Understanding success and failure in innovative Australian resource processing projects

This thesis in concerned with the understanding of success and failure of innovation in resource processing, a sector that is central to the Australian economy. Decline in ore grade, complexity of available ore resources, increases in labour and capital cost, and increased market demand have driven innovation and larger resource processing projects. The outcomes from innovation investment have been disappointing, and not well understood. This thesis aims to understand why so many large resource processing projects fail, and what factors have been critical in other projects that succeed. It proposes a new model for innovation investment, based on public domain data and an outsider view. Five criteria are used in this thesis to classify success and failure of large resource processing projects; that (1) the project and firm made a profit, in failure the project made a loss, (2) the production in the first 36 months of operation is 90% or more of nameplate capacity, while a failure is less than 70%, (3) return on investment is below 105 months, failure above 105 months, average for successful projects is found to be 53 months,. (4) failure sees project and or firm fail, with the plant selling for less than 20% of cost, success sees the project continue to produce at close to capacity, and if sold was value at close to investment, and (5) the successful process is reproduced; in the case of failure it is not. The thesis examines a sample of 67 resource processing projects in Australia initially valued at over $100 million each, over an 18 year interval between 1993 and 2010. The projects totalled$45.3 billion in value with 73% of classified as successful, while 15 projects failed. Four hypotheses are proposed and tested, each respectively relating to one of the following four factors; (1) Firm competence, (2) new process innovation, (3) government involvement in value adding, and (4) information asymmetry and strategic misrepresentation

Het nieuwe telen van aardbeien : topkwaliteit aardbeien telen met 14 kuub gas

Op een glasbedrijf in Limburg heeft tussen begin augustus 2009 en medio juni 2010 energieonderzoek bij aardbeien plaatsgevonden. Het doel van het project is om minimaal 20% energie te besparen en de vruchtkwaliteit te verbeteren. De hypothese is, dat energie kan worden bespaard door vroeg te planten in augustus, aanpassing van kasklimaat in nazomer en herfst waardoor in januari er minder warmtevraag is. Ondanks de grote verschillen in klimaat waren de uiteindelijke verschillen in plantontwikkeling, productie en vruchtkwaliteit erg klein. Doordat in de gekoelde afdelingen een lagere temperatuur werd gerealiseerd ontwikkelden de planten zich in die afdelingen trage

Transferring of the biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) character from Leymus racemosus to wheat

BACKGROUND: For reasons of feasibility, diagnostic telephone interviews are frequently used in research of psychiatric morbidity. However, it is unknown whether diagnostic telephone interviews are as valid as diagnostic face-to-face interviews. RESEARCH QUESTION: Are diagnostic telephone interviews for psychiatric disorders as valid as diagnostic face-to-face interviews? METHOD: A systematic review of original studies in PubMed, PsychINFO and Embase was carried out. We included studies considering (1) the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic telephone interviews using face-to-face interviews as a golden standard and (2) the agreement between diagnostic telephone and diagnostic face-to-face interviews. Eligible were studies in the general population, in patients at risk for psychiatric disorders and in psychiatric outpatients. We assessed risk of bias with the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) instrument. RESULTS: We included sixteen studies. The included studies were generally small with thirteen studies reporting about <100 participants. Specificity was generally high in populations with low or intermediate prevalence of psychiatric morbidity. Sensitivity was low in these populations, but slightly higher in samples with more psychiatric disorders. Studies with a higher risk of psychiatric disorders generally reported higher percentages of agreement and higher kappa values. Considering the QUADAS-2 criteria, most studies had a medium or high risk of bias, especially concerning patient selection and unbiased judgement of the test. Of the six studies with a medium or low risk of bias, the three studies assessing current anxiety and depressive disorders yielded kappa values between 0.69 and 0.84, indicating good agreement. DISCUSSION: There is insufficient evidence that diagnostic telephone interviews for the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders are valid, although results for depression and anxiety disorders seem promising

Dynamic contact area ratio in shoulder instability: an innovative diagnostic technique measuring interplay of bony lesions

Purpose: The hypothesis of this study is that Dynamic Contact Area Ratio of the humerus and glenoid, measured with CT scans, is significantly reduced in patients with anterior shoulder instability compared to the Dynamic Contact Area Ratio in a control group of people without shoulder instability. Methods: Preoperative CT scans of patients who underwent surgery for anterior shoulder instability were collected. Additionally, the radiologic database was searched for control subjects. Using a validated software tool (Articulis) the CT scans were converted into 3-dimensional models and the amount the joint contact surface during simulated motion was calculated. Results: CT scans of 18 patients and 21 controls were available. The mean Dynamic Contact Area Ratio of patients was 25.2 \ub1 6.7 compared to 30.1 \ub1 5.1 in healthy subjects (p = 0.014). Conclusion: Dynamic Contact Area Ratio was significantly lower in patients with anterior shoulder instability compared to controls, confirming the hypothesis of the study. The findings of this study indicate that calculating the Dynamic Contact Area Ratio based on CT scan images may help surgeons in diagnosing anterior shoulder instability. Level of evidence: III

Dynamic contact area ratio in shoulder instability: an innovative diagnostic technique measuring interplay of bony lesions

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External validation of a referral rule for axial spondyloarthritis in primary care patients with chronic low back pain

Objectives To validate and optimize a referral rule to identify primary care patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) suspected for axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Design Cross-sectional study with data from 19 Dutch primary care practices for development and 38 for validation. Participants Primary care patients aged 18-45 years with CLBP existing more than three months and onset of back pain started before the age of 45 years. Main Outcome The number of axSpA patients according to the ASAS criteria. Methods The referral rule (CaFaSpA referral rule) was developed using 364 CL