École hôtelière de Lausanne

Developing a so-called "green economy" garners more support in the current climate of uncertainty and danger. Since the beginning of the 21st century, we have recognized that the drive to develop the economy causes irreparable harm to the planet's ecosystem. After the Covid pandemic, a new intermediate industry, the biopharmaceutical industry, has emerged to reduce the tension between the human ecology and the earth's ecosystem. This industry devised a successful response to the health, economic, and social issues of the pandemic age. This paper aims to examine the financial performance of two renowned biopharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Moderna, which have been permitted to distribute the mRNA vaccine worldwide. This paper concludes the investigation into the stock performance of these two companies prior to and throughout COVID. Besides, examination of the technology market index, market volatility, and investor sentiment reveals the various fluctuations. In addition, the data reveals an effect of contagion between the two enterprises and the technology market. Thus, the research gives useful information for the development of public health economics, policy, and administration.

In this study, we explore the “why?”, and “how?”, monitoring the pH of the fetal scalp is used, and show its limitations. In addition, we review the development of new devices based on the modern physics and nanomaterials serving this topic. Most of the works we found in our search have focused on improving the prognostic of fetal heart rate monitoring, because it is the “golden standard” in determining fetal distress. Although the best-known screening method, it can only provide limited information about the actual status of the fetus. The best predictive assessment, with the highest reproducibility, states that a normal fetal heart rate is indicative of a healthy baby. However, its excellent sensitivity is much reduced when identifying the actual “distress”. This is when second-line monitoring methods come into play to guide the diagnostics and direct the obstetrician towards an action plan. Although a historic method, fetal scalp pH sampling is still under review as to its efficiency and place in the current obstetrics. Continuous surveillance of the fetal parameters is important, especially for the fetuses undergoing intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR). Since fetal scalp blood sampling is still under research and is a randomized controlled trial, which compares the relevance of pH and lactates to the obstetrical situation, the maternal-fetal medicine could greatly benefit from the introduction of engineered nanomedicines to the field.

True umbilical knot (TUK), although not a commonly encountered pathology, hasan important psychological burden on the mother and obstetrician. It has an extremely low prenatal ultrasound diagnosis rate, despite its adverse perinatal outcomes when unknown. We conducted a retrospective observational analytical study on a 7-year period (2015–2021), including all pregnancies overseen by a single fetal-maternal medicine specialist for monitoring and delivery. We analyzed the prenatal detection rate and correlations between prenatal diagnosis of TUK and pregnancy outcome in terms of associated maternal and fetal factors, time and mode of delivery, fetal weight at birth, maternal level of stress, and iatrogenic prematurity. We compared our results with an electronic search of the literature to study the relationship between TUK and prematurity. We prenatally diagnosed 16 TUKs, and there were two false positives and two undiagnosed knots. All of those women had birth at term. The main finding of the review was a small number of studies that included enough cases for analysis. The prematurity rate due to TUK is 14.2%, significantly increased compared to the general population. An umbilical artery flow velocimetry notch in twin pregnancies complicated by TUK was an important ultrasonographic finding. We consider intrauterine fetal death exceptional, and the main adverse neonatal outcome is due to iatrogenic prematurity caused by maternal anxiety of knowing the prenatal diagnosis and mode of delivery. The elective method for diagnosis should be the second-trimester ultrasound scan using three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and cesarean delivery for a good neonatal outcome. Pregnant women should be counseled to understand the implications of iatrogenic prematurity, especially respiratory distress syndrome, to ensure these infants are delivered at term.

Hemivertebra is a common cause of congenital scoliosis and results from a lack of formation of one-half of the vertebral body. This condition is very rare and can present as solitary or as a syndrome component: i.e., the split notochord syndrome, which often implies vertebral defects, from a bifid vertebra to hemivertebrae, or fused vertebrae. We describe a case of supernumerary lateral hemivertebra detected prenatally at 12 weeks of gestation and the ultrasonography specifics that lead to early and accurate diagnosis, monitoring during pregnancy, and follow-up at the 4-year period. The case is presented to specify the importance of an early assessment of fetal spine and diagnosis of various conditions, including hemivertebrae, considering the significant association with other anomalies (cardiovascular, urinary, skeletal, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems), which are most commonly involved. Moreover, the need to counsel future parents on the risks implied by this anomaly is important for the obstetrician. We underline the inclusion of these types of congenital conditions in high-risk pregnancy because of the frequent association with high cesarean delivery rates, growth restriction, delivery before term, and higher morbidity rates.

Aim. Because the COVID-19 pandemic is a topic of interest in the literature due to its information dynamics and, also, to its impact on the population health status; we wanted to highlight the connection between pandemic and lifestyle, with an emphasis on eating habits. Material and methods. A questionnaire with 20 items about sociodemographic data and information about eating habits was distributed. Results. Data collected reflected how COVID-19 pandemic influenced the employment status, level of income, smoker status, consumption of fruits, vegetable, candies, sweets, chocolate and fast-food of the respondents. The reported dietary changes were reflected both positively by more regular meals, a slight increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, lower consumption of fast food and higher cooked food, and negatively by a higher intake of sweets, candies and chocolate and as a result of an increasing in the habit of compulsive eating. Conclusion. The trait that easily weighed on all the activities of this period is the perceived level of stress and anxiety.

Objective: The aim of this study is to propose a standardized management of care for patients diagnosed with cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP). There are two types of CSP: Type 1 (on the scar) vs. type 2 (in the niche). To date there is no international standard to predict the extent of invasion or the optimal management of CSP. Materials and methods: We used intramuscular methotrexate injection followed by uterine artery embolization combined with suction evacuation as a conservative approach for the treatment of seven patients diagnosed with CSP. Our inclusion criteria, to be satisfied simultaneously, were established as follows: (1) patients with CSP; (2) early gestational age ≤ 9 weeks, and (3) written consent of the proposed treatment of the patient. Results: This course of treatment produced a positive outcome in all cases. We did not have any complications (e.g., emergency hysterectomy, perforation of the uterine cavity, severe hemorrhage, or endometritis) during the procedures or in the follow-up. The most important predictors of successful management are early diagnosis of CSP and orientation of the invasive trophoblast opposite to the scar. Conclusions: The main finding from this series of cases is that associating systemic methotrexate and uterine artery embolization provides efficient and low-risk management of CSP. This treatment regime is adequate for both types of CSPs. We consider that early localization diagnosis of pregnancy following a cesarean delivery is mandatory for CSP morbidity prevention.

This paper investigates the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on investors' trading behaviors around ex-dividend dates in Europe. The sudden decrease in the number of companies paying dividends reduced the opportunities to capture dividends. Thus, the firms that maintained dividend payments during the pandemic attracted more interest than before. This led to a doubling in the magnitude of stock return patterns usually observed around ex-dividend days. Our evidence indicates that dividend-seeking investors are likely to be the main driver of the price patterns observed around ex-dividend dates.

This paper examines managerial perceptions of challenges for further food waste reduction within the restaurant industry. Although research gauged underlying drivers for food waste, the attitudes of foodservice managers toward practices and the corresponding operational barriers have received scant academic attention. This qualitative study thematically analyzed data from 14 managers and head chefs in Swiss-German restaurants through semi-structured interviews and compared responses against the model of the food waste hierarchy. For businesses, the paper highlights the importance of increased preventive practices and education of staff and customers. However, multiple inhibiting and enabling factors lie outside the organizations’ control, depending on macro and societal contexts. Governmental interventions and facilitating waste collection are necessary, whereas the feasibility of food redistribution is perceived as limited. The study revealed great potential to implement additional practices through increased collaborations with various stakeholders and overall societal sensitization to change consumer behavior and facilitate responsible business practices.

This paper models optimal release prices of an experience good recurrently issued on markets. Using a sample of Bordeaux wines, we find that using a minimal number of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes is sufficient to explain a large proportion of release prices. We further observe a significant relationship between primary market prices and secondary market prices and general economic conditions. Release prices can deviate from secondary market prices in the short run but remain aligned over the long run. Finally, an out‐of‐sample analysis indicates that short‐run mispricing directly affects the purchase behavior of customers.

We examine the existence of wine in New York City restaurant menus over the period 1865 to 1920 for a sample of 850,000 restaurant menu items and 51,000 wines. Wine was already commonly present on menus in 1865, and its offering increased up until 1914 before dropping with the outbreak of First World War (WWI). Casual restaurants offered a narrower wine selection. Special menus displayed a significantly higher probability of containing wine but with a more limited choice indicating that wine was especially appreciated on special occasions. French wines, especially from Bordeaux and Champagne, were the most represented on menus followed by wines from Germany. The average selling price of a bottle of wine was around US$40 in 2018 terms. Prices, however, fluctuated widely over time and wine type. Notably, American wines were about 50% less expensive than French or German wines.

This research note aims to prompt a debate over the asset-light strategy that hotels are increasingly implementing nowadays. First, it evaluates the impact of an asset-light model on hotel firms’ returns, return volatility, and the Sharpe ratio, based on annual data from 1970 to 2018 of 65 U.S. public hotel firms. Evidence shows that going asset-light has no significant impact on companies’ returns, return volatility, and performance. Second, the study offers possible explanations behind such results and raises questions for future research.

Mutual funds are connected with each other through overlapping portfolio holdings. We document that the performance of individual mutual funds is affected by spillover effects from fund flows to connected mutual funds. Spillover-effects are particularly pronounced during crisis periods, when a one standard deviation increase in flows to the tercile of funds with the highest overlapping portfolio holdings is associated with a monthly excess returns of 1.50%. Small cap stock funds are more heavily impacted, suggesting that the spillover effect is related to underlying asset liquidity. Moreover, we shed light on the dark side of diversification, as highly diversified funds are more exposed to the spillover risk factor.

We study the effect of dividend taxes on the payout and investment policies of publicly listed firms. We exploit a unique setting in Switzerland where, following the corporate tax reform of 2011, some but not all firms were suddenly able to pay tax-exempt dividends. We show that treated firms increase their dividend payout by around 30% after the tax cut. The effect on payout is less pronounced for firms prone to agency conflicts. We find a significant positive abnormal stock return after the announcement of the payment of a tax-exempt dividend. However, reducing dividend taxes does not boost investment.

This study examines the extent to which perceptions of family‐friendly organisational culture relate to employees' satisfaction with work–family balance (SATWFB) and how this, in turn, associates with their turnover intentions (TIs). Furthermore, we explore the extent to which employee experiences of different levels of government effectiveness (GE; high, medium and low) moderate these associations. Drawing on the work–home resources (W‐HR) model, we test our hypotheses with a sample of 1185 employees drawn from countries with substantially different levels of GE—Nigeria, the Philippines, Guatemala and Spain. Our results show that employees' perceptions of SATWFB mediate the relationship between the two dimensions of family‐friendly organisational culture and TIs of employees. This mediation is weaker for countries where employees experience high GE. Our findings contribute to research on the drivers of work–family balance satisfaction from a cultural and organisational perspective. We expand this line of research by introducing a new resource: GE. Our focus on four different national contexts also strengthens the comparative work–family balance literature.