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We investigate whether and how political diversity within corporate boards of directors and top management teams affect a firm’s environmental innovation performance. We employ personal political contributions’ data to measure political ideology distance among directors, and that within top management teams (TMTs). We predict that 1) political diversity (either board or TMTs) is positively associated with corporate environmental innovation; 2) firms’ environmental-related information disclosure mediates the effect of political diversity on environmental innovation; and 3) contextual factors (e.g., environmental partnership, product market competition, and state political diversity) moderate the effect of political diversity on environmental innovation. Taken together, we predict that our results lead us to conclude that political diversity in corporate boardrooms and TMTs is imperative for leadership effectiveness and corporate environmental innovation.

Otilonium bromide is a poorly absorbed oral medication used to control irritable bowel syndrome. It is thought to act as a muscle relaxant in the intestine. Here, we show that otilonium bromide has broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activity, including against multidrug-resistant strains. Our results suggest otilonium bromide acts on enteric pathogens and may offer a new scaffold for poorly absorbed intestinal antimicrobial therapy.

After implementation of the Real Plan in July 1994 by the Brazilian government, the industrial chicken was established in consumer preference causing change in their spending habits. This change was attributed in great part due to their affordability to the consumer. This article aims to analyze the price transmission elasticity of poultry in the state of São Paulo market and identify which market level focuses on the greatest power of pricing, either at the producer level, wholesale and retail. By studying São Paulo’s poultry market, we intend to provide information to support decision making by managers of the production chain. Furthermore, São Paulo is the largest poultry consumer market in the country. Therefore, it is used in the treatment of poultry price data at the producer level, wholesale and retail the econometric model of Vector Autoregressive (VAR). The results found by analyzing the variance decomposition of forecast errors demonstrate that the producer has a high power setting of prices of poultry in the São Paulo’s market, having direct influence on the formation of prices both at wholesale as well as retail.

The use of optical instrumentation in advanced nuclear fission systems, such as molten salt reactors, liquid metal-cooled reactors, and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, has the potential to enhance reactor safety and economic performance through in situ and online measurement of reactor conditions. Selection of suitable optical components, such as optical windows and fibers, is essential for operation of optical instrumentation in intense radioactive and thermal environments inherent to nuclear reactor systems. We present the development and performance of a self-contained and mobile post-irradiation examination system for rapid characterization of the optical properties of materials. The instrument combines linear absorption and nanosecond Z-scan modules in a compact, relocatable design. The system mobility allows for the evaluation of optical samples at the site of irradiation, minimizing the delay between extraction from the irradiation site and optical characterization. This provides nearly real-time information on the material performance under simultaneous irradiation and thermal annealing, simulating the relevant conditions for the use of those components in nuclear power systems.

In today’s networks, IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi is commonplace. While providing great ease of use and mobility, IEEE 802.11 also has many flaws. One of these is contention. Contention is the means that wireless stations compete to determine who gets to transmit. During the contention times, the medium is sitting idle. Idle time equates to wasted bandwidth. This research presents a novel technique to eliminate contention in a wireless network while actually increasing sustained throughput by the use of Direct Sequence Spread-Spectrum Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA).

Investigated the different stages involved in learning telegraphy. One S was tested each week on: (1) rate of receiving letters not making words, (2) rate of receiving letters making words, but not sentences, and (3) rate of receiving letters making words and sentences. Results indicate that a hierarchy of psycho-physical habits were required to receive the telegraphic language. From an early period, letter, word and higher habits made gains together, but not equally. No plateau appeared between the learning of letters and words; the first one occurred after the learning of words. Later, there was a second ascent, representing the acquisition of higher language habits. Effective speed was largely dependent upon the mastery of these habits, which led to greater accuracy in detail. Concluded that the rate of progress, depended partly on the rate of mental and nervous processes, but far more on how much was included in each process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)