Use Of Marketing Research Articles

Probing the hierarchy of evidence to identify the best strategy for placing class II dental composite restorations using current materials.

The objective of this review is to present a synopsis of the existing clinical and in vitro evidence regarding placement of direct class II restorations with dental composites of varying viscosities, focusing on the marginal integrity achievable. The literature on class II composites placed with various techniques was searched through PubMed, Scopus, and the citations of identified articles, focusing on aspects related to adaptation and clinical performance. Studies comparing layering of conventional composite to layering with a flowable liner, including the "snow plow technique," use of warmed composite, flowable bulk-fill liners with a conventional composite capping layer, and bulk-fill restorative in a single or incremental fill (including placement with sonic energy and dual-curing) CONCLUSIONS: In vitro and clinical evidence does not support any one specific method or material type for achieving optimal performance when restoring class II cavity preparations with current dental composites. Although there are many available placement methods and types of composite materials on the market for use in class II restorations, the reasonable success presented in the clinical and laboratory literature for the various approaches suggests that the most important factor for achieving success is likely careful and proper placement and light-curing technique, independent of the approach.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA): List of Essential Medicines for Cats and Dogs.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA): List of Essential Medicines for Cats and Dogs.

Evaluation of pain-reducing and relieving effect of the "Freestyle TM OA" knee orthosis in patients with medial knee arthrosis

Purpose: National and international guidelines for the conservative treatment of knee osteoarthritis include a recommendation for orthoses to reduce pain. There are many different orthoses available on the market for use in osteoarthritis. The construction of those orthoses differ in their geometric properties and utilized ways of exerting pressure to relieve the medial or lateral compartment Effects have been documented in various studies with a positive or no effect, regarding pain reduction and reducing the external knee joint moment.

The energy factor of the Persian Gulf countries in the American strategy of containing the PRC

The article examines the foundations of the US geopolitical interests in the Persian Gulf region, the increasing influence of China on the region and the subsequent US strategy regarding the containment of the PRC. The Persian Gulf region is of economic interest to a number of countries due to its rich hydrocarbon resources, as well as its unique geographical location, which has historically been subject to geopolitical influence. The stable growth of China's economy (before a 6.8% decline in GDP during the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020), China's growing cooperation with the Persian Gulf countries causes the United States to fear about losing its weight in world politics and, in particular, the loss of influence in the Persian Gulf region. В The article shows the main directions and ways of implementing the American strategy of containing China in the context of the energy factor of the Persian Gulf countries by: creating a "Middle East Strategic Alliance" (MESA), increasing the share of energy exports to the Chinese market for use later as a tool of pressure on China. Special attention is paid to the possibility of the United States joining the "price war" to restore oil prices. The study revealed that the energy factor of the Persian Gulf countries plays a significant role in the American strategy of deterring the PRC, which is determined by a number of geopolitical, economic and other factors.

Emerging market innovations: unique and differential drivers, practitioner implications, and research agenda

Growth in emerging markets is critical as it leads global economic growth. Emerging market innovations, which we define as innovations created in an emerging market for use by consumers or customers in that market and possibly other markets, form the engine for such growth and continue to rise in importance for various stakeholders. These innovations fundamentally differ from developed market innovations, and impact consumers, firms, governments, and the society at large. Conceptual research on emerging market innovation has not focused on the differential drivers of emerging and developed market innovations. Most empirical studies have also focused on only one emerging market, not offering generalizable conclusions across emerging markets. Thus, while prior research offers a limited understanding of factors specific to emerging market innovations, not much is known about the unique and differential drivers of emerging market innovations relative to developed market innovations. Our study offers a broader framework highlighting the unique aspects of emerging market innovations, their unique and differential (relative to developed market innovations) drivers, and related practitioner takeaways. Our framework and propositions suggest that different drivers impact the demand and supply for innovations, and, in turn, the number of innovations differently in emerging and developed markets. We outline an agenda for future research.

Immunological methods for diagnosis and monitoring of IgE-mediated allergy caused by industrial sensitizing agents (IMExAllergy).

Industrial sensitizing agents (allergens) in living and working environments play an important role in eliciting type 1 allergic disorders including asthma and allergic rhinitis. Successful management of allergic diseases necessitates identifying their specific causes (ie, identify the causative agent(s) and the route of contact to allergen: airborne, or skin contact) to avoid further exposure. Identification of sensitization by a sensitive and validated measurement of specific IgE is an important step in the diagnosis. However, only a limited number of environmental and occupational allergens are available on the market for use in sIgE testing. Accordingly, specific in‐house testing by individual diagnostic and laboratory centers is often required. Currently, different immunological tests are in use at various diagnostic centers that often produce considerably divergent results, mostly due to lack of standardized allergen preparation and standardized procedures as well as inadequate quality control. Our review and meta‐analysis exhibited satisfactory performance of sIgE detection test for most high molecular weight (HMW) allergens with a pooled sensitivity of 0.74 and specificity of 0.71. However, for low molecular weight (LMW) allergens, pooled sensitivity is generally lower (0.28) and specificity higher (0.89) than for HMW tests. Major recommendations based on the presented data include diagnostic use of sIgE to HMW allergens. A negative sIgE result for LMW agents does not exclude sensitization. In addition, the requirements for full transparency of the content of allergen preparations with details on standardization and quality control are underlined. Development of standard operating procedures for in‐house sIgE assays, and clinical validation, centralized quality control and audits are emphasized. There is also a need for specialized laboratories to provide a custom service for the development of tests for the measurement of putative novel occupational allergens that are not commercially available.

The Current State of Topical Burn Treatments: a Review

The purpose of this review is to discuss commonly used dressings for burn treatments, including short-acting topicals and long-acting silver dressings. Recent literature supports the use of long-acting silver dressings over traditional daily use topical treatments. Longer acting topical dressings result in less frequent dressing changes, less pain, and greater ease of use, but have similar results in wound healing and infection prevention. There are many topical agents on the market for use on burn wounds. Short-acting topicals can be divided into 3 generalized classes: antiseptics, antimicrobials, and enzymatic debridement agents. Longer acting applied dressings include silver-bonded nylon and fiber (Silverlon® Argentum, Clarendon Hills, IL); multilayer rayon, polyester silver-coated mesh polyethylene (Acticoat™ Smith & Nephew London, UK); silver sodium carboxymethylcellulose (Aquacel® Ag, ConvaTec, Greensboro, NC); silver-containing soft silicone foam (Mepilex® Ag; Molnlycke Health Care, Gothenburg); soft silicone silver (Mepitel Ag® Molnlycke Health Care, Gothenburg). Tradition and surgeon preference are major influences on frequency of use. While recent literature supports using long-acting silver-based dressings over short-acting topicals, more research, particularly randomized controlled trials, is needed to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding their use.

Impianti e sostituti meniscali

When meniscal lesions occur, preservation of meniscal tissue and restoration of the normal meniscal biomechanics is imperative to avoid early knee osteoarthritis; however, current surgical treatments for meniscal tears suffer from subsequent cartilage degeneration and inconsistent post-treatment results. When meniscal replacement is indicated, the desired implant should be chondroprotective; nevertheless, long-term effects of meniscal transplantation in protecting the articular cartilage have not been fully elucidated as yet. To date, three clinical scaffolds that allow 3-dimensional reconstruction of the meniscal structure (Menaflex CMI, Actifit® scaffold and NUsurface® Meniscus Implant) are available on the market for use, but additional data are needed to properly evaluate their safety and effectiveness.

Resistance of Enterococcus spp. in Dust From Farm Animal Houses: A Retrospective Study.

In a retrospective study, the antimicrobial susceptibility of Enterococcus spp. isolated from stored sedimentation dust samples from cattle, pig and poultry barns to 16 antibiotics was determined using a microdilution test. The resistance phenotypes of 70 isolates from different timespans (8 from the 1980s, 15 from the 1990s, 43 from the 2000s and 4 from 2015) were determined. Resistant enterococci were detected in samples from all time periods. Resistances to three or more antibiotics occurred in 69 percent of all isolates. The oldest multidrug resistant isolate was an Enterococcus faecium obtained from a 35-year-old pig barn dust sample. No correlations (ρ = 0.16, p = 0.187) were found between the age of isolates and the number of resistances. Instead, the number of resistances was associated with the origin of the isolates. An exact logistic conditional regression analysis showed significant differences in resistance to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, penicillin and tylosin between isolates from different animal groups. Interestingly, we isolated ciprofloxacin-resistant E. faecium from pig barn dust before fluoroquinolones were introduced into the market for use in animal husbandry. In conclusion, dust from farm animal houses is a reservoir and carrier of multidrug-resistant Enterococcus spp. People working in barns are unavoidably exposed to these bacteria. Furthermore, it can be hypothesized that emissions from barns of intensive livestock farming contaminate the environment with multidrug resistant enterococci.

Update on pharmacologically-relevant vitamin D analogues.

Pharmacologists have been interested in vitamin D since its metabolism was elucidated in the early 1970s. Despite the synthesis of thousands of vitamin D analogues in the hope of separating its calcemic and anti-proliferative properties, few molecules have reached the market for use in the treatment of clinical conditions from psoriasis to chronic kidney disease. This review discusses vitamin D drugs, recently developed or still under development, for use in various diseases, but in particular bone disease. In the process we explore the mechanisms postulated to explain the action of these vitamin D analogues including action through the vitamin D receptor, action through other receptors e.g. FAM57B2 and dual action on transcriptional processes.

Protocol for the isolation of processed animal proteins from insects in feed and their identification by microscopy

Insect processed animal proteins (PAPs) constitute a new alternative source of proteins in feed. In 2017, a closed list of insect species was authorized on the European market for use in aquafeed production. Authenticity and contamination controls will have to be set up by authorities and feed actors and supported by adequate detection methods, which are lacking. The present paper presents an original isolation and detection protocol for insect material. The protocol, based on sedimentation by a mixture of petroleum ether and tetrachloroethylene to concentrate insect particles, was developed and tested on a series of ten different aquafeeds fortified at 1% w/w with four different commercially available insect meals (from H. illucens, T. molitor, G. assimilis and A. diaperinus). The results showed that this sedimentation protocol combined with light microscopic observation was adequate for insect detection and more efficient than the current official method. Morphological key features for reliable characterization of insect PAPs were also investigated. Structural details of cuticular fragments, such as sensilla and tracheolar structures, combined with patterns of muscle fibers, were found to constitute robust identification keys to establish the insect origin of particles. The prospective use of these markers for lower taxonomic ranking, at order level, was also addressed. Finally, the value of the markers proposed was discussed in terms of their ability to distinguish insect PAP from other types of invertebrate meal, such as that produced from marine arthropods, but also within the global framework of controls for the enforcement of the legal feed ban.

P084: Substituting capillary blood for urine in point-of-care pregnancy tests

Introduction: When a female presents with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, a positive b-hcg level helps in the diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy. A timely diagnosis as well as management is required for these cases. In many emergency departments, there can be delays in laboratory processing of quantitative b-hcg levels as well as qualitative urine pregnancy tests. In others, especially in rural hospitals in Canada, the laboratory closes at night and these tests cannot be processed until the morning. This may also help decrease length of stay for some patients in the emergency department. There are currently new point-of-care b-hcg tests on the market using capillary blood, but these are expensive and not readily available. The purpose of the study is to validate the most inexpensive point of care urine pregnancy tests readily available on the market for use with capillary blood samples. These point-of-care tests have only been studied with urine and whole blood. If validated with capillary blood, it would allow for a very practical, rapid, and inexpensive test which could help doctors and nurses to triage patients in a timely and more efficient fashion. Methods: In our emergency department, 385 patients between the ages of 18-50 with possible pregnancy, abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding will be included in the study. A capillary blood sample will be taken and applied to a cassette point-of-care pregnancy test with four drops of saline. Two independent investigators will assess the test. The results will be compared to a quantitative serum hCG assay and urine. If these tests are not done as part of the patients medical care, the patient will be contacted one month after to enquire if the patient is pregnant or not. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values will be calculated. Results: Data colleciton will begin in January 2018. Conclusion: No conclusions can yet be drawn.

An Update on Menopause Management.

Menopause-related symptoms frequently lead women to seek health care. Recommendations for prescribing hormone therapy have changed significantly since the publication of initial results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2002. The North American Menopause Society and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have newer guidelines based on long-term analyses of the WHI participants as well as emerging data from other clinical trials. Women with an intact uterus who are using systemic estrogen must also use a progestogen; however, there are 2 new selective estrogen receptor modulators on the market for use without a progestogen. This review discusses current recommendations and new medications as well as the risks and benefits related to hormone therapy. Evidence-based alternatives to hormone therapy to treat symptoms of menopause are also presented.

Signal-Tracing Techniques for In-System FPGA Debugging of High-Level Synthesis Circuits

High-level synthesis (HLS) promises to increase designer productivity in the face of increasing field-programmable gate array sizes, and broaden the market of use, allowing software designers to reap the benefits of hardware implementation. One roadblock to HLS adoption is the lack of an in-system debugging infrastructure. Although designers can run their software code on a workstation, or simulate the register-transfer level, neither can reliably capture the behaviors, and therefore bugs, that may be present in the final system. Debugging hardware circuits in-system requires using signal-tracing to record circuit behavior for later offline analysis. In this paper, we present a debugging architecture, which automatically records key hardware signals, and relates them back to the original software source code. This architecture allows designers to debug HLS circuits in-system, in the context of the original source code. We present several signal-tracing techniques, tailored to HLS circuits, which allow a much longer execution trace to be captured. These techniques include signal compression, dynamically changing which signals are recorded cycle-by-cycle, and offline signal restoration. Compared to using an embedded logic analyzer to perform signal-tracing, our architecture increases the length of execution trace that can be recorded by 127X. For each 100 Kb of trace buffer memory, our architecture can record 15 369 executed lines of C code.

Dose and number of applications that maximize fungicide effective life exemplified by Zymoseptoria tritici on wheat - a model analysis.

Two key decisions that need to be taken about a fungicide treatment programme are (i) the number of applications that should be used per crop growing season, and (ii) the dosage that should be used in each application. There are two opposing considerations, with control efficacy improved by a higher number of applications and higher dose, and resistance management improved by a lower number of applications and lower dose. Resistance management aims to prolong the effective life of the fungicide, defined as the time between its introduction onto the market for use on the target pathogen, and the moment when effective control is lost due to a build‐up of fungicide resistance. Thus, the question is whether there are optimal combinations of dose rate and number of applications that both provide effective control and lead to a longer effective life. In this paper, it is shown how a range of spray programmes can be compared and optimal programmes selected. This is explored with Zymoseptoria tritici on wheat and a quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicide. For this pathogen–fungicide combination, a single treatment provided effective control under the simulated disease pressure, but only if the application timing was optimal and the dose was close to the maximum permitted. Programmes with three applications were generally not optimal as they exerted too much selection for resistance. Two‐application fungicide programmes balanced effective control with reasonable flexibility of dose and application timing, and low resistance selection, leading to long effective lives of the fungicide.

MicroRNA therapeutics: Discovering novel targets and developing specific therapy

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression in diverse biological process. They act as intracellular mediators that are necessary for various biological processes. MicroRNAs targeting pathways of human disease provide a new and potential powerful candidate for therapeutic intervention against various pathological conditions. Even though, the information about miRNA biology has significantly enriched but we still do not completely understand the mechanism of miRNA gene regulation. Various groups across the globe and pharmaceutical companies are conducting research and developments to explore miRNA based therapy and build a whole new area of miroRNA therapeutics. Consequently, few miRNAs have entered the preclinical and clinical stage and soon might be available in the market for use in humans.

Competition and Marketing Challenges in the USA Market for Indian Granite Exporters

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to study competition and marketing challenges that granite exporters from India faced in the USA market for apprehending both the domestic and the export markets. Design: This paper is descriptive in nature, and it applied snowball sampling method to report a survey of 82 completed responses about the marketing challenges faced by Indian granite traders for the domestic market and the USA market. It used published data of granite businesses since the year 2004 to study trends for understanding competition. Findings: The paper contemplated that with growing demand of granite both for the domestic market and the international market, especially the USA, India needs a paradigm shift in marketing strategy for granite. Key challenges were identified for driving success both in the domestic market and the USA market. Practical Implications: The paper provided an insight about the dynamics at domestic as well as inter-country level for comparing competitive standing alongside the review of literature. It highlighted key challenges in the domestic market and in the USA market for use by policy makers, exporters, and academicians. Originality/Value: The paper incorporated competition and marketing challenges of the granite business for generating ideas that could be used as basis for a policy action plan.

Investigation of thermodynamic factors influencing Thorium reactor efficiencies

In this meta-study, the major forms of thorium based nuclear reactors were compared using thermodynamic parameters to find which reactor type holds the highest thermodynamic efficiency and hence, determine which reactor would be most beneficial to research further and implement for energy production. Our study found that molten salt reactors had the best thermodynamic efficiency and also runs at one atmospheric pressure, making it safer than conventional water reactors. The findings in this study show molten salt reactors would be the most efficient reactor to replace standard water reactors, which dominate the market in use of nuclear energy production. This study found a strong link between the thermal efficiency of the plant and the pressure and temperature at which it runs. Reactor core volumes also appeared to have a small effect on the efficiencies. Power flux density was calculated for each style of reactor and compared to other parameters but no distinct relationship was found between them.

Has growth in electronic cigarette use by smokers been responsible for the decline in use of licensed nicotine products? Findings from repeated cross-sectional surveys

BackgroundThe rise in electronic cigarette use by smokers may be responsible for the decreased use of licensed nicotine products and/or increased overall use of non-tobacco nicotine-containing products. This paper reports...

MO‐D‐BRD‐04: NIST Air‐Kerma Standard for Electronic Brachytherapy Calibrations

Electronic brachytherapy (eBT) has seen an insurgence of manufacturers entering the US market for use in radiation therapy. In addition to the established interstitial, intraluminary, and intracavitary applications of eBT, many centers are now using eBT to treat skin lesions. It is important for medical physicists working with electronic brachytherapy sources to understand the basic physics principles of the sources themselves as well as the variety of applications for which they are being used. The calibration of the sources is different from vendor to vendor and the traceability of calibrations has evolved as new sources came to market. In 2014, a new air‐kerma based standard was introduced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to measure the output of an eBT source. Eventually commercial treatment planning systems should accommodate this new standard and provide NIST traceability to the end user. The calibration and commissioning of an eBT system is unique to its application and typically entails a list of procedural recommendations by the manufacturer. Commissioning measurements are performed using a variety of methods, some of which are modifications of existing AAPM Task Group protocols. A medical physicist should be familiar with the different AAPM Task Group recommendations for applicability to eBT and how to properly adapt them to their needs. In addition to the physical characteristics of an eBT source, the photon energy is substantially lower than from HDR Ir‐192 sources. Consequently, tissue‐specific dosimetry and radiobiological considerations are necessary when comparing these brachytherapy modalities and when making clinical decisions as a radiation therapy team. In this session, the physical characteristics and calibration methodologies of eBt sources will be presented as well as radiobiology considerations and other important clinical considerations.Learning Objectives: To understand the basic principles of electronic brachytherapy and the various applications for which it is being used. To understand the physics of the calibration and commissioning for electronic brachytherapy sources To understand the unique radiobiology and clinical implementation of electronic brachytherapy systems for skin and IORT techniques Xoft, Inc. contributed funding toward development of the NIST electronic brachytherapy facility (Michael Mitch).The University of Wisconsin (Wesley Culberson) has received research support funding from Xoft, Inc. Zoubir Ouhib has received partial funding from Elekta Esteya.