Divya Choudhary

Bio: Divya Choudhary is an academic researcher from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sustainability & Risk analysis. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 9 publications receiving 61 citations. Previous affiliations of Divya Choudhary include Indian Institute of Technology Delhi & Indian Institutes of Technology.

An integrated risk assessment model: A case of sustainable freight transportation systems

Abstract: The major challenge in the development of sustainable freight transportation systems (SFTSs) is due to the involvement of numerous dynamic uncertainties and intrinsic sustainability risks. Sustainability risks are potential threats that can have undesirable impacts on the sustainability of a system. The main objective of this study is to identify and evaluate the sustainability risks associated with freight transportation systems (FTSs). Accordingly, a risk analysis approach is developed by innovatively integrating the intuitionistic fuzzy set theory and D-number theory to quantitatively model the sustainability risks. Intuitionistic fuzzy numbers can examine both the membership and non-membership degrees of an element while the D-number theory increases the objectivity of assessments by fusing multiple expert judgments. The proposed risk assessment model facilitates the managers in the development of SFTSs by ensuring visibility, predictability and measurability in freight operations. Unlike the conventional perception, the findings indicate that most of the high priority sustainability risks in FTSs are socially induced rather than financially driven and consciousness in people’s conduct is must to attain the positive results. The analysis alerts the freight managers toward the high priority sustainability risks and guides in pro-active strategy formulation and optimum allocation of mitigation resources to minimize disruptions in SFTSs.

A Flexible Decision Model for Risk Analysis in Product Recovery Systems

Abstract: The growing realization to employ sustainable practices in order to impede “Environmental Degradation” has called the concept of product recovery system (PRS) to the fore Recent literature has reported benefits of recovery systems which include direct benefits such as reduction of cost, reclaiming value of used products, profits in secondary markets and indirect benefits such as gaining customer confidence, enhancing the green image of the organization, compliance of regulations, etc Despite these reported facts organizations are still reluctant in incorporating sustainable practices due to risks associated with PRS To address these issues, the paper attempts to identify these risks associated with PRS and proposes a flexible decision model for risk analysis, which can assist organizations in the successful implementation of recovery practices Accordingly, the aim of this research is to consider the risk issues directly affecting the PRS and to study the interrelationship among them Moreover, the hierarchical relationship among the risks is modeled using total interpretive structural modeling based on their driving power (ability to influence other risks) and dependence (tendency to get influenced by other risks)

A model for the selection of transportation modes in the context of sustainable freight transportation

Abstract: A sustainable freight transportation system involves freight processes that are economically efficient, socially inclusive and environment friendly. For enhancing sustainability in the freight operations, mode selection is a crucial strategic decision. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is selecting the best mode, or a combination of modes based on various criteria to carry shipments from origin to destination.,This study has used an integrated grey relational analysis based intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making process (GRA–IFP) and fuzzy multi-objective linear programming model. Three scenarios have been developed for analyzing sensitivity of decision variables with the variations in parameters under relevant conditions. A real case of Indian third-party logistics service provider has been used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model.,The most relevant criterion emerged out in this study for multi-mode selection problem is costs. It can be concluded from the study that multi-modal freight transportation has the potential to improve the sustainability of freight transportation by reducing the costs, damages, emissions, traffic congestion and by increasing the speed of delivering the shipment. The sensitivity analysis further shows that road is the economical mode, whereas sea and rail together are the greenest as well as socially responsible modes of transportation.,This study provides an integrated tool, which can be used by freight transporters to decide upon the sustainable modes of transportation for their various shipments.

Analysis of G-quadruplexes upstream of herpesvirus miRNAs: evidence of G-quadruplex mediated regulation of KSHV miR-K12-1-9,11 cluster and HCMV miR-US33.

Abstract: G-quadruplexes regulate gene expression, recombination, packaging and latency in herpesviruses. Herpesvirus-encoded miRNAs have been linked to important biological functions. The presence and the biological role of G-quadruplexes have not been studied in the regulatory regions of virus miRNA. We hypothesized that herpesvirus-encoded miRNAs are regulated by G-quadruplexes in their promoters. We analyzed the 1 kb regulatory regions of all herpesvirus-encoded miRNAs for the presence of putative quadruplex-forming sequences (PQS). Over two-third (67%) of the regulatory regions of herpesvirus miRNAs had atleast 1 PQS. The 200 bp region of the promoter proximal to herpesvirus miRNA is particularly enriched for PQS. We chose to study the G-quadruplex motifs in the promoters of miR-K12 cluster in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV miR-K12–1-9,11) and the miR-US33 encoded by Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV miR-US33). Biophysical characterization indicates that the G-quadruplex motifs in the promoters of the KSHV miR-K12 cluster and the HCMV miR-US33 form stable intramolecular G-quadruplexes in vitro. Mutations disrupting the G-quadruplex motif in the promoter of the KSHV miR-K12 cluster significantly inhibits promoter activity, while those disrupting the motif in the promoter of HCMV miR-US33 significantly enhance the promoter activity as compared to that of the respective wild-type promoter. Similarly, the addition of G-quadruplex binding ligands resulted in the modulation of promoter activity of the wild-type promoters (with intact G-quadruplex) but not the mutant promoters (containing quadruplex-disrupting mutations). Our findings highlight previously unknown mechanisms of regulation of virus-encoded miRNA and also shed light on new roles for G-quadruplexes in herpesvirus biology.

How to check correctness of total interpretive structural models

Abstract: Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) has been further interpreted in the form of total interpretive structural modelling (TISM). These are graphical models that represent the hierarchical relationships and help in better and precise conceptualization and theory building. ISM only interprets the nodes in a digraph, but TISM interprets both nodes and links. The errors observed in applications of ISM and TISM reported in past have acted as motivation for this paper to provide checks and guidelines for correctness of total interpretive structural models. The paper first gives an overview of past applications of TISM. The process of TISM is first outlined and then the guidelines and thumb rules are provided to check the correctness of TISM at each step. Some typical errors in TISM models and their modifications are discussed to help future modellers to translate their ill-structured mental models into sound theoretical models. A discussion on usefulness of TISM for big data analytics for theory building is provided and future directions of research are outlined.

Modified ISM/TISM Process with Simultaneous Transitivity Checks for Reducing Direct Pair Comparisons

Abstract: Both interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) are pair comparison methods to evolve hierarchical relationships among a set of elements. These methods help to convert ill-structured mental models into well-articulated models that act as base for conceptualization and theory building. One major challenge in applications of these methods is the number of pair comparisons to be made that increase exponentially with the increase in number of elements. Another challenge is the transitivity check on reachability matrix. This paper proposes a modified ISM/TISM process that addresses both these challenges by simultaneously carrying out transitivity checks along with the successive pair-wise comparisons. The pairs having transitive relationships in the process need not to be compared further. This reduces the expert-based pair comparisons drastically and provides the fully transitive reachability matrix in one go, thereby enabling easy implementation. It provides a complete flow chart for the same and is illustrated with already reported examples in past literature.

A Systematic Literature Review of Green and Sustainable Logistics: Bibliometric Analysis, Research Trend and Knowledge Taxonomy

Abstract: Ever-growing globalization and industrialization put forward impending requirements for green and sustainable logistics (G&SL). Over the past decades, G&SL initiatives triggered worldwide deliberations, aiming at easing negative transport externalities and improving supply chain performance. This review-based paper attempts to offer a joint quantitative and qualitative understanding for the overall evolutionary trend, knowledge structure, and literature gaps of the G&SL research field. Employing the science mapping approach, a total of 306 major paper published from 1999 to 2019 were retrieved, elaborated on, and synthesized. Visualized statistics regarding publication years, journal allocation/co-citation, inter-country/institution collaboration, influential articles, co-occurred keywords, and time view clusters of research themes were analyzed bibliographically. On this basis, a total of 50 sub-branches of G&SL knowledge were classified and thematically discussed based on five alignments, namely (i) social-environmental-economic research, (ii) planning, policy and management, (iii) application and practice, (iv) technology, and (v) operations research. Finally, the current knowledge obstacles and the future research opportunities were suggested. The findings contribute to portray a systematic intellectual prospect for the state quo, hotspots, and academic frontiers of G&SL research. Moreover, it provides researchers and practitioners with heuristic thoughts to govern transportation ecology and logistics service quality.

Risk Evaluation in Failure Mode and Effects Analysis Based on D Numbers Theory

Abstract: Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a useful technology for identifying the potential faults or errors in system, and simultaneously preventing them from occurring. In FMEA, risk evaluation is a vital procedure. Many methods are proposed to address this issue but they have some deficiencies, such as the complex calculation and two adjacent evaluation ratings being considered to be mutually exclusive. Aiming at these problems, in this paper, A novel method to risk evaluation based on D numbers theory is proposed. In the proposed method, for one thing, the assessments of each failure mode are aggregated through D numbers theory. For another, the combination usage of risk priority number (RPN) and the risk coefficient newly defined not only achieve less computation complexity compared with other methods, but also overcome the shortcomings of classical RPN. Furthermore, a numerical example is illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

Many happy returns

Abstract: Continuations occur in many areas of computer science: logic, proof theory, formal semantics, programming-language design and implementation, and programming. Like the wheel, continuations have been discovered and rediscovered many times, independently. In programming languages, they represent of "the rest of a computation" as a function, and proved particularly convenient to formalize control structures (sequence, gotos, exceptions, coroutines, backtracking, resumptions, etc.) and to reason about them. In the lambda-calculus, terms can be transformed into "continuation-passing style" (CPS), and the corresponding transformation over types can be interpreted as a doublenegation translation via the Curry-Howard isomorphism. In the computational lambda-calculus, they can simulate monads. In programming, they provide functional accumulators. Yet continuations are remarkably elusive. They can be explained in five minutes, but grasping them seems to require a lifetime. Consequently one often reacts to them to an extreme, either loving them ("to a man with a hammer, the world looks like a nail") or hating them ("too many lambdas"). In this talk, we will first review basic results about continuations, starting with Plotkin's Indifference and Simulation theorems (evaluating a CPS-transformed program yields the same result independently of the evaluation order). Thus equipped, we will identify where continuations arose and how they contributed to solving various problems in computer science. We will conclude with the state of the art today, and present a number of examples, including an illustration of how applying the continuation of a procedure several times makes this procedure return several times--hence the title of the talk.