Consumer Warfare: The Effect of Attitude toward One’s Rival on Attitudes toward Defensive Strategies

The use of warfare analogies in marketing is not something new, particularly in terms of competitive strategies. With the shifting of power down the marketing channel, however, the importance and the effectiveness of competition-centric strategies has declined. Instead, reflecting consumers’ new-found power and importance, a focus on strategies employed by consumers in the marketplace appears to be increasingly appropriate to effectively reach today’s and tomorrow’s consumers. Business leaders who best understand how consumers interact with and relate to each other may find themselves in the best competitive position in the 21st century. Burns and Warren (2008) introduced the concept of consumer warfare as a means to illuminate how consumers interact and how those interactions influence consumer behavior in the marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to begin to empirically examine consumer warfare, with specific attention on the effects of consumers’ attitudes toward their rivals on their choice of defensive strategy. The results of the study indicate a significant relationship between material happiness (i.e., life would be better with more material objects) and three out of the four defensive strategies used by consumers in response to rivals who purchase a desired object. An important consideration, however, is that these relationships are strong because of the negative affect that arises toward the rival. The four defensive strategies include 1) admitting a sense of defeat, 2) doing nothing, 3) buying an object comparable to our rival, and 4) buying an object better than that of our rival. Results of a survey show that consumers high in material happiness feel significantly more negative affect toward their rival, indicating a positive relationship between those constructs. Only one strategy was not significantly more likely to be used. That strategy involves admitting defeat. Additionally, high negative affect toward a rival was negatively related to the strategy that involves doing nothing. In other words, high negative affect leads to a significantly greater propensity to do “something,” indicating a negative relationship between those constructs, as expected. Next, high negative affect toward a rival results in significantly greater likelihood of consumers who are high in material happiness purchasing an object comparable to or better than the object purchased by a rival. These results reveal how consumers’ attitudes are affected by other consumers’ purchases. Consumers don’t necessarily make purchases based solely on their individual desires. Rather, consumers are influenced to purchase objects as a result of the negative feelings that grow out of seeing a rival obtain a desirable object. Then, consumers respond by purchasing the object. This phenomenon feeds the desire to have more material belongings for those who are high in material happiness, but for those low in material happiness the end result is to do nothing or at least have a low inclination to purchase the same or better object. Although this body of research is in its infancy, the findings provide important implications for marketers

Postpneumonectomy syndrome: Surgical management and long-term results

ObjectivePostpneumonectomy syndrome is a rare syndrome of dynamic airway obstruction caused by extreme rotation and shift of the mediastinum after pneumonectomy, resulting in symptomatic central airway compression. We have treated this syndrome by mediastinal repositioning and placement of saline-filled prostheses into the pneumonectomy space. There is a paucity of outcome data for patients treated surgically, with only a single series of 11 patients previously reported. We analyzed our recent experience with treatment of this syndrome and report on the short and long-term outcomes and quality of life assessment of the largest series ever reported of patients treated by mediastinal repositioning.MethodsRecords were reviewed of all patients who underwent mediastinal repositioning for postpneumonectomy syndrome between January of 1992 and June of 2006. Long-term health-related quality of life was assessed by administration of the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire.ResultsThere were 18 patients (15 women and 3 men) with a median age of 44 years (range 14–67 years). Thirteen patients had undergone right pneumonectomy, and 5 patients had undergone left pneumonectomy. None of the patients in whom postpneumonectomy syndrome developed after left pneumonectomy had a right-sided aortic arch. Five patients had undergone pneumonectomy in childhood (age < 13 years). The median interval between pneumonectomy and mediastinal repositioning was 7.5 years (range 1.1–54.8 years). The median follow-up was 32 months (range 4–143 months). The operative mortality was 5.6% (1/18). Complications occurred in 5 patients (27.8%): pneumonia in 3 patients and acute respiratory distress syndrome in 2 patients. The median hospitalization was 6 days (range 3–155 days). Some 77% (10/13) of patients reported significant improvement in their breathing and overall state of health after surgery; 15.4% of patients (2/13) were somewhat better, and 7.7% of patients (1/13) had no improvement. No patients' condition was worse after surgery. All patients who reported improvement in their symptoms after surgery remained symptomatically improved at the time of the quality of life assessment. Some 92.3% (12/13) were not at all or only slightly limited in their social activities because of breathing problems, and 84.6% (11/13) were not at all or only slightly limited in their ability to work as a result of their physical health.ConclusionRepositioning of the mediastinum with placement of prostheses for postpneumonectomy syndrome can be performed with low mortality and morbidity. Surgical repositioning provides immediate and lasting symptomatic relief to patients in whom postpneumonectomy syndrome develops

Workplace psychosocial resources and risk of cardiovascular disease among employees: a multi-cohort study of 135 669 participants

Objective In terms of prevention, it is important to determine effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) when some workplace psychosocial resources are high while others are low. The aim of the study was to assess the prospective relationship between clustering of workplace psychosocial resources and risk of CVD among employees. Methods We pooled data from three cohort studies of 135 669 employees (65% women, age 18–65 years and free of CVD) from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Baseline horizontal resources (culture of collaboration and support from colleagues) and vertical resources (leadership quality and procedural justice) were measured using standard questionnaire items. Incident CVD, including coronary heart and cerebrovascular disease, was ascertained using linked electronic health records. We used latent class analysis to assess clustering (latent classes) of workplace psychosocial resources. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between these clusters and risk of CVD, adjusting for demographic and employment-related factors and pre-existing physical and mental disorders. Results We identified five clusters of workplace psychosocial resources from low on both vertical and horizontal resources (13%) to generally high resources (28%). High horizontal resources were combined with either inter-mediate [hazard ratio (HR) 0.84, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74–0.95] or high (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.78–1.00) vertical resources were associated with lower risks of CVD compared to those with generally low resources. The association was most prominent for cerebrovascular disease (eg, general high resources: HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67–0.96). Conclusions Individuals with high levels of workplace psychosocial resources across horizontal and vertical dimensions have a lower risk of CVD, particularly cerebrovascular disease

Assessment of preoperative accelerated radiotherapy and chemotherapy in stage IIIa (N2) non-small-cell lung cancer

AbstractForty patients with N2 non-small-cell lung cancer (stage IIIA), as determined by mediastinoscopy, were entered into a preoperative neoadjuvant study of chemotherapy (platinum, 5-fluorouracil, vinblastine) and accelerated radiotherapy (150 cGy twice per day for 7 days) for two cycles. Surgical resection was then performed and followed up with an additional cycle of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. All patients completed preoperative therapy. A major clinical response was seen in 87% of patients. Thirty-five patients underwent resection (one preoperative death, one refused operation, one had deterioration of pulmonary function, and two had pleural metastases). Operative mortality rate was 5.7% (2/35). Sixty percent of patients had no complications. Major complications included pulmonary emboli (three), pneumonia (two), and myocardial infarction (one). Downstaging was seen in 46% of patients, with two patients (5.7%) having no evidence of tumor in the specimen, five patients having sterilization of all lymph nodes, and nine patients having sterilization of mediastinal nodes but positive N1 nodes. Median survival of 40 patients was 28 months, with a projected 5-year survival of 43%. Patients with downstaged disease had statistically significant improved survival compared with patients whose disease was not downstaged. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1996;111:123-33

Effective Communication About Pregnancy, Birth, Lactation, Breastfeeding and Newborn Care:The Importance of Sexed Language

On 24 September 2021, The Lancet medical journal highlighted an article on its cover with a single sentence in large text; “Historically, the anatomy and physiology of bodies with vaginas have been neglected.” This statement, in which the word “women” was replaced with the phrase “bodies with vaginas,” is part of a trend to remove sexed terms such as “women” and “mothers” from discussions of female reproduction. The good and important intention behind these changes is sensitivity to, and acknowledgment of, the needs of people who are biologically female and yet do not consider themselves to be women because of their gender identity (1). However, these changes are often not deliberated regarding their impact on accuracy or potential for other unintended consequences. In this paper we present some background to this issue, describe various observed impacts, consider a number of potentially deleterious consequences, and suggest a way forward

Dynamical models for sand ripples beneath surface waves

We introduce order parameter models for describing the dynamics of sand ripple patterns under oscillatory flow. A crucial ingredient of these models is the mass transport between adjacent ripples, which we obtain from detailed numerical simulations for a range of ripple sizes. Using this mass transport function, our models predict the existence of a stable band of wavenumbers limited by secondary instabilities. Small ripples coarsen in our models and this process leads to a sharply selected final wavenumber, in agreement with experimental observations.Comment: 9 pages. Shortened version of previous submissio

Potential of 18F-FDG PET toward personalized radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy in lung cancer

Purpose We investigated the metabolic response of lung cancer to radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy by 18F-FDG PET and its utility in guiding timely supplementary therapy. Methods: Glucose metabolic rate (MRglc) was measured in primary lung cancers during the 3 weeks before, and 10–12 days (S2), 3 months (S3), 6 months (S4), and 12 months (S5) after radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The association between the lowest residual MRglc representing the maximum metabolic response (MRglc-MMR) and tumor control probability (TCP) at 12 months was modeled using logistic regression. Results: We accrued 106 patients, of whom 61 completed the serial 18F-FDG PET scans. The median values of MRglc at S2, S3 and S4 determined using a simplified kinetic method (SKM) were, respectively, 0.05, 0.06 and 0.07 μmol/min/g for tumors with local control and 0.12, 0.16 and 0.19 μmol/min/g for tumors with local failure, and the maximum standard uptake values (SUVmax) were 1.16, 1.33 and 1.45 for tumors with local control and 2.74, 2.74 and 4.07 for tumors with local failure (p < 0.0001). MRglc-MMR was realized at S2 (MRglc-S2) and the values corresponding to TCP 95 %, 90 % and 50 % were 0.036, 0.050 and 0.134 μmol/min/g using the SKM and 0.70, 0.91 and 1.95 using SUVmax, respectively. Probability cut-off values were generated for a given level of MRglc-S2 based on its predicted TCP, sensitivity and specificity, and MRglc ≤0.071 μmol/min/g and SUVmax ≤1.45 were determined as the optimum cut-off values for predicted TCP 80 %, sensitivity 100 % and specificity 63 %. Conclusion: The cut-off values (MRglc ≤0.071 μmol/min/g using the SKM and SUVmax ≤1.45) need to be tested for their utility in identifying patients with a high risk of residual cancer after standard dose radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy and in guiding a timely supplementary dose of radiation or other means of salvage therapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00259-013-2348-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The financing need for expanding paid maternity leave to support breastfeeding in the informal sector in the Philippines

In low- and middle-income countries, almost three-fourths of women in the labour force lack maternity protection. In the Philippines, current laws do not guarantee paid maternity leave to workers in the informal economy. A non-contributory maternity cash transfer to informal sector workers could be used to promote social equity and economic productivity and could provide health benefits by helping mothers meet their breastfeeding goals. The objective of the study is to provide a realistic cost estimate and to assess the financial feasibility of implementing a publicly financed, non-contributory maternity cash transfer programme to the informal sector in the Philippines. Using a costing framework developed in Mexico, the study estimated the annual cost of a maternity cash transfer programme. The methodology estimated the unit cost of the programme, the incremental coverage of maternity leave and expected number of enrollees. Different unit and incremental costs assumptions were used to provide a range of scenarios. Administrative costs for running the programme were included in the analysis. The annual financing need of implementing maternity cash transfer programme in the Philippines ranges from a minimum scenario of USD42 million (14-week maternity cash transfer) to a more ideal scenario of USD309 million (26-week maternity cash transfer). The latter is financially feasible as it is equivalent to less than 0.1% of the country\u27s gross domestic product substantially lower than the share cost of not breastfeeding (0.7%). The annual cost of the programme is only 10% of the total cost of the largest conditional cash transfer programme