The relationship between leading brands and copycat brands is one of the concepts which have been considered in brand and branding literature. In the present study regarding two kinds of imitation including imitation based on leading brand visual elements or imitation of the concepts of the relationship which is made by leading brand for customers and consumer’s mentality which are relationship-oriented and mentality-oriented, it is tried to investigate the effects of consumer’s mentality on the methods of evaluation and selecting the copycat brand. \nThe results gained from distribution of 330 questionnaires among chocolate customers in Shahrvand shopping centers of Tehran city. The researcher considered a foreign product (Milka, Milk chocolate) as leading brand and two chocolates of different brands (Aysuda and Milky Bon) which were domestic products as copycat brands. Based on the kind of imitation from Milka, Aysuda is appearance-based brand and Milky Bon is relation-based brand. \nIn the first part of the questionnaire, 3 questions considered the customer’s mentality. Totally among 330 answerers, 167 were recognized as appearance-oriented and 163 as relation-oriented. The second part of the questionnaire assessed addresses’ evaluation rate of the similarity of the copycat and leading brand and how they selected them. It was shown that those with appearance-oriented mentality considered the copycat brand based on appearance more similar to leading brand and selected it. Also the results showed that those with relationship-oriented mentality evaluated copycat brand based on appearance positively and had more tendency to select this brand when purchasing.

One of the Principal determinants of business success is technological innovation. New product development is one of the most important components of product policy and product management. A progressive firm has to consider new product development as a cardinal element of its product policy. A business firm has to respond to these dynamic requirements of its clientele and these responses take the shape of new products and new services. Through such a response, the firm reaps a good deal of benefits. New Product Development is the process adopted by organizations worldwide to develop products and services for customers. Organization employees, suppliers, dealers and customers are involved throughout the process. Based on the Caterpillar New Product Development Framework and Competitive Benchmarking, the research objectives of the study are confined to evaluate the adherence of process steps in each of the phases of New Product Development framework ; to plan and build prototype and pilots of the new model of trucks and evaluate the performance of the trucks and to carry out Production Studies of the new model of trucks with the competitor machines and generate Production Study data to substantiate the advantages of the new trucks over the competitors. The results of this study determines how systematic adherence of New Product Development process at Caterpillar for the introduction of 40/50 ton rear dump trucks has paved way for the successful production launch of its products and how Caterpillar 40/50T products were subjected to competitive benchmarking with similar class products of competitors and emerged superior over competitors with regard to product performance and reliability. This study is related to the adherence of the New Production Introduction process and the results of the production studies to place the new product in the market. It is based on predetermined objectives and methodology. In the process of study, the objectives are pre-determined. The methodology has been designed to fulfill the purpose of the study.

This research is seeking to explain the benefit of financial indicators to decision-making of managers and users of financial information in educational institutions, especially non profitable centers. In addition, this study is an attempt to identify the necessary information of users to prepare the reports based on such information and turn to the most important resources of information in decision making. The participant of the study were Islamic Azad University of Ashtian, and investigation is limited to fiscal years of 2009 and 2010. To examine the research hypotheses, the Student Test (T-test) was used. The results have shown that the information provided on the financial indicators in non-profitable educational institutions has a meaningful reliability. Although, financial data are important to users, but providing this type of information is not sufficient enough.

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of pH stress on antioxidant and ion-transport enzyme activities of juvenile Epinephelus coioides under artificial seawater conditions. Epinephelus coioides (orange-spotted grouper, also known as estuary cod) was exposed to water of pH 6.9 or 9.0 for 72 h, with pH 8.1 as control. Antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, total superoxide dismutase and total anti-oxidation capacity) were analyzed in liver, intestines and stomach. In addition, Na+/K+-ATPase activity was analyzed in gills after 0, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h of exposure to pH treatments. In normal pH condition, the activity of antioxidant enzyme differed in various organs of Epinephelus coioides. With the increasing exposure to pH stresses, the antioxidant enzyme activities first increased and then decreased, reached the peak (P?0.05) within 24 h. Antioxidant enzyme activities in liver, intestines and stomach increased to the highest level almost more quickly and higher in the low-pH (6.9) than high-pH (9.0). The pH stress resulted in an increase and then a decrease in Na+/K+-ATPase activity in gills of Epinephelus coioides, with peaks reached (P?0.05) at 6 h in low-pH (6.9) and at 12 h in high-pH (9.0) conditions, suggesting higher sensitivity of Epinephelus coioides to low than high pH.

Most of the international relations theories explain that states form military alliances in response to common external threats. Conversely, alliances should disintegrate when the threats that occasioned their formation disappear. When the cold war ended in Europe, many observers ex¬pected that NATO\'s demise would soon follow. Even if the alliance did not disappear altogether, it would become an empty shell, no longer performing any useful functions. However, NATO has not become moribund. However, NATO has not only survived but has even added to its elaborate organizational bodies and undertaken new activities. We discuss in this article about Theoretical foundation expansion NATO after cold war.

The present investigation was proposed to develop a suitable dipping tank model for organized piggery. A total of eighty one animals of both sexes of about one year of age (12 Months ± 1 month) belonging to Ghungroo, Hampshire and Duroc breeds were used for the study. Appropriate biometry in centimeters (body length, height at back, height at front, flank-to-flank and width) of the pigs from the aforementioned breed was taken with the help of measuring tape. A comparative study on morphometry revealed that as compared to the exotic breeds, indigenous breed’s (Ghunghroo) sow was massive than males. Exotic breeds’s barrel was cylindrical; however, indigenous one was bulky and elliptical. The initial width and length of holding area was found be 6 and 10 ft, respectively. The length, width and depth of dipping area were determined to be 7 ft, 2 ft and3 ft, respectively. This may be made flexible by the use of different levels of dipping solution, so that it could be adjusted depending on the class of the animal (Piglet/ Weaner/ Grower/ Fattening/ Mature) or breed of the pig (Ghungroo/ Hampshire/ Duroc). The slope at the entry point is of little importance, however, at the exit point, it should be at least 1 in 20 to avoid dip solution loss. So, Pigs must not be dipped regularly for efficient pig production system.

In recent years, wind energy has become one of the most important and promising sources of renewable energy, which demands additional transmission capacity and better means of maintaining system reliability. The evolution of technology related to wind systems industry leaded to the development of a generation of variable speed wind turbines that present many advantages compared to the fixed speed wind turbines. These wind energy conversion systems are connected to the grid through Matrix Converter. To harness the wind power efficiently the most reliable system in the present era is grid connected DFIG The contribution of this paper is to improve the power quality of a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) based Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) by reducing the harmonics of the output current and voltage. In the existing system, the proposed algorithm is applied to a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) with a stator directly connected to the grid and a rotor connected to the grid through a back-to-back AC-DC-AC PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) converter. A DFIG uses a two stage power converter process in the rotor circuit which contributes to the electrical losses in the system. By adopting a matrix converter, the electrical losses may be reduced as the power conversion is conducted as a single stage process. Simulation results are presented for the DFIG based WECS and the results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in terms of power quality improvement.