Using a behavioral approach, this study identifies and delineates components of experiential knowledge in the internationalization process. Three hypotheses are developed and tested. They center around the lack of knowledge in the areas of foreign business, foreign institutions and firm internationalization, as well as the effect that this lack of knowledge has on the managers´ perceived cost in the internationalization process. With the help of a LISREL-based structural model, the three hypotheses are tested on a sample of 362 service firms. The analysis shows that lack of internationalization knowledge has a strong impact on the lack of both business and institutional knowledge which, in turn, influence the perceived cost in internationalization. But there is no direct effect of lack of internationalization knowledge on perceived cost in internationalization.

Orexins/hypocretins are involved in mechanisms of emotional arousal and short-term regulation of feeding. The dense projection of orexin neurons from the lateral hypothalamus to mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is likely to be important in both of these processes.We used single-unit extracellular and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings to examine the effects of orexins (A and B) and melaninconcentrating hormone (MCH) on neurons in this region. Orexins caused an increase in firing frequency (EC 50 78 nM), burst firing, or no change in firing in different groups of A10 dopamine neurons. Neurons showing oscillatory firing in response to orexins had smaller afterhyperpolarizations than the other groups of dopamine neurons. Orexins (100 nM) also increased the firing frequency of nondopaminergic neurons in the VTA. In the presence of tetrodotoxin (0.5 M), orexins depolarized both dopaminergic and nondopaminergic neurons, indicating a direct postsynaptic effect. Unlike the orexins, MCH did not affect the firing of either group of neurons. Single-cell PCR experiments showed that orexin receptors were expressed in both dopaminergic and nondopaminergic neurons and that the calcium binding protein calbindin was only expressed in neurons, which also expressed orexin receptors.In narcolepsy, in which the orexin system is disrupted, dysfunction of the orexin modulation of VTA neurons may be important in triggering attacks of cataplexy.

A reorientation is going on in caring science. It could be called a new key characterized by more humanistically oriented thinking, which gives new significance to caring science. The sounding board of the new key is to be found in its ontological core. Its progress depends on whether we will succeed in laying bare the core of caring and developing its fundamental concepts and main theory. We need to regain the hermeneutical approach to penetrate into the core. Caring today needs this knowledge to help the patient in an increasingly complex world.

The hypothalamic orexin (hypocretin) neuropeptides are associated with the regulation of sleep and feeding, and disturbances in orexinergic neurotransmission lead to a narcoleptic phenotype. Histamine has also been shown to play a role in the regulation of sleep and feeding. Therefore, we studied the relationship between the orexin and histamine systems of the CNS using electrophysiology, immunocytochemistry, and the reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR method. Both orexin-A and orexin-B depolarized the histaminergic tuberomammillary neurons and increased their firing rate via an action on postsynaptic receptors. The depolarization was associated with a small decrease in input resistance and was likely caused by activation of both the electrogenic Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger and a Ca(2+) current. In a single-cell RT-PCR study using primers for the two orexin receptors, we found that most tuberomammillary neurons express both receptors and that the expression of the orexin-2 receptor is stronger than that of the orexin-1 receptor. Immunocytochemical studies show that the histamine and orexin neurons are often located very close to each other. The contacts between these two types of neurons seem to be reciprocal, because the orexin neurons are heavily innervated by histaminergic axons. These results suggest a functional connection between the two populations of hypothalamic neurons and that they may cooperate in the regulation of rapid-eye-movement sleep and feeding.

The Internet has emerged as one of the most important distribution channels for financial services firms. However, there is still a need to more fully understand the antecedents to customer use of banking via the Internet. The purpose of this article is to study technology acceptance of Internet banking in Estonia, an emerging east European economy. The present paper modifies the technology acceptance model and applies it to bank customers in Estonia, because Estonia, a country with a developing economy, has focused on Internet banking as an important distribution channel. The findings suggest that Internet bank use increases insofar as customers perceive it as useful. The perceived usefulness is central because it determines whether the perceived ease of Internet bank use will lead to increased use of the internet bank.Put differently, a well-designed and easy to use internet bank may not be used if it is not perceived as useful. We thus conclude that the perceived usefulness of Internet banking is, for banks, a key construct for promoting customer use. We also suggest that models of technology acceptance should be re-formulated to focus more on the key role of the perceived usefulness of the service embedded in the technology. Implications for banks are that they need to put much effort not only into making a user-friendly internet bank, but also into explaining to their customers how the internet bank is useful to them.

Dorsal raphe serotonin neurons fire tonically at a low rate during waking. In vitro, however, they are not spontaneously active, indicating that afferent inputs are necessary for tonic firing. Agonists of three arousal-related systems impinging on the dorsal raphe (orexin/hypocretin, histamine and the noradrenaline systems) caused an inward current and increase in current noise in whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from these neurons in brain slices. The inward current induced by all three agonists was significantly reduced in extracellular solution containing reduced sodium (25.6 mm). In extracellular recordings, all three agonists increased the firing rate of serotonin neurons; the excitatory effects of histamine and orexin A were occluded by previous application of phenylephrine, suggesting that all three systems act via common effector mechanisms. The dose-response curve for orexin B suggested an effect mediated by type II (OX2) receptors. Single-cell PCR demonstrated the presence of both OX1 and OX2 receptors in tryptophan hydroxylase-positive neurons. The effects of histamine and the adrenoceptor agonist, phenylephrine, were blocked by antagonists of histamine H1 and alpha1 receptors, respectively. The inward current induced by orexin A and phenylephrine was not blocked by protein kinase inhibitors or by thapsigargin. Three types of current-voltage responses were induced by all three agonists but in no case did the current reverse at the potassium equilibrium potential. Instead, in many cases the orexin A-induced current reversed in calcium-free medium at a value (-23 mV) consistent with the activation of a mixed cation channel (with relative permeabilities for sodium and potassium of 0.43 and 1, respectively).

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Using a behavioral approach, this study identifies and delineates components of experiential knowledge in the internationalization process. Three hypotheses are developed and tested.They center around the lack of knowledge in the areas of foreign business, foreign institutions and firm internationalization, as well as the effect that this lack of knowledge has on the managers´ perceived cost in the internationalization process. With the help of a LISREL-based structural model, the three hypotheses are tested on a sample of 362 service firms. The analysis shows that lack of internationalization knowledge has a strong impact on the lack of both business and institutional knowledge which, in turn, influence the perceived cost in internationalization. But there is no direct effect of lack of internationalization knowledge on perceived cost in internationalization.