Search

Purpose Social enterprises are organizations striving to address social issues. These enterprises sell products to be self-sustainable. Social entrepreneurial success depends on the intention of consumers to purchase social enterprise products. This study aims to assess and understand the consumer intention to buy social enterprise products. Design/methodology/approach This descriptive study integrates consumers’ emotional values with the theory of planned behaviour as a framework. The intention is to investigate the role of customer emotion in mediating the relationship between predictor and predicted variables. A mixed sampling technique is adopted to select sample units from the consumers with a consideration for regional balance. Data from 336 respondents were collected using a survey instrument administered online. Findings Structural equation modelling shows that among the three predictor variables, only attitude has a direct impact on consumer’s purchase intention, while subjective norms have an indirect impact through the mediating variable (emotional value). Behavioural control showed no effect on consumer’s purchase intention of products sold by social enterprises. Originality/value The results of this study have theoretical as well as practical implications. The success of social enterprises depends on the acceptance of their products by consumers. The social enterprise can strategize its marketing communications to strengthen the emotional values, attitudes and subjective norms of the consumers so that the market acceptance for these products can be increased.

α-Spinasterol is a phytosterol found in various edible and non-edible plant sources. The edible plant materials containing α-spinasterol include spinach leaves, cucumber fruits, seeds of pumpkin and watermelon, argan seed oil, cactus pear seed oil and Amaranthus sp. It is a bioavailable nutraceutical, and it can cross the blood-brain barrier. It possesses several important pharmacological properties such as anti-diabetes mellitus, antiinflammation, hypolipidemic, antiulcer, neuroprotection, anti-pain and antitumour activities. For this review, literature search was made focusing on the pharmacological properties of α-spinasterol using PubMed and Google Scholar data bases. Recent studies show the promising antidiabetic properties of α-spinasterol. Its anti-diabetic mechanisms include enhancement of insulin secretion, reduction in insulin resistance, anti-diabetic nephropathy, increase in glucose uptake in muscle cells and inhibition of glucose absorption from intestine. Besides, it is a safe antiinflammatory agent, and its antiinflammatory mechanisms include inhibition of cyclooxygenases, antagonism of TRPV1 receptor and attenuation of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators. It is a promising and safe nutraceutical molecule for human health care. Food supplements, value-added products and nutraceutical formulations can be developed with α-spinasterol for the management of diabetes, chronic inflammatory diseases and improving general health. This review provides all scattered pharmacological studies on α-spinasterol in one place and highlights its immense value for human health care.

A rapid and effective diagnostic method is essential for lung cancer since it shows symptoms only at its advanced stage. Research is being carried out in the area of exhaled breath analysis for the diagnosis of various pulmonary diseases including lung cancer. In this method exhaled breath volatile organic compounds (VOC) are analyzed with various techniques such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, and electronic noses. The VOC analysis is suitable for lung cancer detection since it is non-invasive, fast, and also a low-cost method. In addition, this technique can detect primary stage nodules. This paper presents a systematic review of the various method employed by researchers in the breath analysis field. The articles were selected through various search engines like EMBASE, Google Scholar, Pubmed, and Google. In the initial screening process, 214 research papers were selected using various inclusion and exclusion criteria and finally, 55 articles were selected for the review. The results of the reviewed studies show that detection of lung cancer can be effectively done using the VOC analysis of exhaled breath. The results also show that this method can be used for detecting the different stages and histology of lung cancer. The exhaled breath VOC analysis technique will be popular in the future, bypassing the existing imaging techniques. This systematic review conveys the recent research opportunities, obstacles, difficulties, motivations, and suggestions associated with the breath analysis method for lung cancer detection.

Introduction Passive rhythmic movement–rocking – is found to enhance sleep, particularly in infants and young wild type (WT) mice. Rocking can potentially enhance sleep at all ages, with the added benefit of being non-invasive, easy to translate for human use, and with negligible side effects. Furthermore, sleep enhancement tools should be especially valuable to patients with sleep disturbances, a pervasive feature of age-related dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, rocking has not been explored widely as a means of sleep enhancement. Therefore, our study explores the impact of rocking on sleep architecture in both WT and APP/PS1 KI mice (a model of human AD). Methods Male C57BL/6J (WT; n=3) and APPxPS1 KI (AD; n=4) mice (10-12 months old) were kept under a 12h:12h light/dark cycle with access to food and water ad libitum. A reciprocating platform was used to laterally rock individually housed mice at 1 Hz, a rate previously shown to enhance sleep in younger mice, for nine hours during the light period. The experimental protocol consisted of a baseline day, rocking day, and a post-rocking day, with the mice being rocked only during the rocking day for nine hours.EEG/EMG signals were recorded on baseline, rocking, and post-rocking days. Vigilance states (wake, NREM, REM) were scored in 4-second epochs from the EEG/EMG data using standard criteria. Mean bout duration (MBD) and time spent in each vigilance state were estimated and compared for both AD and WT mice. Results In repeated tests (>6 trials per mouse), we observed a significant increase in the NREM (p< 0.001) and decrease in REM (p< 0.05) sleep percent on the rocking versus the non-rocking days in AD but not in WT mice. Additionally, NREM MBD (p< 0.05) significantly increased, and REM MBD (p< 0.05) decreased on rocking versus non-rocking days, only in AD mice. Conclusion Our results suggest that rocking can be a potential tool for sleep enhancement in AD mouse models; investigations on a larger sample are in progress. Future studies will focus on the impact of rocking on cognitive impairment and AD neuropathology, which are linked to sleep disruption. Support (if any) National Institute on Aging (NIA) Grant No:5R01AG068215-02