The changes in the internationalization process of born global start-ups in a crisis environment

Abstract. Venturing into global markets is viewed as a challenging task for high tech startups due to number of reasons such as lack of funding, resources, competition, etc. These challenges can get intensified in the presence of a global level crisis like Covid19 and it may urge born global firms to revisit and transform their internationalization strategies to secure their growth ambitions and increase the likelihood of survival. Today, speed is widely recognized as an important source of competitive advantage and this is highly applicable for the firms who are operating in high tech industries. These companies cannot pause or delay their development or progression due to external shocks in the business environment because that will make their value offerings obsolete within the global market landscape. Hence, it’s important to explore an optimum internationalization strategy which is capable of overcoming the challenges caused by pandemic. The main research problem of the thesis is built around this idea and it deeply explores the post Covid-19 changes in the internationalization process of a high-tech born global start-ups with a special focus on the role of social networks and internet based sales channel strategies in deriving a more crisis friendly internationalization model. The prolonged pandemic has transformed many industries globally and it has become the new normal urging firms to learn how to live with it. However, there is a clear dearth of studies in this particular research area as Covid-19 has been a relatively new and unexpected development which came out as a surprise. Theoretically, the present study is based on two different strategic alternatives to understand the company’s internationalization strategy. Born global approach is a one alternative and the idea of complex internationalization strategies is the other option which have been evaluated within a crisis environment. The thesis has used a qualitative exploratory research design to closely observe how high-tech born global start-ups react to the pandemic, what have they done differently to secure their growth and likelihood of survival. The findings of the study revealed that born global start-ups intensify their born global strategy and transform towards a more aggressive and risk taking internationalization approach with the help of social networks and internet based sales channel strategies. The study largely denies the idea of complex strategies which reflects a defensive and risk mitigating approach towards internationalization. The social networks which are based on friendship, trust and years of exchanging favors are immensely useful to form strategic alliances globally. Further, internet based dual sales channel strategies play an influential role in securing non-exclusive distribution rights which protects firms against exploitive distributors and intermediaries. Overall, the thesis provides some valuable insights for both academia and practitioners in deriving a crisis friendly advanced internationalization model to face the new challenges of the Covid-19 times

A new splitting-based displacement prediction approach for location-based services

In location-based services (LBSs), the service is provided based on the users' locations through location determination and mobility realization. Several location prediction models have been proposed to enhance and increase the relevance of the information retrieved by users of mobile information systems, but none of them studied the relationship between accuracy rate of prediction and the performance of the model in terms of consuming resources and constraints of mobile devices. Most of the current location prediction research is focused on generalized location models, where the geographic extent is divided into regular-shape cells. These models are not suitable for certain LBSs where the objectives are to compute and present on-road services. One such technique is the Prediction Location Model (PLM), which deals with inner cell structure. The PLM technique suffers from memory usage and poor accuracy. The main goal of this paper is to propose a new path prediction technique for Location-Based Services. The new approach is competitive and more efficient compared to PLM regarding measurements such as accuracy rate of location prediction and memory usage

Fabrication of living soft matter by symbiotic growth of unicellular microorganisms

We report the fabrication of living soft matter made as a result of the symbiotic relationship of two unicellular microorganisms. The material is composed of bacterial cellulose produced in situ by acetobacter (Acetobacter aceti NCIMB 8132) in the presence of photosynthetic microalgae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cc-124), which integrates into a symbiotic consortium and gets embedded in the produced cellulose composite. The same concept of growing living materials can be applied to other symbiotic microorganism pairs similar to the combination of algae and fungi in lichens, which is widespread in Nature. We demonstrate the in situ growth and immobilisation of the C. reinhardtii cells in the bacterial cellulose matrix produced by the simultaneous growth of acetobacter. The effect of the growth media composition on the produced living materials was investigated. The microstructure and the morphology of the produced living biomaterials were dependent on the shape of the growth culture container and media stirring conditions, which control the access to oxygen. As the photosynthetic C. reinhardtii cells remain viable and produce oxygen as they spontaneously integrate into the matrix of the bacterial cellulose generated by the acetobacter, such living materials have the potential for various applications in bio-hydrogen generation from the immobilised microalgae. The proposed approach for building living soft matter can provide new ways of immobilising other commercially important microorganisms in a bacterial cellulose matrix as a result of symbiosis with acetobacter without the use of synthetic binding agents and in turn increase their production efficiency

Improving the diagnosis of dermatophytes in gaza strip by using Nested PCR

Dermatophytes are a very related to keratinophilic fungi thatcan invade keratinized humans and animal tissues such as skin, hair and nails causing dermatophytosis. They are the important cause of superficial fungal infection.Conventional identification methods like potassium hydroxide (KOH) microscopy and fungal culture lacks the ability to make an early and specific diagnosis. In this study it is taken into consideration to evaluate nested polymerase chain reaction (NPCR) using primers targeting dermatophyte specific sequence of chitin synthase 1 (CHS1) gene and compared with conventional method by potassium hydroxide (KOH) microscopy test that carried out in Rimal clinic in Gaza city.A total of ninety nine patients were clinically suspected with dermatophytosis including 16 skin specimens 16 nail specimens and 67hair specimens. For each specimen KOH, PCR and NPCR tests were carried out.The output results of NPCR sequencing was compared with the wild-type gene which was obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The comparison indicated that the product of NPCR is CHS1 gene. Additionally, it was considered to compare the results of NPCR with KOH for dermatophytes which showed that 41.4% are positive indication based on KOH while 18.18% only was positive indication according to NPCR.After carrying out the statistical analysis using SPSS for both tests, it was found that 30% of the total samples should be included for treatment based on KOH test, although this percent of the sample doesn’t need to undergo treatment according to NPCR test. It is also shown that 6% of the samples are excluded for treatment in KOH method, in spite of the NPCR indicated that this percent must be included in the treatment. The prominent controversy between the test results (KOH and NPCR) was found particularly in the nails diagnosis. The study results approved that the NPCR test should be considered in dermatophytes test in Gaza Strip medical laboratories along with KOH test particularly in nails. Moreover, to improve the quality of test results, it was recommended to conduct training session for lab technicians to develop their capacity in the diagnosis of dermatophytes by KOH testDermatophytes are a very related to keratinophilic fungi thatcan invade keratinized humans and animal tissues such as skin, hair and nails causing dermatophytosis. They are the important cause of superficial fungal infection.Conventional identification methods like potassium hydroxide (KOH) microscopy and fungal culture lacks the ability to make an early and specific diagnosis. In this study it is taken into consideration to evaluate nested polymerase chain reaction (NPCR) using primers targeting dermatophyte specific sequence of chitin synthase 1 (CHS1) gene and compared with conventional method by potassium hydroxide (KOH) microscopy test that carried out in Rimal clinic in Gaza city.A total of ninety nine patients were clinically suspected with dermatophytosis including 16 skin specimens 16 nail specimens and 67hair specimens. For each specimen KOH, PCR and NPCR tests were carried out.The output results of NPCR sequencing was compared with the wild-type gene which was obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The comparison indicated that the product of NPCR is CHS1 gene. Additionally, it was considered to compare the results of NPCR with KOH for dermatophytes which showed that 41.4% are positive indication based on KOH while 18.18% only was positive indication according to NPCR.After carrying out the statistical analysis using SPSS for both tests, it was found that 30% of the total samples should be included for treatment based on KOH test, although this percent of the sample doesn’t need to undergo treatment according to NPCR test. It is also shown that 6% of the samples are excluded for treatment in KOH method, in spite of the NPCR indicated that this percent must be included in the treatment. The prominent controversy between the test results (KOH and NPCR) was found particularly in the nails diagnosis. The study results approved that the NPCR test should be considered in dermatophytes test in Gaza Strip medical laboratories along with KOH test particularly in nails. Moreover, to improve the quality of test results, it was recommended to conduct training session for lab technicians to develop their capacity in the diagnosis of dermatophytes by KOH tes

Investigating microenvironmental regulation of human chordoma cell behaviour

The tumour microenvironment is complex and composed of many different constituents, including matricellular proteins such as connective tissue growth factor (CCN2), and is characterized by gradients in oxygen levels. In various cancers, hypoxia and CCN2 promote stem and progenitor cell properties, and regulate the proliferation, migration and phenotype of cancer cells. Our study was aimed at investigating the effects of hypoxia and CCN2 on chordoma cells, using the human U-CH1 cell line. We demonstrate that under basal conditions, U-CH1 cells express multiple CCN family members including CCN1, CCN2, CCN3 and CCN5. Culture of U-CH1 cells in either hypoxia or in the presence of recombinant CCN2 peptide promoted progenitor cell-like characteristics specific to the notochordal tissue of origin. Specifically, hypoxia induced the most robust increase in progenitor-like characteristics in U-CH1 cells, including increased expression of the notochord-associated markers T, CD24, FOXA1, ACAN and CA12, increased cell growth and tumour-sphere formation, and a decrease in the percentage of vacuolated cells present in the heterogeneous population. Interestingly, the effects of recombinant CCN2 peptide on U-CH1 cells were more pronounced under normoxia than hypoxia, promoting increased expression of CCN1, CCN2, CCN3 and CCN5, the notochord-associated markers SOX5, SOX6, T, CD24, and FOXA1 as well as increased tumour-sphere formation. Overall, this study highlights the importance of multiple factors within the tumour microenvironment and how hypoxia and CCN2 may regulate human chordoma cell behaviour

Investigation of optical and electrical properties of Cobalt-doped Ge-Sb-S thin film

Amorphous Germanium Antimony Sulphide (Ge-Sb-S) doped with Cobalt (Co) have been deposited on glass substrates by thermal evaporation technique on a glass substrate. The films deposited onto glass substrates are characterized by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer, UV–VIS spectrophotometer, Raman spectroscopy, and Capacitance-Voltage Keithley meter. The optical band gap was calculated from the UV–Visible spectrum and found to be 2.05 eV. Raman spectroscopy measurements reveal that a wide band spectrum from 300 to 410 cm−1 centered at 355 cm−1. The Raman shift peaks at 325 cm−1 and 350 cm−1 are as-signed to the bond stretching mode Sb-S and Ge-S, respectively. In addition, from the obtained Raman spectra it is concluded that the presence of Co doped with Ge-Sb-S. The capacitance and conductance versus voltage measurements were performed at different temperatures. The results show a slight increase in the capacitance with temperature and it reaches a maximum value around 150 °C, and eventually it becomes negative. This behavior is interpreted in terms of the nucleation growth process and the thermally activated conduction process with measured activation energy of 0.79 eV.This work is funded by the University Program for Advanced Research - United Arab Emirates University , (project no. 31S313 ).Scopu

Antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus, fecal streptococci, Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the coastal water of the Gaza strip-Palestine

Objectives: To document the occurrence and distribution of antibiotic resistance of clinically important bacteria in the seawater of Gaza strip-Palestine. Methods: Seawater samples were collected at 16 location distributed along the coast of the Gaza strip. Sampling was accomplished during 12 months, from March 2014 to June 2015. The microbial composition including Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, fecal streptococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was recorded and tested for their resistance to specific antimicrobial agents according to CLSI using the disc diffusion method. Results: A total of 816 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae (377), S. aureus (29), fecal enterococci (FS)(369), and P. aeruginosa (29) were recovered and identified. Enterobacteriaceae, P. aeruginosa, FS and S. aureus isolates exhibited the highest rates of resistance against β-lactam drugs. The isolates also showed resistance to at least

Association of Inherited Thrombophilia with Recurrent Pregnancy Loss in Palestinian Women

Objective. This study aimed at analyzing the association between recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and factor V G1691A (FVL), prothrombin G20210 (FII); and MTHFR C677T (MTHFR) in Palestinian women. Method. We studied 329 Palestinian women with RPL and/or stillbirth (SB); and compared them to 402 healthy reproductive Palestinian women. Cases and controls were tested for the above mutations. Odds ratio (OR) at confidence interval (CI) of 95% was used as a measure of association between the mutations and RPL. Results. Our statistical analysis showed a slightly increased association, which was not significant between FVL and RPL (OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.90–1.94), and no association between FII (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.38–1.92), MTHFR (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.32–1.03), and RPL. Further analysis of RPL subgroups revealed an association between FVL and first-trimester loss (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.892–1.989), and second-trimester loss (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.480–2.426), both were not statistically significant. Furthermore, the only statistically significant association was between FVL and SB (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.05–3.70). Conclusion. Our analysis had failed to find a significant association between FVL, FII, MTHFR; and RPL in either the first or second trimester. FVL was significantly associated with fetal loss if the loss was a stillbirth

The effect of retinoic acid on the activation of the human H19 promoter by a 3′ downstream region

AbstractThe human H19 is paternally imprinted (maternally expressed). It is transcribed by RNA pol II, but has no protein product. Its function is unknown. We showed that the transcription of the human H19 gene is under the simultaneous control of both a 5′ upstream (promoter) region and a 3′ downstream region in cell lines derived from human choriocarcinomas. Moreover, the activation of the H19 promoter by retinoic acid in cells derived from human testicular germ cell tumors is dependent upon the 3′ downstream region. The possibility that the action of retinoic acid on the H19 promoter is an indirect one and involves a member of the AP2 transcription factor family is discussed

Expanded Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells Reselected for High Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity Demonstrate Islet Regenerative Functions

Human umbilical cord blood (UCB) hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) purified for high aldehyde dehydrogenase activity (ALDHhi) stimulate islet regeneration after transplantation into mice with streptozotocin-induced β cell deletion. However, ALDHhi cells represent a rare progenitor subset and widespread use of UCB ALDHhi cells to stimulate islet regeneration will require progenitor cell expansion without loss of islet regenerative functions. Here we demonstrate that prospectively purified UCB ALDHhi cells expand efficiently under serum-free, xeno-free conditions with minimal growth factor supplementation. Consistent with the concept that ALDH-activity is decreased as progenitor cells differentiate, kinetic analyses over 9 days revealed the frequency of ALDHhi cells diminished as culture time progressed such that total ALDHhi cell number was maximal (increased 3-fold) at day 6. Subsequently, day 6 expanded cells (bulk cells) were sorted after culture to reselect differentiated progeny with low ALDH-activity (ALDHlo subset) from less differentiated progeny with high ALDH-activity (ALDHhi subset). The ALDHhi subset retained primitive cell surface marker coexpression (32.0% ± 7.0% CD34+/CD38- cells, 37.0% ± 6.9% CD34+/CD133+ cells), and demonstrated increased hematopoietic colony forming cell function compared with the ALDHlo subset. Notably, bulk cells or ALDHlo cells did not possess the functional capacity to lower hyperglycemia after transplantation into streptozotocin-treated NOD/SCID mice. However, transplantation of the repurified ALDHhi subset significantly reduced hyperglycemia, improved glucose tolerance, and increased islet-associated cell proliferation and capillary formation. Thus, expansion and delivery of reselected UCB cells that retain high ALDH-activity after short-term culture represents an improved strategy for the development of cellular therapies to enhance islet regeneration in situ