Genotypic and environmentally derived variation in the cell wall composition of Miscanthus in relation to its use as a biomass feedstock

Fifteen Miscanthus genotypes grown in five locations across Europe were analysed to investigate the influence of genetic and environmental factors on cell wall composition. Chemometric techniques combining near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) and conventional chemical analyses were used to construct calibration models for determination of acid detergent lignin (ADL), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) from sample spectra. Results generated were subsequently converted to lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose content and used to assess the genetic and environmental variation in cell wall composition of Miscanthus and to identify genotypes which display quality traits suitable for exploitation in a range of energy conversion systems. The NIRS calibration models developed were found to predict concentrations with a good degree of accuracy based on the coefficient of determination (R2), standard error of calibration (SEC), and standard error of cross-validation (SECV) values. Across all sites mean lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose values in the winter harvest ranged from 76–115 g kg-1, 412–529 g kg-1, and 235–338 g kg-1 respectively. Overall, of the 15 genotypes Miscanthus x giganteus and Miscanthus sacchariflorus contained higher lignin and cellulose concentrations in the winter harvest. The degree of observed genotypic variation in cell wall composition indicates good potential for plant breeding and matching feedstocks to be optimised to different energy conversion processes.

The Maudsley Early Onset Schizophrenia Study:The effect of age of onset and illness duration on fronto-parietal gray matter

Objective: In Early Onset Schizophrenia (EOS; onset before the 18th birthday) late brain maturational changes may interact with disease mechanisms leading to a wave of back to front structural changes during adolescence. To further explore this effect we examined the relationship between age of onset and duration of illness on brain morphology in adolescents with EOS. Subjects and methods: Structural brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained from 40 adolescents with EOS. We used Voxel Based Morphometry and multiple regressions analyses, implemented in SPM, to examine the relationship between gray matter volume with age of onset and illness duration. Results: Age of onset showed a positive correlation with regional gray matter volume in the right superior parietal lobule (Brodmann Area 7). Duration of illness was inversely related to regional gray matter volume in the left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 11/47). Conclusions: Parietal gray matter loss may contribute to the onset of schizophrenia while orbitofrontal gray matter loss is associated with illness duration. © 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Managing performance of organisational units with PIMsoft:a new DEA software

DEA literature continues apace but software has lagged behind. This session uses suitably selected data to present newly developed software which includes many of the most recent DEA models. The software enables the user to address a variety of issues not frequently found in existing DEA software such as: -Assessments under a variety of possible assumptions of returns to scale including NIRS and NDRS; -Scale elasticity computations; -Numerous Input/Output variables and truly unlimited number of assessment units (DMUs) -Panel data analysis -Analysis of categorical data (multiple categories) -Malmquist Index and its decompositions -Computations of Supper efficiency -Automated removal of super-efficient outliers under user-specified criteria; -Graphical presentation of results -Integrated statistical tests

Numerical modelling of spectral, temporal and statistical properties of Raman fiber lasers

Efficient numerical modelling of the power, spectral and statistical properties of partially coherent quasi-CW Raman fiber laser radiation is presented. XPM between pump wave and generated Stokes wave is not important in the generation spectrum broadening and XPM term can be omitted in propagation equation what sufficiently speeds-up simulations. The time dynamics of Raman fiber laser (RFL) is stochastic exhibiting events several times more intense that the mean value on the ps timescale. However, the RFL has different statistical properties on different time scales. The probability density function of spectral power density is exponential for the generation modes located either in the spectrum centre or spectral wings while the phases are distributed uniformly. The pump wave preserves the initial Gaussian statistics during propagation in the laser cavity. Intense pulses in the pump wave are evolved under the SPM influence and are not disturbed by the dispersion. Contrarily, in the generated wave the dispersion plays a significant role that results in stochastic behavior. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Service productivity:what stops service firms from measuring it?

Productivity measurement poses a challenge for service organizations. Conventional management wisdom holds that this challenge is rooted in the difficulty of accurately quantifying service inputs and outputs. Few service firms have adequate service productivity measurement (SPM) systems in place and implementing such systems may involve organizational transformation. Combining field interviews and literature-based insights, the authors develop a conceptual model of antecedents of SPM in service firms and test it using data from 276 service firms. Results indicate that one out of five antecedents affects the choice to use SPM, namely, the degree of service standardization. In addition, all five hypothesized antecedents and one additional antecedent (perceived appropriateness of the current SPM) predict the degree of SPM usage. In particular, the degree of SPM is positively influenced by the degree of service standardization, service customization, investments in service productivity gains, and the appropriateness of current service productivity measures. In turn, customer integration and the perceived difficulty of measuring service productivity negatively affect SPM. The fact that customer integration impedes actual measurement of service productivity is a surprising finding, given that customer integration is widely seen as a means to increase service productivity. The authors conclude with implications for service organizations and directions for research.