Rethinking the Basis of Diversification in the Digital Economy

A diversified firm needs to decide which businesses to include in its business portfolio and how to achieve synergies across those businesses so that its corporate performance is greater than the sum of individual performances of its businesses. We argue that traditional conceptualizations and underlying constructs of diversification—which have been developed and refined at the heights of the industrial economy—may be inadequate and inappropriate for understanding diversification, and diversification-performance relationship in the digital economy. We propose a knowledge-based conceptualization of diversification, and develop a research framework for understanding diversification-performance relationship in the digital economy. We argue that knowledge-based diversification strategies, which build and leverage related product, customer, managerial, and IT knowledge across business units, can lead to superior performance

Disintegrating Information Technology in Corporate Divestures: Implications for Regulatory Compliance Risks and Costs

Prior research has paid very little attention, if at all, to the risks and costs entailed in IT disintegration processes. In this study, we begin addressing this gap by studying how IT disintegration challenges posed by corporate divestitures affect the regulatory compliance risks and costs of divesting firms in the context of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). We hypothesize that firms with higher corporate divestiture intensities are more likely to have material weaknesses in their IT controls, more likely to become incompliant with SOX, and more likely to incur higher auditor fees during SOX audits. We also hypothesize that superior IT capabilities could reduce the probability and magnitude of the regulatory compliance risks and costs during divestitures. We find empirical support for these hypotheses in a sample of 252 publicly traded U.S firms that were audited independently for SOX compliance between 2004 and 2008

Government\u27s Digital Surveillance and Citizens\u27 Self-Censorship of Technology Use

How does a government™s covert digital surveillance of its citizens™ private communications affect the citizens™ digital technology usage behaviors? Building on the chilling effects theory, we expect covert digital surveillance to increase citizens™ ris

Data Breaches in Multihospital Systems: Antecedents and Mitigation Mechanisms

We study antecedents and mitigation mechanisms of data breaches in the U.S hospital industry. More than 65% of U.S hospitals belong to a multihospital system (MHS). The MHS is a complex organization that owns hospitals and non-hospital care facilities such as physician networks, nursing homes, senior living homes, etc. We hypothesize that data breaches of an MHS would be increased by: (i) complexity of the different care services offered by its member hospitals, (ii) complexity of external collaborations of the member hospitals, (iii) complexity of internal IT applications of the member hospitals, and (iv) complexity of external IT applications of member hospitals such as health information exchange (HIE) connections. We also hypothesize that an MHS can potentially mitigate some of its data breaches by standardizing data security solutions across its member hospitals. We find support for these ideas in a study of 446 MHS and 3,823 MHS-Year observations during 2009-2017

How safe are children's shampoos?

Shampoos are daily care products designed to clean the hair and scalp. The aim of this study was to compare the contents of baby and newborn shampoos sold in supermarkets and pharmacies, determine the levels of substances reported to be dangerous to babies and newborns health in these shampoos. This cross-sectional study included 18 newborn and baby shampoos that families could buy at supermarkets and pharmacies in Turkey. For newborn and baby shampoos, the number of preservative substances have been determined. A total of 68 chemicals was found in these 18 shampoos, with an average of 14.83 ± 2.43 chemicals in each shampoo. Most of these chemicals were not recommended for use in children. Shampoos that contain numerous chemicals and substances confirmed to be harmful or have suspicious effects should not be recommended. It is clear that more studies are needed in this under-researched area. [Med-Science 2021; 10(2.000): 334-7

Single Derivation Fragmented QRS Can Predict Poor Prognosis in Successfully Revascularized Acute STEMI Patients

Abstract Background: QRS fragmentation (fQRS) is classically defined as the presence of slurred QRS morphology in at least two contiguous leads, and its prognostic importance has been shown in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, no study has investigated the significance of single lead fQRS (sl-fQRS) in surface electrocardiography (ECG). Objectives: To evaluate whether sl-fQRS is as valuable as classical fQRS in patients with acute STEMI who had successful revascularization with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). Methods: We included 330 patients with a first STEMI who had been successfully revascularized with pPCI. The patient’s electrocardiography was obtained in the first 48 hours, and the patients were divided into three groups according to the absence of fQRS (no-fQRS); fQRS presence in a single lead (sl-fQRS); and ≥2 leads with fQRS (classical fQRS). Results: In-hospital mortality was significantly higher both in patients with sl-fQRS and in patients with ≥ 2 leads with fQRS compared to patients with no-fQRS. In ROC curve analysis, ≥ 1 leads with fQRS yielded a sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 57.4% for the prediction of in-hospital mortality. Multivariate analysis showed that sl-fQRS is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (OR: 3.989, 95% CI: 1.237-12.869, p = 0.021). Conclusions: Although the concept of at least two derivations is mentioned for the classical definition of fQRS, our study showed that fQRS in only one lead is also associated with poor outcomes. Therefore, ≥1 leads with fQRS can be useful when describing the patients under high cardiac risk in acute STEMI

New risk factors in determining long‑term mortality in patients undergoing TAVI: can the conventional risk scores be used as a long‑term mortality predictor?

Background: Surgical risk in patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is determined by conventional scoring systems. However, these risk scores were developed to predict surgical mortality. Due to their insufficient predictive ability in patients after TAVI, novel risk scores are needed to predict long‑term mortality in this population. Aims: The study aimed to investigate the value of conventional risk scores in predicting long‑term mortality. Additionally, the impact of laboratory parameters on long‑term mortality was evaluated. Methods: Our study included 121 patients who underwent transfemoral TAVI. Results: The mean (SD) logistic European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE), EuroSCORE II, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) risk score were 27.4 (9.7), 7.9 (4.6), and 4.6 (2.4), respectively. In‑hospital mortality rate was 1.7%. None of the risk scoring systems predicted in‑hospital mortality correctly. The STS score corresponded with the mortality rate of approximately 2 months, EuroSCORE II, with 6 months, and logistic EuroSCORE, with 30 months. Male gender (odds ratio [OR], 5.668; 95% CI, 1.055–30.446; P = 0.04) and low albumin levels before TAVI (OR, 0.109; 95% CI, 0.018–0.654; P = 0.02) were found to be the independent predictors of long‑term mortality. Conclusions: Although all conventional risk scores overestimated in‑hospital mortality, the STS risk score predicted 2‑month, EuroSCORE II, 6‑month, and logistic EuroSCORE, 30‑month mortality. The independent predictors of long‑term mortality were male gender and low blood albumin levels before the TAVI procedure