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A carbon and nitrogen isotopic investigation of a case of probable infantile scurvy (6th- 4th centuries BC, Slovenia)
No full textYesThis paper presents a case study of a young infant, from a larger isotopic and osteological investigation of Bronze/Iron Age (14th-4th century BC) skeletal assemblages from Croatia and Slovenia. The osteological analysis of this infant identified pathological lesions including abnormal porosity and new bone formation consistent with malnutrition and phases of recovery. The distribution and appearance of these pathological lesions (i.e. diffuse micro-porosities and plaques of subperiosteal new bone formation on the skull and long bones) led to the conclusion that this infant probably suffered from scurvy (vitamin C deficiency). The diet and nitrogen balance of this individual were investigated by incremental dentine sampling and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. This sampling method provided a high resolution record of dietary and metabolic changes from pre-birth to around the time of death. The resulting isotope data exhibited unusually high δ13C values for this region and time period (between -11.3‰ and -12.6‰), while δ15N values were observed to be c. 3‰ above that of rib collagen sampled from contemporary adults recovered from the same site. The isotope profiles generated from the incremental dentine analysis show that δ13C and especially δ15N continue to increase until death. The evidence from the skeletal remains and high resolution isotopic data support the hypothesis that this infant suffered from severe malnutrition and an increasingly negative nitrogen balance. The paper discusses some scenarios which could have resulted in these unusual isotope ratios, whilst considering the diagnosis of possible metabolic disease. The paper also addresses the need for context when interpreting isotopic results. The isotope data should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as part of a multidisciplinary approach, considering the multiple causes of isotopic variability
The Role of Leaders and Intrapreneurial Employees in Large Technology Corporations: A Qualitative Study
Get PDFOver the past 15 years, technological change has introduced an
unprecedented amount of competition in the global marketplace. Large
corporations are at risk of disruption by global competitors, particularly the
start-up community. In today’s highly competitive environment, the goal of
every business is to get ahead: this is known as ‘competitive advantage.’
One way to foster competitive advantage is through innovation—the process
of change, be it a new product, idea, or method. It can mean adapting the
work environment to deliver an improved service or altering the business
model.
Large corporations are scalable business models by design. When a
company establishes a successful business model, it monetizes that model
to the fullest extent, supporting the model via corporate structures,
processes, tools, and cultures. These companies now face a conundrum: the
policies and procedures that make them efficient also stifle innovation, which
is critical to business success in today’s ultra-competitive and ever-changing
market. Large companies find it especially challenging to innovate successfully within the confines of massive, bureaucratic operational
structures. Since most companies are designed to deliver under their current
structures, any innovation that requires a change in business model or
approach requires structural changes within the company.
“Intrapreneurship,” also known as corporate entrepreneurial behaviour, has
the potential to resolve the issues of innovation in large corporations.
Intrapreneurship is a major competitive differentiator: benefits include
increased economic growth, greater efficiency, the ability to manage change
effectively, greater employee engagement and development, the ability to
attract and retain entrepreneurial leaders, and sustainable growth. However, organizations are not aware of how to cultivate an intrapreneurial
environment. In fact, organizations often unintentionally cultivate the
opposite, by adopting risk-adverse policies, limiting corporate
experimentation. The extant literature examines intrapreneurship at a firm
level; however, there is limited literature identifying intrapreneurial traits at an
employee level. It is these employee traits and behaviours that enable
organizations to act intrapreneurially, resulting in value creation for
organizations. Leadership engagement as it relates to intrapreneurship is
also an area that is under researched. The support of leaders in innovation
efforts is crucial for intrapreneurial employees to thrive and take ideas from a
place of conception to implementation.
This study takes a qualitative, approach, including semi-structured interviews
of employees of a large technological firm and five semi-structured interviews
with executives from media, technology, and finance industries. This
research identifies specific traits of employees of intrapreneurial employees, including their behaviours and attributes. This research places the employee
at the heart of the organization while positioning leaders and cultural
elements on the periphery. It identifies curiosity, skilled risk taking, and
experimentation as core intrapreneurial traits. This study also identifies the
traits and behaviours of successfully intrapreneurial organizations and the
role that leadership plays in supporting and developing intrapreneurial
environments and cultures. Leadership has significant and positive relations
with both empowerment and an innovation-supporting organizational climate.
Top managers' leadership style has been identified as being one of the most
important factors—if not the most important—when it comes to driving innovation. The findings from this research indicate that leaders need to play
more of an active role in developing intrapreneurial activity. They need to
evolve their role into shepherds who guide intrapreneurs in navigating the
corporate immune systems. This research also evolves the conceptual
framework of Antoncic and Hisrich (2001) by adding employee traits and
leadership as new paradigms
Uncertainty relations in terms of the Gini index for finite quantum systems
Get PDFYesLorenz values and the Gini index are popular quantities in Mathematical Economics, and are used here in the context of quantum systems with finite-dimensional Hilbert space. They quantify the uncertainty in the probability distribution related to an orthonormal basis. It is shown that Lorenz values are superadditive functions and the Gini indices are subadditive functions. The supremum over all density matrices of the sum of the two Gini indices with respect to position and momentum states is used to define an uncertainty coefficient which quantifies the uncertainty in the quantum system. It is shown that the uncertainty coefficient is positive, and an upper bound for it is given. Various examples demonstrate these ideas
The moral foreign language effect is stable across presentation modalities
Get PDFYesPeoples’ judgments and decisions often change when made in their foreign language. Existing
research testing this foreign language effect has predominantly used text-based stimuli with little
research focusing on the impact of listening to audio stimuli on the effect. The only existing study on
this topic found shifts in people’s moral decisions only in the audio modality. Firstly, by reanalyzing
the data from this previous study and by collecting data in an additional experiment, we found no
consistent effects of using foreign language on moral judgments. Secondly, in both datasets we
found no significant language by modality interaction. Overall, our results highlight the need for
more robust testing of the foreign language effect, and its boundary conditions. However, modality
of presentation does not appear to be a candidate for explaining its variability. Data and materials for
this experiment are available at https://osf.io/qbjxn/
Avoiding the Anthropocene: An Assessment of the Extent and Nature of Engagement with Environmental Issues in Peace Research
No full textYesWhat is the nature and extent of engagement within peace research with the unfolding
global environmental crisis, as captured in discourses about the ‘Anthropocene’(Bonneuil &
Fressoz, 2017; Dalby, 2015)? Is the peace research scholarly community connecting with
significant debates taking place in the earth sciences or among social and political
movements? If it is, in what ways? Are concepts of violence and peace evolving in line with
the major trends driving change this century, including climate change? This article seeks
answers to these questions through a systematic survey and thematic analysis of publications
in key peace-related journals and book series.What is the nature and extent of engagement within peace research with the unfolding
global environmental crisis, as captured in discourses about the ‘Anthropocene’(Bonneuil &
Fressoz, 2017; Dalby, 2015)? Is the peace research scholarly community connecting with
significant debates taking place in the earth sciences or among social and political
movements? If it is, in what ways? Are concepts of violence and peace evolving in line with
the major trends driving change this century, including climate change? This article seeks
answers to these questions through a systematic survey and thematic analysis of publications
in key peace-related journals and book series
Exploring Diversity Management in Transnational Corporations Through the Lens of Migration and Expatriation
Get PDFYesIn this study, we aim to develop an understanding of the similarity between migration and expatriation, identify both as elements in diversity, and draw attention to the additional layer of ethnic diversity created by the high number of top management expatriates in some Nigerian subsidiaries of transnational corporations. Using the qualitative research design, we thematically analysed data from semistructured interviews with six indigenous managers in four transnational corporations. We found a significant number of expatriate managers in two subsidiaries and a lack of diversity management framework to address the new layer of diversity as reflected in the unequal treatment of indigenous managers. We conclude that migration and expatriation are similar and could be better managed through effective diversity management framework
'Working to live, not living to work': low-paid multiple employment and work-life articulation
Get PDFYesThis paper critically examines how low-paid workers, who need to work in more than one legitimate job to make ends meet, attempt to reconcile work and life. The concept of work-life articulation is utilised to investigate the experiences, strategies and practicalities of combining multiple employment with domestic and care duties. Based on detailed qualitative research, the findings reveal workers with 2, 3, 4, 5 and even 7 different jobs due to low-pay, limited working hours and employment instability. The study highlights the increasing variability of working hours, together with the dual fragmentation of working time and employment. It identifies unique dimensions of work extensification, as these workers have an amalgamation of jobs dispersed across fragmented, expansive and complex temporalities and spatialities. This research makes explicit the interconnected economic and temporal challenges of low-pay, insufficient hours and precarious employment, which creates significant challenges of juggling multiple jobs with familial responsibilities
Hospital admissions after vertical integration of general practices with an acute hospital: a retrospective synthetic matched controlled database study
Get PDFYesNew healthcare models are being explored to enhance care coordination, efficiency, and outcomes. Evidence is scarce regarding the impact of vertical integration of primary and secondary care on emergency department (ED) attendances, unplanned hospital admissions, and readmissions.
Aim To examine the impact of vertical integration of an NHS provider hospital and 10 general practices on unplanned hospital care
Design and setting A retrospective database study using synthetic controls of an NHS hospital in Wolverhampton integrated with 10 general practices, providing primary medical services for 67 402 registered patients.
Method For each vertical integration GP practice, a synthetic counterpart was constructed. The difference in rate of ED attendances, unplanned hospital admissions, and unplanned hospital readmissions was compared, and pooled across vertical integration practices versus synthetic control practices pre-intervention versus post-intervention.
Results Across the 10 practices, pooled rates of ED attendances did not change significantly after vertical integration. However, there were statistically significant reductions in the rates of unplanned hospital admissions (−0.11, 95% CI = −0.18 to −0.045, P = 0.0012) and unplanned hospital readmissions (−0.021, 95% CI = −0.037 to −0.0049, P = 0.012), per 100 patients per month. These effect sizes represent 888 avoided unplanned hospital admissions and 168 readmissions for a population of 67 402 patients per annum. Utilising NHS reference costs, the estimated savings from the reductions in unplanned care are ∼£1.7 million.
Conclusion Vertical integration was associated with a reduction in the rate of unplanned hospital admissions and readmissions in this study. Further work is required to understand the mechanisms involved in this complex intervention, to assess the generalisability of these findings, and to determine the impact on patient satisfaction, health outcomes, and GP workload
Affirmative action measures and gender equality: review of evidence, policies, and practices
Get PDFYesThe central aim of this chapter is to describe the policy and practice of affirmative action measures. It synthesizes findings from published studies and highlights the rationale, drivers, benefits, beneficiaries, effectiveness, and impacts of affirmative action policies and practices in different countries. The chapter will discuss the possible lessons from these studies and highlight the link between affirmative action policies and practices and contributions to achieving target 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Experimental investigation on the effects of bed slope and tailwater on dam-break flows
Get PDFYesUnderstanding of the characteristics of dam-break flows moving along a sloping wet bed can help to timely issue flood warning and risk mitigation. In this study, laboratory experiments are carried out in a large flume for a wide range of upstream water depth, bed slopes and tailwater depth. The water level is recorded and processed to calculate the mean velocity and wave celerity. Results show that the increase of the bed slope will significantly accelerate the wave-front celerity for the downstream dry bed, while the negative wave celerity will decrease. When water depth ratio α ≥ 0.3 (defined as the ratio of initial downstream water depth over the upstream water depth of dam), there are extra negative waves propagating towards the reservoir area after the flow has developed for a period of time. When α ≥ 0.6, there are the Favre waves propagating downstream. The water level and the mean velocity fluctuate due to the influence of the extra negative waves and the Favre waves. Such fluctuant frequency increases with the increase of the water depth ratio. The empirical formulas are obtained for the celerity of the first extra negative wave and the first downstream wave. The variation of wave-front height is very similar under three bed slopes investigated in this study, while the maximum wave-front height occurs when α = 0.2. The present study broadens the understanding of the effects of the bed slope and the tailwater level on the movement of the dam-break flows. Furthermore, experimental results are also compared with some analytical solutions. The validity of the assumptions made during the development of these analytical solutions and their limitations are discussed by comparing with the experimental measurements.The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 51879179), the Open Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University (SKHL1809) and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2019JDTD0007)