Fruit size and quality of pineapples cv. Vitória in response to micronutrient doses and way of application and to soil covers

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of foundation and leaf fertilization with micronutrients on fruit size and quality of pineapple cv. Vitória under the environmental conditions of the Baixo Acaraú irrigated perimeter in Northern Ceará State, Brazil, under two covers (bagana and black plastic) of the sandy soil of low fertility. The experimental design was a randomized split blocks one with four levels of soil dressing and four levels of foliar fertilization, with five replications. Micronutrient soil dressing was studied as FTE-12 at doses of 0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha-1. The four levels of foliar fertilization were: LF0 (without fertilizer), LF 1 (15 leaf fertilization, using the amount of 1158.75 g Fe ha-1, 844.65 g Mn ha-1, 391.5 g ha-1 Zn, 322.65 g ha-1 Cu and 216 g ha-1 B), LF2 (15 leaf fertilization, using twice the quantities of level LF1) and LF3 (15 leaf fertilization, using three times the amount of level LF1). At 13 months after planting the micropropagated plantlets was carried out the floral induction treatment and five months later the fruit harvest determining the following variables: fruit weight and median diameter, soluble solids content (SS) and titratable acidity (TA). Both fruit weight and diameter increased with increasing doses of micronutrients applied to the soil and to the leaves, of plants grown both on bagana soil cover and plastic mulch. On the other hand fruit pulp quality was little affected by the treatments studied. There were a small increase of SS contents for plants grown on bagana soil cover and a small decrease of titratable acidity for those grown on plastic mulch, in both cases just in response to micronutrient foliar application.

Drumming in immersive virtual reality: the body shapes the way we play

It has been shown that it is possible to generate perceptual illusions of ownership in immersive virtual reality (IVR) over a virtual body seen from first person perspective, in other words over a body that visually substitutes the person's real body. This can occur even when the virtual body is quite different in appearance from the person's real body. However, investigation of the psychological, behavioral and attitudinal consequences of such body transformations remains an interesting problem with much to be discovered. Thirty six Caucasian people participated in a between-groups experiment where they played a West-African Djembe hand drum while immersed in IVR and with a virtual body that substituted their own. The virtual hand drum was registered with a physical drum. They were alongside a virtual character that played a drum in a supporting, accompanying role. In a baseline condition participants were represented only by plainly shaded white hands, so that they were able merely to play. In the experimental condition they were represented either by a casually dressed dark-skinned virtual body (Casual Dark-Skinned - CD) or by a formal suited light-skinned body (Formal Light-Skinned - FL). Although participants of both groups experienced a strong body ownership illusion towards the virtual body, only those with the CD representation showed significant increases in their movement patterns for drumming compared to the baseline condition and compared with those embodied in the FL body. Moreover, the stronger the illusion of body ownership in the CD condition, the greater this behavioral change. A path analysis showed that the observed behavioral changes were a function of the strength of the illusion of body ownership towards the virtual body and its perceived appropriateness for the drumming task. These results demonstrate that full body ownership illusions can lead to substantial behavioral and possibly cognitive changes depending on the appearance of the virtual body. This could be important for many applications such as learning, education, training, psychotherapy and rehabilitation using IVR.

The Role of Trade in the Structural Transformations of South Korea and the United Kingdom

[cat] El comerç internacional en béns agrícoles té el potencial d'accelerar la transformació estructural dels països amb baixa productivitat agrícola perquè els dóna la possiblitat d'importar aliments. L'objectiu d'aquest article és estudiar l'importància del comerç internacional en aquest context a través dels exemples de Corea del Sud i el Regne Unit. Per fer l'anàlisi, introdueixo comerç internacional en un model de creixement neoclàssicc amb dos sectors, agricultura i no-agricultura. Una característica clau del model és la baixa elasticitat-ingrés del bé agrícola.

The Role of Trade in the Structural Transformations of South Korea and the United Kingdom

[cat] El comerç internacional en béns agrícoles té el potencial d'accelerar la transformació estructural dels països amb baixa productivitat agrícola perquè els dóna la possiblitat d'importar aliments. L'objectiu d'aquest article és estudiar l'importància del comerç internacional en aquest context a través dels exemples de Corea del Sud i el Regne Unit. Per fer l'anàlisi, introdueixo comerç internacional en un model de creixement neoclàssicc amb dos sectors, agricultura i no-agricultura. Una característica clau del model és la baixa elasticitat-ingrés del bé agrícola.

Image Resilience after Multiple Crises : The Case of Switzerland in the United States

In der heutigen Welt sind die Reputation und das Image eines Landes als wichtige Faktoren für den wirtschaftlichen und politischen Erfolg angesehen. Jedoch ist die Pflege der Marke eines Landes komplex und führt zu zwei Positionen, die sich potentiell widersprechen: Einerseits kann ein positives Erscheinungsbild eines Landes durch aktive Massnahmen gefördert werden. Andererseits ist es schwierig, das Bild eines Landes abzugrenzen und es ist mit Klischees behaftet. Dieser Beitrag analysiert die Auswirkungen von zwei grösseren Krisen auf das Image der Schweiz in den Vereinigten Staaten: die Krise um die nachrichtenlosen Vermögen aus der Zeit des 2. Weltkriegs im Jahr 2000 sowie die Krise um die UBS und das Bankgeheimnis im Jahr 2009. Die Studie zeigt, dass das Erscheinungsbild der Schweiz unberührt blieb, obwohl ein beachtlicher Teil der Bevölkerung und der Meinungsführer von beiden Krisen wusste. Dies stützt die Hypothese, dass das Image eines Landes eine hohe Beständigkeit aufweist. In today's world, country's reputation and image have become key issues, widely believed to be success factors both economically and politically. Nevertheless, managing a country's brand is complex and leads to two positions that are potentially contradictory: On the one hand, a country's image can be influenced either by promotional activities. On the other hand, a country's image is a construct that is very difficult to delimit and is highly stereotyped. This contribution study the impact of two major crises on the image of Switzerland in the United States: the unclaimed wartime deposits crisis in 2000 and the UBS and banking secrecy crisis in 2009. It shows that despite the fact that a substantial proportion of the public and of opinion leaders was aware of both crises, the image of Switzerland was unaffected, which tends to support the hypothesis of strong stability of a country's image.

Le coeur des ARN non codants - Un long chemin à découvrir [In the heart of noncoding RNA: a long way to go].

The identification and characterization of long noncoding RNA in a variety of tissues represent major achievements that contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling gene expression. In particular, long noncoding RNA play crucial roles in the epigenetic regulation of the adaptive response to environmental cues via their capacity to target chromatin modifiers to specific locus. In addition, these transcripts have been implicated in controlling splicing, translation and degradation of messenger RNA. Long noncoding RNA have also been shown to act as decoy molecules for microRNA. In the heart, a few long noncoding RNA have been demonstrated to regulate cardiac commitment and differentiation during development. Furthermore, recent findings suggest their involvement as regulators of the pathophysiological response to injury in the adult heart. Their high cellular specificity makes them attractive target molecules for innovative therapies and ideal biomarkers.

Customer Expectations and Organizational Buying Behavior in the Flexible Packaging Markets

Tämä työ on tehty yhteistyössä kansainvälisen metsäteollisuusyrityksen Stora Enson kanssa. Työ on osa Stora Enson strategiaa kehitettäessä uusia ja innovatiivisia pakkausmateriaaleja ja ratkaisuja joustopakkausmarkkinoille. Työn päätavoitteina oli selvittää, millaisia odotuksia tuotemerkkienomistajilla ja jatkojalostajilla on joustopakkauksista ja kuinka pakkausten ostopäätökset syntyvät monitahoisessa liikeympäristössä. Työn teoreettinen viitekehys jaettiin kahteen osaan. Asiakasodotuksia lähestyttiin tutkimalla eri palvelu- ja tuotelaadun ulottuvuuksia, ja teollisuuden ostokäyttäytymistä tutkittiin organisaatioiden ostokäyttämistä kuvaavien mallien avulla. Työn empiirisessä osuudessa käytettiin laadullista tutkimusmenetelmää käsittäen asiakashaastatteluja lähinnä Yhdysvalloissa. Haastateltavat yritykset koostuivat maailman johtavista kuluttajatuotteita valmistavista yrityksistä sekä jatkojalostajista. Tutkimustulosten mukaan odotukset pakkauksista liittyvät lähinnä tuotteen suojaamiseen sekä myynnin edistämiseen. Pääodotuksina on myös saada mahdollisimman edullisia papereita, mahdollisimman hyvillä barrier- ja paino-ominaisuuksilla. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat myös, että paperiyhtiöt ovat epäonnistuneet tekemään itseään tunnetuksi teollisuudelle ja heidän odotetaan olevan tulevaisuudessa aggressiivisempia ja innovatiivisempia. Tuotemerkkienomistajat ostavat pakkaukset ja pakkausmateriaalit normaalisti mieluiten jatkojalostajiensa kautta, mutta silti he toivovat yhteistyötä paperintoimittajien kanssa kunhan vain myös jatkojalostajat sisällytetään toimintaan mukaan.

Intercultural business communication between Arabs of the United Arab Emirates and Finns

Kun kauppaa käydään eri maanosien välillä, törmätään vieraisiin kulttuureihin ja erilaisiin kaupankäyntitapoihin. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy suomalaisten liikemiesten ja - naisten työhön Yhdistyneissä Arabiemiraateissa kulttuurierojen näkökulmasta. Tavoitteena on kuvata kulttuurierojen vaikutuksia kaupankäyntiprosessiin ja löytää niitä ongelmia, joita tämän prosessin aikana kohdataan. Tavoitteena on tuottaa tietoa, jonka avulla kulttuurieroista johtuvia ongelmia voidaan vähentää tulevaisuudessa. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen tausta perustuu Hofsteden kulttuurista vaihtelua kuvaaviin dimensioihin ja Ting Toomeyn kulttuurisen identiteetin neuvotteluprosessin malliin. Näihin malleihin perustuen luotiin tähän tutkimukseen oma kulttuurien välisen kohtaamisen malli. Tutkimusongelmia ovat: 1) Miten suomalaiset liikemiehet kuvailevat arabien kaupantekokulttuuria? Kuinka vastapuoli kuvailee omaa kaupantekokulttuuriaan? 2) Minkälainen on suomalaisten ja arabien välinen kaupankäyntiprosessi? 3) Minkälaisia ongelmia kohdataan tehtäessä kauppaa suomalaisten ja arabien kesken? Tutkimus on etnografinen, laadullinen haastattelututkimus (n=12). Haastattelut tehtiin suurimmaksi osaksi Yhdistyneissä Arabiemiraateissa, osin Suomessa. Erilainen kulttuuritausta näkyy kaupankäynnissä. Kollektivistinen, maskuliininen, islamilaisen uskontoon ja vain vähäisessä määrin suoraan kielelliseen koodistoon perustuva kulttuuri heijastuu kaupankäyntiprosessiin. Ystävyyden ja sukulaisten sekä muiden verkostojen merkitys korostuu. Ruumiin kieleen, ilmeisiin ja eleisiin liittyvä kommunikaatio on erilaista ja voi aiheuttaa väärinkäsityksiä. Myös aikakäsitys ja sopimuskäytäntö poikkeavat suomalaisesta. Kaikki nämä voivat aiheuttaa ongelmia kaupankäyntiprosessissa. Tärkeimmiksi tekijöiksi ongelmien kohtaamisessa nousivat ammattitaidon lisäksi kärsivällisyys ja joustavuus. Ongelmia voidaan vähentää huolellisella valmistautumisella ennen ulkomaille lähtöä. Toinen tapa on jatkuviin työkokemuksiin perustuen oppia paikallista kulttuuria ja sen piirteitä.

Localized prostate cancer in Norway, the United States, and Spain: between-country differences of variables before treatment among patients eligible for curative treatment

Between-country differences in medical and sociodemographic variables, and patient-related outcomes (PROs) before treatment might explain published variations of side effects after radical prostatecomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RAD) for prostate cancer (PCa). This hypothesis was tested among 1908 patients from the United States, Spain, and Norway. Significant between-country differences were observed for most factors investigated before treatment. The observations should be considered in comparison of the frequency and severity of internationally published studies. Background: In men with PCa, large variations of PROs after RP or high-dose RAD might be related to betweencountry differences of medical and sociodemographic variables, and differences in PROs before treatment in the sexual and urinary domains. Patients and Methods: In 1908 patients with localized PCa from Norway, the United States, or Spain, the relation between medical (prostate-specific antigen, Gleason score, cT-category) and sociodemographic variables (age, education, marital status) before treatment was investigated. Using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire, PROs before treatment within the sexual and urinary domains were also considered. Results: Compared with the European patients, American patients were younger, fewer had comorbid conditions, and more had a high education level. Fifty-three percent of the US men eligible for RP had low-risk tumors compared with 42% and 31% among the Norwegian and the Spanish patients, respectively. Among the Spanish RAD patients, 54% had had low-risk tumors compared with 34% of the American and 21% of the Norwegian men planned for RAD, respectively. Compared with the European patients, significantly fewer US patients reported moderate or severe sexual dysfunction and related problems. In most subgroups, the number of patients with sexual or urinary dysfunction exceeded that of patients with bother related to the reported dysfunction. Conclusion: Statistically significant between-country differences were observed in medical and sociodemographic variables, and in PROs before treatment within the sexual and urinary domains. Large differences between reported dysfunction and related problems within the sexual and urinary domains indicate that dysfunction and bother should be reported separately in addition to calculation of summary scores. The documented differences, not at least regarding PROs, might in part explain the large variation of side effects after treatment evident in the medical literature

Analysis of Earnings, Stock Prices and Bond Yields: The Fed Model Approach

Prediction of the stock market valuation is a common interest to all market participants. Theoretically sound market valuation can be achieved by discounting future earnings of equities to present. Competing valuation models seek to find variables that affect the equity market valuation in a way that the market valuation can be explained and also variables that could be used to predict market valuation. In this paper we test the contemporaneous relationship between stock prices, forward looking earnings and long-term government bond yields. We test this so-called Fed model in a long- and short-term time series analysis. In order to test the dynamics of the relationship, we use the cointegration framework. The data used in this study spans over four decades of various market conditions between 1964-2007, using data from United States. The empirical results of our analysis do not give support for the Fed model. We are able to show that the long-term government bonds do not play statistically significant role in this relationship. The effect of forward earnings yield on the stock market prices is significant and thus we suggest the use of standard valuation ratios when trying to predict the future paths of equity prices. Also, changes in the long-term government bond yields do not have significant short-term impact on stock prices.

The determinants of contractual choice for private involvement in infrastructure projects in the United States

Reliance on private partners to help provide infrastructure investment and service delivery is increasing in the United States. Numerous studies have examined the determinants of the degree of private participation in infrastructure projects as governed by contract type. We depart from this simple public/private dichotomy by examining a rich set of contractual arrangements. We utilize both municipal and state-level data on 472 projects of various types completed between 1985 and 2008. Our estimates indicate that infrastructure characteristics, particularly those that reflect stand alone versus network characteristics, are key factors influencing the extent of private participation. Fiscal variables, such as a jurisdiction’s relative debt level, and basic controls, such as population and locality of government, increase the degree of private participation, while a greater tax burden reduces private participation.