What Makes Executives Trust Each Other? The Determinants of the Willingness to Rely on Trust in Business Partnerships

This paper is concerned with understanding and identifying factors that affect the willingness of business executives to rely on trust as a governance mechanism in the context of partnerships. An instrument was designed (a short business case study followed by a questionnaire) to collect data on how different executives react to the objective conditions of a business deal. Through the questionnaire, individual willingness to rely on trust, individual reaction to traditional types of trust, and sensitivity to other situations that evolve during the deal were measured. It is shown that willingness to rely on trust varies amongst executives and is not fully determined by the conditions of a deal. Furthermore, consistent with a psycho‐sociological approach to trust, it is also shown that demographic factors are related to propensity to rely on trust, and that across nationalities, the sensitivity to factors affecting trust such as partner interaction and external information differ.     

How Attitudes of Leaders May Enhance Organizational Creativity: Evidence from a Chinese Study

It has been argued that a key factor in the development of competitive advantage is the provision of an environment that encourages employees to be creative. Leaders play a crucial role in cultivating an environment that encourages subordinates to be creative. Based on a survey of 219 managers in privately owned enterprises in China, this study investigates how trust in subordinates in terms of their reliability and their loyalty to the leader is related to leaders encouraging subordinates to be creative. The findings reveal positive relationships between these two types of trust in subordinates and leaders encouraging subordinates to be creative. The findings also reveal that attitude to formalization moderated the relationship between trust in subordinates and encouraging them to be creative.     

Influence of lipase-catalyzed interesterification on the oxidative stability of melon seed oil triacylglycerols

Melon seeds are rich in oil. However, the stability of melon seed oil (MSO) is low because of its high content of the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid (18:2n-6). MSO was physically blended or enzymatically interesterified with higholeic sunflower oil (HOSO). The fatty acid composition of MSO was remarkably changed after interesterification. Palmitic (16:0), stearic (18:0), and oleic (18:1n-9) acid contents increased at the sn-2 position of triacylglycerols, whereas 18:2n-6 decreased due to interesterification. The oxidative stability of the physical and Pseudomonas sp. (PS30) lipase-interesterified blends was assessed with the Oxidative Stability Instrument, peroxide value, and conjugated diene methods. The stability of MSO increased with increased proportions of HOSO, which was the source of 18:1n-9 in the blends. The ratio of 18:1n-9/18:2n-6 improved from 0.18 in MSO to 1.47 in the enzymatically interesterified blend. Calculated oxidizability and the results of oxidation tests of the blends confirmed the improvement in MSO stability by both physical blending and enzymatic interesterification.     

Enzymatic modification of lipids for trans‐free margarine

Several studies have shown that high intake of trans fat is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases especially cardiovascular disease. The levels of trans fat in the American diet is of concern. Structured lipid is a lipid that has been modified from its native form either by biocatalysts or chemical catalysts. These modifications result in change in the triacylglycerol molecular species which further alters the physicochemical properties such as melting properties, solid fat content, and oxidative stability of lipids. The process allows the production of a wide range of functional and nutritional lipids that may meet consumer needs. Enzymatically synthesized structured lipids can be used as a substitute for conventional lipids in trans‐free margarine formulations. This article gives an overview of trans fatty acids and enzymatic modification of lipids for producing trans‐free margarine.     

Dynamic stiffness matrix of an axisymmetric shell and response to harmonic distributed loads

This paper describes a procedure for taking into account distributed loads in the dynamic stiffness matrix formulation, also known as the continuous element method. In that formulation, concentrated or linearly distributed loads are taken into account by considering the necessary number of elements in such a way that these loads are applied on element boundaries. As for distributed loads such as pressure and surface forces, they were not provided for in the formulation. The validation is achieved by comparison of accuracy and computational time of harmonic response calculations performed by the continuous element model and a finite element model.     

Solvent-Free Enzymatic Synthesis of 1-o-Galloylglycerol Optimized by the Taguchi Method

Gallic acid (GA) and its lipophilic forms, alkyl gallates, have been widely used in several industrial fields as antioxidants. However, the potential harmful effects of alkyl gallates, such as estrogenic effects, limit their application and raise safety concerns. The glycerol ester of GA, 1-o-galloylglycerol (GG), has not been reported to cause adverse health effects. Owing to the steric and electron-donating effects of GA, lipase-catalyzed synthesis of GG has not been successfully achieved. In this work, glycerol ester of GA, GG, was successfully synthesized for the first time by the enzymatic transesterification of glycerol and n-propyl gallate (PG). GG was synthesized with an immobilized and commercially available food-grade lipase (Lipozyme® 435) under solvent-free (no extra solvent) conditions at atmospheric pressure and nitrogen flow. The effects of the reaction conditions, including the reaction temperature, substrate molar ratio, reaction time, and enzyme load, were optimized using the Taguchi method and regression analysis. The structure of the product was elucidated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), electrospray ionization high-resolution accurate-mass tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-HRAM-MS/MS), and 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Under the optimal conditions, GG was synthesized in 67.1 ± 1.9% yield at 50°C, 25:1 (glycerol:PG) substrate molar ratio, 120 hours, and 23.8% enzyme load relative to the total weight of the substrates.     

Enzymatic Modification of Menhaden Oil to Incorporate Caprylic and/or Stearic Acid

Menhaden oil was enzymatically modified with caprylic (8:0) and/or stearic acid (18:0) to produce structured lipids (SL). The goal was to produce SL with high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), a low level of saturation, and a melting point of 25–35 °C. Substrate (menhaden oil to acyl donor) molar ratios were 1:1, 1:3, and 1:5 for 8:0, and 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 for 18:0. Enzyme load was 10% of the total weight of substrates. Time course study determined optimal time for maximum acyl donor incorporation. Linear interpolation estimated molar ratios that yielded SL with 20 or 30 mol% incorporation of 8:0 or 18:0. Enzymatic reactions were also conducted with molar ratios of menhaden oil to acyl donors:8:0:18:0 (1:1:3, 1:2:2, and 1:3:1). Lipases from Candida antarctica, Lipozyme® 435, and Rhizomucor miehei, Lipozyme® RM IM (Novozymes North America, Inc., Franklinton, NC, USA), were compared for all reactions. Total and sn-2 fatty acid compositions, triacylglycerol (TAG) molecular species, thermal behavior, volatile lipid oxidation products, solid fat contents, and oxidative stability were compared. When 8:0 was the acyl donor, the 1:3.03 and 1:4.58 ratios resulted in incorporation of 20 and 30 mol% 8:0, respectively. With 18:0 as the acyl donor, the 1:1.32 and 1:2.41 ratios led to incorporation of 20 and 30 mol% 18:0, respectively. The 1:3:1 ratio SL had a crystallization onset (C₀) of 15.3 °C and a melting completion (M_c) of 33.1 °C. The physicochemical properties of these SL suggest that some may be useful in formulating food products such as margarines and spreads.     

The effects of gaseous pretreatment and oxide sintering on oxidation of Ti-4.32 wt.%Nb alloy

Oxidation kinetics in either air or oxygen of prenitrided Ti-4.32 wt.% Nb alloy are investigated in the temperature range of 900–1200°C. Based on X-ray and electron microprobe analyses, thermogravimetric measurements, microhardness data, and sintering experiments, a quantitative oxidation model is developed to explain the gas-metal reactions. Temperature cycling experiments, in the temperature range of 900–1200°C and for a 12-hr duration, are performed in an attempt to reduce the oxidation rates of the alloy in air or oxygen. The oxidation resistance of nitrogen pretreated alloy is comparable to that in air and it is considerably higher than in oxygen alone.Presently on academic leave at Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaften, Stuttgart, Bundesrepublik Deutschland.     

Oxygen diffusion in alpha and beta titanium in the temperature range of 932° to 1142°C

An attempt is made to determine the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in α-Ti from oxidation studies of oxygen-unsaturated and oxygen-saturated β-Ti. Knowledge about the rates of movements of the α/β interface permits evaluation of oxygen diffusivity in α-Ti. The results conform to the relationship:D _α=0.778 exp (?48,600/RT), sq cm per sec, for the temperature range of 932° to 1142°C. From microhardness measurements, the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in β-Ti can be expressed as:D _β=3.30×10² exp (?58,800/RT), sq cm per soc, for the same temperature range.     

Viscosity of casting fluxes used during continuous casting of steel

Molten flux viscosity of eighteen commercially available casting fluxes has been measured as a function of temperature in the range of 1223 to 1723 K. Results show that, at a constant temperature, the flux viscosity is primarily dependent on the mole fractions of SiO₂ and A1₂O₃. The calculated activation energy for viscous flow at 1573 K varies from 59 to 215 kJ/mol depending on the flux viscosity and the flux basicity ratio. The observed “breakpoints” in the viscosity vs temperature plots are explained in terms of precipitation of crystalline phases. The tendency for crystal precipitation is related to the relative viscosity and the basicity of the flux. Using X-ray diffraction techniques the precipitating crystal phases have been identified. Metallographic structures of quenched and air-solidified casting fluxes are reported.