PurposeUganda is one of many African countries struggling to develop adequate healthcare, particularly in regard to local treatment and access to drugs. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how reducing supply-chain complexity can improve health in developing countries. Design/methodology/approachThis study and evaluation included 50 interviews and 27 site visits of t

Purpose - Distribution arrangements are becoming increasingly complex and dynamic in business as well as in consumer markets. The purpose of the present paper is to explore and discuss the theoretical frameworks available to interpret these distribution arrangements, to uncover how they are interrelated and to suggest extensions. Design/methodology/approach - A survey of extant research is underta

Purpose - Logisticians have always viewed standards as solutions for improving operational compatibility and coordination. This paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of how standards, upon which logistics systems are designed, developed and coordinated, interact with each other and with other resources in a logistics network for the purpose of improving efficiency and effectiveness.

The activity of a horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase catalysed reduction of cyclohexanone was investigated by using a central composite circumscribed design in which two parameters (pH and cyclohexanone concentration) were varied. By log transformation of the substrate concentration an adequate model could be obtained from which reliable kinetic constants and pH profiles were determined.

Construction is claimed to be fragmented, contract focused, short sighted and characterised by price competition. These are typical aspects of what is considered the traditional market approach where each company is seen as autonomous and transaction oriented towards others. During the last few decades, numerous theoretical approaches have questioned these assumptions. Studies also on construction

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of supply management coordination among a prominent contact lens company (customer), its carton supplier (first tier), and paperboard supplier (second tier). Adopting concepts within the theory of swift and even flow, the authors integrate the physical (material) and information flow among these supply partners to ensure higher productivity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the critical success factors (CSF) for lean and six sigma and an analysis of these CSF as compared to previously popular change methods. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a literature search and comparative analysis complemented with examples from previous case studies. Findings – With only slight variations, the critical suc

Background: To be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is a challenge for every patient. There are previous studies on patients' experience in general but not addressing the increased cardiovascular risk and multifactorial treatment. The aim of this study was to explore the thoughts, experiences and reactions of newly diagnosed patients with diabetes to this diagnosis and to the risk of developing compl

The US paper industry should understand competent management and continuous innovation in a competitive environment in order to ensure the proper growth of the industry. It is suggested that investment in new technology and processes ensures the benefits to companies and the government policies is not the optimal solution to improve the industry. The United States is although a powerful nation but

The quantitative oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde using the enzyme chloroperoxidase (CPO) from Caldariomyces fumago as catalyst and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH) as a cosubstrate for the enzyme, in organic solvent is demonstrated. The enzymatic transformation of primary alcohols to aldehydes has not previously been shown in predominantly organic solvent using CPO, and in aqueous me

An alkaline acylester hydrolase was partially purified from germinated seeds of Lupinus mutabilis. Hydrolytic activity was absent in the crude extract of ungerminated lupine seed, but it increased and peaked at the fourth day in the germinating seedling. The purification scheme involved homogenization, centrifugation, acetone precipitation, anion exchange chromatography, pH precipitation, and hydr

The Paper and Plastics Education and Research Insitute at the University of North Florida and NPTA have taken an initiative to adopt and implement the papiNet standards for supply chain standardization and integration. papiNet can be described as a global standard for the paper and forest industries. The companies, which want to adopt papiNet, are required to follow the standards developed by the

It is possible to use the chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago to catalyse the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde in predominantly organic media, even at water activities below 1.0, if the oxidant is tert-butyl hydroperoxide. The enzyme activity increased with increasing water activity and no enzyme activity was observed at water activities below 0.6. Hydrophobic solvents such as cy

This article describes a logistics-based framework for organizational change of service organizations. This framework is based on the key concepts of modern logistics: systems thinking for a holistic approach to business; process orientation for structure of the organization; and process management for continuous change and improvement. The development of logistics as a research and practitioner d

Twenty solvents were selected from a principal component (PC) analysis of 103 organic solvents. The solvents were selected so as to obtain a set of test items that spanned a large range of molecular properties of the selected solvents. The activity of free and Celite-immobilized horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) obtained after 20 h exposure to these solvents were used to create a PLS model

This paper describes how qualitative research methods, particularly action research case studies, can contribute to further advance and develop logistics research. The paper also describes limitations with the current dominance of quantitative (especially survey) research in logistics. However, the paper is not a pure criticism of the use of quantitative research methods in general or in logistics

Adsorption of different lipases by EP-100 polypropylene powder from pure and pure lipase preparations was studied. Langmuir isotherms described the adsorption equilibria well both for protein and lipase activity adsorption. Adsorption isotherms for five different proteins all gave a similar saturation level of 220 mg protein per g carrier. Twelve commercial lipase preparations were tested for sele

Vernonia galamensis is an annual herb whose seed oil contains high levels of an epoxy fatty acid, vernolic (cis-12,13-epoxy cis-9-octadecenoic) acid. The seed also contains lipase activity in the dormant state. A lipase was purified from the seed and its substrate specificity studied in isooctane. The lipase shows pronounced selectivity for the native triacylglycerol, trivernolin. The rate of hydr

Drinking water is delivered from the treatment plant to the consumer through kilometres of pipes. Lining these pipes are communities of bacteria living as biofilms. Little is known about the microbial ecology of these biofilms, as access to drinking water pipes for sampling is often limited to pipes sporadically removed for repair or replacement. Bacteria are constantly exchanged between the biofi