EVALUATING OPTIMAL PRODUCT MIX USING DYNAMIC SIMULATION: A TOMATO PROCESSING CASE

Technology-driven change is everywhere and value-capture from new technology is challenging for business managers. Also rival firms may use technology as part of major success strategies. This situation leads managers to be keenly interested in evaluation of alternative technologies prior to making a sunk investment in physical facilities. In contemplating new or added-capacity processing facilities, managers and investors must evaluate return on investment (ROI). Evaluation of ROI is complex because it varies by alternative technology and the resultant potential product mix alternatives associated with that technology at the time the investment capital is committed to build the processing plant. This research examines optimal alternative product mix from a processing plant technology that is fixed at the time of commitment to building or adding capacity. Evaluating the optimal product mix is of vital concern in any start-up processing environment. In this research the optimal product mix is evaluated by using a sophisticated evaluative tool known as PowerSim. This economic simulation software is used to model a start-up tomato processing plant in Ohio. The model evaluates the effects of various output, or tomato product mix, on plant profitability measured by ROI. Results indicate that an increase in plant profitability is expected when the tomato product mix consists of products that have a lower soluble solids concentration. The lower the soluble solids concentration of a tomato product, the less the processor will benefit from tomato varieties with high soluble solids. The processing operation achieves a RIO of 26.5 percent when the plant'Â’s product mix is 50 percent tomato paste (31 degrees brix) and 50 percent diced tomatoes. This product mix optimizes processor net income and realizes a plant return on equity of 50.6 percent.Agribusiness,

Chemoresistance in human ovarian cancer: the role of apoptotic regulators

Ovarian cancer is among the most lethal of all malignancies in women. While chemotherapy is the preferred treatment modality, chemoresistance severely limits treatment success. Recent evidence suggests that deregulation of key pro- and anti-apoptotic pathways is a key factor in the onset and maintenance of chemoresistance. Furthermore, the discovery of novel interactions between these pathways suggests that chemoresistance may be multi-factorial. Ultimately, the decision of the cancer cell to live or die in response to a chemotherapeutic agent is a consequence of the overall apoptotic capacity of that cell. In this review, we discuss the biochemical pathways believed to promote cell survival and how they modulate chemosensitivity. We then conclude with some new research directions by which the fundamental mechanisms of chemoresistance can be elucidated

Proteasomal Interference Prevents Zona Pellucida Penetration and Fertilization in Mammals

doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.104.032532The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway has been implicated in the penetration of ascidian vitelline envelope by the fertilizing spermatozoon (Sawada et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99:1223-1228). The present study provides experimental evidence demonstrating proteasome involvement in the penetration of mammalian zona pellucida (ZP). Using porcine in vitro fertilization as a model, penetration of ZP was completely inhibited by specific proteasomal inhibitors MG-132 and lactacystin. Three commercial rabbit sera recognizing 20S proteasomal core subunits b-1i, b-2i, a-6, and b-5 completely blocked fertilization at a very low concentration (i.e., diluted 1/2000 to 1/8000 in fertilization medium). Neither proteasome inhibitors nor antibodies had any effects on sperm-ZP binding and acrosome exocytosis in zona-enclosed oocytes or on fertilization rates in zona-free oocytes, which were highly polyspermic. Consistent with a possible role of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in ZP penetration, ubiquitin and various a and b type proteasomal subunits were detected in boar sperm acrosome by specific antibodies, immunoprecipitated and microsequenced by MALDITOF from boar sperm extracts. Antiubiquitin-immunoreactive substrates were detected on the outer face of ZP by epifluorescence microscopy. This study therefore provides strong evidence implicating the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in mammalian fertilization and zona penetration. This finding opens a new line of acrosome/ZP research because further studies of the sperm acrosomal proteasome can provide new tools for the management of polyspermia during in vitro fertilization and identify new targets for contraceptive development

Adipose‐Derived Stem Cells Induce Angiogenesis via Microvesicle Transport of miRNA‐31

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135340/1/sct3201654440.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135340/2/Supplemental_Information.pd

Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Real World Experience Post-FDA-Humanitarian Use Device Approval

While case series have established the efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it has been our experience that few OCD patients present without comorbidities that affect outcomes associated with DBS treatment. Here we present our experience with DBS therapy for OCD in patients who all have comorbid disease, together with the results of our programming strategies. For this case series, we assessed five patients who underwent ventral capsule/ventral striatum (VC/VS) DBS for OCD between 2015 and 2019 at the University of Colorado Hospital. Every patient in this cohort exhibited comorbidities, including substance use disorders, eating disorder, tic disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. We conducted an IRB-approved, retrospective study of programming modifications and treatment response over the course of DBS therapy. In addition to patients\u27 subjective reports of improvement, we observed significant improvement in the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (44%), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (53%), the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (27%), and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating scales (34.9%) following DBS. With respect to co-morbid disease, there was a significant improvement in a patient with tic disorder\u27s Total Tic Severity Score (TTSS) ( = 0.005). DBS remains an efficacious tool for the treatment of OCD, even in patients with significant comorbidities in whom DBS has not previously been investigated. Efficacious treatment results not only from the accurate placement of the electrodes by the surgeon but also from programming by the psychiatrist

Measuring Biodiversity and Extinction – Present and Past

How biodiversity is changing in our time represents a major concern for all organismal biologists. Anthropogenic changes to our planet are decreasing species diversity through the negative effects of pollution, habitat destruction, direct extirpation of species, and climate change. But major biotic changes – including those that have both increased and decreased species diversity – have happened before in Earth’s history. Biodiversity dynamics in past eras provide important context to understand ecological responses to current environmental change. The work of assessing biodiversity is woven into ecology, environmental science, conservation, paleontology, phylogenetics, evolutionary and developmental biology, and many other disciplines; yet, the absolute foundation of how we measure species diversity depends on taxonomy and systematics. The aspiration of this symposium, and complementary contributed talks, was to promote better understanding of our common goals and encourage future interdisciplinary discussion of biodiversity dynamics. The contributions in this collection of papers bring together a diverse group of speakers to confront several important themes. How can biologists best respond to the urgent need to identify and conserve diversity? How can we better communicate the nature of species across scientific disciplines? Where are the major gaps in knowledge about the diversity of living animal and plant groups, and what are the implications for understanding potential diversity loss? How can we effectively use the fossil record of past diversity and extinction to understand current biodiversity loss

Gamma-ray bursts and other sources of giant lightning discharges in protoplanetary systems

Lightning in the solar nebula is considered to be one of the probable sources for producing the chondrules that are found in meteorites. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) provide a large flux of gamma-rays that Compton scatter and create a charge separation in the gas because the electrons are displaced from the positive ions. The electric field easily exceeds the breakdown value of ~1 V m^-1 over distances of order 0.1 AU. The energy in a giant lightning discharge exceeds a terrestrial lightning flash by a factor of ~10^12. The predicted post-burst emission of gamma-rays from accretion into the newly formed black hole or spin-down of the magnetar is sufficiently intense to cause a lightning storm in the nebula that lasts for days and is more probable than the GRB because the radiation is beamed into a larger solid angle. The giant outbursts from nearby soft gamma-ray repeater sources (SGRs) are also capable of causing giant lightning discharges. The total amount of chondrules produced is in reasonable agreement with the observations of meteorites. Furthermore in the case of GRBs most chondrules were produced in a few major melting events by nearby GRBs and lightning occurred at effectively the same time over the whole nebula, and provide accurate time markers to the formation of chondrules and evolution of the solar nebula. This model provides a reasonable explanation for the delay between the formation of calcium aluminium inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules

The ENIGMA Stroke Recovery Working Group: Big data neuroimaging to study brain–behavior relationships after stroke

The goal of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) Stroke Recovery working group is to understand brain and behavior relationships using well‐powered meta‐ and mega‐analytic approaches. ENIGMA Stroke Recovery has data from over 2,100 stroke patients collected across 39 research studies and 10 countries around the world, comprising the largest multisite retrospective stroke data collaboration to date. This article outlines the efforts taken by the ENIGMA Stroke Recovery working group to develop neuroinformatics protocols and methods to manage multisite stroke brain magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral and demographics data. Specifically, the processes for scalable data intake and preprocessing, multisite data harmonization, and large‐scale stroke lesion analysis are described, and challenges unique to this type of big data collaboration in stroke research are discussed. Finally, future directions and limitations, as well as recommendations for improved data harmonization through prospective data collection and data management, are provided

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research