The Effect of Brand Position on Consumer Choices of Luxury Brands: A Cross-Cultural Study Between British and Chinese Consumers

This dissertation is grouped by topics—luxury brands, values, consumer luxury shopping behaviour, luxury brand management, and luxury brand differentiations. It intends to address the influence of luxury brand positioning on consumer choices.Despite various changes in internal and external environment, little research has investigated the differences of Chinese and British luxury markets. Therefore, in this article, an approach to understanding the positioning of luxury brands and luxury consumption behaviour is presented. The existing definitions are reviewed, which suggests that consumer consumption decisions of luxury brands can be evaluated by 39 items models. Based on this, the purpose of this paper is to focus on and to offer a deeper understanding of the luxury brand positioning effects. In order to fulfil this purpose, four research objectives and three propositions are expounded focusing on the variables of consumer choice decision as well as an explanation of the brand unique personality. By following the research objectives and propositions as a direction guide, literature studies are critically analysed resulting in a composite framework which guides the data interpretation. This research takes a qualitative case study for collecting secondary data by means of previous research data. The analysed results demonstrate that there would be a difference in the effect of brand positioning between the Chinese and British consumers. By identifying the equity of different luxury brands, consumer choice behaviour can be better understood, and this may assist luxury brand managers in their exploration of luxury market

Pragmatic Features of Chinese Ostensible Invitations

Invitations can be roughly divided into genius invitations and ostensible invitations. The ostensible invitation as a kind of ostensible speech act is always carried out for some unspoken purposes. In this paper, the properties and features of Chinese ostensible invitations are analyzed based on the examples collected by the method of experience description, experience record and interview. The study provides a guideline for people to distinguish Chinese ostensible invitations so that they are able to respond to the ostensible invitations appropriately to promote harmonious interpersonal relations.

On converse bounds for classical communication over quantum channels

We explore several new converse bounds for classical communication over quantum channels in both the one-shot and asymptotic regimes. First, we show that the Matthews-Wehner meta-converse bound for entanglement-assisted classical communication can be achieved by activated, no-signalling assisted codes, suitably generalizing a result for classical channels. Second, we derive a new efficiently computable meta-converse on the amount of classical information unassisted codes can transmit over a single use of a quantum channel. As applications, we provide a finite resource analysis of classical communication over quantum erasure channels, including the second-order and moderate deviation asymptotics. Third, we explore the asymptotic analogue of our new meta-converse, the $\Upsilon$-information of the channel. We show that its regularization is an upper bound on the classical capacity, which is generally tighter than the entanglement-assisted capacity and other known efficiently computable strong converse bounds. For covariant channels we show that the $\Upsilon$-information is a strong converse bound.Comment: v3: published version; v2: 18 pages, presentation and results improve

Yielding and hardening of flexible fiber packings during triaxial compression

This paper examines the mechanical response of flexible fiber packings subject to triaxial compression. Short fibers yield in a manner similar to typical granular materials in which the deviatoric stress remains nearly constant with increasing strain after reaching a peak value. Interestingly, long fibers exhibit a hardening behavior, where the stress increases rapidly with increasing strain at large strains and the packing density continuously increases. Phase diagrams for classifying the bulk mechanical response as yielding, hardening, or a transition regime are generated as a function of the fiber aspect ratio, fiber-fiber friction coefficient, and confining pressure. Large fiber aspect ratio, large fiber-fiber friction coefficient, and large confining pressure promote hardening behavior. The hardening packings can support much larger loads than the yielding packings contributing to the stability and consolidation of the granular structure, but larger internal axial forces occur within fibers.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Combined experimental-theoretical study of the OH + CO → H + CO2 reaction dynamics

A combined experimental−theoretical study is performed to advance our understanding of the dynamics of the prototypical tetra-atom, complex-forming reaction OH + CO → H + CO 2, which is also of great practical relevance in combustion, Earth’s atmosphere, and, potentially, Mars’s atmosphere and interstellar chemistry. New crossed molecular beam experiments with mass spectrometric detection are analyzed together with the results from previous experiments and compared with quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) calculations on a new, fulldimensional potential energy surface (PES). Comparisons between experiment and theory are carried out both in the center-of-mass and laboratory frames. Good agreement is found between experiment and theory, both for product angular and translational energy distributions, leading to the conclusion that the new PES is the most accurate at present in elucidating the dynamics of this fundamental reaction. Yet, small deviations between experiment and theory remain and are presumably attributable to the QCT treatment of the scattering dynamics

Necessity and challenges for the post-pandemic Hangzhou Asian Games: An interdisciplinary data science assessment

BackgroundThe postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games has reignited controversy over whether it is necessary and safe to hold. This study aimed to assess its necessity for Asian elite sport and the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic through joint data science research on elite sports and public health Internet big data.MethodsFor necessity, we used seven pre-pandemic Asian Games to investigate its long-term internal balance and six pre-pandemic Olympic Games to examine its contribution to the external competitiveness of Asian sport powers through bivariate Pearson correlation analyses between sport variables and holding year. For challenges, we used Johns Hopkins COVID-19 data and Tokyo 2020 Olympic data to quantify the past impact of the pandemic on elite sport by another correlation analysis between pandemic variables and the change in the weighted score of medal share (CWSMS), built a transferable linear regression model, transferred the model to Jakarta 2018 Asian Games data, and eventually forecasted the possible impact of the pandemic on the results of the Hangzhou Asian Games.ResultsThe proportion of gold medal countries in the Asian Games showed a long-term upward trend (Pearson r(7) = 0.849, p < 0.05), and the share of medals won by Asian countries showed a significant increasing process (Pearson r(6) = 0.901, p < 0.05). The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths (CND) was most significantly correlated to CWSMS (Pearson r(100) = −0.455, p < 0.001). The total Olympic model output of Asian countries was 0.0115 in Tokyo 2020 and is predicted to be 0.0093 now. The prediction of CWSMS in Hangzhou was 0.0013 for China, 0.0006 for Japan, and 0.0008 for South Korea.ConclusionWe documented that Asian Games played a significant role in the long-term balanced internal structure and the increasing global competitiveness of Asian elite sport. We proved that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the Olympic performance of countries worldwide, while the competitive performance at the Hangzhou Games would be less affected than the world average level. This study also highlights the importance of interdisciplinary data science research on large-scale sports events and public health

Anterior lens capsule:biomechanical properties and biomedical engineering perspectives

Anterior lens capsule, as the thickest basement membrane in the body, has its unique physiology characteristics. In ophthalmology, many attempts have been made to culture different kinds of cells including iris pigment epithelial cells, retinal pigment epithelial cells, corneal epithelium and endothelium cells, trabecular meshwork cells etc and anterior lens capsule has been confirmed to be served as an excellent scaffold for the growth and expansion of different ocular cells. Furthermore, anterior lens capsule also has unique potential in gestation evaluation and the treatment of various ocular diseases, including corneal ulcer, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and macular hole, etc. Here, we provide an overview of the biomechanical properties and biomedical engineering perspectives of anterior lens capsule

Daily Costs and Cost Effectiveness of Glaucoma Fixed Combinations in China

Background. The aim of this study was to compare the daily costs and cost effectiveness of fixed combination glaucoma drugs in China. Methods. This study included the following fixed combination drugs: brinzolamide 1% and timolol 0.5% (Azarga; Alcon, Inc., Fort Worth, TX, USA), travoprost 0.004% and timolol 0.5% (DuoTrav; Alcon, Inc.), bimatoprost 0.03% and timolol 0.5% (Ganfort; Allergan, Inc., Dublin, Ireland), and latanoprost 0.005% and timolol 0.5% (Xalacom; Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY, USA). Five bottles of each drug were measured. The mean actual volume, mean actual number of drops, volume per drop, daily cost, yearly cost, and per mmHg reduction cost for each drug were calculated. Results. The volumes per drop ranged from 32.61 ± 2.90 μl (DuoTrav) to 24.38 ± 0.23 μl (Ganfort). The number of usage days per bottle varied from 36 days (DuoTrav) to 61 days (Ganfort). Azarga had the lowest daily cost ($0.23) and yearly cost ($84.72), while DuoTrav had the highest daily cost ($0.79) and yearly cost ($287.02). Azarga costed $2.17-$3.30 per mmHg intraocular pressure reduction, which was lower than the other three drugs. For the prostaglandin and ß-adrenergic blocker FCs, Ganfort had the lowest daily cost ($0.35) and per mmHg reduction cost (from$3.40 to $4.04). Conclusions. The daily costs of these drugs were significantly different, with Azarga having the lowest daily cost and best cost effectiveness. For the prostaglandin and β-adrenergic blocker fixed combinations, Ganfort was the most economical choice with its lower daily cost and per mmHg reduction cost. The results of this study could provide drug selection guidance from an economic perspective, but various factors should be considered when making a decision.</p

STUDY ON MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF CABLE - STAYED BRIDGE SUPPORT SYSTEM IN MULTI - FULCRUM UNBALANCED ROTATION

With the maturity and wide application of the bridge rotation construction technology, the single-fulcrum spherical hinge balance rotation can not meet the need of crossing over the high-speed railway catenary and other obstacles, so the unbalanced rotation construction is often needed. In order to ensure the stability and safety of the unbalanced rotation process, a multi-pivot rotation method is proposed. In this paper, the railway cable-stayed bridge over Harbin West Avenue is taken as the research object, and the multi-fulcrum rotating construction method over the metal contact network is adopted. The Abaqus finite element model is established, the influence of different rotation angular velocity, friction coefficient of slideway and position of support foot on the force of support system in the course of rotation is studied. The results show that, compared with the traditional single-pivot rotation, the force on the multi-pivot rotation support foot becomes the main force component, and the force on the spherical hinge decreases. The rotation angular velocity is positively correlated with Mises stress of the support foot and the spherical hinge. The friction coefficient of the slideway has a great influence on the force of the support foot. When the friction coefficient of the slideway changes in order of 0.02,0.04,0.06,0.08 and 0.1, the friction stress of the outer edge of the support foot increases linearly. Considering the force of spherical hinge and support foot, the best position of supporting foot is 7.3 m from the center of spherical hinge. The research in this paper can be used for reference in the future multi-pivot unbalanced rotation construction