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Lean and agile manufacturing paradigms are complementary within the correct supply chain strategy. However, the need for agility and leanness relies on total supply chain, specifically through consideration of market knowledge and positioning of the coupling point. In a case study involving a personal computer manufacturer, results show that lean manufacturing paradigm with level scheduling and a Kanban system is adopted when dealing with the upstream side of the decoupling point. Agile manufacturing paradigm, meanwhile, is adopted when dealing with the downstream side of the decoupling point.

C2H5OH2⁺, C2H5OHD⁺, and C2D5OHD⁺ have been studied using high-energy collision-induced decomposition (CID) mass spectrometry. The spectra, in particular the isotope distributions in the CID product ions, vary significantly depending on the reaction conditions of pressure and temperature under which the protonated ethanol or its deuterated equivalents are created. C2H5OHD⁺ and C2D5OHD⁺ were formed specifically by the deuteron or proton exchange reactions:  (C6D5F)H⁺/C2H5OH and (C6H5F)D⁺/C2D5OD, respectively. The reaction exothermicity is too small to allow the formation of the isomeric deuterated ethylene−water complex (&tbd1;C2H4·H3O⁺) or isotope scrambling in the ion source. The variations in the CID spectra, dependent on the precursor ion temperature, are therefore highly unusual and unexpected. They indicate that high-energy CID in these molecules is sensitive to the degree of internal rotation of the −OHD around C−O and −CH3 around the C−C bond. This explains variations observed previously for CID spectra of (C2H5OH)H⁺ which have been attributed to the independent existence of two isomers formed by protonation of ethanol. The work supports the conclusion of Fairley et al. that the H3O⁺/C2H4 reaction leads to the formation of the lowest-energy isomer of protonated ethanol. It also gives a fresh insight into the mechanism for the collision-induced decomposition of C2H5OH2⁺.

Unrealistic assumptions are often made about data in one and two sample contexts in order to invoke standard t‐test procedures. The Bayesian approach, easily implemented with modern numerical and graphical facilities, frees one from the necessity of making such unrealistic assumptions.

One of the main obstacles to the routine implementation of Bayesian methods has been the absence of efficient algorithms for carrying out the computational tasks implicit in the Bayesian approach. In this paper, recent progress towards overcoming this problem is reviewed. In particular, novel numerical integration and interpolation methods, which exploit the opportunities offered by modern interactive computing and graphics facilities, are outlined and illustrated.

In order to evaluate the potential of TCR as vaccines for immunomodulation, the immunogenicity of soluble versions of D10 TCR has been investigated in mice. Soluble D10 TCR containing the extracellular domains were produced either as dual chain (dc) TCR lacking transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions or as a TCR-IgG1 chimeric protein. Soluble single chain (sc) D10 TCR contained only the Vα and Vβ segments joined by a peptide linker. Syngeneic D10 dcTCR of D10 TCR-IgG1 immunizations of AKR mice induced antibody responses to D10 clonotypic epitopes and to constant region epitopes that are not exposed on D10 cells. Only clonotypic antibodies were produced after D10 scTCR immunizations. Immunization of AKR mice with D10 dcTCR and D10 TCR-IgG1 primed I-A^k- and I-E^k-restricted CD4⁺ T cells recognizing constant region epitopes, but there was no detectable response to the variable region. Comparison of the in vitro proliferative responses of CD4⁺ T cells from D10 scTCR-primed H-2 congenic mice revealed that H-2^u was a responder haplotype for the variable region. How the immunogenicity of particular regions of the TCR appears to be shaped by tolerance induction in vivo and the implications for immunotherapy with soluble TCR vaccinations are discussed.

The relative concentrations of individual nonsulfated bile acids were determined in samples of serum and bile obtained simultaneously from 16 patients with biospy-proven alcoholic cirrhosis. A highly significant (P<0.001) correlation was found between the fasting relative concentrations of each of the three major bile acids (cholic, chenodeoxycholic, and deoxycholic) in serum and bile. This relationship persisted after manipulation of bile acid pools produced by feeding of individual bile acids. We conclude that the relative concentrations of individual nonsulfated bile acids in serum accurately reflect those in bile and that measurement of individual serum bile acids may be used for screening and serial determination purposes. In particular, low levels of biliary deoxycholate can be reliably predicted by serum measurements.

We recently showed that a soluble, heterodimeric murine D10 T-cell receptor (TCR) (Valpha2Calpha, Vbeta8.2Cbeta) expressed in insect cells binds both Vbeta8.2-specific bacterial superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin C2 (SEC2) and a soluble, heterodimeric major histocompatibility complex class II I-Ak.conalbumin peptide complex with a low micromolar affinity. To define further the structural requirements for the TCR/ligand interactions, we have produced in Escherichia coli a soluble, functional D10 single chain (sc) TCR molecule in which the Valpha and Vbeta domains are connected by a flexible peptide linker. Purified and refolded D10 scTCR bound to SEC2 and murine major histocompatibility complex class II I-Ak.conalbumin peptide complex with thermodynamic and kinetic binding constants similar to those measured for the baculovirus-derived heterodimeric D10 TCR suggesting that neither the TCR constant domains nor potential N- or O-linked carbohydrate moieties are necessary for ligand recognition and for expression and proper folding of the D10 scTCR. Purified D10 scTCR remained soluble at concentrations up to 1 mM. Circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy indicated that D10 scTCR is stabilized predominantly by beta-sheet secondary structure, consistent with its native-like conformation. Because of its limited size, high solubility, and structural integrity, purified D10 scTCR appears to be suitable for structural studies by multidimensional NMR spectroscopy.

A decrease in the packet size or lath width of bainitic-martensitic steels produces a simultaneous increase of toughness and yield stress. Specific interpretations are necessary to give the actual relationships since classical theories of the grain size effect cannot be directly applied to both of these microstructural parameters. To obtain these specific interpretations, a detailed analysis of lath orientations inside a packet is necessary. This analysis reveals that assumptions such as all laths in any one packet are similarly oriented are unfounded and that in fact a packet contains many high angle lath boundaries which are given by laths adopting different Kurjumov-Sachs orientation variants during the γ → α transformation. The yield stress then depends on the average lath “diameter” which is a function of lath width and length, the latter dimension being related to the packet diameter. A Petch agreement is not found, rather the yield stress is found to be related to the reciprocal of the average lath diameter. A theoretical analysis shows that for very fine grain sizes, as encountered in bainites and martensites, macroscopically heterogeneous deformation (a necessary condition leading to the Petch formulation) tends to vanish and that for macroscopically homogeneous deformation the yield stress is expected to be related to the reciprocal of the grain diameter. The fracture transition temperature is determined by the particular fracture characteristics of these steels. It is possible to explain the fracture of bainite and lath martensite without recourse to concepts such as “effective grain size” or “covariant packet size”. In spite of the different lath orientations inside a packet, a brittle crack may adopt an average, approximately straight fracture direction across a packet by following a particular group of different fracture planes that are separated by low angle boundaries. At a packet boundary the crack must find another group of fracture planes, which will impose an important deviation of the crack. At the transition temperature, the controlling event in the fracture sequence is this crack deviation, which imposes an energy requirement for the crack to undergo high angle deviations across the first laths that are adjacent to the packet boundary, until the new average fracture direction is found. Using this model the transition temperature can be related to a logarithmic function of the product of the packet diameter and lath width.

The mechanism of upper-nose temper embrittlement, which occurs upon long-time tempers at elevated temperature in some low-alloy steels, has been studied in the case of a Mn–Ni–Mo A533 gr. B steel. It was shown to be primarily due to the formation of very coarse Mo-rich M23C6carbides in the grain boundaries which fracture upon plastic straining of the matrix and thus initiate premature cleavage cracking by serving as Griffith flaws. A quantitative analysis of the concomitant evolution of all the other microstructural parameters showed that, as a whole, it had a beneficial action on toughness, partially compensating for the embrittlement provoked by the coarse grain-boundary carbide formation.