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This article brings together scholarship on communication theory, influencer marketing, and personal branding to examine a new type of social media influencer—the college athlete influencer. Previous research in the field of sports has not specifically explored the distinct characteristics of college athletes that contribute to their effectiveness as marketing influencers. By adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the source of college athletes' influence via social media. Quantitative results indicate that projecting an athletic identity on social media enhances the influencer's credibility and increases the likelihood of consumers purchasing the products they endorse. Furthermore, qualitative findings indicated that the shared school identity acts as the ultimate impetus for the bond between the influencer and the consumer, which subsequently impacts the consumer's purchasing decisions. This study provides actionable implications for schools, colleges, and brands seeking to build compelling sponsorships in the name, image, and likeness era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most collegiate athletes in the United States monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) through social media influencer marketing. This provides an opportunity to examine the factors that impact their social media NIL value. Therefore, we investigate the effects of personal branding factors (quality of Instagram biography, posting frequency, and account verification status) and institutional factors (competition level, university brand, and sport gender) on the social media NIL value of men's and women's college basketball athletes (N = 907) in California while controlling for local market characteristics. A linear regression analysis shows significant relationships between social media NIL value and competition level, university brand, sport gender, posting frequency, and account verification. Our results offer new theoretical and practical understandings of the relationships between brands in the sport brand ecosystem and the NIL value of sport influencer's social media posts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The passage of name, image, and likeness (NIL) laws in individual states within the United States has provided intercollegiate athletes opportunities to potentially profit from their personal NIL in a free marketplace. Concurrently, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) also allowed college athletes to utilize their NIL rights. Thus far, most college athletes' NIL deals for payments are for posts on the athletes' own social media channels for products, including their own self-promotion in relation to brands, or promotion of brands such as fast food and auto dealerships. Notably, published scholarly work on NIL itself is sparse since it was not until 2021 that the NCAA enacted NIL rules for college athletes. Published scholarship on NIL and social media is even rarer. Therefore, this commentary provides recommendations for potential future scholarship related to NIL and social media, focusing on three potential frameworks: (a) agenda setting, (b) relationship marketing, and (c) personal branding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two rule changes have brought seismic shifts to collegiate sports in the United States - the right for college athletes to monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), and the Transfer Portal for athletes looking to switch schools. Qualitative interviews with 16 college athletes explored the mental health byproducts of these new athlete opportunities. The interviews suggest that many athletes are hesitant to participate in NIL due to a lack of guidance. The study also found that college athletes believe entering the Transfer Portal to be a highly stressful experience, comparing the process to being recruited out of high school. However, the accessibility of the Transfer Portal also helps students leave situations that negatively impact their mental health faster and easier than before. Since college athletes are a highly at-risk demographic for mental health issues, their first-hand perspective can help on-campus staff and administrators have a better understanding of what is needed to give collegiate athletes the best possible experience to learn and develop as students and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holographic display enabled by performing both amplitude modulation (AM) and phase modulation (PM) in a single Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS)‐based Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) is introduced. Light propagation is manipulated in two different directions to perform both AM and PM via liquid crystals alignment layer which can be based on technologies by using photoalignment, nano‐imprint lithography (NIL), or unique over‐driving across Liquid Crystal (LC) layer of Vam‐Vpm method which are described and proved to be effective to tune incident light, control the polarization and propagation of the light entering the liquid crystals of a single LCoS‐based SLM (LCoS‐SLM) device. These methods enable holographic display and to alleviate the issues in using two separated SLMs trying to achieve the same. Further, the design techniques and methods to suppress adjacent pixels' crosstalk due to fringe field effect (FFE) [1] in 2D array are amenable to ensure higher resolution with pixel pitch down to 1¼m for compact size and higher pixel numbers beyond 8K×4K. It mitigates to reduce chores of pixel‐to‐pixel alignment, and to enhance image clarity and quality within a single LCoS‐SLM. It will be applicable to enable holographic display with such unique LCoS‐SLM particularly for AR/VR/MR smart glasses applications [18] [19] [20] once being fabricated in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine experiences female collegiate athletes encountered with Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) legislation. Ten collegiate female athletes across multiple divisions and geographic regions were interviewed for this study. Participants discussed various facets of their experiences with NIL, such as team dynamics and personal branding. The results of this study suggest differences in (1) their institutional educational processes for NIL, (2) their attitudes toward NIL, (3) shifts (or lack thereof) in their team's group cohesion and leadership, and (4) their experience with forming and managing their personal brand. This study adds to the current body of literature illuminating the ways in which NIL legislation has impacted team dynamics and athlete branding, an area of research previously unexplored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain size and grain weight contribute greatly to the final grain yield in rice. In order to identify QTLs conferring grain size and grain weight, an F2 population derived from a cross between two indica rice accessions, Guangzhan 63-4S (GZ63-4S) and Dodda, and its derived F2:3 population were developed, and were exploited for QTL analysis of the five related traits, namely grain length (GL), grain width (GW), length-to-width ratio (LWR), grain thickness (GT) and thousand-grain weight (TGW). A total of 36 QTLs were detected, and the number of beneficial alleles was contributed roughly equally by the two parents. Among those, 7 QTL regions were repeatedly detected in the two populations. In order to further validate effects of QTLs detected, a BC1F2 population derived from a backcross of a mixture of F2 plants with GZ63-4S was developed and was exploited for QTL selection. Heterozygous regions of 3 QTLs, qGS3, qTGW6.2 and qGT7 were identified respectively, and corresponding near-isogenic lines (NILs) of each QTL were constructed with three rounds of self-crosses. In the background of NILs, qGS3 was responsible for GL, LWR, GT and TGW, qTGW6.2 was for GL and TGW, and qGT7 was for GT and TGW. These results have laid the foundation of further fine mapping work, and could be of great use in breeding and improvement of rice lines with desirable size and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brown planthopper (BPH) is the most devastating pest of rice in Asia, causing substantial yield losses and has become a challenging task to be controlled under field conditions. Although extensive measures have been taken over the past decades, which resulted in the evolution of new resistant BPH strains. Therefore, besides other possible approaches, equipping host plants with resistant genes is the most effective and environment-friendly technique for BPH control. Here, we systematically analyzed transcriptome changes in the susceptible rice variety Kangwenqingzhan (KW) and the resistant near-isogenic line (NIL) KW-Bph36- NIL, through RNA-seq, depicting the differential expression profiles of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in rice before and after BPH feeding. We observed a proportion of genes (1.48%) and (2.74%) were altered in KW and NIL, respectively, indicating different responses of rice strains against BPH feeding. Nevertheless, we characterized 384 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DELs) that can be impacted by the two strains by alternatively changing the expression patterns of the respective coding genes, suggesting their certain involvement in response to BPH feeding. In BPH invasion, KW and NIL responded differently by modifying the synthesis, storage, and transformation of intracellular substances, adjusting the nutrient accumulation and utilization inside and outside the cells. In addition, NIL expressed stronger resistance by acutely up-regulating genes and other transcription factors related to stress resistance and plant immunity. Altogether, our study elaborates valuable insights into the genome-wide DEGs and DELs expression profiles of rice under BPH invasion by high throughput sequencing and further suggests that NILs can be utilized in BPH resistance breeding programs in developing high-resistance rice lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case tasks students with navigating the endorsement process for brands seeking to partner with student-athletes as a result of their ability to now legally accept payment for their name, image, and likeness. Students will help a marketing consulting firm as they make recommendations about which athlete to select; identify how a brand (Brave Hydration) can work with the athlete to activate this partnership; and how much each partnership might cost compared with other current student-athlete Name, Image, and Likeness partnerships. The case pulls from principles of endorsement marketing, brand management, and social media management and can be transformed with extended case questions depending on the needs of the instructor and course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual notion of a nil module and the square submodule of a module over a commutative ring are defined. Moreover, besides other results, some properties of these new concepts are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One would assume that the virtual attributes of themselves, including their name, image, and likeness ("NIL") are their own private property, free from governmental or private exploitation. Unfortunately, while states provide for protection against invasion of privacy rights, such as the right of publicity and from private encroachment, it is not clear that a person is protected against governmental exploitation. Therefore, there is much to learn from the case of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) past and current regulations of its players' right to control and capitalize on their NIL. Recently, the Supreme Court in NCAA v. Alston took judicial notice of gross inequities in student-athletes' compensation. Consequently, several states have enacted laws that grant NCAA players the ability to capitalize on their NIL, with some restrictions, and not lose their amateurism status. However, neither the Court nor the states have addressed three quintessential, jurisprudential questions: (1) Is there an inherent right to the attributes of oneself? (2) Is that right a property interest of the person? (3) Is that property interest beyond the reach of the eminent domain powers of the government, as recognized in the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? This article posits that libertarian principles should apply to (1) recognize an inherent right that everyone in the United States has to own and control the attributes of themselves, (2) deem that right to be a special form of natural property, and (3) hold that that right is not subject to the government's power of eminent domain. It applies these principles to the case of the NCAA and its members' regulations that place restrictions on its players from fully benefitting from their NIL to argue that the NCAA and particularly its state-owned member schools are carrying out an unconstitutional exploitation of fundamental rights. Furthermore, it calls upon the general public to boycott NCAA sports until the organization and its members compensate student-athletes as professionals, not amateurs, and allow them to capitalize on their NIL without restrictions, as a matter of fundamental right and not as a mere privilege that is granted by some states. Most importantly, the NCAA players' battle over their NIL rights is a critical precedent relating to the government's control over people's virtual assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panicle architecture is an important agronomic trait in rice that affects rice yields and quality. The GRAIN SIZE 3 (GS3) locus has been identified as a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) affecting grain length and weight. The current understanding of the function of the GS3 gene, especially concerning the regulatory mechanism of panicle development, is still in its infancy. In this study, we generated GS3 near-isogenic lines (NILs) by successive crossing and backcrossing of TD70 (large grain) with Kasalath (small grain), using Kasalath as the recurrent parent. To identify potential transcription dynamic changes in rice panicle formation and grain shape, we deeply analyzed transcriptional profiles for the NILs (NIL - GS3 and NIL - gs3) at three different panicle developmental stages (S, M, and L). A total of 887, 1,768, and 1,478 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at stages S, M, and L, respectively. We also found 542 differential expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Co-expression analysis further revealed significant clusters associated with different development periods in NIL - gs3 lines. Gene Ontology and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed G-protein signaling and hormones pathway were successively activated at the M and L stages of NIL-gs3 , which indicated activation of the G-protein signaling pathway might trigger the down-streaming hormone signaling transduction. we found that other hormones such ABA, Auxin, CK were significantly enriched in the L stage in the NIL-gs3. We highlighted the synergistic interplay of G-protein and multiple hormones signaling pathways and their essential roles in regulating rice panicle formation and the grain shape. Our study provides an invaluable resource for further molecular mechanistic studies that affect rice grain size and provide new insight for directed selection by marker-assisted backcross breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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