Profitability determination in the United Kingdom brewing industry

This project analyses the determination of profitability in the United Kingdom brewing industry during the period 1972-1982. It is based on a. sample of fifteen brewing companies including the major national and regional companies. The study examines previous literature on the determination of profitability in industry in general, and the brewing industry in particular. (PIMS: Schoeffler 1977, Price Commission, 1977) It examines in some depth the debate as to whether higher market-share leads to greater profitability, and analyses the belief that an industry study should look at groups of firms within industries rather than aggregated data across industries. (Hatten and Schendel 1977. Porter 1980 and Woo 198*1) The study looks at the effect on profitability of nine independent variables paying special attention to the effects of market-share. The analysis categorises firms into strategic groups using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. It also compares and contrasts the results with the experiences of the Dutch and United States brewing industries. The results suggest that the size (in terms of turnover) of the brewery company determines the strategies they pursue and how these strategies affect profitability. A U-shaped curve relationship between market-share and profitability is identified and strategic groups are determined on the basis of how similar the brewers adopted strategies were during the study period. The results show the problems of transferring a methodology from one industry to another. In comparison to the Dutch and United States experiences, the United Kingdom brewers have been subject to a more volatile industry environment due mainly to changing consumer tastes. The expensive manufacturing and marketing strategies adopted by the national brewers in an attempt to capitalize on these changes led to their generally lower profitability when compared to the regional and small brewers during the study period

An enquiry into the production of peripheral neuritis by pressure due to action or posture

I. The normal function of peripheral nerves is frequently interrupted by pressure, produced by some action or posture of the patient. II. The condition usually passes off rapidly, and it is only the more persistent types, which come to the notice of the practitioner. III. The longer and more exposed peripheral nerves are those most commonly affected. It is also to be noted that the nerves, compression of which causes little pain, are those most frequently affected by pressure neuritis, due no doubt to pain reaching consciousness, as a warning signal, sooner than paraesthesia. IV. The patient seldom connects his action or posture and his neuritic manifestations as cause and effect. V. Establishment of the diagnosis as well as the treatment depends upon the discovery of the action or posture responsible. To achieve this great care must be exercised in taking the history, with possibly occasional resort to leading questions. VI. The condition appears more frequently in thin than in fat subjects, and in men more often than in women. Cold and damp appear to play a part in increasing the incidence of the condition. VII. The pathological changes,occurring in the nerve,depend upon the severity and duration of the compression. They range from temporary ischaemia and a localized area of degeneration, with or without solution of continuity of the axon,to intraneural fibrosis and complete nerve destruction. VIII. A favourable diagnosis can usually be given, spontaneous recovery occurring in every case once the cause has been recognised and its recurrence obviated. IX. Treatment, apart from the safeguarding of the nerve against further injury, is directed chiefly towards maintaining the tone and nutrition of the structures, which have been temporarily deprived of their nerve supply

Student experience: Big Data and the IDB

The Development Management consultancy experience gives students the opportunity to work with organisations in the real-world and on hot topics that have the potential to influence policy. As William Guicheney, Hope Kyarisiima, Louisa Tomar and Tinashe Zimani explain, their experience with the Inter-American Development Bank forced them to think less academically, and more practically

A prospective, multicenter trial of a long-term bioabsorbable mesh with Sepra technology in cohort of challenging laparoscopic ventral or incisional hernia repairs (ATLAS trial)

Background: This prospective, multicenter, single-arm, open-label study evaluated P4HB-ST mesh in laparoscopic ventral or incisional hernia repair (LVIHR) in patients with Class I (clean) wounds at high risk for Surgical Site Occurrence (SSO). Methods: Primary endpoint was SSO requiring intervention \u3c45 days. Secondary endpoints included: surgical procedure time, length of stay, SSO \u3e45 days, hernia recurrence, device-related adverse events, reoperation, and Quality of Life at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24-months. Results: 120 patients (52.5% male), mean age of 55.0 ± 14.9 years, and BMI of 33.2 ± 4.5 kg/m Conclusion: P4HB-ST mesh demonstrated low rates of SSO and device-related complications, with improved quality of life scores, and reoperation rate comparable to other published studies. Recurrence rate was higher than expected at 31.7%. However, when analyzed by hernia defect size, recurrence was disproportionately high in defects ≥7.1 c

CON: Serum biomarker monitoring should not replace primary antifungal chemoprophylaxis in patients with acute leukaemia receiving systemic anti-cancer therapy.

Primary antifungal chemoprophylaxis (PAC) is the widespread strategy of choice for the prevention of invasive fungal disease in patients with acute leukaemia (AL). Twice-weekly monitoring of the serum biomarkers (SBM) galactomannan and 1,3-β-d-glucan has been proposed as an alternative prevention strategy to PAC for these patients. This paper outlines the arguments for why PAC should remain as the standard of care in AL, instead of switching to twice-weekly SBM. Arguments put forward in favour of PAC are the strength of evidence for its safety, cost-effectiveness and adaptability, and its adoption by multiple international guidelines as standard of care. The potential implications of PAC for drug interactions and antifungal resistance are also discussed. The drawbacks of twice-weekly SBM are appraised, including missed or delayed diagnoses, unnecessary investigations, deferral of systemic anti-cancer therapy and increased pressure on laboratory services

Law Department

The undersigned, under the sanction of the Board of Trustees, will open in Athens, on 1st of October next, a Law School, in connection with the University of Georgia. Believing that such a school is demanded by the wants of the profession and of the State, and looking alone to its own income for the reward of our labor, we shall devote our energies to the effort, which we will not lightly abandon. We expect success only by deserving it. If we deserve it, we shall not fear obtaining it

Population pharmacokinetics of continuous-infusion ceftazidime in febrile neutropenic children undergoing HSCT: implications for target attainment for empirical treatment against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

To conduct a population pharmacokinetic analysis of continuous-infusion ceftazidime in a retrospective cohort of paediatric HSCT patients who were empirically treated for febrile neutropenia (FN) and who underwent therapeutic drug monitoring of ceftazidime steady-state plasma concentrations (Css) for optimization of drug exposure