CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR MATERIAL AND INFORMATION FLOW OPTIMISATION IN NATURAL GAS SUPPLY CHAIN

Natural gas is third most used fossil fuel and energy resource in the world, with significant increase in its consumption over last 20 years. As a consequence, research in optimisation of its supply chain processes are becoming increasingly significant. This paper aims to develop conceptual framework for material and information flow optimisation in natural gas supply chain and suggests its future use. Based on previous researches on mapping natural gas supply chain, bullwhip effect in natural gas supply chain and simulation models in natural gas supply chain, paper proposes new conceptual framework for material and information flow optimisation in natural gas supply chain. Results of implementation of this framework in natural gas supply chain of Republic of Croatia are presented with all suggestions for improvement explained

Supply chain digitization using GS1 standards : research results

PURPOSE: Assessment of the level of products and services offered by the GS1 Poland organization to its customers - companies-participants of the GS1 system. Assessment of the needs of companies - customers of the GS1 system in relation to the solution provider - the GS1 organization.DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The research was a direct interview. It was conducted with an expert - representative of the company: owner/manager, manager/specialist. The survey covered 775 companies that are members of GS1 Poland.FINDINGS: Digitization of the supply chain is mainly related to the use of barcodes. The most useful digital tool is My GS1. The companies-participants of the system expect in the future from GS1 organizations first of all individual approach and increase of the number of educational actions.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The obtained assessment constitutes a ranking of popularity of solutions in the offer of GS1 Poland organization. Understanding expectations of companies-participants of GS1 system will allow to improve existing products and services, as well as introduce new ones - expected by market.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The presented results fill a gap in the form of a lack of published research on supply chain digitalization in the Polish logistics market.This article is co-financed by the European Union under the Operational Programme Knowledge, Education, Development 2014-2020 within the realization of “The Integrated Programme of Poznan School of Logistics” (no. POWR.03.05.00-00-Z089/17).peer-reviewe

A comprehensive evaluation of colonic mucosal isolates of Sutterella wadsworthensis from inflammatory bowel disease

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Blocking ERK-1/2 reduces tumor necrosis factor Α–induced interleukin-18 bioactivity in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts by induction of interleukin-18 binding protein A

Objective To examine the mechanism of regulation of interleukin-18 (IL-18) bioactivity by IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) induction. Methods Levels of IL-18 and IL-18BPa in synovial fluid samples from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), followed by calculation of free IL-18. IL-18 and IL-18BPa synthesis in RA synovial fibroblasts that had been treated with proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and ELISA, respectively, followed by IL-18 bioactivity determination using KG-1 cells. Chemical signaling inhibitors were used for determination of the signal transduction pathways involved in IL-18BPa/IL-18 regulation. Tumor necrosis factor Α (TNFΑ)–induced caspase 1 activity was determined by a colorimetric assay. Results IL-18BPa was lower in RA synovial fluid than in OA synovial fluid ( P < 0.05; n = 8), and free IL-18 was higher in RA synovial fluid than in OA synovial fluid. TNFΑ induced RA synovial fibroblast IL-18BPa and IL-18 in a time-dependent manner ( P < 0.05). Evaluation of signaling pathways suggested that TNFΑ induced IL-18 production through the ERK-1/2, protein kinase CΔ (PKCΔ), and Src pathways, whereas IL-18BPa synthesis was mediated through the NFΚB, PKC, Src, and JNK pathways. Furthermore, addition of exogenous IL-18BPa-Fc reduced the RA synovial fibroblast phosphorylation of ERK-1/2 induced by TNFΑ. Conclusion These results suggest that IL-18BPa reduces IL-18 bioactivity induced by TNFΑ, by regulating the ERK-1/2 pathway in RA synovial fibroblasts. Targeting IL-18 bioactivity by induction or addition of IL-18BPa may provide another therapeutic option in the management of RA.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69190/1/27269_ftp.pd

Performance Evaluation Tools for Interconnection Network Design

A methodology is proposed for designing performance optimized computer systems. The methodology uses software tools created for performance monitoring and evaluation of parallel programs, replacing actual hardware with a simulator modeling the hardware under development. We claim that a software environment can help hardware designers to make decisions on the architectural design level. A simulator executes real programs and provides access to performance monitors from user\u27s code. The performance monitoring system collects data traces when running the simulator and the performance analysis module extracts performance data of interest, that are later displayed with visualization tools. Key features of our methodology are plug and play simulation and modeling hardware/software interaction during the process of hardware design. The ability to use different simulators gives the user flexibility to configure the system for the required functionality, accuracy and simulation performance. Evaluation of hardware performance based on results obtained by modeling hardware/software interaction is crucial for designing performance optimized computer systems. We have developed a software system, based on our design methodology, for performance evaluation of multicomputer interconnection networks. The system, called the Parsim Common Environment (PCE), consists of an instrumented network simulator that executes assembly language instructions, and performance analysis and visualization modules. Using PCE we have investigated a specific network design example. The system helped us spot performance problems, explain why they happened and find the ways to solve them. The obtained results agreed with observations presented in the literature, hence validating our design methodology and the correctness of the software performance evaluation system for hardware designs. Using software tools a designer can easily check different design options and evaluate the obtained performance results without the overhead of building expensive prototypes. With our system, data analysis that required 10 man-hours to complete manually took just a couple of seconds on a Sparc-4 workstation. Without experimentation with the simulator and the performance evaluation environment one might build an expensive hardware prototype, expecting improved performance, and then be disappointed with poorer results than expected. Our tools help designers spot and solve performance problems at early stages of the hardware design process

Impact of Market Drivers on the Digital Maturity of Logistics Processes in a Supply Chain

Logistics processes allow for the movement of goods along the supply chain to the customers. Companies are using digital solutions more widely to support their logistics processes. Current studies focus mainly on the intrinsic perspective of the digital maturity of logistics processes. Rarely do previous studies consider the impact of external factors (e.g., market trends, as external drivers at the strategic level) on the digital maturity of logistics processes. In this paper, our aim is to propose a novel generic approach to measuring the level of adoption of digital technologies in logistics processes. We applied the maturity model theory to provide a generic framework for the assessment of different partners in supply chains (suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, e-tailers, logistics service providers) in a homogeneous way. We propose the five levels (Avoiding, Discovering, Adopting, Improving, Excelling) to measure the frequency of the application of the digital technologies with high intelligence in the domain of logistics processes. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between the selected market trends, which are external drivers at the strategic level, and the digital maturity of logics processes. We conducted the survey among a group of 38 companies to classify their maturity level and then to test which market trends motivate them to digitalize their processes. We applied Bayesian statistics to test the level of the relationship between the digitalization of logistics processes and four market trends, namely, the sustainability, e-commerce, sharing economy, and speed-orientation of customers. The results show that all the trends tested moderately and positively influence the digital maturity of logistics processes