α-Lipoic Acid Modulates Extracellular Matrix and Angiogenesis Gene Expression in Non-Healing Wounds Treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

α-Lipoic acid (LA) has been found previously to accelerate wound repair in patients affected by chronic wounds who underwent hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. Because proteinases are important in wound repair, we hypothesized that LA may regulate matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression in cells that are involved in wound repair. Patients undergoing HBO therapy were double-blind randomized into two groups: the LA group and the placebo group. Gene expression profiles for MMPs and for angiogenesis mediators were evaluated in biopsies collected at the first HBO session, at the seventh HBO session, and after 14 days of HBO treatment. ELISA tests were used to validate microarray expression of selected genes. LA supplementation in combination with HBO therapy downregulated the inflammatory cytokines and the growth factors which, in turn, affect MMPs expression. The disruption of the positive autocrine feedback loops that maintain the chronic wound state promotes progression of the healing process

A Resource-Based View of Internationalization in Emerging Economies

Chapter 2 in Impacts of Emerging Economies and Firms on International Business. One of the most remarkable phenomena of recent times is that a large number of firms from emerging economies have come to define and dominate new markets and enter the class of global innovation leaders. Firms that once specialized in cheap but high-quality substitutes (e.g. Brazil’s Embraer), or those that adopted fast second mover strategies (as the one followed by Korea’s Samsung), or firms that offered outsourcing services (for instance, India’s Wipro) are now firmly at the core of the global productivity and innovation frontier. In addition, many small and medium sized local firms that started as exporting joint ventures have moved abroad on their own account. So far, the international business literature has mostly used the eclectic ownership, location, and internalization (OLI) paradigm (Dunning, 2000) to explain the rise of emerging market multinational firms. This conceptual model examines internationalization drivers identifying motives typical for the internationalization strategic approaches of firms from emerging economies. Supplementing OLI paradigm with learning, leveraging, and linkages (LLL) framework (Mathews, 2002, 2006), which provides an understanding of how emerging economy firms create ownership advantages by integrating links with foreign partners. This integration leads to leveraging of specific assets and upgrading them by entering into new alliances and via acquisition