Business Process Re-engineering in Public Administration: The case study of Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is a technique based on a radical redesign of the structure of an organization to improve its efficiency by optimizing processes and reducing costs. It has been proven effective over a plethora of private applications however, not many studies based on the public sector have been reported even though it is known to be inefficient. This is mainly due to an overall smaller market exposure of public administrations compared to private companies. However, nowadays, in the age of digitalization, the growing global competition is requiring PA to improve the efficiency of their processes. This paper offers a real case-study of an application of BPR in a PA namely the Genoa Port in Italy, one of the biggest ports in Europe. The following analysis has been carried out through an AS IS / TO BE approach and the outcome of the re-engineering process has been validated through Discrete Event Simulation. The results show how BPR can improve the efficiency of PAs and, particularly, how the port environment can drastically turn into an efficient and optimized system

Metastatic Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast Masquerading as a Primary Renal Malignancy

Breast cancer is known to metastasise to different organs in the body, but an initial presentation of breast cancer with loin pain secondary to a metastatic renal mass is extremely rare. We report a 58-year-old woman who presented with recurrent left loin pain due to a metastatic deposit of invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. The detection of a renal mass on computed tomography led to the assumption of a renal pelvic malignancy. The diagnostic dilemma posed by the detection of a breast mass during staging and the usefulness of immunohistochemistry in the confirmation of diagnosis are discussed

Sleep loss drives acetylcholine- and somatostatin interneuron-mediated gating of hippocampal activity to inhibit memory consolidation

Sleep loss disrupts consolidation of hippocampus-dependent memory. To characterize effects of learning and sleep loss, we quantified activity-dependent phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 (pS6) across the dorsal hippocampus of mice. We find that pS6 is enhanced in dentate gyrus (DG) following single-trial contextual fear conditioning (CFC) but is reduced throughout the hippocampus after brief sleep deprivation (SD; which disrupts contextual fear memory [CFM] consolidation). To characterize neuronal populations affected by SD, we used translating ribosome affinity purification sequencing to identify cell type-specific transcripts on pS6 ribosomes (pS6-TRAP). Cell type-specific enrichment analysis revealed that SD selectively activated hippocampal somatostatin-expressing (Sst+) interneurons and cholinergic and orexinergic hippocampal inputs. To understand the functional consequences of SD-elevated Sst+ interneuron activity, we used pharmacogenetics to activate or inhibit hippocampal Sst+ interneurons or cholinergic input from the medial septum. The activation of either cell population was sufficient to disrupt sleep-dependent CFM consolidation by gating activity in granule cells. The inhibition of either cell population during sleep promoted CFM consolidation and increased S6 phosphorylation among DG granule cells, suggesting their disinhibition by these manipulations. The inhibition of either population across post-CFC SD was insufficient to fully rescue CFM deficits, suggesting that additional features of sleeping brain activity are required for consolidation. Together, our data suggest that state-dependent gating of DG activity may be mediated by cholinergic input and local Sst+ interneurons. This mechanism could act as a sleep loss-driven inhibitory gate on hippocampal information processing.</p

A stochastic multiple mapping conditioning computational model in OpenFOAM for turbulent combustion

Computational models for combustion must account for complex and inherently interconnected physical processes including dispersion, mixing, chemical reactions, particulate nucleation and growth and, critically, the interactions of these with turbulence. The development of affordable and accurate models that are widely applicable is a work in progress. Stochastic multiple mapping conditioning (MMC) is a fast-emerging approach that has been successfully applied to non-premixed, premixed and partially premixed flames as well to the modelling of liquid and solid particulate synthesis. The method solves the conventional PDF transport equation but incorporates an additional constraint in that the mixing is localised in a reference space. This paper describes the numerical implementation of stochastic MMC in an OpenFOAM compatible code called mmcFoam. The model concepts and equations along with alternative submodels, code structure and numerical schemes are explained. A focus is placed on validation of the computational methods in particular demonstrating numerical convergence and mass consistency of the hybrid Eulerian/Lagrangian schemes. Four validation cases are selected including a combustion direct numerical simulation (DNS) case, two combustion experimental jet flame cases and a non-combusting particulate synthesis case. The results show that the total mass and mass distribution of Eulerian and Lagrangian schemes are consistent and confirm that the solutions numerically converge with increasing number of stochastic computational particles and sections for describing particulate size distribution

Antimalarial Exposure Delays Plasmodium falciparum Intra-Erythrocytic Cycle and Drives Drug Transporter Genes Expression

BACKGROUND: Multi-drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum is a major obstacle to malaria control and is emerging as a complex phenomenon. Mechanisms of drug evasion based on the intracellular extrusion of the drug and/or modification of target proteins have been described. However, cellular mechanisms related with metabolic activity have also been seen in eukaryotic systems, e.g. cancer cells. Recent observations suggest that such mechanism may occur in P. falciparum. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We therefore investigated the effect of mefloquine exposure on the cell cycle of three P. falciparum clones (3D7, FCB, W2) with different drug susceptibilities, while investigating in parallel the expression of four genes coding for confirmed and putative drug transporters (pfcrt, pfmdr1, pfmrp1 and pfmrp2). Mefloquine induced a previously not described dose and clone dependent delay in the intra-erythrocytic cycle of the parasite. Drug impact on cell cycle progression and gene expression was then merged using a non-linear regression model to determine specific drug driven expression. This revealed a mild, but significant, mefloquine driven gene induction up to 1.5 fold. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Both cell cycle delay and induced gene expression represent potentially important mechanisms for parasites to escape the effect of the antimalarial drug

Interface Cohesive Elements to Model Matrix Crack Evolution in Composite Laminates

In this paper, the transverse matrix (resin) cracking developed in multidirectional composite laminates loaded in tension was numerically investigated by a finite element (FE) model implemented in the commercially available software Abaqus/Explicit 6.10. A theoretical solution using the equivalent constraint model (ECM) of the damaged laminate developed by Soutis et al. was employed to describe matrix cracking evolution and compared to the proposed numerical approach. In the numerical model, interface cohesive elements were inserted between neighbouring finite elements that run parallel to fibre orientation in each lamina to simulate matrix cracking with the assumption of equally spaced cracks (based on experimental measurements and observations). The stress based traction-separation law was introduced to simulate initiation of matrix cracking and propagation under mixed-mode loading. The numerically predicted crack density was found to depend on the mesh size of the model and the material fracture parameters defined for the cohesive elements. Numerical predictions of matrix crack density as a function of applied stress are in a good agreement to experimentally measured and theoretically (ECM) obtained values, but some further refinement will be required in near future work

Computational Implementation of a Thermodynamically Based Work Potential Model For Progressive Microdamage and Transverse Cracking in Fiber-Reinforced Laminates

A continuum-level, dual internal state variable, thermodynamically based, work potential model, Schapery Theory, is used capture the effects of two matrix damage mechanisms in a fiber-reinforced laminated composite: microdamage and transverse cracking. Matrix microdamage accrues primarily in the form of shear microcracks between the fibers of the composite. Whereas, larger transverse matrix cracks typically span the thickness of a lamina and run parallel to the fibers. Schapery Theory uses the energy potential required to advance structural changes, associated with the damage mechanisms, to govern damage growth through a set of internal state variables. These state variables are used to quantify the stiffness degradation resulting from damage growth. The transverse and shear stiffness of the lamina are related to the internal state variables through a set of measurable damage functions. Additionally, the damage variables for a given strain state can be calculated from a set of evolution equations. These evolution equations and damage functions are implemented into the finite element method and used to govern the constitutive response of the material points in the model. Additionally, an axial failure criterion is included in the model. The response of a center-notched, buffer strip-stiffened panel subjected to uniaxial tension is investigated and results are compared to experiment

Identification of a Model of Transverse Viscoplastic Deformation for a UD Composite from Curvature Changes of Unsymmetric Cross-Ply Specimens

International audienceA novel testing methodology for the characterization of viscoplastic (VP) deformation of unidirectional (UD) composites under transverse tensile loading is described. The law of transverse VP deformation, which, due to specimen failure, is almost impossible to obtain using UD specimens, is identified from curvature changes of an unsymmetrical CF/EP [0/90] specimen. An initially thermally curved specimen is loaded in the axial direction to different high levels of tensile strain, with a specified holding time. After unloading and waiting for recovery of the viscoelastic strains, the curvature of the specimen had changed due to the irreversible transverse VP strain and microdamage had developed in the 90° ply. The damage effect is incorporated into the model by introducing the“effective stiffness” of the damaged layer, which is a function of the crack density and the local delamination length. A model based on the classical laminate theory is used to construct a relationship between the measured curvature after a loading step and the accumulated VP strain, temperature, and the effective stiffness. The back-calculated VP strains are analyzed, and their functional dependence on the stress and time in the viscoplasticity law is obtained. The model and the methodology are validated by comparing calculation results with test data for [902/0] laminates subjected to a similar loading. The methodology suggested could be very accurate on using a laminate with ultrathin plies in the test. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature