Self-Concept, Individual Characteristics and Counterfeit Consumption: Evidence from an Emerging Market

The study draws on a sample of over 350 consumers from 10 department stores in an emerging market where counterfeit products are available in abundance and there is a huge demand for such goods. The findings reveal that interdependent and independent self traits significantly affect individual characteristics, that is, susceptibility to normative influence, readiness to take social risk, and status acquisition (SA), which in turn influences counterfeit purchase intention. It was discovered that such individual characteristics play a mediating effect on the self‐concept—purchase intention relationship and that high degrees of interdependent self traits positively affect consumers' purchase intention. The study adds to the theory of reasoned action (TRA) by incorporating SA variables into the TRA framework and discovers their significant influence on purchase intention. Some novel insights surrounding counterfeit consumption in an emerging economy context are presented and several implications are extracted to help practitioners appeal to such individual characteristics for combating counterfeit consumption

Building a dual identity as an immigrant in the UK: Eritreans’ search for freedom and a sense of balance

This study explored the experiences of newly arrived and settled Eritrean immigrants currently in the UK. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with ten newly arrived (less than one year) and ten settled (more than seven years) participants, recruited through an Eritrean café and using snowball sampling. Thematic analysis identified three themes: (1) Wanting freedom, expectations of the UK and the desire for safety, (2) Integration and becoming part of the British community, (3) Personal development, which involved growth and aspirations. Transcending these themes was the notion of balance, and the co-existence of past and present. It is argued that Eritreans in the UK wish to become part of British community whilst at the same time remembering and celebrating their Eritrean culture. This is explained within the context of a dual identity and it is argued that rather than being a hindrance, a dual rather than single identity facilitates the process of integration

A randomized trial of prenatal n-3 fatty acid supplementation and preterm delivery

Background: Previous studies have suggested that maternal supplementation with n−3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids may reduce the incidence of preterm delivery but may also prolong gestation beyond term; however, more data are needed regarding the role of n−3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy. Methods: We performed a multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial in which women who were pregnant with single or multiple fetuses were assigned to receive either fish-oil capsules that contained 900 mg of n−3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n−3 group) or vegetable-oil capsules that contained trace n−3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (control group) daily, beginning before 20 weeks of gestation and continuing to 34 weeks of gestation or delivery, whichever occurred first. The primary outcome was early preterm delivery, defined as delivery before 34 completed weeks of gestation. Other pregnancy and neonatal outcomes were also assessed. Results: A total of 5544 pregnancies in 5517 women were randomly assigned at six centers in Australia; 5486 pregnancies were included in the primary analysis. Early preterm delivery occurred in the case of 61 of 2734 pregnancies (2.2%) in the n−3 group and 55 of 2752 pregnancies (2.0%) in the control group; the between-group difference was not significant (adjusted relative risk, 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79 to 1.63; P=0.50). There were no significant differences between the groups in the incidence of interventions in post-term (\u3e41 weeks of gestation) deliveries, in adverse events, or in other pregnancy or neonatal outcomes, except that a higher percentage of infants born to women in the n−3 group than in the control group were very large for gestational age at birth (adjusted relative risk, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.65). Percentages of serious adverse events did not differ between the groups. Minor gastrointestinal disturbances were more commonly reported in the n−3 group than in the control group. Conclusions: Supplementation with n−3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from early pregnancy (\u3c20 weeks of gestation) until 34 weeks of gestation did not result in a lower incidence of early preterm delivery or a higher incidence of interventions in post-term deliveries than control. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Thyne Reid Foundation; ORIP Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12613001142729.

Novel mutations support a role for Profilin 1 in the pathogenesis of ALS

AbstractMutations in the gene encoding profilin 1 (PFN1) have recently been shown to cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder. We sequenced the PFN1 gene in a cohort of ALS patients (n = 485) and detected 2 novel variants (A20T and Q139L), as well as 4 cases with the previously identified E117G rare variant (∼ 1.2%). A case-control meta-analysis of all published E117G ALS+/− frontotemporal dementia cases including those identified in this report was significant p = 0.001, odds ratio = 3.26 (95% confidence interval, 1.6–6.7), demonstrating this variant to be a susceptibility allele. Postmortem tissue from available patients displayed classic TAR DNA-binding protein 43 pathology. In both transient transfections and in fibroblasts from a patient with the A20T change, we showed that this novel PFN1 mutation causes protein aggregation and the formation of insoluble high molecular weight species which is a hallmark of ALS pathology. Our findings show that PFN1 is a rare cause of ALS and adds further weight to the underlying genetic heterogeneity of this disease

Book Reviews

With the observation of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, interest has risen in models of PeV-mass decaying dark matter particles to explain the observed flux. We present two dedicated experimental analyses to test this hypothesis. One analysis uses 6 years of IceCube data focusing on muon neutrino ‘track’ events from the Northern Hemisphere, while the second analysis uses 2 years of ‘cascade’ events from the full sky. Known background components and the hypothetical flux from unstable dark matter are fitted to the experimental data. Since no significant excess is observed in either analysis, lower limits on the lifetime of dark matter particles are derived: we obtain the strongest constraint to date, excluding lifetimes shorter than $10^{28}$ s at 90% CL for dark matter masses above 10 TeV

Variation of the magnetic ordering in GdT2_2Zn20_{20} (T= Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh and Ir) and its correlation with the electronic structure of isostructural YT2_2Zn20_{20}

Magnetization, resistivity and specific heat measurements were performed on the solution-grown, single crystals of six GdT$_2$Zn$_{20}$ (T = Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh and Ir) compounds, as well as their Y analogues. For the Gd compounds, the Fe column members manifest a ferromagnetic (FM) ground state (with an enhanced Curie temperature, $T_{\mathrm{C}}$, for T = Fe and Ru), whereas the Co column members manifest an antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state. Thermodynamic measurements on the YT$_2$Zn$_{20}$ revealed that the enhanced $T_{\mathrm{C}}$ for GdFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$ and GdRu$_2$Zn$_{20}$ can be understood within the framework of Heisenberg moments embedded in a nearly ferromagnetic Fermi liquid. Furthermore, electronic structure calculations indicate that this significant enhancement is due to large, close to the Stoner FM criterion, transition metal partial density of states at Fermi level, whereas the change of FM to AFM ordering is associated with filling of electronic states with two additional electrons per formula unit. The degree of this sensitivity is addressed by the studies of the pseudo-ternary compounds Gd(Fe$_x$Co$_{1-x}$)$_2$Zn$_{20}$ and Y(Fe$_x$Co$_{1-x}$)$_2$Zn$_{20}$ which clearly reveal the effect of 3d band filling on their magnetic properties.Comment: 32 pages, 28 figure

Neutrinos below 100 TeV from the southern sky employing refined veto techniques to IceCube data

Many Galactic sources of gamma rays, such as supernova remnants, are expected to produce neutrinos with a typical energy cutoff well below 100 TeV. For the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole, the southern sky, containing the inner part of the Galactic plane and the Galactic Center, is a particularly challenging region at these energies, because of the large background of atmospheric muons. In this paper, we present recent advancements in data selection strategies for track-like muon neutrino events with energies below 100 TeV from the southern sky. The strategies utilize the outer detector regions as veto and features of the signal pattern to reduce the background of atmospheric muons to a level which, for the first time, allows IceCube searching for point-like sources of neutrinos in the southern sky at energies between 100 GeV and several TeV in the muon neutrino charged current channel. No significant clustering of neutrinos above background expectation was observed in four years of data recorded with the completed IceCube detector. Upper limits on the neutrino flux for a number of spectral hypotheses are reported for a list of astrophysical objects in the southern hemisphere.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, 2 table