With the advent of smartphone, customers purchasing smartphones are sharply increasing over years. Since the Smartphone market extend, the major brands are getting more competitive. Each brand manufacturers are dedicating in developing a strong operating system, software applications, fashionable appearance, service quality, and so on. The purpose of this study is to explore consumers' purchasing behavior, determinants of purchasing decision, and factors of brand loyalty of smartphones. The findings stated that some external factors markedly influenced customers on choosing smartphones. For example, a customer bought a smartphone because of the demand for using it. On the contrary, few customers would buy a smartphone due to the pursuit of vogue or modern trend and the influences by other people. Furthermore, some internal elements of decision processes have sharply influence on choosing a smartphone. The majority of respondents agreed that the price, internal functions of a smartphone all played an important role on making a purchasing decision. In the opposite side of our original thinking, ninety-three respondents (37%) disagreed that they would choose the one with lower price between two smartphones. In the third part related to the brand relationship quality for purchasing a smartphone, most respondents could hurriedly recall the symbolic logo of the brand and the after-sale service would affect their willingness of rebuying the same brand. In contrast, even though the evaluation of this brand is not good, they still intend to continue to buy this brand. Finally, brand loyalty led consumers to happily tell others the advantages of this brand and recommend the purchase, and to rebuy the brand when it launches a new product. In conclusion, Customers' perceived value, brand experience, trust, satisfaction, service quality and commitment are found to be the key influencing factors of brand loyalty.
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have drawn tremendous attention on account of their numerous alluring properties and a wide range of application potentials. Here, we report that hydrophilic and hydrophobic N-doped GQDs can be prepared via exfoliating and disintegrating graphite flakes. Various spectroscopic characterizations including TEM, AFM, FTIR, PL, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that the hydrophilic N-doped GQDs (IN-GQDs) and the hydrophobic N-doped GQDs (ON-GQDs) are mono-layered and multi-layered, respectively. In terms of practical aspects, the supercapacitor of an ON-GQDs/SWCNTs composite paper electrode was fabricated and exhibited an areal capacitance of 114 mF/cm2, which is more than 250% higher than the best reported value to date for a GQDs/carbon nanotube hybrid composite. For IN-GQDs applications, bio-memristor devices of IN-GQDs-albumen combination exhibited on/off current ratios in excess of 104 accompanied by stable switching endurance of over 250 cycles. The resistance stability of the high resistance state and the low resistance state could be maintained for over 104 s. Moreover, the IN-GQDs exhibited a superior quantum yield (34%), excellent stability of cellular imaging, and no cytotoxicity. Hence, the solution-based method for synchronized production of IN-GQDs and ON-GQDs is a facile and processable route that will bring GQDs-based electronics and composites closer to actualization.
Nobiletin (Nob), a critical active flavonoid of citrus fruits, has received attention for its superior physical functions, which have shown to improve the progression of diseases. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recognized as a global health problem, and its mortality and morbidity rates are worsened with an increased risk of accompanying disorders. In this study, we aimed to elucidate whether Nob treatment ameliorates kidney fibrosis and also to identify the potential signaling networks in a unilateral ureteral obstructive (UUO) mouse model, which was used to mimic the progression of CKD. Six-week-old C57BL/6J mice were orally treated with 50 mg/kg of Nob for 14 constitutive days after UUO surgery. We found that the administration of Nob diminished kidney fibrosis and the expression of EMT markers, ameliorated oxidative stress and ferroptosis-associated injury, and mitigated the inflammatory response in the kidneys of UUO mice. Our results suggested that Nob treatment has antiferroptosis, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic effects, improving the progression of CKD in UUO mice. Nob may serve as a potential therapeutic candidate for the improvement of progressive CKD in further studies.
Backgrounds and Aim: Metabolic-associated fatty liver dis-ease (MAFLD) is a novel term proposed in 2020 to avoid the exclusion of certain subpopulations, though the application of this term in the real world is very limited. Here, we aimed to evaluate the impact of MAFLD on hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection. Methods: Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related HCC who received hepatectomy between January 2010 and December 2019 were consecutively selected. The association between histologically proven concurrent MAFLD and clinical outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Among the 812 eligible patients with CHB-related HCC, 369 (45.4%) were diagnosed with concurrent MAFLD. After a mean follow-up of 65 months, 303 patients (37.3%) developed HCC recurrence, 111 (13.7%) died, and 12 (1.5%) received liver transplantation. Although no differences in the incidences of HCC recurrence (HR: 0.902, 95% CI: 0.719–1.131, p = 0.370) and death or liver transplantation (HR: 0.743, 95% CI: 0.518–1.006, p = 0.107) were observed between patients with and without MAFLD in multivariate analysis, the patients with MAFLD tended to achieve better recurrent-free survival compared to patients without MAFLD. Notably, lean MAFLD (BMI < 23 kg/m2) was a relative risk factor for tumor recurrence (HR: 2.030, 95% CI: 1.117–3.690, p = 0.020) among patients with MAFLD. Conclusions: The overall prognosis in HBV-related early-stage HCC, in terms of HCC recurrence and death or liver transplantation, was not significantly different between patients with and without MAFLD. Among patients with MALFD, lean-MAFLD was a risk factor for HCC recurrence. Further studies are warranted to validate these results.
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