Super-charging supply chains - through 'relational integration' for 'overall value'

‘Relational integration’ means more than mere ‘structural integration’; and is needed for generating ‘genuine’ and sustainable collaboration in construction. However, higher levels of integration can evidently not be reached without a specially formulated and consolidated set of focal points. Relational integration and convergent agendas can therefore be targeted through directing a common focus on the ‘overall value’ of the ‘supply network’. To this end, ‘Relationally Integrated Value Networks’ (RIVANS) are conceptualised to engage and empower their members towards both short-term and long-term overall ‘network value elements’ that must be suitably structured and made explicit. These common network value elements and corresponding goals should then loom larger in project landscapes, but should also be designed to co-exist with each set of network member-specific value objectives. Whilst aligning the latter as much as possible towards the former, it is recognised that each organisation e.g. a sub-contractor or specialist supplier, will have some other (‘extra-network’ or ‘beyond network’) needs; and may indeed be part of other value networks. However, each network can benefit from healthy inputs from, and benchmarking against other networks. Secondly, the strengths of each network will be enhanced by the steady development of each of its members. The paper will explore the potential and pitfalls in developing such RIVANS, incorporating relevant outputs from two case studies of enlightened teamworking, and two subsequent Workshops deliberating RIVANS possibilities. The needs for, and potential impacts of the RIVANS initiative are heightened in the present major economic downturn, and indeed during other periodic troughs in industry and market cycles. Relationally integrated networks should be more resilient in withstanding such pressures, while achieving critical efficiencies for reaching necessarily higher performance levels in general.postprintThe International Conference on Changing Roles: New Roles; New Challenges, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 5-9 October 2009. In Conference Proceedings, 2009, p. 397-40

Experimental investigation of the impact of tidal turbine blade design on performance in turbulent flow

The nature of tidal channel flows presents unique challenges to tidal turbine designers due to the high levels of unsteady flow from large-scale ocean turbulence. This causes fluctuating loads on the turbine blades, leading to integrity and performance issues. This paper outlines an experimental campaign performed in order to assess whether turbine blade design can be used to improve performance in unsteady flow conditions, potentially reducing the fluctuating loads, and increasing turbine lifetime as a result. Two turbines, one with low-TSR, high-solidity blades (T4) and one with high-TSR, low-solidity blades (T7), are tested in a recirculating water flume in low and high turbulence flow. It is confirmed that the two turbine designs produce the same mean power coefficient at their respective design TSRs (given similar Reynolds numbers). Relative to their performance in clean flow, the mean power coefficient of T4 increases in high-turbulence flow (I = 15%), while the mean thrust coefficient for T7 decreases. The root-mean-square fluctuations in power and thrust are similar between the two turbines. In the torque and thrust response spectra of the two turbines, a dynamic region of response to turbulence is identified. This dynamic response is found to be strongly correlated to turbine rotational frequency. In the dynamic response region, T7 is found to respond more strongly to turbulence at multiples of the blade-passing frequency compared to T4. This suggests that T7 may be more sensitive to turbulent flow than T4, but further study is needed to determine whether this results only from the higher TSR, or if the low solidity of the T7 blades also has an impact

A critical review of PMS in construction: towards a research agenda

Performance measurement system (PMS) is a fast evolving and diverse research field attracting many researchers and practitioners from the fields of strategy, accounting, operations, human resource management, and marketing. The characteristics of the construction industry that influence the research and directions adopted in practice significantly contribute to certain weaknesses in application, such as limited focus on business performance measurement, insufficient organisational learning, and difficulty in linking the project PMS with the firm. The aim of this paper is to briefly review the literature of PMS (specifically at the corporate level) for addressing the knowledge gap and presenting a research agenda in the context of construction. The main findings from this review are: (1) the evolution of PMS in construction management literature is much slow; (2) further research should focus on the design and implementation related issues of PMS in construction; and (3) benchmarking is an integral part of PMS but it is insufficient for ‘continuous improvement’. Finally, a research agenda is presented

Differential expression analysis for sequence count data

*Motivation:* High-throughput nucleotide sequencing provides quantitative readouts in assays for RNA expression (RNA-Seq), protein-DNA binding (ChIP-Seq) or cell counting (barcode sequencing). Statistical inference of differential signal in such data requires estimation of their variability throughout the dynamic range. When the number of replicates is small, error modelling is needed to achieve statistical power.

*Results:* We propose an error model that uses the negative binomial distribution, with variance and mean linked by local regression, to model the null distribution of the count data. The method controls type-I error and provides good detection power. 

*Availability:* A free open-source R software package, _DESeq_, is available from the Bioconductor project and from "http://www-huber.embl.de/users/anders/DESeq":http://www-huber.embl.de/users/anders/DESeq

Standardisation of Bull's mental skills questionnaire in South Africa and the United Kingdom

The contemporary science of sport and exercise psychology requires the standardisation of mental skills questionnaires to facilitate accurate assessment of and intervention for individuals and groups in various health and sport related contexts. The study presents international research findings regarding the standardisation of a Mental Skills Scale with a sample of university students (N=420) from South Africa (n=211) and the United Kingdom (n=209) respectively. Although further international and national standardisation in both English and other languages is recommended, factor and reliability analyses indicated satisfactory validity and reliability of the current English version of the scale.The University of Zululand and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF).http://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajrshttp://academic.sun.ac.za/sajrsper/am201

Probing host pathogen cross-talk by transcriptional profiling of both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and infected human dendritic cells and macrophages

This study provides the proof of principle that probing the host and the microbe transcriptomes simultaneously is a valuable means to accessing unique information on host pathogen interactions. Our results also underline the extraordinary plasticity of host cell and pathogen responses to infection, and provide a solid framework to further understand the complex mechanisms involved in immunity to M. tuberculosis and in mycobacterial adaptation to different intracellular environments

Radiating dispersive shock waves in nonlocal optical media

We consider the step Riemann problem for the system of equations describing the propagation of a coherent light beam in nematic liquid crystals, which is a general system describing nonlinear wave propagation in a number of different physical applications. While the equation governing the light beam is of defocusing nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation type, the dispersive shock wave (DSW) generated from this initial condition has major differences from the standard DSW solution of the defocusing nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. In particular, it is found that the DSW has positive polarity and generates resonant radiation which propagates ahead of it. Remarkably, the velocity of the lead soliton of the DSW is determined by the classical shock velocity. The solution for the radiative wavetrain is obtained using the WKB approximation. It is shown that for sufficiently small initial jumps the nematic DSW is asymptotically governed by a Korteweg-de Vries equation with fifth order dispersion, which explicitly shows the resonance generating the radiation ahead of the DSW. The constructed asymptotic theory is shown to be in good agreement with the results of direct numerical simulations.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in Proc. Roy.Soc. London A (2016

MicroRNAs targeting oncogenes are down-regulated in pancreatic malignant transformation from benign tumors

BACKGROUND MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been described in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but these have not been compared with pre-malignant pancreatic tumors. We wished to compare the miRNA expression signatures in pancreatic benign cystic tumors (BCT) of low and high malignant potential with PDAC, in order to identify miRNAs deregulated during PDAC development. The mechanistic consequences of miRNA dysregulation were further evaluated. METHODS Tissue samples were obtained at a tertiary pancreatic unit from individuals with BCT and PDAC. MiRNA profiling was performed using a custom microarray and results were validated using RT-qPCR prior to evaluation of miRNA targets. RESULTS Widespread miRNA down-regulation was observed in PDAC compared to low malignant potential BCT. We show that amongst those miRNAs down-regulated, miR-16, miR-126 and let-7d regulate known PDAC oncogenes (targeting BCL2, CRK and KRAS respectively). Notably, miR-126 also directly targets the KRAS transcript at a "seedless" binding site within its 3'UTR. In clinical specimens, miR-126 was strongly down-regulated in PDAC tissues, with an associated elevation in KRAS and CRK proteins. Furthermore, miR-21, a known oncogenic miRNA in pancreatic and other cancers, was not elevated in PDAC compared to serous microcystic adenoma (SMCA), but in both groups it was up-regulated compared to normal pancreas, implicating early up-regulation during malignant change. CONCLUSIONS Expression profiling revealed 21 miRNAs down-regulated in PDAC compared to SMCA, the most benign lesion that rarely progresses to invasive carcinoma. It appears that miR-21 up-regulation is an early event in the transformation from normal pancreatic tissue. MiRNA expression has the potential to distinguish PDAC from normal pancreas and BCT. Mechanistically the down-regulation of miR-16, miR-126 and let-7d promotes PDAC transformation by post-transcriptional up-regulation of crucial PDAC oncogenes. We show that miR-126 is able to directly target KRAS; re-expression has the potential as a therapeutic strategy against PDAC and other KRAS-driven cancers

Identification of hip fracture patients from radiographs using Fourier analysis of the trabecular structure: a cross-sectional study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD