Does relationship marketing exist in cyberspace?

Abstract and Key Results

Does theory work in practice? Two case studies

ABSTRACT

Case studies offer an opportunity to review what worked and what didn't and to draw conclusions about what changes to make in future projects. This article presents two different studies. Each study explored the properties of a production process and each had a number of issues to be resolved before experimental runs could be performed. In the first case, the process was a continuous rubber extrusion line, producing windscreen wiper blades. Planning involved people on three different continents, so issues of building trust were paramount. Only a narrow time window was available for experimentation, so flexibility and a quick response to problems as they arose were needed. The second study was an off-line batch process aimed at producing polymers suitable for artificial corneas. There were two competing variables of interest. Previous attempts to improve the product had been piecemeal and unsuccessful, but a fractional factorial experiment provided guidance on a way forward. Subsequent runs then aimed to optimize the primary variable whilst holding the second variable constant. By comparing and contrasting these studies, many valuable lessons can be learned.     

Designing for a Living? Income Determinants Among Firm Founders in the Dutch Design Sector

Many studies have analysed the role of the creative class in fostering regional development. The focus on regional development neglects the individual differences in success among members in the creative class and among firms within creative industries. We study firm founders in three design sectors (industrial design, graphic design and web design) and analyse the determinants of their personal income. Next to individual factors affecting income differences among designers, we look at the relational and spatial contexts in which designers operate. Hence, we can also assess whether spatial clustering and organisational networking are beneficial for designers. The main result, based on 200 telephonic questionnaires, holds that income is determined mainly by business experience and the use of advanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), while education and spatial clustering have no impact. We argue that policies in the design sector should be oriented towards helping young designers to gain experience as well as towards life-long learning in the use of ICTs.     

What’s in a name?

SomerecentsubmissiontoCARBONhaveindicatedatrendtogetcertain“buzz”wordsintothetitle .Themostcommonbeing“nano” ,andmore recently“fullerene like” .Inthelasteightmonthsover 35 %ofallpaperssubmittedtomehavenanointhetitle .WithrespecttotheformerIhavebeenp     

Gender distinctions in patenting: Does nanotechnology make a difference?

Analyzing the domestic patent records filed with the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the 16-year time period from 1990 to 2005, this study benchmarks the collaboration patterns and gender-specific performance in patenting nanotechnology, a newly emerging field, with those in the general area across all technological fields (thereafter the overall tech area, a proxy of traditional technological fields). Going beyond what has been discovered in a previous study that women’s involvement in patenting is lower than their male peers in nanotechnology, the empirical evidence reported here suggests that the gap to women’s disadvantage was smaller in nanotechnology than in the overall tech area in the studied period. The major finding of this study is that, while more than 90% of patents across fields were from industry where patenting is least likely to be collaborative, nano-patents have more diverse origins (79% from industry and 21 from universities, government, public institutions, and cross-sectoral collaboration) and are more likely to be collaborative outcomes (including those from industry). The profile of nanotechnology patents in terms of workforce sectors has the implication that nanotechnology presents an environment where women are more able to catch collaborative opportunities and engage in patenting. Implications for future research are discussed correspondingly.     

Innovation in multinational firms: Does cultural fit enhance performance?

Abstract and Key Results

Does a cycle training course improve cycling skills in children?

Introduction

The aim of this study was to determine the short-term effects of cycle training on basic cycling skills in children from the 4th grade of elementary school. Furthermore, the influence of gender, socio-economic status (SES) and initial cycling skills level on the effects of the cycle training was investigated.

Methods

Five participating schools were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 3) or control condition (n = 2). Children's cycling skills were assessed, using a practical cycling test, at baseline and immediately after the intervention. At baseline, all participating children received a short parental questionnaire on child's demographic and family factors. After the pre-test, cycle training took place only in the intervention schools. Repeated measure analyses were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the cycle training.

Results

The cycle training had a statistically significant effect on children's total cycling skill (F = 46.9, p < 0.001). On mounting the bicycle and start to cycle (F = 2.6, p = 0.11), cycling one handed (F = 2.0, p = 0.16), and cycling on a sloping surface (F = 1.5, p = 0.23), no statistically significant effects were detected. On all other cycling skills, time × condition interaction effects were statistically significant. Gender, SES and initial cycling skills level had no significant influence on the effects of the cycle training.

Conclusion

This study showed that a cycle training of only three sessions was effective to improve children's cycling skills at short term and that cycle training within a traffic-free environment seems to be a useful first step in the development of safe cycling behaviors.     

Does China's higher education investment play a role in industrial growth?

The first sentence in the abstract needs to be changed from:This research divides the process through which China’s higher education investment turned into industrial economic growth between 2014 and 2017 into higher education investment transformation division, knowledge innovation division, and innovation commercialization division, then applies a Network Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model to evaluate the efficiency of the process, and finally uses the individual fixed effect model to analyze its influencing factors. ToThis research divides the process through which China’s higher education investment turned into industrial economic growth between 2014 and 2017. The process is broken down into higher education investment transformation division, knowledge innovation division, and innovation commercialization division. This study then applies a Network Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model to evaluate the efficiency of the process, and finally uses the individual fixed effect model to analyze its influencing factors.     

Does online hemodiafiltration lead to reduction in trace elements and vitamins?

Hemodiafiltration (HDF) has been reported to improve nutritional intake, but as it increases convective losses, it could also increase micronutrient loss. We prospectively audited the effect of HDF on vitamin B12, zinc and selenium. Thirty‐four patients dialyzing (T/Th/Sa) switched to HDF, and 44 dialyzing (M/W/F) remained on high‐flux hemodialysis (HD) and were followed for 12 months. Dialysis adequacy, weight, hemoglobin, and serum albumin did not differ between the groups and did not change over 12 months’ follow up. Similarly, vitamin B12 did not differ: HDF, 443 (325–682) ng/mL HD vs. 478 (327–690) ng/mL HDF; 6 months, 513 (351–664) ng/mL vs. 460 (379–647) ng/mL; or 12 months, 444 (317–617) ng/mL vs. 492 (323–644) ng/mL. And no patient had subnormal values. Folate levels, in those not taking supplements, were also stable (start, 6.2 ± 0.7 μg/L HD vs. 7.2 ± 1.0 μg/L HDF; 12 months, 6.5 ± 0.9 μg/L vs. 10.9 ± 2.4 μg/L). Serum zinc was subnormal in 50% prior to switching to HDF, 10.4 ± 0.4 μmol/L, but did not fall with HDF 10.2 ± 0.3 μmol/L; similarly, selenium was low in 49% prior to switching to HDF, 0.77 ± 0.06 μmol/L, but remained stable on HDF, 0.82 ± 0.06 μmol/L. Although HDF adds convective clearance to standard hemodialysis, it does not lead to a reduction in vitamin B12, folate, zinc, or selenium. However, half of this dialysis cohort had low levels of both zinc and selenium.     

Does a country’s scientific ‘productivity’ depend critically on the number of country journals indexed?

In this paper, we examine the question whether it is meaningful to talk about the scientific productivity of nations based on indexes like the Science Citation Index or Scopus, when the journal set covered by them keeps changing with time. We hypothesize from the illustrative case of India’s declining productivity in the 1980s which correlated with a fall in its journals indexed, that an apparent increase/decrease in productivity for any country, based on observed change in its share of papers could, in fact, be an effect resulting from the inclusion of more/less journals from the country. To verify our hypothesis we have used SCIMAGO data. We found that for a set of 90 countries, the share of journals regressed on the share of papers gave a linear relationship that explained 80% of the variance. However, we also show that in the case of China’s unusual rise in world scientific productivity (to second rank crossing several other countries), there is yet another factor that needs to be taken into account. We define a new indicator—the JOURNAL PACKING DENSITY (JPD) or average number of papers in journals from a given country. We show that the packing density of Chinese journals has steadily increased over the last few years. Currently, Chinese journals have the highest ‘packing density’ in the world, almost twice the world average which is about 100 papers per journal per annum. The deviation of the JPD from the world average is another indicator which will affect so called ‘national productivities’ in addition to the number of national journals indexed. We conclude that in the context of a five fold increase in the number of journals indexed over 20 years, the simplistic notion of ‘scientific productivity’ as equivalent to papers indexed needs to be re-examined.     

Does the light shift drive frequency aging in the rubidium atomic clock?

Frequency aging in the rubidium (Rb) vapor-cell atomic clock plays a significant role in the device's timekeeping ability. Though many researchers have speculated on the physical mechanism(s) driving the linear, deterministic frequency change (i.e., deltaf(t)/fo = At), there is little unambiguous experimental data regarding the phenomenon. Here, long-term data were used from on-orbit global positioning system (GPS) Rb clocks to examine one postulated mechanism for frequency aging (i.e., the light-shift effect). Defining the light shift of the clock's fractional frequency as alphaI/Io, where alpha is the light-shift coefficient, we find that temporal variations of the relative light intensity, I/Io, cannot account for frequency aging. However, for the population of clocks considered here, we obtain the intriguing result that alpha/A = 1.7 +/- 1.5. Thus, it may be that frequency aging is driven by the light-shift effect through temporal variations of the light-shift coefficient.     

Does Blood Pressure Control by Gentle Ultrafiltration Improve Survival in Hemodialysis Patients?

Agentle ultrafiltration can be achieved using a long and slow hemodialysis. It is easier to achieve gentle ultrafiltration if the interdialytic weight intake is moderate ( i.e., if the patient maintains a low sodium diet) and if diffusion allows for a negative or nil sodium balance during the session ( i.e., dialysate sodium < 140 mmol/L). A gentle ultrafiltration allows control of blood pressure by reducing the extracellular volume to its ideal level, the “dry weight,” at the end of the session. Controlling blood pressure reduces cardiovascular mortality, which is by far the foremost cause of death in hemodialysis. Controlling blood pressure means reducing the occurrence of both hypertension and hypotension. Hypotension has been reported to correlate with mortality in hemodialysis as much as or more than hypertension itself. This “U‐curve” phenomenon is not paradoxical. It displays two distinct facts on the same figure: an increased early mortality in hypotensive patients (hypotension is a marker of frailty or congestive heart failure, both of which cause increased mortality) and, on the other hand, the well‐established, long‐term increased mortality in hypertensive patients. Hypotension is not a mandate to undertreat hypertension.     

Does attention capacity moderate the effect of driver distraction in older drivers?

With age, a decline in attention capacity may occur and this may impact driving performance especially while distracted. Although the effect of distraction on driving performance of older drivers has been investigated, the moderating effect of attention capacity on driving performance during distraction has not been investigated yet. Therefore, the aim was to investigate whether attention capacity has a moderating effect on older drivers’ driving performance during visual distraction (experiment 1) and cognitive distraction (experiment 2). In a fixed-based driving simulator, older drivers completed a driving task without and with visual distraction (experiment 1, N = 17, mean age 78 years) or cognitive distraction (experiment 2, N = 35, mean age 76 years). Several specific driving measures of varying complexity (i.e., speed, lane keeping, following distance, braking behavior, and crashes) were investigated. In addition to these objective driving measures, subjective measures of workload and driving performance were also included. In experiment 1, crash occurrence increased with visual distraction and was negatively related to attention capacity. In experiment 2, complete stops at stop signs decreased, initiation of braking at pedestrian crossings was later, and crash occurrence increased with cognitive distraction. Interestingly, for a measure of lane keeping (i.e., standard deviation of lateral lane position (SDLP)), effects of both types of distraction were moderated by attention capacity. Despite the decrease of driving performance with distraction, participants estimated their driving performance during distraction as good. These results imply that attention capacity is important for driving. Driver assessment and training programs might therefore focus on attention capacity. Nonetheless, it is crucial to eliminate driver distraction as much as possible given the deterioration of performance on several driving measures in those with low and high attention capacity.