The research phase

Suppose that the decision has been made to seek a drug which causes relaxation of blood vessels. The contraction and relaxation of the vessels is 

Very commonly the first tests in a screening cascade will be biochemical tests performed in vitro (i.e. in the test tube) involving pure enzymes, cell cultures or cell membranes. These are commonly cheap, capable of testing 

Thus in the research phase one perceives three classes of risk which occur. Is the biological hypothesis on which the research is based a sound one Are the tests used predictive of the desired therapeutic effect Can the chemists devise compounds which meet the selection criteria  

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The pursuit of operations research consists of (a) the judgment phase (what are the problems ), (b) the research phase (how to solve these problems), and (c) the decision phase (how to act on the finding and eliminate the problems). These phases require the evaluation of objectives, analysis of an operation and the collection of evidence and resources to be committed to the study, the (mathematical) formulation of problems, the construction of theoretical models and selection of measures of effectiveness to test the models in practice, the making and testing of hypotheses as to how well a model represents the problem, prediction, refinement of the model, and the interpretation of results (usually as possible alternatives) with their respective values (payoff). The decision-maker generally combines the findings of the... 

Points 1 and 5 refer to the increased importance of functional chemicals [291]. Owing to the wide parameter space determining functionality (not only molecular diversity), this demands much higher flexibility and speed in the preparation of new samples during the research phase. The behavior of complex molecular mixtures needs to be understood. In particular, product application, formulation, and blending skills need to be developed and acquired. In a more remote vision, this demands on-site distributed manufacture of functional chemicals such as paints and similar products. 

Methods 1 and 3 have been utilized in dry developed resist systems. To our knowledge, there are no resist systems commercially available that depend on post-exposure treatment other than the post-curing effect in negative electron beam resists mentioned earlier. Since such systems are still largely in the research phase we will not discuss them here but rather refer the reader to the literature for more detailed descriptions (44-50). 

During the research phase the use of spectroscopy is focussed on the determination and confirmation of chemical structure. In this respect mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) are the... 

To move from the research phase to the product phase, new generations of proteomic equipment will continue to be developed. This includes novel microproteomic technologies that use tiny amounts of material... 

When involved in the choice of Project Manager for a multi-functional team, an R D Manager needs to recognise that the driving force for completion of the project, as in the above example, is from manufacturing and marketing. These functions will be occupied with the detailed implementation of the outcome of R D and are the best people to provide the management of the project beyond the research phase. 

Although still in the research phase, there is some international interest in using the contaminant body burdens of sediment dwellers to help derive sediment EQS values, that is, to define a safe sediment in terms of bioaccumulated body burdens (lethal internal exposure concentrations) instead of, or in addition to, deriving a safe concentration for the sediment itself. 

The question of who is going to pay for the hydrogen development activity that needs to occur between the research phase (which might be funded primarily by the government) and commercial deployment (which would consist of investments by the private sector)... 

Hydrogen as an energy carrier and potentially widely used fuel is attractive because it can be produced easily without emissions by splitting water. In addition, the readily available electrolyzer can be used in a home or business where off peak or surplus electricity could be used to make the environmentally preferred gas. Electrolysis was first demonstrated in 1800 by William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle and has found a variety of niche markets ever since. Two electrolyzer technologies, alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM), exist at the commercial level with solid oxide electrolysis in the research phase. 

Relatively few really new and attractive products have been introduced in the animal health market. The recently developed new and expensive human therapeutics do not play a major role in animal health. Prophylactic vaccines against the major endemic diseases are already available and are difficult to improve for a competitive price. Several other interesting vaccine candidates are stuck in the research phase due to unsurpassable difficulties to achieve sufficient efficacy. 

The pharmaceutical industry is much more research oriented than other industries and has to cope with higher risks. Due to the high development cost and long development times, risks must be eliminated as early and consequently as possible. Risk elimination must already start in the research phase and before the expensive industrial development commences. High-risk research projects need much time, thus they must be kept small and have to focus only on the major risk factors. Research projects should be clearly separated - if not physically, at least in mind - from the more rigid and much more expensive development. 

After completion of the research phase, it is usually found that further demonstration of the viability of the process and more design data is needed, but imder conditions that will more closely resemble the final plant. It may also be required to obtain some product for market research. In this case, the development engineer will plan the development program and design the pilot plant. Whenever possible the equipment selected will be smaller versions of the plant size equipment, using the same materials of constraction selected for the plant. 

Biomass pyrolysis technology is being developed very intensely in the last ten years and is now on the edge from the research phase to the demonstration phase. Up to now, some few tests have been done successfully with a low speed, heavy duty Diesel engine in the UK. In this paper it is anticipated, that the further RTD work with pyrolysis oil Diesel engines will be successful. 

Similar to the design approaches employed in most water and wastewater treatment processes such as biological wastewater treatment, there are empirical (also called irrational) and model-based (rational) methodologies used for design of UV unit for aqueous-phase disinfection. The first one is based on empirical experience and has traditionally been used in the water industry, while the second one is based on a series of detailed mathematical analyses and experimental measurements and is still in the research phase. In the design, one will determine the requirement of UV lamps applied to the water based on the characteristics of water such as flow rate and the size of the disinfection unit. 

Keep in mind, you will need to balance salary requirements with other aspects of the job opportunity. During the research phase of your job search, find out other positive qualities of a company When you zero in on a job in a company that you really like, keep in mind that you will be spending at least 40 hours per week at this office. You will want to do work that challenges you, with people you like and can learn from. If these factors are sufficiently appealing at a particular company, chances are the financial issues will work out for you, too. 

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