Voicing Brands: Users’ choice of recommended brands in voice commerce and e-commerce

In recent years, traditional e-commerce has been complemented by voice commerce where interaction between the user and the information system takes place by means of a voice assistant (VA) instead of written text-based conversation. The audible interaction results in an altered consumer behavior during the customer journey which can impact final product and brand choice. The study at hand acknowledges the higher perceived difficulty of interacting in voice commerce. Against this background, we investigate in what way a VA’s brand recommendation impacts a consumer’s purchase decision in voice-based interaction compared to text-based interaction and how this decision is moderated by prior brand preferences. The results obtained from an online survey with a quasi-experimental design show that a brand recommendation alone does not increase likelihood of brand choice, however a recommended brand is more likely chosen in a voice-based interaction than a text-based one. A priori brand preferences moderate the impact of the voice-based recommendation in case of the recommended brand. The findings imply that voice commerce can strengthen but not replace existing brand preferences in the purchase decision-making process

Mortality in Moscow and other megacities of the world: similarities and differences

This paper is devoted to the comparison of mortality by cause of death in Moscow and other megacities of the world since 1990. The selection of megacities was determined by the availability of detailed mortality data in the selected period. The objects of our comparison are data for Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Singapore, St. Petersburg, and Tokyo. Mortality from major groups of causes of death are considered, including cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, external causes, diseases of the respiratory and digestive systems, infections and some others. The analysis uses standardised mortality rates by cause of death. The mortality level in Moscow is significantly lower than in the majority of regions of Russia, but is still substantially higher than in foreign megacities. Due to a big lag at the beginning of the period, the mortality level in Moscow nowadays is higher than in all selected foreign megalopolises in the year 2000. Where Moscow’s mortality level lags most behind others is in mortality from circulatory diseases and external causes. Moscow's successes in reducing mortality in 2000-2014 are very impressive. However, it is difficult to predict how events will unfold in the deteriorating economic situation

Multiple system atrophy: diagnostic methods and biomarkers

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disease belonging to a group of synucleinopathies and characterized by significant autonomic failure, parkinsonian syndrome, and cerebellar signs. Diagnostic criteria used currently were updated in 2022. While the clinical method and neuroimaging are typically diagnostic in MSA, new modalities are currently emerging. Novel candidate biomarkers are being intensively and thoroughly studied. The review analyzes the clinical picture and diagnostic criteria of the disease, describes imaging methods for diagnosing synucleinopathies, as well as known laboratory markers of multiple system atrophy

Positive experience with TNF-α inhibitor in toxic epidermal necrolysis resistant to high-dose systemic corticosteroids

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are rare, potentially life-threatening syndromes characterized by the development of necrotic epidermal and mucosal lesions. The most common etiologic cause of SJS/TEN is drug-induced mechanisms. The group of drugs with high potential risk includes sulfonamides, anticonvulsants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), allopurinol, phenobarbital, etc. There is no gold standard treatment algorithm for SJS/TEN. In medical practice, systemic glucocorticosteroids (sGCS), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), plasmapheresis, and cyclosporine are used empirically and in various combinations. Recently published studies have demonstrated the efficacy of TNF-α inhibitors as a promising approach in SJS/TEN, including cases resistant to high-dose sGCS, with etanercept and infliximab being the most commonly used drugs. In a large multicenter study by Zhang J et al. (XXXX), 242 patients treated with etanercept, sGCS, or a combination of both had lower mortality compared to the control group. A shorter skin healing time was documented compared to sGCS monotherapy, thus reducing the risk of secondary infections. The published data show a high efficacy with THF-α inhibitor blockade, but the safety of TNF-α inhibitors in patients with SJS/TEN is still questionable due to the paucity of available information. As all clinical research data should be accumulated to provide reliable evidence that the use of TNF-α inhibitors may be beneficial in SJS/TEN, we report a case of etoricoxib-associated SJS with progression to TEN in a 50-year-old woman who was refractory to high-dose sGCS therapy

Регистры больных муковисцидозом: отечественный и зарубежный опыт

Cystic fibrosis is a multi-organ genetic disease that reduces life expectancy and requires costly complex therapy. The economic burden of cystic fibrosis is determined by the cost of treatment, the conditions for optimizing medical technologies based on epidemiological knowledge of the disease course nature and the therapy effectiveness. In many countries cystic fibrosis patient registries have been created that allow to assess the quality, efficiency and optimality of medical care. Registries are formed at the regional, national, and international levels, which facilitates the collection of complete and reliable patient information for subsequent analysis, comparison and synthesis of clinical and epidemiological indicators. The review is devoted to the actual principles of organization of domestic and some foreign cystic fibrosis patient registries. The article selectively provides examples of information from registries. The application of positive experience of the work of foreign registries in Russia can improve the quality of medical care for patients with cystic fibrosis.Муковисцидоз — полиорганное генетическое заболевание, сокращающее продолжительность жизни и требующее затратной комплексной терапии. Экономическое бремя муковисцидоза определяется стоимостью лечения, условиями оптимизации медицинских технологий на основании эпидемиологических знаний о характере течения заболевания и результативности проводимой терапии. Во многих странах созданы регистры больных муковисцидозом, позволяющие оценивать качество, эффективность и оптимальность медицинской помощи. Регистры сформированы на региональном, национальном и международном уровнях, что способствует сбору полных и достоверных сведений о больных для последующего анализа, сравнения и обобщения клинико-эпидемиологических показателей. Обзор посвящен актуальным на сегодняшний день принципам организации отечественных и некоторых зарубежных регистров больных муковисцидозом. В статье выборочно приводятся примеры сведений, содержащихся в регистрах. Применение положительного опыта работы зарубежных регистров в России может улучшить качество медицинской помощи больным муковисцидозом.

The use of early pottery by hunter-gatherers of the Eastern European forest-steppe

The Eastern European steppe and forest-steppe is a key region for understanding the emergence of pottery in Europe. The vast region encompasses the basins of two major waterways, the Don and the Volga rivers, and was occupied by hunter-gatherer-fisher communities attracted to highly productive forest/aquatic ecotones. The precise dates for the inception of pottery production in this region and the function of pottery is unknown, but such information is vital for charting the pan-Eurasian dispersal of pottery technology and whether there were common motivations for its adoption. To investigate, we conducted AMS dating, including a re-evaluation of legacy radiocarbon dates together with organic residue analysis and microscopy. The dating programme was able to clarify the sequence and show that hunter-gatherer pottery production was unlikely in this region before the 6th millennium BC. Regarding use, stable isotope and molecular analysis of 160 pottery samples from 35 sites across the region shows that terrestrial animal carcass fats were preferentially processed in pots at Middle Volga sites whereas aquatic resources dominate the residues in pottery from the Middle and Upper Don basin. This is supported by fragments of fish, legumes and grasses in the available charred deposits adhering to the inside of pottery from the Don basin. Since the sites from both river basins had similar environmental settings and were broadly contemporaneous, it is posited that pottery use was under strong cultural control, recognisable as separate sub-regional culinary traditions. The ‘aquatic hypothesis’, previously suggested to explain the emergence of Eurasian pottery, cannot be substantiated in this context

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good