Reducing cost of material handling has been a big challenge for companies. Flexible manufacturing system employed automated guided vehicles (AGV) to maintain efficiency and flexibility. This paper presents a new non-linear mathematical programming model to group n machines into N loops, to make an efficient configuration for AGV system in Tandem layout. The model minimizes bot...

Escherichia coli K1 is a leading pathogen in neonatal sepsis and meningitis. The K1 capsule, composed of alpha2,8-linked polysialic acid, represents the major virulence factor. In some K1 strains, phase-variable O-acetylation of the capsular polysaccharide is observed, a modification that is catalyzed by the prophage-encoded O-acetyltransferase NeuO. Phase variation is mediated by changes in th...

macrophages and t-lymphocytes are involved in immune response to mycobacterium tuberculosis. macrophage produces interleukin (il)-1 as an inflammatory mediator. il-1 receptor antagonist (il1-ra) is a natural antagonist of il-1 receptors. in this study we aimed to examine the possible association between the variable number of tandem repeats (vntr) of the il-1 receptor antagonist (il1rn) gene an...