bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vulnerability assessment of earthquake prone communities in Baluchistan
Authors: Syed Ainuddin , Kumar Routray Jayant
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to assess the vulnerability of communities prone to earthquake hazards in Baluchistan at the community and household levels and identify the determinants accounting for the vulnerability of the communities. Baluchistan is vulnerable to potential seismic risk and has recently suffered huge economic and property losses due to the October 2008 earthquake.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is based on household surveys, field observations, key informant interviews and focus-group discussions for the assessment of community vulnerability to earthquakes.

Findings

– The analysis revealed that the community is vulnerable to earthquake hazards both at the community and household levels. The logistic regression model identified three variables, namely, ownership of residential unit, family size and household income, as the most important factors in influencing community vulnerability to earthquake hazards.

Practical implications

– The paper may help emergency managers, policymakers and local government authorities to implement building codes, urban planning by-laws and projects and activities to empower communities for disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction.

Originality/value

– The paper concludes that for earthquake safety, building regulations and spatial planning by-laws should be implemented and monitored rigorously. Community preparedness is essential for enhancing people’s awareness against future earthquake hazards in the area.
Designing small-scale sport events in the countryside
Authors: Bertella Giovanna
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop and illustrate a conceptual tool for the planning of rural sport events.

Design/methodology/approach

– The proposed model is elaborated based on theoretical contributions from the tourism and event literature, and illustrated with an empirical case concerning a sport and cultural event arranged in the Chianti countryside in Italy.

Findings

– The results suggest that a form of professionalization of the event design process, understood as the search of high-quality experience for the local population and the tourists, is feasible within the socialization style of model typical of small events.

Research limitations/implications

– This study is based on selected theoretical contributions, and on a limited empirical investigation. Further research is needed in order to better understand the event design process, and in particular the processes of communication and involvement among the different community members.

Practical implications

– The practical implications are related to the possible use of the developed model.

Originality/value

– The theoretical contribution of this study is relative to the use of the concept of tourism experience, and more specifically of the embodied tourism experience, within the context of event design.
Gauging potential demand for new events
Authors: Hudson Simon , Meng Fang , Cárdenas David
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to gauge potential interest in equestrian events for a proposed multi-use international horse park.

Design/methodology/approach

– Multi-stage, mixed methods were employed, including interviews with industry professionals at competing horse parks, a survey of potential visitors and an economic impact analysis.

Findings

– Both industry professionals and equine tourists felt that the proposed facility had the potential to succeed with an international horse park especially as it already has a strong equine culture. Potential visitors already possess a high awareness of city as an equestrian tourist destination, and the majority said they would visit the new facility to take part in, or watch equine events. At medium utilization, the facility has the potential to attract 225 events to the park annually, attracting approximately 428,000 attendees. This would have an annual spending impact of about US$38 million, generating 575 full-time jobs.

Practical implications

– Based on the results, a number of recommendations were made to the local chamber of commerce by the researchers, but the key suggestion was that stakeholders in Aiken proceed cautiously with a phased approach to development.

Originality/value

– Despite the growing body of literature related to measuring the impacts of events, very few researchers have looked at the feasibility of new events, and the need to measure potential demand for a new facility. This paper is therefore unique and of great value to both researchers and practitioners.
Shopping orientations and patronage preferences for internet auctions
Authors: Korgaonkar Pradeep , Petrescu Maria , Becerra Enrique
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of consumers’ shopping orientations and income on online auction patronage intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study collected data using a national sample of 3,000 online auction consumers over the age of 18, who had purchased from internet auction sites eBay, Yahoo, or Bargain Hunter in the previous six months and used structural equation modelling for data analysis.

Findings

– The results suggest that consumers’ price consciousness shopping orientation, which increases shopping in online stores, decreases patronage intentions towards the online auction site. In addition, the findings indicate that consumers’ search orientation, convenience orientation and income level increase patronage intentions towards the online auction site.

Originality/value

– The key theoretical and academic contribution of this study focuses on testing and integrating the shopping orientations literature in the more modern area of online auction retailing. Practitioners also benefit from the findings of the online auction customer motivations captured by this study.
The hot spot transformation in the research evolution of internationalization of innovation
Authors: Xu Yusen , Hua Xiaofang
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– With the development of economic globalization and the growth of cross-border technology flow, the internationalization of innovation has become an important strategy for enterprises in global competition for both investment optimization and technological advancement. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the research evolution in internationalization of innovation, investigate the hot spot transformation, and predict the future research trends.

Design/methodology/approach

– The main research approaches in this study are literature co-citation analysis and keyword co-occurrence analysis. Co-citation is applied as a semantic similarity measure for related papers that makes use of citation relationships. Co-occurrence frequency analysis of keywords is also carried out to reveal the hot spots in research of internationalization of innovation. With the data downloaded from Web of Science, Citespace was used as a tool of scientometrics to visualize the node papers, knowledge mapping and keyword co-occurrence ranking in different stages of research evolution. The literature being analyzed in this study come from paper collection by searching the titles, abstracts and keywords, for terms that include “international innovation”, “international R&D”, “international technology”, “globalizational innovation”, “globalizational R&D”, “globalizational technology”, “multinational innovation”, “multinational R&D” and “multinational technology”.

Findings

– The investigation reveals that there are two distinct stages in research evolution of the internationalization of innovation. The direction of innovation diffusion has turned from “one-way trickle down from developed countries” to “two-way interaction between developed countries and emerging countries”. Meanwhile, the research hotspots have been transformed since 2000 from “detail and operation-focused” to “profound and strategy-focused”.

Originality/value

– The paper gives an insight into the internationalization of innovation field using literature from the Web of Science as an illustration.
Open access to scientific information: comparative study in DOAJ
Authors: Stoyanova Trencheva Tereza , Yordanova Todorova Tania
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the paper is to provide a comparative retrospective analysis of Bulgarian, Turkish and Croatian Open Access (OA) journals added in Directory of Open Access journals (DOAJ) in the period 2002-2013.

Design/methodology/approach

– First of all, the study is focussed on brief review of definitions and descriptions of the OA as a global movement. In the study were analyzed the three main OA initiatives and was shown the difference between Golden Road and Green Road. Second of all, the authors used the comparative approach and made a comparative study of the OA journals in Bulgaria, Turkey and Croatia and present the evaluation results and findings.

Findings

– Qualitative and quantitative data for the study are collected by the DOAJ. The data are analyzed in terms of quantity and period, and the results are presented graphically and tabular and finally there are made major specific conclusions and recommendations.

Originality/value

– The paper shows that OA in the digital space has an important position in scientific research. There are many discussion issues related to the problems of OA, but overall study of OA to scientific information, and in particular comparative study of Bulgarian, Turkish and Croatian journals in the DOAJ does not exist at the moment.
Uncovering customer service experiences with Twitter: the case of airline industry
Authors: Misopoulos Fotis , Mitic Miljana , Kapoulas Alexandros , Karapiperis Christos
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– In this paper the authors present a study that uses Twitter to identify critical elements of customer service in the airline industry. The goal of the study was to uncover customer opinions about services by monitoring and analyzing public Twitter commentaries. The purpose of this paper is to identify elements of customer service that provide positive experiences to customers as well as to identify service processed and features that require further improvements.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors employed the approach of sentiment analysis as part of the netnography study. The authors processed 67,953 publicly shared tweets to identify customer sentiments about services of four airline companies. Sentiment analysis was conducted using the lexicon approach and vector-space model for assessing the polarity of Twitter posts.

Findings

– By analyzing Twitter posts for their sentiment polarity the authors were able to identify areas of customer service that caused customer satisfaction, dissatisfaction as well as delight. Positive sentiments were linked mostly to online and mobile check-in services, favorable prices, and flight experiences. Negative sentiments revealed problems with usability of companies’ web sites, flight delays and lost luggage. Evidence of delightful experiences was recorded among services provided in airport lounges.

Originality/value

– Paper demonstrates how sentiment analysis of Twitter feeds can be used in research on customer service experiences, as an alternative to Kano and SERVQUAL models.
Hybrid analysis of textual data
Authors: Raich Margit , Müller Julia , Abfalter Dagmar
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide insightful evidence of phenomena in organization and management theory. Textual data sets consist of two different elements, namely qualitative and quantitative aspects. Researchers often combine methods to harness both aspects. However, they frequently do this in a comparative, convergent, or sequential way.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper illustrates and discusses a hybrid textual data analysis approach employing the qualitative software application GABEK-WinRelan in a case study of an Austrian retail bank.

Findings

– The paper argues that a hybrid analysis method, fully intertwining qualitative and quantitative analysis simultaneously on the same textual data set, can deliver new insight into more facets of a data set.

Originality/value

– A hybrid approach is not a universally applicable solution to approaching research and management problems. Rather, this paper aims at triggering and intensifying scientific discussion about stronger integration of qualitative and quantitative data and analysis methods in management research.
The strategic implication of knowledge attributes
Authors: Victer Rogerio
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to refine the resource-based theory of the firm. It intends to deal with key theoretical issues affecting the development of a model that empirically captures the relevance of knowledge to performance. The research task is not only to look inside the firm in search of candidates for a strategic resource, but also to better understand how a resource becomes strategic as the consequence of specific attributes. This approach has the potential of providing a relevant insight into the characteristics that resources must possess as well as a more effective way to compare their relative relevance to competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

– Hypotheses are tested by a comprehensive panel data of 29 AIDS/HIV drugs from 1997 to 2010, covering the performance trajectory of more than 90 percent of all branded products in this segment.

Findings

– Based on the VRIO framework (Barney 1991, 2001a), which asserts that resources need to be valuable, rare, inimitable, and difficult to organize in order to become a source of sustainable competitive advantage, the paper derives seven empirical constructs of technological knowledge. Five of these constructs are statistically significant, explaining up to 36 percent of the variance in sales outcomes. Results show that the most important resource attributes are value and organizational capabilities. Inimitability is partially relevant, but rarity is not.

Practical implications

– Results suggest that the best way to generate competitive advantage is through continuous improvement of technological knowledge. This conclusion shows that knowledge heterogeneity is more strategically relevant to performance than knowledge immobility.

Originality/value

– Differently from previous papers, instead of measuring how much a resource (or its accumulated stock) influences competitive advantage, this paper identifies and measures the attributes through which the resource matters to market outcomes. It is not the resource itself, but its strategic attributes which actually generate differential benefits to firms.
Franchisor resources, spousal resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance in a couple-owned franchise outlet
Authors: Chien Shih-Yi
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Franchise outlets owned by entrepreneurial married couples are gradually increasing. Based upon prior research in resource-based view, entrepreneurial orientation (EO), franchising, and family business, the purpose of this paper is to analyze franchisor resources, spousal resources, and EO are critical to the development of franchisees’ performance.

Design/methodology/approach

–The author conducted a survey of 99 franchisees in couple-owned convenience store franchise outlets in Taiwan using the partial least squares technique.

Findings

– It was found that franchisor resources, spousal resources, and EO directly affect franchisee performance. In addition, franchisor resources also have an indirect effect on performance through EO, but spousal resources do not have an indirect effect.

Practical implications

– The franchisor should pay attention to the development of their resources and a franchisee's EO and the interaction between the franchisee and the spouse. Furthermore, a franchisee's EO facilitates the manipulation of the franchisor's resources.

Originality/value

– This study highlights the possession of franchisor and spousal resources, and the importance of EO to foster and develop the franchisee performance in a couple-owned franchise outlet. These findings also suggest that franchisor resources have indirect effect on performance through EO.
The moderated relationship between job burnout and organizational cynicism
Authors: Simha Aditya , F. Elloy David , Huang Han-Chung
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between two components of job burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) and organizational cynicism. Another aim of this research was to examine the role of moderating variables such as role conflict, work-family conflict, perceived fairness, and trust in coworkers on the relationship between burnout and organizational cynicism.

Design/methodology/approach

– The methodology was a survey-based quantitative method. Totally, 172 nurses in a Taiwanese hospital were surveyed, and 169 completed responses were obtained. The nurses filled out self-report surveys that measured their levels of burnout, organizational cynicism, and various other variables including demographic variables.

Findings

– The results indicate that several variables acted as moderators in the relationship between emotional exhaustion and organizational cynicism, and in the relationship between depersonalization and organizational cynicism. Trust in coworker, perceived fairness, and role conflict all were found to negatively influence the relationship between a burnout component and cynicism, whereas work-family conflict had a positive influence on the relationship between depersonalization and cynicism.

Research limitations/implications

– The limitations of this research are that the study is cross-sectional in nature, and is based on a Taiwanese sample. Future research should aim to study these variables in a longitudinal fashion and in different contexts.

Practical implications

– The practical implications from this study include managers being able to harness various variables (such as perceived fairness and trust in coworkers) in order to reduce cynicism.

Originality/value

– The value of this study is that it connects burnout and organizational cynicism together. It also uncovers several moderating variables that influence the relationship between burnout and organizational cynicism. This is also one of the first studies that have obtained a positive effect of role conflict.
New qualitative research methodologies in management
Authors: Guercini Simone
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to deliver an introduction to the Special Issue on new qualitative research methodologies in management.

Design/methodology/approach

– The reasons of interest for the object of this Special Issue are explained through the discussion of a selected literature. Technological and sociological changes are considered as a source of new problem and new opportunities for management and management research. The traditional methods are put under strain by these changes and epistemological implications are considered.

Findings

– New qualitative methodologies analyzed in the Special Issue are characterized by drivers including hybridization with others methods, both qualitative and quantitative. New methods can contribute to reduce distance between researcher's and practitioner's context.

Originality/value

– A frame to analyze the new qualitative management research through the papers published in the Special Issue.
Rounding-up in reported income numbers
Authors: Shette Rachappa , Kuntluru Sudershan
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate the rounding-up in reported income numbers of Indian companies by examining the evidence of unusual occurrence of zero and nine in reported income numbers such as profit after tax and earnings per share (EPS). It also examines such rounding-up patterns under different scenarios such as companies varying across different time periods, income size, market capitalization, industries, initial public offering and earnings news.

Design/methodology/approach

– All 1,707 companies listed on National Stock Exchange of India were considered for analysis. This study covered a period of 21 years from 1991-1992 to 2011-2012. Data were collected from PROWESS database.

Findings

– In Indian companies, the rounding-up pattern in reported income numbers is in conformity with existing studies (Carslaw, 1988; Thomas, 1989). In case of income numbers, the observed proportionate occurrence of zero and nine is significantly different from the expected proportionate occurrence. The study found that anomalies in reported earnings vary across industry. Further, it is found that the per cent deviations are more in case of companies having high income levels, high market capitalization and with positive news.

Research limitations/implications

– In future studies, it will be interesting to develop a model reflecting the causes for such rounding-up of income numbers.

Practical implications

– The paper provides an insight analysis on the rounding-up behavior of Indian companies and facilitates the understanding of occurrence of such anomalies under various scenarios. This paper may be useful to all the users of accounting information.

Originality/value

– First study on examining the rounding-up of reported income numbers and EPS by companies in India.
The therapeutic alliance with involuntary clients: how does it work?
Authors: Sotero Luciana , Major Sofia , Escudero Valentín , Relvas Ana Paula
Published: June 2014

This study aimed to compare involuntary and voluntary clients in the establishment of the therapeutic alliance in the context of family therapy. The system for observing family therapy alliances was used to rate the alliance in sessions 1 and 4 from videotapes of 40 families seen in brief family therapy. This instrument has four alliance dimensions. In the first session, results showed that the clients who sought therapy voluntarily demonstrated more alliance‐related behaviour than did involuntary clients in all alliance dimensions. In the fourth session, however, only the Engagement dimension showed group differences. Notably, there also were group differences in the evolution of the alliance from the first to the fourth session in the Safety dimension, with the voluntary clients developing this dimension more negatively. The results are discussed in terms of the specific characteristics of involuntary clients, as well as the implications for practice.

Practitioner points

Be aware of differing motives, motivations, and degrees of readiness for therapy within the family

Inquire about the amount of pressure experienced by clients, and the source of that pressure, early in the family therapy

Promote and monitor the therapeutic alliance with involuntary clients

Promote a safe context, providing structure and guidelines for safety and confidentiality and helping clients to talk truthfully
Coping with regional inequality inSweden: structural change, migrations, and policy, 1860–2000
Authors: Enflo Kerstin , Rosés Joan Ramón
Published: June 2014

In many countries, regional income inequality has followed an invertedU‐shaped curve, growing during industrialization and market integration and declining thereafter. By contrast,Sweden's regional inequality dropped from 1860 to 1980 and did not exhibit thisU‐shaped pattern. Accordingly, today's regional income inequality inSweden is lower than in other European countries. We note that the prime mover behind the long‐run reduction in regional income differentials was structural change, whereas neoclassical and technological forces played a relatively less important role. However, this process of regional income convergence can be divided into three major periods. During the first period (1860–1940), the unrestricted action of market forces, particularly the expansion of markets and high rates of internal and international migration, led to the compression of regional income differentials. During the next period (1940–80), regional convergence was even more intense. In this period, institutional arrangements favoured the reduction of productivity differentials across industries and successive governments aided the reallocation of the workforce from declining to thriving regions and economic sectors. During the last period (1980–2000), when regional incomes diverged, internal migration and structural change slowed. Furthermore, the development of knowledge‐intensive service industries favoured economic growth in the main metropolitan areas.
Reduce, manage or cope: a review of strategies for training school staff to address challenging behaviours displayed by students with intellectual/developmental disabilities
Authors: Stoesz Brenda M. , Shooshtari Shahin , Montgomery Janine , Martin Toby , Heinrichs Dustin J. , Douglas Joyce
Published: June 2014

Members of a knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) research team assessed the training needs of the teaching staff at a school for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). In response to this need, KTE researchers retrieved peer‐reviewed articles for training staff working with individuals with IDD who exhibit challenging behaviours. These articles were categorised according to the following training content: (1) interventions designed to reduce the frequency of challenging behaviours; (2) appropriate ways to manage challenging behaviours in the moment to promote safety for all parties and/or to terminate the ongoing behaviour; and/or (3) procedures or perspectives relevant to coping with or ameliorating the negative impacts of challenging behaviours on staff. We then examined the training methods (teaching strategies, training duration) involved in teaching the content and assessed the effectiveness of these programmes. Overall, we found that effective training programmes consisted of workshops, practica and feedback on specific skill performance. Some forms of brief training were effective for increasing staffs' knowledge/skills and reducing the frequency of challenging behaviour.
Colours and Cocktails: Compositional Data Analysis 2013 Lancaster Lecture
Authors: Scealy J. L. , Welsh A. H.
Published: June 2014

The different constituents of physical mixtures such as coloured paint, cocktails, geological and other samples can be represented byd‐dimensional vectors called compositions with non‐negative components that sum to one. Data in which the observations are compositions are called compositional data. There are a number of different ways of thinking about and consequently analysing compositional data. The log‐ratio methods proposed by Aitchison in the 1980s have become the dominant methods in the field. One reason for this is the development of normative arguments converting the properties of log‐ratio methods to ‘essential requirements’ or Principles for any method of analysis to satisfy. We discuss different ways of thinking about compositional data and interpret the development of the Principles in terms of these different viewpoints. We illustrate the properties on which the Principles are based, focussing particularly on the key subcompositional coherence property. We show that this Principle is based on implicit assumptions and beliefs that do not always hold. Moreover, it is applied selectively because it is not actually satisfied by the log‐ratio methods it is intended to justify. This implies that a more open statistical approach to compositional data analysis should be adopted.
The serum‐ & glucocorticoid‐inducible kinase in the regulation of platelet function
Authors: Lang F. , Gawaz M. , Borst O.
Published: June 2014

The serum‐ and glucocorticoid‐inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) is expressed in megakaryocytes and circulating platelets. In megakaryocytes, SGK1 activates transcription factor nuclear factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB), which in turn stimulates expression of Orai1, a Ca2+ channel protein accomplishing store‐operated Ca2+ enrty (SOCE). SGK1 enhances SOCE and several Ca2+‐sensitive platelet functions, including degranulation, integrin αIIbβ3 activation, phosphatidylserine exposure, aggregation and thrombus formation. As shown in other cell types, stimulators of SGK1 expression include ischaemia, oxidative stress, hyperglycaemia, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and a variety of hormones such as glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ), interleukin 6 (IL‐6), platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF), thrombin and endothelin. Thus, SGK1‐sensitive Ca2+ signalling may contribute to altered platelet function in several clinical conditions including inflammation, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and chronic renal failure. Nevertheless, further studies are needed defining the contribution of altered SGK1 expression and activity to physiology and pathophysiology of platelets.
Measurement of Formal Convergence of Vietnamese Accounting Standards with IFRS
Authors: Nguyen Anh Tuan , Gong Guangming
Published: June 2014

Convergence refers to the process of narrowing the differences between International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS) and country‐specific accounting standards. The purpose of this study is to measure the formal convergence between Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS) and IAS/IFRS using a fuzzy‐based approach. We assess the extent of convergence between VAS and IAS/IFRS from the perspective of a single standard, clusters of standards and the standards as a whole. The levels of standards convergence are clustered into four categories: full convergence, substantial convergence, substantial difference and complete difference. Our results indicate that the level of convergence between the two sets of standards only achieves mid‐level convergence. The findings of this study should help policy makers improve VAS to meet international standards.
PDGF, Pericytes and the Pathogenesis of Idiopathic Basal Ganglia Calcification (IBGC)
Authors: Betsholtz Christer , Keller Annika
Published: June 2014

Platelet‐derived growth factors (PDGFs) are important mitogens for various types of mesenchymal cells, and as such, they exert critical functions during organogenesis in mammalian embryonic and early postnatal development. Increased or ectopic PDGF activity may also cause or contribute to diseases such as cancer and tissue fibrosis. Until recently, no loss‐of‐function (LOF) mutations in PDGF or PDGF receptor genes were reported as causally linked to a human disease. This changed in 2013 when reports appeared on presumed LOF mutations in the genes encoding PDGF‐B and its receptor PDGF receptor‐beta (PDGF‐Rβ) in familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC), a brain disease characterized by anatomically localized calcifications in or near the blood microvessels. Here, we review PDGF‐B and PDGF‐Rβ biology with special reference to their functions in brain–blood vessel development, pericyte recruitment and the regulation of the blood–brain barrier. We also discuss various scenarios for IBGC pathogenesis suggested by observations in patients and genetically engineered animal models of the disease.
(4‐[6‐(4‐isopropoxyphenyl)pyrazolo [1,5‐a]pyrimidin‐3‐yl] quinoline) is a novel inhibitor of autophagy
Authors: Sheng Yue , Sun Bo , Guo Wen‐Ting , Liu Xiao , Wang Yu‐Chun , Xie Xin , Xiao Xiao‐Lin , Li Na , Dong De‐Li
Published: June 2014

Background and Purpose

Autophagy is an important intracellular degradation system, which is related to various diseases. In preliminary experiments we found that D4‐[6‐(4‐isopropoxyphenyl)pyrazolo [1,5‐a]pyrimidin‐3‐yl] quinoline (DMH1) inhibited autophagy responses. However DMH1 also inhibits the signalling pathway activated by bone morphogenetic protein‐4 (BMP4). The aim of the present study was to elucidate the inhibitory effects of DMH1 on autophagy and the underlying mechanisms.

Experimental Approach

The effects of DMH1 on autophagy responses were evaluated in cultures of different cell types and with different stimuli to induce autophagy, using Western blots, transmission electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy.

Key Results

DMH1 inhibited starvation‐induced autophagy in cardiomyocytes, HeLa and MCF‐7 cells, without involving the signalling pathway of BMP4. DMH1 inhibited aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR)‐ and rapamycin‐induced autophagy in HeLa and MCF‐7 cells. DMH1 reversed starvation‐ and AICAR‐induced inhibition of Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and p70S6 kinase (S6K), and reversed rapamycin‐induced inhibition of mTOR and S6K. DMH1 reversed starvation‐induced decrease of the phosphorylated form of glycogen synthase kinase‐3 in MCF‐7 and HT29 cells. Activation of Akt and inhibition of autophagy induced by DMH1 were antagonized by an Akt specific inhibitor or by small interfering RNA for Akt in HeLa cells.

Conclusion and Implications

DMH1 inhibited cellular autophagy responses in a range of cell types and the underlying mechanisms include activation of the Akt pathway.
Anti‐IL‐31 receptor antibody is shown to be a potential therapeutic option for treating itch and dermatitis in mice
Authors: Kasutani K , Fujii E , Ohyama S , Adachi H , Hasegawa M , Kitamura H , Yamashita N
Published: June 2014

Background and Purpose

IL‐31, which is described as a pruritogenic cytokine, is linked to the itching that is associated with allergic and non‐allergic eczema, but the precise pruritogenic mechanism of IL‐31 and its potential as a therapeutic target for atopic dermatitis (AD) have not been determined.

Experimental Approach

We investigated the effects of existing drugs on the scratching behaviour induced by an i.v. injection of IL‐31 to clarify whether IL‐31 induced pruritus indirectly. In addition, we studied the effects of an anti‐IL‐31 receptor α subunit (anti‐IL‐31 receptor α) neutralizing antibody on chronic pruritus‐inducing dermatitis in an AD‐like model to determine whether IL‐31 not only induces scratching behaviour, but is also the causative factor in an AD phenotype.

Key Results

The scratching behaviour induced by an i.v. injection of IL‐31 was inhibited by pretreatment with an anti‐IL‐31 receptor α‐neutralizing antibody. In contrast, it was not inhibited significantly by a non‐sedative antihistamine (terfenadine), immunosuppressants (dexamethasone and tacrolimus), or a μ‐opioid receptor antagonist (naloxone). The anti‐IL‐31 receptor α‐neutralizing antibody reduced the ear swelling and dermatitis score in a chronic pruritus‐inducing AD‐like model. Moreover, treatment with the anti‐IL‐31 receptor α‐neutralizing antibody showed therapeutic effects on the dermatitis even if it was injected after the disease had developed.

Conclusions and Implications

Anti‐IL‐31 receptor α is a potential novel therapeutic approach for escaping from the itch–scratch cycle and also a treatment for dermatitis in AD.
Ten‐year follow up after laparoscopic suture rectopexy for full‐thickness rectal prolapse
Authors: Foppa C. , Martinek L. , Arnaud J. P. , Bergamaschi R.
Published: June 2014

Aim

Studies have shown that recurrence rates of full‐thickness rectal prolapse (FTRP) 5 years after surgery can quadruple at 10 years. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of laparoscopic suture rectopexy for FTRP on recurrence rates and functional outcome at a median follow up of 10 years.

Method

Prospectively collected data for patients who underwent laparoscopic suture rectopexy for FTRP between 1993 and 2006 were analysed. Laparoscopic rectopexy consisted of circumferential mobilization of the rectum down to the levator followed by suture suspension to promontory. Patients with preexisting constipation or who were unfit for general anaesthesia were not included. Incontinence, quality of life and constipation were assessed by validated scores. Recurrence‐free curves were generated using the Kaplan–Meier method.

Results

One hundred and seventy‐nine patients with a median age of 62 (15–93) years including 174 women and five men underwent laparoscopic suture rectopexy. There was no mortality. The 30‐day complication rate was 4% (partial transection of the left ureter, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, urinary retention, superficial surgical site infection). Data on 172 patients (96%) were available at follow up. There were 10 recurrences of FTRP at 5‐year follow up giving a crude recurrence rate of 6%. The actuarial 10‐year recurrence rate was 20% (95% CI, 10.8–20.1). Follow‐up continence (P < 0.0001) and quality of life were better than preoperatively: lifestyle (P < 0.001), coping (P < 0.001), self‐perception (P < 0.005), embarrassment (P < 0.06). Constipation was unchanged.

Conclusion

Laparoscopic suture rectopexy led to few complications, a recurrence rate of 20%, improved continence and quality of life with no worsening of constipation at 10 years.
OIL CURSE AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES: WHICH INSTITUTIONS ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO THE CURSE AND UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES?
Authors: Blanco Luisa R. , Nugent Jeffrey B. , O'Connor Kelsey J.
Published: June 2014

This article extends recent analyses linking the alleged oil curse to a broader set of institutions (13 in number) than democracy, the institution that has received the most attention in the literature. It does so using panel data for over 100 countries between 1975 and 2005, wherever possible, and compares the effects obtained with several different measures of both the importance of oil and experience in the industry and of the interactions between them. Most importantly, instead of simply examining the effect of oil and experience in the industry on the contemporary levels of these various institutions, this study focuses on the effects on changes in the various institutional indicators from one decade to another. While not surprisingly our results reveal considerable sensitivity in the effects of oil resources, oil experience, and interactions across different specifications, they also suggest a number of important findings. The most robust of these are the significant negative effects of oil rents on bureaucratic quality and on socioeconomic conditions. We also find that the number of years since peak oil discovery has a positive effect on government stability, but a negative one on bureaucratic quality. When interactions are allowed for, still more negative effects on institutions are identified, at least partially re‐enforcing several of the institutional links in the oil curse hypothesis. (JEL O13, P16)
Heidegger the Metaphysician: Modes‐of‐Being andGrundbegriffe
Authors: Kelly Howard D.
Published: June 2014

Modes‐of‐being (Seinsarten) figure centrally inHeidegger's masterworkBeing and Time. Testimony to this isHeidegger's characterisation of two of his most celebrated enquiries—the Existential analytic and theZeuganalysis—as investigations into the respective modes‐of‐being of the entities concerned. Yet despite the importance of this concept, commentators disagree widely about what a mode‐of‐being is. In this paper,Isystematically outline and defend a novel and exegetically grounded interpretation of this concept. Strongly opposed to Kantian readings, such as those advocated byTaylorCarman andCristinaLafont,Iinterpret a mode‐of‐being as a universal that defines a district (Bezirk)—that is, a natural class of entities that ought to be conceptualised in a special way. As such, every mode‐of‐being plays an important metaphysical and epistemic role: serving both to unify a natural class of a high degree of generality and as theinterpretandumof an act yielding the basic‐concepts (Grundbegriffe) pertaining to the entities therein. In explicating and arguing for this interpretation,Iattribute a characteristically Aristotelian philosophical position to the earlyHeidegger, encompassing both metaphysical and epistemological realism and a conceptualist theory of universals.
Detecting past changes of effective population size
Authors: Nikolic Natacha , Chevalet Claude
Published: June 2014

Understanding and predicting population abundance is a major challenge confronting scientists. Several genetic models have been developed using microsatellite markers to estimate the present and ancestral effective population sizes. However, to get an overview on the evolution of population requires that past fluctuation of population size be traceable. To address the question, we developed a new model estimating the past changes of effective population size from microsatellite by resolving coalescence theory and using approximate likelihoods in a Monte Carlo Markov Chain approach. The efficiency of the model and its sensitivity to gene flow and to assumptions on the mutational process were checked using simulated data and analysis. The model was found especially useful to provide evidence of transient changes of population size in the past. The times at which some past demographic events cannot be detected because they are too ancient and the risk that gene flow may suggest the false detection of a bottleneck are discussed considering the distribution of coalescence times. The method was applied on real data sets from several Atlantic salmon populations. The method called VarEff (Variation of Effective size) was implemented in the R package VarEff and is made available at https://qgsp.jouy.inra.fr and at http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/VarEff.
Of Big Ears and Bondage: Benjamin, Kafka, and the Static of the Sirens
Authors: Levine Michael G.
Published: June 2014

Walter Benjamin writes about a childhood photograph of Franz Kafka on two occasions: his essay on photography and his commemorative text, “Franz Kafka: Zur zehnten Wiederkehr seines Todestages.” In the latter, Benjamin describes not only the close atmosphere and tight‐fitting clothing that he notes in his “Kleine Geschichte der Photographie,” but also the prominent, large ear of the depicted six‐year old subject. In posing the question how the acoustics of this still image relate to the stifling scenery and clothing that appear, in Benjamin's account, to envelop the child, this article addresses the gestural dimension of acoustic phenomena in Kafka's œuvre, and above all, its tendency towards prayer—a prayer that, perhaps, resonates less with the attentiveness that, for Malebranche, is the natural prayer of the soul, than the holy prostitution of Baudelaire's Spleen de Paris.
Age‐specific reference range of prostate‐specific antigen and prostate cancer detection in population‐based screening cohort in Japan: Verification of Japanese Urological Association Guideline for prostate cancer
Authors: Kitagawa Yasuhide , Izumi Kouji , Sawada Kiyoshi , Mizokami Atsushi , Nakashima Kazuyoshi , Koshida Kiyoshi , Nakashima Takao , Miyazaki Kimiomi , Namiki Mikio
Published: June 2014

Objectives

To investigate the age‐specific reference range of prostate‐specific antigen and clinical characteristics of screening‐detected cancer in prostate‐specific antigen‐based screening, and to verify the age‐specific prostate‐specific antigen cut‐offs in the Japanese Urological Association Guidelines.

Methods

Prostate‐specific antigen distributions were estimated in a total of 69 028 screening tests according to the age of the participants in population screening from 2000 to 2013. The age‐specific reference range of prostate‐specific antigen for detection of cancer was investigated by analyzing the receiver operating characteristic curves. Furthermore, the clinicopathological features of screening‐detected cancer with serum prostate‐specific antigen levels below the age‐specific prostate‐specific antigen cut‐off in the Japanese Urological Association Guidelines were also investigated.

Results

Of all 69 028 screens, 2053 prostate biopsies (2.97%) were carried out and 549 cases of cancer (0.79%) were diagnosed. The 95th percentiles in all participants aged 54–59, 60–64, 65–69 and 70–75 years old were 2.90, 3.60, 4.10, and 4.70 ng/mL, respectively. The optimal prostate‐specific antigen cut‐offs for cancer detection determined from the receiver operating characteristic curves were 2.3 and 2.6 for the age ranges 54–69 and 70–75 years, respectively. These values were lower than the age‐specific cut‐offs in the Japanese Urological Association Guidelines. Of all 137 patients with prostate‐specific antigen levels below the age‐specific cut‐offs in the Japanese Urological Association Guidelines, 80 (58.4%) had unfavorable clinicopathological features as active surveillance criteria.

Conclusions

The age‐specific reference range of prostate‐specific antigen might be lower than that recommended in the Japanese Urological Association Guidelines. An individualized and natural history‐adjusted screening system should be established for screening participants with low prostate‐specific antigen level.
Immunity to intestinal pathogens: lessons learned from Salmonella
Authors: McSorley Stephen J.
Published: June 2014

Salmonella are a common source of food‐ or water‐borne infection and cause a wide range of clinical disease in human and animal hosts. Salmonella are relatively easy to culture and manipulate in a laboratory setting, and the infection of laboratory animals induces robust innate and adaptive immune responses. Thus, immunologists have frequently turned to Salmonella infection models to expand understanding of host immunity to intestinal pathogens. In this review, I summarize current knowledge of innate and adaptive immunity to Salmonella and highlight features of this response that have emerged from recent studies. These include the heterogeneity of the antigen‐specific T‐cell response to intestinal infection, the prominence of microbial mechanisms to impede T‐ and B‐cell responses, and the contribution of non‐cognate pathways for elicitation of T‐cell effector functions. Together, these different issues challenge an overly simplistic view of host–pathogen interaction during mucosal infection, but also allow deeper insight into the real‐world dynamic of protective immunity to intestinal pathogens.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying NOD2 risk‐associated polymorphisms in Crohn's disease
Authors: Strober Warren , Asano Naoki , Fuss Ivan , Kitani Atsushi , Watanabe Tomohiro
Published: June 2014

The discovery that polymorphisms in the NOD2 (nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain containing 2) gene are associated with a greatly increased risk for the development of Crohn's disease has provided a means to achieve a deeper understanding of the dysregulation of mucosal immune responses to the commensal intestinal organisms that is thought to underlie this disease. NOD2 is a NOD‐like receptor (NLR) family member that senses and responds to bacterial wall peptides; thus, the most widely held view of the relation of the NOD2 polymorphisms with Crohn's disease is that these polymorphisms lead to deficient immune responses to gut bacteria, and these, in turn, lead to quantitative or qualitative changes in the bacterial population in the gut lumen or lamina propria that cause inflammation at this site. Initially, this view was based mainly on the observation that defective NOD2 function can result in reduced α‐defensin production by intestinal Paneth cells and that such impairment leads to loss of host defense against gut bacteria. In this review, we reconsider this possibility and marshal evidence that it is not in fact likely to be a prime element of Crohn's disease causation. More recently, evidence has been accumulating that the NOD2 dysfunction leads to Crohn's inflammation by inducing changes in the gut microbiome that influence immune effector or regulatory function. We review the strengths and weaknesses of this emerging hypothesis. Finally, we consider the possibility that NOD2 dysfunction can lead to inflammation because of a second and somewhat overlooked aspect of its function, that as an immunoregulator of innate immune responses. In particular, we review the body of evidence that NOD2 stimulation activates a cross‐tolerance response that downregulates and thus prevents excessive TLR responses that cause Crohn's inflammation.
Messages from the voters: The 2014 local and European elections
Authors: Curtice John
Published: June 2014

John Curtice reviews the results from the recent elections, including Ukip's unprecedented bid to establish fourth‐party credentials and the challenges facing the two traditional major parties of Westminster politics.