Factors Impacting on Cardiovascular Surgery

Factors Impacting on Cardiovascular Surgery STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The goals of this study are to explore the different factors affecting cardiovascular surgery and the manufacture of cardiovascular devices, as well as to quantify the market for various segments of the cardiovascular device market. Cardiac surgery is increasing globally, with the contribution of macroeconomic factors such as aging populations, increasing rates of obesity, poor nutrition and other health stressors. In recent years, new technologies have been developed that make sophisticated therapies accessible for patients in previously underserved locations. Whether through disease, congenital defects or degradation of cardiac and vascular function with advancing age, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is growing dramatically, substantiating the continued growth in cardiovascular surgical procedures. REASONS FOR DOING THIS STUDY The American Heart Association, in its publication Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2016 Update At-A-Glance, estimates that 98 million American adults will have one or more types of cardiovascular disease. Surgery represents the most effective therapy for advanced cardiovascular conditions. Recent innovations such as minimally invasive procedures, beating heart surgeries, ventricular assist devices and artificial hearts, replacement valves and treatments for hypertension such as renal denervation offer therapeutic options that result in shorter recovery times and reduced complication risks. Newer cardiovascular devices and therapeutic techniques will play an increasing role in enhancing quality of life for a growing elderly population, as well as patient groups with poor cardiac function. The ability of government-run health agencies and private insurance providers to cope with the increased need for cardiovascular procedures, together with rising hea lthcare costs, have led agencies and insurers to closely evaluate their coverage for cardiovascular surgical procedures and continually seek out lower-cost but still efficacious options. This report will identify areas of growth within the cardiovascular surgical device market and discuss innovative technologies that have been recently launched or are presently under development. Market growth rates will be projected based on manufacturers net revenues, unless otherwise indicated. This report is designed to achieve the following objectives: Describe the trends and developments affecting each type of cardiovascular surgical technology and discuss how each addresses market needs. Analyze market demand, competitive dynamics and regulatory/ reimbursement-related factors to project the market size for each technology and highlight target applications. Study intensively market growth by geography. Analyze trends and opportunities in major regions: North America, Europe, Asia and the rest of the world (ROW). Identify major stakeholders, product portfolio and recent developments, and draw a competitive landscape for the market leaders. Track and analyze recent developments, alliances, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and patents of the market players in the industry. This report is designed to appeal to many types of readers, including marketing and management executives within the medical device industry, venture capital professionals interested in exploring commercialization opportunities and anyone else who would like to better understand how market factors and technologies interact in this industry. SCOPE OF REPORT The scope of this study encompasses multiple technologies and procedures related to cardiovascular surgical devices. The study focused primarily on four categories of cardiovascular surgery: traditional (open), interventional, cardiac rhythm management (CRM) and cardiac ablation procedures. These procedure groupings are categorized logically so that comparisons can be made within procedural groups as well as across the cardiovascular surgical devices industry as a whole. Note that carotid artery surgery related to stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery to correct aortic aneurysms, and surgical and stenting procedures designed to address peripheral vascular disease are not addressed in detail in this report. BCC Research analyzes the industry on a worldwide basis from market, product and technology perspectives. Regulations and reimbursement issues and patents issued from 2011 through mid-2016 are also examined to identify patient safety, regulatory review and insurance coverage issues for stakeholders and potential stakeholders in this industry. The report examines the cardiovascular surgery device industry in general, the types of technologies currently in use as well as future technological developments, and regulatory influences that affect product distribution. The industry structure section discusses the most active manufacturers with respect to relative market share, marketing strengths and forces that promote or hinder the growth of technologies. The technology sections detail historical (2014), and projected (2015 to 2020) market values. METHODOLOGY BCC Research presents an analysis across the entire cardiovascular surgical device market based on company-specific revenue dollars and units shipped as reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and/or other governmental agencies, as well as company information such as conversations with company officials, annual reports and product/financial news releases. The report also analyzes data collected from the United States Patent Office (USPTO) databases. Technological and demographic information is gathered from industry sources, governmental sources and published news reports. A top-down approach was used to estimate the market size of cardiovascular surgical devices. The research methodology used to calculate market size also included the following details: Market revenues of key players were determined through primary and secondary research, including a study of the annual reports of top market players, and interviews with key opinion leaders and corporate heads such as chief executive officers (CEOs), directors, product heads, business unit heads, etc. Secondary research included general search by keywords through paid sources such as Factiva and One Source, and other publicly available websites and company websites. The penetration of micromarkets was established through primary and secondary sources and validated through primary sources. The forecast was based on analysis of market trends such as pricing and volume analysis. The regional split was determined by using secondary sources verified through primary sources. The regional split was based on v arious parameters such as the number of players in a particular region, the extent of research activity occurring in that region and potential growth (e.g., scope for increase in number of laboratories). INFORMATION SOURCES BCC Research conducted primary and secondary research to develop this report. Sources included companies in the cardiovascular device market and supply industry, public documents, SEC filings, corporate white papers and other technical documentation for U.S. and international companies directly involved in manufacturing and distributing cardiovascular surgery devices and related products. Paid sources include Factiva, One Source and other subscribed healthcare magazines and journals. The report excludes resellers and retailers, focusing instead on the primary companies responsible for developing the underlying technology. Where precise information was not available, a consensus was made using reasonable assumptions and estimates based on historical data. ANALYSTS CREDENTIALS Bhavna Joshi has more than six years of healthcare domain experience. In addition to business research and consulting, she has conducted corporate briefings for top players in a wide range of market segments. After earning her MBA (marketing and finance stream) from Chennai University, she worked with major market research firms. Joshi has authored several market research studies in the healthcare domain. Some of these include: Healthcare tracking technologies. Molecular diagnostics market. High-growth markets in healthcare and life sciences. Adoption rates and analysis of over-the-counter (OTC) diabetic medicines and supplements. Radio frequency identification (RFID), real-time locating systems (RTLS), Internet Protocol (IP) surveillance and other emerging technologies in the healthcare domain.

Explore the Different Types of Love Shown in Wuthering Heights

Explore the different types of love shown in Wuthering Heights Pages 70 -75 The love shown in Wuthering Heights on pages 70-75 is not only those of morality love, but also love that aches, and both types are each, for a different man. The simpler of the two is that of which Catherine feels for Edgar. Having chosen to marry Edgar, through no other reason than it is moral option; Catherine feels no true love towards him. When conversing with Nelly, and questioned on just what it is that Catherine loves about him, it is apparent, that she struggles to find an emotionally invested response.The responses that she does return to Nellys question, consisting of the adjectives, ‘handsome’, ‘pleasant’ and ‘rich’ all show that Catherine feels for Edgar’s appearance, which is also evidential later in the passage; ‘He is young and rich now, and I have only to do with the present. ’ This further shows the reader that Catherine’s lov e for Edgar is far from reliable, nor worth losing Heathcliff over. Catherine’s fight between both her heart and her head causes her to feel that Nelly is taunting her and doesn’t understand the dilemma of her situation; ‘but if you will not mock at me, I’ll explain it.. and further mentions that she can only give a small insight of how it is she feels; ‘I can’t do it distinctively. ’ The fact that Catherine feels quite apprehensive towards letting Nelly in on her ‘secret’, a secret in which she and she alone feels ownership over, which fails to include Heathcliff’s feelings toward her, shows that this love, the love for Heathcliff, is much harder to explain, hence she can find no words to describe it, compared to that of her love with Edgar.She later goes on to explain how in a dream, she visions herself in heaven and how she ‘broke her heart with weeping to come back to earth†¦ ’ This could be con sidered a vision into the future, in which due her decision, the decision to marry Edgar, she would eventually be in heaven, but without Heathcliff. Yet again, reference to how she cannot describe that it is Heathcliff she cannot live in death or life without and how it is Heathcliff of which she feels the strongest love towards, is apparent.Further into the extract, Catherine finally is truthful to Nelly on how she truly feels, and how those feelings are towards Heathcliff. Yet, although she is honest, she stills refers back to how she should be moral, ‘It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff; so he shall never know I love him. ’ How Catherine admits her love, although may not have been best said, the fact that she can say she loves Heathcliff, and with such emotion and sadness, shows that a truer love runs through their relationship, compared to that she has with Edgar.She later says that Heathcliff is more herself than what she is. This reference, of two people livin g like one, shows furthermore, that their love is stronger, and more possessive, a love in which two people cannot be themselves without the other. Heathcliff’s love for Catherine is briefly described by Nelly to Catherine, in which her honesty startles her. Enlightening Catherine to exactly what it is Heathcliff would lose; ‘a friend and love, and all! ’ further distresses Catherine, in which she reveals her true reasons for marrying Edgar, which are to help Heathcliff.Although the plan, as Nelly describes as nonsense, would fail to ever work, the reason in which she has made the plan, in order to rescue Heathcliff from her brother, shows that they’re love runs deeper still. The deepness in which in runs, in which she feels it is her duty to save Heathcliff from his perils rather than marry him as he is, shows how Catherine idioticness and young, foolish mind cannot comprehend how she should react to her feelings for Heathcliff. Pages 146 -149 In pages 14 6-149, it is made clear to us that Catherine, clearly ill, is sure to die, and requests that Heathcliff be by her side.This instantly shows that a dying person last wish, in some cases, would be to be near those they love dearly and truly, and in this case, Catherines is Heathcliff. His love for her is also apparent, ‘he bestowed more kisses than ever he gave in his life before’ through the amount of kisses sent upon her. His love through his actions for her as she lays dying, is also further insight as to how he’s felt about anyone else, as the amount of kisses he places upon her, are more than those for anyone else, and most likely, those that mean more.The use of ‘earnestly’ shows yet again, the possessiveness they share for each other and how one can surely not bare to see the other in weakness, not knowing that it is their love, that has made them weak towards each other. Even as Catherine continues to lie dying, she tortures Heathcliff by not r evealing her feelings truly to him, the feelings she holds so tightly for him, jokingly mentioning that him and Edgar ‘have broken her heart. ’ The quotation, possibly meaning that having chosen Edgar over Heathcliff, and Heathcliff’s departure, that he broke her heart, and by still choosingEdgar, he broke hers by not being able to love Heathcliff truthfully, yet it could also mean that by living with Heathcliff and by leaving him in her death, she will have lost him both to Edgar, and therefore her heart has been broken twice. Further reference to how the two loves cannot live by themselves, is that of when Heathcliff exclaims how he ‘could as soon forget her as his existence. ’ The continued reference of two hearts that can only live as one, constantly runs through their story, making their love the most powerful in the whole two-parted story.Catherine then goes on to admit that she cannot wish to be parted from Heathcliff once more. Referred to as ‘Mrs Linton’ during the scene yet again, shows how they have been parted in live, as the name ‘Linton’ is a constant reminder of how Catherine's blindness encouraged her to choose loyalty and morality, over true love. During Catherine's death, Heathcliff requests to know why she ‘betrayed her heart’ and why if ‘she’d loved him, what right she had to leave him’.Catherine’s response to Heathcliff's begs for answers are that she is dying for her mistakes, and she believes that her death is due to her bad decisions made in life, that she is forced to live without Heathcliff in the most harshest of ways. The love between Heathcliff and Catherine is apparent from the beginning, and it is also clear that she doesn’t share the same love for Edgar as she does for Heathcliff. A love of which aches, and turns individuals mad in their own lives, is the strongest in the book and especially in these scenes. A love of morali ty compared to that of a possessive, true love, wins no prizes in a competition.

Edward Albee’s presentation of Nick and his role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

In ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’ by Edward Albee, a main character that is revealed in this play is Nick who plays an important role presented by Albee in different ways. The play which, ‘’shows malicious humiliation and love and tenderness and bitterness’’ is set on the campus of a small, New England university. Nick is presented in part as an on-stage audience for George and Martha to act out their verbal banter. Moreover the character of nick is used as a compare and contrast to George. The audience sees nick as an image of youthful pride, unblemished, athletic whose very life is dedicated to eliminating the imperfections in human genes, but is himself revealed as flawed in the play. The young couple Nick and Honey are presented as ‘’passive observers. They serve solely as the objects of manipulation’’. George and Martha simply use the younger, less experienced couple to manoeuvre for advantage in their own bitter struggle. This is further shown in act two by George when he states, ‘’I’ll tell you what game we’ll play. We’re done with humiliate the hosts†¦ how about a little game of get the guests?† George attempts to regain power which is an ongoing theme in the play by humiliating nick and honey. He uses what nick told him about honey’s hysterical pregnancy against them.Could Cold War Have Been Avoided? Secondly, Nick’s role as a compare and contrast to George is important as both of them possess certain traits that the other lacks and envies. While George is frustrated with his life and the illusions that Martha and he have made, Nick contrastingly is yet to rise in his conquest for power. Throughout the entire play, George and nick proceed through an ongoing verbal battle, competing for the position of high standing power. George attacks nick’s profession because he is afraid of artificially changing the way that people are supposed to turn out, ‘’ I've been drawing you out on this stuff, not because I'm interested in your terrible lifehood, but only because you represent a direct and pertinent threat to my lifehoood George openly admits that he's intimidated by Nick's youthful potential, and that he's seeking a way to undermine it. The audience see’s nick as an ideal man, coldly ambitious, good-looking and athletic who represents the idea of technological advancement. According to Martha he depicts, ‘’the perfect paragon of beauty and achievement’’. But as George and Martha ruthlessly involve them in their verbal battles, Albee reveals many flaws in nick in particular. It becomes revealed that the marriage of Nick and Honey is less than perfect and has serious problems. The appearance of a perfect marriage between Nick and Honey is shattered by Nick's admission that they got married because she was pregnant as stated by Nick, ‘’ I married her because she was pregnant. [†¦] It was a hysterical pregnancy. She blew up, and then she went down’’. Additionally Nick, the perfect model of a new faculty member, is rather easily seduced by Martha, â€Å"That’s right, lunkhead; answer the door†¦or are you too drunk to do that, too? Can’t get the latch up, either? Since nick failed to perform in the bedroom, he has lost all status in his relationship with Martha. This also makes one doubt the love in his marriage to honey. In who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee, nick is a very important character presented by Albee. Not only is he presented in part as an on-stage audience for George and Martha, he also exposes the falseness of â€Å"The American Dream’’ through his relationship with honey. As the perfect image of Nick and Honey crumbles, the final idealization of marriage and family also collapses. Edward Albee suggests that people in America are living in an illusion to which they hold on dearly to avoid facing the reality of a perfect marriage, children, wealth, success, education and religion, All of which compromise the American dream and hence Albee attacks and mocks this idea in the play which is revealed by the main characters to the audience.

Xenon Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Xenon is a noble gas. The element has atomic number 54 and element symbol Xe. Like all the noble gases, xenon is not very reactive, yet it has been known to form chemical compounds. Here is a collection of xenon facts, including the elements atomic data and properties. Xenon  Basic Facts Atomic Number: 54 Symbol: Xe Atomic Weight: 131.29 Discovery: Sir William Ramsay; M. W. Travers, 1898 (England) Electron Configuration: [Kr] 5s2 4d10 5p6 Word Origin: Greek xenon, stranger; xenos, strange Isotopes: Natural xenon consists of a mixture of nine stable isotopes. An additional 20 unstable isotopes have been identified. Properties: Xenon is a noble or inert gas. However, xenon and other zero valance elements do form compounds. Although xenon is not toxic, its compounds are highly toxic due to their strong oxidizing characteristics. Some xenon compounds are colored. Metallic xenon has been produced. Excited xenon in a vacuum tube glows blue. Xenon is one of the heaviest gases; one liter of xenon weighs 5.842 grams. Uses: Xenon gas is used in electron tubes, bactericidal lamps, strobe lamps, and lamps used to excite ruby lasers. Xenon is used in applications where a high molecular weight gas is needed. The perxenates are used in analytical chemistry as oxidizing agents. Xenon-133 is useful as a radioisotope. Sources: Xenon is found in the atmosphere at levels of approximately one part in twenty million. It is commercially obtained by extraction from liquid air. Xenon-133 and xenon-135 are produced by neutron irradiation in air cooled nuclear reactors. Xenon Physical Data Element Classification: Inert Gas Density (g/cc): 3.52 ( -109 °C) Melting Point (K): 161.3 Boiling Point (K): 166.1 Appearance: heavy, colorless, odorless noble gas Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 42.9 Covalent Radius (pm): 131 Specific Heat (20 °C J/g mol): 0.158 Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 12.65 Pauling Negativity Number: 0.0 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 1170.0 Oxidation States: 7 Lattice Structure: Face-Centered Cubic Lattice Constant (Ã…): 6.200 References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.) Return to the Periodic Table