Determinants of selection behavior in online distribution channels for fresh food

This study examines the core factors that determine consumer choices of distribution channels for fresh food during the COVID‐19 pandemic, focusing on online distribution channels and the substitution patterns between online and offline distribution channels. Using 1436 responses to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea, a specialized survey agency in Korea, we adopted a multivariate probit model for the empirical analysis. The results show that consumers who pursued ease of use or had high awareness of online food delivery tended to choose online distribution channels for fresh food, unlike consumers who were sensitive to high quality or low prices. Consumers with high consumer spending, who are living in Seoul or a metropolitan area, have children of 10 years old or younger, and have a high educational level had positive relationships with the choice of an online distribution channel. Additionally, the estimates of the variance‐covariance matrix showed a complementary relationship between large markets and small and medium‐sized markets, with the possibility of a weak substitution effect between small and medium‐sized markets and online distribution channels.

TMED3 Complex Mediates ER Stress-Associated Secretion of CFTR, Pendrin, and SARS-CoV-2 Spike.

Under ER stress conditions, the ER form of transmembrane proteins can reach the plasma membrane via a Golgi-independent unconventional protein secretion (UPS) pathway. However, the targeting mechanisms of membrane proteins for UPS are unknown. Here, this study reports that TMED proteins play a critical role in the ER stress-associated UPS of transmembrane proteins. The gene silencing results reveal that TMED2, TMED3, TMED9 and TMED10 are involved in the UPS of transmembrane proteins, such as CFTR, pendrin and SARS-CoV-2 Spike. Subsequent mechanistic analyses indicate that TMED3 recognizes the ER core-glycosylated protein cargos and that the heteromeric TMED2/3/9/10 complex mediates their UPS. Co-expression of all four TMEDs improves, while each single expression reduces, the UPS and ion transport function of trafficking-deficient ΔF508-CFTR and p.H723R-pendrin, which cause cystic fibrosis and Pendred syndrome, respectively. In contrast, TMED2/3/9/10 silencing reduces SARS-CoV-2 viral release. These results provide evidence for a common role of TMED3 and related TMEDs in the ER stress-associated, Golgi-independent secretion of transmembrane proteins.

Choice and allocation characteristics of faculty time in Korea: effects of tenure, research performance, and external shock.

Academics generally should meet both teaching duty and research performance requirements. Since their work time is finite, academics need to allocate time for research, teaching, and other types of work. This means that universities or governments might enhance the efficiency of their faculty systems or educational policies by understanding academics' preferences for choice and allocation of their work time. We analyzed the work time allocation preferences of 450 Korean academics in science and engineering fields based on the multiple discrete-continuous extreme value (MDCEV) model. We classified work time into either of research, teaching, or other tasks and investigated the relationship between academics' preferences in choosing and allocating their work time and faculty system (e.g., tenure), individual characteristics (e.g., research productivity) and external shock (e.g., COVID-19). Analysis results show that academics with either of tenure, higher research productivity, or commercialization experience preferred to allocating their work time firstly to research, i.e., rather than to teaching or other tasks, while this was not the case for the academics after the pandemic. In general, academics appeared not to prefer allocating their work time firstly to teaching. Implications of our study are twofold. First, the higher education sector needs to incentivize academics' teaching time allocation for enhanced effectiveness of education. Second, universities and governments urgently need systems and policies to facilitate academics' research time allocation for enhanced research productivity as we find deteriorated preference for research time allocation after COVID-19.

Choice and allocation characteristics of faculty time in Korea: effects of tenure, research performance, and external shock

Academics generally should meet both teaching duty and research performance requirements. Since their work time is finite, academics need to allocate time for research, teaching, and other types of work. This means that universities or governments might enhance the efficiency of their faculty systems or educational policies by understanding academics’ preferences for choice and allocation of their work time. We analyzed the work time allocation preferences of 450 Korean academics in science and engineering fields based on the multiple discrete–continuous extreme value (MDCEV) model. We classified work time into either of research, teaching, or other tasks and investigated the relationship between academics’ preferences in choosing and allocating their work time and faculty system (e.g., tenure), individual characteristics (e.g., research productivity) and external shock (e.g., COVID-19). Analysis results show that academics with either of tenure, higher research productivity, or commercialization experience preferred to allocating their work time firstly to research, i.e., rather than to teaching or other tasks, while this was not the case for the academics after the pandemic. In general, academics appeared not to prefer allocating their work time firstly to teaching. Implications of our study are twofold. First, the higher education sector needs to incentivize academics’ teaching time allocation for enhanced effectiveness of education. Second, universities and governments urgently need systems and policies to facilitate academics’ research time allocation for enhanced research productivity as we find deteriorated preference for research time allocation after COVID-19.

Cardiovascular events and safety outcomes associated with remdesivir using a World Health Organization international pharmacovigilance database.

On October 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved remdesivir as the first drug for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), increasing remdesivir prescriptions worldwide. However, potential cardiovascular (CV) toxicities associated with remdesivir remain unknown. We aimed to characterize the CV adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with remdesivir using VigiBase, an individual case safety report database of the World Health Organization (WHO). Disproportionality analyses of CV-ADRs associated with remdesivir were performed using reported odds ratios and information components. We conducted in vitro experiments using cardiomyocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) to confirm cardiotoxicity of remdesivir. To distinguish drug-induced CV-ADRs from COVID-19 effects, we restricted analyses to patients with COVID-19 and found that, after adjusting for multiple confounders, cardiac arrest (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-3.29), bradycardia (aOR: 2.09, 95% CI: 1.24-3.53), and hypotension (aOR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.03-2.73) were associated with remdesivir. In vitro data demonstrated that remdesivir reduced the cell viability of hPSC-CMs in time- and dose-dependent manners. Physicians should be aware of potential CV consequences following remdesivir use and implement adequate CV monitoring to maintain a tolerable safety margin.