Governance mode vs. governance fit: Performance implications of make-or-ally choices for product innovation in the worldwide aircraft industry, 1942-2000

We examine the impact of governance mode and governance fit on performance in make-or-ally decisions. We argue that while horizontal collaboration and autonomous governance have direct and countervailing performance implications, the alignment of make-or-ally choices with the focal firm's resource endowment and the activity's resource requirements leads to better performance. Data on the aircraft industry show that relative to aircraft developed autonomously, collaborative aircraft exhibit greater sales but require longer time-to-market. However, governance fit increases unit sales and reduces time-to-market. We contribute to the alliance and economic organization literatures. (Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Screening of breast lesions: a comparative study between mammography, B-mode ultrasonography, sonoelastography and histological results

Objective To compare the capacity of mammography, sonoelastography, B-mode ultrasonography and histological analysis to differentiate benign from malignant breast lesions. Materials and Methods A total of 12 histopathologically confirmed breast lesions were documented. The lesions were assessed by means of mammography, B-mode ultrasonography and sonoelastography, and histopathological analysis was utilized as a gold standard. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the mentioned techniques. Results Sensitivity and specificity in the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions were respectively 100% and 50% for mammography, 100% and 71% for B-mode ultrasonography, and 67% and 83% for sonoelastography. The area under the ROC curve was calculated for the three imaging modalities and corresponded to 0.792 for mammography, 0.847 for B-mode ultrasonography, and 0.806 for sonoelastography. Conclusion Sonoelastography demonstrated higher specificity and lower sensitivity as compared with mammography and B-mode ultrasonography. On the other hand, B-mode ultrasonography had the largest area under the ROC curve. Sonoelastography has demonstrated to be a promising technique to detect and evaluate breast lesions, and could potentially reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies.

Mode et costume au fil du temps

pour un aperçu voir dossier de presse http://www.svha-vd.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/rhv123_dossier_presse_leger.pdf

Expanding to institutionally different countries. Reasons, Firm International Experience, and Entry Mode Choice

We examine entry mode choice and its consequences when a multinational enterprise (MNE) expands into an institutionally different country. We argue that discussions of entry mode should distinguish between informal (e.g., culture) and formal (e.g., laws) institutions, and should take into account not just the home country of the MNE and its distance to the focal host country, but the MNE's overall footprint and experience across the world in general, especially in countries with an institutional structure that is similar to that of the focal host country. Specifically, we argue that firms with experience in countries with different informal institutions will be more likely to enter via acquisitions than firms without such experience, that such experience will not matter as much in the case of formal institutions, and that such firms will exit more quickly when they enter via equity alliances than through full acquisitions. We also distinguish between balanced and unbalanced alliances and argue that balanced alliances will be more enduring, but only when the host country is culturally (not legally) different from the other countries where the MNE has experience. Our arguments suggest that entry mode should be conditioned on a firm's experience in other markets, and that intercountry differences in formal versus informal institutions have distinct influences on entry mode.

Financement et mode d'organisation des hôpitaux suisses : revue du recueil législatif de 1991 à 2009

Le financement des établissements de soins a connu dans le courant de l'année 2007 d'importants changements législatifs. De l'introduction de la tarification à l'activité sur la base des diagnostic-related groups (DRG) à la mise en concurrence directe des hôpitaux, qu'ils appartiennent au secteur public ou au secteur privé, de l'ingérence de la Confédération dans la planification hospitalière (jusque là domaine réservé des Cantons) à la mise au premier plan des critères de qualité dans l'évaluation des établissements hospitaliers, les exemples ne manquent pas pour illustrer le changement conceptuel auquel nous assistons. L'auteur de ces lignes, privilégiant l'approche historique à l'approche normative, s'est demandé quels étaient les prémices de ce changement législatif et s'est confronté aux différents textes qui ont émaillé les débats de ces vingt dernières années, qu'ils émanent du pouvoir exécutif (messages aux chambres fédérales, ordonnances d'application) ou du pouvoir législatif (textes de loi) afin d'en dégager la cohérence politique. Ce mémoire suit donc une ligne strictement chronologique. Il s'inspire des différents travaux parlementaires. A la lecture de ces textes, il apparaît que, pour les parlementaires, la question du financement des hôpitaux n'est qu'une partie, parfois essentielle, parfois accessoire, selon les époques et l'amplitude du champ d'application du document législatif, du financement des soins par l'assurance-maladie. Les grands principes qui régissent l'assurance-maladie s'appliquent donc nécessairement au financement des hôpitaux. Pour cette raison, il est apparu judicieux à l'auteur de ces lignes de ne pas séparer les deux problèmes et de se plonger dans un premier temps dans les débats qui ont eu cours lors de l'adoption de la nouvelle loi sur l'assurance-maladie (LAMaI) en 1994. [Auteur, p. 5]

Mode of interaction of the Gαo subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins with the GoLoco1 motif of Drosophila Pins is determined by guanine nucleotides.

Drosophila GoLoco motif-containing protein Pins is unusual in its highly efficient interaction with both GDP- and the GTP-loaded forms of the α-subunit of the heterotrimeric Go protein. We analysed the interactions of Gαo in its two nucleotide forms with GoLoco1-the first of the three GoLoco domains of Pins-and the possible structures of the resulting complexes, through combination of conventional fluorescence and FRET measurements as well as through molecular modelling. Our data suggest that the orientation of the GoLoco1 motif on Gαo significantly differs between the two nucleotide states of the latter. In other words, a rotation of the GoLoco1 peptide in respect with Gαo must accompany the nucleotide exchange in Gαo. The sterical hindrance requiring such a rotation probably contributes to the guanine nucleotide exchange inhibitor activity of GoLoco1 and Pins as a whole. Our data have important implications for the mechanisms of Pins regulation in the process of asymmetric cell divisions.

The internal wave field in Sau reservoir : Observation and modeling of a third vertical mode

Water withdrawal from Mediterranean reservoirs in summer is usually very high. Because of this, stratification is often continuous and far from the typical two-layered structure, favoring the excitation of higher vertical modes. The analysis of wind, temperature, and current data from Sau reservoir (Spain) shows that the third vertical mode of the internal seiche (baroclinic mode) dominated the internal wave field at the beginning of September 2003. We used a continuous stratification two-dimensional model to calculate the period and velocity distribution of the various modes of the internal seiche, and we calculated that the period of the third vertical mode is ;24 h, which coincides with the period of the dominating winds. As a result of the resonance between the third mode and the wind, the other oscillation modes were not excited during this period

An Interface Damage Model for the Simulation of Delamination Under Variable-Mode Ratio in Composite Materials

A thermodynamically consistent damage model for the simulation of progressive delamination under variable mode ratio is presented. The model is formulated in the context of the Damage Mechanics. The constitutive equation that results from the definition of the free energy as a function of a damage variable is used to model the initiation and propagation of delamination. A new delamination initiation criterion is developed to assure that the formulation can account for changes in the loading mode in a thermodynamically consistent way. The formulation proposed accounts for crack closure effets avoiding interfacial penetration of two adjacent layers aftercomplete decohesion. The model is implemented in a finite element formulation. The numerical predictions given by the model are compared with experimental results

Eliminació d'artefactes en EGG mitjançant l'ús de la Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition

La tècnica de l’electroencefalograma (EEG) és una de les tècniques més utilitzades per estudiar el cervell. En aquesta tècnica s’enregistren els senyals elèctrics que es produeixen en el còrtex humà a través d’elèctrodes col•locats al cap. Aquesta tècnica, però, presenta algunes limitacions a l’hora de realitzar els enregistraments, la principal limitació es coneix com a artefactes, que són senyals indesitjats que es mesclen amb els senyals EEG. L’objectiu d’aquest treball de final de màster és presentar tres nous mètodes de neteja d’artefactes que poden ser aplicats en EEG. Aquests estan basats en l’aplicació de la Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition, que és una nova tècnica utilitzada per al processament de senyal. Els mètodes de neteja proposats s’apliquen a dades EEG simulades que contenen artefactes (pestanyeigs), i un cop s’han aplicat els procediments de neteja es comparen amb dades EEG que no tenen pestanyeigs, per comprovar quina millora presenten. Posteriorment, dos dels tres mètodes de neteja proposats s’apliquen sobre dades EEG reals. Les conclusions que s’han extret del treball són que dos dels nous procediments de neteja proposats es poden utilitzar per realitzar el preprocessament de dades reals per eliminar pestanyeigs.

Readout electronics for low dark count pixel detectors based on geiger mode avalanche photodiodes fabricated in conventional CMOS technologies for future linear colliders

The high sensitivity and excellent timing accuracy of Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes makes them ideal sensors as pixel detectors for particle tracking in high energy physics experiments to be performed in future linear colliders. Nevertheless, it is well known that these sensors suffer from dark counts and afterpulsing noise, which induce false hits (indistinguishable from event detection) as well as an increase of the necessary area of the readout system. In this work, we present a comparison between APDs fabricated in a high voltage 0.35 µm and a high integration 0.13 µm commercially available CMOS technologies that has been performed to determine which of them best fits the particle collider requirements. In addition, a readout circuit that allows low noise operation is introduced. Experimental characterization of the proposed pixel is also presented in this work.

Low dark count geiger mode avalanche photodiodes fabricated in conventional CMOS technologies

Avalanche photodiodes operated in the Geiger mode present very high intrinsic gain and fast time response, which make the sensor an ideal option for those applications in which detectors with high sensitivity and velocity are required. Moreover, they are compatible with conventional CMOS technologies, allowing sensor and front-end electronics integration within the pixel cell. Despite these excellent qualities, the photodiode suffers from high intrinsic noise, which degrades the performance of the detector and increases the memory area to store the total amount of information generated. In this work, a new front-end circuit that allows low reverse bias overvoltage sensor operation to reduce the noise in Geiger mode avalanche photodiode pixel detectors is presented. The proposed front-end circuit also enables to operate the sensor in the gated acquisition mode to further reduce the noise. Experimental characterization of the fabricated pixel with the conventional HV-AMS 0.35µm technology is also presented in this article.

Les Dimanches de la femme : supplément de la "Mode du jour"

1931/08/16 (N493).

Les Dimanches de la femme : supplément de la "Mode du jour"

1935/05/05 (A14,N687).

Les Dimanches de la femme : supplément de la "Mode du jour"

1929/09/01 (A8,N391).