The role of the exit in the initial screening of investment opportunities: The case of business angel syndicate gatekeepers

The exit process has been largely ignored in business angel research.. The practitioner community identifies the difficulty in achieving exits as the most pressing problem for investors. This has been attributed to the failure of investors to adopt an exit-centric approach to investing. The validity of this claim is examined via a study of the investment approach of 21 ‘gatekeepers’ (managers) of angel groups in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most gatekeepers say that they do consider the exit when they invest. However, this is contradicted by a verbal protocol analysis which indicates that the exit is not a significant consideration in their initial screening process. The small number of exits achieved by the groups is consistent with the general lack of an exit-centric approach to investing. Only three groups exhibit evidence of a strong exit-centric approach to investing. The lack of exits may have a negative impact on the level of future angel investment activity

The Crystal Structure of OprG from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Potential Channel for Transport of Hydrophobic Molecules across the Outer Membrane

Background: The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria provides a barrier to the passage of hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds into the cell. The OM has embedded proteins that serve important functions in signal transduction and in the transport of molecules into the periplasm. The OmpW family of OM proteins, of which P. aeruginosa OprG is a member, is widespread in Gram-negative bacteria. The biological functions of OprG and other OmpW family members are still unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings: In order to obtain more information about possible functions of OmpW family members we have solved the X-ray crystal structure of P. aeruginosa OprG at 2.4 A ˚ resolution. OprG forms an eightstranded b-barrel with a hydrophobic channel that leads from the extracellular surface to a lateral opening in the barrel wall. The OprG barrel is closed off from the periplasm by interacting polar and charged residues on opposite sides of the barrel wall. Conclusions/Significance: The crystal structure, together with recent biochemical data, suggests that OprG and other OmpW family members form channels that mediate the diffusion of small hydrophobic molecules across the OM by a latera

Predicting Spatial and Stratigraphic Quick-clay Distribution in SW Sweden

Clay sediments are associated with a wide variety of engineering problems, of which landslides, together with settlement, are the most investigated due to the large associated costs. Quick-clay deposits, which if disturbed can transform into a liquid, pose a serious threat to society in southwestern Sweden and have been involved in several large landslides, sometimes with fatal consequences. Even though the theories that explain quick-clay formation are well advanced, no modeling that combine geologic information and reasoning with hard geotechnical data to predict its distribution has previously been done. The stepwise multi-criteria evaluation technique suggested here involves identification of quick-clay preconditions from the literature. Then to derive criteria priorities, an expert group consisting mostly of geologists and geotechnical engineers carried out pairwise comparisons using matrices from which weights were calculated. The same group also participated in the development of the utility functions used to standardize the criteria to allow direct criteria comparisons. To populate the model, all criteria were quantified using empirical geotechnical data, existing geological documentation and/or environmental proxy data. The model results were later cross-checked at selected sites with geophysical methods. Finally, a rather large geotechnical data set was divided and used to add a depth dimension to the model results and to test the predic-tive powers of 2D and 3D models. Quick-clay type settings were separately defined to facilitate clear communication of quick-clay predictions to non-specialists and to provide a structure for comparisons to the depositionary and post-depositionary conditions in well-studied east-Canadian or mid-and Norwegian quick-clay areas. These settings were derived from trends observed in geotechnical, geologic, geophysical and modeling records. Results of the predictive modeling were subsequently applied to landslide hazard zonation in SW Sweden. However, the framework could, with slight regional adaptionadaptation, also be applied in other areas (e.g. eastern Canada and coastal mid-Norway) or even to other issues, wherever groundwater fluxes and ground conditions are of interest (e.g. in contaminant transport, geological process studies and groundwater resource exploration)

Writing and Methodology : Literary Texts as Ethnographic Datra and Creative Writing as a Means oif Investigation

The chapter will discuss the relation between writing and ethnography from two radically different perspectives. Firstly, writing as method. In academic research, the writing process is often regarded as merely a means of conveying results, and ”good writing” is even met with suspicion. Drawing from my own experience of both literary, journalistic and academic writing I will discuss the interrelations between these three writing practices, with specific focus on creative forms of academic writing and even the deployment of fictional elements in ethnographic research. Examples will be taken from the extensive discussion on the relation between Literature and Anthropology after Anthropology’s “literary turn” in the 1980s, which has implications for many other disciplines, not least Media and Communication studies. I will argue that writing itself constitutes a methodology that is under-researched in the context of Communication for Development. The second part of the chapter will ”turn the tables” and look at literary texts (books, films or other formats) as ethnographic data. Again, primarily founding my argument on my research in South Africa and Argentina, I will claim that literature may hold key information about processes of development and social change that cannot be assessed by other means. I will specifically focus on the notion of the conceptual repertoire (Appadurai) and fiction’s role in the production of collective memory and self-understanding