Decision Support System Approach for the Management of Complex Systems in Transportation and Logistics

L'analisi e la gestione dei sistemi complessi e delle loro ripercussioni in diversi aspetti della vita quotidiana sono tematiche che continuano ad attrarre molta attenzione nella letteratura scientifica. Si considerino, ad esempio, il trasporto marittimo e su strada, i moderni sistemi di assistenza sanitaria, le catene di distribuzione integrate, i processi industriali o, ancora, il nuovo paradigma di citt\ue0 intelligente: \ue8 evidente come in tutti questi contesti vi sia sempre pi\uf9 la necessit\ue0 di analizzare e gestire elementi eterogenei, collegati tra loro al fine di raggiungere un obiettivo comune altrimenti non realizzabile. Tuttavia, il processo decisionale in tali ambiti richiede competenze trasversali che abbracciano svariate discipline, rendendo la gestione di questi sistemi molto complessa e, spesso, inefficace. I Sistemi di Supporto alle Decisioni (DSS) ben si adattano alla previsione ed al controllo dei sistemi complessi grazie a: la loro capacit\ue0 di integrare varie fonti di dati ed informazioni; l'applicazione di modelli formali tipici di diverse discipline; la possibilit\ue0 di interagire costantemente con il sistema considerato. L'obiettivo di questo lavoro di tesi \ue8 quello di definire un approccio generale basato sul concetto di DSS per la gestione di sistemi complessi nel settore dei trasporti e della logistica, e di applicare tale approccio a tre problemi di grande interesse oggigiorno: 1) il problema della ricollocazione dei veicoli nei servizi di car sharing, 2) la gestione intelligente delle operazioni di carica dei veicoli elettrici presso le infrastrutture pubbliche e 3) l'ottimizzazione delle operazioni di drayage nel trasporto container. In particolare, il focus della ricerca \ue8 rivolto al cuore del DSS, ovvero alla parte che direttamente supporta il processo decisionale: i moduli di ottimizzazione e simulazione e le loro interazioni. Vengono considerati diversi approcci di modellazione, simulazione ed ottimizzazione, evidenziando il carattere totalmente generale dell' approccio considerato. I risultati ottenuti nelle diverse applicazioni sottolineano l'efficacia dei DSS nel migliorare il processo decisionale, portando ad un miglioramento generale delle prestazioni dei sistemi in esame. In particolare: 1) l'applicazione del DSS permette di ottimizzare i set-point per l'introduzione di un sistema di incentivi economici atto a risolvere il problema di ricollocazione dei veicoli nei servizi di car sharing, garantendo un miglioramento delle prestazioni del sistema, anche in condizioni di quasi saturazione; 2) il DSS permette la formalizzazione di un approccio leader-follower per il coordinamento delle operazioni di ricarica di veicoli elettrici che tenga conto contemporaneamente sia dei requisiti dell'utente che quelli della rete elettrica; infine, 3) il DSS consente di migliorare l'efficienza delle operazioni di drayage nel trasporto containter, riducendo i costi di trasporto.In recent years, the analysis and management of complex systems and their impacts in many aspects of the every-day life are topics that attract a lot of attention in the scientific literature. Consider for instance road and maritime transportation, modern healthcare systems, integrated supply chains, industrial processes or the new paradigm of smart cities: it is apparent that in all these contexts there is an increasing need of analysing and managing heterogeneous elements, networked together in order to reach a common goal otherwise not achievable. However, making decisions concerning such systems requires specific competences from many disciplines, leading to a very complex and often ineffective management process. Decision Support Systems (DSSs) can strengthen the capacity of predicting and controlling complex systems by integrating various sources of data and information, applying formal models typical of diverse and isolated disciplines and constantly interacting with the considered system. The goal of this work is to define a general approach based on the DSS concept for the management of complex systems in transportation and logistics and to apply it to three problems of great interest nowadays: 1) the user-based vehicle relocation problem} in car sharing services, 2) the smart management of electric vehicles charging operations and 3) the container drayage problem. In particular, the focus of the research is on the core of the DSS, i.e., on the part that directly supports the decision making process: optimization modules, simulation modules and their interactions. Different modelling, simulation and optimization approaches are applied, highlighting the generality of the considered approach regardless the specific context analysed. Results show the ability of DSSs to enhance the effectiveness of the decision process, thus leading to an improvement of the considered systems performance. In particular: 1) the application of the DSS allows to optimize the set-points of an incentive policy designed to solve the vehicle relocation problem in car sharing services, guaranteeing an effective relocation and improving the system performance even in the case of nearly saturated offer; 2) the DSS allows the formalization of a leader-follower approach for the coordination of electric vehicles charging operations which takes into account simultaneously electric grid and drivers requirements; finally, 3) the DSS allows to improve the efficiency of drayage operations in container transportation, reducing total transportation costs

Calidad higiénica y sanitaria de la leche caprina

El término “inocuidad de un alimento” está directamente relacionado con la calidad integral de cualquier alimento, y particularmente con la calidad higiénica y sanitaria de la leche caprina como parte de esa calidad integral. La Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO), define alimento inocuo como “alimentos respecto de los cuales hay una garantía de que no causarán daño al consumidor y proporcionarán el valor nutricional previsto cuando se preparen y/o consuman de acuerdo con el uso a que se destinan”.Estación Experimental Salta.Fil: Chavez, Monica Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina

Educazione Scientifica e Problemi di Ordinamento Accademico

A comparative research of four normative documents on academic didactics which shows a gap relatively Scientific Education: since 1992, in fact, there is no Macro sector of university teaching Scientific Education or Science Didactics, a plan, that is, general: while there is a specific plan and composite, “just that field of study”, represented by different didactics of sciences, internal to certain Competitive Sectors. There are, however, both the general plan because the specific plan for the History and Philosophy and Methodology of Science and Technique. All this leads inevitably negative impact on the teaching and learning of science subject

Queso caprino artesanal : camino hacia la inocuidad

Trabajo presentado en: II Jornadas Provinciales de Bromatología; I Jornadas Regionales de Bromatología e Inocuidad en Alimentos, Catamarca, 29 y 30 de noviembre de 2017La seguridad alimentaria se da cuando todas las personas tienen acceso físico, social y económico permanente a alimentos seguros, nutritivos y en cantidad suficiente para satisfacer sus requerimientos nutricionales y preferencias alimentarias, y así poder llevar una vida activa y saludableEEA.SaltaFil: Del Castillo,Lourdes.Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; ArgentinaFil:Chavez,Monica Silvia.Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA).Estación Experimental Salta; Argentina

cAMP and Pyk2 interact to regulate prostate cell proliferation and function.

In cultured prostate cancer cells cAMP blocks proliferation and induces neuroendocrine differentiation. Pyk2 expression inversely correlates with malignancy of prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between cAMP and Pyk2 in the prostate. EPN cells, a line derived from human normal prostate expressing Pyk2, and EPN-PKM3 cells, an EPN clone bearing a Pyk2 kinase-negative mutant, were adopted as model system. cAMP inhibited cell growth in both prostate cell lines, and activated Pyk2, but not ERK1/2, in EPN cells. cAMP treatment, abolished the activation of AKT1, an important component of the pro-survival pathway, in the EPN cells but not in EPN-PKM3 cells. Finally, upon cAMP treatment, EPN and EPN-PKM3 cells exhibited different expression patterns of HOX genes, an important network controlling cell identity. These data demonstrated for the first time that Pyk2 and cAMP interact in regulating prostate cell functions and in "keeping" prostate identity

Case report: Chorea and cognitive decline in a young woman: instrumental and genetic assessment of a case originally diagnosed as multiple sclerosis

We describe the case of a young woman affected by debilitating chorea and rapidly progressive cognitive decline. While her original diagnosis was multiple sclerosis, we performed a full instrumental and genetic assessement, though which we identified multiple genetic variants, including a novel variant of the APP gene. We propose some possible mechanisms by which such variants may contribute to neuroinflammation and ultimately lead to this devastating clinical course

Vaginal Intraepithelial Neoplasia: Histopathological Upgrading of Lesions and Evidence of Occult Vaginal Cancer

Objective The aim of this study was to analyze women treated with excisional procedures for vaginal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs). The histopathological upgrading of the lesions previously detected on vaginal biopsy and the presence of occult invasive vaginal cancer in the specimens excised were investigated, to identify a higher risk subset of women.Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis of the medical records of 86 women with a biopsy histopathologic diagnosis of vaginal HSIL (vaginal intraepithelial neoplasias [VaINs]: VaIN2 and VaIN3) and subsequent excisional therapy, consecutively referred to the Aviano National Cancer Institute (Aviano, Italy) from January 1991 to April 2014, was performed.Results Of the 86 patients, 4 cases (4.6%) of occult vaginal cancer were detected, all of them in women previously diagnosed with VaIN3 on biopsy (4/39 cases, 10.3%). Women with diagnosis of VaIN2 on biopsy showed an upgrading of lesions, with diagnosis of VaIN3 on the final specimen in 5 (10.6%) of 47 cases, with no cases of VAIN2 upgraded to invasive cancer. In 33.3% of the women initially diagnosed with VaIN2 and with previous hysterectomy for human papillomavirus-related disease, a final histopathological upgrading of lesions emerged. Furthermore, tobacco use was significantly related to the histopathological upgrading of lesions previously detected on vaginal biopsy.Conclusions Women diagnosed with VaIN3 should be treated with excisional procedures as first-line surgical approach, given the risk of occult invasive disease in 10% of the cases. Women diagnosed with VaIN2 and with previous hysterectomy for human papillomavirus-related cervical diseases should always be carefully evaluated and possibly excised, given the higher risk of histopathological upgrading of lesions and thus the potential risk of occult vaginal cancer. Tobacco users should be considered as high-risk group

Modelling and solving the multi-day container drayage problem

This paper deals with a general Multi-Day Container Drayage Problem (MDCDP) that consists in assigning trucks to container transportation orders during several days. To this aim, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming problem is formulated: the model describes real problems taking into account the orders to be planned for several days, the types of the containers and the rest periods of drivers. In order to address real scenarios, a heuristic algorithm based on the rolling horizon approach is proposed. Some randomly generated MDCDP instances validate the heuristic algorithm and a case study of real dimensions shows the effectiveness of the proposed solution technique

Metoprolol exerts a non-class effect against ischaemia-reperfusion injury by abrogating exacerbated inflammation.

Clinical guidelines recommend early intravenous β-blockers during ongoing myocardial infarction; however, it is unknown whether all β-blockers exert a similar cardioprotective effect. We experimentally compared three clinically approved intravenous β-blockers. Mice undergoing 45 min/24 h ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) received vehicle, metoprolol, atenolol, or propranolol at min 35. The effect on neutrophil infiltration was tested in three models of exacerbated inflammation. Neutrophil migration was evaluated in vitro and in vivo by intravital microscopy. The effect of β-blockers on the conformation of the β1 adrenergic receptor was studied in silico. Of the tested β-blockers, only metoprolol ameliorated I/R injury [infarct size (IS) = 18.0% ± 0.03% for metoprolol vs. 35.9% ± 0.03% for vehicle; P < 0.01]. Atenolol and propranolol had no effect on IS. In the three exacerbated inflammation models, neutrophil infiltration was significantly attenuated only in the presence of metoprolol (60%, 50%, and 70% reductions vs. vehicle in myocardial I/R injury, thioglycolate-induced peritonitis, and lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury, respectively). Migration studies confirmed the particular ability of metoprolol to disrupt neutrophil dynamics. In silico analysis indicated different intracellular β1 adrenergic receptor conformational changes when bound to metoprolol than to the other two β-blockers. Metoprolol exerts a disruptive action on neutrophil dynamics during exacerbated inflammation, resulting in an infarct-limiting effect not observed with atenolol or propranolol. The differential effect of β-blockers may be related to distinct conformational changes in the β1 adrenergic receptor upon metoprolol binding. If these data are confirmed in a clinical trial, metoprolol should become the intravenous β-blocker of choice for patients with ongoing infarction.Ministry of Science and Innovation (‘RETOS 2019’ grant N_ PID2019-107332RB-I00), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII; PI16/02110), and European Regional Development Fund (# AC16/00021), Comunidad de Madrid (S2017/BMD-3867 RENIM-CM). B.I. is supported by an ERCCoG grant (819775). E.O. is supported by funds from the Comunidad de Madrid Programa de Atraccion de Talento (2017-T1/BMD-5185). A.C-M. and R.V-G are supported by fellowships from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MCN) and ISCIII (FPU2017/01932 and PFIS FI17/00045). D.V.L. is supported by an Iniciativa de Empleo Juvenil grant (PEJ-2017-TL/BMD-6463) from the Comunidad de Madrid. The CNIC is supported by the ISCIII, the MCN, and the Pro CNIC Foundation and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).S