Charting intellectual capital performance of the gateway to China

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether intellectual capital (IC) has an impact on the financial aspects of organizational performance as well as attempting to identify the IC components that are associated with corporate financial performance indicators that signal organizational growth. Design/methodology/approach: This study drew on financial data from publicly available annual reports of all the constituent companies of the Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the years 2001-2009. Following the value added intellectual coefficient™ (VAIC) methodology, regression models were constructed to examine the relationships between IC and the corporate financial performance indicators. Findings: Evidence was found to suggest that IC, as measured by VAIC, was positively associated with profitability of businesses. In particular, structural capital, as a key component of IC, played a notable part in enhancing corporate profitability, and showed a growing trend in its significance. Empirical findings, based on correlation and linear multiple regression analysis, indicated that the components of VAIC were strong predictors of corporate financial performance such as return on equity and profitability. In particular, capital employed efficiency (CEE) was a significant predictor of all four corporate financial performance indicators. Practical implications: The results may extend the understanding of the role of IC in business operations in Hong Kong, and may help to identify the specific IC drivers that may have a direct impact on the financial performance of these companies. In particular, although CEE was a significant predictor of all four corporate finance performance indicators, the increasing contribution of structural capital efficiency (SCE) in predicting ROA and ROE was observed. The role that structural capital plays in strengthening business performance warrants further investigation. Originality/value: There has only been one previous empirical study on the intellectual capital of constituent companies on the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index. This study adds to the literature as the second study in the field. It is the first comparative study across two time periods of the above-mentioned data. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.published_or_final_versio

Diagnostic challenges in a case of B cell lymphoma unclassifiable with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma

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Patients with Helicobacter pylori positive and negative duodenal ulcers have distinct clinical characteristics

Aim: To assess the clinical characteristics of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) negative duodenal ulcer. Methods: Patients with an endoscopic diagnosis of duodenal ulcer between 1996 and 2002 were included in the present study. Patients were considered to be negative for H pylori, if both histological examination and rapid urease test of biopsy specimens were negative. A comparison was made between patients with H pylori positive and negative duodenal ulcers. Results: A total of 1 343 patients were studied. Their mean age was 54.7±0.5 years. There was a male preponderance (M:F = 2.5:1). Three hundred and ninety-eight patients (29.6%) did not have H pylori infection. The annual proportion of patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcers increased progressively from 1996 to 2002. On multivariate analysis, patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcer were more likely to be older, have concomitant medical problem, pre-existing malignancy, recent surgery, underlying sepsis, or taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In terms of clinical presentations, patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcer were more likely to present with bleeding, multiple ulcers and larger ulcers. Conclusion: The proportion of patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcers is on the rise because of a continued drop in incidence of H pylori positive duodenal ulcers in recent years. Such patients have distinct clinical characteristics and it is important to ascertain the H pylori status before starting eradication therapy. © 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

SkyApp: a tablet-based e-learning design tool for mathematics teachers to cater for learning diversity

Session: Effect of gamesTheme: Engaging Learners: Games and Flipped LearningLearning diversity is one of the most challenging difficulties encountered by teachers in primary and secondary schools. This project aims at building a design tool for teachers of Mathematics to develop tablet-based e-learning activities and apply different pedagogical actions based on the results of learning analytics. With the analysis of fine grained learners’ behaviors in previous activities, such as the handwriting of calculation in solving multi-step questions, number of attempts in answering each question, answering sequence and thinking time, the design tool will ...postprin

DNA barcoding of marine organisms from trawl fishery in Hong Kong

Poster presentation: P-14Biodiversity PatternsEffective conservation management can only be formulated and implemented with a thorough understanding on biodiversity in the region of interest. Yet the alpha diversity of many areas remains understudied. In the present study, DNA barcoding was employed to identify marine fish and crustacean species from trawl fishery in Hong Kong waters. A total of 140 fish specimens and 106 crustacean specimens were sampled from 12 collection sites in the eastern, southern and western waters of Hong Kong in 2012. Based on morphology, the fishes are identified into 76 ...postprin

The relationship between Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital in listed companies of mainland China

Open URL for the 8th ICICKM 2011 Proceedings - http://academic-conferences.org/pdfs/ICICKM_2011-Booklet.pdfAs the global economic power reshuffles, mainland China stood as the world’s biggest exporter in 2010, and has emerged as the second-largest economy in the world (CIA, 2010). In its transformation from a manufacturing-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, how well a business manages its knowledge or utilizes its intellectual capital may be an important factor in determining a …postprintThe 8th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management & Organisational Learning (ICICKM 2011), Bangkok, Thailand, 27-28 October 2011. In Proceedings of the 8th ICICKM, 2011, p. 14-1

Isolation and characterization of antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive flavones from premna odorata blanco

Premna odorata Blanco (Verbenaceae) is a native tree of the Philippines where its leaves are used traditionally for vaginal irrigation and tuberculosis. It is one of the seven components of a commercialized Philippine herbal preparation called "Pito-Pito". Its medicinal uses, however, have not been scientifically validated. This tree is not commonly cultivated and thrive in the less accessible limestone forests of the Philippines. Solvent partitioning and fractionation of the ethanolic crude extract of the leaves isolated two yellow amorphous powders. The identities of these compounds were determined by LC/MS/MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses, and their spectra were compared with literature data. The isolates were flavone aglycones which were the widespread acacetin and the nonwidespread diosmetin. These flavones were isolated from the P. odorata for the first time ever. They had been reported by earlier studies to exhibit medicinal properties as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive. Thus, the current study has provided a scientific evidence of the medicinal properties of the leaves of P. odorata that could become the popular basis for the plant's sustainable use, conservation and cultivation. © 2011 Academic Journals.published_or_final_versio

A molecular dynamics simulation on the oxidation of core-shell aluminum nanoparticles in oxygen and water environments

The oxidation mechanisms of core-shell aluminum nanoparticles (ANPs) in high-temperature steam and oxygen are investigated by ReaxFF molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The details concerning reaction heat release, heat transfer, atomic diffusion process, and ANP structure evolution are studied by examining the temporal variations of temperature, energy, atoms concentration distributions and particle structure, respectively. The atomic-level heat and mass transfer processes reveal that for both ANP/H2O and ANP/O2 systems, at the initial stage of oxidation, the heat transfer between ANP and environmental oxidizer is dominant. Thereafter, the reaction plays an increasingly significant role. The heat transfer efficiency of ANP/H2O is higher than that of ANP/O2, while the reaction exotherm of ANP/H2O is lower than ANP/O2. The final particle temperature for ANP/O2 system is much higher than that of ANP/H2O. The diameter of the former is also larger. During the oxidation of ANP, the core Al atoms diffuse outward into the oxide shell, which pushes the shell Al atoms outward and results in the expansion of ANP. The shell O atoms diffuse inward and left a vacant lattice site, through which the ambient H and O atoms diffuse into the oxide shell

Paediatric Over-the-Counter (OTC) Oral Liquids Can Soften and Erode Enamel

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Central Nervous System Inflammatory Demyelinating Disorders in the Hong Kong Chinese

Central nervous system inflammatory demyelinating disorders (CNS IDD) include classical multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica (NMO) spectrum disorders, a single attack of/recurrent acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a single attack of idiopathic acute transverse myelitis, optic neuritis (ON) and brainstem encephalitis. CNS IDD are potentially serious disorders with risks of mortality and significant disability. Typical relapsing forms of CNS IDD are relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and relapsing NMO. Relapsing NMO is typified by recurrent longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis and severe unilateral or bilateral ON. Early diagnosis of CNS IDD is important as long-term treatment for different forms varies. Recognition of clinical, radiological and serological characteristics of different forms of CNS IDD facilitates early diagnoses. A significant proportion of NMO patients are seropositive for autoantibodies against aquaporin-4, the most abundant water channel in the CNS; this supports the hypothesis that NMO is an autoimmune disorder. Is NMO an autoantibody-mediated disorder sharing similar pathogenesis with myasthenia gravis (MG), a classical autoantibody-mediated autoimmune disease? An interesting observation is that paraneoplastic NMO associated various tumours is recognised recently, suggesting similarity with MG which is associated with thymoma in about 15 to 20% of patients.published_or_final_versio