621 research outputs found
Anticipated responses: The positive side of elicited reactions to competitive action
No full textThis study advances the action-oriented perspective on strategy dynamics. Strategy research suggests that a firm’s profit will decrease when facing rival responses, yet anecdotal evidence indicates that countermoves may enhance its performance. What is the interaction effect of simultaneous negative- and positive-side competitive responses on organisational performance? We propose that the answer depends not only on the actor’s characteristics but also the action’s characteristics. Grounded in empirical facts, our formal model of competitive dynamics examines the possibility of anticipated responses that are deliberately elicited by the attacking firm. We show that against attentive rivals, a firm with high attention and low aggressiveness can utilise visible actions to achieve its strategic intention and deployment. Our study offers significant implications for theory and practice
Supplemental Material - The virtue of calculative mindset: A community-based view of entrepreneurial action and its implications to altruistic venturing
No full textSupplemental Material for The virtue of calculative mindset: A community-based view of entrepreneurial action and its implications to altruistic venturing by Shu-Jung Sunny Yang, Yanto Chandra and Yan Emma Liu in Journal of General Management.</p
Robust supply chain strategies for recovering from unanticipated disasters
No full textRecovering from unanticipated disasters is critical in today's global market. This paper examines the effectiveness of popular recovery strategies used to address unpredictable disasters that derail supply chains. We create a formal model to portray dynamic operational performance among supply chain firms facing disruptions caused by natural and man-made disasters. Our analysis shows that a supply chain recovers best if member firms adopt a radical, rapid, costly recovery strategy that immediately resolves the disruption. This observation is robust to various resource consumption requirements. We apply our methodology in the case of Taiwan's 2011 food contamination scandal and provide managerial insights
Encoding and decoding aspiration information for improved performance: a competitive dynamics perspective
No full text© 2011 Yan Emma LiuThe study investigates the impact of competition on firms’ aspiration setting and adjustment. Two related mechanisms in firm cognitive frameworks are considered here: making sense of (i.e. decoding) and giving sense of (i.e. encoding) aspiration information. Grounded in the competitive dynamics literature, a theoretical model is developed to further explore the closed-loop system of encoding and decoding mechanisms. Formal modeling is then applied to operationalize the theoretical model and verify the proposed hypotheses. The simulation experiment results show that the competitive dynamics perspective completes the conventional wisdoms. The analysis derives three new managerial insights: 1) the firm with high aspirations may not decode information comprehensively, which is detrimental to its performance in competition; 2) the firm can act aggressively to diminish the dysfunction of high aspirations; and 3) the firm is able to deliberately encode public signals to manipulate rivals’ understanding on competitive pressure, seducing them to take inappropriate actions in pursuit of its improved performance
CUHK electronic theses & dissertations collection
No full textYan, Fei.Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2015.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-145).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on 15, September, 2016)
The Potential of CRISPR/Cas9 to Generate SPAG5 Knockout Breast Cancer Cell Lines
No full textBreast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. In Aotearoa alone, more than 600 wāhine will lose their lives to breast cancer annually, despite receiving professional treatment. Breast cancer is primarily treated with chemotherapy, often in conjunction with radiation and/or surgery. While these treatments are often effective, recurrence rates remain significant, and the adverse effects experienced while undergoing treatment hugely impact patient quality of life. This is in large part due to the non-specific nature of the currently available chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy drugs target cancer cells efficiently, however healthy proliferating cells are also impacted. As breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, multiple targeted treatments are necessary to address the need for increased specificity and efficacy of available treatments. It is essential that novel targets are identified to function as biomarkers and therapeutic targets that do not adversely affect healthy cells in patients with breast cancer. SPAG5 is a novel biomarker for predicting patients’ chemotherapy drug response. SPAG5 is a mitotic-associated protein responsible for regulating and stabilising chromatid segregation and is often upregulated in cancer. Furthermore, SPAG5 interactions with essential cancer-associated mitotic proteins such as p53 suggest SPAG5 is a promising potential therapeutic target.
The aim of this project is to determine whether novel CRISPR/Cas9 technology may be utilised to produce SPAG5 knockout clones in cancer cell lines. By producing such cell lines, the hope is to provide further opportunities for the development of novel therapeutics in the treatment of breast and other cancers by targeting SPAG5. Triple-negative breast carcinomas have high mitotic activity, poor spindle formation and high levels of unregulated proliferative growth, all characteristics that have been linked to SPAG5 function.
CRISPR/Cas9 is rapidly becoming the most prominently utilised approach for editing cell lines. The rapid and specific nature of the technology provides an accurate and efficient approach to gene editing not previously possible. In this project, CRISPR/Cas9 technology will be utilised to create SPAG5 knockout triple-negative breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and BT549. To determine the successful generation of SPAG5 knockout BT549 and MCF-7 cell lines, the goal of this thesis was to perform PCR, western blotting and DNA sequencing and analyse the results. Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, and extended COVID-related illness, all these confirmation techniques were performed except a second Western Blotting to confirm the disruption of SPAG5. Nonetheless, the results indicate two SPAG5-knockout cell lines were achieved within triple-negative breast cancer cell lines. The development of such lines provides opportunities for further research to determine more targeted breast cancer treatments, utilising SPAG5 as both a therapeutic target and as a biomarker for individualised treatments
Christianity in Jane Austen\ue2s Novels: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma
No full textIn the field of Jane Austen study, some critics regard her novels as a preaching of Christianity while some others consider her works as secular novels. In regards of the author\ue2s religious background, it is essential to re-examine her novels in order to formulate the influence of religion in both her life and her works and to settle certain debates on her belief.
This present thesis will center on three of Austen\ue2s novels: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma, with exploring her surviving correspondence in mention of her opinion on Christians, to probe into her religious principles and to provide a neutral viewpoint to scrutinize the relation between literature and religion in the novels.
The introductory chapter gives an overall look on Jane Austen\ue2s religious and historical background. The following three chapters aim to discuss several elements of Christianity in her novels respectively. Chapter One exemplifies the practice of Christian charity in Austen\ue2s novels as well as in her daily life. It also elaborates on certain \ue2good principles\ue2 that were well-known by the Regency congregation and that were practiced by the authoress. Chapter Two discusses how Austen reflects the biblical teaching in her novels without using direct quotes and how she presents her concern of the potential crisis with ambiguous values. The final chapter deals with the problems facing by the Regency clergy and how Austen projects her ideal clergy through a hero\ue2s mouth. Most importantly, this thesis conjectures the reasons of Austen\ue2s evasiveness on religion in hope to gain a new insight into her fictional world
Vivre son corps: une analyse littéraire de Hiver à Sokcho d'Elisa Shua Dusapin
No full textDenne litterære analysen av romanen Hiver à Sokcho, skrevet av den fransk-koreanske forfatteren Elisa Shua Dusapin, har som hovedformål å undersøke fremstillingen av kropp i romanen. Den litterære analysen undersøker hvordan hovedpersonen i romanen, en ung fransk-koreansk kvinne i 20-årene, lever med en usikkerhet knyttet til eget utseende og kropp.
Hovedpersonen, som aldri blir nevnt med navn, jobber på et lite herberge i den lille sørkoreanske byen Sokcho, ikke langt fra grensen til Nord-Korea. En dag møter hun den franske tegneserie-kreatøren Yan Kerrand, som er på besøk i Sokcho. Andre sentrale karakterer i boken er blant annet hovedpersonens mor, hennes kjæreste og tante. Som leser får man inntrykk av at alle karakterene i denne boken har en formening eller holdning til kropp, preget av de kulturelle og sosiale normene knyttet til kropp, som påvirker hovedpersonen og hennes oppfatning av sin egen kropp.
Analysen er delt inn i tre kapitler, der hvert kapittel tar for seg hovedpersonens relasjon til de mest sentrale karakterene i romanen. Med utgangspunkt i abjeksjonsteorien av den fransk-bulgarske lingvisten Julia Kristeva og verket Unbearable Weight av den amerikanske filosofen Susan Bordo, vil analysen undersøke hvordan hovedpersonens usikkerhet øker gjennom hennes relasjon til sin mor, hennes relasjon til Yan Kerrand og den generelle kroppslige fremstillingen i romanens handling. Dette er tre viktige relasjoner som gir et godt inntrykk av hovedpersonen opplevelse av seg selv, hennes selvbilde og hvordan det preger hennes relasjoner. I analysen blir det benyttet flere utdrag fra romanen, som understreker kompleksiteten i disse relasjonene, hovedpersonens utfordringer samt hvordan forfatteren har brukt sin særegne skrivestil til å skape en egen atmosfære.
Det som kommer frem i analysen er at hovedpersonens relasjon til sin mor har et forhold som fremprovoserer et usunt forhold til mat, gjennom morens forsøk på omsorg som å sørge for at datteren spiser nok og ved å gi henne store måltider, men som fungerer mot sin hensikt når hun ofte kommentere på at hun enten har blitt for tynn eller at hun ikke spiser nok. Analysen viser også hvordan Kerrand vekker en usikkerhet hos hovedpersonen, som oftere stiller seg kritisk til sitt eget utseende i hans nærvær. Perioden Kerrnad er i livet hennes, opplever hun at hun stiller seg kritisk til eget utseende og til hennes tilværelse. Den siste delen av analysen bidrar til å forklare hvordan de kulturelle og sosiale normer og tradisjoner bidrar til å normalisere representasjonen av kropp i romanen, som er preget av stort fokus på Koreanske skjønnhets-standarder og plastisk kirurgi.
Oppgaven konkluderer med at hovedpersonen lever med et selvbilde som skaper en indre konflikt som skyldes hennes relasjon til sin mor og hennes omgivelser, som får en oppblomstring når hun treffer Yan Kerrand.This literary analysis of the novel Hiver à Sokcho, written by the French-Korean author Elisa Shua Dusapin, has the main purpose of examining the representation of the body in the novel. The literary analysis examines how the protagonist of the novel, a young French-Korean woman in her twenties, lives with an insecurity about her own appearance and body.
The protagonist, who is never mentioned by name, works in a small hostel in the small South Korean town of Sokcho, not far from the border with North Korea. One day she meets French comic book creator Yan Kerrand, who is visiting Sokcho. Other key characters in the book include the protagonist's mother, her boyfriend and her aunt. The reader gets the impression that all the characters in this book have an opinion or attitude towards the body, characterised by the cultural and social norms associated with the body, which affect the protagonist and her perception of her own body.
The analysis is divided into three chapters, each of which deals with the protagonist's relationship with the most central characters in the novel. Based on the theory of abjection by the Franco-Bulgarian linguist Julia Kristeva and the work Unbearable Weight by the American philosopher Susan Bordo, the analysis will examine how the protagonist's insecurity increases through her relationship with her mother, her relationship with Yan Kerrand and the general bodily representation in the novel's plot. These are three important relationships that give a good impression of the protagonist's experience of herself, her self-image and how it characterises her relationships. Several excerpts from the novel are used in the analysis, which emphasise the complexity of these relationships, the protagonist's challenges and how the author has used his distinctive writing style to create his own atmosphere.
What emerges from the analysis is that the protagonist's relationship with her mother is one that provokes an unhealthy relationship with food, through the mother's attempts at care, such as making sure her daughter eats enough and giving her large meals, but which is counterproductive when she often comments that she is either too thin or not eating enough. The analysis also shows how Kerrand awakens an insecurity in the protagonist, who often criticises her own appearance in his presence. When Kerrnad is in her life, she finds herself criticising her own appearance and her life. The final part of the analysis helps to explain how cultural and social norms and traditions contribute to normalising the representation of the body in the novel, which is characterised by a strong focus on Korean beauty standards and plastic surgery.
The paper concludes that the protagonist lives with a self-image that creates an inner conflict due to her relationship with her mother and her surroundings, which comes to a head when she meets Yan Kerrand
Gene expression patterns in human prostate stem cell differentiation
No full textThe identification of phenotypic differences between stem cells (SCs) and their more differentiated counterparts is crucial for designing novel SC-based therapeutics for prostate cancer (CaP). RARRES1 and LXN were identified as two homologous genes whose expression was highly significantly down-regulated in the SC fraction compared to more differentiated epithelial cells. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the expression, regulation and function of the SC-silenced genes RARRES1 and LXN, and their potential interacting partner CPA4 in prostate epithelial differentiation and CaP.
We showed that RARRES1 and LXN were SC-silenced genes, whose expression was induced by the pro-differentiation agent all-trans retinoic acid (atRA). AtRA induced expression to a higher extent in the most differentiated cells than the SC fraction, suggesting that this sub-population was less responsive to atRA. Importantly, siRNA suppression of RARRES1 and LXN enhanced the SC properties of primary prostate cultures, as shown by a significant increase in their colony forming ability. Expression of both RARRES1 and LXN was co-ordinately repressed by DNA methylation in CaP cell lines and inhibition of RARRES1 and LXN increased the invasive capacity of primary prostate cultures, which also fully rescued an inhibitory effect induced by atRA. Despite their homology and adjacent location on chromosome 3, we provide evidence that RARRES1 and LXN reside within different sub-cellular compartments; RARRES1 is not a plasma membrane protein as previously supposed but is located in the endoplasmic reticulum, while LXN is localised to the nucleus of prostate epithelial cells.
These data provide novel results identifying two potential tumour suppressor genes as co-ordinately regulated, SC-silenced genes that function to suppress the invasion and colony forming ability of CaP cells. Work now should be focussed on determining whether re-administration of RARRES1 and LXN would be a valid differentiation strategy for the treatment, and potentially eradication, of CaP
Construction and evaluation of a whole genome microarray of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
No full textToepel J, Albaum S, Arvidsson S, et al. Construction and evaluation of a whole genome microarray of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. BMC Genomics. 2011;12(1): 579.ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is widely accepted as a model organism regarding photosynthesis, circadian rhythm, cell mobility, phototaxis, and biotechnology. The complete annotation of the genome allows transcriptomic studies, however a new microarray platform was needed. Based on the completed annotation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii a new microarray on an Agilent platform was designed using an extended JGI 3.1 genome data set which included 15000 transcript models. RESULTS: In total 44000 probes were determined (3 independent probes per transcript model) covering 93% of the transcriptome. Alignment studies with the recently published AUGUSTUS 10.2 annotation confirmed 11000 transcript models resulting in a very good coverage of 70% of the transcriptome (17000). Following the estimation of 10000 predicted genes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii our new microarray, nevertheless, covers the expected genome by 90-95%. CONCLUSIONS: To demonstrate the capabilities of the new microarray, we analyzed transcript levels for cultures grown under nitrogen as well as sulfate limitation, and compared the results with recently published microarray and RNA-seq data. We could thereby confirm previous results derived from data on nutrient-starvation induced gene expression of a group of genes related to protein transport and adaptation of the metabolism as well as genes related to efficient light harvesting, light energy distribution and photosynthetic electron transport
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