473 research outputs found

    How to Form the Knowledge that Marketers Need? An Approach for Marketers to SMEs

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    International audienceTraditionally, the formula for knowledge consists of belief and truth. The key challenge behind this is to understand how a marketer can benefit from this knowledge. Like the traditional Chinese saying, the reason a ship floats or sinks is the same, it is because of water. Similarly, the success or failure of a marketing campaign depends on knowledge. For a marketer, useful knowledge is the combination between the truth and the customer " s belief

    Well-being effects of self-employment: A spatial inquiry

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    Our paper presents an empirical analysis of entrepreneurial well-being using a large-scale longitudinal household survey from the UK that tracks almost 50,000 individuals across seven waves over the period 2009-2017, as well as a number of exploratory case studies. We contribute to the existing literature by investigating how entrepreneurial well-being varies across locations along the urban-rural continuum, and across wealthy-deprived neighbourhoods. We use a Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) approach to compare the well-being outcomes of individuals who switch into self-employment from waged employment, and show that entrepreneurial well-being, in the form of job satisfaction, is significantly higher for those living in semi-urban locations, relative to those living in urban and rural locations. We argue that semi-urban locations provide an optimal combination of ease of doing business and quality of life. Our results also show that individuals in wealthy neighbourhoods who switch into self-employment experience higher job satisfaction than otherwise comparable individuals living in materially deprived neighbourhoods, although the latter experience greater levels of life satisfaction following the switch

    Production and digital image correlation analysis of titanium foams with different pore morphologies as a bone-substitute material

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    Ti foams are mesoporous structured materials that are characterized by their high surface area and interconnected porosity with a huge potential for biomedical applications. In this study, we investigated the production of titanium foams with different pore morphologies as a bone-substitute material via the addition of different amounts, shapes, and sizes of the space holder. Furthermore, we also carried out strain analysis using digital image correlation (DIC) in order to analyse the strain distribution across the porous samples. In addition, the nature of the relationship between the amount of the space holder added and final amount of porosity in the foams produced was also examined. The results demonstrated that the relationship between the space holder amount and porosity in the samples follows a complex one-phase exponential decay function in an increasing form. Our findings also suggest that the shape of the space holder does not play a significant role in dictating the porosity of the foams produced in the current study. However, the space holder’s shape does have a substantial role in dictating the mechanical properties of the foams produced, where Ti foams produced using a cubic or irregular space holder were found to have a lower yield stresses than those made with the spherical space holder

    Phased-array MRI of canine prostate using endorectal and endourethral coils

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    A four-channel phased array consisting of one surface coil, two endorectal coils, and one flexible endourethral loop coil was designed for MRI of the canine prostate. The endorectal coils provide high signal in the posterior region of the prostate, while the endourethral and surface coils are sensitive to the central and anterior regions of the prostate. Gel phantom experiments indicate that the proposed phased-array configuration generates 15 times more signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than a combination of two surface coils and one endorectal coil within the posterior region of the prostate; the performance of the two configurations is comparable near the anterior prostate surface. Ultimate intrinsic SNR (UISNR) analysis was used to compare the proposed phased array's performance to the best possible SNR for external coils. This analysis showed that the proposed phased array outperforms the best-case external coil within the posterior and central regions of the prostate by up to 20 times. In canine experiments in vivo, high-resolution fast spin-echo (FSE) images of the prostate were obtained with a pixel size of 230 μm obtained in 3 min 12 s. The proposed phased-array design potentially can be used to increase the accuracy of prostate cancer staging and the feasibility of MR-guided prostate interventions. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc

    Term and definition of a deformity after a spine trauma: Results of an international Delphi study

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    Introduction: Deformity of the spinal column after trauma could lead to pain, impaired function, and may sometimes necessitate extensive and high-risk surgery. This ‘condition’ has multiple terms and definitions that are used in research and clinics. A specific term and definition of this condition however is still lacking. A uniform and internationally accepted term and definition are necessary to compare cases and treatments in the future. Research question: Reach consensus on the term and definition of this deformity after spine trauma using a Delphi approach. Material and methods: An ‘all-rounds invitation’ Delphi process was used in this study among a group of international experts. The first round consisted of an online survey using input from preparatory studies, a typical clinical case and ICD-11 codes. The second round showed the results in-person and discussion was encouraged. Participants voted for rejection of certain terms. In the third round the final vote took place. When >80 % of the votes was for or against a term the term was rejected or accepted. Results: Response rate was high (≥84 %). The 3 Delphi rounds were completed. Unanimous voting led to the acceptance of the term and abbreviation as PSD. Deformity in any plane, pain, impaired function, and neurological deficit, were deemed important to include in the definition of PSD. Discussion and conclusion: Unanimous consensus was reached on ‘Posttraumatic spinal deformity: Condition where a trauma to the spine results in a deformity in any plane and results in pain and an impaired function with or without a neurological deficit.

    Compton Scattering from the Deuteron and Extracted Neutron Polarizabilities

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    Differential cross sections for Compton scattering from the deuteron were measured at MAX-lab for incident photon energies of 55 MeV and 66 MeV at nominal laboratory angles of 4545^\circ, 125125^\circ, and 135135^\circ. Tagged photons were scattered from liquid deuterium and detected in three NaI spectrometers. By comparing the data with theoretical calculations in the framework of a one-boson-exchange potential model, the sum and difference of the isospin-averaged nucleon polarizabilities, αN+βN=17.4±3.7\alpha_N + \beta_N = 17.4 \pm 3.7 and αNβN=6.4±2.4\alpha_N - \beta_N = 6.4 \pm 2.4 (in units of 10410^{-4} fm3^3), have been determined. By combining the latter with the global-averaged value for αpβp\alpha_p - \beta_p and using the predictions of the Baldin sum rule for the sum of the nucleon polarizabilities, we have obtained values for the neutron electric and magnetic polarizabilities of αn=8.8±2.4\alpha_n= 8.8 \pm 2.4(total) ±3.0\pm 3.0(model) and βn=6.52.4\beta_n = 6.5 \mp 2.4(total) 3.0\mp 3.0(model), respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revtex. The text is substantially revised. The cross sections are slightly different due to improvements in the analysi

    Loss of balancing selection in the βS globin locus

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Probably the best example of the rise and maintenance of balancing selection as an evolutionary trend is the role of S-haemoglobin (HbS - rs334) in protecting from malaria. Yet, the dynamics of such a process remains poorly understood, particularly in relation to different malaria transmission rates and the genetic background of the affected populations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the association of haemoglobin HbS in protection from clinical episodes of malaria in two populations/villages where malaria is endemic, but mostly presenting in mild clinical forms. Five-hundred and forty-six individuals comprising 65 and 82 families from the Hausa and Massalit villages respectively were genotyped for HbS. Allele and genotype frequencies as well as departure from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium were estimated from four-hundred and seventy independent genotypes across different age groups. Age-group frequencies were used to calculate the coefficient-of-fitness and to simulate the expected frequencies in future generations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Genotype frequencies were within Hardy-Weinberg expectations in Hausa and Massalit in the total sample set but not within the different age groups. There was a trend for a decrease of the HbS allele frequency in Hausa and an increase of frequency in Massalit. Although the HbS allele was able to confer significant protection from the clinical episodes of malaria in the two populations, as suggested by the odds ratios, the overall relative fitness of the HbS allele seems to have declined in Hausa.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Such loss of balancing selection could be due to a combined effect of preponderance of non-clinical malaria in Hausa, and the deleterious effect of the homozygous HbS under circumstances of endogamy.</p

    The association of self-esteem, depression and body satisfaction with obesity among Turkish adolescents

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to examine the effects of actual weight status, perceived weight status and body satisfaction on self-esteem and depression in a high school population in Turkey.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey of 2101 tenth-grade Turkish adolescents aged 15–18 was conducted. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using weight and height measures. The overweight and obesity were based on the age- and gender-spesific BMI cut-off points of the International Obesity Task Force values. Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and depression was measured using Children's Depression Inventory. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine relationships among the variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on BMI cut-off points, 9.0% of the students were overweight and 1.1% were obese. Logistic regression analysis indicated that (1) being male and being from a higher socio-economical level were important in the prediction of overweight based on BMI; (2) being female and being from a higher socio-economical level were important in the prediction of perceived overweight; (3) being female was important in the prediction of body dissatisfaction; (4) body dissatisfaction was related to low self-esteem and depression, perceived overweight was related only to low self-esteem but actual overweight was not related to low self-esteem and depression in adolescents.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study suggest that school-based adolescents in urban Turkey have a lower risk of overweight and obesity than adolescents in developed countries. The findings of this study suggest that psychological well-being of adolescents is more related to body satisfaction than actual and perceived weight status is.</p
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