A New Hybrid Dynamic FMECA with Decision-Making Methodology: A Case Study in an Agri-Food Company

The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is often used to improve a system's reliability. This paper proposes a new approach that aims to overcome the most critical defects of the traditional FMEA. This new methodology combines the Entropy and Bwm methodology with the EDas and System Dynamics, FMECA: The EN-B-ED Dynamic FMECA. The main innovation’s point of the proposed work is the presence of an unknown factor (Cost) in order to take into consideration the economic aspect; the evaluation of the four-factor through both an objective method (Entropy method) and a subjective method (BWM); the ranking method used (EDAS method), much more accurate than RPN; the development of a dynamic criticality analysis to take in consideration the dynamic aspect of the system. This work aims to give manufacturing companies an easy and replicable method to analyze the possible failure modes and prevent the fault.

Neon NTT: Faster Dilithium, Kyber, and Saber on Cortex-A72 and Apple M1

We present new speed records on the Armv8-A architecture for the latticebased schemes Dilithium, Kyber, and Saber. The core novelty in this paper is the combination of Montgomery multiplication and Barrett reduction resulting in “Barrett multiplication” which allows particularly efficient modular one-known-factor multiplication using the Armv8-A Neon vector instructions. These novel techniques combined with fast two-unknown-factor Montgomery multiplication, Barrett reduction sequences, and interleaved multi-stage butterflies result in significantly faster code. We also introduce “asymmetric multiplication” which is an improved technique for caching the results of the incomplete NTT, used e.g. for matrix-to-vector polynomial multiplication. Our implementations target the Arm Cortex-A72 CPU, on which our speed is 1.7× that of the state-of-the-art matrix-to-vector polynomial multiplication in kyber768 [Nguyen–Gaj 2021]. For Saber, NTTs are far superior to Toom–Cook multiplication on the Armv8-A architecture, outrunning the matrix-to-vector polynomial multiplication by 2.0×. On the Apple M1, our matrix-vector products run 2.1× and 1.9× faster for Kyber and Saber respectively.

Landscape, Soil, Lithology, Climate and Permafrost Control on Dissolved Carbon, Major and Trace Elements in the Ob River, Western Siberia

Assuming that climate warming in the WSL will lead to a northward shift of the forest and permafrost boundaries, a “substituting space for time” approach predicts an increase in concentration of DIC and labile major and trace elements and a decrease of the transport of DOC and low soluble trace metals in the form of colloids in the main stem of the Ob River. However, an unknown factor is the change in hydrochemistry of the largest southern tributary, the Irtysh River, which is impacted by permafrost-free steppe and forest-steppe zone. Overall, seasonally-resolved transect studies of large riverine systems of western Siberia are needed to assess the hydrochemical response of this environmentally-important territory to on-going climate change.

The life cycle of SPβ and related phages

Phages are viruses of bacteria and are the smallest and most common biological entities in the environment. They can reproduce immediately after infection or integrate as a prophage into their host genome. SPβ is a prophage of the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis 168, and it has been known for more than 50 years. It is sensitive to dsDNA damage and is induced through exposure to mitomycin C or UV radiation. When induced from the prophage, SPβ requires 90 min to produce and release about 30 virions. Genomes of sequenced related strains range between 128 and 140 kb, and particle-packed dsDNA exhibits terminal redundancy. Formed particles are of the Siphoviridae morphotype. Related isolates are known to infect other B.subtilis clade members. When infecting a new host, SPβ presumably follows a two-step strategy, adsorbing primarily to teichoic acid and secondarily to a yet unknown factor. Once in the host, SPβ-related phages pass through complex lysis–lysogeny decisions and either enter a lytic cycle or integrate as a dormant prophage. As prophages, SPβ-related phages integrate at the host chromosome's replication terminus, and frequently into the spsM or kamA gene. As a prophage, it imparts additional properties to its host via phage-encoded proteins. The most notable of these functional proteins is sublancin 168, which is used as a molecular weapon by the host and ensures prophage maintenance. In this review, we summarise the existing knowledge about the biology of the phage regarding its life cycle and discuss its potential as a research object.

Haze of glue determines preference of western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) for yellow or blue traps

In a wind tunnel we compared the colour preference for western flower thrips to four types of colour plates (clear, white, blue and yellow) applied with two types of glue (diffuse Stikem versus clear D41). Further the results for blue and yellow preference were validated in two greenhouses. In the wind tunnel, we found a clear preference of yellow over blue when a clear glue (D41) was used. However, with a more diffuse (whitish) glue (Stikem) the preference for yellow over blue disappeared, whereby the attraction to yellow decreased (58%) while the attraction to blue increased (65%). In the greenhouses, we found similar effects as in the wind tunnel with a decrease in attraction to yellow (35%) and increase in attraction to blue (32%) for Stikem compared to D41. Light measurements showed an increase of 18% of blue, 21% of violet light, 8% of yellow and 9% of green light reflected on the yellow Stikem trap versus the yellow D41 trap. On blue plates there was only 4% increase of blue light, 8% decrease of yellow light reflected when Stikem glue was used compared to D41 glue. It is not yet clear if the change of light reflection ratio blue/yellow caused by the glue type plays a role in the change of attraction. The reflective properties of glue are so far an unknown factor in colour choice and may explain partially the different results on colour preference. A small review on thrips colour preference is discussed to determine possible other factors of influence on colour choice.

TALE-triggered and iTALE-suppressed Xa1 resistance to bacterial blight is independent of OsTFIIAγ1 or OsTFIIAγ5 in rice

Xa1-mediated resistance to rice bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), is triggered by transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) and suppressed by interfering TALEs (iTALEs). TALEs interact with the rice transcription factor OsTFIIAγ1 or OsTFIIAγ5 (Xa5) to transcriptionally activate expression of target resistance and/or susceptibility genes. However, it is not clear whether OsTFIIAγ is involved in TALE-triggered and iTALE-suppressed Xa1 resistance. In this study, genome-edited mutations in OsTFIIAγ5 or OsTFIIAγ1 of Xa1-containing rice IRBB1 and Xa1-transgenic plants of xa5-containing rice IRBB5 did not impair the activation or suppression of Xa1 resistance. Correspondingly, the expression pattern of Xa1 in mutated OsTFIIAγ5 and OsTFIIAγ1 rice lines and IRBB1 rice was similar. In contrast, the expression of OsSWEET11 was repressed in mutated OsTFIIAγ5 and OsTFIIAγ1 rice lines. Biomolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) showed that both the TALE PthXo1 and iTALE Tal3a interacted with OsTFIIAγ1 and OsTFIIAγ5 in plant nuclei. These results indicate that TALE-triggered and iTALE-suppressed Xa1 resistance to BB is independent of OsTFIIAγ1 or OsTFIIAγ5 in rice and suggest that an unknown factor is potentially involved in the interaction of Xa1, TALEs and iTALEs in rice.

Structural inventory of native ribosomal ABCE1-43S pre-initiation complexes

In eukaryotic translation, the termination and recycling phases are linked to subsequent initiation by persistence of several factors. These comprise the large eIF3 complex, eIF3j (Hcr1 in yeast) and the ATP-binding cassette protein ABCE1 (Rli1 in yeast). The ATPase is mainly active as a recycling factor, but it can remain bound to the dissociated 40S subunit until formation of 43S pre-initiation complexes. However, its functional role and native architectural context remains largely enigmatic. Here, we present an architectural inventory of native yeast and human ABCE1-containing pre-initiation complexes by cryo-EM. We found that ABCE1 was mostly associated with early 43S but also later 48S phases of initiation. It directly interacted with eIF3j via its unique iron-sulfur cluster domain and adopted a novel hybrid conformation, which was ATPase-inhibited and stabilized by an unknown factor bound between the nucleotide binding sites. Moreover, the native human samples provided a near-complete molecular picture of the architecture and sophisticated interaction network of the 43S-bound eIF3 complex and also the eIF2 ternary complex containing the initiator tRNA.

The Benefits and Costs of Using Social Distancing to Flatten the Curve for COVID-19

We examine the net benefits of social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in USA. Social distancing saves lives but imposes large costs on society due to reduced economic activity. We use epidemiological and economic forecasting to perform a rapid benefit–cost analysis of controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. Assuming that social distancing measures can substantially reduce contacts among individuals, we find net benefits of about $5.2 trillion in our benchmark case. We examine the magnitude of the critical parameters that might imply negative net benefits, including the value of statistical life and the discount rate. A key unknown factor is the speed of economic recovery with and without social distancing measures in place. A series of robustness checks also highlight the key role of the value of mortality risk reductions and discounting in the analysis and point to a need for effective economic stimulus when the outbreak has passed.