The Successful Implementation of Supply Chain Management Technology Initiatives: Technological Readiness as a Key Indicator

The emergence of what is modern supply chain management (SCM) can be attributed to the revolutionary advances in information technology over the past three decades. Despite significant investment in supply chain management technology (SCMT) and the implementation process, many companies still experience considerable complications during SCMT implementation. There is a dearth of research concerning the implementation of SCMT. A proven path to supply chain technology implementation has yet to be established. In an effort to address this gap, this dissertation considers the role of technological readiness as a part of a comprehensive model for SCMT implementation. A model is proposed and empirically tested

Social Media and the Supply Chain: Improving Risk Detection, Risk Management, and Disruption Recovery

The introduction of social media has changed the methods in which many individuals, communities, and organizations communicate and interact (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). The increasing popularity of social media within a business context has forced executives to rethink how they operate their businesses (Ngai, Tao, and Moon, 2015). Chae (2015) observed that the field of supply chain management has been lagging in identifying the potential role and use of social media in both research and practice. Recently, greater attention is being given to social media and its potential uses within the supply chain. This paper investigates the potential use for social media as a technology to help with supply chain risk detection, risk management, and disruption recovery

Social media and supply chain risk management: improving risk detection and supply chain resilience

The introduction of social media has changed the methods by which many individuals, communities, and organizations communicate and interact. The increasing popularity of social media within a business context has forced executives to rethink how they operate their businesses. Chae (2015) observed that the field of supply chain management (SCM) has been lagging in identifying the potential role and use of social media in both research and practice. Recently, greater attention is being given to social media and its potential uses within the supply chain. This paper investigates the potential use for social media as a technology to help with supply chain risk detection and supply chain resilience

A new approach to speaker relevence using a logistics executive in residence course

This article addresses a new method to bring real world relevance into the Logistics, Transportation and Supply Chain Management classroom. A different type of Executive in Residence course focuses on using multiple industry speakers to provide a unique learning environment for today’s Millennial majors. While the majority of the paper is a thought based overview, a statistical analysis of student responses was used to compare various types of relevant courses. A simple comparison of various appropriate items was examined to identify if the Executive in Residence course increased learning. Both the anecdotal and statistical evidence suggests that the Executive in Residence course increases interaction and improves learning with majors. It highlights a non-traditional type of approach to incorporating executives into the curriculum and results in a more robust learning environment. The inclusion of active executives also creates a number of practical benefits for the practitioners, students, faculty and university

Status of COLDDIAG: A Cold Vacuum Chamber for Diagnostics

One of the still open issues for the development of superconducting insertion devices is the understanding of the beam heat load. With the aim of measuring the beam heat load to a cold bore and the hope to gain a deeper understanding in the beam heat load mechanisms, a cold vacuum chamber for diagnostics is under construction. The following diagnostics will be implemented: i) retarding field analyzers to measure the electron energy and flux, ii) temperature sensors to measure the total heat load, iii) pressure gauges, iv) and mass spectrometers to measure the gas content. The inner vacuum chamber will be removable in order to test different geometries and materials. This will allow the installation of the cryostat in different synchrotron light sources. COLDDIAG will be built to fit in a short straight section at ANKA. A first installation at the synchrotron light source Diamond is foreseen in June 2011. Here we describe the technical design report of this device and the planned measurements with beam.Comment: Presented at First International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC'10, Kyoto, Japan, from 23 to 28 May 201

Securin Is Not Required for Chromosomal Stability in Human Cells

Abnormalities of chromosome number are frequently observed in cancers. The mechanisms regulating chromosome segregation in human cells are therefore of great interest. Recently it has been reported that human cells without an hSecurin gene lose chromosomes at a high frequency. Here we show that, after hSecurin knockout through homologous recombination, chromosome losses are only a short, transient effect. After a few passages hSecurin(−/−) cells became chromosomally stable and executed mitoses normally. This was unexpected, as the securin loss resulted in a persisting reduction of the sister-separating protease separase and inefficient cleavage of the cohesin subunit Scc1. Our data demonstrate that securin is dispensable for chromosomal stability in human cells. We propose that human cells possess efficient mechanisms to compensate for the loss of genes involved in chromosome segregation

Molecular typing of mycobacterium tuberculosis by using nine novel variable-number tandem repeats across the Beijing family and low-copy-number IS6110 isolates

Molecular epidemiological tools for genotyping clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been developed and used to help track and contain transmission of tuberculosis. We identified 87 short sequence repeat loci within the genome of the M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Nine tandem repeats were found to be variable (variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs)) in a set of 91 isolates. Fifty-seven of the isolates had only four IS6110 bands. The other 34 isolates were members of the Beijing strain family. The number of alleles of each these nine VNTRs was determined by examining each isolate. Six of the loci (Mtb-v1, -v4, -v10, -v15, -v18, and -v20) were able to differentiate the Beijing spoligotype identical isolates into seven distinct genotypes. Five of the loci (Mtb-v3, -v5, -v6, -v10, and -v15) were informative in discriminating the four-band IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism isolates from each other. The Nei's diversity values of each marker ranged from 0.02 to 0.59, with the number of alleles ranging from two to eight across the entire strain set. These nine loci provide a useful, discriminatory extension of VNTR typing methods for application to molecular epidemiologic studies of M. tuberculosis

Delays in Leniency Application: Is There Really a Race to the Enforcer's Door?

This paper studies cartels’ strategic behavior in delaying leniency applications, a take-up decision that has been ignored in the previous literature. Using European Commission decisions issued over a 16-year span, we show, contrary to common beliefs and the existing literature, that conspirators often apply for leniency long after a cartel collapses. We estimate hazard and probit models to study the determinants of leniency-application delays. Statistical tests find that delays are symmetrically affected by antitrust policies and macroeconomic fluctuations. Our results shed light on the design of enforcement programs against cartels and other forms of conspiracy

Inhibition of Tendon Cell Proliferation and Matrix Glycosaminoglycan Synthesis by Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in vitro

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of some commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on human tendon. Explants of human digital flexor and patella tendons were cultured in medium containing pharmacological concentrations of NSAIDs. Cell proliferation was measured by incorporation of 3H-thymidine and glycosaminoglycan synthesis was measured by incorporation of 35S-Sulphate. Diclofenac and aceclofenac had no significant effect either on tendon cell proliferation or glycosaminoglycan synthesis. Indomethacin and naproxen inhibited cell proliferation in patella tendons and inhibited glycosaminoglycan synthesis in both digital flexor and patella tendons. If applicable to the in vivo situation, these NSAIDs should be used with caution in the treatment of pain after tendon injury and surgery

Effect of P-Glycoprotein on the Pharmacokinetics and Tissue Distribution of Enaminone Anticonvulsants: Analysis by Population and Physiological Approaches

ABSTRACT Multidrug resistance (MDR), mediated by P-glycoprotein (Pgp) has been identified as altering the disposition of structurally diverse compounds. Previous in vitro studies in bovine brain microvascular endothelial cells and MCF/Adr [Adriamycin (doxorubicin)-resistant human breast cancer] cells displayed that the transport of enaminone anticonvulsants was influenced by Pgp. Therefore the objectives of this study was to further evaluate the influence of Pgp on the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of the enaminone analogs. mdr1ab (ϩ/ϩ) and mdr1ab (Ϫ/Ϫ) male mice (20 Ϯ 5 g) were administered DM5 (methyl 4-[(4Ј-chlorophenyl)amino]-6-methyl-2-oxo-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxylate) or DM44 (12.5 mg/kg, i.v.). Cohorts (n ϭ 3) were sacrificed over a 12-h period, and samples were analyzed by a validated UV-high performance liquid chromatography assay method. Population analysis was used to estimate pharmacokinetic parameters and partition coefficients were determined for tissues. The clearance (0.51 versus 0.33 l/h/kg) and V d (1.25 versus 0.93 l/kg) of DM5 were found to be higher (p Ͻ 0.05), however the area under the curve (26.1 versus 38.2 g/ml ⅐ h) was lower (p Ͻ 0.05) in mdr1a/1b (Ϫ/Ϫ) versus mdr1a/1b (ϩ/ϩ) mice, respectively. Similar findings were observed for DM44. Tissues known to express Pgp such as the heart, liver, lung, and brain displayed 2-fold or higher tissue levels in mdr1a/1b (Ϫ/Ϫ) versus mdr1a/1b (ϩ/ϩ) mice. These results strongly suggest that Pgp may influence enaminone tissue distribution and pharmacokinetics and may play a significant role in the effective treatment of epilepsy with these analogs