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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptive change in agri-food distribution around the world and accelerated local food buying which creates new challenges for managers in the food industry. The purposes of this study are to construct and empirically test a conceptual model that integrates expectancy value theory with social and environmental values (pro-environmental behaviour, altruism and ethnocentricity) in order to explain this change in buying behaviour. In addition, the predictive model is examined among various generational cohorts. For the purposes of this research, an online panel study was conducted, employing a stratified sampling method (n= 672). The results reveal that social and environmental values have a significant effect on consumer positive attitude toward buying, intention to buy, and actual change in local food buying. Nevertheless, the effects differ among generational cohorts emphasising the different roles of social and environmental values among generations on sustainable consumption. Recommendations for practitioners and policy makers are suggested.

AbstractObjective:To determine the utility of the Sofia SARS rapid antigen fluorescent immunoassay (FIA) to guide hospital-bed placement of patients being admitted through the emergency department (ED).Design:Cross-sectional analysis of a clinical quality improvement study.Setting:This study was conducted in 2 community hospitals in Maryland from September 21, 2020, to December 3, 2020. In total, 2,887 patients simultaneously received the Sofia SARS rapid antigen FIA and SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assays on admission through the ED.Methods:Rapid antigen results and symptom assessment guided initial patient placement while confirmatory RT-PCR was pending. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values of the rapid antigen assay were calculated relative to RT-PCR, overall and separately for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Assay sensitivity was compared to RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values. Assay turnaround times were compared. Clinical characteristics of RT-PCR–positive patients and potential exposures from false-negative antigen assays were evaluated.Results:For all patients, overall agreement was 97.9%; sensitivity was 76.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 71%–82%), and specificity was 99.7% (95% CI, 99%–100%). We detected no differences in performance between asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. As RT-PCR Ct increased, the sensitivity of the antigen assay decreased. The mean turnaround time for the antigen assay was 1.2 hours (95% CI, 1.0–1.3) and for RT-PCR it was 20.1 hours (95% CI, 18.9–40.3) (P< .001). No transmission from antigen-negative/RT-PCR–positive patients was identified.Conclusions:Although not a replacement for RT-PCR for detection of all SARS-CoV-2 infections, the Sofia SARS antigen FIA has clinical utility for potential initial timely patient placement.

AimsWhile the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic may be contained through vaccination, transfusion of convalescent plasma (CCP) from individuals who recovered from COVID-19 (CCP) is considered an alternative treatment. We investigate if CCP transfusion in patients with severe respiratory failure increases plasma titres of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and improves clinical outcomes.MethodsPatients with COVID-19 (n=34) were consented for CCP transfusion and serial blood draws pretransfusion and post-transfusion. Plasma SARS-CoV-2 antireceptor binding domain (RBD) IgG and IgM titres were measured by ELISA serially, and compared with serial plasma titre levels from control patients (n=68). The primary outcome was survival at 30 days, and secondary outcomes were length of ventilator and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support, length of stay (LOS) in the hospital and in the intensive care unit (ICU). Outcomes were compared with matched control patients (n=34). Kinetics of antibodies and clinical outcomes were compared using LOess regression and ORs, respectively.ResultsPrior to CCP transfusion, 74% of patients were anti-RBD seropositive for IgG (median 1:3200), and 81% were anti-RBD IgM seropositive (median 1:320), while 16% were seronegative. The kinetics of antibody titres in CCP recipients were similar to controls. CCP recipients presented with similar survival, duration on ventilatory and/or ECMO support, as well as ICU and hospital LOS compared with controls.ConclusionsCCP transfusion did not increase the kinetics of SARS-CoV2 antibodies and did not result in improved clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 with severe respiratory failure, suggesting that CCP may not be indicated in this category of patients.

Purpose: Grounded in uses and gratifications (U&G) theory and relying on the congruence/incongruence approaches, the current research aims to contribute to the study of interactive marketing by measuring the effectiveness of social and personal sponsored post message appeals on consumer psychological and behavioral engagement. A conceptual framework is suggested. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected during a field experiment conducted on Facebook, consisting of two sponsored Facebook post campaigns, followed by a survey distributed to consumers who were exposed to the experiment. Findings: A structural path model suggests that the congruence of the social message appeal of sponsored Facebook posts leads directly to psychological engagement that follows affective response. This path elevates an indirect effect toward behavioral engagement. Additionally, it was found that the incongruence of the personal message appeal of sponsored Facebook posts leads directly to behavioral engagement. Originality/value: The novelty of the current research focuses on the unexplored subject of sponsored Facebook post message appeal effectiveness. Based on U&G theory applied to social media and the (in)congruence approaches, the study suggests a new dichotomy of message appeal for digital advertising, i.e. social vs. personal message strategies. Consumer engagement with the two appeals adds value to theory and practice by conceptualizing the effect of sponsored post content strategies on consumer engagement in Facebook while incorporating ad content with a hierarchical process.

We discuss research developments on the complexity of shortest programs since the turn of the millennium. In particular, we will delve into the phenomenon of list approximation: while it's impossible to compute the shortest description for a given string, we can efficiently generate a short list of candidates which includes a (nearly) shortest description.

An index e in a numbering of partial-recursive functions is called minimal if every lesser index computes a different function from e. Since the 1960s, it has been known that, in any reasonable programming language, no effective procedure determines whether or not a given index is minimal. We investigate whether the task of determining minimal indices can be solved in an approximate sense. Our first question, regarding the set of minimal indices, is whether there exists an algorithm that can correctly label 1 out of k indices as either minimal or nonminimal. Our second question, regarding the function that computes minimal indices, is whether one can compute a short list of candidate indices that includes a minimal index for a given program. We give negative answers to both questions for the important case of numberings with linearly bounded translators.

Abstract: Do self-reducible sets inherently lack immunity from deterministic polynomial time? Though this is unlikely to be true in general, in this paper we prove that sufficiently strong self-reducibility precludes sufficiently strong immunity from deterministic polynomial time. In particular, we prove that NT isnot P balanced immune. However, we prove that NT, a class whose sets have very strong self-reducibility properties, is P bi-immune relative to a generic oracle. Thus, the previous result cannot be relativizably extended to bi-immunity. We also prove that NP and ⊕P are both P balanced immune relative to a random oracle; the former provides the strongest known relativized separation of NP from P.

Two isolates ofTrichoderma harzianum(T39 a biocontrol agent, and NCIM 1185) were tested for their capacity to reduce the level of hydrolytic enzymes produced byBotrytis cinereabothin vitroandin vivo,and to inhibit infection caused byB. cinereaconidia. The hydrolytic enzymes studied were cutin esterase, polygalacturonases (PG), pectin methyl esterase (PME), pectate lyase (PL) and carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase). On the surface of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) leaves, isolate T39 inhibited germination ofB. cinereaconidia and subsequent disease development significantly better than isolate NCIM1185. The levels of the various hydrolytic enzymes were reduced whenB. cinereawas grown either with aT. harzianumisolate in liquid culture or on the surface of bean leaves. T39 reduced enzyme levels by about 64, 80, 25, 77, 42 and 23% for cutin esterase, exoPG, endoPG, PME, PL and CMCase, respectively. NCIM1185 caused 57, 60, 5, 87 and 11% reduction in the production of cutin esterase, exoPG, endoPG, PME, PL and CMCase, respectively. However, NCIM1185 enhanced the production of PL when it was grown withB. cinereain liquid culture medium. On the surface of bean leaves, T39 was the better inhibitory agent. The only exception was CMCase, the presence of which was not inhibited by either isolate. Cutin esterase, exo and endoPG, PME and PL ofB. cinereaon bean leaves were reduced in the presence of T39 by ca 20, 95, 100-50, 100 and 95%, respectively. The importance of reduced enzyme activity ofB. cinereain the biocontrol activity ofT. harzianumis discussed.

The ability of Botrytis cinerea to produce cutinolytic, pectolytic and cellulolytic enzymes was re-examined in vivo and in vitro. In liquid culture, B. cinerea produced both constitutive and inductive forms of hydrolytic enzymes. The constitutive levels were 44 mU, 720 mU, 1820 mU, 12·0 U and 22·4 mU for cutin esterase, endopolygalacturonase (endoPG), exopolygalacturonase (exoPG), pectin methyl esterase (PME) and pectate lyase (PL), respectively. Unlike the other enzymes, however, carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) production was found to be entirely inducible. The enzymes secreted at the germination and germ-tube growth stages, and during subsequent disease development, were quantified simultaneously. Complete germination was observed within 9 h of incubation of B. cinerea on the surface of bean leaves and disease symptoms gradually increased during days 1–6 of the incubation. Significant amounts of all hydrolytic enzymes studied in the early hours and monitored during 6 d of incubation were detected, supporting the possibility of a major role for the enzymes produced by B. cinerea in the development of disease. The amount of cutinase was found to be uniform from the beginning, indicating that this enzyme may have an important role in penetrating the impervious cutin layer. The exoPG level increased from the beginning of incubation whereas that of endoPG started to rise later. PL and PME were also detected on the leaf surfaces. The patterns of in vitro production of exoPG, endoPG and PL correlated with the in vivo production of these enzymes, but there was only partial correlation in the production of PME and no correlation in the patterns of cutinase and CMCase production.

Conflicting relativizations, also known as “Baker-Gill-Solovay phenomena,” are common place in complexity theory. However, Book, Long, and Selman (SIAM J. Comput.,13 (1984), 461–487) have shown thatP(A) = NPB(A) for all oraclesA if and only ifP = NP, whereNPB(A) denotes the class of languages accepted by nondeterministic machines which possess only a polynomial number of query strings in the computation tree. It is shown in this paper that any superpolynomial bound on the number of queries already yields the BGS phenomenon. Similar results hold for theNP = co-NP andNPC = NP questions. A second objective of this paper is to point out a technique of Hartmanis with which to achieve oracle constructions by using the Kolmogorov complexity. This relatively new technique seems to be adequate for obtaining separation results for complexity classes which are not enumerable.

Implications for psychobiological models of psychosomatic interaction relevant to the DSM-III diagnosis 316.00 (Psychological Factors Affecting Physical Condition) were drawn from a study of outpatient gastroenterology patients (ages 6 to 17) with Crohn's disease (CD) (N= 51) and ulcerative colitis (UC) (N= 37), and their siblings (N= 41 and N– 24, respectively). Reliable and valid measures were used to assess disease activity, severity, growth failure, social competence, psychological health and disorder, and psychological style. Both patient groups had statistically and clinically significant psychological dysfunction, and patients were characterized by internalizing psychological styles. The degree of illness and psychological dysfunction did not predict one another. However, internalizing psychological styles were associated with greater disease activity. CD and UC patients differed in relationships among psychological and disease factors, with UC patients more accurate in reporting physical and psychological functioning.

Chaitin and Schwartz [4] have proved that Solovay and Strassen [12], Miller [9], and Rabin [10] probabilistic algorithms for testing primality are error-free in case the input sequence of coin tosses has maximal information content.In this paper we shall describe conditions under which a probabilistic algorithm gives the correct output. We shall work with algorithms having the ability to make "random" decisions not necessarily binary (Zimand [13]). We shall prove that if a probabilistic algorithm is sufficiently "correct", then it is error-free on all sufficiently long inputs which are random in Kolmogorov and Martin-Löfs sense. Our result, as well as Chaitin and Schwartz's one, is only of theoretical interest, since the set of all random strings is immune (Calude and Chitescu [2]).

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a potent mitogen which induces growth of collateral vessels in ischaemic and infarcted myocardium. The effect of systemically administered bFGF on left ventricular (LV) function, myocardial hypertrophy and LV remodelling following acute myocardial infarction (MI) have not yet been fully investigated. Thirty Sprague‐Dawley male rats were randomized to receive bFGF (0.5 mg) or rat albumin intraperitoneally for 1 week, beginning immediately after the induction of MI. Five animals served as controls and did not undergo any operation. Animals were killed 6 weeks after surgery and the hearts were perfused and fixed at physiological pressure. Transverse cross‐sections from infarcted areas were stained with antibodies against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Masson‐trichrome and analysed with a coloured‐image analyser for LV area (mm2), LV cavity diameter (mm), infarcted area (%), and wall thickness (mm) in infarcted and non‐infarcted regions. LV area was similar in MI rats and in controls (41.7 +/− 6.9 and 43.0 +/− 1.5 mm2, respectively) and was significantly larger in MI bFGF‐treated (MI/bFGF) animals (47.6 +/− 7.1 mm2) (P = 0.023). LV cavity diameter was significantly larger in the MI group than in MI/bFGF and control animals (6.0 +/− 0.8, 4.9 +/− 1.4, and 4.4 +/− 0.8 mm, respectively, P = 0.018). Wall thickness in the non‐infarcted region was significantly smaller in MI animals (1.4 +/− 0.3 mm) than in MI/bFGF animals (1.6 +/− 0.4 mm) and the control group (1.6 +/− 0.1 mm) (P = 0.015). The ratio between LV cavity diameter/non‐MI wall thickness was higher in MI than in control and MI/bFGF groups (4.8 +/− 1.6, 2.7 +/− 0.6 and 3.3 +/− 1.8, respectively, P = 0.03). Proliferating endothelial cells were significantly more abundant in infarcted than in normal areas in both MI and MI/bFGF groups, but with no significant differences between the groups. Intraperitoneal administration of bFGF did not cause any untoward extracardiac effects. Thus, systemic bFGF administration following acute MI in rats prevents dilatation of the LV, induces hypertrophy of the non‐infarcted myocardium and exerts no untoward effects on extracardiac organs.

Left superior vena cava (LSVC) to the left atrium is a rare congenital cardiac complex, which may appear as an isolated anomaly, or as part of more complex cardiac anomalies. Traditionally, an intraatrial baffle was the preferred surgical technique. Although this technique has proved reliable and successful, acute ligation and extracardiac repair are simpler and easier solutions, requiring less myocardial ischemic time. We present 3 patients who underwent simple ligation and discuss the literature for other extracardiac options of surgical repair. Our patients had short transient congestion in the left upper part of their body that resolved completely after a few weeks, without further complications. We believe that either acute ligation or extracardiac repair is a much simpler yet effective solution to divert the left caval flow to the lesser circulation.

Achenbach's Child Behavior Check List, a standardized test of psychosocial functioning, was used to assess the following groups (ages 6-16): Crohn's Disease (N=42), Ulcerative Colitis (UC)(N=27), Recurrent Abdominal Pain (RAP)(N=41) and healthy siblings (N=66). Groups were contrasted by scores on two subscales derived from factor analysis of test items. The “Internalizing” (I) subscale reflects depression, anxiety and withdrawal. The “Externalizing” (E) subscale reflects hyperaetivity, aggression and anti-social behavior. A standardized Disease Activity Index measured degree of illness.RESULTS: 1) Patient groups had higher “I” scores than sibling groups (p <.001). 2) RAP “I” scores were higher than Crohn's and UC's (p. <.001). 3) “I” scores correlate with disease activity for Crohn's (r =.5, p <.001), but not for UC. 4) Siblings of UC patients “externalize” (p<.001), as compared to siblings of Crohn's and RAP.CONCLUSIONS: A) “Internalizing” types of psychological problems occur with chronic gastrointestinal illness, and are worse for patients with non-organic abdominal pain syndromes. B) Crohn's and UC patients differ in the mechanisms underlying the relationship between psychological and disease factors. C) These findings indicate that psychological intervention should focus on “internalizing” types of symptoms and that Crohn's patients may be especially vulnerable during flares. D) Differences among sibling groups show that family patterns of behavior differ according to disease group. This indicates the importance of taking family context into account when developing and carrying out a treatment plan.