Beryllium fluoride film protects beryllium against corrosion

Film of beryllium fluoride protects beryllium against corrosion and stress corrosion cracking in water containing chloride ion concentrations. The film is formed by exposing the beryllium to fluorine gas at 535 degrees C or higher and makes beryllium suitable for space applications

Tecnodeck : facing the decision of choosing a new market : Brazil or Angola?

This work aims to provide a teaching case study in the area of international strategy by deeply explain the basis for an analysis of a possible expansion to new countries by a Portuguese company called Tecnodeck, which sells an innovative type of deck. The objective is to give teachers and students access to a practical example where theoretical frameworks can be applied and contain three parts: Case-Study, Teaching Notes and Literature Review. Founded in 2005, Tecnodeck is the market leader in Portugal in the deck sales, selling a product with specific characteristics that differentiate the company from its competitors. In the beginning of 2012, as the management of the company noticed a negative pattern in the growth of the business, there was made an important decision: operations in international markets should be expanded and the firm should become less dependent on the Portuguese market, which accounted for 75% of the sales at the time. This expansion is the central theme in the case. In the first part of the case, there are chapters explaining the first times in the business, the business model, context in Portugal when the decision is to be taken, international markets where the company already operates, and market perspectives from the sector that absorbs a great share of the company´s sales: the construction sector. In the second chapter, there is a brief explanation on the important factors to having into account when choosing the next destination, and a detailed analysis of the two main possibilities: Brazil and Angola. The second part gives instructions on how to conduct the presentation of the case in class, suggesting possible questions and discussion topics to be proposed in class, as well as possible ways of answering the proposed questions. The literature review uses theoretical articles or statements to explain the frameworks used in the case.Este trabalho pretende disponibilizar um caso na área de estratégia de internacionalização, explicando detalhadamente as bases da análise de uma possível expansão para novos países por parte de uma empresa Portuguesa chamada Tecnodeck, que venda um tipo de deck inovador. O objetivo é que professores e alunos tenham acesso a um exemplo prático onde os enquadramentos teóricos podem ser treinados e aplicados. O trabalho tem três partes: Estudo do caso, nota de ensino e revisão de literatura. Fundada em 2005, a Tecnodeck é líder de mercado na venda de decks em Portugal, comercializando um produto com características específicas que diferenciam a empresa em relação aos seus competidores. No início de 2012, ao reconhecer uma tendência negativa no crescimento do negócio, a direcção da empresa tomou uma decisão importante: as operações nos mercados internacionais deveriam ser aumentadas, ficando a empresa menos dependente do mercado interno, responsável por 75% das vendas na época. Esta decisão de internacionalização é o tema central do trabalho. No início do caso, há capítulos que explicam os primeiros tempos da empresa, o modelo de negócio, o contexto da operação a nível nacional em Portugal na época da decisão, os mercados internacionais onde a empresa já opera e uma perspectiva do mercado de construção civil, dado que se trata de um sector que absorve uma percentagem significativa das vendas da empresa. No segundo capítulo, há uma breve explicação sobre os factores mais importantes a ter em conta na escolha do novo destino, e uma análise detalhada das duas principais possibilidades: Brasil e Angola. Na nota de ensino, são dadas instruções relativamente à apresentação do caso em aula, sendo também sugeridas questões e tópicos de discussão a ser propostos aos alunos, bem como possíveis respostas às mesmas. Por fim, na revisão de literatura são utilizados artigos ou citações teóricas para melhor explicar as ferramentas estratégicas usadas

All the Conditions of Effective Foreign Aid

The conclusion that foreign aid will promote economic growth only when allocated towards good policy regimes has been the subject of considerable debate. Aid effectiveness researchers have variously sought to falsify this result or to find other individual conditions of aid effectiveness. However, economic theory suggests that any factor which influences the expected returns to investment may influence the effect of aid on growth even when aid is partly diverted to consumption. To investigate this hypothesis, �all� of the hypothesized conditions of aid effectiveness are individually tested in a cross-country growth specification. From these tests the most significant and robust individual interactions are simultaneously modeled, thereby deriving multiple conditions of aid effectiveness. The paper concludes that aid is more effective in economies experiencing economic shocks or recovering from war, and less effective in countries which are geographically disadvantaged or at war. We also find a previously unidentified condition of aid ineffectiveness: the inflow of foreign direct investment. This finding renews a justified interest in the policy-aid-growth nexus, insofar as domestic policy determines the distribution of aid and FDI flows, which appear to act as substitutes in the growth process.

Enseñanza del derecho financiero y tributario con perspectiva de género en las Facultades de Derecho

El presente trabajo postula necesaria la participación de abogados y abogadas instruidos en normativa vinculada a género, tanto en el proceso de creación de normas presupuestarias y tributarias como en el proceso de su aplicación, así como también la de órganos impartidores de justicia que sean capaces de detectar aspectos sobresalientes y las denominadas interseccionalidades que puedan incidir en sus decisiones

Effect of Ultrasonic Processing on Food Enzymes of Industrial Importance

In the last decade power ultrasound has emerged as an alternative processing option to conventional thermal approaches for pasteurisation and sterilisation of food products. While sonication alone is not adequate for inactivation of various spoilage and harmful enzymes present in food, ultrasound in combination with mild heat treatment and/or pressure has shown potential for both enzyme and pathogen inactivation. Numerous studies have investigated ultrasound for inactivating enzymes such as pectinmethylesterase, polyphenoloxidases and peroxidases responsible for deterioration of fruit & vegetable juice and various enzymes pertinent to milk quality. The efficacy of ultrasound for the inactivation of enzymes in food is outlined in this review along with a description of the inactivation mechanism to elucidate the effect of ultrasound on important enzymes in fruit juices and dairy products

Use of Standardized Patient Scenarios to Train Medical Assistants in an Ambulatory Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic

Objectives: To improve the efficiency of our outpatient Rehabilitation Medicine clinic without sacrificing high value/quality patient care. To clarify the responsibilities of the MA and identify areas of redundancy in the rooming process. To demonstrate the utility of in-situ simulation for MA training. To reduce the time it takes for MAs to complete all assigned tasks to 10 minutes or less per encounter in at least 50% of patient encounters within two months from the time of intervention. To potentially highlight other areas in which to improve clinic efficiency and overall patient satisfaction (e.g. front desk registration process, resident and attending physician encounters, clinic and exam room accessibility).https://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1051/thumbnail.jp

Carbohydrate catabolic flexibility in the mammalian intestinal commensal Lactobacillus ruminis revealed by fermentation studies aligned to genome annotations

peer-reviewedBackground: Lactobacillus ruminis is a poorly characterized member of the Lactobacillus salivarius clade that is part of the intestinal microbiota of pigs, humans and other mammals. Its variable abundance in human and animals may be linked to historical changes over time and geographical differences in dietary intake of complex carbohydrates. Results: In this study, we investigated the ability of nine L. ruminis strains of human and bovine origin to utilize fifty carbohydrates including simple sugars, oligosaccharides, and prebiotic polysaccharides. The growth patterns were compared with metabolic pathways predicted by annotation of a high quality draft genome sequence of ATCC 25644 (human isolate) and the complete genome of ATCC 27782 (bovine isolate). All of the strains tested utilized prebiotics including fructooligosaccharides (FOS), soybean-oligosaccharides (SOS) and 1,3:1,4-β-D-gluco-oligosaccharides to varying degrees. Six strains isolated from humans utilized FOS-enriched inulin, as well as FOS. In contrast, three strains isolated from cows grew poorly in FOS-supplemented medium. In general, carbohydrate utilisation patterns were strain-dependent and also varied depending on the degree of polymerisation or complexity of structure. Six putative operons were identified in the genome of the human isolate ATCC 25644 for the transport and utilisation of the prebiotics FOS, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), SOS, and 1,3:1,4-β-D-Gluco-oligosaccharides. One of these comprised a novel FOS utilisation operon with predicted capacity to degrade chicory-derived FOS. However, only three of these operons were identified in the ATCC 27782 genome that might account for the utilisation of only SOS and 1,3:1,4-β-D-Gluco-oligosaccharides. Conclusions: This study has provided definitive genome-based evidence to support the fermentation patterns of nine strains of Lactobacillus ruminis, and has linked it to gene distribution patterns in strains from different sources. Furthermore, the study has identified prebiotic carbohydrates with the potential to promote L. ruminis growth in vivo