Experience maketh the mind? Top management teams’ experiential background and cognitive search for adaptive solutions

The adaptive strategies of firms depend on executives’ forward-looking cognitive search. We examine how cognitive search is affected by the formative experiences of the executives making up a firm’s top management team (TMT). Drawing on research on adaptive search, cognition, and the upper echelons, we examine the extent to which educational level, diversity of functional expertise, and the length of industry tenure of TMT members will be associated with whether cognitive search centers more on proximal or on distal solutions. Analysis of 10 years of panel-data from US companies shows that whereas a TMT’s educational level does not seem to affect cognitive search, diversity of functional expertise does so, as predicted, and industry tenure does so in a manner we had not fully anticipated. Additional analysis also shows that whether cognitive search is proximal or distal is associated with whether firms enter into related or unrelated new product-markets. The article discusses the implications of these findings

Usefulness of coronary calcium scoring to myocardial perfusion SPECT in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease in a predominantly high risk population

Coronary calcium scoring (CCS) adds to the diagnostic performance of myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to assess the presence of significant coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients with a high pre-test likelihood are expected to have a high CCS which potentially could enhance the diagnostic performance of myocardial perfusion SPECT in this specific patient group. We evaluated the added value of CCS to SPECT in the diagnosis of significant CAD in patients with an intermediate to high pre-test likelihood. In total, 129 patients (mean age 62.7 +/- A 9.7 years, 65 % male) with stable anginal complaints and intermediate to high pre-test likelihood of CAD (median 87 %, range 22-95) were prospectively included in this study. All patients received SPECT and CCS imaging preceding invasive coronary angiography (CA). Fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements were acquired from patients with angiographically estimated 50-95 % obstructive CAD. For SPECT a SSS > 3 was defined significant CAD. For CCS the optimal cut-off value for significant CAD was determined by ROC curve analysis. The reference standard for significant CAD was a FFR of < 0.80 acquired by CA. Significant CAD was demonstrated in 64 patients (49.6 %). Optimal CCS cut-off value for significant CAD was > 182.5. ROC curve analysis for prediction of the presence of significant CAD for SPECT, CCS and the combination of CCS and SPECT resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88 (95 % CI 81-94), 0.75 (95 % CI 66-83 %) and 0.92 (95 % CI 87-97 %) respectively. The difference of the AUC between SPECT and the combination of CCS and SPECT was 0.05 (P = 0.12). The addition of CCS did not significantly improve the diagnostic performance of SPECT in the evaluation of patients with a predominantly high pre-test likelihood of CAD

Selectivity in enrichment of cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulatory subunits type I and type II and their interactors using modified cAMP affinity resins.

cAMP regulates cellular functions primarily by activating PKA. The involvement of PKAs in various signaling pathways occurring simultaneously in different cellular compartments necessitates stringent spatial and temporal regulation. This specificity is largely achieved by binding of PKA to protein scaffolds, whereby a distinct group of proteins called A kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) play a dominant role. AKAPs are a diverse family of proteins that all bind via a small PKA binding domain to the regulatory subunits of PKA. The binding affinities between PKA and several AKAPs can be different for different isoforms of the regulatory subunits of PKA. Here we employ a combination of affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics to investigate specificity in PKA-AKAP interactions. Three different immobilized cAMP analogs were used to enrich for PKA and its interacting proteins from several systems; HEK293 and RCC10 cells and rat lung and testis tissues. Stable isotope labeling was used to confidently identify and differentially quantify target proteins and their preferential binding affinity for the three different cAMP analogs. We were able to enrich all four isoforms of the regulatory subunits of PKA and concomitantly identify more than 10 AKAPs. A selective enrichment of the PKA RI isoforms could be achieved; which allowed us to unravel which AKAPs bind preferentially to the RI or RII regulatory domains of PKA. Of the twelve AKAPs detected, seven preferentially bound to RII, whereas the remaining five displayed at least dual specificity with a potential preference for RI. For some of these AKAPs our data provide the first insights into their specificity

Incremental diagnostic accuracy of hybrid SPECT/CT coronary angiography in a population with an intermediate to high pre-test likelihood of coronary artery disease

Aims Hybrid myocardial perfusion imaging with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and CT coronary angiography (CCTA) has the potential to play a major role in patients with non-conclusive SPECT or CCTA results. We evaluated the performance of hybrid SPECT/CCTA vs. standalone SPECT and CCTA for the diagnosis of significant coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with an intermediate to high pre-test likelihood of CAD. Methods In total, 98 patients (mean age 62.5 +/- 10.1 years, 68.4% male) with stable anginal complaints and a median pre-test and results likelihood of 87% (range 22-95%) were prospectively included in this study. Hybrid SPECT/CCTA was performed prior to conventional coronary angiography (CA) including fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements. Hybrid analysis was performed by combined interpretation of SPECT and CCTA images. The sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV), and negative (NPV) pred Conclusions In > 40% of the patients with a high pre-test likelihood no significant CAD was demonstrated, emphasizing the value of accurate pre-treatment cardiovascular imaging. Hybrid SPECT/CCTA was able to accurately diagnose and exclude significant CAD surpassing standalone myocardial SPECT and CCTA, vs. a reference standard of FFR measurements

The northward extension of reptiles in the Palearctic, with the Jordan Valley (Israel) as a model: snakes outrace lizards (Reptilia: Squamata)

Figure 2. The geographical distribution, in the study area, of the records of two lizard species: Mesalina guttulata (Lacertidae), open circles, and Tropiocolotes nattereri (Gekkonidae), solid circles. Some key localities for orientation are shown in Figure 1.Published as part of Shacham, Boaz, Federman, Roy, Lahav-Ginott, Shimrit & Werner, Yehudah L., 2015, The northward extension of reptiles in the Palearctic, with the Jordan Valley (Israel) as a model: snakes outrace lizards (Reptilia: Squamata), pp. 1017-1033 in Journal of Natural History 50 on page 1022, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1083057, http://zenodo.org/record/399011