Background Electroacupuncture pretreatment plays a protective role in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion （I/R） injury and microRNAs （miRNAs） could act on various facets of cardiac function. However, the ...role of miRNAs in the cardioprotection by electroacupuncture pre-treatment on myocardial I/R injury remains unknown. The purpose of the study was to examine whether miR-214 was involved in cardio-protection by electroacupuncture. Methods Using rat myocardial I/R model, we examined the role of electroacupuncture pretreatment in myocardial I/R injury and analyzed the changes in the expression of miR-214. In addition, I/R was simulated in vitro by performing oxy-gen-glucose deprivation （OGD） on H9c2 cell cultures, and the effect of electroacupuncture pretreatment on I/R injury as well as expressional level of miR-214 were examined in vitro. Furthermore, the miR-214 mimic was transfected into OGD-treated H9c2 cells, we analyzed the cell apoptosis, lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） and creatine kinase （CK） activities, intracellular free Ca2＋concentration （Ca2＋i） as well as the relative protein levels of sodium/calcium exchanger 1（NCX1）, BCL2-like 11 （BIM）, calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIδ（CaMKIIδ） and Cyclophilin D （CypD）. Results The in vivo results revealed that compared with the I/R group, the electroacupuncture pretreatment group showed significant decreased myocardial infarct size, as well as the increased indices of the cardiac function, including heart rate, mean arterial pressure, left ventricular systolic pressure and maximal rate for left ventricular pressure rising and declining （±dp/dt max）. In addition, electroacupuncture pretreatment could inhibit the elevation of LDH and CK activities induced by I/R injury. The quantitative PCR （qPCR） results demonstrated electroacupuncture pretreatment could provide cardioprotection against myocardial I/R injury in rats with miR-214 up-regulation. In the meanwhile, in vitro, electroacupuncture pretreatment protected H9c2 cells from OGD-induced injury. Trans-fection of miR-214 mimic showed protective effects on OGD-induced injury to H9c2 cells by reducing apoptosis, decreasing LDH and CK activities, rescuing the OGD-induced Ca2＋and down-regulating elevated protein levels of NCX1, BIM, CaMKIIδand CypD. Conclusions Our findings firstly demonstrated that electroacupuncture pretreatment promotes the expression of miR-214 in myocardial I/R injury and miR-214 contributes to the protective effect of electroacupuncture on myocardial I/R injury.
Due to the influence of innovation on the performance of firms, a significant body of knowledge has now been developed on firms' innovation behaviour, especially innovation persistence. Innovation ...persistence is characterised by the relationship between past innovations and the current ones. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge in innovation persistence by investigating persistence from three perspectives. First, this thesis investigates the innovation behaviour in times of unstable economic environment with the data covering the 2008 global financial crisis, while taking into account all four types of innovation and the effect of joint adoption. Second, this thesis seeks to deepen our understanding of the underlying causes of innovation persistence by examining the explanatory power of four theoretical explanations for the presence of innovation persistence with a novel measure of innovation persistence. This new measure indicates whether or not a firm continuously innovate. Finally, this thesis bridges the gap between the research fields of innovation persistence and open innovation. The importance of external linkages has been confirmed in a substantial body of innovation research. This thesis investigates how openness in terms of firms' external search knowledge (i.e. search breadth and search depth) affects firms' determination to persist in innovations. The research data used in this thesis is acquired from U.K. Community Innovation Survey (CIS) which is conducted at regular intervals by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in order to trace firms' innovative behaviour over time. The research data is retrieved from three waves of the CIS, from the sixth to the eighth waves covering the period from 2006 to 2012. Since the period of the research data overlaps with the global financial crisis burst in 2008. This thesis is able to inspect firms' behaviour of innovation persistence in the financial crisis time. Findings of this thesis show that firms continue to innovate in times of the global financial crisis. There is innovation persistence in the product, process, organisational and marketing innovations. Moreover, complementarities between innovations increase firms' tendency to persistent in innovation. The joint adoptions of product and process innovations and product and organisational innovations enhance the persistence in the process and organisational innovations, respectively. Prior studies have proposed four theoretical explanations for innovation persistence - 1) R&D sunk cost, 2) success-breeds-success, a virtuous cycle between innovations across time, 3) appropriation mechanisms used to protect firms' innovation achievements, and 4) innovation competence which refers to firms' capabilities to conduct innovations. The examinations of the four potential drivers of innovation persistence indicate that this potential reasoning behind innovation persistence is more capable of interpreting the underlying causes of persistence in product innovation than the persistence in the other three types of innovations - process, organisational and marketing. In addition, the determinants of innovation persistence change with the changing circumstances of the financial environment. Previous R&D investment does not encourage firms to persist in innovations during the global financial crisis period, but the R&D investment made in the crisis time stimulate firms to innovate continuously. The established external linkages encourage firms to continue to innovate in times of the global financial crisis while the same drivers have no significant influence on subsequent innovations after the global financial crisis. The effects of external search strategies are more profound in the persistence in product innovation than that in the other three types of innovation. Firms that search broadly are more likely to conduct product innovation and also to persist in product innovation. Besides, search depth has a positive influence on the persistence in marketing innovation. The cost-benefits analysis is much easier to be applied to a produce-based innovation than to the other types of innovation because the output of a product-based innovation tends to be a tangible property whose value could be clearly assessed. This characteristic of product-based innovations makes it easier for firms to make a contractual or collaborative arrangements with external parties. This thesis contributes to the literature by investigating innovation persistence in the context of an economic crisis and examining the underlying causes of innovation persistence This thesis also provides new insights of the effect of the openness, i.e. the firms' external search strategies, on the firms' propensity to continue to innovate.
IntroductionMechanisms governing the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis remain obscure, and thus efficacy of clinical therapies is disappointing. As a branch of the unfolded protein response, spliced ...X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1s) exerts strong prosurvival effects under stress conditions. However, its role in cardiac fibrosis remains poorly understood.HypothesisWe assessed the hypothesis that Xbp1s is a crucial regulator of cardiac fibrosis in mice.Methods and ResultsThe role of Xbp1s in cardiac fibrosis was studied using in vivo genetic manipulation. Tamoxifen inducible, fibroblast-specific Xbp1 knockout mice (Col1α2-Cre/Xbp1 or Periostin-Cre/Xbp1, n=12 for each group) along with their control murine counterparts (Xbp1 alone) were subjected to angiotensin II for 12 weeks. A conditional cardiac fibroblast (CF)-specific Xbp1s-transgenic mouse (Xbp1s TG) was established and bred with Col1α2-Cre or Periostin-Cre to achieve fibroblast-specific Xbp1s overexpression in the adult mice (n=12 for each group). We observed that Xbp1s was increased in murine fibrotic hearts and human dilated hearts. Fibroblast-specific Xbp1 knockout mice exhibited alleviated cardiac fibrosis and improved cardiac function in response to angiotensin II infusion, whereas this pathological fibrosis and cardiac dysfunction caused by angiotensin II were exacerbated in CF-specific Xbp1s transgenic mice. Mechanistic studies using human CFs demonstrated that Xbp1s directly binds to the promoter of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) gene and subsequently promotes the transcription of Stat3 and its target genes, accelerating fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition. Genetic Stat3 knockdown rescued the pro-fibrotic phenotype in human CFs with Xbp1s overexpression.ConclusionsIn conclusion, our study provides the first evidence that Xbp1s upregulation in CFs promotes cardiac fibrosis via activating Stat3. Our data suggests that the inhibition of Xbp1s may serve as a novel therapeutic target to treat cardiac fibrosis.
Effects of elevated CO, （5000 μl/L） on sensitivity comparison of six species of algae and interspecific competition of three species of algae were investigated. The results showed that, the cell ...densities of six species of algae grown in elevated CO2 significantly increased compared to those in ambient CO2 （360 μl/L）, and with the time prolonged, the increasing extent increased. Therefore, elevated CO2 can promote the growth of six species of algae. However, there were differences in sensitivity between six species of algae. Based on the effects of elevated CO2 on biomass, the sensitive order （from high to low） was Platymanas sp., Platymanas subcordiformis, Nitzschia closterium, Isochrysis golbana Parke 8701, Dunoliella salina, Chlorella sp., on the condition of solitary cultivation. Compared to ambient CO2, elevated CO2 promoted the growth of three species of algae, Platymanas subcordiformis, Nitzschia closterium and Isochrysis galbana Parke 8701 under the condition of mixed cultivation. The sensitivity of the three species to elevated CO2 in mixed cultivation changed a lot compared to the condition of solitary cultivation. When grown in elevated CO2 under the condition of mixed cultivation, the sensitive order from high to low were Nitzschia clostertium, Platymonas subcordiformis; and Isochrysis galbana Parke 8701. However, under the condition of solitary cultivation, the sensitive order in elevated CO2 was Isochrysis galbana Parke 8701, Nitzschia clostertium, Platymonas subcordiformis, from sensitive to less sensitive. On the day 21, the dominant algae, the sub-dominant algae and inferior algae grown in elevated CO2 did not change. However, the population increasing dynamic and composition proportion of three algal species have significantly changed.
Glial scar formation resulted from excessive astrogliosis limits axonal regeneration and impairs recovery of function, thus an intervention to ameliorate excessive astrogliosis is crucial for the ...recovery of neurological function after cerebral ischemia. In this study we investigated the effects of carnosine, an endogenous water-soluble dipeptide （β-alanyI-L-histidine）, on astrogliosis of cells exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation/recovery （OGD/R） in vitro. Primary cultured rat astrocytes exhibited a significant increase in proliferation at 24 h recovery after OGD for 2 h. Pretreatment with carnosine （5 mmol/L） caused G1 arrest of reactive astrocytes, significantly attenuated OGD/R-induced increase in cyclin D1 protein expression and suppressed OGD/R-induced proliferation of reactive astrocytes. Carnosine treatment also reversed glycolysis and ATP production, which was elevated at 24 h recovery after OGD. A marked increase in migration of reactive astrocytes was observed at 24 h after OGD, whereas carnosine treatment reversed the expression levels of MMP-9 and suppressed the migration of astrocytes. Furthermore, carnosine also improved neurite growth of cortical neurons co-cultured with astrocytes under ischemic conditions. These results demonstrate that carnosine may be a promising candidate for inhibiting astrogliosis and promoting neurological function recovery after ischemic stroke.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
AIM:To study the binding of connective tissue growth factor(CTGF) to cystine knot-containing ligands and how this impacts platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF)-B signaling. METHODS:The binding ...strengths of CTGF to cystine knot-containing growth factors including vascular en-dothelial growth factor(VEGF)-A,PDGF-B,bone morphogenetic protein(BMP)-4,and transforming growth factor(TGF)-β1 were compared using the LexA-based yeast two-hybrid system. EYG48 reporter strain that carried a wild-type LEU2 gene under the control of Lex A operators and a lac Z reporter plasmid(p80plac Z) containing eight high affinity Lex A binding sites were used in the yeast two-hybrid analysis. Interactions between CTGF and the tested growth factors were evaluated based on growth of transformed yeast cells on selective media and colorimetric detection in a liquid β-galactosidase activity assay. Dissociation constants of CTGF to VEGF-A isoform 165 or PDGF-BB homo-dimer were measured in surface plasma resonance(SPR) analysis. CTGF regulation in PDGF-B presentation to the PDGF receptor β(PDGFRβ) was also quantitatively assessed by the SPR analysis. Combinational effects of CTGF protein and PDGF-BB on activation of PDGFRβ and downstream signaling molecules ERK1/2 and AKT were assessed in rabbit corneal fibroblast cells by Western analysis. RESULTS:In the LexA-based yeast two-hybrid system,cystine knot motifs of tested growth factors were fused to the activation domain of the transcriptional factor GAL4 while CTGF was fused to the DNA binding domain of the bacterial repressor protein Lex A. Yeast cotransformants containing corresponding fusion proteins for CTGF and all four tested cystine knot motifs survived on selective medium containing galactose and raffinose but lacking histidine,tryptophan,and uracil. In liquid β-galactosidase assays,CTGF expressing cells that were co-transformed with the cystine knot of VEGF-A had the highest activity,at 29.88 ± 0.91 fold above controls(P < 0.01). Cells containing the cystine knot of BMP-4 expressed the second most activity,with a 24.77 ± 0.47 fold increase(P < 0.01). Cells that contained the cystine knot of TGF-β1 had a 3.80 ± 0.66 fold increase(P < 0.05) and the ones with the cystine knot of PDGF-B had a 2.64 ± 0.33 fold increase of β-galactosidase activity(P < 0.01). Further SPR analysis showed that the association rate between VEGF-A 165 and CTGF was faster than PDGF-BB and CTGF. The calculated dissociation constant(KD) of CTGF to VEGF165 and PDGF-BB was 1.8 and 43 nmol/L respectively. PDGFBB ligand and PDGFRβ receptor formed a stable complex with a low dissociation constant 1.4 nmol/L. Increasing the concentration of CTGF up to 263.2 nmol/L significantly the ligand/receptor binding. In addition,CTGF potentiated phosphorylation of PDGFRβ and AKT in rabbit corneal fibroblast cells stimulated by PDGFBB in tissue culture condition. In contrast,CTGF did not affect PDGF-B induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2.CONCLUSION:CTGF has a differential binding affinity to VEGF-A,PDGF-B,BMP-4,and TGF-β. Its weak association with PDGF-B may represent a novel mechanism to enhance PDGF-B signaling.
Replacement of the methylene group at the C-8 position with an extended electronic conjugation is a new promising method to develop red-shifted coelenterazine derivatives. In this paper, we have ...described an oxygen-containing coelenterazine derivative with a significant red-shifted（63 nm）bioluminescence signal maximum relative to coelenterazine 400a（Deep Blue C~（TM）, 1）. In cell imaging, the sulfur-containing coelenterazine derivative displayed a significantly（1.77 ± 0.09;P≤0.01） higher luminescence signal compared to coelenterazine 400 a and the oxygen-containing coelenterazine derivative exhibited a slightly（0.74 ± 0.08; P≤0.05） lower luminescence signal. It is beneficial to understand further the underlying mechanisms of bioluminescence.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
碩士
輔仁大學
織品服裝學系
93
ABSTRACT
The Influence of Brand Awareness & Suit Production Method
to Consumer Conscious Value
(Total page 76)
Author: Pei-Yuan Yu
Supervisor: Dr. Gou-Fong Liaw
Degree: MS Textiles ...and Clothing
Fu Jen Catholic University
Graduate Institute of Textiles and Clothing：
Textiles & Fashion Business and Consumer Studies Section
Date of Graduation: 21th July 2005
Keywords：The Influence of Brand Awareness，Suit Production Method，Conscious Value.
Due to the worldwide trend of casual wear, a suit with tie is no longer the only choice of the formal dress code. Consumers have other choices like Polo shirts at work or in some formal occasions. This trend reduces the demand for suits and gives a new direction for menswear market.
The purpose of this research is to understand the relativity of the influence of the brand name awareness and the methods of tailing among different demographic groups. We want to find out how the value of awareness of brand names would have any impact on consumers. Hopefully, the
BACKGROUND: A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms in liver regeneration holds promise for exploring the new potential therapy for liver failure. The present study was to investigate the ...role of zinc finger and BTB domain-containing protein 20(ZBTB20), a potential factor associated with liver regeneration, in a model of 70% hepatectomy in mice. METHODS: Parameters for liver proliferation such as liver/body ratio and BrdU positivity were obtained via direct measurement and immunohistochemistry. The levels of zinc fingers and homeoboxes 2(ZHX2), ZBTB20, alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) and glypican 3(GPC3) transcripts in the regenerating liver tissue of a 70% hepatectomy rodent model were monitored by real-time PCR analysis at different time points. Knockdown of ZBTB20 was performed to characterize its regulatory function. RESULTS: A negatively regulating relationship between ZHX2, ZBTB20 and AFP, GPC3 was revealed from 24 to 72 hours after 70% hepatectomy. ZBTB20 appears to negatively regulate AFP and GPC3 transcription since the knockdown of ZBTB20 promoted the proliferation of hepatocytes and the expression of AFP and GPC3. CONCLUSION: In addition to AFP, GPC3 and ZHX2, ZBTB20 is a new regulator in liver regeneration and the decrease of ZBTB20 expression following 70% hepatectomy promotes AFP and GPC3 expression.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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