Customer satisfaction and sale performance in New York State brewery tasting rooms

The US craft brewery industry has grown steadily in recent years before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of small, independently owned craft breweries rely on tasting rooms for revenues and profits. Using data collected from a survey of tasting room visitors from 21 craft breweries in New York, this research investigates factors influencing visitors' customer satisfaction (CS) and the link between brewery tasting room CS and sales performance. The results show that brewery interior ambience, beer tasting execution, and friendliness and knowledge of servers are the main factors influencing CS in tasting rooms. Furthermore, results suggest that higher CS levels increase visitors' purchase likelihood and beer purchase amounts (by volume and value). These findings indicate that breweries should focus on such factors as strengthening staff training, enhancing tasting room ambience, and improving beer tasting execution that have the highest positive influence on CS to increase sales. This study has implications for the rapidly growing craft brewery industry in the USA. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association.

COVID-19 opens the door for right iliac fossa pain treatment pathway

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risks of surgery and management of common surgical conditions has changed, with greater reliance on imaging and conservative management. The negative appendectomy rate (NAR) in the UK has previously remained high. The aim of this study was to quantify pandemic-related changes in the management of patients with suspected appendicitis, including the NAR.MethodsA retrospective study was performed at a single high volume centre of consecutive patients aged over five years presenting to general surgery with right iliac fossa pain in two study periods: for two months before lockdown and for four months after lockdown. Pregnant patients and those with previous appendectomy, including right colonic resection, were excluded. Demographic, clinical, imaging and histological data were captured, and risk scores were calculated, stratifying patients into higher and lower risk groups. Data were analysed by age, sex and risk subgroups.ResultsThe mean number of daily referrals with right iliac fossa pain or suspected appendicitis reduced significantly between the study periods, from 2.92 before lockdown to 2.07 after lockdown (p<0.001). Preoperative computed tomography (CT) rates increased significantly from 22.9% to 37.2% (p=0.002). The NAR did not change significantly between study periods (25.5% prior to lockdown, 11.1% following lockdown, p=0.159). Twelve (75%) out of sixteen negative appendectomies were observed in higher risk patients aged 16–45 years who did not undergo preoperative CT. The NAR in patients undergoing CT was 0%.ConclusionsGreater use of preoperative CT should be considered in risk stratified patients in order to reduce the NAR.

The Impact of a Life-Disrupting Threat on Team Identity

Team identity is periodically disrupted by identity threat, yet minimal research has addressed how life-disrupting threats impact team identity. In the current study, the authors employed a case study design to examine the effects of a life-disrupting threat (i.e., the start of the COVID-19 pandemic) on team identity. The authors, leveraging interviews and participant journaling, examined individuals who identify with at least one sport team, finding that team identity was mostly "inactive" as this life-disrupting threat set in. Further, although participants recognized the importance of their fandom in terms of social connectivity (i.e., relationships with fellow fans) and opportunity for escape, they emphasized that, overall, being a fan was unimportant during the early months of the pandemic. Collectively, these findings highlight the need to study team identity (and identity threat) from a more "macro" perspective - that is, considering fandom in conjunction with other salient factors in fans' lives.

COVID-19 opens the door for right iliac fossa pain treatment pathway.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risks of surgery and management of common surgical conditions has changed, with greater reliance on imaging and conservative management. The negative appendectomy rate (NAR) in the UK has previously remained high. The aim of this study was to quantify pandemic-related changes in the management of patients with suspected appendicitis, including the NAR. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed at a single high volume centre of consecutive patients aged over five years presenting to general surgery with right iliac fossa pain in two study periods: for two months before lockdown and for four months after lockdown. Pregnant patients and those with previous appendectomy, including right colonic resection, were excluded. Demographic, clinical, imaging and histological data were captured, and risk scores were calculated, stratifying patients into higher and lower risk groups. Data were analysed by age, sex and risk subgroups. RESULTS: The mean number of daily referrals with right iliac fossa pain or suspected appendicitis reduced significantly between the study periods, from 2.92 before lockdown to 2.07 after lockdown (p<0.001). Preoperative computed tomography (CT) rates increased significantly from 22.9% to 37.2% (p=0.002). The NAR did not change significantly between study periods (25.5% prior to lockdown, 11.1% following lockdown, p=0.159). Twelve (75%) out of sixteen negative appendectomies were observed in higher risk patients aged 16-45 years who did not undergo preoperative CT. The NAR in patients undergoing CT was 0%. CONCLUSIONS: Greater use of preoperative CT should be considered in risk stratified patients in order to reduce the NAR.

COVID-19 opens door for new Right Iliac Fossa pain Treatment (RIFT) pathway

Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased pressure on surgical services, increased the risks of surgery, and forced changes in surgical practice. The UK has a high negative appendicectomy rate (NAR) compared to other countries. We aimed to quantify change in the use of pre-operative imaging due to the pandemic in patients with suspected appendicitis and whether this has reduced the NAR. Methods: We performed a retrospective single-centre cohort study including consecutive patients aged 16-45 referred with right iliac fossa pain or suspected appendicitis in 2 periods: from Jan 26th to Mar 25th, and from Mar 26th until Jul 25th, 2020. Patients who had previously had an appendicectomy or were pregnant were excluded. Patients were analysed according to age, sex and risk score. Results: 85 male and 165 female patients were included across both study periods. 94 (37.6%) patients were identified as low-risk, of whom 0 (0%) underwent appendicectomy. The use of CT imaging was significantly greater in high-risk patients post-lockdown, increasing from 24.2% to 56.1% (P = 0.008817) in males and 18.2% to 41.7% in females (P = 0.03108). In high-risk patients across both periods the NAR was 0% in those undergoing pre-operative CT and 33.3% in those not imaged (P = 0.003995). The NAR did not differ between study periods. The number needed to CT to prevent 1 negative appendicectomy was 9. Conclusion: The use of pre-operative CT imaging is associated with a reduction in NAR to 0%. Risk stratification, and pre-operative CT in high-risk adults, should be considered to reduce the NAR.

Pan-ancestry exome-wide association analyses of COVID-19 outcomes in 586,157 individuals

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory illness that can result in hospitalization or death. We used exome sequence data to investigate associations between rare genetic variants and seven COVID-19 outcomes in 586,157 individuals, including 20,952 with COVID-19. After accounting for multiple testing, we did not identify any clear associations with rare variants either exome wide or when specifically focusing on (1) 13 interferon pathway genes in which rare deleterious variants have been reported in individuals with severe COVID-19, (2) 281 genes located in susceptibility loci identified by the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, or (3) 32 additional genes of immunologic relevance and/or therapeutic potential. Our analyses indicate there are no significant associations with rare protein-coding variants with detectable effect sizes at our current sample sizes. Analyses will be updated as additional data become available, and results are publicly available through the Regeneron Genetics Center COVID-19 Results Browser.