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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how return policies from online fashion retailers from different countries (USA, China and Western European) support consumer need for uncertainty avoidance and lower negative prefactual thinking in two different markets: China and USA. Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis of eight international online fashion retailers' return policies in both the China and USA markets was conducted. Findings: US, Chinese and Western European online fashion retailers have more detailed return policies in the USA market compared to the China market. The results also indicate that US, Chinese and Western European online fashion retailers are more inclined to offer lenient return policies in the USA market which helps to lower consumer perceptions of uncertainty and negative prefactual thinking. Practical implications: Exploring online retailers' return policies and how retailers respond to consumers' level of comfort with uncertainty and tendencies to engage in negative prefactual within the context of different cultural markets offer valuable insight into standard retail practices necessary to retain profitability. Despite the perception of a "global" marketplace, nonstandardization of customer service is found. Originality/value: Although the ability of online retailers to reach global markets has increased, few scholars have studied return policies within different cultural contexts. This study focuses on return policy as a major influencer of prefactual thinking by reducing anticipated regret and increasing online purchase intention in a global cultural context. The research is not only beneficial to managers who seek to increase the profitability through globally strategic implementation of return policies but also contributes to the consumer regret and risk literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly prescribed for treating upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, eradicating Helicobacter pylori, and stress ulcer prophylaxis, among other digestive system diseases. Recent case reports provided limited evidence of a correlation between PPIs and drug reactions with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS). However, there is currently no established association between PPIs and DRESS., Aim: This research aimed to identify the associations between PPIs and DRESS using the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) database., Method: A retrospective investigation of DRESS associated with six PPIs used FAERS data from Q1 2004 to Q3 2023. Data mining algorithms were used to identify adverse events in the FAERS database that met the following criteria: (1) proportional reporting ratio (PRR) ≥ 2; (2) reporting odds ratio (ROR) > 1; (3) 95% confidence interval (CI) of ROR > 1; (4) Chi-square (χ 2 ) ≥ 4 and case count ≥ 3., Results: There were 495 reports of PPI-related DRESS, including pantoprazole (174, 35.2%), omeprazole (103, 20.8%), lansoprazole (103, 20.8%), esomeprazole (101, 20.4%), rabeprazole (8, 1.6%), and dexlansoprazole (6, 1.2%). The results indicated a significant association of three PPIs (pantoprazole, omeprazole, and lansoprazole) with DRESS. The sensitivity analysis demonstrated that only pantoprazole remained significantly associated with DRESS after 10 concomitant drugs had been removed (ROR: 3.00, PRR: 2.99, and information component [IC]: 1.57)., Conclusion: This study identified the signals suggesting a potential association between DRESS and six PPIs. However, more investigation of epidemiological data is required to validate of these conclusions., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have not disclosed any competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate and compare the psychometric properties of the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) and the Visual Function Index-14 (VF-14) in a large sample of patients with cataracts., Methods: A total of 1052 patients with bilateral age-related cataracts were recruited in the study. Patients with other comorbidities that severely impacted vision were excluded. Participants completed the two questionnaires in random order. Classical test theory and Rasch analyses were used to assess the psychometric properties of the questionnaires., Results: Complete data were obtained from 899 patients. The mean overall index score on the NEI VFQ-25 was 76.1 ± 19.0, while that on the VF-14 was 46.5 ± 15.0. Cronbach's α-values for the NEI VFQ-25 and VF-14 were 0.89 and 0.95, respectively. Ceiling effects were observed on nine of the 12 subscales in the NEI VFQ-25. The correlation between total scores on the NEI VFQ-25 and VF-14 was moderate (r = 0.600; p < 0.001), and subscales of the NEI VFQ-25 were weakly or moderately correlated with the similar domains on the VF-14. Rasch analysis revealed ordered category thresholds and sufficient person separation for both instruments, while the two questionnaires had critical deficiencies in unidimensionality, targeting and differential item functioning., Conclusion: Neither the NEI VFQ-25 nor VF-14 is optimal for the assessment of vision-related quality of life in typical Chinese patients with cataracts. The potential deficiencies of the questionnaires should be taken into consideration prior to application of the instruments or interpretation of the results., (© 2020 The Authors. Acta Ophthalmologica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation.)