The effects of social media posts’ characteristics on customer engagement: Evidence from WeChat

Many companies are using social media as emerging marketing channels in hopes of encouraging engagement by customers. This study explored the effect of multiple social media post cues on customer engagement. By distinguishing WeChat posts’ characteristics into outer- and inner-layer features, the findings suggest that outer-layer features (title linguistic vividness and top position) have positive effects on reads, and inner-layer features (post vividness and containing user-generated content) encouraged more likes, shares, and comments. In addition, by assigning post contents into sales and non-sales-related categories, we found the former attracts more comments and the latter is more helpful in promoting likes and shares. Further, within sales-related posts, storytelling category will receive more likes, whereas functional category boosts the number of shares.     

Research on the Application of Essential Information Technology in Food Safety Supply Chain

I. INTRODUCTION Along with the economical rapid development and the living standard unceasing enhancement, the consumer request to food quality in a new stair, food consumption pattern has assumed multiplex development tendency, food demand pattern transforms into "the multi- varieties, guarantees safety". Food no longer only is essential item which satisfies life needs; the consumer attention to food from the quantity moves towards the credit level, food security problem appears. How doe…     

Resolving Trans-jurisdictional Water Conflicts by the Nash Bargaining Method: A Case Study in Zhangweinan Canal Basin in North China

Trans-jurisdictional conflict in both water quantity and quality is a general concern in large river basins. In this paper, the relative utility function combined with the asymmetric Nash bargaining method was established to analyze the trans-jurisdictional conflict between water quantity and water quality in the Zhangweinan Canal Basin in China. The basin was divided into four conflict stakeholders, namely, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong Provinces, based on administrative unit. The water usage and pollutant discharge scheme for multiple stakeholders was optimized using the established model to satisfy the environmental flow and water quality objectives at the identified conflict sections. The results indicated that the total water consumption was reduced from 4.38?×?10⁹?m³ in 2007 to 1.97?×?10⁹?m³, and that the allowable COD and NH₃-N discharged into the river was less than 3.8?×?10⁴?t and 4.3?×?10³?t, respectively. About 81.1 % of COD and 76.1 % of NH₃-N should be further reduced compared with the values in 2007.     

Logistics cost analysis of rice straw pellets for feasible production capacity and spatial scale in heat utilization systems: A case study in Nanporo town,Hokkaido, Japan

Rice straw is a promising renewable energy source because it is abundantly available in Asia. This study conducted a case study of logistics cost analysis for rice straw pellets by considering all stages in the supply chain to define the main factors affecting the selling price of rice straw pellets: collection (job-commission or employment of part-time workers), transportation, storage (vinyl greenhouses or storage buildings with larger capacity), pelletizing, and delivery to users with biomass boilers. The selling price was found to be strongly dependent on the production capacity because the investment cost for the pellet production facility had a significant effect of economies of scale. A production capacity of larger than 1500 t y⁻¹ is required for rice straw pellets to compete with wood pellets and fossil fuels in the studied Japanese context if the subsidy rate for the investment is 50%, part-time workers conduct the collection, and rice straw is stored in the storage buildings. Our sensitivity analysis also showed an economically feasible spatial scale: for example, rice straw should be collected within a 20 km radius and the users should be within a 38 km radius when the production capacity is 1500 t y⁻¹. In addition, other critical factors related to the collection of rice straw from the paddy fields and transportation of rice straw rolls to storage were identified as planning factors to further reduce the total logistics cost of rice straw pellets.     

Food-related hazards in China: Consumers' perceptions of risk and trust in information sources

This paper identifies segments of Chinese consumers based on their perception of personal risk, how worried they are and their subjective knowledge about seven possible food-related hazards: additives, residues, counterfeit, inferior, genetically modified, deteriorated and nutritionally imbalanced food. Data were collected through a consumer survey conducted in Beijing (534 participants) and in Baoding (437 participants). Three clusters were identified: worried and knowledgeable consumers (60.1%), worried and ignorant consumers (21.7%) and moderately worried consumers (18.2%). The first two groups reported a high level of worry and high perception of personal risk about food-related hazards in China. The two hazards they were most worried about were counterfeit food and inferior quality food. Television, internet and personal communication were the three information channels most frequently used by participants to obtain information about food safety. Worried and ignorant consumers reported less frequent use of magazines, books and brochures compared with other consumers. Medical doctors, personal experience and research institutes were the three most trusted information sources for the first two groups of consumers. Moderately worried consumers only placed high levels of trust in medical doctors and themselves. Consumers' perceptions about the knowledge, honesty and concern of different information sources significantly and positively affected their trust in those sources. The study concludes by making recommendations as to how to improve communications with the different identified consumer segments and identifies future research required to expand its validity.     

Milk-borne infections awareness and the health status of consumers: An on-line survey

Despite clear health risks associated with consuming unpasteurised milk, a considerable number of people are still consuming these products. We evaluated consumers' behaviour and perceptions about food safety risks related to raw milk and unpasteurised cheese product consumption, associating their awareness of foodborne diseases with the epidemiology of gastro-intestinal disorders. A cross-sectional study in Brazil was conducted using an online standard questionnaire. The consumption of raw milk and dairy products is widespread. Although 66% of consumers are misinformed about regulations, 90% of consumers are conscious about the risks of raw milk consumption. The level of awareness of milk-borne diseases is not equal across age and educational level. Although our results should be generalised with caution, we found that awareness of milk-borne diseases is a protective factor against abdominal pain, concluding that the ability to understand the risks of unpasteurised dairy product consumption was associated with health status of the population.     

番茄PIN基因家族的生物信息学分析及其表达模式

PIN蛋白是生长素输出蛋白,具有多个跨膜结构域,能够介导生长素在整个植物体内的流动。番茄作为一种具有重要经济价值的果蔬,对其生长发育调控的研究具有重要的意义。研究表明,PIN蛋白对植物果实的生长发育起着重要的调控作用。本研究通过生物信息学的方法对番茄PIN基因组中10个SlPINs的核酸和氨基酸序列进行分析,构建番茄Sl PINs的进化树,并分析番茄SlPINs在不同组织和果实生长发育过程中的表达量变化,为进一步研究SlPINs的生物学功能提供理论依据。     

The role of cooperatives in food safety management of fresh produce chains: Case studies in four strawberry cooperatives

Recent outbreaks with fresh produce have raised questions regarding management of quality and safety in the complex supply chains, where cooperatives play a central role. The overall objective of this article was to investigate the role of cooperatives in food quality and safety management in the fresh produce chain, focussing on the food safety management systems implemented on the farms. More specifically, we raise the question how a more market-like or a more hierarchy-like governance of transactions via cooperatives affect the quality and safety management system of the members. The research employed case studies in four cooperatives in Belgium and the Netherlands, each with different size and per cent of contractual sales. Data was collected with a diagnostic tool for assessment of food safety management systems (FSMS) on the farms, and semi-structured interviews with the quality assurance managers of the cooperative firms. Twenty-eight strawberry farms were assessed with the diagnostic tool, seven per each cooperative. Cooperatives play a double role in managing quality and safety in the food supply chain. They are responsible for the supply chain management, including tactical decisions about coordination of quality and safety requirements between customers, cooperative firms and their farmers. At the same time, they are selling the products of their members and make strategic decisions about the governance of transactions in the supply chain, which ultimately may have an impact on the supply chain management and the FSMS on the farms. Farmers in cooperatives with more hierarchical relationships showed better operation of control activities (score 3), and advanced assurance activities at score 4 (advanced level), more science-based, adapted and tested for their effectiveness. This was associated with more effort put in supply chain management by the cooperative to support collaboration and coordination in the chain. However, the largest cooperative had moderate scores for several key control functions, suggesting that large cooperatives with complex business functions may suffer from lower commitment of members, leading to lower FSMS performance at farms.     

Management: a synergistic catalyst in construction production

The relationship of management to capital as resources invested in the productive process in construction is discussed. Capital and labour are shown to be interdependent in the process with management a catalyst facilitating their combination. A perspective of the labour-capital relationship emphasizing the benefits that can result from mutual understanding and respect is presented.     

我国食品安全监管中的公众参与研究

近年来,食品安全公众参与成为学者讨论的热门话题。文章就我国食品安全监管中公众参与的概念和意义进行了探讨,并深入分析我国食品安全监管中公众参与缺乏有效的反馈机制、公民维权成本高、政府惩罚力度和信息公开力度不够等问题,对此借鉴国外食品安全监管公众参与的经验,对我国食品安全公众参与提出了相关意见和建议。