Narrating Your Work: an approach to supporting knowledge sharing in virtual teams

We propose an approach to enhancing knowledge sharing and connectedness in distributed teams. Termed ‘Narrating Your Work’ (NYW), the approach involves members of distributed team using a microblogging tool to post regular updates about their current work, accomplishments, and issues. The NYW approach was evaluated within a geographically and temporally distributed team at Shell International for a period of one month, using a mixed-method research design. Methodology comprised of a quantitative survey, followed by semi-structured interviews and analysis of microblogging updates posted during the month in which the approach was being trialled. The evaluation results suggest that NYW was viewed as a valid and practical approach to enhancing knowledge sharing and connectedness. A range of barriers and enablers that could impact the future application and embedding of the approach are identified and recommendations for implementation are outlined.     

Sustainability Strategies in the Forestry–Wood Chain Driven by Market Demands on Books and Other Products

This paper focuses on sustainability strategies for the Forestry–Wood chain (FWC) driven by market demands on books and other products. The main objective is to draft and suggest a process for market driven pro-active sustainability strategies for the FWC, based on a SWOT-analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). Further to highlight the possible strategic implications and critical areas for actors upstream in the FWC, in the context of uncertain external future scenarios. Higher demands on product differentiation were found throughout the FWC, where also collaboration and stakeholder interaction was found important to improve sustainability. The work broadens the “traditional” perspectives on FWC sustainability to encompass also interacting value chains such as book production and publishing, to get a more holistic view.     

Preparation of carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles with very thin shells by DC arc discharge

Carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles(CEINPs) with very thin shells and good core-shell structures were prepared by DC arc discharge at argon intake temperature(AIT) of 800 ℃. The results of high resolution transmission electron microscope(HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray(EDX) spectroscope, X-ray diffraction(XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope(XPS) characterizations on the product B show that the thickness of the carbon shells of CEINPs in the product B is in the range of ca. 0.5—5.3 nm, i. e., which can be as thin as only two layers of graphite. The average diameter of the CEINPs is about 24. 7 nm. The total content of Fe element in the product B is 77.0 wt%. The saturation magnetization(Ms) and coercivity(Hc) of the product B are 107.4 emu/g and 143 Oe, respectively. The formation of the CEINPs in the product B is discussed briefly.     

Calculation method for effect of silt sediment on lifting force of hydraulic gate

In this paper, silt sediment is considered to be Bingham body, which is made up of coarse and fine particles in front of a hydraulic gate. The coarse and fine particles provide friction and shear stress in the course of opening the gate. They constitute together the adhesion force of the sediment. Based on this viewpoint, this paper puts forward a formula for the effect of silt sediment on the lifting force. The formula includes gate weight, down-suction force, sealing rubber friction, plus-weight, water-column pressure, plus-silted-sediment weight and rolling (or sliding)-bearing friction. Finally, the verification results show that the formula has certain reliability and the calculation accuracy can meet the need of practical engineering.     

Neuro-space mapping for modeling heterojunction bipolar transistor

A neuro-space mapping(Neuro-SM) for modeling heterojunction bipolar transistor(HBT) is presented, which can automatically modify the input signals of the given model by neural network. The novel Neuro-SM formulations for DC and small-signal simulation are proposed to obtain the mapping network. Simulation results show that the errors between Neuro-SM models and the accurate data are less than 1%, demonstrating that the accurcy of the proposed method is higher than those of the existing models.     

Cloning and efficient expression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus sp.</Emphasis> BH072 <Emphasis Type="Italic">tasA</Emphasis> gene in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

The Bacillus strain BH072 isolated from a honey sample showed strong antifungal activity against phytopathogen. Gene cloning test demonstrated that the strain had a tasA gene encoding an antifungal TasA protein. Although the wild strain simultaneously produced various antifungal substances, only the physicochemical property and antifungal activity of TasA protein were unclear due to the difficulty in extraction. In this study, tasA gene encoding the protein from Bacillus sp. BH072 was amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and cloned into pET 28a (+) vector, and then expressed in host cells Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The expressed proteins were collected by centrifugation and ultrasonic treatment, and then purified by using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) metal affinity column and dialysis methods. The result of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) test showed that an expected protein band appeared with a size of 31 kDa. The expressed products possessed antifungal activity against the phytopathogenic indicator strain Botrytis cinerea. A genetically engineered strain tasA of E. coli was established in this study which can efficiently express Tas A protein.     

Culturally Responsive Counseling for Asian Americans: Clinician Perspectives

Research has consistently found acute mental health treatment disparities among Asian Americans. One proposed reason for the underutilization of mental health services by Asian Americans is that available services are not culturally competent. This exploratory study presents qualitative data gathered from interviews with professional counselors who serve Asian American clients. Findings revealed significant barriers to counseling due to cultural stigma and shame, suppression of emotions, and communication gaps between clients and counselors. In response, clinicians frequently made adjustments to therapeutic approaches to accommodate the cultural beliefs and practices of clients and families. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Differential effects of reading trainings on reading processes: a comparison in Grade 2

Phonics, fluency, and reading strategy trainings are evidence-based interventions that foster the reading skills of poor readers in primary school. The purpose of the present study was to compare differential effects of the three types of trainings on the efficiency of component processes on word, sentence, and text level immediately after the training and at a 3-month follow-up. The 235 poor readers were randomly allocated to one of the reading interventions or to a control condition. All interventions consisted of 25 sessions that were scheduled twice a week and lasted 45 min. Results indicated short-term effects of the phonics training and the strategy training on the efficiency of a broad range of word-level and sentence-level processes. None of the treatment effects persisted over the long term, indicating the need for instructional efforts to regularly practice the acquired skills after the actual training.     

Social capital as a driver of local knowledge exchange: a social network analysis

The objective of this paper is to take an in-depth look, from a network perspective, at the role that social capital plays in improving knowledge exchange between organizations. To do this, we consider the three dimensions of social capital: the structural dimension, as measured by the position of firms bridging structural holes; the relational dimension, as gauged by the level of trust and friendship in each relationship; and the cognitive dimension, as estimated by the presence of a shared culture. We also evaluate the level of organizational and human capital present in terms of the firms in the network. Empirical evidence has been gathered from the Madrid Science Park in Spain by applying the social network analysis methodology. The results show that the three dimensions of social capital play a significant role in increasing knowledge exchange in this network, while human and organizational capital differences are only significant for a sub-sample.