Do Consumers Really Care about Genetically Modified (GM) Food Label? What Do We Know? What Else Should We Know?

This paper employs household survey data to examine whether GM food labeling has an impact on consumers’ vegetable oil purchasing decision. Direct variables indicating consumers’ response to label regulation are employed to test labeling effect. We find that supermarket customers who concern GM label or GM material have respectively 4.1-7.5 percent and 9.8-12.3 percent lower probability of buying GM oil. Meanwhile, their probability of switching from GM oil to non-GM oil after labeling enforcement is higher by 10.5 percent and 12.7 percent respectively. The empirical results support our previous finding that in the short run the market share of GM oil decreased significantly by a small amount as a result of label enforcement. To capture a comprehensive picture of GM food labeling and the market trend in the long run, major concerns and needs for the future are discussed, including understanding the discrepancy between stated preferences and revealed preferences, influencing factors for aggregate market share incorporating other market channels, real decision body for food consumption, and other major marketing strategies.GM food labeling, household survey data, aggregate market share, China.

The Power of Unrequited Love: The Parasocial Relationship, Trust, and Organizational Identification Between Middle-Level Managers and CEOs

Previous studies have found that CEOs manage their firms through traditional methods such as leadership and management practices. In this study, we investigate how the parasocial relationship (PSR) between middle-level managers and CEOs affects the organizational trust and the organizational identification (OI) of middle managers. We find that the PSR between middle managers and CEOs has a positive effect on the OI of middle managers, which is mediated by the organizational trust of middle managers. Purpose: Middle managers and CEOs are the key components of a firm and are crucial to firm strategies and control systems. Middle managers play a vital role in information transmission like in the organizational hierarchy while CEOs influence low-level employees through middle managers. In this study, we investigate how the PSR between middle managers and CEOs affects organizational trust and OI. Design/Methodology: In this study, the data concerning OI, integrity perception, and organizational trust are derived from a survey conducted by the internal control research group of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The research group began the survey on September 5, 2014, for the firms listed in the A-share market, accounting firms with securities and future practice qualifications, and institutional investors through the accounting department of the CSRC, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and the Asset Management Association of China. The research group members surveyed 2,536 A-share firms listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange. As of October 31, 2014, 2,154 sets of questionnaires with a total of 12,551 questionnaires were received, with a response rate of 84.95%. The financial and accounting data are from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. Findings: We find that the PSR between middle managers and CEOs has a positive effect on the OI of middle managers, which is mediated by the organizational trust of middle managers. This study extends the application of the parasocial interaction (PSI) theory, organizational trust theory, and social identity theory in listed firms. Practical Implication: There are practical implications for internal relationship management, corporate governance, and performance management. CEOs should value the influence of organizational trust and improve his/her own social and work abilities on middle-level managers as the organizational trust of middle-level managers has a significant positive impact on their sense of responsibility, ethical behavior, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and performance. CEOs should adopt various methods to influence different managers because organizational trust mediates the relationship between the PSR and OI. Originality/Value: Our study is one of the first attempts to apply the PSI theory to the corporate world. Given the dynamics of present-day markets and changing stakeholder demands, there is little insight into how this relationship affects organizational health and functioning. Much less what a PSR between CEO and middle management looks like in practice. Our study attempts to fill the gap by investigating how CEOs might come to affect middle managers through their practices and behaviors

Coexistence of multi-photon processes and longitudinal couplings in superconducting flux qubits

In contrast to natural atoms, the potential energies for superconducting flux qubit (SFQ) circuits can be artificially controlled. When the inversion symmetry of the potential energy is broken, we find that the multi-photon processes can coexist in the multi-level SFQ circuits. Moreover, there are not only transverse but also longitudinal couplings between the external magnetic fields and the SFQs when the inversion symmetry of potential energy is broken. The longitudinal coupling would induce some new phenomena in the SFQs. Here we will show how the longitudinal coupling can result in the coexistence of multi-photon processes in a two-level system formed by a SFQ circuit. We also show that the SFQs can become transparent to the transverse coupling fields when the longitudinal coupling fields satisfy the certain conditions. We further show that the quantum Zeno effect can also be induced by the longitudinal coupling in the SFQs. Finally we clarify why the longitudinal coupling can induce coexistence and disappearance of single- and two-photon processes for a driven SFQ, which is coupled to a single-mode quantized field.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Thermal relaxation of magnons and phonons near resonance points in magnetic insulators

We theoretically investigate the energy relaxation rate of magnons and phonons near the resonance points to clarify the underlying mechanism of heat transport in ferromagnetic materials. We find that the simple two-temperature model is valid for the one-phonon/one-magnon process, as the rate of energy exchange between magnons and phonons is proportional to the temperature difference between them, and it is independent of temperature in the high temperature limit. We found that the magnon-phonon relaxation time due to the one-phonon/one-magnon interaction could be reduced to 1.48 $\mu s$ at the resonance point by applying an external magnetic field. It means that the resonance effect plays a significant role in enhancing the total magnon-phonon energy exchange rate, apart from the higher order interaction processes

Implementation of The Future of Drug Discovery: QuantumBased Machine Learning Simulation (QMLS)

The Research & Development (R&D) phase of drug development is a lengthy and costly process. To revolutionize this process, we introduce our new concept QMLS to shorten the whole R&D phase to three to six months and decrease the cost to merely fifty to eighty thousand USD. For Hit Generation, Machine Learning Molecule Generation (MLMG) generates possible hits according to the molecular structure of the target protein while the Quantum Simulation (QS) filters molecules from the primary essay based on the reaction and binding effectiveness with the target protein. Then, For Lead Optimization, the resultant molecules generated and filtered from MLMG and QS are compared, and molecules that appear as a result of both processes will be made into dozens of molecular variations through Machine Learning Molecule Variation (MLMV), while others will only be made into a few variations. Lastly, all optimized molecules would undergo multiple rounds of QS filtering with a high standard for reaction effectiveness and safety, creating a few dozen pre-clinical-trail-ready drugs. This paper is based on our first paper, where we pitched the concept of machine learning combined with quantum simulations. In this paper we will go over the detailed design and framework of QMLS, including MLMG, MLMV, and QS.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

A novel non-homologous recombination-mediated mechanism for Escherichia coli unilateral flagellar phase variation

Flagella contribute to the virulence of bacteria through chemotaxis, adhesion to and invasion of host surfaces. Flagellar phase variation is believed to facilitate bacterial evasion of the host immune response. In this study, the flnA gene that encodes Escherichia coli H17 flagellin was examined by whole genome sequencing and genetic deletion analysis. Unilateral flagellar phase variation has been reported in E. coli H3, H47 and H17 strains, although the mechanism for phase variation in the H17 strain has not been previously understood. Analysis of phase variants indicated that the flagellar phase variation in the H17 strain was caused by the deletion of an ∼35 kb DNA region containing the flnA gene from diverse excision sites. The presence of covalently closed extrachromosomal circular forms of this excised 35 kb region was confirmed by the two-step polymerase chain reaction. The deletion and complementation test revealed that the Int1157 integrase, a tyrosine recombinase, mediates the excision of this region. Unlike most tyrosine recombinases, Int1157 is suggested to recognize diverse sites and mediate recombination between non-homologous DNA sequences. This is the first report of non-homologous recombination mediating flagellar phase variation

Quasinormal modes for asymptotic safe black holes

Under the hypothesis of asymptotic safety of gravity, the static, spherically symmetric black hole solutions in the infrared limit are corrected by non-perturbative effects. Specifically, the metric is modified by the running of gravitational couplings. In this work, we investigate the effects of this correction to the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of a test scalar field propagating in this kind of black hole background analytically and numerically. It is found that although the quasi-period frequencies and the damping of oscillations are respectively enhanced and weakened by the quantum correction term, the stability of the black hole remains.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figures, accepted for publication in CQG. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1007.131