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In the popular imagination sex sells. Yet, marketing theory has relatively little to say about sexuality per se. Drawing on Žižek’s metaphor of critical theory as ‘short-circuiting’ the dominant discourse, we conceptualise marketing as a field that theorises sexuality only in a series of ‘closed circuits’. Knowledge becomes hierarchical when some topics, such as sexuality, are denied the theoretical freedom to roam in wider open circuits alongside other ‘mainstream’ marketing topics. We identify four ways in which certain topics are enclosed: theoretical, empirical, institutional and neo-colonial. We then seek to short-circuit this state of affairs by bringing together a heterogeneous group of scholars interested in sexuality. By crossing their critical insights like unexpected connections in a circuit, we create sparks of inspiration that challenge the contents, contexts and concepts that relate to marketing theories of sexuality. Our paper makes a specific theoretical contribution in arguing for sexuality to be treated as a phenomenon worth studying and theorising in its own right. However, it also makes a wider methodological and epistemological contribution in showing how various topics within marketing theory might be short-circuited to help flatten the hierarchies of knowledge created by closed and open circuits.

As a result of Covid-19 outbreak, surgical facemasks first emerged as a pandemic icon to then expand into a marketplace icon, with substantial transformations in their meanings, uses, and commercial expressions This essay contends that facemasks have become a (post-)pandemic marketplace icon by articulating tensions in the socio-cultural, the public media, and the economic sphere Relying upon secondary-data retrieved from mass media and scientific articles boomed during the pandemic, we propose a theoretically eclectic appraisal of (1) facemasks’ iconisation, (2) the distinct systems raising masks to that iconic status, and (3) the “Marketplace Icons” series more broadly © 2021 The Author(s) Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Social media communities are commonly used as marketing tools to reach millions of users. Through two studies, we investigate how owned social media content is associated with commercial performanc...

This work describes the trajectory of Internet memes, their main characteristics, and their relationship with the fields of virality literature and cultural production research. We explore the historical trajectory of internet memes and identify their constitutional features (vernacularism, virality, and intertextuality). We also propose that memes are objects that act as provocateurs; this is because they are carriers of meaning that reflect the repertoires of closed communities. However, they acquire new reflected repertoires in the process of being transmitted intertextually among consumers. As such, this work both clarifies the intertemporal and logical interdependencies between online cultural production and virality, as well as unveil the linking power of vernacular backgrounds and shared expressive practices (in our context, elaboration of common memes) for online consumer collectivities.

In the digital era, marketers increasingly use storytelling techniques to narratively transport and persuade their customers. This paper pursues three primary objectives: (1) to integrate three digitally relevant moderators of the narrative transportation effect into the marketing literature, (2) to empirically assess the integrated model with a quantitative meta-analysis of extant research, and (3) to provide directions for marketing managers to enhance the narrative transportation effect in an evolving te chnological environment. The paper contribute s to the field by means of a meta-analysis of 64 articles featuring 138 narrative transportation effect sizes . The research shows that the narrative transportation effect is stronger when the story falls in a commercial (vs. non- commercial) domain, is user ( vs. professional) generated , and is received by one story receiver at a time. The study concludes with implications for research and practice and directions for future research.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected millions of individuals around the World. Hypertension (HT), chronic heart disease (CHD), and diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly in the elderly, increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, conflicting results [such as coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease vulnerability, case fatality, etc.] have been reported about the response to infection and COVID-19 outcomes in men and women. Therefore, understanding predictors of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission might help future planning and management of the disease. We conducted a multicenter survey about COVID-19 involving internists from Internal Medicine Wards. This survey indirectly allowed us to analyze the information of 2400 patients hospitalized in 35 wards of Internal Medicine of the Campania Region between July and October 2020. Our investigation has detected that the infection is more frequent in males, and the number of male patients hospitalized in ICU is also higher than females, with a large proportion of hypertensive patients. Extensive prospective studies are required to confirm this finding and explore the mechanisms for which hypertensive males are exposed to a higher proportion of admission to ICU and higher case fatality rates.

Value is an important part of the service literature, which increasingly recognizes that value cocreation is a process. The literature on the entire value process remains limited, however, with a lack of empirical evidence on how value is (co)created and what the different activities of service providers and customers are. Addressing this situation, we analyze the joint and separate activities of both the service provider and the customers in the value process. Using an ethnographic case study approach, we combine observations and interviews with managers, service employees, and customers to identify five stages of the value process and offer three main contributions. First, we show that service providers have roles extending beyond mere value cocreation. Second, we describe how customers create value independent of the provider. Third, we extend previous research on customer value-in-use by our focus on escapism as an important part of customer value in luxury services.

This special issue on gender, markets, and consumption follows another special issue on gender and identity that appeared in 2003 in CMC. Fifteen years later, gender still represents a spirited fie...

Background Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) commonly occurs following intense resistance exercise and is associated with decrements in exercise performance and delayed muscle recovery. Thus, practical methods to attenuate EIMD would prove useful to both training and athletic populations. Omega-3 (n-3) supplementation has been shown to mitigate EIMD with evidence of increasing efficacy at higher doses (up to 6 g/day). However, data of its efficacy in trained individuals is limited. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of 6 and 8 g of n-3 supplementation on markers of muscle damage and muscle recovery after eccentric resistance exercise in resistance-trained males. Methods Using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design, 26 resistance trained males (23 ± 4 years; 173.6 ± 20.5 cm; 81.9 ± 9.7 kg; 14.2 ± 3.7% body fat) supplemented with 6 (n=10) or 8 g (n=7) of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, or placebo (n=9) for 33 days. On day 30, participants performed a lower body muscle-damaging eccentric resistance exercise bout. Measures of muscle performance, soreness, and damage were taken pre-exercise on day 30 as well as on days 31–33, including vertical jump height (VJH), perceived muscle soreness (PMS), hip and knee range of motion (ROM), repetitions to fatigue (RTF) at 70% 1-RM, and serum creatine kinase (CK) while participants continued to supplement until day 33. Results There were significant differences in VJH, PMS, and serum CK following the muscle-damaging exercise bout compared to pre-exercise (p0.05) differences between supplementation groups (6 g, 8 g, and placebo) at any time point post-exercise (day 31–33). There were no changes in hip and knee ROM or RTF at any time point or between groups. Vertical jump height and PMS returned to pre-exercise levels despite CK remaining elevated post-exercise. Conclusions Thirty-three days of 6 and 8 g of n-3 supplementation did not attenuate EIMD or enhance muscle recovery following muscle-damaging eccentric resistance exercise in resistance-trained males. Further research using various n-3 supplementation durations, doses, and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations may be needed to establish its efficacy in attenuating EIMD, which may vary between trained and untrained individuals. Furthermore, while circulating CK is commonly used to assess muscle damage, elevated CK levels may not reflect muscle recovery status following muscle-damaging exercise., Highlights • Intense exercise produces exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). • Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3) supplementation may ameliorate EIMD and promote muscle recovery. • Thirty-three days of 6 and 8 g of n-3 did not reduce EIMD or increase muscle recovery in trained males. • Muscle performance recovered while circulating creatine kinase remained elevated. • Thirty-three days of high daily n-3 intake may be insufficient dosing in trained males.

Background Pulmonary embolism (PE) represents the third cause of cardiovascular death and one of the leading causes of preventable in-hospital mortality. However, there is lack of information about this entity in our country. Purpose To describe baseline characteristics, in-hospital evolution and treatments among patients (P) admitted for acute PE in Argentina. Methods A prospective multicentric registry of P with acute PE was conducted in 75 academic centers between October 2016 and November 2017. Conventional analysis was used for descriptive and comparative statistics, with a p value Results We included 684 consecutive P with an average age of 63,8 years (SD 16,8), with slight majority of female sex (57%). PE was the reason for admission in 484 (71%) of the cases; 68% of those others who developed PE as a complication during hospital stay were under adequate venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. The most frequent predisposing factors were obesity (34%), recent hospitalization (34%), transient rest (30%) and active cancer (22%). Multislice computed tomography was the diagnostic method of choice (81%). An echocardiogram was performed in 625 P (91%), showing right ventricular dilatation or dysfunction in 41% and 35% of the cases, respectively. After initial diagnosis, P were stratified as low risk (24%), intermediate-low risk (34%), intermediate-high risk (27%) and high risk (15%). Anticoagulation was indicated in 661 (97%), mainly with low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) (59%) as initial strategy. Reperfusion with either thrombolytics or mechanical therapies was performed in 91 (13%) cases. However, only 50 of the 102 P who presented with hemodynamic instability received any reperfusion therapy (49%). Overall in-hospital mortality was 12%, mainly related to PE (51%), with significant differences according to risk stratification (p 579 out of 601 survivors received anticoagulants at discharge: 60% vitamin K antagonists, 21% LMWH and 19% direct oral anticoagulants (49% Rivaroxaban, 34% Apixaban and 17% Dabigatran). Mortality according risk stratification Conclusions PE presents with high in-hospital mortality in our setting mainly due to the embolic event. This finding could be related to a low use of reperfusion therapies in P with hemodynamic instability, reflecting low adherence to guideline recommendations even in academic centers. This issue should be taken into consideration to improve PE prognosis in Argentina.

Background In the last decade, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were incorporated as an alternative for anticoagulation in patients with venous thromboembolism. Although they have a better pharmacologic profile than vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), the use of these drugs is not massive. Purpose Assess the rate of use of DOACs in acute pulmonary embolism (PE) patients (P) in Argentina and analyze the determinants of their use. Methods Based on a registry of 684 P admitted for acute PE in 75 academic centers between October 2016 and November 2017, we performed an analysis of DOACs prescription at discharge. A conventional statistical analysis was performed, to assess the differences between the P that received DOACs or other anticoagulants using univariate and multivariate models. Results 579 of 601 P who survived were discharged with anticoagulant treatment: 348 (60%) received VKA; 108 (19%) received DOACs (49% Rivaroxaban, 34% Apixaban, 17% Dabigatran) and 123 (21%) received low molecular weight heparins. Patients who received DOACs had lower severity of PE and less risk of bleeding. The main baseline characteristics are described in table 1. Also, those patients who received DOACs at discharge had fewer in-hospital complications (heart failure, infections or bleeding; all p In the multivariate analysis, health insurance (OR 7.45, 95% CI: 1.74–31.9, p Variable DOACs Other anticoagulants P OR CI (95%) Male sex 51 (47.2%) 196 (41.6%) 0.29 – – Age 64.3±17.6 63.3±16.6 0.61 – – Health insurance 106 (98.1%) 402 (85.4%) 0.01 9.1 (2.2–37.7) CKD without dialysis 2 (1.9%) 34 (7.3%) 0.06 0.24 (0.06–1.03) Heart failure 2 (1.9%) 55 (11.7%) 0.01 0.14 (0.03–0.59) Oncology disease 16 (14.8%) 127 (27%) 0.01 0.47 (0.27–0.83) Previous anticoagulation 3 (2.8%) 44 (9.3%) 0.03 0.28 (0.08–0.91) sPESI 1±1.12 1.28±1.11 0.02 0.78 (0.64–0.96) RIETE 1.71±1.17 2.05±1.33 0.02 0.81 (0.68–0.97) CKD: Chronic kidney disease; TIA: Transient ischemic attack. Conclusions The rate of use of DOACs in survivors of an acute PE in Argentina was 19%, and this P present lower clinical risk, fewer co-morbidities and greater access to health coverage.

“Diet and exercise will help you live longer” is a well-known meme. While often taken for granted, its foundations span back to our evolutionary environment and its effects extend into our intracellular environment. Humans evolved under conditions of high physical activity and periodic privation which shaped our genes. During these times of energetic challenge, an evolutionary conserved recycling system, autophagy, would have been activated to provision energy through the degradation of intracellular proteins, organelles, and lipids. With physical activity no longer a requisite for survival and caloric abundance rather than caloric shortage defining the modern human environment, the signals for autophagy are no longer obligatory. Moreover, humans have evolved an avoidance of physical activity and caloric restriction (CR). This leads to an accumulation of intracellular components causing degeneration and disruption of cellular homeostasis. This deleterious accrual of cellular materials also occurs during aging, in part, by an age-related decline in autophagy. What’s more, humans live in a period of history where advances in sanitation and medicine have allowed us to live to unprecedented ages, resulting in long-lived humans with progressive system-wide degeneration. Exercise and CR practices promote age-related health and longevity through their activation of autophagic housekeeping, but evolutionary inertia pushes us to avoid them. However, humans are unique in that we can harness our own genes as well as propagate our own memes. In order to yield the benefits of cellular housekeeping through exercise and CR practices, we should understand our genes and become memesters.

In the digital era, marketers increasingly use storytelling techniques to narratively transport and persuade their customers. This paper pursues three primary objectives: (1) to integrate three digitally relevant moderators of the narrative transportation effect into the marketing literature, (2) to empirically assess the integrated model with a quantitative meta-analysis of extant research, and (3) to provide directions for marketing managers to enhance the narrative transportation effect in an evolving technological environment. The paper contributes to the field by means of a meta-analysis of 64 articles featuring 138 narrative transportation effect sizes. The research shows that the narrative transportation effect is stronger when the story falls in a commercial (vs. non-commercial) domain, is user (vs. professional) generated, and is received by one story-receiver at a time. The study concludes with implications for research and practice and directions for future research.

This conceptual article provides a conversational analysis of consumer vulnerability, which unveils how vulnerability is made through conversations and interactions among actors holding different market power positions. Three types of conversations prove fruitful to pursue a transformative research agenda improving vulnerable consumers’ well-being: (1) performativity, which unpacks agency and finalism in conversations; (2) social representations, which reveal uneven power positions and normativity expressed by participants in a conversation; and (3) storytelling, which reveals alternative and more powerful persuasive mechanisms of conversations framed as stories. Illustration for these types of conversations comes from extensive review of the literature on consumer vulnerability and from a critical consideration of my life-as-researcher with consumers as varied as gays, homeless people, migrants, second-generation immigrants, and subcultures of consumption.

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are associated with increased airway and systemic inflammation. There is evidence that erdosteine accelerates recovery from AECOPD by reducing airway inflammation.To investigate the dose-dependent antioxidant/anti-inflammatory activity of erdosteine in COPD patients.In this single-centre, double blind, double dummy study, patients with mild-to-moderate COPD (GOLD stage II-III), were randomised to receive either placebo or two dosages of oral erdosteine (300 mg tid or 300 mg bid + 1 capsule of indistinguishable placebo) for 28 days in addition to their standard treatment. Primary variables were plasma reactive oxygen species (ROS) and 8-isoprostane levels, while secondary variable was lung function (FEV1; FEV1/FVC; FEV1 short-term reversibility), all assessed in baseline; every two weeks during the study, and one week after the end of the study.Baseline demographic characteristics, plasma ROS and 8-isoprostane levels and lung function were not significantly different in the 24 eligible patients (14 males, aged 38-75 years). At 2 weeks, there was a dose-dependent decrease in ROS in the erdosteine groups. By week 4 there were significant differences in ROS levels compared to baseline between patients receiving 900 mg/day (p0.003) and those receiving 600 mg/day (p0.04). This effect continued in the follow-up week (p0.021). Erdosteine also lowered 8-isoprostane plasma levels after 4 weeks (p0.01), and this effect lasted over the post-treatment week. Moreover, % FEV1 reversibility after salbutamol 400 mcg obtained after a 4 -week treatment of erdosteine 900 mg/day was significantly higher than that obtained after 600 mg/day (p0.01). Erdosteine was well tolerated and no treatment-related adverse event was reported.Results confirm the antioxidant dose- and time-dependent activity of erdosteine, and support the utility of including erdosteine it in the therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress-induced inflammation, which frequently leads to AECOPD occurrence.

This special commentary section proposes new directions in researching the nexus of ethnicity and well-being under three themes of (1) mobility and shifting identities in relation to place, (2) empowerment and identity performance in relation to the virtual space, and (3) religious conflicts in relation to markets and spaces of consumption. The three short essays in this collection are geared towards accelerating research on ethnicity in marketing and consumer behaviour. They problematize the very nature of ethnicity in relation to space and how ethnicity is performed in different spaces by looking at the issues of social relations, transformations and conflict. They suggest potential areas of enquiry, particularly for new (doctor of philosophy) research projects, policy-focused research grant applications, conferences/seminars/workshops and also classroom activities and teaching purposes.

Mediterranean marketing is an ideological approach to marketing grounded on a corpus of distinctive values characterizing the market orientation of companies located both within and beyond the Mediterranean basin. Among Mediterranean values, this study focuses on connectivity, a largely under-researched construct in marketing. Through an in-depth analysis of Prada's “Made in Worlds” branding strategy, we extend both conceptualization of and managerial guidance on marketing connectivity. In detail, we identify the following: (i) three principles guiding connectivity (spatial, temporal, and disciplinary connectivity); (ii) two levels of reification (product and retail level) that translate this strategy into practice; and (iii) two types of connectivity (institutionalized and deliberate connectivity) that differ in breadth and origin of strategy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Although today’s public markets echo ancient market forms, they incorporate many original aspects which merit scrutiny because: 1) they are connected to a dominant neo-liberal market functioning and structures; and 2) they illuminate important tensions that question how sustainability is practicable at a macro level. Taking an ecological perspective, we show that public markets bring certain benefits in relation to sustainability. Significantly, however, we illustrate how these perceived benefits are underpinned by three compromises or “trade-offs” that public markets also invoke and that operate at inter-social, inter-nation, and inter-gender levels. We argue that what may look sustainable on a local level can raise challenges to macro sustainability more broadly conceived. Our contribution is twofold. First, we offer an updated, comprehensive definition of public markets and discuss to what extent they may represent a megatrend. Second, we contribute to the literature on sustainability by conceptualizing the notion of ecological sustainability, which suggests that an overarching analysis of sustainability reveals possible internal trade-offs between its economic, social, environmental, and ethical constituents, which the case of public markets helps highlight

Stories, and their ability to transport their audience, constitute a central part of human life and consumption experience. Integrating previous literature derived from fields as diverse as anthropology, marketing, psychology, communication, consumer, and literary studies, this article offers a review of two decades’ worth of research on narrative transportation, the phenomenon in which consumers mentally enter a world that a story evokes. Despite the relevance of narrative transportation for storytelling and narrative persuasion, extant contributions seem to lack systematization. The authors conceive the extended transportation-imagery model (ETIM), which provides not only a comprehensive model that includes the antecedents and consequences of narrative transportation but also a multidisciplinary framework in which cognitive psychology and consumer culture theory cross-fertilize this field of inquiry. The authors test the model using a quantitative meta-analysis of 132 effect sizes of narrative transportation from 76 published and unpublished articles and identify fruitful directions for further research.

What is a useful story from the perspective of readers? Through semi-structured interviews with 55 Eurostar passengers from 14 countries, this film documents how people define stories, why they need narratives, and how they experience the effects of need for narrative. The adjoining commentary contributes to the development of videography as an attractive method stemming from both its intrinsic qualities and its special fit with a (consumer) society that visual communication increasingly permeates. The suggested approach maintains the vivid quality of videography, while granting closer adherence to academic standards in terms of methodological rigor and ethics. As such, the commentary does not undermine the film; rather, both jointly strengthen videographers’ and (re)viewers’ informed use and careful evaluation of the videographic method.

Extant research demonstrates that a story can persuade story-receivers through the experience of narrative transportation. This article pursues three primary objectives: (1) to integrate three moderators of the narrative transportation effect into the literature on narrative transportation, (2) to empirically assess the integrated model with a quantitative meta-analysis of extant research, and (3) to provide directions for marketing managers and policy makers. Specifically, by means of the meta-analysis, we contribute to the field by showing that the narrative transportation effect is strengthened when (1) the story pertains to marketing (vs. other domains), (2) is told by multiple storytellers, and (3) is received by one story-receiver at a time. We also discuss the marketing implications of these moderators.

While multi-sited ethnography has been gaining attention increasingly in consumer studies, the presence of geographically dispersed researchers from different cultural backgrounds poses methodological questions we are not fully equipped to handle. Relying on an extensive literature review and abductive reasoning originated by our investigation of desire and imagination in urban transformation, we propose xenoheteroglossic autoethnography (XHAE) as a form of ethnographically-driven introspection by researchers from multiple countries with diverse cultural backgrounds. Our method is discussed in terms of cultural entree within and beyond the self, gathering and documenting data, analyzing and communicating data, and ensuring research trustworthiness. The current study helps position the technique beyond the epistemological and methodological disputes that have surrounded the use of introspection in consumer research, and researcher introspection in particular. We investigate how researcher introspection at the onset of and during multi-sited research projects can improve researchers' reflexivity and enhance multi-sited ethnography trustworthiness.

Consumer research has paid scant attention to public goods, especially at a time when the contestation between categorizing public and private goods and controlling public goods is pronounced. In this multisited ethnography, we explore the ways in which active consumers negotiate meanings about the consumption of a particular public good, public space. Using the context of street art, we document four main ideologies of public space consumption that result from the interaction, both conflict and common intent, of urban dwellers and street artists. We show how public space can be contested as private and commercialized, or offered back as a collective good, where sense of belonging and dialogue restore it to a meaningful place. We demonstrate how the common nature of space both stimulates dialectical and dialogical exchanges across stakeholders and fuels forms of layered agency.

An ongoing tension between new ways of achieving novel, meaningful, and connected forms of expression is permeating the practice of advertising and igniting a lively academic debate. Novelty and social connection have long been preoccupations of art worlds. In this paper, we explore the creative tensions and synergies between countercultural and commercial communication forms of street art and advertising. Viewing each form as a species of rhetoric, we analyze a set of rhetorical practices employed by street artists that not only reflect, but might also be used to shape, commercial advertising in the near future.

By extending interpretative methods to business settings, this paper formalizes a model of Ethnographic Case Study (ECS) built upon extensive literature review and abductive elaboration of two-year fieldwork on 12 Italian companies. Objectives and related contributions are twofold. First, key compulsory and complementary stages of ECS marketing research are presented for business contexts. Second, the paper envisions the quality of the knowledge generated through the ECS inquiry, and argues that the methodological peculiarities of this approach may help reduce the relevance gap affecting business research. The systematic cooperation between researchers and practitioners along the ECS phases may benefit relevance through (i) the fine tuning of reciprocal expectations, (ii) the sharing of the research experience, (iii) the multiplication of the beneficiaries of the findings granted by ECS, and (iv) the participation in the process of knowledge dissemination. In this light, the ECS model supports the convincement that methods are not only a way to theory validation but also to theory discovery.

The cross generation: migrant second generations comparing with the market - This paper analyses an emerging target in the Italian market: the so-called "second generations". The authors first illustrate the socio-cultural traits of this segment, and then show the role and peculiarities of consumption read as an identity signifier. The discussion is based on both secondary and primary data, collected across Milan, Turin and Biella. Results document various consumer profiles of second generation migrants and multiple marketing approaches to target this market. Keywords Second generations; ethnic marketing; intercultural marketing; cross generation marketing.

Airway colonization with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is frequent in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and may lead to progressive inflammatory damage. Inhaled Tobramycin Nebulizer Solution (TNS; a preservative-free formulation) is an effective therapy in chronic P aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. In this study we aimed to investigate the effects of a TNS short course on inflammatory markers in bronchial secretions from multiresistant P aeruginosa-colonized patients with severe COPD. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine this in cases of severe COPD.Thirteen COPD patients (GOLD criteria 3-4; mean age 72.7+/- 8 years; mean basal forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) 34.8%+/-8.1%; mean FEV(1)/forced vital capacity 0.6+/-0.1) were enrolled. All patients were colonized with P aeruginosa and resistant to oral/intravenous specific antibiotics. Eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNF-alpha), and cell counts were measured in spontaneous secretions before and after a 2-week TNS course (300 mg twice daily).The TNS course induced a significant reduction in IL-1beta (P0.03), IL-8 (P0.02), ECP (P0.01) concentrations, and in eosinophil count (P0.01). TNF-alpha levels, and neutrophil and lymphocyte counts were not significantly affected. The second week of treatment proved crucial in terms of efficacy. P aeruginosa density was lowered after 6 months; severe acute exacerbations were reduced by 42%.TNS reduced the inflammatory impact of P aeruginosa in multiresistant, P aeruginosa-colonized patients with severe COPD. A therapeutic role for TNS can be strongly suggested in these particular conditions.

The paper approaches the issue of the (de)construction of gay/straight symbolic boundaries. The interpretative model discussed acknowledges two main theoretical calls: (i) Holt's post‐structuralist concern for complementing our understanding of consumption through the analysis of what and how consumers consume; and (ii) Keating and McLoughlin's quest to extend our investigation of gay/mainstream dynamics beyond the mere market economy. Findings cover four main areas: (i) the emergence and exploitation of queer cultural meanings in the (de)construction of boundaries; (ii) the categorization of gay/straight consumption in negotiating fluid separations and affiliation; (iii) the way power impacts the levers (i.e. meanings and products) that gays and straights exploit in their ongoing negotiation; and (iv) the exclusive patterns of gay consumption, which further challenge the emergence or rejection of symbolic boundaries. By making social separations more fluid, this paper fosters transformative market praxes...

Three difunctional cleavable photoinitiators based on the α-hydroxyketone structure were tested in photopolymerization reactions with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The excited-state processes were investigated with time-resolved laser absorption spectroscopy and laser-induced photocalorimetry, which allowed the cleavage quantum yields to be determined and estimates of the triplet-state lifetimes and interaction rate constants with a methacrylate monomer to be given. Modeling calculations helped to describe the ground-state properties and showed that the difunctional photoinitiators exhibited different chromophoric groups than the corresponding monofunctional photoinitiator. An examination of the photochemical reactivity versus the practical efficiency observed in the polymerization showed that these difunctional photoinitiators exhibited better efficiency than the parent molecule, mainly because of their increased absorption properties. Their practical efficiency appeared to be better because of better light absorption when standard polychromatic light sources were used. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

The emergent stream of research on branding nations, places and destinations has been growing along with a plethora of definitions, terminology and conceptualizations (Gnoth 2002; Papadopoulos 2004; Kavaratizis 2005; Hanna and Rowley 2008; Fan 2009). By place branding we refer to an articulated set of marketing actions that present the following traits: They are i) different in terms of unit of analysis, ranging from the city to a whole country; ii) may involve multiple stakeholders including local and national governments, citizens, companies, and the media; and, iii) cover a large array of objectives, such as enhancing exports, protecting local/national production, attracting tourists and foreign investors, facilitating international relations, and more (Papadopoulos 2004). While established contributions on “country-of-origin” mostly hold companies’ perspective and deploy the place to improve the attractiveness of other products designed, assembled and/or produced in these places, place branding literature fosters the perspective of governments and individuals (both tourists and local dwellers) and considers the place as the main object of market exchange (Anholt 2004, 2011). Therefore, place branding constitutes an excellent theoretical context by which to improve understanding of the arenas in which markets consume others’ identity, here represented by the identity of a place.

In older adults co-occurrence of multiple diseases often leads to use of multiple medications (polypharmacy). The aim of the present study is to describe how prescription of medications varies across age groups, with specific focus on the oldest old.We performed a cross-sectional study using 2013 data from the OsMed Health-DB database (mean number of medicines and defined daily doses prescribed in 15,931,642 individuals). There were 3,378,725 individuals age 65 years or older (21.2% of the study sample).The mean number of prescribed medications progressively rose from 1.9 in the age group65 years to 7.4 in the age group 80-84 years and then declined, with a more marked reduction in the age group 95 years or older with a mean number of 2.8 medications. A similar pattern was observed for the mean number of defined daily doses. Among participants age ≥65 years, proton pump inhibitors were the most commonly prescribed medication (40.9% of individuals ≥65 years), followed by platelet aggregation inhibitors (32.8%) and hydroxy-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (26.1%). A decline in prescription was observed among individuals age 90 years or older, but this reduction was less consistent for medications used to treat acute conditions (ie, antibiotics and glucocorticoids) rather than preventive medicines commonly used to treat chronic diseases (ie, antihypertensive medications and hydroxy-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors).The burden of medication treatment progressively increases till age 85 and substantially declines after age of 90 years. Patterns of medication prescription widely vary across age groups.

International audience; (Market)places are spatial entities which individuals and groups might experience as meaningful. By highlighting the role of place in ethnic consumer research, this article argues that increased mobility and changing places render relatively stable notions of ethnicity outdated. We identify three main trajectories to revitalize future research on ethnicity. First, we demonstrate the need for research on ethnic identity to be underpinned by a better understanding of the role of place in identity processes. Second, we contend that the established migration/acculturation paradigm should be replaced by the mobility/adaptiveness paradigm. Third, we consider the profound effects of interethnic contact among mobile and immobile populations within shared places on individual and societal well-being.

Summary Aspirin-induced asthma (AIA) is a syndrome characterized by intolerance to aspirin (ASA), nasal polyps and bronchial asthma, the metabolic shift of arachidonic acid towards the lipoxygenase pathway and hyper-production of cysteinyl-leukotrienes (cys-LTs) being the current pathogenetic hypothesis. The research for both sensitive indicators and safe diagnostic tests is still attracting. Aim of the study was to measure changes in urinary LTE 4 excretion and in nasal function (Resistance—Req, and Volume—Vol, assessed by acoustic rhinomanometry (AR)) following a nasal provocation test (NPT) with ASA:LTE 4 measurements have been never previously used to our knowledge for assessing nasal responsiveness to ASA. Methods After written consent, 118 mild-to-moderate asthmatics (48 males, mean age 41.8 years±11.9sd, range 25–70 years; basal FEV 1 =80.1%pred.±5.8sd) underwent NPT by nasal instillation of ASA (total maximal dose 25mg). Spirometry, acoustic rhinomanometry (AR; TM Hood Lab., USA) and urinary LTE 4 (pg/mg creatinine; Cayman Chemical, MI, USA) were measured in baseline and 2h after the ASA challenge. Statistics t -Test between means±sd, assuming P 0.05 , and linear regression between all variables considered. Results In 67 ASA-intolerant asthmatics, FEV 1 did not change significantly following NPT (81.7% pred.±5.1sd in baseline, 80.5% pred.±4.1 after NPT, P =ns) even in the presence of a significant decrease of Vol (11.3cm 3 ±4.1sd in baseline, 5.9cm 3 ±4.2sd after NPT, P = 0.003 ), a substantial increase of Req (0.88cmH 2 O/l/min±0.11sd in baseline, 2.41cmH 2 O/l/min±0.77 after NPT, P = 0.002 ), and urinary LTE 4 excretion (433.0pg/mg±361.7 in bsln, 858.0pg/mg±471.6 90min after NPT with L-SA, P = 0.04 ). NPT did not affect FEV 1 also in 51 ASA-tolerant asthmatics (89.7% pred.±6.9 in bsln, 86.6% pred.±4.3 after NPT), but in these subjects also Vol (from 14.9cm 3 ±4.2sd to 14.6cm 3 ±3.8sd), Req (0.38cmH 2 O/l/min±0.14 in bsln, 0.26cmH 2 O/l/min±0.2 after NPT, P =ns), and urinary LTE 4 (333.1pg/mg±202.8 in bsln, 318.0pg/mg±198.7 after NPT, P =ns) remained unchanged. Only pre-NPT LTE 4 values proved related to pre-NPT Req and Vol values ( r = 0.54 and r = - 0.71 , respectively), but not to patients' age ( R = - 0.05 ), and basal FEV 1 ( r = 0.01 ). Conclusions In ASA-intolerant patients, NPT with lysine-aspirin (L-ASA) only induces a substantial nasal obstruction and enhances urinary LTE 4 excretion in the absence of any significant bronchial obstruction. Nasal ASA challenge proves a test absolutely safe for asthma patients suspected of ASA intolerance. Measures of urinary LTE 4 excretion contributed significantly to magnify the discriminant and the diagnostic value of NPT.