Marketing strategy:a history of the next decade

Editorial

Discriminating depth in stereo surfaces: dipper effect found, and lost

Measurement of detection and discrimination thresholds yields information about visual signal processing. For luminance contrast, we are 2 - 3 times more sensitive to a small increase in the contrast of a weak 'pedestal' grating, than when the pedestal is absent. This is the 'dipper effect' - a reliable improvement whose interpretation remains controversial. Analogies between luminance and depth (disparity) processing have attracted interest in the existence of a 'disparity dipper' - are thresholds for disparity, or disparity modulation (corrugated surfaces), facilitated by the presence of a weak pedestal? Lunn and Morgan (1997 Journal of the Optical Society of America A 14 360 - 371) found no dipper for disparity-modulated gratings, but technical limitations (8-bit greyscale) might have prevented the necessary measurement of very small disparity thresholds. We used a true 14-bit greyscale to render small disparities accurately, and measured 2AFC discrimination thresholds for disparity modulation (0.6 cycle deg-1) of a random texture at various pedestal levels. Which interval contained greater modulation of depth? In the first experiment, a clear dipper was found. Thresholds were about 2X1 lower with weak pedestals than without. But here the phase of modulation (0° or 180°) was randomised from trial to trial. In a noisy signal-detection framework, this creates uncertainty that is reduced by the pedestal, thus improving performance. When the uncertainty was eliminated by keeping phase constant within sessions, the dipper effect disappeared, confirming Lunn and Morgan's result. The absence of a dipper, coupled with shallow psychometric slopes, suggests that the visual response to small disparities is essentially linear, with no threshold-like nonlinearity.

Tracking and updating academic research in selling and sales management:a decade later

This study examines the state of academic research in selling and sales management (S&SM) from the years 2003-7, ten years after the data collected by Moncrief, Marshall, and Watkins (2000). Sales articles are reviewed that appeared in 19 marketing journals and evidence is provided on the state of the S&SM discipline by comparing the number of authors, authorships, and publications versus a comparable five-year period a decade ago. Of interest are the universities that produce and employ faculty in S&SM and to identify those schools and geographic regions that are publishing the majority of articles. Publication distribution trends across journals are also examined. A dramatic increase in non-U.S. authors and authorships is noted versus the prior study. Overall, the findings indicate that, perhaps contrary to some popular misconceptions, the state of S&SM research is healthy, vibrant, and evolving.

A decade of silicone hydrogel development:surface properties, mechanical properties, and ocular compatibility

Since the initial launch of silicone hydrogel lenses, there has been a considerable broadening in the range of available commercial material properties. The very mobile silicon–oxygen bonds convey distinctive surface and mechanical properties on silicone hydrogels, in which advantages of enhanced oxygen permeability, reduced protein deposition, and modest frictional interaction are balanced by increased lipid and elastic response. There are now some 15 silicone hydrogel material variants available to practitioners; arguably, the changes that have taken place have been strongly influenced by feedback based on clinical experience. Water content is one of the most influential properties, and the decade has seen a progressive rise from lotrafilcon-A (24%) to efrofilcon-A (74%). Moduli have decreased over the same period from 1.4 to 0.3 MPa, but not solely as a result of changes in water content. Surface properties do not correlate directly with water content, and ingenious approaches have been used to achieve desirable improvements (e.g., greater lubricity and lower contact angle hysteresis). This is demonstrated by comparing the hysteresis value of the earliest (lotrafilcon-A, >40°) and most recent (delefilcon-A, <10°) coated silicone hydrogels. Although wettability is important, it is not of itself a good predictor of ocular response because this involves a much wider range of physicochemical and biochemical factors. The interference of the lens with ocular dynamics is complex leading separately to tissue–material interactions involving anterior and posterior lens surfaces. The biochemical consequences of these interactions may hold the key to a greater understanding of ocular incompatibility and end of day discomfort.

A paradigm shift for mobile interaction:a decade later

In the proceedings of CASCON'2003 we published an article entitled "A Paradigm Shift: Alternative Interaction Techniques for Use with Mobile & Wearable Devices" and were honoured to receive the Best Paper Award for that year's conference. A decade on, we are equally honoured to have the same paper recognised as the Most Influential Paper of the 2003 conference. To this end, we have been asked to provide a brief overview of our intervening research in relation to that original publication, and so that is the purpose of this extended abstract.

Paradox lost? Exploring the role of alpha oscillations during externally vs. internally directed attention and the implications for idling and inhibition hypotheses

Although slow waves of the electroencephalogram (EEG) have been associated with attentional processes, the functional significance of the alpha component in the EEG (8.1–12 Hz) remains uncertain. Conventionally, synchronisation in the alpha frequency range is taken to be a marker of cognitive inactivity, i.e. ‘cortical idling’. However, it has been suggested that alpha may index the active inhibition of sensory information during internally directed attentional tasks such as mental imagery. More recently, this idea has been amended to encompass the notion of alpha synchronisation as a means of inhibition of non-task relevant cortical areas irrespective of the direction of attention. Here we test the adequacy of the one idling and two inhibition hypotheses about alpha. In two experiments we investigated the relation between alpha and internally vs. externally directed attention using mental imagery vs. sensory-intake paradigms. Results from both experiments showed a clear relationship between alpha and both attentional factors and increased task demands. At various scalp sites alpha amplitudes were greater during internally directed attention and during increased load, results incompatible with alpha reflecting cortical idling and more in keeping with suggestions of active inhibition necessary for internally driven mental operations.

Hijacked then lost in translation:the plight of the recombinant host cell in membrane protein structural biology projects

Membrane protein structural biology is critically dependent upon the supply of high-quality protein. Over the last few years, the value of crystallising biochemically characterised, recombinant targets that incorporate stabilising mutations has been established. Nonetheless, obtaining sufficient yields of many recombinant membrane proteins is still a major challenge. Solutions are now emerging based on an improved understanding of recombinant host cells; as a 'cell factory' each cell is tasked with managing limited resources to simultaneously balance its own growth demands with those imposed by an expression plasmid. This review examines emerging insights into the role of translation and protein folding in defining high-yielding recombinant membrane protein production in a range of host cells.

Does Lost Time Cost You Money and Create High Risk?

The aim of the case study is to express the delayed repair time impact on the revenues and profit in numbers with the example of the outage of power plant units. Main steps of risk assessment: • creating project plan suitable for risk assessment • identification of the risk factors for each project activities • scenario-analysis based evaluation of risk factors • selection of the critical risk factors based on the results of quantitative risk analysis • formulating risk response actions for the critical risks • running Monte-Carlo simulation [1] using the results of scenario-analysis • building up a macro which creates the connection among the results of the risk assessment, the production plan and the business plan.

A munkával kapcsolatos értékek és attitűdök változása Közép-Kelet Európában a XXI. század első évtizedében (Changing values and attitudes regarding labour in Central- Eastern Europe in the first decade of 21st century)

A szerző tanulmányában a 2000 és 2010 közötti gazdasági és társadalmi változásokat és a munkával kapcsolatos értékek és attitűdök alakulását állítja időbeli párhuzamba, és azokra a kérdésekre keresi a választ, hogy milyen prioritások jellemzik 2010-ben a munka egyes aspektusaihoz való viszonyulást Közép-Kelet- Európa uniós tagállamaiban, és közöttük kiemelten Magyarországon? Vajon változtak-e ezek a jellemzők az elmúlt tíz év során, s ha igen, milyen irányú az elmozdulás. Azonos tendenciájúak-e a változások a vizsgált országokban? Megállapíthatók-e jellegzetes különbségek három kiválasztott, magas életszínvonalú, régebbi uniós (EU-15) tagországhoz viszonyítva? Elemzése jelentős mértékben támaszkodik az EVSfelmérés 2010-ben közzétett adataira, melynek alapját a 2008 és 2009 során lefolytatott adatgyűjtés képezi. Tanulmányában azokra a közép-kelet-európai országokra összpontosít, amelyek az elmúlt évtized során az unió tagjai lettek, és a 2000-es felmérésben is részt vettek már. _____ The author sets into parallelism economic and social changes and the development of values and attitudes regarding labour between 2000 and 2010, and looks for answers to questions what priorities characterize in 2010 the attitude to some aspects of labour in EU member countries of CEE, and especially in Hungary. Have these features changed in the last decade and in positive case, what is the direction of the shift? Are changes of similar tendency in countries under consideration? Can considerable differences be stated as compared to three selected, earlier EU 15 member countries with high living standard? The analysis largely relies on data of EVS survey, published in 2010 whose basis is the data collection carried out in 2008-2009. The essay focuses on Central Eastern European countries which have become members of the Union during the last decade and took part already in the survey of 2000.

Tíz év az Európai Unióban - az új tagországok agrárteljesítményei = A decade in the EU: the agricultural performances of the new member-states

Több mint tíz év telt el az Európai Unió 2004. évi kibővülése óta. A tízéves évforduló jó lehetőséget kínált a mérlegkészítésre, annak vizsgálatára, hogy a legfrissebb elérhető adatok tükrében milyen fejlődési pályát tudhatnak maguk mögött az új tagországok mezőgazdasági szektorai. Írásunk célja a tíz kelet- európai EU-tagállam agrárteljesítményének értékelése, illetve ez alapján a csatlakozás nyerteseinek, illetve veszteseinek azonosítása. A rendelkezésre álló adatokat a többdimenziós faktoranalízis módszerével feldolgozva arra az eredményre jutottunk, hogy Lengyelország, Észtország és Litvánia hármasa tekinthető az agrárcsatlakozás abszolút nyertesének, míg a többi új tagállam nem volt képes teljes mértékben kihasználni a csatlakozás adta lehetőségeket. Az eredményekből az is látható, hogy a magas hozzáadott értékű termékekre való szakosodás jó stratégiának bizonyult, mert gyorsabb fejlődést biztosított, mint a mezőgazdasági alaptermékekre való koncentrálás. ____ The period of over ten years since the 2004 round of EU accessions provides a good opportunity to assess and take stock of agricultural developments in the new member- States, in light of the latest available data. The paper sets out to assess their agricultural performances and to identify the winners and losers by accession in this regard. Ranking individual country performances using Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) suggests that Poland, Estonia and Lithuania can be considered as winners, whereas the other countries failed to use the potentials of membership to the full. The results also suggest that focusing on agri-food products with a high added value proved a good development strategy for the sector. Countries that concentrated on producing agri-food raw materials lagged behind.

Beyond the Pay: Current Illicit Activities of the Armed Forces in Central America

The growth of criminal gangs and organized crime groups has created unprecedented challenges in Central America. Homicide rates are among the highest in the world, countries spend on average close to 10 percent of GDP to respond to the challenges of public insecurity, and the security forces are frequently overwhelmed and at times coopted by the criminal groups they are increasingly tasked to counter. With some 90 percent of the 700 metric tons of cocaine trafficked from South America to the United States passing through Central America, the lure of aiding illegal traffickers through provision of arms, intelligence, or simply withholding or delaying the use of force is enormous. These conditions raise the question: to what extent are militaries in Central America compromised by illicit ties to criminal groups? The study focuses on three cases: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras. It finds that: Although illicit ties between the military and criminal groups have grown in the last decade, militaries in these countries are not yet “lost’ to criminal groups. Supplying criminal groups with light arms from military stocks is typical and on the rise, but still not common. In general the less exposed services, the navies and air forces, are the most reliable and effective ones in their roles in interdiction. Of the three countries in the study, the Honduran military is the most worrying because it is embedded in a context where civilian corruption is extremely common, state institutions are notoriously weak, and the political system remains polarized and lacks the popular legitimacy and political will needed to make necessary reforms. Overall, the armed forces in the three countries remain less compromised than civilian peers, particularly the police. However, in the worsening crime and insecurity context, there is a limited window of opportunity in which to introduce measures targeted toward the military, and such efforts can only succeed if opportunities for corruption in other sectors of the state, in particular in law enforcement and the justice system, are also addressed. Measures targeted toward the military should include: Enhanced material benefits and professional education opportunities that open doors for soldiers in promising legitimate careers once they leave military service. A clear system of rewards and punishments specifically designed to deter collusion with criminal groups. More effective securing of military arsenals. Skills and external oversight leveraged through combined operations, to build cooperation among those sectors of the military that have successful and clean records in countering criminal groups, and to expose weaker forces to effective best practices.

A Three-Decade Review of Club Capital-Budgeting Practices

If clubs are to remain viable in the future, it is important for them to employ proper capital-budgeting techniques. This study reports on clubs’ current capital-budgeting practices. It also compares current practices with those used by clubs over the previous two decades, starting in the 1980s.

Racioethnic Diversity on the Web: A Lost Opportunity

The authors report the generally poor results attained when the NAACP assessed the diversity management performance of 16 major hotel companies. Then, as an alternative means of assessing the same hotel companies’ commitment to diversity, they report the results of an analysis of the world-wide web pages the companies use to represent themselves in the electronic marketplace. Analysis of the web sites found virtually no evidence of corporate concern for diversity.

Feasts of power : how food reveals Eve's influential role in John Milton's epic poem, "Paradise Lost"

This writing explores how food in Paradise Lost reflects Eve's power in the story of man's (and woman's) fall from grace. Critics often emphasize Adam in Paradise Lost; however, I challenge the notion of the first man as the most influential character of the poem. By examining Eve's role and her abilities with food, one sees the first woman as a well-rounded, complete being, albeit the first to succumb to temptation. Notwithstanding her transgression, -- certainly no trivial act of disobedience -- Eve should be viewed at least as Adam's equal, if not his superior. Her uncanny understanding of matters related to food points to skills Adam does not enjoy, and even Milton acknowledges Eve's importance in this arena. By studying the food in this epic, we see Eve sheds much light on all the other elements of Paradise Lost, and her personal strengths become obvious.