Developing a tendering strategy in two-envelope fee tendering based on technical score-fee variability

Consultants, in competing for work through two-envelope fee tendering, have been urged to consider variability differences between fees and technical scores, since the criterion with the greatest variability will influence which consultant is awarded the contract. Fee and technical score variability arising from different client fee tendering competitions is analysed in this paper, and a method proposed for determining whether a particular client's two-envelope fee tendering competition is likely to be dominated in terms of technical score or fee. Such information should be useful to consultants, as part of their bidding strategy, in deciding whether to aim for a higher technical score or submit a lower fee. Standard deviation is used to measure fee and technical score variability. Fee and technical score standard deviations are determined for each tendering competition, expressed as a ratio and aggregated over a series of competitions. A technical score-fee standard deviation ratio approximately equal to unity indicates that for future competitions consultants should adopt a balanced bidding strategy in putting equal emphasis on fee and technical score. A smaller ratio indicates that consultants should adopt a ‘low fee’ strategy whereas a larger ratio shows that consultants should adopt a ‘high technical score’ strategy. Fee tendering data from two large Hong Kong public sector clients were analysed. Fees were found to dominate the vast majority of tendering competitions, thereby indicating that consultants would be wise to adopt a low fee strategy in future competitions.     

The use of freelisting to elicit stakeholder understanding of the benefits sought from healthcare buildings

The process of elicitation and synthesis of the collective understanding of a cultural domain held by a group of stakeholders is challenging. This problem typifies the pre-project activity from which a coherent understanding of the benefits sought from infrastructure investment must emerge to inform the business case rationale. The anthropological freelisting method is evaluated as a solution by determining its ability to be operationalized in a practical form for project application. Using data from the stakeholders of a large NHS Scotland building project, the use of multidimensional scaling for data analysis is compared with participatory pilesorting to determine which freelisting protocol balances insight with practicality. Neither approach is found to offer an ideal method of characterizing sought benefits. The social construction of pilesorting promotes reliability while the analytical rigour of multidimensional scaling remains attractive to auditors. Their distinct insights suggest that both approaches should be combined in future and used alongside further post-elicitation devices from anthropology such as cultural consensus modelling or structured conceptualization.     

Evaluating p97 Inhibitor Analogues for Potency against p97–p37 and p97–Npl4–Ufd1 Complexes

We previously found that the p97 cofactor, p47, significantly decreased the potency of some ATP‐competitive p97 inhibitors such as ML240 [2‐(2‐amino‐1H‐benzo[d]imidazol‐1‐yl)‐N‐benzyl‐8‐methoxyquinazolin‐4‐amine] and ML241 [2‐(2H‐benzo[b][1,4]oxazin‐4(3H)‐yl)‐N‐benzyl‐5,6,7,8 tetrahydroquinazolin‐4‐amine]. In this study, we aimed to evaluate inhibitor potencies against two additional p97 cofactor complexes, p97–p37 and p97–Npl4–Ufd1. We focused on these two cofactor complexes, because the protein sequence of p37 is 50 % identical to that of p47, and the Npl4–Ufd1 heterodimer (NU) is the most‐studied p97 cofactor complex. We screened 200 p97 inhibitor analogues for their ability to inhibit the ATPase activity of p97 alone and of p97–p37 and p97–NU complexes. In contrast to the effect of p47, p37 and NU did not significantly change the potencies of most of the compounds. These results highlight differences among p97 cofactors in influencing p97 conformation and effects of inhibitors on p97 complexes, as compared to p97 alone. Continued efforts are needed to advance the development of complex‐specific p97 inhibitors.     

Impedance Spectroscopy of (Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3–BaTiO3 Ceramics Modified with (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3

The electrical and dielectric properties of (1 ? x)(0.94Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃–0.06BaTiO₃)–x(K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃) with x = 0, 0.03, 0.09, 0.18 have been investigated by impedance spectroscopy over a wide temperature range. The dc conductivity of the ceramics follows the Arrhenius law with an activation energy ranging from ~1.20 to 1.50 eV. Measurements under different atmospheres show the materials exhibit n‐type semiconducting behavior at elevated temperatures. The presence of a highly polarizable phase for all compositions is revealed by electric modulus (M″) spectra. The Burns temperature decreases with increasing KNN content. The change in temperature‐dependent permittivity with composition is explained by the difference in thermal evolution of polar nanoregions induced by the addition of KNN.     

Mobility Analysis of 2 nm to 11 nm Aerosol Particles with an Aspirating Drift Tube Ion Mobility Spectrometer

We describe the performance of a drift tube-ion mobility spectrometry (DT-IMS) instrument for the measurement of aerosol particles. In DT-IMS, the electrical mobility of a measured particle is inferred directly from the time required for the particle to traverse a drift region, with motion driven by an electrostatic field. Electrical mobility distributions are hence linked to arrival time distributions (ATDs) for particles reaching a detector downstream of the drift region. The developed instrument addresses two obstacles that have limited DT-IMS use for aerosol measurement previously: (1) conventional drift tubes cannot efficiently sample charged particles at ground potential and (2) the sensitivities of commonly used Faraday plate detectors are too low for most aerosols. Obstacle (1) is circumvented by creating a “sample volume” of aerosol for measurement, defined by the streamlines of fluid flow. Obstacle (2) is bypassed by interfacing the end of the drift region with a condensation particle counter. The DT-IMS prototype shows high linearity for arrival time versus inverse electrical mobility (R ² > 0.99) over the size range tested (2.2–11.1 nm), and measurements compare well with both analytical and numerical models of device performance. A dimensionless calibration curve linking drift time to inverse electrical mobility is developed. In less than 5 s, it is possible to measure 11.1 nm particles, while 2.2 nm particles are analyzable on a subsecond scale. The transmission efficiency is found to be dependent upon electrostatic deposition for short drift times and upon advective losses for long drift times.

Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Changes in Tissue Lipid and Fatty Acid Composition of Farmed Rainbow Trout in Response to Dietary Camelina Oil as a Replacement of Fish Oil

Camelina oil (CO) replaced 50 and 100 % of fish oil (FO) in diets for farmed rainbow trout (initial weight 44 ± 3 g fish^?1). The oilseed is particularly unique due to its high lipid content (40 %) and high amount of 18:3n‐3 (α‐linolenic acid, ALA) (30 %). Replacing 100 % of fish oil with camelina oil did not negatively affect growth of rainbow trout after a 12‐week feeding trial (FO = 168 ± 32 g fish^?1; CO = 184 ± 35 g fish^?1). Lipid and fatty acid profiles of muscle, viscera and skin were significantly affected by the addition of CO after 12 weeks of feeding. However, final 22:6n‐3 [docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] and 20:5n‐3 [eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)] amounts (563 mg) in a 75 g fillet (1 serving) were enough to satisfy daily DHA and EPA requirements (250 mg) set by the World Health Organization. Other health benefits include lower SFA and higher MUFA in filets fed CO versus FO. Compound‐specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) confirmed that the δ¹³C isotopic signature of DHA in CO fed trout shifted significantly compared to DHA in FO fed trout. The shift in DHA δ¹³C indicates mixing of a terrestrial isotopic signature compared to the isotopic signature of DHA in fish oil‐fed tissue. These results suggest that ~27 % of DHA was synthesized from the terrestrial and isotopically lighter ALA in the CO diet rather than incorporation of DHA from fish meal in the CO diet. This was the first study to use CSIA in a feeding experiment to demonstrate synthesis of DHA in fish.     

The Effect of Solutes on the Gelatinization Temperature Range of Potato Starch

The gelatinization behaviour of potato starch in an excess of water or solutions of sugars, other organic hydroxy compounds, or various inorganic salts was studied. The distribution of water and solutes between the external phase and the starch granules was measured by refractometry and a dye exclusion technique. When the limited water uptake of native starch granules is taken into account, the cooperative nature of gelatinization and the effect of water content on gelatinization behaviour can be explained solely on the basis of the Flory theory of polymer melting. Following the same argument, the effect of many solutes can be approximately described by the derived relationship between initial gelatinization temperature, water activity of the system and volume fraction of water in the granules.     

Finite element modeling of resistive surface layers by micro-contact impedance spectroscopy

Micro-contact impedance spectroscopy (MCIS) is potentially a powerful tool for the exploration of resistive surface layers on top of a conductive bulk or substrate material. MCIS employs micro-contacts in contrast to conventional IS where macroscopic electrodes are used. To extract the conductivity of each region accurately using MCIS requires the data to be corrected for geometry. Using finite element modeling on a system where the resistivity of the surface layer is at least a factor of ten greater than the bulk/substrate, we show how current flows through the two layers using two typical micro-contact configurations. This allows us to establish if and what is the most accurate and reliable method for extracting conductivity values for both regions. For a top circular micro-contact and a full bottom counter electrode, the surface layer conductivity (σ_s) can be accurately extracted using a spreading resistance equation if the thickness is ~10 times the micro-contact radius; however, bulk conductivity (σ_b) values can not be accurately determined. If the contact radius is 10 times the thickness of the resistive surface, a geometrical factor using the micro-contact area provides accurate σ_s values. In this case, a spreading resistance equation also provides a good approximation for σ_b. For two top circular micro-contacts on thin resistive surface layers, the MCIS response from the surface layer is independent of the contact separation; however, the bulk response is dependent on the contact separation and at small separations contact interference occurs. As a consequence, there is not a single ideal experimental setup that works; to obtain accurate σ_s and σ_b values the micro-contact radius, surface layer thickness and the contact separation must all be considered together. Here we provide scenarios where accurate σ_s and σ_b values can be obtained that highlight the importance of experimental design and where appropriate equations can be employed for thin and thick resistive surface layers.     

Effect of green manure and supplemental fertility amendments on selected soil quality parameters in an organic potato rotation in Eastern Canada

The effects of green manure, crop sequence and off-farm composts on selected soil quality parameters were assessed in a three-year organic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotation in Eastern Canada. Three crop sequences varying in preceding green manure [red clover (RCl) + RCl, and beans/buckwheat or carrots + oats/peas/vetch mixture (OPV)] as main plots and four fertility treatments applied in the potato phase only [control; inorganic fertilizer; municipal solid waste compost (MSW); composted paper mill biosolid (PMB)] as subplots were compared. In 2008 and 2010, changes in selected soil quality parameters (0–15 cm) were assessed prior to planting of potatoes and at potato tuber initiation stage. Potentially mineralizable nitrogen (N) and the acid phosphatase enzyme activity average values across years were greater following RCl (1.51 abs and 622 kg ha^?1) compared with OPV (1.32 abs and 414 kg ha^?1) at potato planting. Soil NO₃–N average value was greater following RCl compared with OPV (63 vs. 52 kg ha^?1) at tuber initiation. For the other measured parameters, OPV and RCl were similar. The soil organic carbon (C) and particulate organic matter-C were greater under PMB and MSW (31.1 and 7.57 kg ha^?1) compared with fertilizer treatment (27.9 and 6.05 kg ha^?1). The microbial biomass C and microbial biomass quotient were greater under MSW (216 kg ha^?1 and 0.73 %) than PMB and fertilizer (147 kg ha^?1 and 0.50 %) across crop rotations. Annual legume green manures and off-farm composts can be used to satisfy potato N requirement and maintains soil quality in organic potato rotations.