Team learning in IT implementation projects: Antecedents and consequences

This study investigates the antecedents and consequences of team learning, which is composed of information acquisition, dissemination, and implementation, in information technology (IT) implementation projects. By investigating 129 IT implementation project teams, we found that (1) information acquisition and information dissemination have a positive impact on project outcomes, such as speed-to-users, lower implementation cost, and operational effectiveness, and (2) team behavior and enabler variables, such as teamwork, team communication, interpersonal trust between team members, team commitment, and senior manager support, positively influence team learning. We also found that team anxiety moderates the relationship between team learning and project outcomes.     

Managing research and innovation networks: Evidence from a government sponsored cross-industry program

Important innovations are increasingly produced based on research engagement and fertilization across industries. However, we know little about the challenges associated with managing innovation networks in specific contexts that involves researchers in cross-industry collaboration. Against this backdrop, we draw on theory on design and orchestration of innovation networks to analyze a large-scale government sponsored program, “ProcessIT Innovations” that was designed to increase competitiveness and accelerate economic growth in Northern Sweden. The program was initiated and led by firms from the traditionally strong local process industry and engaged local researchers and firms from the emerging IT industry. Based on our analyses, we offer two contributions. First, we provide a detailed analysis of the challenges related to configuration of the network, orchestration of partnerships between participants, and facilitation of innovation in dedicated development projects. Second, we propose a model of managing research and innovation networks through fertilization across industries and between firms and research institutions.     

A deep vein thrombosis caused by 20209C>T mutation in homozygosis of the prothrombin gene in a Caucasian patient

Introduction:

Additional nucleotide substitutions in the 3′-untranslated region of prothrombin gene could explain some thrombotic events and also adverse pregnancy outcomes. We describe the first case of a homozygous 20209C>T mutation as the cause of deep vein thrombosis in a Spanish patient.

Case and methods:

The 56-year-old male patient with a partial tear of the Achilles tendon developed calf (tibial) deep vein thrombosis after immobilization and was treated with an anticoagulant. To determine if the deep vein thrombosis was of genetic origin, a peripheral blood DNA sample was analysed for the presence of the three most frequent mutations associated with thrombotic events: factor V Leiden (1691G>A), prothrombin (20210G>A) and methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (677C>T). The presence or absence of the normal allele of prothrombin could not be determined using the PTH-FV-MTHFR StripAssay (Vienna Lab).

Results:

Comprehensive analysis showed that the patient had a variant interfering with the polymerase chain reaction product, we sequenced the entire prothrombin gene and found that the patient had a homozygous C>T mutation at position 20209; this interfered with the polymerase chain reaction product, which needs a C at this position to be able to bind to the wild-type probe present in the test strip.

Conclusion:

The homozygous 20209C>T mutation and the presence of the mutation 677C>T in heterozygosity explained the patient’s deep vein thrombosis because the combination of mutations would increase the risk of thrombosis. Suitable genetic counselling should be provided to the patient and first-degree relatives as it important to detect prothrombin gene variants that could increase risk for thrombotic events.     

Green intellectual capital and environmental product innovation: the mediating role of green social capital

Although the importance of intellectual capital has already been highlighted in the management literature, few articles have focused on the importance of its green counterpart, green intellectual capital. Nowadays, when environmental concerns cannot be ignored by firms, it is therefore time to explore the role of green intellectual capital in environmental improvement. For that reason, our research aims to explore the relationships between green intellectual capital components and the environmental performance of the firms. In particular, we try to show the importance of green organizational and social capital in the development of environmental product innovations, which are vital to the development and implementation of environmental strategies since, as scholars have pointed out, they generate some of the greatest environmental impacts. The empirical results show that green organizational capital has an indirect impact on environmental product innovation through green social capital, meaning that the latter is a significant mediator of that relationship, and at the same time emphasizing that informal relationships play a key role in the improvement of the environmental performance of the firm and, more specifically, in the development of environmental product innovations.     

Advances in the identification and measurement of Intellectual Capital and future developments in the Intellectual Capital research agenda: experience of the Intellectus Model and proposal of a synthetic index

Knowledge Management Research & Practice - Nowadays knowledge has become a key asset for firms in order to build a sustainable competitive advantage. The environment changes quickly and...     

The relationships among consumers’ ethical ideology,risk aversion and ethically-based distrust of online retailers and the moderating role of consumers’ need for personal interaction

Consumer distrust is only recently beginning to be perceived as an important e-commerce issue and, unlike online trust, the nature and role of distrust is much less established. This study examines the influence of two important consumer characteristics (ethical ideology and risk aversion) on consumer’s ethically-based distrust of online retailers. Also, the moderating role of consumer’s need for personal contact with sales staff is tested. Results from 409 online consumers confirm that both relativist-based ethical ideology and risk aversion are strongly and positively related to consumers’ distrust. Interestingly, our findings show that positive effects of relativism and risk aversion on consumer’s distrust are moderated by consumers’ need for personal interaction, which is more pronounced for those consumers with a high need for personal interaction with retail salespeople.     

Inducing chemotactic and haptotactic cues in microfluidic devices for three-dimensional in vitro assays

Microfluidic devices allow for the production of physiologically relevant cellular microenvironments by including biomimetic hydrogels and generating controlled chemical gradients. During transport, the biomolecules interact in distinct ways with the fibrillar networks: as purely diffusive factors in the soluble fluid or bound to the matrix proteins. These two main mechanisms may regulate distinct cell responses in order to guide their directional migration: caused by the substrate-bound chemoattractant gradient (haptotaxis) or by the gradient established within the soluble fluid (chemotaxis). In this work 3D diffusion experiments, in combination with ELISA assays, are performed using microfluidic platforms in order to quantify the distribution of PDGF-BB and TGF-β₁ across collagen and fibrin gels. Furthermore, to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental processes, the experiments are reproduced by computer simulations based on a reaction-diffusion transport model. This model yields an accurate prediction of the experimental results, confirming that diffusion and binding phenomena are established within the microdevice.     

Growth influences biomechanical profile of talented swimmers during the summer break

This study aimed to analyse the effect of growth during a summer break on biomechanical profile of talented swimmers. Twenty-five young swimmers (12 boys and 13 girls) undertook several anthropometric and biomechanical tests at the end of the 2011–2012 season (pre-test) and 10 weeks later at the beginning of the 2012–2013 season (post-test). Height, arm span, hand surface area, and foot surface area were collected as anthropometric parameters, while stroke frequency, stroke length, stroke index, propelling efficiency, active drag, and active drag coefficient were considered as biomechanical variables. The mean swimming velocity during an all-out 25 m front crawl effort was used as the performance outcome. After the 10-week break, the swimmers were taller with an increased arm span, hand, and foot areas. Increases in stroke length, stroke index, propelling efficiency, and performance were also observed. Conversely, the stroke frequency, active drag, and drag coefficient remained unchanged. When controlling the effect of growth, no significant variation was determined on the biomechanical variables. The performance presented high associations with biomechanical and anthropometric parameters at pre-test and post-test, respectively. The results show that young talented swimmers still present biomechanical improvements after a 10-week break, which are mainly explained by their normal growth.     

Epidemiology of injuries in First Division Spanish football

Abstract

The aim was to examine the injuries sustained by Spanish football players in the First Division and to compare injury-related variables in the context of both competition and training. The injury data were prospectively collected from 16 teams (427 players) using a specific web-based survey during the 2008/2009 season. A total of 1293 injuries were identified (145 were recurring injuries). The overall injury incidence was 5.65 injuries per 1000 h of exposure. Injuries were much more common during competition than during training (43.53 vs. 3.55 injuries per 1000 h of exposure, P < 0.05). Most of the injuries (89.6%) involved the lower extremities, and overuse (65.7%) was the main cause. Muscle and tendon injuries were the most common types of injury (53.8%) among the players. The incidence of training injuries was greater during the pre-season and tended to decrease throughout the season, while the incidence of competition injuries increased throughout the season (all P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study suggest the need for injury prevention protocols in the First Division of the Spanish Football League to reduce the number of overuse injuries in the muscles and tendons in the lower extremities. In addition, special attention should be paid during the pre-season and the competitive phase II (the last four months of the season) in order to prevent training and competition injuries, respectively.     

Difficulties in teaching the concepts of 'amount of substance' and 'mole'

In this study the origin and evolution of the meanings of the concepts 'amount of substance' and 'mole' are described. Serious disagreements about these concepts amongst chemistry teachers and the recommendations of the international scientific community are identified. Attention is also drawn to the didactic implications that these epistemological difficulties may have for the teaching of chemistry.