The use of a lean production index in explaining the transition to global competitiveness: the auto components sector in South Africa

Globalisation means enhanced competition. This is a problem both for firms in rich countries, and for those in developing countries. In particular producers in high-income countries are increasingly being threatened by imports from low wage economies. Lean production techniques are therefore an urgent prerequisite for producers everywhere. But how can the degree of progress in the adoption of lean production be measured? And what factors determine the rate of adoption of lean production? This paper addresses both methodological issues (the construction of a lean production index) and the analysis of factors determining its adoption through an investigation of the South African auto components sector

Effect of Dietary Carotenoid on Egg Yolk Color and Singlet Oxygen Quenching Activity of Laying Hens

The effects of dietary carotenoids on egg yolk were investigated in this study. Forty Rhode Island Red (RR) and 40 Silky Fowl (SF) hens that were 60 weeks old were used. Hens of each breed were randomly divided into four dietary groups. One group was fed a basal diet (crude protein 17%, metabolizable energy 2800 kcal/kg) only, whereas the other groups received a specific additive, namely, paprika extract, marigold petal extract, or Paracoccus cell powder, in addition to the same basal diet. The color and carotenoid content of egg yolk and singlet oxygen quenching activity were measured after 4 weeks. The total carotenoid content, zeaxanthin content, and singlet oxygen quenching activity in the yolk differed significantly between breeds and between diets (two-way ANOVA). The lutein content in egg yolk was affected by breed and diet, as well as by the interaction between these two factors. Regarding the Roche Yolk Color Fan values, only the effect of diet was significant. In terms of objective egg yolk color, there was a significant difference in lightness and yellowness between breeds. The total carotenoid content was higher in SF than in RR in all the groups. Likewise, the levels of zeaxanthin and lutein in the yolk were higher in SF than in RR (P<0.05). The results of the present study suggest that dietary carotenoids are effective feed additives for laying hens, especially SF, to improve the color and singlet oxygen quenching activity of egg yolk

The draft genome sequence of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis towards an understanding of horn formation

: The Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus is a giant beetle with distinctive exaggerated horns present on the head and prothoracic regions of the male. T. dichotomus has been used as a research model in various fields such as evolutionary developmental biology, ecology, ethology, biomimetics, and drug discovery. In this study, de novo assembly of 615 Mb, representing 80% of the genome estimated by flow cytometry, was obtained using the 10 × Chromium platform. The scaffold N50 length of the genome assembly was 8.02 Mb, with repetitive elements predicted to comprise 49.5% of the assembly. In total, 23,987 protein-coding genes were predicted in the genome. In addition, de novo assembly of the mitochondrial genome yielded a contig of 20,217 bp. We also analyzed the transcriptome by generating 16 RNA-seq libraries from a variety of tissues of both sexes and developmental stages, which allowed us to identify 13 co-expressed gene modules. We focused on the genes related to horn formation and obtained new insights into the evolution of the gene repertoire and sexual dimorphism as exemplified by the sex-specific splicing pattern of the doublesex gene. This genomic information will be an excellent resource for further functional and evolutionary analyses, including the evolutionary origin and genetic regulation of beetle horns and the molecular mechanisms underlying sexual dimorphism

単位時間あたりに変化する様々な量を 「速さ」と捉えることの難しさ

算数科の速さの学習内容は，単位時間あたり変化する道のりとしての速さが中心である。一方で日常生活では，色を塗る速さ（面積/時間），回転する速さ（角度/時間），印刷の速さ（枚数/時間）など単位時間あたりに変化する様々な量としての速さが存在する。こうした多様な速さは，教科書各社によって取り扱いに差異がある。そこで本研究では，単位時間あたりに変化する様々な量を「速さ」として捉えることの困難さの実態を明らかにし，速さの指導への示唆を得ることを目指す。調査の結果，問題場面によって，捉えやすい量の速さと捉えにくい量の速さが存在することが明らかになった