The study of the relationship between brand image and CSR purchasing behavior

JEL Classification: M1, M14Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a hot topic in the recent years. More and more companies start to adopt the CSR strategy and implement the CSR behavior in order to satisfy their stakeholders in the world. Consumer, as one of the critical member of stakeholders, can positively or negatively affect or be affected by the CSR performance of the company. On the other hand, in the marketing aspect, brand image plays an important role in differentiation and value creation. In addition, brand image can affect the purchasing behavior of consumer through a series of the complex psychological process. In this dissertation, we are going to study the CSR perception of Chinese consumers, and the relationship among CSR perception, brand image and CSR purchasing behavior. We start the quantitative research by developing a questionnaire, which is handed out to the Chinese respondents through WeChat. In the end, there are two interesting findings in the research: (1) brand image plays as a complete mediator in mediating the relationship between brand awareness and CSR purchasing behavior; (2) CSR perception plays as a complete mediator in mediating the relationship between brand image and CSR purchasing behavior.A Responsabilidade Social das Empresas (RSE) tem sido muito debatida nos últimos anos. Mais e mais empresas começaram a implementar a Responsabilidade Social para satisfazer os seus stakeholders. Os consumidores, enquanto um dos stakehoders mais críticos, podem ser positivamente ou negativamente afetados pelo desempenho da RSE. Por um lado, no aspeto de marketing, a imagem da marca tem um papel importante na diferenciação e criação de valor. Para além disso, a imagem da marca pode afetar o comportamento de compra através de um processo psicológico complexo. Nesta dissertação, iremos estudar a perceção referente à RSE dos consumidores Chineses e a relação entre a perceção da RSE, a imagem de marca e o comportamento de compra. Iniciamos a análise quantitativa pelo desenvolvimento de um questionário, que foi distribuído pelo WeChat. Da pesquisa efetuada destacamos dois resultados: (1) a imagem de marca desempenha um papel de mediador ao mediar a relação entre a consciência de marca e comportamento de compra socialmente responsável; (2) a perceção de responsabilidade social desempenha um papel de mediador ao mediar a relação entre imagem de marca e comportamento de compra responsável

Dark solitons manipulation using optical event horizon

We demonstrate that the optical event horizon can provide an effective technique to actively control the propagation properties of a dark soliton with another weak probe wave. Careful power adjustment of the probe wave enables the black soliton converted into a gray one with varying grayness through the nonlinear interaction, corresponding to a nearly adiabatic variation of the soliton’s speed. The sign of the phase angle for the newly formed gray soliton at optical event horizon is significantly dependent on the frequency of the launched probe wave. Linear-stability analysis of dark solitons under the perturbation of a weak probe wave is performed to clarify the intrinsic mechanism of the nonlinear interaction. The probe wave manipulated collisional dynamics between both dark solitons are investigated as an analogue of the combined white-hole and black-hole horizons which provides some insights into exploring the transition between integrable and non-integrable systems

Active control of adiabatic soliton fission by external dispersive wave at optical event horizon

We show that the group-velocity-led optical event horizon (OEH) in optical fibers provides a convenient way to actively control the propagation property of higher-order solitons by a comparatively weak dispersive wave (DW) pulse. It has been found numerically that clean soliton breakup, a process by which a second-order soliton completely splits into a pair of constituent solitons with vastly different power proportions after interacting with the weak DW pulse, will occur while external DWs become polychromatic. The temporal separation between both constituent solitons can be controlled by adjusting the power of the external DW. The more energetic main soliton is advanced/trailed in time depending on the selected frequency of input DW pulse. We have developed an analytic formalism describing the external acting-force (AF) perturbation. These results provide a fundamental explanation and physical scaling of optical pulse evolution in optical fibers and can find applications in improved supercontinuum sources

Widely wavelength-tunable mid-infrared fluoride fiber lasers

We demonstrate widely wavelength-tunable continuous-wave (CW) and Q-switched Er3+-doped ZBLAN fluoride fiber lasers operating around 3 μm enabled by a volume Bragg grating (VBG). In the CW operation regime, a total wavelength tuning range of over 160-nm spanning from 2694 to 2854 nm has been achieved. For the Q-switched mode of operation, a slightly modified resonator configuration, incorporating a passive Q-switcher, topological insulator Bi2Te3 nanosheets, can produce stable pulse trains with a pulse width of 880 ns at a repetition rate of 81 kHz, while maintaining a wavelength tuning range of 62 nm from 2762 to 2824 nm through adjusting the VBG. In both operation regimes, the output spectral width is measured to be <;0.3 nm (full-width at half-maximum) over the whole tuning range. Our work both demonstrates the great wavelength-tuning potential of the Er3+ -doped fluoride fiber laser, and also paves a way for the development of a range of high-performance midinfrared laser sources

Uncovering periodontitis-associated markers through the aggregation of transcriptomics information from diverse sources

IntroductionPeriodontitis, a common chronic inflammatory disease, significantly impacted oral health. To provide novel biological indicators for the diagnosis and treatment of periodontitis, we analyzed public microarray datasets to identify biomarkers associated with periodontitis.MethodThe Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE16134 and GSE106090 were downloaded. We performed differential analysis and robust rank aggregation (RRA) to obtain a list of differential genes. To obtain the core modules and core genes related to periodontitis, we evaluated differential genes through enrichment analysis, correlation analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network analysis. Potential biomarkers for periodontitis were identified through comparative analysis of dual networks (PPI network and ceRNA network). PPI network analysis was performed in STRING. The ceRNA network consisted of RRA differentially expressed messenger RNAs (RRA_DEmRNAs) and RRA differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (RRA_DElncRNAs), which regulated each other’s expression by sharing microRNA (miRNA) target sites.ResultsRRA_DEmRNAs were significantly enriched in inflammation-related biological processes, osteoblast differentiation, inflammatory response pathways and immunomodulatory pathways. Comparing the core ceRNA module and the core PPI module, C1QA, CENPK, CENPU and BST2 were found to be the common genes of the two core modules, and C1QA was highly correlated with inflammatory functionality. C1QA and BST2 were significantly enriched in immune-regulatory pathways. Meanwhile, LINC01133 played a significant role in regulating the expression of the core genes during the pathogenesis of periodontitis.ConclusionThe identified biomarkers C1QA, CENPK, CENPU, BST2 and LINC01133 provided valuable insight into periodontitis pathology

Myofibroblast-derived exosomes enhance macrophages to myofibroblasts transition and kidney fibrosis

A critical event in the pathogenesis of kidney fibrosis is the transition of macrophages into myofibroblasts (MMT). Exosomes play an important role in crosstalk among cells in the kidney and the development of renal fibrosis. However, the role of myofibroblast-derived exosomes in the process of MMT and renal fibrosis progression remains unknown. Here, we examined the role of myofibroblast-derived exosomes in MMT and kidney fibrogenesis. In vitro, transforming growth factor-β1 stimulated the differentiation of kidney fibroblasts into myofibroblasts and promoted exosome release from myofibroblasts. RAW264.7 cells were treated with exosomes derived from myofibroblasts. We found purified exosomes from myofibroblasts trigger the MMT. By contrast, inhibition of exosome production with GW4869 or exosome depletion from the conditioned media abolished the ability of myofibroblasts to induce MMT. Mice treatment with myofibroblast-derived exosomes (Myo-Exo) exhibited severe fibrotic lesion and more abundant MMT cells in kidneys with folic acid (FA) injury, which was negated by TANK-banding kinase-1 inhibitor. Furthermore, suppression of exosome production reduced collagen deposition, extracellular matrix protein accumulation, and MMT in FA nephropathy. Collectively, Myo-Exo enhances the MMT and kidney fibrosis. Blockade of exosomes mediated myofibroblasts–macrophages communication may provide a novel therapeutic target for kidney fibrosis