Branding a Cohesive Identity: The Case of Northern Illinois Alliance

This paper reflects upon a communication action plan that was developed for Northern Illinois Alliance. After examination of its current communication, competitor communication, research from Adayana (a research firm), and discussions with NIA\u27s general manager, it was determined that NIA suffers from a lack of cohesive organizational identity and overall branding. Therefore, organizational identity and branding were used as the framework for the communication action plan. The paper outlines data collection, reasoning for the proposed tactics within the communication action plan, and an overall evaluation from NIA\u27s general manager

Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in maize on the basis of F3 and testcross progeny performance

Associations between genotypes of molecular marker loci and phenotypic performance can be used to identify QTL. Phenotypic performance is subject to the choice of progeny for evaluation and environmental conditions where evaluation occurs. The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness of F[subscript]3 and testcross (TC) progeny evaluation in detecting QTL on the basis of empirical results and theoretical considerations and to determine the stability of QTL detection across environments;One hundred eighty-two F[subscript]2 individuals derived from a B52 x B73 cross were genotyped at 87 segregating RFLP loci. Field performance of F[subscript]3 lines and TC progenies, generated by crossing F[subscript]3 lines with the testers, Mo17 and Oh43, was determined for several agronomic traits, including grain yield and resistance to second generation European corn borer. Based on QTL positions estimated by interval mapping using means over environments (two to six environments, depending on trait), Mo17 TCs and Oh43 TCs identified QTL in common with one another more often than with F[subscript]3 lines. Mo17 TC evaluation was more effective in detecting QTL for grain yield than Oh43 TC evaluation, suggesting that specific combining ability is important for this trait;Based on theoretical considerations, F[subscript]3 lines are expected to be more effective than TC progenies at detecting a QTL when gene action at the locus is additive, regardless of tester choice. Variance expressed in TC evaluation will be maximized when the tester allele expresses a high level of dominance with the favorable population allele. Apparent overdominance was observed in 52% of F[subscript]3-identified QTL when using single-QTL analysis. This frequency was reduced to 38% when using multiple-QTL analysis. Deviation effects associated with heterozygous-derived TC families were often high although their expectation is zero;Marker genotype x environment interaction was extremely low for most traits. Significant interactions were more frequent for root lodging and stalk lodging although they rarely occurred at loci with significant marker main effects. QTL identified by interval mapping were generally stable across environments for grain yield and several other traits judging by the positions of log-likelihood peaks

Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in maize on the basis of F3 and testcross progeny performance

Associations between genotypes of molecular marker loci and phenotypic performance can be used to identify QTL. Phenotypic performance is subject to the choice of progeny for evaluation and environmental conditions where evaluation occurs. The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness of F[subscript]3 and testcross (TC) progeny evaluation in detecting QTL on the basis of empirical results and theoretical considerations and to determine the stability of QTL detection across environments;One hundred eighty-two F[subscript]2 individuals derived from a B52 x B73 cross were genotyped at 87 segregating RFLP loci. Field performance of F[subscript]3 lines and TC progenies, generated by crossing F[subscript]3 lines with the testers, Mo17 and Oh43, was determined for several agronomic traits, including grain yield and resistance to second generation European corn borer. Based on QTL positions estimated by interval mapping using means over environments (two to six environments, depending on trait), Mo17 TCs and Oh43 TCs identified QTL in common with one another more often than with F[subscript]3 lines. Mo17 TC evaluation was more effective in detecting QTL for grain yield than Oh43 TC evaluation, suggesting that specific combining ability is important for this trait;Based on theoretical considerations, F[subscript]3 lines are expected to be more effective than TC progenies at detecting a QTL when gene action at the locus is additive, regardless of tester choice. Variance expressed in TC evaluation will be maximized when the tester allele expresses a high level of dominance with the favorable population allele. Apparent overdominance was observed in 52% of F[subscript]3-identified QTL when using single-QTL analysis. This frequency was reduced to 38% when using multiple-QTL analysis. Deviation effects associated with heterozygous-derived TC families were often high although their expectation is zero;Marker genotype x environment interaction was extremely low for most traits. Significant interactions were more frequent for root lodging and stalk lodging although they rarely occurred at loci with significant marker main effects. QTL identified by interval mapping were generally stable across environments for grain yield and several other traits judging by the positions of log-likelihood peaks.</p

Multi-objective aggregate production planning with fuzzy parameters

In this paper, a direct solution method that is based on ranking methods of fuzzy numbers and tabu search is proposed to solve fuzzy multi-objective aggregate production planning problem. The parameters of the problem are defined as triangular fuzzy numbers. During problem solution four different fuzzy ranking methods are employed/tested. One of the primary objectives of this study is to show that how a multi-objective aggregate production planning problem which is stated as a fuzzy mathematical programming model can also be solved directly (without needing a transformation process) by employing fuzzy ranking methods and a metaheuristic algorithm. The results show that this can be easily achieved. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Branding a Cohesive Identity: The Case of Northern Illinois Alliance

This paper reflects upon a communication action plan that was developed for Northern Illinois Alliance. After examination of its current communication, competitor communication, research from Adayana (a research firm), and discussions with NIA\u27s general manager, it was determined that NIA suffers from a lack of cohesive organizational identity and overall branding. Therefore, organizational identity and branding were used as the framework for the communication action plan. The paper outlines data collection, reasoning for the proposed tactics within the communication action plan, and an overall evaluation from NIA\u27s general manager

A simulation based approach to analyse the effects of job release on the performance of a multi-stage job-shop with processing flexibility

Workload control concepts are advocated as one of the new production planning and control methods. In its elaborated form, workload control includes three major decision levels: job entry, job release and priority dispatching. In each decision level, several decision points which have significant impact on the effectiveness of the production planning and control are defined (i.e., acceptance/rejection, due date assignment, etc.). Workload control systems should consider all of these decision points simultaneously in order to improve the effectiveness of production planning and control. In addition to these decision levels, flexibility of the shop can also be included as the fourth decision level which allows the shop capacity to be adjusted as new orders enter the system and as they are released to the shop floor. In this study, simulation models which enable the effect of each decision level within a workload control concept to be explored are developed and tested. The results reveal that simultaneous consideration of decision levels is critical and can improve the effectiveness of production planning and control

A tabu search approach to fuzzy goal programs and an application to aggregate production planning

In this article, a multiple-objective tabu-search-based solution method is developed to solve fuzzy goal programs. The application of the method is shown on a fuzzy aggregate production-planning problem. Extensive computational work is carried out to present the performance of the algorithm and the effect of its parameters on the solution quality

Gene expression programming based due date assignment in a simulated job shop

In this paper, a new approach for due date assignment in a multi-stage job shop is proposed and evaluated. The proposed approach is based on a genetic programming technique which is known as gene expression programming (GEP). GEP is a relatively new member of the genetic programming family. The primary objective of this research is to compare the performance of the proposed due date assignment model with several previously proposed conventional due date assignment models. For this purpose, simulation models are developed and comparisons of the due date assignment models are made mainly in terms of the mean absolute percent error (MAPE), mean percent error (MPE) and mean tardiness (MT). Some additional performance measurements are also given. Simulation experiments revealed that for many test conditions the proposed due date assignment method dominates all other compared due date assignment methods. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved