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Purpose – There is growing concern about the performance of public organizations (POs) in developing countries. Despite the fact that the advantages of innovation and learning orientation to organizations have been evidently documented in Western economies and private owned enterprises, there has been little research into these practices and their impact on enhancing competitive advantages in POs

We show, experimentally and theoretically, that swelling of both natural and refined clays has an anomalous temperature behavior depending on counterion valency. In an aqueous clay dispersion dominated by monovalent counterions the swelling pressure increases with temperature as expected from entropic arguments. In a clay with predominantly divalent counterions, the opposite behavior is found. The

An optically stimulated luminescence technique with a high-resolution sampling strategy, as well as a set of multiple proxies such as grain size distribution, shape, surface and microstructures of quartz grains, along with mineral composition of light and heavy fractions was used to investigate the age and origin of fan-like forms at the southern margin of Mazovian Lowland, Poland. The predominanc

Large ears enhance perception of echolocation and prey generated sounds in bats. However, external ears likely impair aerodynamic performance of bats compared to birds. But large ears may generate lift on their own, mitigating the negative effects. We studied flying brown long-eared bats, using high resolution, time resolved particle image velocimetry, to determine the aerodynamics of flying with

In this study, a rapid and sensitive ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPSFC-MS) method has been developed and partially validated for the separation of carotenoids within less than 6 min. Six columns of orthogonal selectivity were examined, and the best separation was obtained by using a 1-aminoanthracene (1-AA) column. The length of polyene chain as we

It is shown that the ternary system heavy water-heptane-hexadecyl hexaethylene oxide (C16E6) has a stable bicontinuous microemulsion phase down to an exceptionally low concentration at the balanced temperature of 26.8 °C. It is further demonstrated that the ambient gravitational field has an influence on the observed phase equilibria for typical sample sizes (∼1 cm). Direct measurements using a nu

Surface adsorption of Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL) - a widely used industrial biocatalyst - is studied experimentally and theoretically at different pH and salt concentrations. The maximum achievable surface coverage on a hydrophobic surface occurs around the protein isoelectric point and adsorption is reduced when either increasing or decreasing pH, indicating that electrostatic protein-p

We demonstrate non-intrusive, in situ detection of ammonia (NH3) in reactive hot gas flows at atmospheric pressure using mid-infrared degenerate four-wave mixing (IR-DFWM). IR-DFWM excitation scans were performed in the v2+v3 and v1+v2 vibrational bands of NH3 around 2.3μm for gas flow temperatures of 296, 550 and 820K. Simulations based on spectroscopic parameters from the HITRAN database have be

The purpose of this article is to explore corporate brand identity and reputation, with the aim of integrating them into a single managerial framework. The Nobel Prize serves as an in-depth field-based case study, and is analysed using the Corporate Brand Identity and Reputation Matrix (CBIRM), introduced here for the first time. Eight key reputation elements adapted from the literature and enrich

In the present work, the possibility of using photofragmentation laser-induced fluorescence (PFLIF) for thermometry in different reacting flows is investigated. Hydroxyl (OH) fragments are created by UV-laser (266nm) fragmentation of hydrogen peroxides (H2O2 and HO2), whereupon the fluorescence, induced while scanning the wavelength of a second laser across the A2σ+(v = 1)-X2Π(v = 0) absorption ba

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the heat transfer performance of aviation kerosene flowing in smooth and enhanced tubes with asymmetric fins at supercritical pressures and to reveal the effects of several key parameters, such as mass flow rate, heat flux, pressure and inlet temperature on the heat transfer. Design/methodology/approach - A CFD approach is taken and

Self-adaptive software systems monitor their operation and adapt when their requirements fail due to unexpected phenomena in their environment. This paper examines the case where the environment changes dynamically over time and the chosen adaptation has to take into account such changes. In control theory, this type of adaptation is known as Model Predictive Control and comes with a well-develope

The results of lichenological excursions of the 19th Symposium of Baltic Mycologists and Lichenologists (BMLS) in Latvia, Kurzeme region, 22–26 September 2014, are reported. A list of 290 species is presented, of which 238 are lichenized, 43 lichen-inhabiting, and nine saprotrophic fungi: ninety-one species are new to Latvia, twelve of which (Caloplaca duplicata, Cresporhaphis wienkampii, Ellisemb

When modeling the emission of light from nanostructures, we typically study either (1) blackbody radiation or (2) dipole emission. For effective analysis, it is important to know how results from these two types of modeling are related. Here, we use Kirchoff's reciprocity to study how interference affects the emissivity and number of emitted blackbody photons from a thin film for varying thickness

Hypothalamic pathology, metabolic dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms are part of Huntington disease (HD), which is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Inactivation of mutant HTT selectively in the hypothalamus prevents the development of metabolic dysfunction and depressive-like behavior in the BACHD mouse model. The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is implic

Photofragmentation laser-induced fluorescence (PFLIF) is for the first time performed based on picosecond laser pulses for detection of hydroperoxyl radicals (HO2) in a stoichiometric laminar methane/air flame. Photofragmentation is performed with a pump laser pulse of 80 ps duration and a wavelength of 266 nm, whereupon the produced OH photofragments are detected by a second picosecond probe lase

This work presents a Scheimpflug lidar system which was employed for atmospheric aerosol monitoring in southern Sweden. Atmospheric aerosol fluctuation was observed around rush-hour. The extinction coefficient over 6 km was retrieved, i.e., 0.15 km-1, by employing the slop-method during the time when the atmosphere was relatively homogenous. The measurements successfully demonstrate the potential

The thesis discusses the licensing system of the Creative Commons from the perspective of the theory of the commons mostly as formulated by Elinor Ostrom. The work starts by describing the concepts and theory of common pool resources and regime of the commons for production and distribution of these resources. The main characteristics for successful traditional commons – efficiency, equity and sus