Operating under the radar in spheres of influence: Taking advantage of industry leaders’ market domains

Industry leaders enact mutual forbearance by establishing spheres of influence where the dominant industry leader is bestowed market dominance in exchange for similar treatment in the spheres of the other industry leaders. Because of this, spheres of influence are markets with lower rivalry levels. Accordingly, non-dominant firms operating within them benefit from their favorable competitive conditions. The extent to which a non-dominant firm benefits from its location in spheres of influence varies according to the competitive tension perceived by the industry leader that dominates the sphere. Large and fast-growing non-dominant firms will generate competition tension. Consequently, the industry leader of the sphere could direct its hostility toward them, reducing the potential returns that they may obtain from operating in spheres of influence. Our analyses in the Spanish retail banking sector show that non-dominant firms operating under the radar of industry leaders benefit more from their presence within spheres of influence

Prognostic value of simple frailty and malnutrition screening tools in patients with acute heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Background: Frailty and malnutrition are common in patients with heart failure (HF), and are associated with adverse outcomes. We studied the prognostic value of three malnutrition and three frailty indices in patients admitted acutely to hospital with HF. Methods: 265 consecutive patients [62% males, median age 80 (interquartile range (IQR): 72–86) years, median NTproBNP 3633 (IQR: 2025–6407) ng/l] admitted with HF between 2013 and 2014 were enrolled. Patients were screened for frailty using the Derby frailty index (DFI), acute frailty network (AFN) frailty criteria, and clinical frailty scale (CFS) and for malnutrition using the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI), controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score and prognostic nutritional index (PNI). Results: According to the CFS (> 4), DFI, and AFN, 53, 50, and 53% were frail, respectively. According to the GNRI (≤ 98), CONUT score (> 4), and PNI (≤ 38), 46, 46, and 42% patients were malnourished, respectively. During a median follow-up of 598 days (IQR 319–807 days), 113 patients died. One year mortality was 1% for those who were neither frail nor malnourished; 15% for those who were either malnourished or frail; and 65% for those who were both malnourished and frail. Amongst the malnutrition scores, PNI, and amongst the frailty scores, CFS increased model performance most compared with base model. A final model, including CFS and PNI, increased c-statistic for mortality prediction from 0.68 to 0.84. Conclusion: Worsening frailty and malnutrition indices are strongly related to worse outcome in patients hospitalised with HF

The computational and energy cost of simulation and storage for climate science: lessons from CMIP6

The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) is one of the biggest international efforts aimed at better understanding the past, present, and future of climate changes in a multi-model context. A total of 21 model intercomparison projects (MIPs) were endorsed in its sixth phase (CMIP6), which included 190 different experiments that were used to simulate 40 000 years and produced around 40 PB of data in total. This paper presents the main findings obtained from the CPMIP (the Computational Performance Model Intercomparison Project), a collection of a common set of metrics, specifically designed for assessing climate model performance. These metrics were exclusively collected from the production runs of experiments used in CMIP6 and primarily from institutions within the IS-ENES3 consortium. The document presents the full set of CPMIP metrics per institution and experiment, including a detailed analysis and discussion of each of the measurements. During the analysis, we found a positive correlation between the core hours needed, the complexity of the models, and the resolution used. Likewise, we show that between 5 %–15 % of the execution cost is spent in the coupling between independent components, and it only gets worse by increasing the number of resources. From the data, it is clear that queue times have a great impact on the actual speed achieved and have a huge variability across different institutions, ranging from none to up to 78 % execution overhead. Furthermore, our evaluation shows that the estimated carbon footprint of running such big simulations within the IS-ENES3 consortium is 1692 t of CO2 equivalent. As a result of the collection, we contribute to the creation of a comprehensive database for future community reference, establishing a benchmark for evaluation and facilitating the multi-model, multi-platform comparisons crucial for understanding climate modelling performance. Given the diverse range of applications, configurations, and hardware utilised, further work is required for the standardisation and formulation of general rules. The paper concludes with recommendations for future exercises aimed at addressing the encountered challenges which will facilitate more collections of a similar nature

The evolving patterns of competition after deregulation: the relevance of institutional and operational factors as determinants of rivalry

In this research, we apply an ecological model of competition to analyze the effect of deregulation on within industry competitive patterns. Particularly, we identify organizational forms within the population according to two different perspectives: an operational one and an institutional one. We argue that deregulation influences the relative importance of each of these dimensions at determining the set of firms that can be considered direct competitors, and the intensity with which they compete. Our findings show that the use of these two perspectives is of utmost importance to understand the evolution of competition in contexts where deregulation takes place. As our arguments predict, we show that, during the regulated period, competition was based on institutional definitions of organizational forms. However, after deregulation, competition progressively focused on operational definitions of organizational form. Our findings confirm the relevance of deregulation at shaping competitive interdependences within an industry. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Synthesis and reactivity of electron poor allenes: formation of completely organic frustrated Lewis pairs

The synthesis of several electron poor allenes bearing electron withdrawing substituents is described and their use as Lewis acids in the field of frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) chemistry reported. At room temperature the combination of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) with the allenes under study invariably afforded the corresponding Lewis adducts; however, at −78 °C this reaction is in most of the cases inhibited and kinetically induced organic FLPs are formed. Under these conditions the activation of S–S bonds in disulfides has been achieved in excellent yields

Metallfreie Hydrierung von elektronenarmen Allenen und Alkenen

Je ärmer, desto besser: Ein metallfreies katalytisches Verfahren für die Reduktion von elektronenarmen Allenen und Alkenen mit frustrierten Lewis-Paaren als Katalysator wurde entwickelt. In Optimierungsstudien wurde 1,4-Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octan (DABCO)/B(C6F5)3 als das am besten geeignete Lewis-Paar identifiziert

Metal-Free Hydrogenation of Electron-Poor Allenes and Alkenes

The poorer, the better: A metal-free catalytic procedure for the reduction of electron-poor allenes and alkenes has been developed. The method employs a frustrated Lewis pair based catalyst. 1,4-Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO)/B(C6F5)3 was shown to be the best combination in optimization studies

Binuclear β-diketiminate complexes of copper(I)

The reaction of a series of dinucleating bis(β-diketiminate) pro-ligands with mesitylcopper in the presence and absence of mono and diphosphines has allowed the isolation of a new series of dicopper(I) complexes. Inclusion of trans-1,2-cyclohexyl (1), 2,6-pyridyl (2), and 2,2′-oxydiaryl (3) spacers between the β-diketiminate units has been studied. The isolation of three new copper(I) phosphine complexes [1·Cu2(PPh3)2], [2·Cu2(PPh3)2] and [3·Cu2(PPh3)2] is reported. While these compounds display large Cu⋯Cu separations of 5.4–7.9 Å in the solid state, solution data are consistent with a large degree of conformational freedom. Modification of the monophosphine to a diphosphine, DPPE, allowed the isolation of the novel 11-membered bimetallic macrocycle [2·Cu2(DPPE)] containing both a binucleating nitrogen based ligand and a chelating diphosphine. While acetonitrile adducts of this series could also be generated in situ, under forcing conditions reaction of the 2,6-pyridyl bridged ligand with mesityl copper led to the formation [2·Cu2]2. This latter complex is a dimer of dicopper(I) units in which the bis(β-diketiminate) ligand now binds four copper(I) centers through not only the expected κ2-N,N′-chelation but also κ1- and η2-binding of the central pyridine through orthogonal Cu–N and Cu–arene interactions. Reversible coordination of alkenes, pyridine and quinoline to the copper cluster was identified allowing the isolation and structural characterisation of a further series of dinuclear complexes [2·Cu2(pyridine)2], [2·Cu2(cyclopentene)2] and [2·Cu2(norbornene)2]. Solution studies allow quantification of the reversible binding event through a van't Hoff analysis. Both solution and the solid state data suggest a weak anagostic interaction exists in the latter two alkene complexes of copper(I). The new complexes have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and CHN analysis