PurposeThis study aims to evaluate Netemeyer and colleagues' much cited financial well-being scale in Brazil and India and compare responses from different demographics. It also compares the results ...using two analysis techniques, item response theory (IRT) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).Design/methodology/approachA total of 994 survey responses from Brazil and 1,081 from India were collected. IRT and CFA models were used to analyse the data.FindingsThe results demonstrate the two-dimensional structure of the financial well-being scale and show that different items are differentially useful in measuring the construct across different groups. These findings may support the scale's future refinement and use in applied studies that will target specific groups (e.g. males, females, younger respondents and older respondents).Research limitations/implicationsThis study serves as an example to others who can explore the advantages of IRT over classical test theory methods to assess the psychometric properties of scales aimed at measuring latent constructs of interest in the field of marketing.Practical implicationsThe correct diagnosis of financial well-being is important to guide interventions by governments and non-governmental entities, as well as by financial institutions interested in better understanding individuals.Originality/valueThe authors show how the identification of the characteristics of scale items provided by the IRT technique allows for a better understanding of its properties and how it can be improved.
Objective
SARS‐CoV‐2 infection results in severe lung disease in up to 50% of hospitalised patients. The aetiopathogenesis in a subset of such patients, who continue to have progressive pulmonary ...disease following virus clearance, remains unexplored.
Methods
We investigated the role of NKG2C+/NKG2A− adaptive natural killer (ANK) cells, KLRC2 genotype and cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation in 22 such patients.
Results
The median duration of virus positivity was 23 days, and the median duration of hospitalisation was 48 days. The overall survival at 60 days in this group was 50%. Older age and comorbidities impacted survival negatively. CMV viraemia was documented in 11 patients, with a survival of 25% vs 80% in those without viraemia with viral load correlating with mortality. Both NK and T cells were markedly depressed in all patients at day 15. However, only persistently low ANK cells at 30 days along with an inversely high NKG2C−/NKG2A+ inhibitory NK cells significantly correlated with high CMV viraemia and mortality, irrespective of KLRC2 genotype. However, day 30 ANK cells were significantly lower in the KLRC2 deletion group. The release of IFN‐γ and perforin was severely compromised in all patients at day +15, with significant improvement in the survivors at day +30, but not in those with adverse outcome.
Conclusion
Patients with progressive lung disease even after negative SARS‐CoV‐2 status, with persistently reduced and functionally compromised ANK cells, are more likely to have CMV reactivation and an adverse outcome, independent of KLRC2 genotype.
In a cohort of patients with severe COVID‐19 lung disease who continued to have severe illness even after clearance of virus, lack of recovery of NKG2C+ adaptive NK cells correlated with cytomegalovirus viral load and increased mortality.
General surgeons not so often encounter rectal foreign body; but its incidence is now increasing. Males are the common victim in both child and adult age group. Management can be challenging for the ...treating surgeon. Diagnosis can be made on clinical grounds and confirmed by radiological investigations. Various approaches have been described in literature but owing its wide spectrum of presentation and heterogeneity of foreign bodies, no single procedure can be considered as the gold standard. We hereby present a case of rectal foreign body in a young male with a history of assault.
Purpose
This study aims to explore how different involvement levels within a single television program influence recall of cognitive vs affective advertisements aired during that television program.
...Design/methodology/approach
Two studies of 2 (program involvement: high vs low) × 2 (advertisement involvement: cognitive vs affective) between subject design were conducted; one study was for cognitive program and other study was for affective program. Existing scales were used after conducting reliability and validity tests.
Findings
The influence of different levels of involvement with a television program on recall of cognitive and affective advertisements was found. Specifically, recall of cognitive advertisement was found to be higher when involvement with television program is low than when involvement with program is high. Recall of affective advertisement was found to be lower when involvement with program is low than when involvement with program is high.
Practical implications
Results indicate that cognitive advertisements are recalled more at point of low involvement with program, whereas affective advertisements are recalled at point of high involvement with program. The implications are in the field of understanding and making advertisement airing decisions.
Originality/value
When the television program progresses, the story tends to build, and hence, the involvement increases. Therefore, involvement level with the program at initial point and later point can vary. This study identified the possibility of cognitive advertisement being recalled more at initial point of a television program, i.e. at low involvement, and affective advertisement being recalled more at the later point of the same television program, i.e. at high involvement.
Executive Summary
Marketers try to influence consumers through promotional offers by restricting availability of products to a limited number of customers, a limited time period, or a specific ...segment, thereby creating a perception of scarcity. Such promotional appeal of making a product or offer scarce is called as scarcity appeal.
Literature suggests that people with high need for uniqueness (NFU) prefer scarce products, or at least products which are depleting fast. However, the relationship between scarcity of offers and the NFU has not been much explored.
The objective of this research is to understand how consumers with different levels of uniqueness respond to the scarcity appeal offer, especially with discount. Hypotheses relate to variability of purchase intent and attitude towards the product due to scarcity versus no-scarcity sales promotion appeals and by consumers with high and low needs for uniqueness. Proposed hypotheses were tested using 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design. Quantity scarcity and no-scarcity appeals were manipulated using pre-tested and validated scenarios. Product used in the scenarios (laptop) was identified through an iterative process of seeking inputs from respondents with demographic profile similar to those in the final sample. Consumers’ need for uniqueness (CNFU) purchase intention, and attitude towards product were measured using scales that were pre-tested and validated using accepted protocols.
On testing the formulated hypotheses using experimental design, it was found that:
Consumers respond more favourably to quantity scarcity appeal offer when compared with no-scarcity appeal offer.
Consumers with higher NFU indicate higher purchase intention in a no-scarcity appeal situation when compared with those with low NFU.
There is no statistically significant difference in purchase intention of consumers with high and low needs for uniqueness in a situation of scarcity appeal messaging.
Abstract
Aims
The present study was aimed to detect clinically relevant carbapenemase encoding genes in carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae complex (CR-ECC), Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-KP), and ...Serratia plymuthica (CR-SP) isolated from farmed freshwater fish.
Methods and results
Out of 243 spatially diverse freshwater fish samples analysed, 5.3% were contaminated with CR-ECC, 1.6% with CR-KP, and 0.4% with CR-SP. The CR-ECC was further identified as E. asburiae (38.5%), E. mori (23.1%), E. cloacae (15.4%), E. hormaechei (15.4%), and E. kobei (7.7%) by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The CR-ECC were resistant to carbapenems and cefoxitin, whereas CR-KP and CR-SP were multi-drug resistant (MDR). The CR-ECC harboured the carbapenemase gene blaIMI alone or in combination with blaTEM, blaEBC, blaCIT, blaACC, and tet(E). Whereas, CR-KP harboured carbapenemase gene, blaNDM-5 along with blaOXA-48, blaSHV, blaOXA-1, blaCTX-M-15, tet(A), sul1, and qnrB. No carbapenemase-encoding genes were detected in CR-SP. The MLST analysis showed that CR-KP belonged to ST231 and ST1561 lineages, while CR-ECC did not show exact match with any reported STs. The plasmid replicons predominantly detected were IncF and IncI1. Broth mating assays of CR-KP and CR-ECC with recipient Escherichia coli J53 indicated that blaNDM-5 was transferable but not blaIMI.
Conclusion
This study highlights the low-level contamination of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) harbouring clinically relevant carbapenemase-encoding genes in farmed freshwater fish from India. The CR-ECC of fish origin did not show the potential to spread carbapenem resistance.
Aquatic environment can act as reservoir and disseminator of antimicrobial resistance and resistant pathogens. Novel high-risk carbapenem resistant
E. coli
(CREC) are continuously emerging worldwide; ...however, the occurrence of CREC in freshwater aquaculture environment is largely unexplored. To fill this gap, large scale sampling of freshwater pond sites and retail fish markets was done between Oct 2020 and Oct 2021 to investigate the CREC contamination in fish. The frequency of CREC contamination in the freshwater fish was 6.99% (95% CI: 3.78–10.20%). All the isolates were MDR and harbored carbapenemase encoding gene,
bla
NDM-5
along with other antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs),
bla
TEM
(64.7%),
bla
CTX-M-15
(35.3%),
bla
OXA-1
(5.9%),
tet(A)
(100%),
sul1
(94.1%),
qnrS
(82.3%),
cat1
(35.3%), and
cat2
(23.5%). The isolates belonged to phylogroup C and showed low virulence gene profile. ERIC-PCR grouped the isolates into five clusters (I-V). The isolates of clusters I, II, and III were identified as ST167 (76.4%) and of cluster IV as ST361 (17.6%). This is the first report documenting the contamination of NDM-5 producing
E. coli
ST167 and ST361 of clinical/livestock lineage in freshwater fish from India. The
bla
NDM-5
was significantly associated with ARGs,
tet(A)
, and
sul1
; and plasmid replicons, IncF, IncI1, and IncP, signifying the presence of
bla
NDM-5
and associated ARGs on these transferable plasmids. These findings were validated by the successful conjugal transfer of
bla
NDM-5
and associated ARGs into non-CREC strain (J53). Our study highlights the ability of CREC to disseminate antimicrobial resistance which has health implications and environmental concerns.
Electro shape-memory polymers (eSMPs) are highly regarded for their ability to undergo preordained transformations in response to electrical cues, a feature intrinsically linked to the prevailing ...electrical conduction pathways and macromolecular configurations. Alterations through the introduction of nanoparticles or the implementation of crosslinking techniques can produce synergistic or antagonistic shifts in the free volume and nonisothermal crystallization behavior. To date, such effects have remained largely unexplored. In this study, we developed gamma radiation-processed eSMPs that exhibit superior electrorecovery capabilities (approximately 100% recovery at 7.5 V) intrinsically connected to the specific radiation dose administered. Furthermore, we examined the changes in the free volume, extensional viscosity, rheology, and nonisothermal crystallization of these electroconductive composites. Our findings highlight the necessity of a critical radiation dose for the induction of electroshape recovery, and evidence suggests that the radiation dose substantially reduces the crystallization temperature under nonisothermal conditions while simultaneously broadening the crystallization process, especially at high cooling rates. Analyses of extensional stress further underscored the critical role of radiation dose. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) studies revealed that both the NCB and radiation dose contribute to an overall reduction in the free-volume size.
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•Polycaprolactone/Nanocarbon conducting composites were synthesized through gamma radiation.•The gamma radiation dose markedly influenced the electrothermal behavior.•Non-isothermal crystallization and extensional viscosity were observed to be modulated by radiation.•PALS showed that free volume decreased as radiation dose and NCB loading increased.
Direct Acting Antivirals (DAA) have changed the landscape of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with high cure rates across genotypes. However, the use of these agents in the setting of allogeneic ...hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been limited. In this context, we report the outcome of five children (5‐12 years) with relapsed and refractory leukemia and active HCV infection (genotype 1b), who underwent urgent haploidentical HCT and were treated with Sofosbuvir and Velpatasvir (Sof‐Vel) from initiation of treatment to 24 weeks post‐HCT. All achieved complete virologic response (VR) at a median of 2 weeks, with normalization of liver enzymes. There were no adverse events related to the use of Sof‐Vel, with no major fluctuations in cyclosporine levels. Two of the patients developed chronic GVHD and one relapsed. Sof‐Vel was continued in one of them along with sirolimus without affecting drug levels. With a median follow‐up of 15 months, four patients are disease free with sustained VR. Our study shows that combination of Sof‐Vel might be effective in inducing rapid complete and sustained VR during HCT without any major untoward drug interaction.
Following a major seasonal outbreak of H1N1 influenza in 2018 September, prophylactic oseltamivir for six months was initiated in children undergoing haploidentical HCT with regular monitoring for ...influenza and other respiratory virus infections. Influenza was not detected in 22 children undergoing prophylaxis, compared to 8 H1N1 infections in 21 adults without prophylaxis (P = .01). Four children on prophylaxis were detected to have other respiratory viruses, compared to 8 in those without prophylaxis. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) was observed only in association with H1N1 (4/8 with H1N1 vs 0/35 without H1N1, P = .001) and was thus lower in the prophylaxis group (P = .04). The overall incidence of episodes of respiratory illness and hospital stay were also lower in those on prophylaxis (P = .001). There were no untoward side effects associated with prophylactic oseltamivir. Prophylactic oseltamivir was safe and effective in prevention of H1N1 infection and subsequent IPA in children at‐risk, early after haploidentical HCT.
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