Firm performance and investment in R&D and intellectual property

This paper analyses the relationship between innovation - proxied by Research and Development (R&D), patent and trade mark activity – and profitability in a panel of Australian firms (1995 to 1998). Special attention is given to assessing the nature of competitive conditions faced by different firms, as the nature of competition is likely to affect the returns to innovation. The hypothesis is that lower levels of competition will imply higher returns to innovation. To allow for a time lag time before any return to innovation, the market value of the firms is used as a proxy for expected future profits. The results give some support for the main hypothesis: the market’s valuation of R&D activity is higher in industries where competition is lower. However, the paper highlights the difficulty in assessing competitive conditions and finds a number of results that challenge the simple hypothesis.

Mechanisms of antifatigue agents used in natural rubber

A large number of compounds containing quinonoid or hindered phenol functions were examined for their roles as antifatigue agents. Among the evaluated quinones and phenols expected to have macroalkyl radical scavenging ability, BQ, αTOC, γTOC and GM showed relatively good performance for fatigue resistance (although their performance was slightly less effective than the commercial aromatic amine antioxidants, IPPD and 6PPD). The compounds which were shown to have higher reactivity with alkyl radicals (via calculated reactivity indices) showed better fatigue resistance. This fact supports the suggestion that strong alkyl radical scavengers should be also effective antifatigue agents. Evidence produced based on calculation of reactivity indices suggests that the quinones examined react with alkyl radicals on the meta position of the quinone rings producing phenoxyl radicals. The phenoxyl radicals are expected either to disproportionate, to recombine with a further alkyl radical, or to abstract a hydrogen from another alkyl radical producing an olefine. The regeneration of quinones and formation of the corresponding phenols is expected to occur during the antifatigue activity. The phenol antioxidant, HBA is expected to produce a quinonoid compound and this is also expected to function in a similar way to other quinones. Another phenol, GM, which is also known to scavenge alkyl radicals showed good antifatigue performance. Tocopherols had effective antifatigue activity and are expected to have different antifatigue mechanisms from that of other quinones, hence αTOC was examined for its mechanisms during rubber fatiguing using HPLC analysis. Trimers of αTOC which were produced during vulcanisation are suggested to contribute to the fatigue activity observed. The evidence suggests that the trimers reproduce αTOC and a mechanism was proposed. Although antifatigue agents evaluated showed antifatigue activity, most of them had poor thermoxidative resistance, hence it was necessary to compensate for this by using a combination of antioxidants with the antifatigue agents. Reactive antioxidants which have the potential to graft on the polymer chains during reactive processing were used for this purpose. APMA was the most effective antioxidant among other evaluated reactive antioxidants. Although high ratio of grafting was achieved after optimisation of grafting conditions, it is suggested that this was achieved by long branches of APMA due to large extent of polymerisation. This is expected to cause maldistribution of APMA leading to reducing the effect of CB-D activity (while CB-A activity showed clear advantages for grafting). Further optimisation of grafting conditions is required in order to use APMA more effectively. Moreover, although synergistic effects between APMA and antifatigue agents were expected, none of the evaluated antifatigue agents, BQ, αTOC, γTOC and TMQ, showed significant synergism both in fatigue and thermoxidative resistance. They performed just as additives.

Upgrading biomass fast pyrolysis liquids

A comprehensive examination is made of the characteristics and quality requirements of bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of biomass. This considers all aspects of the special characteristics of bio-oil – how they are created and the solutions available to help meet requirements for utilisation. Particular attention is paid to chemical and catalytic upgrading including synthesis gas and hydrogen production which has seen a wide range of new research activities and also more limited attention to chemicals recovery. An appreciation of the potential for bio-oil to meet a broad spectrum of applications in renewable energy has led to a significantly increased R&D activity that has focused on addressing liquid quality issues both for direct use for heat and power and indirect use for biofuels and green chemicals. This increased activity is evident in North America, Europe and Asia with many new entrants as well as expansion of existing activities. The only disappointment is the more limited industrial development and also deployment of fast pyrolysis processes that are necessary to provide the basic bio-oil raw material.

Knowledge acquisition in international strategic alliances among Malaysian manufacturing firms

This thesis examines the process of knowledge acquisition by Malaysian manufacturing firms through their involvement in international strategic alliances. The strategic alliances can be with or without equity involvement. Firms involved with a foreign partner with equity involvement are joint venture firms while non-equity involvement are firms that engaged in contractual agreements. Using empirical evidence from 65 international alliances gathered through a survey conducted in high-technology manufacturing sectors, several factors that influence the process of knowledge acquisition are examined. The factors are: learning capacity, experience, goals, active involvement and accessibility to the foreign knowledge. Censored regression analysis and ordered probit analysis are used to analyse the effects of these factors on knowledge acquisition and its determinant parts, and the effects of knowledge acquisition and its determinants on the performance of the alliances. A second questionnaire gathered evidence relating to the factors, which encouraged tacit knowledge transfer between the foreign and Malaysian partners in international alliances. The key findings of the study are: knowledge acquisition in international strategic alliances is influenced by five determining factors; learning capacity, experience, articulated goals, active involvement and accessibility; new technology knowledge, product development knowledge and manufacturing process knowledge are influenced differently by the determining factors; knowledge acquisition and its determinant factors have a significant impact on the firm’s performance; cultural differences tend to moderate the effect on the firm’s performance; acquiring tacit knowledge is not only influenced by the five determinant factors but also by other factors, such as dependency, accessibility, trust, manufacturing control, learning methods and organisational systems; Malaysian firms involved in joint ventures tend to acquire more knowledge than those involved in contractual agreements, but joint ventures also exhibit higher degrees of dependency than contractual agreements; and the presence of R&D activity in the Malaysian partner encourages knowledge acquisition, but the amount of R&D expenditure has no effect on knowledge acquisition.

Upgrading biomass fast pyrolysis liquids

A comprehensive examination is made of the characteristics and quality requirements of bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of biomass. An appreciation of the potential for bio-oil to meet a broad spectrum of applications in renewable energy has led to a significantly increased R&D activity that has focused on addressing liquid quality issues both for direct use for heat and power and indirect use for biofuels and green chemicals. This increased activity is evident in North America, Europe, and Asia with many new entrants as well as expansion of existing activities. The only disappointment is the more limited industrial development and also deployment of fast pyrolysis processes that are necessary to provide the basic bio-oil raw material. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

The role of zinc in the anti-tumour and anti-cachectic activity of D-myo-inositol 1,2,6-triphosphate

Background: D-myo-inositol-1,2,6-triphosphate (a-trinositol, AT) is a polyanionic molecule capable of chelating divalent metal ions with anti-tumour and anti-cachectic activity in a murine model. Methods: To investigate the role of zinc in this process, mice bearing cachexia-inducing MAC16 tumour were treated with AT, with or without concomitant administration of ZnSO4. Results: At a dose of 40mgkg-1, AT effectively attenuated both weight loss and growth of the MAC16 tumour, and both effects were attenuated by co-administration of Zn2+. The concentration of zinc in gastrocnemius muscle increased with increasing weight loss, whereas administration of AT decreased the levels of zinc in plasma, skeletal muscle and tumour, which were restored back to control values after administration of ZnSO4. Conclusion: These results suggest that zinc is important in both tumour growth and cachexia in this animal model.