The global integration/local responsiveness (I/R) perspective has been used for a long time and is still today essential to the understanding of the many models presented in the literature on ...multinational companies. We deconstruct the notions of integration and responsiveness, showing how the I/R perspective, as it is presented in the literature, is incomplete or insufficient. We then define an approach that goes beyond this perspective and discuss its applications and limitations.
It is well known that voters prefer parties whose policy positions align with their own. But do voters actually reward incumbents who implement policies preferred by the electorate? Using ...cross-country data covering more than 350 elections and opinion-policy congruence measures based on 166 issues, our analysis reveals an unexpected non-correlation between opinion-policy congruence and electoral success. Governments that implement (or keep in place) policies with higher levels of support in the electorate do not do better in subsequent elections. This result holds when controlling for the state of the economy, and when using other, country-specific, datasets. The study reinforces conclusions from previous research that retrospective policy voting seems to be very limited.
This study investigated the relationships between parental responsiveness, teaching responsiveness, and creativity, as well as the mechanism underlying these associations. We collected data from 584 ...Chinese college students via convenience sampling method and used self-report scales to measure their perceived parental responsiveness, teaching responsiveness, creative self-efficacy, and creativity. We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships among these variables and the mediation effect. The results revealed that both parental responsiveness and teaching responsiveness were positively related to student creativity. Moreover, creative self-efficacy mediated the relationships of parental responsiveness, teaching responsiveness, and creativity. The findings highlight the significance of responsiveness from parents and teachers on student creativity and verify the potential mediating role of creative self-efficacy. These findings suggest that teachers and parents can foster creativity by providing warm and supportive responses to students' creative needs.
Past work has shown that perceived responsiveness is a key predictor of relational outcomes. However, this work has focused solely on average levels of responsiveness and never studied the role of ...responsiveness variability (consistency of responsiveness) in intimate relationships. The present study addressed this gap by investigating the long-held but scarcely tested tenet that responsiveness variability and average responsiveness play differential roles in romantic attachment. New romantic couples (N = 151) reported partner-specific attachment anxiety and avoidance in six sessions. Every evening during the 3-week period in between the first two sessions, participants reported perceived partner responsiveness, allowing us to assess both average responsiveness and responsiveness variability. Our findings provided the first empirical evidence that responsiveness variability uniquely predicted increases in partner-specific attachment anxiety, whereas average responsiveness uniquely predicted decreases in partner-specific attachment avoidance. Average responsiveness and responsiveness variability continued to predict attachment orientations assessed about half a year later.
Amphiphilic diblock copolymers containing dopamine and zwitterions are synthesized via the RAFT polymerization method, which undergo temperature‐mediated micellization in aqueous media. The presence ...of catechol moiety in dopamine is exploited to form pH‐responsive cross‐links with ferric ions (Fe3+) at different pH value. Herein, a comprehensive study of the effect of pH as well as temperature on the size and solution behavior of these cross‐linked micelles is presented. These micelles cross‐linked via metal–catechol coordination bonds can have several important biomedical applications such as degradable scaffolds for payload delivery.
Mussel‐mimetic block copolymer micelles based on polyzwitterions as one block and poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) and dopamine methacrylamide as another block are fabricated via metal–catechol dynamic cross‐links. These micelles are responsive toward change in both temperature and pH as studied from their solution properties and morphologies.
One of the major pursuits of biomedical science is to develop advanced strategies for theranostics, which is expected to be an effective approach for achieving the transition from conventional ...medicine to precision medicine. Supramolecular assembly can serve as a powerful tool in the development of nanotheranostics with accurate imaging of tumors and real‐time monitoring of the therapeutic process upon the incorporation of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) ability. AIE luminogens (AIEgens) will not only enable fluorescence imaging but will also aid in improving the efficacy of therapies. Furthermore, the fluorescent signals and therapeutic performance of these nanomaterials can be manipulated precisely owing to the reversible and stimuli‐responsive characteristics of the supramolecular systems. Inspired by rapid advances in this field, recent research conducted on nanotheranostics with the AIE effect based on supramolecular assembly is summarized. Here, three representative strategies for supramolecular nanomaterials are presented as follows: a) supramolecular self‐assembly of AIEgens, b) the loading of AIEgens within nanocarriers with supramolecular assembly, and c) supramolecular macrocycle‐guided assembly via host–guest interactions. Meanwhile, the diverse applications of such nanomaterials in diagnostics and therapeutics have also been discussed in detail. Finally, the challenges of this field are listed in this review.
Nanotheranostics constructed from aggregation‐induced emission luminogens via supramolecular assembly have been extensively studied during the past decades and exhibit great potential in personalized and precision medicine. This advanced strategy also facilitates the development of integrated systems combining diagnosis and therapy.
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Light-responsive microgels are interesting colloidal systems with potential applications in the biotechnology and medicine. However, synthesis of light-responsive microgels with high ...loading of photoswitchable molecules is still very challenging.
Herein we developed a new method to synthesize light and temperature dual-responsive spiropyran-modified poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) microgels. The novel and straightforward microgels synthesis route involved: a) synthesis of poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-vinylformamide) copolymers via RAFT polymerization followed by the hydrolysis to obtain primary amine groups, b) attachment of carboxyl-modified spiropyran molecules to polymer chains via coupling, and c) crosslinking of spiropyran-modified polymer chains in W/O miniemulsion to form microgels.
Via this method, we successfully synthesized poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) microgels containing more than 10 mol% spiropyran. The reversible light responsiveness of the spiropyran-modified copolymers and microgels in aqueous solution, which originates from the spiropyran photoisomerization under irradiation with different wavelengths, was demonstrated by UV–Vis spectroscopy. Spiropyran-modified copolymers demonstrate shift of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) due to the polarity change of spiropyran molecules under dark, UV and visible light. Surprisingly, dynamic light scattering (DLS) results show that the microgels based on the same copolymers are less affected by UV irradiation. Microgels are swollen in darkness when spiropyran molecules are in the polar, merocyanine form, and collapse after irradiation with visible light, due to the transformation of spiropyran to the relatively nonpolar, closed spirocyclic form. In addition, the spiropyran-modified microgels exhibit reversible temperature responsiveness by presenting a volume phase transition in water from a swollen state to a collapsed state with increasing temperature and the transition temperature decreased compared to the pristine microgels due to the hydrophobicity of spiropyran units.
PurposeThe study examines how supply chain responsiveness (logistics process responsiveness, operations systems responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness) impacts the ability of firms to ...attract, satisfy and retain customers.Design/methodology/approachUsing a quantitative approach, a total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to firms in the Kumasi metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, with 100 useable responses retrieved. The effect of supply chain responsiveness on customer development was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.FindingsThe findings showed that operations systems responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness drive the logistics systems responsiveness of firms as hypothesized. It was also revealed that operations systems responsiveness and logistics process responsiveness enhanced customer development, but supplier network responsiveness did not. Logistics process responsiveness additionally partially mediated the effect of operations systems responsiveness on customer development.Originality/valueTo the best of the researchers' knowledge, no previous studies have empirically examined interrelationships between the dimensions of supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, no previous study has examined the effect of supply chain responsiveness on customer development.
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