The influence of the reconditioning by welding processes on the hardness of crankshafts in the automotive industry

One of the aims of our modern society is to reduce the car maintenance costs. The part that most frequently breaks down in the engine block is the crankshaft - in the main journal and crankpin journal areas. This paper presents the effects of welding inert-gas (WIG) and shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) on the hardness of the material in the zones subject to reconditioning, more specifically the hardness values in the deposited material layer, in the fusion line and the heat-affected zone (HAZ)

Is Materialism All That Bad? Effects on Satisfaction with Material Life, Life Satisfaction, and Economic Motivation

The literature in economic psychology and quality-of-life studies alludes to a negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. In contrast, the macroeconomic literature implies a positive relationship between material consumption and economic growth. That is, materialism may be both good and bad. We develop a model that reconciles these two contrasting viewpoints by asserting that materialism may lead to life dissatisfaction when materialistic people evaluate their standard of living using fantasy-based expectations (e. g., ideal expectations), which increases the likelihood that they would evaluate their standard of living negatively. In turn, dissatisfaction with standard of living increases the likelihood that they would evaluate their life negatively. However, materialistic people who evaluate their standard of living using reality-based expectations (e. g., ability expectations) are likely to feel more economically motivated than their non-materialistic counterparts, and this economic motivation is likely to contribute significantly and positively to life satisfaction. Survey data were collected from seven major cities each in a different country (Australia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Germany, Egypt, Korea, Turkey, and the USA) using a probability sample (cluster sampling method involving income stratification). The results provide support for the model. The economic public policy implications concerning how people evaluate their standard of living using ability-based expectations are discussed in the context of the ideals of meritocracy. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Linking Advertising, Materialism, and Life Satisfaction

This paper develops theory related to advertising, materialism, and life satisfaction by formally testing explanations related to the antecedents and consequences of materialism. Survey data were collected from seven major cities each in a different country (Australia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Germany, Egypt, Korea, Turkey, and the USA) using a probability sample (cluster sampling method involving income stratification). The results showed that the extent to which advertising is perceived to be materialistic contributes to materialism. Materialism, in turn, leads to the frequent use of various standards of comparison in making judgments about standard of living. As judgments about standard of living increase, standard of living is evaluated more negatively. In turn, negative self-evaluations contribute significantly to dissatisfaction with life. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Modelling firms propensity to continue service exporting: a cross-country analysis

The pivotal role of services in international business is now receiving widespread recognition. Furthermore, the global marketplace is being increasingly characterised by the speed and ease with which such services cross national boundaries. This exploratory study of Australian and Dutch service exporters provides, for the first time, an understanding of the factors that stimulate such exporters to continue on the internationalisation path. Our results confirm that the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with recent past export efforts, export revenue as a percentage of total sales (a measure of export commitment), as well as other more traditional motives for exporting, do explain a reasonable proportion of the variance in propensity to continue exporting. However, some interesting variations emerged between Australian and Dutch firms in their motives to continue exporting

Does television viewership play a role in the perception of quality of life?

The authors hypothesized that television viewership influences materialism and dissatisfaction with standard of living, which in turn contributes to feelings of dissatisfaction with life. They collected data from five countries to examine the issue in a variety of cultural and media environments. The countries and types of samples were: United States (consumer panel and college students), Canada (urban households), Australia (urban households), Turkey (urban households), and China (urban households). The results were generally consistent with the hypotheses. However, nest of the support came from the U.S. samples. Too possible explanations may account for the findings. One is that the effect of television viewership on life satisfaction is a unique phenomenon that is applicable only to the United States. Given the disparity of viewership levels between the U.S. and other countries, that explanation has some face validity. The other is that the effects were less evident in non-U.S. samples because of methodological limitations of the cross-cultural research. Overall, the results show that television viewership, at least in the U.S., nay play a significant role in making people unhappy with their lives. Much of television advertising reinforces material consumption and possession with images of the "good life." Thus, television advertising contributes to terminal materialism-materialism for the sake of materialism. Socially responsible advertising professionals should make a concerted effort to create messages that reflect instrumental materialism-materialism for the sake of meeting essential and basic needs

Alpha-Particle Immunotherapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) with Bismuth-213 (213Bi) and Actinium-225 (225Ac)

Lintuzumab, a humanized anti-CD33 antibody, targets myeloid leukemia cells and has modest activity against AML. To increase the antibody’s potency yet avoid nonspecific cytotoxicity seen with β-emitting isotopes, the α-emitter 213Bi was conjugated to lintuzumab. The safety, feasibility, and antileukemic activity of 213Bi-lintuzumab was demonstrated in a phase I trial (Jurcic, Blood 2002). Furthermore, 213Bi-lintuzumab produced remissions in 24% of AML patients receiving doses ≥ 37 MBq/kg after partial cytoreduction with cytarabine (Rosenblat, Clin Cancer Res 2010). The widespread use of 213Bi, however, is limited by its 46-min half-life. 225Ac (t½=10 d), a radiometal that generates four α-particles, can be conjugated to antibodies using DOTA-SCN. 225Ac-labeled immunoconjugates can kill in vitro at doses at least 1,000 times lower than 213Bi analogs and prolong survival in mouse xenograft models of several cancers (McDevitt, Science 2001). We sought to determine the safety, pharmacology, and biological activity of 225Ac-linutuzumab in patients with AML.JRC.E.5-Nuclear chemistr