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Chain System (chain + system)
Selected AbstractsRole of medicines in malaria control and eliminationDRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 1 2010Marian Warsame Abstract Antimalarial medicines constitute important tools to cure and prevent malaria infections, thereby averting death and disability; their role in reducing the transmission of malaria is becoming increasingly important. Effective medicines that are currently available include artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) for uncomplicated malaria, parenteral and rectal formulations of artemisinin derivatives and quinine injectables for severe malaria, and primaquine as an anti-relapse agent. These medicines are not optimal, however, owing to safety considerations in specific risk groups, complex regimens, and less than optimal formulations. The efficacy of antimalarial medicines including currently used ACTs is threatened by parasite resistance. Resistance to artemisinins has recently been identified at the Cambodia,Thailand border. Intermittent preventive treatment is constrained by the lack of a replacement for sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Despite increasing financial support to procure medicines, access to medicines by populations at risk of malaria, particularly in African countries, remains poor. This is largely due to weak health systems that are unable to deliver quality diagnostics and medicines through an efficient supply chain system, close at hand to the sick patient, especially in remote rural areas. Health systems are also challenged by incorrect prescribing practices in the informal and often unregulated private sector (an important provider of medicines for malaria) and the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard medicines. The provision of a more equitable access to life-saving medicines requires no less than a steady drug development pipeline for new medicines tailored to meet the challenging conditions in endemic countries, ideally single dose, highly effective against both disease and relapse-causing parasites and infective forms, extremely safe and with a long shelf life, and made available at affordable prices. Drug Dev Res 71: 4,11, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Bipedal locomotion in ratites (Paleognatiform): examples of cursorial birdsIBIS, Issue 4 2000ANICK ABOURACHID The gaits of five Ostriches Struthio camelus, seven Emus Dromaius novaehollandiae, two Greater Rheas Rhea americana, two Southern Cassowaries Casuarius casuarius and one Brown kiwi Apteryx australis were filmed at zoological parks. Locomotor parameters were measured using footprints on sandy tracks and video records. Osteological measurements were made on skeletons of the pelvic limbs. All of these terrestrial birds shift from wallking to running at a relative speed below 1. However, they show two different locomotor patterns: the Brown Kiwi increases its speed by increasing its stride length, mainly by increasing the protraction angle. Its hindlimbs make a flexed jointed chain system, its centre of mass is anterior, its femurs are long and the knees act in yield whereas the distal joints act in propulsion. Other ratites, particularly Ostriches, increase their speed by increasing frequency. Their centre of mass is close to the hip, their hindlimbs have an extended jointed chain system with a short erect femur, maximizing a gravity-powered system. [source] Application of ISO22000 and comparison to HACCP for processing of ready to eat vegetables: Part IINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2008Theodoros H. Varzakas Summary Preliminary Hazard Analysis was used to analyse and predict the occurring failure modes in a food chain system (ready to eat vegetables processing plant), in conjunction with ISO22000, the new Food Safety Management System, based on the functions, characteristics and/or interactions of the ingredients or the processes, upon which the system depends. Critical control points (CCPs) have been identified and implemented in the Hazard Analysis Critical Point Control plan. The decision table for CCP determination during processing of ready to eat vegetables is shown and compared with the ISO22000 Analysis Worksheet for determination of the prerequisite programmes. The prerequisite programmes are the main difference between the two systems. The incorporation of PrPs in the ISO22000 made the system more flexible as a smaller number of CCPs was introduced. [source] Application of failure mode and effect analysis and cause and effect analysis and Pareto diagram in conjunction with HACCP to a chocolate-producing industry: a case study of tentative GMO detection at pilot plant scaleINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 11 2007Ioannis S. Arvanitoyannis Abstract Although the application of hazard analysis critical control point in the food industry dates back to the 1970s, a more quantitative and reliable approach towards risk assessment became feasible through application of failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) model. A tentative approach of FMEA application to a filled chocolate-producing industry was attempted in an effort to exclude the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the final product. This is of crucial importance both from the moral (ethics) and the legislation (EC 1829/2003; EC 1830/2003; EC 18/2001) point of view. Two structured methods (preliminary hazard analysis and fault tree analysis) were used to analyse and predict the occurring failure modes in food chain system, based on the functions, characteristics and/or interactions of the ingredients or the processes, upon which the system depends. Cause and effect diagram (also known as Ishikawa, tree diagram and fishbone diagram) and Pareto diagram emerged as two very useful and effective tools towards optimising the GMO detection potential of FMEA. [source] System dynamics modelling for supply-chain management: A case study on a supermarket chain in the UKINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2004Y. Ge Abstract This paper presents a system dynamics (SD) approach for the analysis of the demand amplification problem, also known as the bullwhip effect, which has been studied fairly extensively in the literature. The construction of an SD model is reported using a part of a supermarket chain system in the UK as an example. Based on the model, the causes of the dynamic behaviour of the system and the sources of amplification from the downstream to the upstream of the chain are investigated. The impact of information delays, demand forecasting and information sharing on the performance of the multi-echelon supply chain is analysed. Some implementation issues are also addressed based on the simulation analysis. [source] Formulation of dynamics, actuation, and inversion of a three-dimensional two-link rigid body systemJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 10 2005Hooshang Hemami In this paper, three issues related to three-dimensional multilink rigid body systems are considered: dynamics, actuation, and inversion. Based on the Newton-Euler equations, a state space formulation of the dynamics is discussed that renders itself to inclusion of actuators, and allows systematic ways of stabilization and construction of inverse systems. The development here is relevant to robotic systems, biological modeling, humanoid studies, and collaborating man-machine systems. The recursive dynamic formulation involves a method for sequential measurement and estimation of joint forces and couples for an open chain system. The sequence can start from top downwards or from the ground upwards. Three-dimensional actuators that produce couples at the joints are included in the dynamics. Inverse methods that allow estimation of these couples from the kinematic trajectories and physical parameters of the system are developed. The formulation and derivations are carried out for a two-link system. Digital computer simulations of a two-rigid body system are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the methods. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] A multi-agent control scheme for a supply chain model,ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 2 2008Mauro Boccadoro Abstract The reduction of the bullwhip effect on supply chain systems is generally achieved through the optimal choice of policies at the local level and also by setting some type of cooperation among the different agents of the system. Here, such constructive interaction is pursued by the introduction of a negotiation mechanism among neighboring sites, and according to revenues/costs directly related to the impact of the bullwhip effect on the performances of each site. The concept is demonstrated for a policy which is quite common in the supply chain literature. The results obtained show the convergence properties of the negotiation for particular disturbance signals, and give indications on how cooperating mechanisms can be devised on the basis of the proposed negotiation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source] | ||||||||||