Genetic Algorithm Based Production Planning for Alternative Process Production

Production planning under flexible job shop environment is studied.A mathematic model is formulated to help improve alternative process production.This model,in which genetic algorithm is used,is expected to result in better production planning,hence towards the aim of minimizing production cost under the constraints of delivery time and other scheduling conditions.By means of this algorithm,all planning schemes which could meet all requirements of the constraints within the whole solution space are exhaustively searched so as to find the optimal one.Also,a case study is given in the end to support and validate this model.Our results show that genetic algorithm is capable of locating feasible process routes to reduce production cost for certain tasks.

Growth Modeling of Charolais and Serrana Soriana Native Spanish Beef Cattle

The alternative productions, increasingly importance, are based on the rational utilization of the resources, on agreement with the environment and the use of autochthonous breeds that many cases are found in danger of disappearance, due to the tact that their suckling is not economically profitable. A way of predicting and knowing the growth of the animals is using mathematical models. This work presented the results of the estimate of the growth according to the Gompertz-Laird model of males of the atttochthonous breed Serrana Soriana and Charolais. The weight to the birth of the breed calfs Charolais （45.14 kg）, was superior to those of Serrana Soriana （40.13 kg）, and presented a greater relative growth （9.9%） before the inflection point of the growth curve： furthermore it ~as also superior to the maximum decline relative after this point （6%）, Serrana Soriana reached 7 days after the maximum growth point but with a smaller weight （315.05 kg vs 384.76 kg）. It was calculated a weight to the maturity of 1 ,（176.91） kg for Charolais and 856.40 kg for Serrana Soriana.

Patients'perspectives on smoking and inflammatory bowel disease:An online survey in collaboration with European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations

BACKGROUNDSmoking has detrimental effects on Crohn’s disease (CD) activity while data onulcerative colitis (UC) are conflicting. Little is known about the use and impact ofalternative smoking products in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).AIMTo understand the patients’ perceptions of the impact of smoking on their IBDand to assess differences between CD and UC patients.METHODSThe questionnaire was developed by Philip Morris Products SA in cooperationwith European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations. Thefinal survey questionnaire consisted of 41 questions divided in 8 categories: (1)Subject screener;(2) Smoking history;(3) Background information;(4) IBD diseasebackground;(5) Current disease status;(6) Current therapeutics and medications;and (7) Current nicotine/cigarettes use and awareness of the impacts of smokingon IBD. The questionnaire was submitted online from 4th November 2019 to 11th March 2020 through the European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative ColitisAssociations website to IBD patients who were current smokers or had a historyof smoking.RESULTSIn total 1050 IBD patients speaking nine languages participated to the survey.Among them, 807 (76.9%) patients declared to have ever smoked or consumed analternative smoking product, with a higher proportion of current cigarettesmokers among CD patients (CD: 63.1% vs UC: 54.1%, P = 0.012). About twothirdsof the participants declared to have ever stopped cigarette smoking andrestarted (67.0%), with a significantly higher proportion among UC patientscompared to CD patients (73.1% vs 62.0%, P = 0.001). We also found significantdifferences between CD and UC patients in the awareness of the healthconsequences of smoking in their disease and in the perceived impact of smokingon disease activity, for both cigarettes and alternative smoking products.CONCLUSIONThis survey found significant differences between CD and UC patients in bothawareness and perception of the impact of smoking on their disease. Furtherefforts should be done to encourage smoking cessation for all IBD patients,including UC patients.