Search

Marketing in social media is gaining importance among young consumers. Because of the clutter in social network services (SNS) like Facebook, creating engaging content that can generate click-through and sharing behaviors is becoming a key success factor for SNS marketing. We investigate the neural indicators of engagement with content as a driver of consumers′ click-through behavior in social media. Using a novel neuroscientific research methodology called event-related potentials (ERP), we find unique brainwave signals that combine P3 and late positive potential (LPP), increasing power signals with multiple exposures while young consumers are exposed to highly engaging Facebook posts. These unique brainwave signals in response to engagement with online content, which occur within 300 ms, are detected in the bilateral temporal brain areas. A new neuromarketing method will soon allow marketers to predict consumers′ online click-through behaviors from micro-second brain processes that occur almost simultaneously with the time of content exposure.

Do liberals’ and conservatives’ brain processes differ in moral reasoning? This research explains these groups’ dissimilar moral stances when they face ethical transgressions in business. Research that explores the effects of ideological asymmetry on moral reasoning processes through moral foundations (i.e., fairness and authority) has been limited. We hypothesize two different moral reasoning processes and test them in the South Korean culture. Study 1 uses the neuroscientific method of event-related potentials (ERP) to explore the dissociable neural mechanisms that underlie Korean liberals’ and conservatives’ moral reasoning processes in business ethical transgressions. Liberals’ early frontal negative-going (EFN) brain waves showed that they are quick to pass negative judgment by intuitively detecting violations of fairness (i.e., moral engagement), while conservatives’ temporoparietal positive-going (TPP) brain waves showed that they have a higher motivation to respect authority (i.e., moral rationalization). Both liberals’ and conservatives’ ERP components occur within the first second of the decision-making phase, suggesting the rapid and intuitive nature of moral reasoning processes. Study 2 tests a mediating process and confirms that Korean liberals (conservatives) exhibit the moral engagement (rationalization) strategy, through the fairness (authority) foundation. These findings from our interdisciplinary research deepen the knowledge of the complexity of human morality in business ethics research.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to contribute to the extant sport marketing literature by positing fan engagement, team brand image and cumulative fan satisfaction with the team as factors influencing attitudinal and behavioural soccer (football) fan loyalty, with enduring involvement with the team as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sample of Australian A-League soccer fans completed a paper-and-pencil, self-administered survey to evaluate their team on the focal constructs. A total of 207 participants were recruited from a major Australian east-coast university.FindingsUsing partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the study found that fan engagement influences both team brand image and cumulative fan satisfaction, while team brand image also influences cumulative fan satisfaction, and both of these constructs influence attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. The moderating role of enduring involvement was also found for two relationships: team brand image → attitudinal loyalty and team brand image → behavioural loyalty, along with a mediating role of attitudinal loyalty.Originality/valueThis study increases our understanding of the reasons why soccer fans are committed to and exhibit fan-related behaviours for a team, thus contributing to the sports-marketing literature on the relationships amongst fan engagement, team brand image, cumulative fan satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty, along with the moderating role of enduring involvement. The findings also assist sports-marketing practitioners to formulate more effective, fan-centric marketing-communication strategies leading to a larger loyal fan base.

Microalgae have been studied and tested for over 70 years. However, biodiesel, the prime target of the algal industry, has suffered from low competitiveness and current steps toward banning the internal combustion engine all over the world. Meanwhile, interest in reducing CO2 emissions has grown as the world has witnessed disasters caused by global warming. In this situation, in order to maximize the benefits of the microalgal industry and surmount current limitations, new breakthroughs are being sought. First, drop-in fuel, mandatory for the aviation and maritime industries, has been discussed as a new product. Second, methods to secure stable and feasible outdoor cultivation focusing on CO2 sequestration were investigated. Lastly, the need for an integrated refinery process to simultaneously produce multiple products has been discussed. While the merits of microalgae industry remain valid, further investigations into these new frontiers would put algal industry at the core of future bio-based economy.

This research seeks to understand how time constraint can escalate mental efforts and change the outcome of moral judgment when we face moral dilemma. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), hemodynamic responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were recorded while subjects were deliberating over choices under the situations of business moral dilemma. Bilateral increase of oxyhemoglobin values on DLPFC was observed from subjects who made moral choices under time constraint. The results of suggest that severe time constraint can overburden the activities of moral brain and elevate decision stress, possibly leading to moral incompetency.

While the screening and development of robust algal crops have mostly focused on determining strains that exhibit the highest possible yields of biomass or desirable biomolecules, these criteria do not necessarily lead to finding algal strains with high tolerance to varying outdoor cultivation conditions. Herein, we report Chlorella sp. HS2 isolated from a tidal rock pool nearby a local coastal waterfall that presumably experienced fluctuations in salinity, pH, and temperature. Compared to two reference strains, Chlorella sp. HS2 exhibited relatively high tolerance to a wide range of salinity (0–5% (w/v) of supplemental NaCl), pH (3.0–10.5), and temperature (14–46 °C) with substantially high biomass accumulation. While the supplementation of either gaseous CO2 or sodium bicarbonate enhanced algal growth, the mixotrophic and heterotrophic cultivations of Chlorella sp. HS2 further indicated its propensity to grow favorably under the presence of organic carbon sources. Subsequent PBR cultivation of Chlorella sp. HS2 under optimal light and/or temperature conditions suggested the highest specific growth rate during mixotrophy, while the analyses of the harvested biomass identified palmitate, oleate, and linoleate as major fatty acid methyl esters, and lutein and s-carotene as predominant carotenoids. Substantially, high growth rates of Chlorella sp. HS2 under a wide range of abiotic conditions and different trophic modes with favorable biochemical composition thus strongly support our algal isolate as a robust and reliable algal crop that can be deployed to achieve high production of commercially important biomolecules and to incorporate simultaneous treatment of wastewater or CO2-replete flue gas into algal cultivation.

Background Nannochloropsis is a marine microalga that has been extensively studied. The major carotenoid produced by this group of microalgae is violaxanthin, which exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-photoaging, and antiproliferative activities. Therefore, it has a wide range of potential applications. However, large-scale production of this pigment has not been much studied, thereby limiting its industrial application. Results To develop a novel strain producing high amount of violaxanthin, various Nannochloropsis species were isolated from seawater samples and their violaxanthin production potential were compared. Of the strains tested, N. oceanica WS-1 exhibited the highest violaxanthin productivity; to further enhance the violaxanthin yield of WS-1, we performed gamma-ray-mediated random mutagenesis followed by colorimetric screening. As a result, Mutant M1 was selected because of its significant higher violaxanthin content and biomass productivity than WS-1 (5.21 ± 0.33 mg g− 1 and 0.2101 g L− 1 d− 1, respectively). Subsequently, we employed a 10 L-scale bioreactor to confirm the large-scale production potential of M1, and the results indicated a 43.54 % increase in violaxanthin production compared with WS-1. In addition, comparative transcriptomic analysis performed under normal light condition identified possible mechanisms associated with remediating photo-inhibitory damage and other key responses in M1, which seemed to at least partially explain enhanced violaxanthin content and delayed growth. Conclusions Nannochloropsis oceanica mutant (M1) with enhanced violaxanthin content was developed and its physiological characteristics were investigated. In addition, enhanced production of violaxanthin was demonstrated in the large-scale cultivation. Key transcriptomic responses that are seemingly associated with different physiological responses of M1 were elucidated under normal light condition, the details of which would guide ongoing efforts to further maximize the industrial potential of violaxanthin producing strains.

International audience; Previously, we isolated Chlorella sp. HS2 (referred hereupon as HS2) from a local tidal rock pool and demonstrated its halotolerance and high biomass productivity under different salinity conditions. To further understand acclimation responses of this alga under high salinity stress, we performed transcriptome analysis of triplicated culture samples grown in freshwater and marine conditions at both exponential and stationary growth phases. The results indicated that the transcripts involved in photosynthesis, TCA, and Calvin cycles were downregulated, whereas the upregulation of DNA repair mechanisms and an ABCB subfamily of eukaryotic type ABC transporter was observed at high salinity condition. In addition, while key enzymes associated with glycolysis pathway and triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis were determined to be upregulated from early growth phase, salinity stress seemed to reduce the carbohydrate content of harvested biomass from 45.6 dw% to 14.7 dw% and nearly triple the total lipid content from 26.0 dw% to 62.0 dw%. These results suggest that the reallocation of storage carbon toward lipids played a significant role in conferring the viability of this alga under high salinity stress by remediating high level of cellular stress partially resulted from ROS generated in oxygen‐evolving thylakoids as observed in a direct measure of photosystem activities.

The concept of sustainable biodiesel production using microalgae has attracted a lot of attention as an emerging green energy technology. However, low algal biomass and lipid productivity hinder cost-effective biodiesel production. To overcome these problems, this study examined the effect of bacterial volatile compounds (VCs) on the growth and lipid production of microalga Chlorella vulgaris OW-01. The VCs of phycospheric bacteria including Hyphomonas sp., Rhizobium sp., and Sphingomonas sp. efficiently augmented algal biomass in a newly developed VCs experimental apparatus. Moreover, an apparent increase in total lipid content along with a 2.34-fold increase in productivity was observed in Hyphomonas sp. VCs–exposed algal biomass. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) composition also demonstrated that the algal biodiesel properties were somewhat modified by exposure to bacterial VCs. A LiOH filter-inducing CO2-removed bacterial VCs (CRBVCs) also enhanced daily growth of microalgae, as compared to the control culture (aeration), indicating that CRBVC included growth-promoting volatiles. Of those factors, volatile indole was identified as a possible algal growth enhancing factor, and it showed a higher growth-promoting effect than dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide. Based on these results, it is speculated that the use of bacterial VCs for algal cultivation is a promising future bioprocess for the algal biomass and biodiesel production.

Biodegradable films based on chitosan, glycerol, and defatted Chlorella biomass (DCB) were prepared and characterized in terms of thermal stability, mechanical, water barrier, and optical properties. Increasing DCB content from 5 to 25 wt% increased tensile strength of chitosan films by 235%. The incorporation of DCB decreased both moisture content and swelling degree of chitosan/defatted Chlorella biomass (Cs/DCB) films. Furthermore, increasing the content of defatted algal biomass decreased light transmission and reduced water vapor permeability of composite films by more than 60%. As confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared analysis, such improvement in functional and physical properties is mainly due to the homogeneous and uniform distribution of DCB into the polymeric matrix along with the establishment of strong hydrogen bond interactions between chitosan and algal biomass constituents. Moreover, Cs/DCB composite films showed more than 50% of degradation in 60 days soil burial test.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Open algal cultivation platforms often suffer crop losses to herbivorous grazers that have potential to devastate biomass production within a few days. While a number of studies suggest synthetic chemicals as control agents for voracious algal grazers, environmental and safety concerns associated with the use of these chemicals encourage the exploration of alternative biological control agents. We hereby propose the application of a biosurfactant produced by Bacillus subtilis C9 (referred to as C9-biosurfactant) for controlling cladoceran grazers commonly found in algal cultivation systems. The results indicated that C9-biosurfactant completely eradicated Daphnia pulex and Moina macrocopa within 24 hours when concentrations were equal to or exceeded 6 mg/L. Moreover, supplying C9-biosurfactant into the cultures of selected algal species with and without cladoceran grazers indicated no adverse effect of C9-biosurfactant on the growth and lipid productivity of algal crops, while cladocerans were selectively controlled by C9-biosurfactant even under the presence of their prey. These results thus indicate that C9-biosurfactant could be an effective biocontrol agent for cladoceran grazers at industrial algal cultivation.

The era for eco-friendly polymers was ushered by the marine plastic menace and with the discovery of emerging pollutants such as micro-, nano-plastics, and plastic leachates from fossil fuel-based polymers. This review investigates algae-derived natural, carbon neutral polysaccharides and polyesters, their structure, biosynthetic mechanisms, biopolymers and biocomposites production process, followed by biodegradability of the polymers. The review proposes acceleration of research in this promising area to address the need for eco-friendly polymers and to increase the cost-effectiveness of algal biorefineries by coupling biofuel, high-value products, and biopolymer production using waste and wastewater-grown algal biomass. Such a strategy improves overall sustainability by lowering costs and carbon emissions in algal biorefineries, eventually contributing towards the much touted circular, net-zero carbon future economies. Finally, this review analyses the evolution of citation networks, which in turn highlight the emergence of a new frontier of sustainable polymers from algae.

Freshwater macroalgae are an underutilized group of ubiquitous algae with greater yield potentials than most terrestrial energy crops, but whose combustion characteristics are not thoroughly understood. This effort compared the combustion of pelletized 100% pine and macroalgae-containing solid fuel mixtures (90%/10% and 75%/25% pine/macroalgae) using a fixed bed co-current reactor. Macroalgae increased pellet density as its protein and calcium content promoted hydrogen bonding and cross-linked the carboxylic acid functionality of polysaccharides. In addition, higher concentrations of freshwater macroalgal biomass required a greater air flow rate to achieve the mixing required for combustion. Since the macroalgae had a higher level of fuel nitrogen and fuel sulfur, emissions of nitrogen and sulfur oxides largely grew with an increasing proportion of this fuel. Overall, pelletized macroalgae can be co-combusted with woody biomass and its pre-treatment (water-rinsing and modulating cultivation conditions) can reduce or eliminate drawbacks found in the harvested naturally-occurring algal material.

Fructophilic behavior in microalgae is a rare trait that could benefit biorefineries by enabling substitution of carbon source with fructose, and our previous study identified that Ettlia sp. prefers fructose relative to glucose. In this study, by analyzing the transcription levels of genes related to sugar transport and the glycolysis pathway, the fructose utilization of Ettlia sp. was investigated. In a fructose-containing medium, the expression levels of fructokinase (EttFRK3) and glucokinase (EttGCK1 and EttGCK2) genes were significantly upregulated in heterotrophic cultivation of Ettlia sp. under fructose supplementation conditions. Further, a sugar transporter (EttSTF11) was significantly upregulated by 3.2-fold in one day, and this increase was analogous to the specific growth rate exhibited by the species. Subsequent cultivation tests with multi-sugar sources also showed a significant upregulation of EttSTF11 relative to other treatments without fructose. A phylogenetic tree derived from the analysis of different transporters of interest identified that EttSTF11 was adjacent to reference fructose transporters with a high bootstrap value of 71. Given that the transmembrane domains of EttSTF11 were analogous to those of reference fructose transporter genes, EttSTF11 appeared to play a critical role in fructose consumption and metabolism in Ettlia sp. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Increased lipid accumulation of algal cells as a response to environmental stress factors attracted much attention of researchers to incorporate this stress response into industrial algal cultivation process with the aim of enhancing algal lipid productivity. This study applies high-salinity stress condition to a two-phase process in which microalgal cells are initially grown in freshwater medium until late exponential phase and subsequently subjected to high-salinity condition that induces excessive lipid accumulation. Our initial experiment revealed that the concentrated culture of Chlorella sorokiniana HS1 exhibited the intense fluorescence of Nile red at the NaCl concentration of 60 g/L along with 1 g/L of supplemental bicarbonate after 48 h of induction period without significantly compromising cultural integrity. These conditions were further verified with the algal culture grown for 7 days in a 1 L bottle reactor that reached late exponential phase; a 12% increment in the lipid content of harvested biomass was observed upon inducing high lipid accumulation in the concentrated algal culture at the density of 5.0 g DW/L. Although an increase in the sum of carbohydrate and lipid contents of harvested biomass indicated that the external carbon source supplemented during the induction period increased overall carbon assimilation, a decrease in carbohydrate content suggested the potential reallocation of cellular carbon that promoted lipid droplet formation under high-salinity stress. These results thus emphasize that the two-phase process can be successfully implemented to enhance algal lipid productivity by incorporating high-salinity stress conditions into the pre-concentrated sedimentation ponds of industrial algal production system.

Successful cultivation of algal biomass in outdoor open systems depends on maintaining the growth of desirable species against algal invaders that diminish biomass production potential by posing competitive pressure on target algal species. This study demonstrates a photobioreactor (PBR)-open raceway pond (ORP) hybrid system that enables the operation of PBR as a continuous source of the inoculum of desirable algal species to sustain the growth of target algal species in small-scale open raceway ponds (sORPs). A 47-day long operation of PBR-ORP hybrid system indicated that hybrid operation allowed sORPs to maintain the predominant growth of Parachlorella sp. JD076, a target microalga, whereas the sORP operated in conventional semi-continuous mode completely lost the desirable algal species. Moreover, the sORP assigned to PBR-ORP hybrid operation exhibited 40% and 62% increased algal biomass and lipid productivities compared to the sORP operated in conventional semi-continuous mode. The hybrid system produced significantly more biomass and lipids than the conventional semi-continuous system with CO2 amendment, and the hybrid system with CO2 amendment was also more productive than the same system with only aeration. These results thus align well with previous studies that suggested the operation of PBR-ORP hybrid system as a promising crop maintenance strategy to improve the growth and yield of target species at industrial algal cultivation.

Objective:Football is the predominant sport in Brazil, but a better understanding of what motivates non-football and football fans is needed. Method:A conceptual model is empirically tested of the effects of six motivational drivers-Interest in Team, Socialisation, Aesthetics, Sport Knowledge, Interest in Sport, Vicarious Achievement-on both attitudinal and behavioural fan loyalty using survey data from 483 Brazilian sports fans. Originality/Relevance:a theoretical gap exists as to understanding the unique motivations for Brazilian fan loyalty (Wang, Zhang, & Tsuji, 2011) and what drives Brazilian fans to attitudinally commit to a team and exhibit fan-related behaviours, such as attending matches and buying team merchandise. Results:fans of both football and other sports in Brazil share some underlying motivational drivers of attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. They also indicate that some differences exist across the motivational drivers of attitudinal and behavioural fan loyalty. Theoretical/methodological contributions:Results from this study support previous research into the influence of motivations on attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty and offer insights into the direct influence of different motivations on attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. Social/management contributions:these findings will assist sports-marketing practitioners of sports competing with football in Brazil to formulate more effective, fan-centric marketing-communication strategies leading to a larger loyal fan base.

Based on the behavioral economic theory, the recent uptake in the use of Nudge Theory, has been seen in many companies aiding consumers’ decision-making processes. However, recently online channels have started to use this technique for profiteering purposes, coined in this paper as a digital dark nudge. While cases of good nudge have been extensively studied, research on their dark sides and the effects these may have are absent and unclear. We demonstrate in a pilot study on 92 participants proof of concept and thus conceptualize the next steps in analyzing this phenomenon through the lens of NeuroIs. Through this process we aim to identify whether digital dark nudges will be detrimental to a consumers’ buying intentions and whether they may have a long-term negative impact on those engaged in the use of them.

This work aimed to demonstrate a new strategy for enhancing the production of carotenoids through the regulation of seesaw cross-talk between autophagy and carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Autophagy-related ATG1 and ATG8 genes were first silenced using artificial microRNA, which in turn reduced the mRNA expression of ATG1 and ATG8 by 84.4% and 74.3%, respectively. While ATG1 kinase controls early step in autophagy induction and ATG8 is an essential factor for the downstream formation of autophagosome membranes, the decreased expression of these genes led to a 2.34-fold increase in the amount of β-carotene content (i.e., 23.75 mg/g DCW). Furthermore, all mutants seemed to exhibit greater biodiesel properties than that of wild-type due to increased accumulation of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. These results support the role of autophagy in regulating the production of valuable metabolites, which could contribute to uplifting the economic outlook of nascent algal biorefinery.

Defatted Chlorella biomass was investigated as an unconventional and promising carbon source for the co-production of polyhydroxyalkanoates and cartenoids via batch cultivation of Paracoccus sp. LL1. 10% (w/v) of algal biomass was subjected to acid hydrolysis using different concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 N) of either sulfuric or hydrochloric acid to yield fermentable sugars. Regardless of the acid type, reducing sugar content significantly increased with an increasing acid concentration, reaching a maximum yield of 52 and 46 g/L respectively for hydrochloric and sulfuric acid catalyzed hydrolysis at the highest acid concentrations (p

Herein, a two-stage cultivation process was devised to overcome low pigment content of algal biomass grown in heterotrophy. Post-treatment conditions (i.e., light intensity, temperature, pH and salinity) were initially tested for dense heterotrophically-grown Chlorella sp. HS2 cultures in a multi-channel photobioreactor (mcPBR), and the results clearly indicated the influence of each abiotic factor on algal pigment production. Subsequently, the optimal post-treatment conditions (i.e., 455 μmol m−2 s−1, 34.8℃, pH 8.23 and 0.7% (w/v) salinity), in which highest accumulation of algal pigments is expected, were identified using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Compared to the control cultures grown in mixotrophy for the same duration of entire two-stage process, the results indicated a significantly higher pigment productivity (i.e., 167.5 mg L–1 day−1) in a 5-L fermenter following the post-treatment at optimal conditions. Collectively, these results suggest that the post-treatment of heterotrophic cultures can be successfully deployed to harness the nascent algae-based bioeconomy.

Filamentous freshwater macroalgae have significant potential as a renewable source of bioenergy. However, the ultimate success of freshwater macroalgae as a biofuel feedstock will depend upon our ability to produce biomass at commercial-scale in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. Aquatic ecology can play an important role to achieve the scale-up of algal crop production by informing the rates of nutrients supplied to the cultivation systems, and by helping to create adaptive production systems that are resilient to environmental change. A review and analysis of data from the published literature reveals that the large-scale cultivation of freshwater macroalgae is feasible using currently available technologies such as the Algal Turf Scrubber® system (ATS™). In addition, graphical analyses of published data obtained from ATS systems of varying sizes in operation worldwide reveal that both macroalgal biomass productivity and nutrient removal rates are hyperbolically related to the areal loading rates of both total nitrogen and total phosphorus. The effectiveness and need for CO2 supplementation of macroalgal production systems like the ATS has not yet been conclusively demonstrated, however.

The progressive deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain is a pathologic feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study was aimed to determine whether endogenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) modulates the pathogenic process of AD. tPA expression and activity developed around amyloid plaques in the brains of human amyloid precursor protein-overexpressing Tg2576 mice, which were weakened by the genetic ablation of tPA. Although the complete loss of tPA was developmentally fatal to Tg2576 mice, tPA-heterozygous Tg2576 mice expressed the more severe degenerative phenotypes than tPA wild-type Tg2576 mice, including abnormal and unhealthy growth, shorter life spans, significantly enhanced Aβ levels, and the deposition of more and larger amyloid plaques in the brain. In addition, the expression of synaptic function-associated proteins was significantly reduced, which in turn caused a more severe impairment in learning and memory performance in Tg2576 mice. Thus, endogenous tPA, preferentially its aggregate form, could degrade Aβ molecules and maintain low levels of brain Aβ, resulting in the delay of AD pathogenesis.

A flexible hybrid anode from graphite and thin film silicon is realized by the concept of a 3D sandwich current collector by the combination of micro-contact printing and RF magnetron sputtering. Flexible lithium-ion batteries with a new hybrid anode demonstrate not only enhanced specific capacity but also improved rate capability compared to that of a conventional graphite anode under bending deformation.

Digital and social media has become an indispensable channel of promotion and marketing to the enterprises. For example, compared to other means of promotional channels, such as television advertising, newspapers, social network services (SNS) are more competitive, more convenient, and lower-cost. Because individuals compose or share those posts anytime, anywhere, information spreads fast and wide on social media. SNS posts can affect people's perception, thus affecting their purchase intention and behavior. A large number of researchers investigated academic issues involved SNS, such as the influence of eWOM in social media on consumers' purchase intentions (Erkan & Evans, 2016). According to Lin and Lu’s research (2011), which suggests that gender difference also exists in social media. In addition, a study identified attributes of social media messaging activities and examined the relationships among those perceived activities, value equity, relationship equity, brand equity, customer equity, and purchase intention through a structural equation model (Kim & Ko, 2012). In this study, we focus on the motivational antecedents of digital buzz on digital and social media. Among many performance metrics of digital marketing, the most important one that really matters to advertisers is click-through. Click-through is believed to reflect viewers’ interest in the product contents that are being shown on screen, and based on that assumption, it opens a new navigation tab, such as the advertiser’s web site that can provide information about products and services of an advertising company. However, there is a caveat here. Since advertisements in digital and social media are often placed on top of the contents that the viewers have already been reading, viewers can accidentally click on the internet advertisements in which they have no interests. Viewers are only annoyed by intrusive re-routing during their digital activities. Hence, it is important that the digital media marketer to be able to distinguish between the click-throughs, knowing the difference between the clicks that are genuinely reflective of a viewer’s interest, or the rest of clicks that are not. For this purpose, we propose consumer curiosity and anticipation as drivers of click-through that are meaningful to digital markers. Consumer curiosity is an important variable that results in click-through behavior, digital propagation or buzz, and further stimulates consumers' consumption activities. In recent years, there are many studies to verify this theory. Online atmospherics have an impact on customer emotions, and perceptual curiosity has a moderating effect existed in the two variables (Koo & Ju, 2010). However, the research about curiosity’s mediation effect on purchase intention aroused by SNS contents is still limited. In addition, the neural research in this field is still limited. The research seeks to understand how the SNS contents affect customer’s curiosity toward the product which the content mentioned. Furthermore, to find the relationship between curiosity and the purchase intention by using neuromarketing methodology. Our goal is to discover the neural signatures of consumers’ motivational state that leads to click-through, exploration of contents, and finally digital buzz behavior. EEG and fMRI are commonly research approaches used in the neuroscience field. EEG detect electric activities in the brain waves and fMRI measures hemodynamic events to discover individuals’ cognitive and motivational states. After content-analyzing top 10 most shared posts in the fashion brands Facebook official account which included luxury brands such as GUCCI, Luis Vuitton, and Hermes), we extract the attractive posts’ content attributes to be the level of accuracy, graphic quality, and information value. Then, we create two different simulations of social media activities that instigates viewer curiosity at differing levels. By designing an online experiment that examines how different arrays of information can create different levels viewer curiosity in user posts, and by measuring viewers’ intention to propagate the posts, we are able to discover neural signatures of digital buzz. Potential implications to digital marketing of this research in establishing meaningful performance metrics for digital marketing are discussed.

Patterning and aligning are the most distinctive research areas in surface science. In this paper, we demonstrate a fabrication method for the simultaneous formation of a wall-structured surface relief and a molecular aligning region between the walls. A photoreactive polymer, poly(vinyl cinnamate) (PVCi), was used as the matrix; it was coated either onto a rigid glass substrate or a flexible plastic substrate. We used a solvent-assisted micro-molding poly(dimethylsiloxane) stamp to form 10-μm-wide and 10-μm-high walls every 100 μm on the matrix. The direction of the molecular alignment in the region between the walls was perpendicular to the direction of the walls; this finding was confirmed by the subsequent liquid crystal (LC) alignment investigation. The alignment of this wide region between the wall structures is uncommon and differs from the molecular alignment induced by the microgroove topology due to the patterning. Additionally, the application of linearly polarized ultraviolet irradiation onto the photoreactive PVCi improved the molecular alignment either on the region between the walls or on the lateral side of the walls; this finding was confirmed by polarized light microscopy imaging. The simultaneous formation of the wall support in the molecular aligning region can be used in flexible LC displays, in which the maintenance of cell gaps and the aligning of the LC material play a critical role in display performance. Open image in new window

Flexible current collectors are fabricated through the placement of a thin copper layer onto various polymeric films such as poly (ethylene naphthalate) (PEN), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polyimide (PI), and poly(ether sulfone) (PES) by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. Flexible current collectors with different Cu-sputtered thicknesses were examined as a current collector for lithium secondary batteries. As the thickness of the copper layer increased, the surface resistance of the flexible current collector decreased to the level of 1 Ω/Sq, which could make the unit cell based on the flexible current collector obtain comparable capacity as a copper metal foil current collector.

Stimuli-sensitive biomaterials can present variable and tailored functions under specific external stimuli, thus showing potential for application in various biosciences. Significant efforts have focused on the utilization of light as a stimulus in biomedical applications because of its unique advantages, especially the precise control over its position, movement, and non-contact irradiation. This article highlights the preparation of a photo-reactive oligomer composed of biodegradable moieties and its UV-triggered in-plane molecular orientation, implicating its surface as a potential molecular alignment layer. We focus especially on the alignment of nematic liquid crystalline (LC) molecules on the biodegradable layer with molecular orientation, because they are promising candidates for sensing and interfacial applications.

This study has analyzed the scale, location, resource potential and feasibility of offshore wind farm scientifically and systematically based on the national wind map and GIS. For long-term wind power development, this study pursues siting strategy building, selection of target area and deciding development priority as well as the presenting a basis for assessment that are necessary for policy decision making by making theme layers under GIS environment. According to the analysis after organizing technological development by stages, even if only the most suitable sites are developed among the area of offshore wind farm candidates that can be developed under the current technological standard, it has been evaluated as being able to develop about 3 times of the wind power dissemination target until 2012. It is expected that about 5% of territorial water area can be developed in a short-term future while the southern offshore area possessing relatively favorable wind resource than the western offshore has been identified as the most feasible site. While about 23% of territorial water area has been classified as potential area for offshore wind farm development in a long-term future, even Jeju Island and offshore of Ulsan possessing excellent wind resource have been analyzed as feasible sites. The feasibility assessment of offshore wind lam development established by this study is expected to assist national strategy building for accomplishing the wind power dissemination target.

A Polymeric mirror from 1D photonic crystal exhibiting full specular reflection is applied on the exterior of the counter electrode of a dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Reflection of exiting light from the cell allows for the reuse of the light and thereby significantly increases the efficiency of the DSSCs (from 8.07% to 8.85%). Furthermore, it is also found to be effective even with incorporation of an internal scattering layer, which is widely used within a TiO₂ anode layer for enhancing light trapping in DSSCs (from 9.17% to 9.53%).

A systematic approach was followed to develop a new counter-electrode consisting of a highly reflective polymer substrate and a highly conductive polymer for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. The reflection of the incident light from the substrate allows more solar light to be harvested by the dye. We compared the photovoltaic performance of the TCO- and Pt-less counter-electrodes based on the reflective and pristine polymer substrates. The optimal DSSC composed of the TCO- and Pt-less counter-electrode exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 6.15% when measured using an AM1.5G solar simulator at 100 mW cm−2 light illumination.