FuelCell Energy: Don’t Miss the Bull RunFCEL), achieved through strategic expansion of growth assets and inventory backlog while retaining an attractive financial position, is expected to position the company strongly for sustainable long-term growth while delivering attractive shareholder returns. Focusing on project growth
FuelCell is continuing to grow the project assets-LT and project assets-ST both on a sequential and year-over-year basis along with increasing plant completions while continuing reduction in the company’s work-in-process.
Going forward, FuelCell is focused on delivering clean and affordable energy for several key stakeholders by providing extensive grid support that is believed to benefit urban redesign, hugely implementing solar/fuel cell integration and attractively running micro-grid with CHP.
FuelCell’s well-planned financing models, project growth strategy and advanced common technology platform are projected to assist the company in pursuing a wide-range of technology markets and key applications while delivering extensive shareholder value.
A strong opportunity
FuelCell is uniquely leveraging preferred resources for distributed power generation such as on-site CHP and utility-scale, with near-term objectives of continuing to expand backlog and strategic acceleration of growth activity. Further, there’s a significant $18 billion worth of worldwide market growth potential including key growths in the markets of West Europe, North America and some Asian nations.
FuelCell is believed to have over $25 billion worth of international market growth potential for both gas and coal-powered power plants by assuming just 1% of these plants existing globally. In addition, the company has a near-term objective to develop and declare multi-MW coal plant technology application. Also, the FuelCell manufacturing company has nearly $7 billion of worldwide market expansion potential with near-term objectives of executing PPA’s, signing a strategic H2 off-take contract and tactical partner selection.
Importantly, FuelCell has strategically declared the joint-development of 5.6 MW fuel cell advanced system to deliver highly-clean steam and electricity to the research and development site of Pfizer in Gorton, Connecticut under a PPA which is expected to minimize energy costs, support clean air efforts while enhancing its carbon footprint along with providing power reliability to a vast 160 acre campus through superior grid-independent capability.
The impressive project execution capability of FuelCell both standalone and in collaboration with other energy providers is estimated to drive significant long-term company growth while delivering attractive shareholder returns.
Conclusion
Overall, the investors are advised to “sell” any equity held in FuelCell Energy Inc. considering the company’s weaknesses in several areas such as a declining profit margin of -18.00%. The PEG ratio of -0.13 signifies no growth but rather decline compared to solid industry’s growth average of 2.25. However, FuelCell has an attractive financial position with notable total cash of $58.85 million against smaller total debt of $29.21 million, which seems misguiding for investors.
Published on Apr 25, 2016By Vinay Singh


Problem 1: A company issues 15-year, $1,000 par-value bonds, with coupon rate of 5%. The bonds are sold for $619.70. The tax rate is 30%. Evaluate the cost of debt before taxes and after taxes. Problem 2: Assume a company issues common stock to the public for $25 a share. The anticipated dividend is $2.50 per share and the growth in dividends is 8%. When the flotation cost is 10% of the issue proceeds, evaluate the cost of external equity, re. Problem 3: Evaluate the cost of preferred stock (rPS) with given information:
Par Value = $200
Current Price = $208 Flotation Cost = $16 Annual Dividend = 12% of Par Problem 4: A firm anticipates earning $3.50 per share during the current year, its anticipated dividend payout ratio is 65%, its expected stable dividend growth rate is 6.0%, and its common stock currently sells for $32.50 per share. New stock can be sold to the public at the current price however a flotation cost of 5% would be acquired. What would be the cost of equity from new common stock (re)? Problem 5: Assume you are informed that a company anticipates to pay a $2.50 dividend at year end (D1 = $2.50), the dividend is expected to grow at a stable rate of 5.50% a year, and the common stock currently sells for $52.50 share. The before-tax cost of debt is 7.50%, and the tax rate is 40%. The target capital structure comprises 45% debt and 55% common equity. What is the company’s WACC if all equity used is from retained earnings?


Given a variety of reasons not to eat meat these days—think health, climate change, worker and animal welfare—many people are limiting the meat on their menus. But it's a splintered movement, with some going vegan, others vegetarian, and still others simply reducing their intake of animal products.
This can lead to tensions, which is one reason 25-year-old Brian Kateman co-founded a movement called "reducetarianism," AlterNet reports. It's "an identity, community, and movement," he says, and its website sums it up: "Aspire to eat less meat? Then you're a reducetarian!" "Identifiers such as 'se...
Read more


Seeking local sustainable sharing examples
The first Sustainable Cities Round Table event for 2009 will focus on the topic of “
Sustainable Sharing“. It seems strange that weve highlighted sharing as a sustainability issue. Yet as the West has become more industrialised weve also grown more individualised producing more products per person. At this Sustainable Cities Round Table we explore how we can learn to share again. We are currently looking for people and organisations from across the board (government, industry, academia or community) who may be involved in such sustainable sharing initiatives. This may include topics of – but certainly not restricted to – shared spaces, such as laundries, composts and co-houses; shared products, such as the renewed retro world of no longer daggy hand-me-downs, and shared services, such as permablitzes and group purchasing power. We enjoy both the more established ideas as well as the fresh emerging ones! If you are involved in this area or know of someone who is, please post a comment under this post or contact Ferne Edwards at fedwards @unimelb.edu.au or (03) 8344 9268.


Shear band and landslide dynamics in submerged and subaerial slopes Date2014-11-25 Author
Kim, Sihyun
MetadataShow full item record Abstract
Submarine landslides, commonly triggered by earthquakes, significantly affect tsunami wave heights. Subaerial landslides can also generate tsunamis (if the land flows into a body of water) and may be catastrophic in nature, causing human casualties and direct property damage. This work focuses on landslides associated with shear band that develops beneath the slipping mass. Accordingly, we consider a landslide as a dynamic process when a shear band emerges along the potential failure surface. Within this band, the shear strength decreases due to the softening behaviour of the particulate material. Material above the band moves downwards, causing the band to propagate dynamically. This already produces a landslide velocity before the slide reaches the post-failure stage and begins separating from the substrata and generating tsunami. However, existing models of tsunamigenic landslides assume zero initial slide velocity. Previous analyses of the catastrophic shear band propagation in slopes of normally- and over-consolidated sediments have shown that a relatively short initial failure zone is sufficient to cause a full-scale landslide. For the shear band to propagate, the energy produced in the body by an incremental propagation of the shear band must exceed the energy required for the propagation. This consideration separates the shear band growth into progressive (stable) and catastrophic (dynamic) stages and treats the band growth as a true physical process rather than an instantaneously appearing discontinuity. This work considers a dynamic shear band problem formulated within the framework of the Palmer and Rice’s [1973] approach. We obtain the exact, closed-form solution for the shear band and landslide velocities as well as for the spatial and temporal distributions of strain and material velocity. This solution assesses when the slide fails due to the limiting condition near the propagating tip of the shear band. We also obtain a simple asymptotic solution, which is compared to the exact solution. In the case of submerged slopes, the obtained solutions are used in landslide and tsunami height analyses. Our results suggest that the conventional static approach to the slope stability analysis leads to a significant underestimation of the slide size (volume). In most cases, the volumes of catastrophic slides are roughly twice the volumes of progressive slides. For submerged slides, this dynamic effect further manifests itself in increasing the tsunami magnitude compared to the static case.


Stream discharge measurement using a large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) prototype Date2006 Author
Harpold, A. A.
Mostaghimi, Saied
Vlachos, Pavlos P.
Brannan, Kevin M.
Dillaha, Theo A.
MetadataShow full item record Abstract
New technologies have been developed for open-channel discharge measurement due to concerns about costs, accuracy, and safety of traditional methods. One emerging technology is large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV). LSPIV is capable of measuring surface velocity by analyzing recorded images of particles added to the stream surface. LSPIV has several advantages over conventional measurement techniques: LSPIV is safer, potentially automated, and produces real-time measurements. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and feasibility of using LSPIV to measure instantaneous discharge in low-order streams. The specific objectives were: (1) to determine optimum operating parameters for applying LSPIV under various conditions, (2) to design, develop, and test a prototype under controlled laboratory conditions, and (3) to develop and test the field equipment for a variety of streamflow conditions. The laboratory experiment results indicated that LSPIV accuracy was influenced by camera angle, surface disturbances (Froude number), and flow tracer concentration. Under field conditions, the prototype acquired consistent images and performed image processing using accepted input parameters. The accuracy of LSPIV for use infield applications was evaluated using a permanent weir. Overall, 18 discharge measurements were taken with each measuring device. The LSPIV prototype was accurate, with a mean error of -1.7%, compared to the weir measurements. The root mean square error (RMSE) was similar for LSPIV and current meter discharge measurements with the area-velocity method when compared to the weir. Finally, the LSPIV discharge measurements had an uncertainty of approximately +/- 14% (at a 95% confidence level). Therefore, LSPIV showed the potential to become competitive with conventional discharge measurement techniques.


In When Nationalism Began to Hate, Brian Porter offers a challenging new explanation for the emergence of xenophobic, authoritarian nationalism in Europe. He begins by examining the common assumption that nationalist movements by nature draw lines of inclusion and exclusion around socialgroups, establishing authority and hierarchy among "one's own" and antagonism towards "others." Porter argues instead that the penetration of communal hatred and social discipline into the rhetoric of nationalism must be explained, not merely assumed. Porter focuses on nineteenth-century Poland, tracing the transformation of revolutionary patriotism into a violent anti-Semitic ideology. Instead of deterministically attributing this change to the "forces of modernization," Porter demonstrates that the language of hatred and discipline was centralto the way "modernity" itself was perceived by fin-de-siecle intellectuals. The book is based on a wide variety of sources, including political speeches and posters, newspaper articles and editorials, underground brochures, published and unpublished memoirs, personal letters, and nineteenth-century books on history, sociology, and politics. It embeds nationalism within amuch broader framework, showing how the concept of "the nation" played a role in liberal, conservative, socialist, and populist thought. When Nationalism Began to Hate is not only a detailed history of Polish nationalism but also an ambitious study of how the term "nation" functioned within the political imagination of "modernity." It will prove an important text for a wide range of students and researchers of European history andpolitics.


A joint revocable living trust is used by spouses to secure their assets during their lifetimes and then efficiently transfer those assets upon death. One key advantage is that the assets in the trust will avoid probate court. This saves you from paying court fees and ensures that those assets will be distributed much more quickly.
The spouses retain complete control over the trust assets during their lives. After the trust is created it can be revoked or amended at any time, allowing the spouses to remove the assets from the trust should the need arise.
LegalNature's intuitive form builder guides you through each step of the process, making it easy to understand and giving you a powerful estate planning document you can rely on.


Investors and other financial decision makers are influenced by a range of psychological factors when making decisions. These include cognitive, emotional, neurological, perceptual and social factors.
As a result of known psychological factors we systematically make decisions that can lead to both substantial wealth creation or destruction. The impact of these decisions is calculated in billions of dollars per year.
Through Behavioural Finance, it is possible to better understand the often hidden influences on your own and others’ decision making as a means of enhancing wealth creation opportunities.
Behavioural Finance Australia (BFA) is a specialist in Behavioural Finance in the Australian market. It helps investors, financial advisers, super funds and other financial professionals to apply Behavioural Finance insights to improve financial outcomes.


Abstract
Contrary to the Federal Constitution, almost every state constitution, including Illinois’s, specifically guarantees its citizens’ the right to a free and efficient education provided by the state. This article will advocate for a number of reforms, which will minimize spending disparities across the state, enhance equality in per-pupil funding, and lower overall operating cost.
Recommended Citation
Matthew Locke, Illinois Gets an “F” in Public School Financing, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 141 (2014)


The apparel supply chain is a living, breathing entity, continuously evolving in the face of challenges from consumers, business leaders and even Wall Street.
Ever a work in progress, as apparel companies shift their operations around the globe in search of lower prices, the fashion supply chain aims to be smarter and faster, and often looks to innovative systems and technology to gain a competitive advantage.


Full Colour Printing in Southampton
Although Southampton is a vibrant port town, there are pockets of deprivation and, as a reaction to the deterioration of some parts of the area, Southampton City Council has developed The Eyesore initiative.
This project is designed to improve more run down areas and is part of a package of schemes that have been implemented to bolster neighbourhood renewal. These programmes can often create unique and financially rewarding opportunities for local businesses (such as construction firms, training providers and groundwork businesses for example) to secure a range of contracted work.
Most of this work can often initially involve creating a series of plans or presentations outlining propositions and planned work. Using print companies that offer full colour printing in Southampton can assist a budding contractor to fully explain their vision. Using full colour printing in Southampton to create plans, technical designs and eye-catching textual content can clearly show a ‘before and after’ proposal. These presentations and marketing literature can create a genuine visual representation of the problems and issues which need to be tackled, and a plain visualisation of how proposed changes can drastically improve the area.
This kind of detail can often be the make or break factor in securing that important piece of work.


Programme Report
It begins with an overview of the political changes that have been under way since the invasion, with a focus on conflict and political violence, the debate over the nation-state and the dynamics of a political transition weighed down by the legacies of dictatorship and occupation. The report discusses Iraq's domestic politics, foreign policy and relations with regional and international powers, as well as the impact that the regime change has had on perceptions of democracy, Middle Eastern authoritarianism and the role of Western intervention in the region.
Iraq has undergone a transition from a purely authoritarian system to one with an elected government. However, the levers of power used by the previous regime - organized violence, oil-funded state patronage and the use of communal differences for 'divide and rule' strategies - remain crucial factors in the country's politics. Iraq's primary foreign policy preoccupation has been re-establishing sovereignty, and negotiating an end to the US occupation and seeking to end the country's UN Chapter VII status. However, factional divisions and the perceived weakness of state institutions mean there are significant incentives for neighbouring states to seek to influence the foreign and domestic policies of a country that has always had a major impact in the region. Iran is undoubtedly the most influential external player in domestic Iraqi affairs, though not the only one. For its part, Iraq wants to balance its relations with Tehran and its partnership with the United States while maximizing its autonomy from both. Navigating this complex combination of alliances places Iraqi decision-makers in an uncomfortable position, above all over Syria, which poses serious risks to Iraq's own future. Three main scenarios are laid out in the final section: Syria's conflict becomes the main driver of political trends in Iraqas Iraqi factions take increasingly polarized positions on Syria and pursue diametrically opposed policies in supporting the warring sides with money and fighters. Iraq becomes more resilient, resisting efforts by Al-Qaeda and others to exacerbate sectarian tensions, and hedging its bets on Syria. Iraqis remain fractious and disunited,avoiding state collapse but continuing to be heavily influenced by the agendas of competing regional powers. Although Iraq embarked on a political transition ten years ago, it is by no means exempt from the demographic, political and economic drivers that underlay the Arab uprisings. Over time it will become harder for the political elite to blame the legacy of dictatorship, sanctions and war for the country’s problems. But it is as yet unclear to what extent future regional interactions, including Iraq’s relations with the rest of the Middle East, will be defined by competitive ethno-sectarian identity politics or by the sense of common aspirations that was articulated in the early days of the Arab uprisings. Chapters and ContributorsIntroductionIraq Analysis: Then and Now - Claire SpencerIraq's Political Brinksmanship - Omar SirriThe Politics of Sectarianism in Iraq - Fanar HaddadFrom Power-Sharing to Majoritarianism: Iraq's Transitioning Political System - Nussaibah YounisIraq and Political Islam - Maha AzzamFrom the 'Kurdish Issue' to the 'Kurdistan Region of Iraq' - Gareth StansfieldThe Reconstruction That Never Was - David ButterIraq's Paradox: Winning Democracy and Losing the Rule of Law - Kamal Field al-Basri and Mudhar SebahiOil Economics and Politics - Jon MarksIraq's Foreign Policy, Ten Years On - Jane Kinninmont, Omar Sirri and Gareth StansfieldIraq and Iran - Hayder al-KhoeiGCC–Iraq Relations - Kristian Coates UlrichsenAll Fall Down: The Wider Impact of the Iraq Invasion on Ideas - Nadim ShehadiThe Myth of 'Democracy at the Barrel of a Gun' - Jane KinninmontA United States Preoccupied with Introspection - Jane Kinninmont and Omar SirriIsrael: A Decade after the War in Iraq - Yossi MekelbergBritish Relations with the Middle East: The Iraqi Shadow - Rosemary HollisConclusions and Future Scenarios
More on Iraq.


Theoretical work based on social identity theory and in-group favoritism predicts that increased population diversity (e.g., due to immigration) reduces support for redistributive public policies. In this article, we add to the empirical literature testing this prediction in three ways. First, rather than ethno-linguistic or racial heterogeneity, we analyze religious diversity, which in many countries is an increasingly important source of diversity. Second, to account for the potential endogeneity of heterogeneity, we analyze an exogenous shock in diversity due to the German reunification. Finally, we assess shifts in local individuals' social identification after immigration took place, which, while untested in previous contributions, is a critical theoretical mechanism. Our results - using tax and spending decisions of 2031 Bavarian municipalities over the 1983-2005 period - indicate that Catholic municipalities in particular significantly reduced their level of taxes and spending in response to non-Catholic immigration. These effects arise only after the first post-reunification local elections, suggesting a critical mediating role of the democratic process.
Subjects:
local identity fiscal policy redistribution German reunification diff-in-diff estimation


This enables the range to handle the extreme temperatures necessary for heat transfer liquids, commercial food preparation, and processing industrial waste containing oils and solvents with very high temperatures.
These high temperature pumps are available in 15 sizes with flows ranging from just a few litres per minute up to 1150 litres per minute. They are also capable of pressures to 14 Bar and there are numerous features built into the pumps enabling them to operate 24/7/365 at high temperatures.
Firstly, a unique seal cavity design features an oversized bore and "vent to suction" system for maximum circulation and cooling. This seal cavity design also allows for numerous seal types and designs (so that specific fluids can be catered for). The standard seal jacket and economical quench gland also provides effective mechanical seal cooling which allows the pump to handle extreme temperatures. The simple accessible seal gland permits easy disassembly without shaft removal.
The high temperature models are part of Gorman-Rupp's Heavy-Duty range, which all feature adjustable "no-leak" pressure relief valves, back pull-out design, automatic idler pin lubrication systems and deep end-feed areas to handle highly viscous materials.
Applications Ink, fats, acids, fuels, resins, greases, keytones, adhesives Viscosity Viscosities to 440,000 cSt Flows to 2280 LPM Pressures to 20.7 Bar Temperatures -51°C to 357°C Abrasive fluids Cast iron, cast steel, stainless steel


OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the accuracy of a simplified inventory procedure for assessing nutrient intake from vitamin and mineral supplements.
DESIGN:
Participants brought their supplements to a clinic. An interviewer conducted the supplement inventory procedure, which consisted of recording data on the type of multiple vitamin and single supplements used. For the multiple vitamins, the interviewer recorded the exact dose for a subset of nutrients (vitamin C, calcium, selenium). For other nutrients, we imputed the dose in multiple vitamins. The dose of all single supplements was recorded. Labels of the supplements were photocopied and we transcribed the exact nutrient label data for the criterion measure. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to assess precision of nutrient intakes from the simplified inventory compared to the criterion measure.
SETTING/SUBJECTS:
Data are from 104 adult vitamin supplement users in Washington state.
RESULTS:
Correlation coefficients between nutrient intake estimated from the simplified inventory compared to the criterion measure were high (0.8-1.0) for those nutrients (vitamin C, calcium, selenium) for which the interviewer recorded the exact dose contained in multiple vitamins. However, for nutrients for which imputations were made regarding dose in multiple vitamins, correlation coefficients ranged from good (0.8 for vitamin E) to poor (0.3 for iron).
CONCLUSIONS:
The simplified inventory is rapid (4-5 min) and practical for large-scale studies. The precision of nutrient estimates using this procedure was variable, although excellent for the subset of nutrients for which the dose was recorded exactly. This study illustrates many of the challenges of collecting high quality supplement data.


Abstract. Because direct measurements of the refractive index of hemoglobin over a large wavelength range are challenging, indirect methods deserve particular attention. Among them, the Kramers-Kronig relations are a powerful tool often used to derive the real part of a refractive index from its imaginary part. However, previous attempts to apply the relations to solutions of human hemoglobin have been somewhat controversial, resulting in disagreement between several studies. We show that this controversy can be resolved when careful attention is paid not only to the absorption of hemoglobin but also to the dispersion of the refractive index of the nonabsorbing solvent. We present a Kramers-Kroning analysis taking both contributions into account and compare the results with the data from several studies. Good agreement with experiments is found across the visible and parts of near-infrared and ultraviolet regions. These results reinstate the use of the Kramers-Kronig relations for hemoglobin solutions and provide an additional source of information about their refractive index.


These original essays highlight the state of knowledge in intergovernmental transfer design. They represent creative new thinking about challenging policy issues and offer useful options for policy makers. Five specific themes are covered in separate sections. They include: fundamental nature and objectives of equalization grants and their consequences on efficiency and equity; appropriate institutional setting for the design and implementation of equalization grant systems; challenges in the design of formulas with limited data availability for recurrent and capital purposes; coordination of equalization grants with other related policies; political economy behind equalization transfers. 'There is a genuine need for this book; it will become a 'benchmark' reference. I am impressed with its content, organization, readability, and fresh thematic approach.' Robert D. Ebel, The World Bank


Replacement Filter Cartridges for Shower Filters
Shower filters can significantly reduce the chemicals and water hardness commonly found in your home’s water supply. Although chlorine is commonly found in shower water, excessive chlorine can significantly damage skin and hair, resulting in premature wrinkles and aging. In addition, high levels of chlorine have also been linked to numerous health conditions, including heart disease, breast cancer and respiratory complications when steam is inhaled. Fortunately, high-quality shower filters can significantly reduce chlorine and its adverse effects, while also eliminated other chemicals and bacteria in your water supply.
To optimize the effectiveness of you shower filter, it is important to regularly replace your filter cartridge. At AllergyBeGone.com, we carry a selection of name-brand shower filter cartridges to eliminate harmful chemicals and contaminants in your shower water. Not only will regularly replacing your shower filter reduce the risk of health problems due to chemicals; the filters will also soften the water, resulting in healthier-looking skin and hair.


The adoption assistance program helps offset associate expenses for adopting a child. Associates will be reimbursed up to $5,000 per successful adoption (with a lifetime maximum of $10,000 per household.) Under the program, you will receive reimbursement when you legally adopt a child and incur any of the following expenses:
Legal expenses and court costs Birth mother's medical expenses Adoption agency fees The child's medical expenses before adoption Travel expenses, translation, lodging, expenses and immigration fees for the child.
The child you adopt must be under age 18 and cannot be the natural child of either you or your spouse.
Expense Reimbursement
To be reimbursed for eligible expenses, you'll need to complete the Adoption Assistance Program Reimbursement Form and attach receipts for the eligible expenses you incurred along with documentation that demonstrates the adoption is final. This may be a copy of either the adoption papers or court order of reissued birth certificate with a notarized letter from the attorney stating the date the adoption is final.
Dun & Bradstreet reimburses you for adoption expenses, the amount will appear on your year-end W-2. This amount is not subject to federal income tax withholding, and depending on your adjusted gross income (AGI), may qualify for exclusion from gross income. Like your regular pay, the reimbursement amount is subject to all other applicable taxes. Consult your tax advisor on your personal situation.
If you're planning on adopting a child, or are in the process of an adoption, you may obtain an Adoption Assistance Program Reimbursement Form by calling the Benefits Center at Fidelity or log onto the Fidelity website.


Thursday, June 16th, 2016 - Future Market Insights
Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global respiratory inhaler devices market in its upcoming outlook titled,
“Respiratory Inhaler Devices Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015 – 2025”. In terms of value, the global respiratory inhaler devices market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period due to various factors. This FMI report offers vital and detailed insights regarding these factors.
The respiratory inhaler devices market is segmented on the basis of product type, disease indications, technology and region. Based on the product segmentation, the overall market has been categorised into metered dose inhaler (MDI), dry powder inhaler (DPI) and nebuliser.
Nebulisers are further sub-segmented into ultrasonic nebuliser, mesh nebuliser and compressed air nebuliser. The metered dose inhaler segment is estimated to account for maximum share in the global respiratory inhaler devices market by 2015 end, and expected to register a CAGR of 4.5% in terms of value during the forecast period 2015-2025. Currently, metered dose inhaler is a major contributor to market growth in Europe, North America and parts of Asia Pacific. Demand for nebulisers is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.8% through 2025.
Increase in prevalence of asthma, COPD and other respiratory disorders, especially among paediatric and the geriatric population, is a major factor driving growth of the global respiratory inhaler devices market. Other driving factors include strategic alliances among key players in the market, manufacturers focusing on enhancing market share, and expansion of the healthcare sector in developing countries due to growing investments by major players. Further, surge in demand for respiratory inhaler devices in all acute and moderate asthma and COPD conditions owing to increasing health awareness and growing disposable income is projected to result in increased spending on respiratory inhaler devices. This in turn is expected to bolster respiratory inhaler devices market growth during the forecast period.
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Lack of effective drugs for certain respiratory disorders, concerns about side-effects and complications, lack of skilled pulmonologists and healthcare professionals, lack of awareness among patients, and high prices of inhaler devices are the key factors hampering growth of this market.
Currently, combined therapies offer more associated benefits, such as reliablility, increased efficacy, and favourable reimbursement policies. Owing to these factors, patients with complex respiratory disorders are more inclined towards adopting such therapies.
However, the cost associated with combination therapies is higher as compared to conventional therapies for patients with complex respiratory disorders. The global respiratory inhaler devices market is expected to be driven by the increased usage of newly introduced triple combination therapy for COPD patients in the coming years.
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This report assesses trends driving each segment and offers analysis and insights about the potential of respiratory inhaler devices market in specific regions. North America is estimated to dominate the respiratory inhaler devices market with maximum market share by end of 2015. North America and Western Europe are collectively expected to account for over 64.1% of the total respiratory inhaler devices market share in terms of value by end of 2015. Asia Pacific excluding Japan is estimated to witness highest CAGR of 5.0% over the forecast period, followed by North America, due to increasing prevalence of asthma and COPD among children and the geriatric population.
Some key companies covered in this report include AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Cipla Ltd., Koninklijke Philips N.V., PARI Medical Holding ,Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd., OMRON Healthcare Europe B.V. and Merck & Co., Inc.
Their primary focus is towards enhancing their product portfolio through research and development, introduction of innovative and cost-effective drugs and medical devices in order to gain market share and to strengthen their respective position in the global market.
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Call us for a quote on 0800 917 1989
We offer a number of highly effective rodent control solutions, suitable for a variety of premises and customers. However one of the risks of carrying out such pest control, is that once the rodent has consumed rodenticide it may expire in an inaccessible location
(such as a cavity wall or under floors) with the building.
Our
Rodent Odour Control service uses unique scenting cubes (specially developed by Ambius) to mask the odours associated with rodent activity, particularly the smells generated by a dead rat or mouse, concealed in a hard-to-access void. The unpleasant odour may remain for several weeks as they decompose. It may also be extremely difficult to locate the dead rodent without cutting holes in walls or raising floors - which isn't always a practical or viable solution.
The discreet Ambius cubes are highly effective, due to the small droplet size of the scent released, which means it stays in the air for longer rather than falling to the floor. Unlike most commercial air fresheners, scent emitted from the Ambius cube behaves like a vapour and can remain in the air for up to four hours at a time.
The aesthetically pleasing scenting cube is appropriately positioned within the area of the property that is generating the odour problem, at the start of the rodent riddance work and is them removed after the treatment is complete.


In the last century, amazingly, world Christianity's center of gravity has effectively moved from Europe to a point near Timbuktu in Africa. Never in the history of Christianity has there been such a rapid and dramatic shift in where Christians are located in the world.Wesley Granberg-Michaelson explores the consequences of this shift for congregations in North America, specifically for the efforts to build Christian unity in the face of new and challenging divisions. Centers of religious power, money, and theological capital remain entrenched in the global, secularized North while the Christian majority thrives and rapidly grows in the global South. World Christianity's most decisive twenty-first-century challenge, Granberg-Michaelson argues, is to build meaningful bridges between faithful churches in the global North and the spiritually exuberant churches of the global South.Watch the trailer:


In recent years much enthusiasm and energy has been directed toward the development of human gene therapies, especially for inherited conditions and cancers. However, current gene transfer technology is limited in its transduction efficiency and ability to permanently and safely correct genomic defects. Thus the promise of gene therapy for these conditions is as yet unrealized. The progression of gene transfer technology will eventually surmount these limitations. Gene Therapy for Acute and Acquired Diseases includes selected examples of ongoing studies in molecular genetics that have the potential to evolve into human therapies for acute illnesses. These chapters are intended to highlight lesser known applications of gene therapy for acquired disorders. It is expected that human gene therapy trials for these conditions will be forthcoming in the near future, leading to previously unimaginable therapies. Thus, this first-ever book about gene therapy for acute and acquired diseases is intended to serve as a glimpse into the future.


By Carol Goar
Could you be a Vision Mate? Are you willing to share your eyesight and friendship with a Canadian with sight loss?
Think before you say, "Yes." It requires a commitment of two hours a week, for at least six months. You need patience, empathy and rock-solid reliability.
If this doesn’t fit your agenda or your lifestyle, there are plenty of other volunteer opportunities at CNIB, such as fundraising, event planning, administration or outreach.
Still weighing the possibility? This checklist might help:
1) Are you comfortable with a one-on-one relationship or would you prefer an arm’s length position that allows more control over your time and involvement?
2) Are you a good communicator? It is vital that a blind or partially sighted individual hear and understand what you are saying. Without a clear, audible voice, your partner will struggle to follow directions and participate in conversation.
3) Are you a self-starter? As a Vision Mate, you work without supervision. You suggest weekly activities, propose outings, learn what your partner likes and take your cues from them. You both set the terms of the relationship and keep it on friendly – not dependent – footing.
4) Are you an attentive listener? In a fast-paced, noisy world, it can be a challenge to slow down and let your partner speak, particularly if the words don’t come easily, but waiting respectfully is essential to comprehending what a client needs and encouraging two-way communication.
5) Can you adapt to changing conditions? A Vision Mate needs the flexibility to dump a plan that no longer fits the circumstances, the client’s priorities or the mood of the moment. For volunteers who need structure and predictability to be effective, this can be challenge. Anyone can overcome their natural tendencies with sufficient willpower, but it is worth asking yourself, before making a commitment, how hard you’ll find it to let go and be guided by your partner’s needs.
6) Are you a natural leader, an extrovert, a take-charge kind of person? Those characteristics – ideally suited to the role of CNIB Ambassador, Leadership Volunteer or Dining in the Dark event organizer – may not be the best fit for a Vision Mate. To build a relationship with a blind partner, the attributes that matter most are empathy, patience and constancy.
7) Are you a snowbird or frequent traveller? You might want to wait until your timetable changes. Long absences are difficult for socially isolated people. Winter can be lonely. A Vision Mate needs to be an all-weather, year-round companion.
Learn more about volunteering for CNIB and our Vision Mate program here, or call CNIB on telephone 1-800-563-2642.


Your contingent workforce offers you a competitive advantage. Managed effectively, it reduces cost, provides quick access to highly specialized skillsets, accelerates project timelines, and so on.
But the contingent workforce is growing and employment laws are intensifying. You’re faced with increasing pressure to thoroughly track every member of your global contingent workforce―from freelancers and independent contractors to SOW labor and temporary workers. Yet consider this:
Research and advisory firm Ardent Partners estimates that the average organization only maintains visibility into 45% of their overall contingent labor.
Without any sort of headcount reporting, this exposes countless enterprises to:
The Beeline + IQN Compass Vendor Management System (VMS)—which includes Contingent Workforce Management, SOW and Headcount Tracking solutions (headcount analysis and headcount reporting)―gives you the visibility you need to effectively manage your global contingent workforce. The
Beeline + IQN Compass Headcount Tracking solution offers headcount analysis and headcount reporting capabilities that help you ensure compliance with government regulations, align with corporate policies, control contingent spend, and protect your valuable company assets. The solution enables you to:


As earthquakes expose geological faults, so mental conflict reveals tendencies to rupture within the mind. Dissension is rife not only between people but also within them, for each of us is subject to a contrariety of desires, beliefs, motivations, aspirations. What image are we to form of ourselves that might best enable us to accept the reality of discord, or achieve the ideal of harmony?Greek philosophers offer us a variety of pictures and structures intended to capture the actual and the possible either within a reason that fails to be resolute, or within a split soul that houses a play of forces. Reflection upon them alerts us to the elusiveness at once of mental reality, and of the understanding by which we hope to capture and transform it. Studying in turn the treatments of Mental Conflict in Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics, A.W. Price demonstrates how the arguments of the Greeks are still relevant to philosophical discussion today.


This I believe is better expressed as this WE believe – what I believe is the collective expression of the beliefs of many people.
My earliest experiences confirm this.
I believe in adoption because my parents adopted me.
I believe in the natural world because my elderly Scoutmaster taught me the name of a sprig of partridge berry that he held between his fingers.
I believe in baseball because my father knew that a roundhouse curve, thrown across the backyard, was a thing of beauty.
I believe in immigration because my mother still spoke the Norwegian of her parents, and because she believed that no Christmas was complete without Santa Lucia and pickled herring.
Every aspect of my life has been shaped by the beliefs of others.
I believe in tolerance because my high school track team was a coalition of Poles, Latvians, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Jews, English, Swedes, Armenians, and one athlete with cerebral palsy and another who was autistic. We believed that through fights, through competition, and through workouts that each of us earned our place on the team.
I believe in freedom because one of my cousins served in Vietnam and his brother believed it was more important to be a conscientious objector. And because the father of both of these boys was a prisoner of war in Germany for two years.
I believe in marriage because my wife believes in giving all that she is to me.
I believe in education, because after thirty years of teaching, the students have helped me understand that in every classroom there are twenty-five teachers.
I do not believe alone – I do not believe at all, except that others have believed before me.
The Mission Mountains in Montana are my spiritual memory because my son took me to a hidden lake to fish for cutthroat trout. And he, like a high priest of fishing, said, “If I cast this fly a hundred times, one cast will be perfect, and I will catch a fish.”
I believe in beaches because my father took me to fish from lonely jetties where we stood side by side in a space enclosed by sand and sunlight, wind and water. And because a beach is where my daughter found shelter for her troubled soul.
I believe in rebirth as I watch my wife nurture her garden of perennial flowers back to life.
I believe in community because in my small town a funeral is a celebration of a life well lived.
The world beyond my home adds to the montage of beliefs.
I believe in being humble because others pray for grace and compassion and hope better than I do.
I believe in vicarious experiences because I, like Lance Armstrong, have “danced on the pedals” through the mountains of the Pyrenees.
I believe in giving because when I secretly gave a sandwich to a naked Haitian boy, he gathered his friends around him, and without hesitation, split it ten ways. He believed in his heart that this was the right thing to do, and so now I believe it, too.
I believe in stories because when my eighty-four year old neighbor was run over by a car, I wrote a story about why, and I believe that my story, and his story, are both true.
Is this photo album, this scrapbook of beliefs, ever filled?
Today I believe more deeply in art because this morning my wife finished a collage of her trip to China, and in the center of it is a ceremonial vessel, a symbol that is centuries old.
I believe in the bond between a rider and her horse because today my daughter and her horse cleared a four-foot jump for the first time.
Does living in the present allow me to keenly observe the beliefs of others and see them as truths?
Do I believe in today as an entity unto itself because before my best friend died, he made a T-shirt that said, “Got no time to hang around” on one side, and “I ain’t waitin’” on the other side, and that’s the way he lived all his todays?
If you enjoyed this essay, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to This I Believe, Inc.


I am a social worker; I work in mental health crisis services. I am also a resident of the Whittier neighborhood community. Today I write to you as a community member. I fully support this project because I have witnessed, as a mental health clinician, the empowering work that Attention Homes has done in our community.
The population that Attention Homes serves is our cities' most vulnerable population. Not every child has the good fortune of being born into a secure family system. Those that are not become the children of our community, and the "it takes a village" approach may be the only way to ensure they reach their potential. By supporting Attention Homes and this project we can join together as a community to see these youths to their full potential. Without our support, we risk losing them to the system, where they will continue to struggle with homelessness and may fall victim to the risks of being homeless, such as human trafficking and addiction.
As a mental health clinician I know that Attention Homes offers a service to our city that prevents greater costs in other areas, such as emergency health care services, mental health services and law enforcement.
As a community member and a future neighbor of the Attention Homes project, I support this project because I believe in the future promise of these youth. I also believe that as a community we have a personal obligation to support the potential of our cities' youth, regardless of their history or their background. In the past, Boulder has had a reputation of being a city of compassion and generosity. We can no longer maintain this identity as a city if we continue to endorse the "not-in-our-backyard" approach.
Autumn Fischer
Boulder


High-Fat Diet Could Raise Breast Cancer Risk the MPR take:
Eating foods high in saturated fat may increase breast cancer risk, says research in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute. More than 337,000 women in 10 countries were tracked over 11 years, and those who consumed the most saturated fat were approximately 30% more likely to develop breast cancer compared to those who ate the least. High intake of total fat and saturated fat was connected to an increased risk of breast cancer subtypes estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive), progesterone receptor-positive (PR-positive), and HER2-negative breast cancer. It is emphasized that these findings do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
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سال انتشار: ۱۳۹۱
محل انتشار: دومین سمینار ملی امنیت غذایی
تعداد صفحات: ۵
نویسنده(ها):
Ramin bagheri – Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, young researchers club, Amol, Iran
Samaneh hosseini – Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Amol, Iran,
چکیده:
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of filamentous fungi, which contaminate plants and plant products and may causing serious risks for human and animal health. They can occur in various commodities, such as cereal grains, pulses, nuts, dried fruits, milk and dairy products, coffee and wines. Due to the significant health risks associated with the presence of mycotoxins in foods, it is important to establish analytical and detection techniques. Several existing analytical techniques, which offer flexible and broad-based methods of analysis and in some cases detection, have been discussed in this manuscript. This review manuscript discusses about some (i) classical methods available for mycotoxins analysis in nuts and dried fruits such as chromatographic methods: thin layer chromatography(TLC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), and (ii) immunochemical and rapid methods :such as enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay (ELISA), and some Indirect competitive immunoassay


"This book is a very welcome tool, which will enable healthprofessionals to understand the complexity, challenge and rewardsof proactively managing long-term conditions. Putting thisknowledge into skilled practice, in partnership with patients, willtransform the lives of many individuals and their families, andthus fulfil the fundamental purpose of nursing."--From the Forewordby Professor Rosemary Cook CBE, Director, the Queen's NursingInstitute and Visiting Professor of Enterprise, University ofNorthumbria
"Long-Term Conditions" is a comprehensive, practical guide fornurses and healthcare professionals on the care and management ofpeople with chronic illness. It explores case management,individual care and management, the role of the 'expert patient',quality-of-life issues, counselling skills, self-management, andoptimum self-care. "Long-Term Conditions" discusses the three mainlong-term conditions currently resulting in most hospitaladmissions: diabetes, respiratory, and coronary heart disease, witha focus on empowering the patient to self-manage.
Key Features: A comprehensive guide to the care and managementof long-term conditionsFocuses on the management of the conditionsfrom the patients' perspectivePractical and accessible in style
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Walking the Tightrope: Limiting Fraud Claims Based on Extra-contractual Statements and Omissions Roxanne L. Houtman and Catherine A. Schmierer
For decades, courts around the country have struggled with whether to enforce, and how to interpret, contractual disclaimers that limit liability for fraud based on extra-contractual statements and omissions. These disclaimers – typically referred to as “anti-reliance clauses” or “non-reliance clauses” – most often take the form of a representation by one or both of the parties disclaiming reliance on statements made outside the four corners of the agreement. Sophisticated parties typically include anti-reliance clauses in negotiated agreements to establish what information they did and did not rely upon when entering into the transaction. These provisions are also used as a means to eliminate the threat of tort claims (namely, fraud) based on oral statements that are not reduced to a representation within the definitive agreements. Anti-reliance provisions are particularly important for sellers: although indemnification deductibles and caps define the scope of a party’s post-closing liability for breaches of contractual representations, the same often will not apply to tort-based claims premised on extra-contractual statements. As a result, selling parties are particularly motivated to eliminate the potential for fraud-based claims to the greatest extent possible.


Heymatt:
I seem to roll around and move a lot when I sleep. Why don't I ever roll right out of bed?
-- Bedbug, La Jolla
A question we've asked here in Rancho de Alice for years. How is it that Pa Alice can balance his bulk on Grandma's dainty couch and not fall gut first onto the coffee table? Unfortunately, he's still a medical mystery, but for normal folks, there might be at least a clue to the answer.
A couple of decades ago, two scientists in Scotland were watching people sleep. They, too, wondered why we don't spin out of the sheets every night, given how messy our beds are in the morning. They watched a series of adults sleep on very wide beds without any blanket or other covering so they had no sense of relative position or movement. Throughout the night the science guys marked every change in body position. Funny thing. Turns out we don't turn. Or spin or roll. Their subjects slept on their left sides for a while, then on their backs, then their right sides, back, left, back, right, and like that. They never turned face down, so they didn't actually roll and never moved too far from where they started, no matter how much they thrashed. When the science guys observed toddlers sleeping, they noted that they will turn onto their faces and will roll; so, they conjectured medically, people somehow learn that face-sleeping constricts breathing, so we don't do it when we grow up. That doesn't really explain why we don�t fall off cots or couches with regularity, though.
I'm not aware that the science guys were laughed out of town over their conclusions. But after careful checking, I couldn't find a sleep researcher aware of any other study. So accept this as a fact-like statement and hope someone else is as curious as you and the Scotsmen.


There were 9,410 teenagers in that age group claiming jobseekers allowance in September 2013 compared with 12,670 in the same month the previous year, a drop of 25.73%.
All the local authorities in Scotland saw a drop apart from Shetland, where the figure remained the same as the previous year.
Glasgow saw a drop of 490, while in North Lanarkshire the number of 16-19-year-olds claiming the allowance fell by 310.
Jamie Hepburn, SNP MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, welcomed the figures from SPICe, the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
He said: "These positive figures highlight the significant progress being made in Scotland in terms of getting young people into work. While times remain challenging and there is absolutely no room for complacency a drop in the number of 16-19 year old claimants of JSA by over 25% is a strong indication of progress.
"The fact that not one out of Scotland's 32 local authority areas has experienced a negative change highlights the universal commitment of the Scottish Government.
"It is also a testament to the determination of Scotland's young people; the findings highlight the fact that if you give young people in Scotland a chance - they will grasp it.
"Scotland continues to outperform the UK as a whole in the critical area of youth employment."
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The protection of oil, gas and refined product pipelines against natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis, not to mention human actions including construction excavations, illegal tapping and terrorist sabotage, is an ongoing concern for operators around the world. However, in the United States, the top three causes of pipeline failure reported by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) are construction excavations, corrosion and equipment failure (Figure1). The consequences of a breach in a pipeline can be costly and even deadly. In the United States alone, gas leaks released 69 Bcf of…


7 CFR 3.30 - General requirements.
(a) Agencies are required by law to transfer delinquent, nontax, legally enforceable debts to Treasury for collection through cross-servicing and through centralized administrative offset. Additionally, USDA has chosen to transfer debts to Treasury for collection through administrative wage garnishment. Agencies need not make duplicate referrals to Treasury for all these purposes; a debt may be referred simultaneously for purposes of collection by cross-servicing, centralized administrative offset, and administrative wage garnishment where applicable. However, in some instances a debt exempt from collection via cross-servicing may be subject to collection by centralized administrative offset so simultaneous referrals are not always the norm. This subpart sets forth rules applicable to the transfer of debts to Treasury for collection by cross-servicing. Rules for transfer to Treasury for centralized administrative offset are set forth in subpart D, and for administrative wage garnishment in subpart E.
(b) When debts are referred or transferred to Treasury, or Treasury-designated debt collection centers under the authority of 31 U.S.C. 3711(g), Treasury shall service, collect, or compromise the debts, or Treasury will suspend or terminate the collection action, in accordance with the statutory requirements and authorities applicable to the collection of such debts.
Title 7 published on 2015-08-22.
No entries appear in the Federal Register
after this date, for 7 CFR Part 3.


FHA Reverse Mortgage Changes
On April 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new guidance to ease requirements for non-borrowing spouses on FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) issued on or after August 4, 2014. The policy changes are in response to complaints from families that are being forced into foreclosure after inheriting a home following the death of a loved one. Non-borrowing spouses, who are named in the HECM documents, will now be allowed to defer payment on the home and continue to occupy the home as the principal residence as long as they meet certain criteria such as paying taxes and insurance on the property.
FHA has stated that it does not have the authority to alter existing loans due to legally binding contracts. On April 30, 2014, Senators Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer sent a letter to HUD Secretary Sean Donovan urging FHA to do more to help families with existing HECMs who have received inaccurate and confusing information about their options following a reverse mortgage borrower’s death and are facing foreclosure.
FHA also issued a notice in the
Federal Register on May 2, 2014 and seeks comments on the changes outlined in Mortgagee Letter 2014-07. Comments are due on June 2, 2014.


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BACKGROUND In sub-Saharan Africa, nurses and midwives provide expanded HIV services previously seen as the sole purview of physicians. Delegation of these functions often occurs informally by shifting or sharing of tasks and responsibilities. Normalizing these arrangements through regulatory and educational reform is crucial for the attainment of global… (More)
INTRODUCTION Shifting HIV treatment tasks from physicians to nurses and midwives is essential to scaling-up HIV services in sub-Saharan Africa. Updating nursing and midwifery regulations to include task shifting and pre-service education reform can help facilitate reaching new HIV targets. Donor-supported initiatives to update nursing and midwifery… (More)
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Applicability of the ZND Detonation Model to Vapor Explosions この論文にアクセスする この論文をさがす 著者 抄録
Thermal detonation theory, has been increasingly applied to vapor explosions. However, there are many questions and interrogations in previous works due to the lack of detailed explanation of the basis of the calculations and due to the incomplete interpretations or internally inconsistent discussions. Therefore, the present study calculates the Hugoniot curves for water and CFC12 systems to discuss again the applicability of the ZND detonation model to vapor explosion. The results reveal that a solution of detonation may be obtained in a wide range of initial void fraction if steady, one-dimensional and homogeneous two-phase flow is assumed. Three types of solution of C-J point can be obtained, depending on the initial void fraction: the two-phase condition, the kink-point condition and the condensed-phase condition. However, the assumptions involved in the two-phase condition and the condensed phase condition solutions are not always satisfied. On the other hand, the kink-point condition, which has been often excluded from the discussion in previous works, provides a solution that may be actualized.
収録刊行物 Journal of nuclear science and technology
Journal of nuclear science and technology 34(12), 1121-1126, 1997-12-25
Atomic Energy Society of Japan


Casting a critical eye upon the position described in his previous book, Superstructuralism, Richard Harland claims that structuralist and post-structuralist approaches to language are fatally limited by their focus upon single words. Instead he offers the alternative of a syntagmatic approach, arguing that the nature of meaning is radically transformed in the movement from single words to sentences. The effect of combining words grammatically is seen to be more dramatic than any existing theory—European or Anglo-American—has yet recognized. The wide breadth of coverage in the book takes in post-Chomskyan linguistics, deconstruction, Analytic and speech-act views of language. Harland challenges the very foundation of recent language theory, opening up a range of novel options for literary criticism, linguistics and philosophy.
Richard Harland is a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Wollongong, Australia. His previous books include the highly influential Superstructuralism: The Philosophy of Structuralism and Poststructuralism (1987).


Tuesday's Wall Street Journal carried a piece titled ETFs Redefine What is An 'Index', which reported on a new trend in ETFs. The first ETFs tracked known market benchmarks, like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones average. However, since most of the well known indexes are taken, Amex has started offering ETFs that track "rules based portfolios".
What's a rule based portfolio? It's a portfolio constructed based on some rule, or algorithm. An example might be "the stocks in the lowest decile of Earnings-price ratios" or "all mid cap stocks that have had 5 years of greater than 10% annual revenue growth". So what's the difference between a "rule based portfolio and an actively managed one? I can't see one, but the proponents of these funds say that the algorithm will be executed entirely by computer, so there's no human judgement or discretion involved. It's an interesting concept, and one that might spark a lot of classroom discussion. Here are a few questions I'll be asking my investments class: 1) What's the difference between a rule-based ETF and an actively managed mutual fund? 2) What role might these funds play in an investment portfolio? 3) If these ETFs become more popular (and I bet they will), how will it change the nature of the investment process (for either individuals or professional money managers)? 4) Will these ETFs eliminate the need for security analysis? As I said, interesting stuff. And they pay me to do this. Amazing.


Abstract
A novel nanophotonic method for enhancing the two-photon fluorescence signal of a fluorophore is presented. It utilizes the second harmonic (SH) of the exciting light generated by noble metal nanospheres in whose near-field the dye molecules are placed, to further enhance the dye's fluorescence signal in addition to the usual metal-enhanced fluorescence phenomenon. This method enables demonstration, for the first time, of two-photon fluorescence enhancement inside a biological system, namely live cells. A multishell hydrogel nanoparticle containing a silver core, a protective citrate capping, which serves also as an excitation quenching inhibitor spacer, a pH indicator dye shell, and a polyacrylamide cladding are employed. Utilizing this technique, an enhancement of up to 20 times in the two-photon fluorescence of the indicator dye is observed. Although a significant portion of the enhanced fluorescence signal is due to one-photon processes accompanying the SH generation of the exciting light, this method preserves all the advantages of infrared-excited, two-photon microscopy: enhanced penetration depth, localized excitation, low photobleaching, low autofluorescence, and low cellular damage.


Discover a proven method for making better investment choicesThe actions of politicians, regulators, and economic policy makers have an enormous impact on the financial markets. In Sectors and Styles, author Vincent Catalano offers an investment technique that takes these factors into account. He illustrates how you should index a portion of your stock portfolio to the market, while investing another portion in industry sectors that are likely to outperform the broader market. To determine "hot" sectors, Catalano provides a framework for analyzing government activity, the economy, and market activity. Through proper interpretation of these events, you'll learn how to outperform the markets, while mitigating downside risk.


Vaccination against Japanese encephalitis
might mitigate West Nile virus (WNV) infection in some horses, said a group of researchers from Japan's National Institute of Animal Health in a recent paper.
Outbreaks of WNV have been reported in many countries, including the United States, but it has not yet been detected in most Asian countries. However, the horse industry is concerned that the virus can migrate to Asia.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a related virus that is endemic in Japan. Most horses there are vaccinated against it. The study authors noted that previous research has shown that some other animals vaccinated with JE vaccine also have some protection against WNV.
The researchers infected two groups of horses with WNV. One group was vaccinated with inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine, while the other was not vaccinated.
Based on their results, the authors suggested illness caused by WNV might be milder in horses vaccinated with inactivated JE-vaccine than in unvaccinated horses.
The study, "Antibody responses induced by experimental West Nile Virus infection with or without previous immunization with inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine in horses," was published in the July issue of the
Journal of Veterinary Medical Science. The abstract is available on PubMed.
Disclaimer: Seek the advice of a qualified veterinarian before proceeding with any diagnosis, treatment, or therapy.


Our expert says:
CyberShrink
An interesting queston, and I doubt whether there is consensus on the answer. So often both are present, that the distinction isn't usually helpful in choosing therapeutic options. I see anger more as a "pure emotion" --- when I stub my toe on a brick, I feel a blast of sheer anger, and p[art of the anger is that there is nobody else to direct it to --- the brick won't notice that I;m angry, and the only other participant was myself ! Aggression seems more directed towards someone else or perhaps something else --- Arthur, or Big Business, or whatever.
The more useful disinction, in therapy, is between aggression and assertion. Being asswertive and standing up for oneself is Good, aggression towards others is usully no good, for them or for us. Unless anger/agression is based in a physical cause ( epilepsy type problems, after a head injury, for instance ) medication may not help, though anti-epileptic meds do seem to help some. Usually, CBT type therap has a better chance of identifying triggers, and evolving alternate ways of responding to them
The information provided does not constitute a diagnosis of your condition. You should consult a medical practitioner or other appropriate health care professional for a physical exmanication, diagnosis and formal
advice. Health24 and the expert accept no responsibility or liability for any damage or personal harm you may suffer resulting from making use of this content.


A study by British Heart Foundation (BHF) suggested that people with advanced heart disease have arteries that are biologically 40 years older than their real age.
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In a study conducted by researchers from Cambridge University, they examined tissues from heart bypass and transplant patients to study how artery cells age.
AdvertisementThey found that the artery cells divide seven to 13 times more rapidly than normal in a patient with heart disease leading to premature aging of the arteries. With aging, the arteries lose their ability to prevent fatty acid deposition leading to narrowing of arteries and heart attack. The researchers hoped that their findings would open up new avenues in research aimed at preventing heart attacks.
Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences, Professor Martin Bennett of the British Heart Foundation, who is one of the researchers involved in the study said, "In early stages of heart disease, the arteries are between five and 15 years older than the person's real age. If you have mild heart disease and can limit your risk factors by stopping smoking, controlling hypertension and diabetes, and taking statins to lower cholesterol, you will slow this ageing process. If you do nothing, the cells can reach extreme old age very prematurely - and once they do that, the process cannot be reversed."
The Medical Director of the BHF, Professor Peter Weissberg said, "This research suggests that if blood vessel cells could be prevented from ageing so quickly, then potentially heart attacks could be prevented. This opens up a new avenue of research aimed at preventing heart attacks."
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September 14, 2009 Study Explores Religion, Morality And Trust In Authority
In a world filled with dogma, doctrine and discipline, it is accurate to say most of us strive to do what we believe is "right." These convictions and beliefs permeate every aspect of our lives, including education, ethics and even common law.
Psychologists Daniel C. Wisneski, Brad L. Lytle and Linda J. Skitka from the University of Illinois at Chicago explored this interplay of moral convictions and religious beliefs as it relates to our trust in authority. Specifically, the researchers provided a nationally-represented sample of adults--53% female, 72% White, 12% Black and 11% Hispanic--with an online survey about the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on physician-assisted suicide.As the findings suggest in a recent issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the more religious participants tended to trust the Supreme Court's ability to make the right decision while the group with strong moral convictions felt distrust. And both groups, as it turned out, based their beliefs on a gut reaction rather than on thoughtful, careful deliberation.
Participants took a survey designed to measure their support of or opposition to physician-assisted suicide, the extremity of their attitude, their moral convictions, their religiosity, their issue-specific trust in the Supreme Court and the time it took them to answer each question.
Participants who reported feeling strong moral convictions against physician-assisted suicide showed a greater distrust in the Supreme Court to make the right decision, and those who had high scores in religiosity tended to trust the Supreme Court. In addition, both the religious group and the group with strong moral convictions responded quickly to the question of trust in the Supreme Court.
As the authors concluded, people with strong moral convictions seem to not only base their trust in judgment on a gut reaction, "they do not trust even legitimate authorities to make the right decision in the first place."
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A pituitary disease is any disorder that occurs due to a dysfunction or malfunction of the pituitary gland. The pea-sized pituitary gland is part of the endocrine system that secretes the hormones prolactin, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), growth hormone (GH), antidiuretic hormone (ADH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). When there is overproduction or underproduction of these pituitary hormones, a pituitary disease or disorder results. Overproduction pituitary diseases include acromegaly, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), and pituitary adenoma. Underproduction pituitary diseases include growth hormone deficiency, diabetes insipidus, Sheehan syndrome, and hypopituitarism.
Acromegaly is a pituitary disease wherein a tumor in the gland produces an excessive growth hormone. The tumor is rare and not cancerous. Acromegaly refers to the enlargement of bones among people whose epiphyseal plates have closed, leading to severe disfigurement, arthritis, hypertension, and heart and kidney failure. When excessive growth hormone levels are produced among persons whose epiphyses have not yet closed, such as in children and adolescents, the disorder is called gigantism.
Growth hormone deficiency is at the other end of the spectrum. It typically manifests as an increase in body fat and cholesterol, a decrease in muscle mass and bone mass, a reduction of stamina, and excessive tiredness. Growth hormone deficiency may be due to a pituitary tumor or as a consequence of a pituitary tumor treatment, such as surgery or radiotherapy.
SIADH occurs due to the overproduction of ADH. ADH helps control the water and sodium levels of the body by preventing water loss through the urine. Excessive ADH levels causes the body to retain water, leading to fluid overload and hyponatremia, or low sodium levels. Diabetes insipidus is due to insufficient levels of ADH. When it occurs, the kidneys cannot retain water, leading to feelings of dryness, excessive thirstiness, and a frequent need to urinate.
When a pituitary adenoma or tumor does not secrete any of the hormones, it is called a nonfunctioning adenoma. Usually, a nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma is only detected when a person experiences visual impairment, headaches, and abnormal eye movements, which occur due to the adenoma compressing the second and third cranial nerves. Other effects include loss of appetite, loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, irregular menstruation, infertility, and fatigue.
Sheehan syndrome is a unique pituitary disease because it only occurs among women who have just given birth. It is also called postpartum pituitary necrosis or postpartum hypopituitarism. Blood loss and shock may occur during and after giving birth, leading to an insufficient blood supply to the pituitary gland, finally resulting in death or necrosis of the gland. The result is hypopituitarism that manifests as lack of lactation or agalactorrhea, irregular or absent menstruation, hypothyroidism, cold or heat intolerance, weight gain, hair loss, and constipation. These are symptoms secondary to the lack of stimulation of the thyroid gland, reproductive organs, and adrenal glands by the hormones normally secreted by the pituitary gland.
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Article
Medical Apps: Public and Academic PerspectivesPhilosophy Faculty Publications
Document TypeArticle
Date of Original Version1-1-2013
DOI10.1353/pbm.2013.0013
AbstractMedical apps have featured in popular websites and mainstream news media in recent months. However, there has been almost no mention of these tools in journals focusing on relevant ethical or social issues, including conflict of interest, the role of politics in science, and technological oversight.This essay examines the role that these philosophical issues might play in answering both public and academic questions about these pieces of emergent technology.
Citation Information
This article first appeared in
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Volume 56, Number 2, Spring 2013, pp. 259-273.
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2013.0013


The rodent family Muridae is the single most diverse family of mammals with over 1300 recognized species. We used DNA sequences from the first exon ( approximately 1200bp) of the IRBP gene to infer phylogenetic relationships within and among the major lineages of muroid rodents. We included sequences from every recognized muroid subfamily except Platacanthomyinae and from all genera within the endemic Malagasy subfamily Nesomyinae, all recognized tribes of Sigmodontinae, and a broad sample of genera in Murinae. Phylogenetic analysis of the IRBP data suggest that muroid rodents can be sorted into five major lineages: (1) a basal clade containing the fossorial rodents in the subfamilies Spalacinae, Myospalacinae, and Rhizomyinae, (2) a clade of African and Malagasy genera comprising the subfamilies Petromyscinae, Mystromyinae, Cricetomyinae, Nesomyinae, and core dendromurines, (3) a clade of Old World taxa belonging to Murinae, Otomyinae, Gerbillinae, Acomyinae, and Lophiomyinae, (4) a clade uniting the subfamilies Sigmodontinae, Arvicolinae, and Cricetinae, and (5) a unique lineage containing the monotypic Calomyscinae. Although relationships among the latter four clades cannot be resolved, several well-supported supergeneric groupings within each are identified. A preliminary examination of molar tooth morphology on the resulting phylogeny suggests the triserial murid molar pattern as conceived by evolved at least three times during the course of muroid evolution.


RNA silencing is a form of nucleic-acid-based immunity, targeting viruses and genomic repeated sequences. First documented in plants and invertebrate animals, this host defence has recently been identified in mammals. RNAi is viewed as a conserved ancient mechanism protecting genomes from nucleic acid invaders. However, these tamed sequences are known to occasionally escape this host surveillance and invade the genome of their host. This response is consistent with the overall idea that parasitic sequences compete with cells to systematically counter host defences. Using examples taken from the current literature, we illustrate the dynamic move-countermove game played between these two protagonists, the host cell and its parasitic sequences, and discuss the consequences of this game on genome stability.


The new official House Price Index, combining data from the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry, shows a notable reduction in the average house price in the region.
The new measure uses a wider data set and generates the price of the average house rather than the average price for all houses in a given area. Unlike the former ONS index, the new HPI takes into account all bought properties rather than only those with a mortgage and reduces the weighting of properties with an extremely high value.
The national average house price under this new index is far lower than previously thought, with the averages dropping 28.4% from £292,000 to £209,000 for the UK, and 26.8% in England from £307,000 to £224,731.
In the North West, under the new HPI, the average house price for April was £145,149, a 22% drop from the old ONS figure for March, £185,000. Though still significantly short of the national average, under the new HPI the North West average house price is now 64.6% of the England average, up from 60.2% under the former ONS index.


With the increasing interconnection of vehicles, security challenges have moved into focus. Attacks on in-vehicle networks can cause accidents resulting in financial damages and even loss of life. The impact of an attack can be mitigated by secure internal vehicle networks, employing authentication of ECUs and authorization of messages. However, quantifying… (More)


July 30, 2014
Presented by Jeffrey Anshel, OD, FAAO
Healthy vision is a significant concern for over 3 million Americans, particularly those 40 years old and over. By 2020, it is estimated that 5.5 million will require support for normal visual tasks. Recent research has revealed a wealth of nutritional approaches that support a range of concerns, including computer-related eye strain, healthy tear film and eye comfort, retinal and macular health. Jeffrey Anshel, OD, FAAO is a practicing optometrist and President of the Ocular Nutrition Society. A nationally renowned author, Dr. Anshel has written of numerous articles and books on nutritional influences on vision, including
Smart Medicine for Your Eyes. In this 45-minute webinar, Dr. Anshel will present research on 10 highly effective nutrients for eye health. Regardless of age, you can apply these simple strategies to optimize your patients’ visual performance and long-term ocular health.*


dc.contributor.author Hansen, Ann-Brit Eg en_US dc.contributor.author Lohse, Nicolai en_US dc.contributor.author Gerstoft, Jan en_US dc.contributor.author Kronborg, Gitte en_US dc.contributor.author Laursen, Alex en_US dc.contributor.author Pedersen, Court en_US dc.contributor.author Sørensen, Henrik Toft en_US dc.contributor.author Obel, Niels en_US dc.date.accessioned 2012-01-11T22:22:16Z dc.date.available 2012-01-11T22:22:16Z dc.date.issued 2007-8-15 en_US dc.identifier.citation Hansen, Ann-Brit Eg, Nicolai Lohse, Jan Gerstoft, Gitte Kronborg, Alex Laursen, Court Pedersen, Henrik Toft Sørensen, Niels Obel. "Cause-Specific Excess Mortality in Siblings of Patients Co-Infected with HIV and Hepatitis C Virus" PLoS ONE2(8): e738. (2007) en_US dc.identifier.issn 1932-6203 en_US dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2144/3269 dc.description.abstract BACKGROUND. Co-infection with hepatitis C in HIV-infected individuals is associated with 3- to 4-fold higher mortality among these patients' siblings, compared with siblings of mono-infected HIV-patients or population controls. This indicates that risk factors shared by family members partially account for the excess mortality of HIV/HCV-co-infected patients. We aimed to explore the causes of death contributing to the excess sibling mortality. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. We retrieved causes of death from the Danish National Registry of Deaths and estimated cause-specific excess mortality rates (EMR) for siblings of HIV/HCV-co-infected individuals (n=436) and siblings of HIV mono-infected individuals (n=1837) compared with siblings of population controls (n=281,221). Siblings of HIV/HCV-co-infected individuals had an all-cause EMR of 3.03 (95% CI, 1.56-4.50) per 1,000 person-years, compared with siblings of matched population controls. Substance abuse-related deaths contributed most to the elevated mortality among siblings [EMR=2.25 (1.09-3.40)] followed by unnatural deaths [EMR=0.67 (-0.05-1.39)]. No siblings of HIV/HCV co-infected patients had a liver-related diagnosis as underlying cause of death. Siblings of HIV-mono-infected individuals had an all-cause EMR of 0.60 (0.16-1.05) compared with siblings of controls. This modest excess mortality was due to deaths from an unknown cause [EMR=0.28 (0.07-0.48)], deaths from substance abuse [EMR=0.19 (-0.04-0.43)], and unnatural deaths [EMR=0.18 (-0.06-0.42)]. CONCLUSIONS. HCV co-infection among HIV-infected patients was a strong marker for family-related mortality due to substance abuse and other unnatural causes. To reduce morbidity and mortality in HIV/HCV-co-infected patients, the advances in antiviral treatment of HCV should be accompanied by continued focus on interventions targeted at substance abuse-related risk factors. en_US dc.description.sponsorship Danish AIDS Foundation; Odense University Hospital; Preben and Anna Simonsen’s Foundation; the Foundation of the Danish Association of Pharmacists; the Clinical Institute at the University of Southern Denmark en_US dc.language.iso en en_US dc.publisher Public Library of Science en_US dc.title Cause-Specific Excess Mortality in Siblings of Patients Co-Infected with HIV and Hepatitis C Virus en_US dc.type article en_US dc.identifier.doi 10.1371/journal.pone.0000738 en_US dc.identifier.pubmedid 17710138 en_US dc.identifier.pmcid 1939735 en_US


Justification of the State and Anarchist Alternatives aims to establish four keyfindings regarding the State and its justification according to a revised form ofAristotelian perfectionist ethics. The first finding is a proper definition of a State, andhow that definition of the State compares to other definitions of the State, mostnotably, Max Weber’s definition. The second finding is the establishment of whatparts of Aristotle’s ethics and politics are feasible and sound; this requires historicalenquiry in addition to philosophical enquiry. The third finding is that this revised formof Aristotelian ethics does not justify the State. The fourth finding is that Aristotelianethics would justify a non-state political structure (the modern polis), and objectionsto that structure are dealt with. The core of the thesis is that Aristotle’s ethics do notjustify the state, but would justify a form of anarchism.


The number of accountable care organizations (ACOs) has grown rapidly as part of the nationwide effort to improve health outcomes and reduce cost. And ACOs’ shared savings arrangements, in which providers and payers share savings derived from providing coordinated care, are becoming more sophisticated. A recent Commonwealth Fund–supported technical brief from the Center for Health Care Strategies finds many state Medicaid agencies are using the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) established under the Affordable Care Act a model for their shared saving arrangements.
These Medicaid agencies are adjusting the program to meet the needs of their low-income populations and work with their existing initiatives. For example, Medicaid ACOs can choose one or both of the shared savings models offered by the MSSP: a one-sided model that pays the ACO a percentage of cost savings achieved relative to a benchmark or a two-sided model that adds the potential for the ACO to pay a percentage of any cost increases, relative to a benchmark.
The brief explores the shared savings approaches of Minnesota and New Jersey, which both used MSSP as a foundation for their Medicaid ACO programs. See this downloadable comparison of MSSP with Minnesota and New Jersey’s approaches for more information. And visit chcs.org for the complete brief.


Debt and deceased: How to go on financially
If your loved one died leaving significant debt behind, would you know what to do?
It’s a worrisome question for everyone.
Young or old, based on particular debt circumstances or geographic location, death with debt can provide significant problems for surviving family members.
Depending...


On January 26, 2015, the US Federal Reserve issued “Strategies for Improving the US Payment System” which introduces a plan for collaborating with payment system stakeholders. The plan aims to enhance the efficiency of the US payment system and caters to large and small businesses, emerging payments firms, card networks, payment processors, consumers and financial institutions. The paper outlines the Federal Reserve’s intent to create a task force to identify a more effective approach to safer and faster payment capabilities. To further clarify the details on payment system improvement the Federal Reserve will host a webcast at 1:00 PM Eastern Time on January 29, 2015. The webcast will share views on the Federal Reserve’s vision for the future US payment system and plans for collaborating with stakeholders to achieve shared goals. In addition, a subsequent series of FedForum teleseminars on February 4 and 10 will present an overview of the strategies and a question-and-answer session.
Access to the webcast is available at: www.ustream.tv/federalreserve; registration for the FedForum events is available at:
https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org; and the US Federal Reserve paper is available at: https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wp- content/uploads/strategies-improving-us-payment-system.pdf.


The explosion of the Internet era and the shift towards IP-based traffic has had the most profound impact on communications service providers (CSPs) operations. The rise of digital economy services has disrupted the business models of CSPs as they seek to adapt to the ‘always-on’ digitally enhanced lifestyles of advanced consumers. CSPs, faced with unacceptably low growth rates and decreasing margins, are engaged in a great ‘data monetisation’ transition from depending on voice services, where margins were traditionally large and competition was low, to depending on data services, where the competition from OTT players is fierce and margins are lower. To maintain their market share, and even grow, CSPs of today need to transform into digital service providers (DSPs), which requires new partnerships, business models and technology.
The retailer analogy
The online retail landscape offers an analogy to how partnerships can add value to the overall offerings. Online retailers such as Amazon, Alibaba and eBay (to name a few) have built very successful businesses by opening up their platforms and engaging with a number of partners. By bringing on-board a number of partners, these companies were able to scale their business by offering variety, value and convenience. While the retailers own the customer experience, the partners add value to the ecosystem by bringing in their offerings on to the retailer platform. If they had attempted to do the same on their own without partners, it would have been time consuming, expensive and ultimately poor value to consumers.
This analogy provides CSPs a close parallel to what value partners can bring to their overall offerings. CSPs for the most part have trailed retailers in prioritizing digital engagements and monetizing digital services. However CSPs do have some inherent advantages such as existing customer engagements, established billing relationships and access to large swathes of customer data. Blending CSP understanding of the customer with unique partner offerings can create compelling offerings for subscribers.
The partner play
The proliferation of the internet economy and rapid growth of online services has made digital experiences well established in consumer mindset that it has significantly shifted customer behavior. Customers want more for less and they want it now. This has had significant impact on customer expectations from CSPs offerings. To ensure continued customer experience and to live up to lofty expectations, CSPs need to advance beyond offering simple connectivity to digital value added services.
Data is the primary currency in the digital economy landscape and partnerships will play a crucial in better monetizing data services. Partnering with third party players can add significant value to the CSPs digital economy service offerings. Each partnership is unique and typical use cases tend to vary significantly across regions. The key value propositions that third party service providers offer CSPs through partnerships are captured below.
1. Increasing data revenue
For subscribers with low data usage, such as those on prepaid contracts who are reluctant to make heavy usage of data services, CSPs can stimulate data revenue by offering services through partnering with third party content and service providers. Examples of such initiatives include offering subscribers discounted access to premium services such as streaming music and video on demand or giving subscribers ‘free’ access to stripped down version of some services such as Facebook or Wikipedia. Such offers are usually valid for a limited period with the ultimate aim of persuading users to pay for data.
2. Improving loyalty
Partners can also play a crucial role in lowering churn and improving loyalty. By providing compelling bundled offerings of OTT services, CSPs can compete on services rather than simply voice, text and data. For the subscriber, the perceived value of such bundles is higher and therefore the propensity to churn is significantly lower.
3. Creating new revenue streams
CSPs can also leverage partnerships to add value to their offerings by opening up new revenue streams. The nature of such services would vary by type across regions. For example, other than simply providing connectivity services to their end users, CSPs can potentially package with other 'smart' services, such as device management and platform services to make a compelling package. A CSP could also offer direct carrier billing (e.g. for Google Play), and thus enable billing for hundreds of services through one partnership. Other examples include offering financial services on CSP platforms, selling digital goods such as music and books, and other services such as train tickets and parking fees.
Conclusion
Digital economy services are gaining traction increasingly as CSPs seek to develop alternate revenue streams to make up for declining growth in traditional services. Besides, the significant capex outlay for network and system upgrades have forced CSPs to consider the opportunities in digital economy services. Partnerships will play a crucial role in enhancing the value of CSP offerings in the digital economy landscape. It can increase data revenues, improve loyalty and open up new revenue streams. The service capability and value proposition of CSP offerings improves considerably as it leverages partner services and capability. CSPs cannot afford to go it alone in digital economy services; partnerships are crucial and can be the difference between success and failure.


Research paper published in Proceedings of the 17th International Product Development Management Conference IPDM.
Abstract
A company’s ability to successfully introduce radically new products and services is a key success factor for sustaining competitive advantage. This is particularly true for the automotive industry, where smaller manufacturers with niche products struggle to compete with the large-scale efforts of their bigger competitors, and are thus in desperate need to innovate their way out of the current crisis. A key challenge for companies seeking innovation is how to better understand the role of risk in innovative practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate how managers within an automotive company perceive the concept of innovation and the relation between innovation and risk. The study is based on interviews with fifteen managers representing a cross-section of disciplines. The analysis of the informants’ answers resulted in two overarching themes, “novelty” and “value”, which were further broken down into seven sub-themes to highlight different facets of innovation that were raised by managers from these disciplines. While there were many similarities in the perceptions, the most striking differences related to; 1) innovation as being about the “combination of things to something new”, and 2) innovation as being about increasing “customer value”. Several informants noted that risk taking is a success factor to achieve innovation, but they also acknowledged that there are several inhibiting factors that are in contradiction with this approach, such as limited time and money. Further the paper has highlighted the crucial challenge of how to effectively balance risk and opportunity to invest in long-term opportunities, without risking short-term growth.
Keywords Innovation, automotive industry, technology transfer, product innovation, radical innovation Reference Kastensson, Å., A. Larsson, T. Larsson (2010). Embracing risk to pursue product innovation in automotive industry. 17th International Product Development Management Conference IPDM, Murcia, Spain, University of Murcia, June 13-15, 2010. Web page: http://www.eiasm.org/frontoffice/event_announcement.asp?event_id=625 Download Tag cloud of paper


ATLANTA -- "I don't want to kill anyone after I give them a jar of something."
That is a fear held by many new to canning and one expressed by Karen Geney, who set aside her concerns after taking canning classes. Geney recalls her mother canning vegetables, but the Glenwood Park, Ga., resident never learned food preservation techniques herself until she adopted an 8-by-8-foot plot in her neighborhood's community garden.
"The delight you feel when things start growing quickly turns to horror when you realize what a short shelf life they have," she said.
It's that time of year when our gardens yield summer's bounty that can be enjoyed through winter if properly preserved. Many of us have childhood memories of our mothers and grandmothers investing days into putting up the garden's spoils for the winter.
Many first-timers are intimidated by the process. In addition to her fear of food-borne illness, Geney's hesitation stemmed from unpleasant recollections of her mom canning in a "kitchen full of steam and hot water," she said. "I remember it taking all day and half the night."
David DiCorpo, culinary instructor, compared the process to baking. "If you follow the steps, chances are good it will work," she said.
He insists that there are few canning failures. If the jar doesn't seal, put it in the refrigerator and enjoy it over the next week.
"The worst that can happen is that your jam doesn't set," he said. "Take off the label. Your raspberry jam is now raspberry syrup. No one will know it was for toast. Tell them it's for ice cream." If you're still hesitant, you might find safety in numbers. Invite a few friends over for a canning party.