Effects of water scarcity awareness and climate change belief on recycled water usage willingness: Evidence from New Mexico, United States

The global water crisis is being exacerbated by climate change, even in the United States. Recycled water is a feasible alternative to alleviate the water shortage, but it is constrained by humans’ perceptions. The current study examines how residents’ water scarcity awareness and climate change belief influence their willingness to use recycled water directly and indirectly. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of 1831 residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an arid inland region in the US. We discovered that residents’ willingness to use direct recycled potable water is positively affected by their awareness of water scarcity, but the effect is conditional on their belief in the impacts of climate change on the water cycle. Meanwhile, the willingness to use indirect recycled potable water is influenced by water scarcity awareness, and the belief in climate change further enhances this effect. These findings implicate that fighting climate change denialism and informing the public of the water scarcity situation in the region can contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term water conservation and climate change alleviation efforts

ĐO LƯỜNG HIỆU QUẢ CỦA CÁC NGÂN HÀNG THƯƠNG MẠI TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN TỈNH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ SỬ DỤNG MÔ HÌNH KẾT HỢP BSC-DEA

The BSC-DEA model is a combination model between two performance measurement methods that are applied commonly at present: balanced scorecard (BSC) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). It is considered a reasonable model to measure efficiency of non-manufacturing organizations such as commercial banks, which use many inputs to produce a lot of outputs. This is because such a model can allow us not only to compare the relative efficiency between different banks but also to evaluate the performance of each bank on four perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, learning and growth. Therefore, our study has applied this integrated model to measure the efficiency of commercial banks in Thua Thien Hue province. The results show that the customer perspective has the lowest average technical efficiency score; so the commercial banks in the area need to consider improving the efficiency of this aspect by expanding their scale and developing their new customers.Mô hình BSC-DEA là mô hình kết hợp giữa hai phương pháp đo lường hiệu quả đang được áp dụng phổ biến hiện nay là: thẻ điểm cân bằng (BSC) và phân tích bao dữ liệu (DEA). Đây được xem là mô hình hợp lý để đo lường hiệu quả của các tổ chức phi sản xuất, sử dụng nhiều đầu vào để tạo ra nhiều đầu ra như các NHTM. Phương pháp này không chỉ cho phép so sánh hiệu quả tương quan giữa các ngân hàng khác nhau mà còn cho phép đánh giá hiệu quả của mỗi ngân hàng trên cả bốn phương diện: tài chính, khách hàng, quy trình nội bộ, học hỏi và phát triển. Vì vậy, nghiên cứu của chúng tôi đã sử dụng mô hình kết hợp này để đo lường hiệu quả hoạt động của các NHTM trên địa bàn tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế. Kết quả cho thấy phương diện khách hàng là phương diện có chỉ số hiệu quả kỹ thuật bình quân thấp nhất; các NHTM trên địa bàn cần xem xét cải thiện hiệu quả của phương diện này thông qua mở rộng quy mô, phát triển thêm khách hàng mới

Melanogenesis Inhibitory Effects of Ethanol Extract of Perilla frutescens’s Leaves on B16 Melanoma Cells: Perilla frutescens’s Leaves Melanogenesis Inhibitory Effects

Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. is a Vietnamese herb containing many polyphenol compounds potential on antioxidants and tyrosinase inhibitors for cosmetic applications. Natural compounds and products have got more attention as they have less undesirable side effects and satisfy the diverse needs of consumers that include anti-melanogenesis, antioxidation, etc. This study evaluated the antioxidant capacity, inhibition of melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells of perilla leaves ethanol extract (PEE). PEE showed the high antioxidant properties in vitro by 2, 2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical assay (DPPH) and Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). In addition, PEE has inhibitory activities for mushroom tyrosinase (TYR). The results showed that concentrations of 100 - 300 μg/mL of PEE were not affected on B16 cell viability. In B16 cells, melanin content and cellular tyrosinase activity were significantly decreased in PEE-treated cells in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggested that Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. had a great potential as natural sources which could be used as agents in skincare products