The impact of business-cycle fluctuations on private-label share.

This study investigates the cyclical dependence of private-label success in four countries. The results show that private-label share behaves countercyclically. Moreover, asymmetries are present in both the extent and speed of up- and down-ward movements in private-label share over the business cycle. Finally, part of private-labels' share gain during contractions is found to be permanent.Business; Country; Dependence; Studies; Success;

The Impact of Business-Cycle Fluctuations on Private-Label Share

This study investigates the cyclical dependence of private-label success in four countries. The results show that private-label share behaves countercyclically. Moreover, asymmetries are present in both the extent and speed of up- and down-ward movements in private-label share over the business cycle. Finally, part of private-labels’ share gain during contractions is found to be permanent

The Role of National Culture in Advertising’s Sensitivity to Business Cycles: An Investigation Across All Continents

Cutting advertising budgets has traditionally been a popular reaction by companies around the globe when faced with a slacking economy. Still, anecdotal evidence suggests the presence of considerable cross-country variability in the cyclical sensitivity of advertising expenditures. We conduct a systematic investigation into the cyclical sensitivity of advertising expenditures in 37 countries across all continents, covering up to 25 years and four key media: magazines, newspapers, radio and television. While our findings confirm that advertising moves in the same direction as the general economic activity, we also show that advertising is considerably more sensitive to business-cycle fluctuations than the economy as a whole, with an average co-movement elasticity of 1.4. Interestingly, advertising’s cyclical dependence is systematically related to the cultural context in which companies operate. Advertising behaves less cyclically in countries high on long-term orientation and power distance, while advertising is more cyclical in countries high on uncertainty avoidance. Further, advertising is more sensitive to the business cycle in countries characterized by significant stock-market pressure and few foreign-owned multinationals. These results have important strategic implications for both global advertisers and their ad agencies

Win-Win Strategies at Discount Stores

An important development that contributes to store brands’ growing success in the grocery market is the increasing number of discount stores that sell predominantly own, private-label, brands. To fight private labels, manufacturers of national brands feel increasingly compelled to develop better trade relations with discounters. Some discounters, from their part, are looking for opportunities to differentiate themselves, and to move beyond a pure price-based competition, by extending their assortment with attractive national brands. In this study, we determine what factors drive national-brand success at discount stores, and lead to positive outcomes for both the manufacturer and the discounter

Targeting HCV Entry For Development of Therapeutics

Recent progress in defining the molecular mechanisms of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) entry affords the opportunity to exploit new viral and host targets for therapeutic intervention. Entry inhibitors would limit the expansion of the infected cell reservoir, and would complement the many replication inhibitors now under development. The current model for the pathway of entry involves the initial docking of the virus onto the cell surface through interactions of virion envelope and associated low density lipoproteins (LDL) with cell surface glycosaminoglycans and lipoprotein receptors, followed by more specific utilization with other hepatocyte membrane proteins: Scavenger Receptor Class B type 1 (SR-BI), CD81, Claudin 1 (CLDN1) and Occludin (OCLN). The use of blockers of these interactions, e.g. specific antibodies, suggests that inhibition of any one step in the entry pathway can inhibit infection. Despite this knowledge base, the tools for compound screening, HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) and cell culture virus (HCVcc), and the ability to adapt them to industrial use are only recently available and as a result drug discovery initiatives are in their infancy. Several therapies aiming at modulating the virus envelope to prevent host cell binding are in early clinical testing. The first test case for blocking a cellular co-receptor is an SR-BI modulator. ITX 5061, an orally active small molecule, targets SR-BI and has shown potent antiviral activity against HCVpp and HCVcc. ITX 5061 has exhibited good safety in previous clinical studies, and is being evaluated in the clinic in chronic HCV patients and patients undergoing liver transplantation. Entry inhibitors promise to be valuable players in the future development of curative therapy against HCV

A Concerted Action of Hepatitis C Virus P7 and Nonstructural Protein 2 Regulates Core Localization at the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Virus Assembly

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) assembly remains a poorly understood process. Lipid droplets (LDs) are thought to act as platforms for the assembly of viral components. The JFH1 HCV strain replicates and assembles in association with LD-associated membranes, around which viral core protein is predominantly detected. In contrast, despite its intrinsic capacity to localize to LDs when expressed individually, we found that the core protein of the high-titer Jc1 recombinant virus was hardly detected on LDs of cell culture-grown HCV (HCVcc)-infected cells, but was mainly localized at endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes where it colocalized with the HCV envelope glycoproteins. Furthermore, high-titer cell culture-adapted JFH1 virus, obtained after long-term culture in Huh7.5 cells, exhibited an ER-localized core in contrast to non-adapted JFH1 virus, strengthening the hypothesis that ER localization of core is required for efficient HCV assembly. Our results further indicate that p7 and NS2 are HCV strain-specific factors that govern the recruitment of core protein from LDs to ER assembly sites. Indeed, using expression constructs and HCVcc recombinant genomes, we found that p7 is sufficient to induce core localization at the ER, independently of its ion-channel activity. Importantly, the combined expression of JFH1 or Jc1 p7 and NS2 induced the same differential core subcellular localization detected in JFH1- vs. Jc1-infected cells. Finally, results obtained by expressing p7-NS2 chimeras between either virus type indicated that compatibilities between the p7 and the first NS2 trans-membrane domains is required to induce core-ER localization and assembly of extra- and intra-cellular infectious viral particles. In conclusion, we identified p7 and NS2 as key determinants governing the subcellular localization of HCV core to LDs vs. ER and required for initiation of the early steps of virus assembly

Revisiting the theory of business-to-business advertising

Creating effective business-to-business (B2B) communications is an increasingly complex challenge for marketing managers. It requires a theoretical understanding of a number of puzzling, interacting components of an advertising stimulus. However, few academicians have pursued the goal of integrating and modeling how the B2B advertising process should be conceptualized. Gilliland and Johnston (1997) provided the first comprehensive model of the process, but B2B advertising has changed dramatically since this paper and demands an update to capture the new dimensions of the phenomenon. Using a systematic literature review to summarize recent trends, this paper incorporates the key changes in B2B advertising over the last 20 years. In particular, the authors explore a revised model of B2B effects, including (1) social media, (2) creativity and emotional appeals, (3) national culture, (4) brand equity and credibility, (5) ad experience social context, and (6) competing messages

The therapeutic implications of an abdominal aortic aneurysm with coincident horseshoe kidney

Two male patients were admitted to the department of vascular surgery for treatment of a large infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and an associated horseshoe kidney (HSK). Both patients were successfully treated by endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Horseshoe kidney is a rare and complex congenital anomaly, which increases significantly the technical difficulty of conventional surgical repair of an associated AAA. Appropriate preoperative evaluation of the vascular supply of the HSK by CT- angiography and renal function is mandatory for optimal planning of the treatment strategy. EVAR is regarded as a valuable alternative to open surgical therapy, in the absence of renal failure and provided that accessory renal arteries are absent or small