RECENT MARKETING TECHINQUES ON SUPER MARKETS: IT’S IMPACT ON RETAILERS

Marketing itself has a wide variety of flavors based on consumers, media & business in today’s evolving & dynamic market place. According to American Marketing Institution “Marketing is an activity, set of instructions & process for creating, communicating & exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners & society at large.”            Marketing includes all necessary steps taken by the organization inorder to sell its product & not only sell it but sell it with a good profit margin. Philip Kotler has rightly stated that “Marketing is meeting the needs of customers at a profit.”            The organizations plan various strategies to win over its competitors when it comes about selling of products with wide profit margin. Many techniques are selected by organizations to attract mass consumers towards their product. Some of these marketing strategies are discussed below-            The organizations main strategy in constructing its marketing plans is to combine all its marketing goals into one comprehensive goal. Always marketing research should be the base for marketing strategies. The focus should be on right product mix in order to achieve the most of profit potential & sustainability of the business. Basically marketing strategy is the foundation for marketing plan

Preservation and recovery of mangrove ecosystem carbon stocks in abandoned shrimp ponds

Mangrove forests capture and store exceptionally large amounts of carbon and are increasingly recognised as an important ecosystem for carbon sequestration. Yet land-use change in the tropics threatens this ecosystem and its critical ‘blue carbon’ (carbon stored in marine and coastal habitats) stores. The expansion of shrimp aquaculture is among the major causes of mangrove loss globally. Here, we assess the impact of mangrove to shrimp pond conversion on ecosystem carbon stocks, and carbon losses and gains over time after ponds are abandoned. Our assessment is based on an intensive field inventory of carbon stocks at a coastal setting in Thailand. We show that although up to 70% of ecosystem carbon is lost when mangroves are converted to shrimp ponds, some abandoned ponds contain deep mangrove soils (>2.5 m) and large carbon reservoirs exceeding 865 t carbon per hectare. We also found a positive recovery trajectory for carbon stocks in the upper soil layer (0-15 cm) of a chronosequence of abandoned ponds, associated with natural mangrove regeneration. Our data suggest that mangrove carbon pools can rebuild in abandoned ponds over time in areas exposed to tidal flushing

Magnetic resonance imaging phantoms for quality-control of myocardial T1 and ECV mapping: specific formulation, long-term stability and variation with heart rate and temperature

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) phantoms are routinely used for quality assurance in MRI centres; however their long term stability for verification of myocardial T1/ extracellular volume fraction (ECV) mapping has never been investigated. Methods: Nickel-chloride agarose gel phantoms were formulated in a reproducible laboratory procedure to mimic blood and myocardial T1 and T2 values, native and late after Gadolinium administration as used in T1/ECV mapping. The phantoms were imaged weekly with an 11 heart beat MOLLI sequence for T1 and long TR spin-echo sequences for T2, in a carefully controlled reproducible manner for 12 months. Results: There were only small relative changes seen in all the native and post gadolinium T1 values (up to 9.0 % maximal relative change in T1 values) or phantom ECV (up to 8.3 % maximal relative change of ECV, up to 2.2 % maximal absolute change in ECV) during this period. All native and post gadolinium T2 values remained stable over time with <2 % change. Temperature sensitivity testing showed MOLLI T1 values in the long T1 phantoms increasing by 23.9 ms per degree increase and short T1 phantoms increasing by 0.3 ms per degree increase. There was a small absolute increase in ECV of 0.069 % (~0.22 % relative increase in ECV) per degree increase. Variation in heart rate testing showed a 0.13 % absolute increase in ECV (~0.45 % relative increase in ECV) per 10 heart rate increase. Conclusions: These are the first phantoms reported in the literature modeling T1 and T2 values for blood and myocardium specifically for the T1mapping/ECV mapping application, with stability tested rigorously over a 12 month period. This work has significant implications for the utility of such phantoms in improving the accuracy of serial scans for myocardial tissue characterisation by T1 mapping methods and in multicentre work

Safety and Immunogenicity of an HIV-1 Gag DNA Vaccine with or without IL-12 and/or IL-15 Plasmid Cytokine Adjuvant in Healthy, HIV-1 Uninfected Adults

DNA vaccines are a promising approach to vaccination since they circumvent the problem of vector-induced immunity. DNA plasmid cytokine adjuvants have been shown to augment immune responses in small animals and in macaques.We performed two first in human HIV vaccine trials in the US, Brazil and Thailand of an RNA-optimized truncated HIV-1 gag gene (p37) DNA derived from strain HXB2 administered either alone or in combination with dose-escalation of IL-12 or IL-15 plasmid cytokine adjuvants. Vaccinations with both the HIV immunogen and cytokine adjuvant were generally well-tolerated and no significant vaccine-related adverse events were identified. A small number of subjects developed asymptomatic low titer antibodies to IL-12 or IL-15. Cellular immunogenicity following 3 and 4 vaccinations was poor, with response rates to gag of 4.9%/8.7% among vaccinees receiving gag DNA alone, 0%/11.5% among those receiving gag DNA+IL-15, and no responders among those receiving DNA+high dose (1500 ug) IL-12 DNA. However, after three doses, 44.4% (4/9) of vaccinees receiving gag DNA and intermediate dose (500 ug) of IL-12 DNA demonstrated a detectable cellular immune response.This combination of HIV gag DNA with plasmid cytokine adjuvants was well tolerated. There were minimal responses to HIV gag DNA alone, and no apparent augmentation with either IL-12 or IL-15 plasmid cytokine adjuvants. Despite the promise of DNA vaccines, newer formulations or methods of delivery will be required to increase their immunogenicity.Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00115960 NCT00111605

Gadolinium free cardiovascular magnetic resonance with 2-point Cine balanced steady state free precession

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) of ventricular structure and function is widely performed using cine balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP) MRI. The bSSFP signal of myocardium is weighted by magnetization transfer (MT) and T1/T2-relaxation times. In edematous and fibrotic tissues, increased T2 and reduced MT lead to increased signal intensity on images acquired with high excitation flip angles. We hypothesized that acquisition of two differentially MT-weighted bSSFP images (termed 2-point bSSFP) can identify tissue that would enhance with gadolinium similar to standard of care late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). METHODS: Cine bSSFP images (flip angles of 5° and 45°) and native-T1 and T2 maps were acquired in one mid-ventricular slice in 47 patients referred for CMR and 10 healthy controls. Afterwards, LGE images and post-contrast T1 maps were acquired and gadolinium partition coefficient (GPC) was calculated. Maps of ΔS/S(o) were calculated as (S(45)-S(5))/S(5)*100 (%), where S(flip_angle) is the voxel signal intensity. RESULTS: Twenty three patients demonstrated areas of myocardial hyper-enhancement with LGE. In enhanced regions, ΔS/S(o), native-T1, T2, and GPC were heightened (p < 0.05 vs. non-enhanced tissues). ΔS/S(o), native-T1, and T2 all demonstrated association with GPC, however the association was strongest for ΔS/S(o). Bland-Altman analysis revealed a slight bias towards larger volume of enhancement with ΔS/S(o) compared to LGE, and similar transmurality. Subjective analysis with 2-blinded expert readers revealed agreement between ΔS/S(o) and LGE of 73.4 %, with false positive detection of 16.7 % and false negative detection of 15.2 %. CONCLUSIONS: Gadolinium free 2-point bSSFP identified tissue that enhances at LGE with strong association to GPC. Our results suggest that with further development, MT-weighted CMR could be used similar to LGE for diagnostic imaging. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12968-015-0194-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A people-centred perspective on climate change, environmental stress, and livelihood resilience in Bangladesh

The Ganges–Brahmaputra delta enables Bangladesh to sustain a dense population, but it also exposes people to natural hazards. This article presents findings from the Gibika project, which researches livelihood resilience in seven study sites across Bangladesh. This study aims to understand how people in the study sites build resilience against environmental stresses, such as cyclones, floods, riverbank erosion, and drought, and in what ways their strategies sometimes fail. The article applies a new methodology for studying people’s decision making in risk-prone environments: the personal Livelihood History interviews (N = 28). The findings show how environmental stress, shocks, and disturbances affect people’s livelihood resilience and why adaptation measures can be unsuccessful. Floods, riverbank erosion, and droughts cause damage to agricultural lands, crops, houses, and properties. People manage to adapt by modifying their agricultural practices, switching to alternative livelihoods, or using migration as an adaptive strategy. In the coastal study sites, cyclones are a severe hazard. The study reveals that when a cyclone approaches, people sometimes choose not to evacuate: they put their lives at risk to protect their livelihoods and properties. Future policy and adaptation planning must use lessons learned from people currently facing environmental stress and shocks

Transcriptional activation of the Axl and PDGFR-α by c-Met through a ras- and Src-independent mechanism in human bladder cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A cross-talk between different receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of human cancers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Both NIH-Met5 and T24-Met3 cell lines harboring an inducible human c-Met gene were established. C-Met-related RTKs were screened by RTK microarray analysis. The cross-talk of RTKs was demonstrated by Western blotting and confirmed by small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing, followed by elucidation of the underlying mechanism. The impact of this cross-talk on biological function was demonstrated by Trans-well migration assay. Finally, the potential clinical importance was examined in a cohort of 65 cases of locally advanced and metastatic bladder cancer patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A positive association of Axl or platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFR-α) with c-Met expression was demonstrated at translational level, and confirmed by specific siRNA knock-down. The transactivation of c-Met on Axl or PDGFR-α <it>in vitro </it>was through a <it>ras</it>- and Src-independent activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK) pathway. In human bladder cancer, co-expression of these RTKs was associated with poor patient survival (<it>p </it>< 0.05), and overexpression of c-Met/Axl/PDGFR-α or c-Met alone showed the most significant correlation with poor survival (<it>p </it>< 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In addition to c-Met, the cross-talk with Axl and/or PDGFR-α also contributes to the progression of human bladder cancer. Evaluation of Axl and PDGFR-α expression status may identify a subset of c-Met-positive bladder cancer patients who may require co-targeting therapy.</p

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe