Conceptualization, operationalization, and validation of the digital data stream Readiness Index

This article describes how in their search for value creation, companies are investing considerable resources in so-called "Big Data" initiatives. A peculiar aspect of these initiatives is the increasing availability of real-time streams of data. Successfully leveraging these streams to extract value is emerging as a critical competence for the modern firm. Despite the significant attention received, scholarly research on Digital Data Stream (DDS) remains insufficient. More importantly, there are no specialized definitions and measurement instruments that can move the field forward by initiating a cumulative research tradition. This article can provide clarification on key definitions, differentiating DDS from Big Data. Drawing on the organizational readiness concept, the DDS readiness index develops as a measure of organizational readiness to exploit real-time digital data. This article will conceptualize, define, operationalize and validate the index. By identifying the four dimensions of mindset, skillset, dataset and toolset as the elements of the DDS readiness index and discussing its managerial and research implications

Fresh, pseudotachylyte-bearing mantle peridotites from the lawsonite eclogite-facies san petrone unit, alpine corsica

Mantle peridotites exhumed in mountain belts provide important insights on the composition and evolution of the upper mantle, and additionally inform on metamorphic, geochemical, and tectonic processes-including seismic activity-at convergent margins. In this contribution, we present field, microstruc-tural, and mineralogical data of fresh, pseudotachylyte-bearing mantle peridotites from the lawsonite eclogite-facies San Petrone unit, Alpine Corsica, France. The present case study represents the first example of subducted fresh peridotite associated with fresh lawsonite eclogite-facies assemblages. Two bodies of fresh peridotite are embedded in fully serpentinized ultramafic rocks forming the substratum of a subducted ocean-continent transition of the Piemonte-Liguria Basin. Clinopyroxene and spinel mineral chemistry indicates that the investigated peridotite samples were part of a refertilized mantle and, therefore, the San Petrone unit likely belonged to the more distal part of the ocean-continent transition. Because small bodies of fresh peridotite embedded in fully serpentinized rocks can hardly be identified by means of geophysical investigations, this finding suggests that small, yet disseminated bodies of fresh mantle peridotite can potentially be more abundant than previously supposed at ocean-continent transition and, potentially, at mid-ocean ridges and in subduction zones. The preservation of fresh mantle peridotite bodies in subducting slabs is also discussed with respect to its potential implications on intermediate depth seismicity and geochemical cycling-including production of natural energy sources-from rifting to subduction

Women and unpaid family work in the EU

This study provides an analysis of the size and value of unpaid family care work at the European Union level. It proposes a method which relies on harmonised European surveys. It also compares two EU member States, Italy and Poland, whose time use data contain additional detailed information on child care and elderly care work. The study aims at improving the existing indicators in order to have a reliable quantitative picture to use in discussions on unpaid family care work at EU level

Accuracy of genotype imputation with different low density panels in Braford and Hereford cattle.

The main objective of this research was to test alternative low density SNP panels to impute Illumina 50K SNP panel genotypes in Braford and Hereford cattle. Genotypes from 3,768 Hereford, Braford and Nellore animals were used for testing imputation from low density SNP panels (3K, 6K, 8K, 15K and 20K) to the Illumina 50K SNP panel, under four different scenarios: including or not Nellore genotypes in the reference population in combination with the use or not of pedigree information. There were no significant differences in imputation accuracy among these four scenarios within each panel. However, significant differences between panels were found. The best accuracy was given by a customized 15K SNP panel, with an overall genotype concordance rate of 0.977, with 93.3% of the animals imputed with a concordance rate above 0.95. The concordance rates for the other SNP panels were 0.872, 0.952, 0.957 and 0.958 for 3K, 6K, 8K and 20K SNP panel, respectively. Therefore, in the Braford/Hereford population considered in this study, all the alternative panels denser than 3K could be used for imputing to the 50K SNP panel with an overall high imputation accuracy. However, the best results were obtained with the customized 15K SNP instead of the alternative commercial panels. The use of Nellore sire genotypes and pedigree information did not increase accuracy of imputation in this population

Vein-type graphite deposits in Sri Lanka: the ultimate fate of granulite fluids

The world-best vein graphite deposits in Sri-Lanka occur scattered through the high-grade terrain of the Wanni and Highland Complexes of Sri-Lanka. The Wanni Complex (amphibolite to granulite grade) consists of ~770-1100 Ma metagranitoids, metagabbro, charnockite, enderbitic gneisses, migmatites, clastic metasediments, including garnet-cordierite gneisses, rare to minor calc-silicate rocks as well as late to post-tectonic granites (Kröner et al., 2013). Higher metamorphic grade, reaching in places UHT-conditions (T>1000 °C) characterizes the Highland Complex. Peak metamorphism occurred during the Neoproterozoic Pan-African orogeny (~620-535 Ma), which led to the accretion of terrains in Sri Lanka and played a key role for the amalgamation of the Gondwana supercontinent (Tsunogae and Santosh, 2010). Structurally disposed in extensional fractures post-dating the Pan-African ductile structures (Kehelpannala, 1999), the graphite veins equilibrated at relatively low temperature (500-600 °C). However, the presence of mesoperthites indicate that graphite precipitation may have started at higher temperature. Samples from khondalite host rocks and quartz co-precipitated with graphite from the Bogala and Kahatagana graphite mines in the Wanni Complex were studied. Host-rocks show spectacular decompression reaction aureoles around feldspars and garnet. They contain small CO2 inclusions in garnet cores or quartz in decompression reaction aureoles. Larger, highly transposed brine inclusions are more abundant and are responsible for metasomatic features (feldspar leaching and deposition) observed in the aureoles. Fluid inclusions in vein minerals are dominantly aqueous, rarely mixed H2O+CO2. Fluid inclusions and petrographic data suggest that graphite has been deposited from fluids at decreasing pressure and temperature at relatively reduced redox conditions. Carbon isotope data indicate a dominant mantle source, mixed with small quantities of light C-bearing fluids. It has been proposed that large quantities of mantle-derived CO2 fluid have infiltrated the lower crust during the final stage of Gondwana supercontinent amalgamation (Touret et al., 2016). Formed during strong decompression at the end of a long (up to a few 10 Ma) period of isobaric cooling, the graphite veins in Sri-Lanka (and elsewhere in the former Gondwana) reflects the escape of these granulite fluids to higher crustal levels. In this respect, they are comparable to the quartz-carbonates mega-shear zones found in other granulite terranes (Newton and Manning, 2002). Depending on the redox conditions, former lower crustal fluids (mantle-derived CO2 and/or brines) may either result in mid to upper-crustal quartz-carbonate or graphite veins

Estudo numérico de ondas monocromáticas em duas praias e sobre um recife artificial multifuncional na Baía do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES.

Ondas propagando-se em direção à costa sofrem importantes transformações, que são de fundamental importância para o entendimento das mudanças da linha de costa e dos processos que ocorrem nas proximidades da linha de costa. Os modelos numéricos são instrumentos utilizados por engenheiros e oceanógrafos como um método de estudos desses processos dentro de uma pequena margem de erro. Neste trabalho de pesquisa são realizadas simulações numéricas para avaliar dois tipos de interação onda-corpo. No primeiro caso foram consideradas ondas monocromáticas incidentes interagindo com uma região costeira complexa e no segundo caso ondas interagindo com um recife artificial multifuncional. A região costeira escolhida é a Curva da Jurema e o recife artificial multifuncional é colocado em um trecho da praia de Camburi, ambas as regiões estão localizadas na Baia do Espírito Santo e vêm sofrendo processos de erosão. As simulações foram realizadas usando o modelo numérico FUNWAVE 2.0, fundamentado nas equações do tipo Boussinesq de Wei et al. (1995). A grade computacional não-uniforme utilizada tem comprimento típico de 5m para a região da Curva da Jurema e de 1m para a região do Recife Artificial. Na região da Curva da Jurema os resultados de simulações de ondas incidentes do quadrante de Nordeste e de Sudeste mostraram que as amplitudes das ondas são quase que totalmente dissipadas dentro do embaiamento e se aproxima de zero junto à praia. Os processos de refração, de difração e de reflexão da onda incidente com a profundidade e os contornos da costa são evidenciados, no campo de onda, e estes podem ser responsáveis pelo aparecimento de um super-harmônico no espectro de onda proveniente de Sudeste. Em um trecho de praia de Camburi, onde foi colocado o recife artificial, as ondas de Nordeste e de Sudeste incidem perpendicularmente a praia. Sem o recife, o comportamento das ondas neste domínio se mostrou influenciado pelos gradientes batimétricos, gerando fluxos de retorno e grande concentração de energia próxima à linha de costa. Com instalação do recife artificial multifuncional verifico-se uma diminuição da intensidade de energia de onda na linha de costa. O recife foi projetado com uma declividade e ângulos internos propícios para geração de ondas surfáveis. Os resultados das simulações realizadas com a inclusão do recife mostraram que as ondas que se propagam sobre recife são intensificadas em altura até quebrarem, a uma distância de aproximadamente 200m da linha de costa. Ao quebrarem, as ondas se propagam em direção a linha de costa com uma energia menor que aquela sem o recife. Assim, os resultados das simulações numéricas realizadas com o modelo de ondas FUNWAVE mostraram que o modelo é capaz de reproduzir os principais processos que ocorrem em regiões costeiras podendo ser usando como ferramenta para o gerenciamento costeiro

Genomic predictions for economically important traits in Brazilian Braford and Hereford beef cattle using true and imputed genotypes.

Genomic selection (GS) has played an important role in cattle breeding programs. However, genotyping prices are still a challenge for implementation of GS in beef cattle and there is still a lack of information about the use of low-density Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) chip panels for genomic predictions in breeds such as Brazilian Braford and Hereford. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of using imputed genotypes in the accuracy of genomic predictions for twenty economically important traits in Brazilian Braford and Hereford beef cattle. Various scenarios composed by different percentages of animals with imputed genotypes and different sizes of the training population were compared.Article 2

Real-time cell analysis by xCELLigence®: a new method for dynamic, quantitative measurement of adhesion and proliferation of cell lines

Objectives. In this study, we report the use of a real-time cell analysis (RTCA) test system, the xCELLigence® RTCA, as efficient tool for a fast growth kinetics analysis of cell lines. This new dynamic real-time monitoring and impedance-based assay allows for a combined measurement of cell adhesion, spreading and proliferation. Methods. We used four representative human OSCC derived cell lines, PE49, HSC2, HSC3 and PE15 cells. The measured impedance values could be correlated to characteristic cell culture behaviours. In parallel, were evaluated proliferation and cell viability of the cell lines by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthizol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results. Through the analysis we were able to quantitatively characterize the growth kinetics of the cell lines. The results are in agreement with the analysis MTT and for us will be the basis for future studies with respect to these lines.Conclusions. The advantage of impedance-based measurements is mainly based on these continuous monitoring of cell responses for a broad range of different cells and with different parameters of culture. Therefore, the xCELLigence system can be used as a rapid monitoring tool for cellular viability and used for multiple applications, such as toxicity testing of xenobiotics, biocompatibility of dental materials, tests of invasion and migration using in vitro cell cultures