Investment guidance for the Chinese medical device market

The medical device market is one of the most attractive and profitable areas in the global economy. Since China opened its doors to the world it has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment. The Chinese medical device market is currently one of the most promising and fastest growing markets, which is the second largest market in the world with 200 billion yuan (RMB) total sales in 2013. This paper illustrates the geographical distribution of the Chinese medical device industry, combined with the location quotient (LQ) assessment, to reveal the medical device industry’s professional level and degree of concentration in each province, providing guidance for investors who are interested in medical device investment in China. The LQ and market share (MS) matrix reveals that the best investment regions in China are: Bohai Economic Rim, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta Economic Zones

FGF-2 Induces Neuronal Death through Upregulation of System xc-

The cystine/glutamate antiporter (system xc-) transports cystine into cell in exchange for glutamate. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) upregulates system xc- selectively on astrocytes, which leads to increased cystine uptake, the substrate for glutathione production, and increased glutamate release. While increased intracellular glutathione can limit oxidative stress, the increased glutamate release can potentially lead to excitotoxicity to neurons. To test this hypothesis, mixed neuronal and glial cortical cultures were treated with FGF-2. Treatment with FGF-2 for 48 h caused a significant neuronal death in these cultures. Cell death was not observed in neuronal-enriched cultures, or astrocyte-enriched cultures, suggesting the toxicity was the result of neuron-glia interaction. Blocking system xc- eliminated the neuronal death as did the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo[f]quinoxaline-2,3-dione (NBQX), but not the NMDA receptor antagonist memantine. When cultures were exposed directly to glutamate, both NBQX and memantine blocked the neuronal toxicity. The mechanism of this altered profile of glutamate receptor mediated toxicity by FGF-2 is unclear. The selective calcium permeable AMPA receptor antagonist 1-naphthyl acetyl spermine (NASPM) failed to offer protection. The most likely explanation for the results is that 48 h FGF-2 treatment induces AMPA/kainate receptor toxicity through increased system xc- function resulting in increased release of glutamate. At the same time, FGF-2 alters the sensitivity of the neurons to glutamate toxicity in a manner that promotes selective AMPA/kainate receptor mediated toxicity

Stellar abundance of binary stars: their role in determining the formation location of super-Earths and ice giants

Binary stars form from the same parent molecular cloud and thus have the same chemical composition. Forming planets take building material (solids) away from the surrounding protoplanetary disc. Assuming that the disc's accretion onto the star is the main process that clears the disc, the atmosphere of the star will show abundance reductions caused by the material accreted by the forming planet(s). If planets are only forming around one star of a binary system, the planet formation process can result in abundance differences in wide binary stars, if their natal protoplanetary discs do not interact during planet formation. Abundance differences in the atmospheres of wide binaries hosting giant planets have already been observed and linked to the formation location of giant planets. Here, we model how much building material is taken away for super-Earth planets that form inside/outside of the water ice line as well as ice giants forming inside/outside of the CO ice line. Our model predicts a significant abundance difference $\Delta$[X/H] in the stellar atmospheres of the planet-hosting binary component. Our model predicts that super-Earths that form inside the water ice line ($r<r_{\rm H_2O}$) will result in an $\Delta$[Fe/H]/$\Delta$[O/H] abundance difference in the their host star that is a factor of 2 larger than for super-Earths formed outside the water ice line ($r>r_{\rm H_2O}$) in the water rich parts of the disc. Additionally, our model shows that the $\Delta$[Fe/H]/$\Delta$[C/H] abundance difference in the host star is at least a factor of 3 larger for ice giants formed at $r<r_{\rm CO}$ compared to ice giants formed far out in the protoplanetary disc ($r>r_{\rm CO}$). Future observations of wide binary star systems hosting super-Earths and ice giants could therefore help to constrain the migration pathway of these planets and thus constrain planet formation theories.Comment: accepted by MNRA

Long read review: minority women and austerity: survival and resistance in France and Britain by Leah Bassel and Akwugo Emejulu

In Minority Women and Austerity: Survival and Resistance in France and Britain, Leah Bassel and Akwugo Emejulu contribute to analyses of the political effects of austerity by looking at how minority women in cities across the UK and France navigate their race, gender, professional lives and social groups in an increasingly harsh economic landscape. Drawing on interviews, focus groups and knowledge exchange events, this book offers searing and vital insight into the inherent intersectionality of meaningful political struggle, centralising the often marginalised voices of those committed to the painstaking work of organisation and activism, writes Rebecca Liu

Management learning in business networks:the process and the effects

This article studies the process of firm learning in business networks and its impact on new product development. It argues that prior work offers little insight into how learning actually takes place in network collaboration, and so poses the open question of whether learning through business networks does accelerate new product development. The article begins by clarifying important learning concepts. It then documents how these concepts evolve across organisational boundaries and projects and also over time. It also shows how companies apply the skills of dialogue, articulation and experience for knowledge transfer and how they engage in articulation and pollination for knowledge cross-transformation. However, despite being able to document these processes, this study is unable to unequivocally link knowledge transfer with new product development efficiency and conclude that the latter is enhanced by knowledge cross-transformation. This article contributes to a theoretical inter-organisational learning model in business networks and suggests improved ways for management learning

Book Review: The Financial Imaginary: Economic Mystification and the Limits of Realist Fiction by Alison Shonkwiler

In The Financial Imaginary: Economic Mystification and the Limits of Realist Fiction, Alison Shonkwiler argues that the growing abstraction of contemporary capitalism has demanded the emergence of new imaginative conceptions of ‘the real’: what she terms ‘financial realism’. This timely book shows how the novel can be a tool for revealing the hidden workings and circulation of finance capital to provide counter-narratives to the abstractions of late capitalism, writes Rebecca Liu

Monthly surface thermal forcing in the tropical Pacific from 1980 to 1983

Monthly distributions of surface latent heat flux and solar irradiance in the tropical Pacific were computed from observations of the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer on Nimbus-7 and the visible infrared spin scan radiometer on GOES-W. They are the dominant variable components of the surface heat flux, the sum of which gives the approximate thermal forcing on the ocean. Monthly maps of this sum, from January 1980 to September 1983, and within 20 deg N and 20 deg S, 180 deg and 80 deg W, are presented

Bariatric Surgery Recipients\u27 Needs for Long-Term Health and Well-Being; Perspectives of Patients and Providers

The overall purpose of this dissertation was to examine what is needed in bariatric surgery programming to support long-term health and well-being from the perspectives of the patient and providers. Study 1 assessed what bariatric surgery recipients perceive they need to best support their long-term health and well-being from a provincial sample (Ontario, Canada), and from an international sample. Study 2 explored the physical, psychological, social, and clinic-related experiences of individuals who underwent bariatric surgery at least two years prior. Study 3 investigated what bariatric clinic staff believe surgery recipients need to best support their long-term health and well-being. Findings from study 1 identified encouragement from family, friends, bariatric team members, and peers as the most useful sources of support and services over the course of the surgery process. Access to immediate follow-up appointments after surgery for post-surgery concerns was reported as needed but not received. Recommendations to address excess skin and creating a mentorship program were proposed by participants. The results from Study 2 revealed that in general, participants experienced positive improvements in their physical, psychological, and social states since surgery. However, concerns pertaining to several unanticipated outcomes of the surgery were underscored and informed the recommendations for other patients, including being prepared to re-learn ones’ body, utilizing the support services available, and being aware that social relationships may change and/or require tending. The results from Study 3 identified follow-up appointments, bariatric surgery-related education, and assessing readiness to change as the most helpful aids by bariatric clinic staff for patients. A lack of ongoing counselling, financial support for excess skin removal, family physicians with expertise in bariatric surgery, and access to allied health professionals were deemed needed but unavailable. Bariatric clinic staff believed that offering one-on-one counselling, and providing education and resources for Family Health Teams and others may be able to address the challenges faced by bariatric surgery recipients. Overall, these three studies serve as the groundwork for future bariatric programming development, and tailoring components for optimal long-term health outcomes. This summary of work also provides an in-depth understanding of the experiences, insights, and challenges of bariatric surgery recipients and bariatric clinic staff in obesity management

Do resource constraints trigger or hamper innovation?:a longitudinal study of UK high-tech firms

This paper explores whether firms resource constraints trigger or hamper innovation using a ten-year longitudinal study. It contributes to the longstanding theoretical debate between the resource-based and entrepreneurship views of the firm. Scholars from the resource-based perspective argue that resource constraints increase delays and unpredictable results, which thereby to impede innovation. Entrepreneurship research however suggests that organizations avoid experimentation if resources are available, and that resource scarcity therefore stimulates managers to adopt entrepreneurial practices that foster innovation. This points to our imperfect understanding on the issue.This paper contributes to both theoretical advance and managerial practice. First, to correct the bias from a disproportionate amount of interest to financial barriers, we provide a more balanced and integrated view by considering other important resource constraints. Second, to observe the difference of two types of innovation, we augment the literature by studying the effects of resource constraints on both incremental and radical innovativeness and on firms’ performance of sales and R&D growth. Finally, the issue of resource constraints is an inevitable challenge, and the findings of the paper provide some guidance to managers and innovators who are struggling with the lack of resources on one hand and with the pressure of innovation and competitiveness on the other hand. This paper is unique in presenting a long-term, longitudinal analysis of the impact of resource constraints on innovation, both radical and incremental. It presents a ten-year longitudinal study following 362 firms through the life cycle. We use panel analysis techniques to observe the impact of resource constraints on subsequent innovative performance. A research framework is derived from the literature review. We examine the knowledge shortfalls of: management; market; sales; production; R&D and finance. This analysis is based upon a unique, longitudinal panel dataset of 241 UK and German firms in six technology-based sectors over ten years. The dataset draws upon performance data as well as the results of detailed managerial surveys that were carried out in the UK and Germany. This, combined with information provided by interviewees about the firms’ characteristics upon founding, provides a unique and rich longitudinal perspective on factors contributing to the long-run performance of these firms. This study is based on two surveys that were carried out in 1997 and again in 2003. Using these databases, all firms with at least three employees in 1997 that were operating in one or more high-tech sectors and having been founded as legally independent companies between 1987 and 1996 were selected; the mean year of founding was 1991. Our approach to the problem involves initial use of panel logit models to predict the likelihood of a firm engaging in incremental or radical innovation. Our model is specified in a manner that we consider the lagged effect of the resource constraints in t0 on propensity for innovation in period t1. Our other controls listed above all are used for period t1. Given challenges in interpreting logit models we present the results in the form of marginal effects. Following from this analysis we then use panel OLS models to explore the impact of these constraints on subsequent innovation and growth performance. Does the lack of knowledge hamper or trigger innovation? The answer is rather mixed. While our study indicates that the lack of knowledge may not hamper innovation development for both incremental and radical, it suggests that the lack of knowledge does matter when considering sales growth and R&D growth.For radical innovation, our study suggests that the lack of management knowledge may trigger sales growth. Un-surprized, the lack of R&D knowledge triggers R&D growth of firms. This may be explained in two ways. First, the lack of R&D knowledge leads firm to increase R&D investment. Furthermore, the nature of radical innovation may also lead the innovative firms to discard prior R&D knowledge in order to build up new R&D knowledge. Finally, our study echoes the extant literature that the lack of financial knowledge hampers the R&D growth.For incremental innovation, our study once again stresses the significant impact of the lack of financial knowledge on innovation and suggests that the shortfall of financial knowledge hampers sales growth. It further suggests that the lack of market knowledge hampers R&D growth. This result also suggests that market knowledge is critical for firms in deciding their R&D investment. Finally, our study suggests that the lack of production knowledge triggers R&D growth. Managers tend to increase R&D investment when they need production knowledge.Through a ten-year longitudinal study, our study contributes to the existing literature by advancing the understanding of the association between resources constraints and innovation. Building on the theories of human capital, entrepreneurship and RBV, we shed light about the impact of knowledge shortfalls on both radical and incremental innovation. Finally, our study helps to explain the disputes of whether resource constraints hamper or trigger innovation. The study also has implications for executives and managers. It demonstrates that managers can harness the entrepreneurship practices by minimizing their interference for radical innovativeness. Managers and innovators hare encouraged to update their market knowledge that serves an important indicator for R&D investment. Furthermore, as suggested by many researchers, financial knowledge is always important in operating and managing innovation for both sales and R&D growth. Indeed, innovative firms face problems and more innovative firms have more problems. The issue of resources constrains is not only critical but also difficult to deal with. We hope our paper inspires researchers to conduct further research in the future

A study of the teachings of Confucius in the light of Jesus\u27 teachings

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1932/thumbnail.jp