Driving impact through base of the pyramid distribution models: The role of intermediary organizations

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research question: how can intermediaries contribute to social impact creation through their interventions at different levels of distribution networks in the base of the pyramid (BoP) markets? Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts an embedded case study of an intermediary organization. The analysis focuses on the intervention of the intermediary on the distribution stages of supply chains in four different projects in the food sector in Ethiopia, Benin, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Findings: The embedded case study reveals essential formal and informal roles undertaken by the intermediary organization to develop decentralized distribution networks based on local micro-entrepreneurs. The study proposes that efforts undertaken by the intermediaries toward knowledge sharing and capacity building among partners can enable the adoption of pro-poor strategies across the supply chain. Moreover, hybrid intermediaries can act as “guardians” of the mutual value creation approach since one of their key roles is to advocate the needs of the BoP. Research limitations/implications: Important implications for improving nutrition and food security in the BoP markets are developed based on the empirical findings. The findings open avenues for further research into the antecedents of retention rates in distribution networks based on local micro-entrepreneurs. Practical implications: Findings have implications for different types of BoP initiatives by highlighting how intermediary organizations intervene to develop distribution models with a special focus on social impact. Originality/value: This paper fills an important research gap by discussing social impact aspects in BoP supply chains by adopting the perspective of intermediary organizations

Bea score study and correlations with the survival of surgical position conclusions

Purpose: To evaluate the applicability of Baseline Event Anticipation score (BEA), as a prognostic factor for complications in cases of cirrhotic patients. Material and Methods: Population chosen for the study was represented by patients suffering from cirrhosis, being evaluated through BEA prognostic score sensibility, using the online formula.(http://hepatitis –delta/org/physicians-and-scientists/calculator). Results: The lot of operated patients where 54, with an average age of 43.4 ± 4.3 years; 53% of them were male and 47% female. All patients had Azygo-Portal Devascularization Hassab-Kaliba, histologically distributed as : micronodular hepatic cirrhosis - 24 (44.4%) macronodular- 16 (29.6%) and micro-macronodular - 14 (25.9%). In the analysis was a prevalence of the BEA-B score - 21 cases (38.9%), followed by 17 cases (31.5%) with BEA-A score and 16 cases (29.6%) with BEA-C score. After surgery 7 patients had 15 complications: early (6) and late (9), surgical (3) and therapeutic (12). Comparing the results, there is a direct correlation, r = 0.233 of the BEA-C score with the incidence of complications, and a decrease in BEA-A and BEA-B patients. Conclusions: This retrospective study was conducted in a specialized center with a reduced sample size, it demonstrates the prognostic utility of the BEA score and apparently requires care that will improve perioperative recovery, and will reduce morbidity

Geometry of General Hypersurfaces in Spacetime: Junction Conditions

We study imbedded hypersurfaces in spacetime whose causal character is allowed to change from point to point. Inherited geometrical structures on these hypersurfaces are defined by two methods: first, the standard rigged connection induced by a rigging vector (a vector not tangent to the hypersurface anywhere); and a second, more physically adapted, where each observer in spacetime induces a new type of connection that we call the rigged metric connection. The generalisation of the Gauss and Codazzi equations are also given. With the above machinery, we attack the problem of matching two spacetimes across a general hypersurface. It is seen that the preliminary junction conditions allowing for the correct definition of Einstein's equations in the distributional sense reduce to the requirement that the first fundamental form of the hypersurface be continuous. The Bianchi identities are then proven to hold in the distributional sense. Next, we find the proper junction conditions which forbid the appearance of singular parts in the curvature. Finally, we derive the physical implications of the junction conditions: only six independent discontinuities of the Riemann tensor are allowed. These are six matter discontinuities at non-null points of the hypersurface. For null points, the existence of two arbitrary discontinuities of the Weyl tensor (together with four in the matter tensor) are also allowed.Comment: Latex, no figure

Synergy between a collagen IV mimetic peptide and a somatotropin-domain derived peptide as angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis inhibitors

Angiogenesis is central to many physiological and pathological processes. Here we show two potent bioinformatically-identified peptides, one derived from collagen IV and translationally optimized, and one from a somatotropin domain-containing protein, synergize in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis assays including cell adhesion, migration and in vivo Matrigel plugs. Peptide-peptide combination therapies have recently been applied to diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but remain uncommon thus far in cancer, age-related macular degeneration and other angiogenesis-dependent diseases. Previous work from our group has shown that the collagen IV-derived peptide primarily binds β1 integrins, while the receptor for the somatotropin-derived peptide remains unknown. We investigate these peptides’ mechanisms of action and find both peptides affect the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway as well as focal adhesion kinase (FAK) by changes in phosphorylation level and total protein content. Blocking of FAK both through binding of β1 integrins and through inhibition of VEGFR2 accounts for the synergy we observe. Since resistance through activation of multiple signaling pathways is a central problem of anti-angiogenic therapies in diseases such as cancer, we suggest that peptide combinations such as these are an approach that should be considered as a means to sustain anti-angiogenic and anti-lymphangiogenic therapy and improve efficacy of treatment

A Multilevel Analysis of Implicit and Explicit CSR in French and UK Professional Sport

Research question: This paper examines the ways in which French and UK professional sports clubs implement and communicate their CSR policies. In addition to identifying similarities and differences between CSR practices in the two countries, our analysis extends and adapts the implicit-explicit CSR framework to the field of sport. Research methods: We used a mixed methods approach to analyse qualitative and quantitative data on the CSR strategies of 66 professional rugby union (Top 14, Aviva Premiership Rugby) and football (Ligue 1, Premier League) clubs over the 2017-2018 season. Results and findings: We found major differences in CSR communication between France and the UK. Communication by French clubs tends to highlight sport’s values, involve few media channels, whereas communication by UK clubs explicitly vaunts their social responsibility and involves numerous channels. In the case of CSR implementation, there are similarities between French and UK clubs, especially in the fields their CSR initiatives cover (e.g., health, diversity), as well as differences. However, the scope of initiatives varies more between sports than between countries, with football demonstrating a more international outlook than rugby. Implications: This article expands Matten and Moon’s (2008) implicit-explicit CSR framework by identifying the influence of interactions between sectorial/field-level factors and national/macro-level factors on CSR practices, and by distinguishing between CSR communication and CSR implementation. Our results throw light on the shift from implicit to explicit CSR in French professional sport

Advances in Li-Ion battery management for electric vehicles

This paper aims at presenting new solutions for advanced Li-Ion battery management to meet the performance, cost and safety requirements of automotive applications. Emphasis is given to monitoring and controlling the battery temperature, a parameter which dramatically affects the performance, lifetime, and safety of Li-Ion batteries. In addition to this, an innovative battery management architecture is introduced to facilitate the development and integration of advanced battery control algorithms. It exploits the concept of smart cells combined with an FPGA-based centralized unit. The effectiveness of the proposed solutions is shown through hardware-in-the-loop simulations and experimental results

Natural Diagonal Riemannian Almost Product and Para-Hermitian Cotangent Bundles

We obtain the natural diagonal almost product and locally product structures on the total space of the cotangent bundle of a Riemannian manifold. We find the Riemannian almost product (locally product) and the (almost) para-Hermitian cotangent bundles of natural diagonal lift type. We prove the characterization theorem for the natural diagonal (almost) para-K\"ahlerian structures on the total spaces of the cotangent bundle.Comment: 10 pages, will appear in Czechoslovak Mathematical Journa

On negative higher-order Kerr effect and filamentation

As a contribution to the ongoing controversy about the role of higher-order Kerr effect (HOKE) in laser filamentation, we first provide thorough details about the protocol that has been employed to infer the HOKE indices from the experiment. Next, we discuss potential sources of artifact in the experimental measurements of these terms and show that neither the value of the observed birefringence, nor its inversion, nor the intensity at which it is observed, appear to be flawed. Furthermore, we argue that, independently on our values, the principle of including HOKE is straightforward. Due to the different temporal and spectral dynamics, the respective efficiency of defocusing by the plasma and by the HOKE is expected to depend substantially on both incident wavelength and pulse duration. The discussion should therefore focus on defining the conditions where each filamentation regime dominates.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to Laser physics as proceedings of the Laser Physics 2010 conferenc

New data on OZI rule violation in bar{p}p annihilation at rest

The results of a measurement of the ratio R = Y(phi pi+ pi-) / Y(omega pi+ pi-) for antiproton annihilation at rest in a gaseous and in a liquid hydrogen target are presented. It was found that the value of this ratio increases with the decreasing of the dipion mass, which demonstrates the difference in the phi and omega production mechanisms. An indication on the momentum transfer dependence of the apparent OZI rule violation for phi production from the 3S1 initial state was found.Comment: 11 pages, 3 PostScript figures, submitted to Physics Letter

Mapping gene associations in human mitochondria using clinical disease phenotypes

Nuclear genes encode most mitochondrial proteins, and their mutations cause diverse and debilitating clinical disorders. To date, 1,200 of these mitochondrial genes have been recorded, while no standardized catalog exists of the associated clinical phenotypes. Such a catalog would be useful to develop methods to analyze human phenotypic data, to determine genotype-phenotype relations among many genes and diseases, and to support the clinical diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders. Here we establish a clinical phenotype catalog of 174 mitochondrial disease genes and study associations of diseases and genes. Phenotypic features such as clinical signs and symptoms were manually annotated from full-text medical articles and classified based on the hierarchical MeSH ontology. This classification of phenotypic features of each gene allowed for the comparison of diseases between different genes. In turn, we were then able to measure the phenotypic associations of disease genes for which we calculated a quantitative value that is based on their shared phenotypic features. The results showed that genes sharing more similar phenotypes have a stronger tendency for functional interactions, proving the usefulness of phenotype similarity values in disease gene network analysis. We then constructed a functional network of mitochondrial genes and discovered a higher connectivity for non-disease than for disease genes, and a tendency of disease genes to interact with each other. Utilizing these differences, we propose 168 candidate genes that resemble the characteristic interaction patterns of mitochondrial disease genes. Through their network associations, the candidates are further prioritized for the study of specific disorders such as optic neuropathies and Parkinson disease. Most mitochondrial disease phenotypes involve several clinical categories including neurologic, metabolic, and gastrointestinal disorders, which might indicate the effects of gene defects within the mitochondrial system. The accompanying knowledgebase (http://www.mitophenome.org/) supports the study of clinical diseases and associated genes