CONVENIENCE STORE PRACTICES AND PROGRESS WITH EFFICIENT CONSUMER RESPONSE: THE MINNESOTA CASE

The adoption of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) practices by Minnesota convenience store (C- store) is explained in this study. Data were collected through a mail survey distributed to more than 250 Minnesota C-stores ranging in size from single, independently owned stores to over 100 store chains. The survey instrument was developed to collect data on the following components important to C-store operations and the implementation of ECR: information systems, ordering, receiving, inventory management, and pricing practices. Findings are presented from three distinct perspectives: 1. Location: Rural C-stores, which often meet customer needs that were once met by small supermarkets, carried a wider range of products and offered more services than C-stores in urban and suburban locations. However, rural stores had the lowest adoption rate for practices related to the ECR initiative. Urban chains coordinated business practices with suppliers to a greater degree than suburban and rural chains. 2. Chain size: Larger chains were more likely to have implemented the more costly technological practices than were small chains. This was expected since large chains can spread the fixed costs of ECR adoption over a larger number of stores. Larger chains also cooperated and communicated more with their suppliers than small chains. Again, this was expected, since larger chains can economize on transaction costs involved in maintaining these business relationships. 3. ECR practices: ECR adoption and superior performance were positively related. Having adopted six to nine practices was positively correlated with higher inside and outside sales per square foot of selling area and higher annual inventory turns. However, it was not clear whether there was a causal relationship in either direction between ECR practices and store performance. The C-store industry is changing, as new information technologies, new business practices, and new retail strategies are developed. The results from this survey can serve as a baseline for future research monitoring the adoption of these innovations and assessing their impact on productivity and profitability. Minnesota C-Stores appear to be smaller but more productive than the national average. Overall, it appears ECR is just beginning to impact the Minnesota C-store industry. Nonetheless, regression analyses confirmed ECR practices are positively related to store sales performance and those stores adopting the most practices had higher productivity measures.Industrial Organization, Marketing,

STORE-LEVEL INNOVATION IN THE RETAIL FOOD INDUSTRY: THE ECR INITIATIVE AND BEYOND

Agribusiness,

Antibodies to Surface IgM Can Accelerate Apoptosis of Mature B-Lymphocytes at Sub - Stimulatory Concentrations

Antibody to B-cell surface immunoglobulin D (IgD) or surface IgM results in crosslinking of Ig molecules and signal transduction. The function of these surface immunoglobulins has traditionally been investigated by extensive crosslinking experiments and interest has been focused on activation assays. We investigated the effects on apoptosis of culture with anti-(mathematical symbol) antibody (anti-(mathematical symbol)) concentrations ranging from 0.001 (mathematical symbol) mL-1 to 50 (mathematical symbol)g mL-1. Previous experiments have shown that weak dose anti-(mathematical symbol) antibody (anti-(mathematical symbol)) increases mature B-cell apoptosis at both 16- and 64-hour time points, while greater dose anti-(mathematical symbol) results in cell cycle entry at 64 hours. The question addressed is whether anti-(mathematical symbol) induces the same biphasic response. After 16 hours of culture, both a monoclonal and a polyclonal anti-(mathematical symbol). at weak concentrations caused much less of an increase in apoptosis than anti-(mathematical symbol), although cell cycle entry at 64 hours was similar. Together, these results suggest a mechanism for low-zone B-cell tolerance induction, a process that was previously thought only to occur in T-cells

DIRECT DEMONSTRATION OF THETA-POSITIVE ANTIGEN-BINDING CELLS, WITH ANTIGEN-INDUCED MOVEMENT OF THYMUS-DEPENDENT CELL RECEPTORS

Anti-θAKR antibody conjugated to fluorescein has been used in direct immunofluorescence tests to identify spleen θ+ (T) sheep erythrocyte rosette-forming cells in AKR mice. Specificity studies involving A and cogenic A/θAKR mice clearly demonstrated that the cell surface fluorescence and cytotoxicity produced by the antiserum is directed solely toward the θAKR alloantigen. Approximately ⅜ of rosette-forming and non-rosette-forming spleen cells were found to be θ+. The tendency for T cells to bind less antigen and the tendency for antigen-binding T cells to bear less θ than other spleen T cells, first suggested by other studies involving rosette-elimination by anti-θC3H plus complement, were confirmed by direct immunofluorescence. All AKR rosettes are specifically inhibitable by anti-immunoglobulin, including T rosettes. Antigen-induced redistribution of T cell receptors, analogous to that previously described for B cell receptors (16), occurs as readily in θ+RFC as in θ- RFC, without altering the symmetrical ring distribution of θAKR antigen

Bone Marrow Colony-Formation In Vitro After Infection of Genetically Defined Inbred Mice with Candida Albicans

The effect of C. albicans infection on the production of haematopoietic precursor cells in the bone marrow of CBA/CaH and BALB/c mice was evaluated by assay of colony formation in vitro. In immunocompetent mice, neither systemic nor oral infection induced significant alterations in colony formation by bone marrow from the two mouse strains, and Candida infection did not alter the proportion of morphological cell types in the colonies. However, the number of neutrophil-like was relatively greater in colonies derived from acutely infected CBA/CaH nude mice than in those from BALB/c nude mice, whereas small mononuclear cells were present in higher proportions in the latter strain. In both strains of nude mice, there was an increase in colony formation at 6 days after oral infection, but at 8 weeks, when the infection had become chronic, the production of bone marrow cells by CBA/CaH nude mice was significantly less than that by BALB/c nude mice. Reconstitution of nude mice with syngeneic lymphocytes enhanced the production of bone marrow precursor cells by BALB/c, but not by CBA/CaH mice, suggesting that T cells can enhance host resistance by promoting the colony-forming response of the bone marrow in BALB/c mice that are genetically resistant to tissue damage, but not in CBA/CaH that are prone to severe lesions. Finally, culture with Candida antigen in vitro decreased the number of colony-forming cells in cultures from CBA/CaH, but not from BALB/c mice

IL-12 and Related Cytokines: Function and Regulatory Implications in Candida albicans Infection

IL-12 is a cytokine with links to both innate and adaptive immunity systems. In mice, its deletion leads to acute susceptibility to oral infection with the yeast Candida albicans, whereas such mice are resistant to systemic disease. However, it is an essential component of the adaptive response that leads to the generation of Th1-type cytokine responses and protection against disseminated disease. This paper presents an overview of the role of IL-12 in models of systemic and mucosal infection and the possible relationships between them

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

Mincle polarizes human monocyte and neutrophil responses to Candida albicans

The distribution and function of the C-type lectin Mincle has not previously been investigated in human cells, although mouse models have demonstrated a non-redundant role for Mincle in the host response to fungal infections. This study identified an unusual pattern of reciprocal expression of Mincle on peripheral blood monocytes or neutrophils isolated from the same donor. Expression on monocytes was inversely correlated with phagocytosis and yeast killing, but was necessary for the induction of inflammatory cytokines in response to ex vivo Candida challenge. In contrast, Mincle expression on neutrophils was associated with phagocytic and candidacidal potential of those cells. Candida challenge upregulated Mincle expression but only in Mincle+ cells. These data highlight species-specific differences between the regulation of Mincle expression in mouse and man. Reciprocal expression of Mincle modified the candidacidal potential of monocytes or neutrophils, suggesting it may also polarize the type of host response to fungal infection. Immunology and Cell Biology (2012) 90, 889-895; doi:10.1038/icb.2012.24; published online 29 May 201