The economic burden of common adverse events associated with metastatic colorectal cancer treatment in the United States

Aims: Adverse events (AEs) associated with treatments for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) may compromise the course of treatment, impact quality-of-life, and increase healthcare resource utilization. This study assessed the direct healthcare costs of common AEs among mCRC patients in the US.

Methods: Adult mCRC patients treated with chemotherapy or targeted therapies were identified from administrative claims databases (2009–2014). Up to the first three mCRC treatment episodes per patient were considered and categorized as with or without the AE system/organ category during the episode. Total healthcare costs (2014 USD) were measured by treatment episode and reported on a monthly basis. Treatment episodes with the AE category were matched by treatment type and line of treatment to those without the AE category. Adjusted total cost differences were estimated by comparing costs during treatment episodes with vs without the AE category using multivariate regression models; p-values were estimated with bootstrap.

Results: A total of 4158 patients with ≥1 mCRC treatment episode were included (mean age?=?59 years; 58% male; 60% with liver and 14% with lung metastases; 2,261 [54%] with a second and 1,115 [27%] with a third episode). On average, two treatment episodes were observed per patient with an average length of 166 days per episode. Adjusted monthly total cost difference by AE category included hematologic ($1,480), respiratory ($1,253), endocrine/metabolic ($1,213), central nervous system (CNS; $1,136), and cardiovascular ($1,036; all p?Limitations: Claims do not include information on the cause of AEs, and potentially less severe AEs may not have been reported by the physician when billing the medical service. This study aimed to assess the association between costs and AEs and not the causation of AEs by treatment.

Conclusions: The most costly AEs among mCRC patients were hematologic, followed by respiratory, endocrine/metabolic, CNS, and cardiovascular.     

Evaluating Service Marketing in Airline Industry and Its Influence on Student Passengers' Purchasing Behavior Using Taipei–London Route as an Example

This article reports an empirical study into airline consumer purchase behavior on a major global route between the United Kingdom (UK) and Taipei. It focuses on the factors influencing airline choice for a sample of 60 Taiwanese students based at UK Universities and traveling on five airlines: British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Airlines, EVA Airways, and Royal Dutch Airways. Several stages of data gathering were undertaken and a well‐established analytical framework for services marketing was used to identify gaps between the desired and received service. The main findings suggest that service quality, including in‐flight entertainment, cabin crew attitude, and seating comfort, can be as important as, or more important than, price in student purchase decisions for long‐haul flights. Other important factors in carrier choice included student discounts, baggage allowances, and airline safety record.     

Considering Technological Impacts When Selecting Food Suppliers: Comparing Retailers' Buying Behavior in the United States and Europe

Purpose: The research investigates the impact of emergent technologies, specifically supply-chain technology and food-production technology (i.e., genetically modified organisms [GMO]), on global food retailers' supplier decisions.

Methodology/approach: Qualitative research is conducted to examine technology-related vendor selection criteria of food retailers in 5 European countries comparing to those in the US.

Findings: Our findings show that global food retailers view supply-chain technology as a competitive advantage and is integrated as an important selection criteria; however, selection criteria differ for food-production technology between the United States and the European countries. European food retailers explicitly oppose food-production technology (GMO), while U.S. food retailers implicitly accept food-production technology. Emerging from this opposing view, global food retailers establish similar criteria for organic food (non-GMO) supplier selection: reliability, distance, consistent quality, and relationships with suppliers.

Research implications: Applying the supplier choice criteria framework (Lehmann and O'Shaughnessy 1982 Lehmann, D. R. and 'Shaughnessy, J. O. 1982. Decision criteria used in buying different categories of products. Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, 18: 9–14.  [Google Scholar]) to further analyze organic food suppliers, we find that reliability (adaptive criterion), distance (integrative criterion), consistent quality (performance criterion), and relationships with suppliers (economic criterion) are essential, but price is not.

Practical implications: This study suggests that to sustain competitiveness in the global food market, food suppliers not only need to ensure technological compatibility in supply-chain, but also adapt to the local food-production restriction (GMO) and organic food selection criteria preferences.

Originality/value/contribution: Supply-chain technology is strategically important and is adopted by global food retailers for competitive advantage; yet, there are dramatic differences regarding the acceptance of food production technology. This research contributes to the better understanding of how technologies exert significant and strategic weight in the food supplier selection process.     

Statistical Inference,Learning and Models in Big Data

The need for new methods to deal with big data is a common theme in most scientific fields, although its definition tends to vary with the context. Statistical ideas are an essential part of this, and as a partial response, a thematic program on statistical inference, learning and models in big data was held in 2015 in Canada, under the general direction of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, with major funding from, and most activities located at, the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences. This paper gives an overview of the topics covered, describing challenges and strategies that seem common to many different areas of application and including some examples of applications to make these challenges and strategies more concrete.     

What happens after a single surgical intervention for hidradenitis suppurativa? A retrospective claims-based analysis

Objective Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is often treated by surgery. The risk of recurrence after surgery is common and the consequences are substantial, but neither has been quantified using a claims database. This study aimed to estimate the burden associated with non-curative surgery in HS patients.

Methods A retrospective analysis was performed of health insurance claims data from Q1 1999 to Q2 2011 in a US claims database. The analysis included 2668 adults with ≥1 diagnosis of HS and ≥1 claim for skin surgery within 6 months after diagnosis. Healthcare resource utilization and medical costs were compared using multivariate regressions.

Results Overall, 46% of HS patients had ≥1 indicator of non-curative surgery. The incidences of inpatient, emergency department, and outpatient visits were 88%, 40%, and 30% higher, respectively, for patients with non-curative surgery vs patients without indicator of non-curative surgery (all p?<?0.001). Average medical costs were $11,858 and $6427 for patients with and without indicators of non-curative surgery, respectively. The difference of $4185 (p?<?0.001) was mainly driven by inpatient costs (difference = $2685; p?<?0.001).

Limitations Indicators of non-curative HS surgery were defined based on an empirical algorithm.

Conclusions Non-curative HS surgery occurred in almost half of all cases and represents a significant burden on patients and payers in terms of resource utilization and costs.     

The impact of 3d virtual haptics in marketing

Tactile input plays a key role in consumers' evaluation of products' substance properties. Utilization of haptic interfaces and force feedback devices that enable consumers to feel and manipulate three‐dimensional (3D) virtual products is a promising but under‐explored area in marketing and consumer behavior research. This study investigated 3D virtual touch created by Novint Falcon haptic interfaces and its impacts on consumer behavior in the interactive marketing of automobiles. It was hypothesized that consumers' instrumental Need for Touch (NFT) plays a significant moderating role in haptic interfaces. Results from a 2 (nature of tactile stimuli: haptic input with force feedback versus no force feedback) × 2 (haptic orientation: high NFT versus low NFT) full factorial between‐subjects experiment indicated that consumers high in instrumental NFT evaluate products more positively, enjoy the test‐driving experience more, and show stronger brand–self connection when there are force feedback haptic stimuli as opposed to when there is no force feedback. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Themenzyklus der Kriegsberichterstattung – ein Phasenmodell

In this article, we analyse war coverage from a longitudinal perspective. In doing so, we refer to the classical issue cycle model, which has been discussed frequently in communication science. We adapt the model to war coverage and – according to the duration and the predictability of war events – we distinguish different types of news cycles. We assume that different stages of news coverage differ not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively with regard to the cited sources. The coverage on the war in Lebanon (2006) in the newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung serves as a case study for the empirical exploration of the suggested model. The coverage can be divided into four different phases, and the results show that it was mainly event-driven. In the peak phase of coverage, increased citations of actors participating in the conflict and of other media actors are observed, as well as generally the most diverse range of voices to be heard in the coverage.     

How to Attain Desired Outcomes Through Channel Conflict Negotiation

Channel relationships are dynamic and complex. Though much of channel literature has dealt with power, dependency, and conflict resolution, relatively little research focuses on how channel members apply different modes of negotiation to resolve channel conflicts and, most important, how they finagle their ways through different stages of negotiation to obtain desirable outcomes. This article suggests that in deciding which strategy to adopt to effectively negotiate with others, channel members should take into account two vital outcomes during the negotiation process: substantive gain and relationship outcome. Integrating high versus low levels for each of these two types of outcomes, this study develops a framework for channel conflict negotiation in an international setting and recommends appropriate negotiation strategies for various scenarios and phases of negotiation.     

The Roles of Modality Richness and Involvement in Shopping Behavior in 3D Virtual Stores

The rapid growth of e-commerce and consumers' increasing use of 3D virtual worlds to make purchases have rendered it important to understand how consumers develop their buying intentions in this novel context. Drawing from literature on modality richness, this study examined the effects of pre-experimental product involvement and the modality of marketing information presentation on consumers' product evaluations, buying intentions, and enjoyment of online shopping. The results of a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment indicate significant interaction effects between modality richness and prior involvement. Consumers with low involvement are influenced by modality richness, whereas those with high involvement are not, thus confirming the moderating role of prior involvement for shopping behaviors inside 3D virtual environments. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed.