Non-strategic spin-offs: The use of corporate venturing in developing and supporting nascent ventures

The paper analyzes how and why a parent firm continues to nurture non-strategic spin-off ventures. The question is addressed in a case study of a corporate venturing unit of a large technology-based firm in Sweden. Interviews were carried out with executives in the parent firm, the corporate venturing unit and in spin-off ventures. A striking feature of this corporate venturing organization is the continuing investment in spin-off ventures, which the parent organization explicitly regards as non-core. We investigate the spin-off process to find possible explanations for this non-intuitive behavior. We develop a model based on the increasing costs to decrease information asymmetries between the corporate venturing unit and external actors when more resources are devoted to the nascent venture. The model illustrates the competitive advantage of the corporate venturing unit in the early-stage development of internal ventures. We argue that a corporate venturing unit can gain strategic benefits by developing and supporting non-strategic ventures at low cost and low risk by functioning as a strategic trashcan, while at the same time providing direct financial return from the spin-off ventures. Although the venture is non-core, the parent firm has an informational advantage about its value, but needs to further develop the venture for subsequent sale. The results indicate that the challenge for parent firms is to estimate when they no longer can profit from the information asymmetry, i.e. when the cost for further venture development has reached some critical level. The analysis illustrates how a low-cost/low-risk corporate venturing strategy can force the corporate venturing unit to guesstimate this point. In relation to this, we suggest an explanation of sponsored spin-offs where the parent firm retains partial ownership as an emergent phenomenon, caused by relatively simple environmental restrictions (low cost/low risk), rather than a carefully planned-for strategy

Avulsion of the Lesser Trochanter Following a Shot Put Sport Session

Avulsion of the lesser trochanter is an uncommon injury. In children and adolescents it usually occurs as a sports injury via traumatic avulsion of the psoas major tendon. In adults, isolated fractures of the lesser trochanter are most commonly pathological due to metastatic tumor invasion of the proximal femur. This case report documents how a 14-year-old boy, who presented with an avulsion of the lesser trochanter of the proximal femur following a seemingly atraumatic shot put session at a track and field event, was diagnosed and successfully treated with a conservative approach

Avulsion of the Lesser Trochanter Following a Shot Put Sport Session

Avulsion of the lesser trochanter is an uncommon injury. In children and adolescents it usually occursas a sports injury via traumatic avulsion of the psoas major tendon. In adults, isolated fractures of thelesser trochanter are most commonly pathological due to metastatic tumor invasion of the proximalfemur. This case report documents how a 14-year-old boy, who presented with an avulsion of thelesser trochanter of the proximal femur following a seemingly atraumatic shot put session at a trackand field event, was diagnosed and successfully treated with a conservative approach

Avulsion of the Lesser Trochanter Following a Shot Put Sport Session

Avulsion of the lesser trochanter is an uncommon injury. In children and adolescents it usually occurs as a sports injury via traumatic avulsion of the psoas major tendon. In adults, isolated fractures of the lesser trochanter are most commonly pathological due to metastatic tumor invasion of the proximal femur. This case report documents how a 14-year-old boy, who presented with an avulsion of the lesser trochanter of the proximal femur following a seemingly atraumatic shot put session at a track and field event, was diagnosed and successfully treated with a conservative approach

Increased skin autofluorescence of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in subjects with cardiovascular risk factors

Background As a clinical and non-invasive tool, the AGE Reader measures skin autofluorescence (SAF) to estimate the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the skin. Accumulation of AGEs has been implicated in several inflammation-associated diseases, including diabetes and cardio-metabolic diseases. This study aimed to assess SAF in subjects with and without cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors and examine the association between SAF and various bio-clinical parameters. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we included 250 participants between 19 and 86 years of age divided into two groups: a healthy group (n = 88) and subjects with CVR factors (n = 162 in total, diabetes n = 48, hypertension n = 62, and both n = 52). We assessed skin AGE measures and biological and clinical data. Results SAF was significantly higher in subjects with CVR factors than in healthy participants (2.42 +/- 0.38 vs 1.90 +/- 0.29 respectively; p &lt; 0.001). SAF was associated with age, gender, BMI, duration of diabetes, HbA1c, triglyceride, and obesity. Multivariate analysis showed that age and duration of diabetes were the independent determinants of SAF. The ROC analysis indicated that a SAF &gt; 2.25 AU was the optimal cut-off point to predict the presence of diabetes and/or hypertension and dyslipidemia (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion This Tunisian population-based study shows an increased SAF level in subjects with diabetes and/or hypertension and dyslipidemia compared to healthy subjects. The AGE Reader device is a rapid and non-invasive tool in clinical practice to evaluate and screen CVR factors in Tunisia with a North African phototype.</p

Value of early change of serum C reactive protein combined to modified Alvarado score in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to test the diagnostic value of baseline and early change of C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations, evaluated separately or in combination with the modified Alvarado score (MAS), in patients with clinically suspected acute appendicitis. Methods This is a prospective observational study including all patients presenting to the emergency department with an equivocal diagnosis of acute appendicitis. After inclusion, clinical and demographic data are recorded and blood samples were taken at baseline and 3 h after for serum CRP measurements (3 h CRP). The MAS is also calculated for all patients. The ultimate diagnosis of appendicitis was based on the histologic findings of the excised appendix in operated patients and clinical follow-up in emergency department discharged patients. Diagnostic accuracy of admission CRP, early change of CRP 3 h CRP minus admission CRP, MAS and the combination of these parameters was expressed by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and area under receiver operating characteristics curve. Results Five hundred patients were included from January 2010 to December 2013. Overall, 387 patients were operated the negative appendectomy rate was 8,3%. CRP concentrations were higher in patients with acute appendicitis. However, the diagnostic value of admission CRP, delta CRP and MAS was moderate with area under ROC curve respectively equal to 0.63, 0.53 and 0.6. Combining admission CRP and delta CRP values to MAS did not result in a better performance. The area under ROC curve did not exceed 0.7 with the different combinations. Conclusion Early change of CRP has a moderate diagnostic value in patients with clinically suspected acute appendicitis. Combining CRP values to MAS did not improve diagnostic accuracy