The dynamics of experiential learning: Microprocesses and adaptation in a professional service INV

In international new ventures (INVs), experiential learning happens in quick succession and across a wide number of diverse contexts. Yet, we lack an empirical understanding of the microprocesses through which INVs learn and adapt in their foreign expansion. Understanding those microprocesses is important because timely adaptation can save the venture time and resources, thus promoting sustainable growth. In this study, we investigate the dynamics of experiential learning and adaptation in the internationalisation process of an INV in the professional service sector. Findings from our study illustrate that the firm applies deliberate experiential learning by developing, revising, and finalising criteria for important dimensions in the international growth process, and adapts its internationalisation practices accordingly. We further show that deliberate experiential learning is predicated on an actively and closely monitored learning process, involving critical evaluation, adjustment of criteria, and acceptance of affordable mistakes, as opposed to learning by defaul

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

5-azacytidine improves the osteogenic differentiation potential of aged human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells by DNA demethylation

The therapeutic value of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) for bone regeneration is critically discussed. A possible reason for reduced osteogenic potential may be an age-related deterioration of the Ad-MSCs. In long term in vitro culture, epigenomic changes in DNA methylation are known to cause gene silencing, affecting stem cell growth as well as the differentiation potential. In this study, we observed an age-related decline in proliferation of primary human Ad-MSCs. Decreased Nanog, Oct4 and Lin28A and increased Sox2 gene-expression was accompanied by an impaired osteogenic differentiation potential of Ad-MSCs isolated from old donors (>60 a) as compared to Ad-MSCs isolated from younger donors (<45 a). 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5 hmC) and 5-methylcytonsine (5 mC) distribution as well as TET gene expression were evaluated to assess the evidence of active DNA demethylation. We observed a decrease of 5 hmC in Ad-MSCs from older donors. Incubation of these cells with 5-Azacytidine induced proliferation and improved the osteogenic differentiation potential in these cells. The increase in AP activity and matrix mineralization was associated with an increased presence of 5 hmC as well as with an increased TET2 and TET3 gene expression. Our data show, for the first time, a decrease of DNA hydroxymethylation in Ad-MSCs which correlates with donor-age and that treatment with 5-Azacytidine provides an approach which could be used to rejuvenate Ad-MSCs from aged donors

Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis which can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling, but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In the present study, we gave the same speech production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting insubstantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further find little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions

ANALYZING THE MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER/SHALLOW RADAR SOLAR RADIO BURST CANDIDATES FOR SUBSURFACE SOUNDING

Solar radio bursts (SRBs) are radio emissions that arise from the complex interaction between energetic electrons and background solar plasma. SRB emissions can have a significant impact on the space weather environment and thus on the capabilities, performance, and longevity of our space-based systems. Currently, space-based SRB observations have been dependent on solar observatories such as WIND, STEREO-A, and STEREO-B. Recently, the use of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) subsurface sounder Shallow Radar (SHARAD) has been proposed as a potential additional solar radio waves observatory, with initial observations focusing specifically on type III bursts due to having an identifiable characteristic shape. As SHARAD was not originally designed for observing solar radio emissions, the objective of this research is to analyze which physical or systematic properties influence the detection of SRBs in SHARAD data, to determine the potential and limitations of using SHARAD as a solar radio-observatory. These properties include (1) MRO orientation, (2) MRO-Solar observatory orientation, and (3) SRB peak power output. Analyzing SRBs detected by MRO/SHARAD would enhance our understanding of SRB propagation physics and the space weather environment, and thus allow us to more effectively manage our space-based systems. In addition, we highlight the potential use of these bursts as a source for subsurface radio sounding for future terrestrial and Mars missions.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.Outstanding ThesisEnsign, United States Nav

Fuzzy learning controller for trajectory tracking in multi-joint robots (in Spanish) / Aprendizaje de Controladores Difusos para Seguimiento de Trayectorias en Robots Multiarticulados

Los robots multiarticulados con ruedas activas proporcionan oportunidades interesantes en muchas ´areas, tales como inspecci´on o mantenimiento de tuber´ıas o sistemas de ventilaci´on. Una funcionalidad clave para poder realizar estas tareas es que el robot pueda seguir una ruta predefinida de forma r´apida y precisa. En este art´ıculo se presenta un algoritmo para aprender el seguimiento de rutas para un conjunto de primitivas de movimiento. Estas primitivas pueden ser usadas por un planificador para construir caminos m´as largos. El algoritmo se presenta dividido en dos pasos: un primer aprendizaje del controlador, basado en ejemplos y un posterior refinamiento bas´andose en una funci´on objetivo con simulaciones del proceso de seguimiento de rutas. Los controladores se han probado en el simulador de un robot multiarticulado con varias rutas complejas, consiguiendo un excelente rendimiento

Fuzzy learning controller for trajectory tracking in multi-joint robots (in Spanish) / Aprendizaje de Controladores Difusos para Seguimiento de Trayectorias en Robots Multiarticulados

Los robots multiarticulados con ruedas activas proporcionan oportunidades interesantes en muchas ´areas, tales como inspecci´on o mantenimiento de tuber´ıas o sistemas de ventilaci´on. Una funcionalidad clave para poder realizar estas tareas es que el robot pueda seguir una ruta predefinida de forma r´apida y precisa. En este art´ıculo se presenta un algoritmo para aprender el seguimiento de rutas para un conjunto de primitivas de movimiento. Estas primitivas pueden ser usadas por un planificador para construir caminos m´as largos. El algoritmo se presenta dividido en dos pasos: un primer aprendizaje del controlador, basado en ejemplos y un posterior refinamiento bas´andose en una funci´on objetivo con simulaciones del proceso de seguimiento de rutas. Los controladores se han probado en el simulador de un robot multiarticulado con varias rutas complejas, consiguiendo un excelente rendimiento

Concurrent Infantile Hemangioendothelioma and Mesenchymal Hamartoma in a Developmentally Arrested Liver of an Infant Requiring Hepatic Transplantation

A newborn female underwent a surgical resection for a hepatic mass discovered prenatally by ultrasonography, and diagnosed pathologically as a mesenchymal hamartoma. Within 4 months after surgery, multiple cutaneous hemangiomas developed and a multinodular mass was detected in the liver. A liver biopsy showed an infantile hemangioendothelioma with type I features. An orthotopic liver transplant was performed due to the extensive nature of the hepatic involvement and progressive respiratory compromise. Virtually the entire liver was involved by a large infantile hemangioendothelioma. A multicystic mesenchymal hamartoma was also found on the left side. In addition, the uninvolved hepatic parenchyma had features recapitulating the fetal liver. This simultaneous involvement of the liver by a mesenchymal hamartoma and infantile hemangioendothelioma is unique. A review of the literature revealed only one incompletely characterized case with similar findings

A Preliminary Statistical Analysis of Type-III Solar Burst Detections in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Shallow Radar (SHARAD) Data

We present the results of a preliminary statistical analysis and classification of solar radio burst candidates detected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Shallow Radar (SHARAD). We first analyze the histograms of the MRO SHARAD burst candidates as a function of MRO-STEREO true anomaly difference and received peak power. We then show the results of performing logistic regression to classify the MRO SHARAD burst candidates. Our results highlight the need for additional burst data to further refine the classifier, additional parameters to determine if bursts are present, and potentially explore a different classification technique to assign burst candidates with improved accuracy. Analyzing SRBs detected by MRO/SHARAD (as a potential additional solar radio-observatory) would enhance our understanding of solar radio burst propagation physics and behavior. We conclude by discussing the potential application, and challenges, of using these bursts as a source for subsurface radio sounding for future terrestrial and Mars missions