Vertical integration for full outsourcing: growth and internationalization of a portuguese packaging firm

Based on a case study of a Portuguese packaging firm, this paper examines how vertical integration of the supplier serves as a vehicle for the full outsourcing of the client firms' needs in a solution that reduces transaction costs, favors specialization, and permits small and mediumsized firms to develop competencies that may be exploited in a wide array of projects. Vertical integration by the supplier (a governance decision) is a strategic response to changes in the sourcing model of the clients. Client-supplier relationships have inter-spatial and inter-temporal value that surpasses spot market exchanges

An extended mixed-integer programming formulation and dynamic cut generation approach for the stochastic lot sizing problem

We present an extended mixed-integer programming formulation of the stochastic lot-sizing problem for the static-dynamic uncertainty strategy. The proposed formulation is significantly more time efficient as compared to existing formulations in the literature and it can handle variants of the stochastic lot-sizing problem characterized by penalty costs and service level constraints, as well as backorders and lost sales. Also, besides being capable of working with a predefined piecewise linear approximation of the cost function-as is the case in earlier formulations-it has the functionality of finding an optimal cost solution with an arbitrary level of precision by means of a novel dynamic cut generation approach

Evidence of relictual introgression or incomplete lineage sorting in nrDNA of Juniperus excelsa and J. polycarpos in Asia Minor

DNA analysis of Juniperus excelsa from throughout its range revealed that J. polycarpos, instead of J. excelsa occupies central and eastern Turkey. Based on nrDNA (ITS) data, it appears that relictual hybridization has occurred in southeastern Turkey between J. polycarpos and J. turcomanica. Surprisingly, evidence of incomplete lineage sorting or relictual hybridization between J. polycarpos and J. seravschanica was found in central Turkey and northwest Iran

Evidence of relictual introgression or incomplete lineage sorting in nrDNA of Juniperus excelsa and J. polycarpos in Asia Minor

DNA analysis of Juniperus excelsa from throughout its range revealed that J. polycarpos, instead of J. excelsa occupies central and eastern Turkey. Based on nrDNA (ITS) data, it appears that relictual hybridization has occurred in southeastern Turkey between J. polycarpos and J. turcomanica. Surprisingly, evidence of incomplete lineage sorting or relictual hybridization between J. polycarpos and J. seravschanica was found in central Turkey and northwest Iran

Celiac disease with a mixed pattern: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Bias correction and Bayesian analysis of aggregate counts in SAGE libraries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tag-based techniques, such as SAGE, are commonly used to sample the mRNA pool of an organism's transcriptome. Incomplete digestion during the tag formation process may allow for multiple tags to be generated from a given mRNA transcript. The probability of forming a tag varies with its relative location. As a result, the observed tag counts represent a biased sample of the actual transcript pool. In SAGE this bias can be avoided by ignoring all but the 3' most tag but will discard a large fraction of the observed data. Taking this bias into account should allow more of the available data to be used leading to increased statistical power.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three new hierarchical models, which directly embed a model for the variation in tag formation probability, are proposed and their associated Bayesian inference algorithms are developed. These models may be applied to libraries at both the tag and aggregate level. Simulation experiments and analysis of real data are used to contrast the accuracy of the various methods. The consequences of tag formation bias are discussed in the context of testing differential expression. A description is given as to how these algorithms can be applied in that context.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Several Bayesian inference algorithms that account for tag formation effects are compared with the DPB algorithm providing clear evidence of superior performance. The accuracy of inferences when using a particular non-informative prior is found to depend on the expression level of a given gene. The multivariate nature of the approach easily allows both univariate and joint tests of differential expression. Calculations demonstrate the potential for false positive and negative findings due to variation in tag formation probabilities across samples when testing for differential expression.</p

Protective efficiacy of taurine against pulmonary edema progression: experimental study

Re-expansion pulmonary edema (RPE) is an acute, rare and potentially lethal complication [1,2]. Its beginning is sudden and dramatic. The mechanism is not yet fully understood [1]. Some authors suggest that it may occur after rapid re-inflation of a collapsed lung [1]. It was reported by other authors that it may relate to surfactant depletion or may result from hypoxic capillary damage, leading to increased capillary permeability [1,3]. In RPE, unilateral lung injury is initiated by cytotoxic oxygen metabolites and temporally associated with an influx of polymorphonuclear neutrophils [1]. These toxic oxygen products are the results of re-oxygenation of a collapsed lung. Treatment of re-expansion pulmonary edema is basically preventive [4]

Protective efficiacy of taurine against pulmonary edema progression: experimental study

Re-expansion pulmonary edema (RPE) is an acute, rare and potentially lethal complication [1,2]. Its beginning is sudden and dramatic. The mechanism is not yet fully understood [1]. Some authors suggest that it may occur after rapid re-inflation of a collapsed lung [1]. It was reported by other authors that it may relate to surfactant depletion or may result from hypoxic capillary damage, leading to increased capillary permeability [1,3]. In RPE, unilateral lung injury is initiated by cytotoxic oxygen metabolites and temporally associated with an influx of polymorphonuclear neutrophils [1]. These toxic oxygen products are the results of re-oxygenation of a collapsed lung. Treatment of re-expansion pulmonary edema is basically preventive [4]

Influence of exposure to climate-related hazards in the phenotypic expression of primary Sjögren’s syndrome

Objective: To analyse how the key components at the time of diagnosis of the Sjögren’s phenotype (epidemiological profile, sicca symptoms, and systemic disease) can be influenced by the potential exposure to climate-related natural hazards.Methods: For the present study, the following variables were selected for harmonisation and refinement: age, sex, country, fulfilment of 2002/2016 criteria items, dry eyes, dry mouth, and overall ESSDAI score. Climate-related hazards per country were defined according to the OECD and included seven climate-related hazard types: extreme temperature, extreme precipitation, drought, wildfire, wind threats, river flooding, and coastal flooding. Climatic variables were defined as dichotomous variables according to whether each country is ranked among the ten countries with the most significant exposure.Results: After applying data-cleaning techniques and excluding people from countries not included in the OECD climate rankings, the database study analysed 16,042 patients from 23 countries. The disease was diagnosed between 1 and 3 years earlier in people living in countries included among the top 10 worst exposed to extreme precipitation, wildfire, wind threats, river flooding, and coastal flooding. A lower frequency of dry eyes was observed in people living in countries exposed to wind threats, river flooding, and coastal flooding, with a level of statistical association being classified as strong (p&lt;0.0001 for the three variables). The frequency of dry mouth was significantly lower in people living in countries exposed to river flooding (p&lt;0.0001) and coastal flooding (p&lt;0.0001). People living in countries included in the worse climate scenarios for extreme temperature (p&lt;0.0001) and river flooding (p&lt;0.0001) showed a higher mean ESSDAI score in comparison with people living in no-risk countries. In contrast, those living in countries exposed to worse climate scenarios for wind threats (p&lt;0.0001) and coastal flooding (p&lt;0.0001) showed a lower mean ESSDAI score in comparison with people living in no-risk countries.Conclusion: Local exposure to extreme climate-related hazards plays a role in modulating the presentation of Sjögren across countries concerning the age at which the disease is diagnosed, the frequency of dryness, and the degree of systemic activity.</p