Electromagnetic Polarization Effects due to Axion Photon Mixing

We investigate the effect of axions on the polarization of electromagnetic waves as they propagate through astronomical distances. We analyze the change in the dispersion of the electromagnetic wave due to its mixing with axions. We find that this leads to a shift in polarization and turns out to be the dominant effect for a wide range of frequencies. We analyze whether this effect or the decay of photons into axions can explain the large scale anisotropies which have been observed in the polarizations of quasars and radio galaxies. We also comment on the possibility that the axion-photon mixing can explain the dimming of distant supernovae.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur

A new research agenda for managing socio-cultural integration

Post-acquisition socio-cultural integration has received increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners since the early 1990s. During the past decade, research has increasingly focused on emotions and identity in mergers and acquisitions. This chapter introduces the reader to the vibrant research field and its relevance. This section sets the scene for the book, which provides a deeper understanding of how emotions—both positive and negative—as well as values and identity enable a deeper socio-cultural integration after a merger or acquisition, and how leadership plays a crucial role in making it all happen. This chapter also highlights how the Nordic approach to post-acquisition socio-cultural integration refers to a large community of Nordic academics focusing on the softer social and human side of acquisition, often relying on a huge variety of qualitative methods, and to Nordic companies that are not afraid of adopting a more collaborative approach to post-acquisition integration

Assessing the Quality of Care for Pneumonia in Integrated Community Case Management: A Cross-Sectional Mixed Methods Study

Background Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of mortality in children under five worldwide. Community-level interventions, such as integrated community case management, have great potential to reduce the burden of pneumonia, as well as other diseases, especially in remote populations. However, there are still questions as to whether community health workers (CHW) are able to accurately assess symptoms of pneumonia and prescribe appropriate treatment. This research addresses limitations of previous studies using innovative methodology to assess the accuracy of respiratory rate measurement by CHWs and provides new evidence on the quality of care given for children with symptoms of pneumonia. It is one of few that assesses CHW performance in their usual setting, with independent re-examination by experts, following a considerable period of time post-training of CHWs. Methods In this cross-sectional mixed methods study, 1,497 CHW consultations, conducted by 90 CHWs in two districts of Luapula province, Zambia, were directly observed, with measurement of respiratory rate for children with suspected pneumonia recorded by video. Using the video footage, a retrospective reference standard assessment of respiratory rate was conducted by experts. Counts taken by CHWs were compared against the reference standard and appropriateness of the treatment prescribed by CHWs was assessed. To supplement observational findings, three focus group discussions and nine in depth interviews with CHWs were conducted. Results and Conclusion The findings support existing literature that CHWs are capable of measuring respiratory rates and providing appropriate treatment, with 81% and 78% agreement, respectively, between CHWs and experts. Accuracy in diagnosis could be strengthened through further training and the development of improved diagnostic tools appropriate for resource-poor settings

The RICORDO approach to semantic interoperability for biomedical data and models: strategy, standards and solutions.

BACKGROUND: The practice and research of medicine generates considerable quantities of data and model resources (DMRs). Although in principle biomedical resources are re-usable, in practice few can currently be shared. In particular, the clinical communities in physiology and pharmacology research, as well as medical education, (i.e. PPME communities) are facing considerable operational and technical obstacles in sharing data and models. FINDINGS: We outline the efforts of the PPME communities to achieve automated semantic interoperability for clinical resource documentation in collaboration with the RICORDO project. Current community practices in resource documentation and knowledge management are overviewed. Furthermore, requirements and improvements sought by the PPME communities to current documentation practices are discussed. The RICORDO plan and effort in creating a representational framework and associated open software toolkit for the automated management of PPME metadata resources is also described. CONCLUSIONS: RICORDO is providing the PPME community with tools to effect, share and reason over clinical resource annotations. This work is contributing to the semantic interoperability of DMRs through ontology-based annotation by (i) supporting more effective navigation and re-use of clinical DMRs, as well as (ii) sustaining interoperability operations based on the criterion of biological similarity. Operations facilitated by RICORDO will range from automated dataset matching to model merging and managing complex simulation workflows. In effect, RICORDO is contributing to community standards for resource sharing and interoperability.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Cultural Distance and Firm Internationalization:A Meta-Analytical Review and Theoretical Implications

This paper presents the most comprehensive review and meta-analysis of the literature on cultural distance and firm internationalization to date. We analyze the effects of cultural distance on key strategic decisions throughout the entire process of internationalization. For the preinvestment stage, we examine the decisions on where to invest (location choice), how much to invest (degree of ownership), and how to organize the foreign expansion (entry and establishment mode). For the postinvestment stage, we examine the decisions of how to integrate the foreign subsidiary into the organization (transfer of practices) as well as the performance effects of cultural distance at both the subsidiary and the firm level. We find that firms are less likely to expand to culturally distant locations but if they do, they prefer greenfield investments and integrate subsidiaries more through transfer of management practices. Cultural distance does not seem to affect how much capital firms invest and whether they enter through a joint venture or full ownership. Interestingly, cultural distance has a strong negative effect on subsidiary performance but no effect on the performance of the whole multinational company. In addition, we find that the effects of cultural distance are not sensitive to time, but they are sensitive to the cultural framework used (e.g., Hofstede vs. Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) and the home country of the company (developed vs. emerging market). Based on our study, we feel confident to offer some theoretical insights, recommendations for improving the validity and reliability of cultural-distance research, and ideas for future research

Institutional distance and knowledge acquisition in international buyer–supplier relationships::the moderating role of trust

Institutional distance can generate expanded opportunities for multinational firms to facilitate learning and responsiveness. However, such distance can also create obstacles regarding knowledge transfer and integration. A theoretical puzzle concerns the mechanisms and conditions in which international buyers and suppliers can overcome institutional distance and acquire new knowledge. We develop an integrative moderated-mediation model in which institutional distance prevents parties from accessing knowledge but, when knowledge is obtained and mutual trust is developed, it promotes cross-border knowledge acquisition in international buyer-supplier exchange, particularly between international firms and firms from the Asia Pacific region. These findings indicate that firms can overcome the challenges of regulative and cognitive distance and facilitate access to knowledge and knowledge acquisition when they are able to develop and cultivate relationships of mutual trust with foreign partners. While normative distance may create learning incentives and opportunities in international buyer-supplier relationships, its impacts on knowledge accessibility and acquisition are insignificant.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Family Business Restructuring:A Review and Research Agenda

Although business restructuring occurs frequently and it is important for the prosperity of family firms across generations, research on family firms has largely evolved separately from research on business restructuring. This is a missed opportunity, since the two domains are complementary, and understanding the context, process, content, and outcome dimensions is relevant to both research streams. We address this by examining the intersection between research on business restructuring and family firms to improve our knowledge of each area and inform future research. To achieve this goal, we review and organize research across different dimensions to create an integrative framework. Building on current research, we focus on 88 studies at the intersection of family firm and business restructuring research to develop a model that identifies research needs and suggests directions for future research

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Hydrogeochemical processes in the groundwater environment of Batlagundu block, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu: conventional graphical and multivariate statistical approach

Abstract Water quality assessment is essential to ensure viable safe use of the resources for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes. Deterioration of groundwater quality due to anthropogenic activities is increasing at an alarming rate in most parts of Dindigul district, but limited work has been carried out on groundwater quality and monitoring. This paper highlights the groundwater quality and compares its suitability for drinking and irrigation purpose of Batlagundu block in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. Eighteen groundwater samples were collected systematically in triplicates during the year 2013–2014. The physical and chemical parameters of the analytical results of groundwater were compared with the standard guideline values recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards and World Health Organization for irrigational suitability, domestic usage. Further hydrogeochemical data have been plotted in standard graphs such as Piper trilinear diagram, US Salinity Laboratory (USSL), Giggenbach triangle diagram and Schoeller diagram. The mathematical models are used to estimate water quality parameters and to describe realistic water situations. It is proved that electrical conductance is an important water quality parameter. Hydrofacies diagram reported that alkaline earths (Ca2+ and Mg2+) significantly exceed the alkalis (Na+ and K+), while acids of (Cl− and HCO3 −) exceed the acids of (SO4 2− and CO3 2−). Therefore, the chemical compositions of the study area were characterized by the Ca–Mg–HCO3 water type and Na–Cl type. USSL diagram of the study area revealed that most of the sampling sites possess high salinity and low-to-medium sodium hazard indicated that water samples are poorly suitable for usual agropurposes. Giggenbach triangular diagram indicated that the samples have not gained equilibrium with their host rocks, presumably due to fact circulation of fluid through the rock features. The present research work thus concludes that groundwater in the study area is chemically unsuitable for domestic and agricultural uses. It is recommended to carry out a continuous water quality monitoring program and development of effective management practices for utilization of water resources