Modelling of spring-back in interstitial free steel sheet using Taguchi design of experiments

This study was performed to use date palm rachis, as a low value bio-waste, in the manufacture of a high value added eco-friendly structural composite lumber. Taguchi design of experiments was applied to analyse the effect of raw material and product parameters on the mechanical properties of laminated strand lumber from date palm rachis. The results indicate that the composite exhibits similar or superior strength properties compared to solid lumber and engineered products from wood or other lignocellulosic material for building sector. Taguchi design of experiments was assessed as a powerful and cost effective technique to obtain optimal levels for maximizing the mechanical properties of the environmentally-friendly composite. Maximum values for the mechanical properties of date palm rachis-based LSL were obtained from a combination of 20 mm product thickness, 10 % resin content, 4mm strand thickness, and 850 kg/m3 product density. Product thickness with an 81.3 % contribution and strand thickness with an 80 % contribution have the highest effects on the flatwise stiffness and compression strength perpendicular to grain, respectively.

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Optimization of SNAP-25 and VAMP-2 Cleavage by Botulinum Neurotoxin Serotypes A–F Employing Taguchi Design-of-Experiments

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11100588 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 588

Author(s):

Laura von Berg ◽

Daniel Stern ◽

Jasmin Weisemann ◽

Andreas Rummel ◽

Martin Bernhard Dorner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Design Of Experiments ◽

Catalytic Efficiency ◽

Taguchi Design ◽

Systematic Evaluation ◽

Tween 20 ◽

Taguchi Design Of Experiments ◽

Protein Receptor ◽

Catalytically Active ◽

Botulinum Neurotoxins ◽

Dtt Dithiothreitol

The detection of catalytically active botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) can be achieved by monitoring the enzymatic cleavage of soluble NSF (N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive-factor) attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins by the toxins’ light chains (LC) in cleavage-based assays. Thus, for sensitive BoNT detection, optimal cleavage conditions for the clinically relevant A–F serotypes are required. Until now, a systematic evaluation of cleavage conditions for the different BoNT serotypes is still lacking. To address this issue, we optimized cleavage conditions for BoNT/A–F using the Taguchi design-of-experiments (DoE) method. To this aim, we analyzed the influence of buffer composition (pH, Zn2+, DTT (dithiothreitol), NaCl) as well as frequently used additives (BSA (bovine serum albumin), Tween 20, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)) on BoNT substrate cleavage. We identified major critical factors (DTT, Zn2+, TMAO) and were able to increase the catalytic efficiency of BoNT/B, C, E, and F when compared to previously described buffers. Moreover, we designed a single consensus buffer for the optimal cleavage of all tested serotypes. Our optimized buffers are instrumental to increase the sensitivity of cleavage-based assays for BoNT detection. Furthermore, the application of the Taguchi DoE approach shows how the method helps to rationally improve enzymatic assays.

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