Antecedents of User Stickiness and Loyalty and Their Effects on Users’ Group-Buying Repurchase Intention

Intense competition among a vast number of group-buying websites leads to higher product homogeneity, which allows customers to switch to alternative websites easily and reduce their website stickiness and loyalty. This study explores the antecedents of user stickiness and loyalty and their effects on consumers’ group-buying repurchase intention. Results indicate that systems quality, information quality, service quality, and alternative system quality each has a positive relationship with user loyalty through user stickiness. Meanwhile, information quality directly impacts user loyalty. Thereafter, user stickiness and loyalty each has a positive relationship with consumers’ repurchase intention. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed

The Influence of Family Cultural Capital on the Subject Selection Behavior of High School Students Under the New College Entrance Examination in Mainland China: The Mediating Role of Learning Efficacy

The “New College Entrance Examination” reform has become the most difficult part of mainland China’ s current education reform. This study investigates the influence of family cultural capital on the subject selection behavior of Chinese high school students with learning efficacy included as an intermediary variable. Altogether 1258 high school students in Chongqing were surveyed. We find that (1) high school students showed active participation in selecting subjects, and there were significant differences in their selection behavior in terms of grade, parents’ educational background, parents’ occupational level, and family per capita monthly income. Furthermore, (2) the effect of learning efficacy on family cultural capital was significant. The positive influences on high school students’ subject selection behavior were also reflected in the intermediary role of learning efficacy. We also found that (3) the influence of family cultural capital on the selection behavior of high school students is affected by individual and family background variables. Based on these results, countermeasures and suggestions are put forward to help high school students choose courses reasonably

Identification of microRNAs Actively Involved in Fatty Acid Biosynthesis in Developing Brassica napus Seeds Using High-Throughput Sequencing

Seed development has a critical role during the spermatophyte life cycle. In Brassica napus, a major oil crop, fatty acids are synthesized and stored in specific tissues during embryogenesis, and understanding the molecular mechanism underlying fatty acid biosynthesis during seed development is an important research goal. In this study, we constructed three small RNA libraries from early seeds at 14, 21 and 28 days after flowering (DAF) and used high-throughput sequencing to examine microRNA (miRNA) expression. A total of 85 known miRNAs from 30 families and 1,160 novel miRNAs were identified, of which 24, including 5 known and 19 novel miRNAs, were found to be involved in fatty acid biosynthesis. bna-miR156b, bna-miR156c, bna-miR156g, novel_mir_1706, novel_mir_1407, novel_mir_173, and novel_mir_104 were significantly down-regulated at 21 DAF and 28 DAF, whereas bna-miR159, novel_mir_1081, novel_mir_19 and novel_mir_555 were significantly up-regulated. In addition, we found that some miRNAs regulate functional genes that are directly involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and that other miRNAs regulate the process of fatty acid biosynthesis by acting on a large number of transcription factors. The miRNAs and their corresponding predicted targets were partially validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Our data suggest that diverse and complex miRNAs are involved in the seed development process and that miRNAs play important roles in fatty acid biosynthesis during seed development

Competition Effect in Atomic-Molecular System

The competition effects among the processes of atomic ionization, optical pumped stimulated radiation (OPSR), four-wave frequency mixing (FWFM) and molecular stimulated diffuse band radiation at the atomic two-photon resonance of 3S approaches 4D in Na2 - Na mixture were observed. The dip at the two-photon resonance in the excitation spectrum for the diffuse-band radiation was interpreted as suppression of population in 4D state

Inferior plant competitor allocates more biomass to belowground as a result of greater competition for resources in heterogeneous habitats

Nutrient heterogeneity in soil widely exists in nature and can have significant impacts on plant growth, biomass allocation, and competitive interactions. However, limited research has been done to investigate the interspecific competitive intensity between two clonal species in a heterogeneous habitat. Therefore, this greenhouse experiment was conducted with two clonal species, Phragmites australis and Scirpus planiculumis, exposed to heterogeneous and homogeneous patches of soil nutrients at five different planting ratios (0:4, 1:3, 2:2, 3:1 and 4:0), to assess the effects of both soil heterogeneity and interspecific competition on plant growth. It was found that soil nutrient heterogeneity significantly enhanced P. australis’ interspecific competitive capacity and biomass by promoting a 20% increase in belowground allocation. Interestingly, the planting ratio did not affect the magnitude of this net outcome. In contrast, the superior competitor S. planiculumis did not exhibit significant change of growth indicators to the heterogeneous soil patches. These findings imply that the uncertainties associated with human-induced redistribution of plant species may lead to a shift in dominance from other species to those like P. australis, which have strong nutrient foraging abilities in response to heterogeneity in emergent wetland plant communities

Related consistent lures increase the judgment of multiplication facts: Evidence using event-related potential technique

Simple multiplication errors are primarily shown in whether the lures are related to the operands (relatedness, such as 3 × 4 = 15 vs. 17) or whether the same decades are shared with the correct answers (consistency, such as 3 × 4 = 16 vs. 21). This study used a delayed verification paradigm and event-related potential technique to investigate the effects of relatedness and consistency in simple multiplication mental arithmetic for 30 college students in an experiment of presenting probes in auditory channels. We found that, compared to the related inconsistent lures, the related consistent lures showed significantly faster reaction time and induced significantly large amplitudes of N400 and late positive component. The findings suggest that related consistent lures are less affected by the activation diffusion of the arithmetic problem, and the credibility of being perceived as the correct answer is less; the lures related to operands and sharing the same decades with the accurate results can promote the judgment of multiplication mental arithmetic, and the results support the Interacting Neighbors Model

Expression and characterization of duck enteritis virus gI gene

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>At present, alphaherpesviruses gI gene and its encoding protein have been extensively studied. It is likely that gI protein and its homolog play similar roles in virions direct cell-to-cell spread of alphaherpesviruses. But, little is known about the characteristics of DEV gI gene. In this study, we expressed and presented the basic properties of the DEV gI protein.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The special 1221-bp fragment containing complete open reading frame(ORF) of duck enteritis virus(DEV) gI gene was extracted from plasmid pMD18-T-gI, and then cloned into prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a(+), resulting in pET-32a(+)-gI. After being confirmed by PCR, restriction endonuclease digestion and sequencing, pET-32a(+)-gI was transformed into <it>E.coli </it>BL21(DE3) competent cells for overexpression. DEV gI gene was successfully expressed by the addition of isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside(IPTG). SDS-PAGE showed that the recombinant protein His6-tagged gI molecular weight was about 61 kDa. Subsequently, the expressed product was applied to generate specific antibody against gI protein. The specificity of the rabbit immuneserum was confirmed by its ability to react with the recombinant protein His6-tagged gI. In addition, real time-PCR was used to determine the the levels of the mRNA transcripts of gI gene, the results showed that the DEV gI gene was transcribed most abundantly during the late phase of infection. Furthermore, indirect immunofluorescence(IIF) was established to study the gI protein expression and localization in DEV-infected duck embryo fibroblasts (DEFs), the results confirmed that the protein was expressed and located in the cytoplasm of the infected cells, intensively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The recombinant prokaryotic expression vector of DEV gI gene was constructed successfully. The gI protein was successfully expressed by <it>E.coli </it>BL21(DE3) and maintained its antigenicity very well. The basic information of the transcription and intracellular localization of gI gene were presented, that would be helpful to assess the possible role of DEV gI gene. The research will provide useful clues for further functional analysis of DEV gI gene.</p

Effects of AMF inoculation on the eco-physiological characteristics of Imperata cylindrica under differing soil nitrogen conditions

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a key role in terrestrial ecosystems, while the ecological restoration application of AMF in mining areas has been progressively gaining attention. This study simulated a low nitrogen (N) environment in copper tailings mining soil to explore inoculative effects of four AMF species on the eco-physiological characteristics of Imperata cylindrica, and provided plant-microbial symbiote with excellent resistance to copper tailings. Results show that N, soil type, AMF species, and associated interactions significantly affected ammonium (NH4  +), nitrate nitrogen (NO3  −), and total nitrogen (TN) content and photosynthetic characteristics of I. cylindrica. Additionally, interactions between soil type and AMF species significantly affected the biomass, plant height, and tiller number of I. cylindrica. Rhizophagus irregularis and Glomus claroideun significantly increased TN and NH4  + content in the belowground components I. cylindrica in non-mineralized sand. Moreover, the inoculation of these two fungi species significantly increased belowground NH4  + content in mineralized sand. The net photosynthetic rate positively correlated to aboveground total carbon (TC) and TN content under the high N and non-mineralized sand treatment. Moreover, Glomus claroideun and Glomus etunicatum inoculation significantly increased both net photosynthetic and water utilization rates, while F. mosseae inoculation significantly increased the transpiration rate under the low N treatment. Additionally, aboveground total sulfur (TS) content positively correlated to the intercellular carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, stomatal conductance, and the transpiration rate under the low N sand treatment. Furthermore, G. claroideun, G. etunicatum, and F. mosseae inoculation significantly increased aboveground NH4  + and belowground TC content of I. cylindrica, while G. etunicatum significantly increased belowground NH4  + content. Average membership function values of all physiological and ecological I. cylindrica indexes infected with AMF species were higher compared to the control group, while corresponding values of I. cylindrica inoculated with G. claroideun were highest overall. Finally, comprehensive evaluation coefficients were highest under both the low N and high N mineralized sand treatments. This study provides information on microbial resources and plant-microbe symbionts in a copper tailings area, while aiming to improve current nutrient-poor soil conditions and ecological restoration efficiency in copper tailings areas