bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Online induction programme with webinar: a case study
Authors: Warren Sharon , Black Patricia , Mills Elizabeth
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe the introduction of an online induction programme including an interactive webinar on a distance learning course and to present student feedback on the programme. It focuses on lessons learnt and implications for others implementing similar induction programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

– A self-completion questionnaire was sent to all students enroled on the programme, including those who did not attend the webinar or participate in the online induction programme. This was followed up with a semi-structured interview. The analysis focused on the student experience of the induction programme.

Findings

– Overall, students reported to be satisfied with the online programme. The webinar encouraged engagement with some elements of the online workshop and was felt to complement the other learning opportunities available online. The webinar was particularly valued for providing a “face” to the course, facilitating interactivity among tutors and students and helping the students to feel part of the University. Students also reported that the webinar had the advantage of allowing a social interaction between them.

Practical implications

– A number of key changes related to multiple offerings of the webinar and the timing of activities in the online workshop were highlighted to encourage participation. Greater clarity on what is required in the induction and how long it would take would also encourage participation.

Originality/value

– This case study is one of the few to evaluate the inclusion of webinar technology within an online induction programme and, therefore, has value in this context.
Correlation between the homestay experience and brand equity
Authors: Shen Ching-Cheng , Liu Der-Jen
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlation between customer experience and brand equity for a homestay establishment in Eastern Taiwan.

Design/methodology/approach

– Visitors staying at Yuehetang Rural Residence (YRR) during the month of January 2013 were surveyed, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis and typical correlation.

Findings

– Visitors demonstrated a very high level of overall satisfaction with their homestay experience (4.43-4.84), especially in terms of YRR’s ability to evoke feelings of being moved or touched, and of pleasure, excitement and satisfaction. Similarly, YRR’s brand equity was rated very high (3.98-4.67). Responders particularly felt that YRR’s image of prioritizing environmental protection and the quality of its lodgings were unique sources of added value and, therefore, factors in creating its healthy brand equity, despite the fact that it was rated low in terms of visibility to homestay-hunting customers. The correlation coefficient between experience and brand equity was 0.742, indicating a high degree of positive correlation. The correlation between customer loyalty and brand equity was also quite high, followed by, in decreasing order of strength, the correlations between brand equity and the environment-friendly image, the quality of lodging, organic farming and visibility.

Practical implications

– YRR’s core business value is environmental protection, a factor which, in today’s increasingly environment-conscious world, has unsurprisingly contributed heavily to its brand equity and customer loyalty. YRR and other homestay operators can utilize the findings of this paper to enhance visitor experience and their own brand equity.

Originality/value

– This paper is one of the first articles in the homestay experience field that offers content that environmental protection is an important factor to brand equity. It also offers numerous theoretical and practical implications.
When organizational complexity helps corporation improve its performance
Authors: Liu Hong , Ma Lu , Huang Panpan
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to test the assertion that the relationship between corporation performance and organizational complexity follows an inverted U-shape curve, and a corporation gains the best performance when its organizational complexity fits its environmental complexity.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research did not directly measure environmental complexity to verify the relationship between corporation performance and complex environment, but measured organizational complexity to subtly display the effect of the organizational complexity on the corporation performance while controlled the environmental complexity. To do so, a set of corporations that shared the similar environment was selected, and then these corporations’ performance and organizational complexity were calculated, the related hypotheses were tested empirically.

Findings

– The paper proved the inverted U-shape relationship between organizational complexity and corporation performance, and also found that different corporation chooses different complex adaptive way, so the inverted U-shape relationship displays hierarchy.

Research limitations/implications

– Future research should search out to calculate corporation’s environment complexity the fitness of organizational complexity for testing hypotheses.

Practical implications

– The regularity of relationship between organizational complexity and corporation performance is helpful for managers to understand that a way to improve a corporation’s performance is to enhance the fitness of organizational complexity and environmental complexity.

Social implications

– Organizational complexity may be competitive advantage, but excessive growth of it will be harmful.

Originality/value

– Usually organizational complexity is thought of as a negative factor to corporation performance and tends to be constrained, but this research explored the role of organizational complexity to corporation performance and the findings helps managers to understand when to enhance organizational complexity and when to weaken it. The methodology of calculating the fitness of organizational complexity and environmental complexity by fixing environment is a contribution to complexity theory research.
Toward an understanding of brand sexual associations
Authors: Azar Salim L.
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore brand sexual associations and to understand the antecedents of these associations by drawing from an anthropomorphic view of consumption and a socio-psychological perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

– An exploratory qualitative analysis based on 18 semi-structured interviews was conducted. Following symbolic interactionism and inter-subjectively reflective approaches, three main methods were used: interviews, projective drawings and a pen-and-paper exercise.

Findings

– The results of this paper strongly confirm that a brand is perceived by consumers as having a sex, a gender and a sexual orientation. These findings point toward a crucial distinction between these three constructs. Construct conceptualizations are developed and definitions are suggested. Nine antecedents for brand sexual associations are studied.

Research limitations/implications

– French subjects constitute the sample. Future studies might investigate the transferability of our results to other cultures. The three constructs broadens the existing brand-as-a-person metaphor and brand gender literature.

Practical implications

– Managers need to consider the construction of their brands’ sexual identities, namely, the sexual associations that brand strategists desire to create and maintain. The study of the antecedents of brand sexual associations provides brand managers the opportunity to manage actively those specific types of associations.

Originality/value

– This research contributes to the brand-as-a-person metaphor and to the brand gender literature with new insights about the nature and structure of brand sexual associations. This paper moves the conceptualization of these constructs forward.
Towards a unified theory of brand equity: conceptualizations, taxonomy and avenues for future research
Authors: Davcik Nebojsa S. , Vinhas da Silva Rui , Hair Joe F.
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to look into contemporary thinking within the brand equity paradigm, with a view to establishing avenues for further research on the drivers of brand equity formation, enabling a more in-depth understanding of the antecedents of brand equity and its determinants, as well as the development of an improved instrument to measure brand equity. The brand equity paradigm and its importance for marketing theory have been in the research focus for more than two decades. There is no agreement in the literature how to develop a unique measure of brand equity, neither what are the sources, drivers or determinants.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors develop the relating conceptual study through the differentiation and integration as specific conceptual goals. The authors present a taxonomic framework of brand equity grounded on a synthesis of contemporary approaches to the theme.

Findings

– The authors identify gaps in the brand equity literature. The analysis and development of the conceptual study in this paper shall serve as beacons for future research and provide valuable theoretical insights on the determinants of brand equity formation and the development of better brand equity measurement tools.

Originality/value

– The authors synthesized contemporary approaches in the field, identified research gaps and proposed open questions that should be tackled, as well as provided avenues for future research. The authors argue that creation of a unifying brand equity theory should be based on three pillars: stakeholder value, marketing assets and brand financial performance outputs.
Leader’s intention to support followers’ self-worth
Authors: van Dierendonck Dirk , Driehuizen Sabrine
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of the followers’ competence, will to achieve, and self-determination on a leader’s intention to support a followers’ sense of self-worth.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using an experimental scenario study design with a sample of 316 managers, a mediated three-way moderation model was investigated that tested the extent to which a new subordinate’s competence, self-determination, and will to achieve would influence the manager’s positive expectations of them and their willingness to support this subordinate’s sense of self-worth.

Findings

– The results showed that a subordinate’s competence plays a key role and that a subordinate’s will to achieve and self-determination played an additional role that was mediated by positive expectations of the leader.

Practical implications

– The key findings emphasize that leaders can benefit from understanding how dyadic relationships form and are influenced by the earliest phases of the development of such relationships.

Originality/value

– By taking the perspective of the leader, the paper provides empirical evidence of key determinants of the leader-follower relationship.
Information asymmetry in process consultation
Authors: Lalonde Carole , Adler Chloé
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to revisit Schein’s proposed process-consultation approach as a general framework for management consulting in the light of some premises of the agency theory, namely the behavior induced by the asymmetry of information between the principal (leader-client) and the agent (consultant).

Design/methodology/approach

– Empirical research consisted of an in-depth, qualitative and phenomenological analysis of 13 cases of organizational intervention based on the practice of four senior consultants in a Canadian management consulting firm whose philosophy is based on organizational development principles and practices. All the cases chosen are characterized by a situation of strategic change as a result of governmental reforms in the healthcare sector between 2005 and 2008.

Findings

– Overall, the study shows that the relationship between leaders-clients and consultants varies from one stage to another throughout the consultation process and that the information asymmetry does not always benefit the agent as stated in the agency theory. The consultants are required to play diverse roles, either in combination or alternation, during the consultation process; the facilitator’s role, stated as the more efficient role in Schein’s perspective and the more altruistic from the point of view of the agency theory, is not necessarily the role preferred by managers. Moreover, results highlight the idiosyncrasies of healthcare organizations, namely the phenomenon of escalating indecision that comes into play during the implementation phase of change, worth taking into account in the practice and theories of management consulting.

Practical implications

– This analysis raises a number of questions about the general understanding and applicability of the process consultation as defined by Schein. Perhaps the four consultants have not perfectly mastered the interpersonal skills that Schein’s model presupposes. One may also conclude that the model does not always respond to the expectations and needs of leaders and managers and that, for many consultants, it is difficult to adopt only one role model throughout the consulting process. One may also question its realism in a context of interventions in public organizations, with a plurality of interest groups and ambiguity of goals, where governmental reforms are pressuring managers to control costs.

Originality/value

– According to Eisenhardt (1989) and Hendry (2002), the agency theory offers promising avenues if combined with other theoretical anchors such as the field of organizational behavior. This study scrutinizes the leader-consultant relationship, and more specifically the type of assistance requested by healthcare leaders as they experienced strategic change and how consultants responded to these requests.
Observing organisational transformation of the public sector in the e-government era
Authors: Nograšek Janja , Vintar Mirko
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to develop a more comprehensive framework that would provide better insight into the characteristics of organisational transformation (OT) of the public sector organisations in the e-government era. Despite the widespread opinion that successful implementation of information communication technology (ICT) is strongly correlated with the appropriate OT of the public sector, a critical analysis of the available literature within the field indicates that this important dimension of e-government development has been dealt with only partially. Accordingly, the paper attempts the following: to develop a more comprehensive framework for observing OT, to empirically explain the framework through analysis of three Slovenian e-government projects and to develop some general characteristics of ICT-induced OT in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

– The development of the framework is based on an analysis of the available literature, whereas the explanation of such is based on a multiple-case study approach.

Findings

– The paper contributes to a clearer understanding of what the main characteristics of OT in the e-government era are and how they should be observed.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings can help researchers to more accurately focus their attention on the most critical aspects of OT. The identified attributes can provide an important basis for future research, particularly from the methodological perspective.

Practical implications

– The framework can help public managers to focus their attention on the most important attributes of ICT-induced OT to exploit ICT potentials more efficiently.

Originality/value

– The paper attempts to demystify the concept of OT in the e-government field and place it in a more solid theoretical and empirically explained framework.
Knowledge management 2.0: the proposal for Commipedia
Authors: Cozzani Franco
Published: March 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative in-house knowledge management system of core know-how for European Commission (EC) officials. It shows how the quality of the work of officials could be improved and how talent growth and recognition could be better fostered within the EC, taken as target for the proposal, as well as example for other large, multi-disciplinary organisations that might wish to implement a similar system.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study considered what the key issues for better knowledge management in the EC are, and what could be learnt from the successful implementation of Diplopedia, the knowledge wiki of the US Department of State, and from previous studies of author rank, quality and stability of individual entries in the public Wikipedia. The less known Citizendium wiki was also considered. Adopting a design science approach, a first conceptual design for a EC-wide in-house knowledge wiki was developed and validated through two successive iterations using a simplified Delphi approach. A final conceptual design of this wiki was then prepared.

Findings

– The study found that a system aiming at high quality of entries, allowing for a healthy breadth of substance-based opinions, covering a vast scope of subjects and offering security of operation can be designed. It is argued that visible authorship, allowing room for dissenting opinions, opting for non-public access of the entries and setting up a bibliometrics method to reward high-quality contribution to the system are essential elements to ensure its adoption and ultimate success.

Research limitations/implications

– The main limitation of the study is that the new system, yet to be accepted within the EC, is untested in a real situation. The paper should, therefore, be seen as an example of “design science” rather than an analysis of an already implemented system. It is surmised that more research is needed on preservation and growth of quality in wiki entries, and how ranking editors can contribute to that aim.

Practical implications

– The Commipedia system proposed in the present paper will have practical positive implications in the EC discharge of its duties, which have constantly increased over the years at each revision of the EU treaties. A similar system can address similar needs of in-house knowledge management and talent management in large public and private organisations.

Originality/value

– This paper fulfils the need to provide the EC with a way to cope with mobility and retirement of experienced officials, to retain their knowledge, distribute across its different departments, update and improve it and, additionally, reward expertise and talent of officials, increasing in turn their wish to contribute to Commipedia. Neither the EC nor other large multi-disciplinary organisations have such a general system at their disposal.
Increasing returns, individuality and use of the common pool
Authors: Kwan Chang Yee
Published: March 2015

A model of monopolistic competition is suggested to study common‐pool resource use. Individuals extract an input from the pool to produce a consumption good under decreasing average costs. The equilibrium output and population sizes are obtained under two types of usage conjectures. Somewhat counter‐intuitively, a cooperative equilibrium results in a larger population of harvesters but lower welfare than the noncooperative one. Some degree of population heterogeneity helps minimise the welfare gap between the two equilibria, but the size of heterogeneity may be a determinant if the resource pool becomes subsequently depleted. The model's potential for policy analysis is illustrated by considering how governance via institutional arrangements and transaction costs may be incorporated and inferred.
Isomaltooligosaccharide increases the Lactobacillus rhamnosus viable count in Cheddar cheese
Authors: Liu Lu , Li Xiaodong , Bi Weiwei , Zhang Ling , Ma Liyuan , Ren Hongjing , Li Minghao
Published: March 2015

Five batches of Cheddar cheese were manufactured containing different levels of isomaltooligosaccharide (IMO) and a probiotic strain of Lactobacillus rhamnosus to study the effect of IMO on the survival of starter lactococci and probiotic micro‐organisms, on proteolytic patterns, cheese composition and sensory properties. The cheese was exposed to conditions simulating those found in the gastrointestinal tract to evaluate the survival of Lb. rhamnosus. Results demonstrated that the addition of Lb. rhamnosus and IMO did not affect the main compositional variables of Cheddar cheese. The counts of starter culture and probiotic organisms increased in cheese which contained Isomaltooligosaccharide (Batches 3, 4 and 5) more than in the control (Batches 1 and 2) during the fermentation. The probiotic counts in fresh cheese (B‐4) was 9.23 log10 cfu/g which was more than one log cycle greater than in the control (B‐2). The probiotic counts remained above 8 log10 cfu/g at the end of the manufacturing process. Primary proteolysis was not affected by the addition of probiotic bacteria and IMO, but the level of secondary proteolysis was slightly higher compared with the control group. The addition of IMO improved the texture and sensory quality of the cheese and the probiotic bacterium had the same effect. Under conditions that simulated the gastrointestinal tract, the probiotic bacteria in cheese (B‐4) exhibited good survival and remained above the recommended 6–7 log10 cfu/g.
Reappraisal of endometrial thickness for the detection of endometrial cancer in postmenopausal bleeding: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Wong AS‐W , Lao TT‐H , Cheung CW , Yeung SW , Fan HL , Ng PS , Yuen PM , Sahota DS
Published: March 2015

Objective

To estimate the accuracy of transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) measurement of endometrial thickness (ET) in diagnosing endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women with vaginal bleeding (PMB).

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

One‐stop PMB clinic in a Hong Kong teaching hospital.

Population

A cohort of 4383 women with PMB.

Methods

Transvaginal ultrasonic measurement of ET and endometrial biopsies were obtained in women presenting with PMB between 2002 and 2013. Endometrial histology was used as the reference standard to calculate accuracy estimates.

Main outcome measures

Accuracy data for TVS ET presented as sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve.

Results

Endometrial cancer was diagnosed in 3.8% of women. The median ET in those with endometrial cancer was significantly higher than those with benign conditions (15.7 versus 3.2 mm, P < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve was 0.92 (95% CI 0.89–0.94). The sensitivity for the detection of endometrial cancer at 3‐, 4‐, and 5‐mm cut‐offs were 97.0% (95% CI 94.5–99.6%), 94.1% (95% CI 90.5–97.6%), and 93.5% (95% CI 89.7–97.2%), respectively. The corresponding estimates of specificity at these thresholds were 45.3% (95% CI 43.8–46.8%), 66.8% (65.4–68.2%), and 74.0% (72.7–75.4%).

Conclusions

Transvaginal ultrasound using a 3‐mm cut‐off has high sensitivity for detecting endometrial cancer and can identify women with PMB who are highly unlikely to have endometrial cancer, thereby avoiding more invasive endometrial biopsy.
Topical Citrullus colocynthis (bitter apple) extract oil in painful diabetic neuropathy: A double‐blind randomized placebo‐controlled clinical trial
Authors: Heydari Mojtaba , Homayouni Kaynoosh , Hashempur Mohammad Hashem , Shams Mesbah
Published: March 2015

Background

The aim of the present study was to examine the safety and efficacy of a topical formulation of Citrullus colocynthis in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDPN).

Methods

The study was designed as a two‐arm double‐blind randomized placebo‐controlled clinical trial using a parallel design. Sixty patients with PDPN were randomly allocated to receive either a topical formulation of C. colocynthis or placebo (1:1 allocation ratio) for 3 months. Patients were evaluated before and after the intervention using the neuropathic pain scale, electrodiagnostic findings, World Health Organization Biomedical Research and Education Foundation (BREF) quality of life (WHOQOL‐BREF) scores, and reported adverse events.

Results

There was a significantly greater decrease in mean pain score after 3 months in the C. colocynthis (−3.89; 95% confidence interval [CI] −3.19, −4.60) than placebo (−2.28; 95% CI −1.66, −2.90) group (P < 0.001). Mean changes in nerve conduction velocity of the tibial nerve, distal latency of the superficial peroneal nerve and sural nerve, and sensory amplitude of the sural nerve were significantly higher in the intervention than placebo group (P < 0.001) in favour of the intervention. In the different domains of WHOQOL‐BREF, there was a significant improvement only for the mean score in the physical domain.

Conclusions

Application of a topical formulation of C. colocynthis fruit extract can decrease pain in patients with PDPN. It also may have some uncertain effects on nerve function and the physical domain of quality of life, which require further investigation in studies with larger sample sizes and of longer duration.
Effect of high‐volume systematic local infiltration analgesia in Caesarean section: a randomised, placebo‐controlled trial
Authors: LARSEN K. R. , KRISTENSEN B. B. , RASMUSSEN M. A. , RASMUSSEN Y. H. , WEBER T. , KRISTENSEN B. , KEHLET H.
Published: March 2015

Background

Pain after Caesarean section is often treated with opioids with a risk of side effects. Wound infiltration with local anaesthetics is effective and has few side effects, but volume vs. dose concentration has not been examined.

Methods

Ninety patients scheduled for elective Caesarean section included in a randomised, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial receiving infiltration with 50 ml ropivacaine 0.5% or 125 ml ropivacaine 0.2% or 50 ml 0.9% saline (placebo) during surgery. Surgery was performed under lumbar spinal anaesthesia. Primary endpoint was post‐operative pain. Secondary endpoints were rescue analgesic, post‐operative nausea and vomiting, time spent in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and time to first mobilisation.

Results

No difference in pain response between groups, but time until maximum pain score was prolonged in the ropivacaine 0.5% group compared with the placebo group (P = 0.0493). The administration of ketobemidone at 24 h post‐operatively in the ropivacaine 0.5% group was reduced compared with the placebo group (P = 0.020), and between the ropivacaine 0.2% group and the ropivacaine 0.5% group (P = 0.044). No significant differences between groups were found concerning time spent in the PACU, to first mobilisation or in number of women with nausea/vomiting (P ≥ 0.05). No complications related to ropivacaine were observed.

Conclusions

Systematic infiltration with a high concentration, low volume compared with low concentration, high volume showed no significant effect on post‐operative pain intensity. However, a statistically significant, but clinically limited opioid sparing effect was demonstrated compared with placebo in the high concentration, low volume group.
Predicting prolonged hospital stay after laparoscopic cholecystectomy
Authors: Morimoto Yoshikazu , Mizuno Hitoshi , Akamaru Yusuke , Yasumasa Keigo , Noro Hiroshi , Kono Emiko , Yamasaki Yoshio
Published: March 2015

Introduction

Widespread application of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has resulted in a high complication rate and leads to prolonged hospital stays. This study aimed to investigate the preoperative and intraoperative clinical factors that relate to prolongation of hospital stay.

Methods

We studied 370 patients who underwent LC for gallbladder disease between 2008 and 2012. Clinical risk factors were retrospectively collected. The clinical pathway for LC was indicated for all patients, and they were divided into two groups according to postoperative length of stay (LOS): the normal duration group (LOS ≤5 days) and the long duration (LD) group (LOS ≥6 days). Multiple regression analysis was used to predict risk factors that identified hospital prolongation to create a LOS prediction score.

Results

The normal duration group was 236 patients and the LD group was 134. Seventeen patients (4.6%) required conversion from laparoscopic to open surgery. LOS was 4.82 days in the normal duration group and 12.08 days in the LD group. In the LD group, 18.7% of the patients stayed more than 14 days, but no patients were readmitted. Thirteen clinical factors were statistically different between the two groups. ASA score and LC difficulty were the most predictive risk factors for LOS prolongation. LOS prediction score consisted of eight variables selected from 13 factors; it helped determine the likelihood of whether a patients’ hospital stay was prolonged (sensitivity, 82.1%; specificity, 75.0%).

Conclusion

Thirteen factors closely related to hospital stay duration and LOS prediction score could predict the prolongation of a patient's hospital stay.
Does aetiology of neonatal encephalopathy and hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy influence the outcome of treatment?
Authors: Mcintyre Sarah , Badawi Nadia , Blair Eve , Nelson Karin B
Published: March 2015

Neonatal encephalopathy, a clinical syndrome affecting term‐born and late preterm newborn infants, increases the risk of perinatal death and long‐term neurological morbidity, especially cerebral palsy. With the advent of therapeutic hypothermia, a treatment designed for hypoxic or ischaemic injury, associated mortality and morbidity rates have decreased. Unfortunately, only about one in eight neonates (95% confidence interval) who meet eligibility criteria for therapeutic cooling apparently benefit from the treatment. Studies of infants in representative populations indicate that neonatal encephalopathy is a potential result of a variety of antecedents and that asphyxial complications at birth account for only a small percentage of neonatal encephalopathy. In contrast, clinical case series suggest that a large proportion of neonatal encephalopathy is hypoxic or ischaemic, and trials of therapeutic hypothermia are specifically designed to include only infants exposed to hypoxia or ischaemia. This review addresses the differences, definitional and methodological, between infants studied and investigations undertaken, in population studies compared with cooling trials. It raises the question if there may be subgroups of infants with a clinical diagnosis of hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) in whom the pathobiology of neonatal neurological depression is not fundamentally hypoxic or ischaemic and, therefore, for whom cooling may not be beneficial. In addition, it suggests approaches to future trials of cooling plus adjuvant therapy that may contribute to further improvement of care for these vulnerable neonates.
High‐density electroencephalography developmental neurophysiological trajectories
Authors: Dan Bernard , Pelc Karine , Cebolla Ana M , Cheron Guy
Published: March 2015

Efforts to document early changes in the developing brain have resulted in the construction of increasingly accurate structural images based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in newborn infants. Tractography diagrams obtained through diffusion tensor imaging have focused on white matter microstructure, with particular emphasis on neuronal connectivity at the level of fibre tract systems. Electroencephalography (EEG) provides a complementary approach with more direct access to brain electrical activity. Its temporal resolution is excellent, and its spatial resolution can be enhanced to physiologically relevant levels, through the combination of high‐density recordings (e.g. by using 64 channels in newborn infants) and mathematical models (e.g. inverse modelling computation), to identify generators of different oscillation bands and synchrony patterns. The integration of functional and structural topography of the neonatal brain provides insights into typical brain organization, and the deviations seen in particular contexts, for example the effect of hypoxic–ischaemic insult in terms of damage, eventual reorganization, and functional changes. Endophenotypes can then be used for pathophysiolgical reasoning, management planning, and outcome measurements, and allow a longitudinal approach to individual developmental trajectories.
Outcome of acute myeloid leukemia patients with pulmonary nodules of uncertain etiology receiving allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell transplant
Authors: Lim Sara J. , Lim Matthew J. , Raptis Anastasios , Hou Jing‐Zhou , Farah Rafic , Marks Stanley , Im Annie , Dorritie Kathleen , Sehgal Alison , Agha Mounzer , Lim Seah H.
Published: March 2015

Pulmonary nodules (PNs) develop frequently in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They are of infectious or inflammatory origin. They pose potential challenges to successful hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) transplant as they may be niches for infection reactivation or sites susceptible to subsequent infections. We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of 20 AML patients with multiple PNs who underwent allogeneic HPC transplants (12 related, 8 unrelated). There were 13 males and seven females (median age 52 yrs). Nine patients were in CR1, seven in CR2, and four with residual disease. The median times from appearance of PNs and from last positive CT scans to transplant were three and two months, respectively. The median time from pretransplant CT scans to transplant was one month. Multiple PNs were still reported in 5/20 of the pretransplant scans. The PNs in all five patients did not worsen after transplant. Four patients (one with positive pretransplant CT scan) died within the first 100 d after transplant, but none from primary pulmonary pathology. The median survival of this group of patients was 350 d. Our results, therefore, suggest that multiple PNs of uncertain etiology in patients with AML do not impact adversely on the outcome of allogeneic HPC transplant.
Intersectionality, Policy‐Oriented Research and the Social Relations of Knowing
Authors: Campbell Marie L.
Published: March 2015

Researchers attempting to improve knowledge for policy making look to intersectionality to theorize the important, yet poorly understood constitutive elements of people's lives and experiences. As argued here, certain epistemological and ontological issues, while much debated, remain a problem in intersectional and other social research. This paper introduces Dorothy E. Smith's analytic approach, institutional ethnography, arguing that its use avoids reliance on categories that objectify people and, instead, explicates the social relations that rule people's knowing and doing. In institutional ethnography, people are understood to conduct and experience their lives within discursively organized social relations, coordinating their activities with institutions and the political economy, more broadly. Addressing how the latter implicates policy‐oriented activism, an illustration from research in healthcare is used, demonstrating how in accounting empirically for ‘what actually happens’, an institutional ethnography makes visible the relations of knowing that link research subjects and researchers, too, into an institution's ruling purposes.
Trust and health in Eastern Europe: Conceptions of a new society
Authors: Carlson Per
Published: March 2015

Little attention has been paid to why trends and levels of mortality and morbidity differ in Eastern Europe and few studies have addressed people's own perceptions of their new political system – perceptions which per se may be important for social development. The aim of the present study was to analyse the extent to which trust and economic circumstances affect self‐rated health in Poland, Estonia and Russia and how much health differences between the countries can be explained by these factors. A better economy and higher trust were related to better individual health, while economic factors seemed most important for inter‐country differences. It is probable that both institutional factors and individual perceptions contribute to people's well‐being, but in terms of social policy, an improved welfare system may be the most effective way forward.
Geographical patterns of butterfly species diversity in the subtropical Ryukyu Islands: the importance of a unidirectional filter between two source islands
Authors: Hirao Toshihide , Kubota Yasuhiro , Murakami Masashi
Published: March 2015

Aim

To examine the roles of geohistorical and ecological factors in the development of butterfly assemblages on continental islands with multiple source pools.

Location

The Ryukyu Islands, Japan. This arc of continental islands is located between two source islands, Kyushu and Taiwan, and contains two major straits, the Tokara and Kerama gaps.

Methods

A total of 489 butterfly species were identified on 59 islands, including the two source islands. The influences on species richness and rarity of latitude, area, elevation, and distances from the nearest source and from the nearest larger island were analysed using generalized linear models. The relationships between differences in area, elevation, and distance and dissimilarity between island butterfly faunas were evaluated by multiple regressions on distance matrices. The relationships between area, elevation, and distance from the source and dissimilarity to the source fauna were examined using linear models. The dissimilarity was based on the Sørensen index and its nestedness and turnover components.

Results

Latitude, area and isolation determined species richness and rarity, whereas differences in elevation and distance regulated species turnover between islands. The gaps between islands were associated with nestedness between island faunas. Area consistently had a negative relationship with the total dissimilarity to source fauna. The overall dissimilarity to Kyushu decreased with the distance from Kyushu, whereas dissimilarity to Taiwan increased with distance from Taiwan.

Main conclusions

Both environmental filtering and dispersal limitation determine the geographical patterns of butterfly assemblages in the Ryukyus. The present study focuses on the unique pattern wherein migration from Kyushu is facilitated on islands farther from Kyushu, while migration from Taiwan is inhibited on islands farther from Taiwan. The two source islands have contrasting roles that affect butterfly distributions unidirectionally. This study highlights the importance of resolving dissimilarity into nestedness and turnover components to elucidate the formation of island biota.
‘Pre‐Accession Europeanization’: The Case of Serbia and Kosovo
Authors: Economides Spyros , Ker‐Lindsay James
Published: March 2015

This article argues that there is much confusion surrounding Serbia's landmark decision to engage in a process of normalization with Kosovo. Rather than undergoing a process of Europeanization, whereby a fundamental transformation in the underlying rationale and processes of decision‐making occurred, as some have argued, the changes in Serbia's policy are in fact based on material concerns. By tracing relations in the EU‐Serbia‐Kosovo triangle, the article shows that change in Serbia's approach towards Kosovo is based on pragmatism and political opportunism, rather than absorption, adaptation, convergence or identity formation. What we have witnessed is a more short‐term, interest based policy shift serving very specific economic purposes. In conceptual terms, this is better understood as a policy of rationally instrumental ‘pre‐Accession Europeanization’ rather than as a process of adaptive normative Europeanization as more conventionally understood in the literature.
Swedish and South African Nursing Students’ Descriptions of Family
Authors: Erlingsson Christen , Brysiewicz Petra
Published: March 2015

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast descriptions of “family” amongst Swedish and South African university nursing students.

Design and Methods

This qualitative inquiry, using convenience sampling, explored how 232 undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students responded to a two‐query, open‐response questionnaire designed to elicit a definition of family and a description of who students considered to be members of their own families. Free‐text responses were analyzed using manifest and qualitative content analysis.

Findings

Five categories emerged from the data: Ties of Kinship, Ties of Love, Ties of Influence, Ties of Everyday Life, and Tied by Slipknots. Analysis clarified that students’ responses from both countries were addressing the same issues and as such were in general very similar. Contrasting Swedish and South African responses, a noticeable difference in proportions of responses coded into each category was evident. Three conceptualizations of family are offered: for the total sample, Swedish sample, and South African sample.

Conclusions

The study provides data on students’ conceptualization of family usable in family research, nursing education, and practice as a basis for comparison, and as a starting point for discussions on the nursing of families, not only in South Africa and Sweden, but also in broader international contexts.

Clinical Relevance

Because understanding family is important for healthcare providers in their everyday work, awareness about what is meant by family can assist nurses through increasing understanding of the complexities surrounding this issue and encouraging cultural sensitivity and openness to patients’ and families’ views about who is a family member.
LATS2 induced by TNF‐alpha and inhibited cell proliferation and invasion by phosphorylating YAP in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Dong Cong , Wei Kui‐Jie , Zhang Wen‐Bin , Sun Hao , Pan Hong‐Ya , Zhang Lei
Published: March 2015

Objective

Many reports indicated LATS2 was a component of the Hippo pathway, could phosphorylate and inactivate YAP, acted as a tumor suppressor in human cancers. But few studies investigated the role of LATS2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and clarified the mechanisms of regulation of LATS2 expression.

Design

The expressions of LATS2 and phosphorylated YAP were detected by Western blotting in HN6 cells treated with TNF‐α in different time and different dose. Luciferase reporter assays were performed to detect whether YAP can be phosphorylated by LATS2 in HN6 cells. Cell proliferation, anchorage independent growth in soft agar, transwell cell invasion assay, and nu mice in vivo xenografts growth were performed to study the effects of overexpression of LATS2 on OSCC cells.

Results

In this study, we confirmed that YAP can be phosphorylated by LATS2. LATS2 can be dose‐ and time‐dependently induced by TNF‐α in HN6 cells. Overexpression of LATS2 inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, cell invasion, and in vivo xenografts growth in OSCC cells.

Conclusion

LATS2 could be induced by TNF‐alpha and inhibited cell proliferation and invasion by phosphorylating YAP in OSCC cells. LATS2 might play a role in the tumorigenesis of OSCC and might be a potential therapeutic target in OSCC treatment.
Managing without default retirement in universities: a comparative picture from Australia
Authors: Blackham Alysia
Published: March 2015

The abolition of the default retirement age is creating challenges for UK employers, and universities in particular. Operating without mandatory retirement may have consequences for performance management, the creation of opportunities for new generations of workers, the scope for workforce planning and employment costs. Drawing on comparative experiences of Australian universities, which have been operating without mandatory retirement since the 1990s, this paper critically examines whether these consequences have materialised in Australia. It draws out a number of lessons for UK universities from the Australian experience.
Extensive respiratory chain defects in inhibitory interneurones in patients with mitochondrial disease
Authors: Lax Nichola Z. , Grady John , Laude Alex , Chan Felix , Hepplewhite Philippa D. , Gorman Grainne , Whittaker Roger G. , Ng Yi , Cunningham Mark O. , Turnbull Doug M.
Published: March 2015

Aims

Mitochondrial disorders are among the most frequently inherited cause of neurological disease and arise due to mutations in mitochondrial or nuclear DNA. Currently, we do not understand the specific involvement of certain brain regions or selective neuronal vulnerability in mitochondrial disease. Recent studies suggest γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)‐ergic interneurones are particularly susceptible to respiratory chain dysfunction. In this neuropathological study, we assess the impact of mitochondrial DNA defects on inhibitory interneurones in patients with mitochondrial disease.

Methods

Histochemical, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent assays were performed on post‐mortem brain tissue from 10 patients and 10 age‐matched control individuals. We applied a quantitative immunofluorescent method to interrogate complex I and IV protein expression in mitochondria within GABAergic interneurone populations in the frontal, temporal and occipital cortices. We also evaluated the density of inhibitory interneurones in serial sections to determine if cell loss was occurring.

Results

We observed significant, global reductions in complex I expression within GABAergic interneurones in frontal, temporal and occipital cortices in the majority of patients. While complex IV expression is more variable, there is reduced expression in patients harbouring m.8344A>G point mutations and POLG mutations. In addition to the severe respiratory chain deficiencies observed in remaining interneurones, quantification of GABAergic cell density showed a dramatic reduction in cell density suggesting interneurone loss.

Conclusions

We propose that the combined loss of interneurones and severe respiratory deficiency in remaining interneurones contributes to impaired neuronal network oscillations and could underlie development of neurological deficits, such as cognitive impairment and epilepsy, in mitochondrial disease.
Father role: A comparison between teenage and adult first‐time fathers in Thailand
Authors: Sriyasak Atcharawadee , Almqvist Anna‐Lena , Sridawruang Chaweewan , Häggström‐Nordin Elisabet
Published: March 2015

In this study, we compared perceived father roles among teenage and adult first‐time fathers in Thailand. The design was cross‐sectional and comparative, and the sample involved 70 teenage and 70 adult fathers, whose children were 2–6 months old. The fathers were recruited from 32 primary healthcare centers in the western region of Thailand. Three validated, self‐reported questionnaires with multiple‐choice questions were used for data collection. Differences between the two groups were analyzed using χ2‐test and the Mann–Whitney U‐test. The results revealed differences between teenage and adult fathers concerning income, educational level, and intention to have a baby. The teenage father group had a lower sense of competence, and scored lower on childrearing behavior and father–child relationship than the adult father group. These findings provide healthcare professionals with increased knowledge and understanding of teenage fathers' needs in preparing for parenthood. Given that we now know the importance of positive father roles in children's lives, health authorities should be expected to provide resources to help support these fathers.