Examining the Mediating Role Supply Chain Identity Salience in the Relationship between Its Antecedents and Supply Chain Social Capital: A Case of Thai Manufacturing Firms

The main reason behind carrying out the current study is to examine the mediating role supply chain identity salience in the relationship between its antecedents and supply chain social capital. In this study a new paradigm is presented by supply chain management (SCM) where a systems approach is adopted by firms to manage the supply chain not as a set of fragments but as s single entity, having a sole purpose of synchronizing and adjusting the supply chain activities of partnering firms to develop greater customer value as compared to other supply chain. It is proposed in this study that successful functioning of managed supply chain only takes place when supply chain partners that are involved in crucial relationships actively share a feeling of identity or belonging with the supply chain. Such strong sense of identity plays an essential role in a context of the managed supply chain, as the supply chain management majorly depends upon the cooperation of resultant voluntary independent organizations and social processes and not on the financial or legal ownership. The study has used the SEM-PLS to achieve the objectives of the current study. The study is carried out on the sample of manufacturing firms operating in Thailand. This study presents a detailed view of social processes with respect to SCM context, with the purpose of indicating the contributory role played by supply chain identity salience in the social capital formation

Thin Bondline Measurement of Adhesively Bonded Metallic Aircraft Structures using an Ultrasonic Analyzer

The use of adhesive bonding for the assembly of aircraft structure is desirable because of the associated benefits of reduced weight, decreased parts count and increased fatigue life. The inability to fully characterize the nature of the bondline has been a limiting factor in applying this technology to the manufacture of primary aircraft structure. One such obstacle is the resolution limitation that has existed for the non-destructive measurement of bondline thicknesses. Up to the present time, ultrasonic methods have been limited in practice to a resolution approximately equal to the wavelength of the energy pulse employed. For a 15 MHz transducer, the highest frequency generally incorporated into off-the-shelf inspection equipment, this equates to a lower measurement limit of about 0.006″. For the FM-73 adhesive system used in this investigation, the acoustic velocity is 90, 600 inches per second [1]. The lower resolution limit will vary somewhat as a function of this speed. This limitation presented a problem because previous research had shown that the lap shear strength of aluminum bonded structure was maximized in bondlines between 0.002″ and 0.006″[2]. Furthermore, for bondlines of less than 0.002″, the lap shear strengths dropped off dramatically as illustrated in figure 1. The data presented is for elevated service temperature for an aircraft application. The trend shown is equally as valid for room temperature and at -67 degrees Fahrenheit. Clearly then, to guarantee the manufacture of a high strength, minimum weight structure while still assuring that a sufficient quantity of adhesive was present, it was necessary to establish a non-destructive inspection process, usable in production, that could quickly and accurately discern bondlines in the 0.002–0.006″ range.</p

Seasonal Patterns of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease

Pneumococcal infections increase each winter, a phenomenon that has not been well explained. We conducted population-based active surveillance for all cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in seven states; plotted annualized weekly rates by geographic location, age, and latitude; and assessed correlations by time-series analysis. In all geographic areas, invasive pneumococcal disease exhibited a distinct winter seasonality, including an increase among children in the fall preceding that for adults and a sharp spike in incidence among adults each year between December 24 and January 7. Pneumococcal disease correlated inversely with temperature (r –0.82 with a 1-week lag; p<0.0001), but paradoxically the coldest states had the lowest rates, and no threshold temperature could be identified. The pattern of disease correlated directly with the sinusoidal variations in photoperiod (r +0.85 with a 5-week lag; p<0.0001). Seemingly unrelated seasonal phenomena were also somewhat correlated. The reproducible seasonal patterns in varied geographic locations are consistent with the hypothesis that nationwide seasonal changes such as photoperiod-dependent variation in host susceptibility may underlie pneumococcal seasonality, but caution is indicated in assigning causality as a result of such correlations

Epstein-Barr Virus genome deletions in Epstein-Barr Virus-positive T/NK cell lymphoproliferative diseases

The main target cells for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and persistence are B lymphocytes, although T and NK cells can also become infected. In this paper, we characterize the EBV present in 21 pediatric and adult patients who were treated in France for a range of diseases that involve infection of T or NK cells. Of these 21 cases, 5 pediatric patients (21%) and 11 adult patients (52%) were of Caucasian origin. In about 30% of the cases, some of the EBV genomes contain a large deletion. The deletions are different in every patient but tend to cluster near the BART region of the viral genome. Detailed investigation of a family in which several members have persistent T or NK cell infection by EBV indicates that the virus genome deletions arise or are selected independently in each individual patient. Genome sequence polymorphisms in the EBV in these T or NK cell diseases reflect the geographic origin of the patient and not a distinct type of EBV (the 21 cases studied included examples of both type 1 and type 2 EBV infection). Using virus produced from type 1 or type 2 EBV genomes cloned in bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vectors, we demonstrate infection of T cells in cord blood from healthy donors. Our results are consistent with transient infection of some T cells being part of normal asymptomatic infection by EBV in young children. IMPORTANCE EBV contributes to several types of human cancer. Some cancers and nonmalignant lymphoproliferative diseases involving T or NK cells contain EBV. These diseases are relatively frequent in Japan and China and have been shown sometimes to have deletions in the EBV genome in the disease cells. We identify further examples of deletions within the EBV genome associated with T or NK cell diseases, and we provide evidence that the virus genomes with these deletions are most likely selected in the individual cases, rather than being transmitted between people during infection. We demonstrate EBV infection of cord blood T cells by highly characterized, cloned EBV genomes and suggest that transient infection of T cells may be part of normal asymptomatic infection by EBV in young children

Absorptive Capacity in Supply Chains: Does Responsive Strategy of a Firm Matter?

The main purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of absorptive capacity on supply chains. In addition to that, the study has examined the mediating role of responsive strategy in the relationship between absorptive capacity in supply chain and performance. This research is based on the analysis of absorptive capacity to be an organizational value making a firm able to gather, use, and implement the information from outside. The study demonstrates the association between absorptive capacity and responsive strategy. It has been analyzed the way in which absorptive capacity has been developed by firms through examination of curvilinear impact of responsive strategy. the study is among the pioneering studies on the issues. So, current study has used SEM-PLS as statistical tool to answer the research questions raised in this study and research objectives envisaged in the current study. The findings of the current study have provided support to with the hypothesized results. This study will be helpful for policymakers and researchers in examining the link absorptive capacity on supply chains, responsive strategy and performance

ผลของสารประกอบฟอสเฟตต่อคุณภาพของเนื้อไก่หมักเครื่องต้มยำ

Thesis (M.Sc., Food Science and Technology)--Prince of Songkla University, 200

Supplementary effects of higher levels of various disaccharides on processing yield, quality properties and sensory attributes of Chinese - style pork jerky

Objective This study evaluated the supplementary effect of higher concentrations of various disaccharides on processing yield, major physicochemical properties, and sensory attributes of Chinese-style pork jerky (CSPJ). Methods CSPJ samples were prepared by marinating sliced ham (4 mm) with three dissaccharides, including sucrose, lactose, and maltose, at 0%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24%. Subsequently, the CSPJ samples were dried and roasted. The moisture content, water activity, crude protein, moisture-to-protein ratio, pH, processing yield, shear force, color, and sensory attributes of the CSPJ samples were evaluated. Results The quality characteristics of CSPJ samples prepared with sucrose were more acceptable. By contrast, CSPJ samples prepared with lactose showed the lowest scores. However, the processing yield and moisture content were the highest for CSPJ samples prepared with lactose, which may be associated with improved benefits for cost reduction. Furthermore, sucrose and lactose supplementation resulted in contrasting quality characteristics; for example, CSPJ samples with sucrose and maltose supplementation had higher sensory scores for color than samples with lactose supplementation. Additionally, most quality characteristics of CSPJ samples with sucrose supplementation contrasted with those of the samples with lactose supplementation; for example, the samples with sucrose supplementation had higher scores for sensory attributes than those with lactose supplementation. Conclusion Sucrose supplementation up to 21% to 24% was associated with the highest overall acceptability scores (5.19 to 5.80), enhanced quality characteristics, increased processing yield, and reduced production cost

Potential Application of a Quality Cost Model for Fresh Produce Packhouses

AbstractThe objective of this research is to access the potential of a quality cost model to food industry as a quality improvement indicator tool. The quality cost model has been applied for salad pack house and selenium egg pack house. The primary cost analysis show the different proportionality between cost of prevention and cost of control among two types of manufactures. Such evidence is explained by the different risk of products; fresh ready to eat vegetable and the raw egg in shell, thus the different of working model. The cased manufacturers indicated the possibility to apply this cost model as a long term quality improvement evaluation tool in term of the quality cost investment and the business revenue growth

Thin Bondline Measurement of Adhesively Bonded Metallic Aircraft Structures using an Ultrasonic Analyzer

The use of adhesive bonding for the assembly of aircraft structure is desirable because of the associated benefits of reduced weight, decreased parts count and increased fatigue life. The inability to fully characterize the nature of the bondline has been a limiting factor in applying this technology to the manufacture of primary aircraft structure. One such obstacle is the resolution limitation that has existed for the non-destructive measurement of bondline thicknesses. Up to the present time, ultrasonic methods have been limited in practice to a resolution approximately equal to the wavelength of the energy pulse employed. For a 15 MHz transducer, the highest frequency generally incorporated into off-the-shelf inspection equipment, this equates to a lower measurement limit of about 0.006″. For the FM-73 adhesive system used in this investigation, the acoustic velocity is 90, 600 inches per second [1]. The lower resolution limit will vary somewhat as a function of this speed. This limitation presented a problem because previous research had shown that the lap shear strength of aluminum bonded structure was maximized in bondlines between 0.002″ and 0.006″[2]. Furthermore, for bondlines of less than 0.002″, the lap shear strengths dropped off dramatically as illustrated in figure 1. The data presented is for elevated service temperature for an aircraft application. The trend shown is equally as valid for room temperature and at -67 degrees Fahrenheit. Clearly then, to guarantee the manufacture of a high strength, minimum weight structure while still assuring that a sufficient quantity of adhesive was present, it was necessary to establish a non-destructive inspection process, usable in production, that could quickly and accurately discern bondlines in the 0.002–0.006″ range.</p