bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An equilibrium partitioning model connecting gene expression and cis-motif content
Authors: Mellor Joe , DeLisi Charles
Published: July 2006

Thermodynamic favorability of transcription factor (TF) binding to DNA is a significant factor in the control of gene expression. Theoretical and in vitro measures link the relative equilibrium energy of a particular DNA binding protein to the sequence variation among binding sites in a genome. Extending this principle, we investigate whether biological variation in expression levels of active proteins leads to regulation of different sets of genes, based on inferred affinities of sites upstream of those genes. The TF-concentration-dependent variation in the repertoire of genes regulated by a particular TF is expected to follow patterns of chemical partitioning over DNA sites having differing affinity, and we develop a new modeling approach to test this hypothesis. Based on computational TF binding site discovery and genome-wide expression data available in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we explore motif content for sets of genes and conditions having varying concentrations of different transcription factors which turn those genes on or off. We find cases of significant correlation between the level of intragenomic motif sequence variation and modeled TF protein levels that actuates regulation of corresponding sets of genes, and discuss the observed TF motif variants for several yeast transcription factors, as well as the potential biological functions of genes that are regulated by differential response to these high and low concentrations of particular TFs. These findings suggest that motif sequences of transcription factor binding sites may often be linked with the expression state of corresponding DNA-binding proteins.

Contact:  mellor@bu.edu
Semi-supervised analysis of gene expression profiles for lineage-specific development in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo
Authors: Qi Yuan , Missiuro Patrycja E. , Kapoor Ashish , Hunter Craig P. , Jaakkola Tommi S. , Gifford David K. , Ge Hui
Published: July 2006

Motivation: Gene expression profiling is a powerful approach to identify genes that may be involved in a specific biological process on a global scale. For example, gene expression profiling of mutant animals that lack or contain an excess of certain cell types is a common way to identify genes that are important for the development and maintenance of given cell types. However, it is difficult for traditional computational methods, including unsupervised and supervised learning methods, to detect relevant genes from a large collection of expression profiles with high sensitivity and specificity. Unsupervised methods group similar gene expressions together while ignoring important prior biological knowledge. Supervised methods utilize training data from prior biological knowledge to classify gene expression. However, for many biological problems, little prior knowledge is available, which limits the prediction performance of most supervised methods.

Results: We present a Bayesian semi-supervised learning method, called BGEN, that improves upon supervised and unsupervised methods by both capturing relevant expression profiles and using prior biological knowledge from literature and experimental validation. Unlike currently available semi-supervised learning methods, this new method trains a kernel classifier based on labeled and unlabeled gene expression examples. The semi-supervised trained classifier can then be used to efficiently classify the remaining genes in the dataset. Moreover, we model the confidence of microarray probes and probabilistically combine multiple probe predictions into gene predictions. We apply BGEN to identify genes involved in the development of a specific cell lineage in the C. elegans embryo, and to further identify the tissues in which these genes are enriched. Compared to K-means clustering and SVM classification, BGEN achieves higher sensitivity and specificity. We confirm certain predictions by biological experiments.

Availability: The results are available at

Contact:  hge@wi.mit.edu or gifford@mit.edu
Create and assess protein networks through molecular characteristics of individual proteins
Authors: Ofran Yanay , Yachdav Guy , Mozes Eyal , Soong Ta-tsen , Nair Rajesh , Rost Burkhard
Published: July 2006

Motivation: The study of biological systems, pathways and processes relies increasingly on analyses of networks. Most often, such analyses focus on network topology, thereby treating all proteins or genes as identical, featureless nodes. Integrating molecular data and insights about the qualities of individual proteins into the analysis may enhance our ability to decipher biological pathways and processes.

Results: Here, we introduce a novel platform for data integration that generates networks on the macro system-level, analyzes the molecular characteristics of each protein on the micro level, and then combines the two levels by using the molecular characteristics to assess networks. It also annotates the function and subcellular localization of each protein and displays the process on an image of a cell, rendering each protein in its respective cellular compartment. By thus visualizing the network in a cellular context we are able to analyze pathways and processes in a novel way. As an example, we use the system to analyze proteins implicated with Alzheimers disease and show how the integrated view corroborates previous observations and how it helps in the formulation of new hypotheses regarding the molecular underpinnings of the disease.

Availability:  

Contact:  pinat@rostlab.org; ofran@cubic.bioc.columbia.edu
Constructing Near-Perfect Phylogenies with multiple homoplasy events
Authors: Satya Ravi Vijaya , Mukherjee Amar , Alexe Gabriela , Parida Laxmi , Bhanot Gyan
Published: July 2006

Motivation: We explore the problem of constructing near-perfect phylogenies on bi-allelic haplotypes, where the deviation from perfect phylogeny is entirely due to homoplasy events. We present polynomial-time algorithms for restricted versions of the problem. We show that these algorithms can be extended to genotype data, in which case the problem is called the near-perfect phylogeny haplotyping (NPPH) problem. We present a near-optimal algorithm for the H1-NPPH problem, which is to determine if a given set of genotypes admit a phylogeny with a single homoplasy event. The time-complexity of our algorithm for the H1-NPPH problem is O(m2(n + m)), where n is the number of genotypes and m is the number of SNP sites. This is a significant improvement over the earlier O(n4) algorithm.

We also introduce generalized versions of the problem. The H(1, q)-NPPH problem is to determine if a given set of genotypes admit a phylogeny with q homoplasy events, so that all the homoplasy events occur in a single site. We present an O(mq+1(n + m)) algorithm for the H(1,q)-NPPH problem.

Results: We present results on simulated data, which demonstrate that the accuracy of our algorithm for the H1-NPPH problem is comparable to that of the existing methods, while being orders of magnitude faster.

Availability: The implementation of our algorithm for the H1-NPPH problem is available upon request.

Contact:  rvijaya@cs.ucf.edu
Indel seeds for homology search
Authors: Mak Denise , Gelfand Yevgeniy , Benson Gary
Published: July 2006

We are interested in detecting homologous genomic DNA sequences with the goal of locating approximate inverted, interspersed, and tandem repeats. Standard search techniques start by detecting small matching parts, called seeds, between a query sequence and database sequences. Contiguous seed models have existed for many years. Recently, spaced seeds were shown to be more sensitive than contiguous seeds without increasing the random hit rate. To determine the superiority of one seed model over another, a model of homologous sequence alignment must be chosen. Previous studies evaluating spaced and contiguous seeds have assumed that matches and mismatches occur within these alignments, but not insertions and deletions (indels). This is perhaps appropriate when searching for protein coding sequences (<5% of the human genome), but is inappropriate when looking for repeats in the majority of genomic sequence where indels are common. In this paper, we assume a model of homologous sequence alignment which includes indels and we describe a new seed model, called indel seeds, which explicitly allows indels. We present a waiting time formula for computing the sensitivity of an indel seed and show that indel seeds significantly outperform contiguous and spaced seeds when homologies include indels. We discuss the practical aspect of using indel seeds and finally we present results from a search for inverted repeats in the dog genome using both indel and spaced seeds.

Contact: dyfmak@bu.edu
Comparative genomics reveals unusually long motifs in mammalian genomes
Authors: Jones Neil C. , Pevzner Pavel A.
Published: July 2006

Between short regulatory motifs and long ‘ultraconserved’ regions lies a whole spectrum of functional elements that remains uncharted.

– Manolis Kellis, RECOMB Regulatory Genomics satellite workshop, December 2005

Motivation: The recent discovery of the first small modulatory RNA (smRNA) presents the challenge of finding other molecules of similar length and conservation level. Unlike short interfering RNA (siRNA) and micro-RNA (miRNA), effective computational and experimental screening methods are not currently known for this species of RNA molecule, and the discovery of the one known example was partly fortuitous because it happened to be complementary to a well-studied DNA binding motif (the Neuron Restrictive Silencer Element).

Results: The existing comparative genomics approaches (e.g., phylogenetic footprinting) rely on alignments of orthologous regions across multiple genomes. This approach, while extremely valuable, is not suitable for finding motifs with highly diverged “non-alignable” flanking regions. Here we show that several unusually long and well conserved motifs can be discovered de novo through a comparative genomics approach that does not require an alignment of orthologous upstream regions. These motifs, including Neuron Restrictive Silencer Element, were missed in recent comparative genomics studies that rely on phylogenetic footprinting. While the functions of these motifs remain unknown, we argue that some may represent biologically important sites.

Availability: Our comparative genomics software, a web-accessible database of our results and a compilation of experimentally validated binding sites for NRSE can be found at .

Contact:  ppevzner@cs.ucsd.edu
Finding motifs from all sequences with and without binding sites
Authors: Leung Henry C. M. , Chin Francis Y. L.
Published: July 2006

Motivation: Finding common patterns, motifs, from a set of promoter regions of coregulated genes is an important problem in molecular biology. Most existing motif-finding algorithms consider a set of sequences bound by the transcription factor as the only input. However, we can get better results by considering sequences that are not bound by the transcription factor as an additional input.

Results: First, instead of using the simple hyper-geometric analysis, we propose to calculate the likelihood based on a more precise probabilistic analysis which considers motif length, sequence length and number of binding sites as input parameters for testing whether motif is found. Second, we adopt an heuristic algorithm bases on our analysis to find motifs. For the simulated and real datasets, our algorithm ALSE compares favorably against common motif-finding programs such as SeedSearch and MEME in all cases and performs very well, especially when each input sequence contains more than one binding site.

Availability: ALSE is available for download at the homepage

Contact:  cmleung2@cs.hku.hk
What should be expected from feature selection in small-sample settings
Authors: Sima Chao , Dougherty Edward R.
Published: July 2006

Motivation: High-throughput technologies for rapid measurement of vast numbers of biological variables offer the potential for highly discriminatory diagnosis and prognosis; however, high dimensionality together with small samples creates the need for feature selection, while at the same time making feature-selection algorithms less reliable. Feature selection must typically be carried out from among thousands of gene-expression features and in the context of a small sample (small number of microarrays). Two basic questions arise: (1) Can one expect feature selection to yield a feature set whose error is close to that of an optimal feature set? (2) If a good feature set is not found, should it be expected that good feature sets do not exist?

Results: The two questions translate quantitatively into questions concerning conditional expectation. (1) Given the error of an optimal feature set, what is the conditionally expected error of the selected feature set? (2) Given the error of the selected feature set, what is the conditionally expected error of the optimal feature set? We address these questions using three classification rules (linear discriminant analysis, linear support vector machine and k-nearest-neighbor classification) and feature selection via sequential floating forward search and the t-test. We consider three feature-label models and patient data from a study concerning survival prognosis for breast cancer. With regard to the two focus questions, there is similarity across all experiments: (1) One cannot expect to find a feature set whose error is close to optimal, and (2) the inability to find a good feature set should not lead to the conclusion that good feature sets do not exist. In practice, the latter conclusion may be more immediately relevant, since when faced with the common occurrence that a feature set discovered from the data does not give satisfactory results, the experimenter can draw no conclusions regarding the existence or nonexistence of suitable feature sets.

Availability:  

Contact:  edward@ece.tamu.edu
JVirGel 2.0: computational prediction of proteomes separated via two-dimensional gel electrophoresis under consideration of membrane and secreted proteins
Authors: Hiller Karsten , Grote Andreas , Maneck Matthias , Münch Richard , Jahn Dieter
Published: July 2006

Motivation: After the publication of JVirGel 1.0 in 2003 we got many requests and suggestions from the proteomics community to further improve the performance of the software and to add additional useful new features.

Results: The integration of the PrediSi algorithm for the prediction of signal peptides for the Sec-dependent protein export into JVirGel 2.0 allows the exclusion of most exported preproteins from calculated proteomic maps and provides the basis for the calculation of Sec-based secretomes. A tool for the identification of transmembrane helices carrying proteins (JCaMelix) and the prediction of the corresponding membrane proteome was added. Finally, in order to directly compare experimental and calculated proteome data, a function to overlay and evaluate predicted and experimental two-dimensional gels was included.

Availability: JVirGel 2.0 is freely available as precompiled package for the installation on Windows or Linux operating systems. Furthermore, there is a completely platform-independent Java version available for download. Additionally, we provide a Java Server Pages based version of JVirGel 2.0 which can be operated in nearly all web browsers. All versions are accessible at .

Contact:  d.jahn@tu-bs.de
Bayesian search of functionally divergent protein subgroups and their function specific residues
Authors: Marttinen Pekka , Corander Jukka , Törönen Petri , Holm Liisa
Published: July 2006

Motivation: The rapid increase in the amount of protein sequence data has created a need for an automated identification of evolutionarily related subgroups from large datasets. The existing methods typically require a priori specification of the number of putative groups, which defines the resolution of the classification solution.

Results: We introduce a Bayesian model-based approach to simultaneous identification of evolutionary groups and conserved parts of the protein sequences. The model-based approach provides an intuitive and efficient way of determining the number of groups from the sequence data, in contrast to the ad hoc methods often exploited for similar purposes. Our model recognizes the areas in the sequences that are relevant for the clustering and regards other areas as noise. We have implemented the method using a fast stochastic optimization algorithm which yields a clustering associated with the estimated maximum posterior probability. The method has been shown to have high specificity and sensitivity in simulated and real clustering tasks. With real datasets the method also highlights the residues close to the active site.

Availability: Software ‘kPax’ is available at

Contact:  pekka.marttinen@helsinki.fi

Supplementary information:
Defining the digital divide: the role of e‐readiness indicators
Authors: Luyt Brendan
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To show how e‐readiness indicators, specifically the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), participate in the work of defining policy problems.

Design/methodology/approach

The article critically examines the Networked Readiness Index in terms of its presentation and its underlying model. It relies on an approach to policy analysis that views policy problems as socially constructed.

Findings

E‐readiness assessment tools purport to show how ready the nations of the world are to exploit the potential of new information and communication technologies. Yet they do more than that; being actively engaged in constructing policy problems. In the case of the NRI, the problem of the international digital divide is defined in a particular way that privileges certain interests while at the same time legitimatizing its inclusion on the agenda of international organizations as a problem worthy of sustained attention.

Practical implications

The findings of the article suggest a need for alternative indicators that register the voices of a wider range of groups and could therefore create a more inclusive digital divide policy problem.

Originality/value

Little critical (as opposed to technical) analysis of e‐readiness indicators exits in the literature. By focusing on these tools, the article contributes to the debate surrounding the issue of the digital divide.
Using ICT with people with special education needs: what the literature tells us
Authors: Williams Peter , Jamali Hamid R. , Nicholas David
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To provide a review of the past studies on use of information and communications technology (ICT) for people with special education needs (SEN) to inform a major research project on using ICT to facilitate self‐advocacy and learning for SEN learners.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature review, encompassing academic journals indexed in education, information science and social sciences databases, books, grey literature (including much internet‐based material), and government reports. Information was gathered on the perceived benefits of ICT in SEN, and the use of some specific applications with people having various conditions. A number of usability studies, mainly Internet and web technologies, are also outlined.

Findings

Although the literature shows a great number of ICT initiatives for people with all kinds of disabilities, there has been a surprising lack of research into the usability of the various applications developed, and even less concerning those with learning difficulties. The review of existing literature indicates a lack of attention to the application of ICT for people with SEN, compared to the other groups of disabled people such as visually impaired.

Originality/value

Findings highlight the need for more research on usability aspects of current and potential applications of ICT for people with SEN.
Time to take negotiation seriously
Authors: Gates Steve
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the skills needed for successful negotiations. It seeks to identify the benefits of training key staff in negotiations skills, including the difference it can make to a company's bottom line. It also aims to look at the risks to business of not developing these skills.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a mixture of case studies, examples, quotes and opinion.

Findings

The paper finds that only 5 per cent of the UK's training budget is spent on negotiations skills development. However, developing negotiation skills makes a significant difference to the performance of all staff, both in internal and external negotiations. Many big companies now appreciate the value of negotiation skills development and are leading the way in developing all staff in this way.

Practical implications

All businesses should think about investing in negotiation skills development. Otherwise they are at risk of costing their company a significant margin.

Originality/value

This paper looks for the first time at the skills gap in UK businesses in terms of negotiation skills development. It will be of value to anyone involved in internal and external negotiations, including sales and buying teams, Human Resources staff and senior managers and directors. It will be of value in helping them decide how to make the best use of training.
Implementing successful mentoring programs: career definition vs mentoring approach
Authors: Poulsen Kirsten M.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the challenges posed by designing and implementing mentoring programs when program coordinators, managers and participants may hold different assumptions about what mentoring is and what career development is. It aims to create an awareness of the inherent conflicts between the old and the new definitions of careers when implementing mentoring programs.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a presentation of the different definitions of careers as well as the different approaches to mentoring and a discussion of the implications of these in corporate mentoring programs.

Findings

This paper presents viewpoints on where to focus the attention in designing and implementing mentoring programs to achieve maximum results for the organization as well as for the participants.

Originality/value

Human resource professionals, managers and potential mentors and mentees might find value in reading this paper to become aware of obstacles for learning and growth.
Redefining information science: from “information science” to “knowledge science”
Authors: Zins Chaim
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This philosophical essay aims to explore the concept of information science.

Design/methodology/approach

The philosophical argumentation is composed of five phases. It is based on clarifying the meanings of its basic concept “data”, “information” and “knowledge”.

Findings

The study suggests that the name of the field “information science” should be changed to “knowledge science”.

Originality/value

The paper offers reflections on the explored phenomena of information science.
Repositories for research: Southampton's evolving role in the knowledge cycle
Authors: Simpson Pauline , Hey Jessie
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To provide an overview of how open access (OA) repositories have grown to take a premier place in the e‐research knowledge cycle and offer Southampton's route from project to sustainable institutional repository.

Design/methodology/approach

The evolution of institutional repositories and OA is outlined raising questions of multiplicity of repository choice for the researcher. A case study of the University of Southampton research repository (e‐Prints Soton) route to sustainability is explored with a description of a new project that will contribute to e‐research by linking text and data.

Findings

A model for IR sustainability.

Originality/value

The TARDis project was one of the first IRs to achieve central university funding in the UK. Combined with increased visibility and citation, the research assessment exercise route has become the “hook” on which a number of IRs are basing their business models.
Personal name identification in the practice of digital repositories
Authors: Xia Jingfeng
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To propose improvements to the identification of authors' names in digital repositories.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis of current name authorities in digital resources, particularly in digital repositories, and analysis of some features of existing repository applications.

Findings

This paper finds that the variations of authors' names have negatively affected the retrieval capability of digital repositories. Two possible solutions include using composite identifiers that combine author name, publication date, and author affiliation, and also asking authors to input the variants of their name, if any, at the time of depositing articles.

Originality/value

This is the first time that the approach of authors self‐depositing their name variations is proposed. This approach will be able to reduce confusions in name identification.
A dynamic approach to make CDS/ISIS databases interoperable over the internet using the OAI protocol
Authors: Jayakanth F. , Maly K. , Zubair M. , Aswath L.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

A dynamic approach to making legacy databases, like CDS/ISIS, interoperable with OAI‐compliant digital libraries (DLs).

Design/methodology/approach

There are many bibliographic databases that are being maintained using legacy database systems. CDS/ISIS is one such legacy database system. It was designed and developed specifically for handling textual data. Over the years, many databases have been developed using this package. There is, however, no mechanism supported by the package for seamless interoperability of databases. The open archives initiative (OAI) addresses the issue of interoperability by using a framework to facilitate the discovery of content stored in distributed archives or bibliographic databases through the use of the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI‐PMH). The protocol is becoming a de facto standard for interoperability of DLs. Many of the legacy database systems that are in use today, to the best of our knowledge, for various reasons, are not OAI‐compliant. This makes it difficult for the legacy databases to share their metadata automatically. There are two possible approaches to make legacy databases OAI‐compliant – static and dynamic. In this paper, we discuss the dynamic approach to make CDS/ISIS databases OAI‐compliant.

Findings

The dynamic approach is a simple way to make legacy databases OAI‐compliant so that they become interoperable with other OAI‐compliant DLs.

Research limitations/implication

Developing a general‐purpose tool to make legacy databases OAI‐compliant may be difficult as the driver software needed for database connectivity may not be easily available. Also, the structure of the databases are likely be so varied that identifying the fields that make up the databases programmatically will be very challenging.

Originality/value

Provides a dynamic approach to making legacy databases interoperable with OAI‐compliant libraries.
Options for putting CDS/ISIS databases on the internet
Authors: Buxton Andrew
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To review the variety of software solutions available for putting CDS/ISIS databases on the internet. To help anyone considering which route to take.

Design/methodology/approach

Briefly describes the characteristics, history, origin and availability of each package. Identifies the type of skills required to implement the package and the kind of application it is suited to. Covers CDS/ISIS Unix version, JavaISIS, IsisWWW, WWWISIS Versions 3 and 5, Genisis, IAH, WWW‐ISIS, and OpenIsis.

Findings

There is no obvious single “best” solution. Several are free but may require more investment in acquiring the skills to install and configure them. The choice will depend on the user's experience with CDS/ISIS formatting language, HTML, programming languages, operating systems, open source software, and so on.

Originality/value

There is detailed documentation available for most of these packages, but little previous guidance to help potential users to distinguish and choose between them.
Prioritizing tactical quality improvement
Authors: Hales Douglas N. , Siha Samia M. , Sridharan V. , McKnew Judith I.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test a method for improving decision‐making at a tactical level – i.e. at the shop floor level. This is done by testing the use of the binary sorting algorithm (BSA) to improve decisions concerning quality improvement efforts among machine operators in a plastics manufacturer.

Design/methodology/approach

The method used was the “action‐research” approach since the researchers were actively involved in the training, implementation, and use of the BSA.

Findings

It was found that using the BSA to prioritize quality improvement efforts by machine operators reduced the “scrap‐from‐line” rate in a plastics manufacturer.

Research limitations/implications

The study should be replicated in different companies and industries using multiple methods because action‐research is limited in its generalizability. Also, since the researchers are actively involved in the process, our observations could not be considered objective.

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first application of the BSA to improve decision‐making at a tactical shop‐floor level in a manufacturing company.
Measuring ERP success: the ultimate users' view
Authors: Wu Jen‐Her , Wang Yu‐Min
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is now considered to be the price of entry for running a business. However, ERP systems are complex and expensive, and the decision to install an ERP system necessitates a choice of mechanisms for determining whether ERP is needed and, once implemented, whether it is successful. User satisfaction is one evaluation mechanism for determining system success. This study develops a reliable and valid instrument for measuring ERP ultimate‐user satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Initial ERP system characteristics and the implementation context were investigated. Some previously validated instruments were selected for examination using rigorous interview techniques. A modified version was developed and pre‐tested. The instrument was then used to administer a test to 264 Taiwanese users that interact directly with an ERP system.

Findings

The results suggest a ten‐item instrument to measure three components of ultimate‐user satisfaction in an ERP environment: ERP project team and service, ERP product, and user knowledge and involvement.

Originality/value

This study has conducted a rigorous scale development procedure to establish a reliable and valid instrument for measuring ERP ultimate‐user satisfaction.
High‐speed imaging investigations from Pixoft Diagnostic Imaging Ltd
Authors: Connolly Christine
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To report on specialist software developed for the management and analysis of high‐speed imaging.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews the background of the company, and its range of high‐speed cameras. Gives details of two software packages used to display and analyse events in image sequences.

Findings

High‐speed imaging is a powerful technique for monitoring, maintaining and trouble‐shooting assembly automation equipment.

Originality/value

Makes assembly engineers aware of the potential of high‐speed imaging. Techniques originally developed for the motor industry have a wide applicability in manufacturing and production monitoring.
Automated assembly of electrical panel covers
Authors: Bloss Richard
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To report on the design and development of an automated circuit breaker panel cover assembly system. The system employs two robotically controlled spot welding heads and a robotic finished workpiece unloading station.

Design/methodology/approach

A major electrical equipment builder turned to a skilled system integrator to design a system to meet a specific productivity goal and handle a wide family of product. The system integrator turned to several highly qualified subcontractors to supply key portions of the system. As a team then selected the welding heads, controls, pallet transport systems and robots and developed a system controller, parts holding devices and software for the application.

Findings

A combination of some manually operations with automated spot welding and robotic workpiece handling equipment can produce outstanding productivity improvements.

Practical implications

A careful selection of a qualified system integrator with experience in the type of application, teamed with subcontractors skilled in all the skills needed for the project can help insure an outcome that meets initial productivity objectives.

Originality/value

Seeing the results of others in tackling what may seem like a hard to automate application can provide a road map to success.
Laser micromachining for mould manufacturing: I. The influence of operating parameters
Authors: Bartolo Paulo , Vasco Joel , Silva Bruno , Galo Carlos
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Laser milling is a recent process in mould making, providing several advantages over traditional mould making technologies by reducing manufacturing time, shortening the number of machining operations and avoiding expensive electrodes. This paper investigates the influence of the operating conditions on both the surface quality and material removal for two types of materials commonly used in mould making.

Design/methodology/approach

Laser scanning strategies and operating parameters like scanning speed and laser frequency and power were tested, regarding surface quality and material removal rate. The most representative parameter of the real surface quality, Rk, the core roughness parameter, is used to characterise the surface finishing on all cavities.

Findings

The findings of this research work suggest that it is possible to significantly reduce processing time by increasing the hatch spacing up to a value close to the laser beam spot diameter, without compromising surface quality. Lower pulse frequencies and laser power are more appropriate whenever surface quality is an issue. Higher material removal rates are achieved by increasing both the pulse frequency till an optimum value and laser power. The increase of scanning speed reduces the material removal rate by decreasing the overlap degree between individual laser pulses.

Originality/value

The originality is to correlate the influence of the operating conditions of laser milling on both the surface quality and material removal for different types of materials.
The new hybrid art library: printed materials and virtual information
Authors: García Alicia , Coso Teresa
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to provide a discussion of whether librarians need to use special cataloguing for virtual resources to use and preserve this kind of information.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses information obtained from a literature search along with examples from museum libraries.

Findings

The paper finds that the library's chief mechanism for bibliographic control is our own catalogue, so we must continue to use our traditional cataloguing and the indexing tools according to the international rules as we have done when we catalogued special materials such as auction and exhibition catalogues.

Originality/value

This paper argues that we must incorporate virtual information into our libraries in the same way we have incorporated other formats in order to build a hybrid library.
Print to electronic: the University of Hong Kong case
Authors: Ferguson Anthony W.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the change of University of Hong Kong Libraries from a mostly print collection to a mostly electronic collection.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a description of the University of Hong Kong Libraries collection.

Findings

The paper finds that the change to a mostly electronic collection has been successful. It has brought new problems involved with keeping up with the technological issues. Both students and faculty are pleased with the new collection.

Practical implications

This change can make a large number of resources available to users at a reasonable price. There are, however, new jobs to do and new skills to learn.

Originality/value

This paper presents an excellent example of how a library can move to an electronic collection while continuing to provide quality services to its users.
Did Morrison's get it right? The most expensive partnership is the one that fails to deliver
Authors: Dunlop Adam
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Examines how various collaborative partnerships have broken down.

Design/methodology/approach

Studies the particular alliance between Morrison's and Safeway.

Findings

Companies need to establish the right team ‐ get the right high caliber people, with collaborative skills and reward the behavior that will allow the partnership to flourish.

Originality/value

Offers advice on how to achieve successful partnerships in business.
The role of implicit leadership theories in the performance appraisals and promotion recommendations of leaders
Authors: Schyns Birgit
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is explore the role that the implicit leadership theories held by followers and supervisors play in the performance appraisals of specific leaders, as well as in the promotion recommendations to higher levels of management that these leaders receive. In particular, the focus of this paper is on the degree of match between the general images held by supervisors and followers of how leaders are/should be (i.e. implicit leadership theories), and the concrete perceptions that these supervisors and followers have of the actual leaders in question.

Design/methodology/approach

Several propositions are established taking into account the moderating role of implicit leadership theories in the relationship between performance, on the one hand, and performance evaluation and promotion recommendations, on the other hand. These propositions are based on evidence of discrimination against women and ethnic minority groups when it comes to evaluations and promotion recommendations. Recommendations for organisational practice are derived from the issues discussed.

Findings

When there is a poor match between a supervisor's implicit leadership theories and his or her perception of a subordinate leader, this leader's performance appraisal and promotion chances are believed to decrease. In a similar manner, the implicit leadership theories of followers may influence their appraisal of a leader's performance.

Originality/value

This is the first time that implicit leadership theories are connected to leaders’ careers. This connection is made both in the context of equal opportunities for leaders and in the context of optimising decisions in organisations. The implicit leadership theories of both followers and supervisors need to be taken into account when evaluating and promoting leaders.
Workaholism among Australian female managers and professionals
Authors: Burke Ronald J. , Burgess Zena , Fallon Barry
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine potential consequences of workaholism among 98 women business graduates in early careers. It replicates earlier work based primarily on men.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from women business graduates of a single Australian university using anonymously completed questionnaires. Three workaholism components identified by Spence and Robbins were included: work involvement, feeling driven to work due to inner pressures and work enjoyment. Consequences included several validating job behaviors such as perfectionism and non‐delegation, work and extra‐work satisfactions and indicators of psychological well‐being.

Findings

Workaholism components generally had significant relationships with the validating job behaviors, work outcomes and indicators of psychological well‐being but not with extra‐work satisfactions. These findings provided a partial replications of previous conclusions based on primarily male samples.

Research limitations/implications

These include the small sample size, limits to generalizability of conclusions based on one Australian university, and data collection at only one point in time.

Originality/value

Previous workaholism research was based on North American men. This study extends this work to women in other countries.
Report from SIOP
Authors: King Eden B.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The current report is intended to provide a narrow, brief summery of research presented at the annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology regarding women in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The conference, which broadly seeks to inform the science and practice of human well‐being and performance in organizations and draws thousands of participants from academic, consulting, and government agencies, included over 35 symposia, posters, and meetings related to diversity in organizations.

Findings

Research presented provided empirical evidence that women continue to face subtle forms of discrimination and that there are consequences for such women and their employing organizations.

Research limitations/implications

More multidisciplinary theory and research is needed to identify and develop effective strategies for the reduction of gender discrimination and the achievement of equal opportunities for men and women.

Originality/value

In summary, the SIOP conference continues serves as an incubator for research and practice regarding diversity in organizations. In particular, this year's meeting contributors provided empirical evidence that subtle discrimination toward women in organizations persists and that perceptions of bias can lead to negative attitudes and behaviors.
Making a difference in the workplace
Authors: Pattie Marshall
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the sixth international conference on occupational stress and health.

Design/methodology/approach

In March 2006, the sixth international conference on occupational stress and health was held jointly by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Miami. The conference title was “Work, Stress, and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace” . Papers presented at the conference provided important insight on the growing body of diversity literature.

Findings

Specifically, researchers found that diversity plays a significant role in understanding the effects of occupational stress. Stress may be preceived differently, dealth with differently and may have different outcomes for minorities than with male Caucasians.

Practical Implications

The session on Interpersonal violence suggested that researchers should consider the employment status and occupational level of victims. Furthermore, new research is trying to estimate the actual financial cost to organizations.

Originality/value

Overall, the conference was successful and provided future directions for research on diversity and occupational stress.
Report of an international symposium on occupation, education, and inequality in Japan and Korea
Authors: Sato Yoshimichi
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report an International Symposium on Occupation, Education, and Inequality in Japan and Korea. Discusses earn of the papers of the seven speakers.

Design/methodology/approach

The SRC and the CSSI cosponsored the symposium.

Findings

The papers presented various aspects of Korean society in terms of occupation, education and inequality.

Originality/value

Some of the papers revealed subtle interactions between economic factors and traditional and cultural factors in Korea.
Compromising building regulations and user expectations in the design of high‐rise domestic kitchens
Authors: Lau S.S.Y. , Ming Li Fuk , Leung D.K.C. , Tang Grace W.K. , Baharuddin  , Ye A.L. , Chau K.W. , Wong S.K.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance and relevance of social and habitual behaviours of home occupants to the building design process. It argues that introducing quantitative measures such as daylight level alone may not result in a “healthy and functional” kitchen without appreciating or factoring‐in the impacts of the social roles and user expectations of kitchens in high‐rise and compact urban situations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study investigated three common types of apartment buildings in Hong Kong. Case studies suggested that it is crucial to include in a design process proper considerations of human behaviours by way of preferred approaches and modes of living, space usage, and weightings of end‐user responses that would influence architectural design in a direct and crucial way.

Findings

The study noted that daylight quality of a kitchen is perceived by most families to be not as important as building control officials and designers thought it would. Instead, it is found that social and cultural factors are more important parameters for users. The study observed that designers rely on physical and quantitative approaches such as daylight factor, window size and window‐to‐room area ratio to qualify a design solution and ignore the socio‐cultural parameters.

Originality/value

The paper calls for designers and building control officials to incorporate the study of functionality and socio‐cultural preferences of users groups in the building design process. The study envisages that an integrated design methodology would enhance the living environment.
Post‐occupancy evaluation of academic and research library facilities
Authors: Hassanain Mohammad A. , Mudhei Ali A.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an indicative assessment of the major technical and functional elements of performance, carried out on the main academic and research library of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Design/methodology/approach

Published literature has been analyzed to review knowledge areas pertaining to the performance requirements of academic and research library facilities. A questionnaire was developed to obtain the users' feedback on their experience with the built environment. The findings of the user satisfaction survey were analyzed and reported to describe the degree of compliance with the collected performance requirements. Finally, a plan of action was developed and recommended to improve the performance of the main academic and research library of KFUPM.

Findings

The study has determined the values of the satisfaction indices obtained for the 22 elements of performance, and identified the corresponding degree of satisfaction with each of the elements. The study also developed a plan of action to improve the performance of the library.

Originality/value

The main purpose of conducting the assessment was to determine whether or not design decisions made by design professionals are providing the performance needed by users who use the facility. The paper provides a systematic approach to evaluating the technical and functional performance of existing academic library facilities. It is of practical value to library administrators and facility managers responsible for day‐to‐day operations of such facilities.