An empirical study of marketing environment strategy and performance in the property market

By adapting industrial organisation, resource based theories and PIMS database research, the study proposes the organisation-environment-strategy-performance (OESP) framework and a model of property marketing in the Taiwan property market. The thesis proposed and tested an integrative model of business performance incorporating the major determinants of business performance, internal and external environment, and competitive marketing strategy. The thesis proposed and tested hypothesised relationships among four external marketing environment dimensions, four internal marketing environment dimensions, seven marketing strategies dimensions and four performance variables. By focusing on both construct and tests of hypothesised relationships, the study aims to strengthen the empirical foundation of marketing strategy research. The research findings reported are based on a mail survey of 102 property marketing business managers. Separated and integrated models were developed, and the relationships presented in the research questions were tested using two-year panel survey and retrospective longitudinal study (year 2000-2001) of 102 firms in the Taiwan property industry. Pooled cross-sectional time series regression and multiple regress methods were employed to test the research hypotheses and exploratory propositions. In the separated model, internal environment variables (market orientation, product advantage and resource commitment) were not found to be statistically explanations of variance in business performance. Of the external environment variables, demand potential and technological change were found to be key explanatory factors of variance in business unit performance. Marketing strategy variables such as product positioning and sales force expenditures were found to be statistically significant explanatory factors of variance in business performance. Product-market scope strategy is affected by the product advantage and resource commitment while promotion element decision is affected by technical change and resource commitment. Distribution decision is determined by competitive intensity, customer orientation and prior performance. Product positioning is affected by the product advantage while strategic alliance is determined by market attractiveness and technical change pressure. No marketing environment and prior performance factors were found to affect sales force expenditures and pricing decisions. The substitute of competitors factor is found to be statistically significant explanatory power of variance in market orientation and resource commitment

Global marketing strategy modeling of high tech products ☆

This study considers the role of global marketing strategy and its relation to market orientation, international experience, and performance in the high tech products context. Knowledge of this important domain of global marketing strategy and performance remains limited. In this respect, the study raises a number of important questions concerning how market orientation, international experience and global marketing strategy impact performance. The study empirically tests predictions of relationships by using mail survey data from 172 business units of high tech firms. Findings from the research sample support the argument that market orientation, international experience, and global marketing strategy are the key antecedents of organizational performance. Market orientation and international experience influence global marketing. The article concludes with theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings

The Impact of Peak Hydrogeneration for Reserving Environmental Flow in Dachia River, Taiwan

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

The Waveform Fluctuation and the Clinical Factors of the Initial and Sustained Erythropoietic Response to Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator in Hemodialysis Patients

Objectives. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) are the main treatment for anemia in hemodialysis (HD) patients. We evaluated factors determining the response after treatment of a new ESA (continuous erythropoietin erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA)). Methods. 61 HD patients were classified by their response at two different timings. First, patients whose hematocrit (Hct) increased 1.5% in the first week were defined as initial responders (IR, n = 16). We compared several parameters between IR and the rest of the study subjects (non-IR, n = 45). Second, patients whose Hct increased 2% in the 4th week were defined as sustained responders (SR, n = 12), and we did a similar comparison. Results. The Hct showed a waveform fluctuation. Compared with the rest, IR had significantly lower platelet counts and higher levels of ferritin, total protein, total bilirubin, and serum sodium, while SR had significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein and low-density lipoprotein (All P < 0.05). In comparison with the rest, higher Hct persisted for 10 weeks in SR but only for two separate weeks (the 1st and 7th week) in IR. Conclusions. The initial and sustained erythropoietic responses are independent from each other and are associated with different factors. Treatment focusing on these factors may improve the response

Application and comparison of scoring indices to predict outcomes in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia

Introduction: Healthcare-associated pneumonia HCAP is a relatively new category of pneumonia. It refers to infections that occur prior to hospital admission in patients with specific risk factors following contact or exposure to a healthcare environment. There is currently no scoring index to predict the outcomes of HCAP patients. We applied and compared different community acquired pneumonia CAP scoring indices to predict 30-day mortality and 3-day and 14-day intensive care unit ICU admission in patients with HCAP. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study based on an inpatient database from six medical centers, recruiting a total of 444 patients with HCAP between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007. Pneumonia severity scoring indices including PSI pneumonia severity index, CURB 65 confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure , age 65, IDSA/ATS Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society, modified ATS rule, SCAP severe community acquired pneumonia, SMART-COP systolic blood pressure, multilobar involvement, albumin, respiratory rate, tachycardia, confusion, oxygenation, pH, SMRT- CO systolic blood pressure, multilobar involvement, respiratory rate, tachycardia, confusion, oxygenation, and SOAR systolic blood pressure, oxygenation, age, respiratory rate were calculated for each patient. Patient characteristics, co-morbidities, pneumonia pathogen culture results, length of hospital stay LOS, and length of ICU stay were also recorded. Results: PSI > 90 has the highest sensitivity in predicting mortality, followed by CURB-65 >= 2 and SCAP > 9 SCAP score area under the curve AUC: 0.71, PSI AUC: 0.70 and CURB-65 AUC: 0.66. Compared to PSI, modified ATS, IDSA/ATS, SCAP, and SMART-COP were easy to calculate. For predicting ICU admission Day 3 and Day 14, modified ATS AUC: 0.84, 0.82 , SMART-COP AUC: 0.84, 0.82, SCAP AUC: 0.82, 0.80 and IDSA/ ATS AUC: 0.80, 0 .79 performed better statistically significant difference than PSI, CURB- 65, SOAR and SMRT-CO. Conclusions: The utility of the scoring indices for risk assessment in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia shows that the scoring indices originally designed for CAP can be applied to HCAP

A naturally occurring carotenoid, lutein, reduces PDGF and H2O2 signaling and compromised migration in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a potent stimulator of growth and motility of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Abnormalities of PDGF/PDGF receptor (PDGFR) are thought to contribute to vascular diseases and malignancy. We previously showed that a carotenoid, lycopene, can directly bind to PDGF and affect its related functions in VSMCs. In this study we examined the effect of the other naturally occurring carotenoid, lutein, on PDGF signaling and migration in VSMCs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Western blotting was performed to examine PDGF and H₂O₂signaling. Flowcytometry was used to determine PDGF binding to VSMCs. Fluorescence microscopy was performed to examine intracellular ROS production. Modified Boyden chamber system (Transwell apparatus) was used for migration assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lutein reduced PDGF signaling, including phosphorylation of PDGFR-β and its downstream protein kinases/enzymes such as phospholipase C-γ, Akt, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Although lutein possesses a similar structure to lycopene, it was striking that lutein inhibited PDGF signaling through a different way from lycopene in VSMCs. Unlike lycopene, lutein not only interacted with (bound to) PDGF but also interfered with cellular components. This was evidenced that preincubation of PDGF with lutein and treatment of VSMCs with lutein followed by removing of lutein compromised PDGF-induced signaling. Lutein reduced PDGF-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and attenuated ROS- (H₂O₂-) induced ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK activation. A further analysis indicated lutein could inhibit a higher concentration of H₂O₂-induced PDGFR signaling, which is known to act through an oxidative inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase. Finally, we showed that lutein functionally inhibited PDGF-induced VSMC migration, whereas its stereo-isomer zeaxanthin did not, revealing a special action of lutein on VSMCs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study reveals a differential action mechanism of lutein from other reported caroteinoids and suggests a possible beneficial effect of lutein but not zeaxanthin on prevention of vascular diseases.</p

CR3 and Dectin-1 Collaborate in Macrophage Cytokine Response through Association on Lipid Rafts and Activation of Syk-JNK-AP-1 Pathway

Copyright: © 2015 Huang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited Acknowledgments We are grateful to the Second Core Laboratory of Research Core Facility at the National Taiwan University Hospital for confocal microscopy service and providing ultracentrifuge. We thank Dr. William E. Goldman (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC) for kindly providing WT and ags1-null mutant of H. capsulatum G186A. Funding: This work is supported by research grants 101-2320-B-002-030-MY3 from the Ministry of Science and Technology (http://www.most.gov.tw) and AS-101-TP-B06-3 from Academia Sinica (http://www.sinica.edu.tw) to BAWH. GDB is funded by research grant 102705 from Welcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD