The Second Choice

This creative thesis strives to carve out the constitutional disappointments in our psychic experiences and the equally constitutional human effort to seek a temporal sense of contentment amid the disappointments, from the context of the increasing fluidity of the present world, where international mobility has ceased to be the privilege or misfortune of a few and become the norm of a growing globalized population. In this thesis, an inward-looking, self-exploring approach is employed to explore the pluralism in both disappointment and self-consoling. The limitations in the characters\u27 perspectives are essential to both stories in this thesis, because a limited perspective can lead to disappointments, but it also allows the human subject to stay hopeful with the remaining options after the disappointing turn of events. Both stories are told in first person, because the first person point of view is very effective in showing the limitations of a particular perspective. Inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro, the stories adopt a very meticulous, analytical style of narration--a style that prompts deep thinking in readers and invites doubts

NR1L: A NOVEL NUCLEAR RECEPTOR GROUP ACTIVATED BY JUVENILE HORMONE ANALOGS

Annotation of the Daphnia pulex nuclear receptors revealed a novel group of three receptors designated NR1L, and named HR97a/b/g because of their similarity to the HR96 receptors involved in xenobiotic detection. We cloned and sequenced the three receptors from a related species often used in aquatic toxicology studies, Daphnia magna, and then analyzed their genomic structure and conducted phylogenetic studies. Phylogenetic studies confirmed that the HR97s do form a distinct group with HR97g being the precursor of HR97a and b. They also confirmed that the HR97 receptors are related to the HR96 (NR1J) receptors, and the VDR/CAR/PXR (NR1I) group. Mining other arthropod genomes revealed that Ixodes also has a NR1L member (IsHR97). Gal4-chimeric plasmids that contain the ligand binding domain of HR97a/b/g were constructed for transactivation assays. Transactivation assays demonstrated that HR97a and HR97g repress basal transcription in the absence of a activator; however, HR97b has constitutive activity. We hypothesized that the HR97\u27s are involved in xenobiotic detoxification. Contrary to our hypothesis, the HR97s are not activated by multiple toxicants. We found that pyriproxyfen and methyl farnesoate activate HR97g. Dose-response studies found that pyriproxyfen and methyl farnesoate have EC50\u27s of 3.4 and 2.2 uM, respectively. The two chemicals are juvenile hormone analogs that have been found to induce the production of males in the otherwise female parthenogenic Daphnia. HR97a and b are also activated by pyriproxyfen. Further, although NR1L is phylogenetically related to NR1I and NR1J, the HR97s do not share significant similarity with the NR1I and NR1J members. We conclude that HR97s are not xenobiotic sensors, but may be involved in juvenile hormone signaling and potentially male production

Purchasing through Social Platforms with Buy Buttons: Academic and Practical Considerations

Social commerce sales are considerably increasing in recent years. Social platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, and WeChat) play a strategic role in world economy. However, social platforms ran into several burning issues: low ad conversion rates, social platform users’ free-riding behaviors, etc. Although buy buttons, a clickable navigation element leading users from a social platform to an e-commerce platform, could be a solution for such issues, the outcomes of using buy buttons did not reach many professionals’ expectation. This thesis studied four issues related to social shopping with buy buttons. First, as it is undetermined whether a social platform should roll out the buy-button feature or not, it is necessary to study whether the presence of buy button is associated with better outcomes (e.g. users’ higher willingness to purchase through the social platform) or not. Second, as social commerce is a remote shopping mode in which buyers and sellers cannot have face-to-face interactions, high risk and low trust could be two crucial barriers of social commerce. Hence, it is needed to study how risk- and trust-related factors influence users’ direct purchasing behavior. Third, considering that social commerce could be risky, this thesis wants to examine whether the presence of safe shopping measures (vs. an unsafe shopping scenario) can improve the performance of social shopping or not. Finally, social commerce involves a purchase path from a social platform to an e-commerce platform. There are many pain points (e.g., re-entering billing and shipping information) in the purchase path. Meanwhile, as social shopping risks and pain points in the purchase path could be caused by a same factor, the silos between social platforms and e-commerce platforms. It is interesting to study how safe shopping measures and integrated path-to-purchase (users can complete a purchase without leaving the social platform; vs. separated path-to-purchase in which users have to leave the social platform and go to the e-commerce platform to complete a purchase) jointly influence users. In order to answer these questions, three essays have been included in this thesis. Several online surveys were conducted. The between-subjects experimental design and the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique were used. The results showed that the presence of buy button was related to better outcomes. It found that risk- and trust-related factors significantly influenced users’ direct purchasing behavior. Both the safe shopping measures and the integrated path-to-purchase design can generate better outcomes of using a buy button in social shopping. In most circumstances, users showed more positive reactions when the safe shopping measures or the integrated path-to-purchase was present. However, no significant interaction effects between the safe shopping measures (vs. an unsafe shopping scenario) and the integrated path-to-purchase (vs. the separated path-to-purchase) were found. The theoretical contributions have been discussed in contrast to previous literature. This thesis has added academic value by offering new insights for previously established variable relationships in a different research context and studying variable relationships that have not been examined in previously relevant studies. From a practical viewpoint, as buy buttons inject e-commerce capabilities into social platforms, this thesis implies that socially focused platforms could reap benefits from social commerce by rolling out a buy-button feature. It is recommended that social platforms wanting to roll out buy buttons take safe shopping measures and create a seamless shopping experience for users.Tesis Univ. Granada.China Scholarship Council grant number: 201606170055National Natural Science Foundation of China grant number: 7170206

Green Communication for More Package-Free Ecommerce Returns

The existing packed mail-based return mode in ecommerce has a considerable negative impact on the natural environment. In contrast, a package-free return mode accepts unpacked ecommerce returns using return points in-store and is a more eco-friendly service. On the basis of the push–pull–mooring (PPM) framework, this study aims to identify key factors in green communication that contribute to consumers switching from mail return services to package-free return services. A scenario-based online survey was conducted. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Push factors (consumer dissatisfaction) and a mooring factor (mail return habit) only manifested weak effects on switching intention. Regarding pull factors (service convenience and green value), in contrast to previous research, the effect of green value on switching intention was found to be much weaker than the effect of service convenience. Convenience was found to be the key factor in green communication. Our research adds value to green communication and the PPM framework. It updates existing knowledge concerning the role of consumer dissatisfaction, perceived green value, and perceived convenience of return service in green communication. This study also explains why the mooring factor of habit fails to predict switching intention.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project in Zhejiang Province 72032008 21ZJQN03Y

Technological Innovation: A Case Study of Mobile Internet Information Technology Applications in Community Management

The Mobile Internet Information Technology MIIT has been widely accepted as one of the most promising technologies in the next decades, having various applications and different value positions. However, few published studies explore and examine the effects of MIIT on community management. Based on the Dramaturgical Theory, this article uses a case study method to get an insightful understanding of MIIT. This article found that the MIIT was used by grid organizations to realize technological innovation and change organizational routines and structures, but eventually it was shaped by them, so this new technology was only able to embed itself into the public service model as a secondary or complementary role. Copyright: © 2018 IGA Globa

The Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in the Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration Over China's Economic Transition

Abstract Since the 2008 financial crisis, China has been undergoing an economic transition consisting of prioritizing green economic and sustainable development instead of rapid growth driven by large‐scale investment. However, there is still a lack of fine print on how subregional effort can contribute to national or full supply chain mitigation plans, especially downscaling to the city level. To bridge this knowledge gap, we selected Jing‐Jin‐Ji urban agglomeration, one of the economic centers but also featured by intensive emission for decades, to analyze the emission variance and driving forces from 2012 to 2015 as a case study. Based on the consumption accounting framework, the carbon emissions of Jing‐Jin‐Ji have decreased by 11.7 Mt CO2 in total over the study period, and most cities showed the similar descending trend. The driving forces show that the emission intensity and production structure have largely reduced Jing‐Jin‐Ji's total due to measurements of economic transition. For instance, Beijing has decreased by 28.7 Mt of emission reduction which led by declined emission intensity. By contrast, per capita demands and growth of its population were the primary forces to increase emissions. To conclude, although the mitigation achievement is undeniable, we should also note that the economic transition has not changed the uneven pattern of selected urban agglomeration so far

Restoring the buyer–seller relationship through online return shipping: The role of return shipping method and return shipping fee

Relationships with consumers are critical to the success of online sellers. Online returns can detrimentally influence buyer–seller relationships and, thus, online sellers should carefully approach online returns to restore their relationship with consumers. Returns due to consumer satisfaction-related reasons are a significant and inevitable part of e-commerce. This article focuses on how online sellers deal with the method and the fee aspects of their return shipping policy to improve buyer–seller relationships. We also studied the effects of return shipping policies on several pivotal consumer perceptions and repurchase intentions. A two-factor (integrated return shipping vs. separated return shipping; free return shipping vs. fee return shipping), between-subject experiment was conducted. This research revealed that both using an integrated return shipping method and offering free return shipping can lead to a better buyer–seller relationship and improve other consumer responses. No interaction effect was found between the two factors