Improving outcomes in outsourced product development: a joint consultant-client perspective

Although firms increasingly outsource front end product development activities to production suppliers or design consultants, this practice has received little scholarly attention. The few existing academic studies report high failure rates but generally present only the client firms’ view of the causes. Our first results from in-depth interviews of both clients and consultants give a richer picture of enablers of success and causes of failure. We confirm some previous findings(internal divisions within the client, “poor communication” between parties),identify new ones (inadequate client capabilities, failure to transfer design intent), and combine them into a comprehensive model of outsourced product development that includes negotiating project scope, continuously managing expectations, and carefully re-integrating the design output into the client’s operations. Finally, we classify several types of client dependency (need for new ideas, extra capacity, or specific technical expertise) and highlight the particular hazards associated with each

Inblandning av kalkgrus i lekbottnar för öring (Salmo trutta L.)

Under 2007-2009 konstruerades 30 lekbottnar för öring i anslutning till elfiskelokaler i 30 olika vattendrag i Västerbottens, Västra Götalands och Jönköpings län. I 15 av lekbottnarna blandades 50% kalkgrus in. Ytterligare 17 elfiskelokaler i 17 andra vattendrag valdes ut som kontrollokaler. Alla vattendrag var kalkade, och hade ingen förekomst av surstötar. Uppföljningen av lekbottnarna i Västerbotten 2008-2012 visade att 50 % av det utlagda gruset kvarstod 5 år efter utläggning. Uppföljningen i Västra Götalands och Jönköpings län 2010-2012 visade att 70 % av det utlagda gruset kvarstod 3 år efter utläggning. Provtagning av anlagda lekbottnar i Västerbottens län 2012 (5 år efter anläggning) visade att kalkinblandning orsakade en pH höjning på 0,85 pH enhet i jämförelsen med ytvattnet. I lekbottnar utan kalkgrus var pH 0,10 enheter lägre i jämförelse med ytvattnet. I syfte att utvärdera lösligheten av kalksubstrat och effekten av pålagring placerades individmärkt kalkgrus ut i 10 olika bäckar med olika vattenkemisk karaktär. Efter 24 månaders exponering hade kalkgruset i samtliga vattendrag påverkats negativt i avseende på deras förmåga att höja pH i avjonat vatten på labb samt på bäckvatten. Den avtagande pH- höjande förmågan förklarades delvis av andelen våtmark samt biomassan av skog i avrinningsområdet. Dock orsakade fortfarande kalkgruset en pH höjning med i medeltal 1,16 enheter av bäckvatten efter 24 månaders exponering. Årliga uppföljningar av bottnarna i Västerbotten (2007-2011) och i Västra Götalands och Jönköpings län (2010-2011) visade att lekgropar eller öring observerades på 6-60 respektive 40 % av bottnarna. I syfte att genomföra en ägg till yngelöverlevnadsstudie av nybefruktad öringsrom under 2012-2013 anlades 18 lekbottnar i Kattån i Jönköpings län 2011. Kattån är i likhet med övriga vatten i studien kalkat och utan förekomst av surstötar. I hälften av lekbottnarna blandades kalkgrus in. Resultaten visade att medelöverlevnaden var 66,6 ± 12,4% (SD) respektive 55,6 ± 9,1% i bottnar utan respektive med inblandning av kalkgrus. Skillnaden var ej statistiskt signifikant. I Västerbottens län hade tätheterna av öring (0+) förändrats i medel + 149 %, + 139 % respektive + 108 % på lokaler behandlade med grus, grus + kalkgrus respektive obehandlade kontroller. I Västra Götaland och Jönköpings län hade tätheterna förändrats i medel -29 %, +64 % respektive - 37 % på lokaler behandlade med grus, grus + kalkgrus respektive obehandlade kontroller. Skillnaderna mellan behandlingarna var dock ej statistiskt signifikanta

Can China Stomach What's in Store for Them?

As incomes in China have grown, their consumption bundles of food products have changed. Through the use of quadratic and linear Almost Ideal Demand Systems for official Chinese governmental provincial panel-data, this thesis examines consumer demand for various food products in rural and urban areas in China from 1995 to 2011. Additionally, a survey was handed out to university students in Shanghai and Beijing in order to complement the official data, and to make comparisons. Results for Chinese urban areas show that food consumption bundles are changing towards less staple goods and more meat, fruit, and vegetable consumption. While for rural areas, staple food consumption still dominates, however, results are less certain due to unreliable data. The survey mostly supported the findings from the official data, and also gave additional information such as indicating increasing consumption of non-traditional food products, such as dairy and fast-food

Session A3: Think Big: Adding Large Structures To Improve Ecosystem Health

Abstract: The Vindel River is one of the few freeflowing its entire catchment are part of the Natura 2000 network. The river was exploited for timber floating between 1850–1976; rapids in the main channel and tributaries below the alpine tree line were channelized to increase timber transport capacity. Side channels were cut off and the flow was concentrated to a single channel from which boulders and large wood were removed. Hence, previously heterogeneous environments were replaced by more homogeneous systems with limited habitat for riverine species. The Vindel River LIFE project (LIFE08 NAT/S/000266) works with the restoration of 25 tributaries in the Vindel River system. The project strives to alleviate the effects of fragmentation and channelization in affected rapids, to improve the quality of water and riparian habitats. The work has included the construction of over 1000 spawning grounds for brown trout, removal of 17 splash dams, the relocation of rocks into the channels, and the strategic placement of large boulders and dead wood in over 50 km of river. Follow up studies have been done in the channels that have been restored with “demonstration methods,” where previously best-practice restored reaches have been re-restored by adding large boulders and large wood (i.e., entire trees, including root wads) from adjacent upland to the channel. The demonstration restoration has generated wider and more complex streams, which in turn has led to more variable water flow and higher water levels. This will decrease the risk of erosion during high flow and reduce the risk of losing spawning areas. However, fish population data collected by electrofishing before and after restoration show very inconsistent results among tributaries. This highlights the need for considering potential catchment scale degradation and not only concentrating on reach scale problems in order to re-establish ecosystem health

The Effect of High Intensity Interval Training on Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy

Background: Cardiac allograph vasculopathy (CAV) is a multifactorial disease process that occurs in heart transplant (HTx) patients and has both immunologic and nonimmunologic components. Exercise has been proven to reduce the progression of CAV. The extent to which high intensity interval training (HIIT) can be utilized and its efficacy for delaying CAV is still being researched. Methods: A thorough search was conducted on three different databases including: MEDLINE-Ovid, Web of Science, and CINAHL. The keywords used during the search were “heart transplantation” and “high intensity interval training.” The search was narrowed to include only articles written in the past 5 years and articles published in the English language. The quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE. Results: Two articles were found that met inclusion criteria. The studies differed from each other in what was considered the control group. The Dal et al studycompared HIIT training to moderate exercise in a cross over trial with a 5-month washout period. Throughout the study endothelial wall damage was recorded. In the Nytrøen et al study participants were placed into a control or HIIT group. The HIIT group received HIIT therapy while the control was instructed to not modify their workouts for the duration of the study. At the end of the study endothelial wall measurements were measured via arterial ultrasound. Conclusion: These studies showed that HIIT therapy can delay the onset of CAV; however, due to the inadequacy of one of the studies it could not be determined if HIIT was better than continuous moderate exercise (CME). The Dall et al group did not have the sensitivity needed in their measurements of the endothelial wall damage to determine if it was more effective than CME. To determine the possible benefits of HIIT more research needs to be conducted. Since CAV is such a risk to HTx patients the optimal exercise program to delay CAV is of critical importance

Discovery and application of insertion-deletion (INDEL) polymorphisms for QTL mapping of early life-history traits in Atlantic salmon

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For decades, linkage mapping has been one of the most powerful and widely used approaches for elucidating the genetic architecture of phenotypic traits of medical, agricultural and evolutionary importance. However, successful mapping of Mendelian and quantitative phenotypic traits depends critically on the availability of fast and preferably high-throughput genotyping platforms. Several array-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping platforms have been developed for genetic model organisms during recent years but most of these methods become prohibitively expensive for screening large numbers of individuals. Therefore, inexpensive, simple and flexible genotyping solutions that enable rapid screening of intermediate numbers of loci (~75-300) in hundreds to thousands of individuals are still needed for QTL mapping applications in a broad range of organisms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we describe the discovery of and application of insertion-deletion (INDEL) polymorphisms for cost-efficient medium throughput genotyping that enables analysis of >75 loci in a single automated sequencer electrophoresis column with standard laboratory equipment. Genotyping of INDELs requires low start-up costs, includes few standard sample handling steps and is applicable to a broad range of species for which expressed sequence tag (EST) collections are available. As a proof of principle, we generated a partial INDEL linkage map in Atlantic salmon (<it>Salmo salar</it>) and rapidly identified a number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting early life-history traits that are expected to have important fitness consequences in the natural environment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The INDEL genotyping enabled fast coarse-mapping of chromosomal regions containing QTL, thus providing an efficient means for characterization of genetic architecture in multiple crosses and large pedigrees. This enables not only the discovery of larger number of QTLs with relatively smaller phenotypic effect but also provides a cost-effective means for evaluation of the frequency of segregating QTLs in outbred populations which is important for further understanding how genetic variation underlying phenotypic traits is maintained in the wild.</p

Dispersal of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) fry in a low gradient stream - implications for egg stocking practices

Stocking of eggs is a common strategy to support declining or reintroduce extirpated salmonid populations. Data on how juveniles disperse from stocking points is crucial to be able to design efficient stocking programs. Detailed information of dispersal is limited for many salmonids, for example, brown trout. In this study, dispersal distance was measured at the end of the first growing season in a low gradient (0.7%) stream in Sweden where the trout population had been depleted. Eggs from 17 separate sets of parents were stocked as eyed eggs in March. During the following fall fry were sampled throughout the stream. The majority of the fry dispersed downstream and remained within a distance of 200 m from the stocking point with no difference between sizes of fry and the presence of a competing cohort or not. There was no dissimilarity in dispersal distances across offspring originating from different parents indicating absence of genetic influence. Our results suggest that, in streams similar to our study site, stocking points should be separated by approximately 330 m in order to avoid overlap in habitat use of fry from different stocking points and that the presence of competing cohorts, fry size and within population variability in dispersal can be neglected

Review of Blockchain-based Tokenization Solutions for Assets in Supply Chains

Recently, blockchain-based tokens have earned an important role in fields such as the art market or online gaming. First approaches exist, which adopt the potentials of blockchain tokens in supply chain management to increase transparency, visibility, automation, and disintermediation of supply chains. In context, the tokenization of assets in supply chains refers to the practice of creating virtual representations of physical assets on the blockchain. Solutions in supply chain management based on the tokenization of assets vary in terms of application objectives, token types, asset characteristics, as well as the complexities of supply chain events to be mapped on the blockchain. Currently, however, no review exists that summarizes the characteristics of blockchain-based tokens and their scope of applications. This paper provides a clear terminological distinction of existing blockchain token types and therefore distinguishes between fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens, smart non-fungible tokens, and dynamic smart non-fungible tokens. Subsequently, the token types are classified regarding their traceability, modifiability, and authorization to evaluate suitability for mapping assets in supply chains. Given the potential of blockchain in supply chain management, the results of the review serve as a foundation for a practical guide supporting the selection process of suitable token types for industrial applications

Opportunities And Challenges Of The Asset Administration Shell For Holistic Traceability In Supply Chain Management

Due to changing regulatory environments, evolving sustainability requirements, and the need to perform effective supply chain risk management, traceability systems have become an increasingly important aspect of supply chain management. However, globalized, interconnected supply chains require a dynamic mapping of direct and indirect relationships between companies and assets, driving traceability systems' complexity. Here, the standardization of data formats provides an essential aspect to facilitate asset-related information sharing across companies. In this regard, the Asset Administration Shell is available as a holistic standardized digital representation of an asset. The representation of an asset via an Administration Shell includes data ensuring a clear identification of the Administration Shell and its assets as well as data describing aspects of the asset's technical functionality in so-called submodels. Based on current literature and available prototypical concepts, this paper identifies the opportunities and challenges of the Asset Administration Shell when aiming to map interconnected multi-tier supply chains holistically and contextualizes their role in achieving holistic supply chain traceability

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy and tolerability

BACKGROUND Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potential alternative treatment option for major depressive episodes (MDE). OBJECTIVES We address the efficacy and safety of tDCS in MDE. METHODS The outcome measures were Hedges' g for continuous depression ratings, and categorical response and remission rates. RESULTS A random effects model indicated that tDCS was superior to sham tDCS (k=11, N=393, g=0.30, 95% CI=[0.04, 0.57], p=0.027). Adjunctive antidepressant medication and cognitive control training negatively impacted on the treatment effect. The pooled log odds ratios (LOR) for response and remission were positive, but statistically non-significant (response: k=9, LOR=0.36, 95% CI[-0.16, 0.88], p=0.176, remission: k=9, LOR=0.25, 95% CI [-0.42, 0.91], p=0.468). We estimated that for a study to detect the pooled continuous effect (g=0.30) at 80% power (alpha=0.05), a total N of at least 346 would be required (with the total N required to detect the upper and lower bound being 49 and 12,693, respectively). CONCLUSIONS tDCS may be efficacious for treatment of MDE. The data do not support the use of tDCS in treatment-resistant depression, or as an add-on augmentation treatment. Larger studies over longer treatment periods are needed