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The manufacturing industry is facing a major challenge in balancing economic performance with environmental sustainability. To address this challenge, extant research has suggested that servitization could help align these objectives. However, the current evidence base is too scattered for policymakers to act on and support servitization in a targeted manner. Therefore, we conduct a systematic literature review to analyze over 120 research papers to establish the current understanding of the impact of servitization on the environmental and economic performance of a firm, and identify the contextual variables affecting this impact. The study identifies and critically appraises the body of literature that provides the current evidence base on the impact of servitization, the core areas of impact investigated and the methods that are used to establish this impact. Additionally, we conduct a thematic analysis of variables of impact to explore the theoretical perspectives that are used to explain the impact of servitization. Building on these theoretical perspectives we offer concrete propositions to further develop the research on the impact of servitization on environmental and economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of forest fire is one of the top priority activities of forest departments, both in tropics and temperate regions. Extensive amount and intensive efforts are deployed to combat fire. The results of a case study on forest fire prone mapping conducted at Periyar tiger reserve in Western Ghats of Kerala, India, was highlighted, and based on the study, the implementation of fire management strategies were discussed. The fire risk map was validated with the forest fire inventory points of Forest Survey of India. Forest fire is a frequent occurrence in tropical forests, especially in moist deciduous and dry deciduous regions. Though forest fire management is one of the major activities of forest departments, the forest fire mitigation is not 100% successful. The magnitude of forest fire, its frequency, potential location, etc., can be assessed using Geoinformatics techniques, by giving different weightage status to fire controlling factors. A case study was conducted on these lines and control measures were highlighted using different management strategies. The implementation of the desired action plan for sustainable development and conservation of forests can be successful only by getting the full support and confidence of the stakeholders. The stakeholder support for environmental management aspects is possible only by convincing them that they are directly or indirectly getting the benefits by the proposed action. Usually, most of the environmental management activities may lead to nontangible benefits, which is apparently non-visible, hence getting stakeholder support may not be an easy task. Various marketing strategies needs to be used to convince the beneficiaries to implement good conservation practices for the betterment of the local inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel task-based ontology is proposed to improve the conceptual design at the level of a process unit for solution crystallization. The objective is to reduce the cost of resources and capital, and possibly lead to process intensification. The physical task concept is chosen to facilitate a more synthesis-focused, functional approach, as an alternative to the traditional way of thinking in geometric structures for existing equipment. The synthesis approach is to represent a crystallization unit as a structured set of basic functions (tasks), each of which transforms the physical state of matter from an initial state to some final desired target state by means of physical event(s). These tasks can be connected in a network to accomplish the transformation of the feed into the product within quality specifications. Because a task network is coupled with behavioral models of physical events, it can also be used in a process-modeling environment for synthesis, analysis, and optimization studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Polyhydramnios places increased tension on the fetal membranes and should conceptually be associated with an increased need for tissue remodeling to prevent premature rupture of membranes (PROM). Herein we use polyhydramnios as a model to study the association of the collagenase class of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) with tissue remodeling during pregnancy. Methods: Amniotic fluids were collected by transabdominal amniocentesis from women with polyhydramnios and from women with normal amniotic fluid volume at second trimester, third trimester and at term. Fluids were assayed for MMP-1 and MMP-13 (collagenase-1 and 3) using ELISA. The concentrations in polyhydramnios were compared with subjects undergoing amniocentesis with normal amniotic fluid volume. Statistical comparisons were made using Scheffes method for correction in multiple means comparison. P of -0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: MMP-1 and MMP-13 are present in the amniotic fluid at all stages of pregnancy. The concentrations of these MMPs were significantly elevated in the polyhydramnios samples independent of gestational age. Conclusion: Polyhydramnios is associated with increased amniotic fluid concentrations of MMP-1 and MMP-13 suggesting their role in tissue remodeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To see whether prophylactic central compartment dissection is recommended for advanced papillary thyroid cancer or as part of selective neck node dissection. Central compartment dissection is a technically demanding surgical procedure and carries a higher incidence of complications. The present retrospective case-control study analysed the impact of prophylactic central compartment dissection on the long-term outcome of advanced (N0-T3/T4) papillary thyroid cancer. Materials and methods: Case records of patients operated on for papillary thyroid cancer from 2005 to 2010 were reviewed and patients with Tumour stage 3–4 and N0 nodal status were included in the study. The institutional protocol was to perform total thyroidectomy with central compartment dissection during the early phase of the study period (2005 to 2008) but this strategy was shifted to total thyroidectomy alone during the latter phase. Fifty-five patients were included in the study and 29 of the cohort had total thyroidectomy with prophylactic central compartment dissection as the primary surgery and the remaining 26 had a total thyroidectomy as the primary surgical procedure. Result: Patients were followed up for a median duration of 115 months and found to have no significant difference in the incidences of loco-regional recurrences between the groups. (n:4 (14%) Vs n: 3 (12%) p =.463). The disease-free survival and overall survival were not significantly different in the groups. There was a trend to an increase in the incidence of permanent hypoparathyroidism in patients who had central compartment dissection. Conclusion: Prophylactic central compartment dissection did not influence the 10-year outcome of advanced node-negative papillary thyroid cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense electron beam generation studies were carried out using polymer velvet as a cathode material. The typical electron beam parameters were 250 kV, 15 kA, 100 ns, with a few hundred A cm[?]2 current density. The cathode plasma expansion velocity and the effective initial emission area have been calculated using the perveance data. It was found that the gap closure velocity and the initial emission areas vary randomly on a shot-to-shot basis. In comparison with a graphite cathode, the gap closure velocity of the velvet cathode is less for lower diode gaps, but is much higher for the larger accelerating gaps. One-way analysis of variance was employed to examine the statistical correlation between the diode voltage, current, plasma velocity and the effective emission area for various diode gaps and for two different cathode materials. It was shown that the mean diode voltage, current, plasma velocity and the effective emission area are different for graphite and velvet cathodes whereas the statistical variations of diode voltage and plasma expansion velocities are not cathode material dependent. However, the mean effective emission area is cathode material dependent as are the variances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the analysis of temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics and impedance measurements of electrochemically doped poly(3-methylthiophene) devices at different doping levels. The extent of doping is carefully tailored such that only the bulk-limited transport mechanism prevails. A transition from exponentially distributed trap-limited transport to trap-free space-charge-limited current is observed in current–voltage conduction upon increasing the doping. The obtained trap densities (3.2  ×  1016 cm−3 and 8.6  ×  1015 cm−3) and trap energies (31.7 meV and 16.6 meV) for different devices signify the variation in disorder with doping, which is later supported by impedance measurements. Impedance–frequency data for various devices can not be explained using the parallel resistance–capacitance (RC) model in the equivalent circuit. However, this was established by incorporating a constant phase element Q (CPE) instead of the capacitance parameter. It should be emphasized that low doping devices in particular are best simulated with two CPE elements, while the data related to other devices are fitted well with a single CPE element. It is also observed from evaluated circuit parameters that the spatial inhomogeneity and disorder are the cause of variability in different samples, which has an excellent correlation with the temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valence band electronic structure of GeSe single crystals has been investigated using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimentally observed bands from ARPES, match qualitatively with our LDA-based band structure calculations along the Γ–Z, Γ–Y and Γ–T symmetry directions. The valence band maximum occurs nearly midway along the Γ–Z direction, at a binding energy of −0.5 eV, substantiating the indirect band gap of GeSe. Non-dispersive features associated with surface states and indirect transitions have been observed. The difference in hybridization of Se and Ge 4p orbitals leads to the variation of dispersion along the three symmetry directions. The predominance of the Se 4pz orbitals, evidenced from theoretical calculations, may be the cause for highly dispersive bands along the Γ–T direction. Detailed electronic structure analysis reveals the significance of the cation–anion 4p orbitals hybridization in the valence band dispersion of IV–VI semiconductors. This is the first comprehensive report of the electronic structure of a GeSe single crystal using ARPES in conjugation with theoretical band structure analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric field activated charge transport is studied in the metal/polymer/metal device structure of electropolymerized polypyrrole down to 10 K with varying carrier density and disorder. Disorder induced nonlinear behaviour is observed in polypyrrole devices grown at room temperature which is correlated to delocalization of states. The slope parameter of current–voltage characteristics (in log–log scale) increases as the temperature decreases, which indicates the onset of stronger field dependence. The field dependence of mobility becomes dominant as the carrier density decreases. The sharp dip in differential conductance indicates the localization of carriers at low temperatures which reduces the effective number of carriers involved in the transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrathin layers of polypyrrole (PPy) were electrochemically grown between microelectrodes on a Si/SiO2 substrate. Conducting nanolayers of PPy are directly grown onto ultrathin discontinuous gold (Au) film between the microelectrodes, with thicknesses in the range 10-100 nm. The system therefore forms a novel (PPy/Au) nanocomposite conductor. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging and conductivity measurements indicate that at all thicknesses a relatively uniform film is formed but with significant roughness that reflects the roughness of the metallic island layer. In PPy/Au films with thickness [?]10 nm, the small barriers around the gold islands dominate the conduction, and as the film thickness increases to 100 nm the intrinsic conductivity of highly doped PPy dominates the charge transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]