Unique Synergies Research Articles

Laser-induced photochemical synthesis of branched Ag@Au bimetallic nanodendrites as a prominent substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy.

The project of wielding laser light as a versatile tool for sculpting branched Ag@Au bimetallic nanocrystals with mean size of ~50 nm has been developed in this work. The moderate overgrowth of Ag species with negligible damage effect on the branched Ag@Au nanostructures was achieved by laser-induced photo-oxidation. The final Ag@Au nanodendrites exhibit superior surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities with an enhancement factor up to ~1011 and a detection limit as low as ~10-14 M. The pronounced feature should be attributed to the noticeable small-sized branches (<10 nm) and unique pronounced inter-metallic synergies. Our results have a promising potential for developing SERS-based ultrasensitive probes in biomedical application.

Unique synergies in technology acquisitions

Acquisitions are often seen as an instrument to outsource the R&D function of the firm, but we know little over how acquirers profit from the redeployment of the target’s resources. Using the strategic factor market theory as a guide, this paper explores the conditions under which technology acquirers capture value by generating unique synergies with the target. Analysis of a sample of technology acquisitions suggests that private synergies exist when the acquirer is more technologically proximate to the target as compared to other potential acquirers. This results in a higher acquisition likelihood and stock market reaction to the acquisition announcement. It is also shown that patent ownership allows acquirers to take advantage of heterogeneous resource complementarity and generate inimitable synergies with the target firm. But this effect is evident only in complex technology industries where a relatively high patent portfolio overlap increases the acquisition likelihood and stock market reaction to the acquisition announcement.

Proportional Myoelectric Control of Robots: Muscle Synergy Development Drives Performance Enhancement, Retainment, and Generalization

Proportional myoelectric control has been proposed for user-friendly interaction with prostheses, orthoses, and new human–machine interfaces. Recent research has stressed intuitive controls that mimic human intentions. However, these controls have limited accuracy and functionality, resulting in user-specific decoders with upper-bound constraints on performance. Thus, myoelectric controls have yet to realize their potential as a natural interface between humans and multifunctional robotic controls. This study supports a shift in myoelectric control schemes toward proportional simultaneous controls learned through the development of unique muscle synergies. A multiple day study reveals natural emergence of a new muscle synergy space as subjects identify the system dynamics of a myoelectric interface. These synergies correlate with long-term learning, increasing performance over consecutive days. Synergies are maintained after one week, helping subjects retain efficient control and generalize performance to new tasks. The extension to robot control is also demonstrated with a robot arm performing reach-to-grasp tasks in a plane. The ability to enhance, retain, and generalize control, without needing to recalibrate or retrain the system, supports control schemes promoting synergy development, not necessarily user-specific decoders trained on a subset of existing synergies, for efficient myoelectric interfaces designed for long-term use.

Multimodality imaging of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative dementias.

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease, result in cognitive decline and dementia and are a leading cause of mortality in the growing elderly population. These progressive diseases typically have an insidious onset, with overlapping clinical features early in the disease course that make diagnosis challenging. The neurodegenerative diseases are associated with characteristic, although not completely understood, changes in the brain: abnormal protein deposition, synaptic dysfunction, neuronal injury, and neuronal death. Neuroimaging biomarkers-principally regional atrophy on structural MR imaging, patterns of hypometabolism on (18)F-FDG PET, and detection of cerebral amyloid plaque on amyloid PET--are able to evaluate the patterns of these abnormalities in the brain to improve early diagnosis and help predict the disease course. These techniques have unique strengths and synergies in multimodality evaluation of the patient with cognitive decline or dementia. This review discusses the key imaging biomarkers from MR imaging, (18)F-FDG PET, and amyloid PET; the imaging features of the most common neurodegenerative dementias; the role of various neuroimaging studies in differential diagnosis and prognosis; and some promising imaging techniques under development.

Where Do Unique Synergies Come From? An Investigation of the Resource-based View of Acquisitions

Although unique synergies are widely acknowledged to be crucial for acquirers’ profitability, their origin remains elusive. Theories linking unique synergies with resource similarity or complementary differences do not receive consistent support in the literature. Analyzing a sample of technology acquisitions demonstrates that two factors help complement our understanding of acquisitions and their performance implications. First, ‘one-size-fits-all’ theories of acquisition performance are unlikely to hold true for all acquisitions given that resources vary in the way they generate synergies when recombined. Second, studies need to account for the competitive bidding process implicit in acquisitions as acquirers profit by outperforming other bidders in the amount of synergy created. Overall, this study brings clarity to the literature by exploring the antecedents of value creation and capture in acquisitions.

Anticancer properties of distinct antimalarial drug classes.

We have tested five distinct classes of established and experimental antimalarial drugs for their anticancer potential, using a panel of 91 human cancer lines. Three classes of drugs: artemisinins, synthetic peroxides and DHFR (dihydrofolate reductase) inhibitors effected potent inhibition of proliferation with IC50s in the nM- low µM range, whereas a DHODH (dihydroorotate dehydrogenase) and a putative kinase inhibitor displayed no activity. Furthermore, significant synergies were identified with erlotinib, imatinib, cisplatin, dasatinib and vincristine. Cluster analysis of the antimalarials based on their differential inhibition of the various cancer lines clearly segregated the synthetic peroxides OZ277 and OZ439 from the artemisinin cluster that included artesunate, dihydroartemisinin and artemisone, and from the DHFR inhibitors pyrimethamine and P218 (a parasite DHFR inhibitor), emphasizing their shared mode of action. In order to further understand the basis of the selectivity of these compounds against different cancers, microarray-based gene expression data for 85 of the used cell lines were generated. For each compound, distinct sets of genes were identified whose expression significantly correlated with compound sensitivity. Several of the antimalarials tested in this study have well-established and excellent safety profiles with a plasma exposure, when conservatively used in malaria, that is well above the IC50s that we identified in this study. Given their unique mode of action and potential for unique synergies with established anticancer drugs, our results provide a strong basis to further explore the potential application of these compounds in cancer in pre-clinical or and clinical settings.

Theranostic applications of mesoporous silica nanoparticles and their organic/inorganic hybrids.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), with their intrinsically large and easily functionalized surface areas and pore volumes, are particularly well-suited to efficient conveyance of a wide variety of therapeutic agents. When combined with other organic/inorganic nanomaterials, the resultant organic/inorganic-MSN hybrids demonstrate unique synergies and even greater versatility. In this paper, we describe the current status and future prospects of MSNs and organic/inorganic-MSN hybrids for combined therapeutic and diagnostic - theranostic - biomedical applications.

Understanding consumer-created media synergy

Research on media synergy has traditionally been based on estimates using the media purchases made by the marketer. Assumptions are, therefore, made by the marketer about how the various media interact. This paper argues that media synergy only occurs at the consumer media consumption level, that is it is the consumer who creates the interactions and thus, any synergy, not just the media forms. Although the media forms may be available, they do not interact until the consumer creates some type of interaction. Using a nationally projectable online sample of consumer-reported media usage in the USA, based on (a) the media forms consumed, (b) the amount of time spent with each consumed media form, (c) which accessed media forms are used in what combination, and (d) the reported influence of each media form on future purchases in eight broad product categories, we developed a new view of media synergy. From that, media relationships are estimated using factor analysis. From the extracted factors, estimations of consumer media interactions are made in six product categories using χ2 automatic interaction detection analysis. Unique media synergies are found in each product category and among each customer group studied.

Neck Muscles in the Rhesus Monkey. II. Electromyographic Patterns of Activation Underlying Postures and Movements

Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded in < or = 12 neck muscles in four alert monkeys whose heads were unrestrained to describe the spatial and temporal patterns of neck muscle activation accompanying a large range of head postures and movements. Some head postures and movements were elicited by training animals to generate gaze shifts to visual targets. Other spontaneous head movements were made during orienting, tracking, feeding, expressive, and head-shaking behaviors. These latter movements exhibited a wider range of kinematic patterns. Stable postures and small head movements of only a few degrees were associated with activation of a small number of muscles in a reproducible synergy. Additional muscles were recruited for more eccentric postures and larger movements. For head movements during trained gaze shifts, movement amplitude, velocity, and acceleration were correlated linearly and agonist muscles were recruited without antagonist muscles. Complex sequences of reciprocal bursts in agonist and antagonist muscles were observed during very brisk movements. Turning movements of similar amplitudes that began from different initial head positions were associated with systematic variations in the activities of different muscles and in the relative timings of these activities. Unique recruitment synergies were observed during feeding and head-shaking behaviors. Our results emphasize that the recruitment of a given muscle was generally ordered and consistent but that strategies for coordination among various neck muscles were often complex and appeared to depend on the specifics of musculoskeletal architecture, posture, and movement kinematics that differ substantially among species.