Ambush marketing is dead ; long live ambush marketing – a re-definition and typology of an increasingly prevalent phenomenon

Ambush marketing is more than thirty years old, and its prevalence continues to grow. Recent cases indicate that brands perpetrating ambushes are becoming more creative, but the literature has failed to keep pace, offering scant analysis of the different forms that ambushing can take and the implications it can have, and little investigation or consideration from the ambusher’s perspective. This study proposes a new definition of ambushing and typology of the three types of ambush marketing strategy: incursion, obtrusion and association. Each type is defined and explored, and the significance and implications for sponsors, event owners and ambushers are examined, providing new insight into the nature and impact of ambushing for industry stakeholders

Social media based sponsorship activation – a typology of content

This paper thematically categorises sports sponsorship-linked Twitter content and, by drawing on uses & gratifications (U&G) theory, maps the extent to which these categories cohere with known user motivations for consuming social media. Methodology: Qualitative content analysis of a sample of 1502 Tweets by London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsors posted between January 2011 and September 2012 was used to develop the typology of sponsorship-linked Twitter content. Findings: From the data, a typology is developed, comprising 17 categories grouped under four main types: informing, entertaining, rewarding and interacting. The majority of sponsor Tweets (68%) fell into the informing type, with 17% categorised as interacting. While few (2%) Tweets were categorised as entertaining, the link to the sponsored event implies a degree of entertaining content even in ostensibly informative, rewarding or interactional sponsorship-linked Tweets. Therefore, the typology categories highlight Twitter content produced by sponsors which engages customers, fostering dialogue alongside providing informative and entertaining content. Originality: The typology extends existing understanding of the use of social media within sponsorship activation campaigns by thematically categorising content and mapping this against known user motivations for consuming brand-related social media content. Practical implications: The typology can inform practitioners’ future sports sponsorship activation planning decisions and can also aid rights holders in tailoring appropriate sponsorship opportunities to potential sponsors, based on an appreciation of the nature of content sought by brand followers

The use of time resolved aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition in mapping metal oxide thin film growth and fine tuning functional properties

Time resolved analysis of a thin film has allowed, for the first time, analysis of how thin film growth occurs and changes over time by aerosol assisted CVD. This method has also allowed tuning of the materials' functional properties. In this report a hydrophobic and highly photocatalytic TiO2/SnO2 system is studied, which exhibits surface segregation of SnO2 and thus the novel formation of a natural hetero-junction charge transfer system. The time resolved samples were investigated by a variety of methods. The films were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis). Functional properties were investigated by photo-activity measurements and water contact angles before and after UV irradiation. The generation of representative samples at different times during the deposition sequence permitted changes in crystal structure, relative concentrations of atoms, and surface morphology to be linked intrinsically to changes in functional properties

A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships

This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered: collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership

Dopant stability in multifunctional doped TiO 2's under environmental UVA exposure

We present a UV irradiation study of three nanomaterials which have been investigated and published by peer review previously, specifically tantalum, tungsten and phosphorus doped TiO2. These nanomaterials have been previously synthesised, characterised and designed with specific applications in mind, from photo-catalysts to transparent conducting oxides (TCO's) for use in solar cells and touchscreens. We show in this work, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) that under sustained levels of environmental UVA Irradiation (0.42 mW cm−2) Ta5+ and W6+ substitutional doped TiO2 exhibits little to no variation in dopant concentration and distribution as a function of irradiation time. Interestingly P5+ and P3− co-doped TiO2 experiences a pronounced and nuanced change in dopant distribution and concentration across the surface through to the bulk as a function of irradiation time. Combined with our previous work with nitrogen doped TiO2, whereby 28 days of environmental UVA irradiation causes interstitial dopant loss and the attrition of functional properties, these results demonstrate that much is still to be understood regarding dopant stability in metal oxides such as TiO2 under environmental conditions

NTPDases in the neuroendocrine hypothalamus: Possible energy regulators of the positive gonadotrophin feedback

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Brain-derived ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (NTPDases) have been known as plasma membrane-incorporated enzymes with their ATP-hydrolyzing domain outside of the cell. As such, these enzymes are thought to regulate purinergic intercellular signaling by hydrolyzing ATP to ADP-AMP, thus regulating the availability of specific ligands for various P2X and P2Y purinergic receptors. The role of NTPDases in the central nervous system is little understood. The two major reasons are the insufficient knowledge of the precise localization of these enzymes in neural structures, and the lack of specific inhibitors for the various NTPDases. To fill these gaps, we recently studied the presence of neuron-specific NTPDase3 in the mitochondria of hypothalamic excitatory neurons by morphological and functional methods. Results from those studies suggested that intramitochondrial regulation of ATP levels may play a permissive role in the neural regulation of physiological functions by tuning the level of ATP-carried energy that is needed for neuronal functions, such as neurotransmission and/or intracellular signaling.</p> <p>Presentation of the hypothesis</p> <p>In the lack of highly specific inhibitors, the determination of the precise function and role of NTPDases is hardly feasable. Yet, here we attempt to find an approach to investigate a possible role for hypothalamic NTPDase3 in the initiation of the midcycle luteinizing hormone (LH) surge, as such a biological role was implied by our recent findings. Here we hypothesize that NTPDase-activity in neurons of the AN may play a permissive role in the regulation of the estrogen-induced pituitary LH-surge.</p> <p>Testing the hypothesis</p> <p>We propose to test our hypothesis on ovariectomized rats, by stereotaxically injecting 17beta-estradiol and/or an NTPDase-inhibitor into the arcuate nucleus and determine the consequential levels of blood LH, mitochondrial respiration rates from arcuate nucleus synaptosomal preparations, NTPDase3-expression from arcuate nucleus tissue samples, all compared to sham and intact controls.</p> <p>Implications of the hypothesis</p> <p>Results from these studies may lead to the conclusion that estrogen may modulate the activity of mitochondrial, synapse-linked NTPDase3, and may show a correlation between mitochondrial NTPDase3-activity and the regulation of LH-release by estrogen.</p

Ultraviolet Radiation Induced Dopant Loss in a TiO2 Photocatalyst

Doped TiO2 has been studied with intense interest in recent decades because of its ability to utilize visible wavelengths and enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic processes. Thus, as a class of materials, it is of significant interest for use in environmental ambient energy utilization applications. Using a popular and well-studied form of doped TiO2 (nitrogen doped) as an example, we show how 28 days of UVA irradiation which is identical in intensity with solar conditions is sufficient to cause the UV induced surface segregation and eventual loss of nitrogen dopant species in TiO2. This is evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transient absorption spectroscopy. The loss of interstitial nitrogen dopants correlates with the eventual permanent loss of photocatalytic activity and visible light absorption. The UV induced loss of dopants in a metal oxide is unprecedented and represents a potential problem where the environmental use of doped metal oxides in applications is concerned

The Choice of the Filtering Method in Microarrays Affects the Inference Regarding Dosage Compensation of the Active X-Chromosome

The hypothesis of dosage compensation of genes of the X chromosome, supported by previous microarray studies, was recently challenged by RNA-sequencing data. It was suggested that microarray studies were biased toward an over-estimation of X-linked expression levels as a consequence of the filtering of genes below the detection threshold of microarrays.To investigate this hypothesis, we used microarray expression data from circulating monocytes in 1,467 individuals. In total, 25,349 and 1,156 probes were unambiguously assigned to autosomes and the X chromosome, respectively. Globally, there was a clear shift of X-linked expressions toward lower levels than autosomes. We compared the ratio of expression levels of X-linked to autosomal transcripts (X∶AA) using two different filtering methods: 1. gene expressions were filtered out using a detection threshold irrespective of gene chromosomal location (the standard method in microarrays); 2. equal proportions of genes were filtered out separately on the X and on autosomes. For a wide range of filtering proportions, the X∶AA ratio estimated with the first method was not significantly different from 1, the value expected if dosage compensation was achieved, whereas it was significantly lower than 1 with the second method, leading to the rejection of the hypothesis of dosage compensation. We further showed in simulated data that the choice of the most appropriate method was dependent on biological assumptions regarding the proportion of actively expressed genes on the X chromosome comparative to the autosomes and the extent of dosage compensation.This study shows that the method used for filtering out lowly expressed genes in microarrays may have a major impact according to the hypothesis investigated. The hypothesis of dosage compensation of X-linked genes cannot be firmly accepted or rejected using microarray-based data