Adequate and economic factory transformability and the effects on logistical performance

Objective-oriented factory planning is a prerequisite for the economic operation of a factory. As intensive discussions in the literature as well as practical findings in factories over the years show, transformability and logistics are among the key objectives of a factory. It is striking, however, that both objectives have not so far been related to each other. Based on these findings, a method for evaluating the actual as well as the target transformability of a factory has been developed. It allows the user to assess whether the factory possesses adequate and economic transformability. In order to make the method more manageable for users in practice, a software tool is presented, and a benchmarking has been derived from the data collected by evaluating factory transformability. In addition, it has been found that transformability can influence logistics. A procedure will be presented that allows major means of adjustment to be found that improve the logistics objectives of a factory by using transformability. Finally, the outlook for future developments is discussed.     

Manufacturing flexibility and performance: bridging the gap between theory and practice

How firms scan and interpret their environments has implications for the flexibility strategy that they choose, as well as for the performance of that strategy. We extend Daft and Weick’s (Acad Manage Rev 9(2):284–295, 1984) model of firms as interpretation systems into a theoretical model of flexibility performance through extended iterations between observations of a failed flexibility initiative and relevant literature. We test the model using well-known teaching cases. We argue that the use of an iterative process that involves cases and theory both stimulates creativity in integrating theory and lays an initial foundation for evidence-based practice.     

Characterization of Cold-Shock Protein A of Antarctic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces</Emphasis> sp. AA8321

Abstact Polar organisms should have mechanisms to survive the extremely cold environment. Four genes encoding cold-shock proteins, which are small, cold-induced bacterial proteins, have been cloned from the Antarctic bacterium Streptomyces sp. AA8321. Since the specific functions of any polar bacterial or Streptomyces cold-shock proteins have not yet been determined, we examined the role of cold-shock protein A from Streptomyces sp. AA8321 (CspA_St). Gel filtration chromatography showed that purified CspA_St exists as a homodimer under physiological conditions, and gel shift assays showed that it binds to single-stranded, but not double-stranded, DNA. Overexpression of CspA_St in Escherichia coli severely impaired the ability of the host cells to form colonies, and the cells developed an elongated morphology. Incorporation of a deoxynucleoside analogue, 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine, into newly synthesized DNA was also drastically diminished in CspA_St-overexpressing cells. These results suggest that CspA_St play a role in inhibition of DNA replication during cold-adaptation.     

A Water Mediated Electrostatic Interaction Gives Thermal Stability to the “Tail” Region of the GrpE Protein from <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis>

The GrpE protein from E. coli is a homodimer with an unusual structure of two long paired α-helices from each monomer interacting in a parallel arrangement to form a “tail” at the N-terminal end. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we show that there is a key electrostatic interaction involving R57 (mediated by a water molecule) that provides thermal stability to this “tail” region. The R57A mutant showed a drop in T _m of 8.5°C and a smaller ΔH _u (unfolding) compared to wild-type for the first unfolding transition, but no significant decrease in dimer stability as shown through equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation studies. Another mutant (E94A) at the dimer interface showed a decrease in ΔH _u but no drop in T _m for the second unfolding transition and a slight increase in dimer stability.     

Analysis of Protein Three-Dimension Structure Using Amino Acids Depths

The issue of amino acid depth in proteins gives important insights to our understanding of protein’s three-dimensional structure. There has already been much research done in mathematical and statistical sciences regarding the general definitions, properties and algorithms describing the particle depth of spatially extended systems. We constructed a method of calculating the amino acids depths and applied it to a set of 527 protein structures. We propose the introduction of amino acid depth tendency factors for three-dimensional structures of proteins. The depth tendency factors relate not only to the hydrophobicity indices but also to the electrostatic charge. We found a relationship between the protein size and the number of residues using the distance between the deepest residue and surface residues. We made a prediction regarding the number of residues on the surface of a protein, the deepest amino acid, and the average depth, all of which are fitted well to a linear functional relationship with the length of the protein. Finally, we have predicted the depths of multiple peptides in protein’s three-dimension structure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The Use of the Free Metal – Temperature ‘Phase Diagrams’ for Studies of Single Site Metal Binding Proteins

Typical physico-chemical studies of metal binding proteins are usually aimed at determination of the metal binding constant K for a native protein (K _n), while the significance of the K value for the thermally denatured protein (K _u) is usually underestimated. Meanwhile, metal binding induced shift of thermal denaturation transition of a single site metal binding protein is defined by K _n to K _u ratio, implying that knowledge of both K values is required for full characterization of the system. In the present work, the most universal approach to the studies of single site metal binding proteins, namely construction of a protein “phase diagram” in coordinates of free metal ion concentration – temperature, is considered in detail. The detailed algorithm of construction of the phase diagrams along with underlying mathematic procedures developed here may be of use for studies of other simple protein-target type systems, where target represents low molecular weight ligand. Analysis of the simplest protein-ligand system reveals that thermodynamic properties of apo-protein dictate the maximal possible increase of its affinity to any simple ligand upon thermal denaturation of the protein. Experimental and general problems coupled with the use of the phase diagrams are discussed.     

Amaranth Globulin Polypeptide Heterogeneity

The polypeptides integrating amaranth globulin-p and 11S-globulin were characterized by two-dimensional electrophoresis, ion-exchange chromatography and RP-HPLC. All polypeptides exhibited charge and hydrophobic heterogeneity. Almost all acid (A, pI 5–7) and basic (B, pI 9–10) polypeptides were present in both globulins, and the same happened with the unprocessed M polypeptides with pI in the range of 7–7.5 which fits well with a sequence containing both the A and B polypeptides. There were other polypeptides only present in 11S-globulin, like some of 41 and 16 kDa, which might come from another precursor or be the products of a different processing of the propolypeptide. These results suggested that, although amaranth subunits from different subfamilies are interchangeable in different oligomers, some structural differences between them might affect the assembly of globulin molecules. Structural differences arising from this behavior could account for the different physicochemical properties of globulin molecules.     

HbS-Savaria: The Anti-polymerization Effect of a Single Mutation in Human α-chains

Recombinant α-Savaria globin (α^S49R) was assembled with β^S chains by the alloplex intermediate pathway to generate tetrameric rHbS-Sarvaria (α₂^S49Rβ₂^E6V) that exhibited normal O₂ affinity and co-operatively at pH 7.4. Allosteric effectors, 2,3-DPG, L35, and NaCl increased O₂ affinity by 15%. Bohr effects were similar for rHbS-Savaria and HbS (0.38 ± 0.025 vs. 0.46 ± 0.03, respectively). The C_SAT of HbS increased from 16.7 ± 0.8 to 27.0 ± 1.0 g/dL. Co-polymerization demonstrated inhibition predominantly by the Cis-dimer. Molecular modeling indicated that the positive charge at α-49 generated a strong anion-binding site and reduced flexibility of the CD-region by restricting movement in the E and F helices. The molecular distance between Arg-49 and Asn-78 in the neighboring double strand decreased, and electrostatic repulsion between the inter-double strands increased, resulting in inhibition of polymerization. The Savaria mutation may be useful for the design of super-inhibitory α-chains and gene therapy of sickle cell anemia.     

Equimolar Mixture of 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol and 4-Chloro-1-butanol is a Stronger Inducer of Molten Globule State: Isothermal Titration Calorimetric and Spectroscopic Studies

A mixture of 4-chloro-1-butanol and 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol (TFE) has been used to generate Molten globule (MG) state of structurally homologous but functionally different proteins bovine α-lactalbumin and hen egg-white lysozyme. The thermal denaturation was done using UV–Visible spectroscopy. From UV–Visible profile, thermal transition was not observed beyond a particular concentration. There was an indication of molten globule state in case of α-lactalbumin from circular dichroism experiments. By intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, acrylamide and potassium iodide quenching, 8-anilino-naphthalene sulfonic acid (ANS) binding and energy transfer studies the presence of molten globule state was confirmed. Quantitative characterization of MG state and determining the binding thermodynamics of ANS to the MG state was done using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC). Results show that α-lactalbumin exists in MG state at a particular concentration but lysozyme does not show features of MG state.