The antecedents and consequences of entrepreneur's knowledge inheritance behavior in family business

Intergenerational knowledge inheritance has gradually attracted attention in family business inheritance literature, but there is still lack of research, and the exist ing research is more qualitative. The empirical research on the influencing factors and results of intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior has not been found yet. Snowball web survey method was employed and the data from one hundred and fifty nine Chinese family firms were collected to be analyzed empirically. It is found predecessor's willingness to hand over knowledge positively affects intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior, and then promotes enterprise's contextual and task performances, in which intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior plays a mediating role. Similarly, succession intention of successors positively affects intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior, thereby promoting contextual and task performances, and intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior plays an intermediary role. The higher the successor's political skills are, the stronger the positive relationship between predecessor's intention to inherit (successor's intention to inherit) and intergenerational knowledge transfer behavior will be which further promotes contextual and task performances. This thesis also used case study to analyze the inheritance processes of classical Chinese family firms, which demonstrated the research results as well . The research findings establish a theoretical framework and empirical verification of intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior of family business. In practice, it reminds family enterprises to pay attention to intergenerational knowledge inheritance behavior, improve inheritance intentions, and cultivate the political skills of successors, so as to provide guarantee for the smooth transition and future development of family enterprises.O tema da transferência de conhecimento intergeracional tem gradualmente atraído a atenção da literatura referente às empresas familiares, contudo existe ainda muitas lacunas, e a pesquisa existente é maioritariamente qualitativa. A pesquisa quantitativa sobre os fatores que influenciam a transferência de conhecimento entre gerações está pouco desenvolvida. Para distribuição dos questionários utilizamos o método "bola de neve" e foram recolhidos e analisados dados respeitantes a 15 9 empresas familiares chinesas. Concluímos que a vontade do antecessor para passar o conhecimento afeta positivamente o comportamento relativo à transferência entre gerações, e consequentemente promove o desempenho global das empresas familiares. Similarmente, a intenção de sucessão dos sucessores afeta positivamente o comportamento da transferência de conhecimento intergeracional, promovendo também deste modo o desempenho global. Quanto maiores forem as habilidades políticas dos sucessores, mais forte será a relação positiva entre a intenção do antecessor para transferir o conhecimento. Para testar as conclusões extraídas da pesquisa quantitativa, esta tese utiliza também casos de estudo para analisar os processos de transferência de conhecimento de empresas Chinesas bem conhecidas. Os resultados da pesquisa estabelecem um quadro teórico e uma verificação empírica do comportamento entre gerações relacionado com a transferência de conhecimento. Em termos práticos, enfatiza a necessidade das empresas chinesas prestarem atenção ao comportamento relacionado com a transferência intergeracional de conhecimento, a melhorarem as intenções de transferência e a cultivarem as habilidades políticas dos sucessores, assim como providenciarem garantias para uma transição suave e ajudarem o futuro desenvolvimento das empresas familiares

General Deep Multinomial Logit Model

Multinomial logit model (MNL) is by far the most widely used discrete choice model that is widely used to explain or predict a choice from a set of two or more discrete alternatives. MNL operates within a framework of the random utility model (RUM) in which the utility of an alternative perceived by an individual consists of two components: systematic component and random component. The systematic component is usually defined as a linear function. However, practical decision processes involve complex considerations regarding various aspects of the alternatives and individual which cannot be adequately represented by simple linear models. To overcome the weakness of linear utility model and improve the performance of MNL, in this paper, we propose a general deep multinomial logit model (GDMNL) that takes advantage of both traditional MNL and deep learning. In this model, deep neural networks are applied to extend MNL by learning different nonlinear utility functions of various alternatives. The empirical study in the domain of transit route choice analysis demonstrates the validity and superiority of the proposed model

Effects of Emoticons on the Acceptance of Negative Feedback in Computer-Mediated Communication

Delivering negative performance feedback is inevitable in the workplace. However, recipients may feel uncomfortable and behave defensively, and may be unwilling to accept negative feedback mainly because they fear losing face. Such unproductive responses are heightened when negative feedback is delivered through computer-mediated communication (CMC) channels in which many nonverbal cues in face-to-face communication cannot be used to alleviate the concerns of losing face. This study examines the effectiveness of emoticons, which are designed as surrogates for facial expressions in CMC environments, in conveying social and emotional signals of the feedback provider. Specifically, based on the feedback process model and the dissonance reduction theory, this study investigates the differing effects of two types of emoticons (i.e., liking and disliking ones) on the acceptance of negative feedback by considering feedback specificity as a contingent factor. Our results suggest that using liking emoticons increases perceived good intention of the feedback provider and decreases perceived feedback negativity when the feedback is specific; however, it has no significant effect for unspecific feedback. By contrast, our results suggest that using disliking emoticons decreases perceived good intention of the feedback provider and increases perceived feedback negativity when the feedback is unspecific, whereas such effects are not significant for specific feedback. In turn, both perceived good intention of the feedback provider and perceived feedback negativity affect acceptance of the negative feedback

Prognostic significance of HALP score and combination of peripheral blood multiple indicators in patients with early breast cancer

BackgroundTo assess the prognostic significance of preoperative hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet (HALP) score combined with multiple peripheral blood indicators in patients with early breast cancer (EBC).MethodsA total of 411 patients with early invasive breast cancer underwent breast-conserving surgery or radical surgery at Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital from January 2015 to December 2020. The cut-off values of HALP, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) were calculated using the software X-tile. The primary outcomes were recurrence-free survival (RFS), which was analyzed using the Kaplan Meier (K-M) method, while log-rank was used to test the differences between high and low curves. Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the prognostic significance of HALP. Furthermore, the prognostic predictive value of independent prognostic factors was determined using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.ResultsLow HALP score (P<0.0001), high PLR (P<0.0001), and low LMR (P = 0.0345) were significantly associated with worse RFS. Body mass index (BMI)<24 (P = 0.0036), no diabetes (P = 0.0205), earlier TNM stage (P = 0.0005), and no lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0022) were positively correlated with longer survival HALP scores (hazard ratio [HR] 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.08 (0.024–0.265), P<0.0001), BMI (HR 95%CI: 0.254 (0.109–0.589), P = 0.001), TNM stage (HR 95%CI: 0.153 (0.041–0.571), P = 0.005), and diabetes (HR 95%CI: 0.259 (0.085–0.785), P = 0.017) were demonstrated as independent prognostic factors by Cox regression analysis. The ROC curves depicted that the two most valuable factors were TNM stage and HALP, and combined independent factors were more accurate in prognostic prediction than any single factor. This further indicated that the TNM stage combined HALP or BMI were more valuable combinations.ConclusionThe HALP score was an independent prognostic factor for EBC and was significantly associated with worse RFS. This score may predict the probability of postoperative tumor recurrence or metastasis before surgery

A Simple Graphene NH₃ Gas Sensor via Laser Direct Writing.

Ammonia gas sensors are very essential in many industries and everyday life. However, their complicated fabrication process, severe environmental fabrication requirements and desorption of residual ammonia molecules result in high cost and hinder their market acceptance. Here, laser direct writing is used to fabricate three parallel porous 3D graphene lines on a polyimide (PI) tape to simply construct an ammonia gas sensor. The middle one works as an ammonia sensing element and the other two on both sides work as heaters to improve the desorption performance of the sensing element to ammonia gas molecules. The graphene lines were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The response and recovery time of the sensor without heating are 214 s and 222 s with a sensitivity of 0.087% ppm-1 for sensing 75 ppm ammonia gas, respectively. The experimental results prove that under the optimized heating temperature of about 70 °C the heaters successfully help implement complete desorption of residual NH₃ showing a good sensitivity and cyclic stability

Molecular Characterization of a Novel Big Defensin from Clam Venerupis philippinarum

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important mediators of the primary defense mechanism against microbial invasion. In the present study, a big defensin was identified from Venerupis philippinarum haemocytes (denoted as VpBD) by RACE and EST approaches. The VpBD cDNA contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 285 bp encoding a polypeptide of 94 amino acids. The deduce amino acid sequence of VpBD shared the common features of big defensin including disulfide array organization and helix structure, indicating that VpBD should be a new member of the big defensin family. The mRNA transcript of VpBD was up-regulated significantly during the first 24 hr after Vibrio anguillarum challenge, which was 7.4-fold increase compared to that of the control group. Then the expression decreased gradually from 24 hr to 96 hr, and the lowest expression level was detected at 96 hr post-infection, which was still 3.9-fold higher than that of control. The mature peptide of VpBD was recombined in Escherichia coli and purified for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination. The rVpBD displayed broad-spectrum inhibitory activity towards all tested bacteria with the highest activity against Staphyloccocus aureus and Pseudomonas putida. These results indicated that VpBD was involved in the host immune response against bacterial infection and might contribute to the clearance of invading bacteria

Effect of Spatholobus suberectus (Fabaceae) extract on second-degree burns in rats

Purpose: To evaluate the wound-healing effect of Spatholobus suberectus (Fabaceae) on seconddegree burns in a rat model.Methods: The animals were divided into normal, negative control, as well as 10 % Spatholobus suberectus (SS) (SS10), 20 % SS (SS20) and standard (STD) groups. Second-degree burns were inflicted by exposing a 3 × 3 cm sterile area of skin to boiling water for 10 min. The animals were treated topically twice daily for 2 weeks. Wound contraction (%) was measured after 2 weeks, while wound tissue  histopathology was assessed by hematoxylin & eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining. In addition, lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde kit) and cytokine secretion (ELISA) were measured in liver and plasma, respectively.Results: The results of this study suggest that topical application of SS for 2 weeks significantly increases wound closure compared with the negative control. Moreover, treatment with SS significantly improved the pathological status of the wound throughout the protocol. There was also a significant decrease in malondialdehyde activity and increase in cytokine release in SS-treated rats compared with control rats.Conclusions: The results show that topical application of SS after inflicting second-degree burns in rats results in increased wound healing and decreased cytokine release and oxidative stress.Keyword: Spatholobus suberectus, Burns, Wound, Lipid peroxidation, Cytokine