Deficient Reasoning for Dark Matter in Galaxies

Astronomers have been using the measured luminosity to estimate the {\em luminous mass} of stars, based on empirically established mass-to-light ratio which seems to be only applicable to a special class of stars---the main-sequence stars---with still considerable uncertainties. Another basic tool to determine the mass of a system of stars or galaxies comes from the study of their motion, as Newton demonstrated with his law of gravitation, which yields the {\em gravitational mass}. Because the luminous mass can at best only represent a portion of the gravitational mass, finding the luminous mass to be different or less than the gravitational mass should not be surprising. Using such an apparent discrepancy as a compelling evidence for the so-called dark matter, which has been believed to possess mysterious nonbaryonic properties and present a dominant amount in galaxies and the universe, seems to be too far a stretch when seriously examining the facts and uncertainties in the measurement techniques. In our opinion, a galaxy with star type distribution varying from its center to edge may have a mass-to-light ratio varying accordingly. With the thin-disk model computations based on measured rotation curves, we found that most galaxies have a typical mass density profile that peaks at the galactic center and decreases rapidly within $\sim 5$ of the cut-off radius, and then declines nearly exponentially toward the edge. The predicted mass density in the Galactic disk is reasonably within the reported range of that observed in interstellar medium. This leads us to believe that ordinary baryonic matter can be sufficient for supporting the observed galactic rotation curves; speculation of large amount of non-baryonic matter may be based on an ill-conceived discrepancy between gravitational mass and luminous mass which appears to be unjustified

Telemedicine platforms must be leveraged to strengthen rural health systems

[Extract] Telemedicine is a technology that has come of age, now it must be put to use to address inequities in cancer care. The principles and applications of telemedicine have undergone rapid evolution over the last two years globally.1, 2 Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the utilisation of telemedicine was largely driven by local champions and lacked systematic uptake despite Government investment and incentives at both state and commonwealth levels. The pandemic and the resulting need for social distancing saw rapid and widespread adoption of telephone and telehealth services aided by Government funding, even for patients in metropolitan areas. Now is the time to leverage this momentum to embed telemedicine in our health systems

The Perceptions and Experiences of Human Resources Recruiters Regarding Linkedin as an Online Personal Branding Representation of Recent Business Graduates

This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of Human Resource Recruiters regarding LinkedIn as an online personal branding representation of recent business program graduates by using a phenomenological approach. The population of interest comprises Human Resource Recruiters that use LinkedIn and hire recent business graduates.The recordings and or transcripts of the interviews were utilized to conduct an interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify broader themes across the data set. The identified themes follow the same order as the questions conducted during the sessions. The five themes that emerged are (1) Social platforms utilized by HR recruiters, (2) HR recruiters\u27 experiences of using LinkedIn in recruiting recent business graduates, (3) The LinkedIn profile and personal branding, (4) LinkedIn impression management behaviors observed by HR recruiters as best practices by job candidates, and (5) HR recruiters recommendations for managing their profile to communicate a solid personal brand

Whatever it takes: rivalry and unethical behavior

This research investigates the link between rivalry and unethical behavior. We propose that people will engage in greater unethical behavior when competing against their rivals than when competing against non-rival competitors. Across a series of experiments and an archival study, we find that rivalry is associated with increased use of deception, unsportsmanlike behavior, willingness to employ unethical negotiation tactics, and misreporting of performance. We also explore the psychological underpinnings of rivalry, which help to illuminate how it differs from general competition, and why it increases unethical behavior. Rivalry as compared to non-rival competition was associated with increased status concerns, contingency of self-worth, and performance goals; mediation analyses revealed that performance goals played the biggest role in explaining why rivalry promoted greater unethicality. Lastly, we find that merely thinking about a rival can be enough to promote greater unethical behavior, even in domains unrelated to the rivalry. These findings highlight the importance of rivalry as a widespread, powerful, yet largely unstudied phenomenon with significant organizational implications. Further, the results help to inform when and why unethical behavior occurs within organizations, and demonstrate that the effects of competition are dependent upon relationships and prior interactions

Production of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural from Glucose Using a Combination of Lewis and Brønsted Acid Catalysts in Water in a Biphasic Reactor with an Alkylphenol Solvent

We report the catalytic conversion of glucose in high yields (62%) to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a versatile platform chemical. The reaction system consists of a Lewis acid metal chloride (e.g., AlCl 3) and a Bronsted acid (HCl) in a biphasic reactor consisting of water and an alkylphenol compound (2-sec-butylphenol) as the organic phase. The conversion of glucose in the presence of Lewis and Bronsted acidity proceeds through a tandem pathway involving isomerization of glucose to fructose, followed by dehydration of fructose to HMF. The organic phase extracts 97% of the HMF produced, while both acid catalysts remain in the aqueous phase