The relationship between information technology and competitive advantages among small and medium tourism enterprises: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah / Leviana Andrew

Understanding how IT contributes to enterprises’ competitive advantages has long been of interest. While IT improved the business operation and communication to the extent that some enterprises managed to be competitive through the utilization of IT system, some enterprises seemed do not benefit from it. This study seeks to clarify the relationship between IT and competitive advantages among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia by focusing on tour and travel agents in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Several theories such as the resource-based view, market-based view and Porter’s model of competitiveness are discussed to further explain the association between these two variables. IT Infrastructure, IT Capability Agent and IT Competencies are the elements of IT while Customer Service, Low Cost, Agility, Innovation and Differentiation are the elements of competitive advantages that were included in this study. The element of strategic planning is added in the relationship as a moderator to the relationship between variables. A total of 111 responses from 364 distributed questionnaires were used for the analysis of this study. Factor analysis extracted one more factor in IT elements which is Modularity and deleted out the element of agility from competitive advantages. The results showed that the relationship between IT and competitive advantages is positive, high and significant; with element IT Infrastructure has the most influence on competitive advantages. However, the result of hierarchical regression analysis suggested that strategic planning does not moderate the relationship but it is more of a factor contributing to competitive advantages. These results showed the importance of integrating IT into business operation to meet information processing demands in dynamic environments. Further, this paper provides both theoretical and managerial implications for the industry and suggestions for future research

Callus Formation and Mineralization after Fracture with Different Fixation Techniques: Minimally Invasive Plate Osteosynthesis versus Open Reduction Internal Fixation

<div><p>Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis(MIPO) has been considered as an alternative for fracture treatment. Previous study has demonstrated that MIPO technique has the advantage of less soft tissue injury compared with open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). However, the comparison of callus formation and mineralization between two plate osteosynthesis methods remains unknown. In this experiment, ulna fracture model was established in 42 beagle dogs. The fractures underwent reduction and internal fixation with MIPO or ORIF. Sequential fluorescent labeling and radiographs were applied to determine new callus formation and mineralization in two groups after operation. At 4, 8 and 12 weeks postoperatively, the animals were selected to be sacrificed and the ulna specimens were analyzed by Micro-CT. The sections were also treated with Masson staining for histological evaluation. More callus formation was observed in MIPO group in early stage of fracture healing. The fracture union rate has no significant difference between two groups. The results indicate that excessive soft tissue stripping may impact early callus formation. As MIPO technique can effectively reduce soft tissue injury with little incision, it is considered to be a promising alternative for fracture fixation.</p></div

Length Scaling of Carbon Nanotube Electric and Photo Diodes down to Sub-50 nm

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising candidates for future optoelectronics and logic circuits.− Sub-10 nm channel length CNT transistors have been demonstrated with superb performance. Yet, the scaling of CNT p–n diodes or photodiodes, basic elements for most optoelectronic devices, is held back on a scale of micrometers.− Here, we demonstrate that CNT diodes fabricated via a dopant-free technique show good rectifying characteristics and photovoltaic response even when the channel length is scaled to sub-50 nm. By making a trade-off between performance and size, a diode with both channel length and contact width around 100 nm, fabricated on a CNT with a small diameter (d ∼ 1.2 nm), shows a photovoltage of 0.24 V and a fill factor of up to 60%. Study on the dependence of turn-on voltage on scaled channel length reveals transferred charges induced potential barrier at the contact in long channel diodes and the effect of self-adjusting charge distribution. This effect could be utilized for realizing stable and high performance sub-100 nm pitch CNT diodes. As elementary building blocks, such tiny electric and photodiodes could be used in nanoscale rectifiers, photodetectors, light sources, and high-efficiency photovoltaic devices

The photomicrograph of callus formation and mineralization in fracture area from specimens with Masson staining.

<p>The whole images are representative slices of two groups: 4w (A), 8w (B) and 12w (C) in MIPO Group; 4w (D), 8w (E) and 12w (F) in ORIF Group. Scale bar = 200μm.</p

New bone formation and mineralization was monitored histomorphometrically by CA (green), AL (red) and TE (yellow) fluorescent quantification.

<p>The images of (A1-3), (B1-3), (C1-3) and (D1-3) represents the labeling at 2(A1, B1), 4(A2, B2), 6(A3, B3), 8(C1, D1), 9(C2, D2),and 10(C3, D3) weeks after operation. A, C and B, D represents confocal LASER microscope for MIPO group and ORIF group, respectively. A4, B4, C4 and D4 represent merged images of the three fluorochromes for the same group. A5, B5, C5 and D5 represent merged images of the three fluorochromes and a plain confocal laser microscope image. Scale bar = 2mm.</p

1 day, 4, 6, 10 weeks postoperative radiographs images for beagles treated with minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) (A-D) and open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) (E-H).

<p>1 day, 4, 6, 10 weeks postoperative radiographs images for beagles treated with minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) (A-D) and open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) (E-H).</p

Supplementary Material from An energy-based stability criterion for solitary travelling waves in Hamiltonian lattices

In this work, we revisit a criterion, originally proposed in Friesecke & Pego (Friesecke & Pego 2004 <i>Nonlinearity</i> <b>17</b>, 207–227. (doi:10.1088/0951715/17/1/013)), for the stability of solitary travelling waves in Hamiltonian, infinite-dimensional lattice dynamical systems. We discuss the implications of this criterion from the point of view of stability theory, both at the level of the spectral analysis of the advance-delay differential equations in the co-travelling frame, as well as at that of the Floquet problem arising when considering the travelling wave as a periodic orbit modulo shift. We establish the correspondence of these perspectives for the pertinent eigenvalue and Floquet multiplier and provide explicit expressions for their dependence on the velocity of the travelling wave in the vicinity of the critical point. Numerical results are used to corroborate the relevant predictions in two different models, where the stability may change twice. Some extensions, generalizations and future directions of this investigation are also discussed.One contribution of 14 to a theme issue ‘Stability of nonlinear waves and patterns and related topics’

Monodisperse Metal–Organic Framework Nanospheres with Encapsulated Core–Shell Nanoparticles Pt/Au@Pd@{Co₂(oba)₄(3-bpdh)₂}4H₂O for the Highly Selective Conversion of CO₂ to CO

A new microporous metal–organic framework (MOF) with formula {Co₂(oba)₄(3-bpdh)₂}­4H₂O [oba = 4,4′-oxybis­(benzoic acid); 3-bpdh = <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′-bis-(1-pyridine-3-yl-ethylidene)-hydrazine] was assembled, and its morphology was found to undergo a microrod-to-nanosphere transformation with temperature variation. Core–shell Au@Pd functional nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully encapsulated in the center of the monodisperse nanospheres, and Pt NPs were well-dispersed and fully immobilized on the surface of Au@Pd@1Co to build the Pt/Au@Pd@1Co composites, which exhibited NPs catalytic activity for the reverse water gas shift reaction. The core–shell Au@Pd NPs in MOF significantly enchanced the CO selectivity of the catalyst, and the Pt NP loading on the surface of the nanosphere afforded a desirable CO₂ conversion

Mean ± SD for outcome measurements (fracture reduction and implant associated parameters for dogs in MIPO and ORIF groups).

<p>The P values indicate significant differences determined by unpaired t-test.</p

Micro-CT images of the fracture healing progression in MIPO group (A: 4 weeks; B: 8 weeks; C: 12 weeks) and ORIF group (D: 4 weeks; E: 8 weeks; F: 12 weeks).

<p>Micro-CT images of the fracture healing progression in MIPO group (A: 4 weeks; B: 8 weeks; C: 12 weeks) and ORIF group (D: 4 weeks; E: 8 weeks; F: 12 weeks).</p