Electronic Reverse Auctions: Spawning Procurement Innovation in the Context of Arab Culture

Government e-procurement initiatives have the potential to transform local institutions, but few studies have been published of strategies for implementing specific e-procurement tools, particularly involving procurement by a foreign government adapting to local culture in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA). This case describes procurement at a forward operating base (FOB) in Kuwait in support of operations in Iraq. The government procurers had to deal with a phenomenon unique to the MENA region: wasta. Wasta is a form of social capital that bestows power, influence, and connection to those who possess it, similar to guanxi in China. This study explores the value proposition and limitations of electronic reverse auctions (eRA) with the purpose of sharing best practices and lessons learned for government procurement in a MENA country. The public value framework provides valuable theoretical insights for the implementation of a new government e-procurement tool in a foreign country. In a culture dominated by wasta, the suppliers enjoyed the transparency and merit-based virtues of eRA’s that transferred successfully into the new cultural milieu: potential to increase transparency, competition, efficiency, and taxpayer savings. The practices provided herein are designed specifically to help buyers overcome structural barriers including training, organizational inertia, and a lack of eRA policy and guidance while implementing a new e-procurement tool in a foreign country

Socio-Economic Sourcing: Benefits of Small Business Set-Asides in Public Procurement

Purpose Small businesses are critical to economic health and encouraged in government spending by set-asides – annual small business sourcing goals that often are not attained. Little research has explored the negative and risky stigmas associated with small business sourcing. Design/methodology/approach This research explores reduced transaction costs of small business sourcing to government buyers. A survey of 350 government source selections reveals lower transaction costs derived from lower perceived risk of receiving a bid protest and via more efficient source selection processes. Findings Contrary to common bias, the performance level of small businesses is no less than that of large business. Thus, small businesses engender lower transaction costs for correcting supplier’s performance. On the basis of these findings, managerial and theoretical implications are discussed

Use of High Pressure Liquid Chromatography to Detect and Quantify Oxytetracycline Marks in Walleye Otoliths and Dorsal Spines

Oxytetracycline (OTC) is used to chemically mark calcified structures in walleye Stizostedion vitreum fry and fingerlings. Current visual methods for detection of these marks are subjective, and biologists are unable to quantify the amount of OTC in a sample. The goal of this study was to determine if high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a feasible and superior alternative for detecting and quantifying OTC in otoliths of fry-marked and spines of fingerlingmarked walleyes. Study objectives were to validate methodology of extraction of OTC from calcified tissue, detect and quantify extracted OTC using HPLC, and determine a cost comparison of current visual detection methods and detection using HPLC. Walleye fry and fingerlings were marked with OTC at 700 ppm for 6 h. Methods that currently exist for extraction of OTC from edible tissue were assessed and modified to extract OTC from calcified tissue. Extraction and detection of OTC from otoliths of fry-marked walleyes using HPLC was largely unsuccessful. Visual methods of detecting OTC in walleye otoliths were found to be highly variable among viewers. Extraction and detection of OTC from fingerling-marked walleye dorsal spines using HPLC was 100% accurate. Visual detection rates of OTC in dorsal spines were variable and similar to those of other researchers. High pressure liquid chromatography detection was more expensive than visual methods, but fewer samples may be needed because of increased accuracy, which may reduce the cost of HPLC analysis. Costs needed to train viewers and purchase and maintain visual detection equipment were not included in this study, but should be considered when comparing methods

AMPHIBIAN RESPONSE TO A LARGE-SCALE HABITAT RESTORATION IN THE PRAIRIE POTHOLE REGION

Over the next half-century, scientists anticipate that nearly one third of the currently recognized 7,450 amphibian species will become extinct. Many organizations have responded to the challenge of conserving amphibian biodiversity, some indirectly. Under the auspices of the Iowa Great Lakes Management Plan, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Natural Resources, and their partners have been implementing habitat restoration efforts designed to protect water quality, provide recreational opportunities, and benefit wildlife at the regional level. With this program, over 130 wetlands have been created in the past 30 years on recently purchased public lands—one of the largest wetland restoration projects conducted in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains. While amphibians were not the main target of these restorations, we show that in response, 121 new breeding populations of native Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens; n = 80) and Eastern Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum; n = 41) have been established; in addition, we found 19 populations of non-native American Bullfrogs (L. catesbeianus). Using the program PRESENCE, we show that leopard frog occupancy was greatest in newer (<18 years old), intermediate-sized wetlands, and that tiger salamander occupancy was greatest in small wetlands without fish and larval bullfrogs. These data imply that because native amphibians responded positively to these newly established wetlands, habitat availability has likely been a factor in limiting population numbers. Further, these data suggest the presence of fishes and introduced bullfrogs interferes with the ability of tiger salamanders to colonize restored wetlands

Rational combinations of Betti diagrams of complete intersections

We investigate decompositions of Betti diagrams over a polynomial ring within the framework of Boij-S\"oderberg theory. That is, given a Betti diagram, we determine if it is possible to decompose it into the Betti diagrams of complete intersections. To do so, we determine the extremal rays of the cone generated by the diagrams of complete intersections and provide a rudimentary algorithm for decomposition.Comment: This research was conducted at the Willamette Mathematics Consortium RE

Macroalgae contribute to the diet of Patella vulgata from contrasting conditions of latitude and wave exposure in the UK

Analysis of gut contents and stable isotope composition of intertidal limpets (Patella vulgata) showed a major contribution of macroalgae to their diet, along with microalgae and invertebrates. Specimens were collected in areas with limited access to attached macroalgae, suggesting a major dietary component of drift algae. Gut contents of 480 animals from 2 moderately wave exposed and 2 sheltered rocky shores in each of 2 regions: western Scotland (55–56°N) and southwest England (50°N), were analysed in 2 years (n = 30 per site per year). The abundance of microalgae, macroalgae and invertebrates within the guts was quantified using categorical abundance scales. Gut content composition was compared among regions and wave exposure conditions, showing that the diet of P. vulgata changes with both wave exposure and latitude. Microalgae were most abundant in limpet gut contents in animals from southwest sites, whilst leathery/corticated macroalgae were more prevalent and abundant in limpets from sheltered and northern sites. P. vulgata appears to have a more flexible diet than previously appreciated and these keystone grazers consume not only microalgae, but also large quantities of macroalgae and small invertebrates. To date, limpet grazing studies have focussed on their role in controlling recruitment of macroalgae by feeding on microscopic propagules and germlings. Consumption of adult algae suggests P. vulgata may also directly control the biomass of attached macroalgae on the shore, whilst consumption of drift algae indicates the species may play important roles in coupling subtidal and intertidal production

Tourism and Place in Treasure Beach, Jamaica: Imagining Paradise and the Alternative.

The tourism production system has been generating images of the Jamaican landscape and culture since the mid-nineteenth century. This system consists of those individuals and corporate entities who produce and market the product itself, including travel writers, airlines, advertising agencies, hotel owners and government agencies; and the people, their culture, and elements of the landscape which are commodified as tourist attractions. The tourist gaze has traditionally focused on an idealized Caribbean landscape. Because of a shift in Western patterns of consumption, the focus of the gaze has shifted to emphasize the culture and people who inhabit the landscape. As the tourism industry seeks to differentiate Jamaica from other destinations, those aspects of culture which originally evolved as forms of resistance to Western domination, Rastafarianism and reggae music, are now valued and marketed as part of the tourism product. All-inclusive resorts have successfully packaged selected elements of culture and landscape as a simulated and safe experience of the real Jamaica for mainstream post-tourists. Alternative post-tourists, on the other hand, seek out experiences in undiscovered places. Treasure Beach, Jamaica is an alternative destination being drawn into the formal tourism production system. Remote places may be so commodified as to lose their distinctive sense of place that attracted tourists in the first place. Although Treasure Beach is caught up in a process of change, the local power structure and the people themselves are adapting and have retained a strong sense of their place in the world

Superoxide radicals can act synergistically with hypochlorite to induce damage to proteins

AbstractActivated phagocytes generate both superoxide radicals via a respiratory burst, and HOCl via the concurrent release of the haem enzyme myeloperoxidase. Amine and amide functions on proteins and carbohydrates are major targets for HOCl, generating chloramines (RNHCl) and chloramides (RC(O)NClR′), which can accumulate to high concentrations (>100 μM). Here we show that superoxide radicals catalyse the decomposition of chloramines and chloramides to reactive nitrogen-centred radicals, and increase the extent of protein fragmentation compared to that observed with either superoxide radicals or HOCl, alone. This synergistic action may be of significance at sites of inflammation, where both superoxide radicals and chloramines/chloramides are formed simultaneously

Libr-AR-y Tours: Increasing Engagement and Scalability of Library Tours Using Augmented Reality

The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is available in College & Undergraduate Libraries, August 2018, https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2018.1480445Orienting patrons to library spaces, collections, and services is an important, but time-intensive, challenge for many librarians. Library tours are one strategy commonly employed to familiarize patrons with library spaces and services. Augmented reality provides a new opportunity for librarians to develop engaging and interactive unmediated tours. Augmented reality tours provide participants with an opportunity to explore library spaces and service points while affording librarians the chance to share valuable information about those spaces and services. This article details how one library constructed an augmented reality tour and shares assessment-based insights into participant responses to the augmented reality format