Collusive behaviour, risk and performance of tourism firms

This paper aims to enrich social network and managerial powers theories by examining the effects of board-CEO friendship ties in tourism firms. Specifically, we focus on the association between the board-CEO social network ties (e.g. serving external boards together or sharing memberships at social organisations) and performance and risk-taking behaviour among tourism firms. The findings show that friendship ties between CEO and board members result in higher risk-taking, lower profitability and market values. In addition, professional ties (i.e. current and past employment) significantly impact tourism firms’ outcomes, whereas non-professional ties (i.e. education and other social organisations) do not. The findings prevail after controlling for the Covid-19 pandemic. However, friendship ties lead to better information sharing, resulting in more effective decision-making by board members

Competing for the Platform: How Organized Interests affect Party Positioning in the United States

What explains which groups are included in a party coalition in any given election cycle? Recent advances in political party theory suggest that policy demanders comprise parties, and that the composition of a party coalition varies from election to election. We theorize three conditions under which parties articulate an interest group?s preferred positions in its quadrennial platform: when groups are ideologically proximate to the party median, when groups display party loyalty, and when groups are flush with resources. Using computer-assisted content analysis on a unique and rich data source, we examine three cycles of testimony that 80 organized groups provided to the Democratic Party. The analysis compares group requests with the content of Democratic and Republican National Committee platforms in 1996, 2000, and 2004. Results show that parties reward loyal groups and those that are ideologically proximate to the party, but offer no confirmation of a resource effect

Women's sexual health and contraceptive needs after a severe obstetric complication ("near-miss"): a cohort study in Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the reproductive health of women who survive obstetric complications in poor countries. Our aim was to determine how severe obstetric complications in Burkina Faso affect reproductive events in the first year postpartum. METHODS: Data were collected from a prospective cohort of women who either experienced life threatening (near-miss) pregnancy-related complications or an uncomplicated childbirth, followed from the end of pregnancy to one year postpartum or post-abortum. Documented outcomes include menses resumption, sexual activity resumption, dyspareunia, uptake of contraceptives, unmet needs for contraception and women's reproductive intentions.Participants were recruited in seven hospitals between December 2004 and March 2005 in six towns in Burkina Faso. RESULTS: Reproductive events were associated with pregnancy outcome. The frequency of contraceptive use was low in all groups and the method used varied according to the presence or not of a live baby. The proportion with unmet need for contraception was high and varied according to the time since end of pregnancy. Desire for another pregnancy was highest among near-miss women with perinatal death or natural abortion. Women in the near-miss group with induced abortion, perinatal death and natural abortion had significantly higher odds of subsequent pregnancy. Unintended pregnancies were observed mainly in women in the near-miss group with live birth and the uncomplicated delivery group. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the potential deleterious impact (on health and socio-economic life) of new pregnancies in near-miss women, it is important to ensure family planning coverage includes those who survive a severe complication

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

The evolution and appearance of c3 duplications in fish originate an exclusive teleost c3 gene form with anti- inflammatory activity

12 páginas, 6 figuras, 3 tablas.-- This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedThe complement system acts as a first line of defense and promotes organism homeostasis by modulating the fates of diverse physiological processes. Multiple copies of component genes have been previously identified in fish, suggesting a key role for this system in aquatic organisms. Herein, we confirm the presence of three different previously reported complement c3 genes (c3.1, c3.2, c3.3) and identify five additional c3 genes (c3.4, c3.5, c3.6, c3.7, c3.8) in the zebrafish genome. Additionally, we evaluate the mRNA expression levels of the different c3 genes during ontogeny and in different tissues under steady-state and inflammatory conditions. Furthermore, while reconciling the phylogenetic tree with the fish species tree, we uncovered an event of c3 duplication common to all teleost fishes that gave rise to an exclusive c3 paralog (c3.7 and c3.8). These paralogs showed a distinct ability to regulate neutrophil migration in response to injury compared with the other c3 genes and may play a role in maintaining the balance between inflammatory and homeostatic processes in zebrafishThis work has been funded by the project CSD2007-00002 “Aquagenomics” from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, the ITN 289209 “FISHFORPHARMA” (EU) and project 201230E057 from the Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).Peer reviewe

Factors associated with recurrence and survival length following relapse in patients with neuroblastoma

Background: Despite therapeutic advances, survival following relapse for neuroblastoma patients remains poor. We investigated clinical and biological factors associated with length of progression-free and overall survival following relapse in UK neuroblastoma patients. Methods: All cases of relapsed neuroblastoma, diagnosed during 1990-2010, were identified from four Paediatric Oncology principal treatment centres. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to calculate post-relapse overall survival (PROS), post-relapse progression-free survival (PRPFS) between relapse and further progression, and to investigate influencing factors. Results: One hundred eighty-nine cases were identified from case notes, 159 (84.0%) high risk and 17 (9.0%), unresectable, MYCN non-amplified (non-MNA) intermediate risk (IR). For high-risk patients diagnosed >2000, median PROS was 8.4 months (interquartile range (IQR)=3.0-17.4) and median PRPFS was 4.7 months (IQR=2.1-7.1). For IR, unresectable non-MNA patients, median PROS was 11.8 months (IQR 9.0-51.6) and 5-year PROS was 24% (95% CI 7-45%). MYCN amplified (MNA) disease and bone marrow metastases at diagnosis were independently associated with worse PROS for high-risk cases. Eighty percent of high-risk relapses occurred within 2 years of diagnosis compared with 50% of unresectable non-MNA IR disease. Conclusions: Patients with relapsed HR neuroblastomas should be treatment stratified according to MYCN status and PRPFS should be the primary endpoint in early phase clinical trials. The failure to salvage the majority of IR neuroblastoma is concerning, supporting investigation of intensification of upfront treatment regimens in this group to determine whether their use would diminish likelihood of relapse

Dietary tuna hydrolysate modulates growth performance, immune response, intestinal morphology and resistance to Streptococcus iniae in juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer

This study investigated the effects of tuna hydrolysate (TH) inclusion in fishmeal (FM) based diets on the growth performance, innate immune response, intestinal health and resistance to Streptococcus iniae infection in juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets were prepared with TH, replacing FM at levels of 0% (control) 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, and fed fish to apparent satiation three times daily for 8 weeks. The results showed that fish fed diets containing 5% and 10% TH had significantly higher final body weight and specific growth rate than the control. A significant reduction in blood glucose was found in fish fed 10%, 15% and 20% TH compared to those in the control whereas none of the other measured blood and serum indices were influenced by TH inclusion. Histological observation revealed a significant enhancement in goblet cell numbers in distal intestine of fish fed 5 to 10% TH in the diet. Moreover, fish fed 10% TH exhibited the highest resistance against Streptococcus iniae infection during a bacterial challenge trial. These findings therefore demonstrate that the replacement of 5 to 10% FM with TH improves growth, immune response, intestinal health and disease resistance in juvenile barramundi

The search for the 'next' euphoric non-fentanil novel synthetic opioids on the illicit drugs market: current status and horizon scanning

Purpose: A detailed review on the chemistry and pharmacology of non-fentanil novel synthetic opioid receptor agonists, particularly N-substituted benzamides and acetamides (known colloquially as U-drugs) and 4-aminocyclohexanols, developed at the Upjohn Company in the 1970s and 1980s is presentedMethod: Peer-reviewed literature, patents, professional literature, data from international early warning systems and drug user fora discussion threads have been used to track their emergence as substances of abuse.Results: In terms of impact on drug markets, prevalence and harm, the most significant compound of this class to date has been U-47700 (trans-3,4-dichloro-N-[2-(dimethylamino)cyclohexyl]-N-methylbenzamide), reported by users to give short-lasting euphoric effects and a desire to re-dose. Since U-47700 was internationally controlled in 2017, a range of related compounds with similar chemical structures, adapted from the original patented compounds, have appeared on the illicit drugs market. Interest in a structurally unrelated opioid developed by the Upjohn Company and now known as BDPC/bromadol appears to be increasing and should be closely monitored.Conclusions: International early warning systems are an essential part of tracking emerging psychoactive substances and allow responsive action to be taken to facilitate the gathering of relevant data for detailed risk assessments. Pre-emptive research on the most likely compounds to emerge next, so providing drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic data to ensure that new substances are detected early in toxicological samples is recommended. As these compounds are chiral compounds and stereochemistry has a large effect on their potency, it is recommended that detection methods consider the determination of configuration

Nutritional outcomes from a randomised investigation of intradialytic oral nutritional supplements in patients receiving haemodialysis, (NOURISH): a protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial

Haemodialysis is a form of renal replacement therapy but is a catabolic process that not only filters toxins but is also known to lead to amino acid losses. Patients with chronic kidney disease often have a poor appetite and this in combination with limited dietary intake and the detrimental effects of haemodialysis can lead to the development of malnutrition. Between 20% and 50% of haemodialysis patients are thought to be malnourished. Malnutrition can worsen clinical outcomes and increase the risk of hospitalisation. We hypothesise that a nutritional supplement taken during haemodialysis may help to improve nutritional status. The aim of this study is to conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial to assess the use of an intradialytic nutritional supplement on nutritional status. The objectives are to assess the feasibility of the trial including: recruitment and retention of participants; preference of nutritional supplements; compliance with the intervention; ease of completion of the questionnaires and appropriateness of the tools used. Secondary outcomes include clinical outcomes to obtain variance in the patient population and estimates of effect size to inform the sample size for a future definitive trial. The trial is a single centre, randomised, parallel-group, two armed external pilot with an intervention and control group. The intervention group will take a nutritional supplement each dialysis session from a choice of prescribable drink or pudding style supplements. The control group will receive standard care. Recruitment and feasibility elements are the primary outcomes. Recruitment will be to time (t = 6 weeks). In order to collect sufficient data to inform a future sample size calculation, we will aim to recruit 30 participants to obtain 12 evaluable per arm anticipating some drop out. Secondary outcome measures include clinical variables; hand grip strength, quality of life, weight and biochemistry completed at baseline, 1 and 2 months. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyse the baseline characteristics of the recruited participants. Means, confidence intervals and standard deviations will be reported for the outcome measures of handgrip strength, dietary intake, quality of life and weigh