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This research illustrates how perceived economic mobility moderates the linkage between materialism and impulsive spending. Using various data sources, four studies show that materialistic consumers do not easily engage in impulsive spending when they perceive high economic mobility, whereas they tend to spend impulsively when they perceive low economic mobility. However, perceived economic mobility functions in the opposite manner when the purchase is a means to achieve financial success. The authors trace this effect to the self-regulation process of materialistic consumers, such that when perceiving high economic mobility, these consumers regulate their behavior toward long-term financial success, sacrificing the pleasure of acquisitions in the present. By elucidating the important role that perceived economic mobility plays in impulsive spending, the current research sheds new light on consumer research and offers managerial and public policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four studies investigate (1) whether a variety-seeking versus inertial environment activates a certain mind-set about risk propensity and (2) whether this mind-set influences preferences for immediate versus delayed promotions. Study 1 demonstrates that a variety-seeking environment activates a risk-taking mind-set, whereas an inertial environment activates a risk-averse mind-set and that such a difference in risk propensity makes a delayed (immediate) promotion relatively more appealing for consumers with a variety-seeking (inertial) tendency. Study 2 reveals that preferences for a brand offering a delayed promotion are stronger when consumers have a variety-seeking tendency and that preferences of consumers low (vs. high) in need for cognitive closure are more influenced by the difference in variety-seeking versus inertial tendency. Study 3 provides further insights by allowing participants to be variety seeking or inertial and by controlling for redemption effort and the hedonic/utilitarian aspects of categories. Finally, Study 4 highlights the impact of variety-seeking versus inertial tendency on real-world choices. The article concludes with a discussion of theoretical and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, more hotel companies attempt to use hotel apps to provide useful content about hotel facilities, events or promotions, and directions. By using experiential values in the context of hotel app experience, this study explores how hotel guests perceive hotel apps and what affects their satisfaction with those apps and their re-use intentions through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). A total of 212 usable responses were collected for data analysis through an online survey. The results of structural analysis revealed that while service excellence and esthetic values from hotel app experiences influence guest satisfaction, the playfulness value does not. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the interaction between polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) and several ionic and nonionic isotonic agents, thickeners and a preservative that were employed as excipients in ophthalmic preparations. Interaction of each individual excipient and PDRN aqueous solution was evaluated by analyzing their rheological properties. Rheological properties of PDRN solutions were evaluated by dynamic oscillatory shear tests and values of elastic modulus (G′), viscous modulus (G″) and loss tangent (tanδ) were used to assess the relative changes in viscoelastic properties. At given concentrations, sodium chloride was found to show alteration in viscoelastic properties of PDRN solution while nonionic isotonic agents liked-glucose andd-sorbitol did not alter them. Similarly, nonionic water soluble polymers like polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) also did not interact with PDRN to alter the viscoelastic properties. However, there were changes observed when carbopol 940 was used as a thickener. Therefore, PDRN was found to interact with ionic excipients and the interactions were negligible when nonionic materials were examined, which suggests that nonionic excipients are suitable to be formulated with PDRN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examined the effect of pharmaceutical excipients preferred in lipid-based formulations for lymphatic delivery on in vitro association of probucol with chylomicron (CM). CM stability study was performed under the conditions of room temperature, refrigeration and deep freezing to optimize the storage condition of CM dispersion prior to CM-binding study. The mean particle size, size distribution and zeta potential value were considerably maintained for 48 h under the refrigeration condition. CM-binding study was conducted using probucol incorporated in vehicles composed of solubilizer (Transcutol HP or ethanol or propylene glycol) or surfactant (Tween-80 or Tween-20 or Cremophor ELP), and CM dispersion obtained by a density-gradient ultracentrifugation. Levels of the association of probucol with CM were largely governed by solubility of probucol in pharmaceutical excipients tested in this study, and the ability of solubilizers tested to enhance the affinity of probucol with CM was much greater than that of surfactants tested. Furthermore, the association of probucol with CM was enhanced by increasing the amount of the drug solubilized in propylene glycol or Transcutol HP. Together, the result of this CM-binding study showed that solubilizers tested in this study can increase levels of the association of probucol with CM, potentially leading to an increase in lymphatic exposure of drugs. Thus, identifying pharmaceutical excipients having better solubilizing ability would be advantageous for enhanced lymphatic delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern horse (Equus caballus) is the product of over 50 million yrs of evolution. The athletic abilities of the horse have been enhanced during the past 6000 yrs under domestication. Therefore, the horse serves as a valuable model to understand the physiology and molecular mechanisms of adaptive responses to exercise. The structure and function of skeletal muscle show remarkable plasticity to the physical and metabolic challenges following exercise. Here, we reveal an evolutionary layer of responsiveness to exercise-stress in the skeletal muscle of the racing horse. We analysed differentially expressed genes and their co-expression networks in a large-scale RNA-sequence dataset comparing expression before and after exercise. By estimating genome-wide dN/dS ratios using six mammalian genomes, and FST and iHS using re-sequencing data derived from 20 horses, we were able to peel back the evolutionary layers of adaptations to exercise-stress in the horse. We found that the oldest and thickest layer (dN/dS) consists of system-wide tissue and organ adaptations. We further find that, during the period of horse domestication, the older layer (FST) is mainly responsible for adaptations to inflammation and energy metabolism, and the most recent layer (iHS) for neurological system process, cell adhesion, and proteolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aimed to design phosphatidylcholine (PC)-based solid dispersion (SD) systems for enhancing the apparent aqueous solubility and dissolution of celecoxib (CLC), a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor with a highly hydrophobic property. Although PC-based dispersion formulations considerably increased solubilities of CLC, the lipidic texture of PC was not appropriate as a solid dosage form for oral administration of CLC. To mask the lipidic texture of PC-based matrices, Neusilin® US2, an adsorbent material with a porous structure and large surface area widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, was employed and thereby fully powderized PC-based dispersion formulations could be fabricated. However, PC matrices containing CLC strongly adsorbed to the pores of Neusilin® US2 was not able to be rapidly released. To address this problem, different hydrophilic materials were examined to promote the release of the CLC-dispersed PC matrices from Neusilin® US2. Among tested hydrophilic materials, croscarmellose sodium was the most suitable to facilitate fast drug dissolution from Neusilin® US2 particles, showing significantly enhanced apparent aqueous solubility and dissolution behavior of CLC. Through differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis, a considerably reduced crystallinity of CLC dispersed in the PC-based dispersion formulations was demonstrated. The PC-based SD formulations developed in this study would be useful for improving the oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs such as CLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]