bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Articulations in Berlin’s independent art scene: on new collective actors in the art field
Authors: Landau Friederike
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the formation of two artist-led collective actors, Koalition der Freien Szene (KFS) and Haben and Brauchen (H&B), and their differing strategies of political critique towards Berlin’s cultural policy-making complex. The paper seeks to contribute to the lack of empirical case studies on Berlin’s cultural governance and cultural policy stakeholders by creating a self-designed framework for analysis of artist-led organizations’ formulation of political claims and how their articulations find entrance into policy-making.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper’s theoretical framework is situated at the intersection between new social movement studies, post-positivist policy analysis and discursive institutionalism. Methodologically, the paper is based on qualitative interviews with members of KFS, H&B and relevant cultural stakeholders from Berlin’s contemporary arts scene.

Findings

The paper identifies five differentiating axes of political critique through a self-designed framework. These include: political or constitution-like program, personnel infrastructures determining decision-making, approach to cultural administration, strategic agenda and activity in a collective action framing scheme. Furthermore, the paper illustrates the (trans)formative potentialities for Berlin’s future cultural policy due to complementarity of discursivity and operative action, of pragmatism and utopian thinking.

Practical implications

The practical implications of the paper provide guidance for cultural policymakers to better systematize modes of participatory policy-making.

Originality/value

This paper gives an overview of current developments and shifts in Berlin’s cultural field through the emergence of new collective actors by providing unique stakeholder-centered perspective(s). Furthermore, through an empirically grounded, self-designed analytical framework, a systematic analysis of articulatory and communicative strategies and the practices of new cultural policy stakeholders is provided.
Thinking orientation and preference for research methodology
Authors: Murshed Feisal , Zhang Yinlong
Published: October 2016

Purpose

This research aims to investigate how preference for marketing research methodology (quantitative vs qualitative) is contingent on the thinking orientation (analytic vs holistic) of the researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

Thinking orientation was measured and then manipulated in laboratory experiments. Cross-cultural evidence was sought by comparing Western and East Asian participants.

Findings

Results demonstrate that researchers with an analytic (holistic) thinking orientation tend to perceive quantitative (qualitative) methodology more favorably. Further, the need to offer reasons in support of the choice strengthened the effect of thinking orientation.

Practical implications

Understanding researchers’ preferences for one research methodology over the other has broad relevance for external constituents, as it involves a great deal of managerial commitment in terms of time and money and can affect the results of the research.

Originality/value

This is the first study to investigate factors that underlie researchers’ choice regarding research methodology, and it also extends the literature on analytic versus holistic thinking orientation in the marketing field.
The ties that bind us: feelings of social connectedness in socio-emotional experiences
Authors: Stieler Maximilian , Germelmann Claas Christian
Published: October 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on similarity cues that may strengthen bonds among crowd members and that serve as “glue” between individual group members in the context of collective football-viewing events.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 is a qualitative field study that focused on the subjective socio-emotional experiences of event visitors, whereas Study 2 tested the hypotheses quantitatively.

Findings

The qualitative pre-study revealed a variety of discrete emotions that consumers experienced through the course of consumption. Apart from individualistic emotions, respondents reported feeling common bonds with fellow crowd members. Respondents used a variety of emotion terms to express this experience. Moreover, we found different types of similarity cues which strengthen feelings of connectedness among crowd members in a football-watching scenario. Collaborative actions and team identification, as a sports-specific variable, foster a feeling of social connectedness, which in turn directly positively affects consumer enjoyment.

Research limitations/implications

Experiencing a feeling of social connectedness may serve as a starting point for a long-term relationship with the service itself or with associated brands. Future experimental studies might isolate the antecedents of a feeling of social connectedness and, thus, enhance the understanding of consumers’ emotional states during the course of hedonic consumption.

Practical implications

Service providers should encourage consumers to perform collaborative actions, as consumers potentially infect others and start a ripple effect.

Originality/value

This paper differs from existing work on crowds, in that the authors focus on similarity cues as antecedents of feelings of connectedness among group members.
Guiding when the consumer is in control: the moderating effect of adaptive selling on the purchase intention of the multichannel consumer
Authors: Rippé Cindy B. , Weisfeld-Spolter Suri , Yurova Yuliya , Hale Dena , Sussan Fiona
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of adaptive selling (AS) when “click and brick” in control multichannel consumers (MCCs) encounter in-store salespeople.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was administered to 387 college students from several southeastern colleges in the USA. The study consisted of a single manipulated factor (AS: high vs low) and a second measured factor (degree of MCC search: high vs low). Covariance-based structural equation modeling was selected and analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS AMOS 22.0.0.0.

Findings

The findings indicate that while perceptions of control in the retail store increase as customers engage in more multichannel search behavior, the path from perceived control (PC) to purchase intention (PI) is also positively affected by AS as multichannel search increases.

Practical implications

To increase in-store purchases by consumers using the physical location as an information channel, professional sales training, specifically AS skills, should be considered by retail managers for in-store sales personnel. Our findings suggest that salespeople can use AS skills to increase the likelihood of the MCCs’ in-store PI while not reducing their feelings of PC.

Originality/value

In a time where many marketers struggle with how to combine multichannel retailing efforts effectively, this research confirms that new channels create MCCs who desire control. AS shows promise as a technique for retailers to use when selling to a consumer who values control.
Assessing the literature on school reform from an entrepreneurship perspective
Authors: Garen John
Published: October 2016

Purpose

Enabling and incentivizing organizations to act based on their local knowledge is an important aspect of entrepreneurship. The significance of local knowledge in the context of schools is well recognized, but very little research has been done to investigate how to provide discretion and incentives to schools to use this knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to build a model to guide this understanding for policy makers who may wish to foster entrepreneurship for schools and also use it to critique the literature and provide an alternative approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies fundamentals of principal-agent theory to the ownership and governance of schools, the use of teacher incentive pay, and school reform efforts. Focus is on use of teacher incentives and on school choice initiatives.

Findings

The author found that many public school teachers will have attenuated incentives, but mandates to increase test score rewards may be counterproductive. Institutional reform via school choice seems more promising. The author identifies several institutional features that are expected to induce more entrepreneurial and productive activity by schools. The author discusses and critiques school reform efforts in this regard, including Tiebout competition, charter schools, voucher programs, and use of “best practice.”

Originality/value

Reform efforts often lack in addressing critical aspects of institutional empowerment and incentives, and research in this regard also is mostly absent. The author contends, however, that dealing and addressing such issues is a key to effective reform.
Tracing the historical origins of knowledge management issues through referenced publication years spectroscopy (RPYS)
Authors: Khasseh Ali Akbar , Mokhtarpour Reza
Published: October 2016

Purpose

This study, using a new method called Referenced Publication Years Spectroscopy (RPYS), aims to examine the most important historic works written in the area of knowledge management (KM).

Design/methodology/approach

Preliminary data of this study have been extracted from Web of Science through scientometric methods. The references used in all the papers in the core journals in this field since 1980 to the end of 2014 were studied.

Findings

The distribution of resources in the area of KM based on the publication year indicates that this field of study, during time intervals 1900 to 1980, has seen eight major mutations. A considerable influence of such fields as economics, business, social networks analysis, organizational learning and economic sociology on the realm of KM is evident. The association of Polanyi with the mutations of 1958, 1962 and 1967 suggests his obvious influence on the evolution of KM. The ratio of articles to books among the whole documents detected by RPYS was 2-13 which could direct us to the point that the channel for information transformation in KM is more focused on books than on articles.

Originality/value

None of the few studies done by scientometric methods in the realm of KM has been seen through the issue of the historical origins of this area. This piece of research, using a new scientometric method, can be considered the first study in which the origins of KM over time have been studied.
Understanding counterproductive knowledge behavior: antecedents and consequences of intra-organizational knowledge hiding
Authors: Serenko Alexander , Bontis Nick
Published: October 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to explore antecedents and consequences of intra-organizational knowledge hiding.

Design/methodology/approach

A model was developed and tested with data collected from 691 knowledge workers from 15 North American credit unions.

Findings

Knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing belong to unique yet possibly overlapping constructs. Individual employees believe that they engage in knowledge hiding to a lesser degree than their co-workers. The availability of knowledge management systems and knowledge policies has no impact on intra-organizational knowledge hiding. The existence of a positive organizational knowledge culture has a negative effect on intra-organizational knowledge hiding. In contrast, job insecurity motivates knowledge hiding. Employees may reciprocate negative knowledge behavior, and knowledge hiding promotes voluntary turnover.

Practical implications

Managers should realize the uniqueness of counterproductive knowledge behavior and develop proactive measures to reduce or eliminate it.

Originality/value

Counterproductive knowledge behavior is dramatically under-represented in knowledge management research, and this study attempts to fill that void.
The econometric analysis of retail rents in Singapore
Authors: Ho Kim Hin David , Ho Mun Wai Ivan , Quek Mei Ling Christina
Published: October 2016

Purpose

Primarily based on Alonso’s bid-rent model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamics of the Singapore’s overall retail rental market by adopting a vector error correction model (VECM) estimation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the proxy for the overall retail rental value, which is indicated by a combination of the shop rent index from 2004 to 2013 and the retail rent index (RRI) in 2014, maintained by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The independent factors are the real gross domestic product (GDP), monthly earnings of individuals and vacancy rates (VR).

Findings

Such a behavioral model examines the dynamic structures that overshoot and/or diverge from equilibrium.

Research limitations/implications

The variables LOGGDP and VR are co-integrated of order one, I(1), while variables LOGME and LOGSRI are co-integrated of order two, I(2), to enable them to be employed in the VECM model.

Practical implications

The VECM model shows a good fit that allows the error correction term (ecm) together with the economic, financial and rental variables to jointly explain about 79.2 percent of the variation in the overall RRI. With a positive CoinEq1 coefficient that is positive and statistically significant at 5 percent level, it would take a long time for the system to return to its equilibrium once it has been shocked. Another variable that shows significant explanatory relationships includes past rents (index points) in the second order lags [D(LOGSRI(−2))]. The variable [D(LOGGDP(−3))], with a significantt-statistic value at 2.916, also helps to explain the changes in the overall rents.

Social implications

This paper highlights the importance of the first and third differences of the lagged macroeconomic variables of the monthly earnings of individuals is moderately significant. The VR in the first and second differences is significant in accounting for the variation in changes of overall retail rents with theirt-statistics values being above 3.0. It is thus meaningful for policy makers to so enhance their in-depth understanding.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how the results from theex postforecasting estimates from the VECM for overall retail rents in Singapore can be enabled.
How e-readers have changed personal connections with books
Authors: Ketron Seth , Naletelich Kelly
Published: October 2016

Purpose

Although the functional benefits of e-books have been discussed in the emerging literature on the e-reader platform, the hedonic/emotional aspects of e-book usage have not been explored. This study aims to explore the impact that e-readers have on consumers’ connections with books. Relying on self-concept theory and possessions as the extended self, the authors address the following two questions: What are the hedonic differences between e-books and printed books, and, if the functional benefits of e-books are so compelling, then why do some people still use printed books?

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers pursue a qualitative design through the use of semi-structured interviews, with a combination of base questions and follow-up questions tailored to the individual respondent.

Findings

The results reveal six primary themes: convenience, change, community, collection, connection and children. Within each, functional benefits are identified, confirming prior literature on these benefits, and hedonic/emotional themes emerge, revealing that e-readers are capable of changing consumers’ connections with books. Namely, while e-books offer functional benefits over printed books, consumers feel less connected to books read using an e-reader platform and prefer to purchase the printed versions of books that hold special meanings for them. These findings align with self-concept theory and indicate that printed books are an extension of the self, one that cannot be completely replaced by e-books.

Originality/value

This research adds to the emerging literature on e-books by demonstrating that e-readers have emotional implications for consumers as components of the self-concept/extended self. Prior literature has focused solely on the functional benefits associated with e-books but has not directly addressed the role of books in the self-concept.
ERM adoption in the insurance sector
Authors: Jabbour Mirna , Abdel-Kader Magdy
Published: October 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate various institutional pressures driving the adoption and implementation of a new risk management system; enterprise risk management (ERM).

Design/methodology/approach

The implementation of ERM-related practices is analysed based on an institutional framework and drawing on empirical evidence from multiple sources in ten large/medium-sized insurance companies. This paper focuses on extra-organisational pressures exerted by political, social and economic institutions on insurance companies which drove the adoption decision.

Findings

It was found that different change agents have taken part in the decision to introduce new risk management system as a part of ERM implementation process. Further, the institutional pressures, coercive, mimetic and normative, were found to differ in character and strength over different intervals of time in relation to the adoption of ERM. Companies that adopted ERM early were mostly driven by internal strategic drivers, whereas the recent adoption decision was more driven by coercive and mimetic pressures. Thus, evidence of divergence between insurance companies was found.

Research limitations/implications

The findings have implications for policy makers, regulatory agencies and innovation developers. ERM was considered not only as a necessity but also as a value added to the insurance companies under study. Thus, regulators and innovation developers should survey main players in any specific organisational field to understand their views before issuing new compulsory regulations or developing innovations. They also need to consider exploring companies’ experiences with ERM, which can provide a basis for the development of strengthened and more informative regulatory ERM frameworks. This will support a faster and easier understanding and implementation of ERM framework hindered by the confusions companies may face when considering the complicated/changing regulatory and risk requirements.

Originality/value

This study extends the scope of institutional analysis to the risk management field, particularly ERM and to the explanation of how different institutions affect the decision to move towards ERM and modify the risk management rules applied within the organisational environment. It looks not only at convergences but also divergences associated with the period of time when ERM adoption decision was made. Thus, it develops a processual view of change.
Analysis of new additive manufacturing technology based on selective composite formation using finite element method approach
Authors: Cunico Marlon Wesley Machado , Carvalho Jonas de
Published: October 2016

Purpose

Over the past few years, the number of related research to additive manufacturing (AM) has risen. The selective composite formation (SCF) can also be found among the new technologies that were developed. This technology was first introduced in 2013, and because of its innovative character, there are still many challenges to be overcome. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to present a finite element method which allows to investigate the processing of the material during the selective formation of a composite material based on cellulose and acrylic.

Design/methodology/approach

In the beginning, we introduced a brand new finite element method approach which is based on light transmittance network and photopolymerisation in transient state. This method is mainly characterised by internal light absorption, transversal reflectance, light transmittance coefficient and photopolymerisation kinetics. The authors defined experimentally the main model coefficients besides investigating the formation of composite material in six case studies. The main variables evaluated in those studies were the number of layers and the number of lines. By the end, the degree of polymer conversion and the preliminary evaluation of adherence between layers were identified in addition to the formation profile of composite material.

Findings

The presented method evidence that the SCF resulted in a profile of polymerisation which is different from profiles found in vat polymerisation processes. It was shown that the light diffraction increases polymerisation area to outside of laser limits and reduces the penetration depth. It was also exposed that the selective formation of composite material on the top layer interferes with the polymerisation of previous layers and might increase the polymerised area in about 25 per cent per layer. By the end, adherence between layers was evidenced because of a high-pass filter that limited polymer conversion to over 60 per cent. In this case, the adherence between the top layers was provided by the interface between layers, while the deeper layers resulted in a solid formed by composite.

Originality/value

This paper presents research results related to a very new AM technology and also proposes a new method to characterise this concept. Because of this new analytic approach, the process planning can be simulated and optimised, in addition to being a useful tool for other researches related to photocurable polymers and AM technologies.
Assessing patterns in introduction pathways of alien species by linking major invasion data bases
Authors: Saul Wolf‐Christian , Roy Helen E. , Booy Olaf , Carnevali Lucilla , Chen Hsuan‐Ju , Genovesi Piero , Harrower Colin A. , Hulme Philip E. , Pagad Shyama , Pergl Jan , Jeschke Jonathan M.
Published: October 2016

Preventing the arrival of invasive alien species (IAS) is a major priority in managing biological invasions. However, information on introduction pathways is currently scattered across many data bases that often use different categorisations to describe similar pathways. This hampers the identification and prioritisation of pathways to meet the main targets of recent environmental policies.

Therefore, we integrate pathway information from two major IAS data bases, IUCN's Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and the DAISIE European Invasive Alien Species Gateway, applying the new standard categorisation scheme recently adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). We describe the process of mapping pathways from the individual data bases to the CBD scheme and provide, for the first time, detailed descriptions of the standard pathway categories. The combined data set includes pathway information for 8323 species across major taxonomic groups (plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, algae, fungi, other) and environments (terrestrial, freshwater, marine).

We analyse the data for major patterns in the introduction pathways, highlighting that the specific research question and context determines whether the combined or an individual data set is the better information source for such analyses. While the combined data set provides an improved basis for direction‐setting in invasion management policies on the global level, individual data sets often better reflect regional idiosyncrasies. The combined data set should thus be considered in addition to, rather than replacing, existing individual data sets.

Pathway patterns derived from the combined and individual data sets show that the intentional pathways ‘Escape’ and ‘Release’ are most important for plants and vertebrates, while for invertebrates, algae, fungi and micro‐organisms unintentional transport pathways prevail. Differences in pathway proportions among marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments are much less pronounced. The results also show that IAS with highest impacts in Europe are on average associated with a greater number of pathways than other alien species and are more frequently introduced both intentionally and unintentionally.

Synthesis and applications. Linking data bases on invasive alien species by harmonising and consolidating their pathway information is essential to turn dispersed data into useful knowledge. The standard pathway categorisation scheme recently adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity may be crucial to facilitate this process. Our study demonstrates the value of integrating major invasion data bases to help managers and policymakers reach robust conclusions about patterns in introduction pathways and thus aid effective prevention and prioritisation in invasion management.
Dung beetles reduce livestock gastrointestinal parasite availability on pasture
Authors: Sands Bryony , Wall Richard
Published: October 2016

Anthelmintics are widely used to control gastrointestinal parasites of livestock. However, the residues of these compounds, particularly the macrocyclic lactones, are excreted largely unmetabolised in faeces, where they may have toxic effects on dung‐colonising insects. Impoverishment of the coprophagous beetle community impairs the process of dung recycling and, as a result, may enhance the persistence of dung‐dwelling helminth parasitic stages.

To test this possibility, a large‐scale field trial was conducted in south‐west England. The availability of infective parasite helminth larvae (L3) was investigated on the herbage around 240 artificial 1‐kg dung pats that had been constructed from the faeces of beef cattle with naturally acquired strongyle infections. Herbage up to 15 cm surrounding each pat was sampled at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after deposition. Pats were subject to enhanced, natural or no dung beetle colonisation and uncontrolled or enhanced rainfall.

Under uncontrolled rainfall conditions, 2 weeks after pat deposition, significantly more L3 were recovered from around pats that were exposed to beetle colonisation than from pats that were not colonised. However, by week 8, significantly fewer L3 were recovered from around pats that were exposed to beetle colonisation compared to uncolonised pats.

Under conditions of enhanced rainfall, pats yielded significantly more L3 than under uncontrolled rainfall conditions, and there were no differences in recovery from herbage around pats with enhanced, natural or no beetle colonisation.

The data suggest that over the duration of a summer grazing season, temperate habitat dung‐colonising insect communities, which include mainly small endocoprid dung beetles of the genus Aphodius, can reduce the development and survival of livestock gastrointestinal parasites on pastures, but that this can be overridden by the effect of high rainfall.

Synthesis and applications. The work demonstrates that conservation of dung beetle populations in temperate climates is important in livestock management, not only for their essential role in dung degradation and nutrient cycling, but because their activity can also reduce the survival and availability of gastrointestinal parasites on pastures.
Vividness, time and the restitution of sociological imagination
Authors: Gafijczuk Dariusz
Published: October 2016

This paper is a response to the notion of ‘live sociology’ and its call for new forms of attentiveness to the social, which also involves cultivation of time. Picking up from this observation, the paper asks: how can we find a way of using temporality systematically and routinely in our research practices? The argument concentrates on the concept of the past, and proposes a model for how the past can be reactivated and used analytically to deepen our understanding of contemporary life. To do this, the paper recovers and deploys the ancient technique of enargeia/vividness, and reconsiders Weber’s sociology based on ideal-types, all in the effort to show how a special kind of a surrogate temporality/past could serve as a point of contact with things not directly observable. The aim is to show how vivid, enlivened past can be readapted for use as a type of method that triggers the release of new forms of sociological imagination.
Changes in physicochemical and functional properties of whey protein concentrate upon succinylation
Authors: Shilpashree Bosayya Govindaraju , Arora Sumit , Sharma Vivek , Chawla Prince , Vakkalagadda Ravikumar
Published: October 2016

The highest degree of succinylation was achieved at the level of 6 moles of succinic anhydride/mole of lysine in whey protein concentrate (WPC). Structural modification of protein or the presence of a high negative charge on the surface of protein upon succinylation exposed buried hydrophobic sites. The solubility of succinylated protein derivatives increased at alkaline pH but decreased at acidic pH values as compared to native WPC. The physicochemical properties of succinylated protein derivatives, such as water– and oil– binding capacity, viscosity and emulsion properties increased significantly (P < 0.05) compared to native WPC, whereas, foaming stability reduced significantly (P < 0.05) and there was no change in the foaming capacity.
Study of the browning and gelation kinetics in a concentrated sheep milk and sucrose system
Authors: Rodríguez Analía , Cuffia Facundo , Piagentini Andrea M , Lema Patricia , Panizzolo Luis A , Rozycki Sergio D
Published: October 2016

Browning and gelation kinetics of a sheep milk and sucrose model system with 70% total solids (simulating dulce de leche) and the influence of temperature and sucrose content on this process were studied. The Kubelka–Munk index and subjective heat stability tests were used to monitor nonenzymatic browning and to determine gelation time. Browning and gelation processes showed different kinetics where gelation was shown to occur much faster than browning. Both independent variables (temperature and sucrose content) had a significant influence in both processes, where temperature had the higher impact.
Therapeutic modulation of gut microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease: More questions to be answered
Authors: Qiao Yu Qi , Cai Chen Wen , Ran Zhi Hua
Published: October 2016

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) exhibit impaired control of the microbiome in the gut, and ‘dysbiosis’ is commonly observed. Western diet is a risk factor for the development of IBD, but it may have different effects on gut microbiota between IBD and non‐IBD individuals. Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) can induce remission in pediatric Crohn's disease with a decrease in gut microbial diversity. Although there are some theoretical benefits, actual treatment effects of prebiotics and probiotics in IBD vary. High‐quality studies have shown that VSL#3 (a high‐potency probiotic medical food containing eight different strains) exhibits benefits in treating ulcerative colitis, and gut microbial diversity is reduced after treated with VSL#3 in animal models. The effect of fecal microbiome transplantation on IBD is controversial. Increasing microbial diversity compared with impaired handling of bacteria presents a dilemma. Antibiotics are the strongest factors in the reduction of microbiome ecological diversity. Some antibiotics may help to induce remission of the disease. Microbiome alteration has been suggested to be an intrinsic property of IBD and a potential predictor in diagnosis and prognosis. However, the effects of therapeutic modulations are variable; thus, more questions remain to be answered.
deBInfer: Bayesian inference for dynamical models of biological systems in R
Authors: Boersch‐Supan Philipp H. , Ryan Sadie J. , Johnson Leah R.
Published: October 2016

Understanding the mechanisms underlying biological systems, and ultimately, predicting their behaviours in a changing environment, requires overcoming the gap between mathematical models and experimental or observational data. Differential equations (DEs) are commonly used to model the temporal evolution of biological systems, but statistical methods for comparing DE models to data and for parameter inference are relatively poorly developed. This is especially problematic in the context of biological systems where observations are often noisy and only a small number of time points may be available.

The Bayesian approach offers a coherent framework for parameter inference that can account for multiple sources of uncertainty, while making use of prior information. It offers a rigorous methodology for parameter inference, as well as modelling the link between unobservable model states and parameters, and observable quantities.

We present deBInfer, a package for the statistical computing environment R, implementing a Bayesian framework for parameter inference in DEs. deBInfer provides templates for the DE model, the observation model and data likelihood, and the model parameters and their prior distributions. A Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure processes these inputs to estimate the posterior distributions of the parameters and any derived quantities, including the model trajectories. Further functionality is provided to facilitate MCMC diagnostics, the visualization of the posterior distributions of model parameters and trajectories, and the use of compiled DE models for improved computational performance.

The templating approach makes deBInfer applicable to a wide range of DE models. We demonstrate its application to ordinary and delay DE models for population ecology.
An Observational Study of Dyspnea in Emergency Departments: The Asia, Australia, and New Zealand Dyspnea in Emergency Departments Study (AANZDEM)
Authors: Kelly Anne Maree , Keijzers Gerben , Klim Sharon , Graham Colin A. , Craig Simon , Kuan Win Sen , Jones Peter , Holdgate Anna , Lawoko Charles , Laribi Said ,   the AANZDEM Study Group
Published: October 2016

Objectives

The objective was to describe the epidemiology of dyspnea presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in the Asia‐Pacific region, to understand how it is investigated and treated and its outcome.

Methods

Prospective interrupted time series cohort study conducted at three time points in EDs in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia of adult patients presenting to the ED with dyspnea as a main symptom. Data were collected over three 72‐hour periods and included demographics, comorbidities, mode of arrival, usual medications, prehospital treatment, initial assessment, ED investigations, treatment in the ED, ED diagnosis, disposition from ED, in‐hospital outcome, and final hospital diagnosis. The primary outcomes of interest are the epidemiology, investigation, treatment, and outcome of patients presenting to ED with dyspnea.

Results

A total of 3,044 patients were studied. Patients with dyspnea made up 5.2% (3,105/60,059, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.0% to 5.4%) of ED presentations, 11.4% of ward admissions (1,956/17,184, 95% CI = 10.9% to 11.9%), and 19.9% of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (104/523, 95% CI = 16.7% to 23.5%). The most common diagnoses were lower respiratory tract infection (20.2%), heart failure (14.9%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (13.6%), and asthma (12.7%). Hospital ward admission was required for 64% of patients (95% CI = 62% to 66%) with 3.3% (95% CI = 2.8% to 4.1%) requiring ICU admission. In‐hospital mortality was 6% (95% CI = 5.0% to 7.2%).

Conclusion

Dyspnea is a common symptom in ED patients contributing substantially to ED, hospital, and ICU workload. It is also associated with significant mortality. There are a wide variety of causes however chronic disease accounts for a large proportion.
A case of dengue‐related osteonecrosis of the maxillary dentoalveolar bone
Authors: Al‐Namnam NM , Nambiar P , Shanmuhasuntharam P , Harris M
Published: October 2016

Dengue is a mosquito transmitted flaviviral infection which can give rise to severe haemorrhage (dengue haemorrhagic fever) and with capillary leakage induces hypovolaemic shock (dengue shock syndrome). Although dengue symptoms and complications have been known for many decades, there has only been one documented case of osteonecrosis of the maxilla which was treated by excision of the necrotic bone. In this case of dengue infection, extensive maxillary osteonecrosis and minimal root resorption appeared to follow factitious injury with a toothpick but resolved with non‐surgical management.
“Just one bad high:” Considering synthetic cannabinoid outcome expectancies in adolescents
Authors: Mathai David S. , Verrico Christopher D. , Shorter Daryl , Coverdale John H. , Kosten Thomas R.
Published: October 2016

Background/Objectives

Certain medical consequences seem unique to synthetic cannabinoid (SC) and not cannabis use. We report the case of an adolescent, whose drug expectancies appear to minimize the severity of SC‐related adverse events.

Methods/Results

An 18‐year‐old male presented with altered mental status and seizure, complicated by respiratory failure. He was stabilized and on discharge, despite counseling on the harms of SC usage, the patient planned to resume use, insisting that the hospitalization was “just one bad high”.

Discussion/Conclusions/Scientific Significance

Diminished negative expectancies related to SC use among adolescents may reflect generalizations from cannabis. Effective interventions should counter cannabis‐related expectancies of minimal harm. (Am J Addict 2016;25:620–622)
Adaptive skills are useful for evaluating the effect of pharmacological treatment in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Authors: Lindblad Ida , Nasic Salmir , Landgren Magnus , Svensson Leif , Gillberg Christopher , Fernell Elisabeth
Published: October 2016

Aim

There are few long‐term studies of adaptive functions as an outcome measure of pharmacological treatment in attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study assessed the adaptive abilities of children with ADHD before and after several years of pharmacological treatment.

Method

We studied 12 children with a mean age of 15 years – seven boys and five girls – who had continued pharmacological treatment for ADHD for more than four years. The Adaptive Behaviour Assessment Scales – Second Edition ratings by their teachers were compared before and after they had received treatment for ADHD.

Results

On a group level, the conceptual, practical and general adaptive composite domains improved significantly between the baseline and follow‐up study. There were clear individual variations: more than half of the group increased from an adaptive level far below average to average, a minority displayed no major changes, and one individual deteriorated. The girls tended to have better outcomes than the boys.

Conclusion

This study was nonrandomised and only analysed within‐group changes in a small number of participants. However, the findings suggest that four to five years of stimulant treatment had markedly positive effects on adaptive functioning in more than half of the school‐age children with ADHD.
Respiratory reactance in children aged three to five years with postinfectious bronchiolitis obliterans is higher than in those with asthma
Authors: Lee Eun , Yoon Jisun , Cho Hyun‐Ju , Hong Soo‐Jong , Yu Jinho
Published: October 2016

Aim

We investigated airway function in preschoolers with postinfectious bronchiolitis obliterans (PIBO) using impulse oscillometry (IOS).

Methods

This study enrolled 182 children aged three to five years: 12 with PIBO, 135 with asthma and 35 nonatopic controls. Respiratory resistance and reactance were assessed using IOS.

Results

The percentage predicted (% predicted) of prebronchodilator respiratory resistance at 5 Hz was significantly higher in children with PIBO (177.9 ± 118.4%) than the asthma (126.1 ± 30.5%, p = 0.013) or control (121.1 ± 21.8%, p = 0.014) groups. After bronchodilator use, children with PIBO did not reach the values of Rrs5% predicted in the asthma and control groups. Respiratory reactance (Xrs5% predicted) in children with PIBO (337.1 ± 478.5%) was significantly higher than both asthma (130.0 ± 80.0%, p = 0.004) and control (105.1 ± 30.8%, p < 0.001) groups before bronchodilator use and significantly higher than the two groups after bronchodilator use (p = 0.010 and p = 0.004, respectively). The changes in Rrs5 and Xrs5 were not significantly different between the children with PIBO and asthma.

Conclusion

Measuring Rrs5 and Xrs5 before and after bronchodilator use may help to discriminate PIBO from asthma in children aged three to five years with chronic or recurrent respiratory symptoms.
Being born large for gestational age is associated with earlier pubertal take‐off and longer growth duration: a longitudinal study
Authors: Di Giovanni Ilaria , Marcovecchio M. Loredana , Chiavaroli Valentina , de Giorgis Tommaso , Chiarelli Francesco , Mohn Angelika
Published: October 2016

Aim

Perinatal factors seem to influence the onset of puberty, but there is limited information on the potential effect of large size at birth on pubertal growth. This study evaluated pubertal growth in children born large for gestational age (LGA) compared to children born appropriate for gestational age (AGA).

Methods

Longitudinal growth data collected from 70 children – 40 AGA and 30 LGA – were analysed. The ages at take‐off, peak height velocity, final height and pubertal growth spurts were calculated using the Preece–Baines model I.

Results

Large for gestational age children showed an earlier age at take‐off compared to AGA children (10.1 ± 1.2 versus 11.0 ± 1.4 years, p = 0.007), whereas the age at peak height velocity and at final height was similar. LGA children showed a longer growth spurt duration (2.5 ± 1 versus 1.5 ± 1.2 years, p < 0.001) and total pubertal duration (5.3 ± 1.2 versus 4.6 ± 1.2 years, p = 0.036) than AGA children. Results were similar when stratified by sex.

Conclusion

Being born LGA was associated with an earlier pubertal take‐off and longer growth duration. These unique findings, due to the lack of studies on pubertal growth patterns in LGA children, might lead the way to novel research and a different approach to LGA children at the onset of pubertal growth.
Severe Epstein–Barr virus infection in primary immunodeficiency and the normal host
Authors: Worth Austen J. J. , Houldcroft Charlotte J. , Booth Claire
Published: October 2016

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection is ubiquitous in humans, but the majority of infections have an asymptomatic or self‐limiting clinical course. Rarely, individuals may develop a pathological EBV infection with a variety of life threatening complications (including haemophagocytosis and malignancy) and others develop asymptomatic chronic EBV viraemia. Although an impaired ability to control EBV infection has long been recognised as a hallmark of severe T‐cell immunodeficiency, the advent of next generation sequencing has identified a series of Primary Immunodeficiencies in which EBV‐related pathology is the dominant feature. Chronic active EBV infection is defined as chronic EBV viraemia associated with systemic lymphoproliferative disease, in the absence of immunodeficiency. Descriptions of larger cohorts of patients with chronic active EBV in recent years have significantly advanced our understanding of this clinical syndrome. In this review we summarise the current understanding of the pathophysiology and natural history of these diseases and clinical syndromes, and discuss approaches to the investigation and treatment of severe or atypical EBV infection.
The expanding role of the clinical haematologist in the new world of advanced therapy medicinal products
Authors: Lowdell Mark W. , Thomas Amy
Published: October 2016

Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) represent the current pinnacle of ‘patient‐specific medicines’ and will change the nature of medicine in the near future. They fall into three categories; somatic cell‐therapy products, gene therapy products and cells or tissues for regenerative medicine, which are termed ‘tissue engineered’ products. The term also incorporates ‘combination products’ where a human cell or tissue is combined with a medical device. Plainly, many of these new medicines share similarities with conventional haematological stem cell transplant products and donor lymphocyte infusions as well as solid organ grafts and yet ATMPs are regulated as medicines and their development has remained predominantly in academic settings and within specialist centres. However, with the advent of commercialisation of dendritic cell vaccines, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)‐T cells and genetically modified autologous haematopoietic stem cells to cure single gene‐defects in β‐thalassaemia and haemophilia, the widespread availability of these therapies needs to be accommodated. Uniquely to ATMPs, the patient or an allogeneic donor is regularly part of the manufacturing process. All of the examples given above require procurement of blood, bone marrow or an apheresate from a patient as a starting material for manufacture. This can only occur in a clinical facility licensed for the procurement of human cells for therapeutic use and this is likely to fall to haematology departments, either as stem cell transplant programmes or as blood transfusion departments, to provide under a contract with the company that will manufacture and supply the final medicine. The resource implications associated with this can impact on all haematology departments, not just stem cell transplant units, and should not be under‐estimated.
Prostate Health Index improves multivariable risk prediction of aggressive prostate cancer
Authors: Loeb Stacy , Shin Sanghyuk S. , Broyles Dennis L. , Wei John T. , Sanda Martin , Klee George , Partin Alan W. , Sokoll Lori , Chan Daniel W. , Bangma Chris H. , van Schaik Ron H.N. , Slawin Kevin M. , Marks Leonard S. , Catalona William J.
Published: October 2016

Objective

To examine the use of the Prostate Health Index (PHI) as a continuous variable in multivariable risk assessment for aggressive prostate cancer in a large multicentre US study.

Materials and Methods

The study population included 728 men, with prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels of 2–10 ng/mL and a negative digital rectal examination, enrolled in a prospective, multi‐site early detection trial. The primary endpoint was aggressive prostate cancer, defined as biopsy Gleason score ≥7. First, we evaluated whether the addition of PHI improves the performance of currently available risk calculators (the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial [PCPT] and European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer [ERSPC] risk calculators). We also designed and internally validated a new PHI‐based multivariable predictive model, and created a nomogram.

Results

Of 728 men undergoing biopsy, 118 (16.2%) had aggressive prostate cancer. The PHI predicted the risk of aggressive prostate cancer across the spectrum of values. Adding PHI significantly improved the predictive accuracy of the PCPT and ERSPC risk calculators for aggressive disease. A new model was created using age, previous biopsy, prostate volume, PSA and PHI, with an area under the curve of 0.746. The bootstrap‐corrected model showed good calibration with observed risk for aggressive prostate cancer and had net benefit on decision‐curve analysis.

Conclusion

Using PHI as part of multivariable risk assessment leads to a significant improvement in the detection of aggressive prostate cancer, potentially reducing harms from unnecessary prostate biopsy and overdiagnosis.