Empirical Research on Business Model Innovation Alignment with Social Relationship Affect Firm Performance

The effects of business model innovations alignment with social relationship affect firm performance bear important implication for firms. However, previous literature offers little insight on this question. We know little about how to align business model innovations with social relationship to promote firm performance. Addressing on these gaps, this study builds theoretical model based on business ecosystem theory and social capital theory to investigate how does business model innovation alignment with social relationship affect firm performance. This study further empirical examines theoretical model with data from 174 Chinese firms. The empirical results support our theoretical model. We find that both incremental business model innovation and radical business model innovation have positive effects on firm performance. More importantly, this study finds that two types of social relationships have different moderating effects on business model innovation and firm performance. This study contributes to extant literature by identifying the specific effects of alignment of business model innovation and social relationship, and enriching the empirical evidence. Our findings indicate that firms should align business model innovation with social relationship to promote firm performance

Experimental Investigation of the Power Amplifiers’ Nonlinearity using a 3.5 GHz 2×2 RF Front-end Prototype

Next generation communication systems will demand extremely high system capacity. Ap-proaches such as complex digital modulation schemes, widening of the instantaneous band-width and massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) architectures will need to be employed to realize such high capacity systems. However, these approaches impose stringent requirements on the radio hardware. For instance, in conventional wireless transmitters, isolators/circulators are typically used to immunize the radio hardware and its performance from negative effects of the antenna load variation. However, in massive MIMO transmitters, while the antenna active impedance varies significantly, isolators cannot be used due to their unacceptable overhead in terms of cost and space. Thus, within these transmitters the power amplifiers’ (PA) performance in the aspects of linearity, output power and efficiency are significantly impacted by the load modulation introduced by the finite isolation between the antenna elements. To date, studies in the literature have mainly relied on emulating the load modulation in massive MIMO transmit-ters and have used generic PAs rather than those specifically designed for massive MIMO transmission. This work begins by designing a two-by-two RF front-end for a massive MIMO transmitter, comprised of antenna and PA arrays suitable for use in a base station. The antenna array is formed of multilayered patch antenna elements that achieved an enhanced isolation and ex-tended fractional bandwidth of 19 dB and 14%, respectively. The PA array was built using gal-lium nitride transistors and carefully operated in Class J mode. Under continuous wave meas-urements, the PA array element demonstrated high peak-power efficiency of between 54%-66% over the frequency band ranging from 3.2GHz to 3.8GHz. It also showed excellent linear-izability when driven with modulated signals with 200 MHz instantaneous bandwidth. When both the antenna and PA arrays are connected, they form a front-end that was used to study the effects of the antenna load modulation using realistic modulated signals. This study undertook a large set of measurement configurations specifically devised to investigate the effects of cou-pling due to the PA substrate and finite isolation between the antenna elements, as well as the extent of the nonlinearity of the PA elements. Furthermore, a single-input single-output (SISO) digital pre-distortion (DPD) scheme was applied to attempt to linearize the overall response of the PA array. This study revealed that the coupling attributed to the PA substrate had a minor impact on the array’s performance. Furthermore, it highlighted the necessity of jointly designing for both the PA element linearity and the antenna isolation level, so that SISO DPD can be used and MIMO DPD is avoided

Does CEO duality worsen or fosters audit quality: evidence from Chinese firms?

The objective of this study is to examine the role of CEO duality in audit quality of Chinese firms. To address the effect of CEO duality, this study considered four characteristics of CEO duality; corporate audit culture, audit committee independence, decision making through enormous power and single leadership. The indirect effect of audit committee decision is considered between CEO duality and audit quality. A questionnaire survey is carried out to collect primary data. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from Chinese firms. Respondents of the study were the CEO’s and directors of Chinese firms; therefore, questionnaires were distributed among them by using online survey. 135 valid questionnaires were used in data analyses which is carried out by using Partial Least Square (PLS)-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results of the study highlighted that; CEO duality has both positive and negative effect on audit quality. Due to the single leadership style and supportive corporate audit culture, the audit quality may be improved. However, CEO duality influences negatively on audit committee independence which has negative effect on audit committee decisions. Similarly, CEO duality allows to enjoy enormous power which may affect negatively on the decision making. Thus, decision-making through enormous power has negative effect on audit committee decisions. Finally, while making the strategies to enhance audit quality, the practitioners can consider the important points highlighted by the current study to promote audit quality

Preparation of Nickel-Based Nanolubricants and Investigation of their Tribological Behavior

In situ surface-modification technique is adopted in present research to fabricate a series of Ni nanoparticles as well as Cu@Ni nanoparticles with different size and morphology. The correlation among the composition, structure, size, and morphology and tribological properties of as-synthesized additives were explored, and the friction-reducing, antiwear, and worn surface self-healing mechanisms of the additives were discussed. It was found that Ni nanoparticles with a smaller size show higher surface activity and can readily deposit on the sliding surface and form a stable and continuous protective layer thereon. Compared with sphere-like and triangular rod-like Ni nanoparticles, triangular plate-like Ni nanoparticles are more liable to form protective layer. Compared to Ni-based nanolubricants, as-synthesized Cu@Ni nanolubricants exhibit better friction-reducing, antiwear, and extreme pressure properties. It is because the highly active Ni nanocores and O- and N-containing organic modifying agents can readily form boundary lubricating film on sliding steel surfaces, while Cu nanocores can easily deposit on sliding steel surface to form a protective layer (self-healing film) thereon. Ni nanoparticles as nanoadditives in solid-liquid lubricating system significantly reduce the friction in all lubrication regimes: As a nanolubricant, Ni nanoparticles exhibit popular and effective friction-reducing, antiwear, and extreme pressure properties

Synthesis and Application of Copper Nanowires and Silver Nanosheet-Coated Copper Nanowires as Nanofillers in Several Polymers

A large amount of copper (Cu) nanowires was synthesized through the reduction of Cu(OH)2 by hydrazine in an aqueous solution containing NaOH and ethylenediamine. Besides, Cu nanowires coated by silver nanosheet (denoted as Cu@Ag nanowires) were prepared with a facile transmetalation reaction method. In the meantime, the as‐prepared Cu and Cu@Ag nanowires were used as the nanofillers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and epoxy resin (EP), and their effects on the thermal properties and mechanical properties as well as friction and wear behavior of the polymer‐matrix composites nanocomposites were examined. Results indicate that the as‐prepared Cu@Ag nanowires consist of Cu nanowires core and Ag nanosheet shell. The Ag nanosheet shell can well inhibit the oxidation of the Cu nanowires core, thereby providing the as‐prepared Cu@Ag nanowires with good thermal stability even at an elevated temperature of 230°C. As compared with Cu nanowires, Cu@Ag nanowires could effectively increase the thermal stability of the PVC matrix composites. Moreover, due to the special morphology and microstructure, the as‐prepared Cu@Ag nanowires can effectively improve the mechanical properties and wear resistance of PVC, UHMWPE, and EP

Novel ultrasound techniques in the identification of vulnerable plaques—an updated review of the literature

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease partly mediated by lipoproteins. The rupture of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques and thrombosis are major contributors to the development of acute cardiovascular events. Despite various advances in the treatment of atherosclerosis, there has been no satisfaction in the prevention and assessment of atherosclerotic vascular disease. The identification and classification of vulnerable plaques at an early stage as well as research of new treatments remain a challenge and the ultimate goal in the management of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. The specific morphological features of vulnerable plaques, including intraplaque hemorrhage, large lipid necrotic cores, thin fibrous caps, inflammation, and neovascularisation, make it possible to identify and characterize plaques with a variety of invasive and non-invasive imaging techniques. Notably, the development of novel ultrasound techniques has introduced the traditional assessment of plaque echogenicity and luminal stenosis to a deeper assessment of plaque composition and the molecular field. This review will discuss the advantages and limitations of five currently available ultrasound imaging modalities for assessing plaque vulnerability, based on the biological characteristics of the vulnerable plaque, and their value in terms of clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment efficacy assessment

Gaining customer satisfaction through sustainable supplier development:The role of firm reputation and marketing communication

Recent cases demonstrate that negative effects of sustainability-related scandals experienced by upstream suppliers can spill over to downstream firms. Thus, initiatives to help suppliers improve their sustainability performance are becoming increasingly essential for firms’ risk management in relation to supply chains. Thus far, the literature has yet to provide significant evidence on how firms can generate value from sustainable supplier development initiatives. In this study, we conduct dynamic panel data analysis of a dataset of 768 firm–year observations collected from four secondary sources, and find that sustainable supplier development initiatives can contribute to firms’ customer satisfaction, which further contributes to improved sales performance. Moreover, the relationship between sustainable supplier development initiatives and customer satisfaction is negatively moderated by firm reputation, yet positively moderated by the firm’s advertising intensity. These results provide robust evidence that customer satisfaction is a valid mechanism that links sustainable supplier development initiatives with improved sales performance

Synthesis, properties, and optical applications of noble metal nanoparticle-biomolecule conjugates

Noble metal nanoparticles, such as gold or silver nanoparticles and nanorods, exhibit unique photonic, electronic and catalytic properties. Functionalization of noble metal nanoparticles with biomolecules (e. g., protein and DNA) produces systems that possess numerous applications in catalysis, delivery, therapy, imaging, sensing, constructing nanostructures and controlling the structure of biomolecules. In this paper, the recent development of noble metal nanoparticle-biomolecule conjugates is reviewed from the following three aspects: (1) synthesis of noble metal nanoparticle-biomolecule systems by electrostatic adsorption, direct chemisorption of thiol derivatives, covalent binding through bifunctional linkers and specific affinity interactions; (2) the photonic properties and bioactivation of noble metal nanoparticle-biomolecule conjugates; and (3) the optical applications of such systems in biosensors, and medical imaging, diagnosis, and therapy. The conjugation of Au and Ag nanoparticles with biomolecules and the most recent optical applications of the resulting systems have been focused on