Tracking and Tracing in Food Networks: The Case of the Feed Industry

This paper discusses an organisational framework for Tracking & Tracing and quality management in the agriculture and food network and thus providing increased transparency therein. The legal and market environments that especially European companies of the compound feeds sector face today is being analyzed with respect to resulting recent and present requirements. A technological solution for companies and supply chains that helps dealing with these requirements is presented with an organisational glance inside the QM-G system.Tracking & Tracing, Feed Industry, Inter-Organizational Information System QM-G, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Informationsmanagement im betrieblichen Qualitätswesen : Umsetzung in der Agrar- und Ernährungsindustrie

Lebensmittelsicherheit, Rückverfolgbarkeit und eine Vielzahl von weiteren Anforderungen an die Qualität von Produkten sowie ihren Herstellungs- und Handelsprozess sind heute entscheidend für den Markterfolg von Unternehmen der Agrar- und Ernährungsindustrie. Die Erfüllung dieser Anforderungen stellt die Unternehmen jedoch vor immer neue Herausforderungen. Diese sind unter anderem durch Besonderheiten der Ware "Lebensmittel", Komplexitäten der Prozesse, Informationsasymmetrien in Handelsbeziehungen, Sektorstrukturen und die inhaltliche Dynamik der Anforderungen selbst bedingt. Die Arbeit untersucht, ob und wie die aktuellen Anforderungen an das Qualitätsmanagement, die Rückverfolgbarkeit und die Unbedenklichkeit von Lebensmitteln vor diesem Hintergrund mit Hilfe von Informationssystemen effizient bewältigt werden können. Deshalb sind einerseits aktuelle Entwicklungen im Qualitätsmanagement der Agrar- und Ernährungsindustrie sowie die Untersuchung existierender Ansätze zur informationellen Unterstützung des Qualitätsmanagements eine Grundlage der vorliegenden Arbeit. Andererseits bietet das Wissensgebiet des Informationsmanagements mit einer Reihe von Modellen und Konzepten den Ausgangspunkt zur Diskussion von darüber hinausgehenden innovativen Nutzungsszenarien im Qualitätsmanagement. Während dem Informationsmanagement traditionell lediglich eine unterstützende Rolle zugewiesen wird, existieren auch Theorien, die eine gegenseitige Beeinflussung von Unternehmensführung und Informationsmanagement unterstellen. Diesem Ansatz entsprechend stellt die Arbeit die Potentiale des Informationsmanagements als Enabler des Qualitätsmanagements vor. Dabei werden inhaltlich funktionale Elemente einerseits sowie Optionen der Leistungserbringung andererseits ausgeführt. Da auch die Systementwicklung dieser Wechselwirkung Rechnung trägt, wird ein entsprechend angepasstes Prozessmodell der Informationssystementwicklung etabliert. Die so entwickelten Referenzelemente, die Optionen der Leistungserbringung und das entwickelte Vorgehensmodell werden in Fallstudien bei Unternehmen der Agrar- und Ernährungsindustrie untersucht. Neben der grundsätzlichen Überprüfung der Konzepte können dabei Zusammenhänge zwischen bestimmten Gegebenheiten der Unternehmen und den für das spezifische QM System relevanten Unterstützungsoptionen etabliert werden. Die These, dass die aktuellen Anforderungen an das Qualitätsmanagement, die Rückverfolgbarkeit und die Unbedenklichkeit von Lebensmitteln sich mit Hilfe von Informationssystemen effizient bewältigen lassen, kann basierend auf der Untersuchung der Fallstudien bestätigt werden. Dabei bilden die Systeme aber nicht nur die Arbeitsumgebung, in der die externen Anforderungen erfüllt werden können, sondern schaffen auch den Rahmen, um unternehmensintern motivierte Qualitätsstrategien umzusetzen und zu kommunizieren.Information Management in Corporate Quality Management - Implementation in the Agrifood Industry Food safety, traceability and numerous other demands on the quality of products as well as their production and trade-processes are of paramount importance for the market success of enterprises in the agrifood sector. However, meeting those demands poses new, ever changing challenges to the companies. These arise due to specific features of food and feed, complexities in production and trade-processes, information asymmetries in trade relations, sector- characteristics and dynamic development of regulatory as well as market-borne demands on quality management. The present thesis intends to answer the question if and how current demands on quality management, traceability and food safety can be efficiently handled by utilizing appropriate information management techniques. Therefore, current developments in quality management of the agrifood industry as well as existing concepts for information support form one part of the thesis´ background. The other part of the thesis´ background originates in information management science, which supplies a number of models and concepts well suited for the development of innovative solutions for information management in corporate quality management. While information management is traditionally seen as a supporting function to overall business management, there are theories which emphasize that the influence between both spheres is mutual. Following this train of thought the thesis points out potentials of information management as an enabler to quality management. These are delineated in three areas: supporting information systems functions, sourcing options for corporate information management and the design and development process for information systems. The established supporting functions, sourcing options and the model of the development process are tested and evaluated in case studies with companies of the Agribusiness. Beyond the evaluation of their basic fitness for use, these case studies give an insight on the linkage between enterprise characteristics and the type of support needed in information management. The hypothesis that current demands on quality management can only be efficiently dealt with by the means of information management can be verified on the basis of these case studies. The established options for information management do not only form a means to reactively meet external demands but also enables the implementation and communication of quality management for a proactive positioning in the market.</p

Grasp preparation modulates early visual processing of size and detection of local/global stimulus features

Preparing to grasp objects facilitates visual processing of object location, orientation and size, compared to preparing actions such as pointing. This influence of action on perception reflects mechanisms of selection in visual perception tuned to current action goals, such that action relevant sensory information is prioritized relative to less relevant information. In three experiments, rather than varying movement type (grasp vs. point), the magnitude of a prepared movement (power vs. precision grasps) was manipulated while visual processing of object size, as well as local/global target detection was measured. Early event-related potentials elicited by task-irrelevant visual probes were enhanced for larger probes during power grasp preparation and smaller probes during precision grasp preparation. Local targets were detected faster following precision, relative to power grasp cues. The results demonstrate a direct influence of grasp preparation on sensory processing of size and suggest that the hierarchical dimension of objects may be a relevant perceptual feature for grasp programming. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that preparing different magnitudes of the same basic action has systematic effects on visual processing

Tracking and Tracing in Food Networks: The Case of the Feed Industry

This paper discusses an organisational framework for Tracking & Tracing and quality management in the agriculture and food network and thus providing increased transparency therein. The legal and market environments that especially European companies of the compound feeds sector face today is being analyzed with respect to resulting recent and present requirements. A technological solution for companies and supply chains that helps dealing with these requirements is presented with an organisational glance inside the QM-G system

Homogeneous time-resolved G protein-coupled receptor-ligand binding assay based on fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate many important physiological functions and are considered as one of the most successful therapeutic target classes for a wide spectrum of diseases. Drug discovery projects generally benefit from a broad range of experimental approaches for screening compound libraries and for the characterization of binding modes of drug candidates. Owing to the difficulties in solubilizing and purifying GPCRs, assay formats have been so far mainly limited to cell based functional assays and radioligand binding assays. In this study, we used fluorescence cross correlation spectroscopy (FCCS) to analyze the interaction of detergent-solubilized receptors to various types of GPCR ligands: endogenous peptides, small molecules, and a large surrogate antagonist represented by a blocking monoclonal antibody. Our work demonstrates the suitability of the homogeneous and time-resolved FCCS assay format for a robust, high-throughput determination of receptor ligand binding affinities and kinetic rate constants for various therapeutically relevant GPCRs. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc

Structural and functional insights into the fly microRNA biogenesis factor Loquacious

In the microRNA (miRNA) pathway, Dicer processes precursors to mature miRNAs. For efficient processing, double-stranded RNA-binding proteins support Dicer proteins. In flies, Loquacious (Logs) interacts with Dicer1 (dmDcr1) to facilitate miRNA processing. Here, we have solved the structure of the third double-stranded RNA-binding domain (dsRBD) of Logs and define specific structural elements that interact with dmDcr1. In addition, we show that the linker preceding dsRBD3 contributes significantly to dmDcr1 binding. Furthermore, our structural work demonstrates that the third dsRBD of Logs forms homodimers. Mutations in the dimerization interface abrogate dmDcr1 interaction. Logs, however, binds to dmDcr1 as a monomer using the identified dimerization surface, which suggests that Loqs might form dimers under conditions where dmDcr1 is absent or not accessible. Since critical sequence elements are conserved, we suggest that dimerization might be a general feature of dsRBD proteins in gene silencing