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In times of increasing labor shortages and a contemporary cultural climate shaped by quiet quitting, understanding and addressing the sources of service employees' passion for work becomes an important scholarly and managerial challenge. Drawing on ethnographic data gathered in the context of an outdoor-action-sports service provider, this study reveals how emotionally and physically demanding work conditions constrain service employees' passion for work and explores how tribal consumption serves as an additional source of service employees' passion for work. Findings highlight how service organizations can address this tribal source of passion by offering service employees an experience platform and opportunities for tribal sociality at work. This study introduces a consumption-related source of work passion to service employee passion research, extends consumer research on the blurring boundaries between work and consumption, and provides managerial implications for nurturing and/or maintaining service employees' passion for work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A better understanding of the peritumoral stroma changes due to tumour invasion using non-invasive diagnostic methods may improve the differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions. This study aimed to assess the correlation between breast lesion differentiation and intra- and peritumoral shear-wave elastography (SWE) gradients. Methods: A total of 135 patients with newly diagnosed breast lesions were included. Intratumoral, subsurface, and three consecutive peritumoral SWE value measurements (with three repetitions) were performed. Intratumoral, interface, and peritumoral gradients (Gradient 1 and Gradient 2) were calculated using averaged SWE values. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and an ordinary one-way ANOVA to compare overall and individual gradients among Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 2, 3, and 5 groups. Results: Malignant tumours showed higher average SWE velocity values at the tumour centre (BI-RADS 2/3: 4.1 ± 1.8 m/s vs. BI-RADS 5: 4.9 ± 2.0 m/s, p = 0.04) and the first peritumoral area (BI-RADS 2/3: 3.4 ± 1.8 m/s vs. BI-RADS 5: 4.3 ± 1.8 m/s, p = 0.003). No significant difference was found between intratumoral gradients (0.03 ± 0.32 m/s vs. 0.0 ± 0.28 m/s; p > 0.999) or gradients across the tumour–tissue interface (−0.17 ± 0.18 m/s vs. −0.13 ± 0.35 m/s; p = 0.202). However, the first peritumoral gradient (−0.16 ± 0.24 m/s vs. −0.35 ± 0.31 m/s; p < 0.0001) and the second peritumoral gradient (−0.11 ± 0.18 m/s vs. −0.22 ± 0.28 m/s; p = 0.037) were significantly steeper in malignant tumours. The AUC was best for PTG1 (0.7358) and PTG2 (0.7039). A threshold value for peritumoral SWI PT1 above 3.76 m/s and for PTG1 below −0.238 m/s·mm−1 indicated malignancy in 90.6% of cases. Conclusions: Evaluating the peritumoral SWE gradient may improve the diagnostic pre-test probability, as malignant tumours showed a significantly steeper curve of the elasticity values in the peritumoral stroma compared to the linear regression with a relatively flat curve of benign lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do CEOs, entrepreneurs, managers, celebrity bloggers, and other brand leaders acquire charismatic authority in the marketplace? Grounded in a multi-perspective, in-depth case study of the charismatic CEO of an Austrian shoe manufacturer, this article introduces a sociocultural mechanism called charismatic entrainment. Charismatic entrainment involves brand leaders staging charismatic authority by promoting polarized worldviews and taking personal risks to demonstrate their ability to lead social change. It further involves consumer-followers publicly validating and consumer-critics challenging brand leaders' claims to charismatic authority, encouraging further entrainment via their support, but also their criticism. Brand leaders, consumer-followers, and consumer-critics draw on social media , marketplace sentiments , and brand manifestations as entrainment resources to more effectively endow brand leaders with charismatic authority in the marketplace. The article contributes a market-based, multi-stakeholder—versus an organizational, leader-centric—theory of charisma co-creation to the literature on charismatic authority. It also adds to theories of iconic branding, risk consumption, and societal morality plays, sensitizing readers to the constructive but also destructive potential of market-based charisma co-creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innate immune system and its major mediators, i.e., cytokines, are increasingly recognized as being of crucial importance in metabolic inflammation as observed in morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Morbid obesity is commonly associated with adipose tissue inflammation. Adipose tissue inflammation is characterized by an increased expression of various pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 and -6, and by a rather heterogenous cellular infiltrate including monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and others. It has been demonstrated that in patients with severe obesity and fatty liver disease, expression of these pro-inflammatory cytokines in adipose tissue is 100-1000 times higher compared with that in the liver. Therefore, the adipose tissue can be considered in the state of severe obesity as the 'cytokine factory' of the body. Rapid weight loss almost entirely eliminates pro-inflammatory cytokines in the adipose tissue, and therefore provides a very potent anti-inflammatory strategy. In conclusion, there is increasing evidence that peripheral tissues such as the adipose tissue may affect disease processes in target organs such as the liver, pancreas, heart, or blood vessels, and may therefore significantly contribute to chronic inflammation as observed in obesity and T2D. Key words: inflammation, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolism, adipocytokines, insulin resistance, adipose tissue inflammation. On reconnait de plus en plus l'importance cruciale du systeme immunitaire inne et de ses mediateurs principaux, i.e., les cytokines, dans l'inflammation metabolique observee dans l'obesite morbide et le diabete de type 2 (DT2). L'obesite morbide est generalement associee a une inflammation du tissu adipeux. L'inflammation du tissu adipeux se caracterise par une expression accrue de differentes cytokines pro-inflammatoires telles le facteur necrosant des tumeurs a, l'interleukine-1 et l'interleukine-6, ainsi que par une infiltration cellulaire assez heterogene comportant des monocytes/macrophages, neutrophiles, lymphocytes B, lymphocytes T et autres. Il a ete demontre chez des patients presentant une obesite severe et une maladie dite du foie gras, que l'expression de ces cytokines pro-inflammatoires dans le tissu adipeux est de 100 a 1000 fois plus elevee comparativement a leur expression dans le foie. Ainsi, le tissu adipeux peut etre considere dans les situations d'obesite severe comme la << manufacture de cytokines >> du corps. Une perte de poids rapide elimine presqu'entierement les cytokines proinflammatoires du tissu adipeux et constitue ainsi une strategie anti-inflammatoire tres efficace. En conclusion, il existe de plus en plus de preuves que les tissus peripheriques comme le tissu adipeux peuvent affecter les processus pathologiques dans les organes cibles comme le foie, le pancreas, le coeur ou les vaisseaux, et qu'ils peuvent ainsi contribuer de maniere significative a l'inflammation chronique telle qu'observee dans l'obesite et de DT2. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: inflammation, maladie du foie gras non alcoolique, adipocytokines, resistance a l'insuline, inflammation du tissu adipeux., Introduction Over the past few years, the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) has risen dramatically throughout the world. One of the hallmarks of these disease entities has [...]

In the article, the authors present their study on the clinical effects of breast cancer 2 messenger ribonucleic acid (BRCA2 mRNA) expression in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) using dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Topics include the percentage of epithelial OCs that are hereditary, and the use of tests like the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test and univariate Kaplan-Meier analyses in the study.

Background: In high-risk patients with cervical incompetence, laparoscopic cerclage is a promising treatment option. However, the procedure exhibits relevant surgical risks. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a surgical "needle-free" technique for minimally invasive, laparoscopically placed cervico-isthmic cerclage in high-risk patients. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study over a 10-year period of pre- and postconceptional cerclage placement. The included patients either experienced previous transvaginal cerclage (TVC) failure or were not eligible for TVC. Laparoscopic transabdominal cerclage using a needle-less mersilene tape was performed via a broad ligament window lateral to the uterine vessels. Results: Laparoscopic transabdominal cerclage was successfully performed in all included women with a median operation time of 62 min. We did not observe any intra- or postoperative complications, particularly no bleeding complications. Nine of 11 women became pregnant and/or carried out a successful pregnancy, respectively. Importantly, we did not observe any cases of miscarriage or mid-trimester loss. Two patients did not conceive; however, their medical histories did include Asherman's syndrome and advanced maternal age. Conclusion: Transabdominal laparoscopic "needle-free" cerclage is a safe and effective treatment option for a well-selected group of women at high risk of cervical incompetence. It provides good obstetric results without increasing perioperative morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy, with platinum‐based chemotherapy remaining the mainstay for adjuvant treatment after surgery. The lack of indication for immunotherapy may at least in part result from the lack of suitable biomarkers allowing stratification of potentially responding patients. In this monocentric study of 141 cases with OC, we used real‐time quantitative PCR to assess the expression of retinoic acid‐inducible gene‐I (RIG‐I) in primary tumor and healthy ovarian control tissues. RIG‐I expression was correlated to various clinicopathological characteristics as well as to a set of molecular and immunological markers. The prognostic significance of RIG‐I expression was queried in univariate and multivariate analyses and validated in an independent cohort. RIG‐I was overexpressed in the cancerous ovary and correlated with a higher tumor grade. The more aggressive Type‐II cancers and cancers with inactivating p53 mutations exhibited higher RIG‐I expression. RIG‐I levels were also elevated in cancers that recurred after remission or were platinum‐refractory. Survival analyses disclosed RIG‐I as an independent marker of poor outcome in OC. Continuative analyses revealed the molecular and immunological correlates of RIG‐I expression in the tumor microenvironment, including interferon production and a distinct immune‐regulatory signature involving checkpoint molecules (PD‐L1/PD‐1), the RNA‐editing enzyme ADAR1 and the regulatory T cell‐specific transcription factor FoxP3. We conclude that high RIG‐I expression associates with poor outcome in OC, which is explainable by local immunosuppression in the tumor bed. RIG‐I expression may inform checkpoint blockade and/or RIG‐I agonistic targeting in a subset of high‐risk OC patients. What's new? Previous evidence suggests that the antiviral helicase RIG‐I bears tumor‐suppressive activity. The clinical significance of RIG‐I in gynecological cancer remains unclear, however. This single‐center, retrospective, explorative biomarker study of 141 cases with epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) reveals the negative prognostic impact of RIG‐I. RIG‐I is overexpressed in OC tissue, particularly in the more aggressive type‐II OCs, and is an independent prognostic marker for overall survival. RIG‐I high‐expressing tumors carry an interferon signature, linking RIG‐I activation to a cancer microenvironment fostering tumor immune‐evasion including upregulation of immune checkpoints. RIG‐I expression may indicate high‐risk OC patients who may benefit from immunotherapeutic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question: Sport events by themselves do not create value. Yet, sport events can serve as platforms and provide resources that actor-networks integrate to cocreate value. The present study views sport events as an assemblage of diverse brands like event, athlete, sponsor, and place brands, and sheds light on the question of how their heterogeneous actor-networks cocreate value at sport events. Research methods: A multi-year case study of the Big Mountain freeride world qualifier at Hochfügen reveals the value cocreation processes at sport events. Interviews with representatives of brand actor-networks, archived records, and participant observations inform our framework of value cocreation at sport events. Findings: We reveal the collaborative work of actor-networks at sport events and their collective value cocreation processes. We show that (1) providing operand and operant resources, (2) recognizing resource dependencies, (3) understanding the types of value desired and (4) the practices deployed by different actors, and (5) fostering structural and role alignment processes stimulates and facilitates value cocreation processes at sport events. Implications: Managers of sport event brands can learn from the study what is needed to support collaboration and value cocreation to encourage (event, sponsor, athlete, and place) brand engagement and generate consumption opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]