Investigation of process dynamics and control of polystyrene batch reactor using hybrid model

The effects of operating conditions such as initiator and monomer concentration as well as reactor temperature of polymerization reactors are studied in this work. A recently developed hybrid model for polystyrene batch reactor is utilized in simulation study. The simulation results reveal the sensitivity of polymer properties and monomer conversion to variation of process operating conditions. In the second phase of this study, the optimization problem involving minimum time optimal temperature policy is considered for control study. An advanced neural network-based model predictive controller (NN-MPC) is designed and tested online. The experimental studies reveal that the developed controller is able to track the optimal setpoint with a minor oscillation and overshoot.

Compositional dynamics of a commercial wine fermentation using two-dimensional FTIR correlation analysis

We have demonstrated that compositional changes occurring during a commercial red wine fermentation can be effectively monitored using FTIR spectroscopy and modelled with the aid of two-dimensional correlation techniques. This study represents a novel application of two-dimensional spectroscopy and showed that the reaction rates for the conversion of fructose and glucose to alcohol were different, with the latter being more rapid. The use of a simple three-component model serves to aid interpretation of the data and the results obtained confirm the value of two-dimensional FTIR correlation spectroscopy as a chemometric tool which has considerable potential for process monitoring.

Asian socialism & legal change : the dynamics of Vietnamese and Chinese reform

The immense process of economic and social transformation currently underway in China and Vietnam is well known & extensively documented. Less attention has been devoted to the critical process of Chinese & Vietnamese legal change In a unique comparative approach this book analyses recent developments in the legal sphere in China & Vietnam.

The impact of external forces on cartel network dynamics : Direct research in the diamond industry

This paper describes the impact of external environmental forces on cartel networks. Using a case research approach, this report examines two leading business networks within one industry, over time. The results suggest that (a) bargaining power of intermediaries increases with the advent of new and powerful actors, (b) process activities that cartels previously controlled are being outsourced to new actors sometimes based in developing countries, (c) other actors are acquiring resources once dominated by a cartel, (d) external forces triggered by the illegal diamond trade, such as international regulatory constraints, no longer favour cartels like De Beers, and (e) over time, these and additional environment factors are forcing actors like De Beers who perform rigid process activities to become more flexible. For example,forces are moving cartels which relied previously on hand-picked intermediaries in highly controlled networks to market their products to adopt a flexible market-focused expansion of operations in retail contexts.

Inactivity and the dynamics of relationship development : a proposed model

Much of the relationship development literature assumes that business relationships evolve along a standard path that often ends in failure. However, this overly restrictive assumption ignores that firms can reactivate dormant relationships. To relax this assumption, we focus on this dormant stage and posit that it reflects either naturally occurring pauses or consecutive shifts – first divergent and then convergent – in partnering needs. Ultimately, we proffer an inactivity-inclusive model that augments current dynamic process models and may help firms to manage all their relationships, active and inactive.

Freshwater influences on hydrology and seagrass dynamics of intermittent estuaries

Over a three-year period, impacts of changed flow regimes in small western-Victorian estuaries with Mediterranean climates were investigated. Ecosystems with artificially increased and reduced freshwater inflows were compared using a whole-system, process-based approach. Studies on such systms are rare despite their vulnerability and ecological importance.

A microfluidics device to monitor platelet aggregation dynamics in response to strain rate micro-gradients in flowing blood

This paper reports the development of a platform technology for measuring platelet function and aggregation based on localized strain rate micro-gradients. Recent experimental findings within our laboratories have identified a key role for strain rate micro-gradients in focally triggering initial recruitment and subsequent aggregation of discoid platelets at sites of blood vessel injury. We present the design justification, hydrodynamic characterization and experimental validation of a microfluidic device incorporating contraction–expansion geometries that generate strain rate conditions mimicking the effects of pathological changes in blood vessel geometry. Blood perfusion through this device supports our published findings of both in vivo and in vitro platelet aggregation and confirms a critical requirement for the coupling of blood flow acceleration to downstream deceleration for the initiation and stabilization of platelet aggregation, in the absence of soluble platelet agonists. The microfluidics platform presented will facilitate the detailed analysis of the effects of hemodynamic parameters on the rate and extent of platelet aggregation and will be a useful tool to elucidate the hemodynamic and platelet mechano-transduction mechanisms, underlying this shear-dependent process.

A model for stakeholder interactions in hospitals : towards understanding the patient flow process

The aim of this research is to understand how stakeholder interactions can facilitate the patient flow process within a hospital. An analysis of the findings reveals that nurses are in a perfect position to be a conduit between doctors and managers. This is due to several factors including the nurses understanding of both the clinical and control worlds, as well as nurses ability to form networks based on their pivotal characteristics. As a result of these findings, a model for better understanding stakeholder relationships is developed. In this research, a mixed methods approach was used by undertaking a cultural assessment via survey questionnaire, complemented by observations of interactions between organisational actors, including formal semi-structured interviews and reflections of many hours of observation. Glouberman and Mintzberg’s four world’s models is used as a foundation for the arguments of this paper. Mitchell, Agle and Wood’s (1997) model is used to discuss the three stakeholder groups of this research including doctors, nurses, and managers.

Democratizing health : consumer groups in the policy process

This timely book examines the role of consumer organisations in the health policy process. In an age of shifting boundaries between state and civil society, consumer groups are potentially drivers of democratisation in the health domain. Their activities bring new dynamics to relations between service providers, the medical profession, government agencies, and other policy actors. This book is unique in comprehensively exploring the opportunities and dilemmas of this type of activism, including sometimes ambiguous partnerships between consumer groups and stakeholders such as the pharmaceutical industry. These themes are explored within an internationally comparative frameThis book examines the important role of consumer activism within health policy in different national contexts. In an age of shifting boundaries between state and civil society, consumer groups are potentially drivers of democratization in the health domain. The expert contributors explore how their activities bring new dynamics to relations between service providers, the medical profession, government agencies, and other policy actors. This book is unique in comprehensively analysing the opportunities and dilemmas of this type of activism, including ambiguous partnerships between consumer groups and stakeholders such as the pharmaceutical industry. These themes are explored within an internationally comparative framework, with case studies from various countries. work, with case studies from many countries.

Rethinking political process in technological change : socio-technical configurations and frames

The political process perspective has done much to enhance our understanding of the organizational effects of technological change as a negotiated outcome reflecting the political and power dynamics of the adopting context. In so doing, we suggest, technology has been marginalized as an analytical category and the problem of change agency, although better understood, remains largely unresolved. This article addresses these issues through the articulation of the concepts of socio-technical configurations and technological frames and explores their utility in understanding change agency through an action research project. The project sought a novel form of 'socio-technology' transfer, taking ideas and concepts of 'human-centered' manufacturing embodied in team-based cellular manufacture from a European context into three firms in Australia.

Functional analysis of the leading malaria vaccine candidate AMA-1 reveals an essential role for the cytoplasmic domain in the invasion process

A key process in the lifecycle of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is the fast invasion of human erythrocytes. Entry into the host cell requires the apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA-1), a type I transmembrane protein located in the micronemes of the merozoite. Although AMA-1 is evolving into the leading blood-stage malaria vaccine candidate, its precise role in invasion is still unclear. We investigate AMA-1 function using live video microscopy in the absence and presence of an AMA-1 inhibitory peptide. This data reveals a crucial function of AMA-1 during the primary contact period upstream of the entry process at around the time of moving junction formation. We generate a Plasmodium falciparum cell line that expresses a functional GFP-tagged AMA-1. This allows the visualization of the dynamics of AMA-1 in live parasites. We functionally validate the ectopically expressed AMA-1 by establishing a complementation assay based on strain-specific inhibition. This method provides the basis for the functional analysis of essential genes that are refractory to any genetic manipulation. Using the complementation assay, we show that the cytoplasmic domain of AMA-1 is not required for correct trafficking and surface translocation but is essential for AMA-1 function. Although this function can be mimicked by the highly conserved cytoplasmic domains of P. vivax and P. berghei, the exchange with the heterologous domain of the microneme protein EBA-175 or the rhoptry protein Rh2b leads to a loss of function. We identify several residues in the cytoplasmic tail that are essential for AMA-1 function. We validate this data using additional transgenic parasite lines expressing AMA-1 mutants with TY1 epitopes. We show that the cytoplasmic domain of AMA-1 is phosphorylated. Mutational analysis suggests an important role for the phosphorylation in the invasion process, which might translate into novel therapeutic strategies.

Inflation dynamics and New Keynesian Phillips Curve in Australia

The New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC) is a standard model in the analysis of inflation dynamics. For the Australian economy, this study establishes the empirical evidence that the NKPC can explain the process of inflation dynamics and the price-setting mechanism. The trade shocks, such as the real exchange rate and the terms of trade, play an important role in inflation dynamics.

Working at the nexus between public health policy, practice and research : dynamics of knowledge sharing in the Netherlands

Background
Joining the domains of practice, research and policy is an important aspect of boosting the quality performance required to tackle complex public health problems. “Joining domains” implies a departure from the linear and technocratic knowledge-translation approach. Integrating the practice, research and policy triangle means knowing its elements, appreciating the barriers, identifying possible cooperation strategies and studying strategy effectiveness under specified conditions.
This article examines the dynamic process of developing an Academic Collaborative Centre for Public Health in the Netherlands, with the objective of achieving that the three domains of policy, practice and research become working partners on an equal footing.
Method
An interpretative hermeneutic approach was used to interpret the phenomenon of collaboration at the nexus between the three domains. The project was explicitly grounded in current organizational culture and routines, applied to nexus action. In the process of examination, we used both quantitative (e.g. records) and qualitative data (e.g., interviews and observations). The data were interpreted using the Actor-Network, Institutional Re-Design and Blurring the Boundaries theories.
Results
Results show commitment at strategic level. At the tactical level, however, managers were inclined to prioritize daily routine, while the policy domain remained absent. At the operational level, practitioners learned to do PhD research in real-life practice and researchers became acquainted with problems of practice and policy, resulting in new research initiatives.
Conclusion
We conclude that working at the nexus is an ongoing process of formation and reformation. Strategies based on Institutional Re-Design theories in particular might help to more actively stimulate managers’ involvement to establish mutually supportive networks.

Modeling propagation dynamics of social network worms

Social network worms, such as email worms and facebook worms, pose a critical security threat to the Internet. Modeling their propagation dynamics is essential to predict their potential damages and develop countermeasures. Although several analytical models have been proposed for modeling propagation dynamics of social network worms, there are two critical problems unsolved: temporal dynamics and spatial dependence. First, previous models have not taken into account the different time periods of Internet users checking emails or social messages, namely, temporal dynamics. Second, the problem of spatial dependence results from the improper assumption that the states of neighboring nodes are independent. These two problems seriously affect the accuracy of the previous analytical models. To address these two problems, we propose a novel analytical model. This model implements a spatial-temporal synchronization process, which is able to capture the temporal dynamics. Additionally, we find the essence of spatial dependence is the spreading cycles. By eliminating the effect of these cycles, our model overcomes the computational challenge of spatial dependence and provides a stronger approximation to the propagation dynamics. To evaluate our susceptible-infectious-immunized (SII) model, we conduct both theoretical analysis and extensive simulations. Compared with previous epidemic models and the spatial-temporal model, the experimental results show our SII model achieves a greater accuracy. We also compare our model with the susceptible-infectious-susceptible and susceptible-infectious- recovered models. The results show that our model is more suitable for modeling the propagation of social network worms.

Dynamics of cultural heritage development in Sarawak

This paper discusses contestation and legitimization in the heritage process in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Since 2011 the authors have assisted the Rurum Kelabit Sarawak (RKS) to plan a community museum. The museum is envisaged as an anchor for the preservation and representation of the Kelabit culture. In particular, through consultation and capacity building, the project is seeking to incorporate heritage values into development and cultural tourism plans. The paper considers the roles of historical and contemporary agents in the awakening of heritage consciousness in this community. This process has facilitated questions about priorities including, heritage, tourism, representation and the expression of identity through contemporary design, which this paper will contextualize within the discourse of cultural heritage and development in South East Asia. Apart from the RKS and their range of partners, important agents include the Sarawak Government, with jurisdiction over native customs; the Sarawak Museum Department, an official custodian of cultural heritage; UNESCO, through its promotion of the rights of indigenous people and the integration of culture and development; and the WWF, assisting with the Heart of Borneo conservation project. The authors see this case study of a community museum development process as an opportunity to reflect on the interrelated and contested roles and responsibilities of local, national and trans-national agents in a heritage project that contributes to an understanding of cultural politics and heritage-making.