7,870 research outputs found
David As[eler] to Mr. J. Meredith (15 October 1962)
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_anti/1196/thumbnail.jp
Impact of reverse logistics practices and competitiveness in medium and small textile sector companies in Lima metropolitan
En la ?ltima d?cada las empresas han incrementados sus esfuerzos para hacer m?s
eficientes sus procesos y junto con la din?mica del mercado que presionan a las empresas a
redise?ar y adaptar procesos a las nuevas tendencias de hacer negocios, es all? donde la log?stica
de los procesos juegan un rol relevante y esencial para elevar el nivel de respuesta y
competitividad de las empresas hacia el mercado, gracias a que la log?stica ofrece un Amplio
rango de posibilidades para redise?ar y adaptar nuevos conceptos a la cadena de suministros.
Por esta raz?n la log?stica inversa incluye nuevas pr?cticas de gesti?n como el reus?, redise?o,
y reducci?n de mermas. Adem?s, estas pr?cticas mejoran el ciclo de vida de los productos ya
que tiene una visi?n transversal desde la producci?n hasta el cliente y viceversa. Es por ello, el
objetivo de esta investigaci?n es proveer nuevas herramientas a las PYMES para mejorar la
competitividad en un mercado tan cambiante y din?mico como en el que vivimos.
Finalmente, se busca facilitar pr?cticas espec?ficas de log?stica inversa que contribuyan a
la toma de decisiones estrat?gicas de la empresa
Allostatic load and preterm birth
Preterm birth is a universal health problem that is one of the largest unmet medical needs contributing to the global burden of disease. Adding to its complexity is that there are no means to predict who is at risk when pregnancy begins or when women will actually deliver. Until these problems are addressed, there will be no interventions to reduce the risk because those who should be treated will not be known. Considerable evidence now exists that chronic life, generational or accumulated stress is a risk factor for preterm delivery in animal models and in women. This wear and tear on the body and mind is called allostatic load. This review explores the evidence that chronic stress contributes to preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes in animal and human studies. It explores how allostatic load can be used to, firstly, model stress and preterm birth in animal models and, secondly, how it can be used to develop a predictive model to assess relative risk among women in early pregnancy. Once care providers know who is in the highest risk group, interventions can be developed and applied to mitigate their risk
A retinoid X receptor (RXR)-selective retinoid reveals that RXR-α is potentially a therapeutic target in breast cancer cell lines, and that it potentiates antiproliferative and apoptotic responses to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ligands
INTRODUCTION: Certain lipids have been shown to be ligands for a subgroup of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily known as the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). Ligands for these transcription factors have been used in experimental cancer therapies. PPARs heterodimerize and bind DNA with retinoid X receptors (RXRs), which have homology to other members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Retinoids have been found to be effective in treating many types of cancer. However, many breast cancers become resistant to the chemotherapeutic effects of these drugs. Recently, RXR-selective ligands were discovered that inhibited proliferation of all-trans retinoic acid resistant breast cancer cells in vitro and caused regression of the disease in animal models. There are few published studies on the efficacy of combined therapy using PPAR and RXR ligands for breast cancer prevention or treatment. METHODS: We determined the effects of selective PPAR and RXR ligands on established human breast cancer cell lines in vitro. RESULTS: PPAR-α and PPAR-γ ligands induced apoptotic and antiproliferative responses in human breast cancer cell lines, respectively, which were associated with specific changes in gene expression. These responses were potentiated by the RXR-selective ligand AGN194204. Interestingly, RXR-α-overexpressing retinoic acid resistant breast cancer cell lines were more sensitive to the effects of the RXR-selective compound. CONCLUSION: RXR-selective retinoids can potentiate the antiproliferative and apoptotic responses of breast cancer cell lines to PPAR ligands
Algorithmic fairness and bias mitigation for clinical machine learning with deep reinforcement learning
As models based on machine learning continue to be developed for healthcare applications, greater effort is needed to ensure that these technologies do not reflect or exacerbate any unwanted or discriminatory biases that may be present in the data. Here we introduce a reinforcement learning framework capable of mitigating biases that may have been acquired during data collection. In particular, we evaluated our model for the task of rapidly predicting COVID-19 for patients presenting to hospital emergency departments and aimed to mitigate any site (hospital)-specific and ethnicity-based biases present in the data. Using a specialized reward function and training procedure, we show that our method achieves clinically effective screening performances, while significantly improving outcome fairness compared with current benchmarks and state-of-the-art machine learning methods. We performed external validation across three independent hospitals, and additionally tested our method on a patient intensive care unit discharge status task, demonstrating model generalizability
The Use of Neuroscience and Psychological Measurement in England's Court of Protection
The 2005 Mental Capacity Act of England and Wales provides a description in statute
law of a test determining if a person lacks “mental capacity” to take a particular decision
and describes how the “best interests” of such a person should be determined. The Act
established a new Court of Protection (CoP) to hear cases related to the Act and to rule on
disputes over mental capacity. The court gathers a range of evidence, including reports
from clinicians and experts. Human rights organisations and others have raised concerns
about the nature of assessments for incapacity, including the role of brain investigations
and psychometric tests.
Aim: Describe use and interpretation of structured measures of psychological and brain
function in CoP cases, to facilitate standardisation and improvement of practices, both
in the courtroom and in non-legal settings.
Method: Quantitative review of case law using all CoP judgments published until 2019.
The judgments (n = 408) were read to generate a subset referring to structured testing
(n = 50). These were then examined in detail to extract the nature of the measurements,
circumstances of their use and features of interpretation by the court.
Results: The 408 judgments contained 146 references to structured measurement
of psychological or brain function, spread over 50 cases. 120/146 (82.2%) referred
to “impairment of mind or brain,” with this being part of assessment for incapacity
in 58/146 (39.7%). Measurement referred on 25/146 (17.1%) occasions to “functional
decision-making abilities.” Structured measures were used most commonly by
psychiatrists and psychologists. Psychological measurements comprised 66.4%
of measures. Neuroimaging and electrophysiology were presented for diagnostic
purposes only. A small number of behavioural measures were used for people with
disorders of consciousness. When assessing incapacity, IQ and the Mini-MentalState Examination were the commonest measures. A standardised measure of mental
capacity itself was employed just once. Judges rarely integrated measurements in their
capacity determinations.
Conclusion: Structured testing of brain and psychological function is used in limited
ways in the Court of Protection. Whilst there are challenges in creating measures
of capacity, we highlight an opportunity for the neuroscience community to improve
objectivity in assessment, inside and outside the courtroom
Functional Stroke Symptoms: A Narrative Review and Conceptual Model
Stroke services have been reconfigured in recent years to facilitate early intervention. Throughout stroke settings, some patients present with functional symptoms that cannot be attributed to a structural cause. Emphasis on fast diagnosis and treatment means that a proportion of patients entering the care pathway present with functional symptoms that mimic stroke or have functional symptoms in addition to vascular stroke. There is limited understanding of mechanisms underlying functional stroke symptoms, how the treatment of such patients should be managed, and no referral pathway or treatment. Predisposing factors vary between individuals, and symptoms are heterogeneous: onset can be acute or insidious, and duration can be short-lived or chronic in the context of new or recurrent illness cognitions and behaviors. This article proposes a conceptual model of functional symptoms identified in stroke services and some hypotheses based on a narrative review of the functional neurological disorder literature. Predisposing factors may include illness experiences, stressors, and chronic autonomic nervous system arousal. Following the onset of distressing symptoms, perpetuating factors may include implicit cognitive processes, classical and operant conditioning, illness beliefs, and behavioral responses, which could form the basis of treatment targets. The proposed model will inform the development of theory-based interventions as well as a functional stroke care pathway
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