Naresuan University Journal
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R&D Spillovers on a Salop Circle
No full textThe paper describes quality/price equilibrium and welfare effects of R&D spillovers when firms are located around the circumference of a Salop circle, and the extent of the spillovers may depend on the geographic proximity between firms. In particular, we show that an increase in competition may have a positive effect on the provision of quality and firms’ profits. We also extend the model allowing a multinational enterprise to locate at the centre of the circle. In this scenario it is important to understand the interplay of local R&D spillovers with the spillovers that propagate from and to the centre
Governing health and safety at lower tiers of the computer industry global value chain
No full textGlobal brands remain under increasing pressure to ensure labor standards and codes of conduct are met by their suppliers. Yet little is known on how this is addressed by lower tier suppliers. This paper investigates whether, and how, occupational health and safety standards permeate down the computer industry value chain. We compare first and second tier suppliers located in Penang, Malaysia and their engagement with a private voluntary industry code - the Electronics Industry Code of Conduct, and the publicly regulated European Union Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances. While these standards differ, we find the industry code absent at the lower tier, yet second tier suppliers do implement the European Union Directive. This is achieved without support from public agencies or inter-firm linkages from within the global value chain. Our findings question the emphasis placed on chain governance in the literature on labor compliance in global value chains, and suggest that alternative approaches, including market access linked standards, may be required for effective labor compliance
Empirical study of trust in Chinese organizations: Joint venture versus state-owned enterprise
No full textCulture offers an important setting for entrepreneurship to grow, and trust is critical for entrepreneurship to thrive. In recent years, there has been debate whether Chinese culture facilitates or hinders entrepreneurship; there has also been a call for empirical investigation of trust in entrepreneurship research. Our paper investigates the relationship between Chinese cultural values and two kinds of trust, in two different enterprises as two subcultures in China. The two kinds of trust are dispositional trust and interpersonal trust; and the two enterprises are a joint venture and a state-owned enterprise. We composed questionnaire from established work about trust and cultural values, ran survey research on 226 employees in the two organizations in China, and analyzed the survey data by descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlations, and MANOVA. We found that dispositional trust and interpersonal trust are different at individual level; Chinese cultural values correlate significantly with both dispositional trust and interper-sonal trust, and positively correlate to both kinds of trust. Employees in the state-owned enterprise held higher level of Chinese cultural values but had lower level of interpersonal trust, which suggests potential problems in its management. Our study is one of the recent studies that separately measure dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and our findings across two different types of organizations have practical implications for entrepreneurship research in China. Our study is also one of the recent studies that find Chinese cultural values may benefit trust in enterprises, although some earlier studies suggested the opposite
An XRCC4 splice mutation associated with severe short stature, gonadal failure, and early-onset metabolic syndrome.
No full textCONTEXT: Severe short stature can be caused by defects in numerous biological processes including defects in IGF-1 signaling, centromere function, cell cycle control, and DNA damage repair. Many syndromic causes of short stature are associated with medical comorbidities including hypogonadism and microcephaly. OBJECTIVE: To identify an underlying genetic etiology in two siblings with severe short stature and gonadal failure. DESIGN: Clinical phenotyping, genetic analysis, complemented by in vitro functional studies of the candidate gene. SETTING: An academic pediatric endocrinology clinic. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Two adult siblings (male patient [P1] and female patient 2 [P2]) presented with a history of severe postnatal growth failure (adult heights: P1, -6.8 SD score; P2, -4 SD score), microcephaly, primary gonadal failure, and early-onset metabolic syndrome in late adolescence. In addition, P2 developed a malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumor at age 28. INTERVENTION(S): Single nucleotide polymorphism microarray and exome sequencing. RESULTS: Combined microarray analysis and whole exome sequencing of the two affected siblings and one unaffected sister identified a homozygous variant in XRCC4 as the probable candidate variant. Sanger sequencing and mRNA studies revealed a splice variant resulting in an in-frame deletion of 23 amino acids. Primary fibroblasts (P1) showed a DNA damage repair defect. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we have identified a novel pathogenic variant in XRCC4, a gene that plays a critical role in non-homologous end-joining DNA repair. This finding expands the spectrum of DNA damage repair syndromes to include XRCC4 deficiency causing severe postnatal growth failure, microcephaly, gonadal failure, metabolic syndrome, and possibly tumor predisposition
The binary nature of PSR J2032+4127
No full textPSR J2032+4127 is a γ-ray and radio-emitting pulsar which has been regarded as a young luminous isolated neutron star. However, its recent spin-down rate has extraordinarily increased by a factor of 2. We present evidence that this is due to its motion as a member of a highly-eccentric binary system with an ˜15-M⊙ Be star, MT91 213. Timing observations show that, not only are the positions of the two stars coincident within 0.4 arcsec, but timing models of binary motion of the pulsar fit the data much better than a model of a young isolated pulsar. MT91 213, and hence the pulsar, lie in the Cyg OB2 stellar association, which is at a distance of only 1.4-1.7 kpc. The pulsar is currently on the near side of, and accelerating towards, the Be star, with an orbital period of 20-30 yr. The next periastron is well constrained to occur in early 2018, providing an opportunity to observe enhanced high-energy emission as seen in other Be-star binary systems
