Fuzzy Approach Model to Portfolio Risk Response Strategies

Risk management and control of project risks have been the intrinsic characteristics of high-rise building projects in a changing built environment. In this research, a novel bi-objective model for the best mixture of projects is proposed. The first objective focuses on maximizing profits and efficiency of risk responses, and the second objective aims at minimizing project direct cost including machinery, human, and material costs to implement proper risk responses over a planning horizon under uncertainty. In this model, risks of the projects are controlled by time, quality, and cost constraints, and the most optimum risk response strategies (RRSs) are selected to eliminate or reduce the impacts of the risks. Thus, the combination of optimum projects with the best RRSs can be selected for an organizational portfolio model. Finally, to assess the solution method and the proposed model, the empirical result and sensitivity analysis are carried out. Ten large-scale high-rise building projects and their associated risks are evaluated as cases in this study

A new bi-objective model of the urban public transportation hub network design under uncertainty

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Osteocalcin and muscle metabolism: the efficacy of exercise training

Dear Editor-in-ChiefPhysical exercises decrement a network of diseases risk, and exercise may be suggested as medicine for lifestyle-related risk factors like insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dementia, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Recently, it has increasingly been approved that bone cooperates with several tissues and impacts several metabolic pathways in both animal and human models. The manner in which bone and muscle cross communicate and how they influence glucose homeostasis depends on osteocalcin (OCN)—an osteoblast-specific protein. OCN is a principally bone-derived hormone that exists in the circulation in carboxylated, undercarboxylated, and uncarboxylated forms. Because it was demonstrated that the un- or undercarboxylated forms (ucOCN) enhanced insulin sensitivity and secretion through direct impacts on the pancreatic beta-cell, it has been the center of most study (Kirk, Feehan, Lombardi, & Duque, 2020; Mohammad Rahimi, Bijeh, & Rashidlamir, 2020; Mohammad Rahimi, Niyazi, & Alaee, 2020).Several clinical research has displayed that ucOCN rises following exercise training, and this has been connected to some metabolic effects with the overall effect of enhancing insulin secretion and sensitivity, and in glucose uptake (Kirk et al., 2020; Mohammad Rahimi, Niyazi, et al., 2020). Direct binding has never been seen; nevertheless, it has been suggested the G protein-coupled receptor family C group 6 member A (GPRC6A) as the putative receptor for ucOCN in both models and computational modelling. UcOCN, in muscle, results in an insulin-dependent enhance in glucose uptake after muscle contraction in animal models, with an alongside rising in GPRC6A. Moreover, from a more practical view, ucOCN has been involved in muscle hypertrophy and strength. In this regard, OCN-deficient mice have been shown to have lower muscle mass; inversely, improved muscle mass was found in older mice with ucOCN administrations. Recent data has figured out a novel mechanism of bone-muscle crosstalk in relation to OCN and IL6 signaling (Kirk et al., 2020).After observing meaningful increments in both muscle-derived IL-6 and ucOCN following endurance training, it was observed that these alterations are dependent on one another. Mice with IL-6 deletions did not display the typical rise in OCN after exercise, showing that chemokine was needed for this crosstalk (Kirk et al., 2020). This influence was adjusted via the application of injected IL6, presenting strong evidence for the underlying mechanisms. As addressed above, it was demonstrated that the bone impacts of IL-6 happen through osteoblast signaling, with a resultant increment in receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand (RANKL) expression and osteoclastogenesis, and it seems that muscle performance advantages of IL-6 are mediated through the skeleton. While IL-6-deficient mice have been frequently demonstrated to have endangered muscle response to exercise training, mice lacking the IL-6R in myofibers did not suffer from the deficit. Alternatively, mice lacking IL-6R in osteoblasts mimicked the impact of total IL-6 deficiency, revealing that OCN was a mediator of the muscle response to the chemokine. Eventually, this mechanism was demonstrated to underpin the influences of OCN on muscle by enhancing glucose uptake and metabolism (Kirk et al., 2020).Cross-sectional human investigations have suggested that resistance training leads to an increment in ucOCN, alongside a reduction in HbA1c, insulin resistance, and circulating glucose level as well as quadriceps strength (Levinger et al., 2014; Mohammad Rahimi, Niyazi, et al., 2020). This exercise-induced elevation in OCN has also been revealed to rely on IL6 secretion from muscle. The utilize of the IL6 antibody-drug tocilizumab resulted in an almost complete deletion of the exercise-mediated raise in OCN following an endurance training program, demonstrating that the associations found in rodent research also translate to human (Kirk et al., 2020). Notwithstanding these relationships, no interventional trials have presented causative evidence in vivo for the impacts of ucOCN on muscle metabolism or function.It is acknowledged that when OCN is released to the circulation it becomes a mediator that stimulates pancreatic beta-cell proliferation and insulin secretion; on the other hand, it also increments the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-) and adiponectin in fat cells. The signaling cascade responsible for the influence on ucOCN is explained by crosstalk among cAMP–protein kinase A and extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathways through activation of Ras-proximate-1 (Rap1). The signaling of ucOCN in adipocytes in vivo leads to a reduction in the size of the adipocyte, which probably contributes to insulin sensitivity enhancement and glucose tolerance improvement via the up-regulation of the expression of adiponectin (Mohammad Rahimi, Niyazi, et al., 2020). Besides, ucOCN might has a direct role in enhancing skeletal muscle translocation of glucose transporters (GLUT-4) and has the capability to consume more glucose. Nevertheless, in order to examine these mechanisms, additional research is required. The metabolic impact of insulin may be bone-mediated via the release and decarboxylation of OCN. Taken together, these actions demonstrate a positive feedback mechanism between pancreatic beta-cells/adipose tissue/bone and the insulin increase of ucOCN production, which, in turn, increases insulin production and sensitivity (Ferron, Hinoi, Karsenty, & Ducy, 2008)

A hybrid of clustering and meta-heuristic algorithms to solve a p-mobile hub location–allocation problem with the depreciation cost of hub facilities

Hubs act as intermediate points for the transfer of materials in the transportation system. In this study, a novel p-mobile hub location–allocation problem is developed. Hub facilities can be transferred to other hubs for the next period. Implementation of mobile hubs can reduce the costs of opening and closing the hubs, particularly in an environment with rapidly changing demands. On the other hand, the movement of facilities reduces lifespan and adds relevant costs. The depreciation cost and lifespan of hub facilities must be considered and the number of movements of the hub's facilities must be assumed to be limited. Three objective functions are considered to minimize costs, noise pollutions, and the harassment caused by the establishment of a hub for people, a new objective that locates hubs in less populated areas. A multi-objective mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model is developed. To solve the proposed model, four meta-heuristic algorithms, namely multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), a hybrid of k-medoids as a famous clustering algorithm and NSGA-II (KNSGA-II), and a hybrid of K-medoids and MOPSO (KMOPSO) are implemented. The results indicate that KNSGA-II is superior to other algorithms. Also, a case study in Iran is implemented and the related results are analyzed. © 2020 The Author

Restoration of Harmane Induced Memory Consolidation Deficit by Alpha-lipoic Acid in Male Mice

Introduction: there has been a growing number of publications focusing on the effect of beta-carbolines (e.g., harmane) on cognitive behaviors such as different stages of memory formation process. Moreover, several studies have stated that Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) induces some molecular pathways effects including antioxidant effect and reduction of inflammation process. Thus, in the lines that follow, the question of whether ALA could alter memory consolidation deficit caused by harmane in the male NMRI mice will be addressed. Materials and Methods: The data for this study were collected by step-down inhibitory avoidance task with one trial protocol for evaluation of memory consolidation. The ALA (35 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally immediately after training followed by subthreshold and effective doses of harmane (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg) with 15-minute interval period. Results: The results show that post-training injection of the highest dose of harmane (10 mg/kg) lowers step-down latency, indicating the amnesia induced by harmane (P<.001). In addition, similar injection of subthreshold dose of ALA (35 mg/kg), 15 minutes before injection of subthreshold and effective doses of harmane, restores step-down latency caused by higher dose of harmane (P<.001) without its effect on the responses induced by subthreshold doses of harmane, indicating benefit effect of ALA on amnesia induced by harmane. Conclusion: An implication of this study is the possibility that ALA can reverse the amnesia induced by harmane. Therefore, future studies on this topic such as molecular mechanisms are recommended. &nbsp

Modelling and solving the bi-objective production–transportation problem with time windows and social sustainability

We model and solve the production routing problem (PRP) with time windows, product deterioration and split delivery. A bi-objective PRP model for a single perishable product, which is subject to deterioration, is presented. The two objectives represent the economic and social aspects of sustainability, whereas the environmental impact is enforced by incorporating ad-hoc constraints. The economic dimension of sustainability consists of minimizing the costs related to the production, setup, holding, transportation and lateness penalty. The social responsibilities are modelled through maximizing the total freshness of the delivered products at all nodes over the planning horizon. The outcomes of our formulation are represented by the lot sizes, and the amounts of product to be delivered, as well as the routing at each planning period. To solve the resulting problem, we develop an interval robust possibilistic approach, and we carry out an experimental study and a sensitivity analysis. Finally, we further validate our optimization model and solution method using a real-life case of a food factory producing a product that is subject to perishability and deterioration

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a standardised and comprehensive measurement of these metrics at global, regional, and national levels. Methods We applied GBD 2019 analytical tools to calculate stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of DALYs (with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) associated with 19 risk factors, for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. These estimates were provided for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and all strokes combined, and stratified by sex, age group, and World Bank country income level. Findings In 2019, there were 12·2 million (95% UI 11·0–13·6) incident cases of stroke, 101 million (93·2–111) prevalent cases of stroke, 143 million (133–153) DALYs due to stroke, and 6·55 million (6·00–7·02) deaths from stroke. Globally, stroke remained the second-leading cause of death (11·6% [10·8–12·2] of total deaths) and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (5·7% [5·1–6·2] of total DALYs) in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, the absolute number of incident strokes increased by 70·0% (67·0–73·0), prevalent strokes increased by 85·0% (83·0–88·0), deaths from stroke increased by 43·0% (31·0–55·0), and DALYs due to stroke increased by 32·0% (22·0–42·0). During the same period, age-standardised rates of stroke incidence decreased by 17·0% (15·0–18·0), mortality decreased by 36·0% (31·0–42·0), prevalence decreased by 6·0% (5·0–7·0), and DALYs decreased by 36·0% (31·0–42·0). However, among people younger than 70 years, prevalence rates increased by 22·0% (21·0–24·0) and incidence rates increased by 15·0% (12·0–18·0). In 2019, the age-standardised stroke-related mortality rate was 3·6 (3·5–3·8) times higher in the World Bank low-income group than in the World Bank high-income group, and the age-standardised stroke-related DALY rate was 3·7 (3·5–3·9) times higher in the low-income group than the high-income group. Ischaemic stroke constituted 62·4% of all incident strokes in 2019 (7·63 million [6·57–8·96]), while intracerebral haemorrhage constituted 27·9% (3·41 million [2·97–3·91]) and subarachnoid haemorrhage constituted 9·7% (1·18 million [1·01–1·39]). In 2019, the five leading risk factors for stroke were high systolic blood pressure (contributing to 79·6 million [67·7–90·8] DALYs or 55·5% [48·2–62·0] of total stroke DALYs), high body-mass index (34·9 million [22·3–48·6] DALYs or 24·3% [15·7–33·2]), high fasting plasma glucose (28·9 million [19·8–41·5] DALYs or 20·2% [13·8–29·1]), ambient particulate matter pollution (28·7 million [23·4–33·4] DALYs or 20·1% [16·6–23·0]), and smoking (25·3 million [22·6–28·2] DALYs or 17·6% [16·4–19·0]). Interpretation The annual number of strokes and deaths due to stroke increased substantially from 1990 to 2019, despite substantial reductions in age-standardised rates, particularly among people older than 70 years. The highest age-standardised stroke-related mortality and DALY rates were in the World Bank low-income group. The fastest-growing risk factor for stroke between 1990 and 2019 was high body-mass index. Without urgent implementation of effective primary prevention strategies, the stroke burden will probably continue to grow across the world, particularly in low-income countries.publishedVersio

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a standardised and comprehensive measurement of these metrics at global, regional, and national levels. Methods We applied GBD 2019 analytical tools to calculate stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of DALYs (with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals UIs]) associated with 19 risk factors, for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. These estimates were provided for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and all strokes combined, and stratified by sex, age group, and World Bank country income level. Findings In 2019, there were 12.2 million (95% UI 11.0-13.6) incident cases of stroke, 101 million (93.2-111) prevalent cases of stroke, 143 million (133-153) DALYs due to stroke, and 6.55 million (6.00-7.02) deaths from stroke. Globally, stroke remained the second-leading cause of death (11.6% 10.8-12.2] of total deaths) and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (5.7% 5.1-6.2] of total DALYs) in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, the absolute number of incident strokes increased by 70.0% (67.0-73.0), prevalent strokes increased by 85.0% (83.0-88.0), deaths from stroke increased by 43.0% (31.0-55.0), and DALYs due to stroke increased by 32.0% (22.0-42.0). During the same period, age-standardised rates of stroke incidence decreased by 17.0% (15.0-18.0), mortality decreased by 36.0% (31.0-42.0), prevalence decreased by 6.0% (5.0-7.0), and DALYs decreased by 36.0% (31.0-42.0). However, among people younger than 70 years, prevalence rates increased by 22.0% (21.0-24.0) and incidence rates increased by 15.0% (12.0-18.0). In 2019, the age-standardised stroke-related mortality rate was 3.6 (3.5-3.8) times higher in the World Bank low-income group than in the World Bank high-income group, and the age-standardised stroke-related DALY rate was 3.7 (3.5-3.9) times higher in the low-income group than the high-income group. Ischaemic stroke constituted 62.4% of all incident strokes in 2019 (7.63 million 6.57-8.96]), while intracerebral haemorrhage constituted 27.9% (3.41 million 2.97-3.91]) and subarachnoid haemorrhage constituted 9.7% (1.18 million 1.01-1.39]). In 2019, the five leading risk factors for stroke were high systolic blood pressure (contributing to 79.6 million 67.7-90.8] DALYs or 55.5% 48.2-62.0] of total stroke DALYs), high body-mass index (34.9 million 22.3-48.6] DALYs or 24.3% 15.7-33.2]), high fasting plasma glucose (28.9 million 19.8-41.5] DALYs or 20.2% 13.8-29.1]), ambient particulate matter pollution (28.7 million 23.4-33.4] DALYs or 20.1% 16.6-23.0]), and smoking (25.3 million 22.6-28.2] DALYs or 17.6% 16.4-19.0]). Interpretation The annual number of strokes and deaths due to stroke increased substantially from 1990 to 2019, despite substantial reductions in age-standardised rates, particularly among people older than 70 years. The highest age-standardised stroke-related mortality and DALY rates were in the World Bank low-income group. The fastest-growing risk factor for stroke between 1990 and 2019 was high body-mass index. Without urgent implementation of effective primary prevention strategies, the stroke burden will probably continue to grow across the world, particularly in low-income countries

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation