Objectives: This study examines empirical evidence from the New York experience testing tobacco industry arguments made in opposition to fire safety standards for cigarettes. Design: Percentages of ...cigarettes exhibiting full length burns (FLBs), cigarette sales before and following the implementation of the New York standards, a sample of retail cigarette prices, brand availability, and selected smoke constituent yields were compared between cigarettes sold in New York and two other states. Cigarette paper analysis was conducted on cigarettes sold in New York. Results: New York cigarette brands averaged 10.0% FLBs as compared to 99.8% for California and Massachusetts brands. Reduced ignition propensity (RIP) appears to have been achieved by cigarette paper banding. Cigarette sales, prices, and brand availability do not appear to have been affected by the New York standards. Yields of the majority of smoke constituents tested did not differ substantially between RIP cigarettes sold in New York as compared to the same brands sold in Massachusetts. Average yields of tar, carbon monoxide, and two compounds were slightly higher, the yields of seven compounds were higher for one brand only, and nicotine was lower, among New York brands tested. Conclusions: RIP cigarette brands have been designed to meet the New York fire safety standards. Their introduction has not affected cigarette sales or prices in New York. There is no evidence that the small increases in smoke constituent yields affect the already highly toxic nature of cigarette smoke. Data on smoking caused fires, deaths, and injuries dating from after the change in law are not yet available. Such data will be able to address the question of whether the demonstrated reduced ignition standards are associated with reduced fires and injuries. Based on the New York experience, prior industry objections to producing RIP cigarettes are unfounded. Other states and nations should adopt similar standards.
Objective: To examine, for dominant Australian cigarette brands, brand identity (overriding brand vision), brand positioning (brand identity elements communicated to the consumer), brand image ...(consumers’ brand perceptions) and brand equity (financial value). Design: Tobacco industry documents, articles from retail trade publications since 1990, and current brand advertising from retail trade publications were searched for information about Australian brands. Results: Cigarette manufacturers benefit from their competitors’ brand equity as well as their own. The industry sees Australian smokers as far less brand loyal and strongly oriented to “low tar”. A few predominantly local brands dominate the market, with variation by state. Successful Australian brands exist in one of three categories: premium, mainstream, and supervalue. Their brand identity essence is as follows. Premium: quality. Mainstream: a good humoured “fair go” for ordinary Australians. Supervalue: value for money. All supervalue brand identities also include freedom, escape, mildness, an aspirational attitude, blue tones, and waterside scenes. Brand image and brand identity is frequently congruent, even when marketing is restricted, and brand image is generally more positive for a smoker’s own brand. Conclusions: Tobacco control activities have undermined cigarette brand equity. Further research is needed regarding brand loyalty, low tar, and brand categories. Smokers may respond more positively to tobacco control messages consistent with the identities of their chosen brand, and brand-as-organisation elements may assist. Further marketing restrictions should consider all elements of brand identity, and aim to undermine brand categories.
The freezing and thawing of liquid in porous media in connection with the question concerning the frost durability of solid materials is an important subject for discussion in civil engineering. Each ...construction or body which is in contact with liquid and frozen water is criticized by its resistance to the environment. The durability concerning frost attacks of a building material is affected by its porosity and the pore size distribution. The ice formation is a phenomenon of coupled heat and mass transport in freezing porous media, and is primarily caused by the expansion of ice in connection with hydraulic pressure. The volume increases due to the freezing front inside the porous solid. Taking into account the aforementioned effects in porous materials, a simplified macroscopic model within the framework of the Theory of Porous Media (TPM) for the numerical simulation of initial and boundary value problems of freezing and thawing processes of super saturated porous solids will be presented. The phase change between the ice and the liquid phase is modeled by different real densities of the phases.
Merging the benefits of two well-known methodologies, Lean Thinking and Total Productive Maintenance, this book shows how to secure increased manufacturing efficiency. Based on their experience of ...working with organizations that have successfully achieved outstanding performance, the authors provide the tools and techniques that convert strategic vision into practical reality. Lean TPM accelerates the benefits of continuous improvement activities within any manufacturing environment by challenging wasteful working practices, releasing the potential of the workforce, targeting effectiveness and making processes work as planned. This book shows how to achieve zero breakdowns; optimizes processes to deliver performance and new products efficiently; delivers benefits from continuous improvement activities quickly; provides a single change agenda for organizations; and will help to develop robust supply chain relationships and to optimize the value generating process. Supported by an integrated route map and comprehensive benchmark data, this book enables engineers, technicians and managers to explore this potent technique fully.
Due to the remarkable number of patients suffering from low back pain, a higher research interest is initiated regarding modern numerical simulation techniques. Herein, the Finite Element Method ...(FEM) in combination with an elaborated model has the potential to be the best choice aiding the design of new intervertebral disc (IVD) implants.
As one of the most vulnerable parts of the human spine, the (IVD) belongs to the class of soft avascular cartilaginous tissues consisting of mostly ionized water (interstitial fluid) and collagen of type I and II embedded in an extracellular meshwork of charged protein compounds. More precisely, the type I collagen is organized in fiber bundles building a fiber‐reinforced ring, the anulus fibrosus (AF), which encloses a highly charged gelatinous core, the nucleus pulposus (NP).
The purpose of this contribution is to utilize the established Theory of Porous Media (TPM) as a continuum‐mechanical framework for the modelling of the IVD. In this context, the TPM is perfectly suitable for the description of multi‐component continua with internal interactions and is proven to yield stable implementations within the mixed Finite Element Method (FEM). Following this, one succeeds in describing the electro‐chemomechanical couplings between the constituents as well as the viscoelastic and anisotropic properties of the extracellular matrix. Moreover, the fiber vectors, which represent the aligned collagen in a continuum‐mechanical sense, as well as the location‐dependent material parameters must be inhomogeneously distributed over the discretized IVD.
Ein Modell zur Beschreibung der inhomogenen menschlichen Bandscheibe auf Basis der Theorie poröser Medien
Wegen der bemerkenswert großen Anzahl an Patienten, die an Schmerzen im Lendenwirbelbereich leiden, ist ein erhöhtes Forschungsinteresse an modernen, numerischen Simulationsmethoden zu verzeichnen. Zusammen mit einem ausgereiften Modell ist die Finite‐Elemente‐Methode (FEM) dabei das Hilfsmittel mit dem größten Potential, wenn es um die Entwicklung von Implantaten für die Bandscheibe geht. Als einer der anfälligsten Bereiche der menschlichen Wirbelsäule gehört die Bandscheibe zu der Klasse der weichen, avaskulären Gewebe, die zum Großteil aus ionisiertem Wasser (Porenfluid) sowie einem extrazellulären Netzwerk aus geladenen Proteinverbindungen mit eingebetteten Kollagenfasern des Typs I und II besteht. Genauer gesagt bildet das Kollagen vom Typ I ausgeprägte Faserbündel, die einen faserverstärkten Ring, den Anulus Fibrosus (AF), bilden. Dieser umhüllt einen stark geladenen, gelatineartigen Kern, den Nucleus Pulposus (NP).
Es ist das Ziel dieses Beitrags, die etablierte Theorie Poröser Medien (TPM) als kontinuumsmechanische Grundlage zur Modellierung der Bandscheibe zu verwenden. In diesem Zusammenhang ist die TPM bestens zur Beschreibung von Mehrkomponentenkontinua mit internen Interaktionen geeignet und hat sich durch ihre stabile numerische Umsetzung im Rahmen der gemischten Finite‐Elemente‐Methode bewährt. Damit gelingt es die elektro‐chemomechanischen Kopplungen der Konstituierenden sowie die viskoelastischen und anisotropen Eigenschaften der extrazellulären Matrix zu beschreiben. Des weiteren müssen die Faservektoren, die zur Beschreibung der Kollagenfaserbündel in einem kontinuumsmechanischen Sinn notwendig sind, sowie die ortsabhängigen Materialparameter inhomogen über die diskretisierte Bandscheibe verteilt werden.
Trusted path is one of the crucial features that operating systems must provide for fundamental security support. In order to explore the possibility of implementing a trusted path mechanism with the ...support of trusted platform module （TPM） technologies, and to support TPM capabilities in operating systems, the paper extended the scope of the conventional trusted path to cover the situation in which a user communicates with software residing on a remote host. The paper combined the concept of operating system support for trusted path with that for TPM platforms, and proposed the architecture of an extended trusted path mechanism in operating system with considerations on TPM-capable platforms support. As part of the author＇s research in secure operating systems, the work of the paper was carried out with Linux as an experimental prototype system. The research result shows that TPM capabilities can strengthen extended trusted path mechanisms of operating systems.
The paper presents the concept of TPM - total Productive Maintenance and its basic method 55 (sort, systematize, sweep, sanitize, self-discipline). The new management concept is realized in Japanese ...and USA companies. On the Polish market the methods was adopted in the first years of 21st century by car manufacturers and household equipment producers. Nowadas the concept is tested by steelworks in Polish steel industry. The process of introduction of these methods is long, difficult and requires organizational and technical changes. The companies which realize Awareness Management Project of workers in Health and Safety System use other methods whose primary goal is to ensure objectivity and comparability of results and skill assessment of particular employees (the Current and Periodic Assessment System for worker and supervision positions).
Abstract
Purpose
To understand whether the public value approach will improve the performance and legitimacy of Italian universities.
Design/methodology/approach
The public value approach is used to ...identify the factors limiting the improvement of the performance of Italian universities over the period 2007–2009. Four cases are analyzed in order to reveal how universities measure and communicate the public value delivered. The evolution of the whole system is analysed in the light of the three paradigms on public administration: traditional public administration, new public management and public value management.
Findings
Recent reforms introduced by the Italian government do not facilitate the overcoming of political and organizational constraints, with the exception of a few noteworthy elements. The dominant role of the Ministry of Education in the definition of universities’ strategic goals combined with the great autonomy traditionally granted to the departments and to single academics leave little room for manoeuvre.
Social implications
The case of the Italian higher education system highlights the importance of the rules of governance for public value production. The analysis shows that the actual governance of the higher education institutions does not favour the construction of a public value proposition by the universities’ managers. This aspect raises the more general question of identifying the necessary conditions for realizing the public value proposition and determining its presence in all public administrations.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the understanding of mechanisms that hinder the capability of public institutions’ to develop their own public value proposition.
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