Science in the Third Dimension of R&D

We study a Schumpeterian model of long-run growth with endogenous fertility and with three interacting dimensions of innovation. Scientific research is the fundamental dimension of innovation that creates new technological knowledge. This is allocated over new working prototypes in the horizontal dimension. New firms finance scientific research by obtaining the property rights of new working prototypes, and existing firms invest in developing the blueprint mode of working prototypes into the more productive modes of production in the vertical dimension. Balanced growth in the standards of living is fully endogenous without scale effects, and a new parameter, i.e., the elasticity of scientific knowledge with respect to existing collective scientific knowledge, nonlinearly accelerates long-run growth. With exogenous population growth, the model generates a semi-endogenous result due to the endogenously determined bound on technological opportunity.Science; Technology; Blueprints; R&D; Endogenous Fertility

Effect of dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand to nitrogen ratios on the partial nitrification/denitrification process in moving bed biofilm reactors

Partial nitrification was reported to be technically feasible and economically favorable, especially for wastewater with high ammonium concentration or low C/N ratio. In this study, the effect of dissolved oxygen (DO) and influent ratio of chemical oxygen demand to nitrogen (COD/N) ratio on biological nitrogen removal from synthetic wastewater was investigated. Experiments were conducted in moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) on partial nitrification process in pilot-plant configuration for 300 days. DO levels were changed from 0.04 to 0.12 and 0.42 to 3.4 mg/l in the anoxic (R1) and aerobic (R2) reactors, respectively. The optimum DO for partial nitrification was between 1-1.5 mg/l in the aerobic reactor (R2). Influent COD/N ratios between 20 and 2 g COD/g-N were tested by changing the nitrogen loading rate (NLR) supplied to the pilot plant. During operational conditions when the DO concentration in aerobic reactor was above 1 mg/l, near complete organic carbon removal occurred in the total MBBRs system. The effluent total nitrogen concentration in the operational conditions (1.7-2.1 mg O2/l and NH+ 4-N=35.7 mg N/l) was obtained in the range of 0.85-2 mg/l. The highest nitrite accumulation (50%- 52%) took place at the DO concentration of 1-1.5 mg/l and increased with decreasing COD/N ratio in aerobic reactor (R2). This study showed that the average nitrification rate at various COD/N ratios is about 0.96 gN/m2 per day while the maximum nitrification rate is about 2 gN/m2 per day at COD/N ratios lower than 6. The experimental COD/N ratio for denitrification was close to complete sum of NO2 - and NO3 - (NOx) removal efficiency (about 99%) at COD/N ratio equal 14 in the operational conditions in the anoxic reactor (R1)

Interleukin-1 alpha variation is associated with the risk of developing preeclampsia

Objective Preeclampsia is a syndrome that affects 5 of all pregnancies, producing substantial maternal and prenatal morbidity and mortality. Several studies have reported that cytokine genes are associated with the persistence of preeclampsia or the severity of the disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between the polymorphisms of interleukin-1 alpha-889 (IL-1A) gene and preeclampsia. Method Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of 305 patients with preeclampsia and 325 normal controls from Sayyad Shirazi Hospital of Golestan University. Then subjected to SSP-PCR amplification. STATA software and the chi square test were used for statistic calculations. Results The frequencies of IL-1A -889 genotypes C/C, T/T and C/T in preeclampsia cases were 34.8, 8.2, 57 and in controls were 20.9, 7.6 and 71.3 respectively. There was a significant 1.5 fold excess frequency in genotype C/C in cases (CI = 1.44-3.07, OR = 2.1, P = 0.0001). There was a significant difference in the frequencies of alleles or genotypes in IL-1A promoter regions between patients with preeclampsia and the control group. Turkomans showed the highest frequency of the C allele and Sistanies had the lowest frequency of the C allele in preeclampsia compared to control groups (CI = 1.5-3.9, OR = 2.48, P = 0.0001). Conclusion Our findings suggest that the IL-1A-899C/C genotype and C allele are associated with susceptibility to preeclampsia. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Statutory auditor's role in corporate social and environmental reporting

The social and environmental audit practice is regarded as an effective mechanism for adding accuracy and credibility to the corporate social responsibility reports. In civilised societies, auditing is viewed as an evaluative tool for enhancing corporate accountability and transparency (Power, 1999; Owen and Humphrey, 2000; Sikka et. al, 1998; Smith et. al, 2011; Perego and Kolk, 2012). Throughout the past few decades, previous investigatory studies have provided a critical assessment of the evolution of social audit practices (for example, Gray, 2000; 2007; O’Dwyer and Owen, 2005; 2007; Bebbington and Thomson, 2007; Manetti and Toccafondi, 2012; Bepari and Mollik, 2016; Canning et. al, 2019). However, these studies offered little evidence on issues related to the impact of social audit services on the professional independence and ethic of auditors, and the role of religious and cultural values in shaping the nature of the social audit engagements. Furthermore, there is also a paucity in the prior literature in investigating critical issues, such as the lack of consistency in social and environmental audit practices. Moreover, the influence of socio-environmental factors on the views of stakeholders on social auditing remains largely unaddressed in the mainstream literature. Most studies in the relevant literature examined the social and environmental audit phenomenon from a Western perspective, leaving several open-ended questions and unresearched issues about the social audit practices in non-Western contexts. The present research aims to fill the gap in the literature by highlighting sustainability audits in the emerging economies from an Islamic angle, taking Saudi Arabia as a model. In doing so, the study sought to scrutinise the social audit phenomenon and elicit viewpoints from audit providers and relevant stakeholders, embracing the interpretivist methodology to help in gaining insights from this exploratory examination. Particularly, the study selected a triangulation of mixed methods to collect data through content analysis of audit reports, and semi-structured interviews with statutory auditors and individual stakeholders. Finally, the empirical findings were analysed and interpreted with the consideration of the three theoretical constructs (audit, legitimacy, and stakeholder theories). The interviewed auditors claimed that social and environmental audit services would benefit the audit firms, the companies, and the Saudi Arabian society. However, some interviewees expressed concerns about various risks associated with the ways social and environmental audits are currently exercised. Although the audit of corporate social responsibility reports helps to identify risks in corporate governance systems, it may jeopardise the impartiality and ethics of audit providers. Consequently, the social and environmental audit engagements may pose a reputational risk to the audit firm. Similarly, statutory auditors expressed opposing views about engaging stakeholders in the social and environmental audit processes. While some interviewees admitted that the audit of stakeholder engagements in client companies' social responsibility processes is a daunting, costly and valueless task for Saudi Arabian audit firms, others supported that audit procedure as an accountability and transparency enabler. Nevertheless, there are several problematic issues associated with stakeholder engagement reporting audits. Obstacles to the auditing of stakeholder engagement include, among others, dealing with unreliable evidence, engaging the irrelevant stakeholders, and the inability to assess the stakeholder materiality and relevance. Also, the statutory auditors offered a collective opinion that regarded the accurate representation of stakeholders' views on companies' social performance as a quite challenging and unattainable goal within the Saudi cultural boundaries. On the other hand, the interviewees from stakeholder groups gave a general satisfactory impression of the growing, albeit slowly, social audit performance. The participated stakeholders recognised and appreciated the importance of the voluntary contribution of statutory auditors to the Saudi Arabian business environment through their independent verification of corporate social and environmental responsibility activities and statements. Whereas findings from the content analysis of sixty audit reports revealed a high tendency of statutory auditors to integrate the outcome of social and environmental audit processes with that of the traditional financial auditing within single audit statements. The observation showed also an overwhelming reliance on accountancy-based approaches of generally accepted financial auditing standards in Saudi Arabia, ISA, or the ISAE 3000 in the audits of corporate social and environmental reports. Stakeholder engagements in the social audits were noticed in only one audit report, which illustrated a limited range of assurance on a company-stakeholder dialogue. Although the audit of corporate social and sustainability reports is not mandated in Saudi Arabia, the statutory auditors' voluntary role in ensuring the validity of corporate social responsibility statements is seen as an acceptable act whereby auditors can boost their social legitimacy. From an Islamic perspective, the notion of corporate social and environmental responsibility is strongly encouraged for Islamically permitted or Halal purposes (Dusuki, 2008; Elasrag, 2015). Hence, the provision of sustainability audit services to improve the quality of corporate social reporting and discharge organisational accountability can be viewed as an Islamic permitted act. Overall, social audit exercises in Saudi Arabia are still at an early stage and necessitate substantial improvements

Structural changes in MII dithione/dithiolato complexes (M = Ni, Pd, Pt) on varying the dithione functionalization

The Ni triad [M(R2pipdt)(dmit)] based on donor/acceptor S,S′ ligands, where R2pipdt = 1,4-diisopropyl-piperazine-2,3-dithione (acceptor) and dmit = 2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolato (donor), was completed by preparing and characterizing the Pd(2) and Pt(3) compounds in addition to the already known Ni(1) complex. The rationale behind the work was to compare the properties and structures inside the triad with those of the corresponding Ni(4), Pd(5) and Pt(6) complexes where R = Bz. Minor changes in the properties as redox active nonlinear second-order (NLO) chromophores were observed in solution for the two triads. Instead, different structural features, reflected by changes in the diffuse reflectance spectra, were observed in their crystals on changing R from Bz to Pri in the piperazine ring and also, more surprisingly, inside the triads. 2 (isostructural with 1) and 3 crystallized in monoclinic P21/n and orthorhombic Pbca space groups, respectively. The crystal packings of 2 and 3 are also markedly different. In particular 1 and 2 form head-to-tail dimers whereas 3 forms supramolecular layers characterized by a partial stack between the molecular planes. Large differences in the crystal structures, induced by the diverse number and types of interactions exchanged by the peripheral fragments of the ligands, were found in the Bz-triad. Indeed, the molecules are stacked in a head-to-head and in a head-to-tail fashion in 4 and in 5/6, respectively. Moreover, significantly different packings were observed. The Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to provide a detailed description of the main types of interactions involved in the crystal packing of the six complexes

Building SAWE Capability as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer

This paper presents a 2014 status of the Society of Allied Weight Engineers' process towards becoming an Accredited Standards Developer (ASD) under certification by the United States American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Included is material from the committee's 2013 International presentation, current status, and additional general background material. The document strives to serve as a reference point to assist SAWE Recommended Practice and Standards developers in negotiating United States Standards Strategy, international standards strategy, and the association of SAWE standards and recommended practices to those efforts. Required procedures for SAWE to develop and maintain Recommended Practices and ANSI/SAWE Standards are reviewed

Procalcitonin Identifies Cell Injury, Not Bacterial Infection, in Acute Liver Failure

Background Because acute liver failure (ALF) patients share many clinical features with severe sepsis and septic shock, identifying bacterial infection clinically in ALF patients is challenging. Procalcitonin (PCT) has proven to be a useful marker in detecting bacterial infection. We sought to determine whether PCT discriminated between presence and absence of infection in patients with ALF. Method Retrospective analysis of data and samples of 115 ALF patients from the United States Acute Liver Failure Study Group randomly selected from 1863 patients were classified for disease severity and ALF etiology. Twenty uninfected chronic liver disease (CLD) subjects served as controls. Results Procalcitonin concentrations in most samples were elevated, with median values for all ALF groups near or above a 2.0 ng/mL cut-off that generally indicates severe sepsis. While PCT concentrations increased somewhat with apparent liver injury severity, there were no differences in PCT levels between the pre-defined severity groups–non-SIRS and SIRS groups with no documented infections and Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock groups with documented infections, (p = 0.169). PCT values from CLD patients differed from all ALF groups (median CLD PCT value 0.104 ng/mL, (p ≤0.001)). Subjects with acetaminophen (APAP) toxicity, many without evidence of infection, demonstrated median PCT \u3e2.0 ng/mL, regardless of SIRS features, while some culture positive subjects had PCT values Summary/Conclusions While PCT appears to be a robust assay for detecting bacterial infection in the general population, there was poor discrimination between ALF patients with or without bacterial infection presumably because of the massive inflammation observed. Severe hepatocyte necrosis with inflammation results in elevated PCT levels, rendering this biomarker unreliable in the ALF setting