Optimization Modeling of a Poultry Industry Supply Chain Network

Supply chain management is an asset to every industry globally due to its positive outcomes such as faster response time, reduction of unwanted inventory and lower sales costs with enhanced customer service. It is therefore important to focus on improving the supply chain network of any industry. The objective of this research study is to model a supply chain network for poultry Industry in Oman. The study analyzes the existing supply chain network within a poultry industry and recommended its improvement based on the identified factors while giving more emphasis on the routing and distribution network aspects of supply chain. The recommendation, in the form of optimization model, is verified and validated using Lingo optimization software. Also, heuristic method is proposed and tested to overcome the complexity of optimization model

An approach for analysing supply chain complexity drivers through interpretive structural modelling

Today’s greater product variety, shorter product life cycle, and lower production costs are pushing companies to look beyond their own boundaries, thereby, creating complexity in the management of the supply chain. To manage such complexity, it is imperative that the management understand the associated complexity drivers and their interrelationships. This study identified twenty-three drivers responsible for supply chain complexity and classified them by using various criteria. In addition, the study presents a structural model using interpretive structural modelling (ISM) methodology to understand the inter-relationships between one driver to another. The research findings showed that drivers such as customer need, competitor action, and government regulation are beyond the control of supply chain partners, and have found the highest dominance with respect to supply chain complexity. Conversely, drivers related to tactical issues such as production planning and control, logistics and transportation, forecasting error, and marketing and sales are found to be the dependent drivers. Remaining drivers, such as company culture, number of suppliers, product variety, and organizational structure fall between the former two classifications. These drivers are related to strategic issues and require action from the upper level of the management hierarchy.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Reported a case of Flies larvae that cause myasis (genus Sarcophaga fertoni) in stool, In Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province

چکیده زمینه و هدف: مگسها در اکثر نقاط جغرافیایی در هر جایی که انسان بتواند زندگی کند به غیر از قطبها در ارتباط با انسان وجود دارند و از انسان سود می برند. در جوامع انسانی مگس خانواده های موسیده (Muscidae)، کالیفوریده (Calliphoridae) و سارکوفاژیده (Sarcophagidae) در ارتباط نزدیک با انسان زندگی میکنند میاز روده ایی اگرچه که همیشه گزارش نمی شود ولی در مطالعه ایی در چین 54 مورد آن گزارش شده است و مگسها با توجه به حضور در همه جا میتوانند در هر غذایی لارو گذاری و تخمگذاری کنند و اگر این آلودگی در نمونه مدفوع گرفته شده برای آزمایش مدفوع باشد میتواند باعث اشتباه در تشخیص و نگرانی فرد آزمایشگر و فرد آزمایش شونده شود و هدف از این گزارش آشنایی کارشناسان آزمایشگاه در موارد نادر وجود لارو در نمونه مدفوع است. گزارش مورد: این گزارش مربوط به یک دختری 7 ساله اهل و ساکن سنندج است که برای ورود به دبستان و جلوگیری از شیوع آلودگی های انگلی در مدارس در 3 نوبت آزمایش مدفوع داده است در نمونه مدفوع نوبت سوم تخم آسکاریس کریستالهای شارکوت لیدن و تعداد زیادی لارو متحرک دیده شد، با انتقال مورد به گروه انگل شناسی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی کردستان مشخص شد لاروها مربوط به نوعی مگس است پس از نگهداری نمونه ها در شرایط آزمایشگاهی مناسب لاروها تبدیل به پوپ و نهایتاً در ادامه استحاله، پوپها بعد از 13 روز تبدیل به حشره بالغ شدند. نتیجه گیری: با بررسی بیشتر و انجام آزمایشهای تکمیلی و مشاهده وضعیت سالم مورد و با توجه به اطلاعات موجود در پرسشنامه مشخص شد نمونه به طور غیرصحیح نگهداری و به آزمایشگاه تشخیص طبی انتقال داده شده است و به طریقی با لارو مگس آلوده شده و لاروها از بیمار دفع نشده است و با توجه به کلیدهای تشخیصی، مشخص شد لاروها مربوط به گونه ی سارکوفاگا فرتونی (Sarcophagi fertoni) است

Antibacterial effects of medicinal plant extracts against Lactococcus garvieae, the etiological agent of rainbow trout lactococcosis

Eight medicinal plants were assessed for antimicrobial activity against Lactococcus garvieae isolate obtained from diseased Oncorhynchus mykiss collected from rainbow trout fish farms in Iran. Lactococcus garvieae is among the major pathogens of a large number of fish species cultured in fresh and marine recirculating and net pen production systems. The antibacterial activity of the medicinal plants against L. garvieae was evaluated using disc diffusion, well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration. Results showed that the extracts and essential oils had a relatively high antibacterial activity against L. garvieae. Of the plants studied, the most active extracts were those from the methanol extract of Peganum harmala, the essential oil of Satureja bachtiarica, the ethanol extract of Juglans regia and Trachyspermum copticum with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 105, 126, 510 and 453 μg/ml, respectively. Conversly, some of the extracts such as Quercus branti Lindley and Glycyrrhiza glabra L. had lower activity against L. garvieae with MIC values of 978 and 920 μg/ml respectively. Plant extracts as natural and environment- friendly compounds can be an important source of antibacterial agents against L. garvieae. They may be used for disinfection of instruments and rainbow trout raceways or treatment of the fish

Identification of Critical Factors and Their Interrelationships to Design Agile Supply Chain : Special Focus to Oil and Gas Industries

Purpose – This research attempted to identify the most critical factors and their inter-relationships to ensure designing agile supply chain, especially in oil and gas industry. This factors identification process is performed through developing a conceptual framework and the use of Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) tool. Design/methodology/approach – This study is conducted through an extensive literature review and questionnaires survey to identify and refine the critical factors that ensure the agile supply chain in oil and gas industry. In addition, several brainstorming sessions with the experts in the field of oil and gas industries were organized with the objective to interpret the contextual inter-relationships between the identified factors. The outcomes from the literature reviews, interview questions and experts’ opinions were used to develop a diagraph and MICMAC analysis to know the drivers of agility in supply chain. Findings –From this study, 34 enablers and 12 factors were identified, which are responsible to ensure agile supply chain in oil and gas industry. Out of these identified factors, top management commitment, strategic alignment, competency of management and integration of information and systems technology are found to be the critical drivers of supply chain agility. On the other hand, government regulations, transportation and logistics flexibility and production planning and control falls under the category of dependent factors. Originality/value – The identified factors and their interrelationships can be a valuable aid to ensure and measure the agility in supply chain, especially in oil and gas industry. These identified factors and their defined consequences will help managers and concerned authorities in oil and gas industry to take better decision to improve the agility level of their supply chain.©2020 Springer Nature. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40171-020-00247-5fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The study of social sustainability and liveliness in Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Johor Bahru

Street is considered the major public space in urban fabric. It acts as a meeting place for different social groups and urban activities. Among the different types of street is where carriageway space has been recognized to pedestrian use. In order to invite leisure walking and numerous social and economic activities, pedestrian streets try to make city centre more pedestrian friendly and lively that involves the presence of an active street life. As liveliness is derived from the way activity, this study aimed to provide rich and detailed information on the liveliness of pedestrian streets in the context of Johor Bahru. In this case, physical and social attributes of place making is utilized to examine which criteria have influence on user‘s perception and satisfaction in the street with Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Johor Bahru as a case study. This study adopts the questionnaire survey as a quantitative method to evaluate resident‘s perception while the observation survey was used confirm findings the aforementioned method. The research findings proved that accessibility to open space, facilities and amenities as physical indicators in one hand, and on the other hand safety, privacy and social interaction as social attributes of place making play a significant role on creating quality of street, use and satisfaction. The general results of this study noted that both physical and social attributes of place making have influence on the presence of users within a street. Also the study appraise present some suggestions for improving the quality of street as a main indicator to enhance better quality of living

Supply Chain Complexity Drivers and Solution Methods

Increased globalization, shorter product life cycle and rapid technological advancement in the manufacturing as well as service companies necessitates the company to have multiple supply chain partners. The partnership may be physical or virtual, thus making the chain more challenging and complex to manage. Therefore, the present supply chain network is characterized by its complexity, which requires proper management and strategy for its mitigation. In addition, the dynamic world in this complex supply chain system demands the manager to make faster and efficient decision. To manage the overall supply chain complexity and to make an efficient decision it is important that the manager understand the associated complex interactions within a supply chain, as well as, proper solution method or strategy to mitigate them. In this paper, a generic supply chain complexity drivers are identified and proposed solutions methods to manage the complexity in supply chain

Effects of Red Grape Juice Consumption on High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol, Apolipoprotein AI, Apolipoprotein B and Homocysteine in Healthy Human Volunteers

It has suggested that grape juice consumption has lipid- lowering effect and it is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease. We aimed to evaluate the effects of red grape juice (RGj) consumption on high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein AI (apoAI), apolipoprotein B (apoB) and homocysteine (Hcy) levels in healthy human volunteers. Twenty six healthy and nonsmoking males, aged between 25-60 years, who were under no medication asked to consume 150 ml of RGj twice per day for one month. Serum HDL-C, apoAI, apoB and plasma Hcy levels were measured before and after one month RGj consumption. HDL-C levels after RGj consumption were significantly higher than the corresponding levels before the RGj consumption (41.44 ± 4.50 and 44.37 ± 4.30 mg/dl; P<0.0001). Also, apoB was significantly increased after RGj consumption (149.0 ± 22.35 and 157.19 ± 18.60 mg/dl; P<0.002). But apoAI levels were not changed significantly before and after of RGj consumption (154.27 ± 21.55 and 155.35 ± 21.07 mg/dl; P>0.05). Hcy levels were decreased after RGj consumption (7.70 ± 2.80 and 6.20 ± 2.30 µmol/l; P<0.001). The present study demonstrates that RGj consumption can significantly increase serum HDL-C levels and decrease Hcy levels. These findings may have important implications for the prevention of atherosclerosis in healthy individuals

Prevalence of chromosomal aberrations in couples with recurrent miscarriages in the city of Mashhad, Iran: a cross-sectional study

Background: Recurrent miscarriage is defined as two or more recurrent spontaneous miscarriages. Several causes have been suggested, among which, chromosomal abnormalities in couples is considered to have a role in this regard. However, its significance varies among different populations. The present study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of chromosomal aberrations in couples with recurrent miscarriages in the city of Mashhad.Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed on patient records at Medical Genetics Clinic of Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad (north-east of Iran) between 2003 and 2006.Results: Of 151 records of recurrent miscarriages, 59 couples had undergone Karyotyping testing. Among those who had Karyotyping results, only one (1.7%) had chromosomal abnormality. The observed abnormality was associated with chromosome 9 inversion. The prevalence of consanguineous marriage among these couples was 59.0%.Conclusion: In our study, unlike similar studies in other countries, the prevalence of chromosomal abnormalities was much lower. This could be interpreted either due to laboratory errors in our clinic or the real reduction in the association of chromosomal abnormalities with recurrent miscarriages in our population. Regarding our data, it seems that, at least among our population, costly Karyotyping testing is not necessary to predict further miscarriages or it could be limited to fewer cases having other associated factors

Single electron transistor scheme based on multiple quantum dot islands: carbon nanotube and fullerene

Single electron transistor (SET) is a nano dimension device that is offered by technology to solve the problem of aggressive scaling in traditional transistors. Its operation speed depends on carrier mobility of its quantum dot. In this research, fullerene (C60) and carbon nanotube (CNT) are utilized as materials of quantum dots in SET. Two SETs with different multiple quantum dots as C60-CNT-C60 and CNT-C60-CNT are modeled and analyzed. The comparison study shows that total length of quantum dots as fullerene diameter and CNT length have indirect effect on its current. Moreover increasing temperature decreases its current while rising of the gate voltage increases its current. In other words, quantum dot length, temperature and gate voltage are parameters which can control SET operation. Furthermore two SETs are simulated and their stability diagrams are analyzed. The simulation results show that C60-CNT-C60 SET has lower coulomb blockade and also it has more reliability and faster operation than CNT-C60-CNT SET