2,761 research outputs found
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SMEs Inventive Performance and Profitability in the Markets for Technology
This paper studies the inventive performance and profitability of small and medium sized firms (SMEs) that are “technology specialists” compared to the inventive performance and profitability of SMEs that are instead vertically-integrated. In this paper perspective, “technology specialists” are firms that specialize upstream in generating inventions and trade those inventions in disembodied form with other firms, usually through licensing agreements. Instead, vertically-integrated firms are those firms that both generate inventions and commercialize products incorporating those inventions. We argue that technology specialists achieve a higher inventive performance than vertically-integrated firms, since they can accumulate deeper and broader inventive experience, whilst keeping a more flexible organizational structure. These firms display a lower profitability though, due to the imperfections inherent in invention market transactions and the lower bargaining power caused by the lack of commercialization assets. The theoretical framework is tested through a cross-industry investigation on a sample of European SMEs. Implications for the viability of being a technology specialist as a strategy and for the development of markets for technology are discussed
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Specializing in generality: Firm strategies when intermediate markets work
This paper studies the relationship between two decisions shaping the organizational configuration of a firm: whether to make the upstream resources more general and deployable to more markets (vs. keeping them tailored to a few markets), and whether to trade with downstream firms as an upstream supplier of intermediate products and services (vs. directly entering downstream markets). While the literature has looked at these two decisions separately, we argue that they depend on each other. This has the important implication that they can generate organizational complementarities, inducing firms to implement them jointly. We are motivated in particular by the observation that an increasing number of firms invest in general upstream resources and exploit them as upstream suppliers of intermediate services or products— a strategy that we refer to as specialization in generality. Interestingly, the literature following the seminal work by Penrose (1959) and Nelson (1959) has highlighted the use of general upstream resources to enter new downstream markets. We identify the supply and demand conditions under which specialization in generality is instead more likely to emerge: lack of prior downstream assets, on the supply side, and a roughly equal distribution of buyers across intermediate markets (a “broad” demand), on the demand side. We test our predictions using a sample of firms in the U.S. laser industry between 1993 and 2001. A regulatory shock that increases the value of trading relative to downstream entry provides the setting for a quasi-natural experiment, which corroborates our theoretical predictions
Time-domain THz spectroscopy reveals coupled protein-hydration dielectric response in solutions of native and fibrils of human lyso-zyme
Here we reveal details of the interaction between human lysozyme proteins,
both native and fibrils, and their water environment by intense terahertz time
domain spectroscopy. With the aid of a rigorous dielectric model, we determine
the amplitude and phase of the oscillating dipole induced by the THz field in
the volume containing the protein and its hydration water. At low
concentrations, the amplitude of this induced dipolar response decreases with
increasing concentration. Beyond a certain threshold, marking the onset of the
interactions between the extended hydration shells, the amplitude remains fixed
but the phase of the induced dipolar response, which is initially in phase with
the applied THz field, begins to change. The changes observed in the THz
response reveal protein-protein interactions me-diated by extended hydration
layers, which may control fibril formation and may have an important role in
chemical recognition phenomena
Novel insights into cochlear information processing
Already Helmholtz profoundly addressed the question how the nonlinearity of the human hearing sensor, the cochlea, might shape human sound perception. At his time, research was, however, obstructed by the lack of experimental data regarding the amplification properties of the inner ear. In the meantime, accurate measuring methods have permitted the comparison of models of the hearing sensor with empirical data, leading to a strong revival of the interest into Helmholtz’s original research questions. In our paper, we describe some recent theoretical and modeling advances in the understanding of the nature of human pitch perception. We reveal a number of to date unexplained human auditory percept effects to be direct consequences of the nonlinear properties of the mammalian hearing sensor. Our insights also demonstrate, as a by-note, the limitations of the present reverse engineering approach towards cochlear implants
Impact of soybean cropping frequency on soil carbon storage in Mollisols and Vertisols
The high cropping frequency of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), mainly as a single annual crop, in the extensive agricultural systems of South America may adversely affect the soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, which may be different between soils depending on aggregation agents. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of the soybean cropping frequency on the SOC storage in different soil aggregate size classes in a Mollisol and in a Vertisol in the Northeastern Pampas of Argentina under no-tillage management. In each soil, the samples were collected at 0-5, 5-15 and 15-30 cm depths in eleven cropped and one uncropped fields. The number of months occupied with soybean in relation to the total number of months occupied with crops within crop sequences, over a 6-year period, was used to calculate the soybean cropping frequency. The SOC stocks in equivalent soil mass, the SOC concentration both in the whole sample and in different aggregate size classes, and the stratification ratio of the SOC stock and of the SOC concentration were determined. The increase in soybean cropping frequency reduced the SOC stock in both soils at 0-5 cm, and in the Vertisol at 5-15 and 0-30 cm but the change was evident only between the cropped and the uncropped situation. A decrease in soybean cropping frequency resulted in a higher amount of macroaggregates (> 250 um), a higher SOC concentration and a higher stratification ratio in the Mollisol at 0-5 cm, whereas in the Vertisol the soybean cropping frequency did not affect the stratification ratio or the aggregate distribution in any size class. The increase in soybean cropping frequency reduced SOC storage only in macroaggregates (> 250 µm) in both soils at 0-5 cm, particularly in the largest macroaggregates (> 2000 µm), and more in the Mollisol than in the Vertisol. Our results show that a high soybean cropping frequency may severely affect the SOC storage in the Mollisol, and suggest that in the Vertisol this effect may lead to a reduction in the SOC storage in the long term.Fil: Novelli, Leonardo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; ArgentinaFil: Caviglia, Octavio Pedro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos; ArgentinaFil: Melchiori, R. J. M.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; Argentin
Microgrid Demonstration Platform: Modbus TCP/IP Connection for Real-Time Monitoring of a Wind Turbine
Several countries promote wind energy despite their high installation cost, since over time these investments can become profitable. It is important that energy entrepreneurs have up-to-date information of operation parameters, to identify places where excessive energy consumption occurs. For energy management, it is necessary to have an overview of the whole system, such that reporting and further result analysis can be made. With monitoring and control systems, it is possible to enable an improved management of resources, especially in terms of balance between generation and consumption. In this work, it is proposed a graphical interface to monitor and control a wind turbine, in a simulation environment running four operation scenarios.The present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: H2020 DREAM-GO Project (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794); EUREKA - ITEA2 Project SEAS with project number 12004; NETEFFICITY Project (P2020 - 18015); and UID/EEA/00760/2013 funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and by National Funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Prioritising CAP intervention needs: An improved cumulative voting approach
The process to define the 2023–2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is underway. The implementation model governing the process requires each EU Member State to design a National Strategic Plan to deliver operational actions exploiting the synergies under the two pillars of the policy. Each Plan must be built from an evidence-based needs assessment that undergoes rigorous prioritisation and planning to create comprehensive, integrated, and achievable interventions. In Italy, the success of this planning process requires all interested stakeholders to generate options for the regional authorities who plan, manage, and legislate agricultural activities. This research proposes a decision-making technique, based on the cumulative voting approach, that can be used effectively when multiple persons from different backgrounds and perspectives are engaged in problem-solving and needs prioritisation. The results indicate that the model can be applied both theoretically and practically to prioritise Strategic Plan needs that involve national and regional authorities. Validation of the model allows it to be used in the next consultative processes and for expansion to socioeconomic stakeholders
Loss of expression of ATM is associated with worse prognosis in colorectal cancer and loss of Ku70 expression is associated with CIN
Repair of double strand DNA breaks (DSBs) is pivotal in maintaining normal
cell division and disruption of this system has been shown to be a key factor in
carcinogenesis. Loss of expression of the DSB repair proteins have previously been
shown to be associated with poorer survival in colorectal cancer. We wished to
ascertain the relationship of altered expression of the DSB repair proteins γ-H2AX
(gamma-H2AX), ATM and Ku70 with biological and clinico-pathological features
of colorectal cancer. 908 tumours from the VICTOR clinical trial of stage II/III
colorectal cancer were analysed for expression of γ-H2AX, ATM and Ku70 using
immunohistochemistry. Expression levels were correlated with CIN and with diseasefree
survival, correcting for microsatellite instability, BRAF/KRAS mutation status,
Dukes stage, chemo/radiotherapy, age, gender and tumour location. Down-regulated
Ku70 expression was associated with chromosomal instability (p=0.029) in colorectal
cancer. Reduced ATM expression was an independent marker of poor disease-free
survival (HR=1.67, 95% CI 1.11-2.50, p=0.015). For Ku70, further studies are
required to investigate the potential relationship of non-homologous end joining with
chromosomal instability. Loss of ATM expression might serve as a biomarker of poor
prognosis in colorectal cancer
Elevated pulse pressure is associated with hemolysis, proteinuria and chronic kidney disease in sickle cell disease
A seeming paradox of sickle cell disease is that patients do not suffer from a high prevalence of systemic hypertension in spite of endothelial dysfunction, chronic inflammation and vasculopathy. However, some patients do develop systolic hypertension and increased pulse pressure, an increasingly recognized major cardiovascular risk factor in other populations. Hence, we hypothesized that pulse pressure, unlike other blood pressure parameters, is independently associated with markers of hemolytic anemia and cardiovascular risk in sickle cell disease. We analyzed the correlates of pulse pressure in patients (n 5 661) enrolled in a multicenter international sickle cell trial. Markers of hemolysis were analyzed as independent variables and as a previously validated hemolytic index that includes multiple variables. We found that pulse pressure, not systolic, diastolic or mean arterial pressure, independently correlated with high reticulocyte count (beta 5 2.37, p 5 0.02) and high hemolytic index (beta 5 1.53, p50.002) in patients with homozygous sickle cell disease in two multiple linear regression models which include the markers of hemolysis as independent variables or the hemolytic index, respectively. Pulse pressure was also independently associated with elevated serum creatinine (beta 5 3.21, p 5 0.02), and with proteinuria (beta 5 2.52, p 5 0.04). These results from the largest sickle cell disease cohort to date since the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease show that pulse pressure is independently associated with hemolysis, proteinuria and chronic kidney disease. We propose that high pulse pressure may be a risk factor for clinical complications of vascular dysfunction in sickle cell disease. Longitudinal and mechanistic studies should be conducted to confirm these hypotheses
Effects of low-dose VOSO4 on age-related changes in glucose homeostasis in rats
The effects of low doses of vanadyl sulfate (0.2 mg/ml in the drinking water) on
the age-related impairment of glucose homeostasis in Sprague-Dawley rats were
investigated. VOSO(4) administration was initiated in 5-month-old animals and
lasted 3 months. Thus, in 8-month-old rats, we investigated glucose metabolism in
vivo and insulin secretory function in vitro. Results showed that VOSO(4) allowed
the disposal of an oral glucose load at lower insulin levels than in age-matched
controls. No significant changes were found in muscle glucose transporter
(GLUT-4) levels or in glycogen content upon VOSO(4) treatment. Islets isolated
from VOSO(4)-treated rats released less insulin than control islets, but showed a
better preserved sensitivity to secretagogues, in terms of incremental release
over basal release, secretory efficiency, and maintenance of the priming effect
of glucose. In conclusion, chronic low-dose VOSO(4) treatment facilitates insulin
action by a mechanism independent of muscle GLUT-4 levels and helps preserve the
appropriate sensitivity of beta cells to stimuli, thereby preventing
age-dependent functional alterations
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