The role of national medicines agencies on the pharmaceutical innovative production and scope: A comparative case study of Norway and Sweden

This thesis aims to investigate the role of national medicines agencies on the innovative scope and productivity of national pharmaceutical small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through comparative case study of Norway and Sweden. Institutional theory and resource based view are used to investigate the influence of institutional forces and strategic resources on shaping the roles of the agencies. The findings indicate that both factors have influenced the roles of Swedish medical products agency (MPA) and Norwegian medicines agency (NOMA). MPA seems to have an innovation facilitation role whereas NOMA does not. However, the Norwegian SMEs within drug discovery and development seem to perform better regarding innovative scope. The innovative productivity among Norwegian biopharmaceutical SMEs also appears to be on the rise. It is suggested that control variables, such as governmental initiatives on funding and tax benefits, have stronger influence on innovative scope and productivity compared to the role of the national medicines agency. Norwegian SMEs regularly seek guidance at medicines agencies in other countries. It is discussed that NOMA can contribute to an even higher performance of Norwegian SMEs if the agency changes its role towards more innovation-orientation and acts as a supporting organization. The practical implications of this research for NOMA have been elaborated

The Relationship between Attachment Style with Self-Efficacy and Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Bandar Abbas

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between attachment style with self-efficacy and academic performance of secondary school students in Bandar Abbas. For this purpose, 265 male and female students in a multi-stage cluster sampling method were selected from students and then Hazan and Shaver Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ), and self-efficacy questionnaire Scherrer et al (1982) were used to collect data.Results of the analysis showed that attachment styles and secure attachment havea significant and positive correlation with academic performance (P <=0.01) and ambivalent attachment style has a significant and negative relation (P <=0.01) with academic performance. The results showed that secure attachment is positively associated with self-efficacy of students and there is a significant and negative relationship between avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles (P <=0.01)

Fabrication of Fullerene-Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Nanocomposites

Fullerene-reinforced Al matrix nanocomposites were fabricated by high-energy mechanical milling followed by consolidation through hot extrusion or high-pressure torsion (HPT). The results indicate that a relatively homogeneous microstructure consisting of elongated, micrometer-sized Al grains is formed in the hot-extruded specimens. However, the microstructure is not uniform along the radius of the HPT disks, which includes coarse grains near the center of the disk and ultrafine grains in the middle and along the edge of the specimen. Microstructural evaluations of the HPT disks indicate that Al grain refinement occurs due to the addition of fullerene, as grain size is reduced to 60 nm from 118 nm. The formation of the harmful aluminum carbide phase is not detected during the fabrication of Al/C-60 nanocomposites. The hardness, yield stress, and ultimate tensile strength of the Al-2 vol.% C-60 nanocomposites are about 27-160% higher than those of the monolithic Al samples, revealing the effective strengthening of fullerene particles in Al matrix. Moreover, mechanical properties of the Al/fullerene nanocomposites are significantly enhanced (59-272%) by utilizing HPT in comparison to hot-extruded specimens due to their much finer Al grain structure. The reduction in the number and the size of the dimples, as well as the formation of smooth regions on the tensile fracture surface of Al/C-60, results in their overall lower ductility compared to monolithic Al.11sciescopu

A sensitive and flexible interdigitated capacitive strain gauge based on carbon nanofiber/PANI/silicone rubber nanocomposite for body motion monitoring

Stretchable nanocomposites-based strain gauges have received much attention due to their adjustable properties in various applications, including soft robotics, human health monitoring, body motion detection, structural health monitoring, and artificial intelligence. Although low sensitivity (gauge factor) is one of the challenges of capacitive strain gauges, in this study, we design, manufacture, and illustrate characterizations of a stretchable interdigitated capacitive strain gauge based on carbon nanofiber/polyaniline/silicone rubber nanocomposite by an improvement in sensitivity with linearity, and low hysteresis. This strain gauge reaches a gauge factor of about 14 over an applied strain of 2% and about 2.8 over an applied strain of 20% and demonstrates linearity with negligible hysteresis. The sensitivity of the strain sensor is enhanced not only by the interdigitated design of electrodes but also by the electrodes’ outstanding electrical conductivity, even in a large strain. Due to its sensitivity, the proposed device is suitable for detecting small and large strains and can be used in wearable applications or straight on the skin for human motion detection