This study deals with replacement analysis of deteriorated equipment for improving productivity of production system. Frequent breakdown of the deteriorated equipment causes a situation that reduces productivity such as low product quality, process delay, and repair cost. However, the replacement of new equipment will be required a high initial investment cost, so it is important to analysis the economic feasibility. Therefore, we analyze the effect of the production system due to the aging effect of the equipment and the feasibility of equipment replacement based on the economic analysis. The process flow, working time, logistics movement, etc. are analyzed in order to build the simulation modeling for a ship and land switchboard production system. Using numerical examples, the economic feasibility analysis of equipment replacement through replacement of existing deteriorated equipment and additional arrangement of new facilities is performed.
Colorectal cancer causes the most cancer-associated death worldwide, having a high cancer incidence. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in various fruits, emerging as an anti-carcinogenic candidate. Although pectin has a suppressive capacity for colon carcinogenesis, the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and colonic aberrant foci formation in the colon carcinogenesis mouse model remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the regulatory effect of pectin supplementation on colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice. In an animal experiment, thirty male institute for cancer research (ICR) mice were divided into two experimental groups; AOM/DSS (control group) and AOM/DSS + pectin (5% in drinking water). Furthermore, the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) on colonic mucosa were counted, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay was performed to estimate lipid peroxidation in feces. Pectin treatment significantly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon compared with the control. Additionally, fecal TBARS level in the pectin group was significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusively, these findings indicate that pectin-inhibited hyperplastic alteration and oxidative stress suppress colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis.
Colon cancer has been considered a leading cause of cancer-associated death. Folic acid is a vitamin necessary for cellular physiological functions and cell viability. However, the association between folic acid intake and colon cancer has been examined in several prospective cohort studies are controversial. This study investigated the effects of folate intake on colon carcinogenesis and oxidative stress in an azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) institute for cancer research (ICR) mouse model. Thirty male ICR mice (5 weeks old) were divided into the control group and the experimental group supplied 0.03% folic acid via drinking water (50 mL/week/mouse) for 6 weeks. To induce colonic pre-neoplastic lesions, the animals were subcutaneously injected three times weekly with AOM (10 mg/kg body weight), followed by 2% DSS in drinking water for a week. Folic acid supplementation significantly suppressed the total number of aberrant crypt foci and aberrant crypts. Histological image data showed that folic acid supplementation attenuated neoplastic change. In addition, we measured the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances concentration of dry feces samples to identify the effect of folic acid on reactive oxygen accumulation. The folic acid supplementation group had reduced reactive oxygen species levels in dry feces compared to the control group. In conclusion, these findings indicate that folic acid suppresses colon carcinogenesis and oxidative stress in an AOM/DSS mouse model.