No abstract

We report the complete nucleotide (nt) sequences of eleven goose circovirus (GoCV) isolated in Taiwan. Nine out of the eleven isolates had a genome size of 1821 nt, whereas the remaining two isolates have a size of 1820 nt. Sequence comparisons of the eleven Taiwanese GoCV isolates and a German isolate revealed that these viruses could be divided into three distinct genetic groups. Group I contains the German isolate, group II contains three Taiwanese isolates, and group III contains eight Taiwanese isolates. Nucleotide differences between viruses of different genetic groups ranged from 7.0-7.7%, whereas the differences within the same group were only 0.2-1.0%. The most diversified sequences were found at a region between nt 27-72 of the viral genome, which corresponded to the right one-third of the 5' intergenic region. Open reading frame analysis shows that the genome of all Taiwanese GoCV isolates could encode four proteins: V1 (Rep, 293 amino acids), V2 (37 amino acids), C1 (capsid, 250 amino acids), and C2 (99 amino acids). The sizes of V1, C1 and C2 proteins of all Taiwanese isolates and the German GoCV isolates were identical. However, the size of V2 protein (37 amino acids), although identical in all Taiwanese isolates, was much smaller than that of the German isolate (120 amino acids). Moreover, the initiation codon of the V2 ORF of three Taiwanese isolates was ATA rather than ATG. Our result indicates that GoCV of multiple genetic groups might have been circulating in Europe and Asia, and these viruses differ in their nucleotide sequences, sizes of the genome, and sizes of the V2 ORFs.

Under industry globalization and the intensely competitive environment, a company's competitiveness must constantly be upgraded in order to achieve the goal of sustainability. Therefore, the correct and valid evaluation of companies’ sustainable performance has become an important issue. The main purpose of this study is to discuss and establish a sustainable performance evaluation criteria and model for companies. First, the measurements of companies’ financial, credit risk, environmental and social responsibility are integrated to create sustainable business performance evaluation criteria. Then, we integrate grey relational analysis and an improved TOPSIS method to construct a sustainable performance evaluation model for companies. In order to verify the findings of this study, we adopt Taiwan's high-tech listed companies as the research object to explore sustainable operating performance and ranking in 2011. The empirical results will help companies to build future business strategies and can also be used as an important reference for investor and bank credit auditing.

Along with economic development and social progress, environmental issues are increasingly becoming the subject of public concern. Through green credit, banks intentionally direct money into resource-conserving technology development and environmental protection industries, thus, encouraging enterprises to focus on green products. Therefore, establishing a reasonable green credit evaluation mechanism for banks is an important issue. Based on this, this study combines grey relational analysis (GRA), the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory technique (DEMATEL), analytic network process (ANP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to develop a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model for quantifying data and, thereby, to establish a green credit rating mechanism. In order to verify the model, this study combines credit risk and economic, environmental and social performance evaluation criteria as green credit evaluation criteria. There are 55 high-tech listed companies in Taiwan in 2014 taken as the evaluation objects and conducted for a performance ranking. The empirical results can serve as a reference for financial authorities promoting green finance policies and for investors making investment decisions.

In the search for factors that drive competitive advantage, this paper develops a framework that links a firm"s capabilities and resources to its competitive advantage. The notion of governance is used as a supervisory mechanism for an organization"s sources of competitive advantage. In light of empirical advancement, this paper examines panel data of 250 high technology firms from 2001 to 2009. The findings demonstrate that the impact of dynamic capability for production on competitive advantage is positive. However, the dynamic capability for R&D does not have a significant effect. Moreover, the social capital to build network relationships with a firm"s partners emerges as essential in achieving competitive advantage. We also find that governance moderates the impact of dynamic capability and social capital on competitive advantage. The findings of this study have important management implications. Limitations of the study are considered and future research directions are identified.