Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

The acculturation and engagement of undergraduate students in scientific thinking through research methods

In undergraduate degrees in the social sciences, research courses are usually a compulsory component of the curriculum. This chapter explores the pedagogical engagement, through the lens of acculturation theory, that is needed for creating scientific thinking skills. We posit that students who choose their discipline voluntarily are more likely to pedagogically engage (i.e. integrate or assimilate) in their discipline’s research paradigms. However, those students pursuing a discipline which was not their first choice may be less engaged in developing scientific thinking skills within these compulsory components and may be more likely to adopt a segregated approach. The chapter explores the implications of these different pedagogical engagement approaches for students and how teachers may create learning environments to develop their scientific thinking skills

Impact of gender on perceptual fit evaluation for prestige brands

This article examines the impact of gender on perceptual fit evaluation of prestige brands. Using an experimental approach, this study demonstrates that elaboration effects derived from schema congruity and self-congruity have an impact on perceptual fit and are moderated by the consumer's gender. More specifically, women have the ability to establish stronger brand personality fit and brand image fit, which is reflective of their greater sensitivity in recognizing brand images and personality dimensions that match their self-concept. However, it is also shown that the nature of the task or effort for processing messages would have an impact on one's selection of strategy for processing information. Advertising professionals have to consider the gender of their target consumers when they design advertisements for their extension brands in the prestige brand category. Branding professionals should also consider the effect of schema congruity between advertisements of parent and extension brands on target consumers of both genders