Maastricht University

About: Maastricht University is a education organization based out in Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 19263 authors who have published 53291 publications receiving 2266866 citations. The organization is also known as: Universiteit Maastricht & UM.

Customer adoption of e‐service: an experimental study

Abstract: So far, the term e‐commerce has been primarily associated with communicating the brand and/or enabling sales transactions. However, the next vista for companies operating in the virtual marketplace seems to be e‐service or, delivering value‐added, interactive services to customers. This e‐business function has been left virtually unexplored in the services research literature. In this article, an attempt is made to investigate the impact of organizational reputation, relative advantage, and perceived risk on perceived service quality, trust and behavioral intentions of customers towards adopting e‐services. In the context of an electronic travel service, hypotheses on the relationships between aforementioned variables are investigated by means of an experimental study. The results suggest that the three factors have a significant main effect on the customers’ attitude and behavior towards e‐service. The only exception is that relative advantage does not appear to have a significant impact on customer trust. The results also show that organizational reputation and perceived risk have a combined effect: a good organizational reputation impacts the effect of perceived risk on the three dependent variables. Finally, the three factors appeared to be evenly important in the forming of customers’ attitude and behavior. Again, the only exception is that organizational reputation and perceived risk appear to be more important in terms of trust than relative advantage.

The role of microbial amino acid metabolism in host metabolism.

Abstract: Disruptions in gut microbiota composition and function are increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The functional output of the gut microbiota, including short-chain fatty acids and amino acids, are thought to be important modulators underlying the development of these disorders. Gut bacteria can alter the bioavailability of amino acids by utilization of several amino acids originating from both alimentary and endogenous proteins. In turn, gut bacteria also provide amino acids to the host. This could have significant implications in the context of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, conditions associated with elevated systemic concentrations of certain amino acids, in particular the aromatic and branched-chain amino acids. Moreover, several amino acids released by gut bacteria can serve as precursors for the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids, which also play a role in the development of obesity. In this review, we aim to compile the available evidence on the contribution of microbial amino acids to host amino acid homeostasis, and to assess the role of the gut microbiota as a determinant of amino acid and short-chain fatty acid perturbations in human obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Vascular complications in diabetes mellitus: the role of endothelial dysfunction.

Abstract: The endothelium is a complex organ with a multitude of properties essential for control of vascular functions. Dysfunction of the vascular endothelium is regarded as an important factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic micro- and macro-angiopathy. Endothelial dysfunction in Type I and II diabetes complicated by micro- or macro-albuminuria is generalized in that it affects many aspects of endothelial function and occurs not only in the kidney. The close linkage between microalbuminuria and endothelial dysfunction in diabetes is an attractive explanation for the fact that microalbuminuria is a risk marker for atherothrombosis. In Type I diabetes, endothelial dysfunction precedes and may cause diabetic microangiopathy, but it is not clear whether endothelial dysfunction is a feature of the diabetic state itself. In Type II diabetes, endothelial function is impaired from the onset of the disease and is strongly related to adverse outcomes. It is not clear whether impaired endothelial function is caused by hyperglycaemia or by other factors. Impaired endothelial function is closely associated with and may contribute to insulin resistance regardless of the presence of diabetes. Endothelial dysfunction in diabetes originates from three main sources. Hyperglycaemia and its immediate biochemical sequelae directly alter endothelial function or influence endothelial cell functioning indirectly by the synthesis of growth factors, cytokines and vasoactive agents in other cells. Finally, the components of the metabolic syndrome can impair endothelial function.