Effectiveness of Online Consumer Product Review: The Role of Experiential Information

Product reviews as consumer-generated information have drawn great attention from researchers and practitioners. A substantial academic effort has been made to comprehend factors influencing the helpfulness of reviews, largely centering on a few quantitative factors (e.g., star rating, review length). However, research investigating qualitative aspects of product reviews still lags, though product reviews consist mainly of peer consumers’ experiences and opinions. In this study, we use the smartphone reviews to investigate consumers’ experiences and opinions in relation to review helpfulness. By statistical analysis, we demonstrate that consumers’ experiential information plays a significant role to make product reviews helpful. We furnish additional evidence of the statistical results by predictive analytics. Our findings suggest that consumers’ experiential information conveys meaningful implication to better understand the nature of product reviews. Therefore, this study contributes to the extant literature of e-commerce and to practitioners to utilize the consumer reviews of their products

Ventx family and its functional similarities with Nanog : involvement in embryonic development and cancer progression

This study was supported by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-BBSRC-UK (BB/T003146/1) and the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), which is funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology of Korea (2016R1D1A1B02008770 and 2021M3H9A1097557).The Ventx family is one of the subfamilies of the ANTP (antennapedia) superfamily andbelongs to the NK-like (NKL) subclass. The Ventx family is a homeobox transcription factor and has a DNA-interacting domain evolutionarily conserved throughout vertebrates. It has been extensively studied in Xenopus, zebrafish, and human. The Ventx family contains transcriptional repressors widely involved in embryonic development and tumorigenesis in vertebrates. Several studies have documented that the Ventx family inhibited dorsal mesodermal formation, neural induction, and head formation in Xenopus and zebrafish. Moreover, Ventx2.2 showed functional similarities to Nanog and Barx1, leading to pluripotency and neural-crest migration in vertebrates. Among them, Ventx protein is an orthologue of the Ventx family in humans. Studies have demonstrated that human Ventx was strongly associated with myeloid-cell differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia.The therapeutic potential of Ventx family inhibition in combating cancer progression in humans is discussed. Additionally, we briefly discuss genome evolution, gene duplication, pseudo-allotetraploidy, and the homeobox family in Xenopus.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The regulatory roles of motile cilia in CSF circulation and hydrocephalus

This article was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), which is funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology of Korea (2016R1D1A1B02008770, 2016M3A9B8914057, 2018M3C7A1056285, and 2021R1A4A1027355).Background Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is an ultra-filtrated colorless brain fluid that circulates within brain spaces like the ventricular cavities, subarachnoid space, and the spine. Its continuous flow serves many primary functions, including nourishment, brain protection, and waste removal. Main body The abnormal accumulation of CSF in brain cavities triggers severe hydrocephalus. Accumulating evidence had indicated that synchronized beats of motile cilia (cilia from multiciliated cells or the ependymal lining in brain ventricles) provide forceful pressure to generate and restrain CSF flow and maintain overall CSF circulation within brain spaces. In humans, the disorders caused by defective primary and/or motile cilia are generally referred to as ciliopathies. The key role of CSF circulation in brain development and its functioning has not been fully elucidated. Conclusions In this review, we briefly discuss the underlying role of motile cilia in CSF circulation and hydrocephalus. We have reviewed cilia and ciliated cells in the brain and the existing evidence for the regulatory role of functional cilia in CSF circulation in the brain. We further discuss the findings obtained for defective cilia and their potential involvement in hydrocephalus. Furthermore, this review will reinforce the idea of motile cilia as master regulators of CSF movements, brain development, and neuronal diseases.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

LONG TERM RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT METHOD AND AGING CHARACTERISTICS OF POLYMER SURGE ARRESTERS

ABSTRAC

Ascorbic acid extends replicative life span of human embryonic fibroblast by reducing DNA and mitochondrial damages

Ascorbic acid has been reported to extend replicative life span of human embryonic fibroblast (HEF). Since the detailed molecular mechanism of this phenomenon has not been investigated, we attempted to elucidate. Continuous treatment of HEF cells with ascorbic acid (at 200 µM) from 40 population doubling (PD) increased maximum PD numbers by 18% and lowered SA-β-gal positive staining, an aging marker, by 2.3 folds, indicating that ascorbic acid extends replicative life span of HEF cells. Ascorbic acid treatment lowered DCFH by about 7 folds and Rho123 by about 70%, suggesting that ascorbic acid dramatically decreased ROS formation. Ascorbic acid also increased aconitase activity, a marker of mitochondrial aging, by 41%, indicating that ascorbic acid treatment restores age-related decline of mitochondrial function. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry revealed that ascorbic acid treatment decreased G1 population up to 12%. Further western blot analysis showed that ascorbic acid treatment decreased levels of p53, phospho-p53 at ser 15, and p21, indicating that ascorbic acid relieved senescence-related G1 arrest. Analysis of AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) sites showed that ascorbic acid treatment decreased AP site formation by 35%. We also tested the effect of hydrogen peroxide treatment, as an additional oxidative stress. Continuous treatment of 20 µM of hydrogen peroxide from PD 40 of HEF cells resulted in premature senescence due to increased ROS level, and increased AP sites. Taken together, the results suggest that ascorbic acid extends replicative life span of HEF cells by reducing mitochondrial and DNA damages through lowering cellular ROS

Pitfalls and Important Issues in Testing Reliability Using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients in Orthopaedic Research

Background: Intra-class correlation coeffi cients (ICCs) provide a statistical means of testing the reliability. However, their interpretationis not well documented in the orthopedic fi eld. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of ICCs in the orthopedicliterature and to demonstrate pitfalls regarding their use. Methods: First, orthopedic articles that used ICCs were retrieved from the Pubmed database, and journal demography, ICC modelsand concurrent statistics used were evaluated. Second, reliability test was performed on three common physical examinationsin cerebral palsy, namely, the Thomas test, the Staheli test, and popliteal angle measurement. Thirty patients were assessed bythree orthopedic surgeons to explore the statistical methods testing reliability. Third, the factors affecting the ICC values were examinedby simulating the data sets based on the physical examination data where the ranges, slopes, and interobserver variabilitywere modifi ed. Results: Of the 92 orthopedic articles identifi ed, 58 articles (63%) did not clarify the ICC model used, and only 5 articles (5%)described all models, types, and measures. In reliability testing, although the popliteal angle showed a larger mean absolute differencethan the Thomas test and the Staheli test, the ICC of popliteal angle was higher, which was believed to be contrary to thecontext of measurement. In addition, the ICC values were affected by the model, type, and measures used. In simulated data sets,the ICC showed higher values when the range of data sets were larger, the slopes of the data sets were parallel, and the interobservervariability was smaller. Conclusions: Care should be taken when interpreting the absolute ICC values, i.e., a higher ICC does not necessarily mean lessvariability because the ICC values can also be affected by various factors. The authors recommend that researchers clarify ICCmodels used and ICC values are interpreted in the context of measurement.N

A functional regulatory variant of MYH3 influences muscle fiber-type composition and intramuscular fat content in pigs

Muscle development and lipid accumulation in muscle critically affect meat quality of livestock. However, the genetic factors underlying myofiber-type specification and intramuscular fat (IMF) accumulation remain to be elucidated. Using two independent intercrosses between Western commercial breeds and Korean native pigs (KNPs) and a joint linkage-linkage disequilibrium analysis, we identified a 488.1-kb region on porcine chromosome 12 that affects both reddish meat color (a*) and IMF. In this critical region, only the MYH3 gene, encoding myosin heavy chain 3, was found to be preferentially overexpressed in the skeletal muscle of KNPs. Subsequently, MYH3-transgenic mice demonstrated that this gene controls both myofiber-type specification and adipogenesis in skeletal muscle. We discovered a structural variant in the promotor/regulatory region of MYH3 for which Q allele carriers exhibited significantly higher values of a* and IMF than q allele carriers. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation and cotransfection assays showed that the structural variant in the 5-flanking region of MYH3 abrogated the binding of the myogenic regulatory factors (MYF5, MYOD, MYOG, and MRF4). The allele distribution of MYH3 among pig populations worldwide indicated that the MYH3 Q allele is of Asian origin and likely predates domestication. In conclusion, we identified a functional regulatory sequence variant in porcine MYH3 that provides novel insights into the genetic basis of the regulation of myofiber type ratios and associated changes in IMF in pigs. The MYH3 variant can play an important role in improving pork quality in current breeding programs

The Function of Heterodimeric AP-1 Comprised of c-Jun and c-Fos in Activin Mediated Spemann Organizer Gene Expression

BACKGROUND:Activator protein-1 (AP-1) is a mediator of BMP or FGF signaling during Xenopus embryogenesis. However, specific role of AP-1 in activin signaling has not been elucidated during vertebrate development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We provide new evidence showing that overexpression of heterodimeric AP-1 comprised of c-jun and c-fos (AP-1(c-Jun/c-Fos)) induces the expression of BMP-antagonizing organizer genes (noggin, chordin and goosecoid) that were normally expressed by high dose of activin. AP-1(c-Jun/c-Fos) enhanced the promoter activities of organizer genes but reduced that of PV.1, a BMP4-response gene. A loss of function study clearly demonstrated that AP-1(c-Jun/c-Fos) is required for the activin-induced organizer and neural gene expression. Moreover, physical interaction of AP-1(c-Jun/c-Fos) and Smad3 cooperatively enhanced the transcriptional activity of goosecoid via direct binding on this promoter. Interestingly, Smad3 mutants at c-Jun binding site failed in regulation of organizer genes, indicating that these physical interactions are specifically necessary for the expression of organizer genes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:AP-1(c-Jun/c-Fos) plays a specific role in organizer gene expression in downstream of activin signal during early Xenopus embryogenesis