indicate that learning may cause a bottleneck to shift its position in a production system. This happens when an initially slower stage overtakes a previously faster stage over time due to a higher learning rate. The paper thus contributes to the literature on moving bottlenecks and provides practitioners with a model that helps predicting where bottlenecks may arise in the production system, and which enables the system to flexibly react to moving bottlenecks.     

Incorporating human fatigue and recovery into the learning–forgetting process

The available learning and forgetting models do not consider the physical loading that performing a task requires. In some situations, physical loading results in workers’ fatigue on the job that is followed by rest breaks to alleviate it. The aim of this paper is to present the “learning–forgetting–fatigue–recovery model” (LFFRM) that addresses possible issues relating to workers’ capabilities and restrictions in manufacturing environments. Numerical examples are solved to address some research questions regarding the model optimization and its constraints. The main results show that incorporating learning into a production process decreases fatigue and improves the performance of the system. Worker fatigue, on the other hand, increases production time and decreases production output. A recovery break must be of enough length to alleviate some of the accumulated fatigue. However, longer recovery times extend the lead time and deteriorate the production performance due to forgetting.     

M(II) Schiff base complexes (M = zinc,manganese, cadmium,cobalt, copper,nickel, iron,and palladium) supported on superparamagnetic Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles: synthesis,characterization and catalytic activity for Sonogashira–Hagihara coupling reactions

A series of magnetically separable catalysts consisting of Schiff base complexes of metal ions (Zn, Mn, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Fe and Pd) supported on superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ nanoparticles has been prepared. The structural features of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TEM, FE-SEM, DLS, VSM, UV–Vis, TGA, AFM and N₂ adsorption–desorption. Some of the Fe₃O₄@SiO₂/Schiff base complexes were found to be efficient catalysts for the Cu-free and the phosphine free Sonogashira–Hagihara coupling reaction of aryl halides and phenylacetylene. The catalysts are superparamagnetic, and thus could be easily separated by the utilization of an external magnetic field, and could be reused for six cycles without significant loss of activity.     

Control of selectivity in the generation and reactions of oxonium ylides

Dirhodium catalyzed reactions of aryl-substituted tetrahydropyranone diazoacetoacetates produce ylide intermediates that unexpectedly yield two oxabicyclo[4.2.1]-nonane diastereoisomers, but a single diastereoisomer is formed by increasing the steric bulk of the aryl substituent.     

Selective and sensitive optical chemosensor for detection of Ag(I) ions based on 2(4-hydroxy pent-3-en-2-ylideneamine) phenol in aqueous samples

A selective and sensitive chemosensor, based on the 2(4-hydroxy pent-3-en-2-ylideneamine) phenol (HPYAP) as chromophore, has been developed for colorimetric and visual detection of Ag(I) ions. HPYAP shows a considerable chromogenic behavior toward Ag(I) ions by changing the color of the solution from pale-yellow to very chromatic-yellow, which can be easily detected with the naked-eye. The chemosensor exhibited selective absorbance enhancement to Ag(I) ions in water samples over other metal ions at 438 nm, with a linear range of 0.4–500 μM (r² = 0.999) and a limit of detection 0.07 μM of Ag(I) ions with UV–vis spectrophotometer detection. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for 100 μM Ag(I) ions was 2.05% (n = 7). The proposed method was applied for the determination Ag(I) ions in water and waste water samples.     

Two-dimensional elastic phase-field simulation of fcc to bcc martensitic phase transformations in polycrystals

Numerical results of two-dimensional elastic phase-field simulations of martensitic phase transformations (fcc-bcc) in polycystals are presented. The stresses and strains in the diffuse interface domain are described by following Khachaturyan's approach of microelasticity. A fixed-point iteration algorithm in Fourier space is used to solve the mechanical equilibrium condition for the microscopic, inhomogeneous strain field and apply mechanical loadings to the system. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Crystal Growth of Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1,4-diium dichromate

Abstract  

The crystal growth of (C₆H₁₄N₂)[Cr₂O₇], consists of a diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1,4-diium cation and a discrete dichromate anion, in solution has been determined under the influence of various factors. Four factors, which influence the crystal size, crystal growth and nucleation, were chosen. These factors are concentration, temperature, type of solvent and method of crystallization. Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) method has been used for to plan a minimum number of experiments and optimization of crystallization processes. Crystallization of diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1,4-diium dichromate with desirable particle size, shape and minimum time of crystal growth as performance characteristics were studied. The changes in the crystal growth habit were observed and could be explained by the differences in the morphology on the various photograph of this compound.     

Stochastic invariance of closed sets with non-Lipschitz coefficients

This paper provides a new characterization of the stochastic invariance of a closed subset of ${\mathbb{R}}^d$ with respect to a diffusion. We extend the well-known inward pointing Stratonovich drift condition to the case where the diffusion matrix can fail to be differentiable: we only assume that the covariance matrix is. In particular, our result can be applied to construct affine and polynomial diffusions on any arbitrary closed set.