Discontinuities and senior management: assessing the role of recognition in pharmaceutical firm response to biotechnology

Despite an increasing emphasis on the role of senior managementcognition in shaping organizational action, there have beenfew attempts to link top management mental models to strategicchoice in the face of discontinuous innovation. This paper uses23 years of data covering 15 major pharmaceutical firms to explorethe degree to which each firm's response to the revolution inbiotechnology was shaped by the senior team's recognition ofbiotechnology's importance. Controlling for a number of importantalternative explanations, we show that recognition may be animportant predictor of action, suggesting that cognition atthe most senior level can play a critical role in shaping establishedfirms' response to discontinuities.     

The effect of filters and collimators on Compton scatter and Pb K-series peaks in XRF bone lead analysis

The utility of Al, Cu and In filters and collimators of different diameters in the X-ray fluorescence measurement of lead in the bone was investigated. The changes in Compton scattering and Pb K-series peaks were analyzed with different filters and collimators. Compton scattering and fractional dead time were significantly reduced with the use of filters. The FWHM values of Pb Kα₁, Kβ_1,3 peaks decrease in a nearly linear relation with the ratio of length of collimator to the diameter as the small diameter collimator with long length reduces divergence of spectra, thus improves resolution. The measurement precisions of Kα₁ and Kβ_1,3 peaks were improved by applying an indium filter. The ratio of signal-to-noise slightly increases when an indium filter was used.     

Multisensory recognition of actively explored objects.

Shape recognition can be achieved through vision or touch, raising the issue of how this information is shared across modalities. Here we provide a short review of previous findings on cross-modal object recognition and we provide new empirical data on multisensory recognition of actively explored objects. It was previously shown that, similar to vision, haptic recognition of objects fixed in space is orientation specific and that cross-modal object recognition performance was relatively efficient when these views of the objects were matched across the sensory modalities (Newell, Ernst, Tjan, & Bülthoff, 2001). For actively explored (i.e., spatially unconstrained) objects, we now found a cost in cross-modal relative to within-modal recognition performance. At first, this may seem to be in contrast to findings by Newell et al. (2001). However, a detailed video analysis of the visual and haptic exploration behaviour during learning and recognition revealed that one view of the objects was predominantly explored relative to all others. Thus, active visual and haptic exploration is not balanced across object views. The cost in recognition performance across modalities for actively explored objects could be attributed to the fact that the predominantly learned object view was not appropriately matched between learning and recognition test in the cross-modal conditions. Thus, it seems that participants naturally adopt an exploration strategy during visual and haptic object learning that involves constraining the orientation of the objects. Although this strategy ensures good within-modal performance, it is not optimal for achieving the best recognition performance across modalities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desire for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide in palliative cancer care.

Objective: To investigate the attitudes of terminally ill individuals toward the legalization of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and to identify those who would personally desire such a death. Design: In the Canadian National Palliative Care Survey, semistructured interviews were administered to 379 patients who were receiving palliative care for cancer. Patients who expressed a desire for physician-hastened death were followed prospectively. Main Outcome Measures: Attitudes toward the legalization of euthanasia or PAS were determined, as was the personal interest in receiving a hastened death. Demographic and clinical characteristics were also recorded, including a 22-item structured interview of symptoms and concerns. Results: There were 238 participants (62.8%) who believed that euthanasia and/or PAS should be legalized, and 151 (39.8%) who would consider making a future request for a physician-hastened death. However, only 22 (5.8%) reported that, if legally permissible, they would initiate such a request right away, in their current situations. This desire for hastened death was associated with lower religiosity (p = .010), reduced functional status (p = .024), a diagnosis of major depression (p     

Impact of Multiresolution Active and Passive Microwave Measurements on Soil Moisture Estimation Using the Ensemble Kalman Smoother

An observing system simulation experiment is developed to test tradeoffs in resolution and accuracy for soil moisture estimation using active and passive L-band remote sensing. Concepts for combined radar and radiometer missions include designs that will provide multiresolution measurements. In this paper, the scientific impacts of instrument performance are analyzed to determine the measurement requirements for the mission concept. The ensemble Kalman smoother (EnKS) is used to merge these multiresolution observations with modeled soil moisture from a land surface model to estimate surface and subsurface soil moisture at 6-km resolution. The model used for assimilation is different from that used to generate "truth." Consequently, this experiment simulates how data assimilation performs in real applications when the model is not a perfect representation of reality. The EnKS is an extension of the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) in which observations are used to update states at previous times. Previous work demonstrated that it provides a computationally inexpensive means to improve the results from the EnKF, and that the limited memory in soil moisture can be exploited by employing it as a fixed lag smoother. Here, it is shown that the EnKS can be used in large problems with spatially distributed state vectors and spatially distributed multiresolution observations. The EnKS-based data assimilation framework is used to study the synergy between passive and active observations that have different resolutions and measurement error distributions. The extent to which the design parameters of the EnKS vary depending on the combination of observations assimilated is investigated     

A study on tolerable waiting time: how long are Web users willing to wait?

Web users often face a long waiting time for downloading Web pages. Although various technologies and techniques have been implemented to alleviate the situation and to comfort the impatient users, little research has been done to assess what constitutes an acceptable and tolerable waiting time for Web users. This research reviews the literature on computer response time and users' waiting time for download of Web pages, and assesses Web users' tolerable waiting time in information retrieval. It addresses the following questions through an experimental study: What is the effect of feedback on users' tolerable waiting time? How long are users willing to wait for a Web page to be downloaded before abandoning it? The results from this study suggest that the presence of feedback prolongs Web users' tolerable waiting time and the tolerable waiting time for information retrieval is approximately 2 s.     

Unpacking Cohort Social Ties: The Appropriateness of Perceived Social Capital to Graduate Early Career Performance in Construction Project Teams

Construction project teams require social capital. When present in appropriate forms, it creates the social cohesion through which individuals accept project goals as their own. It lets team members share knowledge when present and reveal when it is missing. In education, social learning helps students appreciate the need for social capital appropriate to team performance. In practice, social capital enables the project team learning that overcomes project-specific challenges. Despite this importance, little is known about how students perceive social capital or the compatibility of that understanding with construction project needs.

To characterise this aspect of ‘graduateness,’ collective understanding of social capital was elicited from construction students in a Scottish university by free recall. Analysis was structured around four dimensions of social capital: cohesion, legitimacy & authenticity, sharing, and safety. Notions of friendship were found to dominate student understanding of their social capital even though this understanding derived from settings where the need for capital to support team performance is emphasized. The potential for misalignment between the capital that graduating students bring into practice with that required by project teams was apparent. The case for further investigation of this influence on early career development was established.     

The Effect of Nanotube Content and Orientation on the Mechanical Properties of Polymer–Nanotube Composite Fibers: Separating Intrinsic Reinforcement from Orientational Effects

We have measured the mechanical properties of coagulation‐spun polymer–nanotube composite fibers. Both the fiber modulus, Y, and strength, σ_B, scale linearly with volume fraction, V_f, up to V_f ～10%, after which these properties remain constant. We measured dY/dV_f = 254 GPa and dσ_B/dV_f = 2.8 GPa in the linear region. By drawing fibers with V_f < 10% to a draw ratio of ～60%, we can increase these values to dY/dV_f = 600 GPa and dσ_B/dV_f = 7 GPa. Raman measurements show the Herman's orientation parameter, S, to increase with drawing, indicating that significant nanotube alignment occurs. Raman spectroscopy also shows that the nanotube effective modulus, Y_Eff, also increases with drawing. We have calculated an empirical relationship between the nanotube orientation efficiency factor, η_o, and S. This allows us to fit the data for Y_Eff versus η_o, showing that the fiber modulus scales linearly with η_o, as predicted theoretically by Krenchel. From the fit, we estimate the nanotube modulus to be; Y_NT = 480 GPa. Finally, we show that the fiber strength also scales linearly with η_o, giving an effective interfacial stress transfer of τ = 40 MPa and a nanotube critical length of l_c=1250 nm. This work demonstrates the validity of the Cox‐Krenchel rule of mixtures and shows that continuum theory still applies at the near‐molecular level.     

Factors Associated with Use of Interactive Cancer Communication System: An Application of the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking

In order to provide insights about cancer patients' online information seeking behaviors, the present study analyzes individuals' transaction log data and reports on how demographics, disease‐related factors, and psychosocial needs predict patterns of service use within a particular Interactive Cancer Communication System (ICCS). Study sample included 294 recently diagnosed breast cancer patients. Data included pretest survey scores of demographic, disease‐related, and psychosocial factors and automatically collected ICCS use data over the 4‐month intervention. Statistical analyses correlated pre‐test survey scores with subsequent, specific types of ICCS service usage. Patterns of online cancer information seeking differed according to the patients' characteristics, suggesting that lower income, less educated women and those lacking in information‐seeking competence use the computer and online services to the same or a greater degree if those services are made available to them. Results of this study can inform more effective resource development for future eHealth applications.