A Historical and Practical Analysis for Neuromarketing in Business Practices Today

What thoughts come to your mind when you think of the term neuromarketing? In a digital age where personal privacy seems to be diminishing and data exploitation appears to be rising, many people are skeptical about businesses\u27 attempts to combine neurology, psychology, and business. This skepticism is unfortunately, legitimate. Our history reveals plenty of occasions where businesses have exploited their customers through unethical means and traded valuable relationships and resources for profits. However, despite the flaws business can introduce, business is arguably still the most powerful tool for creating value in a community. Through business, customers have had access to profound products, some being as significant as electrical power while some as trivial as being able to choose a different brand of bread. When business is conducted as a symbiotic relationship between both the customer and producer, Business can add value to communities and create significant change for generations. One of the most important investments many businesses have made in the 21st century is an investment towards consumer research. By analyzing their specific customers\u27 behavior, businesses have been able to create, improve, and target products that add the most value to their particular target market, therefore increasing the satisfaction of the customers and decreasing costs. With the introduction of the internet and social media, it has become crucial for businesses to understand the people they are marketing their products or services. Traditional marketing research techniques such as surveys, group discussions, and website analytics have played a significant role in businesses understanding their consumers. However, while these methods will continue, business leaders are beginning to explore new opportunities through neuromarketing, a set of research techniques that allow businesses to better understand their consumers\u27 unconscious decision-making processes. Through ethical practices of neuromarketing research, companies can begin to understand their consumers\u27 unconscious decisions, which can significantly impact how a business brands, advertises, and produces its products. On a small scale, this neuromarketing research can generate higher customer satisfaction during the purchase process, and on a large scale, it can help develop more efficient supply chain strategies. In its simplest form, neuromarketing has the potential to give the customers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it while also cutting costs and increasing revenue for the respective business. To fully understand the relevance of neuromarketing today, it is important to understand the history of marketing within business practices and how the simplest form of marketing in the early 1900s developed into the specific field of neuromarketing we know today

Potential control under thin aqueous layers using a Kelvin Probe

Kelvin Probes can be modified to control as well as monitor potential. The design and operation of two different Kelvin Probe Potentiostats (KPPs) are described in this paper. One approach uses a permanent magnet and double coil to oscillate the needle at a fixed frequency, an AC backing potential, and software analysis and control schemes. This technique can also control the distance between the tip and sample, thereby tracking the topography of the sample. Both KPPs were used to make measurements on Type 304L stainless steel under thin layers of electrolyte. Cathodic polarization curves exhibited a limiting current density associated with oxygen reduction. The limiting current density varied with solution layer thickness over a finite range of thickness. Anodic polarization curves on 304L in a thin layer of chloride solution resulted in pitting corrosion. The breakdown potential did not vary with solution layer thickness. However, the thin layer was observed to increase in volume remarkably during pit growth owing to the absorption of water from the high humidity environment into the layer with ionic strength increased by the pit dissolution. The open circuit potential (OCP) and solution layer thickness were monitored during drying out of a thin electrolyte layer. Pitting corrosion initiated, as indicated by a sharp drop in the OCP, as the solution thinned and increased in concentration.This work was supported in part by the Office of Science and Technology and International (OST&I), Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), US Department of Energy (DOE). The work is carried out as part of the DOE Multi-University Corrosion Cooperative under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC28-04RW12252

Unconventional animal models for traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the main causes of death worldwide. It is a complex injury that influences cellular physiology, causes neuronal cell death, and affects molecular pathways in the brain. This in turn can result in sensory, motor, and behavioral alterations that deeply impact the quality of life. Repetitive mild TBI can progress into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative condition linked to severe behavioral changes. While current animal models of TBI and CTE such as rodents, are useful to explore affected pathways, clinical findings therein have rarely translated into clinical applications, possibly because of the many morphofunctional differences between the model animals and humans. It is therefore important to complement these studies with alternative animal models that may better replicate the individuality of human TBI. Comparative studies in animals with naturally evolved brain protection such as bighorn sheep, woodpeckers, and whales, may provide preventive applications in humans. The advantages of an in-depth study of these unconventional animals are threefold. First, to increase knowledge of the often-understudied species in question; second, to improve common animal models based on the study of their extreme counterparts; and finally, to tap into a source of biological inspiration for comparative studies and translational applications in humans

MiR-662 is associated with metastatic relapse in early-stage breast cancer and promotes metastasis by stimulating cancer cell stemness

Background Breast cancer (BC) metastasis, which often occurs in bone, contributes substantially to mortality. MicroRNAs play a fundamental role in BC metastasis, although microRNA-regulated mechanisms driving metastasis progression remain poorly understood. Methods MiRome analysis in serum from BC patients was performed by TaqMan™ low-density array. MiR-662 was overexpressed following MIMIC-transfection or lentivirus transduction. Animal models were used to investigate the role of miR-662 in BC (bone) metastasis. The effect of miR-662-overexpressing BC cell conditioned medium on osteoclastogenesis was investigated. ALDEFLUOR assays were performed to study BC stemness. RNA-sequencing transcriptomic analysis of miR-662-overexpressing BC cells was performed to evaluate gene expression changes. Results High levels of hsa-miR-662 (miR-662) in serum from BC patients, at baseline (time of surgery), were associated with future recurrence in bone. At an early-stage of the metastatic disease, miR-662 could mask the presence of BC metastases in bone by inhibiting the differentiation of bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Nonetheless, metastatic miR-662-overexpressing BC cells then progressed as overt osteolytic metastases thanks to increased stem cell-like traits. Conclusions MiR-662 is involved in BC metastasis progression, suggesting it may be used as a prognostic marker to identify BC patients at high risk of metastasis

Lipid and Non-lipid Factors Affecting Macrophage Dysfunction and Inflammation in Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease and a leading cause of human mortality. The lesional microenvironment contains a complex accumulation of variably oxidized lipids and cytokines. Infiltrating monocytes become polarized in response to these stimuli, resulting in a broad spectrum of macrophage phenotypes. The extent of lipid loading in macrophages influences their phenotype and consequently their inflammatory status. In response to excess atherogenic ligands, many normal cell processes become aberrant following a loss of homeostasis. This can have a direct impact upon the inflammatory response, and conversely inflammation can lead to cell dysfunction. Clear evidence for this exists in the lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria of atherosclerotic macrophages, the principal lesional cell type. Furthermore, several intrinsic cell processes become dysregulated under lipidotic conditions. Therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring cell function under disease conditions are an ongoing coveted aim. Macrophages play a central role in promoting lesional inflammation, with plaque progression and stability being directly proportional to macrophage abundance. Understanding how mixtures or individual lipid species regulate macrophage biology is therefore a major area of atherosclerosis research. In this review, we will discuss how the myriad of lipid and lipoprotein classes and products used to model atherogenic, proinflammatory immune responses has facilitated a greater understanding of some of the intricacies of chronic inflammation and cell function. Despite this, lipid oxidation produces a complex mixture of products and with no single or standard method of derivatization, there exists some variation in the reported effects of certain oxidized lipids. Likewise, differences in the methods used to generate macrophages in vitro may also lead to variable responses when apparently identical lipid ligands are used. Consequently, the complexity of reported macrophage phenotypes has implications for our understanding of the metabolic pathways, processes and shifts underpinning their activation and inflammatory status. Using oxidized low density lipoproteins and its oxidized cholesteryl esters and phospholipid constituents to stimulate macrophage has been hugely valuable, however there is now an argument that only working with low complexity lipid species can deliver the most useful information to guide therapies aimed at controlling atherosclerosis and cardiovascular complications

A Historical and Practical Analysis for Neuromarketing in Business Practices Today

What thoughts come to your mind when you think of the term neuromarketing? In a digital age where personal privacy seems to be diminishing and data exploitation appears to be rising, many people are skeptical about businesses\u27 attempts to combine neurology, psychology, and business. This skepticism is unfortunately, legitimate. Our history reveals plenty of occasions where businesses have exploited their customers through unethical means and traded valuable relationships and resources for profits. However, despite the flaws business can introduce, business is arguably still the most powerful tool for creating value in a community. Through business, customers have had access to profound products, some being as significant as electrical power while some as trivial as being able to choose a different brand of bread. When business is conducted as a symbiotic relationship between both the customer and producer, Business can add value to communities and create significant change for generations. One of the most important investments many businesses have made in the 21st century is an investment towards consumer research. By analyzing their specific customers\u27 behavior, businesses have been able to create, improve, and target products that add the most value to their particular target market, therefore increasing the satisfaction of the customers and decreasing costs. With the introduction of the internet and social media, it has become crucial for businesses to understand the people they are marketing their products or services. Traditional marketing research techniques such as surveys, group discussions, and website analytics have played a significant role in businesses understanding their consumers. However, while these methods will continue, business leaders are beginning to explore new opportunities through neuromarketing, a set of research techniques that allow businesses to better understand their consumers\u27 unconscious decision-making processes. Through ethical practices of neuromarketing research, companies can begin to understand their consumers\u27 unconscious decisions, which can significantly impact how a business brands, advertises, and produces its products. On a small scale, this neuromarketing research can generate higher customer satisfaction during the purchase process, and on a large scale, it can help develop more efficient supply chain strategies. In its simplest form, neuromarketing has the potential to give the customers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it while also cutting costs and increasing revenue for the respective business. To fully understand the relevance of neuromarketing today, it is important to understand the history of marketing within business practices and how the simplest form of marketing in the early 1900s developed into the specific field of neuromarketing we know today

The Development and Initial Validation of an Instrument Measuring the Cognitive Domain of Intercultural Maturity

Abstract Through a two-phase process an instrument was created to measure the cognitive domain as proposed by King and Baxter Magolda in their Developmental Model of Intercultural Maturity (2005). The first phase involved expert panels who identified the competencies which exist in the cognitive domain, identified situations which might exist between individuals from different cultures, validated scenarios created from the identified situations, and created responses which corresponded to the three developmental levels (Initial, Intermediate, and Mature) defined in the Developmental Theory of Intercultural Maturity. Within the second phase, the created instrument was administered to 371 individuals representing eight geocultural world divisions (Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, North America, South/Latin America, South Pacific/Polynesia, and Sub-Saharan Africa). The initial instrument contained 8-12 interactive demographic questions and 20 scenario-based questions which were created to measure the four identified competencies (Ability to Shift Cognitive Perspectives, Flexibility in Thinking, Willingness to Seek Knowledge about Other Cultures, and Willingness to Consider Others\u27 Viewpoints as Valid). Through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the instrument was analyzed and a final 12-item instrument was identified which corresponded to three competencies: Ambiguity, Acclimation, and Acceptance. Overall, the final instrument functioned with minimal gender bias. Some differences in world regions were noted. The Caribbean was the only region who had consistently different scores from the other regions. While some significant differences were noted in scores of those who had lived abroad and those who had not, time spent outside one\u27s home region was not correlated to scores on the instrument. Low reliability scores, factor pattern coefficients, and communality estimates indicated that opportunities to improve the instrument exist. Additional opportunities for further research include the creation of additional instruments to measure all three domains (Cognitive, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal) and thus measure Intercultural Maturity in full. Recommended uses for the instrument are in the creation of intercultural curriculum to prompt discussion or to create metacognitive opportunities within intercultural training and classrooms

Video with targeted feedback for psychomotor remediation in health sciences

Using timely and targeted feedback in video recordings for remediation in a health sciences psychomotor practical can improve student success. Tools such as GoReact and VoiceThread provide opportunities for instructors to provide targeted feedback. Feedback is time stamped and strategically placed at the correct location within the video clip. Using this type of video tool with feedback as part of a remediation plan has allowed students to repeatedly practice techniques and receive specific, targeted feedback from the instructor regarding skill performance. This has been used to successfully improve student outcomes in a clinical skills course in a health sciences program

Synchronous Online Collaboration Using Google Doc to Promote Clinical Reasoning

It is important for faculty to be able to facilitate small group collaboration synchronously and promote higher-order thinking in an online setting. The purpose of this poster is to describe how the community of inquiry framework can guide the creative consideration of a commonly used tool, such as Google Doc, in a new way to facilitate higher-order thinking while promoting collaboration and clinical reasoning in entry-level physical therapy students. Google Doc is traditionally used to collaborate and share ideas asynchronously. However, with some inventive consideration, it can be used to facilitate collaboration during synchronous online meetings with students