The study of the approximability properties of NP-hard optimization problems has recently made great advances mainly due to the results obtained in the field of proof checking. The last important breakthrough proves the APX-completeness of several important optimization problems and thus reconciles “two distinct views of approximation classes: syntactic and computational” [S. Khanna et al., in ...

To share healthcare information and to promote cooperation among healthcare providers and customers (patients) under computerized network environment, a non-profit organization (NPO), named as OCHIS, was established at Osaka, Japan in 2003. Since security and confidentiality issues on the Internet have been major concerns in the OCHIS, the system has been based on healthcare public key infrastr...

Previous studies suggest that extratropical atmospheric variability influences the tropics via the seasonal footprinting mechanism (SFM), in which fluctuations in the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) impact the ocean via surface heat fluxes during winter and the resulting springtime subtropical SST anomalies alter the atmosphere–ocean system over the tropics in the following summer, fall, and wi...

In the course of our continuing search for antifungal antibiotics from microbial sources, we found an antifungal antibiotic against phytopathogenic fungi, especially Alternaria sp. from Actinomycete strain NPO-101. In the present report, we describe fermentation, isolation, physico-chemical properties, structure elucidation, and biological activities of NP-101A. The producing organism, strain N...

With the widespread appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, there is an increasing demand for novel strategies to control infectious diseases. Furthermore, it has become apparent that the bacterial life style also contributes significantly to this problem. Bacteria living in the biofilm mode of growth tolerate conventional antimicrobial treatments. The discovery that many bacteria use quor...

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are becoming top players in the business arena and can significantly contribute to socially sustainable development by leading several open innovation (OI) processes. The present study investigated functioning of an NPO (ELIS, based Rome, Italy), that acts as intermediary a large consortium enterprises. By adopting mixed-method approach, key aspects related NPO’s...

This study develops a comprehensive but practical framework for not-for-profit organization (NPO) web-based accountability involving (a) disclosure of operations, financial performance, and social (b) dialogue; investigates it in the practices five Australian NPO award finalists 160 NPOs more broadly. The findings highlight NPOs’ focused on operational disclosure, promoting activities mission. ...