Rubicon-dependent Lc3 recruitment to Salmonella-containing phagosomes is a host defense mechanism triggered independently from major bacterial virulence factors

Animal science

Align, adapt or amplify: upscaling strategies for car sharing business models in Sydney, Australia

Since new business models may deviate from the current regime, they require protective spaces, called niches, for their development. The regime both enables and restricts opportunities for designing business models, thereby defining a ‘business model design space’ that can be dealt with in different ways for niche upscaling. We conducted a qualitative, comparative case study into two types of car sharing business models in Sydney. We focused on niche entrepreneurs’ upscaling strategies in enacting the niche business model design space and observed that entrepreneurs can align with the existing opportunities opposed by the regime. If there is a mismatch, entrepreneurs mostly adapt the internal organization part of their business model to re-align, or use their networks to ‘amplify’ the current business model design space. This leads to new business model designs and affects either company or niche. Sydney may serve as an example for other car dependent cities

The association between body mass index status and sick leave and the role of emotional exhaustion-a mediation analysis among a representative sample of dutch employees

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between body mass index (BMI) and sick leave, and the mediating role of emotional exhaustion. METHODS: Data were collected from a large survey among Dutch employees (n = 35,022). The causal pathway approach consisting of four regression analyses was applied. RESULTS: In women, moderate overweight and obesity were associated with higher sick leave; in men, obesity, but not moderate overweight, was associated with higher sick leave. Obese workers were at increased risk for emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion was also associated with higher sick leave rates. Adjustment for emotional exhaustion in the association between BMI and sick leave hardly changed the effect size and significance remained. CONCLUSIONS: The association between BMI status and sick leave can be explained partially by the presence of emotional exhaustion. Workplace health promotion initiatives should take this into account. Copyright © 2013 by American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Barriers and drivers for technology commercialization by SMEs in the Dutch sustainable energy sector

To enable the transition to renewable and sustainable energy systems, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) can successfully commercialize new technologies, yet doing so is highly challenging. Moreover, governmental policy makers tend to support measures for early-stage ventures or university spin-offs, based on the assumption that sustainable energy technologies primarily arise from early-stage technology development. Attention has recently been shifting to SMEs, which can help accelerate the energy transition. By combining a literature review with an explorative multiple case study of 20 SMEs in the Dutch sustainable energy sector, this article identified barriers and drivers for technology commercialization by SMEs. A country-specific barrier is the large consumption of natural gas by Dutch households, which strongly inhibits the successful scale-up of new technologies. The study found several managerial, financial, technological and policy-related barriers and drivers which affect technology commercialization of sustainable energy technologies by SMEs. These barriers and drivers were further assessed in an actor-based analysis, which suggests that the various barriers and drivers arise from the interactions between policy makers, industry partners and end-users. The paper also discusses the policy implications of the barriers and drivers identified, and outlines several challenges for future research

Intermediating the energy transition across spatial boundaries: Cases of Sweden and Spain

Systemic intermediaries play an important role in shaping socio-technical transitions. However, there is hardly any knowledge about contextual factors that enhance or inhibit systemic intermediary activities in transnational settings. This study draws on a case study of a European intermediary in the energy transition field. The intermediary has been active in both transition-progressive and less transition-oriented countries in Europe. In specific, we investigate the intermediary's activities in Sweden and Spain. Due to local factors, the intermediary's approach was difficult to realize in Sweden. Most activities were performed with niche-actors or universities only, undermining systemic intermediation. By contrast, Spanish local factors favored systemic intermediation, allowing the regime and niche levels to converge. The findings of the study extend the literature by showing why intermediation in transition-progressive regions can suffer and by highlighting that transnational intermediaries entering a transition-progressive region must account for the local intermediation ecology when defining their role