The resource-based view is a theory of firm performance. Its principal argument is that a firm=s distinctive competencies are the bases for sustainable competitive advantage. These distinctive competencies are explicitly knowledge based resources. How do managers protect these rent generating assets--the skill sets and organizational routines of high value workers--from dissipation? Theory sugg...

Using double silent substitution, it is possible to generate L-cone and M-cone isolating electroretinograms (ERGs) on a CRT. A major limitation of the technique is that the depth of modulation of cone classes is limited by the restricted luminance of the phosphors and their spectral overlap. To address this problem we have ported the technique to a four-color LED Ganzfeld stimulus (Diagnosis Co...

Highly purified recombinant zinc-endopeptidase light chain of the botulinum neurotoxin serotype A underwent autocatalytic proteolytic processing and fragmentation. In the absence of added zinc, initially 10-28 residues were cleaved from the C-terminal end of the 448-residue protein followed by the appearance of an SDS-stable dimer and finally fragmentation near the middle of the molecule. In th...

Traditional risk factors are not adequate for predicting serious bacterial infection (SBI) in febrile infants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of the plasma level of soluble form of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) in predicting SBI in febrile infants less than 3 months old. Forty-four febrile infants less than 3 months old with clinical ...

We generated monoclonal scFv (single chain variable fragment) antibodies from an antibody phage display library towards three small synthetic peptides derived from the sequence of αs1-casein. Key difficulties for selection of scFv-phages against small peptides were addressed. Small peptides do not always bind efficiently to passive adsorption surfaces, and we developed a simple method to quanti...

Immunodiagnostically useful M. tuberculosis H37Ra protein antigens ES-31, ES-43 and EST-6 were isolated from detergent soluble sonicate (DSS) antigen using monospecific antibodies by affinity chromatography and compared with similar antigens isolated from M. tuberculosis culture filtrate for seroreactivity in tuberculosis sera by Indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Recovery of affinity ...

Binding of a T-cell receptor (TCR) to a peptide/major histocompatibility complex is the key interaction involved in antigen specificity of T cells. The recognition involves up to six complementarity determining regions (CDR) of the TCR. Efforts to examine the structural basis of these interactions and to exploit them in adoptive T-cell therapies has required the isolation of specific T-cell clo...