Innovation Paths in Knowledge Intensive Industries based on Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Knowledge-intensive industries has become a major source of competitive advantage and innovation. However, there is no general agreement about the innovation pathways of knowledge-intensive enterprises. A possible explanation for this might be that the complex pathways has thus far been studied using regression models that capture only the main regression effects. To address this issue, we use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis that examines relationships (even asymmetrical) between the enterprises’ innovation activity and all possible configurations of its determinants, including obstacles, knowledge sources, collaborative activities and R&D. We investigate this framework in the case study of German knowledge-intensive enterprises. The results show that several pathways act as sufficient conditions for product innovation. However, the effects of these conditions are asymmetric. In addition, the following complementary relationships between the determinants were observed: (1) public support and education knowledge source; (2) internal and external R&D and collaboration on innovation; and (3) internal and market knowledge source and publicly available knowledge acquired from other sources such as conferences, journals and professional associations. Thus, these findings may provide an explanation of the inconsistent effects observed in previous studies on product innovation

Herpes zoster complicated by phrenic nerve palsy and respiratory compromise

Background: Herpes zoster can be associated with severe neurological complications.Case presentation: In this article, we describe the case of a 54-year-old man with herpes zoster affecting his right upper chest and neck region complicated by phrenic nerve palsy and respiratory compromise. The diagnosis of herpes zoster was made based on the classic appearance of the rash and associated neuropathic-type pain. The diagnosis of phrenic nerve palsy was made by chest x-ray and ultrasound.Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of phrenic nerve palsy occurring in patients who have herpes zoster affecting the region of C3,4,5 dermatomes. Although symptoms of unilateral diaphragmatic paresis are usually mild, in patients with obesity or comorbid lung disease, new onset phrenic nerve palsy can lead to significant respiratory compromise.Keywords: Herpes zoster, neurologic complication, phrenic nerve palsy, case report

Dynamic interplay between defective UiO‐66 and protic solvents in activated processes

UiO-66, composed by Zr-oxide inorganic bricks [Zr-6(mu(3)-O)(4)(mu(3)-OH)(4)] and organic terephthalate linkers, is one of the most studied metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) due to its exceptional thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. Thanks to its high connectivity, the material can withstand structural deformations during activation processes such as linker exchange, dehydration, and defect formation. These processes do alter the zirconium coordination number in a dynamic way, creating open metal sites for catalysis and thus are able to tune the catalytic properties. In this work, it is shown, by means of first-principle molecular-dynamics simulations at operating conditions, how protic solvents may facilitate such changes in the metal coordination. Solvent can induce structural rearrangements in the material that can lead to undercoordinated but also overcoordinated metal sites. This is demonstrated by simulating activation processes along well-chosen collective variables. Such enhanced MD simulations are able to track the intrinsic dynamics of the framework at realistic conditions

Leverage of Knowledge Sources in Firm Innovation Activities: The Case of European ICT Industries

The ICT sector is one of the most important industries in the world, thanks to the high added value of its production. The competitive advantage of such a sector depends (among other things) on the ability to acquire knowledge from various available resources. ICT firms need to be able to adapt and react flexibly due to the high dynamics of development in the field of information and communication technologies. These firms are trying to use different knowledge resources, engaging in knowledge cooperative networks in a globalized innovation environment. Determinants of this environment are also largely influencing their production function. Due to the importance of the field and the level of public funding, it is necessary to study the impact of different innovation sources on the ability of ICT firms to produce innovations. Our study is a macroeconomic study of the ICT sector in the EU using data from Eurostat (Community Innovation Survey). With three own regression models, we demonstrate that firms in the ICT sector often use resources from the group of cooperating companies, acquire the existing know-how, licenses and patents on the market, and pay great attention to their own employees as a source of potential knowledge. Results of the research so far confirm the negative impact of public organizations on innovation (or R&D) performance of the ICT firms. In the context of public funding of support for R&D activities in the ICT industry, it is possible to talk about significant allocation inefficiencies or possibly too long-term investments with uncertain results

Influence of a confined methanol solvent on the reactivity of active sites in UiO-66

UiO-66, composed of Zr-oxide bricks and terephthalate linkers, is currently one of the most studied metal-organic frameworks due to its exceptional stability. Defects can be introduced in the structure, creating undercoordinated Zr atoms which are Lewis acid sites. Here, additional BrOnsted sites can be generated by coordinated protic species from the solvent. In this Article, a multilevel modeling approach was applied to unravel the effect of a confined methanol solvent on the active sites in UiO-66. First, active sites were explored with static periodic density functional theory calculations to investigate adsorption of water and methanol. Solvent was then introduced in the pores with grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, followed by a series of molecular dynamics simulations at operating conditions. A hydrogen-bonded network of methanol molecules is formed, allowing the protons to shuttle between solvent methanol, adsorbed water, and the inorganic brick. Upon deprotonation of an active site, the methanol solvent aids the transfer of protons and stabilizes charged configurations via hydrogen bonding, which could be crucial in stabilizing reactive intermediates. The multilevel modeling approach adopted here sheds light on the important role of a confined solvent on the active sites in the UiO-66 material, introducing dynamic acidity in the system at finite temperatures by which protons may be easily shuttled from various positions at the active sites

Herpes zoster complicated by phrenic nerve palsy and respiratory compromise

Background: Herpes zoster can be associated with severe neurological complications. Case presentation: In this article, we describe the case of a 54-year-old man with herpes zoster affecting his right upper chest and neck region complicated by phrenic nerve palsy and respiratory compromise. The diagnosis of herpes zoster was made based on the classic appearance of the rash and associated neuropathic-type pain. The diagnosis of phrenic nerve palsy was made by chest x-ray and ultrasound. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of phrenic nerve palsy occurring in patients who have herpes zoster affecting the region of C3,4,5 dermatomes. Although symptoms of unilateral diaphragmatic paresis are usually mild, in patients with obesity or comorbid lung disease, new onset phrenic nerve palsy can lead to significant respiratory compromise

Competitive advantage analysis: a novel method for industrial clusters identification

Many regions and their representatives decide on the amount of support they will provide to industrial clusters, their births, and their existing phase based on the public budget. Nowadays the efficiency of public spending must be provided. There are many examples showing situations where industrial clusters were cancelled when public support was limited or no longer available. Through the use of a special diagnostic method, one can find out if the industrial cluster is able to rise and also be viable without massive public budget support. The suggestion of a new method for industrial cluster identification is the aim of this paper. The Porter's diamond model of the cluster's competitiveness environment is the substance of the novel method

Collaboration and Innovation Models in Information and Communication Creative Industries the Case of Germany

In rapidly changing environment of global knowledge economy, innovations play an important role in the process of gaining competitive advantage. Specifically, information and communication creative industries are dependent on constant technological breakthroughs, new sources of knowledge and high innovativeness. Moreover, new knowledge and innovation outputs of these industries subsequently affect products and processes of other businesses as well as innovation activities within different industries. Knowledge acquisition, utilization and dissemination therefore represent important processes that significantly influence the firms´ innovation activities. It was proven that cooperation is an important determinant that helps to spread the existing knowledge and to create new knowledge through knowledge spillover effects. The paper deals with the determinants of cooperation and innovation to examine numerous effects on both activities in German information and communication creative industries. We also test the role of the determinants of innovation performance and their influence on the economic effect of innovation activities in terms of the percentage of innovative products in total turnover. For our analyses, we are using data from Community Innovation Survey 2008-2010. We empirically show that firms from German information and communication creative industries can create innovations through the collaboration and confirm that both internal and external communication significantly contribute to the creation of innovation. Moreover, we confirm the influence of internal expenditures on R&D and observe significant influence of external expenditures on R&D. In conclusion, we also provide some practical implications for policy makers

Real Measurements and Evaluation of the Influence of Atmospheric Phenomena on FSO Combined with Modulation Formats

The influence of atmospheric environment is fundamental for Free-Space Optical link (FSO). The atmosphere can significantly degrade the communication quality of FSO up to so low received power/RSSI level that it can lead to the loss of communication. For this reason, authors used a professional weather station built on site of FSO link for measurement of real atmospheric conditions such as wind speed, temperature, relative air humidity, air pressure and solar radiation. Random changing of these atmosphere parameters creates atmospheric turbulences, absorption and dispersion centers. It is necessary to specify the value of refractive index structure parameter Cn^2 because it determines the influence of atmosphere on the FSO. The first part of this article includes the theoretical calculation of Cn^2, there are used two models PAMELA and Macroscale Meteorological model. The evaluation of the atmospheric influences and the RSSI value of received power level and also simulation of different types of modulation formats OOK-RZ, OOK-NRZ and BPSK in Optiwave is integral part of this article

Purposeful Suppression and Reconstruction of White Light from LED for Improvement of Communication Properties

Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology uses white Light Emitting Diodes (LED) for providing illumination and communication at the same time. White LEDs have excellent illumination properties but their communication properties need improvement. This article proposes a way how to evade the communication limitations of white LEDs. A part of original white LED spectrum is suppressed by an optical filter. Then the suppressed part is replaced by another LED. The correct choice of suitable LED enables to reconstruct the original spectrum. This solution removes the limitations because the white LED emits continuously. Data are carried by the communication LED only. The evaluation of reconstruction of original white light is measurement of the colour coordinates x and y. Furthermore, the communication properties of this transmitter were tested and obtained results are shown in this paper. EVM parameter was measured