Assessing brand personality associations of top of mind wine brands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine brand knowledge of wines produced in a selected Portuguese viticulture area. More specifically, we intend to understand how consumers organise brands that have the highest awareness in their memory in terms of perceived personality traits. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was developed to assess brand awareness of Portuguese green wine brands and brand personality using Aaker’s brand personality framework. Multiple correspondence analysis was used in this study to present the relative positioning of the top-of-mind green wine brands. Findings – Despite the large number of green wine brands available on the market, six brands dominate in terms of brand awareness. Top-of-mind green wine brands are marked with clear and distinctive brand personality, and a small subset of brand personality attributes serve as significant criteria for brand positioning. Practical implications – The results of the present study could be beneficial for academics and practitioners, as it reveals that the top-of-mind brands within a specific viticulture area could exhibit a clear positioning based on personality traits. Therefore, brand personality traits might provide a mechanism for wine managers to distinguish or differentiate their wines. Originality/value – This work contributes to the findings of previous studies held to study brand personality perceptions. From a theoretical point of view, this paper reflects the usage of one the most popular instruments for brand personality measurement in a wine market context.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Introduction to Homogenous Catalysis with Ruthenium-Catalyzed Oxidation of Alcohols: An Experiment for Undergraduate Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Students

A three-week laboratory experiment, which introduces students in an advanced inorganic chemistry course to air-sensitive chemistry and catalysis, is described. During the first week, the students synthesize RuCl2(PPh3)3. During the second and third weeks, the students characterize the formed coordination compound and use it as a precatalyst for the oxidation of 1-phenylethanol to acetophenone. The synthesized RuCl2(PPh3)3 is characterized using 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The students run catalytic and control reactions and determine the percent yield of the product using 1H NMR. The synthesis and catalytic conditions are modified from previously published research articles. The RuCl2(PPh3)3 complex is air sensitive and is prepared under a nitrogen gas atmosphere and worked up in an inert atmosphere glovebox. The catalytic and control reactions are set up in the inert atmosphere glovebox and carried out at reflux outside of the glovebox under a nitrogen gas atmosphere. In this laboratory, the students learn how to set up and run a reaction under a nitrogen atmosphere, how to work in a glovebox, and how to set up and characterize catalytic and control reactions

Shear Forces during Blast, Not Abrupt Changes in Pressure Alone, Generate Calcium Activity in Human Brain Cells

Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury (bTBI) describes a spectrum of injuries caused by an explosive force that results in changes in brain function. The mechanism responsible for primary bTBI following a blast shockwave remains unknown. We have developed a pneumatic device that delivers shockwaves, similar to those known to induce bTBI, within a chamber optimal for fluorescence microscopy. Abrupt changes in pressure can be created with and without the presence of shear forces at the surface of cells. In primary cultures of human central nervous system cells, the cellular calcium response to shockwaves alone was negligible. Even when the applied pressure reached 15 atm, there was no damage or excitation, unless concomitant shear forces, peaking between 0.3 to 0.7 Pa, were present at the cell surface. The probability of cellular injury in response to a shockwave was low and cell survival was unaffected 20 hours after shockwave exposure

B2B: a paradigm shift from economic exchange to behavioral theory: a quest for better explanations and predictions

The development of industrial marketing theory has been largely characterized by descriptive approaches in the scrutiny of B2B marketing phenomena. In its pursuit for scientific legitimacy and credibility to academics and practitioners alike, research into B2B relationships as a subject of scientific enquiry will need to seriously engage into what can be termed a true paradigm shift, one that advances discovery in this area from sheer descriptive analysis and reporting to the development of explanatory schemata and theoretical frameworks of a kind that allow for more accurate prediction of underlying B2B phenomena. In so doing, theoreticians and practitioners alike will be better equipped to understand both current and emerging issues at hand as well as their implications to organizations across any geography, cultural context or business situation. Should this be attained with some degree of success, it will mean a reduction in ambiguity accruing to the decision-making of individuals in organizations, and thus a significant contribution to the overriding objective of corporate strategic planning and correspondent resource allocation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING CURRICULA

Abstract ⎯ Problem-based Learning (PBL) anchors learning and instruction in concrete problems. We believe that PBL is well suited to educating undergraduate and graduate students within the interdisciplinary field of biomedical engineering (BME). BME draws upon many traditional disciplines to address a range of problems, from biotechnology to clinical medicine. A challenge for BME educators is to balance this broad base of fundamentals with the analytical, in depth problem solving necessary to be successful bioengineers. The ability to adapt, be innovative, and acquire and integrate relevant information is not efficiently learned in a lecture format, but rather in a small group setting that encourages self-directed learning, such as PBL. We have developed a graduate BME program with PBL as one of the pivotal components and are embarking on the introduction of this methodology to undergraduate sections. We have found PBL to be an effective vehicle for instruction, retention of material, and introduction of topics necessary for professional development

A three-dimensional image processing program for accurate, rapid, and semi-automated segmentation of neuronal somata with dense neurite outgrowth

Three-dimensional (3-D) image analysis techniques provide a powerful means to rapidly and accurately assess complex morphological and functional interactions between neural cells. Current software-based identification methods of neural cells generally fall into two applications: (1) segmentation of cell nuclei in high-density constructs or (2) tracing of cell neurites in single cell investigations. We have developed novel methodologies to permit the systematic identifica-tion of populations of neuronal somata possessing rich morphological detail and dense neurite arborization throughout thick tissue or 3-D in vitro constructs. The image analysis incorporates several novel automated features for the discrimination of neurites and somata by initially classi-fying features in 2-D and merging these classifications into 3-D objects, the 3-D reconstructions automatically identify and adjust for over and under segmentation errors. Additionally, the plat-form provides for software-assisted error corrections to further minimize error. These features attain very accurate cell boundary identifications to handle a wide range of morphological com-plexities. We validated these tools using confocal z-stacks from thick 3-D neural constructs where neuronal somata had varying degrees of neurite arborization and complexity, achieving an accuracy of ≥ 95%. We demonstrated the robustness of these algorithms in a more complex are-na through the automated segmentation of neural cells in ex vivo brain slices. The novel methods surpass previous research improving the robustness and accuracy by: (1) the ability to process neurites and somata, (2) bidirectional segmentation correction, and (3) validation via software-assisted user input. This 3-D image analysis platform provides valuable tools for the unbiased analysis of neural tissue or tissue surrogates within a 3-D context, appropriate for the study of multi-dimensional cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions

Chemo-immunotherapy regimen with gemcitabine + FOLFOX 4 (GOLF) followed by subcutaneous (sc) granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-2 (IL-2). Results from a multicenter phase II trial in colon carcinoma patients.

We have recently described a poly-chemotherapy (GOLF) regimen that: A) is active in colon carcinoma patients as second line of therapy; B) induces high levels of necrosis and apoptosis in colon cancer cells; C) up-regulates the expression and release of heat shock proteins (HSP)-70 and -90 and tumour-associated antigens (2,3); and D) down-regulates tumour cell resistance to the death signals of cytotoxic-T-lymphocytes.These effects represented the rationale for projecting GOLFIG regimen. Here we describe the results of a multi-center translational phase II trial designed to evaluate the toxicity, anti-tumour activity of a novel regimen designated as GOLFIG-1, composed by the GOLF poly-chemotherapy followed by the subcutaneous (sc.) administration of GM-CSF and low-dose IL-2 in colorectal carcinoma patients. The study involved 37 patients (21M and 16F, mean age 62.5 years), 24 of whom had received a previous line of treatment, and 24 had liver involvement. All the patients received biweekly chemotherapy with gemcitabine (1g/m2, day 1 and 15), oxaliplatin (85 mg/m2, day 2 and 16), levo-folinic acid (100 mg /m2, day 1, 2, 15, 16) and 5-Fluorouracil (400 mg/m2 as a bolus, and 800 mg/m2 as 24 hour infusion, days 1, 2, 15, 16). These patients also received sc GM-CSF (100 µg, day 3 to 8) followed by sc IL-2 (0.5 X 106 IUs twice a day from day 9 to 14 and from 17 to 29). The treatment was well tolerated and very active in colon carcinoma patients, with high objective response (64.9%) and disease control rates (97.3%), with an average time to progression of 12.94 months (CI 95%: 9.98-15.91). An immunological study confirmed the immunological response to colon carcinoma antigen, a significant reduction in suppressive regulatory T lymphocytes (CD4+CD25+T-reg) and a significant reduction of VEGF levels reported in a previous study. In conclusion, these results suggest that the GOLFIG regimen exerts strong immunological and anti-tumour activity in colorectal cancer patients. A randomized phase III trials aimed to compare the efficacy of GOLFIG-1 with FOLFOX-4 regimen in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma is presently ongoing

ARTICLE Shear-Induced Intracellular Loading of Cells With Molecules by Controlled Microfluidics

ABSTRACT: This study tested the hypothesis that controlled flow through microchannels can cause shear-induced intracellular loading of cells with molecules. The overall goal was to design a simple device to expose cells to fluid shear stress and thereby increase plasma membrane permeability. DU145 prostate cancer cells were exposed to fluid shear stress in the presence of fluorescent cell-impermeant molecules by using a cone-and-plate shearing device or high-velocity flow through microchannels. Using a syringe pump, cell suspensions were flowed through microchannels of 50-300 mm diameter drilled through Mylar 1 sheets using an excimer laser. As quantified by flow cytometry, intracellular uptake and loss of viability correlated with the average shear stress. Optimal results were observed when exposing the cells to high shear stress for short durations in conical channels, which yielded uptake to over one-third of cells while maintaining viability at approximately 80%. This method was capable of loading cells with molecules including calcein (0.62 kDa), large molecule weight dextrans (150-2,000 kDa), and bovine serum albumin (66 kDa). These results supported the hypothesis that shear-induced intracellular uptake could be generated by flow of cell suspensions through microchannels and further led to the design of a simple, inexpensive, and effective device to deliver molecules into cells. Such a device could benefit biological research and the biotechnology industry