Chitinase‐3‐like protein 1 (CHI3L1/YKL‐40) has long been known as a biomarker for early detection of neuroinflammation and disease diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the brain, CHI3L1 is ...primarily provided by astrocytes and heralds the reactive, neurotoxic state triggered by inflammation and other stress signals. However, how CHI3L1 acts in neuroinflammation or how it contributes to AD and relevant neurodegenerative conditions remains unknown. In peripheral tissues, our group and others have uncovered that CHI3L1 is a master regulator for a wide range of injury and repair events, including the innate immunity pathway that resembles the neuroinflammation process governed by microglia and astrocytes. Based on assessment of current knowledge regarding CHI3L1 biology, we hypothesize that CHI3L1 functions as a signaling molecule mediating distinct neuroinflammatory responses in brain cells and misfunctions to precipitate neurodegeneration. We also recommend future research directions to validate such assertions for better understanding of disease mechanisms.
In a competitive environment, effective management of production and inventory decisions is critical to maintain an efficient and balanced flow of the supply chain system. Manufacturing companies ...across supply chains have recognised that inventories can be managed more effectively through increased collaboration and better coordination. In practice, production planning and inventory control decisions are not separated, and supply chain members can significantly reduce costs through the coordination of production and inventory decisions. Research in this field has received much attention in recent years. This study aims to review coordination, cooperation, and collaboration (CCC) mechanisms in production-inventory studies. By using an established research methodology, a total of 118 articles were reviewed and the implemented CCC mechanisms were classified into three main categories: contractual practices, joint decision-making practices, and information-sharing practices. By examining the selected articles according to the implemented methodologies and their impact on the sustainably of supply chains, research gaps and future directions for academics and practitioners were identified. This study shows that more research is needed to discover the impact of combining different CCC mechanisms on supply chain efficiency in terms of economic, environmental, and social concerns.
In today's competitive environment, most companies tend to adopt a hybrid manufacturing strategy to provide more reliable services to a wide range of customers. Based on a real-world case study, we ...investigate a customer-wise production-inventory-distribution system in a multi-level supply chain. Within this system, at a tactical planning level, the decision concerning the production strategies including make to stock (MTS), make to order (MTO), or vendor managed inventory (VMI) strategy, to choose for each customer is made, and then at the operational planning level, the production, inventory, and distribution activities are coordinated according to the strategy assigned to the customers. The objective is to optimize the total cost while the VMI customers are timely satisfied and the target service level for MTO customers is respected. Furthermore, the purchase acceptance rate for MTS customers can be controlled to enhance capacity utilization. We develop a rolling horizon planning approach to deal with the dynamics of customers' demands under different forecasting scenarios. We perform numerical experiments under both static and rolling horizons based on adapted data from a real-world application from a Canadian pulp and paper industry. The results reveal that customers placing smaller orders are classified within the VMI strategy to mitigate potential delays. Conversely, MTS customers are predominantly characterized by larger order quantities. A sensitivity analysis of key problem parameters demonstrates that the backorder cost for MTO customers can effectively influence the strategy allocation. Moreover, our results underscore the notable influence of sales prices on the distribution of customers among strategies.
•We consider a multi-level multi-product production-inventory-distribution system.•We study customer-wise mixed MTO, MTS, and VMI production strategies with a variety of customers.•The service level for MTO customers is considered.•The acceptance rate of MTS customers can be controlled.•We propose a rolling horizon replanning approach to manage dynamic updates on customers' demands.
Planning decisions are generally subject to some level of uncertainty. In forestry, data describing the resources available have a major impact on operations performance and productivity. This paper ...aims to present a method to improve decision-making in the forest supply chain by taking supply uncertainty into account using the results of data quality assessments. The case study describes the operations planning process of a Canadian forest products company dealing with an uncertain volume of wood supply. Three approaches to constructing probability distributions based on data quality are tested. Each approach offers a different level of precision: (1) a frequency distribution of accuracy, (2) a normal distribution based on average accuracy, and (3) a normal distribution based on data quality classification. Using stochastic programming to plan transport and production shows that lower costs can be achieved with a general characterisation of the data accuracy. Not considering uncertainty when planning operations leads to a significant replanning transportation cost. Using classes of data quality to include uncertainty in operations planning contributes to reducing the transportation cost from $15.90/m
3
down to $15.32/m
3
representing 3.6%.
•Coordination can reduce the negative impact of supply uncertainty in forestry.•Not all sawmills benefit equally from coordination mechanisms.•Coordinating only the demand does not significantly ...improve the network.•Networks coordinating their supply are more stable in the face of uncertainty.•Coordinated network can answer the overall demand without backordered product.
In natural resource sectors such as forestry, supply is subject to yield uncertainty, which can make planning decisions a challenge. A common way of dealing with uncertainty is to coordinate the decisions so all units in a network can better prepare for unpredicted events. This can generate plans that are more robust and reduce the negative impacts of uncertainty. The objective of this study is to evaluate the benefits of including coordination mechanisms in a forest supply chain to better face yield uncertainty. First, a stochastic program is developed to simulate a sawmill production planning decision process, taking wood supply uncertainty into account. Based on this model, six coordination mechanisms are proposed to help reduce the impact of an uncertain wood supply. The impact of uncertainty is measured using the individual transportation cost of each sawmill, the overall network cost, the cost for replanning operations, the volume of extra resources needed, backorders, and the prescribed wood supply from forest sites to sawmills. Historical data from a partnering company in the province of Quebec, Canada, are used to quantify the current level of uncertainty. Compared to the typical strategy of Fixed Supply and Fixed Demand, the Free Supply with Free Demand mechanism generates plans with more stability, offering a 64% reduction in transportation cost, and a reduction of 84 % in the volume of extra resources to be acquired outside the regular sources at a higher cost to prevent production shortage.
Companies’ productivity is critical in contemporary warehouse environment to maintain efficiency and competitiveness within their supply chain. Warehousing operations are well known for their impact ...on the overall supply chain and need to be wisely managed. Among those activities, allocation planning and layout design are some of the most important concepts in practice. Current research tends to emphasize homogeneous environment, which leaves heterogeneous and non-standard cases with less attention, even today. This paper aims to review the literature regarding warehouse allocation planning and layout design methods that could suit practical industry problems, with a focus on heterogeneous and non-standard spare parts. It also aims to describe the current trends in these fields. Following a literature review methodology, a total of fifty-seven articles were reviewed to identify the methods developed and used. The reviewed papers were also investigated in order to identify research gaps and future directions. The analysis concluded that more research is needed to better understand and optimize heterogeneous and non-standard spare parts environments in terms of allocation and layout design. More practical case applications also remain a gap to address.
Article highlights
This article evaluates 8 concepts/parameters related to warehouse allocation operation. This is to ensure a deep analysis of heterogeneous and non-standard parts presence in literature.
A research gap is identified regarding heterogeneous and non-standard parts in warehouse allocation and layout design methods in the scientific literature.
This article evaluates 3798 scientific papers over a 20-year timeframe. From this, we present 57 methods and 8 gaps in scientific literature.
Every decision-making process is subject to a certain degree of uncertainty. In sectors where the outcomes of the operations planned are uncertain and difficult to control such as in forestry, data ...describing the available resources can have a large impact on productivity. When planning activities, it is often assumed that such data are accurate, which causes a need for more replanning efforts. Data verification is kept to a minimum even though using erroneous information increases the level of uncertainty. In this context, it is relevant to develop a process to evaluate whether the data used for planning decisions are appropriate, so as to ensure the decision validity and provide information for better understanding and actions. However, the level of data quality alone can sometimes be difficult to interpret and needs to be put into perspective. This article proposes an extension to most data quality assessment techniques by comparing data to past quality levels. A classification method is proposed to evaluate the level of data quality in order to support decision making. Such classification provides insights into the level of uncertainty associated with the data. The method developed is then exploited using a theoretical case based on the literature and a practical case based on the forest sector. An example of how classified data quality can improve decisions in a transportation problem is finally shown.
START domain proteins are conserved α/β helix-grip fold that play a role in the non-vesicular and intracellular transport of lipids and sterols. The mechanism and conformational changes permitting ...the entry of the ligand into their buried binding sites is not well understood. Moreover, their functions and the identification of cognate ligands is still an active area of research. Here, we report the solution structure of STARD6 and the characterization of its backbone dynamics on multiple time-scales through (15)N spin-relaxation and amide exchange studies. We reveal for the first time the presence of concerted fluctuations in the Ω1 loop and the C-terminal helix on the microsecond-millisecond time-scale that allows for the opening of the binding site and ligand entry. We also report that STARD6 binds specifically testosterone. Our work represents a milestone for the study of ligand binding mechanism by other START domains and the elucidation of the biological function of STARD6.
In order to beat the competition, access new markets, and respect operational, social, and environmental constraints, enterprises establish collaborations with many other business entities. ...Furthermore, with costs and information sharing, organizations have the opportunity to optimize their logistics activities. However, each enterprise has its own objectives and typically makes its own planning decisions to meet these objectives. Therefore, it becomes crucial to determine how business entities will work together as well as the value of the collaboration. Specifically, it is necessary to identify how logistics activities will be planned and executed, who will take the leadership of the collaboration, and how benefits will be shared. In this article, we explain how to efficiently build and manage inter‐firm relationships. Moreover, we propose five coordination mechanisms that contribute to ensure information sharing, the coordination of logistics activities, and the sharing of benefits. Case studies are used to demonstrate the utility of the framework.
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