Why Do We Post on Social Shopping Communities?

Social shopping communities, representing a special form of social media, have offered fertile ground for members to communicate their opinions and exchange product information. The goal of our paper is to understand this new business model of social shopping communities and investigate why members voluntarily share information on social shopping communities. We integrate theories of collective action and social capital theory to construct a research model for investigating the motivations behind members’ posting behavior. By analyzing panel data collected from a social shopping community, we found that members posting behavior is determined by reputation, enjoyment of helping, network centrality, member expertise, as well as reciprocity. The results of this study provide important implications for both research and practice

Brief lifestyle interventions for prediabetes in primary care: a service evaluation

BackgroundThe increasing number of cases of prediabetes in the UK is concerning, particularly in Wales where there is no standard programme of support. The aim of the current service evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of brief lifestyle interventions on glucose tolerance in people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.MethodsIn this pragmatic service evaluation clinical data on people deemed at risk of developing type 2 diabetes were evaluated from two GP clusters. Patients (n = 1207) received a single 15 to 30-min, face-to-face, consultation with a health care practitioner. Interventions were assessed by changes in HbA1c and distribution across the HbA1c ranges 12 months following intervention. Statistical significance of reversion to normoglycaemia and development of diabetes were assessed through comparison with expected rates without intervention.ResultsBetween baseline and 12-month follow-up HbA1c fell from 43.85 ± 1.57 mmol/mol (6.16 ± 0.14%) to 41.63 ± 3.84 mmol/mol (5.96 ± 0.35%), a decrease of 2.22 mmol/mol (0.20%) (95% CI 2.01 (0.18%), 2.42 (0.22%); p < 0.0001). The proportion of people with normal glucose tolerance at 12 months (0.50 95%CI 0.47, 0.52) was significantly larger than the lower (0.06 (p < 0.0001) and the upper (0.19 (p < 0.0001)) estimates based on no intervention.ConclusionResults indicate significant improvement in glucose tolerance across GP clusters. The brief intervention has the potential to offer a robust and effective option to support people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Further research in the form of a randomised trial is needed to confirm this and identify those likely to benefit most from this intervention

Understanding Twitter Usage: What Drive People Continue to Tweet

In this study, we proposed a research model to investigate the factors influencing users’ continuance intention to use Twitter. Building on the uses and gratification framework, we have proposed four types of gratifications for Twitter usage, including content gratification, technology gratification, process gratification, and social gratification. We conducted an online survey and collected 124 responses. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares. Our results showed that content gratifications and new technology gratification are the two key types of gratifications affecting the continuance intention to use Twitter. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications. We believe that this study will provide important insights for future research on Twitter

Habit Formation in Twitter

The concept of habit has been receiving a lot of attention among Information Systems (IS) researchers. In recent years, we have witnessed a considerable progress in the conceptualization and operationalization of IS habit. However, little theoretical and empirical attention has been given to the formation of IS habit. To fill this gap, this paper builds and tests a theoretical model investigating the factors affecting the formation of habit in the context of Twitter. An online survey was conducted and data from 167 respondents were analyzed using PLS. The results showed that satisfaction, frequency of past behaviour, and convenience were important in determining habitual use of Twitter. In addition, social presence had significant impact on user satisfaction with Twitter. This paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications

Cost-effectiveness of biennial screening for diabetes related retinopathy in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes compared to annual screening

Objective: Examine the health and economic impact of extending screening intervals in people with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) without diabetes related retinopathy (DR).Setting: Diabetic Eye Screening Wales (DESW)Study design: Retrospective observational study with cost utility analysis (CUA) and Decremental Cost Effectiveness Ratios (DCER) study.Intervention: Biennial screening versus usual care (annual screening). Inputs: Anonymised data from DESW were linked to primary care data for people with two prior screening events with no DR. Transition probabilities for progression to DR were estimated based on a subset of 26,812 and 1,232 people with T2DM and T1DM, respectively. DCER above £20,000 per QALY was considered cost-effective.Results: The base case analysis DCER results of £71,243 and £23,446 per QALY for T2DM and T1DM respectively at a 3.5% discount rate and £56,822 and £14,221 respectively when discounted at 1.5% . Diabetes management represented by the mean HbA1c was 7.5% for those with T2DM and 8.7% for T1DM.Sensitivity analysis: Extending screening to biennial based on HbA1c, being the strongest predictor of progression of DR, at three levels of HbA1c 6.5%, 8.0% and 9.5% lost one QALY saving the NHS £106,075; £58,653 and £31,626 respectively for T2DM and £94,696, £37,646 and £11,089 respectively for T1DM. In addition, extending screening to biennial based on duration of diabetes >6 years for T2DM per QALY lost, saving the NHS £54,106 and for 6-12 and >12 years for T1DM saving £83,856, £23,446 and £13,340 respectively. Conclusions: Base case and sensitivity analyses indicates biennial screening to be cost-effective for T2DM irrespective of HbA1c and duration of diabetes. However, the uncertainty around the DCER indicates that annual screening should be maintained for those with T1DM especially when the HbA1c exceeds 80 mmol/mol (9.5%) and duration of diabetes is greater than 12 years

Characteristics of repeat non‐attenders at Diabetes Eye Screening Wales, a national community‐based diabetes‐related retinopathy screening service, during 2003‐2018

AimsTo understand factors associated with repeat non-attendance at screening for diabetes-related retinopathy.MethodsRetrospective observational study using anonymised data from Diabetic Eye Screening Wales for people with a full history of screening invitations and attendances was linked with primary and secondary care records held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank. Repeat non-attendance was defined as no record of attendance during any 36-month period despite three cycles of annual screening invitations. The associations between repeat non-attendance and potential risk factors were examined using multivariable logistic regression analysis, stratified according to type 1 and type 2 diabetes.ResultsA total of 18% with type 1 diabetes (1146/6513) and 8% with type 2 diabetes (12,475/156,525) were repeat non-attenders. Participants attending their very first appointment were least likely to become repeat non-attenders [odds ratio (95% confidence interval)]: type 1 diabetes: 0.12 (0.09, 0.17) and type 2 diabetes: 0.08 (0.07, 0.09). For both types of diabetes, those of a younger age, living in areas of higher deprivation and subject to multiple house moves were at greater risk of becoming repeat non-attenders.Conclusion/interpretationA more tailored approach is needed for the younger population, those living in areas of higher deprivation and/or undergoing multiple residential relocation and to ensure attendance at their initial appointment to minimise future repeat non-attendance

Bridging the Gap between Graph Modeling and Developmental Psycholinguistics: An Experiment on Measuring Lexical Proximity in Chinese Semantic Space

PACLIC 23 / City University of Hong Kong / 3-5 December 200

IL-33 ameliorates Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology and cognitive decline

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating condition with no known effective treatment. AD is characterized by memory loss as well as impaired locomotor ability, reasoning, and judgment. Emerging evidence suggests that the innate immune response plays a major role in the pathogenesis of AD. In AD, the accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) in the brain perturbs physiological functions of the brain, including synaptic and neuronal dysfunction, microglial activation, and neuronal loss. Serum levels of soluble ST2 (sST2), a decoy receptor for interleukin (IL)-33, increase in patients with mild cognitive impairment, suggesting that impaired IL-33/ST2 signaling may contribute to the pathogenesis of AD. Therefore, we investigated the potential therapeutic role of IL-33 in AD, using transgenic mouse models. Here we report that IL-33 administration reverses synaptic plasticity impairment and memory deficits in APP/PS1 mice. IL-33 administration reduces soluble Aβ levels and amyloid plaque deposition by promoting the recruitment and Aβ phagocytic activity of microglia; this is mediated by ST2/p38 signaling activation. Furthermore, IL-33 injection modulates the innate immune response by polarizing microglia/macrophages toward an antiinflammatory phenotype and reducing the expression of proinflammatory genes, including IL-1β, IL-6, and NLRP3, in the cortices of APP/PS1 mice. Collectively, our results demonstrate a potential therapeutic role for IL-33 in AD

Barriers and facilitators to change in the organisation and delivery of endoscopy services in England and Wales: a focus group study

Objective: Explore professional views of changes to gastroenterology service organisation and delivery and barriers and facilitators impacting on change. The work was undertaken as part of an evaluation in endoscopy service provision catalysed by the Modernising Endoscopy Services Programme of the Modernisation Agency. Design: Focus groups followed by analysis and group-working activities identifying key themes. Setting: English and Welsh secondary care gastroenterology units. Participants: 20 professionals working in gastroenterology in England and Wales. Medical, surgical and nursing specialists including endoscopy nurses. Opportunistic sampling to include senior people in leadership and management roles who were directly involved in service modernisation, excluding those involved in the Modernisation Endoscopy Services Programme. Results: Four 1.5 h focus groups took place in 2007. Summative and thematic analyses captured essential aspects of text and achieved consensus on key themes. 4 themes were revealed: 'loss of personal autonomy and erosion of professionalism', 'lack of senior management understanding', 'barriers and facilitators to change' and 'differences between English and Welsh units'. Themes indicated that low staff morale, lack of funding and senior management support were barriers to effective change. Limitations to the study include the disproportionately low number of focus group attendees from English units and the time delay in reporting these findings. Conclusions: Despite ambitions to implement change, ineffective management support continued to hamper modernisation of service organisation and delivery. While the National Health Service Modernisation Agency Modernising Endoscopy Services Programme acted as a catalyst for change, affecting the way staff work, communicate and think, it was not effective in heralding change itself. However, gastroenterologists were keen to consider the potential for change and future service modernisation. The methodological framework of innovative qualitative enquiry offers comprehensive and rigorous enhancement of quantitative studies, including randomised trials, when a mixed methods approach is needed.7 page(s