What’s Trust Got to Do with It? Exploring Agricultural Science Podcast Producers’, Guests’, and Listeners’ Perceptions and Levels of Trust in Science

Little research to this point has examined food, agricultural, natural resource, and human science (FANRHS) podcast creation, the trustworthiness of the information presented, and the credibility of the individuals speaking on the podcast. The purpose of this study was to explore the level of trust in science of FANRHS podcast producers, guests, and listeners. The study followed an explanatory sequential mixed-method design beginning with an online survey instrument to measure trust in science and later, semi-structured interviews to further explore participants’ perceptions of trust and trust in science. Results showed participants had moderate to moderately high levels of trust in science. The study produced recommendations for podcast producers and guests regarding how to increase the credibility of their content and how to better foster science engagement. Future research should delineate trust based on various sub-topics within FANRHS and further explore specific communication tactics and framing strategies to create trusting relationships with podcast listeners

Podcasts in Production: An Examination of Current and Best Practices for Agricultural and Natural Resource Podcast Producers

Little research has been done on the production and use of podcasts in the fields of food, agriculture, natural resource, or human sciences (FANRHS). Currently, there is limited information for best practices on creating an effective FANRHS podcast to reach a target public audience. The purpose of this study was to examine existing practices and experiences of FANRHS podcast producers. The findings of this study will be of interest to organizations, institutions, and individuals who currently produce or are interested in producing an educational or science-based podcast. This study provided foundational information on podcast creation and maintenance. Future research should explore optimal podcast formats and content design to influence listeners’ perception and knowledge level on FANRHS science topics

Multi-Body Orbit Architectures for Lunar South Pole Coverage

A potential ground station at the lunar south pole has prompted studies of orbit architectures that ensure adequate coverage. Constant communications can be achieved with two spacecraft in different combinations of Earth-Moon libration point orbits. Halo and vertical families, as well as other orbits near L1 and L2 are considered. The investigation includes detailed results using nine different orbits with periods ranging from 7 to 16 days. Natural solutions are generated in a full ephemeris model, including solar perturbations. A preliminary station-keeping analysis is also completed

Can Anyone Hear Us? An Exploration of Echo Chambers at a Land-Grant University

Faculty at land-grant universities are expected to engage in some form of Extension, or science communication, as part of the land-grant mission. However, critics have claimed these institutions are out of touch with their stakeholders’ needs and faculty mainly communicate with others in academia. This engagement with a homogenous group reflects the concepts of echo chambers, where people are only exposed to information that aligns with their beliefs and current knowledge and discredit opposing information. An explanatory mixed-methods design was used to understand land-grant faculty’s engagement in echo chambers. A survey was distributed to a census of tenure-track faculty in the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to understand respondents’ engagement in echo chambers. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 13 of the survey respondents to further explore their audiences and channels used in science communication to understand their engagement in echo chambers. Survey results indicated faculty did not necessarily participate in echo chambers, but they also did not contribute to an open communication network. However, the interviews found participants were interested in reaching new audiences yet struggled to communicate with stakeholders. The participants also reported wanting to find alternative channels to peer reviewed journals to help disseminate their work. The findings from this study indicated faculty contributed to a type of echo chamber, but rather than viewing their stakeholders’ opinions as false, they simply did not hear the opinions. Agricultural communicators should work with land-grant faculty administrators to identify appropriate audiences and channels for science communication

Growing with the market : how changing conditions during market growth affect formation and evolution of interfirm ties

Research Summary: Market conditions are known to matter for firm performance and growth. This study explores how changing levels of uncertainty and competition affect interfirm ties of entrepreneurial firms as markets transition from nascent to growth stage. Tracing 6 entrepreneurial game publishers during the growth stage of the US wireless gaming market, the findings reveal that in a growth stage market, as uncertainty decreases, certain ties of entrepreneurial firms are terminated. First, existing partners may cut ties and become competitors after entering the market directly. This is a “winner's curse” as more successful firms are more likely to entice their partners to enter the market directly. Second, ties may be terminated as prominent firms that are “overwhelmed” with too many partners cut ties with low to mediocre performance while their remaining partners enter a positive spiral of tie strength and performance. Finally, as uncertainty decreases, new firms may enter the market as competitors to prominent firms. While entrepreneurial firms with high and low performing ties to prominent partners may find ties with these new entrants attractive, those with mediocre ties to few prominent partners find this move too risky and wait for a first mover to legitimate it. Overall, the findings show that changing levels of uncertainty and competition in growth stage markets can have different consequences for firms due to heterogeneity in their ties and power relative to partners. The findings provide several contributions to literature regarding the relationship between interfirm ties, firm performance, and market evolution. Managerial Summary: Based on interviews at 6 entrepreneurial game publishers in the US and their partners, this study shows how changing levels of uncertainty and competition in growing markets can have different consequences for firms based on the different types of alliances in their portfolio and their power relative to partners. The findings highlight the importance of managing partners differently based on alliance type and goal of the partner. They advocate remaining flexible in alliance management as information asymmetries, intentions and bargaining power of partners can change and lead to abrupt alliance dissolution. They show that alliance portfolio management goes beyond a firm's capability of managing individual alliances, and provide a tool for managers to evaluate their alliance portfolios and take the necessary precautions

Analysis of Capture Trajectories into Periodic Orbits About Libration Points

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77033/1/AIAA-33796-456.pd

phot1 inhibition of ABCB19 primes lateral auxin fluxes in the shoot apex required for phototropism

It is well accepted that lateral redistribution of the phytohormone auxin underlies the bending of plant organs towards light. In monocots, photoreception occurs at the shoot tip above the region of differential growth. Despite more than a century of research, it is still unresolved how light regulates auxin distribution and where this occurs in dicots. Here, we establish a system in Arabidopsis thaliana to study hypocotyl phototropism in the absence of developmental events associated with seedling photomorphogenesis. We show that auxin redistribution to the epidermal sites of action occurs at and above the hypocotyl apex, not at the elongation zone. Within this region, we identify the auxin efflux transporter ATP-BINDING CASSETTE B19 (ABCB19) as a substrate target for the photoreceptor kinase PHOTOTROPIN 1 (phot1). Heterologous expression and physiological analyses indicate that phosphorylation of ABCB19 by phot1 inhibits its efflux activity, thereby increasing auxin levels in and above the hypocotyl apex to halt vertical growth and prime lateral fluxes that are subsequently channeled to the elongation zone by PIN-FORMED 3 (PIN3). Together, these results provide new insights into the roles of ABCB19 and PIN3 in establishing phototropic curvatures and demonstrate that the proximity of light perception and differential phototropic growth is conserved in angiosperm

SBP-domain transcription factors as possible effectors of cryptochrome-mediated blue light signalling in the moss Physcomitrella patens

Cryptochromes are blue light absorbing photoreceptors found in many organisms and involved in numerous developmental processes. At least two highly similar cryptochromes are known to affect branching during gametophytic development in the moss Physcomitrella patens. We uncovered a relationship between these cryptochromes and the expression of particular members of the SBP-box genes, a plant specific transcription factor family. Transcript levels of the respective moss SBP-box genes, all belonging to the LG1-subfamily, were found to be dependent, albeit not exclusively, on blue light. Moreover, disruptant lines generated for two moss representatives of this SBP-box gene subfamily, both showed enhanced caulonema side branch formation, a phenotype opposite to that of the ppcry1a/1b double disruptant line. In this report we show that PpCRY1a and PpCRY1b act negatively on the transcript levels of several related moss SBP-box genes and that at least PpSBP1 and PpSBP4 act as negative regulators of side branch formation

Strategic implications of valuation methods

Author's OriginalStrategy is ultimately aimed at creating shareholder value, placing valuation in a central role linking finance and strategy. Focusing on growth options, this paper uses a unique "perfect information" model to examine, from a strategy point of view, the relationship between the market value of the firm and its intrinsic, or DCF, value. Although the research is at the level of the firm, the results have implications at the level of individual strategies and projects, since a firm can be conceptualized as a collection of projects. The findings highlight the relationship between the value of growth options and macroeconomic conditions, industry characteristics, and firm-specific factors. A revised version of this paper has since been published in the journal Advances in Strategic Management. Please use this version in your citations.Alessandri, T. M., Lander, D. M., & Bettis, R. A. (2007), Strategic Implications of Valuation: Evidence from Valuing Growth Options, in Professor Brian Silverman (ed.) Real Options Theory. Advances in Strategic Management, 24, 459-48

Export-Oriented International Joint Venture: Endogenous Set-Up Costs and Information Gathering

We analyze the formation of an export-oriented international joint venture (IJV) between a multinational corporation (MNC) and a domestic firm under demand uncertainty and in a principal-agent framework. The MNC possesses a superior production technology and is better at predicting foreign market demand. The domestic firm can reduce set-up costs of the IJV with effort levels that is endogenously determined. We examine how the MNC\u27s preference for, and the ownership structure of, a joint venture depend on the efficiency of information gathering and of cost reduction, and on the nature of credit markets. We find, inter alia, that when the credit constraint is severe the MNC does not push the domestic firm to its reservation profit level. A relaxation of the credit constraint facing the domestic firm never makes it better off and in fact makes the domestic firm worse off when the credit constraint is severe