Relationship between Brand Perceptions and Satisfaction: Empirical Study on Skin Products in Malaysia

In the highly competitive marketplace, marketers for the skin care product are facing challenges with identifying the consumer’s brand perception and brand satisfaction. Brand satisfaction is perceived as an important issue on skin care industry. Obviously, customers are the important stakeholders in organizations and their satisfaction is a priority to the company. This study aims to investigate the relationship between brand perceptions and brand satisfaction on skin care products with four independent variables (quality, promotion, image and preference). This study employed the statistic software of SPSS version 19.0 to evaluate 200 sets of questionnaires which collected from students, undergraduates, working adults and other respondents. The findings in this study shows that the brand perceptions on quality, image and preference have positive and significant relationship with brand satisfaction on skin care products. However, the relationship between brand perception on promotion and brand satisfaction is being rejected. Thus, the marketers can focus on perception on quality, image and preference to increase customers’ brand satisfaction to capture and retain them

Tuneable nature of metal organic frameworks as heterogeneous solid catalysts for alcohol oxidation

[EN] Selective benzyl alcohol oxidation (BA) to benzaldehyde has been frequently used as a benchmark reaction to evaluate the catalytic activity of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as oxidation catalysts. Substituted BAs, and aliphatic and allylic alcohols have also been often used as substrates in these studies. In the present review, the current state of the art of MOFs as heterogeneous catalysts for the oxidation of BA and other alcohols is described, grouping the reports according to the nature of the active sites present on the MOFs. Thus, MOFs in which the catalytic centres are located at the ligands, at metallic nodes, or at metal nanoparticles (MNPs) incorporated within the MOF pores and photoassisted oxidations have been commented on. The aim of this review is to stress the current limitations encountered in the use of MOFs, particularly with respect to MOF stability and activity and propose new targets in the area.AD thanks the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, for the award of an Assistant Professorship under its Faculty Recharge Programme. AD also thanks the Department of Science and Technology, India, for the financial support through Extra Mural Research Funding (EMR/2016/006500). Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Severo Ochoa and CTQ2015-69153-CO2-1) is gratefully acknowledged.Dhakshinamoorthy, A.; Asiri, AM.; García Gómez, H. (2017). Tuneable nature of metal organic frameworks as heterogeneous solid catalysts for alcohol oxidation. Chemical Communications. 53(79):10851-10869. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cc05927bS1085110869537

RhoE Is Regulated by Cyclic AMP and Promotes Fusion of Human BeWo Choriocarcinoma Cells

Fusion of placental villous cytotrophoblasts with the overlying syncytiotrophoblast is essential for the maintenance of successful pregnancy, and disturbances in this process have been implicated in pathological conditions such as pre-eclampsia and intra-uterine growth retardation. In this study we examined the role of the Rho GTPase family member RhoE in trophoblast differentiation and fusion using the BeWo choriocarcinoma cell line, a model of villous cytotrophoblast fusion. Treatment of BeWo cells with the cell permeable cyclic AMP analogue dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) resulted in a strong upregulation of RhoE at 24h, coinciding with the onset of fusion. Using the protein kinase A (PKA)-specific cAMP analogue N6-phenyl-cAMP, and a specific inhibitor of PKA (14–22 amide, PKI), we found that upregulation of RhoE by cAMP was mediated through activation of PKA signalling. Silencing of RhoE expression by RNA interference resulted in a significant decrease in dbcAMP-induced fusion. However, expression of differentiation markers human chorionic gonadotrophin and placental alkaline phosphatase was unaffected by RhoE silencing. Finally, we found that RhoE upregulation by dbcAMP was significantly reduced under hypoxic conditions in which cell fusion is impaired. These results show that induction of RhoE by cAMP is mediated through PKA and promotes BeWo cell fusion but has no effect on functional differentiation, supporting evidence that these two processes may be controlled by separate or diverging pathways

Joining S100 proteins and migration:for better or for worse, in sickness and in health

The vast diversity of S100 proteins has demonstrated a multitude of biological correlations with cell growth, cell differentiation and cell survival in numerous physiological and pathological conditions in all cells of the body. This review summarises some of the reported regulatory functions of S100 proteins (namely S100A1, S100A2, S100A4, S100A6, S100A7, S100A8/S100A9, S100A10, S100A11, S100A12, S100B and S100P) on cellular migration and invasion, established in both culture and animal model systems and the possible mechanisms that have been proposed to be responsible. These mechanisms involve intracellular events and components of the cytoskeletal organisation (actin/myosin filaments, intermediate filaments and microtubules) as well as extracellular signalling at different cell surface receptors (RAGE and integrins). Finally, we shall attempt to demonstrate how aberrant expression of the S100 proteins may lead to pathological events and human disorders and furthermore provide a rationale to possibly explain why the expression of some of the S100 proteins (mainly S100A4 and S100P) has led to conflicting results on motility, depending on the cells used. © 2013 Springer Basel

Effect of RhoE knockdown on BeWo cell fusion and differentiation.

<p>BeWo cells were transfected with 50nM RhoE siRNA or a non-silencing control then treated with 1mM dbcAMP and studied at the time points indicated. Cell lysates were made and expression of RhoE and β-actin was assessed by immunoblotting (A). Cells were also fixed and immunostained for desmosomal protein and cell fusion quantified (B) as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0030453#s2" target="_blank">Materials & Methods</a>. Cell lysates were also studied for expression of PLAP, β-hCG and β-actin by immunoblotting (C) with densitometric analysis normalised to β-actin expression (D). Results are presented as mean ± SEM for four separate experiments. *p<0.05 compared with non-silencing control (determined by ANOVA).</p

Effect of hypoxia on cAMP-induced RhoE expression.

<p>BeWo cells were cultured at 20% O₂ (normoxia) or 1% O₂ (hypoxia) for 24h, then treated with 1mM dbcAMP at 20% or 1% O₂ for a further 24h. Cell lysates were made and RhoE and β-actin expression was assessed by immunoblotting (A) with densitometric analysis of RhoE expression normalised to β-actin expression (B). A representative blot from three separate experiments is shown.</p

RhoE is expressed in primary human villous cytotrophoblasts.

<p>Lysates were prepared from BeWo cells or freshly isolated primary human villous cytotrophoblasts (three separate preparations) and assessed for RhoE and β-actin expression by immunoblotting.</p

Effect of cyclic AMP on RhoE expression and fusion in BeWo cells.

<p>BeWo cells were treated with or without 1mM dbcAMP and studied at the indicated times. Cell lysates were made and expression of RhoE and β-actin was assessed by immunoblotting (A) and densitometric analysis of blots (B). Cells were fixed, immunostained for desmosomal protein (green) and counterstained with Hoechst 33258 (blue) (C) and cell fusion was quantified (D) as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0030453#s2" target="_blank">Materials & Methods</a>. Results are presented as mean ± SEM for three separate experiments. *p<0.05, **p<0.01 compared with control (determined by ANOVA).</p

Attenuation of RhoE expression in response to cyclic AMP in JEG-3 cells.

<p>BeWo or JEG-3 cells were treated with 1mM dbcAMP. At the indicated times cell lysates were made and expression of RhoE and β-actin was assessed by immunoblotting (A) with densitometric analysis of RhoE expression normalised to β-actin expression (B). Cells were fixed, immunostained for desmosomal protein (C) and cell fusion was quantified (D) as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0030453#s2" target="_blank">Materials & Methods</a>. Results are presented as mean ± SEM for three separate experiments. *p<0.05, **p<0.01 compared with BeWo cells (determined by ANOVA).</p