The relationship between brand equity and intention to buy: the case of convenience stores

The research aims to identify the components of brand equity that affect consumer purchasing intentions and measure the effect of brand equity components on the intention of consumer purchases at the convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City. The authors conduct the group discussions, expert discussion, and then analyze data from 200 valid questionnaires with four components of brand equity, namely perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand association, brand awareness. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) show that all four elements have a positive effect on the customer' intention to purchase in the convenience store of Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, the brand association factor has the strongest influence, followed by perceived quality, brand awareness, and brand loyalty. This research contributes that the results confirm the theory of Aaker (1991), Brown and Stayman (1992), Cobb-Walgren et al. (1995), MacKenzie (1986) in the new context of convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Besides, the study gives some recommendations to help convenience stores improve the elements of brand equity and it, to enhance attraction for consumers

Examining the effects of lead on the life of larval zebrafish (1-7 days old)

Lead (Pb) is a toxic metal and and can cause variety of disorders and effect on neu-ronal function and neurodevelopment. Using zebrafish as a model, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of concentrations of Pb2+ on the life of zebrafish larvae (from 1 to 7 days old)yesBelgorod State Universit

PRE-ENGINEERED (PACKAGE/AND OR ON-SITE) WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Effective Saccharification of Corn Stover Using Low-Liquid Aqueous Ammonia Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Low-liquid aqueous ammonia (LLAA) pretreatment using aqueous ammonia was investigated to enhance enzymatic saccharification of corn stover. In this method, ground corn stover was simply contacted with aqueous ammonia mist (ammoniation step), followed by pretreatment at elevated temperature (90–150 °C) for an extended period (24–120 h) at different solid/liquid (S/L) ratios (0.29, 0.47 or 0.67), termed a pretreatment step. After that, excess (unreacted) ammonia was removed by evaporation, and the pretreated material was immediately saccharified by an enzyme without a washing step. The effects of key reaction parameters on both glucan digestibility and XMG digestibility were evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Under the best pretreatment conditions [S/L = 0.47, 0.16 (g NH3)/(g biomass), 90 °C, 24 h], LLAA pretreatment enhanced enzymatic digestibility from 23.1% for glucan and 11.3% for XMG (xylan + galactan + mannan) of untreated corn stover to 91.8% for glucan and 72.6% for XMG in pretreated solid

Effects of Combined Pentadecanoic Acid and Tamoxifen Treatment on Tamoxifen Resistance in MCF−7/SC Breast Cancer Cells

Estrogen receptors are indicators of breast cancer adaptability to endocrine therapies, such as tamoxifen. Deficiency or absence of estrogen receptor α (ER−α) in breast cancer cells results in reduced efficacy of endocrine therapy. Here, we investigated the effect of combined tamoxifen and pentadecanoic acid therapy on ER−α−under−expressing breast cancer cells. Drug resistance gene expression patterns were determined by RNA sequencing analysis and in vitro experiments. For the first time, we demonstrate that the combined treatment of pentadecanoic acid, an odd−chain fatty acid, and tamoxifen synergistically suppresses the growth of human breast carcinoma MCF−7 stem cells (MCF−7/SCs), which were found to be tamoxifen−resistant and showed reduced ER−α expression compared with the parental MCF−7 cells. In addition, the combined treatment synergistically induced apoptosis and accumulation of sub−G1 cells and suppressed epithelial−to−mesenchymal transition (EMT). Exposure to this combination induces re−expression of ER−α at the transcriptional and protein levels, along with suppression of critical survival signal pathways, such as ERK1/2, MAPK, EGFR, and mTOR. Collectively, decreased ER−α expression was restored by pentadecanoic acid treatment, resulting in reversal of tamoxifen resistance. Overall, pentadecanoic acid exhibits the potential to enhance the efficacy of endocrine therapy in the treatment of ER−α−under−expressing breast cancer cells

The relationship between brand equity and intention to buy: the case of convenience stores

The research aims to identify the components of brand equity that affect consumer purchasing intentions and measure the effect of brand equity components on the intention of consumer purchases at the convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City. The authors conduct the group discussions, expert discussion, and then analyze data from 200 valid questionnaires with four components of brand equity, namely perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand association, brand awareness. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) show that all four elements have a positive effect on the customer' intention to purchase in the convenience store of Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, the brand association factor has the strongest influence, followed by perceived quality, brand awareness, and brand loyalty. This research contributes that the results confirm the theory of Aaker (1991), Brown and Stayman (1992), Cobb-Walgren et al. (1995), MacKenzie (1986) in the new context of convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Besides, the study gives some recommendations to help convenience stores improve the elements of brand equity and it, to enhance attraction for consumers

Examining the effects of lead on the life of larval zebrafish (1-7 days old)

yesLead (Pb) is a toxic metal and and can cause variety of disorders and effect on neu-ronal function and neurodevelopment. Using zebrafish as a model, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of concentrations of Pb2+ on the life of zebrafish larvae (from 1 to 7 days old)Belgorod State Universit

Pretreatment of Corn Stover Using an Extremely Low-Liquid Ammonia (ELLA) Method for the Effective Utilization of Sugars in Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) of Ethanol

Extremely low-liquid ammonia (ELLA) pretreatment using aqueous ammonia was investigated in order to enhance the enzymatic saccharification of corn stover and subsequent ethanol production. In this study, corn stover was treated with an aqueous ammonia solution at different ammonia loading rates (0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 g NH3/g biomass) and various liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratios (0.55, 1.12, and 2.5). The ELLA pretreatment was conducted at elevated temperatures (90–150 °C) for an extended period (24–120 h). Thereafter, the pretreated material was saccharified by enzyme digestion and subjected to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) tests. The effects of key parameters on both glucan digestibility and xylan digestibility were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Under optimal pretreatment conditions (L/S = 2.5, 0.1 g-NH3/g-biomass, 150 °C), 81.2% glucan digestibility and 61.1% xylan digestibility were achieved. The highest ethanol yield achieved on the SSF tests was 85.4%. The ethanol concentration was 14.5 g/L at 96 h (pretreatment conditions: liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S) = 2.5, 0.1 g-NH3/g-biomass, 150 °C, 24 h. SSF conditions: microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (D5A), 15 FPU/g-glucan, CTech2, 3% w/v glucan, 37 °C, 150 rpm)

Impairment of Glucose Metabolism and Suppression of Stemness in MCF-7/SC Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells by Nootkatone

Targeting cancer stem cell metabolism has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) exert distinct metabolism machinery, which plays a major role in radiation and multidrug resistance. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms involved in energy utilization of BCSCs could improve the effectiveness of therapeutic strategies aimed at their elimination. This study was conducted to clarify the glucose metabolism machinery and the function of nootkatone, a bioactive component of grapefruit, in regulating glucose metabolism and stemness characteristics in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 stem cells (MCF-7SCs). In vivo experiments, transcriptomic analysis, seahorse XF analysis, MTT assay, Western blotting, mammosphere formation, wound healing, invasion assay, flow cytometric analysis, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and in silico docking experiments were performed. MCF-7SCs showed a greater tumorigenic capacity and distinct gene profile with enrichment of the genes involved in stemness and glycolysis signaling pathways compared to parental MCF-7 cells, indicating that MCF-7SCs use glycolysis rather than oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for their energy supply. Nootkatone impaired glucose metabolism through AMPK activation and reduced the stemness characteristics of MCF-7SCs. In silico docking analysis demonstrated that nootkatone efficiently bound to the active site of AMPK. Therefore, this study indicates that regulation of glucose metabolism through AMPK activation could be an attractive target for BCSCs

Performance of the GRACE 2.0 and EPICOR risk scores for predicting 1-year postdischarge mortality in Vietnamese patients with acute coronary syndrome

We aimed to determine the performance of the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score version 2.0, and the long-term follow up of antithrombotic management patterns in acute coronary syndrome patients (EPICOR) risk score for predicting 1-year postdischarge mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Vietnam. A prospective cohort study was conducted on 455 patients who were discharged with an ACS diagnosis from two hospitals in Can Tho, and one in Ho Chi Minh City. Online simplified EPICOR and GRACE 2.0 calculators were used to assess the expected risk of death. We compared the performance of predicting 1-year mortality between GRACE 2.0 and EPICOR risk scores by using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, the area under the curve (AUC), and the De-Long test. The proportions of low-risk group, moderate-risk group, and high-risk group for GRACE were 31%, 42%, and 27%, respectively. Actual mortality rates for the low, medium and high-risk groups were 3.6%, 9.4%, and 19.4%. The proportions of low-risk and high-risk patients for EPICOR were 92.0% and 8.0%, respectively. The actual mortality rate of the high-risk group was 31.4%, and of the low-risk group 8.6%. Hosmer-Lemeshow test results of the GRACE 2.0 and EPICOR were 0.337 and 0.001, respectively. The AUC results of the GRACE 2.0 and EPICOR were 0.703 and 0.752 respectively, and the De-Long test with p = 0.0532. In conclusion, the GRACE 2.0 was better than EPICOR in predicting 1-year postdischarge mortality in Vietnamese patients with ACS