Marketing Activities, Strategic Competition, and Firm Value

This study extends the prior literature on the effect of marketing activities on firm value by investigating whether the nature of strategic competition affects financial outcomes differentially. Using the competitive strategy measure (CSM), we show that marketing spending is beneficial (detrimental) to firm value when the firm is in strategic substitutes (complements) and the efficacy is a decreasing function of the degree of industry competition. The relative competitive position of a firm in the industry—whether it is a leader or a follower—matters in the quality and size of the effect of marketing spending. By bifurcating the nature of strategic competition into strategic substitutes and complements, we disentangle the dichotomous effects of marketing activities on firm value

A re-assessment of historical records pertaining to the activity of Mt. Baekdu (Paektu, Tianchi) volcano

Abstract This study re-assesses the historical records pertaining to the activity of Mt. Baekdu according to volcanic phenomena. We categorized volcanic phenomena into five categories: rumbling, atmospheric abnormality, ash rain, ash cloud and phenomenon sightings, and investigated historical records (in Chinese) for each phenomenon and identified their volcanological implications. Among the volcanic phenomena, ash rain had the most abundant records, and in particular, Goryeosa recorded the ash rain phenomenon 56 times. And more than 90 volcanic eruptions were discovered from the Millennium Eruption from November 3, 946 AD, to February 7, 947 AD, most of which were either Plinian or Vulcanian eruptions with volcanic ash dispersed into the regions surrounding the volcano creating fallout ash. Based on the historical eruptions, eruption precursors, and volcanic unrest of the volcano between 2002 and 2006, Mt. Baekdu is regarded as an active volcano that has the potential to erupt. Therefore, to mitigate the hazard caused by the eruption of Mt. Baekdu, it is necessary to analyze the historical eruption records of Mt. Baekdu and understand the characteristics of the eruptions through this analysis

Effects of double-arched geometry and tensile strength on the pullout resistance of fibers

This study evaluated the pullout resistance performance of a developed double-arched steel fiber. Pullout experiments were conducted to assess the resistance load, bond strength, and energy absorption capacity of the fiber according to the geometry and tensile strength of the fiber. Double-arched (DA) steel fibers demonstrated peak and residual resistance loads approximately 36–112% and 29–163% higher than hooked-end and single-arched steel fibers, respectively. The DA steel fiber also significantly increased the bond strength and energy absorption capacity by approximately 58–159% and 125–130%, respectively, compared to the hook-end and single-arched steel fibers. Moreover, the DA fiber exhibited a more significant increase rate in pullout resistance load, bond strength, and energy absorption capacity with increasing tensile strength. A prediction model was also developed to incorporate the influence of plastic bending and friction resistance on the pullout behavior of the DA fiber. The resistance loads and decreasing trend obtained from the prediction model exhibited a very close agreement with the experimental results

Ionic-surfactant-coated subtilisin: activity, enantioselectivity, and application to dynamic kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols

In this work, we explored the utility of ionic-surfactant-coated Bacillus licheniformis subtilisin (ISCBLS) as the catalyst for the dynamic kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols. ISCBLS was prepared by freeze-drying Bacillus licheniformis subtilisin with both ionic surfactant 1 and dextrin. ISCBCL displayed 9300-fold enhanced activity relative to its native counterpart in the transesterificaion of N-acetyl phenylalanine ethyl ester with 1-propanol in hexane and 12 800-fold enhanced activity in the transesterification of trifluoroethyl butyrate with 1-phenylethanol in THF. The enantioselectivity of ISCBLS was examined with 50 secondary alcohols as the substrates for kinetic resolution in the presence of trifluoroethyl butyrate. ISCBLS displayed synthetically useful enantioselectivity for most of the secondary alcohols tested. The enantioselectivity of ISCBLS was in particular good to high for m-or p-substituted 1-phenylethanols. The DKRs of these secondary alcohols by the combination of ISCBLS and a ruthenium-based racemization catalyst provided the products of (S)-configuration with good results (80-94% yield, 90-99% ee). It is concluded that ISCBLS is of great use as the enantiocomplementary counterpart of (R)-selective lipase for the dynamic kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols.11sciescopu

Nafion-Assisted Noncovalent Assembly of Molecular Sensitizers and Catalysts for Sustained Photoreduction of CO2 to CO

The efficient coupling of light absorbers with catalysts is the most critical step in the multielectron transfer process for CO2 conversion. Here a heterogenized photoconversion system consisting of noncovalent assembly is tested and proposed. Nafion (NO polymer is employed as a simple and robust platform that couples the light absorber (Ru-(bpy)(3)(2+): RuL) and the catalyst (fac-Re(bpy)(CO)(3)Cl: Re(I)) without making any chemical linkage between them to drive the reductive conversion of CO2 to CO. The results clearly show that the ternary Re(I)-RuL-Nf system exhibits higher photoconversion of CO2 and higher photostability than those of the homogeneous Re(I)RuL system without Nf. Nf polymer backbone provides sulfonate ionic exchange sites that tightly bind cationic RuL through electrostatic attraction. The Nf-bound RuL sensitizers hinder the destructive self-sensitized reaction but enhance the chance of bimolecular electron transfer from the excited RuL to Re(I), which was confirmed by time-resolved spectroscopic analysis. The total turnover number (TON) of produced CO after 20 h reached 454 in the Re(I)-RuL-Nf system (vs TON 110 in Re(I)-RuL), which demonstrated the essential role of Nf in the photoconversion process.11Nsciescopu