Collaborative Consumption On Mobile Applications: A Study Of Multi-sided Digital Platform GoCatch

This paper examines the role of IT in developing collaborative consumption. We present a study of the multi-sided platform goCatch, which is widely recognized as a mobile application and digital disruptor in the Australian transport industry. From our investigation, we find that goCatch uses IT to create situational-based and object-based opportunities to enable collaborative consumption and in turn digital disruption to the incumbent industry. We also highlight the factors to consider in developing a mobile application to connect with customers, and serve as a viable competitive option for responding to competition. Such research is necessary in order to better understand how service providers extract business value from digital technologies to formulate new breakthrough strategies, design compelling new products and services, and transform management processes. Ongoing work will reveal how m-commerce service providers can extract business value from a collaborative consumption model

Assessment of the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Tailored Web- and Text-Based Smoking Cessation Support in Primary Care (iQuit in Practice II): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of smoking is declining; however, it continues to be a major public health burden. In England, primary care is the health setting that provides smoking cessation support to most smokers. However, this setting has one of the lowest success rates. The iQuit in practice intervention (iQuit) is a tailored web-based and text message intervention developed for use in primary care consultations as an adjunct to routine smoking cessation support with the aim of increasing success rates. iQuit has demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: This definitive trial aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of iQuit when used as an adjunct to the usual support provided to patients who wish to quit smoking, compared with usual care alone. METHODS: The iQuit in Practice II trial is a two-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a 1:1 individual allocation comparing usual care (ie, pharmacotherapy combined with multisession behavioral support)-the control-with usual care plus iQuit-the intervention. Participants were recruited through primary care clinics and talked to a smoking cessation advisor. Participants were randomized during the initial consultation, and those allocated to the intervention group received a tailored advice report and 90 days of text messaging in addition to the standard support provided to all patients. RESULTS: The primary outcome is self-reported prolonged abstinence biochemically verified using saliva cotinine at 6 months after the quit date. A sample size of 1700 participants, with 850 per arm, would yield 90% power to detect a 4.3% difference in validated quit rates between the groups at the two-sided 5% level of significance. The Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee approved the study in February 2016, and funding for the study was granted from May 2016. In total, 1671 participants were recruited between August 2016 and July 2019. Follow-up for all participants was completed in January 2020. Data analysis will begin in the summer of 2020. CONCLUSIONS: iQuit in Practice II is a definitive, pragmatic RCT assessing whether a digital intervention can augment the impact of routine smoking cessation support in primary care. Previous research has found good acceptability and feasibility for delivering iQuit among smoking cessation advisors working in primary care. If demonstrated to be cost-effective, iQuit could be delivered across primary care and other settings, such as community pharmacies. The potential benefit would likely be highest where less behavioral support is delivered. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 44559004; http://www.isrctn.com /ISRCTN44559004. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/17160

Schistosomiasis and Urinary Bladder Cancer in North Western Tanzania: A Retrospective Review of 185 Patients.

Worldwide, cancers of the urinary bladder are well known to be associated with environmental chemical carcinogens such as smoking and occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These cancers are typically transitional cell carcinoma (urothelial carcinoma). In areas where schistosomiasis is endemic there is a high incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder. Schistosomiasis causes chronic granulomatous cystitis leading to squamous metaplasia of transitional epithelium, and subsequently development of squamous cell carcinoma. The western part of Tanzania on the shores of Lake Victoria is such an endemic area. This study was done to document the burden of urinary bladder cancer associated with schistosomiasis in this region. This was a descriptive retrospective study of histologically confirmed cases of urinary bladder cancer seen at the Department of Pathology Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) over a period of 10 years. Data were retrieved from the records of the Departments of Pathology, Medical Records and Surgery. Data were analyzed by the use of contingency tables. A total of 185 patients were diagnosed with cancer of the urinary bladder during the study period, where as 90 (48.6%) were males and 95 (51.4) were females. The mean age at diagnosis was 54.3 years. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most frequent histological type (55.1%), followed by conventional transitional cell carcinoma (40.5%). Eighty three of all cancer cases (44.9%) were found to have schistosomal eggs. Schistosomiasis was commonly associated with squamous cancers compared to non squamous cancers. Most of the cancers associated with schistosomiasis had invaded the muscularis propria of the urinary bladder at the time of diagnosis (p<0.001) and such cancers were frequent below 50 years of age with a significant statistical difference (p<0.001). Poorly differentiated tumors were more frequent in females than males with a significant statistical difference (p=0.006). The majority of urinary bladder cancers seen in the Lake Region were squamous cell carcinoma associated with schistosomiasis. These cancers showed an aggressive behavior and were commonly seen in the younger age groups. Effective control of schistosomiasis in this region should significantly reduce the burden of urinary bladder cancer

Ultrastructural pathology of primary ciliary dyskinesia: report about 125 cases in Germany

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetically induced disorder of cilia inducing mainly respiratory diseases. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of ciliary ultrastructure is classically used for diagnosis. We report our experience of TEM investigations in a large series of patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>TEM analysis performed of 742 biopsies from patients with suspected PCD was reviewed retrospectively. Ultrastructural defects were analysized further in 125 cases with changes typical for PCD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 18.1% of patients diagnosis of PCD was made because of morphological alterations, in 68.2% secondary changes were seen. In 13.7% material was not feasible for analysis. Mostly defects of dynein arms were detected in PCD (96.8%). In particular defects of the inner arms (51.2%) and combined dynein defects (37.6%) were found. Total loss of dynein arms was dominant. Only in 3.2% deficiencies of central structures were found alone. Associated situs inversus or dextracardia was reported clinically in 21.4%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>TEM analysis is possible in most patients and a useful tool for diagnosis of PCD. Functional and genetic analysis should be done additionally. Registers should be installed to collect all available informations and push further research.</p

Family Influences on the Long Term Post-Disaster Recovery of Puerto Rican Youth

This study focused on characteristics of the family environment that may mediate the relationship between disaster exposure and the presence of symptoms that met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for symptom count and duration for an internalizing disorder in children and youth. We also explored how parental history of mental health problems may moderate this meditational model. Approximately 18 months after Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico in 1998, participants were randomly selected based on a probability household sample using 1990 US Census block groups. Caregivers and children (N=1,886 dyads) were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and other questionnaires in Spanish. Areas of the family environment assessed include parent-child relationship quality, parent-child involvement, parental monitoring, discipline, parents’ relationship quality and parental mental health. SEM models were estimated for parents and children, and by age group. For children (4–10 years old), parenting variables were related to internalizing psychopathology, but did not mediate the exposure-psychopathology relationship. Exposure had a direct relationship to internalizing psychopathology. For youth (11–17 years old), some parenting variables attenuated the relation between exposure and internalizing psychopathology. Family environment factors may play a mediational role in psychopathology post-disaster among youth, compared to an additive role for children. Hurricane exposure had a significant relation to family environment for families without parental history of mental health problems, but no influence for families with a parental history of mental health problems

Natural Disaster and Risk of Psychiatric Disorders in Puerto Rican Children

We examined the persistence of psychiatric disorders at approximately 18 and 30 months after a hurricane among a random sample of the child and adolescent population (4–17 years) of Puerto Rico. Data were obtained from caretaker-child dyads (N = 1,886) through in person interviews with primary caretakers (all children) and youth (11–17 years) using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children IV in Spanish. Logistic regressions, controlling for sociodemographic variables, were used to study the relation between disaster exposure and internalizing, externalizing, or any disorder. Children’s disaster-related distress manifested as internalizing disorders, rather than as externalizing disorders at 18 months post-disaster. At 30 months, there was no longer a significant difference in rates of disorder between hurricane-exposed and non-exposed youth. Results were similar across age ranges. Rates of specific internalizing disorders between exposed and unexposed children are provided. Research and clinical implications are discussed

Gestational Valproate Alters BOLD Activation in Response to Complex Social and Primary Sensory Stimuli

Valproic acid (VPA) has been used clinically as an anticonvulsant medication during pregnancy; however, it poses a neurodevelopmental risk due to its high teratogenicity. We hypothesized that midgestational (GD) exposure to VPA will lead to lasting deficits in social behavior and the processing of social stimuli. To test this, animals were given a single IP injection of 600 mg/kg of VPA on GD 12.5. Starting on postnatal day 2 (PND2), animals were examined for physical and behavior abnormalities. Functional MRI studies were carried out after PND60. VPA and control animals were given vehicle or a central infusion of a V1a antagonist 90 minutes before imaging. During imaging sessions, rats were presented with a juvenile test male followed by a primary visual stimulus (2 Hz pulsed light) to examine the effects of prenatal VPA on neural processing. VPA rats showed greater increases in BOLD signal response to the social stimulus compared to controls in the temporal cortex, thalamus, midbrain and the hypothalamus. Blocking the V1a receptor reduced the BOLD response in VPA animals only. Neural responses to the visual stimulus, however, were lower in VPA animals. Blockade with the V1a antagonist did not revert this latter effect. Our data suggest that prenatal VPA affects the processing of social stimuli and perhaps social memory, partly through a mechanism that may involve vasopressin V1a neurotransmission

Muscle invasive bladder cancer in Upper Egypt: the shift in risk factors and tumor characteristics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Egypt, where bilharziasis is endemic, bladder cancer is the commonest cancer in males and the 2^ndin females; squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the commonest type found, with a peculiar mode of presentation. The aim of this study is to identify and rank the risk factors of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in Upper Egypt and describe its specific criteria of presentation and histopathology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is an analytical, hospital based, case controlled study conducted in south Egypt cancer institute through comparing MIBC cases (n = 130) with age, sex and residence matched controls (n = 260) for the presence of risk factors of MIBC. Data was collected by personal interview using a well designed questionnaire. Patients' records were reviewed for histopathology and Radiologic findings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The risk factors of MIBC were positive family history [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 7.7], exposure to pesticides [AOR = 6.2], bladder stones [AOR = 5], consanguinity [AOR = 3.9], recurrent cystitis [AOR = 3.1], bilharziasis [odds ratio (OR) = 5.8] and smoking [OR = 5.3]. SCC represented 67.6% of cases with burning micturition being the presenting symptom in 73.8%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MIBC in Upper Egypt is usually of the SCC type (although its percentage is decreasing), occurs at a younger age and presents with burning micturition rather than hematuria. Unlike the common belief, positive family history, parents' consanguinity, exposure to pesticides and chronic cystitis seem to play now more important roles than bilharziasis and smoking in the development of this disease in this area.</p