How do supply chain management and information systems practices influence operational performance?:Evidence from emerging country SMEs

This study first provides a comparative analysis of the impact of supply chain management (SCM) and information systems (IS) practices on operational performance (OPER) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in two neighbouring emerging country markets of Turkey and Bulgaria. Then, we investigate moderating effects of both SCM–IS-linked enablers and inhibitors on the links between SCM and IS practices and OPER of SMEs. To this end, we first empirically identify the underlying dimensions of SCM and IS practices, and SCM–IS-related enabling and inhibiting factors. Second, a series of regression analyses are undertaken to estimate the impact of the study's constructs on OPER of SMEs. The results are discussed comparatively within the contexts of both Turkish and Bulgarian SMEs and beyond. The study makes a significant contribution to the extant literature through obtaining and analysing cross-national survey data of SCM and IS practices in emerging country markets

How does firm innovativeness enable supply chain resilience?:The moderating role of supply uncertainty and interdependence

Despite its potential benefits in a wide range of circumstances, firm innovativeness received scant attention in relation to managing the various risks and uncertainties in the global business environment. Likewise, there is still a limited understanding of firms’ supply chain resilience (SCR) and its related antecedents in the strategic management literature. This research focuses on exploring the relationship between firm innovativeness and SCR in an attempt to facilitate bridging the gap between two important research streams and shed some light on the contingent value of firm innovativeness against disruptions and adversities. The moderating role of supply uncertainty and interdependence in the focal relationship was also hypothesised and tested. Findings suggest that firm innovativeness is positively associated with firm SCR, and supply uncertainty negatively moderates this relationship but interdependence does not. We argue that this could be due to the dual nature of interdependence in supply networks

Relationship between margin distance and local recurrence among patients undergoing wedge resection for small (≤2 cm) non–small cell lung cancer

ObjectiveSuccessful pulmonary wedge resection for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer requires a pathologically confirmed negative margin. To date, however, no clear evidence is available regarding whether an optimal margin distance, defined as the distance from the primary tumor to the closest resection margin, exists. Toward addressing this gap, we investigated the relationship between the margin distance and local recurrence risk.MethodsWe reviewed all adult patients who had undergone wedge resection for small (≤2 cm) non–small cell lung cancer from January 2001 to August 2011, with follow-up through to December 31, 2011. The exclusion criteria included other active noncutaneous malignancies, bronchoalveolar carcinomas, lymph node or distant metastases at diagnosis, large cell cancer, adenosquamous cancer, multiple, multifocal, and/or metastatic disease, and previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Using Cox regression analysis, we examined the relationship between the margin distance and interval to local recurrence, adjusting for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, smoking, diabetes, tumor size, tumor location, surgeon, open versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and whether the lymph nodes were sampled.ResultsOf 557 consecutive adult patients, 479 met our inclusion criteria. The overall, unadjusted 1- and 2-year local recurrences rate was 5.7% and 11.0%, respectively. From the adjusted analyses, an increased margin distance was significantly associated with a lower risk of local recurrence (P = .033). Patients with a 10-mm margin distance had a 45% lower local recurrence risk than those with a 5-mm distance (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.86). Beyond 15 mm, no evidence of additional benefit was associated with an increased margin distance.ConclusionsIn wedge resection for small non–small cell lung cancer, increasing the margin distance ≤15 mm significantly decreased the local recurrence risk, with no evidence of additional benefit beyond 15 mm

Validation of Multiplex Serology detecting human herpesviruses 1-5

Human herpesviruses (HHV) cause a variety of clinically relevant conditions upon primary infection of typically young and immunocompetent hosts. Both primary infection and reactivation after latency can lead to more severe disease, such as encephalitis, congenital defects and cancer. Infections with HHV are also associated with cardiovascular and neuro-degenerative disease. However, most of the associations are based on retrospective case-control analyses and well-powered prospective cohort studies are needed for assessing temporality and causality. To enable comprehensive investigations of HHV-related disease etiology in large prospective population-based cohort studies, we developed HHV Multiplex Serology. This methodology represents a low-cost, high-throughput technology that allows simultaneous measurement of specific antibodies against five HHV species: Herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, Varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, and Cytomegalovirus. The newly developed HHV species-specific (‘Monoplex’) assays were validated against established gold-standard reference assays. The specificity and sensitivity of the HHV species-specific Monoplex Serology assays ranged from 92.3% to 100.0% (median 97.4%) and 91.8% to 98.7% (median 96.6%), respectively. Concordance with reference assays was very high with kappa values ranging from 0.86 to 0.96 (median kappa 0.93). Multiplexing the Monoplex Serology assays resulted in no loss of performance and allows simultaneous detection of antibodies against the 5 HHV species in a high-throughput manner

Do marketing and logistics understand each other? An empirical investigation of the interface activities between logistics and marketing

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the understanding between logistics and marketing functions, to highlight specific issues relating to the interface activities between the two areas, and to discuss the impact for business processes. Findings are presented from a research-based case study with a major international food manufacturer, the results of which have helped the company to gain a better understanding between the marketing and logistics functions. The research has highlighted further implications for the supply chain. The paper discusses key findings and proposes a number of recommendations for marketing and logistics educators, practitioners and researchers

Understanding the UK hospital supply chain in an era of patient choice

Author Posting © Westburn Publishers Ltd, 2011. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy-edit version of an article which has been published in its definitive form in the Journal of Marketing Management, and has been posted by permission of Westburn Publishers Ltd for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Journal of Marketing Management, 27(3-4), 401 - 423, doi:10.1080/0267257X.2011.547084 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2011.547084The purpose of this paper is to investigate the UK hospital supply chain in light of recent government policy reform where patients will have, inter alia, greater choice of hospital for elective surgery. Subsequently, the hospital system should become far more competitive with supply chains having to react to these changes as patient demand becomes less predictable. Using a qualitative case study methodology, hospital managers are interviewed on a range of issues. Views on the development of the hospital supply chain in different phases are derived, and are used to develop a map of the current hospital chain. The findings show hospital managers anticipating some significant changes to the hospital supply chain and its workings as Patient Choice expands. The research also maps the various aspects of the hospital supply chain as it moves through different operational phases and highlights underlying challenges and complexities. The hospital supply chain, as discussed and mapped in this research, is original work given there are no examples in the literature that provide holistic representations of hospital activity. At the end, specific recommendations are provided that will be of interest to service to managers, researchers, and policymakers

Surveillance transbronchial lung biopsies: Implication for survival after lung transplantation

AbstractObjectives: We wished to determine whether early rejection after lung transplantation as assessed by surveillance transbronchial biopsy predicts for survival. Methods: Between 1990 and 1997, 96 consecutive patients had lung transplantation: 89 had a minimum 1-month follow-up. For 71 consecutive patients we have 1-year follow-up and for 69 patients we have the results of the first 3 biopsies. Cytomegalovirus status, bronchiolitis obliterans prevalence, and use of total lymphoid irradiation are noted. Biopsies were done at 1 week and 1, 3, and 6 months. Standard immunosuppression consisted of induction antilymphocyte globulin and high-dose methylprednisolone induction for 1 week and standard maintenance triple therapy. Acute rejection treatment was with pulse methylprednisolone. Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome was treated with total lymphoid irradiation and a change to tacrolimus and mycophenolate. Blinded grading using International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation classification was done retrospectively. Results: Survival at 1 month and 1, 2, and 3 years for the 96-patient cohort with 1-year follow-up was 93%, 74%, 62%, and 56%. Survival was not significantly different for subsets with rejection on any combination of the first 3 biopsies (1/3, 2/3, 3/3) or absence of rejection on the first 3 biopsies. Ninety-one positive biopsy results were graded. Eighteen of 71 patients had one or more moderate or severe rejection episodes without survival difference relative to the others. There was no statistically significant association between acute rejection on the first 3 surveillance biopsy results and bronchiolitis obliterans. Conclusions: Intensive induction and maintenance immunotherapy with surveillance transbronchial biopsies and aggressive treatment of acute rejection is associated with a survival similar to that of patients without early acute rejection. This regimen appears to uncouple the association between early acute rejection and bronchiolitis obliterans. Further study may elucidate this mechanism. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2000;119:27-38

Centrality dependence of the expansion dynamics in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c

Two-particle correlation functions of negatively charged hadrons from Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon have been measured by the WA97 experiment at the CERN SPS. A Coulomb correction procedure that assumes an expanding source has been implemented. Within the framework of an expanding thermalized source model the size and dynamical state of the collision fireball at freeze-out have been reconstructed as a function of the centrality of the collision. Less central collisions exhibit a different dynamics than central ones: both transverse and longitudinal expansion velocities are slower, the expansion duration is shorter and the system freezes out showing smaller dimensions and higher temperature.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, Te

Human genomics of the humoral immune response against polyomaviruses

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press.Human polyomaviruses are widespread in humans and can cause severe disease in immunocompromised individuals. To identify human genetic determinants of the humoral immune response against polyomaviruses, we performed genome-wide association studies and meta-analyses of qualitative and quantitative immunoglobulin G responses against BK polyomavirus (BKPyV), JC polyomavirus (JCPyV), Merkel cellpolyomavirus (MCPyV), WU polyomavirus (WUPyV), and human polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6) in 15,660 individuals of European ancestry from three independent studies. We observed significant associations for all tested viruses: JCPyV, HPyV6, and MCPyV associated with human leukocyte antigen class II variation, BKPyV and JCPyV with variants in FUT2, responsible for secretor status, MCPyV with variants in STING1, involved in interferon induction, and WUPyV with a functional variant in MUC1, previously associated with risk for gastric cancer. These results provide insights into the genetic control of a family of very prevalent human viruses, highlighting genes and pathways that play a modulating role in human humoral immunity.Peer reviewe

Estimating the burden of iron deficiency among African children

Background Iron deficiency (ID) is a major public health burden in African children and accurate prevalence estimates are important for effective nutritional interventions. However, ID may be incorrectly estimated in Africa because most measures of iron status are altered by inflammation and infections such as malaria. Through the current study, we have assessed different approaches to the prediction of iron status and estimated the burden of ID in African children. Methods We assayed iron and inflammatory biomarkers in 4853 children aged 0–8 years from Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and The Gambia. We described iron status and its relationship with age, sex, inflammation, and malaria parasitemia. We defined ID using the WHO guideline (ferritin < 12 μg/L or < 30 μg/L in the presence of inflammation in children < 5 years old or < 15 μg/L in children ≥ 5 years old). We compared this with a recently proposed gold standard, which uses regression-correction for ferritin levels based on the relationship between ferritin levels, inflammatory markers, and malaria. We further investigated the utility of other iron biomarkers in predicting ID using the inflammation and malaria regression-corrected estimate as a gold standard. Results The prevalence of ID was highest at 1 year of age and in male infants. Inflammation and malaria parasitemia were associated with all iron biomarkers, although transferrin saturation was least affected. Overall prevalence of WHO-defined ID was 34% compared to 52% using the inflammation and malaria regression-corrected estimate. This unidentified burden of ID increased with age and was highest in countries with high prevalence of inflammation and malaria, where up to a quarter of iron-deficient children were misclassified as iron replete. Transferrin saturation < 11% most closely predicted the prevalence of ID according to the regression-correction gold standard. Conclusions The prevalence of ID is underestimated in African children when defined using the WHO guidelines, especially in malaria-endemic populations, and the use of transferrin saturation may provide a more accurate approach. Further research is needed to identify the most accurate measures for determining the prevalence of ID in sub-Saharan Africa