Effect of cannabis smoking on lung function and respiratory symptoms: a structured literature review

As cannabis use increases, physicians need to be familiar with the effects of both cannabis and tobacco on the lungs. However, there have been very few long-term studies of cannabis smoking, mostly due to legality issues and the confounding effects of tobacco. It was previously thought that cannabis and tobacco had similar long-term effects as both cause chronic bronchitis. However, recent large studies have shown that, instead of reducing forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity (FVC), marijuana smoking is associated with increased FVC. The cause of this is unclear, but acute bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis may be relevant. Bullous lung disease, barotrauma and cannabis smoking have been recognised in case reports and small series. More work is needed to address the effects of cannabis on lung function, imaging and histological changes

Culture in international business research: a bibliometric study in four top IB journals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a study on the articles published in the four top international business (IB) journals to examine how four cultural models and concepts – Hofstede’s (1980), Hall’s (1976), Trompenaars’s (1993) and Project GLOBE’s (House et al., 2004) – have been used in the extant published IB research. National cultures and cultural differences provide a crucial component of the context of IB research. Design/methodology – This is a bibliometric study on the articles published in four IB journals over the period from 1976 to 2010, examining a sample of 517 articles using citations and co-citation matrices. Findings – Examining this sample revealed interesting patterns of the connections across the studies. Hofstede’s (1980) and House et al.’s (2004) research on the cultural dimensions are the most cited and hold ties to a large variety of IB research. These findings point to a number of research avenues to deepen the understanding on how firms may handle different national cultures in the geographies they operate. Research limitations – Two main limitations are faced, one associated to the bibliometric method, citations and co-citations analyses and other to the delimitation of our sample to only four IB journals, albeit top-ranked. Originality/value – The paper focuses on the main cultural models used in IB research permitting to better understand how culture has been used in IB research, over an extended period.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Firm Characteristics and Country Institutional Development: Business Relationships with Foreign Firms in Transition Economies

The composition of firms' foreign business networks has been attended to in recent research but has seldom been subjected to empirical study in transition economies. In this study, we test hypotheses related to the composition of firms' foreign business relationships. First, we suggest that firms' characteristics matter for building a network of ties the foreign agents. Then, we consider the moderating effect of the degree of institutional development of the home country to assess to extent to which firms' foreign business relationships in transition economies are affected by the institutional development. We conduct a set of logistic regressions and one OLS regression to investigate the composition of firms' business relationships using firm-level data from 24 transition economies. The results indicate that firm size and membership in trade associations are good predictors of foreign business relationships ? specifically, relationships with foreign investors, customers, and suppliers - and also of the diversity of foreign relationships. The country's institutional development radically changes which firms' characteristics matter in forming business relationships.transition economies, foreign relationships, types of ties, institutional development

Composition of small and large firms? business networks in transition economies

Recent research has theorized on the composition of firms' business networks but has not empirically examined business networks in transition economies may vary for different firms. In this study, using firm level data from twenty six transition economies collected by the World Bank and the EBRD in 1999-2000, we conduct a set of logistic regression models to investigate the composition of small and large firms' business networks. The results show that, in contrast to smaller firms, larger firms are more likely to have formal business relationships, and relationships with national and foreign financial institutions, government, and foreign firms. In addition, in a subgroup analysis of seven transition economies we show that the composition of the firms' business networks varies substantially across countries but that the government is still a dominant client. Furthermore, we found a large variation on firms' reliance on informal ties and the extent to which firms exchange with foreign firms.business relationships, multi-country, transition economies, institutional environment

Integrated design for integrated photonics: from the physical to the circuit level and back

Silicon photonics is maturing rapidly on a technology basis, but design challenges are still prevalent. We discuss these challenges and explain how design of photonic integrated circuits needs to be handled on both the circuit as on the physical level. We also present a number of tools based on the IPKISS design framework

Transactions Cost Theory influence in strategy research: A review through a bibliometric study in leading journals

Transaction cost theory (TCT) is widely used in several management disciplines. Its value for explaining organizational phenomena and managers? decisions is well accepted and has been recognized with two Nobel laureates (Ronald Coase and Oliver Williamson). In this paper we examine the impact of the TCT on extant research in top tier management journals. We conduct a bibliometric study supported in the analysis of citations and co-citations to uncover the connections between authors and presumably theories. We conclude that the TCT, albeit its specific focus on the transactions as the unit of analysis, is present in a majority of management- and business-related research.transaction costs theory, bibliometric study, strategy research, review

Carbon doping of superconducting magnesium diboride

We present details of synthesis optimization and physical properties of nearly single phase carbon doped MgB2 with a nominal stoichiometry of Mg(B{0.8}C{0.2})2 synthesized from magnesium and boron carbide (B4C) as starting materials. The superconducting transition temperature is ~ 22 K (~ 17 K lower than in pure MgB2). The temperature dependence of the upper critical field is steeper than in pure MgB2 with Hc2(10K) ~ 9 T. Temperature dependent specific heat data taken in different applied magnetic fields suggest that the two-gap nature of superconductivity is still preserved for carbon doped MgB2 even with such a heavily suppressed transition temperature. In addition, the anisotropy ratio of the upper critical field for T/Tc ~ 2/3 is gamma ~ 2. This value is distinct from 1 (isotropic) and also distinct from 6 (the value found for pure MgB2).Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physica

Technology transfer within MNEs: inter-subsidiary competition and cooperation

Much theory and research that seeks to explain why and how technology transfers occur within multinational enterprises (MNEs) actually addresses the question of how these transfers occur among cooperative subsidiaries, and relies on the assumption of inter-subsidiary cooperation. However, subsidiaries do not always cooperate. We suggest that the success of technology transfer among subsidiaries depends on the extent to which the relationships among an MNE's subsidiaries (i.e. inter-subsidiary) are competitive or cooperative. Inter-subsidiary cooperation is determined by the MNE's international strategy, organizational structure, and the social relationships among subsidiaries. Both hierarchical and social relational factors drive the potential for inter-subsidiary multimarket competition that originates from the overlap on the subsidiaries' products, technologies, and market portfolios

Firm characteristics and country institutional development: business relationships with foreign firms in transition economies

The composition of firms' foreign business networks has been attended to in recent research but has seldom been subjected to empirical study in transition economies. In this study, we test hypotheses related to the composition of firms' foreign business relationships. First, we suggest that firms' characteristics matter for building a network of ties the foreign agents. Then, we consider the moderating effect of the degree of institutional development of the home country to assess to extent to which firms' foreign business relationships in transition economies are affected by the institutional development. We conduct a set of logistic regressions and one OLS regression to investigate the composition of firms' business relationships using firm-level data from 24 transition economies. The results indicate that firm size and membership in trade associations are good predictors of foreign business relationships – specifically, relationships with foreign investors, customers, and suppliers - and also of the diversity of foreign relationships. The country's institutional development radically changes which firms' characteristics matter in forming business relationships