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We investigate the tension between accounting and financial functions of an OEM who manufactures and remanufactures capital‐intensive products. The OEM operates a servicizing business model in which it leases a product, remanufactures the product returned at the end of the lease, and re‐leases the remanufactured product (usecycle), with multiple such usecycles. The accounting function at the firm would suggest that the OEM: (i) recovers the initial manufacturing cost of the product over its useful life as prescribed by IRS guidelines via depreciation; (ii) remanufactures the product as long as its initial manufacturing cost is not fully recovered; and (iii) removes the product from the books immediately after it has completely depreciated. In contrast, the financial function would consider the initial manufacturing cost of the product to be a sunk cost and would suggest that the firm continues to remanufacture the product as long as the remanufacturing cost is lower than the cost of a new unit. In this study, we investigate and prescribe ways to resolve this tension using analytical models. Specifically, we first show that the optimal durations over which the product should be used and lease prices that maximize the OEM's accounting profit and financial profit are different. We then discuss two operational approaches to align the accounting and operational perspectives while following IRS guidelines. Finally, informed by this analysis, we develop policy prescriptions to promote remanufacturing of multiple usecycle products. Overall, this analysis highlights the role of regulatory guidelines on remanufacturing operations and the inter‐functional effort required by OEMs to successfully integrate remanufacturing operations in their business strategy.

The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly spread over the world causing the disease by WHO called COVID-19, is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest threat we have faced during this century [1]. According to the World Health Organizations (WHO) data, in February 2021, almost one hundred fifteen million of the population has been infected with more than two million deaths [2]. To date, in the absence of any specific treatment, our knowledge about this disease remains very limited and is subject to rapid change. This virus represents a serious danger for patients with hematologic malignancies due to myeloablative conditioning and immunosuppressive treatments. People receiving chemotherapy with compromised immune systems and complications after stem cell transplant have an increased risk for infection [3]. COVID-19 infection may complicate clinical symptoms with higher risk of respiratory distress [4]. Actually, the experience in the management of COVID-19 infection in the stem cell transplant recipients is limited.

Introduction and Aim: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a debilitating illness characterized by physical, mental, socioeconomic and psychosocial disability. Being a literature has documented evidences of increased risk of depression and sleep disturbances among these patients, which indirectly affect the quality of life. The present study was carried out to evaluate the burden of depression and sleep disturbances among dialysis patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 160 patients on maintenance dialysis. A structured proforma was used to document the particulars regarding CKD care. Sleep Quality, Depression status of patients were assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) and Kt/V formula respectively. Results: Hemodialysis inadequacy was prevalent among 79.4% of the participants. About 51.3% were suffering from moderate depression. Severe sleep disturbance was seen in 88.7% of the participants. The present study observed a statistically significant association between dialysis vintage and depression (p

The understanding of adipose tissue role has evolved from that of a depot energy storage organ to a dynamic endocrine organ. While genetics, sexual phenotype and sex steroids can impact the mass and distribution of adipose tissue, there is a counter-influence of white adipocytes on reproduction. This primarily occurs via the secretion of adipokines, the most studied of which- leptin and adiponectin- are highlighted in this article. Leptin, the "satiety hormone" primarily acts on the hypothalamus via pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons to translate acute changes in nutrition and energy expenditure, as well as chronic adipose accumulation into changes in appetite and potentially mediate insulin resistance via shared pathway and notably impacting reproductive health via influence on GnRH secreting neurons. Meanwhile, adiponectin is notable for its action in mediating insulin sensitivity, with receptors found at every level of the reproductive axis. Both have been examined in the context of physiologic and pathologic reproductive conditions. Leptin has been shown to influence puberty, pregnancy, hypothalamic amenorrhea, and lipodystrophy, and with a potential therapeutic role for both metabolic and reproductive health. Adiponectin mediates the relative state of insulin resistance in pregnancy, and has been implicated in conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome and reproductive malignancies. There are numerous other adipokines, including resistin, visfatin, chemerin and retinol binding protein-4, which may also play roles in reproductive health and disease states. The continued examination of these and other adipokines in both normal reproduction and reproductive pathologies represents an important avenue for continued study. Here, we seek to provide a broad, yet comprehensive overview of many facets of these relationships and highlight areas of consideration for clinicians and future study.

Computing and software for big science 3(1), 7 (2019). doi:10.1007/s41781-018-0018-8, Particle physics has an ambitious and broad experimental programme for the coming decades. This programme requires large investments in detector hardware, either to build new facilities and experiments, or to upgrade existing ones. Similarly, it requires commensurate investment in the R&D of software to acquire, manage, process, and analyse the shear amounts of data to be recorded. In planning for the HL-LHC in particular, it is critical that all of the collaborating stakeholders agree on the software goals and priorities, and that the efforts complement each other. In this spirit, this white paper describes the R&D activities required to prepare for this software upgrade., Published by Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland

This manuscript defines a typology of remanufacturing based on multiple decades of direct observations across various remanufacturing industries. The manuscript also details how managers adapt their remanufacturing operations and strategies to the idiosyncrasies of the varied remanufacturing industries. The typology identifies four distinct typological groupings based on the dimensions of a firm’s strategic focus and product design philosophy. Before delving into typology and implications on strategic and design issues, the manuscript provides recent information on the current state of the remanufacturing industry based on governmental and industry reports. To assist readers who may be less familiar with the remanufacturing industry and closed-loop supply chains, the discussion also provides a brief overview of remanufacturing processes and the overall remanufacturing industry.

We report on the design of a new strategy to optimize coded apertures for compressive spectral imaging so that high-throughput sensing is attained, and thus, high signal to noise ratio in the compressed measurements.

Super plasticizers are chemical admixtures used where well-dispersed particle suspension is required. Its application in concrete facilitates the reduction of the water with respect to the cement ratio without adversely influencing the workability of the concrete sample. Nowadays, due to rapid constructions there is a huge demand for the use of chemical admixtures. Among these admixtures, super plasticizer poly carboxylic ether (PCE) and naphthalene formaldehyde sulphonate (SNF) has great market relevance. The optimum dosage of the admixture is to be determined and the percentage reduction of water content is also noted. Various tests are conducted on the sample at different mix proportion and at different age as per code specifications. Perlite, which is a type of amorphous volcanic glass, is replace with fine aggregate at optimum dosage of the super plasticizer and strength is determined [1]. Perlite addition will results in green concrete of superior strength, fire resistance, acoustic properties, thermal insulation, HVAC conditions along with the replacement of conventional materials used in concrete. This research investigates on the determination of optimum dosage of super plasticizer and possible replacement of fine aggregate with perlite for sustainable concrete.

Hoof lesions represent an important issue in modern dairy herds, with reported prevalence in different countries ranging from 40 to 70%. This high prevalence of hoof lesions has both economic and social consequences, resulting in increased labor expenses and decreasing animal production, longevity, reproduction, health, and welfare. Therefore, a key goal of dairy herds is to reduce the incidence of hoof lesions, which can be achieved both by improving management practices and through genetic selection. The Canadian dairy industry has recently released a hoof health sub-index. This national genetic evaluation program for hoof health was achieved by creating a centralized data collection system that routinely transfers data recorded by hoof trimmers into a coherent and sustainable national database. The 8 most prevalent lesions (digital dermatitis, interdigital dermatitis, interdigital hyperplasia, heel horn erosion, sole hemorrhage, sole ulcer, toe ulcer, and white line lesion) in Canada are analyzed with a multiple-trait model using a single-step genomic BLUP method. Estimated genomic breeding values for each lesion are combined into a sub-index according to their economic value and prevalence. In addition, data recorded within this system were used to create an interactive management report for dairy producers by Canadian DHI, including the prevalence of lesions on farm, their trends over time, and benchmarks with provincial and national averages.

Premenopausal breast cancer is usually estrogen receptor positive, and hence, prolonged ovarian suppression by medical or surgical means to prevent recurrence has become standard of management to improve disease-free survival. Ten-year adjuvant tamoxifen therapy is associated with 3.5% fewer recurrences compared to five years. The SOFT trial demonstrated small but statistically significant incremental improvements in long-term disease-free survival by the addition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog treatment (triptorelin) to an aromatase inhibitor (exemestane). Profound hypoestrogenism in the premenopausal age group may not be well tolerated due to a host of bothersome side effects (primarily vasomotor symptoms, musculoskeletal complaints, genitourinary syndrome of menopause, and mood disorders). Prolonged hypoestrogenism in younger women is associated with premature development of cardiovascular disease, bone loss, cognitive decline, and all-cause mortality. This paper explores multi-system consequences of prolonged hypoestrogenism in premenopausal women derived from studies of women with and without breast cancer. Pretreatment counseling in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer should emphasize the benefit of prolonged estrogen suppression on breast cancer recurrence and established risks of lifelong hypoestrogenism on quality of life and all-cause mortality. Future genomic research may help identify the best candidates for extended ovarian suppression to avoid treating many women when only a minority benefit.

Energy dissipation and stiffness degradation are important seismic performance indicators within the numerical modelling of structures, and in this case particularly of masonry. They are of great importance for evaluation of the seismic performance of masonry walls. An example of an existing masonry residential building located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina was investigated in this paper. It was observed that during the response of the building to horizontal actions the stiffness degradation of masonry walls was evident.

ResumeIntroduction La dysplasie bronchopulmonaire (DBP) est la pathologie respiratoire chronique la plus frequente du nouveau-ne grand premature. Son evolution a long terme est connue dans les formes anciennes dites classiques mais moins dans les formes recentes. Objectif Evaluer l’impact actuel de la DBP sur la morbidite et la fonction respiratoire au repos et a l’effort. Methodes Dans le cadre d’un suivi de cohorte d’enfants nes avant 33 semaines d’amenorrhee entre 1997 et 2004 au centre hospitalier universitaire de Rennes et ayant presente une DBP cette etude descriptive observationnelle retrospective a repris le devenir respiratoire et les resultats des epreuves fonctionnelles respiratoires (EFR) standardisees realisees au repos et a l’effort. Elle a inclus les enfants âges de 7–14 ans ne presentant pas de polyhandicap ou de sequelles motrices majeures ayant justifie une prise en charge au long cours en institution specialisee. La DBP a ete consideree comme legere en l’absence d’oxygenodependance a 36 semaines d’âge post-conceptionnel, moderee en cas d’oxygenodependance avec une fraction inspiree en oxygene (FiO2) 30 % ou si l’enfant etait en ventilation en pression positive. Resultats Parmi les 93 nouveau-nes ayant presente une DBP, 36 ont ete revus a l’âge de 9,9 ± 1,9 ans (12 DBP legeres, 12 moderees, et 12 severes). Une consultation pour un motif respiratoire au cours de l’annee precedant l’evaluation avait ete necessaire chez 19 enfants (53 %) dont 6 (17 %) avait un traitement de fond. Les EFR etaient anormales 32 enfants (89 %) : 23 syndromes obstructifs dont 12 reversibles, 16 distensions pulmonaires, 3 hyperreactivites bronchiques et 2 syndromes restrictifs. Seul le rapport volume residuel/capacite pulmonaire totale augmentait avec la severite de la DBP (p

Detector simulation has become fundamental to the success of modern high-energy physics (HEP) experiments. For example, the Geant4-based simulation applications developed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments played a major role for them to produce physics measurements of unprecedented quality and precision with faster turnaround, from data taking to journal submission, than any previous hadron collider experiment. The material presented here contains highlights of a recent review on the impact of detector simulation in particle physics collider experiments published in Ref. [1]. It includes examples of applications to detector design and optimization, software development and testing of computing infrastructure, and modeling of physics objects and their kinematics. The cost and economic impact of simulation in the CMS experiment is also presented. A discussion on future detector simulation needs, challenges and potential solutions to address them is included at the end.

It is very vital to identify the variations in the brain activations and visualize the extent of interaction between brain areas to come up with logical interpretations regarding neuronal dynamics during higher-order cognitive functioning. Most cognitive functions are based on interactions between neuronal assemblies distributed across different cerebral regions. In this paper, we evaluate two traditional methods (Squared Coherence Spectrum (SCS) and Directed Transfer Function (DTF)) and one novel approach based on information theory (Phase Transfer Entropy (PTE)) based on the extent to which they can depict the information flow between distant brain regions during a standard visual short-term memory task. Results revealed that PTE was able to depict the performance and visualize the information flow better compared to the traditional techniques. These results demonstrate the applicability of functional brain connectivity measures in determining and visualizing higherorder cognitive functions. We plan to extend the use of these measures in assessing the neural underpinnings of executive functions as well.

Consumer product returns in the United States are approaching three-hundred billion dollars annually. In the majority of cases, the returned products are perfectly functional convenience returns. Managers have a multi-billion dollar profit opportunity to reuse the products by strategically employing remanufacturing. Yet, remanufacturing has multiple barriers that must be understood and addressed. This article addresses several key managerial issues regarding remanufactured consumer products. First, will consumers buy remanufactured products? Second, will the green consumer segment desire remanufactured products? Third, will remanufactured product sales cannibalize new product sales? Finally, this article provides guidance regarding pricing and cannibalization mitigation strategies.

This work investigates the optimal pricing of new and remanufactured products using a model of consumer preferences based on extensive experimentation. The experimental investigation reveals two distinct segments of consumers. One segment is relatively indifferent between new and remanufactured products and displays high sensitivity to price discounts. The second segment shows strong preferences for new products—with an accompanying aversion to remanufactured products—and realtively low sensitivity to price discounts. The pricing analysis examines several scenarios involving a new product manufacturer, ranging from a simple monopolist scenario to a more complex scenario involving competition with third-party remanufacturers. In contrast to the usual finding that new product prices should decrease when competitive remanufactured products enter the market, the introduction of market segments reveals a robust finding across all scenarios: when remanufactured products enter the market, the optimal price of the new product should increase. Through appropriate pricing of new products, the OEM can mitigate the effects of cannibalization and increase profitability.

Ion beam sputtering is well established in research and industry, despite its relatively low deposition rates compared to electron beam evaporation. Typical applications are coatings of precision optics, like filters, mirrors and beam splitter. Anti-reflective or high-reflective multilayer stacks benefit from the high mobility of the sputtered particles on the substrate surface and the good mechanical characteristics of the layers. This work gives the basic route from single layer optimization of reactive ion beam sputtered Ta2O5 and SiO2 thin films towards complex multilayer stacks for high-reflective mirrors and anti-reflective coatings. Therefore films were deposited using different oxygen flow into the deposition chamber Afterwards, mechanical (density, stress, surface morphology, crystalline phases) and optical properties (reflectivity, absorption and refractive index) were characterized. These knowledge was used to deposit a multilayer coating for a high reflective mirror.

Through the last three decades, accurate simulation of the interactions of particles with matter and modeling of detector geometries has proven to be of critical importance to the success of the international high-energy physics (HEP) experimental programs. For example, the detailed detector modeling and accurate physics of the Geant4-based simulation software of the CMS and ATLAS particle physics experiments at the European Center of Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was a determinant factor for these collaborations to deliver physics results of outstanding quality faster than any hadron collider experiment ever before. This review article highlights the impact of detector simulation on particle physics collider experiments. It presents numerous examples of the use of simulation, from detector design and optimization, through software and computing development and testing, to cases where the use of simulation samples made a difference in the precision of the physics results and publication turnaround, from data-taking to submission. It also presents estimates of the cost and economic impact of simulation in the CMS experiment. Future experiments will collect orders of magnitude more data with increasingly complex detectors, taxing heavily the performance of simulation and reconstruction software. Consequently, exploring solutions to speed up simulation and reconstruction software to satisfy the growing demand of computing resources in a time of flat budgets is a matter that deserves immediate attention. The article ends with a short discussion on the potential solutions that are being considered, based on leveraging core count growth in multicore machines, using new generation coprocessors, and re-engineering HEP code for concurrency and parallel computing., Accepted for publication in Physics Reports (of Physics Letters) 94 pages, 57 figures

This study empirically investigates consumer perceptions of remanufactured consumer products in closed-loop supply chains. A multi-study approach led to increasing levels of measure refinement and facilitated examination of various assumptions researchers have made about the consumer market for remanufactured products. Based in part on the measure building studies, an experimental study examined remanufactured product perceptions from a national panel of consumers. The consumers responded to remanufactured product descriptions that manipulated price discount and brand equity. The results indicate that discounting had a consistently positive, linear effect on remanufactured product attractiveness. Curiously, the brand equity manipulation proved less important to consumers than specific remanufactured product quality perceptions. The results also show that green consumers and consumers who consider remanufactured products green typically found remanufactured products significantly more attractive. Finally, the findings introduce the concept of negative attribute perceptions, such as disgust, that had a significantly detrimental effect on remanufactured product attractiveness.

We study a supply planning problem in a manufacturing system with two stages. The first stage is a remanufacturer that supplies two closely-related components to the second (manufacturing) stage, which uses each component as the basis for its respective product. The used products are recovered from the market by a third-party logistic provider through an established reverse logistics network. The remanufacturer may satisfy the manufacturer’s demand either by purchasing new components or by remanufacturing components recovered from the returned used products. The remanufacturer’s costs arise from product recovery, remanufacturing components, purchasing original components, holding inventories of recovered products and remanufactured components, production setups (at the first stage and at each component changeover), disposal of recovered products that are not remanufactured, and coordinating the supply modes. The objective is to develop optimal production plans for different production strategies. These strategies are differentiated by whether inventories of recovered products or remanufactured components are carried, and by whether the order in which retailers are served during the planning horizon may be resequenced. We devise production policies that minimize the total cost at the remanufacturer by specifying the quantity of components to be remanufactured, the quantity of new components to be purchased from suppliers, and the quantity of recovered used products that must be disposed. The effects of production capacity are also explored. A comprehensive computational study provides insights into this closed-loop supply chain for those strategies that are shown to be NP-hard.

The role of ECG is pivotal in medical field for the analysis of cardiac physiology and abnormalities. The interpretation of ECG signal is performed by signal processing algorithms for diagnosis of cardiac diseases. This work analyses filtering approaches, component extraction, classification and compression algorithms for the ECG signal. The portable ECG systems are also analysed; results and discussion comprises of IIR notch filter for the removal of power line interference, hybrid wavelet filter for removal of baseline wander, FFT algorithm for R peak detection and hybrid filtering approach for the detection of P, QRS and T components. The outcome of this research work is an aid for researchers developing novel algorithms in ECG filtering, segmentation and classification. The algorithms are developed in Matlab 2015b and tested on fantasia database data sets.