Scolecophis, S. atrocinctus

Number of Pages: 3Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Direct and Indirect Assessments of Organizational Justice: Homogeneity or Harmony?

The importance of fairness to practitioners and scholars is evident as, within the past 40 years, fairness has become one of the most studied areas in the organizational sciences. Despite such proliferation, the construct clarity and measurement of fairness are far from settled, as researchers have assessed individuals’ experiences of organizational justice in different ways. In this effort, we draw on measurement theory as we initiate an exploration of whether direct and indirect measures of justice are, indeed, fully interchangeable or if they provide useful, differential, and/or complimentary information when employed in addressing specific research questions

Uncertainty Avoidance and Consumer Perceptions of Global e-Commerce Sites: A Multi-Level Model

47 pagesOnline purchasing is a decision-making process that involves inherent uncertainty. Yet consumer tolerance for uncertainty differs across cultures, requiring e-vendors to decide whether to adapt websites to different cultures when operating globally. We examine the effect of Hofstede’s cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance (UA) on consumer perceptions of e-loyalty. Viewing information quality, trust, and system quality as uncertainty reduction mechanisms, UA is hypothesized to moderate relationships involving these constructs in a recognized model of IS success. Specifically, we posit that relationships involving these constructs will be stronger for consumers from high UA cultures. Using data drawn from over 3,500 actual consumers from 38 different countries, and controlling for the impact of other cultural dimensions, results suggest that UA moderates the effects of information quality on perceived usefulness, and of trust on e-loyalty, but not system quality relationships. We discuss practical implications of our research, in regard to designing websites intended for global use

The Influence of Uncertainty Avoidance on Consumer Perceptions of Global E-Commerce Sites

We examine the effect of Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance (UA) on consumer perceptions of eloyalty. Viewing information quality, trust, and system quality as uncertainty reduction mechanisms, UA is hypothesized to moderate relationships involving these constructs in a recognized model of IS success. Using data drawn from over 3,500 actual consumers from 38 different countries, and controlling for the impact of other cultural dimensions, results suggest that UA moderates the effects of information quality on perceived usefulness, and of trust on e-loyalty, but not system quality relationships. The moderating effect of UA on the information quality-satisfaction relationship was non-significant, indicating uncertainty reduction effects may operate via a cognitive rather than an affective route. We close with implications

Wolves: A Primer for Ranchers

Ranch management has become more complex since wolves were reintroduced into Idaho and Wyoming in 1996. In wolf areas, livestock have experienced increased death loss and greater stress. Increased livestock aggressiveness has been observed, especially toward working dogs, making handling livestock more difficult. Additionally ranchers have reported a loss of body condition, lower conception rates, increased time and expense for management. Our study was designed to investigate the effect of wolf presence on cattle behavior, landscape use patterns, and resource selection by comparing high wolf density areas against low wolf density areas. This study also generated baseline information on cattle spatial behavior before wolves were on the landscape. A Before-After/Control-Impact Paired (BACIP) experimental design was used. Control study areas in Idaho (3) have high wolf presence while Impact study areas in Oregon (3) started with no wolf presence, and are shifting to elevated wolf presence. Paired Idaho and Oregon areas have similar topography, vegetation composition, wild ungulate prey bases, and livestock management. Cows are tracked at 5-minute intervals using GPS collars (10 per area) throughout the grazing season. Wolf presence is monitored by GPS, trail cameras, and scat surveys. Ten GPS-collared cattle in an Idaho study area encountered a GPS-collared wolf 783 times at less than 500 meters during 137 days in the 2009 grazing season. At 100 meters there were 53 encounters; 52 at night. Tests of naïve and experienced cattle exposed to a simulated wolf encounter found increased excitability and fear-related physiological stress responses in cows previously exposed to wolves. This was shown through increased cortisol levels, body temperature, and temperament scores. Cattle presence near occupied houses doesn’t offer protection from wolves. Data shows wolves within 500m of occupied houses 588 times during 198 days of tracking. Many confirmed depredations on this site were also close to houses

Unlocking biomarker discovery: Large scale application of aptamer proteomic technology for early detection of lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths, because ~84% of cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Worldwide in 2008, ~1.5 million people were diagnosed and ~1.3 million died – a survival rate unchanged since 1960. However, patients diagnosed at an early stage and have surgery experience an 86% overall 5-year survival. New diagnostics are therefore needed to identify lung cancer at this stage. Here we present the first large scale clinical use of aptamers to discover blood protein biomarkers in disease with our breakthrough proteomic technology. This multi-center case-control study was conducted in archived samples from 1,326 subjects from four independent studies of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in long-term tobacco-exposed populations. We measured >800 proteins in 15uL of serum, identified 44 candidate biomarkers, and developed a 12-protein panel that distinguished NSCLC from controls with 91% sensitivity and 84% specificity in a training set and 89% sensitivity and 83% specificity in a blinded, independent verification set. Performance was similar for early and late stage NSCLC. This is a significant advance in proteomics in an area of high clinical need

Job shop configuration optimization at Tinker Air Force Base

This paper discusses a large simulation model that was developed to aid the reconstruc tion efforts after a disastrous fire at Tinker Air Force Base. The model, developed in SLAM, facilitated the analysis and efficient design of the functional layout that replaced the previous machine-based layout in the appropriate number of machines to place within a modular repair center (MRC), stacker capacity for in-process inventory, location of elevators for sending parts to the conveyor, and the optimal design and routing scheme for overhead conveyor system. The new layout, as predicted by the simulation model, has proven to be quite effective compared with the pre fire layout. Improvements that have been achieved include a 50 to 80% decrease in material handling, substantive decrease in flow times, better manage ment control of part transfers, $4.3 million savings from the elimination of excess capacity, and$1.8 million savings resulting from higher direct labor efficiency.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

A Field Study Using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (Pcr) to Screen for Brugia Microfilariae in Human and Animal Blood

Blood samples from 43 humans and 14 cats positive with Brugia microfilariae were analyzed in a field study in Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia. The study used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to compare the sensitivity of radioactive and biotinylated species-specific oligonuleotide probes. The cloning char­acterization of the Hha I repeat DNA family found in filarial parasites of the genus Brugia, and the development of species-specific probes for B.malayi and B.pahangi based on these repeats has been described elsewhere (PNAS USA 83: 797-801); Mol.Biochem. Parasitol. 2$: 163-170). The use of radioisotopes for labelling DNA probes is both expensive and inconvenient. To replace these probes, biotinylated DNA probes have been designed for non- radioactive detection of B.malayi and B.pahangi. These oligonucleotide probes have long tails of biotinylated uridine residues added to their 5\u27 end. As little as 100 pg of Brugia DNA can be detected on dot blot with these probes. Detection of the probes is based on an avidin-alkaline phosphatase colorimetric assay. In order to distinguish between infected from uninfected individuals, it is necessary to detect the amount of DNA in one microfilaria (about 60 pg). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a procedure in which a small amount of DNA can be amplified up to 1 million-fold. A part of each sample in this study was PCR amplified and compared with the unamplified portion using both the radioactive and biotinylated DNA probe. The PCR amplified samples were accurately identified by both the radioactive and biotinylated B.malayi and B.pahangi probes. Even samples with as few as two microfilariae per lOOul of blood were easily detected. The samples that were not PCR amplified were accurately identified after only long exposures (greater than one week) to the radioactive probes. The biotinylated probes, were not sensitive enough for accurate identification of the non-PCR amplified samples. The polymerase chain reaction is, therefore, a promising new tool for enhancing the sensitivity of parasite detection assays based on DNA probes. This will be especially important in designing assay based on non-radioactive DNA probes