Research Of E-Commerce Enterprises Capability Maturity Theory And Initial Model Construction

With the constant development and evolution of “Internet+” strategic thinking, the electronic commerce enterprises have obtained the unprecedented growth, but also faced with great survival pressure and challenges. This research is based on the review and combing the historical development of capability maturity and in the light of the characteristics of e-commerce enterprises building a capability maturity model which contains five levels: the initial level, the repeatable level, the standard level, the managed level and the optimal level and five dimensions: strategy, organization, process, personnel and technical support. The capability maturity initial model of e-commerce enterprises establishes basic demand are obtained earnings, controlling risk and optimizing resources and with different stages of target the capabilities the electronic commerce enterprises should owned, at last this model generalizes a clear direction and standard for the e-commerce enterprises management

SugarMate: Non-intrusive blood glucose monitoring with smartphones

Inferring abnormal glucose events such as hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia is crucial for the health of both diabetic patients and non-diabetic people. However, regular blood glucose monitoring can be invasive and inconvenient in everyday life. We present SugarMate, a first smartphone-based blood glucose inference system as a temporary alternative to continuous blood glucose monitors (CGM) when they are uncomfortable or inconvenient to wear. In addition to the records of food, drug and insulin intake, it leverages smartphone sensors to measure physical activities and sleep quality automatically. Provided with the imbalanced and often limited measurements, a challenge of SugarMate is the inference of blood glucose levels at a fine-grained time resolution. We propose Md3RNN, an efficient learning paradigm to make full use of the available blood glucose information. Specifically, the newly designed grouped input layers, together with the adoption of a deep RNN model, offer an opportunity to build blood glucose models for the general public based on limited personal measurements from single-user and grouped-users perspectives. Evaluations on 112 users demonstrate that Md3RNN yields an average accuracy of 82.14%, significantly outperforming previous learning methods those are either shallow, generically structured, or oblivious to grouped behaviors. Also, a user study with the 112 participants shows that SugarMate is acceptable for practical usage.</jats:p

Performance measurement of cross-culture supply chain partnership: a case study in the Chinese automotive industry

This study explores a performance measurement system for a dynamic supply chain partnership in a cross-cultural context. An initial framework is constructed by reviewing the existing literature, followed by an in-depth case study in the Chinese automotive industry, where the framework is refined to address the multi-cultural setting. A performance measurement, system which includes the relationship strategy and operational measurement criteria for a supply chain partnership, has been developed. The relationship strategy contains elements of strategy orientation, management style, interdependence, mutual organisational characteristics and common goals. The operational measurement criteria consist of commitment, trust, communication behaviour, information sharing, participation decision, quality, production performance, delivery, cost, supplier strength, attitude, compromise and loyalty. The last three operational measurement criteria are found to be particularly relevant to the cross-cultural feature. While existing studies tend to focus on either specific measures or individual organisations, this paper for the first time proposes a comprehensive framework to measure the performance of supply chain partnerships. The cross-cultural perspective provides a further unique view on how a performance measurement system can be responsive to the dynamics in practice

Adrenocortical carcinoma in patients with MEN1: a kindred report and review of the literature

Objective: Up to 40% of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) patients may have adrenal cortical tumors. However, adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is rare. The clinical manifestations, prevalence, inheritance and prognosis of ACC associated with MEN1 remain unclear. Here we report the clinical manifestations and prevalence of ACC in patients with MEN1. Design and methods: A retrospective analysis of ACC associated with MEN1 patients at a single tertiary care center from December 2001 to June 2017. Genetic analysis of MEN1 and other ACC associated genes, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of MEN1 locus, immunohistochemistry staining of menin, P53 and β-catenin in ACC tissue were performed. Results: Two related patients had ACC associated with MEN1. The father had ENSAT stage IV tumor with excessive production of cortisol; the daughter had nonfunctional ENSAT stage I tumor. Both patients carried novel germline heterozygous mutation (c.400_401insC) of MEN1. The wild-type MEN1 allele was lost in the resected ACC tissue from the daughter with no menin staining. The ACC tissue had nuclear β-catenin staining, with heterozygous CTNNB1 mutation of 357del24 and P53 staining in only 20% cells. Conclusions: ACC associated with MEN1 is rare and may occur in familial aggregates

Cortico-basal ganglia networks dysfunction associated with disease severity in patients with idiopathic blepharospasm

BackgroundStructural changes occur in brain regions involved in cortico-basal ganglia networks in idiopathic blepharospasm (iBSP); whether these changes influence the function connectivity patterns of cortico-basal ganglia networks remains largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the global integrative state and organization of functional connections of cortico-basal ganglia networks in patients with iBSP.MethodsResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and clinical measurements were acquired from 62 patients with iBSP, 62 patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS), and 62 healthy controls (HCs). Topological parameters and functional connections of cortico-basal ganglia networks were evaluated and compared among the three groups. Correlation analyses were performed to explore the relationship between topological parameters and clinical measurements in patients with iBSP.ResultsWe found significantly increased global efficiency and decreased shortest path length and clustering coefficient of cortico-basal ganglia networks in patients with iBSP compared with HCs, however, such differences were not observed between patients with HFS and HCs. Further correlation analyses revealed that these parameters were significantly correlated with the severity of iBSP. At the regional level, the functional connectivity between the left orbitofrontal area and left primary somatosensory cortex and between the right anterior part of pallidum and right anterior part of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was significantly decreased in patients with iBSP and HFS compared with HCs.ConclusionDysfunction of the cortico-basal ganglia networks occurs in patients with iBSP. The altered network metrics of cortico-basal ganglia networks might be served as quantitative markers for evaluation of the severity of iBSP

The measurement and effectiveness of supply chain partnering relationships in international joint venture groupings in the Chinese Automotive sector

This thesis explores how to measure an effective supply chain partnering relationship in international joint venture groupings in the Chinese automotive sector. The three key objectives are (1) identifying an initial framework for the supply chain partnering relationship context; (2) defining the key criteria of relevance to a partnering relationship; and (3) refining the initial framework and analysing the impact of multicultural collaborators on the partnering relationship.Given that research on measurements for the effectiveness of the multicultural supply chain partnering relationship is still in its infancy, an initial framework is constructed by reviewing the existing literature regarding the supply chain partnering relationship, partnering relationship performance, and multicultural international joint venture relationships. A cross-sectional case study approach using examples of the Chinese automotive sector is then adopted to obtain an in-depth understanding of the framework in a multicultural business environment.As a result of this initial focus, considerable time was spent determining what a partnering relationship is, and collecting data to compare the different criteria in multicultural collaborators’. These criteria are included as a guide for fellow researchers and to reflect the entirety of the research process undertaken. There are two processes involved in the redefining of the relevant criteria: first, manufacturers and suppliers select the key criteria under the framework components’ categories; second, if the empirical data identified a criterion that is not summarised within the framework, there will be a new finding recorded under the category. These findings are also described in later chapters of this thesis and contribute to the development of the multicultural collaborators’ supply chain partnering relationship.The conceptual framework incorporates effective SCPR processes and practices within the multicultural business environment, and the conceptualisation of relationship performance evaluation provides a viable framework for ongoing research and practice. This thesis and the empirical data collection undertaken while conducting the research concentrated on a strategy process perspective in addressing linkages inherent in multicultural cooperation through partnering relationship management, utilising evaluation and refining criteria while examining processes of renewal and business advantages. There are three contributions of the thesis: (1) examination of the partnering relationship theory in new business relationships in China; (2) explored and established a framework for evaluation of performance in multicultural collaborative; and (3) evaluation of current and possible future practice in managing a multicultural collaborators’ business, and offering guidance for practitioner behaviour.This study is the first to propose a comprehensive framework that measures the effectiveness of the multicultural supply chain partnering relationship while existing studies tend to focus on either specific measures or individual organisations. The multicultural international joint venture perspective provides a further unique view on how an effective multicultural collaborators’ supply chain partnering relationship could be responsive to the dynamics in practice.<br/

The trade-off between trust and distrust in supply chain collaboration

Trust and distrust can play an important role in a healthy supply chain collaborative relationship, and both carry potential shortcomings. Little attention has been paid to understanding and explaining the development process of trust and distrust in supply chain collaborations, especially in an international context. Using the Transaction Cost Economics theory, this study begins by discussing expressions of trust and distrust within the context of a supply chain collaboration dyad. Then, we explore how trust and distrust interact at a network level. Using a novel, longitudinal, multi-case-study approach, this paper provides new empirical evidence of the complementary roles of trust and distrust in supply chain collaboration, exploring how these concepts work together across different stages of the relationship and in different contexts. This study distinguishes between ‘competence trust’ and ‘integrity trust’ concerning collaboration contracts which typically create distrust. Finally, this paper offers unique insights into the influence of culture on the interpretation and performance of trust and distrust in international supply chain collaboration, grounded in the context of the Chinese automotive industry

A Uniformity Index for Precipitation Particle Axis Ratios Derived from Radar Polarimetric Parameters for the Identification and Analysis of Raindrop Areas

A uniformity index for the axis ratios (Uar) derived from dual polarization weather radar data is proposed for raindrop area identification and analysis. The derivation of this new parameter is based on radar scattering simulations and assumptions. Uar is between 0 and 1 and can be calculated from the differential reflectivity (ZDR) and the copolar correlation coefficient (ρhv), which reflects the uniformity of the axis ratio (r) of the particle group. For raindrops, Uar is close to 1 under ideal conditions, but is clearly different from that of ice particles whose value is close to 0. Studies conducted during two convective weather events observed by X-band and S-band radar are presented to show the Uar features. In convective areas, high Uar presents a U-shaped vertical structure. One branch corresponds to the ZDR column, while the other branch is located at the rear of the convective cloud zone and is lower in altitude, representing the process of ice particles melting into raindrops and then being transported upward by a strong updraft. In stratiform cloud areas, a more than 95% overall identification ratio is obtained when the threshold of Uar is set to 0.2~0.3 for discriminating rain layers

Potential of Tamarind Shell Extract against Oxidative Stress In Vivo and In Vitro

Tamarind shell is rich in flavonoids and exhibits good biological activities. In this study, we aimed to analyze the chemical composition of tamarind shell extract (TSE), and to investigate antioxidant capacity of TSE in vitro and in vivo. The tamarind shells were extracted with 95% ethanol refluxing extraction, and chemical constituents were determined by ultra-performance chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The free radical scavenging activity of TSE in vitro was evaluated using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) method. The antioxidative effects of TSE were further assessed in 2,2-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)-stimulated ADTC5 cells and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-exposed zebrafish. A total of eight flavonoids were detected in TSE, including (+)-catechin, taxifolin, myricetin, eriodictyol, luteolin, morin, apigenin, and naringenin, with the contents of 5.287, 8.419, 4.042, 6.583, 3.421, 4.651, 0.2027, and 0.6234 mg/g, respectively. The ORAC assay revealed TSE and these flavonoids had strong free radical scavenging activity in vitro. In addition, TSE significantly decreased the ROS and MDA levels but restored the SOD activity in AAPH-treated ATDC5 cells and t-BHP-exposed zebrafish. The flavonoids also showed excellent antioxidative activities against oxidative damage in ATDC5 cells and zebrafish. Overall, the study suggests the free radical scavenging capacity and antioxidant potential of TSE and its primary flavonoids in vitro and in vivo and will provide a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of tamarind shell