Promoting the Brand Inside: The Conceptualization of Nonprofit Internal Branding and Its Relationship With Employees’ Brand Performance

As a value-led entity, the nonprofit depends on its staff for the delivery of the brand value outsides and thus promoting the brand inside is crucial to the development of the nonprofits. Using a sample of 290 full-time staff working in 270 nonprofits in China, two related studies were conducted. Study 1 aimed to develop and validate a new scale for internal branding in the nonprofit context, while Study 2 aimed to investigate the linking mechanism between internal branding and brand performance with the mediating roles (including chain mediation) of the person–organization fit (POF) and intent to stay with the brand (IntSB). As predicted, the results revealed that: (1) the nonprofit internal branding (NIB) scale is a three-dimensional construct that is composed of brand-centered training, internal brand communication, and brand-oriented leadership, (2) internal branding positively predicts POF, IntSB, and brand performance, and (3) POF and IntSB sequentially mediate the internal branding–brand performance relationship. The implications of our findings for internal branding in the nonprofit context are discussed

Ball-milling properties and sintering behavior of Fe-Tm 2 O 3 mixture powders

Abstract(#br)Aimed at the existing problems of current neutron absorbers that were used in control rods to safely operate a nuclear reactor, new type of Fe-based Tm 2 O 3 composites and Fe-based TmFeO 3 composites, which were synthesized from the Fe-25.68 wt.%Tm 2 O 3 mixture powders by ball milling, cold isostatic pressing and sintering, were designed as next generation neutron absorbers in the present work. During ball milling, Tm 2 O 3 was fined, nano-crystallized, amorphized and then dissolved into Fe crystal lattice to form Fe (Tm, O) nanocrystalline solid solution. The effect of sintering temperature and oxygen content at sintering environment on the phases of the sintered bulks were researched, and the corresponding mechanism was discussed. Nanoscale TmFeO 3 and Tm 2 O 3 particles were distributed in the sintered bulk matrix. The microhardness, compression strength, and the coefficients of thermal expansion of the bulks sintered at different conditions were measured and discussed. The coefficient of linear expansion and compressive strength increased with increasing ball-milling time. The microhardness increased with increasing sintering temperature when the temperature was lower than 1200 °C. Meanwhile, the microhardness and compressive strength of Fe-based Tm 2 O 3 composites were larger than that of Fe-based TmFeO 3 composites, opposite for the coefficients of thermal expansion

Hepatitis B virus induces G1 phase arrest by regulating cell cycle genes in HepG2.2.15 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the effect of HBV on the proliferative ability of host cells and explore the potential mechanism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>MTT, colony formation assay and tumourigenicity in nude mice were performed to investigate the effect of HBV on the proliferative capability of host cells. In order to explore the potential mechanism, cell cycle and apoptosis were analysed. The cell cycle genes controlling the G1/S phase transition were detected by immunohistochemistry, westernblot and RT-PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HepG2.2.15 cells showed decreased proliferation ability compared to HepG2 cells. G1 phase arrest was the main cause but was not associated with apoptosis. p53, p21 and total retinoblastoma (Rb) were determined to be up-regulated, whereas cyclinE was down-regulated at both the protein and mRNA levels in HepG2.2.15 cells. The phosphorylated Rb in HepG2.2.15 cells was decreased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggested that HBV inhibited the capability of proliferation of HepG2.2.15 cells by regulating cell cycle genes expression and inducing G1 arrest.</p

Hepatitis B virus induces G1 phase arrest by regulating cell cycle genes in HepG2.2.15 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the effect of HBV on the proliferative ability of host cells and explore the potential mechanism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>MTT, colony formation assay and tumourigenicity in nude mice were performed to investigate the effect of HBV on the proliferative capability of host cells. In order to explore the potential mechanism, cell cycle and apoptosis were analysed. The cell cycle genes controlling the G1/S phase transition were detected by immunohistochemistry, westernblot and RT-PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HepG2.2.15 cells showed decreased proliferation ability compared to HepG2 cells. G1 phase arrest was the main cause but was not associated with apoptosis. p53, p21 and total retinoblastoma (Rb) were determined to be up-regulated, whereas cyclinE was down-regulated at both the protein and mRNA levels in HepG2.2.15 cells. The phosphorylated Rb in HepG2.2.15 cells was decreased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggested that HBV inhibited the capability of proliferation of HepG2.2.15 cells by regulating cell cycle genes expression and inducing G1 arrest.</p

Maximizing temporal quantum correlation by approaching an exceptional point

Quantum correlations, both spatial and temporal, are the central pillars of quantum mechanics. Over the last two decades, a big breakthrough in quantum physics is its complex extension to the non-Hermitian realm, and dizzying varieties of novel phenomena and applications beyond the Hermitian framework have been uncovered. However, unique features of non-Hermitian quantum correlations, especially in the time domain, still remain to be explored. Here, for the first time, we experimentally achieve this goal by using a parity-time (PT )-symmetric trapped-ion system. The upper limit of temporal quantum correlations, known as the algebraic bound, which has so far not been achieved in the standard measurement scenario, is reached here by approaching the exceptional point (EP), thus showing the unexpected ability of EPs in tuning temporal quantum correlation effects. Our study, unveiling the fundamental interplay of non-Hermiticity, nonlinearity, and temporal quantum correlations, provides the first step towards exploring and utilizing various non-Hermitian temporal quantum effects by operating a wide range of EP devices, which are important for both fundamental studies and applications of quantum EP systems.Comment: 4 figures and 8 page

Thermoelectric properties of Sn-doped p-type Cu_3SbSe_4: a compound with large effective mass and small band gap

Cu_3SbSe_4-based compounds composed of earth-abundant elements have been found to exhibit good thermoelectric performance at medium temperatures. High zT values were achieved in previous studies, but further insight into the transport mechanism as well as some key material parameters is still needed. In this work, we studied the electrical and thermal transport properties of Sn-doped Cu_3SbSe_4 between 300 K and 673 K. It was found that the single parabolic band model explains the electrical transport very well. Experimentally, we determined the band gap to be around 0.29 eV. The density-of-state effective mass was found to be about 1.5 me for the doped samples. The transport properties suggested degeneracy splitting near the valence band maximum that was not captured by previous band structure calculations. The maximum zT ~0.70 was obtained at 673 K, and the optimized carrier density was ~1.8 × 10^20 cm^(−3), and the potential for further improvement of zT via material engineering is briefly discussed

Thin film Gallium nitride (GaN) based acoustofluidic Tweezer: Modelling and microparticle manipulation.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound semiconductor which shows advantages in new functionalities and applications due to its piezoelectric, optoelectronic, and piezo-resistive properties. This study develops a thin film GaN-based acoustic tweezer (GaNAT) using surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and demonstrates its acoustofluidic ability to pattern and manipulate microparticles. Although the piezoelectric performance of the GaNAT is compromised compared with conventional lithium niobate-based SAW devices, the inherited properties of GaN allow higher input powers and superior thermal stability. This study shows for the first time that thin film GaN is suitable for the fabrication of the acoustofluidic devices to manipulate microparticles with excellent performance. Numerical modelling of the acoustic pressure fields and the trajectories of mixtures of microparticles driven by the GaNAT was performed and the results were verified from the experimental studies using samples of polystyrene microspheres. The work has proved the robustness of thin film GaN as a candidate material to develop high-power acoustic tweezers, with the potential of monolithical integration with electronics to offer diverse microsystem applications.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Grant numbers: EP/P002803/1, EP/P018998/1, Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province/2020JQ-233, Fundamental Scientific Research of Central Universities/3102017OQD116, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council fellowship /EP/N01202X/2, Royal Society / IEC/NSFC/170142, IE161019, Natural Science Foundation of China/61704017, Dalian Science and Technology Innovation Fund/2018J11CY00