Background: Major attention in researches within the field of internet technologies andits usage in service providing Small and medium Enterprises has been devoted in thedeveloped countries. Little or almost no attention or studies have been given on most ofthe developing or third world countries specifically, Ethiopia which can be consideredas a black hole in related researches. Recently there are some encouraging signals hereand there, with a hopeful transition to the digital era and utilization of internettechnologies, in the service providing small and medium enterprises businesses. Thearea of attention here is directed to Ethiopia, in the existing internet technologies usagein SMEs with the prospects, benefits and problems of utilization in the businessoperations. Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to find out the benefits, prospects and utilizationproblems of internet technologies in small and medium size service enterprises inEthiopia. The study discusses the service business operations and their internet usage inthe small and medium enterprises value chain activities theories. Definitions: The term SME (Small and Medium size Enterprises) generally refers to, inmost developing economies, the following broad categories: For this research purposeUNIDOs quantitative and qualitative SMEs definition criterions will be used: Micro enterprises: employment level below 10; Registered Capital < $ 42,000  Small enterprises: employment level from 10 to 49; Registered Capital > $ 42,000 Medium enterprises: employment level from 50 to 249. Registered Capital > $ 42,000 Internet Technology: is all about connectivity, accesses and utilization of internet. Realization: This study is based on multiple case study of 5 small and medium sizedservice enterprises‘ using internet in their business activities. Unstructured interviewwas handled with managers in the business, for this purpose qualitative research methodis applied with an inductive approach more dominantly. Completion and Results: A qualitative multiple case studies on SMEs businesses inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia was carried out and the results revealed that:      The Benefits of Internet Technologies as :  The falling costs and increasingutility of cutting edge technologies without bearing the high costs of discarding olderlegacy systems and carrying massive cost of technological  R & D, Historicopportunity  for SME‘s to create new information rich industries and competitiveentrepreneurships of global reach with no abstraction/ marketing chains or less capital , Provided Product/service and Operation / Processes Efficiency for SMEs, Enhancedthe businesses‘ value proposition, quality and flexibility,  SMEs  are better positionedto participate in global value chains, with minimal capital , R&D and Technology cost.  The Problems of Internet Technologies as: - Poor literacy, both computer basedand formal education, - Lack of good infrastructure, both physical and regulatory - lackof access to technology in rural or remote areas with lack of content in local languagessettings (Language & Diversity Barriers), - Service interruptions in basic infrastructuresuch as telecoms and electricity interruptions, - And lack of expertise in IT.   The Implications and Conclusion as: The utilization of internet technologies andthe growing number of entrepreneurial firms(SMEs) signals the way forward inEthiopia is  with a lot of  prospects among them are opportunities of  participating in theglobal market arena, strategic alliances with local and foreign firms that creates hugepossibilities of exploring and exploiting information, knowledge and culture industrieson which the country is endowed with, provided that the above mentioned impedimentsare addressed.  The theoretical issues in this research indicates that unlike the developedeconomies perspective on the value activities of firm which states the primary activitiesas a critical and detrimental activity in the value chain, in this research the supportactivity is found to have an equivalent, if not, a greater influence in the value activitiesof Ethiopian or developing country context that challenges the pre-establishedtheoretical concept (Porter, 1985)in the matured and developed economies giving muchof the credit to primary activities.  The underlying conclusion in this research is that, thesupport activities mentioned on Porter (1985) and (Rayport &Sviokla ,1995) as in bothcases (physical and virtual SMEs presence) are found to be equivalentlycritical/determinant as it is analyzed in the cases and shortly portrayed in the conclusivetable, where the support activities are found to be playing a significant role andcontribution  even in the sustenance of the primary value activities   and further to thewhole value system as far as the internet connectivity to business presence/ [VISIBILITY,MIRRORING CAPABILITY& NEW DIGITAL VALUE] (Rayport &Sviokla ,1995)  is takenin to consideration. Therefore an adapted / amended model to the context of developingcountries/Ethiopia is suggested based on the empirical findings and analysis. Search Terms: - Internet Technologies (ICT), Small & Medium Service Enterprises(SMEs), Infrastructure, Human Resources, Primary and Secondary Value Activities,Physical &Virtual Value Chain, Search, Evaluation Problem Solving & Transaction.

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Large data sets are required to store all of the information contained in option chains. The data set we work with includes all U.S. exchange traded put and call options. This data set is part of a larger data set commonly referred to as the National Best Bid Offer (NBBO) data set. The national bid best offer is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) term for the best available ask price and bid price. Brokers must guarantee investors these prices on their trades. We have acquired data for the 5 year period from 2005 to 2009 for all U.S. traded options. Each year of data is approximately 6 gigabytes. The company, (DeltaNeutral - Options Data And End Of Day Downloads, 2010), from which we acquired the data, also has a software package, OptimalTrader, to process the data. For this data to be used in research projects, the data must be accessible by specific underlying security for selected date ranges. This type of data is more useful to the financial mathematics student than the output given by the software provided by DeltaNeutral. The software used in this data manipulation is Matlab. Each individual file of original data was parsed, and new files were written with some reformatting in which the original data was largely reorganized. The new organization will make searching for information from one stock or any specific group of stocks easier to achieve. We have created 3 m-files in Matlab which deal with reformatting the data, error handling, and searching through the original or reformatted data. The result is that new datasets can be created for further studying and manipulation. Future students working with this data should find this method, toolset, and the newly constructed datasets to be useful tools in working with options data and examining option chains.

Amplification techniques such as the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) are held to be largely qualitative procedures and are widely used as such. Since the efficiency of amplification is less than perfect, small changes in efficiency can yield dramatic differences in the final amount of product generated. Despite this unpredictability the exquisite sensitivity of PCR makes the demanding goal of absolute quantification highly desirable. Consequently, the use of this technique for the quantification of nucleic acids has increased at an exponential rate. However, the ability of PCR to accurately quantify absolute levels of DNA is still not universally accepted. The overall aim of this investigation was to determine the critical factors affecting the quantification of DNA using PCR and to use these findings to develop an assay for the absolute quantification of DNA in a model system. The novel work presented here illustrates the need for careful examination of sequencesfo r GC-rich domains which could give rise to stable secondary structures and reduce the efficiency of amplification by serving as termination sites. To determine the accuracy of competitive PCR, CE and IP-RP-HPLC were employed to quantify PCR- products. These two techniques provided valuable information on the identification and elimination of sources of error which led to improvements in speed, accuracy and precision, as well as ease of quantification by PCR. They also yielded information on the process of heteroduplex formation whilst simultaneously revealing assay limitations. Consequently, the on-line fluorescence monitoring of PCR was used as an alternative method for the quantification of Legionella pneumophila. This technique was highly reproducible however, mispriming and the subsequent amplification of non-specific PCR products limited the level of detection. The Y-end labelling of degraded DNA with DIG prevented short DNA fragments from mispriming (and consequently extending) allowing the amplification of DNA targets. Therefore, to reduce mispriming and hence improve assay sensitivity, this approach was adapted for the first time to produce 5'-degenerate, 3'- DIG-terminated competitive primer analogues. These analogues, coupled with the use of the LightcyclerTm, allowed the detection and absolute quantification of a single cell of Legionella pneumophila. This is the first time that this level of sensitivity has been achieved using this type of assay. This technique should provide a very rapid and sensitive alternative for quantification comparedt o the other,m oree xpensivete chnologiesa vailablea t present.

This work has compared polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and traditional visual disease assessment to evaluate the severity of Fusarium ear blight (FEB) ofwheat under field and glasshouse conditions. In a field trial, PCR analysis highlighted the problem of diagnosis of FEB of wheat based on visual disease assessment where natural inoculum was present. PCR-based analysis detected F. poae predominantly in the glumes and Microdochium nivale sub-species were predominantly found in the rachis component of ears. M nivale var. majus was more frequently observed than var. nivale (64 and 36 %, respectively). Quantitative PCR analysis and conventional visual disease assessment were used to evaluate fungicide efficacy against FEB of wheat caused by F. culmorum and F. poae in three glasshouse trials (1994/5-1996/7). Prochloraz and tebuconazole significantly decreased both visual symptoms of FEB and fungal DNA content of F. culmorum and F. poae ear blight of wheat. Overall, both fungicides appeared equally effective, although the efficacy ofthese fungicides was consistently greater as measured by PCR analysis rather than by visual disease assessment. Inoculation with F. culmorum significantly reduced yield (1000 grain weight) whereas inoculation with F. poae had no significant effect on yield. Fusarium culmorum was successfully transformed with the GUS reporter gene. GUS activity levels of transformants varied, but transformation did not affect pathogenicity on wheat seedlings. A GUS transformant was used to study the effectiveness of two fungicides against F. culmorum foot rot of wheat. Primers to the Tri5 gene were used to develop a PCR-based assay for the specific detection ofpotential trichothecene-producing Fusarium species. These primers were also used to develop an RT-PCR-based assay for the detection and semiquantification of F. culmorum Tri5 gene expression 'relative to p-tubulin gene expression' in RNA extracts from F. culmorum. This assay was used to show that time and fungicides can affect Tri5 gene expression in liquid culture.

The strategic importance of FMCG SME's supply chains makes it paramount that their performances are measured. Performance measurement in the context of on-time delivery is of high importance to SME's. SME's compete with large companies within the FMCG sector, as such gaining a competitive advantage is an extremely difficult task for these small and medium companies. There is an everincreasing interest toward the field of supply chain management and much attention has been deemed towards the importance of information sharing in gaining competitive advantage for SMEs. The integration of the chain both internally and externally through information sharing ( visibility) can lead to increase supply chain performance such as on-time delivery, therefore increasing competitive advantage for the SME's. The study aim to develop a conceptual framework and a model to evaluate the impact of visibility tools usage in FMCG SME's. This research highlights some visibility tools such as ERP systems, Sage software that influences the level of information shared among the parties within the SME supply chain. This research examined the potential of information technology based tools and visibility factors and aims to provide factors that may influence the sharing of information between suppliers and customers along the supply chain, thus meeting on time delivery schedules. This research employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches, with regression and correlation tests also conducted. Two questionnaires were administered, one at the case study company, the other at 100 SME's across London, 63 valid questionnaires were received and analyzed using SPSS software (manufactured by IBM, version 20). The findings of this research revealed that having shared values among SME's influenced the level of information that is shared and thus the level of visibility achieved within the supply chain. Further, it was revealed that large companies are able to utilize more in depth IT based systems, while small and medium sized companies had a tendency to utilize informal means for their visibility tools. In addition, the analysis of the research model indicated that supplier lead time and supplier chain reliability greatly influenced the ICT infrastructure of a FMCG SME. The model analysis also indicated that the delivery lead time influenced on-time delivery. In addition supply chain responsiveness was found to explain 30.9% of the variances found in supply chain visibility.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T17:41:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo7318_1.pdf: 3907134 bytes, checksum: af97373928b4c23f70471b3cadc5592d (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2002 / O gerenciamento da cadeia logística e suprimentos "supply chain management" significa a integração completa de todos os parceiros e processos de uma cadeia logística. Este tem sido um objetivo perseguido por muitas empresas que buscam aumentar a competitividade diante de mercados cada vez mais concorridos. No entanto, como não há um padrão único a ser seguido, para integrar sua cadeia logística, uma empresa deve antes de tudo mudar a si mesma, passando de organização vertical para horizontal, fazendo com que todas as suas áreas e processos trabalhem de forma sincronizada, aqui surge a maior dificuldade enfrentada atualmente pelas empresas nesse processo. Diante desse quadro, este trabalho demonstra, através de simulação, como a utilização do fluxograma de processo pode contribuir para diagnosticar o estágio atual da cadeia, aperfeiçoar os fluxos de produtos e informações identificando as operações que não agregam valor, bem como as mudanças necessárias para reestruturação das atividades. Dessa forma, evidencia-se como através da análise de micro-processos a empresa pode estabelecer ações para otimizar o caminho crítico, gerar valor na cadeia logística, reduzir custos e aumentar a satisfação dos seus clientes

Sustainability has become a critical topic in all areas of supply chain management. As discussed earlier, drivers for this development can be identified as both internal and external phenomena. Since customers are one of the key stakeholders in supply chain management, special attention is paid to the impact of costumers´ behavior on sustainable supply chain design decisions. In this context, two main research questions were analyzed: 1.What is the appropriate way to design a supply chain according to environmentally-oriented requirements of customers? 2.What is the impact of customer´s behavior regarding both usage and return of products on supply chain design decisions in an environmentally conscious closed-loop supply chain environment? Therefore, three different optimization models with various main aspects are developed. To illustrate how the presented models can be applied in practical problem cases, guidelines for implementing an environmentally supply chain design project are presented. / Das Thema Nachhaltigkeit stellt für eine Vielzahl von Unternehmen eine der Kernherausforderungen in der heutigen Zeit dar. Aufgrund der ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Dimensionen, die in diesem Kontext zu beachten sind, nimmt die Komplexität von Unternehmensentscheidungen dramatisch zu. Besonders im Kontext des Supply Chain Managements, das nicht nur die unternehmensinternen Wertschöpfungsaktivitäten, sondern alle Prozesse der Produktentstehung über mehrere Akteure hinweg berücksichtigt, führt dies zu einer Zunahme an Parametern, die in die Planung einbezogen werden müssen. Neben anderen Treibern stellen Kundenanforderungen eine wesentliche Motivation zur nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Ausgestaltung von Supply Chains dar. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit liegt der Fokus auf der strategischen Planung von Wertschöpfungsnetzwerken. Um die Wirkungszusammenhänge zwischen den zugrundeliegenden Planungsentscheidungen sowie möglichst alle relevanten Planungsparameter zu berücksichtigen, eignen sich mathematische Modelle zur Unterstützung von Entscheidungsträgern. Auf Basis von Literaturanalysen lassen sich jedoch nur wenige quantitative Ansätze in der Literatur identifizieren, die sich mit dem nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Supply Chain Design beschäftigen. Zudem kann eine Forschungslücke in der Berücksichtigung von Kundenanforderungen bei der strategischen Planung von nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Supply Chains festgestellt werden. Durch die Bearbeitung der folgenden Forschungsfragen, trägt die vorliegende Arbeit zur Schließung dieser Lücken bei: Wie können ökologieorientierte Kundenanforderungen bei der strategischen Planung von Wertschöpfungsnetzwerken berücksichtigt werden? Wie beeinflusst das Kundenverhalten in Bezug auf die Nutzung und die Rückgabe von Produkten Supply Chain Design-Entscheidungen im Kontext eines ökologieorientierten closed-loop Wertschöpfungsnetzwerks? Zur Analyse der Forschungsfragen werden drei mathematische Supply Chain Design-Modelle entwickelt. Zudem werden Empfehlungen zur Anwendung von nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Supply Chain Design-Modellen in Praxisprojekte präsentiert.

ABSTRACT Six hens responded under an increasing Fixed Ratio schedule of reinforcement to assess demand separately for two different food types: wheat and puffed wheat. Demand curves generated showed the least preferred food, puffed wheat, yielded a higher initial (ln L) demand than the more preferred food, wheat. While responding for the more preferred food, wheat, produced lower initial (ln L) demand functions, responding for wheat was maintained to higher increasing FR schedules of reinforcement than was that for puffed wheat. This phenomenon occurred across all six hens. To assess preference between the two food types the hens responded under a two-link concurrent-chain schedule of reinforcement. Under the concurrent-chain schedule of reinforcement there were three conditions, each consisted of a initial link with VI 90-s VI 90-s in effect, and terminal links of FR1, FR8 and FR32. The concurrent-chain schedule was used to examine if or how preference may relate to demand. Preference measures obtained showed wheat was generally preferred to puffed wheat across all prices throughout the preference assessment. As price increased in the terminal link during the preference assessment, preference for wheat became more extreme as did the hens responding. The results suggest that while there is a systematic relation between preference and demand, in that at higher FR values food with higher demand levels is preferred. This does not seem to hold, however, at FR1

<p>Electronic health – this is the object of study work. The focus of research is European countries, which use Information and Communication Technologies improving their Health care system and it is not excepted is the country advanced in developing e-Health or it just started to create or improve this system. As it is a new Developing research area, there are not so many direct relevant researches about it previously found. Therefore it encourages the investigation of this topic, which according to European Commission and Enterprise Directorate General (2003) could reach greatest economy on saving costs in whole service sector. Thus the guidelines for efficient e-Health development should be given as soon as possible. The study work is exactly aimed on this.</p>