Sing A Little Song

With ukulele arrangment. Contains advertisements and/or short musical examples of pieces being sold by publisher.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/6838/thumbnail.jp

Technological trajectories as moderators of firm-level determinants of innovation

Pavitt [Research Policy 13 (1984) 343] identified different patterns of technological change (technological trajectories) in four sectoral classes of industrial firms. This paper tests the applicability of Pavitt’s taxonomy (which derived from an economic perspective) to moderate the inconsistent results of the management literature on the determinants of technological innovation. An empirical test in a sample of 105 Greek companies showed that firms in different trajectories of Pavitt’s taxonomy had differences in the rate of technological innovation. ‘Specialised suppliers’ and ‘science-based’ firms were found to have higher rates of innovation than ‘supplier dominated’ and ‘scale intensive’ ones. Most importantly, different variables proved to be significantly associated with innovation for each category of firms: innovation for ‘supplier dominated’ firms was related to the competitive environment, acquisition of information, technology strategy, risk attitude and internal co-ordination. For ‘scale intensive’ firms, the important determinants were related to the ability to raise funding and the education and experience of personnel. For ‘specialised suppliers’, innovation was associated with high growth rate and exporting as well as training and incentives offered to the employees to contribute towards innovation. ‘Science-based’ firms depended upon technology-related variables, education and experience of personnel, growth in profitability and panel discussions with lead customers. The application of Pavitt’s model can resolve the apparent problem of inconsistent results in the management research on the determinants of technological innovation

Review of thermo-physical properties, wetting and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids and their applicability in industrial quench heat treatment

The success of quenching process during industrial heat treatment mainly depends on the heat transfer characteristics of the quenching medium. In the case of quenching, the scope for redesigning the system or operational parameters for enhancing the heat transfer is very much limited and the emphasis should be on designing quench media with enhanced heat transfer characteristics. Recent studies on nanofluids have shown that these fluids offer improved wetting and heat transfer characteristics. Further water-based nanofluids are environment friendly as compared to mineral oil quench media. These potential advantages have led to the development of nanofluid-based quench media for heat treatment practices. In this article, thermo-physical properties, wetting and boiling heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids are reviewed and discussed. The unique thermal and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids would be extremely useful for exploiting them as quench media for industrial heat treatment

Common value: transferring development rights to make room for water

In 2019 floods made up 49 % of disasters and 43 % of disaster related deaths globally. Flooding is also the costliest natural disaster, with yearly estimated losses of $36.3 billion. In order to counter these challenges, the flood risk management (FRM) narrative is evolving towards integration of blue/green infrastructure (BGI), using projects that harness nature and mimic natural processes. However, there is very little research into how BGI-related innovations will be mainstreamed, nor, particularly, how they will be funded. In order to reflect upon this situation, this paper analyses current academic literature and international best practice in BGI and Land Value Capture (LVC) instruments - to form a novel conceptual framework that is designed to act as a staging post for new research into BGI and its practical delivery. Specifically, this analysis focuses on the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) instrument, which has enabled some planning authorities to successfully push forward their environmental agendas, through land conservation, including in flood prone areas. This gap in knowledge has multiple significance. Firstly, land management decisions related to BGI can have deep distributive-justice implications that need to be addressed. Secondly, there is an immediate need to pay for such FRM measures across the world. Thirdly, this financial imperative takes place against an international backdrop of reduced government funding in a time of deep structural change and Covid-19 pressure. Findings in this paper suggest that TDR has the potential to be a successful conduit for managing all three conditions. Yet, the success of TDR is closely linked to the specific legal, market and urban development contexts, which further research should explore within the framework of BGI implementation

Pitfalls in assessing stromal tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in breast cancer

Abstract: Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Allelopathy in Compositae plants. A review

Allelopathy plays an major role in agricultural management such as weed control, crop protection, and crop re-establishment. Compositae plants have potent allelopathic activity, and the activity is confirmed through (a) bioassays with aqueous or various solvent extracts and residues, (b) fractionation, identification, and quantification of causative allelochemicals, and (c) mechanism studies on the allelochemicals. Most assessments of allelopathy involve bioassays of plant or soil extracts, leachates, fractions, and residues based on seed germination and seedling growth in laboratory and greenhouse experiments. Plant growth may be stimulated below the allelopathic threshold, but severe growth reductions may be observed above the threshold concentration depending upon the sensitivity of the receiving species. Generally germination is less sensitive than is seedling growth, especially root growth. Some approaches showed that field soil collected under donor plants significantly reduced or somewhat promoted growth of the test plants. Petri-dish bioassays with methanol extracts or fractions and causative phenolic allelochemicals showed significant phytotoxic activities in concentration-dependent manner. Delayed seed germination and slow root growth due to the extracts could be confounded with osmotic effects on rate of imbibition, delayed initiation of germination, and especially cell elongation; the main factor that affects root growth before and after the tip penetrates the seed coat. Light and electron microscopic approaches extract evaluation at the ultrastructural level have been precisely investigated. Many Compositae plants have allelopathic potentials, and the activities and types and amount of causative compounds differ depending on the plant species. The incorporation of allelopathic substances into agricultural management may reduce the use of pesticides and lessen environmental deterioration

Sing a little song when you are lonesome, sing a little song [first line of chorus]

Performance Medium: Piano, Voice and Chord