The application of big data and AI in the upstream supply chain

The use of Big Data has grown in popularity in organisations to exploit the purpose of their primary data to enhance their competitiveness. In conjunction with the increased use of Big Data, there has also been a growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyse the vast amounts of data generated and provide a mechanism for locating and constructing useable patterns that organisations can incorporate in their supply chain strategy programme. As these organisations embrace the use of technology and embed this in their supply chain strategy, there are questions as to how this may affect their upstream supply chains especially with regards to how SME’s may be able to cope with the potential changes. There exists the opportunity to conduct further research into this area, mainly focusing on three key industry sectors of aerospace, rail and automotive supply chains.N/

Supplier base management : the contrast between Germany and the UK

Supplier base management is an important aspect of the management of manufacturing operations, as reducing the number of suppliers – the supplier base – is a key approach in many companies including the US and the UK. By having fewer suppliers, manufacturers have more time to work closely with each remaining supplier, for instance, on improving quality and product innovation. However, is this approach being adopted in Germany as fast as it has been in the UK? This paper describes research which addresses this question and which also investigates how German companies are managing contacts with their suppliers. The study was conducted in two stages. Firstly, a survey of manufacturers in Germany and the UK identified the trends in the supplier base of companies in each country. Secondly, a follow-up telephone survey was carried through with purchasing managers at a random sample of 34 German plants to identify, for example, the advantages experienced by manufacturers, which had reduced their supplier base. The findings show that German manufacturers have not reduced their supplier base by as much as companies in the UK. The second part of the research showed that German manufacturers, which have reduced their supplier base, perceive the benefits of this. However, other companies appear to have failed to take the opportunity to gain advantages from a reduced supplier base

DOE Environmental Management Programs in New Mexico: Environmental and Economic Impacts

In August 2001 Nuclear Watch of New Mexico (NWNM) was funded by the Citizens’ Monitoring and Technical Assessment (MTA) Fund to conduct an “Assessment of the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Department of Energy Environmental Management Programs in New Mexico.” New Mexico is home to two of the three nuclear weapons laboratories in the United States, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. New Mexico also hosts the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the world’s only deep geological disposal site for radioactive transuranic wastes (which are primarily plutonium contaminated wastes resulting from bomb research and production). These three sites were the focus of NWNM’s project. In May 2002, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) issued under its Resource and Recovery Act (RCRA) authority a draft “Corrective Action Order” against Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This Order mandates the investigation and compilation by the lab of comprehensive environmental information categorized by different lab Technical Areas, watersheds and groundwater. The bulk of our project on LANL environmental issues turned to analyzing and commenting on the draft Corrective Action Order. Subsequently Bernd Franke and Jay Coghlan collaboratively provided NMED with 19 pages of technical comments, which we believe had a salutary effect in strengthening the November 2002 Final Order. It is our hope that the LANL Order will lead, in time, to State-mandated cleanup. Unfortunately, to date implementation of the Order has been stayed under the threat of DOE lawsuits against NMED. The purpose of our Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) project to was to look closely at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) anticipated remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) waste program as it pertains to WIPP. [RH-TRU wastes are those too hot for humans to handle.] However, because of the consistently changing nature of the DOE’s environmental management program and because of the interlocking nature of those changes, our WIPP project took on a broader scope. Not only did NWNM analyze and comment on the proposed addition of RH-TRU waste disposal, but also analyzed and commented on 22 other proposed additions or changes to WIPP. We believe that we have played a significant role in helping to ensure that the State WIPP RCRA permit remains strong and that the DOE’s requested modifications are not just perfunctorily approved by the NMED. This research was completed money allocated during Round 2 of the Citizens’ Monitoring and Technical Assessment Fund (MTA Fund). Clark University was named conservator of these works. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at [email protected]://commons.clarku.edu/nuclearwatch/1000/thumbnail.jp

Association between maternal vitamin D status in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood:results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Seafood intake in pregnancy has been positively associated with childhood cognitive outcomes which could potentially relate to the high vitamin-D content of oily fish. However, whether higher maternal vitamin D status [serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, 25(OH)D] in pregnancy is associated with a reduced risk of offspring suboptimal neurodevelopmental outcomes is unclear. A total of 7065 mother-child pairs were studied from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort who had data for both serum total 25(OH)D concentration in pregnancy and at least one measure of offspring neurodevelopment (pre-school development at 6–42 months; “Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire” scores at 7 years; IQ at 8 years; reading ability at 9 years). After adjustment for confounders, children of vitamin-D deficient mothers (< 50.0 nmol/L) were more likely to have scores in the lowest quartile for gross motor development at 30 months (OR 1.20 95% CI 1.03, 1.40), fine motor development at 30 months (OR 1.23 95% CI 1.05, 1.44), and social development at 42 months (OR 1.20 95% CI 1.01, 1.41) than vitamin-D sufficient mothers (≥ 50.0 nmol/L). No associations were found with neurodevelopmental outcomes, including IQ, measured at older ages. However, our results suggest that deficient maternal vitamin D status in pregnancy may have adverse effects on some measures of motor and social development in children under 4 years. Prevention of vitamin D deficiency may be important for preventing suboptimal development in the first 4 years of life

Vitamins D2 and D3 Have Overlapping But Different Effects on the Human Immune System Revealed Through Analysis of the Blood Transcriptome

Vitamin D is best known for its role in maintaining bone health and calcium homeostasis. However, it also exerts a broad range of extra-skeletal effects on cellular physiology and on the immune system. Vitamins D(2) and D(3) share a high degree of structural similarity. Functional equivalence in their vitamin D-dependent effects on human physiology is usually assumed but has in fact not been well defined experimentally. In this study we seek to redress the gap in knowledge by undertaking an in-depth examination of changes in the human blood transcriptome following supplementation with physiological doses of vitamin D(2) and D(3). Our work extends a previously published randomized placebo-controlled trial that recruited healthy white European and South Asian women who were given 15 µg of vitamin D(2) or D(3) daily over 12 weeks in wintertime in the UK (Nov-Mar) by additionally determining changes in the blood transcriptome over the intervention period using microarrays. An integrated comparison of the results defines both the effect of vitamin D(3) or D(2) on gene expression, and any influence of ethnic background. An important aspect of this analysis was the focus on the changes in expression from baseline to the 12-week endpoint of treatment within each individual, harnessing the longitudinal design of the study. Whilst overlap in the repertoire of differentially expressed genes was present in the D(2) or D(3)-dependent effects identified, most changes were specific to either one vitamin or the other. The data also pointed to the possibility of ethnic differences in the responses. Notably, following vitamin D(3) supplementation, the majority of changes in gene expression reflected a down-regulation in the activity of genes, many encoding pathways of the innate and adaptive immune systems, potentially shifting the immune system to a more tolerogenic status. Surprisingly, gene expression associated with type I and type II interferon activity, critical to the innate response to bacterial and viral infections, differed following supplementation with either vitamin D(2) or vitamin D(3), with only vitamin D(3) having a stimulatory effect. This study suggests that further investigation of the respective physiological roles of vitamin D(2) and vitamin D(3) is warranted

A process-based model of conifer forest structure and function with special emphasis on leaf lifespan

We describe the University of Sheffield Conifer Model (USCM), a process-based approach for simulating conifer forest carbon, nitrogen, and water fluxes by up-scaling widely applicable relationships between leaf lifespan and function. The USCM is designed to predict and analyze the biogeochemistry and biophysics of conifer forests that dominated the ice-free high-latitude regions under the high pCO2 “greenhouse” world 290–50 Myr ago. It will be of use in future research investigating controls on the contrasting distribution of ancient evergreen and deciduous forests between hemispheres, and their differential feedbacks on polar climate through the exchange of energy and materials with the atmosphere. Emphasis is placed on leaf lifespan because this trait can be determined from the anatomical characteristics of fossil conifer woods and influences a range of ecosystem processes. Extensive testing of simulated net primary production and partitioning, leaf area index, evapotranspiration, nitrogen uptake, and land surface energy partitioning showed close agreement with observations from sites across a wide climatic gradient. This indicates the generic utility of our model, and adequate representation of the key processes involved in forest function using only information on leaf lifespan, climate, and soils

Change and Continuity in the Role of State Attorneys General in the Obama and Trump Administrations

During the Trump Administration, state attorneys general (AGs) have become entrenched as integral policymaking actors in the United States. Their expanding policymaking role fits broader patterns of polarized politics, as partisan coalitions of AGs are increasingly willing to sue the federal government, a trend that gathered steam in the Obama Administration and has reached a crescendo in Trump’s first year. However, state AGs do cooperate, particularly in corporate litigation to address allegedly widespread, illegal behavior. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of multi-state lawsuits and Supreme Court amicus briefs, we identify continuity and change in how AGs have employed their powers, by examining their activities during the first year of the Trump presidency and placing these activities in the context of previous administrations. This analysis is accompanied by a pair of case studies, one on conflictual AG environmental litigation and another on bipartisan efforts to address the opioid epidemic. Both demonstrate AG’s prominent policymaking power, a power unlikely to abate anytime soon

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored

Vitamin D and SARS-Co V-2 virus/COVID-19 disease

Summary for social mediaVitamin D is essential for good health, especially bone and muscle health. Many people have low blood levels of vitamin D, especially in winter or if confined indoors, because summer sunshine is the main source of vitamin D for most people. Government vitamin D intake recommendations for the general population are 400 IU (10 µg) per day for the UK7 and 600 IU (15 µg) per day for the USA (800 IU (20 µg) per day for >70 years) and the EU.9 Taking a daily supplement (400 IU /day (10 µg/day) in the UK) and eating foods that provide vitamin D is particularly important for those self-isolating with limited exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D intakes greater than the upper limit of 4000 IU (100 µg) per day may be harmful and should be avoided unless under personal medical/clinical advice by a qualified health professional