Bridging the divide between consumers and employees in brand relationships

The employee as an advocate for his/her own brand has achieved heightened attention of late. However, despite a wealth of research into consumer-brand relationships, how employees relate to their own brands and subsequently exhibit specific brand-behaviours is poorly understood. Particularly, little attention has been directed towards the concept of the employee as forming brand relationships as compared with consumers. This thesis examines the nature of the employee-brand relationship; more specifically we discuss functional, symbolic and experiential brand value as drivers of employee-brand self-connection and employee-brand identification and subsequently the effect on brand-specific behaviours. Given the relative paucity of literature on employees and brands we adopt a grounded theory approach and conduct a series of in-depth interviews to access employees’ insights and experiences with the brand. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded. The themes that emerge are used to construct a conceptual framework that is subsequently tested using a survey instrument and Structural Equation Modeling. Our findings suggest a number of similarities and differences between the way in which employees relate to the brand and the way in which consumers relate to the brand. Our findings have far reaching implications for academics and practitioners alike.Open Acces

Where the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondrion tie the knot: The mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM)

AbstractMore than a billion years ago, bacterial precursors of mitochondria became endosymbionts in what we call eukaryotic cells today. The true significance of the word “endosymbiont” has only become clear to cell biologists with the discovery that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) superorganelle dedicates a special domain for the metabolic interaction with mitochondria. This domain, identified in all eukaryotic cell systems from yeast to man and called the mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM), has a distinct proteome, specific tethers on the cytosolic face and regulatory proteins in the ER lumen of the ER. The MAM has distinct biochemical properties and appears as ER tubules closely apposed to mitochondria on electron micrographs. The functions of the MAM range from lipid metabolism and calcium signaling to inflammasome formation. Consistent with these functions, the MAM is enriched in lipid metabolism enzymes and calcium handling proteins. During cellular stress situations, like an altered cellular redox state, the MAM alters its set of regulatory proteins and thus alters MAM functions. Notably, this set prominently comprises ER chaperones and oxidoreductases that connect protein synthesis and folding inside the ER to mitochondrial metabolism. Moreover, ER membranes associated with mitochondria also accommodate parts of the machinery that determines mitochondrial membrane dynamics and connect mitochondria to the cytoskeleton. Together, these exciting findings demonstrate that the physiological interactions between the ER and mitochondria are so bilateral that we are tempted to compare their relationship to the one of a married couple: distinct, but inseparable and certainly dependent on each other. In this paradigm, the MAM stands for the intracellular location where the two organelles tie the knot. Resembling “real life”, the happy marriage between the two organelles prevents the onset of diseases that are characterized by disrupted metabolism and decreased lifespan, including neurodegeneration and cancer. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Mitochondrial dynamics and physiology

STRATÉGIE ALIMENTAIRE ET DOMINANCE DES FEMELLES PROPITHÈQUE DE VERREAUX (PROPITHECUS V. VERREAUXI) DANS LA FORÊT À DIDIEREACEAE DU SUD DE MADAGASCAR

International audienceFeeding strategy and social dominance in female sifakas (Propithecus v. verreauxi) living in a Didiereaceae forest in southern Madagascar. We addressed the issue of female social dominance as an adaptive response to seasonal energy stress in white sifakas living in a fragment of Didiereaceae forest of southern Madagascar. We tested whether female and male sifakas would exhibit different activity budgets, food choices and energy input given harsh ecological constraints that prevail in such xerophytic ecosystems. Behavioural data were obtained on 2 groups (including 8 focal individuals) during a 2-month study in the late wet season. We analysed forest composition, based on a sample of more than 1000 trees, shrubs and lianas, and phenology through a regular survey of 479 tagged individuals. Males and females were mostly feeding on mature leaves of common plant species, to which they added a range of minor food items. The activity budgets (5-min scan interval) did not differ signifi cantly between sexes. In contrast, marked differences of food intake (using a quantitative method) were observed: we evaluated that females consumed daily 30-40% more food than males while the ranking of preferred foods remained globally similar between sexes. Ad libitum records confi rmed female dominance over males in a feeding context, although few aggressive events were recorded. We conclude that (1) time sampling methods may not be appropriate to assess food intake because ingestion rates likely vary among individuals and (2) high food intake of adult females relative to males during the early gestation period is uncoupled with immediate physiological needs and may reflect a sex-specifi c fattening strategy allowing females to increase their reproductive success

Breathing straws

Following nasal, septal or endoscopic surgery, it is common practice to insert nasal packs in both nasal cavities to achieve haemostasis, if there has been any bleeding at the end of the procedure. However, such packs make it difficult for patients to breathe, mainly in the first post-operative night which leads to discomfort and poor sleep. To enable patients to breathe better with nasal packs in situ, we describe a simple technique using trimmed straws and wrapped Netcell® packs for post-operative care following septal surgery, rhinoplasty and endoscopic sinus surgery. These packs also assist suction of any blood or mucous from the post-nasal spac

The evolution of human diets according to the extant primate gut morphology and taste perception

International audienceTaking into account the allometric factors, we found evidence that gut morphology presents a clear similarity in the dietary adaptation of chimpanzees and humans.Nous montrons, en fonction des études comparatives de la morphologie intestinale prenant en compte l'allométrie, que l'adaptation à l'alimentation de l'espèce humain a de grandes similitudes avec celle du chimpanz