bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Marketing to different Asian communities
Authors: R. Massey Graham , S. Waller David , Z. Wang Paul , V. Lanasier Evi
Published: January 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to show that culture has differential effects on purchase intent, using respondents from four very different cultural groups within Indonesia, and two different advertisements (one ethical, another unethical).

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses survey methods and a highly structured questionnaire to collect data from respondents in four cultural groups. In total, 100 responses were received from each of these groups within Indonesia (Bali, Batak, Java, and Minang). Data were analyzed using partial least squares.

Findings

– The results suggest that when advertising to culturally conservative groups, caution is required. Such groups have lower purchase intent when they do not like the advertisement. Moreover, other variables such as attitude towards the advertiser may become salient drivers of purchase intent for such groups if the advertisement is perceived to be unethical. Importantly, neither of these factors are salient for more permissive cultures, regardless of whether the advertisement is perceived to be ethical or unethical. In addition the authors identify a set of “universal paths” by which advertisement-related factors, and company-related factors indirectly influence purchase intent for both permissive and conservative cultures, regardless of the perceived ethicality of the advertisement.

Research limitations/implications

– The research uses four samples, with 100 respondents per group. Future research could verify these results using larger samples. In addition, the study only uses low involvement consumer products, hence future research could test the model on higher involvement products.

Practical implications

– Managers should test their advertising messages on target audiences to assess whether they are likeable, as advertisement likeability can influence purchase intent. In addition, whilst factors such as ethicality (and likeability, and attitude towards the advertiser) tend to not affect purchase intent directly except in specific circumstances, these antecedent variables do have strong effects on each other via the universal paths.

Originality/value

– This is the first study which has examined the effects of ethical/unethical advertisements across four different cultures in Indonesia. The results also reveal an important set of relationships between the model variables, which the authors refer to as the “universal paths.” These paths have important implications for advertisers and their clients in their attempts to build brand equity and increase purchase intent.
Cultural and sub-cultural differences in reliability
Authors: P. Moschis George , Sim Ong Fon , Abessi Masoud , Yamashita Takako , Mathur Anil
Published: January 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on testing hypotheses derived from theories presented by leading scholars regarding possible sources of differences in reliability coefficients, using cross-sectional data from Japan and Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was conducted in Malaysia and Japan, both of them characterized as having collectivist values. Convenience sampling and the same method of survey administration, personal interviews by trained interviewers, was used in both countries.

Findings

– The tests of the hypotheses regarding cultural, subcultural, and aging effects provide some results in line with the hypotheses, but they raise additional concerns about the possible sources of measurement differences and the applicability of theories and measures developed in one country to other countries and subcultures within countries. The major findings include the alpha reliability coefficient of the self-esteem scale (SSE) which is hypothesised to be lower than the alpha for the material value scale (MVS) and satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) in the Malaysian and Japanese samples, but this difference only occurs for the Japanese sample.

Research limitations/implications

– The study findings highlight the challenges that researchers confront when conducting cross-cultural studies.

Originality/value

– The present study systematically tests the reliability of measures developed in the West and employed in different countries (especially Asian countries). Although several assumptions and speculations have been made regarding the sources of potential bias in measures used when studying cultural and subcultural differences, little empirical work supports these views. Our study fills this gap.
Sales promotion in Asia: successful strategies for Singapore and Malaysia
Authors: McNeill Lisa
Published: January 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address the globalisation/culture issue by comparing two Asian countries in which there has been limited prior research regarding their respective supermarket industries, namely, Singapore and Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research design adopted a case-study approach, with two general cases (the New Singaporean and Malaysian supermarket retail industries), made up of two embedded cases each (retailers and manufacturers operating within each country).

Findings

– The overall finding is that despite prior assumptions that suitability is reliant on product type or country choice, there are a number of sales promotion techniques that are inherently suited to the supermarket industry as a whole. The majority of these “inherently suitable” techniques are price-based and the conclusion is then that these techniques can be used globally. Value-added techniques, on the other hand, should be localised to fit with the market in which they are being applied.

Practical implications

– Tools best suited to the grocery product sales environment appear to be price-based or linked to price reductions (i.e. price discounting and discount-linked point-of-purchase (P-O-P) or end-of-aisle (E-O-A) displays combination and volume offers), suggesting that those tools which are inherently suitable to the industry are likely to meet retailers' shorter-term objectives rather than manufacturers' longer-term ones. The difficulty faced by manufacturers, then, is aligning their sales promotion objectives with the tools that are best able to achieve results in the supermarket environment.

Originality/value

– Globalisation of the supermarket industry has also meant that marketers continue to need a better understanding of cross-cultural issues and their effect and national culture frameworks can be used to develop marketing theories which are suited to a particular region. The current research identifies preferences for different sales promotion techniques in the two nationally similar, yet ethnically diverse, countries under study, as well as examining application of these techniques in the retail environment.
A critical model of brand experience consequences
Authors: Shamim Amjad , Mohsin Butt Muhammad
Published: January 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the direct and indirect influence of brand experience on a customer's brand attitude, brand credibility and customer-based brand equity. Design/methodology/approach

Design/methodology/approach

– The data were collected from 400 users of mobile hand sets, using convenience sampling technique. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling procedure to test the proposed relationships in the model. Findings

Findings

– The results indicate that the data were a good fit to the proposed model. All the paths in the model remained statistically significant. Although, Chi square test was not significant (6.10, df, 2, p

Research limitations/implications

– This research investigates the proposed model for a single product category. Future researchers can test the model for other product and service categories. Also, this research only explores the three most critical outcomes of brand experience; however future researchers can incorporate satisfaction, loyalty and commitment as the possible outcome of brand experience.

Practical implications

– This study demonstrates that brand experience can directly and indirectly influence some of the most important concepts in branding literature. This model will help managers to understand how investments in different aspects of branding process lead towards brand differentiation.

Originality/value

– This research is the first of its type that incorporates brand credibility, attitude and equity as the consequences of brand experience in a single causal model.
Significant tasks in training of job‐shop supervisors
Authors: Pederson Leonard S. , Dresdow Sally , Benson Joy
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The need for effective training of first‐line supervisors is well established. Well‐trained supervision is essential to our future as a country. A fundamental step in developing effective training is to develop a jobs needs assessment. In order to develop an effective needs assessment, it is necessary to know what the tasks are of supervisors. This study aims to develop a task list with a rating for job importance. It also aims to provide suggestions for training.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the Delphi survey process methodology. An initial survey instrument was developed and pilot tested. The survey was modified and used for three Delphi rounds. A fourth round was initiated to triangulate the results.

Findings

The result of the panel was a task list of 49 tasks, with an importance to their job rating range from 1.9 to 3.7, based on 0 to 4. Using a Pareto concept of reviewing the top 20 percent or top ten tasks as sorted for importance to the job, seven of the top ten tasks were most closely related to interpersonal relationships.

Practical implications

This study provides suggestions for the type of courses needed for an effective supervisory training curriculum.

Originality/value

Few studies evaluate supervisory tasks from the supervisor's perspective. This study is unique in that it directly surveys supervisors as to their job tasks and the importance of the tasks to their job. The training recommendations focus on areas that supervisors could immediately apply to their jobs.
Learning in an age of cuts: managers as enablers of workplace learning
Authors: Warhurst Russell P.
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The goal of this exploratory empirical article is to analyse managers' beliefs about learning and their reports of enabling workplace learning for both individuals and teams. It aims to discuss the managers' rationales for prioritising development, detail the learning methods used and evaluate the types of outcomes which were targeted.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative, case‐study research design was adopted using two embedded units of analysis (local government administrations) and data were derived from photo‐elicitation interviews.

Findings

The diverse learning interventions that were reported are detailed and analysed in terms of learning for individuals and for groups and in terms of replicative and expansive learning outcomes.

Research limitations/implication

The research was limited to manager respondents and to their reported developmental intentions, therefore implications for extending the research are proposed.

Practical implications

The need for enhancing managers' awareness of their beliefs about learning and their capabilities for engendering non‐formal learning through work practices is discussed.

Originality/value

The article demonstrates that a broader range of methodologies were reportedly used by managers in enabling staff learning than has previously been shown. Moreover, that learning interventions were widely reported in a context of cuts and change questions the prevailing orthodoxy that development is sacrificed in times of cutbacks.
The importance of teaching ethics of sustainability
Authors: Biedenweg Kelly , Monroe Martha C. , Oxarart Annie
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the importance of a focus on ethics in sustainability education and present results from a pilot graduate‐level course titled the Ethics of Sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a case study presenting a qualitative evaluation from a pilot 14‐week Ethics of Sustainability course. Data are based on observations, surveys and interviews with students.

Findings

Students from diverse fields found the ethical concepts new, stimulating and crucial for their careers. Ethical concepts provide a framework for thinking about sustainable practices in their personal and professional lives.

Research limitations/implications

Findings are based on a single pilot course and post‐participation responses. Future research could explore different teaching strategies and different institutions, and use pre/post studies.

Practical implications

This study suggests that a course on ethical principles related to sustainability is a useful and potentially critical component to any curriculum intending to prepare future professionals to be effective contributors to a sustainable society. Higher education may adopt the course concepts and learning tools to enhance their curriculum and businesses and corporations will benefit from entry‐level professionals with a solid ethical foundation for making more sustainability‐oriented decisions.

Originality/value

The paper discusses an innovative course designed with funding from the US National Science Foundation. It confirms the benefit and provides some content advice for a course oriented toward ethics in sustainability curricula.
Construction business failure: conceptual synthesis of causal agents
Authors: Holt Gary D.
Published: January 2013

Purpose

Business failure has evolved a major research domain, both of corporate finance generally and of construction management, equally. Much of this attention has focused on assessing business “health” to predict longevity, but less so, on causal agents of failure. The aim of this study is to synthesise published knowledge in the subject domain to explore construction failure agents.

Design/methodology/approach

Extant literature drawn from both corporate finance and construction management disciplines are synthesised. Subjective, textual analysis is undertaken and causal agents thematically grouped. A failure relationship model is derived that conceptualises construction business failure in relation to its operating universe.

Findings

Generic failure agents (GFA) (ordered, based on percentage frequency among the literature observed) are shown to be: managerial, financial, company characteristics, and macroeconomic. The first three are proffered to reciprocally interact within a “universe” defined by the latter. Numerous sub‐causal agents (SCA) are attributed to each generic agent. The role of innovation is suggested to hold potential negative (as well as positive) impacts on mitigating GFA and SCA.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations relate to synthesis of contemporary published evidence, so a progressive iteration would be empirical study of identified agents within live construction environments. An implication is the call for research realignment; from emphasis on business health assessment, to that of root causal agents.

Practical implications

Advancement of theory relating to business failure has significant implications for construction management research.

Originality/value

The failure relationship model and its linkage to innovation is novel.
Nearshoring practices
Authors: Slepniov Dmitrij , Brazinskas Sigitas , Vejrum Wæhrens Brian
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to unravel and assess current nearshoring practices and their outlook in the Baltic region.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on the offshoring and outsourcing literature and use mixed methods of enquiry, including case studies, survey techniques and secondary statistical data. Part of the empirical base of the study is an examination of three Scandinavian firms that offshore their operations to vendors in the Baltics. To provide a more complete view of the practices and processes of offshoring in the region, the authors complement the case studies of Swedish and Danish manufacturers with a survey of 55 Lithuanian vendors and other statistical data.

Findings

The paper outlines the main drivers of nearshoring for Scandinavian manufacturing firms. Based on in‐depth insights into nearshoring initiatives, the authors elucidate how the initiatives evolved and what factors affected them. The survey results reveal the perspective of Lithuanian vendors regarding their relationships with Scandinavian partners. These findings are used in assessing the future prospects of nearshoring in the Baltic region.

Practical implications

The study relates the key attributes of Scandinavian companies' nearshoring practices to the perspectives of Lithuanian vendors. While the authors' discussion concentrates on how companies organise their operations in an increasingly global context, it also points to broader policymaking implications for the Baltic region.

Originality/value

The paper addresses the topic of nearshoring, which has thus far received limited attention in the management literature. By incorporating both the perspectives of offshoring and vendor companies, the paper provides a more complete view on the phenomenon and presents the main dilemmas underpinning it.
Entrepreneurial and learning orientation: effects on growth and profitability in the software sector
Authors: Hakala Henri
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and learning orientation (LO) separately on two dimensions of performance (profitability and growth).

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 196 Finnish software companies is analyzed using a partial least squares approach.

Findings

The paper provides evidence that the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on profitability are mediated by learning oriented behaviors. Furthermore, in contrast to expectations inherited from prior research, LO does not appear to have a similar effect on growth.

Research limitations/implications

The paper refers to an empirical study of software companies in Finland. Further research in other countries and industry settings is needed to confirm and extend the results.

Practical implications

The results suggest that software company managers in entrepreneurial software firms should develop a culture that includes nurturing learning, in order to support the creation of profitability.

Originality/value

The paper extends the prior research by investigating the EO‐LO relationship separately in the growth and profitability dimensions of performance. Furthermore, it provides evidence for the benefits of combining EO with LO in SMEs in the dynamic software industry, while prior studies on the topic have focused on larger organizations.
The usefulness of strategic planning in a turbulent economic environment: a case of Zimbabwe during the period 2007‐2009
Authors: Mufudza Tsitsi , Jengeta Mirriam , Hove Precious
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility of strategic planning in times of turbulent economic conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper discusses how various Zimbabwean organizations incorporated the aspect of strategic planning during the period 2007‐2009 in order to establish its relevance in different economic situations.

Findings

Strategic planning process is very difficult to carry out during turbulent economic conditions though there are some aspects of the process that are indispensible.

Practical implications

Organizations can survive without sticking to their strategic plans in times of turbulent economic environment.

Originality/value

The situation that prevailed in Zimbabwe in 2007‐2009 was unique and this paper endeavours to analyse the feasibility of strategic planning in a turbulent economic environment.
Interlocking directorates' effects on economic system's competitiveness
Authors: Simoni Michele , Caiazza Rosa
Published: January 2013

Purpose

Interlocks' network evolves and changes over time. Ties are created and destroyed and firm's position in the network changes. The alternate views on interlocks' evolution existing in literature lead the authors to investigate interlocks' network dynamics through a framework based on structural and qualitative change. This research aims to analyze qualitative and quantitative evolutions of Italian network of interlocks among firms listed on Milan stock exchange.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the dynamic network analysis to test the evolution of Italian network of interlocked firms and its consequence for firms' competitiveness

Findings

The article evidences interlocking directorates effects on Italian system's competitiveness

Originality/value

This article offers a new perspective of analysis in interlocking directorates' evolution
Housing ex‐prisoners: the role of the third sector
Authors: Mills Alice , Gojkovic Dina , Meek Rosie , Mullins David
Published: January 2013

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to examine the contribution made by housing‐related third sector organisations (TSOs) in assisting ex‐prisoners to find housing, and the barriers they face in doing so.

Design/methodology/approach

An offender survey was used to measure awareness of and engagement with TSOs in eight prisons, alongside qualitative interviews with prisoners, criminal justice staff and TSO representatives.

Findings

Despite the involvement of TSOs, securing accommodation for ex‐prisoners remains complex and difficult, largely due to high service demand, housing shortages, budget cuts, and needs assessment and allocations systems which reduce the responsiveness of housing providers to the reducing re‐offending agenda.

Research limitations/implications

The research benefited from a mixed‐method approach which captured the perceptions of service users and professionals. The response rate for the offender survey was low (12 per cent), and the survey findings should be treated with caution.

Practical implications

Local authorities and other housing providers need to be more willing to accept ex‐prisoners as potential service users, and better links need to be made between local homelessness strategies, choice based lettings systems and prisoner resettlement programmes. Providing support services to ex‐offenders may encourage such acceptance and help to maintain the motivation to desist from crime.

Originality/value

Previous research has paid little specific attention to the role of TSOs in (ex)offender housing. This paper addresses this omission by drawing on original empirical research to examine the value of their work in securing accommodation for ex‐prisoners and helping to reduce re‐offending.
Studying and teaching at UK degree programmes in India
Authors: Dwivedi Mridula
Published: January 2013

Purpose

Branch campuses and other types of partnerships are becoming increasingly common where a degree provider starts offering a programme in another nation. The aim of this paper is to focus specifically on the student and staff experience of learning in UK degree programmes operating in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology followed for this study was qualitative. Open‐ended responses were invited from students and members of faculty about their experiences from two UK degree programmes in India. The data were analysed by using open coding which led to the identification of major categories.

Findings

Students expressed high level of satisfaction related to the internal environment particularly the quality of education provided by a foreign degree. But they also worry about the regulatory environment, branding and industry linkages of such programmes.

Research limitations/implications

One of the most obvious limitations of this research is that the results cannot be generalized. The satisfaction with the academic engagement expressed by the students and the faculty could be due the strong systems put in place by these specific partnerships and not a generic feature of transnational partnerships.

Practical implications

This paper highlights that the educational issues important in the host nation may be different to the home nation. So equivalence of degrees or even rankings in the home country may not automatically get transferred in the host nation.

Originality/value

Student and faculty experience of learning in a foreign degree programme without leaving their country is underreported in the literature. To the best of the author's knowledge no work exists on the foreign degree programmes existing in India and this paper is the first attempt to research the issues related to transnational education in India.
The Tragedy of the Anticommons: A Concise Introduction and Lexicon
Authors: Heller Michael
Published: January 2013

This article gives a concise introduction to the ‘tragedy of the anticommons.’ The anticommons thesis is simple: when too many people own pieces of one thing, nobody can use it. Usually, private ownership creates wealth. But too much ownership has the opposite effect – it leads to wasteful underuse. This is a free market paradox that shows up all across the global economy. If too many owners control a single resource, cooperation breaks down, wealth disappears, and everybody loses. Conceptually, underuse in an anticommons mirrors the familiar problem of overuse in a ‘tragedy of the commons.’ The field of anticommons studies is now well‐established. Over a thousand scholars have detailed examples from across the innovation frontier, including drug patenting, telecom licensing, climate change, compulsory land purchase, oil field unitisation, music and art copyright, and post‐socialist economic transition. Fixing anticommons tragedy is a key challenge for any legal system committed to innovation and economic growth.
The Legislative Origins of the MPs' Expenses Scandal
Authors: Little Gavin , Stopforth David
Published: January 2013

The MPs' expenses scandal of 2009 was one of the most controversial Parliamentary events of modern times. It had a profound impact on public perceptions of MPs and led to the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. Little academic consideration has, however, been given to the legislative origins of the scandal and the role of ministers and MPs in the creation of the system for MPs' expenses under the Finance Act 1984. Using official documents obtained by Freedom of Information requests, we construct a comprehensive historical analysis of how – without one word of debate in Parliament and only minimal media coverage – ministers and MPs created a special statutory scheme for their own benefit, which they had effective control of and which exempted their expenses claims from the rules applying to other UK taxpayers and the jurisdiction of the Inland Revenue.
The impact of leader–follower interactions on the radicalization of terrorists: A case study of the Bali bombers
Authors: Milla Mirra Noor , Faturochman  , Ancok Djamaludin
Published: January 2013

Leaders figure significantly in radicalization processes that can ultimately lead to terrorism. This article attempts to explain radicalization as a process of interaction between leaders and their followers. We argue that the process of radicalization includes five stages: pre‐radicalization, self‐identification, indoctrination, commitment, and jihad ideologization. In the case of the Bali bombers, the process was strengthened by external environmental conditions that enabled leaders to gain broad support from the community. In our analysis we rely on a combination of interviews with convicted terrorists and previously unexamined documentary evidence.
Multi‐dimensional response–probability–dose curves for bupivacaine and ropivacaine epidural labour analgesia
Authors: Ngan Kee W. D. , Lee A.
Published: January 2013

Describing the relationship between magnitude of response, probability of response, dose and time is difficult using traditional two‐dimensional dose–response curves. We devised a novel way of presentation in four dimensions. Data from a previous study of epidural bupivacaine and ropivacaine given for labour analgesia were re‐analysed. For a range of response magnitudes (5–95% reduction in pain score), estimates of doses associated with probabilities of response 0.05–0.95 were calculated using probit analysis. Three dimensional surface plots were constructed with axes x = magnitude of response, y = probability of response and z = log(dose) at intervals for 30 min. Arithmetic interpolation was used to assemble an animation depicting temporal changes in relationship between variables (fourth dimension). Response–probability–dose curves in three and four dimensions were constructed and presented for both drugs. We believe that this model is more aligned with the logic of clinical dose selection compared with traditional two‐dimensional curves.
Getting a grip on tetrapod grasping: form, function, and evolution
Authors: Sustaita Diego , Pouydebat Emmanuelle , Manzano Adriana , Abdala Virginia , Hertel Fritz , Herrel Anthony
Published: January 2013

Human beings have been credited with unparalleled capabilities for digital prehension grasping. However, grasping behaviour is widespread among tetrapods. The propensity to grasp, and the anatomical characteristics that underlie it, appear in all of the major groups of tetrapods with the possible exception of terrestrial turtles. Although some features are synapomorphic to the tetrapod clade, such as well‐defined digits and digital musculature, other features, such as opposable digits and tendon configurations, appear to have evolved independently in many lineages. Here we examine the incidence, functional morphology, and evolution of grasping across four major tetrapod clades. Our review suggests that the ability to grasp with the manus and pes is considerably more widespread, and ecologically and evolutionarily important, than previously thought. The morphological bases and ecological factors that govern grasping abilities may differ among tetrapods, yet the selective forces shaping them are likely similar. We suggest that further investigation into grasping form and function within and among these clades may expose a greater role for grasping ability in the evolutionary success of many tetrapod lineages.
Increasing Liana Abundance and Basal Area in a Tropical Forest: The Contribution of Long‐distance Clonal Colonization
Authors: Yorke Suzanne R. , Schnitzer Stefan A. , Mascaro Joseph , Letcher Susan G. , Carson Walter P.
Published: January 2013

Recent evidence suggests that liana abundance and biomass are increasing in Neotropical forests, representing a major structural change to tropical ecosystems. Explanations for these increases, however, remain largely untested. Over an 8‐yr period (1999–2007), we censused lianas in nine, 24 × 36 m permanent plots in old‐growth and selectively logged forest at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica to test whether: (1) liana abundance and basal area are increasing in this forest; (2) the increase is being driven by increased recruitment, decreased mortality, or both; and (3) long‐distance clonal colonization explains the increase in liana abundance and basal area. We defined long‐distance clonal colonization as lianas that entered and rooted in the plots as vegetative propagules of stems that originated from outside or above the plot, and were present in 2007, but not in 1999 or 2002. Our hypotheses were supported in the old‐growth forest: mean liana abundance and BA (≥1 cm diameter) increased 15 and 20 percent, respectively, and clonal colonization from outside of the plots contributed 19 and 60 percent (respectively) to these increases. Lianas colonized clonally by falling vertically from the forest canopy above or growing horizontally along the forest floor and re‐rooting—common forms of colonization for many liana species. In the selectively logged forest, liana abundance and BA did not change, and thus the pattern of increasing lianas may be restricted to old‐growth forests. In summary, our data support the hypothesis that lianas are increasing in old‐growth forests, and that long‐distance clonal colonization is a major contributor.
Bone morphogenetic protein‐9 induces epithelial to mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Authors: Li Qi , Gu Xing , Weng Honglei , Ghafoory Shahrouz , Liu Yan , Feng Teng , Dzieran Johanna , Li Li , Ilkavets Iryna , Kruithof‐ de Julio Marianna , Munker Stefan , Marx Alexander , Piiper Albrecht , Augusto Alonso Eduardo , Gretz Norbert , Gao Chunfang , Wölfl Stefan , Dooley Steven , Breitkopf‐Heinlein Katja
Published: January 2013

Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important mechanism to initiate cancer invasion and metastasis. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)‐9 is a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β superfamily. It has been suggested to play a role in cancer development in some non‐hepatic tumors. In the present study, two hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lines, HLE and HepG2, were treated with BMP‐9 in vitro, and phenotypic changes and cell motility were analyzed. In situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemical analyses were performed with human HCC tissue samples in order to assess expression levels of BMP‐9. In vivo, BMP‐9 protein and mRNA were expressed in all the tested patients to diverse degrees. At the protein level, mildly positive (1 + ) BMP‐9 staining could be observed in 25/41 (61%), and moderately to strongly positive (2 + ) in 16/41 (39%) of the patients. In 27/41 (65%) patients, the BMP‐9 protein expression level was consistent with the mRNA expression level as measured by ISH. In those patients with 2 +  protein level, nuclear pSmad1 expression in cancer cells was also significantly increased. Expression of BMP‐9 was positively related to nuclear Snail expression and reversely correlated to cell surface E‐cadherin expression, although this did not reach statistical significance. Expression levels of BMP‐9 were significantly associated with the T stages of the investigated tumors and high levels of BMP‐9 were detected by immunofluorescence especially at the tumor borders in samples from an HCC mouse model. In vitro, BMP‐9 treatment caused a reduction of E‐cadherin and ZO‐1 and an induction of Vimentin and Snail expression. Furthermore, cell migration was enhanced by BMP‐9 in both HCC cell lines. These results imply that EMT induced by BMP‐9 is related to invasiveness of HCC.
Constrained adoptive parenthood and family transition: adopters' experience of unplanned birth family contact in adolescence
Authors: MacDonald Mandi , McSherry Dominic
Published: January 2013

Adoption policy in the UK emphasizes its role in providing secure, permanent relationships to children in care who are unable to live with their birth families. Adoptive parents are crucial in providing this life‐long, stable experience of family for these vulnerable children. This paper explores the experience of adoptive parenthood in the context of changes to adoptive kinship relationships brought about by new, unplanned contact with birth family during their child's middle adolescence. This contact was initiated via informal social networks and/or social media, with older birth siblings instrumental in negotiating renewed relationships. The contact precipitated a transition in adoptive family life resulting in emotional challenges and changes in parent/child relationships, which were experienced as additional to the normative transitions expected during adolescence. Parental concern as a dominant theme was founded in the child and birth sibling's stage of adolescence, coupled with constraints on adoptive parenthood imposed by the use of social media, by perceived professional attitudes and by parental social cognitions about the importance of birth ties. Adoptive parents' accounts are interpreted with reference to family life‐cycle theory and implications are suggested for professional support of adoptive kinship relationships.
Looked‐after children and their birth families: using sociology to explore changing relationships, hidden histories and nomadic childhoods
Authors: Holland Sally , Crowley Anne
Published: January 2013

This paper draws on a series of life‐history interviews with 16 young adults who were all formerly looked‐after children. Eight young men and eight young women aged 17 to 25 took part in the study in Wales, UK. They had experienced a wide range of circumstances at home, in care and after care. They were contacted through a self‐advocacy organization and other care leavers' groups. The paper explores how insights from the sociology of the family can serve to enhance understandings of these young people's life stories and, additionally, how their lived experiences can contribute to this sociological field. Key themes explored in the paper include the emotional co‐presence of the birth family for children living in substitute care, the dynamic nature of experiences and perceptions of family relationships through the life course, the importance of siblings and the insightful reflections of participants on the challenges of learning to ‘do’ family across childhoods marked by nomadism. The paper concludes that a holistic theoretical approach that embraces ‘psy’ and sociological understandings of families and relationships will be most productive for researchers, practitioners and families.
Understanding complexity in families' lives: the usefulness of ‘family practices’ as an aid to decision‐making
Authors: Saltiel David
Published: January 2013

An important aspect of the uncertainty that surrounds social workers' decision‐making in child protection situations concerns the complex, unconventional nature of the families referred for social work interventions. In a study of social work decision‐making, social workers struggled to make sense of these families and assess whether they were safe places for children. More recent sociological studies have emphasized the fluidity and diversity of family relationships in late modernity. In particular, the study of ‘family practices’, which focus on what people actually do to actively negotiate their family roles, could be a useful way of understanding this complexity and provide social workers with a valuable tool for understanding the situations about which they must make decisions.
Management's Earnings Justification and Earnings Management under Different Institutional Regimes
Authors: Aerts Walter , Cheng Peng , Tarca Ann
Published: January 2013

Manuscript Type

Empirical

Research Question/Issue

This study examines whether accruals earnings management is associated with managers' explanations of performance provided in narrative reports accompanying the financial statements in an international setting that covers voluntary and mandatory institutional environments for management commentary (MC) reporting. Differences in institutional environment are theorized as having a profound impact on the relative adequacy of different explanation types in mitigating earnings management concerns.

Research Findings/Insights

Based on 162 companies from four countries (the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Canada), the study reports a close alignment of the use of earnings explanations and the strength and direction of accruals management. The results indicate that explanation type significantly affects the association between performance explanations and accruals management and that this effect becomes more pronounced in a mandatory institutional regime where expected regulatory and litigation costs are higher.

Theoretical/Academic Implications

The results indicate that the mandatory setting for narrative reporting (United States and Canada) affects the type of explanation perceived by managers to be more effective in mitigating potential concerns about earnings management. In a mandatory setting, the more costly causal explanations are more likely to be used by companies that are engaged in upwards earnings management.

Practitioner/Policy Implications

Regulators have debated about how to promote useful disclosure in management commentary reports. They have pointed to the need for more meaningful causal explanations. Our findings are relevant to the debate as they show that more scrutiny via a mandatory reporting regime (with associated higher expected litigation and regulatory costs) is a setting that encourages provision of these more costly causality‐based explanations when preparers have incentives to ensure the adequacy of their explanations.
Use of catechol‐O‐methyltransferase inhibition to minimize L‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine‐induced dyskinesia in the 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine‐lesioned macaque
Authors: Huot Philippe , Johnston Tom H. , Snoeren Tessa , Koprich James B. , Hill Michael P. , Fox Susan H. , Brotchie Jonathan M.
Published: January 2013

L‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (L‐DOPA)‐induced dyskinesia is a complication of dopaminergic treatment in Parkinson's disease. Lowering the L‐DOPA dose reduces dyskinesia but also reduces the antiparkinsonian benefit. A therapy that could enhance the antiparkinsonian action of low‐dose L‐DOPA (LDl) without exacerbating dyskinesia would thus be of considerable therapeutic benefit. This study assessed whether catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) inhibition, as an add‐on to LDl, might be a means to achieve this goal. Cynomolgus macaques were administered 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine. Dyskinesia was established by chronic treatment with L‐DOPA. Two doses of L‐DOPA were identified – high‐dose L‐DOPA (LDh), which provided good antiparkinsonian benefit but was compromised by disabling dyskinesia, and LDl, which was sub‐threshold for providing significant antiparkinsonian benefit, without dyskinesia. LDh and LDl were administered in acute challenges in combination with vehicle and, for LDl, with the COMT inhibitor entacapone (5, 15 and 45 mg/kg). The duration of antiparkinsonian benefit (ON‐time), parkinsonism and dyskinesia were determined. The ON‐time after LDh was ∼170 min and the ON‐time after LDl alone (∼98 min) was not significantly different to vehicle (∼37 min). In combination with LDl, entacapone significantly increased the ON‐time (5, 15 and 45 mg/kg being ∼123, ∼148 and ∼180 min, respectively). The ON‐time after LDl/entacapone 45 mg/kg was not different to that after LDh. However, whereas the percentage ON‐time that was compromised by disabling dyskinesia was ∼56% with LDh, it was only ∼31% with LDl/entacapone 45 mg/kg. In addition to the well‐recognized action of COMT inhibition to reduce wearing‐OFF, the data presented suggest that COMT inhibition in combination with low doses of L‐DOPA has potential as a strategy to alleviate dyskinesia.
Similarities in the neural signature for the processing of behaviorally categorized and uncategorized speech sounds
Authors: Signoret Carine , Gaudrain Etienne , Perrin Fabien
Published: January 2013

Recent human behavioral studies have shown semantic and/or lexical processing for stimuli presented below the auditory perception threshold. Here, we investigated electroencephalographic responses to words, pseudo‐words and complex sounds, in conditions where phonological and lexical categorizations were behaviorally successful (categorized stimuli) or unsuccessful (uncategorized stimuli). Data showed a greater decrease in low‐beta power at left‐hemisphere temporal electrodes for categorized non‐lexical sounds (complex sounds and pseudo‐words) than for categorized lexical sounds (words), consistent with the signature of a failure in lexical access. Similar differences between lexical and non‐lexical sounds were observed for uncategorized stimuli, although these stimuli did not yield evoked potentials or theta activity. The results of the present study suggest that behaviorally uncategorized stimuli were processed at the lexical level, and provide evidence of the neural bases of the results observed in previous behavioral studies investigating auditory perception in the absence of stimulus awareness.
Unravelling zinc and lead distributions in dolomitic and metapelitic soils of the Brazilian Central Plateau: insight from physical fractionation, optical microscopy and X‐ray microfluorescence
Authors: Lang Burak D. , van Oort F. , Becquer T. , Foy E. , Ferreira Fontes M. P.
Published: January 2013

Large zinc and lead concentrations occur in strongly weathered soils of Cambisol–Ferralsol toposequences in the Paracatu‐Vazante area (Central Plateau, Brazil). Weathering of the mineralized dolomite parent material of the Cambisols is hypothesized to be the geogenic source of zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb), with dissemination downslope into the Ferralsols. This leads to different metal distribution patterns in the two soils. We studied Zn and Pb distributions in selected A and B horizons of two typical profiles to examine this hypothesis and assess the contribution of sesquioxides to the retention of these metals. Physical separation into 200–2000, 50–200, 20–50 and < 20‐µm size fractions in water without chemical dispersants was carried out before (F1) and after (F2) ultrasonification. The fractions were analysed for total and extractable Zn and Pb concentrations and studied by X‐ray diffraction and optical microscopy. Microscale Zn and Pb distribution maps were obtained by using micro‐X‐ray fluorescence on thin sections. For the Cambisol, the composition, morphology and large Zn and Pb concentrations of coarse‐sized F2 fractions were consistent with a geogenic metal origin. In both soils, < 20‐µm fractions contained the largest amounts of Zn and Pb. In the Cambisol, this < 20‐µm fraction included poorly crystalline Mn‐rich material, encouraging strong Pb sorption. The Ferralsol < 20‐µm fractions contained more Al‐ and Fe‐oxide‐rich microaggregates, which also enhanced strong metal retention. Large sesquioxide contents in these and similar tropical soils reduce metal mobilities. This limits the risk of toxicity when such soils, with metal contents exceeding guidelines, are used for agriculture.
Flap designs for periodontal healing
Authors: Trombelli Leonardo , Farina Roberto
Published: January 2013

The surgical reconstruction of the lost periodontal attachment apparatus is a highly technique‐sensitive procedure, where the choice and the technical performance of the flap design in a specific patient with a specific defect plays a key role. When considering the technical aspects of periodontal reconstructive procedures, the selection of a specific flap design and related suture technique must be based on the predictability to achieve optimal primary closure of the healing wound, thus creating an essential biologic prerequisite for periodontal regeneration. The clinical value to adapt the selection of the surgical approach to the anatomy of the treated area as well as the physical and biological characteristics of the regenerative materials adopted has been emphasized by several Authors. Along with the use of the appropriate regenerative technology, the surgical procedures should provide conditions for primary intention healing supporting adequate wound stability allowing uneventful tissue formation and maturation. In this respect, flap design and suture technique appear of paramount importance to maximize the reconstructive potential of membrane, graft biomaterials and biological agents. The purpose of the present article is to critically revise the surgical options which have been described in the literature, outlining the technical steps as well as the indications and contraindications for each flap design when used to correct the periodontal intraosseous defect.