The Effect of Brand Image and Service Quality on Purchasing Decisions at Indomaret Ahmad Yani Manna South Bengkulu

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of brand image and service quality on purchasing decisions at Indomaret Ahmad Yani Manna South Bengkulu.The sample in this study were 75 consumers who shopped for Bimoli oil at Indomaret Ahmad Yani Manna South Bengkulu. Data collection using a questionnaire and the method of analysis used is multiple linear regression, determination test and hypothesis testing.The calculation results from the calculation of the multiple linear regression equation can be seen that X1 (brand image) and X2 (service quality) have an influence on purchasing decisions (Y), with the results of the regression test: Y = 12.881 + 0.291X1 + 0.420 X2 + 4.399 (e) . Brand image has a significant influence on purchasing decisions at Indomaret Ahmad Yani Manna Bengkulu Selatan. This is evidenced by the results of partial hypothesis testing (t test) that a significant value of 0.000 is less than 0.05 and tcount is greater than ttable (3.917> 1.666). This means that if the brand image increases, the purchasing decision will also increase. Service quality has a significant influence on purchasing decisions at Indomaret Ahmad Yani Manna South Bengkulu. This is evidenced by the results of partial hypothesis testing (t test) that a significant value of 0.000 is less than 0.05 and tcount is greater than ttable (4.061 > 1.666). This means that if organizational commitment increases, purchasing decisions will also increase. Brand image and service quality have a significant influence together on customer purchasing decisions at Indomaret Ahmad Yani Manna South Bengkulu. This is evidenced by the results of simultaneous hypothesis testing (test f) that a significant value of 0.000 is less than 0.05 and Fcount > Ftable (21.361 > 3.12). The value of the coefficient of determination is 0.372. This means that X1 (brand image) and X2 (service quality) have a contribution to the purchase decision (Y) of 37.2% while the remaining 62.8% is influenced by other variables not examined in this study.

Performance Analysis of All-Optical Wavelength-Shift-Free Format Conversion from QPSK to Two BPSK Tributaries Using FWM and Interference (Special Section on Recent Advances in Photonics Technologies and Their Applications)

Conversion between multi-level modulation formats is one of key processing functions for flexible networking aimed at high spectral efficiency (SE) in optical fiber transmission. The authors previously proposed an all-optical format conversion system from binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) to quadrature PSK (QPSK) and reported an experimental demonstration. In this paper, we consider its reversed conversion, that is, from QPSK to BPSK. The proposed system consists of a highly nonlinear fiber used to generate complex conjugate signal, and a 3-dB directional coupler used to produce converted signals by interfering the incident signal with the complex conjugate signal. The incident QPSK stream is converted into two BPSK tributaries without any loss of transmitting data. We show the system performances such as bit-error-rate and optical signal-to-noise ratio penalty evaluated by numerical simulation

Cell-to-Cell Transformation in Escherichia coli: A Novel Type of Natural Transformation Involving Cell-Derived DNA and a Putative Promoting Pheromone

Escherichia coli is not assumed to be naturally transformable. However, several recent reports have shown that E. coli can express modest genetic competence in certain conditions that may arise in its environment. We have shown previously that spontaneous lateral transfer of non-conjugative plasmids occurs in a colony biofilm of mixed E. coli strains (a set of a donor strain harbouring a plasmid and a plasmid-free recipient strain). In this study, with high-frequency combinations of strains and a plasmid, we constructed the same lateral plasmid transfer system in liquid culture. Using this system, we demonstrated that this lateral plasmid transfer was DNase-sensitive, indicating that it is a kind of transformation in which DNase-accessible extracellular naked DNA is essential. However, this transformation did not occur with purified plasmid DNA and required a direct supply of plasmid from co-existing donor cells. Based on this feature, we have termed this transformation type as ‘cell-to-cell transformation’. Analyses using medium conditioned with the high-frequency strain revealed that this strain released a certain factor(s) that promoted cell-to-cell transformation and arrested growth of the other strains. This factor is heat-labile and protease-sensitive, and its roughly estimated molecular mass was between ∼9 kDa and ∼30 kDa, indicating that it is a polypeptide factor. Interestingly, this factor was effective even when the conditioned medium was diluted 10–5–10–6, suggesting that it acts like a pheromone with high bioactivity. Based on these results, we propose that cell-to-cell transformation is a novel natural transformation mechanism in E. coli that requires cell-derived DNA and is promoted by a peptide pheromone. This is the first evidence that suggests the existence of a peptide pheromone-regulated transformation mechanism in E. coli and in Gram-negative bacteria

Pharmacokinetics and safety/efficacy of levodopa pro-drug ONO-2160/carbidopa for Parkinson's disease

We conducted a phase I study investigating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of ONO-2160, a newly developed levodopa pro-drug, and carbidopa compared with levodopa and carbidopa to stabilize levodopa plasma concentration fluctuations in Japanese patients with Parkinson's disease. In an open-label two-period design, patients (n = 12) with Parkinson's disease received levodopa and carbidopa for 3 days before 7 days of treatment with ONO-2160 and carbidopa. Patients were primarily evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III, a Parkinson's disease symptom diary, and analysis of adverse events. Pharmacokinetic analysis of plasma levodopa concentration was also performed.ONO-2160 and carbidopa therapy stabilized effective plasma levodopa concentration. No adverse events with safety concerns were observed. The combination of ONO-2160 and carbidopa produced a prolonged and stable plasma levodopa concentration with a reduction in Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III total scores. The combination was well tolerated, with no safety concerns, when administered to Japanese patients with Parkinson's disease. Keywords: ONO-2160, Levodopa, Parkinson's disease, Motor fluctuation