392 research outputs found
Amperometric and spectrophotometric determination of carbaryl in natural waters and commercial formulations
The work presented describes the development
and evaluation of two flow-injection analysis (FIA) systems
for the automated determination of carbaryl in spiked
natural waters and commercial formulations. Samples are
injected directly into the system where they are subjected
to alkaline hydrolysis thus forming 1-naphthol. This product
is readily oxidised at a glassy carbon electrode. The
electrochemical behaviour of 1-naphthol allows the development
of an FIA system with an amperometric detector
in which 1-naphthol determination, and thus measurement
of carbaryl concentration, can be performed. Linear response
over the range 1.0×10–7 to 1.0×10–5 mol L–1, with a
sampling rate of 80 samples h–1, was recorded. The detection
limit was 1.0×10–8 mol L–1. Another FIA manifold was
constructed but this used a colorimetric detector. The methodology
was based on the coupling of 1-naphthol with phenylhydrazine
hydrochloride to produce a red complex which
has maximum absorbance at 495 nm. The response was
linear from 1.0×10–5 to 1.5×10–3 mol L–1 with a detection
limit of 1.0×10–6 mol L–1. Sample-throughput was about
60 samples h–1. Validation of the results provided by the
two FIA methodologies was performed by comparing
them with results from a standard HPLC–UV technique.
The relative deviation was <5%. Recovery trials were also
carried out and the values obtained ranged from 97.0 to
102.0% for both methods. The repeatability (RSD, %) of
12 consecutive injections of one sample was 0.8% and
1.6% for the amperometric and colorimetric systems, respectively
South Africa's business process outsourcing services sector: Lessons for Western-based client firms
Since 2008, South Africa has become one of the world's upcoming offshore destinations for business process outsourcing (BPO), a market estimated to be worth $US 182 billion globally by 2013. Western-based client firms evaluating South Africa as a BPO destination must consider the country's relative value against alternative locations. Client firms also have a number of engagement models from which to choose, inclucling outsourcing, erecting a captive centre, or acquiring an existing BPO business. The research finds that, for the UK, US, and Australian client companies in this study, South Africa's value proposition is not just based on costs as other locations are often cheaper. South Africa's value proposition is about overall economic value, high quality service and staff, strong cultural compatibility, and a favourable time zone. The findings reveal that South Africa complements the global portfolio for Western-based client firms that already have BPO centres in Inclia, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe. Moreover, whether client firms build or buy services from South Africa, the research identifies clistinctive risks that need to be mitigated by investing in and effectively governing the business processes performed offshore. Finally, from the case study research, this article identifies management lessons for leveraging South Africa's identifiable BPO service advantage
A Method to Improve the Early Stages of the Robotic Process Automation Lifecycle
The robotic automation of processes is of much interest to
organizations. A common use case is to automate the repetitive manual
tasks (or processes) that are currently done by back-office staff
through some information system (IS). The lifecycle of any Robotic Process
Automation (RPA) project starts with the analysis of the process
to automate. This is a very time-consuming phase, which in practical
settings often relies on the study of process documentation. Such documentation
is typically incomplete or inaccurate, e.g., some documented
cases never occur, occurring cases are not documented, or documented
cases differ from reality. To deploy robots in a production environment
that are designed on such a shaky basis entails a high risk. This paper
describes and evaluates a new proposal for the early stages of an RPA
project: the analysis of a process and its subsequent design. The idea is to
leverage the knowledge of back-office staff, which starts by monitoring
them in a non-invasive manner. This is done through a screen-mousekey-
logger, i.e., a sequence of images, mouse actions, and key actions
are stored along with their timestamps. The log which is obtained in
this way is transformed into a UI log through image-analysis techniques
(e.g., fingerprinting or OCR) and then transformed into a process model
by the use of process discovery algorithms. We evaluated this method for
two real-life, industrial cases. The evaluation shows clear and substantial
benefits in terms of accuracy and speed. This paper presents the method,
along with a number of limitations that need to be addressed such that
it can be applied in wider contexts.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016-76956-C3-2-
UK Housing Market: Time Series Processes with Independent and Identically Distributed Residuals
The paper examines whether a univariate data generating process can be identified which explains the data by having residuals that are independent and identically distributed, as verified by the BDS test. The stationary first differenced natural log quarterly house price index is regressed, initially with a constant variance and then with a conditional variance. The only regression function that produces independent and identically distributed standardised residuals is a mean process based on a pure random walk format with Exponential GARCH in mean for the conditional variance. There is an indication of an asymmetric volatility feedback effect but higher frequency data is required to confirm this. There could be scope for forecasting the index but this is tempered by the reduction in the power of the BDS test if there is a non-linear conditional variance process
Respecting the deal: how to manage co-opetitive actors in open innovation
Platforms like E-bay allow product seekers and providers to meet and exchange goods. On the same way in open innovation, as defined by Chesbrough, an enterprise can collect ideas from outside the company. But on E-bay, the seeker can return the product if it does not correspond to the expectations, since E-bay is the third-party actor in charge of assuring that the agreement between seekers and providers will be respected. So who does provide the same service for what concerns open innovation, where specifications might not fully defined? In this paper we shall describe the business model of an organizational structure to support the elicitation and respect of agreements between actors, who have conflicting interests but that gain from cooperating together. The concepts of the model will be illustrated to derive a set of propositions and a simple example will illustrate one of its possible instantiations. The description of our first evaluation phase shall find place at the end
Rituximab for maintenance of remission in ANCA-associated vasculitis: expert consensus guidelines—Executive summary
[This is the executive summary of Rituximab for maintenance of remission in ANCA-associated vasculitis: expert consensus guidelines: full guideline, doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kez640
Rituximab for maintenance of remission in ANCA-associated vasculitis: expert consensus guidelines
Copy number, linkage disequilibrium and disease association in the FCGR locus.
The response of a leukocyte to immune complexes (ICs) is modulated by receptors for the Fc region of IgG (FcgammaRs), and alterations in their affinity or function have been associated with risk of autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The low-affinity FcgammaR genomic locus is complex, containing regions of copy number variation (CNV) which can alter receptor expression and leukocyte responses to IgG. Combined paralogue ratio tests (PRTs) were used to distinguish three intervals within the FCGR locus which undergo CNV, and to determine FCGR gene copy number (CN). There were significant differences in FCGR3B and FCGR3A CNV profiles between Caucasian, East Asian and Kenyan populations. A previously noted association of low FCGR3B CN with SLE in Caucasians was supported [OR = 1.57 (1.08-2.27), P = 0.018], and replicated in Chinese [OR = 1.65 (1.25-2.18), P = 4 x 10(-4)]. There was no association of FCGR3B CNV with vasculitis, nor with malarial or bacterial infection. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) between multi-allelic FCGR3B CNV and SLE-associated SNPs in the FCGR locus was defined for the first time. Despite LD between FCGR3B CNV and a variant in FcgammaRIIB (I232T) which abolishes inhibitory function, both reduced CN of FCGR3B and homozygosity of the FcgammaRIIB-232T allele were individually strongly associated with SLE risk. Thus CN of FCGR3B, which controls IC responses and uptake by neutrophils, and variations in FCGR2B, which controls factors such as antibody production and macrophage activation, are important in SLE pathogenesis. Further interpretations of contributions to pathogenesis by FcgammaRs must be made in the context of LD involving CNV regions
Human and value sensitive aspects of mobile app design: a Foucauldian perspective
Value sensitive concerns remain relatively neglected by software design processes leading to potential failure of technology acceptance. By drawing upon an inter-disciplinary study that employed participatory design methods to develop mobile apps in the domain of youth justice, this paper examines a critical example of an unintended consequence that created user concerns around Focauldian concepts including power, authority, surveillance and governmentality. The primary aim of this study was to design, deploy and evaluate social technology that may help to promote better engagement between case workers and young people to help reduce recidivism, and support young people’s transition towards social inclusion in society. A total of 140 participants including practitioners (n=79), and young people (n=61) contributed to the data collection via surveys, focus groups and one-one interviews. The paper contributes an important theoretically located discussion around both how co-design is helpful in giving ‘voice’ to key stakeholders in the research process and observing the risk that competing voices may lead to tensions and unintended outcomes. In doing so, software developers are exposed to theories from social science that have significant impact on their product
Randomized Trial on the Effect of an Oral Spleen Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor in the Treatment of IgA Nephropathy
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