The contemporary quality management (QM) literature prescribes various quality improvement shategies. However, it lacks scientifically developed and tested constxucts that represent an integrative QM philosophy. Moreover, an impact of the prescribed QM strategies on a fm's product quality has not been analyzed. Through a detailed analysis of the literature, this research identifies 12 constructs of integrated QM strategies. Using a survey of 371 manufacturing firms, the c o n s t~~t s 8ce then empirically tested and validated. LISREL 7 is used for this purpose. Finally, a framework to examine the effects of integrated QM strategies on a firm's product quality is suggested. Comparisons between this and two other comprehensive scales of TQM are made. Subject Areas: Quality Management, Scale Development, and TQM Theory. S d a y L.Ahire is an assistant professor in the Department of Management at Western Michigan University. He received a Ph.D. in management science from the University of Alabama in 1992. He also holds a master's degree in management studies and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, both from the University of Bombay. Dr. Ahire's current research interests include evaluation of quality management strategies, and interfaces between quality management and operations decision models. His research has been published or accepted for publication in

Peptidases, their substrates and inhibitors are of great relevance to biology, medicine and biotechnology. The MEROPS database (http://merops.sanger.ac.uk) aims to fulfill the need for an integrated source of information about these. The database has hierarchical classifications in which homologous sets of peptidases and protein inhibitors are grouped into protein species, which are grouped into families, which are in turn grouped into clans. Recent developments include the following. A community annotation project has been instigated in which acknowledged experts are invited to contribute summaries for peptidases. Software has been written to provide an Internet-based data entry form. Contributors are acknowledged on the relevant web page. A new display showing the intron/exon structures of eukaryote peptidase genes and the phasing of the junctions has been implemented. It is now possible to filter the list of peptidases from a completely sequenced bacterial genome for a particular strain of the organism. The MEROPS filing pipeline has been altered to circumvent the restrictions imposed on non-interactive blastp searches, and a HMMER search using specially generated alignments to maximize the distribution of organisms returned in the search results has been added.

We illuminate the myriad of opportunities for research where supply chain management (SCM) intersects with data science, predictive analytics, and big data, collectively referred to as DPB. We show that these terms are not only becoming popular but are also relevant to supply chain research and education. Data science requires both domain knowledge and a broad set of quantitative skills, but there is a dearth of literature on the topic and many questions. We call for research on skills that are needed by SCM data scientists and discuss how such skills and domain knowledge affect the effectiveness of an SCM data scientist. Such knowledge is crucial to develop future supply chain leaders. We propose definitions of data science and predictive analytics as applied to SCM. We examine possible applications of DPB in practice and provide examples of research questions from these applications, as well as examples of research questions employing DPB that stem from management theories. Finally, we propose specific steps interested researchers can take to respond to our call for research on the intersection of SCM and DPB.

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Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) involves the vendor making the replenishment decision for products supplied to a customer based on various inventory and supply chain policies. Information sharing between supply chain members is required in VMI. Sometimes VMI decisions are delayed and/or the information shared is inaccurate. This research examines the effects of information delay and accuracy, and the sharing of sales and forecast information in a VMI environment facing stationary and nonstationary demand. The simulation experiments show the impact of information delay, information inaccuracy, and information sharing on a variety of performance measures, including inventory levels and fill rates.

Prolonged expression of the CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease and gRNA from viral vectors may cause off-target mutagenesis and immunogenicity. Thus, a transient delivery system is needed for therapeutic genome editing applications. Here, we develop an extracellular nanovesicle-based ribonucleoprotein delivery system named NanoMEDIC by utilizing two distinct homing mechanisms. Chemical induced dimerization recruits Cas9 protein into extracellular nanovesicles, and then a viral RNA packaging signal and two self-cleaving riboswitches tether and release sgRNA into nanovesicles. We demonstrate efficient genome editing in various hardto-transfect cell types, including human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, neurons, and myoblasts. NanoMEDIC also achieves over 90% exon skipping efficiencies in skeletal muscle cells derived from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patient iPS cells. Finally, single intramuscular injection of NanoMEDIC induces permanent genomic exon skipping in a luciferase reporter mouse and in mdx mice, indicating its utility for in vivo genome editing therapy of DMD and beyond.

P ublishing in top journals is difficult. Common challenges undermine authors' attempts to explain and influence their discipline's understanding and practice. We identify and describe these roadblocks to publishing success. We also benchmark best practice in management, marketing, and supply chain journals to provide a trail guide for writing-and publishing-influential conceptual, qualitative, and survey research. Given equifinality in research, our trail guide should not be viewed as the only way to craft excellent, influential research. However, if we agree on the basics, we can (1) increase consistency in the review process, (2) reduce publication cycles, and (3) begin to roll back the length of articles.

The TQM revolution of the 1980s has led to a formal adoption of TQM by many firms. However, several organizations fail in their campaigns because of a variety of reasons ranging from lack of top management commitment to focus on tools instead of approach. Through a focused survey of 359 manufacturing firms in a single industry answers two critical questions: is it necessary for a firm to embark on a formal TQM campaign to manage quality effectively?; and is it worthwhile for a firm to embark on a half‐hearted TQM campaign? Using a criterion of existence of a formal TQM campaign in a firm and quality of products offered by the firm, classifies firms into four groups: high performance TQM firms, low performance TQM firms, high performance non‐TQM firms, and low performance non‐TQM firms. Compares them along ten literature‐based, empirically‐validated TQM constructs and derives the following major conclusions: it is not necessary for a firm to implement a TQM campaign formally in order to practise elements of TQM philosophy and thereby manage quality well; a firm should implement a formal TQM campaign only if it plans to execute the TQM constructs to their full extent, or it is better off by not investing in the formal campaign; and the product quality of a firm improves with the extent of the rigour associated with TQM implementation. Discusses implications of these findings for TQM research and practice.