Brand publics participatory approach via influencers in strategic communications

Master of ScienceDepartment of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsKatie R OlsenThe study aims to examine current practices, experiences, and expectations of the PR industry regarding the relationship between brands-influencers-audiences in strategic communications through in-depth interviews with professional practitioners. The discussion will then be combined with the suggestions of the literature to introduce a new approach to engaging with the public through corporate communication efforts. The new approach focuses on promoting the customer participatory culture, where brands not only persuade their customers to buy their products, or increase their brand reputation through paid advertising and PR efforts, but also develop genuine two-way relationships with their public, to receive feedback and constructive comments to better serve their customers, using influencers as the facilitator

Catalytic Dye Oxidation over CeO2 Nanoparticles Supported on Regenerated Cellulose Membrane

A novel regenerated cellulose (RC) membrane containing cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles is described in detail. In this work, CeO2 nanoparticles with high surface area and mesoporosity were prepared by a modified template-assisted precipitation method. Successful synthesis was achieved using cerium nitrate as a precursor, adjusting the final pH solution to around 11 by ammonium hydroxide and ethylene diamine, and annealing at 550 °C for 3 hours under a protective gas flow. This resulted in a surface area of 55.55 m².g–1 for the nanoparticles. The regenerated cellulose membrane containing CeO2 particles was synthesized by the novel and environmentally friendly method. The catalyst CeO2 and cellulose/CeO2 membrane were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements. The g-value of 2.276 has confirmed the presence of the surface superoxide species of CeO2 nanoparticles in EPR. The photocatalytic activity of the catalyst and the membrane containing the catalyst was evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation by UV-VIS measurements. The cellulose/CeO2 membrane degraded 80% of the methylene blue solution in 120 minutes, showing a better photocatalytic activity than the CeO2 catalyst, which degraded approximately 62% in the same period. It has been proven that the RC membrane is not only a good transparent supporting material but also a good adsorption for high-performance of CeO2 catalyst. Copyright © 2022 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Preparation, Characterization, and Antibacterial Activity of Silver Nanoparticle-Decorated Ordered Mesoporous Carbon

In this study, Ordered Mesoporous Carbon (OMC) was prepared using resol as a carbon precursor and F127 as a soft template. Small-angle X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images, and nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms revealed that OMC possessed ordered hexagonal mesostructures (p6m) with an ordered pore size of 3.2nm, a high specific surface area (SBET) of 539m2/g, and a large total pore volume (Vtotal) of 0.44cm3/g. Subsequently, silver nanoparticles synthesized from an aqueous AgNO3 solution using glucose as a reducing agent and starch as a stabilizing agent were decorated on OMC, producing Ag/OMC. XRD analysis revealed that the composite contained silver crystals. In addition, the content and size of silver nanoparticles in Ag/OMC were 0.71wt% (AAS) and around 25-50nm (TEM), respectively. Due to the surface cover of silver nanoparticles, SBET and Vtotal of Ag/OMC slightly decreased to 417m2/g and 0.38cm3/g, respectively. Both agar and broth dilution techniques were used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the material against Staphylococcus aureus. Ag/OMC with a Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 25.0μg/mL is a potential candidate for use against Staphylococcus aureus

High-mobility 4 μm MOVPE-grown (100) β-Ga2O3 film by parasitic particles suppression

In this work, we comprehensively investigate the development of unwanted parasitic particles in the MOVPE chamber while growing μm level films. The density of the parasitic particles is found to be pronounced at film thicknesses starting from >1.5 to 2 μm. These particles seem to induce structural defects such as twin lamellae, thereby harming the electrical properties of the grown film. The origin of the parasitic particle is attributed to the parasitic reactions within the chamber triggered by the promoted gas-phase reactions during the growth process, which can be largely reduced by increasing the total gas flow and decreasing the showerhead distance to the susceptor. A film thickness of up to 4 μm has been achieved after minimizing the density of parasitic particles. Thereby, RT Hall measurements reveal carrier mobilities of 160 cm2V−1s−1 at carrier concentrations of 5.7 × 1016cm−

Genomic serotyping, clinical manifestations, and antimicrobial resistance of non-typhoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis in hospitalized children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) are among the most common etiological agents of diarrheal diseases worldwide and have become the most commonly detected bacterial pathogen in children hospitalized with diarrhea in Vietnam. Aiming to better understand the epidemiology, serovar distribution, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and clinical manifestation of NTS gastroenteritis in Vietnam, we conducted a clinical genomics investigation of NTS isolated from diarrheal children admitted to one of three tertiary hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. Between May 2014 and April 2016, 3,166 children hospitalized with dysentery were recruited into the study; 478 (∼15%) children were found to be infected with NTS by stool culture. Molecular serotyping of the 450 generated genomes identified a diverse collection of serogroups (B, C1, C2 to C3, D1, E1, G, I, K, N, O, and Q); however, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was the most predominant serovar, accounting for 41.8% (188/450) of NTS isolates. We observed a high prevalence of AMR to first-line treatments recommended by WHO, and more than half (53.8%; 242/450) of NTS isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR; resistant to ≥3 antimicrobial classes). AMR gene detection positively correlated with phenotypic AMR testing, and resistance to empirical antimicrobials was associated with a significantly longer hospitalization (0.91 days; P = 0.04). Our work shows that genome sequencing is a powerful epidemiological tool to characterize the serovar diversity and AMR profiles in NTS. We propose a revaluation of empirical antimicrobials for dysenteric diarrhea and endorse the use of whole-genome sequencing for sustained surveillance of NTS internationally

Suppression of particle formation by gas-phase pre-reactions in (100) MOVPE-grown β -Ga2O3films for vertical device application

This work investigated the metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of (100) β-Ga2O3 films with the aim of meeting the requirements to act as drift layers for high-power electronic devices. A height-adjustable showerhead achieving a close distance to the susceptor (1.5 cm) was demonstrated to be a critical factor in increasing the stability of the Ga wetting layer (or Ga adlayer) on the surface and reducing parasitic particles. A film thickness of up to 3 μm has been achieved while keeping the root mean square below 0.7 nm. Record carrier mobilities of 155 cm2 V-1 s-1 (2.2 μm) and 163 cm2 V-1 s-1 (3 μm) at room temperature were measured for (100) β-Ga2O3 films with carrier concentrations of 5.7 × 1016 and 7.1 × 1016 cm-3, respectively. Analysis of temperature-dependent Hall mobility and carrier concentration data revealed a low background compensating acceptor concentration of 4 × 1015 cm-3

Multiple Wolbachia strains provide comparative levels of protection against dengue virus infection in Aedes aegypti.

The insect bacterium Wolbachia pipientis is being introgressed into Aedes aegypti populations as an intervention against the transmission of medically important arboviruses. Here we compare Ae. aegypti mosquitoes infected with wMelCS or wAlbB to the widely used wMel Wolbachia strain on an Australian nuclear genetic background for their susceptibility to infection by dengue virus (DENV) genotypes spanning all four serotypes. All Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes were more resistant to intrathoracic DENV challenge than their wildtype counterparts. Blocking of DENV replication was greatest by wMelCS. Conversely, wAlbB-infected mosquitoes were more susceptible to whole body infection than wMel and wMelCS. We extended these findings via mosquito oral feeding experiments, using viremic blood from 36 acute, hospitalised dengue cases in Vietnam, additionally including wMel and wildtype mosquitoes on a Vietnamese nuclear genetic background. As above, wAlbB was less effective at blocking DENV replication in the abdomen compared to wMel and wMelCS. The transmission potential of all Wolbachia-infected mosquito lines (measured by the presence/absence of infectious DENV in mosquito saliva) after 14 days, was significantly reduced compared to their wildtype counterparts, and lowest for wMelCS and wAlbB. These data support the use of wAlbB and wMelCS strains for introgression field trials and the biocontrol of DENV transmission. Furthermore, despite observing significant differences in transmission potential between wildtype mosquitoes from Australia and Vietnam, no difference was observed between wMel-infected mosquitoes from each background suggesting that Wolbachia may override any underlying variation in DENV transmission potential

The impact of environmental and climatic variation on the spatiotemporal trends of hospitalized pediatric diarrhea in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

It is predicted that the integration of climate-based early warning systems into existing action plans will facilitate the timely provision of interventions to diarrheal disease epidemics in resource-poor settings. Diarrhea remains a considerable public health problem in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam and we aimed to quantify variation in the impact of environmental conditions on diarrheal disease risk across the city. Using all inpatient diarrheal admissions data from three large hospitals within HCMC, we developed a mixed effects regression model to differentiate district-level variation in risk due to environmental conditions from the overarching seasonality of diarrheal disease hospitalization in HCMC. We identified considerable spatial heterogeneity in the risk of all-cause diarrhea across districts of HCMC with low elevation and differential responses to flooding, air temperature, and humidity driving further spatial heterogeneity in diarrheal disease risk. The incorporation of these results into predictive forecasting algorithms will provide a powerful resource to aid diarrheal disease prevention and control practices in HCMC and other similar settings

The transfer and decay of maternal antibody against Shigella sonnei in a longitudinal cohort of Vietnamese infants.

BACKGROUND: Shigella sonnei is an emergent and major diarrheal pathogen for which there is currently no vaccine. We aimed to quantify duration of maternal antibody against S. sonnei and investigate transplacental IgG transfer in a birth cohort in southern Vietnam. METHODS AND RESULTS: Over 500-paired maternal/infant plasma samples were evaluated for presence of anti-S. sonnei-O IgG and IgM. Longitudinal plasma samples allowed for the estimation of the median half-life of maternal anti-S. sonnei-O IgG, which was 43 days (95% confidence interval: 41-45 days). Additionally, half of infants lacked a detectable titer by 19 weeks of age. Lower cord titers were associated with greater increases in S. sonnei IgG over the first year of life, and the incidence of S. sonnei seroconversion was estimated to be 4/100 infant years. Maternal IgG titer, the ratio of antibody transfer, the season of birth and gestational age were significantly associated with cord titer. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal anti-S. sonnei-O IgG is efficiently transferred across the placenta and anti-S. sonnei-O maternal IgG declines rapidly after birth and is undetectable after 5 months in the majority of children. Preterm neonates and children born to mothers with low IgG titers have lower cord titers and therefore may be at greater risk of seroconversion in infancy