Zara: Facing Fast Fashion Challenges in China. An International Marketing Case Study

Zara, one of the largest international fashion companies, was founded in Spain in 1974. It has a brand value of $18.4 billion and global revenues of$ 28.22 billion in 2018. Zara entered China in 2006 to compete in its $5.58 billion fast fashion market (Ge, 2018). China is an attractive emerging market with a GDP of$13.6 trillion, growing at 5.9% (World Bank, 2019). Zara’s fast fashion typically appeals to young college students and the middle class with income ranging from $7,250 to$62,500, representing about 39% of the population (Cyrill, 2019). In China, Zara targeted young women entering the work force who were looking for affordable yet high-quality, timeless Asian style clothing. However, the fast fashion industry has been declining in China due to several reasons: high shipping costs, high levels of competition influenced by customization, fast paced rotation of designs, e-commerce, and collectivist cultural values of the consumers. Moreover, local Chinese stores are moving upmarket by offering more affordable clothing with a higher perceived value and this has also affected Zara negatively (Jun, 2019). This case study provides an overview of China and its fast fashion industry, consumer preferences, competitors and the cultural as well as socio-economic context in which Zara needs to compete. An analysis of Zara’s current marketing strategy in China provides insights into how it should change its marketing mix in order to succeed. Keywords: Zara, China, fast fashion, international marketing, case study, marketing strategy, emerging market. Note: References available on reques

The Grizzly, September 20, 2018

Changes to Faculty Parking Disgruntle Students • Berman Opens Two New Exhibits for the Fall Semester • Inclusive Community Fellowships and Grants • Healing Hurt People at the Parlee Center • Two-Legged Dog Runs Away Then Finally Finds Forever Home: Meet Deuce, Professor Scudera\u27s Newest Dog • Help Wanted: UCARE Fall Volunteering Opportunities • Opinions: Greek Life at Ursinus is Dying; Anonymous New York Times Op-Ed is Cowardly • Football Dominates in First Three Games • UC Gymnastics has New Coach in Valentihttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1602/thumbnail.jp

Circulating microRNAs differentiate fast-progressing from slow-progressing and non-progressing knee osteoarthritis in the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study is to identify circulating microRNAs that distinguish fast-progressing radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort by applying microRNA-sequencing. METHODS: Participants with Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade 0/1 at baseline were included (N = 106). Fast-progressors were defined by an increase to KL 3/4 by 4-year follow-up (N = 20), whereas slow-progressors showed an increase to KL 2/3/4 only at 8-year follow-up (N = 35). Non-progressors remained at KL 0/1 by 8-year follow-up (N = 51). MicroRNA-sequencing was performed on plasma collected at baseline and 4-year follow-up from the same participants. Negative binomial models were fitted to identify differentially expressed (DE) microRNAs. Penalized logistic regression (PLR) analyses were performed to select combinations of DE microRNAs that distinguished fast-progressors. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were constructed to evaluate predictive ability. RESULTS: DE analyses revealed 48 microRNAs at baseline and 2 microRNAs at 4-year follow-up [false discovery rate (FDR) \u3c 0.05] comparing fast-progressors with both slow-progressors and non-progressors. Among these were hsa-miR-320b, hsa-miR-320c, hsa-miR-320d, and hsa-miR-320e, which were predicted to target gene families, including members of the 14-3-3 gene family, involved in signal transduction. PLR models included miR-320 members as top predictors of fast-progressors and yielded AUC ranging from 82.6 to 91.9, representing good accuracy. CONCLUSION: The miR-320 family is associated with fast-progressing radiographic knee OA and merits further investigation as potential biomarkers and mechanistic drivers of knee OA

The Grizzly, February 21, 2019

Ursinus Turns 150 • U-Imagine Center Gives Entrepreneurial Inspiration • Exploring the Body and Mind at Ursinus • Parlee Center Highlights Brain Injuries in Sports • How Sweet the Sound: Voices in Praise Gospel Choir • God of Carnage : Dark Comedy in the Blackbox • Opinions: Blackface is Back, but it Never Really Left; Is Action-Movie Masculinity Breeding a Nation of Neesons? • The Ice in her Veins Award: Maya Kornfeld • Women\u27s Lacrosse Looking to Build on 2018 Campaign • Gymnastics Team Continues to Battle Through Tough Seasonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1613/thumbnail.jp

Ambiguity in high definition: Gaze determines physical interpretation of ambiguous rotation even in the absence of a visual context

YesPhysical interactions between objects, or between an object and the ground, are amongst the most biologically relevant for live beings. Prior knowledge of Newtonian physics may play a role in disambiguating an object’s movement as well as foveation by increasing the spatial resolution of the visual input. Observers were shown a virtual 3D scene, representing an ambiguously rotating ball translating on the ground. The ball was perceived as rotating congruently with friction, but only when gaze was located at the point of contact. Inverting or even removing the visual context had little influence on congruent judgements compared with the effect of gaze. Counterintuitively, gaze at the point of contact determines the solution of perceptual ambiguity, but independently of visual context. We suggest this constitutes a frugal strategy, by which the brain infers dynamics locally when faced with a foveated input that is ambiguous.J.S. was funded by a College of Life Sciences studentship from the University of Leicester

Neuromodulation of the feedforward dentate gyrus-CA3 microcircuit

The feedforward dentate gyrus-CA3 microcircuit in the hippocampus is thought to activate ensembles of CA3 pyramidal cells and interneurons to encode and retrieve episodic memories. The creation of these CA3 ensembles depends on neuromodulatory input and synaptic plasticity within this microcircuit. Here we review the mechanisms by which the neuromodulators aceylcholine, noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin reconfigure this microcircuit and thereby infer the net effect of these modulators on the processes of episodic memory encoding and retrieval

Long-range correlation properties in timing of skilled piano performance: the influence of auditory feedback and deep brain stimulation

Unintentional timing deviations during musical performance can be conceived of as timing errors. However, recent research on humanizing computer-generated music has demonstrated that timing fluctuations that exhibit long-range temporal correlations (LRTC) are preferred by human listeners. This preference can be accounted for by the ubiquitous presence of LRTC in human tapping and rhythmic performances. Interestingly, the manifestation of LRTC in tapping behavior seems to be driven in a subject-specific manner by the LRTC properties of resting-state background cortical oscillatory activity. In this framework, the current study aimed to investigate whether propagation of timing deviations during the skilled, memorized piano performance (without metronome) of 17 professional pianists exhibits LRTC and whether the structure of the correlations is influenced by the presence or absence of auditory feedback. As an additional goal, we set out to investigate the influence of altering the dynamics along the cortico-basal-ganglia-thalamo-cortical network via deep brain stimulation (DBS) on the LRTC properties of musical performance. Specifically, we investigated temporal deviations during the skilled piano performance of a non-professional pianist who was treated with subthalamic-deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) due to severe Parkinson's disease, with predominant tremor affecting his right upper extremity. In the tremor-affected right hand, the timing fluctuations of the performance exhibited random correlations with DBS OFF. By contrast, DBS restored long-range dependency in the temporal fluctuations, corresponding with the general motor improvement on DBS. Overall, the present investigations demonstrate the presence of LRTC in skilled piano performances, indicating that unintentional temporal deviations are correlated over a wide range of time scales. This phenomenon is stable after removal of the auditory feedback, but is altered by STN-DBS, which suggests that cortico-basal ganglia thalamocortical circuits play a role in the modulation of the serial correlations of timing fluctuations exhibited in skilled musical performance

Revive and Repair

BUMGT 480-Entrepreneurship CapstoneThe problem we see as a business is that people need help finding fast/affordable/convenient seamstresses to alter their clothing. People are also looking for affordable and sustainable clothing. Without these opportunities the result is clothing items being tossed away in the trash or items sitting in a closet, never to be worn again. We aim to be part of the solution for sustainable and affordable clothing. We believe that our values align with those who want to see a better future and that starts with the choices we make in clothing.College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Managemen