Why Buy New When One Can Share? Uncovering Dimensions of Collaborative Consumption of Consumer Goods

The notion of collaborative consumption (CC) or sharing economy ”where consumers share access to ownership of properties such as cars, clothes, and accommodations ”has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. While many have researched consumers\u27 motivations for engaging in CC of intangible goods such as space or ride sharing, little research on CC motivations has been pursued in the context of tangible goods like apparel. To address this gap, the objective of this study was to identify the underlying dimensions behind consumers\u27 motivations toward CC of consumer goods. Multiple methods were used including in-depth interviews and two quantitative surveys. As a result, the study identified five dimensions that characterize consumer motivations for CC of consumer goods: concern-for-sustainability, social-interaction, variety-seeking, fun, and cost-saving

Mediating Role of Micro Country Image on Purchase Intention by Product Category and by Country

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of micro country image on the relationship between macro country image and Saudi consumers’ purchase intention of two product categories (symbolic vs. functional). Saudi consumers were chosen in this study given the country’s significant growth potential in the Middle East. Four countries (US, Italy, Korea and Malaysia) were chosen to examine the country effect

A non-reflecting metamaterial slab under the finite-embedded coordinate transformation

From the explicit solutions of Maxwell's equations under the coordinate transformation, the conditions for non-reflecting boundaries for the two-dimensionally propagating light waves, in a finite-embedded coordinate transformation metamaterial slab are derived in cases of extended two-dimensional. By exploring several examples, including some reported in the literatures and some novel developed in this study, we show that our approach can be used to efficiently determine the condition in which a finite-embedded coordinate transformed metamaterial slab is non-reflecting.Comment: 13 page

Complete amplitude and phase control of light using broadband holographic metasurface

Reconstruction of light profiles with amplitude and phase information, called holography, is an attractive optical technique to display three-dimensional images. Due to essential requirements for an ideal hologram, subwavelength control of both amplitude and phase is crucial. Nevertheless, traditional holographic devices have suffered from their limited capabilities of incomplete modulation in both amplitude and phase of visible light. Here, we propose a novel metasurface that is capable of completely controlling both amplitude and phase profiles of visible light independently with subwavelength spatial resolution. The simultaneous, continuous, and broadband control of amplitude and phase is achieved by using X-shaped meta-atoms based on expanded concept of the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The first experimental demonstrations of complete complex-amplitude holograms with subwavelength definition are achieved and show excellent performances with remarkable signal-to-noise ratio compared to traditional phase-only holograms. Extraordinary control capability with versatile advantages of our metasurface paves a way to an ideal holography, which is expected to be a significant advance in the field of optical holography and metasurfaces

EFFECTS OF GLYCYRRHIZIN PRE-TREATMENT ON TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC BRAIN INJURY IN MICE

Background: Ischemia-induced brain damage is the leading cause of adult disability and the fifth leading cause of death, and thus, the development of anti-apoptotic neuro-protective therapeutic agents is viewed as an attractive developmental strategy. Glycyrrhizin is the main sweet component in licorice and has a number of pharmacological activities, which include neuro-protective, anti-fungal, and anti-cariogenic activities. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of glycyrrhizin on ischemia-induced brain damage. Materials and Methods: In infarct volumes and the levels of several apoptosis-related proteins, caspase-3, - 8, 9, Bcl-xL, Bcl-2,and their activities in the brains of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) treated mice were measured using western blotting methods. Results: Single pre-treatment with glycyrrhizin (10-100 mg/kg)at 2 hours before MCAO significantly reduced infarct volumes at 24h after MCAO. In addition, glycyrrhizin effectively inhibited the activations of caspase-3 and -9 and the down-regulation of Bcl-xLprotein caused by MCAO. Conclusion: The neuro-protective effect of glycyrrhizin was found to be due to its regulation of apoptosisrelated proteins signals.The authors suggest glycyrrhizin be considered a potential candidate for the treatment of ischemia induced brain damage