'Don't forget to like, share and subscribe': Digital autopreneurs in a neoliberal world

We seek to move beyond the exalted figure of the heroic entrepreneur that predominates the study of entrepreneurship; to take a less agentic view of entrepreneurship; to tell stories rarely told, and to demonstrate how historical and technocultural forces are as instrumental in directing entrepreneurial activity as individual motivations. We enlist the work of Foucault and others, in conjunction with netnographic fieldwork that focuses on an assemblage of young YouTubers striving to become what we call autopreneurs. We reveal how they internalize a structure of feeling, divined from neoliberal ideology, that shapes their everyday affairs. We find that three main wellsprings - the dynamics of competition, the creativity dispositif, and technologies of the self – detrimentally affect the quality of their lives and collectively institute a ‘cruel optimism’ which promises much but delivers little. We conclude with some thoughts on the ramifications of our work for the study of entrepreneurship

Netnography and Design Thinking:Development and Illustration in the Vegan Food Industry

Purpose This paper aims to strengthen the process of design thinking by aligning it with netnography, specifically auto-netnography, which this paper asserts is particularly suited to the task of studying and enriching the actions of “designerly types” who seek to fashion monetisable businesses. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducts an auto-netnography with a structure divined from established design thinking theory – that of empathising, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing – to afford an understanding of how a popular health food influencer designs a successful vegan restaurant. Findings This paper illustrates the empathetic relationship between a long-term audience member and an entrepreneur/designer/marketer. The intimate cultural analysis reveals the nature of their symbiotic entwinement. In a way that few other methods could, the method shows how this sense of reciprocity, deepens over time. Research limitations/implications Conducting an auto-netnography is a prolonged and difficult task. Nonetheless, by revealing the rituals, expectations, roles and routines of content creators, designers and followers, this paper illustrates exciting possibilities for the enactment and development of design thinking in the marketing field. Practical implications Designerly types such as marketers and content creators should closely study, listen to and interact with consumers by using a similarly staged process that draws equally from design thinking and auto-netnography. Originality/value Prior to this study, existing research has not previously linked design thinking with either netnographic or auto-netnographic research

Antibody agonists trigger immune receptor signaling through local exclusion of receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases

Antibodies can block immune receptor engagement or trigger the receptor machinery to initiate signaling. We hypothesized that antibody agonists trigger signaling by sterically excluding large receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) such as CD45 from sites of receptor engagement. An agonist targeting the costimulatory receptor CD28 produced signals that depended on antibody immobilization and were sensitive to the sizes of the receptor, the RPTPs, and the antibody itself. Although both the agonist and a non-agonistic anti-CD28 antibody locally excluded CD45, the agonistic antibody was more effective. An anti–PD-1 antibody that bound membrane-proximally excluded CD45, triggered SHP2 phosphatase recruitment, and suppressed systemic lupus erythematosus and delayed-type hypersensitivity in experimental models. Paradoxically, nivolumab and pembrolizumab, anti–PD-1 blocking antibodies used clinically, also excluded CD45 and were agonistic in certain settings. Reducing these agonistic effects using antibody engineering improved PD-1 blockade. These findings establish a framework for developing new and improved therapies for autoimmunity and cancer

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Getting up close and personal with influencers:reflecting on the intimacy of netnography

In a relatively short timeframe, netnography has profoundly reshaped the way scholars across many fields conduct online research. In this chapter, we posit that the relationships cultivated between netnographer(s) and their cultural informants – especially those cultivated with content creators or influencers – are especially intimate. We probe the peculiar nature of this intimacy by describing its unique conditions, dwelling in particular on the casual and playful manner of communication and the high levels of disclosure that characterise our condition of intimacy. Subsequently, we discuss the ramifications of how mediated intimacies affect the netnographic encounter. We also reflect on some of the particular challenges that doing netnographic research with content creators poses, such as the threat of data evaporation and the problem of how to recruit content creators to a study. Finally, by contemplating the future research terrain, we suggest ways that netnographers keen to expand our understanding of content creators can make strong and original contributions to the field

Seeing the big picture in services marketing research:infographics, SEM and data visualisation

Purpose This paper aims to present a way to make structural equation modelling (SEM) studies more accessible and impactful. This paper suggests that authors service readers by translating their work into an infographic that clearly and artfully illustrates the essence of a paper’s contribution. Design/methodology/approach Through the presentation of a worked example, this paper outlines four service components needed to create a visually striking, yet informative, infographic. Findings This paper contends that authors who follow this approach will improve the marketability of their research without oversimplifying or “dumbing down” its insights. Research limitations/implications Until a journal editor insists that modellers undertake some translation of their results as a pre-requisite to publication, this paper is unlikely to herald a revolution in how quantitative work is communicated. Practical implications This fresh thinking can offer a way for practicing managers, and other marketing researchers unfamiliar with SEM’s peculiarities, to comprehend the findings of such studies. Originality/value This paper contributes to a nascent body of research on how to effectively disseminate research findings to a broader audience through adopting a service arts perspective and presents an interpretive view of quantitative research never seen before in the pages of this journal