Subjective and objective measures

One of the greatest challenges in the study of emotions and emotional states is their measurement. The techniques used to measure emotions depend essentially on the authors’ definition of the concept of emotion. Currently, two types of measures are used: subjective and objective. While subjective measures focus on assessing the conscious recognition of one’s own emotions, objective measures allow researchers to quantify and assess the conscious and unconscious emotional processes. In this sense, when the objective is to evaluate the emotional experience from the subjective point of view of an individual in relation to a given event, then subjective measures such as self-report should be used. In addition to this, when the objective is to evaluate the emotional experience at the most unconscious level of processes such as the physiological response, objective measures should be used. There are no better or worse measures, only measures that allow access to the same phenomenon from different points of view. The chapter’s main objective is to make a survey of the main measures of evaluation of the emotions and emotional states more relevant in the current scientific panorama.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda

Although social media use is gaining increasing importance as a component of firms’ portfolio of strategies, scant research has systematically consolidated and extended knowledge on social media marketing strategies (SMMSs). To fill this research gap, we first define SMMS, using social media and marketing strategy dimensions. This is followed by a conceptualization of the developmental process of SMMSs, which comprises four major components, namely drivers, inputs, throughputs, and outputs. Next, we propose a taxonomy that classifies SMMSs into four types according to their strategic maturity level: social commerce strategy, social content strategy, social monitoring strategy, and social CRM strategy. We subsequently validate this taxonomy of SMMSs using information derived from prior empirical studies, as well with data collected from in-depth interviews and a quantitive survey among social media marketing managers. Finally, we suggest fruitful directions for future research based on input received from scholars specializing in the field

Platelet-Rich Plasma Promotes the Proliferation of Human Muscle Derived Progenitor Cells and Maintains Their Stemness

Human muscle-derived progenitor cells (hMDPCs) offer great promise for muscle cell-based regenerative medicine; however, prolonged ex-vivo expansion using animal sera is necessary to acquire sufficient cells for transplantation. Due to the risks associated with the use of animal sera, the development of a strategy for the ex vivo expansion of hMDPCs is required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for the ex-vivo expansion of hMDPCs. Pre-plated MDPCs, myoendothelial cells, and pericytes are three populations of hMDPCs that we isolated by the modified pre-plate technique and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), respectively. Pooled allogeneic human PRP was obtained from a local blood bank, and the effect that thrombin-activated PRP-releasate supplemented media had on the ex-vivo expansion of the hMDPCs was tested against FBS supplemented media, both in vitro and in vivo. PRP significantly enhanced short and long-term cell proliferation, with or without FBS supplementation. Antibody-neutralization of PDGF significantly blocked the mitogenic/proliferative effects that PRP had on the hMDPCs. A more stable and sustained expression of markers associated with stemness, and a decreased expression of lineage specific markers was observed in the PRP-expanded cells when compared with the FBS-expanded cells. The in vitro osteogenic, chondrogenic, and myogenic differentiation capacities of the hMDPCs were not altered when expanded in media supplemented with PRP. All populations of hMDPCs that were expanded in PRP supplemented media retained their ability to regenerate myofibers in vivo. Our data demonstrated that PRP promoted the proliferation and maintained the multi-differentiation capacities of the hMDPCs during ex-vivo expansion by maintaining the cells in an undifferentiated state. Moreover, PDGF appears to be a key contributing factor to the beneficial effect that PRP has on the proliferation of hMDPCs. © 2013 Li et al

Effects of mannan oligosaccharide and <i>Curcuma xanthorrhiza</i> essential oil on the intestinal morphologyand stress indicators of broilers subjected to cyclic heat stress

An experiment was carried out that was intended to explore the growth performance, nutrient retention, and heat stress biomarkers of finishing broilers under cyclic heat stress (HS) as modulated by the supplementation of mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) and <i>Curcuma xanthorrhiza</i> essential oil (CXEO). Two hundred and forty 21-day-old Ross 308 male broilers were allocated to four experimental treatments, each of which was replicated six times with 10 broilers per replicate. The diets included a control (CON), CON + 5 g of MOS kg⁻¹, CON + 400 mg of CXEO kg⁻¹ of feed, and CON + 5 g of MOS kg⁻¹ + 400 mg of CXEO kg⁻¹. From day 22 to 42, birds were subjected to cyclic HS by exposing them to 33 °C for 10 h (from 07:00 to 17:00 LT) and 22 °C from 17:00 to 07:00. Dietary treatments did not have an effect on average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, the duodenal histomorphology, and relative visceral weights. Body weight, average daily gain, villus length, crypt depth, and the villus-length-to-crypt-depth ratio in the jejunum were significantly increased in birds fed MOS or MOS + CXEO diets (<i>p</i>&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.05). The relative bursa weight of the control birds was lower (<i>p</i>&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp; 0.05) compared to those fed the MOS diet. Compared with CON, dietary treatments reduced corticosterone and creatine kinase levels, the heterophile-to-lymphocyte ratio, and mRNA levels of heat shock protein 70 in the breast muscle and jejunum (<i>p</i>&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.05). It was concluded that dietary supplementation of either MOS or CXEO alone or in combination may reduce some of the harmful effects of HS in broiler chickens

GENETIC POLYMORPHISM OF LEPTIN GENE USING PCR-RFLP METHOD IN THREE DIFFERENT POPULATIONS

ABSTRACT This investigation was conducted to identify polymorphism of the leptin gene in Holstein cows, Mazandarani native cattle and buffaloes by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The frequencies of A and B alleles were 0.4 and 0. 6 -in Holstein cows, 0.56 and 0.44 -in Mazandarani native cattle, 0.61 and 0.35 in buffaloes, respectively. The heterozygote genotype (AB) had the highest frequency in all three populations: 0.73, 0.622 and 0.509 in Holstein cows, Mazandarani cattle and buffaloes, respectively. Chi-square test showed that Mazandarani cattle and buffaloes were in HardyWeinberg equilibrium but Holstein cows were not in equilibrium

Genetic Analyses of Egg Quality in Khorasan Razavi Native Fowl Using the Bayesian Method

This study was conducted to estimate the genetic parameters influencing egg quality in Khorasan Razavi native fowl. (Co)Variance components were estimated by the Bayesian statistical method via Gibbs sampling in GIBBS3F90 software. 1000 eggs (28-29 weeks old) were collected from 775 hens of the ninth generation of Khorasan-Razavi Province native fowl breeding center. External (egg weight,specific gravity, long length, short length, shape index, shell strength, shell weight, shell thickness) and internal (yolk diameter, yolk height, yolk weight, yolk index, albumen diameter, albumen height, albumen weight, albumen index, Haugh unit) egg quality traits were measured. Six univariate animal models were used for estimation of genetic parameters and the best model for each trait was determined by deviance information criterion (DIC). Genetic and phenotypic correlations between traits were estimated using bivariate animal model. Direct heritability estimates ranged from 0.10 (egg width) to 0.39 (yolk index). For all traits except albumen diameter and albumen index, the inclusion of maternal effects in the model resulted in considerable reduction in direct heritability. Genetic correlations of egg weight with shell strength and shell thickness were negative. In conclusion, due to genetic correlations among external and internal egg quality traits, selection based on egg weight and shell thickness may improve external and internal egg quality traits. Also, including maternal effects in the form of genetic or permanent environment in the statistical model resulted in more accurate estimates for most traits

Revealing customers’ satisfaction and preferences through online review analysis: The case of Canary Islands hotels

Travelers can enjoy a wide range of choices with the assistance of online review websites such as TripAdvisor. Online reviews provided by customers are an important portion of hotels' online business worldwide as they have value in terms of understanding customers' observations of hotels' product and service features. Hotel managers seek to understand travelers' satisfaction and hotel preferences through online reviews to improve their marketing strategy and decision making. This research uses the travelers' generated content in online hotel reviews to provide reasonable and benchmarking understandings about customers' satisfaction and preferences. Hence, the aim of this study is identifying the important factors for hotel selection based on previous travelers' reviews on TripAdvisor. Accordingly, we develop a new method for the use of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) and soft computing approaches. Concentrating on the case study of the Canary Islands hotels, we show how this method can be applied to determine the satisfaction and preferences among travelers that impact their decision in hotel choices. The results help to identify four customer segments for Canary Islands hotels. These segments are “Highly Satisfied Travelers”, “Satisfied Travelers”, “Moderately Satisfied Travelers”, and “Unsatisfied Travelers”, showing that different travelers have various degrees of satisfaction with dissimilar preferences. We found that travelers' preference and satisfaction segmentation is a crucial stage in travelers' behavior analysis to improve the quality of hotels' products and services. This form of analysis can enhance hotel managers' understanding of different market segments according to customers’ satisfaction level and their preferences. The findings of this study will help managers to set priority instructions for improving the corresponding hotel features and use online customer reviews to improve customer satisfaction and hotel performance