PurposeThis paper aimed to evaluate the differences in the use and knowledge of export promotion programs (EPPs) between Brazilian SMEs that internationalized early and SMEs that internationalized in ...a gradual, traditional fashion. Additionally, it tested hypotheses that distinguish these two types of SME internationalization processes in an emerging market context.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested four hypotheses in a sample of 540 SME Brazilian exporters. The sample was divided into two groups according to the born global (BG) criteria: 379 SMEs with gradual or traditional internationalization (TI) and 161 SMEs with early internationalization (EI).FindingsThe results indicate that Brazilian EI SMEs operate in more countries and continents than TI SMEs. In emerging countries such as Brazil, the domestic market continues to play an important role both for SMEs that internationalize early and those whose process is slower. Even though logistic regression could not classify the sample of TI and EI SMEs according to their knowledge about EPPs, the results led to the idea that EI SMEs currently use more specific EPPs than do TI SMEs.Practical implicationsManagers of successful SMEs from emerging markets need to incorporate EPPs into their internationalization strategy. In emerging markets with large domestic markets, SME managers can meet their growth needs by exploiting opportunities in both domestic and international markets.Originality/valueResearch on the early internationalization of SMEs has long focused on SMEs from developed markets and on internal factors. Moreover, the effects of EPPs on the firm' performance of large and SME firms has also been the subject of study. The value of this paper relies on the intersection of EPPs and the early internationalization of SMEs, even for firms in developed markets.
Vitreoretinal Surgery in Uveitis: From Old to New Concepts - A Review Mazzeo, Thiago José Muniz Machado; Cristina Mendonça Freire, Raimunda; Guimarães Machado, Cleide ...
Ocular immunology and inflammation,
05/2024, Letnik:
ahead-of-print, Številka:
ahead-of-print
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The aim of this article is to do a comprehensive literature review about the current role of pars plana vitrectomy in uveitis and in its different structural complications such as cystoid macular ...edema, epiretinal membrane, macular hole, and retinal detachment.
This comprehensive literature review was performed based on a search on PubMed, BioMed Central, Science Open, and CORE databases, of relevant articles abording pars plana vitrectomy in uveitis
Uveitis is a complex disease with multiple etiologies and pathogenic mechanisms. Therapeutic pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) may aid in uveitic structural complications such as cystoid macular edema, epiretinal membranes, macular hole, and retinal detachments even though some cases may present unpredictable visual outcomes. Diagnostic PPV with appropriate ancillary testing is also a valuable tool for the assessment and diagnosis of uveitis in a large proportion of patients.
Over the years, pars plana vitrectomy has undergone significant transformations since its invention nearly 5 decades ago, however, the quality of evidence in the literature regarding its use for uveitis has not improved in the same way. Even though some structural uveitis complications (as previously mentioned) may respond well to surgery, there is still a certain unpredictability regarding its visual outcomes. On the other hand, diagnostic vitrectomy with appropriate ancillary testing is also a valuable tool for the assessment and diagnosis of uveitis in a large proportion of patients.
Abstract
Background
To describe the anatomical and functional outcomes and late complications in patients who developed inferior proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) in silicone oil-filled eyes and ...who required reoperation with large inferior retinectomy.
Methods
This is a single-center, retrospective, interventional case series analysis. The study involved 18 individuals with tractional retinal re-detachment due to PVR development inferiorly in eyes who had undergone prior pars plana vitrectomy and silicone oil as a tamponade. All patients included in the study underwent secondary surgery with large inferior retinectomy (from 120° to 270°) and silicone oil filling.
Results
The mean follow-up period was 44.0 ± 31.5 (± SD) months (range: 4 to 96 months. The anatomical success, defined as the complete reattachment of the retina until the last follow-up, was observed in 88.9% of the cases. The postoperative visual acuity ranged from 20/100 to hand motion at 60 cm. Only two cases (11.1%) did not achieve anatomical success at the last follow-up due to recurrent PVR and retinal re-detachment (one including hypotony). All of the patients were pseudophakic. The PVR grade, as well as the presence of PVR prior to primary surgery, showed no statistical correlation with BCVA, the extent of retinectomies, and final macular status. There was a statistically significant correlation between "Final BCVA" and "Initial BCVA" (r = 0.654) and between "Final BCVA" and "Extent of Retinectomy" (r = 0.615).
Conclusions
Reoperation in eyes filled with silicone oil may be required when PVR is developed. Secondary surgery in these cases with large inferior retinectomy and silicone oil implantation may reach good anatomical success with low rates of late complications, besides improving visual acuity. A better BCVA at the time of re-RD diagnosis and cases of retinectomies with greater extensions showed a positive correlation with better functional outcomes.
Trial registration
Research Ethics Committee of the Suel Abujamra Institute reviewed and approved this study protocol (approval number, 5.404.961).
Pachychoroid disease spectrum: review article Mazzeo, Thiago José Muniz Machado; Leber, Henrique Monteiro; da Silva, Allan Gomes ...
Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology,
03/2022, Letnik:
260, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose
The aim of this article is to do a comprehensive literature review about the current understandings of the pachychoroid disease spectrum, describing its multimodal imaging analysis, ...pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and current types of management.
Methods
This comprehensive literature review was performed based on a search on the PubMed database, of relevant pachychoroid published papers according to our current knowledge.
Discussion
The pachychoroid disease spectrum, according to some authors, includes the following: pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy (PPE), central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), pachychoroid neovasculopathy (PNV), polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV)/aneurysmal type 1 neovascularization (AT1), and more recently focal choroidal excavation (FCE) and peripapillary pachychoroid syndrome (PPS). Each one of these entities will be described and discussed in this article.
Conclusion
Significant advances in multimodal imaging have enabled a better understanding of the typical choroidal changes in pachychoroid disease spectrum. The clinical knowledge and managing options about this disease significantly increased in the last years. However, it is still unclear why some eyes with typical pachychoroid disease phenotype show no evidence of RPE damage and subretinal fluid (uncomplicated pachychoroid) while others present progressive tissue damage, neovascularization, and atrophy.
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•Identification and quantification of soot precursors by quantum chemistry approach.•Sub-mechanism containing hydrogen abstraction and beta-scission reactions.•Kinetic parameters for ...several alkane elementary reactions.•Farnesane produces ten times lower soot precursors than n-dodecane.
The worldwide increase concern about the use of fossil fuels is causing a running for the development of green fuels, trying to slow down the emissions of soot and greenhouse gases. Recent studies are pointing up that branched carbon chain structures of alkanes, terpenoids, and sesquiterpenes produce less soot during combustion, they have been employed as an additive in diesel/kerosene engines. In this work, a decomposition sub-mechanism of farnesane and n-dodecane fuels was studied, using the calculated Arrhenius parameters for several hydrogen abstractions and β-scission elementary reactions to compare the preceding species of the soot precursors. The calculations were carried out using density functional theory to obtain the thermochemical properties of all molecules and transition state theory to calculate the thermal rate coefficients. The results showed the importance of the thermochemical analysis in choosing the appropriate temperature range for the selected reactions, to obtain a qualitatively appropriate set of kinetic parameters. The molar fraction comparison resulting from the sub-mechanism of the two fuels revealed that farnesane yields a smaller amount of species necessary to produce soot precursors due to the position of the branched carbons. The methodology used here allows the construction of additive mechanisms and can be used to aid the design of new fuels that could be more efficient and/or less polluting. By investigating, for example, the first steps of a fuel decomposition in a reduced mechanism, avoiding the complexity of a complete mechanism, while also generating fairly accurate kinetic parameters for elementary reactions.
Abstract
Purpose
To describe a rare case of a 13 years-old healthy child that presented CRAO secondary to carotid artery dissection, which occurred after a neck rotation movement.
Methods
Case report ...with prospective literature review.
Patients
One patient described in the case report.
Results
Not applicable.
Discussion/conclusion
Internal carotid artery dissection is a rare condition, specially in children, that can lead to serious cerebral-ocular ischemic events. It may occur due to direct vessel trauma or spontaneously. Prompt imaging screening is of paramount importance because early antithrombotic treatment or surgical intervention may significantly reduce the incidence of devastating ischemic events, such as stroke or central retinal artery occlusion.
Chitosan and graphene composites are widely used as biological scaffolds. Aside from environmental concerns related to the Hummer's synthesis the composite obtained contains significant amounts of ...oxygen and other residues, besides the agglomerate formation. In this work, a few-layer graphene obtained by electrochemically exfoliation of graphite was designed and made up with chitosan forming a uniform composite showing a low oxygen content. The amide group formation and crystallographic data were used as an index of composite dispersion. Electrochemically exfoliated graphene presented higher crystallinity degree and uniform crystallite size conferring a homogeneous dispersion of the nanofiller in the chitosan matrix. Chemical interactions between the electrochemically exfoliated graphene and chitosan allowed a high carbon C/O ratio of 14.63 shown by XPS analysis, which gives the high conductivity value, desirable for several purposes.
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•Electrochemical exfoliation yields high quality graphene.•Chitosan and electrochemical graphene provide a composite of low-oxygen level.•Analysis showed nanofiller size related to the dispersion level.•The new graphene composite has potential to act as a biosensor and biomaterial.
The aim of this article is to report a rare case in which a patient presented symptomatic silicon oil brain migration, documented by MRI, several years after vitreoretinal surgery.
This is a case ...report with a prospective literature review.
The patient described in the case report.
Case report.
For several years, silicone oil (SiO) has been widely used as a long-term intravitreal tamponading agent to treat complex retinal detachments. There are rare reports in the literature demonstrating the migration of SiO into the brain. The aim of this article is to report a rare case in which the patient presented severe headaches several years after vitreoretinal surgery, with migrated SiO appearing in MRI as an oval lesion within the horn of the right lateral ventricle. To the best of our knowledge, there are very few reports of symptomatic SiO brain migration in the literature.
This paper aimed to evaluate the product innovation as a resource in the internationalization process of an emerging multinational (EMN), the Brazilian company Taurus in the North American market. ...Through the lenses of the Resource Based View (RBV), we discuss the role of product innovation, the case of The Judge revolver, as a resource for competitive advantage in the internationalization process of an EMN. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers involved in the development and introduction of the product into the USA market, as well as document analysis and direct observation. The results indicated that an innovative product can be vital for an emerging multinational entering a developed market. Other result points out that an innovative product of an EMN is capable of provoking competitive responses in developed markets where the product was introduced.
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