Small Package Transportation Companies: An Exploratory Analysis

Purpose: To determine the evaluative criteria used when choosing small-package transportation companies, the level of importance of selected criteria, and how selected package carriers are perceived by small business decision makers. Methodology: Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires from a total of 31 decision makers in small businesses. The self-administered questionnaire was designed with four sections that handled separate but related topics. Questions from all four sections were taken from Parcel Shipping and Distribution’s Best Practice Survey (2006), located at www.psdmag.com/bpsurvey. asp. Results: Findings suggested that on-time delivery was the most salient evaluative criterion used by respondents. Surcharges were the least important criteria when selecting a small package transportation company. Even though, on-time delivery was ranked the highest by all job functions, office managers felt it was second to price/rates. Research/Practical Implications: First is the recognition that package shipping appears to have become more of a commodity service. Even though on-time delivery and reliability of service were considered most important, price/rates were the most important criteria for office managers. For that reason, marketers, when targeting this group must focus efforts towards bottom line cost savings, in essence, justifying the price. When targeting CEOs, presidents, CFOs, accounting personnel, directors of transportation, and shipping managers, marketers should focus efforts on the benefits of on-time delivery and reliability. In other words, “on-time delivery” seems to be the motivating factor for favoring one carrier over another in an acceptable price/rate level.Business Marketing, Transportation, Logistics, Small Package Delivery, B2B, Organizational Buying Behavior

Turkey: gaining market share in the U.S. ready-to-wear clothing market

Although many believe the global textile industry is mature it is still a growing market with predictions the world textile and clothing industries are expected to grow at a three to four percent rate per year fr some time to come. Moreover, it is predicted that by 2010 this industry will be a $500 billion market (Gorvett, December 6, 2006). Although China is a source for many of U.S. products, particularly apparel, the recent product recalls and the need for quality suppliers provides opportunities for Turkish goods. Hence, the overall purpose of this study was to determine the criteria needed by Turkish suppliers to gain market share in the U.S. apparel industry. Five owners of Turkish textile manufacturing firms well established in Europe and recently in the U.S. were surveyed. Results showed that entering the U.S. market as a wholesaler or distributor and gaining experience was the ‘safest’ way to start. Opening stores may be a next step but must be based on matching brand image with appropriate target markets. Population and culture are so diverse and fragmented in the U.S. most textile products can find a niche in the marketplace, subject to strategic positioning.

Print Advertising In The Us And Hong Kong: A Comparative Analysis

Given the static condition of the global economy marketers are cutting advertising budgets commensurate with dismal sales. It is a longstanding belief that utilizing a standardized advertising approach not only controls good ideas and provides for a consistent image but it also has the benefit of controlling expenses through economies of scale. With this in mind, the purpose of the study was to determine the degree of standardization or lack thereof in advertising strategies in the cosmetics and fragrances advertising industries in the United States and Hong Kong. The findings of this study suggest that there is a high level of standardization in the advertising for perfumes because Hong Kong belonged to the British for a long time and individuals’ needs and desires for love and acceptance are the same irrespective of geography. On the other hand only a moderate form of standardization was noted in the advertising for cosmetics. This may be attributed to the fact that different beauty concepts are held among different regions. Implications of the findings are also noted.print advertising, standardization, glocalization, cosmetics and fragrance industry

Sistemas inteligentes no diagnóstico da esquizofrenia

UNIFESP-EPM Departamento de PsiquiatriaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PsiquiatriaSciEL

Decision support system for the diagnosis of schizophrenia disorders

Clinical decision support systems are useful tools for assisting physicians to diagnose complex illnesses. Schizophrenia is a complex, heterogeneous and incapacitating mental disorder that should be detected as early as possible to avoid a most serious outcome. These artificial intelligence systems might be useful in the early detection of schizophrenia disorder. The objective of the present study was to describe the development of such a clinical decision support system for the diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SADDESQ). The development of this system is described in four stages: knowledge acquisition, knowledge organization, the development of a computer-assisted model, and the evaluation of the system's performance. The knowledge was extracted from an expert through open interviews. These interviews aimed to explore the expert's diagnostic decision-making process for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. A graph methodology was employed to identify the elements involved in the reasoning process. Knowledge was first organized and modeled by means of algorithms and then transferred to a computational model created by the covering approach. The performance assessment involved the comparison of the diagnoses of 38 clinical vignettes between an expert and the SADDESQ. The results showed a relatively low rate of misclassification (18-34%) and a good performance by SADDESQ in the diagnosis of schizophrenia, with an accuracy of 66-82%. The accuracy was higher when schizophreniform disorder was considered as the presence of schizophrenia disorder. Although these results are preliminary, the SADDESQ has exhibited a satisfactory performance, which needs to be further evaluated within a clinical setting.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de PsiquiatriaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de Informática MédicaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PsiquiatriaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de Informática MédicaSciEL

Como os especialistas reconhecem a esquizofrenia: o papel do sintoma desorganização

OBJETIVE: Research on clinical reasoning has been useful in developing expert systems. These tools are based on Artificial Intelligence techniques which assist the physician in the diagnosis of complex diseases. The development of these systems is based on a cognitive model extracted through the identification of the clinical reasoning patterns applied by experts within the clinical decision-making context. This study describes the method of knowledge acquisition for the identification of the triggering symptoms used in the reasoning of three experts for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. METHOD: Three experts on schizophrenia, from two University centers in São Paulo, were interviewed and asked to identify and to represent the triggering symptoms for the diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the graph methodology. RESULTS: Graph methodology showed a remarkable disagreement on how the three experts established their diagnosis of schizophrenia. They differed in their choice of triggering-symptoms for the diagnosis of schizophrenia: disorganization, blunted affect and thought disturbances. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate substantial differences between the experts as to their diagnostic reasoning patterns, probably under the influence of different theoretical tendencies. The disorganization symptom was considered to be the more appropriate to represent the heterogeneity of schizophrenia and also, to further develop an expert system for the diagnosis of schizophrenia.OBJETIVO: As pesquisas sobre o raciocínio clínico foram importantes para o surgimento de sistemas de apoio à decisão diagnóstica. Essas ferramentas são desenvolvidas por meio de técnicas de inteligência artificial e têm com objetivo principal auxiliar o médico no diagnóstico de doenças complexas. A abordagem utilizada para a construção desses sistemas constitui na formulação de um modelo baseado na identificação de padrões no raciocínio dos expertos quando de uma tomada de decisão diagnóstica. Este estudo descreve a metodologia empregada para identificar os elementos-chave utilizados no raciocínio de três expertos no processo de diagnóstico do transtorno da esquizofrenia. MÉTODO: Para explorar o raciocínio clínico foram selecionados três expertos em esquizofrenia de dois centros universitários de São Paulo. Foi utilizado o método dos grafos, por meio do qual o experto podia esquematizar a combinação de sintomas-chave que ele utilizava para identificar um diagnóstico de esquizofrenia. RESULTADOS: A partir da análise qualitativa dos grafos foi possível notar uma diferença marcante nos padrões de raciocínio diagnóstico. Essa diferença ocorreu, sobretudo, nos sintomas-chave do processo de decisão diagnóstica: desorganização, afeto embotado e distúrbio do pensamento. CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados apontam para uma diferença substancial entre os expertos quanto a um padrão de raciocínio diagnóstico provavelmente influenciado por diferentes correntes teóricas. Essas diferenças constituem um impedimento para a construção de um modelo único. O sintoma desorganização foi considerado o elemento-chave mais apropriado para representar a heterogeneidade da esquizofrenia e ser modelado para a construção de sistema de apoio à decisão diagnóstica.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Psychiatry DepartmentUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of Medical InformaticsUniversidade Estadual de Campinas Computing InstituteUNIFESP, Psychiatry DepartmentUNIFESP, Department of Medical InformaticsFAPESP: 98/11120-5SciEL

Os países líderes em pesquisa em saúde mental na América Latina e Caribe

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence and burden of mental disorders have been growing in Latin-American and the Caribbean countries and research is an important tool for changing this scenario. The objective of this paper is to describe the development of mental health research in Latin American and the Caribbean countries from 1995 to 2005. METHOD: The indicators of productivity were based on the ISI Essential Science Indicators database. We compared the number of papers and citations, as well as the number of citations per paper between 1995 and 2005 for each country ranked in the Essential Science Indicators. RESULT: Eleven Latin-American countries were ranked in the ISI database and six of them demonstrated a higher level of development in mental health research: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Mexico produced the largest number of papers, while Brazil showed a larger number of citations per paper. CONCLUSION: Mental health research is still incipient in Latin American and the Caribbean countries, and many challenges remain to be overcome. Also, it is necessary to establish the research priorities, to allocate more funding, and to improve researchers training in research method and design.OBJETIVO: A prevalência e a carga dos transtornos mentais vêm crescendo nos países latino-americanos e a pesquisa tem sido considerada uma importante ferramenta para alterar este cenário. Este estudo descreve o desenvolvimento da pesquisa em saúde mental nos países latino-americanos e Caribe no período de 1995 a 2005. MÉTODO: Foram utilizados os indicadores de produtividade baseados no banco de dados Essential Science Indicators do ISI. Foram comparados o número total de artigos e citações e também o número de citações por artigo para cada um dos países classificados no Essential Science Indicators. RESULTADOS: Foram encontrados 11 países latino-americanos e Caribe no ISI, e seis destes apresentaram um maior desenvolvimento em pesquisa em saúde mental: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colômbia, México e Venezuela. O México foi o que apresentou o maior número de artigos, enquanto o Brasil apresentou maior número de citações por artigo. CONCLUSÃO: A pesquisa em saúde mental nos países latino-americanos e Caribe ainda é incipiente e muitos desafios necessitam ser superados, como o estabelecimento de prioridades, maior alocação de fundos e aprimoramento do treinamento dos pesquisadores em metodologia e desenhos de pesquisa.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of PsychiatryUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Center of Evaluation and Data IntegrationUNIFESP, Department of PsychiatryUNIFESP, Center of Evaluation and Data IntegrationSciEL

Analysis In Teaching With Cases: A Revisit To Blooms Taxonomy Of Learning Objectives

Analysis, the core of graduate business education is probably one of the least understood and most misrepresented learning activities. Everyone seems to claim that they know it, yet most seem unable to actually define it or practice it. This paper reviews Blooms taxonomy of learning objectives with a special focus on analysis. More specifically, the paper seeks to present a more profound perspective of analysis and synthesis as taught and learned in a typical business course that utilizes case studies. The authors take more of an epidemiological perspective to case analysis which goes beyond the mere rehash of case facts to developing an understanding of all the communication elements in the case and the relationship between the elements for the purpose of synthesizing a new picture that was not obvious before. The paper presents a useful framework for analyzing business cases and recommending and implementing viable strategic options

Pesquisa em psiquiatria e saúde mental no Brasil: produção científica de 1999 a 2003

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent of mental health scientific production in Brazil from 1999 to 2003, and to identify the nature of the publications generated, their sources of finance and the ways of publicly disseminating the research findings. METHODS: Searches for publications were conducted in the Medline and PsychInfo databases for the period 1999-2003. A semi-structured questionnaire developed by an international team was applied to 626 mental health researchers, covering each interviewee's educational background, research experience, access to funding sources, public impact and research priorities. The sample was composed by 626 mental health researchers identified from 792 publications indexed on Medline and PsychInfo databases for the period above, and from a list of reviewers of Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria. RESULTS: In Brazil, 792 publications were produced by 525 authors between 1999 and 2003 (441 indexed in Medline and 398 in the ISI database). The main topics were: depression (29.1%), substance misuse (14.6%), psychoses (10%), childhood disorders (7%) and dementia (6.7%). Among the 626 Brazilian mental health researchers, 329 answered the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: There were steadily increasing numbers of Brazilian articles on mental health published in foreign journals from 1999 to 2003: the number of articles in Medline tripled and it doubled in the ISI database. The content of these articles corresponded to the priorities within mental health, but there is a need for better interlinking between researchers and mental health policymakers.OBJETIVO: Mapear a produção científica brasileira em saúde mental no período 1999-2003 e identificar a natureza das publicações geradas, suas fontes de financiamento e as formas de divulgação pública dos resultados. MÉTODOS: As buscas dos artigos foram realizadas nas bases de dados do PsychInfo e Medline no período 1999-2003. Um questionário semi-estruturado, desenvolvido por uma equipe internacional, foi aplicado a 626 pesquisadores de saúde mental, abordando-se as seguintes áreas: formação pessoal, experiência em pesquisa, acesso a fontes de financiamento, impacto público e prioridades de pesquisa de cada entrevistado. A amostra foi composta por 626 profissionais de Saúde Mental identificados a partir de 792 publicações indexadas no Medline e PsychInfo, (1999-2003) e também, de uma lista de pareceristas da Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria. RESULTADOS: Foram recuperadas 792 publicações, produzidas por 525 autores brasileiros no período 1999-2003 (441 indexadas no Medline e 398 na base ISI). Essas publicações abordavam os tópicos: depressão (29,1%), abuso de substâncias (14,6%), psicoses (10%), transtornos da infância (7%) e demência (6,7%). Dos 626 investigadores envolvidos com pesquisa em saúde mental, 329 responderam ao questionário. CONCLUSÕES: Houve um crescimento contínuo da publicação de artigos brasileiros em saúde mental em periódicos internacionais entre 1999 e 2003: o número de artigos na base Medline triplicou e duplicou nas bases ISI. O conteúdo dos artigos corresponde às prioridades da saúde mental, mas é necessário um maior entrosamento entre pesquisadores e tomadores de decisão na política de saúde mental.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de PsiquiatriaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Centro de Avaliação e Integração de DadosUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PsiquiatriaUNIFESP, EPM, Centro de Avaliação e Integração de DadosSciEL

Chronic unpredictable stress regulates visceral adipocyte-mediated glucose metabolism and inflammatory circuits in male rats

Chronic psychological stress is a prominent risk factor involved in the pathogenesis of many complex diseases, including major depression, obesity, and type II diabetes. Visceral adipose tissue is a key endocrine organ involved in the regulation of insulin action and an important component in the development of insulin resistance. Here, we examined for the first time the changes on visceral adipose tissue physiology and on adipocyte-associated insulin sensitivity and function after chronic unpredictable stress in rats. Male rats were subjected to chronic unpredictable stress for 35 days. Total body and visceral fat was measured. Cytokines and activated intracellular kinase levels were determined using high-throughput multiplex assays. Adipocyte function was assessed via tritiated glucose uptake assay. Stressed rats showed no weight gain, and their fat/lean mass ratio increased dramatically compared to control animals. Stressed rats had significantly higher mesenteric fat content and epididymal fat pad weight and demonstrated reduced serum glucose clearing capacity following glucose challenge. Alterations in fat depot size were mainly due to changes in adipocyte numbers and not size. High-throughput molecular screening in adipocytes isolated from stressed rats revealed activation of intracellular inflammatory, glucose metabolism, and MAPK networks compared to controls, as well as significantly reduced glucose uptake capacity in response to insulin stimulation. Our study identifies the adipocyte as a key regulator of the effects of chronic stress on insulin resistance, and glucose metabolism, with important ramifications in the pathophysiology of several stress-related disease states