A STRUCTURAL MODEL DESCRIBE CHINESE TRADESMEN ATTITUDES TOWARDS GREEK STUDENTS CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR

This study tests evaluates 43 Chinese tradesmen opinios describe the main factors that influnce Greek consumers’ behavior. A structural model was constructed to represent the relationship between consumer components. The model was tested for its Convergent and Discriminant Validity. Moreover it was tested for its reliability and construct reliability. The findings from this study may be used by Chinese tradesmen to develop their marketing campains and customers

A Structural Equation Model Describes Factors Affecting Greek Students’ Consumer Behavior

AbstractConsumer ethnocentrism has enormous importance in international management and marketing area. Consumer ethnocentrism is strongly connected with xenophobia, morality and rationality, patriotism nationalism and economic and war animosity elements. CETSCALE (Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale) (Shimp and Shara, 1987) was developed to evaluate emotional dimension of purchasing imported goods regarding the imp lication to economic animosity, rationality and morality. Patriotism and Nationalism Scale (Kosterman and Feshbach's, 1989) was developed scale to evaluate levels of patriotism. Animosity Scale (Klein et al., 1998) was developed to evaluate levels of animosity, such as general d islike for a country, war and the economic animosity. In the current study, a total of 200 students from the department of Nursery Education of the University of Western Macedonia filled in the three scales. The study proposes a structural equation model which describes factors affecting Greeks students’ consumption punching behavior, such as: xenophobia, morality and rationality in respect of ethnocentrism, patriotism and nationalism and economic and war animosity. In addition it evaluates its construct valid ity by estimating both convergent and discriminant valid ity, while evaluating the internal consistency of the proposed model itself, and estimates how the instrument determines the reasonable relations among the latent factors mentioned above, and how it describes the reasonable results and assigns the quality of data fit within it. The specific model can be used by researchers to evaluate the effect of different aspects of ethnocentrism in the market economy

The economic burden of treating neonates in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In a period when a public-private mix in Greece is under consideration and hospital budgets become restrained, economic assessment is important for rational decision making. The study aimed to estimate the hospitalization cost of neonates admitted to the ICUs and demonstrate discrepancies with reimbursement.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Chosen methodology was based on the selection of medical records of all NICUs and intermediate care admissions within February to April 2004. Neonates (n = 99) were classified according to birthweight and gestational age.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean cost per infant was estimated at €5.485 while reimbursement from social funds arises to €3.952. Costs per birthweight or gestational age show an inverse relationship. Personnel costs accounted for 59.9%, followed by enteral/parenteral feeding (16.14%) and pharmaceuticals expenses (11.10%) of all resources consumed. Sensitivity analysis increases the robustness of the results</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Neonatal intensive care in Greece is associated with significant costs that exceed reimbursement from social funds. Reimbursement should be adjusted to make neonatal intensive care economically viable to private hospitals and thus, increase capacity of the services provided.</p

Electronic health use in the european union and the effect of multimorbidity: Cross-sectional survey

Background: Multimorbidity is becoming increasingly common and is a leading challenge currently faced by societies with aging populations. The presence of multimorbidity requires patients to coordinate, understand, and use the information obtained from different health care professionals, while simultaneously striving to distinguish the symptoms of different diseases and self-manage their sometimes conflicting health problems. Electronic health (eHealth) tools provide a means to disseminate health information and education for both patients and health professionals and hold promise for more efficient and cost-effective care processes. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the use of eHealth tools, taking into account the citizens' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and above all, the presence of multimorbidity. Methods: Cross-sectional and exploratory research was conducted using online survey data from July 2011 to August 2011. Participants included a total of 14,000 citizens from 14 European countries aged 16 to 74 years, who had used an eHealth tool in the past 3 months. The variables studied were sociodemographic variables of the participants, the questionnaire items assessing the frequency of using eHealth tools, the degree of morbidity, and the eHealth adoption gradient. Chi-square tests were conducted to examine the relationship between the sociodemographic and clinical variables of participants and the group the participants were assigned to according to their frequency of eHealth use (eHealth user group). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) allowed for assessing the differences in the eHealth adoption gradient average between different groups of individuals according to their morbidity level. A two-way between-groups ANOVA was performed to explore the effects of multimorbidity and age group on the eHealth adoption gradient. Results: According to the eHealth adoption gradient, most participants (68.15%, 9541/14,000) were labeled as rare users, with the majority of them (55.1%, 508/921) being in the age range of 25 to 54 years, with upper secondary education (50.3%, 464/921), currently employed (49.3%, 454/921), and living in medium-sized cities (40.7%, 375/921). Results of the one-way ANOVA showed that the number of health problems significantly affected the use of eHealth tools (F-2,F-13996=11.584; P&lt;.001). The two-way ANOVA demonstrated that there was a statistically significant interaction between the effects of age and number of health problems on the eHealth adoption gradient (F-4,F-11991=7.936; P&lt;.001). Conclusions: The eHealth adoption gradient has proven to be a reliable way to measure different aspects of eHealth use. Multimorbidity is associated with a more intense use of eHealth, with younger Internet users using new technologies for health purposes more frequently than older groups with the same level of morbidity. These findings suggest the need to consider different strategies aimed at making eHealth tools more sensitive to the characteristics of older populations to reduce digital disadvantages

MUC1-C drives myeloid leukaemogenesis and resistance to treatment by a survivin-mediated mechanism

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive haematological malignancy with an unmet need for improved therapies. Responses to standard cytotoxic therapy in AML are often transient because of the emergence of chemotherapy-resistant disease. The MUC1-C oncoprotein governs critical pathways of tumorigenesis, including self-renewal and survival, and is aberrantly expressed in AML blasts and leukaemia stem cells (LSCs). However, a role for MUC1-C in linking leukaemogenesis and resistance to treatment has not been described. In this study, we demonstrate that MUC1-C overexpression is associated with increased leukaemia initiating capacity in an NSG mouse model. In concert with those results, MUC1-C silencing in multiple AML cell lines significantly reduced the establishment of AML in vivo. In addition, targeting MUC1-C with silencing or pharmacologic inhibition with GO-203 led to a decrease in active β-catenin levels and, in-turn, down-regulation of survivin, a critical mediator of leukaemia cell survival. Targeting MUC1-C was also associated with increased sensitivity of AML cells to Cytarabine (Ara-C) treatment by a survivin-dependent mechanism. Notably, low MUC1 and survivin gene expression were associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with AML. These findings emphasize the importance of MUC1-C to myeloid leukaemogenesis and resistance to treatment by driving survivin expression. Our findings also highlight the potential translational relevance of combining GO-203 with Ara-C for the treatment of patients with AML

RAPD PCR detects co-colonisation of multiple Group B Streptococcus genotypes: a practical molecular technique for screening multiple colonies

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of neonatal meningitis, pneumonia, and sepsis. The biggest contributing factor of neonatal infections is due to vertical transmission from maternal colonisation of GBS in the genitourinary tract. Multiple serotype colonisation is often not investigated in epidemiological studies, but it is an important consideration for serotype-based vaccine development and implementation to ensure less abundant serotypes are not under-represented. In this study, we show that RAPD PCR is a quick tool useful in screening the presence of genetically different strains using multiple colony picks from a single patient swab. We observed a maximum of five different GBS strains colonising a single patient at a specific time