PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to carry out the literature search on manufacturing organizations and total productive maintenance (TPM). This research aims at studying TPM attributes and ...barriers in line with the TPM framework for effective implementation of TPM. This study identifies the barriers in TPM implementation and the critical success factors (CSFs) for effective TPM implementation.Design/methodology/approachIn this manuscript, the study of TPM in the manufacturing sector has been considered a broad area of the research and emphasis on the TPM literature review, which primarily relates to the contribution of manufacturing sector and employment availability. Next sections covers TPM history, importance, justification, pillars, obstacles and TPM implementation procedure and models. Thereafter author identified the gaps in existing literature.FindingsThe existing literature shows that very few TPM implementation models are available for the manufacturing sector. The study also found that there is no systematically conducted large-scale empirical research which deals with TPM implementation. In order to bridge this gap, an investigation into the successful implementation of TPM in is truly needed. The finding of the literature shows that there is a need of TPM model specially developed for the manufacturing sector. The identified critical factors derived from the extensive literature review help to overcome the barriers for effective TPM implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThis review study is limited to Indian manufacturing industries. The identified TPM CSFs are based on the TPM pillars and their sub-factors. This cross-sectional study was based on the existing TPM model.Practical implicationsThis paper can increase the significance of TPM strategy, which could help managers of organizations to have a better understanding of the benefits of implementing TPM and therefore enable patient satisfaction within their organizations.Originality/valueThe literature review covers methodical identification of TPM barriers and critical factors for maintenance performance improvements. It allows the practitioners to apply these identified CSFs for TPM implementation to achieve an improvement in industrial performance and competitiveness.
In recent years RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful technology for transcriptome profiling. For a given gene, the number of mapped reads is not only dependent on its expression level ...and gene length, but also the sequencing depth. To normalize these dependencies, RPKM (Reads Per Kilobase of transcript per Million reads mapped) and TPM (Transcripts Per Million) were used to measure gene or transcript expression levels. A common misconception is that RPKM and TPM values are already normalized, and thus should be comparable across samples or RNA-seq projects. However, RPKM and TPM represent the relative abundance of a transcript among a population of sequenced transcripts, and therefore depend on the composition of the RNA population in a sample. Quite often, it is reasonable to assume that total RNA concentration and distributions is very close across compared samples. Nevertheless, the sequenced RNA repertoires may differ significantly under different experimental conditions and/or across sequencing protocols; thus, the proportion of gene expression is not directly comparable in such cases. In this review, we illustrate typical scenarios in which RPKM and TPM are misused, unintentionally, and hope to raise scientists' awareness of this issue when comparing them across samples or different sequencing protocols.
Evidence suggests that lean methods and tools have helped manufacturing organisations to achieve operational excellence, and in this way meet both traditional and contemporary organisational ...objectives such as profitability, efficiency, responsiveness, quality, and customer satisfaction. However, the effect of these methods and tools on environmental performance is still unclear, as limited empirical research has been conducted in this field. This paper therefore investigates the impact of five essential lean methods, i.e. JIT, autonomation, kaizen/continuous improvement, total productive maintenance (TPM) and value stream mapping (VSM), on four commonly utilised measures for the compliance of environmental performance, i.e. material use, energy consumption, non-product output, and pollutant releases. A correlation analysis modelled the relationship and effect of these lean methods on the environmental performance of 250 manufacturing organisations around the world. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used as a second pronged verification approach to ensure the validity of the results. The results indicate that TMP and JIT have the strongest significance on environmental performance, whereas kaizen/continuous improvement only showed an effect on the use of materials and release of pollutants. Autonomation and VSM did not show any impact on environmental performance. The research holds important implications for industrialists, who can develop a richer knowledge on the relationship between lean and green. This will help them formulate more effective strategies for their simultaneous or sequential implementation. The paper extends our knowledge in the lean and green field by helping us to establish and explain the given relationships between five of the most important and commonly used lean methods and the environmental performance of manufacturing organisations. No previous research had considered the studied lean methods and environmental measures of performance.
•Five lean methods' effect on four measures of environmental performance is explored.•Correlation and SEM analyses from 250 companies were conducted.•TMP and JIT had the strongest significance on environmental performance.•Kaizen/CI only showed an effect on the use of materials and release of pollutants.•Autonomation and VSM did not show any impact on environmental performance.
•Hydraulic brittle fracture is simulated using a continuum porous media model extended by a phase-field modeling approach.•The permanent changes of the permeability, the volume fractions as well as ...the interstitial-fluid flow are taken into consideration.•The fluid pressure fluctuation during crack propagation is obtained.•A numerical application to demonstrate the proposed model is also introduced.
Continuum porous media theories, extended by a diffusive phase-field modeling (PFM) approach, introduce a convenient and efficient tool to the simulation of hydraulic fracture in fluid-saturated heterogeneous materials. In this, hydraulic- or tension-induced fracture occurs in the solid phase. This leads to permanent local changes in the permeability, the volume fractions of the constituents as well as the interstitial-fluid flow. In this work, the mechanical behaviors of the multi-field, multi-phase problem of saturated porous media, such as the pore-fluid flow and the solid-skeleton deformation, are described using the macroscopic Theory of Porous Media (TPM). To account for crack nucleation and propagation in the sense of brittle fracture, the energy-minimization-based PFM procedure is applied, which approximates the sharp edges of the crack by a diffusive transition zone using an auxiliary phase-field variable. Furthermore, the PFM can be implemented in usual continuum finite element packages, allowing for a robust solution of initial-boundary-value problems (IBVP). For the purpose of validation and comparison, simulations of a two-dimensional IBVP of hydraulic fracture are introduced at the end of this research paper.
•Current ulcerative colitis (UC) diagnosis is mainly based on biopsy-pathology, while distinguishing between acute and chronic stages of UC is difficult using only biopsies.•Two-photon microscopy ...(TPM) can achieve deeper tissue penetration and provide real-time three-dimensional mucosal histological images.•Moxifloxacin can label pertinent structures in colon tissues, and examination of labeled tissues by TPM can then aid in diagnosis.•This is established in a murine model and awaits clinical validation.
Accurate diagnosis of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) can reduce their risk of developing colorectal cancer. This study intended to explore whether moxifloxacin, an agent with fluorescence potential, could promote two-photon microscopy (TPM) diagnosis for mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis, which could imitate human UC.
32 Balb/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: control, acute colitis, remission colitis and chronic colitis. Fluorescence parameters, imaging performance, and tissue features of different mouse models were compared under moxifloxacin-assisted TPM and label-free TPM.
Excitation wavelength of 720 nm and moxifloxacin labeling time of 2 min was optimal for moxifloxacin-assisted TPM. With moxifloxacin labeling for colonic tissues, excitation power was decreased to 1/10 of that without labeling while fluorescence intensity was increased to 10-fold of that without labeling. Photobleaching was negligible after moxifloxacin labeling and moxifloxacin fluorescence kept stable within 2 h. Compared with the control group, moxifloxacin fluorescence was reduced in the three colitis groups (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the proportion of enhanced moxifloxacin fluorescence regions was (22.4 ± 1.6)%, (7.7 ± 1.0)%, (13.5 ± 1.7)% and (5.0 ± 1.3)% in the control, acute, remission and chronic groups respectively, with significant reduction in the three colitis groups (P < 0.05). Besides, variant tissue features of experimental colitis models were presented under moxifloxacin-assisted TPM, such as crypt opening, glandular structure, adjacent glandular space and moxifloxacin distribution.
With unique biological interaction between moxifloxacin and colonic mucosa, moxifloxacin-assisted TPM imaging is feasible and effective for accurate diagnosis of different stages of experimental colitis.
A high salinity level negatively affects the morpho-physiological parameters of plants. As a result of salinity, these effects are considered crucial signs of plant damage. In this study, ten Iraqi ...wheat cultivars were examined against two salinity levels (3 and 15 ds m-1) and some morphological, biochemical properties were measured. Also proline-related genes were analyzed using Ilumina RNA sequences and bioinformatics analyses. All cultivars demonstrated a decrease in the studied parameters with an increase saliness. 'Dijlah' cultivar showed best performance salinity stress, while 'Ibaa 99' was sensitive based on morphological and biochemical parameters. The competition was in favor of the sodium ion at the expense of the potassium ion in high salinity conditions. Proline accumulation in wheat blade leaves was about 2.5 times higher at the peak salt level. The transcriptomic analysis was done and the transcripts per million (TPM) values were estimated for some proline genes. The genes of probable proline transporter 2, proline dehydrogenase 2, and GSK-like kinase 1A obtained the higher TPM values in cultivar 'Dijlah' cultivar than in 'Ibaa 99' cultivar. It can be concluded that 'Dijlah' cultivar is a salt tolerant cultivar as compare with the susceptible 'Ibaa 99' cultivar, and their proline accumulation was increased with salinity stress and was related with TPM values. Morphological, biochemical and TPM values would offer a good combined- criteria for recognition the tolerant genotype.
Abstract
Background
In order to correctly decode phenotypic information from RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data, careful selection of the RNA-seq quantification measure is critical for inter-sample ...comparisons and for downstream analyses, such as differential gene expression between two or more conditions. Several methods have been proposed and continue to be used. However, a consensus has not been reached regarding the best gene expression quantification method for RNA-seq data analysis.
Methods
In the present study, we used replicate samples from each of 20 patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models spanning 15 tumor types, for a total of 61 human tumor xenograft samples available through the NCI patient-derived model repository (PDMR). We compared the reproducibility across replicate samples based on TPM (transcripts per million), FPKM (fragments per kilobase of transcript per million fragments mapped), and normalized counts using coefficient of variation, intraclass correlation coefficient, and cluster analysis.
Results
Our results revealed that hierarchical clustering on normalized count data tended to group replicate samples from the same PDX model together more accurately than TPM and FPKM data. Furthermore, normalized count data were observed to have the lowest median coefficient of variation (CV), and highest intraclass correlation (ICC) values across all replicate samples from the same model and for the same gene across all PDX models compared to TPM and FPKM data.
Conclusion
We provided compelling evidence for a preferred quantification measure to conduct downstream analyses of PDX RNA-seq data. To our knowledge, this is the first comparative study of RNA-seq data quantification measures conducted on PDX models, which are known to be inherently more variable than cell line models. Our findings are consistent with what others have shown for human tumors and cell lines and add further support to the thesis that normalized counts are the best choice for the analysis of RNA-seq data across samples.
Lean manufacturing has already proven to be an effective management philosophy for eliminating waste in production processes, leading to operational gains. However, nowadays, it is not enough just to ...obtain economic results, with the environmental aspect being a concern that organizations have been incorporating into their production processes due to stakeholder's pressure in order to increase their sustainable performance. As such, a bibliometric and a structured analysis of the literature were carried out focusing on the connection between lean, green and sustainability concepts. The Web of Science platform was used to collect data, encompassing the period from 1900 to 2020. The carried analyses covered the identification of the most relevant papers, including their authors, as well as their temporal and geographical distribution. There was also focus on the draft of a map to observe an underlying intellectual structure through VOSviewer. The novelty of this research is that, through the gathering of relevant data related to the three concepts considered and their analysis, a conceptual model was proposed consisting of lean-green and sustainability (LGS) tools to achieve superior triple bottom line (TBL) performance. This study pinpointed that in most of the cases where LGS tools have been applied (TPM - Total Productive Maintenance - and 6R, e.g.), there was a positive impact mostly on the economic and environmental pillars of the targeted companies. Although there were also a small number of other cases where it was found that an improved efficiency induced an increased consumption of energy and water, namely by lean tools (SMED - Single Minute Exchange of Dies, e.g.), the results demonstrated the capability of lean and green, especially their combination, to enhance sustainability outcomes. Future research should focus on quantifying the effects that LGS tools, in a single way or combined, bring to all TBL pillars, especially the social one, e.g., by developing key performance indicators. The testing of the proposed conceptual model, including its completion, is also encouraged, namely through the evaluation of what is the best combination of LGS tools, considering specific sectors of activity.
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