N-methylisatin-beta-thiosemicarbazone derivative (SCH 16) is an inhibitor of Japanese encephalitis virus infection in vitro and in vivo

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During the early and mid part of 20^thcentury, several reports described the therapeutic effects of N-methylisatin-β-Thiosemicarbazone (MIBT) against pox viruses, Maloney leukemia viruses and recently against HIV. However, their ability to inhibit flavivirus replication has not been investigated. Hence the present study was designed to evaluate the antiviral activity of 14 MIBT derivatives against Flaviviruses that are prevalent in India such as Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), Dengue-2 (Den-2) and West Nile viruses (WNV).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Amongst the fourteen Mannich bases of MIBT derivatives tested one compound – SCH 16 was able to completely inhibit <it>in vitro </it>Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and West Nile virus (WNV) replication. However no antiviral activity of SCH 16 was noted against Den-2 virus replication. This compound was able to inhibit 50% of the plaques (IC₅₀) produced by JEV and WNV at a concentration of 16 μgm/ml (0.000025 μM) and 4 μgm/ml (0.000006 μM) respectively. Furthermore, SCH 16 at a concentration of 500 mg/kg body weight administered by oral route twice daily was able to completely (100%) prevent mortality in mice challenged with 50LD₅₀JEV by the peripheral route. Our experiments to understand the mechanism of action suggest that SCH 16 inhibited JEV replication at the level of early protein translation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Only one of the 14 isatin derivatives -SCH 16 exhibited antiviral action on JEV and WNV virus infection <it>in vitro</it>. SCH 16 was also found to completely inhibit JEV replication <it>in vivo </it>in a mouse model challenged peripherally with 50LD₅₀of the virus. These results warrant further research and development on SCH 16 as a possible therapeutic agent.</p

Implementación de la estrategia de segmentación de clientes para el incremento en el uso de la tarjeta de crédito de una entidad bancaria

RESUMEN La tesis en la modalidad de suficiencia profesional denominada “Implementación de la estrategia de segmentación de clientes para el incremento en el uso de la tarjeta de crédito de una entidad bancaria” presenta el problema general: ¿Cómo la implementación de la estrategia de segmentación de los clientes incrementará el uso de la tarjeta de crédito de una entidad bancaria?, del cual se plantea el objetivo general: Implementar la estrategia de segmentación de clientes para incrementar el uso de la tarjeta de crédito de una entidad bancaria. Se desarrolla un caso de éxito en una entidad bancaria que se sustenta en los aportes teóricos acerca de la Segmentación de Clientes desde el punto de vista del Marketing, el CRM y la Estadística; también se presenta las bases de la teoría de administración aplicada a la Gestión de Campañas. En el desarrollo del caso se realizó dos segmentaciones: por nivel de consumo (Heavy, Medium, Light Transactor) y por consumo en giros comerciales (Viajeros, Retail, Buen comer, etc) lo que impactó positivamente en el conocimiento del cliente y en la formulación de estrategias comerciales innovadoras que originó buenos resultados en el incremento de uso de la tarjeta de crédito. PALABRAS CLAVE: segmentación, tarjeta de crédito, entidad bancaria, marketing, CRM, gestión de campañas, conocimiento del cliente.ABSTRACT The thesis in the modality of professional sufficiency denominated "Implementation of the strategy of the customer segmentation for the increase in the use of the credit card of a bank" presents the general problem: How the implementation of the strategy of customer segmentation will increase the use of the credit card of a bank?, which propose the general objective: Implement the strategy of customer segmentation to increase the use of the credit card of a bank. It developed a success case in a bank that is based on theoretical contributions on the Customer Segmentation from the point of view of Marketing, CRM and Statistics; it also presents the bases of management theory applied to Campaign Management. In the development of the case, there were two segmentations: by level of consumption (Heavy, Medium, Light Transactor) and by commercial spins consumption (Travellers, Retail, God eating, et cetera.) which positively impacted the customer knowledge and formulation of innovative commercial strategies that resulted in good results for the increase of credit card use. KEYWORDS: segmentation, credit card, banking, CRM, campaign management, customer knowledge

Advancing an interdisciplinary framework to study seed dispersal ecology

Although dispersal is generally viewed as a crucial determinant for the fitness of any organism, our understanding of its role in the persistence and spread of plant populations remains incomplete. Generalizing and predicting dispersal processes are challenging due to context dependence of seed dispersal, environmental heterogeneity and interdependent processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Current population models often use simple phenomenological descriptions of dispersal processes, limiting their ability to examine the role of population persistence and spread, especially under global change. To move seed dispersal ecology forward, we need to evaluate the impact of any single seed dispersal event within the full spatial and temporal context of a plant’s life history and environmental variability that ultimately influences a population’s ability to persist and spread. In this perspective, we provide guidance on integrating empirical and theoretical approaches that account for the context dependency of seed dispersal to improve our ability to generalize and predict the consequences of dispersal, and its anthropogenic alteration, across systems. We synthesize suitable theoretical frameworks for this work and discuss concepts, approaches and available data from diverse subdisciplines to help operationalize concepts, highlight recent breakthroughs across research areas and discuss ongoing challenges and open questions. We address knowledge gaps in the movement ecology of seeds and the integration of dispersal and demography that could benefit from such a synthesis. With an interdisciplinary perspective, we will be able to better understand how global change will impact seed dispersal processes, and potential cascading effects on plant population persistence, spread and biodiversity

Employing plant functional groups to advance seed dispersal ecology and conservation

Seed dispersal enables plants to reach hospitable germination sites and escape natural enemies. Understanding when and how much seed dispersal matters to plant fitness is critical for understanding plant population and community dynamics. At the same time, the complexity of factors that determine if a seed will be successfully dispersed and subsequently develop into a reproductive plant is daunting. Quantifying all factors that may influence seed dispersal effectiveness for any potential seed-vector relationship would require an unrealistically large amount of time, materials and financial resources. On the other hand, being able to make dispersal predictions is critical for predicting whether single species and entire ecosystems will be resilient to global change. Building on current frameworks, we here posit that seed dispersal ecology should adopt plant functional groups as analytical units to reduce this complexity to manageable levels. Functional groups can be used to distinguish, for their constituent species, whether it matters (i) if seeds are dispersed, (ii) into what context they are dispersed and (iii) what vectors disperse them. To avoid overgeneralization, we propose that the utility of these functional groups may be assessed by generating predictions based on the groups and then testing those predictions against species-specific data. We suggest that data collection and analysis can then be guided by robust functional group definitions. Generalizing across similar species in this way could help us to better understand the population and community dynamics of plants and tackle the complexity of seed dispersal as well as its disruption

Lane 1-uninfected cell control, lanes 2 and 4 – in vitro translation products of RNA obtained form JEV infected PS cells (untreated) at 4 and 10 hours post infection respectively

Lanes 3 and 5 – in translation product of RNA obtained from JEV infected PS cells treated with SCH 16 for 4 hours and 10 hours respectively. Note that SCH 16 treatment of JEV infected cells did not show any in vitro translation product at 4 hours post treatment (Lane 3) whilst at 10 hours (Lane 5) a 50 Kda translation product was obtained. Lane M represents molecular weight markers.<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "N-methylisatin-beta-thiosemicarbazone derivative (SCH 16) is an inhibitor of Japanese encephalitis virus infection and "</p><p>http://www.virologyj.com/content/5/1/64</p><p>Virology Journal 2008;5():64-64.</p><p>Published online 22 May 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2408923.</p><p></p

Employing plant functional groups to advance seed dispersal ecology and conservation.

Seed dispersal enables plants to reach hospitable germination sites and escape natural enemies. Understanding when and how much seed dispersal matters to plant fitness is critical for understanding plant population and community dynamics. At the same time, the complexity of factors that determine if a seed will be successfully dispersed and subsequently develop into a reproductive plant is daunting. Quantifying all factors that may influence seed dispersal effectiveness for any potential seed-vector relationship would require an unrealistically large amount of time, materials and financial resources. On the other hand, being able to make dispersal predictions is critical for predicting whether single species and entire ecosystems will be resilient to global change. Building on current frameworks, we here posit that seed dispersal ecology should adopt plant functional groups as analytical units to reduce this complexity to manageable levels. Functional groups can be used to distinguish, for their constituent species, whether it matters (i) if seeds are dispersed, (ii) into what context they are dispersed and (iii) what vectors disperse them. To avoid overgeneralization, we propose that the utility of these functional groups may be assessed by generating predictions based on the groups and then testing those predictions against species-specific data. We suggest that data collection and analysis can then be guided by robust functional group definitions. Generalizing across similar species in this way could help us to better understand the population and community dynamics of plants and tackle the complexity of seed dispersal as well as its disruption

Advancing an interdisciplinary framework to study seed dispersal ecology.

Although dispersal is generally viewed as a crucial determinant for the fitness of any organism, our understanding of its role in the persistence and spread of plant populations remains incomplete. Generalizing and predicting dispersal processes are challenging due to context dependence of seed dispersal, environmental heterogeneity and interdependent processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Current population models often use simple phenomenological descriptions of dispersal processes, limiting their ability to examine the role of population persistence and spread, especially under global change. To move seed dispersal ecology forward, we need to evaluate the impact of any single seed dispersal event within the full spatial and temporal context of a plant's life history and environmental variability that ultimately influences a population's ability to persist and spread. In this perspective, we provide guidance on integrating empirical and theoretical approaches that account for the context dependency of seed dispersal to improve our ability to generalize and predict the consequences of dispersal, and its anthropogenic alteration, across systems. We synthesize suitable theoretical frameworks for this work and discuss concepts, approaches and available data from diverse subdisciplines to help operationalize concepts, highlight recent breakthroughs across research areas and discuss ongoing challenges and open questions. We address knowledge gaps in the movement ecology of seeds and the integration of dispersal and demography that could benefit from such a synthesis. With an interdisciplinary perspective, we will be able to better understand how global change will impact seed dispersal processes, and potential cascading effects on plant population persistence, spread and biodiversity