Using life cycle sustainability assessment to trade off sourcing strategies for humanitarian relief items

Purpose: While interest in supply chain sustainability has risen over the past few years in academic and business worlds, very little research has been conducted on sustainability in humanitarian supply chains, specifically. This study aims to contribute to the development of the field by conducting a life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA) of sourcing scenarios for a core relief item in a humanitarian supply chain. Methods: This paper is structured according to the LCSA framework developed by Guinée et al. (Environ Sci Technol 45(1):90–96, 2011). The relief item analyzed is a kitchen set supplied by a UN agency. Environmental, social, and economic impacts of two sourcing scenarios for a kitchen set are mapped: one international and one local. Sources of data include interviews, company records, and online databases. Results are analyzed using the ReCiPe method to assess environmental impact and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) guidelines to assess social impact. Results and discussion: We show how LCSA can be used to map the sustainability of two sourcing scenarios for kitchen sets in a humanitarian supply chain along triple bottom line dimensions. We report findings on sourcing scenarios for distribution to two refugee camps in Kenya: one from a supplier in India and one from a supplier in Kenya. We use an environmental life cycle analysis (LCA), a social LCA, and a life cycle costing (LCC) to analyze differences and similarities. We find that local sourcing is preferred over international sourcing on two out of the three sustainability dimensions-environmental and social impacts. Humanitarian organizations may further use this paper as a guideline to develop their own sustainability assessments of supply chain scenarios. Conclusions: The results of our study provide a fresh, sustainability-focused perspective on the debate over international vs. local procurement. This paper is the first to apply LCSA to a humanitarian context. It also addresses a void in the sourcing literature by determining the sustainability impacts of different sourcing strategies. The study evaluates only two sourcing options and also uses a limited number of data sources

Fauna of monogenean trematodes-parasites of some cyprinid fishes from lake Prespa, Macedonia

During parasitological investigations six species of monogenean trematodes were found on the gills of three cyprinid fish species from Lake Prespa (Macedonia), as follows: Dactylogyrus prostae and Dactylogyrus sphyrna in Leuciscus cephalus albus, Dactylogyrus erhardovae, Dactylogyrus sphyrna and Paradiplozoon zeller in Rutilus rubilio prespensis and Dactylogyrus elegantis and Dactylogyrus vistulae in Chondrostoma nasus prespensis. The prevalence in Leuciscus cephalus albus was 62.22%, in Rutilus rubilio prespensis 59.87% while in Chondrostoma nasus prespensis it was the lowest and amounted to 41.59%. The overall, prevalence of monogeneans in the investigated cyprinid fishes from Lake Prespa was 53.65%, and the mean intensity of infestation was 6.08. Among the monogenean species the highest prevalence occurred with Dactylogyrus sphyrna (25.08%), and the greatest intensity of infestation was evident in the cases of infestation with Dactylogyrus erhardovae (12.87). The greatest pathological effect was associated with the monogeneans Dactylogyrus vistulae and Paradiplozoon zeller. All monogenean species found represented the first record for such parasite fauna of fishes in Macedonia.U toku parazitoloških istraživanja ciprinidnih riba iz Prespanskog jezera (Makedonija), kod 3 vrste riba na škrgama pronađeno je 6 vrsta monogenih trematoda, i to: kod Leuciscus cephalus albus su nađeni Dactylogyrus prostae i Dactylogyrus sphyrna, kod Rutilus rubilio prespensis su pronađeni Dactylogyrus erhardovae, Dactylogyrus sphyrna i Paradiplozoon zeller, kod Chondrostoma nasus prespensis su pronađeni Dactylogyrus elegantis i Dactylogyrus vistulae. Ekstenzitet infestacije kod Leuciscus cephalus albus iznosio je 62,22%, kod Rutilus rubilio prespensis 59,87%, a kod Chondrostoma nasus prespensis je bio najniži i iznosio je 41,59%. Ukupno, ekstenzitet infestacije sa monogeneama kod ispitivanih ciprinidnih riba Prespanskog jezera iznosio je 53,65%, a intenzitet infestacije 6,08. Pojedinačno, po vrstama monogenea, najviši ekstenzitet infestacije je bio sa Dactylogyrus sphyrna (25,08%), a najviši intenzitet infestacije je utvrđen u slučajevima infestacije sa Dactylogyrus erhardovae (12,87). Najveći patogeni uticaj su imale monogene trematode Dactylogyrus vistulae i Paradiplozoon zeller. Sve pronađene vrste monogenea predstavljaju prvi nalaz za parazitofaunu riba Makedonije.nul

Discocotyle ohridana n. Sp. (monogenea: Discocotylidae) on the gills of ohrid belvica salmothymus ohridanus (pisces: Salmonidae) from the lake ohrid, macedonia

Discocotyle ohridana n.sp. is described from the gills of Ohrid belvica Salmothymus ohridanus Steindachner, 1892; (syn. Acantholingua ohridana Hadzisce, 1961) from the Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. According our investigation the new species D. ohridana n.sp. differs 56.47% of observed S. ohridanus have been infected and average intensity of infestation is 2.84

History-based verification of functional behaviour of concurrent programs

Modular verification of the functional behaviour of a concurrent program remains a challenge. We propose a new way to achieve this, using histories, modelled as process algebra terms, to keep track of local changes. When threads terminate or synchronise in some other way, local histories are combined into global histories, and by resolving the global histories, the reachable state properties can be determined. Our logic is an extension of permission-based separation logic, which supports expressive and intuitive specifications. We discuss soundness of the approach, and illustrate it on several examples

Mitochondrial Networking Protects β-Cells From Nutrient-Induced Apoptosis

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have reported that β-cell mitochondria exist as discrete organelles that exhibit heterogeneous bioenergetic capacity. To date, networking activity, and its role in mediating β-cell mitochondrial morphology and function, remains unclear. In this article, we investigate β-cell mitochondrial fusion and fission in detail and report alterations in response to various combinations of nutrients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Using matrix-targeted photoactivatable green fluorescent protein, mitochondria were tagged and tracked in β-cells within intact islets, as isolated cells and as cell lines, revealing frequent fusion and fission events. Manipulations of key mitochondrial dynamics proteins OPA1, DRP1, and Fis1 were tested for their role in β-cell mitochondrial morphology. The combined effects of free fatty acid and glucose on β-cell survival, function, and mitochondrial morphology were explored with relation to alterations in fusion and fission capacity. RESULTS: β-Cell mitochondria are constantly involved in fusion and fission activity that underlies the overall morphology of the organelle. We find that networking activity among mitochondria is capable of distributing a localized green fluorescent protein signal throughout an isolated β-cell, a β-cell within an islet, and an INS1 cell. Under noxious conditions, we find that β-cell mitochondria become fragmented and lose their ability to undergo fusion. Interestingly, manipulations that shift the dynamic balance to favor fusion are able to prevent mitochondrial fragmentation, maintain mitochondrial dynamics, and prevent apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that alterations in mitochondrial fusion and fission play a critical role in nutrient-induced β-cell apoptosis and may be involved in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.National Institutes of Health (R01HL071629-03, R01DK074778, 5T32DK007201