Review article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Review - Article Example The methods of evaluation from the circadian rhythms are illustrated through the article with the results and discussions being used to draw conclusions on the findings of the research. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the different band strain and the impact of the difference in brand strain to develop the necessary understanding of the differences. The findings indicate that each of the three frq mutants described segregates as a single-gene nuclear mutation that alters the period length of the circadian clock (Feldman and Hoyle 611). The finding illustrates that the mutants are different from the band which determines the clock as conidial banding or not. The limitation of the study is on the failure to indicate the different position of the mutants indicating how close they are linked. The study helps in determining the link between the bands and the mutants evaluated in the study. The findings of the study indicate the difference because of the failure of the screening methods. The authors agree that the screening method did not favor mutations on any particular chromosome making the study effective. However, the authors agree that their study was not conclusive because several factors were not examined in the

Training and Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Training and Development - Research Paper Example gic resources that can provide rare competitive advantages to organizations, while the human capital theory argues that the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities of human resources are essential factors of economic-value production in firms (Hamid, 2013, p. 187). Garcà ­a (2005) studied the relationship between training policies and business performance for a sample of Spanish organizations across different industries. She proposed that training policies have inherent features of durability, transmission possibility, and replication and transparency potential that can affect stakeholder satisfaction and firm productivity (Garcà ­a, 2005, pp. 1694-1695). Garcà ­a (2005) followed the universalist approach in testing her four hypotheses. This approach is already widely used and is appropriate to her analysis of multiple firms in diverse industries. The questionnaire on training policy determined the following: (1) functions of the training services; (2) training policy objectives; (3) nature of training (proactive versus reactive); and (4) training evaluation (Garcà ­a, 2005, pp. 1699-1700). The four hypotheses of the study were the following: These hypotheses determine the relationships between training and worker satisfaction, client satisfaction, shareholder satisfaction, and firm productivity. While other studies focus on training-productivity relationships (Dearden, Reed, & Van Reenen, 2006), this study underscores the importance of other dependent variables in measuring training success. This article used a survey research design that targeted the population of Spanish firms with at least 100 employees. Garcà ­a (2005) conducted a multi-sectoral study and used the services industry as a control group because its large population may skew the results of the survey (p. 1699). A postal survey was mailed to human resource managers of 420 firms in 1998, wherein 78 provided valid responses, which means that the study had a response rate of 18.57%. For data

Registered Nurse Essay Example for Free

Registered Nurse Essay Every teenager normally decides what they plan to do with the rest of their life in the last years of high school. A statistic shows that 57% of high school teenagers want to become a registered nurse after they graduate. A registered nurse or RN is someone who treats patients, monitors and records their condition, helps establish a plan of care, educates patients or the public about a medical condition, and provides advice and emotional support to patients’ family members. A registered nurse has to contain special traits such as being caring, compassionate, highly observant, quick to catch things, calm in an emergency, detail-oriented, observant, enjoy interacting with people, emotionally and physically strong, and have outstanding communication skills. RNs work in hospitals, physicians offices, home healthcare services, nursing care facilities, correctional facilities, schools, summer camps, and with the military. The starting salary for an RN is $65,950 a year and will increase if you decide to specialize in one or more than one types of medicine, but before making all that money you first have to complete the process of becoming an RN. A high school diploma is required along with the associates degree in nursing, a a bachelors degree in nursing, or diploma from an approved nursing program. Most RNs have said that they took Biology, chemistry, physics, geometry, algebra II, pre-calculus, English, computer science, physiology, biomedical science, and foreign languages in their high school years. These subjects help the RN in their everyday jobs. Most registered nurses were a nurses assistant before going to college to get their degree. By doing that, you get to see hands on what they do everyday, but it is not required. The need for RNs will increase 21% between now and 2020. Several RNs in Dothan have said they loved their job, but wish the pay was higher. The pay depends on the state you work in, but is on average $65,950 a year or less. They have also said that mathematics plays an important role in their everyday work. From working with prescriptions to adding or subtracting a persons weight gain or loss. Technology is also another very important key factor in an RNs everyday routine. They clock in and out on a machine. They use computers to keep up with patients files and to diagnose patients. If you are working with a patient in a rehab facility, you will use different types of technological machines depending on the persons illness or injury.

Encoding RIP from Elaeis Guaneensis Jacq

Encoding RIP from Elaeis Guaneensis Jacq Detection and expression profiling of two novel transcripts encoding RIP from Elaeis guaneensis Jacq. in Ganoderma boninense interaction 1. Introduction Among several oil-producing plants, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a tropical crop which is exclusively grown for oil production. Its high oil yield is extracted from oil palm’s thick fleshy mesocarp which is extremely rich in oil (80% of dry mass). Furthermore, oil palm has the highest oil production (oil per unit land) compared to other oil-producing plants. The extracted oil has been used widely for several applications including, food, cosmetics, and bio-fuel (Paterson 2007; Murphy 2009; Alizadeh et al. 2013). Among various diseases , the basal stem rot (BSR) is known to be the most serious disease in oil palm (Ho and Nawawi 1985). Furthermore, the BSR is caused by Ganoderma boninense which is considered specifically as a â€Å"white rot fungus†. The lignin is broken by the fungus leaving whitish cellulose exposed (Paterson 2007). The infection process is initiated when the oil palm roots are penetrated by fungal mycelia, which is spread out to the stem bole, after which the trunk eventually collapses (Rees et al. 2009). Malaysia and Indonesia have suffered the most severe losses from the BSR; furthermore, the diseases has been identified in Malaysia several decades ago (Ho and Nawawi 1985; Idris et al. 2004; Rees et al. 2007). Oil palms of different genetic origins have shown to have resistance to BSR. However, the genes involved in the resistance of oil palms against G. Boninense were unknown (Idris et al. 2004; Durand-Gasselin et al. 2005). Recently, few defence related genes were identified in oil palm. The major pathogen on oil palm in Malaysia has been identified as G. boninense Pat. Stem rots of oil palm caused by species of Ganoderma are a major threat to the sustainability of the oil palm production. In this study, we have isolated one cDNA encoding RIP’s EST, from oil palm. Its expression in oil palm root infected by G. boninese; was investigated to shed light on its potential involvement during early disease development. 2. Materials and methods 2.1 Sample preparation A total of 24 six-month-old oil palm seedlings (Elaeis guineensis Jacq., DxP, GH500 series) were purchased from Sime Darby Plantation Sdn. Bhd. (Banting Malaysia) and divided into two groups with 12 seedlings in each group, one of these groups were treated with Ganoderma boninense Pat. Strain PER71, while the remaining group served as controls. Seedlings treated with G.boninense were inoculated by sitting each seedling on rubber woodblock fully grown with G.boninense PER71 while the other group of seedlings were inoculated with fungal surface mulch as described by (Alizadeh et al., 2011). Three biological replicates of the seedlings were harvested from each treatment at 4, 8, 12 wpi, respectively. The leaves, roots and stem cell were frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 °C (Tan et al., 2013). 2.2 RNA extraction Total RNA was extracted from treated and untreated oil palm root tissues using a modified CTAB method briefly, 0.1 g tissue was ground in liquid nitrogen into a very find powder. The powder was immediately transferred into 1.5 ml extraction CTAB buffer [ 2% (w/v) cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, CTAB; 100mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0; 2M NaCl; 25 mM ethylenediamineteraacetic acid, EDTA; pH 8.0; 2% (w/v) polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP; and 2% (v/v) ÃŽ ²-mercaptoethanool]. Equal volume of chloroform/isoamylalcohol (24:1, v/v) was added into the tube and centrifuged at 12,857 g for 15 min at 4 °C. The upper layer was transferred into a new tube and equal volume of phenol/chloroform/isoamylalcohol (25:24:1, v/v/v) was added and centrifuged. This step was repeated until a clear supernatant was obtained. The supernatant was adjusted to a final concentration of 2M LiCl, and incubated at 4 °C for overnight, and then centrifuged. The RNA was dissolved in 5ml diethypyrocarbonate (DEPC) – treated water. An equal volume of chloroform/isoamylalcohol was added, mixed, and centrifuged at 12,857 for 30 min at 4 °C. Precipitation of RNA was performed by adding 0.1 vol of 3M sodium acetate (pH 5.2), 2 vol 100% ethanol and incubated at -80 °C for overnight. After centrifugation, the pellet was washed using 70% ethanol and dissolved in 20ul DEPC-treated water. The quality of RNA was examined by using a Nanodrop( BioRad) at 230, 260 and 280 nm. The RNA integrity was examined using 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis. The RNA was treated with DNase I (Qiagen, USA) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Figure : Total RNA from various treated and untreated oil palm tissues. Lane A: Untreated control seedling. Lane B: Treated seedlings. 1) Leaf. 2) Basal stem. 3) Root 3. Semi-quantitative Reverse transcriptase (RT-) PCR 3.1 Isolation of cDNA Omniscript â„ ¢ Reverse Transcriptase kit (Qiagen Kit) was used for cDNA synthesis by the following kit manuscript. To obtain the sequence of cDNA from oil palm, gene specific primers were designed based on oil palm expressed sequence tag (EST) (Ho, 2010) and RIP’s type I alignments, using primer 3 version 0.4.0(frodo.wi.mit.edu). 3.2 Sequence analysis of cDNA Semi-quantitative Reverse transcriptase (RT-) PCR was performed on EST using PCR machine with Reverse transcriptase enzyme. Equal amounts of RNA (1ug) extracted from control and treated oil palm root samples were converted into cDNA by using the Omniscript two step Reverse Transcription Kit for cDNA Synthesis (Qiagen, USA) following the manufacturer’s instructions. The resulted sequences shown significant similarities to RIP (Naher et al., 2011). 3.3 Expression profiling Expression levels were calculated by Quantity One 1-D Analysis software 4.6.5 (Bio-Rad) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. PCR products were resolved on 1.5%(w/v) agarose gel (1xTAE) with a DNA mass standard marker (MassRuler TM DNA Ladder, Fermentas). The density of the DNA mass standard dilution series was used to generate calibration curve for absolute quantisation of sample bands by linear regression with extrapolation to zero for each experiment. The density of each sample band was then converted to an absolute quantity using the calibration curve. For each sample band was then converted to an absolute quantity using the calibration curve. For each experiment, the relative band quantity obtained by densitometrric analysis was normalized to the value of the internal control (house-keeping gene) bands which were run in parallel. Identification of differentially expressed genes was based on consistent ford-change across experimental replicates relative to untreate d negative control. Fold changes of ≠¥2- fold or ≠¤0.5-fold were considered as significant. 3.4 Statistical analysis A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine statistical differences (SPSS version 17;SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). When the ANOVA was significant at P 0.05 the Duncan’s multiple range test was used for means comparison. The t-test was used to compare between group means.(Alizadeh et al., 2011) 4. Results 4.1 sequence analysis EgRIP-1b The partial cDNA of EgRIP-1b (Dr. Ho personal comment) encodes a putative type I ribosome inactivating protein. The partial sequence consists 167 nucleotide residues. (Fig. 2). This sequence has the highest identity with RIP type I from Populus trichocarpa (98%, XP_002328056.1), Hordeum vulgare (90%, AAA32951.1) and Chain A, Structure Of Mutant Rip From Barley Seeds (90%, 4FBA_A). The NODE_77734GT was classified in a RIP-like superfamily. A putative conserved domain of catalytic residues and some RIP family domain were in this sequence, including that it is a member of the RIP superfamily.(Fig. 5) (Naher et al., 2011) M I C E S I R F E R I S E F L A T E F P G S S K P P K TGATGATCTGCGAGTCGATTAGATTCGAACGCATCTCCGAATTTCTTGCTACCGAATTCCCCGGCAGTTCGAAACCCCCTAAA W M P A L E H G W G D L S A A L L R A D A N P D R P F TGGATGCCGGCACTCGAGCACGGCTGGGGAGATCTCTTTGCCGCGTTGCTGCGCGCCGATGCCAATCCCGACCGTCCCTTCA Fig. 2. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of NODE_77734GT. 4.2 sequence analysis EgRIP-1a The partial cDNA sequence EgRIP-1a (GenBank ID: ) encodes a protein of 17 amino acid. The sequence consists 178 nucleotides (Fig. 3). This sequences has the highest identity with other type I RIPs from Nicotiana tabacum (47%, ABY71831.1), Musa acuminate (47%, ABY71832.1), Alocasia macrorrhizos (47%, ABY71829.1), Agave sisalana (47%, ABY71828.1) (Fig. 6.a) and (Fig. 6.b) M R P T P N F H Y E W S A CAGGATTCCAGCCGAGCTCCTGCGATAGCCGAACTTCTACCACATGCGACCTACTCCAAACTTCCACTACGAGTGGTCTGCTC L S K Q TCTCCAAACAA Fig. 3. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of EgRIP-1a. Fig. 4: multiple alignment of NODE with other type I RIPs. Amino acid residues that are identical in all sequences are highlighted in black while amino acid residues that are highly conserved are highlighted in gray; dashes represent gaps introduced to maximize the alignment. (a) (b) Fig. 5: Multiple alignment of EgRIP-1a with other RIPs. The protein sequences and their accession numbers used for analysis of detected sequence. a) Nucleotide residues that are highly conserved are highlighted in gray; dashes represent gaps introduced to maximize the alignment. b) Amino acid residues that are identical in all sequences are highlighted in black with amino acid residues that are highly conserved are highlighted in gray; dashes represent gaps introduced to maximize the alignment. 4.3 Expression profiles (of RIP) in oil palm root upon Ganoderma inoculation A total of 2 cDNA sequences encoding putative defence-related proteins from oil palm were chosen for gene expression profiling in this study. A relative semi-quantification of EgRIP-1b and EgRIP-1b transcripts were performed by calibrating the expression of each gene with an endogenous control, actin. Fig.6 Shows the relative expression level of EgRIP-1b in roots and basal stems in response to the inoculation of G. boninense at different time points compared with that of negative control plants. In G. boninense-treated plants, the gene expression of EgRIP-1b in oil palm roots at 2 wpi was induced. The expression level were n- and n-fold of the uninfected root tissues at 8 and 12 wpi, respectively.(Naher et al., 2011) The expression level was studied in 3 replication of each sample, there were no significant (P>0.05) differences in expression levels in inoculated plants (Alizadeh et al., 2011). EgRIP-1a was up-regulated n-fold and n-fold at X wpi, respectively; before the transcript level decrease at Y wpi in oil palm root tissue following G.boninense infection (Fig). EgRIP-1a expression level were m-, m- and m-fold of the uninfected basal stem tissues at 2,4, 8 and 12 wpi, respectively. EgRIP-1b and EgRIP-1a were not expressed in time zero, untreated samples and leaf tissues. (I) diseased (II) healthy (a) (b) (c) Fig. 6. Differential expression of EgRIP-1b in variety tissues in response to I) G.boninese treatment compare to those in II )control.. a) root tissue, b) stem cell tissue, c) standard (Rippmann et al., 1997) a) b) Fig. 7. Expression level mean in each biological replicate a) in root; b) in stem (I) diseased (II) healthy (a) (b) (c) Fig. 8. Differential expression of EgRIP-1a in variety tissues in response to I) G.boninese treatment compare to those in II) control.. a) root tissue, b) stem cell tissue, c) leaf tissue d)control (Rippmann et al., 1997) a) b) Fig. 9. Expression level mean in each biological replicate a) in root; b) in stem Fig. 10. Semi-quantification of oil palm EgRIP-1a and EgRIP-1b expression levels in root tissues at 2-12 week after inoculation with G.boninense. Significant up-regulation of gene expression compared to untreated negative control. References Alizadeh F, Abdullah SNA, Chong PP, Selamat A Bin (2013) Expression Analysis of Fatty Acid Biosynthetic Pathway Genes during Interactions of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) with the Pathogenic Ganoderma boninense and Symbiotic Trichoderma harzianum Fungal Organisms. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter. doi: 10.1007/s11105-013-0595-y Durand-Gasselin T, Asmady H, Flori a, et al. (2005) Possible sources of genetic resistance in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) to basal stem rot caused by Ganoderma boninenseprospects for future breeding. Mycopathologia 159:93–100. doi: 10.1007/s11046-004-4429-1 Ho YW, Nawawi A (1985) Ganoderma boninense Pat . from Basal Stem Rot of Oil Palm ( Elaeis guineensis ) in Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika 8:425–428. Idris AS, Kushairi A, Ismail S, Ariffin D (2004) SELECTION FOR PARTIAL RESISTANCE IN OIL PALM PROGENIES TO Ganoderma BASAL STEM ROT. Journal of Oil Palm Research 16:12–18. Murphy DJ (2009) Oil palm: future prospects for yield and quality improvements. Lipid Technology 21:257–260. doi: 10.1002/lite.200900067 Paterson R (2007) Ganoderma disease of oil palm—A white rot perspective necessary for integrated control. Crop Protection. doi: 10.1016/j.cropro.2006.11.009 pilotti CA (2005) Stem rots of oil palm caused by Ganoderma boninense: Pathogen biology and epidemiology. Mycopathologia 159:129–137. Rees RW, Flood J, Hasan Y, et al. (2009) Basal stem rot of oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis ); mode of root infection and lower stem invasion by Ganoderma boninense. Plant Pathology 58:982–989. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2009.02100.x Rees RW, Flood J, Hasan Y, Cooper RM (2007) Effects of inoculum potential, shading and soil temperature on root infection of oil palm seedlings by the basal stem rot pathogen Ganoderma boninense. Plant Pathology. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2007.01621.x Tan Y-C, Yeoh K-A, Wong M-Y, Ho C-L (2013) Expression profiles of putative defence-related proteins in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) colonized by Ganoderma boninense. Journal of plant physiology. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2013.05.009

Buddhism Speech -- essays research papers

Today I am giving an informative speech on Buddhism. Now, "informative" is the key word here. I just want to reasure everyone that I am simply going to explain some of the philosophy of Buddhism. I am not, however, trying to sway your beliefs or views on life in ANY way. Instead, I'm going to share with you some of the basic things that I know, and however you choose to use the information, if at all, is totally up to you. In fact, one of the strongest beliefs of a Buddhist, is that their "way of life" is NEVER forced on anyone. To shove it down someones throught would contradict almost everything the Buddha had to say. To start, I wanna clear up some simple, misinterpretations that some of you may or may not have made, probobly due to the lack of information. First of all, Buddhists do not worship the Buddha, and the Buddha was not a God. He was just a teacher and an inspiration to his followers. He was someone who had obtained "enlightenment", or been awakened to the way that all things are. Kinda like a "meaning of life" sort of deal. Which is much more complex than many would expect. At first when Buddha discovered this, after meditating for several days, he believed it was pointless to try and teach someone what he has obtained, that his thoughts couldnt be explained through the means of words. but he was soon convinced when he came across a wondering holy man told him that "some people just have a little dust in their eyes,...

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court as a Dystopian Work Essay

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as a Dystopian Work      Ã‚   For years, Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" has been primarily viewed as a work of simple satire. Twain, desiring to poke fun at a group of America's cultural critics, chief among them Matthew Arnold, who claimed that cultural life in the U.S. treaded on shallow soil, takes aim at the venerated institutions of Britain. The author attempts to show that his country's lack of romanticized social structures, meaning an absence of royalty, the Catholic church, and long-dead knights and princesses, was far from a cultural weakness. Twain explodes the myth around idealized chivalric society and proves it to be no match for the Nineteenth Century man.    The book follows Twain's protagonist Hank Morgan, a pragmatist and the author's model of self-made, turn-of-the-century industrialist, through a time travel jump that lands him in Sixth Century England, specifically at the fabled Camelot. Here Hank, through ingenuity and entrepreneurial vigor, quickly ascends to the top of the socio-political structure of King Arthur's Court. What's more, Twain takes great pains in ridiculing both the role of the church in England and the ignoble position and lack of intelligence of the ruling royalty. He also pokes fun at the romanticizing of English culture during this period by illustrating the prostrate and dependent nature of the British aristocratic system -- a system void of democratic mechanism.    As a work of social satire, the beginning of the novel is fairly successful. At the outset of the work, Twain accomplishes what must have been his original task.    "The opening chapters, the direct attack, the... ...mbolic of American innocence and the Morgan and his machines of destruction as symbols of capitalism and industrialization, the novel becomes not chaotic literary failure, but dystopian science fiction popularized in the Twentieth Century. Where Huxley and others predicted enslavement to technology, Twain asserts that innocence and naivetà © have no place in and will be wiped out by modern society. His final analysis is that they cannot coexist.    Works Cited Bellamy, Gladys Carmen. Mark Twain as a Literary Artist. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.   DeVoto, Benard. Mark Twain's America. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935. Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. New York: P.F. Collier and Son Company, 1889. Wagenknecht, Edward. Mark Twain: The Man and His Work. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1935.

Product Team Cialis Getting Ready to Market Essay

Q1. In 2002, Viagra was the only clinically proven, FDA approved medication for Erectile Dysfunction (ED) on the market (Cialis – Dec 2003, Levitra – Sept 2003). Viagra had the highest brand recognition of any pharmaceutical product on the market. It had generated over one billion dollars in annual sales for 3 consecutive years since its introduction in 1998. In 2002, Viagra accounted for 5.3% ($1.73 billion) in sales of Pfizer’s annual Revenue of $32.37 billion, compared to 4.3% ($1.3 billion) of total revenue ($29.5 billion) in 2000. Viagra was expected to continue to lead the ED market due to its unsurpassed medical profile. Future Viagra sales growth was expected to come from increased patient presentation and physician diagnosis. Direct-to-consumer advertising has been effective in encouraging more customers to see a physician about ED. Even though Lilly ICOS and Bayer were in the process of bringing their products to market, Viagra was the front-runner and expected to retain its advantage in the ED market. A short half-life of approximately 4 hours, interactions with fatty foods, blue visions, and interactions with other medications like nitrates, are considered some of the weaknesses of Viagra. Q2. Our strategic Market segmentation for ED treatment is based on the types of population, by age and sex (socio demographic segmentation). The options available for market segmentation are: the concentration strategy, multi segment strategy, usage segmentation, and cohort segmentation. We believe Cialis should target the following segments: Usage segmentation – Lilly ICOS has the advantage of knowing which group is using ED medications (data from PCP’s, urologists and pharmacies). By using this data readily available, they can not only target the current users, but also the dropouts and dissatisfied customers. A large percentage of Viagra users did not refill the prescription. A significant number of them were not happy with the end-result after taking the medication, since duration of the effect was shorter than expected. Baby boomers (cohort segmentation) – because of increased prevalence of up to 60% of ED within this age group. Psychographic segmentation – age specific (40 – 60+) – as ED is increasingly more common in this age group, varying 20% to 60 %.  Spouse or partners (during their physician office visits) – 80% of the men using ED medication are married or living together. Q3. Cialis could either position itself as a â€Å"Market Challenger† or â€Å"Market Niche.† As a â€Å"Market Challenger,† the introduction of Cialis to the marketplace means that the dominance of Viagra is confronted, having alternatives to treat erectile dysfunction. However, the Lily ICOS team could not ride on this wave alone and would need to create brand recognition and loyalty. For doing so, they would need to ensure that consumers recognized Cialis as the solution to ED and not only as an alternative. The pro for Cialis is that they have a superior product; however, they are up against Viagra, with the reputation as pioneer of ED management in the marketplace. However, as a â€Å"Market Niche,† Cialis could segment their market to incorporate the emotional aspect of the product and its positive social implications in relationships, an aspect which the Viagra marketing team did not address. Therefore, to successfully create this concept, Lily ICOS involved its marketing team early into the development of Cialis, as this would enable them to better understand the core product, its benefits and how it affected the overall psychosocial perception of erectile dysfunction. One of the pitfalls of this approach would be that Cialis, a new product with little or no credibility in the market, would take extensive time and focused marketing effort to build a loyal consumer base. Based on their knowledge of the product, they would create more directed marketing research focusing on the needs, expectations and loyalty of the consumer. In addition, the marketing representatives would approach physicians regularly and remind them to offer Cialis as a potential solution to their patient’s condition and the overall benefits it could have on their social outlook and relationship. Basically, the Lily ICOS team would need to study the reasons why Viagra users were not repeat customers and bridge the gap from an initial user to loyal repeat business. Q4. The goal of the communication plan would be to ensure that Cialis gains credibility as superior product and consumers are pleased with its effect, both immediate and long lasting. Cialis need to demonstrate its potential to stand as an ideal solution to erectile dysfunction, not as an ‘Me too Viagra like’ alternative. Decreased side effects and the extended half-life of Cialis are the major marketing points to communicate (when positioned as â€Å"Market Challenger†); however, the positive social ramifications and increased self-confidence hence forth would add another level of emotional credibility to Cialis (when positioned as â€Å"Market Niche†). Q5. Our goal is to educate married couples and physicians. Patients will play a critical role for this drug to be successful, we need to be focus on their education with Direct to Consumer marketing, choosing programs that are watched by our target age group men who are married or with partners. This includes Television programs, evening news, and leisure sports programming, such as; Golf, fishing, or talk shows like Oprah, which is watched mostly by partners. There should also be emphasis on web-based marketing, including direct email to potential users, AARP sponsored Programs, etc. Advertisement should include magazines that cater to partners, such as; good housekeeping, cooking magazine, etc. Q6. Viagra was priced at $10 per pill. Since we are promoting Cialis as a better product, with its long-lasting effect and less side-effects – no blue vision or issues with meals, we would price it slightly higher. It is important for consumers to know the benefits of Cialis and create the awareness of a superior product. We would not want to price it significantly higher, since it would be difficult for consumers to switch to a new product from a product with a proven track record and marketed by one of the best companies in the Pharmaceutical industry. It is important for consumers to try Cialis, risk-free and feel the difference. This could be accomplished by providing free product samples, once satisfied; they would be the first customers. Q7. Pfizer has a number of options available at its disposal. It could wager the legal challenge stating the significant similarities between the products – a patent infringement lawsuit could be filed. However, Lilly ICOS could argue that there are significant differences in terms of onset, duration of action and food interaction, making Cialis different from Viagra. Pfizer could increase switching costs by incentivizing customers to return to their product. This could be achieved by offering one out of five prescriptions free, or a similar offer. Lowering the price of the prescription could also be considered a preemptive strategy. Lilly ICOS could offer free samples to practitioners during their advertising campaign and possibly offer a similar program later, for the frequent users. Pfizer could consider attracting new customers while using the increased customer awareness triggered by the Cialis marketing campaign. It could present Viagra as a trusted product with a long track record and safety. Pfizer could introduce new educational material about ED. Lilly ICOS could highlight the major differences between Viagra and Cialis, during their physician and DTC campaign. Lilly ICOS could target a specific segment instead of going head-to-head with the power of Viagra’s blockbuster title. Cialis could target couples, with a strong message towards intimacy and strong, durable relationships. This could result in increased marketing efficiency, as both partners would be targeted – avoiding the head-on competition with Viagra, which primarily targeted males.