Internationalisation of Spanish fashion brand Zara

Zara is one of the world’s most successful fashion retailers operating in 59 countries. However, there is little research about the firm in English as the majority of publications have been written in Spanish. This paper seeks to address this gap in the literature by examining the internationalisation process of Zara. This study adopts an in-depth case approach based on extensive secondary research. Literature published in both English and Spanish has been reviewed, including company documents such as annual reports. The paper starts with a brief overview of the global textile and clothing industry, followed by the case study of Zara. The main part of the case examines the key aspects in the internationalisation of Zara namely: motives for internationalisation, market selection, entry strategies, and international marketing strategies. In the final section, comparisons are made between Zara and two of its main competitors, H&M and Gap

Topology and Strings: Topics in N=2N=2

A review on topological strings and the geometry of the space of two dimensional theories. (Lectures given by C. Gomez at the Enrico Fermi Summer School, Varenna, July 1994)Comment: 61 pages, late

A Note on the String Analog of N=2N=2 Super-Symmetric Yang-Mills

A connection between the conifold locus of the type II string on the $W\:P_{11226}^4$ Calabi-Yau manifold and the geometry of the quantum moduli of $N = 2$ $SU(2)$ super Yang-Mills is presented. This relation is obtained from the anomalous behaviour of the $SU(2)$ super Yang-Mills special coordinates under $S$-duality transformation in $Sl(2;Z) / \Gamma_2$.Comment: 7 pages, Late

Critical Service Learning

Service Learning Initiative for Community Engagement in Sociology (SLICES) is a critical, research-focused, community-based, leadership and knowledge project. By engaging in Community Based Participatory Action Research Projects (CBPAR) students have an opportunity to work multiple semesters, if they choose, to develop research skills, serve in leadership roles, serve and collaborate with local organization, and engage in professional development.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/1042/thumbnail.jp

Breast Cancer Progression and Phytoestrogen Interactions with Estrogen Receptors

Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases affecting women and approximately 1.3 million females are diagnosed each year with this disease worldwide. Breast cancer is a multi-factorial disease and it is difficult to predict or control the physiopathology, to date one of the major risk factors alongside the patient’s genetic background is life time exposure to estrogen. Understanding the estrogen receptor (ER) has been a milestone in elucidating breast cancer biology, leading to advances in disease management. Alongside this, evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that dietary consumption of phytoestrogens may modulate disease progression. This study hypothesises that the interaction between some phytoestrogens (present in the pre-diagnosis diet or in the new diet adopted by breast cancer patients) and specific ER isoforms displayed in breast tumours influences the action of synthetic and endogenous estrogen in breast cancer cells. This study aimed to understand the interaction between estrogen, hormone drugs and phytoestrogens on the ER. In silico modelling of the ER focused on the wild type isoforms ERα and ERβ and different ligands (SWISS MODEL and docked through AutoDock Vina). Subsequently, isoforms of ERα and ERβ and different ligands (E1, E2, E3, PE, Tamoxifen, ICI 182,780) were modelled and tested by docking against the same set of ligands (E1, E2, E3, PE, Tamoxifen, ICI 182,780). The system described here highlighted the main amino acid residues of the LBD of ERα and ERβ along with ligand interactions for both agonists and antagonists, described in previous X-ray crystallography experiments. All of the phytoestrogens studied using AutoDock Vina interacted with the hormone binding site of both ERα and ERβ, due the phenolic ring of the studied structure which favoured the interaction with the hydrophobic environment of LBD amino acids. All of the dietary phytoestrogens showed lower binding affinity (<9.1 Kcal/mol) compared with estradiol (-10.6 Kcal/mol) in all the isoforms and isotypes studied, suggesting that phytoestrogens should not displace estradiol from the LBD, however it remains unclear if PE can act as an agonist compound in the ER pathways. Also, some phytoestrogens appeared to have greater affinity to the ERα and ERβ than Tamoxifen (antagonist models), but it is uncertain as to whether the resulting structure will interfere with subsequent interactions. Further laboratory experiments will be necessary to understand the impact of the PE in the ERs structure and the respective role in the ER pathway. The data from this computer modelling approach has provided an insight into the interactions between endogenous estrogens, drugs, phytoestrogens and ER. The in silico studies generated a system that recapitulated data obtained by other research groups (experimentally) and will be of value as a screening tool for further studies of new drugs and exogenous estrogens and their potential role in ER-induced breast cancer pathophysiology

Unit Roots, Level Shifts and Trend Breaks in Per Capita Output: A Robust Evaluation

Determining whether per capita output can be characterized by a stochastic trend is complicated by the fact that infrequent breaks in trend can bias standard unit root tests towards non-rejection of the unit root hypothesis. The bulk of the existing literature has focused on the application of unit root tests allowing for structural breaks in the trend function under the trend stationary alternative but not under the unit root null. These tests, however, provide little information regarding the existence and number of trend breaks. Moreover, these tests suffer from serious power and size distortions due to the asymmetric treatment of breaks under the null and alternative hypotheses. This paper estimates the number of breaks in trend employing procedures that are robust to the unit root/stationarity properties of the data. Our analysis of the per-capita GDP for OECD countries thereby permits a robust classification of countries according to the "growth shift", "level shift" and "linear trend" hypotheses. In contrast to the extant literature, unit root tests conditional on the presence or absence of breaks do not provide evidence against the unit root hypothesis.growth shift, level shift, structural change, trend breaks, unit root.