Managing Supplier Requirements with HSE Accounting: The case of the Mechanical Engineering Company Bisma Jaya, Indonesia

As recent disasters in the offshore petroleum and other industries illustrate, managing HSE isparticularly relevant for companies operating in high risk industrial sectors. HSE managementsystems support companies in minimising adverse health effects, injuries and environmentaldamages as well as in complying with legislation, standards and stakeholder expectations. Keyelements are risk assessment and control through implementation of preventive and protectivemeasures, the preparation of emergency situations and investigation of accidents. HSE managementsystems have also become a common element of supply chain audits and management. Toincrease transparency in their supply chains and to reduce risks, large companies aim at aligningcompliance of suppliers with their health, safety and environment (HSE) goals and policy.This paper shows with the case of Bisma Jaya, an Indonesian mechanical engineering company,how accounting for HSE can support small and medium sized suppliers to meet the requirementsof large international customers. This paper proposes a framework for HSE managementaccounting and examines the use of management accounting to improve the HSE performanceof an Indonesian company as a response to customer audit requirements. The companyis a supplier of a large oil company and seeks for effective and efficient ways of HSE improvement.The paper unfolds benefits and limitations of narrow efficiency-oriented responsesto rating systems and audits and highlights that efficiency considerations in HSE managementare only partially useful and require complementing effectiveness considerations on HSE performance. Copyright © www.iiste.or

Qualitative und quantitative Analyse von SOA-Studien: Eine Metastudie zu serviceorientierten Architekturen

In diesem Forschungsbericht werden die Ergebnisse einer Metastudie über empirische Erhebungen zu serviceorientierten Architekturen dargestellt. Im ersten Teil der Analyse werden die betrachteten Studien anhand von qualitativen Eigenschaften miteinander verglichen, wodurch die Auswahl geeigneter Studien in der Forschung oder für IT-Entscheider erleichtert wird. Die konkreten Ergebnisse der Studien werden im zweiten Teil, der quantitativen Analyse der Studien, aufgezeigt, indem vergleichbare Fragestellungen aus den Studien anhand von statistischen Maßen einander gegenübergestellt werden

Time for Change - Die Implementierung des Modellstudiengangs Humanmedizin in Köln

Im Wintersemester 2003/2004 hat die Medizinische Fakultät der Universität zu Köln den Modellstudiengang Humanmedizin begonnen. Mit dem kommenden Wintersemester 2008/2009 werden die ersten Studierenden im Praktischen Jahr eingesetzt werden. Für die Durchsetzung dieses Programms machen die Autoren insbesondere die folgenden Strategien und Entscheidungen verantwortlich: das Vorgehen entlang des Leitfadens der WFME (1999); die Top-Down-Strategie zur Entscheidungs¬findung und Bottom-Up-Strategie in der konkreten Umsetzung (also Einbezug der Fakultät von Beginn an); die Nutzung lokaler Stärken ergänzt durch die Schaffung neuer Strukturen; ein "evolutionäres" Prinzip bei der Einführung von Änderungen. 06.02.2009 | Christoph Stosch, Klaus Lehmann & Stefan Herzig (Köln

Regulations and practices of structured doctoral education in the life sciences in Germany

Structured doctoral education is increasingly preferred compared to the individual model. Several science policy organisations give recommendations on how to structure doctoral education. However, there is little research on to what extent these recommendations find their way into practice. In our study, we first compared European and German recommendations on doctoral education with, second, the institutional regulations of structured doctoral programmes (N= 98) in the life sciences at twelve different German universities. Additionally, we third asked doctoral graduates (N= 1796) of these structured doctoral programmes and graduates of individual doctoral studies about their experience in doctoral education. Fourth, we contrasted the regulations of structured doctoral programmes with the reported experiences of their graduates. We found significant deviations of the reported practices of graduates from the regulations of their organisations, regarding the student admission, supervision and curricular activities of doctoral candidates. The efficacy of structured versus traditional doctoral education should be examined based on reported practice rather than on the respective written regulations

Umweltrechnungslegung in Südostasien

Die Umweltrechnungslegung unterstützt die Integration ökologischer und ökonomischer Informationen für Entscheidungsprozesse. Ein internationales Forschungs-, Transfer- und Weiterbildungsprojekt verankert dieses Konzept im südostasiatischen Raum

Mice lacking neutral amino acid transporter B⁰AT1 (Slc6a19) have elevated levels of FGF21 and GLP-1 and improved glycaemic control

OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes arises from insulin resistance of peripheral tissues followed by dysfunction of β-cells in the pancreas due to metabolic stress. Both depletion and supplementation of neutral amino acids have been discussed as strategies to improve insulin sensitivity. Here we characterise mice lacking the intestinal and renal neutral amino acid transporter B⁰AT1 (Slc6a19) as a model to study the consequences of selective depletion of neutral amino acids. METHODS: Metabolic tests, analysis of metabolite levels and signalling pathways were used to characterise mice lacking the intestinal and renal neutral amino acid transporter B⁰AT1 (Slc6a19). RESULTS: Reduced uptake of neutral amino acids in the intestine and loss of neutral amino acids in the urine causes an overload of amino acids in the lumen of the intestine and reduced systemic amino acid availability. As a result, higher levels of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) are produced by the intestine after a meal, while the liver releases the starvation hormone fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). The combination of these hormones generates a metabolic phenotype that is characterised by efficient removal of glucose, particularly by the heart, reduced adipose tissue mass, browning of subcutaneous white adipose tissue, enhanced production of ketone bodies and reduced hepatic glucose output. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced neutral amino acid availability improves glycaemic control. The epithelial neutral amino acid transporter B⁰AT1 could be a suitable target to treat type 2 diabetes.This work was supported by a sponsored research agreement with Sanofi-Aventis, Germany

Ras and TGFβ cooperatively regulate epithelial cell plasticity and metastasis: dissection of Ras signaling pathways

Multistep carcinogenesis involves more than six discrete events also important in normal development and cell behavior. Of these, local invasion and metastasis cause most cancer deaths but are the least well understood molecularly. We employed a combined in vitro/in vivo carcinogenesis model, that is, polarized Ha-Ras–transformed mammary epithelial cells (EpRas), to dissect the role of Ras downstream signaling pathways in epithelial cell plasticity, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. Ha-Ras cooperates with transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) to cause epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) characterized by spindle-like cell morphology, loss of epithelial markers, and induction of mesenchymal markers. EMT requires continuous TGFβ receptor (TGFβ-R) and oncogenic Ras signaling and is stabilized by autocrine TGFβ production. In contrast, fibroblast growth factors, hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor, or TGFβ alone induce scattering, a spindle-like cell phenotype fully reversible after factor withdrawal, which does not involve sustained marker changes. Using specific inhibitors and effector-specific Ras mutants, we show that a hyperactive Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is required for EMT, whereas activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) causes scattering and protects from TGFβ-induced apoptosis. Hyperactivation of the PI3K pathway or the Raf/MAPK pathway are sufficient for tumorigenesis, whereas EMT in vivo and metastasis required a hyperactive Raf/MAPK pathway. Thus, EMT seems to be a close in vitro correlate of metastasis, both requiring synergism between TGFβ-R and Raf/MAPK signaling