Reproduction is essential for the survival of a species and is under the close coordination of the central nerve system (CNS). In Drosophila melanogaster, juvenile hormones (JHs) from the corpora allatum(CA) are essential for egg-production because they promote vitellogenesis and enhance ecdysteroid biosynthesis. JH biosynthesis is under the control of neuropeptides, such as Drosophila insulin-like peptide (dilp) and allatostatin C (AstC). However, how these neuropeptide pathways coordinate JH production remain elusive. Here, we report a small number of neurons in the brain and ventral nerve cord (VNC) neurons that produce a neuropeptide AstC regulate egg-production negatively. The brain neurons seem to act indirectly by inhibiting secretion of dilp that up-regulates JH production, whereas the VNC neurons seem to release AstC into the hemolymph to suppress the CA activity directly. On the CA, the AstC actions appear mediated by two G-protein coupled receptors, AstC-R1 and AstC-R2. We will discuss our recent efforts to identify agonists for either receptor, which will be potential leads for insect reproduction regulators.

Soybean straw (SS)-based activated carbon was employed as a precursor to prepare carbon molecular sieves (CMSs) via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique using methane as carbon source. Prior to the CVD process, SS was activated by 0.5 wt% ZnCl2, followed by a carbonization at 500°C for 1 h in N2 atmosphere. N2 (77 K) adsorption-desorption and CO2 (273 K) adsorption tests were carried out to analyze the pore structure of the prepared CMSs. The results show that increasing the deposition temperature, time or methane flow rate leads the decrease in N2 adsorption capacity, micropore volume and average pore diameter of CMSs. The adsorption selectivity coefficient of CO2/CH4 achieves as high as 20.8 over CMSs obtained under the methane flow rate of 30 mL min–1 at 800°C for 70 min. The study demonstrates the prepared CMSs are a candidate adsorbent for CO2/CH4 separation.

Volvariella volvacea is a popular variety among people because of its distinct flavor, pleasant tastes, higher protein content and shorter cropping duration compared to other cultivated mushrooms. It is also the most expensive mushroom in artificial mushrooms. With the development of economy and the industrialization of Edible Fungi, more and more straw mushroom was grown in northern China, southern mushroom began move to northern. In this study, the author, based on many years of cultivation experience, summarizes the high yield cultivating techniques of Volvariella volvacea. Volvariella volvacea cultivation consists of five steps, the five steps are composting, pasteurization, spawning, pining and harvesting.

The rapid development of the Internet changed customers‟ consumption and companies marketing strategies toward online shopping. The research focuses on e-commerce influence on consumer behaviour. The aim of this research is to find the influence of consumer behaviour on purchasing intention in online shopping environment. Semistructured interviews and online questionnaire survey were used to collect data, which were analysed using content analysis and SPSS software. Results showed that personalised e-commerce, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty influence customer-purchasing intention.

In this paper, the in vitro biocompatibility of graphene film (GF) with osteoblasts was evaluated through cell adhesion, viability, alkaline phosphatase activity, F-actin and vinculin expressions, versus graphite paper as a reference material. The results showed that MG-63 cells exhibited stronger cell adhesion, better proliferation and viability on GF, and osteoblasts cultured on GF exhibited vinculin expression throughout the cell body. The rougher and wrinkled surface morphology, higher elastic modulus and easy out-of-plane deformation associated with GF were considered to promote cell adhesion. Also, the biomineralization of GF was assessed by soaking in simulated body fluid, and the GF exhibited enhanced mineralization ability in terms of mineral deposition, which almost pervaded the entire GF surface. Our results suggest that graphene promotes cell adhesion, activity and the formation of bonelike apatite. This research is expected to facilitate a better understanding of graphene-cell interactions and potential applications of graphene as a promising toughening nanofiller in bioceramics used in load-bearing implants.

In the past few years, the Chinese government has put the internationalization of CNY on the map. Besides regular reforms such as facilitating CNY trading settlement and relaxing capital accounts, China deployed the Pilot Free Trade Zone and the One Belt One Road policy to significantly expand investment channels for CNY. It was also considered as a response to the criticism of CNY’s trade-driven model. CNY was developing from a trade currency to an investment currency and now has the potential to be a global reserve currency. The growth of CNY as an international currency could counterbalance the US dollardominated system and contribute to regional and international financial constancy. However, CNY internationalization is a double-edged sword. Inflow surges or disruptive outflows of capitals can give rise to macroeconomic fluctuation. With regard to the potential risks, it is suggested that Chinese authorities adopt more market-based measures and make the best of the international arrangements to protect the domestic financial integrity and stability.

The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that contribute to tourists’ intention to staying in green hotels when traveling. After examining 208 Taiwanese tourists’ responses, the results show that green label credibility and environmental concern can both affect tourists’ green hotel staying intentions.

This study examines when high tech firms are better off specializing in either exploration or exploitation learning strategy. Drawing on the organizational learning literature, we hypothesize that a firm’s imbalance between exploration and exploitation (or specialization strategy) has differential impacts on firm performance depending on its structural characteristics and external environment. A survey data of 180 high tech firms in China shows that firm age and scarcity of R&D resources moderate the relationship between specialization and business performance. Moreover, specialization strategy works better when competitive intensity is low.

The present paper discusses the interrelationship among knowledge creation, heterogeneity, and open service innovation – an important theme of marketing research. Drawing on the literature of knowledge based innovation, we argue that both researchers and practitioners should extend the functionality of created knowledge into open and service-oriented innovation context. Our conceptual framework represent the following major points. First, the four classic knowledge creation mode each has different influences on open service innovation, given employee and customer knowledge is a cornerstone of service innovation. Specifically, socialization positively, externalization positively, combination positively, and internalization negatively predicts open service innovation. Second, knowledge heterogeneity moderates in the above mentioned relationships. Implication are discussed

Academic researchers have conceptualised and studied consumer-brand relationship and individual-place relationship in parallel in branding literature and environmental psychology research. As a construct that describes the strength of the bond connecting an individual with an entity, attachment receives great attention, due to its potential in affecting behaviours that may assist in marketing and promoting this entity (not limited to repeat purchase) (Park, MacInnis, Priester, Eisingerich, & Iacobucci, 2010). For example, research in branding literature finds that the strong attachment to a brand indicates a private relationship between consumers and brands and further leads to developmental commitment (Fournier, 1998), energetic word-of-mouth behaviour (Sommerfeld & Paulssen, 2008), and apparently loyalty (Thomson, MacInnis, & Park, 2005); in internal marketing studies, brand commitment is found influencing employees’ brand citizenship behaviour intentions (e.g. Morhart, Herzog, & Tomczak, 2009); research on brand ambassadors explores how they would influence other potential consumers in a general consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communication context, (e.g. Keaveney, 1995; Lovelock, 1983); in resident studies, Chen, Dwyer, & Firth (2014a) find that attachment may motivate word-of-mouth (WOM) to promote a place as a tourism destination. On one hand, the similar concepts of brand attachment and place attachment are respectively developed and discussed from different paths, but on the other, researchers from brand studies and place studies have long invoked to apply findings from one to the other. For instance, Kavaratzis (2005) attempts to transfer marketing and branding knowledge to places; while some other researchers devote themselves in adopting the framework of place attachment in the study of the consumer-brand relationship to take advantage of its multi-dimensionality development (Chen, 2012). Regardless, the multi-dimension nature of this concept is explored in branding literature. For instance, Mittal (2006) suggests that consumers associate a brand to themselves because the personality of these brands also represents who they are (i.e., an identity basis); Fournier (1998) finds an emotional component that is highly relevant to both marketing academics and practitioners; etc. Nevertheless, little research on brand attachment develops a multi-dimensionality as complex as those in place studies (e.g. Kyle, Graefe, & Manning, 2005). The questions are: Is the multi-dimension nature of consumer-brand relationship the same as that of individual-place relationship? If not, to how much extent may researchers apply findings from these two research streams to the other? To fill in these research gaps, this study aims to test the dimensionality of place attachment on studying consumer-brand relationship, and to examine how dimensions of brand attachments affect consumers’ brand citizenship behaviours.A variety of disciplines have shown an interest in understanding the attachments that people form with places. The concept of place attachment is defined as “a positive connection or bond between a person and a particular place” (Williams & Vaske, 2003, p. 831). In environmental psychology, a number of researchers have attempted to conceptualise, understand, and measure attachment to interpret the individual–individual, individual–community, and individual–place bonding (e.g., Kyle, Graefe, & Manning, 2005). Research on place attachment can be divided into two streams: (1) The first stream of research (research in environmental psychology) considers place attachment as an outcome of an individual’s evaluation and attitude towards a place based on knowledge and experience with this place; (2) The second stream of research (research in interaction) ascribes the bond formed by an individual to a place to the meaning given to this object through interactional processes (Chen, Dwyer, & Firth, 2014b). In branding literature, Fournier and Alvarez (2012) suggest that the relationship between consumer and brand is highly alike to how one builds relationships between each other, which provides the ground of evidence to apply attachment (originated from studies on the child-mother relationship) in understanding consumer-brand relationship. Brand attachment can be defined as “a dynamic bond that illustrates the connection between consumers and brands” (Chen, 2012). Following Chen, Dwyer, and Firth’s (2014b) conceptualisation on place attachment, this study adopts the six-dimension framework of attachment and applies it in studying the consumer-brand relationship via brand identity; brand dependence, affective attachment, social bonding, brand memory, and brand expectation. In internal marketing literature, Morhart, Herzog, and Tomczak (2009) classify brand building/citizenship behaviours into three categories: retention, in-role citizenship behaviour, and extra-role citizenship behaviour. This framework of behaviours is applied in this research to explore consumers’ brand citizenship behaviours including retention, as well as WOM and proactive participation (equivalent to the extra-role citizenship behaviour). The relationships between dimensions of attachment and brand citizenship behaviours are established based on similar propositions in research in different disciplines. Many researches support this bond-behaviour relationship in different disciplines and research scopes. For instance, in tourism research, Choo, Park, and Patrick (2011) study and discuss residents’ voluntary behaviours to assist in promoting their resident place as a tourism destination, suggesting that residents would like to show hospitable attitudes and behaviours if they feel a sense of belonging and identify themselves with their places. A survey approach was employed to test the relationships between included constructs. Data was collected from different cities in China from November 2014 through March 2015. This study used a sample of 362 consumers who have used or are using Nike product. 62.4% of the respondents are male (consistent with the distribution of sports product consumers). Average age of the sample is 26.5, and the average length of brand usage is 8.87 years. Data was analysed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics 22 and IBM® SPSS® Amos 22 software. CFA was used to test the reliability and validity of the measurement, and SEM was applied to identify relationships among the constructs. The measurement of brand attachment in this study is adapted from Chen, Dwyer, and Firth’s (2014b) place attachment dimensionality and scales. Three three-item scales on one-to-one WOM, retention, and participation were replicated from Morhart, Herzog, and Tomczak (2009). One-to-many and many-to-many WOM measurements were respectively adopted from Hsu, Ju, Yen, and Chang (2007) and Lu, Lin, Hsiao, and Cheng (2010). CFA with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation was conducted to test the validity of the dimensionality of brand attachment. Due to the high correlations between several constructs, this measurement failed discriminant validity test. To enable further analysis, brand identity, affective attachment, and social bonding are combined as one single dimension (as Individual Attachment). Thereafter, a standard two-step SEM was run to identify relationships among the constructs in the hypotheses. A measurement model was first tested on the data to verify demonstrate convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of brand attachment (revised) and the other constructs (Byrne, 2001). Goodness-of-fit indices of both measurement and structural models reached an acceptance level. From data analysis, the frameworks on brand citizenship behaviours are supported by the statistics. However, the number of attachment dimensions is compromised in testing the consumer-brand relationship due to the high correlations between several dimensions. This implies that consumer-brand relationship is less complex than individual-place relationship and can be captured by a simplified dimensionality framework. In other words, the finding indicates a high complexity on the dimensionality of place attachment compared to brand attachment. The results suggest that simple replications of brand concepts in studying places may be problematic and biased, since aspects that are not significantly distinguished in brand attachment but important in place context may be overlooked. On this basis, branding researchers need to be cautious in studying phenomena in place and destination issues when applying classical branding and marketing theories. Similar evidence can also be found in several previous studies (e.g. Chen, Dwyer, & Firth, 2014b; Lee, Kyle, & Scott, 2012). As to the constructs included in this study, the factor loadings (all larger than 0.76) were satisfactory after combining brand identity, affective attachment, and social bonding as one construct, indicating a satisfactory degree of reliability. An alternative model (considering brand attachment as a second-order construct) is tested to explore the general indication from brand attachment to WOM, retention, and participation. This result also provides a theoretical and empirical basis for practitioners to finds means to motivate loyal and attached consumers on different behaviours which may benefit their brands. Specifically, Individual Attachment and Brand Memory are found to be significantly affecting different types of WOM behaviours. This is consistent with Chen, Dwyer, and Firth’s (2014) findings on the impact of place attachment on WOM behaviour in studying Shanghai residents. The results imply that for Chinese consumers, the stronger an individual identify a brand will influence the more he/she would “talk up” the brands. For branding managers, it is clear that an emphasis should be taken on enhancing the identify fit between their brands and consumers, as well as promoting a brand personality which is perceived popular and adoptable by consumers. Similarly, helping consumers to build brand community to interact and socialise with other consumer and stimulating consumers’ emotional arousal can help brands motivate consumers to “pass on the right word”, likewise creating unforgettable consumer experiences. Secondly, BAS and brand expectation are found to be influencing brand participation. This is consistent with the study on Chinese students’ attitude toward participation in tourism activities in Sydney by Chen, Dwyer,and Firth (2015). For brand managers, assisting in consumers’ identification process with the brand, creating socialising opportunities and receiving positive emotional responses from consumers via brand activity designs, as well as enhancing consumer’s confidence on the brand may attract consumers to be more actively involved in the branding process. Lastly, brand dependence and brand expectation are found to affect retention behaviour in this study, suggesting brands still need to emphasise on maintaining and constantly improving the quality of the product and the brand to take a better place in the competitive market. This remains the key to reduce consumer defections. Future research may be taken to (1) propose a refined dimensionality of brand attachment based on place attachment; and (2) compare consumers and brands in different cultures on what role attachment may play in motivating different brand citizenship behaviours.

In order to address climate change, the international community established a regulatory framework in addition to adaptation and mitigation strategies being at its core, and adopted “common, but differentiated responsibility” as the fundamental principle behind the international climate change regime. However, the climate change regime has reached an impasse in recent years. This paper suggests that “common and symmetrical responsibility” should become the central organizing principle of the future climate regime in order to resolve disagreements among countries and encourage the initiative by the international community. This paper not only provides an analysis of the “bridging mechanism for adaptation and mitigation,” based primarily on the allocation of quantified emissions, limitation and reduction commitments and the sharing of multilateral climate funds, but also discusses the “cut-or-fund” scheme and “cut-and-fund” scheme in in developed and developing States, respectively under this mechanism.

The Malaysian Space Agency (ANGKASA), with cooperation of the Ministry of Education of Malaysia, has organized the Astronomy Workshop for Primary and Secondary School Teachers since 2008 at the National Planetarium. The workshop was organized to provide science teachers with basic knowledge of astronomy in accordance with the school syllabus, with the hope that they can acquire suffcient knowledge in the field of astronomy to enhance their teaching activities in school. In this workshop, teachers will be introduced to night sky simulations in our space theater, a planetarium show, daytime and night time observation activities, hands on activities, and visits to the planetarium's observatory and exhibition gallery. Besides this, in the workshop they will share teaching experience with planetarium staff. Educational materials are also distributed to all the teachers as reference for their teaching. In this paper presentation, we would like to show how the National Planetarium plays an important role to help teachers in teaching astronomy in schools.

Stellar mass is an important parameter of galaxies. We estimate the dynamical mass of an elliptical galaxy by its velocity dispersion and effective radius using the Hernquist model in the framework of MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). MOND is an alternative theory to the dark matter paradigm. In MOND the dynamical mass is the same as the baryonic mass or luminous mass, and in elliptical galaxies most of the baryons reside in stars. We select elliptical galaxies between redshift 0.05 and 0.5 from the main galaxy sample and the luminous red galaxy sample in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We nd that the stellar mass-to-light ratio at different redshift epochs can be fitted by a gamma distribution, and its mean is smaller at smaller redshifts.

The purpose of this paper is to examine affluent consumers’ emotions and loyalty toward luxury fashion brands’ flagship stores. A total of 138 participants were recruited. The results show product quality and other customers’ behaviors are the two factors that can affect affluent customers’ positive and negative emotions.

The great career of Global South-South Coalition has just entered its fifties, if we take the establishment of Group 77 in 1964 as its origin. For the past five decades, the course of SSC has seen its ups and downs. Confucian philosophy of China advocates for a comprehensive self-reflection every decade, so as to comb past experience for the sake of future self-improvement. At this historical turning point, it is of necessity to retrospect, while bearing contemporary international economic circumstances in mind, the SSC’s past accomplishments and difficulties, in order to re-affirm people’s confidence of this long-term strategy, and to avoid tactical short-sightedness. In this way, the career of Global SSC could hopefully get ready to sail out once again for new accomplishments. For Chinese scholars, it is also their responsibility to review the New China’s self-positioning on the course of SSC, and to make the world academia hear a voice from China.

On June 18, 2014, the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body adopted the Panel report on China – Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties on Certain Automobiles from the United States case. There are questions that are still left open or ambiguous, and some notable findings have been introduced. For the procedure, the major issues are whether the non-confidential summaries of data were sufficient to reasonably understand the information, the admissibility of the delayed letter from parties and whether the notice and registration of Investigation Authorities could justify the facts available for determination of Residual rates. As regards the substantive issues, the discussion focuses on whether there is a self-selection process to distort the domestic industry definition and the price comparability between subject imports and the domestic like product. By analyzing the arguments, evidences and reasoning in these regards, this review points out questions that still need future clarification.

According to theory of consumer contamination (Argo, Dahl & Morales, 2006), a product, after being touched by a customer, will be disgusted and devalued by the following customer. However, Argo, et al. (2006) considered only a high salience of contact product, i.e., T-shirts, and did not consider low salience of contact products. This study extended the study of Argo, et al. (2006) and examined whether perception of consumer contamination varies between products of different saliences of contact. The gender difference was also considered. The result from an experiment showed that consumers’ reactions to ‘contaminated’ products vary, depending on the salience of contact. The result also shows that female consumers tend to be more sensitive to consumer contamination.

Scientific evidence indicates that a significant human contribution towards the world’s climate change. Human lifestyles and behavior need changing to reach the goal of environmental sustainability. Previous studies indicate that fear or threat appeals in advertising campaigns can lead to changes in attitude and, subsequently, behavioral changes. The main aim of this study is to examine the impact of viewing different degrees of fear appeals of climate change on an individual’s intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In addition, the possible factors influencing an individual’s intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior may vary after viewing narratives of different degrees of fear-inspiring climate change are also examined. A total of 217 undergraduate students were assigned to one of the experimental conditions: no fear appeal, low-fear appeal, and high-fear appeal. The fear manipulation check results are consistent with the prominent hypothesis of the drive theory model, an inverted-U-shaped response pattern to increasing levels of fear. The results of ANOVA tests indicate that the participants who view the no-fear appeal text will have more intention of engaging in pro-environmental behavior than their counterparts, those who view the high-fear appeal text. The results of multiple regression equation analysis reveal that an individual’s moral obligations play an important determinant of his/her intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior across both conditions. But in the high-fear appeal condition, an individual’s perception of collective efficacy also plays an important determinant. Practical implications for pro-environmental behaviors are also provided.

This study explores the relationship among brand experience, consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty with virtual experience and the virtual community as the intervening variables. We intend to discuss how the new concept of ‘brand experience’ impacted by the internet environment. We integrate the following new research subjects together: brand experience, virtual experience and virtual community. As the research purpose is to understand the effects of virtual environments on brand experience on consumer satisfaction and on brand loyalty, it takes virtual experience as the intervening variable to discuss whether it positively or negatively influences the relationship between brand experience and consumer satisfaction, and takes the virtual commodity variable as the intervening variable to discuss whether it positively or negatively influences the relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. This study takes the virtual community members of apple brand in taiwan as the research subjects and 516 questionnaires were completed and returned. The results show that the brand experience had a positive effect on the consumers’ satisfaction and brand loyalty. In addition, the virtual experience has a positive moderating effect on the relationship of brand experience and consumer satisfaction. Finally, this study also discovered that the virtual community also has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between consumers’ satisfaction and brand loyalty.