When would the intellectual background make a difference? or professors have been important for a long time, but what kind of professors?

Medieval accounting history affords a fertile ground for studying the impact of the intellectual background on the development of accounting itself. In such a study, four hypotheses can be proposed: that the intellectual background affects accounting only when it reaches out towards accounting practice; that this outreach occurs only when intellectuals have direct, personal contact with accounting practice; that developments in law, philosophy, and related humanities are important; and that developments in mathematics are not important

Introduction of Arabic numerals in European accounting

The general adoption of Arabic numerals by European bookkeepers occurred at least five hundred years after their introduction to the scholarly world. The early availability yet late adoption of this numeration is shown to be due to several factors, not least to interplay between the culture and cultural conservatism of clerks and the educational and intellectual changes of the early Italian Renaissance

The Internet, Not a Panacea: Distance Education in 2001: Working Paper Series--02-22

This paper directs attention to the conjunction among the hypertextural nature of the World Wide Web; recent literature and technical development in knowledge management; and the use of the World Wide Web for distance education, particularly in marketing contexts. We define and argue for the use of text-logging Internet applications based on HTML platforms as a significant component of university-level distance education

Preparation, characterization and in vitro response of bioactive coatings on polyether ether ketone.

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is a highly heat-resistant thermoplastic with excellent strength and elastic modulus similar to human bone, making it an attractive material for orthopedic implants. However, the hydrophobic surface of PEEK implants induces fibrous encapsulation which is unfavorable for stable implant anchorage. In this study, PEEK was coated via ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) using a two-layer design of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as a heat-protection layer, and hydroxyapatite (HA) as a top layer to improve osseointegration. Microstructural analysis of the coatings showed a dense, uniform columnar grain structure in the YSZ layer and no delamination from the substrate. The HA layer was found to be amorphous and free of porosities in its as-deposited state. Subsequent heat treatment via microwave energy followed by autoclaving crystallized the HA layer, confirmed by SEM and XRD analysis. An in vitro study using MC3T3 preosteoblast cells showed improved bioactivity in heat-treated sample groups. Cell proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization were analyzed by MTT assay and DNA content, osteocalcin expression, and Alizarin Red S (AR-S) content, respectively. Initial cell growth was increased, and osteogenic maturation and mineralization were accelerated most on coatings that underwent a combined microwave and autoclave heat treatment process as compared to uncoated PEEK and amorphous HA surfaces. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 560-567, 2017.Funded by National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health. Grant Number: R21DE022925This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.3357

The reality of construction

Stemming from a reflexion on the distrust or denigration of images that characterizes many philosophical or religious doctrines, from Moses' and Plato's condemnations, to empirist doctrines (Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Hume), this paper proposes a general theoretical argument about the nature of communication and discourse about it. The argument is motivated by some issues in media studies, but is not limited to them. In fact, we suggest that the media, rather than ruining communication (via the manipulation of images), reveal something profound about communication that was easier to leave implicit in earlier times. Thus they reactivate some of the fears that were present in various iconodastic traditions. What is being revealed is closely related to the well-known thesis of the social construction of reality. Our argument, here, is that this constructed character does not entail any need for generalized scepticism, and does not call for a hermeneutics of suspicion intent on unmasking manipulation or artifice. In fact, the social constructedness of social phenomena is in no way antithetic to their reality. If one recognizes that there is a "construction of reality", one can recognize as well that there is a reality to the construction, and finally admit with Lewis Mumford that... "all that can be called 'real' is the outcome of a multitude of sustained transactions and interrelations between the human organism and the environment".A partir d'une réflexion sur la méfiance ou la réprobation à l'égard des images que manifestent plusieurs traditions philosophiques ou religieuse, notamment la Loi mosaïque, la théorie platonicienne, et la tradition des empiristes anglais Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Hume, cet article propose une analyse plus générale de la nature de la communication et des discours qui s'y rapportent. Cette analyse s'appuie sur quelques exemples empruntés au domaine des médias, mais elle ne porte pas exclusivement sur ce domaine. Elle vise à démontrer que la production d'images à laquelle se livrent les médias, loin d'éliminer la possibilité d'une communication véritable, révèle en fait certaines des caractéristiques propres à toute communication. Ces caractéristiques étaient longtemps restées implicites. Avec l'événement des médias, elles émergent au grand jour, réactivant les craintes qui sous-tendent les grandes traditions iconoclastes. Ces caractéristiques renvoient à la thèse bien connue d'une construction sociale de la réalité. La position défendue ici est que, loin de devoir mener à un scepticisme généralisé, ou à une herméneutique du soupçon avant tout soucieuse de démasquer l'artifice ou la manipulation, le caractère construit des phénomènes sociaux ne s'oppose en rien à leur réalité. On peut alors parler non seulement d'une « construction de la réalité » mais aussi d'une « réalité des constructions », et soutenir avec Lewis Mumford, que ce qu'on baptise le « réel », n'est rien d'autre que le « résultat d'une multitude de transactions et d'échanges continus entre l'organisme humain et son environnement »

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Upsilon (1S+2S+3S) production in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV and cold-nuclear matter effects

The three Upsilon states, Upsilon(1S+2S+3S), are measured in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV and rapidities 1.2<|y|<2.2 by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider. Cross sections for the inclusive Upsilon(1S+2S+3S) production are obtained. The inclusive yields per binary collision for d+Au collisions relative to those in p+p collisions (R_dAu) are found to be 0.62 +/- 0.26 (stat) +/- 0.13 (syst) in the gold-going direction and 0.91 +/- 0.33 (stat) +/- 0.16 (syst) in the deuteron-going direction. The measured results are compared to a nuclear-shadowing model, EPS09 [JHEP 04, 065 (2009)], combined with a final-state breakup cross section, sigma_br, and compared to lower energy p+A results. We also compare the results to the PHENIX J/psi results [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 142301 (2011)]. The rapidity dependence of the observed Upsilon suppression is consistent with lower energy p+A measurements.Comment: 495 authors, 11 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Double Spin Asymmetry of Electrons from Heavy Flavor Decays in p+p Collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV

We report on the first measurement of double-spin asymmetry, A_LL, of electrons from the decays of hadrons containing heavy flavor in longitudinally polarized p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV for p_T= 0.5 to 3.0 GeV/c. The asymmetry was measured at mid-rapidity (|eta|<0.35) with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measured asymmetries are consistent with zero within the statistical errors. We obtained a constraint for the polarized gluon distribution in the proton of |Delta g/g(log{_10}x= -1.6^+0.5_-0.4, {mu}=m_T^c)|^2 < 0.033 (1 sigma), based on a leading-order perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics model, using the measured asymmetry.Comment: 385 authors, 17 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm