Comparative local advantages and technological competitiveness for Italian industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palma, Daniela; Zini, Alessandro

2005-01-01

This article describes the evolution of the Italian manufacturing sector's competitiveness over the past ten years and the role played bu the local technology-based comparative advantages in shaping national competitiveness. Data obtained with local-based econometric techniques point to a gradual weakening of core know-how in high-tech industries strongly rooted in the Northwest [it

Comparative Examination of Fair Value Accounting and Historical Cost Accountingin Perspective of Advantages and Disadvantages

OpenAIRE

Arı, Mustafa; Yılmaz, Rıfat

2015-01-01

In this study, it has examined that advantages and disadvantages of fair value accounting and historical cost accounting in comparatively. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of produced financial information according to fair value accounting and historical cost accounting in perspective of reliability, relavance, transparency, intelligibility, comparability, timeliness and financial stability. Literature review results of this study indicate that there are advantages and disadvantages b...

An analysis of Central America and Eastern Europe Revealed Comparative Advantages

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Mauricio Garita Gutierrez

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The present study applies the revealed comparative advantages through the Balassa Index to determine the comparative advantages, disadvantages, and intra-product commerce tendencies between Central America and Eastern Europe with the purpose of determining the possibility of a free trade agreement for Central America. The approach of the study is through the connection between the European Economic Union and the Central American Common market, which shares a common background and relates them to research of Bela Balassa (1965 to determine how commerce between Central America and Eastern Europe has performed and the possibilities of growth that this commerce has through a free trade agreement. The study demonstrates the importance of analyzing competitive advantages. This paper presents the difference in competitive advantage between Eastern Europe and Central American establishing the benefits when negotiating a free trade agreement between both economic blocks. Therefore, analyzing and negotiating between products of competitive advantages may lead to a more sustainable economic growth.

Financial Development, the Choice of Technology, and Comparative Advantage

OpenAIRE

Gong, Binglin; Zhou, Haiwen

2017-01-01

In this general equilibrium model, banks and manufacturing firms engage in oligopolistic competition. A more advanced manufacturing technology has a higher fixed cost but a lower marginal cost of production. We show that manufacturing firms located in a country with a more efficient financial sector choose more advanced technologies and this country has a comparative advantage in the production of manufactured goods. Even though the foreign country has a less developed financial sector tha...

Comparative Analysis of Tannins in the Rhizomes of Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis L.)

OpenAIRE

Mukhametgaliev N.R.; Idrisova G.I.; Gilazieva G.Z.

2015-01-01

Quantitative analysis of the content of tannins in the rhizomes of great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis L.) was performed using Leventhal’s permanganometric method, its Kursanov's modification, and spectrophotometry. Advantages and disadvantages of the methods used were discussed to determine the quantitative content of tannins in the active parts of different plants. New locations of S. officinalis populations in various regions of the Republic of Tatarstan were detected. The discovered pop...

Child center closures: Does nonprofit status provide a comparative advantage?

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Marcus; Klein, Sacha; Freisthler, Bridget; Weiss, Robert E.

2013-01-01

Reliable access to dependable, high quality childcare services is a vital concern for large numbers of American families. The childcare industry consists of private nonprofit, private for-profit, and governmental providers that differ along many dimensions, including quality, clientele served, and organizational stability. Nonprofit providers are theorized to provide higher quality services given comparative tax advantages, higher levels of consumer trust, and management by mission driven entrepreneurs. This study examines the influence of ownership structure, defined as nonprofit, for-profit sole proprietors, for-profit companies, and governmental centers, on organizational instability, defined as childcare center closures. Using a cross sectional data set of 15724 childcare licenses in California for 2007, we model the predicted closures of childcare centers as a function of ownership structure as well as center age and capacity. Findings indicate that for small centers (capacity of 30 or less) nonprofits are more likely to close, but for larger centers (capacity 30+) nonprofits are less likely to close. This suggests that the comparative advantages available for nonprofit organizations may be better utilized by larger centers than by small centers. We consider the implications of our findings for parents, practitioners, and social policy. PMID:23543882

Child center closures: Does nonprofit status provide a comparative advantage?

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Marcus; Klein, Sacha; Freisthler, Bridget; Weiss, Robert E

2013-03-01

Reliable access to dependable, high quality childcare services is a vital concern for large numbers of American families. The childcare industry consists of private nonprofit, private for-profit, and governmental providers that differ along many dimensions, including quality, clientele served, and organizational stability. Nonprofit providers are theorized to provide higher quality services given comparative tax advantages, higher levels of consumer trust, and management by mission driven entrepreneurs. This study examines the influence of ownership structure, defined as nonprofit, for-profit sole proprietors, for-profit companies, and governmental centers, on organizational instability, defined as childcare center closures. Using a cross sectional data set of 15724 childcare licenses in California for 2007, we model the predicted closures of childcare centers as a function of ownership structure as well as center age and capacity. Findings indicate that for small centers (capacity of 30 or less) nonprofits are more likely to close, but for larger centers (capacity 30+) nonprofits are less likely to close. This suggests that the comparative advantages available for nonprofit organizations may be better utilized by larger centers than by small centers. We consider the implications of our findings for parents, practitioners, and social policy.

The Leading Economic Sectors Building Comparative and Competitive Advantages in Romania's Foreign Trade

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Adriana Giurgiu

2008-05-01

Full Text Available For now on, as a member state of the EU, Romania and the Romanian commercial operators should maximize the foreign trade’s opportunities given by the rich portfolio of free trade agreements of the European Union and try to reorient our exports towards countries where the products of which the structure of our Romanian exports is consisted of hold a comparative and competitive advantage, in order to reduce the Romanian long-term trade balance deficit. Therefore, this paper focuses on finding out the leading sectors with high potential to maintain and consolidate the comparative and competitive advantages of the Romania’s foreign trade.

Institutional advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martin, Xavier

Is there such a thing as institutional advantage—and what does it mean for the study of corporate competitive advantage? In this article, I develop the concept of institutional competitive advantage, as distinct from plain competitive advantage and from comparative institutional advantage. I first

Climate change and Australia’s comparative advantage in broadacre agriculture

OpenAIRE

Sanderson, Todd; Ahmadi-Esfahani, Fredoun Z.

2010-01-01

Australia has long been a major exporter of the products of broadacre agriculture, a production system well suited to the economic and climatic conditions of the country. According to the conventional wisdom, Australia holds a comparative advantage in these products, among which wheat and livestock products predominate. However, the future validity of this proposition is sensitive to the projected impacts of climate change. This paper develops a framework with which to quantify the future pat...

Cross-border merger & acquisition activity and revealed comparative advantage in manufacturing industries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brakman, Steven; Garretsen, Harry; van Marrewijk, Charles; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

2013-01-01

We estimate an important implication of oligopolistic international trade modeling for the predicted pattern of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Our core argument is that cross-border M&As are, among other factors, driven by cross-country differences in comparative advantage. We find

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE OF CLOTHING SECTOR IN THE EU-28 MARKET

OpenAIRE

TRIPA Simona

2017-01-01

The study presented here is aimed at analyzing the comparative advantages in the European clothing sector with the focus on Balkan states. The dynamics of change over a 15‐year period following economic reforms are revealed. For all Balkan countries export plays an important role in promoting economic growth and development and the clothing industries play a significant role and continue to contribute to the economic prosperity in this countries. The evolution of the RCA index for garment ind...

The structure and comparative advantages of China's scientific research: Quantitative and qualitative perspectives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, L.

2014-01-01

In recent decades there has been a sharp increase in China's scientific output. Behind its fast growth, little is known about China's comparative advantages in different academic disciplines. Meanwhile, despite China's rising position (now in second place worldwide for research output), its research

Balance of Comparative Advantages in the Processed Food Sector of the Danube Countries

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Svetlana Ignjatijević

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigated the level of competitiveness of the processed food sector of the Danube region countries, in order to show the existence of comparative advantage and the correlation of exports. We used the Balassa (RCA–revealed comparative advantage index and TPI (trade performance indexes. At first, using the Pearson and Spearman index, we examined the existence of correlations between the processed food sector of the Danube countries. Then, we applied the Least Significant Difference (LSD test to further compare the value and answered the question: between which Danube countries are there significant differences? With the study, we found that the distribution of the RCA index in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova and Slovenia deviates from normality. We also found the existence of a strong correlation of the RCA index of the Czech Republic with Romania, Hungary with Moldova and Serbia, Moldova with Serbia and Bulgaria with Ukraine. Finally, we concluded that the development of trade in the countries of the Danube region requires the participation of all relevant interest groups and could play an important role in providing faster economic development, that is in achieving sustainable development of the countries, with the sustainable use of available resources.

Comparative habitat use of sympatric Mexican spotted and great horned owls

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph L. Ganey; William M. Block; Jeffrey S. Jenness; Randolph A. Wilson

1997-01-01

To provide information on comparative habitat use, we studied radiotagged Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis lucida: n = 13) and great horned owls (Bubo virginianus: n = 4) in northern Arizona. Home-range size (95% adaptive kernel estimate) did not differ significantly between species during either the breeding or nonbreeding...

Assessing the comparative productivity advantage of bioenergy feedstocks at different latitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Runge, Carlisle Ford; Sheehan, John J; Senauer, Benjamin; Foley, Jonathan; Gerber, James; Johnson, Justin Andrew; Polasky, Stephen; Runge, Carlisle Piehl

2012-01-01

We evaluate the comparative productivity of maize and sugarcane biofuel feedstocks as a function of latitude. Solar radiation for photosynthesis varies by latitude and contributes to differential productivity of tropical and temperate zones. We calculate comparative productivity in two ways—the amount of net sugar energy produced per unit area, and the amount produced per unit of net primary productivity (NPP). NPP measures the accumulation of energy in an ecosystem and can be used as a proxy for the capacity of an ecosystem to support biodiversity and a broader array of ecosystem services. On average sugarcane produces three times more energy per unit area than does maize. The comparative productivity advantage of sugarcane decreases with increases in latitude. Latitudes closer to the equator have higher NPP, so there is a greater trade-off between biofuel production and ecosystem productivity in the equatorial zones. The comparative productivity of sugarcane relative to maize is reduced when comparing biofuel energy per unit of NPP. Sugarcane is still twice as productive on average compared to maize in the amount of biofuel energy produced per unit of NPP. Regions near the equator have lower biofuel energy per unit NPP, making them less attractive for biofuels production. (letter)

Have Countries with Lax Environmental Regulations a Comparative Advantage in Polluting Industries?

OpenAIRE

Quiroga, Miguel; Sterner, Thomas; Persson, Martin

2007-01-01

We aim to study whether lax environmental regulations induce comparative advantages, causing the least-regulated countries to specialize in polluting industries. The study is based on Trefler and Zhu’s (2005) definition of the factor content of trade. For the econometrical analysis, we use a cross-section of 71 countries in 2000 to examine the net exports in the most polluting industries. We try to overcome three weaknesses in the empirical literature: the measurement of environmental endowme...

THE CONCEPT OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES. LOGIC, SOURCES AND DURABILITY

OpenAIRE

Cegliński, Paweł

2017-01-01

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to present theoretical assumptions of the concept of competitive advantages and main problems connected with the same. Most of all, the article outlines issues, which are presently discussed in the field of management sciences, including sources of competitive advantages, causal ambiguity and character of durability of competitive advantages in the contemporary turbulent business environment. In the author’s opinion, the issues have a great signifi...

Comparative Analysis of OECD Member Countries' Competitive Advantage in National Human Resource Development System

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hunseok; Choi, Yeseul; Choi, Myungweon

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess, evaluate, and compare the competitive advantages of the human resource development systems of advanced countries. The Global Human Resource Development Index was utilized for this study, since it has been validated through an expert panel's content review and analytic hierarchy process. Using a sample of 34…

The comparative advantage of NGO (non-governmental organizations) in the health sector--a look at the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthias, A R; Green, A T

1994-01-01

Attention being given to the development of an appropriate public/private mix in health-care delivery should not exclude the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is a widely accepted thesis of NGO comparative advantage over government, but evidence to support this thesis is generally more anecdotal than analytical. This paper considers evidence available in the literature and from field research in southern Africa, especially with regard to efficiency, innovation and reaching grass-roots communities. The paper concludes that the comparative advantage of the NGO sector needs to be analysed in relation to both the private for-profit sector and the public sector.

Gaining Comparative Advantage Through Discretionary Expenditures: The Returns to R&D and Advertising

OpenAIRE

Gary Erickson; Robert Jacobson

1992-01-01

We explore the extent to which R&D and advertising expenditures generate a comparative advantage that allows firms to earn supranormal profits. After controlling for unobserved firm-specific factors and the feedback between discretionary expenditures and profitability, our results suggest substantially lower accounting and stock market returns to R&D and advertising than indicated in previous research. Isolating mechanisms, which prevent imitation, do not appear sufficient for either R&D or a...

Do Countries with Lax Environmental Regulations Have a Comparative Advantage in Polluting Industries?.

OpenAIRE

Miguel Angel Quiroga; Martin Persson; Thomas Sterner

2009-01-01

We study whether lax environmental regulations induce comparative advantages, causing the least-regulated countries to specialize in polluting industries. We seek to improve three areas in the empirical literature based on the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek’s factor content of trade, more specifically in Tobey’s (1990) approach: the measurement of environmental endowments, the possible endogeneity due to an omitted variable that has not been considered, and the influence of the industrial level of agg...

Comparative advantage strategy for rapid pollution mitigation in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yuan

2013-09-03

Due to its sheer size and growth trend, no other country is facing more daunting challenges than China in reducing its pollutant emissions. A critical but inadequately addressed question is how rapidly China could feasibly achieve such mitigation. The stake is high not only about how much worse China's environmental quality could become but also about how the world can prevent catastrophic climate change. Through examining sulfur dioxide (SO2) mitigation in coal-fired power plants and wind energy development for carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation, this article proposes a comparative advantage strategy for overcoming high barriers to fast pollution mitigation. On the demand side, China could first make progress in the deployment of more pollution control facilities and then improve their operational performance. The resulting low technological market entry barriers could help to build enough industrial capacity to meet the huge demand with prices under control. The strategy in the current practice could be improved to establish not only a large supply industry but also a strong one to enable other countries to move more rapidly in pollution mitigation.

Comparing models of the combined-stimulation advantage for speech recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Micheyl, Christophe; Oxenham, Andrew J

2012-05-01

The "combined-stimulation advantage" refers to an improvement in speech recognition when cochlear-implant or vocoded stimulation is supplemented by low-frequency acoustic information. Previous studies have been interpreted as evidence for "super-additive" or "synergistic" effects in the combination of low-frequency and electric or vocoded speech information by human listeners. However, this conclusion was based on predictions of performance obtained using a suboptimal high-threshold model of information combination. The present study shows that a different model, based on Gaussian signal detection theory, can predict surprisingly large combined-stimulation advantages, even when performance with either information source alone is close to chance, without involving any synergistic interaction. A reanalysis of published data using this model reveals that previous results, which have been interpreted as evidence for super-additive effects in perception of combined speech stimuli, are actually consistent with a more parsimonious explanation, according to which the combined-stimulation advantage reflects an optimal combination of two independent sources of information. The present results do not rule out the possible existence of synergistic effects in combined stimulation; however, they emphasize the possibility that the combined-stimulation advantages observed in some studies can be explained simply by non-interactive combination of two information sources.

The Great Recession was not so Great

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ours, J.C.

2015-01-01

The Great Recession is characterized by a GDP-decline that was unprecedented in the past decades. This paper discusses the implications of the Great Recession analyzing labor market data from 20 OECD countries. Comparing the Great Recession with the 1980s recession it is concluded that there is a

Evaluation of comparative advantages in the profitability and competitiveness of the small-scale dairy system of Tulancingo Valley, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Posadas-Domínguez, Rodolfo Rogelio; Del Razo-Rodríguez, Oscar Enrique; Almaraz-Buendía, Isaac; Pelaez-Acero, Armando; Espinosa-Muñoz, Verónica; Rebollar-Rebollar, Samuel; Salinas-Martínez, Jesús Armando

2018-06-01

This article combines a Policy Analysis Matrix with a sensitivity and poverty line analysis with the objective of evaluating the economic contribution of comparative advantages to the private profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy systems. For 1 year, socioeconomic data were collected from 82 farms selected from four strata via statistical sampling. Two scenarios were established to determine the quantitative contribution of comparative advantages: (1) a simulated scenario, which accounted for the cost of purchasing the total food and the opportunity cost of the family labour force (FLF), and (2) an actual production scenario, which accounted for the cost of producing food and eliminating the payment of the FLF and included other income. The E3 and E4 producers were the most profitable and competitive in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. Of the four scales evaluated, the E2 and E1 producers were the most efficient in taking advantage of the economic contribution provided by the comparative advantages in their own production of food and employment of the FLF, in addition to accounting for other income, a condition that increased their profitability by 171 and 144% and competitiveness by 346 and 273%, respectively. The poverty results indicated that only E3 and E4 producers were non-vulnerable in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. The purchase of food was the comparative advantage with the greatest sensitivity to cost increases in the two scenarios analysed, which exacerbated the effect on the E1 and E2 producers.

Physiological advantages of C4 grasses in the field: a comparative experiment demonstrating the importance of drought.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Samuel H; Ripley, Brad S; Martin, Tarryn; De-Wet, Leigh-Ann; Woodward, F Ian; Osborne, Colin P

2014-06-01

Global climate change is expected to shift regional rainfall patterns, influencing species distributions where they depend on water availability. Comparative studies have demonstrated that C4 grasses inhabit drier habitats than C3 relatives, but that both C3 and C4 photosynthesis are susceptible to drought. However, C4 plants may show advantages in hydraulic performance in dry environments. We investigated the effects of seasonal variation in water availability on leaf physiology, using a common garden experiment in the Eastern Cape of South Africa to compare 12 locally occurring grass species from C4 and C3 sister lineages. Photosynthesis was always higher in the C4 than C3 grasses across every month, but the difference was not statistically significant during the wettest months. Surprisingly, stomatal conductance was typically lower in the C3 than C4 grasses, with the peak monthly average for C3 species being similar to that of C4 leaves. In water-limited, rain-fed plots, the photosynthesis of C4 leaves was between 2.0 and 7.4 μmol m(-2) s(-1) higher, stomatal conductance almost double, and transpiration 60% higher than for C3 plants. Although C4 average instantaneous water-use efficiencies were higher (2.4-8.1 mmol mol(-1)) than C3 averages (0.7-6.8 mmol mol(-1)), differences were not as great as we expected and were statistically significant only as drought became established. Photosynthesis declined earlier during drought among C3 than C4 species, coincident with decreases in stomatal conductance and transpiration. Eventual decreases in photosynthesis among C4 plants were linked with declining midday leaf water potentials. However, during the same phase of drought, C3 species showed significant decreases in hydrodynamic gradients that suggested hydraulic failure. Thus, our results indicate that stomatal and hydraulic behaviour during drought enhances the differences in photosynthesis between C4 and C3 species. We suggest that these drought responses are

A Closer Look at Revealed Comparative Advantage: Gross-versus Value Added Trade Flows

OpenAIRE

Brakman, Steven; van Marrewijk, Charles

2015-01-01

With the availability of international value added trade data it has become evident that gross export data and value added data do not provide the same information. Although gross exports crosses national borders and is the target of trade policy, value added data tell us what fragment in the production chain is internationally competitive in a particular country. With respect to comparative advantage the differences between the two types of data are often illustrated by means of examples usi...

Testing the role of comparative advantage and learning in wage and promotion dynamics

OpenAIRE

Hunnes, Arngrim

2008-01-01

Can job assignment based on comparative advantage and learning about workers’ ability explain wage and promotion dynamics within firms? In order to answer this question the Gibbons and Waldman (1999b) model is estimated in a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) framework using a unique data set on white-collar workers in Norway for the years 1987-1997. The estimation is carried out on two different occupational groups: technical and administrative white-collar workers. The selection of workers...

Creating corporate advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Collis, D J; Montgomery, C A

1998-01-01

What differentiates truly great corporate strategies from the merely adequate? How can executives at the corporate level create tangible advantage for their businesses that makes the whole more than the sum of the parts? This article presents a comprehensive framework for value creation in the multibusiness company. It addresses the most fundamental questions of corporate strategy: What businesses should a company be in? How should it coordinate activities across businesses? What role should the corporate office play? How should the corporation measure and control performance? Through detailed case studies of Tyco International, Sharp, the Newell Company, and Saatchi and Saatchi, the authors demonstrate that the answers to all those questions are driven largely by the nature of a company's special resources--its assets, skills, and capabilities. These range along a continuum from the highly specialized at one end to the very general at the other. A corporation's location on the continuum constrains the set of businesses it should compete in and limits its choices about the design of its organization. Applying the framework, the authors point out the common mistakes that result from misaligned corporate strategies. Companies mistakenly enter businesses based on similarities in products rather than the resources that contribute to competitive advantage in each business. Instead of tailoring organizational structures and systems to the needs of a particular strategy, they create plain-vanilla corporate offices and infrastructures. The company examples demonstrate that one size does not fit all. One can find great corporate strategies all along the continuum.

A Study of Comparative Advantage and Intra-Industry Trade in the Pharmaceutical Industry of Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Yusefzadeh, Hassan; Rezapour, Aziz; Lotfi, Farhad; Ebadifard Azar, Farbod; Nabilo, Bahram; Abolghasem Gorji, Hassan; Hadian, Mohammad; Shahidisadeghi, Niusha; Karami, Atiyeh

2015-04-23

Drug costs in Iran accounts for about 30% of the total health care expenditure. Moreover, pharmaceutical business lies among the world's greatest businesses. The aim of this study was to analyze Iran's comparative advantage and intra-industry trade in pharmaceuticals so that suitable policies can be developed and implemented in order to boost Iran's trade in this field. To identify Iran's comparative advantage in pharmaceuticals, trade specialization, export propensity, import penetration and Balassa and Vollrath indexes were calculated and the results were compared with other pharmaceutical exporting countries. The extent and growth of Iran's intra-industry trade in pharmaceuticals were measured and evaluated using the Grubel-Lloyd and Menon-Dixon indexes. The required data was obtained from Iran's Customs Administration, Iran's pharmaceutical Statistics, World Bank and International Trade Center. The results showed that among pharmaceutical exporting countries, Iran has a high level of comparative disadvantage in pharmaceutical products because it holds a small share in world's total pharmaceutical exports. Also, the low extent of bilateral intra-industry trade between Iran and its trading partners in pharmaceuticals shows the trading model of Iran's pharmaceutical industry is mostly inter-industry trade rather than intra-industry trade. In addition, the growth of Iran's intra-industry trade in pharmaceuticals is due to its shares of imports from pharmaceutical exporting countries to Iran and exports from Iran to its neighboring countries. The results of the analysis can play a valuable role in helping pharmaceutical companies and policy makers to boost pharmaceutical trade.

A Study of Comparative Advantage and Intra-Industry Trade in the Pharmaceutical Industry of Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Yusefzadeh, Hassan; Rezapour, Aziz; Lotfi, Farhad; Azar, Farbod Ebadifard; Nabilo, Bahram; Gorji, Hassan Abolghasem; Hadian, Mohammad; Shahidisadeghi, Niusha; Karami, Atiyeh

2015-01-01

Background: Drug costs in Iran accounts for about 30% of the total health care expenditure. Moreover, pharmaceutical business lies among the world’s greatest businesses. The aim of this study was to analyze Iran’s comparative advantage and intra-industry trade in pharmaceuticals so that suitable policies can be developed and implemented in order to boost Iran’s trade in this field. Methods: To identify Iran’s comparative advantage in pharmaceuticals, trade specialization, export propensity, import penetration and Balassa and Vollrath indexes were calculated and the results were compared with other pharmaceutical exporting countries. The extent and growth of Iran’s intra-industry trade in pharmaceuticals were measured and evaluated using the Grubel-Lloyd and Menon-Dixon indexes. The required data was obtained from Iran’s Customs Administration, Iran’s pharmaceutical Statistics, World Bank and International Trade Center. Results: The results showed that among pharmaceutical exporting countries, Iran has a high level of comparative disadvantage in pharmaceutical products because it holds a small share in world’s total pharmaceutical exports. Also, the low extent of bilateral intra-industry trade between Iran and its trading partners in pharmaceuticals shows the trading model of Iran’s pharmaceutical industry is mostly inter-industry trade rather than intra-industry trade. In addition, the growth of Iran’s intra-industry trade in pharmaceuticals is due to its shares of imports from pharmaceutical exporting countries to Iran and exports from Iran to its neighboring countries. Conclusions: The results of the analysis can play a valuable role in helping pharmaceutical companies and policy makers to boost pharmaceutical trade. PMID:26153184

TIME ZONE DIFFERENCE, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE AND TRADE: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alaka Shree Prasad

2017-09-01

Full Text Available With the growing development in communication technology and increased fragmentation of production process, services that were once considered non-tradable can now be traded across different nations. In this respect, trading countries located in different time zones of the world with non-overlapping working hours are able to develop a comparative advantage together for the supply of these services. Disintegrating the production of a service across different time zones can allow the production to be completed efficiently and make the product available in the market meeting consumer demand in a timely fashion. In this paper, we have reviewed some of important research that has been conducted in the area of time zone differences and trade. This type of trade further affects the factor market and production patterns of the involved countries and has also been significant for their growth and welfare.

Comparative Advantage of Maize- and Grass-Silage Based Feedstock for Biogas Production with Respect to Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

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Andreas Meyer-Aurich

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the comparative advantage of using silage maize or grass as feedstock for anaerobic digestion to biogas from a greenhouse gas (GHG mitigation point of view, taking into account site-specific yield potentials, management options, and land-use change effects. GHG emissions due to the production of biogas were calculated using a life-cycle assessment approach for three different site conditions with specific yield potentials and adjusted management options. While for the use of silage maize, GHG emissions per energy unit were the same for different yield potentials, and the emissions varied substantially for different grassland systems. Without land-use change effects, silage maize-based biogas had lower GHG emissions per energy unit compared to grass-based biogas. Taking land-use change into account, results in a comparative advantage of biogas production from grass-based feedstock produced on arable land compared to silage maize-based feedstock. However, under current frame conditions, it is quite unrealistic that grass production systems would be established on arable land at larger scale.

The advantages of tomosynthesis for evaluating bisphosphonate-related atypical femur fractures compared to radiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Petraszko, Andrew; Siegal, Daniel; Flynn, Michael; Rao, Sudhaker D; Peterson, Ed; van Holsbeeck, Marnix

2016-05-01

To investigate the advantages of using tomosynthesis (TS) compared to radiographs in the detection, characterization, and follow-up of bisphosphonate-related atypical femur fractures (BP-AFF). Eight patients were identified retrospectively who underwent TS for radiographic findings suspicious for BP-AFF. Two radiologists independently interpreted 15 radiographs and 16 TS examinations, indicating the presence or absence of the following: (1) cortical "beaking" on radiographs, (2) radiolucent fracture line on radiographs, and (3) fracture lucency on TS corresponding to the site of radiographic abnormality. Radiation dose data were calculated for radiographs and TS using Monte Carlo analysis. There was agreement on 100 % of radiographs regarding the presence or absence of a cortical beak. Regarding the presence or absence of a fracture lucency, there was agreement on 100 % of TS examinations (Kappa = 1.0) and 73 % of radiographs (Kappa = 0.40 ± 0.24). For the 46 % of radiographs in which one or both radiologists did not visualize a fracture line, there was 100 % agreement for the presence of a fracture line on the corresponding TS. The interobserver agreement for fracture line detection was significantly higher for TS than for radiographs (p = 0.012). The effective radiation dose using TS was approximately 96 % lower compared to radiography. TS outperformed radiographs in the detection and characterization of BP-AFF. TS may also have advantages over radiography for BP-AFF follow-up through its unique ability to visualize fracture healing with lower effective radiation doses to the patient.

A Conceptual Mapping Resource Advantage Theory, Competitive Advantage Theory, and Transient Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Jasanta PERANGINANGIN

2015-01-01

Competitive advantage is the main purposed of the business entity focusing on market base view. Resource advantage theorists put their concern to empowering resources development with resources based view, in the other side needs to redefining competitive advantage. All the competitive advantage are transient, concluded the end of competitive advantage. Redefining competitive advantage by selling migration and shrewdness outward. This research to emphasize innovation capability rarely appears...

BILATERAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES: INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA CASE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni Putu Wiwin Setyari

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This studytried tolook more closely at market integration, through export prices channel, inIndonesiaandMalaysia. Severalpreviousstudiestendtorejectthe existence oflawofoneprice(LOP. The law of one price (LOP states that price a given product should be the same in different parts of the world if valued in common currency. However, empirical studies uniformly shows LOP does not describe most markets. Someimportantfactorsthat are consideredinstrumentalin this regardaretransportation costsandprice stickiness. However, there isone characteristicthat is oftenoverlookedin the discussion ofLOP, namelychanges incomparative advantage. The specific objectiveofthispaperis to look atcomparative advantagecorrelationbetween the two countriesandtheir effect onpriceconvergence. Correlationof both selected commodities –using therankspearman's test -indicates the nature ofthemutualsubstitutionof productsthatcarrythe possibility of"price competition" so thatthe pricepointtoconvergeto one another. Tests on theexportprice ofsomeselected productsinboth countriesindicatedthe occurrence ofpriceconvergence, seen from thetwoanalytical techniques: σconvergenceandco-integrationusingJohansen's test. This conclusion is generated by attempted to control the "identical assumption" is to examines prices for similar products (homogeneous using SITC 3-digit, which is produced from the "same" or close locations, with the export destination to the same trading partner

How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Adina Musetescu

2013-01-01

In order to succeed in any market a company has to decide which strategy is more appropriate to use, which means identifying the sources of a potential competitive advantage such as skills or resources. Superior skills in creating a special product can represent the element that is setting the company apart from its competitors. That is easily translated into a very good quality of the products. The resources of the company refer to the great number of retailers (a good distribution chain tha...

Competitive Advantages of Indonesian Plywood Industry: A Perspective from Porter???s Five Forces Model

OpenAIRE

Makkarennu

2015-01-01

The Understanding industry structure is of great concern to industry strategic since depending against the competitive forces and shaping them in a company???s favor area essential to strategy. Competitive advantages provide the framework for assessing strategy and understanding the source of competitive advantage. This paper applies Porter Five Forces Model to identify the positioning of competitive advantages of plywood industry in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Qualitative research was carried...

LASIK vs LASEK vs PRK: advantages and indications.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrósio, Renato; Wilson, Steven

2003-03-01

The advent of the excimer laser as an instrument for use in reshaping the corneal stroma was a great step forward in refractive surgery. Laser energy can be delivered on the stromal surface in the photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) procedure or deeper on the corneal stroma by the means of a lamellar surgery in which a flap is created with the microkeratome in the laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) procedure. LASIK is currently the dominant procedure in refractive surgery. The main advantage of LASIK over PRK is related to maintaining the central corneal epithelium. This increases comfort during the early post-operative period, allows for rapid visual recovery, and reduces the wound healing response. Reduced wound healing correlates with less regression for high corrections and a lower rate of complications such as significant stromal opacity (haze). PRK, however, remains as an excellent option for mild to moderate corrections, particularly for cases associated with thin corneas, recurrent erosions, or a predisposition for trauma (Martial arts, military, etc.). Recently, a modification of PRK, laser subepithelial keratomileusis (LASEK), was introduced. In the LASEK procedure, an epithelial flap is created and replaced after the ablation. The benefits, if any, of the creation of an epithelial flap compared to traditional PRK are not fully appreciated. Advocates of LASEK suggest that there is less discomfort in the early postoperative period, faster visual recovery, and less haze compared to standard PRK for correction of similar levels of refractive error. Additional long-term clinical studies, along with laboratory research, will be crucial to validate these potential advantages of LASEK procedure.

Cognitive Comparative Advantage and the Organization of Work: Lessons from Herbert Simon's Vision of the Future

OpenAIRE

Richard N. Langlois

2002-01-01

In a marvelous but somewhat neglected paper, 'The Corporation: Will It Be Managed by Machines?' Herbert Simon articulated from the perspective of 1960 his vision of what we now call the New Economy the machine-aided system of production and management of the late twentieth century. Simon's analysis sprang from what I term the principle of cognitive comparative advantage: one has to understand the quite different cognitive structures of humans and machines (including computers) in order to exp...

Comparing of the Financial Ratios: A case study on United States, Great Britain, Greece Due Financial Crisis

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Dr. Stamatis Kontsas

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present a comparative study of the countries through the financial ratios that were analysed. This study was carried out in order to find the characteristics of each economy in comparison to the others. It would be worthy to mention that the three economies that were put under comparative study, are not of the same dynamic. The United States of America and Great Britain show some common characteristics due to the positions of power that they possess in the allocation of the global economy. However, in the case of Greece the same dynamic with the other two countries doesn’t exist, a fact that is greatly imprinted in their in-between comparison.

Career management: a competitive advantage in today's health care marketplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourbeau, J

2001-01-01

A valuable new tool to attract and retain new employees is being used by some of the most progressive companies in Michigan. It is called career management, and it is being used with great success by businesses of all types to give themselves a competitive advantage.

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE OF CLOTHING SECTOR IN THE EU-28 MARKET

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TRIPA Simona

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The study presented here is aimed at analyzing the comparative advantages in the European clothing sector with the focus on Balkan states. The dynamics of change over a 15‐year period following economic reforms are revealed. For all Balkan countries export plays an important role in promoting economic growth and development and the clothing industries play a significant role and continue to contribute to the economic prosperity in this countries. The evolution of the RCA index for garment industry is decreasing for all countries in the Balkans. The evolution of the Lafay index is also decreasing in the most Balkan countries (except Greece, Montenegro and Slovenia but still the values for Lafay index is positive what indicating that in these countries the sale of garments contribute positively to balance the trade balance of countries analyzed. Negative value of the Lafay index may be due to the fact that the garment industry is one of the key industries in the economy of that country and also because the earnings from garment industry in these countries is high. When the producers of the Balkan countries will create products with higher added value in garment industry the competitiveness of these countries will decrease. Also rising wages in this industry, as a result of trade union pressure or government policy, will lead to decreasing competitiveness of these products on the EU market and implicitly to the decrease of exports of garments from these countries.

Smart Cities are Big Cities - Comparative Advantage in Chinese Cities

OpenAIRE

Shiwei Hu; Steven Brakman; Charles van Marrewijk

2014-01-01

The literature on China indicates that the concentration of economic activities in China is less than in other industrialized countries. Institutional limits are largely held responsible for this finding (e.g. the Hukou system); firms and workers are not able to take full advantage of the benefits from agglomeration economies. China is changing rapidly, however, also in this respect. We show that, by using the methodology developed by Davis and Dingel (2013), high-skilled workers in high-skil...

Comparative Study of Flexible Pavement Designs for New Road in Great Britain and Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Basri, Hanafi

2009-01-01

The objective of this article is to compare the design methods for flexible pavements for new roads and overlays between two countries, Great Britain and Indonesia.Pavement design procedures provide a structure that can be accepted in a specific environmental condition and able to satisfy the anticipated traffic loading. There are many factors influencing the thickness design of pavement, such as pavement materials, traffic load and climatic conditions, there is no doubt that the method of pa...

Physician Reimbursement in Medicare Advantage Compared With Traditional Medicare and Commercial Health Insurance.

Science.gov (United States)

Trish, Erin; Ginsburg, Paul; Gascue, Laura; Joyce, Geoffrey

2017-09-01

Nearly one-third of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, yet little is known about the prices that MA plans pay for physician services. Medicare Advantage insurers typically also sell commercial plans, and the extent to which MA physician reimbursement reflects traditional Medicare (TM) rates vs negotiated commercial prices is unclear. To compare prices paid for physician and other health care services in MA, traditional Medicare, and commercial plans. Retrospective analysis of claims data evaluating MA prices paid to physicians and for laboratory services and durable medical equipment between 2007 and 2012 in 348 US core-based statistical areas. The study population included all MA and commercial enrollees with a large national health insurer operating in both markets, as well as a 20% sample of TM beneficiaries. Enrollment in an MA plan. Mean reimbursement paid to physicians, laboratories, and durable medical equipment suppliers for MA and commercial enrollees relative to TM rates for 11 Healthcare Common Procedure Coding Systems (HCPCS) codes spanning 7 sites of care. The sample consisted of 144 million claims. Physician reimbursement in MA was more strongly tied to TM rates than commercial prices, although MA plans tended to pay physicians less than TM. For a mid-level office visit with an established patient (Current Procedural Terminology [CPT] code 99213), the mean MA price was 96.9% (95% CI, 96.7%-97.2%) of TM. Across the common physician services we evaluated, mean MA reimbursement ranged from 91.3% of TM for cataract removal in an ambulatory surgery center (CPT 66984; 95% CI, 90.7%-91.9%) to 102.3% of TM for complex evaluation and management of a patient in the emergency department (CPT 99285; 95% CI, 102.1%-102.6%). However, for laboratory services and durable medical equipment, where commercial prices are lower than TM rates, MA plans take advantage of these lower commercial prices, ranging from 67.4% for a walker

ROMANIA’S SPECIALIZATION IN TRADE TOWARDS EU-27 - A REVEALED COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE APPROACH

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Popa Angela Cristina

2012-07-01

Full Text Available "International competitiveness" is a complex topic which raised over time many questions and theories on key factors that underpin it and is still subject to wide debate. Such analysis proves to be necessary under the new requirements raised by the participation of Romanian organizations in the European and global competitive environment in which competiting for new markets can be a platform of economic recovery. As companies compete for markets and resources, national economies compete with each other to achieve performance in a specific activity: for example, we can say that Romania has become less competitive in clothing production, and competitive in cars production. But it makes sense to say that "Romania has become more or less competitive as the economy?". The answer is no."Competitiveness" is a meaningless word when referring to national economies. Deniying Romanian competitiveness in a particular industry does not mean that Romania's economy is less competitive. The decline in these industries may be a manifestation of their change in production factors endowment or necessary reallocation these factors from old activities with comparative advantage to new ones. This paper aims to examine the structural competitiveness of Romania vis-a-vis EU-27. Empirical analysis is based on Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA, an indicator often used in international trade analysis. Section II reviews the empirical literature on the comparative advantage and the competitiveness of Romania, highlighting various theories and approaches, alternative measures of RCA indices are presented in the section III, section IV reports empirical results and the final section draws some conclusions based on the findings. In 2009, in terms of orientation of the foreign investors towards the economic sectors, according to NACE Rev. 2 Classification, the direct foreign investments were directed mainly to Manufactured goods (31,1% of total, within its best represented

Practical advantages of evolutionary computation

Science.gov (United States)

Fogel, David B.

1997-10-01

Evolutionary computation is becoming a common technique for solving difficult, real-world problems in industry, medicine, and defense. This paper reviews some of the practical advantages to using evolutionary algorithms as compared with classic methods of optimization or artificial intelligence. Specific advantages include the flexibility of the procedures, as well as their ability to self-adapt the search for optimum solutions on the fly. As desktop computers increase in speed, the application of evolutionary algorithms will become routine.

Natural characteristics of Croatian littoral area as a comparative advantage for nautical tourism development

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Srećko Favro

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Having in mind Croatian littoral area with its unique attractive coast and islands, it can be said that nautical tourism is absolutely authentic and distinctly recognizable Croatian "tourist product". In spite of numerous comparative advantages, Croatian nautical tourism still has not taken the right place on the market of Mediterranean nautical tourism. Future development of nautical tourism with its complementary activities – nautical economy, should be considered as the driving force for social and economic development of Croatian coastal area and islands, and it should be correctly dimensioned in accordance with carrying capacity of the geographical basis and sustainable development principles. Adequate valorization of Croatia’s most important resources, coast and islands, based on sustainable development principles and long-term systematic actions would improve social and economic position of Croatian Adriatic area.

Advantages of Wavelet analysis compared to Fourier analysis for the interpretation of electrochemical noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espada, L.; Sanjurjo, M.; Urrejola, S.; Bouzada, F.; Rey, G.; Sanchez, A.

2003-01-01

Given its simplicity and low cost compared to other types of methodologies, the measurement and interpretation of Electrochemical Noise, is consolidating itself as one of the analysis methods most frequently used for the interpretation of corrosion. As the technique is still evolving, standard treatment methodologies for data retrieved in experiments do not exist yet. To date, statistical analysis and the Fourier analysis are commonly used in order to establish the parameters that may characterize the recording of potential and current electrochemical noise. This study introduces a new methodology based on wavelet analysis and presents its advantages with regards to the Fourier analysis in distinguishes periodical and non-periodical variations in the signal power in time and frequency, as opposed to the Fourier analysis that only considers the frequency. (Author) 15 refs

[Overdenture supported by natural teeth: analysis of clinical advantages].

Science.gov (United States)

Scotti, R; Melilli, D; Pizzo, G

2003-05-01

Hybrid prosthesis supported by natural teeth (overdenture) is widely used in clinical practice and should be executed whenever the clinical conditions suggest it. Through a critical review of the literature, the anatomical, functional, psychological and clinical advantages are emphasized. Among the first ones, the prophylaxis of residual anatomical components, due to the limitation of bone resorption, and the preservation of sensorial proprioception are relevant. Important advantages are also represented by a better crown-root ratio of residual teeth supporting overdenture, with the consequent improvement of the longitudinal prognosis of such teeth. The greater retention and stability of overdenture in comparison with complete denture greatly improve the masticatory efficacy. The psychological advantages resulting from the dental anchorage, which allows the patient to be more confident in social life, are also relevant. Finally, when the dental support is lost, converting overdenture into complete denture is simple and quick, and makes easier the longitudinal clinical maintenance of the denture.

Biological aortic valve replacement: advantages and optimal indications of stentless compared to stented valve substitutes. A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakoli, Reza; Danial, Pichoy; Oudjana, Ahmed Hamid; Jamshidi, Peiman; Gassmann, Max; Leprince, Pascal; Lebreton, Guillaume

2018-05-01

Controversy still surrounds the optimal biological valve substitute for aortic valve replacement. In light of the current literature, we review advantages and optimal indications of stentless compared to stented aortic bio-prostheses. Recent meta-analyses, prospective randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies comparing the most frequently used stentless and stented aortic bio-prostheses were analyzed. In the present review, the types and implantation techniques of the bio-prosthesis that are seldom taken into account by most studies and reviews were integrated in the interpretation of the relevant reports. For stentless aortic root bio-prostheses, full-root vs. sub-coronary implantation offered better early transvalvular gradients, effective orifice area and left ventricular mass regression as well as late freedom from structural valve deterioration in retrospective studies. Early mortality and morbidity did not differ between the stentless and stented aortic bio-prostheses. Early transvalvular gradients, effective orifice area and regression of left ventricular hypertrophy were significantly better for stentless, especially as full-root, compared to stented bio-prostheses. The long-term valve-related survival for stentless aortic root and Toronto SPV bio-prosthesis was as good as that for stented pericardial aortic bio-prostheses. For full-root configuration this survival advantage was statistically significant. There seems to be not one but different ideal biological valve substitutes for different subgroups of patients. In patients with small aortic root or exposed to prosthesis-patient mismatch full-root implantation of stentless bio-prostheses may better meet functional needs of individual patients. Longer follow-ups on newer generation of stented bio-prostheses are needed for comparison of their hemodynamic performance with stentless counterparts especially in full-root configuration.

Decomposing the trade-environment nexus for Malaysia: what do the technique, scale, composition, and comparative advantage effect indicate?

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Chong Hui; Ahmed, Khalid; Binti Muhamad, Rusnah; Shahbaz, Muhammad

2015-12-01

This paper investigates the impact of trade openness on CO2 emissions using time series data over the period of 1970QI-2011QIV for Malaysia. We disintegrate the trade effect into scale, technique, composition, and comparative advantage effects to check the environmental consequence of trade at four different transition points. To achieve the purpose, we have employed augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) unit root tests in order to examine the stationary properties of the variables. Later, the long-run association among the variables is examined by applying autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration. Our results confirm the presence of cointegration. Further, we find that scale effect has positive and technique effect has negative impact on CO2 emissions after threshold income level and form inverted U-shaped relationship-hence validates the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Energy consumption adds in CO2 emissions. Trade openness and composite effect improve environmental quality by lowering CO2 emissions. The comparative advantage effect increases CO2 emissions and impairs environmental quality. The results provide the innovative approach to see the impact of trade openness in four sub-dimensions of trade liberalization. Hence, this study attributes more comprehensive policy tool for trade economists to better design environmentally sustainable trade rules and agreements.

Is there any advantage from the hybrid imaging diagnostic?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostadinova, I.

2012-01-01

The hybrid imaging methods- Single Photon Emission Tomography-Computer Tomography / SPECT-CT / and Positron Emission Tomography-Computer Tomography / PET-CT/ allow receiving of combined image of two different techniques. In such a way it is possible to superimpose detailed anatomical image of the multislice spiral computer tomography with specific and sensitive molecular images of the SPECT and PET in a single study, allowing utilization of the full possibilities of the both techniques. They have advantages and disadvantages, which basically stem from the differences in the used radiopharmaceuticals and their physical properties. In PET-CT-positron emitters are applied, most often 18F and 11C, while-in SPECT-CT - single photon emitters, most often 99mTc and 131I. A disadvantage of PET is a high cost, which is produced in cyclotron and its logistics is complicated. The great advantage of PET is its better spatial resolution, compared to SPECT, because of the possibility to for simultaneous detection of pared photons and better registration. These techniques, especially PET-CT are nowadays the most increasing imaging methods in the world in making diagnosis, staging and following the effect of treatment in patients with oncological, neurological, cardiological, orthopedic diseases and infections. Recently, they are applied for the purposes of radiotherapy planning on the basis of the metabolically active tumour. As a final result, compared to the conventional techniques- roentgenography, computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, it is possible in many cases to make an early and more precise diagnosis and to safe time for the patient for adequate treatment. As a conclusion it is clear, that the hybrid imaging has future and its application will increase in future

Mechanistic Basis of Cocrystal Dissolution Advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Fengjuan; Amidon, Gordon L; Rodríguez-Hornedo, Naír; Amidon, Gregory E

2018-01-01

Current interest in cocrystal development resides in the advantages that the cocrystal may have in solubility and dissolution compared with the parent drug. This work provides a mechanistic analysis and comparison of the dissolution behavior of carbamazepine (CBZ) and its 2 cocrystals, carbamazepine-saccharin (CBZ-SAC) and carbamazepine-salicylic acid (CBZ-SLC) under the influence of pH and micellar solubilization. A simple mathematical equation is derived based on the mass transport analyses to describe the dissolution advantage of cocrystals. The dissolution advantage is the ratio of the cocrystal flux to drug flux and is defined as the solubility advantage (cocrystal to drug solubility ratio) times the diffusivity advantage (cocrystal to drug diffusivity ratio). In this work, the effective diffusivity of CBZ in the presence of surfactant was determined to be different and less than those of the cocrystals. The higher effective diffusivity of drug from the dissolved cocrystals, the diffusivity advantage, can impart a dissolution advantage to cocrystals with lower solubility than the parent drug while still maintaining thermodynamic stability. Dissolution conditions where cocrystals can display both thermodynamic stability and a dissolution advantage can be obtained from the mass transport models, and this information is useful for both cocrystal selection and formulation development. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New oral anticoagulants: their advantages and disadvantages compared with vitamin K antagonists in the prevention and treatment of patients with thromboembolic events.

Science.gov (United States)

Mekaj, Ymer H; Mekaj, Agon Y; Duci, Shkelzen B; Miftari, Ermira I

2015-01-01

Despite the discovery and application of many parenteral (unfractionated and low-molecular-weight heparins) and oral anticoagulant vitamin K antagonist (VKA) drugs, the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thrombotic phenomena remain major medical challenges. Furthermore, VKAs are the only oral anticoagulants used during the past 60 years. The main objective of this study is to present recent data on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and to analyze their advantages and disadvantages compared with those of VKAs based on a large number of recent studies. NOACs are novel direct-acting medications that are selective for one specific coagulation factor, either thrombin (IIa) or activated factor X (Xa). Several NOACs, such as dabigatran (a direct inhibitor of FIIa) and rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban (direct inhibitors of factor Xa), have been used for at least 5 years but possibly 10 years. Unlike traditional VKAs, which prevent the coagulation process by suppressing the synthesis of vitamin K-dependent factors, NOACs directly inhibit key proteases (factors IIa and Xa). The important indications of these drugs are the prevention and treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms, and the prevention of atherothrombotic events in the heart and brain of patients with acute coronary syndrome and atrial fibrillation. They are not fixed, and dose-various strengths are available. Most studies have reported that more advantages than disadvantages for NOACs when compared with VKAs, with the most important advantages of NOACs including safety issues (ie, a lower incidence of major bleeding), convenience of use, minor drug and food interactions, a wide therapeutic window, and no need for laboratory monitoring. Nonetheless, there are some conditions for which VKAs remain the drug of choice. Based on the available data, we can conclude that NOACs have greater advantages and fewer disadvantages compared with VKAs. New studies are required

Long-Term Comparative Advantages of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States in International Trade

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Falkowski Krzysztof

2017-12-01

Full Text Available On 1st January 2015 the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU - a new integration block comprising initially Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, and later that year also Armenia and Kyrgyzstan - appeared on the world map. This paper endeavors to identify the EAEU countries’ long-term international comparative advantages within four basic groups of goods according to the OECD classification of manufacturing industries based on technology intensity. The analysis, using B. Balassa’s RCA methodology and covering the years 2000-2014, indicates that these countries lack competitiveness, with none of them possessing any RCAs in the high-technology category whereas in the medium-hightechnology category - only Belarus. In contrast, all the EAEU countries fared the best in the medium-low-technology category, which is mostly attributable to the resources-based character of their economies. Surprisingly, dramatically low international competitiveness was recorded by Kazakhstan and Russia.

Advantages and risks in service standardization

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Veres Zoltán

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Comparing the advantages and risks in standardizing services, there can be no clear-cut answer concerning the strategy to be followed. Exploiting advantages in the long run is only worth it for a provider of a service that is able to build up a powerful brand image. However, the more successful a service concept, the stronger the temptation to imitation. The success of imitators will sooner or later bring about multibrand loyalty.

Pain treatment after tonsillectomy: advantages of analgesics regularly given compared with analgesics on demand.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorneman, G; Akervall, J

2000-10-01

The aim of the present prospective study was to evaluate pain treatment during the first postoperative 24 h for 40 patients (age over 18) undergoing tonsillectomy. Patients were divided into two groups: group A (n = 20) received analgesics on demand and group B (n = 20) on a regular basis. Basic pain treatment consisted of paracetamol 750 mg x 6 and diclofenac 50 mg x 3. Pain measurement was performed using a visual analogue scale (VAS): a 10 cm line with 0 cm equalling no pain and 10 cm equalling the worst pain ever felt. The following parameters were studied: VAS values, the need for rescue analgesics, intra- and postoperative bleeding, nausea and vomiting, postoperative food intake and hospital time. Only 4 of 20 (20%) patients in group B needed rescue analgesics in the postoperative ward compared with 15 of 20 (75%) in group A (p values were generally rather low in both groups. The mean value for all observed VAS values was less than 4 in both study groups. However, no significant difference in VAS values was observed between the two study groups. Our results suggest that regularly given postoperative pain treatment after tonsillectomy, starting intraoperatively with paracetamol and diclofenac, has significant advantages compared with a regimen in which patients receive analgesics only on demand.

Associative memory advantage in grapheme-colour synaesthetes compared to older, but not younger adults

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Gaby ePfeifer

2014-07-01

Full Text Available People with grapheme-colour synaesthesia perceive enriched experiences of colours in response to graphemes (letters, digits. In this study, we examined whether these synaesthetes show a generic associative memory advantage for stimuli that do not elicit a synaesthetic colour. We used a novel between group design (14 young synaesthetes, 14 young and 14 older adults with a self-paced visual associative learning paradigm and subsequent retrieval (immediate and delayed. Non-synaesthesia inducing, achromatic fractal pair-associates were manipulated in visual similarity (high and low and corresponded to high and low memory load conditions. The main finding was a learning and retrieval advantage of synaesthetes relative to older, but not to younger, adults. Furthermore the significance testing was supported with effect size measures and power calculations. Differences between synaesthetes and older adults were found during dissimilar pair (high memory load learning and retrieval at immediate and delayed stages. Moreover, we found a medium size difference between synaesthetes and young adults for similar pair (low memory load learning. Differences between young and older adults were also observed during associative learning and retrieval, but were of medium effect size coupled with low power. The results show a subtle associative memory advantage in synaesthetes for non-synaesthesia inducing stimuli, which can be detected against older adults. They also indicate that perceptual mechanisms (enhanced in synaesthesia, declining as part of the aging process can translate into a generic associative memory advantage, and may contribute to associative deficits associated with healthy aging.

Second-Generation Outcomes of the Great Migration.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, J Trent; Leibbrand, Christine; Massey, Catherine; Tolnay, Stewart

2017-12-01

The mass migration of African Americans out of the South during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century represents one of the most significant internal migration flows in U.S. Those undertaking the Great Migration left the South in search of a better life, and their move transformed the cultural, social, and political dynamics of African American life specifically and U.S. society more generally. Recent research offers conflicting evidence regarding the migrants' success in translating their geographic mobility into economic mobility. Due in part to the lack of a large body of longitudinal data, almost all studies of the Great Migration have focused on the migrants themselves, usually over short periods of their working lives. Using longitudinally linked census data, we take a broader view, investigating the long-term economic and social effects of the Great Migration on the migrants' children. Our results reveal modest but statistically significant advantages in education, income, and poverty status for the African American children of the Great Migration relative to the children of southerners who remained in the South. In contrast, second-generation white migrants experienced few benefits from migrating relative to southern or northern stayers.

Methodology of Comparative Analysis of Public School Teachers' Continuing Professional Development in Great Britain, Canada and the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Mukan, Nataliya; Kravets, Svitlana

2015-01-01

In the article the methodology of comparative analysis of public school teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) in Great Britain, Canada and the USA has been presented. The main objectives are defined as theoretical analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature, which highlights different aspects of the problem under research;…

Competitive Advantage in Tourism of Southeast Asian Countries

OpenAIRE

Akarapong Untong

2013-01-01

The competitive advantage in tourism of the countries in Southeast Asia was assessed by using coverage ratio and revealed comparative advantage (RCA). Static and dynamic analyses were applied to the data of tourism services export during 2002-2010. The results show that Cambodia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam had competitive advantages, i.e. these countries gain the surpluses more than that of the region’s. Thailand had the highest specialization in Southeast Asia but declining. M...

Home advantage in the Winter Paralympic Games 1976-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Darryl; Ramchandani, Girish

2017-01-01

There is a limited amount of home advantage research concerned with winter sports. There is also a distinct lack of studies that investigate home advantage in the context of para sport events. This paper addresses this gap in the knowledge by examining home advantage in the Winter Paralympic Games. Using a standardised measure of success, we compared the performances of host nations at home with their own performances away from home between 1976 and 2014. Both country level and individual sport level analysis is conducted for this time period. Comparisons are also drawn with the Winter Olympic Games since 1992, the point from which both the Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games have been hosted by the same nations and in the same years. Clear evidence of a home advantage effect in the Winter Paralympic Games was found at country level. When examining individual sports, only alpine skiing and cross country skiing returned a significant home advantage effect. When comparing home advantage in the Winter Paralympic Games with the Winter Olympic Games for the last seven host nations (1992-2014), we found that home advantage was generally more pronounced (although not a statistically significant difference) in the case of the former. The causes of home advantage in the Winter Paralympic Games are unclear and should be investigated further.

Analyzing the international competitiveness of the industry in Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain using revealed comparative advantages (RCA) indicators

OpenAIRE

Oelgemöller, Jens

2012-01-01

This paper sheds light on the export structure of the four European countries Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, the so called PIGS countries. These countries were all hit by the economic downturn in the course of the financial crisis and have been struggling with the national debt crisis and recession. One way to identify sectoral international competitiveness is provided by the revealed comparative advantage index developed by Balassa (RCA 1). This indicator evolved through several studie...

The Great Depression and the Great Recession: A Comparative Analysis of their Analogies

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Cristina Peicuti

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The decades preceding the Great Depression and the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis have close similarities. Both decades were characterized by rapid growth without major contractions, by an increase in liquidity, a lack of inflation, and a generalized decrease in risk premiums. Additional similarities included significant changes in the financing of real estate by commercial banks along with a consolidation of the banking sector and high hopes that the efficiency of monetary policy would prevent financial crises. These decades were also characterized by the consolidation of the powers of young central banks (the Federal Reserve System in the 1920s and the European Central Bank in the 2000s, by unsuccessful attempts to control market speculation, by their international dimensions, and by the eruption of crises after the failure of a major American financial institution that could have been avoided. Understanding these analogies help us better identify the causes of the subprime mortgage crisis and prevent history from repeating itself to the extentof such large-scale devastating consequences.

Equivalence between Increasing Returns and Comparative Advantage as the Determinants of Intra-industry Trade: An Industry Analysis for Korea

OpenAIRE

Honggue Lee

2018-01-01

A two-part model is estimated to see if increasing returns and comparative advantage are empirically equivalent in explaining intra-industry trade. The model has separate mechanisms for determining the occurrence and the extent of intra-industry trade. Estimation is based on an augmented Grubel-Lloyd index derived from the data set on SITC 7 goods at the 3-digit SITC (Revision 4) for country pairs in which Korea is fixed as a source country. Estimation results show that both increasing return...

University Interdisciplinary Research Organizations in the Process of Collaborative Innovation: Advantages, Difficulties and Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Bi Ying; Yang, Liansheng

2015-01-01

Under the background of collaborative innovation, interdisciplinary research organizations due to its structural advantages should actively target frontier science and the great needs of national development, key research and strategic issues of solving the country's need, prospective issues in the frontier of science and technology and major…

Students’ Satisfaction as a Competitive Advantage in the Financial Products Market: A Comparative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Banarova Michaela

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The main task of today’s banks, in both investigated countries, should be to prefer students’ satisfaction and strive to offer them what they want. Nowadays, banks own many tools for satisfying their customers, however, there are still a number of areas where financial organizations could focus their attention to improve their relationships with students. The next related issue within the context of students in the banking environment is to gain an insight into student preferences on choosing a bank or purchasing bank products and services and find out which country provides more advantageous banking products and services and under what conditions, which type of marketing communication they prefer, and whether current bank marketing stimulates them to purchase. In this comparative study, a survey questionnaire was developed which incorporated the main findings of current literature on this issue. The results of self-administrated on-line questionnaires from Czech and UK higher education students will be presented in this article, involving one university from each country. The findings highlight that, while the conditions of provided student bank accounts are very similar and this type of bank account is very popular in both countries, the quantitative research found big differences in satisfaction with personal contact in banks and students’ preferences. It was also confirmed that students in both countries resist special offers and marketing efforts of banks and in the area of their finances they rather trust in banking institutions with long-tested quality and reliability of services. The research also detected that satisfaction with price is significantly affected by paying bank charges among Czech students and further gaps in the range of banking products and the use of distribution channels are identified. A series of Fisher´s tests, Pearson´s tests, and Two-sample proportion tests were conducted to reveal these significant

Comparative advantage: the impact of ISO 14001 environmental certification on exports.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellesi, Florencia; Lehrer, David; Tal, Alon

2005-04-01

Relative to the enormous acceptance of the ISO 9000 quality standard, the ISO 14001 environmental management certification has been met with only moderate enthusiasm among industrial facilities. The literature on corporate motivation for ISO 14001 participation is relatively modest considering the enormous number of publications reviewing other aspects of its adoption and implementation. It would seem that the present "marketing" package supporting ISO environmental commitments does not seem to offer sufficiently persuasive incentives for increased sales, either domestically or internationally. While researchers assume that a higher export rate of companies is positively associated with higher ISO participation rates, there have been very few empirical studies that support this inference, and conclusions have not been based on data taken from importing countries orfrom a systematic evaluation of expressed corporate preference for products sold by ISO 14001 certified companies. The present study reports the results of a survey to firms in six countries that are Israel's leading trade partners, importing chemicals, textiles, and produce. The survey results confirm that while the international market still considers price and quality as the paramount factors in selection of suppliers, environmental management systems (EMS) are an important feature that is frequently taken into consideration. EMS certification appears to signify a supplier who is managing the business well and exhibiting ethical responsibility. The European market proved to be more environmentally conscious than those in other industrialized parts of the world. EMS offer a particularly valuable advantage for producers wishing to reach European markets. As policy-makers seek to expand the voluntary adoption of EMS, a clear advantage for exporters should be highlighted among national industries.

Electrophysiological explorations of the bilingual advantage: evidence from a Stroop task.

Science.gov (United States)

Coderre, Emily L; van Heuven, Walter J B

2014-01-01

Bilinguals have been shown to exhibit a performance advantage on executive control tasks, outperforming their monolingual counterparts. Although a wealth of research has investigated this 'bilingual advantage' behaviourally, electrophysiological correlates are lacking. Using EEG with a Stroop task that manipulated the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of word and colour presentation, the current study addressed two facets of the bilingual advantage. The possibility that bilinguals experience superior conflict processing relative to monolinguals (a 'conflict-specific advantage') was investigated by comparing behavioural interference effects as well as the amplitude of the Ninc, a conflict-related ERP component occurring from approximately 300-500 ms after the onset of conflict. In contrast, the hypothesis that bilinguals experience domain-general, conflict-independent enhancements in executive processing (a 'non-conflict-specific advantage') was evaluated by comparing the control condition (symbol strings) between groups. There was some significant, but inconsistent, evidence for a conflict-specific bilingual advantage. In contrast, strong evidence emerged for a non-conflict-specific advantage, with bilinguals demonstrating faster RTs and reduced ERP amplitudes on control trials compared to monolinguals. Importantly, when the control stimulus was presented before the colour, ERPs to control trials revealed group differences before the onset of conflict, suggesting differences in the ability to ignore or suppress distracting irrelevant information. This indicates that bilinguals experience superior executive processing even in the absence of conflict and semantic salience, and suggests that the advantage extends to more efficient proactive management of the environment.

Electrophysiological explorations of the bilingual advantage: evidence from a Stroop task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily L Coderre

Full Text Available Bilinguals have been shown to exhibit a performance advantage on executive control tasks, outperforming their monolingual counterparts. Although a wealth of research has investigated this 'bilingual advantage' behaviourally, electrophysiological correlates are lacking. Using EEG with a Stroop task that manipulated the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA of word and colour presentation, the current study addressed two facets of the bilingual advantage. The possibility that bilinguals experience superior conflict processing relative to monolinguals (a 'conflict-specific advantage' was investigated by comparing behavioural interference effects as well as the amplitude of the Ninc, a conflict-related ERP component occurring from approximately 300-500 ms after the onset of conflict. In contrast, the hypothesis that bilinguals experience domain-general, conflict-independent enhancements in executive processing (a 'non-conflict-specific advantage' was evaluated by comparing the control condition (symbol strings between groups. There was some significant, but inconsistent, evidence for a conflict-specific bilingual advantage. In contrast, strong evidence emerged for a non-conflict-specific advantage, with bilinguals demonstrating faster RTs and reduced ERP amplitudes on control trials compared to monolinguals. Importantly, when the control stimulus was presented before the colour, ERPs to control trials revealed group differences before the onset of conflict, suggesting differences in the ability to ignore or suppress distracting irrelevant information. This indicates that bilinguals experience superior executive processing even in the absence of conflict and semantic salience, and suggests that the advantage extends to more efficient proactive management of the environment.

Absolute advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.G.M. van Marrewijk (Charles)

2008-01-01

textabstractA country is said to have an absolute advantage over another country in the production of a good or service if it can produce that good or service using fewer real resources. Equivalently, using the same inputs, the country can produce more output. The concept of absolute advantage can

Comparative riverscape genetics reveals reservoirs of genetic diversity for conservation and restoration of Great Plains fishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Osborne, Megan J; Perkin, Joshuah S; Gido, Keith B; Turner, Thomas F

2014-12-01

We used comparative landscape genetics to examine the relative roles of historical events, intrinsic traits and landscape factors in determining the distribution of genetic diversity of river fishes across the North American Great Plains. Spatial patterns of diversity were overlaid on a patch-based graphical model and then compared within and among three species that co-occurred across five Great Plains watersheds. Species differing in reproductive strategy (benthic vs. pelagic-spawning) were hypothesized to have different patterns of genetic diversity, but the overriding factor shaping contemporary patterns of diversity was the signature of past climates and geological history. Allelic diversity was significantly higher at southern latitudes for Cyprinella lutrensis and Hybognathus placitus, consistent with northward expansion from southern Pleistocene refugia. Within the historical context, all species exhibited lowered occupancy and abundance in heavily fragmented and drier upstream reaches, particularly H. placitus; a pelagic-spawning species, suggesting rates of extirpation have outpaced losses of genetic diversity in this species. Within most tributary basins, genetically diverse populations of each species persisted. Hence, reconnecting genetically diverse populations with those characterized by reduced diversity (regardless of their position within the riverine network) would provide populations with greater genetic and demographic resilience. We discuss cases where cross-basin transfer may be appropriate to enhance genetic diversity and mitigate negative effects of climate change. Overall, striking similarities in genetic patterns and in response to fragmentation and dewatering suggest a common strategy for genetic resource management in this unique riverine fish assemblage. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Home-based Advantages and a Hierarchy of Location Advantages: Foreign and British-owned Firms in the London Wholesale Insurance Market

OpenAIRE

Lilach Nachum

2003-01-01

This study seeks to explain why, in some cases, locationally advantageous countries attract foreign firms, who develop dominant competitive positions in the market, rather than facilitate the development of internationally competitive national firms, as theory suggests. Comparative analyses of samples of foreign and British-owned insurance firms in the London wholesale insurance market are used to establish a hierarchy of location advantages in terms of their competitive importance. It is sho...

COMPARATIVE LEGISLATIVE ANALYSIS OF ACTIVE BRIBERY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

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Mijo Galiot

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Confronting socially unacceptable activities, especially corruptive criminal acts, including bribing, makes an important issue of every regulated legal system. The crucial part of such policies are the criminal polices. In this paper, the author deals with the criminal legislation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, related to the matters of active bribing as one of the basic forms of corruptive behaviour. While comparing the way the penal system is regulated in the said country, the author comments basic similarities and differences of the passive bribing legal regulation in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Croatia.

Irrelevance of competitive advantage for the benefits of international trade

OpenAIRE

Siggel, Eckhard

2012-01-01

International competitiveness is often regarded as crucial for the attainment of gains from trade, which may lead policy makers to subsidize exports. This view is based on confusion between the concepts of competitive and comparative advantage. The paper argues that when comparative advantage is defined and measured appropriately, not limiting it to the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin models, it becomes a necessary condition for the attainment of gains from trade and it applies to all forms of ...

Instructional Comparative Advantages May Exist Despite the "Comprehensive Uniformity" of Traditional Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Merrifield, John

2012-01-01

A special tabulation of individual student scores from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test allowed a ranking of Texas schools according to test score changes ("value added"). The rankings varied greatly by student subpopulation. That is, the vast majority of schools are much more effective with some kinds of students than…

Cheatgrass percent cover change: Comparing recent estimates to climate change − Driven predictions in the Northern Great Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Boyte, Stephen P.; Wylie, Bruce K.; Major, Donald J.

2016-01-01

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) is a highly invasive species in the Northern Great Basin that helps decrease fire return intervals. Fire fragments the shrub steppe and reduces its capacity to provide forage for livestock and wildlife and habitat critical to sagebrush obligates. Of particular interest is the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an obligate whose populations have declined so severely due, in part, to increases in cheatgrass and fires that it was considered for inclusion as an endangered species. Remote sensing technologies and satellite archives help scientists monitor terrestrial vegetation globally, including cheatgrass in the Northern Great Basin. Along with geospatial analysis and advanced spatial modeling, these data and technologies can identify areas susceptible to increased cheatgrass cover and compare these with greater sage grouse priority areas for conservation (PAC). Future climate models forecast a warmer and wetter climate for the Northern Great Basin, which likely will force changing cheatgrass dynamics. Therefore, we examine potential climate-caused changes to cheatgrass. Our results indicate that future cheatgrass percent cover will remain stable over more than 80% of the study area when compared with recent estimates, and higher overall cheatgrass cover will occur with slightly more spatial variability. The land area projected to increase or decrease in cheatgrass cover equals 18% and 1%, respectively, making an increase in fire disturbances in greater sage grouse habitat likely. Relative susceptibility measures, created by integrating cheatgrass percent cover and temporal standard deviation datasets, show that potential increases in future cheatgrass cover match future projections. This discovery indicates that some greater sage grouse PACs for conservation could be at heightened risk of fire disturbance. Multiple factors will affect future cheatgrass cover including changes in precipitation timing and totals and

Advantages and Limitations of Current Imaging Techniques for Characterizing Liposome Morphology

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Annie-Louise Robson

2018-02-01

Full Text Available There are currently a number of imaging techniques available for evaluating the morphology of liposomes and other nanoparticles, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when interpreting data. Controlling and validating the morphology of nanoparticles is of key importance for the effective clinical translation of liposomal formulations. There are a number of physical characteristics of liposomes that determine their in vivo behavior, including size, surface characteristics, lamellarity, and homogeneity. Despite the great importance of the morphology of nanoparticles, it is generally not well-characterized and is difficult to control. Appropriate imaging techniques provide important details regarding the morphological characteristics of nanoparticles, and should be used in conjunction with other methods to assess physicochemical parameters. In this review, we will discuss the advantages and limitations of available imaging techniques used to evaluate liposomal formulations.

Story of rubidium-82 and advantages for myocardial perfusion PET imaging

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Jean-Francois eChatal

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Rubidium-82 has a long story, starting in 1954. After preclinical studies in dogs showing that myocardial uptake of this radionuclide was directly proportional to myocardial blood flow, clinical studies were performed in the 80s leading to an approval in the USA in 1989. From that time thousands of patients have been tested and their results have been reported in 3 meta-analyses. Pooled patient-based sensitivity and specificity were respectively 0.91 and 0.90. By comparison with 99mTc-SPECT, 82Rb-PET had a much better diagnostic accuracy, especially in obese patients with BMI (Body Mass Index ≥30 kg/m2 (85% versus 67% with SPECT and in women with large breasts. A great advantage of 82Rb-PET is its capacity to accurately quantify myocardial blood flow. Quite importantly it has been recently shown that coronary flow reserve is associated with adverse cardiovascular events independently of luminal angiographic severity. Moreover coronary flow reserve is a functional parameter particularly useful in the estimate of microvascular dysfunction such as in diabetes mellitus. Due to the very short half-life of rubidium-82, the effective dose calculated for a rest/stress test is roughly equivalent to the annual natural exposure and even less when stress-only is performed with a low activity compatible with a good image quality with the last generation 3D PET scanners.There is still some debate on the relative advantages of 82Rb-PET with regard to 99mTc-SPECT. For the last ten years, great technological advances substantially improved performances of SPECT with its accuracy getting closer to this of 82Rb/PET. Currently the main advantages of PET are its capacity to accurately quantify myocardial blood flow and to deliver a low radiation exposure.

The great battles of the energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevalier, J.M.

2004-10-01

This book presents an introduction to the great world energy challenges. The first part of this book, is devoted to the energy sources history with a special interest for the petroleum. The advantages and disadvantages of the energy sources as the natural gas, the coal, the nuclear power and the renewable energies, are also discussed. Two chapters are devoted to the analysis of the energy sectors deregulation in Europe, in particular the electric power market. The last part proposes to discuss on the twenty century challenge: how to reconcile the energy demand, the environment protection and the developing countries economic development? (A.L.B.)

GAINING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE IT ADVANTAGES: MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONALIZED BUSINESSES

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Eduardo Armando

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This research studies how the studied firms gain sustainable competitive advantages (SCAs. The issue has been studied in the literature on business strategy: the challenge for managers is to identify, develop, protect and use resources and skills that provide the firm with SCAs. Eight cases were studied. All concerned Information Technology firms that sell to other companies. The variables used were qualitative. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources consisted of the studied firms, where interviews with management were held. The main results are: (1 One firm develops products abroad and this aspect is a competitive advantage. (2 There are cases that resort to a model that provides them with great operating flexibility. (3 One firm obtained SCAs by developing a strategy whereby it implemented a franchise model for development and distribution. The franchise system encourages entrepreneurial behavior among the franchisees. (4 One case gained a competitive advantage through the complexity and sophistication of its products. (5 Some of the cases searched for market niches that were less exposed to competition.Key-words: Strategic management. Strategic planning. Advanced Technology firms. Management of multinationals. 

Advantages of robotics in benign gynecologic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Mireille; Kim, Jin Hee; Scheib, Stacey; Patzkowsky, Kristin

2016-08-01

The purpose of this article is to review the literature and discuss the advantages of robotics in benign gynecologic surgery. Minimally invasive surgery has become the preferred route over abdominal surgery. The laparoscopic or robotic approach is recommended when vaginal surgery is not feasible. Thus far, robotic gynecologic surgery data have demonstrated feasibility, safety, and equivalent clinical outcomes in comparison with laparoscopy and better clinical outcomes compared with laparotomy. Robotics was developed to overcome challenges of laparoscopy and has led to technological advantages such as improved ergonomics, visualization with three-dimensional capabilities, dexterity and range of motion with instrument articulation, and tremor filtration. To date, applications of robotics in benign gynecology include hysterectomy, myomectomy, endometriosis surgery, sacrocolpopexy, adnexal surgery, tubal reanastomosis, and cerclage. Though further data are needed, robotics may provide additional benefits over other approaches in the obese patient population and in higher complexity cases. Challenges that arose in the earlier adoption stage such as the steep learning curve, costs, and operative times are becoming more optimized with greater experience, with implementation of robotics in high-volume centers and with improved training of surgeons and robotic teams. Robotic laparoendoscopic single-site surgery, albeit still in its infancy where technical advantages compared with laparoscopic single-site surgery are still unclear, may provide a cost-reducing option compared with multiport robotics. The cost may even approach that of laparoscopy while still conferring similar perioperative outcomes. Advances in robotic technology such as the single-site platform and telesurgery, have the potential to revolutionize the field of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. Higher quality evidence is needed to determine the advantages and disadvantages of robotic surgery in benign

The Great Recession and Mother’s Health

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Janet; Duque, Valentina; Garfinkel, Irwin

2016-01-01

We use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study to investigate the impacts of the Great Recession on the health of mothers. We focus on a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes, as well as health behaviors. We find that increases in the unemployment rate decrease self-reported health status and increase smoking and drug use. We also find evidence of heterogeneous impacts. Disadvantaged mothers—African-American, Hispanic, less educated, and unmarried–experience greater deterioration in their health than advantaged mothers—those who are white, married, and college educated. PMID:27212714

Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strand, Robert; Freeman, R. Edward

2015-01-01

. We conclude by endorsing the expression “Scandinavian cooperative advantage” in an effort to draw attention to the Scandinavian context and encourage the field of strategic management to shift its focus from achieving a competitive advantage toward achieving a cooperative advantage....

Accessing offshoring advantages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mykhaylenko, Alona; Motika, Agnes; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum

2015-01-01

. Assuming that different levels of synergy may exist between particular offshoring strategic decisions (choosing offshore outsourcing or captive offshoring and the type of function) and different offshoring advantages, this work advocates that the actual fact of realization of certain offshoring advantages...

Stimulus-dependent effects on right ear advantage in schizophrenia

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Smucny J

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Jason Smucny,1,3 Korey Wylie,3 Jason Tregellas1–31Neuroscience Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2Research Science, Denver VA Medical, Center, 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USABackground: When presented with different sounds in each ear (dichotic listening, healthy subjects typically show a preference for stimuli heard in the right ear, an effect termed "right ear advantage". Previous studies examining right ear advantage in schizophrenia have been inconsistent, showing either decreased or increased advantage relative to comparison subjects. Given evidence for enhanced semantic processing in schizophrenia, some of this inconsistency may be due to the type of stimuli presented (words or syllables. The present study examined right ear advantage in patients and controls using both words and syllables as stimuli.Methods: Right ear advantage was compared between 20 patients with schizophrenia and 17 healthy controls. Two versions of the task were used, ie, a consonant-vowel pairing task and a fused rhymed words task.Results: A significant group × task interaction was observed. Relative to healthy controls, patients showed a greater difference on the syllable-based task compared with the word-based task. The number of distractors marked during the syllable-based task was inversely correlated with score on the Global Assessment of Function Scale.Conclusion: The findings are consistent with a left hemisphere dysfunction in schizophrenia, but also suggest that differences may be stimulus-specific, with a relative sparing of the deficit in the context of word stimuli. Performance may be related to measures of social, occupational, and psychological function.Keywords: schizophrenia, right ear advantage, dichotic, distraction

Studying The Great Russian Revolution

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A. V. Torkunov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article revises an established view of Russian Revolution as two separate events - February Revolution and October Revolution. The author supports the concept of the «Great Russian Revolution», which unites these two events in a single process of revolutionary development. The author draws attention to the following advantages of the concept under consideration. First, it conceptualizes the revolution as a process contingent of a local and global historical context. In this sense, the revolution is presented as the transition of society to the modern stage of development, meaning the transition to modernity. Second, revolutionary events in Russia are considered from the point of view of the evolution of the spatial and socioeconomic distribution and rearrangement of key social groups: peasantry, elites, national and ethnic minorities. Third, it takes into account the personal factor in the revolutionary events, the influence of individual personalities on escalation or the reduction of socio-political tensions. Fourth, it draws attention to the fact that revolutions imply the use of various forms of political violence. Each revolution is characterized by a unique correlation of forms and intensity of political violence. Finally, it gives a normative assessment of the Revolution, encouraging a national discussion on the results and consequences of this great event.

The advantages of digital radiography in department of radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao Lijuan; Luo Xiaomei; Wu Tengfang

2009-01-01

Objective: To investigate the advantages of digital radiography in department of radiology by comparing digital radiography with common radiography. Methods: Test card was used for testing the spatial resolution of DR and common radiography. 1000 films of chest by DR and 1000 films of chest by common radiography were compared in image quality, dose of radiation, the rate of waste film, and the advantages of DR was analyzed. Results: Compared to common radiography, DR had a high sensitivity, high DQE (quantum detection efficiency), high spatial resolution and density resolution. The speed of acquisition and X-ray conversion efficiency were fast. The function of post-processing was strong and the rate of disease detection was high. Conclusion: DR is better than common radiography in all respects, it will be widely applied. (authors)

COMPETITIVE PRODUCT ADVANTAGES

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Adrian MICU

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Cost advantages may be either internal or external. Internal economics of scope, scale, or experience, and external economies of focus or logistical integration, enable a company to produce some products at a lower cost than the competition. The coordination of pricing with suppliers, although not actually economizing resources, can improve the efficiency of pricing by avoiding the incrementalization of a supplier's nonincremental fixed costs and profit. Any of these strategies can generate cost advantages that are, at least in the short run, sustainable. Even cost advantages that are not sustainable, however, can generate temporary savings that are often the key to building more sustainable cost or product advantages later.. Even when a product's physical attributes are not readily differentiable, opportunities to develop product advantages remain. The augmented product that customers buy is more than the particular product or service exchanged. It includes all sorts of ancillary services and intangible relationships that make buying thesame product from one company less difficult, less risky, or more pleasant than buying from a competitor. Superior augmentation of the same basic product can add substantial value in the eyes of consumers, leading them to pay willingly what are often considerable price premiums.

Explaining Asian Americans’ academic advantage over whites

Science.gov (United States)

Hsin, Amy; Xie, Yu

2014-01-01

The superior academic achievement of Asian Americans is a well-documented phenomenon that lacks a widely accepted explanation. Asian Americans’ advantage in this respect has been attributed to three groups of factors: (i) socio-demographic characteristics, (ii) cognitive ability, and (iii) academic effort as measured by characteristics such as attentiveness and work ethic. We combine data from two nationally representative cohort longitudinal surveys to compare Asian-American and white students in their educational trajectories from kindergarten through high school. We find that the Asian-American educational advantage is attributable mainly to Asian students exerting greater academic effort and not to advantages in tested cognitive abilities or socio-demographics. We test explanations for the Asian–white gap in academic effort and find that the gap can be further attributed to (i) cultural differences in beliefs regarding the connection between effort and achievement and (ii) immigration status. Finally, we highlight the potential psychological and social costs associated with Asian-American achievement success. PMID:24799702

Explaining Asian Americans' academic advantage over whites.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsin, Amy; Xie, Yu

2014-06-10

The superior academic achievement of Asian Americans is a well-documented phenomenon that lacks a widely accepted explanation. Asian Americans' advantage in this respect has been attributed to three groups of factors: (i) socio-demographic characteristics, (ii) cognitive ability, and (iii) academic effort as measured by characteristics such as attentiveness and work ethic. We combine data from two nationally representative cohort longitudinal surveys to compare Asian-American and white students in their educational trajectories from kindergarten through high school. We find that the Asian-American educational advantage is attributable mainly to Asian students exerting greater academic effort and not to advantages in tested cognitive abilities or socio-demographics. We test explanations for the Asian-white gap in academic effort and find that the gap can be further attributed to (i) cultural differences in beliefs regarding the connection between effort and achievement and (ii) immigration status. Finally, we highlight the potential psychological and social costs associated with Asian-American achievement success.

[Internet research methods: advantages and challenges].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yi; Tien, Yueh-Hsuan

2009-12-01

Compared to traditional research methods, using the Internet to conduct research offers a number of advantages to the researcher, which include increased access to sensitive issues and vulnerable / hidden populations; decreased data entry time requirements; and enhanced data accuracy. However, Internet research also presents certain challenges to the researcher. In this article, the advantages and challenges of Internet research methods are discussed in four principle issue areas: (a) recruitment, (b) data quality, (c) practicality, and (d) ethics. Nursing researchers can overcome problems related to sampling bias and data truthfulness using creative methods; resolve technical problems through collaboration with other disciplines; and protect participant's privacy, confidentiality and data security by maintaining a high level of vigilance. Once such issues have been satisfactorily addressed, the Internet should open a new window for Taiwan nursing research.

Comparative Analysis of the Representations of the Great Patriotic War: Generational Aspects (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Михайлович Филиппов

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples` (who has been considered fraternal for a long time representations of the modern world currently due to many factors are subjected to complex processes of transformation. So the importance of the historical period of the Great Patriotic War in the life of all three peoples, the memory of which has an important means of confrontation western propaganda, is certainly true. The article presents the results of the study of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian students’ and their parents’ representations of the Great Patriotic War. The study was being held in Peoples’ friendship University of Russia, immediately after the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory.

Physical parameter determinations of young Ms. Taking advantage of the Virtual Observatory to compare methodologies

Science.gov (United States)

Bayo, A.; Rodrigo, C.; Barrado, D.; Allard, F.

One of the very first steps astronomers working in stellar physics perform to advance in their studies, is to determine the most common/relevant physical parameters of the objects of study (effective temperature, bolometric luminosity, surface gravity, etc.). Different methodologies exist depending on the nature of the data, intrinsic properties of the objects, etc. One common approach is to compare the observational data with theoretical models passed through some simulator that will leave in the synthetic data the same imprint than the observational data carries, and see what set of parameters reproduce the observations best. Even in this case, depending on the kind of data the astronomer has, the methodology changes slightly. After parameters are published, the community tend to quote, praise and criticize them, sometimes paying little attention on whether the possible discrepancies come from the theoretical models, the data themselves or just the methodology used in the analysis. In this work we perform the simple, yet interesting, exercise of comparing the effective temperatures obtained via SED and more detailed spectral fittings (to the same grid of models), of a sample of well known and characterized young M-type objects members to different star forming regions and show how differences in temperature of up to 350 K can be expected just from the difference in methodology/data used. On the other hand we show how these differences are smaller for colder objects even when the complexity of the fit increases like for example introducing differential extinction. To perform this exercise we benefit greatly from the framework offered by the Virtual Observaotry.

Breast and cervical screening by race/ethnicity: comparative analyses before and during the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Christopher J; Chen, Jie; Garza, Mary A; Thomas, Stephen B

2014-04-01

Traditionally, economic recessions have resulted in decreased utilization of preventive health services. To explore racial and ethnic differences in breast and cervical cancer screening rates before and during the Great Recession. The Medical Expenditure Panel was the source for identifying 10,894 women, ages 50-74 for breast screening and 19,957 women, ages 21-65 for cervical screening. Survey years included 2004-2005 and 2009-2010. Dependent variables were as follows: 1) receipt of mammogram within the past 2 years; and 2) receipt of a Pap smear within the past 3 years. The interaction of the recession and the likelihood of screening between whites and minorities was analyzed. Multivariate regressions were applied to estimate the likelihood of screening for the two time periods while controlling for a recession variable. Nationally, breast and cervical cancer screening rates dropped during the recession period; white women contributed most to the decline. However, there were significant improvements in timely screening for both cancers among Hispanics during the recession period. After controlling for the recession, African American women were more likely to have timely screenings compared to white women. Screening rates during the recession were lowest in the South, Midwest and West. There was a national reduction in the percentages of women who obtained timely breast and cervical screenings during the Great Recession. Outreach efforts are needed to ensure that women who were not screened during the recession are screened. Widespread education about the Affordable Care Act may be helpful. Copyright © 2014 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparing electricity distribution network revenues and costs in New South Wales, Great Britain and Victoria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mountain, Bruce; Littlechild, Stephen

2010-01-01

A decade ago, electricity distribution network revenues per customer in New South Wales (NSW) were twice those in Great Britain (GB). Recent price controls imply that by 2014 they will be nearly four times as high. This paper examines possible reasons for this. The main reason does not seem to be geography, operating environment or industry structure. GB and Victoria have managed to accommodate increasing demand at broadly constant or even declining costs and revenues while delivering higher quality of service, while NSW has not. The regulatory framework and the practice of the regulatory body within that framework seem relevant. Australian regulators have not used benchmarking techniques as the GB regulator has. Perhaps the most important explanatory factor is private ownership in GB and Victoria compared to state ownership in NSW. This could also impact on the nature and effectiveness of regulation. (author)

Exploring the advantages of using social network sites (SNSs) in dental medicine organisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Franco, Mário; Pais, Leonor

2017-05-08

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deepen and contribute to knowledge of the use of social network sites (SNSs) in organisations, and more precisely, identify the advantages. Design/methodology/approach To reach this objective, a cross-section study was adopted based on application of a questionnaire, the final sample consisting of 78 dental medicine organisations in Portugal. Findings The results obtained lead to the conclusion that a great number of the organisations studied are connected to SNSs, particularly Facebook. The advantages associated with marketing tools and breaking down barriers between the organisation and the world are those highlighted most in this study. Practical implications According to the empirical evidence obtained, organisations are found to use these sites for other purposes, such as communicating with clients/patients and receiving feedback on the service provided to increase satisfaction and improve the quality of services. Originality/value The study contributes to advancing theory in the field of internet research strategic. More precisely, this study is associated with the creation of a theoretical framework that shows the advantages of using SNSs in an innovative context: dental medicine organisations. A categorisation of these advantages and some implications for theory and practice are also some contributions of this study.

Great Ellipse Route Planning Based on Space Vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Wenchao

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Aiming at the problem of navigation error caused by unified earth model in great circle route planning using sphere model and modern navigation equipment using ellipsoid mode, a method of great ellipse route planning based on space vector is studied. By using space vector algebra method, the vertex of great ellipse is solved directly, and description of great ellipse based on major-axis vector and minor-axis vector is presented. Then calculation formulas of great ellipse azimuth and distance are deduced using two basic vectors. Finally, algorithms of great ellipse route planning are studied, especially equal distance route planning algorithm based on Newton-Raphson(N-R method. Comparative examples show that the difference of route planning between great circle and great ellipse is significant, using algorithms of great ellipse route planning can eliminate the navigation error caused by the great circle route planning, and effectively improve the accuracy of navigation calculation.

The Great Deluge Algorithm applied to a nuclear reactor core design optimization problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sacco, Wagner F.; Oliveira, Cassiano R.E. de

2005-01-01

The Great Deluge Algorithm (GDA) is a local search algorithm introduced by Dueck. It is an analogy with a flood: the 'water level' rises continuously and the proposed solution must lie above the 'surface' in order to survive. The crucial parameter is the 'rain speed', which controls convergence of the algorithm similarly to Simulated Annealing's annealing schedule. This algorithm is applied to the reactor core design optimization problem, which consists in adjusting several reactor cell parameters, such as dimensions, enrichment and materials, in order to minimize the average peak-factor in a 3-enrichment-zone reactor, considering restrictions on the average thermal flux, criticality and sub-moderation. This problem was previously attacked by the canonical genetic algorithm (GA) and by a Niching Genetic Algorithm (NGA). NGAs were designed to force the genetic algorithm to maintain a heterogeneous population throughout the evolutionary process, avoiding the phenomenon known as genetic drift, where all the individuals converge to a single solution. The results obtained by the Great Deluge Algorithm are compared to those obtained by both algorithms mentioned above. The three algorithms are submitted to the same computational effort and GDA reaches the best results, showing its potential for other applications in the nuclear engineering field as, for instance, the nuclear core reload optimization problem. One of the great advantages of this algorithm over the GA is that it does not require special operators for discrete optimization. (author)

Vrancea Vineyard: A Rural Area with a European Comparative Advantage –The Wine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALINA CHICOŞ

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This article intends to disseminate the partial results of a work that lasted more than three years and involved a substantial number of resources at both national and international level within the COHESION Project, implemented under the C.I.P. Interreg IIIB CADSES Neighbourhood Program. The Vrancea vineyard was the pilot area for the Romanian study and the main activities of the Romanian team (Urbanproiect Bucuresti, Partner Project no.13 within the project has been focused on this area.The COHESION (Integrated COncepts EnHancing CohESion of EurOpeaN Space Project aimed at enforcing the cohesion of the CADSES area, through developing policies to meet the problems of the European rural space. To this context, the project developed during 2003-2005 applied a methodology focused on increasing competitiveness of areas. An indicative product (wine, in which the involved areas provide a comparative advantage, has been targeted and integrated development pilot projects have been implemented in the participating areas. The Project's area of intervention consisted in the territories of Karditsa, Achaia and Nemea in Greece, the territory of Steirisches Vulkanland in Austria, Meissen in Germany, Appennino Reggiano in Italy, Northwest Bohemia in Czech Republic, and Vrancea in Romania.The aim of the project was “to investigate the development process in remote agricultural areas from practical point of view, i.e. locate the factors that hamper or promote local development in the remote agricultural zones of the CADSES area, and provide this information to other local development actors, so as to facilitate their action and thus contribute to accelerating convergence of the space in question and cohesion of the European territory” (PINDOS Strategic Planning Centre, 2006. The approach planned and applied by COHESION was the bottom up approach. Parallel and similar development projects (pilot activities were generated in a number of the areas involved and

Advantages of super-light structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hertz, Kristian Dahl

2009-01-01

Super-light structures with pearl-chain reinforcement is a new revolutionary technology that opens possibilities of building load-bearing structures much cheaper and with several other advantages compared to traditional constructions of concrete and steel. Some benefits are: 1 Half price or less. 2...... Architectural expressions never seen before. 3 Material savings of more than 50 %. 4 Energy and CO2 savings of more than 50 %. 5 No Scaffolding and cheaper moulds. 6 Improved durability. 7 Extreme thermal insulation. 8 Better indoor-climate. 9 User friendly operation and maintenance. 10 Increased safety...

Brokers and Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Michael D. Ryall; Olav Sorenson

2007-01-01

The broker profits by intermediating between two (or more) parties. Using a biform game, we examine whether such a position can confer a competitive advantage, as well as whether any such advantage could persist if actors formed relations strategically. Our analysis reveals that, if one considers exogenous the relations between actors, brokers can enjoy an advantage but only if (1) they do not face substitutes either for the connections they offer or the value they can create, (2) they interm...

Generic Advantages

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Generic Advantages. Scalability an incremental coverage. Standardization. Business Plan Flexibility. Lifecycle Flexibility. Reliability. Service Interoperability. Changed Industry dynamics.

Competitive advantage of diferric transferrin in delivering iron to reticulocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Huebers, H A; Csiba, E; Huebers, E; Finch, C A

1983-01-01

Radioiron- and radioiodine-labeled forms of human diferric and monoferric transferrin and apotransferrin, isolated by preparative isoelectric focusing, were used to define transferrin-iron uptake by human reticulocytes. In mixtures of human diferric and monoferric transferrin, the diferric molecule had a constant 7-fold advantage in delivering iron to reticulocytes, as compared with the 2-fold advantage when single solutions of mono- and diferric transferrins were compared. This was shown to be due to competitive interaction in iron delivery, probably at a common membrane-receptor binding site for transferrin. Apotransferrin did not interfere with the iron-donating process and its limited cellular uptake was inhibited in noncompetitive fashion by diferric transferrin. PMID:6572005

A competitive trade-off limits the selective advantage of increased antibiotic production.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerardin, Ylaine; Springer, Michael; Kishony, Roy

2016-09-26

In structured environments, antibiotic-producing microorganisms can gain a selective advantage by inhibiting nearby competing species 1 . However, despite their genetic potential 2,3 , natural isolates often make only small amounts of antibiotics, and laboratory evolution can lead to loss rather than enhancement of antibiotic production 4 . Here, we show that, due to competition with antibiotic-resistant cheater cells, increased levels of antibiotic production can actually decrease the selective advantage to producers. Competing fluorescently labelled Escherichia coli colicin producers with non-producing resistant and sensitive strains on solid media, we found that although producer colonies can greatly benefit from the inhibition of nearby sensitive colonies, this benefit is shared with resistant colonies growing in their vicinity. A simple model, which accounts for such local competitive and inhibitory interactions, suggests that the advantage of producers varies non-monotonically with the amount of production. Indeed, experimentally varying the amount of production shows a peak in selection for producers, reflecting a trade-off between benefit gained by inhibiting sensitive competitors and loss due to an increased contribution to resistant cheater colonies. These results help explain the low level of antibiotic production observed for natural species and can help direct laboratory evolution experiments selecting for increased or novel production of antibiotics.

Home advantage in professional tennis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, Ruud H.

2011-01-01

Home advantage is a pervasive phenomenon in sport. It has been established in team sports such as basketball, baseball, American football, and European soccer. Attention to home advantage in individual sports has so far been limited. The aim of this study was to examine home advantage in

Advantages and pitfalls of South Africa-Angola strategic alliances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. Vogel

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Owing to a shortage of South African research focusing on international strategic alliances, this study aimed to determine whether the advantages and pitfalls of international strategic alliances referred to in international business publications are also applicable to South African international strategic alliances. Design/Methodology/Approach: This was a formal, empirical study that targeted the 163 South African enterprises which were members of the South African-Angolan Chamber of Commerce in 2005 and 2006. Findings: The results identified joint ventures as the most prominent mode of entry when expanding into developing countries and, with few exceptions, the findings support the advantages and pitfalls of international strategic alliances identified in other international publications. Value of the research: A great deal of international management research over the years has been focused on the importance of strategic alliances as a mode of entry, as well as on the pitfalls experienced by alliance partners, particularly in developed countries. However, the lack of such research in Africa in general and South Africa in particular means that South African enterprises must base their entry mode selection on non-South African research findings, and although this sample size was small, the lack of other Africa-specific research makes this research significant. Implications: With South Africa being the largest source of FDI into the rest of Africa, the findings of this paper show that South African enterprises can attain the advantages associated with international strategic alliances when using this mode of entry into Africa. In terms of pitfalls, the findings highlight the need for multinational enterprises to pay specific attention to the role of governments when forming strategic alliances.

Competitive advantage and corporate communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitić Sanja

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Strategic importance of corporate communications and its role in the development of competitive advantage has attracted interest of numerous researchers in the fields of organization, management, marketing and public relations. Recent studies particularly emphasise the growing importance of soft factors, such as reputation in the development of competitive advantage. Concept of reputation is strongly connected with stakeholder theory, which stresses the importance of corporate communications for competitive advantage of firms. The paper focuses on competitive advantage and the link among strategy, reputation and corporate communications.

An investigation of home advantage in the Summer Paralympic Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Darryl; Ramchandani, Girish

2017-01-01

There is a paucity of home advantage research set in the context of para-sport events. It is this gap in the knowledge that this paper addresses by investigating the prevalence and size of home advantage in the Summer Paralympic Games. Using a standardised measure of success, we compared the performances of nations when competing at home with their own performances away from home in the competition between 1960 and 2016. Both country-level and individual sport-level analyses were conducted for this time frame. A Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to determine whether there was a genuine difference in nations' performance under host and non-host conditions. Spearman's rank-order correlation was run to assess the relationship between nation quality and home advantage. Strong evidence of a home advantage effect in the Summer Paralympic Games was found at country level ( p   0.10). While our results confirm that home advantage is prevalent in the Summer Paralympic Games at an overall country level and within specific sports, they do not explain fully why such an effect does exist. Future studies should investigate the causes of home advantage in the competition and also draw comparisons with the Summer Olympic Games to explore any differences between para-sport events and able-bodied events.

.Compar~ive Economic Advantage Analysis of Ahernative

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Domestic Resource Cosf (DRC) ratio den'vedfrom the. Policy. ... ology was also used to evaluate effects ofpolicy in the production and trade patterns usi1/g Nominal ... Given these results, effective measures toalleviate ... wnereas the major export crops are cotton, cof- ..... curred per unit of foreign exchange earned or.

[Anterior lumbar interbody fusion. Indications, technique, advantages and disadvantages].

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, M; Weidenfeld, M; Uckmann, F P

2015-02-01

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) for lumbar interbody fusion from L2 to the sacrum has been an established technique for decades. The advantages and disadvantages of ALIF compared to posterior interbody fusion techniques are discussed. The operative technique is described in detail. Complications and avoidance strategies are discussed. This article is based on a selective literature search using PubMed and the experience of the authors in this medical field. The advantages of ALIF compared to posterior fusion techniques are the free approach to the anterior disc space without opening of the spinal canal or the neural foramina. This gives the possibility of an extensive anterior release and placement of the largest possible cages without the risk of neural structure damage. The disadvantages of ALIF are the additional anterior approach and the related complications. The most frequent complication is due to damage of vessels. The rate of complications is significantly increased in revision surgery. The ALIF technique meaningfully expands the repertoire of the spinal surgeon especially for the treatment of non-union after interbody fusion, in patients with epidural scar tissue at the index level and spinal infections. Advantages and disadvantages should be considered when evaluating the indications for ALIF.

GEOINFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PROMOTION OF TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN THE ZONE OF THE GREAT SILK ROAD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. S. Tikunov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To date, travel portals represent the most promising tool for promoting tourist destinations. Compared to traditional print media, their main advantage is the ability to access a wealth of information, services, to make online reservations, to create package-tours, and to obtain interactive representation of tourist sites. The paper discusses tourism demand for destinations of the zone of the Great Silk Road applying key statistics of the Yandex search engine queries. A comparative analysis of tourist destinations portal data has been conducted based on the following criteria: availability of multilingual information, interactive maps, selfguided tour planners, and information about attractions, tours, and accommodation facilities. In order to attract a large number of tourists and to successfully implement the project “Silk Road,” it is necessary to establish a common trans-national tourism portal which would include information on tourism opportunities in all countries.

Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery: advantages and disadvantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ranjodh; Dohlman, Thomas H; Sun, Grace

2017-01-01

The number of cataract surgeries performed globally will continue to rise to meet the needs of an aging population. This increased demand will require healthcare systems and providers to find new surgical efficiencies while maintaining excellent surgical outcomes. Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) has been proposed as a solution and is increasingly being performed worldwide. The purpose of this review is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of ISBCS. When appropriate patient selection occurs and guidelines are followed, ISBCS is comparable with delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery in long-term patient satisfaction, visual acuity and complication rates. In addition, the risk of bilateral postoperative endophthalmitis and concerns of poorer refractive outcomes have not been supported by the literature. ISBCS is cost-effective for the patient, healthcare payors and society, but current reimbursement models in many countries create significant financial barriers for facilities and surgeons. As demand for cataract surgery rises worldwide, ISBCS will become increasingly important as an alternative to delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery. Advantages include potentially decreased wait times for surgery, patient convenience and cost savings for healthcare payors. Although they are comparable in visual acuity and complication rates, hurdles that prevent wide adoption include liability concerns as ISBCS is not an established standard of care, economic constraints for facilities and surgeons and inability to fine-tune intraocular lens selection in the second eye. Given these considerations, an open discussion regarding the advantages and disadvantages of ISBCS is important for appropriate patient selection.

Gaining Relational Competitive Advantages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yimei; Zhang, Si; Li, Jizhen

2015-01-01

Establishing strategic technological partnerships (STPs) with foreign partners is an increasingly studied topic within the innovation management literature. Partnering firms can jointly create sources of relational competitive advantage. Chinese firms often lack research and development (R......&D) capabilities but are increasingly becoming preferred technological partners for transnational corporations. We investigate an STP between a Scandinavian and a Chinese firm and try to explore how to gain relational competitive advantage by focusing on its two essential stages: relational rent generation...... and appropriation. Based on an explorative case study, we develop a conceptual framework that consists of process, organizational alliance factors, and coordination modes that we propose lead to relational competitive advantage....

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PRUNEA Ana Daniela

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Rapid changes in market characteristics and the technological innovations are common and faster challenges, resulting in products, processes and technologies. The competitive advantage is volatile, difficult to obtain and more difficult to maintain and strengthened with consumers who through their individual choices polarization confirms the recognition performance and award competitive advantages, thus causing the competitive ranking of companies present in a particular market. The competitive advantage lies in the focus of the performance of companies in competitive markets and innovation is a source for obtaining and consolidating it. Companies will need to demonstrate the capacity to adapt to changes in the business environment so as to maintain the helded positions. This paper treats this aspect behavior that companies should adopt to get on the account of innovation a sustainable competitive advantage. I started of the work in the elaboration from the theory of developed by Michael Porter in his book "Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance" we applied methods listed thus trying to point out possible ways of creating competitive advantage by companies. We have presented the sources of competitive advantage and the factors on which depends its creation. Walking theoretical research revealed how lack of competitive advantage leads to a lack of competitiveness of companies and the benefits that arise with the creation of this type of asset. Among the most important benefits is to increase performances. Once the competitive advantage is achieved, it must be maintained and updated market conditions and the methods that can be created a sustainable competitive advantage represent the answers to many of the companies questions are fighting for survival in an environment of fierce competition. The implementation of methods for obtaining competitive advantages, but also exist dangers, that every company should know them

Extreme Quantum Memory Advantage for Rare-Event Sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Aghamohammadi, Cina; Loomis, Samuel P.; Mahoney, John R.; Crutchfield, James P.

2018-02-01

We introduce a quantum algorithm for memory-efficient biased sampling of rare events generated by classical memoryful stochastic processes. Two efficiency metrics are used to compare quantum and classical resources for rare-event sampling. For a fixed stochastic process, the first is the classical-to-quantum ratio of required memory. We show for two example processes that there exists an infinite number of rare-event classes for which the memory ratio for sampling is larger than r , for any large real number r . Then, for a sequence of processes each labeled by an integer size N , we compare how the classical and quantum required memories scale with N . In this setting, since both memories can diverge as N →∞ , the efficiency metric tracks how fast they diverge. An extreme quantum memory advantage exists when the classical memory diverges in the limit N →∞ , but the quantum memory has a finite bound. We then show that finite-state Markov processes and spin chains exhibit memory advantage for sampling of almost all of their rare-event classes.

Extreme Quantum Memory Advantage for Rare-Event Sampling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cina Aghamohammadi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available We introduce a quantum algorithm for memory-efficient biased sampling of rare events generated by classical memoryful stochastic processes. Two efficiency metrics are used to compare quantum and classical resources for rare-event sampling. For a fixed stochastic process, the first is the classical-to-quantum ratio of required memory. We show for two example processes that there exists an infinite number of rare-event classes for which the memory ratio for sampling is larger than r, for any large real number r. Then, for a sequence of processes each labeled by an integer size N, we compare how the classical and quantum required memories scale with N. In this setting, since both memories can diverge as N→∞, the efficiency metric tracks how fast they diverge. An extreme quantum memory advantage exists when the classical memory diverges in the limit N→∞, but the quantum memory has a finite bound. We then show that finite-state Markov processes and spin chains exhibit memory advantage for sampling of almost all of their rare-event classes.

The Employment Advantages of Skilled Urban Areas

OpenAIRE

Diaz Escobar, Ana Maria

2011-01-01

This paper explores whether the agglomeration of human capital leads to social employment advantages in urban labor markets of a developing country: Colombia. I estimate the social effects of human capital agglomeration by comparing employment opportunities of individuals located in urban areas in which the level of education differs. Results show that employment opportunities are higher on average in skilled urban areas. Three explanations have been offered: human capital externalities, prod...

Humans and great apes share increased neocortical neuropeptide Y innervation compared to other haplorhine primates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Ann eRaghanti

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Neuropeptide Y (NPY plays a role in a variety of basic physiological functions and has also been implicated in regulating cognition, including learning and memory. A decrease in neocortical NPY has been reported for Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, potentially contributing to associated cognitive deficits. The goal of the present analysis was to examine variation in neocortical NPY-immunoreactive axon and varicosity density among haplorhine primates (monkeys, apes, and humans. Stereologic methods were used to measure the ratios of NPY-expressing axon length density to total neuron density (ALv/Nv and NPY-immunoreactive varicosity density to neuron density (Vv/Nv, as well as the mean varicosity spacing in neocortical areas 10, 24, 44, and 22 (Tpt of humans, African great apes, New World monkeys, and Old World monkeys. Humans and great apes showed increased cortical NPY innervation relative to monkey species for ALv/Nv and Vv/Nv. Furthermore, humans and great apes displayed a conserved pattern of varicosity spacing across cortical areas and layers, with no differences between cortical layers or among cortical areas. These phylogenetic differences may be related to shared life history variables and may reflect specific cognitive abilities.

Comparative advantages and limitations of the basic metrology methods applied to the characterization of nanomaterials.

Science.gov (United States)

Linkov, Pavel; Artemyev, Mikhail; Efimov, Anton E; Nabiev, Igor

2013-10-07

Fabrication of modern nanomaterials and nanostructures with specific functional properties is both scientifically promising and commercially profitable. The preparation and use of nanomaterials require adequate methods for the control and characterization of their size, shape, chemical composition, crystalline structure, energy levels, pathways and dynamics of physical and chemical processes during their fabrication and further use. In this review, we discuss different instrumental methods for the analysis and metrology of materials and evaluate their advantages and limitations at the nanolevel.

Comparative analysis of used car price evaluation models

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chuancan; Hao, Lulu; Xu, Cong

2017-05-01

An accurate used car price evaluation is a catalyst for the healthy development of used car market. Data mining has been applied to predict used car price in several articles. However, little is studied on the comparison of using different algorithms in used car price estimation. This paper collects more than 100,000 used car dealing records throughout China to do empirical analysis on a thorough comparison of two algorithms: linear regression and random forest. These two algorithms are used to predict used car price in three different models: model for a certain car make, model for a certain car series and universal model. Results show that random forest has a stable but not ideal effect in price evaluation model for a certain car make, but it shows great advantage in the universal model compared with linear regression. This indicates that random forest is an optimal algorithm when handling complex models with a large number of variables and samples, yet it shows no obvious advantage when coping with simple models with less variables.

Catheter-directed thrombolysis for acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis via the ipsilateral great saphenous vein approach: a comparative clinical study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su Haobo; Gu Jianping; Lou Wensheng; He Xu; Chen Liang; Chen Guoping; Song Jinhua; Wang Tao

2011-01-01

Objective: To investigate prospectively the feasibility and clinical value of catheterization via the ipsilateral great saphenous vein in catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) for acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis (IFVT) by a comparative study. Methods: The prospective study included 93 cases of IFVT proved by venography. All patients were divided into three groups randomly. In group A, 31 patients received CDT via the ipsilateral great saphenous vein. In group B, 27 patients received CDT via the ipsilateral popliteal vein. In group C, 35 patients received anterograde thrombolysis via an ipsilateral dorsalis pedis vein. Urokinase was adopted as the thrombolytic agent in all cases. The assessment of the curative effect include therapeutic effective rate, rate of edema reduction and venous patency which were observed according to the clinical symptoms and the follow-up venograms obtained 5 days after thrombolysis. The time and comfort scores of procedures was recorded and compared between group A and B using two independent samples t test. The rate of edema reduction and venous patency were assessed using analysis of variance (LSD method). Therapeutic effective rate and complication rate were assessed using Chi-square test. Results: The total effective rate of the three groups were 90.3% (28/31), 92.6% (25/27) and 68.6% (24/35) respectively. The limbs edema reduction rate were (83.5±21.1)%, (82.4±20.1)%, and (67.0±23.3)% respectively (F= 6.059, P=0.003). The venous patency rate after thrombolysis were (61.2±20.2)%, (55.7±20.5)%, and (44.2±23.6)% respectively. There was no significant difference between group A and B in therapeutic effective rate (χ 2 =0.09, P=0.759), rate of edema reduction (P=0.822) and venous patency (P=0.343) . There was a significant difference statistically in therapeutic effective rate (χ 2 =4.65, P=0.031), rate of edema reduction (P=0.002) and venous patency (P=0.002) between group A and C. Compared with group A and B, the

As duas vias do princípio das vantagens comparativas de David Ricardo e o padrão-ouro: um ensaio crítico The two ways of Ricardo's principle of comparative advantages and the gold standard: a critical essay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cláudio Gontijo

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This article critically resumes Ricardo's principle of comparative advantages pointing out internal coherence problems that have been neglected by the specialized literature. First, long-lasting disequilibria observed in the balance of trade seem incompatible with the idea that these disequilibria are caused by technical advances that change relative prices. Second, comparative advantages do not seem to work in an economy with a universally accepted commodity-money. Finally, the contradiction between the gold standard mechanisms, ruled by Smith's "Law of Reflux", and the quantitative theory of money, which is a necessary condition for the "second way" of the theory of comparative advantages.

Uranium in situ leaching: its advantages, practice, problems and computer simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hancock, B.A.

1977-01-01

In situ leaching for the recovery of uranium from low grade sandstone deposits is one of the newest technological advances in the mineral industry. It is rapidly developing into a commercially feasible mining system which has economic, environmental, and social advantages over conventional mining systems. Because of the current uranium shortage, development of in situ leaching into a sophisticated system has gained new impetus. In situ leaching will become an important mining technique in the future, which will greatly help to supply uranium for the United States' energy needs. In this paper, the author gives an overview of the merits of the system, as well as the technology problems, and research in solution mining of uranium. 17 references

Radiation-induced cationic polymerization of isobutylene-isopene systems: advantages and disadvantages compared to catalytic initiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, F.; Shinkawa, A.; Kennedy, J.P.

1976-01-01

The cationic copolymerization of isobutylene (1) with isoprene (2) has been induced by γ-irradiation of dry comonomer systems in bulk. Although the polymer conversion per unit dose is reduced about a thousand-fold by the addition of 3 mole % isoprene to isobutylene, the molecular weight of the copolymer is comparable to that of the homopolymer of isobutylene prepared at the same polymerization temperature. The copolymer composition corresponds closely to that of the monomer feed up to 7.1 mole % isoprene. The results are consistently accounted for by postulating that the slow step in the kinetic chain is the cross-propagation reaction described by the rate constant k/sub p21/ with an estimated value of 3 x 10 8 M -1 sec -1 at 0 0 C, this constant being much less than k/sub p12/ similarly ordered k/sub p11/ = 1.5 x 10 8 M -1 sec -1 . The viscosity-average molecular weights of the radiation-induced copolymers are about a factor of ten higher than those produced by BF 3 , AlEtCl 2 , and AlCl 3 at the same polymerization temperature. This effect is similar to that observed previously for the homopolymers of isobutylene and is attributed to the free-ion character of the radiation-induced polymerization. Despite this advantage enjoyed by the γ-irradiation method, it is subject to various practical limitations, of which the foremost is the inability to tolerate suitable solvents such as methyl chloride without sacrificing a large reduction in polymerization rate

High mechanical advantage design of six-bar Stephenson mechanism for servo mechanical presses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianguo Hu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article proposed a two-phase design scheme of Stephenson six-bar working mechanisms for servo mechanical presses with high mechanical advantage. In the qualitative design phase, first, a Stephenson six-bar mechanism with a slide was derived from Stephenson six-bar kinematic chains. Second, based on the instant center analysis method, the relationship between mechanical advantage and some special instant centers was founded, and accordingly a primary mechanism configuration with high mechanical advantage was designed qualitatively. Then, a parameterized prototype model was established, and the influences of design parameters toward slide kinematical characteristics were analyzed. In the quantitative design phase, a multi-objective optimization model, aiming at high mechanical advantage and dwelling characteristics, was built, and a case design was done to find optimal dimensions. Finally, simulations based on the software ADAMS were conducted to compare the transmission characteristics of the optimized working mechanism with that of slide-crank mechanism and symmetrical toggle mechanism, and an experimental press was made to validate the design scheme. The simulation and experiment results show that, compared with general working mechanisms, the Stephenson six-bar working mechanism has higher mechanical advantage and better dwelling characteristics, reducing capacities and costs of servo motors effectively.

Advantaged Bidders in Franchise Auctions

OpenAIRE

van den Berg, V.A.C.

2012-01-01

Consider a government that auctions a franchise for, e.g., an airport, telecommunication network, or utility. Consider an 'incumbent bidder' that owns a complement or substitute. With an auction on the transfer (i.e. payment) to the government, the incumbent is advantaged.If the government regulates the market with an auction on the price asked to consumers, it depends who is advantaged. With complements, the incumbent is advantaged: it can set a lower price on the new franchise, as this inc...

Competitive Advantage through Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brem, Alexander; Maier, Maximilian; Wimschneider, Christine

2016-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how Nespresso achieved competitive advantage through innovation by changing the rules of the game in its industry. Design/methodology/approach Nespresso was analyzed based on public available secondary data, in combination with related academic...... concepts on innovation and competitive advantage. Findings The company succeeded by the thorough application of a strategy that, through perfect alignment, allowed the company to reach a unique market position. However, as described in the case, it took a relatively long time and the company came close...... as a source for competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications Especially given the current market situation, the case offers different starting points for discussion about innovation and long-term company success. Practical implications Especially before the current market situation, the case...

Transnasal endoscopy: Technical considerations, advantages and limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Atar, Mustafa; Kadayifci, Abdurrahman

2014-02-16

Transnasal endoscopy (TNE) is an upper endoscopy method which is performed by the nasal route using a thin endoscope less than 6 mm in diameter. The primary goal of this method is to improve patient tolerance and convenience of the procedure. TNE can be performed without sedation and thus eliminates the risks associated with general anesthesia. In this way, TNE decreases the cost and total duration of endoscopic procedures, while maintaining the image quality of standard caliber endoscopes, providing good results for diagnostic purposes. However, the small working channel of the ultra-thin endoscope used for TNE makes it difficult to use for therapeutic procedures except in certain conditions which require a thinner endoscope. Biopsy is possible with special forceps less than 2 mm in diameter. Recently, TNE has been used for screening endoscopy in Far East Asia, including Japan. In most controlled studies, TNE was found to have better patient tolerance when compared to unsedated endoscopy. Nasal pain is the most significant symptom associated with endoscopic procedures but can be reduced with nasal pretreatment. Despite the potential advantage of TNE, it is not common in Western countries, usually due to a lack of training in the technique and a lack of awareness of its potential advantages. This paper briefly reviews the technical considerations as well as the potential advantages and limitations of TNE with ultra-thin scopes.

Transnasal endoscopy: Technical considerations, advantages and limitations

Science.gov (United States)

Atar, Mustafa; Kadayifci, Abdurrahman

2014-01-01

Transnasal endoscopy (TNE) is an upper endoscopy method which is performed by the nasal route using a thin endoscope less than 6 mm in diameter. The primary goal of this method is to improve patient tolerance and convenience of the procedure. TNE can be performed without sedation and thus eliminates the risks associated with general anesthesia. In this way, TNE decreases the cost and total duration of endoscopic procedures, while maintaining the image quality of standard caliber endoscopes, providing good results for diagnostic purposes. However, the small working channel of the ultra-thin endoscope used for TNE makes it difficult to use for therapeutic procedures except in certain conditions which require a thinner endoscope. Biopsy is possible with special forceps less than 2 mm in diameter. Recently, TNE has been used for screening endoscopy in Far East Asia, including Japan. In most controlled studies, TNE was found to have better patient tolerance when compared to unsedated endoscopy. Nasal pain is the most significant symptom associated with endoscopic procedures but can be reduced with nasal pretreatment. Despite the potential advantage of TNE, it is not common in Western countries, usually due to a lack of training in the technique and a lack of awareness of its potential advantages. This paper briefly reviews the technical considerations as well as the potential advantages and limitations of TNE with ultra-thin scopes. PMID:24567791

CT Angiography of Peripheral Arterial Disease by 256-Slice Scanner: Accuracy, Advantages and Disadvantages Compared to Digital Subtraction Angiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Atul; Jain, Narendra; Bhagwat, Anand

2017-07-01

Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) may cause disabling claudication or critical limb ischemia. Multidetector computed tomography (CT) technology has evolved to the level of 256-slice CT scanners which has significantly improved the spatial and temporal resolution of the images. This has provided the capability of chasing the contrast bolus at a fast speed enabling angiographic imaging of long segments of the body. These images can be reconstructed in various planes and various modes for detailed analysis of the peripheral vascular diseases which helps in making treatment decision. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the CT angiograms (CTAs) of all cases of PAOD done by 256-slice CT scanner at a tertiary care vascular center and comparing these images with the digital subtraction angiograms (DSAs) of these patients. The retrospective study included 53 patients who underwent both CTA and DSA at our center over a period of 3 years from March 2013 to March 2016. The CTA showed high sensitivity (93%) and specificity (92.7%) for overall assessment of degree of stenosis in a vascular segment in cases of aortic and lower limb occlusive disease. The assessment of lesions of infrapopliteal segment was comparatively inferior (sensitivity 91.6%, accuracy 73.3%, and positive predictive value 78.5%), more so in the presence of significant calcification. The advantages of CTA were its noninvasive nature, ability to image large area of body, almost no adverse effects to the patients, and better assessment of vessel wall disease. However, the CTA assessment of collaterals was inferior with a sensitivity of only 62.7% as compared to DSA. Overall, 256-slice CTA provides fast and accurate imaging of vascular tree which can restrict DSA only in few selected cases as a problem-solving tool where clinico-radiological mismatch is present.

Underwater hearing in the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kirstin Anderson; Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

2016-01-01

The underwater hearing threshold of a great cormorant (Phalacrocroax carbo sinensis) was measured at 2 kHz using psychophysical methods. Previous in-air and underwater testing suggests that cormorants have rather poor in-air hearing compared to other birds of similar size (Johansen, 2016). Prelim......The underwater hearing threshold of a great cormorant (Phalacrocroax carbo sinensis) was measured at 2 kHz using psychophysical methods. Previous in-air and underwater testing suggests that cormorants have rather poor in-air hearing compared to other birds of similar size (Johansen, 2016...

Compositional Advantage and Strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Xin

advantage is redefined as the attractiveness of the composition of the producer’s offering in terms of scope and perceived value/price ratio. I identify five ways or basic compositional strategies to improve the value/price ratio. A firm may have an overall compositional strategy that is composed of some......In this paper, I first critique the composition-based view of Yadong Luo and John Child for understanding how resource-poor firms survive and thrive. To remedy the deficiencies in their perspective, I then propose a dynamic theory of compositional advantage and strategy. Here, the compositional...... or all of the five basic compositional strategies. I argue there are three indispensable key success factors for a composition-based competition, i.e., aspiration (ambition-position asymmetry), attitude (being ALERT), and action (turning asymmetry into advantage). I also discuss the particular relevance...

Predicting Optimal Outcomes in Cognitive Therapy or Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Individuals Using the Personalized Advantage Index Approach.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcus J H Huibers

Full Text Available Although psychotherapies for depression produce equivalent outcomes, individual patients respond differently to different therapies. Predictors of outcome have been identified in the context of randomized trials, but this information has not been used to predict which treatment works best for the depressed individual. In this paper, we aim to replicate a recently developed treatment selection method, using data from an RCT comparing the effects of cognitive therapy (CT and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT.134 depressed patients completed the pre- and post-treatment BDI-II assessment. First, we identified baseline predictors and moderators. Second, individual treatment recommendations were generated by combining the identified predictors and moderators in an algorithm that produces the Personalized Advantage Index (PAI, a measure of the predicted advantage in one therapy compared to the other, using standard regression analyses and the leave-one-out cross-validation approach.We found five predictors (gender, employment status, anxiety, personality disorder and quality of life and six moderators (somatic complaints, cognitive problems, paranoid symptoms, interpersonal self-sacrificing, attributional style and number of life events of treatment outcome. The mean average PAI value was 8.9 BDI points, and 63% of the sample was predicted to have a clinically meaningful advantage in one of the therapies. Those who were randomized to their predicted optimal treatment (either CT or IPT had an observed mean end-BDI of 11.8, while those who received their predicted non-optimal treatment had an end-BDI of 17.8 (effect size for the difference = 0.51.Depressed patients who were randomized to their predicted optimal treatment fared much better than those randomized to their predicted non-optimal treatment. The PAI provides a great opportunity for formal decision-making to improve individual patient outcomes in depression. Although the utility of the PAI

Proportion and Patterns of Hospice Discharges in Medicare Advantage Compared to Medicare Fee-for-Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Teno, Joan M; Christian, Thomas J; Gozalo, Pedro; Plotzke, Michael

2018-03-01

When Medicare Advantage (MA) patients elect hospice, all covered services are reimbursed under the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program. This financial arrangement may incentivize MA plans to refer persons to hospice near end of life when costs of care typically rise. To characterize hospice discharge patterns for MA versus FFS patients and examine whether patterns differ by MA concentration across hospital referral regions (HRRs). The rate and pattern of live discharges and length of stay (LOS) between FFS and MA patients were examined. A multivariate mixed-effects model examined whether hospice patients in MA versus FFS had differential patterns of discharges. In addition, we tested whether concentrations of MA hospice patients in a patient's HRR were associated with different patterns of discharges. In fiscal year 2014, there were 1,199,533 hospice discharges with 331,142 MA patients having a slightly higher live discharge rate (15.8%) compared to 868,391 FFS hospice discharges (15.4%). After controlling for patient characteristics, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was 1.01 (95% CI 0.99-1.02). MA patients were less likely to have early live discharges (AOR 0.87 95% CI 0.84-0.91) and burdensome transitions (AOR 0.61 95% CI 0.58-0.64) but did not differ in live discharges post 210 days. Among hospice deaths, MA hospice patients were less likely to have a three-day or less LOS (AOR 0.95 95% 0.94-0.96) and a LOS exceeding 180 days (AOR 0.97 95% 0.96-0.99). The concentration of MA patients in a HRR had minimal impact. MA hospice patients' discharge patterns raised less concerns than FFS.

Extended great deluge algorithm for the imperfect preventive maintenance optimization of multi-state systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahas, Nabil; Khatab, Abdelhakim; Ait-Kadi, Daoud; Nourelfath, Mustapha

2008-01-01

This paper deals with preventive maintenance optimization problem for multi-state systems (MSS). This problem was initially addressed and solved by Levitin and Lisnianski [Optimization of imperfect preventive maintenance for multi-state systems. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 2000;67:193-203]. It consists on finding an optimal sequence of maintenance actions which minimizes maintenance cost while providing the desired system reliability level. This paper proposes an approach which improves the results obtained by genetic algorithm (GENITOR) in Levitin and Lisnianski [Optimization of imperfect preventive maintenance for multi-state systems. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 2000;67:193-203]. The considered MSS have a range of performance levels and their reliability is defined to be the ability to meet a given demand. This reliability is evaluated by using the universal generating function technique. An optimization method based on the extended great deluge algorithm is proposed. This method has the advantage over other methods to be simple and requires less effort for its implementation. The developed algorithm is compared to than in Levitin and Lisnianski [Optimization of imperfect preventive maintenance for multi-state systems. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 2000;67:193-203] by using a reference example and two newly generated examples. This comparison shows that the extended great deluge gives the best solutions (i.e. those with minimal costs) for 8 instances among 10

EdF speaks about economic advantages of fuel reprocessing as compared with interim storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1997-01-01

The French company Electricite de France (EdF) will prefer nuclear fuel reprocessing and plutonium recycling to spent fuel storage also in the years after 2000. This option is economically advantageous if the proportional cost of reprocessing does not exceed 1900 FRF/kg heavy metal. Economic analysis shows that this is feasible. EdF will soon have to reprocess annually about 1000 Mt spent fuel to supply enough plutonium for MOX fuel fabrication to feed as many as 28 PWR units and the Superphenix reactor. Spent fuel reprocessing is seen as promising as long as the efficiency of the MOX fuel approaches that of natural uranium based fuel. The French national industrial, political and legal context of EdF operations is also considered. (P.A.)

Achieving Competitive Advantage through Using an Integrated Multi-selling Model. The Case from Romanian Linjerie Producer: Jolidon

OpenAIRE

CUC Sunhilde

2011-01-01

Information and communication technologies applications and services have greatly influenced the behavior of both retailers andconsumers. In order to win new markets, to increase the sales and gain competitive advantages, e-commerce has been widely adopted in the fashion industry, particularly in the lingerie sector. The purposes of the paper were to examine the retailing formats in relation to e-business, to determine which were significantfactors affecting e-commerce and the distinctive asp...

Great Apes

Science.gov (United States)

Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Cerveny, Shannon

2014-01-01

Anesthesia of great apes is often necessary to conduct diagnostic analysis, provide therapeutics, facilitate surgical procedures, and enable transport and translocation for conservation purposes. Due to the stress of remote delivery injection of anesthetic agents, recent studies have focused on oral delivery and/or transmucosal absorption of preanesthetic and anesthetic agents. Maintenance of the airway and provision of oxygen is an important aspect of anesthesia in great ape species. The provision of analgesia is an important aspect of the anesthesia protocol for any procedure involving painful stimuli. Opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often administered alone, or in combination to provide multi-modal analgesia. There is increasing conservation management of in situ great ape populations, which has resulted in the development of field anesthesia techniques for free-living great apes for the purposes of translocation, reintroduction into the wild, and clinical interventions.

Understanding the advantages of open innovation practices in corporate venturing in terms of real options

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vanhaverbeke, W.P.M.; Vrande, van de V.J.A.; Chesbrough, H.

2008-01-01

Part of the advantages of using open innovation (compared to closed innovation) in corporate venturing can be explained by applying the real options approach. Open innovation in risk-laden activities such as corporate venturing has the following advantages: (i) benefits from early involvement in new

Detailed comparative anatomy of the extrinsic cardiac nerve plexus and postnatal reorganization of the cardiac position and innervation in the great apes: orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawashima, Tomokazu; Sato, Fumi

2012-03-01

To speculate how the extrinsic cardiac nerve plexus (ECNP) evolves phyletically and ontogenetically within the primate lineage, we conducted a comparative anatomical study of the ECNP, including an imaging examination in the great apes using 20 sides from 11 bodies from three species and a range of postnatal stages from newborns to mature adults. Although the position of the middle cervical ganglion (MG) in the great apes tended to be relatively lower than that in humans, the morphology of the ECNP in adult great apes was almost consistent with that in adult humans but essentially different from that in the lesser apes or gibbons. Therefore, the well-argued anatomical question of when did the MG acquire communicating branches with the spinal cervical nerves and appear constantly in all sympathetic cardiac nerves during primate evolution is clearly considered to be after the great apes and gibbons split. Moreover, a horizontal four-chambered heart and a lifted cardiac apex with a relatively large volume in newborn great apes rapidly changed its position downward, as seen in humans during postnatal growth and was associated with a reduction in the hepatic volume by imaging diagnosis and gross anatomy. In addition, our observation using a range of postnatal stages exhibits that two sympathetic ganglia, the middle cervical and cervicothoracic ganglia, differed between the early and later postnatal stages. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparative advantages of mechanical biosensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Arlett, J L; Myers, E B; Roukes, M L

2011-04-01

Mechanical interactions are fundamental to biology. Mechanical forces of chemical origin determine motility and adhesion on the cellular scale, and govern transport and affinity on the molecular scale. Biological sensing in the mechanical domain provides unique opportunities to measure forces, displacements and mass changes from cellular and subcellular processes. Nanomechanical systems are particularly well matched in size with molecular interactions, and provide a basis for biological probes with single-molecule sensitivity. Here we review micro- and nanoscale biosensors, with a particular focus on fast mechanical biosensing in fluid by mass- and force-based methods, and the challenges presented by non-specific interactions. We explain the general issues that will be critical to the success of any type of next-generation mechanical biosensor, such as the need to improve intrinsic device performance, fabrication reproducibility and system integration. We also discuss the need for a greater understanding of analyte-sensor interactions on the nanoscale and of stochastic processes in the sensing environment.

Comparative Advantage: Explaining Tourism Flows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Jie; Jensen, Camilla

2012-01-01

The original research article is reprinted in this volume from Edward Elgar on the Economics and Management of Tourism: ‘Ritchie and Crouch’s book The Competitive Destination: A Sustainable Tourism Perspective (CABI, 2003) has become one of the seminal works in tourism destination research and ma...... a required reader for tourism educators, graduate students and destination managers. I anticipate it will lead to yet another surge in excellent, important research.’ – Richard Perdue, Virginia Tech, US......The original research article is reprinted in this volume from Edward Elgar on the Economics and Management of Tourism: ‘Ritchie and Crouch’s book The Competitive Destination: A Sustainable Tourism Perspective (CABI, 2003) has become one of the seminal works in tourism destination research...... and management. It engendered a number of major research papers; many of which I was pleased to publish in the Journal of Travel Research. I am excited to see Geoff and Brent continuing their work with the publication of this edited book. The list of chapter authors is a “who’s who” of tourism researchers...

The Time Scale of Recombination Rate Evolution in Great Apes

Science.gov (United States)

Stevison, Laurie S.; Woerner, August E.; Kidd, Jeffrey M.; Kelley, Joanna L.; Veeramah, Krishna R.; McManus, Kimberly F.; Bustamante, Carlos D.; Hammer, Michael F.; Wall, Jeffrey D.

2016-01-01

Abstract We present three linkage-disequilibrium (LD)-based recombination maps generated using whole-genome sequence data from 10 Nigerian chimpanzees, 13 bonobos, and 15 western gorillas, collected as part of the Great Ape Genome Project (Prado-Martinez J, et al. 2013. Great ape genetic diversity and population history. Nature 499:471–475). We also identified species-specific recombination hotspots in each group using a modified LDhot framework, which greatly improves statistical power to detect hotspots at varying strengths. We show that fewer hotspots are shared among chimpanzee subspecies than within human populations, further narrowing the time scale of complete hotspot turnover. Further, using species-specific PRDM9 sequences to predict potential binding sites (PBS), we show higher predicted PRDM9 binding in recombination hotspots as compared to matched cold spot regions in multiple great ape species, including at least one chimpanzee subspecies. We found that correlations between broad-scale recombination rates decline more rapidly than nucleotide divergence between species. We also compared the skew of recombination rates at centromeres and telomeres between species and show a skew from chromosome means extending as far as 10–15 Mb from chromosome ends. Further, we examined broad-scale recombination rate changes near a translocation in gorillas and found minimal differences as compared to other great ape species perhaps because the coordinates relative to the chromosome ends were unaffected. Finally, on the basis of multiple linear regression analysis, we found that various correlates of recombination rate persist throughout the African great apes including repeats, diversity, and divergence. Our study is the first to analyze within- and between-species genome-wide recombination rate variation in several close relatives. PMID:26671457

Right Ear Advantage of Speech Audiometry in Single-sided Deafness.

Science.gov (United States)

Wettstein, Vincent G; Probst, Rudolf

2018-04-01

Postlingual single-sided deafness (SSD) is defined as normal hearing in one ear and severely impaired hearing in the other ear. A right ear advantage and dominance of the left hemisphere are well established findings in individuals with normal hearing and speech processing. Therefore, it seems plausible that a right ear advantage would exist in patients with SSD. The audiometric database was searched to identify patients with SSD. Results from the German monosyllabic Freiburg word test and four-syllabic number test in quiet were evaluated. Results of right-sided SSD were compared with left-sided SSD. Statistical calculations were done with the Mann-Whitney U test. Four hundred and six patients with SSD were identified, 182 with right-sided and 224 with left-sided SSD. The two groups had similar pure-tone thresholds without significant differences. All test parameters of speech audiometry had better values for right ears (SSD left) when compared with left ears (SSD right). Statistically significant results (p right and 97.5 ± 4.7% left, p right and 93.9 ± 9.1% left, p right and 63.8 ± 11.1 dB SPL left, p right ear advantage of speech audiometry was found in patients with SSD in this retrospective study of audiometric test results.

A New Keynesian Perspective on the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Peter N. Ireland

2010-01-01

With an estimated New Keynesian model, this paper compares the "Great Recession" of 2007-09 to its two immediate predecessors in 1990-91 and 2001. The model attributes all three downturns to a similar mix of aggregate demand and supply disturbances. The most recent series of adverse shocks lasted longer and became more severe, however, prolonging and deepening the Great Recession. In addition, the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate prevented monetary policy from stabilizing the US ...

Dreissenid mussels from the Great Lakes contain elevated thiaminase activity

Science.gov (United States)

Tillitt, D.E.; Riley, S.C.; Evans, A.N.; Nichols, S.J.; Zajicek, J.L.; Rinchard, J.; Richter, C.A.; Krueger, C.C.

2009-01-01

We examined thiaminase activity in dreissenid mussels collected at different depths and seasons, and from various locations in Lakes Michigan, Ontario, and Huron. Here we present evidence that two dreissenid mussel species (Dreissena bugensis and D. polymorpha) contain thiaminase activity that is 5-100 fold greater than observed in Great Lakes fishes. Thiaminase activity in zebra mussels ranged from 10,600 to 47,900??pmol g- 1??min- 1 and activities in quagga mussels ranged from 19,500 to 223,800??pmol g- 1??min- 1. Activity in the mussels was greatest in spring, less in summer, and least in fall. Additionally, we observed greater thiaminase activity in dreissenid mussels collected at shallow depths compared to mussels collected at deeper depths. Dreissenids constitute a significant and previously unknown pool of thiaminase in the Great Lakes food web compared to other known sources of this thiamine (vitamin B1)-degrading enzyme. Thiaminase in forage fish of the Great Lakes has been causally linked to thiamine deficiency in salmonines. We currently do not know whether linkages exist between thiaminase activities observed in dreissenids and the thiaminase activities in higher trophic levels of the Great Lakes food web. However, the extreme thiaminase activities observed in dreissenids from the Great Lakes may represent a serious unanticipated negative effect of these exotic species on Great Lakes ecosystems.

Advantages of geosynchronous solar power satellites for terrestrial base-load electrical supply compared to other renewable energy sources - or why civilization needs solar power satellites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strickland, J.K. Jr. [Texas Univ., Austin, TX (United States)

1998-06-01

The arguments in favour of using solar power satellites for primary base-load electrical supply are presented and compared with the advantages and drawbacks of other renewable energy sources, especially ground solar and wind systems. Popular misconceptions about energy use and the importation of space solar energy to the Earth`s surface are examined and discounted. Finally an optimal mix of space solar (focusing on geosynchronous solar power satellites), ground solar, and other energy sources is described which, it is argued, would be capable to meet future global energy demand. (UK)

The comparison of advantages and disadvantages of the classic and on-line banking

OpenAIRE

KORNOVÁ, Tereza

2016-01-01

This bachelor thesis is dedicated to the comparison of advantages and disadvantages of the classic and on-line banking in the Czech banking market. The theoretical part gives definition of basic information about classic and internet banking. The practical part describes an offer of selected banks and, based on selected criteria, compares advantages and disadvantages of classic and internet banking from the perspective of the bank and clients.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Great Lakes Mussel Watch(2009-2014)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Following the inception of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to address the significant environmental issues plaguing the Great Lakes region, the...

Advantages and disadvantages of peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICC) compared to other central venous lines: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Eva; Hammarskjöld, Fredrik; Lundberg, Dag; Arnlind, Marianne Heibert

2013-06-01

The use of central venous lines carries a significant risk for serious complications and high economic costs. Lately, the peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) has gained in popularity due to presumed advantages over other central venous lines. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify scientific evidence justifying the use of PICC. The literature review was performed according to the principles of Cochrane Collaboration. The electronic literature search included common databases up to March 2011. Only those studies rated as high or moderate quality were used for grading of evidence and conclusions. The search resulted in 827 abstracts, 48 articles were read in full text, and 11 met the inclusion criteria. None of the articles was classified as high quality and two had moderate quality. The results of these two studies indicate that PICC increases the risk for deep venous thrombosis (DVT), but decreases the risk for catheter occlusion. The quality of scientific evidence behind these conclusions, however, was limited. Due to the lack of studies with sufficiently high quality, questions such as early complications, patient satisfaction and costs could not be answered. We conclude that although PICCs are frequently used in oncology, scientific evidence supporting any advantage or disadvantage of PICC when comparing PICC with traditional central venous lines is limited, apart from a tendency towards increased risk for DVT and a decreased risk for catheter occlusion with PICC.

Structuring the competitive advantage of printing company

OpenAIRE

Kukharuk A. D.

2013-01-01

The nature of the concept of "competitive advantage of the company" if analyzed. The concept of "structuring a competitive advantage" is suggested. The model of structuring of printing company’s competitive advantage based on fundamentals of stakeholder theory is developed.

On preferences and doing the right thing : Satisfaction with advantageous inequity when cognitive processing is limited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bos, K. van den; Peters, Susanne Lidewij; Bobocel, D.R.; Ybema, J.F.

2006-01-01

We examine outcome satisfaction in situations in which people receive better outcomes than comparable other persons. Building on classical and modern social psychological theories, we argue that when reacting to these arrangements of advantageous inequity, judging the advantage is quick and easy

76 FR 56262 - Community Advantage Pilot Program

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-12

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Docket No. SBA 2011-0003] Community Advantage Pilot Program AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). ACTION: Notice of change to Community Advantage Pilot... Community Advantage Pilot Program. In that notice, SBA modified or waived as appropriate certain regulations...

Making Psychotherapy Great Again?

Science.gov (United States)

Plakun, Eric M

2017-05-01

Psychotherapy never stopped being as "great" as other treatments. This column explores the evidence base for both psychotherapy and medications, using depression as a specific example. The limitations are comparable for psychotherapy and medication, with much of the evidence based on small degrees of "statistically significant" rather than "clinically meaningful" change. Our field's biomedical emphasis leads to a false assumption that most patients present with single disorders, when comorbidity is the rule rather than the exception. This false assumption contributes to limitations in the evidence base and in our ability to treat patients optimally.

The comparative advantages of public ownership : evidence from U.S. electric utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwoka, J.E.Jr.

2005-01-01

This paper challenged the conventional economic theory that private enterprises result in higher cost and price performance by indicating that several empirical studies have shown equal or better performance by public enterprises. These divergent findings have prompted renewed theoretical attention to the public-private debate. Recent theory has identified possible benefits of public enterprise in certain circumstances. It has been argued that public owners can better secure the information needed to monitor business behaviour for consistency with social objectives. This study tested the relative benefits of public versus private companies in producing outputs with more specifiable and less specifiable quality. The empirical tests were conducted on the electric power industry in the United States because it has structural characteristics that make it ideal for the study. Also, both ownership types perform the similar tasks of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. In addition, all segments of the electric power industry have at some point been regulated and have been non competitive. The study showed that while privately owned systems achieve lower costs in generation, public systems typically have the advantage in the end-user-oriented distribution function with more non-contractible disposition. The study emphasized the importance of identifying product, market and provider characteristics best suited to each ownership type. It cautioned that the search for better performance is not simply a matter of prescribing privatization. Rather, there are identifiable circumstances in which public enterprise is appropriate. 26 refs., 5 tabs

Bilingual Education and L3 Learning: Metalinguistic Advantage or Not?

Science.gov (United States)

Rutgers, Dieuwerke; Evans, Michael

2017-01-01

Metalinguistic skills are highlighted in the literature as providing bilinguals with an advantage in additional language (L3) learning. The extent to which this may apply to bilingual education and content-and-language-integrated-learning settings, however, is as yet little understood. This article reports on a study exploring and comparing the…

Does Sympathy Motivate Prosocial Behaviour in Great Apes?

Science.gov (United States)

Liebal, Katja; Vaish, Amrisha; Haun, Daniel; Tomasello, Michael

2014-01-01

Prosocial behaviours such as helping, comforting, or sharing are central to human social life. Because they emerge early in ontogeny, it has been proposed that humans are prosocial by nature and that from early on empathy and sympathy motivate such behaviours. The emerging question is whether humans share these abilities to feel with and for someone with our closest relatives, the great apes. Although several studies demonstrated that great apes help others, little is known about their underlying motivations. This study addresses this issue and investigates whether four species of great apes (Pongo pygmaeus, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus) help a conspecific more after observing the conspecific being harmed (a human experimenter steals the conspecific’s food) compared to a condition where no harming occurred. Results showed that in regard to the occurrence of prosocial behaviours, only orangutans, but not the African great apes, help others when help is needed, contrasting prior findings on chimpanzees. However, with the exception of one population of orangutans that helped significantly more after a conspecific was harmed than when no harm occurred, prosocial behaviour in great apes was not motivated by concern for others. PMID:24416212

Competitive advantage and corporate communications

OpenAIRE

Mitić Sanja; Ognjanov Galjina

2013-01-01

Strategic importance of corporate communications and its role in the development of competitive advantage has attracted interest of numerous researchers in the fields of organization, management, marketing and public relations. Recent studies particularly emphasise the growing importance of soft factors, such as reputation in the development of competitive advantage. Concept of reputation is strongly connected with stakeholder theory, which stresses the importance of corporate communications ...

A Cram of E-Learning Advantages and Disadvantages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In today’s society, following the exponential development of ICT, the classical method of learning has undergone numerous changes. The emergence of the Internet has accelerated these changes due to its capacity to offer multiple possibilities of access to information, instruction, all based on dynamic technologies, transparency and open dialogue. It can be well said that the Internet is turning into an arbiter for the access to education and culture, while eLearning is a new form of education that suggests itself as an alternative with a view to the needs of continuing training and knowledge. The most widely known results of this change are obvious in two learning models mediated by ICT: eLearning and Computer-assisted learning. As well as the classical models, these models imply an efficient learning process based on well-grounded cooperation and communication activities. Moreover, these models require appropriate technology and equipment. It is also important for the eLearners to have knowledge of the new technologies. The great advantage of eLearning is the abolition of formal barriers by eliminating distances, by introducing temporal flexibility and the creation of a new type of student-teacher relationship. The authors have asked the question whether the greatest advantages of this new way of learning and refreshing will still hold for those of a higher educational and financial status, thus deepening unequal opportunity of chances. A team of members of the teaching staff of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi (UAIC and the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest (ASE have carried out a survey among the students of the two institutions regarding the students' perceptions, expectations and attitudes related to eLearning and the identifi-cation of the profile of the student with access to this form of education. The paper presents some of the most important findings of this research.

Advantage of irradiation in food industry, technical and economical constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupuy, P.

1986-01-01

Irradiation is an effective method to extend the conservation and to increase the hygienic security of food. Nevertheless the use of irradiation remains limited in food industry. The prospects of different applications are evaluated, referring to the other alternative technologies. The advantage of adequate irradiation facilities incorporated or not into the plants are compared [fr

GLOBAL COMPETITION AND ROMANIA’S NATIONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pop Nicolae Alexandru

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Analyzing products and services around us it is clear that most of them are the result of production factors, labor and capital becoming more international and increasingly less and less national. We are witnessing the globalization of markets and production, to a large global integration and interdependence, increase personalization of production and services as a result of new communication systems interaction and flexible production processes. Markets will continue to homogenize and diversify at the same time, so it is important that as a global marketer one addresses a market segment defined by income, age, and consumption habits and not by membership of a nation. The most visible and polarized is the premium segment fighting for high income clients where brand value plays an important role. Instead identification of large segments of customers offers the advantages of scale economy in production and marketing for global enterprises. Consumer profile is the dominant global consumer requesting and accepting global products and services easily. In fact, what can force an economic alignment to achieve the best performance, rather than the global consumer. The research methodology used includes literature review, comparative analysis, synthesis of data based on bibliographic resources and official documents.The aim of the paper is to highlight current models that underlie the competitive advantage of nations and assess the competitive advantage of Romania in the context of the global market. A case study is used to offer an overview of competitive advantage of Antibiotice Iasi SA, a competitive player, in a global pharmaceutical market with strong global competition. Countries moderate companies’ achievements of global efficiency objectives due to the countries’ rivalry. Romania has to understand that it is in competition with other countries in order to fulfill economic, political and social objectives. The scope in the end is the well

The kinematic advantage of electric cars

Science.gov (United States)

Meyn, Jan-Peter

2015-11-01

Acceleration of a common car with with a turbocharged diesel engine is compared to the same type with an electric motor in terms of kinematics. Starting from a state of rest, the electric car reaches a distant spot earlier than the diesel car, even though the latter has a better specification for engine power and average acceleration from 0 to 100 km h-1. A three phase model of acceleration as a function of time fits the data of the electric car accurately. The first phase is a quadratic growth of acceleration in time. It is shown that the tenfold higher coefficient for the first phase accounts for most of the kinematic advantage of the electric car.

Perceived versus Actual Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Langemeier, Michael R.; Yeager, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

This paper examined the relationship between farm characteristics and perceived sources of competitive advantage, and cost-based and revenue-based efficiency indices. Gross farm income and the percentage of labor devoted to crop production were significant and positively correlated with cost and revenue efficiency while the perception of the cowherd being the most important part of the operation was negatively correlated with efficiency. In general, perceived sources of competitive advantage ...

The influence of memory and attention on the ear advantage in dichotic listening.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Anselmo, Anita; Marzoli, Daniele; Brancucci, Alfredo

2016-12-01

The role of memory retention and attentional control on hemispheric asymmetry was investigated using a verbal dichotic listening paradigm, with the consonant-vowel syllables (/ba/,/da/,/ga/,/ka/,/pa/and/ta/), while manipulating the focus of attention and the time interval between stimulus and response. Attention was manipulated using three conditions: non-forced (NF), forced left (FL) and forced right (FR) attention. Memory involvement was varied using four delays (0, 1, 3 and 4 s) between stimulus presentation and response. Results showed a significant right ear advantage (REA) in the NF condition and an increased REA in the FR condition. A left ear advantage (LEA) was found in FL condition. The REA increased significantly in the NF attention condition at the 3-s compared to the 0-s delay and in the FR condition at the 1-s compared to the 0-s delay. No modulation of the left ear advantage was observed in the FL condition. These results are discussed in terms of an interaction between attentional processes and memory retention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Eight years of the Great Influenza Survey to monitor influenza-like illness in Flanders.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yannick Vandendijck

Full Text Available In 2003, an internet-based monitoring system of influenza-like illness (ILI, the Great Influenza Survey (GIS, was initiated in Belgium. For the Flemish part of Belgium, we investigate the representativeness of the GIS population and assess the validity of the survey in terms of ILI incidence during eight influenza seasons (from 2003 through 2011. The validity is investigated by comparing estimated ILI incidences from the GIS with recorded incidences from two other monitoring systems, (i the Belgian Sentinel Network and (ii the Google Flu Trends, and by performing a risk factor analysis to investigate whether the risks on acquiring ILI in the GIS population are comparable with results in the literature. A random walk model of first order is used to estimate ILI incidence trends based on the GIS. Good to excellent correspondence is observed between the estimated ILI trends in the GIS and the recorded trends in the Sentinel Network and the Google Flu Trends. The results of the risk factor analysis are in line with the literature. In conclusion, the GIS is a useful additional surveillance network for ILI monitoring in Flanders. The advantages are the speed at which information is available and the fact that data is gathered directly in the community at an individual level.

Comparative analysis of the development of franchising in Serbia and worldwide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefanović Suzana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The research of franchising as a business model is of great importance for the further development of this concept. At the global level, there is a constant tendency of development of existing and new franchise systems. This area is still unexplored in Serbia. The aim of the paper is to point out the importance of franchising on the global level and the need for more intensive development in Serbia, based on a comparative analysis of development of this concept in Serbia and worldwide. The paper presents the development of franchising as a business concept in the modern economy, with special focus on fundamental characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of franchising systems. Analysis of the franchise worldwide and in Serbia indicates that franchising is still insufficiently regulated by the law in Serbia. For the purpose of comparative analysis of the best known franchise systems in the developed market economies and Serbia, we start from the representative examples of franchise concepts in the United States, Great Britain and Serbia. The paper indicates that a small number of domestic franchise is internationalized, based on a review of selected franchise systems and the presence of foreign franchises in Serbia and Serbian franchise all over the world.

Advantages of new micro-jet welding technology on weld microstructure control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan PIWNIK

2013-01-01

Full Text Available An innovative apparatus to welding process with micro-jet cooling of the weld made it possible to carry out technological tests, which have proved theoretical considerations about this problem. This project gives real opportunities for professional development in the field of welding with controlling the parameters of weld structure. These tests have proved that the new micro-jet technology has the potential for growth. It may be great achievement of welding technology in order to increase weld metal strength. The new technology with micro-jet cooling may have many practical applications in many fields, for example such as in the transport industry or to repair damaged metal elements. The advantages of the new device over the traditional system are the ability to control the structure of the weld, the weld mechanical performance increases and improve the quality of welded joints.

Great Lakes Literacy Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Fortner, Rosanne W.; Manzo, Lyndsey

2011-03-01

Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie together form North America's Great Lakes, a region that contains 20% of the world's fresh surface water and is home to roughly one quarter of the U.S. population (Figure 1). Supporting a $4 billion sport fishing industry, plus $16 billion annually in boating, 1.5 million U.S. jobs, and $62 billion in annual wages directly, the Great Lakes form the backbone of a regional economy that is vital to the United States as a whole (see http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/downloads/economy/11-708-Great-Lakes-Jobs.pdf). Yet the grandeur and importance of this freshwater resource are little understood, not only by people in the rest of the country but also by many in the region itself. To help address this lack of knowledge, the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, developed literacy principles for the Great Lakes to serve as a guide for education of students and the public. These “Great Lakes Literacy Principles” represent an understanding of the Great Lakes' influences on society and society's influences on the Great Lakes.

Competitive Advantages from Horizontal Relationships in Productive Agglomerations: perceptions of local agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Pinheiro Deboçã

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Objective – This paper aims to assess to what extent relational view assumptions can explain competitive advantages perceived in the industrial agglomeration contexts of small businesses. Design/methodology/approach – We used qualitative research; two furniture centers, Misassol (SP and Ubá (MG, were examined through comparative data analysis. Data was collected through interviews with executives from 40 companies and 13 supporting organizations. The relational view and its assumptions point to factors that generate competitive advantage resulting from collaborative relationships between companies. Moreover, agglomerations provide intense relationships and are encouraged by governance entities. Findings – No competitive advantages clearly established due to relational gains were identified. The behavior of entrepreneurs in both centers tends strongly towards individualism. What agents identify as competitive advantages corresponds to situational or contextual factors in these centers and do not result from the realization of relational view assumptions, escaping from this paradigm. Relational gains can result only from subgroups that are formed through affinity, with no intervention from governance. Practical implications – Despite an agglomeration tendency within companies belonging to the furniture sector, a strong inclination towards individualism creates barriers to obtaining additional advantages resulting from relational gains, whether due to market regionalization, access of sales representatives, or logistics and tax costs, among other issues. However, actions in small groups are an important governance mechanism for that context. Contributions – Evaluate the assumptions of relational view and its explanatory power for competitive advantages in agglomerations of Brazilian furniture companies.

Strategic objectives and the usage possibility of competitive advantages of the grain crops complex of Chelyabinsk region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ol'ga Dmitrievna Rubaeva

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the logical scheme of strategy of the grain complex competitive advantages usage. The results of evaluation of financial and economic situation of agricultural enterprises engaged into production of grain are presented. Determination of the level of competitiveness of the agro-grain industry was established on the basis of obtaining an integral point-weighting factor of competitiveness. Evaluation and confirmation of this technique allowed identifying key factors of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in the grain corns industry. The main conclusion of the study is the following: the use of resource-saving technologies for the cultivation of crops greatly influences the development of competitive advantages. Calculations showed that the application of resource-saving technology increases productivity, reduces labour requirements and the cost of equipment maintenance and repair, fuel costs, improves basic economic indicators of activity: gross revenues from sales is increasing.

Compositional Advantage and Strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Xin

In this paper, I first critique the composition-based view of Yadong Luo and John Child for understanding how resource-poor firms survive and thrive. To remedy the deficiencies in their perspective, I then propose a dynamic theory of compositional advantage and strategy. Here, the compositional...... advantage is redefined as the attractiveness of the composition of the producer’s offering in terms of scope and perceived value/price ratio. I identify five ways or basic compositional strategies to improve the value/price ratio. A firm may have an overall compositional strategy that is composed of some...... of the present theory to understanding Chinese firms. I conclude with managerial implications and suggestions for future research....

Innovation strategies and competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Gërguri, Shqipe; Rexhepi, Gadaf; Ramadani, Veland

2013-01-01

Companies today operate in a very dynamic, uncertain and competitive environment. They compete in "nicety" that are so small but so important. Companies are trying to achieve competitive advantage in order to help them obtain a better and a stable position in the marketplace. The best way for companies to achieve a competitive advantage is through innovation. This paper addresses the meaning of innovation what does innovation present, types of innovation specifically discussing the right way ...

STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

Jusuf ZEKIRI; Alexandru NEDELEA

2011-01-01

This paper is organized in three parts. A brief overview of the importance of strategies within companies, as well as literature review is presented along with traditional approaches on strategies for achieving competitive advantage, and new approaches for gaining a competitive advantage. The main objective of the paper is to outline and discuss the relevant issues and challenges from a theoretical viewpoint related with the possible strategy formulation of companies in order to achieve a com...

Advantages and successful use of TIG narrow-gap welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loehberg, R.; Pellkofer, D.; Schmidt, J.

1986-01-01

Narrow-gap welding, an advancement of the mechanized TIG impulse welding process with conventional seam geometry (V-shaped and/or U-shaped welds), not only assures great economic efficiency on account of the low weld volume but also offers considerable benefits in terms of quality. Thanks to the low number of beads, the following advantages are gained: less axial and radial shrinkage which reduces the strain in the root area, total heat input and, thus, the dwell time in the critical temperature range from 500 to 800 0 C leading to a chromium depletion at the grain boundaries during the welding process is minimized which markedly reduces the sensitivity of non-stabilized steels to intercrystalline stress corrosion cracking, and a relatively favourable residual welding stress profile in the heat affected zone. The process was used successfully in the past for welds of ferritic and austenitic steel pipes in the construction of nuclear power plants and in the remote-controlled welding during the replacement of piping in plants already in operation. (orig.) [de

Does being female provide a neuroprotective advantage following spinal cord injury?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey P Datto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available It has been controversial whether gender has any effect on recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI. Past experimental and clinical research aimed at addressing this subject has led to constrasting findings on whether females hold any advantage in locomotor recovery. Additionally, for studies supporting the notion of a female gender related advantage, a definite cause has not been explained. In a recent study, using large sample sizes for comparative male and female spinal cord injury cohorts, we reported that a significant gender advantage favoring females existed in both tissue preservation and functional recovery after taking into consideration discrepancies in age and weight of the animals across sexes. Prior animal research frequently used sample sizes that were too small to determine significance with certainty and also did not account for two other factors that influence locomotor performance: age and weight. Our finding is important in light of controversy surrounding the effect of gender on outcome and the fact that SCI affects more than ten thousand new individuals annually, a population that is disproportionately male. By deepening our understanding of why a gender advantage exists, potential new therapeutics can be designed to improve recovery for the male population following the initial trauma or putatively augment the neuroprotective privilege in females for enhanced outcomes.

Achieving competitive advantage through strategic human resource management.

Science.gov (United States)

Fottler, M D; Phillips, R L; Blair, J D; Duran, C A

1990-01-01

The framework presented here challenges health care executives to manage human resources strategically as an integral part of the strategic planning process. Health care executives should consciously formulate human resource strategies and practices that are linked to and reinforce the broader strategic posture of the organization. This article provides a framework for (1) determining and focusing on desired strategic outcomes, (2) identifying and implementing essential human resource management actions, and (3) maintaining or enhancing competitive advantage. The strategic approach to human resource management includes assessing the organization's environment and mission; formulating the organization's business strategy; assessing the human resources requirements based on the intended strategy; comparing the current inventory of human resources in terms of numbers, characteristics, and human resource management practices with respect to the strategic requirements of the organization and its services or product lines; formulating the human resource strategy based on the differences between the assessed requirements and the current inventory; and implementing the appropriate human resource practices to reinforce the strategy and attain competitive advantage.

The Great Recession: a comparison of recession magnitudes in Europe, USA and Japan

OpenAIRE

Mazurek, Jiří

2013-01-01

In this article recession magnitudes in Europe, the USA and Japan during the Great Recession are compared. The strongest recessions (of severe category) occurred in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, while recessions in Japan and the USA were significantly weaker. Even the strongest recession (in Latvia) was found smaller in its magnitude than the Great Depression 1929-1933 in the USA. Hence, comparisons of the Great Recession to the Great Depression in the literature are somewhat exaggerated.

An Investigation of Customer Accounting Systems as a Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Morten; Kumar, V.; Plenborg, Thomas

2016-01-01

This study examines whether using customer accounting systems for resource allocation purposes is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Based on a longitudinal data set comparing the performance of firms that adopt customer accounting and their industry benchmarks, we find that financial...... accounting systems is a source of temporary rather than sustainable competitive advantage. The results are robust to other strategic events around the time of adoption, different matching of peers, and the influence of other factors that could be expected to influence firm performance. We discuss...

Using IT-CMF to build Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

McLaughlin, Stephen

2012-01-01

Developing a competitive advantage, for any organization, is a key business imperative. Without some form of competitive advantage it is very difficult to compete within today’s highly dynamic market place. In order to develop competitive advantages organizations must focus on identifying and building their core capabilities. As technology’s influence is now pervasive throughout every aspect of organizational life organizations must consider the role their IT based ...

Drivers of Collaborative Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weihe, Gudrid

processes and behavioural dimensions is practically non-existent. This article tries to remedy the current gap in the literature by reviewing research findings on interfirm collaboration (alliances). On that basis a conceptual framework for analyzing partnership processes is developed. Finally......, the antecedents of collaborative advantage are theoretically examined, and the organizational competences contributing to collaborative success are identified. The conclusion is that operational processes and social dynamics are vital drivers of collaborative advantage. Another significant conclusion...... is that public management research can benefit from drawing upon existing alliance research. Alliance scholars have during the past couple of decades accumulated an impressive amount of knowledge on different aspects of inter-firm cooperation, and therefore the learning potential for public management scholars...

A permutation testing framework to compare groups of brain networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Sean L; Lyday, Robert G; Hayasaka, Satoru; Marsh, Anthony P; Laurienti, Paul J

2013-01-01

Brain network analyses have moved to the forefront of neuroimaging research over the last decade. However, methods for statistically comparing groups of networks have lagged behind. These comparisons have great appeal for researchers interested in gaining further insight into complex brain function and how it changes across different mental states and disease conditions. Current comparison approaches generally either rely on a summary metric or on mass-univariate nodal or edge-based comparisons that ignore the inherent topological properties of the network, yielding little power and failing to make network level comparisons. Gleaning deeper insights into normal and abnormal changes in complex brain function demands methods that take advantage of the wealth of data present in an entire brain network. Here we propose a permutation testing framework that allows comparing groups of networks while incorporating topological features inherent in each individual network. We validate our approach using simulated data with known group differences. We then apply the method to functional brain networks derived from fMRI data.

The Advantages of nuclear power in the wake of the soaring prices of coal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanabe, Toshinori

2005-01-01

The cost of coal fueled energy production is twice the cost of long-term nuclear power generation. The direct reason for this is the soaring price of coal, which has reached a height not attained in a quarter of a century. Like crude oil in countries such as China, it is expected to be short in supply and short in demand for some time coming. While many look to the development of new energy mechanisms such as solar energy panels and wind turbines, the increase in extreme weather brought about by changes in the global climate sheds doubt on the effectiveness of these methods. In the 21st century, as we witness great changes in our global environment and energy utilization, the advantages of nuclear power generation in terms of costs, global warming measures, and resource conservation are being increasingly recognized. Now is the time to capitalize on these advantages. Responsible explanations about the safety of nuclear power are needed in order to restore the people's trust in this resource. Meanwhile, we should push forward with those projects that have clearly demonstrated their safe utilization of nuclear reactor technologies. (author)

Advantages and Disadvantages in Image Processing with Free Software in Radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mujika, Katrin Muradas; Méndez, Juan Antonio Juanes; de Miguel, Andrés Framiñan

2018-01-15

Currently, there are sophisticated applications that make it possible to visualize medical images and even to manipulate them. These software applications are of great interest, both from a teaching and a radiological perspective. In addition, some of these applications are known as Free Open Source Software because they are free and the source code is freely available, and therefore it can be easily obtained even on personal computers. Two examples of free open source software are Osirix Lite® and 3D Slicer®. However, this last group of free applications have limitations in its use. For the radiological field, manipulating and post-processing images is increasingly important. Consequently, sophisticated computing tools that combine software and hardware to process medical images are needed. In radiology, graphic workstations allow their users to process, review, analyse, communicate and exchange multidimensional digital images acquired with different image-capturing radiological devices. These radiological devices are basically CT (Computerised Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), PET (Positron Emission Tomography), etc. Nevertheless, the programs included in these workstations have a high cost which always depends on the software provider and is always subject to its norms and requirements. With this study, we aim to present the advantages and disadvantages of these radiological image visualization systems in the advanced management of radiological studies. We will compare the features of the VITREA2® and AW VolumeShare 5® radiology workstation with free open source software applications like OsiriX® and 3D Slicer®, with examples from specific studies.

Perinatal Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Underweight before Pregnancy: A Population-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Trojner Bregar, Andreja; Blickstein, Isaac; Bržan Šimenc, Gabrijela; Janša, Vid; Verdenik, Ivan; Lučovnik, Miha; Tul, Nataša

2017-01-01

To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of being underweight before pregnancy. Cohort study of a large population-based dataset of singleton births was used to compare maternal and neonatal outcomes of pre-gravid underweight body mass index (BMI 4,000 g, less cesarean births and a lower incidence of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders. A tradeoff exists between the advantages of being lean before pregnancy in terms of less maternal morbidity in return for gaining a more advanced gestational age and higher birth weight. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Policies and practices of beach monitoring in the Great Lakes, USA: a critical review

Science.gov (United States)

Nevers, Meredith B.; Whitman, Richard L.

2010-01-01

Beaches throughout the Great Lakes are monitored for fecal indicator bacteria (typically Escherichia coli) in order to protect the public from potential sewage contamination. Currently, there is no universal standard for sample collection and analysis or results interpretation. Monitoring policies are developed by individual beach management jurisdictions, and applications are highly variable across and within lakes, states, and provinces. Extensive research has demonstrated that sampling decisions for time, depth, number of replicates, frequency of sampling, and laboratory analysis all influence the results outcome, as well as calculations of the mean and interpretation of the results in policy decisions. Additional shortcomings to current monitoring approaches include appropriateness and reliability of currently used indicator bacteria and the overall goal of these monitoring programs. Current research is attempting to circumvent these complex issues by developing new tools and methods for beach monitoring. In this review, we highlight the variety of sampling routines used across the Great Lakes and the extensive body of research that challenges comparisons among beaches. We also assess the future of Great Lakes monitoring and the advantages and disadvantages of establishing standards that are evenly applied across all beaches.

International comparative studies in mathematics education: are we obsessed with the international rankings of measured educational outcomes?

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Tsung-Lung; Li, Hui-Chuan

2017-11-01

Over the past few decades, researchers, policy makers, educators and the general public, who have an interest in mathematics education in different countries, pay a great deal of attention to the results from international comparative studies. Of great interest to the international studies is the results of Eastern students consistently achieving higher marks among the participating countries. In recent years, we have seen a climate of intense global economic competition and a growing belief in the key role of education, which have persuaded governments to become increasingly obsessed with the international rankings of measured educational outcomes. Accordingly, educational policy is increasingly driven by national attempts to "copy" the perceived advantage associated with the educational strategies and techniques of other countries. In this note, we present a discussion of the benefits and criticisms of one of these international comparative studies: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) studies. In so doing, we attempt to call attention to a continuously growing culture of "teaching to the test" in mathematics education.

National competitiveness and absolute advantage in a global economy

OpenAIRE

Parrinello, Sergio

2006-01-01

Distinguished trade theorists maintain that a national economy cannot be uncompetitive as a whole, contrary to the frequent statements of many politicians, because a country must possess a comparative advantage in some sector according to Ricardo’s principle. In this paper the author arguesthat such a criticism addressed to the notion of national competitiveness neglects a bottom line of a national economy engaged in a global market. In this context, characterized by free capital movements an...

Home advantage in the Winter Olympics (1908-1998).

Science.gov (United States)

Balmer, N J; Nevill, A M; Williams, A M

2001-02-01

We obtained indices of home advantage, based on the medals won by competing nations, for each event held at the Winter Olympics from 1908 to 1998. These indices were designed to assess home advantage while controlling for nation strength, changes in the number of medals on offer and the performance of 'non-hosting' nations. Some evidence of home advantage was found in figure skating, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, alpine skiing and short track speed skating. In contrast, little or no home advantage was observed in ice hockey, Nordic combined, Nordic skiing, bobsled, luge, biathlon or speed skating. When all events were combined, a significant home advantage was observed (P = 0.029), although no significant differences in the extent of home advantage were found between events (P > 0.05). When events were grouped according to whether they were subjectively assessed by judges, significantly greater home advantage was observed in the subjectively assessed events (P = 0.037). This was a reflection of better home performances, suggesting that judges were scoring home competitors disproportionately higher than away competitors. Familiarity with local conditions was shown to have some effect, particularly in alpine skiing, although the bobsled and luge showed little or no advantage over other events. Regression analysis showed that the number of time zones and direction of travel produced no discernible trends or differences in performance.

Chir99021 and Valproic acid reduce the proliferative advantage of Apc mutant cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Langlands, Alistair J; Carroll, Thomas D; Chen, Yu; Näthke, Inke

2018-02-15

More than 90% of colorectal cancers carry mutations in Apc that drive tumourigenesis. A 'just-right' signalling model proposes that Apc mutations stimulate optimal, but not excessive Wnt signalling, resulting in a growth advantage of Apc mutant over wild-type cells. Reversal of this growth advantage constitutes a potential therapeutic approach. We utilised intestinal organoids to compare the growth of Apc mutant and wild-type cells. Organoids derived from Apc Min/+ mice recapitulate stages of intestinal polyposis in culture. They eventually form spherical cysts that reflect the competitive growth advantage of cells that have undergone loss of heterozygosity (LOH). We discovered that this emergence of cysts was inhibited by Chiron99021 and Valproic acid, which potentiates Wnt signalling. Chiron99021 and Valproic acid restrict the growth advantage of Apc mutant cells while stimulating that of wild-type cells, suggesting that excessive Wnt signalling reduces the relative fitness of Apc mutant cells. As a proof of concept, we demonstrated that Chiron99021-treated Apc mutant organoids were rendered susceptible to TSA-induced apoptosis, while wild-type cells were protected.

Constructing Regional advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asheim, Bjørn T.; Boschma, Ron; Cooke, Phil

2011-01-01

This paper presents a regional innovation policy model based on the idea of constructing regional advantage. This policy model brings together concepts like related variety, knowledge bases and policy platforms. Related variety attaches importance to knowledge spillovers across complementary...... economic development within and between regions in action lines appropriate to incorporate the basic principles behind related variety and differentiated knowledge bases....

Digital linear accelerator: The advantages for radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andric, S.; Maksimovic, M.; Dekic, M.; Clark, T.

1998-01-01

Technical performances of Digital Linear Accelerator were presented to point out its advantages for clinical radiotherapy treatment. The accelerator installation is earned out at Military Medical Academy, Radiotherapy Department, by Medes and Elekta companies. The unit offers many technical advantages with possibility of introduction new conformal treatment techniques as stereotactic radiosurgery, total body and total skin irradiation. In the paper are underlined advantages in relation to running conventional accelerator units at Yugoslav radiotherapy departments, both from technical and medical point of view. (author)

Knowledge in Value Creation Process for Increasing Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna ZÁVODSKÁ

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to compare companies by using value creation model and to determine knowledge in these processes. The framework for the value creation process shows problems of case companies in different phases of this process. Knowledge is compared in each of the individual phases of the process and its role in different types of companies. There is identified role of knowledge for increasing competitive advantage. The methodology involves case study from which data are derived and analyzed. The analysis shows that the framework for the value creation process can be used as an analytical tool for value overview in different phases and there is a need for different approaches to improve business and create new value for customers. Based on the analyzed problems, proposed recommendations for improvement are made. These recommendations are based on providing value innovation for customers (end users of software product. Value innovation of software product is considered as crucial for improvement of the companies in machinery industry. Company A has created new value through remote service. This remote service provides several advantages. Customers can prevent problems in machines by implementing software product which is still analyzing and evaluating data from machines. Company B and C were not able to create major value innovation for several years.

Knowledge in Value Creation Process for Increasing Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veronika ŠRAMOVÁ

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to compare companies by using value creation model and to determine knowledge in these processes. The framework for the value creation process shows problems of case companies in different phases of this process. Knowledge is compared in each of the individual phases of the process and its role in different types of companies. There is identified role of knowledge for increasing competitive advantage. The methodology involves case study from which data are derived and analyzed. The analysis shows that the framework for the value creation process can be used as an analytical tool for value overview in different phases and there is a need for different approaches to improve business and create new value for customers. Based on the analyzed problems, proposed recommendations for improvement are made. These recommendations are based on providing value innovation for customers (end users of software product. Value innovation of software product is considered as crucial for improvement of the companies in machinery industry. Company A has created new value through remote service. This remote service provides several advantages. Customers can prevent problems in machines by implementing software product which is still analyzing and evaluating data from machines. Company B and C were not able to create major value innovation for several years.

Exploring the sequential lineup advantage using WITNESS.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodsell, Charles A; Gronlund, Scott D; Carlson, Curt A

2010-12-01

Advocates claim that the sequential lineup is an improvement over simultaneous lineup procedures, but no formal (quantitatively specified) explanation exists for why it is better. The computational model WITNESS (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) was used to develop theoretical explanations for the sequential lineup advantage. In its current form, WITNESS produced a sequential advantage only by pairing conservative sequential choosing with liberal simultaneous choosing. However, this combination failed to approximate four extant experiments that exhibited large sequential advantages. Two of these experiments became the focus of our efforts because the data were uncontaminated by likely suspect position effects. Decision-based and memory-based modifications to WITNESS approximated the data and produced a sequential advantage. The next step is to evaluate the proposed explanations and modify public policy recommendations accordingly.

Features of formation of competitive advantages: a strategic dimension

OpenAIRE

O.Р. Pashchenko

2015-01-01

The article examines the features of formation of competitive advantages, the depth of theoretical and methodological basis for the formation of competitive advantages at an enterprise. The author has reviewed the approaches to the formation of stable and long-term competitive advantages. The author has also overviewed the requirements which are to be met by competitive advantages of a company and the factors that affect the possibility of competitive advantages. The author develops her ow...

What killed Alexander the Great?

Science.gov (United States)

Battersby, Cameron

2007-01-01

The cause of the death of the Macedonian King, Alexander the Great, at Babylon in 323 BC has excited interest and conjecture throughout the ages. The information available in the surviving ancient sources, none of which is contemporaneous, has been reviewed and compared with modern knowledge as set out in several well-known recent surgical texts. The ancient sources record epic drinking by the Macedonian nobility since at least the time of Phillip II, Alexander's father. Alexander's sudden illness and death is likely to have resulted from a surgical complication of acute alcoholic excess.

Quantitative interpretation of great lakes remote sensing data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shook, D.F.; Salzman, J.; Svehla, R.A.; Gedney, R.T.

1980-01-01

Remote sensing has been applied in the past to the surveillance of Great Lakes water quality, but it has been only partially successful because of the completely empirical approach taken in relating the multispectral scanning data at visible and near-infrared wavelengths to water parameters. Any remote sensing approach using water color information must take into account (1) the existence of many different organic and inorganic species throughtout the Greak Lakes, (2) the occurrence of a mixture of species in most locations, and (3) spatial (inter- and interlake as well as vertical) variations in types and concentrations of species. The radiative transfer model provides a potential method for an orderly analysis of remote sensing data and a physical basis for developing quantitative algorithms. Predictions and field measurements of volume reflectances are presented which clearly show the advantage of using a radiative transfer model. Spectral absorptance and backscattering coefficients for two inorganic sediments are reported

The Temporal Limits of Technological Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

technologically advanced capabilities. “ Technology , in fact, is one of the keys to understanding relations between Hitler’s regime and the German business ...strategy sought to “leverage US advantages in technologies 2 like big data, stealth, advanced manufacturing (e.g. 3-D printing), robotics, and... history has had different parameters and different results, examining historical situations in which a technological advantage has been achieved

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE

OpenAIRE

PRUNEA Ana Daniela

2014-01-01

Rapid changes in market characteristics and the technological innovations are common and faster challenges, resulting in products, processes and technologies. The competitive advantage is volatile, difficult to obtain and more difficult to maintain and strengthened with consumers who through their individual choices polarization confirms the recognition performance and award competitive advantages, thus causing the competitive ranking of companies present in a particular market. The competiti...

MOLDOVA: MISSED ADVANTAGES OF EURASIAN INTEGRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ludmila Vasiljevna Fokina

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to potentially missed advantages of Eurasian integration (EAEU for Moldova. Special attention is given to the branches in which the country could get evident advantages including agriculture, power engineering, external trade ties with the EAEU countries. Possible positive effects of Eurasian integration in solution of the Transnistrian problem, in the sphere of labour migration and other fields are also shown.

Competitive advantage of PET/MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jadvar, Hossein, E-mail: jadvar@usc.edu; Colletti, Patrick M.

2014-01-15

Multimodality imaging has made great strides in the imaging evaluation of patients with a variety of diseases. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is now established as the imaging modality of choice in many clinical conditions, particularly in oncology. While the initial development of combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) was in the preclinical arena, hybrid PET/MR scanners are now available for clinical use. PET/MRI combines the unique features of MRI including excellent soft tissue contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, fMRI and other specialized sequences as well as MR spectroscopy with the quantitative physiologic information that is provided by PET. Most evidence for the potential clinical utility of PET/MRI is based on studies performed with side-by-side comparison or software-fused MRI and PET images. Data on distinctive utility of hybrid PET/MRI are rapidly emerging. There are potential competitive advantages of PET/MRI over PET/CT. In general, PET/MRI may be preferred over PET/CT where the unique features of MRI provide more robust imaging evaluation in certain clinical settings. The exact role and potential utility of simultaneous data acquisition in specific research and clinical settings will need to be defined. It may be that simultaneous PET/MRI will be best suited for clinical situations that are disease-specific, organ-specific, related to diseases of the children or in those patients undergoing repeated imaging for whom cumulative radiation dose must be kept as low as reasonably achievable. PET/MRI also offers interesting opportunities for use of dual modality probes. Upon clear definition of clinical utility, other important and practical issues related to business operational model, clinical workflow and reimbursement will also be resolved.

Competitive advantage of PET/MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Jadvar, Hossein; Colletti, Patrick M

2014-01-01

Multimodality imaging has made great strides in the imaging evaluation of patients with a variety of diseases. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is now established as the imaging modality of choice in many clinical conditions, particularly in oncology. While the initial development of combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) was in the preclinical arena, hybrid PET/MR scanners are now available for clinical use. PET/MRI combines the unique features of MRI including excellent soft tissue contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, fMRI and other specialized sequences as well as MR spectroscopy with the quantitative physiologic information that is provided by PET. Most evidence for the potential clinical utility of PET/MRI is based on studies performed with side-by-side comparison or software-fused MRI and PET images. Data on distinctive utility of hybrid PET/MRI are rapidly emerging. There are potential competitive advantages of PET/MRI over PET/CT. In general, PET/MRI may be preferred over PET/CT where the unique features of MRI provide more robust imaging evaluation in certain clinical settings. The exact role and potential utility of simultaneous data acquisition in specific research and clinical settings will need to be defined. It may be that simultaneous PET/MRI will be best suited for clinical situations that are disease-specific, organ-specific, related to diseases of the children or in those patients undergoing repeated imaging for whom cumulative radiation dose must be kept as low as reasonably achievable. PET/MRI also offers interesting opportunities for use of dual modality probes. Upon clear definition of clinical utility, other important and practical issues related to business operational model, clinical workflow and reimbursement will also be resolved. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Competitive advantage of PET/MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jadvar, Hossein; Colletti, Patrick M.

2014-01-01

Multimodality imaging has made great strides in the imaging evaluation of patients with a variety of diseases. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is now established as the imaging modality of choice in many clinical conditions, particularly in oncology. While the initial development of combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) was in the preclinical arena, hybrid PET/MR scanners are now available for clinical use. PET/MRI combines the unique features of MRI including excellent soft tissue contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, fMRI and other specialized sequences as well as MR spectroscopy with the quantitative physiologic information that is provided by PET. Most evidence for the potential clinical utility of PET/MRI is based on studies performed with side-by-side comparison or software-fused MRI and PET images. Data on distinctive utility of hybrid PET/MRI are rapidly emerging. There are potential competitive advantages of PET/MRI over PET/CT. In general, PET/MRI may be preferred over PET/CT where the unique features of MRI provide more robust imaging evaluation in certain clinical settings. The exact role and potential utility of simultaneous data acquisition in specific research and clinical settings will need to be defined. It may be that simultaneous PET/MRI will be best suited for clinical situations that are disease-specific, organ-specific, related to diseases of the children or in those patients undergoing repeated imaging for whom cumulative radiation dose must be kept as low as reasonably achievable. PET/MRI also offers interesting opportunities for use of dual modality probes. Upon clear definition of clinical utility, other important and practical issues related to business operational model, clinical workflow and reimbursement will also be resolved

Logistics potentials in business competitive advantage creation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafał Matwiejczuk

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Companies constantly search for ways to achieve and sustain long-term competitive advantage. Among the factors influencing the competitive advantage creation there are so called logistics potentials, which constitute a component part of a business strategic potentials. Logistics resources, logistics capabilities and logistics competences are the main components of the logistics potentials structure and hierarchy. Methods: In order to recognize the logistics potentials which determine the competitive advantage creation one may use the assumptions and elements of contemporary management concepts, including strategic management. In particular the article deals with Resource-Based View (RBV, Dynamic Capabilities Concept (DCC and - first of all - Competence-Based Management (CBM. Results and conclusions: Several significant research projects have presented a wide scope and a large number of possibilities of logistics potentials (and logistics competences in particular influence on business competitive advantage creation. The article briefly presents the research results conducted by: (1 Michigan State University (USA, (2 European Logistics Association (ELA in cooperation with A.T. Kearney, (3 Computer Sciences Corporation and (4 Capgemini. The research results have pointed out to differentiated but at the same distinctive symptoms of logistics competences influence on competitive advantage creation. The article also refers to the results of the research carried out by the Chair of Logistics & Marketing at Opole University (Poland in companies operating in Poland. The research has been mainly dealing with the significance of logistics competences in competitive advantage creation.

The advantages and disadvantages of using high technology in hand rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Levanon, Yafi

2013-01-01

A brief review of the history of occupational therapy shows that the relationship between health and activity was of great concern to the founders of the Occupational Therapy (OT) field, and continues to be of concern to today's occupational therapists. Today, computers and Virtual Reality (VR) take the place of clay and the weaving loom. The goal of this article is to describe both known and innovative computerized equipment being used in interventions for hand rehabilitation and evaluations, as well as answer the question: 'what are the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in hand rehabilitation?' Our conclusion, based on clinical experience and supported by the literature, appears to emphasize that advanced technology can enrich treatment and help patients who are unable to visit the clinic regularly, to get appropriate treatment. However, advanced technology has not been found to be superior to traditional treatment and cannot replace the occupational therapist. Copyright © 2013 Hanley & Belfus. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Less Intense Postacute Care, Better Outcomes For Enrollees In Medicare Advantage Than Those In Fee-For-Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Huckfeldt, Peter J; Escarce, José J; Rabideau, Brendan; Karaca-Mandic, Pinar; Sood, Neeraj

2017-01-01

Traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare's prospective payment systems for postacute care provide little incentive to coordinate care or control costs. In contrast, Medicare Advantage plans pay for postacute care out of monthly capitated payments and thus have stronger incentives to use it efficiently. We compared the use of postacute care in skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation facilities by enrollees in Medicare Advantage and FFS Medicare after hospital discharge for three high-volume conditions: lower extremity joint replacement, stroke, and heart failure. After accounting for differences in patient characteristics at discharge, we found lower intensity of postacute care for Medicare Advantage patients compared to FFS Medicare patients discharged from the same hospital, across all three conditions. Medicare Advantage patients also exhibited better outcomes than their FFS Medicare counterparts, including lower rates of hospital readmission and higher rates of return to the community. These findings suggest that payment reforms such as bundling in FFS Medicare may reduce the intensity of postacute care without adversely affecting patient health. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Great Lakes Science Center

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Since 1927, Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) research has provided critical information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important...

Competitive advantage, what does it really mean?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr. Haijing de Haan; Hongjue Yan

2013-01-01

Competitive advantage is probably the most popular business concept today (Mooney, 2007). This article aims to investigate critically the discourse on competitive advantage, as expressed by business literature, by locating its meanings in the public higher education sector. This research reveals

Opportunity of interventional radiology: advantages and application of interventional technique in biological target therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teng Gaojun; Lu Qin

2007-01-01

Interventional techniques not only provide opportunity of treatment for many diseases, but also alter the traditional therapeutic pattern. With the new century of wide application of biological therapies, interventional technique also shows extensive roles. The current biological therapy, including gene therapy, cell transplantation therapy, immunobiologic molecule therapy containing cell factors, tumor antibody or vaccine, recombined proteins, radioactive-particles and targeting materials therapy, can be locally administrated by interventional techniques. The combination of targeting biological therapies and high-targeted interventional technique holds advantages of minimal invasion, accurate delivery, vigorous local effect, and less systemic adverse reactions. Authors believe that the biological therapy may arise a great opportunity for interventional radiology, therefore interventional colleagues should grasp firmly and promptly for the development and extension in this field. (authors)

COMPARING SEA LEVEL RESPONSE AT MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA FROM THE 1989 LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE AND THE 1964 GREAT ALASKAN EARTHQUAKE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. C. Breaker

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Two of the largest earthquakes to affect water levels in Monterey Bay in recent years were the Loma Prieta Earthquake (LPE of 1989 with a moment magnitude of 6.9, and the Great Alaskan Earthquake (GAE of 1964 with a moment magnitude of 9.2. In this study, we compare the sea level response of these events with a primary focus on their frequency content and how the bay affected it, itself. Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA was employed to extract the primary frequencies associated with each event. It is not clear how or exactly where the tsunami associated with the LPE was generated, but it occurred inside the bay and most likely began to take on the characteristics of a seiche by the time it reached the tide gauge in Monterey Harbor. Results of the SSA decomposition revealed two primary periods of oscillation, 9-10 minutes, and 31-32 minutes. The first oscillation is in agreement with the range of periods for the expected natural oscillations of Monterey Harbor, and the second oscillation is consistent with a bay-wide oscillation or seiche mode. SSA decomposition of the GAE revealed several sequences of oscillations all with a period of approximately 37 minutes, which corresponds to the predicted, and previously observed, transverse mode of oscillation for Monterey Bay. In this case, it appears that this tsunami produced quarter-wave resonance within the bay consistent with its seiche-like response. Overall, the sea level responses to the LPE and GAE differed greatly, not only because of the large difference in their magnitudes but also because the driving force in one case occurred inside the bay (LPE, and in the second, outside the bay (GAE. As a result, different modes of oscillation were excited.

Strategic Positioning for Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Organizational learning is increasingly being considered as one of the fundamental sources of competitive advantage within the context of strategic management. However, most literature has not clearly linked organizational learning with sustainable competitive advantage. This paper, therefore, explores and discusses the ...

What is the difference in the hybrid imaging techniques - SPECT/CT and PET-CT and is there any advantage of their application?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostadinova, I.

2012-01-01

The hybrid imaging methods - Single Photon Emission Tomography-Computer Tomography /SPECT-CT / and Positron Emission Tomography-Computer Tomography / PET-CT/ allow receiving of combined image of two different techniques. In such a way it is possible to superimpose detailed anatomical image of the multislice spiral computer tomography with specific and sensitive molecular images of the SPECT and PET in a single study, allowing utilization of the full possibilities of the both techniques. They have advantages and disadvantages, which basically stem from the differences in the used radiopharmaceuticals and their physical properties. In PET- CT - positron emitters are applied, most often 18F and 11C, while in SPECT-CT - single photon emitters, most often 99m Tc and 131 I. A disadvantage of PET is a high cost, which is produced in cyclotron and its logistics is complicated. The great advantage of PET is its better spatial resolution, compared to SPECT, because of the possibility for simultaneous detection of pared photons and better registration. These techniques, especially PET-CT are nowadays the most increasing imaging methods in the world in making diagnosis, staging and following the effect of treatment in patients with oncological, neurological, cardiological, orthopedic diseases and infections. Recently, they are applied for the purposes of radiotherapy planning on the basis of the metabolically active tumor. As a final result, compared to the conventional techniques - roentgenography, CT and MRI, it is possible in many cases to make an early and more precise diagnosis, saving patients' time and using most appropriate treatment. As a conclusion it is clear, that the hybrid imaging has future and its application will increase. (author)

Reconsidering great ape imitation and pantomime. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

Science.gov (United States)

Russon, Anne E.

2016-03-01

Like previous commentators, I see Arbib's reconstruction of the mirror neuron system's contribution to language evolution [1] as valuable but in need of revision [2,3]. My concerns focus on his proposed behavioral pathway to language - complex imitation to pantomime to protosign - as it concerns great apes. Arbib portrays these abilities as unique to the human lineage, despite evidence that great apes are capable of all three. I suggest great ape findings worth reconsidering.

Analysis of yield advantage in mixed cropping

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ranganathan, R.

1993-01-01

It has long been recognized that mixed cropping can give yield advantages over sole cropping, but methods that can identify such yield benefits are still being developed. This thesis presents a method that combines physiological and economic principles in the evaluation of yield advantage.

Electrofishing survey of the Great Miami River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stocker, L.E.; Miller, M.C.; Engman, J.; Evans, R.L.; Koch, R.W.; Brence, W.A.

1994-01-01

Fish sampling by electroshocking in the Great Miami River above and below the Fernald sit was designed to determine changes in the health of the fish community compared to the previous nine years and to collect samples for uranium analysis in fish filets. This document contains information describing the findings of this program. Topics discussed include: physical and chemical parameters, species richness, species diversity, and water analysis

Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Edsall, Thomas A.; Mac, Michael J.; Opler, Paul A.; Puckett Haecker, Catherine E.; Doran, Peter D.

1998-01-01

The Great Lakes region, as defined here, includes the Great Lakes and their drainage basins in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The region also includes the portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the 21 northernmost counties of Illinois that lie in the Mississippi River drainage basin, outside the floodplain of the river. The region spans about 9º of latitude and 20º of longitude and lies roughly halfway between the equator and the North Pole in a lowland corridor that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.The Great Lakes are the most prominent natural feature of the region (Fig. 1). They have a combined surface area of about 245,000 square kilometers and are among the largest, deepest lakes in the world. They are the largest single aggregation of fresh water on the planet (excluding the polar ice caps) and are the only glacial feature on Earth visible from the surface of the moon (The Nature Conservancy 1994a).The Great Lakes moderate the region’s climate, which presently ranges from subarctic in the north to humid continental warm in the south (Fig. 2), reflecting the movement of major weather masses from the north and south (U.S. Department of the Interior 1970; Eichenlaub 1979). The lakes act as heat sinks in summer and heat sources in winter and are major reservoirs that help humidify much of the region. They also create local precipitation belts in areas where air masses are pushed across the lakes by prevailing winds, pick up moisture from the lake surface, and then drop that moisture over land on the other side of the lake. The mean annual frost-free period—a general measure of the growing-season length for plants and some cold-blooded animals—varies from 60 days at higher elevations in the north to 160 days in lakeshore areas in the south. The climate influences the general distribution of wild plants and animals in the region and also influences the activities and distribution of the human

Biological effects-based tools for monitoring impacted surface waters in the Great Lakes: a multiagency program in support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Ekman, Drew R.; Ankley, Gerald T.; Blazer, Vicki; Collette, Timothy W.; Garcia-Reyero, Natàlia; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Jorgensen, Zachary G.; Lee, Kathy E.; Mazik, Pat M.; Miller, David H.; Perkins, Edward J.; Smith, Edwin T.; Tietge, Joseph E.; Villeneuve, Daniel L.

2013-01-01

There is increasing demand for the implementation of effects-based monitoring and surveillance (EBMS) approaches in the Great Lakes Basin to complement traditional chemical monitoring. Herein, we describe an ongoing multiagency effort to develop and implement EBMS tools, particularly with regard to monitoring potentially toxic chemicals and assessing Areas of Concern (AOCs), as envisioned by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Our strategy includes use of both targeted and open-ended/discovery techniques, as appropriate to the amount of information available, to guide a priori end point and/or assay selection. Specifically, a combination of in vivo and in vitro tools is employed by using both wild and caged fish (in vivo), and a variety of receptor- and cell-based assays (in vitro). We employ a work flow that progressively emphasizes in vitro tools for long-term or high-intensity monitoring because of their greater practicality (e.g., lower cost, labor) and relying on in vivo assays for initial surveillance and verification. Our strategy takes advantage of the strengths of a diversity of tools, balancing the depth, breadth, and specificity of information they provide against their costs, transferability, and practicality. Finally, a series of illustrative scenarios is examined that align EBMS options with management goals to illustrate the adaptability and scaling of EBMS approaches and how they can be used in management decisions.

THE EFFECT OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND HUMAN ADVANTAGE ON INDUSTRIAL COMPETITIVE STRATEGY (Case Study: SMIs in Gorontalo Province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trifandi Lasalewo

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Small and Medium Industries (SMIs have a strategic role in the Indonesian economy, as they earn 61.9 percent of the foreign exchange which goes to make up the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, and nationally they are able to absorb 97 percent of the workforce. The Global Competitiveness Report also notes that SMIs serve as the business units that affect every nation’s competitiveness. Considering this strategic role, the selection of a competitive strategy for these SMIs is absolutely necessary. Through an in-depth literature review, this study aims to explore what variables influence the competitive strategy of industries, particularly the SMIs. By using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR with a total of 31 main literature (articles, papers and books, this study has found two dominant factors that influence industrial competitive strategy: Competitive advantage and human advantage, which are subsequently developed into six independent variables (construct variables, i.e. cost, delivery, product quality, product variety, know-how and innovativeness, with a total of 44 indicators. The results of measurements of the sample of SMIs in Gorontalo Province, using Structural Equation Modeling, found that both competitive advantage and human advantage jointly influence 40.2 percent of the industrial competitive strategies. These results indicate that competitive strategies, such as creating products with unique features, on-time delivery, flexibility in production, and employee involvement in the innovations, are indispensable to SMIs in order for them to produce quality products and be able to maintain their advantage.

The Slogan Great Wall from the SDSS Data Release 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Xin-Fa; He Ji-Zhou; Luo Cheng-Hong; Wu Ping; Tang Xiao-Xun; He Cong-Gen

2007-01-01

Using the MAIN galaxy data from the SDSS Data Release 4 (SDSS4), we further study the Sloan Great Wall by three-dimensional cluster analysis. Because the basic properties of Main galaxies change with redshift, we select 50942 Main galaxies having the same redshift region (0.07 ≤ z ≤ 0.09) as the Sloan Great Wall from the Main galaxy sample, and construct our SubMain sample. From the SubMain sample, 2013 isolated galaxies are identified at dimensionless radius r = 1.4. We perform the comparative studies of galaxy properties among the Sloan Great Wall, isolated galaxies and the SubMain sample in different redshift bins. It turns out that the statistical properties of luminosities and sizes of galaxies for the Sloan Great Wall, isolated galaxies and the SubMain sample are almost the same, the proportion of early-type isolated galaxies is relatively low. We also d that mean color of member galaxies of the Sloan Great Wall is redder than that of isolated galaxies. These results indicate that some properties of galaxies may be closely correlated with the environment or clustering. (author)

Is bilingualism losing its advantage? A bibliometric approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Azanza, Victor A; López-Penadés, Raúl; Buil-Legaz, Lucía; Aguilar-Mediavilla, Eva; Adrover-Roig, Daniel

2017-01-01

This study uses several bibliometric indices to explore the temporal course of publication trends regarding the bilingual advantage in executive control over a ten-year window. These indices include the number of published papers, numbers of citations, and the journal impact factor. According to the information available in their abstracts, studies were classified into one of four categories: supporting, ambiguous towards, not mentioning, or challenging the bilingual advantage. Results show that the number of papers challenging the bilingual advantage increased notably in 2014 and 2015. Both the average impact factor and the accumulated citations as of June 2016 were equivalent between categories. However, of the studies published in 2014, those that challenge the bilingual advantage accumulated more citations in June 2016 than those supporting it. Our findings offer evidence-based bibliometric information about the current state of the literature and suggest a change in publication trends regarding the literature on the bilingual advantage.

Features of formation of competitive advantages: a strategic dimension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.Р. Pashchenko

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article examines the features of formation of competitive advantages, the depth of theoretical and methodological basis for the formation of competitive advantages at an enterprise. The author has reviewed the approaches to the formation of stable and long-term competitive advantages. The author has also overviewed the requirements which are to be met by competitive advantages of a company and the factors that affect the possibility of competitive advantages. The author develops her own approach to the definition of «competitive enterprise strategy», suggests to understand the concept as the perspective of company development, the way of achieving the goals a company sets for itself guided by its policy, using internal and external competitive advantages. The author implements the model of strategic management of enterprise development based on competitive advantage creating. The suggested model will take into account the maximum possible factors that impact on the development and implementation of strategies. Due to the model risks will also be reduced. The paper determines that the important stage of enterprise development strategic management based on competitive advantage creating is the management of changes and the management of resistance to changes caused by the influence of factors of external and internal environment.

The greenhouse advantage of natural gas appliances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coombe, N.

2000-01-01

The life cycle report prepared recently by Energetics for the AGA, Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Natural Gas, demonstrates clearly the greenhouse advantage natural gas has over coal in generating electricity. This study also goes one step further in applying this life cycle approach to the use of space and water heating within the home. The study shows the significant green-house advantage that natural gas appliances have over electric appliances. Findings from other studies also support this claim. The natural gas suppliers are encouraged to take advantage of the marketing opportunity that these studies provide, offering the householders the fuel that will significantly reduce their contribution to greenhouse emission

Data sources for heart failure comparative effectiveness research.

Science.gov (United States)

Xian, Ying; Hammill, Bradley G; Curtis, Lesley H

2013-01-01

Existing data sources for heart failure research offer advantages and disadvantages for CER. Clinical registries collect detailed information about disease presentation, treatment, and outcomes on a large number of patients and provide the "real-world" population that is the hallmark of CER. Data are not collected longitudinally, however, and follow-up is often limited. Large administrative datasets provide the broadest population coverage with longitudinal outcomes follow-up but lack clinical detail. Linking clinical registries with other databases to assess longitudinal outcomes holds great promise. The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research recommends further efforts on longitudinal linking of administrative or EHR-based databases, patient registries, private sector databases (particularly those with commercially insured populations that are not covered under federal and state databases), and other relevant data sources containing pharmacy, laboratory, adverse events, and mortality information. Advancing the infrastructure to provide robust, scientific data resources for patient-centered CER must remain a priority. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: the Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander; Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: The Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander and Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

The level of national competitiveness and the role of human capital in the creation of competitive advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitrović Vladimir

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The new economy is organized around global networks of capital, management and information, which is based on technology. In this dynamic and growing international trade and the emergence of aggressive competition in the competitive and global market changing rules of the game and the positions which certain factors are in creating a competitive advantage in the global market. Technological development, innovation, knowledge and skills have become crucial factors for the development of an economy and its companies. Proper management of human capital is a direct source of improving quality and productivity at work, and with it the competitiveness of the most important prerequisite for achieving this goal is quality education. Investing in people and skills is essential, because it is the only way to preserve and improve competitiveness advantage. The need for continuing education caused great dynamism of modern society, the rapid technical and technological development, especially ICT, which requires the creation of new knowledge and skills, as well as creating new occupations, but at the same time that resource must be continually developed and improved.

Processing with kW fibre lasers: advantages and limits

Science.gov (United States)

Kratky, A.; Schuöcker, D.; Liedl, G.

2008-10-01

Up-to-date fibre lasers produce multi-kw radiation with an excellent beam quality. Compared to CO2-lasers, fibre lasers have relatively low operational costs and offer a very high flexibility in production due to the beam delivery with process fibres. As a consequence, fibre lasers have attracted more and more attention. On the other hand, their use in industrial applications especially in the automotive industry is still limited to a certain extent and fibre lasers haven't replaced all other laser sources till now as it could be expected. In laser cutting, the small kerf width produced by fibre lasers should be advantageous since the heated volume is smaller compared to CO2-lasers. In fact, cutting velocities are usually much higher which is also caused by the higher absorption coefficient of most metals at the wavelength emitted by fibre lasers. Nevertheless, cutting with fibre lasers of some metals - e.g. stainless steels - is restricted to a small thicknesses of approx. 5mm. The reason for this is that the surface roughness of the edges increases dramatically with the thickness of the work piece. Applications of fibre lasers include e.g. remote welding or even remote cutting of a large variety of materials with usually excellent results. Due to the excellent beam quality the aspect ratio of the weld seam in relation to the penetration depth is quite good. In the case of thin sheet metal welding such a small beam waist is beneficial - but with thicker sheet metals it is very often disadvantageous since the preparation of samples is more complicated, costs increase and requirements on clamping devices rise. In this paper, advantages and disadvantages of fibre lasers are discussed briefly. Applications of a 1.5 kW fibre laser are presented and compared to classical laser systems.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF E-LEARNING IN COMPARISON TO TRADITIONAL FORMS OF LEARNING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIRJANA RADOVIĆ-MARKOVIĆ

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Internet education is soon to become the dominant form of education inthe world. A lot of effort is being devoted into furthering the work methods and communicationamong students and professors, aimed at bettering the quality of this kind of studying.Moreover, further development of virtual education in the future will depend on the advance ofcontemporary technologies and the Internet. Having this in mind, the author of this paper hastried to explore to what extent the previous results have been accomplished, as well as toclassify the different modalities of this kind of learning and to ascertain their advantages anddisadvantages. A special emphasis has been put on the great utility value for all developedeconomies, which have made great progress in the development rate and in the spreading ofvirtual faculties’ network. At the end of this research paper, recommendations are given, andfurther trends of Internet education are established, juxtaposed to the classic forms of studying,based on the latest research results in this field. The author especially emphasizes the fact thatfaculties with “classrooms without walls” will not fully replace traditional faculties. The valueof this paper lies particularly in the fact that it builds not only on the contemporary researchfindings, but also on the author’s personal experience as a professor engaged in this form ofstudent education.

Estimating Spring Condensation on the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, A.; Welp, L.

2017-12-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes region provides opportunities for shipping, recreation, and consumptive water use to a large part of the United States and Canada. Water levels in the lakes fluctuate yearly, but attempts to model the system are inadequate because the water and energy budgets are still not fully understood. For example, water levels in the Great Lakes experienced a 15-year low period ending in 2013, the recovery of which has been attributed partially to decreased evaporation and increased precipitation and runoff. Unlike precipitation, the exchange of water vapor between the lake and the atmosphere through evaporation or condensation is difficult to measure directly. However, estimates have been constructed using off-shore eddy covariance direct measurements of latent heat fluxes, remote sensing observations, and a small network of monitoring buoys. When the lake surface temperature is colder than air temperature as it is in spring, condensation is larger than evaporation. This is a relatively small component of the net annual water budget of the lakes, but the total amount of condensation may be important for seasonal energy fluxes and atmospheric deposition of pollutants and nutrients to the lakes. Seasonal energy fluxes determine, and are influenced by, ice cover, water and air temperatures, and evaporation in the Great Lakes. We aim to quantify the amount of spring condensation on the Great Lakes using the National Center for Atmospheric Prediction North American Regional Reanalysis (NCEP NARR) Data for Winter 2013 to Spring 2017 and compare the condensation values of spring seasons following high volume, high duration and low volume, low duration ice cover.

Dosimetric advantages of intensity-modulated proton therapy for oropharyngeal cancer compared with intensity-modulated radiation: A case-matched control analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holliday, Emma B. [Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Kocak-Uzel, Esengul [Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Department of Radiation Therapy, Beykent University, Istanbul (Turkey); Feng, Lei [Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Thaker, Nikhil G.; Blanchard, Pierre; Rosenthal, David I.; Gunn, G. Brandon; Garden, Adam S. [Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Frank, Steven J., E-mail: sjfrank@mdanderson.org [Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States)

2016-10-01

A potential advantage of intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) over intensity-modulated (photon) radiation therapy (IMRT) in the treatment of oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) is lower radiation dose to several critical structures involved in the development of nausea and vomiting, mucositis, and dysphagia. The purpose of this study was to quantify doses to critical structures for patients with OPC treated with IMPT and compare those with doses on IMRT plans generated for the same patients and with a matched cohort of patients actually treated with IMRT. In this study, 25 patients newly diagnosed with OPC were treated with IMPT between 2011 and 2012. Comparison IMRT plans were generated for these patients and for additional IMRT-treated controls extracted from a database of patients with OPC treated between 2000 and 2009. Cases were matched based on the following criteria, in order: unilateral vs bilateral therapy, tonsil vs base of tongue primary, T-category, N-category, concurrent chemotherapy, induction chemotherapy, smoking status, sex, and age. Results showed that the mean doses to the anterior and posterior oral cavity, hard palate, larynx, mandible, and esophagus were significantly lower with IMPT than with IMRT comparison plans generated for the same cohort, as were doses to several central nervous system structures involved in the nausea and vomiting response. Similar differences were found when comparing dose to organs at risks (OARs) between the IMPT cohort and the case-matched IMRT cohort. In conclusion, these findings suggest that patients with OPC treated with IMPT may experience fewer and less severe side effects during therapy. This may be the result of decreased beam path toxicities with IMPT due to lower doses to several dysphagia, odynophagia, and nausea and vomiting–associated OARs. Further study is needed to evaluate differences in long-term disease control and chronic toxicity between patients with OPC treated with IMPT in comparison to

INFLUENCE OF GREAT HYDRAULIC WORKS UPON NATURE AND MANKIND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mircea O. POPOVICIU

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The great hydraulic works represent heavy environmental modifications and influence both humans (during the construction and the utilization and nature. The present paper compares these influences for two such works the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. Both are relatively recent, have the same purpose (the increase of the East-West trade and were initiated by Ferdinand de Lesseps. The possibility of realization was analyzed long time before the beginning of the work. Both works are sources of huge incomes and created endless disputes between the great powers. The forecast level increase of the planetary ocean will affect differently these works.

Evolutionary pattern of mutation in the factor IX genes of great apes: How does it compare to the pattern of recent germline mutation in patients with hemophilia B?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grouse, L.H.; Ketterling, R.P.; Sommer, S.S. [Mayo Clinic/Foundation, Rochester, MN (United States)

1994-09-01

Most mutations causing hemophilia B have arisen within the past 150 years. By correcting for multiple biases, the underlying rates of spontaneous germline mutation have been estimated in the factor IX gene. From these rates, an underlying pattern of mutation has emerged. To determine if this pattern compares to a underlying pattern found in the great apes, sequence changes were determined in intronic regions of the factor IX gene. The following species were studied: Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes (chimpanzee), Pongo pygmacus (orangutan) and Homo sapiens. Intronic sequences at least 200 bp from a splice junction were randomly chosen, amplified by cross-species PCR, and sequenced. These regions are expected to be subject to little if any selective pressure. Early diverged species of Old World monkeys were also studied to help determine the direction of mutational changes. A total of 62 sequence changes were observed. Initial data suggest that the average pattern since evolution of the great apes has a paucity of transitions at CpG dinucleotides and an excess of microinsertions to microdeletions when compared to the pattern observed in humans during the past 150 years (p<.05). A larger study is in progress to confirm these results.

Advantages of magnification radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doi, K.

1976-01-01

Geometric arrangements and exposure conditions used in different magnification techniques are described and the following advantages of radiographic magnification technique are discussed: sharpness effect; noise effect; air gap effect; and visual effect. The magnification technique can be used in various diagnostic procedures as a means of improving the image quality of radiographs

Refining comparative proteomics by spectral counting to account for shared peptides and multiple search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yao-Yi; Dasari, Surendra; Ma, Ze-Qiang; Vega-Montoto, Lorenzo J; Li, Ming; Tabb, David L

2012-09-01

Spectral counting has become a widely used approach for measuring and comparing protein abundance in label-free shotgun proteomics. However, when analyzing complex samples, the ambiguity of matching between peptides and proteins greatly affects the assessment of peptide and protein inventories, differentiation, and quantification. Meanwhile, the configuration of database searching algorithms that assign peptides to MS/MS spectra may produce different results in comparative proteomic analysis. Here, we present three strategies to improve comparative proteomics through spectral counting. We show that comparing spectral counts for peptide groups rather than for protein groups forestalls problems introduced by shared peptides. We demonstrate the advantage and flexibility of this new method in two datasets. We present four models to combine four popular search engines that lead to significant gains in spectral counting differentiation. Among these models, we demonstrate a powerful vote counting model that scales well for multiple search engines. We also show that semi-tryptic searching outperforms tryptic searching for comparative proteomics. Overall, these techniques considerably improve protein differentiation on the basis of spectral count tables.

Analisis Dampak Servant Leadership Terhadap Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Oktavia, Pek Nike

2014-01-01

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah terdapat dampak antara Servant Leadership terhadap Competitve Advantage, Employee Empowerment dan Organizational Learning. Variabel Servant Leadership diukur dari lima indikator, yaitu altruistic calling, emotional healing, wisdom, persuasive mapping, dan organizational stewardship. Variabel Competitive Advantage diukur dari lima indikator, yaitu price/cost, quality, delivery dependability, time to market, dan product innovation. Variabel Emplo...

Privilege and status in an unequal society: shifting the focus of health promotion research to include the maintenance of advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Christine

2010-10-01

There has been a great deal of social policy and health promotion practice directed toward the inclusion of underprivileged groups with the aim of improving their health. This focus on disadvantaged people and poor communities, to help them empower themselves and improve their lot, often fails because it ignores the role of the broader society. We neglect to note the crucial part that the advantaged play in perpetuating inequalities. Theory and empirical work from sociology and anthropology points to the everyday ways in which privileged people are able to maintain their advantage and even hi-jack the benefits of public health programmes designed to improve the health of the poor. Some examples from these other disciplines suggest ways in which a social psychological perspective can contribute to an understanding of how inequalities and poverty are perpetuated in everyday life. These understandings will inform the effectiveness of social programmes to reduce inequalities.

Femoral morphology and femoropelvic musculoskeletal anatomy of humans and great apes: a comparative virtopsy study.

Science.gov (United States)

Morimoto, Naoki; Ponce de León, Marcia S; Nishimura, Takeshi; Zollikofer, Christoph P E

2011-09-01

The proximal femoral morphology of fossil hominins is routinely interpreted in terms of muscular topography and associated locomotor modes. However, the detailed correspondence between hard and soft tissue structures in the proximal femoral region of extant great apes is relatively unknown, because dissection protocols typically do not comprise in-depth osteological descriptions. Here, we use computed tomography and virtopsy (virtual dissection) for non-invasive examination of the femoropelvic musculoskeletal anatomy in Pan troglodytes, P. paniscus, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus, and Homo sapiens. Specifically, we analyze the topographic relationship between muscle attachment sites and surface structures of the proximal femoral shaft such as the lateral spiral pilaster. Our results show that the origin of the vastus lateralis muscle is anterior to the insertion of gluteus maximus in all examined great ape specimens and humans. In gorillas and orangutans, the insertion of gluteus maximus is on the inferior (anterolateral) side of the lateral spiral pilaster. In chimpanzees, however, the maximus insertion is on its superior (posteromedial) side, similar to the situation in modern humans. These findings support the hypothesis that chimpanzees and humans exhibit a shared-derived musculoskeletal topography of the proximal femoral region, irrespective of their different locomotor modes, whereas gorillas and orangutans represent the primitive condition. Caution is thus warranted when inferring locomotor behavior from the surface topography of the proximal femur of fossil hominins, as the morphology of this region may contain a strong phyletic signal that tends to blur locomotor adaptation. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Comparison of deck- and trial-based approaches to advantageous decision making on the Iowa Gambling Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Visagan, Ravindran; Xiang, Ally; Lamar, Melissa

2012-06-01

We compared the original deck-based model of advantageous decision making assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) with a trial-based approach across behavioral and physiological outcomes in 33 younger adults (15 men, 18 women; 22.2 ± 3.7 years of age). One administration of the IGT with simultaneous measurement of skin conductance responses (SCRs) was performed and the two methods applied: (a) the original approach of subtracting disadvantageous picks of Decks A and B from advantageous picks of Decks C and D and (b) a trial-based approach focused on the financial outcome for each deck leading up to the trial in question. When directly compared, the deck-based approach resulted in a more advantageous behavioral profile than did the trial-based approach. Analysis of SCR data revealed no significant differences between methods for physiological measurements of SCR fluctuations or anticipatory responses to disadvantageous picks. Post hoc investigation of the trial-based method revealed Deck B contributed to both advantageous and disadvantageous decision making for the majority of participants. When divided by blocks of 20, the number of advantageous to disadvantageous choices reversed as the task progressed despite the total number of picks from Deck B remaining high. SCR fluctuations for Deck B, although not significantly different from the other decks, did show a sharp decline after the first block of 20 and remained below levels for Decks C and D toward the end of the task, suggesting that participants may have gained knowledge of the frequency of loss for this deck. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Safety and environmental advantages of using tritium-lean targets for inertial fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arzeni, S.; Latkowski, J. F.; Logan, B. G.; Meier, W. R.; Moir, R. W.; Perkins, L. J.; Sanz, J.

1999-01-01

While traditional inertial fusion energy target designs typically use equimolar portions of deuterium and tritium and have areal densities (ρr) of ∼ 3 g/cm 2 , significant safety and environmental (S and E) advantages may be obtained through the use of high-density (ρr ∼ 10 g/cm 2 ) targets with tritium components as low as 0.5%. Such targets would absorb much of the neutron energy within the target and could be self-sufficient from a tritium breeding point of view. Tritium self-sufficiency within the target would free target chamber designers from the need to use lithium-bearing blanket materials, while low inventories within each target would translate into low inventories in target fabrication facilities. Absorption of much of the neutron energy within the target, the extremely low tritium inventories, and the greatly moderated neutron spectrum, make ''tritium-lean'' targets appear quite attractive from an S and E perspective

Encapsulation of β-carotene within ferritin nanocages greatly increases its water-solubility and thermal stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lingli; Bai, Guangling; Yang, Rui; Zang, Jiachen; Zhou, Ting; Zhao, Guanghua

2014-04-15

Carotenoids may play a number of potential health benefits for human. However, their use in food industry is limited mostly because of their poor water-solubility and low thermal stability. Ferritins are widely distributed in nature with a shell-like structure which offers a great opportunity to improve the water-solubility and thermal stability of the carotenoids by encapsulation. In this work, recombinant human H-chain ferritin (rHuHF) was prepared and used to encapsulate β-carotene, a typical compound among carotenoids, by taking advantage of the reversible dissociation and reassembly characteristic of apoferritin in different pH environments. Results from high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV/Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicated that β-carotene molecules were successfully encapsulated within protein cages with a β-carotene/protein molar ratio of 12.4-1. Upon such encapsulation, these β-carotene-containing apoferritin nanocomposites were water-soluble. Interestingly, the thermal stability of the β-carotene encapsulated within apoferritin nanocages was markedly improved as compared to free β-carotene. These new properties might be favourable to the utilisation of β-carotene in food industry. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Employment services in Great Britain and Turkey

OpenAIRE

ÖZKANLI, Özlem

2001-01-01

This artiele criticaUy compares the institutions and procedures for the employment services of Great Britain (GB) and Turkey. The similarities and differences of two employment organisations, the Department for Education and Employment in GB and the Turkish Employment Organisation, are examined. Data is collected in field study from these organisations, based in London and Ankara, through interviews and observation techniques. Field study in London is financed by the World Bank. After briefly...

Generating Relational Competitive Advantage from Strategic Technological Partnership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yimei; Zhang, Si; Li, Jizhen

2012-01-01

Collaborating with external partners on strategic technological partnerships (STPs) have been popular phenomena for long, which leads new development in existing theories on competitive advantage. Under the relational view, the competitive advantage is jointly generated by alliance firms. Though...... the relational view of competitive advantage has been proposed for more than a decade, few in-depth empirical researches are down within this field, especially case study on R&D strategic alliance from this perspective. Based on these considerations, we investigate an STP between a Danish transnational...... corporation and a Chinese private firm aiming to understand how to generate relational competitive from an STP? Based on the explorative case study, we find that there are three key processes related to relational competitive advantage: partner selection, relational rents generation and relational rents...

Glycoprotein Enrichment Analytical Techniques: Advantages and Disadvantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, R; Zacharias, L; Wooding, K M; Peng, W; Mechref, Y

2017-01-01

Protein glycosylation is one of the most important posttranslational modifications. Numerous biological functions are related to protein glycosylation. However, analytical challenges remain in the glycoprotein analysis. To overcome the challenges associated with glycoprotein analysis, many analytical techniques were developed in recent years. Enrichment methods were used to improve the sensitivity of detection, while HPLC and mass spectrometry methods were developed to facilitate the separation of glycopeptides/proteins and enhance detection, respectively. Fragmentation techniques applied in modern mass spectrometers allow the structural interpretation of glycopeptides/proteins, while automated software tools started replacing manual processing to improve the reliability and throughput of the analysis. In this chapter, the current methodologies of glycoprotein analysis were discussed. Multiple analytical techniques are compared, and advantages and disadvantages of each technique are highlighted. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What Makes a Great Journal Great in Economics? The Singer Not the Song.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael); L. Oxley (Les)

2010-01-01

textabstractThe paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in economics, based on quantifiable measures. Alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that

The Relational View of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yimei; Zhang, Si; Li, Jizhen

Collaborating with external partners on R&D and forming strategic partnership for R&D have been popular phenomena for long, which leads new development in existing theories. Though the relational view of competitive advantage has been proposed for more than a decade, few in-depth empirical...... they generate relational rents (interorganizational competitive advantage) from this alliance? Based on this case study, we will propose some implications for the R&D collaboration between Chinese and Scandinavian countries. Also, the case will help us to test and enrich the existing theories...... on interorganizational competitive advantage. At the end of the paper, based on existing theories and the case study result, we will propose our conceptual framework on researching R&D strategic alliance between Scandinavian and Chinese firms....

Great Basin Experimental Range: Annotated bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

E. Durant McArthur; Bryce A. Richardson; Stanley G. Kitchen

2013-01-01

This annotated bibliography documents the research that has been conducted on the Great Basin Experimental Range (GBER, also known as the Utah Experiment Station, Great Basin Station, the Great Basin Branch Experiment Station, Great Basin Experimental Center, and other similar name variants) over the 102 years of its existence. Entries were drawn from the original...

Soil Preferences in Germination and Survival of Limber Pine in the Great Basin White Mountains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian V. Smithers

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In the Great Basin, limber pine is a sub-alpine tree species that is colonizing newly available habitat above treeline in greater numbers than treeline-dominating Great Basin bristlecone pine, especially on dolomite soil, where few plants are able to grow and where limber pine adults are rare. To examine the role of soil type on germination and establishment of limber pine, I sowed limber pine seeds in containers of the three main White Mountains soil types in one location while measuring soil moisture and temperature. I found that dolomite soil retains water longer, and has higher soil water content, than quartzite and granite soils and has the coolest maximum growing season temperatures. Limber pine germination and survival were highest in dolomite soil relative to quartzite and granite where limber pine adults are more common. While adult limber pines are rare on dolomite soils, young limber pines appear to prefer them. This indicates that limber pine either has only recently been able to survive in treeline climate on dolomite or that bristlecone pine has some long-term competitive advantage on dolomite making limber pine, a species with 1500 year old individuals, an early succession species in Great Basin sub-alpine forests.

Fish positions relative to neighbours modulate the hydrodynamic advantages of schooling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steffensen, John Fleng

2012-01-01

) and Paolo Domenici (CNR, Italy) Schooling behaviour is a widespread phenomenon shared by a large number of fish species. One of the most common benefits of swimming in a school is the hydrodynamic and energetic advantage obtained by its members. Fish occupying non-frontal positions can benefit from the flow...... generated by the caudal movement of fish swimming in the front. While previous work has demonstrated that trailing fish show a lower tail beat frequency (TBF) than leading fish , the extent to which schooling provides hydrodynamic advantages compared to swimming alone has not been quantified. We quantified...... of distances along the direction of locomotion, spanning one body length (BL) in the front (+1 BL) and behind (-1 BL) a neighbouring fish. We found a significant reduction in the mean TBF of fish when swimming in a school versus solitary fish . Furthermore, the TBF of the focal fish decreased linearly between...

The GREAT3 challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyatake, H; Mandelbaum, R; Rowe, B

2014-01-01

The GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 3 (GREAT3) challenge is an image analysis competition that aims to test algorithms to measure weak gravitational lensing from astronomical images. The challenge started in October 2013 and ends 30 April 2014. The challenge focuses on testing the impact on weak lensing measurements of realistically complex galaxy morphologies, realistic point spread function, and combination of multiple different exposures. It includes simulated ground- and space-based data. The details of the challenge are described in [1], and the challenge website and its leader board can be found at http://great3challenge.info and http://great3.projects.phys.ucl.ac.uk/leaderboard/, respectively

Testing auditory sensitivity in the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maxwell, Alyssa; Hansen, Kirstin Anderson; Larsen, Ole Næsbye

2016-01-01

Psychoacoustic and electrophysiological methods were used to measure the in-air hearing sensitivity of the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis). One individual was used to determine the behavioral thresholds, which was then compared to previously collected data on the auditory brainstem...

Project safety as a sustainable competitive advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Rechenthin, David

2004-01-01

To be consistently profitable, a construction company must complete projects in scope, on schedule, and on budget. At the same time, the nature of the often high-risk work performed by construction companies can result in high accident rates. Clients and other stakeholders are placing increasing pressure on companies to decrease those accident rates. Clients routinely demand copies of safety plans and evidence of past results at the "pre-qualification" or "request for proposal" stages of the procurement process. Are high accident rates and the associated costs just a part of business? Companies that deliver on scope, schedule, and budget have a competitive advantage. Is it possible for projects with low accident rates to use it as a competitive advantage? Is the value added by safety just a temporary or parity issue, or does a successful safety program offer significant advantage to the company and the client? This article concludes that in the case of a high-risk industry, such as the construction industry, an organization with a successful safety program can promote safety performance as a sustainable competitive advantage. It is a choice the company can make.

ENTERPRISE IRELAND: Design for Competitive Advantage Conference

OpenAIRE

Dee, Peter

2003-01-01

A stimulating conference bringing together world leading experts on design to address the importance of brand development strategies to achieve competitive advantage. Peter Dee - Strategic Design and Marketing Consultant, specialised in the creation of brand development strategies for Enterprise Ireland’s Design Unit. Peter was responsible for the design and development of the the brand identity for the Enterprise Ireland Design for Competitive Advantage Conference in Dublin.

Homogenization via formal multiscale asymptotics and volume averaging: How do the two techniques compare?

KAUST Repository

Davit, Yohan

2013-12-01

A wide variety of techniques have been developed to homogenize transport equations in multiscale and multiphase systems. This has yielded a rich and diverse field, but has also resulted in the emergence of isolated scientific communities and disconnected bodies of literature. Here, our goal is to bridge the gap between formal multiscale asymptotics and the volume averaging theory. We illustrate the methodologies via a simple example application describing a parabolic transport problem and, in so doing, compare their respective advantages/disadvantages from a practical point of view. This paper is also intended as a pedagogical guide and may be viewed as a tutorial for graduate students as we provide historical context, detail subtle points with great care, and reference many fundamental works. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Stepping to phase-perturbed metronome cues: Multisensory advantage in movement synchrony but not correction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel L Wright

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Humans can synchronise movements with auditory beats or rhythms without apparent effort. This ability to entrain to the beat is considered automatic, such that any perturbations are corrected for, even if the perturbation was not consciously noted. Temporal correction of upper limb (e.g. finger tapping and lower limb (e.g. stepping movements to a phase perturbed auditory beat usually results in individuals being back in phase after just a few beats. When a metronome is presented in more than one sensory modality, a multisensory advantage is observed, with reduced temporal variability in finger tapping movements compared to unimodal conditions. Here, we investigate synchronisation of lower limb movements (stepping in place to auditory, visual and combined auditory-visual metronome cues. In addition, we compare movement corrections to phase advance and phase delay perturbations in the metronome for the three sensory modality conditions. We hypothesised that, as with upper limb movements, there would be a multisensory advantage, with stepping variability being lowest in the bimodal condition. As such, we further expected correction to the phase perturbation to be quickest in the bimodal condition. Our results revealed lower variability in the asynchronies between foot strikes and the metronome beats in the bimodal condition, compared to unimodal conditions. However, while participants corrected substantially quicker to perturbations in auditory compared to visual metronomes, there was no multisensory advantage in the phase correction task – correction under the bimodal condition was almost identical to the auditory-only condition. On the whole, we noted that corrections in the stepping task were smaller than those previously reported for finger tapping studies. We conclude that temporal corrections are not only affected by the reliability of the sensory information, but also the complexity of the movement itself.

Stepping to phase-perturbed metronome cues: multisensory advantage in movement synchrony but not correction.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Rachel L; Elliott, Mark T

2014-01-01

Humans can synchronize movements with auditory beats or rhythms without apparent effort. This ability to entrain to the beat is considered automatic, such that any perturbations are corrected for, even if the perturbation was not consciously noted. Temporal correction of upper limb (e.g., finger tapping) and lower limb (e.g., stepping) movements to a phase perturbed auditory beat usually results in individuals being back in phase after just a few beats. When a metronome is presented in more than one sensory modality, a multisensory advantage is observed, with reduced temporal variability in finger tapping movements compared to unimodal conditions. Here, we investigate synchronization of lower limb movements (stepping in place) to auditory, visual and combined auditory-visual (AV) metronome cues. In addition, we compare movement corrections to phase advance and phase delay perturbations in the metronome for the three sensory modality conditions. We hypothesized that, as with upper limb movements, there would be a multisensory advantage, with stepping variability being lowest in the bimodal condition. As such, we further expected correction to the phase perturbation to be quickest in the bimodal condition. Our results revealed lower variability in the asynchronies between foot strikes and the metronome beats in the bimodal condition, compared to unimodal conditions. However, while participants corrected substantially quicker to perturbations in auditory compared to visual metronomes, there was no multisensory advantage in the phase correction task-correction under the bimodal condition was almost identical to the auditory-only (AO) condition. On the whole, we noted that corrections in the stepping task were smaller than those previously reported for finger tapping studies. We conclude that temporal corrections are not only affected by the reliability of the sensory information, but also the complexity of the movement itself.

High-Resolution Mid-IR Imaging of Jupiter's Great Red Spot: Comparing Cassini, VLT and Subaru Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Leigh N.; Orton, G. S.; Yanamandra-Fisher, P.; Irwin, P. G. J.; Baines, K. H.; Edkins, E.; Line, M. R.; Mousis, O.; Parrish, P. D.; Vanzi, L.; Fuse, T.; Fujoyoshi, T.

2008-09-01

In the eight years since the Cassini fly-by of Jupiter, the spatial resolution of ground-based observations of Jupiter's giant anticyclonic storm systems (the Great Red Spot, Oval BA and others) using 8m-class telescopes has surpassed the resolution of the Cassini/CIRS maps. We present a time-series of mid-IR imaging of the Great Red Spot (GRS) and its environs from the VISIR instrument on the Very Large Telescope (UT3/Melipal) and the COMICS instrument on the Subaru telescope (Hawaii). The NEMESIS optimal-estimation retrieval algorithm (Irwin et al., 2008) is used to analyse both the 7-25 micron filtered imaging from 2005-2008 and Cassini/CIRS 7-16 micron data from 2000. We demonstrate the ability to map temperatures in the 100-400 mbar range, NH3, aerosol opacity and the para-H2 fraction from the filtered imaging. Furthermore, the Cassini/CIRS spectra are used to map the PH3 mole fraction around the GRS. The thermal field, gaseous composition and aerosol distribution are used as diagnostics for the atmospheric motion associated with the GRS. Changes in the atmospheric state in response to close encounters with Oval BA and other vortices will be assessed. These results will be discussed in light of their implications for the planning of the Europa-Jupiter System Mission.

75 FR 6354 - NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes Restoration...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-09

...-04] RIN 0648-ZC10 NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes... Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of funding availability; Date... on January 19, 2010. That notice announced the NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project...

The Next Great Generation?

Science.gov (United States)

Brownstein, Andrew

2000-01-01

Discusses ideas from a new book, "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation," (by Neil Howe and William Strauss) suggesting that youth culture is on the cusp of a radical shift with the generation beginning with this year's college freshmen who are typically team oriented, optimistic, and poised for greatness on a global scale. Includes a…

Hospital Capital Investment During the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung

2017-01-01

Hospital capital investment is important for acquiring and maintaining technology and equipment needed to provide health care. Reduction in capital investment by a hospital has negative implications for patient outcomes. Most hospitals rely on debt and internal cash flow to fund capital investment. The great recession may have made it difficult for hospitals to borrow, thus reducing their capital investment. I investigated the impact of the great recession on capital investment made by California hospitals. Modeling how hospital capital investment may have been liquidity constrained during the recession is a novel contribution to the literature. I estimated the model with California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data and system generalized method of moments. Findings suggest that not-for-profit and public hospitals were liquidity constrained during the recession. Comparing the changes in hospital capital investment between 2006 and 2009 showed that hospitals used cash flow to increase capital investment by $2.45 million, other things equal.

Hospital Capital Investment During the Great Recession

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung

2017-01-01

Hospital capital investment is important for acquiring and maintaining technology and equipment needed to provide health care. Reduction in capital investment by a hospital has negative implications for patient outcomes. Most hospitals rely on debt and internal cash flow to fund capital investment. The great recession may have made it difficult for hospitals to borrow, thus reducing their capital investment. I investigated the impact of the great recession on capital investment made by California hospitals. Modeling how hospital capital investment may have been liquidity constrained during the recession is a novel contribution to the literature. I estimated the model with California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data and system generalized method of moments. Findings suggest that not-for-profit and public hospitals were liquidity constrained during the recession. Comparing the changes in hospital capital investment between 2006 and 2009 showed that hospitals used cash flow to increase capital investment by $2.45 million, other things equal. PMID:28617202

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF APPLYING EVOLVED METHODS IN MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRACTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SABOU FELICIA

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The evolved methods of management accounting have been developed with the purpose of removing the disadvantages of the classical methods, they are methods adapted to the new market conditions, which provide much more useful cost-related information so that the management of the company is able to take certain strategic decisions. Out of the category of evolved methods, the most used is the one of standard-costs due to the advantages that it presents, being used widely in calculating the production costs in some developed countries. The main advantages of the standard-cost method are: in-advance knowledge of the production costs and the measures that ensure compliance to these; with the help of the deviations calculated from the standard costs, one manages a systematic control over the costs, thus allowing the making of decision in due time, in as far as the elimination of the deviations and the improvement of the activity are concerned and it is a method of analysis, control and cost forecast; Although the advantages of using standards are significant, there are a few disadvantages to the employment of the standard-cost method: sometimes there can appear difficulties in establishing the deviations from the standard costs, the method does not allow an accurate calculation of the fixed costs. As a result of the study, we can observe the fact that the evolved methods of management accounting, as compared to the classical ones, present a series of advantages linked to a better analysis, control, and foreseeing of costs, whereas the main disadvantage is related to the large amount of work necessary for these methods to be applied.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF APPLYING EVOLVED METHODS IN MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRACTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SABOU FELICIA

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The evolved methods of management accounting have been developed with the purpose of removing the disadvantages of the classical methods, they are methods adapted to the new market conditions, which provide much more useful cost-related information so that the management of the company is able to take certain strategic decisions. Out of the category of evolved methods, the most used is the one of standard-costs due to the advantages that it presents, being used widely in calculating the production costs in some developed countries. The main advantages of the standard-cost method are: in-advance knowledge of the production costs and the measures that ensure compliance to these; with the help of the deviations calculated from the standard costs, one manages a systematic control over the costs, thus allowing the making of decision in due time, in as far as the elimination of the deviations and the improvement of the activity are concerned and it is a method of analysis, control and cost forecast; Although the advantages of using standards are significant, there are a few disadvantages to the employment of the standard-cost method: sometimes there can appear difficulties in establishing the deviations from the standard costs, the method does not allow an accurate calculation of the fixed costs. As a result of the study, we can observe the fact that the evolved methods of management accounting, as compared to the classical ones, present a series of advantages linked to a better analysis, control, and foreseeing of costs, whereas the main disadvantage is related to the large amount of work necessary for these methods to be applied

Comparison of systemic right ventricular function in transposition of the great arteries after atrial switch and congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Morcos, Michael; Kilner, Philip J; Sahn, David J; Litt, Harold I; Valsangiacomo-Buechel, Emanuela R; Sheehan, Florence H

2017-12-01

In patients with transposition of the great arteries corrected by interatrial baffle (TGA) and those with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) the right ventricle (RV) is subjected to systemic pressure and fails prematurely. Previous studies have demonstrated RV dysfunction may be more pronounced in patients with TGA. The present study sought to compare patients with TGA and ccTGA using three-dimensional (3D) techniques to comprehensively analyze the shape, volume, global and regional function in the systemic RV. We compared RV size, shape, and regional and global function in 25 patients with TGA, 17 patients with ccTGA, and 9 normal subjects. The RVs were reconstructed from cardiac Magnetic Resonance Images for 3D analyses. Compared to normal, the RV in TGA and ccTGA was dilated, rounded, and reduced in function. Compared to each other, TGA and ccTGA patients had similar RV size and shape. Global RV function was lower in TGA than ccTGA when assessed from ejection fraction (EF) (30 ± 7 vs. 35 ± 7, p = 0.02) and from normalized tricuspid annular systolic plane excursion (TAPSE) (0.10 ± 0.04 vs. 0.18 ± 0.04, p < 0.01). Basilar RV function was poorer in the TGA patients when compared to ccTGA. The systemic RVs in both TGA and ccTGA are dilated, spherical, and poorly functioning. Compared to ccTGA, TGA RVs have reduced TAPSE and worse basilar hypokinesis.

Clinical and echocardiographic assessment of the Medtronic Advantage aortic valve prosthesis: the Scandinavian multicentre, prospective study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haaverstad, Rune; Vitale, Nicola; Karevold, Asbjørn

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this report is the prospective, multicentre evaluation of clinical results and haemodynamic performance of the Medtronic Advantage aortic valve prosthesis. METHODS: From April 2001 to June 2003, 166 patients (male:female 125:41; mean (SD) age 61.8 (11.8) years) received...... an aortic advantage valve prosthesis. Complete cumulative follow-up was 242.7 patient-years (maximum 3.2; mean 1.6 years). Postoperatively, patients underwent early (within 30 days) and 1 year transthoracic echocardiography. RESULTS: 30 day mortality was 2.4% (n = 4). Kaplan-Meier estimates of freedom from...... echocardiography. CONCLUSIONS: Haemodynamic performance and early clinical results of Medtronic advantage in the aortic position were satisfactory and comparable with those of other bileaflet valves in current clinical use....

A Systematic Approach for Solving the Great Circle Track Problems based on Vector Algebra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chih-Li

2016-04-01

Full Text Available A systematic approach, based on multiple products of the vector algebra (S-VA, is proposed to derive the spherical triangle formulae for solving the great circle track (GCT problems. Because the mathematical properties of the geometry and algebra are both embedded in the S-VA approach, derivations of the spherical triangle formulae become more understandable and more straightforward as compared with those approaches which use the complex linear combination of a vector basis. In addition, the S-VA approach can handle all given initial conditions for solving the GCT problems simpler, clearer and avoid redundant formulae existing in the conventional approaches. With the technique of transforming the Earth coordinates system of latitudes and longitudes into the Cartesian one and adopting the relative longitude concept, the concise governing equations of the S-VA approach can be easily and directly derived. Owing to the advantage of the S-VA approach, it makes the practical navigator quickly adjust to solve the GCT problems. Based on the S-VA approach, a program namely GCTPro_VA is developed for friendly use of the navigator. Several validation examples are provided to show the S-VA approach is simple and versatile to solve the GCT problems.

Organizational Learning and Sustainable Competitive Advantages (SCA): The Nigerian Experience

OpenAIRE

Omotayo Oyeniyi

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to test for core competencies of organizations in achieving sustainable competitive advantage within the service organizations in a developing economy like Nigeria. The paper specifically deals with the importance of organizational learning on sustainable competitive advantage and how it can be used to achieve sustainable advantage. Despite the wide spread importance attached to building sustainable competitive advantage, the relationship between organizational le...

Comparative analysis to determine asphalt density and content, using nuclear and traditional methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Margffoy S, F.R.; Robayo S, A.M.

1989-01-01

Quality control for flex pavement construction in Colombia for asphaltic mix, as well as for granular and granular sub base layers is made by means of methods that does not guarantee the quality of the job, due to the difficult execution of tests, which impede more to be done or due to inherent problems of the test process. Thanks to the inherent characteristics and advantages of nuclear techniques, those become the optimal alternative to this quality control job. The present research project has been developed with the objective of justifying the use of new technologies applied to road construction; making a comparative analysis between traditional methods used in our country and nuclear techniques that have been using in United States with great success in quality control in road construction

Assessment of potential advantages of relevant ions for particle therapy: A model based study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grün, Rebecca, E-mail: r.gruen@gsi.de [Department of Biophysics, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt 64291 (Germany); Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, University of Applied Sciences Gießen, Gießen 35390 (Germany); Medical Faculty of Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg 35032 (Germany); Friedrich, Thomas; Krämer, Michael; Scholz, Michael [Department of Biophysics, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt 64291 (Germany); Zink, Klemens [Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, University of Applied Sciences Gießen, Gießen 35390, Germany and Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Giessen and Marburg, Marburg 35043 (Germany); Durante, Marco [Department of Biophysics, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt 64291, Germany and Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Darmstadt University of Technology, Darmstadt 64289 (Germany); Engenhart-Cabillic, Rita [Medical Faculty of Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg 35032, Germany and Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Giessen and Marburg, Marburg 35043 (Germany)

2015-02-15

Purpose: Different ion types offer different physical and biological advantages for therapeutic applications. The purpose of this work is to assess the advantages of the most commonly used ions in particle therapy, i.e., carbon ({sup 12}C), helium ({sup 4}He), and protons ({sup 1}H) for different treatment scenarios. Methods: A treatment planning analysis based on idealized target geometries was performed using the treatment planning software TRiP98. For the prediction of the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) that is required for biological optimization in treatment planning the local effect model (LEM IV) was used. To compare the three ion types, the peak-to-entrance ratio (PER) was determined for the physical dose (PER{sub PHY} {sub S}), the RBE (PER{sub RBE}), and the RBE-weighted dose (PER{sub BIO}) resulting for different dose-levels, field configurations, and tissue types. Further, the dose contribution to artificial organs at risk (OAR) was assessed and a comparison of the dose distribution for the different ion types was performed for a patient with chordoma of the skull base. Results: The study showed that the advantages of the ions depend on the physical and biological properties and the interplay of both. In the case of protons, the consideration of a variable RBE instead of the clinically applied generic RBE of 1.1 indicates an advantage in terms of an increased PER{sub RBE} for the analyzed configurations. Due to the fact that protons show a somewhat better PER{sub PHY} {sub S} compared to helium and carbon ions whereas helium shows a higher PER{sub RBE} compared to protons, both protons and helium ions show a similar RBE-weighted dose distribution. Carbon ions show the largest variation of the PER{sub RBE} with tissue type and a benefit for radioresistant tumor types due to their higher LET. Furthermore, in the case of a two-field irradiation, an additional gain in terms of PER{sub BIO} is observed when using an orthogonal field configuration

Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA) houses environmental data on a wide variety of constituents in water, biota, sediment, and air in the Great Lakes area.

Competitive Intelligence and Social Advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Davenport, Elisabeth; Cronin, Blaise

1994-01-01

Presents an overview of issues concerning civilian competitive intelligence (CI). Topics discussed include competitive advantage in academic and research environments; public domain information and libraries; covert and overt competitive intelligence; data diversity; use of the Internet; cooperative intelligence; and implications for library and…

Protontherapy versus carbon ion therapy advantages, disadvantages and similarities

CERN Document Server

d’Ávila Nunes, Marcos

2015-01-01

This book presents a comparison analysis of two cancer treatment therapies: carbon ion therapy and protontherapy. It is divided in 5 sections. The first ones gives the reader a brief history of Radiotherapy and types of radiation. In the second section, the techniques and equipments, including new ones in development such as Cyclinac , Laser and DWA, are described. The third section describes biophysical (such as stopping power and LET) and biological (such as RBE and OER) properties, the fundamental experiments and clinical area. The fourth section presents models and the fifth section compares both techniques, showing advantages and disadvantages of each, and their similarities.

Theoretical aspects of competitive advantage and competition

OpenAIRE

Hudakova, Ivana

2009-01-01

The concept of competitive advantage is well-known for many of us and a number of literary resources focused on entrepreneurship and functioning of economies deal with it, either directly or indirectly. The understanding of the term competitive advantage though sometimes varies. One can only perceive it when looking at it as a whole, a live organism that is constantly developing in a complex dynamic entrepreneurial environment, the individual parts of which do not function when separated from...

IMPACT OF FARM SIZE AND TYPE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

Morgan, Jeffery D.; Langemeier, Michael R.

2003-01-01

This study examined sustained competitive advantage for a sample of Kansas farms. Whole-farm data for 224 farms with continuous data from 1982-2001 were used. Overall efficiency was computed for each farm and year. Sixty farms exhibited a sustained competitive advantage. Seventy-six farms exhibited a sustained competitive disadvantage. Farms with a competitive advantage were relatively larger, received more of their gross farm income from dairy and swine production, had significantly lower ex...

33 CFR 100.124 - Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York. 100.124 Section 100.124 Navigation and Navigable... NAVIGABLE WATERS § 100.124 Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York...

100 ways to make good photos great tips & techniques for improving your digital photography

CERN Document Server

Cope, Peter

2013-01-01

A practical, accessible guide to turning your good photographs into great ones whether you are shooting on the latest digital SLR or a camera phone! Discover 100 simple and fun ways to improve your photographs both in-camera and through post-processing image manipulation. Every key photographic genre is covered, from perfect portraits and the great outdoors, to travel photos and shooting at night. Filled with inspirational examples of great photographs compared against the more average images, with easy to follow techniques for how you can achieve the same results.

Advantages of a Web-Based Real-Time Bed-Management System for Hospital Admission Monitoring in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Abedian, Somayeh; Bitaraf, Ehsan; Askari, Marjan

2018-01-01

Lack of up-to-date information of hospitals beds, specifically in emergencies, is a significant problem in many large countries; The Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran (MOHME) designed and implemented a dynamic system that reports the status of beds in 2012. This system created great opportunities for national bed management, including real-time hospital admission monitoring, especially for emergency departments, ICUs and CCUs. Therefore, an additional online system was planned to be implemented for monitoring hospital admissions, including a national alert system. Prior to the design of this system, a study was done using literature study and expert opinion to investigate the advantages and features that this monitoring system was required to have. We used the MoSCoW method to prioritize the requirements of the system. This system was designed to have the following advantages, among other things: the hospitals as well as government should be able to track the patients, manage patient distribution in healthcare centers, and make policy for supplying extra beds. It should also be possible for the hospitals executive board, as well as the government, to monitor the performance of the hospitals regarding patient admissions (i.e., the rate of rejection of patients with severe conditions).

Concentration compared with total urinary excretion of 11,17-DOA in cynomolgus monkey urine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hau, Jann; Royo, F

2008-01-01

Strees sensitive molecules exhibit great variation in concentration in the circulation and it may often be advantageous to quantify these in urine or feces rather than in serum or plasma. We advocate that all urine-or feces-should be collected, and that excretion of stress sensitive molecules sho...

Advantages of GPU technology in DFT calculations of intercalated graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Pešić, J.; Gajić, R.

2014-09-01

Over the past few years, the expansion of general-purpose graphic-processing unit (GPGPU) technology has had a great impact on computational science. GPGPU is the utilization of a graphics-processing unit (GPU) to perform calculations in applications usually handled by the central processing unit (CPU). Use of GPGPUs as a way to increase computational power in the material sciences has significantly decreased computational costs in already highly demanding calculations. A level of the acceleration and parallelization depends on the problem itself. Some problems can benefit from GPU acceleration and parallelization, such as the finite-difference time-domain algorithm (FTDT) and density-functional theory (DFT), while others cannot take advantage of these modern technologies. A number of GPU-supported applications had emerged in the past several years (www.nvidia.com/object/gpu-applications.html). Quantum Espresso (QE) is reported as an integrated suite of open source computer codes for electronic-structure calculations and materials modeling at the nano-scale. It is based on DFT, the use of a plane-waves basis and a pseudopotential approach. Since the QE 5.0 version, it has been implemented as a plug-in component for standard QE packages that allows exploiting the capabilities of Nvidia GPU graphic cards (www.qe-forge.org/gf/proj). In this study, we have examined the impact of the usage of GPU acceleration and parallelization on the numerical performance of DFT calculations. Graphene has been attracting attention worldwide and has already shown some remarkable properties. We have studied an intercalated graphene, using the QE package PHonon, which employs GPU. The term ‘intercalation’ refers to a process whereby foreign adatoms are inserted onto a graphene lattice. In addition, by intercalating different atoms between graphene layers, it is possible to tune their physical properties. Our experiments have shown there are benefits from using GPUs, and we reached an

Advantages of GPU technology in DFT calculations of intercalated graphene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pešić, J; Gajić, R

2014-01-01

Over the past few years, the expansion of general-purpose graphic-processing unit (GPGPU) technology has had a great impact on computational science. GPGPU is the utilization of a graphics-processing unit (GPU) to perform calculations in applications usually handled by the central processing unit (CPU). Use of GPGPUs as a way to increase computational power in the material sciences has significantly decreased computational costs in already highly demanding calculations. A level of the acceleration and parallelization depends on the problem itself. Some problems can benefit from GPU acceleration and parallelization, such as the finite-difference time-domain algorithm (FTDT) and density-functional theory (DFT), while others cannot take advantage of these modern technologies. A number of GPU-supported applications had emerged in the past several years (www.nvidia.com/object/gpu-applications.html). Quantum Espresso (QE) is reported as an integrated suite of open source computer codes for electronic-structure calculations and materials modeling at the nano-scale. It is based on DFT, the use of a plane-waves basis and a pseudopotential approach. Since the QE 5.0 version, it has been implemented as a plug-in component for standard QE packages that allows exploiting the capabilities of Nvidia GPU graphic cards (www.qe-forge.org/gf/proj). In this study, we have examined the impact of the usage of GPU acceleration and parallelization on the numerical performance of DFT calculations. Graphene has been attracting attention worldwide and has already shown some remarkable properties. We have studied an intercalated graphene, using the QE package PHonon, which employs GPU. The term ‘intercalation’ refers to a process whereby foreign adatoms are inserted onto a graphene lattice. In addition, by intercalating different atoms between graphene layers, it is possible to tune their physical properties. Our experiments have shown there are benefits from using GPUs, and we reached an

Individual differences in holistic processing predict the own-race advantage in recognition memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Degutis, Joseph; Mercado, Rogelio J; Wilmer, Jeremy; Rosenblatt, Andrew

2013-01-01

Individuals are consistently better at recognizing own-race faces compared to other-race faces (other-race effect, ORE). One popular hypothesis is that this recognition memory ORE is caused by differential own- and other-race holistic processing, the simultaneous integration of part and configural face information into a coherent whole. Holistic processing may create a more rich, detailed memory representation of own-race faces compared to other-race faces. Despite several studies showing that own-race faces are processed more holistically than other-race faces, studies have yet to link the holistic processing ORE and the recognition memory ORE. In the current study, we sought to use a more valid method of analyzing individual differences in holistic processing by using regression to statistically remove the influence of the control condition (part trials in the part-whole task) from the condition of interest (whole trials in the part-whole task). We also employed regression to separately examine the two components of the ORE: own-race advantage (regressing other-race from own-race performance) and other-race decrement (regressing own-race from other-race performance). First, we demonstrated that own-race faces were processed more holistically than other-race faces, particularly the eye region. Notably, using regression, we showed a significant association between the own-race advantage in recognition memory and the own-race advantage in holistic processing and that these associations were weaker when examining the other-race decrement. We also demonstrated that performance on own- and other-race faces across all of our tasks was highly correlated, suggesting that the differences we found between own- and other-race faces are quantitative rather than qualitative. Together, this suggests that own- and other-race faces recruit largely similar mechanisms, that own-race faces more thoroughly engage holistic processing, and that this greater engagement of holistic

Individual Differences in Holistic Processing Predict the Own-Race Advantage in Recognition Memory

Science.gov (United States)

DeGutis, Joseph; Mercado, Rogelio J.; Wilmer, Jeremy; Rosenblatt, Andrew

2013-01-01

Individuals are consistently better at recognizing own-race faces compared to other-race faces (other-race effect, ORE). One popular hypothesis is that this recognition memory ORE is caused by differential own- and other-race holistic processing, the simultaneous integration of part and configural face information into a coherent whole. Holistic processing may create a more rich, detailed memory representation of own-race faces compared to other-race faces. Despite several studies showing that own-race faces are processed more holistically than other-race faces, studies have yet to link the holistic processing ORE and the recognition memory ORE. In the current study, we sought to use a more valid method of analyzing individual differences in holistic processing by using regression to statistically remove the influence of the control condition (part trials in the part-whole task) from the condition of interest (whole trials in the part-whole task). We also employed regression to separately examine the two components of the ORE: own-race advantage (regressing other-race from own-race performance) and other-race decrement (regressing own-race from other-race performance). First, we demonstrated that own-race faces were processed more holistically than other-race faces, particularly the eye region. Notably, using regression, we showed a significant association between the own-race advantage in recognition memory and the own-race advantage in holistic processing and that these associations were weaker when examining the other-race decrement. We also demonstrated that performance on own- and other-race faces across all of our tasks was highly correlated, suggesting that the differences we found between own- and other-race faces are quantitative rather than qualitative. Together, this suggests that own- and other-race faces recruit largely similar mechanisms, that own-race faces more thoroughly engage holistic processing, and that this greater engagement of holistic

Energetic and Peak Power Advantages of Series Elastic Actuators in an Actuated Prosthetic Leg for Walking and Running

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Grimmer

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A monoarticular series elastic actuator (SEA reduces energetic and peak power requirements compared to a direct drive (DD in active prosthetic ankle-foot design. Simulation studies have shown that similar advantages are possible for the knee joint. The aims of this paper were to investigate the advantages of a monoarticular SEA-driven hip joint and to quantify the energetic benefit of an SEA-driven leg (with monoarticular hip, knee and ankle SEAs, assuming that damping (negative power is passively achieved. The hip SEA provided minor energetic advantages in walking (up to 29% compared to the knee and the ankle SEA. Reductions in required peak power were observed only for speeds close to preferred walking speed (18% to 27%. No energetic advantages were found in running, where a DD achieved the best performance when optimizing for energy. Using an SEA at each leg joint in the sagittal plane reduced the positive work by 14% to 39% for walking and by 37% to 75% for running. When using an SEA instead of a DD, the contribution of the three leg joints to doing positive work changed: the knee contributed less and the hip more positive work. For monoarticular SEAs, the ankle joint motor did most of the positive work.

Energy Advantages for Green Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, J. Tim

2012-01-01

Because of many advantages associated with central utility systems, school campuses, from large universities to elementary schools, have used district energy for decades. District energy facilities enable thermal and electric utilities to be generated with greater efficiency and higher system reliability, while requiring fewer maintenance and…

Advantages of comparative studies in songbirds to understand the neural basis of sensorimotor integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Karagh; James, Logan S; Sakata, Jon T; Prather, Jonathan F

2017-08-01

Sensorimotor integration is the process through which the nervous system creates a link between motor commands and associated sensory feedback. This process allows for the acquisition and refinement of many behaviors, including learned communication behaviors such as speech and birdsong. Consequently, it is important to understand fundamental mechanisms of sensorimotor integration, and comparative analyses of this process can provide vital insight. Songbirds offer a powerful comparative model system to study how the nervous system links motor and sensory information for learning and control. This is because the acquisition, maintenance, and control of birdsong critically depend on sensory feedback. Furthermore, there is an incredible diversity of song organizations across songbird species, ranging from songs with simple, stereotyped sequences to songs with complex sequencing of vocal gestures, as well as a wide diversity of song repertoire sizes. Despite this diversity, the neural circuitry for song learning, control, and maintenance remains highly similar across species. Here, we highlight the utility of songbirds for the analysis of sensorimotor integration and the insights about mechanisms of sensorimotor integration gained by comparing different songbird species. Key conclusions from this comparative analysis are that variation in song sequence complexity seems to covary with the strength of feedback signals in sensorimotor circuits and that sensorimotor circuits contain distinct representations of elements in the vocal repertoire, possibly enabling evolutionary variation in repertoire sizes. We conclude our review by highlighting important areas of research that could benefit from increased comparative focus, with particular emphasis on the integration of new technologies. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Competitive Advantage and its Sources in an Evolving Market

Science.gov (United States)

Zaridis, Apostolos D.

2009-08-01

In a continuously altered and evolving Market, as is the food manufacturing market, the main and long-lasting objective of firm that is the maximization of its wealth and consequently the continuous remaining in profit regions, appears that it is possible to be achieved via the obtainment and maintenance of diachronically long-term competitive advantage, which it will render the firm unique or leader force in a inexorable competition that is continuously extended in a globalized market. Various definitions and different regards are developed in regard to the competitive advantage and the way with which a firm it is possible, acquiring it, to star in the market in which it is activated. As result of sustainable competitive advantage in a firm comes the above the average performance. Abundance of resources and competences that are proposed as sources of competitive advantage in the resource-based view literature exists, while they are added continuously new based on empiric studies. In any case, it appears to suffer hierarchy of sources of competitive advantage, with regard to sustainability of these.

Shift in Comparative Advantage, Dynamic Market　and Purchasing Power Parity in the East Asia

OpenAIRE

Widodo,Tri

2008-01-01

The regional economic integrations, bilateral trade agreements (BTAs), and otherinternational strategic alliances have affected countries' dynamic comparative advantagesand specialization. Whether there are systematic changes in the comparative advantageand specialization of trade in the East-Asian countries has been a crucial issue for thefuture development of the East-Asian economic integration. One of the most importantissues in the international trade is exchange rate. Purchasing Power Pa...

Knowledge And Knowledge Management As A Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Bratić

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In the modern business environment with high turbulence and complexity, an organization’s force to create and sustain competitive advantage lies in what it knows not what it owns. Establishment of a knowledge management in organization will ensure sustainable competitive advantage because the intellectual capital has become the primary bases of core competencies and the key to superior performance. The transition from industrial to knowledge society, effective use of knowledge is one of the deciding factors in the struggle for competitiveness because it will ensure the rationality, efficiency and flexibility in operations, and only through the realization of those graphics company can gain a competitive advantage on the market.

Great Expectations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dickens, Charles

2005-01-01

One of Dickens's most renowned and enjoyable novels, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy who wishes to transcend his humble origins and finds himself unexpectedly given the opportunity to live a life of wealth and respectability. Over the course of the tale, in which Pip

STRATEGIC RECONFIGURATION AND MANAGEMENT OF RETAIL CENTRES CREATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tore Omholt

2002-01-01

Full Text Available In the last decade, the retail industry in many countries, including some Asian countries has undergone great changes due to a more dynamic and turbulent environment. This amongst other things has led to a concentration of retail functions in out-of-town regional shopping centres. This development can be explained by pointing to the traditional, segmentalist ways of strategic management in the retail sector, which to a large degree has looked upon location as the most important, and in many cases, the only source of competitive advantage. It has also treated the retail centre as a nexus of contracts based in turn on a series of bilateral contracts. These ways are in our opinion no longer able to deal with an increasingly dynamic environment, especially in traditional town centres. We are given some examples, however, where successful strategic response is characterized by extensive market research and intimate consumer knowledge, but these kinds of capabilities or skills seem to be confined to the typical multinational chain organization. One seldom finds innovative town centres or dynamic shopping centres with similar capabilities. Our view is that a dynamic reconfiguration will have to take place and be coordinated in a more multilateral fashion without having to resort to excessive communication and information processing to achieve a transformative reconfiguration. In this paper we have tried to show that an approach based on a socio-cybernetic framework and the development of several types of communicative competences, may be effective for the development of competitive advantage for a retail centre.

Commit to Building on New England's "Employability" Advantage!

Science.gov (United States)

Gittell, Ross

2017-01-01

Higher education has provided New England with an economic advantage, as the region without strong natural resource advantages has relied on its higher education institutions (HEIs) and brainpower. A higher education-based economic advantage has enabled the region to develop strong well-paying technology and knowledge-based industries tied to New…

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE EASTERN-EUROPEAN AUTO SECTOR

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Lucian-Ovidiu CINADE

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Car-building industry territorial reconfiguration in Europe is the result of several rounds of company delocations from origin countries to emergent countries. Such rounds have been limited by the gradual opening of the national countries, as well as by changes in East European ideology and politics. Hence, about the end of the 90’s, European car-building industry shows considerable disparity, East to West. In the car-building companies’ vision, East-European car-building development potential is basically sustained by both the car low penetration rate, and the low labor cost. On the long term run, gradual valorizing of the East-european trading, with increasing labor costs, may read as a wearing thin of the competitive advantage in car-building industries, as well as problem issues of novel territory attractiveness needing permanent boosting. Country-to-country comparative analysis indicates that competitive advantage of car-building has not gone down in all of the West-European States. Competitive advantage of the West-European car-building industry increases, which can be explained, in part, by adequate strategies, as both labor costs, and cars penetration rate, go up.

The great intimidators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Roderick M

2006-02-01

After Disney's Michael Eisner, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, and Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina fell from their heights of power, the business media quickly proclaimed thatthe reign of abrasive, intimidating leaders was over. However, it's premature to proclaim their extinction. Many great intimidators have done fine for a long time and continue to thrive. Their modus operandi runs counter to a lot of preconceptions about what it takes to be a good leader. They're rough, loud, and in your face. Their tactics include invading others' personal space, staging tantrums, keeping people guessing, and possessing an indisputable command of facts. But make no mistake--great intimidators are not your typical bullies. They're driven by vision, not by sheer ego or malice. Beneath their tough exteriors and sharp edges are some genuine, deep insights into human motivation and organizational behavior. Indeed, these leaders possess political intelligence, which can make the difference between paralysis and successful--if sometimes wrenching--organizational change. Like socially intelligent leaders, politically intelligent leaders are adept at sizing up others, but they notice different things. Those with social intelligence assess people's strengths and figure out how to leverage them; those with political intelligence exploit people's weaknesses and insecurities. Despite all the obvious drawbacks of working under them, great intimidators often attract the best and brightest. And their appeal goes beyond their ability to inspire high performance. Many accomplished professionals who gravitate toward these leaders want to cultivate a little "inner intimidator" of their own. In the author's research, quite a few individuals reported having positive relationships with intimidating leaders. In fact, some described these relationships as profoundly educational and even transformational. So before we throw out all the great intimidators, the author argues, we should stop to consider what

Polyploidy in haloarchaea: advantages for growth and survival

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Karolin eZerulla

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The investigated haloarchaeal species, Halobacterium salinarum, Haloferax mediterranii, and H. volcanii, have all been shown to be polyploid. They contain several replicons that have independent copy number regulation, and most have a higher copy number during exponential growth phase than stationary phase. The possible evolutionary advantages of polyploidy for haloarchaea, most of which have experimental support for at least one species, are discussed. These advantages include a low mutation rate and high resistance towards X-ray irradiation and desiccation, which depend on homologous recombination. For H. volcanii, it has been shown that gene conversion operates in the absence of selection, which leads to the equalization of genome copies. On the other hand, selective forces might lead to heterozygous cells, which have been verified in the laboratory. Additional advantages of polyploidy are survival over geological times in halite deposits as well as at extreme conditions on earth and at simulated Mars conditions. Recently, it was found that H. volcanii uses genomic DNA as genetic material and as a storage polymer for phosphate. In the absence of phosphate, H. volcanii dramatically decreases its genome copy number, thereby enabling cell multiplication, but diminishing the genetic advantages of polyploidy. Stable storage of phosphate is proposed as an alternative driving force for the emergence of DNA in early evolution. Several additional potential advantages of polyploidy are discussed that have not been addressed experimentally for haloarchaea. An outlook summarizes selected current trends and possible future developments.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES, CAPABILITIES, SYSTEMS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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Raduan Che Rose

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective that business organisations in particular should strive to attain is achieving a competitive advantage position relative to their competitors.. This research empirically examined the importance of and emphasis placed on organisational resources, capabilities and systems in their relationships with competitive advantage. The overall findings indicated significant, positive effects of organisational resources, capabilities and systems collectively on competitive advantage, providing support and corroboration to the resource-based view (RBV. The total variance in competitive advantage accounted for by the multiple linear regression (MLR model was 56.2%. In short, the findings from this study have not only contributed to the literature on the issue of the relationship between organisational resources, capabilities, systems and competitive advantage, but also provided vital information to both practitioners and policy makers on the subject matter.

Implications of Variation in the Relationships between Beneficiary Characteristics and Medicare Advantage CAHPS Measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatfield, Laura A; Zaslavsky, Alan M

2017-08-01

To study how differences in quality score adjustments across Medicare Advantage contracts change comparisons for individuals and contracts. Responses to the Medicare Advantage implementation of the Consumer Assessments of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey from 2010 to 2014. We fit national-and state-level hierarchical models to predict CAHPS scores for individuals and contracts, adjusted for self-reported education, general health, and mental health. We allow the effects of these variables on quality measures to vary across contracts with a hierarchical model. We perform secondary data analysis. For average consumers, standard adjustment is sufficient to represent variation in contract quality standardized to a common population. For people with characteristics far from average, personalized reporting using their characteristics and contract-specific coefficients can substantially change the expected quality measures across contracts. This effect is stronger when comparing among contracts within a state than across all contracts. Customized reporting may help consumers select the best Medicare Advantage plan, but policies should protect against unintended consequences. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Competitive advantages of firms in agro-industrial clusters: Study of wine in Brazil and Chile

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Mattia Adilene Alvares

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study aims to explore two cases connected to the wine productive chain, emphasizing the process of competitive advantages creation under the logic of industrial clusters. The analyzed experiences deal with agglomerations of companies, where some are already established, while others are consolidated or under expansion: The Vale dos Vinhedos (Brazil, and Valle de Casablanca (Chile. The comparative study was based on the presence of territorial resources, analyzed in categories, of which we can highlight: denomination of origin (D.O., tourism, economy, political situation and unique value. The analysis of both territories allowed the identification of similarities and potentialities, and the attachment of those with the construction of com- petitive advantages. The results show that the competitiveness of companies established on the Vale dos Vinhedos and Valle de Casablanca is determined by the competitiveness of the territory, meaning that the spaces under analysis perform a fundamental role in the process of creation of competitive advantages of the already installed companies.

Advantage of resonant power conversion in aerospace applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, I. G.

1983-01-01

An ultrasonic, sinusoidal aerospace power distribution system is shown to have many advantages over other candidate power systems. These advantages include light weight, ease of fault clearing, versatility in handling many loads including motors, and the capability of production within the limits of present technology. References are cited that demonstrate the state of resonant converter technology and support these conclusions.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES ENTERPRISES IN KOOPERATION RELATIONS

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O. Mikitiuk

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Formation of new approaches to the definition of competitive advantage requires different ways to implement them according to market conditions. These paths can be cooperative relations entities that are implemented in the competitive advantage of enterprises in the new stage of development of a competitive society. The result of the interaction of small businesses with industrial and economic structures is the formation and development of such forms of cooperation entities as subcontracting, franchising, leasing, venture finance. The content of these forms is to integrate (interlacing of the functional areas of business including production of functional form is subcontracting relationships, forms of supply – franchising, industrial and financial shape – leasing as a form of innovative functional integration relations is venture financing.

Regional Comparative Advantage for Woody Biofuels Production

Science.gov (United States)

Timothy M. Young; Donald G. Hodges; Robert C. Abt; Andy J. Hartsell; James H. Perdue

2009-01-01

The economic availability of woody biomass for the southeastern United States is summarized in this final report for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Southeastern Sun Grant Center research contract R11-0515-016 as administered by the University of Tennessee. Georeferenced economic supply curves (marginal cost curves) for woody biomass producers’ for the 13...

What great managers do.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckingham, Marcus

2005-03-01

Much has been written about the qualities that make a great manager, but most of the literature overlooks a fundamental question: What does a great manager actually do? While there are countless management styles, one thing underpins the behavior of all great managers. Above all, an exceptional manager comes to know and value the particular quirks and abilities of her employees. She figures out how to capitalize on her staffers' strengths and tweaks her environment to meet her larger goals. Such a specialized approach may seem like a lot of work. But in fact, capitalizing on each person's uniqueness can save time. Rather than encourage employees to conform to strict job descriptions that may include tasks they don't enjoy and aren't good at, a manager who develops positions for his staff members based on their unique abilities will be rewarded with behaviors that are far more efficient and effective than they would be otherwise. This focus on individuals also makes employees more accountable. Because staffers are evaluated on their particular strengths and weaknesses, they are challenged to take responsibility for their abilities and to hone them. Capitalizing on a person's uniqueness also builds a stronger sense of team. By taking the time to understand what makes each employee tick, a great manager shows that he sees his people for who they are. This personal investment not only motivates individuals but also galvanizes the entire team. Finally, this approach shakes up existing hierarchies, which leads to more creative thinking. To take great managing from theory to practice, the author says, you must know three things about a person: her strengths, the triggers that activate those strengths, and how she learns. By asking the right questions, squeezing the right triggers, and becoming aware of your employees' learning styles, you will discover what motivates each person to excel.

ELECTRONIC BANKING ADVANTAGES FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES DELIVERY

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Paun Dragos

2010-12-01

Full Text Available E-banking is a fully automatic service for traditionally banking customers products based on information technology platforms. E-banking services provide customer access to accounts, the ability to move their money between different accounts or making payments via e-channels. The advantages generated by this services have determined an accelerate developing of this industry over the entire world. This paper examines some of the advantages of electronic banking products together with the characteristic management issues generated by the implementation of this new channel for financial services delivery.

Robotic surgery for lung resections—total port approach: advantages and disadvantages

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Omar I.; Cerfolio, Robert J.

2017-01-01

Minimally invasive thoracic surgery, when compared with open thoracotomy, has been shown to have improved perioperative outcomes as well as comparable long-term survival. Robotic surgery represents a powerful advancement of minimally invasive surgery, with vastly improved visualization and instrument maneuverability, and is increasingly popular for thoracic surgery. However, there remains debate over the best robotic approaches for lung resection, with several different techniques evidenced and described in the literature. We delineate our method for total port approach with four robotic arms and discuss how its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. We conclude that it is preferred to other robotic approaches, such as the robotic assisted approach, due to its enhanced visualization, improved instrument range of motion, and reduced potential for injury. PMID:29078585

Robotic surgery for lung resections-total port approach: advantages and disadvantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Omar I; Wei, Benjamin; Cerfolio, Robert J

2017-01-01

Minimally invasive thoracic surgery, when compared with open thoracotomy, has been shown to have improved perioperative outcomes as well as comparable long-term survival. Robotic surgery represents a powerful advancement of minimally invasive surgery, with vastly improved visualization and instrument maneuverability, and is increasingly popular for thoracic surgery. However, there remains debate over the best robotic approaches for lung resection, with several different techniques evidenced and described in the literature. We delineate our method for total port approach with four robotic arms and discuss how its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. We conclude that it is preferred to other robotic approaches, such as the robotic assisted approach, due to its enhanced visualization, improved instrument range of motion, and reduced potential for injury.

Power quality research techniques: advantages and disadvantages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gil Montoya, Francisco; Manzano Agugliaro, Francisco; Gomez Lopez, Julio; Sanchez Alguacil, Pedro

2012-01-01

Nowadays, power quality (PQ) plays a very important role in power systems. So that is why it is very important to use suitable tools allowing a precise detection of anomalies and perturbations in power systems. Given traditional analysis techniques, such as Fourier Transform, today new tools are being developed based on domain transformation, such as Wavelet Transform (WT) or S-Transform (ST), along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques such as Fuzzy Logic (FL) or Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). In this paper, new algorithm and mathematic techniques are reviewed and discussed, and also compared with traditional techniques, revealing the precision and superiority achieved with these new techniques. ST and WT is detailed, basically, as a tool with great scope and future in power quality analysis because of its precision, noise immunity and its contribution with quality information about PQ.

Plant circadian clocks increase photosynthesis, growth, survival, and competitive advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Dodd, Antony N; Salathia, Neeraj; Hall, Anthony; Kévei, Eva; Tóth, Réka; Nagy, Ferenc; Hibberd, Julian M; Millar, Andrew J; Webb, Alex A R

2005-07-22

Circadian clocks are believed to confer an advantage to plants, but the nature of that advantage has been unknown. We show that a substantial photosynthetic advantage is conferred by correct matching of the circadian clock period with that of the external light-dark cycle. In wild type and in long- and short-circadian period mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, plants with a clock period matched to the environment contain more chlorophyll, fix more carbon, grow faster, and survive better than plants with circadian periods differing from their environment. This explains why plants gain advantage from circadian control.

Trust, Commitment and Competitive Advantage in SMEs Export Performance

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Md Daud Ismail

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The entry of small businesses into international markets has intensified. However, despite the growing presence of small businesses in international markets, studies into their international behavior, particularly regarding the effect of international relationships on international outcomes, remain limited. This study investigates the cross-border relationships of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs by examining the effects of the dimensions of the key relationship on the competitive advantage and performance of SMEs in export markets. These dimensions include trust and commitment. Results indicate that trust is significantly related to commitment and export performance. Commitment is positively related to competitive advantage but not to export performance. Trust affects competitive advantage through commitment. The effect of commitment on export performance is mediated by competitive advantage. The methodology and results are presented. The conclusion, implications, and limitations of this study are also discussed.

Potential advantages and disadvantages of sequentially building small nuclear units instead of a large nuclear plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feretic, D.; Cavlina, N.; Grgic, D.

2008-01-01

Renewal of nuclear power programs in countries with modest electricity consumptions and weak electrical grid interconnections has raised the question of optimal nuclear power plants sizes for such countries. The same question would be also valid for isolated or weakly connected regions within a large country. Building large size nuclear power plant could be prevented by technical or financial limits. Research programs have been initiated in the International Atomic Energy Agency and in the USA (within the framework of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program) with the aim to inspect under which circumstances small and medium reactors could be the preferred option compared to large nuclear plants. The economy of scale is a clear advantage of large plants. This paper compares, by using probabilistic methods, the net cash flow of large and medium size plants, taking as example a large nuclear plant (around 1200 MW) and four sequentially built smaller plants (300 MW). Potential advantages and disadvantageous of both options have been considered. Main advantages of the sequential construction of several identical small units could be the reduced investor risk and reduced investment costs due to the learning effect. This analysis is a part of studies for the Croatian power generating system development. (orig.)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery and Its Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Go; Boissiere, Louis; Larrieu, Daniel; Bourghli, Anouar; Vital, Jean Marc; Gille, Olivier; Pointillart, Vincent; Challier, Vincent; Mariey, Remi; Pellisé, Ferran; Vila-Casademunt, Alba; Perez-Grueso, Francisco Javier Sánchez; Alanay, Ahmet; Acaroglu, Emre; Kleinstück, Frank; Obeid, Ibrahim

2017-03-15

Prospective multicenter study of adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. To clarify the effect of ASD surgery on each health-related quality of life (HRQOL) subclass/domain. For patients with ASD, surgery offers superior radiological and HRQOL outcomes compared with nonoperative care. HRQOL may, however, be affected by surgical advantages related to corrective effects, yielding adequate spinopelvic alignment and stability or disadvantages because of long segment fusion. The study included 170 consecutive patients with ASD from a multicenter database with more than 2-year follow-up period. We analyzed each HRQOL domain/subclass (short form-36 items, Oswestry Disability Index, Scoliosis Research Society-22 [SRS-22] questionnaire), and radiographic parameters preoperatively and at 1 and 2 years postoperatively. We divided the patients into two groups each based on lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV; above L5 or S1 to ilium) or surgeon-determined preoperative pathology (idiopathic or degenerative). Improvement rate (%) was calculated as follows: 100 × |pre.-post.|/preoperative points (%) (+, advantages; -, disadvantages). The scores of all short form-36 items and SRS-22 subclasses improved at 1 and 2 years after surgery, regardless of LIV location and preoperative pathology. Personal care and lifting in Oswestry Disability Index were, however, not improved after 1 year. These disadvantages were correlated to sagittal modifiers of SRS-Schwab classification similar to other HRQOL. The degree of personal care disadvantage mainly depended on LIV location and preoperative pathology. Although personal care improved after 2 years postoperatively, no noticeable improvements in lifting were recorded. HRQOL subclass analysis indicated two disadvantages of ASD surgery, which were correlated to sagittal radiographic measures. Fusion to the sacrum or ilium greatly restricted the ability to stretch or bend, leading to limited daily activities for at least 1 year postoperatively

Posterior coronal plating for tibial fractures: technique and advantages

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Montu Jain

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Objective:Tibial shaft fractures are straightforward to treat but when associated with soft tissue injury particularly at the nail entry/plate insertion site or there is significant comminution proximally or a large butterfly fragment/a second split component in the posterior coronal plane, it is a challenge to the treating surgeon. The aim of the present report is to describe the technique of posterior coronal plating in such a scenario and its advantages. Methods:Between July 2008 and June 2011, 12 patients were pro spectively treated by this approach using 4.5 mm broad dynamic compression plates. Results:The time of bony consolidation and full weight bearing averaged 21.7 weeks (range, 16-26 weeks. Patients were followed up for at least 24 months (range, 24-48 months. At 1 year postoper atively, no loss in reduction or alignment was observed. Mean Hospital for Lower Extremity Measurement Functional Score was 72.8 (range, 64-78. All patients were satisfied with their treatment outcomes. Conclusion:Direct posterior approach and fixation using prone position helps to visualise the fracture fragments and provide rigid fixation. The approach is simple and extensile easily, apart from advantages of less soft tissue and hardware problems compared to standard medial or lateral plating. Key words: Tibial fractures; Bone plates; Orthopedic procedures

Comparing prey composition and prey size delivered to nestlings by great tits, Parus major, and blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, in a Mediterranean sclerophyllous mixed forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navalpotro, H.; Pagani-Nuñez, E.; Hernandez-Gomez, S.; Senar, J.C.

2016-01-01

Resource partitioning is a central issue in ecology because it can establish to which point similar species can coexist in the same habitat. Great tits and blue tits have been classical model species in studies of trophic competence. However, most studies on the topic have been conducted at localities where caterpillars are by far the most relevant prey brought to the nestlings. In Mediterranean mixed forests, nevertheless, the abundance of caterpillars is relatively low and it is spiders that play a key role in the diet of great tits, at least for nestlings. The aim of this paper was to study nest food provisioning to establish the degree of diet overlap of these two tit species in a Mediterranean forest. Our results showed that blue tit feeding rates were higher than those of great tits, probably to compensate for the smaller prey delivered to nestlings by blue tits. Blue tits brought more spiders than great tits, while grey tits brought larger prey and more caterpillars. This may be because larger great tits can prey upon larger prey items than blue tits. As a main result, this study supports the view of resource partitioning by great and blue tits in sclerophyllous Mediterranean forest ecosystem. (Author)

Comparing prey composition and prey size delivered to nestlings by great tits, Parus major, and blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, in a Mediterranean sclerophyllous mixed forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navalpotro, H.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Resource partitioning is a central issue in ecology because it can establish to which point similar species can coexist in the same habitat. Great tits and blue tits have been classical model species in studies of trophic competence. However, most studies on the topic have been conducted at localities where caterpillars are by far the most relevant prey brought to the nestlings. In Mediterranean mixed forests, nevertheless, the abundance of caterpillars is relatively low and it is spiders that play a key role in the diet of great tits, at least for nestlings. The aim of this paper was to study nest food provisioning to establish the degree of diet overlap of these two tit species in a Mediterranean forest. Our results showed that blue tit feeding rates were higher than those of great tits, probably to compensate for the smaller prey delivered to nestlings by blue tits. Blue tits brought more spiders than great tits, while grey tits brought larger prey and more caterpillars. This may be because larger great tits can prey upon larger prey items than blue tits. As a main result, this study supports the view of resource partitioning by great and blue tits in sclerophyllous Mediterranean forest ecosystem.

Comparing prey composition and prey size delivered to nestlings by great tits, Parus major, and blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, in a Mediterranean sclerophyllous mixed forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Navalpotro, H.; Pagani-Nuñez, E.; Hernandez-Gomez, S.; Senar, J.C.

2016-07-01

Resource partitioning is a central issue in ecology because it can establish to which point similar species can coexist in the same habitat. Great tits and blue tits have been classical model species in studies of trophic competence. However, most studies on the topic have been conducted at localities where caterpillars are by far the most relevant prey brought to the nestlings. In Mediterranean mixed forests, nevertheless, the abundance of caterpillars is relatively low and it is spiders that play a key role in the diet of great tits, at least for nestlings. The aim of this paper was to study nest food provisioning to establish the degree of diet overlap of these two tit species in a Mediterranean forest. Our results showed that blue tit feeding rates were higher than those of great tits, probably to compensate for the smaller prey delivered to nestlings by blue tits. Blue tits brought more spiders than great tits, while grey tits brought larger prey and more caterpillars. This may be because larger great tits can prey upon larger prey items than blue tits. As a main result, this study supports the view of resource partitioning by great and blue tits in sclerophyllous Mediterranean forest ecosystem. (Author)

Hidden Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Class.

Science.gov (United States)

Goudeau, Sébastien; Croizet, Jean-Claude

2017-02-01

Three studies conducted among fifth and sixth graders examined how school contexts disrupt the achievement of working-class students by staging unfair comparison with their advantaged middle-class peers. In regular classrooms, differences in performance among students are usually showcased in a way that does not acknowledge the advantage (i.e., higher cultural capital) experienced by middle-class students, whose upbringing affords them more familiarity with the academic culture than their working-class peers have. Results of Study 1 revealed that rendering differences in performance visible in the classroom by having students raise their hands was enough to undermine the achievement of working-class students. In Studies 2 and 3, we manipulated students' familiarity with an arbitrary standard as a proxy for social class. Our results suggest that classroom settings that make differences in performance visible undermine the achievement of the students who are less familiar with academic culture. In Study 3, we showed that being aware of the advantage in familiarity with a task restores the performance of the students who have less familiarity with the task.

Novel surveillance of psychological distress during the great recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, John W; Althouse, Benjamin M; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Childers, Matthew A; Zafar, Waleed; Latkin, Carl; Ribisl, Kurt M; Brownstein, John S

2012-12-15

Economic stressors have been retrospectively associated with net population increases in nonspecific psychological distress (PD). However, no sentinels exist to evaluate contemporaneous associations. Aggregate Internet search query surveillance was used to monitor population changes in PD around the United States' Great Recession. Monthly PD query trends were compared with unemployment, underemployment, homes in delinquency and foreclosure, median home value or sale prices, and S&P 500 trends for 2004-2010. Time series analyses, where economic indicators predicted PD one to seven months into the future, were performed in 2011. PD queries surpassed 1,000,000 per month, of which 300,000 may be attributable to the Great Recession. A one percentage point increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures was associated with a 16% (95%CI, 9-24) increase in PD queries one-month, and 11% (95%CI, 3-18) four months later, in reference to a pre-Great Recession mean. Unemployment and underemployment had similar associations half and one-quarter the intensity. "Anxiety disorder", "what is depression", "signs of depression", "depression symptoms", and "symptoms of depression" were the queries exhibiting the strongest associations with mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, unemployment or underemployment. Housing prices and S&P 500 trends were not associated with PD queries. A non-traditional measure of PD was used. It is unclear if actual clinically significant depression or anxiety increased during the Great Recession. Alternative explanations for strong associations between the Great Recession and PD queries, such as media, were explored and rejected. Because the economy is constantly changing, this work not only provides a snapshot of recent associations between the economy and PD queries but also a framework and toolkit for real-time surveillance going forward. Health resources, clinician screening patterns, and policy debate may be informed by changes in PD query

Comparing Integrated and Disciplinary Clinical Training Patterns for Dental Interns: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Effect on Students' Self-Confidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Junrong; Feng, Xiaoli; Chen, Aijie; Zhang, Yanli; Liu, Qi; Shao, Longquan

2016-03-01

In China, the five-year program of undergraduate education for stomatology consists of four years of lecture courses and one year of internship focused on clinical training. Dental schools provide this clinical training either in their own clinics (referred to as the one-stage pattern because all forms of practice are completed together) or by placing students in external clinics usually at non-affiliated hospitals (referred to as the three-stage program because the three primary areas are taught separately). The aims of this study were to investigate differences in teaching effect between the one-stage and the three-stage patterns and to evaluate advantages and disadvantages of the two patterns. A three-section, 31-item questionnaire was designed to assess basic and clinic information about the interns' training and their self-confidence in performing clinical procedures. The survey was administered to graduates who finished the fifth-year internship in 2012-14. Of the 356 individuals invited to participate, 303 graduates who spent their intern years in 43 academic dental institutions returned completed surveys (response rate of 85%). The one-stage group (n=121) reported longer independent operation time than the three-stage group (n=182) (p<0.01). No significant difference was found between the groups for assessment of clinic infrastructure (p=0.121). The interns were most confident in oral hygiene instruction and scale and polish (overall median=5), but showed low confidence in rubber dam placement and four other procedures (overall median=2). The one-stage group rated their confidence level higher than the three-stage group on comprehensive skills such as arranging appointments and managing patients and procedures needing long treatment periods such as molar endodontics. The three-stage group showed higher confidence on more specialized procedures such as surgical extractions and suturing. This study found that both of the two intern patterns had advantages and

Contextual Advantage for State Discrimination

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, David; Spekkens, Robert W.

2018-02-01

Finding quantitative aspects of quantum phenomena which cannot be explained by any classical model has foundational importance for understanding the boundary between classical and quantum theory. It also has practical significance for identifying information processing tasks for which those phenomena provide a quantum advantage. Using the framework of generalized noncontextuality as our notion of classicality, we find one such nonclassical feature within the phenomenology of quantum minimum-error state discrimination. Namely, we identify quantitative limits on the success probability for minimum-error state discrimination in any experiment described by a noncontextual ontological model. These constraints constitute noncontextuality inequalities that are violated by quantum theory, and this violation implies a quantum advantage for state discrimination relative to noncontextual models. Furthermore, our noncontextuality inequalities are robust to noise and are operationally formulated, so that any experimental violation of the inequalities is a witness of contextuality, independently of the validity of quantum theory. Along the way, we introduce new methods for analyzing noncontextuality scenarios and demonstrate a tight connection between our minimum-error state discrimination scenario and a Bell scenario.

Contextual Advantage for State Discrimination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Schmid

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Finding quantitative aspects of quantum phenomena which cannot be explained by any classical model has foundational importance for understanding the boundary between classical and quantum theory. It also has practical significance for identifying information processing tasks for which those phenomena provide a quantum advantage. Using the framework of generalized noncontextuality as our notion of classicality, we find one such nonclassical feature within the phenomenology of quantum minimum-error state discrimination. Namely, we identify quantitative limits on the success probability for minimum-error state discrimination in any experiment described by a noncontextual ontological model. These constraints constitute noncontextuality inequalities that are violated by quantum theory, and this violation implies a quantum advantage for state discrimination relative to noncontextual models. Furthermore, our noncontextuality inequalities are robust to noise and are operationally formulated, so that any experimental violation of the inequalities is a witness of contextuality, independently of the validity of quantum theory. Along the way, we introduce new methods for analyzing noncontextuality scenarios and demonstrate a tight connection between our minimum-error state discrimination scenario and a Bell scenario.

Cognitive advantage in bilingualism: an example of publication bias?

Science.gov (United States)

de Bruin, Angela; Treccani, Barbara; Della Sala, Sergio

2015-01-01

It is a widely held belief that bilinguals have an advantage over monolinguals in executive-control tasks, but is this what all studies actually demonstrate? The idea of a bilingual advantage may result from a publication bias favoring studies with positive results over studies with null or negative effects. To test this hypothesis, we looked at conference abstracts from 1999 to 2012 on the topic of bilingualism and executive control. We then determined which of the studies they reported were subsequently published. Studies with results fully supporting the bilingual-advantage theory were most likely to be published, followed by studies with mixed results. Studies challenging the bilingual advantage were published the least. This discrepancy was not due to differences in sample size, tests used, or statistical power. A test for funnel-plot asymmetry provided further evidence for the existence of a publication bias. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Health Advantage of a Vegan Diet: Exploring the Gut Microbiota Connection

OpenAIRE

Glick-Bauer, Marian; Yeh, Ming-Chin

2014-01-01

This review examines whether there is evidence that a strict vegan diet confers health advantages beyond that of a vegetarian diet or overall healthy eating. Few studies include vegan subjects as a distinct experimental group, yet when vegan diets are directly compared to vegetarian and omnivorous diets, a pattern of protective health benefits emerges. The relatively recent inclusion of vegan diets in studies of gut microbiota and health allows us the opportunity to assess whether the vegan g...

The second leg home advantage: evidence from European football cup competitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Lionel; Page, Katie

2007-12-01

The home advantage is a widely acknowledged sporting phenomenon, especially in association football. Here, we examine the second leg home advantage, an effect that is discussed in the public domain but which has received very little scientific attention. The second leg home advantage effect occurs when on average teams are more likely to win a two-stage knock-out competition when they play at home in the second leg. That is, both teams have a home advantage but this advantage is significantly greater for the team that plays at home second. Examining data from three different European Cup football competitions spanning 51 years, we show that the second leg home advantage is a real phenomenon. The second leg home team has more than a 50% probability to qualify for the next round in the competition even after controlling for extra time and team ability as possible alternative explanations. The second leg home advantage appears, however, to have decreased significantly over the past decade. Possible reasons for its existence and subsequent decline are presented.

Nothing Great Is Easy

OpenAIRE

Stansbie, Lisa

2014-01-01

A solo exhibition of 13 pieces of art work.\\ud \\ud Nothing Great is Easy is an exhibition of sculpture, film, drawing and photography that proposes reconstructed narratives using the sport of swimming and in particular the collective interaction and identity of the channel swimmer. The work utilises the processes, rituals/rules, language and the apparatus of sport.\\ud \\ud “Nothing great is easy” are the words on the memorial to Captain Matthew Webb who was the first man to swim the English ch...

AquAdvantage Salmon Genetically modified organism

OpenAIRE

Núñez Saurí, Ester; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Facultat de Veterinària

2014-01-01

Póster AquAdvantage Salmon is a genetically modified organism developed by AquBounty Technologies. The objective of this transgenic organism is to increase the growth rate to obtain the same of conventional salmon faster.

Home advantage in speed skating : Evidence from individual data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, RH

Home advantage is a well-documented phenomenon in many sports. Home advantage has been shown to exist for team sports (soccer, hockey, football, baseball, basketball) and for countries organizing sports tournaments like the Olympics and World Cup Soccer. There is also some evidence for home

Thoracoscopic versus robotic approaches: advantages and disadvantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Benjamin; D'Amico, Thomas A

2014-05-01

The overall advantages of thoracoscopy over thoracotomy in terms of patient recovery have been fairly well established. The use of robotics, however, is a newer and less proven modality in the realm of thoracic surgery. Robotics offers distinct advantages and disadvantages in comparison with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Robotic technology is now used for a variety of complex cardiac, urologic, and gynecologic procedures including mitral valve repair and microsurgical treatment of male infertility. This article addresses the potential benefits and limitations of using the robotic platform for the performance of a variety of thoracic operations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CREATING A CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

ENGİNOĞLU, Didem; ARIKAN, Cenk Laçin

2016-01-01

Current competitive environment is rapidly changing. In today’s business environment, organizations are having an increasingly difficult time in creating competitive advantages. The main reason for this is the ease in contemporary business life for organizations to reach the same or very similar resources. Firms need innovation to create and sustain success and effectiveness. In such a highly competitive business life, the importance of creating competitive advantages for organizations based ...

Modern Paradigm of Ensuring Competitive Advantages of an Enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klymchuk Alyona O.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers evolution of development of the paradigm of ensuring competitive advantages of an enterprise. Foreign and domestic scientists focus on individual directions of development of competitive advantages and pay insufficient attention to new management concepts – development of the information society, knowledge economy and dynamism of integration processes. The goal of the study is formation of the modern paradigm of ensuring competitive advantages of an enterprise with consideration of tendencies of development of the knowledge economy, information society and integration processes. Enterprise competitiveness is a synergetic characteristic, which reflects enterprise capability of dynamic response to changes of the market situation with the aim of keeping predominance over other economic subjects. Management of the future, on the basis of the management 2.0 concept, should take into account interests not only of top management and shareholders but also employees, local communities and territories and meet requirements of the society in general, individual groups of consumers and tendencies of development of managerial and information technologies. The paradigm of the modern theory of ensuring competitive advantages should include models of keeping competitive advantages in the existing markets and models of development of future markets; strategy of development of enterprise competitiveness, human capital development and efficient enterprise management.

Comparative evaluation of three capripoxvirus-vectored peste des petits ruminants vaccines.

Science.gov (United States)

Fakri, F; Bamouh, Z; Ghzal, F; Baha, W; Tadlaoui, K; Fihri, O Fassi; Chen, W; Bu, Z; Elharrak, M

2018-01-15

Sheep and goat pox (SGP) with peste des petits ruminants (PPR) are transboundary viral diseases of small ruminants that cause huge economic losses. Recombinant vaccines that can protect from both infections have been reported as a promising solution for the future. SGP was used as a vector to express two structural proteins hemagglutinin or the fusion protein of PPRV. We compared immunity conferred by recombinant capripoxvirus vaccines expressing H or F or both HF. Safety and efficacy were evaluated in goats and sheep. Two vaccine doses were tested in sheep, 10 4.5 TCDI50 in 1ml dose was retained for the further experiment. Results showed that the recombinant HF confers an earlier and stronger immunity against both SGP and PPR. This recombinant vaccine protect also against the disease in exposed and unexposed sheep. The potential Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals of recombinant vaccines is of great advantage in any eradication program. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Climate variability and Great Plains agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, N.J.; Katz, L.A.

1991-01-01

The ways in which inhabitants of the Great Plains, including Indians, early settlers, and 20th century farmers, have adapted to climate changes on the Great Plains are explored. The climate of the Great Plains, because of its variability and extremes, can be very stressful to plants, animals and people. It is suggested that agriculture and society on the Great Plains have, during the last century, become less vulnerable to the stresses imposed by climate. Opinions as to the sustainability of agriculture on the Great Plains vary substantially. Lockeretz (1981) suggests that large scale, high cost technologies have stressed farmers by creating surpluses and by requiring large investments. Opie (1989) sees irrigation as a climate substitute, however he stresses that the Ogallala aquifer must inevitably become depleted. Deborah and Frank Popper (1987) believe that farming on the Plains is unsustainable, and destruction of shelterbelts, out-migration of the rural population and environmental problems will lead to total collapse. With global warming, water in the Great Plains is expected to become scarcer, and although improvements in irrigation efficiency may slow depletion of the Ogallala aquifer, ultimately the acreage under irrigation must decrease to levels that can be sustained by natural recharge and reliable surface flows. 23 refs., 2 figs

Blood Transfusion In Surgical Children: The Advantages And Hazards

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The increasing opposition to blood transfusion makes the management of surgical children who require blood very challenging. This retrospective study reviews records of blood transfusion so as to determine the advantages and hazards in surgical children. The advantages and hazards of blood transfusion in surgical ...

Home advantage in speed skating : evidence from individual data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, Ruud H.

2003-01-01

Home advantage is a well documented phenomena in many types of sports. Home advantage has been shown to exist for team sports (soccer, hockey, football, baseball, basketball) and for countries organizing sports tournaments like the Olympics and World Cup Soccer. There is also some evidence for home

The Real Transformation: Building and Maintaining Long-Term Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

TERM COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE LTC EDWARD C. CARDON, USA A TRANFORMATION PAPER FOR THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF SEMINAR...SUBTITLE The Real Transformation: Building and Maintaining Long-Term Competitive Advantage 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...long-term military competitive advantage in comparison to the rest of the world.4 This approach suggests a model that places competition as the

Comparing post-combustion CO2 capture operation at retrofitted coal-fired power plants in the Texas and Great Britain electric grids

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Stuart M.; Chalmers, Hannah L.; Webber, Michael E.; King, Carey W.

2011-04-01

This work analyses the carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system operation within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Great Britain (GB) electric grids using a previously developed first-order hourly electricity dispatch and pricing model. The grids are compared in their 2006 configuration with the addition of coal-based CO2 capture retrofits and emissions penalties from 0 to 100 US dollars per metric ton of CO2 (USD/tCO2). CO2 capture flexibility is investigated by comparing inflexible CO2 capture systems to flexible ones that can choose between full- and zero-load CO2 capture depending on which operating mode has lower costs or higher profits. Comparing these two grids is interesting because they have similar installed capacity and peak demand, and both are isolated electricity systems with competitive wholesale electricity markets. However, differences in capacity mix, demand patterns, and fuel markets produce diverging behaviours of CO2 capture at coal-fired power plants. Coal-fired facilities are primarily base load in ERCOT for a large range of CO2 prices but are comparably later in the dispatch order in GB and consequently often supply intermediate load. As a result, the ability to capture CO2 is more important for ensuring dispatch of coal-fired facilities in GB than in ERCOT when CO2 prices are high. In GB, higher overall coal prices mean that CO2 prices must be slightly higher than in ERCOT before the emissions savings of CO2 capture offset capture energy costs. However, once CO2 capture is economical, operating CO2 capture on half the coal fleet in each grid achieves greater emissions reductions in GB because the total coal-based capacity is 6 GW greater than in ERCOT. The market characteristics studied suggest greater opportunity for flexible CO2 capture to improve operating profits in ERCOT, but profit improvements can be offset by a flexibility cost penalty.

Comparing post-combustion CO2 capture operation at retrofitted coal-fired power plants in the Texas and Great Britain electric grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, Stuart M; Webber, Michael E; Chalmers, Hannah L; King, Carey W

2011-01-01

This work analyses the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture system operation within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Great Britain (GB) electric grids using a previously developed first-order hourly electricity dispatch and pricing model. The grids are compared in their 2006 configuration with the addition of coal-based CO 2 capture retrofits and emissions penalties from 0 to 100 US dollars per metric ton of CO 2 (USD/tCO 2 ). CO 2 capture flexibility is investigated by comparing inflexible CO 2 capture systems to flexible ones that can choose between full- and zero-load CO 2 capture depending on which operating mode has lower costs or higher profits. Comparing these two grids is interesting because they have similar installed capacity and peak demand, and both are isolated electricity systems with competitive wholesale electricity markets. However, differences in capacity mix, demand patterns, and fuel markets produce diverging behaviours of CO 2 capture at coal-fired power plants. Coal-fired facilities are primarily base load in ERCOT for a large range of CO 2 prices but are comparably later in the dispatch order in GB and consequently often supply intermediate load. As a result, the ability to capture CO 2 is more important for ensuring dispatch of coal-fired facilities in GB than in ERCOT when CO 2 prices are high. In GB, higher overall coal prices mean that CO 2 prices must be slightly higher than in ERCOT before the emissions savings of CO 2 capture offset capture energy costs. However, once CO 2 capture is economical, operating CO 2 capture on half the coal fleet in each grid achieves greater emissions reductions in GB because the total coal-based capacity is 6 GW greater than in ERCOT. The market characteristics studied suggest greater opportunity for flexible CO 2 capture to improve operating profits in ERCOT, but profit improvements can be offset by a flexibility cost penalty.

The Survival Advantage: Underlying Mechanisms and Extant Limitations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie A. Kazanas

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Recently, researchers have begun to investigate the function of memory in our evolutionary history. According to Nairne and colleagues (e.g., Nairne, Pandeirada, and Thompson, 2008; Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada, 2007, the best mnemonic strategy for learning lists of unrelated words may be one that addresses the same problems that our Pleistocene ancestors faced: fitness-relevant problems including securing food and water, as well as protecting themselves from predators. Survival processing has been shown to promote better recall and recognition memory than many well-known mnemonic strategies (e.g., pleasantness ratings, imagery, generation, etc.. However, the survival advantage does not extend to all types of stimuli and tasks. The current review presents research that has replicated Nairne et al.'s (2007 original findings, in addition to the research designs that fail to replicate the survival advantage. In other words, there are specific manipulations in which survival processing does not appear to benefit memory any more than other strategies. Potential mechanisms for the survival advantage are described, with an emphasis on those that are the most plausible. These proximate mechanisms outline the memory processes that may contribute to the advantage, although the ultimate mechanism may be the congruity between the survival scenario and Pleistocene problem-solving.

Advantages of the use of hydrogen fuel as compared to kerosene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koroneos, C.; Dompros, A.; Roumbas, G.; Moussiopoulos, N.

2005-01-01

A life cycle assessment (LCA) study has been carried out to investigate the environmental aspects of two types of aviation fuel, kerosene that is presently used and hydrogen. Hydrogen is selected as a future aircraft fuel because of the absence of CO 2 emissions from its use, its high energy content and its combustion kinetics. The life cycle of aviation fuel includes the production and the use of the aviation fuel in different types of aircraft. Hydrogen production by natural gas steam reforming and production upon renewable energy sources (RES) are examined. A very large number of environmental burdens result from the operation of the different fuel cycles. Air pollution is by far the biggest environmental problem that is resulting from hydrogen and kerosene production and use. This work has been mainly concentrated with this environmental impact category. It is shown that the production of hydrogen from RES has significantly lower environmental impact as compared to that of kerosene. However, the use of different RES carries different environmental impacts among them. The production of hydrogen resulting from the use of photovoltaics to capture solar energy carries the biggest environmental impact among the other RES, wind, hydropower, biomass and solar thermal

Undermatched? School-Based Linguistic Status, College Going, and the Immigrant Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Callahan, Rebecca M.; Humphries, Melissa H.

2016-01-01

Considerable research investigates the immigrant advantage--the academic benefit first- and second-generation students experience relative to native-born peers. However, little work examines how school-based linguistic status may influence this advantage. Contradictory patterns exist: Research identifies both an immigrant advantage and a language…

Composting: Great Rotten Idea.

Science.gov (United States)

Chemecology, 1992

1992-01-01

To help students investigate both the advantages and disadvantages of composting, various activities are presented dealing with the definitions and the applications of the concepts of recyclable and biodegradable. (MCO)

Single site porphyrine-like structures advantages over metals for selective electrochemical CO2 reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bagger, Alexander; Ju, Wen; Varela, Ana Sofia

2017-01-01

Currently, no catalysts are completely selective for the electrochemical CO2 Reduction Reaction (CO2RR). Based on trends in density functional theory calculations of reaction intermediates we find that the single metal site in a porphyrine-like structure has a simple advantage of limiting...... the competing Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER). The single metal site in a porphyrine-like structure requires an ontop site binding of hydrogen, compared to the hollow site binding of hydrogen on a metal catalyst surface. The difference in binding site structure gives a fundamental energy-shift in the scaling...... relation of ∼0.3eV between the COOH* vs. H* intermediate (CO2RR vs. HER). As a result, porphyrine-like catalysts have the advantage over metal catalyst of suppressing HER and enhancing CO2RR selectivity....

Solar thermal upper stage: Economic advantage and development status

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Alan M.

1995-01-01

A solar thermal upper stage (STUS) is envisioned as a propulsive concept for the future. The STUS will be used for low Earth orbit (LEO) to geostationary-Earth orbit (GEO) transfer and for planetary exploration missions. The STUS offers significant performance gains over conventional chemical propulsion systems. These performance gains translate into a more economical, more efficient method of placing useful payloads in space and maximizing the benefits derived from space activity. This paper will discuss the economical advantages of an STUS compared to conventional chemical propulsion systems, the potential market for an STUS, and the recent activity in the development of an STUS. The results of this assessment combined with the performance gains, will provide a strong justification for the development of an STUS.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT STANDARDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PALIEKHOVA L. L.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of the presented research is to explore the potential of international energy management standards to increase competitiveness of industrial enterprises under conditions of Ukrainian transitional economy. The study had the following objectives: to trace the evolution of fundamental energy efficiency standards; to discuss experience in their use in various countries; to identify factors that are key to achieving competitive advantage under the implementation ISO 50001. Methodology. This article presents a historical overview of the standardisation of principles and approaches for the purpose of the energy-efficient management. The research was carried out by studying the international documents, voluntary standards and national practices in the field of energy efficiency. Conclusions. The study examines the experiences of different countries in the field of energy management systems. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the ISO 50001 with the other basic standards for the organisation of management. The system approach enables to identify the main factors and their impact on capacity to achieve competitive advantages, which are possible to obtain after certification to ISO 50001. Originality. The study reviewed and analysed the energy management penetration within its dynamics at time and country level. After analysing the statistical data and the results of the interviews, the authors identified 20 key factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises that are certified to ISO 50001. All of these factors were divided into four groups, two groups represent external environment – opportunities and threats, and two groups – internal capacity – strengths and weaknesses of enterprises. Practical value. The proposed system of factors may be useful for the planning of actions towards strengthening the capacity of energy management systems in the context of the formation competitive advantages on the industrial

Der Einfluss von personeller Einkommensverteilung auf die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Trappl

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Der Einfluss gestiegener Einkommensungleichheit auf die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“ wurde mehrfach postuliert (Galbraith 1954/2009; Eccles 1951; Rajan 2010; Stiglitz 2012; Piketty 2014. Konkrete empirische Arbeiten zum Zusammenhang zwischen Einkommensverteilung und dem Entstehen von Wirtschaftskrisen gibt es aber bislang wenige. Kumhof/Ranciere (2010 überprüften die von Rajan (2010 aufgestellte Hypothese, die einen entsprechenden Zusammenhang postuliert, mittels Modellrechnung. Bordo/Meissner (2012 und darauf aufbauend Gu/Huang (2014 verwendeten unterschiedliche Regressionsmodelle in Bezug auf einen entsprechenden Zusammenhang, ohne jedoch eindeutige Ergebnisse zu liefern. Die vorliegende Arbeit schließt an diese Arbeiten an, beschränkt die Untersuchung allerdings auf Staaten, für die Daten für die letzten hundert Jahre verfügbar sind, und untersucht zudem explizit die Zeiträume um die beiden größten Krisen der letzten hundert Jahre, die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“. Die Auswertungen zeigen, dass die personelle Einkommensverteilung ein guter Prädiktor für die Kriseneintrittswahrscheinlichkeit ist.

Seeking the competitive advantage: it's more than cost reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

South, S F

1999-01-01

Most organizations focus considerable time and energy on reducing operating costs as a way to attain marketplace advantage. This strategy was not inappropriate in the past. To be competitive in the future, however, focus must be placed on other issues, not just cost reduction. The near future will be dominated by service industries, knowledge management, and virtual partnerships, with production optimization and flexibility, innovation, and strong partnerships defining those organizations that attain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage will reside in clarifying the vision and strategic plan, reviewing and redesigning work processes to optimize resources and value-added work, and creating change-ready environments and empowered workforces.

Great Lakes Bathymetry

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Bathymetry of Lakes Michigan, Erie, Saint Clair, Ontario and Huron has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to rescue Great Lakes lake floor geological and...

THE TAX ADVANTAGES OF INCOME TAX PAYERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SUCIU GHEORGHE

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes the cost of financing through financial and operational leasing due to the deductibility of depreciation and interest. The shareholders of any company aim to obtain profit and to increase their ownership equity. In order for this to happen, the company must have profit, for which a corporate tax must be paid. A good management translates into choosing the most advantageous means of financing, which will lead to paying a lower corporate tax. Leasing and the non-taxation of reinvested profits are two means through which companies can obtain significant fiscal advantages, by increasing the deductible expenses, or by paying lower taxes.

What Caused the Great Depression?

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Jean; O'Driscoll, Timothy G.

2007-01-01

Economists and historians have struggled for almost 80 years to account for the American Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted until the early years of World War II. In this article, the authors discuss three major schools of thought on the causes of the Great Depression and the long failure of the American economy to return to full…

The Sixth Great Mass Extinction

Science.gov (United States)

Wagler, Ron

2012-01-01

Five past great mass extinctions have occurred during Earth's history. Humanity is currently in the midst of a sixth, human-induced great mass extinction of plant and animal life (e.g., Alroy 2008; Jackson 2008; Lewis 2006; McDaniel and Borton 2002; Rockstrom et al. 2009; Rohr et al. 2008; Steffen, Crutzen, and McNeill 2007; Thomas et al. 2004;…

Advantages of Intelligent SDH/SONET Networks

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Advantages of Intelligent SDH/SONET Networks. GMPLS simplifies network management, thus reducing operating expenses (“staff”) and minimizing errors. Same benefits as computerization of banking, accounts, etc. Auto-discovery simplifies equipment installation ...

Grapheme-colour synaesthesia yields an ordinary rather than extraordinary memory advantage: evidence from a group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothen, Nicolas; Meier, Beat

2010-04-01

In synaesthesia, the input of one sensory modality automatically triggers an additional experience, not normally triggered by the input of that modality. Therefore, compared to non-synaesthetes, additional experiences exist and these may be used as retrieval cues when memory is tested. Previous case studies have suggested that synaesthesia may yield even extraordinary memory abilities. However, group studies found either a task-specific memory advantage or no performance advantage at all. The aim of the present study was to test whether grapheme-colour synaesthesia gives rise to a general memory benefit using a standardised memory test (Wechsler Memory Scale). The synaesthetes showed a performance advantage in episodic memory tests, but not in short-term memory tests. However, performance was still within the ordinary range. The results support the hypothesis that synaesthesia provides for a richer world of experience and as a consequence additional retrieval cues may be available and beneficial but not to the point of extraordinary memory ability.

Implementation of marketing strategy: Factor of competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Krstić Ivan; Becić Sonja

2011-01-01

Primary objective of the company is to reach the business success. Competitors have the same objective. Only the companies that really meet the consumer's needs and demands survive in the competitive struggle. The company who succeeds in it, has the possibility to achieve the competitive advantage as well. The company has to have the adequate marketing strategy in order to fulfill the marketing objectives and achieve the competitive advantage. The marketing strategy should be flexible and pro...

A longitudinal study of memory advantages in bilinguals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica K Ljungberg

Full Text Available Typically, studies of cognitive advantages in bilinguals have been conducted previously by using executive and inhibitory tasks (e.g. Simon task and applying cross-sectional designs. This study longitudinally investigated bilingual advantages on episodic memory recall, verbal letter and categorical fluency during the trajectory of life. Monolingual and bilingual participants (n=178 between 35-70 years at baseline were drawn from the Betula Prospective Cohort Study of aging, memory, and health. Results showed that bilinguals outperformed monolinguals at the first testing session and across time both in episodic memory recall and in letter fluency. No interaction with age was found indicating that the rate of change across ages was similar for bilinguals and monolinguals. As predicted and in line with studies applying cross-sectional designs, no advantages associated with bilingualism were found in the categorical fluency task. The results are discussed in the light of successful aging.

Between Transnationalism and Localization: The Pan-European TV Miniseries 14 - Diaries of the Great War

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Tea Sindbæk; Arnold-de Simine, Silke

2017-01-01

for a transnational audience. The TV-series aspired to create a new kind of historical documentary, showing history as it was experienced by ordinary people. This article compares how 14 – Diaries of the Great War was realised and received in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. We argue that the TV......14 –Diaries of the Great War is a transmedial project consisting of a documentary TV-series, a website, a radio programme, a photo book and a museum exhibition, produced for the centenary of World War One in 2014. The project was created by a transnational collaboration and aimed...

On the issue of methodology of estimating the regional competitive advantages by types of activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azat Rashitovich Safiullin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective to develop the research methodology of the competitive position of territories by types of economic activities to define the relevant types of economic activities and to diagnose their competitive advantages. Methods a differentiated approach to the analysis of competitiveness based on matrix models of competitive positioning which allows to identify the relevant types of economic activities of the territory. This approach determined the choice of specific research methods dialectics abstraction systematic logical structural comparative and statistical. The application of the above methods helped to ensure the validity of the analysis results theoretical and practical conclusions. Results in the study were used the experience and knowledge gained during an earlier undertaken series of projects relating to the assessment of economy efficiency of Tatarstan Republic in 20052011.Previous reports dealt with the change of the selected industries positions of the Republic the structure and dynamics of the competitive position of these industries compared to the leading Russian regions. A distinctive feature of the research results presented in this article is a comparative analysis of competitive advantages of economic activities of Tatarstan Republic based on the matrix model of competitive positioning. Scientific novelty for the first time the matrix model of diagnostics of competitive advantages of the territory by the type of economic activity was proposed which allows to identify the priority industrial portfolio and provide targeted management actions to enhance its investment attractiveness. Practical value the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used by legislative and executive authorities of the Russian Federation business community research institutions and organizations to develop strategies and programs of socioeconomic development and territorial planning schemes priority directions of industrial and investment

Great magnetic storms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsurutani, B.T.; Yen Te Lee; Tang, F.; Gonzalez, W.D.

1992-01-01

The five largest magnetic storms that occurred between 1971 and 1986 are studied to determine their solar and interplanetary causes. All of the events are found to be associated with high speed solar wind streams led by collisionless shocks. The high speed streams are clearly related to identifiable solar flares. It is found that (1) it is the extreme values of the southward interplanetary magnetic fields rather than solar wind speeds that are the primary causes of great magnetic storms, (2) shocked and draped sheath fields preceding the driver gas (magnetic cloud) are at least as effective in causing the onset of great magnetic storms (3 of 5 events ) as the strong fields within the driver gas itself, and (3) precursor southward fields ahead of the high speed streams allow the shock compression mechanism (item 2) to be particularly geoeffective

Islamic Banking in Nigeria: Perception of its Relative Advantage by ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Islamic Banking in Nigeria: Perception of its Relative Advantage by Consumer Segments in Anambra State. ... perceived relative advantage of Islamic banking concept by those consumer groups in. Awka ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Great Moravian burial grounds in Rajhrad and Rajhradice

OpenAIRE

Hendrychová, Soňa

2015-01-01

The diploma thesis presented deals with an overall assessment of the Great Moravian burial ground in Rajhrad (Brno- venkov), which was excavated in the years 1972 to 1976. The work is based on a catalogue of this burial ground and the neighbouring one in Rajhradice published by Čeněk Staňa. It follows individual aspects of funeral rites at a necropolis and evaluates the inventory of the graves. Based on the findings, the work dates the burial ground, compares with burial ground in Rajhradice ...

Implementing a Progressive Consumption Tax: Advantages of Adopting the VAT Credit-Method System

OpenAIRE

Grinberg, Itai

2006-01-01

A credit–method value–added tax, a payroll tax, and a business–level wage subsidy can approximate the economic and distributional consequences of a subtraction–method X–tax. Such a credit–method progressive consumption tax has administrative advantages as compared to a subtraction–method progressive consumption tax, once certain political factors are taken into account. Further, unlike a subtraction–method system, a credit–method progressive consumption tax could easily interact with other ta...

Leap frog in slow motion: Divergent responses of tree species and life stages to climatic warming in Great Basin subalpine forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Smithers, Brian V; North, Malcolm P; Millar, Constance I; Latimer, Andrew M

2018-02-01

In response to climate warming, subalpine treelines are expected to move up in elevation since treelines are generally controlled by growing season temperature. Where treeline is advancing, dispersal differences and early life stage environmental tolerances are likely to affect how species expand their ranges. Species with an establishment advantage will colonize newly available habitat first, potentially excluding species that have slower establishment rates. Using a network of plots across five mountain ranges, we described patterns of upslope elevational range shift for the two dominant Great Basin subalpine species, limber pine and Great Basin bristlecone pine. We found that the Great Basin treeline for these species is expanding upslope with a mean vertical elevation shift of 19.1 m since 1950, which is lower than what we might expect based on temperature increases alone. The largest advances were on limber pine-dominated granitic soils, on west aspects, and at lower latitudes. Bristlecone pine juveniles establishing above treeline share some environmental associations with bristlecone adults. Limber pine above-treeline juveniles, in contrast, are prevalent across environmental conditions and share few environmental associations with limber pine adults. Strikingly, limber pine is establishing above treeline throughout the region without regard to site characteristic such as soil type, slope, aspect, or soil texture. Although limber pine is often rare at treeline where it coexists with bristlecone pine, limber pine juveniles dominate above treeline even on calcareous soils that are core bristlecone pine habitat. Limber pine is successfully "leap-frogging" over bristlecone pine, probably because of its strong dispersal advantage and broader tolerances for establishment. This early-stage dominance indicates the potential for the species composition of treeline to change in response to climate change. More broadly, it shows how species differences in dispersal

Quantifying uncertainties of seismic Bayesian inversion of Northern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, C.; Lekic, V.

2017-12-01

Elastic waves excited by earthquakes are the fundamental observations of the seismological studies. Seismologists measure information such as travel time, amplitude, and polarization to infer the properties of earthquake source, seismic wave propagation, and subsurface structure. Across numerous applications, seismic imaging has been able to take advantage of complimentary seismic observables to constrain profiles and lateral variations of Earth's elastic properties. Moreover, seismic imaging plays a unique role in multidisciplinary studies of geoscience by providing direct constraints on the unreachable interior of the Earth. Accurate quantification of uncertainties of inferences made from seismic observations is of paramount importance for interpreting seismic images and testing geological hypotheses. However, such quantification remains challenging and subjective due to the non-linearity and non-uniqueness of geophysical inverse problem. In this project, we apply a reverse jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (rjMcMC) algorithm for a transdimensional Bayesian inversion of continental lithosphere structure. Such inversion allows us to quantify the uncertainties of inversion results by inverting for an ensemble solution. It also yields an adaptive parameterization that enables simultaneous inversion of different elastic properties without imposing strong prior information on the relationship between them. We present retrieved profiles of shear velocity (Vs) and radial anisotropy in Northern Great Plains using measurements from USArray stations. We use both seismic surface wave dispersion and receiver function data due to their complementary constraints of lithosphere structure. Furthermore, we analyze the uncertainties of both individual and joint inversion of those two data types to quantify the benefit of doing joint inversion. As an application, we infer the variation of Moho depths and crustal layering across the northern Great Plains.

Interest alignment and competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Gottschalg, Oliver; Zollo, Mauricio

2006-01-01

This paper articulates a theory of the conditions under which the alignment between individual and collective interests generates sustainable competitive advantage. The theory is based on the influence of tacitness, context-specificity and casual ambiguity in the determinants of different types of motivation (extrinsic, normative intrinsic and hedonic intrinsic), under varying conditions of environmental dynamism. The analysis indicates the need to consider mitivational processes as a complem...

Canadian competitive advantage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wills, J.

1997-01-01

The evolution of the Canadian petrochemical industry was outlined, emphasizing the proximity to feedstocks as the principal advantage enjoyed by the industry over its international competitors. Annual sales statistics for 1995 were provided. Key players in the Canadian petrochemical industry (Nova, Dow, DuPont, Methanex, Esso, Union Carbide, Shell and Celanese), their share of the market and key products were noted. Manufacturing facilities are located primarily in Alberta, southern Ontario and Quebec. The feedstock supply infrastructure, historical and alternative ethane pricing in Canada and the US, the North American market for petrochemicals, the competitiveness of the industry, tax competitiveness among Canadian provinces and the US, the Canada - US unit labour cost ratio, ethylene facility construction costs in Canada relative to the US Gulf Coast, and projected 1997 financial requirements were reviewed. 19 figs

[Advantages and disadvantages of warfarin and pradaxa therapy for venous thromboembolism].

Science.gov (United States)

Sukovatykh, B S; Belikov, L N; Savchuk, O F; Sukovatykh, M B

2014-01-01

An analysis of complex examination of 110 patients with venous thromboembolism was made. The patients were separated into 2 groups. The first group included 60 patients, who had the start heparin therapy during 7 days with the following 6-month warfarin therapy. Warfarin was substituted by pradaxa (dabigatran) for 50 patients of the second group. The efficacy of pradaxa could be compared with warfarin. However, pradaxa had a number of advantages such as the predictable anticoagulant effect, standard dosages. This medicine is more predictable and doesn't require a control of homeostasis and an adjustment of drug dosage.

Relation between competence and competitive advantages of the firm

OpenAIRE

Lavrova, Natalia

2014-01-01

Research paper was considered an aspect of competence as source of uniqueness organization and its competition advantages. It emphasizes the importance internal factors for get success of business. The article is divided into two parts: theoretical framework and case study, which suggests as the competence of the influence on the competitive advantages of firms in theory and practice.

'Great Power Style' in China's Economic Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Yang

2011-01-01

China’s ascendance attracts concern, even though Beijing claims to be a responsible great power and tries to demonstrate its ‘great power style’ in economic diplomacy. This article therefore discusses the following questions: to what extent does the current notion and practice of Chinese ‘great...... power style’ in economic diplomacy comply with, or differ from, the criteria of benign hegemony; and what are the major constraining factors? Conceptually, China’s ‘great power style’ is rooted in ancient Chinese political philosophy and institution, but it highly resembles the Western notion of benign...

The half-truth of first-mover advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Suarez, Fernando; Lanzolla, Gianvito

2005-04-01

Many executives take for granted that the first company in a new product category gets an unbeatable head start and reaps long-lasting benefits. But that doesn't always happen. The authors of this article discovered that much depends on the pace at which the category's technology is changing and the speed at which the market is evolving. By analyzing these two factors, companies can improve their odds of succeeding as first movers with the resources they possess. Gradual evolution in both the technology and the market provides a first mover with the best conditions for creating a dominant position that is long lasting (Hoover in the vacuum cleaner industry is a good example). In such calm waters, a company can defend its advantages even without exceptional skills or extensive financial resources. When the market is changing rapidly and the product isn't, a first entrant with extensive resources can obtain a long-lasting advantage (as Sony did with its Walkman personal stereo); a company with only limited resources probably must settle for a short-term benefit. When the market is static but the product is changing constantly, first-mover advantages of either kind--durable or short-lived--are unlikely. Only companies with very deep pockets can survive (think of Sony and the digital cameras it pioneered). Rapid churn in both the technology and the market creates the worst conditions. But if companies have an acute sense of when to exit-as Netscape demonstrated when it agreed to be acquired by AOL-a worthwhile short-term gain is possible. Before venturing into a newly forming market, you need to analyze the environment, assess your resources, then determine which type offirst-mover advantage is most achievable. Once you've gone into the water, you have no choice but to swim.

Organohalogen contaminants and Blood plasma clinical-chemical parameters in three colonies of North Atlantic Great skua (Stercorarius skua)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonne, Christian; Rigét, Frank F; Leat, Eliza H K

2013-01-01

to compare Great skua BCCPs in different exposure scenarios. Persistent organic pollutants (organochlorines: PCB, DDT, chlordanes, HCB, HCH, mirex and brominated flame retardants: PBDEs) and nineteen BCCPs were analysed in 114 adult Great skuas sampled during summer 2009 in North Atlantic colonies...

Thermodynamic advantages of nuclear desalination through reverse osmosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharyya, K.P.; Prabhakar, S.; Tewari, P.K.

2009-01-01

Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) integrated with nuclear power station has significant thermodynamic advantages since it can utilize the waste heat available in the condenser cooling circuit and electrical power from the nuclear power plant with provision for using grid power in case of exigencies and shared infrastructure. Coupling of RO plants to the reactor is simple and straightforward and power loss due to RO unit, resulting in the loss of load, does not impact reactor turbine. Product water contamination probability is also very less since it has in-built mechanical barrier. Preheat reverse osmosis desalination has many thermodynamic advantages and studies have indicated improved performance characteristics thereby leading to savings in operational cost. The significant advantages include the operational flexibility of the desalination systems even while power plant is non-operational and non-requirement of safety systems for resource utilization. This paper brings out a comprehensive assessment of reverse osmosis process as a stand-alone nuclear desalination system. (author)

Competitive Intelligence in Perspective to be a Source of Competitive Advantage and Strategic Contributions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Gama Buzzerio

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines the prospect of Competitive Intelligence (CI constitute a source of competitive advantage in light of the Resource Based View and its contribution to the strategic management of the company. Relies on exploratory and descriptive research using the qualitative method. Six managers responsible for CI activities institutionalized in large different business companies were interviewed. Data were processed and analyzed with the application of content analysis. It was concluded that the CI is unable to be a source of competitive advantage but rather as an effective support to decision making process in the surveyed companies. Apparently CI products meet the specific needs of internal customers, facilitate the integration of CI with marketing and operations, help in the identification of risks through the analysis of strategic information, which is a differentiator compared to other types of intelligences.

Dynamics of DNA methylation in recent human and great ape evolution.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Hernando-Herraez

Full Text Available DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification involved in regulatory processes such as cell differentiation during development, X-chromosome inactivation, genomic imprinting and susceptibility to complex disease. However, the dynamics of DNA methylation changes between humans and their closest relatives are still poorly understood. We performed a comparative analysis of CpG methylation patterns between 9 humans and 23 primate samples including all species of great apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla and orangutan using Illumina Methylation450 bead arrays. Our analysis identified ∼800 genes with significantly altered methylation patterns among the great apes, including ∼170 genes with a methylation pattern unique to human. Some of these are known to be involved in developmental and neurological features, suggesting that epigenetic changes have been frequent during recent human and primate evolution. We identified a significant positive relationship between the rate of coding variation and alterations of methylation at the promoter level, indicative of co-occurrence between evolution of protein sequence and gene regulation. In contrast, and supporting the idea that many phenotypic differences between humans and great apes are not due to amino acid differences, our analysis also identified 184 genes that are perfectly conserved at protein level between human and chimpanzee, yet show significant epigenetic differences between these two species. We conclude that epigenetic alterations are an important force during primate evolution and have been under-explored in evolutionary comparative genomics.

Childhood leukaemia in Great Britain and fallout from nuclear weapons testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haynes, R.; Bentham, G.

1995-01-01

The possible effects of radiation from fallout on childhood leukaemia mortality from 1950 to 1987 and registrations from 1963 to 1987 were assessed using a division of Great Britain into regions with higher rainfall and a consequently higher fallout radiation dose in the 1960s and regions with lower rainfall and a lower radiation dose. Childhood leukaemia mortality rates declined and registration rates increased throughout the period. For ages 0-14 years, the differences between rates in wet regions and dry regions were small and appeared unrelated to periods of low, medium and high radiation exposure based on dose equivalent to the red bone marrow after birth. For the 0-4 years age group the highest ratios of leukaemia death rates and registration rates in the wet compared with the dry part of Great Britain occurred in the period of highest radiation exposure after birth. The death rate ratio was significantly raised in the period of high exposure compared with the surrounding medium exposure periods, but the difference in registration rate ratios between the high exposure period and the medium exposure period following was not statistically significant. The results might be explained by survival and registration changes, or chance in the case of registrations, but do not exclude the possibility that low doses of radiation from fallout were responsible for an increased risk of leukaemia in young children in Great Britain. (author)

Demonstration of quantum advantage in machine learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ristè, Diego; da Silva, Marcus P.; Ryan, Colm A.; Cross, Andrew W.; Córcoles, Antonio D.; Smolin, John A.; Gambetta, Jay M.; Chow, Jerry M.; Johnson, Blake R.

2017-04-01

The main promise of quantum computing is to efficiently solve certain problems that are prohibitively expensive for a classical computer. Most problems with a proven quantum advantage involve the repeated use of a black box, or oracle, whose structure encodes the solution. One measure of the algorithmic performance is the query complexity, i.e., the scaling of the number of oracle calls needed to find the solution with a given probability. Few-qubit demonstrations of quantum algorithms, such as Deutsch-Jozsa and Grover, have been implemented across diverse physical systems such as nuclear magnetic resonance, trapped ions, optical systems, and superconducting circuits. However, at the small scale, these problems can already be solved classically with a few oracle queries, limiting the obtained advantage. Here we solve an oracle-based problem, known as learning parity with noise, on a five-qubit superconducting processor. Executing classical and quantum algorithms using the same oracle, we observe a large gap in query count in favor of quantum processing. We find that this gap grows by orders of magnitude as a function of the error rates and the problem size. This result demonstrates that, while complex fault-tolerant architectures will be required for universal quantum computing, a significant quantum advantage already emerges in existing noisy systems.

Do synesthetes have a general advantage in visual search and episodic memory? A case for group studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas Rothen

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Some studies, most of them case-reports, suggest that synesthetes have an advantage in visual search and episodic memory tasks. The goal of this study was to examine this hypothesis in a group study. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, we tested thirteen grapheme-color synesthetes and we compared their performance on a visual search task and a memory test to an age-, handedness-, education-, and gender-matched control group. The results showed no significant group differences (all relevant ps>.50. For the visual search task effect sizes indicated a small advantage for synesthetes (Cohen's d between .19 and .32. No such advantage was found for episodic memory (Cohen's d<.05. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results indicate that synesthesia per se does not seem to lead to a strong performance advantage. Rather, the superior performance of synesthetes observed in some case-report studies may be due to individual differences, to a selection bias or to a strategic use of synesthesia as a mnemonic. In order to establish universal effects of synesthesia on cognition single-case studies must be complemented by group studies.

Population health concerns during the United States' Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Althouse, Benjamin M; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Childers, Matthew A; Dredze, Mark; Ayers, John W

2014-02-01

Associations between economic conditions and health are usually derived from cost-intensive surveys that are intermittently collected with nonspecific measures (i.e., self-rated health). This study identified how precise health concerns changed during the U.S. Great Recession analyzing Google search queries to identify the concern by the query content and their prevalence by the query volume. Excess health concerns were estimated during the Great Recession (December 2008 through 2011) by comparing the cumulative difference between observed and expected (based on linear projections from pre-existing trends) query volume for hundreds of individual terms. As performed in 2013, the 100 queries with the greatest excess were ranked and then clustered into themes based on query content. The specific queries with the greatest relative excess were stomach ulcer symptoms and headache symptoms, respectively, 228% (95% CI=35, 363) and 193% (95% CI=60, 275) greater than expected. Queries typically involved symptomology (i.e., gas symptoms) and diagnostics (i.e., heart monitor) naturally coalescing into themes. Among top themes, headache queries were 41% (95% CI=3, 148); hernia 37% (95% CI=16, 142); chest pain 35% (95% CI=6, 313); and arrhythmia 32% (95% CI=3, 149) greater than expected. Pain was common with back, gastric, joint, and tooth foci, with the latter 19% (95% CI=4, 46) higher. Among just the top 100, there were roughly 205 million excess health concern queries during the Great Recession. Google queries indicate that the Great Recession coincided with substantial increases in health concerns, hinting at how population health specifically changed during that time. © 2013 Published by American Journal of Preventive Medicine on behalf of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Does hydroxyapatite coating have no advantage over porous coating in primary total hip arthroplasty? A meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yun-Lin; Lin, Tiao; Liu, An; Shi, Ming-Min; Hu, Bin; Shi, Zhong-Li; Yan, Shi-Gui

2015-01-28

There are some arguments between the use of hydroxyapatite and porous coating. Some studies have shown that there is no difference between these two coatings in total hip arthroplasty (THA), while several other studies have shown that hydroxyapatite has advantages over the porous one. We have collected the studies in Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library from the earliest possible years to present, with the search strategy of "(HA OR hydroxyapatite) AND ((total hip arthroplasty) OR (total hip replacement)) AND (RCT* OR randomiz* OR control* OR compar* OR trial*)". The randomized controlled trials and comparative observation trials that evaluated the clinical and radiographic effects between hydroxyapatite coating and porous coating were included. Our main outcome measurements were Harris hip score (HHS) and survival, while the secondary outcome measurements were osteolysis, radiolucent lines, and polyethylene wear. Twelve RCTs and 9 comparative observation trials were included. Hydroxyapatite coating could improve the HHS (p hydroxyapatite coating had no advantages on survival (p = 0.32), polyethylene wear (p = 0.08), and radiolucent lines (p = 0.78). Hydroxyapatite coating has shown to have an advantage over porous coating. The HHS and survival was duration-dependent-if given the sufficient duration of follow-up, hydroxyapatite coating would be better than porous coating for the survival. The properties of hydroxyapatite and the implant design had influence on thigh pain incidence, femoral osteolysis, and polyethylene wear. Thickness of 50 to 80 μm and purity larger than 90% increased the thigh pain incidence. Anatomic design had less polyethylene wear.

Safety and environmental advantages of breeding blanketless fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zucchetti, M.; Merola, M.; Matera, R.

1994-01-01

Next-step reactors will use DT cycle. However, environmental advantage will be the main chance for fusion to compete with other energy sources. The environmental problems of DT cycle due to tritium and neutron activation, are examined. Fusion commercial reactors could be based on alternative fuel cycles like D-He3. Advantages and disadvantages of this fuel cycle are outlined. All the technologies related with the self-breeding of tritium and the concept of breeding blanket itself may be not reactor relevant. In the frame of the Next-step studies, the potential advantages of intermediate DT devices without breeding blanket are discussed. Simplified design, lower cost, higher safety are the main ones. The problem of the source of tritium is examined. (author)

Competitive advantage for differentiation of Pereira International Free Trade Zone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Andrea Echeverri Gutiérrez

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The best way to know if a company is at the heart of success is by determining its competitive advantage. For Pereira International Free Trade Zone, foreign trade platform and recent project implementation, it is important to identify its competitive advantage, so it can develop strategies for entering and staying in the market. In this research, an analysis of the five forces industry free zones was performed, the value chain of the Pereira International Free Trade Zone was defined, finally the factors that influence their competitive advantage was determined.

Changing Patterns of Publication Productivity: Accumulative Advantage or Institutional Isomorphism?

Science.gov (United States)

Dey, Eric L.; Milem, Jeffrey F.; Berger, Joseph B.

1997-01-01

Investigates two competing perspectives, accumulated advantage and institutional isomorphism, on the relationship between publication productivity and institutional hierarchy. Accumulated advantage refers to the continuing attraction of students, faculty, and research dollars to prestige universities. Institutional isomorphism denotes the tendency…

Quantum communication complexity advantage implies violation of a Bell inequality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Buhrman (Harry); L. Czekaj (Lłukasz); A. Grudka (Andrzej); M. Horodecki (Michalł); P. Horodecki (Pawelł); M. Markiewicz (Marcin); F. Speelman (Florian); S. Strelchuk (Sergii)

2015-01-01

htmlabstractWe obtain a general connection between a quantum advantage in communication complexity and non-locality. We show that given any protocol offering a (sufficiently large) quantum advantage in communication complexity, there exists a way of obtaining measurement statistics which violate

QoS frameworks for Multimedia Traffic in Mobile Adhoc Networks: A Comparative Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Soni

2017-06-01

Full Text Available MANETs (Mobile Adhoc Networks has gained an increased interest by the research community. Regular intelligent exchanges of multimedia will be typical in MANET, though the extended motivation on QoS (Quality of Service. However, various properties of the discussed QoS framework are provisioned for QoS as a challenging concern. Providing QoS provisioning is, to a great degree, challenging in MANETs in view of bouncing correspondences, center point movability and nonattendance of central coordination. Thus, most of the research has focused on giving QoS guarantees in MANETs coordinating traditions. Though huge numbers of QoS coordinating procedures have been proposed in composing, focusing on different QoS estimations yet none of the prescribed or discussed frameworks achieves a universal course of action. There exist several genuine necessary research areas of focus such as QoS metric assurance and cost limit layout, source level scheduling framework and QoS coordinating. In this paper, working and connecting of various QoS frameworks for MANETs is investigated throughout several veritable focus areas of research. After a comparative review, it is concluded that there is still a good scope of research for proposing a QoS framework for MANETs which could have cross-layer advantages, resource reservation, connection admission control, multi-constrained QoS parameters, hard QoS assurance, proactive routing advantages etc.

Lineup composition, suspect position, and the sequential lineup advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, Curt A; Gronlund, Scott D; Clark, Steven E

2008-06-01

N. M. Steblay, J. Dysart, S. Fulero, and R. C. L. Lindsay (2001) argued that sequential lineups reduce the likelihood of mistaken eyewitness identification. Experiment 1 replicated the design of R. C. L. Lindsay and G. L. Wells (1985), the first study to show the sequential lineup advantage. However, the innocent suspect was chosen at a lower rate in the simultaneous lineup, and no sequential lineup advantage was found. This led the authors to hypothesize that protection from a sequential lineup might emerge only when an innocent suspect stands out from the other lineup members. In Experiment 2, participants viewed a simultaneous or sequential lineup with either the guilty suspect or 1 of 3 innocent suspects. Lineup fairness was varied to influence the degree to which a suspect stood out. A sequential lineup advantage was found only for the unfair lineups. Additional analyses of suspect position in the sequential lineups showed an increase in the diagnosticity of suspect identifications as the suspect was placed later in the sequential lineup. These results suggest that the sequential lineup advantage is dependent on lineup composition and suspect position. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Building Information Model: advantages, tools and adoption efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Abakumov, R. G.; Naumov, A. E.

2018-03-01

The paper expands definition and essence of Building Information Modeling. It describes content and effects from application of Information Modeling at different stages of a real property item. Analysis of long-term and short-term advantages is given. The authors included an analytical review of Revit software package in comparison with Autodesk with respect to: features, advantages and disadvantages, cost and pay cutoff. A prognostic calculation is given for efficiency of adoption of the Building Information Modeling technology, with examples of its successful adoption in Russia and worldwide.

HOME ADVANTAGE ANALYSIS IN ACB LEAGUE IN SEASON 2007-2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Garc\\u00EDa

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Home advantage was defined as the fact that home teams win more than the 50% of their matches (Courneya & Carron, 1992. The aim of this work was to investigate the home advantage in the ACB league and identify the game-related statistics which best discriminate home and away teams. The data were obtained from the Spanish Basketball Association for the period 2007-2008 ACB league (n= 306. Game related statistics were normalized to 100 ball possessions. In order to compare game related statistics in home and away teams, a discriminative analysis was employed. This analysis identifies the game related statistics that best discriminate between home and away teams. The function obtained was interpreted with the structural canonical coefficients (SC, with values higher than |.30|. In the 2007-2008 ACB league, the home teams won the 55.22% (n=169 of the games. The analysis identifying the two-point field goals made, blocks made, dunks, the defensive rebounds and the assists as common to the mean vectors that discriminate home teams in all games. Blocks received contribute to discriminate away teams in ACB league. These results could be used by the psychologist who works with the team. They must design specific programs to decrease anxiety levels, and to improve motivation and concentration levels in basketball players before a competition.

Energy strategy of the 21st century taking advantage of fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okumura, Norihiro

2002-01-01

There is some general concern that economic development in developing countries will hasten global warning. In terms of reducing CO 2 emissions, fusion will have great potential as a primary energy in the late 21st century according to the results of WING model simulations based on scenario analysis, if the cost of fusion with hydrogen generation would become competitive compared with those of other substitutive energies. However, securing social acceptance is very important to maintain the fossil research funded by the government suffering from cumulative debt. (author)

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NATIONS AND THE PARTICULARITIES OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina HAGIU

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter stated that national competitive advantage is a reflection of a "diamond" which is running properly and efficiently. But if a developing country like Romania does not have the right conditions for effective functioning of the "diamond", what happens? This is the question to which we try to give an answer within this paper. In this respect, the paper aims to analyze the theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter, followed by an identification of the advantages and criticisms of this theory over time. Finally we make a customization of this theory in the context of the competitive environment in Romania.

The Source of Competitive Advantage and Entrepreneurial Judgment in the RBV

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ishikawa, Ibuki

The purpose of this paper is to identify the source of competitive advantage in the resource based view of strategic management literature. In particular, it is argued that the source of competitive advantage is rooted in entrepreneur judgment. In this argument, this paper consists largely of three...... on Lachmann (1947,1956), Mises (1946) and Knight (1921) to improve the RBV framework; thirdly, to apply the Austrian perspective to the RBV and demonstrate that the source of competitive advantage is derived from entrepreneurial judgment per se, not the resource per se, and to discuss some possible future...... the source of competitive advantage.Jel Code: B25, D21, D81, M13...

Three new sympatric species of Remipedia (Crustacea) from Great Exuma Island, Bahamas Islands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koenemann, Stefan; Iliffe, Thomas M.; Ham, van der Joris

2003-01-01

Three new sympatric species of remipede crustaceans, Speleonectes tanumekes, Speleonectes parabenjamini and Speleonectes minnsi, are described from an anchihaline cave on Great Exuma Island in the central Bahamas. Speleonectes tanumekes is a comparatively long and slender species distinguished by

Birds of a Great Basin Sagebrush Habitat in East-Central Nevada

OpenAIRE

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1992-01-01

Breeding bird populations ranged from 3.35 to 3.48 individuals/ha over a 3-year study conducted from 1981 to 1983. Brewer's sparrows, sage sparrows, sage thrashers, and black-throated sparrows were numerically dominant. Horned larks and western meadowlarks were less common. Results are compared with bird populations in Great Basin sagebrush habitats elsewhere in the United States.

Introducing the religio-centric positional advantage to Indonesian small businesses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hendar Hendar

2017-03-01

Full Text Available With a focus on small religion-based businesses in Indonesia, this research examines whether marketing innovativeness, customers responsiveness and competitors′ responsiveness can improve marketing performance. A conceptual model on the correlation of these three variables with religio-centric positional advantage and marketing performance is examined by using structural equation model. For this purpose 335 small businesses of Islamic Fashion had been studied using purposive sampling from 11 regencies/cities in Central Java (Indonesia. The results showed that (1 small companies in these market segments based on religion is likely to have better marketing performance when they have the Religio-centric positional advantage, (2 The increase in marketing innovativeness, CuR and CoR is required to improve and maintain religio-centric positional advantage, and (3 religio-centric positional advantage is definitely a mediator in the correlation of marketing innovativeness, customer responsiveness and competitors responsiveness with marketing performance.

Advertising Dynamics and Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Ulrich Doraszelski; Sarit Markovich

2004-01-01

Can advertising lead to a sustainable competitive advantage? To answer this question, we propose a dynamic model of advertising competition where firms repeatedly advertise, compete in the product market, and make entry as well as exit decisions. Within this dynamic framework, we study two different models of advertising: In the first model, advertising influences the goodwill consumers extend towards a firm ("goodwill advertising"), whereas in the second model it influences the share of cons...

Recensie "The Great Reset" : Richard Florida

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roy van Dalm

2010-01-01

Like the Great Depression and the Long Depression before it, experts have viewed prolonged economic downturns as crises. In The Great Reset , bestselling author Richard Florida argues that we should instead see the recent recession as an opportunity to create entirely new ways of working and living

Data requirements of GREAT-ER: Modelling and validation using LAS in four UK catchments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, Oliver R.; Munday, Dawn K.; Whelan, Mick J.; Holt, Martin S.; Fox, Katharine K.; Morris, Gerard; Young, Andrew R.

2009-01-01

Higher-tier environmental risk assessments on 'down-the-drain' chemicals in river networks can be conducted using models such as GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers). It is important these models are evaluated and their sensitivities to input variables understood. This study had two primary objectives: evaluate GREAT-ER model performance, comparing simulated modelled predictions for LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulphonate) with measured concentrations, for four rivers in the UK, and investigate model sensitivity to input variables. We demonstrate that the GREAT-ER model is very sensitive to variability in river discharges. However it is insensitive to the form of distributions used to describe chemical usage and removal rate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). It is concluded that more effort should be directed towards improving empirical estimates of effluent load and reducing uncertainty associated with usage and removal rates in STPs. Simulations could be improved by incorporating the effect of river depth on dissipation rates. - Validation of GREAT-ER.

Data requirements of GREAT-ER: Modelling and validation using LAS in four UK catchments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Price, Oliver R., E-mail: oliver.price@unilever.co [Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ (United Kingdom); Munday, Dawn K. [Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ (United Kingdom); Whelan, Mick J. [Department of Natural Resources, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, College Road, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL (United Kingdom); Holt, Martin S. [ECETOC, Ave van Nieuwenhuyse 4, Box 6, B-1160 Brussels (Belgium); Fox, Katharine K. [85 Park Road West, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH43 8SQ (United Kingdom); Morris, Gerard [Environment Agency, Phoenix House, Global Avenue, Leeds LS11 8PG (United Kingdom); Young, Andrew R. [Wallingford HydroSolutions Ltd, Maclean building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)

2009-10-15

Higher-tier environmental risk assessments on 'down-the-drain' chemicals in river networks can be conducted using models such as GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers). It is important these models are evaluated and their sensitivities to input variables understood. This study had two primary objectives: evaluate GREAT-ER model performance, comparing simulated modelled predictions for LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulphonate) with measured concentrations, for four rivers in the UK, and investigate model sensitivity to input variables. We demonstrate that the GREAT-ER model is very sensitive to variability in river discharges. However it is insensitive to the form of distributions used to describe chemical usage and removal rate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). It is concluded that more effort should be directed towards improving empirical estimates of effluent load and reducing uncertainty associated with usage and removal rates in STPs. Simulations could be improved by incorporating the effect of river depth on dissipation rates. - Validation of GREAT-ER.

Thirty years of great ape gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasello, Michael; Call, Josep

2018-02-21

We and our colleagues have been doing studies of great ape gestural communication for more than 30 years. Here we attempt to spell out what we have learned. Some aspects of the process have been reliably established by multiple researchers, for example, its intentional structure and its sensitivity to the attentional state of the recipient. Other aspects are more controversial. We argue here that it is a mistake to assimilate great ape gestures to the species-typical displays of other mammals by claiming that they are fixed action patterns, as there are many differences, including the use of attention-getters. It is also a mistake, we argue, to assimilate great ape gestures to human gestures by claiming that they are used referentially and declaratively in a human-like manner, as apes' "pointing" gesture has many limitations and they do not gesture iconically. Great ape gestures constitute a unique form of primate communication with their own unique qualities.

A comparative study of 99mTc-ECD and X-CT in the evaluation of patients with cerebropathy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Da

1995-01-01

The clinical value of functional brain imaging was evaluated preliminarily by comparing 99m Tc-ECD SPECT with X-CT in patients with cerebropathy. 219 patients underwent 99m Tc-ECD SPECT and X-CT. Both procedures were performed within two weeks in each patient. The data showed that while X-CT was an excellent technique in detecting structural lesions of brain, such as cerebral hemorrhage or infarct, cerebrum and cephalophyma, it is not capable of demonstrating a metabolic and functional lesions without structural abnormalities. The functional imaging had great advantage in this regard. Results indicated that 99m Tc-ECD SPECT can easily detect cerebral blood flow change of intracerebral foci not detectable by traditional morphological imaging. This advantage was obvious especially in patients with early stage of acute cerebral infarct, TIA, hemicrania, cerebral arteriosclerosis, dementia, extraphyramidal disorders, sequelae of head trauma and epilepsy. In some of the patients with sequelae of head trauma or epilepsy, satisfactory effect was obtained when conservative treatments were performed to improve rCBF. 99 Tc-ECD SPECT may play a useful role in the diagnosis and therapy of patients with cerebropathy

Transrectal ultrasonography of anorectal disease: advantages and disadvantages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Min Ju [Dept. of Radiology, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-01-15

Transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) has been widely accepted as a popular imaging modality for Epub ahead of print evaluating the lower rectum, anal sphincters, and pelvic floor in patients with various anorectal diseases. It provides excellent visualization of the layers of the rectal wall and of the anatomy of the anal canal. TRUS is an accurate tool for the staging of primary rectal cancer, especially for early stages. Although magnetic resonance imaging is a modality complementary to TRUS with advantages for evaluating the mesorectum, external sphincter, and deep pelvic inflammation, three-dimensional ultrasonography improves the detection and characterization of perianal fistulas and therefore plays a crucial role in optimal treatment planning. The operator should be familiar with the anatomy of the rectum and pelvic structures relevant to the preoperative evaluation of rectal cancer and other anal canal diseases, and should have technical proficiency in the use of TRUS combined with an awareness of its limitations compared to magnetic resonance imaging.

Robustness of the Sequential Lineup Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Gronlund, Scott D.; Carlson, Curt A.; Dailey, Sarah B.; Goodsell, Charles A.

2009-01-01

A growing movement in the United States and around the world involves promoting the advantages of conducting an eyewitness lineup in a sequential manner. We conducted a large study (N = 2,529) that included 24 comparisons of sequential versus simultaneous lineups. A liberal statistical criterion revealed only 2 significant sequential lineup…

["Great jobs"-also in psychiatry?].

Science.gov (United States)

Spiessl, H; Hübner-Liebermann, B

2003-09-01

Against the background of a beginning shortage of psychiatrists, results from interviews with 112 employees of an automotive company with the topic "Great Job" are presented to discuss their relevance to psychiatry. The interviews were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Most employees assigned importance to great pay, constructive collaboration with colleagues, and work appealing to personal interests. Further statements particularly relevant to psychiatry were: successful career, flexible working hours, manageable job, work-life balance, well-founded training, no bureaucracy within the company, and personal status in society. The well-known economic restrictions in health care and the still negative attitude towards psychiatry currently reduce the attraction of psychiatry as a profession. From the viewpoint of personnel management, the attractors of a great job revealed in this study are proposed as important clues for the recruitment of medical students for psychiatry and the development of psychiatric staff.

Pacific salmonines in the Great Lakes Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Claramunt, Randall M.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Clapp, David; Taylor, William W.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Léonard, Nancy J.

2012-01-01

Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) are a valuable resource, both within their native range in the North Pacific rim and in the Great Lakes basin. Understanding their value from a biological and economic perspective in the Great Lakes, however, requires an understanding of changes in the ecosystem and of management actions that have been taken to promote system stability, integrity, and sustainable fisheries. Pacific salmonine introductions to the Great Lakes are comprised mainly of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead and have accounted for 421, 177, and 247 million fish, respectively, stocked during 1966-2007. Stocking of Pacific salmonines has been effective in substantially reducing exotic prey fish abundances in several of the Great Lakes (e.g., lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario). The goal of our evaluation was to highlight differences in management strategies and perspectives across the basin, and to evaluate policies for Pacific salmonine management in the Great Lakes. Currently, a potential conflict exists between Pacific salmonine management and native fish rehabilitation goals because of the desire to sustain recreational fisheries and to develop self-sustaining populations of stocked Pacific salmonines in the Great Lakes. We provide evidence that suggests Pacific salmonines have not only become naturalized to the food webs of the Great Lakes, but that their populations (specifically Chinook salmon) may be fluctuating in concert with specific prey (i.e., alewives) whose populations are changing relative to environmental conditions and ecosystem disturbances. Remaining questions, however, are whether or not “natural” fluctuations in predator and prey provide enough “stability” in the Great Lakes food webs, and even more importantly, would a choice by managers to attempt to reduce the severity of predator-prey oscillations be antagonistic to native fish restoration efforts. We argue that, on each of the Great Lakes, managers are pursuing

The Great Firewall of China: A Critical Analysis

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Whiting, Michael D

2008-01-01

Censorship has a great impact on society as we enter the cyber environment. The Chinese "Great Firewall", as it is commonly called, brings great attention to China as they enter into the global economy...

Adaptive memory: the survival-processing memory advantage is not due to negativity or mortality salience.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Raoul; Röer, Jan P; Buchner, Axel

2013-05-01

Recent research has highlighted the adaptive function of memory by showing that imagining being stranded in the grasslands without any survival material and rating words according to their survival value in this situation leads to exceptionally good memory for these words. Studies examining the role of emotions in causing the survival-processing memory advantage have been inconclusive, but some studies have suggested that the effect might be due to negativity or mortality salience. In Experiments 1 and 2, we compared the survival scenario to a control scenario that implied imagining a hopeless situation (floating in outer space with dwindling oxygen supplies) in which only suicide can avoid the agony of choking to death. Although this scenario was perceived as being more negative than the survival scenario, the survival-processing memory advantage persisted. In Experiment 3, thinking about the relevance of words for survival led to better memory for these words than did thinking about the relevance of words for death. This survival advantage was found for concrete, but not for abstract, words. The latter finding is consistent with the assumption that the survival instructions encourage participants to think about many different potential uses of items to aid survival, which may be a particularly efficient form of elaborate encoding. Together, the results suggest that thinking about death is much less effective in promoting recall than is thinking about survival. Therefore, the survival-processing memory advantage cannot be satisfactorily explained by negativity or mortality salience.

Peran Strategic Entrepreneurship dalam Membangun Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agustinus Dedy Handrimurtjahjo

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Strategic entrepreneurship has emerged as a new concept in examining convergence in entrepreneurship studies (opportunity-seeking behavior and strategic management (advantage-seeking behavior. Studies in the area of strategic management have gradually exposed the relationship betweenstrategic management and entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategy making; intrapreneurship; entrepreneurial strategic posture within organizations; entrepreneurial orientation; strategic managementintegration as a context for entrepreneurial actions; and entrepreneurship theory with strategic management and the resource-based view (RBV. A conceptual model of SE that has been developed by Ireland et al.suggested that a firm which linearly and sequentially: employs an entrepreneurial mindset to identify opportunities; manages resources strategically to tackle the opportunity; applies creativity and innovation; andgenerates a competitive advantage is strategic and entrepreneurship operation. Managers must maximize the pursuit of new business opportunities while simultaneously maximize the generation and application of temporary competitive advantages to sustainably create organizational value. This paper develops a conceptual framework that demonstrate the role of strategic entrepreneurship in building sustainable competitiveadvantage.

Places and faces: Geographic environment influences the ingroup memory advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Rule, Nicholas O; Garrett, James V; Ambady, Nalini

2010-03-01

The preferential allocation of attention and memory to the ingroup (the ingroup memory advantage) is one of the most replicated effects in the psychological literature. But little is known about what factors may influence such effects. Here the authors investigated a potential influence: category salience as determined by the perceiver's geographic environment. They did so by studying the ingroup memory advantage in perceptually ambiguous groups for whom perceptual cues do not make group membership immediately salient. Individuals in an environment in which a particular group membership was salient (Mormon and non-Mormon men and women living in Salt Lake City, Utah) showed better memory for faces belonging to their ingroup in an incidental encoding paradigm. Majority group participants in an environment where this group membership was not salient (non-Mormon men and women in the northeastern United States), however, showed no ingroup memory advantage whereas minority group participants (Mormons) in the same environment did. But in the same environment, when differences in group membership were made accessible via an unobtrusive priming task, non-Mormons did show an ingroup memory advantage and Mormons' memory for ingroup members increased. Environmental context cues therefore influence the ingroup memory advantage for categories that are not intrinsically salient.

Leveraging marketing capabilities into competitive advantage and export performance.

OpenAIRE

Tan, Q.; Sousa, C. M. P.

2015-01-01

Purpose – By using the dynamic capabilities (DC) theory and the theory of competitive advantage, the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to investigate the role of marketing capabilities on the firm’s export performance. Specifically, this framework depicts the consequences of marketing capabilities and focuses on the relationships among marketing capabilities, competitive advantage, and export performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct a meta-analysis of ...

Creating Collaborative Advantages Through Coordination of Regional Development Activities

OpenAIRE

Sumpor, Marijana

2006-01-01

Through the increasing importance of networking and use of participatory strategic planning approaches in the regional development practice, it seems that local and regional development theory moves from the concept of competitive advantages towards collaborative advantages. This conceptual move implies a redefinition of inter- and intra-institutional relations of the public and private sector, and therefore, calls for defining new forms of governance. The exploration of the concept of collab...

Measuring Coding Intensity in Medicare Advantage - SUPP.

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — In 2004, Medicare implemented a risk-adjustment system that pays Medicare Advantage (MA) plans based on diagnoses reported for their enrollees, giving the plans an...

home advantage in the commonwealth games

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The occurrence of home advantage in sport is generally well doc- umented and has been shown to exist in a ... there are 53 Commonwealth nations, there are at present 71. Commonwealth Games Associations ... market share values for each host nation were analysed relative to the distance travelled by them (in terms of ...

Great Lakes rivermouths: a primer for managers

Science.gov (United States)

Pebbles, Victoria; Larson, James; Seelbach, Paul; Pebbles, Victoria; Larson, James; Seelbach, Paul

2013-01-01

Between the North American Great Lakes and their tributaries are the places where the confluence of river and lake waters creates a distinct ecosystem: the rivermouth ecosystem. Human development has often centered around these rivermouths, in part, because they provide a rich array of ecosystem services. Not surprisingly, centuries of intense human activity have led to substantial pressures on, and alterations to, these ecosystems, often diminishing or degrading their ecological functions and associated ecological services. Many Great Lakes rivermouths are the focus of intense restoration efforts. For example, 36 of the active Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) are rivermouths or areas that include one or more rivermouths. Historically, research of rivermouth ecosystems has been piecemeal, focused on the Great Lakes proper or on the upper reaches of tributaries, with little direct study of the rivermouth itself. Researchers have been divided among disciplines, agencies and institutions; and they often work independently and use disparate venues to communicate their work. Management has also been fragmented with a focus on smaller, localized, sub-habitat units and socio-political or economic elements, rather than system-level consideration. This Primer presents the case for a more holistic approach to rivermouth science and management that can enable restoration of ecosystem services with multiple benefits to humans and the Great Lakes ecosystem. A conceptual model is presented with supporting text that describes the structures and processes common to all rivermouths, substantiating the case for treating these ecosystems as an identifiable class.1 Ecological services provided by rivermouths and changes in how humans value those services over time are illustrated through case studies of two Great Lakes rivermouths—the St. Louis River and the Maumee River. Specific ecosystem services are identified in italics throughout this Primer and follow definitions described

Competitive advantage: an analytical framework based on entrepreneurship

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Zhibiao

2006-01-01

This article observes and studies the role and effect of entrepreneurship within the theoretical framework of resource-based view(RBV).It advances competitive advantage theory based on entrepreneurship by proving the distinctiveness of entrepreneurship. Distinctive cognition competence of entrepreneurs provides them with personal specific assets,which determines both the competence to explore new business opportunities and the competence to integrate resources for risk activities.The characteristics of such intangible resource as entrepreneurship,such as its distinctiveness,limitedness of competition,and incomplete mobility of factors,are the most important sources of competitive advantage of enterprises in the strategic management theory of RBV.

Mechanisms driving recruitment variability in fish: comparisons between the Laurentian Great Lakes and marine systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pritt, Jeremy J.; Roseman, Edward F.; O'Brien, Timothy P.

2014-01-01

In his seminal work, Hjort (in Fluctuations in the great fisheries of Northern Europe. Conseil Parmanent International Pour L'Exploration De La Mar. Rapports et Proces-Verbaux, 20: 1–228, 1914) observed that fish population levels fluctuated widely, year-class strength was set early in life, and egg production by adults could not alone explain variability in year-class strength. These observations laid the foundation for hypotheses on mechanisms driving recruitment variability in marine systems. More recently, researchers have sought to explain year-class strength of important fish in the Laurentian Great Lakes and some of the hypotheses developed for marine fisheries have been transferred to Great Lakes fish. We conducted a literature review to determine the applicability of marine recruitment hypotheses to Great Lakes fish. We found that temperature, interspecific interactions, and spawner effects (abundance, age, and condition of adults) were the most important factors in explaining recruitment variability in Great Lakes fish, whereas relatively fewer studies identified bottom-up trophodynamic factors or hydrodynamic factors as important. Next, we compared recruitment between Great Lakes and Baltic Sea fish populations and found no statistical difference in factors driving recruitment between the two systems, indicating that recruitment hypotheses may often be transferable between Great Lakes and marine systems. Many recruitment hypotheses developed for marine fish have yet to be applied to Great Lakes fish. We suggest that future research on recruitment in the Great Lakes should focus on forecasting the effects of climate change and invasive species. Further, because the Great Lakes are smaller and more enclosed than marine systems, and have abundant fishery-independent data, they are excellent candidates for future hypothesis testing on recruitment in fish.

[Advantages and disadvantages of femtosecond laser assisted LASIK and SMILE].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, F J; Sun, M S

2018-01-11

With the development of excimer laser and femtosecond laser equipment, application of diversified and customized surgical decision in modern corneal refractive surgery has been an inevitable trend. However, how to make a personalized decision with an accurate surgical design to achieve better visual quality becomes the main focus in clinical applications. Small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) have been commonly acknowledged as the mainstream of corneal refractive surgery for ametropia correction nowadays. Both methods have been verified by clinical practice for many years. This article compares and elaborates the different characteristics with advantages and disadvantages of the two methods so as to provide some reasonable treatment options for refractive surgery. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2018, 54: 7-10) .

Using quantile regression to examine health care expenditures during the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jie; Vargas-Bustamante, Arturo; Mortensen, Karoline; Thomas, Stephen B

2014-04-01

To examine the association between the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and health care expenditures along the health care spending distribution, with a focus on racial/ethnic disparities. Secondary data analyses of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2005-2006 and 2008-2009). Quantile multivariate regressions are employed to measure the different associations between the economic recession of 2007-2009 and health care spending. Race/ethnicity and interaction terms between race/ethnicity and a recession indicator are controlled to examine whether minorities encountered disproportionately lower health spending during the economic recession. The Great Recession was significantly associated with reductions in health care expenditures at the 10th-50th percentiles of the distribution, but not at the 75th-90th percentiles. Racial and ethnic disparities were more substantial at the lower end of the health expenditure distribution; however, on average the reduction in expenditures was similar for all race/ethnic groups. The Great Recession was also positively associated with spending on emergency department visits. This study shows that the relationship between the Great Recession and health care spending varied along the health expenditure distribution. More variability was observed in the lower end of the health spending distribution compared to the higher end. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Establishing knowledge management for competitive advantage in an enterprise

OpenAIRE

2012-01-01

M.Inf. Enterprises are becoming more dependent on people than ever before and in the twenty first century, an enterprise's survival and success will highly depend on the ability to manage knowledge as a source for competitive advantage. This study is concerned with the establishment of a knowledge management program that will ensure sustainable competitive advantage within the enterprise. The main problem under investigation is to assess the importance of knowledge management within an ent...

Consumer Insight as Competitive Advantage Using Big Data and Analytics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnan Veysel Ertemel

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Digital revolution serves as a competitive advantage to businesses that are able to analyze consumer behavior in order to gain insights for their strategic advantage. After the advent of Internet, the past two decades witnessed generation of vast amount of business data. The amount of data is so huge that traditional database management system approaches falls short of managing and analyzing this data. This paper explores the characteristics of this phenomenon called Big Data together with Analytics as a tool for marketers to gain insights about consumer behavior and hence provide competitive advantage to the businesses. It also discusses some best practices as case studies.

Prevalence and Citation Advantage of Gold Open Access in the Subject Areas of the Scopus Database

Science.gov (United States)

Dorta-González, Pablo; Santana-Jiménez, Yolanda

2018-01-01

The potential benefit of open access (OA) in relation to citation impact has been discussed in the literature in depth. The methodology used to test the OA citation advantage includes comparing OA vs. non-OA journal impact factors and citations of OA vs. non-OA articles published in the same non-OA journals. However, one problem with many studies…

ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND PERFORMANCE IN SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES IN VIETNAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nham Phong Tuan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on applying the resource-based view (RBV of firms to explain performance in supporting industries in Vietnam. Specifically, we based our research on the comprehensive framework of RBV and reviewed previous empirical researches before deciding on adopting a dynamic capabilities approach to test relationships among organisational capabilities, competitive advantage and performance. A multivariate analysis of survey responses of 102 firms belonging to supporting industries in Vietnam indicates that the organisational capabilities are related to the competitive advantage, that the competitive advantage is related to performance, and that the competitive advantage mediates the relationship between organizational capabilities and performance. These findings have considerable implications for academics as well as practitioners. Finally, this study also provides directions for future research.

A Visual Short-Term Memory Advantage for Objects of Expertise

Science.gov (United States)

Curby, Kim M.; Glazek, Kuba; Gauthier, Isabel

2009-01-01

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) is limited, especially for complex objects. Its capacity, however, is greater for faces than for other objects; this advantage may stem from the holistic nature of face processing. If the holistic processing explains this advantage, object expertise--which also relies on holistic processing--should endow experts…

Famous puzzles of great mathematicians

CERN Document Server

Petković, Miodrag S

2009-01-01

This entertaining book presents a collection of 180 famous mathematical puzzles and intriguing elementary problems that great mathematicians have posed, discussed, and/or solved. The selected problems do not require advanced mathematics, making this book accessible to a variety of readers. Mathematical recreations offer a rich playground for both amateur and professional mathematicians. Believing that creative stimuli and aesthetic considerations are closely related, great mathematicians from ancient times to the present have always taken an interest in puzzles and diversions. The goal of this

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NATIONS AND THE PARTICULARITIES OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES

OpenAIRE

Alina HAGIU; Marinela BĂRBULESCU

2013-01-01

The theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter stated that national competitive advantage is a reflection of a "diamond" which is running properly and efficiently. But if a developing country like Romania does not have the right conditions for effective functioning of the "diamond", what happens? This is the question to which we try to give an answer within this paper. In this respect, the paper aims to analyze the theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter, followed by...

The Great London Smog of 1952.

Science.gov (United States)

Polivka, Barbara J

2018-04-01

: The Great London Smog of December 1952 lasted five days and killed up to 12,000 people. The smog developed primarily because of extensive burning of high-sulfur coal. The health effects were both immediate and long lasting, with a recent study revealing an increased likelihood of childhood asthma development in those exposed to the Great Smog while in utero or during their first year of life. Subsequent pollution legislation-including the U.S. Clean Air Act and its amendments-have demonstrably reduced air pollution and positively impacted health outcomes. With poor air quality events like the Great Smog continuing to occur today, nurses need to be aware of the impact such environmental disasters can have on human health.

Complexity versus availability for fusion: The potential advantages of inertial fusion energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perkins, L.J.

1996-01-01

Probably the single largest advantage of the inertial route to fusion energy (IFE) is the perception that its power plant embodiments could achieve acceptable capacity factors. This is a result of its relative simplicity, the decoupling of the driver and reactor chamber, and the potential to employ thick liquid walls. We examine these issues in terms of the complexity, reliability, maintainability and, therefore, availability of both magnetic and inertial fusion power plants and compare these factors with corresponding scheduled and unscheduled outage data from present day fission experience. We stress that, given the simple nature of a fission core, the vast majority of unplanned outages in fission plants are due to failures outside the reactor vessel itself Given we must be prepared for similar outages in the analogous plant external to a fusion power core, this puts severe demands on the reliability required of the fusion core itself. We indicate that such requirements can probably be met for IFE plants. We recommend that this advantage be promoted by performing a quantitative reliability and availability study for a representative IFE power plant and suggest that databases are probably adequate for this task

Distance learning: its advantages and disadvantages

OpenAIRE

KEGEYAN SVETLANA ERIHOVNA

2016-01-01

Distance learning has become popular in higher institutions because of its flexibility and availability to learners and teachers at anytime, regardless of geographic location. With so many definitions and phases of distance education, this paper only focuses on the delivery mode of distance education (the use of information technology), background, and its disadvantages and advantages for today’s learners.

Why Great Britain's success in Beijing could have been anticipated and why it should continue beyond 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevill, A M; Balmer, N J; Winter, E M

2009-12-01

Home advantage in the summer Olympic Games is well known. What is not so well known is that countries that host the Olympic Games perform better in the games before and after the games in which they were hosts. To model/quantify the significance associated with these "hosting" effects and to explain the likely causes of Great Britain's improved medals haul in Beijing, while examining implications for London 2012 and beyond. Using all hosting cities/countries since World War II and analysing the number of medals awarded to competitors as a binomial proportion (p) response variable within a logit model, we identified a significant increase in the probability/odds of a country obtaining a medal in the Olympic Games before, during and after hosting the Olympics. Funding appears to be an important factor when explaining these findings. Almost all countries that have been awarded the games after World War II would appear to have invested heavily in sport before being awarded the games. A second factor in Great Britain's success is the legacy of hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2002 (a post-hosting games effect) that undoubtedly provided an infrastructure that benefited, in particular, cycling. Whether the International Olympics Committee either consciously or subconsciously take these factors into account is unclear when awarding the games to a city. What is clear is that based on these findings, Great Britain's prospects of maintaining the Olympic success achieved in Beijing is likely to continue to London 2012 and beyond.

BUSINESS COMPETITORS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SUCIU TITUS

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the concept of competition, both from the perspective of the economic sector –where it is characteristic for pure monopole, oligopoly, monopole competition and pure competition, as well asfrom the market’s point of view – where it determines the strategies, objectives, advantages and weaknesses of acompany. The main point of the paper is the criticism of the pure and perfect competition theory. Concluding,the author insists on innovation, especially on the model of open innovation.

Status of the breeding population of Great Cormorants in Denmark in 2012

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bregnballe, Thomas; Hansen, Rikke; Therkildsen, Ole Roland

2013-01-01

There were 27,237 occupied nests of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in the summer of 2012 in Denmark. This is an increase of ca. 1,700 nests compared to 2011. The cormorants had colonies or attempted to found colonies at 64 locations in 2012. This is close to the highest number...

Great Expectations for Middle School Counselors

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Robert J.

2012-01-01

During the Great Recession, 2008 to 2010, school systems scrambled to balance budgets, and the ratio of counselors to students became even larger. To make matters worse, the Great Recession had a major impact on cuts in educational funding. Budget cutbacks tend to occur where the public will be least likely to notice. The loss of teachers and the…

Urbanization Is Associated with Divergence in Pace-of-Life in Great Tits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Charmantier

2017-05-01

Full Text Available As an extension of the classic life history theory, the recently highlighted pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis predicts the coevolution of behavioral, physiological and life-history traits. For instance, bolder and shyer individuals do not only differ in personality profiles, but also in neuro-endocrinology and breeding patterns. While theory predicts that bolder (i.e., proactive, more aggressive individuals should colonize more rapidly urbanized habitats than shyer (i.e., reactive, less aggressive individuals, it is also predicted that across generations, adaptive selection processes could favor shyer individuals that are more sensitive to novel environmental cues. Here we compared two personality traits (handling aggression, exploration score in a novel environment, one physiological trait related to stress response (breath rate and four breeding traits (lay date, clutch size, hatching success and fledging success in a rural and an urban study population of Mediterranean great tits Parus major. Mixed models revealed strong phenotypic divergence between forest and city in most traits explored, in particular in personality, whereby urban great tits were more reactive to stress and faster explorers compared to rural birds (yet not more aggressive. Urban birds also laid smaller broods earlier in spring compared to their rural conspecifics, and city broods resulted in lower hatching success yet interestingly fledging success was similar. Nest-box centered measures of anthropogenic (artificial light, pedestrians, and cars perturbation and resource abundance allowed us to go beyond the classical forest/city comparison by exploring the phenotypic variation across an urbanization gradient. This revealed that high urbanization in nest-box surroundings was associated overall with earlier breeding and smaller clutches, but also with faster breath rate, although these trends showed strong annual variation. Ongoing rapid urbanization and non-random gene flow

Do invasive quagga mussels alter CO2 dynamics in the Laurentian Great Lakes?

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Peng; Guo, Laodong

2016-12-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes have experienced unprecedented ecological and environmental changes, especially after the introduction of invasive quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). While impacts on ecological functions have been widely recognized, the response of carbon dynamics to invasive species remains largely unknown. We report new CO2 data showing significant increases in pCO2 (up to 800 μatm in Lake Michigan) and CO2 emission fluxes in most of the Great Lakes compared to those prior to or during the early stage of the colonization of invasive quagga mussels. The increased CO2 supersaturation is most prominent in Lakes Huron and Michigan, followed by Lakes Ontario and Erie, but no evident change was observed in Lake Superior. This trend mirrors the infestation extent of invasive quagga mussels in the Great Lakes and is consistent with the decline in primary production and increase in water clarity observed pre- and post-Dreissena introduction, revealing a close linkage between invasive species and carbon dynamics. The Great Lakes have become a significant CO2 source to the atmosphere, emitting >7.7 ± 1.0 Tg-C annually, which is higher than the organic carbon burial rate in global inland-seas and attesting to the significant role of the Laurentian Great Lakes in regional/global CO2 budget and cycling.

RECONSIDERING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Zaharia

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Development of the competitive advantage involves a considerable effort from any organization. In particular, those organizations involved in a strong competitive market require the development of strategies to allocate long-term strategic marketing resources, efficiently and with easily quantifiable results. Faced with a multitude of phenomena and processes sometimes contradictory on different markets of consumption, contemporarily marketing has the mission to develop as creative as possible the business strategy of the organizations, their capacity of interacting with customers and other categories of audience. Such concepts as strategic positioning, relational marketing, management of the relationship with the consumer, marketing integrated research, a.s.o. are only a few of the tools with the help of which the marketing managers will implement successful operational strategies. All these developments are creating a real new paradigm of Marketing aimed to better explain the new types of complex market relationship in which the 21st Century organization is .

Advantages and disadvantages of contemporary magnetic resonance systems (resistive, permanent and superconductive)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krawczyk, R.; Matuszek, J.

1994-01-01

The purpose of the article is to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the operating MRI systems. There are 3 basic types of magnets useful for producing the B field: permanent magnet, resistive magnet and superconductive magnet. The authors compare basic features of those magnets including field strength, homogeneity, temporal stability and direction. The time of examination and the cost of exploitation was also discussed. In conclusions there are no significant differences between superconductive and resistive mid-field MRI systems. However the MRI spectroscopy and functional imaging requires high magnetic field which can be obtain only with superconductive magnet. (author)

The relation between proactive environmental strategies and competitive advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Butnariu, A.; Avasilcăi, S.

2015-11-01

There are two distinct orientations of the environmental management that companies may adopt: the model of compliance and the strategic model. The strategic model treats environmental expenses as investments that will lead to competitive advantage for the company. Nevertheless, there are few scientific works that prove the relation between corporate environmental investments and competitive advantage. Thereby, in order to bring clarifications about the profound implications of environmental investments, in the first stage of our research we have proposed the hypothesis that the environmental investments would probably lead to competitive advantage by creating capabilities that are mediators of this relation. In the second stage we have tested this hypothesis, using the research method of survey. A questionnaire was sent to managers in textile Romanian industry, and 109 answers were received. The data was analysed using the linear multiple regression method and the results confirm our hypothesis.

Smart device-based testing for medical students in Korea: satisfaction, convenience, and advantages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eun Young Lim

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate respondents’ satisfaction with smart device-based testing (SBT, as well as its convenience and advantages, in order to improve its implementation. The survey was conducted among 108 junior medical students at Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Korea, who took a practice licensing examination using SBT in September 2015. The survey contained 28 items scored using a 5-point Likert scale. The items were divided into the following three categories: satisfaction with SBT administration, convenience of SBT features, and advantages of SBT compared to paper-and-pencil testing or computer-based testing. The reliability of the survey was 0.95. Of the three categories, the convenience of the SBT features received the highest mean (M score (M= 3.75, standard deviation [SD]= 0.69, while the category of satisfaction with SBT received the lowest (M= 3.13, SD= 1.07. No statistically significant differences across these categories with respect to sex, age, or experience were observed. These results indicate that SBT was practical and effective to take and to administer.

Great Indoors Awards 2007

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2007-01-01

Hollandis Maastrichtis jagati 17. XI esimest korda rahvusvahelist auhinda The Great Indoors Award. Aasta sisekujundusfirmaks valiti Masamichi Katayama asutatud Wonderwall. Auhinna said veel Zaha Hadid, Heatherwick Studio, Ryui Nakamura Architects ja Item Idem

Future home hemodialysis - advantages of the NxStage System One.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Susumu

2012-01-01

To improve the quality of life (QOL) of patients with renal failure who are on dialysis, we have been working to promote home hemodialysis (HHD), but it has not come into widespread use at present because of various problems, including limitations of the equipment, the large proportion of elderly patients, and difficulty performing self-care. With regard to problems with the equipment, dialysis equipment for home use has not yet been approved in Japan, so equipment designed for medical facilities has to be used for home dialysis. Such equipment is bulky and occupies living space, as well as involving the cost of home renovation and the need for a caregiver. The NxStage System One (NSO) artificial kidney has served advantages for HHD compared with conventional equipment, since it is compact, portable, and easy to operate (especially for preparation and cleaning), does not require a water supply, occupies less living space, and reduces the need for renovation of the home. Other advantages of the NSO include improvement of QOL by saving time travelling to hospitals and helping patients to participate in social activities. In addition, HHD with the NSO can improve sleep disorders, the restless legs syndrome, and depressive symptoms, resulting in a good outcome. Moreover, HHD with the NSO reduces the need for drugs, such as antihypertensive medications and erythropoietin, possibly leading to saving of healthcare costs. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Specific spheres of application of ionising radiation effects, some realized results and comparative advantages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benderac, R.

2007-01-01

The papers discusses some results of ionizing radiation effects in realization of non-destructive methods, achieved progress from the aspect of innovation, comparative results with previously used methods, etc. A review is given of methods based on alpha-radiography, auto-alpha radiography, beta-radiography, X-ray-fluorescent analysis, X- and gamma radiography, and photos of specific samples of neutron radiography [sr

Energy and water in the Great Lakes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tidwell, Vincent Carroll

2011-11-01

The nexus between thermoelectric power production and water use is not uniform across the U.S., but rather differs according to regional physiography, demography, power plant fleet composition, and the transmission network. That is, in some regions water demand for thermoelectric production is relatively small while in other regions it represents the dominate use. The later is the case for the Great Lakes region, which has important implications for the water resources and aquatic ecology of the Great Lakes watershed. This is today, but what about the future? Projected demographic trends, shifting lifestyles, and economic growth coupled with the threat of global climate change and mounting pressure for greater U.S. energy security could have profound effects on the region's energy future. Planning for such an uncertain future is further complicated by the fact that energy and environmental planning and regulatory decisionmaking is largely bifurcated in the region, with environmental and water resource concerns generally taken into account after new energy facilities and technologies have been proposed, or practices are already in place. Based on these confounding needs, the objective of this effort is to develop Great Lakes-specific methods and tools to integrate energy and water resource planning and thereby support the dual goals of smarter energy planning and development, and protection of Great Lakes water resources. Guiding policies for this planning are the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The desired outcome of integrated energy-water-aquatic resource planning is a more sustainable regional energy mix for the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.

Effects of heavy metal exposure on the condition and health of adult great tits (Parus major)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dauwe, Tom; Janssens, Ellen; Eens, Marcel

2006-01-01

We examined the possible effects of heavy metal exposure on the quality and health of adult great tits (Parus major) at four study sites along a pollution gradient near a non-ferrous smelter in Belgium. Tarsus length, wing length, body mass and condition of great tits were compared with respect to study site, age (first-year and older great tits), sex and season (birds caught in winter and during breeding). Tarsus length did not differ significantly among study sites. The wing length of great tits was larger at the study site furthest from the smelter, especially for older great tits. The length of the outermost tail feathers, however, did not differ significantly among study sites. We found no signs of loss of body mass or condition towards the pollution source. The body mass and condition was lowest for female great tits at the site furthest from the smelter, especially during winter. Haematocrit values did not differ significantly among sites. Overall, we found no clear significant effects of heavy metal pollution on morphological measurements and health parameters of great tits. - Heavy metal pollution had no clear effect on condition and health, but this may have been masked by habitat quality differences and gene flow

A comparative study of Ni-Mn layered double hydroxide/carbon composites with different morphologies for supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, M; Liu, F; Zhang, X B; Cheng, J P

2016-11-02

A variety of carbon materials varying from 0D to 2D, i.e. 0D nanoparticles, 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are selected to in situ combine with Ni-Mn layered double hydroxide (LDH) to prepare electrode materials for supercapacitors. Through a simple solution method, hierarchical Ni-Mn LDH/carbon composites can be easily fabricated. A comparative study is carried out on the sandwich-like LDH/rGO, flower-like LDH/carbon black, turbostratic-structured LDH/CNTs and ternary LDH/CNTs/rGO for their structure, morphology, porous properties and electrochemical performances. The results show that the ternary Ni-Mn LDH/CNTs/rGO composite yields the highest specific capacitance of 1268 F g -1 in 2 M KOH electrolyte and a long lifespan, exhibiting great potential for supercapacitor applications. Meanwhile, investigation on the influence of the cation species of MOH (M = Li + , Na + or K + ) and the alkali concentration of the KOH electrolyte illustrates that increasing the concentration of the KOH electrolyte can benefit the capacitive performance of the electrode and that NaOH shows great advantages as an electrolyte for the Ni-Mn LDH/CNTs/rGO electrode due to its high capacitance and small resistance.

Home Field Advantage Calculation for Physical Education and Sport Students

Science.gov (United States)

Inan, Tugbay

2018-01-01

It is a well-established fact that playing at home field is an advantageous condition for professional sport teams. For this reason, the home field advantage in team sports is an important issue to be explored. It is also one of the different topics that physical education and sports students can use when they want to perform performance analysis…

Review of MammoSite brachytherapy: Advantages, disadvantages and clinical outcomes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bensaleh, Saleh; Bezak, Eva; Borg, Martin (Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide (Australia))

2009-05-15

Background. The MammoSite radiotherapy system is an alternative treatment option for patients with early-stage breast cancer to overcome the longer schedules associated with external beam radiation therapy. The device is placed inside the breast surgical cavity and inflated with a combination of saline and radiographic contrast to completely fill the cavity. The treatment schedule for the MammoSite monotherapy is 34 Gy delivered in 10 fractions at 1.0 cm from the balloon surface with a minimum of 6 hours between fractions on the same day. Material and methods. This review article presents the advantages, disadvantages, uncertainties and clinical outcomes associated with the MammoSite brachytherapy (MSB). Results. Potential advantages of MSB are: high localised dose with rapid falloff for normal tissue sparing, minimum delay between surgery and RT, catheter moves with breast, improved local control, no exposure to staff, likely side-effects reduction and potential cost/time saving (e.g. for country patients). The optimal cosmetic results depend on the balloon-to-skin distance. Good-to-excellent cosmetic results are achieved for patients with balloon-skin spacing of =7 mm. There have been very few published data regarding the long term tumour control and cosmesis associated with the MSB. The available data on the local control achieved with the MSB were comparable with other accelerated partial breast irradiation techniques. The contrast medium inside the balloon causes dose reduction at the prescription point. Current brachytherapy treatment planning systems (BTPS) do not take into account the increased photon attenuation due to high Z of contrast. Some BTPS predicted up to 10% higher dose near the balloon surface compared with Monte Carlo calculations using various contrast concentrations (5-25%). Conclusion. Initial clinical results have shown that the MammoSite device could be used as a sole radiation treatment for selected patients with early stage breast cancer

Review of MammoSite brachytherapy: Advantages, disadvantages and clinical outcomes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bensaleh, Saleh; Bezak, Eva; Borg, Martin

2009-01-01

Background. The MammoSite radiotherapy system is an alternative treatment option for patients with early-stage breast cancer to overcome the longer schedules associated with external beam radiation therapy. The device is placed inside the breast surgical cavity and inflated with a combination of saline and radiographic contrast to completely fill the cavity. The treatment schedule for the MammoSite monotherapy is 34 Gy delivered in 10 fractions at 1.0 cm from the balloon surface with a minimum of 6 hours between fractions on the same day. Material and methods. This review article presents the advantages, disadvantages, uncertainties and clinical outcomes associated with the MammoSite brachytherapy (MSB). Results. Potential advantages of MSB are: high localised dose with rapid falloff for normal tissue sparing, minimum delay between surgery and RT, catheter moves with breast, improved local control, no exposure to staff, likely side-effects reduction and potential cost/time saving (e.g. for country patients). The optimal cosmetic results depend on the balloon-to-skin distance. Good-to-excellent cosmetic results are achieved for patients with balloon-skin spacing of =7 mm. There have been very few published data regarding the long term tumour control and cosmesis associated with the MSB. The available data on the local control achieved with the MSB were comparable with other accelerated partial breast irradiation techniques. The contrast medium inside the balloon causes dose reduction at the prescription point. Current brachytherapy treatment planning systems (BTPS) do not take into account the increased photon attenuation due to high Z of contrast. Some BTPS predicted up to 10% higher dose near the balloon surface compared with Monte Carlo calculations using various contrast concentrations (5-25%). Conclusion. Initial clinical results have shown that the MammoSite device could be used as a sole radiation treatment for selected patients with early stage breast cancer

Nearshore Versus Offshore: Comparative Cost and Competitive Advantages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik; Hevia Koch, Pablo Alejandro; Wolter, Christoph

2016-01-01

Currently there exist high expectations for the development of wind energy, particularly in Europe, out of which offshore wind turbine developments will be central as tools to achieve current energy targets. The choice between nearshore and (far)-offshore is particularly relevant, both because of...... of increased public resistance due to visual disamenities produced by nearshore projects, and because of the potential cost reduction benefits attained by building wind farms closer to the shore....

Comparative advantage between traditional and smart navigation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Jeongkyu; Kim, Pan-Jun; Kim, Seunghwan

2013-03-01

The smart navigation system that refers to real-time traffic data is believed to be superior to traditional navigation systems. To verify this belief, we created an agent-based traffic model and examined the effect of changing market share of the traditional shortest-travel-time algorithm based navigation and the smart navigation system. We tested our model on the grid and actual metropolitan road network structures. The result reveals that the traditional navigation system have better performance than the smart one as the market share of the smart navigation system exceeds a critical value, which is contrary to conventional expectation. We suggest that the superiority inversion between agent groups is strongly related to the traffic weight function form, and is general. We also found that the relationship of market share, traffic flow density and travel time is determined by the combination of congestion avoidance behavior of the smartly navigated agents and the inefficiency of shortest-travel-time based navigated agents. Our results can be interpreted with the minority game and extended to the diverse topics of opinion dynamics. This work was supported by the Original Technology Research Program for Brain Science through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology(No. 2010-0018847).

Amazon Business And GSA Advantage: A Comparative Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

upselling, and influencing a purchase .” GSA believes vendor ratings promote one vendor over the other, which is not allowed due to government policy... INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK i REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704–0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information...Business, and federally-managed GSA Advantage—to assess the benefits and limitations of using the government purchase card (GPC) to buy from each

The advantage of experienced start-up founders in venture capital acquisition: evidence from serial entrepreneurs

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Junfu

2007-01-01

Existing literature suggests that entrepreneurs with prior firm-founding experience have more skills and social connections than novice entrepreneurs. Such skills and social connections could give experienced founders some advantage in the process of raising venture capital. This paper uses a large database of venture-backed companies and their founders to examine experienced founders' access to venture capital. Compared to novice entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs with venture-backed founding expe...

Symbol labelling improves advantageous decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task in people with intellectual disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Dymond, Simon; Bailey, Rebecca; Willner, Paul; Parry, Rhonwen

2010-01-01

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities often have difficulties foregoing short-term loss for long-term gain. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been extensively adopted as a laboratory measure of this ability. In the present study, we undertook the first investigation with people with intellectual disabilities using a two-choice child version of the IGT, with measures of intellectual and executive functioning. Compared to a group of matched controls, people with intellectual disabilities performed advantageously and showed high levels of subjective awareness about the relative goodness and badness of the decks. A symbol labelling intervention, in which participants were taught to label the good and bad decks at regular intervals significantly improved advantageous decision-making to levels approximating that of controls. Factor analysis of executive functioning scores identified working memory and mental flexibility (response initiation and set shifting), with a near-significant inverse correlation between the extent to which the intervention was required and mental flexibility. These findings show, for the first time, that people with intellectual disabilities are capable of performing advantageously on the IGT and add to the growing clinical literature on decision-making. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The UNIX/XENIX Advantage: Applications in Libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Kelly L.

1988-01-01

Discusses the application of the UNIX/XENIX operating system to support administrative office automation functions--word processing, spreadsheets, database management systems, electronic mail, and communications--at the Central Michigan University Libraries. Advantages and disadvantages of the XENIX operating system and system configuration are…

Creating Competitive Advantage through Effective Management Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Longenecker, Clinton O.; Ariss, Sonny S.

2002-01-01

Managers trained in executive education programs (n=203) identified ways in which management education can increase an organization's competitive advantage: exposure to new ideas and practices, skill development, and motivation. Characteristics of effective management education included experience-based learning orientation, credible instructors,…

The Great War and German Memory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leese, Peter

2012-01-01

Review essay on Jason Crouthamel, The Great War and German Memory. Society, Politics and Psychological Trauma, 1914-18 (2009) and Anton Kaes, Shell Shock Cinema: Weimar Culture and the Wounds of War (2009)......Review essay on Jason Crouthamel, The Great War and German Memory. Society, Politics and Psychological Trauma, 1914-18 (2009) and Anton Kaes, Shell Shock Cinema: Weimar Culture and the Wounds of War (2009)...

Advantages and limitations of classic and 3D QSAR approaches in nano-QSAR studies based on biological activity of fullerene derivatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagiello, Karolina; Grzonkowska, Monika; Swirog, Marta; Ahmed, Lucky; Rasulev, Bakhtiyor; Avramopoulos, Aggelos; Papadopoulos, Manthos G.; Leszczynski, Jerzy; Puzyn, Tomasz

2016-01-01

In this contribution, the advantages and limitations of two computational techniques that can be used for the investigation of nanoparticles activity and toxicity: classic nano-QSAR (Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships employed for nanomaterials) and 3D nano-QSAR (three-dimensional Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships, such us Comparative Molecular Field Analysis, CoMFA/Comparative Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis, CoMSIA analysis employed for nanomaterials) have been briefly summarized. Both approaches were compared according to the selected criteria, including: efficiency, type of experimental data, class of nanomaterials, time required for calculations and computational cost, difficulties in the interpretation. Taking into account the advantages and limitations of each method, we provide the recommendations for nano-QSAR modellers and QSAR model users to be able to determine a proper and efficient methodology to investigate biological activity of nanoparticles in order to describe the underlying interactions in the most reliable and useful manner.

Advantages and limitations of classic and 3D QSAR approaches in nano-QSAR studies based on biological activity of fullerene derivatives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jagiello, Karolina; Grzonkowska, Monika; Swirog, Marta [University of Gdansk, Laboratory of Environmental Chemometrics, Faculty of Chemistry, Institute for Environmental and Human Health Protection (Poland); Ahmed, Lucky; Rasulev, Bakhtiyor [Jackson State University, Interdisciplinary Nanotoxicity Center, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (United States); Avramopoulos, Aggelos; Papadopoulos, Manthos G. [National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Biology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biotechnology (Greece); Leszczynski, Jerzy [Jackson State University, Interdisciplinary Nanotoxicity Center, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (United States); Puzyn, Tomasz, E-mail: t.puzyn@qsar.eu.org [University of Gdansk, Laboratory of Environmental Chemometrics, Faculty of Chemistry, Institute for Environmental and Human Health Protection (Poland)

2016-09-15

In this contribution, the advantages and limitations of two computational techniques that can be used for the investigation of nanoparticles activity and toxicity: classic nano-QSAR (Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships employed for nanomaterials) and 3D nano-QSAR (three-dimensional Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships, such us Comparative Molecular Field Analysis, CoMFA/Comparative Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis, CoMSIA analysis employed for nanomaterials) have been briefly summarized. Both approaches were compared according to the selected criteria, including: efficiency, type of experimental data, class of nanomaterials, time required for calculations and computational cost, difficulties in the interpretation. Taking into account the advantages and limitations of each method, we provide the recommendations for nano-QSAR modellers and QSAR model users to be able to determine a proper and efficient methodology to investigate biological activity of nanoparticles in order to describe the underlying interactions in the most reliable and useful manner.

Sustainable competitive advantage for accountable care organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Macfarlane, Michael Alex

2014-01-01

In the current period of health industry reform, accountable care organizations (ACOs) have emerged as a new model for the delivery of high-quality and cost-effective healthcare. However, few ACOs operate in direct competition with one another, and the accountable care business model has yet to present a means of continually developing new marginal value for patients and network partners. With value-based purchasing and patient consumerism strengthening as market forces, ACOs must build organizational sustainability and competitive advantage to meet the value demands set by customers and competitors. This essay proposes a strategy, adapted from the disciplines of agile software development and Lean product development, through which ACOs can engage internal and external customers in the development of new products that will provide sustainability and competitive advantage to the organization by decreasing waste in development, promoting specialized knowledge, and closely targeting customer value.

Advantages of neutron scattering for biological structure analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoenborn, B.P.

1975-01-01

The advantages and disadvantages of neutron scattering for protein crystallography, scattering from oriented systems, and solution scattering are summarized. Techniques for minimizing the disadvantages are indicated

Bayesian inference for psychology. Part I : Theoretical advantages and practical ramifications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagenmakers, E.-J.; Marsman, M.; Jamil, T.; Ly, A.; Verhagen, J.; Love, J.; Selker, R.; Gronau, Q.F.; Šmíra, M.; Epskamp, S.; Matzke, D.; Rouder, J.N.; Morey, R.D.

2018-01-01

Bayesian parameter estimation and Bayesian hypothesis testing present attractive alternatives to classical inference using confidence intervals and p values. In part I of this series we outline ten prominent advantages of the Bayesian approach. Many of these advantages translate to concrete

Fuel cell mining vehicles: design, performance and advantages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Betournay, M.C.; Miller, A.R.; Barnes, D.L.

2003-01-01

The potential for using fuel cell technology in underground mining equipment was discussed with reference to the risks associated with the operation of hydrogen vehicles, hydrogen production and hydrogen delivery systems. This paper presented some of the initiatives for mine locomotives and fuel cell stacks for underground environments. In particular, it presents the test results of the first applied industrial fuel cell vehicle in the world, a mining and tunneling locomotive. This study was part of an international initiative managed by the Fuel Cell Propulsion Institute which consists of several mining companies, mining equipment manufacturers, and fuel cell technology developers. Some of the obvious benefits of fuel cells for underground mining operations include no exhaust gases, lower electrical costs, significantly reduced maintenance, and lower ventilation costs. Another advantage is that the technology can be readily automated and computer-based for tele-remote operations. This study also quantified the cost and operational benefits associated with fuel cell vehicles compared to diesel vehicles. It is expected that higher vehicle productivity could render fuel cell underground vehicles cost-competitive. 6 refs., 1 tab

Mission and System Advantages of Iodine Hall Thrusters

Science.gov (United States)

Dankanich, John W.; Szabo, James; Pote, Bruce; Oleson, Steve; Kamhawi, Hani

2014-01-01

The exploration of alternative propellants for Hall thrusters continues to be of interest to the community. Investments have been made and continue for the maturation of iodine based Hall thrusters. Iodine testing has shown comparable performance to xenon. However, iodine has a higher storage density and resulting higher ?V capability for volume constrained systems. Iodine's vapor pressure is low enough to permit low-pressure storage, but high enough to minimize potential adverse spacecraft-thruster interactions. The low vapor pressure also means that iodine does not condense inside the thruster at ordinary operating temperatures. Iodine is safe, it stores at sub-atmospheric pressure, and can be stored unregulated for years on end; whether on the ground or on orbit. Iodine fills a niche for both low power (10kW) electric propulsion regimes. A range of missions have been evaluated for direct comparison of Iodine and Xenon options. The results show advantages of iodine Hall systems for both small and microsatellite application and for very large exploration class missions.

Great ape gestures: intentional communication with a rich set of innate signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, R W; Cartmill, E; Genty, E; Graham, K E; Hobaiter, C; Tanner, J

2017-09-08

Great apes give gestures deliberately and voluntarily, in order to influence particular target audiences, whose direction of attention they take into account when choosing which type of gesture to use. These facts make the study of ape gesture directly relevant to understanding the evolutionary precursors of human language; here we present an assessment of ape gesture from that perspective, focusing on the work of the "St Andrews Group" of researchers. Intended meanings of ape gestures are relatively few and simple. As with human words, ape gestures often have several distinct meanings, which are effectively disambiguated by behavioural context. Compared to the signalling of most other animals, great ape gestural repertoires are large. Because of this, and the relatively small number of intended meanings they achieve, ape gestures are redundant, with extensive overlaps in meaning. The great majority of gestures are innate, in the sense that the species' biological inheritance includes the potential to develop each gestural form and use it for a specific range of purposes. Moreover, the phylogenetic origin of many gestures is relatively old, since gestures are extensively shared between different genera in the great ape family. Acquisition of an adult repertoire is a process of first exploring the innate species potential for many gestures and then gradual restriction to a final (active) repertoire that is much smaller. No evidence of syntactic structure has yet been detected.

Building the crops of tomorrow: advantages of symbiont-based approaches to improving abiotic stress tolerance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coleman-Derr, Devin [USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States); Tringe, Susannah G. [USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States)

2014-06-06

The exponential growth in world population is feeding a steadily increasing global need for arable farmland, a resource that is already in high demand. This trend has led to increased farming on subprime arid and semi-arid lands, where limited availability of water and a host of environmental stresses often severely reduce crop productivity. The conventional approach to mitigating the abiotic stresses associated with arid climes is to breed for stress-tolerant cultivars, a time and labor intensive venture that often neglects the complex ecological context of the soil environment in which the crop is grown. In recent years, studies have attempted to identify microbial symbionts capable of conferring the same stress-tolerance to their plant hosts, and new developments in genomic technologies have greatly facilitated such research. Here in this paper, we highlight many of the advantages of these symbiont-based approaches and argue in favor of the broader recognition of crop species as ecological niches for a diverse community of microorganisms that function in concert with their plant hosts and each other to thrive under fluctuating environmental conditions

Building the crops of tomorrow: advantages of symbiont-based approaches to improving abiotic stress tolerance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Devin eColeman-Derr

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The exponential growth in world population is feeding a steadily increasing global need for arable farmland, a resource that is already in high demand. This trend has led to increased farming on subprime arid and semi-arid lands, where limited availability of water and a host of environmental stresses often severely reduce crop productivity. The conventional approach to mitigating the abiotic stresses associated with arid climes is to breed for stress-tolerant cultivars, a time and labor intensive venture that often neglects the complex ecological context of the soil environment in which the crop is grown. In recent years, studies have attempted to identify microbial symbionts capable of conferring the same stress-tolerance to their plant hosts, and new developments in genomic technologies have greatly facilitated such research. Here, we highlight many of the advantages of these symbiont-based approaches and argue in favor of the broader recognition of crop species as ecological niches for a diverse community of microorganisms that function in concert with their plant hosts and each other to thrive under fluctuating environmental conditions.

Advantages of polarization experiments at RHIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Underwood, D.G.

1991-01-01

We point out various spin experiments that could be done if the polarized beam option is pursued at RHIC. The advantages of RHIC for investigating several current and future physics problems are discussed. In particular, the gluon spin dependent structure function of the nucleon could be measured cleanly and systematically. Relevant experience developed in conjunction with the Fermilab Polarized Beam program is also presented

Advantages of the production contractor concept

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gisvold, K.M. [Golar-Nor Offshore, Trondheim (Norway)

1994-12-31

This paper presents some thoughts on the Production Contractor concept. It starts with an attempt to define the prerequisites for such contractorship to exist and develop, going on to examine the considerations that the oil company and the contractor respectively have to go through, and finally trying to summarize what emerges as the advantages of production contracting. Examples are given to emphasize particular points

Advantages of the production contractor concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gisvold, K.M.

1994-01-01

This paper presents some thoughts on the Production Contractor concept. It starts with an attempt to define the prerequisites for such contractorship to exist and develop, going on to examine the considerations that the oil company and the contractor respectively have to go through, and finally trying to summarize what emerges as the advantages of production contracting. Examples are given to emphasize particular points

Interest alignment rents and competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

M. ZOLLO; O. GOTTSCHALG

2007-01-01

This paper articulates a theory of the conditions under which the alignment between individual and collective interests generates sustainable competitive advantage. The theory is based on the influence of tacitness, context specificity, and causal ambiguity in the determinants of different types of motivation (extrinsic, normative intrinsic, and hedonic instinsic) under varying conditions of environmental dynamism. The analysis indicates the need to consider motivational processes as a comple...

Technology Survey Assistance Tool Focusing on Their Advantages

Science.gov (United States)

Nishiyama, Risa; Takeuchi, Hironori; Watanabe, Hideo; Nasukawa, Tetsuya

It is important for R&D managers, consultants, and other people seeking broad knowledge in technology fields to survey technical literature such as research papers, white papers, and technology news articles. One of the important kinds of information for those people regards the effectiveness of new technologies in their own businesses. General search engines are good at selecting documents revealing the details of a specific technology or a technology field, but it is hard to obtain useful information about how a technology will apply to individual business cases from such search results. There is a need for a technology survey assistance tool that helps users find technologies with suitable capabilities. In this paper, two technical tasks were tackled to develop the prototype of this assistance tool: Extraction of advantage phrases and scoring for the advantage phrases to find novel applications in the target technology field. We describe a new method to identify advantage phrases in technical documents and our scoring function that gives higher scores to novel applications of the technology. The results of evaluations showed our phrase identification method with only a few phrasal patterns performs almost as well as human annotators, and the proposed scoring conforms better to the decisions made by professionals than random sort.

Implementation of marketing strategy: Factor of competitive advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krstić Ivan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Primary objective of the company is to reach the business success. Competitors have the same objective. Only the companies that really meet the consumer's needs and demands survive in the competitive struggle. The company who succeeds in it, has the possibility to achieve the competitive advantage as well. The company has to have the adequate marketing strategy in order to fulfill the marketing objectives and achieve the competitive advantage. The marketing strategy should be flexible and properly implemented to fulfill the expected results. The best solution is developing the credible strategies. Researching of the strategic marketing literature, the authors have noted down that the greater attention is given to the formulation than the implementation of the marketing strategy. In this text, focus is on the research of the marketing strategy implementation as a significant factor of the competitive advantage. The traditional concept of the marketing strategy implementation is taken into consideration first, as well as the risks the enterprise is facing with in that case. Thereafter, the testing and developing of the credible marketing strategy is represented, as well as the problems the enterprise is facing with in the implementation. Finally, the executive skills and control are analyzed as important factors of the successful implementation of the marketing strategy. .

First-dollar cost-sharing for skilled nursing facility care in medicare advantage plans.

Science.gov (United States)

Keohane, Laura M; Grebla, Regina C; Rahman, Momotazur; Mukamel, Dana B; Lee, Yoojin; Mor, Vincent; Trivedi, Amal

2017-08-29

The initial days of a Medicare-covered skilled nursing facility (SNF) stay may have no cost-sharing or daily copayments depending on beneficiaries' enrollment in traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage. Some policymakers have advocated imposing first-dollar cost-sharing to reduce post-acute expenditures. We examined the relationship between first-dollar cost-sharing for a SNF stay and use of inpatient and SNF services. We identified seven Medicare Advantage plans that introduced daily SNF copayments of $25-$150 in 2009 or 2010. Copays began on the first day of a SNF admission. We matched these plans to seven matched control plans that did not introduce first-dollar cost-sharing. In a difference-in-differences analysis, we compared changes in SNF and inpatient utilization for the 172,958 members of intervention and control plans. In intervention plans the mean annual number of SNF days per 100 continuously enrolled inpatients decreased from 768.3 to 750.6 days when cost-sharing changes took effect. Control plans experienced a concurrent increase: 721.7 to 808.1 SNF days per 100 inpatients (adjusted difference-in-differences: -87.0 days [95% CI (-112.1,-61.9)]). In intervention plans, we observed no significant changes in the probability of any SNF service use or the number of inpatient days per hospitalized member relative to concurrent trends among control plans. Among several strategies Medicare Advantage plans can employ to moderate SNF use, first-dollar SNF cost-sharing may be one influential factor. Not applicable.

Attenuation of landscape signals through the coastal zone: A basin-wide analysis for the US Great Lakes shoreline, circa 2002-2010

Science.gov (United States)

We compare statistical models developed to describe a) the relationship between watershed properties and Great Lakes coastal wetlands with b) the relationship developed between watershed properties and the Great Lakes nearshore. Using landscape metrics from the GLEI project (Dan...

Great ape genetic diversity and population history

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prado-Martinez, Javier; Sudmant, Peter H; Kidd, Jeffrey M

2013-01-01

Most great ape genetic variation remains uncharacterized; however, its study is critical for understanding population history, recombination, selection and susceptibility to disease. Here we sequence to high coverage a total of 79 wild- and captive-born individuals representing all six great ape...

GREAT: a web portal for Genome Regulatory Architecture Tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouyioukos, Costas; Bucchini, François; Elati, Mohamed; Képès, François

2016-07-08

GREAT (Genome REgulatory Architecture Tools) is a novel web portal for tools designed to generate user-friendly and biologically useful analysis of genome architecture and regulation. The online tools of GREAT are freely accessible and compatible with essentially any operating system which runs a modern browser. GREAT is based on the analysis of genome layout -defined as the respective positioning of co-functional genes- and its relation with chromosome architecture and gene expression. GREAT tools allow users to systematically detect regular patterns along co-functional genomic features in an automatic way consisting of three individual steps and respective interactive visualizations. In addition to the complete analysis of regularities, GREAT tools enable the use of periodicity and position information for improving the prediction of transcription factor binding sites using a multi-view machine learning approach. The outcome of this integrative approach features a multivariate analysis of the interplay between the location of a gene and its regulatory sequence. GREAT results are plotted in web interactive graphs and are available for download either as individual plots, self-contained interactive pages or as machine readable tables for downstream analysis. The GREAT portal can be reached at the following URL https://absynth.issb.genopole.fr/GREAT and each individual GREAT tool is available for downloading. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

A Comparative Analysis of Kalman Filters Using a Hypervelocity Missile Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-12-01

quality to any comparable systemi deployed by NATTO (Ref. 4). The buildup in Soviet Forces has :gIenorated a ignificant numerical advantage In tanks...penetrate the comparntively thin upper surfaces of a tank. The other is to use the U.S. advantage in micro-electronics to develop precision-guided munitions...per target killed. These advantages have prompted the Air Force to proceed with feasibility studies and tests to demonstrate the capabilities of the

Which competitive advantages can firms really obtain from ISO14001 certification?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josefina Lucia Murillo-Luna

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Ten years after the introduction of ISO14001, in this paper we present empirical evidence about the competitive advantages that managers associate to this environmental practice, from a sample of industrial firms located in Spain. The results indicate that the potential competitive advantages are: improvement of the internal efficiency, differentiation advantages, attention to the stakeholders’ requirements, enhancement of the competitive position in the sector and financial savings. Nevertheless managers’ expectations of improving internal efficiency might be the real reason that encourages firms to make the voluntary decision of investing in ISO14001 certification.

Overview of research in the ADVANTAGE project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Angjelichinoski, Marko; Cosovic, Mirsad; Kalalas, Charalampos

2016-01-01

The European Marie Curie Project ADVANTAGE (Advanced Communications and Information processing in smart grid systems) was launched in 2014. It represents a major inter-disciplinary research project into the topic of Smart Grid technology. A key aspect of the project is to bring together and train...

Advantages and disadvantages by using safety culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyhrberg, Mette Bang

2003-01-01

Safety culture is a major issue in accident research. A recently finished ph.d.-study has evaluated the symbolic safety culture approach and found four advantages and two disadvantages. These are presented and discussed in this contribution. It is concluded that the approach can be useful...

Canonical Correlation Analysis Between Supply Chain Quality Management And Competitive Advantages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaghooshi Ahmad Jafarnejad

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Competitive environment of today’s organizations, more than ever, is extensive, and the major concern for managers is to preserve and promote the sustainable competitive advantage. Companies have an obligation to improve their product quality and have extensive and close cooperation with other companies involved in the supply chain of products. Supply chain quality management (SCQM is a systematic approach to improve the performance that integrates supply chain partners and uses the opportunity in the best way, establish linkages between upstream and downstream flows, and investigate on creating value and satisfaction of intermediaries and final customers. Furthermore, achieving competitive advantages enables an organization to create a remarkable position in market and differentiate itself from competitors. This paper aims to understand the relationships between SCQM and competitive advantage. Sixty-eight experts of 25 companies in Sahami Alyaf (SA supply chain has been participated in this research. The research method used for this article is descriptive correlation. To assess the relationships between the criteria, canonical correlation analysis was used. The result shows that the SCQM and competitive advantages have a meaningful relationship. It also shows that most important variable in the linear combination of SCQM and competitive advantages are “customer focus and quality,” respectively.

Mechanics of biting in great white and sandtiger sharks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrara, T L; Clausen, P; Huber, D R; McHenry, C R; Peddemors, V; Wroe, S

2011-02-03

Although a strong correlation between jaw mechanics and prey selection has been demonstrated in bony fishes (Osteichthyes), how jaw mechanics influence feeding performance in cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) remains unknown. Hence, tooth shape has been regarded as a primary predictor of feeding behavior in sharks. Here we apply Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to examine form and function in the jaws of two threatened shark species, the great white (Carcharodon carcharias) and the sandtiger (Carcharias taurus). These species possess characteristic tooth shapes believed to reflect dietary preferences. We show that the jaws of sandtigers and great whites are adapted for rapid closure and generation of maximum bite force, respectively, and that these functional differences are consistent with diet and dentition. Our results suggest that in both taxa, insertion of jaw adductor muscles on a central tendon functions to straighten and sustain muscle fibers to nearly orthogonal insertion angles as the mouth opens. We argue that this jaw muscle arrangement allows high bite forces to be maintained across a wider range of gape angles than observed in mammalian models. Finally, our data suggest that the jaws of sub-adult great whites are mechanically vulnerable when handling large prey. In addition to ontogenetic changes in dentition, further mineralization of the jaws may be required to effectively feed on marine mammals. Our study is the first comparative FEA of the jaws for any fish species. Results highlight the potential of FEA for testing previously intractable questions regarding feeding mechanisms in sharks and other vertebrates. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advantages of MAG-STT Welding Process for Root Pass Welding in the Oil and Gas Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandzic Adi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper describesthe basics of modern MAG-STT welding process and its advantages for root pass welding of construction steels in oil and gas industry. MAG-STT welding process was compared with competitive arc welding processes (SMAW and TIG, which are also used for root pass welding on pipes and plates. After experimental tests, the obtained results are analyzed and presented in this paper

Advantages of digital imaging for radiological diagnostic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trapero, M. A.; Gonzalez, S.; Albillos, J. C.; Martel, J.; Rebollo, M.

2006-01-01

The advantages and limitations of radiological digital images in comparison with analogic ones are analyzed. We discuss three main topics: acquisition, post-procedure manipulation, and visualization, archive and communication. Digital acquisition with computed radiology systems present a global sensitivity very close to conventional film for diagnostic purposes. However, flat panel digital systems seems to achieve some advantages in particular clinical situations. A critical issue is the radiation dose-reduction that can be accomplished without reducing image quality nor diagnostic exactitude. The post-procedure manipulation allows, particularly in multiplanar modalities like CT or MR, to extract all implicit diagnostic information in the images: Main procedures are multiplanar and three-dimensional reformations, dynamic acquisitions, functional studies and image fusion. The use of PACS for visualization, archive and communication of images, improves the effectiveness and the efficiency of the workflow, allows a more comfortable diagnosis for the radiologist and gives way to improvements in the communication of images, allowing tele consulting and the tele radiology. (Author) 6 refs

A photon spectrometric dose-rate constant determination for the Advantage Pd-103 brachytherapy source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Zhe Jay; Bongiorni, Paul; Nath, Ravinder

2010-01-01

Purpose: Although several dosimetric characterizations using Monte Carlo simulation and thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) have been reported for the new Advantage Pd-103 source (IsoAid, LLC, Port Richey, FL), no AAPM consensus value has been established for the dosimetric parameters of the source. The aim of this work was to perform an additional dose-rate constant (Λ) determination using a recently established photon spectrometry technique (PST) that is independent of the published TLD and Monte Carlo techniques. Methods: Three Model IAPD-103A Advantage Pd-103 sources were used in this study. The relative photon energy spectrum emitted by each source along the transverse axis was measured using a high-resolution germanium spectrometer designed for low-energy photons. For each source, the dose-rate constant was determined from its emitted energy spectrum. The PST-determined dose-rate constant ( PST Λ) was then compared to those determined by TLD ( TLD Λ) and Monte Carlo ( MC Λ) techniques. A likely consensus Λ value was estimated as the arithmetic mean of the average Λ values determined by each of three different techniques. Results: The average PST Λ value for the three Advantage sources was found to be (0.676±0.026) cGyh -1 U -1 . Intersource variation in PST Λ was less than 0.01%. The PST Λ was within 2% of the reported MC Λ values determined by PTRAN, EGSnrc, and MCNP5 codes. It was 3.4% lower than the reported TLD Λ. A likely consensus Λ value was estimated to be (0.688±0.026) cGyh -1 U -1 , similar to the AAPM consensus values recommended currently for the Theragenics (Buford, GA) Model 200 (0.686±0.033) cGyh -1 U -1 , the NASI (Chatsworth, CA) Model MED3633 (0.688±0.033) cGyh -1 U -1 , and the Best Medical (Springfield, VA) Model 2335 (0.685±0.033) cGyh -1 U -1 103 Pd sources. Conclusions: An independent Λ determination has been performed for the Advantage Pd-103 source. The PST Λ obtained in this work provides additional information