Gabrielnyc.com Science

Ottawa, Ontario (PRWEB) February 16, 2012

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute has completed an industry wide cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) study for the Gypsum Association of the industry?s two most common gypsum wallboard products: ?? regular and 5/8? type X gypsum wallboard.

Demonstrating its commitment to sustainability of the built environment, the Gypsum Association commissioned the study in early 2011 to get life cycle assessment answers using contemporary assessment methods, and to be able to upload reliable and up-to-date life cycle inventory data to the US Life Cycle Inventory Database and have these data integrated into key building LCA tools, such as the Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings and EcoCalculator for Building Assemblies.

Working with Dr. Robert Wessel of the Gypsum Association, Dr. Lindita Bushi and Mr. Jamie Meil of the Athena Institute completed the year long study with considerable input from the Gypsum Association?s membership. The Athena team designed the study to be a representative, transparent and ISO 14040/44:2006 compliant cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of 1,000 square feet of both ?? regular and 5/8? type X gypsum wallboard as produced in the United States in 2010. Both products are used extensively in building construction and renovation.

In support of the study, primary life cycle inventory (LCI) data were collected for three major gate-to-gate processes in the production of gypsum wallboard (natural or crude gypsum ore extraction, gypsum paper manufacture, and gypsum wallboard production) for the reference year 2010. The manufacturing plant study sample included all Gypsum Association member companies and represented about 30% of all gypsum wallboard produced in the USA. To ensure representativeness, the manufacturing plant study also considered the scale of operations including a mix of small, medium and large facilities, their geographical location in each US census region and their source of gypsum (adjacent quarry, mine, or imported gypsum ore) as well as their use of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) gypsum.

The study underwent third-party critical review (by theGreenTeam, Inc.) and the resulting data are currently being uploaded to the US LCI Database and incorporated into the Athena tools, the Impact Estimator and EcoCalculator. Athena continues to work with Gypsum Association member companies, providing them with additional corporate level LCA services and summaries of the LCA results for the subset of their plants included in the industry level study.

Michael Gardner, the Gypsum Association?s Executive Director, expressed his appreciation to Athena as follows: ?Thank you for a fine project. It has been a pleasure to work with you and your team and I am hopeful we will work together again in the future. An excellent job leading us through a complex process.?

For more information about the Gypsum Association, visit their website: http://www.gypsum.org.

ABOUT THE ATHENA INSTITUTE:

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute is a membership-based non-profit research collaborative bringing life cycle assessment (LCA) to the construction sector. The Athena Institute is a science-based organization placing a high value on credibility, transparency, and collaboration. Its goal is to provide robust and clear information that ensures footprint claims about materials and buildings are based on supported facts. Athena develops LCA data and software tools specifically related to construction, such as the Impact Estimator and the EcoCalculator. Athena also provides education, advocacy and expertise as North American codes and standards evolve towards LCA. With a highly specialized team of collaborators, the Athena Institute is frequently contracted for custom research projects that require a particularly deep level of knowledge and experience in construction sector LCA. Whenever possible, results of these research projects are linked back to the core goal of delivering LCA tools to the construction sector as a whole.

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More Science Press Releases

London, UK (PRWEB) January 24, 2012

Today, digital channels offer life science companies enormous untapped opportunities to reach and interwork with physicians and patients. Some marketing teams have already responded by boosting their digital activity, with growth trends indicating that some digital channels will surpass more traditional media tools.

However, a host of challenges faced by the industry like regulatory compliance, ROI, adverse events monitoring, etc. leave companies behind the curve as they try to navigate both opportunities and hidden dangers. Meanwhile, leading-edge firms forge ahead by integrating digital tools into overall brand – and corporate-level strategies.

New research study ?Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing and Social Media? worked out by Cutting Edge Information has been recently published by Market Publishers Ltd.

Report Details:

Title: Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing and Social Media

Published: December, 2011

Pages: 187

Price: US$ 7,695.00

http://marketpublishers.com/report/medicine_pharmaceuticals_biotechnology/healthcare_equipment_services/pharmaceutical_digital_marketing_n_social_media.html

The report is a must-have for those who want to:

????explore real-world marketing mixes, case studies and rankings to understand industry-wide usage and goals for digital marketing, social media and mobile technology;
????learn how leading companies manage compliance, gauge ROI and avoid outsourcing pitfalls; as well as explore how digital models help teams mitigate regulatory risks and earn internal buy-in for new initiatives.;
????benchmark structure, staffing, budget and reporting lines to develop a team equipped to face challenges both now and in the future.

Report Contents:

Executive Summary

Study Methodology

Study DeUnitions

Digital Marketing: Key Findings and Recommendations

Integrating Digital and Traditional Channels

The New Pharmaceutical Marketing Mix

Social Media and Mobile Technology in Pharma

Pharma?s In-Roads into Social Media

Mobile Technology

eMarketing Structure, Stafung and Budgets

eMarketing Organizational Structure

eMarketing StafUng Resources

Digital Marketing Budgets

Outsourcing Digital Marketing

Agency Ratings: Six Categories for Digital Success

Structural Strategies for Mitigating Digital Marketing Risk

Charts and Graphics

Executive Summary

Figure E.1: Digital and Traditional Channels as a Percentage of the Overall 2011 Marketing Media Mix

Figure E.2: Media Mix for All Companies from 2009-2011

Digital Marketing: Key Findings and Recommendations

Figure E.3: Percentage Change in Media Mix from 2009 to 2011

Figure E.4: Dedicated eMarketing Groups? Staffing (FTEs)

Figure E.5: Total eMarketing Budgets

Figure E.6: Brand-Level eMarketing Spending During Registration & Launch

Figure E.7: Percentage of Companies Engaged in At Least One Type of Social Media Activity

Figure E.8: Ratings of Challenges to Social Media Adoption

Figure E.9: Effect of Lack of FDA Guidance on Companies? DTC Social Media Strategy

Figure E.10: Overall Opinion of Contract Agency?s Ability to Carry Out Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing

Integrating Digital and Traditional Channels

Figure 1.1: Age of Dedicated eMarketing Groups

The New Pharmaceutical Marketing Mix

Figure 1.2: Media Mix for All Companies from 2009-2011

Figure 1.3: Percentage Change in Media Mix from 2009 to 2011

Figure 1.4: Media Mix for Top 10 Companies from 2009-2011

Figure 1.5: Media Mix for Top 50 Companies from 2009-2011

Figure 1.6: Media Mix for Top 100 Companies from 2009-2011

Figure 1.7: Media Mix for US Companies from 2009-2011

Figure 1.8: Media Mix for Non-US Companies from 2009-2011

Figure 1.9: Media Mix for Brand-level Groups from 2009-2011

Figure 1.10: Media Mix for Corporate-level Groups from 2009-2011

Social Media and Mobile Technology in Pharma

Pharma?s In-Roads into Social Media

Figure 2.1: Percentage of Companies Engaged in At Least One Type of Social Media Activity

Figure 2.2: Number of Companies Engaged in Each Type of Social Media Activity

Figure 2.3: Companies Engaged in Each Type of Social Media Activity, by Percentage

Figure 2.4: Companies Engaged in Each Type of Social Media Activity at Corporate and Brand Levels

Figure 2.5: Ratings of Positive Impact Potential of Social Media, by Activity Type

Figure 2.6: Ratings Spread of Positive Impact Potential of Social Media, by Activity Type

Figure 2.7: Ratings of Challenges to Social Media Adoption

Figure 2.8: Ratings Spread of Challenges to Social Media Adoption

Figure 2.9: How Companies Measure Social Media Initiatives

Figure 2.10: Effect of Lack of FDA Guidance on Companies? DTC Social Media Strategy

Figure 2.11: Effect of Lack of FDA Guidance on Companies? DTC Social Media Strategy (US vs Non-US)

Figure 2.12: Support for Regulatory and Non-Regulatory Options

Figure 2.13: Ratings of Marketing Potential of Online Channels

Figure 2.14: Employee Use of Social Media and Formal Policies

Mobile Technology

Figure 2.15: Percentage of Brands Using Mobile Technology for Marketing or Medical Affairs Initiatives

…

More new studies by the publisher can be found at Cutting Edge Information page.

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Colorado Springs, CO (PRWEB) November 22, 2011

Cognitive First (Cog1st, the CogRead Literacy Campaign) announces a grant in support of a groundbreaking study being conducted by Virginia State University and funded by the National Science Foundation. The study, underway at Waskom Independent School District in Waskom,Texas, has the potential to help every student in that district and will provide valuable information to the fields of science and education.

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A $ 1 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund the largest part of the study which takes place at the high school level and examines how cognitive skills training can help students improve their learning ability and physically change the brain.

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?This is an amazing opportunity to boost the learning skills and potential of every single student at our school with no cost to parents or the district,? says Waskom High School Principal Stuart Musick. ?The cognitive testing alone will provide valuable information for our teachers and families regarding each student?s strengths and weaknesses, and will give us the insight we need to help strengthen those skills to improve grades and performance.?

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Every student in the district completed testing with the Gibson Test in October to evaluate his or her cognitive skills?the mental tools we all use to think, learn, reason, read, remember and pay attention. These skills include things like memory, attention, logic and reasoning, auditory and visual processing and processing speed. Significant grants from Cog1st helped cover the cost of testing and will also pay for online brain training for some students at the elementary level.

According to Larry Hargrave, founder of Cognitive First, access to online reading readiness and learning skill development tools is a critical ingredient to improve reading proficiency and graduation rates. ?We are pleased to be donating access to evaluations and online exercise sets being used in this study. Our nonprofit currently offers any parent free access to an exercise that strengthens phonemic awareness skills and helps to prevent reading difficulties. We also sponsor teachers, schools and community organizations with a reading readiness exercise set, along with cognitive skill evaluations (2nd grade and above) and comprehensive online brain skill training packages for under-resourced and at-risk children.?

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The study is more in-depth at the high school level where principal investigator Dr. Oliver Hill, Jr. and other researchers from Virginia State University will oversee the study which includes brain scans for some students. High school students will be randomly placed into three groups: a control group that gets normal academic instruction, a second group that receives extra online brain training at school for 15 weeks, and a third group that will undergo 15 weeks of one-to-one cognitive skills training with their own personal brain trainer from LearningRx.

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?We know this brain training methodology brings dramatic improvements in learning and reading ability for students of any age and academic ability,? says Donesa Walker of LearningRx Shreveport. ?We?re thrilled to be a part of this extensive study that will not only help the students of Waskom ISD, it will help students everywhere by showing how this type of training can physically change the brain to be faster, smarter and more efficient.?

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Changes in the brain will be measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after the 15 week period by university researchers who are collaborating on the study. Participants will be randomly chosen for the brain scans.

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Cognitive First is joined by administrators, researchers, cognitive skills experts and brain trainers to make this opportunity happen. More information about the possibility of sponsored programs for children in your community is available at the Cog1st.org website.

About Cog1st

Cognitive First? (Cog1st, the CogRead Literacy Campaign) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping under-resourced and at-risk students become proficient readers and learners.?Cog1st provides parents, schools and community programs with online screening to evaluate core learning skills and with online exercise sets to help ensure that children have the foundational skills to empower their educational success.?Program grants for Title 1 schools are available.?

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About LearningRx? brain training specializes in treating the cause ? not the symptoms ? of learning struggles. The programs? game-like exercises and 1:1 trainer-to-student ratios provide guaranteed dramatic improvement. With more than 75 centers across the country, LearningRx brain training can help anyone ? from 5 to 85 ? increase the speed, power or function of their brain.

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About the Gibson Test

The Gibson Test of ?brain skills is the online cognitive skills assessment used by Cog1st and in the Waskom ISD study. Pediatric visual processing specialist Dr. Ken Gibson developed the assessment as an affordable option to uncover cognitive weaknesses that contribute to reading and learning struggles. In less than 40 minutes the online test can uncover weak skills and give parents or teachers a guide to make learning easier.

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