CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS

Results from an Ohio survey indicate that respondents are willing to pay a premium, ranging from 5% for non-GM vegetable oil to 28% for non-GM salmon. Estimated consumer willingness to pay for non-GM foods varies among demographic groups with female, those aged between 35 and 60, and non-White respondents willing to pay a higher premium than others.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

A rotating ring-disk study of interactions among SPS, cuprous ions, and oxygen

The most common additives in copper plating baths for deep via filling are chloride, polyethylene glycol (PEG), a suppressor, and bis-(3-sulfopropyl)-disulfide (SPS), an accelerant. The copper in acid plating baths is provided by a Cu (II) salt. Cu (I) may be present as well and it influenced the effectiveness of SPS. In this investigation, the interactions among SPS, Cu (I) and oxygen were studied by rotating ring-disk voltammetry. The ring electrode acted as a plating substrate, while Cu (I) was generated at the disk by anodic dissolution of copper. Because Cu (I) is consumed by reaction with oxygen, the experiments were carried out under air, oxygen, or argon atmospheres. When SPS is present in the solution, a sudden kinetic acceleration is observed at the ring during Cu (I) generation at the disk. By comparing the ring deposition rate without and with Cu (I) generation at the disk, it is found that deposition is accelerated by higher levels of Cu (I) and SPS. The result is considered in light of the hypothesis that the true accelerant is formed by homogeneous reaction of SPS and Cu (I)

Effect of Danshen for improving clinical outcomes in patients with bladder cancer: a retrospective, population-based study

Introduction: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a broad application in healthcare, with Danshen being a notable herb used in Eastern medicine for cancer treatment. This study aims to explore the relationship between Danshen use and cardiovascular risks among bladder cancer patients.Methods: Patients were selected based on a confirmed diagnosis of bladder cancer with specific inclusion and exclusion criteria to control for certain comorbidities and treatments. Utilizing Taiwan’s National Health Insurance data from 2003 to 2013, this retrospective, population-based study identified three groups: 525 patients treated with Danshen, 6,419 patients not treated with TCM, and 4,356 patients treated with TCM but not with Danshen. The Cox proportional hazard model was employed to estimate the risks of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE) and mortality while accounting for various confounders.Results: The overall incidence of MACEs was significantly lower in the Danshen group (5%) compared to the TCM (8.1%) and non-TCM (9.9%) groups (p < 0.001). The Cox model revealed that bladder cancer patients treated with Danshen had the lowest risk of MACE (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.38–0.84) and all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.44–0.82).Discussion: The findings suggest that Danshen reduces the risk of MACE and all-cause mortality in bladder cancer patients, highlighting its potential benefits. This underpins the necessity for further research to substantiate the cardiovascular benefits of Danshen in bladder cancer patients and potentially broaden its application in oncology healthcare

A Mixed-methods Study of Governance Mechanisms and Outsourcing Information System Services on Goal Performance

Background: Information systems outsourcing (ISO) is one of the critical businesses in information technology outsourcing (ITO). Due to the increasing complexity of ISO, the failure rate of such outsourcing increases. Outsourcing information system services (OISS) was thus proposed to deal with this. A conceptual framework based on the information processing view was developed to investigate how the client firms assess OISS goal performance. Governance mechanisms (governance structure, relational governance, and IT coordination) were treated as antecedents of transaction cost and outsourcing flexibility; these would further affect goal performance (goal achievement and goal exceedance) with task complexity as a moderator. Method: A mix-methods study was conducted; the qualitative approach was employed to validate the conceptual framework by interviewing three managers with experiences in OISS from the client firms, whereas the quantitative approach, with 206 responses from those with OISS experiences from the client firms, provides empirical evidence. Results: The results indicated that relational governance effectively reduced transaction cost and increased outsourcing flexibility; the governance structure was also vital for outsourcing flexibility. Transaction cost was found to negatively affect goal achievement, and outsourcing flexibility positively affected both goal achievement and goal exceedance. The moderating effects of task complexity were also confirmed. Conclusion: The results extended the information processing view to OISS and proved that transaction cost and outsourcing flexibility are necessary to link governance mechanisms and goal performance. Practically, the client firms are suggested to maintain a positive relationship with the OISS provider. The OISS provider should offer an exclusive channel during and after the execution of the OISS project to reduce the possible cost that occurs during the implementation and improve the outsourcing flexibility to allow the client firms to consider their goals have been achieved and beyond their expectations. By doing so, the effect of goal performance can be maximized