bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Additive manufacturing and digital design assisted precise apicoectomy: a case study
Authors: Liu Yunfeng , Liao Wenqing , Jin Guangsheng , Yang Quanming , Peng Wei 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– The purpose is to realize precise apicoectomy with less surgical risk and improved quality and efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach
– First, the procedure of precise apicoectomy based on additive manufacturing (AM) and digital design is proposed. With CT images of the patient's oral, a 3D model of alveolar bone and teeth is reconstructed, and based on this model, the infected tissue and enclosed root tip can be determined. Thus, a surgical plan can be created based on clear anatomical relationships and minimal negative constraints, which will then determine the drill position, direction and depth, as well as the resection length of root tip. With this plan, a surgical guide design is performed via a composite model from reversed plaster models and hard tissue models from CT, and accessory tools including drill with stop plane and handle are also selected. With the surgical guide, the virtual plan in the computer can be realized in the clinic.

Findings
– With this methodology, the dentist can perform root-end resection with greater accuracy, save more than 30 percent of operatory time, and the discomfort to the patient is reduced to a minimum.

Practical implications
– The proposed methodology has been used in ten cases for root-end resections. In fact, this method of designing a computer-based treatment plan with a 3D model of a patient and applying it in the clinic through guiding tools can be used in other surgeries, such as orthognathic surgery or osteotomy.

Originality/value
– This case report illustrates that with AM and digital design methods, optimal operational plans can be designed and realized for apicoectomy, and the quality and efficiency of clinical surgery are greatly improved compared with conventional methods.
The influence of power position on the depth of collaboration
Authors: Kähkönen Anni-Kaisa 
Published: January 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to analyze the influence of power on the depth of collaboration by discussing the power relations and collaborative relationships between buyers and suppliers in networks. The aim is to shed light on how power position in a network influences the depth of collaboration.Design/methodology/approach– The study utilizes a case research as a method and analyzes a network from the Finnish food industry. The empirical data comprises 29 semi-structured interviews conducted among the personnel of four case companies.Findings– The findings of the study suggest that the network actors' power relations affect the form of the relationships. It seems that power influences the depth of collaboration, which is minimal if the actors do not have balanced power positions. Highlighting the importance of the network context, the results also indicate that the role and position in the network may crucially determine the character of the power relations if the actors are otherwise in balanced positions.Practical implications– The results have implications for purchasing and supply chain managers and practitioners in terms of shedding light on the relation between power and collaboration. It enhances understanding of how power influences collaboration, and of how a wider network perspective could determine the power relations between the companies. Managers need to be aware of the effects of power on the nature of their relationships and, moreover, on the depth of collaboration. This enhances their ability to determine their positions in relation to other companies, and to develop relationships offering opportunities for deeper collaboration.Originality/value– The literature review reveals that the issues of power and collaboration in the network context have rarely been connected and discussed in relation to each other. This constitutes a clear and notable research gap given the implication that the relation between power and collaboration, in terms of the influence of power position, is still an unexplored area. Moreover, whereas most previous studies on the phenomenon of power concentrate on analyzing dyadic relationships, this study raises the question of the network context.
Contractor practices for managing extended supply chain tiers
Authors: Pala Mesut , Edum-Fotwe Francis , Ruikar Kirti , Doughty Nathan , Peters Chris 
Published: January 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how contractor firms manage their relationships with extended supply chain tiers and investigate the range of ICT technologies used to facilitate such practices.Design/methodology/approach– An on-line questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information about supply chain management operations, supplier relationship management and the ICT technologies used by contractor firms to manage their extended supply chain tiers.Findings– The extended supply chain relationships of contractor firms are primarily composed of contractual, technical and financial entities, but findings suggest that the vision to consider extended supply chain firms when selecting suppliers are still myopic. Majority of ICT technologies are used between Tier 1 supply chain firms and there is an inconsistency in the number of technologies adopted with the extended supply chain tiers. Despite having a high involvement relationship with Tier 2 downstream firms, findings indicate a lack of use of ICT technologies to manage the organisational, personal and technological interactions with these firms.Research limitations/implications– On the basis of different relationship types this study develops an initial framework for management of supply chains that are facilitated by relevant ICT technologies.Originality/value– This paper provides insights into the management of extended supply chain firms by contractor firms from a relationship-centric perspective and develops an initial framework for relationship-centric supply chain management.
Supply chain management as Lakatosian research program
Authors: Gold Stefan 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– There is an ongoing and controversial debate about the current state of maturity of supply chain management (SCM) as research discipline and its future development. Openness to theory of other fields is on the one hand welcome and on the other hand denounced as arbitrariness hampering the progression of SCM. This paper aims to contribute to this debate outlining one promising framework that structures the field and provides guidance for its evolution.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper conceives SCM as a Lakatosian research program from a philosophy of knowledge perspective that allows for continuously developing the knowledge base of SCM. After outlining the peculiarities of knowledge development according to Lakatos, the hard core of the program is delimitated from its protective belt by means of various analytical criteria referring to the meta, discipline, and practice level. The distinction framework is illustratively applied to four SCM research articles.

Findings
– Developing SCM as a Lakatosian research program entails two main challenges: consensus regarding the irrefutable hard core and theoretic and methodological openness regarding its protective belt.

Research limitations/implications
– Meeting these challenges requires distinguishing between hard core and protective belt. Thus, the Lakatosian viewpoint facilitates both the integration of knowledge from a diversified range of research designs into the body of SCM knowledge and safeguards its stability and its identity as research program.

Originality/value
– This paper is a rare attempt of grounding SCM in a coherent conceptualization of scientific knowledge development.
Prioritisation of performance indicators in air cargo demand management: an insight from industry
Authors: May Alexander , Anslow Adrian , Wu Yue , Ojiako Udechukwu , Chipulu Max , Marshall Alasdair 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– Real operational data are used to optimise the performance measurement of air cargo capacity demand management at Virgin Atlantic Cargo by identifying the best KPIs from the range of outcome-based KPIs in current use.

Design/methodology/approach
– Intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria methods are used to generate a ranking order of key outcome-based performance indicators. More specifically, KPIs used by Virgin Atlantic Cargo are evaluated by experts against various output criteria. Intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria group making decision-making methodology is then applied to produce rankings.

Findings
– A useful ranking order emerges from the study albeit with the important limitation that the paper looked solely at indices focussing exclusively on outcomes while ignoring behavioural complexity in the production of outcomes.

Originality/value
– This paper offers a practical overview of the development of performance measures useful for air cargo capacity demand management.
The resilience of energy supply chains: a multiple case study approach on oil and gas supply chains to Europe
Authors: Urciuoli Luca , Mohanty Sangeeta , Hintsa Juha , Gerine Boekesteijn Else 
Published: January 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding about how energy supply chains work to build resilience against exogenous security threats and thereafter what support mechanisms should be introduced or improved by the European Union.Design/methodology/approach– Five case studies and data collection from multiple sources is used to understand what exogenous security threats could lead to the disruption of oil and gas flows to Europe, how energy companies, from a supply chain perspective, are working to manage these threats and finally, how the EU may coordinate the security of the energy sector in collaboration with supply chain companies.Findings– Results show that today, oil and gas supply chains have in place a good combination of disruption strategies, including portfolio diversification, flexible contracts, transport capacity planning and safety stocks. The most relevant security threats the companies fear, include hijacking of vessels (sea piracy), but also terrorism, and wars. Finally, the study highlights that the European Union has built a comprehensive portfolio of strategies to deal with scarcity of oil and gas resources. However, these approaches are not often synchronized with supply chain strategies.Practical implications– The paper provides guidance for supply chain managers dealing with critical suppliers located in conflict environments. The paper recommends that supply chain managers fine tune their strategies in coordination with governmental actions in foreign politics, dependence reduction and crisis management. This may be achieved by closer communication with governments and potentially through the creation of a pan-European sector alliance.Originality/value– Previous research discusses the topic of supply chain resilience and supply chain risk management. However, none of these studies report on exogenous security threats and disruption strategies of oil and gas supply chains. At the same time, previous research lacks detailed studies describing the interaction between governments and energy supply chains.
Supply chain relationships, supplier support programmes and stimulating investment: evidence from the Armenian dairy sector
Authors: Dries Liesbeth , Gorton Matthew , Urutyan Vardan , White John 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the determinants of supply chain relationships, the provision of supplier support measures and the role that support measures play in stimulating investment by suppliers in emerging economies.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper draws on survey evidence for 300 commercial dairy farms in Armenia. The identification of potential determinants of supply chain relationships and support programmes is based on literature on supply chain management and transaction cost economics.

Findings
– Positive determinants of supplier support programmes are the degree of exclusivity of the buyer-supplier relationship, initial capital of the supplier, co-operation between suppliers, and foreign ownership of the buyer. Support programmes are less likely to be offered in very competitive environments. Support measures such as loans, physical inputs and guaranteed prices facilitate supplier investments.

Research limitations/implications
– Research is limited to cross-sectional data for a single country and further testing would help assess the generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications
– The findings highlight the gains that can be made from openness to international firms. The negative competition effect suggests that buyers are constrained in their ability to monitor use of the provided services in an environment where a lot of buyers are competing for the same supply. Improving the enforcement capability of companies under these circumstances is an important challenge for the industry and policy makers.

Originality/value
– The novelty of the study lies in the investigation of the relationships between the nature of supply chain linkages and suppliers' investments.
Dynamic structural health monitoring of a civil engineering structure with a POF accelerometer
Authors: Costa Antunes Paulo , Miguel Dias João , Varum Humberto , André Paulo 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– In this work, the paper aims to demonstrate the feasibility of plastic optical fiber (POF) based accelerometers for the structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil engineering structures based on measurements of their dynamic response, namely to estimate natural frequencies. These sensors use POFs, combining the advantages of the optical technology with the robustness of this particular kind of fiber. The POF sensor output is directly compared with the signal from an electrical sensor, demonstrating the potential use of such sensors in structural monitoring applications.

Design/methodology/approach
– Within this work, the paper demonstrates the feasibility of using a low-cost acceleration system based on a POF accelerometer on the dynamic monitoring of a civil engineering structure, aiming its natural frequency evaluation, which is a primary parameter to be used in SHM methods and numerical models calibration.

Findings
– A low-cost POF-based accelerometer was used in the characterization of a civil engineering structural component, located in a building at the University of Aveiro Campus, being used to estimate its natural frequency with a relative error of 0.36 percent, comparatively to the value estimated recurring to a calibrated electronic sensor.

Originality/value
– Optical fiber sensors take advantage of the fibers properties, such as immunity to electromagnetic interference and electrical isolation. They are very attractive for use in hostile environments, like submerse environments or flammable atmospheres where electrical currents might pose a hazard. The advantages of POF itself should also be considered, like resistance to hash environments, robustness, flexibility, low-cost interrogation units and high numeric aperture (lower cost components). The paper demonstrates the feasibility of using a low-cost acceleration system based on a POF accelerometer on the dynamic monitoring of a civil engineering structure, aiming its natural frequency evaluation.
Flame detection in grey-scale images of a B/W camera
Authors: Do Yongtae 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– Fire is a common disaster. Even though simple sensors such as those detecting smoke or heat are popularly employed, they require close proximity to fire. In order to obtain more reliable and more complete information, fire detection by vision sensing has recently acquired increasing attention. In the vision-based fire sensing, colour is usually used as an important cue for flame detection. However, considering there are still a large number of black-and-white (B/W) CCTV cameras installed for security purposes, a technique that can detect flame reliably in grey-scale images will be useful to protect human lives and property from the fire disaster. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– This article describes the automatic detection of fire flames in the grey-scale image sequences by a two-level image processing scheme: pixel-level and frame-level. In pixel-level processing, an evaluation function is devised to extract pixels that possibly belong to the flame region, particularly to its boundaries. Extracted fire pixel candidates are verified in frame-level processing by monitoring their distribution variations in sequential images. A circle is fitted to the candidate pixels in each image for efficient monitoring, and the presence of flame is reasoned when the position and size of the circle increase with high fluctuations.

Findings
– Experimental results show that the proposed method can detect flame quite reliably using the intensity information and its temporal variations in grey-scale image sequences.

Originality/value
– This paper presents a novel technique of vision-based flame detection. Unlike most existing techniques, the proposed technique is based on the grey-scale images of a B/W camera. To the best of the author's knowledge, it may be the first of its kind developed for general application to indoor and outdoor scenes.
Lasers sensors very accurately measure both speed and length in real time
Authors: Bloss Richard 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– Review of the advancements in non-contact laser sensors for much more accurate real time speed as well as length measurements. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– In-depth review of a number of applications of laser sensors.

Findings
– A wide range of manufacturers in the converting industries have solved measurement problems and realized major improvements in product quality, cost of production and productivity by applying laser measurement as well as reduction in scrap.

Practical implications
– Others with the need to make very accurate measurements of speed and length in real time may find that laser sensors may provide the answer.

Originality/value
– An expert insight into how to solve real time speed and length measurement problems.
Tapered plastic optical fiber coated with single wall carbon nanotubes polyethylene oxide composite for measurement of uric acid concentration
Authors: Batumalay Malathy , Ahmad F. , Lokman Asiah , Jasim A.A. , Wadi Harun Sulaiman , Ahmad H. 
Published: January 2014

Purpose– A simple tapered plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor is proposed and demonstrated for measurement of uric acid concentrations in de-ionized water. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– The sensor operates based on intensity modulation technique as the tapered POF probe which was coated by a single walled carbon nonotubes polyethylene oxide (SWCNT-PEO) composite is immersed into the uric acid solution. The probe was fabricated using an etching method and has a waist diameter of 0.46 mm and tapering length of 10 mm.Findings– As the concentration varies from 0 to 500 ppm, the output voltage of the sensor increases linearly from 6.13 to 7.35 mV with a sensitivity of 0.0023 mV/% and a linearity of more than 97.20 percent. The SWCNT-PEO composite coating increases the sensitivity of the proposed sensor due to the effective cladding refractive index, which increases with the coating and thus allows more light to be transmitted from the tapered fiber.Originality/value– This is the first demonstration of the tapered POF sensor for measurement of uric acid concentrations in de-ionized water.
Review of recent trends in gas sensing technologies and their miniaturization potential
Authors: Lakkis Sari , Younes Rafic , Alayli Yasser , Sawan Mohamad 
Published: January 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to give an overview about the state of the art and novel technologies used in gas sensing. It also discusses the miniaturization potential of some of these technologies in a comparative way.

Design/methodology/approach
– In this article, the authors state the most of the methods used in gas sensing discuss their advantages and disadvantages and at last the authors discuss the ability of their miniaturization comparing between them in terms of their sensing parameters like sensitivity, selectivity and cost.

Findings
– In this article, the authors will try to cover most of the important methods used in gas sensing and their recent developments. The authors will also discuss their miniaturization potential trying to find the best candidate among the different types for the aim of miniaturization.

Originality/value
– In this article, the authors will review most of the methods used in gas sensing and discuss their miniaturization potential delimiting the research to a certain type of technology or application.
Methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage among veterinary staff and dogs in private veterinary clinics in Hokkaido, Japan
Authors: Ishihara Kanako , Saito Mieko , Shimokubo Natsumi , Muramatsu Yasukazu , Maetani Shigeki , Tamura Yutaka 
Published: January 2014

ABSTRACTTo explore the prevalence and molecular characteristics of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in veterinary medical practices, MRSA carriage was tested among 96 veterinarians (Vets), 70 veterinary technicians (VTs) and 292 dogs with which they had contact at 71 private veterinary clinics (VCs) in Hokkaido, Japan. MRSA isolates were obtained from 22 Vets [22.9%] and 7 VTs [10%]. The prevalence of MRSA among Vets was as high as that found in an academic veterinary hospital in our previous study. In contrast, only two blood donor dogs and one dog with liver disease (1.0%, 3/292) yielded MRSA. All MRSA‐positive dogs were reared or treated in different VCs, in each of which at least one veterinary staff member carrying MRSA worked. Sequence types (ST) identified by multilocus sequence typing, spa types, and SCCmec types for canine MRSA isolates (ST5‐spa t002‐SCCmec II [from two dogs] or ST30‐spa t021‐SCCmec IV [from a dog]) were concordant with those from veterinary staff members in the same clinics as the MRSA‐positive dogs, with which they had potentially had contact. Most MRSA isolates from veterinary staff were the same genotype (SCCmec type II and spa type t002) as a major hospital‐acquired MRSA clone in Japan. The remaining MRSA was the same genotypes as domestic and foreign community‐associated MRSA. Measures against MRSA infection should be provided in private VCs.