Reconceptualizing Profit-Orientation in Management: A Karmic View on "Return on Investment" Calculations

From the perspective of the present day, Puritan-inspired capitalism seems to have succeeded globally, including in India. Connected to this, short-term profit-orientation in management seems to constrain the scope of different management approaches in a tight ideological corset. This article discusses the possibility of replacing this Puritan doctrine with the crucial elements of Indian philosophy: Karma and samsara. In doing so, the possibility of revising the guiding principles in capitalist management becomes conceivable, namely the monetary focus of profit-orientation and its short-term orientation. This perspective allows a detachment of the concept of profit from the realm of money, as the seemingly only objectifiable measure of profit. Furthermore it allows a removal of the expectation that every "investment" has to directly "pay off". A karmic view offers management a possible facility for being more caring about the needs and fates of other stakeholders, as profit-orientation would no longer be attached as a factual constraint to merely accumulate money. (author's abstract

A question of fit:cultural and individual differences in interpersonal justice perceptions

This study examined the link between employees’ adult attachment orientations and perceptions of line managers’ interpersonal justice behaviors, and the moderating effect of national culture (collectivism). Participants from countries categorized as low collectivistic (N = 205) and high collectivistic (N = 136) completed an online survey. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were negatively related to interpersonal justice perceptions. Cultural differences did not moderate the effects of avoidance. However, the relationship between attachment anxiety and interpersonal justice was non-significant in the Southern Asia (more collectivistic) cultural cluster. Our findings indicate the importance of ‘fit’ between cultural relational values and individual attachment orientations in shaping interpersonal justice perceptions, and highlight the need for more non-western organizational justice research

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring overweight : is there a dose–response relationship? An individual patient data meta-analysis

We want to thank the funders of the individual studies: the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust (Grant ref: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol, the Danish National Research Foundation, Pharmacy Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation, and the Health Foundation, the US NICHD (contracts no. 1-HD-4-2803 and no. 1-HD-1-3127, R01 HD HD034568), the NHMRC, the CNPq (Portuguese acronym for the National Research Council—grant 523474/96-2) and FAPESP (Portuguese acronym for the São Paulo State Research Council—grant 00/0908-7). We would like to thank the participating families of all studies for the use of data. For the ASPAC study, we want to thank the midwives for their help in recruiting families, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, and nurses. This work was supported by the Deutschen Forschungsgesellschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) [KR 1926/9-1, KU1443/4-1]. Dr. Gilman’s contribution was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Peer reviewedPostprin

High Fat Diet Differentially Regulates the Expression of Olfactory Receptors in the Duodenum of Obesity-Prone and Obesity-Resistant Rats

BACKGROUND: The gastrointestinal tract is important in the regulation of food intake, nutrient sensing and nutrient absorption. Obesity-prone Osborne-Mendel (OM) rats are less sensitive to the satiating effects of a duodenal infusion of fatty acids than obesity-resistant S5B/Pl (S5B) rats, suggesting that the gastrointestinal tract differentially senses the presence of fat in these two strains. A microarray analysis was conducted to identify genes that were differentially expressed in the duodenal enterocytes of OM and S5B rats. AIMS: The present experiment evaluated the expression of olfactory receptors in the duodenal enterocytes of OM and S5B rats. It was hypothesized that olfactory receptors present in the duodenum of OM and S5B rats would be differentially regulated by the intake of a high fat diet. METHODS: The mRNA levels of four olfactory receptors (Olr1744, Olr50, Olr124, Olr1507) were assessed from the duodenal enterocytes of OM and S5B rats consuming a high fat diet for 14 days. RESULTS: The duodenal mRNA levels of Olr1744, Olr124 and Olr1507 were significantly elevated in OM rats fed the high fat diet, but not S5B rats. No differences in the expression of Olr50 receptor mRNA were detected. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that several olfactory receptors present in the duodenum are selectively regulated by high fat diet intake in obesity-prone OM rats. Therefore, these receptors may play a role in the sensing and regulation of dietary fat, and may be important for the individual susceptibility to obesity in these two strains

Preparation, characterization, and influence of polyurea coatings on their layered composite materials based on flexible rebonded polyurethane

Preparation and characterization of a series of polyurea (PU) coatings and their influences on layered composite materials based on rebonded polyurethane (PUr) for floor application are described in terms of the raw materials, formulation, and application performance. While PU coatings show almost the same FTIR peaks, thermogravimetric analyses results reveal that thermal stabilities of the PU coatings are slightly enhanced with the use of trifunctional polyamine compound and one step degradation takes place beyond 300 degrees C. All PU coatings have very dense, smooth, and bubble-free surfaces whereas the cross-sectional SEM images exhibit pores of different sizes. Contact angle values of all PU coatings are bigger than 90 degrees indicating that the surfaces are hydrophobic. Using propylene carbonate in the preparation of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) prepolymer and the chain extender in the PU coating formulation impacts the mechanical and electrical properties of the PU coatings as well as layered PU/PUr composite materials. In conclusion, not only the controllable physicochemical and mechanical properties of layered PUr/PU composites but also the usage potential of recycled PU scraps in these layered composites are very promising for better floor applications