Relationships, Layoffs, and Organizational Resilience: Airline Industry Responses to September 11

The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 affected the U.S. airline industry more than almost any other industry. Certain of these companies emerged successful, however, and demonstrated remarkable resilience while others languished. This investigation identifies the reasons why some airline companies recovered successfully after the attacks while others struggled. Evidence is provided that layoffs after the crisis, while intended to foster recovery, instead inhibited recovery throughout the four years after the crisis. But layoffs after the crisis were strongly correlated with the lack of financial reserves and the lack of a viable business model prior to the crisis. Digging deeper, we find that having a viable business model itself depended on the extent to which positive employee relationships had been achieved and maintained over the long term. One implication of our findings is that layoffs, while reducing costs in the short term, may also undermine the positive relationships that are critical for achieving lasting recovery.Relationships, layoffs, organizational resilience, terrorist attacks, aviation.

Brain–computer interface game applications for combined neurofeedback and biofeedback treatment for children on the autism spectrum

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show deficits in social and communicative skills, including imitation, empathy, and shared attention, as well as restricted interests and repetitive patterns of behaviors. Evidence for and against the idea that dysfunctions in the mirror neuron system are involved in imitation and could be one underlying cause for ASD is discussed in this review. Neurofeedback interventions have reduced symptoms in children with ASD by self-regulation of brain rhythms. However, cortical deficiencies are not the only cause of these symptoms. Peripheral physiological activity, such as the heart rate, is closely linked to neurophysiological signals and associated with social engagement. Therefore, a combined approach targeting the interplay between brain, body and behavior could be more effective. Brain-computer interface applications for combined neurofeedback and biofeedback treatment for children with ASD are currently nonexistent. To facilitate their use, we have designed an innovative game that includes social interactions and provides neural- and body-based feedback that corresponds directly to the underlying significance of the trained signals as well as to the behavior that is reinforced

EFFECT OF USING LEAD RUBBER BEARING ON A STEEL ARCH BRIDGE

A study was conducted to evaluate the application of Lead Rubber Bearing (LRB) on bridge structures. The length of steel arch bridge is 80 m, width of 10 m, and height of 19.6 m. The bridge is simply supported with two bearings on each support. Structural analysis reveals that the lateral force on the bearing is more than 400 tons (835 tons in longitudinal direction). The original designer’s intention is to use pot bearings. However, the pot bearing was required to undergo some mechanical test to verify its properties prior to installation. Due to its size, this scheme is not applicable due to the limitations of the testing facility. Therefore, an alternative design was evaluated using LRB to reduce the reaction force, hence downsize the bearing size. The LRB used is of LRB 7500 characteristics, and the calculation refers to AASHTO Guide Specifications for Seismic Isolation Design (GSID), 4th edition 2014.The analysis shows that applying LRB on the bridge lengthened the structural period from 0.76 seconds to 1.67 seconds. It also increased the damping ratio from 5% to 43 %. With these significant changes in structural parameters, lateral forces due to earthquake loads on the bearing and foundation can be greatly reduced. The study found that replacing pot bearings with LRBs can reduce the lateral force to 80 tons, approximately one fifth from the previous design. Correspondingly, the internal forces of some major structural components of the bridge can be reduced due to the application of LRB

Graded Nodal/Activin Signaling Titrates Conversion of Quantitative Phospho-Smad2 Levels into Qualitative Embryonic Stem Cell Fate Decisions

Nodal and Activin are morphogens of the TGFbeta superfamily of signaling molecules that direct differential cell fate decisions in a dose- and distance-dependent manner. During early embryonic development the Nodal/Activin pathway is responsible for the specification of mesoderm, endoderm, node, and mesendoderm. In contradiction to this drive towards cellular differentiation, the pathway also plays important roles in the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency in embryonic and epiblast stem cells. The molecular basis behind stem cell interpretation of Nodal/Activin signaling gradients and the undertaking of disparate cell fate decisions remains poorly understood. Here, we show that any perturbation of endogenous signaling levels in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to their exit from self-renewal towards divergent differentiation programs. Increasing Nodal signals above basal levels by direct stimulation with Activin promotes differentiation towards the mesendodermal lineages while repression of signaling with the specific Nodal/Activin receptor inhibitor SB431542 induces trophectodermal differentiation. To address how quantitative Nodal/Activin signals are translated qualitatively into distinct cell fates decisions, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation of phospho-Smad2, the primary downstream transcriptional factor of the Nodal/Activin pathway, followed by massively parallel sequencing, and show that phospho-Smad2 binds to and regulates distinct subsets of target genes in a dose-dependent manner. Crucially, Nodal/Activin signaling directly controls the Oct4 master regulator of pluripotency by graded phospho-Smad2 binding in the promoter region. Hence stem cells interpret and carry out differential Nodal/Activin signaling instructions via a corresponding gradient of Smad2 phosphorylation that selectively titrates self-renewal against alternative differentiation programs by direct regulation of distinct target gene subsets and Oct4 expression