2,148 research outputs found
Ethical responses to organizational crisis: lessons from three successful cases
Present research lacks adequate examples of successful and ethical approaches to organizational crisis management. Much of this research determines the effectiveness of organization\u27s post-crisis responses by examining obvious failures. This dissertation takes an alternative approach by examining ethical post-crisis communication through obvious successes. This study examined ethical responses by applying stakeholder concepts and ethical perspectives to the corporate discourse of Malden Mills, after a plant explosion, Schwan\u27s Sales Enterprises, after a salmonella outbreak, and General Motors, in response to accusations by Dateline NBC about the safety of GM C/K trucks. The study suggests that ethical responses to organizational crises can help organizations achieve effective responses. First, when an organization takes initial responsibility for a crisis they can meet the difficult objective of responding quickly and accurately to a crisis. Second, the organization can use established values as a repertoire of response to respond to crisis. Third, this research contends that if organizations establish strong relationships with stakeholders before a crisis they can establish strong networks of support that can help an organization recover from a crisis
Finding renewal in the midst of disaster: The case of the deepwater horizon oil spill
In 2010, the United States experienced the worst environmental disaster in its history. An explosion on a BP oilrig located in the Gulf of Mexico triggered the crisis. As a result, the United States coast guard and BP were charged with crisis communication in its response to the crisis. This essay provides an unprecedented examination and analysis of the communication experiences of public information officers who worked in the unified command center in Houma, Louisiana during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. The authors use the discourse of renewal theory to understand the communication practices and choices of the public information officers. Then, using the renewal framework, the authors present three implications for improving crisis communication research and practice
The role of "costs" in political choice: a review
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67848/2/10.1177_002200276300700209.pd
Gamma-Ray and Radio Observations of PSR B1509-58
Abstract : We report concurrent radio and gamma-ray observations of PSR B1509-58 carried out by the Parkes Radio Telescope and by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) and the Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO-Gamma-ray light curves fitted at several energies between ~ 20-500 keV yield a phase offset with respect to the radio pulse that is independent of energy, with an average value 0.32 plus or minus 0.02. Although this value is larger by 0.07 than that reported by Kawai et al., the difference is not statistically significant (only~2 sigma) when account is taken of the uncertainty associated with their result. We briefly discuss the possibility that the energy-independence of the gamma-ray pulse phase is a signature of non-thermal radiation in the X-ray/gamma-ray range and the suggestion of a dependence of pulsar radio-gamma-ray phase offset on pulse period
Faulting and hydration of the Juan de Fuca plate system
Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters 284 (2009): 94-102, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.04.013.Multichannel seismic observations provide the first direct images of crustal scale normal
faults within the Juan de Fuca plate system and indicate that brittle deformation extends
up to ~200 km seaward of the Cascadia trench. Within the sedimentary layering steeply
dipping faults are identified by stratigraphic offsets, with maximum throws of 110±10 m
found near the trench. Fault throws diminish both upsection and seaward from the trench.
Long-term throw rates are estimated to be 13±2 mm/kyr. Faulted offsets within the
sedimentary layering are typically linked to larger offset scarps in the basement
topography, suggesting reactivation of the normal fault systems formed at the spreading
center. Imaged reflections within the gabbroic igneous crust indicate swallowing fault
dips at depth. These reflections require local alteration to produce an impedance contrast,
indicating that the imaged fault structures provide pathways for fluid transport and
hydration. As the depth extent of imaged faulting within this young and sediment
insulated oceanic plate is primarily limited to approximately Moho depths, fault-
controlled hydration appears to be largely restricted to crustal levels. If dehydration
embrittlement is an important mechanism for triggering intermediate-depth earthquakes
within the subducting slab, then the limited occurrence rate and magnitude of intraslab
seismicity at the Cascadia margin may in part be explained by the limited amount of
water imbedded into the uppermost oceanic mantle prior to subduction. The distribution
of submarine earthquakes within the Juan de Fuca plate system indicates that propagator
wake areas are likely to be more faulted and therefore more hydrated than other parts of
his plate system. However, being largely restricted to crustal levels, this localized
increase in hydration generally does not appear to have a measurable effect on the
intraslab seismicity along most of the subducted propagator wakes at the Cascadia
margin.Supported by the Doherty Foundation and the National Science
449 Foundation under grants OCE002488 and OCE0648303 to SMC and MR
PTF10iya: A short-lived, luminous flare from the nuclear region of a star-forming galaxy
We present the discovery and characterisation of PTF10iya, a short-lived (dt
~ 10 d, with an optical decay rate of ~ 0.3 mag per d), luminous (M_g ~ -21
mag) transient source found by the Palomar Transient Factory. The
ultraviolet/optical spectral energy distribution is reasonably well fit by a
blackbody with T ~ 1-2 x 10^4 K and peak bolometric luminosity L_BB ~ 1-5 x
10^44 erg per s (depending on the details of the extinction correction). A
comparable amount of energy is radiated in the X-ray band that appears to
result from a distinct physical process. The location of PTF10iya is consistent
with the nucleus of a star-forming galaxy (z = 0.22405 +/- 0.00006) to within
350 mas (99.7 per cent confidence radius), or a projected distance of less than
1.2 kpc. At first glance, these properties appear reminiscent of the
characteristic "big blue bump" seen in the near-ultraviolet spectra of many
active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, emission-line diagnostics of the host
galaxy, along with a historical light curve extending back to 2007, show no
evidence for AGN-like activity. We therefore consider whether the tidal
disruption of a star by an otherwise quiescent supermassive black hole may
account for our observations. Though with limited temporal information,
PTF10iya appears broadly consistent with the predictions for the early
"super-Eddington" phase of a solar-type star disrupted by a ~ 10^7 M_sun black
hole. Regardless of the precise physical origin of the accreting material, the
large luminosity and short duration suggest that otherwise quiescent galaxies
can transition extremely rapidly to radiate near the Eddington limit; many such
outbursts may have been missed by previous surveys lacking sufficient cadence.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; revised following referee's comment
TOI-199 b: A well-characterized 100-day transiting warm giant planet with TTVs seen from Antarctica
We present the spectroscopic confirmation and precise mass measurement of the
warm giant planet TOI-199 b. This planet was first identified in TESS
photometry and confirmed using ground-based photometry from ASTEP in Antarctica
including a full 6.5h long transit, PEST, Hazelwood, and LCO; space
photometry from NEOSSat; and radial velocities (RVs) from FEROS, HARPS,
CORALIE, and CHIRON. Orbiting a late G-type star, TOI-199\,b has a
period, a mass of
, and a radius of .
It is the first warm exo-Saturn with a precisely determined mass and radius.
The TESS and ASTEP transits show strong transit timing variations, pointing to
the existence of a second planet in the system. The joint analysis of the RVs
and TTVs provides a unique solution for the non-transiting companion TOI-199 c,
which has a period of and an estimated
mass of . This period places it within
the conservative Habitable Zone.Comment: 33 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in A
In Vivo Electroporation Enhances the Immunogenicity of an HIV-1 DNA Vaccine Candidate in Healthy Volunteers
DNA-based vaccines have been safe but weakly immunogenic in humans to date.We sought to determine the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of ADVAX, a multigenic HIV-1 DNA vaccine candidate, injected intramuscularly by in vivo electroporation (EP) in a Phase-1, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial in healthy volunteers. Eight volunteers each received 0.2 mg, 1 mg, or 4 mg ADVAX or saline placebo via EP, or 4 mg ADVAX via standard intramuscular injection at weeks 0 and 8. A third vaccination was administered to eleven volunteers at week 36. EP was safe, well-tolerated and considered acceptable for a prophylactic vaccine. EP delivery of ADVAX increased the magnitude of HIV-1-specific cell mediated immunity by up to 70-fold over IM injection, as measured by gamma interferon ELISpot. The number of antigens to which the response was detected improved with EP and increasing dosage. Intracellular cytokine staining analysis of ELISpot responders revealed both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, with co-secretion of multiple cytokines.This is the first demonstration in healthy volunteers that EP is safe, tolerable, and effective in improving the magnitude, breadth and durability of cellular immune responses to a DNA vaccine candidate.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00545987
Three Saturn-mass planets transiting F-type stars revealed with TESS and HARPS
While the sample of confirmed exoplanets continues to increase, the
population of transiting exoplanets around early-type stars is still limited.
These planets allow us to investigate the planet properties and formation
pathways over a wide range of stellar masses and study the impact of high
irradiation on hot Jupiters orbiting such stars. We report the discovery of
TOI-615b, TOI-622b, and TOI-2641b, three Saturn-mass planets transiting main
sequence, F-type stars. The planets were identified by the Transiting Exoplanet
Survey Satellite (TESS) and confirmed with complementary ground-based and
radial velocity observations. TOI-615b is a highly irradiated (1277
) and bloated Saturn-mass planet (1.69
and 0.43) in a 4.66 day orbit transiting a 6850 K
star. TOI-622b has a radius of 0.82 and a mass of
0.30~ in a 6.40 day orbit. Despite its high
insolation flux (600 ), TOI-622b does not show any evidence
of radius inflation. TOI-2641b is a 0.37 planet in a
4.88 day orbit with a grazing transit (b = 1.04) that
results in a poorly constrained radius of 1.61.
Additionally, TOI-615b is considered attractive for atmospheric studies via
transmission spectroscopy with ground-based spectrographs and .
Future atmospheric and spin-orbit alignment observations are essential since
they can provide information on the atmospheric composition, formation and
migration of exoplanets across various stellar types.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures, submitted to A&
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