Social Media Marketing and Consumer Buying Behavior: A Literature Review

Now-a-days, Social media marketing (SMM) has revolutionized modern marketing practices all over the world. As the traditional framework of marketing has morphed into a combination of traditional and social media marketing, consumers of all ages and genders are now increasingly demonstrating changes in their purchase decisions and/or behaviors. SMM and its possible associations with consumer buying behavior, thus, have been the focus of attention for numerous researchers and industry professionals. The aim of this exploratory study, therefore, is to conduct a systematic review of existing work on the concept and different aspects of social media marketing and its influence on consumer behavior. As part of the review, the study offers a brief overview of social media, social networking sites, social media marketing, and consumer behavior as well as of the relations between SMM and consumer behavior in general, between SMM and young consumer behavior, and between SMM and female consumer behavior. Though exploratory, this study has the potential to offer valuable insights into how consumers are heavily influenced by SMM now, especially to small and medium business owners who often do not have sufficient financial resources to utilize traditional marketing tools and are likely to benefit more from social media marketing. Keywords: Consumer Buying Behavior, Facebook, Female Consumers, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Sites. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-8-02 Publication date: April 30th 202

An insight into the suspected HbA2' cases detected by high performance liquid chromatography in Pakistan

Background:Hemoglobin A2\u27 (delta 16 Gly Arg) is globally the commonest delta chain variant of HbA2. It is clinically and hematologically silent but its sole importance lies in the underestimation of HbA2 quantity during the workup of beta-thalassaemia trait. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) identifies it as a small S-window peak with a mean retention time of 4.59 0.03 minutes. This study aims at describing the frequency of detection of HbA2\u27 by HPLC in Pakistan and its confirmation at a molecular level. Potential HbA2\u27 cases were identified by a retrospective review of 10186 HPLC chromatograms in year 2006. Prospective samples were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, restriction digestion and nucleotide sequencing. Findings: One hundred and ninety two potential cases (1.89%) of HbA2\u27 were detected on HPLC, having mean retention time of 4.59 0.05 minutes. Sixty four (0.6%) new cases were suspected of having co-existing beta-thalassaemia trait when the quantity of S-window peaks was taken into account. Thirteen samples with presumed HbA2\u27 on HPLC were subjected to molecular analysis and the said mutation (delta 16 GGC CGC) was not detected in any sample. Conclusion: It is concluded that diagnosis of HbA2\u27 on HPLC alone is not justified, as evidence of the presence of this delta chain variant in Pakistani population is yet to be proven. Such small S-window peaks should be either disregarded or confirmed at molecular level, and only then should influence the diagnosis of beta-thalassaemia trait. Further studies are required to determine the true nature of these peaks

MODULATION OF PI3K-AKT PATHWAY IN COLORECTAL CANCER

The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway is activated in 20-40% colorectal cancers (CRC) through PTEN loss (PTENloss) and PIK3CA mutations (PIK3CAmut). Allosteric AKT inhibition with MK2206 monotherapy has been ineffective in CRC patients. We investigated the impact of MK2206 on pharmacodynamic (PD) markers and signaling pathways using reverse phase protein array (RPPA) on (1) paired tumor biopsies from a clinical trial of MK2206 in PI3K-altered metastatic CRC, (2) PTENlossCRC patient derived xenografts (PDX) treated with MK2206 or carrier, and (3) MK2206-treated cell lines. PD inhibition was deep in cell lines, less but significant in PDX, and only modest in patients. Expression of several receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) increased after AKT inhibition; insulin like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) was significantly upregulated in patients, PDX and cell lines (P The PI3K pathway also modulates tumor immune microenvironment and may influence response to emerging immunotherapies. Using quantitative immunohistochemistry, we found increased densities of effector T cells and increased expression of several checkpoints (including PD-L1) at the center of PI3K-altered early-stage MSS CRC. Subgroup analysis showed increased CD8+ cells among PIK3CAmut but not PTENloss cases. Using Agilent microarrays, we found higher PD-L1 and TIGIT mRNA levels in PI3K-altered MSS CRC (PPIK3CAmut MSS CRC patients derived clinical benefit more frequently than PIK3CA wild-type patients (50% vs 8.6%, P=0.015). We further showed synergism of combined PI3K and PD-1 inhibition in CT26 CRC mouse model. We conclude that AKT inhibition in metastatic CRC induces FOXO-mediated adaptive upregulation of RTKs, namely IGF1R, possibly reactivating the pathway. PI3K-altered MSS CRC is an immunologically distinct subgroup with increased immune engagement, but also checkpoint upregulation, resulting in overall immunosuppression. Our results highlight potential targeted therapy and immuno-oncology combinations for PI3K-altered CRC patients

Chromatographic analysis of Hb S for the diagnosis of various sickle cell disorders in Pakistan

Sickle cell disease remains a relatively obscure theme in research on haemoglobinopathies in Pakistan. Limited data is available regarding its prevalence in the country. The objective of our study was not only to estimate the frequency of different sickle cell diseases but also to provide quantitative estimation of haemoglobin S and other haemoglobin variants using an automated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. For this Purpose, we retrospectively evaluated the results of HPLC performed on all Patients with suspected haemoglobinopathies during the years 2005 and 2006. Information derived from various sources was used to identify a particular genotype by analysing each sample containing Hb S with respect to haemoglobin, red cell indices and levels of various associated haemoglobin variants. Analysis of 15,699 samples identified 302 Patients with Hb S (1.92%). The genotypes identified included S beta(0)(46.7%), SS (19.2%), SA (11.6%), S beta(+) (8.6%) and SD (2.3%). Thirty-five cases could not be categorised and were labelled \u27unclassified\u27. Majority of the Patients (62.3%) were below the age of 18 years. Balochistan, which is the largest province based on the area, yielded the highest number of Patients (n=140). In the S beta(0) group, the mean haemoglobin and Hb S were lower in children compared to adults (p value of 0.001 and 0.016, respectively). We conclude that sickle cell disorders are prevalent in Pakistan to a significant extent, being concentrated in certain areas of the country. We present the first report of various haemoglobin S genotypes from our population. It is hoped that it will act as a database to characterise the same for our population