eEnabled internet distribution for small and medium sized hotels: the case of hospitality SMEs in Athens

Advances in information and communications technologies (ICTs) have strategic implications for a wide range of industries. Tourism and hospitality have dramatically changed by the ICTs and the Internet and gradually emerge as the leading industry on online expenditure. The Internet revolutionised traditional distribution models, enabled new entries propelled both disintermediation and reintermediation and altered the sources of competitive advantage. This paper explores the strategic implications of ICTs and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of Internet distribution for small and medium-sized hospitality enterprises (SMEs). Primary research in Athens hotels demonstrates the effects of the Internet and ICTs for secondary markets, where there is lower penetration and ICT adoption. Interviews and questionnaires identified a number of strategies in order to optimise distribution. The analysis illustrates the strategic role of ICTs and the Internet for hospitality organisations and Small and Medium-sized organisations in general. Most hotels employ a distribution mix that determines the level and employment of the Internet. The paper demonstrates that only organisations that use ICTs strategically will be able to develop their electronic distribution and achieve competitive advantages in the future

The underdoped-overdoped transition in YBa_2Cu_3O_x

Oxygen doping in metallic YBa_2Cu_3O_x induces quadrupolar "alpha-ortho'', and breathing "beta-ortho" deformations of the CuO_2 planes. Breathing beta-ortho deformations favour hybridizations of the pd sigma Cu3d_x^2-y^2 - O2p_x,y with the pd pi Cu3d_x,z, 3d_y,z-O2p_z bands relaxing the confinement of the carriers in the overdoped regime, x>6.95.Comment: 2 pages (LaTex2e), 1 eps figure. Submitted to Physica

Intraplanar couplings in the CuO_2 lattice of cuprate superconductors

We have investigated the doping dependencies of the basal areas in single-layer high-T_c cuprates La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 and HgBa_2CuO_x, as well as in two-layer Y_{1-y}Ca_yBa_2Cu_3O_x and HgBa_2CaCu_2O_x. The basal areas not only tend to shrink on hole doping, as expected from single electron quantum chemistry, but exhibit also a "bulge'' around optimum doping. We attribute the "bulge'' to the effects of the strongly correlated quantum liquid on the CuO_2 lattice, rendering it nearly incompressible around optimum doping, but highly compressible in the weakly overdoped regime. Inhomogenous doping cannot account for this anomaly in the electronic compressibility of the CuO_2 lattice.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Physica C (Proc. M2S-HTSC-VII

Stewardship and Risk: An Empirically Grounded Theory of Organic Fish Farming in Scotland

It has long been assumed ownership gives farmers incentives to act as stewards for the land. On this basis, quasi-property rights are granted to fish farmers to encourage them to manage risks to the aquatic environment. This paper offers an empirically grounded theorization of fish farmers’ perspectives on these issues. Data were gathered via field research with Scottish salmon farmers who had switched from conventional to organic fish farmers’ risk management strategies offer little support for the view that property rights automatically create incentives for stewardship of the marine environment.Risk, organic, fish farming, grounded theory, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Techniques of public education employed with community groups by the Massachusetts Society for Mental Hygiene

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Cdk2 and Cdk4 cooperatively control the expression of Cdc2

Progression through the mammalian cell cycle is associated with the activity of four cyclin dependent kinases (Cdc2/Cdk1, Cdk2, Cdk4, and Cdk6). Knockout mouse models have provided insight into the interplay of these Cdks. Most of these models do not exhibit major cell cycle defects revealing redundancies, and suggesting that a single Cdk might be sufficient to drive the cell cycle, similar as in yeast. Recent work on Cdk2/Cdk4 double knockouts has indicated that these two Cdks are required to phosphorylate Rb during late embryogenesis. The lack of Rb phosphorylation is progressive and associated with reduced E2F-inducible gene expression. Cdk2 and Cdk4 share the essential function of coupling the G1/S transition with mitosis. However, proliferation in early embryogenesis appears to be independent of Cdk2 and Cdk4. We discuss these observations and propose molecular mechanisms that establish the requirement for Cdk2 and Cdk4 at the G1/S transition. We are considering that the balance between proliferation and differentiation is disturbed, which affects especially heart development and leads to embryonic lethality in Cdk2(-/-)Cdk4(-/- )mutants. We also discuss the specific functions of Cdk4 and Cdk6, which ironically do not compensate for each other

Production of a subunit vaccine candidate against porcine post-weaning diarrhea in high-biomass transplastomic tobacco

Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) in piglets is a major problem in piggeries worldwide and results in severe economic losses. Infection with Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the key culprit for the PWD disease. F4 fimbriae of ETEC are highly stable proteinaceous polymers, mainly composed of the major structural subunit FaeG, with a capacity to evoke mucosal immune responses, thus demonstrating a potential to act as an oral vaccine against ETEC-induced porcine PWD. In this study we used a transplastomic approach in tobacco to produce a recombinant variant of the FaeG protein, rFaeG(ntd/dsc), engineered for expression as a stable monomer by N-terminal deletion and donor strand-complementation (ntd/dsc). The generated transplastomic tobacco plants accumulated up to 2.0 g rFaeG(ntd/dsc) per 1 kg fresh leaf tissue (more than 1% of dry leaf tissue) and showed normal phenotype indistinguishable from wild type untransformed plants. We determined that chloroplast-produced rFaeG(ntd/dsc) protein retained the key properties of an oral vaccine, i.e. binding to porcine intestinal F4 receptors (F4R), and inhibition of the F4-possessing (F4+) ETEC attachment to F4R. Additionally, the plant biomass matrix was shown to delay degradation of the chloroplast-produced rFaeG(ntd/dsc) in gastrointestinal conditions, demonstrating a potential to function as a shelter-vehicle for vaccine delivery. These results suggest that transplastomic plants expressing the rFaeG(ntd/dsc) protein could be used for production and, possibly, delivery of an oral vaccine against porcine F4+ ETEC infections. Our findings therefore present a feasible approach for developing an oral vaccination strategy against porcine PWD