http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/1770/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31629/ 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z Background & Aims Oral rehydration solutions reduce diarrhea-associated mortality. Stimulated sodium absorption by these solutions is mediated by the Na+/H+hydrogen exchanger NHE3 and is increased by Na+-glucose co-transport in vitro, but the mechanisms of this up-regulated process are only partially understood. Methods Intracellular pH was measured in jejunal enterocytes of wild-type mice and mice with disrupted Na+/H+ exchange regulatory co-factor 2 (NHERF2-/- mice) by multiphoton microscopy. Diarrhea was induced by cholera toxin. Caco-2BBe cells that express NHE3 and the sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1) were studied by fluorometry, before and after siRNA-mediated knockdown of NHERF1 or NHERF2. NHE3 distribution was assessed by cell-surface biotinylation and confocal microscopy. Brush-border mobility was determined by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and confocal microscopy. Results The nonmetabolized SGLT1 substrate α-methyl-D-Glu (α-MD-G) activated jejunal NHE3; this process required Akt and NHERF2. α-MD-G normalized NHE3 activity after cholera toxininduced diarrhea. α-MD-Gstimulated jejunal NHE3 activity was defective in NHERF2-/- mice and cells with NHERF2 knockdown, but occurred normally with NHERF1 knockdown; was associated with increased NHE3 surface expression in Caco-2 cells, which also was NHERF2-dependent; was associated with dissociation of NHE3 from NHERF2 and an increase in the NHE3 mobile fraction from the brush border; and was accompanied by a NHERF2 ezrin-radixin- moesinbinding domain-dependent increase in co-precipitation of ezrin with NHE3. Conclusions SGLT1-mediated Na-glucose co-transport stimulates NHE3 activity in vivo by an Akt- and NHERF2-dependent signaling pathway. It is associated with increased brush-border NHE3 and association between ezrin and NHE3. Activation of NHE3 corrects cholera toxininduced defects in Na absorption and might contribute to the efficacy of oral rehydration solutions. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6797/ 2002-08-09T00:00:00Z One of the debates in the capital budgeting model selection is between the free cash flow and DCF methods. In this paper an attempt is made to compare SVA against NPV model based on Monte Carlo simulations. Accordingly, NPV is found less sensitive to value driver variations and has got higher forecast errors as compared to SVA model. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/191/ 2002-04-16T00:00:00Z We present the various views and methods of measuring and controlling project performance, and factors affecting a project. The review indicates that there is a shift in the type and understanding of factors of project success or failure. However, the presence of various measurement methods, in addition to diverse interest groups, makes performance decision-making more complex and subjective. A holistic and uniform measurement approach is suggested for both project appraisal and subsequent follow-ups. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/167/ 2002-02-19T00:00:00Z We have studied how the banking and finance industry performs investment appraisal, measures subsequent follow-up and designates project success or failure. Furthermore, the authors looked into the extent of use of the new generation value management models. The result shows that firms are not using the same measurement scale in all stages of a project. Moreover, there is a tendency to shift from traditional appraisal methods to the new generation value management models. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/106/ 2001-07-20T00:00:00Z This paper attempts to develop concepts of project and contract organization to predict the selection of contract type on infrastructure projects. Conventional wisdom is that at low risk fixed price contracts are best, moving to remeasurement and then cost plus as risk increases. We started trying to predict this from a transaction cost perspective, and such an analysis confirmed conventional wisdom. However, it does not fit with current practice. Further, the differences in transaction costs are small compared to differences in contract out-turn cost that occur under the different motivational effects of different contract types. We therefore take a different perspective. We assume the purpose behind a project contract is to create a cooperative project organization, in which all participants, clients and contractors, are motivated to achieve common objectives, their goals are aligned. This analysis confirms modern practice, and shows selection of contract type is related to uncertainty in the project's deliverables, and uncertainty in the process of their delivery. Build only remeasurement contracts are used where uncertainty of both product and process is low. Design and build fixed price contracts are used where uncertainty of the product is low, but the uncertainty in the process of delivery is high. Fixed price contracts should be used where both are high. We extend the analysis to show when the client should be involved in the project organization in an alliance contract, and when they should not, as in a traditional project contract http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/141/ 2001-01-09T00:00:00Z This case study examines the capital budgeting practices of two chemical companies. It is found that the companies apply the value management tools to supplement the DCF measures. In addition, the R&D projects are assessed using qualitative methods. Moreover, the study revealed the symptom of a trend shift in the choice of investment appraisal techniques from traditional DCF to the newly crafted value management models. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/140/ 2001-01-07T00:00:00Z This case study examines the capital budgeting practices of four companies operating in different industry. The findings indicate that most companies follow decentralised project decision-making. Despite the use of DCF techniques, there is a tendency to combine with the newly crafted value management tools, which shows a trend shift in the capital budgeting methods. In addition, firms are found trying to modify the original DFC tools so as to accommodate their needs. However, firms don't use the same technique from project inception to completion. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/64/ 2000-12-19T00:00:00Z In the midst of the turbulence wrought by the global economy, it has become common to see projects as an essential medium for achieving change. However, project based learning practices - as a subset of organizational learning practices- have not kept pace with this development. To explore this concern, we have carried out a study on practices adopted by organizations for learning through projects involving nineteen companies from across Europe and from a range of different industries. We use the concepts of variation, selection and retention in organizational learning to analyze our findings and report the challenges faced by project based organizations in each of the areas highlighted. We conclude that time pressures, centralization and deferral are the key characteristics of learning in project based firms and that these impede project based members in learning from and through projects. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/65/ 2000-12-19T00:00:00Z Innovation is an important area of management theory, but there is a paucity of research on innovation in project based firms. Project based firms are simultaneously becoming a more vital and important organisational context, exemplifying many current managerial challenges. In this paper we research innovation in twenty project based firms. We identify three key areas of innovation from the theoretical literature and conduct empirical research, discovering (1) whether project based firms provide an organisational context supportive of innovation, (2) how project based firms address the question of innovation and slack resources, and finally (3) whether project based firms view innovation as universally desirable, or adopt a more cautious approach to developing and driving their innovation strategies. Our findings add to current theorising on innovation in organisations, expanding our knowledge of project based firms and innovation strategies. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/66/ 2000-12-19T00:00:00Z This paper describes how project-based organizations use structured experience to aid the learning and development of individuals, and how they capture their experience of projects to feed that back into the improved management of future projects and the experiential learning of individuals. We show that successful project-based organizations ensure their project managers obtain a broad range practical experiences following a spiral staircase career. This takes them through lead design and project team leadership and management roles. These organizations also capture project experience through post completion reviews, and codify them in company procedures which are used as part of the development of new project managers and other professionals.