The integration of cross-company activities to form global supply chains (SC) has several benefits, including reducing costs, minimizing energy and resource waste, and promoting relationships for ...improving all network actors. However, as the number of tiers of suppliers and customers increases, monitoring processes and identifying problems becomes more challenging, which can threaten the continuity of the SC. To address this issue, the EU knowlEdge project proposes using artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that are distributed, scalable, and collaborative to enable automatic monitoring and learning in the SC. This approach replaces rigid organization with flexible networks that leverage self-learning algorithms and automatic value creation, thereby facilitating knowledge sharing. The project unifies technologies from various domains, including AI, data analytics, edge, and cloud computing, into a software architecture that offers a systemic solution rather than an incremental improvement. This architecture enhances SC performance, including adaptability and autonomy, and enables industry to adopt adaptive strategies. The platform’s functionality is tested in manufacturing, where it will improve production monitoring and planning and enable human intervention and learning. The AI application is expected to increase performance on various business and production indicators, which will also have an impact beyond the factory floor. With this approach, managers can respond quickly to changing customer requirements, while deviations in planned processes can be addressed more effectively. Additionally, the research conducted by the project will provide insights into future management and learning in SC.
Synchronization is a universal phenomenon that is important both in fundamental studies and in technical applications. Here we investigate synchronization in the simplest quantum-mechanical scenario ...possible, i.e., a quantum-mechanical self-sustained oscillator coupled to an external harmonic drive. Using the power spectrum we analyze synchronization in terms of frequency entrainment and frequency locking in close analogy to the classical case. We show that there is a steplike crossover to a synchronized state as a function of the driving strength. In contrast to the classical case, there is a finite threshold value in driving. Quantum noise reduces the synchronized region and leads to a deviation from strict frequency locking.
In this paper we examine titles of early modern German dissertations with regard to their ‘interdiscplinarity’, challenging the established consensus that interdisciplinarity evolved only in the 18th ...century. Based on the construction and analysis of a co-occurrence network of 909 dissertation titles published in the 17thc entury it can be shown that various dimensions of early modern interdisciplinarity should be distinguished. This concerns dissertations that connect philosophical disciplines to the ‘higher’ faculties of the early modern university (theology, jurisprudence, medicine) as well as titles that connect theoretical and practical subdisciplines of philosophy itself. We also observe that the emerging disciplines of historiography and philology seem to play a prominent role in the emergence of early modern interdisciplinarity. On a structural level it seems to be misguided to construe the early modern system of knowledge as a ‘tree’. It rather seems that relations betweeen disciplines in this period exhibit both tree-like and lattice-like features.
Artificial gauge fields for neutral particles such as photons, recently attracted a lot of attention in various fields ranging from photonic crystals to ultracold atoms in optical lattices to ...optomechanical arrays. Here we point out that, among all implementations of gauge fields, the optomechanical setting allows for the most natural extension where the gauge field becomes dynamical. The mechanical oscillation phases determine the effective artificial magnetic field for the photons, and once these phases are allowed to evolve, they respond to the flow of photons in the structure. We discuss a simple three-site model where we identify four different regimes of the gauge-field dynamics. Furthermore, we extend the discussion to a two-dimensional lattice. Our proposed scheme could for instance be implemented using optomechanical crystals.
Synchronization of two dissipatively coupled Van der Pol oscillators in the quantum regime is studied. Due to quantum noise strict frequency locking is absent and is replaced by a crossover from weak ...to strong frequency entrainment. The differences to the behavior of one quantum Van der Pol oscillator subject to an external drive are discussed. Moreover, a possible experimental realization of two coupled quantum Van der Pol oscillators in an optomechanical setting is described.
Synchronization of two dissipatively coupled Van der Pol oscillators in the quantum regime is studied. Due to quantum noise strict frequency locking is absent and is replaced by a crossover from weak to strong frequency entrainment. The differences to the behavior of one quantum Van der Pol oscillator subject to an external drive are discussed. Moreover, a possible experimental realization of two coupled quantum Van der Pol oscillators in an optomechanical setting is described.
Abstract Cells depend on their endolysosomal system for nutrient uptake and downregulation of plasma membrane proteins. These processes rely on endosomal maturation, which requires multiple membrane ...fusion steps. Early endosome fusion is promoted by the Rab5 GTPase and its effector, the hexameric CORVET tethering complex, which is homologous to the lysosomal HOPS. How these related complexes recognize their specific target membranes remains entirely elusive. Here, we solve the structure of CORVET by cryo-electron microscopy and revealed its minimal requirements for membrane tethering. As expected, the core of CORVET and HOPS resembles each other. However, the function-defining subunits show marked structural differences. Notably, we discover that unlike HOPS, CORVET depends not only on Rab5 but also on phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PI3P) and membrane lipid packing defects for tethering, implying that an organelle-specific membrane code enables fusion. Our data suggest that both shape and membrane interactions of CORVET and HOPS are conserved in metazoans, thus providing a paradigm how tethering complexes function.
Background
Unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) are a common social protection intervention that increases income, a key social determinant of health, in disaster contexts in low‐ and middle‐income ...countries (LMICs).
Objectives
To assess the effects of UCTs in improving health services use, health outcomes, social determinants of health, health care expenditure, and local markets and infrastructure in LMICs. We also compared the relative effectiveness of UCTs delivered in‐hand with in‐kind transfers, conditional cash transfers, and UCTs paid through other mechanisms.
Search methods
We searched 17 academic databases, including the Cochrane Public Health Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (The Cochrane Library 2014, Issue 7), MEDLINE, and EMBASE between May and July 2014 for any records published up until 4 May 2014. We also searched grey literature databases, organisational websites, reference lists of included records, and academic journals, as well as seeking expert advice.
Selection criteria
We included randomised and quasi‐randomised controlled trials (RCTs), as well as cohort, interrupted time series, and controlled before‐and‐after studies (CBAs) on UCTs in LMICs. Primary outcomes were the use of health services and health outcomes.
Data collection and analysis
Two authors independently screened all potentially relevant records for inclusion criteria, extracted the data, and assessed the included studies' risk of bias. We requested missing information from the study authors.
Main results
Three studies (one cluster‐RCT and two CBAs) comprising a total of 13,885 participants (9640 children and 4245 adults) as well as 1200 households in two LMICs (Nicaragua and Niger) met the inclusion criteria. They examined five UCTs between USD 145 and USD 250 (or more, depending on household characteristics) that were provided by governmental, non‐governmental or research organisations during experiments or pilot programmes in response to droughts. Two studies examined the effectiveness of UCTs, and one study examined the relative effectiveness of in‐hand UCTs compared with in‐kind transfers and UCTs paid via mobile phone. Due to the methodologic limitations of the retrieved records, which carried a high risk of bias and very serious indirectness, we considered the body of evidence to be of very low overall quality and thus very uncertain across all outcomes.
Depending on the specific health services use and health outcomes examined, the included studies either reported no evidence that UCTs had impacted the outcome, or they reported that UCTs improved the outcome. No single outcome was reported by more than one study. There was a very small increase in the proportion of children who received vitamin or iron supplements (mean difference (MD) 0.10 standard deviations (SDs), 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06 to 0.14) and on the child's home environment, as well as clinically meaningful, very large reductions in the chance of child death (hazard ratio (HR) 0.26, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.66) and the incidence of severe acute malnutrition (HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.80). There was also a moderate reduction in the number of days children spent sick in bed (MD − 0.36 SDs, 95% CI − 0.62 to − 0.10). There was no evidence for any effect on the proportion of children receiving deworming drugs, height for age among children, adults' level of depression, or the quality of parenting behaviour. No adverse effects were identified. The included comparisons did not examine several important outcomes, including food security and equity impacts.
With regard to the relative effectiveness of UCTs compared with a food transfer providing a relatively high total caloric value, there was no evidence that a UCT had any effect on the chance of child death (HR 2.27, 95% CI 0.69 to 7.44) or severe acute malnutrition (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.99). A UCT paid in‐hand led to a clinically meaningful, moderate increase in the household dietary diversity score, compared with the same UCT paid via mobile phone (difference‐in‐differences estimator 0.43 scores, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.80), but there was no evidence for an effect on social determinants of health, health service expenditure, or local markets and infrastructure.
Authors' conclusions
Additional high‐quality evidence (especially RCTs of humanitarian disaster contexts other than droughts) is required to reach clear conclusions regarding the effectiveness and relative effectiveness of UCTs for improving health services use and health outcomes in humanitarian disasters in LMICs.
Abstract
Sphingolipids are structural membrane components that also function in cellular stress responses. The serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in sphingolipid ...biogenesis. Its activity is tightly regulated through multiple binding partners, including Tsc3, Orm proteins, ceramides, and the phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI4P) phosphatase Sac1. The structural organization and regulatory mechanisms of this complex are not yet understood. Here, we report the high-resolution cryo-EM structures of the yeast SPT in complex with Tsc3 and Orm1 (SPOT) as dimers and monomers and a monomeric complex further carrying Sac1 (SPOTS). In all complexes, the tight interaction of the downstream metabolite ceramide and Orm1 reveals the ceramide-dependent inhibition. Additionally, observation of ceramide and ergosterol binding suggests a co-regulation of sphingolipid biogenesis and sterol metabolism within the SPOTS complex.
Membrane contact sites are specialized platforms formed between most organelles that enable them to exchange metabolites and influence the dynamics of each other. The yeast vacuole is a degradative ...organelle equivalent to the lysosome in higher eukaryotes with important roles in ion homeostasis and metabolism. Using a high-content microscopy screen, we identified Ymr160w (Cvm1, for contact of the vacuole membrane 1) as a novel component of three different contact sites of the vacuole: with the nuclear endoplasmic reticulum, the mitochondria, and the peroxisomes. At the vacuole-mitochondria contact site, Cvm1 acts as a tether independently of previously known tethers. We show that changes in Cvm1 levels affect sphingolipid homeostasis, altering the levels of multiple sphingolipid classes and the response of sphingolipid-sensing signaling pathways. Furthermore, the contact sites formed by Cvm1 are induced upon a decrease in sphingolipid levels. Altogether, our work identifies a novel protein that forms multiple contact sites and supports a role of lysosomal contacts in sphingolipid homeostasis.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) leading to infant hospitalization, morbidity and postnatal mortality in children younger than ...5 years of age worldwide. The aim of this study was to collect data on hospitalizations for RSV-related ALRI in children in Spain from 2012 to 2018.
We used the discharge reports from the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) to retrospectively analyze hospital discharge data in children ≤ 14 years of age with a diagnosis of acute lower respiratory tract infection, based on the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes, from 2012 to 2018.
A total of 190,474 children, 58.1% boys and 41.9% girls, were admitted for lower respiratory tract infections in Spain, including 118,731 cases of bronchiolitis, 53,972 cases of bronchitis, 3710 cases of RSV-positive pneumonia, and 14,061 cases of RSV infections. Of these, 92,426 children (48.5%) had laboratory-confirmed RSV infection. The mean case fatality rate was almost 6 times higher for pneumonia (0.6%) than for bronchiolitis (0.1%) or bronchitis (0.1%). A significant linear increase in the mean annual hospitalization rate for pneumonia of almost 15% per year was found, with no changes in the trend over the study period.
RSV-related respiratory infections remain a leading cause of infant hospitalization in Spain. Effective antiviral treatments and preventive vaccines are urgently needed for the management of RSV infection in children, especially for those aged 6 to 12 months.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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