College of Management and Economics

About: College of Management and Economics is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Supply chain & Stock market. The organization has 2184 authors who have published 2193 publications receiving 28830 citations.

Internal incentives and operations strategies for the water-saving supply chain with cap-and-trade regulation

Abstract: Faced with the rapid development of modern industries of agriculture, manufacturing, and services, water resources are becoming increasingly scarce. Industries with high water consumption are generally regulated by the government’s water cap-and-trade (CAT) regulation to solve the contradiction between the limited water supply and the rapid growing water demand. Supply chain equilibrium and coordination models under the benchmark scenario without water saving and CAT regulation, water-saving supply chain equilibrium and coordination models under the scenario without/with CAT regulation are developed, analyzed and compared. The corresponding numerical and sensitivity analyses for all models are conducted and compared, and the managerial insights and policy recommendations are summarized in this article. The results indicate that (1) Conducting water saving could improve effectively the operational performance of the water-saving supply chain under the scenario without/with CAT regulation. (2) The coordination strategy based on the revenue sharing contract could efficiently coordinate the water-saving supply chain, enhance water consumption reduction rate, and improve the operational performance of the water-saving supply chain. (3) The implementation of CAT regulation enhances effectively water-consumption-reduction in the water-saving supply chain and improves the operational performance of water-saving supply chain. (4) Simultaneous implementation of CAT regulation by the government and adopting coordination strategy by the water-saving supply chain would be superior to any other scenarios/strategies. (5) A suitable water cap based on the industrial average water consumption and historical water consumption data are beneficial for constructing reasonable and effective incentive mechanism. (6) A higher marginal trade price could induce more reduction in water consumption and create better operational performance for the manufacturer and water-saving supply chain, both under the equilibrium and coordination strategies.

Association of neural tube defects with maternal alterations and genetic polymorphisms in one-carbon metabolic pathway.

Abstract: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord invoked by the insufficient intake of folic acid in the early stages of pregnancy and have a complex etiology involving both genetic and environmental factors. So the study aimed to explore the association between alterations in maternal one-carbon metabolism and NTDs in the offspring. We conducted a case-control study to get a deeper insight into this association, as well as into the role of genetic polymorphisms. Plasma concentrations of folate, homocysteine (Hcy), S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) and genotypes and alleles distributions of 52 SNPs in 8 genes were compared for 61 women with NTDs-affected offspring and 61 women with healthy ones. There were significant differences between groups with regard to plasma folate, SAM, SAH and SAM/SAH levels. Logistic regression results revealed a significant association between maternal plasma folate level and risk of NTDs in the offspring. For MTHFD1 rs2236225 polymorphism, mothers having GA genotype and A allele exhibited an increased risk of NTDs in the offspring (OR = 2.600, 95%CI: 1.227–5.529; OR = 1.847, 95%CI: 1.047–3.259). For MTHFR rs1801133 polymorphism, mothers having TT and CT genotypes were more likely to affect NTDs in the offspring (OR = 4.105, 95%CI: 1.271–13.258; OR = 3.333, 95%CI: 1.068–10.400). Moreover, mothers carrying T allele had a higher risk of NTDs in the offspring (OR = 1.798, 95%CI: 1.070–3.021). For MTRR rs1801394 polymorphism, the frequency of G allele was significantly higher in cases than in controls (OR = 1.763, 95%CI: 1.023–3.036). Mothers with NTDs-affected children had higher AG genotype in RFC1 rs1051226 polymorphism than controls, manifesting an increased risk for NTDs (OR = 3.923, 95%CI: 1.361–11.308). Folic acid deficiency, MTHFD1 rs2236225, MTHFR rs1801133, MTRR rs1801349 and RFC1 rs1051226 polymorphisms may be maternal risk factors of NTDs.