(In) Direct Effects of Customer-Defined Market Orientation on Brand Loyalty through Purchase Intention and Brand Image: A Parallel Mediation Approach

This study investigates the impact of market orientation on brand loyalty, primarily through variables pertaining to the purchase intention and brand image. In order to achieve this aim, this study have resorted to testing the relationships between customer-defined market orientation and purchase intention, and the brand image, leading to brand loyalty. In this regard, the study is quantitative in nature, and uses the cross-sectional design. For this purpose, the primary data were collected from gold jewelry customers (n = 413) from Karachi, Pakistan. Three key findings emerged from the structural model testing. The first finding revealed that the customer, competitor and interventional orientation are positively associated with the purchase intention, brand image and loyalty of gold jewelry customers. Secondly, in simple mediation, the purchase intentions and brand image tend to fully mediate the impact of customer orientation, and competitor orientation on the brand loyalty of gold jewelry customers, while partially mediating the association between the interfunctional coordination and brand loyalty. The third finding revealed that, in parallel to the mediation effect, the impact of customer, competitor and interfunctional orientation on brand loyalty is fully mediated by the purchase intention and brand image. This research is useful for gold jewelry businesses and business owners, since on a comparative level, less research has been conducted in the domestic industry of Pakistan

Kinetic modeling of microscopic processes during electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN/GaAs-based heterostructures

Microscopic growth processes associated with GaN/GaAs molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are examined through the introduction of a first-order kinetic model. The model is applied to the electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma-assisted MBE (ECR-MBE) growth of a set of delta-GaNyAs1–y/GaAs strained-layer superlattices that consist of nitrided GaAs monolayers separated by GaAs spacers, and that exhibit a strong decrease of y with increasing T over the range 540–580 °C. This y(T) dependence is quantitatively explained in terms of microscopic anion exchange, and thermally activated N surface-desorption and surface-segregation processes. N surface segregation is found to be significant during GaAs overgrowth of GaNyAs1–y layers at typical GaN ECR-MBE growth temperatures, with an estimated activation energy Es ~ 0.9 eV. The observed y(T) dependence is shown to result from a combination of N surface segregation/desorption processes

Pest-predator spatial relationships in winter rape: implications for integrated crop management

Douglas Warner, Les J Allen-Williams, Andrew W Ferguson, and Ingrid H Williams, 'Pest–predator spatial relationships in winter rape: implications for integrated crop management', Pest Management Science, Vol. 56 (11): 977-982, November 2000, doi: 10.1002/1526-4998(200011)56:113.0.CO;2-U. Copyright © 2000 Society of Chemical IndustryThe brassica pod midge (Dasineura brassicae) is an important and widespread pest of winter and spring oilseed rape throughout Europe. Pods infested by D brassicae larvae split prematurely, releasing seeds, and the larvae drop to the soil into which they burrow to pupate. At this stage in its lifecycle D brassicae is potentially vulnerable to predation by carabid beetles foraging on the soil surface. This is the first study in the UK to focus on carabid beetles as predators of D brassicae in the oilseed rape crop. The spatio-temporal distributions of larvae of D brassicae dropping to the soil from the crop canopy and of adult carabid beetles active on the soil surface were analysed in two consecutive years. Insect samples were collected from spatially referenced sampling points across each crop. Counts of insects were mapped and analysed, and the degree of spatial association between predator and prey determined using Spatial Analysis by Distance Indices (SADIE). Carabid species abundant and active during peak drop of first generation D brassicae larvae included Agonum dorsale, Amara similata, Harpalus rufipes and Nebria brevicollis. The larvae of D brassicae had a marked edge distribution within the crop. SADIE analysis revealed significant spatial association between larvae of D brassicae and adult H rufipes (P <0.05) in 1998, but not with adults of A dorsale, A similata or N brevicollis. In 1999, there was strong spatial association only between larvae of D brassicae and adult A dorsale (P <0.01). Aggregation of N brevicollis adults occurred in some areas of greatest D brassicae larval counts in 1999, but overall spatial association was not signi®cant. The distributions are discussed in terms of their relevance to integrated crop management (ICM) strategies and spatial targeting of insecticides.Peer reviewe

Effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and some plant pathogens on the growth and nodulation of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.)

Effects of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were studied on lentil plants inoculated with Alternaria alternata, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and Meloidogyne incognita. Plant growth, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents, nitrate reductase (NR) activity and nodulation of lentil both in the presence and absence of Rhizobium sp. were examined in a pot test. Inoculation of plants with A. alternata / F. oxysporum f. sp. lentis / X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli / P. syringae pv. syringae or M. incognita caused a significant reduction in plant growth, number of pods per plant, chlorophyll, carotenoids and NR activity over uninoculated control. Inoculation of plants with Rhizobium sp. with or without pathogen increased plant growth and number of pods per plant, chlorophyll, carotenoids and NR activity. When plants were grown without Rhizobium, a foliar spray of plants with 10 ml solution of 0.1 mg ml–1of ZnO NPs per plant caused a significant increase in plant growth and number of pods, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents and NR activity in both inoculated and uninoculated plants. Spray of ZnO NPs to plants inoculated with Rhizobium sp. caused non significant increase in plant growth, number of pods per plant, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents and NR activity when plants were either uninoculated or inoculated with pathogens. Numbers of nodules per root system were high in plants treated with Rhizobium sp. but foliar spray of ZnO NPs had adverse effect on nodulation. Inoculation of plants with test pathogens also reduced nodulation. Spray of ZnO NPs to plants reduced galling, nematode multiplication, wilt, blight and leaf spot disease severity indices

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase maintains glycolysis-driven growth in Drosophila tumors

Published online: 14 September 2017Tumors frequently fail to pass on all their chromosomes correctly during cell division, and this chromosomal instability (CIN) causes irregular aneuploidy and oxidative stress in cancer cells. Our objective was to test knockdowns of metabolic enzymes in Drosophila to find interventions that could exploit the differences between normal and CIN cells to block CIN tumor growth without harming the host animal. We found that depleting by RNAi or feeding the host inhibitors against phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was able to block the growth of CIN tissue in a brat tumor explant model. Increasing NAD+ or oxidising cytoplasmic NADH was able to rescue the growth of PEPCK depleted tumors, suggesting a problem in clearing cytoplasmic NADH. Consistent with this, blocking the glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle blocked tumor growth, as well as lowering ROS levels. This work suggests that proliferating CIN cells are particularly vulnerable to inhibition of PEPCK, or its metabolic network, because of their compromised redox status.Rashid Hussain, Zeeshan Shaukat, Mahwish Khan, Robert Saint and Stephen L. Gregor

Compact relativistic geometries in f(R,G)f(R,G) gravity

One of the possible potential candidates for describing the universe's rapid expansion is modified gravity. In the framework of the modified theory of gravity $f(R,G)$, the present work features the materialization of anisotropic matter, such as compact stars. Specifically, to learn more about the physical behavior of compact stars, the radial, and tangential pressures as well as the energy density of six stars namely $Her X-1$, $SAXJ1808.4-3658$, $4U1820-30$, $PSR J 1614 2230$, $VELA X-1$, and $Cen X-3$ are calculated. Herein, the modified theory of gravity $f(R,G)$ is disintegrated into two parts i.e. the $\tanh$ hyperbolic $f(R)$ model and the three different $f(G)$ model. The study focuses on graphical analysis of compact stars wherein the stability aspects, energy conditions, and anisotropic measurements are mainly addressed. Our calculation revealed that, for the positive value of parameter n of the model $f(G)$, all the six stars behave normally.Comment: Some changes have been made. " To appear in International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics