International experience and FDI location choices of Chinese firms: The moderating effects of home country government support and host country institutions

We examine the extent to which Chinese government support of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and host country institutional environments interact with prior entry experience by Chinese firms, and how this interrelationship affects FDI undertaken by Chinese firms. We hypothesize that home country government support and well-established host country institutions enhance organizational capabilities to take risks in FDI. As such, they reduce the need to accumulate experiential knowledge and capabilities relating to entering host countries based on prior entry experience in a particular country when undertaking follow-up investment projects. Using a unique, hand-collected panel data set of Chinese publicly listed firms during 2002–2009, we find that home government support and well-developed host country institutions reduce the importance of prior entry experience and significantly increase the likelihood of FDI entry into a host country. Further, from our subsample analyses we identify differences between entering developed and developing host countries in terms of the impact of home country government support and quality of host country institutions. Our findings help explain the puzzle concerning why emerging economy firms have rapidly internationalized in a short period of time and do not follow the pattern predicted by classical IB theories

GWAS for quantitative resistance phenotypes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals resistance genes and regulatory regions

YesDrug resistance diagnostics that rely on the detection of resistance-related mutations could expedite patient care and TB eradication. We perform minimum inhibitory concentration testing for 12 anti-TB drugs together with Illumina whole-genome sequencing on 1452 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates. We evaluate genome-wide associations between mutations in MTB genes or non-coding regions and resistance, followed by validation in an independent data set of 792 patient isolates. We confirm associations at 13 non-canonical loci, with two involving non-coding regions. Promoter mutations are measured to have smaller average effects on resistance than gene body mutations. We estimate the heritability of the resistance phenotype to 11 anti-TB drugs and identify a lower than expected contribution from known resistance genes. This study highlights the complexity of the genomic mechanisms associated with the MTB resistance phenotype, including the relatively large number of potentially causal loci, and emphasizes the contribution of the non-coding portion of the genome.Biomedical research grant from the American Lung Association (PI MF, RG-270912-N), a K01 award from the BD2K initiative (PI MF, ES026835), and an NIAID U19 CETR grant (P.I. M.M., AI109755), the Belgian Science Policy (Belspo) (L.R., C.J.M.)

Exploring service providers’ perspectives on the prevention and management of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in South Africa: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is among the leading causes of developmental and intellectual disabilities in individuals. Although efforts are being made toward the prevention and management of FASD in South Africa, the prevalence remains high. The sustained high prevalence could be attributed to several factors, including the lack of policy for a coordinated effort to prevent, diagnose and manage FASD nationally. In this study, our aim was to explore the perspectives of service providers (health and allied professionals, teachers, social workers) on the prevention and management of FASD towards developing a guideline to inform policy. METHOD: Guided by the exploratory qualitative research design, we purposively sampled relevant service providers in the field of FASD prevention and management for focus group discussions. Nine of these discussions were conducted with to eight participants per discussion session. The discussants were asked various questions on the current and required interventions and practices for the prevention and management of FASD. Following the Framework Method, data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using the thematic content analysis approach. RESULTS: Our findings show that aspects of the prevention and management of alcohol-related conditions are present in various policies. However, there is no clear focus on coordinated, multi-sectoral efforts for a more comprehensive approach to the prevention and management of FASD. The participants recognized the need for specific requirements on broad-based preventive awareness programs, training and support for parents and caregivers, inclusive education in mainstream schools and training of relevant professionals. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive and coordinated prevention and management programs guided by a specific policy could improve the prevention and management of FASD. Policy formulation demonstrates commitment from the government, highlights the importance of the condition, and elaborates on context-specific prevention and management protocols.IS