Measuring the Return on Knowledge Embedded in Information Technology

We propose a methodology for measuring the return on knowledge in company processes. We argue that one promising approach is to formulate the problem within the context of a knowledge management framework. That is, we will demonstrate that it is possible to measure the impact of knowledge embedded in information technology (IT) deployed in an organizationís core processes. In this sense, the core process knowledge embedded within IT is a particular instance of knowledge used to produce core process outputs. We provide a case example of the application of the knowledge value-added (KVA) methodology to provide a ìproof-of- conceptî example of how measuring the value added by IT might be approached. We discuss the implications in terms of the generic requirements for any methodology attempting to solve this problem as well as how the results of the use of KVA can be applied to analyze the potential value added by IT

Price and time competition for make-to-order firms

With the advancement in information infrastructure and the collaboration of different levels in supply chains, more and more firms adopt the make-to-order mode. Firms operating such mode must compete on the prices that they charge and on their service responsiveness customers. This thesis studies the competition of a duopoly of make-to-order firms. Each firm is modeled by an M/M/l queue. The firms posted the prices they charge for service. Knowing the expected reward and the expected waiting time at each firm, potential customers choose either to receive service at one of the firms or to seek an alternative opportunity to maximize their expected net rewards. The arrival times of potential customers follow a Poisson process. In the short run, the service capacity is given, and the firms maximize their expected revenues by choosing prices. In the long run, the firms maximize their expected profits by choosing both prices and service capacities. In both cases, the Nash equilibrium is identified. In addition, the social efficiency of the duopoly competition is explored

Characterization of Acidic Tea Polysaccharides from Yellow Leaves of Wuyi Rock Tea and Their Hypoglycemic Activity via Intestinal Flora Regulation in Rats

A bioactive acidic tea polysaccharide from yellow leaves of Wuyi rock tea was successively prepared via DEAE-52 and Superdex-200 columns. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis showed that the main glycosidic bonds were composed of α-l-Araf-(1→, →5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →4)-α-d-Glcp-(1→, Arap-(1→, →6)-α-d-Glcp-(1→, →2,4)-α-l-Rhap-(1→, →3,4)-α-d-Glcp-(1→, →4)-α-d-GalAp-(1→, →4)-α-d-GalAp-(1→, α-d-Galp-(1→, →6)-β-d-Galp-(1→ and →4)-β-d-Galp-(1→. The molecular weight was 3.9285 × 104 Da. The hypoglycemic effect of acidic tea polysaccharides on streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus rats was evaluated through histopathology and biochemistry analysis. The acidic tea polysaccharide could improve plasma and liver lipid metabolism. Moreover, 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the composition of the intestinal flora changed drastically after treatment, namely, blooms of Bifidobacterium, Blautia, Dorea, and Oscillospira, and a strong reduction in Desulfovibrio and Lactobacillus. The above results illustrated that tea polysaccharides might serve as an effective ingredient to ameliorate glucose metabolism disorders and intestinal flora in hyperglycemic rats

PDE1A polymorphism contributes to the susceptibility of nephrolithiasis

Abstract Background Previous studies have confirmed a family risk of nephrolithiasis (NL), but only 15% of all cases are associated with an identified monogenic factor. In clinical practice, our group encountered a patient with NL combined with cystic kidney disease that had 3 affected family members. No known mutations association with NL was detected in this family, and thus further investigation of the molecular cause of NL was deemed to be necessary. Results Quality analysis from the sequencing stage showed a more than 80-fold average depth and 95% coverage for each sample, and six mutations within six genes were chosen as candidate variants for further validation. Genotyping of rs182089527in the phosphodiesterase 1A (PDE1A) gene in the validation cohort indicated that the alternative allele was present in 15 patients with heterozygosity and in 1 patient with homozygosity, and exhibited significant enrichment in NL patients (Fisher’s exact test, adjusted p = 0.0042) and kidney cystic patients (Fisher’s exact test, adjusted p = 0.067) compared to controls. In addition, function analysis displayed a significant decrease in the protein and mRNA expression levels resulting from the rs182089527 mutant sequence compared with the wild-type sequence. Moreover, patients with this mutation displayed a high level of creatinine and urea in urinalysis. Conclusions Our study provides genetic evidence that the rs182089527 mutation in PDE1A is involved in the development of NL and kidney cysts, which should help to improve personalized medicine for diagnosis and treatment

Additional file 1: Figure S1-S5. of PDE1A polymorphism contributes to the susceptibility of nephrolithiasis

Auxiliary clinical examination and experiment data. (DOCX 624 kb

Additional file 2: Table S1-S2. of PDE1A polymorphism contributes to the susceptibility of nephrolithiasis

Sequence quality statistical and candidate gene list. (DOCX 18 kb