Design and Optimization of Capacitated Supply Chain Networks Including Quality Measures

This paper presents (1) a novel capacitated model for supply chain network design which considers manufacturing, distribution, and quality costs (named SCND-COQ model) and (2) five combinatorial optimization methods, based on nonlinear optimization, heuristic, and metaheuristic approaches, which are used to solve realistic instances of practical size. The SCND-COQ model is a mixed-integer nonlinear problem which can be used at a strategic planning level to design a supply chain network that maximizes the total profit subject to meeting an overall quality level of the final product at minimum costs. The SCND-COQ model computes the quality-related costs for the whole supply chain network considering the interdependencies among business entities. The effectiveness of the proposed solution approaches is shown using numerical experiments. These methods allow solving more realistic (capacitated) supply chain network design problems including quality-related costs (inspections, rework, opportunity costs, and others) within a reasonable computational time

The Genetic and Environmental Sources of Resemblance Between Normative Personality and Personality Disorder Traits

Recent work has suggested a high level of congruence between normative personality, most typically represented by the big five factors, and abnormal personality traits. In 2,293 Norwegian adult twins ascertained from a population-based registry, the authors evaluated the degree of sharing of genetic and environmental influences on normative personality, assessed by the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and personality disorder traits (PDTs), assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-S-Norwegian Brief Form (PID-5NBF). For four of the five BFI dimensions, the strongest genetic correlation was observed with the expected PID-5-NBF dimension (e.g., neuroticism with negative affectivity [+], conscientiousness with disinhibition [-]). However, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness had substantial genetic correlations with other PID-S-NBF dimensions (e.g., neuroticism with compulsivity [+], agreeableness with detachment [-]). Openness had no substantial genetic correlations with any PID-5-NBF dimension. The proportion of genetic risk factors shared in aggregate between the BFI traits and the PID-5-NBF dimensions was quite high for conscientiousness and neuroticism, relatively robust for extraversion and agreeableness, but quite low for openness. Of the six PID-S-NBF dimensions, three (negative affectivity, detachment, and disinhibition) shared, in aggregate, most of their genetic risk factors with normative personality traits. Genetic factors underlying psychoticism, antagonism, and compulsivity were shared to a lesser extent, suggesting that they are influenced by etiological factors not well indexed by the BFI

The consequences for human health of stratospheric ozone depletion in association with other environmental factors

Due to the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which has limited, and is now probably reversing, the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, only modest increases in solar UV-B radiation at the surface of the Earth have occurred. For many fair-skinned populations, changing behaviour with regard to exposure to the sun over the past half century - more time in the sun, less clothing cover (more skin exposed), and preference for a tan - has probably contributed more to greater levels of exposure to UV-B radiation than ozone depletion. Exposure to UV-B radiation has both adverse and beneficial effects on human health. This report focuses on an assessment of the evidence regarding these outcomes that has been published since our previous report in 2010. The skin and eyes are the organs exposed to solar UV radiation. Excessive solar irradiation causes skin cancer, including cutaneous malignant melanoma and the non-melanoma skin cancers, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, and contributes to the development of other rare skin cancers such as Merkel cell carcinoma. Although the incidence of melanoma continues to increase in many countries, in some locations, primarily those with strong sun protection programmes, incidence has stabilised or decreased over the past 5 years, particularly in younger age-groups. However, the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers is still increasing in most locations. Exposure of the skin to the sun also induces systemic immune suppression that may have adverse effects on health, such as through the reactivation of latent viral infections, but also beneficial effects through suppression of autoimmune reactivity. Solar UV-B radiation damages the eyes, causing cataracts and pterygium. UV-B irradiation of the skin is the main source of vitamin D in many geographic locations. Vitamin D plays a critical role in the maintenance of calcium homeostasis in the body; severe deficiency causes the bone diseases, rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Although many studies have implicated vitamin D deficiency in a wide range of diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, more recent evidence is less compelling, with meta-analyses of supplementation trials failing to show a beneficial effect on the health outcomes that have been tested. It continues to be difficult to provide public health messages to guide safe exposure to the sun that are accurate, simple, and can be used by people with different skin types, in different locations, and for different times of the year or day. There is increasing interest in relating sun protection messages to the UV Index. Current sun protection strategies are outlined and assessed. Climatic factors affect the amount of UV radiation received by the skin and eyes, separately from the effect of ozone depletion. For example, cloud cover can decrease or increase the intensity of UV radiation at Earth's surface and warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns may alter the amount of time people spend outdoors and their choice of clothing. The combination of changes in climate and UV radiation may affect the number of pathogenic microorganisms in surface waters, and could have an impact on food security through effects on plant and aquatic systems. It remains difficult to quantify these effects and their possible importance for human health.Prof Robyn Lucas’ participation in the Panel was supported through funding from the Australian Government’s Ozone Science Strategy. A/Prof Rachel Neale was supported by the QIMR Berghofer Institute for Medical Research. Prof Yukio Takizawa was sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Ms Tammy Gibbs provided support with the figures in this paper

Structure and evolution of Cenozoic arc magmatism on the Antarctic Peninsula: a high resolution aeromagnetic perspective

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) consists of a long lived and uniquely well preserved magmatic arc system. The broad tectonic structure of the AP arc is well understood. However, magmatic processes occurring along the arc are only constrained by regional geophysical and relatively sparse geological data. Key questions remain about the timing, volume, and structural controls on magma emplacement. We present new high resolution aeromagnetic data across Adelaide Island, on the western margin of the AP revealing the complex structure of the AP arc/forearc boundary. Using digital enhancement, 2-D modelling and 3-D inversion we constrain the form of the magnetic sources at the arc/forearc boundary. Our interpretation of these magnetic data, guided by geological evidence and new zircon U-Pb dating, suggests significant Palaeogene to Neogene magmatism formed ∼25 per cent of the upper crust in this region (∼7500 km3). Significant structural control on Neogene magma emplacement along the arc/forearc boundary is also revealed. We hypothesize that this Neogene magmatism reflects mantle return flow through a slab window generated by Late Palaeogene cessation of subduction south of Adelaide Island. This mantle process may have affected the final stages of arc magmatism along the AP margin

Water productivity mapping using Landsat 8 satellite together with weather stations.

The main goal of this research was to determine the spatial-temporal agro-ecological indicators of water productivity in watersheds with diferent types of land use and occupation, using Landsat 8 images, agro-meteorological stations and application of Monteithand SAFER (Simple Algorithm for Retrieving Evapotranspiration) models to estimate the production biomass (BIO) and the actual evapotranspiration (ET), respectively. Incident global solar radiation (RS↓) is observed seasonality of radiation during the year

Parents and Teachers Make Different Contributions to a Shared Perspective on Hyperactive–Impulsive and Inattentive Symptoms: A Multivariate Analysis of Parent and Teacher Ratings on the Symptom Domains of ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterised by developmentally inappropriate and impairing levels of inattentive and hyperactive–impulsive behaviours. We aimed to investigate the differential effects of parent and teacher ratings on inattention and hyperactivity–impulsivity and the extent of genetic overlap between the two behavioural dimensions. Multivariate structural equation modelling was performed on DSM-IV based ADHD ratings by parents and teachers collected on a general population sample of 672 twin pairs, at ages 7–10 years. This study is the first to simultaneously use parent and teacher ratings in twin modelling to examine the effects of different raters on the two behavioural dimensions of ADHD. The findings indicated that hyperactivity–impulsivity and inattention load on to separate latent factors that represent a common behavioural view for both parents and teachers, although there are additional aspects to the observations of these behaviours that are unique to each type of rater. The findings further indicate some shared aetiology for hyperactivity–impulsivity and inattention as measured by both parent and teacher ratings, in agreement with previous findings on the aetiology of the two symptom dimensions of ADHD

Bivariate genetic modelling of the response to an oral glucose tolerance challenge: A gene x environment interaction approach

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Twin and family studies have shown the importance of genetic factors influencing fasting and 2 h glucose and insulin levels. However, the genetics of the physiological response to a glucose load has not been thoroughly investigated. METHODS: We studied 580 monozygotic and 1,937 dizygotic British female twins from the Twins UK Registry. The effects of genetic and environmental factors on fasting and 2 h glucose and insulin levels were estimated using univariate genetic modelling. Bivariate model fitting was used to investigate the glucose and insulin responses to a glucose load, i.e. an OGTT. RESULTS: The genetic effect on fasting and 2 h glucose and insulin levels ranged between 40% and 56% after adjustment for age and BMI. Exposure to a glucose load resulted in the emergence of novel genetic effects on 2 h glucose independent of the fasting level, accounting for about 55% of its heritability. For 2 h insulin, the effect of the same genes that already influenced fasting insulin was amplified by about 30%. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Exposure to a glucose challenge uncovers new genetic variance for glucose and amplifies the effects of genes that already influence the fasting insulin level. Finding the genes acting on 2 h glucose independently of fasting glucose may offer new aetiological insight into the risk of cardiovascular events and death from all causes

The success of the Montreal Protocol in mitigating interactive effects of stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change on the environment

The Montreal Protocol and its Amendments have been highly effective in protecting the stratospheric ozone layer, preventing global increases in solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B; 280-315 nm) at Earth's surface, and reducing global warming. While ongoing and projected changes in UV-B radiation and climate still pose a threat to human health, food security, air and water quality, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and construction materials and fabrics, the Montreal Protocol continues to play a critical role in protecting Earth's inhabitants and ecosystems by addressing many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Non peer reviewe