Standing on the shoulders of giants : Are ERP success factors relevant for EDRMS implementation?

Records management has been a central concern for organisations in both private and public sectors since the beginning of the 21st century. This new focus is due both to the introduction of laws, regulations and standards affecting corporate information management; and to the way records are changing from paper-based to &ldquo;born-digital&rdquo; and &ldquo;made-digital&rdquo;. The need for an effective automated system to manage records is now greater than ever, with Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (EDRMS) being the most likely solution. Despite their increasing popularity, however, successful uptake of such systems is not yet widespread and research into their implementation is still limited. This paper investigates the possibility of applying existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) models to EDRMS by analysing the substantial body of literature on success factors for ERP implementation, both qualitatively and quantitatively; and then comparing these with the still relatively limited literature on EDRMS.<br /

Force-Control Algorithm for Surface Sampling

A G-FCON algorithm is designed for small-body surface sampling. It has a linearization component and a feedback component to enhance performance. The algorithm regulates the contact force between the tip of a robotic arm attached to a spacecraft and a surface during sampling

Gender dimorphism and age of onset in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor preclinical models and human patients.

BackgroundGender-based differences in disease onset in murine models of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) and in patients with Neurofibromatosis type-1-(NF-1)-associated or spontaneous MPNST has not been well studied.MethodsForty-three mGFAP-Cre+;Ptenloxp/+;LSL-K-rasG12D/+ mice were observed for tumor development and evaluated for gender disparity in age of MPNST onset. Patient data from the prospectively collected UCLA sarcoma database (1974-2011, n = 113 MPNST patients) and 39 published studies on MPNST patients (n = 916) were analyzed for age of onset differences between sexes and between NF-1 and spontaneous MPNST patients.ResultsOur murine model showed gender-based differences in MPNST onset, with males developing MPNST significantly earlier than females (142 vs. 162 days, p = 0.015). In the UCLA patient population, males also developed MPNST earlier than females (median age 35 vs. 39.5 years, p = 0.048). Patients with NF-1-associated MPNST had significantly earlier age of onset compared to spontaneous MPNST (median age 33 vs. 39 years, p = 0.007). However, expanded analysis of 916 published MPNST cases revealed no significant age difference in MPNST onset between males and females. Similar to the UCLA dataset, patients with NF-1 developed MPNST at a significantly younger age than spontaneous MPNST patients (p &lt; 0.0001, median age 28 vs. 41 years) and this disparity was maintained across North American, European, and Asian populations.ConclusionsAlthough our preclinical model and single-institution patient cohort show gender dimorphism in MPNST onset, no significant gender disparity was detected in the larger MPNST patient meta-dataset. NF-1 patients develop MPNST 13 years earlier than patients with spontaneous MPNST, with little geographical variance

Graphene oxide-based degradation of metaldehyde : effective oxidation through a modified Fenton's Process

A modified graphene oxide-based Fenton’s reaction has been investigated for the degradation of a challenging emerging contaminant which is not effectively removed in conventional water treatment. Metaldehyde, used as the challenge molecule in this study, is a common molluscicide that (like many highly soluble contaminants) has frequently breached European regulatory limits in surface waters. The new method involves graphene with higher hydrophilic characteristics (single-layer graphene oxide, SLGO) as a system that participates in a redox reaction with hydrogen peroxide and which can potentially stabilize the radical dotOH generated, which subsequently breaks down organic contaminants. The modified Fenton’s reaction has shown to be effective in degrading metaldehyde in natural waters (&gt;92% removal), even at high contaminant concentrations (50 mg metaldehyde/L) and in the presence of high background organic matter and dissolved salts. The reaction is relatively pH insensitive. SLGO maintained its catalytic performance over 3 treatment cycles when immobilized. Its performance gradually decreased over time, reaching around 50% of starting performance on the 10th treatment cycle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of modifications caused in SLGO by the oxidizing treatment indicated that the oxidation of Csingle bondC sp2 to carbonyl groups may be the cause of the decrease in performance. The proposed modified Fenton’s process has the potential to substitute traditional Fenton’s treatment although regeneration of the nanocarbon is required for its prolonged use

Melanocortin 4 receptors in autonomic neurons regulate thermogenesis and glycemia

SUMMARY Melanocortin 4 receptors (Mc4rs) are expressed by extra-hypothalamic neurons including cholinergic autonomic pre-ganglionic neurons. However, whether Mc4rs in these neurons are required to control energy and glucose homeostasis is unclear. Here we report that Mc4rs in sympathetic, but not parasympathetic, pre-ganglionic neurons are required to regulate energy expenditure and body weight including brown and white adipose tissue thermogenic responses to diet and cold exposure. In addition, deletion of Mc4rs in both sympathetic and parasympathetic cholinergic neurons impairs glucose homeostasis

Shibboleth as a Tool for Authorized Access Control to the Subversion Repository System

Shibboleth is an architecture and protocol for allowing users to authenticate and be authorized to use a remote resource by logging into the identity management system that is maintained at their home institution. With Shibboleth, a federation of institutions can share resources among users and yet allow the administration of both the user access control to resources and the user identity and attribute information to be performed at the hosting or home institution. Subversion is a version control repository system that allows the creation of fine-grained permissions to files and directories. In this project an infrastructure, Shibbolized Subversion, has been created that consists of a Subversion repository with an Apache web interface that is protected by a Shibboleth authentication system. The infrastructure can allow authorized and authenticated data sharing between institutions yet retains simplicity and protects privacy for users. In addition, it also relieves local administrators from the task of having to perform extra account management for users from other institutions. This paper describes the Shibboleth and Subversion systems, the implementation of the file sharing infrastructure, and issues of attribute maintenance, privacy and security

Building operational research capacity in the Pacific

Operational research (OR) in public health aims to investigate strategies, interventions, tools or knowledge that can enhance the quality, coverage, effectiveness or performance of health systems. Attention has recently been drawn to the lack of OR capacity in public health programmes throughout the Pacific Islands, despite considerable investment in implementation. This lack of ongoing and critical reflection may prevent health programme staff from understanding why programme objectives are not being fully achieved, and hinder long-term gains in public health. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) has been collaborating with Pacific agencies to conduct OR courses based on the training model developed by The Union and Médecins Sans Frontières Brussels-Luxembourg in 2009. The first of these commenced in 2011 in collaboration with the Fiji National University, the Fiji Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and other partners. The Union and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community organised a second course for participants from other Pacific Island countries and territories in 2012, and an additional course for Fijian participants commenced in 2013. Twelve participants enrolled in each of the three courses. Of the two courses completed by end 2013, 18 of 24 participants completed their OR and submitted papers by the course deadline, and 17 papers have been published to date. This article describes the context, process and outputs of the Pacific courses, as well as innovations, adaptations and challenges

Building operational research capacity in the Pacific

Operational research (OR) in public health aims to investigate strategies, interventions, tools or knowledge that can enhance the quality, coverage, effectiveness or performance of health systems. Attention has recently been drawn to the lack of OR capacity in public health programmes throughout the Pacific Islands, despite considerable investment in implementation. This lack of ongoing and critical reflection may prevent health programme staff from understanding why programme objectives are not being fully achieved, and hinder long-term gains in public health. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) has been collaborating with Pacific agencies to conduct OR courses based on the training model developed by The Union and Médecins Sans Frontières Brussels-Luxembourg in 2009. The first of these commenced in 2011 in collaboration with the Fiji National University, the Fiji Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and other partners. The Union and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community organised a second course for participants from other Pacific Island countries and territories in 2012, and an additional course for Fijian participants commenced in 2013. Twelve participants enrolled in each of the three courses. Of the two courses completed by end 2013, 18 of 24 participants completed their OR and submitted papers by the course deadline, and 17 papers have been published to date. This article describes the context, process and outputs of the Pacific courses, as well as innovations, adaptations and challenges