Software innovations: The influence of quality, diversity and structure of network ties

There is high uncertainty associated with the outcomes of Information Technology (IT) investments and innovations. In such environments, IT actors (firm and individuals) are also unsure about their actions and preferences. The social relationships of these actors create substantial value for these actors in multiple ways (e.g. providing social support and information and knowledge resources) and hence also influence their economic actions. Therefore, rather than focusing on actor\u27s characteristics and economic incentives in isolation, it is important to consider broader social environment in which actors are embedded to explain actions and outcomes. In this research, we analyze the actions of actors and outcomes of these actions through the socio-economic lens. In the first essay, we study the factors that explain the heterogeneity in value of software innovations. Many firms invest in costly research and development to produce innovative software applications. However, software innovations exhibit an enormous variance in their importance or value . Since innovation is a result of collaborative effort, in this study we investigate the impact of social capital accrued by a team of inventors from inter-personal collaboration networks on the value of the resulting software innovations. Software innovations have not only benefited from traditional social networks but have also shaped new social networks which are being constructed on digital platforms and have extended the reach and range of existing social networks. In the second essay, we study the actions (investments) of actors embedded in one such digital social network (Prosper.com—a peer to peer (P2P) lending website). As a relatively new phenomenon, online peer to peer (P2P) lending (where individual lenders provide unsecured loans directly to individual borrowers) has received great coverage in media but little attention from academic researchers. While few recent studies have examined this market from the borrower\u27s point of view, we set out our analysis from the lender\u27s point of view and focus on risk and returns of investments on prosper (P2P lending website). We identify important loan and borrower characteristics which can be used to segment loans in term of returns and risk profiles. We find that on average, loans through prosper provide negative returns. However, there do exist certain segments of loans that produce positive returns. We then derive the efficient frontier for investments on prosper and determine the optimal portfolio for investments for a given level of risk. Our study provides investment guidelines for lenders and design implications for online peer to peer lending websites. In the future research we want to focus on lenders\u27 learning strategies over time. Lenders can update their beliefs about the risk and returns of various loans and thus adjust their investment strategies based on their own past experience, performance of overall prosper market and knowledge accrued from the social network of lenders in the Prosper marketplace.

Strike a happy medium: The effect of IT-knowledge on VCs’ overconfidence in IT-investments

In this article, the effect of IT knowledge on the overconfidence of venture capitalists (VCs) in their IT investments is examined. Our findings show that the effect of IT knowledge on overconfidence is nonlinear. VCs with moderate levels of IT knowledge are least overconfident. At the same time, VCs with moderate levels of IT knowledge are most resistant to the biasing effects of past successes. Past failures show a negative association with overconfidence independent of the level of the VC’s IT knowledge. Finally, the negative association between stakes and VC overconfidence is stronger with greater levels of IT knowledge. These results shed light on the highly disputed role of IT knowledge in the domain of IT investments

Duodenal diverticulum and associated pancreatitis: case report with brief review of literature

Pancreatitis in the elderly is a problem of increasing occurrence and is associated with severe complications. Periampullary diverticula (PAD) are extraluminal outpouchings of the duodenum rarely associated with pancreatitis. The presence of PAD should be excluded before diagnosing idiopathic pancreatitis, particularly in the elderly. However, when a duodenal diverticulum is found in the absence of any additional pathology, only then should the symptoms be attributed to the diverticulum. We describe a case of duodenal diverticulum presenting with pancreatitis to emphasize the importance of this commonly neglected etiology

Slurry erosion of thermal spray coatings: Effect of sand concentration

This paper from the Malaysian International Tribology Conference 2013 conference proceedings discusses using Ni based thermal spray coatings deposited on a commonly used hydroturbine steel

Conversion Disorder Presenting As Neuritic Leprosy

Conversion disorder is not normally listed amongst the conditions in differential diagnosis of leprosy neuropathy. A case conversion reaction who was initially diagnosed as neuritic leprosy is reported. Patient responded to narcosuggestion and psychotherapy