Constructing an Index for Brand Equity: A Hospital Example

If two hospitals are providing identical services in all respects, except for the brand name, why are customers willing to pay more for one hospital than the other? That is, the brand name is not just a name, but a name that contains value (brand equity). Brand equity is the value that the brand name endows to the product, such that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for products with the particular brand name. Accordingly, a company needs to manage its brand carefully so that its brand equity does not depreciate. Although measuring brand equity is important, managers have no brand equity index that is psychometrically robust and parsimonious enough for practice. Indeed, index construction is quite different from conventional scale development. Moreover, researchers might still be unaware of the potential appropriateness of formative indicators for operationalizing particular constructs. Towards this end, drawing on the brand equity literature and following the index construction procedure, this study creates a brand equity index for a hospital. The results reveal a parsimonious five-indicator brand equity index that can adequately capture the full domain of brand equity. This study also illustrates the differences between index construction and scale development

Self-Assessed Personality Traits and Adherence to the COVID-19 Lockdown

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has forced all countries affected by it to introduce quarantine and isolation to prevent the spread of the virus, as well as masking and distancing. Not everyone is equally willing to follow the rules related to limit the extent of the coronavirus epidemic. This might be connected with personality traits, especially openness, positive attitude, and optimism. Materials and Methods: An online survey was created and completed by participants in April–May 2020. Self-assessment of personality traits and adherence to lockdown recommendations were assessed. A total of 7404 participants took part in the study, mainly from Poland (83.6%) and Italy (12.7%). Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was performed. Results: The participants were divided into groups depending on the degree of compliance with the lockdown rules. In the multivariate analysis, variables that increased the odds for stricter lockdown compliance were temporary work suspension OR 1.27 (95% CI 1.10–1.48), income level “we can’t handle this situation” OR 1.67 (95%CI 1.20–2.33), and junior high school education OR 1.68 (95% CI 1.13–2.50). Other significant factors included age and place of residence. Each point of self-assessed sociability OR 1.07 (95% CI 1.00–1.13) also increased the likelihood of adhering to lockdown rules. Conclusions: Taking the basic demographic characteristics as well as working and health environment conditions traits into account may be helpful when forecasting epidemiological compliance during a pandemic, as well as in other public health tasks. The key role of self-assessed personality traits was not confirmed in this study. Reliability of the results is limited by significant disproportions in the size of the study groups

Mortality associated with the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in cancer patients:Dabigatran versus rivaroxaban

Abstract Objective This study assesses the mortality outcomes of non‐vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in cancer patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) and atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods Medical records of cancer patients receiving NOACs for VTE or AF between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016, were retrieved from Taiwan's National Health Institute Research Database. NOACs were compared using the inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method. The primary outcome was cancer‐related death. Secondary outcomes were all‐cause mortality, major bleeding, and gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Results Among 202,754 patients who received anticoagulants, 3591 patients (dabigatran: 907; rivaroxaban: 2684) with active cancers were studied. Patients who received dabigatran were associated with lower risks of cancer‐related death at one year (HR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.54–0.93) and at the end of follow‐ups (HR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.64–0.98) compared with rivaroxaban. Patients who received dabigatran were also associated with lower risks of all‐cause mortality (HR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67–0.97), major bleeding (HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.47–0.88), and GI bleeding (HR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.39–0.84) at the end of follow‐ups compared with rivaroxaban. Conclusion Compared with rivaroxaban, the use of dabigatran may be associated with a lower risk of cancer‐related death and all‐cause mortality

Src-family kinase-Cbl axis negatively regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is crucial for immune defense, but improper and excessive activation causes inflammatory diseases. We previously reported that Pyk2 is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Here we show that the Src-family kinases (SFKs)-Cbl axis plays a pivotal role in suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation in response to stimulation by nigericin or ATP, as assessed using gene knockout and gene knockdown cells, dominant active/negative mutants, and pharmacological inhibition. We reveal that the phosphorylation of Cbl is regulated by SFKs, and that phosphorylation of Cbl at Tyr371 suppresses NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Mechanistically, Cbl decreases the level of phosphorylated Pyk2 (p-Pyk2) through ubiquitination-mediated proteasomal degradation and reduces mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) production by contributing to the maintenance of mitochondrial size. The lower levels of p-Pyk2 and mtROS dampen NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In vivo, inhibition of Cbl with an analgesic drug, hydrocotarnine, increases inflammasome-mediated IL-18 secretion in the colon, and protects mice from dextran sulphate sodium-induced colitis. Together, our novel findings provide new insights into the role of the SFK-Cbl axis in suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation and identify a novel clinical utility of hydrocortanine for disease treatment

Physicochemical properties of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) filet treated with high-voltage electrostatic field under different storage temperatures

The post-mortem rigid of farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) affects the texture of the meat and might even be risky for microorganisms, undermining the popularity of frozen filets among consumers. This study investigated the importance of different conditions (0°C, 4°C, and 25°C for 0–4 days) and physicochemical characteristics of rainbow trout filet storage on fish’s characteristics, freshness, quality, and shelf-life. Results showed that the fish easily underwent rigor mortis and resolution of rigor mortis when stored at 25°C. However, rigor mortis was more likely to occur under storage at 0°C than at 4°C [with 100 kV/m high voltage electrostatic fields (HVEF)] due to low-temperature stimulation, but resolution of rigor mortis began to appear after 24 h of storage at either temperature. The protein solubility and gel strength of fish stored at 25°C continued to decrease due to thermal denaturation, and those of fish stored at 4°C and 0°C also showed a decrease owing to rigor mortis and then an increase when rigor mortis disappeared. The K values increased rapidly at 25°C and reached 61% at 14 h. Under storage at 4°C and 0°C, the K values only slightly increased before resolution of rigor mortis. However, the K-values did not exceed 40% for 4 days post-resolution of rigor mortis. Differential Scanning Calorimetry analysis and tissue sectioning showed that protein denaturation and separation between muscle fibers persisted during storage at various temperatures, most notably at 25°C. It is important to note that storing at 0°C for 96 h did not result in any significant changes in the molecular protein composition. Moreover, the muscle tissue remained in excellent condition compared to storage at 25°C and 4°C. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the total viable count (TVC) and psychrophilic bacteria between storage at 0°C and 4°C, considered safe for food consumption. These promising findings are conveyed in a circular economy based on the food industry, particularly adequate raw materials, stable prices, measures to reduce food loss and waste, and contributing to developing efficient, diverse, and sustainable food processing systems

Pyk2 activates the NLRP3 inflammasome by directly phosphorylating ASC and contributes to inflammasome-dependent peritonitis

The inflammasome adaptor protein, ASC, contributes to both innate immune responses and inflammatory diseases via self-oligomerization, which leads to the activation of the protease, caspase-1. Here, we report that the cytosolic tyrosine kinases, FAK and Pyk2, are differentially involved in NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasome activation. The inhibition of FAK and Pyk2 with RNA interference or chemical inhibitors dramatically abolished ASC oligomerization, caspase-1 activation, and IL-1β secretion in response to NLRP3 or AIM2 stimulation. Pyk2 is phosphorylated by the kinase Syk and relocalizes to the ASC specks upon NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Pyk2, but not FAK, could directly phosphorylate ASC at Tyr146, and only the phosphorylated ASC could participate in speck formation and trigger IL-1β secretion. Moreover, the clinical-trial-tested Pyk2/FAK dual inhibitor PF-562271 reduced monosodium urate-mediated peritonitis, a disease model used for studying the consequences of NLRP3 activation. Our results suggest that although Pyk2 and FAK are involved in inflammasome activation, only Pyk2 directly phosphorylates ASC and brings ASC into an oligomerization-competent state by allowing Tyr146 phosphorylation to participate ASC speck formation and subsequent NLRP3 inflammation

The effectiveness of adjunct mindfulness-based intervention in treatment of bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been increasingly used as an adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy for a few psychiatric disorders. However, few studies have investigated the efficacy of MBIs in bipolar disorder (BD). METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of MBIs as an adjunctive treatment in BD. Major electronic databases were independently searched by two authors for controlled and uncontrolled studies which examined the effects of MBIs on psychiatric symptoms in subjects with BD. Data from original studies were synthesized by using a random effects model. RESULTS: Twelve trials were eligible for inclusion into current meta-analysis, including three controlled studies (n=132) and nine uncontrolled studies (n=142). In within-group analysis, MBIs significantly reduced depressive (7 studies, n=100, Hedges' g=0.58, p<0.001) and anxiety (4 studies, n=68, Hedges' g=0.34, p=0.043) symptoms, but not manic symptoms (6 studies, n=89, Hedges' g=0.09, p=0.488) and cognition (3 studies, n=43, Hedges' g=0.35, p=0.171), compared to baseline. In between-group analysis (intervention group versus waiting list group, all patients with BD), MBIs did not reduce depressive (3 studies, n=132, Hedges' g=0.46, p=0.315) or anxiety (3 studies, n=132, Hedges' g=0.33, p=0.578) symptoms. LIMITATIONS: Only three controlled trials compared MBIs to control conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis showed significantly beneficial effects on depressive and anxiety symptoms of BD patients in within-group analysis. However, this significance was not observed in comparison with the control groups. Further clinical trials are warranted to investigate the differences in the benefits of MBIs between treatment and control subjects

Relationship between depression and frailty in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim Depression and frailty are prevalent and burdensome in older age. However, the relationships between these entities are unclear and no quantitative meta-analysis exists. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the associations between depression and frailty. Methods Two authors searched major electronic databases from inception until November-2016 for cross- sectional/longitudinal studies investigating depression and frailty. The strength of the reciprocal associations between frailty and depression was assessed through odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for potential confounders. Results From 2306 non duplicated hits, 24 studies were included. The overall prevalence of depression in 8023 people with frailty was 38.60% (95% CI 30.07 to 47.10, I2=94%). Those with frailty were at increased odds of having depression (OR adjusted for publication bias 4.42, 95%CI 2.66-7.35, k=11), also after adjusting for potential confounders (OR=2.64; 95%CI: 1.59-4.37, I2=55%, k=4). The prevalence of frailty in 2167 people with depression was 40.40% (95%CI 27.00-55.30, I2=97%). People with depression were at increased odds of having frailty (OR=4.07, 95%CI 1.93-8.55, k=8). The pooled OR for incident frailty, adjusted for a median of 7 confounders, was 3.72 (95%CI 1.95-7.08, I2=98%, k=4), whilst in two studies frailty increased the risk of incident depression with an OR=1.90 (95%CI 1.55-2.32, I2=0%). Conclusion This meta-analysis points to a reciprocal interaction between depression and frailty in older adults. Specifically, each condition is associated with an increased prevalence and incidence of the other, and may be a risk factor for the development of the other. However, further prospective investigations are warranted