Role of noncoding RNA in vascular remodelling

Purpose of review: Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are becoming fundamentally important in the pathophysiology relating to injury-induced vascular remodelling. We highlight recent studies that demonstrate the involvement of ncRNAs in vein graft disease, in in-stent restenosis and in pulmonary arterial hypertension, with a particular focus on endothelial cell and vascular smooth muscle cell function. We also briefly discuss the emerging role of exosomal-derived ncRNAs and how this mechanism impacts on vascular function. Recent findings: ncRNAs have been described as novel regulators in the pathophysiology of vascular injury, inflammation, and vessel wall remodelling. In particular, several studies have demonstrated that manipulation of miRNAs can reduce the burden of pathological vascular remodelling. Such studies have also shown that exosomal miRNA-mediated, cell-to-cell communication between endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells is critical in the disease process. In addition to miRNAs, lncRNAs are emerging as regulators of vascular function in health and disease. Although lncRNAs are complex in both their sheer numbers and mechanisms of action, identifying their contribution to vascular disease is essential. Summary: Given the important roles of ncRNAs in vascular injury and remodelling together will their capacity for cell-to-cell communication, manipulating ncRNA might provide novel therapeutic interventions

Beyond the point of purchase: Conveying brand values through experiential retailing. A case study of the Iittala brand

Brands are no longer isolated entities that only represent the products they offer; now they are often closely associated to their environmental contexts, cultures, and shared values. This presents a challenge for companies that are experienced in their domestic markets but desire to expanding globally, as the strong cultural connotations they have worked so hard to form may become lost in translation. The brand that this study focuses on is Iittala, a premium Scandinavian home goods brand owned by the company, Fiskars. This thesis aims to explore the methods of storytelling that are effective in brand communication and education for international brands such as Iittala, when expanding globally. To this end, this study looks specifically into the Asia-Pacific, a market of interest, to explore the qualities of Scan- dinavian design and products that appeal to its consumers. Furthermore, this thesis seeks to de- termine ways for brands to better understand its international customers. The research was conducted with a purpose of understanding the perspectives of the key players, including the local store clerks, the target consumers, and management. Literature reviews and ethnographic interviews were employed, as well as in-store observations and shadowing at various Iittala retail locations. The results indicated a need for rapid response to the ever-changing needs of Asia-Pacific consum- ers, and the need for a better understanding of their customers’ shopping behaviours in order to align the brand’s retail strategies. This study will propose a re-designed customer journey that incorporates the MyIittala platform as a tool of data collection, and offer a method of introducing this initiative through the implementation of a pop-up pavilion

The Learning Partnership Documentation: Final Report Summary

Summarizes MacArthur's initiative to support urban school reform through partnerships with districts and to refine a theory of systemic educational change. Outlines the conceptual framework, the role of documentation, challenges, and lessons learned

Understanding The Role Of IoT Technologies In Supply Ecosystems

This paper introduces the concept of supply ecosystems for exploring the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) and its technologies in value added activities. The paper argues that the IoT has a role in helping to understand the information problems that firms face, and in identifying the way in which IoT technologies can help. To achieve this, the paper examines the vision and scope of the IoT and its perceived potential value to firms. Then, based on the available literature, the paper furthers the existing concept of supply ecosystems and argues that the potential value of the IoT to businesses can only be realized if a holistic, more ecological perspective, is used. The paper hence proposes that supply ecosystems can be used to understand the value of IoT in solving information problems

Making a Case for Collaborative Business Planning: Educating Information Management and Systems Graduates for the Knowledge-Based Economy

This paper presents and discusses the design and evaluation of an innovative educational exercise that combines elements of both learning about and learning for e-commerce. The principle guiding the design of the exercise was the provision of an opportunity for postgraduate information management and information systems students to learn about and for e-commerce through the collaborative development of a business plan. A survey distributed at the end of the module collected data on students’ acquisition of knowledge and skills related to their learning about and for e-commerce on the business plan exercise. The data analysis focuses on students’ acquisition of knowledge and skills relevant to entrepreneurship, and demonstrates that the collaborative development of a business plan can be an effective learning tool for students to acquire not only specific domain knowledge of e-commerce topics such as business strategy, e-commerce business models, and e-commerce technology, but also generic information, communication, and management skills, relevant to learning about and for entrepreneurship

The Magic of Lottery: Investigating the PAYW in Live Streaming from Opportunism and Impulsiveness

Live streaming is adopted by many digital and e-commerce platforms. As a popular way for people to obtain information products and entertainment, live streaming generates tremendous business revenue through pay-as-you-wish gifting (PAYW). As one of the most important channels to earn profits by live streaming hosts, PAYW faces the trouble of free riders who watch live content without payment. To encourage free-rider audiences to pay, some platforms in China have introduced a lottery mechanism, which allows people to get high-value prizes by paying a threshold price. We conduct a quasi-experiment with lottery block on a popular live streaming platform to estimate its causal effect on PAYW gifting. The study identifies heterogeneous effects based on user opportunism and impulsive tendencies. The proposed typology of lottery provides a framework for improving PAYW gifting in live streaming e-commerce

Managing User Requirement Risks – An Exploratory Study of IS Projects from the Views of Outsourcing Teams

Requirement risk is often identified as a reason contributing to Information Systems Development (ISD) project failure but has not been adequately explored in the IS literature. Requirement risk refers to the uncertainties caused by differences between the requirements perceived by system developers and user groups’ expectation of the system. Requirement risk can lower the project performance therefore effective management of requirement risk is critical to achieve desired project performance. This paper aims to address the gap in the current literature of requirement risk by emphasising its dynamic nature and examining the strategies to manage such risks. This study identifies three types of requirement risk: changing requirement, misunderstanding requirement, and incomplete requirement and argues that each type if not being attended to by the project team will lead to further requirement change or other project risks. The study also identifies the strategies that a project team can employ to manage requirement risk

UNDERSTANDING THE EMERGENCE OF REQUIREMENT RISKS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECTS

Information Systems (IS) requirement risks are one of the most important sources that contribute to project problems, such as escalation of project cost and schedule. Early identifying and managing requirement risks is therefore an important task to avoid project complexity and increase chance of project success. Earlier research has identified various requirement risks in IS project. However, there has been little research on explaining the emergence of requirement risks. This paper proposes some initial insights into the origins of requirement risks based on a case study of an IS project having requirement risks. The results of this study suggest that the emergence of requirement risks can be identified and explained from various IS development (ISD) practices and some organisational behaviours perspectives. Moreover, requirements risk can occur not only in the requirement collection and analysis phase, but also in the later phases of the ISD. Conclusion and implications for future research are also provided