Outsourcing -- Insourcing Jenster, Per V; Hussey, David; Pedersen, Henrik Stener ...
2005, 2005-05-05, 20050415, 20050101
eBook
Outsourcing became fashionable in the late 1980s, came of age in the 1990s, and is now a normal part of corporate life. Written by well-known and respected business authors and incorporating new ...research from Copenhagen Business School, this book covers the newest elements of outsourcing today and discusses how strategic alliances should be established between the buyer and supplier. Topics explored throughout include the scope, scale and importance of what is outsourced; the pricing and risk sharing involved; and changes to organizations which lead them to seek more outsourcing.
Impact-modified and unmodified L-polylactide and L-polylactide-polycaprolactone co-polymer films were evaluated for their suitability as materials for cheese packaging. The polymers were in some ...cases compounded with nanoclays as a possible route to enhanced barrier properties and/or with cyclodextrin complexes designed to provide slow release of encapsulated antimicrobials for control of mould growth on packaged cheeses. The materials demonstrated complete biodegradation under controlled composting conditions and the extruded films had acceptable transparency. Moisture uptake by films and a decrease in polymer molecular weight with time of exposure to high humidity were identified as areas of concern, although the polymer stability experiments were undertaken at 25DGC and stability at normal cheese storage temperatures (-4DGC) is expected to be better. Nanoclay addition enhanced the thermal stability of the polymer but reduction of oxygen and water vapour permeability to target levels through incorporation of 5% w/w nanoclay was not achieved, possibly in part due to inadequate dispersion of the nanoclays in the chosen polymer matrices. On the positive side, a novel impact-modified polylactide was developed that overcame problems with brittleness in unmodified L-polylactide and L-polylactide-polycaprolactone copolymer films, and tests indicated that a cyclodextrin-encapsulated antimicrobial (allyl isothiocyanate) incorporated in L-polylactide-polycaprolactone co-polymer films would be effective in controlling fungi on packaged cheeses. Migration of substances from the L-polylactide or L-polylactide-polycaprolactone films into cheese is not expected to be a problem.
The thesis describes some aspects of the aqueous solution chemistry of chlororuthenate(III) and chlorocarbonylruthenate(III or II) complexes including their reactivity toward carbon monoxide. This ...led to the synthesis and characterisation of a polymeric complex HRu(CO)₃sub n, which is formally a Ru(I) derivative. The use of these ruthenium complexes for activating CO catalytically was studied, especially for the carbonylation of amines.;
The HRu(CO)₃sub n polymer was characterised by microanalysis, infra-red and high-field ¹H n.m.r. , and its chemistry In donor solvents in which it was soluble. The polymer may be formed by reductive carbonylation of chloro complexes of Rusup II, Rusup III(CO), Rusup II (CO), Rusup II (C0)₂ and Rusup IICO)₃, and stoichiometric evidence suggests processes such as:;
chemical reactions 1 to 4.;
Increasing acidity and chloride concentration inhibit the reductive carbonylation process, which likely requires simultaneous coordination;
of cis CO and OH ligands. Reactions (1) - (4) are;
;
accompanied by formation of smaller amounts of low valent ruthenium complexes including Ru₃(CO)₁₂, which could result from a reductive carbonylation process such as;
chemical reaction 5;
;
or via 'combination' of Rusup I and Rusup -I species. Evidence is presented;
for reaction (5) starting with CsRu(CO)₃Cl₃. Reductive carbonylation 2-;
of Ru(CO)₂Cl₄⁻² (reaction (4)) shows autocatalytic gas uptake plots, indicating catalysis of the reaction via a Ru(0) or Ru(I) intermediate.;
The kinetics for the carbonylation of piperidine to N-formyl piperidine catalysed by each of the complexes HRu(CO)₃sub n, Ru(CO)₂(OAc)(pip)₂, and CsRu(CO)₃Cl₃, have been studied under mild conditions. Mechanisms are proposed to explain the observed kinetics and in each case a tricarbonyl monomeric species appears to be the active catalyst. A CO insertion reaction in a Ru(CO)₃ (pip)sub x intermediate must be involved. A scheme such as (6) e.g.;
chemical reaction 6;
requires a hydride shift, likely metal activated. Alternatively, piperidine could behave as a proton acceptor with the reaction proceeding via a carbamoyl intermediate (reaction (7)).;
chemical reaction 7;
;
Both HRu(CO)₃sub n and CsRu(C0)₃Cl₃ carbonylate piperidine in a stoichiometric reaction in the absence of CO, and in the case of the cesium salt evidence suggests the following reactions:;
chemical reactions 8-9;
;
Only secondary amines were carbonylated effectively. Attempts to isolate and characterise ruthenium complexes via the reactions HRu(CO)₃sub n or CsRu(C0)₃Cl₃with piperidine proved frustrating, although one complex isolated from the polymer reaction is thought to be H₂Ru₂(CO)₄(pip)₃, and an oxygenated solution of HRu(CO)₃sub n in piperidine yielded a complex which analysed well for HRu(CO)₂(pip)₂•0₂.
Science, Faculty of
Chemistry, Department of
Graduate
Stomata evolved as plants transitioned from water to land, enabling carbon dioxide uptake and water loss to be controlled. In flowering plants, the most recently divergent land plant lineage, ...stomatal pores actively close in response to drought. In this response, the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) triggers signaling cascades that lead to ion and water loss in the guard cells of the stomatal complex, causing a reduction in turgor and pore closure. Whether this stimulus-response coupling pathway acts in other major land plant lineages is unclear, with some investigations reporting that stomatal closure involves ABA but others concluding that closure is passive. Here, we show that in the model fern Ceratopteris richardii active stomatal closure is conditional on sensitization by pre-exposure to either low humidity or exogenous ABA and is promoted by ABA. RNA-seq analysis and de novo transcriptome assembly reconstructed the protein-coding complement of the C. richardii genome, with coverage comparable to other plant models, enabling transcriptional signatures of stomatal sensitization and closure to be inferred. In both cases, changes in abundance of homologs of ABA, Ca2+, and ROS-related signaling components were observed, suggesting that the closure-response pathway is conserved in ferns and flowering plants. These signatures further suggested that sensitization is achieved by lowering the threshold required for a subsequent closure-inducing signal to trigger a response. We conclude that the canonical signaling network for active stomatal closure functioned in at least a rudimentary form in the stomata of the last common ancestor of ferns and flowering plants.
•The presence of active stomatal closure mechanisms in ferns remains disputed•Stomata of the fern Ceratopteris richardii actively close, but only if sensitized•Fern stomatal active closure shares genetic regulators with flowering plants•Fern stomatal sensitization acts by priming conserved closure mechanisms
Stomata of flowering plants actively open and close, but whether this is true in other plant lineages is still disputed. Plackett et al. find that in the fern Ceratopteris richardii, stomata actively close if pre-sensitized, and RNA-seq analysis suggests that fern sensitization and closure mechanisms are partially conserved with flowering plants.
BackgroundThe Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Military-Civilian Trauma Team Training (AMCT3) Program was developed to enhance the trauma competency and capability of the medical force by embedding ...providers at busy civilian trauma centers. Few reports have been published on the outcomes of this program since its implementation.MethodsThe medical and billing records for the two AMCT3 embedded trauma surgeons at the single medical center were retrospectively reviewed for care provided during August 2021 through July 2022. Abstracted data included tasks met under the Army’s Individual Critical Task List (ICTL) for general surgeons. The Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) score was estimated based on previously reported point values for procedures. To assess for successful integration of the embedded surgeons, data were also abstracted for two newly hired civilian trauma surgeons.ResultsThe annual clinical activity for the first AMCT3 surgeon included 444 trauma evaluations and 185 operative cases. The operative cases included 80 laparotomies, 15 thoracotomies, and 15 vascular exposures. The operative volume resulted in a KSA score of 21 998 points. The annual clinical activity for the second AMCT3 surgeon included 424 trauma evaluations and 194 operative cases. The operative cases included 92 laparotomies, 8 thoracotomies, and 25 vascular exposures. The operative volume resulted in a KSA score of 22 799 points. The first civilian surgeon’s annual clinical activity included 453 trauma evaluations and 151 operative cases, resulting in a KSA score of 16 738 points. The second civilian surgeon’s annual clinical activity included 206 trauma evaluations and 96 operative cases, resulting in a KSA score of 11 156 points.ConclusionThe AMCT3 partnership at this single center greatly exceeds the minimum deployment readiness metrics established in the ICTLs and KSAs for deploying general surgeons. The AMEDD experience provided a deployment-relevant case mix with an emphasis on complex vascular injury repairs.
The American Medical Association recently declared homicides of transgender individuals an epidemic. However, transgender homicide victims are often classified as nontransgender. Our objective was to ...describe existing data and coding of trans (i.e., transgender) victims and to examine the risk factors for homicides of trans people relative to nontrans people across the United States.
A retrospective review of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System for the years 2003-2018 identified victims defined as transgender either through the “transgender” variable or narrative reports. Fisher’s exact tests and logistic regression models were run to compare the demographics of trans victims to those not identified as trans.
Of the 147 transgender victims identified, 14.4% were incorrectly coded as nontrans despite clear indication of trans status in the narrative description, and 6% were coded as hate crimes. Relative to nontrans victims, trans victims were more frequently Black (54.4% versus 40.7%, P = 0.001), had a mental health condition (26.5% versus 11.3%, P < 0.001), or reported being a sex worker (9.5% versus 0.2%, P < 0.001). There were disproportionately few homicides of transgender people in the South (13.6% of trans victims versus 29.1% of nontrans victims, P < 0.001). Conversely, the West and Midwest accounted for a higher-than-expected proportion of trans victims relative to nontrans victims (23.1% of trans victims versus 16.2% of nontrans victims, P = 0.03; 24.5% of trans victims versus 16.8% of nontrans victims, P = 0.02, respectively).
Though the murder of transgender individuals is a known public health crisis, inconsistencies still exist in the assessment and reporting of transgender status. Further, these individuals were more likely to have multiple distinct vulnerabilities. These findings provide important information for injury and violence prevention researchers to improve reporting of transgender status in the medical record and local trauma registries.
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