A rising tide lifts all boats: the role of share and category changes in managing organic sales growth

The strategic objective of marketing activities is to drive business growth by promoting the firm’s products. Beyond merger and acquisition, organic growth can be targeted from two sources: Market Share Gain and Category Growth. Market share is often the focus for corporate objectives and used as a success measure. This research explores the relative impact of these two elements on firm growth across product category and addresses whether market share should be the main focus for all organisations. The study covers 39 consumer packaged goods’ categories from the UK and US, across 189 manufacturers over three to five years of data, post-2010. We show that firm growth through market share gain is likely to benefit small firms, and large firms’ growth is likely to be driven by category growth. The results provide empirical support in the area of business growth and how marketing plays a crucial role in this pursuit

A Pseudo-Two-Dimensional (P2D) Model for FeS2 Conversion Cathode Batteries

Conversion cathode materials are gaining interest for secondary batteries due to their high theoretical energy and power density. However, practical application as a secondary battery material is currently limited by practical issues such as poor cyclability. To better understand these materials, we have developed a pseudo-two-dimensional model for conversion cathodes. We apply this model to FeS2 - a material that undergoes intercalation followed by conversion during discharge. The model is derived from the half-cell Doyle-Fuller-Newman model with additional loss terms added to reflect the converted shell resistance as the reaction progresses. We also account for polydisperse active material particles by incorporating a variable active surface area and effective particle radius. Using the model, we show that the leading loss mechanisms for FeS2 are associated with solid-state diffusion and electrical transport limitations through the converted shell material. The polydisperse simulations are also compared to a monodisperse system, and we show that polydispersity has very little effect on the intercalation behavior yet leads to capacity loss during the conversion reaction. We provide the code as an open-source Python Battery Mathematical Modelling (PyBaMM) model that can be used to identify performance limitations for other conversion cathode materials

Nanoscale investigations of surface phenomena in the water treatment industry using the atomic force microscope

Understanding the interaction between surfaces at the intermolecular level in ambient conditions is not only a fundamental science, but is of increasing value to water treatment systems. Here the uses of the atomic force microscopy (AFM) modified with particles of interest are assessed, and compared to bench-scale experimental techniques. In the first part of this study, the results from force measurements performed with calcite-modified probes in synthetic hard water (SHW) on selected substrates showed there was no correlation with macroscale scaling rate experiments. However, unmodified tips showed some correlation with non-metal substrates, where carbon coatings (Dymon-iC and Graphit-iC) were least adhesive. Although unmodified tips were unlikely to represent one of the surfaces of interest in water treatment systems, the findings suggest they can be used to screen materials with Ra < 50 nm. Contact angle measurements complemented force data, indicating the origin of repulsive forces on carbon coatings was due to hydrophilic repulsion because carbon and calcite were highly basic. Enhanced adhesion was caused by hydrophobic attraction and the presence of acidic surface groups. In the 2nd part of this study, force measurements were performed on natural organic matter (NOM) polyanions such as humic acid fraction (HAF), fulvic acid fraction (FAF) and hydrophilic acid (HPIA) using modified and unmodified tips. The results showed in symmetric NOM-NOM interactions with modified tips, HPIA-HPIA dominated both adhesion and detachment lengths, while FAF-FAF and HAF-HAF gave similar adhesion profiles. It is thought these intermolecular interactions can be transferred to floc size data, where HPIA flocs were bigger than FAF flocs. In non-symmetric systems adhesion between FAF-NOM was indiscriminate, compared to HAF and HPIA polyanions, indicating FAF polyanions were most likely to control coagulation performance during NOM removal.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Multiply Doped Nanostructured Silicate Sol–Gel Thin Films: Spatial Segregation of Dopants, Energy Transfer, and Distance Measurements

Abstract: Physical and chemical strategies that place designed molecules in spatially separated regions of surfactant-templated mesostructured silicate thin films are used to prepare films containing rhodamine 6G (R6G), lanthanide complexes, and both simultaneously. Fluorescence and photoexcitation spectra of R6G in amorphous and structured thin films show that it is located inside the surfactant micelles of structured thin films. A silylated ligand that binds lanthanides condenses to form part of the silica framework and causes the lanthanide to localize in the silica. Luminescence and photoexcitation spectra show that energy transfer from the metal complex to R6G occurs in the films. R6G quenches Tb emission in a concentrationdependent manner. Energy transfer efficiency is calculated using the Tb luminescence lifetime, and this quantity is used to calculate the distance between Tb and R6G with the aid of Fö rster theory

Propagation of ornamental plants for Oklahoma

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Conversion Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Ibutilide Compared With Intravenous Procainamide in Patients With Atrial Flutter or Fibrillation 11This study was sponsored by Pharmacia & Upjohn, Kalamazoo, Michigan.22See Appendix Afor a complete list of investigators and study sites.

AbstractObjectives. This multicenter study compared the efficacy and safety of ibutilide versus procainamide for conversion of recent-onset atrial flutter or fibrillation.Background. Ibutilide fumarate is an intravenous (IV) class III antiarrhythmic agent that has been shown to be significantly more effective than placebo in the pharmacologic conversion of atrial flutter and fibrillation to sinus rhythm. Procainamide is commonly used for conversion of recent-onset atrial fibrillation to normal sinus rhythm.Methods. One hundred twenty-seven patients (age range 22 to 92 years) with atrial flutter or fibrillation of 3 h to 90 days’ (mean 21 days) duration were randomized to receive either two 10-min IV infusions of 1 mg of ibutilide fumarate, separated by a 10-min infusion of 5% dextrose in sterile water, or three successive 10-min IV infusions of 400 mg of procainamide hydrochloride.Results. Of the 127 patients, 120 were evaluated for efficacy: 35 (58.3%) of 60 in the ibutilide group compared with 11 (18.3%) of 60 in the procainamide group had successful termination within 1.5 h of treatment (p < 0.0001). Seven patients were found to have violated the protocol and were not included in the final evaluation. In the patients with atrial flutter, ibutilide had a significantly higher success rate than procainamide (76% [13 of 17] vs. 14% [3 of 22], p = 0.001). Similarly, in the atrial fibrillation group, ibutilide had a significantly higher success rate than procainamide (51% [22 of 43] vs. 21% [8 of 38], p = 0.005). One patient who received ibutilide, which was found to be a protocol violation, had sustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia requiring direct current cardioversion. Seven patients who received procainamide became hypotensive.Conclusions. This study establishes the superior efficacy of ibutilide over procainamide when administered to patients to convert either atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter to sinus rhythm. Hypotension was the major adverse effect seen with procainamide. A low incidence of serious proarrhythmia was seen with the administration of ibutilide occurring at the end of infusion

Correlated polyhedral rotations in the absence of polarons during electrochemical insertion of lithium in ReO3

Understanding the structural transformations that materials undergo during (de)insertion of Li ions is crucial for designing high-performance intercalation hosts as these deformations can lead to significant capacity fade. Herein, we present a study of the metallic defect perovskite ReO3 to determine whether these distortions are driven by polaronic charge transport (i.e., the electrons and ions moving through the lattice in a coupled way) due to the semiconducting nature of most oxide hosts. Employing numerous techniques, including electrochemical probes, operando X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations, we find that the cubic structure of ReO3 experiences multiple phase changes involving the correlated twisting of rigid octahedral subunits upon lithiation. This results in exceptionally poor long-term cyclability due to large strains upon lithiation, even though metallic character is maintained throughout. This suggests that phase transformations during alkali ion intercalation are the result of local strains in the lattice and not exclusively due to polaron migration