bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is Mauritius ready to become the HRD leader in Africa?
Authors: Dusoye Indravidoushi C. , Oogarah Kavi
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the applicability of Strategic HRD in Mauritius. Additionally, it assesses if Mauritius, with a high HDI factor, can take the lead on Strategic HRD in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper used a mixed-approach questionnaire. A sample of 21 managers was contacted and received a response rate of 67 per cent.

Findings

Most organisations in Mauritius do not practice human capital development at a strategic level but rather at a tactical one. Strategic HRD is mostly practiced at the implementation level of the business strategy rather than at the formulation stage of the mission, vision and strategy itself. However, the practice of strategic human resource development stays a minority within some very few organisations, as they acknowledge the benefits that Strategic HRD brings along.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of the sample considered for this research is a relatively small one to be representative of the Strategic HRD practices in Mauritius as a whole. It identifies implication for improving the current Strategic HRD state in the island.

Practical implications

The paper directly impacts on the Strategic HRD practices of organisations and reveals loopholes to be remedied within the present HRD systems.

Originality/value

This paper not only proposes a first research in terms of Strategic HRD in Mauritius but also assesses the island’s position as being an HRD leader in Africa. Simultaneously, it provides a tailor-made conceptual framework for Strategic HRD in Mauritius.
I choose my business model! A cross-national analysis of business model choice in family firms
Authors: Casprini Elena , D'Antone Simona , Paranque Bernard , Pucci Tommaso , Zanni Lorenzo
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Drawing on family-business and business model (BM) literature the purpose of this paper is to explore whether a relationship exists between the family involvement in the management (i.e. closed or mixed management) and BM choice.

Design/methodology/approach

– A multiple case study analysis of family-owned wineries in Chianti (Italy) and Côtes du Rhône (France) has been conducted.

Findings

– The analysis surprisingly reveals that no relationship exists between the BM ideal type chosen and the type of management composition. Rather, it seems that the choice of hiring non-family managers is dictated by the willingness to reinforce the BM chosen by the owner and that the role played by non-family managers is not revolutionary but reinforces the owner’s BM choice. The authors propose that the stewardship theory can contribute in explaining the findings.

Originality/value

– A twofold contribution is offered by this study: first, it links the strategic management research on BMs to family business (FB) research on corporate governance and specifically on the composition of management teams; second, it provides an empirical example of a cross-national comparative analysis on FBs using multiple case studies.
Voluntary disclosure in Italy
Authors: Scaltrito Davide
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of voluntary disclosure in the companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange. Voluntary disclosure refers to the discretionary release of financial and non-financial information which companies are not obliged to disclose by a standard-setting accounting body. In particular, this paper analyses the effect that certain determinants (leverage, firm size, sector auditor, performance and ownership concentration) could have on voluntary information disclosed by Italian listed companies. In order to do this, 203 annual reports of Italian listed companies for the year 2012 were analysed.

Design/methodology/approach

– To assess the extent of voluntary disclosure, an index is created and used as a dependent variable in an OLS model to understand the relationship between the above-mentioned determinants. The disclosure score is composed mainly of 38 items per firm (a total of 7,714 items were collected and analysed) regarding firm performance, general information, forward-looking information, human capital, research and development projects, stock market information, segment reporting information and other information. In order to differentiate the information presented in annual reports, a score was assigned to each item on the index (2 points if an item was reported in qualitative and quantitative terms, 1 point if the item was reported in qualitative terms, 0 points if the item was absent). The score is not weighted because all items are equally important for the research purpose. Repeated information is considered only once.

Findings

– According to the research findings, human resource information is the voluntary disclosure item reported with the highest frequency, and both firm size and auditors positively affect the total amount of voluntary information disclosed by Italian listed companies. Financial firms provide a lower level of voluntary disclosure than do industrial firms.

Originality/value

– The paper contributes in improving knowledge about Italian firms’ voluntary disclosure of firm-specific determinants, analysing a wide number of items provided in 2012 annual reports.
Waiting time at a fast-track diagnostic clinic
Authors: Basta Y. L. , Tytgat K. M.A.J. , Klinkenbijl J. H.G. , Fockens P. , Smets E. M.A.
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Guidelines stating maximum waiting times fail to take cancer patients’ expectations into account. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assess patients’ expectations and experiences with their waiting time at a fast-track clinic.

Design/methodology/approach

– Patients were selected using a purposeful sampling strategy and were interviewed four times: before the visit; one day after; two weeks after the visit; and one week after starting treatment. Interviews were audiotaped and independently coded by two researchers.

Findings

– All patients (n=9) preferred a short waiting time before the first visit; they feared that their disease would spread and believed that cancer warrants priority treatment. Six patients experienced the waiting time as short, one had no expectations and two felt they waited longer than expected; three patients changed this evaluation during the study. Six patients received treatment – four preferred to wait before treatment and two wanted to start treatment immediately. Reasons to wait included putting one’s affairs in order, or needing to adjust to the diagnosis.

Practical implications

– Cancer patients prefer a short waiting time before the first visit but have different expectations and needs regarding waiting time before treatment. Ideally, their expectations are managed by their treating physician to match waiting time reality.

Originality/value

– This is the first study to assess cancer patients’ waiting time experiences and how these experiences change over time. This study paves the way for establishing a framework to better assess patient satisfaction with oncology care waiting time. An important aspect, is managing patients’ expectations.
Has Lean improved organizational decision making?
Authors: Simons Pascale , Benders Jos , Bergs Jochen , Marneffe Wim , Vandijck Dominique
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Sustainable improvement is likely to be hampered by ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in care processes (the organization’s decision-making context). Lean management can improve implementation results because it decreases ambiguity and uncertainties. But does it succeed? Many quality improvement (QI) initiatives are appropriate improvement strategies in organizational contexts characterized by low ambiguity and uncertainty. However, most care settings do not fit this context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a Lean-inspired change program changed the organization’s decision-making context, making it more amenable for QI initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

– In 2014, 12 professionals from a Dutch radiotherapy institute were interviewed regarding their perceptions of a Lean program in their organization and the perceived ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in their clinical processes. A survey (25 questions), addressing the same concepts, was conducted among the interviewees in 2011 and 2014. The structured interviews were analyzed using a deductive approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using appropriate statistics.

Findings

– Interviewees experienced improved shared visions and the number of uncertain cause-effect relations decreased. Overall, more positive (99) than negative Lean effects (18) were expressed. The surveys revealed enhanced process predictability and standardization, and improved shared visions.

Practical implications

– Lean implementation has shown to lead to greater transparency and increased shared visions.

Originality/value

– Lean management decreased ambiguous objectives and reduced uncertainties in clinical process cause-effect relations. Therefore, decision making benefitted from Lean increasing QI’s sustainability.
An improvement model to optimise hospital interdisciplinary learning
Authors: McNamara Deborah A. , Rafferty Paul , Fitzpatrick Fidelma
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Interdisciplinary healthcare education and collaboration facilitates healthcare quality improvement (QI). Education challenges include cost, logistics and defining the optimum staff-engaging method. The purpose of this paper is to determine the optimum QI educational model and measure its impact using plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors established an on-site interdisciplinary QI learning collaborative: weekly 30-minute learning sessions close to the working environment; a learning materials Twitter repository; and junior doctor-led QI work streams aligned with surgical directorate quality goals supported by a mentorship network. Delivery style (lectures, workshops and QI project reporting) and learning session content was planned weekly using PDSA cycles and modified using participant feedback (score 0-10). All surgical directorate QI work streams were measured before and at nine months.

Findings

– From May 2014 to February 2015, there were 32 learning sessions with 266 scores (median 12 weekly, range 5-21). Workshop delivery scored the highest (mean score 9.0), followed by live project reports (mean score 8.8). The surgical QI work streams increased threefold from four to 12, including six junior doctor-led projects.

Practical implications

– By proactively acting upon feedback, the authors centralised QI measurement and tailored learning sessions to staff needs. Building sustainability involves continually refining learning curriculum and QI work streams, and expanding the mentorship network.

Originality/value

– The collaborative was established at no additional cost. Twitter is used to promote meetings, facilitate conversations and act as a learning repository. The mentorship framework builds QI and coaching expertise.
Embedding corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in emerging countries
Authors: Uzma Shigufta Hena
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how the governance structure incorporates corporate social responsibility (CSR) into corporate behaviour in the perspective of the external environment within emerging countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the various CSR legislations enacted in the global context and in particular reference to the Indian Companies Act 2013.

Findings

The embedded relationship between CSR and corporate governance (CG) is an outcome of extensive dimensions such as ownership structure, stakeholder approach and other external environmental factors such as the government regulations and legislation, legal enforcement and corporate disclosure culture.

Originality/value

The enactment of the Companies Act 2013 in India has infused a new direction for the corporations in implementing CSR and CG practices. This paper throws light on the coverage of the Companies Act 2013 and various challenges faced by the companies in the applicability of the CSR and CG framework in the Indian context.
An analysis of restrictive mechanisms on director behavior regarding corporate philanthropy in China
Authors: Feng Li , Zhang Rong , McCornac Dennis
Published: June 2016

Purpose

Currently, in China, the governance structure of modern companies gives directors great powers to pursue profits. However, little attention is paid to the undertaking of corporate philanthropic activities. Therefore, rules on directors’ behavior in terms of corporate philanthropy are urgently needed to resolve the conflict between philanthropy and profits. This paper aims to discuss the main purpose of corporate philanthropy behavior in China, namely, the promotion of the company, and to analyze the theoretical mechanism for placing restrictions on directors’ behavior. The concepts and details of directors’ duty of loyalty and duty of diligence are also discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper addresses the theoretical framework for the restriction of director behavior in corporate philanthropy in China, explains the legal dilemma for the current situation and analyzes the problems associated with the determination of board directors’ behavior.

Findings

It is concluded that board members should give priority to their duty of loyalty and comply with their faithful obligations in corporate philanthropy. They should also fulfill their diligence obligations and not cause inconvenience and trouble for the company.

Research limitations/implications

Corporate philanthropy is well known as a beneficial activity to both the company and society. It not only helps to establish a good image of the company, which is in line with the interests of the shareholders and creditors, but also contributes to the development of social welfare. It is a topic worthy of deep discussion.

Practical implications

It is still very difficult to establish non-profit organizations because of stringent conditions on registration, organization and funding in China. Therefore, there are a limited number of independent non-governmental charitable organizations in China. Most charitable organizations have charitable expertise and government ties. Corporate philanthropy is a problem closely related to governmental administration and legal system renovation.

Social implications

Recently, a young girl related to the Red Cross Society of China was found guilty and arrested. This scandal has made people lose their confidence in philanthropy and has caused another round of intense discussion online. Corporate philanthropy is the focus of criticism because individuals with power gain benefits by taking advantage of their position. It is a very challenging issue for the Chinese society as to how to restore the reputation of philanthropy.

Originality/value

This paper points out the weakness in the current legal system as a restrictive mechanism to supervise the board directors’ behaviors in China. It analyzes the corporate philanthropy issue from the national level and highlights the significance of supervising governmental administration and corporate management through the improvement of the legal system.
Software-as-a-Medical Device: demystifying Connected Health regulations
Authors: Carroll Noel , Richardson Ita
Published: June 2016

Purpose

Connected Health is an emerging and rapidly developing field never before witnessed across the healthcare sector. It has the potential to transform healthcare service systems by increasing its safety, quality and overall efficiency. However, as healthcare technologies or medical devices continuously rely more on software development, one of the core challenges is examining how Connected Health is regulated – often impacting Connected Health innovation. The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of how Connected Health is regulated. Many of these regulatory developments fall under “medical devices”, giving rise to Software-as-a-Medical Device (SaaMD).

Design/methodology/approach

Through an extensive literature review, this paper demystifies Connected Health regulation. It presents the outcome of expert discussions which explore the key regulatory developments in the context of Connected Health to provide a practical guide to understanding how regulation can potentially shape healthcare innovation.

Findings

Several key issues are identified, and the authors present a comprehensive overview of regulatory developments relating to Connected Health with a view to support the continued growth of IT-enabled healthcare service models. The authors also identify the key challenges in Connected Health and identify areas for future research.

Originality/value

A key outcome of this research is a clearer understanding of the opportunities and challenges that regulation and standards present to Connected Health. Furthermore, this research is of critical importance in a first attempt towards recognising the impact of regulation and standards compliance in Connected Health.
Predicting meeting participants’ note-taking from previously uttered dialogue acts
Authors: Bothin Antje , Clough Paul
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a new supervised machine learning study on the prediction of meeting participant’s personal note-taking from spoken dialogue acts uttered shortly before writing.

Design/methodology/approach

This novel approach of providing cues for finding important meeting events that would be worth recording in a meeting summary looks at temporal overlaps of multiple people’s note-taking. This research uses data of 124 meetings taken from the AMI meeting corpus.

Findings

The results show that several machine learning methods that the authors compared were able to classify the data significantly better than a random approach. The best model, decision trees with feature selection, achieved 70 per cent accuracy for the binary distinction writing for any number of participants simultaneously or no writing, whereas the performance for a more fine-grained distinction of the number of participants taking notes showed only about 30 per cent accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that meeting participants take personal notes in accordance with the utterance of previously uttered speech acts, particularly dialogue acts about disfluencies and assessments appear to influence the note-taking activities. However, further research is necessary to examine other domains and to determine in what way this behaviour is helpful as a feature source for automatic meeting summarisation, which is useful for more efficiently satisfying people’s information needs about meeting contents.

Practical implications

The reader of an Information Systems (IS) journal would be interested in this paper because the work described and the findings gained could lead to the development of novel information systems that facilitate the work for businesses and individuals. Innovative meeting capture and retrieval applications, satisfying automatic summaries of important meeting points and sophisticated note-taking tools that suggest content automatically could make people’s daily lives more convenient in the future.

Social implications

There are wider implications in terms of productivity and efficiency. Business value is increased for the organisation, as human knowledge is built more or less automatically. There are also cognitive and social implications for individuals and possibly an impact on the society as a whole. It is also important for globalisation, social media and mobile devices.

Originality/value

The topic is new and original, as there has not been much research on it yet. Similar work was carried out recently (Murray, 2015; Bothin and Clough 2014). This is why it is relevant to an IS journal and interesting for the reader. In particular, dialogue acts about disfluencies and assessments appear to influence the note-taking activities. This behaviour is helpful as a feature source for automatic meeting summarisation, which is useful for more efficiently satisfying people’s information needs about meeting contents.
Measuring the actionability of evidence for evidence-based management
Authors: HakemZadeh Farimah , Baba Vishwanath V
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address the gap between management research and management practice by suggesting that, in addition to rigor and relevance, management knowledge should be actionable to be of practical value. To this end, an index for evaluating actionability is proposed and empirically tested.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on reflective and formative conceptualizations of actionability and a critical review of both evidence-based management (EBMgt) and evidence-based medicine literature, the authors developed 40 items that would best represent attributes of actionable research. The authors asked 187 management scholars, members of the editorial boards of influential management journals, and practicing managers to rank the extent to which each item was important to their perceptions of research to be actionable in practice. The authors treated actionability as a two-level construct consisting of first-order reflective factors and second-order formative ones.

Findings

– Using principal component analysis with varimax rotation six factors were extracted, explaining 68 percent of variance in actionability: operationality, which also included items from causality; contextuality; comprehensiveness; persuasiveness, which split into two dimensions of rigor and unbiasedness; and lastly comprehensibility. Using partial least squares analysis, the authors demonstrated that these six factors formatively contribute to an overall index of actionability of management research.

Research limitations/implications

– The index offers an empirical measure to advance research on EBMgt by facilitating theory testing in different management contexts.

Practical implications

– The developed index promotes EBMgt by providing producers, disseminators, and users of management knowledge with a metric to appraise actionability of management knowledge.

Originality/value

– This index is the first theory-based and empirically tested tool for effectively evaluating the practical value of management research.
The role of knowledge-based psychological climates in human resource management systems
Authors: Meyer David , Dunphy Steve
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Responding to Colbert’s (2004) call for research examining the complexity of work systems’ effect on performance, and following Meyer and Dunphy’s (2014, 2015) work determining the general manner by which the complex mechanism of strategy choice and its implementation effect corporate performance, the purpose of this paper is to specify and test a model of the effects of workplace factors affecting employee responses to the demand for increased knowledge in using technology.

Design/methodology/approach

– Drawing on the literature on the resource-based view of strategy and the knowledge-based (KB) view of human resource management system implementation, theory is developed, and hypotheses are generated, regarding employee attitudes toward skill development, technology, employment security, and feedback and their impact on competence and impact. Meaningfulness, self-determination, work conditions, and intensity are controlled for. Data from a sample of 888 employees, 24 managers, and corporate executives across eight Detroit-area automotive supplier firms are used to test the model using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– Individual psychological states of competence and impact are positively and strongly associated with KB psychological climates that foster and condition positive beliefs about the importance of learning new skills and about the effects of the diffusion of new technologies on employees.

Research limitations/implications

– The complexity of the interactions of management implementation of workplace practices on employee performance still needs more sorting out. Only unionized employers pursuing high-involvement work systems were studied. Other types of employers would have very different workplace climates.

Practical implications

– Only unionized employers pursuing high-involvement work systems were studied. Other types of employers would have very different workplace climates.

Social implications

– In order to have employees be receptive to changing technology and the resulting, increased demands for knowledge and skill, employers have to provide long-term employment security.

Originality/value

– The results provide the specific manner by which employers can increase employee receptiveness to increase workplace knowledge and training to have more impact on their performance.
Questioning the ontology of sociomateriality: a critical realist perspective
Authors: Tunçalp Deniz
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The author join Orlikowski (2007) in seeking the “reconfiguration of our conventional assumptions and considerations of materiality.” In her sociomaterial approach, Orlikowski combines what is social and what is material into a “sociomaterial assemblage” in considering material and social aspects of technology. However, the author thinks this conflation creates a number of analytical and phenomenological problems for the understanding of technology in organizing. Rather than considering materiality with a primacy, the author argue that the proposed approach may reduce what is material into a social essence and makes materiality of a technology impossible to perceive separate from the social aspects. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Empirical examples of “Information Search” and “Mobile Communication” in Orlikowski (2007) are further employed to discuss the grounds of the criticism.

Findings

– The author propose a critical realist perspective to technology both as social and material recursively.

Research limitations/implications

– The analysis is primarily ontological and meta-theoretical. In future, extensive reviews can be performed on what questions have been asked and what questions have been omitted by researchers employing different versions of sociomaterial perspective.

Practical implications

– The perspective offered by this paper enables asking new questions and necessary empirical leverage to analyze how one technology becomes materialized and successful in the social realm and not the other. The author also discusses strategic conditions of how one successful technology can be replaced by another.

Social implications

– Understanding the state of the art in theory in understanding material and social aspects of technology would help us develop novel strategies to contest, complement and adapt to material and social issues of technologies.

Originality/value

– This paper is among the few critical papers that meta-theoretically question the relatively recent sociomaterial turn in organization studies and information systems fields.
Evaluating the possibilities and actualities of the learning process
Authors: Anderson Jane , Sice Petia
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to reflect on the opportunities and challenges of the learning process in practice and explores the case of a local authority school Pilot Wellbeing Programme (PWP) intervention. The aim of the PWP was to create the best workplace conditions and circumstances for people to flourish and mature, both individually and collectively. Findings show that the socio-physical environment plays a significant and leading role in supporting this work, as does the consistent modelling of higher level behaviours including integrity, respect and acceptance by intervention managers and school leadership teams. It was also important that the change processes were continually tailored and nuanced to meet the evolving needs of the staff and organisation throughout the intervention. Emphasis was also placed on encouraging individual involvement and commitment by implementing inclusive measures that fostered trust and openness.

Design/methodology/approach

The intervention worked to the organisational learning process model.

Findings

Headteachers (HT) are still playing a key role as caregivers to their staff. Wellbeing is something people in school generally expect to be “done” to them. Personal accountability for one’s own health and wellbeing is still a growth area in schools. Any change processes implemented to support this process need to be continually tailored and respectfully nuanced to meet the evolving needs of the staff and organisation throughout the intervention. Accruing quantitative evidence to support the effects of wellbeing work in schools is painstaking and challenging.

Practical implications

HT have traditionally taken the role of school staff “caregiver”, overseeing staff wellbeing often to the detriment of their own wellbeing. This situation is becoming unsustainable as HT’ capacity for this kind of work is diminishing. School staff need to accept an increasing role in the maintenance of their own personal–professional wellbeing.

Social implications

School staff who do not mind their own wellbeing act as a poor model to their pupils who may ultimately emulate their behaviour. Additionally, as staff sickness absence due either directly or indirectly to stress becomes a growing issue in schools, educational standards will be increasingly difficult to attain and maintain. Wellbeing mechanisms need to be put in place now to stem this possibility.

Originality/value

The intervention is unique in as much as it took a deliberately holistic approach to school staff wellbeing by including all school staff in the change programme. Previous similar programmes have targeted professional staff only, excluding non-teaching classroom staff and school support and maintenance staff.
The role of different stakeholders in destination development
Authors: Komppula Raija
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight the crucial role of individual people, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the development of a tourist destination during its life cycle. The purpose is to increase our understanding of individual actors as contributors to leadership and development of tourism destinations.

Design/methodology/approach

An intrinsic case study of a Finnish ski resort, Ruka, is presented. The primary data consist of 16 narrative interviews. Secondary sources of information such as a history book and a historical review, reports and Web pages have been used as well.

Findings

The study suggests that the leadership in a destination is attributed to individuals. It is the charismatic entrepreneurs, business managers, municipality and influential politicians that may take control of the leadership at the destination. Being local enhances the sense of identity with the place and facilitates a cooperative atmosphere between actors. Finally, the roles of stakeholders and aspects of the leadership of a destination may vary along the destination life cycle.

Research limitations/implications

As this paper presents a single case study in a Finnish context, the findings cannot be, and are not meant to be, generalized. Rather, the findings present an example of an exception to the mainstream destination management and governance literature.

Originality/value

The paper fills the research gap noted by Kennedy (2014) and presents an in-depth study analysing the role of different stakeholders in destination leadership.
Optimal Intertemporal Consumption and Involuntary Memories of Consumption
Authors: Miles Stan , Smoczynski Peter
Published: June 2016

Recent studies introduce the notion of treating autobiographical memories of past pleasurable experiences as assets and expanding the discounted utility model to include the utility of memories of past consumption. Recent studies in psychology have found that involuntary autobiographical memories are common in everyday life. This paper builds on these two strands in the literature by expanding the discounted utility model to include the utility of involuntary memories of past consumption. Optimal control theory is used to develop a continuous‐time optimal consumption model that takes into account the fact that consumption may generate involuntary memories that arrive at random times. The model is used in an in‐depth analysis of optimal consumption with memories. It is shown that memories shift consumption to earlier times. This effect gets weaker as the time horizon gets longer, and it vanishes entirely when the time horizon is infinite.
Asymmetry Effects of Exchange Rate Changes on Domestic Production: Evidence from Nonlinear ARDL Approach
Authors: Bahmani‐Oskooee Mohsen , Mohammadian Amirhossein
Published: June 2016

Currency depreciation is said to have positive or negative effects on domestic production. Previous studies that tried to address this issue using Australian data have been inconclusive at best but mostly showed no effects. One common feature of all studies is that they have assumed that the effects of exchange rate changes are symmetric. In this paper, we use the concept of partial sum and separate appreciations from depreciations to test whether the effects are symmetric or asymmetric. Application of the nonlinear ARDL approach of Shin et al. (2014) reveals that indeed the effects of changes in the real effective exchange rate of the Australian dollar are asymmetric in the short run as well as in the long run. While in the short run both appreciations and depreciations affect Australian domestic production, only effects of appreciation last into the long run, a unique finding.
Fetishes and factishes: Durkheim and Latour
Authors: Schiermer Bjørn
Published: June 2016

This paper defends the concept of ‘fetishism’ as an explanatory parameter in sociological theorizing on Durkheimian grounds, while at the same time paying due attention to important insights regarding the role of objects in social life, originating from Actor‐Network Theory (ANT). It critically assesses the current critique of the concept of fetishism propagated by ANT protagonist Bruno Latour.

Latour and suggests a compromise between these two ‘schools’. First, to place the paper firmly in context, I analyse some examples of modern fetishism and outline the themes of the ensuing discussion. Next, I turn to Durkheim, seeking to develop a distinct interpretation of the concept of the social and of fetishism, and then point to some of Durkheim's shortcomings and attempt to make room for Latourian perspectives. Finally, I critically assess Latour's dismissal of forms of social ‘explanation’ and of the concept of fetishism.
Evaluating the Impact of Parent‐Reported Medical Home Status on Children's Health Care Utilization, Expenditures, and Quality: A Difference‐in‐Differences Analysis with Causal Inference Methods
Authors: Han Bing , Yu Hao , Friedberg Mark W.
Published: June 2016

Objective

To evaluate the effects of the parent‐reported medical home status on health care utilization, expenditures, and quality for children.

Data Sources

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) during 2004–2012, including a total of 9,153 children who were followed up for 2 years in the survey.

Study Design

We took a causal difference‐in‐differences approach using inverse probability weighting and doubly robust estimators to study how changes in medical home status over a 2‐year period affected children's health care outcomes. Our analysis adjusted for children's sociodemographic, health, and insurance statuses. We conducted sensitivity analyses using alternative statistical methods, different approaches to outliers and missing data, and accounting for possible common‐method biases.

Principal Findings

Compared with children whose parents reported having medical homes in both years 1 and 2, those who had medical homes in year 1 but lost them in year 2 had significantly lower parent‐reported ratings of health care quality and higher utilization of emergency care. Compared with children whose parents reported having no medical homes in both years, those who did not have medical homes in year 1 but gained them in year 2 had significantly higher ratings of health care quality, but no significant differences in health care expenditures and utilization.

Conclusions

Having a medical home may help improve health care quality for children; losing a medical home may lead to higher utilization of emergency care.
Efficacy and safety of coadministration of sitagliptin with insulin glargine in type 2 diabetes
Authors: Cao Ying , Gao Fang , Zhang Qian , Xu Lingling , Wan Qian , Li Wenqi , Li Jimin , Wang Ling , Xue Yaoming
Published: June 2016

Background

The aim of the randomized present study was to compare the therapeutic efficacy and safety of a combination of sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)‐4 inhibitor, plus insulin glargine (GL + sita) with that of premixed insulin aspart 30 (NOV) for type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients controlled with oral hypoglycemic drugs (HbA1c 7 %–9 %).

Methods

Sixty‐five patients were randomized (1:  1) to the GL + sita (n = 33) and NOV (n = 32) groups and were treated with the combination regimen or premixed insulin twice a day for 16 weeks. The primary endpoint was mean change in HbA1c. Secondary endpoints included fasting blood glucose, blood glucose profiles (seven time points), rate of achieving target HbA1c (<7 % or ≤6.5 %), insulin dose, incidence of hypoglycemia, and body weight.

Results

After 16 weeks, there was no significant difference in HbA1c between the two groups, although more patients achieved HbA1c <7.0 % in the GL + sita group. There was a significant difference in body weight changes between the GL + sita and NOV groups (−0.45 vs 1.52 kg, respectively; P < 0.001). Mean plasma glucose and the mean amplitude of glycemic excursion were significantly lower in the GL + sita than NOV group (P < 0.005), as was the incidence of symptomatic hypoglycemia (2.85 % vs. 13.3 %, respectively; P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The combination of GL + sita greatly improved HbA1c in T2D patients (HbA1c 7 %–9 %) with an efficacy that was equal to that of premixed insulin. Thus, GL + sita treatment is a viable option for patients who fail to achieve glycemic control using oral hypoglycemic drugs.
Dexamethasone as adjuvant for femoral nerve block following knee arthroplasty: a randomized, controlled study
Authors: Sherif A. A. , Elsersy H. E.
Published: June 2016

Background

We examined the effect of the addition of dexamethasone to bupivacaine for femoral nerve blocks on the block duration and the quality of post‐operative analgesia following total knee replacement surgery.

Methods

In total, 200 ASA I–III patients were randomly allocated to either the control group who received bupivacaine 0.5% or the dexamethasone group who received bupivacaine 0.5% plus 8 mg dexamethasone for the femoral nerve block, followed by a continuous perineural bupivacaine infusion started at the time of block resolution. Patients were assessed for the duration of analgesia by the return of pinprick sensation and the 24‐h morphine consumption as the primary outcomes of the study. A numerical rating scale from 0 to 10 was used to assess post‐operative pain at zero, ½, 2, 6, 24, 48, and 72 h.

Results

There was no difference between groups in either sensory or motor block onset; however, the duration of the block was significantly prolonged in the dexamethasone group, 25.7 ± 3 h, vs. 18.8 ± 4 h in the control group P < 0.0001. The total morphine consumption was not different between groups, but the dexamethasone group consumed less morphine in the first 6 h post‐operatively. The addition of dexamethasone improved pain control on the first post‐operative day, but no difference in the pain score was detected on days 2 or 3.

Conclusion

The addition of dexamethasone to bupivacaine for femoral nerve block prolonged the duration of analgesia, improved early post‐operative pain following total knee arthroplasty.
Pseudo panel data estimation technique and rational addiction model: an analysis of cigarette, alcohol and coffee demands
Authors: Koksal Aycan , Wohlgenant Michael
Published: June 2016

We use a pseudo‐panel data approach to analyze the relationship between the consumptions of cigarettes, alcohol, and coffee in a rational addiction framework. We find that while cigarette and coffee demands fit well with the rational addiction model, alcohol demand conforms to a model with inventory effects. The results suggest that alcohol consumption increases the marginal utility derived from consumption of cigarettes. Increasing alcohol prices would decrease not only the consumption of alcohol, but also the consumption of cigarettes. On the other hand, increasing cigarette prices do not have the same effect on consumption of alcohol. The cross‐price elasticity of coffee with respect to cigarette price is positive and significant which suggests that coffee substitutes for cigarettes when cigarette prices increase. The cross‐price elasticity of alcohol with respect to coffee price is found to be negative and significant. On the other hand, Morishima elasticities of substitution indicate that cigarette, alcohol and coffee substitute each other along the indifference curve when relative prices change.
Safety, efficacy and repeatability of a novel house dust mite allergen challenge technique in the Fraunhofer allergen challenge chamber
Authors: Lueer K. , Biller H. , Casper A. , Windt H. , Mueller M. , Badorrek P. , Haefner D. , Framke T. , Koch A. , Ziehr H. , Krug N. , Koch W. , Hohlfeld J. M.
Published: June 2016

Background

Efficacy testing of immunotherapy in field studies is often hampered by variation of airborne allergens. Standardized allergen exposure in challenge chamber settings might be an alternative. Therefore, we developed a universal technique to create an atmosphere loaded with allergen particles of adjustable size from aqueous solutions of licensed allergen extracts.

Objective

The aim of this study was to apply this technique and test the safety and efficacy of challenges with house dust mite (HDM) allergen in the Fraunhofer allergen challenge chamber.

Methods

Aerosol particles carrying HDM allergen were produced by spray‐drying of an aqueous solution containing HDM allergen and lactose. In a monocenter, placebo‐controlled, single‐blind, dose‐escalation pilot study, 18 subjects with perennial allergic rhinitis and sensitization to HDM were exposed to HDM allergen for 4 h at either 250, 500, 1000 SQE/m3 or lactose alone (0 SQE/m3) 7 days apart. The dose of 500 SQE/m³ was repeated to investigate reproducibility. Total nasal symptom score (TNSS) was the primary endpoint.

Results

Exposure to HDM increased TNSS (mean ± SD) to 3.4 ± 1.8, 3.3 ± 2.1, and 3.6 ± 2.0 at 250, 500 and 1000 SQE/m3, respectively, while lactose alone did not change TNSS (0.7 ± 0.6). The results were reproducible at 500 SQE/m3. Pulmonary function and adverse event frequency did not change with escalation of allergen dose.

Conclusion

This HDM allergen particle generation is safe, specific and reproducible and can therefore be used for efficacy testing of immunotherapy and for basic clinical research.
Goal Framing in Public Issue and Action Decisions
Authors: Arbuthnott Katherine D. , Scerbe Andrea
Published: June 2016

Loss aversion is observed both in psychological research and life: Individuals will work harder to avoid losing something than to gain the same thing. Most previous research examining the impact of gain versus loss framing has used personal economic or health decisions, such as preferred investments or health treatments. The present study examined whether goal framing also influences decisions about public resources such as economic development and environmental protection. After reading descriptions of the gains or losses associated with one of these issues, participants rated their concern and support for public actions related to several economic, environmental, and social actions. Results indicated loss aversion: Ratings were higher when losses associated with failing to adopt development or protection programs were emphasized. Thus, decision biases associated with goal framing may apply to decisions about public as well as personal resources. The implications of these findings for policy and communications professions are discussed.
Evaluation of Aloe vera and synbiotic as antibiotic growth promoter substitutions on performance, gut morphology, immune responses and blood constitutes of broiler chickens
Authors: Naghi Shokri Ali , Ghasemi Hossein A. , Taherpour Kamran
Published: June 2016

This study was performed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with Aloe vera (AV) powder and synbiotic as growth promoter agents on performance, gut morphology, immune responses, hematology and serum biochemistry in broilers. A total of 240‐day‐old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to six treatments with four replicates. Birds were offered either a corn‐soybean meal basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg virginiamycin (VM), 1 g/kg synbiotic (Syn), 2.5 g/kg AV (AV1), 5.0 g/kg AV (AV2) or 7.5 g/kg AV (AV3). Chickens fed any of the diets, except diet AV1, exhibited better feed conversion ratios at the 14–28 day period and higher average daily gain and duodenal villus height/crypt depth ratio at 42 days than those fed the control diet. Synbiotic supplementation caused a marked increase in the serum antibody titer against infectious bursal disease and infectious bronchitis vaccines. Feeding diet AV3 significantly increased red blood cell count and hemoglobin concentration, and decreased serum triglyceride level compared to the control group. The results suggested that dietary inclusion of 5 and 7.5 g/kg AV, similar with synbiotic supplementation, can be applied as effective alternatives to in‐feed antibiotics for broiler diets.
Coping With Logical Fallacies: A Developmental Training Program for Learning to Reason
Authors: Christoforides Michael , Spanoudis George , Demetriou Andreas
Published: June 2016

This study trained children to master logical fallacies and examined how learning is related to processing efficiency and fluid intelligence (gf). A total of one hundred and eighty 8‐ and 11‐year‐old children living in Cyprus were allocated to a control, a limited (LI), and a full instruction (FI) group. The LI group learned the notion of logical contradiction and the logical structure of the schemes involved. The FI group learned, additionally, to recognize other deductive reasoning principles. Reasoning improved proportionally to training. Awareness improved equally in LI and FI. Changes in reasoning and awareness changes were related to attention control and gf. Awareness mediated the influence of training on reasoning but not vice versa, suggesting that awareness is necessary for conditional reasoning. Implications are discussed.