Enterprise Eco-watching and Appraisal: Asset Modelling and Sustainability Assessment

AbstractAt the millennium turnover, the ecology globalisation shows the impeding threats of over-depletion/pollution: the sustainable growth requires supply-chain visibility, resource bookkeeping and renovation planning. The lifecycle starts when the idea of a product is born and lasts until complete disposal after realisation and operation. In the musts’ specification/analysis, the basic design (global plan, detailed design, assembly design, etc.) are followed by manufacturing, assembly, testing, diagnostics and operation, advertising, service, maintenance, etc.; then, disassembly and firing are scheduled, requiring reclamation and recovery, by re-cycling (material reprocessing) or re-using (part refurbishing). The present paper provides pilot clues for understanding the product-process agendas, using the TYPUS metrics and the KILT model, developed by the authors, in previous works

The pursuit of a high central venous oxygen saturation in sepsis: growing concerns

In this issue of Critical Care, Dutch investigators report that, in a cohort of patients with sepsis/septic shock admitted to three different intensive care units (ICUs), low central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) was uncommon at the time of ICU admission, and hospital mortality was <30%. Their findings, taken together with those of recent reports from Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), raise serious concerns about the utility of early goal directed therapy (EGDT) outside the context of the original trial. Despite inclusion of EGDT into the Surviving Sepsis Guidelines, in response to growing uncertainty, ANZ and US investigators will soon begin randomization of patients into two large multicentre trials comparing EGDT to standard therapy. Until such studies are completed, basing international treatment guidelines on a single centre study performed in what may turn out to be a highly atypical environment would seem premature

QoSatAr: a cross-layer architecture for E2E QoS provisioning over DVB-S2 broadband satellite systems

This article presents QoSatAr, a cross-layer architecture developed to provide end-to-end quality of service (QoS) guarantees for Internet protocol (IP) traffic over the Digital Video Broadcasting-Second generation (DVB-S2) satellite systems. The architecture design is based on a cross-layer optimization between the physical layer and the network layer to provide QoS provisioning based on the bandwidth availability present in the DVB-S2 satellite channel. Our design is developed at the satellite-independent layers, being in compliance with the ETSI-BSM-QoS standards. The architecture is set up inside the gateway, it includes a Re-Queuing Mechanism (RQM) to enhance the goodput of the EF and AF traffic classes and an adaptive IP scheduler to guarantee the high-priority traffic classes taking into account the channel conditions affected by rain events. One of the most important aspect of the architecture design is that QoSatAr is able to guarantee the QoS requirements for specific traffic flows considering a single parameter: the bandwidth availability which is set at the physical layer (considering adaptive code and modulation adaptation) and sent to the network layer by means of a cross-layer optimization. The architecture has been evaluated using the NS-2 simulator. In this article, we present evaluation metrics, extensive simulations results and conclusions about the performance of the proposed QoSatAr when it is evaluated over a DVB-S2 satellite scenario. The key results show that the implementation of this architecture enables to keep control of the satellite system load while guaranteeing the QoS levels for the high-priority traffic classes even when bandwidth variations due to rain events are experienced. Moreover, using the RQM mechanism the user’s quality of experience is improved while keeping lower delay and jitter values for the high-priority traffic classes. In particular, the AF goodput is enhanced around 33% over the drop tail scheme (on average)

Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Basic Science in the Light of Real-World Epidemiology

Major advances in the last few decades have favored the view of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as a disease of hyper- or, more often, paradoxical hyporesponsiveness of the gut-associated immune system. The relevant pivot seems to be the loss of the balance between gut-associated pro-inflammatory lymphocytes and the indwelling microbiome species, with inner regulatory circuits (regulatory T-lymphocytes, T-reg) and outer factors (such as drugs, tobacco, diet components) contributing to complicate the matter. Light might be shed by the observation of the real-world IBD epidemiology, which may help unveil the factors that tend to cluster IBD cases to certain geographical areas. A transitional mind frame between bench and real-world gastroenterology could hopefully contribute to restrain the mounting epidemic of IBD in the Western world and to halt the more recent increases seen in many Eastern countries

HIPK2 and extrachromosomal histone H2B are separately recruited by Aurora-B for cytokinesis

Cytokinesis, the final phase of cell division, is necessary to form two distinct daughter cells with correct distribution of genomic and cytoplasmic materials. Its failure provokes genetically unstable states, such as tetraploidization and polyploidization, which can contribute to tumorigenesis. Aurora-B kinase controls multiple cytokinetic events, from chromosome condensation to abscission when the midbody is severed. We have previously shown that HIPK2, a kinase involved in DNA damage response and development, localizes at the midbody and contributes to abscission by phosphorylating extrachromosomal histone H2B at Ser14. Of relevance, HIPK2-defective cells do not phosphorylate H2B and do not successfully complete cytokinesis leading to accumulation of binucleated cells, chromosomal instability, and increased tumorigenicity. However, how HIPK2 and H2B are recruited to the midbody during cytokinesis is still unknown. Here, we show that regardless of their direct (H2B) and indirect (HIPK2) binding of chromosomal DNA, both H2B and HIPK2 localize at the midbody independently of nucleic acids. Instead, by using mitotic kinase-specific inhibitors in a spatio-temporal regulated manner, we found that Aurora-B kinase activity is required to recruit both HIPK2 and H2B to the midbody. Molecular characterization showed that Aurora-B directly binds and phosphorylates H2B at Ser32 while indirectly recruits HIPK2 through the central spindle components MgcRacGAP and PRC1. Thus, among different cytokinetic functions, Aurora-B separately recruits HIPK2 and H2B to the midbody and these activities contribute to faithful cytokinesis

Hyperbolic Balance Laws with a Non Local Source

This paper is devoted to hyperbolic systems of balance laws with non local source terms. The existence, uniqueness and Lipschitz dependence proved here comprise previous results in the literature and can be applied to physical models, such as Euler system for a radiating gas and Rosenau regularization of the Chapman-Enskog expansion.Comment: 26 page

Pengaruh Lembar Kerja Siswa Berbasis Inkuiri Terbimbing Topik Pembiasan Cahaya Terhadap Kemampuan Berpikir Kritis

This study aims to determine the effect of student worksheet based on guided inquiry on the ability of critical thinking and improvement. The sample of this research is the students of class VII G and VII F SMPN 3 Natar. The research design used is Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. Based on the results of the Independent Sample T-test, the value of Asymp. Sig. (2-Tailed) is less than 0.05 ie 0,000, it can be stated that the guidance of the student worksheets on critical thinking skills. The average value of N-gain critical thinking ability in the experimental class is 0.43 in the medium category, while the control class with the low category is 0.25. Based on the data, the experimental class data it has an improved N-gain average of critical thinking better than control class.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh lembar kerja siswa berbasis inkuiri terbimbing terhadap kemampuan berpikir kritis dan peningkatannya. Sampel penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas VII G dan VII F SMPN 3 Natar. Desain penelitian yang digunakan adalah Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. Berdasarkan hasil dari uji Independent Sample T-test, nilai Asymp. Sig. (2-Tailed) kurang dari 0,05 yaitu 0,000, maka dapat dinyatakan terdapat pengaruh yang siginifikan penggunaan lembar kerja siswa berbasis inkuiri terbimbing terhadap kemampuan berpikir kritis. Nilai rata-rata N-gain kemampuan berpikir kritis pada kelas eskperimen sebesar 0,43 dengan kategori sedang, sedangkan kelas kontrol dengan kategori rendah sebesar 0,25. Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh, kelas eksperimen memiliki peningkatan rata-rata N-gain kemampuan berpikir kritis lebih baik daripada kelas kontrol