Materials and methods Patients (n = 16) with septic shock had IDO activity assessed (expressed as the ratio of Kyn to Trp) and the severity of their hypotension determined (expressed by inotrope requirement) during the course of illness. Normal and blood pressure-matched controls were also studied. Septic shock was induced in wild type and IDO-/mice, and the effect of 1-methyl-tryptophan (1 MT,...

Dynamic competitive settings may create psychological pressure when feedback about the performance of competitors is provided before the end of the competition. Such psychological pressure could produce a first-mover advantage, despite a priori equal winning probabilities. Using data from a randomized natural experiment – penalty shootouts in soccer – we re-examine evidence by Apesteguia and Pa...

This study surveys the perceptions and experiences of Australian smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the adoption of Internet-based Electronic Commerce (EC). This paper proposes a framework of EC adoption for SMEs. With a sample of 115 small businesses in Australia, preliminary results show that respondents’ perception of Internet-based EC are pre-dominantly positive. However, a further...

Migratory birds are assumed to be under stronger sexual selection pressure than sedentary populations, and the fact that their song is more complex has been taken as confirmation of this fact. However, this assumes that sexual selection pressure due to both male competition and female choice increase together. A further issue is that, in many species, songs become less complex during competitiv...

Importing Equality? The Impact of Globalization on Gender Discrimination While researchers have long held that discrimination cannot endure in an increasingly competitive environment, there has been little work testing this dynamic process. This paper tests the hypothesis (based on Becker 1957) that increased competition resulting from globalization in the 1980s forced employers to reduce costl...

the sum of their parts and nothing more. Although executives have become more sophisticated in their understanding of what it takes to achieve competitive advantage at the level of individual businesses, when it comes to creating corporate advantage across multiple businesses, the news is far less encouraging. True, corporate executives face mounting pressure from their boards and from capital ...

The tremendous success of tablets and smart phones such as the iPAD, iPHONE and Android-based devices presents both challenges and opportunities for the growing number of portable device makers. This market is highly competitive, and to capture the attention of consumers and grow market share, portable device makers must push the envelope with constant innovation. Designers and manufacturers ar...

This exploratory study examines the relationship between cardiometabolic risk factors (blood pressure, waist circumference, BMI, and total cholesterol) and cognitive/academic performance. In this study, 1297 Taiwanese tenth-grade volunteers are recruited. Scores from the Basic Competency Test, an annual national competitive entrance examination, are used to evaluate academic performance. Cognit...