RENTQUAL: a new measurement scale for car rental services

Service quality perception is one of the key determinants of customer satisfaction and repeat purchase. As such, it has received considerable attention in the marketing literature. Quality issues in the car rental industry, however, have received less attention. Furthermore, there is lack of a scale developed to measure service quality in car rental services. This paper aims to develop a measurement scale in accordance with the procedure recommended by Churchill (1979) and Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988). Empirical studies were conducted in two waves. First, qualitative research was undertaken in the form of 23 in-depth interviews that produced 61 items describing tourists’ perceptions. Then, a quantitative study was used to purify the scale items and to examine dimensionality, reliability, factor structure and validity. Finally, an 18-item RENTQUAL scale with the following six factors emerged: comfort, delivery, safety, handing over, ergonomics and accessibility. Results show that safety is the most important factor in car rental services. Paper also presents scale development procedure, discussion, implications and limitations

Effects of goal interdependence on help-seeking through knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding : the moderating roles of reciprocity beliefs

The effects of goal interdependence on employees’ performance outcomes have been well documented in the literature. Yet, the relationship between goal interdependence and employees’ proactive behaviors remains largely unexplored. Integrating the theory of cooperation and competition with the employee proactivity literature, this study investigates how cooperative goal interdependence and competitive goal interdependence respectively influence employee knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding, and in turn shape their propensity to seek help from coworkers. It further examines reciprocity beliefs as an individual factor in affecting the indirect effect of goal interdependence on help seeking. Specifically, positive reciprocity belief is hypothesized to moderate the mediating role of knowledge sharing, whereas negative reciprocity belief is expected to moderate the mediating effect of knowledge hiding. In Study 1, a total of 127 interviews were conducted with full-time employees working in professional service firms across four cities including Hong Kong, Macau, China and Taiwan. Results of structural equation modeling supported the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between cooperative goal interdependence and employee help seeking. In Study 2, an experimental study was conducted with 150 full-time students at a university in Macau to replicate the findings in Study 1 and to test the moderation hypotheses. It yielded findings consistent with Study 1 and supportive of the moderating role of negative reciprocity belief in the mediated effect of goal interdependence on help seeking. Specifically, knowledge hiding mediates the relationship between competitive goal interdependence and help seeking, when an individual is high in negative reciprocity belief. Findings of the two studies provide both theoretical contributions to the literature and practical insights to organizations. Cooperative goal interdependence is a valuable method for managers to promote knowledge sharing, inhibit knowledge hiding, and encourage active help seeking among employees

SEARCH FOR CHEATING RANK AND DISRUPT DETECTION IN INFORMATION PLAY

In some relevant teachings, such as downloading online documents, e-mails and e-mails confirming Aristotelian demand, the flaw determines the wrong image of the programs that still exist in the study. To achieve the lack of specific opportunities, we will notify the development of an advanced system that allows us to set tariffs for the mobile device. We delayed their professional violence and lied based on outpatient programs. The county created by indexing is provided with the judges' credentials. By choosing benefactors of their first respect to change playbill, an accurate mindset is gained by modeling people for virtual programs, evaluating and analyzing ethical behaviors that directly capture the concept of thinking

Drug-induced senescence bystander proliferation in prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

Senescence is a distinct cellular response induced by DNA-damaging agents and other sublethal stressors and may provide novel benefits in cancer therapy. However, in an ageing model, senescent fibroblasts were found to stimulate the proliferation of cocultured cells. To address whether senescence induction in cancer cells using chemotherapy induces similar effects, we used GFP-labelled prostate cancer cell lines and monitored their proliferation in the presence of proliferating or doxorubicin-induced senescent cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Here, we show that the presence of senescent cancer cells increased the proliferation of cocultured cells in vitro through paracrine signalling factors, but this proliferative effect was significantly less than that seen with senescent fibroblasts. In vivo, senescent cancer cells failed to increase the establishment, growth or proliferation of LNCaP and DU145 xenografts in nude mice. Senescent cells persisted as long as 5 weeks in tumours. Our results demonstrate that although drug-induced senescent cancer cells stimulate the proliferation of bystander cells in vitro, this does not significantly alter the growth of tumours in vivo. Coupled with clinical observations, these data suggest that the proliferative bystander effects of senescent cancer cells are negligible and support the further development of senescence induction as therapy

Multilevel research: Foundations and opportunities in management

The purpose of this methodological insight is to analyze the foundations of multilevel research, answering two main questions: why this methodological approach is important for management research and how to conduct a multilevel study. We examine why multilevel research is relevant, emphasizing its potential, opportunities and basic principles. Moreover, we point out the main theoretical, methodological and analytic aspects to be considered for an appropriate application of multilevel research. The paper refers throughout to the basic literature on multilevel research, reviewing conceptual, methodological and empirical works.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Research Grant ECO2015-67310-P)

Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotypes Reveal Cell-Nonautonomous Functions of Oncogenic RAS and the p53 Tumor Suppressor

Cellular senescence suppresses cancer by arresting cell proliferation, essentially permanently, in response to oncogenic stimuli, including genotoxic stress. We modified the use of antibody arrays to provide a quantitative assessment of factors secreted by senescent cells. We show that human cells induced to senesce by genotoxic stress secrete myriad factors associated with inflammation and malignancy. This senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) developed slowly over several days and only after DNA damage of sufficient magnitude to induce senescence. Remarkably similar SASPs developed in normal fibroblasts, normal epithelial cells, and epithelial tumor cells after genotoxic stress in culture, and in epithelial tumor cells in vivo after treatment of prostate cancer patients with DNA-damaging chemotherapy. In cultured premalignant epithelial cells, SASPs induced an epithelial–mesenchyme transition and invasiveness, hallmarks of malignancy, by a paracrine mechanism that depended largely on the SASP factors interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8. Strikingly, two manipulations markedly amplified, and accelerated development of, the SASPs: oncogenic RAS expression, which causes genotoxic stress and senescence in normal cells, and functional loss of the p53 tumor suppressor protein. Both loss of p53 and gain of oncogenic RAS also exacerbated the promalignant paracrine activities of the SASPs. Our findings define a central feature of genotoxic stress-induced senescence. Moreover, they suggest a cell-nonautonomous mechanism by which p53 can restrain, and oncogenic RAS can promote, the development of age-related cancer by altering the tissue microenvironment

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia and retinoids: searching for an etiology

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a major life-threatening cause of respiratory failure in the newborn. Recent data reveal the role of a retinoid-signaling pathway disruption in the pathogenesis of CDH. We describe the epidemiology and pathophysiology of human CDH, the metabolism of retinoids and the implications of retinoids in the development of the diaphragm and lung. Finally, we describe the existing evidence of a disruption of the retinoid-signaling pathway in CDH

Collagen density promotes mammary tumor initiation and progression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mammographically dense breast tissue is one of the greatest risk factors for developing breast carcinoma. Despite the strong clinical correlation, breast density has not been causally linked to tumorigenesis, largely because no animal model has existed for studying breast tissue density. Importantly, regions of high breast density are associated with increased stromal collagen. Thus, the influence of the extracellular matrix on breast carcinoma development and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To study the effects of collagen density on mammary tumor formation and progression, we utilized a bi-transgenic tumor model with increased stromal collagen in mouse mammary tissue. Imaging of the tumors and tumor-stromal interface in live tumor tissue was performed with multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy to generate multiphoton excitation and spectrally resolved fluorescent lifetimes of endogenous fluorophores. Second harmonic generation was utilized to image stromal collagen.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Herein we demonstrate that increased stromal collagen in mouse mammary tissue significantly increases tumor formation approximately three-fold (<it>p </it>< 0.00001) and results in a significantly more invasive phenotype with approximately three times more lung metastasis (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Furthermore, the increased invasive phenotype of tumor cells that arose within collagen-dense mammary tissues remains after tumor explants are cultured within reconstituted three-dimensional collagen gels. To better understand this behavior we imaged live tumors using nonlinear optical imaging approaches to demonstrate that local invasion is facilitated by stromal collagen re-organization and that this behavior is significantly increased in collagen-dense tissues. In addition, using multiphoton fluorescence and spectral lifetime imaging we identify a metabolic signature for flavin adenine dinucleotide, with increased fluorescent intensity and lifetime, in invading metastatic cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides the first data causally linking increased stromal collagen to mammary tumor formation and metastasis, and demonstrates that fundamental differences arise and persist in epithelial tumor cells that progressed within collagen-dense microenvironments. Furthermore, the imaging techniques and signature identified in this work may provide useful diagnostic tools to rapidly assess fresh tissue biopsies.</p

The Effects of Aging on the Molecular and Cellular Composition of the Prostate Microenvironment

Advancing age is associated with substantial increases in the incidence rates of common diseases affecting the prostate gland including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate carcinoma. The prostate is comprised of a functional secretory epithelium, a basal epithelium, and a supporting stroma comprised of structural elements, and a spectrum of cell types that includes smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and inflammatory cells. As reciprocal interactions between epithelium and stromal constituents are essential for normal organogenesis and serve to maintain normal functions, discordance within the stroma could permit or promote disease processes. In this study we sought to identify aging-associated alterations in the mouse prostate microenvironment that could influence pathology.We quantitated transcript levels in microdissected glandular-adjacent stroma from young (age 4 months) and old (age 20-24 months) C57BL/6 mice, and identified a significant change in the expression of 1259 genes (p<0.05). These included increases in transcripts encoding proteins associated with inflammation (e.g., Ccl8, Ccl12), genotoxic/oxidative stress (e.g., Apod, Serpinb5) and other paracrine-acting effects (e.g., Cyr61). The expression of several collagen genes (e.g., Col1a1 and Col3a1) exhibited age-associated declines. By histology, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy we determined that the collagen matrix is abundant and disorganized, smooth muscle cell orientation is disordered, and inflammatory infiltrates are significantly increased, and are comprised of macrophages, T cells and, to a lesser extent, B cells.These findings demonstrate that during normal aging the prostate stroma exhibits phenotypic and molecular characteristics plausibly contributing to the striking age associated pathologies affecting the prostate