Product quality ratings as a function of availability of intrinsic product cues and price information.

Used extrinsic cues (product price) and intrinsic cues (product-sample characteristics) to rate the product quality of 3 ball point pens under 2 degrees of intrinsic cue availability (product packaging). 120 undergraduates rated the products on a scale of 1 to 9 under the following experimental conditions: (a) price present, packaged; (b) price absent, packaged; (c) price present, unpackaged; or (d) price absent, unpackaged. An overall analysis of variance revealed a significant product-sample characteristics main effect and a significant Cue Availability * Product-Sample Characteristics interaction. It is concluded that intrinsic cues had a greater effect upon quality perceptions than extrinsic cues, even when availability of intrinsic cues was limited by packaging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

出口趋于受控 价格平稳运行——2007年上半年我国钨品进出口分析

2007年上半年我国钨品进出口贸易量趋于受控,市场价格平稳,处于平稳发展期。供求决定均衡的价格与交易量,未来钨需求保持稳定增长,国内开采总量的控制和市场供应的有序,国际钨市场价格必然趋于稳定。     

Case Study: Izmit Domestic and Industrial Water Supply Build–Operate–Transfer Project

The “build, operate, and transfer model” (BOT) is a financing model, which is used in many developing countries to finance new infrastructure projects with private sector participation. The BOT method foresees the financing, designing, building, operating, and managing of the facility by the private sector and then its transfer free of charge, to the owner after a predetermined concession period. For interested parties, the history of BOT laws and projects in Turkey is presented as an Appendix. In this study, the Izmit Domestic and Industrial Water Supply Project, the biggest privately financed water supply project procured under the BOT model in the world at the time and the first in Turkey will be introduced and the problems that arose during the implementation of the project, namely, the scope of the project, equity debt ratio, return on equity, principles of accounting, coordination of State departments, land access, determination of the optimum operation period, and the sale price of the water, will be presented and suggestions will be given on how to deal with these problems.     

Relationships between the academic community and the pharmaceutical industry: the legislative background and its effect on spending on medical research and development

Patent legislation governing drugs has evolved through a series of amendments to the Patent Act. From 1923 until 1993, Canada operated a system of "compulsory licensing," allowing generic copies of patented medicines to be manufactured within Canada and, by 1969, to be imported. In 1987, the act was amended (Bill C-22) to provide patented medicines with a fixed period of market protection before a compulsory license could be issued and to create a price review board to monitor and control prices charged. In return for patent protection, brand-name drug companies promised to invest a growing percentage of sales revenue in research and development in Canada. A 1993 amendment to the Patent Act (Bill C-91) brought a fundamental change to the legislation by abolishing the system of compulsory licensing and applying general patent regulations to medicines, thereby bringing Canadian law into line with that of its trading partners. It is now illegal to sell a copy of a drug until the patent expires (20 years after the patent is filed). This means that marketed drugs are protected for 8 to 13 years, since drug development takes a large proportion of the life of the patent. Since this amendment was passed, the brand-name drug companies have made major contributions to research and development in Canada, increasing from 6.5% of sales revenue in 1987 to 11.6% in 1994. Major irritants in the legislation remain. Generic drug companies have complained about "linkage regulations" that allow brand-name drug companies to legally challenge generic drug production on the basis of alleged infringements of linked patents, delaying the marketing of the generic drug. The act also prohibits Canadian manufacturers from exporting a generic drug to a country where it is not protected if it still protected in Canada. Brand-name manufacturers want some means of patent term restoration if regulatory authorities prolong the time taken before marketing a drug. This legislation is being reviewed by parliament beginning in 1997.     

2001年锡市场形势分析与2002年展望

由于2001年世界经济形势总体上不景气,严重影响了全球市场对锡的消费与需求,锡价节节下跌,库存步步增加。尽管总产量有所下降,但市场依然供过于求。中国锡的大幅减产缓解了全球锡供过于求的矛盾,由于中国经济形势发展良好,国内对锡的需求保持了增长势头,但锡价随世界市场的节节下跌而持续低迷。2002年世界锡市场形势依然不容乐观,主要取决于世界尤其是美国、日本、欧盟的经济发展态势。预计2002年锡市场价格在波动中小幅回升,且下半年形势好于上半年。     

The Effect of Correlation between Price and Quality on Consumer Choice

According to the price-expectancy model of consumer choice, consumers evaluate products by comparing the actual price with a reference or expected price determined from (a) product's quality and (b) the price-quality correlation of the product category. Choices between hypothetical products of beer are used to test the model against a model without a reference price. Consistent with the price-expectancy model, product preferences varied with the subjective correlation between price and quality: the relative preference for higher priced/higher quality products over lower priced/lower quality products increased as the subjective correlation increased. For some pairs, the correlation between price and quality created a preference reversal across contexts: the higher priced/higher quality product was chosen over the lower priced/lower quality product in the higher correlational context, but the lower priced/lower quality product was chosen over the higher priced/higher quality product in the lower correlational context. An additional study provided evidence that the price-quality correlation affects reference price, rather than reference quality, formation. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

2003年下半年铂市场探析

2003年上半年,国际铂市场在供应短缺与需求强劲的支持下价格一涨再涨,进入历史高位区。下半年的铂市场,供应的增长仍不能满足需求的增长,预计今年的铂市场将是连续第五年的供应短缺。下半年的价格将保持在590～710美元/盎司的高位区。     

辽宁省钢材产需调查

辽宁省钢材需矛盾十分突出，供大于求的格局将一直伴随我省的钢铁企业，钢材市场货源充裕，品种规格齐全，竞争激烈，虽然钢材消费行业较多，但价格竞争成为我省生产企业、钢材经销单位不可避免的一贯主题。     

黄金市场供需格局与金价走势

金价是市场供需作用的结果，对金价走势的分析应从世界黄金市场的供需格局加以研究。黄金非货币化后，全球矿产金量大幅度增长，2002年略有下降，但今后一段时期仍会小幅度增长。随着世界黄金存量的增长，再生金供应将持续增长。由于全球黄金储备量较大，央行售金对市场仍将产生中长期的影响。首饰用金是市场需求主要力量，但目前缺乏新兴的消费市场，已经失去了增长的动力。其他工业用金基本稳定，增长不明显，而且有些年度还有所下降。生产商对冲需求和投资性需求，主要取决于市场状况。面对增长的供应量以及停滞不前的需求量，金价将面临严峻的考验，但由于矿产金不能满足市场，受价值规律的影响，金价走势将呈周期性波动，其振动幅度的大小主要与当时的政治、经济、金融等因素有很大关联。     

Comparative study of antiradical effects of several antiglaucoma drugs

Studies of the in vitro inhibitory effects of drugs most often used in the treatment of primary glaucoma on the generation of the main active oxygen forms (hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical, singlet oxygen and radical products of hydrogen peroxide and peroxidase reaction) showed that antiradical activity is more intrinsic for thimolol and decreases in the following series: betoptic-pilocarpinclofelin. This once more validates the efficacy of beta-blockers in the treatment of glaucoma and prevention of cataract associated with it.     

Genotypic diversity of Campylobacter lari isolated from mussels and oysters in The Netherlands

The effects of combined treatment with Guan-mu-tong (Gmt: Caulis aristolochiae manshuriensis) and other major components of Shi-Liu-Wei-Liu-Qi-Yin (SLWLQY), a Chinese herbal medicine prescribed for breast diseases, on normal and preneoplastic mammary gland growth were investigated. SHN virgin mice were divided into 6 groups at 3 months of age and treated with the samples in drinking water as shown in Table 2 for 8 weeks. Each sample was extracted repeatedly with hot water, dried in vacuo and dissolved with tap water at the concentration indicated in Table 2. Normal and preneoplastic mammary gland growth and thymidylate synthetase activity in the mammary gland were inhibited by Gmt alone; but its effect was affected slightly by the further addition of other products. However, the excretion of urinary components, which is abnormally low in SHN mice, was gradually enhanced by the addition of other products to Gmt and was highest by SLWLQY. The elongated estrous/metestrous stage of the estrous cycle induced by Gmt+Zq was returned to the control level by further addition of other products and by SLWLQY. The normal parameters in this strain during this age period such as body weight change, food and water intake and immune system were affected little by all treatments. All these findings strongly suggest that one of the principles of prescribing Chinese herbal medicines is to normalize the physical conditions, which, in turn, contributes to therapy and protection from diseases.     

Over-the-counter drug sales in pharmacies

The present legally unregulated and ever-increasing assortment of over-the-counter drugs sold in pharmacies has been analyzed. The assortment has been divided into 14 categories in which the number of sold package and their financial values was examined. The classic pharmaceutical assortment (registered mass-produced medicaments, requisites needed for health care, milk products, unregistered vitamin preparations and dietetic preparations) represent the decisive share in the financial value and number of packages of the over-the-counter assortment in pharmacies. Further extension of the supply of pharmacies with nontraditional assortment does not appear to be suitable.     

Evaluating Qualification-Based Selection System: A Simulation Approach

Abnormally low bids and contractors’ opportunistic bidding behavior are frequently observed in the competitive bidding system. Many research findings have pointed out that price competition itself is not sufficient to guarantee the use of economical and good quality products. The qualification-based selection (QBS) system has been proposed as a potential solution to this problem. However, due to lack of supporting data, most previous studies could only assess its effectiveness based on a single case experience and subjective opinions from questionnaire surveys. Few studies have analyzed contractors’ pricing behavior under the QBS system and the effects of the QBS system on market competition. This paper develops a simulation model to analyze contractors’ pricing behavior and dynamic competition process under the QBS system. The research results suggest that although the QBS system has potential to encourage contractors to place more emphasis on project quality, once the price is included as one of the selection criteria, abnormally low bids could still be problematic. The success of the QBS system is highly dependent on the linkage between contractors’ past performance and the evaluation of contractors’ qualifications. Only when contractors’ past performance is carefully and constantly examined and closely reflected in the bid evaluation can the contractors’ opportunistic bidding behavior be reduced and quality products be ensured.     

Comparison of zolpidem and midazolam self-administration under progressive-ratio schedules: Consumer demand and labor supply analyses.

Progressive ratio (PR) schedules of intravenous drug self-administration are useful for establishing the relationships between reinforcing effectiveness and pharmacological actions of abused drugs. The authors compared the reinforcing effects of 2 short-duration benzodiazepine-type drugs differing in their receptor selectivity: zolpidem (selective for gamma aminobutyric acid Type A [GABAA] receptors containing α1 subunits) and midazolam (nonselective). Reinforcing effectiveness was evaluated using a PR schedule of intravenous drug injection in rhesus monkeys in which the response requirement increased across the experimental session and the initial response requirement (IRR) was varied. Analyses based on consumer demand and labor supply models of behavioral economics revealed that the relative reinforcing effectiveness of zolpidem was greater than that of midazolam. For consumer demand analyses, the degree of difference between zolpidem and midazolam depended on whether price was calculated on the basis of different IRRs or different doses of drug. According to labor supply analysis, the reinforcing effects of midazolam were influenced by the economic concept referred to as a price effect to a greater degree than those of zolpidem. These findings suggest that a compound with selectivity for GABAA receptors containing α1 subunits has greater reinforcing effectiveness than a nonselective compound with similar pharmacokinetics, albeit under a limited range of conditions (high response costs). Differences in price effects may play a key role in determining the relative reinforcing effectiveness of selective versus nonselective benzodiazepine agonists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimized protein diagnosis in the autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophies

Most species belonging to Scrophularia genus had been used as antiinflammatory drugs by the folk medicine. The phenylpropanoids are considered to be the active principles of these drugs with antiinflammatory action by different Authors, especially harpagoside and harpagide. In this report, the antiinflammatory effects of Scrophularia frutescens L. (Scrophulariaceae) was studied and the iridoid glucoside harpagoside has been evidenced and isolated for the first time from this plant. Aqueous extract, methanolic extract and harpagoside, isolated from the methanolic extract, were tested for antiinflammatory activity on the rat paw oedema. The results obtained showed that the aqueous extract has a small but significant antiinflammatory effect on carrageenan-induced oedema test, while methanolic extract has a lower antiinflammatory activity and the activity of the isolated harpagoside is remarkably low. Thus, the conclusion may be that S. frutescens L. is a potential antiiflammatory agent but its activity is not due to harpagoside.     

2003年上半年锌市场回顾与下半年展望

文章回顾了今年上半年国内外锌市场概况,同时对下半年的锌市场进行了分析和预测。认为国内外锌价继续在历史低谷波动;冶炼能力仍处于净增长状态;锌消费增长快于产量增长,但全年仍将供应过剩;下半年锌价仍以区间震荡为主,但底部将抬高。