The Impact of Customer Engagement in Online Reviews on the Credibility of Shopping Sites and Customer Purchase Intentions

Online reviews have become an important source of information when online shoppers purchase products on shopping sites. Many researchers examined how online reviews affect the credibility of website and shopper’s purchase intentions. However, minimal studies have been conducted regarding how the credibility of website and purchase intentions are differently affected by the extent to which customers are engaged in online reviews. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of customer engagement in online reviews on website credibility and purchase intentions. A total of 403 students completed questionnaires measuring Customer Engagement in Online Reviews, Website Credibility, and Online Purchase Intentions. One-way MANOVA was conducted to test how website credibility and online purchase intentions are affected by a level (low, medium, and high) of customer engagement in online reviews. The results of the study revealed that there were significant multivariate effects of the level of customer engagement in online reviews on website credibility and online purchase intentions. The study also found customer engagement in online reviews positively predicted website credibility, and website credibility significantly predicted online purchase intentions. This study provides online retailers and marketers with practical implications regarding relationship management through online reviews. Keywords: Customer engagement, online reviews, website credibility, purchase intentions DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/76-03 Publication date: February 28th 202

Regulation of Lipid Desaturation and Turnover in Adipose

Mechanisms in the regulation of lipogenesis or lipolysis in adipose tissue significantly contribute to not only uncovering novel treatments for metabolic diseases in human health, but also creating economic profits to markets by improving livestock meat quality. This dissertation describes the investigation of lipid desaturation by ectopically expressed porcine stearoyl-desaturase 1 (SCD1) in non-adipocytes and the extent of lipolysis mediated by various kinds of selective ß-adrenergic receptor (ß-AR) agonists ex vivo and in vitro. Inducible lentiviral expression vectors were generated for over-expression or knock-down of porcine SCD1 in the swine kidney 6 (SK6) cells. pSCD1-transduced SK6 cells successfully overexpressed pSCD1 expression as compared to uninduced SK6 (P < 0.05). pSCD1-transduced SK6 cells transfected with pSCD1shRNA significantly suppressed pSCD1 expression. Furthermore, the pSCD1-transduced cells incubated with 50 µM palmitic acid increased the synthesis of palmitoleic acid nearly 4-fold, indicating that the pSCD1-transduced cells successfully can induce the ∆9 desaturation of palmitic acid to palmitoleic acid. ß-AR subtypes were characterized in bovine subcutaneous (s.c.) and intramuscular (i.m.) adipose tissues with the use of selective ß1-, ß2- and ß3-AR agonists. The most abundant ß-AR mRNA in both adipose tissues was the ß2-AR (P < 0.05). Isoproterenol, ractopamine, and zilpaterol stimulated the release of glycerol and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) from s.c. adipose tissue, but BRL-37344 did not affect lipolysis in s.c. adipose tissue in ex vivo cultures. A novel ß-agonist suppressed the stimulation of cAMP production mediated by ß1- and ß2-AR agonists in s.c. adipose tissue (P <0.05). In contrast, these ß-AR agonists were not effective in i.m. adipose tissue. Finally, we investigated mechanisms regulating ß-AR stimulation mediated by dobutamine, salbutamol, and a novel ß-agonist in primary bovine s.c. and i.m. adipocytes. The stimulation of ß1-AR through dobutamine significantly activated adenylyl cyclase and protein kinas A, and concurrently increased glycerol release in s.c. adipocytes, more than salbutamol did (P < 0.05). The effects by ß-AR agonists were blocked by propranolol. A novel ß-agonist inhibited adenylyl cyclase and protein kinase A activation in s.c adipocytes (P < 0.05). In contrast, these ß-AR agonists were not effective in i.m. adipocytes. In conclusion, this research has suggested the opportunity not only to develop a non-rodent biomedical model of obesity and metabolic disease but also to contribute to the understanding of functionality of ß-AR subtypes in adipose tissue during cattle growth and maturity

Decision Factors in Purchasing Denim Jeans: Comparison of Teens and College Students

A pair of denim jeans is a daily fashion item that almost every teen and college-age individual owns and wears on a regular basis. The population of teens born between 1994 and 2010 is estimated to be more than 23 million and is the fastest growing segment in the apparel industry (Schrorer, 2012). Recent research (Setlow, 2000) has shown that apparel companies are targeting this growing population as they have large discretionary spending power

Development of Mental Health Indicators in Korea

Objective: Promoting mental health and preventing mental health problems are important tasks for international organizations and nations. Such goals entail the establishment of active information networks and effective systems and indicators to assess the mental health of populations. This being said, there is a need in Korea develop ways to measure the state of mental health in Korea. Methods: This paper reviews the mental health indicator development policies and practices of seven organizations, countries, and regions: WHO, OECD, EU, United States, Australia, UK, and Scotland. Using Delphi method, we conducted two surveys of mental health indicators for experts in the field of mental health. The survey questionnaire included 5 domains: mental health status, mental health factor, mental health system, mental health service, and quality of mental health services. We considered 124 potential mental health indicators out of more than 600 from indicators of international organizations and foreign countries. Results: We obtained the top 30 mental health indicators from the surveys. Among them, 10 indicators belong to the mental health system. The most important five mental health indicators are suicide rate, rate of increase in mental disorder treatment, burden caused by mental disorders, adequacy of identifying problems of mental health projects and deriving solutions, and annual prevalence of mental disorders. Conclusion: Our study provides information about the process for indicator development and the use of survey results to measure the mental health status of the Korean population. The aim of mental health indicator development is to improve the mental health system by better grasping the current situation. We suggest these mental health indicators can monitor progress in efforts to implement reform policies, provide community services, and involve users, families and other stakeholders in mental health promotion, prevention, care and rehabilitation

In-silico based redesign of CO-dehydrogenase catalyzing the oxidation of toxic waste CO gas for improved O2 resistance and mediator affinity

Carbon monoxide (CO) harmful to most creatures, is largely discharged by industrial processes in steel mill and thermal power plant. Conversion of toxic waste CO gas to safe gas or more valuable chemicals will be a great worth at this point. Interestingly, carbons and high potential electrons from CO-oxidation can be resourced as essential core parts for the chemical products by using CO-dehydrogenase (CODH) and artificial mediator. For industrial application of the enzymatic CO-oxidation, however, key issues remain that most CODHs show oxygen (O2) sensitivity and low-affinity for artificial mediator. Because steel mill waste gas such as blast furnace gas (BFG) commonly contains a little O2 and higher affinity is required to achieve higher reaction rate. In this research, in-silico based approach was used to redesign Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CODH (ChCODH) II, capable of increasing O2 resistance and affinity to ethyl viologen (EV) mediator. ChCODHs belong to a group of Ni-Fe containing CODH. Among five known ChCODHs (ChCODH I-V), ChCODH II shows the highest activity toward CO but more O2 sensitive than ChCODH IV. The artificial mediator of EV functions as an electron acceptor for ChCODH II but the affinity of ChCODH II to EV mediator is known poor. As our result, more than 10 folds increase of O2 resistance was achieved for the redesigned ChCODH II enzyme, which will be definitely a working horse in the conversion of waste CO gas into value-added chemicals

The kinematics of young stellar population in the W5 region of the Cassiopeia OB6 association: implication on the formation process of stellar associations

The star-forming region W5 is a major part of the Cassiopeia OB6 association. Its internal structure and kinematics may provide hints of the star formation process in this region. Here, we present a kinematic study of young stars in W5 using the Gaia data and our radial velocity data. A total 490 out of 2,000 young stars are confirmed as members. Their spatial distribution shows that W5 is highly substructured. We identify a total of eight groups using the k-means clustering algorithm. There are three dense groups in the cavities of H II bubbles, and the other five sparse groups are distributed at the ridge of the bubbles. The three dense groups have almost the same ages (5 Myr) and show a pattern of expansion. The scale of their expansion is not large enough to account for the overall structure of W5. The three northern groups are, in fact, 3 Myr younger than the dense groups, which indicates the independent star formation events. Only one group of them shows the signature of feedback-driven star formation as its members move away from the eastern dense group. The other two groups might have formed in a spontaneous way. On the other hand, the properties of two southern groups are not understood as those of a coeval population. Their origins can be explained by dynamical ejection of stars and multiple star formation. Our results suggest that the substructures in W5 formed through multiple star-forming events in a giant molecular cloud.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in A

A Gaia view on the star formation in the Monoceros OB1 and R1 associations

Stellar kinematics provides the key to understanding star formation process. In this respect, we present a kinematic study of the Monoceros OB1 (Mon OB1) and R1 (Mon R1) associations using the recent Gaia data and radial velocities of stars derived from high-resolution spectroscopy and the literature. A total of 728 members are selected using the criteria based on the intrinsic properties of young stars, parallaxes, and proper motions. The spatial distribution and kinematic properties of members show that these associations have distinct substructures. In Mon OB1, we find one northern group and two southern groups. Mon R1 is composed of three small stellar groups that are spatially and kinematically distinct. Some stars are found in a halo around these two associations. We detect patterns of expansion for most stellar groups in the associations. In addition, two stellar groups in Mon OB1 show the signature of rotation, which provides an important constraint on cluster formation. The star formation history of Mon OB1 is slightly revised. Star formation first occurred in the southern region and subsequently in the northern region. Recent star-forming events ignited deeper into the southern region, while some stars are escaping from Mon OB1, forming a halo. Mon R1 might have formed at the same epoch as the formation of the northern group in Mon OB1. Given that star formation is taking place on different scales along a large arc-like structure, Mon OB1 and Mon R1 may be the results of hierarchical star formation.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in A

Development of a highly sensitive real-time one step RT-PCR combined complementary locked primer technology and conjugated minor groove binder probe

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Enterovirus (EV) infections are commonly associated with encephalitis and meningitis. Detection of enteroviral RNA in clinical specimens has been demonstrated to improve the management of patients, by ruling out other causes of disease.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>To develop a sensitive and reliable assay for routine laboratory diagnosis, we developed a real-time one step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay with minor groove binder probes and primers modified with complementary locked primer technology (TMC-PCR). We checked the sensitivity of the developed assay by comparing it to a previously published TaqMan probe real-time one-step RT-PCR (TTN-PCR) procedure using enteroviral isolates, Enterovirus Proficiency panels from Quality Control on Molecular Diagnostics (QCMD-2007), and clinical specimens from patients with suspected EV infections.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One hundred clinical specimens from 158 suspected viral meningitis cases were determined to be positive by the TMC-PCR assay (63.29%), whereas only 60 were found to be positive by the TTN-PCR assay (37.97%). The positive and negative agreements between the TMC-PCR and TTN-PCR assays were 100% and 59.2%, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This data suggest that the TMC-PCR assay may be suitable for routine diagnostic screening from patient suspected EV infection.</p

Enrichment of the exocytosis protein STX4 in skeletal muscle remediates peripheral insulin resistance and alters mitochondrial dynamics via Drp1

Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Syntaxin 4 (STX4) levels are reduced in human diabetic skeletal muscle, and global transgenic enrichment of STX4 expression improves insulin sensitivity in mice. Here, we show that transgenic skeletal muscle-specific STX4 enrichment (skmSTX4tg) in mice reverses established insulin resistance and improves mitochondrial function in the context of diabetogenic stress. Specifically, skmSTX4tg reversed insulin resistance caused by high-fat diet (HFD) without altering body weight or food consumption. Electron microscopy of wild-type mouse muscle revealed STX4 localisation at or proximal to the mitochondrial membrane. STX4 enrichment prevented HFD-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and dysfunction through a mechanism involving STX4-Drp1 interaction and elevated AMPK-mediated phosphorylation at Drp1 S637, which favors fusion. Our findings challenge the dogma that STX4 acts solely at the plasma membrane, revealing that STX4 localises at/proximal to and regulates the function of mitochondria in muscle. These results establish skeletal muscle STX4 enrichment as a candidate therapeutic strategy to reverse peripheral insulin resistance