The Market Trajectory of a Radically New Product: E-Cigarettes

The study analyzes the diffusion of electronic cigarettes as an innovation, as well as how industry, society, and the individual affect its market dynamics. The study is based on five surveys conducted during the years 2017−2019, and including participants of all ages (age 12 to 80 and beyond). The article describes indicators for evaluating the sustainability of a really-new product like electronic cigarettes, following the market trajectory of this product as it sets its dominant design and shapes the use-system for the product type from now onward. This process has two phases: trial and adoption. The probability of each nicotine product type’s adoption is different, depending on the prevalence of trials of that product among the population. The results of e-cigarette trials and additional indicators reveal the point (critical mass-point) where social influence outweighs rational evaluation by the individual regarding nicotine products. By using triers’ prevalence as the indicator for measuring an entry of really-new product into the market, the authors could identify the sustainability of that really-new product at a much early phase. Therefore, the prevalence of triers can be used as a predictor for the diffusion rate of an innovative product in a certain population and should be measured. The authors also propose a regression model that estimates the prevalence of triers based on the extent of users in the population

The Legumes: The Earliest Domesticated Plants in the Near East?

Anthropolog

The Market Trajectory of a Radically New Product: E-Cigarettes

The study analyzes the diffusion of electronic cigarettes as an innovation, as well as how industry, society, and the individual affect its market dynamics. The study is based on five surveys conducted during the years 2017−2019, and including participants of all ages (age 12 to 80 and beyond). The article describes indicators for evaluating the sustainability of a really-new product like electronic cigarettes, following the market trajectory of this product as it sets its dominant design and shapes the use-system for the product type from now onward. This process has two phases: trial and adoption. The probability of each nicotine product type’s adoption is different, depending on the prevalence of trials of that product among the population. The results of e-cigarette trials and additional indicators reveal the point (critical mass-point) where social influence outweighs rational evaluation by the individual regarding nicotine products. By using triers’ prevalence as the indicator for measuring an entry of really-new product into the market, the authors could identify the sustainability of that really-new product at a much early phase. Therefore, the prevalence of triers can be used as a predictor for the diffusion rate of an innovative product in a certain population and should be measured. The authors also propose a regression model that estimates the prevalence of triers based on the extent of users in the population

Genetic structure and differentiation in cultivated fig (Ficus carica L.)

One hundred ninety-four germplasm accessions of fig representing the four fig types, Common, Smyrna, San Pedro, and Caprifig were analyzed for genetic diversity, structure, and differentiation using genetic polymorphism at 15 microsatellite loci. The collection showed considerable polymorphism with observed number of alleles per locus ranging from four for five different loci, MFC4, LMFC14, LMFC22, LMFC31 and LMFC35 to nine for LMFC30 with an average of 4.9 alleles per locus. Seven of the 15 loci included in the genetic structure analyses exhibited significant deviation from panmixia, of which two showed excess and five showed deficiency of heterozygote. The cluster analysis (CA) revealed ten groups with 32 instances of synonymy among cultivars and groups differed significantly for frequency and composition of alleles for different loci. The principal components analysis (PCA) confirmed the results of CA with some groups more differentiated than the others. Further, the model based Bayesian approach clustering suggested a subtle population structure with mixed ancestry for most figs. The gene diversity analysis indicated that much of the total variation is found within groups (HG/HT = 0.853; 85.3%) and the among groups within total component (GGT = 0.147) accounted for the remaining 14.7%, of which ~64% accounted for among groups within clusters (GGC = 0.094) and ~36% among clusters (GCT = 0.053). The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed approximately similar results with nearly 87% of variation within groups and ~10% among groups within clusters, and ~3% among clusters. Overall, the gene pool of cultivated fig analyzed possesses substantial genetic polymorphism but exhibits narrow differentiation. It is evident that fig accessions from Turkmenistan are somewhat genetically different from the rest of the Mediterranean and the Caucasus figs. The long history of domestication and cultivation with widespread dispersal of cultivars with many synonyms has resulted in a great deal of confusion in the identification and classification of cultivars in fig

Pre-agricultural plant management in the uplands of the central Zagros: the archaeobotanical evidence from Sheikh-e Abad

Prior to the emergence of agriculture in southwest Asia, sedentarising human communities were experimenting with a diverse range of wild plant species over a prolonged period. In some cases, this involved the cultivation of species that would go on to be domesticated and form the foundation of future agricultural economies. However, many forms of plant use did not follow this trajectory, and in multiple places farming was only taken up later as an established ‘package’. In this paper, we present new archaeobotanical evidence from the Early Neolithic site of Sheikh-e Abad in the central Zagros of western Iran. Sheikh-e Abad is unique in being the only settlement known to date within southwest Asia that lies at an altitude above 1000m and which has occupation spanning the agricultural transition. Thus, it provides a rare opportunity to examine pre-agricultural plant management strategies in an upland zone. Our analyses of the plant remains from Sheikh-e Abad suggest that from its earliest occupation inhabitants were unconsciously ‘auditioning’ a suite of locally available wild grasses which ultimately were never domesticated. We discuss the possible reasons for this from a socio-ecological perspective, considering both the biology and ecology of the plant species in question, as well as the ways in which they were potentially managed

Genetic analysis of wheat domestication and evolution under domestication

Wheat is undoubtedly one of the world's major food sources since the dawn of Near Eastern agriculture and up to the present day. Morphological, physiological, and genetic modifications involved in domestication and subsequent evolution under domestication were investigated in a tetraploid recombinant inbred line population, derived from a cross between durum wheat and its immediate progenitor wild emmer wheat. Experimental data were used to test previous assumptions regarding a protracted domestication process. The brittle rachis (Br) spike, thought to be a primary characteristic of domestication, was mapped to chromosome 2A as a single gene, suggesting, in light of previously reported Br loci (homoeologous group 3), a complex genetic model involved in spike brittleness. Twenty-seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring threshability and yield components (kernel size and number of kernels per spike) were mapped. The large number of QTLs detected in this and other studies suggests that following domestication, wheat evolutionary processes involved many genomic changes. The Br gene did not show either genetic (co-localization with QTLs) or phenotypic association with threshability or yield components, suggesting independence of the respective loci. It is argued here that changes in spike threshability and agronomic traits (e.g. yield and its components) are the outcome of plant evolution under domestication, rather than the result of a protracted domestication process. Revealing the genomic basis of wheat domestication and evolution under domestication, and clarifying their inter-relationships, will improve our understanding of wheat biology and contribute to further crop improvement