Chinese consumers’ conspicuous perspectives: the context of smartphone purchase behavior

This study investigated the key antecedent factors of Chinese consumers attitudes towards smartphones, focusing on the conspicuous value. An analytical framework with three key themes in the smartphone purchasing attributes in relation to the conspicuous attitudes was validated based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using 426 survey data collected in China. It has been found that ‘conspicuous value’ was the basic perception which has a relation with three key factors, ‘fashionableness’ and ‘innovativeness’, and ‘instore shopping atmosphere’ in smartphone purchasing attributes. This implies that the analytical framework developed from this study is applicable to the research topic as a useful analytical tool kit. From the empirical study based on this framework, it has been found that only ‘fashionableness’ has the significant impact on their purchase intention, whereas, ‘innovativeness’ and ‘instore shopping atmosphere' did not have a significant impact on their purchase intention of smartphones. Chinese consumer behavior from the cultural context has attracted researchers so far, however, the practical and feasible analytical framework covering the cultural aspect and smartphone attributes has been lacked. This study proposed a practical analytical framework with the Chinese cultural value ‘conspicuousness’ and focus on the smartphone shopping attributes. Moreover, the empirical research outcome with the survey data based on the proposed framework can provide actionable implications for the relevant marketers and researchers

Likelihood inference for exponential-trawl processes

Integer-valued trawl processes are a class of serially correlated, stationary and infinitely divisible processes that Ole E. Barndorff-Nielsen has been working on in recent years. In this Chapter, we provide the first analysis of likelihood inference for trawl processes by focusing on the so-called exponential-trawl process, which is also a continuous time hidden Markov process with countable state space. The core ideas include prediction decomposition, filtering and smoothing, complete-data analysis and EM algorithm. These can be easily scaled up to adapt to more general trawl processes but with increasing computation efforts.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, forthcoming in: "A Fascinating Journey through Probability, Statistics and Applications: In Honour of Ole E. Barndorff-Nielsen's 80th Birthday", Springer, New Yor

How to Support Decision Making of Local Government in Prioritising Policy Menu Responding to Citizens’ Views: An Exploratory Study of Text Mining Approach to Attain Cognitive Map Based on Citizen Survey Data

It has been on the political agenda for the local governments how to satisfy their citizens to enhance their commitment and contribution to the communities. Especially in this ageing population era with tight fiscal conditions, it is essential for the government to know the prioritised policy menu in realising citizen satisfaction. This study aims to explore an applicable system based on citizen survey result. In our study, following literature review, we conducted focus group discussions to explore citizens’ willingness to participate in local policy design, which leads us to be convinced that some activated citizens are supportive to the local governmental policy decision. Based on this qualitative result, we tried to make a cognitive map which indicated which policy fields are prioritised by citizens. Throughout this procedure, we validate the feasible practice to support local governmental decision making based on the result of citizen survey

Techno-economic and environmental feasibility analysis of rice husks fired energy system for application in a cluster of rice mills

The agro-processing industries can play a critical role in the development of sustainable and clean energy systems. The lack of knowledge about the technical and economic viability of agro-waste to energy is a major barrier to the successful implementation of such energy systems in developing countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa countries. This paper presents the techno-economic-environmental assessment of a cluster of rice mills located in Abakaliki, Nigeria, as a provider of clean energy. The cluster of rice mills can sustainably fulfil its energy needs through the application of organic Rankine cycle based combined heat and power plant fired by rice husks. Three scenarios of the plant were proposed and investigated for complete information. The rice husk from the cluster can provide daily 20–30 MWh and 4–91 MWh of electrical power and thermal power, respectively, at 14.5–21% efficiency. A tonne of rice husk can provide 0.45–0.65 MWh of electricity; that the unit cost of electricity from the proposed system is between 0.12 and 0.159$/kWh, which is better than 0.947 US$/kWh for the diesel generator currently in use. About 270–483 kg of CO2/MWh can be saved by the proposed combined heat and power system in relation to the current use of Lister diesel generators. The proposed plant has the potentials to support the Nigerian Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement. The work also presents an appropriate business model and policy pathway for sustainable cottage rice processing industries

A discussion of a luxury apparel brand strategy in an emerging market: Conceptual model with network perspectives

This study explores the Burberry apparel brand’s position and its strategic behaviour seeking new customers in the new market. This exploratory research pays particular attention to business potential and opportunities in an emerging market, Vietnam. To evaluate Burberry’s strategies and the potential, the collaborative network relationships are discussed in details, that is followed by the discussion of the key themes for Burberry to consider in the Vietnamese market, where Burberry has recently begun expanding its businesses. The outcome of the study suggests that the Western luxury brand apparel needs to understand the targeted markets’ systems and consumer behaviour, from there it is inevitable to design strategic plan how to engage the stakeholders in the ubiquitous supply chain relationships. In the end, a conceptual model with network perspectives is proposed: The model will be an analytical framework with key agenda items for the luxury brand which aims to enter the new market, and also the research limitations and further research opportunities are discussed

Decreased glutathione biosynthesis contributes to EGFR T790M-driven erlotinib resistance in non-small cell lung cancer

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors such as erlotinib are novel effective agents in the treatment of EGFR-driven lung cancer, but their clinical impact is often impaired by acquired drug resistance through the secondary T790M EGFR mutation. To overcome this problem, we analysed the metabonomic differences between two independent pairs of erlotinib-sensitive/resistant cells and discovered that glutathione (GSH) levels were significantly reduced in T790M EGFR cells. We also found that increasing GSH levels in erlotinib-resistant cells re-sensitised them, whereas reducing GSH levels in erlotinib-sensitive cells made them resistant. Decreased transcription of the GSH-synthesising enzymes (GCLC and GSS) due to the inhibition of NRF2 was responsible for low GSH levels in resistant cells that was directly linked to the T790M mutation. T790M EGFR clinical samples also showed decreased expression of these key enzymes; increasing intra-tumoural GSH levels with a small-molecule GST inhibitor re-sensitised resistant tumours to erlotinib in mice. Thus, we identified a new resistance pathway controlled by EGFR T790M and a therapeutic strategy to tackle this problem in the clinic

Why do they post: Investigating into the Instagrammers perceptions and behaviour

Poste

An exploratory discussion of the forest bathing effect in a disruptive environment: inbound tourism and Japanese nature

Forest bathing, or shinrinyoku, originated in Japan. It is a nature-based approach to well-being that involves a leisurely visit to a forest for relaxation (Li et al., 2018). There is a growing body of research that suggests forest bathing has various health benefits, such as reduced blood pressure, reduced stress, improved mood, increased flow of energy, increased capacity to communicate with the land and its species and an overall increase in sense of happiness (Ochiai & Oe, 2021; Oh et al., 2017). As such, forest bathing is not only a potentially useful therapeutic option but also has important health effects for the general population. It is also interesting to note that Japan, the country that gave birth to forest bathing, is a sacred land for pop culture. For example, many anime, one of Japan's major cultural genres, use forests and other assets in the natural environment as important plot points. Accordingly, anime fans have been undertaking pilgrimages to visit the ‘sacred’ places that appear in such anime works. The pilgrims who love these animations also come from abroad as inbound tourists. This paper proposes a discussion agenda with key points on the future of forest bathing tourism, bearing in mind the need to improve human health and focusing on the potential of forest bathing as a means of attracting tourists to Japan

Has the 'Go To Travel' Campaign Spread COVID-19 in Japan? Applicability of Analytics in Response to Global Crisis Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the summer of 2020, the Japanese government carried out a new campaign called 'Go To Travel', which some believe has spread COVID-19 in Japan. This study examines the impact of the newly launched governmental campaign on the spread of COVID-19. Data for this study was collected from open data that is published daily by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the 41 days during the campaign period were compared with the 41 days that followed. The results show that the number of deaths due to COVID-19 did not change statistically, and it was determined that the Go To Travel Campaign could not be said to have spread the spread of COVID-19. Next, we propose a model for predicting the number of deaths that is created from the data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare from February 2020 to the end of February 2021. This model is straightforward, as it uses publicly available data from professional organisations. We believe that it can be used by medical institutions and many organisations like local governments