Reconceptualising Hierarchies: The Disaggregation and Dispersion of Headquarters in Multinational Corporations

In this paper, we provide an introduction to the Special Issue entitled "Divide and Rule? The Emergence and Implications of Increasingly Disaggregated and Dispersed Headquarters Activities in Contemporary Firms". The purpose is two-fold. First, we propose a conceptualization of headquarters activities as a dynamic system in which activities can be distributed organizationally and spatially. We explicitly break with the dominant view of the prior research on "the headquarters" as a single, identifiable unit in one specific location. Second, building on the manuscripts accepted for publication in this Special Issue, we outline research implications and put forward an agenda for research on the emergence and continuous management of disaggregated and dispersed headquarters systems

Constraints in the Adoption of Cage Aquaculture Practices in Ernakulam District, Kerala

The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) implements a project entitled, “Village Adoption for Empowerment and Capacity Building Ensuring Livelihood of Fisherfolk in Central Kerala” from 2015 onwards with the objective of increasing fish production, creating employment opportunities to the fisher folk, thus ensuring livelihood security to them. The University is giving special emphasis on promoting cage aquaculture of variety of species in suitable areas and providing both technical and financial support to its beneficiary farmers for establishing small scale units. The present study was carried out in Ernakulam District of the Kerala State with the objective of identifying the constraints faced by 80 beneficiary farmers engaged in cage aquaculture of Asian seabass. The constraints faced by the cage aquaculture farmers were classified into three categories namely technical, economic and infrastructural/ administrative constraints. The most important constraints were non -availability of quality seeds, high cost of feed and lack of timely and adequate supply of seeds

Food Consumption Pattern among School Going Children in a Rural Area of Kerala

A study was conducted to assess the socioeconomic details and food consumption pattern of school children in a rural community. A total of 100 children in the age group of 10-12 years in Ernakulam district of Kerala was selected using simple random sampling. Interview method with the help of structured and pretested schedule was used to collect the data. The frequency of consumption of different foods was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. The findings revealed high consumption of rice, milk & milk products, sugar & jaggery, fats & edible oils, medium consumption of vegetables & non vegetarian items, and low consumption of pulses, nuts, oil seeds & fruits. This indicates the poor socioeconomic status prevailing in the area under study.

Algorithms for identification and categorization

The main features of a family of efficient algorithms for recognition and classification of complex patterns are briefly reviewed. They are inspired in the observation that fast synaptic noise is essential for some of the processing of information in the brain.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Uniformly rigid spaces and Néron models of formally finite type

Im ersten Teil der vorliegenden Dissertation definiere und untersuche ich die Kategorie der uniform rigiden Räume über einem vollständig diskret bewerteten Körper. Uniform rigide Räume sind nicht-archimedische analytische Räume. Sie erlauben es, die generische Faser eines formellen Schemas formell endlichen Typs als ein quasi-kompaktes Objekt zu betrachten, welches mit einer Strukturgarbe von beschränkten Funktionen versehen ist. Im zweiten Teil meiner Arbeit studiere ich formelle Néron-Modelle uniform rigider Räume, wobei ich formelle Schemata formell endlichen Typs zugrunde lege. Unter Zuhilfenahme von Kompaktifizierungen uniform rigider Räume zeige ich, dass formelle Néron-Modelle rigider Räume in vielen Fällen formelle Néron-Modellen zugehöriger uniform rigider Räume induzieren. Hierauf aufbauend beschreibe ich Konstruktionsmethoden für formelle Néron-Modelle uniform rigider Räume, und ich diskutiere Anwendungen hinsichtlich der Berechnung des Basiswechselführers abelscher Varietäten mit potentiell multiplikativer Reduktion. In the first part of my thesis, I define and study the category of uniformly rigid spaces over a complete discretely valued field. Uniformly rigid spaces are non-archimedean analytic spaces that can be described using the language of locally G-ringed spaces. They make it possible to consider the generic fiber of a formal scheme of formally finite type as a quasi-compact object which is equipped with a structural sheaf of bounded functions. In the second part of my dissertation, I study formal Néron models for uniformly rigid spaces, which are formal schemes of formally finite type. Using certain compactifications of uniformly rigid spaces, I show that classical formal Néron models for rigid spaces often induce formal Néron models of associated uniformly rigid spaces. Building upon these results, I describe construction techniques for formal Néron models of uniformly rigid spaces, and I discuss applications regarding the computation of the base change conductor for abelian varieties with potentially multiplicative reduction

Conventional Vs. Islamic Finance: the Impact of Ramadan Upon Sharia-compliant Markets

The Islamic financial industry is growing at a rate 50% faster than that of conventional banking and is expected to be worth USD 2.1 trillion by the end of 2014. This rapid growth and institutionalization of an alternative financial market highlights a growing need to further investigate Sharia-compliant markets and how they compare with their conventional market counterparts. This paper investigates this broad relationship by focusing on the effects of Ramadan upon the performance of Sharia-compliant financial instruments. Specifically, we utilize an event-study methodology to compare the performance of Sharia-compliant stocks to their conventional counterparts across a large sample of countries and regions. We find strong evidence for a significant Ramadan effect within Muslim majority countries and regions. The effect is strongest in the days leading up to Ramadan, and also around the beginning of Ramadan’s third Ashra on the 20th day. This timing reflects the mental, emotional and practical preparations that individuals go through during the course of the month-long observance. These results are not consistent with traditional economic expectations and therefore reflect the unique socially-embedded nature of this emerging and religiously inspired financial system

Stereo-EEG exploration in the insula/operculum in paediatric patients with refractory epilepsy

PURPOSE: Failure to recognise involvement of the insula / opercula (I/O) region is associated with poor outcome in epilepsy surgery. Recognition is challenging due to high connectivity with adjacent structures resulting in variable and misleading semiology, often subjective and therefore likely to be underreported by children. In this study we explored prevalence and characteristics of I/O involvement in paediatric patients undergoing sEEG exploration. METHOD: We retrospectively included all consecutive patients undergoing sEEG at our centre between 11/2014 and 01/2018 with at least three contacts within I/O and excluded those with undetermined seizure onset zone (SOZ) by sEEG. We divided patients into three groups: 1) SOZ in I/O, 2) spread to I/O and 3) no I/O involvement. We compared pre-invasive characteristics, sEEG results, surgery and outcome for each group. RESULTS: 29 of all 53 consecutive patients had an identified SOZ by sEEG and at least three contacts within the I/O and were included. 41% had I/O SOZ, 38% had I/O spread and 21% had no I/O involvement. Insula associated symptoms described in adult literature were not statistically different between the three groups. Complications due to sEEG were low (2 of 53 patients). Following I/O surgery, 63% were seizure free while an additional 26% of patients achieved seizure reduction. Postoperative deficits were seen in 75% of the patients but completely resolved in all but one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest an important role of the I/O region with frequent onset or propagation to the I/O region (at least 64% of all 53 sEEG cases). Semiology appears less specific than in adults. Insula depth electrode insertion is safe with subsequent good surgical outcomes albeit common transient deficits

Crossover between Levy and Gaussian regimes in first passage processes

We propose a new approach to the problem of the first passage time. Our method is applicable not only to the Wiener process but also to the non--Gaussian L$\acute{\rm e}$vy flights or to more complicated stochastic processes whose distributions are stable. To show the usefulness of the method, we particularly focus on the first passage time problems in the truncated L$\acute{\rm e}$vy flights (the so-called KoBoL processes), in which the arbitrarily large tail of the L$\acute{\rm e}$vy distribution is cut off. We find that the asymptotic scaling law of the first passage time $t$ distribution changes from $t^{-(\alpha +1)/\alpha}$-law (non-Gaussian L$\acute{\rm e}$vy regime) to $t^{-3/2}$-law (Gaussian regime) at the crossover point. This result means that an ultra-slow convergence from the non-Gaussian L$\acute{\rm e}$vy regime to the Gaussian regime is observed not only in the distribution of the real time step for the truncated L$\acute{\rm e}$vy flight but also in the first passage time distribution of the flight. The nature of the crossover in the scaling laws and the scaling relation on the crossover point with respect to the effective cut-off length of the L$\acute{\rm e}$vy distribution are discussed.Comment: 18pages, 7figures, using revtex4, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Altered gene expression and spongiotrophoblast differentiation in placenta from a mouse model of diabetes in pregnancy

Aims/hypothesis: Pregnancies complicated by diabetes have a higher risk of adverse outcomes for mothers and children, including predisposition to disease later in life, e.g. metabolic syndrome and hypertension. We hypothesised that adverse outcomes from diabetic pregnancies may be linked to compromised placental function, and sought to identify cellular and molecular abnormalities in diabetic placenta. Methods: Using a mouse model of diabetic pregnancy, placental gene expression was assayed at mid-gestation and cellular composition analysed at various stages. Genome-wide expression profiling was validated by quantitative PCR and tissue localisation studies were performed to identify cellular correlates of altered gene expression in diabetic placenta. Results: We detected significantly altered gene expression in diabetic placenta for genes expressed in the maternal and those expressed in the embryonic compartments. We also found altered cellular composition of the decidual compartment. In addition, the junctional and labyrinth layers were reduced in diabetic placenta, accompanied by aberrant differentiation of spongiotrophoblast cells. Conclusions/interpretation: Diabetes during pregnancy alters transcriptional profiles in the murine placenta, affecting cells of embryonic and maternal origin, and involving several genes not previously implicated in diabetic pregnancies. The molecular changes and abnormal differentiation of multiple cell types precede impaired growth of junctional zone and labyrinth, and of placenta overall. Regardless of whether these changes represent direct responses to hyperglycaemia or are physiological adaptations, they are likely to play a role in pregnancy complications and outcomes, and to have implications for developmental origins of adult disease. © 2011 Springer-Verlag