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Warehouse operations optimisation through the implementation of lean methodology: A comprehensive review
No full textIn 2022, there was a slow growth in the developing nations' GDP, but Malaysia's economy grew strongly at 8.7% due to increased activity in a number of sectors, particularly in services. Malaysia’s strong economic growth has created a higher demand for warehouse facilities and efficient warehouse operations. As a result, the need for efficient warehouse operations to reduce expenses is evident. Thus, finding the best way to structure and design warehouse operations to maximise efficiency has been a significant problem for many organisations. Consequences, such as increased waste and a negative effect on the warehouse's overall performance, are due to lack of feedback and poor selection of logistical tools to improve flow efficiency. Therefore, this article contributed to bridge the gaps of knowledge on the lean theoretical framework for warehouse operations optimisation in finished goods warehouses. The study employs a qualitative research design methodology, reviewing and analysing 7 quality journals using thematic analysis. The analysis results have classified four key factors that influence warehouse operations optimisation: warehouse layout, material flow, inventory information, and resource allocations. These critical factors of warehouse operations efficiency are significantly affected by 5 primary wastes: waiting, transportation, defect, inventory, and underutilised employees. The findings has shown that the core lean tools, VSM and 5S, should be used sequentially to eliminate waste. The tools can also be used in conjunction with other complementary lean tools to further reduce primary waste. At the end, the study's findings highlighted the framework that aligned these key elements: warehouse operations factors, waste, and lean tools as the foundation structure and design of the theoretical framework for warehouse operations optimisation through the implementation of lean methodology to enhance production and orders. This work is anticipated to establish a basis for future research in the same field as a result of its innovative discoveries.</p
Non-resident fatherhood: a systematic review and phenomenological analysis of experiences and influencing factors
No full textResilience and adaptation of First Nations communities in Canada to disappearing winter road infrastructure in a changing climate
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Rowhammer mitigation by approximate computing: a compressed sensing case study
No full textWhile Approximate Computing (AC) trades the precision for energy efficiency with tolerable errors, its security of approximate data in digital storage is not well explored for edge devices. As one of the most effective hardware security attack methods, Rowhammer attack has shown significant threats to the digital data on dynamic random access memory (DRAM) with the vulnerability of high-frequency memory row access. This work performs the first preliminary evaluation of Rowhammer attack on real-world compressed sensing applications with approximate data. By investigating Rowhammer attack on the approximate data from compact LiDar sensor, the security impact of various precisions is presented through the fidelity of reconstructed depth image. The experiments reveal considerable mitigation of Rowhammer attack by adopting AC based sensor signal processing, where up to 2× higher PSNR of output depth image is achieved comparing to those with accurate data and computations.<br/
XL-Suite: cross-lingual synthetic training and evaluation data for open-ended generation
No full textCross-lingual open-ended generation -- responding in a language different from that of the query -- is an important yet understudied problem. This work proposes XL-Instruct, a novel technique for generating high-quality synthetic data, and introduces XL-AlpacaEval, a new benchmark for evaluating cross-lingual generation capabilities of large language models (LLMs). Our experiments show that fine-tuning with just 8K instructions generated using XL-Instruct significantly improves model performance, increasing the win rate against GPT-4o-mini from 7.4% to 21.5% and improving on several fine-grained quality metrics. Moreover, base LLMs fine-tuned on XL-Instruct exhibit strong zero-shot improvements to same-language question answering, as shown on our machine-translated m-AlpacaEval. These consistent gains highlight the promising role of XL-Instruct in the post-training of multilingual LLMs. Finally, we publicly release XL-Suite, a collection of training and evaluation data to facilitate research in cross-lingual open-ended generation
The case of AT2022wtn: a Tidal Disruption Event in an interacting galaxy
No full textWe present the results from our multi-wavelength monitoring campaign of the transient AT 2022wtn, discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility in the nucleus of SDSS J232323.79+104107.7, the less massive galaxy in an active merging pair with a mass ratio of ∼10:1. AT 2022wtn shows spectroscopic and photometric properties consistent with a X-ray faint N-strong TDE-H+He with a number of peculiarities. Specifically, a 30-days long plateau at maximum luminosity, a corresponding dip in temperature and the development of a double-horned N iii+He ii line profile. Strong and time-evolving velocity offsets in the TDE broad emission lines and the detection of a transient radio emission, indicate the presence of outflows. Overall, the observed properties are consistent with the full disruption of a low-mass star by a ∼106M⊙ SMBH followed by an efficient disk formation and the launch of a quasi-spherical reprocessing envelope of fast expanding outflowing material. The observed differences between the He ii and the Hydrogen and N iii lines can be explained either with a spatial separation of the lines emitting region or with a late-time reveal of shocks from the returning debris streams, as the photosphere recedes. Finally, we present an extensive analysis of the hosting environment and discuss the implications for the discovery of two TDEs in interacting galaxy pairs, finding indication for an over-representation of TDEs in these systems. The AT 2022wtn host galaxy properties suggest that it is in the early stages of the merger, therefore we may be witnessing the initial enhanced rate of TDEs in interacting galaxies before the post-starburst phase
Urinary biomarker-based seasonal mycotoxin exposure assessment in rural resident populations of North-central Nigeria
No full textThe concentrations of mycotoxins and their metabolites in adult first morning void urine (n = 286) from agricultural populations in two north-central Nigerian states (Nasarawa and Niger) across harvest and storage seasons were assessed using LC-MS/MS. In total, 97 % of the urine contained at least one mycotoxin; with 10 distinct mycotoxins quantified. Ochratoxin A (OTA) was the most frequently occurring (86 %), while aflatoxin M (AFM ) and fumonisin B (FB ) were quantified in 40 % and 71 % of the urine, at median concentrations of 0.2 and 11 µg/g creatinine, respectively. Other detected mycotoxins/metabolites were dihydrocitrinone (60 %), zearalenone (ZEN) (58 %), citrinin (37 %), nivalenol (14 %), deoxynivalenol (5 %), α-zearalenol (3 %) and β-zearalenol (1.4 %). Median urinary AFM , citrinins, OTA and ZEN levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in Nasarawa than in Niger. Urine from Nasarawa and at the harvest season contained more diverse mycotoxin classes than urine from Niger and at the storage season, respectively. Only three mycotoxin classes (aflatoxins, citrinins and fumonisins) showed significant seasonal variations, with higher urinary levels during harvest than at storage in Nasarawa. In Niger state, citrinins were mostly higher in urine during storage compared to harvest season, whereas urinary FB was higher at harvest compared to storage. Margin of exposure calculations indicated a risk of chronic exposure to aflatoxin B (AFB ) (detected as AFM in urine) and OTA in both states and across seasons, while the estimated average probable daily intake values for CIT, FB and ZEN exceeded the EFSA established reference values in both states and across seasons. The results clearly demonstrate chronic exposure to (carcinogenic) mycotoxins and call for intensive efforts towards design and implementation of feasible mitigation actions to reduce mycotoxin exposures and prevent potential health risks in the long-term in the affected region.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy in persons with personality disorders: a randomized clinical trial
No full textImportance Adverse childhood experiences contribute to the development of personality disorders (PDs). Although trauma-focused interventions are effective for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their effect on PD symptoms is less established.Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in reducing PD symptoms compared with a waiting list, regardless of PTSD status.Design, Setting, and Participants This 2-arm, multicenter, single-blind, randomized clinical trial was performed in the specialized outpatient departments of 2 clinics in the Netherlands from February 22, 2021, to October 2, 2024. Participants included 159 patients with PD diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Personality Disorders (SCID-5-PD). Data were analyzed based on intention to treat.Intervention Ten 90-minute EMDR sessions for 5 weeks, targeting traumatic and adverse memories linked to PD symptoms.Main Outcomes and Measures Pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up assessments using the Assessment of DSM-IV Personality Disorders (ADP-IV), SCID-5-PD, Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS).Results Among the 159 patients included in the analysis, mean (SD) age was 35.4 (12.0) years, and 130 were female (81.8%). Seventy-nine participants were randomized to the EMDR group and 80 to the waiting-list control group. Four participants (5.1%) dropped out of the EMDR group, and 16 (20.3%) were early completers, without adverse events. EMDR therapy outperformed the waiting-list condition for ADP-IV post treatment (β, −37.93 [95% CI, −52.54 to −23.33]; P < .001; Cohen d = 0.31 [95% CI, −0.05 to 0.66]) and at follow-up (β, −45.73 [95% CI, −64.90 to −26.56]; P < .001; Cohen d = 0.46 [95% CI, 0.10-0.82]), SCID-5-PD post treatment (β, −3.65 [95% CI, −5.87 to −1.42]; P = .002; d = 0.48 [95% CI, 0.14-0.82]) and at follow-up (β, −3.70 [95% CI, −7.10 to −0.30]; P = .03; Cohen d = 0.61 [95% CI, 0.25-0.97]), LPFS post treatment (β, −3.13 [95% CI, −4.86 to −1.41]; P < .001; Cohen d = 0.31 [95% CI, −0.05 to 0.67]) and at follow-up (β, −3.62 [95% CI, −5.96 to −1.28]; P = .003; Cohen d = 0.43 [95% CI, 0.06-0.79]), and DERS post treatment (β, −9.03 [95% CI, −14.90 to −3.15]; P = .003; Cohen d = 0.35 [95% CI, −0.01 to 0.71]) and at follow-up (β, −11.73 [95% CI, −19.90 to −3.55]; P = .005; Cohen d = 0.62 [95% CI, 0.25-0.98]). PD remission was more common in the EMDR than control groups both post treatment (ADP-IV, 38.3% vs 6.8%; SCID-5-PD, 33.3% vs 7.8%) and at follow-up (ADP-IV, 45.4% vs 5.9%; SCID-5-PD, 44.1% vs 15.8%).Conclusions and Relevance In this randomized clinical trial of 159 patients with PD, EMDR therapy led to significant reduction in PD symptoms, with 30 (44.1%) achieving remission. These findings support the potential of EMDR therapy for PD treatment and encourage further confirmatory research
A compact four-element multiple-input multiple-output array with an integrated frequency selective surface for millimeter-wave applications
No full textA compact fork-shaped four-element multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system with wide bandwidth for 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications is presented. The antenna elements are arranged orthogonally to achieve a compact footprint of 20×26mm2. To enhance the gain, a frequency selective surface (FSS) is placed above the MIMO system, providing an average gain improvement of 1.5 dB across the entire operating band and achieving a peak gain of 7.5 dB at 41 GHz. The proposed design operates in the Ka-band (22–46 GHz), making it well suited for 5G communications. The antenna exhibits an isolation greater than 20 dB and radiation efficiency exceeding 80% across the band. Moreover, key MIMO performance metrics, including diversity gain (DG ≈ 10) and envelope correlation coefficient (ECC < 0.05), meet the required standards. A prototype of the proposed system was fabricated and measured, with the experimental results showing good agreement with simulations