Process benchmarking in the fruit and vegetable supply chain

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an international process benchmarking and to compile models of best practice business processes. The results of our international process benchmarking study allowed us to develop a framework, comprising three models, for better meeting customers’ needs. The first model presents how to understand and meet customers’ needs generally. The second model comprises those operations, work practices and business processes, which are essential in meeting customers’ needs. The third model (organisation designing model) helps the company to check, whether or not the operations, work practises and business processes of the second model can be found in and applied to the company.process benchmarking, customers’ needs, business processes, organisation designing model, Agribusiness,

Temperature, but Not Available Energy, Affects the Expression of a Sexually Selected Ultraviolet (UV) Colour Trait in Male European Green Lizards

Background Colour signals are widely used in intraspecific communication and often linked to individual fitness. The development of some pigment-based (e.g. carotenoids) colours is often environment-dependent and costly for the signaller, however, for structural colours (e.g. ultraviolet [UV]) this topic is poorly understood, especially in terrestrial ectothermic vertebrates. Methodology/Principal Findings In a factorial experiment, we studied how available energy and time at elevated body temperature affects the annual expression of the nuptial throat colour patch in male European green lizards (Lacerta viridis) after hibernation and before mating season. In this species, there is a female preference for males with high throat UV reflectance, and males with high UV reflectance are more likely to win fights. We found that (i) while food shortage decreased lizards' body condition, it did not affect colour development, and (ii) the available time for maintaining high body temperature affected the development of UV colour without affecting body condition or other colour traits. Conclusions/Significance Our results demonstrate that the expression of a sexually selected structural colour signal depends on the time at elevated body temperature affecting physiological performance but not on available energy gained from food per se in an ectothermic vertebrate. We suggest that the effect of high ambient temperature on UV colour in male L. viridis makes it an honest signal, because success in acquiring thermally favourable territories and/or effective behavioural thermoregulation can both be linked to individual quality.Peer reviewe

Diurnal pattern of QTc interval: How long is prolonged? Possible relation to circadian triggers of cardiovascular events

Objectives.This study sought to evaluate the range and variability of the QT and corrected QT (QTc) intervals over 24 h and to assess their pattern and relation to heart rate variability.Background.Recent Holter monitoring data have revealed a high degree of daily variability in the QTc interval. The pattern of this variability and its relation to heart rate variability remain poorly characterized.Methods.We developed and validated a new method for continuous measurement of QT intervals from three-channel, 24-h Holter recordings. Average RR, QT, QTc and heart rate variability were measured from 5-min segments of data from 21 healthy subjects.Results.Measurement of 6,048 segments showed mean (±SD) RR, QT and QTc intervals of 830 ± 100, 407 ± 23 and 445 ± 16 ms, respectively (mean QTc interval for men 434 ± 12 ms, 457 ± 10 ms for women, p < 0.0001). The average maximal QTc interval was 495 ± 21 ms and the average QTc range 95 ± 20 ms. The maximal QTc interval was ≥500 ms in 6 subjects and ≥490 ms in 13. The 95% upper confidence limit for the mean 24-h QTc interval was 452 ms (men 439 ms, women 461 ms). The RR, QT and QTc intervals and the high frequency component of heart rate variability were greater during sleep. Both the QTc interval and the variability between hourly minimal and maximal QTc intervals reached their circadian peak shortly after awakening, before declining to daytime levels.Conclusions.The maximal QTc interval over 24 h in normal subjects is longer than heretofore thought. Both QT and QTc intervals are longer during sleep. The QTc interval and QTc variability reach a peak shortly after awakening, which may reflect increased autonomic instability during early waking hours, and the time of the peak value corresponds in time to the period of reported increased vulnerability to ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death. These findings have implications regarding the definition of QT prolongation and its use in predicting arrhythmias and sudden death

Mechanical response of sodium silicate glass

We propose a new method using coarse-graining and molecular dynamics to calculate structural and mechanical properties for sodium silicate glasses at different scales. Using this method we were able to describe the mechanical behavior of the material, this way a new constitutive model was developed which could be used in continuum calculations

Genome-scale hypomethylation in the cord blood DNAs associated with early onset preeclampsia

Background: Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Preterm babies of mothers with early onset preeclampsia (EOPE) are at higher risks for various diseases later on in life, including cardiovascular diseases. We hypothesized that genome-wide epigenetic alterations occur in cord blood DNAs in association with EOPE and conducted a case control study to compare the genome-scale methylome differences in cord blood DNAs between 12 EOPE-associated and 8 normal births. Results: Bioinformatics analysis of methylation data from the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip shows a genome-scale hypomethylation pattern in EOPE, with 51,486 hypomethylated CpG sites and 12,563 hypermethylated sites (adjusted P <0.05). A similar trend also exists in the proximal promoters (TSS200) associated with protein-coding genes. Using summary statistics on the CpG sites in TSS200 regions, promoters of 643 and 389 genes are hypomethylated and hypermethylated, respectively. Promoter-based differential methylation (DM) analysis reveals that genes in the farnesoid X receptor and liver X receptor (FXR/LXR) pathway are enriched, indicating dysfunction of lipid metabolism in cord blood cells. Additional biological functional alterations involve inflammation, cell growth, and hematological system development. A two-way ANOVA analysis among coupled cord blood and amniotic membrane samples shows that a group of genes involved in inflammation, lipid metabolism, and proliferation are persistently differentially methylated in both tissues, including IL12B, FAS, PIK31, and IGF1. Conclusions: These findings provide, for the first time, evidence of prominent genome-scale DNA methylation modifications in cord blood DNAs associated with EOPE. They may suggest a connection between inflammation and lipid dysregulation in EOPE-associated newborns and a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases later in adulthood

Canagliflozin and Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary and Secondary Cardiovascular Prevention Groups

Background: Canagliflozin reduces the risk of kidney failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, but effects on specific cardiovascular outcomes are uncertain, as are effects in people without previous cardiovascular disease (primary prevention). Methods: In CREDENCE (Canagliflozin and Renal Events in Diabetes With Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation), 4401 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease were randomly assigned to canagliflozin or placebo on a background of optimized standard of care. Results: Primary prevention participants (n=2181, 49.6%) were younger (61 versus 65 years), were more often female (37% versus 31%), and had shorter duration of diabetes mellitus (15 years versus 16 years) compared with secondary prevention participants (n=2220, 50.4%). Canagliflozin reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.80 [95% CI, 0.67-0.95]; P=0.01), with consistent reductions in both the primary (HR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.49-0.94]) and secondary (HR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.69-1.06]) prevention groups (P for interaction=0.25). Effects were also similar for the components of the composite including cardiovascular death (HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.61-1.00]), nonfatal myocardial infarction (HR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.59-1.10]), and nonfatal stroke (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.56-1.15]). The risk of the primary composite renal outcome and the composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure were also consistently reduced in both the primary and secondary prevention groups (P for interaction &gt;0.5 for each outcome). Conclusions: Canagliflozin significantly reduced major cardiovascular events and kidney failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, including in participants who did not have previous cardiovascular disease