2-Level-Service

2-level-service occurs when an inventory system has two or more locations and one location is the source to another location in the network.  The source location receives its stock from a supplier and -- when called upon -- replenishes the stock to another location, here called the 2-level-service location.  This paper shows how to control the inventory at each location and generates table values on inventory levels for a range of scenarios

Demands Along The Supply Chain

This paper describes how the monthly demands vary at the locations along the supply chain, coming from the customers to a dealer onto a distribution center and finally to a supplier.  The mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measured for each of the locations.  The results indicate when the demands tend to be normally distributed and when non-normal

Demands, Backorders, Service Level, Lost Sales And Effective Service Level

The typical way service level is measured in industry is the demand filled over total demand. Unfilled demand becomes a backorder or lost sales. Lost sales demand is often not known or measured by the management.  This paper shows how to estimate the lost sales demand and also shows how to measure an effective service level.  Tables are provided for easy reference and two examples show how to apply the results of this paper to industry situations

Adjusting An Existing Forecasting Model When Some Future Demands Are Known In Advance: A Bayesian Technique

The purpose of this research is to provide a model which can be used to adjust forecasts that are already available. It analyzes the components of the advanced demand, namely, the number of orders and their corresponding order size. It explores and analyzes the possibility of using the expected number of orders for a future period as the variable to be estimated. The Bayesian estimate of the expected number of orders is used in determining the adjusted forecast. A simulation is applied to calculate a ratio between the adjusting forecasting error and the original forecasting error. Results prove that the adjusted forecast provides greater accuracy for different probable values of getting an order in advance

Min and Max Log-Logistic Extreme Interval Values

The min and max log-logistic extreme interval values are presented. In addition, the paper shows how the log-logistic extreme interval values can be found from the uniform extreme interval values. An application and tables containing some of the min and max log-logistic and uniform extreme interval values are provided

Min And Max Extreme Interval Values

The paper shows how to find the min and max extreme interval values for the exponential and triangular distributions from the min and max uniform extreme interval values. Tables are provided to show the min and max extreme interval values for the uniform, exponential, and triangular distributions for different probabilities and observation sizes

A Gardening Session Turns Into a Life Threatening Aortic Transection.

Penetrating injuries to the sub-diaphragmatic aorta are challenging, with high mortality rates. Most penetrating aortic trauma results from gunshots or stab wounds. This case reports a successful aortic bypass, following partial aortic transection caused by an accidental fall on a utility knife. A healthy 82 year old woman was admitted to the emergency department following penetrating abdominal trauma following an accidental fall on an 18 cm long utility knife. On admission, the patient was haemodynamically stable, with no neurological deficit. Computed tomography angiography revealed multiple abdominal injuries to the stomach, duodenum, L4-L5 left vertebrae, and infrarenal abdominal aorta. The patient underwent urgent midline laparotomy, followed by successful aortic repair using a 14 mm polyester graft. The gastric and duodenal lesions were repaired with an omental patch. The post-operative course was uneventful. Penetrating abdominal trauma with visceral lesions and aortic transection are high risk injuries, albeit rarely described in the literature. A low threshold for imaging, and multidisciplinary management by vascular and visceral surgeons are essential for timely recognition and successful intervention

Long-term weight loss and metabolic benefit from Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in patients with superobesity.

Although Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is widely performed worldwide, its efficacy in patients with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 50 kg/m2 remains controversial. The aim of the present paper was to assess long-term (10 years or more) weight loss and metabolic results of RYGB in patients with superobesity (SO; BMI > 50 kg/m2), compared with patients with morbid obesity (MO; BMI 35-50 kg/m2). This study involved retrospective analysis of a prospectively followed cohort of adult patients operated on for a primary RYGB between 1999 and 2008. Long-term weight loss and metabolic parameters were compared between SO and MO patients, with a sex-specific subgroup analysis in SO patients. Multiple logistic regression assessed independent predictors of poor long-term weight loss. Among the 957 included patients, 193 (20.2 per cent) were SO (mean BMI 55.3 kg/m2versus 43.3 kg/m2 in MO). Upon 10-year follow-up, which was complete in 86.3 per cent of patients, BMI remained higher in SO patients (mean 39.1 kg/m2versus 30.8 kg/m2, P < 0.001) although total bodyweight loss (per cent TBWL) was similar (28.3 per cent versus 28.8 per cent, P = 0.644). Male SO patients had a trend to higher 10-year per cent TBWL, while initial BMI greater than 50 kg/m2 and low 5-year per cent TBWL were independent predictors of long-term TBWL less than 20 per cent. Diabetes remission was observed in 39 per cent SO and 40.9 per cent MO patients (P = 0.335) at 10 years, and all patients had a significant lipid profile improvement. Substantial improvement in co-morbidities was observed in all patients 10 years after RYGB. Total weight loss was similar in SO and MO patients, leaving SO patients with higher BMI. Suboptimal TBWL 5 years after surgery in SO, especially female patients, may warrant prompt reassessment to improve long-term outcomes

Deregulation of methylation of transcribed-ultra conserved regions in colorectal cancer and their value for detection of adenomas and adenocarcinomas

Expression of Transcribed Ultraconserved Regions (T-UCRs) is often deregulated in cancer. The present study assesses the expression and methylation of three T-UCRs (Uc160, Uc283 and Uc346) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and explores the potential of T-UCR methylation in circulating DNA for the detection of adenomas and adenocarcinomas. Expression levels of Uc160, Uc283 and Uc346 were lower in neoplastic tissues from 64 CRC patients (statistically significant for Uc160, p<0.001), compared to non-malignant tissues, while methylation levels displayed the inverse pattern (p<0.001, p=0.001 and p=0.004 respectively). In colon cancer cell lines, overexpression of Uc160 and Uc346 led to increased proliferation and migration rates. Methylation levels of Uc160 in plasma of 50 CRC, 59 adenoma patients, 40 healthy subjects and 12 patients with colon inflammation or diverticulosis predicted the presence of CRC with 35% sensitivity and 89% specificity (p=0.016), while methylation levels of the combination of all three T-UCRs resulted in 45% sensitivity and 74.3% specificity (p=0.013). In conclusion, studied T-UCRs’ expression and methylation status are deregulated in CRC while Uc160 and Uc346 appear to have a complicated role in CRC progression. Moreover their methylation status appears a promising non-invasive screening test for CRC, provided that the sensitivity of the assay is improved