Customer Relationship Management Based on Employees and Corporate Culture

AbstractThis paper provides the overview on Customer Relationship Management that is strongly influenced by corporate culture, corporate identity and employees. Different theoretical approaches to CRM are included in the first part of the paper. Second part of the paper presents the results of research based on Delphi method, which was aimed at finding actual CRM definition and customer's characteristics in the future. Third part of the paper presents four main areas company should focus on when engaging customers. It aims on People and Corporate Culture which is one of the four areas, when building customer experience with company

Position-Free Vital Sign Monitoring: Measurements and Processing

As traditional electrodes are perturbing for patients in critical cases such as for burn victims or newborn infants, and even to detect life sign under rubble, a contactless monitoring system for the life signs is a necessity. The aim of this chapter is to present a complete process used in detecting cardiopulmonary activities. This includes a microwave Doppler radar system that detects the body wall motion and signal processing techniques in order to extract the heartbeat rate. Measurements are performed at different positions simultaneously with a PC-based electrocardiogram (ECG). For a distance of 1 m between the subject and the antennas, measurements are performed for breathing subject at four positions: front, back, left, and right. Discrete wavelet transform is used to extract the heartbeat signal from the cardiopulmonary signal. The proposed system and signal processing techniques show high accuracy in detecting the cardiopulmonary signals and extracting the heartbeat rate

Contact-Less Measurement System for Cardiopulmonary Activity

International audienceThis paper presents a wireless cardiopulmonary activity measurement system. This system generates a continuous wave toward a person's chest set at a distance of 1 m, then reflected to the system. Using a vector network analyzer, the phase of S21 is computed. The phase variation of S21 contains information about cardiopulmonary activity. Several processing techniques are used to separate heartbeat signal from cardiorespiratory signal either in frequency or in temporal domain. The measurements were performed simultaneously with a PC-based electrocardiogram to validate the heartbeat rate detection techniques. In conclusion, processing techniques used in this paper give accurate results

Rapid Pleurodesis: Single Agent Single Session Vs. Multiple Sessions Using Multiple Agents in the Treatment of Recurrent Malignant Pleural Effusion

Background: One prevalent, upsetting side effect of several oncological conditions is malignant pleural effusion. Pleurodesis is one of the most effective ways to reduce symptoms, stop recurrence, and enhance quality of life. This prospective study aimed at evaluating the performance of three rapid pleurodesis procedures and determine which modality achieved the most positive results, the fewest problems, and the most cost-efficiency. Methods: This study included 91 patients with recurrent and rapidly collecting malignant pleural effusion. They were distributed into three groups: Group A (single session, single agent), Group B (single session, combined agents), and Group C (multiple sessions, multiple agents) pleurodesis through a catheter which was closed for 2 hours and then opened to drain. The catheter was then removed, and the patient was discharged to continue outpatient follow-up. Results: Group A included 28 patients, Group B included 29 patients, and Group C included 34 patients. The most common primary malignancy was breast cancer in Group A (46.4 %), and lung cancer in Group B (48.3%) and Group C (47.1 %). Frequently encountered complications following pleurodesis were fever (7.1%, 10.3% and 11.8 % for group A, B and C respectively); and dyspnea (7.1 % in Group A), (13.8% in Group B), and (8.8% in Group C). Hospital stay was longer in the third group with (p<0.001) without significant difference in the outpatient follow-up for lung inflation and recurrence as in one week was (3.6 % in Group A), (0 % in Group B and Group C), in one month was (10.7 % in Group A), (6.9 % in Group B), and (2.9 % in Group C), in 3 months was (14.3 %  in Group A), (17.2 in Group B), and (11.8% in Group C). Conclusion: Rapid pleurodesis – either with a single agent in a single session, a combined agent in a single session, or multiple sessions using multiple agents – is an effective treatment to avoid the recurrence of malignant pleural effusion with minimal side effects. Since the first protocol is equally successful and requires only a short hospital stay at a moderate cost, we recommend it

Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery versus Open Decortication in Chronic Pleural Empyema

Background: The role of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for managing organized empyema is still limited. This study compared VATS versus open decortication in patients with chronic pleural empyema. Methods: This randomized controlled trial included 58 patients with stage III empyema. Patients were divided into two groups. Group A (n= 30) included patients who had decortication through an open thoracotomy, and Group B (n= 28) included VATS decortication patients. Two patients in the VATS group were converted to the open approach and were excluded from the analysis. Results: The mean age in Group A was 48.23 ± 8.44 years and 49.79 ± 7.85 years Group B (p= 0.47). There were 16 males (53.3%) in Group A and 15 (63.6%) in Group B (p= 0.99). The operative time was 336.0 ± 67.60 min in Group A and 291.07 ± 56.66 min in Group B (p= 0.01). There was no difference in intraoperative complications between groups. Postoperative hospital stay (p= 0.23) and ICU admission (p= 0.24) did not differ between groups. In Group A, the pain scale was 8 (6- 8), and it was 4 (2- 4) in Group B (p˂ 0.001). No difference was recorded in the postoperative complications between groups. Conclusion:  The outcomes of VATS in managing stage III empyema are comparable to the open approach. VATS has the advantage of lower postoperative pain. VATS could be an alternative to open decortication in patients with stage III pleural empyema

Extracorporeal immune therapy with immobilized agonistic anti-Fas antibodies leads to transient reduction of circulating neutrophil numbers and limits tissue damage after hemorrhagic shock/resuscitation in a porcine model

Background: Hemorrhagic shock/resuscitation is associated with aberrant neutrophil activation and organ failure. This experimental porcine study was done to evaluate the effects of Fas-directed extracorporeal immune therapy with a leukocyte inhibition module (LIM) on hemodynamics, neutrophil tissue infiltration, and tissue damage after hemorrhagic shock/resuscitation. Methods: In a prospective controlled double-armed animal trial 24 Munich Mini Pigs (30.3 +/- 3.3 kg) were rapidly haemorrhaged to reach a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 35 +/- 5 mmHg, maintained hypotensive for 45 minutes, and then were resuscitated with Ringer's solution to baseline MAP. With beginning of resuscitation 12 pigs underwent extracorporeal immune therapy for 3 hours (LIM group) and 12 pigs were resuscitated according to standard medical care (SMC). Haemodynamics, haematologic, metabolic, and organ specific damage parameters were monitored. Neutrophil infiltration was analyzed histologically after 48 and 72 hours. Lipid peroxidation, and apoptosis were specifically determined in lung, bowel, and liver. Results: In the LIM group, neutrophil counts were reduced versus SMC during extracorporeal immune therapy. After 72 hours, the haemodynamic parameters MAP and cardiac output (CO) were significantly better in the LIM group. Histological analyses showed reduction of shock-related neutrophil tissue infiltration in the LIM group, especially in the lungs. Lower amounts of apoptotic cells and lipid peroxidation were found in organs after LIM treatment. Conclusions: Transient Fas-directed extracorporeal immune therapy may protect from posthemorrhagic neutrophil tissue infiltration and tissue damage

Cognition in males and females with autism: similarities and differences

The male bias in autism spectrum conditions (ASC) has led to females with ASC being under-researched. This lack of attention to females could hide variability due to sex that may explain some of the heterogeneity within ASC. In this study we investigate four key cognitive domains (mentalizing and emotion perception, executive function, perceptual attention to detail, and motor function) in ASC, to test for similarities and differences between males and females with and without ASC (n = 128 adults; n = 32 per group). In the mentalizing and facial emotion perception domain, males and females with ASC showed similar deficits compared to neurotypical controls. However, in attention to detail and dexterity involving executive function, although males with ASC showed poorer performance relative to neurotypical males, females with ASC performed comparably to neurotypical females. We conclude that performance in the social-cognitive domain is equally impaired in male and female adults with ASC. However, in specific non-social cognitive domains, performance within ASC depends on sex. This suggests that in specific domains, cognitive profiles in ASC are modulated by sex

Global online trade in primates for pets

The trade in primates as pets is a global enterprise and as access to the Internet has increased, so too has the trade of live primates online. While quantifying primate trade in physical markets is relatively straightforward, limited insights have been made into trade via the Internet. Here we followed a three-pronged approach to estimate the prevalence and ease of purchasing primates online in countries with different socioeconomic characteristics. We first conducted a literature review, in which we found that Malaysia, Thailand, the USA, Ukraine, South Africa, and Russia stood out in terms of the number of primate individuals being offered for sale as pets in the online trade. Then, we assessed the perceived ease of purchasing pet primates online in 77 countries, for which we found a positive relationship with the Internet Penetration Rate, total human population and Human Development Index, but not to Gross Domestic Product per capita or corruption levels of the countries. Using these results, we then predicted the levels of online primate trade in countries for which we did not have first-hand data. From this we created a global map of potential prevalence of primate trade online. Finally, we analysed price data of the two primate taxa most consistently offered for sale, marmosets and capuchins. We found that prices increased with the ease of purchasing primates online and the Gross Domestic Product per capita. This overview provides insight into the nature and intricacies of the online primate pet trade and advocates for increased trade regulation and monitoring in both primate range and non-range countries where trade has been substantially reported. © 2023 The Author

A Baseline for the Multivariate Comparison of Resting-State Networks

As the size of functional and structural MRI datasets expands, it becomes increasingly important to establish a baseline from which diagnostic relevance may be determined, a processing strategy that efficiently prepares data for analysis, and a statistical approach that identifies important effects in a manner that is both robust and reproducible. In this paper, we introduce a multivariate analytic approach that optimizes sensitivity and reduces unnecessary testing. We demonstrate the utility of this mega-analytic approach by identifying the effects of age and gender on the resting-state networks (RSNs) of 603 healthy adolescents and adults (mean age: 23.4 years, range: 12–71 years). Data were collected on the same scanner, preprocessed using an automated analysis pipeline based in SPM, and studied using group independent component analysis. RSNs were identified and evaluated in terms of three primary outcome measures: time course spectral power, spatial map intensity, and functional network connectivity. Results revealed robust effects of age on all three outcome measures, largely indicating decreases in network coherence and connectivity with increasing age. Gender effects were of smaller magnitude but suggested stronger intra-network connectivity in females and more inter-network connectivity in males, particularly with regard to sensorimotor networks. These findings, along with the analysis approach and statistical framework described here, provide a useful baseline for future investigations of brain networks in health and disease

Intrinsic excitation-inhibition imbalance affects medial prefrontal cortex differently in autistic men versus women

Excitation-inhibition (E:I) imbalance is theorized as an important pathophysiological mechanism in autism. Autism affects males more frequently than females and sex-related mechanisms (e.g., X-linked genes, androgen hormones) can influence E:I balance. This suggests that E:I imbalance may affect autism differently in males versus females. With a combination of in-silico modeling and in-vivo chemogenetic manipulations in mice, we first show that a time-series metric estimated from fMRI BOLD signal, the Hurst exponent (H), can be an index for underlying change in the synaptic E:I ratio. In autism we find that H is reduced, indicating increased excitation, in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) of autistic males but not females. Increasingly intact MPFC H is also associated with heightened ability to behaviorally camouflage social-communicative difficulties, but only in autistic females. This work suggests that H in BOLD can index synaptic E:I ratio and that E:I imbalance affects autistic males and females differently