Where the headquarters are – evidence from large public companies 1990-2000

This paper examines the location of headquarter growth of large public companies during the 1990s. Headquarters continue to be attracted by large metropolitan areas. Yet among that group they continue to disperse into medium-sized centers. This paper identifies 6 different categories of gross flows underlying the net change of headquarters observed during the 90s. There is strong variation among the 50 largest metro areas in terms of the composition of these gross flows. On average, entry and exit represent over 2/3 of all gross flow activity. Pure relocation of headquarters is found to lead to urbanization. Mergers tend to not impact the distributing of headquarters across MSAs. A binomial probability model of the decision to move utilizes company-level as well as MSA- level data and finds that MSA-level amenities impact the choice to move.Industrial location ; Metropolitan areas - Statistics

Les services des médiathèques de la HEP-BEJUNE: point de vue des usagers et propositions pour l'avenir

Ce travail, mandaté par les responsables des médiathèques de la Haute école pédagogique Berne-Jura-Neuchâtel (HEP-BEJUNE), aborde la question des services offerts aux publics selon une approche orientée usagers. Son but est de connaître les usages, la satisfaction et les attentes des usagers vis-à-vis des services proposés par les médiathèques. L’étude comprend une première partie théorique qui traite de la notion de public dans les bibliothèques académiques et des usages qui y sont faits. Un aperçu des enquêtes de publics menées dans les bibliothèques universitaires est dressé et trois exemples viennent l’illustrer. La deuxième partie du travail présente d’abord un état des lieux des médiathèques et répertorie les services offerts aux usagers ; une typologie de ces services est établie. Puis, une enquête de publics sur la satisfaction des usagers est effectuée par le biais d’un questionnaire, suivie d’entretiens individuels. Enfin, à partir des résultats de l’enquête, des propositions sont faites pour l’avenir, visant à améliorer ou à mettre en valeur certains services des médiathèques de la HEP-BEJUNE

Fluorescence Properties of Photonic Crystals Doped with Perylenediimide

This study aims to present the fabrication of colloidal photonic crystals (PC) with increased fluorescence properties. The use of a highly fluorescent perylenediimide derivate (PDI) during the soap-free emulsion polymerization of styrene–acrylic acid resulted in monodisperse core–shell particles which allowed the fabrication of PC films. The properties of the hybrid material were studied in comparison with hybrid materials obtained by impregnation of films with chromophore solutions. In both cases an increase of the fluorescence response was observed in addition to a blue shift for the PDI core particles, proving the incorporation of the dye inside the copolymer particles

Cross-linkable azido C60-fullerene derivatives for efficient thermal stabilization of polymer bulk-heterojunction solar cells

International audienceOriginal [60]PCBM-inspired fullerene derivatives bearing an azidofunctional group were synthesized. By incorporating an optimizedquantity of this thermal cross-linker additive in the P3HT:[60]PCBMphotoactive layer, an impressive stabilization of the bulk-heterojunctionmorphology at its optimal photovoltaic performance wasachieved

Limited role of culture conversion for decision-making in individual patient care and for advancing novel regimens to confirmatory clinical trials

Supported by the European and Developing Country Clinical Trials Partnership (grant IP.2007.32011.011) and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, US Agency for International Development, UK Department for International Development, Directorate-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands, Irish Aid and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Background Despite recent increased clinical trials activity, no regimen has proved able to replace the standard 6-month regimen for drug-sensitive tuberculosis. Understanding the relationship between microbiological markers measured during treatment and long-term clinical outcomes is critical to evaluate their usefulness for decision-making for both individual patient care and for advancing novel regimens into time-consuming and expensive pivotal phase III trials. Methods Using data from the randomized controlled phase III trial REMoxTB, we evaluated sputum-based markers of speed of clearance of bacilli: time to smear negative status; time to culture negative status on LJ or in MGIT; daily rate of change of log10(TTP) to day 56; and smear or culture results at weeks 6, 8 or 12; as individual- and trial-level surrogate endpoints for long-term clinical outcome. Results Time to culture negative status on LJ or in MGIT, time to smear negative status and daily rate of change in log10(TTP) were each independent predictors of clinical outcome, adjusted for treatment (p <0.001). However, discrimination between low and high risk patients, as measured by the c-statistic, was modest and not much higher than the reference model adjusted for BMI, history of smoking, HIV status, cavitation, gender and MGIT TTP. Conclusions Culture conversion during treatment for tuberculosis, however measured, has only a limited role in decision-making for advancing regimens into phase III trials or in predicting the outcome of treatment for individual patients. REMoxTB ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00864383.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Housing Conditions in Palestinian Refugee Camps, Jordan

This paper evaluates the quality of housing in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan. More than two million registered refugees live in Jordan, most of whom living in thirteen refugee camps established in the late 1960s following the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1967. Many of these camps are characterized by poor living conditions and associated health, social and environmental problems. However, there is scant empirical evidence regarding the quality of the housing in these camps. This paper addresses this gap by reporting on the findings of a questionnaire survey of 382 household units in Baqa’a Camp, the largest of the camps. The quantitative survey was triangulated by a series of extensive fieldwork visits to the area. Findings reveal that the housing in the camp is generally substandard. Poor structure and maintenance are key problems and this paper identifies and discusses various challenges, political and practical, that stand in the way of housing improvements. The paper concludes by suggesting that new models of ownership and responsibility need to be forged between the stakeholders in order to break the current stalemate of inaction

Limited role of culture conversion for decision-making in individual patient care and for advancing novel regimens to confirmatory clinical trials

Supported by the European and Developing Country Clinical Trials Partnership (grant IP.2007.32011.011) and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, US Agency for International Development, UK Department for International Development, Directorate-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands, Irish Aid and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Background Despite recent increased clinical trials activity, no regimen has proved able to replace the standard 6-month regimen for drug-sensitive tuberculosis. Understanding the relationship between microbiological markers measured during treatment and long-term clinical outcomes is critical to evaluate their usefulness for decision-making for both individual patient care and for advancing novel regimens into time-consuming and expensive pivotal phase III trials. Methods Using data from the randomized controlled phase III trial REMoxTB, we evaluated sputum-based markers of speed of clearance of bacilli: time to smear negative status; time to culture negative status on LJ or in MGIT; daily rate of change of log10(TTP) to day 56; and smear or culture results at weeks 6, 8 or 12; as individual- and trial-level surrogate endpoints for long-term clinical outcome. Results Time to culture negative status on LJ or in MGIT, time to smear negative status and daily rate of change in log10(TTP) were each independent predictors of clinical outcome, adjusted for treatment (p <0.001). However, discrimination between low and high risk patients, as measured by the c-statistic, was modest and not much higher than the reference model adjusted for BMI, history of smoking, HIV status, cavitation, gender and MGIT TTP. Conclusions Culture conversion during treatment for tuberculosis, however measured, has only a limited role in decision-making for advancing regimens into phase III trials or in predicting the outcome of treatment for individual patients. REMoxTB ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00864383.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Economic Crisis between Liberalization and Government Intervention

Abstract: The aim of this article is to provide a brief analysis of the current financial crisis, event that represents a major economic challenge and which reinforces the eternal dispute between the two economic thoughts: economic liberalization and government intervention. The analysis focuses on clarifying how these two concepts are represented, and the ways in which they have affected (or not) the recent events. Although the main variable in the crisis equation was supposed to be liberalization, this article finds out that it is the inadequate regulation that played an important role. In order to prevent such events, it is vital to properly understand the causes of the crisis and to identify the valuable lessons that can be learned