69 research outputs found
Political Consumerism and Branding: An Analysis of the Exploitation of Political Movements for Brand Equity and Profit
This article discusses the ways in which companies and brands project certain political affiliations to consumers. The exploitation or co-option of political or social movements in branding and advertising has been seen for decades, and it is now particularly prevalent since the election of President Trump. In order to be competitive in an era of political consumerism and an age when brands are expected to make a statement or take action regarding political movements, they are facing an increased pressure to integrate values into their brand identities in order to connect to consumers. In this essay, I ask how the commercialization and exploitation of political movements by large corporations prove to be a success for some brands and a failure for some others. Through a case study of the three separate brandsāPepsi, Procter and Gamble, and Nikeāand the analysis of their advertisements, owned media, consumer reactions and comments, and previous brand activism/stances, I propose that there are three factors that must be present in order for the co-option of social movements in ads to be successful. These factors are authenticity, a brand\u27s commitment to the issue, and transparency.
Photoacid behaviour in a fluorinated green fluorescent protein chromophore:Ultrafast formation of anion and zwitterion states
The photophysics of the chromophore of the green fluorescent protein in Aequorea victoria (avGFP) are dominated by an excited state proton transfer reaction. In contrast the photophysics of the same chromophore in solution are dominated by radiationless decay, and photoacid behaviour is not observed. Here we show that modification of the pKa of the chromophore by fluorination leads to an excited state proton transfer on an extremely fast (50 fs) time scale. Such a fast rate suggests a barrierless proton transfer and the existence of a pre-formed acceptor site in the aqueous solution, which is supported by solvent and deuterium isotope effects. In addition, at lower pH, photochemical formation of the elusive zwitterion of the GFP chromophore is observed by means of an equally fast excited state proton transfer from the cation. The significance of these results for understanding and modifying the properties of fluorescent proteins are discusse
Complete Proton Transfer Cycle in GFP and Its T203V and S205V Mutants
Proton transfer is critical in many important biochemical reactions. The unique threeāstep excitedāstate proton transfer in avGFP allows observations of protein proton transport in realātime. In this work we exploit femtosecond to microsecond transient IR spectroscopy to record, in D2O, the complete proton transfer photocycle of avGFP, and two mutants (T203V and S205V) which modify the structure of the proton wire. Striking differences and similarities are observed among the three mutants yielding novel information on proton transfer mechanism, rates, isotope effects, Hābond strength and proton wire stability. These data provide a detailed picture of the dynamics of longārange proton transfer in a protein against which calculations may be compared
Photoprotolytic Processes of Lumazine
Steady-state
and time-resolved UVāvis spectroscopies were
used to study the photoprotolytic properties of lumazine, which belongs
to a class of biologically important compoundsīøthe petridines.
We found that in water an excited-state proton transfer occurs with
a time constant of ā¼70 ps and competes with a nonradiative
rate of about the same value. The nonradiative rate of the protonated
form of lumazine in polar and nonpolar solvents is large <i>k</i><sub>nr</sub> ā„ 1.5 Ć 10<sup>10</sup>s<sup>ā1</sup>. The fluorescence properties indicate that in water, the ground-state
neutral form of lumazine is already stable in two tautomeric forms.
The fluorescence of the deprotonated form is quenched by protons in
acidic solutions with a diffusion-controlled reaction rate. We conclude
that the neutral form of lumazine is an irreversible mild photoacid
Excited-State Proton Transfer in Resveratrol and Proposed Mechanism for Plant Resistance to Fungal Infection
Steady-state
and time-resolved fluorescence techniques were employed
to study the photophysics and photochemistry of <i>trans</i>-resveratrol. <i>trans</i>-Resveratrol is found in large
quantities in fungi-infected grapevine-leaf tissue and plays a direct
role in the resistance to plant disease. We found that <i>trans</i>-resveratrol in liquid solution undergoes a transācis isomerization
process in the excited state at a rate that depends partially on the
solvent viscosity, as was found in previous studies on <i>trans</i>-stilbene. The hydroxyl groups of the phenol moieties in resveratrol
are weak photoacids. In water and methanol solutions containing weak
bases such as acetate, a proton is transferred to the base within
the lifetime of the excited state. When resveratrol is adsorbed on
cellulose (also a component of the plantās cell wall), the
cisātrans process is slow and the lifetime of the excited state
increases from several tens of picoseconds in ethanol to about 1.5
ns. Excited-state proton transfer occurs when resveratrol is adsorbed
on cellulose and acetate ions are in close proximity to the phenol
moieties. We propose that proton transfer from excited resveratrol
to the fungus acid-sensing chemoreceptor is one of the plantās
resistance mechanisms to fungal infection
Photoprotolytic Processes of Umbelliferone and Proposed Function in Resistance to Fungal Infection
The
photoprotolytic processes of 7-hydroxy-coumarin (Umb) were
investigated by steady-state and time-resolved-fluorescence techniques.
We found that the Umb compound is a photoacid with p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub>* ā 0.4 and a rate constant of the excited-state
proton transfer (ESPT) to water of 2 Ć 10<sup>10</sup> s<sup>ā1</sup>. Umb is also a photobase and accepts an excess proton
in solution and also directly from weak acids like acetic acid. When
Umb is adsorbed on cellulose it also functions as a photoacid and
a photobase. Hydroxycoumarins are known to accumulate next to fungal-,
bacterial-, and viral-infected regions in the leaves and stems of
plants in general and also in trees. We propose that these compounds
when irradiated by sunlight UV, combat the fungi or bacteria by excited-state
proton-transfer reactions. These photoprotolytic reactions provide
a universal resistance mechanism to infections in plants
Excited-State Proton Transfer of Weak Photoacids Adsorbed on Biomaterials: Proton Transfer on Starch
Steady-state
and time-resolved fluorescence techniques were employed
to study the excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) from a photoacid
adsorbed on starch to a nearby water molecule. Starch is composed
of ā¼30% amylose and ā¼70% amylopectin. We found that
the ESPT rate of adsorbed 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyreneĀtrisulfonate
(HPTS) on starch arises from two time constants of 300 ps and ā¼3
ns. We explain these results by assigning the two different ESPT rates
to HPTS adsorbed on amylose and on amylopectin. When adsorbed on amylose,
the ESPT rate is ā¼3 Ć 10<sup>9Ā </sup>s<sup>ā1</sup>, whereas on amylopectin, it is only ā¼3 Ć 10<sup>8</sup> s<sup>ā1</sup>
Excited-State Proton Transfer of Weak Photoacids Adsorbed on Biomaterials: 8āHydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate on Chitin and Cellulose
Time-resolved
and steady-state florescence measurements were used
to study the photoprotolytic process of an adsorbed photoacid on cellulose
and chitin. For that purpose we used the 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate
(HPTS) photoacid which transfers a proton to water with a time constant
of 100 ps, but is incapable of doing so in methanol or ethanol. We
found that both biopolymers accept a proton from the electronically
excited acidic ROH form of HPTS. The excited-state proton-transfer
(ESPT) rate of HPTS adsorbed on chitin is greater than that on cellulose
by a factor of 5. The ESPT on chitin also occurs in the presence of
methanol or ethanol, but at a slower rate. The transferred protons
can recombine efficiently with the conjugate excited base, the RO<sup>ā</sup> form of HPTS
Excited-State Proton Transfer of Weak Photoacids Adsorbed on Biomaterials: Proton Transfer to Glucosamine of Chitosan
UVāvis steady-state and time-resolved
techniques were employed to study the excited-state proton-transfer
process from two weak photoacids positioned next to the surface of
chitosan and cellulose. Both chitosan and cellulose are linear polysaccharides;
chitosan is composed mainly of d-glucosamine units. In order
to overcome the problem of the high basicity of the glucosamine, we
chose 2-naphthol (p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub>* ā 2.7) and
2-naphthol-6-sulfonate (p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub>* ā
1.7) as the proton emitters because of their ground state p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub> (ā9). Next to the 1:1 cellulose:water
weight ratio, the ESPT rate of these photoacids is comparable to that
of bulk water. We found that the ESPT rate of 2-naphthol (2NP) and
2-naphthol-6-sulfonate (2N6S) next to chitosan in water (1:1) weight
ratio samples is higher than in bulk water by a factor of about 5
and 2, respectively. We also found an efficient ESPT process that
takes place from these photoacids in the methanol environment next
to the chitosan scaffold, whereas ESPT is not observed in methanolic
bulk solutions of these photoacids. We therefore conclude that ESPT
occurs from these photoacids to the d-glucosamine units that
make up chitosan
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