Does process improvement lead to supplier performance? An empirical examination

This research develops a causal-predictive model for predicting the supplier performance due to buyer-initiated supplier process improvement (SPI). SPI is one type of supply chain collaboration that focuses on process improvement. It is a common practice in supply chains that are driven by a powerful buyer firm. Drawing upon the supply chain management and process improvement literature, we relate SPI to supplier performance via a supplier’s internal process improvement effort. SPI is operationalized as an index with formative indicators, which is appropriate for prediction studies. The model is then evaluated using the partial least squares structural equation modeling method, with empirical data collected from 53 supplier plants of a Fortune 500 firm. The results strongly supported the proposed causal-predictive model. Insights from this study can shed light on further theoretical development on supply chain process improvement, as well as can provide guidance for practicing managers

Revisiting the IT Productivity Paradox: A Technology Life Cycle Perspective

In this paper, we revisit the “IT Productivity Paradox,” which refers to the inconclusive relationship between IT investment and performance improvement found in empirical studies. We argue that the cause of the “IT Productivity Paradox” is more than empirical measurement difficulties. Based on a rather comprehensive review of the literature, we identified and contrasted three underlying theoretical perspectives of the empirical studies. We then propose a new theoretical framework toward an in-depth theoretical understanding of the paradox. Developed upon the contingency approach, the proposed framework considers the stages of technology life cycle. The framework not only can provide useful guidance for practicing managers but also potentially can resolve the “IT Productivity Paradox,” hence making a significant contribution to the literature

On the residual Monge-Amp\`{e}re mass of plurisubharmonic functions with symmetry, II

The aim of this article is to study the residual Monge-Amp\`{e}re mass of a plurisubharmonic function with an isolated singularity, provided with the circular symmetry. With the aid of Sasakian geometry, we obtain an estimate on the residual mass of this function with respect to its Lelong number and maximal directional Lelong number. This result partially answers the zero mass conjecture raised by Guedj and Rashkovskii.Comment: 35 page

Audiovisual Processing of Chinese Characters Elicits Suppression and Congruency Effects in MEG

Learning to associate written letters/characters with speech sounds is crucial for reading acquisition. Most previous studies have focused on audiovisual integration in alphabetic languages. Less is known about logographic languages such as Chinese characters, which map onto mostly syllable-based morphemes in the spoken language. Here we investigated how long-term exposure to native language affects the underlying neural mechanisms of audiovisual integration in a logographic language using magnetoencephalography (MEG). MEG sensor and source data from 12 adult native Chinese speakers and a control group of 13 adult Finnish speakers were analyzed for audiovisual suppression (bimodal responses vs. sum of unimodal responses) and congruency (bimodal incongruent responses vs. bimodal congruent responses) effects. The suppressive integration effect was found in the left angular and supramarginal gyri (205–365 ms), left inferior frontal and left temporal cortices (575–800 ms) in the Chinese group. The Finnish group showed a distinct suppression effect only in the right parietal and occipital cortices at a relatively early time window (285–460 ms). The congruency effect was only observed in the Chinese group in left inferior frontal and superior temporal cortex in a late time window (about 500–800 ms) probably related to modulatory feedback from multi-sensory regions and semantic processing. The audiovisual integration in a logographic language showed a clear resemblance to that in alphabetic languages in the left superior temporal cortex, but with activation specific to the logographic stimuli observed in the left inferior frontal cortex. The current MEG study indicated that learning of logographic languages has a large impact on the audiovisual integration of written characters with some distinct features compared to previous results on alphabetic languages

The tumor suppressive role of CAMK2N1 in castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer at advanced stages including metastatic and castration-resistant cancer remains incurable due to the lack of effective therapies. The CAMK2N1 gene, cloned and characterized as an inhibitor of CaMKII (calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II), has been shown to affect tumorigenesis and tumor growth. However, it is still unknown whether CAMK2N1 plays a role in prostate cancer development. We first examined the protein and mRNA levels of CAMK2N1 and observed a significant decrease in human prostate cancers comparing to normal prostate tissues. Re-expression of CAMK2N1 in prostate cancer cells reduced cellular proliferation, arrested cells in G0/G1 phases, and induced apoptotic cell death accompanied by down-regulation of IGF-1, ErbB2, and VEGF downstream kinases PI3K/AKT, as well as the MEK/ERK-mediated signaling pathways. Conversely, knockdown of CAMK2N1 had a significant opposite effects on these phenotypes. Our analyses suggest that CAMK2N1 plays a tumor suppressive role in prostate cancer cells. Reduced CAMK2N1 expression correlates to human prostate cancer progression and predicts poor clinical outcome, indicating that CAMK2N1 may serve as a biomarker. The inhibition of tumor growth by expressing CAMK2N1 established a role of CAMK2N1 as a therapeutic target

CAMK2N1 inhibits prostate cancer progression through androgen receptor-dependent signaling.

Castration resistance is a major obstacle to hormonal therapy for prostate cancer patients. Although androgen independence of prostate cancer growth is a known contributing factor to endocrine resistance, the mechanism of androgen receptor deregulation in endocrine resistance is still poorly understood. Herein, the CAMK2N1 was shown to contribute to the human prostate cancer cell growth and survival through AR-dependent signaling. Reduced expression of CAMK2N1 was correlated to recurrence-free survival of prostate cancer patients with high levels of AR expression in their tumor. CAMK2N1 and AR signaling form an auto-regulatory negative feedback loop: CAMK2N1 expression was down-regulated by AR activation; while CAMK2N1 inhibited AR expression and transactivation through CAMKII and AKT pathways. Knockdown of CAMK2N1 in prostate cancer cells alleviated Casodex inhibition of cell growth, while re-expression of CAMK2N1 in castration-resistant cells sensitized the cells to Casodex treatment. Taken together, our findings suggest that CAMK2N1 plays a tumor suppressive role and serves as a crucial determinant of the resistance of prostate cancer to endocrine therapies

Association of Antioxidative Enzymes Polymorphisms with Efficacy of Platin and Fluorouracil-Based Adjuvant Therapy in Gastric Cancer

Background/Aims: Imbalance of oxidative/antioxidative enzymes in cells is associated with carcinogenesis and cancer cell chemoresistance. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical significance of potentially functional single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) in antioxidative enzymes, GPxs and CAT, in stages II and III gastric cancer patients. Methods: A total of 591 gastric cancer patients who had radical gastrectomy were recruited. 207 patients received platinum and fluorouracil-based (PF-based) adjuvant chemotherapy and 384 patients were untreated. GPx1 rs1050450, GPx2 rs4902346, GPx3 rs736775, rs3828599 and CAT rs769218 were genotyped in the DNA samples extracted from paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. Results: CAT rs769218 was significantly correlated with the overall survival (OS) in the dominant model (P = 0.014). Multivariate analysis revealed that CAT rs769218 GA/AA (HR, 0.715; 95%CI, 0.562-0.910, P = 0.006) was an independent prognostic marker indicating improved survival. After adjustments, GPx3 rs736775 TC/CC was significantly associated with improved OS (HR, 0.621; 95%CI, 0.399-0.965; P=0.034) in patients treated with PF-based adjuvant chemotherapy, and CAT rs769218 GA/AA was significantly associated with improved OS (HR, 0.646; 95% CI, 0.482-0.864; P = 0.003) in the untreated patients. PF-based chemotherapy significantly decreased risk of death for patients carrying GPx3 rs736775 TC/CC and age ≤ 60 years or with diffused type adenocarcinoma compared to surgery alone. Conclusion: our findings suggested CAT rs769218 and GPx3 rs736775 may be considered as prognostic markers in gastric cancer. Patient stratification by GPx3 rs736775 and conventional pathological parameters may provide additional predictive information in treatment decision-making

Brain activity changes related to learning of audiovisual associations in reading

Learning to connect letters or characters of written scripts to their corresponding sounds is crucial for reading acquisition. In alphabetic languages, the letter– speech sound integration has been shown to have a protracted developmental trajectory, and failure to reach an automatic level of audiovisual integration was correlated with reading difficulties. This dissertation aims to systematically investigate the audiovisual integration process in learning to read using magnetoencephalography, by extending the previous findings on alphabetic language to logographic language, and furthermore, by examining the learning of grapheme–phoneme association during initial learning stages. Study I aimed to investigate the audiovisual integration process in a logographic language (Chinese). This audiovisual integration involved the left superior temporal cortex in Chinese, which is similar to findings in alphabetic languages. In addition, it also activated the left inferior frontal regions, which are related to the processing of additional semantic information embedded in Chinese characters. Study II correlated various brain indices of audiovisual processing with reading-related cognitive measures in children at varying stages of reading. It demonstrated that the auditory late component is closely related to rapid automatized naming and phonological processing skills. Moreover, the multisensory interaction effect was observed mainly in temporoparietal regions, and brain responses in some of these regions were further associated with children’s reading and writing abilities. Study III simulated the initial learning of grapheme–phoneme associations in adults. The results from Study III highlighted the dynamic characteristics of audiovisual learning and provided a more refined model of grapheme–phoneme learning in reading acquisition. Overall, the findings from this dissertation showed evidence that audiovisual processing is dynamic during initial learning and memory consolidation of cross-modal associations. Furthermore, audiovisual processing is less automatic in children and is linked to their reading-related cognitive skills. Finally, there are some universal audiovisual processing brain regions and mechanisms across languages that are complemented by additional regions related to processes of distinct linguistic features in different types of scripts. Keywords: audiovisual integration, language learning, child brain, magnetoencephalography, readingKirjainten tai merkkien yhdistäminen niitä vastaaviin äänteisiin on ratkaisevan tärkeää lukemaan oppimiselle. Aakkosia käyttävissä kielissä kirjainten ja äänteiden yhdistämisellä on havaittu hidas kehityskaari ja tämän on osoitettu korreloivan lukemisvaikeuksien kanssa. Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa lukemaan oppimisen audiovisuaalista integraatioprosessia tutkitaan magnetoenkefalografian (MEG) avulla. Aakkosia käyttävissä kielissä saadut tulokset laajennetaan koskemaan logografista eli sanakirjoitusta käyttävää kieltä. Lisäksi tutkitaan grafeemi-foneemivastaavuuden omaksumista lukemaan opettelun alkuvaiheissa. Tutkimus 1 kartoittaa audiovisuaalista integraatioprosessia logografisessa kielessä (kiina). Tulosten perusteella kiinan kielen merkkejä opeteltaessa audiovisuaalinen integraatio aktivoi vasemman ylemmän ohimolohkon alueita, mikä vastaa aakkosia käyttävien kielten tuloksia. Lisäksi se aktivoi vasemmanpuoleiset alemmat otsalohkoalueet, jotka ovat yhteydessä kiinan merkkien sisältämään semanttiseen lisäinformaatioon. Tutkimuksessa 2 suoritettiin korrelaatioanalyysi erilaisten audiovisuaaliseen prosessointiin liittyvien indeksien ja lukemiseen liittyvien kognitiivisten testitulosten välillä lapsille, jotka olivat eri vaiheissa lukemaan oppimisessa. Tämä osoitti, että myöhäinen auditiivinen herätevaste on yhteydessä nopeaan automaattiseen nimeämiseen ja fonologisiin prosessointitaitoihin. Lisäksi moniaistinen vuorovaikutusefekti ilmeni pääasiassa temporoparietaalisilla alueilla, ja aivojen herätevasteet osasta näistä alueista olivat edelleen yhteydessä lasten luku- ja kirjoitustaitoon. Tutkimuksessa 3 tutkittiin grafeemi-foneemi-vastaavuuksien varhaista oppimista opettamalla uusia yhteyksiä aikuisille. Kolmannen osakokeen tulokset toivat esiin aistien väliseen oppimisen dynaamiset piirteet tarjoten kehittyneemmän grafeemi-foneemi-vastaavuuksien oppimisen mallin. Kaiken kaikkiaan tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että audiovisuaalinen prosessointi on dynaamista aistien välisten yhteyksien varhaisessa oppimisessa ja niiden muistamisen vahvistumisessa. Lisäksi audiovisuaalinen prosessointi on lapsilla vähemmän automaattista ja yhteydessä heidän lukemiseen liittyviin kognitiivisiin taitoihinsa. On myös olemassa universaaleja, kaikille kielille yhteisiä audiovisuaalisen prosessoinnin aivoalueita ja -mekanismeja. Niitä täydentävät alueet, jotka liittyvät tiettyjen kielellisten piirteiden prosesseihin erilaisissa kirjoitusjärjestelmissä. Asiasanat: audiovisuaalinen integraatio, kielen oppiminen, lapsen aivot, magnetoenkefalografia, MEG, lukemine