Indexing and Its Limitations

CANON VIETNAM CO. LTD AND ITS MARKETINGI. INTRODUCTIONNowadays, the economy of the world grows significantly. The demands of consumers increase, all companies must satisfy them to exist. Marketing is important part of all businesses that helps them achieve success. It is large scale that includes many things, such as researching customers, promoting the products. Marketing has many ways to define and many concepts to achieve which depends on ability and target of company. Canon Inc. is a multinational corporation that specializes in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers. Therefore, Canon cannot lack marketing orientation that everything focuses on needs and wants of customers. Canon operation is not harm to environment, so its marketing approach is societal marketing. All business situations or not business situations of the company observe this approach. Because of this, Canon achieved many success and become famous brand of its field in the World.The first purpose of the report is to introduce marketing orientation of Canon that affirms its operation trend, such as its organization structure or strategy. Moreover, this report analyzes Canon Vietnam marketing activities in detail to help readers have clearly view about business of Canon. Besides, it proposes projects that help Canon promote two printer lines that are SELPHY and Laser printer, to Sales Director. The method used to conduct this research is using secondary data from previous studies on course books, reference books and internet. They are reliable sources such as BPP Professional Education, Canon Vietnam and Philip Kotler author and so on. However, this report still has limitation. Firstly, it did not mention to marketing process. The second is marketing mix which is important elements of marketing is not analysed in detail. Finally, situations relate closely to products are not stated, such as total product or distribution channel, etc. Page 1 CANON VIETNAM CO. LTD AND ITS MARKETINGII. BASIC CONCEPT OF MARKETING1. What is Marketing?Nowadays, marketing is an important part in all enterprises. Market is battlefield that many companies compete with each other to have large market share. Which company has best marketing, it will win in this fight. Marketing has influence in whole process from researching to selling products. The purpose of marketing is to help companies find the best way to produce and support new products to the market by researching customers’ needs and wants to satisfy them. The following is some marketing definitions:Chartered Institute of MarketingPhilip Kotler American Marketing AssociationDefinitions Marketing is the management process which identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently　and profitably.(BPP Professional Education, 2004, p8)Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others(Philip Kotler, 2000, p4)Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.(BPP Professional Education, 2004, p8)Similarity To concentrate on customer.Differences - Management process.-To focus on customer requirements efficiently　and profitably.- Social process.- Creating and exchanging products and value with others- Process of planning and executing.- Completing previous definitions, satisfying both organization and customer Indexing and Its Limitations Indexing and Its Limitations By: OpenStaxCollege When a price, wage, or interest rate is adjusted automatically with inflation, it is said to be indexed An indexed payment increases according to the index number that measures inflation A wide array of indexing arrangements is observed in private markets and government programs Since the negative effects of inflation depend in large part on having inflation unexpectedly affect one part of the economy but not another—say, increasing the prices that people pay but not the wages that workers receive—indexing will take some of the sting out of inflation Indexing in Private Markets In the 1970s and 1980s, labor unions commonly negotiated wage contracts that had cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) which guaranteed that their wages would keep up with inflation These contracts were sometimes written as, for example, COLA plus 3% Thus, if inflation was 5%, the wage increase would automatically be 8%, but if inflation rose to 9%, the wage increase would automatically be 12% COLAs are a form of indexing applied to wages Loans often have built-in inflation adjustments, too, so that if the inflation rate rises by two percentage points, then the interest rate charged on the loan rises by two percentage points as well An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) is a kind of loan used to purchase a home in which the interest rate varies with the rate of inflation Often, a borrower will be able receive a lower interest rate if borrowing with an ARM, compared to a fixed-rate loan The reason is that with an ARM, the lender is protected against the risk that higher inflation will reduce the real loan payments, and so the risk premium part of the interest rate can be correspondingly lower A number of ongoing or long-term business contracts also have provisions that prices will be adjusted automatically according to inflation Sellers like such contracts because they are not locked into a low nominal selling price if inflation turns out higher than expected; buyers like such contracts because they are not locked into a high buying price if inflation turns out to be lower than expected A contract with automatic adjustments for inflation in effect agrees on a real price to be paid, rather than a nominal price 1/5 Indexing and Its Limitations Indexing in Government Programs Many government programs are indexed to inflation The U.S income tax code is designed so that as a person’s income rises above certain levels, the tax rate on the marginal income earned rises as well; this is what is meant by the expression “move into a higher tax bracket.” For example, according to the basic tax tables from the Internal Revenue Service, in 2013 a single person owed 10% of all taxable income from $0 to $8,925; 15% of all income from $8,926 to $36,250; 25% of all income from $36,251 to $87,850; 28% of all income from $87,851 to $183,250; 33% of all income from $183,251 to $398,350; 35% of all income from $398,351 to $400,000; and 39.6% on all income from $400,001 and above Because of the many complex provisions in the rest of the tax code, the taxes owed by any individual cannot be exactly determined based on these numbers, but the numbers illustrate the basic theme that tax rates rise as the marginal dollar of income rises Until the late 1970s, if nominal wages increased along with inflation, people were moved into higher tax brackets and owed a higher proportion of their income in taxes, even though their real income had not risen This “bracket creep,” as it was called, was eliminated by law in 1981 Now, the income levels where higher tax rates kick in are indexed to rise automatically with inflation The Social Security program offers two examples of indexing Since the passage of the Social Security Indexing Act of 1972, the level of Social Security benefits increases each year along with the Consumer Price Index Also, Social Security is funded by payroll taxes, which are imposed on the income earned up to a certain amount—$113,700 in 2013 This level of income is adjusted upward each year according to the rate of inflation, so that the indexed rise in the benefit level is accompanied by an indexed increase in the Social Security tax base As yet another example of a government program affected by indexing, in 1996 the U.S., government began offering indexed bonds Bonds are means by which the U.S government (and many private-sector companies as well) borrows money; that is, investors buy the bonds, and then the government repays the money with interest Traditionally, government bonds have paid a fixed rate of interest This policy gave a government that had borrowed an incentive to encourage inflation, because it could then repay its past borrowing in inflated dollars at a lower real interest rate But indexed bonds promise to pay a certain real rate of interest above whatever inflation rate occurs In the case of a retiree trying to plan for the long term and worried about the risk ...Int. J. Med. Sci. 2011, 8 http://www.medsci.org 203 IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall JJoouurrnnaall ooff MMeeddiiccaall SScciieenncceess 2011; 8(3):203-209 Research Paper Expression of Human Globular Adiponectin-Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Analog Fusion Protein and Its Assay of Glucose-Lowering Effect In Vivo Tongfeng Zhao1, Jing Lv1, Jiangpei Zhao2, Xiao Huang3, and Haijuan Xiao1 1. Department of Geriatrics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, PR China 2. Department of Geriatrics, Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, PR China 3. College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, PR China  Corresponding author: Tongfeng Zhao, Ph.D., Department of Geriatrics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medi-cine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, PR China. Tel: 86-571-887783690; Fax: 86-571-87022660; e-mail: zhaotongfeng@yahoo.com.cn © Ivyspring International Publisher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Reproduction is permitted for personal, noncommercial use, provided that the article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited. Received: 2010.11.17; Accepted: 2011.03.01; Published: 2011.03.04 Abstract In this study, human globular adiponectin-glucagon-like peptide-1 analog (gAd-GLP-1-A) fu-sion protein was expressed and its glucose-lowering effect was measured in vivo. We con-structed a prokaryotic expression vector PET28a-gAd-GLP-1-A and transformed the vector into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). A recombinant fusion protein of about 25KD was expressed from BL21 (DE3) cells after isopropylthio--D-galactoside induction. This protein was N-terminal His-tagged gAd-GLP-1-A fusion protein. Most of the protein was expressed in inclusion body. The fusion protein in inclusion body was purified by using High-Affinity Nickel Iminodiacetic Acid Resin and refolded in urea gradient refolding buffer. The refolded protein was incubated with enterokinase to remove the N-terminal His-tag. The fusion protein without His-tag is gAd-GLP-1-A fusion protein, which exhibited significant glu-cose-lowering effect in diabetic mice. Key words: Escherichia coli, Expression, Globular adiponectin, Globular adiponectin-glucagon-like peptide-1 analog fusion protein, Glucagon-like peptide-1 analog Introduction Adiponectin is an adipocyte-specific secretory protein that circulates in blood at high concentrations [1]. It plays important roles in regulating insulin sen-sitivity and blood glucose levels. Current data have suggested that adiponectin is implicated in the path-ogenesis of type 2 diabetes [1]. Blood adiponectin levels are markedly reduced in patients with type 2 diabetes [1]. Administration of recombinant adi-ponectin can improve insulin sensitivity and signifi-cantly reduce blood glucose in diabetic mice [1]. Fur-thermore, adiponectin has been reported to exhibit protective effects against atherosclerosis and have roles in regulating lipid metabolism [1]. Based on these beneficial effects, adiponectin has been gener-ally studied as a promising candidate for the treat-ment of type 2 diabetes [1]. Adiponectin is a protein of 247 amino acids consisting of four Int. J. Med. Sci. 2011, 8 http://www.medsci.org 74 IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall JJoouurrnnaall ooff MMeeddiiccaall SScciieenncceess 2011; 8(1):74-83 © Ivyspring International Publisher. All rights reserved. Research Paper Intravenous transplantation of allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and its directional migration to the necrotic femoral head Zhang-hua Li 1* , Wen Liao2*, Xi-long Cui 1, Qiang Zhao 3, Ming Liu 1, You-hao Chen 1, Tian-shu Liu 1, Nong-le Liu 3, Fang Wang 3, Yang Yi 4, Ning-sheng Shao 3 1. Department of Orthopaedics, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China. 2. Department of Orthopedics, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding 071000, China. 3. Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China. 4. College of Health Science, Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, Wuhan 430079, China. * Zhang-hua Li and Wen Liao contributed equally to this work.  Corresponding author: Zhang-hua Li, Tel: +8627-88041911-82209; Email: li1663@yeah.net Received: 2010.08.11; Accepted: 2011.01.01; Published: 2011.01.09 Abstract In this study, we investigated the feasibility and safety of intravenous transplantation of al-logeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for femoral head repair, and observed the migration and distribution of MSCs in hosts. MSCs were labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) in vitro and injected into nude mice via vena caudalis, and the distribution of MSCs was dynamically monitored at 0, 6, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after transplantation. Two weeks after the establishment of a rabbit model of femoral head necrosis, GFP labeled MSCs were injected into these rabbits via ear vein, immunological rejection and graft versus host disease were observed and necrotic and normal femoral heads, bone marrows, lungs, and livers were harvested at 2, 4 and 6 w after transplantation. The sections of these tissues were observed under fluorescent microscope. More than 70 % MSCs were successfully labeled with GFP at 72 h after labeling. MSCs were uniformly distributed in multiple organs and tissues including brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, intestine and bilateral hip joints of nude mice. In rabbits, at 6 w after intravenous transplantation, GFP labeled MSCs were noted in the lungs, liver, bone marrow and normal and necrotic femoral heads of rabbits, and the number of MSCs in bone marrow was higher than that in the, femoral head, liver and lungs. Furthermore, the number of MSCs peaked at 6 w after transplantation. Moreover, no immunological rejection and graft versus host disease were found after transplantation in rabbits. Our results revealed intra-venously implanted MSCs could migrate into the femoral head of hosts, and especially migrate directionally and survive in the necrotic femoral heads. Thus, it is feasible and safe to treat femoral head necrosis by intravenous transplantation of allogeneic MSCs. Key words: femoral head necrosis; bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell; migration; safety Introduction Recently, stem cell transplantation has been a focus in the treatment of some diseases. Stem cells have Int. J. Med. Sci. 2010, 7 http://www.medsci.org 197IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall JJoouurrnnaall ooff MMeeddiiccaall SScciieenncceess 2010; 7(4):197-208 © Ivyspring International Publisher. All rights reserved Research Paper Preparation of RGD-modified Long Circulating Liposome Loading Matrine, and its in vitro Anti-cancer Effects Xiao-yan Liu1, Li-ming Ruan1, Wei-wei Mao2, Jin-Qiang Wang2, You-qing Shen2, Mei-hua Sui2 1. The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China 2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China  Corresponding author: Li-ming Ruan, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, #79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China. Tel: +8613957121201; Email: doc1998@yeah.net. Mei-hua Sui, Depart-ment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China. Tel: +8615888847026; email: suim@zju.edu.cn Received: 2010.05.13; Accepted: 2010.06.09; Published: 2010.06.14 Abstract Aim: To prepare RGD-modified long circulating liposome (LCL) loading matrine (RGD-M-LCL) to improve the tumor-targeting and efficacy of matrine. Methods: LCL which was prepared with HSPC, cholesterol, DSPE-PEG2000 and DSPE-PEG-MAL was modified with an RGD motif confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The encapsulation efficiency of RGD-M-LCL was also detected by HPLC. MTT assay was used to examine the effects of RGD-M-LCL on the proliferation of Bcap-37, HT-29 and A375 cells. The percentage of apoptotic cells and morphological changes in Bcap-37 cells treated with RGD-M-LCL were detected by Annexin-V-FITC/PI affinity assay and observed under light microscope, respectively. Results: Spherical or oval single-chamber particles of uniform sizes with little agglutination or adhesion were observed under transmission electronic micro-scope. The RGD motif was successfully coupled to the DSPE-PEG-MAL on liposomes, as confirmed by HPLC. An encapsulation efficiency of 83.13% was obtained when the drug-lipid molar ratio was 0.1, and the encapsulation efficiency was negatively related to the drug-lipid ratio in the range of 0.1~0.4, and to the duration of storage. We found that, compared with free matrine, RGD-M-LCL had much stronger in vitro activity, leading to anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects against cancer cells (P<0.01). Conclusion: RGD-M-LCL, a novel deli-very system for anti-cancer drugs, was successfully prepared, and we demonstrated that the use of this material could augment the effects of matrine on cancer cells in vitro. Key words: Matrine, Liposomes, Cyclic arginine- glycine-aspartic acid, Drug delivery systems. Introduction Matrine, the major active component of the tra-ditional Chinese medicine Sophora flavescens, has been used to treat jaundice, reduce liver enzyme activity, and prevent hepatic fibrosis (1,2). In recent years, studies have indicated that matrine also inhibits tu-mor cell proliferation (3), and induces cellular diffe-rentiation (4) and apoptosis (5). Our previous study showed that matrine could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in human malignant melanoma A375 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, it effectively suppressed their adhesion and inva-siveness in vitro (6). However, like most low molecu-lar weight drugs, matrine is able to freely traverse in and out of blood vessels to distribute to non-tumor tissues, __________________________________________________________ THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY School of Finance and Applied Statistics Research Project in International Finance _____________________________________________________________________ DANG H. PHAM U4278723 Research Project in International Finance: 2007 Dang H. Pham HOW DOES PPP HOLD BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND ITS TRADING October the 26th, 2007 2 Research Project in International Finance: 2007 Dang H. Pham Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION . 4 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 6 1. Theoretical background . 6 2. Empirical evidences about PPP . 7 3. Australian evidence . 9 III. METHODOLOGY 11 1. Test of PPP . 11 2. Effects of trade and investment on PPP 12 IV. DATA 13 V. RESULTS DISCUSSION 15 1. PPP with 12 countries 15 2. Effect of trading and FDI on PPP . 20 VI. CONCLUSION 22 VII. FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS . 23 3 Research Project in International Finance: 2007 Dang H. Pham I. INTRODUCTION The interrelations between three major components of the international market (international trade, foreign exchange and capital market) are explained by the economic theories called the international parity conditions. It is considered to be unique to the field of International Finance (Eiteman, Stonehill and Moffett 2006:102). Deriving from the Law of one price, the absolute form of purchasing power parity (PPP) states that if the market is frictionless the price of identical products and services should be the same in different markets. For instance, if the price of the product in Australian dollar is PAUD, then the price of the identical product in U.S. dollar (PUSD) should be equal to PAUD adjusted for exchange rate (SUSD/AUD), or PAUD x SUSD/AUD = PUSD . Thus, the nominal exchange rate can be simply expressed as the ratio of the two prices (SUSD/AUD = PUSD / PAUD). If this is not the case, the arbitrageurs in an efficient market could make riskless profit by shipping the goods from locations where the price is low to locations where the price is high (Taylor and Taylor, 2004). They will trade the opportunity away and bring the conditions back to “parity”. If the PPP holds perfectly the nominal exchange rate adjusts to maintain a constant real exchange rate equal to 1. The relative form of PPP involves only that the change in nominal exchange rate offsets the differential between home and foreign price level. While international trade plays a vital role in a PPP , obviously the market frictions such as transportation cost, taxes, tariffs and duties, and non-tariff barriers such as quotas and import licenses are the main causes of some deviations from PPP. In recent years we have seen the emergence of multinational and bilateral free trade arrangements where governments set the objectives to bust up trades by removing trade barriers. Australia has joined WTO and signed free trade agreements with the United States and Thailand in 2005, with Singapore in 2003 and ... comforting investment 2/5 Indexing and Its Limitations Might Indexing Reduce Concern over Inflation? Indexing may seem like an obviously useful step After all, when individuals, firms, and government programs... power—through taxes, spending, and regulation of interest rates and credit—can thus cause inflation to rise or reduce inflation to lower levels 3/5 Indexing and Its Limitations A $550 Million Loaf.. .Indexing and Its Limitations Indexing in Government Programs Many government programs are indexed to inflation