► We model the design and planning of closed-loop supply chains. ► The flexibility effect on the profitability of five network structures is studied. ► We implement products’ demand uncertainty using ...a scenario tree approach. ► We evaluate the impact of the distribution network dependency of the scenarios. ► The model is applied to a representative European supply chain case study.
In this paper, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation is developed for the design and planning of supply chains with reverse flows while considering simultaneously production, distribution and reverse logistics activities. It is also considered products’ demand uncertainty using a scenario tree approach. As main goal the model defines the maximization of the expected net present value and the results provide details on sizing and location of plants, warehouses and retailers, definition of processes to install, establishment of forward and reverse flows and inventory levels to attain. The model is applied to a representative European supply chain case study and its applicability is demonstrated.
The design and planning of resilient supply chains is a major challenge due to the increasing complexity of these systems that operate in a global market and therefore are more exposed to ...disruptions. In the present work a design and planning model that integrates demand uncertainty is applied to five supply chain structures that are submitted to different types of disruptions. Disruptions are modelled in a probabilistic manner, resulting in the incorporation of two sources of uncertainty. Eleven indicators are considered to assess the supply chains’ resilience, which comprise network design, centralization and operational indicators. The goal is to provide managers what are expected operational impacts (measured by the operational indicators) by assessing the behavior of network and centralization indicators and their known resilience behaviors from the literature. A case study of a European supply chain is used to illustrate the methodology and a discussion on the results obtained is presented in order to conclude which main characteristics a manager should consider when designing and planning resilient supply chains.
•The design and planning of resilient closed-loop supply chains is addressed.•Supply chains with different structures are submitted to several disruptions.•New indicators are defined for supply chains’ resilience.•Uncertainty in demand and in the occurrence of the disruptions is considered.•The model is applied to a European supply chain case study.
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•Murumuru kernel shell was used as precursor biomass for synthesis of sulfonated catalyst.•The optimization of biodiesel production resulted in ester contents around 90%.•12.4 ppm ...chlorophyll in jupati oil deactivates the catalyst in the first reaction cycle.•The acid solid from the same waste showed great efficiency as chlorophyll adsorbent.•Ester contents close to 80% have been reached up to fourth cycle of catalytic use.
Murumuru kernel shell, an agro-industrial waste, was used as the precursor biomass in the synthesis of an acid biochar that was employed as a catalyst in the production of biodiesel originated from jupati oil. The response-surface methodology was based on a 23 central composite design and it was used to obtain the best reaction conditions. The catalyst was synthesized from the carbonization of murumuru kernel shell, followed by sulfonation in concentrated sulfuric acid. It was characterized by an acid-base titration in order to determine total acid density, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The best reaction conditions obtained in the optimization of temperature, catalyst concentration, and methanol/oil molar ratio in jupati biodiesel production were 135 °C, 6% and 30:1, respectively. It also reached an ester content of 91.8%. The chlorophyll present in jupati oil negatively influenced catalyst reuse because this bioactive deactivated the catalyst studied. This issue was solved by using an adsorbent from murumuru kernel shell to remove the chlorophyll, achieving a removal rate of 92.5%. Thus, proposing the acid solid from the murumuru kernel shell as a bifunctional material in the removal of chlorophyll from vegetable oils and acid catalysis for biodiesel production. Reusing the catalyst with purified jupati oil maintained the catalytic activity around 80% of ester content until the fourth reaction cycle. The progressive loss was little in the catalytic activity due to the leaching of acid sites. The reusing and ester content results found in this study showed the viability of using the agro-industrial waste of murumuru kernel shell as a precursor for the sustainable production of an efficient sulfonated-carbon catalyst for biodiesel production.
Obesity is associated with several diseases, including mental health. Adipose tissue is distributed around the internal organs, acting in the regulation of metabolism by storing and releasing fatty ...acids and adipokine in the tissues. Excessive nutritional intake results in hypertrophy and proliferation of adipocytes, leading to local hypoxia in adipose tissue and changes in these adipokine releases. This leads to the recruitment of immune cells to adipose tissue and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The presence of high levels of free fatty acids and inflammatory molecules interfere with intracellular insulin signaling, which can generate a neuroinflammatory process. In this review, we provide an up-to-date discussion of how excessive obesity can lead to possible cognitive dysfunction. We also address the idea that obesity-associated systemic inflammation leads to neuroinflammation in the brain, particularly the hypothalamus and hippocampus, and that this is partially responsible for these negative cognitive outcomes. In addition, we discuss some clinical models and animal studies for obesity and clarify the mechanism of action of anti-obesity drugs in the central nervous system.
Grumixama (Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.) is a native fruit of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, belonging to the Myrtaceae family, which designatesthe most significant number of species with food ...potential. It stands out due to its phytochemical characteristics because of the presence of polyphenols and volatile organic compounds. Volatile compounds are substances released by foods that give off an aroma and influence flavor. Solid-phase microextraction is a technique that allows for low-cost, fast, and solvent-free extraction, has an affinity for numerous analytes, and is easily coupled to gas chromatography. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the efficiency of different fibers of SPME (solid-phase microextraction) in the extraction of volatile organic compounds from grumixama pulp; optimize a method for extraction time, temperature, and sample weight; and to determine the characteristic volatile profile of this fruit. For the extraction of volatile compounds, three fibers of different polarities were used: polar polyacrylate (PA) fibers, divinylbenzene/carboxyne/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) semipolar fibers, and polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB). Fourteen volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified by DVB/CAR/PDMS, six by PA, and seven by PDMS/DVB through solid-phase microextraction in the headspace mode (SPME-HS). Considering the total number of compounds identified, regardless of the fiber used, and the optimization of the method, Eugenia brasiliensis presented sesquiterpene fractions (85.7%, 83.3%, and 85.7% of total VOCs) higher than the monoterpene fractions (14.3%, 16.7%, and 14.3%) for DVB/CAR/PDMS, PA, and PDMS/DVB, respectively in its composition. In addition, it was possible to verify that the fiber DVB/CAR/PDMS presented a better efficiency due to the larger chromatographic area observed when the grumixama pulp was subjected to conditions of 75 °C, 2.0 g, and an adsorption time of 20 min.
Zika virus infection emerged as a public health emergency after increasing evidence for its association with neurologic disorders and congenital malformations. In Salvador, Brazil, outbreaks of acute ...exanthematous illness (AEI) attributed to Zika virus, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), and microcephaly occurred in 2015. We investigated temporal correlations and time lags between these outbreaks to identify a common link between them by using epidemic curves and time series cross-correlations. Number of GBS cases peaked after a lag of 5-9 weeks from the AEI peak. Number of suspected cases of microcephaly peaked after a lag of 30-33 weeks from the AEI peak, which corresponded to time of potential infections of pregnant mothers during the first trimester. These findings support the association of GBS and microcephaly with Zika virus infection and provide evidence for a temporal relationship between timing of arboviral infection of pregnant women during the first trimester and birth outcome.
Objectives
University students are vulnerable to unhealthy eating habits that characterize a proinflammatory diet. This study aimed to estimate the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and its ...association with the trajectory of body adiposity markers in university students.
Methods
The study analyzed data from 685 students entering a Brazilian public university in 2016 and 2017 and followed until 2018. DII was estimated from 39 dietary parameters obtained by 24‐h dietary recall. Body adiposity was assessed by anthropometric markers and the percentage of body fat. Linear mixed‐effects models were used to estimate the trajectory of adiposity markers according to DII tertiles.
Results
After adjustment for confounding variables, at baseline, DII showed a positive association with increased percentage of body fat among men (β = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.01; 1.03) and waist‐to‐height ratio (WHtR; β = 0.15; 95% CI: 0.12; 0.18) and among women with all body adiposity markers: BMI (β = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.30; 1.05), percentage of body fat (β = 1.43; 95% CI: 0.74; 2.11), WC (β = 1.15; 95% CI: 0.41; 1.89) and WHtR (β = 0.13; 95% CI:0,10; 0.16). The rate of change of the outcome variables over time was not associated with DII at baseline.
Conclusions
The diet of university students in this Brazilian cohort study was characterized as proinflammatory and it was associated with body adiposity markers.
Long-term administration of aspirin (ASA, acetylsalicylic acid) in oncogenic patients has been related to a reduction in cancer risk incidence, but its precise mechanism of action is unclear. The ...activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) is a key element in tumor progression and can be triggered by cancer-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs). Targeting the communication between cancer cells and the surrounding tumor microenvironment (TME) may control cancer progression. Our aim was to investigate the effect of ASA on breast cancer cells, focusing on EV secretion and their effect on the biological properties of CAFs. As a result, ASA was shown to reduce the amount and alter the size distribution of EVs produced by MDA-MB-231 tumor cells. Fibroblasts stimulated with EVs derived from MDA-MB-231 treated with ASA (EV-ASA) showed a lower expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) but not fibroblast activation protein (FAP) in respect to the ones stimulated with EVs from untreated breast cancer cells (EV-CTR). Furthermore, invasion assays using a three-dimensional (3D) fibroblast spheroid model showed reduced MDA-MB-231 invasion towards fibroblast spheroids pretreated with EV-ASA as compared to spheroids prepared with EV-CTR-stimulated fibroblasts. This suggests that ASA partially inhibits the ability of tumor EVs to stimulate CAFs to promote cancer invasion. In conclusion, ASA can interfere with tumor communication by reducing EV secretion by breast tumor cells as well as by interfering with their capacity to stimulate fibroblasts to become CAFs.
Insistence on Sameness has been pathologized as a subtype of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, in autism. We examined the meanings of Insistence on Sameness for ...autistic adults through the lens of critical autism studies and environmental psychology, exploring their foodways and experiences of food environments, in relation to eating out and grocery shopping, and their experiences of autism (self-)diagnosis. Data were collected from earlier individual email interviews with Brazilian adults on the autism spectrum (N = 16), either formally diagnosed in adulthood (n = 10) or self-diagnosed (n = 6). Our thematic analysis generated the following three themes: (1) Insistence on Sameness behaviors in food space as participants’ efforts for human–environment optimization—reducing uncertainty, uncontrollability, and exposure to unwanted sensory stimuli and social interaction; (2) suppressed Insistence on Sameness behaviors for being considered weird habits; and (3) realization of Insistence on Sameness as an authentically autistic way of coping when self-knowledge deepens through autism (self-)diagnosis. Our findings suggest autistic adults’ insistence on sameness is an authentically autistic way to appropriate space and exercise their right to comfortably co-exist and live as human beings and as themselves.
Lay abstract
Insistence on sameness is common in autistic individuals and continues into adulthood. Research shows it may be a way to cope with environments because of their sensory sensitivity, intolerance to uncertainty, and anxiety. Understanding the reasons for insistence on sameness from the perspective of autistic adults is important. To study the meanings of insistence on sameness for autistic adults, we interviewed 16 Brazilian autistic adults. All 10 formally diagnosed participants were diagnosed in adulthood. Six participants identified as being on the autism spectrum without formal diagnosis. During the interviews by email, we first asked about participants’ experiences with autism diagnosis, either formal diagnosis or self-diagnosis. Then, we asked about their experiences in places for eating out and grocery shopping. We found they tended to always go to the same places and use protective accessories to eat or shop comfortably. But their such behaviors were considered weird habits, first by other people and later by themselves. While trying to control their weird habits because of social pressure, they often suffered anxiety and meltdowns. When they finally learned of their autism in adulthood, they began to better understand who they are and why they experience the environment differently from others. This new understanding taught them that their so-called weird habits are actually part of their authentically autistic ways to cope with the weirder world. This study suggests that autistic adults’ insistence on sameness is an authentically autistic way to exercise their right to comfortably co-exist and live as human beings and as themselves.
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) entered Brazil in 2014, causing a large outbreak in Feira de Santana, state of Bahia. Although cases have been recorded in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, located ~100 km of ...Feira de Santana, CHIKV transmission has not been perceived to occur epidemically, largely contrasting with the Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak and ensuing complications reaching the city in 2015.
This study aimed to determine the intensity of CHIKV transmission in Salvador between November 2014 and April 2016. Results of all the CHIKV laboratory tests performed in the public sector were obtained and the frequency of positivity was analyzed by epidemiological week. Of the 2,736 tests analyzed, 456 (16.7%) were positive. An increasing in the positivity rate was observed, starting in January/2015, and peaking at 68% in August, shortly after the exanthematous illness outbreak attributed to ZIKV.
Public health authorities and health professionals did not immediately detect the increase in CHIKV cases, likely because all the attention was directed to the ZIKV outbreak and ensuing complications. It is important that regions in the world that harbor arbovirus vectors and did not experience intense ZIKV and CHIKV transmission be prepared for the potential co-emergence of these two viruses.
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