Impact of Pavilion Quality on Exhibitor Performance at an International Trade Exhibition

AbstractThis study aimed to determine how the quality of a pavilion affects participating exhibitors at an overseas trade exhibition and to suggest strategies for an organizer of pavilions to operate more effectively so as to increase exhibitors’ positive outcomes. We constructed a research model and presented some hypotheses. To assess these hypotheses, questionnaires were distributed to exhibitors who had participated in a Korean pavilion at an international trade exhibition. SPSS 16.0 software was used to analyze the data. First, the factors that determined the quality of a pavilion were analyzed to assess their effect on participant outcome. The only two factors that were found to influence the quality of a pavilion were the conditions of an exhibitor's booth and the support activities by the organizers. These had positive effects on participating exhibitors’ outcomes and anticipated future behaviors. To increase the positive outcomes of exhibitors, various changes should be made to improve the conditions of exhibitors’ booths. The pavilion organizer should also develop other ways to increase the positive outcomes of exhibitors such as local advertising and promotional activities, on-site support activities, invitations to buyers’ luncheons, promotional catalogs for exhibitors, and activities to attract potential buyers

Association between Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Bone-Mineral Density in Korean Postmenopausal Women: Data from Fourth and Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Post menopause is considered a critical period for bone-mass loss. Impaired bone metabolism during this phase can increase the risk of fractures in old age. Inflammation is a risk factor for bone health, and diet is a potential source of inflammation. However, few studies have examined the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and bone-mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women in Korea. The objective of this study was to determine, by means of a Korean cross-sectional investigation, whether higher DII scores are associated with decreased BMD in postmenopausal women. To that end, the raw data from the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES, 2009–2011) for 2778 postmenopausal women aged over 50 years were analyzed. The subjects’ BMD were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and their DII® scores were calculated from a single 24-h dietary recall. Further, the participants were classified into three groups according to DII® score. Women with more pro-inflammatory diets (i.e., those in the highest tertile of DII®) had significantly lower BMD in the femoral neck as compared with women in the lowest tertile (p for trend \u3c0.05) after adjustment for age, body-mass index (BMI), household income, education status, smoking habits, physical activity, total calcium intake, female-hormone use, age at menopause, and blood vitamin D levels. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that the odds ratio (OR) of total femur osteopenia/osteoporosis was higher in women in the highest tertile of DII® than in those in the lowest (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.00-1.62, p for trend \u3c 0.05). This study established that more pro-inflammatory diets might be associated with lower BMD in postmenopausal Korean women

Effects of Capsaicin on Adipogenic Differentiation in Bovine Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell

Capsaicin is a major constituent of hot chili peppers that influences lipid metabolism in animals. In this study, we explored the effects of capsaicin on adipogenic differentiation of bovine bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The BMSCs were treated with various concentrations of capsaicin (0, 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μM) for 2, 4, and 6 days. Capsaicin suppressed fat deposition significantly during adipogenic differentiation. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, cytosine-cytosine-adenosine-adenosine-thymidine/enhancer binding protein alpha, fatty acid binding protein 4, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression decreased after capsaicin treatment. We showed that the number of apoptotic cells increased in dose- and time-dependent manners. Furthermore, we found that capsaicin increased the expression levels of apoptotic genes, such as B-cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein and caspase 3. Overall, capsaicin inhibits fat deposition by triggering apoptosis

In situ rumen degradability characteristics of rice straw, soybean curd residue and peppermint (Mentha piperita) in Hanwoo steer (Bos Taurus coreanae)

This study was intended to evaluate in situ rumen degradability characteristic of soybean curd residue (SCR) and peppermint compared to rice straw, which are used as a functional feed source for beef cattle for high quality beef production. Two steers were fitted with rumen and duodenum cannulae and in situ degradable and nylon bags were used to assess digestion of rice straw, SCR and peppermint in three replicated experiments. The highly effective dry matter (DM) degradability of peppermint was attributable to the high rate of the a and b fractions. Dry matter disappearance rate of SCR after 48 h was higher (p < 0.05) than that of peppermint. Based on DM disappearance, SCR showed the highest digestibility (p < 0.05). Crude protein disappearance (%) was higher for SCR and peppermint than rice straw (p < 0.05), and neutral detergent fibre disappearance (%) was higher for SCR (p < 0.05). Soybean curd residue and peppermint have great nutritive values as feed sources for ruminants, and using SCR and peppermint would have possibilities for efficient and functional livestock production.Keywords: Beef cattle, digestibility, effective degradability, soybean curd residue, peppermintAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(14), pp. 1710-171

Effects of the Molecular Weight and the Degree of Deacetylation of Chitosan Oligosaccharides on Antitumor Activity

Effects of the degree of deacetylation (DDA) and the molecular mass of chitosan oligosaccharides (CTS-OS), obtained from the enzymatic hydrolysis of high molecular weight chitosan (HMWC), on antitumor activity was explored. The DDA and molecular weights of CTS-OS were determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis. The CTS-OS were found to be a mixture of mainly dimers (18.8%), trimers (24.8%), tetramers (24.9%), pentamers (17.7%), hexamers (7.1%), heptamers (3.3%), and octamers (3.4%). The CTS-OS were further fractionated by gel-filtration chromatography into two major fractions: (1) COS, consisting of glucosamine (GlcN)n, n = 3–5 with DDA 100%; and (2) HOS, consisting of (GlcN)5 as the minimum residues and varying number of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)n, n = 1–2 with DDA about 87.5% in random order. The cytotoxicities, expressed as the concentration needed for 50% cell death (CC50), of CTS-OS, COS, and HOS against PC3 (prostate cancer cell), A549 (lung cancer cell), and HepG2 (hepatoma cell), were determined to be 25 μg·mL−1, 25 μg·mL−1, and 50 μg·mL−1, respectively. The HMWC was approximately 50% less effective than both CTS-OS and COS. These results demonstrate that the molecular weight and DDA of chitosan oligosaccharides are important factors for suppressing cancer cell growth

Effects of Murine Dermal Cells on the Regulation of Hair Growth Is Dependent on the Cell Number and Post-Natal Age of Newborn Mice

Dermal cells from neonatal mice can initiate the formation of hair follicles (HFs) when combined with adult mouse epidermal cells and transplanted subcutaneously into athymic mice. In the present study, the effects of dermal cells on HF formation were tested in terms of total cell number and the time course of cell harvest. Results demonstrated that the number of dermal cells is critical to the formation of HF. Furthermore, hair forming ability is rapidly decreasing as the neonatal mice age. To examine potential differences in gene expression, cDNA array was performed. Results demonstrate that numerous molecules which are directly involved in receptor and signaling correlated with decreased hair inductivity in early time points after delivery. It is reported that bone morphogenic protein (BMP)-6 and Wnt3a treatment increased hair inductivity of dermal papilla cells. But in our study, no changes were observed in the expression levels of BMP-6 and Wnt3a. However, several Wnt related genes demonstrate increased or decreased expression levels. Thus, our results suggest that co-ordinated regulation of these molecules will be important in hair neogenesis within our model system

Effects of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the chicken NK-lysin gene on antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of cancer cells

NK-lysin is an effector protein of the innate immune system and an important component of host protection. We isolated a SNP in the NK-lysin coding sequence among different chicken breeds. This A to G substitution at the position 271 nucleotide in the ORF results in an Asn (N) to Asp (D) amino acid alteration. We synthesized two 30-aa peptides (N29N and N29D) to compare the biological activity of the helix 2-loop-helix 3 region of NK-lysin resulting from the polymorphic gene. Both peptides were found to be cytotoxic in bacteria and tumor cell cultures at micromolar concentrations. The N29N peptide, however, exhibited greater antibacterial and anticancer activity than the N29D peptide. Circular dichroism spectroscopy of the two peptides in negatively charged single unilamellar vesicles showed spectra typical of α-helical peptides. The helical profile of N29D was reduced substantially compared with that of N29N. However, no structural change was observed in neutral vesicles. ζ-Potential measurements of liposomes incubated with increasing peptide concentrations allowed surface charge neutralization with a negatively charged lipid, but not with a zwitterionic lipid. This result suggests that a difference in electrostatic interaction between lipid membranes and the helical peptides results from the polymorphic gene and is subsequently an important factor in cell lytic activity of variant NK-lysin peptides

Purification and characterization of angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide from the jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai

The Nemopilema nomurai hydrolysate was produced by the reaction of papain, and an angiotensin-Ι converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide was purified by using the molecular cut-offs membrane filter, the gel filtration chromatography with Sephadex LH-20 and the reverse phase chromatographic method using C18 and C12 columns. Purification yield of the active peptide was estimated to be 0.2 ± 0.1%, starting from the lyophilized jellyfish. The infrared (IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) spectrometer analyses elucidated that the structure of the purified peptide is tyrosine-isoleucine (Tyr-Ile). The inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50) and Ki values were calculated to be 2.0 ± 0.3 μg/ml and 3.3 ± 0.3 μM, respectively, which acts as a competitive inhibitor to ACE.Keywords: Angiotensin-Ι converting enzyme, Jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai, Papain hydrolysate, Tyrosine-IsoleucineAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(15), pp. 1888-189