Commercialised dialogue and Web 2.0 interactivity : Characterising discourses in digital advertising environments

This thesis aims to provide an original context for the emergent use of Web 2.0 technologies by brands and their communication agents (advertising, PR and marketing) as they engage consumers in (a branded form of) dialogue. This is achieved by exploring the content and style of brand-consumer communications in Web 2.0 platforms, by appraising advertising discourses in collaborative and interactive environment of Twitter. This study focuses in particular on the use of language and the role that other communicative modes play in Web 2.0-mediated interactions and the possible implications they might have on brand-consumer power relations. This thesis adopts a critical inter-disciplinary approach, and is designed to inform the emerging field of digital commercial communications. More specifically, by applying social and cultural theories of new media with the social Web, this study sets out to contribute to emerging literature and debates on the socio-economic implications of Web 2.0 communications in the context of advertising. Critical theories of advertising and new media have been utilised to shape a framework for analysing communications in collaborative and often interactive digital advertising settings. This, and a body of primary research through first-hand interviews, plus analysis of exemplar of Web 2.0-mediated brand-consumer communications, enables me to consider more broadly the ways in which capitalism has been repositioned within the new digital environment. To achieve this, this study has appropriated two research methods in it’s handling of primary evidence. The first part of analysis appraises eight semi-structured interviews I conducted with digital strategy makers and ‘brand ambassadors’ working within the contemporary international advertising industry, acting on behalf of multinational brands. The second part analyses the content of brand-consumer communications within Web 2.0 platforms, notably Twitter, through four different sectors spanning service, product and cause sectors. Cases are of Starbucks Coffee (fast moving consumer goods), Dell Computers (IT sector), Burberry (luxury fashion) and Yes Scotland (a political cause). The overarching aim is to assess product or service-driven digital advertising strategies that have most effectively exploited (or best lend themselves to) social Web platforms to leverage their ideology and generate social supports. The results of my analysis suggest that although Web 2.0-mediated communications between brands and consumers exhibit some characteristics of participatory culture, the actual nature of the conversational qualities and the types of interaction spans a much wider spectrum. Some discourses are in fact monologue, while others contain consumer-generated responsive dialogue and more proportionate mutual discourse. The latter ultimately contributes in co-creating and shaping discourses that reinforce and stabilise existing hierarchical relations between producers and consumer

MGP Panel is a comprehensive targeted genomics panel for molecular profiling of multiple myeloma patients

PURPOSE: We designed a comprehensive multiple myeloma (MM) targeted sequencing panel to identify common genomic abnormalities in a single assay and validated it against known standards. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The panel comprised 228 genes/exons for mutations, 6 regions for translocations, and 56 regions for copy number abnormalities (CNAs). Toward panel validation, targeted sequencing was conducted on 233 patient samples and further validated using clinical fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (translocations), multiplex ligation probe analysis (MLPA) (CNAs), whole genome sequencing (WGS) (CNAs, mutations, translocations) or droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) of known standards (mutations). RESULTS: Canonical IgH translocations were detected in 43.2% of patients by sequencing, and aligned with FISH except for one patient. CNAs determined by sequencing and MLPA for 22 regions were comparable in 103 samples and concordance between platforms was R2=0.969. VAFs for 74 mutations were compared between sequencing and ddPCR with concordance of R2=0.9849. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we have developed a targeted sequencing panel that is as robust or superior to FISH and WGS. This molecular panel is cost effective, comprehensive, clinically actionable and can be routinely deployed to assist risk stratification at diagnosis or post-treatment to guide sequencing of therapies

Loss Of COP9-Signalosome Genes At 2q37 Is Associated With IMiD Agent Resistance In Multiple Myeloma

The acquisition of a multi-drug refractory state is a major cause of mortality in myeloma. Myeloma drugs that target the Cereblon (CRBN) protein include widely-used immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), and newer CRBN E3 ligase modulator drugs (CELMoDs), in clinical trials. CRBN genetic disruption causes resistance and poor outcomes with IMiDs. Here we investigate alternative genomic associations of IMiD resistance, using large whole genome sequencing patient datasets (n=522 cases) at newly diagnosed, lenalidomide (LEN)-refractory and lenalidomide-then-pomalidomide (LEN-then-POM)-refractory timepoints. Selecting gene targets reproducibly identified by published CRISPR/shRNA IMiD resistance screens, we found little evidence of genetic disruption by mutation associated with IMiD resistance. However, we identified a chromosome region, 2q37, containing COP9-signalosome members COPS7b and COPS8, copy loss of which significantly enriches between newly-diagnosed (incidence 5.5%), LEN-refractory (10.0%) and LEN-then-POM-refractory states (16.4%), and may adversely affect outcomes when clonal fraction is high. In a separate dataset (50 patients) with sequential samples taken throughout treatment, we identified acquisition of 2q37 loss in 16% cases with IMiD exposure, but none in cases without IMiD exposure. The COP9 signalosome is essential for maintenance of the CUL4-DDB1-CRBN E3 Ubiquitin Ligase. This region may represent a novel marker of IMiD resistance with clinical utility