Sammanfattning Kurs: Examensarbete i Logistik för Civilekonomprogrammet, 30 hp, 4FE19E.  Författare: Jakob Bergman och Jim Andersson. Examinator: Peter Berling Handledare: Peter Berling  Medbedömare: Hana Hulthén Titel: Saldoavvikelser i producerande företag, en fallstudie på Getinge Disinfection AB. Bakgrund: En välfungerande lagerhållning är en väsentlig grundsten för ett företags framgångar. I takt med att lagerhållningen blivit mer automatiserad och effektiviserad ställs högre krav på att informationen om lagersaldon stämmer överens med verkligheten. Saldoavvikelser är ett utbrett problem som kan påverka många olika delar av en verksamhet, såsom felaktiga underlag för inköp, den dagliga driften och företagets servicegrad. Fallföretaget Getinge Disinfection AB upplever främst att saldoavvikelser på företaget får effekt på den dagliga driften, något som denna studie ämnar undersöka. Syfte: Studien syftar till att identifiera konsekvenser och orsaker till saldoavvikelser på Getinge Disinfection AB samt ge förbättringsförslag som kan reducera saldoavvikelser på företaget. Metod: Denna studie har en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi. Vidare är studiens forskningsdesign en fallstudie då den endast undersöker ett fall ingående och detaljerat. Resultat: Studien fann att saldoavvikelser kan uppstå i alla steg i den studerade processen, med varierande primära orsaker i de olika stegen i processen. Bland de konsekvenser som funnits är de främsta icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter, opålitliga underlag för inköpsbeslut, OOS och ökade ledtider. Majoriteten av orsakerna grundar sig i den mänskliga faktorn, det vill säga att anställda inte följer rutiner eller gör misstag i processen. Dessa misstag kan ske i olika aktiviteter i processen och det finns olika primärorsaker beroende på var i processen misstaget sker. Vidare har författarna tagit fram förbättringsförslag för att effektivisera Getinge Disinfection ABs produktionsprocess. De mest lämpliga förbättringsförslagen är att skapa förståelse om saldoavvikelser bland de anställda, införa Cycle counting, digitalisera olika aktiviteter och utvärdera det nuvarande artikelsortimentet. Nyckelord: Saldosäkerhet, Saldoavvikelser, Producerande företag, Medicinteknik, Life Science, Assemble to Order, ATO, Cycle Counting, RFID, Streckkoder. / Abstract  Course: Degree project in Logistics, the Business Administration and Economics Programme, 30 credits, 4FE19E.    Authors: Jakob Bergman and Jim Andersson. Examiner: Peter Berling.  Tutor: Peter Berling. Co-judger: Hana Hulthén Title: Inventory record inaccuracies in manufacturing companies, a case study on Getinge Disinfection AB. Background: Effective inventory management is of considerable importance for most successful businesses. Without it, companies would be hard-pressed to meet the demands of consumers that place a high value on fast deliveries and product availability. As a result, businesses have turned to increased automation of their inventory management. This automation relies heavily on information such as inventory records being accurate and up to date. Inventory record inaccuracies result in purchases or decisions being made on incorrect assumptions of the companies’ actual inventory status, which has a negative effect on many aspects of the business. However, most studies on this subject focus on inventory record inaccuracies in a retailing context, whereas this study focuses on a large manufacturing company (Getinge Disinfection AB) using an Assemble to Order model. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the different causes and consequences of inventory record inaccuracies (IRI) at Getinge Disinfection AB. Furthermore, the study aims to offer proposals on how to improve inventory record accuracy at Getinge Disinfection AB.    Methodology: This paper adopts a qualitative research strategy with a case-study approach.  Findings: The study concluded that inventory record inaccuracies can arise in all areas of the studied process, with different primary reasons for different stages of the process. Most of the causes of IRI can be attributed to the human factor, such as incorrect identification of the items, unregistered movements of goods, and transaction errors. The consequences of (IRI) were mainly the resulting non-value adding activities, purchasing decisions being made based on unreliable inventory data, stockouts and longer lead times. The study also gives suggestions on how Getinge could reduce these inventory record inaccuracies. Improvement measures such as Cycle counting, bar coding of the items and locations and increased staff training are discussed. Keywords: Inventory Record Accuracy, Inventory Record Inaccuracy, Manufacturing, Health Care, Life Science, Assemble to Order, ATO, Cycle Counting, RFID, Bar coding.

This thesis presents the architecture and implementation of a query system resulted from a domain-specific conceptual data modeling and querying methodology. The query system is built for a high level conceptual query language that supports dynamically user-defined domain-specific functions and application-specific functions. It is DBMS-independent and can be translated to SQL and OQL through a normal form. Currently, it has been implemented in neuroscience domain and can be applied to any other domain.

A central part of the marketing process is to be aware of why a customer or buyer makes a purchase and without such an understanding, businesses find it hard to respond to the customer‟s needs and wants. A large part of the current literature concerned with industrial buyer behavior has tended to focus on modeling and mapping the industrial buyer behavior. However, little research has been found on how the industrial buyer behaves when faced with a radical product innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the industrial buyer behavior of firms within the Life Science sector in Uppsala when faced with a radical product. We aim to study the process and identify possible differences from buying a non-radical product. This study will provide valuable information about industrial buyer behavior that might be useful to marketers. This thesis will be conducted by using a deductive and qualitative approach. A case study approach was used with the selected three organizations in the Life Science sector in Uppsala. Semi-structured interviews and a survey were used to gather primary data; secondary data was collected through web pages. Our findings from these three organizations show that the industrial buyer behavior is affected. Using the buy grid framework we see that the process, the steps, doesn‟t change but within the steps different actions are taken. Step 1, 4, 5 shows strong differences when confronted with a radical and a non-radical product. These differences depend on the complexity of the product and the amount of available information. This affects the level of willingness to take risks. As the complexity is seen as high in radical products and there is not sufficient information the risk of buying this type of product means taking high functional risk and high financial risk which the organizations wants to avoid. However, the decision center [decision group] becomes more complex and more individuals are involved in the decision process when faced with a radical product. The most notable factors influencing the decision center in this situation is the size of the organization, the complexity of the product, the functional and financial risk, the importance of the decision at hand, attitude, and personal experience. The supplier criterion goes from being price orientated in the case with a non-radical product towards being more supplier orientated when faced with a radical product. This study does not aim to investigate how companies should market their products and neither does it try to generalize conclusions about industrial buyer behavior. This limitation is due to the small sample used.

Over the past decades, quantitative methods linking theory and observation became increasingly important in many areas of life science. Subsequently, a large number of mathematical and computational models has been developed. The BioModels database alone lists more than 140,000 Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) models. However, while the exchange within specific model classes has been supported by standardisation and database efforts, the generic application and especially the re-use of models is still limited by practical issues such as easy and straight forward model execution. MAGPIE, a Modeling and Analysis Generic Platform with Integrated Evaluation, closes this gap by providing a software platform for both, publishing and executing computational models without restrictions on the programming language, thereby combining a maximum on flexibility for programmers with easy handling for non-technical users. MAGPIE goes beyond classical SBML platforms by including all models, independent of the underlying programming language, ranging from simple script models to complex data integration and computations. We demonstrate the versatility of MAGPIE using four prototypic example cases. We also outline the potential of MAGPIE to improve transparency and reproducibility of computational models in life sciences. A demo server is available at magpie.imb.medizin.tu-dresden.de.

Submitted by Isac Macêdo (isac@ioc.fiocruz.br) on 2013-09-22T01:45:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DO 2008 - Anderson Dominguês Corrêa.pdf: 2812522 bytes, checksum: 1449190f80d87130eac09d34edb27e01 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-22T01:45:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DO 2008 - Anderson Dominguês Corrêa.pdf: 2812522 bytes, checksum: 1449190f80d87130eac09d34edb27e01 (MD5) / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. / O uso inadequado de medicamentos constitui uma grande ameaça à saúde pública e pode ter consequências como o atraso no tratamento adequado ou até mesmo a morte. A Organização Mundial de Saúde identificou que aproximadamente metade dos medicamentos consumidos no mundo é utilizada de modo inadequado, e tem alertado sobre a necessidade crescente de se ampliar os aspectos educacionais relacionados aos medicamentos. Esta tese está estruturada na forma de artigos, sendo constituída por três artigos. Este estudo tem o seu foco direcionado ao ensino de ciências e apresenta uma abordagem qualitativa, apoiada em dados numéricos e depoimentos obtidos a partir de questionários e de entrevistas elaboradas de forma semiestruturadas. Inicialmente, foi realizada uma análise dos conteúdos sobre medicamentos em livros didáticos de Biologia do Ensino Médio. Foi identificado o conhecimento dos alunos e dos professores do IFRJ, sobre o uso de medicamentos, dados estes que junto aos estudos da literatura, fundamentaram a forma e os temas a serem abordados no material educativo criado (história em quadrinhos). Para esta tese, foi realizada uma análise do impacto da história em quadrinhos criada – sobre o uso de medicamentos e intoxicação alimentar – junto ao público alvo e trabalhamos com a aplicação, antes e depois das intervenções, de questionários e entrevistas de forma semiestruturadas. Como resultado dos estudos encontramos: 1 – que os livros didáticos analisados, no que diz respeito ao conteúdo sobre medicamentos, necessitam ser adequados às novas legislações e conteúdos que abordem o Uso Racional de Medicamentos, para que dessa forma possam atender as recomendações dos Parâmetros Curriculares do Ensino Médio; 2 – os habitus criados no convívio familiar em relação ao uso e representações sociais de medicamentos são transmitidos de geração a geração ix e, desta forma, é perpetuado o uso inadequado de medicamentos e 3 – a História em Quadrinhos elaborada contribuiu para o aprendizado dos estudantes sobre os riscos da automedicação. Dessa forma, os resultados sugerem que o ensino de ciências e a divulgação científica sobre o tema com materiais didáticos lúdicos podem contribuir para a apropriação de práticas saudáveis em relação ao uso de medicamentos. Esperamos que nosso trabalho possa contribuir para os debates sobre a divulgação científica de temas relacionados à saúde, capacitando professores para atuarem como facilitadores de ações preventivas em saúde, tornando os alunos multiplicadores dos conteúdos para familiares e amigos, e assim contribuir para a promoção da melhoria na qualidade de vida da população com o objetivo de minimizar os agravos e danos causados pelo uso incorreto de medicamentos. / Inappropriate use of medicine is a major threat to public health and can bring consequences such as delays in appropriate treatment or even death. The World Health Organization found that nearly half of drugs consumed worldwide is used improperly, and has warned of the increasing need to broaden the educational aspects related to drugs. This study is structured in the form of articles and being made of three them. This study has its focus directed to the teaching of science and presents a qualitative approach based on numerical data and testimonials obtained from questionnaires and interviews in a semistrutured fashion. Initially, we carried out an analysis of the contents on drugs on Biology texts books for Middle School. The knowledge of students and teachers of IFRJ on the use of drugs was identified, which added to the literature formed the basis for the topics to be addressed in the educational material created (comics). For this thesis an analyze of the impact of the comics created was performed – on the use of drugs and food poisoning – with the target audience. We worked with the application before and after the questioners interventions and semi structured interviews. As a result of the studies we found: 1) the text books analyzed showed that the part related to the contents about the drugs and the contents that address the rational use of drugs need to be suitable to the new legislations. Only thus, can be met the recommendations of the parameters of the Middle School Curriculum; 2) the habitus created in the family sphere in relation to the use of drugs and it social representations are transmitted from generation to generation, and thereby the inappropriate use of drugs is perpetuated and 3) the comics created contributed to the student learning about the risks of the self-medication. Therefore, the results suggest that the teaching of science and scientific publication on the subject with playful didactic materials can contribute to appropriate healthy practices regarding the use of drugs. We expect our work can contribute to the instrumentalization of the scientific issues dissemination related to the health, field enabling teachers to act as facilitators in preventive health actions. Thus, contributing to the promotion of improved quality of life in order to minimize the injuries and damages caused by the misuse of drugs.

<p>Keywords: Immanuel Kant (</p><p>narratives in European naturalism and political anatomy. Yet the concept surfaces in gender historical research on the period in foot notes and cursory remarks. This paper interrogates why epigenesis has been eradicated from the historical consciousness of today’s scholarship on gender politics. By honing in on the weirdness, a term borrowed from Lorraine Daston, in and of Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) theory on animal generation I show how an alertness it requires a re-evaluation of views on "political anatomy" taken-for-granted in scholarship, but also of Kant’s philosophy itself. The endeavour is divided into three main sections.</p><p>In the first, I situate the failure of Kant-scholars to, in the words of John H. Zammito, "stabilize" epigenesis by exploring the hitherto unacknowledged peculiarity of Kant’s use racial hybridity to ‘prove’ the theory. In the second, the analysis departs from the notion ‘modern sex difference’ and show that a reading of epigenesis requires a re-thinking of sexed bodily identity in terms of conflict and contradiction. The third section reads this strife in light of Kant’s experience of "astonishment", a cognitive mode, I argue, designed to resolve both physiological and ideological inconsistencies. The antinomy of sex differentiation is in a concluding section juxtaposed with Kant’s phrase "eloquent speechlessness" in which the gender practice activated in the writing of, about, and on epigenesis is compared to the structure informing moral philosophy’s definition of lies.</p>

Keywords: Immanuel Kant ( narratives in European naturalism and political anatomy. Yet the concept surfaces in gender historical research on the period in foot notes and cursory remarks. This paper interrogates why epigenesis has been eradicated from the historical consciousness of today’s scholarship on gender politics. By honing in on the weirdness, a term borrowed from Lorraine Daston, in and of Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) theory on animal generation I show how an alertness it requires a re-evaluation of views on "political anatomy" taken-for-granted in scholarship, but also of Kant’s philosophy itself. The endeavour is divided into three main sections. In the first, I situate the failure of Kant-scholars to, in the words of John H. Zammito, "stabilize" epigenesis by exploring the hitherto unacknowledged peculiarity of Kant’s use racial hybridity to ‘prove’ the theory. In the second, the analysis departs from the notion ‘modern sex difference’ and show that a reading of epigenesis requires a re-thinking of sexed bodily identity in terms of conflict and contradiction. The third section reads this strife in light of Kant’s experience of "astonishment", a cognitive mode, I argue, designed to resolve both physiological and ideological inconsistencies. The antinomy of sex differentiation is in a concluding section juxtaposed with Kant’s phrase "eloquent speechlessness" in which the gender practice activated in the writing of, about, and on epigenesis is compared to the structure informing moral philosophy’s definition of lies.

Traditional data management technologies originating from business domain are currently facing many challenges from other domains such as scientific research. Data structures in databases are becoming more and more complex and data query functions are moving from the back-end database level towards the front-end user-interface level. Traditional query languages such as SQL, OQL, and form-based query interfaces cannot fully meet the needs today. This research is motivated by the data management issues in life science applications. I propose a methodology for domain-specific conceptual data modeling and querying. The methodology can be applied to any domain to capture more domain semantics and empower end-users to formulate a query at the conceptual level with terminologies and functions familiar to them. The query system resulting from the methodology is designed to work on all major types of database management systems (DBMS) and support end-users to dynamically define and add new domain-specific functions. That is, all user-defined functions can be either pre-defined by domain experts and/or data model creators at the time of system creation, or dynamically defined by end-users from the client side at any time. The methodology has a domain-specific conceptual data model (DSC-DM) and a domain-specific conceptual query language (DSC-QL). DSC-QL uses only the abstract concepts, relationships, and functions defined in DSC-DM. It is a user-oriented high level query language and intentionally designed to be flexible, extensible, and readily usable. DSC-QL queries are much simpler than corresponding SQL or OQL queries because of advanced features such as user-defined functions, composite and set attributes, dot-path expressions, and super-classes. DSC-QL can be translated into SQL and OQL through a dynamic mapping function, and automatically updated when the underlying database schema evolves. The operational and declarative semantics of DSC-QL are formally defined in terms of graphs. A normal form for DSC-QL as a standard format for the mappings from flexible conceptual expressions to restricted SQL or OQL statements is also defined. Two translation algorithms from normalized DSC-QL to SQL and OQL are introduced. Through comparison, DSC-QL is shown to have very good balance between simplicity and expressive power and is suitable for end-users. Implementation details of the query system are reported as well. Two prototypes have been built. One prototype is for neuroscience domain, which is built on an object-oriented DBMS. The other one is for traditional business domain, which is built on a relational DBMS.

Life scientists have increasingly been asked to incorporate a dual use responsibility in their research conduct. In this thesis, different aspects of what constitutes a reasonable responsibility in terms of avoiding harmful misuse of research for biological weapon purposes have been explored. The first study investigated the claim that scientists have a dual use responsibility, and also outlined some of its possible content. Criteria for what may constitute preventable harm were used to analyze some proposed obligations in the field, and it was concluded that reasonable obligations include: e.g. considering the potential negative implications of one’s research and reporting activities of concern. In the second study, the conditions for a Precautionary Principle (PP) were explored and applied to the dual use research context. The study found that the main conditions of the PP frequently appear in present discussions and formulations of life scientists’ responsibility. It was also concluded that the PP is applicable to the dual use field and that it is meaningful and useful as a normatively guiding principle. The third study suggested an ethics of dissemination, based on the assumption that scientists have a responsibility to occasionally constrain the dispersion of their research findings. Three core aspects were proposed for an ethics of dual use dissemination. Additionally, to help scientists understand when constraints may be justified, three corresponding conditions for their application were suggested. In the fourth study, the concept of ethical competence was introduced and explored within a dual use context. It was concluded that competence-building is important in the nurturing of individual responsibility and, subsequently, in achieving a culture of dual use responsibility in the life sciences. Finally, the discussion on ethical competence was included in a proposed ethic of deliberation, in which various stakeholders in the dual use debate are conceived to participate in communicative processes. It was argued that spaces for deliberative activities should be institutionalized by the scientific community to ensure structural opportunities for individuals to both assume responsibility and share it. Moreover, it was argued that deliberation can constitute a cornerstone of responsible dual use governance.

This study researches phenomenon of the Biology Teachers Network (BTN), a distributed Community of Practice (CoP). The membership of the BTN is voluntary. The BTN is supported by a core group of members and administered by single moderator. The network uses a manually operated email system to communicate and share information as an automatic listserv proved to be beyond the capabilities of the membership. Etienne Wenger is the authority on the theory of CoPs and provides in depth background to the processes that are evident in a CoP. A CoP consists of the Domain, Practice and Community and through a process of negotiation of meaning, learning takes place through identity formation. CoPs can exist online in the form of distribute CoPs. Passionate leadership is essential for the formation of a CoP as is the voluntary participation of the members. A Naturalistic case study methodology is considered to be the most appropriate research tool. In this study a focus group interview and a collection of emails were used as data sources. The data was analysed using three instruments derived from the literature. The conclusion from the analysis of the data was that the BTN is a vibrant and fully functional distributed CoP in the coalescing stage. Participation in the BTN has led to an increase in professional development and ICT skills amongst some of the member teachers. The fact that this was achieved through the use of email instead of sophisticated websites suggests that this model of distributed CoP is suitable for the professional development of teachers in South Africa. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted