DO HEALTH CLAIMS MATTER FOR CONSUMER PREFERENCE ON TEA BEVERAGE? EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM TAIWAN

This paper aims to identify consumer preference for tea drinking products in Taiwan by applying conjoint analysis and investigate whether health claims as attributes would influence consumer’s choice behavior. From 1 July to 31 August 2005, 620 consumers of tea drinking products participated in the choice-based conjoint experiment, which conducted in the city of Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung in Taiwan. The data were collected in supermarket using questionnaire for personal interviews. Overall, the estimated individual models fit the data well using Conditional Logit Model. Regarding the result of “Original Tea”, consumer’s order ranking of tea category is green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. The most importance on the standard that health claims have positive influence on higher likelihood of purchasing tea drinks. In addition, consumer prefers to tea drinks with Catechins, processing technology using cold extraction, and paper package. However, it could be seen that as the price increases the utility for the consumer decreases. Also, we report the negative relationship between price and purchasing intention. It is found that respondents preferred to tea drinking products with health claims. This result stands for consumer’s concern on their health status by intaking additives like Catechins. Our results also suggest that respondents prefer that tea drinks include less sugar that implies that the product is produced “light”.Tea Drinking Products, Consumer Preference, Health Claims, Conjoint Analysis, Conditional Logit Model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy,

Fin reduction is a novel and unexpected teratogenic effect of amikacin-treated zebrafish embryos

[[abstract]]We used zebrafish as a model to assess amikacin-induced embryotoxicity. We exposed zebrafish embryos to amikacin, using different amikacin doses (0-10 ppm), durations (12-48 h), and onsets (0, 24, 48 hpf). Amikacin-induced embryonic toxicity and reduced survival rate were found dependent on the exposure dose, duration and onset. Based on immunostaining with neuron-specific antibodies, amikacin reduced the number and size of zebrafish neuromasts. In addition, Amikacin caused pelvic, dorsal and anal fin defects in dose-dependent and duration-dependent manners. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunostaining revealed that amikacin-induced fin defects were not due to reduction of proliferating mesenchymal cells. TUNEL assay demonstrated that amikacin-induced fin defects might not associate with apoptosis. Therefore, further investigations are required to elucidate if other cell death pathways are involved in amikacin-induced fin defects.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙

Highly efficient coherent optical memory based on electromagnetically induced transparency

Quantum memory is an important component in the long-distance quantum communication system based on the quantum repeater protocol. To outperform the direct transmission of photons with quantum repeaters, it is crucial to develop quantum memories with high fidelity, high efficiency and a long storage time. Here, we achieve a storage efficiency of 92.0(1.5)\% for a coherent optical memory based on the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) scheme in optically dense cold atomic media. We also obtain a useful time-bandwidth product of 1200, considering only storage where the retrieval efficiency remains above 50\%. Both are the best record to date in all kinds of the schemes for the realization of optical memory. Our work significantly advances the pursuit of a high-performance optical memory and should have important applications in quantum information science.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, supplementary materials: 12 pages, 4 figure

Mutations in the PKM2 exon-10 region are associated with reduced allostery and increased nuclear translocation.

PKM2 is a key metabolic enzyme central to glucose metabolism and energy expenditure. Multiple stimuli regulate PKM2's activity through allosteric modulation and post-translational modifications. Furthermore, PKM2 can partner with KDM8, an oncogenic demethylase and enter the nucleus to serve as a HIF1α co-activator. Yet, the mechanistic basis of the exon-10 region in allosteric regulation and nuclear translocation remains unclear. Here, we determined the crystal structures and kinetic coupling constants of exon-10 tumor-related mutants (H391Y and R399E), showing altered structural plasticity and reduced allostery. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed increased interaction with KDM8 for H391Y, R399E, and G415R. We also found a higher degree of HIF1α-mediated transactivation activity, particularly in the presence of KDM8. Furthermore, overexpression of PKM2 mutants significantly elevated cell growth and migration. Together, PKM2 exon-10 mutations lead to structure-allostery alterations and increased nuclear functions mediated by KDM8 in breast cancer cells. Targeting the PKM2-KDM8 complex may provide a potential therapeutic intervention

Sodium vanadate combined with l-ascorbic acid delays disease progression, enhances motor performance, and ameliorates muscle atrophy and weakness in mice with spinal muscular atrophy

BACKGROUND: Proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neurodegenerative disorder that causes infant mortality, has no effective treatment. Sodium vanadate has shown potential for the treatment of SMA; however, vanadate-induced toxicity in vivo remains an obstacle for its clinical application. We evaluated the therapeutic potential of sodium vanadate combined with a vanadium detoxification agent, L-ascorbic acid, in a SMA mouse model. METHODS: Sodium vanadate (200 μM), L-ascorbic acid (400 μM), or sodium vanadate combined with L-ascorbic acid (combined treatment) were applied to motor neuron-like NSC34 cells and fibroblasts derived from a healthy donor and a type II SMA patient to evaluate the cellular viability and the efficacy of each treatment in vitro. For the in vivo studies, sodium vanadate (20 mg/kg once daily) and L-ascorbic acid (40 mg/kg once daily) alone or in combination were orally administered daily on postnatal days 1 to 30. Motor performance, pathological studies, and the effects of each treatment (vehicle, L-ascorbic acid, sodium vanadate, and combined treatment) were assessed and compared on postnatal days (PNDs) 30 and 90. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate the survival rate, with P < 0.05 indicating significance. For other studies, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student's t test for paired variables were used to measure significant differences (P < 0.05) between values. RESULTS: Combined treatment protected cells against vanadate-induced cell death with decreasing B cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein (Bax) levels. A month of combined treatment in mice with late-onset SMA beginning on postnatal day 1 delayed disease progression, improved motor performance in adulthood, enhanced survival motor neuron (SMN) levels and motor neuron numbers, reduced muscle atrophy, and decreased Bax levels in the spinal cord. Most importantly, combined treatment preserved hepatic and renal function and substantially decreased vanadium accumulation in these organs. CONCLUSIONS: Combined treatment beginning at birth and continuing for 1 month conferred protection against neuromuscular damage in mice with milder types of SMA. Further, these mice exhibited enhanced motor performance in adulthood. Therefore, combined treatment could present a feasible treatment option for patients with late-onset SMA

An in situ study on the coalescence of monolayer-protected Au-Ag nanoparticle deposits upon heating

The structural evolution of thiolate-protected nanoparticles of gold, silver, and their alloys with various Au/Ag ratios (3:1, 1:1, and 1:3) upon heating was investigated by means of in situ synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction. The relationships between the coalescence and composition of nanoparticles, as well as the surfactant reactions, were clarified. Experimental results show that there existed a critical temperature ranging from 120°C to 164°C, above which the tiny broad X-ray diffraction peaks became sharp and strong due to particle coalescence. The coalescence temperatures for alloy nanoparticle deposits were clearly lower than those for pure metals, which can be ascribed to the rivalry between the thermodynamic effect due to alloying and the interactions between surface-assembled layers and the surface atoms of the nanoparticles. The strong affinity of thiolates to Ag and thus complex interactions give rise to a greater energy barrier for the coalescence of nanoparticles into the bulk and subsequent high coalescence temperature. The influences of particle coalescence on the optical and electrical properties of the nanoparticle deposits were also explored