T HERE ARE VARIOUS FRAMEWORKS and approaches used in the analysis of a company’s strategic position. One of the most straightforward is the SWOT analysis, SWOT being an acronym for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats”. The occasions to investigate empirically the use of such a tool are comparatively rare. This article presents the findings of one such opportunity, being based on t...

The atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)-C receptor is generally believed to clear ANP; however, the ANP-C receptor may serve to reduce cAMP by inhibiting adenylate cyclase. ANP decreases endothelial permeability in coronary endothelial cell monolayers. We tested the hypothesis that part of this effect might be mediated by the ANP-C receptor. We used an endothelial cell monolayer from rat coronary ...

Three atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) receptors, ANP(A), ANP(B), and ANP(C), have been identified in the heart, suggesting that natriuretic peptides may have direct effects on cardiac function. To characterize the possible role of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the regulation of its own secretion, we studied here the effects of ANP (greater affinity for ANP(A) than for ANP(B) receptors) a...

This paper proposes an integrated framework for analysis of an electricity supply chain using an integrated SWOT-fuzzy TOPSIS methodology combined with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The paper is divided into twomain sections. In the firstmain section, the integrated framework comprising a qualitative framework and a quantitative framework is presented. In the qualitative framework, a genera...

Acute coronary artery occlusion triggers the release of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) from the heart. ANP affects vasodilation, natriuresis, and inflammation, but the integrated biological effects of ANP on myocardial infarction are unknown. To elucidate these effects, the left anterior coronary artery was ligated in anesthetized, ANP-deficient (ANP(-/-)) and congenic wild-type (ANP(+/+)) mi...