Social network-based prediction, more specifically targeting friends and contacts of existing customers, has proven successful in various domains like retail banking, telecommunications, and online advertising. However, little is known about for what types of product categories and brands social network-based marketing is especially effective at predicting brand engagement, both in absolute ter...

BACKGROUND The alcohol brand preferences of US underage drinkers have recently been identified, but it is not known whether youth are simply mimicking adult brand choices or whether other factors are impacting their preferences. This study is the first to compare the alcohol brand preferences of underage drinkers and adults. METHODS The authors conducted a cross-sectional assessment of youth ...

Most large firms operating in consumer markets own and market more than one brand (i.e., they have a brand portfolio). Although firms make corporate-level strategic decisions regarding their brand portfolio, little is known about whether and how a firm’s brand portfolio strategy is linked to its business performance. Using data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and other secondary s...

In this expository paper we show how one can, in a uniform way, calculate the weight distributions of some well-known binary cyclic codes. The codes are related to certain families of curves, and the weight distributions are related to the distribution of the number of rational points on the curves.

Radio pulsar observations can be used to test aspects of general relativity from equivalence principle violations to binary orbital effects in the strong-field regime. This article summarizes the status of such tests at the start of the meeting, and describes two new tests made possible by recent observations of well-known binary pulsar systems.

BACKGROUND China is the home to the world's largest cigarette maker, China National Tobacco Company (CNTC), yet little is known publicly about the design and emissions of Chinese cigarettes. CNTC is currently in the process of consolidating its brands and has ambitions to export its cigarettes. Machine-measured tar yields of many of its cigarette brands have also been reduced, similar to what o...

BACKGROUND More than 40 countries have laws prohibiting misleading information from tobacco packages, including the words 'light', 'mild' and 'low-tar'. Little is known about the extent to which other words and package designs prove misleading to consumers. METHODS A mall-intercept study was conducted with adult smokers (n = 312) and non-smokers (n = 291) in Ontario, Canada. Participants view...

Article Type: Short communication Coffee is a favorite drink in the world which has been consumed for centuries. Coffee has both positive and negative effects on human health, that is why scientists need to show concern for the volume of coffee that should be consumed daily. Coffee contains phytochemicals known as phenolic acids and are influenced by temperature. This study was aimed at knowing...

Little is known about the quality of antibiotics despite being in high demand globally. Thirty five samples (27 brands) of the antibiotics amoxicillin (N = 20; 16 brands) and co-trimoxazole (N = 15; 11 brands), manufactured in six countries (China, Ghana, India, Ireland, Nigeria, and United Kingdom), were purchased in Ghana, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. Their quality was assessed using Germ...

The objective of this study was to determine the level of preservatives and microbiological loads in various brands of commercially available chili bo (paste). Fifteen different brands of chili bo obtained from the local market and hypermarkets were analyzed for pH, moisture and benzoic acid content, microbiological loads (aerobic, anaerobic, aerobic spores, and fungi), and thermophilic microor...