bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Implementing TQM in the health care service
Authors: Lindberg Eva , Rosenqvist Urban 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThe present study seeks to present a case study over four years following an implementation process of total quality management (TQM) on an ICU (intensive care unit).Design/methodology/approachThe aim was to describe consequences shown in the organisational climate, workload and staff wellbeing. A case study design was employed using a longitudinal method of data collection.FindingsDownsizing due to diminishing resources was a parallel process probably disturbing the TQM implementation. The workload increased by 20 per cent, whereas organisational and individual variables remained stable over time. However, sick leave increased dramatically and was higher than the general level within the Swedish population. The ICU had the capacity to adapt successfully by regulating working hours to workload. It is speculated that another cause behind sickness absence exists other than the general opinion. The literature used for the discussion departs from the relation between people's understanding and acting, sensemaking, and organisational theories describing complex adaptive systems emphasizing attraction patterns. Organisational ambiguity was a main finding in an earlier study that was used for interpretation of the result in the present study. As ambiguity seems to be a major and increasing problem, it has consequences for management as well as for continuous quality development.Originality/valueThe implication of the study is the need to be able to successfully work in an ambiguous situation and use the quality system as a device in day‐to‐day work.
An object‐oriented approach for building a flexible supply chain model
Authors: Kim Jinho , Rogers K.J. 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThis paper aims to propose a framework for building a flexible supply chain business model using an object‐oriented approach.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed modeling framework has used the de facto object‐oriented modeling standard, Unified Modeling Language (UML), for building a supply chain model. To compensate for the potential weakness of the pure object‐oriented model and UML, the framework integrates business rules with its model.FindingsThis paper provides information about several sources, which are the bases of modeling a supply chain. The paper regards a supply chain as five view models with four business domains and each domain consists of functions, resources, processes, interactions and business rules.Research limitations/implicationsA typical manufacturing supply chain is considered as a target system to apply this design methodology. The paper does not handle a real case study as an application example.Originality/valueThis paper newly added the category of “Business Process Reengineering (BPR)‐driven” models to the traditional taxonomy of supply chain models and proposed an object‐oriented business model (OOBM) for a supply chain as one of the BPR‐driven models. It is hoped that this modeling approach is highly usable and adds value to an analyst, practitioner, and designer in the field of supply chain.
A model for evaluation and selection of suppliers in global textile and apparel supply chains
Authors: Gary Teng S. , Jaramillo Hector 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThe issue affecting US textile/apparel companies in global business competition is to find suitable suppliers for their operations. The selection and evaluation of their global suppliers to meet the goal of having effective and efficient supply chain operations and strengthening their position in the market become critical for US textile/apparel manufacturers to maintain their competitiveness in today's market. Aims to develop an evaluation model.Design/methodology/approachThe development of a simple, flexible, and easy to use evaluation model that includes the consideration of five main clusters to reflect the performance of a global supplier in a textile/apparel supply chain.FindingsA case presented in this paper shows that the model provides textile/apparel companies with an easy way to evaluate their suppliers and make their selection of suppliers more efficient and effective. Most textile/apparel companies using this model can help them establish strategic alliance with global suppliers to reduce costs and increase competitiveness in the market.Practical implicationsTextile/apparel companies can use this model to find capable suppliers as their partners in the supply chain. With minor modifications, this model also can help companies in most industries for enhancing their supply chain operations with capable suppliers.Originality/valueProvides a simple model that can help companies in many industries enhance their supply chain operations.
Expression of Uroplakin Ib and Uroplakin III Genes in Tissues and Peripheral Blood of Patients with Transitional Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Yuasa Takeshi , Yoshiki Tatsuhiro , Tanaka Tsutomu , Kim Chol Jang , Isono Takahiro , Okada Yusaku 
Published: August 2005

ABSTRACTUroplakins (UPs), urothelium‐specific transmembrane proteins, are present only in urothelial cells. We have determined the nucleotide sequences of human UP‐Ib and UP‐III and synthesized specific primer pairs. The two UP genes were expressed in both cancerous and noncancerous urothelia taken from all patients examined by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). These genes were also detected in the peripheral blood of 3 patients with metastatic transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), but not in that from 9 patients with non‐metastatic TCC or 3 healthy volunteers. The sensitivity of our assay was sufficient to detect one cancer cell in 5 ml of peripheral blood. Detection of UP gene‐expression in blood by RT‐PCR may provide helpful information for the diagnosis and management of TCC.
QTL mapping for teat number in an Iberian‐by‐Meishan pig intercross
Authors: Rodríguez C. , Tomás A. , Alves E. , Ramirez O. , Arqué M. , Muñoz G. , Barragán C. , Varona L. , Silió L. , Amills M. , Noguera J. L. 
Published: August 2005

SummaryThe aim of this study was to investigate chromosomal regions affecting the number of teats in pigs and possible epistatic interactions between the identified quantitative trait loci (QTL). An experimental F2 cross between Iberian and Chinese Meishan lines was used for this purpose. A genomic scan was conducted with 117 markers covering the 18 porcine autosomes. Linkage analyses were performed by interval mapping using an animal model to estimate QTL and additive polygenic effects. Complementary analyses with models fitting two QTL were also carried out. The results showed three genomewide significant QTL mapping on chromosomes 5, 10 and 12, whose joint action control up to 30% of the phenotypic variance of the trait. Meishan alleles had a positive additive effect on teat number, and a positive‐additive × additive‐epistatic interaction was detected between QTL on chromosomes 10 and 12.
Genomic structure and gene order of swine chromosome 7q1.1→q1.2
Authors: Tanaka M. , Suzuki K. , Morozumi T. , Kobayashi E. , Matsumoto T. , Domukai M. , Eguchi‐Ogawa T. , Shinkai H. , Awata T. , Uenishi H. 
Published: August 2005

SummaryTo clarify the structure of the porcine genomic region that contains quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to fat, we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contig of the region from DST to SRPK1 on porcine chromosome 7 and performed low‐redundancy ‘skim’ shotgun sequencing of the clones that composed a minimum tiling path of the contig. This analysis revealed that the gene order from VPS52 to SRPK1 is conserved between human and swine and that comparison with the human sequence identified a rearrangement in the swine genome at the proximal end of VPS52. Analysis of the nucleotide sequences of three BAC clones that included the rearrangement point demonstrated that COL21A1 and DST, which were not present in the corresponding human region, were located adjacent to the rearrangement point. These results provide useful information about the genomic region containing QTL for fat in pigs and help to clarify the structure of the so‐called ‘extended‐class II’ region distal to the porcine major histocompatibility complex class II region.
The ecdysteroidogenic P450 Cyp302a1/disembodied from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, is transcriptionally regulated by prothoracicotropic hormone
Authors: Niwa R. , Sakudoh T. , Namiki T. , Saida K. , Fujimoto Y. , Kataoka H. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractDuring larval and pupal development of insects, ecdysone is synthesized in the prothoracic gland (PG). Although several Drosophila genes, including Halloween P450 genes, are known to be important for ecdysteroidogenesis in PG, little is known of the ecdysteroidogenic genes in other insects. Here we report on Cyp302a1/disembodied (dib‐Bm), one of the Halloween P450s in the silkworm Bombyx mori that is a carbon‐22 hydroxylase. dib‐Bm is predominantly expressed in PG and its developmental expression profile is correlated with a change in the ecdysteroid titre in the haemolymph. Furthermore, dib‐Bm expression in cultured PGs is significantly induced by treatment with prothoracicotropic hormone. This is the first report on the transcriptional induction of a steroidogenic gene by the tropic hormone in insects.
Plasticity in amino acid sensing of the chimeric receptor Taz
Authors: Michalodimitrakis Konstantinos M. , Sourjik Victor , Serrano Luis 
Published: August 2005

SummaryTaz is a chimeric receptor consisting of the periplasmic, transmembrane and most of the HAMP linker domains of the Escherichia coli aspartate receptor (TarEc) and the cytoplasmic signalling domain of the E. coli osmosensor EnvZ. Aspartate is one of several attractant ligands normally sensed by Tar and it interacts with Taz to induce OmpR‐dependent transcription from the ompC promoter – albeit with reduced sensitivity relative to the chemotactic response it evokes via Tar. By combining Taz with a reporter system that expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the ompC promoter, we were able to examine the interaction of Taz with all 20 natural amino acids. Some amino acids (Leu, Met, Val and Ser) reduced GFP expression, which in the case of leucine is likely attributed to a direct effect on the receptor, rather than an indirect effect through the leucine responsive protein (Lrp). Surprisingly, amino acids like Met and Ser – which are also attractants for Tar –‘inhibited’ Taz. Moreover, Taz exhibits a higher sensitivity to Leu compared with Asp, which is the inverse of Tar. Our results show the exquisite sensitivity of chemotactic receptors. Small conformational changes induced by making the chimera may have changed the way it responds to different amino acids.
Microscopic calcite dendrites in cold‐water tufa: implications for nucleation of micrite and cement
Authors: TURNER ELIZABETH C. , JONES BRIAN 
Published: August 2005

AbstractDendritic calcite forms in an active cold‐water tufa system in association with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that discontinuously coat bryophytes and cyanobacteria. Dendrites consist of 100–200 nm thick calcite fibres that form 3D lattice‐like domains. In each dendrite domain, fibres have three structurally equal orientations, which correspond in disposition to radii from the centre of a calcite unit cell to the convex triple face junctions on its surface. Fibres do not form in the orientation of the c‐axis. The external form of each dendrite has the shape of half of a shortened octahedron, with an upper triangular surface parallel to the substrate. Dendrite nucleation takes place on or in microbial EPS, whether microbial cells are present or not, and is probably effected by attraction of Ca2+ cations to negatively charged EPS, together with CO2‐degassing and concomitant pH increase of supersaturated spring water in stream splash zones. Ensuing dendrite growth is abiogenic and controlled by diffusion. Dendrite c‐axes are perpendicular to the substrate, probably because the negative charge of EPS forces the orientation of Ca2+ and CO planes within the developing dendrite crystal to be parallel to the EPS film surface. Dendrites are eventually filled and overgrown by solid, syntaxial calcite, which gradually and completely obliterates the dendrites as more familiar calcite crystal forms develop. No trace of the dendritic nucleus remains in the rock record. Calcite crystal nucleation may take place by this mechanism in many marine and meteoric settings, given that microbial EPS is now assumed to be virtually ubiquitous in these environments. This phenomenon could contribute to the development of familiar fabrics such as marine micrite cement and fibrous calcite cement, radial ooids, peloids, ‘abiogenic’ stromatolites, sea floor precipitates, microbialites, tufa, travertine, speleothems, and some meteoric cements. It may also contribute to the substrate‐normal orientation of c‐axes of common cement fabrics.
Nitric oxide is required for, and promotes auxin‐mediated activation of, cell division and embryogenic cell formation but does not influence cell cycle progression in alfalfa cell cultures
Authors: Ötvös Krisztina , Pasternak Taras P. , Miskolczi Pál , Domoki Mónika , Dorjgotov Dulguun , Sz˝cs Attila , Bottka Sándor , Dudits Dénes , Fehér Attila 
Published: August 2005

SummaryIt is now well established that nitric oxide (NO) serves as a signaling molecule in plant cells. In this paper experimental data are presented which indicate that NO can stimulate the activation of cell division and embryogenic cell formation in leaf protoplast‐derived cells of alfalfa in the presence of auxin. It was found that various NO‐releasing compounds promoted auxin‐dependent division (as shown by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine) of leaf protoplast‐derived alfalfa cells. In contrast, application of NO scavenger or NO synthesis inhibitor inhibited the same process. Both the promotion and the inhibition of cell cycle activation correlated with the amount and activity of the cognate alfalfa p34cdc2 protein Medsa;CDKA;1,2. The effect of l‐NG‐monomethyl‐l‐arginine (l‐NMMA) was transient, and protoplast‐derived cells spending more than 3 days in culture become insensitive to the inhibitor as far as cell cycle progression was concerned. l‐NMMA had no effect on the cell cycle parameters of cycling suspension‐cultured cells, but had a moderate transient inhibitory effect on cells re‐entering the cell cycle following phosphate starvation. Cycling cultured cells, however, could respond to NO, as indicated by the sodium nitroprusside (SNP)‐ and 2‐phenyl‐4,4,5,5‐tetramethylimidazoline‐1‐oxyl‐3‐oxide (PTIO)‐dependent accumulation of the ferritin protein. Based on these observations, it is hypothesized that l‐NMMA‐sensitive generation of NO is involved in the activation, but not the progression of the plant cell division cycle. In addition, SNP promoted and l‐NMMA delayed the exogenous auxin [2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4‐D)] concentration‐dependent formation of embryogenic cell clusters expressing the MsSERK1 gene; this further supports a link between auxin‐ and NO‐dependent signaling pathways in plant cells.
Outcrossing hermaphroditic polychaete worms adjust their sex allocation to social conditions
Authors: LORENZI M. C. , SELLA G. , SCHLEICHEROVÁ D. , RAMELLA L. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractSex allocation theory predicts that simultaneous hermaphrodites shift sex allocation facultatively in response to variation in local group size. This study was performed to evaluate the relative investment in each sex function by the simultaneously hermaphroditic polychaete worm Ophryotrocha diadema and to test whether allocation to each sex depends on the number of reproductive competitors. Four experimental groups were set up (in a 2 × 2 factorial design) with small or large group size and with small or large enclosures to control for potential confounding effects of density. We measured the proportion of female and male investment in focal individuals. Results revealed that individuals regulated their reproductive output so that when reproductive competitors were present, the number of female gametes was strongly reduced and the male function increased. In contrast, under monogamy, individuals in small groups produced lower numbers of sperm but had a higher egg output than worms in large groups. Density did not affect sex allocation in our experiment. Our findings provide qualitative support for Local Mate Competition theory, but also show that the pattern of sex allocation specific to this species is more complex than expected by current theory.
Remating in Drosophila melanogaster: an examination of the trading‐up and intrinsic male‐quality hypotheses
Authors: BYRNE P. G. , RICE W. R. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractFemale Drosophila melanogaster remate more frequently than necessary to ensure fertilization. We tested whether polyandrous females gain genetic benefits for their offspring by (1) selecting secondary sires of higher genetic‐quality than original partners or (2) because post‐copulatory mechanisms bias fertilizations towards genetically superior males. We screened 119 hemiclones of males for lifetime fitness then selected eight hemiclones (four of extreme high fitness and four of extreme low fitness) and mated them to virgin females. Females were then given the opportunity to remate with males of benchmark‐genetic quality and their propensity to remate (fidelity) and sperm displacement scored. A female's fidelity and her level of sperm displacement varied depending on which hemiclone she mated first, but not on male‐genetic quality. These findings indicate that female remating and sperm displacement are strongly influenced by male genotype, but provide no evidence that these traits contribute to adaptive female choice to obtain superior genes for offspring.
Sexy sons from re‐mating do not recoup the direct costs of harmful male interactions in the Drosophila melanogaster laboratory model system
Authors: ORTEIZA N. , LINDER J. E. , RICE W. R. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractThe empirical foundation for sexual conflict theory is the data from many different taxa demonstrating that females are harmed while interacting with males. However, the interpretation of this keystone evidence has been challenged because females may more than counterbalance the direct costs of interacting with males by the indirect benefits of obtaining higher quality genes for their offspring. A quantification of this trade‐off is critical to resolve the controversy and is presented here. A multi‐generation fitness assay in the Drosophila melanogaster laboratory model system was used to quantify both the direct costs to females due to interactions with males and indirect benefits via sexy sons. We specifically focus on the interactions that occur between males and nonvirgin females. In the laboratory environment of our base population, females mate soon after eclosion and store sufficient sperm for their entire lifetime, yet males persistently court these nonvirgin females and frequently succeed in re‐mating them. Females may benefit from these interactions despite direct costs to their lifetime fecundity if re‐mating allows them to trade‐up to mates of higher genetic quality and thereby secure indirect benefits for their offspring. We found that direct costs of interactions between males and nonvirgin females substantially exceeded indirect benefits through sexy sons. These data, in combination with past studies of the good genes route of indirect benefits, demonstrate that inter‐sexual interactions drive sexually antagonistic co‐evolution in this model system.
Molecular evolution of animal antimicrobial peptides: widespread moderate positive selection
Authors: TENNESSEN J. A. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractAn increasing number of studies in both vertebrates and invertebrates show that the evolution of antimicrobial peptides is driven by positive selection. Because these diverse molecules show potential for therapeutic applications, they are currently the targets of much structural and functional research, providing extensive background data for evolutionary studies. In this paper, patterns of molecular evolution in antimicrobial peptide genes are reviewed. Evidence for positive selection on antimicrobial peptides includes an excess of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions, an excess of charge‐changing amino acid substitutions, nonneutral patterns of allelic variation, and functional assays in vivo and in vitro that show improved antimicrobial effects for derived sequence variants. Positive selection on antimicrobial peptides may be as common as, but perhaps weaker than, selection on the best‐known example of adaptively evolving immunity genes, the major histocompatibility complex. Thus, antimicrobial peptides present a useful and underutilized model for the study of adaptive molecular evolution.
Adaptive radiation in microbial microcosms
Authors: CRAIG MACLEAN R. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractIt has often been argued that evolutionary diversification is the result of divergent natural selection for specialization on alternative resources. I provide a comprehensive review of experiments that examine the ecology and genetics of resource specialization and adaptive radiation in microbial microcosms. In these experiments, resource heterogeneity generates divergent selection for specialization on alternative resources. At a molecular level, the evolution of specialization is generally attributable to mutations that de‐regulate the expression of existing biosynthetic and catabolic pathways. Trade‐offs are associated with the evolution of resource specialization, but these trade‐offs are often not the result of antagonistic pleiotropy. Replicate adaptive radiations result in the evolution of a similar assemblage of specialists, but the genetic basis of specialization differs in replicate radiations. The implications of microbial selection experiments for evolutionary theory are discussed and future directions of research are proposed.
Extreme mtDNA divergences in a terrestrial slug (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Arionidae): accelerated evolution, allopatric divergence and secondary contact
Authors: PINCEEL J. , JORDAENS K. , BACKELJAU T. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractExtremely high levels of intraspecific mtDNA differences in pulmonate gastropods have been reported repeatedly and several hypotheses to explain them have been postulated. We studied the phylogeny and phylogeography of 51 populations (n = 843) of the highly polymorphic terrestrial slug Arion subfuscus (Draparnaud, 1805) across its native distribution range in Western Europe. By combining the analysis of single stranded conformation polymorphisms (SSCP) and nucleotide sequencing, we obtained individual sequence data for a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA and a fragment of the nuclear ITS1. Additionally, five polymorphic allozyme loci were scored. Based on the 16S rDNA phylogeny, five monophyletic haplotype groups with sequence divergences of 9–21% were found. Despite this deep mitochondrial divergence, the haplotype groups were not monophyletic for the nuclear ITS1 fragment and haplotype group‐specific allozyme alleles were not found. Although there is evidence for an accelerated mtDNA clock, the divergence among the haplotype groups is older than the Pleistocene and their current allopatric ranges probably reflect allopatric divergence and glacial survival in separate refugia from which different post‐glacial colonization routes were established. A range‐overlap of two mtDNA groups (S1 and S2, 21% sequence divergence) stretched from Central France and Belgium up to the North of the British Isles. The nuclear data suggest that this secondary contact resulted in hybridization between the allopatrically diverged groups. Therefore, it seems that, at least for two of the groups, the deep mtDNA divergence was only partially accompanied by the formation of reproductive isolation.