Late Delivery Research Articles

Construction of a ceRNA-based lncRNA-mRNA network to identify functional lncRNAs in premature ovarian insufficiency.

Premature ovarian insufficiency, characterized by ovarian infertility and low fertility, has become a significant problem in developed countries due to its propensity for late delivery. It has been described that the vital role of lncRNA in the development and progression of POI. The aim of this work was to create a POI-based lncRNA–mRNA network (POILMN) to recognize key lncRNAs. Overall, differently expressed mRNAs (DEGs) and differently expressed lncRNAs (DELs) were achieved by using the AnnoProbe and limma R packages. POI-based lncRNA–mRNA network (POILMN) construction was carried out using the tinyarray R package and hypergeometric distribution. To identify key lncRNAs, we used CentiScaPe plug-in Cytoscape as a screening tool. In total, 244 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and 288 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs) were obtained in this study. Also, 177 lncRNA/mRNA pairs (including 39 lncRNAs and 86 mRNAs) were selected using the hypergeometric test. Finally, we identified four lncRNA (HCP5, NUTM2A-AS1, GABPB1-IT1, and SMIM25) intersections by topological analysis between two centralities (degree and betweenness), and we explored their subnetwork GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Here, we have provided strong evidence for a relationship with apoptosis, DNA repair damage, and energy metabolism terms and pathways in the key lncRNAs in our POI-based lncRNA–mRNA network. In addition, we evaluated the localization information of genes related to POI and found that genes were more distributed on chromosomes 15, 16, 17, and 19. However, more experiments are needed to confirm the functional significance of such predicted lncRNA/mRNA. In conclusion, our study identified four long non-coding RNA molecules that may be relevant to the progress of premature ovarian insufficiency.

Impact of prolonged use of adjuvant tocolytics after cervical cerclage on late abortion and premature delivery

We evaluated the impact of cervical cerclage combined with one or more uterine contraction inhibitors in persistent inhibition of uterine contraction for the treatment of late abortion and premature delivery. This retrospective case series study analysed the medical data of 58 patients who underwent cervical cerclage for cervical insufficiency and simultaneously received one or more uterine contraction inhibitors (indomethacin, ritodrine, and atosiban) and magnesium sulphate at the Zibo Maternal and Child Health Hospital between January 2019 and December 2020. Patients are normal pregnancy who received cervical cerclage without complications. The rate of successful treatment was 74.14% (43/58). The prolonged gestation duration was 16.42 ± 7.84 weeks, and the average delivery gestational age was 35.91 ± 5.16 weeks. The longest duration of treatment with a uterine contraction inhibitor or inhibitors in combination or with magnesium sulphate alone was 15.34 ± 13.16 days, and nine cases developed adverse reactions. Persistent uterine contraction inhibition after cervical cerclage could prolong pregnancy and improve pregnancy outcomes. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? A crucial reason for treatment failure of cervical cerclage is that uterine contraction was not effectively inhibited. What do the results of this study add? Persistent inhibition of uterine contraction after cervical cerclage prolonged pregnancy duration, increased gestational age at delivery, and improved pregnancy outcomes. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? This study may provide a clinical basis for prolonging gestational age, preventing late abortion and premature delivery, and improving the survival rate and quality of life of premature infants.

When Penalty Fails: Modeling Contractual Misincentives With Evidence From Portugal ITO Agreements

A misincentive is characterized as an incentive producing the opposite effect of motivating or preventing some specific action. In some circumstances, contract penalties such as sanctions and fines on late delivery or low-quality software encourage the irregularities instead of preventing them from occurring. The present study models misincentive behaviors in Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) transactions as a Principal-Agent problem. Considering the non-linear relationship in software vendors’ cost structure and the client’s sensitivity to the product/service quality and delivery time, we offer theoretical modeling elucidating the best responses on agreements under incomplete and asymmetric information. Some empirical evidence of contractual misincentives is reported in outsourcing arrangements between private institutions and public administrations in Portugal. The contracts were divided into three categories: pure contracts with no incentive clauses, contracts with no explicit monetary penalties, and contracts under explicit sanctions. The results suggest that the knowledge of the penalty reduces the Agent’s uncertainty about the Principal’s cost structure and might lead them to intentionally delay the delivery of the technology.

Testing the Rule of the Earliest Due Date (EDD) in Achieving the Priority of Delivery: A Case Study in the Directorate of Printing Press for the Iraqi Media Network

On-time delivery is a key metric for evaluating the delivery performance of orders and the efficiency of an organization's supply chain. The main reasons behind the late delivery of orders is the lack of real-time data-driven insights, planning, monitoring and operational efficiency. Therefore, the study aims to apply the Earliest Due Date rule, which is one of the sequencing rules for the purpose of achieving the priority of delivery for requests at the study site, as well as evaluating the performance of delivery of requests on time according to the rule of the closest due date, and comparing it with the performance of the rule used in the study site, as The optimal sequence of a group of works leads to its delivery on time. The case study approach was adopted, as a number of completed works were selected as a sample to implement the study in the Directorate of Presses of the Iraqi Media Network. The study found that there is no prior planning for scheduling work in the publications production line, and delays in completing work lead to accumulation of work, delay in delivery and increase in costs. And the optimal sequence was found in the completion of the five work orders, through the sequence achieved in each of the rule of the nearest due date (EDD) and the rule of the critical ratio (CR), in light of which the delay time was addressed, and all work (requests) were delivered according to their specified time. As soon as possible, and the lack of direct coordination between the production department and the printing and correction departments to prepare a detailed scheduling, it also contributes to the completion of work orders for many external parties, and the exposure of the materials used in printing the publication to damage, due to its accumulation and waiting for processing on the machines, which leads to an increase Costs, delay in completing work, and the closest accrual rule has priority in completing work and achieving on-time delivery. The results of the relationship and impact analysis showed a strong inverse relationship between the on-time delivery measure and both the total completion time measure, and the average early completion time. The on-time delivery scale is directly related to determining the priority of completing work for the purpose of achieving certain goals, such as achieving the priority of delivery. The study reached a set of results, the most important of which was the great superiority of the results achieved by the proposed succession rules in finding the optimal sequence, as the closest due date rule (EDD) and the (CR) rule achieved preference in completing and delivering the works according to the specified time, and the speed in their delivery, compared to the results achieved when completing work orders on the basis of first-come-first-served (FCFS) used in the production line, as it did not have an effective role in improving delivery performance according to the specified time and speed of delivery.

Enhancing online-to-offline delivery efficiency facilitated by Industry 4.0: a personnel configuration perspective

PurposeThe overuse and scarcity of resources emphasize the importance of the circular economy. The technology facilitated by Industry 4.0 stimulates the implementation of the circular economy that aims to reduce resource use and enhance operational efficiency. This study focuses on enhancing delivery efficiency in an online-to-offline (O2O) context from an Industry 4.0 technology-facilitated personal configuration perspective, that is, comparing in-house and crowdsourced delivery efficiency in China's O2O on-demand food delivery context.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect 128,152 orders from 38 restaurants of an online restaurant chain in China. The authors adopt multiple regression analysis to examine the delivery efficiency gap between in-house and crowdsourced deliverymen and the determinants of this efficiency gap.FindingsThe findings of this study reveal that crowdsourced deliverymen exhibit higher delivery efficiency, in terms of a shorter delivery time, than in-house deliverymen. In addition, the authors find that platforms providing monetary incentives or implementing late delivery penalties enlarge this efficiency gap. Furthermore, the authors show that external factors, such as working on weekends and bad weather conditions, contribute to the narrowing of this performance efficiency.Practical implicationsThe study's findings suggest that platforms should use advanced technologies facilitated by Industry 4.0 to optimize their personnel configuration to enhance their delivery efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The effective approaches include using financial incentives and improving working schedules.Originality/valueThe authors' findings contribute to the online fulfillment literature by focusing on delivery efficiency in the O2O context from the Industry 4.0 technology-facilitated personnel configuration perspective. The authors examine how internal and external factors moderate the performance efficiency between these two types of deliverymen.

Neonatal outcomes by delivery indication after administration of antenatal late preterm corticosteroids

Antenatal corticosteroids, specifically betamethasone, administered to patients at risk for late preterm delivery have been associated with reduced rates of neonatal respiratory complications. However, whether these risks vary by delivery indication among betamethasone-exposed, late-preterm infants is not known. This study aimed to evaluate if spontaneous preterm labor or preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, compared with indicated late preterm delivery, is associated with better neonatal respiratory outcomes after accounting for betamethasone administration in the late preterm period. This was a secondary analysis of the Antenatal Late Preterm Steroids trial, a multicenter, placebo-controlled trial in which patients with singleton pregnancies at risk for delivery at 34 0/7 to 36 5/7 weeks of gestation were randomized to a single course of antenatal corticosteroids (betamethasone) or placebo. Patients were eligible if they had spontaneous preterm labor, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, or if they were undergoing indicated late preterm delivery. The primary outcome was a composite of need for respiratory support, stillbirth, or neonatal death within 72 hours after delivery. Secondary outcomes included individual neonatal morbidities. Bivariate analyses were performed, and multivariable logistic regression models were used to control for potential confounders. Using the indicated preterm delivery group as the reference group, adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the outcomes by delivery indication. Subgroup analyses separately examined the treatment and placebo groups to determine the odds of the primary outcome by delivery indication. Of 2827 participants at high risk for late preterm delivery, 1427 (50.5%) received betamethasone. There were 790 (27.9%) infants born after preterm labor, 620 (21.9%) born after preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, and 1417 (50.1%) born after indicated preterm delivery. Compared with indicated preterm delivery, the odds of the primary outcome were lower among those born after preterm labor (7.3% vs 16.4%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.82) and among those born after preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (12.4% vs 16.4%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.69). Preterm labor had lower odds of all neonatal complications except feeding problems, and preterm prelabor rupture of membranes had lower odds of all neonatal complications except newborn intensive care unit admission for ≥3 days when compared with indicated preterm delivery. For the placebo group, the odds of the primary outcome were lower for the preterm labor group (8.2% vs 18.5%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.91) and the preterm prelabor rupture of membranes group (13.2% vs 18.5%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.73) than for the indicated preterm delivery group. For those exposed to betamethasone, the odds of the primary outcome remained lower for the preterm labor group (6.5% vs 14.3%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.99) and the preterm prelabor rupture of membranes group (11.7% vs 14.3%, adjusted odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.91) than for the indicated preterm delivery group. Compared with indicated preterm delivery, preterm labor and preterm prelabor rupture of membranes were associated with reduced odds of neonatal respiratory complications irrespective of betamethasone exposure in the late preterm period.

Strategies to Minimise the Impact of COVID-19 on the Construction Industry: A Case Study of Construction Site Clusters in Malaysia

Malaysia has seen the third wave of infection since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with approximately 103 construction sites involving over 14,667 workers reported from April 2020 to February 2021. This has led to limited progress in construction projects or a complete halt, resulting in late project delivery. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the spread of COVID-19 and the strategies taken by the affected construction sites to mitigate the spread of the outbreak. The researchers adopted a case study approach with a multiple-case design and discusses the use of an in-depth interviewing method to collect rich data on the studied phenomenon. Data were collected from three construction sites. The sites were mixed development projects in nature and provided in-depth, rigorous, and robust information. Based on the results, two categories of factors influencing the spread of COVID-19 were established. These are primary and secondary factors, such as workers’ mobilisation, uncontrolled movement of workers, and the limited practice of social distancing. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the strategies adopted to control the effects of the pandemic were a combination of government enforcement and initiatives taken by construction companies. This paper concludes that an early identification of the causes of the spread will enable appropriate implementation strategies to control the outbreak. This study is an attempt to present the experiences of one developing country as an example of a means of dealing with unexpected pandemics or other intractable diseases that can affect project delivery.

Factors Affecting On-Time Delivery in Large-Scale Agile Software Development

Late delivery of software projects and cost overruns have been common problems in the software industry for decades. Both problems are manifestations of deficiencies in effort estimation during project planning. With software projects being complex socio-technical systems, a large pool of factors can affect effort estimation and on-time delivery. To identify the most relevant factors and their interactions affecting schedule deviations in large-scale agile software development, we conducted a mixed-methods case study at ING: two rounds of surveys revealed a multitude of organizational, people, process, project and technical factors which were then quantified and statistically modeled using software repository data from 185 teams. We find that factors such as requirements refinement, task dependencies, organizational alignment and organizational politics are perceived to have the greatest impact on on-time delivery, whereas proxy measures such as project size, number of dependencies, historical delivery performance and team familiarity can help explain a large degree of schedule deviations. We also discover hierarchical interactions among factors: organizational factors are perceived to interact with people factors, which in turn impact technical factors. We compose our findings in the form of a conceptual framework representing influential factors and their relationships to on-time delivery. Our results can help practitioners identify and manage delay risks in agile settings, can inform the design of automated tools to predict schedule overruns and can contribute towards the development of a relational theory of software project management.

A survey on Vehicular Fog Computing: Current state-of-the-art and future directions

Vehicular fog computing (VFC) enhances Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) by computing the real-time traffic information for accident alerts, path navigation and etc. It utilizes parked and moving vehicles as a fog node to perform computation rather than the core cloud. VFC consumes less bandwidth, decreased response time, and congestion of core cloud due to sort distance. VFC performs resource allocation to select the appropriate vehicle for computation according to the available computational resource. It performs data retrieval operations to transfer traffic data from vehicle to vehicular fog because direct communication is limited by the transmission range of the vehicle. VFC faces various issues during resource allocation and data retrieval operation such as vehicle's high mobility, dynamic topology and etc. This causes uneven resource distribution due to inefficient resource allocation and late data delivery due to unfeasible data retrieval. The security and privacy leakage of traffic data threaten due to sharing in vehicular fog. To overcome these issues, we provide in-depth exploration at each phase of the VFC operation. Hence, we present a new classification of VFC operation, which classifies the challenges every phase such as resource allocation in task division, scheduling, and load balancing; result-retrieval in phase, node selector, node selection and path recovery; secure data sharing in authentication, encipherment, auditing, and data privacy. This state-of-the-art gives a better understanding of open research issues and future direction to efficiently handle the computation at VFC.

Trends in gestational age at delivery for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and adoption of society guidelines

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy is associated with a significant risk of stillbirth, which contributes to variation in clinical management. Recent Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine guidance recommends delivery at 36 weeks of gestation for patients with serum bile acid levels of >100 μmol/L, consideration for delivery between 36 and 39 weeks of gestation stratified by bile acid level, and against preterm delivery for those with clinical features of cholestasis without bile acid elevation. This study aimed to investigate institutional practices before the publication of the new delivery timing recommendations to establish the maternal and neonatal effects of late preterm, early-term, and term deliveries in the setting of cholestasis. This study examined maternal and neonatal outcomes of 441 patients affected by cholestasis delivering 484 neonates in a 4-hospital system over a 30-month period. Logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to assess neonatal outcomes concerning peak serum bile acid levels at various gestational ages controlling for maternal comorbidities, multiple pregnancies, and neonatal birthweight. With the clinical flexibility afforded by the new guidelines, pregnancy prolongation to term may have been achieved in 91 patients (21%), and 286 patients (74%) with bile acid elevation could have delivered at a later gestational age. Preterm deliveries of patients with bile acid levels of >10 μmol/L were associated with higher rates of neonatal intensive care unit admission and adverse neonatal outcomes than early-term deliveries. Study data suggested an opportunity for education and practice change to reflect current Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine guidelines in efforts to reduce potential neonatal morbidities associated with late preterm deliveries among pregnancies affected by cholestasis.

How do you stay at home if you don’t have a home? Experiences of homeless persons at homeless shelters in Tshwane, South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Many homeless persons experience poverty, social marginalization, poor physical and mental health, and substance abuse disorders, which were all brought into sharp focus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the study explored the experiences of homeless persons at homeless shelters in Tshwane, South Africa during the period from 20 March to 25 April 2020 when the country was in hard lockdown. Guided by a qualitative case study research design, face-to-face interviews were conducted with nine homeless people. In terms of results, the main reasons for becoming homeless were drug problems and stealing; and domestic challenges and conflicts. Benefits from temporary accommodation at one or more shelters during the pandemic included the themes of safety, comfort and provision of basic needs; the opportunity to come off drugs and learn new skills; and assistance with family re-unifications. Challenges included difficulty complying with COVID-19 regulations under overcrowded conditions and living under stringent rules; violence; resentment at being treated like children; and issues around dietary needs, late delivery of food and leaking tents. Findings highlight the need for a review of the Tshwane homeless policy, integration of services and contingency plans for future national crises.

Fetal and post-natal growth in infants of mothers with multiple sclerosis: A case-control stud

BackgroundMultiple sclerosis does not seem to adversely affect fetal and neonatal outcomes, although some studies reported a possible reduction in mean birth weight and length, and a higher incidence of preterm delivery, mainly in relation to the exposure to disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) during pregnancy. Few data are available on intrauterine fetal growth and postnatal somatic development of newborns from mothers with multiple sclerosis compared to those from healthy women. For these reasons, we decided to investigate fetal growth, neonatal anthropometric parameters, and postnatal somatic development up to 12 months of life in offsprings from MS mothers. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included 211 women with multiple sclerosis, and 384 healthy women paired for maternal age and parity as controls. Fetal biometric parameters (biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length) measured during the third trimester of pregnancy (30–34 weeks’ gestation) were retrieved from the computerized database of the Department (EcoPlus*) where the results of ultrasound exams performed in the hospital are stored. Newborn measurements (weight, length and head circumference) at birth were obtained from the hospital's computerized obstetric and neonatal database (Trackare* and Remote* data base); measurements at 6 and 12 months of life were obtained from the regional database (ECWMED*) of family pediatricians of our region. ResultsNo differences between the two groups were observed for all the fetal parameters considered, expressed as centiles of growth according to gestational age (biparietal diameter: p = 0.40; head circumference: p = 0.40; abdominal circumference: p = 0.32; femur length: p = 0.32). No differences in gestational age at delivery, birthweight, and in the incidence of low birthweight and small for gestational age newborns were observed between the two groups. In the multiple sclerosis group a significantly higher incidence of caesarean section (p = 0.01) and late preterm delivery (at less than 37 weeks'gestation, p = 0.001) were registered. The trends of postnatal growth in weight (F = 0.53; p-value = 0.590) and length (F = 0.44; p-value = 0.645) were superimposable between the two groups. The trends of growth for head circumference showed a slightly, not significantly greater head circumference of infants from mothers with multiple sclerosis at 6 months of life, but the values at twelve months of life in the two groups were similar (F = 0.85; p-value = 0.427) . Moreover, the trends of postnatal increase of weight (F = 1.016; p-value = 0.331), length (F = 2.001; p-value = 0.146) and head circumference (F = 1.591; p-value = 0.212) of newborns/infants (from birth to twelve months of life) born to mothers with multiple sclerosis who breastfed, mothers who did not, and in the control group were similar. ConclusionMultiple sclerosis in pregnancy does not seem to affect fetal growth and postnatal development during the first year of the offspring life. We think that these results represent an important and reassuring information to provide the patients with during preconception counseling.

Exploring Influential Factors on Online Groceries Shopping Purchase Intentions Among Customers in Jabodetabek Area

This study applied a qualitative approach to investigate the underlying influences on consumers’ online grocery shopping from the intention generation phase to intention execution phase in the perspectives of purchase intention and the intention–behaviour gap (IBG). Research data were derived from semi-structured in-depth interviews with 10 consumers and analyzed using grounded theory. The findings identified factors that influenced intentions and the IBG in the process of consumers’ online grocery shopping. Specifically, these findings reported that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk of COVID-19, social influence, and enjoyable shopping experiences were identified as major drivers for generating consumers’ online purchase intentions. Difficulty in transaction, late delivery, incomplete information, bad packaging, and difficulty with site navigation were factors triggering the gap between online grocery purchase intentions and behaviours These findings will help stakeholders build future policy and suitable strategies to better promote online grocery shopping in the Jabodetabek context.

Estimating impacts of logistics processes on online customer ratings: Consequences of providing technology‐enabled order tracking data to customers

AbstractRecent advances in logistics tracking technologies have enabled e‐commerce firms to both accurately track the shipments and obtain accurate estimates of delivery times. With customers constantly tracking the status of their orders, the effects of logistics processes on customers' evaluation of their online shopping experience are relatively unknown as academic literature provides little guidance. Drawing upon the expectation‐disconfirmation theory and attribution theory, and using a unique dataset assembled in collaboration with an e‐commerce firm, we empirically investigate the effects of order processing and delivery times on online customer ratings. We also estimate the impact of positive deviation (i.e., early delivery) and negative deviation (i.e., late delivery) from the promised delivery date on online customer ratings and whether the impact of delivery status (early or late) depends on order cost and freight cost. Our empirical findings demonstrate that longer order processing and delivery times are associated with lower ratings. Our results also highlight that the late delivery of an order is negatively associated with ratings and that the order cost amplifies this effect. Furthermore, freight cost reduces both the negative effect of late delivery and the positive effect of early delivery on online ratings. Our results also indicate that there exist curvilinear relationships between online ratings and the number of days an online order is late or early. Specifically, the negative effect of a late delivery follows a convex‐shape curve such that its impact decreases as the number of days an online order is late increases. Likewise, the positive effect of an early delivery increases at a decreasing rate as the number of days an online order is early increases. Our supplementary analyses further account for potential endogeneity issues and corroborate our main results with additional empirical evidence obtained through alternative model specifications and estimation strategies. We present important theoretical implications and managerial takeaways from our findings.

Prognosis of Congenital Anomalies in Conceptions Following In Vitro Fertilization: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study in China.

BackgroundConceptions following in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have an increased risk of congenital anomalies. Few studies have explored the prognosis of fetuses with congenital anomalies. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and prognosis of congenital anomalies in IVF/ICSI pregnancies, and to analyze the influencing factors contributing to poor prognosis.MethodsIn this multicenter retrospective cohort study, we followed 405,473 embryo transfer cycles at 15 reproductive centers between January 2010 and December 2019 and enrolled 2,006 intrauterine pregnancies with congenital anomalies. The relatively positive prognosis group with one or more live births and neonatal survival for more than 7 days was compared with the poor prognosis group with poorer outcomes.ResultsAmong the 168,270 ongoing intrauterine pregnancy cycles, the prevalence of congenital anomalies was 1.19%, wherein the malformation rates of cycles with late abortion and delivery were 2.37% (716/30,202) and 0.93% (1,290/138,068), respectively. Among all IVF/ICSI cycles with congenital anomalies, the relatively positive prognosis rate was 61.39%. Moreover, the fertilization failure rate (2 pro-nuclei rate < 25%) in the poor prognosis group was significantly higher than that in the relatively positive prognosis group (10.89% vs. 5.09%, p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed no significant differences in the relatively positive prognosis rate among the various IVF/ICSI protocols. The relatively positive prognosis rate of fertilization failure cycles was 0.180 times that of normal fertilization cycles.ConclusionPoor fertilization rates during IVF/ICSI treatments are more likely to have poor prognosis in fetuses or neonates with congenital anomalies, and obstetric management should be strengthened in pregnant women, with which pregnant women should be recommended to strengthen obstetric management.

Service at risk in delivery operations

AbstractThis article examines disruption risks at fulfillment centers and develops risk mitigation strategies based on inventory stocking and delivery decisions. It considers a Fortune 150 firm whose delivery operations are designed to fulfill the orders from contracted business customers within the next day. The firm promises its customers that the probability of late deliveries exceeding a certain threshold will be limited. We coin this requirement as the service‐at‐risk (SaR) constraint. The firm proactively determines the inventory amount to be kept in each fulfillment center. If a disruption occurs, the firm determines the best way to deliver orders from its operational fulfillment centers and vendors under disruption length and demand uncertainty to minimize additional costs and satisfy the SaR constraint. This article makes four main contributions. First, we find a surprising result that total inventory commitment can decrease with risk aversion when there exists a disruption possibility that impacts two nearby facilities together. Using actual data from the motivating firm, the numerical analysis demonstrates that this phenomenon exists in practice. Second, we define a new metric: The Risk Dispersion Index (RDI), which measures the dispersion in risk exposure across fulfillment centers. It leads to a lower and more balanced risk exposure in the firm's delivery operations. Third, we find that a facility may elect to abandon its own customers to serve the customers of a disrupted facility; this behavior becomes more prominent under risk aversion. Fourth, the introduction of demand uncertainty leads to a smaller inventory commitment for a risk‐neutral retailer.

A Hybrid PSO-ACO Algorithm to Facilitate Software Project Scheduling

While tailoring software applications, in the present day scenario, there is a huge demand for cost effective products however it is so challenging for the developers on how to make a trade-off between cost and quality as well as between quality and time. Late delivery, sometimes, has become inevitable due to the reasons like: improper time schedules, technical issues, changing customer requirements, miscommunication amongst team members, failure to analyse the risks involved, and underrating of resources like man cost, power, effort, etc. Here in this work, an attempt has been made to study the advantages of swarm based optimization techniques over traditional optimization approaches and thereby employ them efficiently to schedule projects. A hybrid PSO-ACO algorithm is proposed for scheduling purposes. The nuances of natural swarm cultures are appropriately incorporated in to the software scheduling scenario and the results are recorded and reported. It is observed that the readings are passible and are bench marked through relevant measures of quality.

Bombardment history of the Moon constrained by crustal porosity

The formation and evolution of the terrestrial planets were shaped by a bombardment of large impactors in a cluttered early Solar System. However, various surface processes degrade impact craters, and the early impact history of the Moon and the ages of its ancient impact basins remain uncertain. Here we show that the porosity of the lunar crust, generated by the cumulative crustal processing of impacts, can be used to determine the Moon’s bombardment history. We use a numerical model constrained by gravity data to simulate the generation of porosity by basin-forming impacts and the subsequent removal by smaller impacts and overburden pressure. We find that, instead of steadily increasing over the history of the Moon, lunar crustal porosity was largely generated early in lunar evolution when most basins formed and, on average, has decreased after that time. Using the Moon as a proxy for the terrestrial planets, we find that the terrestrial planets experienced periods of high crustal porosity early in their evolution. Our modelled porosities also provide an independent constraint on the chronological sequence of basin-forming impacts. Our results suggest that the inner solar system was subject to double the number of smaller impacts producing craters exceeding 20 km in diameter than has been previously estimated from traditional crater-counting analyses, whereas the bombardment record for the lunar basins (>200 km in diameter) is complete. This implies a limited late delivery of volatiles and siderophile elements to the terrestrial planets by impactors.

Analisis Dan Mitigasi Resiko Rantai Pasok Dengan Metode AHP Dan FMEA

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy in Indonesia experienced a decline, especially MSMEs. It is important for MSMEs to switch strategies in dealing with this pandemic, one of which is by using an online system in the sales process, as was done by MSMEs "SwiitieandSalty". This move to an online system has created a new risk for MSMEs, namely supply chain problems. The purpose of this study is to analyze the risks experienced by using the FMEA and AHP methods. The results of this study are that there are two types of risks that need to be prioritized, namely the risk of late delivery at the Situbondo agent with an RPN value of 8.15 and the risk of product damage to the Jakarta agent with an RPN value of 9.24.

Indication Creep of Antenatal Late Preterm Steroids.

While antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) administered in the late preterm period have been shown to reduce respiratory morbidity, this finding was demonstrated in a well-designed randomized controlled trial (the Antenatal Betamethasone for Women at Risk for Late Preterm Delivery [ALPS]) with strict inclusion/exclusion criteria that may differ from clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there has been indication creep since use of late preterm ACS became standard of care. Retrospective cohort study of pregnant women who received late preterm ACS between 2016 and 2019 were identified and separated into epochs of 2016 to 2017 and 2018 to 2019 based on year of exposure. The primary outcome was rate of inappropriate ACS exposure, defined as nonadherence to the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the ALPS trial. Secondary outcomes were rates of nonoptimal ACS exposure (delivery >7 days from ACS or term delivery). Logistic regression was used to generate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) between epochs for the primary outcome adjusting for confounders. There were 660 women who received late preterm ACS during the study period with 229 (34.6 %) deemed inappropriate exposures. The most common reason for inappropriate treatment was preterm premature rupture of membrane (PPROM; 29.0%) with exclusionary cervical examination or contraction frequency. No difference was observed in inappropriate ACS exposure between epochs (aOR = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-1.2). However, there was a reduction in nonoptimal exposure over time (aOR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.47-0.97) . Women receiving inappropriate ACS were more likely to deliver at term if indicated for maternal/fetal status (50.0 vs. 19.5%, p < 0.001) and preterm labor (66.0 vs. 41.9%; p = 0.015). Further, inappropriate exposure in preterm labor had higher rates of exposure latency >7 days (62.3 vs. 39.1%, p = 0.006) with a longer latency to delivery (3 vs. 16 days; p < 0.001). Over one-third of women received late preterm ACS for an indication that could be classified as indication creep. Depending on indication, inappropriate administration is associated with higher rates of nonoptimal exposure. · There is potential for indication creep of ACS administration.. · One third of late preterm ACS exposures in our study were inappropriate.. · Utilizing clinical criteria can aid in identifying patients who best benefit from late preterm ACS..