Revealing performance heterogeneity through knowledge management maturity evaluation: A capability-based approach

The dynamic capabilities view (DCV) focuses on renewal of firms’ strategic knowledge resources so as to sustain competitive advantage within turbulent markets. Within the context of the DCV, the focus of knowledge management (KM) is to develop the KMC through deploying knowledge governance mechanisms that are conducive to facilitating knowledge processes so as to produce superior business performance over time. The essence of KM performance evaluation is to assess how well the KMC is configured with knowledge governance mechanisms and processes that enable a firm to achieve superior performance through matching its knowledge base with market needs. However, little research has been undertaken to evaluate KM performance from the DCV perspective. This study employed a survey study design and adopted hypothesis-testing approaches to develop a capability-based KM evaluation framework (CKMEF) that upholds the basic assertions of the DCV. Under the governance of the framework, a KM index (KMI) and a KM maturity model (KMMM) were derived not only to indicate the extent to which a firm’s KM implementations fulfill its strategic objectives, and to identify the evolutionary phase of its KMC, but also to bench-mark the KMC in the research population. The research design ensured that the evaluation framework and instruments have statistical significance and good generalizabilty to be applied in the research population, namely construction firms operating in the dynamic Hong Kong construction market. The study demonstrated the feasibility of quantitatively evaluating the development of the KMC and revealing the performance heterogeneity associated with the development.     

H] Tryptamine and 3H-water as diffusible internal standards for measuring brain extraction of radio-labeled substances following carotid injection

Urinary amino acid excretion was determined in 31 leukemic patients and 29 normal individuals by rapid gas chromatographic analysis of 16 amino acids as their N-acetyl-n-propyl esters. The leukemic patients were concurrently undergoing, or had recently completed, chemotherapy. It was found that aspartic acid, threonine, and serine were of significance in distinguishing between patients "on" therapy and those "off" therapy. Patients with advanced disease have the greatest aminoaciduria, although both the normal and leukemic populations have wide individual ranges. Within both populations, men excrete a greater variety and quantity of amino acids than women. It is concluded that analysis of urinary amino acids represents a history of complex metabolic events, which is potentially useful for evaluating patient response to chemotherapy in leukemia.     

Family centered maternity care: its relationship to perinatal regionalization and neonatal intensive care

For several months prior to birth a major portion of a family's attention, conversation, thought, and often worry, is directed toward the idea of a new child. This prolonged attention and anticipation contribute to making childbirth an emotionally charged experience. In psychological terms, it is therefore a critical period of peak motivation for learning, and a time to peak susceptibility to reinforcement. Theory, reason, and scientific evidence indicate thng with childbirth and early postpartum experiences, can significantly affect subsequent parental behaviors, the child's central environment influence. Evidence strongly suggests that these parental attitudes and behaviors so crucial to the child's ultimate well-being are learned rather than derived instinctually, and therefore they are malleable and can be taught, directed, and corrected. Through education and reinforcement it is possible to encourage parental behaviors and child interactions which are products of feelings of control, competence, accomplishment, understanding, and caring. Similarly we can recognize and work toward replacing attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that express fear, worry, and insecurity about the child. Over the past 50 years major changes have occurred in the practice of obstetrics and newborn pediatrics. Other major changes will necessarily occur as we move toward perinatal regionalization. Changes instigated solely on physiologic data can have unrecognized collateral effects on the psychological component of the childbirth experience. All concerned health care personnel, especially obstetricians and pediatricians, can insist that the importance of desirable mother-father-child interactions be recognized and that practices fostering them be afforded a high priority. I would like to endorse a comment from a recent article by Richmond concerning the advent of behavioral pediatrics by adding that behavioral obstetrics is also "an idea whose time has arrived".     

Fracture Assessment of Carbon Fibre/Epoxy Reinforcing Rings through a Combination of Full-Scale Testing, Small-Scale Testing and Stress Modeling

Carbon fibre/epoxy rings are used as radial reinforcement for polymer bearing elements with nominal diameter 250 mm functioning under 150 MPa. Full-scale static and dynamic testing revealed no catastrophic failure for loading to 400 MPa, although there was circumferential splitting of carbon fibres at the machined top edge causing counterface wear under sliding. A combined numerical–experimental analysis was applied for design improvement with a representative small-scale qualification test on the real ring geometry, inducing additional stress concentrations compared to ASTM standards. Full-scale modelling revealed high radial–axial shear stresses (33 MPa) in non-hydrostatically loaded zones, while it increased towards 104 MPa under hydrostatic load conditions. The former is the most critical and should be simulated either on a small-scale unidirectional compression test or on a representative short beam shear test, respectively, measuring the radial–axial or radial–tangential shear strength. A relation between both small-scale states of stress was experimentally and numerically studied, experiencing that the composite ring has lower radial–tangential shear stress compared to radial–axial shear stress as a different hydrostatic stress state is observed in the bulk of the composite ring. As a compressive test is however more difficult to perform than a short-beam-shear test, a representative design criterion for shear fracture is determined from failure at 27 kN normal load in a short-beam-shear test. Finally, fracture is avoided by optimising the cross-sectional geometry of the composite reinforcing ring and close control of the processing parameters.     

Advanced methods for container stacking

In this paper, we study stacking policies for containers at an automated container terminal. It is motivated by the increasing pressure on terminal performance put forward by the increase in the size of container ships. We consider several variants of category stacking, where containers can be exchanged during the loading process. The categories facilitate both stacking and online optimization of stowage. We also consider workload variations for the stacking cranes.     

Kepler's Living Cosmology: Bridging the Celestial and Terrestrial Realms

Abstract. Johannes Kepler's system of mathematical archetypes played a primary role in his physical cosmology. Identified as the geometrical models making up the metaphysical blueprint of the material world, Kepler's archetypes underlay every aspect of his world picture. Despite their importance, however, it has remained unclear how Kepler conceived of the archetypes in corporeal terms, that is, how he saw archetypes as being embodied in the form of material phenomena. Kepler's solution, I suggest, is an efficient cause, a facultas animalis, or animate faculty, pervading both the celestial and the terrestrial realms. In addition to its ability to realise the archetypes in their physical form, the animate faculty allowed Kepler to account for heavenly and earthly occurrences in terms of the same geometrical principles. Faraway phenomena such as comets and new stars could thus be seen as essentially comparable to more accessible curiosities on the Earth.     

The Ethics of Problem Definition.

The way we look at problems affects how we study them and try to solve them. Different interventions become salient depending on whether we focus on individuals perceived to have the problem, on the social setting that fosters it, or on an interaction of the two. As psychologists, our training is conducive to thinking on the individual rather than on the system level. When we employ research strategies that personalize the political, we risk being complicit with conservative political agendas that avoid social change by focusing on individual dysfunction. Even community psychologists, despite dealing in system-level theories, too often transform these into individual-level research. I will use, as examples, poverty, drugs, homelessness, resilience, and empowerment. I argue that since our research can provide a justification for either changing or maintaining the status quo, it has ethical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-being.

Reviews the book Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-being, edited by Geoffrey Nelson and Isaac Prilleltensky (2005). As their subtitle suggests, the authors are concerned with many matters beyond a mental health focus. Although they modestly describe themselves as "editors," Nelson and Prilleltensky actually wrote most of the book, with only Parts 5 and 6 devoted to the work of others. In Part I, the authors introduce their project for community psychology, offering "issues, values, and tools for liberation and well-being." In Part II, "Values, Principles, and Conceptual Tools," the authors talk about sources of values and the way values are chosen to inform research and action. Part III, "Tools for Action," is devoted to interventions at various levels: social, organizational, small group, and individual. In Part IV, the authors present "Tools for Research." Part V presents diverse topics that include marginalization; globalization, poverty, and social justice; colonization and racism; immigration, adaptation, and the challenges of cultural diversity. Part VI, a final "look toward the future," talks about the new aims and definitions of community psychology presented by this text. This books is one of those rare texts that fully meets the twin purposes of providing ideas for the mature community psychologist as well as working as a text for advanced students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-determination and conflict in romantic relationships.

Four studies examined associations between E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan's (1985, 2000) construct of autonomy, responses to relationship disagreements, and dissatisfaction after conflict. In Study 1, diary data showed that trait autonomy predicted relationship autonomy, which in turn predicted relative satisfaction after disagreements. In Study 2, trait autonomy predicted relationship autonomy, which was associated with less defensive and more understanding responses to conflict. Studies 3 and 4 examined whether one's partner's relationship autonomy uniquely predicted reported and observed behavior during conflict. Autonomous reasons for being in the relationship (of both self and partner) predicted both reported and observed responses to conflict and feelings of satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Soil moisture estimates from TRMM Microwave Imager observations over the Southern United States

The lack of continuous soil moisture fields at large spatial scales, based on observations, has hampered hydrologists from understanding its role in weather and climate. The most readily available observations from which a surface wetness state could be derived is the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) observations at 10.65 GHz. This paper describes the first attempt to map daily soil moisture from space over an extended period of time. Methods to adjust for diurnal changes associated with this temporal variability and how to mosaic these orbits are presented. The algorithm for deriving soil moisture and temperature from TMI observations is based on a physical model of microwave emission from a layered soil-vegetation-atmosphere medium. An iterative, least-squares minimization method, which uses dual polarization observations at 10.65 GHz, is employed in the retrieval algorithm. Soil moisture estimates were compared with ground measurements over the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP) in Oklahoma and the Little River Watershed, Georgia. The soil moisture experiment in Oklahoma was conducted in July 1999 and Little River in June 2000. During both the experiments, the region was dry at the onset of the experiment, and experienced moderate rainfall during the course of the experiment. The regions experienced a quick dry-down before the end of the experiment. The estimated soil moisture compared well with the ground observations for these experiments (standard error of 2.5%). The TMI-estimated soil moisture during 6-22 July over Southern U.S. was analyzed and found to be consistent with the observed meteorological conditions.