Reflecting on time, timing and timeliness in public sector supply networks

Despite recent research on time (e.g. Hedaa & Törnroos, 2001), consideration of the time dimension in data collection, analysis and interpretation in research in supply networks is, to date, still limited. Drawing on a body of literature from organization studies, and empirical findings from a six-year action research programme and a related study of network learning, we reflect on time, timing and timeliness in interorganizational networks. The empirical setting is supply networks in the English health sector wherein we identify and elaborate various issues of time, within the case and in terms of research process. Our analysis is wide-ranging and multi-level, from the global (e.g. identifying the notion of life cycles) to the particular (e.g. different cycle times in supply, such as daily for deliveries and yearly for contracts). We discuss the ‘speeding up’ of inter-organizational ‘e’ time and tensions with other time demands. In closing the paper, we relate our conclusions to the future conduct of the research programme and supply research more generally, and to the practice of managing supply (in) networks.

Tsunami disaster recovery experience:a case study on micro, small and medium scale enterprises in Southern Sri Lanka

Post-disaster recovery of Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) remains an issue of interest for policy and practice given the wide scale occurrences of natural disasters around the globe and their significant impacts on local economies and SMEs. Asian Tsunami of December 2004 affected many SMEs in southern Sri Lanka. The study was developed to identify the main issues encountered by the Tsunami affected SMEs in Southern Sri Lanka in the process of their post-tsunami recovery. The study: a) identifies tsunami damage and loss in micro and SMEs in the Galle district; b) ascertains the type of benefits received from various parties by the affected micro and SMEs; c) evaluates the problems and difficulties faced by the beneficiary organizations in the benefit distribution process; and d) recommends strategies and policies for the tsunami-affected micro and SMEs for them to become self-sustaining within a reasonable time frame. Fifty randomly selected tsunami-affected micro and SMEs were surveyed for this study. Interviews were conducted in person with the business owners in order to identify the damages, recovery, rehabilitation, re-establishment and difficulties faced in the benefit distribution process. The analysis identifies that the benefits were given the wrong priorities and that they were not sufficient for the recovery process. In addition, the many governance-related problems that arose while distributing benefits are discussed. Overall, the business recovery rate was approximately 65%, and approximately 88% of business organizations were sole proprietorships. Therefore, the policies of the tsunami relief agencies should adequately address the needs of sole proprietorship business requirements. Consideration should also be given to strengthen the capacity and skills of the entrepreneurs by improving operational, technological, management and marketing skills and capabilities.

A new paradigm in large-scale assembly-research priorities in measurement assisted assembly

This paper presents for the first time the concept of measurement assisted assembly (MAA) and outlines the research priorities of the realisation of this concept in the industry. MAA denotes a paradigm shift in assembly for high value and complex products and encompasses the development and use of novel metrology processes for the holistic integration and capability enhancement of key assembly and ancillary processes. A complete framework for MAA is detailed showing how this can facilitate a step change in assembly process capability and efficiency for large and complex products, such as airframes, where traditional assembly processes exhibit the requirement for rectification and rework, use inflexible tooling and are largely manual, resulting in cost and cycle time pressures. The concept of MAA encompasses a range of innovativemeasurement- assisted processes which enable rapid partto- part assembly, increased use of flexible automation, traceable quality assurance and control, reduced structure weight and improved levels of precision across the dimensional scales. A full scale industrial trial of MAA technologies has been carried out on an experimental aircraft wing demonstrating the viability of the approach while studies within 140 smaller companies have highlighted the need for better adoption of existing process capability and quality control standards. The identified research priorities for MAA include the development of both frameless and tooling embedded automated metrology networks. Other research priorities relate to the development of integrated dimensional variation management, thermal compensation algorithms as well as measurement planning and inspection of algorithms linking design to measurement and process planning. © Springer-Verlag London 2013.

Implementation of a machine tool performance measurement and diagnostic system and its impact on parts verification

Five axis machine tools are increasing and becoming more popular as customers demand more complex machined parts. In high value manufacturing, the importance of machine tools in producing high accuracy products is essential. High accuracy manufacturing requires producing parts in a repeatable manner and precision in compliance to the defined design specifications. The performance of the machine tools is often affected by geometrical errors due to a variety of causes including incorrect tool offsets, errors in the centres of rotation and thermal growth. As a consequence, it can be difficult to produce highly accurate parts consistently. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that machine tools are verified in terms of their geometric and positioning accuracy. When machine tools are verified in terms of their accuracy, the resulting numerical values of positional accuracy and process capability can be used to define design for verification rules and algorithms so that machined parts can be easily produced without scrap and little or no after process measurement. In this paper the benefits of machine tool verification are listed and a case study is used to demonstrate the implementation of robust machine tool performance measurement and diagnostics using a ballbar system.

Real-time error compensation of a three-axis machine tool using a laser tracker

The concept of measurement-enabled production is based on integrating metrology systems into production processes and generated significant interest in industry, due to its potential to increase process capability and accuracy, which in turn reduces production times and eliminates defective parts. One of the most promising methods of integrating metrology into production is the usage of external metrology systems to compensate machine tool errors in real time. The development and experimental performance evaluation of a low-cost, prototype three-axis machine tool that is laser tracker assisted are described in this paper. Real-time corrections of the machine tool's absolute volumetric error have been achieved. As a result, significant increases in static repeatability and accuracy have been demonstrated, allowing the low-cost three-axis machine tool to reliably reach static positioning accuracies below 35 μm throughout its working volume without any prior calibration or error mapping. This is a significant technical development that demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed methods and can have wide-scale industrial applications by enabling low-cost and structural integrity machine tools that could be deployed flexibly as end-effectors of robotic automation, to achieve positional accuracies that were the preserve of large, high-precision machine tools.

Social media and sentiment in bioenergy consultation

he push to widen participation in public consultation suggests social media as an additional mechanism through which to engage the public. Bioenergy companies need to build their capacity to communicate in these new media and to monitor the attitudes of the public and opposition organisations towards energy development projects. Design/methodology/approach This short paper outlines the planning issues bioenergy developments face and the main methods of communication used in the public consultation process in the UK. The potential role of social media in communication with stakeholders is identified. The capacity of sentiment analysis to mine opinions from social media is summarised, and illustrated using a sample of tweets containing the term ‘bioenergy’ Findings Social media have the potential to improve information flows between stakeholders and developers. Sentiment analysis is a viable Purpose The push to widen participation in public consultation suggests social media as an additional mechanism through which to engage the public. Bioenergy companies need to build their capacity to communicate in these new media and to monitor the attitudes of the public and opposition organisations towards energy development projects. Design/methodology/approach This short paper outlines the planning issues bioenergy developments face and the main methods of communication used in the public consultation process in the UK. The potential role of social media in communication with stakeholders is identified. The capacity of sentiment analysis to mine opinions from social media is summarised, and illustrated using a sample of tweets containing the term ‘bioenergy’ Findings Social media have the potential to improve information flows between stakeholders and developers. Sentiment analysis is a viable methodology, which bioenergy companies should be using to measure public opinion in the consultation process. Preliminary analysis shows promising results. Research limitations/implications Analysis is preliminary and based on a small dataset. It is intended only to illustrate the potential of sentiment analysis and not to draw general conclusions about the bioenergy sector. Originality/value Opinion mining, though established in marketing and political analysis, is not yet systematically applied as a planning consultation tool. This is a missed opportunity.

Mediação biográfica: propostas para a formação docente

This work aims at studying the biographical mediation taken as the progress of people in formation process who develop a biographical work on their own experiences with the help of a former (PASSEGGI, 2006, 2011). The research was carried out on a curricular component from Curso de Formação Inicial e Continuada (initial and continuous process of formation of teachers) with teachers from public schools developed by Instituto Federal de Educação do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN/ Ipanguaçu). The target audience featured diversity of professionals and experiences of formation. The general objective studied the potentials of procedures and devices used to mediate the reflection about the necessary knowledge to teaching practice based on their own experiences (auto-biographical) and the experience from the others (hetero-biographical). The study tried to respond to the following questions: how do teachers in formation relate themselves to the knowledge from experience? What procedures and devices contribute on the teachers‟ formation on the three different dimensions of biographical mediation (initiatory, maieutic, hermeneutics)? How to provide the auto-formation and hetero-formation? The theories and methods of this work are based on studies and researches that place the person in formation in the center of investigation and formation and analyze their reflective, re-inventive and self-re-inventive capacity. (FREIRE, 1987, 1996, 2001, 2011; JOSSO, 2008, 2010, 2012; DELORY-MONBERGER, 2006, 2008, 2012; CHARLLOT, 2000; CATANI, 2001; PASSEGGI, 2008; 2010; 2011; 2012). We selected six teachers who participate entirely on the meetings of the program. They discussed on the study topics, shared narrations that integrate their formation and the themes related to the course. The empirical material is composed by the narrations of the six participants and hearing boards done by themselves at the moment of the narration sharing process. The analysis followed three steps: a) the path of the program and the procedures of biographical mediation; b) the relations former/teacher on the three dimensions of biographical mediation; c) the hearing board as a device of biographical mediation. We concluded that the procedures and devices used for biographical mediation made possible specific learnings that are sources for the practice of initial and continuous teachers‟ formation, as well as for the formation of the former-researcher about the work with autobiographical narrations. Thus, it allow the co-investment of participants into the process of auto-formation and hetero-formation.

Repercussão da integração de conteúdos das disciplinas nos trabalhos finais de graduação de CAU-UFRN (2003 a 2010)

The changes in the teaching of Architecture in Brazilian Universities, from the 1990s onwards, with the upgrading of the Architecture project as an object of research and scientific knowledge and more specifically, the adoption by the Architecture and Urbanism Course (CAU) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) of the principle of content integration of the disciplines, aroused the interest in research on issues related to the Design process and the teaching of design in this context. After 20 years of its implementation and recognized as being a major step forward in teaching the teaching/learning process, the integration is the central focus of this research, which will seek to identify changes in the teaching design and its refutation in projects developed by students at the end of their course. In general, it is understood that the need to integrate knowledge from diverse areas of Architect’s professional activity, who seeks through an exercise of summary, identify solutions to the issues involved in a project. On the assumption that the integration of content of disciplines fosters the teaching/learning of Architecture project, which can be evident in the Final Course Assignment (FCA), it becomes necessary to understand, in the light of theories of education, such as the principles of curriculum organization, such as interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity and transversality are related to the term integration, is more understood and disseminated among the professors of the Architecture courses. The object of this study is consequently the relationship between the integration of subject content and Architecture projects developed by students from CAU-UFRN, in the context of Final Graduation projects (FCAs) completed in the period of duration of the Teaching Project A5-from 2003. The study has the main objective of investigating to what extent the integration of disciplinary content affects the development of the Final Assignment of UFRN, from the analysis of drawings and texts of the projects of the learners and the testimonies of teachers and undergraduate students. From a methodological point of view, the research “Architecture, Project and Knowledge Production: Academic Production – FCAs, Thesis and dissertations in PA/Brazil” carried out by the PROJETAR/UFRN team has been adopted as the basis for the construction of the analytical instruments. In order to identify aspects of their experience by various actors which were not recorded in FCA, electronic forms were applied between teachers and students, through the internet. The integration of subject content based Teaching Project of CAU-UFRN institutionalises the interdisciplinarity, organizing the curriculum by thematic semesters, in which the disciplines work the same focus and at the same site. The integrated work which derives from there tries to articulate the content of each discipline of the period and represents a general practice and has been evaluated by teachers and students, and considered as a facilitator of the teaching/learning process. The analysis of the data collected from the textual content and graphic of the sample of FCAs of CAU-UFRN suggests that the content of the various areas of knowledge are assimilated by the student and used as a resource for the design and development of Architecture projects. In other words, there is in the end product of the students record of the integration of content, whether in speech or in drawing, reaffirming the importance of the convergence of various knowledge in the Architectonic project. However, the integration of content from the point of view of their articulation and operationalization, which involves teachers and students in the same period, has as a condition sine qua non for the success of this educational principle, the provision of these to work as part of a team, for the dialogic practice, which creates areas of intersection not only between disciplines, but between the knowledge of each of the participants.

Nitric-acid Hydrolysis of Miscanthus giganteus to Sugars Fermented to Bioethanol

Peer reviewed

The effects of centrally acting ACE inhibitors on the rate of cognitive and functional decline in dementia: a KDD approach

Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias are one of the most challenging illnesses confronting countries with ageing populations. Treatment options for dementia are limited, and the costs are significant. There is a growing need to develop new treatments for dementia, especially for the elderly. There is also growing evidence that centrally acting angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which cross the blood-brain barrier, are associated with a reduced rate of cognitive and functional decline in dementia, especially in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of centrally acting ACE inhibitors (CACE-Is) on the rate of cognitive and functional decline in dementia, using a three phased KDD process. KDD, as a scientific way to process and analysis clinical data, is used to find useful insights from a variety of clinical databases. The data used are from three clinic databases: Geriatric Assessment Tool (GAT), the Doxycycline and Rifampin for Alzheimer’s Disease (DARAD), and the Qmci validation databases, which were derived from several different geriatric clinics in Canada. This research involves patients diagnosed with AD, vascular or mixed dementia only. Patients were included if baseline and end-point (at least six months apart) Standardised Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE), Quick Mild Cognitive Impairment (Qmci) or Activities Daily Living (ADL) scores were available. Basically, the rates of change are compared between patients taking CACE-Is, and those not currently treated with CACE-Is. The results suggest that there is a statistically significant difference in the rate of decline in cognitive and functional scores between CACE-I and NoCACE-I patients. This research also validates that the Qmci, a new short assessment test, has potential to replace the current popular screening tests for cognition in the clinic and clinical trials.

New Chinese Words in 2014 – A Study of Word-formation Processes

随着社会的发展，尤其是互联网的发展，很多语言每年都涌现出了不少新词汇。词语是每个语言最基本也是最重要的组成部分，因此分析这些新词汇的结构特点以及构词法是很有意义的。这篇文章分析了2014年出现在中文里的新词汇和它们的构词方式，论文的目的是为了更好地了解中文词汇的发展和特点。本文以《2014汉语新词语》中公布的2014年出现的新词汇作为语料进行分析，发现了以下两个主要特点：第一，合成法，派生法，缩略法是2014年产生的新词汇的主要构词方式；第二， 百分之七十二的新词汇是多音节词（包含三个或者三个以上音节），而百分之八十的是名词。这些特点说明中文词汇现阶段的特点和发展趋势，跟传统的中文词汇有不同之处。

Estratégias internacionais da fruticultura do RN: o caso finobrasa processo e evolução

The present inquiry has as main objective to understand the process of formation of the international strategies of the exporting companies of fruits of the RN through the theory of the resource dependence. Aiming at to clarify as the companies they can carry through the process of internationalization through this theory had been study the behavior and economic theories of the process of internationalization of companies. Amongst the economic theories they are distinguished the eclectic paradigm of Dunning (1958), Vernon (1669) through the theory of the cycle of the product and Bucley and Casson (1979) with the theory of the international operations. In the mannering boarding they had been investigated the school of Upsala through Johanson and Valnhe (1977) with the concept of the increasing of the markets and in the distance psychic starts and the interaction of the purchaser-salesman of Hallen and Wiedersheim-Paul (1979). In this perspective it observes main the occured changes in the organization in function of this process, following the rules observed by the gradual ingression in the international market, having as base ways of entrances in the external market used by these companies, in view of the frist phase that the company presents of businesses. Ahead of you analyze of these theories the study searches to analyze the convergence of the concepts proclaimed for the theory of the dependence of resources (PFEFFER; SALANCIK, 1978). and strategies of internationalization of the companies. The research is characterized as qualitative case study which adopts and exploratory and analytical type, retrospective matrix. The adopted strategy is of case study and the unit of analysis consisting of the Finobrasa, pertaining company to the Vicunha Group. The main method of collection of data was halfstructuralized interview allied the documentary research that together had presented an empirical perspective of the internationalization process. The analysis and quarrel of the results understand the description and the interpretation of the one of the information through the technique of analyzes of content. Initially the historical of the exportation of fruits of the Rio Grande do Norte with the focus in the region Açu/Mossoró is presented and after that the information of the Finobrasa are presented as base of the study. The main events are identified that had constituted the phases of the strategical model of the company. It was observed that the dimensions most excellent amongst those proclaimed by the School of Uppsala had been the learning, staffs and the step-starts is sufficiently gifts in the reality of the company, as well as the aspects of strategical alliances since the consolidated relationship of the Vicunha Group create a more solid trajectory in the international market allied the conditions created windows of marked . One understands, therefore, that the investigated process still has base the theoretical theories of the internationalization strategies corroborating for the theoretical convergence of the rules proclaimed for the theory of the dependence of resources.

Katrin Ulrike Zaborowski / Michael Meier / Georg Breidenstein: Leistungsbewertung und Unterricht, Ethnographische Studien zur Bewertungspraxis in Gymnasium und Sekundarschule. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2011 [Rezension]

Rezension von: Katrin Ulrike Zaborowski / Michael Meier / Georg Breidenstein: Leistungsbewertung und Unterricht, Ethnographische Studien zur Bewertungspraxis in Gymnasium und Sekundarschule, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2011 (376 S.; ISBN 978-3-531-16808-1)

Nina Meister: Wie beginnt der Unterricht? Hermeneutische Rekonstruktionen von Unterrichtsanfängen in Frankreich und Deutschland. Opladen / Berlin / Toronto: Budrich UniPress Ltd. 2012 [...] [Sammelrezension]

Sammelrezension von: 1.Nina Meister: Wie beginnt der Unterricht? Hermeneutische Rekonstruktionen von Unterrichtsanfängen in Frankreich und Deutschland, Opladen / Berlin / Toronto: Budrich UniPress Ltd. 2012 (218 S.; ISBN 978-3-86388-008-8) 2.Carla Schelle / Oliver Holstein / Nina Meister (Hrsg.): Schule und Unterricht in Frankreich, Ein Beitrag zur Empirie, Theorie und Praxis, Münster / New York / München / Berlin: Waxmann 2012 (300 S.; ISBN 978-3-8309-2652-8)