| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(författare)
-
Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
|
|
| 2. |
- Sheng, Renwang, et al.
(författare)
-
Material stiffness in cooperation with macrophage paracrine signals determines the tenogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Advanced Science. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2198-3844. ; 10:17
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Stiffness is an important physical property of biomaterials that determines stem cell fate. Guiding stem cell differentiation via stiffness modulation has been considered in tissue engineering. However, the mechanism by which material stiffness regulates stem cell differentiation into the tendon lineage remains controversial. Increasing evidence demonstrates that immune cells interact with implanted biomaterials and regulate stem cell behaviors via paracrine signaling; however, the role of this mechanism in tendon differentiation is not clear. In this study, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with different stiffnesses are developed, and the tenogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exposed to different stiffnesses and macrophage paracrine signals is investigated. The results reveal that lower stiffnesses facilitates tenogenic differentiation of MSCs, while macrophage paracrine signals at these stiffnesses suppress the differentiation. When exposed to these two stimuli, MSCs still exhibit enhanced tendon differentiation, which is further elucidated by global proteomic analysis. Following subcutaneous implantation in rats for 2 weeks, soft biomaterial induces only low inflammation and promotes tendon-like tissue formation. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that soft, rather than stiff, material has a greater potential to guide tenogenic differentiation of stem cells, which provides comprehensive evidence for optimized bioactive scaffold design in tendon tissue engineering.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Chen, Chi-Kuang, et al.
(författare)
-
Development of quality management in Taiwan the past, present and future
- 2015
-
Ingår i: TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT and BUSINESS EXCELLENCE. - : Taylor and Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles. - 1478-3363 .- 1478-3371. ; 26:1-2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quality management (QM) has been popular and widely used in Taiwan since the 1960s. However, it has been found that a review of its development is lacking. Hence, this paper aims to examine the history and the evolution of QM in Taiwan, and to take a step further to look for cues for shaping its future development. The research purpose of this paper is more specifically to review the development of QM during the period from 1970 to 2012. Quality Magazine, the most popular reading material on QM in Taiwan, has been selected as the search database. The overall review result shows that the development of QM in Taiwan has three developmental phases: (1) the quality technologies and tools focus period (1970-1985); (2) the QM system integration period (1986-2000) and (3) the quality in service industry development period (2001-2012). In light of the overall as well as the detailed review results, senior quality experts were invited for consultation, discussion and prediction of the needs and the future development of QM in Taiwan.
|
|
| 5. |
- Chen, Chi Kuang, et al.
(författare)
-
From quality control to TQM, service quality and service sciences : a 30-year review of TQM literature
- 2022
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences. - : EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1756-669X .- 1756-6703. ; 14:2, s. 217-237
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This paper aims to review total quality management (TQM) literature in the past three decades to identify the quality related key terms, to analyse their linkage among the identified key terms and their developmental trends. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric and statistical methods are used to analyse article titles published in the Total Quality and Business Excellence journal during 1990–2019. The current research is based on a search from the ProQuest academic database and the journal’s website, resulting in 2,452 articles collected. The VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were then used for the analyses. Findings: A total of 52 key terms were extracted from the journal’s 2,452 article titles, the top three key terms in terms of occurrences were “quality,” “total quality management” and “service quality.” Five themes were then proposed from clustering the 52 key terms: “frameworks/models,” “essentials/enablers,” “methods/techniques,” “culture/characteristics” and “effects/results.” Trend analyses were also conducted regarding the five themes in an attempt to highlight the patterns of research publications from 1990 to 2019. It is found that the research publications for “essentials/enablers,” “methods and techniques” and “effects/results” have steadily increased during the analysis period, while “frameworks/models” and “culture/characteristic” have slightly decreased. These insights provide implication for the historical evolution of quality from “quality control,” “total quality management” and “service quality,” combining with the development of “service sciences.” Originality/value: This paper highlights the concept of quality since its meaning has changed and evolved over time from quality control, TQM to service quality. And it is emerging in the present and future development of service sciences because of both of TQM and service sciences having the same nature of multidisciplinary background and characteristics. Also the authors can conclude that quality and service sciences are in fact two sides of the same coin because both of them having the same duality of “tangible-intangible” and “physical-virtual” faces which are the important topics that TQM should focus on.
|
|
| 6. |
- Chen, Chi-Kuang, et al.
(författare)
-
Greenhouse gas management model - a triple cause-effect logic
- 2016
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences. - : EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1756-669X .- 1756-6703. ; 8:3, s. 412-427
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a greenhouse gas (GHG) management model for mitigating GHG emission. GHG emission by way of human activities is causing catastrophic effects on the natural environment in the form of climate change and global warming. GHG management of different products, bodies and processes is going on worldwide, expressed through carbon footprints by using product life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA is a useful approach, but it only looks at the micro level of cause-effect scenarios rather than the macro level cause-effect scenarios of GHG emission. Therefore, a system to scrutinize underlined assumptions and values of such policies/strategies is an urgent necessity. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses the double-loop learning concept, which was proposed by Argyris in 1976, to develop a triple cause-effect model for the management of GHG emission. The proposed model has a knowledge system that introduces the learning loop of GHG emission and environmental impact management. Findings - A case study is conducted to demonstrate how the proposed triple cause-effect model is operationalized. The ideas and benefits of the proposed model are further discussed. Originality/value - Atriple cause-effect model for the measurement and analysis of GHG emission is proposed in this paper to complement GHG management by using only product LCA. This paper seeks to show thatGHGmanagement should look at not only a single tree (product LCA approach) but also the whole forest (the proposed model).
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Dahlgaard, Jens Jörn, et al.
(författare)
-
Business excellence models: limitations, reflections and further development
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Total Quality Management & Business Excellence. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1478-3363 .- 1478-3371. ; 24:5-6, s. 519-538
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of business excellence models (BEM) has become popular in the last two decades, and several companies have learned how to use them and gained from such models. More companies, we assume, have experienced problems when using such models because of various weaknesses such as too-sophisticated assessment criteria, excessive paperwork, cumbersome procedures and a lack of focus, which have limited its use in practice. To respond to some of those problems, a new overall business excellence framework (BEF) has been developed which recommends adaption instead of adoption of existing BEM. The suggested overall BEF helps to integrate BEM with management tools/techniques and the organisational culture/characteristics for guiding an organisation towards business excellence. A document-based empirical case of a world-class company, Boeing Aerospace Support, was investigated to illustrate how the overall BEF may work in practice as a complement to an existing BEM when companies adapt such models to their specific contexts.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Dahlgaard, Jens Jörn, et al.
(författare)
-
Evolution and future of total quality management : management control and organisational learning
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Total Quality Management and Business Excellence. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1478-3363 .- 1478-3371. ; 30:sup1, s. 1-16
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The competitive position achieved by the Japanese and Western industries during the 1970s to mid-1990s, and 1980s to mid-1990s, respectively, derived from understanding, implementing, and developing Total Quality Management (TQM) as a comprehensive management philosophy. Several research and/or company studies provided evidence of this development and its impact on leading companies’ efficiency and effectiveness. Despite that, research on TQM seemed on the surface, after a boom from about 1990–1995, to have declined. However, one recent detailed study from 2013 concluded that TQM is now at a more mature stage where focuses have shifted from being initially on TQM to the methods, tools, techniques and core values which are needed to implement TQM and to build a quality and BE (Business Excellence) culture. This study is an extension of the 2013 study, where we extend the previous study on TQM publications to 2017, and further analyse more detailed not only which methods, tools and techniques are used, but also at what organisational level they are used–strategical, tactical or the operational level. We collect data on research about TQM and its methods, tools and techniques, and we analyse further the shift of focus from TQM as a comprehensive management theory/ philosophy to a focus on the TQM methods, tools and techniques to be used at various management levels of a company. We use two of management’s basic functions–management control (MC) and organisational learning (OL)–to unveil the challenges faced by TQM and to help converting these challenges into new research opportunities to be jointly addressed by companies and research communities such as the Quality Management and Organisational Development (QMOD) Research Community. In light of the findings in this research, it became clear that MC and OL are two sides of the same coin. MC can never be effectively implemented without OL, and OL needs to be supported by a comprehensive MC system.
|
|
