E-retailing ethics in Egypt and its effect on customer repurchase intention

The theoretical understanding of online shopping behaviour has received much attention. Less focus has been given to the formation of the ethical issues that result from online shopper interactions with e-retailers. The vast majority of earlier research on this area is conceptual in nature and limited in scope by focusing on consumers’ privacy issues. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical model explaining what factors contribute to online retailing ethics and its effect on customer repurchase intention. The data were analysed using variance-based structural equation modelling, employing partial least squares regression. Findings indicate that the five factors of the online retailing ethics (security, privacy, non- deception, fulfilment/reliability, and corporate social responsibility) are strongly predictive of online consumers’ repurchase intention. The results offer important implications for e-retailers and are likely to stimulate further research in the area of e-ethics from the consumers’ perspective

Chile's export diversification since 1960: A free market miracle or mirage?

Conventional wisdom has proclaimed Chile's recent economic development a 'free market miracle'. In an examination of Chile's export diversification experience, this article departs from that view. By analysing the dynamics underlying the emergence of the salmon, fruit, forestry and wine sectors in Chile's export basket since the 1960s, the study sheds light on the crucial role of industrial policy in the process of capability accumulation that shapes new industries. The article undertakes a qualitative historical analysis of the scope and nature of policy interventions in each of the four sectors and conducts a quantitative policy evaluation using the difference-in-difference method. It finds that public institutions are essential in overcoming market failures inhibiting the emergence of new industries. Specifically, it shows that the government has a key role to play as a catalyst of human capital accumulation, as a venture capitalist, in trade promotion, and in ensuring 'national' sector reputation through a strong regulatory and quality control role. By elaborating on the dynamic process of structural transformation and capability accumulation, this article contributes to theoretical debates on the role of vertical policies in the emergence of new competitive sectors, and debates relating to static versus dynamic approaches to comparative advantage

Hyperbolic contraction measuring systems for extensional flow

In this paper an experimental method for extensional measurements on medium viscosity fluids in contraction flow is evaluated through numerical simulations and experimental measurements. This measuring technique measures the pressure drop over a hyperbolic contraction, caused by fluid extension and fluid shear, where the extensional component is assumed to dominate. The present evaluative work advances our previous studies on this experimental method by introducing several contraction ratios and addressing different constitutive models of varying shear and extensional response. The constitutive models included are those of the constant viscosity Oldroyd-B and FENE-CR models, and the shear-thinning LPTT model. Examining the results, the impact of shear and first normal stress difference on the measured pressure drop are studied through numerical pressure drop predictions. In addition, stream function patterns are investigated to detect vortex development and influence of contraction ratio. The numerical predictions are further related to experimental measurements for the flow through a 15:1 contraction ratio with three different test fluids. The measured pressure drops are observed to exhibit the same trends as predicted in the numerical simulations, offering close correlation and tight predictive windows for experimental data capture. This result has demonstrated that the hyperbolic contraction flow is well able to detect such elastic fluid properties and that this is matched by numerical predictions in evaluation of their flow response. The hyperbolical contraction flow technique is commended for its distinct benefits: it is straightforward and simple to perform, the Hencky strain can be set by changing contraction ratio, non-homogeneous fluids can be tested, and one can directly determine the degree of elastic fluid behaviour. Based on matching of viscometric extensional viscosity response for FENE-CR and LPTT models, a decline is predicted in pressure drop for the shear-thinning LPTT model. This would indicate a modest impact of shear in the flow since such a pressure drop decline is relatively small. It is particularly noteworthy that the increase in pressure drop gathered from the experimental measurements is relatively high despite the low Deborah number range explored

The Physical Processes of CME/ICME Evolution

As observed in Thomson-scattered white light, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are manifest as large-scale expulsions of plasma magnetically driven from the corona in the most energetic eruptions from the Sun. It remains a tantalizing mystery as to how these erupting magnetic fields evolve to form the complex structures we observe in the solar wind at Earth. Here, we strive to provide a fresh perspective on the post-eruption and interplanetary evolution of CMEs, focusing on the physical processes that define the many complex interactions of the ejected plasma with its surroundings as it departs the corona and propagates through the heliosphere. We summarize the ways CMEs and their interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) are rotated, reconfigured, deformed, deflected, decelerated and disguised during their journey through the solar wind. This study then leads to consideration of how structures originating in coronal eruptions can be connected to their far removed interplanetary counterparts. Given that ICMEs are the drivers of most geomagnetic storms (and the sole driver of extreme storms), this work provides a guide to the processes that must be considered in making space weather forecasts from remote observations of the corona.Peer reviewe

Genome-Wide Association Study in BRCA1 Mutation Carriers Identifies Novel Loci Associated with Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk

BRCA1-associated breast and ovarian cancer risks can be modified by common genetic variants. To identify further cancer risk-modifying loci, we performed a multi-stage GWAS of 11,705 BRCA1 carriers (of whom 5,920 were diagnosed with breast and 1,839 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer), with a further replication in an additional sample of 2,646 BRCA1 carriers. We identified a novel breast cancer risk modifier locus at 1q32 for BRCA1 carriers (rs2290854, P = 2.7×10-8, HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.20). In addition, we identified two novel ovarian cancer risk modifier loci: 17q21.31 (rs17631303, P = 1.4×10-8, HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38) and 4q32.3 (rs4691139, P = 3.4×10-8, HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38). The 4q32.3 locus was not associated with ovarian cancer risk in the general population or BRCA2 carriers, suggesting a BRCA1-specific associat