Fruit-Related Lifestyles as a Segmentation Tool for Fruit Consumers

Purpose- This study develops a modified food-related lifestyle (FRL) instrument to analyse Kosovo consumers' fruit consumption behaviour and attitudes. Design/methodology/approach- The research is based on a structured questionnaire designed using a reduced version of the FRL instrument including evaluation factors related to fruit consumption, useful to describe a fruit-related lifestyle. Data was collected through a face-to-face survey with 300 consumers in three main cities in Kosovo. A principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation and Kaiser Normalization was performed to interpret and investigate fruit-related lifestyles. Cluster analysis was performed to analyse market segments, using the identified factors obtained from the PCA, a hierarchical clustering algorithm with a Ward linkage method and the K-means clustering technique. Findings– Consumption behaviour is motivated by health concerns, (perceived) fruit (nutrition) content, and consumption habits. Four distinct consumer clusters were identified based on the fruit-related lifestyle instrument and analysed considering the different fruit purchase and consumption behaviour, attitudes towards health, quality, taste, and safety. Originality/value- The fruit-related lifestyle instrument can be used in studies focused on fruit consumer segmentation. Results provide insight to fruit marketing and distribution companies which can adjust their marketing strategies and customer-oriented initiatives tailored for specific consumer segments. Results can be useful also for policy-makers to promote increased fruit consumption. Research limitations/implications- We adapted a survey tool based on a reduced FRL instrument, to elaborate a specific survey instrument suitable to describe the fruit-related consumer’s lifestyles. The instrument was not designed according to the standard scales design procedure, but it is a first step towards creating a fruit-related lifestyle instrument

Changes in serum calcitonin concentrations, incidence of medullary thyroid carcinoma, and impact of routine calcitonin concentration monitoring in the Exenatide study of Cardiovascular Event Lowering (EXSCEL)

OBJECTIVE Increases in serum calcitonin, a tumor marker for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), have been associated with glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist use in some preclinical studies. We report calcitonin changes in exenatide-treated and placebo-administered participants and MTC incidence in the EXenatide Study of Cardiovascular Event Lowering (EXSCEL) and consider the impact of within-trial calcitonin monitoring. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS EXSCEL participants were randomized 1:1 to once-weekly exenatide 2 mg or placebo. Serum calcitonin was measured at baseline (with trial medication discontinued if >40 ng/L) and annually thereafter (with trial medication discontinued if ‡50 ng/L). Median calcitonin concentrations were calculated at each time point, and thyroid malignancies were collected prospectively. Data regarding follow-up after an elevated calcitonin were collected retrospectively. RESULTS At baseline, 52 (30 exenatide and 22 placebo) participants had calcitonin >40 ng/L, and during follow-up an additional 23 participants (15 exenatide and 8 placebo) had calcitonin ‡50 ng/L in the intention-to-treat population. Median calcitonin concentrations were similar between treatment groups at baseline with no increase over time. Confirmed MTC occurred in three participants (2 exenatide and 1 placebo), all of whom had significantly elevated baseline calcitonin values (413, 422, and 655 ng/L). CONCLUSIONS During a median 3.2 years’ follow-up, no change in serum calcitonin was seen with exenatide therapy. The three confirmed cases of MTC all occurred in participants with markedly elevated baseline calcitonin levels, measured prior to trial medication administration. Regular calcitonin monitoring identified no additional cases of MTC, suggesting no benefit of routine calcitonin monitoring during exenatide treatment

Methodological advances permit the stereocontrolled construction of diverse fully synthetic tetracyclines containing an all-carbon quaternary center at position C5a

a b s t r a c t Here we describe chemical innovations that enable the preparation of fully synthetic tetracyclines containing an all-carbon quaternary, stereogenic center at position C5a, a structurally novel class of compounds in this important family of therapeutic agents. In the key transformation and an important extension of the powerful MichaeleClaisen cyclization (AB plus D) approach to the construction of fully synthetic tetracyclines, we show that the six-membered C ring comprising a C5a quaternary carbon center can be assembled by highly stereocontrolled coupling reactions of b-substituted AB enones and otoluate ester anion D-ring precursors. Novel and versatile b-functionalization reaction sequences employing tris(methylthio)methyllithium and 2-lithio-1,3-dithiane have been developed to transform the AB enone 1 (the key precursor to fully synthetic tetracyclines) into a diverse range of b-substituted AB enone products, including a highly efficient, single-operation method for the synthesis of a b-methyl ester-substituted AB enone. A C5aeC11a-bridged cyclopropane tetracycline precursor was found to undergo efficient and regioselective ring-opening reactions with a range of nucleophiles in the presence of magnesium bromide, thus providing another avenue for the preparation of fully synthetic tetracyclines containing an all-carbon quaternary center at position C5a. Two compounds prepared from the bridged cyclopropane intermediate served as (further) diversifiable branch-points, allowing maximally expedient synthesis of C5a-substituted tetracyclines by final-step diversification

Contributions to the privacy provisioning for federated identity management platforms

Identity information, personal data and user’s profiles are key assets for organizations and companies by becoming the use of identity management (IdM) infrastructures a prerequisite for most companies, since IdM systems allow them to perform their business transactions by sharing information and customizing services for several purposes in more efficient and effective ways. Due to the importance of the identity management paradigm, a lot of work has been done so far resulting in a set of standards and specifications. According to them, under the umbrella of the IdM paradigm a person’s digital identity can be shared, linked and reused across different domains by allowing users simple session management, etc. In this way, users’ information is widely collected and distributed to offer new added value services and to enhance availability. Whereas these new services have a positive impact on users’ life, they also bring privacy problems. To manage users’ personal data, while protecting their privacy, IdM systems are the ideal target where to deploy privacy solutions, since they handle users’ attribute exchange. Nevertheless, current IdM models and specifications do not sufficiently address comprehensive privacy mechanisms or guidelines, which enable users to better control over the use, divulging and revocation of their online identities. These are essential aspects, specially in sensitive environments where incorrect and unsecured management of user’s data may lead to attacks, privacy breaches, identity misuse or frauds. Nowadays there are several approaches to IdM that have benefits and shortcomings, from the privacy perspective. In this thesis, the main goal is contributing to the privacy provisioning for federated identity management platforms. And for this purpose, we propose a generic architecture that extends current federation IdM systems. We have mainly focused our contributions on health care environments, given their particularly sensitive nature. The two main pillars of the proposed architecture, are the introduction of a selective privacy-enhanced user profile management model and flexibility in revocation consent by incorporating an event-based hybrid IdM approach, which enables to replace time constraints and explicit revocation by activating and deactivating authorization rights according to events. The combination of both models enables to deal with both online and offline scenarios, as well as to empower the user role, by letting her to bring together identity information from different sources. Regarding user’s consent revocation, we propose an implicit revocation consent mechanism based on events, that empowers a new concept, the sleepyhead credentials, which is issued only once and would be used any time. Moreover, we integrate this concept in IdM systems supporting a delegation protocol and we contribute with the definition of mathematical model to determine event arrivals to the IdM system and how they are managed to the corresponding entities, as well as its integration with the most widely deployed specification, i.e., Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). In regard to user profile management, we define a privacy-awareness user profile management model to provide efficient selective information disclosure. With this contribution a service provider would be able to accesses the specific personal information without being able to inspect any other details and keeping user control of her data by controlling who can access. The structure that we consider for the user profile storage is based on extensions of Merkle trees allowing for hash combining that would minimize the need of individual verification of elements along a path. An algorithm for sorting the tree as we envision frequently accessed attributes to be closer to the root (minimizing the access’ time) is also provided. Formal validation of the above mentioned ideas has been carried out through simulations and the development of prototypes. Besides, dissemination activities were performed in projects, journals and conferences.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería TelemáticaPresidente: María Celeste Campo Vázquez.- Secretario: María Francisca Hinarejos Campos.- Vocal: Óscar Esparza Martí

Análisis de la contribución de los restos ultimobranquiales a la glándula tiroidea: estudio morfológico e inmunohistoquímico

Falta resume

The Effect of the Exon-3-Deleted GH-Receptor in Pegvisomant-Treated Acromegaly : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The common exon 3 deletion polymorphism of the growth hormone receptor (d3-GHR) is associated with disease severity in acromegaly patients. The GHR antagonist pegvisomant (PEGV) is highly effective in treating severe acromegaly. Response to PEGV treatment seems to be influenced by d3-GHR and appears to be more responsive to PEGV, although available results remain conflicting. Objective: To assess the influence of d3-GHR on the responsiveness of acromegaly patients to PEGV by compiling the evidence derived from the largest available studies. Design: A systematic review of the literature identified three published studies and one conference abstract. Acromegaly patients (n = 324, 49.7% d3-GHR carriers) were treated with either PEGV monotherapy or PEGV combined with long-acting somatostatin analogues (LA-SSA) and/or cabergoline. A meta-analysis of raw data from these studies was performed. Results: No significant effect of the d3-GHR was observed while bringing IGF-I levels below the upper limit of normal with PEGV, which was defined as the lowest IGF-I level during PEGV-treatment (mean difference: -2.3%; 95% CI: -6.5 to 1.8%, p = 0.270). The PEGV dose required to achieve the lowest IGF-I levels was also not significantly influenced by individuals carrying d3-GHR (mean difference: 4.1 mg weekly; 95% CI: -5.1 to 13.2, p = 0.385). For both outcomes, separate analysis of PEGV monotherapy and combination treatment gave similar results. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the d3-GHR polymorphism has no effect on biochemical disease control in acromegaly, as it is not of added value for either the prediction of PEGV responsiveness or the determination of the required PEGV dose