Connections between concepts revealed by the electronic structure of carbon monoxide

Different models for the electronic structure of carbon monoxide are suggested in influential textbooks. Therefore, this electronic structure offers an interesting subject in teaching because it can be used as an example to relate seemingly conflicting concepts. Understanding the connections between ostensibly different methods and between different concepts, related or conflicting, is important in academic studies. The related reactivities of CO, O2, and N-2 and the notations of molecular orbitals are topics of interest and are discussed in detail.

Proceedings of the inaugural construction management and economics ‘Past, Present and Future’ conference CME25, 16-18 July 2007, University of Reading, UK

This conference was an unusual and interesting event. Celebrating 25 years of Construction Management and Economics provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the research that has been reported over the years, to consider where we are now, and to think about the future of academic research in this area. Hence the sub-title of this conference: “past, present and future”. Looking through these papers, some things are clear. First, the range of topics considered interesting has expanded hugely since the journal was first published. Second, the research methods are also more diverse. Third, the involvement of wider groups of stakeholder is evident. There is a danger that this might lead to dilution of the field. But my instinct has always been to argue against the notion that Construction Management and Economics represents a discipline, as such. Granted, there are plenty of university departments around the world that would justify the idea of a discipline. But the vast majority of academic departments who contribute to the life of this journal carry different names to this. Indeed, the range and breadth of methodological approaches to the research reported in Construction Management and Economics indicates that there are several different academic disciplines being brought to bear on the construction sector. Some papers are based on economics, some on psychology and others on operational research, sociology, law, statistics, information technology, and so on. This is why I maintain that construction management is not an academic discipline, but a field of study to which a range of academic disciplines are applied. This may be why it is so interesting to be involved in this journal. The problems to which the papers are applied develop and grow. But the broad topics of the earliest papers in the journal are still relevant today. What has changed a lot is our interpretation of the problems that confront the construction sector all over the world, and the methodological approaches to resolving them. There is a constant difficulty in dealing with topics as inherently practical as these. While the demands of the academic world are driven by the need for the rigorous application of sound methods, the demands of the practical world are quite different. It can be difficult to meet the needs of both sets of stakeholders at the same time. However, increasing numbers of postgraduate courses in our area result in larger numbers of practitioners with a deeper appreciation of what research is all about, and how to interpret and apply the lessons from research. It also seems that there are contributions coming not just from construction-related university departments, but also from departments with identifiable methodological traditions of their own. I like to think that our authors can publish in journals beyond the construction-related areas, to disseminate their theoretical insights into other disciplines, and to contribute to the strength of this journal by citing our articles in more mono-disciplinary journals. This would contribute to the future of the journal in a very strong and developmental way. The greatest danger we face is in excessive self-citation, i.e. referring only to sources within the CM&E literature or, worse, referring only to other articles in the same journal. The only way to ensure a strong and influential position for journals and university departments like ours is to be sure that our work is informing other academic disciplines. This is what I would see as the future, our logical next step. If, as a community of researchers, we are not producing papers that challenge and inform the fundamentals of research methods and analytical processes, then no matter how practically relevant our output is to the industry, it will remain derivative and secondary, based on the methodological insights of others. The balancing act between methodological rigour and practical relevance is a difficult one, but not, of course, a balance that has to be struck in every single paper.

Differentiating core and co-opted mechanisms in calculation: The neuroimaging of calculation in aphasia

The role of language in exact calculation is the subject of debate. Some behavioral and functional neuroimaging investigations of healthy participants suggest that calculation requires language resources. However, there are also reports of individuals with severe aphasic language impairment who retain calculation ability. One possibility in resolving these discordant findings is that the neural basis of calculation has undergone significant reorganization in aphasic calculators. Using fMRI, we examined brain activations associated with exact addition and subtraction in two patients with severe agrammatic aphasia and retained calculation ability. Behavior and brain activations during two-digit addition and subtraction were compared to those of a group of 11 healthy, age-matched controls. Behavioral results confirmed that both patients retained calculation ability. Imaging findings revealed individual differences in processing, but also a similar activation pattern across patients and controls in bilateral parietal cortices. Patients differed from controls in small areas of increased activation in peri-lesional regions, a shift from left fronto-temporal activation to the contralateral region, and increased activations in bilateral superior parietal regions. Our results suggest that bilateral parietal cortex represents the core of the calculation network and, while healthy controls may recruit language resources to support calculation, these mechanisms are not mandatory in adult cognition.

The mysterious presence of a 5-methylcytosine oxidase in the Drosophila genome: Possible explanations

5-methylcytosine is an important epigenetic modification involved in gene control in vertebrates and many other complex living organisms. Its presence in Drosophila has been a matter of debate and recent bisulfite sequencing studies of early-stage fly embryos have concluded that the genome of Drosophila is essentially unmethylated. However, as we outline here, the Drosophila genome harbors a well-conserved homolog of the TET protein family. The mammalian orthologs TET1/2/3 are known to convert 5-methylcytosine into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. We discuss several possible explanations for these seemingly contradictory findings. One possibility is that the 2 modified cytosine bases are generated in Drosophila only at certain developmental stages and in a cell type-specific manner during neurogenesis. Alternatively, Drosophila Tet and its mammalian homologs may carry out catalytic activity-independent functions, and the possibility that these proteins may oxidize 5-methylcytosine in RNA created by the methyltransferase Dnmt2 should also be strongly considered.

Anisotropy of magnetoviscous effect in structure-forming ferrofluids

The magnetoviscous effect, change in viscosity with change in magnetic field strength, and the anisotropy of magnetoviscous effect, change in viscosity with orientation of magnetic field, have been a focus of interest since four decades. A satisfactory understanding of the microscopic origin of anisotropy of magnetoviscous effect in magnetic fluids is still a matter of debate and a field of intense research. Here, we present an extensive simulation study to understand the relation between the anisotropy of magnetoviscous effect and the underlying change in micro-structures of ferrofluids. Our results indicate that field-induced chain-like structures respond very differently depending on their orientation relative to the direction of an externally applied shear flow, which leads to a pronounced anisotropy of viscosity. In this work, we focus on three exemplary values of dipolar interaction strengths which correspond to weak, intermediate and strong interactions between dipolar colloidal particles. We compare our simulation results with an experimental study on cobalt-based ferrofluids as well as with an existing theoretical model called the chain model. A non-monotonic behaviour in the anisotropy of magnetoviscous effect is observed with increasing dipolar interaction strength and is explained in terms of micro-structure formation.

Experimental philosophy of language

Experimental philosophy of language uses experimental methods developed in the cognitive sciences to investigate topics of interest to philosophers of language. This article describes the methodological background for the development of experimental approaches to topics in philosophy of language, distinguishes negative and positive projects in experimental philosophy of language, and evaluates experimental work on the reference of proper names and natural kind terms. The reliability of expert judgments vs. the judgments of ordinary speakers, the role that ambiguity plays in influencing responses to experiments, and the reliability of meta-linguistic judgments are also assessed.

Palaeomagnetism, rock magnetism and AMS of the Cabo Magmatic Province, NE Brazil, and the opening of South Atlantic

P>Reconstruction of the South Atlantic opening has long been a matter of debate and several models have been proposed. One problem in tracing properly the Atlantic history arises from the existence of a long interval without geomagnetic reversals, the Cretaceous Normal Superchron, for which ages are difficult to assign. Palaeomagnetism may help in addressing this issue if high-quality palaeomagnetic poles are available for the two drifting continental blocks, and if precise absolute ages are available. In this work we have investigated the Cabo Magmatic Province, northeastern Brazil, recently dated at 102 +/- 1 Ma (zircon fission tracks, Ar39/Ar40). All volcanic and plutonic rocks showed stable thermal and AF demagnetization patterns, and exhibit primary magnetic signatures. AMS data also support a primary origin for the magnetic fabric and is interpreted to be contemporaneous of the rock formation. The obtained pole is located at 335.9 degrees E/87.9 degrees S (N = 24; A(95) = 2.5; K = 138) and satisfies modern quality criteria, resulting in a reference pole for South America at similar to 100 Ma. This new pole also gives an insight to test and discuss the kinematic models currently proposed for the South Atlantic opening during mid-Cretaceous.

Effects of electric fields on ultracold Rydberg atom interactions

The behaviour of interacting ultracold Rydberg atoms in both constant electric fields and laser fields is important for designing experiments and constructing realistic models of them. In this paper, we briefly review our prior work and present new results on how electric fields affect interacting ultracold Rydberg atoms. Specifically, we address the topics of constant background electric fields on Rydberg atom pair excitation and laser-induced Stark shifts on pair excitation.

Network genealogy of 195-bp satellite DNA supports the superimposed hybridization hypothesis of Trypanosoma cruzi evolutionary pattern

Trypanosoma cruzi is highly diverse genetically and has been partitioned into six discrete typing units (DTUs), recently re-named T. cruzi I-VI. Although T. cruzi reproduces predominantly by binary division, accumulating evidence indicates that particular DTUs are the result of hybridization events. Two major scenarios for the origin of the hybrid lineages have been proposed. It is accepted widely that the most heterozygous TcV and TcVI DTUs are the result of genetic exchange between TcII and TcIII strains. On the other hand, the participation of a TcI parental in the current genome structure of these hybrid strains is a matter of debate. Here, sequences of the T. cruzi-specific 195-bp satellite DNA of TcI, TcII, Tat, TcV, and TcVI strains have been used for inferring network genealogies. The resulting genealogy showed a high degree of reticulation, which is consistent with more than one event of hybridization between the Tc DTUs. The data also strongly suggest that Tat is a hybrid with two distinct sets of satellite sequences, and that genetic exchange between TcI and TcII parentals occurred within the pedigree of the TcV and TcVI DTUs. Although satellite DNAs belong to the fast-evolving portion of eukaryotic genomes, in >100 satellite units of nine T. cruzi strains we found regions that display 100% identity. No DTU-specific consensus motifs were identified, inferring species-wide conservation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

La confrontation de la laideur avec la beauté dans lesromans Mercure et Attentat. Une étude sur lareprésentation de la dualité thématique laideur-beautéchez Amélie Nothomb. : "Where there is Quasimodo, there is also Esmeralda." The confrontationbetween ugliness and beauty in the novels Mercure and Attentat. Astudy on the representation of the duality beauty-ugliness in the worksof Amélie Nothomb.

This paper studies one of the recurrent topics of writing found in Amélie Nothomb’snovels: beauty and ugliness. The novels Mercure and Attentat are analyzed in detail,with respect to figures of speech used to describe the extreme physical appearance ofthe protagonists and the role of the duality beauty-ugliness in the advancement of theplot.

The world of the Sumerian mother goddess : an interpretation of her myths

The present study is an interpretation of the two myths copied in the Old Babylonian period in which the Sumerian mother goddess is one of the main actors. The first myth is commonly called “Enki and Ninḫursaĝa”, and the second “Enki and Ninmaḫ”. The theoretical point of departure is that myths have society as their referents, i.e. they are “talking about” society, and that this is done in an ideological way. This study aims at investigating on the one hand which contexts in the Mesopotamian society each section of the myths refers to, and on the other hand which ideological aspects that the myths express in terms of power relations. The myths are contextualized in relation to their historical and social setting. If the myth for example deals with working men, male work in the area during the relevant period is discussed. The same method of contextualization is used regarding marriage, geographical points of reference and so on. Also constellations of mythical ideas are contextualized, through comparison with similar constellations in other Mesopotamian myths. Besides the method of contextualization, the power relations in the myths are investigated. According to this latter method, the categories at issue, their ranking, as well as their changed ranking, are noted. The topics of the myths are issues important for the kingship and the country, such as irrigation, trade, health and healing, birth, collective work, artisanry and rivalry. All these aspects are used in order to express what the power relations between the goddess Ninḫursaĝa/Ninmaḫ and the god Enki look like. The relations are negotiated and recalibrated, which leads to the goddess getting a lowered status. Part of the negotiations and recalibrations is gender behavior, which is related to historical developments in society. The present work points to the function of these myths as tools of recalibrating not only deities, but also men and women in society.

Brazil and the USA: rethinking the future of ethanol for stronger mutual wns

A produção de etanol e a dominação da indústria, historicamente, tem sido uma fonte de discórdia para seus dois principais produtores. Os EUA com seu etanol de milho e o Brasil com sua etanol de cana, são os dois maiores produtores mundiais de etanol (1º EUA; 2º Brasil) e tem competido pela participação de mercado mundial há décadas. A partir de Dezembro de 2011, os EUA levantaram as tarifas e os subsídios que foram instalados para proteger sua indústria de etanol, o que muda o campo de jogo da produção mundial de etanol para o futuro. Atualmente em todo o mundo, o etanol é usado em uma proporção muito menor comparativamente a outros combustíveis. Esta pesquisa analisa o nível potencial de colaboração entre os EUA e o Brasil, facilitando um diálogo entre os stakeholders em etanol. A pesquisa consiste principalmente de conversas e entrevistas, com base em um conjunto de perguntas destinadas a inspirar conversas detalhadas e expansivas sobre os temas de relações Brasil-EUA e etanol. Esta pesquisa mostra que o etanol celulósico, que é também conhecido como etanol de segunda geração, oferece mais oportunidades de parceria entre os EUA e o Brasil, como há mais oportunidades para pesquisa e desenvolvimento em conjunto e transferência de tecnologia nesta área. Enquanto o etanol de cana no Brasil ainda é uma indústria próspera e crescente, o milho e a cana são muito diferentes geneticamente para aplicar as mesmas inovações exatas de um etanol de primeira geração, por outro. As semelhanças entre os processos de fermentação e destilação entre as matérias-primas utilizadas nos EUA e no Brasil para o etanol de segunda geração torna o investimento conjunto nesta área mais sensível. De segunda geração é uma resposta para a questão "alimentos versus combustíveis". Esta pesquisa aplica o modelo de co-opetição como um quadro de parceria entre os EUA e o Brasil em etanol celulósico. A pesquisa mostra que enquanto o etanol pode não ser um forte concorrente com o petróleo no futuro imediato, ele tem melhores perspectivas de ser desenvolvido como um complemento ao petróleo, em vez de um substituto. Como os EUA e o Brasil tem culturas de misturar etanol com petróleo, algo da estrutura para isso já está em vigor, a relação de complementaridade seria fortalecido através de uma política de governo clara e de longo prazo. A pesquisa sugere que apenas através desta colaboração, com toda a partilha de conhecimentos técnicos e estratégias econômicas e de desenvolvimento, o etanol celulósico será um commodity negociado mundialmente e uma alternativa viável a outros combustíveis. As entrevistas com os interessados em que esta pesquisa se baseia foram feitas ao longo de 2012. Como a indústria de etanol é muito dinâmica, certos eventos podem ter ocorrido desde esse tempo para modificar ou melhorar alguns dos argumentos apresentados.

Temporal causality between the exchange rate and the trade balance : the case of Brazil

The paper assesses the impact of intemational relative prices and domestic expenditure variables on Brazil' s foreign trade performance in the first half of the 1990s. It has been argued that the appreciation of the Real since 1994 has had a detrimental impact of the country's trade balance. However, using temporal precedence analysis, our results do not indicate that the trade balance is strongly affected by intemational rei ative prices, such as the exchange rate. Instead, domestic expenditure variables appear to be more powerful determinant of the country' s trade performance in recent years. Granger and error correction causality techniques are used to determine temporal precedence between the trade balance and the exchange rate in the period under examination. Our findings shed light on the debate over the sustainability of recent exchange rate-anchored macroeconomic stabilisation programmes, which is a topic that has encouraged a lot of debate among academics and practitioners.

Exploring different social media users from the millennials’ generation: a cross-cultural behavioral analysis of brazilian users of Facebook and chinese users of RenRen

With the increasing importance of digital communication and its distinct characteristics, marketing tools and strategies adopted by companies have changed dramatically. Among the many digital marketing tools and new media channels available for marketers, the phenomenon known as social media is one of the most complex and enigmatic. It has a range that still is quite unexplored and deeply transforms the present view on the promotion mix (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Conversations among users on social media directly affect their perceptions on products, services and brands. But more than that, a wide range of other subjects can also become topics of conversations on social media. Hit songs, sporting events, celebrity news and even natural disasters and politics are topics that often become viral on the web. Thus, companies must grasp that, and in order to become more interesting and relevant, they must take part in these conversations inserting their brands in these online dynamic dialogues. This paper focuses on how these social interactions are manifested in the web in to two distinct cultures, Brazil and China. By understanding the similarities and differences of these cultures, this study helps firms to better adjust its marketing efforts across regions, targeting and positioning themselves, not only geographically and culturally, but also across different web platforms (Facebook and RenRen). By examining how companies should focus their efforts according to each segment in social media, firms can also maximize its results in communication and mitigate risks. The findings suggest that differences in cultural dimensions in these two countries directly affect their virtual social networking behavior in many dimensions (Identity, Presence, Relationships, Reputation, Groups, Conversations and Sharing). Accordingly, marketing efforts must be tailored to each comportment and expectations.

Comparison and analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of the top five companies ranked on the 2013 CSR RepTrak

In the 1970s, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was discussed by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman in his article “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” (Friedman, 1970). His view on CSR was contemptuous as he referred to it as “hypocritical window-dressing” a reflection of the view of Corporate America on CSR back then. For a long time short-term maximization of shareholder value was the only maxim for top management across industries and companies. Over the last decade, CSR has become a more important and relevant factor of a company’s reputation, shifting the discussion from whether CSR is necessary to how best CSR commitments should be done (Smith, 2003). Inevitably, companies do have an environmental, social and economic impact, thereby imposing social costs on current and future generations. In 2013, 50 of the world biggest companies have been responsible for 73 percent of the total carbon dioxide (CO2) emission (Global 500 Climate Change Report 2013). Post et al. (2002) refer to these social costs as a company’s need to retain its “license to operate”. In the late 1990s, CSR reporting was nearly unknown, which drastically changed during the last decade. Allen White, co-founder of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), said that CSR reporting”… has evolved from the extraordinary to the exceptional to the expected” (Confino, 2013). In confirmation of this, virtually all of the world’s largest 250 companies report on CSR (93%) and reporting by now appears to be business standard (KPMG, 2013). CSR reports are a medium for transparency which may lead to an improved company reputation (Noked, 2013; Thorne et al, 2008; Wilburn and Wilburn, 2013). In addition, it may be used as part of an ongoing shareholder relations campaign, which may prevent shareholders from submitting Environmental and Social (E&S)1 proposals (Noked, 2013), based on an Ernst & Young report 1 The top five E&S proposal topic areas in 2013 were: 1. Political spending/ lobbying; 2. Environmental sustainability; 3. Corporate diversity/ EEO; 4.Labor/ human rights and 5. Animal testing/ animal welfare. Three groups of environmental sustainability proposal topics of sub-category number two (environmental sustainability) 6 2013, representing the largest category of shareholder proposals submitted. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) even goes as far as to claim that CSR reports are “…becoming critical to a company’s credibility, transparency and endurance.” (PwC, 2013).