THE ROLE OF ORGANIZED EXCHANGES AND STANDARDIZED CONTRACTS IN MARKETING NEW COMMODITIES

Agribusiness,

Integrating serological and genetic data to quantify cross-species transmission: brucellosis as a case study

Epidemiological data are often fragmented, partial, and/or ambiguous and unable to yield the desired level of understanding of infectious disease dynamics to adequately inform control measures. Here, we show how the information contained in widely available serology data can be enhanced by integration with less common type-specific data, to improve the understanding of the transmission dynamics of complex multi-species pathogens and host communities. Using brucellosis in Northern Tanzania as a case-study, we developed a latent process model based on serology data obtained from the field, to reconstruct Brucella transmission dynamics. We were able to identify sheep and goats as a more likely source of human and animal infection than cattle; however, the highly cross-reactive nature of Brucella spp. meant that it was not possible to determine which Brucella species (B. abortus or B. melitensis) is responsible for human infection. We extended our model to integrate simulated serology and typing data, and show that although serology alone can identify the host source of human infection under certain restrictive conditions, the integration of even small amounts (5%) of typing data can improve understanding of complex epidemiological dynamics. We show that data integration will often be essential when more than one pathogen is present and when the distinction between exposed and infectious individuals is not clear from serology data. With increasing epidemiological complexity, serology data become less informative. However, we show how this weakness can be mitigated by integrating such data with typing data, thereby enhancing the inference from these data and improving understanding of the underlying dynamics

Simultaneous Quantification of Paracetamol and Meloxicam in Tablets by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Purpose: To develop and validate a simple, rapid and inexpensive RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous estimation of paracetamol and meloxicam in tablets.Methods: For the analysis of the drugs, chromatographic analysis was performed on XTerra symmetry C18 column (100 × 4.6 mm, 5 μ particle size) with mobile phase consisting of methanol and phosphate buffer (pH 9.2) in the ratio of 50:50 v/v, at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min and eluents monitored at 244 nm. The method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, robustness and application for assay as per International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines.Results: The retention times of paracetamol and meloxicam were 2.467 and 4.971 min, respectively. The calibration curves of peak area versus concentration, which was linear from 5 - 60 μg/mL for paracetamol and 1 - 12 μg/mL for meloxicam, had regression coefficient (r2) greater than 0.999. The method had the requisite accuracy, precision, and robustness for simultaneous determination of paracetamol and meloxicam in tablets.Conclusion: The proposed method is simple, low-cost, accurate, precise and can be successfully employed in routine quality control for the simultaneous analysis of paracetamol and meloxicam in tablets.Keywords: Paracetamol, Meloxicam, RP-HPLC, Simultaneous analysis, Tablet

Prevalence and ergonomic risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal injuries amongst underground mine workers in Zambia

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries (WMSIs) are common in both developed and third world countries. Most researchers agree that exposure to ergonomic risk factors is a major contributor to these injuries. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and ergonomic risk factors associated with WMSIs amongst underground mine workers in Kitwe, Zambia. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted using a sample size of 500 workers. A stratified random sampling method according to mining work activity type was used to obtain the sample. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results were significant at 5%. Results: A response rate of 40.4% (202) was obtained. The 12-month prevalence of WMSIs was 42.6%. The mean age of the workers was 40.31 years (SD +/− 8.57 years). Electricians and mechanics reported the highest injury frequencies. The back was the most affected body part. Ergonomic risk factors consistently reported by workers included poor postures and heavy lifting. There were significant (p=0.020) associations between working with the back bent and sustaining a back injury. Significant (p=0.049) associations were also found between injuries of the wrists/hands and grasping an unsupported object(s). Conclusions: This study revealed significant associations between WMSIs and ergonomic risk factors like working with the back bent and grasping object.Web of Scienc

Emotions in business-to-business service relationships

Emotion in business-to-business service relationships regarding cargo services is explored. The service relationship is characterised by mutual trust and cooperation. Contact is mainly via telephone or e-mail with some face-to-face interactions and participants providing a complex, multi-skilled seamless service. Experience rather than training plays a vital role with long-term service relationships built up and maintained. Emotional sensitivity is acquired partly by experience and a repeat customer base but mainly through a genuine desire to help and get to know others. In contrast to the view of emotional labour bringing managerial control or adverse affects to service staff, the emotion engendered by this work is authentic expression bringing personal satisfaction

What are communities of practice? A comparative review of four seminal works

This paper is a comparative review of four seminal works on communities of practice. It is argued that the ambiguities of the terms community and practice are a source of the concept's reusability allowing it to be reappropriated for different purposes, academic and practical. However, it is potentially confusing that the works differ so markedly in their conceptualizations of community, learning, power and change, diversity and informality. The three earlier works are underpinned by a common epistemological view, but Lave and Wenger's 1991 short monograph is often read as primarily about the socialization of newcomers into knowledge by a form of apprenticeship, while the focus in Brown and Duguid's article of the same year is, in contrast, on improvising new knowledge in an interstitial group that forms in resistance to management. Wenger's 1998 book treats communities of practice as the informal relations and understandings that develop in mutual engagement on an appropriated joint enterprise, but his focus is the impact on individual identity. The applicability of the concept to the heavily individualized and tightly managed work of the twenty-first century is questionable. The most recent work by Wenger – this time with McDermott and Snyder as coauthors – marks a distinct shift towards a managerialist stance. The proposition that managers should foster informal horizontal groups across organizational boundaries is in fact a fundamental redefinition of the concept. However it does identify a plausible, if limited, knowledge management (KM) tool. This paper discusses different interpretations of the idea of 'co-ordinating' communities of practice as a management ideology of empowerment

Pulmonary Delivery of Proteins Using Nanocomposite Microcarriers.

In this study, Taguchi design was used to determine optimal parameters for the preparation of bovine serum albumin (BSA)-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) using a biodegradable polymer poly(glycerol adipate-co-ω-pentadecalactone) (PGA-co-PDL). NPs were prepared, using BSA as a model protein, by the double emulsion evaporation process followed by spray-drying from leucine to form nanocomposite microparticles (NCMPs). The effect of various parameters on NP size and BSA loading were investigated and dendritic cell (DC) uptake and toxicity. NCMPs were examined for their morphology, yield, aerosolisation, in vitro release behaviour and BSA structure. NP size was mainly affected by the polymer mass used and a small particle size ≤500 nm was achieved. High BSA (43.67 ± 2.3 μg/mg) loading was influenced by BSA concentration. The spray-drying process produced NCMPs (50% yield) with a porous corrugated surface, aerodynamic diameter 1.46 ± 141 μm, fine particle dose 45.0 ± 4.7 μg and fine particle fraction 78.57 ± 0.1%, and a cumulative BSA release of 38.77 ± 3.0% after 48 h. The primary and secondary structures were maintained as shown by sodium dodecyl sulphate poly (acrylamide) gel electrophoresis and circular dichroism. Effective uptake of NPs was seen in DCs with >85% cell viability at 5 mg/mL concentration after 4 h. These results indicate the optimal process parameters for the preparation of protein-loaded PGA-co-PDL NCMPs suitable for inhalation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci

Confronting the digital:Doing ethnography in modern organizational settings

Digital technologies pervade modern life. As a result, organizational ethnographers must contend with informants interacting in face-to-face and digitally mediated encounters (e.g., through email, Facebook Messenger, and Skype). This overlap of informants’ digital and physical interactions challenges ethnographers’ ability to demonstrate authenticity and multivocality in their accounts of contemporary organizing. Drawing on recent theorizing about the nature of digital artifacts and two cases of ethnographic fieldwork, we argue that digital artifacts afford ethnographers different modes of being co-present with research participants: digital as archive and digital as process. We offer guidelines to researchers on how to deploy these modes of co-presence in order to improve authenticity and multivocality in ethnographic studies of modern organizations. We also explore the implications for methodological concerns such as ethics, analytical choice, and reflexivity