Relationship Among Customer Value, Satisfaction, And Loyalty of Social Network Service

Social Network Service (SNS), is an innovative application and business model in recent years. It changes the development and communication of current social network and gathers tremendous viewers to create more business opportunities. However, what are the values that attract users to use SNS? This study focuses on the behaviors of SNS users in Taiwan by empirical research. From the customer point of view, satisfaction and loyalty could be relative to and affected by utilitarian value and hedonic value. Therefore, this study builds an applicable integrated model and uses Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relations of constructs in the model. We find the following. (1) The constructs of the model are supported. (2) The utilitarian value can be measured by factors of sociality, convenience, and information availability; hedonic value can be measured by factors of adventure, escapism, and affiliation. (3) The utilitarian value and hedonic value affect customer satisfaction; customer satisfaction affects word of mouth and repatronage intention. (4) The utilitarian value and hedonic value positively affect word of mouth and repatronage intention, but providing a good customer satisfaction can enhance word of mouth and repatronage intention. (5) The influence of hedonic value is higher than that of utilitarian value

KINETIC EFFECTS ON THE LOWER EXTREMITY DURING PLYOMETRIC JUMP

INTRODUCTION: Plyometric exercises are a series of cyclical activities of muscle stretch and shortening. Jumping and landing are the major movements of plyometric exercises. Previous researches reported that the plyometric training can increase the proprioception in lower extremities. It also reported that plyometric jump exercise has great assistance to increase muscle strength of lower limbs. However, a few of published researches had studied the joint loading of lower limbs in each movement of plyimetric jump. Understanding of the loading on the lower limbs is greatly helpful to decide the proper exercise prescription for the subjects who had suffered musculoskeletal injury and in the period of rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to estimate the joint kinetics of lower limbs in depth jump

The Optimal Coupon Strategy in the Presence of Internet

This paper characterizes the optimal coupon strategy for a monopolistic manufacturer in the presence of Internet. The literature on coupon strategies has examined the price discrimination function of regular coupons (those issued off the Internet) under the assumption of fu ll consumer awareness for the product; see Gerstner and Hess (1991, 1995). This paper allows the manufacturer to issue both regular and e-coupons in a marketing environment where some potential buyers are unaware of the product. We show that e-coupons perform a fundamentally different function than regular coupons: By issuing some properly designed e-coupons to a small number of consumers on the net, the manufacturer may benefit greatly from free advertising which raises the consumer awareness for the product. This happens because the e-coupons may be forwarded to the associates of the early receivers under the latter’s discretion. We distinguish two levels of redemption costs, the costs of acquiring a coupon, and the costs of carrying the coupon till redemp tion. We show that (1) if consumers have similar carrying costs, then an e-coupon and a regular coupon should be issued, which perform respectively the advertising and promotion functions; (2) If consumers have similar acquisition costs but very different carrying costs, and if there are many low-valuation consumers, then the manufacturer should issue just one e-coupon which performs the dual functions of advertising and promotion; (3) If consumers’ acquisition and carrying costs are both similar, and if there are few low-valuation consumers, then again an e-coupon and a regular coupon should be issued, which perform respectively the advertising and promotion functions, but in this case the face value of the e-coupon must be much higher than that in case (1). Despite the merits of e-coupons, we find that the issuance of e-coupons may reduce the benefits of regular coupons and/or aggravate the downstream channel members’ incentive problems. Our results are consistent with recent empirical facts

Carbon Dioxide Angiography in Lower Limbs: A Prospective Comparative Study With Selective Iodinated Contrast Angiography

This was a prospective comparison of the accuracy and image quality of carbon dioxide digital subtraction angiography (CO2 DSA) and iodinated contrast digital subtraction angiography (ICDSA) in evaluating lower extremity arteries and patient tolerance of the procedures. Selective DSA was performed in 14 Taiwanese patients who were diagnosed with peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD). Both contrast materials were administered through mechanical injectors. Post-processing of the image used pixel shifting. Images of vessels were divided into 22 anatomic segments and evaluated by two experienced radiologists. A four-point scale was used to classify diseased vessels. Two interpreters rated the CO2 DSA image against the ICDSA image on a three-point scale. Patient tolerance was assessed from verbal descriptions. Cohen's kappa was used to determine interobserver agreement and descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient experience. Interobserver agreement ranged from fair to excellent, with most being good or excellent. Three patients (21.4%) could not tolerate the whole procedure and nine patients (64.3%) reported discomfort during the CO2 DSA procedure. CO2 DSA image quality was better for the thigh than the distal runoff and pelvic regions. Our results showed that selective CO2 DSA cannot replace ICDSA as a routine diagnostic tool for PAOD because it does not give images of comparative quality

Emergence of Ceftriaxone-Resistant Salmonella Isolates and Rapid Spread of Plasmid-Encoded CMY-2–Like Cephalosporinase, Taiwan

Of 384 Salmonella isolates collected from 1997 to 2000 in a university hospital in Taiwan, six ceftriaxone-resistant isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were found in two patients in 2000. The resistance determinants were on conjugative plasmids that encoded a CMY-2–like cephalosporinase. During the study period, the proportion of CMY-2–like enzyme producers among Escherichia coli increased rapidly from 0.2% in early 1999 to >4.0% in late 2000. Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates producing a CMY-2–like β-lactamase did not emerge until 2000. The presence of blaCMY-containing plasmids with an identical restriction pattern from Salmonella, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae isolates was found, which suggests interspecies spread and horizontal transfer of the resistance determinant. Various nosocomial and community-acquired infections were associated with the CMY-2–like enzyme producers. Our study suggests that the spread of plasmid-mediated CMY-2–like β-lactamases is an emerging threat to hospitalized patients and the public in Taiwan

Aspirin prevents resistin-induced endothelial dysfunction by modulating AMPK, ROS, and Akt/eNOS signaling

BackgroundResistin, an adipocytokine, plays a potential role in cardiovascular disease and may contribute to increased atherosclerotic risk by modulating the activity of endothelial cells. A growing body of evidence suggests that aspirin is a potent antioxidant. We investigated whether aspirin mitigates resistin-induced endothelial dysfunction via modulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and explored the role that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a negative regulator of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, plays in the suppressive effects of aspirin on resistin-induced endothelial dysfunction.MethodsHuman umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were pretreated with various doses of aspirin (10-500 μg/mL) for 2 hours and then incubated with resistin (100 ng/mL) for an additional 48 hours. Fluorescence produced by the oxidation of dihydroethidium (DHE) was used to quantify the production of superoxide in situ; superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities were determined by an enzymatic assay; and protein levels of AMPK-mediated downstream signaling were investigated by Western blot.ResultsTreatment of HUVECs with resistin for 48 hours resulted in a 2.9-fold increase in superoxide production; however, pretreatment with aspirin resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in production of superoxide (10-500 μg/mL; n = 3 experiments; all P < .05). Resistin also suppressed the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase by nearly 50%; that result, however, was not observed in HUVECs that had been pretreated with aspirin at a concentration of 500 μg/mL. The membrane translocation assay showed that the levels of NADPH oxidase subunits p47phoxand Rac-1 in membrane fractions of HUVECs were threefold to fourfold higher in cells that had been treated with resistin for 1 hour than in untreated cells; however, pretreatment with aspirin markedly inhibited resistin-induced membrane assembly of NADPH oxidase via modulating AMPK-suppressed PKC-α activation. Application of AMPKα1-specific siRNA resulted in increased activation of PKC-α and p47phox. In addition, resistin significantly decreased AMPK-mediated downstream Akt/endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)/nitric oxide (NO) signaling and induced the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases, which in turn activated NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses such as the release of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, the overexpression of adhesion molecules, and stimulation of monocytic THP-1 cell attachment to HUVECs (2.5-fold vs control; n = 3 experiments). Furthermore, resistin downregulated eNOS and upregulated inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression, thereby augmenting the formation of NO and protein nitrosylation. Pretreatment with aspirin, however, exerted significant cytoprotective effects in a dose-dependent manner (P < .05).ConclusionsOur findings suggest a direct connection between adipocytokines and endothelial dysfunction and provide further insight into the protective effects of aspirin in obese individuals with endothelial dysfunction.Clinical RelevanceResistin has been reported to involve in the inflammatory process, which is a common feature in metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance status, and vascular diseases. This study underscores the potential clinical benefits and application of aspirin in prevention of obese-associated vascular dysfunction