Why are scientists not managers!?:the importance of interdisciplinary skills in business and science

Research is the translation from money to knowledge. Innovation is the metamorphosis of knowledge to money. Thus, business management and science are interdependent. That is no big news. But, in an ever faster changing economy, companies need a new type of scientist. Someone who knows not only science, but also business administration and management. Can the educational system satisfy those needs? In our opinion more work needs to be done – especially in the minds of scientists and managers alike

The pressure-volume-temperature relationship of cellulose

Pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) mea- surements of a-cellulose with different water contents, were performed at temperatures from 25 to 180 °C and pressures from 19.6 to 196 MPa. PVT measurements allowed observation of the combined effects of pressure and temperature on the specific volume during cellulose thermo-compression. All isobars showed a decrease in cellulose specific volume with temperature. This densification is associated with a transition process of the cellulose, occurring at a temperature defined by the inflection point Tt of the isobar curve. Tt decreases from 110 to 40 °C with pressure and is lower as moisture content increases. For isobars obtained at high pressures and high moisture contents, after attaining a minimum, an increase in volume is observed with temperature that may be related to free water evaporation. PVT a-cellulose experimental data was compared with predicted values from a regression analysis of the Tait equations of state, usually applied to synthetic polymers. Good correla- tions were observed at low temperatures and low pressures. The densification observed from the PVT experimental data, at a temperature that decreases with pressure, could result from a sintering phenomenon, but more research is needed to actually understand the cohesion mechanism under these conditions

Urban informality and confinement: toward a relational framework

In the 21st century, a growing number of people live ‘informal’ lives within fissures between legality and informality. Concomitantly, power relations are increasingly expressed through devices of confinement. While urban informality and confinement are on the rise often occurring simultaneously, scholars have so far studied them separately. By contrast, this article proposes a new framework for analysing urban informality and confinement relationally. It generates new insights into the role of informality in the (re)production of confinement and, vice versa, the role of confinement in shaping informal practices. While these insights are valuable for urban studies in general, the article charts new lines of research on urban marginality. It also discusses how the six articles included in this special issue signal the heuristic potential of this relational framework by empirically examining distinct urban configurations of ‘confined informalities’ and ‘informal confinements’ across the Global North and the Global South

Precision measurement of the neutron β-decay asymmetry

A new measurement of the neutron β-decay asymmetry A_0 has been carried out by the UCNA Collaboration using polarized ultracold neutrons (UCNs) from the solid deuterium UCN source at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Improvements in the experiment have led to reductions in both statistical and systematic uncertainties leading to A_0=−0.11954(55)_(stat)(98)_(syst), corresponding to the ratio of axial-vector to vector coupling λ ≡ g_A/g_V = −1.2756(30)

First direct constraints on Fierz interference in free-neutron β decay

Precision measurements of free-neutron β decay have been used to precisely constrain our understanding of the weak interaction. However, the neutron Fierz interference term b_n, which is particularly sensitive to beyond-standard-model tensor currents at the TeV scale, has thus far eluded measurement. Here we report the first direct constraints on this term, finding b_n=0.067±0.005_(stat)^(+0.090)_(−0.061)_(sys), consistent with the standard model. The uncertainty is dominated by absolute energy reconstruction and the linearity of the β spectrometer energy response

Effects of Alterations in Cannabinoid Signaling, Alone and in Combination with Morphine, on Pain-Elicited and Pain-Suppressed Behavior in Mice

Inhibitors of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and anandamide (AEA) uptake, which limit the degradation of endogenous cannabinoids, have received interest as potential therapeutics for pain. There is also evidence that endogenous cannabinoids mediate the antinociceptive effects of opioids. Assays of pain-elicited and pain-suppressed behavior have been used to differentiate the effects of drugs that specifically alter nociception from drugs that alter nociception caused by nonspecific effects such as catalepsy or a general suppression of activity. Using such procedures, this study examines the effects of the direct cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) agonist (−)-cis-3-[2-hydroxy-4-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)phenyl]-trans-4-(3-hydroxypropyl)cyclohexanol (CP55940), the FAAH inhibitor cyclohexylcarbamic acid 3′-carbamoylbiphenyl-3-yl ester (URB597), and the AEA uptake inhibitor N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) arachidonylamide (AM404). Additional experiments examined these compounds in combination with morphine. CP55940 produced antinociception in assays of pain-elicited, but not pain-suppressed, behavior and disrupted responding in an assay of schedule-controlled behavior. URB597 and AM404 produced antinociception in assays of pain-elicited and pain-suppressed behavior in which acetic acid was the noxious stimulus, but had no effect on the hotplate and schedule-controlled responding. CP55940 in combination with morphine resulted in effects greater than those of morphine alone in assays of pain-elicited and scheduled-controlled behavior but not pain-suppressed behavior. URB597 in combination with morphine resulted in enhanced morphine effects in assays of pain-elicited and pain-suppressed behavior in which diluted acetic acid was the noxious stimulus, but did not alter morphine's effects on the hotplate or schedule-controlled responding. These studies suggest that, compared with direct CB1 agonists, manipulations of endogenous cannabinoid signaling have enhanced clinical potential; however, their effects depend on the type of noxious stimulus

Effects of morphine on pain-elicited and pain-suppressed behavior in CB1 knockout and wildtype mice

Pharmacological manipulations of the type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1) suggest a role for CB1 in morphine-induced antinociception, but studies utilizing CB1 knockout (KO) mice do not support this conclusion. Since studies using CB1 KO mice to study morphine’s antinociceptive effects have only examined thermal nociception, this study examines these interactions in models that employ a chemical stimulus