Disruptive innovation (DI) poses a significant challenge for firms due to their uncertain nature and unique diffusion patterns before entering the market. A proactive strategy to address the issue of ...DI can turn a potential disruption into a business opportunity. To implement such an aggressive approach, firms should enhance their intrapreneurship capabilities through middle managers’ disruptive innovation activities (DIA). However, research on managing and promoting DI by middle managers is still at a nascent stage. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap in the literature by examining the influence of a firm’s customer orientation (i.e., mainstream and emerging) and middle managers’ mastery achievement goals on their DIA. It analyses the direct and interaction effects of firms’ customer orientation and middle managers’ achievement goals on their DIA. The data from 337 middle managers are analyzed in structural equation modelling. The results indicate that managers’ perception regarding their firm as ‘emerging customer orientated’ positively influences their DIA. Perception regarding the firm as ‘mainstream customer orientated’ negatively influences. Mastery achievement goals of middle managers positively impact their DIA. The interaction of emerging customer orientation and mastery achievement goals significantly influence middle managers’ DIA. Later, interviews were conducted to elaborate on the survey data results, which complemented the findings and provided further insight into the identified effects. These results provide a comprehensive understanding of middle managers' strategic role in nurturing DI in an organizational setting and contributing to the theory and practice.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present results of a study that operationalizes the construct of disruptive innovation activities (DIA) at managerial level and to examine its ...validity.Design/methodology/approachA sequential mixed method approach is adopted in this study where a Likert-type scale to measure DIA is developed basing on the interviews of thirteen managers and conceptualization of disruptive innovation at manager level. Later, the scale validity and reliability are examined through quantitative data from 390 managers. The data are analyzed using IBM SPSS 23 and AMOS 21.FindingsThe findings of the study indicate that managers' DIA are spread across four phases of the disruptive innovation process, i.e. initiation, introduction, evolution and convergence. Furthermore, the reliability measures, exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analysis and subsequent convergent and discriminant validity tests support the DIA scale. Nomological validity of DIA is also presented which demonstrates its predictive validity.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include research methods used in this study, such as cross-sectional design and nonprobabilistic sampling technique. Implications for future research are also provided.Originality/valueDespite highlighting the importance of managers regarding disruptive innovation outcomes, prior research lacked to provide empirical foundations to understand the phenomenon from managerial perspective. This study fills this gap in the literature by providing a measure of DIA at manager level and distinguishing it from similar constructs. The construct validity of DIA can help measure an organization's disruptive potential in terms of its key human resource. Moreover, the DIA scale can be used to substantiate the alignment of the managerial activities with the innovation roles in organizational settings and to develop more relevant incentive plans.
This paper presents a conceptual framework of managerial activities to foster disruptive innovations. Despite wide recognition of managerial role at middle and lower tiers of organization towards ...shaping its long-term strategy, the existing research, so far, has lacked in explicitly explaining the managerial activities directed towards the development of disruptive innovations. Authors explored the extant literature on disruptive innovation theory and identified three phases of the disruption process where managers at the middle and lower tiers can play an active role. The authors named this role of managers as their disruptive innovation activities (DIA). Furthermore, manager's DIA is explored in the context of existing antecedents of manager's strategic activities and a conceptual framework is proposed along with a resource map for future research, in this direction.
This paper presents a conceptual framework of managerial activities to foster disruptive innovations. Despite wide recognition of managerial role at middle and lower tiers of organization towards ...shaping its long-term strategy, the existing research, so far, has lacked in explicitly explaining the managerial activities directed towards the development of disruptive innovations. Authors explored the extant literature on disruptive innovation theory and identified three phases of the disruption process where managers at the middle and lower tiers can play an active role. The authors named this role of managers as their disruptive innovation activities (DIA). Furthermore, manager's DIA is explored in the context of existing antecedents of manager's strategic activities and a conceptual framework is proposed along with a resource map for future research, in this direction.
Ischemic stroke is categorized by either permanent or transient blood flow obstruction, impeding the distribution of oxygen and essential nutrients to the brain. In this study, we examined the ...neuroprotective effects of compound A3, a synthetic polyphenolic drug product, against ischemic brain injury by employing an animal model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (p-MCAO). Ischemic stroke induced significant elevation in the levels of reactive oxygen species and, ultimately, provoked inflammatory cascade. Here, we demonstrated that A3 upregulated the endogenous antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione s-transferase (GST), glutathione (GSH), and reversed the ischemic-stroke-induced nitric oxide (NO) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) elevation in the peri-infarct cortical and striatal tissue, through the activation of endogenous antioxidant nuclear factor E2-related factor or nuclear factor erythroid 2 (Nrf2). In addition, A3 attenuated neuroinflammatory markers such as ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 (Iba-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrotic factor-α (TNF-α), toll-like receptors (TLR4), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) by down-regulating p-JNK as evidenced by immunohistochemical results. Moreover, treatment with A3 reduced the infarction area and neurobehavioral deficits. We employed ATRA to antagonize Nrf2, which abrogated the neuroprotective effects of A3 to further assess the possible involvement of the Nrf2 pathway, as demonstrated by increased infarction and hyperexpression of inflammatory markers. Together, our findings suggested that A3 could activate Nrf2, which in turn regulates the downstream antioxidants, eventually mitigating MCAO-induced neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars enable better estimation accuracy with improved resolution in contrast to traditional radar systems; thus, this field has attracted attention in recent ...years from researchers, funding agencies, and practitioners. The objective of this work is to estimate the direction of arrival of targets for co-located MIMO radars by proposing a novel approach called flower pollination. This approach is simple in concept, easy to implement and has the capability of solving complex optimization problems. The received data from the far field located targets are initially passed through the matched filter to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, and then the fitness function is optimized by incorporating the concept of virtual or extended array manifold vectors of the system. The proposed approach outperforms other algorithms mentioned in the literature by utilizing statistical tools for fitness, root mean square error, cumulative distribution function, histograms, and box plots.
In the current study, a series of new (2S,3S)-2-(4-isopropylbenzyl)-2-methyl-4-nitro-3-phenylbutanals (FM1-6) with their corresponding carboxylic acid analogues (FM7-12) has been synthesized. ...Initially, the aldehydic derivatives were isolated in the diastereomeric form, and the structures were confirmed with NMR, MS and elemental analysis. Based on the encouraging results in in vitro COX 1/2, 5-LOX and antioxidant assays, we oxidized the compounds and obtained the pure single (major) diastereomer for activities. Among all the compounds, FM4, FM10 and FM12 were the leading compounds based on their potent IC50 values. The IC50 values of compounds FM4, FM10 and FM12 were 0.74, 0.69 and 0.18 µM, respectively, in COX-2 assay. Similarly, the IC50 values of these three compounds were also dominant in COX-1 assay. In 5-LOX assay, the majority of our compounds were potent inhibitors of the enzyme. Based on the potency and safety profiles, FM10 and FM12 were subjected to the in vivo experiments. The compounds FM10 and FM12 were observed with encouraging results in in vivo analgesic and anti-inflammatory models. The molecular docking studies of the selected compounds show binding interactions in the minimized pocked of the target proteins. It is obvious from the overall results that FM10 and FM12 are potent analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents.
In recent years, drug discovery paradigm has been shifted from conventional single target inhibition toward multitarget design concept. In current research, we have reported synthesis, in-vitro, ...in-vivo and acute toxicity determination of N-substituted pyrrolidine-2,5-dione derivatives as multitarget anti-inflammatory agents. We synthesized cycloalkyl, alkyl and aryl carbonyl derivatives by the Michael addition of ketones to N-substituted maleimides using self-assembled three component system as an organocatalyst. Anti-inflammatory potential of the compounds was determined by using different in-vitro assays, like cyclooxygenase-1, cyclooxygenase-2 and 5-lipoxygenase, albumin denaturation and anti-protease assays. Amongst the synthesized compounds, 13a-e series of compounds showed inhibition in low micromolar to submicromolar ranges. These compounds also demonstrated COX-2 selectivity. Compound 13e with IC50 value 0.98 μM and SI of 31.5 emerged as the most potent inhibitor of COX-2. Based on in-vitro results, in-vivo anti-inflammatory investigations were performed on compounds 3b and 13evia carrageenan induced paw edema test. The possible mode of action of compounds 3b and 13e were ascertained with various mediators like histamine, bradykinin, prostaglandin and leukotriene. In-vivo acute toxicity study showed the safety of synthesized compounds up to 1000 mg/kg dose. The selectivity of the compounds against cyclooxygenase isoforms was supported by docking simulations. Selective COX-2 inhibitors showed significant interactions with the amino acid residues present in additional secondary COX-2 enzyme pocket. Furthermore, in-silico pharmacokinetic predictions confer the drug-like characteristics.
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•Cycloalkyl, alkyl and aryl carbonyl derivatives by the Michael addition of ketones to N-substituted maleimides.•Anti-inflammatory potential of the compounds was determined by using in-vitro and in-vivo assays.•In-vivo acute toxicity study showed the safety of the tested compounds 3b and 13e.•Molecular docking studies on COX-2 and 5-LOX were carried out.•In-silico pharmacokinetic predictions were also performed.
This manuscript presents high performance dual polarized eight-element multiple input multiple output (MIMO) fifth generation (5G) smartphone antenna. The design consists of four dual-polarized ...microstrip diamond-ring slot antennas, positioned at corners of printed circuit board (PCB). Cheap Fr-4 dielectric with permittivity 4.3 and thickness of 1.6mm is used as substrate with overall dimension of 150 x 75 x 1.6 mm.sup.3 . In mobile system due to limited space mutual coupling between nearby antenna elements is an issue that distort MIMO antenna performance. Defected ground structure is used to control coupling. The defected ground structure has advantages like ease of fabrication, compact size and high efficiency as compare to other techniques. Less than 30dB coupling is achieved for adjacent elements. The -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 700 MHz is achieved for all radiating elements ranging from 3.3 GHz to 4.1 GHz. The value is about 900MHz for -6dB. The proposed antenna offers good results in terms of fundamental antenna parameters like reflection coefficient, transmission coefficient, maximum gain, total efficiency. The antenna achieved average gain more than 3.8dBi and average radiation efficiency more than 80% for single dual polarized element. The antenna provides sufficient radiation coverage in all sides. The MIMO antenna characteristics like diversity gain (DG), envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), total active reflection coefficient (TARC) and channel capacity are calculated and found according to standards. Furthermore, effect of user on antenna performance in data-mode and talk-mode are studied. Proposed design is fabricated and tested in real time. The measured results shows that proposed design can be used in future smartphones applications. The design is compared with some of the existing work and found to be the best one in many parameters and can be used for commercial use.
Patients suffering from chronic diseases are more likely to experience pDDIs due to older age, prolonged treatment, severe illness and greater number of prescribed drugs. The objective of the current ...study was to assess the prevalence of pDDIs and risk factors associated with occurrence of pDDIs in chronic disease patients attending outpatient clinics for regular check-ups. Patients suffering from diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke and osteoporosis were included in the study. This study was a cross sectional, observational, prospective study that included 337 patients from outpatient clinics of respiratory ward, cardiac ward and orthopedic ward of Nishter Hospital Multan, Pakistan. The mean number of interactions per patient was 1.68. A greater risk for occurrence of pDDI was associated with older age ≥ 60 years (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.44-2.37, p<0.001); polypharmacy (≥ 5 drugs) (OR = 3.74, 95% CI 2.32-4.54, p<0.001); overburden (OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.64-3.16, p<0.01); CCI score (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.04-1.84, p<0.001); multiple prescribers to one patient (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06-1.41, p<0.01); and trainee practitioner (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01-1.28, p<0.01). Old age, polypharmacy, overburden healthcare system, higher comorbidity index, multiple prescribers to one patient and trainee practitioner were associated with increased risk of occurrence of pDDIs in chronic disease patients.
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