Dec
08
The term “bovine aortic arch” is widely used to describe a common anatomic variant of the human aortic arch branching, regarding the common origin of the brachiocephalic and left common carotid artery from the aorta. This anatomy pattern is not generally found in the cattles and the term “bovine aortic arch” is a common misnomer [...]
Dec
07
A China-focused business group’s advice to President-elect Barack Obama: the U.S. trade deficit is less of a problem than many believe.
Trade goes to the heart of China’s main reservations about the election of Mr. Obama, a concern shared by the groups like the Washington-based US-China Business Council that urged the president-elect’s team to “get it [...]
Apr
15
What is Innovation? How do we recognize Innovation from the status quo? Below are some reputable definitions offered over the years.
‘Innovation is something new and contrary to established customs, manners or rites.’ (Sir Francis Bacon, 1561-1626)
‘A process of handling new things that deliver value.’ (Imaginatik Research)
‘Taking an idea to the perfect and profitable execution’
‘Going outside the box [...]
Nov
06
Companies that sell to the rich are always going on about the “customer experience.” They obsess over their in-store presentation, impeccable wrapping paper and velvet bows, the plush but subdued ambiance, and subtly snobby salespeople.
Employees of the new Louis Vuitton store on New York
Today, with luxury sales down and a bleak outlook for holiday sales, [...]
Dec
07
The government’s mixed signals about rescuing financial institutions may have added to market turmoil in recent months, a Federal Reserve policy maker said Monday.
In remarks to a conference in Israel, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the “disparate” government responses to potential failures at major firms created uncertainty and “may have made [...]
Dec
05
The huge borrowing by the U.S. Treasury to prop up U.S. financial firms is producing at least one surprise – Americans are doing a bigger percentage of the buying than in the past.
“The U.S. will go through several years where the size of the Treasury debt held by Americans increases,” says Brad Setser, an economist [...]
Dec
01
A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the tines formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal (usually steel). It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against a surface or with an object… Wikipedia
If what Richard Solomon is saying over at [...]
Nov
30
Recently, we worked with an organization that had made a decision to outsource one of their major processes. This decision was driven by the fact that they had been struggling unsuccessfully to reduce costs of the process for years, and research indicated that outsourcing the process would not only reduce costs by approximately 25%, but [...]
Nov
28
Background:
Kulldorff’s spatial scan statistic and its software implementation – SaTScan – are widely used for detecting and evaluating geographic clusters. However, two issues make using the method and interpreting its results non-trivial: (1) the method lacks cartographic support for understanding the clusters in geographic context and (2) results from the method are sensitive to parameter [...]