Daily Eastern News: Feburary 10, 2014

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/den_2014_feb/1005/thumbnail.jp

Clinical Trials Based on Mesenchymal Stromal Cells are Exponentially Increasing: Where are We in Recent Years?

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), present in the stromal component of several tissues, include multipotent stem cells, progenitors, and differentiated cells. MSCs have quickly attracted considerable attention in the clinical field for their regenerative properties and their ability to promote tissue homeostasis following injury. In recent years, MSCs mainly isolated from bone marrow, adipose tissue, and umbilical cord—have been utilized in hundreds of clinical trials for the treatment of various diseases. However, in addition to some successes, MSC-based therapies have experienced several failures. The number of new trials with MSCs is exponentially growing; still, complete results are only available for a limited number of trials. This dearth does not help prevent potentially inefficacious and unnecessary clinical trials. Results from unsuccessful studies may be useful in planning new therapeutic approaches to improve clinical outcomes. In order to bolster critical analysis of trial results, we reviewed the state of art of MSC clinical trials that have been published in the last six years. Most of the 416 published trials evaluated MSCs’ effectiveness in treating cardiovascular diseases, GvHD, and brain and neurological disorders, although some trials sought to treat immune system diseases and wounds and to restore tissue. We also report some unorthodox clinical trials that include unusual studies. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2021, The Author(s)

Speed data collection methods: a review

Various studies have been focusing on a wide range of techniques to detect traffic flow characteristics, like speed and travel times. Therefore, a key aspect to obtain statistically significant set of data is to observe and record driver behaviours in real world. To collect traffic data, traditional methods of traffic measurement - such as detection stations, radar guns or video cameras - have been used over the years. Other innovative methods refer to probe vehicles equipped with GPS devices and/or cameras, which allow continuous surveys along the entire road route. While point-based devices provide information of the entire flow, just in the section in which they are installed and only in the time domain, probe vehicles data are referred both to temporal and space domains but ignore traffic conditions. Obviously, it is necessary that the data collected refer to representative samples, by number and composition, of the user population. The paper proposes a review of the most used methods for speed data collection, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each experimental approach. Accordingly, the comparison illustrates the best relief method to be adopted depending on the research and investigation that will be performed

Blending of Floating Car Data and Point-Based Sensor Data to Deduce Operating Speeds under Different Traffic Flow Conditions

Nowadays, smart mobility can rely on innovative tools for the knowledge of road system conditions, like operating speed data extracted from the so-called Floating Car Data (FCD). Probe vehicles in the traffic flow send to operation centres a large amount of travel information, collected through GPS detection systems, especially with regard to geolocation, date and time, direction and speed. As the sample deriving from these vehicles represents a tiny portion of the entire vehicular fleet, in this paper an analysis and a comparison with data obtained by point-based traffic sensors is proposed.Therefore, the study analyses data collected by inductive loop detectors and microwave radar sensors, that provide information on the entire traffic flow in the time domain, in particular with the aim to identify free flow speed time bands. Afterwards, by means of the fusion between the results obtained from the data coming from these point-based control units and the ones coming from the probe vehicles, a comparison of the operating speeds in the two conditions of constrained and unconstrained traffic flow is performed

10/26/1990 - Marching Panthers Morgan Humphrey and Tina Kramer

“Misurare la soddisfazione” è la sfida di approfondite ricerche e l’obiettivo di molte strategie di marketing. L’assunto di base è che un consumatore soddisfatto tende a reiterare i suoi comportamenti d’acquisto, a parità di ogni altra condizione o vincolo. Tradizionalmente, la soddisfazione è stata misurata come l’esito di un raffronto positivo tra le attese sviluppate prima dell’acquisto e i risultati ottenuti con l’utilizzo del bene acquistato. Tuttavia, nelle società di oggi, con la prevalenza dei consumi simbolici su quelli materiali, la frammentazione delle richieste del mercato, la vicinanza in tempo reale alle comunità di clienti, il rapporto instaurato coi beni acquistati non è quasi mai solo razionale, ma assume i connotati di un’esperienza totalitaria, emotiva e coinvolgente. Questo lavoro parte dall’assunto che la soddisfazione derivi, piuttosto che dalla specifica performance del prodotto, dalla valutazione dell’intera esperienza di consumo, dal momento in cui il prodotto è scelto a quello in cui ci si disfa. Sulla base di un innovativo approccio, il Modello conoscenze-speranze, essa è vista come un incremento dello stock di benessere soggettivo, esito di un raffronto con quanto razionalmente atteso ed emotivamente sperato. In quest’ottica, la soddisfazione risulta connessa con gli aspetti delle esperienze legati alla curiosità, alla divergenza, alla capacità di comportarsi e relazionarsi e, al contempo, con gli aspetti più propriamente sensoriali, simbolici ed estetici del consumo, che fanno appello alle emozioni più profonde ed agli affetti delle persone. Il volume è articolato in quattro parti – a vantaggio di quanti, studiosi e operatori, desiderino misurare con validità scientifica e rigore la soddisfazione nei diversi ambiti di consumo. Nella prima, sono passati in rassegna i principali studi sulla soddisfazione, come base per una revisione critica del paradigma tradizionale realizzata con la proposizione del nuovo modello interpretativo. Nella seconda parte, è sviluppata la scala di soddisfazione derivante dalle esperienze di consumo, rispettivamente, in rapporto ai prodotti shopping, convenience, specialty e ai servizi. Nella terza parte, sono presentate delle applicazioni della scala in campo bancario, assicurativo e distributivo, oltre che in relazione ad un costrutto alternativo collegato, la customer delight, concludendo con una rassegna sistematica degli effetti comportamentali, positivi o negativi, e delle conseguenti strategie di marketing da parte delle imprese. La quarta parte, infine, fornisce una vasta appendice didattica contenente tutti i passaggi statistici, gli output e i comandi del software SPSS-PASW, per condurre le analisi contenute nel volume

Influence of Brand Personality-Marker Attributes on Purchasing Intention: The Role of Emotionality

Marketing researchers employ the Five-Factor Model to describe branded products through attributes used for human personality. Marker attributes used to elicit brand personality dimensions can also influence consumers’ intention to purchase. Two connected studies, carried out on two samples of 91 and 557 subjects, respectively, show that brand personality-marker attributes predict intention to purchase, but only to the extent that such attributes are vivid and, in particular, when they elicit emotional responses (i.e., when they are emotionally interesting). These findings have several implications for people involved in developing strategies for persuasive communication

Effectiveness of Climbing Lanes for Slow-Moving Vehicles When Riding Uphill: A Microsimulation Study

Long uphill stretches of single-carriageway rural roads with one lane per travel direction may reduce the Level of Service (LoS), due to the decreased speed of heavy vehicles. In those circumstances, a slowdown of traffic, resulting in the formation of platoons, may be generated due to the difficulty of performing overtaking maneuvers safely. To solve this critical issue, an additional (climbing) lane for slow vehicles may be included in the road platform. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of such climbing lanes in a real case in Italy (National Road n. 4 “Via Salaria”— around 44+000 km). Using a microsimulation model implemented in VISSIM, the study analyzes speeds and travel times, delays, and queuing waiting times, comparing the Actual Scenario (AS) without climbing lanes, with two counterfactual scenarios: the first one (CS1) with three stretches of climbing lanes, and the second one (CS2), with just two stretches, in which the first two additional lanes of CS1 are merged together. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of installing climbing lanes on road sections with the described characteristics, and the potential of microsimulation models also to carry out such kind of evaluations

Long non-coding RNAs in regulation of adipogenesis and adipose tissue function

Complex interaction between genetics, epigenetics, environment, and nutrition affect the physiological activities of adipose tissues and their dysfunctions, which lead to several metabolic diseases including obesity or type 2 diabetes. Here, adipogenesis appears to be a process characterized by an intricate network that involves many transcription factors and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that regulate gene expression. LncRNAs are being investigated to determine their contribution to adipose tissue development and function. LncRNAs possess multiple cellular functions, and they regulate chromatin remodeling, along with transcriptional and post-transcriptional events; in this way, they affect gene expression. New investigations have demonstrated the pivotal role of these molecules in modulating white and brown/beige adipogenic tissue development and activity. This review aims to provide an update on the role of lncRNAs in adipogenesis and adipose tissue function to promote identification of new drug targets for treating obesity and related metabolic diseases

Differential characteristics of young and midlife adult users of psychotherapy, psychotropic medications, or both: information from a population representative sample in São Paulo, Brazil

Mutu pelayanan di rumah sakit tak lepas dari kinerja sumber daya manusia keperawatan. Setiap organisasi memiliki budaya yang merupakan faktor penting yang menentukan keberhasilan organisasi  dalam mencapai tujuannya. Penelitian yang bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi hubungan antara persepsi perawat pelaksana tentang budaya organisasi dengan kinerjanya di ruang rawat inap sebuah RS di Bogor ini, merupakan penelitian cross sectional yang melibatkan 113 perawat. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah instrumen budaya organisasi dan kinerja yang telah dimodifikasi. Sebanyak 79.6% perawat pelaksana mempersepsikan kinerjanya baik dan 85% mempersepsikan budaya organisasinya baik. Perawat pelaksana yang berpersepsi baik terhadap organisasinya, mereka juga berkinerja lebih baik. Karakteristik perawat pelaksana dan persepsi perawat pelaksana terhadap budaya organisasi tidak berhubungan dengan kinerja. Budaya organisasi yang sudah baik dankinerja yang optimalperlu dipertahankan dengan selalu mengevaluasi tiap komponennya,baik oleh manajemen maupun individu keperawatan. Abstract The Nurse Practitioners’ Perception on OrganizationalCulture and Work Performance. The quality of hospital services is supported by several aspects, including the work performance of human resources in nursing. Every organization has a culture which is an important factor that determines the success of the organization in achieving its goals. The research aimed to identify the relationship between the perceptions of nurses about the organizational culture with theirwork performance in inpatient ward at a hospital in Bogor, a cross-sectional study involving 113 nurses. The instrument used was the modified instrument of organizational culture and work performance. A total of 79.6% of nurses perceiving good performance and 85% perceive the organizational culture good. Nurses who have good perception for the organizational cultura, they also perform better. Characteristics of nurses and nurses’ perceptions of the organizational culture is not related to the work performance.Good organizational and optimum work performance need to maintain with evaluating each its component. Keyword: nurse practitioners, organizational culture, work performanceMutu pelayanan di rumah sakit tak lepas dari kinerja sumber daya manusia keperawatan. Setiap organisasi memiliki budaya yang merupakan faktor penting yang menentukan keberhasilan organisasi dalam mencapai tujuannya. Penelitian yang bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi hubungan antara persepsi perawat pelaksana tentang budaya organisasi dengan kinerjanya di ruang rawat inap sebuah Rumah Sakit di Bogor ini, merupakan penelitian cross sectional yang melibatkan 113 perawat. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah instrumen budaya organisasi dan kinerja yang telah dimodifikasi. Sebanyak 79.6% perawat pelaksana mempersepsikan kinerjanya baik dan 85% mempersepsikan budaya organisasinya baik. Perawat pelaksana yang berpersepsi baik terhadap organisasinya, mereka juga berkinerja lebih baik. Karakteristik perawat pelaksana dan persepsi perawat pelaksana terhadap budaya organisasi tidak berhubungan dengan kinerja. Budaya organisasi yang sudah baik dankinerja yang optimal perlu dipertahankan dengan selalu mengevaluasi tiap komponennya,baik oleh manajemen maupun individu keperawatan. Abstract The Nurse Practitioners’ Perception on Organizational Culture and Work Performance. The quality of hospital services is supported by several aspects, including the work performance of human resources in nursing. Every organization has a culture which is an important factor that determines the success of the organization in achieving its goals. The research aimed to identify the relationship between the perceptions of nurses about the organizational culture with theirwork performance in inpatient ward at a hospital in Bogor, a cross-sectional study involving 113 nurses. The instrument used was the modified instrument of organizational culture and work performance. A total of 79,6% of nurses perceiving good performance and 85% perceive the organizational culture good. Nurses who have good perception for the organizational cultura, they also perform better. Characteristics of nurses and nurses’ perceptions of the organizational culture is not related to the work performance. Good organizational and optimum work performance need to maintain with evaluating each its component. Keyword: nurse practitioners, organizational culture, work performanc