An Analysis of the Banking Industry using Porter’s Five Forces Model

The banking industry has been influenced by opposing philosophies from its inception, such as the desire for greater financial stability through government intervention or economic freedom through minimizing the power of the government. This research paper attempts to synthesize the extant literature on key factors for success in banking. I conducted a literature review, based on the secondary data collected from major business databases such as ABI/Inform, OneFile, and JSTOR. Of the 56,413 peer-reviewed articles identified as relevant to ‘banking industry,’ 44 articles used Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model and 10 were selected based on relevance and examined in detail. Findings of the current research indicated that there is no “one size fits all” solution that foster future growth and performance of the banking industry. Changes to the industry’s internal and external culture are necessary. Some examples include: Improvement through the use of technology and analytics, modernization of customer engagement, and renewal of efficient operations through optimization of the banking current structure. Agility and continuous innovations are necessary to seize the opportunity to provide customers with a new service and create a next-generation customer experiences. To proactively capture the emerging opportunities in the industry banks must also embrace new technologies, channels, and strategies to succeed in this new era. The current research provides value to the current and future banking professionals in understanding the ‘big picture’ of the industry and importance of developing strategies to enhance the performance of the organization

Endorectal Digital Prostate Tomosynthesis

Several areas of prostate cancer (PCa) management, such as imaging permanent brachytherapy implants or small, aggressive lesions, benefit from high image resolution. Current PCa imaging methods can have inadequate resolution for imaging these areas. Endorectal digital prostate tomosynthesis (endoDPT), an imaging method that combines an external x-ray source and an endorectal x-ray sensor, can produce three-dimensional images of the prostate region that have high image resolution compared to typical methods. This high resolution may improve PCa management and increase positive outcomes in affected men. This dissertation presents the initial development of endoDPT, including system design, image quality assessment, and examples of possible applications to prostate imaging. Experiments using computational phantoms, physical phantoms, and canine prostate specimens were conducted. Initial system design was performed computationally and three methods of endoDPT image reconstruction were developed: shift and add (SAA), backprojection (BP), and filtered BP (FBP). A physical system was developed using an XDR intraoral x-ray sensor and a GE radiography unit. The resolution and radiation dose of endoDPT were measured and compared to a GE CT scanner. Canine prostate specimens that approximated clinical cases of PCa management were imaged and compared using endoDPT, the above CT scanner, and a GE MRI scanner. This study found that the resolution of endoDPT was significantly higher than CT. The radiation dose of endoDPT was significantly lower than CT in the regions of the phantom that were not in the endoDPT field of view (FoV). Inside the endoDPT FoV, the radiation dose ranged from significantly less than to significantly greater than CT. The endoDPT images of the canine prostate specimens demonstrated qualitative improvements in resolution compared to CT and MRI, but endoDPT had difficulty in visualizing larger structures, such as the prostate border. Overall, this study has demonstrated endoDPT has high image resolution compared to typical methods of PCa imaging. Future work will be focused on development of a prototype system that improves scanning efficiency that can be used to optimize endoDPT and perform pre-clinical studies

Discourse Management: Key to Policy Development

Skills in discourse management are necessary in order for democratic policy development groups to be productive. These skills, like other skills, are developed by practicing their utilization. A general cognitive framework, however, can assist one in this development. This paper develops and then describes the use of such a general framework

Consciousness Raising, Values, and Practice Behavior

This paper advocates for more conscious awareness of values, and their logical link, along with knowledge, to practice. A logical network is developed which reveals the association between values, knowledge, and practice behaviors. Excnples from social work literature are used to illustrate the breakdown in the logical development of practice which occurs when values are suppressed or are only dealt with subjectively. Examples are also given based upon a planning group in which values were defined and used with community data to logically deduce \u27what ought to be done. A plan for self study is also developed

The Biocatalytic Potential of Extremophiles and Extremozymes

Extremophiles are bizarre microorganisms that can grow and thrive in extreme environments, which were formerly considered too hostile to support life. The extreme conditions may be high or low temperature, high or low pH, high salinity, high metal concentrations, very low nutrient content, very low water activity, high radiation, high pressure and low oxygen tension. Some extremophiles are subject to multiple stress conditions. Extremophiles are structurally adapted at the molecular level to withstand these harsh conditions. The biocatalysts, called extremozymes, produced by these microorganisms, are proteins that function under extreme conditions. Due to their extreme stability, extremozymes offer new opportunities for biocatalysis and biotransformation. Examples of extremozymes include cellulases, amylases, xylanases, proteases, pectinases, keratinases, lipases, esterases, catalases, peroxidases and phytases, which have great potential for application in various biotechnological processes. Currently, only 1–2 % of the microorganisms on the Earth have been commercially exploited and amongst these there are only a few examples of extremophiles. However, the renewed interest that is currently emerging as a result of new developments in the cultivation and production of extremophiles and success in the cloning and expression of their genes in mesophilic hosts will increase the biocatalytic applications of extremozymes

A 24-h forecast of ozone peaks and exceedance levels using neural classifiers and weather predictions

A neural network combined to a neural classifier is used in a real time forecasting of hourly maximum ozone in the centre of France, in an urban atmosphere. This neural model is based on the MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP) structure. The inputs of the statistical network are model output statistics of the weather predictions from the French National Weather Service. With this neural classifier, the Success Index of forecasting is 78% whereas it is from 65% to 72% with the classical MLPs. During the validation phase, in the Summer of 2003, six ozone peaks above the threshold were detected. They actually were seven

Alpen im Wandel

Der ökologische Wandel findet in den Alpen bereits statt – und wir sind mitten drin. Um die beispiellosen Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitsherausforderungen zu meistern, die vor uns liegen, müssen wir unseren Lebensstil anpassen und unseren Energieverbrauch, unsere Produktionsmethoden und unsere Lebensmittelversorgung überdenken. Neben der Energiewende, der Wirtschaftswende und der Agrar- und Ernährungswende erleben auch viele andere Sektoren wie der Tourismus, die Mobilität oder die Raumplanung einen Wandel