Some scholars have argued that globalization will reduce the importance of local contexts. We argue instead that despite the increased frequency and intensity of interactions across local contexts, ...they continue to retain their distinctive differences. MNEs face growing challenges in managing the complexity of these interactions, because they must manage ‘multiple embeddedness’ across heterogeneous contexts at two levels. First, at the MNE level, they must organize their networks to exploit effectively both the differences and similarities of their multiple host locations. Second, at the subsidiary level, they must balance ‘internal’ embeddedness within the MNE network, with their ‘external’ embeddedness in the host milieu. Balancing the subsidiary's strategic role within the MNE with its local identity and its domestic linkages can sometimes represent a trade‐off. Multiple embeddedness thus creates both business opportunities and operational challenges, which are explored in this special issue.
Local firms may attract productivity spillovers from foreign investors, yet these vary with local firms' awareness, capability and motivation to react to foreign entry. In consequence, spillovers ...vary across countries at different levels of economic development. We apply competitive dynamics theory to analyze these contextual moderators of spillovers, and test hypotheses thus derived in a meta-analysis of the empirical literature on spillovers. Our analysis suggests a curvilinear relationship between spillovers and the host country's level of development in terms of income, institutional framework and human capital.
Diplomatic and corporate networks Li, Jing; Meyer, Klaus E; Zhang, Hua ...
Journal of international business studies,
08/2018, Letnik:
49, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Firms and governments operate in broad networks in which the home government and its diplomatic service are a critical node–or a “referral point” – between firms and potential partners in foreign ...locations. Thus diplomatic relations between countries matter for the choice of foreign investment location. Using a network perspective, we argue that the extent to which good diplomatic relations induce firms to invest in friendly host countries depends on their political connections to home governments. Those with stronger ties to home governments can better access and leverage intergovernmental diplomatic connections, thus benefiting potentially from enhanced access to information, reduced political risks, and increased legitimacy. Such ability of politically connected firms is more useful where weak institutional impartiality in the host country inhibits neutral treatment of foreign investors. Empirically, using overseas investment location decisions by Chinese firms, we find that the types of home government ties (i.e., whether they are organizational or personal and whether those relationships are with central or local goverments) and the impartiality of host institutions are both important contingencies affecting firms’ utilization of diplomatic relations. We discuss the implications of our study to research on network theory, political ties, and internationalization of emerging market firms.
The United States is in the midst of a devastating opioid misuse epidemic leading to over 33,000 deaths per year from both prescription and illegal opioids. Roughly half of these deaths are ...attributable to prescription opioids. Federal and state governments have only recently begun to grasp the magnitude of this public health crisis. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. While not comprehensive in scope, these guidelines attempt to control and regulate opioid prescribing. Other federal agencies involved with the federal regulatory effort include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Department of Justice. Each federal agency has a unique role in helping to stem the burgeoning opioid misuse epidemic. The DEA, working with the Department of Justice, has enforcement power to prosecute pill mills and physicians for illegal prescribing. The DEA could also implement use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), currently administered at the state level, and use of electronic prescribing for schedule II and III medications. The FDA has authority to approve new and safer formulations of immediate- and long-acting opioid medications. More importantly, the FDA can also ask pharmaceutical companies to cease manufacturing a drug. Additionally, state agencies play a critical role in reducing overdose deaths, protecting the public safety, and promoting the medically appropriate treatment of pain. One of the states' primary roles is the regulation of practice of medicine and the insurance industry within their borders. Utilizing this authority, states can both educate physicians about the dangers of opioids and make physician licensure dependent on registering and using PDMPs when prescribing controlled substances. Almost every state has implemented a PDMP to some degree; however, in addition to mandating their use, increased interstate sharing of prescription information would greatly improve PDMPs' effectiveness. Further, states have the flexibility to promote innovative interventions to reduce harm such as legislation allowing naloxone access without a prescription. While relatively new, these types of laws have allowed first responders, patients, and families access to a lifesaving drug. Finally, states are at the forefront of litigation against pharmaceutical manufacturers. This approach is described as analogous to the initial steps in fighting tobacco companies. In addition to fighting for dollars to support drug treatment programs and education efforts, states are pursuing these lawsuits as a means of holding pharmaceutical companies accountable for misleading marketing of a dangerous product.
Current Clinical Brain Tumor Imaging Villanueva-Meyer, Javier E; Mabray, Marc C; Cha, Soonmee
Neurosurgery,
2017-September, Letnik:
81, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Abstract
Neuroimaging plays an ever evolving role in the diagnosis, treatment planning, and post-therapy assessment of brain tumors. This review provides an overview of current magnetic resonance ...imaging (MRI) methods routinely employed in the care of the brain tumor patient. Specifically, we focus on advanced techniques including diffusion, perfusion, spectroscopy, tractography, and functional MRI as they pertain to noninvasive characterization of brain tumors and pretreatment evaluation. The utility of both structural and physiological MRI in the post-therapeutic brain evaluation is also reviewed with special attention to the challenges presented by pseudoprogression and pseudoresponse.
This paper presents the R/Bioconductor package minet (version 1.1.6) which provides a set of functions to infer mutual information networks from a dataset. Once fed with a microarray dataset, the ...package returns a network where nodes denote genes, edges model statistical dependencies between genes and the weight of an edge quantifies the statistical evidence of a specific (e.g transcriptional) gene-to-gene interaction. Four different entropy estimators are made available in the package minet (empirical, Miller-Madow, Schurmann-Grassberger and shrink) as well as four different inference methods, namely relevance networks, ARACNE, CLR and MRNET. Also, the package integrates accuracy assessment tools, like F-scores, PR-curves and ROC-curves in order to compare the inferred network with a reference one.
The package minet provides a series of tools for inferring transcriptional networks from microarray data. It is freely available from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) as well as from the Bioconductor website.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The johanson and Vahlne model of internationalization has been the main foundation of process research in international business since 1977. This model, also known as the Uppsala model, provides a ...useful general framework for interpreting firm-level processes increasing (and occasionally decreasing) resources committed to international operations. However, the model does not provide theoretical explanations of non-linear and discontinuous dynamics of the process over time, nor does it offer testable propositions. We focus on the longitudinal dimension of internationalization, specifically path-breaking commitments that increase a firm's exposure to risk. On this basis, we examine the idea that the IP model represents an evolutionary process. By emphasizing the role of novelty and introducing selection mechanisms, we explain non-linear and discontinuous dynamics of internationalization processes. Path-breaking resource commitments create novelty and deviate from a gradual path of growth as firms take higher risks, and hence face more intensive selection pressures. In consequence, firms are more likely to experience outstanding performance — but are also more likely to experience failure. This variation of outcomes is moderated by the resources a firm can draw upon in its ecosystem and by the volatility of its environment. Based on these ideas, we develop testable propositions to advance the internationalization process model.
Display omitted
The organic anion transporting polypeptide 2B1 (OATP2B1) was one of the first cloned members of the SLCO family. However, its physiological and pharmacological role is still poorly ...understood, and object of a current debate on the transporter’s relevance. Within this commentary, we summarize the data currently available on the transporter’s expression and its substrates and highlight the strength and difficulties of the methods that have been applied to gather these data. The conclusion drawn from these findings was that OATP2B1 due to its intestinal expression is most likely involved in oral drug absorption of its substrate and therefore prone for interactions. This has been tested in in vivo drug interaction and/or pharmacogenetic studies. While some of these support the notion of OATP2B1 being of relevance in drug absorption, the pharmacogenetic findings are rather inconclusive. We will explain our thoughts why OATP2B1 may not influence the general systemic pharmacokinetic of certain substrates, but possibly local distribution processes, like the transfer across the blood–brain-barrier. Besides the pharmacokinetic aspects, there are data on endogenous molecules like coproporphyrins and sulfated steroids. Therefore, we will also highlight possible physiological roles of OATP2B1, which are driven by its expression pattern in the tubular cells of the kidney as well as its expression in the blood brain barrier. Finally we also deal with the advantages and disadvantages in the use of animal models to decipher the role of OATP2B1 in pharmacokinetics of its substrates and beyond.
Temporary rivers are increasingly common freshwater ecosystems, but there have been no global syntheses of their community patterns. In this study, we examined the responses of aquatic invertebrate ...communities to flow intermittence in 14 rivers from multiple biogeographic regions covering a wide range of flow intermittence and spatial arrangements of perennial and temporary reaches. Hydrological data were used to describe flow intermittence (FI, the proportion of the year without surface water) gradients. Linear mixed‐effects models were used to examine the relationships between FI and community structure and composition. We also tested if communities at the most temporary sites were nested subsets of communities at the least temporary and perennial sites. Taxon richness decreased as FI increased and invertebrate communities became dominated by ubiquitous taxa. The number of resilient taxa (with high dispersal capacities) decreased with increased FI, whereas the number of resistant taxa (with adaptations to desiccation) was not related to FI. River‐specific and river‐averaged model comparisons indicated most FI‐community relationships did not differ statistically among rivers. Community nestedness along FI gradients was detected in most rivers and there was little or no influence of the spatial arrangement of perennial and temporary reaches. These results indicate that FI is a primary driver of aquatic communities in temporary rivers, regardless of the biogeographic species pool. Community responses are largely due to resilience rather than resistance mechanisms. However, contrary to our expectations, resilience was not strongly influenced by spatial fragmentation patterns, suggesting that colonist sources other than adjacent perennial reaches were important.
PDF
