Here, a novel nitrogen-doped carbon nano-material (N-CGNM) with hierarchically porous structure was prepared from spent coffee ground for efficient adsorption of organic dyes by a simple one-step carbonization process (the uniform mixture consists of spent coffee ground, urea, and CaCl2 with the ratio of 1:1:1, which was heated to 1000 °C with a rate of 10 °C min− 1 and held at 1000 °C for 90 min in N2 atmosphere to carry out carbonization, activation, and N-doping concurrently). The morphology and structure analysis show that the prepared N-CGNM exhibits hierarchical pore structure, high specific surface area (544 m2/ g), and large numbers of positively charged nitrogen-containing groups. This unique structure and chemical composition endow N-CGNM with an excellent adsorption capacity toward anion Congo red (623.12 ± 21.69 mg/g), which is obviously superior to that (216.47 ± 18.43 mg/g) of untreated spent coffee ground-based carbon nano-materials (CGM). Oppositely, the adsorption capacity of N-CGNM towards cation methylene blue is inferior to that of CGM due to the existence of electrostatic repulsion. These findings show a great guidance for the development of low-cost but efficient selective adsorbent.

Despite the recent promising findings on the influence of social media engagement on brand performance outcomes (e.g., De Vries & Carlson, 2014), researchers suggest that consumer engagement in social media sites requires a deeper understanding (Islam & Rahman, 2016). To respond to this call, we conducted this research to examine an important, yet under-researched, question on the underlying mechanism by which consumer engagement on social media drive improved brand performance. In this research, we develop and empirically test a conceptual model to investigate the relationships among consumer engagement, psychological brand ownership, brand loyalty, brand performance, and consumer’s word of mouth (WOM) in the context of social media. The findings suggest that consumer engagement influences brand outcomes through its indirect impact on consumers’ psychological ownership of the brand. When consumers engage themselves with the brand at social media sites, they tend to form bonds with the brand and develop a sense of community, of which they feel they are a part. Feelings of ownership motivate consumers to care for and nurture the growth of the brand, which manifests itself in terms of brand loyalty, positive word of mouth, and improved brand performance. The focus of consumer engagement in social media communities provides convincing evidence to support the benefits of using social media to connect with consumers. This research offers promising insights on how relationship with a brand can help create sense of community and feelings of ownership among consumers, which in turn drives better brand performance.

We investigated genetic diversity among and within the populations of cultivated ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer ) using SRAP profiles. A total of 24 ginseng plants were sampled from the three populations (two from China, one from Korea). Since all these populations are previously shown closely related to each other assister groups, we used Panax quinquefolium L. and wild ginseng as a reference species, which is not "within the sister group". All individuals from the three populations were screened with a total of 36 primer pairs with 26 primers generated from 328 SRAP bands of DNA gels. The mean gene diversity (HE) was estimated to be 0.057 within populations (range 0.032-0.067), and 0.086 at the species level. The genetic differentiation (Gst=0.31) indicates that genetic variation apportioned 30% among populations and 70% within populations. Generally, the result of this study indicates that ginseng contains high molecular variation in its populations.