736 research outputs found
From Three Little Words to a Brilliant Future
Third place winner of the MSU Maroon & White QEP/Maroon Edition Essay Competition (Upperclassmen) for 2016/2017
Information Technology Firms: Creating Value through Digital Disruption
Information technology (IT) firms compose the majority of the most highly valued corporations in the world based on market capitalization. To date, only Apple and Amazonāboth IT companiesāhave reached or nearly reached a USD trillion-dollar market capitalization. The value that IT provides speaks to how managers exploit disruptive technologies to create value in both IT and non-IT firms. A panel held at the 2018 Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) discussed various ways in firms build value around IT through successful management. This paper reports on the panel discussion from a variety of perspectives, which include practitioner and researcher worldviews. This panel report also provides a sample frame that researchers can use in quantitative research involving IT firms and advocates for increased research to understand the wide range of strategies IT firms use to create value
Did the single market cause competition in excise taxes? Evidence from EU countries
The introduction of the Single Market resulted in a switch from destination to origin-based taxation of cross-border transactions by individuals. The theory of commodity tax competition predicts that this change should give rise to excise tax competition and thus intensify strategic interaction in the setting of excise taxes. In this paper, we provide an empirical test of this prediction using a panel data set of 12 EU countries over the period 1987-2004. We find that for all excise duties that we consider (still and sparkling wine, beer, ethyl alcohol, and cigarettes), strategic interaction between countries significantly increased after 1993, consistently with the theoretical prediction. Indeed, for all these products except for cigarettes, there is no evidence of strategic interaction prior to 1993, so our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the single market caused tax competition. For beer and ethyl alcohol, there is evidence that the minimum taxes, also introduced in 1993, have intensified strategic interaction
Experimental demonstration of a squeezing enhanced power recycled Michelson interferometer for gravitational wave detection
Interferometric gravitational wave detectors are expected to be limited by
shot noise at some frequencies. We experimentally demonstrate that a power
recycled Michelson with squeezed light injected into the dark port can overcome
this limit. An improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of 2.3dB is measured
and locked stably for long periods of time. The configuration, control and
signal readout of our experiment are compatible with current gravitational wave
detector designs. We consider the application of our system to long baseline
interferometer designs such as LIGO.Comment: 4 pages 4 figure
A double-deletion method to quantifying incremental binding energies in proteins from experiment. Example of a destabilizing hydrogen bonding pair
The contribution of a specific hydrogen bond in apoflavodoxin to protein
stability is investigated by combining theory, experiment and simulation.
Although hydrogen bonds are major determinants of protein structure and
function, their contribution to protein stability is still unclear and widely
debated. The best method so far devised to estimate the contribution of
side-chain interactions to protein stability is double-mutant-cycle analysis,
but the interaction energies so derived are not identical to incremental
binding energies (the energies quantifying net contributions of two interacting
groups to protein stability). Here we introduce double-deletion analysis of
isolated residue pairs as a means to precisely quantify incremental binding.
The method is exemplified by studying a surface-exposed hydrogen bond in a
model protein (Asp96/Asn128 in apoflavodoxin). Combined substitution of these
residues by alanines slightly destabilizes the protein, due to a decrease in
hydrophobic surface burial. Subtraction of this effect, however, clearly
indicates that the hydrogen-bonded groups in fact destabilize the native
conformation. In addition, Molecular Dynamics simulations and classic
double-mutant-cycle analysis explain quantitatively that, due to frustration,
the hydrogen bond must form in the native structure because, when the two
groups get approximated upon folding their binding becomes favorable. We would
like to remark two facts: that this is the first time the contribution of a
specific hydrogen bond to protein stability has been measured from experiment,
and that more hydrogen bonds need to be analyzed in order to draw general
conclusions on protein hydrogen bonds energetics. To that end, the double
deletion method should be of help.Comment: 41 pages, To appear in Biophysical Journal (in press
Jazz Combos
Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Jazz Combos.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1389/thumbnail.jp
Biochar-based fertilizer: Supercharging root membrane potential and biomass yield of rice
Biochar-based compound fertilizers (BCF) and amendments have proven to enhance crop yields and modify soil properties (pH, nutrients, organic matter, structure etc.) and are now in commercial production in China. While there is a good understanding of the changes in soil properties following biochar addition, the interactions within the rhizosphere remain largely unstudied, with benefits to yield observed beyond the changes in soil properties alone. We investigated the rhizosphere interactions following the addition of an activated wheat straw BCF at an application rates of 0.25% (gĀ·gā1 soil), which could potentially explain the increase of plant biomass (by 67%), herbage N (by 40%) and P (by 46%) uptake in the rice plants grown in the BCF-treated soil, compared to the rice plants grown in the soil with conventional fertilizer alone. Examination of the roots revealed that micron and submicron-sized biochar were embedded in the plaque layer. BCF increased soil Eh by 85 mV and increased the potential difference between the rhizosphere soil and the root membrane by 65 mV. This increased potential difference lowered the free energy required for root nutrient accumulation, potentially explaining greater plant nutrient content and biomass. We also demonstrate an increased abundance of plant-growth promoting bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. We suggest that the redox properties of the biochar cause major changes in electron status of rhizosphere soils that drive the observed agronomic benefits
- ā¦