Collagen (COL)−chitosan (CS) composite hydrogels are attracting increasing attention because of their great potential for application as biomaterials. However, conventional COL−CS hydrogels were easily disabled for lack of fully reversible linking in their networks. In this work, we developed a kind of self-healing hydrogel for wound dressing, composed of COL, CS, and dibenzaldehyde-modified PEG 2000 via dynamic imine bonds, and the COL/CS hydrogels showed good thermal stability, injectability, and pH sensitivity, ideally promoting wound-healing performance and hemostatic ability. Furthermore, the hydrogel could monitor multiple human motions, especially the facial expression via strain sensitivity. This work offers a new perspective for the biomass-based hydrogels applied in medical field as wound dressing.

This study investigates the joint effects of business and political ties, cognitive capital, and institutional support on product innovation performance in China and India. The hypotheses are empirically tested using bootstrap and multiple group structural equation modeling methods, and data collected from 300 Chinese and 200 Indian manufacturers. The results reveal that cognitive capital mediates business ties' impacts on product innovation performance in both China and India and that institutional support mediates the effects of business and political ties on product innovation performance only in China. The study also finds that political ties increase institutional support in India and that the effect of cognitive capital on product innovation performance is significantly stronger in India than in China. This study clarifies the mechanisms through which business and political ties enhance product innovation performance and generalizes the results in two emerging markets. The cross-country comparison sheds light on the influences of cultural and institutional environments on such mechanisms and provides insights into how to utilize managers' business and political ties for product innovation in China and India.

We developed a classification approach to multiple quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping built upon a Bayesian framework that incorporates the important prior information that most genotypic markers are not cotransmitted with a QTL or their QTL effects are negligible. The genetic effect of each marker is modeled using a three-component mixture prior with a class for markers having negligible effects and separate classes for markers having positive or negative effects on the trait. The posterior probability of a marker's classification provides a natural statistic for evaluating credibility of identified QTL. This approach performs well, especially with a large number of markers but a relatively small sample size. A heat map to visualize the results is proposed so as to allow investigators to be more or less conservative when identifying QTL. We validated the method using a well-characterized data set for barley heading values from the North American Barley Genome Mapping Project. Application of the method to a new data set revealed sex-specific QTL underlying differences in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme activity between two Drosophila species. A simulation study demonstrated the power of this approach across levels of trait heritability and when marker data were sparse.T HE fact that we can map variation in complex phetion (Doebley and Stec 1991). As such, QTL mapping is not simply a gene-finding tool. QTL mapping provides notypes to chromosomal regions by exploiting the linkage between random genetic markers and causal critical information regarding quantitative evolutionary genetic processes. genetic variants in related individuals has long been understood. Since the formalization of statistical apTraditional approaches to QTL mapping primarily involve multiple regression models and maximum-likeliproaches to this type of inference by Lander and Botstein (1989) and the advent of high-throughput hood estimation and are powerful for detecting QTL of moderate to large effect. However, detecting multiple methodologies for constructing genetic maps with high marker density, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping smaller genetic effects that may modify or interact with larger effects is necessary and remains a challenge. in organisms from crops to mice has provided a rich These smaller effects are important, as they can potenknowledge of genes underlying important socioecotially enhance crop breeding and further our undernomic traits. It also has provided a better understanding standing of genetic background effects on complex disof the genetic architecture of complex traits both within ease. Quantifying the abundance of these types of effects and between species. QTL mapping promises the imfor any given trait also fills a gap in our knowledge provement of crops of international importance, such regarding the distribution of genetic effects. as drought-resistant rice (for review see Price andThe most popular approach for QTL mapping is inCourtois 1999; Price et al. 2002), and the advancement terval...

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Purpose -Many pharmaceutical companies outsource their research and development and manufacturing operations to value chain partners. Effective evaluation of outsourcees' capabilities and relationship management are often central for outsourcers to secure sustainable competitive advantage. This study aims to investigate how to evaluate outsourcees and manage outsourcing relationships in the pharmaceutical industry based on the theory of dynamic capability (DC). Design/methodology/approach -The investigation used an exploratory multiple case study approach. The data collection, spanning a period of 12 months, entailed a multinational pharmaceutical company (PharmCo) with its headquarters in Europe, and four contract research and manufacturing organizations from China and India. Findings -The results show that PharmCo evaluates its outsourcing partners based on their dynamic capabilities, which include processes (project deliverables, communication, and accuracy of costs), positions (financial assets, number of scientists, spectrum of services, and geographical presence), and paths (past experiences). The findings indicate that a pharmaceutical company outsources to partners with high operational capabilities, whereas it builds fully integrated outsourcing relationships only with those that have high dynamic capabilities. Practical implications -Findings from this study provide guidelines for practitioners in manufacturing industries to efficiently and effectively evaluate and manage outsourcees to deal with the challenges and risks associated with strategic outsourcing. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of DC in outsourcee evaluation and outsourcing relationship management in the pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, the paper illustrates how to conceptualize and measure the DC as a multi-dimensional construct. The analysis also indicates that partners' dynamic and operational capabilities play different roles in outsourcing relationship management.

Recently, versatile hydrogels with multifunctionality have been widely developed with emerging applications as wearable and implantable devices. In this work, we reported novel versatile hydrogels by self-catalyzing the gelation of an interpenetrating polymer network consisting of acrylic acid (AA) monomers and GA-modified collagen (GCOL) in situ decorated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The resultant hydrogel, namely AgNP@GCOL/PAA, has many desirable features, including good mechanical properties (such as 123 kPa, 916%, and 1961 J m−2 for the fracture stress, strain and tearing energy) that match with those of animal skin, excellent self-healing performance, favorable conductivity and strain sensitivity as a flexible biosensor, and excellent antibacterial and anti-UV properties, as well as the strong adhesiveness on skin. Moreover, AgNP@GCOL/PAA showed excellent biocompatibility via in vitro cell culture. Remarkably, AgNP@GCOL/PAA displayed superior hemostatic properties with sharply decreasing blood loss for a mouse liver incision, closely related to its strong self-adhesion which produced anchoring strength to the bleeding site and thus formed a network barrier with liver tissue. This study provides new opportunities for the facile preparation of widely used multifunctional collagen-based hydrogels based on a simple pyrogallol-Ag system.

Hydrogels have drawn intensive attention as emerging materials for various applications in wearable sensors, soft robotics, and implantable devices. However, fabricating hydrogels with UV-shielding and antioxidant properties still remains a challenge. Herein, we prepared biocompatible 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxypropyl-lignin/polyacrylic acid (AHP-lignin/PAA) hydrogels with self-adhesion, conductivity, UV shielding, and antioxidant activity as wearable sensors by the incorporation of lignin into PAA. The structure, lap shear strength, and biocompatibility were characterized using the UV–vis spectrometer, universal testing machine, and cell test. The hydrogels showed strong adhesion to various substrates. The AHP-lignin/PAA hydrogels had excellent UV shielding and free radical scavenging capacity. Meanwhile, AHP-lignin/PAA hydrogels exhibited excellent sensitivity to tiny changes in low pressure. Notably, the hydrogels could adhere to the skin well without any other adhesives to monitor the movement signals of the body motion accurately. The biocompatible AHP-lignin/PAA hydrogels with self-adhesion, conductivity, UV shielding, and antioxidant activity offer great potential applications in wearable sensors.