Determinants of community-based sponsorship impact on self-congruity

Sponsors increasingly shift from large professional to community-based properties, as these can deliver an engaged audience and enable them to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility (CSR). This research comprises two studies and shows that community-based sponsorship may improve CSR image and, in turn, self-congruity, a key determinant of consumer behavior. Study 1 investigates perceived sponsor-club fit, confirming attitude and corporate positioning similarity as relevant predictors. Importantly, CSR image similarity does not impact fit, suggesting sponsorship opportunities for organizations independent of their initial CSR image. Study 2 shows perceived sponsor CSR image to mediate the relationship between the perceptions of a community-based property's CSR image and consumers' self-congruity with the sponsor. While perceived sponsor-club fit and sponsorship awareness moderate the relationship between property and sponsor CSR image, attitudes toward CSR moderate the association between sponsor CSR and self-congruity. The paper concludes with implications and future research directions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Pascale Quester, Carolin Plewa, and Karen Palmer, Marc Mazodie

Влияние интенсивности механической активации на структуру гексагонального нитрида бора

Изучено влияние интенсивности механической активации на микроструктуру и свойства гексагонального нитрида бора (hBN).Вивчено вплив інтенсивності механічної активації на мікроструктуру і властивості гексагонального нітриду бору (hBN).The mechanical activation intensity effect on the microstructure and properties of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has been studied

Endotoxin receptor CD14 in PiZ α-1-antitrypsin deficiency individuals

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Applicability and precautions of use of liver injury biomarker FibroTest. A reappraisal at 7 years of age

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>FibroTest (FT) is a validated biomarker of fibrosis. To assess the applicability rate and to reduce the risk of false positives/negatives (RFPN), security algorithms were developed. The aims were to estimate the prevalence of RFPN and of proven failures, and to identify factors associated with their occurrences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four populations were studied: 954 blood donors (P1), 7,494 healthy volunteers (P2), 345,695 consecutive worldwide sera (P3), including 24,872 sera analyzed in a tertiary care centre (GHPS) (P4). Analytical procedures of laboratories with RFPN > 5% and charts of P4 patients in with RFPN were reviewed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of RFPN was 0.52% (5/954; 95%CI 0.17-1.22) in P1, 0.51% (38/7494; 0.36-0.70) in P2, and 0.97% (3349/345695; 0.94-1.00) in P3. Three a priori high-risk populations were confirmed: 1.97% in P4, 1.77% in HIV centre and 2.61% in Sub-Saharan origin subjects. RFPN was mostly associated with low haptoglobin (0.46%), and high apolipoproteinA1 (0.21%). A traceability study of a P3 laboratory with RFPFN > 5% permitted to correct analytical procedures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The mean applicability rate of Fibrotest was 99.03%. Independent factors associated with the high risk of false positives/negatives were HIV center, subSaharan origin, and a tertiary care reference centre, although the applicability rate remained above 97%.</p

Section introduction (Editorial)

Of all the stakeholders professional sports teams must satisfy, it is sports fans that are arguably the most important. The value of fans stems from the wide range of direct connections or associations they form with teams, which include social, emotional and financial exchanges. All teams need fans as a basic requirement for survival, but an active and engaged fan -base provides direct revenue through ticket sales and merchandise purchase and indirect benefits such as increasing broadcast rights values. Fans also create a range of media and sponsorship opportunities for sporting organizations to leverage, through their numbers and loyalty to the team. Fans of a team can include those who "silently" support the team without attending games, those who choose to attend individual home games on a casual basis, and those who acquire team memberships or season tickets that offer a service commonly inclusive of home match attendance and other various benefits. Season ticket holders (SIH hereafter) can be viewed as the first among equals, as their repeat patronage and higher commitment makes them, in many ways, the most desirable of all customers. Customer management is always a complex blend of understanding what a customer requires and delivering it profitably, in the right way at the right time. STH management is even more complex, particularly in a sports context. STH management is complicated, as season -ticket products constitute a subscription market, where purchase decisions are made infrequently (typically annually) and evaluations are usually a result of a combination of experiences over time. Customer behaviour in subscription market situations is also very different from in repertoire or casual ticket buying markets. Added to the complexity of subscription markets is the fact that most STH are drawn from the ranks of the most passionate sports fans. Their passion can make them demanding customers, requiring personalized attention that is difficult to deliver en masse. STH make a significant financial and emotional commitment to sports teams and require careful management in return to ensure their satisfaction and continued patronage. This chapter examines the particular requirements of STH, from understanding how to attract and retain STH through to what managers can do to ensure their satisfaction

Un diagnostic qui prend aux tripes Diffuse arthromyalgia in a 59-year-old man

Editorial materia

Characteristics of Systemic Sclerosis patients with positive anti-Th/To antibodies: About 6 patients and literature review

International audienceAmong the antibodies described in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), anti-Th/To antibodies (anti-Th/To) are rare and have been poorly studied. Thus, little is known about the profile of anti-Th/To positive patients. From our local Biobank (Marseille, France), we retrospectively selected data for 6 patients positive for anti-Th/To with an Immunodot assay. All of them suffered from SSc, sharing clinical and biological common features such as a limited cutaneous form of SSc, a decreased lung diffusing capacity and a speckled nuclear nucleolar immunofluorescence pattern of antinuclear antibodies screening on HEp-2 cells. In order to further characterize patients positive for anti-Th/To, we performed a thorough literature review. From 402 studied patients positive for anti-Th/To, we confirmed that these antibodies are associated with the limited cutaneous form of the disease (88% of the patients), and with an SSc related-pulmonary involvement (50%). The review analysis pointed out the rarity of the anti-Th/To with an estimated mean frequency of 3.4% of all SSc patients worldwide, their usual exclusivity with respect to the specific antibodies of scleroderma, and their high specificity (around 98%) for the diagnosis of SSc.Parmi les anticorps décrits associés à la Sclérodermie Systémique (ScS), les anticorps anti-Th/To (anti-Th/To) sont rares et ont été peu étudiés. Ainsi, nous n’avons que peu de connaissance sur le profil des patients positifs pour les anti-Th/To. À partir d’une Biobanque locale (Marseille, France), nous avons sélectionné de façon rétrospective 6 patients positifs pour les anti-Th/To, en test Immunodot. Tous souffraient de ScS et partageaient des caractéristiques cliniques et biologiques communes, comme la forme cutanée limitée de la ScS, une baisse de la diffusion alvéolocapillaire pulmonaire et un aspect moucheté nucléolaire en immunofluorescence indirecte au test de dépistage des anticorps anti-nucléaires sur cellules Hep-2. Afin de caractériser davantage les patients positifs pour les anti-Th/To, nous avons réalisé une revue de la littérature sur le sujet. À partir de l’étude de 402 patients positifs pour les anti-Th/To, nous confirmons que ces anticorps sont principalement associés à la forme cutanée limitée de la maladie (88 % de l’ensemble des patients), et à une atteinte pulmonaire de la ScS (50 % de l’ensemble des patients). Cette analyse de la littérature illustre la rareté des anti-Th/To avec une fréquence moyenne estimée de 3,4 % chez tous les patients souffrant de ScS dans le monde entier, leur caractère habituellement exclusif vis-à-vis des autres autoanticorps spécifiques de la Sclérodermie, ainsi que leur grande spécificité (environ 98 %) pour le diagnostic de la ScS