bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The relationship between work characteristics and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior
Authors: Kao Rui-Hsin
Published: October 2017

Purpose

Improving employees’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is important because of the work content and service nature of the National Immigration Agency (NIA). The purpose of this paper, which targeted immigration workers using the work design model (knowledge oriented), leadership types and organizational climate as perspectives, is to study immigration workers’ change-oriented OCB. Inspecting the knowledge-oriented work characteristics (KOWCs) of the NIA of Taiwan to find ways of stimulating change-oriented OCB through employees’ high self-efficacy is also critical. The investigators also explored how transformational leadership and organizational climate directly affect employees’ change-oriented OCB in a cross-level organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The subject of this research is the frontline immigration workers of Taiwan’s NIA, with its entire staff on duty at the country’s airports and ports as targets of the research. This study used a total of 312 questionnaires.

Findings

At the group level, transformational leadership shows significant positive influence on organizational climate. KOWCs can positively influence self-efficacy and affect change-oriented OCB on an individual basis; similarly, self-efficacy can also positively impact the individual’s change-oriented OCB. In addition, transformational leadership and organizational climate have a contextual effect on the outcome variable on an individual basis.

Originality/value

This finding is helpful for researching and practicing implications of HRM, such as in further understanding how the motivation from work characteristics, organization’s environment and interpersonal networks can increase employees’ change-oriented OCB.
Does joint decision making foster team creativity? Exploring the moderating and mediating effects
Authors: Guo Weixiao , Wang Duanxu
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential moderating role of team membership change in the relationship between joint decision making and team creativity and to determine whether team psychological safety mediates the moderating effect.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from multiple sources on 78 teams were collected in the People’s Republic of China. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were adopted to analyze the data.

Findings

The hypothesized mediated moderation model is supported. The results indicate that joint decision making is more positively related to team creativity under lower levels of team membership change and team psychological safety is a significant intermediate mechanism between the moderating effect and team creativity.

Research limitations/implications

The cross-sectional design of this study is insufficient to support the causal inferences in the theoretical model; therefore, further longitudinal or laboratory research is required. In addition, other possible boundary conditions and underlying mechanisms have yet to be tested.

Originality/value

The present paper complements the extant studies, which mainly focus on the implication of leadership empowerment behaviors for individual outcomes, by examining the impact of joint decision making on team creativity and, further, reveals when and how joint decision making is more likely to foster team creativity, which extends the literature on leadership and team creativity.
Job insecurity and performance: the mediating role of organizational identification
Authors: Piccoli Beatrice , Callea Antonino , Urbini Flavio , Chirumbolo Antonio , Ingusci Emanuela , De Witte Hans
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge about theoretical explanations of the job insecurity-performance relationship. Specifically, the authors examine how and why job insecurity is negatively associated with task and contextual performance (i.e. organizational citizenship behavior) and whether organizational identification may account for these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The mediational hypotheses were examined using structural equation modeling in a heterogeneous sample of Italian employees.

Findings

Consistent with social identity theory, results show that job insecurity is related to reduced levels of identification with the organization and, consequently, to low task and contextual performance. These findings suggest that employees’ behaviors in job insecure contexts are also driven by evaluations about the perceived belongingness to the organization.

Practical implications

The research supports initial evidence that it is possible to prevent low performance resulting from job insecurity by designing interventions to boost organizational identification. By ensuring a sense of belonging and providing a positive basis for employees’ social identity, managers may increase involvement and attachment to the organization.

Originality/value

This study provides a deeper understanding of behavioral reactions to job insecurity and adds a path unexplored so far, by introducing a theoretical perspective from social psychology. Job insecurity may represent a specific condition that leads organizational identification to be a key mechanism for employees and their behaviors.
The relationship between perceptions of learning climate and employee innovative behavior and proficiency
Authors: Eldor Liat
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceptions of learning climate and employee innovative behavior and proficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

Using robust analysis techniques on data from a sample of 419 employees and their supervisors from four different business and public sector organizations, the author tested the proposed relationships, as mediated by job engagement. Moreover, this mediation effect was examined in the light of sector of employment differences (business vs public).

Findings

The results were generally consistent with the hypothesized conceptual scheme, in that the indirect relationship between perceptions of learning climate and employees’ innovative behavior and proficiency was mediated by job engagement. However, with regard to sector employment differences, this mediation process was demonstrated among business sector employees only to the relationship between perceptions of learning climate and innovative behavior. When proficiency was included in the mediation model, this mediation effect was evident among public sector employees.

Originality/value

The research on perceptions of learning climate lacks empirical evidence on its implications for employees’ innovative behavior and proficiency. Although scholars contend that employees’ perceptions of learning climate should enhance their in-role and extra-role performance behaviors, these arguments are mainly non-empirical. Understanding whether perceptions of learning have an impact on employee intra- and extra-role performance behaviors is important, considering that the majority of workplace learning occurs through daily ongoing means that are part of the working environment and previous research results show that structured learning and formal training are less effective in improving employees’ performance at work.
What happened to the border? The role of mobile information technology devices on employees’ work-life balance
Authors: Adisa Toyin Ajibade , Gbadamosi Gbolahan , Osabutey Ellis L.C.
Published: October 2017

Purpose

Mobile information technology devices (MITDs) are of special interest for researchers who seek to understand the role of these devices on employees’ work-life balance (WLB). The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of MITDs on employees’ WLB.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses semi-structured interviews to investigate the role of MITDs on employees’ WLB.

Findings

The findings underscore the important role of MITDs in terms of the attainment of flexibility (how, where, and when work is done), which is significant for achieving WLB. However, the use of MITDs has blurred the division between work and non-work domains. This has inadvertently lengthened employees’ working hours, has affected their family relationships, and affected their general health and well-being. The evidence suggests that MITDs have the potential to improve WLB but could also lead to work-life conflict if not properly managed.

Originality/value

The study calls for a re-examination of WLB policies and practices, specifically border theory, in order to ensure that MITDs can enhance productivity without inadvertently resulting in poor WLB.
Context, self-regulation and developmental foci
Authors: Ren Shuang , Zhu Ying
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate why managerial leaders engage in leader self-development (SD)vis-à-visChina’s transition process and what domains of leadership competencies are enhanced. It aims to investigate leader SD as an interaction between self-regulation and the confluence of multiple contexts experienced simultaneously by these managerial leaders within China’s transition.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a two-phase exploratory sequential mixed-method design. The absence of empirical research on leader SD in China led to a qualitative approach in the initial stage. Focus groups were first conducted to establish the relevance of the focal construct in a holistic and elaborative way. In-depth interviews were then undertaken to capture the richness of the phenomenon through meaningful contextualization and to identify themes as representative of issues faced by participants. Seven themes emerged from this process, which, through consultation with the relevant literature, were operationalized in the second stage to generate a survey for hypothesis testing.

Findings

The combination of insights from qualitative and quantitative studies highlights the dynamic and interactive nature of leader SD as a product of contextual and personal influences in China. The influential mechanisms connecting personal and contextual enablers and SD are in the cognitive processing of developmental needs and personal responsibility. Chinese managerial leaders who take the initiative to assess their own developmental needs and assume responsibility for their development are more likely to undertake SD. The developmental activities focus primarily on technical leadership competencies.

Research limitations/implications

A competency perspective to development may not address fully complexities involved in leader development. Also developing leadership competencies is an ongoing process. Due to limited time and fund, this paper did not take a time perspective to investigate both the immediate and long-term outcomes of leader SD.

Practical implications

SD is an emerging strategy that has the potential to address the shortage of managerial leadership competencies. The analysis of the self-regulatory process explains the mediating dynamism underlying different domains of leader SD. Recruitment focusing on people with a relatively higher degree of self-regulation thus increases the potential for organizations to staff themselves with employees aware of, and prepared for, SD organization would like to take place. It is also advisable that organizations make efforts to create a learning environment in general.

Originality/value

This mixed-method approach provides a multi-layered investigation that ultimately adds rigor and relevance to the research findings. It is this analysis of the complex web of economic, social and cultural contexts existing in China, and applying them to social cognitive theory as an explanatory platform, that underpins the originality of the study.
Collaboration time influences information-sharing at work
Authors: Moser Karin S. , Kämmer Juliane E.
Published: October 2017

Purpose

Different lengths of collaboration with colleagues at work is a central feature of modern working life, and even more so in a work environment that is increasingly project focused and knowledge-intensive. Despite its practical importance, there is little research on how the perceived costs and benefits in an information-sharing dilemma might change depending on collaboration length. Based on a social dilemma framework, it is hypothesised that anticipated length of collaboration time will significantly influence the motivation to collaborate.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental scenario study (N= 87) compared the willingness to work collaboratively, share information and help the partner in a long-term (two academic terms) vs a short-term (one week) condition.

Findings

At first somewhat counter-intuitively, participants were more helpful in the short-term, and insisted more on equality and disengaged more from a defecting partner – but not the project – in the long-term condition. People appear to focus more on the immediate task in short-term collaborations – even at cost – because the outcome is more important than the relationship, and more on setting norms for equality and reciprocity in long-term collaborations to avoid future exploitation.

Practical implications

The findings help understanding the motivation and the partner and task perception under different time conditions and support managing teams in an increasingly project-oriented work environment with changing partners and varying time frames.

Originality

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper investigating the influence of anticipated collaboration time in information-sharing dilemmas.
The context of coping: a qualitative exploration of underlying inequalities that influence health services support for people living with long‐term conditions
Authors: Potter Caroline M. , Kelly Laura , Hunter Cheryl , Fitzpatrick Ray , Peters Michele
Published: October 2017

Coping with chronic illness encapsulates both practical and emotional aspects of living life in relation to one's long‐term health condition(s). Dominant health psychology approaches for understanding coping, which underpin a more recent policy discourse on ‘self‐management’, focus sharply on the person affected by illness and potentially mask the influence of overarching social structure. In this paper we draw on qualitative interviews with 48 people living with long‐term conditions (LTCs), in order to highlight the role that structural configurations such as healthcare systems may play in either helping or hindering people's efforts to cope with chronic illness. We argue that coping is a social process in which health and related services, situated within their wider political‐economic contexts, play an active role in shaping people's attempts to live well with LTCs. More specifically, health systems are sites of social and cultural capital exchange that can differentially mobilise coping resources through access, continuity of care, and coordination across services. Whilst it is essential to recognise the personal agency of people living with chronic illness, it is also vital to acknowledge the underlying inequalities that affect the ways in which services can support such resourcefulness.
Siblings' caring roles in families with a child with epilepsy
Authors: Webster Michelle
Published: October 2017

Despite large amounts of care for chronic conditions being provided within the family, information regarding the extent to which siblings contribute to informal care practices in families where a child has a chronic condition is limited. This article draws on multiple perspective data from 24 families that had a child with epilepsy. In doing so, the article illustrates siblings' significant contribution to caring for their brother or sister and further develops the alert assistant concept. Two additional distinct caring roles that the siblings took on are also outlined – the substitute parent and parenting assistant roles. The relationship between siblings' socio‐demographic characteristics and their caring responsibilities is also explored. The paper's findings are that siblings who were older, female and those in families with a higher child to parent ratio took on more caring responsibilities. Consequently, this article contributes to the currently limited literature on siblings who care for a chronically ill brother or sister by increasing understandings of different caring roles and experiences of chronic illness in families.
Wages, Prices and Agriculture: How Can Indian Agriculture Cope with Rising Wages?
Authors: Binswanger Hans P. , Singh Sudhir K.
Published: October 2017

Rapid economic growth in India has resulted in rapidly rising rural wages. Using the framework of variable profit functions and household level data, we study econometrically the wage impacts on crop agriculture. Rising wages are associated with decreasing crop output, other things being equal. Crop prices would need to increase by 80% in the short run to offset the effect of an agricultural wage increase, or by 140% in the short run to offset rural non‐farm wage increases as well. However, because non‐land farm assets respond positively to the non‐farm wage, in the medium term this increase is reduced to 74%. During the period of 1999/00‐2007/08, growth in non‐land farm assets, the labour force, education and technology has easily compensated for the wage increase, and probably also for the accelerating wage growth. Focusing on growing these shifter variables is a much better policy option than raising prices that would come at the expense of consumers or taxpayers.
Insights from Anticipatory Prices
Authors: Verteramo Chiu Leslie J. , Tomek William G.
Published: October 2017

Contemporaneous observations on expected supply and on prices of post‐harvest futures contracts for corn are used to estimate expected demand relationships. These equations are used to estimate the prices of the post‐harvest contracts based on new supply estimates. Each estimate can be compared with a corresponding futures price, i.e. the market forecast. The differences help discern the market expectations about the expected demand for the new crop relative to historical experience, which can help support outlook analyses. We find that in recent years, a 100 million bushel change in the expected supply of corn results in about a 6 cent per bushel negative change in the price of December corn. The discussion also deepens understanding of the term ‘anticipatory prices’ as defined by Holbrook Working in his 1958 work.
Tumor suppressive roles of eugenol in human lung cancer cells
Authors: Fangjun Li , Zhijia Yang
Published: October 2017

Background

Eugenol, a natural compound available in Syzigium aromaticum (cloves), is exploited for various medicinal applications. Eugenol induces apoptosis and functions as an anti‐cancer drug in several types of tumors. We investigated the tumor suppressive role and potential mechanisms of eugenol in human lung cancer cells.

Methods

Human embryonic lung fibroblast MRC‐5 and lung cancer adenocarcinoma A549 cells were incubated with or without various concentrations of eugenol for 24 hours. Cell counting kit 8 and crystal violet staining assays were performed to detect cell viability. The cell migration and invasion abilities were also determined by wound healing and transwell assays. Finally, Western blotting assay was performed to examine the changes in lung cancer cell viability and invasion of downstream targets after treatment with eugenol.

Results

Eugenol could inhibit cell viability in lung cancer cells. Furthermore, eugenol obviously impaired cell migration and invasion. Finally, the expression levels of phosphate‐Akt and MMP‐2 in lung cancer cells were reduced after treatment with eugenol.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrated the tumor suppressive roles of eugenol on lung cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion partially through the PI3K/Akt pathway and MMP activity in vitro. These results suggest eugenol as a potential chemotherapeutic agent against human lung cancer.
The first record of subtropical insects (Thysanoptera) in central Europe: long‐distance transport of airborne thrips, applying three‐dimensional backward trajectories
Authors: Makra László , Bodnár Károly , Fülöp Andrea , Orosz Szilvia , Szénási Ágnes , Csépe Zoltán , Jenser Gábor , Tusnády Gábor , Magyar Donát
Published: October 2017

The present study reports the first occurrence and flight period of three species, namely Scolothrips tenuipennis zur Strassen 1965, Frankliniella schultzei Trybom, 1910 and Zurstrassenia figuratus zur Strassen, 1968 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in Hungary. A fourth, undescribed species belonging to the genus Caliothrips was also captured.

The distribution area of these species is North Africa and it is hypothesized that they are transported to Hungary via long‐distance air currents.

Data for a suction trap are examined in South–East Hungary, in the 3‐year period 2002–2004 from May to September. A three‐dimensional back‐trajectory analysis based on the Hybrid Single‐Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) transport and dispersion model was performed for the observation days to determine the origin and path of air masses and evaluate of the possibility of long‐distance transport of thrips species.

Surprisingly, the analysis showed that only a few percent of the back trajectories originated or passed over North Africa. The results suggest that the captured thrips species could survive long‐distance transport at low‐level trajectories and establish new populations in Western Europe, the eastern part of Europe and Northern Central Europe, which together serve as source areas for the long‐range transport of thrips to the target station.
Overweight, obesity and adiposity in survivors of childhood brain tumours: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Wang K‐W. , Fleming A. , Johnston D. L. , Zelcer S. M. , Rassekh S. R. , Ladhani S. , Socha A. , Shinuda J. , Jaber S. , Burrow S. , Singh S. K. , Banfield L. , de Souza R. J. , Thabane L. , Samaan M. C.
Published: October 2017

Survivors of childhood brain tumours (SCBT) have increased cardiometabolic risks, but the determinants of these risks are unclear. This systematic review aims to compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity as well as adiposity measures between SCBT and non‐cancer controls. The PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library databases were searched. The primary outcomes were the prevalence of overweight and obesity based on body mass index. The secondary outcomes were adiposity measures including percent fat mass, waist‐to‐hip and waist‐to‐height ratios. Forty‐one studies were included in the meta‐analysis. The prevalence of overweight and obesity combined was similar between overall SCBT, SCBT excluding craniopharyngioma and non‐cancer controls (42.6%, 95% CI 30.1–55.1 vs. 31.7%, 95% CI 20.4–43.0 vs. 40.4%, 95% CI 34.0–46.8). We also found that SCBT have higher percent fat mass (mean difference 4.1%, 95% CI 2.0–6.1), waist‐to‐hip ratio (mean difference 0.07, 95% CI 0.02–0.13) and waist‐to‐height ratio (mean difference 0.06, 95% CI 0.01–0.10) than non‐cancer controls. We conclude that SCBT have similar overweight and obesity distribution but higher adiposity than non‐cancer controls. More studies were needed to explore the determinants of adiposity and its contribution to cardiometabolic outcomes in SCBT.
Testing a Mobile Platform for Community Co‐Created Exhibitions
Authors: Rogers Alexandra , Rock Jenny
Published: October 2017

The benefits of co‐creation between museums and their communities are increasingly acknowledged but challenges remain in creating opportunities for and facilitating enactments of co‐creation. Time, funding and supporting infrastructure are significant hurdles. This study addresses the latter in describing a mobile platform designed for hosting community co‐created exhibitions. It assesses its functionality in two case studies where installations of the platform were hosted by major public museums in New Zealand. Both exhibitions had marine themes, but the co‐creation partners varied from a science education centre and their citizen science collaborators, to an informal group of adults and students engaged in water quality monitoring. Reflective evaluation of the co‐creative process using the platform revealed one of its major benefits to be its professional aesthetic, which allowed work to be presented to a high standard of display, and empowered co‐creators to feel confident in the quality of their work. Further success arose from its physical constraints; a practical scope for exhibitions was demarcated by certain structural limitations and offered relief from what was initially experienced by novice co‐creators as an intimidating amount of freedom within undefined space. Successful elements combined to facilitate key criteria for co‐creation including early and continuous empowerment and co‐ownership between co‐creating parties.
The Sweet Spot? Writing for a Reading Age of 12
Authors: Blunden Jennifer
Published: October 2017

Writing for a reading age of 12 (or Reading Grade Level of 6 to 7) has long been considered a benchmark for accessible writing, the ‘sweet spot’ we should aim for to ensure our texts are accessible to a broad public audience. But what does a reading age of 12 actually mean and is it still useful as a guiding principle? This paper turns to emerging research in the field of academic literacies to review the concept of a reading age of 12 and consider what accessibility means in terms of language. It shows that while the idea of a 12‐year‐old as a benchmark has value, the basis on which it is typically determined is unhelpful if not misleading, and argues for an alternative approach based on meaning. It uses this approach to propose some practical strategies for understanding the key differences between everyday and academic language so that as authors, curators, educators, editors and publishers we can reach our audiences with greater inclusiveness and effectiveness.
FORECASTING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: EVIDENCE FROM TWEETS ON SOCCER MATCHES
Authors: Brown Alasdair , Rambaccussing Dooruj , Reade J. James , Rossi Giambattista
Published: October 2017

Social media is now used as a forecasting tool by a variety of firms and agencies. But how useful are such data in forecasting outcomes? Can social media add any information to that produced by a prediction/betting market? We source 13.8 million posts from Twitter, and combine them with contemporaneous Betfair betting prices, to forecast the outcomes of English Premier League soccer matches as they unfold. Using a microblogging dictionary to analyze the content of Tweets, we find that the aggregate tone of Tweets contains significant information not in betting prices, particularly in the immediate aftermath of goals and red cards. (JEL G14, G17)
Labor Density and Wages in Spain: Evidence from Geographically Disaggregated Data
Authors: Díaz Dapena Alberto , Fernández Vázquez Esteban , Rubiera Morollón Fernando
Published: October 2017

In this paper, Ciccone's () approach is applied to the Spanish case in 2011 but by estimating it using local labor markets (LLMs) instead of NUTS‐2 or NUTS‐3 regions. It is especially relevant in the case of Spain because the NUTS‐3 (provinces) are large regions in comparison with other cases in Europe. From a sample of income taxpayers published by the Spanish Fiscal Studies Institute, we derive figures on average wages by worker on the scale of LLMs. We argue that working at this level of spatial disaggregation is more in line with the idea of externalities from agglomerations, which are generated on a local scale. We can also observe intra‐regional heterogeneity and how the urban wage premium changes along the entire distribution of cities, including small‐medium size urban areas or rural areas. The empirical analysis is based on several estimation strategies, namely, ordinary least squares, two‐stages least squares, quantile regressions (QR), and instrumental variable quantile regressions (IVQR) estimators; they all find a significantly positive effect of agglomeration in the conditional mean of wages. This result can be estimated along the conditional distribution of wages. According to the QR and IVQR estimates, important variations are found along the distribution.
On the Road to Success with ParalympicsGB
Authors: Tarran Brian
Published: October 2017

How analyst Oliver Summers tracked Britain's medal performance during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games
Why Data is not a Commodity
Authors: Olhede Sofia , Rodrigues Russell
Published: October 2017

Data is often described as the “new oil” that powers the modern information economy – but the comparison is flawed and oversimplified, write Sofia Olhede and Russell Rodrigues
How “Random” is Ryanair's Seating Allocation?
Authors: Rogers Jennifer
Published: October 2017

Jennifer Rogers calculates the probability of a suspect seating arrangement on a plane

How “random” is Ryanair's seating allocation?
We, the Millennials The Statistical Significance of Political Significance
Authors: Lin Kevin
Published: October 2017

Kevin Lin, winner of the 2017 Statistical Excellence Award for Early-Career Writing, explores political engagement via the social media site Reddit in the years leading up to the election of President Donald Trump
“Winning the Super Bowl would be Nice”
Authors: Tarran Brian
Published: October 2017

Dennis Lock turned a passion for sports and a statistics PhD into a dream job: director of analytics for the Miami Dolphins. Interview by Brian Tarran
Radio‐frequency negative permittivity in the graphene/silicon nitride composites prepared by spark plasma sintering
Authors: Cheng Chuanbing , Fan Runhua , Wang Zhongyang , Xie Peitao , Hou Chuanxin , Fan Guohua , Lei Yanhua , An Liqiong , Liu Yao
Published: October 2017

Graphene/silicon nitride (GR/Si3N4) ceramic composites with uniformly dispersed GR sheets were prepared using spark plasma sintering. The effects of GR content on the microstructure and electrical properties of the composites were investigated in detail. With the GR content rising, the conductive GR network was formed in the composites, leading to the appearance of a percolation phenomenon, and the conductive mechanism also changed from hopping conductivity to metal‐like conductivity. When the GR content reached the percolation threshold, the composites showed a negative permittivity behavior, which resulted from the low frequency plasmonic state generated by the formative conducting GR networks. The increasing GR content resulted in a higher plasma frequency and larger magnitude of negative permittivity, which was consistent with the analysis of Drude model. A relatively high dielectric loss was observed in the composites and mainly induced by the high leakage current among GR sheets. Our work is beneficial to expound the regulation mechanism of negative permittivity, and the obtained ceramic composites present some potential applications in microwave absorption, shielding and capacitors.
Unshrouding: Evidence from Bank Overdrafts in Turkey
Authors: ALAN SULE , CEMALCILAR MEHMET , KARLAN DEAN , ZINMAN JONATHAN
Published: October 2017

Lower prices produce higher demand… or do they? A bank's direct marketing to holders of “free” checking accounts shows that a large discount on 60% APR overdrafts reduces overdraft usage, especially when bundled with a discount on debit card or autodebit transactions. In contrast, messages mentioning overdraft availability without mentioning price increase usage. Neither change persists long after the messages stop. These results do not square easily with classical models of consumer choice and firm competition. Instead, they support behavioral models where consumers underestimate and are inattentive to overdraft costs, and firms respond by shrouding overdraft prices in equilibrium.
A Mixed‐Methods Comparison of Classroom Context During Food, Health & Choices, a Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention
Authors: Burgermaster Marissa , Koroly Jenna , Contento Isobel , Koch Pamela , Gray Heewon L.
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Schools are frequent settings for childhood obesity prevention; however, intervention results are mixed. Classroom context may hold important clues to improving these interventions.

METHODS

We used mixed methods to examine classroom context during a curriculum intervention taught by trained instructors in fifth grade classrooms. We identified classrooms with high and low buy‐in using cluster analysis and compared intervention delivery and reception, student energy balance‐related behavior, and student perceptions about supports and barriers to energy balance.

RESULTS

Delivery and reception did not differ between the groups. Between‐group differences in unhealthy behaviors were smaller at posttest, due to improvement in low buy‐in classes. Although student perceptions of supports and barriers to energy balance were similar across groups, students in high buy‐in classes indicated food preferences as a support while students in low buy‐in classes indicated food preferences as a barrier. Neighborhood environment emerged as a universal barrier.

CONCLUSIONS

Trained instructors may improve intervention delivery and reception regardless of classroom context. Social norms could explain high levels of unhealthy behavior in low buy‐in classes at baseline; improvement at posttest suggests that the curriculum may have motivated change. All children need more strategies and supportive policies to overcome a challenging food environment.
Associations Between Peer Harassment and School Risk and Protection Profiles
Authors: Gloppen Kari M. , Gower Amy L. , McMorris Barbara J. , Eisenberg Marla E.
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Peer harassment can have serious implications for students' success and well‐being, and prevention programs need to consider the school context. This study aimed to: (1) identify groups of similar schools based on their risk and protective factors and demographic characteristics and (2) examine associations between school profiles and students' bullying involvement.

METHODS

Data came from 505 schools and 122,106 students who completed the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey. School‐level risk and protective factors and demographic characteristics were included in a latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify profiles of schools. Multilevel logistic regression was used to assess associations between school profiles and peer harassment.

RESULTS

Six qualitatively different school profiles were identified. Unadjusted models showed that schools with higher levels of risk had greater odds of peer harassment. However, after controlling for student‐level risk and protection, regardless of school‐level risk, students in metro‐area schools with a more diverse student body reported lower odds of bullying involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the importance of the social environment into peer harassment. In addition to addressing student‐level risk and protection, larger community factors and norms also need to be taken into account for developing, selecting, and implementing the most effective approaches to bullying prevention.
Effectiveness of a Brief Home Parenting Intervention for Reducing Early Sexual Risks Among Latino Adolescents: Salud y Éxito
Authors: O'Donnell Lydia , Fuxman Shai
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Teen pregnancy rates and related risks remain elevated among Latino teens. We tested the impact on youth sexual behaviors of a brief, culturally targeted, bilingual media intervention designed for parents of young adolescents.

METHODS

Salud y éxito (Health & Success) uses dramatic audio stories to model positive parenting practices. After completing classroom surveys, 27 urban schools in the Northeast and Southwest serving low‐income Latino communities were randomized so that all families of seventh grade students were sent either: (1) booklets on healthy eating and exercise; (2) Salud‐50, where families either received booklets or the intervention, or (3) Salud‐100, where all families received the intervention. Postintervention follow‐up surveys were conducted at 3‐ and 12‐months. Multilevel analyses tested intervention effects, controlling for sociodemographics.

RESULTS

Compared with controls, at 12‐months postintervention (8th grade spring), youth in Salud‐100 report lower sexual risks (touching, AOR 1.46, CI 1.19‐0.84, p < .001; lifetime sex (AOR 0.74, CI 0.61‐0.90, p < .01); and sex intentions (AOR 0.78, CI 0.63‐0.96, p < .05). Consistent with a dose‐response, Salud‐50 results are between those from Salud‐100 and control schools.

CONCLUSIONS

Salud y éxito is an effective parenting intervention that can augment school‐based health and sexuality education and help Latino parents support their children during early adolescence.
High School Students' Recommendations to Improve School Food Environments: Insights Froma Critical Stakeholder Group
Authors: Asada Yuka , Hughes Alejandro G. , Read Margaret , Schwartz Marlene B. , Chriqui Jamie F.
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

The Healthy, Hunger‐Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revise school meal standards. Students are most affected by efforts to improve the school food environment; yet, few studies directly include students. This study examined high school students' experiences of school meal reform to gain insight into implementation recommendations.

METHODS

We conducted 5 focus groups with high school students (N = 15) from high schools across 9 states. We also conducted follow‐up interviews to further explore personal experiences. Focus groups and interview transcripts were coded and organized in Atlas.ti v7 by analysts, following principles of constant comparative analysis.

RESULTS

Students reported overall positive perceptions of the revised school meal standards and supported continued efforts to improve the food environment. Recommendations to improve the food environment included engaging students, focusing on the quality and palatability of meal items, moving toward scratch‐cooking, and addressing cafeteria infrastructure.

CONCLUSIONS

Students' recommendations point to opportunities where school districts, as well as local, state, and federal organizations can work to improve the school food environment. Their insights are directly relevant to USDA's recently released Local School Wellness Policy final rule, of which school meal standards are one provision.
Successive Open Innovation Contests and Incentives: Winner‐Take‐All or Multiple Prizes?
Authors: Hofstetter Reto , Zhang John Z. , Herrmann Andreas
Published: October 2017

Open innovation contests are a popular way to tap into the creativity of customers. Many firms host multiple, successive open innovation contests in response to different, creative challenges they face. To encourage customers to participate and make an effort in such contests, they offer monetary rewards of varying sizes. Although prior research has investigated the optimal reward design for one‐time contests, little is known about how the rewards offered in a contest can influence individuals’ ongoing level of participation and their creative effort in subsequent contests. Receiving a reward is a form of positive competence feedback that influences individuals’ feelings of competence and intrinsic motivation. Based on cognitive evaluation theory, we argue that these feelings can persist after a contest ends, influencing positively participation and creative efforts in later contests. Our online experiment and also our analysis of the data from an actual open innovation platform show that individuals tend to cease participating in subsequent contests, significantly reducing the size of the crowd over time. Receiving a reward and positive competence feedback alleviates this tendency. Therefore, offering more prizes motivates more high‐performing individuals to participate again and to put in more creative effort, which in turn raise the average quality as well as the best quality in subsequent contests. These findings suggest that in successive open innovation contests, multiple rewards not only encourage greater participation, but also promote better quality outcomes. Thus, firms are well advised to expand the positive reward feedback in contests, as doing so will help them to maintain a sizable and motivated crowd of contestants.
Monetary Policy in Uncertain Times: ECB Monetary Policy Since June 2014
Authors: Hutchinson John , Smets Frank
Published: October 2017

The euro area economy is emerging from a very pronounced crisis which has added complexity to achieving the price stability objective. The ECB has implemented an array of monetary policy instruments which are working their way through the economy and are proving to be very effective in supporting the recovery. By acting as it has, the ECB has continued to show that it will always respond to its communicated reaction function and thereby, reassure the public of its commitment to its fulfilling its mandate.
Weight gain during incarceration: systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Gebremariam M. K. , Nianogo R. A. , Arah O. A.
Published: October 2017

Background

Existing evidence suggests that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among prisoners in different settings is high. Evaluating weight change during incarceration would allow for the investigation of whether the prison environment indeed contributes to unfavourable weight changes.

Objectives

This study aimed to do a systematic review and a meta‐analysis of existing evidence regarding weight change during incarceration.

Methods and results

We conducted a systematic literature search by using five different online databases and included grey literature. A total of 16 studies, all conducted in developed countries, were identified. Weight change was computed in 11 of these studies and was self‐reported in five studies. Only two studies included youth. In all but 1 of the 11 studies using actual assessment of weight change, there was an increase in body weight or body mass index on average or weight gain occurred among a significant proportion of participants. A meta‐analysis of eight of these studies showed an average weight gain of 0.43 (95% CI 0.14, 0.72) lb/week. In all studies including perceived weight change, a high proportion (43% to 73%) of participants reported weight gain during incarceration.

Conclusion

Health promotion activities within prisons should incorporate initiatives aimed at combating unhealthy weight developments.
Local and regional specialization in plant–pollinator networks
Authors: Carstensen Daniel W. , Trøjelsgaard Kristian , Ollerton Jeff , Morellato Leonor Patricia C.
Published: October 2017

Specialization of species is often studied in ecology but its quantification and meaning is disputed. More recently, ecological network analysis has been widely used as a tool to quantify specialization, but here its true meaning is also debated. However, irrespective of the tool used, the geographic scale at which specialization is measured remains central. Consequently, we use data sets of plant–pollinator networks from Brazil and the Canary Islands to explore specialization at local and regional scales. We ask how local specialization of a species is related to its regional specialization, and whether or not species tend to interact with a non‐random set of partners in local communities. Local and regional specialization were strongly correlated around the 1:1 line, indicating that species conserve their specialization levels across spatial scales. Furthermore, most plants and pollinators also showed link conservatism repeatedly across local communities, and thus seem to be constrained in their fundamental niche. However, some species are more constrained than others, indicating true specialists. We argue that several geographically separated populations should be evaluated in order to provide a robust evaluation of species specialization.
Cord blood–derived T cells allow the generation of a more naïve tumor‐reactive cytotoxic T‐cell phenotype
Authors: Kwoczek Julian , Riese Sebastian B. , Tischer Sabine , Bak Szilvia , Lahrberg Julia , Oelke Mathias , Maul Holger , Blasczyk Rainer , Sauer Martin , Eiz‐Vesper Britta
Published: October 2017

BACKGROUND

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from peripheral blood (PB) or cord blood (CB) is well established. HSCs from CB are associated with a lower risk of graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD), but antigen‐independent expanded CB‐ and PB‐derived T cells can induce GVHD in allo‐HSC recipients. CB‐derived cells might be more suitable for adoptive immunotherapy as they have unique T‐cell characteristics. Here, we describe functional differences between CB and PB T cells stimulated with different cytokine combinations involved in central T‐cell activation.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Isolated CD8+ T cells from CB and PB were stimulated antigen independently with anti‐CD3/CD28 stimulator beads or in an antigen‐dependent manner with artificial antigen‐presenting cells loaded with the HLA‐A*02:01‐restricted peptide of tumor‐associated melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 (MART1). CB and PB T cells cultured in the presence of interleukin (IL)‐7, IL‐15, IL‐12, and IL‐21 were characterized for T‐cell phenotype and specificity, that is, by CD107a, interferon‐γ, tumor necrosis factor‐α, and IL‐2 expression.

RESULTS

After antigen‐independent stimulation, activated CD8+ CB T cells exhibited stronger proliferation and function than those from PB. After antigenic stimulation, MART1‐reactive CB T cells were naïve (CD45RA+CCR7+), cytotoxic, and highly variable in expressing homing marker CD62L. Addition of IL‐21 resulted in increased T‐cell proliferation, whereas supplementation with IL‐12 decreased IL‐21–induced expansion, but increased the functionality and cytotoxicity of CB and PB T cells.

CONCLUSION

MART1‐reactive CB T cells with a more naïve phenotype and improved properties for homing can be generated. The results contribute to better understanding the effects on GVHD and graft versus tumor.
Computed tomographic‐lymphography as a complementary technique for lymph node staging in dogs with malignant tumors of various sites
Authors: Rossi Federica , Körner Maximilian , Suárez José , Carozzi Gregorio , Meier Valeria S. , Roos Malgorzata , Rohrer Bley Carla
Published: October 2017

Locoregional lymph nodes are routinely examined in order to define the spatial extent of neoplastic disease. As draining patterns of certain tumor types can be divergent from expected anatomical distribution, it is critical to sample the lymph nodes truly representing the draining area. The aim of this bicenter prospective pilot study was to describe the technique of computed tomographic (CT)‐lymphography for primary draining lymph node mapping in tumor staging in dogs. Forty‐five dogs with macro‐ or microscopic tumors in specified localizations were evaluated. Depending on body weight, 0.8–2 ml contrast agent (iohexol) was injected into four quadrants around the tumor, and CT‐images were obtained at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 minutes post‐injection. Attenuation of chosen regions of interest (Hounsfield units (HU)) and patterns of enhancement were assessed for 284 lymph nodes in the precontrast study with median HUs of 31.1 (Interquartile range (IQR) = 18.4) and for 275 in the intravenous postcontrast study with 104.3 HU (IQR = 31.2) (paired Wilcoxon test, P < 0.001). In the CT‐lymphography study, 45 primary draining lymph nodes with a significantly higher median HU value of 348.5 (IQR = 591.4) (one‐sample t‐test, P < 0.001) were identified. Primary draining lymph nodes were found to be clearly visible after 1–3 minutes after local injection, often concurrent with a good visibility of the lymphatic vessel system. The herein described technique of peritumorally injected CT‐contrast agent followed by subsequent CT‐lymphography for primary draining lymph node mapping works well in a majority of cases in all investigated sites and warrants further validation for different tumor entities.