Postexpansion Planning Considerations for New Multioutlet Retailers

Successful small retailers invariably are tempted to test the adage more is better. While the expansion allure is more than many can resist, it must be tempered by the realization that many hidden challenges await the unsuspecting entrepreneur. Success of the new organization will require not only more but a different kind of effort than used in managing the single store. First, successful operation will now depend on delegating operating decisions to professional managers. The autonomy given these managers is a complex decision and may be placed anywhere within a three dimensional continuum depending on the desired image, supervision, and buying patterns for each store. Second, the accounting information required for proper control and performance evaluation of the organization will increase dramatically. Adequate pre-expansion planning can expose many of the hidden challenges and make the transition one more likely to prove that more is, in fact, better

Measuring the Incremental Learning Achieved with Computer Enhanced Instruction

There has been increasing pressure by the AACSB on accounting educators to include the use of computers as an instructional tool in the 1980s with the advent of separate accreditation for accounting programs. In response, researchers have sought to study student attitudes and report on software available for classroom uses. From the educational perspective, however, the most important type of research would be that which would evaluate the impact of the computer on the level of learning achieved by the student or would indicate sensitivity to the computer enhanced instruction (CEI). The focus of this paper is to suggest a research design to evaluate the computer\u27s contribution to achievement in Accounting education in a model which will also examine the potential effects of confounding variables

The Hidden Challenges of Retail Expansion

Successful small retailers invariably are tempted to test the adage more is better. While the expansion allure is more than many can resist, it must be tempered by the realization that many hidden challenges await the unsuspecting entrepreneur. Success of the new organization will required not only ore but a different kind of effort than used in managing the single store. First, successful operation will now depend on delegating operating decision to professional managers. The autonomy given these managers in a complex decision and may be placed anywhere within a three dimensional continuum depending on the desired image, supervision, and buying patterns for each store. Second, the accounting information required for proper control and performance evaluation of the organization will increase dramatically. Adequate pre-expansion planning can expose many of the hidden challenges and make the transition one more likely to proved that more is, in fact, better

Gentamicin, genetic variation and deafness in preterm children.

Hearing loss in children born before 32 weeks of gestation is more prevalent than in full term infants. Aminoglycoside antibiotics are routinely used to treat bacterial infections in babies on neonatal intensive care units. However, this type of medication can have harmful effects on the auditory system. In order to avoid this blood levels should be maintained in the therapeutic range. However in individuals with a mitochondrial genetic variant (m.1555A > G), permanent hearing loss can occur even when drug levels are within normal limits. The aim of the study is to investigate the burden that the m.1555A > G mutation represents to deafness in very preterm infants

Построение универсального линеаризованного графа потока управления для использования в статическом анализе кода алгоритмов

This paper presents the description of a possible way to build the universal linearized control flow graph which is supposed to be architecture-independent and applicable to the description of any high level language programs. The practical usefulness of the graph considered is the existence of the fast and optimal search of the unique execution paths that is valuable in the methods of static code analysis of algorithms for race condition search. Optimizing compiler CLANG&LLVM is used as a technical tool for building a linearized control flow graph. The analysis of LLVM compiler procedural optimizations is carried out in the article. Transformations of intermediate representation of those optimizations result in reduction of the number of instructions responsible for conditional or unconditional branches in the code as well as the elimination or simplification of the whole loops and conditional constructions. The results of the analysis performed in the paper allowed revealing the most effective optimizations line of the LLVM compiler, which leads to a significant linearization of the control flow graph. That fact was demonstrated by the example code of the Peterson mutual execution algorithm for 2 threads.В работе рассматривается вариант построения универсального линеаризованного графа потока управления, архитектурно-независимого и пригодного для описания программы любого языка программирования высокого уровня. Практическая польза данного графа заключается в возможности быстрого и оптимального поиска уникальных путей исполнения, что может быть особенно ценно в методах статического анализа кода алгоритмов с целью поиска в них состояния гонки («race condition»). В качестве технического средства для построения линеаризованного графа управления используется оптимизирующий компилятор CLANG&LLVM. В работе проводится анализ попроцедурных оптимизаций компилятора LLVM, трансформация промежуточного представления которых приводит как к сокращению количества инструкций условного и безусловного перехода в коде, так и к удалению или упрощению целых циклов и условных конструкций. Результат анализа, приведенный в работе, позволил выявить наиболее эффективную линейку оптимизаций компилятора LLVM, которая приводит к существенной линеаризации графа потока управления, что было продемонстрировано на примере кода взаимоисключающего алгоритма Петерсона для 2 потоков

Systemic gene therapy rescues retinal dysfunction and hearing loss in a model of Norrie disease

Deafness affects 5% of the world's population, yet there is a lack of treatments to prevent hearing loss due to genetic causes. Norrie disease is a recessive X‐linked disorder, caused by NDP gene mutation. It manifests as blindness at birth and progressive sensorineural hearing loss, leading to debilitating dual sensory deprivation. To develop a gene therapy, we used a Norrie disease mouse model (Ndp$^{tm1Wbrg}$), which recapitulates abnormal retinal vascularisation and progressive hearing loss. We delivered human NDP cDNA by intravenous injection of adeno‐associated viral vector (AAV)9 at neonatal, juvenile and young adult pathological stages and investigated its therapeutic effects on the retina and cochlea. Neonatal treatment prevented the death of the sensory cochlear hair cells and rescued cochlear disease biomarkers as demonstrated by RNAseq and physiological measurements of auditory function. Retinal vascularisation and electroretinograms were restored to normal by neonatal treatment. Delivery of NDP gene therapy after the onset of the degenerative inner ear disease also ameliorated the cochlear pathology, supporting the feasibility of a clinical treatment for progressive hearing loss in people with Norrie disease

Systemic gene therapy rescues retinal dysfunction and hearing loss in a model of Norrie disease

Deafness affects 5% of the world's population, yet there is a lack of treatments to prevent hearing loss due to genetic causes. Norrie disease is a recessive X-linked disorder, caused by NDP gene mutation. It manifests as blindness at birth and progressive sensorineural hearing loss, leading to debilitating dual sensory deprivation. To develop a gene therapy, we used a Norrie disease mouse model (Ndptm1Wbrg ), which recapitulates abnormal retinal vascularisation and progressive hearing loss. We delivered human NDP cDNA by intravenous injection of adeno-associated viral vector (AAV)9 at neonatal, juvenile and young adult pathological stages and investigated its therapeutic effects on the retina and cochlea. Neonatal treatment prevented the death of the sensory cochlear hair cells and rescued cochlear disease biomarkers as demonstrated by RNAseq and physiological measurements of auditory function. Retinal vascularisation and electroretinograms were restored to normal by neonatal treatment. Delivery of NDP gene therapy after the onset of the degenerative inner ear disease also ameliorated the cochlear pathology, supporting the feasibility of a clinical treatment for progressive hearing loss in people with Norrie disease

On the Change of the Inner Boundary of an Optically Thick Accretion Disk around White Dwarfs Using the Dwarf Nova SS Cyg as an Example

We present the results of our studies of the aperiodic optical flux variability for SS Cyg, an accreting binary systemwith a white dwarf. The main set of observational data presented here was obtained with the ANDOR/iXon DU-888 photometer mounted on the RTT-150 telescope, which allowed a record(for CCD photometers) time resolution up to 8 ms to be achieved. The power spectra of the source's flux variability have revealed that the aperiodic variability contains information about the inner boundary of the optically thick flow in the binary system. We show that the inner boundary of the optically thick accretion disk comes close to the white dwarf surface at the maximum of the source's bolometric light curve, i.e., at the peak of the instantaneous accretion rate onto the white dwarf, while the optically thick accretion disk is truncated at distances 8.5e9 cm ~10 R_{WD} in the low state. We suggest that the location of the inner boundary of the accretion disk in the binary can be traced by studying the parameters of the power spectra for accreting white dwarfs. In particular, this allows the mass of the accreting object to be estimated.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, Published in Astronomy Letter

Learning Mechanics and Game Mechanics Under the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory to Foster Motivation in Digital Game Based Learning

Background: Using digital games for educational purposes has been associated with higher levels of motivation among learners of different educational levels. However, the underlying psychological factors involved in digital game based learning (DGBL) have been rarely analyzed considering self-determination theory (SDT, Ryan \& Deci, 2000b); the relation of SDT with the flow experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) has neither been evaluated in the context of DGBL

Metaverse-Retail Service Quality: A Future Framework for Retail Service Quality in the 3D Internet

This paper argues that service quality in retailing in 3D Collaborative Virtual Environments (aka Metaverses) is distinct from service quality in the more familiar 2D mainly menu-driven web internet store (e-SQ). The study identifies and conceptualises the determinants of Metaverse Retailing service quality (MR-SQ) through a combination of focus groups and Critical Incident Technique. A set of four overarching determining elements of MR-SQ was revealed including customer service, product dimension, store dimension and 3D platform dimension. These incorporate some of the features found in 2D e-SQ but importantly the study indicated new characteristics, unique to MR-SQ. The CVE context presents opportunities for retailers in enhancing social experience, responsive service and creative co-production opportunities. It is within these gaps that respondents identified in 2D retailing that current CVEs and the future Web 3.0 hold appealing prospects for enhancing and producing creative and co-operative online retailing service quality (MR-SQ). The study provides a framework for guidance for retailers as well as for future research. Summary Statement of Contribution: The paper establishes new understanding of the determinants of Metaverse Retailing-Service Quality (MR-SQ). For virtual worlds in general and for service quality in particular, this study shows new MR-SQ dimensions, overlapping dimensions with different meanings to MR-SQ compares to e-SQ, and similar dimensions in both MR-SQ and e-SQ