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Dental fear and anxiety are highly prevalent among children and have been shown to lead to irregular use of dental services. Previous research has suggested that while touch can alleviate the patient's stress and help in accomplishing dental procedures, it can also be a source of stress or used to restrain the patient. In this study, we explore the emergence and intertwine of controlling and comforting touch in pediatric dental clinic settings in which patients show signs of resistance, distress, or fear. We use microanalysis of video-recorded interactions to unveil how the adults in the room—any combination of the dentist, dental assistant, hygienist, and caregiver(s)—deploy various types of touch on the child patient to perform the dental procedure while simultaneously comforting the child. Our data set covers video-recordings of naturally occurring dental clinic visits of 3- to 12-year-old child patients from four cultural contexts: Finland, China, Iraq, and the United States. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty's writings on intercorporeality and the interaffectivity of bodies, the study proposes that touch in pediatric dentistry unfolds as complex intercorporeal formations where the interaffectivity emerges not only through touch but also via vocal resonance. In contrast to clear boundaries between comforting and controlling touch, our analysis indicates that the line between comforting and controlling touch can be blurred. We suggest that touching a pediatric patient showing resistance toward a dental procedure requires careful affective attention to the patient's subtle and moment-by-moment bodily expressions and reactions to the touch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on institutional theory, we examine how the institutional logics—taken-for granted norms, structures, and practices—of different types of funding partners influence young firms and their search for innovations. We test our hypotheses in a longitudinal study of a complete population of ventures in the minimally invasive surgical device industry in the U.S., supplemented by interviews with industry informants. We find that types of funding partners vary significantly from one another: they all provide resources, but their institutional logics differ. Venture capitalists (VCs) pick young firms with significant patented technologies and help firms launch products, and high-status VCs strengthen both the patenting and product innovations of young firms. Corporate venture capitalists and government agencies also select patent-intensive firms but are less effective than VCs in helping ventures during the relationship because, though these partners often have impressive technical and commercial resources for innovation, their institutional logics constrain how effectively young firms can access their resources. Relative to other types of funding partners, VCs have a closer advisor relationship with the venture; greater power, influence, and access to resources; better-paced and more-motivating milestones; and better understanding of the commercialization process. Our results extend the institutional logics literature to interorganizational relationships and suggest that the choice among types of funding partners may have unanticipated effects on firms’ innovation beyond the financial resources gained through the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the emergence of resources. Our analysis of technological capability acquisition by global U.S.-based chemical firms shows that the emergence of resources is inherently evolutionary We find that path-creating search that generates resource heterogeneity is a response to idiosyncratic situations faced by firms in their local searches. Two such idiosyncratic situations--technology exhaustion and expansion beyond national markets--trigger firms in our sample to create unique innovation search paths. We also find that along a given path firms experiment in order to find the correct investment--in fact, some organizations seem to take a step backward for two steps forward--further demonstrating the evolutionary nature of the resource creation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on several aspects of executive compensation for tax-exempt entities after tax reform in the U.S. It mentions that tax-exempt entities needs to be mindful of deferred compensation requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the U.S. Internal Revenue Code when designing executive compensation plans.

Background: Pseudomonas fluorescens is a common inhabitant of soil and the rhizosphere environment. In addition to potential applications in biocontrol and bioremediation, P. fluorescens is of interest as a model for studying bacterial survival and fitness in soil. A previous study using in vivo expression technology (IVET) identified 22 genes in P. fluorescens Pf0-1 which are up-regulated during growth in Massachusetts loam soil, a subset of which are important for fitness in soil. Despite this and other information on adaptation to soil, downstream applications such as biocontrol or bioremediation in diverse soils remain underdeveloped. We undertook an IVET screen to identify Pf0-1 genes induced during growth in arid Nevada desert soil, to expand our understanding of growth in soil environments, and examine whether Pf0-1 uses general or soil type-specific mechanisms for success in soil environments. Results: Twenty six genes were identified. Consistent with previous studies, these genes cluster in metabolism, information storage/processing, regulation, and 'hypothetical', but there was no overlap with Pf0-1 genes induced during growth in loam soil. Mutation of both a putative glutamine synthetase gene (Pfl01_2143) and a gene predicted to specify a component of a type VI secretion system (Pfl01_5595) resulted in a decline in arid soil persistence. When examined in sterile loam soil, mutation of Pfl01_5595 had no discernible impact. In contrast, the Pfl01_2143 mutant was not impaired in persistence in sterile soil, but showed a significant reduction in competitive fitness. Conclusions: These data support the conclusion that numerous genes are specifically important for survival and fitness in natural environments, and will only be identified using in vivo approaches. Furthermore, we suggest that a subset of soil-induced genes is generally important in different soils, while others may contribute to success in specific types of soil. The importance of glutamine synthetase highlights a critical role for nitrogen metabolism in soil fitness. The implication of Type 6 secretion underscores the importance of microbial interactions in natural environments. Understanding the general and soil-specific genes will greatly improve the persistence of designed biocontrol and bioremediation strains within the target environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]