Dynamic Co-Existence of Company-Owned and Franchised Outlets Within a Company: A Framework of the Franchisor\u27s Perspective

Why and how do company-owned and franchised outlets simultaneously exist within the same organization? The purpose of this article is to integrate a variety of theories on this interesting retail phenomenon into a broader theoretical framework based on the political-economy paradigm. This paper attempts to integrate the perspectives of several theories that previously have been considered competing models of a single reality--the access-to-capital viewpoint, transaction cost analysis, the population ecology perspective, and power-dependence-conflict arguments--into a broader perspective that utilizes intra-firmfactors and the internal and external economies and polities of the political-economy paradigm. A model depicting this integration is set forth and nineteen research propositions stemming from this model are proposed

Laptops: No Dragon Wires with Wireless Technology

Purpose: This paper describes the implementation of wireless technology for access to the University’s campus-wide backbone. Setting/Resources: The Lamar Soutter Library, University of Massachusetts - Worcester is an academic health sciences library located in a thirty-year-old building. With funds from the President’s Office the Library was able to implement a wireless network to support laptop computing in the Library. Brief Description: Phase I of this project is completed. Activities included selection and purchase of hardware, installation of network, development of policies and procedures, and training. The Circulation Department manages loaning, storage and maintenance, and the Reference Department provides training and support. Staff monitors usage and identifies policies and procedures that require change. Results/Outcomes: Laptops are available for checkout to students within the Library. The wireless network has increased the total number of devices from 59 to 84 without impacting the building’s structure. Evaluation Methods: Usage statistics and anecdotes provide library staff with positive feedback. Presented at the Medical Library Association and the Canadian Health Libraries Association / Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC), HLA 2000 May 5-11, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Section Title: Growth and Harmony, Part 1: Innovative Solutions to Networking Issues

The relationships of the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) and the alleged slowdown in the rate of macromolecular evolution in birds

The taxonomic relationships of the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) have been uncertain since its discovery more than 200 years ago. Although usually considered to be a New World wood warbler (Parulini) it possesses structural and behavioral characteristics that seem aberrant in comparison with the typical members of that group. The relationships of Icteria were investigated by comparing its single-copy DNA sequences with those of other New World nine-primaried oscines and representatives of other oscine families, using the technique of DNA-DNA hybridization. The data indicate that Icteria is a paruline warbler and it should continue to be included within that group. The study of Icteria provided the basis for an examination of the suggestion by several authors that the proteins of birds and, by extension, their DNAs, evolve more slowly than do those of other animals. Evidence is presented indicating that the alleged differences are due, at least in part, to differences in the human perception of the boundaries of taxonomic categories in birds versus most other organisms. Birds are taxonomically oversplit at all supraspecific levels, but small, nocturnal mammals and other groups are probably overlumped at all levels. The lack of equivalence between the taxonomic categories of birds and those of other animals results in an erroneous evaluation of their rates of macromolecular evolution. DNA hybridization data indicate that the vireos (Vireoninae) are not closely related to the wood warblers, or to other New World nine-primaried oscines. We have shown elsewhere that the vireos are members of a large, varied corvine assemblage

Video-Based Analyses of Parkinson's Disease Severity: A Brief Review

Remote and objective assessment of the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease is an area of great interest particularly since the COVID-19 crisis emerged. In this paper, we focus on a) the challenges of assessing motor severity via videos and b) the use of emerging video-based Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning techniques to quantitate human movement and its potential utility in assessing motor severity in patients with Parkinson's disease. While we conclude that video-based assessment may be an accessible and useful way of monitoring motor severity of Parkinson's disease, the potential of video-based AI to diagnose and quantify disease severity in the clinical context is dependent on research with large, diverse samples, and further validation using carefully considered performance standards

A Mechanism Linking Two Known Vulnerability Factors for Alcohol Abuse: Heightened Alcohol Stimulation and Low Striatal Dopamine D2 Receptors

Alcohol produces both stimulant and sedative effects in humans and rodents. In humans, alcohol abuse disorder is associated with a higher stimulant and lower sedative responses to alcohol. Here, we show that this association is conserved in mice and demonstrate a causal link with another liability factor: low expression of striatal dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs). Using transgenic mouse lines, we find that the selective loss of D2Rs on striatal medium spiny neurons enhances sensitivity to ethanol stimulation and generates resilience to ethanol sedation. These mice also display higher preference and escalation of ethanol drinking, which continues despite adverse outcomes. We find that striatal D1R activation is required for ethanol stimulation and that this signaling is enhanced in mice with low striatal D2Rs. These data demonstrate a link between two vulnerability factors for alcohol abuse and offer evidence for a mechanism in which low striatal D2Rs trigger D1R hypersensitivity, ultimately leading to compulsive-like drinkingFil: Bocarsly, Miriam E.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: da Silva e Silva, Daniel. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Kolb, Vanessa. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Luderman, Kathryn D.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Shashikiran, Sannidhi. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Sibley, David R.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Dobbs, Lauren K.. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos. University of Texas at Austin; Estados UnidosFil: Álvarez, Verónica Alicia. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unido

"Makeup on Empty Space": a Celebration of Anne Waldman: An Exhibit

"Makeup on empty space" celebrates the opening of the Anne Waldman archive at the University of Michigan Library. This archive is as exciting and dynamic as the poet herself, showing many fascinating examples of how Anne Waldman works through her correspondence, working manuscripts, published books, audio and video tapes, and photographs covering her life and career.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120261/1/makeup_on_empty_space_02.pd

Divergence of the single-copy DNA sequences of the Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) and Clark’s Grebe (A. clarkii), as indicated by DNA-DNA hybridization

Single-copy nuclear DNA sequences of individuals of Aechmophorus occidentalis and A. ciarkii were compared by DNA-DNA hybridization. In each of three experimental sets the average thermal stability of homoduplex and within-species DNA-DNA hybrids did not differ, but the between-species DNA-DNA hybrids dissociated at an average temperature 0.57°C below the median melting temperature of homoduplex and within-species hybrids. The difference was highly significant in all three sets. The median DNA sequence distance between A. occidentalis and A. clarkii is comparable to such distances between other closely related congeneric species