Kerala Kalamandalam

This study explored the influence of Social Media Marketing (SMM) on the PI (PI) of female consumers of branded cosmetic products from the viewpoints of differential age and the possible mediating role of Consumer Scepticism (CS). A sample of 192 women in India was surveyed using a structured questionnaire, and the data were analysed using ANOVA, correlation, and mediation analysis with Hayes’ PROCESS Macro. The results indicated that younger consumers were more positive about SMM than older consumers, who were more sceptical. A significant positive relationship between SMM and PI was found, but CS did not mediate the relationship. The direct path between SMM and PI was significant (β = 0.5839, p < .001), while the indirect effects through CS were not. These findings demonstrated that SMM exerted a direct influence on purchase intentions and that marketers could gain more advantage from SMM by focusing on increasing authenticity and engagement rather than decreasing scepticism.

Three new species of velvet ant, Odontomutilla jaferpaloti sp. nov. (India: Karnataka), O. vishwanathi sp. nov. (India: Karnataka), and O. himalayensis sp. nov. (India: Uttarakhand), are described and illustrated. Diagnostic features of these new species, to separate them from similar species are provided. The updated key to the species of India is given.

The introduction and removal of protecting groups can play an important role in organic and natural product synthesis.The synthesis of dimethyl acetals of carbonyl compound such as cyclohexanone has successfully been carried out by the reaction between cyclohexanone and methanol using different transition metals modified mesoporous ceria catalysts. The strong influence of the textural properties of the catalysts such as acid amount and adsorption properties (surface area and pore volume) determine the catalytic activity. We introduced a mild and selective reagent for the oxidative cleavage of acetals under aqueous and heterogeneous conditions.The stability, simple work-up and high yields of the products are among the advantages of this procedure which make it an attractive supplement to the present reported methods.