The role of stochasticity and noise in controlling genetic circuits is investigated in the context of transitions into and from competence in Bacillus subtilis. Recent experiments have demonstrated that bistability is not necessary for this function, but that the existence of one stable fixed point (vegetation) and an excitable unstable one (competence) is sufficient. Stochasticity therefore pl...

Any organization, big or small will always strive to rise to the level of its competence. Competence refers to an organization’s capacity to deploy resources, usually in combination, using organizational processes, to affect a desired end. The competence in turn provides the intelligence to an organization for it to grow and flourish. In this paper, we argue that in order to sustain organizatio...

In this paper wc define economic competence as the ability to identify, expand, and exploit the opportunity sel. Economic competence constitutes the means through which technological possibilities are converted into economic activity. lt consists of four types of capabilities: (1) Se!ective or strategic; (2) organizational or coordinating; (3) technical; and (4) learning ability. The purpose of...

BACKGROUND Increasing prominence is being given to the use of best current evidence in decision-making, both in clinical practice and health care management and purchasing. Public health is regarded as a specialty in which evidence-based decision-making may be taken for granted, partly because epidemiology is the principal basic science on which public health has developed. To practise evidence...

In streptococci, entry in competence is dictated by ComX abundance. In Streptococcus thermophilus, production of ComX is transient and tightly regulated during growth: it is positively regulated by the cell-cell communication system ComRS during the activation phase and negatively regulated during the shut-off phase by unidentified late competence gene(s). Interestingly, most S. thermophilus st...

Critical care patients benefit from the attention of nursing personnel with a high competence level. The aim of the study was to describe and evaluate the self-assessed basic competence of intensive care unit nurses and related factors. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A basic competence scale (Intensive and Critical Care Nursing Competence Scale version 1, Likert scale 1-5, 1 = poor a...

We present a formalisation for employee competencies which is based on a psychological framework separating the overt behavioural level from the underlying competence level. On the competence level, employees draw on action potentials (knowledge, skills and abilities) which in a given situation produce performance outcomes on the behavioural level. Our conception is based on the competence perf...

This study examined how motivation for learning English, the amount of contact with English, and  length  of  residence  in  the  target language area affects Korean graduate students’ English pragmatic skills. The study attempted to account for differential pragmatic development among 50  graduate-level  Korean  students  in  relation  to  individual  factors  mentioned  above.  The  data were...

BACKGROUND The ambulance services in northern Norway have undergone significant development during recent years. AIMS The objective of this study was to describe these changes in terms of tasks performed, distance driven, resources spent and level of competence in terms of education. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed. The ambulance fleet's activity during the time period 2004-2...

The organisational benefits of business managers’ involvement in IT management activities are well documented. However, little relevant research has been reported. Building on the IT competencies model proposed by Bassellier, Reich and Benbasat (2001), a questionnaire was developed and empirically tested to assess the level of information technology (IT) competence of 83 business managers in sm...