From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’ : the development of a country brand in the international exporting context

Globalisation has created a world where countries compete with each other over trading. Historically, emerging countries started with a negative brand image to enhance exporting. This is particularly true in the Asian context where a general developmental path has been established by countries such as Japan and South Korea. Their success has gained a strong brand image for their products. China, after launching itself into the global market in the late 70s, has gained an increasing market share of ‘Made in China’ products. The reputation of ‘Made in China’, however, is perceived at low quality mass production of low-tech content, and there are only few Chinese brands which can stand out in the global market. This study explores ‘Made in China’ phenomenon in the global market, especially from the producer’s viewpoint. The literature review provides a background to the research. It covers the studies on Country of Origin (COO) effect, economic development strategies and competitive advantage theories. This research employs a mixed methods strategy that combines both quantitative and qualitative studies. The questionnaire survey was designed to reveal British importers’ perception of ‘Made in China’ products. Netnography and Interview are adopted to investigate the voice from Chinese producers and manufacturers. The design of this research allows for triangulating the findings. The results show the international buyers, i.e. British importers, perceive the biggest advantage for Chinese products is price. Chinese producers’ contributions suggest four themes to represent the current situation of ‘Made in China’, namely the image, price, quality and imitation. In their view the future development lies in ‘Created in China’, which consists of other four themes: creativity, branding, designing and R&D. A model of -From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’- is developed in this research. This model identifies the major obstacles that impede the development are thin profit and copying. This research shed lights on the study of developing a country brand, especially for the emerging nation like China. For the first time, this research explores the producers’ views to highlight the importance of their roles in a country brand’s development. The findings also have the implications for Chinese policymakers and industrial development agency. It further offers knowledge to the emerging nations who wish to develop their country brand in the international exporting market

UAV Remote Sensing: An Innovative Tool for Detection and Management of Rice Diseases

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing is a new alternative to traditional diagnosis and detection of rice diseases by visual symptoms, providing quick, accurate and large coverage disease detection. UAV remote sensing offers an unprecedented spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution that can distinguish diseased plant tissue from healthy tissue based on the characteristics of disease symptoms. Research has been conducted on using RGB sensor, multispectral sensor, and hyperspectral sensor for successful detection and quantification of sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani), using multispectral sensor to accurately detect narrow brown leaf spot (Cercospora janseana), and using infrared thermal sensor for detecting the occurrence of rice blast (Magnaporthe oryzae). UAV can also be used for aerial application, and UAV spraying has become a new means for control of rice sheath blight and other crop diseases in many countries, especially China and Japan. UAV spraying can operate at low altitudes and various speeds, making it suitable for situations where arial and ground applications are unavailable or infeasible and where precision applications are needed. Along with advances in digitalization and artificial intelligence for precision application across fertilizer, pest and crop management needs, this UAV technology will become a core tool in a farmer’s precision equipment mix in the future

Spectroscopy Technology: An Innovative Tool for Diagnosis and Monitoring of Wheat Diseases

Diseases are among the most important factors limiting worldwide production of wheat. Accurate detection of diseases is the key to develop effective management strategies for control of these diseases. Spectroscopy-based technology can be a non-destructive, quick, efficient tool to accurately detect and monitor the occurrence and development of crop diseases. There has seen an increased interest in the research and application of spectrum technology for the diagnosis and detection of wheat diseases in recent years. This book chapter provides a brief review on research advances in using spectroscopy techniques to detect wheat diseases, with a focus on the diagnosis and detection of Fusarium head blight, powdery mildew, and stripe rust, three important fungal diseases in wheat worldwide. Disease symptoms and traditional disease detection methods are also included. Both literature and our original research data are presented, with the section of conclusion and prospects at the end of this book chapter

Significant association between high neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveWhether neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an applicative predictor of poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial. In response to the current conflicting data, this meta-analysis was conducted to gain a comprehensive and systematic understanding of prognostic value of NLR in HCC.MethodsSeveral English databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, with an update date of February 25, 2023, were systematically searched. We set the inclusion criteria to include randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies that reported the prognostic value of serum NLR levels in patients with HCC receiving treatment. Both the combined ratio (OR) and the diagnosis ratio (DOR) were used to assess the prognostic performance of NLR. Additionally, we completed the risk of bias assessment by Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool.ResultsThis meta-analysis ultimately included 16 studies with a total of 4654 patients with HCC. The results showed that high baseline NLR was significantly associated with poor prognosis or recurrence of HCC. The sensitivity of 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI]. 0.59-0.73); specificity of 0.723 (95% CI: 0.64-0.78) and DOR of 5.0 (95% CI: 4.0-7.0) were pooled estimated from patient-based analyses. Subsequently, the combined positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLHR) were calculated with the results of 2.4 (95% CI: 1.9-3.0) and 0.46 (95% CI: 0.39-0.56), respectively. In addition, area under the curve (AUC) of the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) reflecting prognostic accuracy was calculated to be 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71-0.78). The results of subgroup analysis suggested that high NLR was an effective predictive factor of poor prognosis in HCC in mainland China as well as in the northern region.ConclusionOur findings suggest that high baseline NLR is an excellent predictor of poor prognosis or relapse in patients with HCC, especially those from high-incidence East Asian populations.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#recordDetails, identifier CRD42023440640

Urbanization increased river nitrogen export to western Taiwan Strait despite increased retention by nitrification and denitrification

Abstract(#br)Urban development and increased human activities impose major environmental stress on the receiving bodies of water. Although urban rivers have been recognized as hotspots of regional nitrogen (N) pollution, detailed measurements of river nutrient species in response to urbanization are rarely reported, so the impacts of urban development on N cycling processes and transport to coast remains unclear. Here we investigated the changes in N species (concentration, composition and isotope) and N functional genes between upstream and downstream sections of several rivers affected by urban development in western Taiwan Strait under various flow conditions (low, medium and high flow). Our results suggest that urban sewage (high ammonium) is the predominant substrate that stimulated nitrification and subsequently denitrification and gaseous N removal (N 2 O, N 2 ). Nitrifying and denitrifying functional genes increased their abundance along the urban rivers. There were hydrological and meteorological controls on urban rivers regulating changes in nitrogen retention between seasons. Overall, the enhanced microbe-driven N retention could not balance the increase of urban N loading. Consequently, urbanization increased riverine N export and caused other changes in nutrient supply such as changing the nutrient ratio (N:P:Si ratio), increasing the potential for eutrophication both in the river and in receiving coastal ecosystems

Smad7 enables STAT3 activation and promotes pluripotency independent of TGF-β signaling

TGF-β and related growth factors critically regulate cell potency and functions. Smad7 is induced by TGF-βs and inhibits the physiological functions of TGF-β signaling. This study describes an unexpected finding that Smad7 promotes self-renewal of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in a manner independent of its inhibition on TGF-β signaling. Instead, Smad7 acts to induce activation of transcription factor signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) in ESCs. Smad7 activates STAT3 through its direct binding to the cytokine receptor upstream of STAT3 activation. In agreement with the role of STAT3 in maintaining ESC pluripotency, Smad7 promotes ESC self-renewal and induced pluripotent stem cell reprogramming. This finding illustrates a regulatory mechanism for Smad7 in maintaining pluripotency, and likely in cancer and inflammation

Ppm1b negatively regulates necroptosis through dephosphorylating ​Rip3

该研究论文发现蛋白磷酸酶Ppm1b 通过去磷酸化RIP3负调控程序性细胞坏死（necroptosis），阐明了RIP3磷酸化状态的精确调控对于细胞和机体在生理和病理状态下的存活至关重要。The auto-phosphorylation of murine ​receptor-interacting protein 3 (​Rip3) on Thr 231 and Ser 232 in the necrosome is required to trigger necroptosis. However, how ​Rip3 phosphorylation is regulated is still largely unknown. Here we identified ​protein phosphatase 1B (​Ppm1b) as a ​Rip3 phosphatase and found that ​Ppm1b restricts necroptosis in two settings: spontaneous necroptosis caused by ​Rip3 auto-phosphorylation in resting cells, and ​tumour necrosis factor-α (​TNF)-induced necroptosis in cultured cells. We revealed that ​Ppm1b selectively suppresses necroptosis through the dephosphorylation of ​Rip3, which then prevents the recruitment of ​mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (​Mlkl) to the necrosome. We further showed that ​Ppm1b deficiency (​Ppm1bd/d) in mice enhanced ​TNF-induced death in a ​Rip3-dependent manner, and the role of ​Ppm1b in inhibiting necroptosis was evidenced by elevated ​Rip3 phosphorylation and tissue damage in the caecum of ​TNF-treated ​Ppm1bd/d mice. These data indicate that ​Ppm1b negatively regulates necroptosis through dephosphorylating ​Rip3 in vitro and in vivo

Exploring brand management strategies in Chinese manufacturing industry

The purpose of this paper was to empirically explore how Chinese private manufacturers make strategic branding decisions. We develop a conceptual framework to investigate the branding decisions undertaken by Chinese manufacturers. Interview data were subjected to qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative categorical principal component analysis. Data reveal a branding schema that illustrate four types of B2B brander: achievement competencies branders, awareness competencies branders, novice competencies branders, and no-competencies branders. The schema describes the trajectory of the progressive evolution of B2B branders. This paper contributes to the long-called-for formation of a theoretical framework of B2B branding from the amorphous literature and provides a direction for manufacturers to undertake branding practice. The exploratory nature lays foundations for further research to investigate B2B branding in other contexts