Research on cold chain logistics optimization model considering low-carbon emissions

Cold chain logistics distribution orders have increased due to the impact of COVID-19. In view of the increasing difficulty of route optimization and the increase of carbon emissions in the process of cold chain logistics distribution, a mathematical model for route optimization of cold chain logistics distribution vehicles with minimum comprehensive cost is established by considering the cost of carbon emission intensity comprehensively in this paper. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: 1) An improved hybrid ant colony algorithm is proposed, which combined simulated annealing algorithm to get rid of the local optimal solution. 2) Chaotic mapping is introduced in pheromone update to accelerate convergence and improve search efficiency. The effectiveness of the proposed method in optimizing cold chain logistics distribution path and reducing costs is verified by simulation experiments and comparison with the existing classical algorithms. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press.

Mapping the riskscape of using privately-owned short-term lets for specialist family violence crisis accommodation

COVID-19 has generated many problems and some opportunities in the housing market. The potential role of privately-owned short-term lets meeting specialist family violence crisis accommodation demand is one such opportunity. This paper engages with an important and increasing practice in the Australian context, of the utilisation of private housing stock as a component part of a public housing crisis response system, in this case explored in relation to domestic and family violence. In seeking to gain insights into the feasibility of this practice, this article will first frame mixed public/private accommodation provision as potentially overlapping relations between a thin territory of insufficient crisis infrastructure and a thick territory of commodified short-term let infrastructure. Second, this paper situates the potential of this intersection of mixed private/public responses in terms of riskscapes by unpacking how risk is perceived within these contested territories. The findings highlight tensions between both real and perceived understandings of safety, housing, wellbeing, economic and political risks. While there was some support for utilising short-term lets for crisis accommodation, barriers were revealed to adding thickness to the crisis accommodation space. Given increasing homelessness in Australia, diversifying crisis models could offer increased violence-prevention infrastructure to support women.

Republic of Congo: Opposition Alliance

"There are other (parties) which will be coming along", said B Jean-Jacques Serge Yhombi-Opango b , the RDD's vice president and son of the party's founder, who died from Covid-19 in 2020. Three opposition parties in the Republic of Congo have joined forces ahead of the next elections, for which veteran hardline leader B Denis Sassou Nguesso b is a potential candidate. The Alliance for Democratic Change in 2026, unveiled on April 13th, brings together three parties that have grassroots support but no legislative seats. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social & Cultural Series is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Digital Juneteenth: Territorializing the Freedom Colony Diaspora

After Juneteenth, formerly enslaved African Americans in Texas founded hundreds of historic Black settlements known as freedom colonies. Later, freedom colonies' populations dispersed, physical traces disappeared, and memories of locations vanished as descendants passed away. In the absence of buildings and legally recognized borders, intangible heritage—stories, ephemeral traditions—define a sense of place. Betraying the perception that these places have disappeared, founders' descendants express commitments to freedom colonies by returning periodically to plan commemorative events, rehabilitate historic structures, and steward cemeteries. The Texas Freedom Colonies Project (The TXFC Project), a team of faculty and student researchers, documents settlements while supporting descendant communities' historic preservation aims. By making diasporic publics legible and increasing the visibility of communities' settlement patterns and remaining extant features, The TXFC Project elevates stakeholders' concerns in urban planning domains. In 2020, COVID-19's social distancing requirements challenged diasporic descendants' efforts to foster social cohesion. Consequently, The TXFC Project hosted a Facebook Live "talk show,” leveraging social media platforms to amplify freedom colony descendants' work. The team analyzed event transcripts revealing cultural adaptations to socially restrictive conditions during Juneteenth commemorations and indicating that virtual storytelling helped territorialize widely dispersed, unbounded places for stakeholders facing natural and human-made disruptions.

Colonial legacies on employment: comparisons between some former Anglophone and French colonies

Purpose: In this paper, the author assesses if the effect of structural policies, macroeconomic indicators and demographic factors on employment elasticities over the period 2000–2017 can distinguish the former French colonies from the Anglophone ones. Design/methodology/approach: Using a panel of 44 countries taken from Africa and Middle East Area, elasticities are estimated in the first stage by rolling regression. Then, both static and dynamic panel models are investigated. Findings: Results suggest big difference between the former French colonies and Anglophone ones. For the French colonies, product and labor market flexibility are found to have significant and positive impact on elasticities, while for Anglophone ones, only foreign direct investment and government size are found to have significant and positive impact. Besides, all reforms and/or economic measures need to be complemented by macroeconomic policies aimed to increase economic stability. Originality/value: The results presented in this study highlight some of the factors that appear to drive the relationship between employment and some structural policies, macroeconomic indicators and demographic factors for two groups of former colonies. The paper provides policy conclusions based on these results for the two groups. This analysis may indeed help to inform future policy discussions, yet much additional work is needed to identify macroeconomic "best practices” for encouraging employment in the post-2019 covid crisis period. © 2022, Malika Neifar.

Multidimensional Signal Processing and Applications—New Approaches

This chapter is a short introduction in the contemporary approaches aimed at the multidimensional processing and analysis of various kinds of signals, investigated in related research works, which were presented at the Third International Workshop "New Approaches for Multidimensional Signal Processing”, (NAMSP), held at the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria in July 2022. Some of the works cover various topics, as: moving objects tracking in video sequences, automatic audio classification, representation of color video чpeз 2-level tensor spectrum pyramid, etc., and also introduce multiple applications of the kind: analysis of electromyography signals, diagnostics of COVID based on ECG, etc. Short descriptions are given for the main themes covered by the book, which comprises the following three sections: multidimensional signal processing;applications of multidimensional signal processing, and applications of blockchain and network technologies. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

ACCIONES COLECTIVAS Y CONFLICTOS SOCIALES ALREDEDOR DE LOS TERRITORIOS Y BIENES COMUNES EN LA RURALIDAD COSTARRICENSE EN TIEMPOS DE PANDEMIA

Este artículo brinda una mirada sobre los conflictos sociales que se han mantenido en Costa Rica durante la pandemia producida por la Covid-19 (enero de 2020 y diciembre de 2021). Para esto se consideraron las acciones colectivas registradas y las experiencias del "Observatorio Comunitario de Acciones Colectivas", con lo que se logró identificar cuatro ejes de conflicto en este período: a) la demanda de derechos y defensa de los territorios indígenas, b) comunidades en defensa del agua y el ambiente, c) proyectos de ley que amenazan los bienes comunes, d) conflictos laborales y contaminación en la producción de monocultivos.Alternate :This paper provides a look at the social conflicts that have taken place in Costa Rica during the Covid-19 pandemic (January 2020 and December 2021). This study comes from the registered collective actions and the experiences of the "Community Observatory of Collective Actions." Based on this data, four axes of conflict were identified during this period: a) The demand for rights and defense of indigenous territories, b) Communities in defense of water and the environment, c) Draft laws that threaten common goods, d) Labor conflicts and pollution in the production of monocultives.

Surveillance of Viruses in Varroa destructor Samples Collected from Honey Bee Colonies in Ontario, Canada, between 2015 and 2019

Varroa destructor parasitism is associated with extreme honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony losses in the northern hemisphere. Varroa destructor causes severe damage, including a decrease in bee longevity and immunosuppression, and acts as a vector for viruses, such as Deformed wing virus (DWV-A). The surveillance of viral pathogens in V. destructor samples is essential to assess risks of emerging virulent viral variants (such as VDV-1) and evaluate their impact on honey bee health. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify viral pathogens in V. destructor and honey bee samples collected in Ontario, Canada, from 2015 to 2019 with the use of metagenomics and real time PCR (qPCR). DWV-A and VDV-1 had the highest abundance of viral transcripts (7.5 log2 and 5.72 log2, respectively). Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and Bee macula virus were also identified. Viral identification and quantification in V. destructor samples using metagenomics will facilitate the surveillance of viral pathogens. This surveillance technique will assist diagnostic laboratories in delivering timely and accurate diagnoses and risk assessments, which in turn will help honey bee producers to take adequate measures to mitigate the damage caused by V. destructor and associated viruses. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic Identification of Single Bacterial Colonies Using Deep and Transfer Learning

Bacterial classification is a vital step in medical diagnosis. This procedure normally has several stages. An early stage involves inspecting the morphology of the bacterial colonies. Traditionally, a bacterial colony expert inspects the sample to determine the type of bacteria through visual inspection or molecular biology techniques. With advances in image processing, specifically, the use of deep and transfer learning techniques, and the wide availability of cameras, we applied deep and transfer learning techniques to address this task without requiring expert knowledge or sample shipping. We used a convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify different bacterial colonies based on their appearance in images captured by cell phone cameras. In this paper, we collected a dataset that contains images of different bacteria taken by cell phone cameras with various settings. Thus, images of two classes of bacterial colonies were obtained in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The dataset contains 8,043 images. The experimental results show that our application has high accuracy without requiring expert inspections. Author

Colonial legacies on employment: comparisons between some former Anglophone and French colonies

PurposeIn this paper, the author assesses if the effect of structural policies, macroeconomic indicators and demographic factors on employment elasticities over the period 2000-2017 can distinguish the former French colonies from the Anglophone ones.Design/methodology/approachUsing a panel of 44 countries taken from Africa and Middle East Area, elasticities are estimated in the first stage by rolling regression. Then, both static and dynamic panel models are investigated.FindingsResults suggest big difference between the former French colonies and Anglophone ones. For the French colonies, product and labor market flexibility are found to have significant and positive impact on elasticities, while for Anglophone ones, only foreign direct investment and government size are found to have significant and positive impact. Besides, all reforms and/or economic measures need to be complemented by macroeconomic policies aimed to increase economic stability.Originality/valueThe results presented in this study highlight some of the factors that appear to drive the relationship between employment and some structural policies, macroeconomic indicators and demographic factors for two groups of former colonies. The paper provides policy conclusions based on these results for the two groups. This analysis may indeed help to inform future policy discussions, yet much additional work is needed to identify macroeconomic "best practices" for encouraging employment in the post-2019 covid crisis period.

Does sending honey bee, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), colonies to lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium (Ericaceae), for pollination increase Nosema spp. (Nosematidae) spore loads?

In the Canadian Maritimes, many beekeepers rent honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), hives to growers of lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium (Ericaceae), for pollination services. Anecdotally, hives have less vigour following pollination, potentially due to higher Nosema spp. (Nosematidae) spore loads, the microsporidian causing nosemosis. We undertook a study to determine whether sending honey bee hives to lowbush blueberry fields for pollination (blueberry hives) results in higher Nosema spp. spore loads relative to hives remaining in apiaries (home hives). Nosema spp. spore loads were quantified using light microscopy. Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae were differentiated using polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Nosema spp. spore loads were greatest in April and May and declined to low levels from June to September. Ninety-eight per cent of Nosema detections were positive for N. ceranae. In April, blueberry hives had a lower spore load than home hives did;however, in June, spore loads were significantly higher in blueberry hives. No other differences in Nosema spp. spore loads were observed between hive types. We conclude that Nosema ceranae is the dominant Nosema species in the Canadian Maritimes and that using hives for lowbush blueberry pollination does not appear to influence long-term Nosema spp. spore loads.

Evidence of Genetic Connectivity among Lyle’s Flying Fox Populations in Thailand for Wildlife Management and One Health Framework

Bats are important reservoir hosts of emerging viruses. Recent viral outbreaks and pandemics have resulted in an increased research focus on the genetic diversity, population structure, and distribution of bat species. Lyle’s flying fox (Pteropus lylei) is widely distributed throughout central Thailand, with most colonies congregating in temples within proximity to humans. A lack of knowledge regarding the genetic connectivity among different colonies hinders the investigation of zoonotic disease epidemiology and wildlife management. In this study, we hypothesized that genetic material may be exchanged between Lyle’s flying fox colonies that live in proximity. We assessed the mitochondrial displacement loop and cytochrome b nucleotide sequences of samples collected from 94 individuals from ten colonies across different roosting sites and detected limited genetic differentiation but increased nucleotide divergence within colonies. This suggests that genetic connectivity among Lyle’s flying fox colonies has experienced frequent and recent gene flow. These findings indicate that this species has maintained demographic equilibrium in a stable population, with a slight expansion event in certain populations. These data provide insights into the dynamics of bat populations, and the genetic knowledge gained presents opportunities for the improved monitoring of bat population structure.

An Effective Framework for Enhancing Performance of Internet of Things using Ant Colony Meta-Heuristic and Machine Learning Algorithms

A short time ago Internet of Things (IoTs) is being applied in many fields like healthcare systems, disease forecasting, etc. Even though the IoTs has enormous promise in a variety of applications, there are several areas where it may be improved. In the present work, we have concentrated on improvement of the performance of IoT by adding two technologies such as machine learning algorithms (Naïve Bayes (NB), Random Forest (RF)) and Ant Colony Meta-Heuristic (ACMH) algorithm to select best features from data. The efficient proposed framework applied on the data of SARS-Co V2 for disease prediction to minimize the time consumption and improve the accuracy of forecasting COVID disease. Thus, the lifetime network of IoT will lead to an increase. The performance of proposed work evaluated using reliable metrics such as precision, accuracy, running time, balance accuracy, recall, and F-Measure. We conclude from the results of evaluating, that ML algorithms in IoT achieved best performance than without using ACMH algorithm;RF with ACMH in IoT framework achieved best performance that NB with ACMH algorithm. But NB is best from RF in running time with and without ACMH algorithm. © 2022 IEEE.

Cartografía de las resistencias en Mendoza: saberes y estrategias de los movimientos sociales en contextos de pandemia

This paper was written around two main questions: What impact was the pandemic having on their territories and what strategies were being used to face it? The main objective was to identify the strategies used by different organizations and social movements in the province of Mendoza (Argentina) to face the crisis brought about by the pandemic produced by COVID-19 during the period from March to July 2020. Thus, in the tradition of militant research and its theoretical-methodological elaborations, we proposed through a group device, in this case, a virtual conversation, the generation of a space for exchange with local political-territorial organizations, as a first step to define the terms of the debate. This is an exploratory-descriptive study in which we try to outline cartography of the resistances in Mendoza through the systematization of the repertoire of action of the movements around the main issues that were identified in the exchange: food, health, education, and work. We are interested in this research, not only to make visible how the sustainability of the life of a wide sector of the popular classes in Mendoza has been strongly linked to the political-territorial intervention of the organizations but also to contribute to the processes of collective construction of knowledge linking universities and movements/territories/communities.Alternate :El presente trabajo se escribe alrededor de dos grandes interrogantes: ¿Qué impacto estaba teniendo la pandemia en sus territorios? y ¿Qué estrategias se daban para enfrentarla? El objetivo principal fue identificar las estrategias que trabajaron distintas organizaciones y movimientos sociales de la provincia de Mendoza (Argentina) para enfrentar la crisis que trajo aparejada la pandemia producida por el COVID-19 durante el periodo que abarcó los meses de marzo a julio del año 2020. Así, inscriptos/as en la tradición de la investigación militante y sus elaboraciones teórico-metodológicas;nos propusimos a través de un dispositivo grupal, en este caso un conversatorio virtual, la generación de un espacio para el intercambio junto a organizaciones político-territoriales locales, como un primer paso para definir los términos del debate. Se trata entonces de un estudio exploratorio- descriptivo en el que intentamos esbozar una cartografía de las resistencias en Mendoza a través de la sistematización del repertorio de acción de los movimientos en torno a las principales problemáticas que se fueron identificando en el intercambio: alimentación, salud, educación y trabajo. Nos interesa con esta investigación, no sólo visibilizar cómo el sostenimiento de la vida de un amplio sector de las clases populares mendocinas ha estado fuertemente vinculado a la intervención político-territorial de las organizaciones;sino también aportar a los procesos de construcción colectiva de conocimientos vinculando universidades y movimientos/territorios/comunidades.Alternate :Este documento está escrito em torno de duas questões principais: que impacto a pandemia estava tendo em seus territórios e que estratégias estavam sendo usadas para lidar com ela? O principal objetivo era identificar as estratégias utilizadas por diferentes organizações e movimentos sociais na província de Mendoza (Argentina) para enfrentar a crise provocada pela pandemia produzida pela COVID-19 durante o período de março a julho de 2020. Assim, na tradição da pesquisa militante e suas elaborações teórico-metodológicas, nos propusemos a criar um espaço de intercâmbio com organizações político-territoriais locais através de um dispositivo de grupo, neste caso uma conversa virtual, como um primeiro passo para definir os termos do debate. Este é, portanto, um estudo exploratório-descritivo no qual tentamos esboçar uma cartografia da resistência em Mendoza através da sistematização do repertório de ação dos movimentos em torno das principais questões que foram identificadas no intercâmbio: alimentação, saúde, educação e trabalho. Estamos interessados nesta pesquisa, não apenas em tornar visível como a sustentabilidade da vida de um grande setor das classes populares de Mendoza tem sido fortemente ligada à intervenção político-territorial das organizações, mas também em contribuir para os processos de construção coletiva do conhecimento, ligando universidades e movimentos/territórios/comunidades.

A Decision Making Approach for Street Lockdown to Cope with Covid-19 Cases by Using Shortest Path Selection Mechanism for Unplanned Colonies

Infectious disease syndrome like covid-19 falls under the Public health domain and needs to be addressed with timely decisions and rapid actions. For such diseases, the dispersal becomes exponential with frequent social gatherings, therefore the immediate strategy, to control the surging waves of covid-19, was to impose immediate lockdown of COVID-19 infected zones. In this paper, the concept of street networks has been incorporated with shortest path algorithm e.g. minimum spanning tree (MST) to define an approach to investigate the correlation between reported COVID-19 cases and relevant streets in order to adopt better lockdown strategy for unplanned colonies. Geo-spatial representation has been used for subsequent composition of patterns to identify the particular streets for locked down. Results show that MST provides better solution by evaluating explicit areas of concern for lockdown plans. © 2022 IEEE.

Research on the construction of emergency logistics system based on ant colony algorithm under the new crown pneumonia epidemic

This article focuses on the deficiencies in the construction of emergency logistics and material guarantee systems that have been exposed during the prevention and control of the coronavirus epidemic. Establish an emergency logistics supply system to solve the current slow emergency response and other problems. Heavy. This paper takes the vehicle distribution problem as the background and uses the ant colony algorithm to solve the emergency logistics distribution vehicle scheduling model. On the basis of a time window, the transportation distance and cost of each node of the emergency system are considered to construct a model. According to the characteristics of the model, an ant colony algorithm solution method is designed, and an improved analysis is made for ant path selection. © 2021 IEEE.

LOGISTICAL ASPECTS OF CHINA'S "ONE BELT ONE ROAD" INITIATIVE FOR AZERBAIJAN ECONOMY: CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMIC GROWTH

The South Caucasian region started to capture Chinas attention in 2013 when the «One Belt One Road» Initiative was announced. Chinas interest to expand its economic impact in this region can be explained based on a few factors: the regions growing demand for large investments, the economic crisis of neighboring countries caused by US and EU sanctions against Iran, Russia, and Turkey. It should be noted the growing geo-economic role of Azerbaijan in the implementation of the big logistical projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, Free Economic Zone within Alat International Sea Trade Port, international transport corridors "East-West" and "North-South". These projects have increased Azerbaijan's viability to become a logistical hub on the trade bridge between China and Europe. Today 96 percent of trade volume between China and Europe is carried out via sea routes. China is interested in using the remaining 4 % via land routes throughout the territories of countries that the Great Silk Way passed through in ancient times. This article will analyze the historical and economic aspects of trade relations between Azerbaijan and China, assess the carrying capacity of its transport potential, the possibility of attracting new investments and accessing their impact on its economy and GDP as a whole. Today, the Chinese economic system, and the world economy, is facing a very strong enemy-the coronavirus. A sharp drop in world oil prices on the background of coronavirus slowed global GDP and decreasing of demand for goods supplied by China to foreign markets. According to the Chinese government, the drop in exports for January-February 2020 in dollar terms was 17.2%. To strengthen ties with the world, first of all, all countries must be cured of this disease. And we believe that this difficult task will be solved and the "One Belt One Road" project will be realized.

A Machine Learning Approach to Predict Renal Diseases with SARS-CoV-2

Research has shown that up to a lot of people hospitalized with COVID-19 get an intense kidney injury. In some serious cases, Kidney failure occurs suddenly without any major symptoms that are totally unpredictable to identify in the early stage. The reason behind that we have a lack of knowledge and experience regarding this. The main purpose of our research is to develop a framework that will assist individuals with foreseeing the danger of constant renal sickness growing rate after being infected with COVID-19. Here we have utilized 773 raw data and trained them and we have also taken care of our missing data. In this paper, we have used KNN, Naïve Bayes, ANN model and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) for making the system ready for assumption. We have carried out these calculations in the python language. The exactness that we acquire by utilizing KNN calculation is 95%, Naïve bayes is 98.30% ANN is 97.5% and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is 95.5% separately which is generally outstanding. By utilizing our proposed strategy, prediction of renal diseases after COVID-19 in the beginning phase will be conceivable. All the data are collected from our neighborhood medical clinic. This research has shown us the current situation in this COVID-19 pandemic with regards to Chronic Kidney Sickness which is known as renal disease. © 2021 IEEE.

Co-operation and consistency: a global survey of professionals involved in reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose>During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, schools closed in haste and were expected to create virtual learning opportunities for their students while they waited to see when and how they might re-open. National governments issued reopening guidance at varying speeds. The purpose of this study was to invite health and education professionals to share what was happening in their country about school reopening in terms of the features and implications of the guidance issued.Design/methodology/approach>A qualitative study. Initial interviews informed a semi-structured questionnaire distributed through the global community of UNESCO Chair ‘Global Health and Education’ and partner organisations. Its aim was to collect, analyse and share globally relevant knowledge and practices about school reopening.Findings>There were 192 useable responses from 43 countries and territories and 1 multi-country region. 20 of these, mainly in the Global North, had received reopening guidance, 23 were still waiting and 1 had not closed its schools. Guidance prioritised public health measures like social distancing, with less emphasis on education impacts. Success came from partnerships between schools, families and local authorities, consistent guidance and enough time and resources for implementation. Fear of infection led to significant absenteeism among students and staff. Respondents waiting for guidance, mainly in the Global South, shared similar concerns and expectations.Originality/value>Describing first-hand practices and perspectives of health and education professionals from diverse countries and territories about reopening schools.