Making the Numbers? "Short Termism" & the Puzzle of Only Occasional Disaster

Much recent work in strategy and popular discussion suggests that an excessive focus on “managing the numbers” ―delivering quarterly earnings at the expense of longer term investments―makes it difficult for firms to make the investments necessary to build competitive advantage. “Short termism” has been blamed for everything from the decline of the US automobile industry to the low penetration of techniques such as TQM and continuous improvement. Yet a vigorous tradition in the accounting literature establishes that firms routinely sacrifice long-term investment to manage earnings and are rewarded for doing so. This paper presents a model that reconciles these apparently contradictory perspectives. We show that if the source of long-term advantage is modeled as a stock of capability that accumulates over time, a firm’s proclivity to manage short-term earnings at the expense of long-term investment can have very different consequences depending on whether the firm’s capability is close to a critical “tipping threshold”. When the firm operates above this threshold, managing earnings smoothes revenue and cash flow with few long-term consequences. Below it, managing earnings can tip the firm into a vicious cycle of accelerating decline. Our results have important implications for understanding managerial incentives and the internal processes that create sustained advantage

Making the Numbers? "Short Termism” & the Puzzle of Only Occasional Disaster

Much recent work in strategy and popular discussion suggests that an excessive focus on “managing the numbers” --delivering quarterly earnings at the expense of longer term investments--makes it difficult for firms to make the investments necessary to build competitive advantage. “Short termism” has been blamed for everything from the decline of the US automobile industry to the low penetration of techniques such as TQM and continuous improvement. Yet a vigorous tradition in the accounting literature establishes that firms routinely sacrifice long-term investment to manage earnings and are rewarded for doing so. This paper presents a model that can reconcile these apparently contradictory perspectives. We show that if the source of long-term advantage is modeled as a stock of capability that accumulates gradually over time, a firm’s proclivity to manage short-term earnings at the expense of long-term investment can have very different consequences depending on whether the firm’s capability is close to a critical “tipping threshold”. When the firm operates above this threshold, managing earnings smoothes revenue with few long-term consequences. Below it, managing earnings can tip the firm into a vicious cycle of accelerating decline. Our results have important implications for understanding managerial incentives and the internal processes that lead to sustained advantage.

Mice Lacking Three Loci Encoding 14 Glutathione Transferase Genes: A Novel Tool for Assigning Function to the GSTP, GSTM, and GSTT Families

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) form a superfamily defined by their ability to catalyze the conjugation of glutathione with electrophilic substrates. These enzymes are proposed to play a critical role in protection of cellular components from damage mediated by reactive metabolites. Twenty-two cytosolic GSTs, grouped into seven families, are recognized in mice. This complexity hinders the assignment of function to a subset or family of these genes. We report generation of a mouse line in which the locus encoding three GST gene families is deleted. This includes the four Gstt genes spanning 65 kb on chromosome 10 and the seven Gstm genes found on a 150 kb segment of DNA chromosome 3. In addition, we delete two Gstp genes on chromosome 19 as well as a third related gene located 15 kb telomeric to Gstp1 and Gstp2, which we identify as a potential new member of this gene family. We show that, despite the loss of up to 75% of total GST activity in some tissues from these animals, the mice are healthy and fertile, with normal life expectancy. The normal development and health of these animals make them an appropriate model for defining the role of these families in redox homeostasis and metabolism of drugs and environmental pollutants

My IoT Puzzle: Debugging IF-THEN Rules Through the Jigsaw Metaphor

End users can nowadays define applications in the format of IF-THEN rules to personalize their IoT devices and online services. Along with the possibility to compose such applications, however, comes the need to debug them, e.g., to avoid unpredictable and dangerous behaviors. In this context, different questions are still unexplored: which visual languages are more appropriate for debugging IF-THEN rules? Which information do end users need to understand, identify, and correct errors? To answer these questions, we first conducted a literature analysis by reviewing previous works on end-user debugging, with the aim of extracting design guidelines. Then, we developed My IoT Puzzle, a tool to compose and debug IF-THEN rules based on the Jigsaw metaphor. My IoT Puzzle interactively assists users in the debugging process with different real-time feedback, and it allows the resolution of conflicts by providing textual and graphical explanations. An exploratory study with 6 participants preliminary confirms the effectiveness of our approach, showing that the usage of the Jigsaw metaphor, along with real-time feedback and explanations, helps users understand and fix conflicts among IF-THEN rules

An NLRP3 Mutation Causes Arthropathy and Osteoporosis in Humanized Mice

The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a critical role in host defense by facilitating caspase I activation and maturation of IL-1β and IL-18, whereas dysregulation of inflammasome activity results in autoinflammatory disease. Factors regulating human NLRP3 activity that contribute to the phenotypic heterogeneity of NLRP3-related diseases have largely been inferred from the study of Nlrp3 mutant mice. By generating a mouse line in which the NLRP3 locus is humanized by syntenic replacement, we show the functioning of the human NLRP3 proteins in vivo, demonstrating the ability of the human inflammasome to orchestrate immune reactions in response to innate stimuli. Humanized mice expressing disease-associated mutations develop normally but display acute sensitivity to endotoxin and develop progressive and debilitating arthritis characterized by granulocytic infiltrates, elevated cytokines, erosion of bones, and osteoporosis. This NLRP3-dependent arthritis model provides a platform for testing therapeutic reagents targeting the human inflammasome

A comparison of welfare outcomes for weaner and mature Bos indicus bulls surgically or tension ban castrated with or without analgesia: 2. responses related to stress, health and productivity

Tension banding castration of cattle is gaining favour because it is relatively simple to perform and is promoted by retailers of the banders as a humane castration method. Two experiments were conducted, under tropical conditions using Bos indicus bulls comparing tension banding (Band) and surgical (Surgical) castration of weaner (7-10 months old) and mature (22-25 months old) bulls with and without pain management (NSAID (ketoprofen) or saline injected intramuscularly immediately prior to castration). Welfare outcomes were assessed using a range of measures; this paper reports on some physiological, morbidity and productivity-related responses to augment the behavioural responses reported in an accompanying paper. Blood samples were taken on the day of castration (day 0) at the time of restraint (0. min) and 30. min (weaners) or 40. min (mature bulls), 2. h, and 7. h; and days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-castration. Plasmas from day 0 were assayed for cortisol, creatine kinase, total protein and packed cell volume. Plasmas from the other samples were assayed for cortisol and haptoglobin (plus the 0. min sample). Liveweights were recorded approximately weekly to 6 weeks and at 2 and 3 months post-castration. Castration sites were checked at these same times to 2 months post-castration to score the extent of healing and presence of sepsis. Cortisol concentrations (mean. ±. s.e. nmol/L) were significantly (

Using Simulations as a Starting Point for Constructing Meaningful Learning Games

For many school administrators and decision makers, the term “video games” holds numerous cultural associations which make their adoption in the education space challenging. Additionally, the term is so broad that it can sometimes be difficult to communicate explicitly a desire to build learning experiences that go beyond the Drill and Kill edutainment titles that currently dominate most people’s perceptions of educational games. By contrast, the term “simulations” is often well respected among educators, particularly in the natural sciences. With “simulation” already being a full genre of video games, it would seem natural that researchers are beginning to explore the overlaps between simulation games and pedagogical goals that go beyond those found in Drill and Kill games. In this chapter, we survey some of the relevant research concerning both simulations and video games and outline practical pathways through which we can leverage the interest and frameworks designed for simulation construction to facilitate the introduction of video game concepts and experiences into the classroom environment. In particular, we report on the use of Starlogo TNG, a graphical programming environment in which kids themselves can create simulation-based video games, for deepening children’s understanding of scientific concepts

Salt Restriction Leads to Activation of Adult Renal Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Like Cells via Prostaglandin E2 and E-Prostanoid Receptor 4

Despite the importance of juxtaglomerular (JG) cell recruitment in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases, the mechanisms that underlie renin production under conditions of chronic stimulation remain elusive. We have previously shown that CD44+ mesenchymal-like cells (CD44+ cells) exist in the adult kidney. Under chronic sodium deprivation these cells are recruited to the JG area and differentiate to new renin-expressing cells. Given the proximity of macula densa (MD) to the JG area and the importance of MD released prostanoids in renin synthesis and release, we hypothesized that chronic sodium deprivation induces MD release of prostanoids; stimulating renal CD44+ cell activation and differentiation. CD44+ cells were isolated from adult kidneys and co-cultured with the MD cell line, MMDD1, in normal or low sodium medium. Low sodium stimulated PGE2 production by MMDD1 and induced migration of CD44+ cells. These effects were inhibited by addition of a Cox-2 inhibitor (NS398) or an EP4 receptor antagonist (AH23848) to MMDD1 or CD44+ cells respectively. Addition of PGE2 to CD44+ cells increased cell migration and induced renin expression. In vivo activation of renal CD44+ cells during JG recruitment was attenuated in wild type mice subjected to salt restriction in the presence of Cox-2 inhibitor Rofecoxib. Similar results were observed in EP4 receptor knockout mice subjected to salt restriction. These results show that the PGE2/ EP4 pathway plays a key role in the activation of renal CD44+ MSC-like cells during conditions of JG recruitment; highlighting the importance of this pathway as a key regulatory mechanism of JG recruitment

A mobile-based solution for supporting end-users in the composition of services

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-016-3910-4Currently, technologies and applications evolve to create eco-systems made up of a myriad of heterogeneous and distributed services that are accessible anytime and anywhere. Even though these services can be used individually, it is their coordinated and combined usage what provide an added value to end-users. In addition, user¿s wide adoption of mobile devices for daily activities have fostered a shift in the role played by end-users towards Internet data and services. However, existing solutions to service composition are not targeted to ordinary end-users. More easy-to-use tools have to be offered to end-users to make sure that they are successfully accepted and used by them. To this end, the work presented in this paper supports end-users in the creation of service compositions by using mobile devices. 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