Technological Discontinuities and the Comparative Strategic Value of New Capabilites: Evidence from the Comparison of Small- and Large-Molecule Targeted Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery

Traditional creative destruction theories distinguish disruptions as competence-destroying or competence-enhancing to incumbents’ capabilities, with the former case resulting in incumbents’ loss of competitive advantage in in-house R&D performance (even if complementary assets aid in retaining final market share). In this paper, I propose that attention to the extent of competence destruction is necessary but not sufficient for analyses of competitive advantage in R&D through a technological discontinuity. A full analysis requires the comparison of the value added and ease of access (i.e., strategic value) of all capabilities, old and new. In other words, an analysis of competition during a transition requires assessment not only of how many of the old capabilities were lost but also what it takes to acquire the new ones. I find evidence for this proposition in qualitative and quantitative data from the transition of anti-cancer drug discovery from standard chemotherapy to targeted therapies. Among targeted therapies, I compare two variants, small- vs. large-molecule drugs, which though equally competence-destroying to chemotherapy-based drug discovery, differ in that large-molecule drugs require one more new capability: expertise in biopharmaceutical technology. By tracing the origin and evolution of biopharmaceutical technology, as well as its comparative value added, I can show a contrast in results: incumbents led in small-molecule targeted drug discovery; but they fell behind biopharmaceutical technology pioneers in large-molecule targeted drug discovery, where one of the new capabilities (i.e., expertise in biopharmaceutical technology) had higher value added and was more difficult to acquire than other new capabilities.R&D capabilities; incumbents; technological disruption; competence enhancing

Populational fluctuation and spatial distribution of Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera; Tenebrionidae) in a poultry house, Cascavel, Parana state, Brazil.

Abstract Knowledge of the population fluctuation and spatial distribution of pests is fundamental for establishing an appropriate control method. The population fluctuation and spatial distribution of the Alphitobius diaperinus in a poultry house in Cascavel, in the state of Parana, Brazil, was studied between October, 2001 and October 2002. Larvae and adults of the lesser mealworm were sampled weekly using Arends tube traps (n = 22) for six consecutive flock grow-outs. The temperature of the litter and of the poultry house was measured at the same locations of the tube traps. Beetle numbers increased continuously throughout all the sampling dates (average 5,137 in the first week and 18,494 insects on the sixth week). Significantly greater numbers of larvae were collected than adults (1 to 20 times in 95% of the sampling points). There was no correlation between temperature and the number of larvae and adults collected, therefore no fluctuation was observed during the sampling period. The population growth was correlated to litter re-use. The highest temperatures were observed in deep litter. The spatial distribution of larvae and adults in the poultry house was heterogeneous during the whole period of evaluation. Results suggest that monitoring in poultry houses is necessary prior to adopting and evaluating control measures due to the great variability of the insect distribution in the poultry house. Keywords: lesser mealworm, poultry house, temperature, population dynamicbitstream/item/78871/1/ID-27879.pd

Introduction: Examined Live – An Epistemological Exchange Between Philosophy and Cultural Psychology on Reflection

Besides the general agreement about the human capability of reflection, there is a large area of disagreement and debate about the nature and value of “reflective scrutiny” and the role of “second-order states” in everyday life. This problem has been discussed in a vast and heterogeneous literature about topics such as epistemic injustice, epistemic norms, agency, understanding, meta-cognition etc. However, there is not yet any extensive and interdisciplinary work, specifically focused on the topic of the epistemic value of reflection. This volume is one of the first attempts aimed at providing an innovative contribution, an exchange between philosophy, epistemology and psychology about the place and value of reflection in everyday life. Our goal in the next sections is not to offer an exhaustive overview of recent work on epistemic reflection, nor to mimic all of the contributions made by the chapters in this volume. We will try to highlight some topics that have motivated a new resumption of this field and, with that, drawing on chapters from this volume where relevant. Two elements defined the scope and content of this volume, on the one hand, the crucial contribution of Ernest Sosa, whose works provide original and thought-provoking contributions to contemporary epistemology in setting a new direction for old dilemmas about the nature and value of knowledge, giving a central place to reflection. On the other hand, the recent developments of cultural psychology, in the version of the “Aalborg approach”, reconsider the object and scope of psychological sciences, stressing that “[h]uman conduct is purposeful”

Coordination Implications of Software Coupling in Open Source Projects

The effect of software coupling on the quality of software has been studied quite widely since the seminal paper on software modularity by Parnas [1]. However, the effect of the increase in software coupling on the coordination of the developers has not been researched as much. In commercial software development environments there normally are coordination mechanisms in place to manage the coordination requirements due to software dependencies. But, in the case of Open Source software such coordination mechanisms are harder to implement, as the developers tend to rely solely on electronic means of communication. Hence, an understanding of the changing coordination requirements is essential to the management of an Open Source project. In this paper we study the effect of changes in software coupling on the coordination requirements in a case study of a popular Open Source project called JBoss

Piezoelectric energy harvester composite under dynamic bending with implementation to aircraft wingbox structure

In this paper, an investigation on the energy harvesting exerted by the dynamic bending responses of a piezoelectric embedded wingbox is presented. An innovative hybrid mathematical/computational scheme is built to evaluate the energy harvested by a mechanical system. The governing voltage differential equations of the piezoelectric composite beam are coupled with the finite element method output. The scheme is able of evaluating various excitation forms including dynamic force and base excitation. Thus, it provides the capability to analyse a complicated structure with a more realistic loading scenario. Application to the simulation of a notional jet aircraft wingbox with a piezoelectric skin layer is shown in some detail. The results pointed out that the electrical power generated can be as much as 25.24 kW for a 14.5 m wingspan. The capabilities and robustness of the scheme are shown by comparison with results from the literature