Event Attention, Environmental Sensemaking, and Change in Institutional Logics: An Inductive Analysis of the Effects of Public Attention to Clinton's Health Care Reform Initiative.

We explore attention to Clinton's health care reform proposal, ongoing debates, and its political demise to develop theory that explains how events create opportunities for cognitive realignment and transformation in institutional logics. Our case analysis illustrates how a bottom-up process of environmental sensemaking led to the emergence and adoption of a logic of managed care, which provided new organizing principles in the hospitals' organizational field. In addition to theorization, highlighted by prior research, we propose a second mechanism of environmental sensemaking: representation of change through exemplars and environmental features. The interplay between theorization, representation, and ongoing event attention can lead to change in institutional logics over an event's life course. We found that the managed care logic did not emerge in a fully formed fashion, but that actors theorized individual dimensions of the logic consistent with changing representations of hospitals' relationships with other actors in the field. As the event unfolded, the individual dimensions came to be theorized as part of an overall managed care logic. The label “managed care,” previously understood as a specific organizational form, took on a new meaning to symbolize the organizing principles for hospitals' relationships with a variety of institutional actors as alternative models not congruent with the changing organizational field were abandoned

Environmental report actualization for the license renewal of the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center

Abstract only availableLicensing requirements for power as well as non-power reactors must address environmental concerns related to radioactive emissions. The purpose and need for the renewal of the operating license for the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) is to allow continued studies in nuclear related undergraduate and graduate level degree programs along with continued production of radioactive isotopes for cancer treatment and research for an additional 20 years beyond the current license of 40 years which expires on November 21, 2006. The MURR is a multi-disciplinary research and education facility that provides a wide range of analytical, radiographic, and irradiation services to the research community and the commercial sector. The licensing requirements are established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 10 CFR § 51.45 Environmental Reports - General Requirements. As part of the license renewal process the environmental report which was created on 2001 needed to be updated and revised to assure of the quality of the information. To study the hypothetical dose received by the public from the radioactive emissions that are released by the MURR during normal operations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) COMPLY program was utilized. This program is intended for use by NRC licensees and non-DOE federal facilities to determine if they meet the radiation dose standards imposed by EPA under the Clean Air Act. COMPLY was utilized using an average of the last 10 years of the stack effluent which was measured in Curies per year. The results obtained from the program indicated that the MURR is in compliance for the emission released to the atmosphere.NSF-REU/NIH Program in Radiochemistr

Computational and experimental assessment of public dose from normal research reactor operations [abstract]

Abstract only availableThe Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) in Columbia, Missouri is interested in the amount of the Argon-41 being produced and released to the environment. The objective of this work is to know what operations within the facility are contributing to this production and the quantities released. I'll be working in collaboration with Jeancarlo Torres (Computational Assessment) and Erick Scheerer (Experimental Assessment) in determining these parameters. The calculational work analyzes the distribution of releases from the stack at the MURR. The dose is then predicted with the Comply program. EPA's Comply model was developed based on the procedures in the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Commentary No.3 (NCRP89). The Comply computer software may be used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) in 40 CFR 61 Subpart I and H. Comply calculates the effective dose equivalent (EDE) from radionuclide released from stacks and vents. The Nuclear Activation Analysis (NAA) is used in the experimental assessment of Argon-41 production. Neutron Activation Analysis is a nuclear process used for determining concentrations of elements in a vast amount of materials. NAA allows discrete sampling of elements as it disregards chemical form of a sample and focuses solely on its nucleus. NAA is a sensitive analytical technique useful for performing both qualitative and quantitative multi-element analysis for mayor, minor and trace elements in samples from almost every conceivable field of scientific or technical interest. Using NAA we will irradiate air samples from around the facility to determine the concentration of natural Ar-40 to produce Ar-41 for measurement. The relationship between these two different projects is that the results of the experimental technique will indicate if excess argon is present in the facility and the computational technique will calculate the dose the activation of Ar-40 to Ar-41 may have on the environment

Efecto de la pre-digestión del sustrato sobre la fermentación in vitro en conejos

Los trabajos de fermentacion realizados en conejos empleando la tecnica de produccion de gas in vitro desarrollada por Menke et al. (1979) presentan grandes variaciones en lo que se refiere a los inoculos utilizados, el procesado de los sustratos, la relacion inoculo/sustrato y los modelos matematicos de ajuste. En muchos trabajos, los sustratos solo son molidos (Calabro et al., 1999; Bovera et al., 2006), mientras que en otros se utiliza el residuo insoluble procedente de una pre-digestion in vitro donde se Simula la digestion del estomago e intestino delgado (Bindelle et a/. 2007; Rodriguez-Romero et al., 2011). Sin embargo, al estudiar la fermentacion de alimentos fibrosos seria interesante conservar en la muestra la fraccion de la fibra que se solubiliza en el intestino delgado (Abad-Guaman et al., 2015). Por otra parte, en conejos se ha observado que el nivel y tipo de fibra de la dieta de los donantes influye sobre la fermentacion in vitro (Rodriguez-Romero et al., 2011). El presente trabajo compara la fermentacion in vitro de diferentes sustratos cuando se realiza una pre-digesti6n o se incuba directamente el sustrato utilizando cecotrofos procedentes de gazapos alimentados con dos niveles de fibra soluble (FS)

Reconstruction and Validation of a Genome-Scale Metabolic Model for the Filamentous Fungus Neurospora crassa Using FARM

The filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa played a central role in the development of twentieth-century genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology, and continues to serve as a model organism for eukaryotic biology. Here, we have reconstructed a genome-scale model of its metabolism. This model consists of 836 metabolic genes, 257 pathways, 6 cellular compartments, and is supported by extensive manual curation of 491 literature citations. To aid our reconstruction, we developed three optimization-based algorithms, which together comprise Fast Automated Reconstruction of Metabolism (FARM). These algorithms are: LInear MEtabolite Dilution Flux Balance Analysis (limed-FBA), which predicts flux while linearly accounting for metabolite dilution; One-step functional Pruning (OnePrune), which removes blocked reactions with a single compact linear program; and Consistent Reproduction Of growth/no-growth Phenotype (CROP), which reconciles differences between in silico and experimental gene essentiality faster than previous approaches. Against an independent test set of more than 300 essential/non-essential genes that were not used to train the model, the model displays 93% sensitivity and specificity. We also used the model to simulate the biochemical genetics experiments originally performed on Neurospora by comprehensively predicting nutrient rescue of essential genes and synthetic lethal interactions, and we provide detailed pathway-based mechanistic explanations of our predictions. Our model provides a reliable computational framework for the integration and interpretation of ongoing experimental efforts in Neurospora, and we anticipate that our methods will substantially reduce the manual effort required to develop high-quality genome-scale metabolic models for other organisms

Efecto de la suplementación con Bacillus amyloliquefaciens y heptanoato sódico sobre los parámetros de crecimiento en conejos en cebo

El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de suplementar con B. amyloliquefaciens (Ecobiol; EU aditivo zootécnico para piensos número 4b1822; contenido de 1 x 109 CFU de B. amyloliquefaciens CECT 5940 / g) y heptanoato sódico (Hepton) sobre los parámetros de crecimiento del conejo. Se formuló un pienso control (17,3% PB y 36,2% FND, sobre % MS), y otros tres piensos suplementando el pienso control con 500 y 1000 g B. amyloliquefaciens/t (BA1 y BA2) y con 1000 g heptanoato sódico/t. Se utilizaron gazapos destetados a los 25 d gazapos (67/pienso). Los conejos suplementados con el pienso BA2 tendieron a comer menos que el grupo control (P = 0,073), y comieron un 6% menos que los del grupo BA1 (P = 0,036) durante el periodo de 25 a 40 d de edad, si bien no afectó a la ganancia de peso, ni en la eficacia alimenticia. Durante el periodo de 40 a 63 d de edad los gazapos alimentados con el pienso BA2 comieron un 10% menos que el pienso control (P = 0,002), sin modificar la ganancia de peso, lo que se tradujo en una tendencia a mejorar la eficacia alimenticia (P = 0,063). Los animales del pienso BA2 incrementaron la eficacia alimenticia un 8% comparado con los del grupo BA1 durante el periodo de 40 a 63 d (P = 0,031), sin mostrar diferencias en el consumo o en la ganancia de peso. Al evaluar el periodo global, incrementar la dosis de B. amyloliquefaciens (BA2 vs. BA1) tendió a disminuir el consumo medio diario (P = 0,069) y a aumentar la eficiencia alimenticia un 6% (P = 0,006). La suplementación con B. amyloliquefaciens, independientemente de la dosis utilizada (BA2 o BA1), no afectó a la mortalidad en el periodo global del cebo. Durante todo el periodo experimental de 25 a 63 d de edad, la suplementación con heptanoato sódico redujo el consumo de pienso un 5% en comparación con el grupo control (P = 0,050) y, al no modificar la velocidad de crecimiento, aumentó la eficacia alimenticia un 7% (P = 0,003). En comparación con el promedio de los gazapos suplementados con B. amyloliquefaciens los conejos que recibieron heptanoato sódico mostraron una mayor ganancia de peso (5%, P = 0,012), y eficiencia alimenticia (4%, P = 0,024), alcanzando un peso final superior (P = 0,012)

Efecto de la suplementación con celobiosa en el agua de bebida y del nivel e fibra soluble del pienso sobre los parámetros de crecimiento en conejos en cebo

El objetivo de este trabajo fue estudiar el efecto que tiene suplementar el agua con dosis de celobiosa inferiores a 7,5 g/l, en gazapos alimentados con dos niveles de fibra soluble sobre los parámetros productivos en gazapos en crecimiento. Se utilizaron 3 niveles de celobiosa en agua: 0, 3,5 y 7,0 g/l NPC Cello-Oligo combinados con 2 niveles de fibra soluble en el pienso (BF: 8,2 vs. AF: 10,5% sobre MS). Se utilizaron 240 gazapos destetados a los 26 d de edad (40/tratamiento), parte de los cuáles se sacrificaron a los 39 d de edad (8/tratamiento), momento en el que se sustituyeron los piensos experimentales por un pienso común estándar. La celobiosa se retiró a los 42 d de edad. En el periodo de 26 a 39 d de edad, los gazapos alimentados con el mayor nivel de fibra soluble redujeron un 6,4% el consumo de pienso respecto aquéllos alimentados con el nivel bajo de fibra soluble (P = 0,002), por lo que redujeron su ganancia de peso en un 7,0% (P = 0,002). En este periodo la ganancia de peso y la eficacia alimenticia de los animales alimentados con un bajo nivel de fibra soluble y 3,5 g celobiosa/l aumentaron en comparación con el promedio del grupo control y el de la dosis de 7 g/l (PBF(0+7 vs. 3,5) = 0,004 y 0,012, respectivamente), resultando en un peso mayor a los 39 d de edad (PBF(0+7 vs. 3,5) = 0,004). Los tratamientos no afectaron la actividad específica de la sacarasa en el yeyuno a los 39 d de edad. En el periodo global del cebo, el incremento de celobiosa redujo linealmente la ingestión (P = 0,040), tendiendo a mejorar la eficacia alimenticia (P = 0,10). Los gazapos que recibieron 3,5 g celobiosa/l en combinación con el pienso BF ganaron más peso que los que recibieron la dosis 0 ó 7 g celobiosa/l (PBF(0+7 vs 3,5) = 0,019). Por el contrario, los animales que recibieron la concentración intermedia de celobiosa en combinación con el pienso AF ganaron menos peso (PAF(0+7 vs 3,5) = 0,035). El nivel de fibra soluble no afectó a los rendimientos productivos ni a la mortalidad durante todo el periodo de cebo 26 a 56 d, pero el aumento de la concentración de celobiosa tendió a disminuir linealmente la mortalidad en los animales del grupo BF (PBF(0 vs 3,5 vs 7) = 0,069), mientras que los del grupo AF y que recibieron la concentración intermedia de celobiosa la mortalidad tendió a ser más baja (PAF(0+7 vs 3,5) = 0,11)

The Effects of Culture and Structure on Strategic Flexibility During Business Model Innovation

This study uses responses from 107 multinational firms to reveal CEO perceptions of the drivers of strategic flexibility during business model innovation. While the positive effect of creative culture is confirmed, partner reliance reduces strategic flexibility during business model innovation. Further, structural change is disaggregated into efforts that either focus managerial attention on core activities or reconfigure existing activities. CEOs perceive that structural flexibility requires structural simplification while retaining control of non-core functions. We find that the relative magnitude of business model innovation effort moderates the effect of reconfiguration on strategic flexibility. The implications for theories of organizational design and dynamic capabilities are discussed