Unlocking the value of real options: how firm-specific learning conditions affect R&D investments under uncertainty

Research Summary Why do some firms increase R&D investments in the face of uncertainty, while others do not? Contrary to common wisdom, this study posits that uncertainty prompts firms to invest in R&D. The value to invest under uncertainty is, however, bounded by a firm's learning conditions (i.e., human capital, relatedness of innovation activities, and industry maturity). An empirical test on a cross‐industry panel of 551 business divisions of manufacturing firms reveals how organization‐environment interactions determine the firm‐specific value to invest in learning prior to full‐scale commercialization. The insights help to bridge real options theory and the learning literature. Managerial Summary Uncertainty about the market environment makes investment decisions in R&D and the commercialization of new products a challenge: should firms “wait and see” until uncertainty resolves to avoid the risk of betting on the wrong product or commit further resources regardless? Our analysis suggests that manufacturing firms often take a mixed approach (“act and see”). While deferring investments in the commercialization of new products, they undertake further R&D to inform decision making by insights that would otherwise be unavailable. However, we find that the benefit of such practice depends on the learning conditions of the individual firm. What is risky for firms with disadvantages in human capital and technology development is value enhancing for firms with good foundations for learning through R&D

Allele specific expression analysis identifies regulatory variation associated with stress-related genes in the Mexican highland maize landrace Palomero Toluqueño.

BackgroundGene regulatory variation has been proposed to play an important role in the adaptation of plants to environmental stress. In the central highlands of Mexico, farmer selection has generated a unique group of maize landraces adapted to the challenges of the highland niche. In this study, gene expression in Mexican highland maize and a reference maize breeding line were compared to identify evidence of regulatory variation in stress-related genes. It was hypothesised that local adaptation in Mexican highland maize would be associated with a transcriptional signature observable even under benign conditions.MethodsAllele specific expression analysis was performed using the seedling-leaf transcriptome of an F1 individual generated from the cross between the highland adapted Mexican landrace Palomero Toluqueño and the reference line B73, grown under benign conditions. Results were compared with a published dataset describing the transcriptional response of B73 seedlings to cold, heat, salt and UV treatments.ResultsA total of 2,386 genes were identified to show allele specific expression. Of these, 277 showed an expression difference between Palomero Toluqueño and B73 alleles under benign conditions that anticipated the response of B73 cold, heat, salt and/or UV treatments, and, as such, were considered to display a prior stress response. Prior stress response candidates included genes associated with plant hormone signaling and a number of transcription factors. Construction of a gene co-expression network revealed further signaling and stress-related genes to be among the potential targets of the transcription factors candidates.DiscussionPrior activation of responses may represent the best strategy when stresses are severe but predictable. Expression differences observed here between Palomero Toluqueño and B73 alleles indicate the presence of cis-acting regulatory variation linked to stress-related genes in Palomero Toluqueño. Considered alongside gene annotation and population data, allele specific expression analysis of plants grown under benign conditions provides an attractive strategy to identify functional variation potentially linked to local adaptation

Aesthetic Worlds: Rimbaud, Williams and Baroque Form

The sense of form that provides the modern poet with a unique experience of the literary object has been crucial to various attempts to compare poetry to other cultural activities. In maintaining similar conceptions of the relationship between poetry and painting, Arthur Rimbaud and W. C. Williams establish a common basis for interpreting their creative work. And yet their poetry is more crucially concerned with the sudden emergence of visible "worlds" containing verbal objects that integrate a new kind of literary text. This paper discusses the emergence of "aesthetic worlds" in the work of both poets and then examines how a common concern with Baroque form unites them in the phenomenological task of overcoming Cartesian dualism

Electroweak corrections to W-boson pair production at the LHC

Vector-boson pair production ranks among the most important Standard-Model benchmark processes at the LHC, not only in view of on-going Higgs analyses. These processes may also help to gain a deeper understanding of the electroweak interaction in general, and to test the validity of the Standard Model at highest energies. In this work, the first calculation of the full one-loop electroweak corrections to on-shell W-boson pair production at hadron colliders is presented. We discuss the impact of the corrections on the total cross section as well as on relevant differential distributions. We observe that corrections due to photon-induced channels can be amazingly large at energies accessible at the LHC, while radiation of additional massive vector bosons does not influence the results significantly.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables; some references and comments on \gamma\gamma -> WW added; matches version published in JHE

Loss of Wolbachia infection during colonisation in the invasive Argentine ant Linepithema humile

WOLBACHIA are maternally inherited bacteria, which are very common in arthropods and nematodes. Wolbachia infection may affect host reproduction through feminisation, parthenogenesis, male-killing, cytoplasmic incompatibility and increased fecundity. Previous studies showing discrepancies between the phylogenies of Wolbachia and its arthropod hosts indicate that infection is frequently lost, but the causes of symbiont extinction have so far remained elusive. Here, we report data showing that colonisation of new habitats is a possible mechanism leading to the loss of infection. The presence and prevalence of Wolbachia were studied in three native and eight introduced populations of the Argentine ant Linepithema humile. The screening shows that the symbiont is common in the three native L. humile populations analysed. In contrast, Wolbachia was detected in only one of the introduced populations. The loss of infection associated with colonisation of new habitats may result from drift (founder effect) or altered selection pressures in the new habitat. Furthermore, a molecular phylogeny based on sequences of the Wolbachia wsp gene indicates that L. humile has been infected by a single strain. Horizontal transmission of the symbiont may be important in ants as suggested by the sequence similarity of strains in the three genera Linepithema, Acromyrmex, and Solenopsis native from South and Central America

Spin glass behavior in FeAl2

Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at http://journals.aps.org/Magnetic and transport measurements indicate FeAl2 to be an ordered intermetallic spin glass, with canonical behavior including a susceptibility cusp at T-f = 35 K and frequency-dependent susceptibility below T-f. The field-cooled and zero-held-cooled magnetization diverge below T-f, with hysteresis characteristic of a spin glass. A resistivity minimum just above T-f is explained in terms of coherent magnetic scattering. This behavior is common to spin glasses with short-range interactions among f-electron moments and indicates a similar spin configuration in these materials

The impact of General Dental Council registration and continuing professional development on UK dental care professionals:(1) dental nurses.

Objective To investigate the impact of GDC registration and mandatory CPD on dental nurses’ views, job satisfaction and intention to leave. Design Postal/online survey, conducted in parallel with a survey of dental technicians. Setting UK private and NHS practices, community services, dental hospitals. Subjects and methods Representative sample of General Dental Council registrants. Main outcome measures Job satisfaction; intention to leave profession (dependent variable in regression analysis). Results Eleven were ineligible (left profession, moved abroad); 267 (44% of those eligible) responded, all female. Respondents’ mean age was 38.2 years (sd 10.74). The general principle of registration was endorsed by 67%, and compulsory registration by 51%, but the fee level by only 6%. Most nurses did not feel that registration had affected their view of dental nursing as a career (56%), their role (74%) or status (86%) within the dental team, or that CPD helped them to do their job better (76%). Fiftly-six percent were not satisfied with their job, and 22% intended to leave the profession. Intention to leave was predicted by younger age and greater dissatisfaction with physical working conditions and opportunities to progress. Conclusions Widely held criticisms regarding the costs and relevance of registration and CPD coupled with a potentially high level of attrition from the profession suggest a review of the fee and salary structure and greater financial support for CPD is warranted

Urban development, land sharing and land sparing: the importance of considering restoration

1. At present, there is limited knowledge of how best to reconcile urban development with biodiversity conservation, and in particular whether populations of wild species would be greater under low-density housing (with larger gardens), or high-density housing (allowing more area to be left as undeveloped green spaces). The land sharing/sparing framework – originally developed in the context of farming – can be applied to address this question. 2. We sampled the abundance of trees in the city of Cambridge, UK, along a gradient of human density. We designed different scenarios of urban growth to accommodate the human population predicted in 2031. For each scenario, we projected the future city-wide tree population size and quantified its carbon sequestration potential. We also considered, for the first time in an urban sharing-sparing context, the implications of habitat restoration on degraded urban green space. 3. We found that the density of most native and non-native tree species is presently highest in areas of low human density, compared to both higher density areas and green space (which is largely maintained with few trees). However, restoring woodland in green spaces would lead to far greater densities of native trees than on any existing land use. Hence, provided >2% of green space is restored, native tree population sizes would be larger if urban growth followed a land-sparing approach. Likewise, carbon sequestration would be maximised under land sparing coupled with restoration, but even so only a maximum of 2·5% of the city's annual greenhouse gas emissions could be offset. 4. Although both tree populations and carbon storage thus appear to benefit from land-sparing development, the risk that this might widen the existing disconnect between people and nature must also be addressed – perhaps through a combination of adding housing in low-density areas while ensuring these are in close proximity to high-quality green space. 5. Synthesis and applications. In regions which have already been cleared of intact habitat, a combination of land-sparing urban development with the restoration of green space could accommodate urban population growth whilst dramatically improving the existing status of local tree populations. Where cities are expanding into intact habitat, the merits of urban development by land sparing may be even more pronounced. Studies in such regions are urgently needed

Prospects for terahertz imaging the human skin cancer with the help of gold-nanoparticles-based terahertz-to-infrared converter

The design is suggested, and possible operation parameters are discussed, of an instrument to inspect a skin cancer tumour in the terahertz (THz) range, transferring the image into the infrared (IR) and making it visible with the help of standard IR camera. The central element of the device is the THz-to-IR converter, a Teflon or silicon film matrix with embedded 8.5 nm diameter gold nanoparticles. The use of external THz source for irradiating the biological tissue sample is presumed. The converter's temporal characteristics enable its performance in a real-time scale. The details of design suited for the operation in transmission mode (in vitro) or on the human skin in reflection mode {in vivo) are specified.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the FANEM2018 workshop - Minsk, 3-5 June 201