The Case of Microsoft\u27s Surface Tablet: Going Behind the Strategy with SWOT

Following its development at Harvard Business School in the 1950s, the SWOT framework became a frequently used decision tool. While the complexity organizations confront in the modern business world has increased, SWOT provides an intuitive way to organize information into internal “Strengths and Weaknesses” and external “Opportunities and Threats.” Another reason that SWOT remains relevant is its flexibility that enables integrating other analysis tools. It also encompasses multiple steps of strategy development to cover analysis, formulating options, and implementation

Synthetic Cell Surface Receptors for Delivery of Therapeutics and Probes

Receptor-mediated endocytosis is a highly efficient mechanism for cellular uptake of membrane-impermeant ligands. Cells use this process to acquire nutrients, initiate signal transduction, promote development, regulate neurotransmission, and maintain homeostasis. Natural receptors that participate in receptor-mediated endocytosis are structurally diverse, ranging from large transmembrane proteins to small glycolipids embedded in the outer leaflet of cellular plasma membranes. Despite their vast structural differences, these receptors share common features of binding to extracellular ligands, clustering in dynamic membrane regions that pinch off to yield intracellular vesicles, and accumulation of receptor-ligand complexes in membrane-sealed endosomes. Receptors typically dissociate from ligands in endosomes and cycle back to the cell surface, whereas internalized ligands are usually delivered into lysosomes, where they are degraded, but some can escape and penetrate into the cytosol. Here, we review efforts to develop synthetic cell surface receptors, defined as nonnatural compounds, exemplified by mimics of cholesterol, that insert into plasma membranes, bind extracellular ligands including therapeutics, probes, and endogenous proteins, and engage endocytic membrane trafficking pathways. By mimicking natural mechanisms of receptor-mediated endocytosis, synthetic cell surface receptors have the potential to function as prosthetic molecules capable of seamlessly augmenting the endocytic uptake machinery of living mammalian cells

Matlab application for fitting progress curves to the Equilibrium Model

The general procedures for carrying out the necessary rate determinations required for accurate determination of the Equilibrium Model parameters, and fitting this data to the mathematical model to generate the parameters, are described in "Peterson, M.E., Daniel, R.M., Danson, M.J. & Eisenthal, R. (2007) The dependence of enzyme activity on temperature: determination and validation of parameters. Biochemical Journal, 402, 331-337". It should be borne in mind that the Equilibrium Model equation contains exponentials of exponentials – quite small deviations from ideal behaviour, or a failure to obtain true Vmax values, may lead to difficulty in obtaining reliable Equilibrium Model parameters

REGIONAL ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF A WATERSHED PLANNING PROCESS TO REDUCE EROSION AND STREAM SEDIMENTATION

Farm-level and watershed-wide land-use changes resulting from policy initiatives are linked to a regional input/output model. As a result not only can the direct economic impacts at the farm and watershed levels be determined, so too can the direct and induced economic impacts at the regional level.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Tree Trunk Arthropod Faunas as Food Resources for Birds

Author Institution: Department of Zoology, Miami UniversityThe composition, abundance, and relationship to trunk-surface characteristics of the tree-trunk surface arthropod fauna were studied from August, 1984 to January, 1985 in a beech-maple forest in southwestern Ohio. Samples of trunk-surface arthropods were taken monthly from American beech and sugar maple trees. Although resource levels on the two tree species did not differ significantly, arthropod resource levels were dynamic, changing monthly in magnitude and composition. Live arthropods became progressively less abundant as winter approached; non-living/dormant items did not. Results suggest that trunk surface characteristics offer foraging birds few reliable clues about arthropod resource levels

The Influence of Land Use/Land Cover on Climatological Values of the Diurnal Temperature Range

The diurnal temperature range (DTR) at weather observation stations that make up the U.S. Historical Climatology Network was evaluated with respect to the predominant land use/land cover associated with the stations within three radii intervals (100, 1000, and 10 000 m) of the stations. Those stations that were associated with predominantly rural land use/land cover (LULC) usually displayed the greatest observed DTR, whereas those associated with urban related land use or land cover displayed the least observed DTR. The results of this study suggest that significant differences in the climatological DTR were observed and could be attributed to the predominant LULC associated with the observation stations. The results also suggest that changes in the predominant LULC conditions, within as great as a 10 000 m radius of an observation station, could significantly influence the climatological DTR. Future changes in the predominant LULC associated with observation sites should be monitored similar to the current practice of monitoring changes in instruments or time of observation at the observations sites

Loss Not Need: The Ethics of Relief Giving in Natural Disasters

The social ethics of relief giving (the bases on which relief ought to be given) in natural disaster situations are explored through a case study of public reactions to Red Cross activities. Red Cross policies and public reactions to them are reviewed, and survey data pertaining to attitudes toward the Red Cross and toward relief giving in natural disasters of residents of a western New York county are presented. Specifically, public satisfaction with present Red Cross dis:ribution policies is explored, and public perceptions of loss vs need as bases for relief giving are examined. Although there are some qualifications, findings show a large segment of the public supporting bases other than need for the distribution of disaster services. This is especially true for those who have actually received disaster aid. Implications are that the public does not always support a redistributive role for relief giving, but in some cases with some populations expects relief giving to reinforce the status quo

Composite Materials with Magnetically Aligned Carbon Nanoparticles and Methods of Preparation

The present invention relates to magnetically aligned carbon nanoparticle composites and methods of preparing the same. The composites comprise carbon nanoparticles, host material, magnetically sensitive nanoparticles and surfactant. The composites may have enhanced mechanical, thermal, and/or electrical properties