Corporate reputation and organisational performance: an Australian study

PURPOSE - To test for a relationship between corporate reputation and financial performance, using Australian data. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH - Econometric modelling. FINDINGS - No causal relationship between corporate reputation and financial performance (in either direction) was found. This is contrary to some findings in other countries. Reputation may not have a significant impact on performance in Australia. There may be weaknesses in the existing measure of reputation, or the finding may be due to unobserved variability in the intervening variable of managerial exploitation of the reputation. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS - The findings may be specific to Australia. In Australia, the linkage between reputation and performance may be too small to be significant in the available sample. It is argued that in corporate practice the link between reputation and performance proceeds via strategy and competitive advantage. Having a reputation resource is not enough; it needs to be managed well and exploited if it is to yield financial results. More work is needed to establish reliable measures of reputation. ORIGINALITY/VALUE - It is the first known study to investigate the link on Australian data. The discussion of the findings raises issues for the measurement and management of reputation

Measurement and Effects of the Magnetic Hysteresis on the LHC Crossing Angle and Separation Bumps

The superconducting orbit corrector magnets (MCBC, MCBY and MCBX) in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will be used to generate parallel separation and crossing angles at the interaction points during the different phases that will bring the LHC beams into collision. However, the field errors generated by the inherent hysteresis in the operation region of the orbit correctors may lead to unwanted orbit perturbations that could have a critical effect on luminosity. This paper presents the results obtained from dedicated cryogenic measurements on the orbit correctors and the resulting simulations performed to quantify the impact of the hysteresis on the LHC orbit

Co-Management of COVID-19 and heart failure during the COVID-19 pandemic. lessons learned

The COVID pandemic has brought many new challenges worldwide, which has impacted on patients with chronic conditions. There is an increasing evidence base suggesting an interaction between chronic heart failure (HF) and COVID-19, and in turn the prognostic impact of co-existence of the two conditions. Patients with existing HF appear more prone to develop severe complications on contracting COVID-19, but the exact prevalence in patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19 not requiring hospital admission is poorly investigated. In addition, hospitalization rates for acute HF over the pandemic period appear reduced compared to previous periods. Several key issues remain rather unaddressed and, importantly, a specific algorithm focused on diagnostic differentiation between HF and acute respiratory distress syndrome, a severe complication of COVID-19, is still lacking. Furthermore, recent data suggests potential interaction existing between HF treatment and some anti-viral anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed during the infection, raising some doubts about a universal treatment strategy for all patients with COVID-19. With this manuscript, we aim to review the current literature in this field in light of growing understanding of COVID-19 in the setting of the HF population, its associated morbidity and mortality burden, and the impact on healthcare systems. We hope that this may stimulate a discussion to guarantee a better, more tailored delivery of care for patients with HF in the setting of concomitant COVID-19 infection

Deep‐Learning‐Based Preprocessing for Quantitative Myocardial Perfusion MRI

Background: Quantitative myocardial perfusion cardiac MRI can provide a fast and robust assessment of myocardial perfusion status for the noninvasive diagnosis of myocardial ischemia while being more objective than visual assessment. However, it currently has limited use in clinical practice due to the challenging postprocessing required, particularly the segmentation. Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of an automated deep learning (DL) pipeline for image processing prior to quantitative analysis. Study Type: Retrospective. Population: In all, 175 (350 MRI scans; 1050 image series) clinical patients under both rest and stress conditions (135/10/30 training/validation/test). Field Strength/Sequence: 3.0T/2D multislice saturation recovery T 1-weighted gradient echo sequence. Assessment: Accuracy was assessed, as compared to the manual operator, through the mean square error of the distance between landmarks and the Dice similarity coefficient of the segmentation and bounding box detection. Quantitative perfusion maps obtained using the automated DL-based processing were compared to the results obtained with the manually processed images. Statistical Tests: Bland–Altman plots and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to assess the myocardial blood flow (MBF) obtained using the automated DL pipeline, as compared to values obtained by a manual operator. Results: The mean (SD) error in the detection of the time of peak signal enhancement in the left ventricle was 1.49 (1.4) timeframes. The mean (SD) Dice similarity coefficients for the bounding box and myocardial segmentation were 0.93 (0.03) and 0.80 (0.06), respectively. The mean (SD) error in the RV insertion point was 2.8 (1.8) mm. The Bland–Altman plots showed a bias of 2.6% of the mean MBF between the automated and manually processed MBF values on a per-myocardial segment basis. The ICC was 0.89, 95% confidence interval = [0.87, 0.90]. Data Conclusion: We showed high accuracy, compared to manual processing, for the DL-based processing of myocardial perfusion data leading to quantitative values that are similar to those achieved with manual processing. Level of Evidence: 3. Technical Efficacy Stage: 1. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:1689–1696. </p

Higher-order nonlinear modes and bifurcation phenomena due to degenerate parametric four-wave mixing

We demonstrate that weak parametric interaction of a fundamental beam with its third harmonic field in Kerr media gives rise to a rich variety of families of non-fundamental (multi-humped) solitary waves. Making a comprehensive comparison between bifurcation phenomena for these families in bulk media and planar waveguides, we discover two novel types of soliton bifurcations and other interesting findings. The later includes (i) multi-humped solitary waves without even or odd symmetry and (ii) multi-humped solitary waves with large separation between their humps which, however, may not be viewed as bound states of several distinct one-humped solitons.Comment: 9 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Gravitational waves from Sco X-1: A comparison of search methods and prospects for detection with advanced detectors

The low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) is potentially the most luminous source of continuous gravitational-wave radiation for interferometers such as LIGO and Virgo. For low-mass X-ray binaries this radiation would be sustained by active accretion of matter from its binary companion. With the Advanced Detector Era fast approaching, work is underway to develop an array of robust tools for maximizing the science and detection potential of Sco X-1. We describe the plans and progress of a project designed to compare the numerous independent search algorithms currently available. We employ a mock-data challenge in which the search pipelines are tested for their relative proficiencies in parameter estimation, computational efficiency, robust- ness, and most importantly, search sensitivity. The mock-data challenge data contains an ensemble of 50 Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) type signals, simulated within a frequency band of 50-1500 Hz. Simulated detector noise was generated assuming the expected best strain sensitivity of Advanced LIGO and Advanced VIRGO ($4 \times 10^{-24}$ Hz$^{-1/2}$). A distribution of signal amplitudes was then chosen so as to allow a useful comparison of search methodologies. A factor of 2 in strain separates the quietest detected signal, at $6.8 \times 10^{-26}$ strain, from the torque-balance limit at a spin frequency of 300 Hz, although this limit could range from $1.2 \times 10^{-25}$ (25 Hz) to $2.2 \times 10^{-26}$ (750 Hz) depending on the unknown frequency of Sco X-1. With future improvements to the search algorithms and using advanced detector data, our expectations for probing below the theoretical torque-balance strain limit are optimistic.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figure

Lead Speciation in the Dusts Emitted from Non-Ferrous Metallurgy Processes

The paper presents results for the speciation analysis of lead in dusts derived from dedusting of technological gasses from metallurgical processes of non-ferrous metals with different elementary content, made in accordance with two equal sequential extractions. Analytical procedure A provided possibilities for determination of fraction of Pb2+, metallic lead and fraction containing mainly lead sulfides. The second procedure (procedure B) was sequential extraction in accordance with Tessier. The results obtained in accordance with procedure A indicate that, regardless of the dust origin, the dominant group of Pb compounds is composed of lead salts which are soluble under alkaline conditions or lead compounds that form plumbites in the reaction with NaOH

TDR-based water content estimation on globigerina limestone through permittivity measurements

Most monuments and historical buildings in the Maltese Islands are made of the local Globigerina Limestone (GL). This type of stone, however, is very delicate and prone to degradation caused by the environmental conditions of the islands. Hence, for the preservation of the Cultural Heritage monuments, it is necessary to promptly assess the health status of these structures and, in particular, their water content (which represents one of the major causes of degradation). Starting from these considerations, in this work, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based method for estimating water content of GL is presented. More specifically, the proposed method relies on estimating the water content value of the GL structure from TDR-based dielectric permittivity measurements. To verify the suitability of this system, experimental tests were carried out on a GL sample. The results anticipate the strong potential of the proposed method for practical applications in the Cultural Heritage diagnostics