The potential of online social networking data for augmenting the study of high-risk personal networks among young men who have sex with men at-risk for HIV

Capturing dynamics in high-risk personal networks is essential for preventing HIV transmission. Online social networking data offer incentive to augment traditional selfreported approaches for network enumeration. To explore what online networks reveal about dynamics among high-risk associates, we examine the relationship between egocentric confidant and sex networks and personal Facebook friendship networks of a cohort of young Black men who have sex with men. Although overlap exists between self-reported and Facebook associates, the stabilities of each were unrelated. Confidants who were also Facebook friends with a respondent were, however, more likely to be retained. Thus, Facebook networks contain stable confidants.     

Separating Spheres? Diverging Trends in Youth's Gender Attitudes About Work and Family

The authors investigated whether trends in attitudes about gender were consistent with the gender stall primarily occurring in the family domain and examined potential mechanisms associated with changing gender norms. Using data from Monitoring the Future surveys (1976–2015), the authors assessed three components of trends in youth's beliefs about gender: the marketplace, the family, and mothers' employment. Findings showed continued increases in egalitarianism from 1976 through the mid‐1990s across all three dimensions. Thereafter, support for egalitarianism in the public sphere plateaued at high levels, rising support for mothers' employment persisted at a slower pace, and conventional ideology about gender in families returned. The changing demographic composition of American high school students did not account for the gender attitude trends. Youth's mothers' employment and increased education were related to increased egalitarianism. Changes in population averages of mothers' employment and educational attainment were only weakly associated with increases in egalitarian attitudes.     

Environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets: the mediating role of product quality

Environmental practices have not received as much research attention in emerging market contexts as traditional topics like quality. However, the importance of environmental practices for a firm’s production strategy has been increasing at an unprecedented level across the globe. Our research objective is, therefore, to investigate the interplay between environmental practices and quality in the pursuit of firm performance. Relying on 492 responses from Turkish manufacturers to test our hypotheses, we show that environmental practices directly improve the quality of products over and above the effect of quality management practices in emerging markets. Product quality, in turn, is important for increasing firm performance, acting as a mediator for the positive effects of environmental practices on performance. Thus, we reveal that product quality functions as an instrumental conduit between environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets like Turkey where stakeholder pressures are weak, and regulations are often not properly enforced.     

The triggers of local and distant search: Relative magnitude and persistence in explaining acquisition relatedness

Research on problemistic search has assumed negative attainment discrepancy to be the trigger of both local and distant search. Extending this research, we present and compare two additional triggers: (1) relative attainment discrepancy, which reflects how much a firm's attainment discrepancy deviates from its past negative attainment discrepancies; and (2) persistent attainment discrepancy, which reflects how often the firm experiences below-aspirations performance. Our triggers for distant search model a behavioral explanation for the timing and relatedness of acquisitions. We find support for baseline arguments of problemistic search whereby firms increase both industry- and skill-related acquisitions when they perform below aspirations. When they persistently perform below aspirations, however, this likelihood is reduced and firms engage in acquisitions that are more unrelated, thereby providing support for the notion of expanding search boundaries from local to distant search. Of the two triggers of distant search proposed, relative attainment discrepancy does not induce firms to expand search boundaries. Our results indicate that persistent attainment discrepancy is a key construct to consider when studying the expansion of search boundaries.     

Managing dependency in China outsourcing relationships

Abstract

This paper examines manufacturing firms’ use of guanxi and formal control to address dependence on suppliers and achieve desired outsourcing performance in China. Using survey data collected from manufacturing firms operating in China, a structural equation model is used to test the research model. The results suggest that manufacturing firms with high dependence on suppliers build Chinese guanxi with those suppliers to overcome the dependence and enhance outsourcing performance. In addition, Chinese guanxi also appears to facilitate the use of formal control, which was also found to have a positive relationship with outsourcing performance. This paper contributes to the literature by illustrating the importance of guanxi in achieving desired outsourcing performance in the China context, particularly in the case where a manufacturer perceives high dependency on its major supplier.     

Analysis of microtubule dynamics using growth curve models

Microtubules are part of the structural network within a cell's cytoplasm, providing structural support as well as taking part in many of the cellular processes. A large body of data provide evidence that dynamics of microtubules in a cell is reponsible for the performance of many critical cellular functions such as cell division. In this article, we study the effect of four different isoforms of a protein tau on microtubule dynamics using growth curve models. The results show that a linear growth curve model is sufficient to explain the data. Moreover, we find that a mutated version of a 3-repeat tau protein has a similar effect as a 4-repeat tau protein on microtubule dynamics. The latter findings conform with the biological understanding of the effect of the protein tau on microtubule dynamics.     

中国制造业企业创新行为的观测和实证研究 ——基于浙江省制造业1454家企业问卷调查的分析

 本文在浙江省制造业1454家企业大样本调查问卷的基础上,在微观层面研究了企业创新行为以及影响因素。首先利用统计分析的方法考察了企业创新投入的特征、创新投入的行业分布以及创新投入的产出绩效,并且发现了企业规模与R&;D强度之间呈现倒U型关系,这与安同良等人发现的倾斜V型关系的结论不同。其次运用计量分析的方法在有效控制了企业所处行业的技术水平差异、企业产权结构、政府资金扶持、企业品牌和企业设备技术水平后,研究发现：企业规模与企业创新投入之间也呈现较明显的倒U型关系,并且存在规模“拐点”;企业知识产权战略对企业创新投入具有明显的促进作用;出口贸易对企业创新投入并不显著,但发达国家特别是针对发展中国家设置的技术性贸易壁垒的技术标准化要求对企业创新投入有比较明显的促进作用;而企业集聚对企业的创新投入的影响并不确定。     

The relationship between the community participation of disabled youth and socioeconomic factors: mixed-methods approach in rural Sri Lanka

Mixed methods were applied to examine the association of community participation by disabled youth with socioeconomic factors in rural Sri Lanka. There was a significant association between community participation and socioeconomic factors in the quantitative survey (n = 116): participants living in socioeconomically disadvantaged conditions had lower levels of community participation than those living without these disadvantages. Consistent with the findings of the survey, previous educational experiences, household economic conditions, and perceived resource information were common themes in the qualitative study (n = 26). The dynamics of these factors, including marginalisation of disabled youth within the household, were also observed.