Fans of Brands - The revival of fan clubs

Our purpose is to display the meaning of fan clubs and further reveal the potential value of fans. This study has an abductive approach with a qualitative data collection, where empirical material has been collected through a micro netnographic study along with qualitative interviews. IKEA and IKEA Family have been applied together with virtual fan clubs to study the fan club phenomenon. The study is based on prior literature concerning loyalty, customer clubs and brand relations. This theoretical framework was chosen to fulfil the purpose of unveiling the meaning of fan clubs and the potential value of fans. The empirical data is based on qualitative expert interviews, observations of online fan clubs and qualitative interviews with IKEA fans from different countries (face-to-face, e-mail, telephone). Fan clubs are highly related to social groupings, which further implicates that they are a key driver of loyalty. Due to this strong resemblance, corporation can utilize this tool to get a stronger brand-consumer relation. Nevertheless, fan clubs is the tool, while it is the fans that are the core value. Wherefore it is crucial for companies to acknowledge their fans by implementing a fan club as a loyalty program, which will create a win-win situation for both parties

Petit manuel de stratégies de sortie de crise:Comment rebondir pour éviter l’enlisement ?

La crise amorcée en 2007 à partir d’un segment du marché hypothécaire américain s’est propagée à l’ensemble des marchés financiers, entraînant un risque systémique majeur du système financier international aux conséquences graves sur l’économie réelle. De financière, la crise s’est transformée en crise de l’économie réelle. Et de liquidité, la crise est devenue crise de solvabilité, nécessitant désormais un fort engagement des secteurs publics nationaux. En revenant sur les grandes crises financières qui ont marqué le 20e siècle, cet article établit une chronologie de ces crises à partir de plusieurs critères (contexte historique, déséquilibres économiques et financiers à la veille de la crise, facteurs déclencheurs de crise, stratégies de sortie) afin d’en tirer des recommandations sur les remèdes à mettre en œuvre pour mieux en sortir. La crise amorcée en 2007 à partir d’un segment du marché hypothécaire américain s’est propagée à l’ensemble des marchés financiers, entraînant un risque systémique majeur du système financier international aux conséquences graves sur l’économie réelle. De financière, la crise s’est transformée en crise de l’économie réelle. Et de liquidité, la crise est devenue crise de solvabilité, nécessitant désormais un fort engagement des secteurs publics nationaux. En revenant sur les grandes crises financières qui ont marqué le 20e siècle, cet article établit une chronologie de ces crises à partir de plusieurs critères (contexte historique, déséquilibres économiques et financiers à la veille de la crise, facteurs déclencheurs de crise, stratégies de sortie) afin d’en tirer des recommandations sur les remèdes à mettre en œuvre pour mieux en sortir. La crise de 1929 et la crise japonaise sont les références les plus fréquemment citées, l’une pour la violence du choc et la Grande Dépression qui a suivi l’autre pour sa sortie en déflation sur fonds d’absence de reprise durable. La crise des caisses d’épargne aux États-Unis pendant les années 1980 et des pays scandinaves au tournant des années 1990 sont également étudiées. De ces crises et des stratégies de sortie mises en oeuvre, plusieurs recommandations apparaissent : ■ donner la priorité à la stabilisation financière afin de retrouver un fonctionnement normal des marchés. Dans le cas d’une crise grave, l’ajustement par le marché est un leurre dont les conséquences ne font qu’aggraver la perte de confiance des agents, et donc le risque de faillites bancaires. Les pouvoirs publics doivent organiser les plans de sauvetage via la recapitalisation ou le cantonnement de créances douteuses dans des bad banks ; ■ mettre en place des politiques économiques destinées à faire face aux conséquences réelles de la crise : baisse des taux d’intérêt et mesures budgétaires temporaires et ciblées dans le cas d’une crise conjoncturelle, permanentes et larges dans le cas d’une crise structurelle ; ■ enfin, dans tous les cas, frapper vite et fort. Il n'existe pas de stratégie optimale de sortie de crise. La complexité de l'engagement des pouvoirs réside dans l'arbitrage entre, d'un côté, le risque imminent d'une crise systémique du système financier et, de l'autre, les coûts futurs liés à l'aléa moral et à la soutenabilité des finances publiques. Mais l'urgence devrait l'emporter

Non-essential role for TLR2 and its signaling adaptor Mal/TIRAP in preserving normal lung architecture in mice

Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and MyD88-adaptor like (Mal)/Toll-interleukin 1 receptor domain containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) play a critical role in transducing signals downstream of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family. While genetic ablation of the TLR4/MyD88 signaling axis in mice leads to pulmonary cell death and oxidative stress culminating in emphysema, the involvement of Mal, as well as TLR2 which like TLR4 also signals via MyD88 and Mal, in the pathogenesis of emphysema has not been studied. By employing an in vivo genetic approach, we reveal here that unlike the spontaneous pulmonary emphysema which developed in Tlr42/2 mice by 6 months of age, the lungs of Tlr22/2 mice showed no physiological or morphological signs of emphysema. A more detailed comparative analysis of the lungs from these mice confirmed that elevated oxidative protein carbonylation levels and increased numbers of alveolar cell apoptosis were only detected in Tlr42/2 mice, along with up-regulation of NADPH oxidase 3 (Nox3) mRNA expression. With respect to Mal, the architecture of the lungs of Mal2/2 mice was normal. However, despite normal oxidative protein carbonylation levels in the lungs of emphysema-free Mal2/2 mice, these mice displayed increased levels of apoptosis comparable to those observed in emphysematous Tlr42/2 mice. In conclusion, our data provide in vivo evidence for the non-essential role for TLR2, unlike the related TLR4, in maintaining the normal architecture of the lung. In addition, we reveal that Mal differentially facilitates the anti-apoptotic, but not oxidant suppressive, activities of TLR4 in the lung, both of which appear to be essential for TLR4 to prevent the onset of emphysema

A prospective prostate cancer screening programme for men with pathogenic variants in mismatch repair genes (IMPACT): initial results from an international prospective study.

Funder: Victorian Cancer AgencyFunder: NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research CentreFunder: Cancer Research UKFunder: Cancer Council TasmaniaFunder: Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIFunder: Cancer AustraliaFunder: NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research CentreFunder: Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el CáncerFunder: Cancer Council South AustraliaFunder: Swedish Cancer SocietyFunder: NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research CentreFunder: Institut Català de la SalutFunder: Cancer Council VictoriaFunder: Prostate Cancer Foundation of AustraliaFunder: National Institutes of HealthBACKGROUND: Lynch syndrome is a rare familial cancer syndrome caused by pathogenic variants in the mismatch repair genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or PMS2, that cause predisposition to various cancers, predominantly colorectal and endometrial cancer. Data are emerging that pathogenic variants in mismatch repair genes increase the risk of early-onset aggressive prostate cancer. The IMPACT study is prospectively assessing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men with germline mismatch repair pathogenic variants. Here, we report the usefulness of PSA screening, prostate cancer incidence, and tumour characteristics after the first screening round in men with and without these germline pathogenic variants. METHODS: The IMPACT study is an international, prospective study. Men aged 40-69 years without a previous prostate cancer diagnosis and with a known germline pathogenic variant in the MLH1, MSH2, or MSH6 gene, and age-matched male controls who tested negative for a familial pathogenic variant in these genes were recruited from 34 genetic and urology clinics in eight countries, and underwent a baseline PSA screening. Men who had a PSA level higher than 3·0 ng/mL were offered a transrectal, ultrasound-guided, prostate biopsy and a histopathological analysis was done. All participants are undergoing a minimum of 5 years' annual screening. The primary endpoint was to determine the incidence, stage, and pathology of screening-detected prostate cancer in carriers of pathogenic variants compared with non-carrier controls. We used Fisher's exact test to compare the number of cases, cancer incidence, and positive predictive values of the PSA cutoff and biopsy between carriers and non-carriers and the differences between disease types (ie, cancer vs no cancer, clinically significant cancer vs no cancer). We assessed screening outcomes and tumour characteristics by pathogenic variant status. Here we present results from the first round of PSA screening in the IMPACT study. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00261456, and is now closed to accrual. FINDINGS: Between Sept 28, 2012, and March 1, 2020, 828 men were recruited (644 carriers of mismatch repair pathogenic variants [204 carriers of MLH1, 305 carriers of MSH2, and 135 carriers of MSH6] and 184 non-carrier controls [65 non-carriers of MLH1, 76 non-carriers of MSH2, and 43 non-carriers of MSH6]), and in order to boost the sample size for the non-carrier control groups, we randomly selected 134 non-carriers from the BRCA1 and BRCA2 cohort of the IMPACT study, who were included in all three non-carrier cohorts. Men were predominantly of European ancestry (899 [93%] of 953 with available data), with a mean age of 52·8 years (SD 8·3). Within the first screening round, 56 (6%) men had a PSA concentration of more than 3·0 ng/mL and 35 (4%) biopsies were done. The overall incidence of prostate cancer was 1·9% (18 of 962; 95% CI 1·1-2·9). The incidence among MSH2 carriers was 4·3% (13 of 305; 95% CI 2·3-7·2), MSH2 non-carrier controls was 0·5% (one of 210; 0·0-2·6), MSH6 carriers was 3·0% (four of 135; 0·8-7·4), and none were detected among the MLH1 carriers, MLH1 non-carrier controls, and MSH6 non-carrier controls. Prostate cancer incidence, using a PSA threshold of higher than 3·0 ng/mL, was higher in MSH2 carriers than in MSH2 non-carrier controls (4·3% vs 0·5%; p=0·011) and MSH6 carriers than MSH6 non-carrier controls (3·0% vs 0%; p=0·034). The overall positive predictive value of biopsy using a PSA threshold of 3·0 ng/mL was 51·4% (95% CI 34·0-68·6), and the overall positive predictive value of a PSA threshold of 3·0 ng/mL was 32·1% (20·3-46·0). INTERPRETATION: After the first screening round, carriers of MSH2 and MSH6 pathogenic variants had a higher incidence of prostate cancer compared with age-matched non-carrier controls. These findings support the use of targeted PSA screening in these men to identify those with clinically significant prostate cancer. Further annual screening rounds will need to confirm these findings. FUNDING: Cancer Research UK, The Ronald and Rita McAulay Foundation, the National Institute for Health Research support to Biomedical Research Centres (The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust; Oxford; Manchester and the Cambridge Clinical Research Centre), Mr and Mrs Jack Baker, the Cancer Council of Tasmania, Cancer Australia, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Council of Victoria, Cancer Council of South Australia, the Victorian Cancer Agency, Cancer Australia, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), the Institut Català de la Salut, Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute, Swedish Cancer Society, General Hospital in Malmö Foundation for Combating Cancer

Psychosocial impact of undergoing prostate cancer screening for men with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

OBJECTIVES: To report the baseline results of a longitudinal psychosocial study that forms part of the IMPACT study, a multi-national investigation of targeted prostate cancer (PCa) screening among men with a known pathogenic germline mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. PARTICPANTS AND METHODS: Men enrolled in the IMPACT study were invited to complete a questionnaire at collaborating sites prior to each annual screening visit. The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics and the following measures: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Impact of Event Scale (IES), 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer, Cancer Worry Scale-Revised, risk perception and knowledge. The results of the baseline questionnaire are presented. RESULTS: A total of 432 men completed questionnaires: 98 and 160 had mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, respectively, and 174 were controls (familial mutation negative). Participants' perception of PCa risk was influenced by genetic status. Knowledge levels were high and unrelated to genetic status. Mean scores for the HADS and SF-36 were within reported general population norms and mean IES scores were within normal range. IES mean intrusion and avoidance scores were significantly higher in BRCA1/BRCA2 carriers than in controls and were higher in men with increased PCa risk perception. At the multivariate level, risk perception contributed more significantly to variance in IES scores than genetic status. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to report the psychosocial profile of men with BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations undergoing PCa screening. No clinically concerning levels of general or cancer-specific distress or poor quality of life were detected in the cohort as a whole. A small subset of participants reported higher levels of distress, suggesting the need for healthcare professionals offering PCa screening to identify these risk factors and offer additional information and support to men seeking PCa screening

Использование принципа клиентоориентированности при формировании стратегии развития предприятий

Материалы межвуз. науч. конф. студентов, магистрантов и аспирантов, Гомель, 15 мая 2008 г

4H-SiC epitaxy investigating carrier lifetime and substrate off-axis dependence

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide bandgap semiconductor with unique material properties making it useful for various device applications using high power, high frequency and high temperature. Compared to Si-based electronics, SiC based electronics have an improved energy efficiency. One of the most critical problems is to reduce this planets power consumption, where large improvements can be made enhancing the energy efficiency. Independent on how the electrical power is generated, power conversion is needed and about 10% of the electrical power is lost for every power conversion step using Si-based electronics. Since the efficiency is related to the performance of the semiconductor device, SiC can make contributions to the efficiency. Compared to Si, SiC has three times larger bandgap, about ten times higher breakdown electric field strength and about three times higher thermal conductivity. The wide bandgap together with the chemical stability of SiC makes it possible for SiC electronic devices to operate at much higher temperatures (>250°C) compared to Si-based devices and do not require large cooling units as with Si power converters. The current status for 4H-SiC devices regard unipolar devices (≤ 1700 V), such as metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs), are now on the market for mass production. The research focus is now on high-voltage (>10 kV) bipolar devices, such as, bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), p‑i‑n diodes and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). The focus of this thesis are material improvements relevant for the development of 4H-SiC high-voltage bipolar devices. A key parameter for such devices is the minority carrier lifetime, where long carrier lifetimes reduce the on-resistance through conductivity modulation. However, too long carrier lifetimes give long reverse recovery times leading to large switching losses. Thus, a tailored carrier lifetime is needed for the specific application. Carrier lifetimes of the epilayers can both be controlled by the CVD growth conditions and by post-growth processing, such as thermal oxidation and carbon implantation followed by thermal annealing. Emphasis in this thesis (Paper 1‑2) is to find optimal CVD growth conditions (growth temperature, C/Si ratio, growth rate, doping) improving the carrier lifetime. Since the main lifetime limiting defect has shown to be the Z1/2 center, identified as isolated carbon vacancies, growth conditions minimizing the Z1/2 concentration are strived for. To achieve high-voltage bipolar devices, thick epilayers of high quality is needed. An important factor is then the growth rate that needs to be relatively high in order to reduce the fabrication time, and thus the cost of the final device. In this thesis the growth process has been optimized for high growth rates (30 µm/h) using standard silane and propane chemistry (Paper 3), compared to other chemistries that includes chlorine, which results in corroded reactor parts and new defects in the epitaxial layers. Another important parameter for 4H-SiC bipolar devices is the basal plane dislocations (BPDs) in the substrate and epilayers, since the BPDs can act as source of nucleation and expansion of Shockley stacking faults (SSFs). The expanded SSFs give a lowered carrier lifetime and form a potential barrier for carrier transport leading to an increased forward voltage drop which in turn leads to bipolar degradation. The bipolar degradation is detrimental for 4H-SiC bipolar devices. Several strategies are developed to reduce the density of BPDs including buffer layers, growth interrupts and decreasing the substrates off-cut angle. Paper 4‑6 is focused on developing a CVD growth process for low substrate off-cut angles (1° and 2°) compared to the today’s standard off-cut angle of 4°. By reducing the substrate off-cut angle the number of BPDs intersecting the substrate surface is reduced. In addition, the conversion from BPDs to threading edge dislocations (TEDs) during epitaxial growth is increased with lower off-cut angles

Digitalisering i förskolan : Förskollärares föreställningar om arbetet meddigitala verktyg i förskolans verksamhet

Digitaliseringen i vårt samhälle är under ständig utveckling och användningen av digitala verktyg ökar dagligen. Förskolans arbete med digitala verktyg blir därför betydelsefullt. Utifrån detta har föreliggande studie haft som syfte att undersöka hur förskollärare förhåller sig till arbetet med digitala verktyg i förskolan samt vilka förutsättningar de ges till den digitala undervisningen. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ ansats där intervjuer har använts för att få förståelse för förskollärarnas föreställningar om den digitala undervisningen i förskolan. Pragmatismen och hermeneutiken har präglat denna studie då vi har studerat och tolkat förskollärarnas erfarenheter och kunskaper. Det framkommer i studiens resultat att de digitala läroplansmålen upplevs som svåra att ta sig an och att det önskas mer stöd i den digitala undervisningen. Detta bidrar i sin tur till att det digitala arbetssättet och förutsättningar till det skiljer sig åt i arbetslagen och i de olika verksamheterna

Attityder till ekologisk mat, ett uttryck för social distinktion? - En kvantitativ studie kring attityder till ekologisk mat i Norge.

Ekologisk konsumtion av mat ökar för varje år, men även fast konsumtionen ökar även i Norge, ligger landet långt bakom resten av skandinavien, som ses som ledande gällande ekologisk konsumtion i världen. Det har visat sig att individer generellt ställer sig positivt till ekologisk mat, men ej handlar ekologiskt. För att utvidga denna förståelse för hur invånare i Norge ser på ekologisk mat måste det utredas vilket socialt värde ekologisk mat har i samhället. Då ett antal faktorer kan tänkas påverka huruvida en individ handlar ekologisk mat eller inte, väljer denna studie att endast se på attityder, för att på så sätt utesluta faktorer så som tillgång och pris. Denna studie har två problemställningar : 1.) I vilken grad återfinns olika attityder till ekologisk mat i Norge år 2016? 2.) Skiljer sig olika attityder till ekologisk mat mellan olika individer med olika sociala kännetecken? Utifrån den tidigare forskningen på området kan det konkluderas att det är många olika motiv som påverkar konsumtion, främst positiva attityder gällande hälsa, kvalitet och miljö. Det har även kommit att påvisas en form av habitus i andra länder som menar att det är specifikt individer med högt kulturellt kapital som handlar ekologisk mat. Denna studie tar utgångspunkt i denna typ av studier, men applicerar tidigare studerade resonemang gällande konsumtion av ekologisk mat på attityder till ekologisk mat. Studien grundar sig på två teoretiska utgångspunkter, dels Theory of planned behavouir, som menar att attityder är av vikt för att förstå och predikera handling. Dels Bourdieus begrepp habitus, som menar att individers smak och handlingssätt är en form av social repertoar, som kommer till uttryck genom individens innehav av olika former av kapital. Genom olika smak upprätthålls sociala positioner i samhället, och lika individer besitter lika smak, samtidigt som individer med olika sociala positioner innehar olika sätt att tycka och handla. Den metodologiska tillnärmningen i denna studie är tudelad, i relation till problemställningen. Baserat på SIFO-surveyn från år 2016 som innehåller information kring konsumtion på en rad olika områden, med ett nationellt representativt urval på 1004 personer, undersöks svarmönster kring påstående om ekologisk mat, relaterade till hälsa, miljö och kvalitet. Genom latent klass analys har attityder gentemot ekologisk mat konstuerats. Fyra stycken latenta klasser identifierades, positiv inställda, skeptiska, neutral och vet ej. Vidare undersöktes dessa attityder i relation till vem som befinner sig i respektive grupp, och genom multinomisk logistisk regression utredes det om de olika grupperna av attityderna skiljer sig i form av kulturellt och ekonomiskt kapital innehav. Resultaten visar att det finns få signifikanta skillnader i vem som besitter olika attityder gällande ekologisk mat i Norge. Resultaten diskuteras i relation till habitusbegreppet och normers påverkan på attityder