Cause-related marketing (CM) is the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between a company and a nonprofit organization, with the dual objectives of boosting profit for the company and ...promoting the cause of the nonprofit. The present research demonstrates that mere exposure to CM evokes in consumers a desire to be prosocial and reduces the likelihood of self-indulgent choices. However, the act of purchasing CM products may provide consumers with a “warm glow” feeling from being prosocial. This feeling of a warm glow licenses subsequent self-indulgent behaviors, especially when the product with a cause is hedonic (vs. utilitarian) in nature. We further find that when the warm glow feeling is misattributed to something else (e.g., weather), the licensing effect is reduced. By distinguishing between the pre- and post-purchase effects of cause-related products, this research offers practical insights to managers on how to design and execute CM strategies.
The mechanism of ligand binding coupled to conformational changes in macromolecules has recently attracted considerable interest. The 2 limiting cases are the "induced fit" mechanism (binding first) ...or "conformational selection" (conformational change first). Described here are the criteria by which the sequence of events can be determined quantitatively. The relative importance of the 2 pathways is determined not by comparing rate constants (a common misconception) but instead by comparing the flux through each pathway. The simple rules for calculating flux in multistep mechanisms are described and then applied to 2 examples from the literature, neither of which has previously been analyzed using the concept of flux. The first example is the mechanism of conformational change in the binding of NADPH to dihydrofolate reductase. The second example is the mechanism of flavodoxin folding coupled to binding of its cofactor, flavin mononucleotide. In both cases, the mechanism switches from being dominated by the conformational selection pathway at low ligand concentration to induced fit at high ligand concentration. Over a wide range of conditions, a significant fraction of the flux occurs through both pathways. Such a mixed mechanism likely will be discovered for many cases of coupled conformational change and ligand binding when kinetic data are analyzed by using a flux-based approach.
This work investigated the metastable pitting corrosion mechanism of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) produced Ti–6Al–4V. The passive films of samples were produced by potentiostatic polarization in ...NaCl solutions with different concentrations, and electrochemical measurements were employed to understand the influence of Cl- on the characteristics of passive films. The frequency of pitting nucleation and the pit dimension increase with increased Cl- concentration. The attack of Cl- promotes the dissolution of passive films. A higher density of oxygen vacancies is produced in passive film because of the ingressive Cl-, resulting in the condensation of voids and pitting corrosion.
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•A Ti-6Al-4V alloy was fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) method.•Metastable pitting corrosion of the samples was investigated in NaCl solutions.•Cl- suppresses the formation of passive film formed on LPBF-produced sample.•The passive film has higher flux of oxygen vacancies in 10 wt% NaCl solution.•The condensation of cation-anion-vacancy associations triggers voids and pitting.
This research shows that spatial distance between visual representations of a product and consumers may enhance or devalue consumers’ perceptions of the brand depending on the brand image ...(prestigious vs. popular). The authors suggest that spatial distance signals prestige when status and luxury are relevant to the brand image, and decreased distance signals social closeness when popularity and broad appeal are relevant to the brand image. The authors show that for prestigious brands whose brand image is associated with status and luxury, consumers’ attitude toward the product becomes more favorable and their willingness to pay a premium for the product grows as the distance between the visual representations of the product and the consumer increases. In contrast, for popular brands whose brand image is associated with broad appeal and social connectedness, the closer the distance, the more favorable is consumers’ attitude and the higher their willingness to pay a premium. The findings provide useful guidelines to marketers on the use of visual cues in advertising and product displays.
In search of high-performance field-effect transistors (FETs) made of atomic thin semiconductors, indium selenide (InSe) has held great promise because of its high intrinsic mobility and moderate ...electronic band gap (1.26 eV). Yet the performance of InSe FETs is decisively determined by the surface oxidation of InSe taking place spontaneously in ambient conditions, setting up a mobility ceiling and causing an uncontrollable current hysteresis. Encapsulation by hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been currently used to cope with this deterioration. Here, we provide insights into the role of surface oxides played in device performance and introduce a dry-oxidation process that forms a dense capping layer on top, where InSe FETs exhibit a record-high two-probe mobility of 423 cm2/V·s at room temperature and 1006 cm2/V·s at liquid nitrogen temperature without the use of h-BN encapsulation or high-κ dielectric screening. Ultrahigh on/off current ratio of >108 and current density of 365 μA/μm can be readily achieved without elaborate engineering of drain/source contacts or gating technique. Thickness-dependent device properties are also studied, with optimized performance shown in FETs comprising of 13 nm thick InSe. The high performance of InSe FETs with ultrathin dry oxide is attributed to the effective unpinning of the Fermi level at the metal contacts, resulting in a low Schottky barrier height of 40 meV in an optimized channel thickness.
Given the steady decline in patient numbers at methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinics in Taiwan since 2013, the government initiated Patients' Medical Expenditure Supplements (PMES) in January ...2019 and the MMT Clinics Accessibility Maintenance Program (MCAM) in September 2019. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the PMES and MCAM on the enrollment and retention of patients attending MMT clinics and whether there are differential impacts on MMT clinics with different capacities.
The monthly average number of daily participants and 3-month retention rate from 2013 to 2019 were extracted from MMT databases and subjected to single interrupted time series analysis. Pre-PMES (from February 2013 to December 2018) was contrasted with post-PMES, either from January 2019 to December 2019 for clinics funded solely by the PMES or from January 2019 to August 2019 for clinics with additional MCAM. Pre-MCAM (from January 2019 to August 2019) was contrasted with post-MCAM (from September 2019 to December 2019). Based on the monthly average number of daily patients in 2018, each MMT clinic was categorized as tiny (1-50), small (51-100), medium (101-150), or large (151-700) for subsequent stratification analysis.
In terms of participant numbers after the PMES intervention, a level elevation and slope increase were detected in the clinics at every scale except medium in MMT clinics funded solely by PMES. In MMT clinics with subsequent MCAM, a level elevation was only detected in small-scale clinics, and a slope increase in the participant numbers was detected in tiny- and small-scale clinics. The slope decrease was also detected in medium-scale clinics. In terms of the 3-month retention rate, a post-PMES level elevation was detected at almost every scale of the clinics, and a slope decrease was detected in the overall and tiny-scale clinics for both types of clinics.
Supplementing the cost of a broad treatment repertoire enhances the enrollment of people with heroin use in MMTs. Further funding of human resources is vital for MMT clinics to keep up with the increasing numbers of participants and their retention.
IMP‐3 expression is a poor prognostic factor of melanomas and it promotes melanoma cell migration and invasion by a pathway modulating HMGA2 mRNA expression. We tried to identify other putative ...targets of IMP‐3. We identified putative IMP‐3‐binding RNAs, including AKT1, MAPK3, RB1 and RELA, by RNA immunoprecipitation coupled with next‐generation sequencing. IMP‐3 overexpression increased AKT and RELA levels in MeWo cells. siRNAs against AKT1 and RELA inhibited MeWo/Full‐length IMP‐3 cell migration. IMP‐3 knockdown of A2058 cells decreased AKT1 and RELA expression and lowered migration ability. Co‐transfection of A2058 cells with AKT1‐ or RELA‐expressing plasmids with IMP‐3 siRNA restored the inhibitory effects of IMP‐3 knockdown on migration. HMGA2 did not influence AKT1 and RELA expression in melanoma cells. Human melanoma samples with high IMP‐3 levels also showed high HMGA2, AKT1 and RELA expression. Our results show that IMP‐3 enhances melanoma cell migration through the regulation of the AKT1 and RELA axis.
Protein oligomerization occurs frequently both in vitro and in vivo, with specific functionalities associated with different oligomeric states. The YqiC protein from Salmonella Typhimurium forms a ...homotrimer through its C-terminal coiled-coil domain, and the protein is closely linked to the colonization and invasion of the bacteria to the host cells. To elucidate the importance of the oligomeric state of YqiC in vivo and its relation with bacterial infection, we mutated crucial residues in YqiC's coiled-coil region and confirmed the loss of trimer formation using chemical crosslinking and Size Exclusion Chromatography coupled with Multiple Angle Light Scattering (SEC-MALS) techniques. The yqiC-knockout strain complemented with mutant YqiC showed significantly reduced colonization and invasion of Salmonella to host cells, demonstrating the critical role of YqiC oligomerization in bacterial pathogenesis. Furthermore, we conducted a protein-protein interaction study of YqiC using a pulled-down assay coupled with mass spectrometry analysis to investigate the protein's role in bacterial virulence. The results reveal that YqiC interacts with subunits of Complex II of the electron transport chain (SdhA and SdhB) and the β-subunit of F
F
-ATP synthase. These interactions suggest that YqiC may modulate the energy production of Salmonella and subsequently affect the assembly of crucial virulence factors, such as flagella. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of YqiC's role in S. Typhimurium pathogenesis and suggest potential therapeutic targets for bacterial infections. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The underlying mechanism of colorectal cells developing into cancer cells has been extensively investigated, yet is still not fully delineated, resulting in the treatment of advanced colorectal ...cancer (CRC) remains regrettably an unmet need. Zinc Finger Protein 746/Parkin‐interacting substrate (ZNF746/PARIS) has previously been identified to play a fundamental role on bladder cancer cell proliferation and metastasis that were effectively inhibited by melatonin (Mel). In this study, we utilized ex vivo/in vivo studies to verify whether the ZNF746 signaling was also crucial in CRC growth/invasion/migration. Tissue‐bank specimens showed that the protein expression of ZNF746 was significantly increased in CRC than that of healthy colorectal tissues (p < 0.001). Additionally, in vitro study demonstrated that excessive expression of ZNF746 significantly inhibited mitochondrial activity via (1) interfering with the dynamic balance of mitochondrial fusion/fission and (2) inhibiting the protein expression of MFN1/MFN2/PGC1a (all p < 0.001). Furthermore, we identified that inhibition of ZNF746 protein expression significantly reduced the resistance of CRC cell lines to the anticancer drug of 5‐FU (p < 0.001), whereas overexpression of ZNF746 significantly augmented resistance of CRC cells to 5‐FU (all p < 0.001). Finally, using the cell culture method, we found that combined Mel and 5‐FU was superior to merely one on promoting the CRC cell apoptosis (p < 0.001). Our results confirmed that ZNF746 signaling played a cardinal role of CRC cell proliferation/survival and combined Mel and 5‐FU treatment attenuated the resistance of CRC cells to the drug mainly through suppressing this signaling.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) may present initially in bone marrow, liver and spleen without any lymphadenopathy (referred to as BLS-type DLBCL), which is aggressive and frequently associated ...with hemophagocytic syndrome. Its tumorigenesis and molecular mechanisms warrant clarification. By gene microarray profiling with bioinformatics analysis, we found higher expression of the stem cell markers HOXA9 and NANOG, as well as BMP8B, CCR6 and S100A8 in BLS-type than conventional DLBCL. We further validated expression of these markers in a large cohort of DLBCL including BLS-type cases and found that expression of HOXA9 and NANOG correlated with inferior outcome and poor prognostic parameters. Functional studies with gene-overexpressed and gene-silenced DLBCL cell lines showed that expression of NANOG and HOXA9 promoted cell viability and inhibited apoptosis through suppression of G2 arrest in vitro and enhanced tumor formation and hepatosplenic infiltration in a tail-vein-injected mouse model. Additionally, HOXA9-transfected tumor cells showed significantly increased soft-agar clonogenic ability and tumor sphere formation. Interestingly, B cells with higher CCR6 expression revealed a higher chemotactic migration for CCL20. Taken together, our findings support the concept that tumor or precursor cells of BLS-type DLBCL are attracted by chemotaxis and home to the bone marrow, where the microenvironment promotes the expression of stem cell characteristics and aggressiveness of tumor cells.
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