Reconcilation of the Dichotomies in Marketing Theory and Practice

Although marketing researchers have aimed to discover theories in marketing, the level of theory development within the discipline is low. The paper reviews the knowledge development practices in marketing to identify a set of dichotomies that constrain theory development in the field. These dichotomies include (i) Dichotomy between positivist and relativist research paradigm, (ii) Dischotomy between theory testing and creation and (iii) Dichotomy between academics and practice. The paper then proposes means of reconciling these dichotomies so as to accelerate the level of theory development within the discipline.

An Empirical View of the Different Types of Consumer Promotions in India

The paper provides an empirical view of the range of promotions launched in the Indian market place from 1996 to 2003. The different promotions include free gift offers, price offs, extra product offers, exchange offers, buy-more-and-save offers, contests and sweepstakes. The most frequently launched promotion is the free gift offer followed by the sweepstake offer and extra product offer. Some differences in trends are found across FMCG, Consumer Durable and Service sectors. A detailed description of each type of promotion is provided in order to highlight the different incentives offered by such promotions.

Micropropagation of Azadirachta indica and assessment its fungicidal action

An effective protocol has been developed for micropropagation of Azadirachta indica using Murashige and Skoog ( MS) medium supplemented with different hormones like    1-Naphthyl acetic acid(NAA),3-Indole acetic acid(IAA),3-Indole butyric acid(IBA),6 Benzyl aminopurine (BAP),2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid(2,4-D)and Kinetin.  Extracts obtained were analyzed using HPTLC. Different sample preparations were compared for action against fungi like Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp, Aspergillus versicolor, Drechslera sp with sample from the original plant. The present in vitro procedure is more effective than the conventional techniques used in conservation and mass propagation of this medicinal plant

Contributions from diversity objectives and realities in a large international project

Diese Studie untersucht die ‘Contributions from diversity’ in einem Grossprojekt im Fachbereich Management development in der aegyptischen Telekommunikations-industrie. Gleichzeitig manifestiert die Arbeit, wie Diversitaet einen Beitrag zu anderen Disziplinen traegt, in diesem Fall die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie zu Wirtschaft. Besonderer Augenmerk liegt auf der Interaktion dreier Gruppen, naemlich die Interaktion unter den Projektmitgliedern, die Interaktion zwischen den Projektmitgliedern und den Teilnehmern des Telekommunikations¬unternehmens, und die Interaktion mit Individuen, die nur peripher am Projekt beteiligt waren. Die wissenschaftliche Leistung ist in der Widersprüchlichkeit zwischen dem eigentlichen Projektziel begruendet, dem Unternehmenswachstum, welches jeden Anspruch an Diversitaet ignoriert und dem Prozess dieses Ziel zu erreichen, die aus den Interaktionen gewachsene Diversitaet, welche letztendlich wesentlich zum Projekterfolg beitrug. Methodisch praesentiert die Arbeit einen 2-stufigen Prozess: a) die hauptsaechlich qualitative teils auch quantitative Datenanalyse beinhaltet das Identifizieren von Mustern, Kodieren von bedeutungstragenden Wiederholungen, sowie die Benennung signifikanter Iterationen. Das Ergebnis der mehrfachen Wiederholung dieses Prozesses fuehrte zur Entwicklung des Models ‘The three lenses of diversity’, bestehend aus der ‘Lens of multiple identity’, der ‘Lens of perception’, und der ‘Environmental lens’; b) die Anwendung dieses Models, The three lenses of diversity auf die in dichter Beschreibung praesentierten Interaktionen der genannten drei Gruppen, um die ‘Contributions from diversity’ zu analysieren. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit sind: Diversitaet exisitiert nicht per se, sie ist ein in einer Interaktion entstehender Prozess. Diversitaet entsteht aus der dialogischen Beziehung von ‘multiple affiliations’ mit ‘belonging’ und ‘othering’, welche wiederum unter der Auswirkung externer Einfluesse steht. Dieser Prozess entscheidet ueber Erfolg oder Misserfolg im Beziehungsaufbau im Rahmen von internationalen Grossprojekten.This study explores the contributions from diversity to a large and complex manage-ment development project in the Egyptian telecommunication industry. At the same time it makes manifest how diversity in the form of different disciplines can contribute to others, in this case the fields of cultural anthropology and business. Specifically, the research concentrates on the interaction of three stakeholder groups involved in this project, which are the interaction among project team members, the interaction between team members and programme participants and finally, the inter-action with individuals external to the project. The contribution this study makes to knowledge lies in the gap between the actual pro-ject objective, namely growing the business across the globe, which largely ignored any aspect of diversity, and the process of achieving this result, that is, the presence of diversity as elicited in interactions, which were one of the key contributors for the suc-cess of the project. The methodology comprises a 2-step process, which is a) mainly a qualitative but also quantitative data analysis which included identifying patterns, coding meaningful repeti-tions, and labelling significant iterations. Completing this process several times led to the development of the new framework ‘Three lenses of diversity’, which consists of the lens of multiple identity; the lens of perception; and the environmental lens; and b) the application of the framework onto the interaction of the three stakeholder groups, cap-tured in thick descriptions in order to identify the contributions from diversity. Findings are that diversity is not just there; it is a process, which is created from interaction. Diversity is generated from the dialogical relationship of multiple affiliations with belonging and othering under the influences from the external environment, and can so shape the success or failure in building relationship on complex projects

Remote ID for Rapid Assessment of Flight and Vehicle Information

The ability to rapidly identify UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) in the field has emerged as a critical need for the integration of small UASs into the national airspace and counter-UAS operations. This paper proposes an architecture for rapid retrieval of UAS information leveraging NASA's current Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system. The proposed architecture utilizes UTM components: FIMS (Flight Information Management System), USS (UAS Service Supplier), and vehicle registration and model database in order to provide assessment of the UAS reported in the field including the ability to distinguish between participating and non- participating UTM actors. Detailed system descriptions are provided and preliminary results from field tests conducted during UTM TCL (Technical Capability Level) 3 are discussed. It is found that 94 percent of the remote ID look-ups were successful. The average time of a look-up is found to be 1.2 seconds. Failure cases are examined and recommendations on next steps to advance UAS remote identification are provided

COST ANALYSIS OF EMERGENCY VISITS DUE TO DRUG RELATED PROBLEMS

Objective: To identify patients coming to Emergency Medicine Department (EMD) with drug related problems, classify the DRPs and calculate the direct cost spent for treating them. Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in emergency medicine department. The patients coming to EMD with DRPs were classified according to Cipolle’s classification and the direct medical and non-medical costs were calculated. Results: A total of around 107 patients identified with DRPs of which 99 patients were included in the study. In this study, 51% of the cases were due to ADR and 35% due to non-adherence and rest of the cases were due to overdose (10%), drug interaction (3%) and sub therapeutic dose (1%). Major portion for treatment was spent for direct medical cost in which cost for laboratory investigations have contributed the most, INR 10,93,992 (42%) followed by Health care professional cost INR 55,6814 (21%), Pharmacy cost INR 4,00,524.6 (15%), Admission cost INR 3,80,400 (15%). The direct non-medical cost includes cost for diet and travel which was found to be INR 1,68,443 and INR 71,947 respectively. Conclusion: The drug related problems adds a significant economic burden on the patients which can be reduced by imparting knowledge about the proper use of medicines and by improving collaborative efforts of the patients, physicians, pharmacists and caregivers

Remote ID for Rapid Assessment of Flight and Vehicle Information

The ability to rapidly identify UAS in the field has emerged as a critical need for the integration of small UASs into the national airspace and counter-uas operations. This paper proposes an architecture for rapid retrieval of UAS information leveraging NASA's current Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system. The proposed architecture utilizes UTM components: FIMS (Flight Information Management System), USS (UAS Service Supplier), and vehicle registration and model database in order to provide assessment of the UAS reported in the field including the ability to distinguish between participating and non- participating UTM actors. Detailed system descriptions are provided and preliminary results from field tests conducted during UTM TCL (Technical Capability Level) 3 are discussed. It is found that 94% of the remote ID look-ups were successful. The average time of a look-up is found to be 1.2 seconds. Failure cases are examined and recommendations on next steps to advance UAS remote identification are provided

Resistance/response molecular signature for oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Worldwide, the incidence of oral tongue cancer is on the rise, adding to the existing burden due to prevailing low survival and high recurrence rates. This study uses high-throughput expression profiling to identify candidate markers of resistance/response in patients with oral tongue cancer. Analysis of primary and post-treatment samples (12 tumor and 8 normal) by the Affymetrix platform (HG U133 plus 2) identified 119 genes as differentially regulated in recurrent tumors. The study groups had distinct profiles, with induction of immune response and apoptotic pathways in the non-recurrent and metastatic/invasiveness pathways in the recurrent group. Validation was carried out in tissues by Quantitative Real-Time PCR (QPCR) (n = 30) and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) (n = 35) and in saliva by QPCR (n = 37). The markers, COL5A1, HBB, IGLA and CTSC individually and COL5A1 and HBB in combination had the best predictive power for treatment response in the patients. A subset of markers identified (COL5A1, ABCG1, MMP1, IL8, FN1) could be detected in the saliva of patients with oral cancers with their combined sensitivity and specificity being 0.65 and 0.87 respectively. The study thus emphasizes the extreme prognostic value of exploring markers of treatment resistance that are expressed in both tissue and saliva

Costs and health effects of screening and delivery of hearing aids in Tamil Nadu, India: an observational study

Contains fulltext : 79601.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Challenges and Pragmatic Solutions for Assessing the Reliability of HIV-1 Viral Load Monitoring in Resource-Constrained Settings

Introduction: HIV-1 RNA detection is the most reliable method for monitoring treatment response among people living with HIV. Effective quality control measures that include internal quality control (IQC) are challenging in resource-constrained settings. Methods: We ascertained the utility of the kit low positive control (LPC) as an effective IQC to monitor the reliability of the HIV-1 viral load assay. Variations in LPC values were measured for 390 different runs over 10 years (2011–2021) and compared to in-house IQC data using Levey-Jennings control chart. Results: Overall, the Levey-Jennings analysis showed minimal variation (±0.5 log) for both the LPC and IQC data. The mean LPC value for first 20 runs (20 days) was 2.91. The mean LPC value for the 390 runs comprising 35 different lots was 3.01 ± 0.1 log. Conclusion: Our decadal data reveal that Abbott RealTime HIV-1 assay (Abbott Molecular Inc., IL, USA) LPC exhibited no significant biological variation over 390 runs distributed over 10 years. Hence, assay LPC can supplant the IQC for monitoring assay trends as a stable and commutable material in resource-constrained settings