The Big Picture: Decision Making and Globalization

International business is an established but complicated field. The core elements of international business have been with us for decades, even while the challenges of the day seem consistently novel. This article discusses the dynamics, perspectives, and underlying differences that differentiate international from domestic business. It goes on to introduce core frameworks that might help managers make solid decisions in global contexts

GAIT ANALYSIS OF PATIENTS AFTER DIFFERENT TREATMENTS OF ACL RUPTURED KNEES

INTRODUCTION: The disruption of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is treated by different techniques. Besides augmented repairs or non-surgical treatments, patellar tendon autograft reconstruction is the most important treatment. Different results have been published on the effects of the different treatments on the rehabilitation process (Daniel et al., 1994, Minnich et al., 1997). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate, by means of gait analysis data, the rehabilitation of various groups of patients treated with the different techniques after disruption of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). METHODS: One year post-surgically, gait analysis was performed during level walking on 35 patients with a patellar tendon autograft reconstructed knee and on 15 patients with an augmented repair. These groups were compared with a nonsurgically treated group of 18 patients and a group of 30 normal controls. The measurements of the non-surgically treated patients were performed 52 weeks after the occurrence of the rupture. An optoelectronic system for recording the kinematics of gait (Primas, NL) and two force plates concealed under a 12m-walkway for measuring the ground reaction forces (Kistler, CH) were used as technical equipment. For the purpose of evaluation, quantitative parameters were derived from knee joint kinematics, the horizontal ground reaction force and the moment acting on the knee joint (Schmalz et al., 1998). RESULTS: Differences in important gait parameters between the two groups of surgically treated patients and the controls persisted up to 52 weeks after the operation. Deficiencies clearly appeared during knee extension in the midstance phase of the surgically treated patients. Only a minority of these subjects (33%) showed results comparable to the controls. Differences were not found between the groups of patients with patellar tendon autograft reconstructed knees and with augmented repaired knees. However, at the time of investigation, the nonsurgically treated patients showed no deficiencies in gait parameters compared to the controls. CONCLUSIONS: The gait parameters of the non-surgically treated patients are indications that the deficient knee stabilisation function of the ACL is compensated by neuromuscular control. The deficiencies of the surgically treated groups are attributed to biomechanical problems like ligament graft positioning, fixation, or pre-tensioning appearing during the operation. From a therapeutic standpoint, good training with special exercises in midstance are recommended as soon as possible after surgery

Business Strategy Types and Innovative Practices

This study empirically examines how a firm\u27s strategic orientation imparts its management of innovative activities. Drawing on the strategic management and innovation literatures, we develop and empirically test hypotheses arguing that a firm\u27s strategic orientation will impact its perception of barriers to innovation, its sources of ideas for innovation, and its targets for innovation. The data, from over 244 firms, generally support the hypotheses. The study\u27s findings suggest that a firm\u27s strategic management and its management of innovation are highly integrated

IS GAIT ANALYSIS USEFUL IN REHABILITATION ?

INTRODUCTION: In current clinical practice, physical examination, X-rays and subjective impressions are the most frequent methods for evaluation of an individual’s orthopaedic condition. These familiar methods cannot predict the biomechanical function (i.e. forces, structural integrity) of joints, of a complete leg or of the locomotor apparatus. In addition to clinical evaluation more specific functional measurements of the movement apparatus, particularly during gait, seem to be desirable. This presentation illustrates our experiences with instrumented gait analysis and its efficiency as a scientific and clinical tool. The main problem is to look for sensitive parameters (indicators), which characterize the functional state of patient’s locomotor apparatus. METHODS: Our gait analysis is based on measurement of kinematic and kinetic data during level walking on a 12 m walkway, and sometimes EMG data for special cases. Measurement systems are one optoelectronical device (PRIMAS, Delft, NL) and two force plates (KISTLER, Winterthur, CH). Since 1992, 600 individuals (including amputees, orthopaedic patients and normal subjects) were measured in our gait lab. Selected systematic tests were performed with amputees, whereby different prosthetic components and prosthetic alignments were used. Also, single cases without positive clinical or X-ray findings, who complained of functional pain, received gait analysis. RESULTS: Joint moments are the single best indicators of the manner in which amputees adapt their motor activity to changes in the prosthesis. Patients complaining of pain despite negative clinical findings walk with asymmetrical muscle joint moments. Such joint moments often objectively document the patient’s rehabilitation state and his or her progress. CONCLUSIONS: The human gait cycle is a consistant and precise repeatable complex of movements performed one million times annually. Therefore, gait analysis can only be clinically useful if measurement systems can very sensitively and fastly determine external joint moments. For orthopaedic and prosthetic tasks, such measurement equipment is now available. In addition to instrumented gait analysis biomechanical knowledge is absolutly necessary so that orthopaedic patients can benefit from the valuable data of gait and motion analysis

Attention All Internet Users: How Proposed Amendments to the Communications Decency Act Could Save Your Reputation

Imagine a beautiful fall day on a Southern college campus. The leaves are changing, and the sound of the band practicing for this weekend’s big game echoes throughout campus. Jane, a college freshman, is walking through campus on the way back to her dorm from her Biology 101 class. Usually, Jane’s walk is uneventful, aside from the occasional run-in with a friend or sorority sister; however, today is much different. Jane notices that many people are staring, pointing, and snickering at her. Is there something on her face? She quickly pulls out her compact and realizes that all makeup is intact. Is there something wrong with her clothes? She briskly looks herself over and nothing is out of place. Paranoid, Jane starts to walk back to her dorm a little faster, but people are still staring. All of a sudden, someone in the crowd yells, “Hey Jane, nice picture on collegegossip.com!” Confused, Jane tries to imagine what this guy is talking about. What picture? Her memory is faded from the events of last weekend due to her drinking too much at a keg party. But her friends would not have let anyone take picture of her passed out, right? Finally arriving at her dorm, Jane hurries onto the computer and goes to the website. There, Jane is horrified to view an anonymously posted picture of her passed out naked on a stranger’s bed. Under the picture is a string of comments claiming that Jane is a “whore, who gave me syphilis.” Desperate, Jane contacts the operators of the website and begs them to remove the picture and the comments. Jane also informs the operators that she has never contracted a sexually transmitted disease and that, if they did not remove the material, she would sue for defamation. Days later, the operators respond to Jane, and tell her that they are protected by federal law and are not required to remove the statements. The operators also inform Jane that the anonymous posters have a First Amendment right to tell it how it is. Unfortunately, this nightmare is all too real. Anonymous gossip websites, blogs, social networking websites, online bulletin boards, and other similar types of Internet forums allow people to speak their minds and exercise their First Amendment right to free speech and expression; however, these online forums can be abused when people use the sites to defame others. When a defamatory statement is posted on the Internet, it is often times difficult to locate the individual responsible because most of the defamers are given anonymity by their Internet service provider (“ISP”). Plaintiffs in Internet defamation suits are unable to easily name their defamers since usually only the defamer’s screen name is available. Furthermore, most courts interpret the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (“CDA”) to give ISPs complete immunity from liability for the defamatory posts of third parties, even if notified that certain statements are defamatory. Thus, ISPs have no civil liability to remove defamatory material, and the defamed plaintiffs are left with little recourse. This judicial interpretation of the CDA is significantly different from the well-established common law of defamation, as well as the very purpose for the enactment of the CDA. Internet defamation is an increasing problem, leaving the defamed helpless and the defamers believing they have a First Amendment right to post defamatory content. This Article will reemphasize the notion that the First Amendment does not protect defamatory speech on the Internet. Part I of this Article will discuss defamation law as part of common law, as applied to the Internet before the passage of the CDA, while Part II will discuss the judicial interpretation of the CDA in defamation cases. Part III of this Article will address the problems with the CDA as currently interpreted by the judicial system. Finally, Part IV will propose amendments to the CDA, which are intended to clarify the statute in order to give more legal options to defamed victims. Furthermore, Part IV will explain how the proposed amendments would not violate the First Amendment

Attention All Internet Users: How Proposed Amendments to the Communications Decency Act Could Save Your Reputation

Imagine a beautiful fall day on a Southern college campus. The leaves are changing, and the sound of the band practicing for this weekend’s big game echoes throughout campus. Jane, a college freshman, is walking through campus on the way back to her dorm from her Biology 101 class. Usually, Jane’s walk is uneventful, aside from the occasional run-in with a friend or sorority sister; however, today is much different. Jane notices that many people are staring, pointing, and snickering at her. Is there something on her face? She quickly pulls out her compact and realizes that all makeup is intact. Is there something wrong with her clothes? She briskly looks herself over and nothing is out of place. Paranoid, Jane starts to walk back to her dorm a little faster, but people are still staring. All of a sudden, someone in the crowd yells, “Hey Jane, nice picture on collegegossip.com!” Confused, Jane tries to imagine what this guy is talking about. What picture? Her memory is faded from the events of last weekend due to her drinking too much at a keg party. But her friends would not have let anyone take picture of her passed out, right? Finally arriving at her dorm, Jane hurries onto the computer and goes to the website. There, Jane is horrified to view an anonymously posted picture of her passed out naked on a stranger’s bed. Under the picture is a string of comments claiming that Jane is a “whore, who gave me syphilis.” Desperate, Jane contacts the operators of the website and begs them to remove the picture and the comments. Jane also informs the operators that she has never contracted a sexually transmitted disease and that, if they did not remove the material, she would sue for defamation. Days later, the operators respond to Jane, and tell her that they are protected by federal law and are not required to remove the statements. The operators also inform Jane that the anonymous posters have a First Amendment right to tell it how it is. Unfortunately, this nightmare is all too real. Anonymous gossip websites, blogs, social networking websites, online bulletin boards, and other similar types of Internet forums allow people to speak their minds and exercise their First Amendment right to free speech and expression; however, these online forums can be abused when people use the sites to defame others. When a defamatory statement is posted on the Internet, it is often times difficult to locate the individual responsible because most of the defamers are given anonymity by their Internet service provider (“ISP”). Plaintiffs in Internet defamation suits are unable to easily name their defamers since usually only the defamer’s screen name is available. Furthermore, most courts interpret the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (“CDA”) to give ISPs complete immunity from liability for the defamatory posts of third parties, even if notified that certain statements are defamatory. Thus, ISPs have no civil liability to remove defamatory material, and the defamed plaintiffs are left with little recourse. This judicial interpretation of the CDA is significantly different from the well-established common law of defamation, as well as the very purpose for the enactment of the CDA. Internet defamation is an increasing problem, leaving the defamed helpless and the defamers believing they have a First Amendment right to post defamatory content. This Article will reemphasize the notion that the First Amendment does not protect defamatory speech on the Internet. Part I of this Article will discuss defamation law as part of common law, as applied to the Internet before the passage of the CDA, while Part II will discuss the judicial interpretation of the CDA in defamation cases. Part III of this Article will address the problems with the CDA as currently interpreted by the judicial system. Finally, Part IV will propose amendments to the CDA, which are intended to clarify the statute in order to give more legal options to defamed victims. Furthermore, Part IV will explain how the proposed amendments would not violate the First Amendment

The effect of substituents on the syn-anti conformer ratio in naphthyl-based imidazolinium salts and their corresponding N-heterocyclic carbenes

Eight new N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) featuring substituted naphthyl side chains were synthesized. These molecules are present in solution as a stable mixture of antiand synconformers. Through careful tuning of the substituents on position 2 and 2,7 of the naphthyl moieties, it was possible to synthesize molecules that display a strong preference for the anticonformation (up to 95:5). This will greatly facilitate their optimized use as single isomeric ligands in metal-catalysis and as organocatalysts

O uso de recursos didáticos no ensino de língua estrangeira.

O objetivo deste trabalho tem como foco principal o uso de recursos didáticos para aprimorar as aulas de Espanhol com mais interação, motivação e eficiência no ensino- aprendizagem da Língua Estrangeira (LE). Neste trabalho, que foi desenvolvido no estágio, vários alunos participaram com bastante entusiasmo e dedicação para aprenderem essa língua, pois nunca tinham aprendido a falar a Língua Espanhola. Esse conhecimento é muito importante para a educação do Ensino Fundamental, pois garantirá uma boa formação inicial para o futuro desses educandos. Na maioria das escolas municipais, já existem vários recursos didáticos disponíveis para se dar uma boa aula diferenciada, é uma metodologia que utilizará os computadores no laboratório de informática, rádio, quadro de giz, internet, livros, data show e outros que são usados pelos professores. Essas ferramentas ajudarão a enriquecer o convívio entre professor e aluno, gerando assim mais interação, com isso se sentiram mais motivados e interessados não só pelos conteúdos dados, mas pelo modo de se planejar as aulas, pelo tipo de organização dos materiais, as tarefas em grupos e também pelas atividades diversificadas. Este recurso foi escolhido para aperfeiçoar as aulas de Espanhol e também para auxiliar no processo de aprendizagem tornando-as mais atrativas e com melhores resultados no desenvolvimento das habilidades tanto orais como escritas

Business process projection in relation to the internationalization of the external environment of industrial companies

Highly intensive internalization of the world economy requires the business sector to have different view of strategic management and decision making, together with the quality and content of business processes. Changes in the environment of enterprises significantly influence their function and behaviour, causing a need to significantly change enterprise architecture, including the design of development strategies. The paper focuses on analysing the processes of industrial enterprises, dealing with their importance and profit, classified by size. The result revealed that process activities, such as input logistics and marketing, are dominant in micro-enterprises, and such activities are important in profitable enterprises. In middle-sized enterprises, there is a more significant difference between marketing/sales and services without any relations to profit. However, there is a requirement to intensify these activities in non-profitable enterprises. Large enterprises revealed a significant influence of the scientific and technological development and also, to a lesser extent, of marketing, sales and purchase. Non-profitable enterprises should also focus on improving the quality of such processes