The adoption of business intelligence systems in textile and apparel industry: Case studies

The textile and apparel industry are characterized by highly labor-intensive operations, short production lead times, huge capital investment, seasonal demand and frequent style changes. In the recent decade, BI systems have been broadly adopted and implemented to achieve the true effectiveness of various systems and emerging technologies that are integrated to enhance the strategic, management and operational efficiency of textile and apparel industry to cope with the rapid growing challenges of globalization and expanding international competitive business environment. This research is first attempt to investigate the adoption of BI systems and discussing the real textile and apparel industry cases based on qualitative research method and also highlight the improved processes with some leading BI solutions. In addition, some major barriers and critical success factors for BI systems adoption are identified. The study limitation is also discussed with conclusion

Does FDI Bring Environmental Knowledge Spillovers to Developing Countries? The Role of the Local Industrial Structure

© 2017 The Author(s) This paper examines the environmental knowledge externalities of FDI within and across cities in an emerging economy context. It argues that the extent of these environmental externalities is contingent upon local industrial agglomeration. Using a panel dataset of 280 Chinese prefectural cities from 2003 to 2012, we employ a spatial economic approach. Although limited to evidence from soot and (Formula presented.) pollutants, our results suggest that FDI brings overall positive environmental knowledge externalities to a region, and also spillovers to nearby regions. Specialised cities may lock into a particular technological path, attenuating the absorption and diffusion of a variety of FDI environmental knowledge. Conversely, diversified cities promote cross-fertilisation of environmental knowledge and mitigate local pollution intensity at the aggregated city level. This study adds to the literature by highlighting the importance of considering both the spatiality of FDI and industrial structure in understanding FDI environmental knowledge spillovers

Recurrent somatic alterations of FGFR1 and NTRK2 in pilocytic astrocytoma

Pilocytic astrocytoma, the most common childhood brain tumor(1), is typically associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway alterations(2). Surgically inaccessible midline tumors are therapeutically challenging, showing sustained tendency for progression(3) and often becoming a chronic disease with substantial morbidities(4). Here we describe whole-genome sequencing of 96 pilocytic astrocytomas, with matched RNA sequencing (n=73), conducted by the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) PedBrain Tumor Project. We identified recurrent activating mutations in FGFR1 and PTPN11 and novel NTRK2 fusion genes in non-cerebellar tumors. New BRAF activating changes were also observed. MAPK pathway alterations affected 100% of tumors analyzed, with no other significant mutations, indicating pilocytic astrocytoma as predominantly a single-pathway disease. Notably, we identified the same FGFR1 mutations in a subset of H3F3A-mutated pediatric glioblastoma with additional alterations in NF1(5). Our findings thus identify new potential therapeutic targets in distinct subsets of pilocytic astrocytoma and childhood glioblastoma