Why Differentiation Strategy Fails?

Differentiation strategy has been considered critical for securing a competitive advantage. However, not all firms can create competitive advantages through differentiation. In this paper, we draw on a Taiwanese hotel, restaurant, and TV program provider to show why differentiation strategy fails. On the basis of these three cases, three failed differentiation strategies are proposed and a framework for implementing a differentiation strategy is provided. Finally, we present the discussion and conclusions for the theory and practice of differentiation strategy

Relationships between Connectedness, Performance Proficiency, Satisfaction, and Online Learning Continuance

Maintaining momentum is vital in terms of how soon students can complete a program, especially for those who are in the early stage of taking online courses. This study attempted to extend the existing literature by examining the influence of online students’ perceived sense of connectedness, performance proficiency, and satisfaction on their intentions to continue an online learning course. A quantitative survey approach was adopted to test our hypothesized structural model. Three hundred and sixty-nine students who had taken fewer than three fully online courses participated in this study. The results revealed that three out of four testing hypotheses were all supported at the 0.01 significance level, and one of the path coefficients indicated that online students’ confidence in their ability or competency to perform academic tasks did not directly influence their intention to take future online courses. Instead, the influence of performance proficiency on online learning continuance intention was mediated through the factor of satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction was found to have a significantly direct impact on online learning continuance intention, suggesting that when students taking online courses are satisfied with their online learning experience, the likelihood for them to continue taking other online courses is higher

Retraction and Generalized Extension of Computing with Words

Fuzzy automata, whose input alphabet is a set of numbers or symbols, are a formal model of computing with values. Motivated by Zadeh's paradigm of computing with words rather than numbers, Ying proposed a kind of fuzzy automata, whose input alphabet consists of all fuzzy subsets of a set of symbols, as a formal model of computing with all words. In this paper, we introduce a somewhat general formal model of computing with (some special) words. The new features of the model are that the input alphabet only comprises some (not necessarily all) fuzzy subsets of a set of symbols and the fuzzy transition function can be specified arbitrarily. By employing the methodology of fuzzy control, we establish a retraction principle from computing with words to computing with values for handling crisp inputs and a generalized extension principle from computing with words to computing with all words for handling fuzzy inputs. These principles show that computing with values and computing with all words can be respectively implemented by computing with words. Some algebraic properties of retractions and generalized extensions are addressed as well.Comment: 13 double column pages; 3 figures; to be published in the IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy System

A novel randomly textured phosphor structure for highly efficient white light-emitting diodes

We have successfully demonstrated the enhanced luminous flux and lumen efficiency in white light-emitting diodes by the randomly textured phosphor structure. The textured phosphor structure was fabricated by a simple imprinting technique, which does not need an expensive dry-etching machine or a complex patterned definition. The textured phosphor structure increases luminous flux by 5.4% and 2.5% at a driving current of 120 mA, compared with the flat phosphor and half-spherical lens structures, respectively. The increment was due to the scattering of textured surface and also the phosphor particles, leading to the enhancement of utilization efficiency of blue light. Furthermore, the textured phosphor structure has a larger view angle at the full width at half maximum (87°) than the reference LEDs

T Oligo-Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (TOP-PCR): A Robust Method for the Amplification of Minute DNA Fragments in Body Fluids.

Body fluid DNA sequencing is a powerful noninvasive approach for the diagnosis of genetic defects, infectious agents and diseases. The success relies on the quantity and quality of the DNA samples. However, numerous clinical samples are either at low quantity or of poor quality due to various reasons. To overcome these problems, we have developed T oligo-primed polymerase chain reaction (TOP-PCR) for full-length nonselective amplification of minute quantity of DNA fragments. TOP-PCR adopts homogeneous "half adaptor" (HA), generated by annealing P oligo (carrying a phosphate group at the 5' end) and T oligo (carrying a T-tail at the 3' end), for efficient ligation to target DNA and subsequent PCR amplification primed by the T oligo alone. Using DNA samples from body fluids, we demonstrate that TOP-PCR recovers minute DNA fragments and maintains the DNA size profile, while enhancing the major molecular populations. Our results also showed that TOP-PCR is a superior method for detecting apoptosis and outperforms the method adopted by Illumina for DNA amplification

Different Renal Function Equations and Dosing of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: Randomized trials of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) adopted the Cockcroft-Gault (CG) formula to calculate estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to determine the dosages of DOACs. OBJECTIVES: The authors aimed to investigate the agreements/disagreements of eGFRs calculated using different equations (CG, Modified Diet in Renal Disease [MDRD], and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration [CKD-EPI] formulas), and their impacts on the dosages of DOACs and clinical outcomes. METHODS: Medical data from a multicenter health care provider in Taiwan including 39,239 patients with atrial fibrillation were used. Among these patients, there were 11,185 and 2,323 patients treated with DOACs and warfarin, respectively. RESULTS: At the cutoff values of eGFR of 50 mL/min, the agreements were 78% between MDRD and CG and 81% between CKD-EPI and CG. The disagreements among the different equations were largely due to overestimations, especially for patients aged >75 years and with a body weight of <50 kg (58.8% for MDRD and 50.9% for CKD-EPI). Among patients receiving DOACs whose dosages were defined as “on label” based on MDRD or CKD-EPI, only those whose dosages were “truly on label” based on CG were associated with a lower risk of major bleeding (adjusted HR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.26-0.45) compared to warfarin. CONCLUSIONS: The adoptions of MDRD or CKD-EPI rather than CG would result in inappropriate dosing of DOACs (mainly overdosing), which would attenuate the advantages of DOACs compared to warfarin. The CG equation should be used as the gold standard to calculate eGFRs and guide the DOAC dosages

Inhibitory GEF Phosphorylation Provides Negative Feedback in the Yeast Polarity Circuit

Cell polarity is critical for the form and function of many celltypes. During polarity establishment, cells define a cortical‘‘front’’ that behaves differently from the rest of the cortex.The front accumulates high levels of the active form ofa polarity-determining Rho-family GTPase (Cdc42, Rac, orRop) that then orients cytoskeletal elements through variouseffectors to generate the polarized morphology appropriateto the particular cell type [1, 2]. GTPase accumulation isthought to involve positive feedback, such that activeGTPase promotes further delivery and/or activation ofmore GTPase in its vicinity [3]. Recent studies suggest thatonce a front forms, the concentration of polarity factors atthe front can increase and decrease periodically, first clus-tering the factors at the cortex and then dispersing themback to the cytoplasm [4–7]. Such oscillatory behaviorimplies the presence of negative feedback in the polaritycircuit [8], but the mechanism of negative feedback wasnot known. Here we show that, in the budding yeastSaccha-romyces cerevisiae, the catalytic activity of the Cdc42-directed GEF is inhibited by Cdc42-stimulated effectorkinases, thus providing negative feedback. We furthershow that replacing the GEF with a phosphosite mutantGEF abolishes oscillations and leads to the accumulationof excess GTP-Cdc42 and other polarity factors at the front.These findings reveal a mechanism for negative feedbackand suggest that the function of negative feedback via GEFinhibition is to buffer the level of Cdc42 at the polarity site