Are women CEOs more risk-averse than men? Not necessarily, study shows

Are women CEOs more risk-averse than men? Not necessarily, study shows

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain According to a commonly held assumption, women CEOs are more risk-averse than their male counterparts. Some studies have even demonstrated that women in top leadership roles are less likely than men to engage in acquisitions. But that impression is woefully misleading, according to new research co-authored by Timothy Hannigan in the … Read more

How new product development shapes firms and the economy

How new product development shapes firms and the economy

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Understanding product life cycles plays an important role in the innovation arms race, helping to define firm growth and market competition. Products experience a substantial decline in sales after an initial period of growth, a trend that is consistent across various industries and product types. “By examining the life cycle of … Read more

Uncovering the cyclization mechanism of cyclic β-1,2-glucan synthase

Uncovering the cyclization mechanism of cyclic β-1,2-glucan synthase

Researchers at TUS have proposed a novel mechanism for the cyclization catalyzed by the cyclization domain of cyclic β-1,2-glucan synthase isolated from Thermoanaerobacter italicus (TiCGSCy). The TiCGSCy mechanism defines a new glycoside family 189. Credit: Nobukiyo Tanaka/Tokyo University of Science The polysaccharide β-1,2-glucan consists of repeating units of glucose linked together by β-1,2-glycosidic bonds. Cyclic … Read more

Study sheds light on relationship between mitochondrial calcium dynamics and autophagy

Study sheds light on relationship between mitochondrial calcium dynamics and autophagy

by KeAi Communications Co. Calcium dynamics during autophagy initiation. Credit: Mitochondrial Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.mitoco.2024.01.002 Autophagy is a self-eating process for recycling and rejuvenating cellular organelles and components. Intracellular calcium dynamics has been shown to be essential for the initiation of the autophagy process. Mitochondria are a major calcium store within the cell and mitochondria … Read more

Robber flies track their beetle prey using tiny microbursts of movement

Robber flies track their beetle prey using tiny microbursts of movement

Robber flies visually track their prey before spearing it with their proboscis. Credit: Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido, CC BY-ND April in the Florida Panhandle. It was hot, humid, and a thunderstorm was lurking. But as a fresh graduate student, I was relieved for the escape from my first brutal Minnesota winter. I was accompanying my adviser, Paloma … Read more

Microbes impact coral bleaching susceptibility, new study shows

Microbes impact coral bleaching susceptibility, new study shows

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new study provides insights into the role of microbes and their interaction as drivers of interspecific differences in coral thermal bleaching. The study was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. “The diversity, community dynamic and interaction of coral-associated microorganisms play important roles in the health state and climate … Read more

The dangers of misaligned product co-development contracts and how they can derail innovation in high-tech firms

The dangers of misaligned product co-development contracts and how they can derail innovation in high-tech firms

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers from Mansoura University and University of Guelph published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines how misaligned contracts can erode innovation outcomes of high-tech firms. The study, titled “Collaborating to Innovate: Balancing Strategy Dividend and Transactional Efficiencies,” is authored by Nehal Elhelaly and Sourav Ray. When a giant multinational … Read more

India’s ‘drone sisters’ steer farming and social change

India’s ‘drone sisters’ steer farming and social change

Sharmila Yadav, a remote pilot trained under the “Drone Sister” program, operates a drone spraying liquid fertilizer over a farm in Pataudi, India. Once a housewife in rural India, Sharmila Yadav always wanted to be a pilot and is now living her dream remotely, flying a heavy-duty drone across the skies to cultivate the country’s … Read more

Exploring genetic diversity of new almond accessions

Exploring genetic diversity of new almond accessions

Hierarchical clustering of Improving Perennial Plants for Food and Bioenergy (IPPFBE) Foundation and National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) almond accessions. IPPFBE accessions have the prefix UT-; NPGS accessions have the prefix Cal-. Credit: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science (2023). DOI: 10.21273/JASHS05292-23 In the pursuit of enhancing almond genetic diversity for the ever-expanding … Read more

Restoration of degraded areas in semi-arid region contributes to ‘return’ of soil microorganisms, study shows

Restoration of degraded areas in semi-arid region contributes to ‘return’ of soil microorganisms, study shows

The researchers conducted a review of 18 studies of the semi-arid region, focusing on the Caatinga. Credit: Arthur Prudêncio de Araújo Pereira/UFC Strategies deployed for the restoration of degraded land have had promising results in Brazil’s semi-arid region, improving the microbial properties of the soil and contributing to a return of native ecosystem services. The … Read more