Omega-6 Fatty Acid Biomarkers and Incident Type 2 Diabetes: Pooled Analysis of Individual-Level Data for 39 740 Adults from 20 Prospective Cohort Studies

Background: The metabolic effects of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) remain contentious, and little evidence is available regarding their potential role in primary prevention of type 2 diabetes. We aimed to assess the associations of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid biomarkers with incident type 2 diabetes. Methods: We did a pooled analysis of new, harmonised, individual-level analyses for the biomarkers linoleic acid and its metabolite arachidonic acid and incident type 2 diabetes. We analysed data from 20 prospective cohort studies from ten countries (Iceland, the Netherlands, the USA, Taiwan, the UK, Germany, Finland, Australia, Sweden, and France), with biomarkers sampled between 1970 and 2010. Participants included in the analyses were aged 18 years or older and had data available for linoleic acid and arachidonic acid biomarkers at baseline. We excluded participants with type 2 diabetes at baseline. The main outcome was the association between omega-6 PUFA biomarkers and incident type 2 diabetes. We assessed the relative risk of type 2 diabetes prospectively for each cohort and lipid compartment separately using a prespecified analytic plan for exposures, covariates, effect modifiers, and analysis, and the findings were then pooled using inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis. Findings: Participants were 39 740 adults, aged (range of cohort means) 49-76 years with a BMI (range of cohort means) of 23·3-28·4 kg/m(2), who did not have type 2 diabetes at baseline. During a follow-up of 366 073 person-years, we identified 4347 cases of incident type 2 diabetes. In multivariable-adjusted pooled analyses, higher proportions of linoleic acid biomarkers as percentages of total fatty acid were associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes overall (risk ratio [RR] per interquintile range 0·65, 95% CI 0·60-0·72,

Biomarkers of Dietary Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: An Individual-Level Pooled Analysis of 30 Cohort Studies

BACKGROUND: Global dietary recommendations for and cardiovascular effects of linoleic acid, the major dietary omega-6 fatty acid, and its major metabolite, arachidonic acid, remain controversial. To address this uncertainty and inform international recommendations, we evaluated how in vivo circulating and tissue levels of linoleic acid (LA) and arachidonic acid (AA) relate to incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) across multiple international studies. METHODS: We performed harmonized, de novo, individual-level analyses in a global consortium of 30 prospective observational studies from 13 countries. Multivariable-adjusted associations of circulating and adipose tissue LA and AA biomarkers with incident total CVD and subtypes (coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, cardiovascular mortality) were investigated according to a prespecified analytic plan. Levels of LA and AA, measured as the percentage of total fatty acids, were evaluated linearly according to their interquintile range (ie, the range between the midpoint of the first and fifth quintiles), and categorically by quintiles. Study-specific results were pooled using inverse-variance–weighted meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was explored by age, sex, race, diabetes mellitus, statin use, aspirin use, omega-3 levels, and fatty acid desaturase 1 genotype (when available). RESULTS: In 30 prospective studies with medians of follow-up ranging 2.5 to 31.9 years, 15 198 incident cardiovascular events occurred among 68 659 participants. Higher levels of LA were significantly associated with lower risks of total CVD, cardiovascular mortality, and ischemic stroke, with hazard ratios per interquintile range of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.88–0.99), 0.78 (0.70–0.85), and 0.88 (0.79–0.98), respectively, and nonsignificantly with lower coronary heart disease risk (0.94; 0.88–1.00). Relationships were similar for LA evaluated across quintiles. AA levels were not associated with higher risk of cardiovascular outcomes; in a comparison of extreme quintiles, higher levels were associated with lower risk of total CVD (0.92; 0.86–0.99). No consistent heterogeneity by population subgroups was identified in the observed relationships. CONCLUSIONS: In pooled global analyses, higher in vivo circulating and tissue levels of LA and possibly AA were associated with lower risk of major cardiovascular events. These results support a favorable role for LA in CVD prevention

Inventory Control in Divergent Supply Chains with Time-Based Dispatching and Shipment Consolidation

This article analyses a divergent supply chain consisting of a central warehouse and N nonidentical retailers. The focus is on joint evaluation of inventory replenishment and shipment consolidation effects. A time-based dispatching and shipment consolidation policy is used at the warehouse in conjunction with real-time point-of-sale data and centralized inventory information. This represents a common situation, for example, in various types of vendor managed inventory systems. The main contribution is the derivation of an exact recursive procedure for determining the expected inventory holding and backorder costs for the system, under the assumption of Poisson demand. Two heuristics for determining near optimal shipment intervals are also presented. The results are applicable both for single-item and multiitem systems. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 58: 59-71, 201

Vidareutveckling av midjeled till produktplattform

The following report describes the execution of the master’s thesis that constitutes the completion of the masters degree in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in mechanical construction at Luleå University of Technology, Luleå. The work has been carried out by Johan Marklund in close cooperation with JAMA Mining Machines, Skelleftehamn. The main part of the development work has taken place on the premises of JAMA, with only a number of meetings with the external supervisor at Luleå University of Technology. The main goal of this work is to create a new design for the articulated joint in the chassis on which a number of JAMA’s machines is based on. This new construction will withstand higher loads with lower service needs which together gives the machines greater availability. Service and installation should be simplified with the new construction, primarily with respect to the space around and design of components. By using a structured work method called creative product development by Ulrich & Eppinger ensures a high quality throughout the entire process. As a step in this method, a detailed needs analysis was performed in which several, for JAMA, hidden problems and needs were identified. Several different concepts of alternative solutions were created during the work which four were selected for deeper analysis. On those a static stress analysis was conducted and then compared to a reference model based on the existing articulated joint. The final concept was chosen by qualitative selection methods inspired by Ulrich & Eppinger which consists of a number of weighting and selection matrices. These concepts were scored in consultation with the supervisor of JAMA. The winning concept was further developed and constructed on both system- and detail level. The result is a new articulated joint, which significantly reduces the problem areas that the old design had. The critical stress concentrations previously severely limiting the articulated joints life span has now almost decreased by half. New dedicated routes for example hydraulic hose are available in the new design which now allows more opportunities for hose routing even on a low-built machine. These and several other enhancements gives the machines a lower service needs with greater availability and an increased potential for development.Validerat; 20150615 (global_studentproject_submitter

Coordinated control of Multi-Stage Inventory System

This thesis is based on three scientific papers dealing with different models for coordinated control of multi-stage inventory systems. The ability to control multi-echelon inventory systems, is paramount for reducing tied up capital and inventory costs in large distribution systems. It is also one key issue in achieving efficient supply chain management. We focus our attention on a general distribution system, consisting of one central warehouse and N retailers, facing stochastic demand. The retailers replenish their stock from the central warehouse and the transportation times for these deliveries are assumed to be constant. However, due to stockouts at the warehouse the lead-times are still stochastic. The warehouse, on the other hand, replenishes its stock from an outside supplier, which provides constant lead-times. All stockouts, both at the warehouse and at the retailers, are backordered and delivered on a first-come-first-served basis. Inventory holding costs at both echelons, and backorder costs, proportional to the time until delivery at all retailers, are considered. The efficiency of the system is measured in terms of the expected long run holding and backorder costs per time unit. In Paper A, we consider a situation, where all installations in the system use continuous review installation-stock (R,Q) policies for controlling their inventory replenishments. We present a new decentralized model, based on limited information availability, for determining near optimal reorder points at all installations in the system. The restricted information availability is modeled by approximating the stochastic retailer lead-times with correct averages. By introducing a modified cost structure at the warehouse, we manage to decompose this multi-echelon inventory problem into N+1 single-stage problems, one for each installation. These sub-problems are then solved within the framework of a simple coordination procedure. The procedure can be interpreted as a negotiation process or a game where the different installations are the players. In the case of normally distributed customer demand, we can guarantee that the procedure converges to a near optimal solution. To assess the quality of the obtained solutions, a bound for the relative cost increase of using the lead-time approximation is provided. Paper B extends the decentralized modeling approach presented in Paper A to a more general setting, which allows for non-identical order quantities at the retailers. This seemingly minor generalization significantly enhances the practical value of the model. Further, we provide a tighter bound for the excess cost incurred by replacing the stochastic lead-times with correct averages. An alternative optimization procedure with better convergence properties is also presented In Paper C, we consider a slightly different representation of the general system where the customer demand is modeled as independent Poisson processes. To investigate the benefit of centralized inventory control a new replenishment policy is introduced at the warehouse. The retailers, on the other hand, still use continuous review installation-stock (R,Q) policies. The main theoretical contribution is that we provide an exact cost evaluation technique for the case when the new policy is used. A numerical study shows that there exist situations, where significant cost savings can be made by using the new policy instead of traditional echelon-stock and installation stock policies

Centralized Inventory Control in a Two-Level Distribution System vith Poisson demand

This paper introduces a new replenishment policy for inventory control in a two-level distribution system consisting of one central warehouse and an arbitrary number of nonidentical retailers. The new policy is designed to control the replenishment process at the central warehouse, using centralized information regarding the inventory positions and demand processes of all installations in the system. The retailers on the other hand are assumed to use continuous review (R,Q) policies. A technique for exact evaluation of the expected inventory holding and backorder costs for the system is presented. Numerical results indicate that there are cases when considerable savings can be made by using the new (R0, Q0) policy instead of a traditional echelon- or installation-stock (R, Q) policy

Trädgårdsgatan : Integrerad stadsutveckling

Centrala Skellefteå har en rutnätskaraktär och i stadens periferi återfinns en trädstruktur. Denna uppdelning av olika strukturer bidrar till en fragmentering mellan stadens centrum och periferi, Trädgårdsgatan som löper i nord-sydlig riktning har potential att minska denna barriär. För att kunna minska denna barriär måste vi vara medvetna om att Trädgårdsgatan är ett offentligt rum kopplat till staden som helhet. Arbetet har resulterat i ett förslag, där redovisas hur Trädgårdsgatan har potential att utvecklas för att minska den fragmentering som finns i staden. Resultatet fokuserar inte bara på Trädgårdsgatan som ett stadsrum, utan även som stadsrum kopplad till staden som helhet. Förslaget utgår från de analyser och inventeringar som utförts i arbetet. För att integrera Trädgårdsgatan med den övriga gatustrukturen, föreslås en bro i söder och i norr för att minska älven och järnvägens barriäreffekt,. Trädgårdsgatan föreslås vara, mer än idag, ett stadsrum för människan i staden

Drivgodsinventering, riskanalys och åtgärdsförslag för Granfors och Krångfors vattenkraftverk i Skellefteälven

During high floods the erosion along the shoreline will increase, which can lead to floating debris ending up in the river and the spillways will be clogged. There are a variety of preventive measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of floating debris. It can be anything from removing trees in sensitive areas, to set up booms that control the debris. To find out how much potential debris there are, an inventory has been made for the Granfors and Krångfors reservoirs. Since no similar work has been made, different methods had to be worked out for the different parts of the project. • Method of Inventory • Method of Calculating the amount of debris • Method for Risk Analysis To better understand how to apply the appropriate preventive measures, a short-term study of how debris behaves at high flows, and how different types of booms and protective visors work have been made. The results of the inventory and risk analysis showed that there is a possibility for a relatively large amount of debris for both facilities implying to a probability that the facilities will not be able to cope with the amount of debris without any preventive action is taken. The recommendation for both reservoirs is a cleanup of the debris and deployment of diversion booms. The booms should be placed either in front of the hydroelectric plants and divert the debris onto land, or deflect the debris by the spillway in Granfors, and then be taken care of, either in Krångfors or deflected by Krångfors, and taken care of in Selsforsen.Validerat; 20111115 (anonymous