One size does not fit all: Entrepreneurial families’ reliance on family offices

Family offices are organisations dedicated to the management of entrepreneurial families’ private wealth. Based on agency theory, we analyse types of family offices with regard to the families’ goals and the control mechanisms used to ensure goal achievement. Family-dominant management and private client structures involve stronger emphasis on non-financial goals in single and multi-family offices than in non-family-dominant management and open client structures. Variations in family involvement, ranging from family dominance to the complete absence of family ownership and/or management, and diverse client structures justify the differential reliance on formal and informal control mechanisms.

From language maintenance to bilingual parenting: Negotiating behavior and language choice at the dinner table in binational-bilingual families

This article contributes to the study of language maintenance as an everyday activity in binational-bilingual families. By embedding the question of language maintenance into a language socialization framework and adopting a conversation-analytic approach to language alternation, three excerpts of mealtime interactions in Russian–French speaking families are analyzed. Their analysis shows that in bilingual families situations focusing on the interactional definition and negotiation of children’s behavior simultaneously involve the negotiation of language choice. It reveals how parents in binational-bilingual families accomplish bilingual (language) socialization in daily practice while dealing with the complex task of combining educational goals with language maintenance.

Russian language maintenance through bedtime story reading?: Linguistic strategies and language negotiation in Russian-French speaking families in Switzerland

This article proposes an interactional approach to the question of Russian language maintenance through the activity of bedtime story-reading in Russian-French bilingual families in French speaking Switzerland. Reading stories appears to be a language maintenance strategy commonly employed by the Russian speaking parent. The ritual and recreational moment of story-reading therefore becomes an opportunity for language learning. Drawing upon a language socialization perspective, this paper proposes an interactional analysis of the language use in the activity of story-reading. It shows how the language choice of the participants may be requested, negotiated and challenged during the interaction. The analysis further informs us about the language choice pattern and the bilingual competences in these families. We will gain insight into (Russian) language maintenance as a daily social and linguistic practice.

Mammalian iron transporters: Families SLC11 and SLC40

This review is focused on the mammalian SLC11 and SLC40 families and their roles in iron homeostasis. The SLC11 family is composed of two members, SLC11A1 and SLC11A2. SLC11A1 is expressed in the lysosomal compartment of macrophages and in the tertiary granules of neutrophils, playing a key role in innate resistance against infection by intracellular microbes. SLC11A2 is a key player in iron metabolism and is ubiquitously expressed, most notably in the proximal duodenum, immature erythroid cells, brain, placenta and kidney. Intestinal iron absorption is mediated by SLC11A2 at the apical membrane of enterocytes, followed by basolateral exit via SLC40A1. To meet the daily requirement for iron, approximately 80% of the iron comes from the breakdown of hemoglobin following macrophage phagocytosis of senescent erythrocytes (iron recycling). Both SLC11A1 and SLC11A2 play an important role in macrophage iron recycling. SLC11A2 also transports iron into the cytosol across the membrane of endocytotic vesicles of the transferrin receptor-cycle. SLC40A1 is the sole member of the SLC40 family and is involved in the only cellular iron efflux mechanism described. SLC40A1 is highly expressed in several tissues and cells that play a critical role in body iron homeostasis. The signaling pathways that regulate SLC11A2 and SLC40A1 expression at transcriptional, post-transcriptional and post-translational levels are discussed. The roles of SLC11A2 and/or SLC40A1 in iron-associated disorders such as hemochromatosis, neurodegenerative diseases, and breast cancer are also summarized.

The SLC3 and SLC7 families of amino acid transporters

Amino acids are necessary for all living cells and organisms. Specialized transporters mediate the transfer of amino acids across plasma membranes. Malfunction of these proteins can affect whole-body homoeostasis giving raise to diverse human diseases. Here, we review the main features of the SLC3 and SLC7 families of amino acid transporters. The SLC7 family is divided into two subfamilies, the cationic amino acid transporters (CATs), and the L-type amino acid transporters (LATs). The latter are the light or catalytic subunits of the heteromeric amino acid transporters (HATs), which are associated by a disulfide bridge with the heavy subunits 4F2hc or rBAT. These two subunits are glycoproteins and form the SLC3 family. Most CAT subfamily members were functionally characterized and shown to function as facilitated diffusers mediating the entry and efflux of cationic amino acids. In certain cells, CATs play an important role in the delivery of L-arginine for the synthesis of nitric oxide. HATs are mostly exchangers with a broad spectrum of substrates and are crucial in renal and intestinal re-absorption and cell redox balance. Furthermore, the role of the HAT 4F2hc/LAT1 in tumor growth and the application of LAT1 inhibitors and PET tracers for reduction of tumor progression and imaging of tumors are discussed. Finally, we describe the link between specific mutations in HATs and the primary inherited aminoacidurias, cystinuria and lysinuric protein intolerance.

Congenital factor XIII deficiency in Pakistan: characterization of seven families and identification of four novel mutations

Deficiency of coagulation factor XIII (FXIII) belongs to the rare bleeding disorders and its incidence is higher in populations with consanguineous marriages. The aims of this study were to characterize patients and relatives from seven families with suspected FXIII deficiency from Pakistan and to identify the underlying mutations. As a first indicator of FXIII deficiency, a 5M urea clot solubility test was used. Plasma FXIII A- and B-subunit antigen levels were determined by ELISA. FXIII activity was measured with an incorporation assay. Sequencing of all exons and intron/exon boundaries of F13A was performed, and a novel splice site defect was confirmed by RT-PCR analysis. Genetic analysis revealed six different mutations in the F13A gene. Two splice site mutations were detected, a novel c.1460+1G>A mutation in the first nucleotide of intron 11 and a previously reported c.2045G>A mutation in the last nucleotide of exon 14. Neither of them was expressed at protein level. A novel nonsense mutation in exon 4, c.567T>A, p.Cys188X, was identified, leading in homozygous form to severe FXIII deficiency. Two novel missense mutations were found in exons 8 and 9, c.1040C>A, p.Ala346Asp and c.1126T>C, p.Trp375Arg, and a previously reported missense mutation in exon 10, c.1241C>T, p.Ser413Leu. All patients homozygous for these missense mutations presented with severe FXIII deficiency. We have analysed a cohort of 27 individuals and reported four novel mutations leading to congenital FXIII deficiency.

Non-exponential return time distributions for vorticity extremes explained by fractional Poisson processes

Serial correlation of extreme midlatitude cyclones observed at the storm track exits is explained by deviations from a Poisson process. To model these deviations, we apply fractional Poisson processes (FPPs) to extreme midlatitude cyclones, which are defined by the 850 hPa relative vorticity of the ERA interim reanalysis during boreal winter (DJF) and summer (JJA) seasons. Extremes are defined by a 99% quantile threshold in the grid-point time series. In general, FPPs are based on long-term memory and lead to non-exponential return time distributions. The return times are described by a Weibull distribution to approximate the Mittag–Leffler function in the FPPs. The Weibull shape parameter yields a dispersion parameter that agrees with results found for midlatitude cyclones. The memory of the FPP, which is determined by detrended fluctuation analysis, provides an independent estimate for the shape parameter. Thus, the analysis exhibits a concise framework of the deviation from Poisson statistics (by a dispersion parameter), non-exponential return times and memory (correlation) on the basis of a single parameter. The results have potential implications for the predictability of extreme cyclones.

Quasi-Self-Dual Exponential Lévy Processes

The important application of semistatic hedging in financial markets naturally leads to the notion of quasi--self-dual processes. The focus of our study is to give new characterizations of quasi--self-duality. We analyze quasi--self-dual Lévy driven markets which do not admit arbitrage opportunities and derive a set of equivalent conditions for the stochastic logarithm of quasi--self-dual martingale models. Since for nonvanishing order parameter two martingale properties have to be satisfied simultaneously, there is a nontrivial relation between the order and shift parameter representing carrying costs in financial applications. This leads to an equation containing an integral term which has to be inverted in applications. We first discuss several important properties of this equation and, for some well-known Lévy-driven models, we derive a family of closed-form inversion formulae.

On restricted families of projections in ℝ3

We study projections onto non-degenerate one-dimensional families of lines and planes in R 3 . Using the classical potential theoretic approach of R. Kaufman, one can show that the Hausdorff dimension of at most 12 -dimensional sets [Math Processing Error] is typically preserved under one-dimensional families of projections onto lines. We improve the result by an ε , proving that if [Math Processing Error], then the packing dimension of the projections is almost surely at least [Math Processing Error]. For projections onto planes, we obtain a similar bound, with the threshold 12 replaced by 1 . In the special case of self-similar sets [Math Processing Error] without rotations, we obtain a full Marstrand-type projection theorem for 1-parameter families of projections onto lines. The [Math Processing Error] case of the result follows from recent work of M. Hochman, but the [Math Processing Error] part is new: with this assumption, we prove that the projections have positive length almost surely.

Evaluation of three different families of bombesin receptor radioantagonists for targeted imaging and therapy of gastrin releasing peptide receptor (GRP-R) positive tumors.

Two new classes of radiolabeled GRP receptor antagonists are studied and compared with the well-established statine-based receptor antagonist DOTA-4-amino-1-carboxymethylpiperidine-d-Phe-Gln-Trp-Ala-Val-Gly-His-Sta-Leu-NH2 (RM2, 1; DOTA:1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid; Sta:(3S,4S)-4-amino-3-hydroxy-6-methylheptanoic acid). The bombesin-based pseudopeptide DOTA-4-amino-1-carboxymethylpiperidine-d-Phe-Gln-Trp-Ala-Val-Gly-His-Leuψ(CHOH-CH2)-(CH2)2-CH3 (RM7, 2), and the methyl ester DOTA-4-amino-1-carboxymethylpiperidine-d-Phe-Gln-Trp-Ala-Val-Gly-His-Leu-OCH3 (ARBA05, 3) analogues are labeled with (111)In and evaluated in vitro in PC-3 cell line and in vivo in PC-3 tumor-bearing nude mice. Antagonist potency was assessed by immunofluorescence-based receptor internalization and Ca(2+) mobilization assays. The conjugates showed good binding affinity, the IC50 value of 2 (3.2 ± 1.8 nM) being 2 and 10 times lower than 1 and 3. Compared to (111)In-1, (111)In-2 showed higher uptake in target tissues such as pancreas (1.5 ± 0.5%IA/g and 39.8 ± 9.3%IA/g at 4 h, respectively), whereas the compounds had similar tumor uptake (11.5 ± 2.4%IA/g and 11.8 ± 3.9%IA/g at 4h, respectively). The displacement of the radioligand in vivo was different in different receptor positive organs and depended on the displacing peptide.

Random Sampling with Interspike-Intervals of the Exponential Integrate and Fire Neuron: A Computational Interpretation of UP-States

Oscillations between high and low values of the membrane potential (UP and DOWN states respectively) are an ubiquitous feature of cortical neurons during slow wave sleep and anesthesia. Nevertheless, a surprisingly small number of quantitative studies have been conducted only that deal with this phenomenon’s implications for computation. Here we present a novel theory that explains on a detailed mathematical level the computational benefits of UP states. The theory is based on random sampling by means of interspike intervals (ISIs) of the exponential integrate and fire (EIF) model neuron, such that each spike is considered a sample, whose analog value corresponds to the spike’s preceding ISI. As we show, the EIF’s exponential sodium current, that kicks in when balancing a noisy membrane potential around values close to the firing threshold, leads to a particularly simple, approximative relationship between the neuron’s ISI distribution and input current. Approximation quality depends on the frequency spectrum of the current and is improved upon increasing the voltage baseline towards threshold. Thus, the conceptually simpler leaky integrate and fire neuron that is missing such an additional current boost performs consistently worse than the EIF and does not improve when voltage baseline is increased. For the EIF in contrast, the presented mechanism is particularly effective in the high-conductance regime, which is a hallmark feature of UP-states. Our theoretical results are confirmed by accompanying simulations, which were conducted for input currents of varying spectral composition. Moreover, we provide analytical estimations of the range of ISI distributions the EIF neuron can sample from at a given approximation level. Such samples may be considered by any algorithmic procedure that is based on random sampling, such as Markov Chain Monte Carlo or message-passing methods. Finally, we explain how spike-based random sampling relates to existing computational theories about UP states during slow wave sleep and present possible extensions of the model in the context of spike-frequency adaptation.