Patent-based Measurements on Technological Convergence and Competitor Identification: The Case of Semiconductor Industry

Technological convergence promotes the formation and development of emerging industries associated with new opportunities and growth. It will be helpful for firms to understand the emerging trends of technology convergence and establish competitive strategy by identifying competitors. While previous studies mainly measure technological convergence with co-occurrence method on the technology level, relatively few studies investigate the measurement of technological convergence with firm-level data. In addition, how to identify competitors by firms in the background of technological convergence has been neglected by the extant studies. This paper takes the granted patent data of global top 10 semiconductor companies from 1994 to 2013 as the object and measures the degree and trend of technological convergence based on technology similarity. Furthermore the Multidimensional Scaling analysis with inter-firm technological similarity matrix is adopted to identify the competitors in the semiconductor industry. The main contribution of this research is that it proposes a novel method to measure technology convergence. The method is different from pervious literature in that it measures technology convergence and knowledge relatedness from a micro-level using patent data in semiconductor industry. In addition, the patent similarity matrix can be used as an input for competitor identification with Multidimensional Scaling analysis. Keywords: Technological convergence; Competitor Identification; Multidimensional Scaling analysis; Semiconductor industr

2-Methyl-1,2,3,4-tetra­hydro­isoquinolin-6-yl N-phenyl­carbamate

In the mol­ecule of the title compound, C17H18N2O2, the piperidine ring adopts a half-chair form. The two benzene rings are individually planar and make a dihedral angle of 53.90°. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking inter­actions (centroid–centroid distance = 3.962 Å)

ARTICLE IN PRESS +Model HAZMAT-6820; No. of Pages 7 Journal of Hazardous Materials xxx (2007) xxx-xxx Growth response of Zea mays L. in pyrene-copper co-contaminated soil and the fate of pollutants

Abstract Phytoremediation, use of plants for remediation, is an emerging technology for treating heavy metals or a final polishing step for the highlevel organic contamination, and may be suitable for remediation of heavy metal and organic co-contaminated soil. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of co-contamination on the growth of Zea mays L. and the fate of both heavy metal and organic pollutants, using Cu and pyrene as the model pollutants. Results showed that shoot and root biomass were affected by the copper-pyrene co-contamination, although maize grown in spiked soils showed no outward signs of phytotoxicity. With the initial concentration of 50,100 and 500 mg/kg, pyrene tended to alleviate the inhibition of Cu to Z. mays L. Pyrene in both planted and non-planted soil was greatly decreased at the end of the 4-week culture, accounting for 16-18% of initial extractable concentrations in non-planted soil and 9-14% in planted soil, which indicated that the dissipation of soil pyrene was enhanced in the presence of vegetation probably due to the biodegradation and association with the soil matrix. With the increment of Cu level, residual pyrene in the planted soil tended to increase. The pyrene residual in the presence of high concentration of Cu was even higher in the planted soil than that in the non-planted soil, which suggested that the change of the microbial composition and microbial activity or the modified root physiology under Cu stress was probably unbeneficial to the dissipation of pyrene. A more thorough understanding of the mechanisms by which metals affect the dissipation of organic pollutants in the rhizosphere could provide a much better framework on which to base manipulation. Unlike pyrene, heavy metal copper cannot be degraded. Decontamination of Cu from contaminated soils in this system required the removal of Cu by plants. It was observed that the ability of Cu phytoextraction would be inhibited under co-contamination of high level of pyrene in highly Cu-polluted soil. In the treatment of 400 mg Cu/kg and 500 mg pyrene/kg, the accumulation of Cu was less than half of that in 400 mg Cu/kg treatment

Relationship between neonatal dacryocystitis and cesarean section and the treatment of neonatal dacryocystitis

AIM: To explore the treatment of neonatal dacryocystitis of different ages and the relationship between caesarean section and neonatal dacryocystitis.<p>METHODS: A total of 260 cases(260 eyes)of children with neonatal dacryocystitis were divided into 1-3 months group, 4-6 months group, 7-12 months group and 13-24 months group, Each group was respectively given the lacrimal sac massage, lacrimal passage irrigation and probing of lacrimal passage method. Curative effect of each method was observed in different groups. Analysis was made to determine whether caesarean section was the cause of neonatal dacryocystitis.<p>RESULTS: The comparison between 1-3 months group and 4-6 months group showed significant difference(<i>χ</i>²=19.89, <i>P</i><0.05). Lacrimal sac massage was effective for babies under 6 months, particularly in 1-3 months babies. The curative effect of lacrimal passage irrigation in four groups was compared, and there was statistical significance in the difference between the curative effect of each group(<i>χ</i>²=54.95, <i>P</i><0.05). The difference between the 1-3 months group and 4-6 months group was <i>χ</i>²=0.00003, <i>P</i>>0.05, lacrimal passage irrigation of these two groups showed no significant difference in efficacy. The comparison result between the other two groups showed no significant difference(<i>P</i><0.05), lacrimal passage irrigation effects are different from each group. The comparison result between 7-12 months group and 13-24 months group was <i>χ</i>²=10.29, <i>P</i><0.05. Infants born by cesarean section accounted for 85% of all cases. <p>CONCLUSION:Lacrimal sac massage can exert very good therapeutic effects in infants less than 3 months. The curative effects of irrigation of lacrimal passage are quite good in babies under 12 months. Probing of lacrimal passage has a good curative effect in 7-12 months infants, but a poor curative effect in babies over 12 months. Caesarean section is an important cause for neonatal dacryocystitis

An increase in the cerebral infarction area during fatigue is mediated by il-6 through an induction of fibrinogen synthesis

OBJECTIVES: Our study aimed to investigate the impact of fatigue on the severity of stroke and to explore the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Fatigued male rats underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion and the infarcted brain area was determined. Then, coagulation parameters were assessed in the fatigued group and a control group. In addition, the level of fibrinogen was determined in rats deprived of sleep for various numbers of days. To study whether interleukin-6 was involved in fibrinogen synthesis during fatigue, we also measured levels of interleukin-6 in rats deprived of sleep for various numbers of days. Furthermore, brain injury by middle cerebral artery occlusion was measured in wild-type mice, interleukin-6-/- mice and wild-type mice treated with bezafibrate. RESULTS: More severe cerebral infarction was observed in the fatigued rats, resulting in an infarct ratio of 23.4%. The infarct ratio was significantly increased in the fatigued rats compared with that in the control group (8%,

Prediction of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients using classification and regression tree analysis

OBJECTIVES: Recent guidelines recommend that all cirrhotic patients should undergo endoscopic screening for esophageal varices. That identifying cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices by noninvasive predictors would allow for the restriction of the performance of endoscopy to patients with a high risk of having varices. This study aimed to develop a decision model based on classification and regression tree analysis for the prediction of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients. METHODS: 309 cirrhotic patients (training sample, 187 patients; test sample 122 patients) were included. Within the training sample, the classification and regression tree analysis was used to identify predictors and prediction model of large esophageal varices. The prediction model was then further evaluated in the test sample and different Child-Pugh classes. RESULTS: The prevalence of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients was 50.8%. A tree model that was consisted of spleen width, portal vein diameter and prothrombin time was developed by classification and regression tree analysis achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 84% for prediction of large esophageal varices. When reconstructed into two groups, the rate of varices was 83.2% for high-risk group and 15.2% for low-risk group. Accuracy of the tree model was maintained in the test sample and different Child-Pugh classes. CONCLUSIONS: A decision tree model that consists of spleen width, portal vein diameter and prothrombin time may be useful for prediction of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patient