Family Offices and Institutional Change in Europe: A Comparative Analysis

This study analyzes the changes in the institutional contexts of family offices in four major European economies. Drawing on institutional theory and considering capitalist varieties, it uses a qualitative content analysis of the newspaper coverage in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, and France from 2000 to 2018. The findings reveal significant changes in the regulatory environment in most countries, few changes in the normative dimension, and an increase in critical articles over time. They add to the literature on institutional change in and across countries by identifying new types of drivers of change in the context of family offices

How does entrepreneurship education affect employability? Insights from UK higher education

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the underexplored link between entrepreneurship education (EE) and graduate employability in the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK).Design/methodology/approach: The study draws on a thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 45 professionals in UK HE, representing the “supply” side of EE.Findings: The findings demonstrate a unidirectional link between EE and employability outcomes. This link is affected by societal, stakeholder-related, and teaching and learning-related factors.Research limitations/implications: Although the value of universities’ initiatives connecting EE and employability for economic development is emphasized, the study does not provide direct empirical evidence for this effect. Macroeconomic research is needed.Practical implications: EE and employability would benefit from knowledge exchange between universities’ stakeholders and a broader understanding of what constitutes a valuable graduate outcome.Social implications: The study reveals the benefits of EE on a micro level. Participation in EE supports the connection between individual investments in HE and employability.Originality/value: Based on human capital theory, many policymakers regard EE as a vehicle through which the relationship between investments in HE and career success on a micro level and economic growth on a macro level can be nurtured. Challenging this logic, the study highlights the potential of institutional theory to explain a contextualization of the link between EE and employability on a national level

a methodology for understanding path dependence and path creation

Although an increasing number of studies of technological, institutional and organizational change refer to the concepts of path dependence and path creation, few attempts have been made to consider these concepts explicitly in their methodological accounts. This paper addresses this gap and contributes to the literature by developing a comprehensive methodology that originates from the concepts of path dependence and path creation – path constitution analysis (PCA) – and allows for the integration of multi-actor constellations on multiple levels of analysis within a process perspective. Based upon a longitudinal case study in the field of semiconductors, we illustrate PCA ‘in action’ as a template for other researchers and critically examine its adequacy. We conclude with implications for further path-oriented inquiries

Filling in roadmap gaps in the semiconductor industry

Complex technologies are often developed in inter-organisational networks as actors try to reduce development costs and uncertainty about the viability of these innovations. However, as of to date it remains unclear how such innovations are financed collectively under conditions characterised by extreme uncertainty. Hence we explore how financial resources within innovation networks are mobilised and allocated. This question is of particular importance to the development of system technologies that are viable only if all critical components are functional on time. We explore this issue by reviewing the development of a radically new system technology for mass manufacturing microchips in the semiconductor industry. In this industry, technological roadmaps allow actors to identify critical components that still need to be developed. These components are the so-called roadmap gaps. However, suppliers can be reluctant to develop the required components at their own expense because of the high uncertainties involved. In such cases, providing financial support to component suppliers is a central task of innovation networks. The empirical analysis shows that semiconductor manufacturers take both an individual and a collective approach to filling roadmap gaps. This study contributes to prior research on innovation networks and financial management not only by identifying and clarifying these two approaches, but also by revealing under which conditions they are used. The findings are particularly relevant to scholars interested in the innovations of complex product systems (CoPS)

OpenMS - A Framework for Quantitative HPLC/MS-Based Proteomics

In the talk we describe the freely available software library OpenMS which is currently under development at the Freie Universität Berlin and the Eberhardt-Karls Universität Tübingen. We give an overview of the goals and problems in differential proteomics with HPLC and then describe in detail the implemented approaches for signal processing, peak detection and data reduction currently employed in OpenMS. After this we describe methods to identify the differential expression of peptides and propose strategies to avoid MS/MS identification of peptides of interest. We give an overview of the capabilities and design principles of OpenMS and demonstrate its ease of use. Finally we describe projects in which OpenMS will be or was already deployed and thereby demonstrate its versatility

Effects of spermidine supplementation on cognition and biomarkers in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SmartAge)—study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Given the global increase in the aging population and age-related diseases, the promotion of healthy aging is one of the most crucial public health issues. This trial aims to contribute to the establishment of effective approaches to promote cognitive and brain health in older individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Presence of SCD is known to increase the risk of objective cognitive decline and progression to dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, it is our primary goal to determine whether spermidine supplementation has a positive impact on memory performance in this at-risk group, as compared with placebo. The secondary goal is to examine the effects of spermidine intake on other neuropsychological, behavioral, and physiological parameters. Methods: The SmartAge trial is a monocentric, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIb trial. The study will investigate 12 months of intervention with spermidine-based nutritional supplementation (target intervention) compared with 12months of placebo intake (control intervention). We plan to recruit 100 cognitively normal older individuals with SCD from memory clinics, neurologists and general practitioners in private practice, and the general population. Participants will be allocated to one of the two study arms using blockwise randomization stratified by age and sex with a 1:1 allocation ratio. The primary outcome is the change in memory performance between baseline and post-intervention visits (12 months after baseline). Secondary outcomes include the change in memory performance from baseline to follow-up assessment (18months after baseline), as well as changes in neurocognitive, behavioral, and physiological parameters (including blood and neuroimaging biomarkers), assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Discussion: The SmartAge trial aims to provide evidence of the impact of spermidine supplementation on memory performance in older individuals with SCD. In addition, we will identify possible neurophysiological mechanisms of action underlying the anticipated cognitive benefits. Overall, this trial will contribute to the establishment of nutrition intervention in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease

Observations of preferential summer melt of Arctic sea-ice ridge keels from repeated multibeam sonar surveys

Sea-ice ridges constitute a large fraction of the total Arctic sea-ice area (up to 40 %–50 %); nevertheless, they are the least studied part of the ice pack. Here we investigate sea-ice melt rates using rare, repeated underwater multibeam sonar surveys that cover a period of 1 month during the advanced stage of sea-ice melt. Bottom melt increases with ice draft for first- and second-year level ice and a first-year ice ridge, with an average of 0.46, 0.55, and 0.95 m of total snow and ice melt in the observation period, respectively. On average, the studied ridge had a 4.6 m keel bottom draft, was 42 m wide, and had 4 % macroporosity. While bottom melt rates of ridge keel were 3.8 times higher than first-year level ice, surface melt rates were almost identical but responsible for 40 % of ridge draft decrease. Average cross-sectional keel melt ranged from 0.2 to 2.6 m, with a maximum point ice loss of 6 m, showcasing its large spatial variability. We attribute 57 % of the ridge total (surface and bottom) melt variability to keel draft (36 %), slope (32 %), and width (27 %), with higher melt for ridges with a larger draft, a steeper slope, and a smaller width. The melt rate of the ridge keel flanks was proportional to the draft, with increased keel melt within 10 m of its bottom corners and the melt rates between these corners comparable to the melt rates of level ice.</p

Seasonal variations of hydrographic parameters off the Sudanese coast of the Red Sea, 2009–2015

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Regional Studies in Marine Science 18 (2018): 1-10, doi:10.1016/j.rsma.2017.12.004.The variations of temperature and salinity in the Sudanese coastal zone of the Red Sea are studied for the first time using measurements acquired from survey cruises during 2009–2013 and from a mooring during 2014–2015. The measurements show that temperature and salinity variability above the permanent pycnocline is dominated by seasonal signals, similar in character to seasonal temperature and salinity oscillations observed further north on the eastern side of the Red Sea. Using estimates of heat flux, circulation and horizontal temperature/salinity gradients derived from a number of sources, we determined that the observed seasonal signals of temperature and salinity are not the product of local heat and mass flux alone, but are also due to alongshore advection of waters with spatially varying temperature and salinity. As the temperature and salinity gradients, characterized by warmer and less saline water to the south, exhibit little seasonal variation, the seasonal salinity and temperature variations are closely linked to an observed seasonal oscillation in the along-shore flow, which also has a mean northward component. We find that the inclusion of the advection terms in the heat and mass balance has two principal effects on the computed temperature and salinity series. One is that the steady influx of warmer and less saline water from the south counteracts the long-term trend of declining temperatures and rising salinities computed with only the local surface flux terms, and produces a long-term steady state in temperature and salinity. The second effect is produced by the seasonal alongshore velocity oscillation and most profoundly affects the computed salinity, which shows no seasonal signal without the inclusion of the advective term. In both the observations and computed results, the seasonal salinity signal lags that of temperature by roughly 3 months.The SPS surveys were funded by the Norwegian Norad’s Program for Master Studies and organized by IMR–RSU in Port Sudan. The central Red Sea mooring data were acquired as part of a WHOI–KAUST collaboration funded by Award Nos. USA00001, USA00002, and KSA00011 to the WHOI by the KAUST in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The work of I. Skjelvan and A.M. Omar was partly supported by the Research Council of Norway through the MIMT Center for Research-based Innovation. This work is part of a Ph.D. project at GFI–UiB funded by the Norwegian Quota program

In Silico Evaluation of a Self-powered Venous Ejector Pump for Fontan Patients

Purpose The Fontan circulation carries a dismal prognosis in the long term due to its peculiar physiology and lack of a subpulmonic ventricle. Although it is multifactorial, elevated IVC pressure is accepted to be the primary cause of Fontan's high mortality and morbidity. This study presents a self-powered venous ejector pump (VEP) that can be used to lower the high IVC venous pressure in single-ventricle patients. Methods A self-powered venous assist device that exploits the high-energy aortic flow to lower IVC pressure is designed. The proposed design is clinically feasible, simple in structure, and is powered intracorporeally. The device's performance in reducing IVC pressure is assessed by conducting comprehensive computational fluid dynamics simulations in idealized total cavopulmonary connections with different offsets. The device was finally applied to complex 3D reconstructed patient-specific TCPC models to validate its performance. Results The assist device provided a significant IVC pressure drop of more than 3.2 mm Hg in both idealized and patient-specific geometries, while maintaining a high systemic oxygen saturation of more than 90%. The simulations revealed no significant caval pressure rise ( 84%) in the event of device failure, demonstrating its fail-safe feature. Conclusions A self-powered venous assist with promising in silico performance in improving Fontan hemodynamics is proposed. Due to its passive nature, the device has the potential to provide palliation for the growing population of patients with failing Fontan.publishedVersio

Arctic fishes in the Barents Sea 2004-2015: Changes in abundance and distribution

The Barents Sea is one of nine shelf ecosystem survey bordering the Arctic Basin. The Arctic region is warming faster than the rest of the world. In the Barents Sea the years since 2000 were the warmest since the onset of regular measurements (1900, Bochkov 1982, ICES 2016) and paleo-records based on foraminifera even suggest that the Atlantic Water flowing into to the Barents Sea area was at its warmest for the last 2000 years (Spielhagen et al. 2011). As a result the extent of Arctic Water with sub-zero temperatures and sea ice is shrinking in the Barents Sea (e.g. ICES 2016). The changes in hydrographic conditions change the conditions for the poorly known Arctic fish fauna in the region. Here we present for the first time results on trends in abundance and distribution of demersal Arctic fishes in the northern Barents Sea.publishedVersio