Do Consumers Trust the National Inspection Exemption Brands? Evidence from Infant Formula in China

Consumers are often uncertain about product quality and have to rely on different information, either given or pursued, to assess quality. Developing countries may lack institutional and technical resources to rigorously monitor and enforce product quality standards and/or to implement market-based instruments where market failures are common. The information-based instruments on product quality may work well in these countries as they reduce information asymmetry between firms and consumers. This study investigates one particular information-based instrument, the National Inspection Exemption (NIE) system in China. China launched the National Inspection Exemption (NIE) System in various industries in 2000 to award firms who are in compliance with the quality standards, to inform consumers of product quality, and to lessen the pressure on regulatory monitoring and enforcement of product quality standards. Once a firm is granted the NIE title by China's National Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), its products are exempted from quality inspections by all governmental agencies at different levels for three years; but it is obligated to report the product quality condition to the local AQSIQ office annually. The NIE titled firms are also allowed to include the title in the product label and to use the status in the advertisement campaign. Based on the theoretical framework, we establish the hypothesis that consumers are more willing to buy the product with the NIE title and the NIE title is likely to increase sales revenue when consumers lack of means to assess quality. The empirical application of China dairy industry supports the theoretical hypothesis. In particular, using the firm-level panel data, we find that the NIE title boots sales revenue and the impact is both statistically and economically significant based on the difference-in-difference estimate and the random-fixed effect estimations. Furthermore, using the survey data collected right after the 2008 China milk scandal regarding the brand choice of infant formula among 1,228 mothers with infants and young children, we find that consumers’ preference for the NIE title still present even the NIE titled firms are involved in a food scare event. The positive NIE preference is particularly strong among highly educated consumers and those who buy domestic brands.brand choice, food safety, product quality, national inspection exemption, quality standards, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Gate-tunable Topological Valley Transport in Bilayer Graphene

Valley pseudospin, the quantum degree of freedom characterizing the degenerate valleys in energy bands, is a distinct feature of two-dimensional Dirac materials. Similar to spin, the valley pseudospin is spanned by a time reversal pair of states, though the two valley pseudospin states transform to each other under spatial inversion. The breaking of inversion symmetry induces various valley-contrasted physical properties; for instance, valley-dependent topological transport is of both scientific and technological interests. Bilayer graphene (BLG) is a unique system whose intrinsic inversion symmetry can be controllably broken by a perpendicular electric field, offering a rare possibility for continuously tunable valley-topological transport. Here, we used a perpendicular gate electric field to break the inversion symmetry in BLG, and a giant nonlocal response was observed as a result of the topological transport of the valley pseudospin. We further showed that the valley transport is fully tunable by external gates, and that the nonlocal signal persists up to room temperature and over long distances. These observations challenge contemporary understanding of topological transport in a gapped system, and the robust topological transport may lead to future valleytronic applications

Action Mechanism of Inhibin α-Subunit on the Development of Sertoli Cells and First Wave of Spermatogenesis in Mice

Inhibin is an important marker of Sertoli cell (SC) activity in animals with impaired spermatogenesis. However, the precise relationship between inhibin and SC activity is unknown. To investigate this relationship, we partially silenced both the transcription and translation of the gene for the α-subunit of inhibin, Inha, using recombinant pshRNA vectors developed with RNAi-Ready pSIREN-RetroQ-ZsGreen Vector (Clontech Laboratories, Mountain View, Calif). We found that Inha silencing suppresses the cell-cycle regulators Cyclin D1 and Cyclin E and up-regulates the cell-cycle inhibitor P21 (as detected by Western blot analysis), thereby increasing the number of SCs in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and decreasing the amount in the S-phase of the cell cycle (as detected by flow cytometry). Inha silencing also suppressed Pdgfa, Igf1, and Kitl mRNA levels and up-regulated Tgfbrs, Inhba, Inhbb, Cyp11a1, Dhh, and Tjp1 mRNA levels (as indicated by real-time polymerase chain reaction [PCR] analysis). These findings indicate that Inha has the potential to influence the availability of the ligand inhibin and its antagonist activin in the SC in an autocrine manner and inhibit the progression of SC from G1 to S. It may also participate in the development of the blood–testis barrier, Leydig cells, and spermatogenesis through its effect on Dhh, Tjp1, Kitl, and Pdgfa. Real-time PCR and Western blot analyses of Inha, Inhba, and Inhbb mRNA and Inha levels over time show that Inha plays an important role in the formation of round spermatid during the first wave of spermatogenesis in mice

Do Consumers Trust the National Inspection Exemption Brands? Evidence from Infant Formula in China

Consumers are often uncertain about product quality and have to rely on different information, either given or pursued, to assess quality. Developing countries may lack institutional and technical resources to rigorously monitor and enforce product quality standards and/or to implement market-based instruments where market failures are common. The information-based instruments on product quality may work well in these countries as they reduce information asymmetry between firms and consumers. This study investigates one particular information-based instrument, the National Inspection Exemption (NIE) system in China. China launched the National Inspection Exemption (NIE) System in various industries in 2000 to award firms who are in compliance with the quality standards, to inform consumers of product quality, and to lessen the pressure on regulatory monitoring and enforcement of product quality standards. Once a firm is granted the NIE title by China's National Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), its products are exempted from quality inspections by all governmental agencies at different levels for three years; but it is obligated to report the product quality condition to the local AQSIQ office annually. The NIE titled firms are also allowed to include the title in the product label and to use the status in the advertisement campaign. Based on the theoretical framework, we establish the hypothesis that consumers are more willing to buy the product with the NIE title and the NIE title is likely to increase sales revenue when consumers lack of means to assess quality. The empirical application of China dairy industry supports the theoretical hypothesis. In particular, using the firm-level panel data, we find that the NIE title boots sales revenue and the impact is both statistically and economically significant based on the difference-in-difference estimate and the random-fixed effect estimations. Furthermore, using the survey data collected right after the 2008 China milk scandal regarding the brand choice of infant formula among 1,228 mothers with infants and young children, we find that consumers’ preference for the NIE title still present even the NIE titled firms are involved in a food scare event. The positive NIE preference is particularly strong among highly educated consumers and those who buy domestic brands

A Hybrid Golden Jackal Optimization and Golden Sine Algorithm with Dynamic Lens-Imaging Learning for Global Optimization Problems

Golden jackal optimization (GJO) is an effective metaheuristic algorithm that imitates the cooperative hunting behavior of the golden jackal. However, since the update of the prey’s position often depends on the male golden jackal and there is insufficient diversity of golden jackals in some cases, it is prone to falling into a local optimal optimum. In order to address these drawbacks of GJO, this paper proposes an improved algorithm, called a hybrid GJO and golden sine (S) algorithm (Gold-SA) with dynamic lens-imaging (L) learning (LSGJO). First, this paper proposes novel dual golden spiral update rules inspired by Gold-SA. These rules give GJO the ability to think like a human (Gold-SA), making the golden jackal more intelligent in the process of preying, and improving the ability and efficiency of optimization. Second, a novel nonlinear dynamic decreasing scaling factor is introduced into the lens-imaging learning operator to maintain the population diversity. The performance of LSGJO is verified through 23 classical benchmark functions and 3 complex design problems in real scenarios. The experimental results show that LSGJO converges faster and more accurately than 11 state-of-the-art optimization algorithms, the global and local search ability has improved significantly, and the proposed algorithm has shown superior performance in solving constrained problems