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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of heavy metals namely cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) in the
five aquatic plants. For this purpose, the concentration of heavy metals were measured in water and in the five aquatic plant
species, Lepironia articulata, Pandanus helicopus, Scirpus grossus, Cabomba furcata and Nelumbo nucifera, in 15 sites from Tasik Chini. The concentrations were different among the plant species as well as among the parts of plants.
The highest concentration of heavy metals among the aquatic plants and plant parts was found in the roots of S. grossus. The concentrations of Cd in the leaves and stems of submerged aquatic plant, C. furcata, were higher than concentration of Cd in the leaves and stems of emergent aquatic plant and floating leaf plant. The concentration
of Cu in the stem of C. furcata was greater than that in the leaf, while the concentration of Cd was more in the leaf than in the stem. The heavy metal contents
of the aquatic plants were in descending order of Pb>Cu>Cd. The metal concentration quotient of leaves/roots and stems/roots
(ML/MR and MS/MR) were calculated. The highest internal translocation was found in P. helicopus, while the lowest internal translocation was found in S. grossus.
Environmental Geology 04/2012; 54(4):689-698. · 1.13 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In this paper, we examine the impact of just-in-time (JIT) implementation and International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 certification (as specified by the original standards of the early 1990s) on quality management efforts of manufacturing firms. Responding firms in the study were grouped into four categories based on their ISO 9000 and JIT orientation: 1) firms that are ISO 9000 certified but have not implemented JIT (ISO firms ); 2) firms that are ISO 9000 certified and have implemented JIT (ISO-JIT firms); 3) firms that have implemented JIT but are not ISO 9000 certified (JIT firms); and 4) firms that have not implemented JIT and are not ISO 9000 certified ( traditional firms). These groups were compared along 13 plant-level total quality management (TQM) implementation elements and five TQM outcome measures using MANCOVA procedure. Analyses resulted in distinct sets of firms reflecting the impact of the ISO-JIT orientation on its TQM implementation and TQM outcomes. Results support the contingency view that a firm's ability to implement effective TQM practices is enhanced: 1) marginally by ISO 9000 efforts; 2) significantly by JIT implementation; and 3) most by conjoint ISO-JIT efforts (though not much more significantly than JIT implementation alone). These insights have significant practical implications for firms investing in JIT implementation, ISO 9000 certification, and TQM implementation. Interestingly, our study conducted in mid-1990s and its empirical findings lend a strong support for the recent transformation of the original ISO 9000 requirements into the current ISO 9001:2000 framework.
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 06/2004; · 0.96 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The authors sought to determine whether firms classified as
incorporating a Japanese quality management approach had significantly
higher levels of worker involvement in the quality effort as well as
higher utilization of statistical quality control (SQC) tools. The three
types of firms represented were traditional American firms, Japanese
firms operating in the US, and nontraditional American firms emulating
the Japanese approach to quality management. Results suggest that
Japanese and nontraditional American firms (1) have a significantly
higher level of worker involvement and (2) use simple SQC tools
significantly more than traditional American firms. In addition,
Japanese firms operating in the US showed results comparable to these
American firms practicing Japanese quality management techniques
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 06/1992; · 0.96 Impact Factor
