A Comprehensive Overview of Micro-Influencer Marketing: Decoding the Current Landscape, Impacts, and Trends.

This research provides a comprehensive overview of micro-influence marketing, analyzing the characteristics of influencers and the mechanisms of their impact. A systematic review was conducted, encompassing 2091 citing articles and references across 74 studies involving 95 research institutions and over 12,000 samples. Employing an interdisciplinary approach that integrates insights from computer science, information science, communication, culture, psychology, sociology, education, business, and management, this study outlines the distinct features of micro-influencers. These features include performable authenticity, affinity expressed through consistency and transparency, musical and artistic media talent, and competitive individual traits. The research synthesizes antecedents of trust and attachment mechanisms commonly employed in influencer theory, taking an objective standpoint and minimizing emphasis on audience engagement and perception to trigger influence. The findings highlight that followers' pursuit of self-branding, driven by self-consciousness, social consciousness, credibility, and social presence, significantly influences the impact of self-expressive products on the audience's purchase intention. The research contributes to micro-influence marketing theory by integrating mechanics, offering practical implications for micro-influencers, and suggesting future research agendas.

The Role of Platform Quality on Consumer Purchase Intention in the Context of Cross-Border E-Commerce: The Evidence from Africa.

Africa, as one of the rapidly growing markets, presents a significant opportunity for cross-border e-commerce companies to penetrate their consumer market, which is in dire need of development. This study utilizes the Information System Success model to investigate the impact of cross-border e-commerce platform quality on consumers' purchase intentions. Additionally, the study identifies the role of perceived value and trust in the purchase process. Moreover, the moderating effect of consumer acculturation on the relationship between cross-border platform quality and perceived value is examined. A total of 446 valid responses were obtained through a questionnaire survey and analyzed using structural equations. The findings reveal that platform information quality, system quality, and service quality significantly enhance consumers' perceived value, thereby positively influencing their purchase intention. Furthermore, the results highlight the joint effect of perceived value and trust on purchase intention, and trust plays a mediating role in this relationship. The moderating effect of acculturation is also confirmed, indicating that it negatively moderates the impact of system and information quality on perceived value, while positively moderating the impact of service quality on perceived value. These findings complement and extend existing cross-border e-commerce research and provide valuable insights into the buying behavior of African consumers.

Prognostic factors and the necessity of chemotherapy for stage II gastric cancer: a model based on multicenter retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to construct a prognostic model for prognosis prediction and assess the response to adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) of stage II gastric cancer (GC) patients on high and low survival risk stratifications. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 547 stage II gastric cancer patients who underwent D2 radical gastrectomy from January 2009 to May 2017 in Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University (SAH-SYSU), the Fujian Medical University Union Hospital (FJUUH), and the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC).The propensity score matching (PSM) of all variables was performed to balance selective bias between ACT and surgery alone (SA) groups. Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses were carried out to identify independent prognostic factors. Independent factors selected by the Cox regression were integrated into the nomogram. The nomogram points stratified patients into high-risk and low-risk groups by the optimal cut-off value. RESULTS: 278 patients were selected after PSM. Age, tumor site, T stage and lymph-nodes-examined (LNE) selected by Cox regression as independent prognostic factors were integrated into the nomogram. The nomogram performed well with a C-index of 0.76 and with C-indexes of 0.73 in and 0.71 in two validate cohorts. AUCs of the 3 year and 5 year ROC curves were 0.81 and 0.78. High- and low-risk groups stratified by the cut-off value demonstrated different responses to ACT. CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram performed well in prognosis prediction. Patients in high- and low-risk groups demonstrated different responses to ACT, and high-risk patients might need ACT.

SIRGs score may be a predictor of prognosis and immunotherapy response for esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma.

Background: Esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma (EGJA) is a special malignant tumor with unknown biological behavior. PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors have been recommended as first-line treatment for advanced EGJA patients. However, the biomarkers for predicting immunotherapy response remain controversial. Methods: We identified stromal immune-related genes (SIRGs) by ESTIMATE from the TCGA-EGJA dataset and constructed a signature score. In addition, survival analysis was performed in both the TCGA cohort and GEO cohort. Subsequently, we explored the differences in tumor-infiltrating immune cells, immune subtypes, immune-related functions, tumor mutation burden (TMB), immune checkpoint gene expression, immunophenoscore (IPS) between the high SIRGs score and low SIRGs score groups. Finally, two validation cohorts of patients who had accepted immunotherapy was used to verify the value of SIRGs score in predicting immunotherapy response. Results: Eight of the SIRGs were selected by LASSO regression to construct a signature score (SIRGs score). Univariate and multivariate analyses in the TCGA and GEO cohort suggested that SIRGs score was an independent risk factor for the overall survival (OS) and it could increase the accuracy of clinical prediction models for survival. However, in the high SIRGs score group, patients had more immune cell infiltration, more active immune-related functions, higher immune checkpoint gene expression and higher IPS-PD1 and IPS-PD1-CTLA4 scores, which indicate a better response to immunotherapy. The external validation illustrated that high SIRGs score was significantly associated with immunotherapy response and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can improve OS in patients with high SIRGs score. Conclusion: The SIRGs score may be a predictor of the prognosis and immune-therapy response for esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma.

Indications for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Stage II Gastric Cancer After D2 Gastrectomy-A Chinese Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND: The benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) for patients with stage II gastric cancer remains controversial. This study aimed to explore the indications for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II gastric cancer by constructing an individual prediction model. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this Chinese multicenter study, a total of 1012 patients with stage II gastric cancer after D2 radical gastrectomy were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were randomly assigned to a training cohort (n = 674) or a validation cohort (n = 338). A nomogram was constructed according to the training cohort. Concordance index (C-index), the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were applied to evaluate the performance of the nomogram. ROC curves and stratified survival were used to determine the patients' cutoff score for a benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. An additional 338 patients were used as a validation cohort to validate the feasibility of using this nomogram to guide individualized therapy for patients with stage II gastric cancer. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analyses illustrated that age, sex, tumor location, size, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), hemoglobin (HB), and T stage were independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS), and they were used to establish a nomogram. The cutoff value was determined by ROC curve analysis, and patients were divided into a high-risk group (< 239 points) and a low-risk group (≥ 239 points). There was no significant difference in the OS of low-risk patients in either the training cohort or the validation cohort. However, the OS of high-risk patients in the AC group was better than that of patients in the surgery-only group. CONCLUSIONS: This prediction model can be applied to guide treatment of patients with stage II gastric cancer. High-risk patients (< 239 points) are likely to benefit from AC after D2 radical gastrectomy.

Violent Video Games and Aggression Among Young Adults: The Moderating Effects of Adverse Environmental Factors.

Research is divided on the effects of violent video games (VVGs). Some scholars claimed that VVG promotes aggression, reduces empathy, increases self-injury, and externalization, whereas others claim that a minimal or, in some cases, no traits as reported by the former is associated with playing VVGs. This study provides evidence to support claims that VVG is associated with aggressive behavior among young adults. However, the study focused more importantly on the moderating effects of adverse environmental factors on this relationship from a cross-cultural perspective. A total of 3,219 young adults between 18 and 35 years sampled from colleges and game centers in Ghana and China provided support for this study. We adopted a parallel moderated-mediation regression analysis and found that increased exposure to VVG is associated with reduced empathy concerns, aggression-related thoughts, and increased aggressive behavior. Although controlling for gender, setting, and location, the results pointed to the magnifying effects of the adverse environments in explaining the association between VVG and aggressive behavior. This study thus provides strong support for the frequently debated adverse effects of playing VVG among young adults with a particular reference to environmental factors and will hence aid in communicating a more representative viewpoint on the effects of VVG.

A Two-Phase Space Resection Model for Accurate Topographic Reconstruction from Lunar Imagery with PushbroomScanners.

Exterior orientation parameters' (EOP) estimation using space resection plays an important role in topographic reconstruction for push broom scanners. However, existing models of space resection are highly sensitive to errors in data. Unfortunately, for lunar imagery, the altitude data at the ground control points (GCPs) for space resection are error-prone. Thus, existing models fail to produce reliable EOPs. Motivated by a finding that for push broom scanners, angular rotations of EOPs can be estimated independent of the altitude data and only involving the geographic data at the GCPs, which are already provided, hence, we divide the modeling of space resection into two phases. Firstly, we estimate the angular rotations based on the reliable geographic data using our proposed mathematical model. Then, with the accurate angular rotations, the collinear equations for space resection are simplified into a linear problem, and the global optimal solution for the spatial position of EOPs can always be achieved. Moreover, a certainty term is integrated to penalize the unreliable altitude data for increasing the error tolerance. Experimental results evidence that our model can obtain more accurate EOPs and topographic maps not only for the simulated data, but also for the real data from Chang'E-1, compared to the existing space resection model.

Participation willingness in web surveys: exploring effect of sponsoring corporation's and survey provider's reputation.

Prior research involving response rates in Web-based surveys has not adequately addressed the effect of the reputation of a sponsoring corporation that contracts with a survey provider. This study investigates the effect of two factors, namely, the reputation of a survey's provider and the reputation of a survey's sponsoring corporation, on the willingness of potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. Results of an experimental design with these two factors reveal that the sponsoring corporation's and the survey provider's strong reputations can induce potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. A sponsoring corporation's reputation has a greater effect on the participation willingness of potential respondents of a Web survey than the reputation of the survey provider. A sponsoring corporation with a weak reputation who contracts with a survey provider having a strong reputation results in increased participation willingness from potential respondents if the identity of the sponsoring corporation is disguised in a survey. This study identifies the most effective strategy to increase participation willingness for a Web-based survey by considering both the reputations of the sponsoring corporation and survey provider and whether to reveal their identities.

A quality guarantee in acute coronary syndromes: the American College of Cardiology's Guidelines Applied in Practice program taken real-time.

BACKGROUND: Wide variation exists in the management of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs), which includes an apparent underutilization of evidence-based therapies. We have previously demonstrated that application of the American College of Cardiology Guidelines Applied in Practice (GAP) tools can improve quality indicator rates and outcomes of patients hospitalized with ACS. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a real-time system for monitoring key quality-of-care indicators using GAP would improve both process indicators and outcomes beyond those of the initial implementation of GAP. DESIGN: Prospective patient identification, prospective chart coding, retrospective data abstraction. PATIENTS: All patients with ACS admitted (N = 3189) to our institution between January 1, 1999, and December 2004; 2019 studied before real-time implementation from January 1, 1999, to June 30, 2002, and 1170 studied during real-time implementation from July 1, 2002, to December 31, 2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The effect of real-time monitoring of key quality indicators on inhospital therapy and outcomes, and 6-month outcomes in patients admitted with ACS. RESULTS: The real-time GAP implementation correlated with more frequent use of inhospital angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (72.7% vs 63.7%, P < .0001), beta blockers (93.0% vs 89.7%, P = .0016), statins (81.2% vs 65.9%, P < .0001), antiplatelet agents (69.2% vs 22.5%, P < .0001), and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (35.5% vs 26.7%, P < .0001). There were fewer episodes of inhospital congestive heart failure (3.85% vs 8.77%, P < .0001) and major bleeding events (3.2% vs 7.9%, P < .0001) after the real-time system was adopted. Real-time GAP also resulted in higher discharge rates of aspirin (92.1% vs 86.5%, P < .0001), beta blockers (86.8% vs 79.1%, P < .0001), statins (81.2% vs 64.7%, P < .0001), and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (67.1% vs 55.5%, P < .0001). Real-time GAP implementation was associated with fewer rehospitalizations for heart disease (19.8% vs 25.2%, P = .0014), myocardial infarction (3.5% vs 5.4%, P = .0243), and combined death/cerebrovascular accident/myocardial infarction (9.5% vs 13.9%, P = .0009) during the first 6 months after discharge. CONCLUSION: The institution of a formal system to review and "guarantee" key quality-of-care indicators real time in the hospital is associated with improved outcomes in patients admitted with ACS. The combination of American College of Cardiology's GAP program and its real-time implementation leads to higher use of evidence-based therapies and correspondingly better outcomes than those associated with the initial GAP implementation.