In this study, we examined the protective immunity of a combination of seven Brucella abortus recombinant proteins; superoxide dismutase (rSodC), riboflavin synthase subunit beta (rRibH), 50S ribosomal protein (50s rL7/L12), nucleoside diphosphate kinase (rNdk), malate dehydrogenase (rMDH), arginase (rRocF), and elongation factor (rTsf) cloned in a pMal vector system and expressed in DH5α. Mice groups were immunized thrice with a combined subunit vaccine (CSV-7) at 0, 2, and 5 weeks and subsequently challenged with B. abortus at 5 × 104 CFU at 6 weeks. At four weeks post-infection, the mice were sacrificed and the bacterial burden in their spleens was quantified. Results revealed bacterial log reductions of 0.63 and 0.34 in comparison to PBS and maltose-binding protein (MBP), respectively. Cytokine profiling revealed a marked increase in IFN-γ (interferon-gamma), MCP-1 (macrophage chemoattractant protein-1) and IL-6 (interleukin 6) cytokines at 5-weeks post-immunization. On the other hand, only TNF was heightened at 7-weeks post-immunization. In general, this cytokine profile is consistently reflective of a Th1 immune response, which is beneficial for host immunoresistance.

This study evaluated the protective effects of a combination of eight B. abortus recombinant proteins that were cloned and expressed into a pMal vector system and DH5α: nucleoside diphosphate kinase (rNdk), 50S ribosomal protein (rL7/L12), malate dehydrogenase (rMDH), DNA starvation/stationary phase protection protein (rDps), elongation factor (rTsf), arginase (rRocF), superoxide dismutase (rSodC), and riboflavin synthase subunit beta (rRibH). The proteins were induced, purified, and administered intraperitoneally into BALB/c mice. The mice were immunized three times at weeks 0, 2, and 5 and then infected intraperitoneally (IP) with 5×104 CFU of virulent B. abortus 544 one week after the last immunization. The spleens were collected and the bacterial burden was evaluated at four weeks post-infection. The results showed that this combination produced a significant reduction of the bacterial burden in the spleen with a log reduction of 1.01 compared to the PBS group. Cytokine analysis revealed induction of the cell-mediated immune response in that TNF (tumor necrosis factor) and proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 (Interleukin 6) and MCP-1 (macrophage chemoattractant protein-1) were elevated significantly. In summary, vaccination with a combination of eight different proteins induced a significant protective effect indicative of a cell mediated immune response.

Introduction This study intends to analyse the impact of the engagement and employee experience towards the employee and employer success. The results demonstrate that organisations are conscious of the importance of retain and create happiness at work and are starting to create an internal experience for their workforce. They want to have employees engaged and retain talent. When employees are more committed to be happier at work they tend to take part of the ownership of their organisations. Employers and employees are more focused on people and the value that they can add to every single product and/or service they design, create and deliver. All this investment on internal world is feeding a better consumer experience as the quality standards are getting higher. Theoretical development The main goal is to evidence how the engagement is attaining more importance on both sides: employee and employer. In the past years, a growing number of studies and are giving more importance to the human side on organisations (e.g., Sinek, 2009; Nayar, 2010; Medeiros 2017). From the transactional economy, organizations are walking to an emotional, experience economy. In the customer-centric dynamics, organisations are taken employees first because these, once deep involved with the mission and goals of the organization, will be more devoted to customers. People “who love going to work are more productive and more creative. They go home happier and have happier families. They treat their colleagues and customers better. Inspired employees make stronger economies.” (Sinek, 2009, p.14) Without happy and empowered employees, the service will never achieve the best and higher levels to then be delivered to the customers. Company “can (should) focus on its value creators – the frontline employees. (…) in his or her knowledge, creativity commitment to tasks, and capacity to collaborate. In fact, (…) “the true value is created in the interface between the customer and the employee. (…) When a company puts its employees first, the customer actually does ultimately come first and gains the greatest benefit.” (Nayar, 2010, p.7). Internal engagement is crucial to companies’ reputation, to brand/service perception and ultimately for the business survival and successful future: “Employees who are dispositionally self-efficacious and proactive are likely to use their initiative, engage in proactive service performance, take charge to bring about change, proactively solve problems and implement ideas.” (Patterson et al., 2009). Research design According to the authors of the model applied, “we define engagement as the attitude, behaviour, the level of connectedness among customers, between customers and employees and of customers and employees with the firm.” (Kumar and Pansari, 2016, p. 498). This was the starting point for our interviews and our study. To complete this exploratory study, we’ve decided to follow a qualitative research by creating a script and interviewed 4 people in 10 organisations based in Lisbon. “Qualitative research starts from and returns to words, talk, and texts as meaningful representations of concepts.” (Pratt, 2009, p.856). The original script was written in English, then translated to Portuguese to be applied on the organisations. Each interview was fully transcript in Portuguese and the main findings and relevant content were enlightened in English to produce this paper. On each organisation, four employees were chosen: two women and two men from different departments and positions - board management, executive leadership, line managers and individual contributors. All interviewed people have Portuguese nationality and have a labour contract with their employer organisation. None outsourced employees have been selected to this study. All employees have between 25 and 50 years old. Interviews were done individually on the headquarters of each organisation. Interviews took between 45 and 60 minutes each. All conversations have been recorded with the individual’s authorisation. The note of confidentiality was explained and applied to all of them. The interviews followed the same script: three main blocks on a semi-structure script. Participants were asked to think about engagement and experience and share their thoughts and examples. Different organisations were chosen: multinational companies, agencies, national companies, private funds. The diversity of the organisations was accepted and taken as an added value to our work. To convert all audio into text, we’ve applied the google audio tool and a Huawei phone app that can transform audio into text. A final check was done in order to verify all sentences and avoid mishaps. After all transcription, a content analysis has been done and the most relevant facts, insights and details have been listed. The content analysis was done using the MAXQDA software. Results and conclusions The main goal of this exploratory study was to determine how engagement and experience are taking such an important role on employees and employers success. In order to be happier at work, employees are more committed and accountable. In the same equation, and to retain more talent, organisations are more focused on employees and how to design and delivery to them a better internal experience. The main finding confirm that happier and recognised employees work better, work more and have the ownership of the organisations they work for. Once people are happy and have good work conditions – financial, physic and technological – they will go further and beyond to deliver their tasks and when needed they will internally cooperate with their teammates or with other departments. To promote this good environment and to keep workforce with them, employers are changing the future of work, nevertheless a few organisations are not applying this or taking these questions as a priority. According to the content analysis of all interviews below a few findings that we would like to highlight: 1) Most of the interviewees say they like their jobs and they are happy at work. They feel that they are part of something: family, team, organisation, culture. 2) The feeling of belonging was mentioned multiple times – the emotional link and the human aspect of being accepted and valuable inside the organisation. 3) All interviewed people, despite the job and the position they have, spoke about the power of recognition and the importance of this aspect to retain talent. 4) All interviewed people raised the importance of happiness at work, the wellbeing variable and the crucial aspect of work/life balance. 5) All interviewed employees agreed that their organisations value more the individual, their soft skills, than the job position and the tasks that there are committed and designated to do. 6) From the point of view of organisations, as leaders and builders of a strategy, we could note that only a few are planning and designing a structured employee experience. Nevertheless, all companies have a list of benefits and create events to get together their employees and promote a better life for them. Following a more structured or more informal way, all interviewed organisations implement a list of actions to create a good work environment: flexibility on the work hours, the possibility to work from home, the team/company dinners and parties; the physical structure with infrastructures to have lunch or to have a break; the empowerment of the employees by asking them to be part of the decisions. 7) Only a few of the interviewed claim that their organisations are promoting situations of work mobility and career progression. Most of the people explained that is difficult to grow or to move from departments. 8) Both, organisations and employees, understand that the salary is not an imperative condition to work or to retain people. Employees value more other work conditions and benefits. The fact is that different and heterogeneous organisations understand and reveal concern in taking care of their people and on the importance of retain their employees. Strategies, or more simple activities, are taking place. All of 40 employees, aside their gender, ages, under all circumstances and positions, want the same: recognition, to be happy and to balance, the best way possible, their work and their life. People want to be treated as people, as an exclusive human being as each of one of human beings are: a unique person and to be recognise whenever they do an extra effort. And this is the part of the key for the success of employers and employees (see figure 1).

Introduction Understanding political brands is a pertinent concern for the British Crown Dependency of Guernsey. Guernsey is a Channel Island, part of the British Isles yet not a member of the European Union. In addition, Guernsey currently has a nonpolitical party system and all thirty-eight Members of Parliament [otherwise known as Deputies] are independent figures. Further, deputies stand as individuals, and members often form informal alliances repeatedly referred to as collections of constantly changing coalitions of support or ‘quasi-political parties’ Guernsey is set to hold an island-wide referendum by March 2018 on the island’s electoral process, moving from seven constituencies to one island-wide constituency. The Guernsey Government believe the 2018 referendum will impact the way Members of Parliament are elected and envisage the creation and introduction of ‘political parties’, or formal alliances in anticipation for the 2020 General Election. The creation and introduction of political parties [political brands] on Guernsey would be unprecedented to the current-historic political environment of a non-party system structured by independent, individual politicians. Further, it is unknown whether the creation and introduction of political ‘party’ brands would have the same appeal, benefits and success compared with independent ‘individual’ political brands. This presents a unique opportunity for the proposed piece of research, which will have an impact as to whether political parties [political party brands] are desired by Guernsey’s elected representatives and Guernsey citizens-voters, and if so, how will new political parties be created and conceptualised. However, in order to address this we need to frame the study within the sub-discipline of political branding. The application of commercial branding theory to politics is nothing new (O’Cass and Voola 2011; O’Shaughnessy and Baines 2009; Rutter et al. 2015). There is a shared understanding that political parties, pressure groups, politicians, candidates and campaigns can be conceptualised as ‘brands’ (Guzman and Sierra 2009; Needham and Smith 2015; Peng and Hackley 2009; Pich et al. 2016; Scammell 2015; Smith 2009). Further, the sub-discipline of political branding has become a ‘critical’ and ‘priority’ issue that warrants continued attention (Speed et al. 2015). The application of branding to politics has been described as the most appropriate way to understand the political ‘product’ and a mechanism to frame the deconstruction process to understand the political promise put forward by political actors (Scammell 2015). Political brands are complex, multi-layered entities which are often difficult to unbundle (Lees-Marshment 2009; Lock and Harris 1996; Phipps et al. 2010). Further, political brands are powerful tools used as a short-cut mechanism to deconstruct the rational and irrational elements of the political offering (Scammell 2015). This is reinforced with continued calls for future research to focus on generating deeper insight into how political brands are developed and understood particularly in new settings and contexts (Needham and Smith 2015; Nielsen 2016; Ormrod and Henneberg 2011; Pich and Dean 2015; Scammell 2015; Speed et al. 2015). Subsequently, the objectives of this study are to: - Investigate how current non-party political brands create, develop and communicate their brand identity from the perspective of elected representatives - Explore how current non-party political brand image is understood from the perspective of Guernsey voters - Ascertain whether elected representatives and Guernsey voters desire political ‘party’ brands for the 2020 General Election. Theoretical Background Political brands can be considered a trinity of elements including the party, leader and policy (Butler et al. 2011; Davies and Mian 2010; Pich and Dean 2015; Speed et al. 2015). The trinity of elements need to ensure clear identification and differentiation from political competitors (Ahmed et al. 2015; Nielsen 2016; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Smith 2008). In addition, effective political brands should be strong, appealing, trustworthy, offer resonance, act as a decision making driver which in turn will support strategy development and build awareness in the mind of voters-citizens (Ahmed et al. 2015; Baines and Harris 2011; O’Cass and Voola 2011). However, the existing literature has tended to focus on ‘party’ political systems and overlooked political brands from non-party political systems where all candidates and politicians are independent candidates and representatives. Nevertheless, what about other typologies of political brands like in non-party systems? In addition, the existing body of knowledge has not explained how political brands exist or develop without the ‘party’ element from the trinity. This proposition is supported the demand for more depth and understanding on political brands especially non-party ‘individual’ political brands [elected representatives] (French and Smith 2010; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Peng and Hackley 2009; Scammell 2015). Despite the calls for more research in this area, there are a few studies that have investigated ‘individual’ political brands. More specifically, studies have focused on politicians or candidates from political ‘parties’ in terms of brand personality, equity, identity or image and often compared ‘corporate’ and ‘individual’ political brands (Cwalina and Falkowski 2014; De Landtsheer and De Vries 2015; Milewicz and Milewicz 2014; Smith and Spotswood 2013; Speed et al. 2015). For example, Smith and Spotswood (2013) comparatively considered the brand equity of the UK Liberal Democrat Party from a corporate and individual-local perspective. Smith and Spotwood (2013) highlighted that successful political brands whether corporate or local-individual) communicated clear expectations, focused values, believable promises to constituents, which is often easier at a local rather than national level. Further, Smith and Spotwood (2013) argued that successful corporate political brands would depend on consistency between corporate and local-individual political brands. However, the work by Smith and Spotswood (2013) was developed from speeches, articles and other discourse rather than from the personal perspective of internal stakeholders. Therefore, more depth and understanding from a multi-stakeholder perspective would reveal greater insight into the individual-local political brand particularly in non-party contexts. Existing political branding research primarily adopts either an internal (Busby and Cronshaw 2015; Cwalina and Falkowski 2014; de Landtsheer and Vries 2015; Milewicz and Milewicz 2014; Smith and Spotswood 2013) or external perspective to frame studies (French and Smith 2010; Peng and Hackley 2009; Phipps et al. 2010). More specifically, research devoted to an internal ‘brand identity’ perspective directs its attention to the political party, candidate or politician. Brand identity can be conceptualised as the current intended projection formulated and communicated by the brand’s creator with the aim of attempting to establish a desired identity in the mind of the consumer (de Chernatony 2007; Kapferer 2008). Further, brand identity can be seen as a useful approach to generate a deep understanding from an internal standpoint and capture the ‘central ideas of a brand and how the brand communicates these ideas to stakeholders’ (de Chernatony 2007:45; Ross and Harradine 2011; Saaksjarvi and Samiee 2011). In contrast, research focusing on an external ‘brand image’ perspective considers the political offering from a citizen-voter orientation (Needham and Smith 20015; Nielsen 2016; O’Cass 2001). Brand image can be considered as the current-immediate associations perceived and formulated in the mind of the consumer, which is often out of control of the brand’s creator (Nandan 2005; Rekom et al. 2006). In addition, brand image is externally created, and manifested through unique associations and perceptions, experiences and expectations linked to physical and intangible elements of a brand (Bosch et al. 2006a; Nandan 2005). Therefore, future research should attempt to capture insight into how political brands develop and communicate identity and how political brands are understood from an internal [revealed by the politician] and external perspective [revealed by the voter] (Baines et al. 2014; Needham and Smith 2015; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Pich and Dean 2015). However, how can we actually comprehend current political brand identity and political brand image? One study that explored an ‘internal-relational orientation’ of several individual political brands was the work by Pich and Dean (2015). Pich and Dean (2015) explored the internal brand identity of UK Conservative Party politicians prior the 2010 UK General Election with the support of Kapferer’s brand identity prism (Kapferer 2008). Further, the work by Pich and Dean (2015) not only revealed the complex related yet distinct nature of individual political brands and their relationship with their ‘corporate Conservative Party’ political brand but also demonstrated the problematic nature of applying the brand identity prism in its original form to deconstruct the internal orientation of a political brand. Pich and Dean (2015) concluded with a revised framework known as the ‘political brand identity network’ and challenged future studies to consider this as a workable tool to understand individual political brands from an internal-relational perspective. However, Pich and Dean (2015) concluded that the ‘political brand identity network’ could also support the understanding of external brand image. Therefore, could the ‘political brand identity network’ aid the exploration of internal political brand identity and external political brand image of non-party political brands? Responding to this gap in the body of knowledge, this research will explore the internal brand identity of an ‘individual’ political brand from the perspective of elected representatives and investigate the external brand image of non-party political brand from the perspective of Guernsey voters. In addition, this study will assess the operationalisation of the ‘political brand identity network’ put forward by Pich and Dean (2015). Further, responding to the challenge from Pich and Dean (2015), this study will assess the usability of the political brand identity network to understand non-party political brand identity and political brand image. This will address the limited development of ‘appropriate models’ and frameworks that can be used to assist political entities in understanding their offering and support strategy development (Nielsen 2015; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Ormrod 2011; Scammell 2015). Confusion and advancement can be addressed by building on existing research by assessing existing models and frameworks in comparison with new settings and contexts (Nielsen 2016; O’Cass 2001; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Ormrod and Henneberg 2011; Scammell 2015; Speed et al. 2015). Research Design As this study aims to explore non-party political brands from a multi-stakeholder perspective, a qualitative interpretivist approach is adopted (Creswell 2007; Welch et al. 2011). This is consistent with the calls across the political branding discipline for more exploratory empirical research (French and Smith 2010; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Peng and Hackley 2009; Scammell 2015). This study will involve two stages. Stage one involves twenty-one semi-structured interviews with current elected Deputies. Deputies from across the eight districts of Guernsey namely; Vale, Vale-West, St Sampson, St Peter Port-North, St Peter Port-South, South East, West and Castel (www.gov.gg) have been selected. Interviews will last between 60-90 minutes and will be conducted by the researchers from March 2018-May 2018. Stage two involves twelve focus group discussions with Guernsey citizens-voters. Focus group discussions will be organised according to voter age group following the conventional approach adopted by research organisitions such as YOUGOV and IPSOS-MORI to explore political brand image. More specifically, this study will adopt purposive sampling framework and Guernsey citizens will be grouped from 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64 and 65+ and each group will serve to frame each focus group discussion (Gillham 2005; Malhotra and Birks 2003). Focus group discussions will be conducted July-September 2018. Pilot interviews and focus group discussions were conducted in October 2017 to assess the usability of the interview-focus group schedules and aided developmentrefinement (Gillham 2005). The ‘political brand identity network’ (Pich and Dean 2015) serves as a conceptual framework to provide some structure the interviews-focus group discussions and be incorporated into the interview-focus group schedules (Gillham 2005; Zikmund 2003).Transcripts from the semi-structured interviews and the focus group discussions will be thematically analysed with the support of Butler- Kisber’s (2010) two-stage analytical approach. Findings The findings from stage one of the study will generate insight on how current nonparty political brands create, develop and communicate their brand identity from the perspective of elected representatives. For example, the findings will highlight how non-party political brands create-develop communication strategies and tactics, the significance of individual political personality as a tool to provide differentiation and whether personal values are used to characterise the brands (Ahmed et al. 2015; Nielsen 2016; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Smith 2008). The findings from stage two of the study will reveal how current non-party political brand image is understood from the perspective of Guernsey voters. For example, the insights linked to political brand image will reveal consistencies and incoherencies with communicated identity and awareness of communication strategies-tactics, personality characteristics and personal-cultural values of Deputies (Pich and Dean 2015). Stage two will also reveal understanding as to whether Guernsey citizens-voters desire political ‘party’ brands. This will address the third objective of the study. This in turn will highlight the ideal conceptualised political brand for Guernsey developed from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Discussion This study will also reveal the relationships between current Deputies and constituents, personal-working relationships with stakeholders across government departments and understanding of attitudes and opinions of political issues such as the introduction of parties. This in turn will introduce first-hand accounts of current non-party political brand identities. In addition, this stage will reveal if the ‘party’ dimension is the only missing element from the triad and provide understanding of the relevance of the ‘policy’ and ‘leader-politician’ dimensions (Butler et al. 2011; Davies and Mian 2010; Pich and Dean 2015; Speed et al. 2015). Further, this study will provide understanding into the relationships between voters and Deputies and highlight the perceptions, associations and imagery Guernsey voters ascribe to non-party political brands (Bosch et al. 2006a; Nandan 2005). This research will also reveal understanding as to whether Guernsey citizens-voters desire political ‘party’ brands. This in turn could result in a reconceptualization of political brands, which extends the political brand triad (Butler et al. 2011; Davies and Mian 2010; Pich and Dean 2015; Speed et al. 2015). Further, a revised definition could be tailored to the unique setting of island communities and this could have implications to other jurisdictions with non-traditional political brands. Finally, the applied findings will address the challenge put forward by Pich and Dean (2015) to assess the usability of the ‘brand identity network’ as a mechanism to explore internal political brand identity and external political brand image. This will go some way in addressing the limited number of ‘appropriate frameworks’ than can be used to assist researchers to understand brands and develop strategies to address any inconsistencies or misalignment between communicated identity and understood image (Nielsen 2015; O’Cass and Voola 2011; Ormrod 2011; Scammell 2015; Speed et al. 2015). Conclusion Subsequently, this study will seek to understand how independent elected representatives currently create and develop political brand identity and explore how Guernsey voters understand political brand image of non-party brands. Further, the findings will highlight a contribution to practice. For example, this study will reveal implications of the introduction of political ‘party’ brands to the prospective of an island-wide voting environment from the perspective of internal [Deputies] and external [citizens-voters] stakeholders. This research will offer internal political stakeholders insight into the perceptions, attitudes and opinions of external citizensvoters in terms of prospective political ‘party’ brands, desired configuration of political ‘party’ brands and highlight whether political ‘party’ brands have a role to play in the reformed electoral process on Guernsey. Further, the findings will offer internal political stakeholders the opportunity to design, create and develop their political brands in line with the wants and needs of the electorate, which in turn should strengthen political engagement, maintain personal relationships between politicians-voters and allow for the establishment of a tailored approach to political brand management in non-traditional political environments. Further, the findings will have a direct impact on the debate as to how Guernsey’s electoral process develops following the 2018 Island Wide Referendum and legislates prior the 2020 Guernsey General Election. The findings will also have implications beyond non-party systems of government for example it may offer existing party-systems of government practical methods and initiatives to strengthen voter engagement and develop stakeholder relationships across jurisdictions and constituencies. This study will also contribute to academic theory. For example, the addressed objectives will offer the researchers an opportunity reconceptualise political brands particularly in non-traditional contexts based on deep insight from the perspectives of citizens-voters, which in turn will allow the sub-discipline of political branding to advance-develop as an area of study (Needham and Smith 20015; Nielsen 2016; O’Cass 2001; Pich et al. 2016; Scammel 2015). In addition, this study will address explicit calls for future research in this area by outlining how independent political brands exist or develop without the ‘party’ element from the trinity assess the applicability of the ‘trinity’ concept to new jurisdictions. Finally, this study will assess the applicability of the ‘political brand identity network’ (Pich and Dean 2015) as a tool to explore internal political brand identity and external political brand image of non-party political brands from a multi-stakeholder perspective.

Drawing both on international marketing literature (Steenkamp, Batra, & Alden, 2003) and value/risk research (Sweeny & Soutar, 2001; Mitchell, 1999), the current study investigates (1) how consumers’ perceptions of brand globalness/localness (PBG/PBL) influence their assessment of different dimensions of perceived value as well as the risk associated with making a purchase decision; and (2) how these value and risk assessments mediate the relationships between PBG/PBL and brand purchase intentions. We apply signaling theory (Kirmani & Rao, 2000) to relate PBG and PBL to consumers’ perceptions of risk as well as their perceptions of functional, emotional and social value. For empirical verification of the hypothesized relationships, we use comparable samples from two European countries that vary substantially in terms of economic development (Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina). Results show that only emotional value serves as a consistent mediator of PBG and PBL on purchase intentions in both countries, whereas no mediating role could be identified for perceived risk. In terms of managerial implications, our findings reveal the importance of emphasizing the emotional value of a brand, which serves as a stable facilitator through which PBG/PBL influence consumers’ purchase intentions across the distinct market settings.

The research on country of origin effect (COO) has been oriented lately towards the characteristics of the consumer. As a result, in recent years there has been a growing number of publications dealing with consumer dispositions in the consumption of local or global brands (ethnocentrism, nationalism, patriotism, cosmopolitanism, xenocentrism). To contribute to the research, we conceptualize the Self-Country Connection (SCC) construct, based on the extended self theory, considering the country as one more possession that can be added to the individual’s self. We developed the scale generating items based on literature review and qualitative research. Specialists in marketing and international consumer behavior refined the items. Followed the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, analysis of discriminant, nomological and predictive validities, which obtained satisfactory results, in addition to the two-month interval testretest. The scale has two versions and can be used both to access the consumer's selfconnection with the home country and with foreign countries. The SCC scale can be used with other established scales, such as CETSCALE, COS, among others, to understand better the consumer behavior and improving market segmentation.

Marketing is a broad discipline spanning numerous fields, often leading to cross-disciplinary research. It is a saturated discipline with numerous academic outputs published annually. With a constantly expanding knowledge base, and increased emphasis on researchers ‘proving the worth’ of their research, marketing scholars are increasingly required to quickly search, extract and synthesize literature. Researchers must then be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of their research context. This often calls for a systematic approach. Typically, Systematic Literature Review (SLR) searches are conducted across multiple databases, over a number of years, which is a lengthy and complicated process that can result in errors. The present research outlines the search strategies of previously published SLR’s searches, and replicates these searches in Google Scholar (GS). The aim is to understand the reliability of GS as a primary search tool to, potentially, alleviate lengthy and complicated procedures seen in existing SLR’s.

We investigated the effects of two Brucella proteins expressed in a pMAL expression system, RocF and EF-Ts, as subunit vaccines on immune modulation and protective efficacy using a mouse model. Mice vaccinated with MBP-RocF and MBP-EF-Ts displayed increased production of TNF, IFN-, MCP-1, IL-10 and IL-6, and TNF and MCP-1, respectively. Furthermore, mice vaccinated with MBP-EF-Ts showed decreased induction of IFN- and Th2-related cytokines, IL-10 and IL-6. Higher proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were observed in the blood of mice vaccinated with MBP-RocF than in the PBS-vaccinated group, although the increases were not significant. Furthermore, significantly reduced Brucella proliferation in the spleens of the MBP-RocF and MBP-EF-Ts groups were observed, but inflammation of these organs was not attenuated. Overall, these results indicate that RocF and EF-Ts could be potential subunit vaccine candidates against animal brucellosis.

분리막의 기공 크기 및 분포도를 분석하기 위한 다양한 측정법이 있지만 10-50 nm 범위의 한외여과막 기공크기 를 정확하게 측정하기가 까다롭다. 따라서 gas-liquid displacement porometer (GLDP)와 liquid-liquid displacement porometer (LLDP) 기공 특성 측정법 두 가지를 이용하여, 10-100 nm의 기공크기를 갖는 세 종류의 세라믹 분리막(K-100, A-100, A-20) 의 기공 크기 및 분포도를 비교 분석하였다. GLDP는 한외여과막의 최대 기공크기를 측정하는데 적합한 분석법으로 확인되 었고, LLDP로 측정된 평균 기공크기가 분리막의 분리 성능 결과와 더 연계되어 있었다. 또한 LLDP는 10-50 nm 범위의 기 공크기를 측정하는데 적합한 기공 분석법으로 확인되었으나, GLDP 보다 낮은 정밀도와 높은 민감도를 나타내었다. 다양한 기공 특성 분석법 가운데, 최근 상용화된 LLDP 기술은 종래의 측정법으로 알지 못했던 유용한 결과들을 제공할 수 있을 것 으로 기대된다.

This study evaluated the antimicrobial efficacy of different concentrations of ozonated water with organic matter, fetal bovine serum, at different concentrations and incubation times with bacteria. In the absence of organic matter, total eradication of up to 5 log of Escherichia (E.) coli was achieved, however, interference by organic matter led to inefficiency of ozonated water as a disinfecting agent. In addition, diminishing antimicrobial effects at higher temperatures, even in the absence of organic matter, were also demonstrated. These findings indicate that ozonated water will be a safe and effective disinfectant agent that could be useful in meat processing, especially an intestine processing, in Korean slaughter houses.

Treatment of dextran sodium sulfate(DSS) on HeLa cells results to an enhanced susceptibility to Brucella(B.) abortus infection. An increase in the adherence, invasion and intracellular replication of B. abortus was observed in DSS-treated cells. Furthermore, a marked elevation in the intensity of F-actin fluorescence was also observed in DSS-treated cells compared with untreated B. abortus-infected cells. An upregulation of phagocytic signaling proteins by Western blot analysis demonstrated an apparent activation of ERK, p38α and JNK phosphorylation levels in B. abortus-infected DSS-treated cells compared with the control. Colocalization with LAMP-1 proteins was attenuated in DSS-treated cells upon intracellular trafficking of the pathogen compared with control cells. The results of this study demonstrated consistency with other pathogens. The uptake and intracellular replication of B. abortus is hypothesized to be stimulated by various dextran receptors such as C-type lectins that are involved in phagocytosis which can either be direct phagocytic receptors, modulators of the expression of other receptors or as opsonins leading to an enhanced internalization of B. abortus. The complexity of these interactions thus would warrant further investigation into the role of DSS in the pathogenesis of brucellosis. In summary, we conclude that DSS enhanced adhesion, phagocytosis and intracellular replication of B. abortus in epithelial cells which could lead to suppression of the innate immune system in chronic Brucella infection.

The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of ozone in sanitizing water experimentally inoculated with the gram-positive food-poisoning bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. The bactericidal effect was measured after experimentally inoculated solutions were exposed to 0, 0.5, and 1.0 ppm ozone at several time points and different temperatures, in the presence of varying concentrations of different organic matter, namely, fetal bovine serum (FBS) or cattle liver. Results revealed inhibition of the bactericidal effect in the presence of the lowest percentage of FBS, but a lower extent of the inhibition occurred when liver was used as the organic matter. It was also apparent that a higher temperature and shorter ozone exposure time had led to a more reduced bactericidal efficacy than that under a lower temperature and longer ozone exposure. This study provides insight into the potential use of ozonated water as an effective and safe disinfectant in an abattoir setting.

The red ginseng is known to have effects on antioxidativity and cytotoxicity. Nanoscale active substances have various advantages such as improved bioavailability and permeation ability into the cell. However, few studies conducted with the nanoparticles of red ginseng due to its low yield rate and difficulty of manufacturing the product in pilot scale. This study, therefore, investigated the size effects of ultra-fine powder of red ginseng on antioxidativity and cytotoxicity. Red ginseng powder (6, 8, or 158 μm) prepared using a pilot scale was provided by a local company. Antioxidativity was measured by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assays, and cytotoxicity was tested by methylthiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The results of DPPH and ABTS radical electron donating ability IC50 of red ginseng were ranged from 2.27 to 3.34 mg/ml and 2.94 to 3.09 mg/ml, respectively, which were not significantly different between all samples. However, the results of cytotoxicity clearly showed a pattern of decreased toxicity in 6 and 8 μm power compared to 158 μm powder. Unexpectedly, particle sizes of red ginseng did not significantly affect antioxidativity. It is believed that these were related to the process of pilot scale production. These phenomena are also believed to be caused by aggregation of low size power particle that increases water holding capacity. From our result, it is concluded that this range of particle size of red ginseng affected the reduction of cytotoxicity.

In Korea, a serious amphibian disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been reported from historical samples collected in the 1900s. In this study, we continue to evaluate the current prevalence of chytridiomycosis in the Korean Peninsula and we include imported frogs from America to our analysis. Non-invasive skin swabs were taken from 275 apparently healthy frogs, and Bd was detected in five free living frogs by the nested PCR protocol consisting of two species: Bombina orientalis and Rana catesbeiana, from Gyeongnam and Cheonbuk provinces. These frogs comprised about 2% of the total number of free living samples. This study might be useful for understanding amphibian chytridiomycosis in Korea.

Fast, cheap and sufficient serodiagnostic tools needs to be developed for the early detectionof brucellosis. Currently the tools cannot differentiate an active infection from vaccinated, norcan it differentiate other bacterial infections with lipopolysaccharides, especially Yersiniainfections. In this study, we purified recombinant outer membrane protein 10 and 28(rOmp10,rOmp28), and a dipstick assay(indirect or sandwich) was constructed with single(rOmp10 orrOmp28) and combined rOmps(rOmp10 and rOmp28) from Brucella(B.) abortus 544 to evaluatebovine Brucella positive serum collected during the beginning of the Korean outbreak from2006 to 2015. In application with single rOmp, rOmp10(70%; indirect, 92.11%; sandwichdipstick) and rOmp28(72.5%; indirect, 86.84%; sandwich dipstick) had comparable results. Inaddition, results indicated that dipstick with combined rOmps(rOmps10 and rOmp28) weresuperior in detecting positive serum samples, at 85% indirect and 100% sandwich dipstick. Surprisingly, the results were the same in detecting negative results at 97.78% for both singleand combined indirect dipsticks. The dipstick tools with rOmp10 and rOmp28 would be usefulfor a rapid screen method for bovine brucellosis.

How stable are shopping styles of women and men across cultures? To find out, the authors develop a new scale that reliably measures differences between male and female shopping styles and is stable across cultures. They develop a conceptual model and hypotheses to test whether observed differences in gender shopping styles are likely to be innate or arise from socialization. Through a survey of consumers in seven countries, they show that males and females are evolutionary predisposed to have different shopping styles. Counter to social structural theory, the observed differences in shopping style between females and males are greater in low-context cultures (higher gender equality countries) than in high-context cultures (lower gender equality countries). Empathizing—the ability to tune into another person’s thoughts and feelings—mediates shopping style more for female shoppers; systemizing—the degree to which an individual possesses spatial skills—mediates shopping style more for male shoppers. Therefore, retail segmentation between females and males appears to be of more managerial relevance than segmentation between cultures. Other managerial implications are also discussed.