Strategic Remanufacturing Decision in a Supply Chain with an External Local Remanufacturer

This paper develops a model for remanufacturing decisions in a two-stage supply chain with one manufacturer, one retailer and one external local remanufacturer, who collects used products and then reproduces them into a new one if the manufacturer does not join in remanufacturing process. This paper is different from most of the extant studies about remanufacturing because they consider decisions of firms rather than supply chains. We mainly focus on the remanufacturing strategy of the manufacturer when there is a local remanufacturer. We derive the equilibrium results for all players and do some comparative studies under different cases. We find that product substitutability can invert the effect of manufacturer’s extension decision on the retailer’s profit. We also consider the effect of channel structure by comparing the decentralized channel with the centralized channel. We find that the manufacturer has a higher incentive to extend its product line in the centralized channel than the decentralized channel; and the competition can strengthen its motivation to extend the line

Exploration of Contributing Factors of Different Distracted Driving Behaviors

The motivation of this research is to explore the contributing factors of driving distraction and compare the contributing factors for three typical distracted driving behaviours: drinking water, answering a phone and using mobile phone application (APP) while driving. An online survey including a driving behaviour scale and the Theory of Planned Behaviour Questionnaire (TPB Questionnaire) was conducted to obtain data related to these driving distractions. An integral structural equation model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was established to explain the factors causing three typical distracted behaviours, and the causes of differences for three typical distracted behaviours were compared. The result shows that the attitudes and perceived behaviour control are the main factors causing distracted behaviours, and the subjective norm has a significant impact on answering a phone while driving. The occurrence of a distracted driving behaviour is the consequence of behaviour intention and perceived behaviour control. These conclusions provide insights for implementing behaviour modification and traffic laws education.</p

Systems Biology of Gastric Cancer: Perspectives on the Omics-Based Diagnosis and Treatment

Gastric cancer is the fifth most diagnosed cancer in the world, affecting more than a million people and causing nearly 783,000 deaths each year. The prognosis of advanced gastric cancer remains extremely poor despite the use of surgery and adjuvant therapy. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of gastric cancer development, and the discovery of novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutics are major goals in gastric cancer research. Here, we review recent progress in application of omics technologies in gastric cancer research, with special focus on the utilization of systems biology approaches to integrate multi-omics data. In addition, the association between gastrointestinal microbiota and gastric cancer are discussed, which may offer insights in exploring the novel microbiota-targeted therapeutics. Finally, the application of data-driven systems biology and machine learning approaches could provide a predictive understanding of gastric cancer, and pave the way to the development of novel biomarkers and rational design of cancer therapeutics

Intermittent High Glucose Enhances Apoptosis in INS-1 Cells

To investigate the effect of intermittent high glucose (IHG) and sustained high glucose (SHG) on inducing β-cell apoptosis and the potential involved mechanisms, INS-1 beta cells were incubated for 72 h in the medium containing different glucose concentrations: control (5.5 mmol/L), SHG (33.3 mmol/L), and IHG (5.5 mmol/L and 33.3 mmol/L glucose alternating every 12 h). Cell viability, apoptosis rate, and oxidative-stress markers were determined. The results showed that the apoptosis induced by IHG was more obvious than that by SHG. Simultaneously, the intracellular level of oxidative stress was more significantly increased in INS-1 cells exposed to IHG. These findings suggest that intermittent high glucose could be more deleterious to β-cell than a constant high concentration of glucose, this may be due to the aggravation of oxidative stress triggered by intermittent high glucose

Contact characteristics of orthogonal face gear with spur involute pinion

The proposed mechanism of face gear shaping is applied to develop the mathematical model of face gears. Based on the developed mathematical model of the face gear, computer graph of the face gear set is created. Then, the transmission errors of the face gear pairs under various assembly errors are investigated based on the constraints theory of six-degree-of-freedom rigid body motion. The assembly errors are finally obtained by applying the TCA (tooth contact analysis) method. Also, the developed computer simulation programs quantitatively evaluate the influence of assembly errors including offset and angular position errors on the position of contact path and TE (transmission error) in a complete mesh cycle. Besides, the loaded tooth contact characteristics are investigated by using the FEM (finite element method) to study the stick-slip trajectories of the surfaces. The results are illustrated with numerical examples

Expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α and vascular endothelial growth factor-C in human chronic periodontitis

AbstractBackground/purposeEvidence shows that there is a relationship between hypoxia and inflammatory response in periodontitis. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α is a major regulator of energy homeostasis and cellular adaptation to low oxygen stress. Although experimental results demonstrate an association between HIF-1α and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C in tumor angiogenesis, the role of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in the pathogenesis of periodontitis is still ambiguous. So far, limited attention has been given to the role of hypoxia and VEGF-C in periodontitis. The present study aimed to investigate the expression and distribution of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in gingival tissue samples from patients with different stages of chronic periodontitis and healthy individuals.Materials and methodsA total of 56 samples were involved in this study, including moderate chronic periodontitis (n = 20), advanced chronic periodontitis (n = 20), and healthy control tissues (n = 16). The gingival specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathology. The expression of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in gingival tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining.ResultsHIF-1α and VEGF-C were found in gingival tissues from patients with different stages of chronic periodontitis as well as healthy control tissues. HIF-1α protein was expressed mainly in the epithelial layer of gingival tissues, and VEGF-C protein was mostly located in the connective tissue papilla of gingival tissues. Compared with healthy controls, the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in chronic periodontitis groups was significantly higher (P < 0.01), and the density of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in advanced chronic periodontitis group was even significantly higher than that in the moderate chronic periodontitis group (P < 0.01).ConclusionOur results suggest that the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF-C increased with severity of periodontitis. So, we conclude that HIF-1α may play an important role in the pathophysiology of human periodontitis and may be related to the function of VEGF-C during periodontitis