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This paper studies the digital transformation process of one of Russia’s largest freight forwarding companies that was met with resistance from its middle management which put the entire change process in jeopardy. With the move to a digital platform business, the middle management had to follow enterprise-wide rules imposed by the underlying information system. Preferred treatment of hauliers as established by regional managers were no longer possible and it was this loss of autonomy that stood at the core of resistance among the firm’s middle management. The practice of such extra organizational networks is described in Russian bz the term ‘blat’. The blat originated during the Soviet Union and described a system of personal favors that ensured the functioning of society in times of scarcity. The paper describes eight instances of middle managers’ resistance who resisted the organisational change. Data was collected through interviews and document studies. We describe the circumstances that triggered resistance behaviour of each middle manager through their own words, the viewpoint of project managers and the company’s top management. Our findings describe how individual resistance was overcome and – in many instances – converted into support for the change agenda. The original value of our paper is that the company overcame the resistance and successfully implemented its change agenda and entered a period of economic growth. Although the change process had to overcome many obstacles, the result proved economically very successful. Today, the company is one of the top transportation firms in Russia.

Relational models theory provides an alternative framework to study group and intergroup processes. One of four models people use to constitute groups is communal sharing (CS). Ethnographic and experimental evidence suggests that CS is produced by concrete and symbolic enactments of connections between bodies (cuddling, touching, synchronicity, commensality). We tested the effect of commensality on CS and ingroup favouritism in four Experiments with 3-person groups (total n = 330) and found that commensality enhances emergent group communal sharing but does not enhance ingroup favouritism. In Experiment 1, sharing food enhanced ingroup communal sharing but in Experiment 2 this effect was not significant. In Experiments 3 and 4, sharing water enhanced communal sharing, but only when served from the same bottle, implying consubstantial assimilation. Ingroup favouritism was not enhanced by commensality in any experiment, even when explicitly presented as exclusively ingroup (Experiment 2), suggesting non-comparative group formation through ingroup commensality.

PurposeThis paper aims to report on a design intervention at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) control room which resulted from a user-centred design approach intended to raise its usability.Design/methodology/approachAdapting a user-centred design approach, the observations and interviews revealed a number of weaknesses of the current control room design.FindingsWhile most suggestions would require larger restructuring, the designers intervened with simple solutions resulting in the improved handling of many pieces of hardware. This study suggests that such design interventions hold the possibility to majorly improve the efficiency of the control room and thereby raise the potential outcome of such highly capital intense installations.Originality/valueThereby, this paper has immediate relevance to the astronomical field and the corresponding advancements in electronics, engineering and technology development.

Older adults present with a complex array of medical disorders that present with or worsen comorbid psychiatric disorders. Additionally the treatment of these disorders can result in or worsen the comorbid psychiatric disorders. Poor clinical awareness, lack of assessment tools specifically designed for use among older adults, and the confusion in presentation of these medical disorders can result in under- or misdiagnosis of these conditions. Early diagnosis and prompt interventions can minimize the adverse outcomes from these medical disorders and improve the quality of life of older adults.

Catechins are flavonoids with suggested health benefits, but are unstable during storage, processing and, after ingestion, during gut transit. We hypothesized that catechin glucosides, which occur in various plants, could be more stable than unsubstituted catechin, and additionally be deglucosylated in the gut and so act to deliver catechin in a form able to be absorbed. (+)-Catechin O-glucosides from various sources have been used in the course of this investigation. (+)-Catechin 3'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (C3'G), (+)-catechin 5-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (C5G), and (+)-catechin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (C3G) were chemically synthesized. (+)-Catechin 4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (C4'G) and (+)-catechin 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (C7G) were prepared enzymically using preparations from lentil and barley. In general, but with some exceptions, the (+)-catechin glucosides were more stable between pH 4 and 8 than (+)-catechin, with C3'G exhibiting greatest stability. The intestinal metabolism of (+)-catechin and all (+)-catechin glucosides in the gut was determined by perfusion of rat intestine in vivo. C3'G and C5G were extensively deglycosylated in the gut, and C3'G showed greatest apparent "absorption" as calculated by the difference between effluent and influent. The results show the potential of catechin glucosides, especially C3'G, as more stable prescursors of catechin.

Pemberton, Kelly. Women Mystics and Sufi Shrines in India. 233 pp. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2010.

This article intends to investigate the role played by different kinds of birds in the narrative scheme of the mediaeval love romance (premākhyān or mathnawī), a literary genre used by Indian Sufi poets aimed at conveying an esoteric message through the allegorical language of war and love. Although the principal actors of these poems are human, the functional role played by different animals such as birds (e.g. parrot, peacock, red-finch etc.) appears both as symbolically illustrative and intrinsically didactic. Works such as the Padmāvat of Malik Muhammad Jayasi and the Madhumālatī of Sayyid Manjhan Rajgiri are credited with successfully charging the adopted imagery and figurative language of their native Indian environment with the sophisticated teachings of Islamic esotericism (Sufism). The role of birds emerging from these works will be illustrated by and compared against their description in the literary productions of the Deccan where the mathnawi, an important literary genre imported from Persia, featured as one of the predominant expressions of early Urdu literature. The aim of the investigation is to show how through the channel of animal characters, the cross-cultural symbiosis operated in the Indo-Islamic environment appears through the language of symbolism that demonstrates the potential of unification inherent in the realm of imagination.

Chicoric acid (ChA) and caftaric acid (CafA) were identified as bioactive components of chicory and have been ascribed a number of health benefits. This study investigated the hydrolysis of ChA and CafA with enzymes and a probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus johnsonii (La1). Esterase from Aspergillus japonicus (24 U/mg) hydrolyzed 100% of ChA (5 mM) and CafA (5 mM) after 3 h, at pH 7.0 and 37 °C. Under the same reaction conditions, 100% hydrolysis of ChA and CafA was achieved with a spray-dried preparation of La1. The addition of La1 (100 mg/mL, 3.3 E9 cfu/g) to CafA solution in a gastrointestinal model (GI model) resulted in 65% hydrolysis of CafA. This model simulates the physicochemical conditions of the human gastrointestinal tract. No hydrolysis of CafA was observed after passage through the GI model in the absence of La1. The results of this study support the hypothesis that ChA and CafA are degraded by gut microflora before absorption and metabolization.

Rosmarinic acid (RA) was identified as one of the main components of rosemary extracts and has been ascribed to a number of health benefits. Several studies suggested that after ingestion, RA is metabolized by gut microflora into caffeic acid and derivatives. However, only limited information on the microorganisms and enzymes involved in this biotransformation is available. In this study, we investigated the hydrolysis of RA from rosemary extract with enzymes and a probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC 533. Chlorogenate esterase from Aspergillus japonicus (0.02 U/mg) hydrolyzed 90% of RA (5 mg/mL) after 2 h at pH 7.0 and 40 degrees C. Complete hydrolysis of RA (5 mg/mL) was achieved with a preparation of L. johnsonii (25 mg/mL, 3.3 E9 cfu/g) after 2 h of incubation at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C. No hydrolysis of RA was observed after the passage of rosemary extract through the gastrointestinal tract model (GI model). Thus, RA is hydrolyzed neither chemically under the conditions of the GI model (temperature, pH, and bile salts) nor by secreted enzymatic activity (lipase and pancreatic enzymes). The addition of L. johnsonii cells to rosemary extract in the GI model resulted in substantial hydrolysis of RA (up to 99%).

In the present study, we use a model gastro-intestinal system to study the influence of different food-grade surface-active molecules (Sn-2 monopalmitin, beta-lactoglobulin, or lysophosphatodylcholine) on lipase activity. The interfacial activity of lipase and surfactants are assessed with the pendant drop technique, a commonly used tensiometry instrument. A mathematical model is adopted which enables quantitative determination of the composition of the water-oil interface as a function of bulk surfactant concentration in the water-oil mixtures. Our results show a decrease in gastric lipolysis when interfacially active molecules are incorporated into a food matrix. However, only the Sn-2 monopalmitin caused a systematic decrease in triglyceride hydrolysis throughout the gastro-intestinal tract. This effect is most likely due to exclusion of both lipase and triglyceride from the water-oil interface together with a probable saturation of the solubilization capacity of bile with monoglycerides. Addition of beta-lactoglobulin or lysophopholipids increased the hydrolysis of fat after the gastric phase. These results can be attributed to an increasing interfacial area with lipase and substrate present at the interface. Otherwise, beta-lactoglobulin, or lysophopholipids reduced fat hydrolysis in the stomach. From the mathematical modeling of the interface composition, we can conclude that Sn-2 monopalmitin can desorb lipase from the interface, which, together with exclusion of substrate from the interface, explains the gradually decreased triglyceride hydrolysis that occurs during the digestion. Our results provide a biophysics approach on lipolysis that can bring new insights into the problem of fat uptake.

Well preserved late Cretaceous (Maestrichtian) nannoplankton assemblages from high southern and mid-latitudes were investigated to delineate paleoenvironmental conditions in the marine photic zone prior to the Cretaceous/ Paleocene boundary. A pronounced turnover from early to late Maestrichtian occurred in high southern latitudes with about one third of the early Maestrichtian nannoplankton species becoming extinct around the early/late Maestrichtian boundary (-72.4-70.4 Ma). These extinctions are not a consequence of temperature decrease alone but also of increased surface water fertility. Another third of all species disappeared from high southern latitudes during the same time interval but persisted until the end of the Maestrichtian at lower latitudes. This is by the isotopic record. Abundance increases of certain high latitude taxa (e.g. Nephrolithus frequens, Cribrosphaerella? daniae, Kamptnerius magnificus, and Gartnerago spp.) in the Southern Ocean correlate roughly with decreasing temperature while abundance changes of others (e.g. Ahmuellerella octoradiata) do not, indicating that latitudinal biogeographic patterns do not necessarily reflect temperature differences. During the last 500 ky of the Maestrichtian high abundance fluctuations occurred in a few taxa in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans. However, no such fluctuations seem to have occurred during the same time in the Indian Ocean. There is no evidence for gradual or stepwise extinctions of nannoplankton during the late Maestrichtian.

We resolve an open question raised by Feige & Scheideler by showing that the best known approximation algorithm for flow shops is essentially tight with respect to the used lower bound on the optimal makespan. We also obtain a nearly tight hardness result for the general version of flow shops, where jobs are not required to be processed on each machine. Similar results hold true when the objective is to minimize the sum of completion times.