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ABSTRACTThe network approach to internationalization of firms has been the research focus of many international business scholars. Firms are increasingly involved in international business ventures and arguably need to learn to adapt to the idiosyncratic milieus of foreign markets. This paper proposes a conceptual model suggesting that integration in industrial networks strengthens corporate competitiveness in international markets. Network membership provides access to knowledge and a wider array of physical, technical, reputational and financial resources that facilitate adaptation to the various dimensions – economic, political, legal, cultural – of international business environments. Membership in social and business networks is likely to ease internationalization by reducing the psychic distance perceived by firms.RESUMOA perspectiva da teoria de redes sobre a internacionalização das empresas foi escolhida por diversos autores de negócios internacionais para sua pesquisa. As empresas estão cada vez mais envolvidas em operações internacionais e precisam aprender a se adaptar aos meios idiossincráticos que encontram nos mercados internacionais. Este artigo propõe um modelo conceptual que sugere que a integração em redes industriais aumenta a competitividade nos mercados internacionais. A integração em uma rede permite aceder a conhecimento e a um conjunto alargado de recursos físicos, técnicos, financeiros e de reputação que facilitam a adaptação às várias dimensões – econômica, política, legal, cultural – dos ambientes internacionais de negócios. A integração em redes sociais e de negócios pode facilitar a internacionalização ao reduzir a distância psíquica percebida das empresas.RESUMENLa aproximación de la red hacia la internacionalización de las empresas ha sido el eje de la investigación de muchos académicos de negocios internacionales. Las empresas están cada vez más involucradas en los esfuerzos de negociación internacional y puede decirse que necesitan aprender a adaptarse a idiosincrasias del medio que encuentran en los mercados extranjeros. Este artículo propone un modelo conceptual que estipula que la integración en las redes industriales refuerza la competitividad corporativa en los mercados internacionales. Ser miembro de una red proporciona acceso al conocimiento y a una serie más amplia de recursos físicos, técnicos, de reputación y financieros que facilitan la adaptación en sus diferentes dimensiones - económica, política, legal, cultural - del entorno internacional de los negocios. Es probable que la pertenencia como miembro a las redes sociales y de negocios facilite la internacionalización a través de la reducción de la distancia psíquica percibida por las empresas.

Flexor profundus is a mass action muscle so that when we fully extend one finger including full extension of the distal joint the entire muscle is pulled distally.By fully flexing the injured or operated finger at the metacarpophalangeal joint and fully extending the adjacent fingers, flexor digitorum profundus of the operated finger is made so redundant as to abolish all tension at the suture line.The position of the operated finger: metacarpophalangeal joint flexion with interphalangeal joint extension is ideal for the preservation of joint mobility and therefore ideal for the restoration of movement when the repaired flexor tendon is mobilized.It is permissible to splint a healthy finger in full extension for three weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The propagation of a pollutant emitted from localized sources both within and above a regular street network is studied by analyzing data from direct numerical simulations of passive scalar dispersion. Two wind directions are considered, corresponding to aligned and oblique flow with respect to the street axes. Particular attention is paid to the role of entrainment of the scalar into the urban canopy from an elevated source and re-entrainment of material originally released further upstream from a ground source. The variation of concentration differences and vertical fluxes between the streets and the air above as a function of distance reveals important differences between the rate of lateral and vertical mixing for the two sources. Detrainment and entrainment need a longer fetch to equilibrate for the elevated source than for the ground source. There are large differences between the advection and detrainment velocities for the aligned and oblique cases, so that a change in wind direction could affect ventilation efficiency considerably. Time scales associated with different dispersion processes are computed and the time of first appearance of the scalar from the onset of release in different streets is mapped. It is shown that re-entrainment can provide a shortcut dispersion pathway for reaching certain parts of the network. This is particularly striking in the case of oblique flow, when material can be transferred by entrainment up to twice as rapidly as by advection. Taken together, these results highlight the overall message that vertical exchange is a two-way process and that entrainment needs to be considered in the context of emergency response as well as urban ventilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an experimental and numerical study on the structural safety of an old buried water reservoir built in the second half of the nineteenth century. The main goal of the study was to assess the feasibility of changing the reservoir roof from a garden with limited access to an outdoor exhibition or concert area, with an increase in service loads. The reservoir comprises a set of cylindrical vaults, built with rubble masonry and lime mortar, supported by a set of stone masonry arches and columns. Because no original design elements exist, the following methodology was followed: (1) a structural survey was first carried out for geometrical and material identification and for assessment of anomalies; (2) core samples were extracted from the vaulted roof to characterize the material properties of the rubble masonry and lime mortar; (3) a three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite element (FE) model of the structure was developed and used for structural safety verification; and (4) an in-situ static load test was carried out, in which the roof was subjected to a uniformly distributed load for assessment of its structural response and to validate the results from the numerical model. Overall, this study showed that the vaulted roof of the water reservoir has sufficient load capacity for its future use. Moreover, this work illustrates the application of a comprehensive methodology to assess the structural safety of a historical and very particular type of construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel multi-microfluidic crystallization platform called MMicroCryGen is presented, offering a facile methodology for generating individual crystals for fast and easy screening of the polymorphism and crystal habit of solid compounds. The MMicroCryGen device is capable of performing 8 × 10 cooling crystallization experiments in parallel using 8 disposable microcapillary film strips, each requiring less than 25 μL of solution. Compared to traditional microfluidic systems, the MMicroCryGen platform does not require complex fluid handling; it can be directly integrated with a 96-well microplate and it can also work in a “dipstick” mode. The produced crystals can be safely and directly observed inside the capillaries by optical and spectroscopic techniques. The platform was validated by performing a number of independent experimental runs for: (1) polymorph and hydrate screening of ortho-aminobenzoic acid, succinic acid and piroxicam; (2) co-crystal form screening of the p-toluenesulfonamide/triphenylphosphine oxide system; (3) studying the effect of o-toluic acid on ortho-aminobenzoic cooling crystallization (effect of structurally related additives). In all three cases, all known solid forms were identified with a single experiment using ∼200 μL of solvent and just a few micrograms of the solid material. The MMicroCryGen is simple to use, inexpensive and it provides increased flexibility compared to traditional crystallization techniques, being an effective new microfluidic solution for solid form screening in pharmaceutical, fine chemicals, food and agrochemical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to study the turbulent flow structures near a gas–liquid interface with negligible surface deformation and its effects on mass transfer of gaseous compounds. Turbulence was modeled using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique with dynamical subgrid scale modeling. The fluids were considered Newtonian, incompressible and isothermal. The mathematical model was validated using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data from literature. Numerical simulations were performed for Reynolds number (based on the friction velocity) equal to 150, 640 and 1280 and Schmidt numbers equal to 1, 200 and 580 allowing for specific investigation of the effects of these governing parameters on the mass transfer phenomenon. Qualitative analysis of surface divergent, instantaneous scalar concentration and fluctuation of scalar concentration showed the existence of turbulent structures influencing on mass transfer near the free surface. The coherent turbulent structures have an almost longitudinal aspect for the lowest Reynolds number investigated, with counter-rotative vortices that act on the formation of vertical upward and downward movements close to the interface. An increase in the Reynolds number is mainly associated with a reduction of the diffusive sublayer thickness due to the increase of scalar concentration mixing in the bulk region. An increase in the Reynolds number also promotes changes in the turbulent structures next to the liquid–gas interface. The mass transfer coefficient in the liquid phase showed a maximum value for R e = 1280 and S c = 1 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skatole and androstenone are the two main compounds responsible for the foul odour in entire male pigs' meat, known as boar taint. This study evaluated the effect of feed supplementation with inulin on the boar taint levels of 30 entire male pigs. Two months before slaughter, the animals were allocated into three groups (n = 10). The control group received a standard commercial diet. The other groups were fed the same commercial diet with 3% and 6% added inulin, respectively. Results showed that inulin addition to the feed significantly reduced skatole levels in the pigs' adipose tissue compared with the control group. The levels of androstenone were not affected by the dietary approach. Although there were differences in some parameters, the supplementation with inulin did not promote extensive changes in the meat quality parameters between the tested groups. When raising entire males, supplementation with inulin in finishing diets could be considered to reduce the boar taint perception by the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundLittle is known about the mental health of partners of survivors of high levels of trauma in post-conflict countries.MethodWe studied 677 spouse dyads (n = 1354) drawn from a community survey (response 82.4%) in post-conflict Timor-Leste. We used culturally adapted measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological distress, explosive anger and grief.ResultsLatent class analysis identified three classes of couples: class 1, comprising women with higher trauma events (TEs), men with intermediate TEs (19%); class 2, including men with higher TEs, women with lower TEs (23%); and class 3, comprising couples in which men and women had lower TE exposure (58%) (the reference group). Men and women partners of survivors of higher TE exposure (classes 1 and 2) had increased symptoms of explosive anger and grief compared with the reference class (class 3). Women partners of survivors of higher TE exposure (class 2) had a 20-fold increased rate of PTSD symptoms compared with the reference class, a pattern that was not evident for men living with women exposed to higher levels of trauma (class 1).ConclusionsMen and women living with survivors of higher levels of trauma showed an increase in symptoms of grief and explosive anger. The manifold higher rate of PTSD symptoms amongst women living with men exposed to high levels of trauma requires replication. It is important to assess the mental health of partners when treating survivors of high levels of trauma in post-conflict settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Adult separation anxiety (ASA) symptoms are prevalent amongst young women in low and middle-income countries and symptoms may be common in pregnancy. No studies have focused on defining distinctive patterns of ASA symptoms amongst pregnant women in these settings or possible associations with trauma exposure and ongoing stressors.Methods: In a consecutive sample of 1672 women attending antenatal clinics in Dili, Timor-Leste (96% response), we assessed traumatic events of conflict, ongoing adversity, intimate partner violence (IPV), ASA, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe psychological distress. Latent Class Analysis was used to identify classes of women based on their distinctive profiles of ASA symptoms, comparisons then being made with key covariates including trauma domains of conflict, intimate partner violence (IPV) and ongoing stressors.Results: LCA yielded three classes, comprising a core ASA (4%), a limited ASA (25%) and a low symptom class (61%). The core ASA class reported exposure to multiple traumatic losses and IPV and showed a pattern of comorbidity with PTSD; the limited ASA class predominantly reported exposure to ongoing stressors and was comorbid with severe psychological distress; the low symptom class reported relatively low levels of exposure to trauma and stressors.Limitations: The study is cross-sectional, cautioning against inferring causal inferences.Conclusions: The core ASA group may be in need of immediate intervention given the high rate of exposure to IPV amongst this class. A larger number of women experiencing a limited array of non-specific ASA symptoms may need assistance to address the immediate stressors of pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]