Perceived Centrality in Social Networks Increases Women’s Expectations of Confronting Sexism

This paper integrates the study of intergroup relations and social network cognition, predicting that women who occupy central (vs. peripheral) advice network positions are more likely to confront a coworker’s gender-biased comment. Study 1 offers correlational evidence of the predicted link between perceived advice network centrality and confronting among employed women, uniquely in advice (but not communication) networks. Study 2 replicates and investigates two possible mechanisms–perceptions of the situation as public and perceived risk of confronting. Study 3 rules out order effects and tests an additional mechanism (expectations of the network members). Study 4 is an experiment that shows people expect central (vs. peripheral) women to confront more, even when she is lower (vs. equal) power. Study 5 replicates the core hypothesis in retrospective accounts of women’s responses to real workplace gender bias. Study 6 compares multiple potential mechanisms to provide greater insight into why centrality reliably predicts confrontation

Portfolio Concentration and Investment Performance

This study examines the relationship between investment performance and concentration in active equity portfolios. Active management is dependent on the success of two important components in the investment process – stock selection skill and portfolio management. Our study documents a positive relationship between fund performance and portfolio concentration. The relationship is stronger for stocks in which active managers hold overweight positions, as well as for stocks outside the largest 50 stocks listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). We find more concentrated funds tend to be those implementing growth styles, having smaller aggregate assets under management, being institutions which are not affiliated with a bank or life-office entity, whose funds experience past period outflows, and who are benchmarked to narrower indexes than the S&P/ASX 300

Samen met ondernemers naar een weerbare bodem: Bodemweerbaarheid in de praktijk

De doelstelling van het project was om, samen met ondernemers, na te gaan of er een relatie te leggen was tussen bodemweerbaarheid en wat er in de praktijk gebeurt. Verder zijn we ook nagegaan of er uit het onderzoek maatregelen te destilleren waren die voor de praktijk interessant kunnen zijn. Deze brochure beschrijft de bevindingen van het project

Gender, Brokerage, and Performance: A Construal Approach

We present a new theory that seeks to explain differences in the performance of men and women friendship network brokers - individuals who bridge disconnected friends. In contrast to previous audience-centered explanations, our phenomenological theory emphasizes how brokers construe (i.e., perceive and interpret) their networks. We contend that when women perceive themselves as brokers in friendship networks, they experience threat, rooted in negative stereotypes about women brokers, which undermines their performance. Using data from a cohort of MBA students, Study 1 found that women (but not men) exhibited lower performance when they perceived themselves as brokers in small-group friendship networks. Using data from a larger group of MBA students, Study 2 replicated this finding and ruled out the possibility that underlying differences in the propensity to connect those who one bridges may explain the observed gender-based difference in broker performance. Using an experimental design, Study 3 found that elevated anxiety about task performance and negative social evaluations mediated the relationship between brokerage and performance for women but not for men. Women and men differ in how they psychologically construe brokerage in friendship networks; and this difference helps account for gender differences in the performance of network brokers

Endotoxin- and ATP-neutralizing activity of alkaline phosphatase as a strategy to limit neuroinflammation

BACKGROUND: Alkaline phosphatase (AP) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme which can neutralize endotoxin as well as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an endogenous danger signal released during brain injury. In this study we assessed a potential therapeutic role for AP in inhibiting neuroinflammation using three complementary approaches. METHODS: Mice were immunized to induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and treated with AP for seven days during different phases of disease. In addition, serological assays to determine AP activity, endotoxin levels and endotoxin-reactive antibodies were performed in a cohort of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and controls. Finally, the expression of AP and related enzymes CD39 and CD73 was investigated in brain tissue from MS patients and control subjects. RESULTS: AP administration during the priming phase, but not during later stages, of EAE significantly reduced neurological signs. This was accompanied by reduced proliferation of splenocytes to the immunogen, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide. In MS patients, AP activity and isoenzyme distribution were similar to controls. Although endotoxin-reactive IgM was reduced in primary-progressive MS patients, plasma endotoxin levels were not different between groups. Finally, unlike AP and CD73, CD39 was highly upregulated on microglia in white matter lesions of patients with MS. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that: 1) pre-symptomatic AP treatment reduces neurological signs of EAE; 2) MS patients do not have altered circulating levels of AP or endotoxin; and 3) the expression of the AP-like enzyme CD39 is increased on microglia in white matter lesions of MS patients

Unintentional ingestion of a high dose of acenocoumarol in a young child

Acute intoxication with a vitamin K antagonist may cause serious coagulopathy. We report the accidental ingestion of a high dose of acenocoumarol in a young child. Two intravenous administrations of 5mg of vitamin K, in combination with fast and repeated administration of activated charcoal and sodium sulfate, were sufficient to prevent coagulopathy and related symptoms, despite a confirmed elevated blood acenocoumarol concentration (260 mu g/L)