Collective institutional work: the case of Airbnb in Amsterdam,London and New York

ABSTRACT

Given that online platforms disrupt established industries and challenge existing institutions, they can only be successful if their innovation becomes both legal and legitimate. This requires ‘institutional work’ that changes perceptions and regulations within society. Rather than only focussing on the online platform as the sole agent engaging in institutional work, our study analyses institutional work as a collective process. We investigate the case of home-sharing platform Airbnb and the process of institutional change its introduction prompted regarding short-term rental in Amsterdam, London and New York. We find, contrary to the popular view of online platforms as disruptive entrepreneurs, that the platform mainly focusses on creating new institutions rather than disrupting existing ones, and that users and non-users undertake most of the institutional work activities. We also show that different types of actors carry out different types of institutional work suggesting that the process of institutional work is highly distributed.     

Color preferences for different topics in connection to personal characteristics

Studies on color preferences are dependent on the topic and the relationships with personal characteristics, particularly personality, but these are seldom studied in one population. Therefore a questionnaire was collected from 1095 Dutch people asking for color preferences about different topics and relating them to personal characteristics. Color preferences regarding different topics show different patterns and significant differences were found between gender, age, education and personality such as being technical, being emotional or being a team player. Also, different colors were mentioned when asked for colors that stimulate to be quiet, energetic, and able to focus or creative. Probably, due to unconsciousness of contexts, many people had no color preference, a result that in the literature seldom is mentioned. Blue was the overall favorite color; however, most males chose for blue (25%) while most females had no color preference (18%). Black was the overall favorite color for clothing, mainly chosen by females (40%), while males primarily chose blue (27%). For building interiors subjects preferred white. For moods, subjects preferred white for being quiet or being able to focus, red for being energetic and had no color preference for being creative. It is concluded that color preferences are dependent upon the topic, and personal characteristics. The findings are important for architects, interior designers, fashion designers and product designers to have a basic idea of preferred colors for different objects by different types of people. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 62–71, 2015     

Sustainable biocarbon as an alternative of traditional fillers for poly(butylene terephthalate)-based composites: Thermo-oxidative aging and durability

Sustainable biocomposites have gained considerable interest as an alternative to conventional composites in recent years due to their cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance and durability behavior of biocomposites from sustainable biocarbon (BC) as compared to conventional established fillers. The poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and its composites reinforced with BC, talc, and glass fiber (GF) were prepared and the durability performances was investigated. The study showed that BC/PBT biocomposites provided a lighter weight alternative to traditionally used fillers. After undergoes thermo-oxidative aging, the mechanical properties of BC/PBT biocomposite were deteriorated. The GF/PBT showed the most stable in retaining its mechanical properties in comparison to the talc/PBT and BC/PBT. The aging behavior and mechanism of the PBT composites were discussed. This study provides further insight on the durability-related properties progression of biocomposites as compared to traditional used fillers. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47722.     

A dual-mode bandpass filter with enhanced capacitive perturbation

A dual-mode ring bandpass filter with two pairs of capacitors has been designed. The capacitors are used to control the location of the even- and odd-mode frequencies independently, allowing weak coupling for narrow-band filter design with realizable capacitance values. Theoretical expressions have been derived for these frequencies. A 4% bandwidth bandpass filter centered at 1.9 GHz was designed and tested with good agreement between theoretical and measured results.     

CD46 (membrane cofactor protein of complement, measles virus receptor): structural and functional divergence among species (review)

OBJECT: In this retrospective study, the authors analyzed the frequency, anatomical distribution, and appearance of traumatic brain lesions in 42 patients in a posttraumatic persistent vegetative state. METHODS: Cerebral magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used to detect the number of lesions, which ranged from as few as five to as many as 19, with a mean of 11 lesions. In all 42 cases there was evidence on MR imaging of diffuse axonal injury, and injury to the corpus callosum was detected in all patients. The second most common area of diffuse axonal injury involved the dorsolateral aspect of the rostral brainstem (74% of patients). In addition, 65% of these patients exhibited white matter injury in the corona radiata and the frontal and temporal lobes. Lesions to the basal ganglia or thalamus were seen in 52% and 40% of patients, respectively. Magnetic resonance imaging showed some evidence of cortical contusion in 48% of patients in this study; the frontal and temporal lobes were most frequently involved. Injury to the parahippocampal gyrus was detected in 45% of patients; in this subgroup there was an 80% incidence of contralateral peduncular lesions in the midbrain. The most common pattern of injury (74% in this series) was the combination of focal lesions of the corpus callosum and the dorsolateral brainstem. In patients with no evidence of diffuse axonal injury in the upper brainstem (26% in this series), callosal lesions were most often associated with basal ganglia lesions. Lesions of the corona radiata and lobar white matter were equally distributed in patients with or without dorsolateral brainstem injury. Moreover, cortical contusions and thalamic, parahippocampal, and cerebral peduncular lesions were also similarly distributed in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that diffuse axonal injury may be the major form of primary brain damage in the posttraumatic persistent vegetative state. In addition, the authors demonstrated in this study that MR imaging, in conjunction with a precise clinical correlation, may provide useful supportive information for the accurate diagnosis of a persistent vegetative state after traumatic brain injury.     

Ice-slurry production using direct contact heat transfer

An ice slurry generation system was developed using direct contact heat transfer between water and the coolant, Fluroinert FC-84. The location of the coolant nozzle is an important design consideration to avoid clogging due to freezing of water. An ice fraction of up to about 40 percent was obtained with the nozzle located at the bottom of the ice slurry tank and the jet directed upwards into the water. Two simplified model were developed to extract the heat transfer coefficient between the coolant drops and the water. The first model requires as input the average drop diameter and the residence time while the second model uses the measured drop diameter distribution. The estimated heat transfer coefficients are much smaller than those computed using single-sphere correlations.     

Renal gunshot wounds: methods of salvage and reconstruction

Over the past 14 years, 2079 patients have been seen at our institution with renal trauma. Of these, 84 sustained gunshot wounds (81 unilateral, 3 bilateral; a total of 87 renal units). We evaluated this group to characterize the nature of their injuries and establish a methodology for renal salvage and reconstruction. Preoperative radiographic staging was performed with excretory urography (IVP) or computed tomographic (CT) scanning. The injuries were classified into five categories: 16 contusions (18.4%), 12 minor lacerations (13.8%), 44 major lacerations (50.5%), six vascular injuries (6.9%), and nine combination laceration and vascular injury (10.3%). Most patients had multiple organ injuries, with 79 requiring associated surgical procedures (94%). The mean injury Severity Score (ISS) was 26.7 (range, 4-59). Based on radiographic and clinical staging criteria, 69 renal injuries were surgically explored (79.3%), and 12 patients underwent nephrectomy (13.8%). Forty-six renal units were reconstructed (66.6%) by various methods, including renorrhaphy, omental pedical flaps, mesh or peritoneal patch grafts, partial nephrectomy, and vascular repair. Overall, 75 renal units were salvaged (86.2%). Early renal vascular control was achieved in all patients who underwent renal exploration. Follow-up functional studies were done in 24 (28.5%): none had delayed nephrectomy or postinjury hypertension. Overall, 79 patients survived (94%); however, mortality was not related to renal injury. These findings suggest that aggressive radiographic staging coupled with early vascular control and careful selection of reconstructive techniques can ensure a high renal salvage rate in patients with renal gunshot injuries.     

Expression of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in aneurysms and normal aorta

BACKGROUND: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are characterized by degradation of collagen and elastin resulting from increases in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity. Previous authors have identified isolated increases in expression of specific MMPs in AAAs, but none have compared relative levels of expression of particular MMPs to one another or to those of their inhibitors, the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). This study proposes to quantify relative mRNA levels for interstitial collagenase (MMP-1), 72 kd type IV collagenase (MMP-2), 92 kd type IV collagenase (MMP-9), TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 in normal aorta (NA) and AAA to provide insight as to the relative importance of each in aneurysm formation. METHODS: Competitive polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) with gene-specific external standards and cDNA derived from AAAs (n = 8; mean age, 67.4 years) and NA (n = 5; mean age, 40.6 years) were used to quantify mRNA levels. Results were normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA levels, determined by means of competitive PCR, and compared by means of Mann-Whitney statistics. RESULTS: Significant increases in MMP mRNA expression in AAA over NA were observed for MMP-1 (3.64 versus 0.3, p = 0.007), MMP-9 (78.03 versus 3.35, p = 0.003), TIMP-1 (835.32 versus 477.2, p = 0.027), and TIMP-2 (18.09 versus 4.14, p = 0.003). The ratio of MMP to TIMP mRNA levels was higher in AAA than NA (0.135 versus 0.045, p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Increases in expression of MMP-1, MMP-9, and MMP/TIMP ratios may result in increased proteolysis and matrix degradation, which characterize AAAs. MMP-9 appears to be the predominant metalloproteinase expressed in AAA, because its mRNA levels were more than 20 times and 2 times higher than those of MMP-1 and MMP-2, respectively. TIMP-1 mRNA levels were in molar excess to those of any of the metalloproteinases studied.     

Asbestos-related pericardial thickening detected by magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in four male asbestos workers in whom the chest radiograph revealed pleural but not pulmonary or pericardial disease. Patients underwent thoracic multislice spin echo imaging, with measurement of left and right ventricular volumes at end-diastole and end-systole, and a study of the flow in the superior vena cava as an indirect measure to the filling of the right ventricle. Patients also underwent respiratory function tests and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Magnetic resonance, but not HRCT, showed pericardial thickening in two patients. Magnetic resonance demonstrated reduced diastolic flow in the superior vena cava in one patient, reflecting impaired right ventricular filling. All other magnetic resonance measurements of cardiac function were normal. HRCT demonstrated mild asbestosis in three patients in which neither the chest radiograph nor magnetic resonance showed signs of parenchymal disease, and pericardiac calcification without thickening in one patient. It is concluded that magnetic resonance is superior to HRCT in identifying pericardial thickening, but that HRCT is superior to magnetic resonance in identifying asbestos-related pleural and pulmonary disease.