$ or Dollars: Effects of Menu-price Formats on Restaurant Checks

Empirical research on menu design and price presentation has focused primarily on menus’ effects on consumers’ attitudes, and not necessarily on actual purchase behavior. This study examines how customers reacted to menus’ price formatting in terms of actual sales, as measured by check totals for lunch at St. Andrew’s, the restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York. Price formats tested in the study were a dollars and cents numerical format with a dollar sign ($00.00), a numerical format without a dollar sign (00.), and scripted or written-out prices (zero dollars). While the numerical manipulation did not significantly affect total spending when compared to such non-menu factors as party size or length of time at the table, the price formats did show noticeable differences. Contrary to expectations, guests given the numeral-only menu spent significantly more than those who received a menu with prices showing a dollar sign or those whose menus had prices written out in words. Psychological theory, by contrast, predicted that the scripted format would draw higher sales. Although these findings may apply only to lunch at this particular restaurant, they indicate that menu-price formats do influence customers’ spending, both in terms of total check and spending per cover

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

$ or Dollars: Effects of Menu-price Formats on Restaurant Checks

Empirical research on menu design and price presentation has focused primarily on menus’ effects on consumers’ attitudes, and not necessarily on actual purchase behavior. This study examines how customers reacted to menus’ price formatting in terms of actual sales, as measured by check totals for lunch at St. Andrew’s, the restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York. Price formats tested in the study were a dollars and cents numerical format with a dollar sign ($00.00), a numerical format without a dollar sign (00.), and scripted or written-out prices (zero dollars). While the numerical manipulation did not significantly affect total spending when compared to such non-menu factors as party size or length of time at the table, the price formats did show noticeable differences. Contrary to expectations, guests given the numeral-only menu spent significantly more than those who received a menu with prices showing a dollar sign or those whose menus had prices written out in words. Psychological theory, by contrast, predicted that the scripted format would draw higher sales. Although these findings may apply only to lunch at this particular restaurant, they indicate that menu-price formats do influence customers’ spending, both in terms of total check and spending per cover.Yang_202009_20__20or_20dollars.pdf: 6266 downloads, before Aug. 1, 2020

Menu Price Presentation Influences on Consumer Purchase Behavior in Restaurants

Empirical research on menu design and price presentation thus far has focused primarily on attitudinal affects on consumers and not necessarily on actual purchase behavior. This experiment uses price presentation manipulations to determine what price formats may affect consumer purchase behavior. Overall, price presentation was not found to be a significant predictor of consumer spending in an upscale restaurant environment. However, results did show a significant reduction in spending when formats with monetary cues such as the word ''dollars" or the symbol ''$" were used. In addition, no significant spending differences between numerical and scripted presentation formats were found.Kimes14_Menu_price.pdf: 3171 downloads, before Aug. 1, 2020

Association Between Travel Distance and Use of Postoperative Radiation Therapy Among Men With Organ-Confined Prostate Cancer: Does Geography Influence Treatment Decisions?

After radical prostatectomy, men with adverse pathologic features or a persistent postoperative detectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) are candidates for postoperative radiation therapy (PORT). Previous data have suggested disparities in receipt of adjuvant radiation therapy for adverse pathologic features according to travel distance. Among patients without adverse pathologic features (pT2 disease and negative margins), the main indication for PORT is a persistent postoperative detectable PSA. However, it remains unknown whether the rate of receipt of PORT in this cohort of men with persistently detectable PSA is related to travel distance from the treating facility. Using the National Cancer Database, we identified 170,379 men with prostate cancer diagnosed from 2004 to 2015 managed with upfront surgery who were found to have pT2 disease with negative surgical margins. Multivariable logistic regression defined adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of receiving PORT as the primary dependent variable and distance (<5, 5-10, 10-20, ≥20 miles from the treatment facility) as the primary independent variable. Within our cohort, progressively farther distance from the treatment facility was associated with lower rates of PORT. In patients living 20 miles from the treating facility, rates of PORT of were 1.37% (referent), 1.16% (AOR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.79-1.04; P = .158), 0.98% (AOR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.70-0.93; P = .003), and 0.64% (AOR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.41-0.54; P < .001), respectively. For men with localized prostate cancer without adverse pathologic features managed with surgery, increasing distance from treatment facility was associated with lower receipt of PORT. Given that the rate of a persistent postoperative detectable PSA is unlikely to depend on the distance to the treatment facility, these findings raise the possibility that the geographic availability of radiation treatment facilities influences the decision to undergo PORT for patients with persistent postoperative detectable PSA

Wirelessly operated bioelectronic sutures for the monitoring of deep surgical wounds

Monitoring surgical wounds post-operatively is necessary to prevent infection, dehiscence and other complications. However, the monitoring of deep surgical sites is typically limited to indirect observations or to costly radiological investigations that often fail to detect complications before they become severe. Bioelectronic sensors could provide accurate and continuous monitoring from within the body, but the form factors of existing devices are not amenable to integration with sensitive wound tissues and to wireless data transmission. Here we show that multifilament surgical sutures functionalized with a conductive polymer and incorporating pledgets with capacitive sensors operated via radiofrequency identification can be used to monitor physicochemical states of deep surgical sites. We show in live pigs that the sutures can monitor wound integrity, gastric leakage and tissue micromotions, and in rodents that the healing outcomes are equivalent to those of medical-grade sutures. Battery-free wirelessly operated bioelectronic sutures may facilitate post-surgical monitoring in a wide range of interventions