What matters to SRI investors?

In this paper I investigate the investment behavior of SRI investors based on SRI mutual fund flows. Specifically, I analyze how SRI investors react to past performance and ethical standards. This empirical study shows that over the years along with the development of the SRI fund market, the performance sensitivity of SRI investors has increased. Today, SRI investors chase past top performing funds at least as much as conventional investors do. Besides performance, SRI investors care about the actual ethical standards of SRI funds. SRI funds with high ethical standards regarding the positive rating and especially regarding environment attract higher inflows. I also find that SRI investors are more likely to reinvest in the same fund. Overall, I conclude that, like conventional investors, nowadays SRI investors chase previously top performing funds, but additionally pay attention to the actual ethical standards of their investments. --Socially Responsible Mutual Funds,Socially Responsible Investing,Ethical Investment

Da Arte Correio à Telemática: Comunicação à Distancia nos trabalhos de Paulo Bruscky e Eduardo Kac

This article examines the early works of Brazilian artists Paulo Bruscky and Eduardo Kac, as important precursors to art and activism on the Internet. It argues that their legacies of the 1970s and 1980s are significant in any node of the global cultural network. Both engaged art and communication at a distance: Bruscky in Recife in the 1970s, through Mail Art, and Kac in Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s, through videotext networks and telepresence events. Moreover, their conceptual practices resisted the political oppression of those decades by nurturing “the experimental exercise of freedom.”Esse artigo examina os primeiros trabalhos dos artistas brasileiros Paulo Bruscky e Eduardo Kac, importantes precursores da arte e do ativismo na Internet. Também argumenta que esse legado artístico dos anos 70s e 80s é significante em qualquer nódulo da rede cultural global. Ambos exploraram a arte e a comunicação à distância: Bruscky em Recife nos anos setenta, através da Arte Postal, e Kac no Rio de Janeiro nos anos oitenta, através da rede de Videotextos e da Telepresença. Além disso, as práticas conceituais desses artistas resistiram à opressão política dessas duas décadas enquanto nutriam “o exercício experimental da liberdade.

A review on integrated agro-technology of vegetables

The aim of this review was threefold: First, to explore the effect of different preharvest treatments on postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables. Second, the principles of biological, chemical and biochemical changes in fruits and vegetables during development, maturation, ripening and storage were reviewed. Third postharvest handling and factors affecting quality of fruits and vegetables were examined. These include disinfecting, packaging and storage temperature. Pre- and postharvest treatments were found to have an effect on postharvest quality of fruit and vegetables, suggesting that postharvest quality of produce subjected to preharvest treatments should be assessed from a quality improvement, maintenance and consumer safety point of view. Literature recommends an integratedagro-technology approach towards improving quality at harvest and maintenance of qualities of fruits and vegetables.Keywords: Agro-technology, vegetables, fruits, preharvest treatments, ripening, postharvest handling, storag

Cell death in sepsis: a matter of how, when, and where

Dysregulated cell death in several tissues is intimately involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis and contributes to multiple organ failure. Whether cell death during sepsis occurs by necrosis or apoptosis may depend on the cell type as well as the disease stage and is therefore a matter of intense debate. While lymphocyte apoptosis contributes to immunosuppression in sepsis, recent evidence suggests that necrosis of hepatocytes predominates in septic patients with liver dysfunction and correlates with poor survival. These distinct modes of cell death might have different consequences for the inflammatory response but are also critical for therapeutic interventions and the disease outcome. Understanding the complexity of death processes employing recently available serum biomarkers of cell death could lead to novel therapeutic approaches and assist in the steering of sepsis treatment

What is the Role of Attachment in Contemporary Psychotherapy? A Grounded Theory Exploration of the Perspective of Experienced Psychologists

Since Bowlby devised his theory of attachment, originally for clinical purposes, refinements and extensions have developed its clinical utility. The research question asked how experienced contemporary clinicians now perceive the role of attachment in the formulation and treatment of distress by reference to their clinical work. Using grounded theory methodology, underpinned by a relativist, moderate social constructionist epistemology, initial sampling consisted of 16 in-depth interviews with experienced clinicians. The tentative theoretical categories that emerged were then developed in theoretical sampling in further interviews with 5 of the initial interviewees. The final theoretical categories to emerge concerned the prevalence of caregiver-related problems, the provision of safety together with the prioritisation of the relationship with self as attachment-related treatment strategies, and attachment theory’s provision of understanding in problem formulation. Whilst this suggests that attachment-related ideas are integrated in contemporary practice, it also suggests that the clinical utility now offered by attachment theory, as established in the literature, has not found broad appeal amongst clinicians despite the commonness of attachment-related presenting problems. The implications of this are manifold. To begin with, attachment theorists have largely failed to bring the potential now offered by attachment-related therapeutic interventions to the market. This situation makes it incumbent on the next generation of attachment researchers to more clearly articulate techniques with which clinicians, of whatever theoretical orientation, can better leverage attachment-related knowledge in their clinical work. In this enterprise, perhaps the knowledge and experience of expert clinicians could be harvested, as this research has done. Moreover, researchers must expand the evidence base that such interventions actually work. Beyond the implications for clinical utility and efficacy, the findings strengthen counselling psychology’s influence on society’s perception and treatment of attachment-related problems

Mechanisms of Cell Death in Acute Liver Failure

Acute liver failure (ALF) can be the consequence of various etiologies, that might vary between different geographic regions. Most frequent are intoxications with acetaminophen, viral hepatitis, or liver damage of unknown origin. ALF occurs when the extent of hepatocyte death exceeds the regenerative capacity of the liver. The mode of liver cell death that is predominantly induced in ALF, i.e., apoptosis or necrosis, is still controversial and presumably determined by the etiology, duration, and magnitude of liver injury. Severe liver damage involves oxidative stress and depletion of ATP resulting in necrosis. In contrast, maintenance of ATP stores is required for the execution of apoptosis. Recent data suggest that necrosis resulting from severe liver damage is associated with poor outcome of ALF patients. Discrimination between apoptosis and necrosis might be therefore useful for the identification of ALF patients requiring liver transplantation. Identification of the molecular cell death mechanisms remains an important issue not only for early prediction of ALF outcome, but also for therapeutic interventions. In view of the pleiotropic functions of critical mediators of cell death and tissue regeneration, a particular challenge will be to reduce hepatocellular death without inhibiting the regenerative capacity of the liver. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms of hepatocyte injury and the pathways leading to apoptosis and necrosis, which might represent potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets in ALF

C2: Field Relations, Petrography and Provenance of Mafic Dikes, Western Maine

Guidebook for field trips in Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, p. 273-286