Use of social networks and the Internet 2.0 in marketing management by SMEs

Nowadays, enterprises, and especially SMEs, are immersed in a very difficult economic situation. Therefore, they need new and innovative tools to compete in that environment. Integration of the internet 2.0 and social networks in marketing strategies of companies could be the key to success. If social networks are well managed, they can bring a lot to enterprise plans. Moreover, social networks are very attractive from an economic point of view as companies can find most of their customers on it.

Understandable by design: How can products be designed to align with user experience?

Chapter 14 Understandable by Design: How Can Products be Designed to Align with User Experience? A. Mieczakowski, PM Langdon, RH Bracewell, JJ Patmore and PJ Clarkson 14.1 Introduction Understanding users increases the likelihood that ...

Safer by design: using computer simulation to predict the evacuation performance of passenger ships

When designing a new passenger ship or modifiying an existing design, how do we ensure that the proposed design is safe from an evacuation point of view? In the building and aviation industries, computer based evacuation models are being used to tackle similar issues. In these industries, the traditonal restrictive prescriptive approach to design is making way for performance based design methodologies using risk assessment and computer simulation. In the maritime industry, ship evacuation models off the promise to quickly and efficiently bring these considerations into the design phase, while the ship is "on the drawing board". This paper describes the development of evacuation models with applications to passenger ships and further discusses issues concerning data requirements and validation.

Safer by design: simulating fire and escape at sea

When designing a new passenger ship or modifying an existing design, how do we ensure that the proposed design and crew emergency procedures are safe from an evacuation resulting from fire or other incident? In the wake of major maritime disasters such as the Scandinavian Star, Herald of Free Enterprise, Estonia and in light of the growth in the numbers of high density, high-speed ferries and large capacity cruise ships, issues concerning the evacuation of passengers and crew at sea are receiving renewed interest. Fire and evacuation models with features such as the ability to realistically simulate the spread of fire and fire suppression systems and the human response to fire as well as the capability to model human performance in heeled orientations linked to a virtual reality environment that produces realistic visualisations of the modelled scenarios are now available and can be used to aid the engineer in assessing ship design and procedures. This paper describes the maritimeEXODUS ship evacuation and the SMARTFIRE fire simulation model and provides an example application demonstrating the use of the models in performing fire and evacuation analysis for a large passenger ship partially based on the requirements of MSC circular 1033. The fire simulations include the action of a water mist system.

Combustible ionic liquids by design: is laboratory safety another ionic liquid myth?

The non-flammability of ionic liquids (ILs) is often highlighted as a safety advantage of ILs over volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but the fact that many ILs are not flammable themselves does not mean that they are safe to use near fire and/or heat sources; a large group of ILs ( including commercially available ILs) are combustible due to the nature of their positive heats of formation, oxygen content, and decomposition products.

Diagnostic accuracy and clinical management by realtime teledermatology. Results from the Northern Ireland arms of the UK Multicentre Teledermatology Trial

Diagnostic accuracy and management recommendations of realtime teledermatology consultations using low-cost telemedicine equipment were evaluated. Patients were seen by a dermatologist over a video-link and a diagnosis and treatment plan were recorded. This was followed by a face-to-face consultation on the same day to confirm the earlier diagnosis and management plan. A total of 351 patients with 427 diagnoses participated. Sixty-seven per cent of the diagnoses made over the video-link agreed with the face-to-face diagnosis. Clinical management plans were recorded for 214 patients with 252 diagnoses. For this cohort, 44% of the patients were seen by the same dermatologist at both consultations, while 56% were seen by a different dermatologist. In 64% of cases the same management plan was recommended at both consultations; a sub-optimum treatment plan was recommended in 8% of cases; and in 9% of cases the video-link management plans were judged to be inappropriate. In 20% of cases the dermatologist was unable to recommend a suitable management plan by video-link. There were significant differences in the ability to recommend an optimum management plan by video-link when a different dermatologist made the reference management plan. The results indicate that a high proportion of dermatological conditions can be successfully managed by realtime teledermatology.

Preliminary results from the Northern Ireland arms of the UK Multicentre Teledermatology Trial:is clinical management by realtime teledermatology possible?

Results from phase 1 of the UK Multicentre Teledermatology Trial demonstrated the diagnostic accuracy of realtime teledermatology using low-cost equipment. Phase 2 of the trial aimed to assess its effectiveness as a management tool for dermatological disease. Teledermatology consultations were organized between two health centres and two hospitals in Northern Ireland using low-cost videoconferencing equipment. For 205 patients seen by a dermatologist over the video-link a diagnosis and management plan were recorded. A subsequent face-to-face consultation was arranged on the same day to confirm the diagnosis and treatment regime. A comparison of these management plans revealed that the same plan was recommended in 64% of cases; the teledermatologist was unable to advocate a suitable management plan in 19% of cases; a suboptimal treatment plan was suggested by the teledermatologist in 6% of cases; and in 11% of cases, the teledermatologist suggested an inappropriate treatment plan. These findings indicate that appropriate clinical management was possible in approximately two-thirds of dermatology consultations via the video-link.