Barriers to Online Second-Hand Purchase Behavior

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-03-2023-0093[Abstract] Introduction: The second-hand online market has experienced a rapid growth due to the great penetration of the internet. However, although previous studies examine the consumer purchase behaviour in second-hand stores, the great majority focuses on offline shopping, and little is known about the barriers that consumers experience in the online second-hand market. Purpose: In this context, the aim of the present research is to examine what factors determine that consumers restrain from shopping used products through the internet. So, this research aims to analyse what makes consumers prevent from shopping second-hand products online. Methodology: For this purpose, we propose and empirically test a conceptual model of the barriers towards online second-hand shopping behaviour. Drawing on a sample of 405 consumers data was analyzed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Findings: Our findings reveal that contamination effects and the lack of trust towards the online store, followed by the low perceived product reliability and the poor product perceived quality prevent consumers from shopping used products online. Conversely, consumer embarrassment for shopping second-hand products and the purchase uncertainty do not influence consumers’ second-hand shopping behaviour. Value: This study contributes to the marketing literature on second-hand shopping, being an attempt to explore the factors that prevent consumers from purchasing used products through the internet

Role of natural surfactants in bioremediation and bioavailability of PAH

Motivation: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic compounds found in most polluted areas mainly due to anthropogenicactivity. Such compounds entail several damages to human health and the environment in general because of their toxicityand carcinogenecity. Moreover, due to their recalcitrance and ubiquity, they supose a problem where research groups focustheir attention(1). In our case, efforts to find solutions to PAH pollution are aimed at bioremediation, looking for chemicalstrategies for improving the bioavailability in the biorremediation of contaminated areas, always without increasing the risk tothe environment where they are adsorbed.The main objectives of this project are the tuning of the fluorimetry method to detect hydrocarbons in aqueous samples and totest the effectiveness of a novel commercial rhamnolipid versus another one previously used, obtained from a cell culture atthe laboratory.Methods: We used a strain of Mycobacterium gilvum as biodegrader organism, and we have tested its ability to use these compoundsas carbon source (1, 2) in biodegradation experiments against different concentrations of pyrene (4-rings PAH as arepresentative compound of this group) supplied dissolved and crystalline in aqueous solutions. The variation in theconcentration of pyrene is measured using fluorimetry techniques in an equipment able to submit a sample to ultravioletradiation and collect the radiation emitted by the sample in a graph, where we will be able to detect a peak representing thepyrene in a specific and known length wave. We also studied the effect of a commercial rhamnolipid recently bought by thelaboratory, which is expected to increase the bioavailability of such compounds due to its surfactant effect, thus overcomingone of the main barriers to remediation and being a friendly alternative with the environment because of its naturally origin (2).Results: The bacteria is able to assimilate the supplied pyrene. When rhamnolipids are added, the final concentration of pyreneremaining in the saturated samples is less than in the cases we are not providing the rhamnolipid. When the pyrene issupplied as crystals, passive dosing occurs so that it dissolves until equilibrium is reached. When M. gilvum is added in thatpoint, pyrene is removed from the aqueous phase by breaking the balance and allowing a greater amount of crystals to bedissolved and removed from the medium.Conclusions: It has been found that using this commercial rhamnolipid is more effective, because it allows a greater solubility and theadvantage of having it available simply and quickly

Target organ damage and cardiovascular complications in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes in Spain: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Target organ damage (mainly cardiac and renal damage) is easy to evaluate in outpatient clinics and offers valuable information about patient's cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate, using simple methods, the prevalence of cardiac and renal damage and its relationship to the presence of established cardiovascular disease (CVD), in patients with hypertension (HT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: The RICARHD study is a multicentre, cross-sectional study made by 293 investigators in Nephrology and Internal Medicine Spanish outpatient clinics, and included patients aged 55 years or more with HT and type 2 DM with more than six months of diagnosis. Demographic, clinical and biochemical data, and CVD were collected from the clinical records. Cardiac damage was defined by the presence of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-LVH), and renal damage by a calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2), and/or the presence of an albumin/creatinine ratio ≥ 30 mg/g; or an urinary albumin excretion (UAE) ≥ 30 mg/24 hours. RESULTS: 2339 patients (mean age 68.9 years, 48.2% females, 51.3% with established CVD) were included. ECG-LVH was present in 22.9% of the sample, GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2 )in 45.1%, and abnormal UAE in 58.7%. Compared with the reference patients (those without neither cardiac nor renal damage), patients with ECG-LVH alone (OR 2.20, [95%CI 1.43–3.38]), or kidney damage alone (OR 1.41, [1.13–1.75]) showed an increased prevalence of CVD. The presence of both ECG-LVH and renal damage was associated with the higher prevalence (OR 3.12, [2.33–4.19]). After stratifying by gender, this relationship was present for both, men and women. CONCLUSION: In patients with HT and type 2 DM, ECG-LVH or renal damage, evaluated using simple methods, are associated with an increased prevalence of established CVD. The simultaneous presence of both cardiac and renal damage was associated to the higher prevalence of CVD, affording complementary information. A systematic assessment of cardiac and renal damage complements the risk assessment of these patients with HT and type 2 DM

A Quasi-Birth-Death model for functional split in 5G controllers

It is broadly accepted that network function virtualization will play a key role to meet the stringent and heterogeneous requirements of 5G networks. Although fully centralized approaches were initially proposed, they may impose unfeasible requirements over fronthaul links. Consequently, flexible functional split solutions are being fostered, where a central controller adapts the centralization level to current circumstances. In spite of the growing interest in this type of solutions, most of existing works focus on real implementation, while little attention has been paid so far to performance modeling. In this paper we propose a Markov Chain based controller model, which boils down to a Quasi-Birth-Death process. Under reasonable assumptions, this model provides expected values of buffer occupancy and the time frames would spend in the controller. In this sense, it aims to be a tool to support the allocation of computational resources of the virtualized entities. We validate the proposed model by comparing its results with those obtained by simulation, evincing an almost perfect match between both approaches.This work has been funded by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, MINECO-FEDER) by means of the project FIERCE: Future Internet Enabled Resilient smart CitiEs (RTI2018-093475-AI00)

Understanding the performance of flexible functional split in 5G vRAN controllers: A Markov Chain-based model

We study Flexible Functional Split functionality of 5G vRAN controllers in 5G networks. We propose an innovative model, based on a Markov Chain, which can be used to characterize their performance. We consider both infinite and finite-buffer controllers. In the former, frames would not be lost (provided the system works in a stable regime), and we thus focus on the time frames stay at the controller. For the finite-buffer controller, there might be losses, and we analyze the trade-off between time at the controller (which might hinder the stringent delay requirements of 5G services), and loss probability. Matrix-geometric techniques are used to resolve the corresponding Quasi-Birth-Death process. The validity of the proposed model is assessed by means of an extensive experiment campaign carried out over an ad-hoc eventdriven simulator, which is also used to broaden the analysis, considering different service rate distributions, as well as the variability of the studied performance indicators. The results show that the proposed model can be effectively exploited to tackle the dimensioning of these systems, as it sheds light on how their configuration impacts the expected delay and loss rate.This work has been funded by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, MINECO-FEDER) by means of the project FIERCE: Future Internet Enabled Resilient smart CitiEs (RTI2018-093475-AI00)

Health-Related Quality of Life in Pregnant Women during the First Trimester in Northern Spain: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

[EN] Background: Achieving the optimal quality of life is currently a health challenge for the world’s population. Pregnancy is a stressful period of life that affects women’s quality of life. Aims: This study aimed to describe and analyse the health-related quality of life in pregnant women during their first trimester in a health area in the north of Spain. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out. A total of 359 women completed the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Results: The sample consisted of 57.9% primiparous women, 30% had experienced a previous abortion, and 7.2% were foreign women. The mean age was 33.53 years. The sum of the physical and mental component values was below 50 points. Notably, 4.17% of women reported a worsening of their health in the last year, and 28.69% had an increased depression risk. Conclusion: Being a foreigner, prenatal abortion, previous caesarean section, previous children, or assisted reproduction techniques are the variables that have a negative association with some dimensions of quality of life in pregnant women.S

Root caries analysis in working population of 35-44 years of age (Spain)

Background: The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of socio-demographic variables, toothbrushing frequency, frequency of snacking between meals, and tobacco and alcohol consumption, in root caries in the Spanish working population of Valencia and Murcia regions. Material and Methods: Cross sectional study of 458 workers 35-44 years of age, who underwent a routine work-related check-up, from June 2009 to April 2010, and were also examined, following the WHO methodology, by a calibrated dentist. Stratified random sampling. Participants fulfilled a questionnaire comprising demographic data, toothbrushing frequency, snacking frequency and tobacco and alcohol consumption. Results: The DFS index (root caries) in the employed population of 35-44 years was 0.45 ± 1.3, with a root caries prevalence of 18.6% and an active root caries prevalence of 13.5%. Higher root caries prevalence and active root caries prevalence were associated with male gender, manual occupations, foreign country of origin, lower levels of education and income, lower brushing frequency and higher frequency of snacking between meals. The DFS index was associated with all studied socio-demographic variables, but gender, and it was also associated with brushing frequency. The mean number of root decayed teeth was associated with all socio-demographic variables, but country of origin, and it was also associated with brushing frequency. Conclusions: Adult workers 35-44 years of age showed worse root condition in regard to caries than general population of this age cohort. In this study, the frequency of toothbrushing and snacking between meals were the variables that influenced more in root caries. Key words:Root caries, working population, epidemiological studies, toothbrushing, snacking

Un análisis de la contribución del sector textil a la evolución de la desigualdad de género en el mundo

La difusión de las cadenas globales de valor ha sido un hito fundamental en las últimas décadas, lo que ha influido en la participación femenina en el mercado de trabajo a lo largo del mundo. Este trabajo analiza cómo la distribución del empleo asociado al sector textil ha influido en la evolución de la desigualdad de género en el mundo durante el período 1991-2019. Concretamente, cuantifica el efecto que la deslocalización textil ha tenido sobre el empleo femenino y la brecha de género en el empleo para la economía global.Para ello, se desarrolla un modelo multisectorial y multirregional input-output (MRIO) haciendo uso de la base de datos EORA y ampliándola con información de empleo diferenciado por género procedente de ILO. Trabajamos con 189 países, desagregados en 26 sectores para los años 1991 y 2019.El trabajo evalúa también algunas premisas previas encontradas en la literatura, tales como el efecto de la deslocalización textil en los países en desarrollo sobre la participación de las mujeres en el empleo y, por ende, en sus brechas de género en el empleo, así como su continuidad conforme los países se modernizan y adoptan actividades más intensivas en capital.<br /

Colloids versus crystalloids in objective-guided fluid therapy, systematic review and meta-analysis. Too early or too late to draw conclusions

AbstractIntroductionSeveral clinical trials on Goal directed fluid therapy (GDFT) were carried out, many of those using colloids in order to optimize the preload. After the decision of European Medicines Agency, there is such controversy regarding its use, benefits, and possible contribution to renal failure. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to compare the use of last-generation colloids, derived from corn, with crystalloids in GDFT to determine associated complications and mortality.MethodsA bibliographic research was carried out in MEDLINE PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library, corroborating randomized clinical trials where crystalloids are compared to colloids in GDFT for major non-cardiac surgery in adults.ResultsOne hundred thirty references were found and among those 38 were selected and 29 analyzed; of these, six were included for systematic review and meta-analysis, including 390 patients. It was observed that the use of colloids is not associated with the increase of complications, but rather with a tendency to a higher mortality (RR [95% CI] 3.87 [1.121–13.38]; I2=0.0%; p=0.635).ConclusionsBecause of the limitations of this meta-analysis due to the small number of randomized clinical trials and patients included, the results should be taken cautiously, and the performance of new randomized clinical trials is proposed, with enough statistical power, comparing balanced and unbalanced colloids to balanced and unbalanced crystalloids, following the protocols of GDFT, considering current guidelines and suggestions made by groups of experts