The interplay of uncertainty, structure and trust on the diffusion of management accounting and control systems: An agent based modeling approach

This study attempts to investigate the interplay of uncertainty, structure and trust on the diffusion of a subset of management information systems, namely management accounting and control systems. The article suggests that under conditions of uncertainty, trust and structure are significantly associated with the success of the implementation process. On the other hand, the importance of trust and structure is less significant when the management accounting and control system is not perceived as threatening to organizational actors. The study draws on social network theory and proposes an agent based modeling approach to study the interplay of uncertainty, trust and structure on the diffusion process.

The interplay of uncertainty, structure and trust on the diffusion of management accounting and control systems: An agent based modeling approach

This study attempts to investigate the interplay of uncertainty, structure and trust on the diffusion of a subset of management information systems, namely management accounting and control systems. The article suggests that under conditions of uncertainty, trust and structure are significantly associated with the success of the implementation process. On the other hand, the importance of trust and structure is less significant when the management accounting and control system is not perceived as threatening to organizational actors. The study draws on social network theory and proposes an agent based modeling approach to study the interplay of uncertainty, trust and structure on the diffusion process

Environmental Inequalities in Flood Exposure: A Matter of Scale

peer reviewedStudies on inequalities in exposure to flood risk have explored whether population of a lower socio-economic status are more exposed to flood hazard. While evidence exist for coastal flooding, little is known on inequalities for riverine floods. This paper addresses two issues: (1) is the weakest population, in socio-economic terms, more exposed to flood hazard, considering different levels of exposure to hazard? (2) Is the exposure to flood risk homogeneous across the territory, considering different scales of analysis? An analysis of the exposure of inhabitants of Liège province to flood risk was conducted at different scales (province, districts, and municipalities), considering three levels of exposure to flood hazard (level 1- low hazard, level 3- high hazard), and five socio-economic classes (class 1-poorest, class 5-wealthiest households). Our analysis confirms that weaker populations (classes 2 and 3) are usually more exposed to flood hazards than the wealthiest (classes 4 and 5). Still it should be stressed that the most precarious households (class 1) are less exposed than low to medium-range ones (classes 2 and 3). Further on the relation between socio-economic status and exposure to flood hazard varies along the spatial scale considered. At the district level, it appears that classes 4 and 5 are most exposed to flood risk in some peripheral areas. In municipalities located around the center of the city, differences of exposure to risk are not significant

Modelling direct flood losses: what can we learn from the July 2021 flood in the Meuse basin (Belgium)?

Performing flood risk assessment requires flood damage models which guide the development of flood risk reduction strategies. Despite increasing efforts on damage models development, spatial transferability and validation remain challenging due to a lack of reliable empirical data as well as the heterogeneity of possibly affected assets and economic context. (Scorzini, et al. 2022) In July 2021, Belgium suffered an extreme flood event, with about three months of precipitation volume experienced just in two days, in the Eastern part of the country. The event caused severe damage to residential buildings, industries, and infrastructure such as railways and roads, with an estimated total cost above EUR 3 billion. A research initiative was started to collect damage data as well as hazard and vulnerability features in different municipalities along the Vesdre river, one of the most impacted sub-catchments. The resulting database should allow the analysis of flood damage mechanisms and endure the calibration and validation of a flood damage model for the region. A large-scale field survey has been designed and is being conducted at residential buildings level. Currently, buildings along the Vesdre river, which experience water depth between 0.5 and 3.5 m, according to the water management authority (SPW), have been approached. The participation rate is close to 50% for the current sample of 93 loss cases. Based on this data, 90% of the houses have experienced water depth greater than or equal to 1.5m, with an estimated mean damage per building of 85k €. The systems (i.e., electric, heating, and plumbing) are the most expensive damage component. The surveys have also revealed that the population has a low emergency preparedness and response to cope with this type of disaster. Even though the country and the region have flood early warning systems, 99% of the population received no formal warning, and less than 50% implemented mitigation measures. Increasing the sample size will allow us to continue extracting information regarding the damage mechanisms and the variables that influence them and will enable the calibration and validation of a flood damage model. Additionally, the collected data will provide socio-economic characteristics of the exposed population which plays an important role in the implementation of risk reduction strategies.11. Sustainable cities and communitie

JKCS041: a colour-detected galaxy cluster at z_phot=1.9 with deep potential well as confirmed by X-ray data

[Abridged] We report the discovery of JKCS041, a massive near-infrared selected cluster of galaxies z=1.9. The cluster was originally discovered using a modified red-sequence method and was also detected in follow-up Chandra data as extended X-ray source. Optical and near-infrared imaging data alone allow us to show that the detection of JKCS041 is as secure, even in absence of the X-ray data. We investigate the possibility that JKCS041 is not a discrete galaxy cluster at z=1.9, and find other explanations to be unlikely. The X-ray detection and statistical arguments rule out the hypothesis that JKCS041 is actually a blend of groups along the line of sight, and we find that the X-ray emitting gas is too hot and dense to be a filament projected along the line of sight. The cluster has an X-ray core radius of 36.6 arcsec (about 300 kpc), an X-ray temperature of 7.4 keV, a bolometric X-ray luminosity within R500 of 7.6 10^44 erg/s, an estimated mass of M500=2.9 10^14 Msol, the latter derived under the usual (and strong) assumptions. The cluster is composed of 16.4 galaxies within 1.5 arcmin (750 kpc) brighter than K~20.7 mag. The high redshift of JKCS041 is determined from the detection colour, from the detection of the cluster in a galaxy sample formed by z_phot>1.6 galaxies and from a photometric redshift based on 11-band spectral energy distribution fitting. By means of the latter we find the cluster redshift to be 1.84<z<2.12 at 68 % confidence. Therefore, JKCS041 is a cluster of galaxies at z=1.9 with deep potential well, making it the most distant cluster with extended X-ray emission known.Comment: Final version, to match published paper. Added: computation of the photometric redshift, a simpler (but approximate) detection probability computation, a new optical and X-ray overlay. A spectacular cluster image is at http://www.brera.mi.astro.it/~andreon/JKCS041_WIRDS_gzK_T0002.jpg (credit: CFHT, Terapix, and WIRDS

A Peptidoglycan Fragment Triggers β-lactam Resistance in Bacillus licheniformis

To resist to β-lactam antibiotics Eubacteria either constitutively synthesize a β-lactamase or a low affinity penicillin-binding protein target, or induce its synthesis in response to the presence of antibiotic outside the cell. In Bacillus licheniformis and Staphylococcus aureus, a membrane-bound penicillin receptor (BlaR/MecR) detects the presence of β-lactam and launches a cytoplasmic signal leading to the inactivation of BlaI/MecI repressor, and the synthesis of a β-lactamase or a low affinity target. We identified a dipeptide, resulting from the peptidoglycan turnover and present in bacterial cytoplasm, which is able to directly bind to the BlaI/MecI repressor and to destabilize the BlaI/MecI-DNA complex. We propose a general model, in which the acylation of BlaR/MecR receptor and the cellular stress induced by the antibiotic, are both necessary to generate a cell wall-derived coactivator responsible for the expression of an inducible β-lactam-resistance factor. The new model proposed confirms and emphasizes the role of peptidoglycan degradation fragments in bacterial cell regulation

Down syndrome is an oxidative phosphorylation disorder

Down syndrome is the most common genomic disorder of intellectual disability and is caused by trisomy of chromosome 21. Several genes in this chromosome repress mitochondrial biogenesis. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether early overexpression of these genes may cause a prenatal impairment of oxidative phosphorylation negatively affecting neurogenesis. Reduction in the mitochondrial energy production and a lower mitochondrial function have been reported in diverse tissues or cell types, and also at any age, including early fetuses, suggesting that a defect in oxidative phosphorylation is an early and general event in Down syndrome individuals. Moreover, many of the medical conditions associated with Down syndrome are also frequently found in patients with oxidative phosphorylation disease. Several drugs that enhance mitochondrial biogenesis are nowadays available and some of them have been already tested in mouse models of Down syndrome restoring neurogenesis and cognitive defects. Because neurogenesis relies on a correct mitochondrial function and critical periods of brain development occur mainly in the prenatal and early neonatal stages, therapeutic approaches intended to improve oxidative phosphorylation should be provided in these periods.Funding sources: This work was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III [FIS-PI17/00021, FIS-PI17/00166]; Fundación Mutua Madrileña [MMA17/01]; Precipita-FECYT crowdfunding program [PR194]; Gobierno de Aragón [LMP135_18, Grupos Consolidados B33_17R] and FEDER 2014–2020 “Construyendo Europa desde Aragón”. CIBERER is an initiative of the ISCIII

Energy Resolution Performance of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The energy resolution performance of the CMS lead tungstate crystal electromagnetic calorimeter is presented. Measurements were made with an electron beam using a fully equipped supermodule of the calorimeter barrel. Results are given both for electrons incident on the centre of crystals and for electrons distributed uniformly over the calorimeter surface. The electron energy is reconstructed in matrices of 3 times 3 or 5 times 5 crystals centred on the crystal containing the maximum energy. Corrections for variations in the shower containment are applied in the case of uniform incidence. The resolution measured is consistent with the design goals

L’impact du numérique sur l’information financière : Quel enjeu stratégique pour la normalisation comptable internationale ? Le cas du langage XBRL comme Standard Business Reporting Language

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