DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOYSTEMS: INTEGRATING SOCIAL EVOLUTIONARY THEORY AND SIGNALING THEORY TO EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS

Entrepreneurship drives innovation, social change, and economic development locally, regionally, nationally, and worldwide (Konczal, 2013). The activities, relationships, and entities utilized to enhance entrepreneurial activity are just one important part of what scholars have termed the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE), in acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of these factors with other market dimensions. This dissertation integrates previous definitions of the EE and proposes a new definition that emphasizes the importance of the social environment and the role of communication for change and EE development. Building on evidence from diverse streams of research to further our understanding of entrepreneurial ecosystem activity, this dissertation argues that an overlooked explanation for EE change is social evolutionary theory (SET). Further, in exploring the mechanisms behind EE change, the dissertation explores the role of media signals on the pattern of firm formation and failure EEs. Doing so, the dissertation proposes a theoretical approach and model primarily based on SET (Margulis, 1971) and utilizes signaling theory (Spence, 1973) to address a gap in SET and thus explain how changes in EEs over time occur. Using a sample of U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) as EEs, data about media signals, industry diversity, resource availability, new venture formation, and firm failures over a ten year period were analyzed to test the formal model. Results support SET and signaling theory explanations for EEs but also offers some counterintuitive extensions of SET. This study contributes to literature on EEs by providing and testing a model of change specifying mechanisms that social actors use to coordinate entrepreneurship-related activities. The study also provides insights for policymakers and entrepreneurs in EEs about the importance of communication frequency and content for motivating potential entrepreneurs to pursue new ventures

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Plastic is found in 9% of fish. At this rate, the Garbage Island will likely double in size in ten years. 7 billion pounds of non recyclable plastic are produced every year, and only 7% of the plastic in America is recycled. 1500 plastic water bottles are put in landfills and the ocean every second. The average person produces a half-pound of plastic waste every day in the U.S.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/public_health_posters/1011/thumbnail.jp

Severe, Symptomatic Hypocalcemia due to Denosumab Administration: Treatment and Clinical Course

Denosumab is a receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (RANK) ligand inhibitor used in the treatment of osteoporosis. Blockade of RANK ligand prevents osteoclastic resorption of bone, but in doing so impairs the parathyroid hormone (PTH)-driven maintenance of serum calcium. A subsequent elevation of PTH remains active at sites other than bone, potentially lowering serum phosphate by inhibiting proximal tubular reabsorption. We present 2 patients who developed severe, symptomatic hypocalcemia after administration of denosumab. These patients provide an opportunity to describe the clinical course and treatment, including the need to consider a continuous calcium infusion, of severe, symptomatic hypocalcemia caused by denosumab

In vitro influence of dietary protein and fructooligosaccharides on metabolism of canine fecal microbiota

BACKGROUND: The present in vitro study investigated whether the utilization of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) may influence canine fecal microbial population in presence of diets differing in their protein content and digestibility. Fresh fecal samples were collected from five adult dogs, pooled, and incubated for 24 h with the undigested residue of three diets: 1, Low protein high digestibility diet (LP HD, crude protein (CP) 229 g/kg); 2, High protein high digestibility diet (HP HD, CP 304 g/kg); 3, High protein low digestibility diet (HP LD, CP 303 g/kg) that had been previously subjected to enzymatic digestion. In the in vitro fermentation study, there were six treatments: 1) LP HD; 2) HP HD 3) HP LD; 4) LP HD + FOS; 5) HP HD + FOS; 6) HP LD + FOS. Fructooligosaccharides were added at the final concentration of 1.5 g/L. Samples of fermentation fluid were collected at 6 and 24 h of incubation. RESULTS: Values of pH were reduced by FOS at 6 and 24 h (P < 0.001); conversely, low protein digestibility and high dietary protein level resulted in higher pH at both sampling times (P < 0.001). At 24 h, FOS lowered ammonia (−10 %; P < 0.001) and resulted (P < 0.05) in higher concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (VFA) (+43 %), acetic acid (+14 %), propionic acid (+75 %) and n-butyric acid (+372 %). Conversely, at 24 h, low protein digestibility resulted (P < 0.01) in lower concentrations of acetic acid (−26 %), propionic acid (−37 %) and total VFA (−21 %). Putrescine concentrations were increased at 6 and 24 h of fermentation by low protein digestibility (+21 and 22 %, respectively; P < 0.05) and FOS (+18 and 24 %, respectively; P < 0.01). After 24 h of fermentation, high dietary protein level resulted in lower counts of lactobacilli and enterococci (−0.5 and −0.7 log cells/mL, respectively; P < 0.05) whereas low protein digestibility tended to increase counts of C. perfringens (+0.2 log cells/mL; P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Results from the present study showed that diets rich in protein may exert negative influences on the canine intestinal ecosystem, slightly increasing the presence of ammonia and reducing counts of lactobacilli and enterococci. Moreover, the presence of poorly digestible protein resulted in lower concentrations of VFA. Conversely, administration of FOS may improve metabolism of canine intestinal microbiota, reducing ammonia concentrations and enhancing VFA production

Simone de Beauvoir and the Value of Immanence

Simone de Beauvoir systematically undervalues what she calls "immanence," which consists of the physical, the habitual, the repetitious. Not only does she believe that women have been relegated to the realm of immanence, she believes that immanence itself has little if any value. She sees what she called "transcendence" as having great value and, indeed, what makes a human life different and belter from any other sort of life. I argue that her view, while embodying a tendency present throughout the tradition in which she works, severely distorts what is desirable for a human life and fails to properly value immanence