A fixed-target platform for serial femtosecond crystallography in a hydrated environment.

For serial femtosecond crystallography at X-ray free-electron lasers, which entails collection of single-pulse diffraction patterns from a constantly refreshed supply of microcrystalline sample, delivery of the sample into the X-ray beam path while maintaining low background remains a technical challenge for some experiments, especially where this methodology is applied to relatively low-ordered samples or those difficult to purify and crystallize in large quantities. This work demonstrates a scheme to encapsulate biological samples using polymer thin films and graphene to maintain sample hydration in vacuum conditions. The encapsulated sample is delivered into the X-ray beam on fixed targets for rapid scanning using the Roadrunner fixed-target system towards a long-term goal of low-background measurements on weakly diffracting samples. As a proof of principle, we used microcrystals of the 24 kDa rapid encystment protein (REP24) to provide a benchmark for polymer/graphene sandwich performance. The REP24 microcrystal unit cell obtained from our sandwiched in-vacuum sample was consistent with previously established unit-cell parameters and with those measured by us without encapsulation in humidified helium, indicating that the platform is robust against evaporative losses. While significant scattering from water was observed because of the sample-deposition method, the polymer/graphene sandwich itself was shown to contribute minimally to background scattering

Magnetic-Field Induced Quantum Critical Point in YbRh2_2Si2_2

We report low-temperature calorimetric, magnetic and resistivity measurements on the antiferromagnetic (AF) heavy-fermion metal YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ (${T_N =}$ 70 mK) as a function of magnetic field $B$. While for fields exceeding the critical value ${B_{c0}}$ at which ${T_N\to0}$ the low temperature resistivity shows an ${AT^2}$ dependence, a ${1/(B-B_{c0})}$ divergence of ${A(B)}$ upon reducing $B$ to ${B_{c0}}$ suggests singular scattering at the whole Fermi surface and a divergence of the heavy quasiparticle mass. The observations are interpreted in terms of a new type of quantum critical point separating a weakly AF ordered from a weakly polarized heavy Landau-Fermi liquid state.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

The impact of diabetes on multiple avoidable admissions: a cross-sectional study

Background Multiple admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) are responsible for an important proportion of health care expenditures. Diabetes is one of the conditions consensually classified as an ACSC being considered a major public health concern. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of diabetes on the occurrence of multiple admissions for ACSC. Methods We analysed inpatient data of all public Portuguese NHS hospitals from 2013 to 2015 on multiple admissions for ACSC among adults aged 18 or older. Multiple ACSC users were identified if they had two or more admissions for any ACSC during the period of analysis. Two logistic regression models were computed. A baseline model where a logistic regression was performed to assess the association between multiple admissions and the presence of diabetes, adjusting for age and sex. A full model to test if diabetes had no constant association with multiple admissions by any ACSC across age groups. Results Among 301,334 ACSC admissions, 144,209 (47.9%) were classified as multiple admissions and from those, 59,436 had diabetes diagnosis, which corresponded to 23,692 patients. Patients with diabetes were 1.49 times (p < 0,001) more likely to be admitted multiple times for any ACSC than patients without diabetes. Younger adults with diabetes (18–39 years old) were more likely to become multiple users. Conclusion Diabetes increases the risk of multiple admissions for ACSC, especially in younger adults. Diabetes presence is associated with a higher resource utilization, which highlights the need for the implementation of adequate management of chronic diseases policies.NOVASaudeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use of twitter data for waste minimisation in beef supply chain

Approximately one third of the food produced is discarded or lost, which accounts for 1.3 billion tons per annum. The waste is being generated throughout the supply chain viz. farmers, wholesalers/processors, logistics, retailers and consumers. The majority of waste occurs at the interface of retailers and consumers. Many global retailers are making efforts to extract intelligence from customer’s complaints left at retail store to backtrack their supply chain to mitigate the waste. However, majority of the customers don’t leave the complaints in the store because of various reasons like inconvenience, lack of time, distance, ignorance etc. In current digital world, consumers are active on social media and express their sentiments, thoughts, and opinions about a particular product freely. For example, on an average, 45,000 tweets are tweeted daily related to beef products to express their likes and dislikes. These tweets are large in volume, scattered and unstructured in nature. In this study, twitter data is utilised to develop waste minimization strategies by backtracking the supply chain. The execution process of proposed framework is demonstrated for beef supply chain. The proposed model is generic enough and can be applied to other domains as well

From global to local: reshoring for sustainability

The UK clothing industry has seen the extensive offshoring of manufacturing, which has created fragmented global supply chains; these present a range of supply issues and challenges, including many related to sustainability. Reshoring is a reversion of a previous offshoring decision, thereby ‘bringing manufacturing back home’ (Gray et al. J Supply Chain Management 49(2):27–33, 2013), and can be motivated by increased costs and supply management problems. While not a new phenomenon, the reshoring of activities is growing in practice and there is an imperative for academic research (Fratocchi et al. J Purch Supply Manag 20:54–59, 2014). Through an in-depth longitudinal case study, this paper explores how sustainability can be addressed through reshoring; the studied UK-based clothing SME has strong principles and is explicitly committed to bringing its supply chain ‘home’. There is a recognised need for more OM research using a social lens (Burgess and Singh Oper Manag Res 5:57–68, 2012), so Social Network Theory (SNT) is employed to examine the reshoring decision-making process. SNT applies a relational, qualitative approach to understand the interactions between network actors, and focuses on the types and strengths of relationships and how they provide context for decisions (Galaskiewicz J Supply Chain Manag 47(1):4–8, 2011). The findings demonstrate the importance of socially complex, long-term relationships in managing a sustainable supply network. These relationships contribute to the resources that a firm can harness in its supply practices, and SNT extends this with its emphasis on the strength of ties with suppliers, and the trust, reciprocity and shared meanings it engenders. For the studied firm these advantages are derived through its localised supply chain, and collaborative supplier relationships, and its progressive reshoring of activities is integral to achieving its sustainability principles

A triple-win scenario for horizontal collaboration in logistics: determining enabling and key success factors.

Horizontal collaborations emerged as a new strategic option in the logistics sector during the last decade. However, successful implementation of horizontal collaborations is far from a developed issue due to several barriers that exist or emerge when setting up such collaborative projects. This study aims at identifying the enabling factors supporting successful implementation of horizontal collaborations in the logistics sector, and in identifying key success factors that logistics service providers (LSPs) should consider. Results from a within- and cross-case analysis of two horizontal collaboration projects in the contract logistics sector support the proposed theoretical framework, highlighting both enabling and key success factors of horizontal collaborations. The former refers to factors that are related to LSPs, customers, and industries, while the latter results in a triple-win scenario characterised by LSP competences, trust, and environmental management orientation of successful horizontal collaboration projects

Observation of Aerosolization-induced Morphological Changes in Viral Capsids

Single-stranded RNA viruses co-assemble their capsid with the genome and variations in capsid structures can have significant functional relevance. In particular, viruses need to respond to a dehydrating environment to prevent genomic degradation and remain active upon rehydration. Theoretical work has predicted low-energy buckling transitions in icosahedral capsids which could protect the virus from further dehydration. However, there has been no direct experimental evidence, nor molecular mechanism, for such behaviour. Here we observe this transition using X-ray single particle imaging of MS2 bacteriophages after aerosolization. Using a combination of machine learning tools, we classify hundreds of thousands of single particle diffraction patterns to learn the structural landscape of the capsid morphology as a function of time spent in the aerosol phase. We found a previously unreported compact conformation as well as intermediate structures which suggest an incoherent buckling transition which does not preserve icosahedral symmetry. Finally, we propose a mechanism of this buckling, where a single 19-residue loop is destabilised, leading to the large observed morphology change. Our results provide experimental evidence for a mechanism by which viral capsids protect themselves from dehydration. In the process, these findings also demonstrate the power of single particle X-ray imaging and machine learning methods in studying biomolecular structural dynamics

Enhancing the sustainability performance of Agri-Food Supply Chains by implementing Industry 4.0

[EN] In order to enhance the sustainability in the supply chain, its members should define and pursue common objectives in the three dimensions of the sustainability (economic, environmental and social). The Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) is a network of different members such as farmers (producers), processors and distributors (wholesales, retailers.), etc.. In order to achieve the performance objectives of the AFSC, Industry 4.0 technologies can be implemented. The aim of this paper is to present a classification of these technologies according to two criteria: objective to be achieved (environmental or social) specified in the main issues to be covered in each objective and member of the AFSC supply chain where it is implemented. In this work, we focus on technologies that deal with environmental and social sustainability because economic sustainability will depend on the specific characteristics of the business (a supply chain using a specific Industry 4.0 technology may be profitable while others do not).This work has been funded by the Project GV/2017/065 "Development of a decision support tool for the management and improvement of sustainability in supply chains" funded by the Regional Government of Valencia. Authors also acknowledge the Project 691249, RUC-APS: Enhancing and implementing Knowledge based ICT solutions within high Risk and Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems.Pérez Perales, D.; Verdecho Sáez, MJ.; Alarcón Valero, F. (2019). Enhancing the sustainability performance of Agri-Food Supply Chains by implementing Industry 4.0. 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Coherent diffractive imaging of microtubules using an X-ray laser

X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) create new possibilities for structural studies of biological objects that extend beyond what is possible with synchrotron radiation. Serial femtosecond crystallography has allowed high-resolution structures to be determined from micro-meter sized crystals, whereas single particle coherent X-ray imaging requires development to extend the resolution beyond a few tens of nanometers. Here we describe an intermediate approach: the XFEL imaging of biological assemblies with helical symmetry. We collected X-ray scattering images from samples of microtubules injected across an XFEL beam using a liquid microjet, sorted these images into class averages, merged these data into a diffraction pattern extending to 2 nm resolution, and reconstructed these data into a projection image of the microtubule. Details such as the 4 nm tubulin monomer became visible in this reconstruction. These results illustrate the potential of single-molecule X-ray imaging of biological assembles with helical symmetry at room temperature