Customer lifetime network value: customer valuation in the context of network effects

Nowadays customers are increasingly connected and extensively interact with each other using technology-enabled media like online social networks. Hence, customers are frequently exposed to social influence when making purchase decisions. However, established approaches for customer valuation mostly neglect network effects based on social influence. This leads to a misallocation of resources. Following a design-oriented approach, this paper develops a model for customer valuation referred to as the customer lifetime network value (CLNV) incorporating an integrated network perspective. By considering the customers' net contribution to the network, the CLNV reallocates values between customers based on social influence. Inspired by common prestige- and eigenvector-related centrality measures it incorporates social influence among all degrees of separation acknowledging its viral spread. Using a real-world dataset, we demonstrate the practicable applicability of the CLNV to determine individual customers' value

DETECT: DEveloping and testing a model to identify preventive vision loss among older paTients in gEneral praCTice:Protocol for a complex intervention in Denmark

The number of people living with visual impairment is increasing. Visual impairment causes loss in quality of life and reduce self-care abilities. The burden of disease is heavy for people experiencing visual impairment and their relatives. The severity and progression of age-related eye diseases are dependent on the time of detection and treatment options, making timely access to healthcare critical in reducing visual impairment. General practice plays a key role in public health by managing preventive healthcare, diagnostics and treatment of chronic conditions. General practitioners (GPs) coordinate services from other healthcare professionals. More involvement of the primary sector could potentially be valuable in detecting visual impairment. METHODS: We apply the Medical Research Council framework for complex interventions to develop a primary care intervention with the GP as a key actor, aimed at identifying and coordinating care for patients with low vision. The development process will engage patients, relatives and relevant health professional stakeholders. We will pilot test the feasibility of the intervention in a real-world general practice setting. The intervention model will be developed through a participatory approach using qualitative and creative methods such as graphical facilitation. We aim to explore the potentials and limitations of general practice in relation to detection of preventable vision loss. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval is obtained from local authority and the study meets the requirements from the Declaration of Helsinki. Dissemination is undertaken through research papers and to the broader public through podcasts and patient organisations.</p

Digital Collages and Aesthetic-Communicative Networking: Insights into a Workshop of the NFKB Research Cluster Interaction and Participation

Dieser Beitrag dokumentiert Eindrücke, Beobachtungen und Ergebnisse aus einem Online-Workshop des Forschungsclusters «Interaktion und Partizipation in der Kulturellen Bildung», der die Vorstellung von Themen, Arbeitsweisen und Prinzipien des Forschungsclusters zum Ziel hatte. Dabei lag es nahe, die Auseinandersetzung selbst interaktiv und partizipativ sowie entlang der Thematik der rahmenden Tagung zu konzipieren. Ein Grossteil der Kommunikation wird hierfür parallel zur Videokonferenz auf ein digitales Whiteboard verlagert, auf dem alle Teilnehmenden individuell und gemeinsam agieren können. Als Material liegen zentrale Fragmente aus einem Text des Clusters bereit, in dem die Begriffe Interaktion und Partizipation in einem gemeinsamen Selbstversuch und geleitet vom Prinzip der Collage verhandelt werden. Dieses Textprinzip wird zum Handlungsprinzip des Workshops: Die Teilnehmenden werden dem Versuch ausgesetzt, in kleinen Gruppen auf dem digitalen Whiteboard sowohl mit dem bereitgestellten als auch mit eigenem Material selbst Collagen zu erstellen. In dem experimentellen Format des Workshops konturiert sich performativ ein ästhetisch-digitaler Möglichkeits- und Erfahrungsraum, in dem die individuellen Positionen und Perspektiven aller Beteiligten über Text, Bild und Sprache interaktiv in vernetzende Artikulationsformen treten. In den entstandenen Collagen kommen Aspekte von Ästhetik, Digitalität und Macht in eindrücklicher Weise zum Tragen.This contribution documents – especially visually – impressions, observations and results from an online workshop «Interaction and Participation in Cultural Education», which aimed to present topics, working methods and principles of the research cluster. It made sense to conceptualize the workshop itself in an interactive and participative manner, as well as along the theme of the framing conference. A large part of the communication is shifted to a digital whiteboard parallel to the video conference, on which all participants can act individually and together. Central fragments from a text of the cluster are available as material, in which the terms interaction and participation are negotiated in a joint self-experiment and guided by the principle of collage. The text principle becomes the operating principle of the workshop: The participants are exposed to the attempt to create collages themselves in small groups on the digital whiteboard using both the provided and their own material. In the experimental format of the workshop, an aesthetic-digital space of possibility and experience is contoured performatively, in which the individual positions and perspectives of all participants interactively enter into networked forms of articulation via text, image and language. In the resulting collages, aspects of aesthetics, digitality and power come into play in an impressive way

Driving pressure during general anesthesia for open abdominal surgery (DESIGNATION) : study protocol of a randomized clinical trial

Background Intraoperative driving pressure (Delta P) is associated with development of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPC). When tidal volume (V-T) is kept constant, Delta P may change according to positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP)-induced changes in lung aeration. Delta P may decrease if PEEP leads to a recruitment of collapsed lung tissue but will increase if PEEP mainly causes pulmonary overdistension. This study tests the hypothesis that individualized high PEEP, when compared to fixed low PEEP, protects against PPC in patients undergoing open abdominal surgery. Methods The "Driving prESsure durIng GeNeral AnesThesIa for Open abdomiNal surgery trial" (DESIGNATION) is an international, multicenter, two-group, double-blind randomized clinical superiority trial. A total of 1468 patients will be randomly assigned to one of the two intraoperative ventilation strategies. Investigators screen patients aged >= 18 years and with a body mass index <= 40 kg/m(2), scheduled for open abdominal surgery and at risk for PPC. Patients either receive an intraoperative ventilation strategy with individualized high PEEP with recruitment maneuvers (RM) ("individualized high PEEP") or one in which PEEP of 5 cm H2O without RM is used ("low PEEP"). In the "individualized high PEEP" group, PEEP is set at the level at which Delta P is lowest. In both groups of the trial, V-T is kept at 8 mL/kg predicted body weight. The primary endpoint is the occurrence of PPC, recorded as a collapsed composite of adverse pulmonary events. Discussion DESIGNATION will be the first randomized clinical trial that is adequately powered to compare the effects of individualized high PEEP with RM versus fixed low PEEP without RM on the occurrence of PPC after open abdominal surgery. The results of DESIGNATION will support anesthesiologists in their decisions regarding PEEP settings during open abdominal surgery

Improved Detection of Bifidobacteria with Optimised 16S rRNA-Gene Based Pyrosequencing

The 16S rRNA gene is conserved across all bacteria and as such is routinely targeted in PCR surveys of bacterial diversity. PCR primer design aims to amplify as many different 16S rRNA gene sequences from as wide a range of organisms as possible, though there are no suitable 100% conserved regions of the gene, leading to bias. In the gastrointestinal tract, bifidobacteria are a key genus, but are often under-represented in 16S rRNA surveys of diversity. We have designed modified, ‘bifidobacteria-optimised’ universal primers, which we have demonstrated detection of bifidobacterial sequence present in DNA mixtures at 2% abundance, the lowest proportion tested. Optimisation did not compromise the detection of other organisms in infant faecal samples. Separate validation using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) shows that the proportions of bifidobacteria detected in faecal samples were in agreement with those obtained using 16S rRNA based pyrosequencing. For future studies looking at faecal microbiota, careful selection of primers will be key in order to ensure effective detection of bifidobacteria

Therapygenetic effects of 5-HTTLPR on cognitive-behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis

There is a recurring debate on the role of the serotonin transporter gene linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) in the moderation of response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in anxiety disorders. Results, however, are still inconclusive. We here aim to perform a meta-analysis on the role of 5-HTTLPR in the moderation of CBT outcome in anxiety disorders. We investigated both categorical (symptom reduction of at least 50%) and dimensional outcomes from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up. Original data were obtained from ten independent samples (including three unpublished samples) with a total of 2,195 patients with primary anxiety disorder. No significant effects of 5-HTTLPR genotype on categorical or dimensional outcomes at post and follow-up were detected. We conclude that current evidence does not support the hypothesis of 5-HTTLPR as a moderator of treatment outcome for CBT in anxiety disorders. Future research should address whether other factors such as long-term changes or epigenetic processes may explain further variance in these complex gene-environment interactions and molecular-genetic pathways that may confer behavioral change following psychotherapy

Protective intraoperative ventilation with higher versus lower levels of positive end-expiratory pressure in obese patients (PROBESE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) increase the morbidity and mortality of surgery in obese patients. High levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) with lung recruitment maneuvers may improve intraoperative respiratory function, but they can also compromise hemodynamics, and the effects on PPCs are uncertain. We hypothesized that intraoperative mechanical ventilation using high PEEP with periodic recruitment maneuvers, as compared with low PEEP without recruitment maneuvers, prevents PPCs in obese patients. Methods/design The PRotective Ventilation with Higher versus Lower PEEP during General Anesthesia for Surgery in OBESE Patients (PROBESE) study is a multicenter, two-arm, international randomized controlled trial. In total, 2013 obese patients with body mass index ≥35 kg/m2 scheduled for at least 2 h of surgery under general anesthesia and at intermediate to high risk for PPCs will be included. Patients are ventilated intraoperatively with a low tidal volume of 7 ml/kg (predicted body weight) and randomly assigned to PEEP of 12 cmH2O with lung recruitment maneuvers (high PEEP) or PEEP of 4 cmH2O without recruitment maneuvers (low PEEP). The occurrence of PPCs will be recorded as collapsed composite of single adverse pulmonary events and represents the primary endpoint. Discussion To our knowledge, the PROBESE trial is the first multicenter, international randomized controlled trial to compare the effects of two different levels of intraoperative PEEP during protective low tidal volume ventilation on PPCs in obese patients. The results of the PROBESE trial will support anesthesiologists in their decision to choose a certain PEEP level during general anesthesia for surgery in obese patients in an attempt to prevent PPCs. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02148692. Registered on 23 May 2014; last updated 7 June 2016. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-1929-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief and JRP Officers

We are delighted to bring you the third Journal of European Psychology Students Special Edition of the Work in Progress (WiP) reports of the Junior Researcher Programme (JRP)