Customer Relationship Management och relation till kundens personliga integritet

Resultat/ Slutsats Undersökningen visar att studerade fallföretag arbetar med aktiviteter som återspeglar väsentliga delar inom både CRM och CSR. Däremot visar praktiken på en avsaknad av integritetsperspektivet inom begreppet CSR och det framkommer att integritet inte visas större hänsyn till. Fallföretagen ser ser ingen problematik med att bedriva CRM och CSR parallellt med varandra. Det här grundar sig i en okunskap hos konsumenterna gällande datainsamlingen CRM medför. Konsumenternas okunskap får till följd att företagen inte upplever några vidare påtryckningar eller konsekvenser av att samla in konsumentdata.Teoretiskt perspektiv Den teoretiska utgångspunkten består av tidigare forskning inom CRM, CSR, företagsansvar, företagsetik och konsekvensetik.Metod En kvalitativ forskning där undersökningen omfattas av semistrukturerade intervjuer från fem olika företag och totalt sju intervjuer där alla intervjuobjekt har stark koppling till begreppet CRM. Analysen görs med en abduktiv ansats med hänsyn till begreppen CRM och CSR.Bakgrund/ Problem CRM nyttjas av företag i allt större utsträckning eftersom kundfokus numera är essentiellt för att kunna konkurrera på marknaden. En betydande del i ett CRM-arbete är insamling av kunddata som används i syfte att lära känna kunden bättre. Vad som har uppdagats på senare tid är hur detta för med sig en risk att företags arbete inkräktar på den personliga integriteten.Syfte Syftet med denna uppsats är att bidra med kunskap kring hur ehandelsföretag bedriver sitt CRM- respektive CSR-arbete, för att därigenom få insikt i eventuell problematik och risk med att konsumenternas personliga integritet kränks till följd av företagens CRM-strategier

A gene-centric approach to biomarker discovery identifies transglutaminase 1 as an epidermal autoantigen

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.Autoantigen discovery is a critical challenge for the understanding and diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. While autoantibody markers in current clinical use have been identified through studies focused on individual disorders, we postulated that a reverse approach starting with a putative autoantigen to explore multiple disorders might hold promise. We here targeted the epidermal protein transglutaminase 1 (TGM1) as a member of a protein family prone to autoimmune attack. By screening sera from patients with various acquired skin disorders, we identified seropositive subjects with the blistering mucocutaneous disease paraneoplastic pemphigus. Validation in further subjects confirmed TGM1 autoantibodies as a 55% sensitive and 100% specific marker for paraneoplastic pemphigus. This gene-centric approach leverages the wealth of data available for human genes and may prove generally applicable for biomarker discovery in autoimmune diseases.Peer reviewe

The Motives for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries; the Case of Nairobi

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in Africa. The Kenyan government is focusing on entrepreneurship and the digital scene for the future growth of the country. The digital startup ecosystem is growing as well as the number of entrepreneurs is rising which has further increased the discussion of business opportunities in the region. This raises the question why the entrepreneurs themselves want to pursue entrepreneurship as an active career. Past research show that entrepreneurial motivations may differ due to geographical regions, and may differ due to the economical condition of the country. The authors see that more emphasize must be put on entrepreneurial motives in developing countries to further understand why people want to pursue entrepreneurship. Since there is little research on entrepreneurial motivations in developing countries, where on region is Nairobi, Kenya, the authors aim to add knowledge in this field to further understand entrepreneurial motivations across the world. This is a qualitative research where the authors aim to explore the entrepreneurial motives behind going into entrepreneurship in Nairobi, Kenya. 18 participants have been interviewed through a semi-structured interview format in Nairobi for 2 weeks in March 2017. The results show that there are three main motives present in Nairobi. The findings have been compared to, according to the inductive reasoning approach, a theory of entrepreneurial motivations and have found that there are different motives present in Nairobi than in other regions in the world. Some entrepreneurial motives that are less common in developed countries are more common in Nairobi, which confirm that entrepreneurial motives differ due to geographical regions

Managing multiple risks in land use planning – a literature review

Many risks addressed in land use planning, such as flooding and accidents involving hazardous materials, have widely different characteristics which makes them difficult to compare. Yet, these risks sometimes need to be considered together in order to support decision-making. Furthermore, risks can sometimes affect each other, which differentiate the land use planning context from situations where single risks are addressed. This literature review investigates what characterize the methods proposed in the scientific literature that deal with the challenges of multiple risks and interests in land use planning, and to what extent they are applicable for Swedish detailed development plans. None of the identified methods could consider several types of consequences, or other interests, while at the same time compare risk levels between areas and evaluate acceptability. Neither were there any suggestions on how to consider interactions between risks in a way that was applicable to Swedish land use planning. All articles were aimed at proposing methodologies for assessing risk or hazards and there was little emphasis on how an assessment, or several assessments, should be implemented in a decision-making context. There is need for further studies on how multiple risks are managed in practice and what could be learned from other fields

Compared with matched controls, patients with postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) have increased long-term AF after CABG, and POAF is further associated with increased ischemic stroke, heart failure and mortality even after adjustment for AF.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze (1) associations between postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after CABG and long-term cardiovascular outcome, (2) whether associations were influenced by AF during follow-up, and (3) if morbidities associated with POAF contribute to mortality. METHODS: An observational cohort study of 7145 in-hospital survivors after isolated CABG (1996-2012), with preoperative sinus rhythm and without AF history. Incidence of AF was compared with matched controls. Time-updated covariates were used to adjust for POAF-related morbidities during follow-up, including AF. RESULTS: Thirty-one percent of patients developed POAF. Median follow-up was 9.8 years. POAF patients had increased AF compared with matched controls (HR 3.03; 95% CI 2.66-3.49), while AF occurrence in non-POAF patients was similar to controls (1.00; 0.89-1.13). The observed AF increase among POAF patients compared with controls persisted over time (> 10 years 2.73; 2.13-3.51). Conversely, the non-POAF cohort showed no AF increase beyond the first postoperative year. Further, POAF was associated with long-term AF (adjusted HR 3.20; 95% CI 2.73-3.76), ischemic stroke (1.23; 1.06-1.42), heart failure (1.44; 1.27-1.63), overall mortality (1.21; 1.11-1.32), cardiac mortality (1.35; 1.18-1.54), and cerebrovascular mortality (1.54; 1.17-2.02). These associations remained after adjustment for AF during follow-up. Adjustment for other POAF-associated morbidities weakened the association between POAF and overall mortality, which became non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with POAF after CABG had three times the incidence of long-term AF compared with both non-POAF patients and matched controls. POAF was associated with long-term ischemic stroke, heart failure, and corresponding mortality even after adjustment for AF during follow-up. The increased overall mortality was partly explained by morbidities associated with POAF

Patients With Bicuspid Aortic Stenosis Demonstrate Adverse Left Ventricular Remodeling and Impaired Cardiac Function Before Surgery With Increased Risk of Postoperative Heart Failure

Background: Differences in adverse cardiac remodeling between patients who have bicuspid (BAV) and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) with severe isolated aortic stenosis (AS) and its prognostic impact after surgical aortic valve replacement remains unclear. We sought to investigate differences in preoperative diastolic and systolic function in patients with BAV and TAV who have severe isolated AS and the incidence of postoperative heart failure hospitalization and mortality. Methods: Two hundred seventy-one patients with BAV (n=152) or TAV (n=119) and severe isolated AS without coronary artery disease or other valvular heart disease, scheduled for surgical aortic valve replacement, were prospectively included. Comprehensive preoperative echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular (LV) diastolic and systolic function was performed. The heart failure events were registered during a mean prospective follow-up of 1260 days versus 1441 days for patients with BAV or TAV, respectively. Results: Patients with BAV had a more pronounced LV hypertrophy with significantly higher indexed LV mass ([LVMi] 134 g/m(2) versus 104 g/m(2), P<0.001), higher prevalence of LV diastolic dysfunction (72% versus 44%, P<0.001), reduced LV ejection fraction (55% versus 60%, P<0.001), significantly impaired global longitudinal strain (P<0.001), significantly higher NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) levels (P=0.007), and a higher prevalence of preoperative levosimendan treatment (P<0.001) than patients with TAV. LVMi was associated with diastolic dysfunction in both patients with BAV and TAV. There was a significant interaction between aortic valve morphology and LVMi on LV ejection fraction, which indicated a pronounced association between LVMi and LV ejection fraction for patients with BAV and lack of association between LVMi and LV ejection fraction for patients with TAV. Postoperatively, the patients with BAV required significantly more inotropic support (P<0.001). The patients with BAV had a higher cumulative incidence of postoperative heart failure admissions compared with patients with TAV (28.2% versus 10.6% at 6 years after aortic valve replacement, log-rank P=0.004). Survival was not different between patients with BAV and TAV (log-rank P=0.165). Conclusions: Although they were significantly younger, patients with BAV who had isolated severe AS had worse preoperative LV function and an increased risk of postoperative heart failure hospitalization compared with patients who had TAV. Our findings suggest that patients who have BAV with AS might benefit from closer surveillance and possibly earlier intervention

Analysis of local extracellular matrix identifies different aetiologies behind bicuspid and tricuspid aortic valve degeneration and suggests therapies

Aortic valve degeneration (AVD) is a life-threatening condition that has no medical treatment and lacks individual therapies. Although extensively studied with standard approaches, aetiologies behind AVD are unclear. We compared abundances of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins from excised valve tissues of 88 patients with isolated AVD of normal tricuspid (TAV) and congenital bicuspid aortic valves (BAV), quantified more than 1400 proteins per ECM sample by mass spectrometry, and demonstrated that local ECM preserves molecular cues of the pathophysiological processes. The BAV ECM showed enrichment with fibrosis markers, namely Tenascin C, Osteoprotegerin, and Thrombospondin-2. The abnormal physical stress on BAV may cause a mechanical injury leading to a continuous Tenascin C-driven presence of myofibroblasts and persistent fibrosis. The TAV ECM exhibited enrichment with Annexin A3 (p = 1.1 x 10(-16) and the fold change 6.5) and a significant deficit in proteins involved in high-density lipid metabolism. These results were validated by orthogonal methods. The difference in the ECM landscape suggests distinct aetiologies between AVD of BAV and TAV; warrants different treatments of the patients with BAV and TAV; elucidates the molecular basis of AVD; and implies possible new therapeutic approaches. Our publicly available database (human_avd_ecm.surgsci. uu.se) is a rich source for medical doctors and researchers who are interested in AVD or heart ECM in general. Systematic proteomic analysis of local ECM using the methods described here may facilitate future studies of various tissues and organs in development and disease

Nerve-induced release of nitric oxide in the rabbit gastrointestinal tract as measured by in vivo microdialysis

1. Nitric oxide (NO) has been suggested as a gastrointestinal neurotransmitter, mediating the gastric receptive relaxation and the relaxation in the peristaltic reflex. The aim of the present study was to measure nerve-induced NO formation in vivo in the gastrointestinal tract. 2. Formation of the nitric oxide oxidation products nitrite and nitrate during vagal nerve stimulation were measured in the anaesthetized rabbit. Microdialysis probes were inserted into the wall of the stomach and proximal colon, and nitrite and nitrate in dialysate measured by capillary electrophoresis. 3. During bilateral vagal nerve stimulation there was an increase in nitrite and nitrate formation at the level of the stomach and in nitrite formation at the level of the colon. This increase was inhibited by intravenous administration of the NO synthase inhibitor N(ω)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME 30 mg kg(−1)). Furthermore, L-NAME significantly increased nerve-induced gastric and colonic contractions, as well as spontaneous colonic contractions. 4. In summary, we present a new methodological procedure for quantification of small changes in nitric oxide formation in vivo. This study provides evidence that nitric oxide is released in the stomach and colonic wall during vagal nerve activity, at concentrations able to cause inhibition of smooth muscle contractions in vivo