Compression Algorithms to Optimize Battery Consumption in Precision Livestock Farming.

The 34% world supply of food proteins comes from livestock and the need to supplement it, makes that the number of animals rearing increases day by day. Nowadays, this process is not effective due to the farmers not having the correcttools and devices to minimize their energy consumption. In line, the objective of this project is to design an algorithm that helps to compress and decompress images to optimize the energy that is required for classifying and obtaining theinformation of the animals. The algorithms that we imple?mented to achieve the objective previously mentioned were the lossy image compression with Fast Fourier Transform and lossless image compression with Huffman Coding, they were the ones that gave us the best results in terms of complexity execution time, the least possible loss of information and with a good compression ratio.

Preliminary support for a “dry swab, extraction free” protocol for SARS-CoV-2 testing via RT-qPCR

The urgent need for massively scaled clinical or surveillance testing for SARS-CoV-2 has necessitated a reconsideration of the methods by which respiratory samples are collected, transported, processed and tested. Conventional testing for SARS-CoV-2 involves collection of a clinical specimen with a nasopharyngeal swab, storage of the swab during transport in universal transport medium (UTM), extraction of RNA, and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). As testing has scaled across the world, supply chain challenges have emerged across this entire workflow. Here we sought to evaluate how eliminating the UTM storage and RNA extraction steps would impact the results of molecular testing. Using paired mid-turbinate swabs self-collected by 11 individuals with previously established SARS-CoV-2 positivity, we performed a comparison of conventional (swab → UTM → RNA extraction → RT-qPCR) vs. simplified (direct elution from dry swab → RT-qPCR) protocols. Our results suggest that dry swabs eluted directly into a simple buffered solution (TE) can support molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 via endpoint RT-qPCR without substantially compromising sensitivity. Although further confirmation with a larger sample size and variation of other parameters is necessary, these results are encouraging for the possibility of a simplified workflow that could support massively scaled testing for COVID-19 control.

The World Supply Chain Disruption in the perspective of Covid-19 outbreak from China

The new coronavirus, first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, has infected more than30, 00,000 people in at least 206 countries and territories globally, according to the WHO, till date. The virus outbreak hasbecome one of the biggest threats to the global economy and financial markets. Major institutions and bankshave cut their forecasts for the global economy, with the Organization for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment being one of the latest to do so. Meanwhile, fears of the coronavirus impact on the global economyhave rocked markets worldwide, with stock prices and bond yields plunging. The supply chain management system is also affected by the same phenomenon Worldwide. Based on the aforesaid perspective the disruption of World Supply chain due to the outbreak of Covid-19 from China is discussed in this paper.

Strategies for Effective Worldwide Supply Chains

In this study, after analyzing hundreds of papers and books by using a meta-analysis technique, it was revealed that supply chain management suffers from a lack of strategies for many aspects of real-world supply chain activity. Existing supply-related strategies are very primitive and incomplete. Real-world activities in modern supply chains are complicated and multidimensional; consequently, supply chain strategies should reflect and manage these realities. This study aims to reduce the existing shortcomings in current supply chain strategies by proposing the taxonomy of supply chain strategies.

A Social-Exchange Perspective on Supply Chain Innovation

Supply chain innovation has become all the more important in today's competitive world. Supply chain innovation is the development of newer technologies and procedures along with implementation of new ideas of products and services through necessary supply chain activities. As supply chains are network of inter-connected firms; hence the importance of relational and social exchange attributes like trust, commitment, reciprocity and power are paramount in developing supply chain capabilities. The current investigation adopts a social exchange perspective and investigates the importance of trust, commitment, reciprocity and power on integration of logistics capabilities and their subsequent role in developing supply chain innovation. As supply chain innovation aims to provide better performance implications for the focal firm; the impact of supply chain innovation on firm performance was also explored using a service perspective. Data collected through a web-based survey from 173 logistics and supply chain professionals largely support the proposed relationships.

Indonesia’s policies will drive global nickel dynamics

Significance The nickel price has surged by more than 50% this year to the highest since 2014. Supply concerns triggered the rise following the collapse of Brazil’s Brumadinho iron ore tailings dam in January, killing at least 248 people. Plunging inventories, floods in Indonesia and closure of Vale’s Onca Puma operation in Brazil have driven the price higher. Impacts Inventories are low and China’s port stockpiles cover just five months' contained nickel consumption; this will support the price globally. In August, waste from a nickel plant spilled in Papua New Guinea; environmental fears will rise worldwide and could raise costs for firms. Indonesia is allowing miners to export nickel ore, but a blanket ban on ore exports from January could hit world supply in 2020. Russia’s Nornickel is closing a smelter on environmental grounds; permafrost melt may be a greater threat to longer-term production.