The influence of product design on establishing brand equity

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This study investigated the role of product design on brand equity by investigating the effect of consumers' perception about product design on brand equity. For this purpose, this research essentially verified the importance of product design on product evaluation. With the verification of the importance of product design, this study examined consumers' perceptions of design and found several generalisable types of design image across product categories. After finding types of design image, in order to verify the importance of consumers' perception of product design on brand equity, this research investigated the effect of the design image which can be formed by the response of product design on brand image and equity. For the purpose of the research, this study is composed of three empirical studies. In the first step, the effect of design attributes on consumers' product evaluation was investigated. The results show that when the design attribute is provided to consumers, they use this information as an important criterion to evaluate product quality. Moreover, providing the criteria for evaluation of the design attribute enhanced the effect of design attribute on product evaluation. Consumers can pay attention to the design attribute more because consumers process the design attribute information easily by providing the criteria for the evaluation of it. In the second step, consumers' psychological responses to product design were examined and a framework of design image dimensions and its generalisable 43- item design image scale were developed. Design image is composed of six image dimensions which are uniqueness, aesthetics, utility, femininity, nobleness and compactness. In the third step, the relationships among design image, brand image and brand equity were investigated, and the effects of design image on brand image and equity were compared between utilitarian and symbolic products. Design image has significant effects on brand image and equity in both products, and design image has a direct effect on brand equity in the symbolic product

Theoretical Foundation of Cyclostationary EOF Analysis for Geophysical and Climatic Variables: Concepts and Examples

Natural variability is an essential component of observations of all geophysical and climate variables. In principal component analysis (PCA), also called empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, a set of orthogonal eigenfunctions is found from a spatial covariance function. These empirical basis functions often lend useful insights into physical processes in the data and serve as a useful tool for developing statistical methods. The underlying assumption in PCA is the stationarity of the data analyzed; that is, the covariance function does not depend on the origin of time. The stationarity assumption is often not justifiable for geophysical and climate variables even after removing such cyclic components as the diurnal cycle or the annual cycle. As a result, physical and statistical inferences based on EOFs can be misleading. Some geophysical and climatic variables exhibit periodically time-dependent covariance statistics. Such a dataset is said to be periodically correlated or cyclostationary. A proper recognition of the time-dependent response characteristics is vital in accurately extracting physically meaningful modes and their space-time evolutions from data. This also has important implications in finding physically consistent evolutions and teleconnection patterns and in spectral analysis of variability-important goals in many climate and geophysical studies. In this study, the conceptual foundation of cyclostationary EOF (CSEOF) analysis is examined as an alternative to regular EOF analysis or other eigenanalysis techniques based on the stationarity assumption. Comparative examples and illustrations are given to elucidate the conceptual difference between the CSEOF technique and other techniques and the entailing ramification in physical and statistical inferences based on computational eigenfunctions. © The authors 2015

Mechanism of Seasonal Arctic Sea Ice Evolution and Arctic Amplification

Sea ice loss is proposed as a primary reason for the Arctic amplification, although the physical mechanism of the Arctic amplification and its connection with sea ice melting is still in debate. In the present study, monthly ERA-Interim reanalysis data are analyzed via cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function analysis to understand the seasonal mechanism of sea ice loss in the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic amplification. While sea ice loss is widespread over much of the perimeter of the Arctic Ocean in summer, sea ice remains thin in winter only in the Barents-Kara seas. Excessive turbulent heat flux through the sea surface exposed to air due to sea ice reduction warms the atmospheric column. Warmer air increases the downward longwave radiation and subsequently surface air temperature, which facilitates sea surface remains to be free of ice. This positive feedback mechanism is not clearly observed in the Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas, since sea ice refreezes in late fall (November) before excessive turbulent heat flux is available for warming the atmospheric column in winter. A detailed seasonal heat budget is presented in order to understand specific differences between the Barents-Kara seas and Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas

Immune-enhancing screening of fourteen plants on murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells

Purpose: To investigate the potential immune-enhancing effects of fourteen natural plant extracts on mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells.Methods: Fourteen plant extracts from 7 different plants were tested on RAW 264.7 cells to determine their immunostimulant activities. Methylthiazolydiphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and Griess assays were performed to evaluate cell viability and nitric oxide (NO) production, respectively. Then, immune related proteins were measured by western blot analysis, while cytokines and phagocytic activity were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.Results: Among the 14 plant extracts, the hot water extract of Agastache rugose was selected based on the screening results on NO production. The hot water extract of A. rugose significantly increased NO production in a concentration-dependent manner without any cytotoxicity. In addition, the expression levels of proteins (iNOS and COX-2) and cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-12) closely related to immune reaction were also significantly upregulated. Furthermore, phagocytic activity of RAW 264.7 cells significantly increased following treatment with A. rugosa.Conclusion: The hot water extract of A. rugosa exhibits significant immune-stimulant activity. Therefore, A. rugosa can be used as a natural resource for immune enhancement or dietary supplement.Keywords: Immune enhancing activity, Macrophage polarization, Natural plant extracts, Agastache rugosa, RAW 264.

The influence of product design on establishing brand equity

This study investigated the role of product design on brand equity by investigating the effect of consumers' perception about product design on brand equity. For this purpose, this research essentially verified the importance of product design on product evaluation. With the verification of the importance of product design, this study examined consumers' perceptions of design and found several generalisable types of design image across product categories. After finding types of design image, in order to verify the importance of consumers' perception of product design on brand equity, this research investigated the effect of the design image which can be formed by the response of product design on brand image and equity. For the purpose of the research, this study is composed of three empirical studies. In the first step, the effect of design attributes on consumers' product evaluation was investigated. The results show that when the design attribute is provided to consumers, they use this information as an important criterion to evaluate product quality. Moreover, providing the criteria for evaluation of the design attribute enhanced the effect of design attribute on product evaluation. Consumers can pay attention to the design attribute more because consumers process the design attribute information easily by providing the criteria for the evaluation of it. In the second step, consumers' psychological responses to product design were examined and a framework of design image dimensions and its generalisable 43- item design image scale were developed. Design image is composed of six image dimensions which are uniqueness, aesthetics, utility, femininity, nobleness and compactness. In the third step, the relationships among design image, brand image and brand equity were investigated, and the effects of design image on brand image and equity were compared between utilitarian and symbolic products. Design image has significant effects on brand image and equity in both products, and design image has a direct effect on brand equity in the symbolic product.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Altered expression of norepinephrine transporter and norepinephrine in human placenta cause pre-eclampsia through regulated trophoblast invasion

Objective: We investigated the norepinephrine transporter (NET) expression in normal and pre-eclamptic placentas and analyzed the invasion activity of trophoblastic cells based on norepinephrine (NE)-NET regulation. Methods: NET and NE expression levels were examined by western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Trophoblast invasion activity, depending on NE-NET regulation, was determined by NET-small interfering RNA (siRNA) and NET transfection into the human extravillous trophoblast cells with or without NE treatment and invasion rates were analyzed by zymography and an invasion assay. Results: NET mRNA was expressed at a low level in pre-eclamptic placentas compared with normal placentas and NE concentration in maternal plasma increased significantly in pre-eclamptic women compared to normal pregnant women (p<0.05). NET gene upregulation and NE treatment stimulated trophoblast cell invasion up to 2.5-fold (p<0.05) by stimulating matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity via the phosphoinositol-3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway, whereas NET-siRNA with NE treatment reduced invasion rates. Conclusion: NET expression is reduced by inadequate regulation of NE levels during placental development. This suggests that a complementary balance between NET and NE regulates trophoblast cell invasion activities during placental development

THERMAL HYDRAULIC ISSUES OF CONTAINMENT FILTERED VENTING SYSTEM FOR A LONG OPERATING TIME

This study investigated the thermal hydraulic issues in the Containment Filtered Venting System (CFVS) for a long operating time using the MELCOR computer code. The modeling of the CFVS, including the models for pool scrubbing and the filter, was added to the input file for the OPR-1000, and a Station Blackout (SBO) was chosen as an accident scenario. Although depressurization in the containment building as a primary objective of the CFVS was successful, the decontamination feature by scrubbing and filtering in the CFVS for a long operating time could fail by the continuous evaporation of the scrubbing solution. After the operation of the CFVS, the atmosphere temperature in the CFVS became slightly above the water saturation temperature owing to the release of an amount of steam with high temperature from the containment building to the scrubbing solution. Reduced pipe diameters at the inlet and outlet of the CFVS vessel mitigated the evaporation of scrubbing water by controlling the amount of high-temperature steam and the water saturation temperature

Stress-induced Cardiomyopathy during Pulmonary Resection (Takotsubo Syndrome) - A case report -

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is caused by emotional or physical stressors and mimics acute myocardial infarction, though Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is characterized by reversible left ventricular (LV) apical ballooning in the absence of significant coronary artery disease. We describe a 51-year-old male who underwent left upper lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer, and during which cardiogenic arrest occurred due to stress-induced cardiomyopathy, successfully managed by intra-aortic balloon pumping and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

An Isolated True Aneurysm of the Superficial Femoral Artery in a Young Woman - A case report -

A 39-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital due to a pulsatile mass on her right inner thigh that was evident for two months. She did not exhibit any risk factors of atherosclerosis, no evidence of vasculitis, or any signs of previous trauma history. Ultrasound and computed tomography revealed an adult fist-sized aneurysm on the distal superficial femoral artery. The aneurysm was resected and peripheral circulation was restored with the interposition of a saphenous vein graft. The resected aneurysm had three layers that showed atherosclerosis on histological examination