Extraction of Visual Information to Predict Crowdfunding Success

Researchers have increasingly turned to crowdfunding platforms to gain insights into entrepreneurial activity and dynamics. While previous studies have explored various factors influencing crowdfunding success, such as technology, communication, and marketing strategies, the role of visual elements that can be automatically extracted from images has received less attention. This is surprising, considering that crowdfunding platforms emphasize the importance of attention-grabbing and high-resolution images, and previous research has shown that image characteristics can significantly impact product evaluations. Indeed, a comprehensive review of empirical articles (n = 202) that utilized Kickstarter data, focusing on the incorporation of visual information in their analyses. Our findings reveal that only 29.70% controlled for the number of images, and less than 12% considered any image details. In this manuscript, we review the literature on image processing and its relevance to the business domain, highlighting two types of visual variables: visual counts (number of pictures and number of videos) and image details. Building upon previous work that discussed the role of color, composition and figure-ground relationships, we introduce visual scene elements that have not yet been explored in crowdfunding, including the number of faces, the number of concepts depicted, and the ease of identifying those concepts. To demonstrate the predictive value of visual counts and image details, we analyze Kickstarter data. Our results highlight that visual count features are two of the top three predictors of success. Our results also show that simple image detail features such as color matter a lot, and our proposed measures of visual scene elements can also be useful. We supplement our article with R and Python codes that help authors extract image details (https://osf.io/ujnzp/).Comment: 32 pages, 5 figure

How inferred contagion biases dispositional judgments of others

AbstractDrawing on recent evidence suggesting that beliefs about contagion underlie the market for celebrity-contaminated objects, the current work investigates how people can make biased dispositional judgments about consumers who own such objects. Results from four experiments indicate that when a consumer comes in contact with a celebrity-contaminated object and behaves in a manner that is inconsistent with the traits associated with that celebrity, people tend to make more extreme judgments of them. For instance, if the celebrity excels at a particular task, but the target who has come into contact with the celebrity-contaminated object performs poorly, people reflect more harshly on the target. This occurs because observers implicitly expect that a consumer will behave in a way that is consistent with the traits associated with the source of contamination. Consistent with the law of contagion, these expectations only emerge when contact occurs. Our findings suggest that owning celebrity-contaminated objects signals information about how one might behave in the future, which consequently has social implications for consumers who own such objects

Health technology reassessment: the art of the possible

BACKGROUND: Health technology reassessment (HTR) is "a structured, evidence-based assessment of the clinical, social, ethical, and economic effects of a technology currently used in the healthcare system, to inform optimal use of that technology in comparison to its alternatives." The purpose of this study is to describe the key themes in the context of current HTR activities and propose a way forward for this newly emerging field. METHODS: Data were gathered from a workshop held as part of the 2012 Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health (CADTH) symposium. The workshop consisted of two panel presentations followed by discussion; data gathered, including presentations and rich audience discussion transcripts, were analyzed for key themes emerging in the field of HTR using constant comparative analysis. RESULTS: The language chosen to describe HTR will set the tone for engagement. The identification of champions at multiple levels and political will are essential. Key lessons from international experience are: disinvestment is difficult, focus on clinical areas not specific technologies, identify clear goals of the HTR agenda. Six key themes were identified to move the HTR agenda forward: emphasize integration over segregation, focus on development of HTR methods and processes, processes are context-specific but lessons must be shared, build capacity in synergistic interdisciplinary fields, develop meaningful stakeholder engagement, strengthen postimplementation monitoring and evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: To move this field forward, we must continue to build on international experiences with a focus on developing novel methodological approaches to generating, incorporating, and implementing evidence into policy and practice.Gail MacKean, Tom Noseworthy, Adam G. Elshaug, Laura Leggett, Peter Littlejohns, Joan Berezanski and Fiona Clemen

Identifying the domains of context important to implementation science: a study protocol

There is growing recognition that "context" can and does modify the effects of implementation interventions aimed at increasing healthcare professionals' use of research evidence in clinical practice. However, conceptual clarity about what exactly comprises "context" is lacking. The purpose of this research program is to develop, refine, and validate a framework that identifies the key domains of context (and their features) that can facilitate or hinder (1) healthcare professionals' use of evidence in clinical practice and (2) the effectiveness of implementation interventions

Assessment of potential cardiotoxic side effects of mitoxantrone in patients with multiple sclerosis

Previous studies showed that mitoxantrone can reduce disability progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). There is, however, concern that it may cause irreversible cardiomyopathy with reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) and congestive heart failure. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate cardiac side effects of mitoxantrone by repetitive cardiac monitoring in MS patients. The treatment protocol called for ten courses of a combined mitoxantrone (10 mg/m(2) body surface) and methylprednisolone therapy. Before each course, a transthoracic echocardiogram was performed to determine the LV end-diastolic diameter, the end-systolic diameter and the fractional shortening; the LV-EF was calculated. Seventy-three patients participated (32 males; age 48 +/- 12 years, range 20-75 years; 25 with primary progressive, 47 with secondary progressive and 1 with relapsing-remitting MS) who received at least four courses of mitoxantrone. Three of the 73 patients were excluded during the study (2 patients discontinued therapy; 1 patient with a previous history of ischemic heart disease developed atrial fibrillation after the second course of mitoxantrone). The mean cumulative dose of mitoxantrone was 114.0 +/- 33.8 mg. The mean follow-up time was 23.4 months (range 10-57 months). So far, there has been no significant change in any of the determined parameters (end-diastolic diameter, end-systolic diameter, fractional shortening, EF) over time during all follow-up investigations. Mitoxantrone did not cause signs of congestive heart failure in any of the patients. Further cardiac monitoring is, however, needed to determine the safety of mitoxantrone after longer follow-up times and at higher cumulative doses. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Attributes of context relevant to healthcare professionals' use of research evidence in clinical practice: a multi-study analysis

Background: To increase the likelihood of successful implementation of evidence-based practices, researchers, knowledge users, and healthcare professionals must consider aspects of context that promote and hinder implementation in their setting. The purpose of the current study was to identify contextual attributes and their features relevant to implementation by healthcare professionals and compare and contrast these attributes and features across different clinical settings and healthcare professional roles. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of 145 semi-structured interviews comprising 11 studies (10 from Canada and one from Australia) investigating healthcare professionals’ perceived barriers and enablers to their use of research evidence in clinical practice. The data was collected using semi-structured interview guides informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework across different healthcare professional roles, settings, and practices. We analyzed these data inductively, using constant comparative analysis, to identify attributes of context and their features reported in the interviews. We compared these data by (1) setting (primary care, hospital-medical/surgical, hospital-emergency room, hospital-critical care) and (2) professional role (physicians and residents, nurses and organ donor coordinators). Results: We identified 62 unique features of context, which we categorized under 14 broader attributes of context. The 14 attributes were resource access, work structure, patient characteristics, professional role, culture, facility characteristics, system features, healthcare professional characteristics, financial, collaboration, leadership, evaluation, regulatory or legislative standards, and societal influences. We found instances of the majority (n = 12, 86%) of attributes of context across multiple (n = 6 or more) clinical behaviors. We also found little variation in the 14 attributes of context by setting (primary care and hospitals) and professional role (physicians and residents, and nurses and organ donor coordinators). Conclusions: There was considerable consistency in the 14 attributes identified irrespective of the clinical behavior, setting, or professional role, supporting broad utility of the attributes of context identified in this study. There was more variation in the finer-grained features of these attributes with the most substantial variation being by setting

Non-invasive MR imaging techniques for measuring femoral arterial flow in a pediatric and adolescent cohort

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is well-suited for imaging peripheral blood flow due to its non-invasive nature and excellent spatial resolution. Although MRI is routinely used in adults to assess physiological changes in chronic diseases, there are currently no MRI-based data quantifying arterial flow in pediatric or adolescent populations during exercise. Therefore the current research sought to document femoral arterial blood flow at rest and following exercise in a pediatric-adolescent population using phase contrast MRI, and to present test-retest reliability data for this method. Ten healthy children and adolescents (4 male; mean age 14.8 ± 2.4 years) completed bloodwork and resting and exercise MRI. Baseline images consisted of PC-MRI of the femoral artery at rest and following a 5 × 30 s of in-magnet exercise. To evaluate test-retest reliability, five participants returned for repeat testing. All participants successfully completed exercise testing in the MRI. Baseline flow demonstrated excellent reliability (ICC = 0.93, p = 0.006), and peak exercise and delta rest-peak flow demonstrated good reliability (peak exercise ICC = 0.89, p = 0.002, delta rest-peak ICC = 0.87, p = 0.003) between-visits. All three flow measurements demonstrated excellent reliability when assessed with coefficients of variance (CV's) (rest: CV = 6.2%; peak exercise: CV = 7.3%; delta rest-peak: CV = 7.1%). The mean bias was small for femoral arterial flow. There was no significant mean bias between femoral artery flow visits 1 and 2 at peak exercise. There were no correlations between age or height and any of the flow measurements. There were no significant differences between male and female participants for any of the flow measurements. The current study determined that peripheral arterial blood flow in children and adolescents can be evaluated using non-invasive phase contrast MRI. The MRI-based techniques that were used in the current study for measuring arterial flow in pediatric and adolescent patients demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability both at rest and immediately post-exercise.Cystic Fibrosis TrustExercise Medicine Fund at the Hospital for Sick Children (Canada