Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations

Natural catastrophes are often amplified by man-made impact on the environment. Sustainability is identified as a major gap in humanitarian logistics research literature. Although humanitarian supply chains are designed for speed and sustainability is of minor concern, environmentally-friendly behavior (e.g. through reduction of transportation emissions and avoidance of non-degradable materials) should be a long-term concern as it may ultimately affect more vulnerable regions. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how green house gas emissions can be measured using the supply chain of common relief items in humanitarian logistics. We analyze the CO2 emissions of selected supply chains by performing Life Cycle Assessments based on data provided by the French Red Cross. We calculate the CO2 emissions of the items from ‘cradle to grave’ including production, transportation, warehousing and disposal. Using these calculations, we show that transporting relief items causes the majority of emissions; however, transportation modes may not always be changed as the main purpose of humanitarian supply chains is speed. Nevertheless, strategic and efficient pre-positioning of main items will translate into less transportation and thus reducing the environmental impact. The study also shows that initiatives for “greening” item production and disposal can improve the overall carbon efficiency of humanitarian supply chains

Regulatory control and the costs and benefits of biochemical noise

Experiments in recent years have vividly demonstrated that gene expression can be highly stochastic. How protein concentration fluctuations affect the growth rate of a population of cells, is, however, a wide open question. We present a mathematical model that makes it possible to quantify the effect of protein concentration fluctuations on the growth rate of a population of genetically identical cells. The model predicts that the population's growth rate depends on how the growth rate of a single cell varies with protein concentration, the variance of the protein concentration fluctuations, and the correlation time of these fluctuations. The model also predicts that when the average concentration of a protein is close to the value that maximizes the growth rate, fluctuations in its concentration always reduce the growth rate. However, when the average protein concentration deviates sufficiently from the optimal level, fluctuations can enhance the growth rate of the population, even when the growth rate of a cell depends linearly on the protein concentration. The model also shows that the ensemble or population average of a quantity, such as the average protein expression level or its variance, is in general not equal to its time average as obtained from tracing a single cell and its descendants. We apply our model to perform a cost-benefit analysis of gene regulatory control. Our analysis predicts that the optimal expression level of a gene regulatory protein is determined by the trade-off between the cost of synthesizing the regulatory protein and the benefit of minimizing the fluctuations in the expression of its target gene. We discuss possible experiments that could test our predictions.Comment: Revised manuscript;35 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX4; to appear in PLoS Computational Biolog

Characterization of Fusarium spp., A Phytopathogen of avocado (Persea americana Miller var. drymifolia (Schltdl. and Cham.)) in Michoacán, México

Avocado has great socioeconomic importance in Mexico because of the benefits it generates for the production chain participants and the significant foreign exchange earnings engendered by the export of its fruit. However, this crop has phytosanitary problems, caused mainly by fungi, among which the genus Fusarium stands out. The objective of this study was to characterize Fusarium species that caused root rot in avocado trees in Michoacan, Mexico. In 19 isolates of Fusarium spp., polymerase chain reactions (PCR) with primers coding for elongation factor and calmodulin genes were performed. These sequences were compared in homology using BLAST analysis and aligned in MEGA 6.0. Cladograms were created based on maximum verisimilitude. The pathogenicity of the isolates was evaluated based on their virulence and severity in the avocado plants. Morphological and molecular analyses showed that 15 isolates belonged to F. oxysporum Schl and four to F. solani Mart. All isolates were pathogenic, with virulence ranging from 16 to 56 days. All isolates produced root rot and yellowing of leaves, with 63% producing wilting and 16% producing apical necrosis, the latter being the most severe. Highlights From: Fusarium spp. is reported in avocado in Michoacán, México. With the morphological and molecular methods, two species of the gender Fusarium; F. oxysporum and solani, were identified in avocado crops. The species found in avocado can cause death of nursery seedlings and trees of various ages due to the destruction of their root system. The gender Fusarium is found in all the crops in Michoacán, México, considerably decreasing the production for the damage inflicted in the root, causing significant losses in the production of its fruit.Avocado has great socioeconomic importance in Mexico because of the benefits it generates for the production chain participants and the significant foreign exchange earnings engendered by the export of its fruit. However, this crop has phytosanitary problems, caused mainly by fungi, among which the genus Fusarium stands out. The objective of this study was to characterize Fusarium species that caused root rot in avocado trees in Michoacan, Mexico. In 19 isolates of Fusarium spp., polymerase chain reactions (PCR) with primers coding for elongation factor and calmodulin genes were performed. These sequences were compared in homology using BLAST analysis and aligned in MEGA 6.0. Cladograms were created based on maximum verisimilitude. The pathogenicity of the isolates was evaluated based on their virulence and severity in the avocado plants. Morphological and molecular analyses showed that 15 isolates belonged to F. oxysporum Schl and four to F. solani Mart. All isolates were pathogenic, with virulence ranging from 16 to 56 days. All isolates produced root rot and yellowing of leaves, with 63% producing wilting and 16% producing apical necrosis, the latter being the most severe. Highlights From: Fusarium spp. is reported in avocado in Michoacán, México. With the morphological and molecular methods, two species of the gender Fusarium; F. oxysporum and solani, were identified in avocado crops. The species found in avocado can cause death of nursery seedlings and trees of various ages due to the destruction of their root system. The gender Fusarium is found in all the crops in Michoacán, México, considerably decreasing the production for the damage inflicted in the root, causing significant losses in the production of its fruit

La violencia contra las mujeres enfermeras en la pareja. Primeros resultados de un estudio en Andalucía

Aim. To Identify intimate partner violence (IPV) against female nurses in a sample of nurses in Cordoba, Spain.Design. Descriptive, cross-sectional study.Setting. Hospitals and primary health care in Cordoba, Spain.Participants. One hundred and two female nurses working in urban or rural, public or private health centers in Cordoba, Spain.Measures. Social-demographic characteristics and presence of abuse (psychological, physical and sexual).Results. A) A stricter recoding of the parameters of abuse: overall, 47.1% had experienced some type of IPV, of which 41.2% was psychological. B) A more permissible recoding of the parameters of abuse: 25.5% had experienced some type of IPV, of which 19.6% was psychological. C) Both recodings: 2.9% had suffered three types of abuse together (psychological, physical and sexual) and both psychological and sexual IPV; likewise, 11,8% reported more severe or more serious abuse.Conclusion. The existence of intimate partner violence in female nurses was established and it was confirmed that this was expressed through psychological aspects.Objetivo. Identificar violencia contra las mujeres enfermeras en la pareja a partir de una muestra de profesionales que prestan sus servicios en la Provincia de Córdoba.Diseño. Estudio descriptivo transversal.Emplazamiento. Hospitales y distritos sanitarios de la Provincia de Córdoba.Participantes. Mujeres enfermeras que desarrollaban sus actividades profesionales en cualquiera de los sistemas de salud, público o privado, rural o urbano, en la Provincia de Córdoba.Mediciones Principales. Características sociodemográficas y presencia de malos tratos (psíquico, físico y sexual), con el cuestionario validado por Delgado y colaboradores (2006).Resultados. La Recodificación de las variables del maltrato más estricta muestra que el 47,1% del total de enfermeras en la muestra tuvo algún tipo de maltrato, del que el 41,2% fue exclusivamente psicológico. Una Recodificación del maltrato más permisiva indica que el 25,5% tuvo algún tipo de maltrato del que 19,6% fue psicológico. Considerando ambas se puede ver que el 2,9% presentaron los tres tipos juntos (psicológico, físico y sexual) y psicológico acompañado del sexual; así como que el 11,8% presentó un maltrato más severo o de mayor gravedad.Conclusiones. Establecida la existencia de malos tratos en la mujer enfermera se constata que las manifestaciones van referidas al aspecto psicológic

The role of input noise in transcriptional regulation

Even under constant external conditions, the expression levels of genes fluctuate. Much emphasis has been placed on the components of this noise that are due to randomness in transcription and translation; here we analyze the role of noise associated with the inputs to transcriptional regulation, the random arrival and binding of transcription factors to their target sites along the genome. This noise sets a fundamental physical limit to the reliability of genetic control, and has clear signatures, but we show that these are easily obscured by experimental limitations and even by conventional methods for plotting the variance vs. mean expression level. We argue that simple, global models of noise dominated by transcription and translation are inconsistent with the embedding of gene expression in a network of regulatory interactions. Analysis of recent experiments on transcriptional control in the early Drosophila embryo shows that these results are quantitatively consistent with the predicted signatures of input noise, and we discuss the experiments needed to test the importance of input noise more generally.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures minor correction

Effect of promoter architecture on the cell-to-cell variability in gene expression

According to recent experimental evidence, the architecture of a promoter, defined as the number, strength and regulatory role of the operators that control the promoter, plays a major role in determining the level of cell-to-cell variability in gene expression. These quantitative experiments call for a corresponding modeling effort that addresses the question of how changes in promoter architecture affect noise in gene expression in a systematic rather than case-by-case fashion. In this article, we make such a systematic investigation, based on a simple microscopic model of gene regulation that incorporates stochastic effects. In particular, we show how operator strength and operator multiplicity affect this variability. We examine different modes of transcription factor binding to complex promoters (cooperative, independent, simultaneous) and how each of these affects the level of variability in transcription product from cell-to-cell. We propose that direct comparison between in vivo single-cell experiments and theoretical predictions for the moments of the probability distribution of mRNA number per cell can discriminate between different kinetic models of gene regulation.Comment: 35 pages, 6 figures, Submitte

Epigenetic and post-transcriptional regulation of somatostatin receptor subtype 5 (SST5 ) in pituitary and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Somatostatin receptor subtype 5 (SST5 ) is an emerging biomarker and actionable target in pituitary (PitNETs) and pancreatic (PanNETs) neuroendocrine tumors. Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of SSTR5 gene expression and mRNA biogenesis is poorly understood. Recently, an overlapping natural antisense transcript, SSTR5-AS1, potentially regulating SSTR5 expression, was identified. We aimed to elucidate whether epigenetic processes contribute to the regulation of SSTR5 expression in PitNETs (somatotropinomas) and PanNETs. We analyzed the SSTR5/SSTR5-AS1 human locus in silico to identify CpG islands. SSTR5 and SSTR5-AS1 expression was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in 27 somatotropinomas, 11 normal pituitaries (NPs), and 15 PanNETs/paired adjacent (control) samples. We evaluated methylation grade in four CpG islands in the SSTR5/SSTR5-AS1 genes. Results revealed that SSTR5 and SSTR5-AS1 were directly correlated in NP, somatotropinoma and PanNET samples. Interestingly, selected CpG islands were differentially methylated in somatotropinomas compared with NPs. In PanNETs cell lines, SSTR5-AS1 silencing downregulated SSTR5 expression, altered aggressiveness features, and influenced pasireotide response. These results provide evidence that SSTR5 expression in PitNETs and PanNETs can be epigenetically regulated by the SSTR5-AS1 antisense transcript and, indirectly, by DNA methylation, which may thereby impact tumor behavior and treatment response

Multicore and FPGA implementations of emotional-based agent architectures

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11227-014-1307-6.Control architectures based on Emotions are becoming promising solutions for the implementation of future robotic agents. The basic controllers of the architecture are the emotional processes that decide which behaviors of the robot must activate to fulfill the objectives. The number of emotional processes increases (hundreds of millions/s) with the complexity level of the application, reducing the processing capacity of the main processor to solve complex problems (millions of decisions in a given instant). However, the potential parallelism of the emotional processes permits their execution in parallel on FPGAs or Multicores, thus enabling slack computing in the main processor to tackle more complex dynamic problems. In this paper, an emotional architecture for mobile robotic agents is presented. The workload of the emotional processes is evaluated. Then, the main processor is extended with FPGA co-processors through Ethernet link. The FPGAs will be in charge of the execution of the emotional processes in parallel. Different Stratix FPGAs are compared to analyze their suitability to cope with the proposed mobile robotic agent applications. The applications are set up taking into account different environmental conditions, robot dynamics and emotional states. Moreover, the applications are run also on Multicore processors to compare their performance in relation to the FPGAs. Experimental results show that Stratix IV FPGA increases the performance in about one order of magnitude over the main processor and solves all the considered problems. Quad-Core increases the performance in 3.64 times, allowing to tackle about 89 % of the considered problems. Quad-Core has a lower cost than a Stratix IV, so more adequate solution but not for the most complex application. 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