An Examination of Relational-interdependent Self-construal, Communal Strength, and Pro-relationship Behaviors in Friendships

Individual differences in relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) are associated with positive relationship characteristics. This suggests that RISC is positively associated with the degree to which individuals view their relationships as communally-oriented (i.e., governed by norms of responsiveness), which should in turn be associated with increased use of pro-relationship behaviors. Thus, the current study explored the associations between RISC, communal strength, and pro-relationship behaviors in friendships. As predicted, RISC was positively associated with pro-relationship behavior use, but this association was mediated by greater communal strength. This suggests that increased RISC is associated with greater relationship satisfaction because the manner in which individuals view their relationships (i.e., communally) explains the association between RISC and constructive relationship behavior

An Analysis of the 2002 Farm Bill’s Value-Added Producer Grants Program

Our objective is to identify the determinants for success among USDA’s Value- Added Producer Grants (VAPG) program recipients. Business development has become an important program in departments of agricultural economics. Market share was found to be an important determinant of VAPG success. Size variables including greater sales and increased grant dollars, as well as a lower number of producers, were also determinants of business success. Departments of agricultural economics are likely best able to assist VAPG recipients by providing information on price discovery, explaining their relationship to potential plant location, and providing education on best management practices to help producers avoid costly mistakes.agribusiness, business development, value-added, Agribusiness, Financial Economics, Productivity Analysis,

Testing of UH-60A helicopter transmission in NASA Lewis 2240-kW (3000-hp) facility

The U.S. Army's UH-60A Black Hawk 2240-kW (3000-hp) class, twin-engine helicopter transmission was tested at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The vibration and efficiency test results will be used to enhance the data base for similar-class helicopters. Most of the data were obtained for a matrix of test conditions of 50 to 100 percent of rated rotor speed and 20 to 100 percent of rated input power. The transmission's mechanical efficiency at 100 percent of rated power was 97.3 and 97.5 percent with its inlet oil maintained at 355 and 372 K (180 and 210 F), respectively. The highest vibration reading was 72 g's rms at the upper housing side wall. Other vibration levels measured near the gear meshes are reported

Annihilation of edge dislocations in smectic A liquid crystals

This paper presents a theoretical study of the annihilation of edge dislocations in the same smectic plane in a bulk smectic-A phase. We use a time-dependent Landau-Ginzburg approach where the smectic ordering is described by the complex order parameter psi( r--> ,t) =eta e(iphi) . This quantity allows both the degree of layering and the position of the layers to be monitored. We are able to follow both precollision and postcollision regimes, and distinguish different early and late behaviors within these regimes. The early precollision regime is driven by changes in the phi ( r--> ) configuration. The relative velocity of the defects is approximately inversely proportional to the interdefect separation distance. In the late precollision regime the symmetry changes within the cores of defects also become influential. Following the defect collision, in the early postcollision stage, bulk layer order is approached exponentially in time. At very late times, however, there seems to be a long-time power-law tail in the order parameter fluctuation relaxation

Do Women Ask?

Women typically earn less than men. The reasons are not fully understood. Previous studies argue that this may be because (i) women ‘don’t ask’ and (ii) the reason they fail to ask is out of concern for the quality of their relationships at work. This account is difficult to assess with standard labor-economics data sets. Hence we examine direct survey evidence. Using matched employer-employee data from 2013-14, the paper finds that the women-don’t-ask account is incorrect. Once an hours-of-work variable is included in ‘asking’ equations, hypotheses (i) and (ii) can be rejected. Women do ask. However, women do not get

Do Women Ask?

Females typically earn less than males. The reasons are not fully understood. This paper reexamines the idea that women ‘don’t ask’, which potentially assigns part of the responsibility for the gender pay gap on to female behavior. Such an account cannot readily be tested with standard data sets. This paper is the first to be able to use matched employer-employee data in which workers are questioned about their asking behaviour. It concludes that males and females ask equally often for promotions and raises. The paper’s empirical results suggest, however, that while women do now ask they ‘don’t get’

Do beta-blockers worsen respiratory status for patients with COPD?

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who use cardioselective beta-blockers (beta1-blockers) do not experience a significant worsening of their short-term pulmonary status as measured by changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), or by changes in patients' self-reported symptoms. If such harmful effects do exist, they are likely to be less clinically important than the substantial proven benefits of beta-blockade for patients with concomitant cardiovascular disease (strength of recommendation: A, based on a high-quality meta-analysis of controlled trials). Limited evidence suggests that most patients with congestive heart failure and COPD without reversible airflow obstruction tolerate carvedilol, which causes both nonselective beta- and alpha-adrenergic blockade (SOR: B, based on limited-quality cohort studies)

Asymmetrically substituted 5,5 `-bistriazoles - nitrogen-rich materials with various energetic functionalities

In this contribution the synthesis and full structural and spectroscopic characterization of three asymmetrically substituted bis-1,2,4-triazoles, along with different energetic moieties like amino, nitro, nitrimino and azido moieties, is presented. Additionally, selected nitrogen-rich ionic derivatives have been prepared and characterized. This comparative study on the influence of these energetic moieties on structural and energetic properties constitutes a complete characterization including IR, Raman and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. Single crystal X-ray crystallographic measurements were performed and provide insight into structural characteristics as well as inter-and intramolecular interactions. The standard enthalpies of formation were calculated for all compounds at the CBS-4M level of theory, revealing highly positive heats of formation for all compounds. The detonation parameters were calculated using the EXPLO5 program and compared to the common secondary explosive RDX as well as recently published symmetric bistriazoles. As expected, the measured sensitivities to mechanical stimuli and decomposition temperatures strongly depend on the energetic moiety of the triazole ring. All compounds were characterized in terms of sensitivities (impact, friction, electrostatic) and thermal stabilities, the ionic derivatives were found to be thermally stable, insensitive compounds

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein inhibits hepatitis C virus cell entry in human hepatoma cells.

Cell entry of hepatitis C virus, pseudoparticles (HCVpp) and cell culture grown virus (HCVcc), requires the interaction of viral glycoproteins with CD81 and other as yet unknown cellular factors. One of these is likely to be the scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI). To further understand the role of SR-BI, we examined the effect of SR-BI ligands on HCVpp and HCVcc infectivity. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), but not native LDL, potently inhibited HCVpp and HCVcc cell entry. Pseudoparticles bearing unrelated viral glycoproteins or bovine viral diarrhea virus were not affected. A dose-dependent inhibition was observed for HCVpp bearing diverse viral glycoproteins with an approximate IC50 of 1.5 microg/mL apolipoprotein content, which is within the range of oxLDL reported to be present in human plasma. The ability of lipoprotein components to bind to target cells associated with their antiviral activity, suggesting a mechanism of action which targets a cell surface receptor critical for HCV infection of the host cell. However, binding of soluble E2 to SR-BI or CD81 was not affected by oxLDL, suggesting that oxLDL does not act as a simple receptor blocker. At the same time, oxLDL incubation altered the biophysical properties of HCVpp, suggesting a ternary interaction of oxLDL with both virus and target cells. In conclusion, the SR-BI ligand oxLDL is a potent cell entry inhibitor for a broad range of HCV strains in vitro. These findings suggest that SR-BI is an essential component of the cellular HCV receptor complex