Disk Covering Methods Improve Phylogenomic Analyses

Motivation: With the rapid growth rate of newly sequenced genomes, species tree inference from multiple genes has become a basic bioinformatics task in comparative and evolutionary biology. However, accurate species tree estimation is difficult in the presence of gene tree discordance, which is often due to incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), modelled by the multi-species coalescent. Several highly accurate coalescent-based species tree estimation methods have been developed over the last decade, including MP-EST. However, the running time for MP-EST increases rapidly as the number of species grows. Results: We present divide-and-conquer techniques that improve the scalability of MP-EST so that it can run efficiently on large datasets. Surprisingly, this technique also improves the accuracy of species trees estimated by MP-EST, as our study shows on a collection of simulated and biological datasets.NSF DEB 0733029, DBI 1062335Computer Science

Studies on the Mode of Action of Pharmacologically Active Substances from Natural Sources with Additional Studies on Some Synthetic Neuromuscular Blocking Agents

Abstract Not Provided

Modular product development for mass customization

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Modular Product Architecture to Manage Supply Chain Complexity

The aim of this article is to demonstrate and to eliminate or to reduce the complexities associated supply chain management. These complexities are aroused due to the high level of interdependencies between component interfaces and supply chain participants. A case example is presented to define the importance of product architecture with the help of design structure matrix (DSM) tool to reduce product development complexity. To address such complexity this work focuses on the product architecture and supply chain design. This modular principle is elaborated with the objective to reduce the supply chain complexities. The relationship between product architecture and supply chain complexities is defined along with identifying and categorizing various drivers responsible for supply chain complexities

Disaster Risk and Community Vulnerability: the Case of Patuakhali, Bangladesh

Natural disasters have the potential to damage the entire economy of a country, especially when they take place in the developing countries. While no country in the world is entirely safe, the lack of capacity to limit the impact of hazards and bounce back after major natural disasters has made developing countries being some of the most vulnerable nations to natural disasters. Bangladesh is a South Asian developing country that faces variety of problems ranging from low income; a lack of assets such as land and permanent housing to ac-commodate the people; shortages of clean water and adequate food; inability to participate in commercial ac-tivity; high population density. Owing to geographical settings and environmental reasons, Bangladesh is currently ranked as one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries in the world. The frequent natural hazards such as cyclones, storm surges, floods, droughts, tornados, riverbank erosions, earthquakes, arsenic contami-nation of groundwater and landslides account for significant losses in human lives and physical assets while effects are further reflected in social settings, ecosystems and the economic well-being of the country. This paper evaluates the disaster risk and vulnerable factors in Bangladesh with particular reference to Patuakhali coastal region. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with community, community leaders and local authority when collecting data for this study. Community identified Cyclones as the main disaster that creates devastating damages and losses to their lives, property and belongings. River erosion, Salinity and Floods were also identified as other disasters that affect socio-economic lives of the community. Geographical location, lack of sufficient cyclone centers, vulnerability of female, children and old people; and excessive love and devotion to property and animal were identified as factors that increase the vulnerability of community towards natural disasters

Perspectives of business process ethics in data-driven marketing management

In today's digitalized world, people leave trails of data about themselves when operating online. While marketers are eagerly utilizing this data for marketing insights, many consumers have a growing fear of their personal data ending up in the wrong hands and losing their privacy. The aim of this study was to understand the role of ethics in current marketing based on consumer data and to examine how data could be used ethically in marketing. The empirical research was conducted by analyzing secondary data from a 2018 survey about the use of digital services in Europe. The main conclusions that can be drawn from study findings are that the need for ethics is even more apparent in marketing than ever before, because of the broad access to personal data. Giving the consumers the ability to opt-out from data use and data selling without it affecting the use of services can create an enormous competitive advantage for organizations in the future.© 2021 The Authors. Security and Privacy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Virtual supply chain for networked business : perspective of collaborative bill-of-materials, scheduling and process monitoring for developing innovative product

This article presents a methodology applicable to the formation of collaborative bill-of-materials (C-BOM), coordinating production scheduling and monitoring operational processes. The concept of collaborative product development process is described in detail through an example network, where the participating organisations form a temporary virtual organisation (VO) and contribute throughout the entire product development processes. In this paper, the basic need for exchanging product information among the partners is carried out through IT-based software tools, where the partners are enabled to visualise and monitor the operational processes in a real-time environment. This research study concludes with the overall research outcomes and future research directions.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Improvement of an order-to-cash business process by deploying lean six sigma tools

Purpose This study is focused to support an ongoing development project of the case company's current state and the challenges of the order-to-cash (O2C) process. The O2C process is the most visible process to the customer, and therefore, its punctual and fluent order management is vital. It is observed that the high degree of manual work in the O2C process causes mistakes, delays and rework in the process. The purpose of this article is therefore to analyze the case company's current state of the O2C process as well as to identify the areas of development in this process by deploying the means of Lean Six Sigma tools such as value stream mapping (VSM). Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted as a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Based on both the quantitative and qualitative data, a workshop on VSM was organized to analyze the current state of the O2C process of a case company, engaged in the energy and environment sector in Finland. Findings The results found that excessive manual work was highly connected to inadequate or incorrect data in pricing and invoicing activities, which resulted in canceled invoices. Canceled invoices are visible to the customer and have a negative impact on the customer experience. This study found that by improving the performance of the O2C process activities and improving communication among the internal and external stakeholders, the whole O2C process can perform more effectively and provide better customer value. Originality/value The O2C process is the most visible process to the customer and therefore its punctual and fluent order management is vital. To ensure that the O2C process is operating as desired, suitable process performance metrics need to be aligned and followed. The results gathered from the case company's data, questionnaire interviews, and the VSM workshop are all highlighted in this study. The main practical and managerial implications were to understand the real-time O2C process performance, which is necessary to ensure strong performance and enhance continuous improvement of the O2C process that leads to operational excellence and commercial competitiveness of the studied case company.© Emilia Kääriä and Ahm Shamsuzzoha. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcodefi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Women leadership development in local governance in South and Southeast Asia: a critical analysis

Purpose The main goal of the study is to participate in academic debates and explore women's leadership and related challenges and opportunities in governance, and the extent to which women’s leadership has been enhanced by administrative reforms. The goal is to broaden the scope of action by promoting women's engagement and leadership in local government. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative study that uses inductive content analysis to examine the relationship between administrative reforms and women’s leadership development in the context of local government in Southeast and South Asia. Findings There is a positive impact of administrative reforms on women's leadership development. There is evidence that women are preparing for leadership roles in administration, which is a sign of progress in political change and modernization of society. They have been empowered by political and administrative education in a transformative way. Research limitations/implications This article contributes to the literature that expands knowledge about governance, female leadership and administrative reform. They are interrelated because they are precursors to the development of women's leadership in countries. Practical implications The findings of this study can help governments in South and Southeast Asia become more aware of strategies to promote gender balance in governance. The unsatisfactory situation was found to exist because of problems related to socio-political, economic, cultural, and personal development. Originality/value This study is the first to highlight the relationship between administrative reform and the development of women in leadership positions in a rarely studied developing country.© Muhammad Azizuddin and Ahm Shamsuzzoha. Published in Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcodefi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed