They made a career with their opinions: An exploratory study of reader perception of credibility of high-status bloggers

The 21st century has developed so quickly digitally that information spreads so quickly through e-word-of-mouth. To effectively communicate, companies have to find a way to spread their own messages in a fast, unique way to entice their publics. In the fashion industry, instead of using their own websites and social media, which can be viewed as untrustworthy, many companies turn to partnerships with high-status (career) bloggers in order to reach more people. These high-status bloggers have made careers out of their sites, bringing in a salary through advertising, sponsored content and brand partnerships. The purpose of this study was to find if these bloggers were still seen as a credible source for information when readers knew about their ‘status’ and earnings, especially how their salary was made. Initial research made the researcher suspect that the bloggers would not be seen as a credible source. However, the participants focused their responses on their feelings of pride for these amateurs who had made a career out of their opinions, and that as long as they remained as open and authentic as when their blog first started, the bloggers’ credibility would remain intact. This exploratory research found that the source credibility theory remained true in this digital context, and also provides different sub-factors of credibility for the source of career blogs

Real-time PCR-based assay to quantify the relative amount of human and mouse tissue present in tumor xenografts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Xenograft samples used to test anti-cancer drug efficacies and toxicities in vivo contain an unknown mix of mouse and human cells. Evaluation of drug activity can be confounded by samples containing large amounts of contaminating mouse tissue. We have developed a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay using TaqMan technology to quantify the amount of mouse tissue that is incorporated into human xenograft samples.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The forward and reverse primers bind to the same DNA sequence in the human and the mouse genome. Using a set of specially designed fluorescent probes provides species specificity. The linearity and sensitivity of the assay is evaluated using serial dilutions of single species and heterogeneous DNA mixtures. We examined many xenograft samples at various in vivo passages, finding a wide variety of human:mouse DNA ratios. This variation may be influenced by tumor type, number of serial passages in vivo, and even which part of the tumor was collected and used in the assay.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This novel assay provides an accurate quantitative assessment of human and mouse content in xenograft tumors. This assay can be performed on aberrantly behaving human xenografts, samples used in bioinformatics studies, and periodically for tumor tissue frequently grown by serial passage in vivo.</p

‘Medical Men’ and ‘Mad Women’ - A Study into the Frequency of Words through Collocations

Frequent lexical patterns can explain how language, society and culture interact. In this paper, we analyze the most frequent adjectival collocates which precede lemmas WOMAN and MAN, by searching the node words woman, women, man and men in the British National Corpus (BNC) using the statistical procedure list. The primary postulate is that frequent collocational patterns reveal common societal and cultural concepts. The research is based on Sinclair’s theory about how frequency points to what is typical and central in a language (17). Furthermore, Stubbs’s understanding of a community’s value system being built up and maintained by the recurrent use of particular phrasings in texts (Words and Phrases 166) is explored through the repetition of lexical patterns in the corpus, thus exposing dominant cultural models. Keywords: WOMAN, MAN, BNC, frequency, collocates, language, society, cultureMichael Stubbs’s principle that “language in use transmits the culture,” by which he provides his understanding of the relations between form and meaning (Text 43), is a good foundation for the study of the frequency of words by means of electronic corpora. Since meaning is language in use, electronic corpora facilitate just that – an analysis of raw, unaltered data, as clearly stated by Stubbs’s second principle concerning language being studied in “actual, attested, authentic instances of use” (Text 28)

Antigen-Engaged B Cells Undergo Chemotaxis toward the T Zone and Form Motile Conjugates with Helper T Cells

Interactions between B and T cells are essential for most antibody responses, but the dynamics of these interactions are poorly understood. By two-photon microscopy of intact lymph nodes, we show that upon exposure to antigen, B cells migrate with directional preference toward the B-zone–T-zone boundary in a CCR7-dependent manner, through a region that exhibits a CCR7-ligand gradient. Initially the B cells show reduced motility, but after 1 d, motility is increased to approximately 9 μm/min. Antigen-engaged B cells pair with antigen-specific helper T cells for 10 to more than 60 min, whereas non-antigen-specific interactions last less than 10 min. B cell–T cell conjugates are highly dynamic and migrate extensively, being led by B cells. B cells occasionally contact more than one T cell, whereas T cells are strictly monogamous in their interactions. These findings provide evidence of lymphocyte chemotaxis in vivo, and they begin to define the spatiotemporal cellular dynamics associated with T cell–dependent antibody responses

Voting Characteristics of Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury

Voting is the foundation of democracy. Limited data exist about voting characteristics of individuals with neurologic impairment including those living with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). To statistically examine voting characteristics using a convenience sample of registered voters with TBI during elections held in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina—2007, 2008. Data were collected on 51 participants with TBI during May 2007, 2008 general, and 2008 Presidential Election. (i) There was a significant difference between the Competence Assessment Tool for Voting (CAT‐V) total score of participants with TBI who voted and the CAT‐V total score of participants with TBI who did not vote and the CAT‐V total score predicted voting; (ii) the age of the participants with TBI was predictive of voting; and (iii) being married was inversely related to voting. We find that there is variation in voting even among this small sample interviewed for the present study, and that the variation is predictable. Those with the highest CAT‐Vs are most likely to vote. In addition, we find that traditional predictors of voting simply are not predictors among this TBI group, and even one, whether the person is married, has a negative effect on voting

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

To participate or not to participate? Voice and explanation effects on performance in a multi-period budget setting

Under what circumstances does giving a voice and explanation to a manager in a budget allocation setting improve their performance? The research into whether or not managers should participate or have a voice in setting their budget allocation show conflicting results on performance. This seems largely as a result of the variables being measured in importantly different ways. Whether or not the voice influences the final budget allocation and whether the budget is perceived as unfair, unfavourable or unattainable needs to be clearly articulated in the research design. This study demonstrates that the circumstances in which voice and explanation improve performance depend on whether or not the budget allocation is perceived as unfair. To date, it has been accepted practice that managers should participate in the budget setting process. However, it may be better to set a budget and explain its rationale. Over multiple budget periods care should be taken with the type of explanation given, because simply repeating last year's reason will discourage higher performance