Relative age effect in elite soccer: more early-born players, but no better valued, and no paragon clubs or countries

The paper analyses two datasets of elite soccer players (top 1000 professionals and UEFA Under-19 Youth League). In both, we find a Relative Age Effect (RAE) for frequency, but not for value. That is, while there are more players born at the start of the competition year, their transfer values are no higher, nor are they given more game time. We use Poisson regression to derive a transparent index of the discrimination present in RAE. Also, because Poisson is valid for small frequency counts, it supports analysis at the disaggregated levels of country and club. From this, we conclude there are no paragon clubs or countries immune to RAE; that is clubs and countries do not differ systematically in the RAE they experience; also, that Poisson regression is a powerful and flexible method of analysing RAE data

Why Museological Merchandise Displays Enhance Luxury Product Evaluations:An Extended Art Infusion Effect

As retailers are increasingly turning to museum and art gallery inspired techniques for displaying luxury products (museological display formats), we investigate whether such staging elicits more favorable product evaluations. Providing an extension to Hagtvedt and Patrick's (2008) classic art infusion effect, we propose that artistic essence is transferred to displayed merchandise via a second-order spillover effect, enhancing its perceived luxury to consumers. Across three experiments, the museological display format outperformed a more conventional, non-museological product display. Consumers reported higher purchase intentions, via a process whereby the merchandise was first perceived as being more luxurious and then less risk inducing. Explanations for why the museological display heightened perceptions of product luxury relating to service expectations, contamination, and visual appeal were also tested, but support for the extended art infusion effect remained undiminished

The animosity transfer process:Consumer denigration of foreign sponsors and testing potential mitigation strategies

Purpose: sponsorships involving foreign brands are ubiquitous, but those involving a company from an animosity-evoking country can adversely affect rather than enhance domestic consumers’ attitude towards the brand. This paper explains the mechanisms by which brand denigration occurs, introducing and validating a model of the animosity transfer process as well as considering if various framing and timing strategies attenuate or lead to adverse consumer responses.Design/methodology/approach: study 1 tests the animosity transfer model, utilizing a scenario in which English consumers respond to a German brand sponsoring the England soccer team. Study 2 assesses the generalizability of the model in the context of Indian consumers’ responses to sponsorship of their cricket team by a Chinese company, and the extent to which an honest framing of the sponsorship choice through the announcement affects outcomes. Study 3 returns to an England-Germany country dyad, testing whether priming consumers with information about the sponsorship prior to a full announcement, attenuates or intensifies the impact of animosity on the studied outcomes. Findings : the three studies demonstrate that when consumers learn of a sponsorship, it triggers an evaluation process in which the agonistic emotion (anger) they feel plays a pivotal role. More intense emotional appraisals weaken perceptions of sponsor-sponsee congruence, which together act as consecutive process variables mediating the relationship between animosity and sponsorship outcomes. Framing the sponsorship announcement with an honest justification for the partnership can improve outcomes but not amongst those with the highest animosity. Providing consumers with an advanced warning (preannouncement) of the sponsorship also amplifies consumers’ unfavorable evaluations showcasing how difficult animosity is to manage in this context.Originality/value: the animosity transfer model aids understanding of the mechanisms by which animosity affects brand attitude for foreign (out-group) sponsors. It identifies how animosity generates agonistic emotions and in turn weakens perceived fit between the sponsor and sponsee, leading to adverse consumer responses.<br/

The relative age effect in European elite soccer: A practical guide to Poisson regression modelling

<div><p>Many disciplines of scholarship are interested in the Relative Age Effect (RAE), whereby age-banding confers advantages on older members of the cohort over younger ones. Most research does not test this relationship in a manner consistent with theory (which requires a decline in frequency across the cohort year), instead resorting to non-parametric, non-directional approaches. In this article, the authors address this disconnect, provide an overview of the benefits associated with Poisson regression modelling, and two managerially useful measures for quantifying RAE bias, namely the Indices of Discrimination and Wastage. In a tutorial-like exposition, applications and extensions of this approach are illustrated using data on professional soccer players competing in the top two tiers of the “Big Five” European football leagues in the search to identify paragon clubs, leagues, and countries from which others may learn to mitigate this form of age-discrimination in the talent identification process. As with OLS regression, Poisson regression may include more than one independent variable. In this way we test competing explanations of RAE; control for unwanted sources of covariation; model interaction effects (that different clubs and countries may not all be subject to RAE to the same degree); and test for non-monotonic versions of RAE suggested in the literature.</p></div

MyD88 adapter-like (Mal)/TIRAP interaction with TRAF6 is critical for TLR2- and TLR4-mediated NF-kappaB proinflammatory responses

Toll/interleukin-1 (TIR)receptor-containing adapters are critical in orchestrating the different signal transduction pathways following Toll-like receptor (TLR) activation. MyD88 adapter-like (Mal), also termed TIRAP, is involved in bridging MyD88 to the receptor complex for TLR-2 and TLR4 signaling in response to bacterial infection. We have previously reported an interaction between Mal and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) via a TRAF6-binding motif, the disruption of which inhibited TLR-mediated NF-kappaB-luciferase reporter activity. Given the recent report of intracellular TRAM localization promoting sequential signaling in TLR4 responses, we further characterized Mal interaction with TRAF6, the cellular localization, and the outcomes of disrupting this association on TLR inflammatory responses. We found that Mal and TRAF6 directly interact in response to TLR2 and TLR4 stimulation, although membrane localization is not necessary to facilitate interaction. Critically, reconstitution of murine Mal-deficient macrophages with MalE190A, containing a mutation within the TRAF6-binding motif, fails to reconstitute the proinflammatory response to TLR2 and TLR4 ligands compared with wild type Mal. Furthermore, Mal interaction with TRAF6 mediates Ser phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB and thus controls transcriptional activation but not nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. This study characterizes the novel role for Mal in facilitating the direct recruitment of TRAF6 to the plasma membrane, which is necessary for TLR2- and TLR4-induced transactivation of NF-kappaB and regulation of the subsequent pro-inflammatory response

High-performance human resource practices and employee outcomes: the mediating role of public service motivation

This article responds to recent calls for research examining the mechanisms through which high-performance human resource practices (HPHRPs) affect employee outcomes. Using the theoretical lens of social exchange and process theories, the authors examine one such mechanism, public service motivation, through which HPHRPs influence employees’ affective commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors in public sector organizations. A sample of professionals in the Egyptian health and higher education sectors was used to test a partial mediation model using structural equation modeling. Findings show that public service motivation partially mediated the relationship between HPHRPs and employees’ affective commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors. Similar results were achieved when the system of HPHRPs was disaggregated to consider the individual effects of five human resource practices

Rapid, B1B_1-insensitive, dual-band quasi-adiabatic saturation transfer with optimal control for complete quantification of myocardial ATP flux

Purpose: Phosphorus saturation-transfer experiments can quantify metabolic fluxes non-invasively. Typically, the forward flux through the creatine-kinase reaction is investigated by observing the decrease in phosphocreatine (PCr) after saturation of $\gamma$-ATP. The quantification of total ATP utilisation is currently under-explored, as it requires simultaneous saturation of inorganic phosphate (Pi) and PCr. This is challenging, as currently available saturation pulses reduce the already-low $\gamma$-ATP signal present. Methods: Using a hybrid optimal-control and Shinnar-Le-Roux method, a quasi-adiabatic RF pulse was designed for the dual-saturation of PCr and Pi to enable determination of total ATP utilisation. The pulses were evaluated in Bloch equation simulations, compared with a conventional hard-cosine DANTE saturation sequence, before application to perfused rat hearts at 11.7 Tesla. Results: The quasi-adiabatic pulse was insensitive to a $>2.5$-fold variation in $B_1$, producing equivalent saturation with a 53% reduction in delivered pulse power and a 33-fold reduction in spillover at the minimum effective $B_1$. This enabled the complete quantification of the synthesis and degradation fluxes for ATP in 30-45 minutes in the perfused rat heart. While the net synthesis flux ($4.24\pm0.8$ mM/s, SEM) was not significantly different from degradation flux ($6.88\pm2$ mM/s, $p=0.06$) and both measures are consistent with prior work, nonlinear error analysis highlights uncertainties in the Pi-to-ATP measurement that may explain a trend suggesting a possible imbalance. Conclusion: This work demonstrates a novel quasi-adiabatic dual-saturation RF pulse with significantly improved performance that can be used to measure ATP turnover in the heart in vivo.Comment: 26 pages, Accepted at Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 24/11/2020 [This version post reviews

Health-related quality-of-life results from the randomised phase II TAVAREC trial on temozolomide with or without bevacizumab in 1p/19q intact first-recurrence World Health Organization grade 2 and 3 glioma (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 26091)

Background: In an international randomised controlled phase II study of temozolomide (TMZ) versus TMZ in combination with bevacizumab (BEV) in locally diagnosed non-1p/19q co-deleted World Health Organization grade 2 or 3 gliomas with a first and contrast-enhancing recurrence after initial radiotherapy, and overall survival at 12 months was not significantly different (61% in the TMZ arm and 55% in the TMZ + BEV arm). Objectives: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was a key secondary end-point in this trial, and the main objective of this study was to determine the impact of the addition of BEV to TMZ on HRQoL. Methods: HRQoL was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 (version 3) and QLQ-BN20 at baseline, and then every 12 weeks until disease progression. The pre-selected primary HRQoL end-point was the QLQ-C30 global health scale, with self-perceived cognitive functioning and pain selected as secondary HRQoL issues. Analysis was undertaken using linear mixed modelling and complemented with sensitivity analyses using summary statistics. A difference was considered clinically relevant with ≥10 points difference on a 100-point scale. Results: Baseline compliance was high at 94% and remained above 60% until 72 weeks, limiting the analysis to 60 weeks. Compliance was similar in both arms. We found no statistically significant or clinically significant differences between the primary HRQoL end-point in both treatment arms (p = 0.2642). The sensitivity analyses confirmed this finding. The overall test for post-baseline differences between the two treatment arms also showed no statistically or clinically significant differences regarding the selected secondary end-point scales. Interpretation: The addition of BEV to TMZ in this patient group neither improves nor negatively impacts HRQoL.</p

Cross-National Logo Evaluation Analysis: An Individual Level Approach

The universality of design perception and response is tested using data collected from ten countries: Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, Great Britain, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, and the United States. A Bayesian, finite-mixture, structural-equation model is developed that identifies latent logo clusters while accounting for heterogeneity in evaluations. The concomitant v