London-based seatwave

London-based seatwave Part I 1. Introduction London-based Seatwave.com was founded in January 2006 by Joe Cohen. He is currently President and CEO whilst Mr. GED Waring is currently VP of Technology and James Hamlin is Director Online Marketing. The site has undergone continuous growth since launch, and currently serves tens of thousands of monthly visitors. Seatwave.com is a specialized online marketplace where fans can buy and sell tickets for concerts, theatre, sports, and live events and is the largest online ticket marketplace in Europe. Seatwave.com works by allowing Ticket Sellers to post the tickets they have for sale on the Seatwave site, and then letting buyers bid on them. Tickets go to the highest bidder and the site offers guaranteed delivery of tickets to winner and takes a small price off the ticket sold for compensation. 2. Seatwave Information Technology applications Seatwaves success is dependent on its use of technology to help drive the supply and value chains of the business and in its three years since its inception, Seatwave has gone from strength to strength winning numerous accolades, including being named Best Technology Media Company 2009 by The Guardian. Pure 360 emailing Technology Seatwave decided to partner with progressive email marketing providers, Pure360, to create and deliver a highly effective, cost efficient, email marketing campaign by capitalizing on cutting edge email marketing technology. Seatwaves ongoing email marketing campaign uses Pure360s Intelligent Time Sending tool to analyze when each of its customers is most likely to open their emails, and click-through to the website. This information is used to ensure emails arrive in recipients inboxes at the time he or she is most receptive an essential tool as Seatwaves success is dependent on the audience responding quickly and purchasing tickets. Timing is everything for Seatwave, and it is imperative that it sends out the latest information about events and ticket availability as quickly and efficiently as possible. Pure360s Automatic Message Import tool makes it possible for Seatwave to send out the latest offers by uploading web content automatically into their email marketing campaign, meaning they use minimal resources. Seatwave Mobile Application LONDON, ENG (Seatwave) 14 January 2009 Seatwave, Europes largest online fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced its newest partnership with mobile platform provider, Snaptu. As part of the companys continued expansion into the mobile environment and in a first for fan-to- fan ticket exchanges, the new application will provide a seamless mobile box office experience for fans. It will allow them to navigate through the full range of European concert dates on their mobile phone, and purchase with one call. Cookies When you view our Site we may store information on the hard drive of your computer in the form of a cookie (essentially a small text file). Cookies allow us to tailor the Site to your interests and preferences. (Seatwave.com 2009) IP Addresses We study visitor trends since we are interested in the successful dissemination of information through the Site. Our server creates log files of information such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address from your network, what pages were explored and the length of your visit. Analysis software is used to generate reports, which helps us to learn more about how we can enhance your experience with the Site. This information is not used to develop a personal profile of you. The log files are regularly deleted (Seatwave.com 2009). Seatwave Ticket finder Seatwave has secured a deal with MSN whereby MSN portal users can use Seatwaves Ticket Finder to search for secondhand tickets. The new objective for the online activity is to increase sales of tickets and encourage more people to sell tickets on the site. Secure Online Account As a buyer, you can review all your previous orders and track their status within My Account. For sellers, My Account allows you to view or amend your listings, track your sales and send out your tickets Seatwave Ticket Cover TicketCover is a new kind of insurance and Seatwave will be the first UK Company to ensure that consumers are refunded for the cost of a seat at sporting, music and other forms of live entertainment, if unforeseen circumstances prevail. Such circumstances include motor breakdown on the way to the venue, illness, injury, jury service and a range of other occurrences that could keep a person away from their chosen event. The service will be administered by Mondial Insurance and the cost of the cover will be included in the price of all Seatwave tickets. Seatwave Ticket Integrity Seatwave guarantee that their tickets come only from legitimate sources and that they will represent them accurately and honestly. They also guarantee that you will receive the tickets you ordered (or similar ones) and that they will be with you by the day of the event. And if they dont keep this commitment to you, they will take reasonable steps to source replacement tickets, of an equivalent value, to make sure you dont miss out. If suitable replacement tickets (determinable solely at our discretion) cannot be found, well refund 100% of the price you paid. No questions. Additionally Seatwave Ticket Integrityâ„ ¢ guarantee is a two-way street. If you are selling tickets they promise that you will receive prompt payment from Seatwave for all orders that are confirmed and fulfilled. 3. Seatwave E-Business Models Seatwave have adopted a combination of two E-business models, a Transaction fee revenue model and an E-Auction model. (Schneider. G 2009) explains that in the fee for transactional revenue model, businesses offer services for which they charge a fee that is based on the number or sized of transactions they process And Seatwave has successfully adopted this model whereby they are paid a commission for every ticket sold. Ttickets can be sold at any price selected by the seller, including below and above the face value printed on the ticket and Seatwave charges buyers a 15% service charge and sellers a 10% success fee. Seatwave has additionally adopted an E- Auction model or as they put it a fan to fan to online ticket exchange system. The online auction business model is one in which participants bid for products and services over the internet. When one thinks of online auctions they typically think of E-Bay, the largest online auction site. Like most auction companies, eBay does not actually sell goods that it owns itself. It merely facilitates the process of listing and displaying goods, bidding on items, and paying for them. It acts as a marketplace for individuals and businesses that use the site to auction off goods and services. Several types of online auctions are possible. In an English auction the initial price starts low and is bid up by successive bidders. In a Dutch auction the price starts high and is reduced until someone buys the item. EBay also offers fixed price listings. 4. Seatwave Financial Performance In January 2009 Seatwave was on 35% market share, GetMeIn (a UK startup founded by US guy James Gray and acquired by Ticketmaster is on 25%, and Viagogo is on 14 The principle industry area to which Seatwave belongs is events ticketing . Unfortunately Seatwave does not publish its financial statement but do provide growth margins which make it easier to measure the success and profitability of the company. Europes Leading Ticket exchange increases lead on the field London: 05 May 2009 Seatwave, Europes leading fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced explosive growth LONDON: 05 May 2009 Seatwave, Europes leading fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced explosive growth for Q1, supported by ComScores latest report confirming that Seatwave is Europes largest ticket exchange by a factor of more than 2 to 1 versus its nearest competitor. March sales alone grew by 287% year on year, one of the many indicators of the companys increasing success. Insert Courtesy Of Seatwave.com Seatwaves success can be attributed to two main factors superior customer service and an excellent online customer experience. Couple with a great business model The Companys site demonstrates how importantly it takes the customers online experience. Burgess believes that the specific online experience they offer customers is an essential ingredient to the success of the company because the site is streamlined and easy to navigate, and its smartly designed to maintain its efficiency and functionality. The smart design is evident in the ability to quickly buy or sell tickets and business model is adopted is excellent because there is no time and geographical constraints, hence tickets and be sold and bought at any time, 24 / 7 and Sellers and bidders can participate from anywhere that has internet access. This makes them more accessible and reduces the cost of attending an auction. 5. Seatwave Strategy Seatwaves biggest market is the UK and its long term strategy for growth is based on three key parts. Growth by global Expansion Offering Marketing Leading Consumer Protection Partnerships and Affiliations 1. The Seatwave business is growing rapidly and is the market leader in all the markets they operate within. Seatwave operates in nine countries outside the UK. Including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland Over 700,000 tickets on sale at any one time Customer base of over 1.9 million unique active users. 1.7 Millions tickets for events in over 38 countries Europe secondary ticket market worth $ 6.8 9.7 billion. Bi- model approach e.g. Transactional Revenue model E-auctioning model Seatwave Cooperate sales which is a dedicated service for corporate entertainment needs. 2. Utilizing Technology Offering Consumer Protection services TicketIntegrityâ„ ¢ guarantees that buyers will receive the tickets they ordered in good time for the event, or offers a full refund. TicketCoverâ„ ¢ which provides a full refund if an event is cancelled. This refund includes the full price of the tickets purchased. TicketCoverâ„ ¢premium which covers buyers for a range of other circumstances that may prevent them from attending their performance, such as transport failure or severe illness. TickFinder is a search application use on the msn portal to help users find secondhand tickets. 3. Partnerships and Affiliations Official Ticket exchange partner of 9 different sport clubs Affiliations with 4 separate music groups e.g. MTV.co.uk, MOBO Awards and Live Nation In partnership with major media organizations e.g. MSN, Virgin Media and a new partnership with HMV Seatwave donates a portion of every sporting ticket sold online to Sparks and is also a member of the Action for Brazils Children Trust. Seatwave are in partnership with UPS to help facilitate and ensure a reliable ticket exchange transaction between buyers and sellers. Part II 6. Suggested Evaluation Criteria The methodologies used for the evaluation of Seatwave.com is based on Webqual which is an instrument for assessing the usability, information, and service interaction quality of Internet web-sites, particularly those offering e-commerce facilities (Webqual.co.uk homepage 2009). WebQual (www.webqual.co.uk) is based on quality function deployment (QFD) a structured and Disciplined process that provides a means to identify and carry the voice of the customer through each stage of product and or service development and implementation (Slabey, 1990). In the context of WebQual for traditional Web sites, users are asked to rate target sites against each of a range of qualities using a 7-point scale. The users are also asked to rate each of the qualities for importance (again, using a 7-point scale), which helps gain understanding about which qualities are considered by the user to be most important in any given situation. In order to build a profile for Seatwave.com, the data was summarized around the questionnaire subcategories, and then the total score for each subcategory was indexed against the maximum score (based on the important rating for questions multiplied by three. The results suggested that the information quality and Usability aspect of the website rated extremely well at 100% respectively. Seatwave has facilitated this by providing tools that help the seller choose an appropriate selling price by comparing the average sale price for tickets being sold for the particular event and having a simple but structured approach to the design of the website and the way it presents information to its customers. Additionally the service interaction weighted score was slightly lower than the other categories at 92.8% but still suggested a high sense of community, personalization and security in terms of processing transactions, however the lack of confidence within the website due to the ethical issues within the resale ticketing industry and the slim line of communication to the organization has robbed the site of a maximum score. It must be noted though that WebQual was not particularly useful for evaluating the technical aspects of the site despite providing a valuable profile of users perception of e-commerce quality, therefore an independent evaluation of its technical viability as an ecommerce site was carried out. And one problem noticed when evaluating the site from a technical point of view is that it failed W3C markup validation, this means that there is no guarantee that the site will look the same in different browsers or even that it will work correctly. Also this means that non-graphical browsers and html translators such as those used by blind people may not be able to communicate the site to a properly. The site has an XHTML transitional DOCTYPE header, this standard should be strictly adhered to in order to avoid the problems outlined above, by doing this the company can be sure that they are reaching the widest possible audience as their site would then work with the vast majority of viewing technologies. Part III Proposed future strategy for Seatwave Future Strategy Seatwave can enhance its future ecommerce business by aligning its current strategy with the primary ticket selling industry which will build up its reputation and strengthen its brand image. According to Katie Allen of the Guardian, Seatwave and rivals such as Viagogo have been accused of encouraging the growth of bedroom touts, who snap up tickets with the sole purpose of making a profit by selling them on, in addition Seatwave, as a secondary market ticket supplier, has no way of verifying if tickets are valid, counterfeit, or genuine. By becoming the leader in the Primary and secondary online ticketing market Seatwave will be able to increase its image as a reputable brand, penetrate new markets and hence increase its profit margins. New Business Strategy Key Factors New Potential Packages As the two entities further combine their operations, they could begin to offer more packages to consumers such as discounted bundles of tickets and recorded music, and could offer corporate sponsors more attractive terms, too. At the same time, a vertically integrated behemoth could have the power to dictate higher prices. Power to dictate Price ( Due To Economy of Scale ) Because it would be so vertically integrated, the new company would also be able to muscle out competing concert promoters and have more power to dictate ticket prices to consumers. The new company would have close ties to an array of artists and boast affiliation and new partnerships right across the entertainment spectrum Expansions into the Americas To new business strategy will allow Seatwave to venture out in to the Americas which is tightly regulated against ticket reselling. Because of the new strategy the business can segment its services geographically. Alliances with other companies The new strategy would merge Europes Largest ticketing exchange facilitator with a dominant ticketing and artist-management company. The resulting firm would be able to manage everything from recorded music to ticket sales and tour sponsorship. It could package artists in new ways, for example, allowing corporations such as a mobile phone provider to sponsor a concert tour and to sell an exclusive download of a song. Conclusion In conclusion Seatwave has dominated the European market and have attracted investment whilst protecting its customer; however the ticketing resale markets remains shrouded with suspicion, unfair practices and dodgy dealings. It and its two main rivals in the UK operate in a controversial area. Ticket touts have a bad reputation and Seatwave and its peers are, according to their critics, merely electronic equivalents of the spivs who hang around the doors of music and sporting venues offering dubiously acquired products. Mr. Cohen points out that his venture offers those who are genuinely unable to obtain the tickets they want through a risk free channels, however a sales Account Manager for Seatwave, Lee Lake, was caught purchasing tickets for various concerts and gigs using 4 different addresses and 4 different credit cards and selling the same tickets through Seatwave at significantly higher prices than face value and not declaring that he is an employee of Seatwave in the transaction. In response, Chief Executive Joe Cohen allegedly stated the tickets were purchased as backstop tickets in case fans selling on Seatwave let people down. This proves that Seatwaves strategy is in need of a revamp to attract a better reputation and removed the stigma that has dogged the industry for so long, the integration of its already strong ecommerce offering with an improved business strategy will be the pied piper that draws large audience to the site and puts its critics to rest. Bibliography Peter, M. (2001). Business Studies p.63-64 UK Hodder Stoughton Ltd Farmers Weekly. (2006). Citing Online Source. Tesco Club card Reward Program ( Accessed 3/27/2008) Mike, M and Malcolm, M (2002) Marketing in Managing Bites p.86 GB Macmillan Press Ltd Peter, M. (2001). Business Studies p.61 UK Hodder Stoughton Ltd Kotler, P. (1998). Principles Of Marketing p. 33 UK Prentice Hall College Bill, W. (2008). Citing Online Source. Will Protest Hurt Tesco Brand ( Accessed 3/27/08) Sir Terry, L. (2008). Citing Online Source. Consumers Changing Lifestyles ( Accessed 3/27/08) Peter, M. (2001). Business Studies p.61 UK Hodder Stoughton Ltd

Happiness Levels and Income Levels

Ariella Dayan (326883881) Quantitative Research Methods- Shani Greenspan November 25, 2012 The Correlation of Income Level and Happiness Level This study will investigate the relationship between income and happiness. A very popular question in today’s society is whether money can buy happiness. Happiness has been shown to be related to many things. It is found to be related to social class, success, power, health, valued belongings, religious beliefs, companionship, being employed in a secure job, having a full social life, and more or less accumulation of money.Research shows that money does not buy happiness but it comes indirectly from the higher rank in society that money brings. â€Å"The rank-income hypothesis† was tested and found that the ranked position of an individual’s income predicts general life satisfaction. Once someone has a large amount of money they may become part of a different social group which brings more confidence and satisfaction. A pe rsons’ satisfaction and self-esteem will increase if his social rank increases or if those who once had the same social rank him decreases.People naturally feel better and more satisfied if they are better than others. (Boyce, C. et al. 2010) People dedicate so much energy in trying to make more money, when having more money does not make them that much happier. People may be happy with their current level of wealth and stop trying to accumulate more if not for the urge humans have to compare themselves with others in every way possible: attractiveness, intelligence, height, weight, and crucially, financial success. The writer H. L. Mencken said, â€Å"A wealthy man is one who earns $100 a year more than his wife's sister's husband. This frustration of seeing someone â€Å"better† than you becomes a huge motivator when it comes to making more money. People are very concerned with the phenomenon of â€Å"Keeping up with the Joneses. † Hollywood made a movie abou t a wealthy and good looking American family and the affects they have on the people living in their neighborhood. The movie presents us with â€Å"conspicuous consumption† and comparing each other’s expensive possessions and social rank. People will always to try to move ahead of as many of their friends as possible in order to† improve† themselves.People try to enhance their social hierarchy by making unnecessary investments in order to satisfy their preoccupation with their relative social standing which the socio- economic class isn’t Ariella Dayan (326883881) Quantitative Research Methods- Shani Greenspan November 25, 2012 able to do, although we can see this form of competitiveness in the socio-economic class as well. A recent study shows that a group of people in the US who are most opposed to an increase in the minimum wage are those who make just above the minimum wage.Because if the minimum wage increases, these people will now be in  "last place†, along with all the people whom they used to feel superior to. (Norton, M. 2012) Another reason why money translated to happiness often is because money has a property that many other things that matter in life do not. Money is something that can be counted. When people reflect on whether they are better off this year than last, they cannot always give an exact answer. A person cannot say that their life is 32 per cent more meaningful. This is not a calculation we are accustomed to making. Salary, on the other hand, is measurable.If a person is making a better salary they will think that they are doing better in their life. This also may explain why people are always buying larger houses and larger televisions. As people become richer, they quickly grow accustomed to bigger houses, flashier cars, and designer garments, but their possessions don't actually make them much happier. (Norton, M. 2012) Studies show that even lottery winners, after an initial period of a djustment, don't become much happier. The reason for this is because the faster people try to get ahead, the quicker they end up back where they started.Another research conducted in the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, asked people to predict how happy they would be if their annual income was anywhere from $5000 up to $1 million. After this, the people were asked how much money they really earned and how happy they were with their lives. It was found that people generally overestimated the impact of money on happiness. Those who earned $25,000 a year predicted that their happiness would double if they made $55,000. But when we measured the happiness of people at these two levels of income by having them rate their satisfaction with life on a cale from 1 to 10, it was found that the wealthier group was only 9 per cent happier. On the other hand, people who make very little money do become significantly happier when they earn more. But a large survey of people in the US s howed that the impact of additional income on happiness Ariella Dayan (326883881) Quantitative Research Methods- Shani Greenspan November 25, 2012 tends to fade around an annual salary of $75,000. There is no data suggesting that making more money makes people less happy but it does stop making them much happier. (Cassidy, J. 008) What people can do in order to gain happiness in a better manner is by doing something unusual with it or â€Å"giving it away†. It turns out that spending money on yourself does not make you any happier, but spending on others does. Donating to charity or buying coffee for a friend is an efficient way of turning cash into happiness. (Cassidy, J. 2008) A worldwide survey was created in 2006 by Gallup. He asked people to imagine themselves on a ladder with steps numbered from zero to 10, with the bottom of the ladder representing â€Å"the worst possible life for you† and the top representing â€Å"the best possible life for you. The responde nts were then asked to say which step they were standing on. If you instruct people to think about the best possible and worst possible lives they could be living, you are surely inviting them to compare their living standards with those of people elsewhere. This methodological quirk alone could easily explain why residents of poor countries report low scores and residents of rich countries report high ones, and it wouldn't have anything to do with money making people happier. ( Buchanan, M. 2009) The conclusion is that happiness and money do correlate but only to a certain extent.People are more concerned with their social class, â€Å"getting ahead† and where money can get them in life than the actual amount of money. This topic should continue to be researched in order to find if in today generation a person can actually be happy with what he or she has without comparing themselves to their peers and surroundings. Ariella Dayan (326883881) Quantitative Research Methods- Sh ani Greenspan November 25, 2012 References Boyce, C. Christopher J. 1 Brown, Gordon D. A. 2 Moore, Simon C. (2010). Money and Happiness: Rank of Income, Not Income, Affects Life Satisfaction.Psychological Science, Vol. 21 Issue 4, p471-475, 5p http://web. ebscohost. com. ezprimo1. idc. ac. il/ehost/detail? sid=daeaee80-c08b-433b-84c3-094cde8b9e7c%40sessionmgr10;vid=1;hid=13;bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h;AN=62587809 Norton, M. I. (2012). The more money, the merrier? New Scientist, 215, 40-41. http://web. ebscohost. com. ezprimo1. idc. ac. il/ehost/detail? sid=86a4832c-2e11-4055-a8c7-ba24949afac4%40sessionmgr11;vid=1;hid=13;bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h;AN=78189804 Cassidy,J. 2008) Happinness is†¦. Conde Nast Portfolio; Vol. 2 Issue 7, p36-36, 1p http://web. ebscohost. com. ezprimo1. idc. ac. il/ehost/detail? sid=ab06d568-bb15-434e-b357-a6330d98f4a5%40sessionmgr4;vid=1;hid=13;bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth;AN=38013329 Buc hanan, M. (2009) Money in Mind. New Scientist Vol. 201 p26-30, 5p http://web. ebscohost. com. ezprimo1. idc. ac. il/ehost/detail? sid=81a76105-82e3-428d-8827-47f8203d01bc%40sessionmgr111;vid=1;hid=126;bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h;AN=37249111

Patient And Tumor Characteristics Health And Social Care Essay

Between January 2004 and June 2010, 160 patients underwent computing machine imaging guided transdermal cryoablation for lung tumours at our establishment. Of these patients, histologically proved phase I lung malignant neoplastic disease patients with more than one twelvemonth of followup, were retrospectively reviewed. All of these patients were considered to be medically inoperable with Charlson comorbidity index of 3 or greater. Follow-up was based chiefly on computed imaging. There were 22 patients with 34 tumours who underwent 25 Sessionss of cryoablation intervention. Complications were pneumothoraces in 7 interventions ( 28 % , chest tubing required in one intervention ) , and pleural gushs in 8 interventions ( 31 % ) . The observation period ranged from 12-68 months, mean 29 ±19 months, average 23 months. Local tumour patterned advance was observed in one tumour ( 3 % ) . Mean local tumour progression-free interval was 69 ±2 months. One patient died of lung malignant neo plastic disease patterned advance at 68 months. Two patients died of acute aggravations of idiopathic pneumonic fibrosis which were non considered to be straight associated with cryoablation, at 12 and 18 months, severally. The overall 2- and 3-year endurances were 88 % and 88 % , severally. Mean overall endurance was 62 ±4 months. Median overall endurance was 68 months. The disease-free 2- and 3-year endurances were 78 % and 67 % , severally. Average disease-free endurance was 46 ±6 months. Pneumonic map trials were done in 16 patients ( 18 interventions ) before and after cryoablation. Percentage of predicted critical capacity, and per centum of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 2nd, did non differ significantly before and after cryoablation ( 93 ±23 versus 90 ±21, and 70 ±11 versus 70 ±12, severally ) .Conclusions/SignificanceAlthough farther accretion of informations is necessary sing efficaciousness, cryoablation may be a executable option in medically inopera ble phase I lung malignant neoplastic disease patients. Travel to:IntroductionSurgical resection is presently the criterion intervention for phase I non-small cell lung malignant neoplastic disease ( NSCLC ) . However, in patients who are medically inoperable due to important comorbidities, other intervention modes need to be considered. The non-surgical direction of early phase lung malignant neoplastic disease is presently an spread outing field. These include stereotactic organic structure radiation therapy ( SBRT ) and thermic ablative processs such as radiofrequency extirpation ( RFA ) and micro-cook extirpation [ 1 ] , [ 2 ] , [ 3 ] , [ 4 ] , [ 5 ] , [ 6 ] . Transdermal cryoablation is besides presently germinating as a minimally invasive, and potentially effectual, local intervention for lung tumours [ 7 ] , [ 8 ] , [ 9 ] , [ 10 ] . This process, largely used when surgical resection is contraindicated, is presently under rating as a possible complementary therapy for patients with primary lung malignant neoplastic diseases every bi t good as metastatic lung tumours. We have, to day of the month, treated more than 300 lung tumours in more than 200 patients with acceptable feasibleness and efficaciousness. Of these patients, in the present survey, we retrospectively analyzed the midterm results of phase I NSCLC patients treated with cryoablation. Travel to:Materials and MethodsEthical motivesThis survey protocol was approved by Keio University institutional reappraisal board ( blessing ID: 14-23 ) . Written informed consent was obtained from each participant in conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki.Choice of patientsBetween January 2004 and August 2010, 160 patients underwent cryoablation for lung tumours at our establishment. Of these patients, we retrospectively reviewed our experience with cryoablation for the primary intervention of phase I NSCLC in medically inoperable patients, with more than one twelvemonth of followup. The tumours which presented as multiple tumours in one patient, were clinically considered as synchronal or metachronous primary lung malignant neoplastic diseases to be eligible for this survey. Some of these patients have been reported antecedently [ 7 ] , [ 9 ] . Prior to sing cryoablation, patients with histologically diagnosed NSCLC were routinely staged with chest-to-pelvis computed imaging ( CT ) , encephalon magnetic resonance imagination ( MRI ) or CT, and most of the patients besides underwent a antielectron emanation tomographic ( PET ) scan. Bone scintigraphy was done if PET scan was non performed. Patients with hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes greater than 1 centimeter in the shortest axis, a positive PET scan consequence, or both, underwent endobronchial echography guided needle biopsy, or mediastinoscopy. The inclusion standard for this survey were patients who were considered medically inoperable because of hazards such as impaired cardiac map, hapless pneumonic map, and/or other comorbidities, i.e. , Charlson comorbidity index ( CCI ) [ 11 ] & A ; gt ; = 3. The patients ‘ desires to avoid surgery in association with their medical comorbidities were besides accounted for. The exclusion standards were as follows: ( 1 ) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group ( ECOG ) mark of 2 or more. ( 2 ) Platelet count of less than 50,000/ µL. ( 3 ) Prothrombin clip international normalized ratio of more than 1.5. ( 4 ) No suited manner for the interpolation of investigations due to interference by major vasculatures, air passages or mediastinal constructions. ( 5 ) Incapable of cooperation during the cryoablation process. All patients were evaluated by representatives from pulmonologists, interventional radiotherapists, and pectoral sawboness to find inoperability and suitableness for cryoabla tion.Cryoablation processThe process of transdermal cryoablation was performed under local anaesthesia as antecedently described [ 7 ] . Under a multidetector-row CT scanner with multi-slice CT fluoroscopy maps ( Aquilion 64 ; Toshiba Med. Co. Ltd. , Tokyo, Japan ) , utilizing an outer interpolation sheath, a 1.7-mm-diameter cryoprobe ( CRYOcare Cryosurgical Unit ; Endocare, Irvine, CA ) was inserted into the targeted nodule under fluoroscopic CT counsel. Multiple investigations were at the same time inserted if the extirpation border was considered to be deficient with merely one investigation. The cryoprobe uses high-pressure Ar and He gases for stop deading and dissolving, severally, based on the Joule-Thompson rule. Cryoablation consisted of three rhythms of freeze, 5, 10, and 10 proceedingss each. The tip of the cryoprobe reaches about ?130 & A ; deg ; C during stop deading. This was followed by dissolving until the temperature of the cryoprobe reached 20 & A ; deg ; C, and so a 3rd rhythm of freeze ( 10 proceedingss ) followed by dissolving. Fibrin gum was infused into the outer sheath at the clip of cryoprobe remotion to cut down the hazards of hemothoraces and pneumothoraces. Whole lung CT scans were taken at the terminals of each of the processs. Chest radiogram were besides taken two hours after, the following twenty-four hours, and the twenty-four hours after each of the processs to look into for complications such as hemothoraces or pneumothoraces. The patients were discharged on the 2nd postoperative twenty-four hours if there were no complications.Follow-up after cryoablationFollow-up chest-to-pelvis CT scans with contrast sweetening were carried out at 1-month and so at 3 to 6 months intervals after cryoablation. We confirmed local patterned advance when there was a uninterrupted focal or diffuse expansion of the ablated lesion on CT. Furthermore, even when no expansion was seen, we regarded it as local patterned advance if the size of partial s weetening in the tumour continuously increased. As for the sensing of distant metastases, encephalon MRI or CT was done every 3 to 6 months. Favored scan or bone scintigraphy was done if considered to be necessary.Pneumonic map trialPneumonic map trial was done in patients who could adequately execute the trial, before, and 3 to 6 months after cryoablation.Statistical methodsLocal tumour progression-free intervals, and overall and disease-free endurances, were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Pneumonic map trials were compared with the mated t trial. The statistical package bundle SPSS 17.0 ( SPSS Inc, Chicago, Ill ) was used for all analyses. P values smaller than 0.05 was considered to be statistically important. Travel to:ConsequencesDuring the survey period, 22 patients with 34 tumours underwent 25 Sessionss of lung cryoablation interventions for clinical phase I NSCLC. These patients were retrospectively reviewed. None of the patients had mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes greater than 1 centimeter in the shortest axis, or a positive PET scan consequence of the mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes. Fifteen patients had individual tumours, which were all treated in one session. Three patients had 2 tumours. The 2 tumours were found synchronously in all 3 patients, and were treated as one session per patient. Four patients had 3 tumours. In 2 of these patients, the 3 tumours were found synchronously, and were treated as one session per patient. In both of the staying 2 patients, 2 tumours were synchronal and one was metachronous. The 2 synchronal tumours were treated in one session in each of the patients. The metachronous tumours were treated as another session in both patients. One patient had 4 tumours. Two of these tumours were found synchronously and were treated in one session. Other 2 metachronous tumours were found at the same clip, and were treated in one session. The patient and tumour features are described in Table 1. The average maximum tumour diameter was 1.4 ±0.6 centimeter ( range 0.5-3.0 centimeter ) . More than half of the patients had a past history of resection for another lung malignant neoplastic disease. Majority of tumours were adenocarcinomas. Nine patients had more than one tumour, which were considered to be synchronal, or metachronous primary lung malignant neoplastic diseases. The figure of investigations used was 1 in 20 tumours, 2 in 13 tumours, and 3 in 1 tumour. Eight patients ( 36 % ) had important cardiac or vascular disease that put them at high hazard for surgical resection. Limited pneumonic map was the prevailing determiner of medical inoperability in 6 patients ( 27 % ) . Four of these patients were on O therapy. Other comorbidities included nephritic disfunction, liver disfunction, and attendant malignances. Average CCI was 5 ±3, scope 3 to 15. Table 1 Table 1Patient and tumour features.The most common complications of cryoablation were pneumothoraces, minor haemoptysiss, and pleural gushs. Pneumothoraces were seen in 7 interventions ( 28 % ) . Pleural gushs were seen in 8 interventions ( 31 % ) . Minor haemoptysiss were seen in 6 patients ( 24 % ) . Chest tubing interpolation was required in one patient with pneumothorax. All other complications resolved with observation merely. The observation period ranged from 12-68 months, mean 29 ±19 months, average 23 months. Local tumour patterned advance after cryoablation was observed in one tumour ( 3 % ) which was a squamous cell carcinoma 1.6 centimeter in size. Local failure was recognized as progressive expansion of the ablated part at 8 months after cryoablation. At this clip, no other metastases were observed. The local recurrent tumour was re-cryoablated. Four months after re-cryoablation, the patient developed an upper respiratory infection, which lead to an acute aggravation of the implicit in idiopathic pneumonic fibrosis ( IPF ) . The patient later died of the acute aggravation. At this point, local control was maintained. Overall, the average local tumour progression-free interval was 69 ±2 months. Median local tumour progression-free interval was non reached ( Figure 1A ) . Figure 1 Figure 1Kaplan-Meier estimation curves of ( A ) local progression-free interval after cryoablation, ( B ) overall endurance after cryoablation, and ( C ) disease-free endurance after cryoablation.So far 3 patients ( 14 % ) have died. One patient was the patient described above. Another patient died of lung malignant neoplastic disease 68 months after cryoablation. This patient developed multiple systemic metastases whereas local control was maintained. This patient received chemotherapy one twelvemonth after cryoablation because distant metastases were detected. The staying one patient died of acute aggravation of IPF 18 months after cryoablation. In this instance, the acute aggravation of IPF occurred instantly after chemotherapy for attendant liver malignant neoplastic disease, and was non considered to be straight associated with lung cryoablation. There are 2 patients who have received chemotherapy and are alive. One patient developed multiple lung metastasis 48 months after cryo ablation and have received systemic therapy with gefitinib. Local control was maintained in this patient. The other patient developed multiple systemic metastases 4 months after cryoablation. Local control was maintained. This patient received systemic chemotherapy after sensing of distant metastases. The overall 2- and 3-year endurances were 88 % and 88 % , severally. Mean overall endurance was 62 ±4 months. Median overall endurance was 68 months ( Figure 1B ) . Five patients are alive with lung malignant neoplastic disease. The disease-free 2- and 3-year endurances were 78 % and 67 % , severally. Average disease-free endurance was 46 ±6 months. Median disease-free endurance was non reached ( Figure 1C ) . The forms of returns other than local return were as follows: Recurrence merely in the ipsilateral thorax was seen in 1 patient, which was lung metastases. Needle-tract airings or pleural returns have non been detected so far in any of the patients. Distant metastases were seen in 5 patients. These included metastases to contralateral thoraces, lumbar vertebra, ribs, and encephalon. Treatments for these patients included chemotherapy, radiation, and gamma-knife. Pneumonic map was evaluated in 16 patients ( 18 interventions ) before and 3 to 6 months after cryoablation. There were no important differences before and after cryoablation in critical capacity ( 2.72 ±0.82 L versus 2.64 ±0.74 L, P = 0.19 ) , per centum of predicted critical capacity ( 93 ±23 % versus 90 ±21, P = 0.11 ) , forced expiratory volume in 1 2nd ( 1.81 ±0.53 L versus 1.77 ±0.50 L, P = 0.14 ) ( Figure 2 ) , and per centum of forced expiratory volume in 1 2nd ( 70 ±11 % versus 70 ±12 % , P = 0.95 ) . Figure 2 Figure 2Individual alterations in forced expiratory volume in 1 2nd, and the mean  ± standard divergences before and after cryoablation.Travel to:DiscussionThere is roll uping grounds that RFA is a safe and executable intervention option for the intervention of inoperable phase I NSCLC. There is one study in which the consequences of cryoablation for phase I lung malignant neoplastic disease is included among the consequences of RFA and sublobar resections [ 10 ] . But to our cognition, this is the first study which specifically focuses on cryoablation in patients with medically inoperable phase I NSCLC. In the present survey, cryoablation was done safely in all patients. Reduction in pneumonic map after cryoablation was besides minimum in this survey, although the pneumonic map trial was done largely in patients with comparatively good pneumonic maps who could adequately execute the trial. The incidences of the most common complications, which were pneumothoraces, and pleural gush s, were comparable to those antecedently reported for RFA [ 5 ] , [ 6 ] , [ 12 ] , [ 13 ] , [ 14 ] . The reported local control rates for RFA intervention of inoperable phase I NSCLC ranged from 58 to 69 % [ 5 ] , [ 6 ] , [ 12 ] , [ 13 ] , [ 14 ] . The local control rate was somewhat higher in the present survey ( 97 % ) , presumptively because in our survey the tumours were 3 centimeter or less, really largely 2 centimeter or less, whereas old RFA surveies included tumours which were 4 centimeter or less. As for the one patient with local return, we speculate that the primary cause of local patterned advance was deficient border of extirpation. Although 2 investigations were used in this instance, it was hard to define the relationship between the border of extirpation and the border of the tumour on CT because of the implicit in IPF. We consider that farther accretion of experience is necessary to better intervention outcomes in such instances. The overall and disease-free endurance at 3 old ages were better than that antecedently reported for RFA [ 5 ] , 88 % and 67 % versus 47 % and 39 % , severally. This was besides presumptively because in our survey the tumours were 3 centimeter or less, whereas the old RFA survey included tumours which were 3-4 centimeter. In our survey, there were 6 patients with disease patterned advance other than local return, but the figure of patients was excessively little to measure if there is any characteristic form of disease patterned advance after lung malignant neoplastic disease cryoablation. Determination of medical inoperability is critically of import and should be assessed by an interdisciplinary squad. A patient should non be judged as inoperable by one factor entirely, such as hapless pneumonic map. Therefore the appraisal of medical operability requires a comprehensive rating of multiple factors in the patient. To this terminal, the group of patients in the present survey all had important associated comorbidities, with CCIs of & A ; gt ; = 3. This mark has been validated in surgically resected patients with lung malignant neoplastic disease [ 15 ] , [ 16 ] . In these studies, multivariate analysis showed that a CCI & A ; gt ; = 3 was a important prognostic factor of increased hazard of major complications. In the current survey, the patients who underwent cryoablation were aged ( average age, 72 old ages ) , had important comorbidities ( average CCI, 5 ) , and hence, were considered to stand for a bad population for surgery. Although farther followup is needed, so far merely one patient in this survey has died of lung malignant neoplastic disease, and other 2 patients have died of their comorbidities. This consequence suggests that minimally invasive intervention options such as cryoablation may really be appropriate for patients with significant comorbidities. In footings of efficaciousness, there is grounds to propose that cryoablation may ensue in improved local control in comparing to RFA in nephritic tumours [ 17 ] , but to our cognition there are no surveies comparing the two modes in lung tumours. Since this is a retrospective, experimental survey with a comparatively short followup in a limited figure of extremely selected patients subjected to multiple prejudices, farther surveies are necessary to more suitably address the results of cryoablation in comparing to RFA for early phase lung malignant neoplastic disease. SBRT is besides germinating to be a promising intervention option for early phase lung malignant neoplastic disease, with singular betterments in efficaciousness and safety. The indicants for SBRT and ablative processs are expected to be really similar, and farther surveies are necessary to define the strengths and failings of each of these modes, which may be complementary instead than reciprocally sole. Travel to:FootnotesCompeting Interests: The writers have declared that no viing involvements exist. Support: No external support was received for this survey. Travel to:

The Recent Invention of Google Glass - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1540 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Information Systems Essay Type Narrative essay Topics: Google Essay Did you like this example? The recent invention of ‘Google Glass’ has stirred the world of technology, bringing forth a new revolution in wearable technological devices. The new gadget said to be released later this year, has claimed to uphold a range of possibilities in enhancing the quality of life in terms of communication through its innovative features, facilitating the way we interact with each other around the world. In relation to the many benefits provided, there are always various issues that come along with new technological products. Within this essay, I will evaluate the arguments of this topic by exploring the different perspectives for and against ‘Google Glass’ including; the many beneficial features in communication and other areas where the product can become of great use, also the various issues concerning privacy and crime. ‘Google Glass’ is an optical head mounted wearable technology with a range of easy accessible features such as hands-free components including voice and gesture control functions allowing business personnel’s, personal use and a range of other users to be able to capture memories with their eye’s and through voice control as tested by Swider (2013, pg1) â€Å"I took hands-free photos by saying; okay glass take a picture.† The beneficial attributes of Google Glass range in number as there isn’t any competition or anything like it at this stage of time. With its wireless connectivity photos, videos, podcasts and information can be shared anywhere around the world using the mentioned hands-free capabilities. With this feature businesses, journalists and other work professionals in need of access to digital media are able to capture moments of important information, send or receive it in an instance of time. In addition to its development Glass enables communication to become more easily possible with built-in microphone and a bone conduction transducer for audio signals, voice over Internet protocol (Eysenbach, 2014). Google Glass allowing communicative procedures to be more accessible on the go demonstrating a high future prospects for Google and bettering communication in our lives. Another form of its easy access transmission intelligence is the way people are able to send messages, data, photos or information through a basic head tilt, or with the touch pad on the side of the glasses. With the automatic beam of a gentle notifications by ‘Google Reminder’ information and settings that is requested by the glass owner is automatically beamed to the eye. This eliminating the struggle to take out any other device to check; notifications, weather, apps or messages, also reinforced by Swider (2013, pg1) â€Å"All of this data appeared in the top right corner of my vision, all without the need to take out my smartphone.† In this sense there are a variety of possibilities that await Google Glass in relation to better and a ccessible communication in business professions and for personal use, which is further explored throughout the essay. In regards to further possibilities of the new technology, not only is Google Glass seen to be effective in communication for business use and/or personal use, but as time elapses various literatures have proclaimed that the use of Google Glass may come into use in the medical field for communicative needs. For example documentation and even forms of communicative information such as sending data from one lab to another, creating a more convenient way of accessing and communicating important data which can be done through the use of the hands-free built-in camera, video and voice encoder (Journal of Science and Technology 2014). In a leading peer-reviewed e-Health Journal (Journal of Medical Internet Research) there had been tests and observations recently done to determine the feasibility of utilizing Google Glass in forensics. The Glass was used to perform hands -free operations and evaluate the extent of satisfaction by the images taken. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Although the images weren’t as good compared to the DSLR camera, the team had decided it’s a great strength in creating better communication and learning for medical education, reflected in the editors speech; â€Å"Students may join a complicated autopsy or operation and can see exactly what their teachers see, thus learning from watching their actions† (Eysenbach 2014). Besides the communication side of Google Glass, in the medical field various tests and examinations brought compelling use of the glasses to be used to identify results of Immuno-assays. Parviz (Cited in ACS Publications, 2014) This laboratory experiment by ‘Ozcan and Colleagues’ and other tests on the Glass have established various purposes in laboratories for scientist and physicians by empowering them with convenient on-the-go access to information , data, hands free record ing, documentation and the live sharing each other’s view point live. Within this stanza we come to realize the opportunities for Google Glass are limitless and exceed in a branch of areas which facilitate various needs for people and organizations not only through communicative features but also through its many other attributes making life easier and more convenient. Despite its positives, when a new technological product is introduced to the world, it is through its beneficial features where issues such a privacy and crime lye. In terms of privacy concerns many literatures argue that Glass may be a form of assistance in aiding criminal acts and carrying out crime across the globe in an elaborate network of Google Glasses. Dr. Katrina Michael w associate professor at the University of Wollongong Sydney, Australia reveals her concern in regards to privacy laws related to Glass arguing that â€Å"we could become walking creators of data† and expresses that â€Å"we will become more stressed† as there will be no privacy left, because we will be on the screen of someone else’s camera almost all the time. (Slane 2013). Although Dr. Michael isn’t against the Glass and its aspiring features she is uncertain about the leading result this product will cause in which she calls an ‘Unberveillance society,’ meaning â€Å"where you don’t have the right to be alone, someone is intruding your life and sharing it with other people.† Privacy today is a big issue and will remain regardless of how exposed our lives already are through social media and other innovative technologies in today’s society. Not to mention Dr. Michael still favors the Glass â€Å"but I am excited for what kind of bumper stickers may emerge. ‘Wearing Glass and Driving Is CLEARLY Dangerous’.† Therefore besides the concerns most views of the Google Glass are positive this upholding a bright perspective for communi cations through the product but the company is in definite need to review privacy laws. Revisiting the issues of Glass in relation to privacy and crime, basically the main concern for people is that the device has capabilities that can erode society’s security and maybe even safety, although there are laws in place for privacy and security in many countries. In Australia the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) regulates the handling of personal data about individuals, including; collection, use and disclosure of the information, meaning one can be convicted of a crime if they possess information of data about or of the individual without their permission. In response Google Designers have looked into the various concerns regarding its Glass recording and imaging capabilities by programing it so that it is in need of the user to give voice commands or tap the Glass. Either way (HENN 2013) claims that hackers are revealing the possibility to re-engineer Google glass to operate in a manne r different than to the way it was intended to. This calls for a re-examination and change in privacy roles (Safavi and Shukur, cited in Life Science Journal 2014, p.111). For example as mentioned by Dr Michael â€Å"You could be walking on different streets in different countries and I say ‘share with this person’ and you would see what I’m seeing and I see what you’re seeing which means we could be participating in remote crime,† (Slane 2013). Although this might seem most unlikely at the moment but as the product becomes more popular throughout the world like for example the ‘Apple iPads’ where everyone has one, then the statement made by Dr. Michael may be of concern. Either way within today’s society there isn’t much privacy left, hence as mentioned before within this stanza there is a need for the re-examination of privacy laws. In response to the potential issues raised in regards to security, privacy and crime, Google Glass announced It â€Å"will not allow facial recognition applications on Google until strong privacy protections were in place.† (Co., G. Project Glass, 2013). (Safavi and Shukur, Cited in Life Science Journal 2014, p.112). Then announcing its main priority is its users privacy, making sure there users are protected. In relation to ‘Samsung’s’ privacy issues as concerns arose regarding privacy and security of individuals worrying about their photos or a video taken of them without their consent, Samsung had disabled the ‘silent camera mode’ therefore allowing people around the user to be aware that a photo or video is being taken. Similarly Google bought forth the new design which enables only the owner to record using the device by sound or tapping which can be easily detected by those around them. Google and also Samsung have demonstrated a good example of having to review their goals due to legal and societal implications (Safavi and Shukur, Cited in Life Science Journal 2014, p.112). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Recent Invention of Google Glass" essay for you Create order