Gamification – the key to in-depth exploration of consumer behavior in market research

Theoretical background: Games are used in various fields beyond pure entertainment: education, health services or human resources. They are also considered one of the most rapidly growing trends in marketing. Using gamifiation to engage the consumer and increase his loyalty is commonly used in nearly all product categories. Playing games is fun and companies use it to attract and involve the consumers in their brands’ activities. In addition, the role of gamification in market research is increasing. It helps to understand consumer behaviour by inducing a more natural mood in the survey process, and increasing engagement and the cognitive accessibility of often hidden information. The effectiveness of gamification requires systematic verifiation in the experimental research. Researchers indicate the positive effect of gamified research on respondents’ engagement and efficiency.Purpose of the article: This article presents the current state of knowledge in the field of gamification in market research. Its main purpose is to share the author’s own research results which are the replication of former results showing the positive effects of gamified tasks used in surveys.Research methods: An experiment was conducted to verify the hypotheses regarding the increased effectiveness of gamified tasks compared to the regular approach as well as to the well-known projective techniques. A total of 132 participants were split into three groups: control, experimental 1 (projective techniques or simple gamification – addition of extra rules to regular questions) and experimental 2 (more complex, narrative and contextual tasks based on gamification).Main findings: The hypothesis was confirmed and the former effects were replicated – gamified tasks increase the respondents’ effectiveness compared to the standard tasks and also compared to the use of the well-known projective techniques

DODATKOWE UMOWY STRON W STOSUNKU PRACY W ŚWIETLE ZASADY UPRZYWILEJOWANIA PRACOWNIKA

The paper deals with a controversial issue of the admissibility of evaluation, in light of the employee’s preferential treatment, of additional stipulations of contracts signed by parties to an employment relationship, which do not form the underlying condition for their execution. The main aim of the work is to prove that the rule of the employee’s preferential treatment, contrary to the literal content of article 18 of the Labour Code should be understood in broader terms: as one that protects the entire work relationship including additional agreements. In principle, there are three types of argument that provide a rationale for the above thesis. Firstly, it is the nature of the rule of the employee’s preferential treatment which acts as a general and basic norm in the labour law, and the role it plays in the Labour Code. Secondly, it is the mechanisms characteristics of this rule that may be found in work regulations other than those referred to in the above mentioned article 18, and in particular in the very nature of the semi imperative norms dominating in the labour law. Thirdly, it is the result of the entire process of interpretation of article 18 of the Labour Code, including, in particular, the functional and purposeful directives.Podjęta w artykule tematyka dotyczy kontrowersyjnego zagadnienia dopuszczalności oceny w świetle zasady uprzywilejowania pracownika postanowień dodatkowych umów zawieranych przez strony stosunku pracy, niebędących podstawą jego nawiązania. Celem pracy jest w szczególności wykazanie, że zasada uprzywilejowania pracownika, wbrew literalnemu brzmieniu przepisu art. 18 Kodeksu pracy, powinna być rozumiana szerzej: jako chroniąca całokształt treści stosunku pracy, którą formują również porozumienia dodatkowe. Za takim stanowiskiem przemawiają zasadniczo trzy argumenty. Po pierwsze, istota zasady uprzywilejowania pracownika jako normy ogólnej i podstawowej dla całego systemu prawa pracy, a także jej umiejscowienie w systematyce Kodeksu pracy. Po drugie, przejaw mechanizmów charakterystycznych dla tej zasady również w innych niż art. 18 Kodeksu pracy regulacjach prawa pracy, a w szczególności w samym charakterze dominujących w prawie pracy norm semiimperatywnych. Po trzecie wreszcie, wskazuje na to również wynik pełnego procesu wykładni przepisu art. 18 Kodeksu pracy uwzględniający w szczególności dyrektywy funkcjonalne i celowościowe

Direct EGFR inhibition imaging in tageted treatment in neoplastic diseases

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeted therapy is a novel pharmacological approach to a treatment of neoplastic diseases in humans. In a clinical practice treatment results are currently monitored in vivo using indirect (not targeted to EGFR) imaging strategies, like computed tomography, ultrasound or classical magnetic resonance imaging. However, methods dedicated for direct EGFR imaging and based on positron emission tomography are already at the preclinical stage of development. In the paper, most important data related to direct EGFR expression imaging in neoplasms was reviewed. Onkol. Prak. Klin. 2010; 6, 5: 278–282Leczenie ukierunkowane na zahamowanie funkcji receptora czynnika wzrostu naskórka (EGFR) jest nowym podejściem farmakologicznym do terapii chorób nowotworowych u ludzi. Obecnie w praktyce klinicznej monitorowanie obrazowe wyników tego leczenia in vivo odbywa się w sposób pośredni (nieuwidaczniający obecności EGFR), za pomocą takich metod, jak tomografia komputerowa, ultrasonografia czy klasyczne obrazowanie rezonansu magnetycznego. Na etapie badań przedklinicznych znajdują się metody bezpośredniego obrazowania skuteczności tej terapii za pomocą pozytonowej tomografii emisyjnej. W tej publikacji uwzględniono najważniejsze dane dotyczące bezpośredniego obrazowania ekspresji EGFR w nowotworach. Onkol. Prak. Klin. 2010; 6, 5: 278–28

Does the functional polymorphism-1562C/T of MMP-9 gene influence brain disorders?

Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is one of the most strongly expressed matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the brain. The MMP-9 activity in the brain is strictly regulated, and any disruptions in this regulation contribute to a development of many disorders of the nervous system including multiple sclerosis, brain strokes, neurodegenerative disorders, brain tumors, schizophrenia, or Guillain-Barré syndrome. This article discusses a relationship between development of the nervous system diseases and the functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position -1562C/T within the MMP-9 gene. A pathogenic influence of MMP-9-1562C/T SNP was observed both in neurological and psychiatric disorders. The presence of the allele T often increases the activity of the MMP-9 gene promoter and consequently the expression of MMP-9 when compared to the allele C. This leads to a change in the likelihood of an occurrence of diseases and modifies the course of certain brain diseases in humans, as discussed below. The presented data indicates that the MMP-9-1562C/T functional polymorphism influences the course of many neuropsychiatric disorders in humans suggesting a significant pathological role of the MMP-9 metalloproteinase in pathologies of the human central nervous system

Gamification in Market Research – How to Encourage People to Write More

Theoretical background: Gamification has been applied in business practice since its origins. Though one of the fields scarcely investigated so far is how gamification can be used to improve results obtained in the quantitative market research. The rationale behind this application is the phenomenon resulting in receiving rather brief and short responses to open questions in online surveys. Encouraging people to give more elaborated answers is a serious challenge of the modern online quantitative market research. Purpose of the article: The authors decided to check how to increase participants’ engagement and effectiveness of the market research by applying gamified tasks. The gamification was used in two approaches: storytelling and points collection with leaderboards. Research methods: The research was conducted in an experimental scheme with one control and two experimental groups with gamified tasks. Total number of participants that took part in the experiment was N = 89. Participants’ task was to watch a TV commercial and fill out a form with the first reaction and evaluation of various aspects of the advertisement. All questions were open-ended and the number of used words was used as the indicator of the respondents’ engagement. Main findings: Application of points and leaderboards resulted in significantly more developed answers in comparison to traditional open questions and also storytelling tasks. On the other hand, narrative task – contrary to many previous research – does not seem to have impact on the answers’ length. The results show that gamification oriented towards achievements and competition in the market research increase the performance and also can be a long-term motivational tool. These initial results are very promising, but further research is needed to verify the effect on bigger sample of the regular market research respondents

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair: Current evidence and challenges

In 1987 Nikolay Volodos performed the world’s first endovascular treatment of aortic aneurysms. Endovascular technology has progressed significantly since then. There are now many thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) systems commercially available. By applying them, we can treat many pathologies: aneurysms, dissections, aortic ruptures, and penetrating aortic ulcers. However, TEVAR technology still has its limitations, namely the risk of a retrograde type A dissection, the issue of precise landing in the distal landing zone, and the risk of air embolism and paraplegia. Furthermore, there are no appropriate stent grafts widely available to treat acute dissections. Those currently used are designed for aneurysms, not for dissections. As a result, there are several challenges facing the future TEVAR surgical community, such as the need to develop new and more precise systems with retrograde deployment for the distal landing zone, as well as to introduce flexible stent grafts to treat dissections. The endo-Bentall is being developed as an alternative treatment method for acute type-A aortic dissection

Subsequent cardiac surgery after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: Indications and outcomes.

BACKGROUND Aim of this study was to report on indications and clinical outcomes of patients who underwent subsequent open-cardiac surgery after transcatheter aortic valve implantation TAVI. METHODS Between 01/2011 and 12/2020 our centre performed 4043 TAVI procedures. Twenty-seven patients (including patients in whom TAVI was performed in other centres) underwent subsequent open-heart surgery via cardiopulmonary bypass. Demographic, intraprocedural data, indications for, and outcomes after surgery were evaluated. RESULTS Indications for cardiac surgery (aged 79 [IQR 76-84]; 59.3% male) were endocarditis (n = 11; 40.7%), annular rupture, severe paravalvular leak and severe stenosis in three (11.1%) patients, respectively as well as in one patient each (3.7%) severe tricuspid valve regurgitation, valve thrombosis, valve malposition, valve migration, ostial right coronary artery obstruction, left ventricular rupture and type A aortic dissection. The interval between the index TAVI procedure to open surgery was 3 months (IQR 0-26 months). Eight patients underwent emergent surgical conversions. Immediate procedural and procedural mortality was 25.9% and 40.7%, respectively and all-cause mortality was 51.9% (11/12 died for cardiovascular reasons). No disabling stroke was observed postoperatively. New permanent pacemaker implantation was required in three patients (11.1%). CONCLUSIONS Subsequent open-cardiac surgery after TAVI is rare, but may urgently become necessary due to TAVI related complications or progressing other cardiac pathologies. Despite a substantial early attrition rate clinical outcome is acceptable and a relevant number of these high-risk patients can be discharged even after emergency conversions. The option of subsequent surgical conversion remains