Joint Sales Promotion: Prospects & Issues

This study is an attempt to understand current consumer joint sales promotion in India and thereby identify related prospects and problems. For a conceptual overview, relevant literature in this area was studied. To gain an insight into current practices, announcements of the offers through secondary sources were compiled. A content analysis revealed that "Target market commonality" relationship was the prime reason for companies offering joint sales promotion. It was found that the usage of joint sales promotion was most prevalent in consumer durable category. There exists a prospect for using joint sales promotion in non-durable category. Identifying a suitable partner , planning and co-ordination are the main issues for a manager wanting to use this tool. A guideline regarding the above issues has been suggested.

An Exploratory Study of Sales Promotion Activities in Toilet Soap Category: An Insight into Consumer and Retailer Perceptions

Understanding perceptions of channel members and consumers regarding sales promotion activities enhances the effectiveness of these activities. Widespread usage of sales promotion activities in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector makes it imperative that manufacturers take into account channel member and consumer perceptions before planning such programmes. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the nature of sales promotion activities in toilet soap category in India, study retailer perceptions with respect to these activities and also get an insight into consumer perceptions of these activities. Our findings indicate that with respect to the nature of the schemes, premiums (free gifts) were found to be the most frequently used in both premium and popular toilet soap category, followed by price offs. Retailers perceived price offs to have relatively greater impact compared to any other forms of sales promotion. In line with the retailers perceptions, the findings of consumer perceptions indicated that price offs was the most preferred type of sales promotion. Retailers stated that role of word of mouth and television advertising was very important in providing information inputs to the consumers regarding sales promotion activities. This perception of retailers was supported by the consumer unaided recall of sales promotion schemes which were widely advertised. As the retailer interacts and observes consumers more frequently and closely than the manufacturer, it would be useful for the companies to incorporate perceptions while planning sales promotion strategies.

When Judges Defy Dictators: An Audience-Based Framework to Explain the Emergence of Judicial Assertiveness against Authoritarian Regimes

Under what conditions do judiciaries act assertively against authoritarian regimes? I argue that the judiciary coalesces around institutional norms and preferences in response to the preferences of institutions and networks, or “audiences,” with which judges interact, and which shape the careers and reputations of judges. Proposing a typology of judicial-regime relations, I demonstrate that the judiciary’s affinity to authoritarian regimes diminishes as these audiences grow independent from the regime. Using case law research, archival research and interviews, I demonstrate the utility of the audience-based framework for explaining judicial behavior in authoritarian regimes by exploring cross-temporal variation across authoritarian regimes in Pakistan. This study integrates ideas-based and interest-based explanations for judicial behavior in a generalizable framework for explaining variation in judicial assertiveness against. authoritarian regimes

Optimization of Optical and Mechanical Properties of Real Architecture for 3-Dimensional Tissue Equivalents: Towards Treatment of Limbal Epithelial Stem Cell Deficiency

Limbal epithelial stem cell (LESC) deficiency can cause blindness. Transplantation of cultured human limbal epithelial cells (hLE) on human amniotic membrane (HAM) can restore vision but clinical graft manufacture can be unreliable. We have developed a reliable and robust tissue equivalent (TE) alternative to HAM, Real Architecture for 3D Tissue (RAFT). Here, we aimed to optimize the optical and mechanical properties of RAFT TE for treatment of LESC deficiency in clinical application. The RAFT TE protocol is tunable; varying collagen concentration and volume produces differing RAFT TEs. These were compared with HAM samples taken from locations proximal and distal to the placental disc. Outcomes assessed were transparency, thickness, light transmission, tensile strength, ease of handling, degradation rates and suitability as substrate for hLE culture. Proximal HAM samples were thicker and stronger with poorer optical properties than distal HAM samples. RAFT TEs produced using higher amounts of collagen were thicker and stronger with poorer optical properties than those produced using lower amounts of collagen. The ‘optimal’ RAFT TE was thin, transparent but still handleable and was produced using 0.6 ml of 3 mg/ml collagen. Degradation rates of the ‘optimal’ RAFT TE and HAM were similar. hLE achieved confluency on ‘optimal’ RAFT TEs at comparable rates to HAM and cells expressed high levels of putative stem cell marker p63α. These findings support the use of RAFT TE for hLE transplantation towards treatment of LESC deficiency

In vitro characterisation of low-cost synthetic meshes intended for hernia repair in the UK

Purpose: Low-cost meshes (LCM) were repurposed for the repair of hernias in the developing world. In vivo studies have shown LCM to have comparable results to commercial meshes (CM) at a fraction of the cost. However, little has been done to characterise the mechanical and biocompatible properties of LCM, preventing its clinical use in the UK. The objectives of the research are to assess mechanical and ultrastructural properties of two UK-sourced low-cost meshes (LCM) and the characterisation of the LCMs in vitro biocompatibility. Methods: Mechanical properties of the two LCM were measured through uniaxial tensile test and ultrastructure was evaluated with Scanning Electron Microscopy. LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Assay kit and alamarBlue were used to assess cellular viability and proliferation, respectively. Images were acquired with a fluorescence microscope and analysed using ImageJ (NIH, USA). Results: LCM1 and LCM2 were both multifilament meshes, with the first having smaller pores than the latter. LCM1 exhibited significantly higher tensile strength (p < 0.05) than LCM2 but significantly lower extensibility (p < 0.0001), while Young’s Modulus of the two samples was not significantly different. No significant difference was found in the cellular viability and morphology cultured in LCM1 and LCM2 conditioned media. Metabolic assay and fluorescence imaging showed cellular attachment and proliferation on both LCMs over 14 days. Conclusion: The characterisation of the two UK-sourced LCMs showed in vitro biocompatibility and mechanical and ultrastructural properties comparable to the equivalent CM. This in vitro data represents a step forward for the feasibility of adopting LCM for surgical repair of hernias in the UK.

Diffraction Model of Thermoreflectance Data

Diffraction based mathematical model is developed to address the issue of spatial resolution in thermoreflectance imaging at the scale of 1 and 10 μm. Thermoreflectance imaging provided non-contact temperature measurement at micro and nano scale but the spatial resolution is limited by diffraction. By virtue of this work mathematical model is developed for the analysis of thermoreflectance data. In the development of model both the diffraction occurring at sample and substrate is combined to calculate intensity of thermoreflectance signal. This model takes into account the effective optical distance, sample width, wavelength, signal phase shift and reflectance intensity. Model shows qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental data for the two wavelengths under investigation, 470 nm and 535 nm

Human corneal stromal stem cells support limbal epithelial cells cultured on RAFT tissue equivalents.

Human limbal epithelial cells (HLE) and corneal stromal stem cells (CSSC) reside in close proximity in vivo in the corneal limbal stem cell niche. However, HLE are typically cultured in vitro without supporting niche cells. Here, we re-create the cell-cell juxtaposition of the native environment in vitro, to provide a tool for investigation of epithelial-stromal cell interactions and to optimize HLE culture conditions for potential therapeutic application. RAFT (Real Architecture For 3D Tissue) tissue equivalents (TEs) were used as a 3-dimensional substrate for co-culturing HLE and CSSC. Our results demonstrate that a monolayer of HLE that maintained expression of p63α, ABCB5, CK8 and CK15 (HLE markers), formed on the surface of RAFT TEs within 13 days of culture. CSSC remained in close proximity to HLE and maintained expression of mesenchymal stem cell markers. This simple technique has a short preparation time of only 15 days with the onset of HLE layering and differentiation observed. Furthermore, co-cultivation of HLE with another niche cell type (CSSC) directly on RAFT TEs, eliminates the requirement for animal-derived feeder cells. RAFT TEs may be useful for future therapeutic delivery of multiple cell types to restore the limbal niche following ocular surface injury or disease

PBStoHTCondor system for campus grids

The campus grid architectures currently available are considered to be overly complex. We have focused on High Throughput Condor HTCondor as one of the most popular middlewares among UK universities, and are proposing a new system for unifying campus grid resources. This new system PBStoCondor is capable of interfacing with Linux based system within the campus grids, and automatically determining the best resource for a given job. The system does not require additional efforts from users and administrators of the campus grid resources. We have compared the real usage data and PBStoCondor system simulation data. The results show a close match. The proposed system will enable better utilization of campus grid resources, and will not require modification in users' workflows