Integrating Christian living and international management

AbstractThis article investigates how Christian living and international management practice can be integrated. We argue that dualistic and reductionist conceptions of the relationship of faith and work can be observed in international management theory, and in some Christian-theological approaches to business ethics. Similarly, a separation between faith and work is adopted by certain management practitioners. However, such dualistic and reductionist conceptions are inadequate in the light of actual practice of international management. A case study revealed that international management theory and practitioners can be critiqued because of a lack of consideration of the connection between faith and management practice. A re-thinking of international management practice without the artificial separation of faith and practice is needed. This requires the development of a non-dualistic approach to Christian living and a combination of conceptual and empirical research to explore actual practice in international management contexts.OpsommingHierdie artikel ondersoek die moontlikheid hoe ‘n Christelike lewenswyse en internasionale bestuurspraktyk geïntegreer kan word. Ons redeneer dat dualistiese en onderwerpende opvattinge oor die verhouding tussen geloof en werk in internasionale bestuursteorie en in sommige Christelike Teologiese benaderinge tot sake-etiek waargeneem kan word. Net so word ‘n skeiding tussen geloof en werk deur sekere bestuurspraktisyns ingeneem. Sulke dualistiese en onderwerpende opvattinge is egter onvoldoende in die lig van die werklike beoefening van internasionale bestuur. ‘n Gevallestudie het geopenbaar dat internasionale bestuursteorie en praktisyns gekritiseer kan word vanweë ‘n gebrek aan die inagneming van die verbintenis tussen geloof en die bestuurspraktyk. ‘n Heroorweging van internasionale bestuurspraktyk sonder die kunsmatige skeiding van geloof en beoefening is noodsaaklik. Dit vereis die ontwikkeling van ‘n nie-dualistiese benadering tot die Christelike lewenstyl en ‘n kombinasie van konsepsuele en empiriese navorsing om die feitelike praktyk in internasionale bestuurskontekste te ondersoek.https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.80.1.220

The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany

Intensive agriculture is among the main drivers of diversity decline worldwide. In Central Europe, pressures related with agriculture include habitat loss due to the consolidation of farming units, pesticide and fertilizer use, and shortened crop rotations. In recent decades, this development has resulted in a severe decline of agrestal plant communities. Organic farming has been suggested as a biodiversity friendly way of farming, as it strongly restricts the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and relies on longer crop rotations. It may thus help in saving agrestal plant communities in the future. In this study, we assessed the long-term effects of three types of arable field management (conventional farming, organic farming, and bio-dynamic farming) on three farms in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. We collected data on above-ground plant communities and seed banks and analyzed them with regards to the impact of the farming system and their position in the field using nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) and linear mixed effects models (LME) combined with ANOVA and Tukey contrast tests. Plants in organically or bio-dynamically managed fields differed in their composition and traits from those occurring in conventionally managed fields, i.e., they showed a preference for higher temperatures and were dominated by insect-pollinated species. While conventional farming had negative effects on vegetation and the seed bank, organic and bio-dynamic farms had neutral or slightly positive effects on both. This highlights the potential of the latter two to conserve species even in an intensively managed landscape. In addition, this may halt or even reverse the decrease in arthropod, bird, and mammal species, since agrestal plants constitute an important component of food-webs in agricultural landscapes

Für mehr Zirkularität - Flächenbedarfe der Bauschuttaufbereitung als Grundlage zur Kreislaufführung mineralischer Bau- und Abbruchmaterialien

Der Einsatz hochqualitativer, mineralischer Sekundärrohstoffe spielt im sächsischen Bausektor eine untergeordnete Rolle. Fehlende Informationen und Planungen über geeignete Flächen zur Errichtung von Bauschuttaufbereitungsanlagen zur Herstellung von Sekundärmaterialien hemmen den Ausbau der Aufbereitungskapazitäten. Das vorgestellte Flächenbedarfsabschätzungs-Tool soll dem entgegenwirken. Es ermöglicht anhand identifizierter Kriterien die Suche nach geeigneten Flächen sowie das Ranking potenzieller Standorte und damit den Abgleich von Flächenbedarf und -angebot auf Basis frei verfügbarer Geodaten. Erste Ergebnisse der Analysen zeigen, dass die Flächennachfrage größer ist als das Flächenangebot. Perspektivisch muss diese Flächennachfrage im Zuge der strategischen Flächennutzungs- und Regionalplanung berücksichtigt werden, wenn die Kapazitäten der Bauschuttaufbereitung erhöht werden sollen. Das Flächenbedarfsabschätzungs-Tool soll den Planungsträgern zur eigenständigen Nutzung übergeben werden und so Planungsprozesse unterstützen

Accuracy of chest radiographs in the emergency diagnosis of heart failure

The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of chest radiographic findings of heart failure (HF) in current patients presenting with dyspnea in the emergency department. In a secondary analysis of the BASEL study, initial chest radiographs of 277 patients with acute dyspnea were evaluated by two radiologists blinded to the adjudicated diagnosis (56% had the final diagnosis of HF). Predefined radiographic criteria of HF were used. Statistical analysis included receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and calculation of a logistic regression model including B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. The reader's overall impression showed the highest area under the ROC curve for the diagnosis of HF in both supine and erect patient positions (0.855 and 0.857). Among individual radiographic findings, peribronchial cuffing in the supine position (0.829) showed the highest accuracies. The lowest accuracy was found for the vascular pedicle width in the supine position (0.461). Logistic regression analysis showed no significant differences between the reader's overall impression, the radiographic model, and BNP testing. In our study, the combination of radiographic features provided valuable information and was of comparable accuracy as BNP-testing for the diagnosis of H

Two different binding modes of α-synuclein to lipid vesicles depending on its aggregation state

Aggregation of α-synuclein is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Studies of in vitro aggregation of α-synuclein are rendered complex because of the formation of a heterogeneous population of oligomers. With the use of confocal single-molecule fluorescence techniques, we demonstrate that small aggregates (oligomers) of α-synuclein formed from unbound monomeric species in the presence of organic solvent (DMSO) and iron (Fe 3+) ions have a high affinity to bind to model membranes, regardless of the lipid-composition or membrane curvature. This binding mode contrasts with the well-established membrane binding of α-synuclein monomers, which is accompanied with α-helix formation and requires membranes with high curvature, defects in the lipid packing, and/or negatively charged lipids. Additionally, we demonstrate that membrane-bound α-synuclein monomers are protected from aggregation. Finally, we identified compounds that potently dissolved vesicle-bound α-synuclein oligomers into monomers, leaving the lipid vesicles intact. As it is commonly believed that formation of oligomers is related PD progression, such compounds may provide a promising strategy for the design of novel therapeutic drugs in Parkinson's disease.peer-reviewe

Collapse of layer dimerization in the photo-induced hidden state of 1T-TaS2

Photo-induced switching between collective quantum states of matter is a fascinating rising field with exciting opportunities for novel technologies. Presently, very intensively studied examples in this regard are nanometer-thick single crystals of the layered material 1T-TaS2, where picosecond laser pulses can trigger a fully reversible insulator-to-metal transition (IMT). This IMT is believed to be connected to the switching between metastable collective quantum states, but the microscopic nature of this so-called hidden quantum state remained largely elusive up to now. Here, we characterize the hidden quantum state of 1T-TaS2 by means of state-of-the-art x-ray diffraction and show that the laser-driven IMT involves a marked rearrangement of the charge and orbital order in the direction perpendicular to the TaS2-layers. More specifically, we identify the collapse of interlayer molecular orbital dimers as a key mechanism for this non-thermal collective transition between two truly long-range ordered electronic crystals

Thermoactive - Didaktisches Konzept zur aktiven Verständnissicherung und differenzierten Leistungsförderung in der technischen Thermodynamik

Die Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (Professur für Technische Thermodynamik) und die Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (Fakultät Maschinenwesen) beschäftigten sich im LiT-Förderprojekt thermoACTIVE mit der Entwicklung und Erprobung eines E-Learning gestützten Lehr- Lern-Konzepts zur aktiven Verständnissicherung und differenzierten Leistungsförderung im Modul Technische Thermodynamik. Im Zentrum des Formats stehen ort- und zeitunabhängig Onlinetests, die den Studierenden Informationen zu ihrem Wissensstand sowie Empfehlungen zum weiteren Lernprozess geben. Der Beitrag stellt das Umsetzungskonzept und Evaluationsergebnisse beider Standorte vor

Rice Galaxy: An open resource for plant science

Background: Rice molecular genetics, breeding, genetic diversity, and allied research (such as rice-pathogen interaction) have adopted sequencing technologies and high-density genotyping platforms for genome variation analysis and gene discovery. Germplasm collections representing rice diversity, improved varieties, and elite breeding materials are accessible through rice gene banks for use in research and breeding, with many having genome sequences and high-density genotype data available. Combining phenotypic and genotypic information on these accessions enables genome-wide association analysis, which is driving quantitative trait loci discovery and molecular marker development. Comparative sequence analyses across quantitative trait loci regions facilitate the discovery of novel alleles. Analyses involving DNA sequences and large genotyping matrices for thousands of samples, however, pose a challenge to non−computer savvy rice researchers. Findings: The Rice Galaxy resource has shared datasets that include high-density genotypes from the 3,000 Rice Genomes project and sequences with corresponding annotations from 9 published rice genomes. The Rice Galaxy web server and deployment installer includes tools for designing single-nucleotide polymorphism assays, analyzing genome-wide association studies, population diversity, rice−bacterial pathogen diagnostics, and a suite of published genomic prediction methods. A prototype Rice Galaxy compliant to Open Access, Open Data, and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reproducible principles is also presented. Conclusions: Rice Galaxy is a freely available resource that empowers the plant research community to perform state-of-the-art analyses and utilize publicly available big datasets for both fundamental and applied science

Genome-wide Association Analysis Tracks Bacterial Leaf Blight Resistance Loci In Rice Diverse Germplasm

Genome-wide association analysis of bacterial blight resistance to nine Xoo strains in 198 indica genotypes based on Efficient Mixed-Model Association eXpedited Model (EMMAX). Manhattan plots for nine Xoo strains (a) PXO61, (b) PXO86, (c) PXO79, (d) PXO71, (e) PXO112, (f) PXO99, (g) PXO339, (h) PXO349, and (i) PXO341. X-axis shows the SNPs along each chromosome; y axis is the − log10 (P-value) for the association. Significant SNPs are those beyond the red line having P-value < 1 × 10 −5. Quantile-quantile plots for nine Xoo strains (j) PXO61, (k) PXO86, (l) PXO79, (m) PXO71, (n) PXO112, (o) PXO99, (p) PXO339, (q) PXO349, and (r) PXO341. (PPTX 521 kb