A ‘’oportunidade fantasma’’: fechando a lacuna entre ideias e investidores de capital

Kirznerian entrepreneurs are described as alert individuals apt to identify opportunities through subjective inferences based on industry competition, price inequality, and interaction with other market actors. They are poised to identify and exploit opportunities that may not currently exist. We extend this notion of alertness towards the unknown by introducing the “phantom opportunity” concept, extending prior research. Although entrepreneurs may initially perceive a new venture idea, it cannot manifest itself as opportunity until other parties legitimize it by mutually perceiving it as such, thus committing resources. For example, investors may mentally simulate, contributively co-create or modify a proposed opportunity before committing the necessary funding to launch the entrepreneur’s perceived idea. This paper extends Kirzner’s view of perception and opportunity as related to the modern entrepreneurs’ struggle to define, legitimize and realize an opportunity.Los empresarios kirznerianos se describen como un individuo alerta apto para identificar oportunidades a través de inferencias subjetivas con base en la competencia de la industria, la desigualdad de precios y la interacción con otros actores del mercado. Están preparados para identificar y explotar oportunidades quepueden no existir actualmente. Extendemos esta noción de alerta hacia lo desconocido mediante la introducción del concepto de “oportunidad fantasma”, ampliando la investigación previa. Aunque los empresarios pueden percibir inicialmente una nueva idea de empresa, no puede manifestarse en una oportunidad hasta que otras partes la legitimen al percibirla como tal, comprometiendo recursos. Por ejemplo, los inversores pueden simular mentalmente, cocrear o modificar de manera colaborativa una oportunidad propuesta antes de comprometer la financiación necesaria para lanzar la idea percibida del emprendedor. Este documento amplía la visión de Kirzner de la percepción y la oportunidad en relación con la lucha de los empresarios modernos para definir, legitimar y aprovechar una oportunidad.Os empreendedores kirznerianos são descritos como indivíduos em “estado de alerta”, capazes de identificar oportunidades por meio de inferências subjetivas baseadas na concorrência industrial, diferença de preços e interação com outros agentes de mercado. Eles estão preparados para identificar e explorar oportunidades que podem não existir no momento. Ampliamos essa noção de “estado de alerta” para comodesconhecido, ao introduzir o conceito de “oportunidade fantasma” às pesquisas anteriores. Embora os empreendedores inicialmente possam perceber uma nova oportunidade de investimento, ela não pode se manifestar como oportunidade até que as outras partes mutuamente assim a legitimem, alocando recursos. Por exemplo, investidores podem simular mentalmente, criar conjuntamente ou modificar uma oportunidade potencial antes de destinar o financiamento necessário para lançar a ideia percebida pelo empreendedor. Esse artigo amplia a visão de percepção e oportunidade de Kirzner, relacionando-a ao esforço do empreendedor moderno para definir, legitimar e concretizar uma oportunidade

Influence of HAART on Alternative Reading Frame Immune Responses over the Course of HIV-1 Infection

Background: Translational errors can result in bypassing of the main viral protein reading frames and the production of alternate reading frame (ARF) or cryptic peptides. Within HIV, there are many such ARFs in both sense and the antisense directions of transcription. These ARFs have the potential to generate immunogenic peptides called cryptic epitopes (CE). Both antiretroviral drug therapy and the immune system exert a mutational pressure on HIV-1. Immune pressure exerted by ARF CD8(+) T cells on the virus has already been observed in vitro. HAART has also been described to select HIV-1 variants for drug escape mutations. Since the mutational pressure exerted on one location of the HIV-1 genome can potentially affect the 3 reading frames, we hypothesized that ARF responses would be affected by this drug pressure in vivo. Methodology/Principal findings: In this study we identified new ARFs derived from sense and antisense transcription of HIV-1. Many of these ARFs are detectable in circulating viral proteins. They are predominantly found in the HIV-1 env nucleotide region. We measured T cell responses to 199 HIV-1 CE encoded within 13 sense and 34 antisense HIV-1 ARFs. We were able to observe that these ARF responses are more frequent and of greater magnitude in chronically infected individuals compared to acutely infected patients, and in patients on HAART, the breadth of ARF responses increased. Conclusions/Significance: These results have implications for vaccine design and unveil the existence of potential new epitopes that could be included as vaccine targets.International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI

Lightweight and Efficient Manifold Design for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

This paper explores various strategies used to optimize the design of a manifold for housing a hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel cell system for Honeywell Aerospace’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). By leveraging a manifold design, our team aimed to enhance power efficiency, while minimizing weight and volume. Nodes and pathways between nodes were analyzed by comparing weight and length, which guided informed design decisions for the manifold. Eventually, the manifolds were 3D printed using multi-jet printing with nylon to be tested on a Honeywell 600W UAV. Compared to the original system, our final design significantly reduced the weight, maximum extent volume, part count, and assembly time. With the rise in demand for sustainable energy solutions, hydrogen fuel cells offer promising prospects for mitigating climate change. Through meticulous investigation of component placement and pathway functionality, this project contributes to easier assembly of the fuel cell system, thus advancing clean energy applications

Patients undergoing surgery of intracranial metastases have different outcomes based on their primary pathology

OBJECTIVES: Patients with a variety of different primary cancers can develop intracranial metastases. Patients who develop intracranial metastases are often grouped into the same study population, and therefore an understanding of outcomes for patients with different primary cancers remain unclear. METHODS: Adults who underwent intracranial metastatic tumor surgery from 1997–2011 at a single institution were retrospectively reviewed. Primary pathologies were compared using Fisher’s exact and Student’s t-test, and Cox regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with survival. RESULTS: About 708 patients underwent surgery during the reviewed period, where 269 (38%) had non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 106 (15%) breast cancer (BC), 72 (10%) gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, 88 (12%) renal cell cancer (RCC), and 88 (12%) melanoma. The most notable differences were that NSCLC patients were older, BC younger, BC had more primary tumor control, and NSCLC less extracranial spread. BC had longer survival, RCC had longer local progression free survival (PFS), and NSCLC had longer distal PFS. The factors independently associated with survival for NSCLC (female, recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class, primary tumor control, solitary metastasis, tumor size, adenocarcinoma, radiation, discharge to home), BC (age, no skull base involvement, radiation), GI cancer (age, RPA class, Karnofsky performance scale (KPS), lack of preoperative motor deficit, non-esophageal tumors, non-hemorrhagic tumors, avoidance of new deficits), melanoma (preoperative seizures, solitary metastasis, smaller tumor size, discharge to home, chemotherapy), and RCC (KPS, chemotherapy) were distinctly different. DISCUSSION: These differences between patients with different primary cancers support the fact that patients with intracranial disease are not all the same and should be studied by their primary pathology