Dynamic systems in the supply of pellets and distribution of the pellet production process

System archetypes are models of behavior of a system, understood as generic structures or as an overview of typical systems. There are recognized structures that show repetition in many different situations. Archetypes are depicted as appearances of common combinations through amplifying and balancing feedback loops. They are constantly used to facilitate a quick understanding of the system and their knowledge and already learned features, their insight and insight. As analytical features, they help people change their thinking for a much larger systemic perspective to understand a phenomenon or dynamic, and in some situations when real corrective action is not taken

Tracking HCV protease population diversity during transmission and susceptibility of founder populations to antiviral therapy

Due to the highly restricted species-tropism of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) a limited number of animal models exist for pre-clinical evaluation of vaccines and antiviral compounds. The human-liver chimeric mouse model allows heterologous challenge with clinically relevant strains derived from patients. However, to date, the transmission and longitudinal evolution of founder viral populations in this model have not been characterized in-depth using state-of-the-art sequencing technologies. Focusing on NS3 protease encoding region of the viral genome, mutant spectra in a donor inoculum and individual recipient mice were determined via Illumina sequencing and compared, to determine the effects of transmission on founder viral population complexity. In all transmissions, a genetic bottleneck was observed, although diverse viral populations were transmitted in each case. A low frequency cloud of mutations ( 1% restricted to a subset of nucleotides. The population of SNVs >1% was reduced upon transmission while the low frequency SNV cloud remained stable. Fixation of multiple identical synonymous substitutions was apparent in independent transmissions, and no evidence for reversion of T-cell epitopes was observed. In addition, susceptibility of founder populations to antiviral therapy was assessed. Animals were treated with protease inhibitor (PI) monotherapy to track resistance associated substitution (RAS) emergence. Longitudinal analyses revealed a decline in population diversity under therapy, with no detectable RAS >1% prior to therapy commencement. Despite inoculation from a common source and identical therapeutic regimens, unique RAS emergence profiles were identified in different hosts prior to and during therapeutic failure, with complex mutational signatures at protease residues 155, 156 and 168 detected. Together these analyses track viral population complexity at high-resolution in the human-liver chimeric mouse model post-transmission and under therapeutic intervention, revealing novel insights into the evolutionary processes which shape viral protease population composition at various critical stages of the viral life-cycle

Vehicle routing and scheduling – The traveling salesman problem

The classification of routing and scheduling problems depends on certain characteristics of the service delivery system, such as size of the delivery fleet, where the fleet is housed, capacities of the vehicles, and routing and scheduling objectives. In the simplest case, we begin with a set of nodes to be visited by a single vehicle. The nodes may be visited in any order, there are no precedence relationships, the travel costs between two nodes are the same regardless of the direction traveled, and there are no delivery-time restrictions. In addition, vehicle capacity is not considered. The output for the single-vehicle problem is a route or a tour where each node is visited only once and the route begins and ends at the depot node. The tour is formed with the goal of minimizing the total tour cost. This simplest case is referred to as a traveling salesman problem (TSP). An extension of the traveling salesman problem, referred to as the multiple traveling salesman problems (MTSP), occurs when a fleet of vehicles must be routed from a single depot. The goal is to generate a set of routes, one for each vehicle in the fleet. The characteristics of this problem are that a node may be assigned to only one vehicle, but a vehicle will have more than one node assigned to it. There are no restrictions on the size of the load or number of passengers a vehicle may carry. The solution to this problem will give the order in which each vehicle is to visit its assigned nodes. As in the single-vehicle case, the objective is to develop the set of minimum-cost routes, where “cost” may be represented by a dollar amount, distance, or travel time. If we now restrict the capacity of the multiple vehicles and couple with it the possibility of having varying demands at each node, the problem is classified as a vehicle routing problem (VRP). In this paper will be presenteds the TSP procedure for delivery and routing of new product L-carnitine from Koding – Skopje which life development is in the introduction or development phase

Modelling with Structural Equation Modelling – Application and Issues

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a comprehensive statistical modeling tool for analyzing multivariate data involving complex relationships between and among variables. SEM surpasses traditional regression models by including multiple independent and dependent variables to test associated hypothesizes about relationships among observed and latent variables. SEM explain why results occur while reducing misleading results by submitting all variables in the model to measurement error or uncontrolled variation of the measured variables. SEM provides a way to test the specified set of relationships among observed and latent variables as a whole, and allow theory testing even when experiments are not possible. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a powerful collection of multivariate analysis techniques, which specifies the relationships between variables through the use of two main sets of equations: Measurement equations and structural equations. Measurement equations test the accuracy of proposed measurements by assessing relationships between latent variables and their respective indicators. The structural equations drive the assessment of the hypothesized relationships between the latent variables, which allow testing the statistical hypotheses for the study. Additionally, SEM considers the modeling of interactions, nonlinearities, correlated independents, measurement error, correlated error terms, and multiple latent independents each measured by multiple indicators. In this paper will be presented application of relationship between reverse logistics and circular economy using some SEM fit indexes. The process of validating the measurement model requires testing each cluster of observed variables separately to fit the hypothesized CFA model. The statistical test uses the most popular procedures of evaluating the measurement model: Chi-square CMIN (χ2), Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI), and Percent Variance Explained

MACEDONIAN NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM – MAIN CHALLENGES

It is generally accepted that the National Innovation Systems (NIS) are one of the most comprehensive systemic approaches that give insight into innovative and economic performance of a country. This insight is essential for policymakers to develop legislatives for enhancing the innovative performance and success of today’s knowledge based economies. The development of the NIS is a complex, path-dependant process due to the differences in the development of the main sectors involved: the academia and the industry. Macedonian later emergence of the NIS is explained by the fact that after 1990, with the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) there were significant losses in the Yugoslav, East and Central European markets. This process was accompanied by disintegration of many large industrial complexes, leading to a large number of bankruptcies and lay-offs. The existing strong governmental support for the scientific and research projects in the Federation was disrupted and disabled by these rapid changes, which was also reflected in the breakdown of direct links between academia and industry. The following two decades were transitional, and this period of recovery was terminated with the adoption of several strategic documents such as: industrial policy; program for science-research work and technological development; innovation strategy; and strategy for intellectual property. Finally, in 2013 the Law on Innovation Activity, which includes establishment of Innovation Fund, was adopted. This paper aims to retrospect the main activities for developing innovation infrastructure and enhancing innovation capacities. Moreover, it offers critical assessment of the improvements and the main challenges faced. The presented overview is designed to assist policymakers in further monitoring, evaluation and improvements, and to provide researchers with a solid base for the additional in-depth analysis of the impact of the implemented and proposed measures.

Decision Making Using Sequential Equation Modelling Applied for Pellet Production

By means of learning experiences, students are expected to know, understand, and be able to demonstrate certain skills, behaviors, and attitudes. These learning experiences have been defined and described by several different learning theories. The 21th century the most common learning theories have been behavioral and cognitive learning theories. Behavioral learning theorists explain learning as relatively permanent change in “hierarchical, observable, and measurable behaviors” whereas cognitive learning theorists explain learning “as an internal change in mental associations”. The pellet production (PP) has the potential to improve the social, economic and environmental elements of the local community, as well as to expand the development of state economy growth. Work study examines community support for that development in the context of sustainable development. This topic is interesting for processing because it deals with specific and so far in Macedonia untreated problems and aspects arising from the relationship between the local community and the state efforts for better conditions for development and higher standard

MACEDONIAN NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM – MAIN CHALLENGES

It is generally accepted that the National Innovation Systems (NIS) are one of the most comprehensive systemic approaches that give insight into innovative and economic performance of a country. This insight is essential for policymakers to develop legislatives for enhancing the innovative performance and success of today’s knowledge based economies. The development of the NIS is a complex, path-dependant process due to the differences in the development of the main sectors involved: the academia and the industry. Macedonian later emergence of the NIS is explained by the fact that after 1990, with the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) there were significant losses in the Yugoslav, East and Central European markets. This process was accompanied by disintegration of many large industrial complexes, leading to a large number of bankruptcies and lay-offs. The existing strong governmental support for the scientific and research projects in the Federation was disrupted and disabled by these rapid changes, which was also reflected in the breakdown of direct links between academia and industry. The following two decades were transitional, and this period of recovery was terminated with the adoption of several strategic documents such as: industrial policy; program for science-research work and technological development; innovation strategy; and strategy for intellectual property. Finally, in 2013 the Law on Innovation Activity, which includes establishment of Innovation Fund, was adopted. This paper aims to retrospect the main activities for developing innovation infrastructure and enhancing innovation capacities. Moreover, it offers critical assessment of the improvements and the main challenges faced. The presented overview is designed to assist policymakers in further monitoring, evaluation and improvements, and to provide researchers with a solid base for the additional in-depth analysis of the impact of the implemented and proposed measures.

A methodology for closing the gap between the competences of students and recent graduates and labour market needs. The case of the Republic of North Macedonia

The youth unemployment is one of the most pressing problems for every economy. For addressing this issue in the Republic of North Macedonia, numerous project initiatives and activities are in the phase of planning and implementation. Part of these is the implemented project: ‘Building capacities for better employability’. Through the project activities, it was proposed to be institutionalized the stakeholder cooperation for matching education curricula according to labour market needs. In order to increase the employability of students and graduates, the main aim which is also the goal of this study, was developing a methodology for closing the gap between the skills of students and graduates and the Labour market needs, by enhancing the entrepreneurial education dominance in high education curricula. Through advanced understanding of the entrepreneurial mind-set, new opportunities in teaching and learning can enhance the University provision. For that purpose, case studies for the best UK practices in employability were developed and a survey for investigating the needs and requirements of the Macedonian high-educational sector was conducted. The research findings comprised rich informative set of recommendations that was a base for developing the methodology for closing the skills gap. The methodology was organised in four main levels with a number of institutions (actors) and activities (measures) related to them. The application of this methodology resulted with an outline of a stakeholder plan that offers insights into other areas of study and research possibilities. The contribution of this study is twofold. It adds on the literature for high-sector education and employability, but also it has practical implications for all stakeholders responsible in coping with the unemployment issue. The proposed methodology assists in monitoring the labour market changes and addressing them with improvements in the university curricula accordingly. It could be a powerful tool in the hands of the stakeholders for better employability of the students/graduates and can facilitate whole process. Overall, it will support the Republic of North Macedonia’s future strategies at Government, University and Faculty level in their strides toward creating more skilful and employable youth

Increased indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase activity is associated with poor clinical outcome in adults hospitalized with influenza in the INSIGHT FLU003Plus study

BACKGROUND: Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) mediated tryptophan (TRP) depletion has antimicrobial and immuno-regulatory effects. Increased kynurenine (KYN)-to-TRP (KT) ratios, reflecting increased IDO activity, have been associated with poorer outcomes from several infections. METHODS: We performed a case-control (1:2; age and sex matched) analysis of adults hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 with protocol-defined disease progression (died/transferred to ICU/mechanical ventilation) after enrollment (cases) or survived without progression (controls) over 60 days of follow-up. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between baseline KT ratio and other metabolites and disease progression. RESULTS: We included 32 cases and 64 controls with a median age of 52 years; 41% were female, and the median durations of influenza symptoms prior to hospitalization were 8 and 6 days for cases and controls, respectively (P = .04). Median baseline KT ratios were 2-fold higher in cases (0.24 mM/M; IQR, 0.13-0.40) than controls (0.12; IQR, 0.09-0.17; P ≤ .001). When divided into tertiles, 59% of cases vs 20% of controls had KT ratios in the highest tertile (0.21-0.84 mM/M). When adjusted for symptom duration, the odds ratio for disease progression for those in the highest vs lowest tertiles of KT ratio was 9.94 (95% CI, 2.25-43.90). CONCLUSIONS: High KT ratio was associated with poor outcome in adults hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09. The clinical utility of this biomarker in this setting merits further exploration. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01056185