Vendor transition and the impact on in-flight projects

This paper explores the vendor transition process after the termination or alteration of existing outsourcing contracts and the impact on in-flight projects. A single case study based on a large Australian telecommunications company, which operates a heavily outsourced IT environment is presented. Qualitative techniques were used for data collection and analysis. Data collection was undertaken using on-site semistructured open-ended interviews. The following key themes were uncovered in the interviews 1) Communication of the vendor transition, 2) The transition period, 3) Confusion during transition, 4) Extending agreements, and 5) Knowledge management. The paper concludes by presenting a number implications and underlying points of interest derived from the findings. © 2010 Amaya Booker and Alan Sixsmith

Collectors of Rhodiola species on the Sichuan-Tibetan and Sichuan-Shaanxi borders

Medicinal Rhodiola species, including Rhodiola rosea L. and Rhodiola crenulata (Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba, have been widely used as traditional herbal medicines with numerous claims for their therapeutic effects. Faced with resource depletion, environment destruction and higher demand, R. rosea and R. crenulata are becoming endangered, making them economically even more valuable, but also increasing the risk of adulteration and low quality - and raising awareness for the role of often unlicensed collectors and middlemen. Although R. rosea is the most well known in Europe, R. crenulata is the recognised species in China. On the border of Sichuan and Tibet, members of the Yi minority collect R. crenulata in order to sell it to the “traditional” Chinese medicine market. Collection of this medicinal herb represents about one third of the annual income for the Yi. Three times a year they climb up to 5,000 metres in search of the plants. As it is stripped out, the Yi have to travel to more and more inhospitable places to ensure its supply. At Taibai mountain along the border of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the same medicinal plant, hongjingtian in Chinese, is growing in the wild, too. Yet, in a socioeconomic context, collectors do not have a particular ethnic background such as Yi, Tibetan or Han collectors. Here, the collectors are various unlicensed providers-cum-prescribers 'caoyi'. (The term does not mean herb-physician, as one might assume from terms such as caoyao (herbals). It means unofficial or not following the scholarly standard.) Using neither an ethnic identity nor the general botanical terms in Latin, they claim Daoism and terroir of their mountain as a sign of good quality ‘Taibai hongjingtian’. There appears to be no strategy in place to protect the species across all those socioeconomic, ethnic and provincial boundaries, and without some intervention it is likely that R. crenulata will eventually become so rare that it can no longer be collected in the current quantities. This will have consequences both for the livelihoods of the Yi and of various Caoyi, and also for the conservation of R. Crenulata and it’s sustainability

The Euclid-Mullin graph

We introduce the Euclid-Mullin graph, which encodes all instances of Euclid's proof of the infinitude of primes. We investigate structural properties of the graph both theoretically and numerically; in particular, we prove that it is not a tree.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Journal of Number Theor

Labour force sequences, unemployment spells and their effect on subjective well-being set points

Drawingupon recent psychological literature, we examine the effect of employment statuses pre- and post-unemployment on levels of subjective well-being (SWB),and the return to pre-unemployment levels, i.e. set points. Data came from the British Household Panel Survey. SWB was measured using the GHQ-12 and a question on life satisfaction; Employment status was self-reported. Multilevel, jointed, piecewise, growth curve regression models were used to explore associations by gender, specifically whether different labour force sequences produced different growth curves and rates of adaptation. Overall, there was a tendency for men and women to return to well-being set points for both outcomes. However, findings showed differences by labour force sequence and SWB measure. Women who experienced unemployment between spells of employment returned to their SWB setpoint at a faster rate of return for GHQ than for life satisfaction, while for men, the rates of return were similar to each other. Women who were employed prior to unemployment and then became economically inactive showed a return to their GHQ set point, but there was no return to their life satisfaction setpoint. Economically inactive participants pre-unemployment, who then gained employment, also showed a return to their well-being set point. After economic inactivity and then unemployment, only men experienced a significant increase in life satisfaction upon return to economic inactivity. The findings showed that following unemployment, return to subjective well-being setpoint was quicker for people who became employed than for people who became economically inactive. There were also differences in the return to SWB setpoint by type of economic inactivity upon exiting unemployment

Value Chains of Botanical and Herbal Medicinal Products: A European Perspective

In recent years, the quality of botanicals has come under increased scrutiny. Despite the availability of numerous high-quality products from reputable companies, health care professionals, patients, and consumers are understandably concerned about questionable botanical ingredients in various consumer products. In Europe, this includes products that are generally unlicensed and unregistered supplements (also referred to as “botanicals”), which are often poorly regulated, or even totally unregulated, depending on the country of jurisdiction

A mathematical model for the sequestering of chemical contaminants by magnetic particles

A mathematical model is developed and implemented to characterize the pickup of various liquid chemical contaminants by polyethylene-coated magnetic particles. The model and its associated experimental and analytical protocols were applied to a wide range of liquid chemicals in order to gain insights into the physical basis for the pickup phenomenon. The characteristics of the pickup isotherms range between “ideal” and “nonideal” behaviors that are reflected in the mathematical model by a single parameter, �0, where �0=1 corresponds to ideal behavior and �0�1 corresponds to a departure from idealized behavior that is directly quantified by the magnitude of �0. The parameter �0 is also related to the efficiency of pickup, and since most isotherms observed in the study deviate from ideality, the high efficiency of pickup observed in these systems has been attributed in part to this deviation. The proposed model and its associated experimental and analytical protocols demonstrate great potential for the systematic evaluation of the uptake of chemical contaminants using magnetic particle technology

Unblocking high-value botanical value chains: Is there a role for blockchain systems?

Blockchain systems are a fast emerging and a currently widely discussed novel strategy for a decentralised cryptographically-enhanced digital ledger recording transactions among stakeholders. This perspective paper looks at its potential uses in the context of high value and mostly low volume botanical material traded globally and used as medicines, health foods, in cosmetics and other applications. We offer a perspective on key areas in the supply of such products globally and how blockchain systems may help in sustainable sourcing, quality assurance, and in tackling supply problems in cases of complex multiherbal preparations. Both open and closed blockchain systems are feasible, and it seems likely that, at least in the initial development, closed ones are the main ones to be utilized. While blockchain’s potential is not yet clear, the examples presented here highlight the opportunities of this new technology

St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) products – an assessment of their authenticity and quality

St John’s wort products (Hypericum perforatum L.) are widely available for sale in many countries including the UK via the internet. In the UK, these products are required to hold either a marketing authorisation or Traditional herbal registration (THR) to be sold legally. The THR and other regulatory schemes help to ensure product safety and quality providing an example of best practice but there is a risk if both regulated and un-regulated products continue to be available to consumers. Aims: the project is embedded in a larger study aiming to investigate the quality of different herbal medicinal products along diverse value chains. Here we focus on a comparison of the quality of the finished products and assess phytochemical variation between registered products (THRs) and products obtained from the market without any registration. Methods: 47 commercial products (granulated powders and extracts) were sourced from different suppliers. We analysed these samples using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and 1H-NMR spectroscopy coupled with multi-variate analysis software following a method previously developed by our group. Results: the consistency of the products varies significantly. Adulteration of the products (36%), possibly with other Hypericum species obtained from China or use of chemically distinct H. perforatum cultivars or chemotypes, and adulteration of the products (19%) with food dyes (tartrazine, amaranth, brilliant blue, sunset yellow) were the principle findings of this study. Conclusions: There is significant compositional variation among commercial finished products and two main causative quality problems were identified as adulteration by incorrect species or adulteration with food dyes. Generally, food supplements and unlicensed products were found to be of poorer quality than the regulated ones like registered THRs

Adulteration and Poor Quality of Ginkgo biloba Supplements

Adulteration of Ginkgo products sold as unregistered supplements within the very large market of Ginkgo products (reputedly £650 million annually) through the post-extraction addition of cheaper (e.g. buckwheat derived) rutin is suspected to allow sub-standard products to appear satisfactory to third parties, e.g. secondary buyers along the value chain or any regulatory authorities. This study was therefore carried out to identify products that did not conform to their label specification and may have been actively adulterated to enable access to the global markets. 500 MHz Bruker NMR spectroscopy instrumentation combined with Topspin version 3.2 and a CAMAG HPTLC system (HPTLC Association for the analysis of Ginkgo biloba leaf) were used to generate NMR spectra (focusing on the 6–8 ppm region for analysis) and chromatograms, respectively. Out of the 35 samples of Ginkgo biloba analysed, 33 were found to contain elevated levels of rutin and/or quercetin, or low levels of Ginkgo metabolites when compared with the reference samples. Samples with disproportional levels of rutin or quercetin compared with other gingko metabolites are likely to be adulterated, either by accident or intentionally, and those samples with low or non-existent gingko metabolite content may have been produced using poor extraction techniques. Only two of the investigated samples were found to match with the High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) fingerprint of the selected reference material. All others deviated significantly. One product contained a 5-hydroxytryptophan derivative, which is not a natural constituent of Ginkgo biloba. Overall, these examples either suggest a poor extraction technique or deliberate adulteration along the value chain. Investigating the ratio of different flavonoids e.g. quercetin and kaempferol using NMR spectroscopy and HPTLC will provide further evidence as to the degree and kind of adulteration of Gingko supplements. From a consumer perspective the equivalence in identity and overall quality of the products needs to be guaranteed for supplements too and not only for products produced according to a quality standard or pharmacopoeial monograph