bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Monitoring and controlling design process using control charts and process sigma
Authors: Eldin Adam Hamza Salah 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish a means to control the design process in engineering organization that produce engineering deliverables for construction projects. The intended control is to deliver construction packages on time and within budget while controlling productivity of engineers and support staff involved in the design process.Design/methodology/approachControl charts have been used to monitor design progress and for auditing business processes, process adjustments and to alert for action to rectify a schedule risk. Management has benefited from control charts to fine‐tune operations ranging from bid proposal processing to final design delivery stages and to identify and prevent employee time waste in addition to tracking and forecasting design performance for efficient resource allocation.FindingsThese techniques helps in controlling development of engineering deliverables on budget and in detecting areas of low performance early enough for suitable corrective actions. Project six‐sigma has also improved as project progress advances; from 0.92 at 10 percent project phase to 1.74 at 90 percent project completion.Research limitations/implicationsFuture, research shall cover multi‐discipline project performance and other project management processes, like bidding, design development, design review, and project close‐out.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates means to control design process in organizations dealing with construction projects like oil and gas, petrochemicals and power projects. Delays in the design process may cause adverse impact in downstream projects phases including construction, procurement, start‐up, production, and further affects business strategies and plans. Control charts and six sigma process levels helps delivering design projects within constraints.
ERP implementation through critical success factors' management
Authors: Françoise Olivier , Bourgault Mario , Pellerin Robert 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify practical activities that are essential for managing enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation projects and that answer to the expectations of the widely recognized critical success factors (CSFs).Design/methodology/approachThis work is based on an extensive literature review on CSF, which has been followed by a Delphi survey with a panel of ERP experts. For each CSF, it obtained a range, validated by experts, of practical actions to perform, supported by the resolution of the problems usually encountered in these areas.FindingsThe work carried out has a practical scope: the principles of the proposed method directly affect all actors in ERP projects and gives them practical results that they can apply immediately. When applied in the framework of the methodology the paper suggests, these actions will result in better oversight over the requirements of each area of expertise. In this way, overall grasp of the project is facilitated, reducing the inherent uncertainties.Research limitations/implicationsFindings may be limited by the small number of respondents, but each one had participated in several implementations. Moreover, no industry sector was specifically targeted; thus, the results apply a priori to most implementations.Originality/valueThis research helps to draw the academic and professional domains together by proposing, for the first time, a way for theoretical findings to be translated into practical actions. These results will allow all actors in an ERP implementation to understand the project imperatives faster and more accurately.
Supply chain and quality management
Authors: Carmignani Gionata 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research for developing a standard to implement a process management system in a whole supply chain.Design/methodology/approachTo gain this aim, the research has been developed in two parts. The quality management part has the objective to select the reference model to develop the standard. The supply chain management (SCM) part has, instead, the objective to select the drivers and the main processes that the standard have to manage. The evaluation of the results of these parts has permitted to define the proposed standard.FindingsA modified interpretation of ISO 9001:2000 norm is proposed permitting: to improve the ISO 9001 standard to the general requirements for a whole process approach; to extend and to apply the ISO 9001 concepts, that address quality aspects within a single organization, to a whole supply chain; and to facilitate the introduction of the modern principles and techniques of SCM. Finally, the standard to implement a management system for a whole supply chain is introduced through the identification of the main supply chain processes and drivers.Research limitations/implicationsThe standard proposed is a specific for a generic supply chain. Further studies will be necessary to: customize the standard to appropriate productive sectors and validate the appropriate content through real applications.Practical implicationsThe standard proposed is a guide line to implement a management system in a supply chain and, for this aim, it can be applied in a generic supply chain.Originality/valueThe standard proposed is an original tool to improve the collaboration and processes integration between the partners into a supply chain and this scope can be the actual value of the presented methodology.
Valuing climate change impacts on Sydney beaches to inform coastal management decisions
Authors: Anning David , Dominey‐Howes Dale , Withycombe Geoff 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the critical need for economic information to inform the selection of coastal management options for the beaches of the Sydney region and to outline the project currently under way to address this information gap.Design/methodology/approachThe critical need for the current case study is framed through presenting a summary of the threats posed by current climate change projections, the legislative requirements for economic valuation of natural resources, and the role which economics can play in selection of appropriate coastal management options in response to climate change impacts.FindingsThe paper presents the valuation methods that were selected for use in the Sydney Beaches Valuation Project and outlines the rationale behind their selection.Originality/valueNo current, empirical estimates of the economic value of Sydney beaches are available, which means that managers must use estimates from studies which may not reflect the unique characteristics of either the Sydney beaches or the social context. The results of the study, in terms of both unit measures of economic value and lessons learned during the survey design process, will therefore be of great value to coastal managers in the Sydney region. An external link provides details of the mixed mode survey instrument, which can be used to inform the design of other similar studies. Given the critical role of economic appraisal methods in selection of coastal management alternatives, the survey structure is potentially of great use to coastal managers in similarly threatened coastal locations elsewhere.
Modeling, monitoring, and mitigating sea level rise
Authors: Snow Mary M. , Snow Richard K. 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss rising sea levels at the global, regional, and community scale and illustrate the necessity for public comprehension and involvement. It also aims to demonstrate geographic information systems (GIS) as an efficient tool for modeling and disseminating information with the expectation that coastal communities will benefit by joining in a process to integrate this knowledge into broad‐based decision making.Design/methodology/approachGIS is capable of creating, analyzing, and displaying sea level rise scenarios enabling local officials to address the negative effects of elevated sea levels by allowing them to identify both built and biotic communities that are at risk, assess the situation, and develop mitigation strategies. The paper makes use of a case study of Daytona Beach, Florida, to examine the impacts of storm surge.FindingsA GIS model, produced for south Florida integrating land use and elevation data to illustrate locations that lie below five feet, reveals that heavily populated urban areas in Miami‐Dade County could be inundated during extreme high tide and storm surge events. The GIS also indicates that much of the Florida Keys has elevations below five feet and is at risk of flooding if sea levels rise at projected rates.Originality/valueThe case study of Daytona Beach, Florida, can be replicated at other coastal locations by using GIS to assimilate spatial data and generate meaningful graphic models to be interpreted by those responsible for minimizing the risks from rising sea levels.
Bringing Web 2.0 to web lectures
Authors: Ketterl Markus , Mertens Robert , Vornberger Oliver 
Published: May 2009

PurposeAt many universities, web lectures have become an integral part of the e‐learning portfolio over the last few years. While many aspects of the technology involved, like automatic recording techniques or innovative interfaces for replay, have evolved at a rapid pace, web lecturing has remained independent of other important developments such as Web 2.0. The aim of this paper is to exemplify and discuss the benefits web lecturing can gain from a Web 2.0 perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes an implementation of three Web 2.0 features for the virtPresenter web lecture interface. These are time‐based social footprints, a mechanism for linking to user created bookmarks in a web lecture from external Web 2.0 applications and a special web lecture player that enables users to embed their own web lecture bookmarks in wikis or blogs.FindingsThe paper shows how conceptual and technical obstacles in bringing Web 2.0 features like social footprints to web lectures can be overcome. It also makes evident that linking web lectures in Web 2.0 systems require special adaptations due to the time‐based nature of web lectures. The technical discussion shows that many Web 2.0 features require feedback channels in order to communicate information back to servers (e.g. to understand how the content is used) and that most contemporary media players have to be modified in order to support feedback channels.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that web lectures can benefit from Web 2.0 ideas and presents examples how Web 2.0 and web lectures can be brought together.Originality/valueWeb 2.0 is a popular trend that transforms the way in which the internet is used. This paper shows how web lectures can be enriched with Web 2.0 features and how they can be integrated with Web 2.0 systems by discussing three implementation examples.
Severe hypoglycaemia during pregnancy in women with Type 1 diabetes is common and planning pregnancy does not decrease the risk
Authors: Robertson H. , Pearson D. W. M. , Gold A. E. 
Published: May 2009

AbstractAims  The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for severe hypoglycaemia (SH) in pregnancy in Type 1 diabetes, including associations with pregnancy planning and glycaemic control.Methods  Clinical data including details of the pregnancy and its outcome, glycaemic control, frequency of SH and evidence of pregnancy planning were collected prospectively as part of a national audit of 160 pregnancies in women with Type 1 diabetes.Results  An episode of SH was experienced by 29.4% of women at some point during the pregnancy, with the percentage of women experiencing SH decreasing from 21.9% in the first trimester to 18.1% in trimester 2 and 10.9% in trimester 3. Longer duration of diabetes was associated with increased frequency of SH during pregnancy (r = 0.191, P = 0.012). A greater fall in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) between pre‐pregnancy and the first trimester was not associated with increased risk of SH in trimester 1. Planned pregnancies had better glycaemic control but higher risk of SH in trimester 1 (P = 0.047). Women with pre‐pregnancy retinopathy and current smokers had an increased risk of SH in trimester 3 (P = 0.029, P = 0.033).Conclusions  SH is common during pregnancy and particularly in the first trimester. Planning pregnancy does not decrease the risk of SH. Improvements in glycaemic control at the start of pregnancy do not appear to increase the risk of SH. Education of women and their partners about the risks of SH and its management is essential when planning pregnancy.
Decreasing amputation rates in patients with diabetes—a population‐based study
Authors: Schofield C. J. , Yu N. , Jain A. S. , Leese G. P. 
Published: May 2009

AbstractAims  To assess the changing rate of amputation in patients with diabetes over a 7‐year period.Methods  All patients undergoing lower extremity amputation in Tayside, Scotland between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2006 were identified. Temporal linkage of cases to the diabetes database was used to ascertain which amputations were in patients with diabetes.Results  The incidence of major amputations fell from 5.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.8–6.4] to 2.9 (95% CI 1.9–3.8) per 1000 patients with diabetes (P < 0.05). There is a clear linear trend in the adjusted incidence of major amputation (P = 0.023 and 0.027 for age‐ and sex‐adjusted, and duration‐ and sex‐adjusted incidences, respectively). The adjusted incidence of total amputations followed decreased linear regression trend over the whole study period when adjusted for age and sex or diabetes duration and sex (P = 0.002).Conclusions  There has been a significant reduction in the incidence of major lower extremity amputation in patients with diabetes over the 7‐year period.
Protein kinase C epsilon activation delays neuronal depolarization during cardiac arrest in the euthermic arctic ground squirrel
Authors: Dave Kunjan R. , Anthony DeFazio Richard , Raval Ami P. , Dashkin Oleksandr , Saul Isabel , Iceman Kimberly E. , Perez‐Pinzon Miguel A. , Drew Kelly L. 
Published: May 2009

AbstractDuring the pre‐hibernation season, arctic ground squirrels (AGS) can tolerate 8 min of asphyxial cardiac arrest (CA) without detectable brain pathology. Better understanding of the mechanisms regulating innate ischemia tolerance in AGS has the potential to facilitate the development of novel prophylactic agents to induce ischemic tolerance in patients at risk of stroke or CA. We hypothesized that neuroprotection in AGS involves robust maintenance of ion homeostasis similar to anoxia‐tolerant turtles. Ion homeostasis was assessed by monitoring ischemic depolarization (ID) in cerebral cortex during CA in vivo and during oxygen glucose deprivation in vitro in acutely prepared hippocampal slices. In both models, the onset of ID was significantly delayed in AGS compared with rats. The epsilon protein kinase C (εPKC) is a key mediator of neuroprotection and inhibits both Na+/K+‐ATPase and voltage‐gated sodium channels, primary mediators of the collapse of ion homeostasis during ischemia. The selective peptide inhibitor of εPKC (εV1‐2) shortened the time to ID in brain slices from AGS but not in rats despite evidence that εV1‐2 decreased activation of εPKC in brain slices from both rats and AGS. These results support the hypothesis that εPKC activation delays the collapse of ion homeostasis during ischemia in AGS.
Long-Term Survival of
Salmonella enterica
Serovar Typhimurium Reveals an Infectious State That Is Underrepresented on Laboratory Media Containing Bile Salts
Authors: Apel Dmitry , White Aaron P. , Grassl Guntram A. , Finlay B. Brett , Surette Michael G. 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACT

Cells in desiccated
Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium rdar (
r
ed,
d
ry, and
r
ough) morphotype colonies were examined for culturability and infectivity after 30 months. Culturability decreased only 10-fold; however, cells were underrepresented on
Salmonella
selective media containing bile salts. These cells were mildly attenuated compared to the infectivity of freshly grown cells but still able to cause systemic infections in mice.
In Situ Phylogenetic Structure and Diversity of Wild
Bradyrhizobium
Communities
Authors: Sachs J. L. , Kembel S. W. , Lau A. H. , Simms E. L. 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACT

Bacteria often infect their hosts from environmental sources, but little is known about how environmental and host-infecting populations are related. Here, phylogenetic clustering and diversity were investigated in a natural community of rhizobial bacteria from the genus
Bradyrhizobium
. These bacteria live in the soil and also form beneficial root nodule symbioses with legumes, including those in the genus
Lotus
. Two hundred eighty pure cultures of
Bradyrhizobium
bacteria were isolated and genotyped from wild hosts, including
Lotus angustissimus
,
Lotus heermannii
,
Lotus micranthus
, and
Lotus strigosus
. Bacteria were cultured directly from symbiotic nodules and from two microenvironments on the soil-root interface: root tips and mature (old) root surfaces. Bayesian phylogenies of
Bradyrhizobium
isolates were reconstructed using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and the structure of phylogenetic relatedness among bacteria was examined by host species and microenvironment. Inoculation assays were performed to confirm the nodulation status of a subset of isolates. Most recovered rhizobial genotypes were unique and found only in root surface communities, where little bacterial population genetic structure was detected among hosts. Conversely, most nodule isolates could be classified into several related, hyper-abundant genotypes that were phylogenetically clustered within host species. This pattern suggests that host infection provides ample rewards to symbiotic bacteria but that host specificity can strongly structure only a small subset of the rhizobial community.
Characterization of Three New
Azotobacter vinelandii
Alginate Lyases, One of Which Is Involved in Cyst Germination
Authors: Gimmestad Martin , Ertesvåg Helga , Heggeset Tonje Marita Bjerkan , Aarstad Olav , Svanem Britt Iren Glærum , Valla Svein 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACT

Alginates are polysaccharides composed of 1-4-linked β-
d
-mannuronic acid and α-
l
-guluronic acid. The polymer can be degraded by alginate lyases, which cleave the polysaccharide using a β-elimination reaction. Two such lyases have previously been identified in the soil bacterium
Azotobacter vinelandii
, as follows: the periplasmic AlgL and the secreted bifunctional mannuronan C-5 epimerase and alginate lyase AlgE7. In this work, we describe the properties of three new lyases from this bacterium, AlyA1, AlyA2, and AlyA3, all of which belong to the PL7 family of polysaccharide lyases. One of the enzymes, AlyA3, also contains a C-terminal module similar to those of proteins secreted by a type I secretion system, and its activity is stimulated by Ca
2+
. All three enzymes preferably cleave the bond between guluronic acid and mannuronic acid, resulting in a guluronic acid residue at the new reducing end, but AlyA3 also degrades the other three possible bonds in alginate. Strains containing interrupted versions of
alyA1
,
alyA3
, and
algE7
were constructed, and their phenotypes were analyzed. Genetically pure
alyA2
mutants were not obtained, suggesting that this gene product may be important for the bacterium during vegetative growth. After centrifugation, cultures from the
algE7
mutants form a large pellet containing alginate, indicating that AlgE7 is involved in the release of alginate from the cells. Upon encountering adverse growth conditions,
A. vinelandii
will form a resting stage called cyst. Alginate is a necessary part of the protective cyst coat, and we show here that strains lacking
alyA3
germinate poorly compared to wild-type cells.
Analysis of Achromobactin Biosynthesis byPseudomonas syringaepv. syringae B728a
Authors: Berti Andrew D. , Thomas Michael G. 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACTPseudomonas syringaepv. syringae B728a is known to produce the siderophore pyoverdine under iron-limited conditions. It has also been proposed that this pathovar has the ability to produce a second siderophore, achromobactin. Here we present genetic and biochemical evidence supporting the hypothesis thatP. syringaepv. syringae B728a produces both of these siderophores. We show that strains unable to synthesize either pyoverdine or achromobactin are unable to grow under iron-limiting conditions, which is consistent with these two molecules being the only siderophores synthesized byP. syringaepv. syringae B728a. Enzymes associated with achromobactin biosynthesis were purified and analyzed for substrate recognition. We showed that AcsD, AcsA, and AcsC together are able to condense citrate, ethanolamine, 2,4-diaminobutyrate, and α-ketoglutarate into achromobactin. Replacement of ethanolamine with ethylene diamine or 1,3-diaminopropane in these reactions resulted in the formation of achromobactin analogs that were biologically active. This work provides insights into the biosynthetic steps in the formation of achromobactin and is the first in vitro reconstitution of achromobactin biosynthesis.
Reference accuracy in four rehabilitation journals
Authors: Unver Bayram , Senduran Meric , Unver Kocak Fatma , Gunal Izge , Karatosun Vasfi 
Published: May 2009

Objective: To investigate the incidence of reference errors in major peer-reviewed general physical therapy and rehabilitation journals (American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AJPMR), Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (APMR), Clinical Rehabilitation (CR) and Physical Therapy (PT)). Design: Descriptive, comparative. Main outcome measures: All issues of the AJPMR, APMR, CR and PT between 2003 and 2007 were studied. For each journal, references from articles were consecutively numbered, and using a random number generator, 100 references were selected from each journal. For each reference, ease of retrieval on MEDLINE and the presence of citation errors were noted. If discrepancies were identified, the reference was compared with the original publication. Two observers independently evaluated each reference for citation errors. Results: The total number of citations with errors among all published journals was 123 (30.7%). The reference error rates by journal ranged from 23% to 44%. Most errors (48.0%) occurred in the author element, followed by the title (31.7%), journal (8.9%), page (5.7%), year (4.1%), and volume (1.6%). Only 8 (2%) were likely to make retrieval of the reference difficult. Conclusions: Errors in references still appear in current physical therapy and rehabilitation literature, but most are not severe.