A little bluebird told me : social media conversation effects on business outcomes-evidence from the movie industry

textIn this dissertation, I examine how online conversations as electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) information via social media networks affect business outcomes. Using data from the movie industry, my goal is to show how conversation quantity and quality, defined here as volumes and valence, on social network sites affect important business outcomes such as sales. Using a dynamic simultaneous equation system, I find that social media conversations can be a precursor to and an outcome of sales. Aggregated data from multiple sources show how social media variables and other key variables—volume, valence, and other information related to movies such as YouTube views, ratings, advertising, production budget, number of screens—contribute to box-office and home video sales through eWOM via social media. Findings highlight that eWOM volume correlates with box-office performance and home video sales: the more positive and strong the conversation, the higher the box office and home video sales. The study extends prior research on WOM and offers insight into how film studios can strategically manage social media to enhance box office and home video revenue.Advertisin

In vitro antioxidative activity of moss extract, and effect of moss on serum lipid level of mice fed with high-fat diet

Purpose: To evaluate the potential of active compounds derived from moss in the prevention and treatment of various diseases.Methods: Three species of moss were extracted with deionized water at 95 °C, and with 70.5 % ethanol at 85 °C. Analysis of total phenolic contents (TPC) of the extracts were performed by Folin- Ciocalteu (FC) method. The antioxidant activity of the extracts were determined using three methods, namely, by 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic) acid (ABTS), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). In vivo effects were evaluated in mice fed high fat diet (HFD) supplemented with 20 % ground moss. Cholesterol levels in HFD were evaluated by ophthalaldehyde method. Serum triglyceride levels were measured using triglyceride (TG) kit, while blood insulin level and leptin concentration were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.Results: The moss extracts exhibited antioxidative effects, as evidenced of . TPC of 47.20 ± 11.20 to 119.87 ± 11.51 mg GAE/mg, respectively. ABTS scavenging activity was 1078.11 ± 18.95 to 2587.33 ± 46.19 μmol Trolox/mg, DPPH scavenging activity of were 42.11 ± 8.22 to 298.78 ± 20.02 μmol Trolox/mg, and FRAP value of 393.19 ± 24.64 to 1070.14 ± 17.92 μmol Trolox/mg, respectively. Mice fed with 20 % ground moss did not show any significant effect (p < 0.05) on visceral weight and blood lipid levels of HFD, while leptin concentrations reduced significantly to 4.74 ± 0.00 and 0.20 ± 0.00 ng/dL) relative to HFD alone (26.72 ± 6.53 ng/dL).Conclusion: Moss can potentially be used as an antioxidative ingredient, for the improvement of overall human health, suggesting that important medical benefits associated with moss consumption. However, further investigations are required to ascertain this.Keywords: Moss, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, insulin, lepti

Case Report: Intellectual disability and borderline intellectual functioning in two sisters with a 12p11.22 loss

Multiple genome sequencing studies have identified genetic abnormalities as major causes of severe intellectual disability (ID). However, many children affected by mild ID and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) lack a genetic diagnosis because known causative ID genetic mutations have not been identified or the role of genetic variants in mild cases is less understood. Genetic variant testing in mild cases is necessary to provide information on prognosis and risk of occurrence. In this study, we report two sibling patients who were 5 years 9 months old and 3 years 3 months old and presented to the hospital due to developmental delay. Clinical assessment and chromosomal microarray analysis were performed. The patients were diagnosed with mild intellectual disability (ID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF). Genetic analysis identified a loss of 12p11.22, including the OVCH1-AS1, OVCH1, and TMTC1 genes, which was the only variant that occurred in both sisters. Identical variants were found in their father with probable BIF. Neither patient presented any brain structural abnormalities or dysmorphism, and no exogenous factors or parenting problems were reported. Thus, loss of 12p11.22 may be associated with our patients’ cognitive impairment. The OVCH1, OVCH1-AS1 and TMTC1 variants identified in this study are the most likely disease-causing genes in the sisters. Our findings may expand as yet limited knowledge on mild ID and BIF causative variants, which would further support the diagnosis even if the severity is mild

RFID-Based Digital Board Game Platforms

This paper presents digital board games built upon RFID-based platforms. The platforms consist of RFID tag-embedded physical objects and RFID reader boards. A library is built upon the platforms for recognizing data, locations, and movements of the physical game objects. Three kinds of game prototypes are designed and developed for use in young children's edutainment. The user tests prove that a natural type of interactivity can be achieved for digital board games, and it can contribute to establishing paradigms for next-generation edutainment

Analytical model of IEEE 802.15.4 non-beacon mode with download traffic by the piggyback method

Abstract. We analyze the MAC performance of the IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN non-beacon mode with the piggyback method in non-saturated condition. Our approach is to model a stochastic behavior of one device as a discrete time Markov chain. We propose an analytical model describing the download behavior of a device using piggyback method. We obtain the performance measures such as throughput, packet delay, energy consumption and packet loss probability of a device. Numerical results and simulation results show that the piggyback method which removes a backoff procedure in the backoff method can reduce the delay, loss probability and energy consumption compared with backoff method. Our results can be used to find the optimal number of devices with some constraints on packet delay and packet loss probability

Fast track fed-batch culture development for COVID-19 vaccine clinical study

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Induction of IL-10-producing CD4(+)CD25(+ )T cells in animal model of collagen-induced arthritis by oral administration of type II collagen

Induction of oral tolerance has long been considered a promising approach to the treatment of chronic autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Oral administration of type II collagen (CII) has been proven to improve signs and symptoms in RA patients without troublesome toxicity. To investigate the mechanism of immune suppression mediated by orally administered antigen, we examined changes in serum IgG subtypes and T-cell proliferative responses to CII, and generation of IL-10-producing CD4(+)CD25(+ )T-cell subsets in an animal model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). We found that joint inflammation in CIA mice peaked at 5 weeks after primary immunization with CII, which was significantly less in mice tolerized by repeated oral feeding of CII before CIA induction. Mice that had been fed with CII also exhibited increased serum IgG(1 )and decreased serum IgG(2a )as compared with nontolerized CIA animals. The T-cell proliferative response to CII was suppressed in lymph nodes of tolerized mice also. Production of IL-10 and of transforming growth factor-β from mononuclear lymphocytes was increased in the tolerized animals, and CD4(+ )T cells isolated from tolerized mice did not respond with induction of IFN-γ when stimulated in vitro with CII. We also observed greater induction of IL-10-producing CD4(+)CD25(+ )subsets among CII-stimulated splenic T cells from tolerized mice. These data suggest that when these IL-10-producing CD4(+)CD25(+ )T cells encounter CII antigen in affected joints they become activated to exert an anti-inflammatory effect

Cold shock domain proteins and glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana can promote the cold adaptation process in Escherichia coli

Despite the fact that cold shock domain proteins (CSDPs) and glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins (GRPs) have been implicated to play a role during the cold adaptation process, their importance and function in eukaryotes, including plants, are largely unknown. To understand the functional role of plant CSDPs and GRPs in the cold response, two CSDPs (CSDP1 and CSDP2) and three GRPs (GRP2, GRP4 and GRP7) from Arabidopsis thaliana were investigated. Heterologous expression of CSDP1 or GRP7 complemented the cold sensitivity of BX04 mutant Escherichia coli that lack four cold shock proteins (CSPs) and is highly sensitive to cold stress, and resulted in better survival rate than control cells during incubation at low temperature. In contrast, CSDP2 and GRP4 had very little ability. Selective evolution of ligand by exponential enrichment (SELEX) revealed that GRP7 does not recognize specific RNAs but binds preferentially to G-rich RNA sequences. CSDP1 and GRP7 had DNA melting activity, and enhanced RNase activity. In contrast, CSDP2 and GRP4 had no DNA melting activity and did not enhance RNAase activity. Together, these results indicate that CSDPs and GRPs help E.coli grow and survive better during cold shock, and strongly imply that CSDP1 and GRP7 exhibit RNA chaperone activity during the cold adaptation process