Patent-based Measurements on Technological Convergence and Competitor Identification: The Case of Semiconductor Industry

Technological convergence promotes the formation and development of emerging industries associated with new opportunities and growth. It will be helpful for firms to understand the emerging trends of technology convergence and establish competitive strategy by identifying competitors. While previous studies mainly measure technological convergence with co-occurrence method on the technology level, relatively few studies investigate the measurement of technological convergence with firm-level data. In addition, how to identify competitors by firms in the background of technological convergence has been neglected by the extant studies. This paper takes the granted patent data of global top 10 semiconductor companies from 1994 to 2013 as the object and measures the degree and trend of technological convergence based on technology similarity. Furthermore the Multidimensional Scaling analysis with inter-firm technological similarity matrix is adopted to identify the competitors in the semiconductor industry. The main contribution of this research is that it proposes a novel method to measure technology convergence. The method is different from pervious literature in that it measures technology convergence and knowledge relatedness from a micro-level using patent data in semiconductor industry. In addition, the patent similarity matrix can be used as an input for competitor identification with Multidimensional Scaling analysis. Keywords: Technological convergence; Competitor Identification; Multidimensional Scaling analysis; Semiconductor industr

Onsite data processing and monitoring for the Daya Bay Experiment

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment started running on September 23, 2011. The offline computing environment, consisting of 11 servers at Daya Bay, was built to process onsite data. With current computing ability, onsite data processing is running smoothly. The Performance Quality Monitoring system (PQM) has been developed to monitor the detector performance and data quality. Its main feature is the ability to efficiently process multi-data-stream from three experimental halls. The PQM processes raw data files from the Daya Bay data acquisition system, generates and publishes histograms via a graphical web interface by executing the user-defined algorithm modules, and saves the histograms for permanent storage. The fact that the whole process takes only around 40 minutes makes it valuable for the shift crew to monitor the running status of all the sub-detectors and the data quality

Análisis de Rasch de la Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) en pacientes con depresión mayor

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a widely used screening tool for depression and anxiety in patients with medical illnesses. This study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the HADS in screening for patients with major depression using item response theory method.A total of 460 patients with major depression completed the HADS. Rasch analyses were used to examine unidimensionality, item fit, local dependency, reliability, ordering of categories, differential item functioning (DIF)and targeting. The HADS showed a two-dimensional construct.All items fit the Rasch model.Three pairs of items showed minor but inconsiderate local dependency. Both subscales had acceptable reliability.None of the items displayed disordered categoriesor DIF.All items werewelltargeted, and participants with high and low levels of distress were less targeted than those with moderate levels of distress.Finally, a conversion table to transform the raw scores into interval measures was generated. The HADS demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in assessing depression and anxiety in patients with major depression. It was more appropriate for assessing moderate than high or low levels of distress.The conversion table can be used for more precise measurement.These results may pave the way for efficient and sensitive methods of ana-lyzing depression symptom response in research and in clinical practice.La Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) [Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión] es una herramienta ampliamente utilizada para detección de la depresión y la ansiedad en pacientes con enfermedades médicas. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar las propiedades psicométricas de la HADS en la detección de pacientes con depresión mayor utilizando el método de la teoría de respuesta al ítem. Un total de 460 pacientes con depresión mayor completaron el HADS. Se utilizó el análisis de Rasch para examinar la unidimensionalidad, el ajuste de los ítems, la dependencia local, la confiabilidad, el orden de las categorías, el funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems (DIF) y la focalización. La HADS mostró una construcción bidimensional. Todos los ítems se ajustaban al modelo de Rasch. Tres pares de ítems mostraron una dependencia local menor pero desconsiderada. Ambas subescalas tuvieron una confiabilidad aceptable. Ninguno de los ítems mostró categorías desordenadas o DIF. Todos los ítems estaban bien dirigidos y los participantes con niveles altos y bajos de angustia fueron menos objetivo que aquellos con niveles moderados de angustia. Finalmente, se generó una tabla de conversión para transformar las puntuaciones brutas en medidas de intervalo. El HADS demostró propiedades psicométricas adecuadas para evaluar la depresión y la ansiedad en pacientes con depresión mayor. Fue más apropiado para evaluar niveles de angustia moderados que altos o bajos. La tabla de con-versión se puede utilizar para una medición más precisa. Estos resultados pueden allanar el camino para métodos eficientes y sensibles para analizar la respuesta a los síntomas de depresión en la investigación y en la práctica clínica

Análisis de Rasch de la Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) en pacientes con depresión mayor

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a widely used screening tool for depression and anxiety in patients with medical illnesses. This study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the HADS in screening for patients with major depression using item response theory method. A total of 460 patients with major depression completed the HADS. Rasch analyses were used to examine unidimensionality, item fit, local dependency, reliability, ordering of categories, differential item functioning (DIF) and targeting. The HADS showed a two-dimensional construct. All items fit the Rasch model. Three pairs of items showed minor but inconsiderate local dependency. Both subscales had acceptable reliability. None of the items displayed disordered categories or DIF. All items were well targeted, and participants with high and low levels of distress were less targeted than those with moderate levels of distress. Finally, a conversion table to transform the raw scores into interval measures was generated. The HADS demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in assessing depression and anxiety in patients with major depression. It was more appropriate for assessing moderate than high or low levels of distress. The conversion table can be used for more precise measurement. These results may pave the way for efficient and sensitive methods of analyzing depression symptom response in research and in clinical practice.La Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) [Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión] es una herramienta ampliamente utilizada para detección de la depresión y la ansiedad en pacientes con enfermedades médicas. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar las propiedades psicométricas de la HADS en la detección de pacientes con depresión mayor utilizando el método de la teoría de respuesta al ítem. Un total de 460 pacientes con depresión mayor completaron el HADS. Se utilizó el análisis de Rasch para examinar la unidimensionalidad, el ajuste de los ítems, la dependencia local, la confiabilidad, el orden de las categorías, el funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems (DIF) y la focalización. La HADS mostró una construcción bidimensional. Todos los ítems se ajustaban al modelo de Rasch. Tres pares de ítems mostraron una dependencia local menor pero desconsiderada. Ambas subescalas tuvieron una confiabilidad aceptable. Ninguno de los ítems mostró categorías desordenadas o DIF. Todos los ítems estaban bien dirigidos y los participantes con niveles altos y bajos de angustia fueron menos objetivo que aquellos con niveles moderados de angustia. Finalmente, se generó una tabla de conversión para transformar las puntuaciones brutas en medidas de intervalo. El HADS demostró propiedades psicométricas adecuadas para evaluar la depresión y la ansiedad en pacientes con depresión mayor. Fue más apropiado para evaluar niveles de angustia moderados que altos o bajos. La tabla de conversión se puede utilizar para una medición más precisa. Estos resultados pueden allanar el camino para métodos eficientes y sensibles para analizar la respuesta a los síntomas de depresión en la investigación y en la práctica clínica

Treatment with gelsolin reduces brain inflammation and apoptotic signaling in mice following thermal injury

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Burn survivors develop long-term cognitive impairment with increased inflammation and apoptosis in the brain. Gelsolin, an actin-binding protein with capping and severing activities, plays a crucial role in the septic response. We investigated if gelsolin infusion could attenuate neural damage in burned mice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mice with 15% total body surface area burns were injected intravenously with bovine serum albumin as placebo (2 mg/kg), or with low (2 mg/kg) or high doses (20 mg/kg) of gelsolin. Samples were harvested at 8, 24, 48 and 72 hours postburn. The immune function of splenic T cells was analyzed. Cerebral pathology was examined by hematoxylin/eosin staining, while activated glial cells and infiltrating leukocytes were detected by immunohistochemistry. Cerebral cytokine mRNAs were further assessed by quantitative real-time PCR, while apoptosis was evaluated by caspase-3. Neural damage was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and soluble protein-100 (S-100). Finally, cerebral phospho-ERK expression was measured by western blot.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Gelsolin significantly improved the outcomes of mice following major burns in a dose-dependent manner. The survival rate was improved by high dose gelsolin treatment compared with the placebo group (56.67% vs. 30%). Although there was no significant improvement in outcome in mice receiving low dose gelsolin (30%), survival time was prolonged against the placebo control (43.1 ± 4.5 h vs. 35.5 ± 5.0 h; P < 0.05). Burn-induced T cell suppression was greatly alleviated by high dose gelsolin treatment. Concurrently, cerebral abnormalities were greatly ameliorated as shown by reduced NSE and S-100 content of brain, decreased cytokine mRNA expressions, suppressed microglial activation, and enhanced infiltration of CD11b+ and CD45+ cells into the brain. Furthermore, the elevated caspase-3 activity seen following burn injury was remarkably reduced by high dose gelsolin treatment along with down-regulation of phospho-ERK expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Exogenous gelsolin infusion improves survival of mice following major burn injury by partially attenuating inflammation and apoptosis in brain, and by enhancing peripheral T lymphocyte function as well. These data suggest a novel and effective strategy to combat excessive neuroinflammation and to preserve cognition in the setting of major burns.</p

Correlation between Myocardial Velocity Measured using Tissue Doppler Imaging in the Left Ventricular Lead-Implanted Segment and Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated whether tissue Doppler imaging parameters, especially the peak systolic velocity of the left ventricular lead-implanted segment (Ss), affect cardiac resynchronization therapy response. METHODS: In this case-control study, 110 enrolled patients were divided into cases (responder group, n=65) and controls (nonresponder group, n=45) based on whether their left ventricular end-systolic volume was reduced by X15% at 6 months after surgery. Preoperative clinical and echocardiographic data were collected. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the factors affecting the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy, and receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to evaluate their diagnostic values. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with left bundle branch block in the case group was higher than that in the control group. The control group showed a higher left atrial volume index, E/A ratio and E/Em ratio but lower Ss than that of the case group. A multivariate regression analysis showed that left bundle branch block, Ss, and an E/Em ratio414 were independent risk factors affecting the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy. Ss=4.1 cm/s was the best diagnostic threshold according to the receiver operating characteristic curve. CONCLUSIONS: Ss is an important factor affecting the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy. Patients with heart failure associated with Sso4.1 cm/s have a higher risk of nonresponse

‘Wanheibao’: A new polyploid late-season table grape with muscat flavor

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