Profitable entry into an unprofitable market

This paper shows how market entry into an unprofitable market can be profitable for a firm. A firm's expansion into a new market can have a beneficial feedback effect for that firm in its old market. By entering into a new market, the firm increases its produced quantity and has higher incentives to invest in process R&D. This is a credible signal to the competitors that the firm will be more aggressive in its R&D investments. This weakens the competitors since they scare off and invest less in process R&D. This feedback effect of expanding in foreign markets increases the profits of the expanding firm in its 'old market' and if this profit gain exceeds the losses through market entry, then the market entry is profitable for the firm. I also consider how the results change under Bertrand vs Cournot regime and how results change if price discrimination is possible or not. Beside that I show how higher R&D costs or lower demand in a market can lead to lower profits of one firm, but higher profits of the other firm

Comparación de la actividad de determinados músculos del tronco y extremidades inferiores en la marcha de mujeres jóvenes con pie en supinación, pronación y neutro

  Los cambios en la estructura anatómica del pie reducen su capacidad de funcionamiento normal. Este estudio tuvo por objetivo comparar determinados músculos del tronco y de las extremidades inferiores durante la marcha en individuos con distintos tipos de pie. Se clasificaron 45 estudiantes femeninas en 3 grupos, según la estructura de sus pies, es decir, en pronación, supinación y neutro. Un médico especialista definió los tipos de pie según el índice postural del pie y rayos X. Se registraron las actividades electromiográficas de los músculos tibial anterior, peroneo largo, gastrocnemio medial, bíceps femoral, glúteo medio, oblicuo externo y erector de la columna de los 3 grupos, al realizar un recorrido determinado, a una velocidad de marcha autoseleccionada. Se grabó con una cámara cada esfuerzo simultáneo con registro electromiográfico. Se utilizó el test ANOVA de un factor para comparar los grupos, con un nivel de significación de 0,05. La actividad de los músculos tibial anterior y gastrocnemio medial fue superior en el grupo de pie pronador que en los grupos de pie supinador y neutro, durante la fase de contacto del talón en la marcha (p = 0,001). El grupo de pie supinador reflejó una activación mayor del músculo peroneo largo que el resto de grupos (p = 0,001). No se observaron diferencias significativas en los 4 músculos restantes (p > 0,05). Durante la fase de apoyo medio, el grupo de pie supinador reflejó una mayor actividad del peroneo largo en comparación con los demás grupos, mientras que el grupo de pie pronador reflejó mayor actividad muscular del glúteo medio que los demás grupos (p = 0,001). Se produjo una diferencia significativa entre los grupos de pie pronador y de pie neutro, respecto al oblicuo externo (p = 0,001). De acuerdo con los resultados de este estudio, los cambios del funcionamiento muscular de los grupos de pie pronador y supinador fueron más notorios que en el grupo de pie neutro

R&D incentives in vertically related markets

This paper focuses on incentives to invest in research and development (R&D) in vertically related markets. In a bilateral duopoly setup, we consider how process R&D incentives of the firms in both upstream and downstream market depend on the intensity of simultaneous interbrand and intrabrand competition. Among the results: both interbrand and intrabrand competition have twofold effects on R&D incentives. Existence of a vertically related market with imperfect competition lowers both the incentives to invest in process R&D and the competitive advantage through the R&D investment. We will show how the impact of a firm's R&D investments in either market on consumer surplus as well as on the profits of all firms in both markets depends on exogenous parameters

Comparació de l’activitat muscular de determinats músculs del tronc i de les extremitats inferiors en la marxa de dones joves amb peus en supinació, pronació i neutre

  Els canvis de l’estructura anatómica del peu en redueixen la capacitat de funcionament normal. Aquest estudi tingué l’objectiu de comparar determinats músculs del tronc i les extremitats inferiors durant la marxa de persones amb diferents tipus de peu. Es classificaren 45 estudiants dones en 3 grups, segons l’estructura del peu, és a dir, en pronació, en supinació i neutre. Un metge especialista definí els tipus de peu mitjançant l’índex postural i raigs X. Es registraren les activitats electromiogràfiques dels músculs tibial anterior, peroneal llarg, gastrocnemi medial, bíceps femoral, gluti mitjà, oblic extern i erector de la columna, en els 3 grups, en realitzar un recorregut determinat a una velocitat de marxa autoseleccionada. Es gravà amb una càmera cada esforç simultani amb registre electromiogràfic. S’utilitzà el test ANOVA d’un factor per comparar els grups, amb un nivell de significació de 0,05. L’activitat dels músculs tibial anterior i gastrocnemi medial fou major en el grup de peu pronador que en els grups de peu supinador i neutre, durant la fase de contacte del taló de la marxa (p = 0,001). El grup de peu supinador reflectí una activació major del múscul peroneal llarg que la resta dels grups (p = 0,001). No s’observaren diferències significatives en els 4 músculs restants (p > 0,05). Durant la fase de recolzament mitjà, el grup de peu supinador reflectí una major activitat del peroneal llarg en comparació al de la resta de grups, mentre que el grup de peu pronador reflectí major activitat muscular del gluti mitjà que en els altres grups (p = 0,001). Es produí una diferència significativa entre els grups de peu pronador i de peu neutre en l’oblic extern (p = 0,001). Segons els resultats d’aquest estudi, els canvis del rendiment muscular en els grups de peu pronador i supinador són més notoris que en el grup de peu neutre

Comparison of selected muscular activity of trunk and lower extremities in young women's walking on supinated, pronated and normal foot

  Changes in anatomical structure of the foot reduce the foot ability for normal performance. This study aimed to compare selected muscles of trunk and lower extremities during walking in individuals with different foot types. Forty-five female students were categorized into three groups depending on their foot structures namely, pronated, supinated and normal feet. Foot types defined by foot posture index and X-ray under the specialist physician. Electromyography activities were recorded from muscles of tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, medial gastrocnemius, biceps femoris, gluteus medius, external oblique and erector spinae in three groups while walking in determined path with self-selected gait speed. Each effort simultaneous with electromyography registration was recorded with camera. One-way ANOVA test was used to compare the groups at significance level of 0.05. The activity of muscle of tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius was greater in pronated foot group than that in supinated and normal groups during heel contact phase of gait (p = 0.001). Supinated foot group exhibited a greater peroneus longus activation than the other groups (p = 0.001). No significant differences were observed for remaining four muscles (p > 0.05). During midstance phase, peroneus longus, supinated foot group exhibited a greater activity compared to other groups while pronated foot group exhibited a greater muscle activity for gluteus medius than others (p = 0.001). There was a significant difference between normal and pronated foot groups for external oblique (p = 0.001). Regarding the findings of this study, the muscular performance changes in pronated and supinated foot groups are more noticeable than that in normal foot type

An integrated semantic-based approach in concept based video retrieval

Multimedia content has been growing quickly and video retrieval is regarded as one of the most famous issues in multimedia research. In order to retrieve a desirable video, users express their needs in terms of queries. Queries can be on object, motion, texture, color, audio, etc. Low-level representations of video are different from the higher level concepts which a user associates with video. Therefore, query based on semantics is more realistic and tangible for end user. Comprehending the semantics of query has opened a new insight in video retrieval and bridging the semantic gap. However, the problem is that the video needs to be manually annotated in order to support queries expressed in terms of semantic concepts. Annotating semantic concepts which appear in video shots is a challenging and time-consuming task. Moreover, it is not possible to provide annotation for every concept in the real world. In this study, an integrated semantic-based approach for similarity computation is proposed with respect to enhance the retrieval effectiveness in concept-based video retrieval. The proposed method is based on the integration of knowledge-based and corpus-based semantic word similarity measures in order to retrieve video shots for concepts whose annotations are not available for the system. The TRECVID 2005 dataset is used for evaluation purpose, and the results of applying proposed method are then compared against the individual knowledge-based and corpus-based semantic word similarity measures which were utilized in previous studies in the same domain. The superiority of integrated similarity method is shown and evaluated in terms of Mean Average Precision (MAP)

Influence of surfactants on Fe2O3 and WO3 nanostructured photoanodes and their photoelectrochemical behaviour

This study aims to improve photoelectrode performance by varying the nanostructural characteristics of different metal oxides, Fe203 and W03, in a single layer photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting application. In this study, we have investigated the effects of various surfactants on photocatalytic activity as well as characterized size of Fe20 3 and W03 nano particles. Furthermore, the effect of surfactant's absorption time and vacant position were investigated and related to the characterized size of nanoparticles

Gamifying Software Testing – A Focus on Strategy & Tools Development

This study aims to introduce new software testing strategies and tools with the aim of creating a more engaging and rewarding environment for software testers. For this purpose, gamification has been selected as a potential solution to raise the performances of testers. Empirical experiments were conducted to validate key factors and metrics influencing the design and development of a gamified software testing system

Use of Multiscale Entropy to Characterize Fetal Autonomic Development

The idea that uterine environment and adverse events during fetal development could increase the chances of the diseases in adulthood was first published by David Barker in 1998. Since then, investigators have been employing several methods and methodologies for studying and characterizing the ontological development of the fetus, e.g., fetal movement, growth and cardiac metrics. Even with most recent and developed methods such as fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG), investigators are continuously challenged to study fetal development; the fetus is inaccessible. Finding metrics that realize the full capacity of characterizing fetal ontological development remains a technological challenge. In this thesis, the use and value of multiscale entropy to characterize fetal maturation across third trimester of gestation is studied. Using multiscale entropy obtained from participants of a clinical trial, we show that MSE can characterize increasing complexity due to maturation in the fetus, and can distinguish a growing and developing fetal system from a mature system where loss of irregularity is due to compromised complexity from increasing physiologic load. MSE scales add a nonlinear metric that seems to accurately reflect the ontological development of the fetus and hold promise for future use to investigate the effects of maternal stress, intrauterine growth restriction, or predict risk for sudden infant death syndrome

The Effect of Symmetrical versus Asymmetrical Scaffolding on English Reading Comprehension of EFL Learners

The present study was aimed at clarifying the effect, if any, of symmetrical scaffolding versus asymmetrical scaffolding on English reading comprehension of Iranian students. The research was carried out on 80 elementary male students in six classes. The six classes were randomly assigned to two inter-class groups, i.e. symmetrical group (SG) and asymmetrical group (AG). Then two parallel tests in the form of a cloze test served as the pre- and post-tests. Since the students accomplished answering the cloze tests with recourse to their similar dictionaries, the results were regarded as the potential knowledge, i.e. zone of proximal development (ZPD), of the students in reading comprehension. In each of the intra-groups of the SG, consisting of four (at times three) students, the students with similar ZPDs in reading comprehension were asked to work together. While in each of the three classes of the AG, the students with different ZPDs in reading comprehension were grouped together. After the intra-class group assignment, the students worked on ten reading comprehension texts in their groups. At the end of the study two independent and two dependent t-tests were run, which indicated that the SG outperformed the AG. Key words: scaffolding; zone of proximal development (ZPD); more knowledgeable other (MKO