• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.666-680
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• 2019

Prevalent usage of mobile devices among consumers has been well recognized and this is especially imperative among young adult consumers. The mobile phone became the gateway of their communication, media consumption, retail transaction, education, and (virtual) social life. However, there is little empirical research explaining the dynamics behind the psychological underpinning of young adult consumers, specifically Generation Y, to understand their usages and dependency on mobile phones. This study, therefore, aims to unveil antecedents and consequences of Gen Y consumers' mobile phone dependency from a media psychological perspective. We developed a conceptual model based on theory of self-monitoring (Snyder 1974, 1987), extended self-concept (Belk, 1988), and media dependency theory (Ball-Rokeach & Defluer, 1976). Four hundred ninety-eight students in the U.S. provided usable responses to our pencil-and-paper survey. Causal modeling analysis results demonstrated that both ability to modify one's behavior and sensitivity to cues for social appropriate behavior dimensions of the self-monitoring tendency positively predicted one's level of fashion involvement, which in turn positively predicted his/her mobile phone dependency. Individual's mobile phone dependency, fashion involvement and self-monitoring's ability dimension exhibited positive and direct impact on one's perception of the salience of mobile phone case product attributes. Based on the findings, we provided pragmatic and theoretical implications for the industry and academia.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2005

Rheological characterisation of flocculated kaolinite pulps has been undertaken to elucidate particle interactions underpinning the dewatering behaviour induced by flocculation with polyethylene oxide (PEO), anionic polyacrylamide (PAM A) and their blends. Shear yield stress $(\tau_y)$ analysis indicated that polymer mediated particle interactions were markedly amplified upon shear of PEG based pulps. In contrast, PAM A based pulps showed a significant decrease in yield values upon shear. Steady stress measurements analysed using a modified Ellis model indicated subtle differences between the respective linear viscoelastic plateaus of the pulps. Furthermore, modified shear thinning behaviour was evident in PEG based pulps. Estimation of elastic and viscous moduli (G', G') was made using dynamic stress analysis for comparison with values determined from vane measurements. Despite a noticeable difference in the magnitude of G' between the two methods, similar trends indicating sheared PEG-based pulps to be more elastic than PAM based pulps, were observed. Floc microstructural observations obtained in support of rheological properties indicate that PEG flocculant induces significantly more compact particle aggregation within the clay pulps under shear consistent with the yield stress data, in contrast to PAM A, or indeed unsheared PEG based pulps. Consequentially, sheared PEG based pulps show significantly improved dewatering behaviour. The implications of the results, potential benefits and drawbacks of flocculation with PEG and PAM A are discussed with respect to improvements in current dewatering processes used in the minerals industry.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.522-527
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• 2021

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is an epigenetic regulator that modulates the chromatin status, contributing to gene activation or repression. The post-translational modification of LSD1 is critical for the regulation of many of its biological processes. Phosphorylation of serine 112 of LSD1 by protein kinase C alpha (PKCα) is crucial for regulating inflammation, but its physiological significance is not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the role of Lsd1-S112A, a phosphorylation defective mutant, in the cigarette smoke extract/LPS-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) model using Lsd1^SA/SA mice and to explore the potential mechanism underpinning the development of COPD. We found that Lsd1^SA/SA mice exhibited increased susceptibility to CSE/LPS-induced COPD, including high inflammatory cell influx into the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and airspace enlargement. Additionally, the high gene expression associated with the inflammatory response and oxidative stress was observed in cells and mice containing Lsd1-S112A. Similar results were obtained from the mouse embryonic fibroblasts exposed to a PKCα inhibitor, Go6976. Thus, the lack of LSD1 phosphorylation exacerbates CSE/LPS-induced COPD by elevating inflammation and oxidative stress.

• Annals of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.182-195
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• 2018

Increasing prevalence of childhood obesity poses threats to the global health burden. Because this rising prevalence cannot be fully explained by traditional risk factors such as unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, early-life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is recognized as emerging novel risk factors for childhood obesity. EDCs can disrupt the hormone-mediated metabolic pathways, affect children's growth and mediate the development of childhood obesity. Many organic pollutants are recently classified to be EDCs. In this review, we summarized the epidemiological and laboratory evidence related to EDCs and childhood obesity, and discussed the possible mechanisms underpinning childhood obesity and early-life exposure to non-persistent organic pollutants (phthalates, bisphenol A, triclosan) and persistent organic pollutants (dichlorodip henyltrichloroethane, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Understanding the relationship between EDCs and childhood obesity helps to raise public awareness and formulate public health policy to protect the youth from exposure to the harmful effects of EDCs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.10
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• pp.73-83
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• 2022

On the underpinning theory of the Resource Based Theory, this research examines the impact of corporate social responsibility and green marketing strategy on business performance with the moderating role balanced scorecard. Corporate social responsibility concentrates on related to government, the environment, customers, and employees. Green marketing strategy concentrates on approaches in terms of green products, green prices, green places, and green promotion. Business performance is measured by groups of indicators financial, and non-financial. The moderating role balanced the scorecard at the financial, customer, process, learning, and growth level. Research results with survey data from 419 managers at different food enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City processed through the structural analysis method, showed that corporate social responsibility has the strongest positive impact on business performance, followed by the green marketing strategy as the second strong positive impact on the business performance and results also showed that the balanced scorecard moderating role increases the level of the strong positive impact of the above relationship. Besides, it also showed the difference in the demographic control variables. Based on the findings, some implications are drawn to help the managers of enterprises improve the moderating role balanced scorecard when implementing corporate social responsibility and green marketing strategies thereby contributing to increasing business performance.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.10
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• pp.85-96
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• 2022

CEO duality and its impact on firm performance represent one of the most contentious issues in both academia and business. This study, therefore, aims to examine the moderating role of CEO duality in the relationship between intellectual capital Efficiency (human, structural, relational, Capital Employed, and Innovation) and firm performance (earnings per share and Tobin's Q) among Jordanian companies. The study sample consists of services listed companies on Amman Stock Exchange. The study used panel data for the period 2014-2018 with a sample size of 230 observations. SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data. The regression results indicate a significant relationship between, IC and firm performance. When CEO Duality is incorporated into the model as a moderator, there is an increase in the R² by 7.9%. The findings from this study expand the theoretical underpinning of corporate governance research by identifying the performance implications of CEO duality within the Jordanian context. It also contributes significantly to the literature review about the current status of the practices taken in the intellectual capital components efficiency among companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. Findings from this study also provide contributions to the concerned policymakers such as the Ministry of Finance, Securities Commission, and Amman Stock Exchange in Jordan, to improve the current policies related to intellectual capital efficiency.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.133-144
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• 2021

High-performance computing (HPC) is the underpinning for many of today's most exciting new research areas, to name a few, from big science to new ways of fighting the disease, to artificial intelligence (AI), to big data analytics, to quantum computing. This report captures the summary of a 9-day program of presentations, keynotes, and workshops at the SC20 conference, one of the most prominent events on sharing ideas and results in HPC technology R&D. Because of the exceptional situation caused by COVID-19, the conference was held entirely online from 11/9 to 11/19 2020, and interestingly caught more attention on using HPC to make a breakthrough in the area of vaccine and cure for COVID-19. The program brought together 103 papers from 21 countries, along with 163 presentations in 24 workshop sessions. The event has covered several key areas in HPC technology, including new memory hierarchy and interconnects for different accelerators, evaluation of parallel programming models, as well as simulation and modeling in traditional science applications. Notably, there was increasing interest in AI and Big Data analytics as well. With this summary of the recent HPC trend readers may find useful information to guide the R&D directions for challenging new technologies and applications in the area of HPC.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.105-117
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• 2022

Purpose: This research investigates ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee. Although the RTD coffee market is growing competitively, few studies have examined behavioral re-intention or repurchase intention in the context of this industry. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore factors affecting the behavioral re-intention to purchase RTD coffee. Research design, data and methodology: Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as the underpinning theoretical framework, this study hypothesized that behavioral re-intention to purchase RTD coffee is influenced by the variables of the TPB and additional variables. A mixed-method research design was applied, starting with qualitative in-depth interviews and followed by a quantitative method. Data were collected using an online survey of coffee lovers. Multiple linear regression (MLR) was used to assess the hypothesized relationships in the proposed conceptual framework. Results: The results reveal that content sensory attribute beliefs are the strongest positive predictor of behavioral re-intention in Thailand, followed by perceived utilitarian value. In contrast, price signaling was negatively related to behavioral re-intention. Conclusions: The findings can help food and beverage companies to develop new coffee product lines to gain more market share, create integrated marketing communications to build brand awareness, and manage distribution channels and the supply chain.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.153-163
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• 2022

Purpose: A care coordinator is an emerging nursing professional role in South Korea. The purpose of this study was to identify educational needs and priorities for care coordinators among nurses. Methods: An online survey was conducted on 661 current or retired nurses from January 30 to February 28, 2021. A total of 17 essential competencies for care coordinators, recognized based on literature review, were used to analyze the educational needs. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a paired t-test, and one-way analysis of variance with SPSS 25.0. The educational needs analysis was conducted by using a paired t-test, the Borich Needs Assessment Model, and the Locus for Focus Model. Results: Five contents were identified as the first priorities for educational needs: 'Health program planning and evaluation', 'Care planning', 'Coordinating community-based services', 'Case management', and 'Transitional care'. The second priorities for educational needs included 'Population health management' and 'Welfare resource linkages via communicating with social workers'. Conclusion: The priority items derived from this study offer underpinning insights for the development of care coordination training program.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.441-456
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• 2022

Shiga toxins (Stxs) are major virulence factors from the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), a subset of Stx-producing Escherichia coli. Stxs are multi-functional, ribosome-inactivating proteins that underpin the development of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and central nervous system (CNS) damage. Currently, therapeutic options for the treatment of diseases caused by Stxs are limited and unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning toxin-induced inflammation remain unclear. Numerous works have demonstrated that the various host ribotoxic stress-induced targets including p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, its downstream substrate Mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase 2, and apoptotic signaling via ER-stress sensors are activated in many different susceptible cell types following the regular retrograde transportation of the Stxs, eventually leading to disturbing intercellular communication. Therapeutic options targeting host cellular pathways induced by Stxs may represent a promising strategy for intervention in Stx-mediated acute renal dysfunction, retinal damage, and CNS damage. This review aims at fostering an in-depth understanding of EHEC Stxs-mediated pathogenesis through the toxin-host interactions.