Academic literature on the topic 'Foreign market scanning'

Two new scanning type cotton trashmeters are being developed to indicate the amount of trash and foreign matter in lint cotton. These instruments are primarily intended to replace the current visual method of grading cotton for market quality. They both perform a two dimensional surface scan using a black and white television camera. High-speed microprocessors provide an analysis of the TV signal at video scan rates. Only a fraction of a second of time is required to complete all scanning, signal processing, and data analysis for each cotton sample exposure. This article discusses some common problems in TV image analysis and how they relate to cotton scanning. Also discussed are instrument precision and design features and a method of calibrating each instrument.

Allocating the operations of multinational enterprises to geographic locations where performance can be optimized has become an important strategic issue. In view of the continuing growth of international trade and foreign direct investment, managers need systematic procedures to determine global allocation strategies. Available frameworks on global business strategy are typically abstract and generalized, making them less suited for the development of tailor‐made allocation strategies. Quantitative allocation models in operations research tend to be biased towards optimizing mathematical algorithms, making them less suited to support managerial decision making. This paper bridges the gap between generic strategy frameworks and highly quantitative operations research models by presenting a scanning tool to support decision making on strategic allocation issues. An important feature of this tool is to systematically filter available data, intended to quality and quantify critical product, process and market characteristics for specific product classes. The scanning tool has been applied in two cases, involving allocation decisions of a European multinational in the fast moving consumer goods industry.

The SEM/EDS is a valuable tool in the pharmaceutical industry for aiding in the identification of isolated particles. It is a part of our systematic approach which proceeds from lower magnification techniques, e.g., stereomicroscope, to higher magnification techniques, eg., polarized light microscopy, and finally to the high magnification of SEM/EDS. Particles associated with pharmaceutical product rejects are due to a variety of sources, often due to the ubiquitous use of some materials, e.g., stainless steel alloys, in the manufacturing arena. Our particles of interest range in size from submicron to ≥ 50 μm (visible with the unaided eye), appearing in numerous shapes and/or colors. Any particles contained in a drug product or associated with the package are objectionable. Detection during production operations and/or during the terminal 100% inspection prior to market release will cause product rejection. In any case, foreign particles are not tolerated. Their identification leads to their source and thus proper corrective action.

Coatings are applied to appliances, instruments and automobiles for a variety of reasons including corrosion protection and enhancement of market value. Automobile finishes are a highly complex blend of polymeric materials which have a definite impact on the eventual ability of a car to sell. Consumers report that the gloss of the finish is one of the major items they look for in an automobile.With the finish being such an important part of the automobile, there is a zero tolerance for paint defects by auto assembly plant management. Owing to the increased complexity of the paint matrix and its inability to be “forgiving” when foreign materials are introduced into a newly applied finish, the analysis of paint defects has taken on unparalleled importance. Scanning electron microscopy with its attendant x-ray analysis capability is the premier method of examining defects and attempting to identify their root cause.Defects are normally examined by cutting out a coupon sized portion of the autobody and viewing in an SEM at various angles.

Šiandienė visuomenė ir rinka iš organizacijų reikalauja ne tik kokybiškų produktų ir paslaugų, tačiau ir gebėjimo suvokti besikeičiančius poreikius, kintančius, gal tiksliau – didėjančius gyvenimo kokybės reikalavimus. Organizacijoms išlikti konkurencingoms padeda efektyvus aplinkos stebėjimas, vertinimas ir gebėjimas prisitaikyti prie jos kismo. Šio straipsnio tikslas – išanalizuoti organizacijos aplinkos veiksnius, turinčius įtakos organizacijos veiklos efektyvumui ir nurodančius organizacijos veiksmus informacinei organizacijos aplinkai tirti. Straipsnyje organizacija analizuojama kaip atvira sistema, remiantis sistemų teorija pristatoma organizacijos sąveika su išorės aplinka, aptariami esminiai išorės aplinkos veiksniai, lemiantys verslo organizacijos veiklą. Analizuojant ir vertinant verslo organizacijos išorės aplinką supažindinama su užsienio autorių darbais, pateikiami Lietuvos verslo organizacijų atliktos apklausos rezultatai.Investigation of business enterprise information environmentRenata Matkevičienė SummaryContemporary society and market request from modern organizations qualitative products and services, as well it demands for skills to understand demands and requirements that are changing rapidly. All these conditions call for claims for life quality. Organizations should make effective environmental scanning and evaluation of it, as well they should have an ability to adjust to changes in it.The aim of the article is to analyze factors of environment that have impact on effectiveness of organization activities and setting the set of organizational actions that are used in informational environmental scanning.In the article there are presented several main aspects of the analyzed item: organization as an open system, interaction of organization with external environment, main factors of external environment, that impact organizational activities. There are discussed works of Lithuanian and foreign authors on business organization external environment scanning, as well there are presented results of Lithuanian business enterprises survey.Talking about modern organization there should be taken to account several important aspects of discussion: first of all there should be mentioned that contemporary organization is acting in social environment that is impact by humans, as well as by external social forces; second, contemporary organizations could be analyzed in different aspects based on definition of organization. Some organizations could be defined as an effective mechanism with bureaucratic governance, with clear role of managerial personnel and even more clear understanding or importance and set of organizational structure.Wideness of definition of contemporary organization implies understanding of business enterprise as complex, miscellaneous and open system. Based on the results of survey presented in the article there are made supposition that set of metaphors for organization depends on executives of organization, and partly on market place and character of organizational activities.Definition of modern organization implies duality of organizational activities: 1) organizational orientation toward external activities (possibilities and skills to evaluate possible influence of external factors to organizational activities and to plan possible reaction to external conditions), and 2) organizational orientation toward internal factors and activities (possibilities and skills of modern organization to overhaul internal activities and possibilities to react and to adapt to changes in environment). Understanding of business organization as an open system allows and indicates organizational orientation not only toward aims, tasks, activities, but organizational behavior in external environment too. External environment of business enterprise is quite complicate: it involves clients, customers, competitors, suppliers, professional unions, public and governmental institutions. As well those groups of external environment could be formed in 1) contextual or target groups, and 2) general audience. Modern organization and its activities mainly depend on informational and communication skills that warrant possibilities of external environment scanning. Informational environment scanning is critical for modern organization because it provides information on organizational positions, clients, their needs, general competitive environment. External environment scanning in business enterprise provides information from various sectors and ensures organizational learning possibilities that are substantial for modern knowledge seeking organization: for long term planning, for decision making and for setting organizational development and growth.

Learning outcomes The case study illustrated strategic, marketing, financial and operational challenges faced by Netflix in India's growing SVoD market. This case is appropriate in courses such as Strategic Management, Business Strategy, Marketing Management and International Marketing for postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students. The case was developed to raise awareness among students, to understand the complex nature of the technology-driven industry, to survive in the highly competitive market, to set up a company that serves the huge Indian market. This case delves into the dynamics of marketing on the Indian market, characterized by unorganized players such as local cable television; torrent downloads and organized and established players, low digitalization rates, language barriers, low internet penetration, lack of infrastructure, price-sensitive consumers. Due to up-gradation in technology, internet penetration, an increase in smartphone users, and the market has undergone a notable amount of change, due to a lot on new entrants, competitions, substitutes. The case states various obstacles, for a multinational company while entering the market such as India and how they are required to strategize, mold their marketing mix, need to analyze en-cash their strength, overcome their weakness, take maximum advantage of opportunities and modify their strategies to face huge challenges. The specific learning outcome of the case will help students to understand the strategy that multinational companies can adopt to sustain, compete in emerging countries such as India and within that emerging market such as streaming videos on demand (SVoD). This case will help students to understand the importance of internal and external resources, which help multinational companies to make strategies based on these resources. The case study offers learners the opportunity to explore the strategy in a dynamic environment. This case also highlights the critical issues that should be addressed by multinational companies when entering into a foreign market. The case highlights the importance of analyzing the competitive environment in which it’s going to compete and sustain. It can be used to introduce Ansoff’s growth matrix, internal and external factor analysis and porter’s five forces in the delivery of course for both regular and executive programs. The case should be offered in the middle term periods of the course. Additionally, the case could be used in marketing courses to indicate the importance of scanning the business environment in marketing activities for any organization. The case illustrates the strategies that companies can undertake to expand the market, introduce new products, as per the requirement of business environment and concerns linked with innovating approaches to support the organization to satisfy a larger number of price-sensitive consumers from varied backgrounds. Case overview/synopsis Netflix has been optimistic about the potential growth of the Indian market. It will grow slowly and gradually and become profitable. The SVoD market in India has been price sensitive. There are no plans for cheaper prices. Netflix had a long way to go. The pricing model of Netflix was a hurdle in its growth, but the future of Netflix in India was bright. There have been numerous challenges in terms of government regulations, pricing structure and an increase in the number of competitive players on the market. Netflix believed that Indian audiences enjoyed “Bollywood” film productions but watched low-quality soap opera content on television. Television audiences were a massive untapped market for their brand of original, exclusively produced content. Can Netflix come up with a marketing and growth strategy, or else they might be looking to lose market share and revenue. Should a new product such as Amazon and MI fire stick be introduced in the existing market like their competitors? Should they enter the existing market with existing products, or should they seek a new market in India, such as the rural market, the Pyramid market, the Tier II market and the City III market? Should they diversify into a new market with new products? How Netflix should plan its market communication if it wants to launch a new product or if it wants to reposition its existing product. Netflix had to rethink its strategies and also needed to address these issues so that they could travel smoothly on Indian roads. High marketing budget and aggressive promotions helped Netflix India to make a profit in its first year. Complexity academic level Postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Goal. The purpose of the work is to develop an aerial photography complex based on a DJI S1000 helicopter UAV for aerial photography, which includes a laser scanner (LS) and a digital camera (CPC). Method. For several decades, aerial photography has been an effective tool for geodetic works, geophysical surveys and various types of monitoring. On the other hand, the use of not only digital imaging, but also laser scanning of objects allows to maximize the accuracy of obtaining the coordinates of points on the ground and eliminate such a process as plan-height binding in the field, which occupies more than 80 % of field work that is, much cheaper the process of creating cartographic materials. In addition, the use of laser scanners on board unmanned aerial vehicles helps to solve a number of scientific and applied problems in various fields, such as engineering research, environmental monitoring, landscape research and modeling, construction, architecture, archeology and more. Comprehensive study, research and monitoring of the environment involves the availability and use of highly efficient modern technologies, special software for data processing and analysis and qualified human resources. Aerial laser scanners are the latest high-precision technology for obtaining data about the object by noncontact method and have a multi-purpose purpose. I have been actively using them in the world since the early 2000s. They have a number of advantages over traditional aerial photography. Drugs are manufactured by the world’s leading companies, they are available on the market and are in great demand among foreign specialists. Unfortunately, in Ukraine, airborne laser scanners are used in limited quantities to perform special tasks with the involvement of foreign experts. In this area we have a significant lag compared to other European countries. Therefore, the acquisition and application of such a software and technology complex and UAV will help solve and accelerate the solution of many important scientific and applied problems in Ukraine, as well as increase the potential, opportunities and prestige in domestic and world science and practice. Results. A mock-up model of installation and implementation of Velodyne VLP-16 on a DJI S1000 helicopter UAV has been developed. The authors analyzed the known systems and created the best option for connecting and connecting the elements, which made it possible to simplify the layout of the devices, which in turn made it possible to reduce the cost of the proposed complex. Scientific novelty and practical significance. For the first time in Ukraine, a method of installing a helicopter-type UAV was developed and proposed. With the help of an airborne laser scanning system installed on board an unmanned aerial vehicle of helicopter type it is possible to solve a number of important scientific and applied tasks, such as: monitoring the technical condition of large and hard-to-reach structures – nuclear, hydro and thermal power plants, power lines, etc. ; monitoring the condition of roads, detecting places of surface damage and other dangerous places in order to prevent car accidents; detection of damage to forests and agricultural lands; observation and prevention of landslides in mountains and industrial quarries, places of soil erosion; monitoring of water resources, changes in contours and heights of the coastal strip; detection of roof defects, deformations, wall cracks on highrise buildings for architectural measurements, 3D modeling, documentation and preservation of cultural heritage sites; assistance in archaeological exploration to identify archaeological sites and study artifacts. In addition, peripheral drugs can be installed on other moving objects (cars, railcars, boats, etc.) and scanning from fixed bases in stationary conditions.

Modern geodesic support is an integral and essential element of the process of collecting spatial information. The article considers geodesic methods for creating a unique geoinformation space: digitization of cartographic materials, ground survey methods (electronic total stations, 3D laser scanning), remote sensing and methods of the global navigation satellite systems GLONASS and GPS. The article also contains recommended conversion options between the coordinate systems SK-95 and GSK-2011. A comparative analysis of the surveyed geodesic methods for geodata col-lection was carried out. Russian and foreign markets of specialized software for processing geodata are considered, appropriate conclusions are made.

Laryngeal stenosis is a partial or complete narrowing of the endolarynx and has many etiologies. Common causes of laryngeal stenosis are iatrogenic (prolonged intubation, laryngeal surgery), external neck trauma, congenital, burns, ingestions, infection, and inflammation (gastroesophageal reflux or Wegener’s). Laryngeal stenosis secondary to trauma usually affects the posterior endolaryngeal region in adults and the subglottic region in children.1 Patients with mild to moderate laryngeal stenosis are usually asymptomatic and if otherwise, majority of the presenting signs and symptoms are mainly related to the airway, feeding and voice resulting to marked respiratory distress, dysphagia/odynophagia and altered voice, respectively. We present a case of hypopharyngeal, supraglottic and subglottic stenosis occurring 1 week after intubation. CASE REPORT A 3-year old boy from Ormoc City was admitted in our institution for dysphagia of 2 months. Three months prior to admission, he was treated for hypersensitivity reaction after eating shrimp and crab. The boy experienced sudden onset perioral swelling with bluish discoloration, dyspnea, severe drooling and vomiting of previously ingested food immediately after taking a vitamin supplement syrup that had been preceded by the dinner of crustaceans. He was immediately brought to a primary hospital in Ormoc City but was not relieved by nebulization and unrecalled intravenous medications. The boy was eventually transferred to a tertiary hospital in Ormoc City. During this time, perioral swelling, dyspnea and cyanosis with associated severe drooling persisted. He was also noted to have stridor, was intubated and subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit for 7 days with an impression of severe hypersensitivity reaction secondary to crustacean ingestion. He was fed via a nasogastric tube (NGT). His condition eventually improved and the endotracheal tube was removed after 7 days. According to the relatives, there was significant increase in expectoration of saliva hours after removal of the endotracheal tube, allegedly occurring almost every minute, accompanied by drooling. There was no fever, no difficulty of breathing, no aspiration, no vomiting episodes and no easy fatigability noted at this time. However, the boy was noted to have dysphagia associated with frequent coughing and expectoration of saliva on intake of both fluids and solid food following removal of the NGT. His relatives denied any episodes of dyspnea, vomiting, cyanosis, easy fatigability or fever, and he was subsequently discharged after 1 month of confinement. One month and three weeks prior to admission, he still presented with dysphagia, frequent spitting of saliva and now with associated wheezing and weight loss on follow-up at the hospital. He was referred to a pediatric pulmonologist in Cebu City for further evaluation and management. One month before admission, a thickened epiglottis was seen on neck and chest CT-scan and “acquired subglottic stenosis, post intubation” was diagnosed, for which direct laryngoscopy was recommended. The relatives did not consent, and the boy was discharged on Betamethasone + Dexchlorpheniramine syrup for 5 days, Montelukast Na oral granules for 30 days, and Amoxicillin suspension and Salbutamol syrup for 7 days. Nineteen days prior to admission, with persistence of the previously-mentioned symptoms, the boy was brought to our outpatient service and subsequently admitted. On admission, he was ambulatory and not in cardiorespiratory distress. He still had symptoms of increased expectoration and drooling with associated dysphagia for both liquids and solid foods. Because of difficulty inserting a nasogastric tube, he had to subsist on small, frequent sips of fluids consisting mostly of milk and water. Fluid thickeners improved swallowing. Initial flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopy revealed a thickened epiglottic area obscuring the vocal cords. A modified barium swallow and airway fluoroscopy showed aryepiglottic fold thickening and non-persistent episodes of narrowing at the supraglottic and glottic areas. A trace of nasopharyngeal regurgitation was also noted without any gross tracheal aspiration. Flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopy by a laryngologist revealed a normal nasopharynx, absent epiglottis, absent pyriform sinuses, stenotic hypopharynx and supraglottis, normal vocal cord structure and mobility with grade 1 subglottic stenosis. (Figures 1 A-D) Possible laser surgical release of fibrosis and removal of strictures was recommended, with close observation until then. Meanwhile, due to persistent dysphagia and significant weight loss, he underwent gastrostomy and was started on supplements for nutritional build up. DISCUSSION Laryngeal stenosis is a partial or complete cicatricial narrowing of the endolarynx and may be congenital or acquired.1 Trauma is the most common cause of acquired laryngeal stenosis, both in children and in adults, and is classified as external laryngeal trauma or internal laryngeal trauma. The latter is more commonly due to iatrogenic causes, especially prolonged endotracheal intubation.2 Approximately 90% of cases of acquired chronic subglottic stenosis in infants and children occur secondary to endotracheal intubation. The reported incidence of stenosis after intubation ranges from less than 1% to 8.3%.1 In our case, the patient initially presented with persistent dysphagia with associated excessive drooling and increased expectoration after intubation for 1 week. A study by Gallo et al. of 70 patients with laryngeal stenosis revealed that the causes of stenosis may be numerous (including intubation, autoimmune disease, iatrogenic) and multiple areas of the airway can be involved.3 The reported incidence of tracheal stenosis following laryngotracheal intubation ranges from 6% to 21%.3 They further explained that erosion and mucosal necrosis occur within hours of endotracheal intubation and full thickness injury exposes cartilage with development of perichondritis if the tube is not withdrawn within a week. Re-epithelialization of the edges of the ulceration follows and healing is completed within 4 weeks. The previous site of the ulceration is usually marked with fibrosis and metaplastic squamous epithelium. The risk of tissue damage and development of laryngotracheal stenosis increases depending on the severity of the ulceration and if the healing process is delayed by secondary infection.3 Duration of intubation and size of the endotracheal tube are the most important factors in the development of laryngeal stenosis, but no definite safe time limit for endotracheal intubation has been established. Severe injury has been reported after 17 hours of intubation in adults and 1 week after intubation in neonates. The area most commonly injured in children is the subglottic region.1 Initial evaluation when suspecting laryngeal stenosis includes radiographic evaluation to aid in assessing the degree and length of stenosis. Computed tomography scanning (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning are not standard techniques to assess the laryngotracheal airway but may be used as an adjunctive diagnostic technique to help determine the length of the stenosis or concurrent vascular compression.4 Initial Computed Tomography (CT) scans prior to admission revealed only thickening of the epiglottis with narrowing of the subglottic region. The extent of involvement was not determined until flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopy revealed absence of the epiglottis and pyriform sinuses, hypopharyngeal and supraglottic stenosis and grade 1 subglottic stenosis with normal vocal cord structure and mobility. Flexible and rigid endoscopy should be a part of assessment as they allow direct inspection of the dynamic laryngeal and hypopharyngeal airway.4 As illustrated in this case, fluoroscopy is also helpful in studying tracheal dynamics.1 The basic techniques for management of laryngeal stenosis include endoscopic and external methods. Wiatrak suggested that conservative management or a “wait-and-see” approach may be considered.4 The management of laryngeal stenosis in infants and young children should be conservative, since in the majority of cases, the stenosis will improve with laryngeal growth.5 While such management may be considered in our case, it is rarely successful for acquired laryngeal stenosis. Endoscopic methods including balloon dilatation and laser assisted excision are options, although the former is only beneficial in cases of early, soft stenosis, before mature, firm stenosis has developed.4 Open surgical methods include expansion and resection surgery. Open surgical procedures should only be recommended when it has been established by careful endoscopic assessment that the laryngeal lumen has not increased in size.5 According to Gallo et al., tracheal resection and anastomosis is considered the treatment of choice for tracheal stenosis.3 However, this approach may not be applicable when the glottis and/or the subglottis are also involved. Moreover, it may not be feasible due to the extent of the stenosis, underlying disease and general health of the patient.3 While grade 1 stenosis may be managed by open surgery, it may also be amenable to endoscopic techniques. The challenge for this case includes correction of the laryngeal area, ensuring stability of airway and improving general status and health with the least invasive management possible. The use of stents offers another management option for laryngeal stenosis. Alshammari and Monnier used laryngotracheal stents on 65 patients during open surgery and endoscopy to keep the airway expanded after surgical reconstruction or trauma. However, they also reiterate that stents should be avoided unless absolutely necessary since there are potential risks for mucosal injuries, ulcerations, granulation tissue formation and subsequent restenosis.6 According to Zanetta et al., there is no ideal stent for the treatment of subglottic stenosis in children and that it can act as a foreign body in the reconstructed airway causing difficulties for feeding and in voice production.7 Our proposed method for addressing the laryngeal stenosis is to attempt laser excision to correct the affected areas and hopefully improve the feeding status while ensuring stability of the airway. At present, nutritional build up is the initial target in preparation for the contemplated procedure. Laryngeal stenosis in the pediatric population is one of the most controversial topics in pediatric otolaryngology. There are various techniques available for management of laryngeal stenosis. Therapeutic procedures range from repeated dilatation, prolonged laryngeal stenting with or without the use of steroids, the use of carbon dioxide laser to create an airway with or without tracheostomy (through a laryngeal mask airway), to early tracheostomy and open surgery.5,8 However, feasibility of the technique, invasiveness, as well as possible outcome are some of the problems a physician may encounter. We should always consider individualizing our management according to pathologic findings, patient’s age, degree and consistency of stenosis and importantly, the general condition of the patient. Echoing Evans, one could at least give the parents of pediatric patients a reasonably accurate prognosis, and the hope that their child can be restored to normality.5

Introduction Explorations of the multimedia game format within cultural studies have been broadly approached from two perspectives: one -- the impact of technologies on user interaction particularly with regard to social implications, and the other -- human computer interactions within the framework of cybercultures. Another approach to understanding or speaking about games within cultural studies is to focus on the game experience as cultural practice -- as an activity or an event. In this article I wish to initiate an exploration of the aesthetics of player space as a distinctive element of the gameplay experience. In doing so I propose that an understanding of aesthetic spatial issues as an element of player interactivity and engagement is important for understanding the cultural practice of adventure gameplay. In approaching these questions, I am focussing on the single-player exploration adventure game in particular Myst and The Crystal Key. In describing these games as adventures I am drawing on Chris Crawford's The Art of Computer Game Design, which although a little dated, focusses on game design as a distinct activity. He brings together a theoretical approach with extensive experience as a game designer himself (Excalibur, Legionnaire, Gossip). Whilst at Atari he also worked with Brenda Laurel, a key theorist in the area of computer design and dramatic structure. Adventure games such as Myst and The Crystal Key might form a sub-genre in Chris Crawford's taxonomy of computer game design. Although they use the main conventions of the adventure game -- essentially a puzzle to be solved with characters within a story context -- the main focus and source of pleasure for the player is exploration, particularly the exploration of worlds or cosmologies. The main gameplay of both games is to travel through worlds solving clues, picking up objects, and interacting with other characters. In Myst the player has to solve the riddle of the world they have entered -- as the CD-ROM insert states "Now you're here, wherever here is, with no option but to explore." The goal, as the player must work out, is to release the father Atrus from prison by bringing magic pages of a book to different locations in the worlds. Hints are offered by broken-up, disrupted video clips shown throughout the game. In The Crystal Key, the player as test pilot has to save a civilisation by finding clues, picking up objects, mending ships and defeating an opponent. The questions foregrounded by a focus on the aesthetics of navigation are: What types of representational context are being set up? What choices have designers made about representational context? How are the players positioned within these spaces? What are the implications for the player's sense of orientation and navigation? Architectural Fabrication For the ancient Greeks, painting was divided into two categories: magalography (the painting of great things) and rhyparography (the painting of small things). Magalography covered mythological and historical scenes, which emphasised architectural settings, the human figure and grand landscapes. Rhyparography referred to still lifes and objects. In adventure games, particularly those that attempt to construct a cosmology such as Myst and The Crystal Key, magalography and rhyparography collide in a mix of architectural monumentality and obsessive detailing of objects. For the ancient Greeks, painting was divided into two categories: magalography (the painting of great things) and rhyparography (the painting of small things). Magalography covered mythological and historical scenes, which emphasised architectural settings, the human figure and grand landscapes. Rhyparography referred to still lifes and objects. In adventure games, particularly those that attempt to construct a cosmology such as Myst and The Crystal Key, magalography and rhyparography collide in a mix of architectural monumentality and obsessive detailing of objects. The creation of a digital architecture in adventure games mimics the Pompeii wall paintings with their interplay of extruded and painted features. In visualising the space of a cosmology, the environment starts to be coded like the urban or built environment with underlying geometry and textured surface or dressing. In The Making of Myst (packaged with the CD-ROM) Chuck Carter, the artist on Myst, outlines the process of creating Myst Island through painting the terrain in grey scale then extruding the features and adding textural render -- a methodology that lends itself to a hybrid of architectural and painted geometry. Examples of external architecture and of internal room design can be viewed online. In the spatial organisation of the murals of Pompeii and later Rome, orthogonals converged towards several vertical axes showing multiple points of view simultaneously. During the high Renaissance, notions of perspective developed into a more formal system known as the construzione legittima or legitimate construction. This assumed a singular position of the on-looker standing in the same place as that occupied by the artist when the painting was constructed. In Myst there is an exaggeration of the underlying structuring technique of the construzione legittima with its emphasis on geometry and mathematics. The player looks down at a slight angle onto the screen from a fixed vantage point and is signified as being within the cosmological expanse, either in off-screen space or as the cursor. Within the cosmology, the island as built environment appears as though viewed through an enlarging lens, creating the precision and coldness of a Piero della Francesca painting. Myst mixes flat and three-dimensional forms of imagery on the same screen -- the flat, sketchy portrayal of the trees of Myst Island exists side-by-side with the monumental architectural buildings and landscape design structures created in Macromodel. This image shows the flat, almost expressionistic trees of Myst Island juxtaposed with a fountain rendered in high detail. This recalls the work of Giotto in the Arena chapel. In Joachim's Dream, objects and buildings have depth, but trees, plants and sky -- the space in-between objects -- is flat. Myst Island conjures up the realm of a magic, realist space with obsolete artefacts, classic architectural styles (the Albert Hall as the domed launch pad, the British Museum as the library, the vernacular cottage in the wood), mechanical wonders, miniature ships, fountains, wells, macabre torture instruments, ziggurat-like towers, symbols and odd numerological codes. Adam Mates describes it as "that beautiful piece of brain-deadening sticky-sweet eye-candy" but more than mere eye-candy or graphic verisimilitude, it is the mix of cultural ingredients and signs that makes Myst an intriguing place to play. The buildings in The Crystal Key, an exploratory adventure game in a similar genre to Myst, celebrate the machine aesthetic and modernism with Buckminster Fuller style geodesic structures, the bombe shape, exposed ducting, glass and steel, interiors with movable room partitions and abstract expressionist decorations. An image of one of these modernist structures is available online. The Crystal Key uses QuickTime VR panoramas to construct the exterior and interior spaces. Different from the sharp detail of Myst's structures, the focus changes from sharp in wide shot to soft focus in close up, with hot-spot objects rendered in trompe l'oeil detail. The Tactility of Objects "The aim of trompe l'oeil -- using the term in its widest sense and applying it to both painting and objects -- is primarily to puzzle and to mystify" (Battersby 19). In the 15th century, Brunelleschi invented a screen with central apparatus in order to obtain exact perspective -- the monocular vision of the camera obscura. During the 17th century, there was a renewed interest in optics by the Dutch artists of the Rembrandt school (inspired by instruments developed for Dutch seafaring ventures), in particular Vermeer, Hoogstraten, de Hooch and Dou. Gerard Dou's painting of a woman chopping onions shows this. These artists were experimenting with interior perspective and trompe l'oeil in order to depict the minutia of the middle-class, domestic interior. Within these luminous interiors, with their receding tiles and domestic furniture, is an elevation of the significance of rhyparography. In the Girl Chopping Onions of 1646 by Gerard Dou the small things are emphasised -- the group of onions, candlestick holder, dead fowl, metal pitcher, and bird cage. Trompe l'oeil as an illusionist strategy is taken up in the worlds of Myst, The Crystal Key and others in the adventure game genre. Traditionally, the fascination of trompe l'oeil rests upon the tension between the actual painting and the scam; the physical structures and the faux painted structures call for the viewer to step closer to wave at a fly or test if the glass had actually broken in the frame. Mirian Milman describes trompe l'oeil painting in the following manner: "the repertory of trompe-l'oeil painting is made up of obsessive elements, it represents a reality immobilised by nails, held in the grip of death, corroded by time, glimpsed through half-open doors or curtains, containing messages that are sometimes unreadable, allusions that are often misunderstood, and a disorder of seemingly familiar and yet remote objects" (105). Her description could be a scene from Myst with in its suggestion of theatricality, rich texture and illusionistic play of riddle or puzzle. In the trompe l'oeil painterly device known as cartellino, niches and recesses in the wall are represented with projecting elements and mock bas-relief. This architectural trickery is simulated in the digital imaging of extruded and painting elements to give depth to an interior or an object. Other techniques common to trompe l'oeil -- doors, shadowy depths and staircases, half opened cupboard, and paintings often with drapes and curtains to suggest a layering of planes -- are used throughout Myst as transition points. In the trompe l'oeil paintings, these transition points were often framed with curtains or drapes that appeared to be from the spectator space -- creating a painting of a painting effect. Myst is rich in this suggestion of worlds within worlds through the framing gesture afforded by windows, doors, picture frames, bookcases and fireplaces. Views from a window -- a distant landscape or a domestic view, a common device for trompe l'oeil -- are used in Myst to represent passageways and transitions onto different levels. Vertical space is critical for extending navigation beyond the horizontal through the terraced landscape -- the tower, antechamber, dungeon, cellars and lifts of the fictional world. Screen shots show the use of the curve, light diffusion and terracing to invite the player. In The Crystal Key vertical space is limited to the extent of the QTVR tilt making navigation more of a horizontal experience. Out-Stilling the Still Dutch and Flemish miniatures of the 17th century give the impression of being viewed from above and through a focussing lens. As Mastai notes: "trompe l'oeil, therefore is not merely a certain kind of still life painting, it should in fact 'out-still' the stillest of still lifes" (156). The intricate detailing of objects rendered in higher resolution than the background elements creates a type of hyper-reality that is used in Myst to emphasise the physicality and actuality of objects. This ultimately enlarges the sense of space between objects and codes them as elements of significance within the gameplay. The obsessive, almost fetishistic, detailed displays of material artefacts recall the curiosity cabinets of Fabritius and Hoogstraten. The mechanical world of Myst replicates the Dutch 17th century fascination with the optical devices of the telescope, the convex mirror and the prism, by coding them as key signifiers/icons in the frame. In his peepshow of 1660, Hoogstraten plays with an enigma and optical illusion of a Dutch domestic interior seen as though through the wrong end of a telescope. Using the anamorphic effect, the image only makes sense from one vantage point -- an effect which has a contemporary counterpart in the digital morphing widely used in adventure games. The use of crumbled or folded paper standing out from the plane surface of the canvas was a recurring motif of the Vanitas trompe l'oeil paintings. The highly detailed representation and organisation of objects in the Vanitas pictures contained the narrative or symbology of a religious or moral tale. (As in this example by Hoogstraten.) In the cosmology of Myst and The Crystal Key, paper contains the narrative of the back-story lovingly represented in scrolls, books and curled paper messages. The entry into Myst is through the pages of an open book, and throughout the game, books occupy a privileged position as holders of stories and secrets that are used to unlock the puzzles of the game. Myst can be read as a Dantesque, labyrinthine journey with its rich tapestry of images, its multi-level historical associations and battle of good and evil. Indeed the developers, brothers Robyn and Rand Miller, had a fertile background to draw on, from a childhood spent travelling to Bible churches with their nondenominational preacher father. The Diorama as System Event The diorama (story in the round) or mechanical exhibit invented by Daguerre in the 19th century created a mini-cosmology with player anticipation, action and narrative. It functioned as a mini-theatre (with the spectator forming the fourth wall), offering a peek into mini-episodes from foreign worlds of experience. The Musée Mechanique in San Francisco has dioramas of the Chinese opium den, party on the captain's boat, French execution scenes and ghostly graveyard episodes amongst its many offerings, including a still showing an upper class dancing party called A Message from the Sea. These function in tandem with other forbidden pleasures of the late 19th century -- public displays of the dead, waxwork museums and kinetescope flip cards with their voyeuristic "What the Butler Saw", and "What the Maid Did on Her Day Off" tropes. Myst, along with The 7th Guest, Doom and Tomb Raider show a similar taste for verisimilitude and the macabre. However, the pre-rendered scenes of Myst and The Crystal Key allow for more diorama like elaborate and embellished details compared to the emphasis on speed in the real-time-rendered graphics of the shoot-'em-ups. In the gameplay of adventure games, animated moments function as rewards or responsive system events: allowing the player to navigate through the seemingly solid wall; enabling curtains to be swung back, passageways to appear, doors to open, bookcases to disappear. These short sequences resemble the techniques used in mechanical dioramas where a coin placed in the slot enables a curtain or doorway to open revealing a miniature narrative or tableau -- the closure of the narrative resulting in the doorway shutting or the curtain being pulled over again. These repeating cycles of contemplation-action-closure offer the player one of the rewards of the puzzle solution. The sense of verisimilitude and immersion in these scenes is underscored by the addition of sound effects (doors slamming, lifts creaking, room atmosphere) and music. Geographic Locomotion Static imagery is the standard backdrop of the navigable space of the cosmology game landscape. Myst used a virtual camera around a virtual set to create a sequence of still camera shots for each point of view. The use of the still image lends itself to a sense of the tableauesque -- the moment frozen in time. These tableauesque moments tend towards the clean and anaesthetic, lacking any evidence of the player's visceral presence or of other human habitation. The player's navigation from one tableau screen to the next takes the form of a 'cyber-leap' or visual jump cut. These jumps -- forward, backwards, up, down, west, east -- follow on from the geographic orientation of the early text-based adventure games. In their graphic form, they reveal a new framing angle or point of view on the scene whilst ignoring the rules of classical continuity editing. Games such as The Crystal Key show the player's movement through space (from one QTVR node to another) by employing a disorientating fast zoom, as though from the perspective of a supercharged wheelchair. Rather than reconciling the player to the state of movement, this technique tends to draw attention to the technologies of the programming apparatus. The Crystal Key sets up a meticulous screen language similar to filmic dramatic conventions then breaks its own conventions by allowing the player to jump out of the crashed spaceship through the still intact window. The landscape in adventure games is always partial, cropped and fragmented. The player has to try and map the geographical relationship of the environment in order to understand where they are and how to proceed (or go back). Examples include selecting the number of marker switches on the island to receive Atrus's message and the orientation of Myst's tower in the library map to obtain key clues. A screenshot shows the arrival point in Myst from the dock. In comprehending the landscape, which has no centre, the player has to create a mental map of the environment by sorting significant connecting elements into chunks of spatial elements similar to a Guy Debord Situationist map. Playing the Flaneur The player in Myst can afford to saunter through the landscape, meandering at a more leisurely pace that would be possible in a competitive shoot-'em-up, behaving as a type of flaneur. The image of the flaneur as described by Baudelaire motions towards fin de siècle decadence, the image of the socially marginal, the dispossessed aristocrat wandering the urban landscape ready for adventure and unusual exploits. This develops into the idea of the artist as observer meandering through city spaces and using the power of memory in evoking what is observed for translation into paintings, writing or poetry. In Myst, the player as flaneur, rather than creating paintings or writing, is scanning the landscape for clues, witnessing objects, possible hints and pick-ups. The numbers in the keypad in the antechamber, the notes from Atrus, the handles on the island marker, the tower in the forest and the miniature ship in the fountain all form part of a mnemomic trompe l'oeil. A screenshot shows the path to the library with one of the island markers and the note from Atrus. In the world of Myst, the player has no avatar presence and wanders around a seemingly unpeopled landscape -- strolling as a tourist venturing into the unknown -- creating and storing a mental map of objects and places. In places these become items for collection -- cultural icons with an emphasised materiality. In The Crystal Key iconography they appear at the bottom of the screen pulsing with relevance when active. A screenshot shows a view to a distant forest with the "pick-ups" at the bottom of the screen. This process of accumulation and synthesis suggests a Surrealist version of Joseph Cornell's strolls around Manhattan -- collecting, shifting and organising objects into significance. In his 1982 taxonomy of game design, Chris Crawford argues that without competition these worlds are not really games at all. That was before the existence of the Myst adventure sub-genre where the pleasures of the flaneur are a particular aspect of the gameplay pleasures outside of the rules of win/loose, combat and dominance. By turning the landscape itself into a pathway of significance signs and symbols, Myst, The Crystal Key and other games in the sub-genre offer different types of pleasures from combat or sport -- the pleasures of the stroll -- the player as observer and cultural explorer. References Battersby, M. Trompe L'Oeil: The Eye Deceived. New York: St. Martin's, 1974. Crawford, C. The Art of Computer Game Design. Original publication 1982, book out of print. 15 Oct. 2000 <http://members.nbci.com/kalid/art/art.php>. Darley Andrew. Visual Digital Culture: Surface Play and Spectacle in New Media Genres. London: Routledge, 2000. Lunenfeld, P. Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P 1999. Mates, A. Effective Illusory Worlds: A Comparative Analysis of Interfaces in Contemporary Interactive Fiction. 1998. 15 Oct. 2000 <http://www.wwa.com/~mathes/stuff/writings>. Mastai, M. L. d'Orange. Illusion in Art, Trompe L'Oeil: A History of Pictorial Illusion. New York: Abaris, 1975. Miller, Robyn and Rand. "The Making of Myst." Myst. Cyan and Broderbund, 1993. Milman, M. Trompe-L'Oeil: The Illusion of Reality. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 1982. Murray, J. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997. Wertheim, M. The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Cyberspace from Dante to the Internet. Sydney: Doubleday, 1999. Game References 7th Guest. Trilobyte, Inc., distributed by Virgin Games, 1993. Doom. Id Software, 1992. Excalibur. Chris Crawford, 1982. Myst. Cyan and Broderbund, 1993. Tomb Raider. Core Design and Eidos Interactive, 1996. The Crystal Key. Dreamcatcher Interactive, 1999. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Bernadette Flynn. "Towards an Aesthetics of Navigation -- Spatial Organisation in the Cosmology of the Adventure Game." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3.5 (2000). [your date of access] <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0010/navigation.php>. Chicago style: Bernadette Flynn, "Towards an Aesthetics of Navigation -- Spatial Organisation in the Cosmology of the Adventure Game," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3, no. 5 (2000), <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0010/navigation.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Bernadette Flynn. (2000) Towards an aesthetics of navigation -- spatial organisation in the cosmology of the adventure game. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3(5). <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0010/navigation.php> ([your date of access]).

The object of this research was to develop an international market screening methodology which selects highly attractive markets, allowing for the ranges in diversity amongst organisations, countries and products. Conventional business thought is that, every two to five years, dynamic organisations which conduct business internationally should decide which additional foreign market or markets to next enter. If they are internationally inexperienced, this will be their first market; if they are experienced, it might be, say, their 100th market. How should each organisation select their next international market? One previous attempt has been made to quantitatively test which decision variables, and what weights, should be used when choosing between the 230 countries of the world. The literature indicate that a well-informed selection decision could consider over 150 variables that measure aspects of each foreign market's economic, political, legal, cultural, technical and physical environments. Additionally, attributes of the organisation have not been considered when selecting the most attractive short-list of markets. The findings presented in the dissertation are that 30 criteria accounted for 95 per cent of variance at cross-classification rates of 95 per cent. The weights of each variable, and the markets selected statistically as being the most attractive, were found to vary with the capabilities, goals and values of the organisation. This frequently means that different countries will be best for different organisations selling the same product. A

International business communities will not automatically accept the tenets of a foreign nation's business ideals. It is imperative for business owners to truly understand the environment that they wish to communicate their business efforts to in an effort to garner consumers. Through market research strategies like environmental scanning and descriptive research, companies can better understand their potential customer base and build strategies towards gaining market share. Business leaders must strategize the systems used and tailor their efforts to specific audiences. Communities are different and global market strategies should differ as well according to audience. In this book, readers will learn the fundamentals of global market research and its relationship to the business-to-consumer market while gaining access to a number of resources.

This paper presents the characterization studies conducted by Milwaukee School of Engineering senior undergraduate students in South Africa under the Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant EEC-1460183 sponsored by the National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator Dr. Kumpaty). Robert Mueller and Christopher Reynolds conducted research in summer of 2015 under advisement of Dr. Kumpaty and his South African collaborators, Dr. Esther Akinlabi and Dr. Sisa Pityana. The foreign collaborators’ excellent support was pivotal to the success of our U.S. students. Ti-6 Al-4 V is a titanium alloy that accounts for about 80% of the titanium market. The Ti-64 alloy contains 6 wt% Aluminum and 4 wt% Vanadium, an almost equal ratio of α + β phases. Through the laser surface modification process known as Laser Meal Deposition, this alloy offers the optimum combination of enhanced properties. This research focuses on the application of adding a combination of molybdenum (Mo) and Ti-64 powders to a Ti-64 substrate surface in order to improve the durability for various biomedical/aerospace applications. Deposition of the powders was completed at the CSIR - National Laser Center, in Pretoria, South Africa. The characterization studies were carried out at the University of Johannesburg. The results of the hardness tests showed that the addition of molybdenum to Ti-64 increased the hardness of the deposited material compared to that of the substrate. This verifies that the addition of Mo to metals can affect the mechanical properties to better suit various applications. While Robert Mueller studied the effect of laser power on the properties of laser metal deposited Ti-6Al-4V + Mo for wear resistance enhancement, Christopher Reynolds investigated scanning velocity influence on the evolving properties of laser metal deposited Ti-6Al-4V + Mo. The results of this promising research and various options for further investigation are presented. The beneficial value of such a global research enterprise on the budding engineers will be apparent and the paper details the process of the international component of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates.