SME internationalization: motivations to internationalize and influential factors on entry mode choice. Case study of two Norwegian ship equipment manufacturers that have entered chinese market

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi – Universitetet i Nordland, 201

Cultural Default and Translation Compensation in Red Poppies

Cultural default is a common phenomenon in literary works. It will not cause obstacles to the understanding of original readers who share cultural background with the author, but for readers of the target language, cultural differences may create vacuum of meaning for them, so it is necessary to make compensation for the cultural default in the translation process. Taking Red Poppies as the research object, this paper makes a classified study of cultural default, and analyzes the compensation methods in Howard Goldblatt’s translation

Étude du comportement en fatigue des composites tissés et détermination des seuils d’initiation des endommagements

Ce projet de maîtrise présente l’étude du comportement en fatigue d’un matériau composite tissé, qui utilise la technique d’émission acoustique (EA) pour la détection de l’initiation des dommages de fatigue. Ce travail fait partie du projet de recherche CRIAQ-COMP 407 dont le but est de développer une approche de prédiction de l’initiation de l’endommagement dans les composites tissés qui sont soumis à des chargements cycliques. Une méthode de localisation par émission acoustique a été introduite pour localiser les sources d’ondes de contraintes émettant dans la zone autour d’un défaut artificiel inséré préalablement dans l’échantillon. Les essais de fatigue ont été réalisés sous différentes conditions environnementales et la détection des seuils d’initiation des endommagements a permis de générer des courbes de durée de vie (courbes S-N). La comparaison des courbes S-N entre elles a permis d’évaluer l’influence de chacune de ces conditions sur la durée de vie en fatigue. Par la suite, une méthode de classification a été développée en combinant la carte de Kohonen et la méthode des k-moyennes. Cette approche a permis d’établir une corrélation entre les différents endommagements et les signaux acoustiques détectés. Ce mémoire est organisé en quatre chapitres: le premier chapitre présente l’état de l’art de l’application des matériaux composites, l’importance de la caractérisation de son comportement en fatigue, et le contexte général du projet de recherche. Dans le chapitre II, une revue exhaustive de la littérature est présentée. Les travaux de recherche traitant du comportement des composites tissés sous chargement statique et en fatigue ont été synthétisés. Ce chapitre contient aussi une revue sur les techniques d’analyse et de traitement des signaux d’émission acoustique utilisés pour suivre les modes d’endommagement en fatigue et pour reconnaitre les différentes classes des endommagements de fatigue. Le chapitre III présente les essais expérimentaux, les traitements des données et les techniques d’inspection. Premièrement, les échantillons utilisés dans les différents essais sont présentés et les vitesses de propagation des ondes de Lamb ont été estimées. Ensuite, les essais statiques et les essais en fatigue sont présentés, et les méthodes pour déterminer les seuils de l’initiation et de la propagation du défaut en se basant sur les analyses des signaux d’émission acoustique sont aussi présentées. Les courbes S-N pour la prédiction ont été établies en se basant sur les différents seuils de l’initiation des endommagements de fatigue obtenues. L’influence des facteurs environnementaux sur le comportement en fatigue a été mise en évidence en comparant les différents courbes S-N obtenues pour chaque condition d’essai. La dernière partie du chapitre présente un travail de classification non supervisé et les résultats de classification ont été vérifiés par les deux techniques d’inspection : la tomographie et le C-scan. Le chapitre IV présente une conclusion générale de ce travail où les différents résultats importants ont été discutés. Les points positifs et les points à améliorer ont été présentés ainsi que quelques propositions pour des travaux futurs

Action Research for Promoting Translation Competence of Non-English Majors

The paper explores how to promote translation competence of non-English majors by the construction of students-centered teaching mode with two rounds of action research carried out. During the process of action research, the author issues questionnaires, interviews with students and organize students to participate in the two exams with a view to collecting valuable data and further adjusting teaching methods based on the analysis of data. Finally, the author compares the scores of pre-test with those of post-test with the aid of SPSS 16 and gives an elaborate description of results. The results gained by two rounds of action research show that the students-centered teaching mode can improve effectively the translation competence of non-English majors

The Influence of Language Aptitude on EFL Learners in SLA

In recent decades, as an important factor in second language acquisition (SLA), language aptitude has attracted more and more attention. Many scholars such as John Carroll, Skehan, Bialystok and Frohlich have proved that language aptitude has great impact on second language acquisition and can predict language learning effect. Using Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), this paper mainly analyzes the influence of language aptitude on EFL learners in second language acquisition. Therefore, the author chooses some EFL students at the research subject, and adopts some methods (eg: interview) to survey their basic situation of foreign language learning. After that, the data collected are analyzed by SPSS, a statistical software. From those data, we learn about how language aptitude influences foreign language learning in the process of second language acquisition. Based on these results, the author finds out the relationship between language aptitude and teaching and then proposes several suggestions on how to teach efficiently when facing EFL learners

Research on Multiple Complex Data Processing Methods Based on OpenStack Cloud Platform

OpenStack is an open source cloud computing management platform project that supports almost all types of cloud environment. It can achieve data processing services among the interactive information storages, and it can also be stored in the virtual machine of cloud computing platform in various services. When performing complex data combination processing, each service cooperates with other services according to the interaction information, and finally completes the processing of complex data

Endothelial Differentiation Gene-1, a New Downstream Gene Is Involved in RTEF-1 Induced Angiogenesis in Endothelial Cells

Related Transcriptional Enhancer Factor-1 (RTEF-1) has been suggested to induce angiogenesis through regulating target genes. Whether RTEF-1 has a direct role in angiogenesis and what specific genes are involved in RTEF-1 driven angiogenisis have not been elucidated. We found that over-expressing RTEF-1 in Human dermal microvascular endothelial cells-1 (HMEC-1) significantly increased endothelial cell aggregation, growth and migration while the processes were inhibited by siRNA of RTEF-1. In addition, we observed that Endothelial differentiation gene-1 (Edg-1) expression was up-regulated by RTEF-1 at the transcriptional level. RTEF-1 could bind to Edg-1 promoter and subsequently induce its activity. Edg-1 siRNA significantly blocked RTEF-1-driven increases in endothelial cell aggregation in a Matrigel assay and retarded RTEF-1-induced endothelial cell growth and migration. Pertussis Toxin (PTX), a Gi/Go protein sensitive inhibitor, was found to inhibit RTEF-1 driven endothelial cell aggregation and migration. Our data demonstrates that Edg-1 is a potential target gene of RTEF-1 and is involved in RTEF-1-induced angiogenesis in endothelial cells. Gi/Go protein coupled receptor pathway plays a role in RTEF-1 driven angiogenesis in endothelial cells

Fibroblast Growth Factor 18 Increases the Trophic Effects of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Chondrocytes Isolated from Late Stage Osteoarthritic Patients

Coculture of mesenchymal stem cells with chondrocytes increases production of cartilaginous matrix. Chondrocytes isolated from late stage osteoarthritic patients usually lost their phenotype of producing cartilaginous matrix. Fibroblast growth factor 18 is believed to redifferentiate OA chondrocyte into functionally active chondrocytes. The aim of this study is to investigate the supportive effects of MSCs on OA chondrocytes and test if FGF18 could enhance the responsiveness of OA chondrocytes to the support of MSCs in a coculture system. Both pellet and transwell co-cultures were used. GAG quantification, hydroxyproline assay, and qPCR were performed. An ectopic models of cartilage formation was also applied. Our data indicated that, in pellets coculture of MSCs and OA chondrocytes, matrix production was increased in the presence of FGF18, comparing to the monoculture of chondrocytes. Results from transwell coculture study showed that expression of matrix producing genes in OA chondrocytes increased when cocultured with MSCs with FGF18 in culture medium, while hypertrophic genes were not changed by coculture. Finally, coimplantation of MSCs with OA chondrocytes produces more matrix than chondrocytes only. In conclusion, FGF18 can restore the responsiveness of OA chondrocytes to the trophic effects of MSCs. Coimplantation of MSCs and OA chondrocytes treated with FGF18 may be a good alternative cell source for regenerating cartilage tissue that is degraded during OA pathological changes

Role of A20 in cIAP-2 Protection against Tumor Necrosis Factor α (TNF-α)-Mediated Apoptosis in Endothelial Cells

Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) influences endothelial cell viability by altering the regulatory molecules involved in induction or suppression of apoptosis. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not completely understood. In this study, we demonstrated that A20 (also known as TNFAIP3, tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 3, and an anti-apoptotic protein) regulates the inhibitor of apoptosis protein-2 (cIAP-2) expression upon TNF-α induction in endothelial cells. Inhibition of A20 expression by its siRNA resulted in attenuating expression of TNF-α-induced cIAP-2, yet not cIAP-1 or XIAP. A20-induced cIAP-2 expression can be blocked by the inhibition of phosphatidyl inositol-3 kinase (PI3-K), but not nuclear factor (NF)-κB, while concomitantly increasing the number of endothelial apoptotic cells and caspase 3 activation. Moreover, TNF-α-mediated induction of apoptosis was enhanced by A20 inhibition, which could be rescued by cIAP-2. Taken together, these results identify A20 as a cytoprotective factor involved in cIAP-2 inhibitory pathway of TNF-α-induced apoptosis. This is consistent with the idea that endothelial cell viability is dependent on interactions between inducers and suppressors of apoptosis, susceptible to modulation by TNF-α