Dark defaults: How choice architecture steers political campaign donations.

In the months before the 2020 U.S. election, several political campaign websites added prechecked boxes (defaults), automatically making all donations into recurring weekly contributions unless donors unchecked them. Since these changes occurred at different times for different campaigns, we use a staggered difference-in-differences design to measure the causal effects of defaults on donors' behavior. We estimate that defaults increased campaign donations by over $43 million while increasing requested refunds by almost $3 million. The weekly default only impacted weekly recurring donations, and not other donations, suggesting that donors may not have intended to make weekly donations. The longer defaults were displayed, the more money campaigns raised through weekly donations. Donors did not compensate by changing the amount they donated. We found that the default had a larger impact on smaller donors and on donors who had no prior experience with defaults, causing them to start more chains and donate a larger proportion of their money through weekly recurring donations.

Influence of donor age, sex and ethnicity on high-titre anti-A and -B: Review of 6 million donations from two national blood providers.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Some blood operators routinely screen blood donations for high-titre (HT) anti-A/B to reduce the risk of a haemolytic transfusion reaction due to out-of-group plasma-rich components. We assessed donor factors associated with an increased likelihood of screening positive and compared routine data between England and Australia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were assessed from HT screening during 2018-2020 in Australia and 2018-2021 in England, totalling nearly 6 million blood donations. Screening was performed using a Beckman Coulter PK7300 analyser with a micro-titre plate saline direct agglutination test in both countries, although different reagent red cells were chosen. HT-positive was defined as testing positive at a titre of 128 or above. RESULTS: The likelihood of a donor testing HT-positive was greater for females than males, declined with age and was dependent on the ABO group. However, the proportion of donors testing HT-positive was consistently higher in Australia than in England: overall, 14% of group O donations and 5% of group A donations in England tested HT-positive, compared with 51% and 22%, respectively in Australia. English data also showed that donors from Black, Asian or mixed ethnic backgrounds were more likely to test HT-positive than White donors. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that donor sex, age, ABO group and ethnicity affect the likelihood of testing HT-positive. Differences in testing methods likely had a significant impact on the proportion of donors testing as HT-positive or -negative rather than any differences in donor populations.

Clustering blood donors via mixtures of product partition models with covariates.

Motivated by the problem of accurately predicting gap times between successive blood donations, we present here a general class of Bayesian nonparametric models for clustering. These models allow for the prediction of new recurrences, accommodating covariate information that describes the personal characteristics of the sample individuals. We introduce a prior for the random partition of the sample individuals, which encourages two individuals to be co-clustered if they have similar covariate values. Our prior generalizes product partition models with covariates (PPMx) models in the literature, which are defined in terms of cohesion and similarity functions. We assume cohesion functions that yield mixtures of PPMx models, while our similarity functions represent the denseness of a cluster. We show that including covariate information in the prior specification improves the posterior predictive performance and helps interpret the estimated clusters in terms of covariates in the blood donation application.

Evaluating utility of routine ferritin testing in blood donors: A hospital-based blood donor centre experience.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Iron deficiency (ID) poses a prevalent concern among blood donors, especially impacting young donors, premenopausal females and frequent donors. In alignment with recommendations to address ID, routine ferritin testing was implemented in a hospital-based donor centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data set, encompassing 26 164 ferritin values from 16 464 blood donors over 33 months, were analysed retrospectively. Ferritin levels were assessed concerning donor characteristics such as sex, age, ethnicity and donation frequency. RESULTS: Ferritin testing revealed age, sex and ethnicity variations, emphasising the heightened risk of ID in young females meeting all donation criteria under 23 year of age who demonstrated the lowest mean baseline ferritin (41% [CI: 34%-48%] < 26 ng/mL; 20% [CI: 14%-25%] < 15 ng/mL). Postmenopausal females exhibited ferritin levels similar to similarly aged males. Irrespective of sex, donors showcased mean ferritin recovery within 6 months. Analysis of ferritin recovery post-donation showed a five-fold increase in risk (compared with first visit) of ID when donors return at a 2-month interval. 'Regular' donors (≥10 visits) approach a median steady ferritin level (~30-35 ng/mL) by the sixth visit. CONCLUSION: As reliance on regular blood donors increases, donation policies must strike a balance between blood centre resources and the risks posed to both regular and at-risk donors. Frequent blood donation led to donors attaining a mean steady state ferritin level above the threshold for ID. At-risk groups, particularly premenopausal females, were several times more likely to experience ID after donation but demonstrated recovery rates similar to their group's baseline levels. This valuable information informed the development of new donor deferral policies.

Performances of Hope and Despair: A Case Study of Organ Donation Between a Palestinian and Israeli Jew Amidst War.

We explore the phenomenon of organ donation between rivals in time of war when a significant gift such as organ donation is given not just to a "stranger" but to a stranger who may be considered an enemy. This is a case study of a unique organ donation event that occurred in Israel during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021. It involved a Palestinian boy killed by a Jewish policeman and a Jewish man killed by Palestinian youths. Both victims, lacking organ donor cards, had their organs donated by their families with the awareness that recipients could come from the "opposing" group. We ask: (1) How do families from rival groups construct meaning in their decision to donate organs? (2) How do they construct meaning in their experience of loss? The findings reveal that bereaved families imbue their actions with political and religious significance, framing the organ donations as a "universal gift" guided by religious commandments to save lives. While these acts initially transcend cultural and national boundaries, a lack of recognition and gratitude afterward can lead to disillusionment, reinforcing "us" versus "them" boundaries. This study underscores the intricate dynamics in organ donations during political conflict and the pivotal role of religious authorities in shaping perceptions and meaning. Moreover, it highlights the potential for organ donations to foster reconciliation and coexistence amidst conflict, provided mutual recognition in cases where compassion and understanding of loss are prioritized.

The impact of executives' green experience on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance: Evidence from China.

Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance reflects the alignment of firms with national strategies and macroeconomic development principles, and serves as a crucial foundation for achieving sustainable development. Investigating the factors driving corporate ESG performance has significant theoretical and practical implications. This study utilizes data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies in China from 2010 to 2022 and theoretically analyzes and empirically tests the effects and mechanisms of executives' green experience on overall ESG performance and performance on each element of ESG. The results indicate that executives' green experience enhances the efficiency of corporate green patent innovation, thereby improving environmental performance. In addition, green experiences foster environmental investment and charitable donations, leading to better social performance. Executives with green experience also attract green investors and analysts' attention, thereby improving corporate governance and ultimately positively affecting overall corporate ESG performance. The robustness of these findings is confirmed through alternative variable measurements, Propensity Score Matching(PSM) Tests, Entropy Balancing Tests, Instrumental Variable Tests, and controlling for the impact of significant public health events. Further analysis revealed that the positive effects of executives' green experiences on corporate ESG performance are more pronounced in non-heavily polluting corporations, non-state-owned corporations, and firms where executives have higher power. This study enriches research on the consequences of executives' green experiences and the determinants of corporate ESG performance, extending the boundaries of how executive characteristics influence micro-level corporate outcomes. It also provides valuable references for regulatory bodies promoting ESG practices and decision-making by capital market participants.

EquipSent - Enabling Sustainable Education, Everywhere.

EquipSent is a volunteer-based non-profit organization aiming at creating conditions for sustainable teaching, study, and academic research worldwide. Used, functional equipment is collected by its members, who are responsible for matching the donations with the receivers in need. After starting in 2017, nine big transfers were accomplished that significantly impacted the quality of local scientific and educational life. In this article, we show how EquipSent as an organization strives to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Chemistry in Switzerland.

Prevalence of Parvovirus B19 Viremia Among German Blood Donations and the Relationship to ABO and Rhesus Blood Group Antigens.

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic blood donors can transmit human parvovirus B19 (B19V). METHODS: We assessed the B19V prevalence among a large cohort of blood donations collected in Germany during 2015-2018. RESULTS: In total, 167 123 donations were screened for B19V deoxyribonucleic acid with 22 cases of viremia identified (0.013% positive). Infections peaked at a 4-year interval and the highest number of cases occurred in the summer months. All 22 infections were found in rhesus D-antigen-positive donations, suggesting a protective factor in donors who lack this antigen. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to our understanding of risk factors for B19V infection among central European blood and plasma donors.

Urban Churches Show an Increase in Attendance, Donations, and Finances During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the USA: Evidence from the United Methodist Church.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on religion and its practice. This paper aims to examine how the pandemic affects religious activities, donations, and finances over time and across regions within the United Methodist Church (UMC) in the USA. To address this question, we analyze survey data collected during the pandemic from 2963 churches in the USA by United Methodist Communications. Our analysis utilizes several quantitative techniques, including Z-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multinomial logistic regressions. The results indicate a decrease in church attendance over time, with a more pronounced effect observed in non-urban areas (suburban, small town, and rural). Similarly, while church donations and finances mitigate over time across churches, churches in urban areas experience a quicker rebound compared to those in non-urban areas. Lastly, we find that church attendance and donations positively affect finances. These findings hold important implications for churches in various regions, offering insights to develop strategies for navigating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trend of blood donors entering the coronavirus pandemic era and challenges: Age-period-cohort analysis using 75.5 million all blood donations data during 2006-2020 in Japan.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, "Blood Donation Promotion 2025," a blood donation target, was established based on a predicted blood donation rate of 5.7% in 2025, which was calculated by the Blood Donation Promotion Study Group (BD research group) of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare using nationwide blood donation data through 2018. However, COVID-19 since 2020 may affect the blood donation rate in Japan. METHOD: Data from 75.5 million blood donations from 2006 to 2020 was used. The age-period-cohort model (APC model) was applied to estimate age, period, and birth cohort factors on blood donation rate and to predict the age-specific blood donation rates from 2021 to 2035. RESULTS: The APC model was highly reproducible for blood donation rates (modified R2 = 0.99). The blood donation rate in 2020 was 6.0% (5.04 million), an increase compared to 2019. Comparing this study with the BD research group, the predicted blood donation rates in 2025 for those 16-19 years old and in 20s are lower (4.8% vs. 5.2% and 5.3% vs. 5.5%) but those among 50s and 60s are higher (7.9% vs. 7.5% and 4.2% vs. 3.9%, respectively). DISCUSSION: The number of blood donations in 2020 increased despite COVID-19 and it proved that the blood donation promotion was effective. The different age-specific blood donation rates between our study and the report of BD research group infers the effect of COVID-19 on blood donation were differed by age and suggested the need for different approaches to blood donation promotion by generation.

Screening for Zika virus in US armed services blood program donors: An opportunity to compare emerging infectious disease risk between the general US population and military donors.

BACKGROUND: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) collects blood from volunteer DoD donors in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated centers, and from emergency donor panels in overseas operations. Emerging infectious diseases could reduce DoD access to blood products. In August 2016, FDA determined that Zika virus was transfusion-transmitted and advised that donated blood should be screened for Zika utilizing one of two investigational new drug (IND) applications. The Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) tested blood using its own protocol concurrently with the IND study sponsored by Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., titled "A Prospective Study to Evaluate the Specificity of the cobas Zika test for use on the cobas 6800/8800 System for Screening of Blood Donations for the Presence of Zika virus RNA." STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This prospective clinical trial (September 2016-August 2017) evaluated the specificity of the cobas Zika 6800/8800 System. Consenting volunteers were screened for Zika by participating reference labs. Participants with positive screens were offered a follow-up study using alternative PCR and serology assays. RESULTS: 92,618 DoD donors enrolled; four tested positive on screening (0.0043%; CI 0.001176896%, 0.01105894%). Three enrolled in follow-up testing and none were positive. These results were comparable to all U.S. donors: 3,858,114 enrolled (excluding Puerto Rico) with 459 positive screens (0.0119%; CI 0.01083582%, 0.01303962%). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated the effectiveness of the cobas Zika test. DoD donors, who are included in emergency donor panels during military operations, were at no higher risk for Zika than the overall U.S. donor population.

Evolving the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men time-based deferral to sexual risk screening for all donors: The contribution of Canadian research programmes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In Canada, the time deferral for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) to donate blood has gradually decreased. In September 2022, this deferral was replaced with sexual behaviour-based screening for all donors. We investigate how data from targeted research programmes addressed knowledge gaps to support this change. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a scoping review describing the Canadian literature available before the research programmes relating to (1) behavioural indicators of HIV risk and (2) attitudes to blood donation among gbMSM, current donors and the general population. We summarize the targeted research programmes, their outputs and impact to date. RESULTS: For question 1, five projects met inclusion criteria. For question 2, three articles met inclusion criteria. Knowledge gaps identified were insufficient evidence of HIV incidence in gbMSM who met other donor eligibility criteria and scant data on opinions and views of blood donation and screening criteria for sexual risk behaviours. The research programmes funded 19 projects at 11 different research sites involving over 100 individual researchers/collaborators resulting in 19 peer-reviewed publications to date. Leveraging existing gbMSM cohorts yielded relevant HIV incidence data to inform safety modelling studies. Findings indicated that sexual behaviour-based screening was acceptable to gbMSM and donors, and donor discomfort around specific questions could be mitigated with clear explanations. CONCLUSION: Targeted research programmes filled critical knowledge gaps and informed a change to gender-neutral, sexual behaviour-based screening for all donors. Findings supported successful implementation of these changes with research-informed staff training.

Politics matters for individual attitudes toward vaccine donation: cross-national evidence from the United States and Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Vaccine equity has been a major concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the principle of vaccine equity, donor countries should apply the criterion of needs to make decisions about vaccine donation instead of considering recipient countries' economic status. We examine whether people follow the same criterion or consider other factors to decide which country to donate vaccines and how many vaccines should be delivered. METHODS: We conducted online surveys with the design of conjoint experiment in the United States and Taiwan in 2021. 1,532 American citizens and 1,587 Taiwanese citizens were interviewed. The respondents were broadly quota-matched to their respective demographic proportions on the dimensions of age, gender, and education. We estimated the average marginal component effects (AMCEs) of the conjoint attributes by using the OLS regression models with standard errors clustered at the respondent level. RESULTS: 15,320 and 15,870 decisions on vaccine donation generated by conjoint experiment respectively in the United States and Taiwan were included in the analysis. Both American and Taiwanese people tend to donate vaccines to countries that suffer severe consequences of COVID-19 and democracies compared to authoritarian countries. However, they are less willing to donate vaccines to those with higher levels of capability in response to COVID-19. Taiwanese people tend to donate vaccines to countries having formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan (AMCE 13.4%, 95% CI 11.8%-15.1%). Nonetheless, American people would rather donate vaccines to countries without formal diplomatic relations with the United States (AMCE - 4.0%, 95% CI -5.6%--2.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings reveal that politics plays a significant role in people's decisions about vaccine donation. Under electoral pressure, political leaders must think about how to respond to the public's preferences over vaccine donation to achieve vaccine equity and address the global health crisis.

A proposal for systematic monitoring of the commercial determinants of health: a pilot study assessing the feasibility of monitoring lobbying and political donations in Australia.

BACKGROUND: The commercial determinants of health include a range of practices to promote business interests, often at the expense of public health. Corporate political practices, such as lobbying and campaign donations, are used to influence policy makers and foster a political and regulatory environment conducive to business interests. Despite recognition of their public health importance, thus far there are relatively few efforts to systematically monitor commercial political practices. METHODS: A pilot study was conducted to explore the feasibility of systematically monitoring two political practices - lobbying and political contributions - for 'harmful industries' (alcohol, gambling, ultra-processed food and tobacco industries) in Australia. Potential data sources were reviewed to compare data availability and detail. Two publicly available datasets were selected for the pilot: ministerial diaries for New South Wales and annual donor filings from the Australian Electoral Commission. Google Data Studio was used to analyse and visualise findings.  RESULTS: The pilot study resulted in the creation of several interactive charts and dashboards that supported analysis and interrogation of the data. These charts helped to easily convey the volume of lobbying and political donations, as well as changes over time. For example, we found that between July 2014 and December 2020, NSW ministers had 20,607 meetings, of which 634 meetings were with harmful industries. And between 1998 and 2020, a total of $576,519,472 disclosed donations were made to political parties and other entities, of which $35,823,937 were from harmful industries. CONCLUSIONS: Opportunities to develop a program to monitor commercial political practices face several challenges including access barriers arising from poor availability and detail of data, technical barriers arising from the format of data disclosures and coding challenges arising from the diverse nature of the commercial sector. Despite these challenges, our pilot study demonstrates the potential to implement a monitoring program and to expand its scope to other commercial determinants of health.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on source plasma donations.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many aspects of healthcare, including routine blood donations, the impact of COVID-19 on the donation of source plasma critical to many aspects of patient care, including apheresis procedures, has been more difficult to define. As production of plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs) can take up to a year, shortages in source plasma donations may not be immediately appreciated. Given current shortages in PDMPs, in particular albumin, we examined the impact of COVID-19 on source plasma donations. Our data demonstrate that source plasma donations were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and that these shortages remained until the latter half of 2022. Given the time delay in PDMP manufacturing, these results suggest that while source plasma donation levels are returning to pre-pandemic levels, shortages in PDMPs may not be quickly overcome. These results also highlight the unique vulnerabilities in plasma sourcing that may continue to manifest as PDMP shortages for years to come.

Messaging strategies for communicating health-related information in social media-a content and effectiveness analysis of organ donation posts on Instagram in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Although organ transplantation is a very effective clinical solution to save the lives of patients suffering from organ failure, the supply of donated organs still cannot meet its growing demand. Educating the society about organ donation is a critical success factor in increasing donation rates, especially in countries that require potential donors to proactively register and opt-in (e.g., Germany). While social media has emerged as an effective tool for disseminating health information, recent evidence suggests that published organ donation content (both online and offline), aimed at raising awareness, still lacks effectiveness. To develop recommendations for optimizing organ donation messaging via social media, this study not only examines the current state of organ donation communication on Instagram, but also identifies factors that contribute to message effectiveness. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective content analysis to in-depth assess organ donation-related content published on Instagram in Germany between January and March 2022. Systematic coding allowed to identify common themes, sentiments, and communication strategies, which were analyzed for their effectiveness using linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Of the 500 organ donation posts, 57% were published by institutional authors while the remainder was shared by private accounts. Most content was aimed at the general population and shared neutral (80%) or positive sentiments (17%). Transformative messages, positive emotions, posts published by the transplant recipient and the image of a human served as predictors for post effectiveness measured in terms of likes (p < 0.001) and comments (p < 0.01). Sharing personal experiences (p < 0.01) and highlighting the meaning of organ donations (p < 0.05) resulted in significantly higher audience engagement than any other topic discussed. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the need for health officials to work closely with organ transplant recipients to publicly advocate for organ donations by sharing personal and transformative messages. The high share of posts published by transplant recipients indicates a certain openness to share personal experiences with broad audiences. Different message characteristics served as predictors for message effectiveness (i.e., increased audience engagement) which can likely be extrapolated to other health-related use cases (e.g., cancer screening).

International media coverage promotes donations to a climate disaster.

The Australian bushfires in 2019-20 triggered massive amounts of charitable giving from the community. This study applied agenda-setting theory to examine if and how disaster news coverage influenced public donations in response to the crisis. A survey of 949 Australians found that people perceived news coverage of the event to be a strong influence on the amount they donated to bushfire appeals, over and above past giving levels. Furthermore, media coverage was more influential in participants' charity selection than both peer influence and direct communications from the charities. Next, a textual analysis of international news coverage of the event (N = 30,239 unique articles) was conducted. Compared to a control corpus of text, news coverage of the disaster used words related to 'money' and 'support' at disproportionately high frequencies. Together, the studies suggest that the media plays an agenda-setting role in determining how and to what extent people give to disaster appeals.

Does scarcity increase or decrease donation behaviors? An investigation considering resource-specific scarcity and individual person-thing orientation.

Extant research remains equivocal with respect to whether scarcity increases or decreases charitable behaviors. This research suggests a reconciliation by considering a donor's resource-specific scarcity, and their person-thing orientation (PTO), a novel personality variable that determines whether individuals are naturally attuned towards people versus things in their environment. Person-orientation predisposes preferences towards donating time, while thing-orientation predisposes preferences towards donating money. Time scarcity leads person-oriented individuals to prefer donating money, but does not affect thing-oriented individuals. Financial scarcity leads thing-oriented individuals to prefer donating time, but does not affect person-oriented individuals. Person-oriented individuals' attention towards other people and thing-oriented individuals' focus on resource evaluation form the basis for the observed relative donation preferences. Finally, PTO can also be situationally induced. Using donation intentions and real click-through behavior for diverse charitable organizations, we show in five studies that the combined effect of consumers' perceived resource-specific scarcity and PTO determines the relative preference for donating time vs. donating money. Our results have important implications for charities soliciting specific kinds of resources, as well as real-world government and social welfare initiatives critically dependent on volunteerism. Theoretically, we examine scarcity from an individual-difference perspective that has not been well understood. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-023-00938-2.

Political donations and the gender gap during COVID-19.

What effect has the COVID-19 pandemic had on the political donations gender gap in Canada? Drawing on data from two national surveys conducted in May and August 2020, as well as Elections Canada data from 2019 and 2020, we find an overall decline in contributions to political parties and a reduced but still significant gender gap, with women less likely to donate to political parties than men.

"The greedy I that gives"-The paradox of egocentrism and altruism: Terror management and system justification perspectives on the interrelationship between mortality salience and charitable donations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why do people give and help others in face of their own mortality salience? The existential struggle with the awareness of death impacts the gamut of human cognition, emotion, and behavior. This multi-method research (∑N = 1,219) explains the psychosocial impact of COVID-19-related mortality salience on altruism. Drawing from terror management theory, two studies tested death-thought accessibility, mortality salience, and anxiety buffer hypotheses. Study 1 (cross-sectional survey), using structural equation modeling, confirms death anxiety and fear are predictors of powerlessness and materialism which, in turn, predict charitable donations. Study 2 (between-subjects experiment) confirms the causal effects of COVID-19-induced mortality salience on altruism. Controlling income and socioeconomic status, people in the mortality salience treatment condition indicate greater monetary donations ($), ratio of prosocial (altruistic) to proself (egocentric) spending (%), donation of time (hour), monetary valuation of time (hourly rate = $/hour), and economic value of donated time (hourly rate*hour) than the controls. These effects are mediated by powerlessness. Moderating effects of relevant individual difference factors are significant: the greedier, more selfish, narcissistic, materialistic, and system-justifying the donor is, the higher monetary donations, volunteer time, and perceived value of donated time are, only when the COVID-19-induced mortality is made salient but not in the controls. Environmental and dispositional factors jointly influence vulnerability to mortality salience. The paradox of egocentrism and altruism, as an evolutionarily adaptive protective buffer against existential insecurity for social and cultural animals, can help revitalize resilience, thus shedding some lights on the sociopsychological mechanism of consumers' subjective well-being. Implications for consumer affairs, social marketers, and policymakers are discussed.