Scatter search for a real-life heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem with time windows and split deliveries in Brazil

In this paper, we consider a real-life heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem with time windows and split deliveries that occurs in a major Brazilian retail group. A single depot attends 519 stores of the group distributed in 11 Brazilian states. To find good solutions to this problem, we propose heuristics as initial solutions and a scatter search (SS) approach. Next, the produced solutions are compared with the routes actually covered by the company. Our results show that the total distribution cost can be reduced significantly when such methods are used. Experimental testing with benchmark instances is used to assess the merit of our proposed procedure. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Minimum cycle cover and Chinese postman problems on mixed graphs with bounded tree-width

Let M = (V, E, A) be a mixed graph with vertex set V, edge set E and arc set A. A cycle cover of M is a family C = {C(1), ... , C(k)} of cycles of M such that each edge/arc of M belongs to at least one cycle in C. The weight of C is Sigma(k)(i=1) vertical bar C(i)vertical bar. The minimum cycle cover problem is the following: given a strongly connected mixed graph M without bridges, find a cycle cover of M with weight as small as possible. The Chinese postman problem is: given a strongly connected mixed graph M, find a minimum length closed walk using all edges and arcs of M. These problems are NP-hard. We show that they can be solved in polynomial time if M has bounded tree-width. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hybrid Algorithms for Routing and Assignment Wavelengths in Optical Networks

This paper presents a strategy for the solution of the WDM optical networks planning. Specifically, the problem of Routing and Wavelength Allocation (RWA) in order to minimize the amount of wavelengths used. In this case, the problem is known as the Min-RWA. Two meta-heuristics (Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing) are applied to take solutions of good quality and high performance. The key point is the degradation of the maximum load on the virtual links in favor of minimization of number of wavelengths used; the objective is to find a good compromise between the metrics of virtual topology (load in Gb/s) and of the physical topology (quantity of wavelengths). The simulations suggest good results when compared to some existing in the literature.

Fretting fatigue in overhead conductors: Rig design and failure analysis of a Grosbeak aluminium cable steel reinforced conductor

The performance optimisation of overhead conductors depends on the systematic investigation of the fretting fatigue mechanisms in the conductor/clamping system. As a consequence, a fretting fatigue rig was designed and a limited range of fatigue tests was carried out at the middle high cycle fatigue regime in order to access an exploratory S-N curve for a Grosbeak conductor, which was mounted on a mono-articulated aluminium clamping system. Subsequent to these preliminary fatigue tests, the components of the conductor/clamping system, such as ACSR conductor, upper and lower clamps, bolt and nuts, were subjected to a failure analysis procedure in order to investigate the metallurgical free variables interfering on the fatigue test results, aiming at the optimisation of the testing reproducibility. The results indicated that the rupture of the planar fracture surfaces observed in the external At strands of the conductor tested under lower bending amplitude (0.9 mm) occurred by fatigue cracking (I mm deep), followed by shear overload. The V-type fracture surfaces observed in some At strands of the conductor tested under higher bending amplitude (1.3 mm) were also produced by fatigue cracking (approximately 400 mu m deep), followed by shear overload. Shear overload fracture (45 degrees fracture surface) was also observed on the remaining At wires of the conductor tested under higher bending amplitude (1.3 mm). Additionally, the upper and lower Al-cast clamps presented microstructure-sensitive cracking, which was folowed by particle detachment and formation of abrasive debris on the clamp/conductor tribo-interface, promoting even further the fretting mechanism. The detrimental formation of abrasive debris might be inhibited by the selection of a more suitable class of as-cast At alloy for the production of clamps. Finally, the bolt/nut system showed intense degradation of the carbon steel nut (fabricated in ferritic-pearlitic carbon steel, featuring machined threads with 190 HV), with intense plastic deformation and loss of material. Proper selection of both the bolt and nut materials and the finishing processing might prevent the loss in the clamping pressure during the fretting testing. It is important to control the specification of these components (clamps, bolt and nuts) prior to the start of large scale fretting fatigue testing of the overhead conductors in order to increase the reproducibility of this assessment. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Glycosaminoglycan distribution in the rat uterine cervix during the estrous cycle

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the amount of glycosaminoglycans in the uterine cervix during each phase of the rat estrous cycle. DESIGN: Based on vaginal smears, forty female, regularly cycling rats were divided into four groups (n = 10 for each group): GI - proestrous, GII - estrous, GIII - metaestrous and GIV - diestrous. Animals were sacrificed at each phase of the cycle, and the cervix was immediately removed and submitted to biochemical extraction and determination of sulfated glycosaminoglycans and hyaluronic acid. The results were analyzed by ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni post-hoc test. RESULTS: The uterine cervix had the highest amount of total sulfated glycosaminoglycans and dermatan sulfate during the estrous phase (8.90 ± 0.55 mg/g of cetonic extract, p<0.001; and 8.86 ± 0.57 mg/g of cetonic extract, p<0.001). In addition, there was more heparan sulfate at the cervix during the proestrous phase (0.185 ± 0.03 mg/g of cetonic extract) than during any other phase (p<0.001). There were no significant changes in the concentration of hyaluronic acid in the uterine cervix during the estrous cycle. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the amount of total sulfated glycosaminoglycans may be influenced by hormonal fluctuations related to the estrous cycle, with dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate being the glycosaminoglycans most sensitive to hormonal change.

A hybrid heuristic for the multi-plant capacitated lot sizing problem with setup carry-over

This paper addresses the capacitated lot sizing problem (CLSP) with a single stage composed of multiple plants, items and periods with setup carry-over among the periods. The CLSP is well studied and many heuristics have been proposed to solve it. Nevertheless, few researches explored the multi-plant capacitated lot sizing problem (MPCLSP), which means that few solution methods were proposed to solve it. Furthermore, to our knowledge, no study of the MPCLSP with setup carry-over was found in the literature. This paper presents a mathematical model and a GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure) with path relinking to the MPCLSP with setup carry-over. This solution method is an extension and adaptation of a previously adopted methodology without the setup carry-over. Computational tests showed that the improvement of the setup carry-over is significant in terms of the solution value with a low increase in computational time.

Species determination of Brazilian mammals implicated in the epidemiology of rabies based on the control region of mitochondrial DNA

Identification of animals that are decomposing or have been run over or burnt and cannot be visually identified is a problem in the surveillance and control of infectious diseases. Many of these animals are wild and represent a valuable source of information for epidemiologic research as they may be carriers of an infectious agent. This article discusses the results obtained using a method for identifying mammals genetically by sequencing their mitochondrial DNA control region. Fourteen species were analyzed and identified. These included the main reservoirs and transmitters of rabies virus, namely, canids, chiroptera and primates. The results prove that this method of genetic identification is both efficient and simple and that it can be used in the surveillance of infectious diseases which includes mammals in their epidemiologic cycle, such as rabies.

Survival, population pize, and gonotrophic cycle duration of Nyssomyia neivai (Diptera: Psychodidae) at an endemic area of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Southeastern Brazil

The survival, absolute population size, gonotrophic cycle duration, and temporal and spatial abundance of Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto) were studied in a rural area endemic for American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) in Conchal, Sõo Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, using mark-release-recapture techniques and by monitoring population fluctuation. The monthly abundance exhibited a unimodal pattern, with forest and domicile habitats having the highest relative abundances. A total of 1,873 males and 3,557 females were marked and released during the six experiments, of which 4.1-13.0 per cent of males and 4.1-11.8 per cent of females were recaptured. Daily survivorship estimated from the decline in recaptures per day was 0.681 for males and 0.667 for females. Gonotrophic cycle duration was estimated to be 4.0 d. Absolute population size was calculated using the Lincoln Index and ranged from 861 to 4,612 males and from 2,187 to 19,739 females. The low proportion of females that reach the age when they are potentially infective suggests that N. neivai has a low biological capacity to serve as a vector and that factors such as high biting rates and opportunistic feeding behavior would be needed to enable Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis Vianna transmission. This agreed with the epidemiological pattern of ACL in southeastern Brazil that is characterized by low incidence, with isolated cases acquired principally within domiciliary habitats

ASSOCIATION OF A MYOSIN MOTOR WITH MEMBRANE-BOUNDED PIGMENT GRANULES IN FRESHWATER SHRIMP CHROMATOPHORES: EVIDENCE FROM THE NITELLA ACTIN-CABLE ASSAY

We have adapted an actin-mosin motility assay to examine the interactions in vitro between actin cables isolated from the giant internodal cells of the freshwater alga, Nitella, and pigment granules extracted from red ovarian chromatophores of the freshwater palaemonid shrimp, Macrobrachium olfersi. The chromatophore pigment mass consists of large (0.5-1.0-mu m diameter) membrane-bounded granules, and small (140-nm diameter), a membranous granules, both structurally continuous with the abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Our previous immunocytochemical studies show a myosin motor to be stably associated with the pigment mass; however, to which granule type or membrane the myosin motor is attached is unclear. Here, we show that sodium vanadate, a myosin ATPase inhibitor, markedly increases the affinity of isolated, large, membrane-bounded granules for Nitella actin cables to which they become permanently attached. This interaction does not occur in granule preparations containing ATP with uninhibited, active myosin without vanadate. We propose that a stable state of elevated affinity is established between the granule-located myosin motor and the Nitella actin cables, resulting from a vanadate-inhibited acto-myosin-ADP complex. This finding provides further evidence for a myosin motor positioned on the surface of the membrane-bounded pigment granules in shrimp ovarian chromatophores.

Work disability remains a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis in the 2000s: data from 32 countries in the QUEST-RA Study

Introduction: Work disability is a major consequence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), associated not only with traditional disease activity variables, but also more significantly with demographic, functional, occupational, and societal variables. Recent reports suggest that the use of biologic agents offers potential for reduced work disability rates, but the conclusions are based on surrogate disease activity measures derived from studies primarily from Western countries. Methods: The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) multinational database of 8,039 patients in 86 sites in 32 countries, 16 with high gross domestic product (GDP) (>24K US dollars (USD) per capita) and 16 low-GDP countries (<11K USD), was analyzed for work and disability status at onset and over the course of RA and clinical status of patients who continued working or had stopped working in high-GDP versus low-GDP countries according to all RA Core Data Set measures. Associations of work disability status with RA Core Data Set variables and indices were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Results: At the time of first symptoms, 86% of men (range 57%-100% among countries) and 64% (19%-87%) of women <65 years were working. More than one third (37%) of these patients reported subsequent work disability because of RA. Among 1,756 patients whose symptoms had begun during the 2000s, the probabilities of continuing to work were 80% (95% confidence interval (CI) 78%-82%) at 2 years and 68% (95% CI 65%-71%) at 5 years, with similar patterns in high-GDP and low-GDP countries. Patients who continued working versus stopped working had significantly better clinical status for all clinical status measures and patient self-report scores, with similar patterns in high-GDP and low-GDP countries. However, patients who had stopped working in high-GDP countries had better clinical status than patients who continued working in low-GDP countries. The most significant identifier of work disability in all subgroups was Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) functional disability score. Conclusions: Work disability rates remain high among people with RA during this millennium. In low-GDP countries, people remain working with high levels of disability and disease activity. Cultural and economic differences between societies affect work disability as an outcome measure for RA.

Chagas Cardiomyopathy Manifestations and Trypanosoma cruzi Genotypes Circulating in Chronic Chagasic Patients

Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi is a complex disease that is endemic and an important problem in public health in Latin America. The T. cruzi parasite is classified into six discrete taxonomic units (DTUs) based on the recently proposed nomenclature (TcI, TcII, TcIII, TcIV, TcV and TcVI). The discovery of genetic variability within TcI showed the presence of five genotypes (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id and Ie) related to the transmission cycle of Chagas disease. In Colombia, TcI is more prevalent but TcII has also been reported, as has mixed infection by both TcI and TcII in the same Chagasic patient. The objectives of this study were to determine the T. cruzi DTUs that are circulating in Colombian chronic Chagasic patients and to obtain more information about the molecular epidemiology of Chagas disease in Colombia. We also assessed the presence of electrocardiographic, radiologic and echocardiographic abnormalities with the purpose of correlating T. cruzi genetic variability and cardiac disease. Molecular characterization was performed in Colombian adult chronic Chagasic patients based on the intergenic region of the mini-exon gene, the 24S alpha and 18S regions of rDNA and the variable region of satellite DNA, whereby the presence of T. cruzi I, II, III and IV was detected. In our population, mixed infections also occurred, with TcI-TcII, TcI-TcIII and TcI-TcIV, as well as the existence of the TcI genotypes showing the presence of genotypes Ia and Id. Patients infected with TcI demonstrated a higher prevalence of cardiac alterations than those infected with TcII. These results corroborate the predominance of TcI in Colombia and show the first report of TcIII and TcIV in Colombian Chagasic patients. Findings also indicate that Chagas cardiomyopathy manifestations are more correlated with TcI than with TcII in Colombia.

Turbulent magnetic pumping in a Babcock-Leighton solar dynamo model

Context. The turbulent pumping effect corresponds to the transport of magnetic flux due to the presence of density and turbulence gradients in convectively unstable layers. In the induction equation it appears as an advective term and for this reason it is expected to be important in the solar and stellar dynamo processes. Aims. We explore the effects of turbulent pumping in a flux-dominated Babcock-Leighton solar dynamo model with a solar-like rotation law. Methods. As a first step, only vertical pumping has been considered through the inclusion of a radial diamagnetic term in the induction equation. In the second step, a latitudinal pumping term was included and then, a near-surface shear was included. Results. The results reveal the importance of the pumping mechanism in solving current limitations in mean field dynamo modeling, such as the storage of the magnetic flux and the latitudinal distribution of the sunspots. If a meridional flow is assumed to be present only in the upper part of the convective zone, it is the full turbulent pumping that regulates both the period of the solar cycle and the latitudinal distribution of the sunspot activity. In models that consider shear near the surface, a second shell of toroidal field is generated above r = 0.95 R(circle dot) at all latitudes. If the full pumping is also included, the polar toroidal fields are efficiently advected inwards, and the toroidal magnetic activity survives only at the observed latitudes near the equator. With regard to the parity of the magnetic field, only models that combine turbulent pumping with near-surface shear always converge to the dipolar parity. Conclusions. This result suggests that, under the Babcock-Leighton approach, the equartorward motion of the observed magnetic activity is governed by the latitudinal pumping of the toroidal magnetic field rather than by a large scale coherent meridional flow. Our results support the idea that the parity problem is related to the quadrupolar imprint of the meridional flow on the poloidal component of the magnetic field and the turbulent pumping positively contributes to wash out this imprint.

An analytical approach to the dwarf galaxies cusp problem

Aims. An analytical solution for the discrepancy between observed core-like profiles and predicted cusp profiles in dark matter halos is studied. Methods. We calculate the distribution function for Navarro-Frenk-White halos and extract energy from the distribution, taking into account the effects of baryonic physics processes. Results. We show with a simple argument that we can reproduce the evolution of a cusp to a flat density profile by a decrease of the initial potential energy.

LIFE CYCLE AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF AEGLA PAULENSIS (DECAPODA: ANOMURA: AEGLIDAE)

We describe growth, longevity, sex ratio, reproductive period, and recruitment of Aegla paulensis from Jaragua Stale Park, Sao Paulo, Brazil (23 degrees 27'27.9 '' S; 46 degrees 45'32.3 '' W). The population was sampled monthly (September 2007 through August 2009) with the aid of traps. Over five thousand individuals were captured, sexed, measured (carapace length = CL) and inspected for reproductive traits (females only), and then released back to the sampling site. The pattern of the reproductive cycle was strongly seasonal (austral mid autumn through late winter), with a single recruitment pulse per year. The obtained von Bertalanffy growth equations were CL = 21.25[1-e(-0.041(t + 1.250))] and CL = 16.52[1-e(-0.049(t + 1.823))] for males and females, respectively. Males (mean CL +/- SD = 11.86 +/- 2.79 mm) attain larger sizes than females (mean CL +/- SD = 10.84 +/- 2.36 mm). Aegla paulensis reproduces twice during an estimated life span of 40.2 months for females and 33.9 months for males. Temporal variation of sex ratio showed a distinctive pattern characterized by a sequence of three distinct periods that repeated from one year to another, and which suggested that a behavioral component influence the proportion of sex in adult specimens sampled with traps during reproductive and non-reproductive periods.

Molecules Clarify a Cnidarian Life Cycle - The ""Hydrozoan'' Microhydrula limopsicola Is an Early Life Stage of the Staurozoan Haliclystus antarcticus

Background: Life cycles of medusozoan cnidarians vary widely, and have been difficult to document, especially in the most recently proposed class Staurozoa. However, molecular data can be a useful tool to elucidate medusozoan life cycles by tying together different life history stages. Methodology/Principal Findings: Genetic data from fast-evolving molecular markers (mitochondrial 16S, nuclear ITS1, and nuclear ITS2) show that animals that were presumed to be a hydrozoan, Microhydrula limopsicola (Limnomedusae, Microhydrulidae), are actually an early stage of the life cycle of the staurozoan Haliclystus antarcticus (Stauromedusae, Lucernariidae). Conclusions/Significance: Similarity between the haplotypes of three markers of Microhydrula limopsicola and Haliclystus antarcticus settles the identity of these taxa, expanding our understanding of the staurozoan life cycle, which was thought to be more straightforward and simple. A synthetic discussion of prior observations makes sense of the morphological, histological and behavioral similarities/congruence between Microhydrula and Haliclystus. The consequences are likely to be replicated in other medusozoan groups. For instance we hypothesize that other species of Microhydrulidae are likely to represent life stages of other species of Staurozoa.45