The applications of social media in sports marketing

n the era of big data, sports consumer's activities in social media become valuable assets to sports marketers. In this paper, the authors review extant literature regarding how to effectively use social media to promote sports as well as how to effectively analyze social media data to support business decisions. Methods: The literature review method. Results: Our findings suggest that sports marketers can use social media to achieve the following goals, such as facilitating marketing communication campaigns, adding values to sports products and services, creating a two-way communication between sports brands and consumers, supporting sports sponsorship program, and forging brand communities. As to how to effectively analyze social media data to support business decisions, extent literature suggests that sports marketers to undertake traffic and engagement analysis on their social media sites as well as to conduct sentiment analysis to probe customer's opinions. These insights can support various aspects of business decisions, such as marketing communication management, consumer's voice probing, and sales predictions. Conclusion: Social media are ubiquitous in the sports marketing and consumption practices. In the era of big data, these ＂footprints＂ can now be effectively analyzed to generate insights to support business decisions. Recommendations to both the sports marketing practices and research are also addressed

Responses of Real Output in Serbia to the Financial and Global Economic Conditions

Applying and extending Taylor (1993, 1999) and Romer (2000, 2006), this paper examines output fluctuations for Serbia based on a simultaneous equation model consisting of the open-economy IS function, the monetary policy function, and uncovered interest parity. The GARCH(1,0) model is employed because the residual variance is affected by the past variance. Real GDP is positively affected by the real stock price and real government deficit and negatively influenced by expected real depreciation of the dinar, the world real interest rate, and the inflation rate. There are significant seasonal effects. Therefore, a healthy stock market, a stronger dinar, a lower world real interest rate, a lower inflation rate, and an active fiscal policy will play important roles in the recovery of the Serbian economy.monetary policy function, uncovered interest parity, exchange rate, world interest rate, inflation rate, government deficit

Pathologic manifestations of levamisole-adulterated cocaine exposure.

UnlabelledRheumatic manifestations of cocaine have been well described, but more recently, a dramatic increase in the levamisole-adulterated cocaine supply in the United States has disclosed unique pathologic consequences that are distinct from pure cocaine use. Most notably, patients show skin lesions and renal dysfunction in the setting of extremely high perinuclear anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (p-ANCA). Unexpectedly, antibodies to myeloperoxidase, the typical target of p-ANCA, are relatively low if at all present. This discrepancy is due to the fact that p-ANCA seen in association with levamisole-adulterated cocaine exposure is often directed against atypical p-ANCA-associated antigens within the neutrophil granules such as human neutrophil elastase, lactoferrin, and cathepsin G. Biopsies of the skin lesions reveal leukocytoclastic vasculitis often involving both superficial and deep dermal vessels. Renal injury most typically manifests as crescentic and necrotizing pauci-immune glomerulonephritis. In this review, the manifestations of levamisole-adulterated cocaine-induced vasculitis are discussed with an emphasis on the typical histomorphologic findings seen on biopsy.Virtual slidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1764738711370019

DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL SITE LOCATION OF GNSS BASE STATIONS

The relative positioning technique plays an essential role in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys. Simultaneous observation at base and rover stations eliminates the majority of error sources thus the quality of a positioning solution can be substantially improved. However, topographic obstruction is still a key issue affecting positioning quality. In this study, an integrated approach for analyzing the impact of topographic obstruction on GNSS relative positioning has been developed. By considering varied satellite geometry according to actual terrain variation, this approach can be used to realistically determine satellite visibility condition for a specific base station with respect to any rover station. Furthermore, a base station quality index (BSQI) is proposed as an explicit indication of the sufficiency in a relative positioning. By incorporating the proposed approach, one can immediately identify an optimal site location for a GNSS base station with subsequent GNSS field survey thus achieved in a more reliable and cost-efficient manner

Overexpression of mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase increases mannitol production and confers salt and chilling tolerance in transgenic petunia cv. Mitchell

2000 Spring.Covers not scanned.Includes bibliographical references.Diploid petunia plants (Petunia hybrid, cv. Mitchell) transformed with a bacterial gene (mt/ D) encoding mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme (MTL D), resulting in high mannitol expression, were developed and studied in this research. Transgenic lines and wild type control plants were exposed to salinity and chilling stress with the express goal of delineating the impact of manniol on these abiotic stresses. Phenotypically, there was no difference in growth between in vivo wild type and transgenic lines under non-stress conditions. However, transgenic lines expressing high mannitol levels were found to exhibit a greater capacity to tolerate salinity and chilling stresses compared to wild type and transgenic lines expressing low mannitol levels. Enhanced salinity tolerance was observed in seed germination (T2 generation), and in vegetative growth and floral development of transgenic lines expressing high mannitol levels. Also, based upon foliage symptoms and membrane leakage, transgenic lines expressing high mannitol levels were more tolerant of chilling stress compared to with wild type and transgenic lines expressing low mannitol levels. Carbohydrate analysis of wild type and transgenic plants showed that mannitol was the single carbohydrate most affected by plant lines. Two transgenic lines (M3 and M8) always had higher mannitol expression levels when compared to wild type and the other two transgenic lines (M2 and M9) under non-stress and stress conditions. Therefore, the function of high mannitol expression should be considered in developing improved tolerance of petunia plants to salinity and chilling stresses. However, assuming 90 % water content in leaf tissue, leaf osmotic potential of high mannitol expressing lines contributed by mannitol accounted for only 0.006 %-0.01 % of increased osmoregulation caused by salinity stress, and 0.04 %-0.06 % of the increase in osmotic potential caused by chilling stress, respectively. Quantitatively, mannitol appears not to play a role as an osmoregulator in osmotic adjustment in response to both salinity and chilling stresses. Rather, the data from this research suggest that mannitol may function as an important osmoprotectant in enhancing salt and chilling tolerance of those transgenic petunia lines expressing high mannitol levels

Silicon Doping Profile Measurement Using Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy

Doping profiles in silicon greatly determine electrical performances of microelectronic devices and are frequently engineered to manipulate device properties. To support engineering studies afterward, essential information is usually required for physically characterized doping profiles. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), spreading resistance profiling (SRP) and electrochemical capacitance voltage (ECV) profiling are mainstream techniques for now to measure doping profiles destructively. SIMS produces a chemical doping profile through the ion sputtering process and owns a better characterization resolution. ECV and SPR, on the other hand, gauge an electrical doping profile from the free carrier detection in microelectronic devices. The major discrepancy between chemical and electrical profiles is at heavily doped (\u3e1020 atoms / cm3) regions. At the profile region over the solubility limit, inactive dopants induce a flat plateau and only being detected by electrical measurements. Destructive techniques are usually designed as stand-alone systems for the remote usage. For an in-situ process control purpose, non-contact approaches, such as non-contact capacitance-voltage (CV) and ellipsometry techniques, are currently under developing. In this dissertation, novel terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is adopted to achieve an electrical doping profile measurement in both destructive and non-contact manners. For this brand new application, everything has been studied from bottom-up. Firstly, the measurement uncertainty from the change of a bulk wafer thickness and the recognition of the doping profile dissimilarity were proven experimentally. The phosphorus refractive index from 1.2×1015 cm-3 to 1.8×1020 cm-3 levels was then generated physically for the modeling of the complex THz transmission and its shift to the Drude Model prediction is explained two scientific mechanisms. Through the experimental demonstrated of the proactical degeneracy, relative strategies were proposed to shrink or break it. The doping profile measurement was finally performed by both methods. We conclude that THz-TDS can be designed as either an either in-situ or stand-alone system to estimate a doping profile in semiconductor materials

Luo Qing's Paintings of Post-Industrial Taiwan and Their Incompatibility with Guohua

This thesis examines the career and artwork of Luo Qing in the context of past artistic movements and current academic discourse. Using Luo Qing and his work as a point of departure, this thesis aims to combine diachronic and synchronic concerns in the arts, specifically art that is made in the medium of ink. Luo Qing is famous for his inventive style in poetry and ink paintings. The two bodies of work selected,"Here Comes the UFO" and "Asphalt Road", not only exemplify his creative spirit in redefining ink art, they also establish him as a member of the modern Chinese literati, a scholar artist, in Taiwan. Both series were Luo's ongoing projects in the 1980s and the 1990s. A conflict between the traditional and the new was present in Chinese politics and culture at the time, and this tension affected the creative community. The dynamics between Chinese imperial history and modern Chinese industry is the subject of most of Luo's work. He creatively portrayed conflicts between traditional Chinese heritage and contemporary Western commercialism. "Here Comes the UFO"and " Asphalt Road" both depict the modern subject of industrialization in traditional Chinese ink painting format. Luo Qing's novel way of approaching Chinese artistic traditions, both in painting and poetry, validated its importance as a new paradigm. Luo's artistic world depicted in these two bodies of work was representative of a tumultuous era in Chinese history that took place not in China, but in Taiwan. In stark contrast, the current academic discourse on ink art originated in China and quickly spread through the research of Chinese scholars, most of whom work in North American academia. Compelling debates on ink art's importance and passionate proclamation associating ink art with Chinese nationhood are popular subjects. These subjects, however, are distant and irrelevant to Luo's early cityscapes. The contemporary paradigm may ignore why Luo Qing came to international fame. The first part of this thesis profiles Luo's two bodies of work and provides a comprehensive survey of his training and inspiration from the past. The second part connects these works with a thorough overview of scholarship on contemporary ink art. Using Luo's work as an intersecting point of reference, I hope to revive Luo Qing's significance to the Chinese art community and address specific, larger issues concerning contemporary theories on ink art

PhD

dissertationUnit activity was recorded from 92 ventrolateral spinal axons in seven anemically decerebrated spinal cat preparations, using a microdissection technique. Axons were classified into four categories according to their responsiveness to mechanical stimuli applied to skin and/or other tissues: (1) low threshold spinal axons (5%), (2) wide dynamic range spinal axons (57%), (3) high threshold spinal axons (23%), and (4) an "other" category which included axons responding to mechanical stimulation applied to visceral or deep tissue and axons responding to changes in limb or tail position. Sixty-one of the 92 spinal axons had an ongoing resting discharge. Hence, they were divided into three types on the basis of their resting discharge pattern: (1) units with no resting activity (34%), (2) units with intermittent resting discharge (23%), and (3) units having continuous resting discharge (43%). Consequently, each category of mechanically sensitive ventrolateral spinal axons was further subgrouped on the basis of resting discharge. In general, the fields of low threshold spinal axons were large and bilateral; the fields of wide dynamic range spinal axons were intermediate in size and ipsilateral; and the fields of high threshold spinal axons were small and contralateral. The approximate location in the ventrolateral spinal white matter of different categories of spinal axons was mapped but no significant segregation was found. A comparison was made between different categories of mechanically sensitive ventrolateral spinal axons to determine their sensitivity to the itch-producing stimulus, cowhage. The wide dynamic range spinal axons were significantly affected. Of 34 wide dynamic range units which were tested, 23% demonstrated a relatively high sensitivity to cowhage and hence might be regarded as pruritogen-responsive spinal axons. Sixty percent of the pruritogen-responsive units had an intermittent resting discharge pattern. Cowhage was applied on 14 high threshold and three low threshold ventrolateral spinal axons but no significant effect was demonstrated