Book Review: Supply Chain Management from Concepts to Practice

This book represents a business case study which is conducted to answer the research question: How can the agility best fit within the supply chain strategies? this business case study is applied on Delta Electrical Appliances (DEA) Company, a member of Olympic Group, the Egyptian market leader of home appliances. This research contributes to literature by developing the DESC (Differentiated Enlightened Supply Chains) framework that consolidates three analyses to pave the road for differentiated supply chain management through which every different supply chain is managed differently to serve for different order winning criteria which are considered from multiple perspectives. Also, this framework assesses the current status of DEA supply chain processes through four representations in order to discover the scope and priorities of the supply chain from multiple perspectives. Then, DESC framework measures DEA process performance in respect to the set priorities, and benchmark the performance against the competitors and best in class performance. Third phase of this framework develops the guided performance in optimizing the planning performance for finished products and raw materials

Book Review: Supply Risk Assessment in SCM- Assessing Supply Side Risks

Purchasing and supply management are widely acknowledged as strategies for companies. To make a prudent supplier selection decision, it is important to plan for uncertainty to mitigate risk. The study aims to address the risk which originates at the suppliers end. This book focuses on categorization and prioritization of the risk elements and addressing a supplier selection problem with the risk elements under consideration. The increasing complexity of products and services, shorter product life cycles, globalization of trade and the improvement in logistics have led companies to focus on their core business

Book Review: Exploring the Supply Chain: Theory and Practice

This book looks at the basic concepts of Supply Chain Management and provides a comprehensive coverage of the methodology and key strategies drivers in the different processes involved in operating and designing a Supply Chain. It describes the behavioral differences and explains the different tools that have been designed for effective supply chain management. This book is not an academic treatise, though it provides the most comprehensive coverage of the different facets of supply chain management. The authors have made sure that all chapters begin with a small case study that illustrates the specific concepts that are illustrated within the chapter. The book explains the evolution of Supply Chain Management, its concept and philosophy. It also looks at the different elements that go into the design of the Supply Chain and the purchasing functions from the supply chain perspective. The book not only deals with the planning function of SCM, it also covers the fundamentals concepts of forecasting and demand management, planning and control, including the aggregate plan, the different types of inventory models and their classification, work-in-progress and finished goods inventory and quality as a new and major component of Supply Chain Management

Hypercalcemia in renal transplant patient with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia

Pneumoncystis jirovecii (PJP) is an opportunistic infection that can occur in immunosuppressed patients, including those with renal transplant. We present the case of a 63-year old male with autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease with renal transplant on immunosuppressive therapy who presented with cough and exertional dyspnea. He was hypoxic with coarse breath sounds bilaterally. CT chest revealed ground-glass opacities with increased interstitial markings of the left lung. Labs were significant for hypercalcemia with ionized calcium 1.53 mmol/L, parathyroid hormone 97 pg/mL, 25-hydroxy vitamin D level 30 ng/mL and increased 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D to 156 pg/mL. He was started on intravenous normal saline, furosemide and calcitonin, however, he remained hypercalcemic. Endocrinology evaluated him and he was started on ketoconazole and received one dose of denosumab, with no improvement in calcium levels. Bronchiolar lavage cultures obtained from bronchoscopy were positive for PJP. He was started on intravenous steroids, clindamycin and primaquine due to acute kidney injury, precluding the use of Bactrim. His calcium levels improved with treatment of PJP, and he was discharged home. This case illustrates the potential for renal transplant recipients who develop PJP to develop hypercalcemia. Although the mechanism is not fully understood, it is thought to be secondary to an increase in 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D, possibly related to a granulomatous reaction against PJP. Patients with PJP may have hypercalcemia that improves with treatment, as was seen in this patient. It is important to consider PJP as the etiology of unexplained hypercalcemia in renal transplant patients.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/merf2020caserpt/1113/thumbnail.jp

Vehicle-Life Interaction in Fog-Enabled Smart Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

Traffic accidents have become a major issue for researchers, academia, government and vehicle manufacturers over the last few years. Many accidents and emergency situations frequently occur on the road. Unfortunately, accidents lead to health injuries, destruction of some infrastructure, bad traffic flow, and more importantly these events cause deaths of hundreds of thousands of people due to not getting treatment in time. Thus, we need to develop an efficient and smart emergency system to ensure the timely arrival of an ambulance service to the place of the accident in order to provide timely medical help to those injured. In addition, we also need to communicate promptly with other entities such as hospitals so that they can make appropriate arrangements and provide timely medical information to emergency personnel on the scene including alerting those related to the injured person(s). In this paper, we have developed an intelligent protocol that uses connected and autonomous vehicles\u27 scenarios in Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) so that prompt emergency services can be provided to reduce the death rate caused. The proposed protocol smartly connects with all the relevant entitles during the emergency while maintaining a smooth traffic flow for the arrival of the ambulance service. Moreover, our protocol also mitigates the broadcasting of messages circulating over the network for delay sensitive tasks. The evaluation results, based on the performance metrics such as channel collision, average packet delay, packet loss, and routing-overhead demonstrate that our proposed protocol outperforms previously proposed protocols such as Emergency Message Dissemination for Vehicular (EMDV), Contention Based Broadcasting (CBB), and Particle Swarm Optimization Contention-based Broadcast (PCBB) protocols. Finally, we discuss several issues and challenges that need to be addressed in the network in order to achieve more a reliable, efficient, connected, and autonomous vehicular network

Pre and Early Post-Operative Iron Assessment in Obese Patients Underwent Laparoscopic Sleeve Gasterctomy

Obesity is a chronic disease associated with mortality and morbidity. Bariatric surgery (BS) as a long-term weight reduction treatment has been increased. This study investigated the early state of iron storage and deficiency in patients underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Thirty patients were selected as a prospective study underwent LSG according to specialized inclusion and exclusion criteria at Soran Private Hospital in Erbil, from 1/1/2021 to 1/9/2021 after signing a consent form. All selected patients underwent preoperative and three months’ post-operative hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and serum ferritin (SF) assessments. They were instructed to follow specialized diet regimen for three months’ post-operative and not to take any drugs and supplements. Results showed a strong positive correlation between preoperative and postoperative assessment for both Hb and MCV respectively (r= 0.72; P < 0.001), (r= 0.76; P < 0.001), and a moderate correlation for SF (r= 0.41; P < 0.024).  Significant difference (P < 0.05) was found between preoperative and postoperative for the three markers (Hb, MCV and SF). Their values were decreased from preoperative to postoperative for the majority of the cases, but they were still within the normal range. The finding demonstrated that after three months from LSG, no patients showed iron deficiency anaemia. However, there was decrease in SF level which indicated that the storage capacity of iron was decreasing. This suggest that the iron supplement has to be started since the food regime followed in by the patients was not sufficient to maintain normal iron level

Exploring Emotional and Psychological Impacts of Mammography in Women

Introduction: Mammography is a diagnostic tool that is routinely used to test women for breast cancer. While it has been shown to be beneficial in detecting early-stage malignancies, it can also have emotional and psychological consequences for patients. The goal of this study is to dive into the emotional and psychological experiences of mammography patients. We hope to obtain a better understanding of the potential complications and problems faced by women during the screening process by investigating these elements. Materials and Methods: The Psychological Consequences Questionnaire (PCQ) and a self-administered questionnaire were used to collect data. SPSS was used for statistical analysis. All participants were given information about mammography technology and safety, and their participation was based on informed consent. Results: The study included 60 women ranging in age from 40 to 67 years old, with a mean age of 50.22. The PCQ results revealed a high prevalence of symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, depression or unhappy feelings, fear and panic, nervousness or tension, feeling under pressure, withholding items, venting frustrations on others, withdrawal from relationships, difficulty with daily tasks, and difficulties fulfilling obligations. These findings shed light on the psychological repercussions that people face and point to the necessity for support networks or therapy to address these concerns. Conclusion:  This research focuses on the emotional and psychological effects of mammography on women. The data suggest that anxiety is a common feeling for women undergoing mammography, which could be exacerbated by previous negative experiences or fear of breast cancer. In order to provide holistic and comprehensive care, healthcare providers must recognize and meet patients\u27 emotional and psychological needs

Enhancement of Extender Excellence of Frozen Bull Semen Using α-Tocopherol as an Antioxidant

Background: Addition of the antioxidant to extender media is the most appropriate attempt to reduce structural losses encounter during the process of cryopreservation. Hence semen excellence could be maintained for longer duration without adverse impact. Additionally antioxidants are not only capturing the reactive oxygen species but also improve the sperm quality indicators and fertility. Accordingly, current elucidation has been executed to explore the dose depended appraisal of varied concentration of α-tocopherol in Tris-based extender on frozen-thawed bull semen quality parameters for enhancement of bull semen cryopreservation in the subtropical ecosystem of Peshawar.Materials, Methods & Results: Experiments were carried out on semen that has been collected from both Achai-an indigenous breed and Holstein Friesian (HF) - the exotic breed in artificial vagina maintained at 42°C from the experimental bulls of either breed and processed independently breed wise. Semen specimens with above 70% motility were evaluated separately breed-wise under same environmental condition. Standard procedure was adopted to extend the collected semen in the experimental extenders and frozen subsequently. After thawing, further Analysis of the frozen straws of semen was carried out for sperm excellence indicators that include motility, viability, acrosomal integrity and functional integrity of spermatozoa under the subtropical condition. Sperm viability and acrosomal integrity were determined by dual staining procedure i.e. Trypan-blue and Giemsa stains. The hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test was used to assess plasma membrane integrity. The current elucidation demonstrated that α-tocopherol 1.5 mg/mL supplemented in extender had significantly (P < 0.05) increased sperm excellence gauge that includes motility, viability, acrosomal integrity and functional membrane integrity in both the breeds. On the other hand, the result further elucidated those concentrations higher or lower than 1.5-1 mg/mL α-tocopherol supplemented in the present study resulted in a lower semen functional attributes subsequent to freezing.Discussion: Biological samples were preserved by various methods such cryopreservation at low temperature to maintain them intact and facilitate downstream experiments. Antioxidants were associated with the chemical breakage of the substrate consequential from oxidation and counterbalance the free radicals thus diminish the damaging impacts to spermatozoa in cryopreservation. There is lack of data with respect to lipid peroxidation and cell reinforcement limit in cryopreserved semen, and cryopreservation is related with the generation of receptive oxygen species (ROS) which lead to lipid peroxidation (LPO) of sperm membranes, bringing about lost motility, viability and fertility of sperm. Recently, in the reproductive management of the dairy animals, an important focus of research is to overcome the deleterious impact associated with semen cryopreservation. Elucidation of differential dose depended expression of α-tocopherol in semen extender has been evident in this study. The results were corroborated with diverse mammalian species under varied ecological management setups. Furthermore the detrimental impact of high doses of α-tocopherol in the semen extender has been demonstrated. It was deduced from the current finding that addition of α-tocopherol via dose depended approach in Tri extender enhanced the cryosurvivability of both Achai indigenous breed and HF the exotic breed, under existing reproductive management in the local ecosystem of Peshawar

Vulnerabilities of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus to Proteotoxicity—Opportunity for Repurposed Chemotherapy of COVID-19 Infection

The global pandemic of COVID-19 disease caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has produced an urgent requirement and search for improved treatments while effective vaccines are developed. A strategy for improved drug therapy is to increase levels of endogenous reactive metabolites for selective toxicity to SARS-CoV-2 by preferential damage to the viral proteome. Key reactive metabolites producing major quantitative damage to the proteome in physiological systems are: reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the reactive glycating agent methylglyoxal (MG); cysteine residues and arginine residues are their most susceptible targets, respectively. From sequenced-based prediction of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome, we found 0.8-fold enrichment or depletion of cysteine residues in functional domains of the viral proteome; whereas there was a 4.6-fold enrichment of arginine residues, suggesting SARS-CoV-2 is resistant to oxidative agents and sensitive to MG. For arginine residues of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus predicted to be in functional domains, we examined which are activated toward modification by MG – residues with predicted or expected low pKa by neighboring group in interactions. We found 25 such arginine residues, including 2 in the spike protein and 10 in the nucleoprotein. These sites were partially conserved in related coronaviridae: SARS-CoV and MERS. Finally, we identified drugs which increase cellular MG concentration to virucidal levels: antitumor drugs with historical antiviral activity, doxorubicin and paclitaxel. Our findings provide evidence of potential vulnerability of SARS-CoV-2 to inactivation by MG and a scientific rationale for repurposing of doxorubicin and paclitaxel for treatment of COVID-19 disease, providing efficacy and adequate therapeutic index may be established.- Qatar Foundation - PhD studentship. - Qatar Foundation - (project code QB-14). - Qatar University - COVID-19 research (project code QU ERG-CMED-2020-1)