Congratulations, you\u27re pre-approved! : an analysis of credit limit upselling letters

Consumer Action commissioned Dr Paul Harrison, Deakin Business School, Deakin University and Marta Massi, School of Marketing and Communication, Lumsa University (Rome), to study the psychological aspects of one form of credit marketing – unsolicited credit card limit-increase offers (UCCLIOs). The researchers studied 21 UCCLIO letters – 17 provided by consumers and four provided by banks – and applied theories developed from previous research in the fields of marketing, consumer behavior, behavioural economics and cognitive psychology, to describe likely ways in which UCCLIO’s influenced consumer behavior and decision making. The researchers make some recommendations from a behavioural perspective based on their findings, and Consumer Action proposes how these findings might be applied to consumer policy

The branding of arts and culture : an international comparison

This paper explores the approach of arts and cultural organisations towards branding in Italy and Australia. Data were collected through extended interviews with general managers and marketing managers of 18 arts and cultural organisations, including museums, galleries, theatres and festivals of both countries. Through the analysis of the data collected, five initial elements emerged when seeking to classify the branding paradigms of the organisations, viz., the orientation of the brand management, the type of brand management, the level of customers&rsquo; involvement in the brand &ldquo;idea&rdquo;, the degree of consistency in branding and attitudes toward risk in branding. For this article, we focus on two particular elements, the orientation of the brand management and the degree of consistency in branding, as these elements have an important influence on how an arts organisation will strategically manage its brand.On the basis of the assumption that branding is driven by different factors in different countries, the paper identifies two main paradigms/models of branding characterised by specific drivers: marketing tools and strategies in Australian arts and cultural organisations; history and tradition of the cultural product/offer in the Italian ones. What emerges in this study is that the importance of brands in the arts and culture context should not be underrated by arts and cultural managers. Both models (the Italian and the Australian) represent valid examples for managers to look at in relation to the brand management process.<br /

An initial classification of branding strategy in Australian arts organisations

This research examined the corporate branding approaches and strategies adopted by six prominent Australian arts and cultural organisations. The aim of this exploration was to identify patterns in branding across different arts and cultural organisations, and attempt to provide an initial classification for understanding how these organisations approach branding strategy. We found that three factors influenced branding strategy in the surveyed organisations, viz., the focus of branding process, the degree of consistency in branding communication, and the required level of customers&rsquo; involvement in the branded products. The organisations studied were then plotted on a continuum that considered each of these factors.<br /

Authentic omnichannel: providing consumers with a seamless brand experience through authenticity

Omnichannel represents a customer-oriented distribution paradigm through which retailers can deliver a seamless customer experience and create an authentic brand narrative that is communicated to customers across diverse touchpoints. Despite the increasing relevance of the omnichannel approach, research on how omnichannel can affect the customer experience remains scant. This research consists of a qualitative study and three experimental studies. Drawing from signaling theory, we contend that the signal congruency established by omnichannel — where all the channels are aligned and convey a consistent message to customers — can enhance consumers’ purchase intention and perceptions of brand authenticity. We further investigate the role of brand authenticity as a mediator of the relationship between multichannel customer experience (seamless vs. non-seamless) and purchase intention, as well as of brand untrustworthiness as a moderator of the relationship between multichannel customer experience and brand authenticity. The results show that a seamless multichannel customer experience has a significant main effect on purchase intention and that participants in the seamless multichannel customer experience condition perceive the brand as more authentic than those in the non-seamless multichannel customer experience condition. Both the mediation and moderation hypotheses are supported. These findings enhance the literature on signaling theory and omnichannel. They also provide insightful implications for retailers in terms of managing the omnichannel customer experience. Overall, this study integrates the research areas of brand authenticity and omnichannel and provides valuable insights by indicating how seamlessness can boost consumers’ perception of brand authenticity. Furthermore, the study advances our knowledge by investigating the impact of brand authenticity as both a result of the omnichannel customer experience and a predictor of purchase intention

Tumor-Related Methylated Cell-Free DNA and Circulating Tumor Cells in Melanoma

Solid tumor release into the circulation cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) which represent promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Circulating tumor DNA may be studied in plasma from cancer patients by detecting tumor specific alterations, such as genetic or epigenetic modifications. Ras association domain family 1 isoform A (RASSF1A) is a tumor suppressor gene silenced by promoter hypermethylation in a variety of human cancers including melanoma.The aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic performance of a tumor-related methylated cfDNA marker in melanoma patients and to compare this parameter with the presence of CTCs.RASSF1A promoter methylation was quantified in cfDNA by qPCR in a consecutive series of 84 melanoma patients and 68 healthy controls. In a subset of 68 cases, the presence of CTCs was assessed by a filtration method (Isolation by Size of Epithelial Tumor Cells, ISET) as well as by an indirect method based on the detection of tyrosinase mRNA by RT-qPCR. The distribution of RASSF1A methylated cfDNA was investigated in cases and controls and the predictive capability of this parameter was assessed by means of the area under the ROC curve (AUC).The percentage of cases with methylated RASSF1A promoter in cfDNA was significantly higher in each class of melanoma patients (in situ, invasive and metastatic) than in healthy subjects (Pearson chi-squared test, p<0.001). The concentration of RASSF1A methylated cfDNA in the subjects with a detectable quantity of methylated alleles was significantly higher in melanoma patients than in controls. The biomarker showed a good predictive capability (in terms of AUC) in discriminating between melanoma patients and healthy controls. This epigenetic marker associated to cfDNA did not show a significant correlation with the presence of CTCs, but, when the two parameters are jointly considered, we obtain a higher sensitivity of the detection of positive cases in invasive and metastatic melanomas.Our data suggest that cell-free tumor DNA and CTCs represent two complementary aspects of the liquid biopsy which may improve the diagnosis and the clinical management of melanoma patients

<i>Penicillium excelsum sp. nov </i>from the Brazil Nut Tree Ecosystem in the Amazon Basin'

A new Penicillium species, P. excelsum, is described here using morphological characters, extrolite and partial sequence data from the ITS, β-tubulin and calmodulin genes. It was isolated repeatedly using samples of nut shells and flowers from the brazil nut tree, Bertolletia excelsa, as well as bees and ants from the tree ecosystem in the Amazon rainforest. The species produces andrastin A, curvulic acid, penicillic acid and xanthoepocin, and has unique partial β-tubulin and calmodulin gene sequences. The holotype of P. excelsum is CCT 7772, while ITAL 7572 and IBT 31516 are cultures derived from the holotype

Multiparametric analysis of cell-free DNA in melanoma patients.

Cell-free DNA in blood (cfDNA) represents a promising biomarker for cancer diagnosis. Total cfDNA concentration showed a scarce discriminatory power between patients and controls. A higher specificity in cancer diagnosis can be achieved by detecting tumor specific alterations in cfDNA, such as DNA integrity, genetic and epigenetic modifications.The aim of the present study was to identify a sequential multi-marker panel in cfDNA able to increase the predictive capability in the diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma in comparison with each single marker alone. To this purpose, we tested total cfDNA concentration, cfDNA integrity, BRAF(V600E) mutation and RASSF1A promoter methylation associated to cfDNA in a series of 76 melanoma patients and 63 healthy controls. The chosen biomarkers were assayed in cfDNA samples by qPCR. Comparison of biomarkers distribution in cases and controls was performed by a logistic regression model in both univariate and multivariate analysis. The predictive capability of each logistic model was investigated by means of the area under the ROC curve (AUC). To aid the reader to interpret the value of the AUC, values between 0.6 and 0.7, between 0.71 and 0.8 and greater than 0.8 were considered as indicating a weak predictive, satisfactory and good predictive capacity, respectively. The AUC value for each biomarker (univariate logistic model) was weak/satisfactory ranging between 0.64 (BRAF(V600E)) to 0.85 (total cfDNA). A good overall predictive capability for the final logistic model was found with an AUC of 0.95. The highest predictive capability was given by total cfDNA (AUC:0.86) followed by integrity index 180/67 (AUC:0.90) and methylated RASSF1A (AUC:0.89).An approach based on the simultaneous determination of three biomarkers (total cfDNA, integrity index 180/67 and methylated RASSF1A) could improve the diagnostic performance in melanoma

<i>Aspergillus labruscus</i> sp. nov., a new species of <i>Aspergillus</i> section <i>Nigri</i> discovered in Brazil

AbstractA novel fungal species, Aspergillus labruscus sp. nov., has been found in Brazil during an investigation of the fungal species present on the surface of grape berries (Vitis labrusca L.) for use in the production of concentrated grape juice. It seems to be associated to V. labrusca, and has never been recovered from Vitis vinifera. This new species belonging to Aspergillus subgenus Circumdati section Nigri is described here using morphological characters, extrolite profiling, partial sequence data from the BenA and CaM genes, and internal transcribed spacer sequences of ribosomal DNA. Phenotypic and molecular data enabled this novel species to be clearly distinguished from other black aspergilli. A. labruscus sp. nov. is uniseriate, has yellow mycelium, poor sporulation on CYA at 25 °C, abundant salmon to pink sclerotia and rough conidia. Neoxaline and secalonic acid D were consistently produced by isolates in this taxon. The type strain of A. labruscus sp. nov. is CCT 7800 (T) = ITAL 22.223 (T) = IBT 33586 (T).</jats:p

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81&nbsp;years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population