Learning difficulties: collaborative inter-organisational information system use within UK retail supply networks

Inter-organisational information systems (IOIS) have been introduced to support collaborative retail supply relationships, yet how these systems are used is not well understood. This paper presents analysis of an ideographic case study of a dynamic United Kingdom grocery sector supply network. Using Archer's (1995) social change theory we explore how changes to buyer-supplier relationship structures re-conditioned individual actors' situational logics in a way that created network learning difficulties. Our analysis shows how actors' inter-organisational information system use reinforced pre-existing bargaining positions and improved already powerful actors' relative negotiating strength. This paper demonstrates the value of multi-level analysis in furthering understanding of the complex relationships between processes of network and individual learning

Architecture of Confinement: Positively Influencing Rehabilitation and Reintegration

D.Arch. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2016.Includes bibliographical references.Environments for human habitation must be carefully designed to fulfill the needs of the intended occupants. There is no exception when addressing correctional institution design. This dissertation is presented on prison typology to explore what impact design has on the psychology of its users. High recidivism rates in US prisons show that our current system is not working. Learning from the effects of the environmental psychology of design, architectural spatial influences can have a positive effect on the rehabilitation of inmates. A collaborative approach between designers and environmental psychologists has the potential to lead to a powerful approach to reformative architecture for correctional institutions. The initial hypothesis is that by creating this new prison typology, through designing quality spaces benefiting a reflective environment, recidivism rates can be reduced, and a more successful rehabilitation infrastructure can accomplished through architecture. The purpose of this research is to understand and address the fundamental needs of a prison system, and analyze what improvements can be made to the system through architectural and interior design. Local, national and global precedents will be studied to gain perspective on various design solutions. The research will be balanced with an in-depth study into the psychology of the environment and its effect on human behavior. This research will aid in addressing what is the architect’s social responsibility in prison design and will develop and deepen this body of knowledge to improve design solutions that may used as a new typology of correctional architecture locally here in Hawaii

Interpolation in waveform space: enhancing the accuracy of gravitational waveform families using numerical relativity

Matched-filtering for the identification of compact object mergers in gravitational-wave antenna data involves the comparison of the data stream to a bank of template gravitational waveforms. Typically the template bank is constructed from phenomenological waveform models since these can be evaluated for an arbitrary choice of physical parameters. Recently it has been proposed that singular value decomposition (SVD) can be used to reduce the number of templates required for detection. As we show here, another benefit of SVD is its removal of biases from the phenomenological templates along with a corresponding improvement in their ability to represent waveform signals obtained from numerical relativity (NR) simulations. Using these ideas, we present a method that calibrates a reduced SVD basis of phenomenological waveforms against NR waveforms in order to construct a new waveform approximant with improved accuracy and faithfulness compared to the original phenomenological model. The new waveform family is given numerically through the interpolation of the projection coefficients of NR waveforms expanded onto the reduced basis and provides a generalized scheme for enhancing phenomenological models.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Reconstruction in Sierra Leone

After a civil war lasting five years, the democratically elected Sierra Leone government signed a peace treaty with the rebel faction in November 1996 and the country intensified the reconstruction of its infrastructure. This paper describes the aims, the existing situation, the various stages and the main conclusions of the World Bank financed Master Plan study for the water supply of the three provincial capitals (Bo, Kenema and Makeni). The study was undertaken by Howard Humphreys (HH) as lead consultant, in association with Dutch consultant IWACO, and local consultants ENGCON and Techsult

Expression of an anti-CD33 single-chain antibody by Pichia pastoris

CD33 is a cell surface glycoprotein expressed on cells of myelomonocytic lineage, leukaemic cells, but not haematopoietic stem cells. By virtue of its expression pattern, CD33 has become a popular target for new immunotherapeutic approaches to treat acute myeloid leukaemia. The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris strain KM71H was used to produce an anti-CD33 single chain variable fragment (scFv), with the intention of conjugation to a radioisotope, for therapeutic use. To direct secreted expression of the anti-CD33-scFv the alpha-mating factor secretory signal sequence (alpha-MF) was used, with constructs containing a complete (CS) and incomplete (INCS) cleavage site to accommodate the potential outcomes of dibasic endopeptidase, Kex2, and dipeptidyl amino peptidase, Ste13, processing. The anti-CD33-scFv was expressed in BMMY cultures using both constructs, with a final yield of 48 mg/l (CS) and 11 mg/l (INCS). N-terminal sequencing showed that the CS-scFv had not been cleaved by Ste13, leaving amino acids EAEA at the N-terminus. The INCS-scFv construct produced a mixture of 50% authentic scFv and 50% with 11 amino acids from the alpha-MF remaining at the N-terminus. Despite the aberrations in alpha-MF processing, the anti-CD33-scFv's produced from both constructs were found to be functional. Flow cytometry and Biacore analysis demonstrated binding to target antigen CD33 on the surface of human leukaemic cell line HL-60, and to recombinant soluble CD33 respectively

Managers' perceptions of modern slavery risk in a UK health-care supply network

In this paper we argue that, to fully understand managers’ perceptions of modern slavery risk in the context of a UK health-care supply chain, it is necessary to adopt a ‘labour’ supply chain lens that puts the employment relationship at the heart of socially-sustainable supply chain management practice. The distancing and dismantling of employee relations we found, when coupled with an increase in staff turnover, may increase modern slavery risk for permanent, as well as temporary employees, close to the point of commissioning. The implications of this research for policy makers, educators, management practitioners and future research are discussed