Unraveling business model innovation in firm internationalization: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

The international business literature has witnessed a rapid growth of studies examining business model innovation (BMI) in firm internationalization, particularly over the last decade. Despite this increased line of inquiry, the body of knowledge on BMI and firm internationalization remains largely fragmented and unsynthesized, thus compromising theoretical and empirical advancements in the field. Although past reviews have multiplied on BMI in the mainstream business literature, none have been conducted in the context of international business. The primary goal of this review is to synthesize and evaluate the research on BMI in international business and to propose a future research agenda. Accordingly, we take stock of the literature and critically assess and examine 70 peer-reviewed articles published between 1996 and 2021. This study contributes to the extant literature by capturing the current body of knowledge on this topic and further advances and cultivates the dialogue between BMI and international business. We provide greater clarification of the BMI construct by proposing more fine-grained BMI constructs to be used to advance theory and empirical testing in future IB research. We finally contribute to the literature by mapping out a future research agenda supported by an integrative framework to advance research at the interface of BMI and firm internationalization.© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Transthyretin is not necessary for thyroid hormone metabolism in conditions of increased hormone demand

Thyroid hormones circulate in blood mainly bound to plasma proteins. Transthyretin is the major thyroxine plasma carrier in mice. Studies in transthyretin-null mice revealed that the absence of transthyretin results in euthyroid hypothyroxinemia and normal thyroid hormone tissue distribution, with the exception of the choroid plexus in the brain. Therefore, transthyretin does not influence normal thyroid hormone homeostasis under standard laboratory conditions. To investigate if transthyretin has a buffer/storage role we challenged transthyretin-null and wild-type mice with conditions of increased hormone demand: (i) exposure to cold, which elicits thermogenesis, a process that requires thyroid hormones; and (ii) thyroidectomy, which abolishes thyroid hormone synthesis and secretion and induces severe hypothyroidism. Transthyretin-null mice responded as the wild-type both to changes induced by stressful events, namely in body weight, food intake and thyroid hormone tissue content, and in the mRNA levels of genes whose expression is altered in such conditions. These results clearly exclude a role for transthyretin in thyroid hormone homeostasis even under conditions of increased hormone demand.POCTI/NSE/37315/2001, from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) and FEDER; J C S is a recipient of a PhD fellowship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal

Environmental monitoring platform based on a heterogeneous wireless sensor network

Abstract – In museums, to conserve the existing artwork is a vital issue. To achieve this purpose, it is fundamental to monitor its environment, either in storage or exhibition rooms. The deployment of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) can help to implement these measurements continuously, in a real-time basis, and in a much easier and cheaper way than when using traditional measuring equipments and procedures. This is the main objective of the WISE-MUSE project, which uses WSNs for monitoring and automatically controlling museums’ environment and structural health. In this paper, the implementation and the final results of the WISE-MUSE project, which was carried out in two particular museums located in Madeira Island, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Funchal and the Madeira Whale Museum, are described. Among other important contributions, we emphasize the development of new environmental monitoring and controlling devices, an emergency doors’ controlling device, as well as the development of three new tools for monitoring, visualizing and managing WSNs, which bring some considerable advantages when compared with other commercially available solutions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudo preliminar da actividade antimicrobiana das folhas de cydonia oblonga miller

O marmelo é reconhecido como uma importante fonte de compostos promotores da saúde sendo que a actividade antimicrobiana dos extractos da sua polpa, casca e sementes foi já avaliada. Não existem porém estudos da actividade antimicrobiana das folhas de marmeleiro. Este estudo preliminar teve como objectivo determinar a actividade dos seus extractos metanólicos. Concluiu-se que os extractos testados não apresentam actividade em E. coli, S. aureus, C. albicans, C. glabrata, A. niger, A. fumigatus, Mucor spp e Absídia spp pelo que novos extractos devem ser preparados sendo posteriormente avaliados. Quince fruit is recognized an important source of health promoting compounds being the antimicrobial activities of the quince pulp, peel grape and seed extracts already evaluated. No results are known for quince leaves antimicrobial activity. This preliminary work intended to determine the activity of quince leaves methanolic extracts. These had no antimicrobial activity either against E. coli, S. aureus, C. albicans, C. glabrata, A. niger, A. fumigatus, Mucor spp e Absídia spp and new extracts must be prepared and evaluated

Export experience counts: exploring its effect on product design change

In this paper, we explore how managers' export experience can affect the change in product design following changes in perceived past performance. Using data from 519 Portuguese exporters, we find that performance improvement will encourage safe decision making in which firms either will not change the product design or will change it in a way that makes it more similar across the product range. However, when managers' export experience is greater, they encourage change in ways that could support product differentiation. The abilities of experienced managers to read the market, i.e. to interpret changes in performance and translate them into product specifications, help explain these findings. We contribute to the literature in two ways. First, we explore the relationship among past export performance change, product design, and managers' export experience. Second, we identify specific kinds of design changes that firms adopt in response to changes in different dimensions of organizational performance. Based on our findings, we would recommend to new product development managers to consider both managers' export experience and the dimension used to measure performance when evaluating calls for standardizing the design by export managers. Our findings suggest that such calls could be driven by short-term gains in export performance. Furthermore, we would also emphasize the need to routinely capture information from experienced export managers to ensure that it is considered in future decisions about design changes

The compound event that triggered the destructive fires of October 2017 in Portugal

Portugal is regularly affected by destructive wildfires that have severe social, economic, and ecological impacts. The total burnt area in 2017 (∼540,000 ha) marked the all-time record value since 1980 with a tragic toll of 114 fatalities that occurred in June and October events. The local insurance sector declared it was the costliest natural disaster in Portugal with payouts exceeding USD295 million. Here, the 2017 October event, responsible for more than 200,000 ha of burnt area and 50 fatalities is analyzed from a compound perspective. A prolonged drought led to preconditioned cumulative hydric stress of vegetation in October 2017. In addition, on 15 October 2017, two other major drivers played a critical role: 1) the passage of hurricane Ophelia off the Coast of Portugal, responsible for exceptional meteorological conditions and 2) the human agent, responsible for an extremely elevated number of negligent ignitions. This disastrous combination of natural and anthropogenic drivers led to the uncontrolled wildfires observed on 15 October

Amygdala activation in response to 2D and 3D emotion-inducing stimuli

Studying changes in brain activation according to the valence of emotion-inducing stimuli is essential in the research on emotions. Due to the ecological potential of virtual reality, it is also important to examine whether brain activation in response to emotional stimuli can be modulated by the three-dimensional (3D) properties of the images. This study uses functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to compare differences between 3D and standard (2D) visual stimuli in the activation of emotion-related brain areas. The stimuli were organized in three virtual-reality scenarios, each with a different emotional valence (pleasant, unpleasant and neutral). The scenarios were presented in a pseudo-randomized order in the two visualization modes to twelve healthy males. Data were analyzed through a GLM-based fixed effects procedure. Unpleasant and neutral stimuli activated the right amygdala more strongly when presented in 3D than in 2D. These results suggest that 3D stimuli, when used as “building blocks” for virtual environments, can induce increased emotional loading, as shown here through neuroimaging

Production of iron-peptide complexes from spent yeast for nutraceutical industry

Iron (Fe) deficiencies are a major health condition concern and over the years many solutions in the form of Fe supplementation have been investigated. Organic Fe-complexes are the most promising for Fe deficiencies remediation. The aim of present study was to value peptide rich waste streams from β-glucan and mannan production from spent yeast (Gpep and Mpep, respectively) as Fe-peptide complexes for Fe supplementation. These waste streams were first subjected to ultrafiltration treatment before assessing the capacity of these fractions to complex Fe was evaluated, without, and with nitrogen. Results have shown that Gpep> 1 kDa was the best fraction with a optimal pH of 6.0 and a time of 30 min. The resulting Fe-peptide complex was characterized using powder XDR, fluorescence, FTIR, SEM and Mastersizer Laser Diffraction. Results have shown that Gpep and Mpep waste streams have potential application as Fe supplementation in the form of Fe peptide complexes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio