Early adoption of mobile devices : a social network perspective

As mobile devices have become the personal information-processing interface of choice, many individuals seem to swiftly follow fashion. Yet, the literature is silent on how early adopters of mobile devices overcome uncertainties related to shifts in technology. Based on purposive sampling, this paper presents detailed insights into why and how five closely related individuals made the decision to adopt the iPhone before it was available through traditional supply chains. Focusing on the role played by social networks, we analyze how adoption threshold, opinion leaders, social contagion, and social learning shaped adoption behaviors and outcomes. The analyses confirm that network structures impacted the early decision to accept the iPhone; they show that when facing uncertainty, adoption decisions emerged as a combined result of individual adoption reflections and major influences from the social network as well as behaviors observed within the network; and, they reveal interesting behaviors that differed from expectations. In conclusion, we discuss implications for both theory and practice.

Late maturers at a performance disadvantage to their more mature peers in junior Australian football

Children and adolescents mature at different rates such that individuals competing in the same competition may differ in physical and biological maturity despite being of similar chronological age. Whether or not differences translate into on-field performance in competition is relatively unknown. This study investigated the influence of biological maturity on fitness and match running performance in junior Australian football. Eighty-seven under-15 years players were categorised into early (n = 20), average (n = 45) and late (n = 22) maturity groups based on self-reported and anthropometric assessment of biological maturity. Running movements during competition were collected using GPS (5 Hz) technology. Early maturers were heavier and taller than all other boys (P < 0.05), while biological maturity was significantly correlated to 20 m sprint (r = 0.53, P < 0.01). Total distance, high-intensity (>14.4 km · h−1) running distance and number of high-intensity efforts were significantly greater (20.8%, 53.6%, 31.7%, respectively; P < 0.01) in early compared to late maturers. Number of sprints and peak speed in competition were not different. Pubertal development and maturity status partially explained the differences between players in physical size, functional running fitness and match running performance. Late maturing players in this Australian football under-15 age group were at a physical and performance disadvantage to their earlier maturing peers.

Analytical model to locate the fluidisation interface in a solid-gas vacuum fluidised bed

Vacuum fluidised beds have a distinct advantage of being operated with reduced mass consumption of the fluidising media. However, a low quality of fluidisation reduces the opportunity to utilise the bubbling regime in vacuum fluidised beds. Fluidisation maps are often used to depict the interface between the quiescent, bubbling and slugging regimes inside a fluidised bed. Such maps have been obtained by visual observations of the fluidisation interface in transparent fluidised beds. For beds which are visually inaccessible fluidisation maps are difficult to obtain. The present work therefore attempts to model the interface travel in a vacuum fluidised bed. The pressure gradient due to the bed weight has been determined to be a main contributor for fluidisation/defluidisation under vacuum. A simple analytical model based on the pressure gradient (PG model) is developed to predict the interface location in a vacuum fluidised bed. For a segregated bed, the Gibilaro-Rowe (GR) model is modified and used to predict the jetsam layer growth along with the fluidisation interface. The predictions are compared with the experimental data for minimally and highly segregated particles and it is seen that for non-segregated powders the predictions are quite accurate. Lack of sufficient knowledge of bubble characteristics, however, impeded accurate prediction of the jetsam growth especially at high flow rates. However, an approximate complete fluidisation interface is successfully predicted using the GR-PG model. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Early-developmental stress, repeatability, and canalization in a suite of physiological and behavioral traits in female zebra finches

Adaptive developmental plasticity allows individuals experiencing poor environmental conditions in early life to adjust their life-history strategy in order to prioritize short-term fitness benefits and maximize reproductive output in challenging environments. Much research has been conducted to test whether such adoption of a "faster" life-history strategy is accompanied by concordant changes in behavior and physiology, with mixed results. As research in this field has focused on comparison of mean-level responses of treatment groups, few studies include repeated measures of response variables and the effect that developmental stress may have on repeatability per se. We investigated how early-developmental stress affects the mean expression of (and repeatability in) a variety of behavioral and physiological traits in female zebra finches. We predicted that: (1) individuals subjected to nutritional restriction in the nestling phase would have higher feeding and activity rates, with associated increases in hematocrit and basal metabolic rates (BMRs), (2) nutritional restriction in early life would alter adults' stress-induced corticosterone level, and (3) developmental stress would, respectively, influence the amount of among-individual and within-individual variation in behavioral and physiological traits, hence affecting the repeatability of these traits. In comparison to control females, stressed females did not differ in activity rate or stress-induced corticosterone level, but they did have higher levels of feeding, hematocrit, and BMR. Among-individual variance and repeatability were generally higher in stressed females than in controls. Finally, we found that developmental dietary restriction significantly reduced the amount of within-individual variance both in activity rate in the novel environment and in stress-induced corticosterone level. Our results not only confirm previous findings on the effect of early-developmental stress on BMR, but also extend its effect to feeding rate and hematocrit, suggesting that developmental plasticity in these traits is ontogenetically linked. Early-developmental stress may disable particular genetic canalizing processes, which would release cryptic genetic variation and explain why repeatability and among-individual variance were generally higher in the stressed groups than in controls. For activity rate in the novel environment and with stress-induced corticosterone level, however, early-developmental stress significantly reduced within-individual variance, which may be a consequence of increased canalization of these traits at the micro-environmental level.

Associations between early adrenarche, affective brain function and mental health in children

Early timing of adrenarche, associated with relatively high levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in children, has been associated with mental health and behavioral problems. However, little is known about effects of adreneracheal timing on brain function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of early adrenarche (defined by high DHEA levels independent of age) on affective brain function and symptoms of psychopathology in late childhood (N = 83, 43 females, M age 9.53 years, s.d. 0.34 years). Results showed that higher DHEA levels were associated with decreased affect-related brain activity (i) in the mid-cingulate cortex in the whole sample, and (ii) in a number of cortical and subcortical regions in female but not male children. Higher DHEA levels were also associated with increased externalizing symptoms in females, an association that was partly mediated by posterior insula activation to happy facial expressions. These results suggest that timing of adrenarche is an important moderator of affect-related brain function, and that this may be one mechanism linking early adrenarche to psychopathology.

Malthus to Solow

A unified growth theory is developed that accounts for the roughly constant living standards displayed by world economies prior to 1800 as well as the growing living standards exhibited by modem industrial economies. Our theory also explains the industrial revolution, which is the transition from an era when per capita incomes are stagnant to one with sustained growth. This transition is inevitable given positive rates oftotal factor productivity growth. We use a standard growth mode1 with one good and two available techno10gies. The first, denoted the "Malthus" technology, requires 1and, labor and reproducible capital as inputs. The second, denoted the "Solow" technology, does not require land. We show that in the earIy stages of development, only the Malthus technology is used and, due to population growth, living standards are stagnant despite technological progresso Eventually, technological progress causes the Solow technology to become profitable and both technologies are employed. At this point, living standards improve since population growth has less influence on per capita income growth. In the limit, the economy behaves like a standard Solow growth model.

Signal transduction-related responses to phytohormones and environmental challenges in sugarcane

Background: Sugarcane is an increasingly economically and environmentally important C4 grass, used for the production of sugar and bioethanol, a low-carbon emission fuel. Sugarcane originated from crosses of Saccharum species and is noted for its unique capacity to accumulate high amounts of sucrose in its stems. Environmental stresses limit enormously sugarcane productivity worldwide. To investigate transcriptome changes in response to environmental inputs that alter yield we used cDNA microarrays to profile expression of 1,545 genes in plants submitted to drought, phosphate starvation, herbivory and N-2-fixing endophytic bacteria. We also investigated the response to phytohormones (abscisic acid and methyl jasmonate). The arrayed elements correspond mostly to genes involved in signal transduction, hormone biosynthesis, transcription factors, novel genes and genes corresponding to unknown proteins.Results: Adopting an outliers searching method 179 genes with strikingly different expression levels were identified as differentially expressed in at least one of the treatments analysed. Self Organizing Maps were used to cluster the expression profiles of 695 genes that showed a highly correlated expression pattern among replicates. The expression data for 22 genes was evaluated for 36 experimental data points by quantitative RT-PCR indicating a validation rate of 80.5% using three biological experimental replicates. The SUCAST Database was created that provides public access to the data described in this work, linked to tissue expression profiling and the SUCAST gene category and sequence analysis. The SUCAST database also includes a categorization of the sugarcane kinome based on a phylogenetic grouping that included 182 undefined kinases.Conclusion: An extensive study on the sugarcane transcriptome was performed. Sugarcane genes responsive to phytohormones and to challenges sugarcane commonly deals with in the field were identified. Additionally, the protein kinases were annotated based on a phylogenetic approach. The experimental design and statistical analysis applied proved robust to unravel genes associated with a diverse array of conditions attributing novel functions to previously unknown or undefined genes. The data consolidated in the SUCAST database resource can guide further studies and be useful for the development of improved sugarcane varieties.

Fission track and U-Pb in situ dating applied to detrital zircon from the Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation, Bauru Group, Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

From Amazonia to the Atlantic forest: Molecular phylogeny of Phyzelaphryninae frogs reveals unexpected diversity and a striking biogeographic pattern emphasizing conservation challenges

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Peak Separation by Derivative Spectroscopy Applied to FTIR Analysis of Hydrolized Silica

Reliable spectral analysis is only achieved if the spectrum is thoroughly investigated in regard to all hidden and overlapped peaks. This paper describes the steps undertaken to find and separate such peaks in the range of 3000 to 4000 cm(-1) in the case of three different infrared absorption spectra of the glass surface of hydrolyzed silica optical fibers. Peak finding was done by the analysis of the second and fourth derivatives of the digital data, coupled with the available knowledge of infrared spectroscopy of silica-water interaction in the investigated range. Peak separation was accomplished by curve fitting with four different models. The model with the best fit was described by a sum of pure Gaussian peaks. Shoulder limit and detection limit maps were used to validate the revealed spectral features.

RH maps of bovine chromosomes 15 and 29: conservation of human chromosomes 11 and 5

Comparative mapping data on evolutionary conserved coding sequences and synteny maps between human and cattle are insufficient to define the extent and distribution of conserved segments between these two species, because the order of loci is often rearranged. A 5000-rad cattle whole-genome radiation hybrid (WG-RH) panel was constructed to provide high-resolution comparative maps and also to integrate linkage maps of microsatellites with evolutionary conserved genes and transcripts in a single ordered map. We used the WG-RH panel to construct radiation hybrid maps of bovine Chromosomes (Chrs) 15 and 29 (BTA15 and BTA29), integrating microsatellites from published linkage maps with selected genes. The comprehensive map of BTA15 consists of 24 markers. 13 of which were placed in the framework map. Eleven molecular markers compose the comprehensive map of BTA29. seven of which were placed in the framework map. We identified the homologous regions between bovine Chr 15 (BTA15) and human Chrs 5 and 11 (HSA5 and HSA11), as well as between BTA29 and HSA11, the present study demonstrates that WG-RH mapping is an efficient method for integrating multiple genetic maps into one map and for incorporating monomorphic Type I loci into ordered maps for comparison between species.

Técnicas de modelagem 3D aplicadas a dados paleobatimétricos das bacias de Santos e Campos e à simulação deformacional de objetos geológicos

Pós-graduação em Geologia Regional - IGCE

O cálculo e a invenção na poética de Stockhausen

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

O relevo e o sistema de afastamento e tratamento de esgoto da cidade de Marília-SP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Notas de testemunho e recalque: uma experiência musical dos traumas sociais brasileiros em Chico Buarque e Paulinho da Viola (de meados da década de 1960 a meados da década de 1970)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)