From social capital to entrepreneurial orientation: The mediating role of dynamic capabilities

This paper analyzes how social capital and its three dimensions—structural, relational, and cognitive—affect entrepreneurial orientation through dynamic capabilities. We specifically analyzed the effect of each dimension of social capital on firms' entrepreneurial orientation and the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities to explain these relationships. This study was conducted on a sample of firms in the Spanish agri-food industry. The results of the empirical analysis show that dynamic capabilities are generated by firms' social capital. Dynamic capabilities lead relational and cognitive social capital to develop a higher entrepreneurial orientation. The negative effect of structural social capital can only be countered if firms build and develop dynamic capabilities.     

Dysfunctional sexual beliefs as vulnerability factors to sexual dysfunction

The differences on sexual beliefs presented by men and women with sexual dysfunction and their sexually functional counterparts were investigated. A total of 488 participants (160 females and 232 males without sexual problems and 47 females and 49 males with a DSM-IV diagnosis of sexual dysfunction) answered the Sexual Dysfunctional Beliefs Questionnaire. Findings showed that, although effects have only reached statistical significance for the female group, both dysfunctional men and women endorsed more sexual dysfunctional beliefs than functional. Women presented significantly more age related beliefs (after menopause women loose their sexual desire, as women age, the pleasure they get from sex decreases) and body image beliefs (women who are not physically attractive cannot be sexually satisfied). Additionally, sexually dysfunctional males presented higher scores (not statistically significant) on 'macho' belief (a real man has sexual intercourse very often) and the beliefs about women satisfaction (the quality of the erection is what most satisfies women). Overall, findings support the idea that sexual beliefs may play a role as vulnerability factors for sexual dysfunction.     

Adapting The Revised Self-Leadership Questionnaire to The Portuguese Context

This study aimed to adapt the Revised Self-Leadership Questionnaire (RSLQ) (Houghton and Neck in J Manag Psychol 17(8):672?C691, 2002) for the Portuguese population. 720 professionals, and university and post-graduate students participated in this study. The RSLQ factorial structure was accessed through exploratory and multi group confirmatory factor analysis. From the 9 sub dimensional and 34 items original scale, only 7 sub dimensions and 21 items were preserved. The model tested through cross-validation multigroup analysis proved to be totally invariant across the groups, suggesting good model fit.     

Nuisance parameter free properties of correlation integral based statistics

This paper presents conditions under which statistics based on the correlation integral are invariant to the use of estimated residuals from dynamic models. The methods are applied to the so-called BDS test for nonlinearity, under a variety of data-generating processes.     

Support Vector Clustering for Customer Segmentation on Mobile TV Service

This article presents a proposal for customer segmentation through Support Vector Clustering, a technique that has been gaining attention in the academic literature due to the good results usually obtained. An application of this method to a sample from consumers in Brazil about mobile TV service is performed; we compare this approach with the classical hierarchical methods of cluster analysis. It is concluded that this methodology is effective in reducing the heterogeneity often present in customers’ data, improving the cluster segmentation analysis for managers.     

Sample Partitioning Estimation for Ergodic Diffusions

In this article, we present a new technique to obtain estimators for parameters of ergodic processes. When a diffusion is ergodic its transition density converges to the invariant density Durett (1996 Durett, R. (1996). Stochastic Calculus. A Practical Introduction. New York: CRC Press. [Google Scholar]). This convergence enabled us to introduce a sample partitioning technique that gives, in each subsample, observations that can be treated as independent and identically distributed. Within this framework, is possible the construction of estimators like maximum likelihood estimators or others.     

Cognitive Factors and Male Genital Pain: A Preliminary Study

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate how pain catastrophizing and sexually related thoughts help explain pain intensity in men with genital pain. Methods: Fifty men with genital pain completed an online survey. Results: Sexually related thoughts explained an additional 11.5% of variance of pain intensity, above and beyond the influence of pain catastrophizing and medical conditions. Conclusions: Overall, findings showed that cognitions during sexual activity also contribute to explain pain intensity in men with genital pain. Besides the severity of organic factors and pain catastrophizing, sexually-related thoughts should also be included in clinical evaluation and treatment of male genital pain.