The role of artificial intelligence in integrated marketing communications. A case study of Jumia Online Ghana

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been observed as both a destructive and a transformative game changer in all human activities where it has  been adopted. This study looked into the role of Artificial Intelligence in Integrated Marketing Communications, with Jumia Online Ghana as a case. Through the use of both  quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as convenience and purposive sampling techniques, the study obtained qualitative and quantitative data from IT staff and customers of Jumia Online Ghana. A total of 112 respondents  participated in the study. The study revealed that Jumia Online Ghana boost their marketing communications; undertake marketing leads; and promote their contents and products through the use of Artificial Intelligence. The study recommends that the need exists for  AIpowered contents of Jumia Online Ghana to be optimized for mobile devices. It has been established that the use of AI empowers  marketing communications in order to reach wider markets

Amino acid analog toxicity in primary rat neuronal and astrocyte cultures: implications for protein misfolding and tdp-43 regulation

Amino acid analogs promote translational errors that result in aberrant protein synthesis, and have been used to understand the effects of protein misfolding in a variety of physiological and pathological settings. TDP-43 is a protein that is linked to protein aggregation and toxicity in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. In this study we exposed primary rat neurons and astrocyte cultures to established amino acid analogs (Canavanine and Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid), and observed both cell types undergo a dose-dependent increase in toxicity, with neurons exhibiting a greater degree of toxicity as compared to astrocytes. Neurons and astrocytes exhibited similar increases in ubiquitinated and oxidized protein following analog treatment. Analog treatment increased Heat shock protein (Hsp) levels in both neurons and astrocytes. In neurons, and to a lesser extent astrocytes, the levels of TDP-43 increased in response to analog treatment. Taken together, these data indicate that neurons exhibit preferential toxicity and alterations in TDP-43, in response to increased protein misfolding, as compared to astrocytes

Selective vulnerability of neurons to acute toxicity after proteasome inhibitor treatment: Implications for oxidative stress and insolubility of newly synthesized proteins

Maintaining protein homeostasis is vital to cell viability, with numerous studies demonstrating a role for proteasome inhibition occurring during the aging of a variety of tissues and, presumably, contributing to the disruption of cellular homeostasis during aging. In this study we sought to elucidate the differences between neurons and astrocytes in regard to basal levels of protein synthesis, proteasome-mediated protein degradation, and sensitivity to cytotoxicity after proteasome inhibitor treatment. In these studies we demonstrate that neurons have an increased vulnerability, compared to astrocyte cultures, to proteasome-inhibitor-induced cytotoxicity. No significant difference was observed between these two cell types in regard to the basal rates of protein synthesis, or basal rates of protein degradation, in the pool of short-lived proteins. After proteasome inhibitor treatment neuronal crude lysates were observed to undergo greater increases in the levels of ubiquitinated and oxidized proteins and selectively exhibited increased levels of newly synthesized proteins accumulating within the insoluble protein pool, compared to astrocytes. Together, these data suggest a role for increased oxidized proteins and sequestration of newly synthesized proteins in the insoluble protein pool, as potential mediators of the selective neurotoxicity after proteasome inhibitor treatment. The implications for neurons exhibiting increased sensitivity to acute proteasome inhibitor exposure, and the corresponding changes in protein homeostasis observed after proteasome inhibition, are discussed in the context of both aging and age-related disorders of the nervous system.Fil: Dasuri, Kalavathi. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Ebenezer, Philip J.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Le. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez Kim, Sun Ok. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Uranga, Romina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Gavilán, Elena. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Di Blasio, Alessia. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Keller, Jeffrey N.. State University of Louisiana; Estados Unido

Ventilator-associated Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia

We report an outbreak of ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in 6 infants with acute lower respiratory tract infection. Non-bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage isolated A. baumannii in all these infants. Environmental microbiological survey of the Pediatric intensive care unit and pediatric wards identified oxygen humidifying chambers as the source of Acinetobacter. Practices of cleaning and changing of the humidifiers were reviewed and the outbreak was controlled with new recommendations

Some information on the balistids of the southwest coast of India

Though balistlds, popularly called trigger fishes, contribute only a negligible share to the Indian fisheries, two species, Odonus niger and Sufflamen fraenatus (= Sufflamen capistratus) important seasonal (usually November-March) subsidiary fisheries along the contiguous coasts of Thiruvananthapuram (= Trivandrum) (Kerala) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) district

Label-free lipidome study of paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) of rat brain with post-traumatic stress injury by Raman imaging

© 2021 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a widespread psychiatric injury that develops serious life-threatening symptoms like substance abuse, severe depression, cognitive impairments, and persistent anxiety. However, the mechanisms of post-traumatic stress injury in brain are poorly understood due to the lack of practical methods to reveal biochemical alterations in various brain regions affected by this type of injury. Here, we introduce a novel method that provides quantitative results from Raman maps in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) region. By means of this approach, we have shown a lipidome comparison in PVT regions of control and PTSD rat brains. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry was also employed for validation of the Raman results. Lipid alterations can reveal invaluable information regarding the PTSD mechanisms in affected regions of brain. We have showed that the concentration of cholesterol, cholesteryl palmitate, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, ganglioside, glyceryl tripalmitate and sulfatide changes in the PVT region of PTSD compared to control rats. A higher concentration of cholesterol suggests a higher level of corticosterone in the brain. Moreover, concentration changes of phospholipids and sphingolipids suggest the alteration of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) which is associated with inflammatory processes in the brain. Our results have broadened the understanding of biomolecular mechanisms for PTSD in the PVT region of the brain. This is the first report regarding the application of Raman spectroscopy for PTSD studies. This method has a wide spectrum of applications and can be applied to various other brain related disorders or other regions of the brain

Future Climate Change Impacts on River Discharge Seasonality for Selected West African River Basins

The changing climate is a concern to sustainable water resources. This study examined climate change impacts on river discharge seasonality in two West African river basins; the Niger river basin and the Hadejia-Jama’are Komadugu-Yobe Basin (HJKYB). The basins have their gauges located within Nigeria and cover the major climatic settings. Here, we set up and validated the hyper resolution global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB for these rivers. Time series plots as well five performance evaluation metrics such as Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE),); the ratio of RMSE-observations standard deviation (RSR); per cent bias (PBIAS); the Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency criteria (NSE); and, the coefficient of determination (r2), were employed to verify the PCR-GLOBWB simulation capability. The validation results showed from satisfactory to very good on individual rivers as specified by PBIAS (−25 to 0.8), NSE (from 0.6 to 0.8), RSR (from 0.62 to 0.4), r2 (from 0.62 to 0.88), and KGE (from 0.69 to 0.88) respectively. The impact assessment was performed by driving the model with climate projections from five global climate models for the representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5. We examined the median and range of expected changes in seasonal discharge in the far future (2070–2099). Our results show that the impacts of climate change cause a reduction in discharge volume at the beginning of the high flow period and an increase in discharge towards the ending of the high flow period relative to the historical period across the selected rivers. In the Niger river basin, at the Lokoja gauge, projected decreases added up to 512 m3/s under RCP 4.5 (June to July) and 3652 m3/s under RCP 8.5 (June to August). The three chosen gauges at the HJKYB also showed similar impacts. At the Gashua gauge, discharge volume increased by 371 m3/s (RCP8.5) and 191 m3/s (RCP4.5) from August to November. At the Bunga gauge, a reduction/increase of -91 m3/s/+84 m3/s (RCP 8.5) and -40 m3/s/+31 m3/s/(RCP 4.5) from June to July/August to October was simulated. While at the Wudil gauge, a reduction/increase in discharge volumes of −39/+133 m3/s (RCP8.5) and −40/133 m3/s (RCP 4.5) from June to August/September to December is projected. This decrease is explained by a delayed start of the rainy season. In all four rivers, projected river discharge seasonality is amplified under the high-end emission scenario (RCP8.5). This finding supports the potential advantages of reduced greenhouse gas emissions for the seasonal river discharge regime. Our study is anticipated to provide useful information to policymakers and river basin development authorities, leading to improved water management schemes within the context of changing climate and increasing need for agricultural expansion

Amino acid analog toxicity in primary rat neuronal and astrocyte cultures: Implications for protein misfolding and TDP-43 regulation

Amino acid analogs promote translational errors that result in aberrant protein synthesis, and have been used to understand the effects of protein misfolding in a variety of physiological and pathological settings. TDP-43 is a protein that is linked to protein aggregation and toxicity in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. In this study we exposed primary rat neurons and astrocyte cultures to established amino acid analogs (Canavanine and Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid), and observed both cell types undergo a dose-dependent increase in toxicity, with neurons exhibiting a greater degree of toxicity as compared to astrocytes. Neurons and astrocytes exhibited similar increases in ubiquitinated and oxidized protein following analog treatment. Analog treatment increased Heat shock protein (Hsp) levels in both neurons and astrocytes. In neurons, and to a lesser extent astrocytes, the levels of TDP-43 increased in response to analog treatment. Taken together, these data indicate that neurons exhibit preferential toxicity and alterations in TDP-43, in response to increased protein misfolding, as compared to astrocytes.Fil: Dasuri, Kalavathi. State University Of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Ebenezer, Philip J.. State University Of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Uranga, Romina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Bahia Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas Bahia Blanca (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Gavilan, Elena. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: Zhang, Le. State University Of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez-Kim, Sun O. K.. State University Of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Bruce Keller, Annadora J.. State University Of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Keller, Jeffrey N.. State University Of Louisiana; Estados Unido

Relaxation of the criteria for entry to the UK Clozapine Central Non-Rechallenge Database: a modelling study

Background Clozapine is uniquely effective in treatment-resistant psychosis. In the UK, patients must discontinue clozapine indefinitely if they are placed on the Central Non-Rechallenge Database (CNRD) after their haematological parameters fall below particular thresholds. Under exceptional circumstances, patients can be rechallenged on clozapine under an off-licence agreement. In the USA in 2015, restrictive practice was discontinued to allow greater flexibility for clozapine maintenance. The absolute neutrophil count leading to treatment interruption was lowered from less than 1·5 × 109/L to less than 1·0 × 109/L and platelet and white cell count monitoring were ceased. We aimed to investigate the implications of a similar policy change on clozapine use in the UK. Methods This was a modelling study of all patients registered on the UK CNRD. First, we determined the proportion of patients placed on the database in the UK who would have had to discontinue clozapine treatment under the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criteria. Second, we compared the haematological characteristics of patients who did or did not meet FDA criteria for discontinuing clozapine, including the time to registration from clozapine initiation and the proportion of cases of severe neutropenia at registration. Third, we investigated the success rates of clozapine re-challenge for patients that had been placed on the CNRD. Successful rechallenge was defined as no recurrence of CNRD registration. Findings Between May 2, 2002 and March 1, 2021, 3731 patients were placed on the CNRD, with a mean age of 47 years (SD 15), including 1420 (38%) women and 2311 (62%) men, of whom 3089 (83%) were White, 360 (10%) were Black, 190 (5%) were Asian, and 92 (2%) were classified as other. 566 (15%) of 3731 patients met the equivalent criteria for clozapine discontinuation under the FDA guidelines. The median time to CNRD registration from clozapine initiation was 1·6 years (IQR 0·2–4·9). Data for 519 rechallenged patients were examined; 419 (81%) were successful. Clozapine rechallenge success rates were broadly similar between individuals who did not meet the US CNRD registration criteria (36 [78%] of 46) and those who did meet the criteria (383 [81%] of 473). Interpretation Implementing the revised FDA monitoring criteria in the UK would substantially reduce clozapine discontinuation for haematological reasons, which would greatly improve the mental health outcomes of these patients without having a major effect on their physical health