Reference Price Formation for Product Innovations – the Role of Consistent Price-Value-Relationships

When deciding between product alternatives, consumers have to compare the observed prices to their internal reference price to determine whether the offer is a good deal or not. For product innovations, for which no reference price has been established, it is unclear against which standard the observed price is compared. Despite extensive research on the use of reference prices, little attention has been devoted to the formation of an internal reference price for an unfamiliar product category. We suggest two mechanisms of how reference prices are constructed and find support for these in two experiments. Reference prices for an unfamiliar product category can either be formed through repeated exposure to incidental price information or through transfer of price information from a familiar, similar product category to an unfamiliar product category. Crucial is however that the product price-value relationship is consistent; a condition often not accounted for in product innovation testing

Uniform distribution of three Candida albicans microsatellite markers in two French ICU populations supports a lack of nosocomial cross-contamination

BACKGROUND: The nosocomial acquisition of Candida albicans is a growing concern in intensive care units (ICUs) and understanding the route of contamination is relevant for infection control guidelines. METHODS: To analyze whether there is a specific ecology for any given hospital, we genotyped C. albicans isolates of the ICU of Versailles hospital (Hospital A) and compared the results with those previously obtained in another ICU in Henri Mondor hospital (Hospital B) using three polymorphic microsatellite markers (PMM). RESULTS: Among 36 patients with at least one positive culture for C. albicans, 26 had a specific multilocus genotype, two shared a common multilocus genotype, and 8 had the most common multilocus genotype found in the general population. The time interval between periods of hospitalization between patients with common genotypes differed by 13 to 78 days, thus supporting a lack of direct contamination. To confirm this hypothesis, the multilocus genotypic distributions of the three PMM were compared between the two hospitals. No statistically significant difference was observed. Multiple correspondences analysis did not indicate the association of a multilocus genotypic distribution with any given hospital. CONCLUSION: The present epidemiological study supports the conclusions that each patient harbours his/her own isolate, and that nosocomial transmission is not common in any given ICU. This study also supports the usefulness and practicability of PMM for studying the epidemiology of C. albicans

Spectroscopic mapping of local structural distortions in ferroelectric PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices at the unit-cell scale

The local structural distortions in polydomain ferroelectric PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices are investigated by means of high spatial and energy resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy combined with high angle annular dark field imaging. Local structural variations across the interfaces have been identified with unit cell resolution through the analysis of the energy loss near edge structure of the Ti-L2,3 and O-K edges. Ab-initio and multiplet calculations of the Ti-L2,3 edges provide unambiguous evidence for an inhomogeneous polarization profile associated with the observed structural distortions across the superlattice.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Impact of age, leukocyte count and day 21-bone marrow response to chemotherapy on the long-term outcome of children with philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the pre-imatinib era: results of the FRALLE 93 study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We explored the heterogeneity of philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph1-ALL) in a study of the effect of early features on prognosis in children. Here we report the long-term results of the FRALLE 93 study conducted in the era before the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between 1993 and 1999, 36 children with Ph1-ALL were enrolled into the FRALLE 93 protocol. After conventional four-drug induction, children were stratified by availability of an HLA-matched sibling.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Complete remission (CR) was observed in 26 children (72%), of which 13 underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Thirty-one children were good responders to prednisone, defined on day 8, and 21 were good responders to chemotherapy, defined by day-21 bone marrow (M1). Overall five-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 42 ± 9.7%. Based on multivariate analysis, two groups showed marked differences in five-year outcome: children with age<10, leukocyte count <100,000/mm³and day-21 M1 marrow had a more favorable prognosis (14 pts: 100% CR, event free survival [EFS]: 57%, overall survival [OS]: 79%), than the high-risk group (22 patients: 55% CR, EFS: 18%, OS: 27%) (p < 0.005). We also observed a non statistically significant difference (p = 0.14) in outcome between these groups for transplanted patients (5-year DFS: 83 ± 14% and 33 ± 15%, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Age, leukocyte count and early response to treatment defined by the D21 bone marrow response provide an accurate model for outcome prediction. The combination of available tools such as minimal residual disease assessment with determination of these simple factors could be useful for refining indications for BMT in the current era of tyrosine-kinase inhibitor-based therapy.</p

Error Processing and Inhibitory Control in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Meta-analysis Using Statistical Parametric Maps

BackgroundError processing and inhibitory control enable the adjustment of behaviors to meet task demands. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies report brain activation abnormalities in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during both processes. However, conclusions are limited by inconsistencies in the literature and small sample sizes. Therefore, the aim here was to perform a meta-analysis of the existing literature using unthresholded statistical maps from previous studies.MethodsA voxelwise seed-based d mapping meta-analysis was performed using t-maps from studies comparing patients with OCD and healthy control subjects (HCs) during error processing and inhibitory control. For the error processing analysis, 239 patients with OCD (120 male; 79 medicated) and 229 HCs (129 male) were included, while the inhibitory control analysis included 245 patients with OCD (120 male; 91 medicated) and 239 HCs (135 male).ResultsPatients with OCD, relative to HCs, showed longer inhibitory control reaction time (standardized mean difference&nbsp;= 0.20, p&nbsp;= .03, 95% confidence interval&nbsp;= 0.016, 0.393) and more inhibitory control errors (standardized mean difference&nbsp;= 0.22, p&nbsp;= .02, 95% confidence interval&nbsp;= 0.039, 0.399). In the brain, patients showed hyperactivation in the bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, and pre-supplementary motor area as well as right anterior insula/frontal operculum and anterior lateral prefrontal cortex during error processing but showed hypoactivation during inhibitory control in the rostral and ventral anterior cingulate cortices and bilateral thalamus/caudate, as well as the right anterior insula/frontal operculum, supramarginal gyrus, and medial orbitofrontal cortex (all seed-based d mapping z value &gt;2, p &lt; .001).ConclusionsA hyperactive error processing mechanism in conjunction with impairments in implementing inhibitory control may underlie deficits in stopping unwanted compulsive behaviors in the disorder

Emotion recognition and adverse childhood experiences in individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between facial affect recognition (FAR) and type of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a sample of clinical high risk (CHR) individuals and a matched sample of healthy controls (HCs).MethodsIn total, 309 CHR individuals and 51 HC were recruited as part of an European Union-funded multicenter study (EU-GEI) and included in this work. During a 2-year follow-up period, 65 CHR participants made a transition to psychosis (CHR-T) and 279 did not (CHR-NT). FAR ability was measured using a computerized version of the Degraded Facial Affect Recognition (DFAR) task. ACEs were measured using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Bullying Questionnaire. Generalized regression models were used to investigate the relationship between ACE and FAR. Logistic regressions were used to investigate the relationship between FAR and psychotic transition.ResultsIn CHR individuals, having experienced emotional abuse was associated with decreased total and neutral DFAR scores. CHR individuals who had experienced bullying performed better in the total DFAR and in the frightened condition. In HC and CHR, having experienced the death of a parent during childhood was associated with lower DFAR total score and lower neutral DFAR score, respectively. Analyses revealed a modest increase of transition risk with increasing mistakes from happy to angry faces.ConclusionsAdverse experiences in childhood seem to have a significant impact on emotional processing in adult life. This information could be helpful in a therapeutic setting where both difficulties in social interactions and adverse experiences are often addressed

Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences and long-term outcomes in people at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR), however, the relationship between ACEs and long-term clinical outcomes is still unclear. This study examined associations between ACEs and clinical outcomes in CHR individuals. 344 CHR individuals and 67 healthy controls (HC) were assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Bullying Questionnaire and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA). CHR were followed up for up to 5 years. Remission from the CHR state, transition to psychosis (both defined with the Comprehensive Assessment of an At Risk Mental State), and level of functioning (assessed with the Global Assessment of Functioning) were assessed. Stepwise and multilevel logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between ACEs and outcomes. ACEs were significantly more prevalent in CHR individuals than in HC. Within the CHR cohort, physical abuse was associated with a reduced likelihood of remission (OR = 3.64, p = 0.025). Separation from a parent was linked to an increased likelihood of both remission (OR = 0.32, p = 0.011) and higher level of functioning (OR = 1.77, p = 0.040). Death of a parent (OR = 1.87, p = 0.037) was associated with an increased risk of transitioning to psychosis. Physical abuse and death of a parent are related to adverse long-term outcomes in CHR. The counter-intuitive association between separation from a parent and outcomes may reflect the removal of a child from an adverse environment. Future studies should investigate whether interventions targeting the effect of specific ACEs might help to improve outcomes in this population

Do cognitive subtypes exist in people at clinical high risk for psychosis? Results from the EU-GEI study

Background and Hypothesis: Cognition has been associated with socio-occupational functioning in individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P). The present study hypothesized that clustering CHR-P participants based on cognitive data could reveal clinically meaningful subtypes. Study Design: A cohort of 291 CHR-P subjects was recruited through the multicentre EU-GEI high-risk study. We explored whether an underlying cluster structure was present in the cognition data. Clustering of cognition data was performed using k-means clustering and density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise. Cognitive subtypes were validated by comparing differences in functioning, psychosis symptoms, transition outcome, and grey matter volume between clusters. Network analysis was used to further examine relationships between cognition scores and clinical symptoms. Study Results: No underlying cluster structure was found in the cognitive data. K-means clustering produced “spared” and “impaired” cognition clusters similar to those reported in previous studies. However, these clusters were not associated with differences in functioning, symptomatology, outcome, or grey matter volume. Network analysis identifed cognition and symptoms/functioning measures that formed separate subnetworks of associations. Conclusions: Stratifying patients according to cognitive performance has the potential to inform clinical care. However, we did not fnd evidence of cognitive clusters in this CHR-P sample. We suggest that care needs to be taken in inferring the existence of distinct cognitive subtypes from unsupervised learning studies. Future research in CHR-P samples could explore the existence of cognitive subtypes across a wider range of cognitive domains.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The effects of recent stressful life events on outcomes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis:results from the longitudinal EU-GEI high-risk study

BACKGROUND: Recent stressful life events (SLE) are a risk factor for psychosis, but limited research has explored how SLEs affect individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. The current study investigated the longitudinal effects of SLEs on functioning and symptom severity in CHR individuals, where we hypothesized CHR would report more SLEs than healthy controls (HC), and SLEs would be associated with poorer outcomes.METHODS: The study used longitudinal data from the EU-GEI High Risk study. Data from 331 CHR participants were analyzed to examine the effects of SLEs on changes in functioning, positive and negative symptoms over a 2-year follow-up. We compared the prevalence of SLEs between CHR and HCs, and between CHR who did (CHR-T) and did not (CHR-NT) transition to psychosis.RESULTS: CHR reported 1.44 more SLEs than HC ( p &lt; 0.001), but there was no difference in SLEs between CHR-T and CHR-NT at baseline. Recent SLEs were associated with poorer functioning and more severe positive and negative symptoms in CHR individuals (all p &lt; 0.01) but did not reveal a significant interaction with time. CONCLUSIONS: CHR individuals who had experienced recent SLEs exhibited poorer functioning and more severe symptoms. However, as the interaction between SLEs and time was not significant, this suggests SLEs did not contribute to a worsening of symptoms and functioning over the study period. SLEs could be a key risk factor to becoming CHR for psychosis, however further work is required to inform when early intervention strategies mitigating against the effects of stress are most effective.</p