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This study shows that skilled-labor-intensive firms have lower dividend payouts. A one-standard-deviation increase in skilled labor intensity on average results in a 0.74 percentage point decline in the propensity to pay dividends and a 0.72 percentage point decrease in dividend payout ratio. Our evidence suggests that greater labor adjustment costs (LACs) of skilled labor increase future cash flow uncertainty, which discourages managers from paying dividends. Consistently, we find that an exogenous increase (decrease) in LACs following the shock of 2017 H-1B policy changes (the shock of 2005 Hurricane Katrina) leads treated firms to lower (heighten) their dividend payouts. Collectively, these findings indicate a strong dampening effect of LACs on corporate dividend payouts.

Historically, the ulnar artery has rarely been considered for arterial cannulation as it is less easily palpated than the radial artery. With the current routine use of ultrasound in pediatric patients, the ulnar is as accessible as the radial and could be viewed as an equivalent site for cannulation.The purpose of this study was to compare ulnar and radial artery suitability for arterial cannulation in pediatric patients using 2-dimensional ultrasound.We examined the ulnar and radial arteries of pediatric patients aged birth to 6 years who were scheduled to undergo general anesthesia. Following anesthesia induction, the investigators positioned the patient's wrist to 30-45 degrees of extension and obtained images of the ulnar and radial arteries in the transverse and longitudinal planes. Assessments of the arteries' anterior-posterior diameter, cross-sectional area and depth were made by visual inspection at the time of image acquisition and by electronic caliper measurement of recorded images.In 108 patients, mean anterior-posterior diameter of the ulnar artery was larger than the radial artery in the transverse view, longitudinal view, and cross-sectional area in 63.6%, 59.4%, and 60.4% of patients (p = .002, .004, and .006, respectively). Mean ulnar artery size was, on average, larger than the radial artery by 7.7%, 8.1%, and 12.9% in the transverse AP diameter, longitudinal AP diameter, and cross-sectional area (95% CI 3.1-12.4%; 3.2-13.0%; 4.4-21.5%). The investigator's visual evaluation of vessel size at the bedside showed substantial agreement with the measured cross-sectional area (linear-weighted kappa of 0.73). In a subset of 13 patients age24 months, the mean depth of the ulnar artery was 2.13 mm compared to 1.65 mm for the radial artery (difference -0.48 mm 95% CI 1.08-0.12).The ulnar artery was larger than the radial artery in 60% of pediatric patients thus may offer an arterial cannulation site advantage due to its larger size. The use of 2-dimensional ultrasound examination allows accurate assessment of upper extremity distal arteries in order to optimize site selection for arterial cannulation in pediatric patients.

Improving diet quality of preschool children is challenging in countries undergoing food environment and nutrition transition. However, few studies have sought to understand how mothers in these countries decide what and how to feed their children. This study aims to explore maternal experiences, perspectives and beliefs when making food choice decisions for preschool children in urban, peri-urban and rural areas in northern Vietnam. Two focus group discussions and 24 in-depth interviews were carried out and analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that mothers across the urban-rural spectrum shared the intention to feed children safe, nutritious food for better health and weight gain while satisfying child food preferences to improve appetite and eating enjoyment. These food choice intentions were embedded within family food traditions, whereby mothers emphasised nutritious food and adopted strict feeding styles during lunch and dinner but were flexible and accommodating of child preferences during breakfast and side meals. These intentions were also embedded within the physical food environment, which provided a mix of healthy and unhealthy food through informal food retailers. Despite these intentions, mothers faced financial constraints and difficulties in managing children's refusal to chew, changes in eating mood and strong eating temperament. These findings support policies to limit the presence of unhealthy food in informal food retail and encourage meal-specific feeding strategies to help children enjoy nutritious food, transition from soft to textured food and become more cooperative during mealtime.

Leaves of Combretum quadrangulare Kurz showed potent α-glucosidase inhibition. Two new cycloartane-type triterpenes, combretic acids D and E were isolated from the bioactive fraction. The chemical structures were determined using NMR and MS methods. Combretic acid D represents for the first cycloartane having a dihydrofuran ring in the side chain. Combretic acids D and E showed significant α-glucosidase inhibition, with IC

This paper is devoted to the study of flows associated to non-smooth vector fields. We prove the well-posedness of regular Lagrangian flows associated to vector fields $\mathbf{B}=(\mathbf{B}^1,...,\mathbf{B}^d)\in L^1(\mathbb{R}_+;L^1(\mathbb{R}^d)+L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^d))$ satisfying $ \mathbf{B}^i=\sum_{j=1}^{m}\mathbf{K}_j^i*b_j,$ $b_j\in L^1(\mathbb{R}_+,BV(\mathbb{R}^d))$ and $\operatorname{div}(\mathbf{B})\in L^1(\mathbb{R}_+;L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^d))$ for $d,m\geq 2$, where $(\mathbf{K}_j^i)_{i,j}$ are singular kernels in $\mathbb{R}^d$. Moreover, we also show that there exist an autonomous vector-field $\mathbf{B}\in L^1(\mathbb{R}^2)+L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^2)$ and singular kernels $(\mathbf{K}_j^i)_{i,j}$, singular Radon measures $\mu_{ijk}$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ satisfying $\partial_{x_k} \mathbf{B}^i=\sum_{j=1}^{m}\mathbf{K}_j^i\star\mu_{ijk}$ in distributional sense for some $m\geq 2$ and for $k,i=1,2$ such that regular Lagrangian flows associated to vector field $\mathbf{B}$ are not unique.

The bacterial domain produces numerous types of sphingolipids with various physiological functions. In the human microbiome, commensal and pathogenic bacteria use these lipids to modulate the host inflammatory system. Despite their growing importance, their biosynthetic pathway remains undefined since several key eukaryotic ceramide synthesis enzymes have no bacterial homolog. Here we used genomic and biochemical approaches to identify six proteins comprising the complete pathway for bacterial ceramide synthesis. Bioinformatic analyses revealed the widespread potential for bacterial ceramide synthesis leading to our discovery of a Gram-positive species that produces ceramides. Biochemical evidence demonstrated that the bacterial pathway operates in a different order from that in eukaryotes. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses support the hypothesis that the bacterial and eukaryotic ceramide pathways evolved independently.

International audience; Low-cycle fatigue testing of a lead-free solder (InnoLot) based on Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu (SAC387) with three simultaneous additions of bismuth, nickel and antimony was conducted using miniature-sized fatigue specimens at different temperatures and strain amplitudes. The experiments show a decline of the load capacity of the solder alloy with the number of loading cycles. The fatigue life of the solder is also decreased by the level of imposed temperature. The temperature-modified Coffin-Manson and Morrow models were used to analyse the behaviour under fatigue and predict lifetime. The parameters in the two fatigue models were determined by considering experiments at different temperatures and total strain amplitudes. In comparison with other reference lead-free solders, the InnoLot solder shows much better fatigue strength. The better fatigue strength is found to result from the effect of BiNiSb elements. Also, lifetime predictions were made with both models for the solder alloy under different conditions.

Research suggests that manufacturers increasingly innovate processes to meet customer's green requirements; however, little is known about the impact on performance and the contextual conditions, under which they are effective. Grounded on configuration approach, this study develops taxonomies of manufacturing firms based on the degree of customer's green orientation and process innovation. This study argues that performance differences between these clusters, highlight managerial implications for sustainable development. The empirical data used in this study were drawn from Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) survey project (with data collected from 629 manufacturing firms from nine countries). Our results show that customer green innovation taxonomies influence differently on environmental measures, costs, and financial performance. The study proposes three clusters: Process active, Green minimalist, and Green proactive. The main differences between manufacturers are based on the level of investments in joint green improvement initiatives and customer direct investments in green activities. Firms that belong to the Process active cluster, who are first within the industry to deploy new processes and update the latest process development, gained significant improvement in financial measures such as market share and profits. Whereas Green minimalist cluster lagged behind, Green proactive manufacturers aligned in both capabilities to experience higher payoffs in sustainable performance measures and efficiency. The findings provide a step‐by‐step decision‐making process and offer guidance for supply chain managers who have to stretch their needs to align the innovation processes to enhance their sustainable performance.