Stage-gate or straitjacket; how too much structure can be bad for innovation

The new product or service development (NPD/NSD) process is arguably the most important dynamic capability within a firm, with success at innovation being vital not only for firm success but also for survival. Despite this, little is known about innovation in Ireland; specifically, about how organisations manage for innovation. Auditing 347 firms across numerous sectors in Ireland our research finds that the majority of firms do not have a formal innovation process with service sector firms being the least likely to have a formalised process. Yet, clear evidence of the benefits of having an innovation process exist, with these being most evident in the launch and diffusion of innovations. At the same time, firms without a process are more successful in the ideation, or idea generation phase with these firms also having a better record in creating ‘new to the market’ ideas than firms who conform to an a-priori process

How having an innovation strategy and process can improve NPD outcomes for Irish SME’s

Having a defined innovation strategy and a formal process are generally found to be associated with superior NPD performance. Innovation is at the top of the business agenda in Ireland but despite its importance, little is known about how Irish organisations manage for innovation; whether they have a strategy or whether formal management processes are used, and with what effect. This study finds that two-thirds of innovation active firms do not have an innovation strategy with even less operating any formal innovation process. Having a more formal innovation process is associated with higher innovation returns; more radical or novel innovations and better exploitation of innovations at the diffusion stage of the innovation value chain. Structuring the innovation process has considerable advantages for small firms; in idea generation where they are more likely to develop ‘new to the market’ ideas; in conversion where they take a more risk taking attitude to investing in radical ideas and in diffusion, where they manage the launch process better by maximising sales and distribution channels and by rolling out new products faster

How having an innovation strategy and process can improve NPD outcomes for Irish SME’s

Having a defined innovation strategy and a formal process are generally found to be associated with superior NPD performance. Innovation is at the top of the business agenda in Ireland but despite its importance, little is known about how Irish organisations manage for innovation; whether they have a strategy or whether formal management processes are used, and with what effect. This study finds that two-thirds of innovation active firms do not have an innovation strategy with even less operating any formal innovation process. Having a more formal innovation process is associated with higher innovation returns; more radical or novel innovations and better exploitation of innovations at the diffusion stage of the innovation value chain. Structuring the innovation process has considerable advantages for small firms; in idea generation where they are more likely to develop ‘new to the market’ ideas; in conversion where they take a more risk taking attitude to investing in radical ideas and in diffusion, where they manage the launch process better by maximising sales and distribution channels and by rolling out new products faster

Personal Agency as a Primary Focus of University-Community Engagement: A case study of Clemente Australia

Clemente Australia is a collaboration of Australian Catholic University (ACU) with not-for-profit agencies, other universities and the broader community directed to developing and implementing a model for community-embedded, socially-supported university education. It involves people from backgrounds of disadvantage taking semester length university courses in the humanities for credit. The paper presents an integrative model explaining the development of personal agency through the Clemente Australia program. In terms of the model, Clemente Australia builds ideas of hope, meaning, and identity into the personal narratives of participants through reflection on their experiences in the program and the competencies and changed expectancies that these bring. This integrative model can both shed light upon participants’ reports of the program and suggest ways of making it more effective. Data drawn from Clemente student case studies are analysed with respect to changes in personal agency and social inclusion to show how the model can be used as a lens for understanding the benefits of community-embedded, socially-supported university humanities education

IMAGING TECHNIQUES USED IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell disorder, characterised by bone marrow infiltration with clonal plasma cells; production of monoclonal immunoglobulin (paraprotein); end-organ damage; lytic lesions in the bones; renal impairment; hypercalcaemia and anaemia. Skeleton evaluation in MM is necessary not only for staging purposes but also to detect serious complications such as fractures. Skeletal survey is an established rst-line investigation for this purpose. However, in recent years, new imaging techniques such as whole-body magnetic resonance imaging and 2- uoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography computed tomography have been used widely. In this article, we review different imaging techniques used in MM and their impact on patient management. Key words: Imaging techniques, magnetic resonance imaging, multiple myeloma, osteolytic lesions, positron emission tomography/computed tomography, skeletal survey

Innovation processes: do they help or hinder new product development outcomes in Irish SMEs?

: Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a considerable contribution to the development and diffusion of innovation as well as accounting for the bulk of economic activity and employment in Ireland. A formal process for managing the stages of innovation projects is generally cited as a key component of best practice in new product development (NPD). Successfully managing innovation is an important business objective for SMEs, and yet, relatively little is known about how innovation-active firms approach innovation and, specifically, whether firms use formal processes to manage their NPD activities. This study of innovation-active Irish SMEs finds that three quarters of firms report that they do not operate a formal innovation process, yet this is not associated with poorer performance in terms of revenues from new products and services; and there are few differences between firms with formal innovation processes and firms with informal innovation process across each stage of the Innovation Value Chain. Having a more formal innovation process is, however, associated with success at bringing novel products to market. This study contributes to our understanding of the management of innovation in SMEs and to the emerging literature on SMEs that has emphasised both the prevalence and the effectiveness of informal management processes

Orotracheal intubation in infants performed with a stylet versus without a stylet

Background: Neonatal endotracheal intubation is a common and potentially life-saving intervention. It is a mandatory skill for neonatal trainees, but one that is difficult to master and maintain. Intubation opportunities for trainees are decreasing and success rates are subsequently falling. Use of a stylet may aid intubation and improve success. However, the potential for associated harm must be considered. Objectives To compare the benefits and harms of neonatal orotracheal intubation with a stylet versus neonatal orotracheal intubation without a stylet. Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE; Embase; the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and previous reviews. We also searched cross-references, contacted expert informants, handsearched journals, and looked at conference proceedings. We searched clinical trials registries for current and recently completed trials. We conducted our most recent search in April 2017. Selection criteria All randomised, quasi–randomised, and cluster-randomised controlled trials comparing use versus non-use of a stylet in neonatal orotracheal intubation. Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently assessed results of searches against predetermined criteria for inclusion, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data. We used the standard methods of the Cochrane Collaboration, as documented in the Cochrane Handbook for Systemic Reviews of Interventions, and of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group. Main results: We included a single-centre non-blinded randomised controlled trial that reported a total of 302 intubation attempts in 232 infants. The median gestational age of enrolled infants was 29 weeks. Paediatric residents and fellows performed the intubations. We judged the study to be at low risk of bias overall. Investigators compared success rates of first-attempt intubation with and without use of a stylet and reported success rates as similar between stylet and no-stylet groups (57% and 53%) (P = 0.47). Success rates did not differ between groups in subgroup analyses by provider level of training and infant weight. Results showed no differences in secondary review outcomes, including duration of intubation, number of attempts, participant instability during the procedure, and local airway trauma. Only 25% of all intubations took less than 30 seconds to perform. Study authors did not report neonatal morbidity nor mortality. We considered the quality of evidence as low on GRADE analysis, given that we identified only one unblinded study. Authors' conclusions: Current available evidence suggests that use of a stylet during neonatal orotracheal intubation does not significantly improve the success rate among paediatric trainees. However, only one brand of stylet and one brand of endotracheal tube have been tested, and researchers performed all intubations on infants in a hospital setting. Therefore, our results cannot be generalised beyond these limitations

Sleep Spindles Are Related to Schizotypal Personality Traits and Thalamic Glutamine/Glutamate in Healthy Subjects

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting approximately 1% of the worldwide population. Yet, schizophrenia-like experiences (schizotypy) are very common in the healthy population, indicating a continuum between normal mental functioning and the psychosis found in schizophrenic patients. A continuum between schizotypy and schizophrenia would be supported if they share the same neurobiological origin. Two such neurobiological markers of schizophrenia are: (1) a reduction of sleep spindles (12-15 Hz oscillations during nonrapid eye movement sleep), likely reflecting deficits in thalamo-cortical circuits and (2) increased glutamine and glutamate (Glx) levels in the thalamus. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether sleep spindles and Glx levels are related to schizotypal personality traits in healthy subjects. Methods: Twenty young male subjects underwent 2 all-night sleep electroencephalography recordings (128 electrodes). Sleep spindles were detected automatically. After those 2 nights, thalamic Glx levels were measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Subjects completed a magical ideation scale to assess schizotypy. Results: Sleep spindle density was negatively correlated with magical ideation (r = −.64, P .1). Conclusions: The common relationship of sleep spindle density with schizotypy and thalamic Glx levels indicates a neurobiological overlap between nonclinical schizotypy and schizophrenia. Thus, sleep spindle density and magical ideation may reflect the anatomy and efficiency of the thalamo-cortical system that shows pronounced impairment in patients with schizophreni

A Replica Inference Approach to Unsupervised Multi-Scale Image Segmentation

We apply a replica inference based Potts model method to unsupervised image segmentation on multiple scales. This approach was inspired by the statistical mechanics problem of "community detection" and its phase diagram. Specifically, the problem is cast as identifying tightly bound clusters ("communities" or "solutes") against a background or "solvent". Within our multiresolution approach, we compute information theory based correlations among multiple solutions ("replicas") of the same graph over a range of resolutions. Significant multiresolution structures are identified by replica correlations as manifest in information theory overlaps. With the aid of these correlations as well as thermodynamic measures, the phase diagram of the corresponding Potts model is analyzed both at zero and finite temperatures. Optimal parameters corresponding to a sensible unsupervised segmentation correspond to the "easy phase" of the Potts model. Our algorithm is fast and shown to be at least as accurate as the best algorithms to date and to be especially suited to the detection of camouflaged images.Comment: 26 pages, 22 figure

Identification of Protein Biomarker Signatures for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Using Both Nontargeted and Targeted Approaches

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by an increasing number of clonal myeloid blast cells which are incapable of differentiating into mature leukocytes. AML risk stratification is based on genetic background, which also serves as a means to identify the optimal treatment of individual patients. However, constant refinements are needed, and the inclusion of significant measurements, based on the various omics approaches that are currently available to researchers/clinicians, have the potential to increase overall accuracy with respect to patient management. Using both nontargeted (label-free mass spectrometry) and targeted (multiplex immunoassays) proteomics, a range of proteins were found to be significantly changed in AML patients with different genetic backgrounds. The inclusion of validated proteomic biomarker panels could be an important factor in the prognostic classification of AML patients. The ability to measure both cellular and secreted analytes, at diagnosis and during the course of treatment, has advantages in identifying transforming biological mechanisms in patients, assisting important clinical management decisions.Peer reviewe