Illinois as a leader in the international economy : an analysis of the challenges of the 1990s /

Executive summary -- Overview of findings -- Some summary conclusions -- Purpose -- A changing national and international marketplace -- Cluster dynamics in the Illinois economy: defining key industry clusters -- The cost of doing business in Illinois -- Occupational structure: the key to success in the 1990s is retaining and attracting high value-added jobs in Illinois -- Regional differences: while northeastern Illinois dominates the economy, many of the state's key clusters are widely dispersed around the state -- Summary and conclusions -- appendix 1. Illinois' industry cluster performance: detailed analysis -- appendix 2. Illinois' occupational challenges in the 1990s by industry cluster.

Mericos H. Whittier, his career; the story of a California oil pioneer, civic leader and humanitarian whose noteworthy career won him honor among men.

Mode of access: Internet.

The Demands of Globalization on the Lodging Industry

In this guest editorial the distinguished president and CEO of Strategic Hotel Capital, Inc., a leader in the lodging industry outlines his views in a paper written for the Review which was also delivered at the Credit Lyonnaise Lodging Converence in Paris in March of 1998.

Club COO Leadership: A Comparative Study of Industry

A true leader continues the quest for personal knowledge. The quest is designed to better the leader's life, not necessarily the leader's livelihood. While change is a constant in the lives of club leaders, and some days the leader's vision and purpose change, the underlying ideas and convictions remain constant. Many leadership qualities must be present to be an effective leader. The author's survey club chief operating officers to elicit the characteristics and essential qualities of club leadership

Assessment of exposure to the Penicillium glabrum complex in cork industry using complementing methods

Cork oak is the second most dominant forest species in Portugal and makes this country the world leader in cork export. Occupational exposure to Chrysonilia sitophila and the Penicillium glabrum complex in cork industry is common, and the latter fungus is associated with suberosis. However, as conventional methods seem to underestimate its presence in occupational environments, the aim of our study was to see whether information obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a molecular-based method, can complement conventional findings and give a better insight into occupational exposure of cork industry workers. We assessed fungal contamination with the P. glabrum complex in three cork manufacturing plants in the outskirts of Lisbon using both conventional and molecular methods. Conventional culturing failed to detect the fungus at six sampling sites in which PCR did detect it. This confirms our assumption that the use of complementing methods can provide information for a more accurate assessment of occupational exposure to the P. glabrum complex in cork industry.

Potential pathogenic fungi assessment through molecular biology in cork industry

Portugal has been the world leader in the cork sectr in terms of exports, employing ten thousands of workers. In this working activity, the permanent contact with cork may lead to the exposure to fungi raising concerns as occupational hazards in cork industry. A study was developed aiming at assessing fungal contamination due to Aspergillus fumigatus complex and Penicillium glabrum complex by molecular methods in three cork industries in the outskirt of Lisbon city. The chosen fungal species are the ones most frequently associated with respiratory problems in workers from these industries.

Leadership training and regular communication identified as key strategies for the development of the Australian pineapple industry

Changes in the circumstances of the Australian pineapple industry left growers with a leadership vacuum, limited technical support and no funds for conducting research and marketing. Inspirational leadership training together with regular district farm meetings were used to assist the Australian pineapple industry to successfully adapt to these challenges. All growers were assigned to one of a number of regional grower study groups and regular on-farm meetings commenced to facilitate communication between growers, transfer of technology, awareness of industry affairs and an opportunity to become involved in industry business. A leader was appointed within each study group and these leaders attended a leadership course consisting of three, three-day modules. These original course graduates formed the nucleus of a new grower representative group which subsequently instigated levies to fund research and marketing. Two more courses have since been conducted to provide the depth of leadership to satisfy the growers' desire to rotate industry leadership on a regular basis.

Apprendre à être un Leader dans un Programme de Leadership: Perceptions, Éxpérience Préalable en Leadership et Sexe de l’Étudiant

The purpose of this study was to examine whether leadership can be learned through the Community Recreation and Leadership Training (CRLT) program and how effective the program is in terms of changing the perceptions and abilities of the students. The intentions of the researcher were to discover crucial learning moments as perceived by students and to gain insights that could lead to future improvements to enhance and enrich learning in a leadership program. To continue to be a viable program and to keep step with the demands of the recreation/leisure industry and society's wide-ranging needs, this study may help to inform the program's 'action plan' for continued success. This study employed a mixed method approach to determine how college students develop effective leadership ability in a three-year Community Recreation and Leadership Training (CRLT) college career program. First, a number of statistical tests were carried out to examine the four research questions used to guide the study. The SPSS software was used to analyze the data collected. The first research question asked how perceptions of leadership change as a result of being in a three-year leadership program. This study, using the Student Leadership Practice Inventory (SLPI), compared the five SLPI leadership dimensions by year. The SLPI was administered to all the first, second, and third year CRLT students ( N = 84). A one-way analysis of variance in participants' scores was conducted. No significant differences were revealed in any of the five dimensions of the SLPI among the first, second, and third year students at p < .05. However, two dimensions (model and encourage) approached significance and may hint at a possible influence the program is having on its students as they progress into the third year. The second research question asked whether perceptions of leadership vary by gender. Comparing the mean scores between the males and females on the five dimensions of the SLPI, no significant differences were found. The third research question asked whether prior leadership experience results in better academic performance for CRLT students in their 1st term. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate the relationship between prior leadership experience and mean scores on academic performance. No significant correlations were found between grades and low, medium, or high levels of prior leadership experience F(2,79) = 2.67, p = .08. A correlation coefficient was also computed to determine whether there was a relationship between the Recreation Leadership I course grade and prior leadership experience. The correlation coefficient (.02) was statistically significant, r(80) = .24, p < .05. However, further studies with a larger sample size would be necessary to help determine this. The fourth question asked whether there was a correlation between students' first semester grades and their scores on the Student Leadership Practice Inventory (SLPI). Bivariate correlations (Pearson) were computed for the five SLPI dimensions with academic performance. None of the correlations using the five SLPI indicators was significant. Qualitative data was examined to discover what factors and experiences help students to assert a more effective leadership role. The study relied on content analysis of personal statements, and focus groups. Student perceptions of an effective leader, students' perceptions of their own abilities, and the strengths of the program were explored. A content analysis of the 'Personal Statements' was carried out to determine how students defined leadership prior to their having had any formal teaching in a college program. The result of the analysis of personal statements provided eight leadership categories used as an initial baseline for the study. Six focus groups (totaling N = 30) were conducted. Students responded to four key questions: how they define leadership. What is the single most effective quality of a leader? What leadership skills did they feel they had gained? How had the program helped them obtain their skills? Students credited the CRLT program with helping them develop a variety of leadership skills. Students revealed that they had gained skills such as confidence, knowledge and understanding of people's needs, and becoming more self-directed. They attributed their skill development to such things as good course design, intensive outdoor education and fieldwork courses, "hands on" learning approaches, group work, skill practice, the support they received from teachers, and encouragement they were given by their peers. A common finding among genders was defining an effective leader as someone who is "confident". However, the definition of the most important quality of a leader varied by gender. While males showed a tendency to prefer a leader being "confident," females preferred a leader being a "teacher".

Combined photocatalytic and fungal processes for the treatment of nitrocellulose industry wastewater

The objective of this work was to characterize the delignification effluent originating from the delignification industry and evaluate the combination of the fungus and photocatalytic process (TiO(2)/UV system) for the treatment of this effluent. The delignification effluent has proven harmful to the environment because it presents high color (3516 CU), total phenol (876 mg/L and TOC (1599 mg/L) and is also highly toxic even in a low concentration. The results of photocatalysis were 11%, 25% and 13% higher for reductions in color, total phenol and TOC, respectively. The combined treatments presented benefits when compared to the non-combined treatments. Fungus and photocatalysis in combination proved to be the best treatment, reducing the color, total phenol, toxicity (inhibition of Escherichia coli growth) and TOC by 94.2%, 92.6%, 4.9% and 62%, respectively. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AnSBBR Applied to a Personal Care Industry Wastewater Treatment: Effects of Fill Time, Volume Treated Per Cycle, and Organic Load

A study was performed regarding the effect of the relation between fill time, volume treated per cycle, and influent concentration at different applied organic loadings on the stability and efficiency of an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor containing immobilized biomass on polyurethane foam with recirculation of the liquid phase (AnSBBR) applied to the treatment of wastewater from a personal care industry. Total cycle length of the reactor was 8 h (480 min). Fill times were 10 min in the batch operation, 4 h in the fed-batch operation, and a 10-min batch followed by a 4-h fed batch in the mixed operation. Settling time was not necessary since the biomass was immobilized and decant time was 10 min. Volume of liquid medium in the reactor was 2.5 L, whereas volume treated per cycle ranged from 0.88 to 2.5 L in accordance with fill time. Influent concentration varied from 300 to 1,425 mg COD/L, resulting in an applied volumetric organic load of 0.9 and 1.5 g COD/L.d. Recirculation flow rate was 20 L/h, and the reactor was maintained at 30 A degrees C. Values of organic matter removal efficiency of filtered effluent samples were below 71% in the batch operations and above 74% in the operations of fed batch followed by batch. Feeding wastewater during part of the operational cycle was beneficial to the system, as it resulted in indirect control over the conversion of substrate into intermediates that would negatively interfere with the biochemical reactions regarding the degradation of organic matter. As a result, the average substrate consumption increased, leading to higher organic removal efficiencies in the fed-batch operations.

Anaerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor applied to automobile industry wastewater treatment: Volumetric loading rate and feed strategy effects

This paper presents a technological viability study of wastewater treatment in an automobile industry by an anaerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor containing immobilized biomass (AnSBBR) with a draft tube. The reactor was operated in 8-h cycles, with agitation of 400 rpm, at 30 degrees C and treating 2.0 L wastewater per cycle. Initially the efficiency and stability of the reactor were studied when supplied with nutrients and alkalinity. Removal efficiency of 88% was obtained at volumetric loading rate (VLR) of 3.09 mg COD/L day. When VLR was increased to 6.19 mg COD/L day the system presented stable operation with reduction in efficiency of 71%. In a second stage the AnSBBR was operated treating wastewater in natura, i.e., without nutrients supplementation, only with alkalinity, thereby changing feed strategy. The first strategy consisted in feeding 2.0 L batch wise (10 min), the second in feeding 1.0 L of influent batch wise (10 min) and an additional 1.0 L fed-batch wise (4 h), both dewatering 2.0 L of the effluent in 10 min. The third one maintained 1.0 L of treated effluent in the reactor, without discharging, and 1.0 L of influent was fed fed-batch wise (4 h) with dewatering 1.0 L of the effluent in 10 min. For all implemented strategies (VLR of 1.40, 2.57 and 2.61 mg COD/L day) the system presented stability and removal efficiency of approximately 80%. These results show that the AnSBBR presents operational flexibility, as the influent can be fed according to industry availability. In industrial processes this is a considerable advantage, as the influent may be prone to variations. Moreover, for all the investigated conditions the kinetic parameters were obtained from fitting a first-order model to the profiles of organic matter, total volatile acids and methane concentrations. Analysis of the kinetic parameters showed that the best strategy is feeding 1.0 L of influent batchwise (10 min) and 1.0 L fed-batch wise (4 h) in 8-h cycle. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Coloured Petri nets and graphical simulation for the validation of a robotic cell in aircraft industry

This paper proposes a mixed validation approach based on coloured Petri nets and 3D graphic simulation for the design of supervisory systems in manufacturing cells with multiple robots. The coloured Petri net is used to model the cell behaviour at a high level of abstraction. It models the activities of each cell component and its coordination by a supervisory system. The graphical simulation is used to analyse and validate the cell behaviour in a 3D environment, allowing the detection of collisions and the calculation of process times. The motivation for this work comes from the aeronautic industry. The automation of a fuselage assembly process requires the integration of robots with other cell components such as metrological or vision systems. In this cell, the robot trajectories are defined by the supervisory system and results from the coordination of the cell components. The paper presents the application of the approach for an aircraft assembly cell under integration in Brazil. This case study shows the feasibility of the approach and supports the discussion of its main advantages and limits. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toxicity-directed approach of polyester manufacturing industry wastewater provides useful information for conducting treatability studies

A broader characterization of industrial wastewaters, especially in respect to hazardous compounds and their potential toxicity, is often necessary in order to determine the best practical treatment (or pretreatment) technology available to reduce the discharge of harmful pollutants to the environment or publicly owned treatment works. Using a toxicity-directed approach, this paper sets the base for a rational treatability study of polyester resin manufacturing. Relevant physical and chemical characteristics were determined. Respirometry was used for toxicity reduction evaluation after physical and chemical effluent fractionation. Of all the procedures investigated, only air stripping was significantly effective in reducing wastewater toxicity. Air stripping in pH 7 reduced toxicity in 18.2%, while in pH 11 a toxicity reduction of 62.5% was observed. Results indicated that toxicants responsible for the most significant fraction of the effluent`s instantaneous toxic effect to unadapted activated sludge were organic compounds poorly or not volatilized in acid conditions. These results led to useful directions for conducting treatability studies which will be grounded on actual effluent properties rather than empirical or based on the rare specific data on this kind of industrial wastewater. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New reconciliation model for gold industry

Reconciliation can be divided into stages, each stage representing the performance of a mining operation, such as: long-term estimation, short-term estimation, planning, mining and mineral processing. The gold industry includes another stage which is the budget, when the company informs the financial market of its annual production forecast. The division of reconciliation into stages increases the reliability of the annual budget informed by the mining companies, while also detecting and correcting the critical steps responsible for the overall estimation error by the optimization of sampling protocols and equipment. This paper develops and validates a new reconciliation model for the gold industry, which is based on correct sampling practices and the subdivision of reconciliation into stages, aiming for better grade estimates and more efficient control of the mining industry`s processes, from resource estimation to final production.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE TREATMENT PROCESS FOR RESIDUAL WATER FROM A BEER INDUSTRY

The optimization of the treatment process for residual waters from a brewery operating under the modality of an anaerobic reactor and activated sludge combination was studied in two phases. In the first stage, lasting for six months, the characteristics and parameters of the plant operation were analyzed, wherein a diversion rate of more than 50% to aerobic treatment, the use of two aeration tanks and a high sludge production prevailed. The second stage comprised four months during which the system worked under the proposed operational model, with the aim of improving the treatment: reduction of the diversion rate to 30% and use of only one aeration tank At each stage, TSS, VSS and COD were measured at the entrance and exit of the anaerobic reactor mid the aeration tanks. The results were compared with the corresponding design specifications and the needed conditions were applied to reduce the diversion rate towards the aerobic process through monitoring the volume and concentration of the affluent, while applying the strategic changes in reactor parameters needed to increase its efficiency. A diversion reduction from 53 to 34% was achieved, reducing the sludge discharge generated in the aerobic system from 3670mg TSS/l. with two aeration tanks down to 2947mf TSS/l using one tank keeping the same relation VSS:TSS (0.55) and an efficiency of total removal of 98% in terms of COD.