Applicability of Scor-based Dea Performance Measurement in Small Med-size Enterprises

This paper aims to test the applicability of a SCOR-based DEA benchmarking approach for SMEs in Indonesia, due to the increasing call for suitable supply chain performance measurement in the context of SMEs. An input-oriented DEA assuming both CRS and VRS was employed by deriving a set of metrics from the SCOR attributes. A sample of 16 SME convenience stores was selected for the illustration. Results show that the SCOR-based DEA provided a simple groundwork for supporting SME managerial decision making in terms of administering concise feedbacks and identifying directions to venture on. Moreover, analysis results alluded to a distinct, more comprehensive assessment of performances as opposed to that of traditional measurements that is prominent among SMEs. The distinct, comprehensive insights from the analysis may engage SMEs into taking up the more innovative performance measurement approach. Moreover, better awareness of supply chain metrics is foreseen. The SCOR-based DEA provided a unique approach to meet the conformance of Indonesian SMEs in regard to supply chain performance measurement.   &nbsp

Perbedaan Produktifitas Kerja Karyawan Koperasi Serba Usaha Tunas Mandiri Sebelum dan Sesudah Menggunakan Sistem Informasi Laporan Keuangan di Kota Kupang

Penelitian ini menekankan mengenai “Perbedaan Produktifitas Kerja Karyawan Koperasi Serba Usaha Tunas Mandiri Sebelum dan Sesudah Menggunakan Sistem Informasi Laporan Keuangan Di Kota Kupang. Rumusan Masalah Pokok Penelitian ini adalah Apakah ada perbedaan produktifitas kerja karyawan Koperasi Serba Usaha Tunas Mandiri Kupang sebelum dan sesudah penerapan sistem informasi keuangan? Sedangkan Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui perbedaan produktifitas kerja karyawan Koperasi Serba Usaha Tunas Mandiri Kupang sebelum dan sesudah penerapan sistem informasi keuangan.  Metode Teknik Analisa Data yang digunankan terlebih dahulu menguji instrumen penelitian (Validitas) dan Uji Normalitas kemudian Uji statistik parametrik t test (dependen sample test) dengan menggunakan bantuan aplikasi SPSS 16. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa uji istrumen validitas menunjukan semua instrumen dinyatakan valid karena lebih besar dari 0,30 dan juga uji normalitas menunjukan semua data terdistribusi normal (uji normalitas Sapiro-Wilk). Berdasarkan uji dependent sample test (t-test), menunjukan bahwa ada  Perbedaan Produktifitas Kerja Karyawan Koperasi Serba Usaha Tunas Mandiri Sebelum dan Sesudah Menggunakan Sistem Informasi Laporan Keuangan. Hal ini ditunjukan dengan uji Paired Sample Test menunjukan nilai Sig. (2-tailed) sebesar 0,751> 0,05 hal ini menunjukan terdapat perbedaan produktifitas kerja karyawan sebelum dan sesudah menggunakan Sistem Informasi Keuangan pada KSU. Tunas Mandiri Kupang

Occurrence of palytoxins in marine organisms from different trophic levels of the French Mediterranean coast harvested in 2009

International audienceFour sites located in Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer, on the French Mediterranean coast, were monitored during the summer of 2009 for the presence of epiphytic and planktonic Ostreopsis cf. ovata, and that of palytoxin (PITX) and 2 of its analogues (ovatoxin-a (OVTX-a) and ostreocin-D (OST-D)) in different marine organisms. Several of the 15 species that were sampled between June and September 2009 were found to be contaminated with OVTX-a as the major toxin (90% of the toxin profile) and PITX; this included fish, echinoderms, gastropods, crustaceans and cephalopods. The contamination levels varied geographically and between species, with the herbivorous species generally having higher toxin levels than carnivorous ones. The determination of the toxin distribution between the digestive tube (DT) and the remaining tissue (RT) or roe in the case of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus showed that the toxins were sequestered in the DT. The highest toxin level ever recorded over the course of the study was of 392.2 mu g for the sum of OVTX-a and PITX per kg of DT of the flathead mullet Mugil cephalus. No quantifiable levels of toxins were found in the roe of the sea urchins or in the RT of the other marine products. However, in several cases, the toxin level in the whole flesh of the analysed organisms was above 30 mu g OVTX-a + PITX/kg, when knowing that the European food safety authority's opinion is that an adult should not ingest more than 30 mu g PITX + OST-D per kg of shellfish meat to avoid putting the consumer's health at risk. This was observed for the following four species: the sea urchin P. lividus, the red-mouthed rock shell Stramonita haemastoma, the warty crab Eriphia verrucosa and the flathead mullet M. cephalus. The collection of such data is of great importance to refine and complete the risk assessment of PITX and its analogues and has to be encouraged in order to provide reliable information for setting up a regulatory level that would protect the consumers of edible marine organisms (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Optimization of the piggyBac Transposon Using mRNA and Insulators: Toward a More Reliable Gene Delivery System.

Integrating and expressing stably a transgene into the cellular genome remain major challenges for gene-based therapies and for bioproduction purposes. While transposon vectors mediate efficient transgene integration, expression may be limited by epigenetic silencing, and persistent transposase expression may mediate multiple transposition cycles. Here, we evaluated the delivery of the piggyBac transposase messenger RNA combined with genetically insulated transposons to isolate the transgene from neighboring regulatory elements and stabilize expression. A comparison of piggyBac transposase expression from messenger RNA and DNA vectors was carried out in terms of expression levels, transposition efficiency, transgene expression and genotoxic effects, in order to calibrate and secure the transposition-based delivery system. Messenger RNA reduced the persistence of the transposase to a narrow window, thus decreasing side effects such as superfluous genomic DNA cleavage. Both the CTF/NF1 and the D4Z4 insulators were found to mediate more efficient expression from a few transposition events. We conclude that the use of engineered piggyBac transposase mRNA and insulated transposons offer promising ways of improving the quality of the integration process and sustaining the expression of transposon vectors

Structure and proton conductivity in a magnesium salt of 12-tungstophosphoric acid

Some structural properties of a magnesium salt of 12-tungstophosphoric acid, MgHPW12O40.nH(2)O (MgHVvTA-n), are reported. The influence of the Mg2+ ion on the structure, dynamics of the protonic species, and dielectric and conductive characteristics of the salt have been studied. The interaction of protonic species with Keggin anion was discussed. Preliminary results of the crystal structure indicate that the structure is composed of Keggin anions and Mg(OH2)(6) aqua-complexes. Some comparisons are made with other alkaline-earth and alkaline salts of WPA. The results of thermal analysis (TGA and DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR), conductivity and permittivity measurements of MgHWPA-n are reported and discussed