Management economics in a large UK retailer

We study the link between middle-management ability and shop labour productivity using data from 245 shops of a UK nationwide retailer. The company scores six broad areas of management practice, the most important of which turns out to be "commercial awareness", where able managers achieve 17% higher labour productivity in their shops compared to less able ones. We further show that the managers’ incentive pay scheme, required to encourage them to exert their ability in full, is implicitly an insurance one, with managers taking a share in deviations of actual sales from expected. At the same time, abler managers do not receive higher pay all else equal, which implies that middle management ability is not fully tradeable.

Mode of inheritance of triacylglycerol fatty acids in beef adipose tissue

Subcutaneous adipose tissues were biopsied in 67 Jersey, Limousin and Jersey x Limousin calves at the age of 9-10 months.All calves were grass-fed in a single management group and biopsied from the same anatomical site. Triacylglycerol fatty acids were extracted and analysed by gas-liquid chromatography. Genetic effects of heterosis, additive and maternal variances were estimated to investigate the mode of inheritance of fatty acids, Sex and genotype differences were also examined. Heifer calves had significantly higher proportions of palmitoleate, total monounsaturated fatty acids, desaturase enzyme activity index and lower stearate than bull calves. Genotype differences were observed:Limousin calves had the highest proportions of palmitate and total saturated fatty acids, while Jersey calves had the most palmitoleate and desaturase enzyme activity index. The mode of inheritance of palmitate, stearate, desaturase and elongase enzyme indices was by dominance. Myristate, palmitate and total saturated fatty acids showed significant additive genetic effect. The study showed that triacylglycerol fatty acids are heritable. Hetero-sis can also be exploited in reducing the percentage of saturated fatty acids in beef by crossbreeding Limousin and Jersey cattle

New hadrons as ultra-high energy cosmic rays

Ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) protons produced by uniformly distributed astrophysical sources contradict the energy spectrum measured by both the AGASA and HiRes experiments, assuming the small scale clustering of UHECR observed by AGASA is caused by point-like sources. In that case, the small number of sources leads to a sharp exponential cutoff at the energy E<10^{20} eV in the UHECR spectrum. New hadrons with mass 1.5-3 GeV can solve this cutoff problem. For the first time we discuss the production of such hadrons in proton collisions with infrared/optical photons in astrophysical sources. This production mechanism, in contrast to proton-proton collisions, requires the acceleration of protons only to energies E<10^{21} eV. The diffuse gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes in this model obey all existing experimental limits. We predict large UHE neutrino fluxes well above the sensitivity of the next generation of high-energy neutrino experiments. As an example we study hadrons containing a light bottom squark. These models can be tested by accelerator experiments, UHECR observatories and neutrino telescopes.Comment: 17 pages, revtex style; v2: shortened, as to appear in PR

Soil net nitrogen mineralisation across global grasslands

Soil nitrogen mineralisation (Nmin), the conversion of organic into inorganic N, is important for productivity and nutrient cycling. The balance between mineralisation and immobilisation (net Nmin) varies with soil properties and climate. However, because most global-scale assessments of net Nmin are laboratory-based, its regulation under field-conditions and implications for real-world soil functioning remain uncertain. Here, we explore the drivers of realised (field) and potential (laboratory) soil net Nmin across 30 grasslands worldwide. We find that realised Nmin is largely explained by temperature of the wettest quarter, microbial biomass, clay content and bulk density. Potential Nmin only weakly correlates with realised Nmin, but contributes to explain realised net Nmin when combined with soil and climatic variables. We provide novel insights of global realised soil net Nmin and show that potential soil net Nmin data available in the literature could be parameterised with soil and climate data to better predict realised NNational Science Foundation Research Coordination Network; Long-Term Ecological Research; Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.http://www.nature.com/ncommspm2020Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

The first 62 AGN observed with SDSS-IV MANGA: stellar and gas kinematics

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPESActive galaxies exhibit a great luminosity in central region that can not be explained only by the emission of the stars of the galaxy, but by the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). In this scenario, gravitational potential energy is transformed into light energy during accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole on the so-called accretion disk, which is surrounded by a torus of gas and dust. The gas outflows are generated by the accretion disk and can be observed in the narrow-line region. Outflows can have an important impact on the host galaxy of the active nucleus. In this work, we have analyzed the impact of AGN feedback on the gas kinematics of a sample of 62 active galaxies. For this we have compared the kinematics of the active galaxy with two inactive galaxies that present the same characteristics of the host galaxy of the active nucleus, in other words, the same stellar mass, redshift, morphology and inclination. The sample of inactive galaxies (controls) have 109 galaxies. The objects of our sample were observed with integral field spectroscopy by the 2.5 meter Sloan telescope within the MaNGA survey that is part of SDSS-IV. We have performed the fitting of the galaxies observed spectra using the Gas AND Absorption Line Fitting routine, and have obtained the stellar and gas velocities fields , velocity dispersion and gas emission. Through the velocity fields we have determined the kinematic position angle (PA), in order to study the impact of AGN feedback on a galactic scale. We used the stellar velocity and gas dispersion to analyze the outflows on a smaller scale 2kpc. Comparing the difference between the PA orientation of the stellar velocity fields and the gas for the two samples, we found no clear difference between the distributions. On the other hand, the AGNs have greater difference in the fractional velocity dispersion sf rac between the gas and the stars when compared with controls. The mean value of sf rac for AGNs and controls is AGN= 0:04 and CTR= �����0:23, respectively. Therefore, sf rac may be indicative of the presence of AGN. In addition, we found a positive correlation between the [O III]l5007 luminosity and sf rac for our sample. Our main conclusion in this work is that the outflows observed for the AGNs of our sample are not intense to interfere with the kinematics of the host galaxy on a large scale, but they have an important contribution on 2kpc scale.Galáxias ativas apresentam uma grande luminosidade na região central que não pode ser explicada apenas pela emissão das estrelas da galáxia, mas sim pela presença de um núcleo ativo (AGN). Nesse cenário, a energia potencial gravitacional é transformada em energia luminosa durante a acreção de matéria por um buraco negro supermassivo, no chamado disco de acreção, que está cercado por um toroide de gás e poeira. Os outflows de gás que são gerados pelo disco de acreção podem ser observados na região de linhas estreitas. Os outflows podem ter um importante impacto na galáxia hospedeira do núcleo ativo. Neste trabalho analisamos o impacto do feedback do AGN na cinemática do gás de uma amostra de 62 galáxias ativas. Para isso comparamos a cinemática da galáxia ativa com duas galáxias inativas que apresentam as mesmas características da galáxia hospedeira do núcleo ativo, ou seja, mesma massa estelar, redshift, morfologia e inclinação. A amostra de galáxias inativas (controles) têm 109 galáxias. Os objetos da nossa amostra foram observados com espectroscopia de campo integral pelo telescópio Sloan de 2.5 metros dentro do MaNGA survey que faz parte do SDSS-IV. Realizamos o ajuste dos espectros das galáxias observadas usando a rotina Gas AND Absorption Line Fitting, obtendo dessa forma campos velocidades estelares e do gás, dispersão de velocidades e a emissão do gás. Através dos campos de velocidades determinamos o ângulo de posição (PA) cinemático, com o objetivo de estudar o impacto do feedback do AGN em uma escala galáctica. Usamos a dispersão de velocidades estelar e do gás para analisar os outflows em uma escala menor 2kpc. Ao comparar a diferença entre a orientação do PA dos campos de velocidades estelares e do gás para as duas amostras, nós não encontramos nenhuma diferença clara entre as distribuições. Por outro lado, os AGNs têm maior diferença de dispersão de velocidades fracional sf rac entre o gás e as estrelas quando comparados com os controles. Sendo que o valor médio de sf rac para AGNs e controles é AGN= 0:04 e CTR= 0:23, respectivamente. Logo, sf rac pode ser um indicativo da presença de AGN. Além disso, achamos uma correlação positiva entre a luminosidade do [O III]l5007 e sf rac para nossa amostra. A nossa principal conclusão nessa trabalho é que os outflows observados para os AGNs da nossa amostra não são intensos para interferir na cinemática da galáxia hospedeira em uma larga escala, mas apresentam uma contribuição importante em uma escala de 2kpc