This research shows how exposure to a redemption story-a narrative wherein someone overcomes challenges resulting from their own moral failures to become more moral-can motivate charitable giving. Across four studies, people donated more after encountering a redemption story relative to stories in which a protagonist was always moral or improved in a less moralized domain. This is because two critical elements of redemption stories-morality and growth-elicit greater moral elevation when both are present compared to stories with one or neither of these elements. Additionally, the impact of redemption stories is stronger among those with higher internalized moral identities, because they are particularly attuned to moral content. Redemption stories also have higher impact when the protagonist begins from a position of greater adversity. These findings demonstrate that redemption stories are a novel and effective way to increase charitable donations due to their morally elevating effects.

4.5 New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism: Examining the Role of Anthropomorphism in Financial Decision-Making and Consumer Welfare - no. 3

Four studies show that moral identity reduces people's aversion to giving time-particularly as the psychological costs of doing so increase. In Study 1, we demonstrate that even when the cost of time and money are held equivalent, a moral cue enhances the expected self-expressivity of giving time-especially when it is given to a moral cause. We found that a moral cue reduces time aversion even when giving time was perceived to be unpleasant (Study 2), or when the time to be given was otherwise seen to be scarce (Study 3). Study 4 builds on these studies by examining actual giving while accounting for the real costs of time. In this study, we found that the chronic salience of moral identity serves as a buffer to time aversion, specifically as giving time becomes increasingly costly. These findings are discussed in terms of the time-versus-money literature and the identity literature. We also discuss policy implications for prosocial cause initiatives. (PsycINFO Database Record

Despite the frequency with which individuals compare themselves to a benchmark, little research has examined the implications of such comparisons on willingness to help others. Such comparisons can vary in direction by suggesting that one is doing better than a benchmark (a downward comparison) or worse than a benchmark (an upward comparison). We argue and find that by being relatively better off, people making downward comparisons are more likely to view giving as a means of expressing altruistic values (e.g., to give back and be a better person) compared to those making upward comparisons. Consequently, when the context highlights the instrumentality of giving for more altruistic reasons (to benefit others), they are more willing to give than are those making upward comparisons. Furthermore, this difference is mitigated when the context highlights the instrumentality of giving to benefit the self, and is reversed when the instrumentality of giving for benefitting others is challenged. We obtain support for this account across four studies, through both moderation and mediation, and across both monetary and nonmonetary comparison domains.

Prior research has mainly examined the effect of social exclusion on individuals' interactions with other people or on their product choices as an instrument to facilitate interpersonal connection. The current research takes a novel perspective by proposing that socially excluded consumers would be more motivated to establish a relationship with a brand (rather than using the brand to socially connect with other people) when the brand exhibits human-like features. Based on this premise, we predict and find support in three studies that socially excluded consumers, compared with non-excluded consumers, exhibit greater preference for anthropomorphized brands (studies 1-3). This effect is mediated by consumers' need for social affiliation and is moderated by the opportunity for social connection with other people (study 2). Furthermore, socially excluded consumers differ in the types of relationships they would like to build with anthropomorphized brands, depending on their attributions about the exclusion. Specifically, consumers who blame themselves (others) for being socially excluded show greater preference for anthropomorphized partner (fling) brands (study 3). (C) 2016 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This paper describes the history of GEAR, BEST Robotics and FIRST Robotics in West Texas and analyzes the relative benefits of these programs. We feel that the best case scenario includes both types of programs so that widespread involvement can be achieved cost-effectively through GEAR and BEST and that a more sophisticated level of involvement is available to those with the interest and aptitude through FIRST.

Background: Neoadjuvant anti-tumor activity of an alternating taxane-and anthracycline-based dose-dense regimen in patients with operable, noninflammatory large breast cancer was investigated.Objective: The objective is to study the rate of pathological complete response in patients with breast cancer receiving dose-dense chemotherapy sequentially with gemcitabine plus docetaxel and vinorelbine plus epirubicin.Methods: Women (n = 74) with clinical stage II or III breast cancer were enrolled in this open-label, multicenter study to receive six 2-weekly courses of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) plus docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 15, and vinorelbine 25 mg/m(2) plus epirubicin 100mg/m(2) on days 29 and 43. Patients with an objective response on day 56 then received another cycle of gemcitabine/docetaxel on day 57 and of vinorelbine/epirubicin on day 71. Conservative surgery was scheduled for all patients.Results: Of the patients enrolled, 30% had triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The pathologic complete response (pCR) rate was 22% overall, but was higher in TNBC than patients without TNBC (40.9% vs 14.0%; p = 0.028). Among patients with a pCR, patients with TNBC had similar recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) to patients without TNBC. Among those without a pCR, RFS rates for patients with TNBC were significantly lower than for patients without TNBC (p = 0.04). The most common severe hematologic toxicity was neutropenia.Conclusions: Administering four drugs in a dose-dense alternating sequence gave a high pCR in patients with operable, invasive breast cancer. Patients with TNBC with a pCR had similar OS to patients without TNBC, whereas patients with TNBC without a pCR had poorer survival rate than their nonTNBC counterparts.

OBJECTIVES To determine the benefit of starting early chemotherapy with docetaxel (the recommended first‐line treatment) for patients with asymptomatic metastatic hormone‐refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Data were analysed from 145 patients with HRPC treated with chemotherapy between February 2000 and June 2002 in one French centre. Eligible patients were categorized into three groups according to the bone pain at baseline, i.e. minimal/no pain, mild, and moderate/severe pain. The primary endpoint was the effect of bone pain on overall survival (OS). RESULTS Docetaxel was administered to 67% of patients. The risk of death was 1.56 and 2.11 times higher for patients with mild or moderate/severe pain than for those with minimal/no pain ( P = 0.027). The median (95% confidence interval (CI)) OS was 23.1 (18.5–27.6) and 14.1 (8.9–19.2) months ( P = 0.001, log‐rank‐test) for patients with minimal pain or no pain treated with docetaxel‐based chemotherapy compared with mitoxantrone, respectively. The prostate‐specific antigen doubling time (PSA‐DT) had a significant effect on OS in patients with minimal/no pain, with a median of 32.4 and 16.5 months for a PSA‐DT of ≥45 and <45 days, respectively ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that patients with HRPC and minimal or no bone pain could have better survival than those with mild pain or moderate to severe pain, independent of the treatment administered. In addition, patients with HRPC and minimal or no bone pain treated with docetaxel‐based chemotherapy have a significantly better OS than those treated with mitoxantrone. The PSA‐DT can be useful to identify asymptomatic patients who are candidates for early treatment.

BACKGROUND:Onycholysis occurs in approximately 30% of patients treated with docetaxel. The efficacy and safety of an Elasto-Gel frozen sock (FS) was investigated for the prevention of docetaxel-induced nail and skin toxicity of the feet.METHODS:Patients receiving docetaxel at a dose of 70 to 100 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks were eligible for this matched case-control study. Each patient wore an FS for 90 minutes on the right foot. The unprotected left foot acted as control. Nail and skin toxicities were assessed using National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (version 3) and compared using a 2-sample Wilcoxon matched-pairs rank test adjusted for tied values.RESULTS:Fifty consecutive patients were included between April 2005 and January 2007. Nail toxicity was significantly lower in the FS-protected foot compared with the control foot (grade 0: 100% versus 79%; and grade 1 and 2: 0% versus 21%, respectively) (P= .002). Skin toxicity was grade 0: 98% versus 94%; and grade 1 and 2: 2% versus 6% in the FS-protected and the control feet, respectively. The median times until toxicity occurrence were not found to differ significantly between the groups. One patient experienced discomfort because of cold intolerance.CONCLUSIONS:Cold therapy using FS significantly reduced the incidence of docetaxel-induced foot nail toxicity, as previously demonstrated using frozen gloves for the hands.

Background TG4010 is a recombinant viral vector expressing both the tumor-associated antigen MUC1 and Interleukine-2. This vector is based on the modified virus of Ankara, a significantly attenuated strain of vaccinia virus. TG4010 has been designed to induce or amplify a cellular immune response directed against tumor cells expressing MUC1. Methods A multicenter, randomized phase II study has explored two schedules of the combination of TG4010 with first line chemotherapy in patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer. In Arm 1, TG4010 was combined upfront with cisplatin (100 mg/m2 day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2 day 1 and day 8). In Arm 2, patients were treated with TG4010 monotherapy until disease progression, followed by TG4010 plus the same chemotherapy as in Arm1. Response rate was evaluated according to RECIST. Median time to progression and median overall survival were calculated according to the Kaplan–Meier method. Results Sixty-five patients were enrolled, 44 in Arm 1 and 21 in Arm 2, in accordance with the two stage Simon design of the statistical plan. In Arm 1, partial response was observed in 13 patients out of 37 evaluable patients (29.5% of the intent to treat population, 35.1% of the evaluable patients). In Arm 2, two patients experienced stable disease for more than 6 months with TG4010 alone (up to 211 days), in the subsequent combination with chemotherapy, one complete and one partial response were observed out of 14 evaluable patients. Arm 2 did not meet the criteria for moving forward to second stage. The median time to progression was 4.8 months for Arm 1. The median overall survival was 12.7 months for Arm 1 and 14.9 for Arm 2. One year survival rate was 53% for Arm 1 and 60% for Arm 2. TG4010 was well tolerated, mild to moderate injection site reactions, flu-like symptoms, and fatigue being the most frequent adverse reactions. A MUC1-specific cellular immune response was observed in lymphocyte samples from all responding patients evaluable for immunology. Conclusions The combination of TG4010 with standard chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer is feasible and shows encouraging results. A randomized study evaluating the addition of TG4010 to first line chemotherapy in this population is in progress.

In several studies, the authors examine the potential to leverage a consumer's moral identity to enhance brand and company identification and promote goodwill through community relations. Studies 1 a and 1 b show that even when opportunity costs are equivalent (subjectively or economically), consumers who also have a highly self-important moral identity perceive the act of giving time versus money as more moral and self-expressive. The authors extend these findings to self-reported preferences and establish boundary conditions in two additional studies. Consumers with higher organizational status prefer to give money versus time, but this preference is weaker for those with a highly self-important moral identity (Study 2), and the preference for giving time versus money is more likely to emerge when the moral self is primed and the time given has a moral purpose (Study 3).

OBJECTIVE. Changes of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) during chemotherapy have been validated as a marker of response for hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) patients. We retrospectively established new response criteria to assess the risk of death. METHODS. Two hundred fifty-six chemonaive HRPC patients treated with chemotherapy were included in the analysis. According to PSA half-life (HL) dynamics, three response categories were defined: responders (R), late-progressors (LP) and initial-progressors (IP), that were compared with Working Group (WG) criteria. PSA HL time to failure (TTF) and overall survival (CS) were estimated and compared between HT categories. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to isolate the impact on OS of these response categories. A new predictor of survival, delta-time PSA interval (Delta T) was described. RESULTS. PSA HL categories were strongly related with WG criteria (P = 0.0001). PSA HL TTF differed among PSA HL categories: 4.2, 2.3, and 0.9 months for R, LP, and IP patients, respectively, and their respective median OS were 27, 19.7, and 12.3 months (P = 0.0001). For Delta T >= 3 versus < 3 months, median OS significantly differed: 24.9 months versus 13.2 months (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS. PSA HL dynamics during chemotherapy were able to accurately predict survival, earlier than WG-defined progression criteria. This criterion should be prospectively evaluated in randomized trials for HRPC patients in order to better estimate the risk of death.