1,501 research outputs found
Consumption strategies and motivations of Chinese consumers: The case of UK sustainable luxury fashion
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese consumers’ motivations to purchase luxury fashion products in the UK and how far sustainability plays a role in the decision-making process, by extending the consumer typology of translators, exceptors, selectors. The authors further add an additional dimension to defining “luxury”. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory design utilising multiple qualitative research tools (semi-structured interviews, focus groups) provides the basis for this research. A grounded analysis was applied. Findings: Findings map motivational drivers to purchasing luxury products and establish a fourth consumer type “indulgers”. Well-being further emerged as a key characteristic that defines “luxury”. Research limitations/implications: The sample size is limited to Chinese consumers purchasing luxury fashion in the UK, and thus may not be generalised. Practical implications: This research helps managers to understand the consumer types and underlying motivations of Chinese consumers purchasing luxury fashion in the UK. As one of the largest target groups, this research informs managers on how to further capitalise on this market. Originality/value: This paper creates a new consumer typology that not only categorises consumers according to their consumption aspects, but further identifies their underlying motivations to do so
Constraining the period of the ringed secondary companion to the young star J1407 with photographic plates
Context. The 16 Myr old star 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 (V1400 Cen) underwent
a series of complex eclipses in May 2007, interpreted as the transit of a giant
Hill sphere filling debris ring system around a secondary companion, J1407b. No
other eclipses have since been detected, although other measurements have
constrained but not uniquely determined the orbital period of J1407b. Finding
another eclipse towards J1407 will help determine the orbital period of the
system, the geometry of the proposed ring system and enable planning of further
observations to characterize the material within these putative rings. Aims. We
carry out a search for other eclipses in photometric data of J1407 with the aim
of constraining the orbital period of J1407b. Methods. We present photometry
from archival photographic plates from the Harvard DASCH survey, and Bamberg
and Sonneberg Observatories, in order to place additional constraints on the
orbital period of J1407b by searching for other dimming and eclipse events.
Using a visual inspection of all 387 plates and a period-folding algorithm we
performed a search for other eclipses in these data sets. Results. We find no
other deep eclipses in the data spanning from 1890 to 1990, nor in recent
time-series photometry from 2012-2018. Conclusions. We rule out a large
fraction of putative orbital periods for J1407b from 5 to 20 years. These
limits are still marginally consistent with a large Hill sphere filling ring
system surrounding a brown dwarf companion in a bound elliptical orbit about
J1407. Issues with the stability of any rings combined with the lack of
detection of another eclipse, suggests that J1407b may not be bound to J1407.Comment: 8 pages, 3 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. LaTeX
files of the paper, scripts for the figures, and a minimal working FPA can be
found under https://github.com/robinmentel/Constraining-Period
Models of electron transport in single layer graphene
The main features of the conductivity of doped single layer graphene are
analyzed, and models for different scattering mechanisms are presented.Comment: 15 pages. Submitted to the Proceedings of the ULTI symposium on
Quantum Phenomena and Devices at Low Temperatures, Espoo, Finland, to be
published in the Journ. of Low. Temp. Phy
The antiferromagnetic phi4 Model, II. The one-loop renormalization
It is shown that the four dimensional antiferromagnetic lattice phi4 model
has the usual non-asymptotically free scaling law in the UV regime around the
chiral symmetrical critical point. The theory describes a scalar and a
pseudoscalar particle. A continuum effective theory is derived for low
energies. A possibility of constructing a model with a single chiral boson is
mentioned.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
Modeling electrolytically top gated graphene
We investigate doping of a single-layer graphene in the presence of
electrolytic top gating. The interfacial phenomena is modeled using a modified
Poisson-Boltzmann equation for an aqueous solution of simple salt. We
demonstrate both the sensitivity of graphene's doping levels to the salt
concentration and the importance of quantum capacitance that arises due to the
smallness of the Debye screening length in the electrolyte.Comment: 7 pages, including 4 figures, submitted to Nanoscale Research Letters
for a special issue related to the NGC 2009 conference
(http://asdn.net/ngc2009/index.shtml
Multi-timescale Solar Cycles and the Possible Implications
Based on analysis of the annual averaged relative sunspot number (ASN) during
1700 -- 2009, 3 kinds of solar cycles are confirmed: the well-known 11-yr cycle
(Schwabe cycle), 103-yr secular cycle (numbered as G1, G2, G3, and G4,
respectively since 1700); and 51.5-yr Cycle. From similarities, an
extrapolation of forthcoming solar cycles is made, and found that the solar
cycle 24 will be a relative long and weak Schwabe cycle, which may reach to its
apex around 2012-2014 in the vale between G3 and G4. Additionally, most Schwabe
cycles are asymmetric with rapidly rising-phases and slowly decay-phases. The
comparisons between ASN and the annual flare numbers with different GOES
classes (C-class, M-class, X-class, and super-flare, here super-flare is
defined as X10.0) and the annal averaged radio flux at frequency of 2.84
GHz indicate that solar flares have a tendency: the more powerful of the flare,
the later it takes place after the onset of the Schwabe cycle, and most
powerful flares take place in the decay phase of Schwabe cycle. Some
discussions on the origin of solar cycles are presented.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Analysis of acoustic emission during the melting of embedded indium particles in an aluminum matrix: a study of plastic strain accommodation during phase transformation
Acoustic emission is used here to study melting and solidification of
embedded indium particles in the size range of 0.2 to 3 um in diameter and to
show that dislocation generation occurs in the aluminum matrix to accommodate a
2.5% volume change. The volume averaged acoustic energy produced by indium
particle melting is similar to that reported for bainite formation upon
continuous cooling. A mechanism of prismatic loop generation is proposed to
accommodate the volume change and an upper limit to the geometrically necessary
increase in dislocation density is calculated as 4.1 x 10^9 cm^-2 for the
Al-17In alloy. Thermomechanical processing is also used to change the size and
distribution of the indium particles within the aluminum matrix. Dislocation
generation with accompanied acoustic emission occurs when the melting indium
particles are associated with grain boundaries or upon solidification where the
solid-liquid interfaces act as free surfaces to facilitate dislocation
generation. Acoustic emission is not observed for indium particles that require
super heating and exhibit elevated melting temperatures. The acoustic emission
work corroborates previously proposed relaxation mechanisms from prior internal
friction studies and that the superheat observed for melting of these
micron-sized particles is a result of matrix constraint.Comment: Presented at "Atomistic Effects in Migrating Interphase Interfaces -
Recent Progress and Future Study" TMS 201
Atom gratings produced by large angle atom beam splitters
An asymptotic theory of atom scattering by large amplitude periodic
potentials is developed in the Raman-Nath approximation. The atom grating
profile arising after scattering is evaluated in the Fresnel zone for
triangular, sinusoidal, magneto-optical, and bichromatic field potentials. It
is shown that, owing to the scattering in these potentials, two
\QTR{em}{groups} of momentum states are produced rather than two distinct
momentum components. The corresponding spatial density profile is calculated
and found to differ significantly from a pure sinusoid.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Observation of thundercloud-related gamma rays and neutrons in Tibet
During the 2010 rainy season in Yangbajing (4300 m above sea level) in Tibet, China, a long-duration count enhancement associated with thunderclouds was detected by a solar-neutron telescope and neutron monitors installed at the Yangbajing Comic Ray Observatory. The event, lasting for ∼40 min, was observed on July 22, 2010. The solar-neutron telescope detected significant γ-ray signals with energies >40 MeV in the event. Such a prolonged high-energy event has never been observed in association with thunderclouds, clearly suggesting that electron acceleration lasts for 40 min in thunderclouds. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations showed that >10 MeV γ rays largely contribute to the neutron monitor signals, while >1 keV neutrons produced via a photonuclear reaction contribute relatively less to the signals. This result suggests that enhancements of neutron monitors during thunderstorms are not necessarily clear evidence for neutron production, as previously thought
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