bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can contracts substitute hierarchy? Evidence from high-quality coffee supply in Brazil
Authors: Oliveira Gustavo Magalhães de , Zylbersztajn Decio , Saes Maria Sylvia Macchione
Published: May 2019

Purpose

A trend toward higher quality has demanded more strategic investments in the transaction of coffee supply in Brazil. Instead of internalizing this transaction, one firm, illycaffè, has challenged the vertical integration assumption by adopting contracts to coordinate its supply. Aiming to investigate whether this firm is losing economic efficiency in terms of coordination, or whether it is being efficient due to a proper definition and allocation of property and decision rights, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the transaction attributes of illycaffè’s suppliers according to the vertical integration dilemma.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design is based on a survey of 105 coffee growers analyzed through probit regression. Using a transaction costs approach, the study empirically tests whether well-designed contracts can act as a hierarchy by following the efficient alignment hypothesis.

Findings

The results emphasize asset specificity, uncertainty and incentives as determinants for being an illycaffè supplier. In other words, these findings demonstrate that a well-designed contract can substitute a hierarchy based on transaction costs economics. It contributes by illustrating other coordination alternatives overlapping vertical integration, even in environments of high uncertainty and asset specificity, which encourages other private strategies based on allocation of property and decision rights of hybrid arrangements.

Originality/value

The study adopts a unique survey about transaction costs in the transactions of high-quality coffee supply in Brazil. The main contribution is to shed light on the cases where, how and why contracts can substitute the need for in-house production, and to guide private and public strategies using this background.
The land is what matters: factors driving family farms to organic production in Poland
Authors: Chmielinski Pawel , Pawlowska Aleksandra , Bocian Monika , Osuch Dariusz
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse tendency of farms to switch from conventional to organic production.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used data on 6,229 individual farms, which in 2009–2016 continued to participate in the Polish FADN. Estimation of logit models allowed the authors to indicate, separately for each period in the years between 2009 and 2015, a set of characteristics influencing the decision of farms on the use of organic production.

Findings

The authors demonstrate that, first of all, land factors were of major importance when deciding on conversion to organic farming, with only the own land inputs (owned by the farm) having a positive impact on the transition of farms to organic production. But then the resource of the capital factor, identified with the assets owned by the farm, exercised a significant negative impact. Income derived from the family farm, although had a positive impact, did not significantly determine the farm’s decision on conversion to organic production. While support for agri-environmental purposes had a positive impact on the decision of farm to convert, the payments received under the direct payments affected this decision negatively. The tendency to start organic production is also conditioned regionally.

Research limitations/implications

The data of this study are limited in size, and limited to the Polish context.

Originality/value

The research setting for this paper is original; the study takes part in the discussion about factors of conversion to organic farming, on example of Poland and is a voice in the discussion on effective support for the development of organic farming in the context of sustainable development.
Who cares about local feed in local food products? Results from a consumer survey in Germany
Authors: Profeta Adriano , Hamm Ulrich
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse if German consumers are willing-to-pay a price premium for local food produced with local feed. The study provides insights into reasons explaining consumer preferences for animal products produced with local feed.

Design/methodology/approach

Computer self-assisted personal interviews (CASI) with 1,602 German consumers were conducted. To calculate the price premium for local feed, consumers were asked about their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for local feed. The respondents had to indicate their WTP for the local feed share levels 75, 90 and 100 per cent for pork cutlets, beef steaks, eggs and milk. To measure the impact of consumers’ attitudes and sociodemographic background on the WTP, a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model (ZINB) was calculated.

Findings

The study reveals that there is a high WTP for animal products produced with local feed. Furthermore, it delivers interesting insights into the WTP for different shares of local feed. Increasing WTPs for a 75, 90 and 100 per cent local feed origin could be found. The logit model in the zero-inflated regression showed that the buying frequency of organic foods exerted a particularly significant impact on one’s belonging to the group which has, in general, no additional WTP for locally produced feed.

Originality/value

Consumers’ perception of the supply chain of local products is virtually unexplored. This is one of the first papers that take this topic into account.
Optimising maintenance cost by prioritising maintenance of facilities services in residential buildings
Authors: Au-Yong Cheong Peng , Chua Shirley Jin Lin , Ali Azlan Shah , Tucker Matthew
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the maintenance prioritising for facilities services in high-rise residential buildings in Peninsular Malaysia. Maintenance prioritisation is becoming more prominent in the building maintenance industry due to budget constraints, poor maintenance management and to yield better maintenance performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Two main categories with eleven facilities services that require maintenance were identified through extensive literature review. A total of 321 returned questionnaires were analysed to distinguish the relationship between the maintenance priority and cost variance. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to validate the findings.

Findings

The findings revealed that five essential facilities services were significantly correlated to cost variance and a regression model which examines the probability of over-budget was developed. Meanwhile, the interviews recognised that maintenance prioritisation has impact towards maintenance cost.

Research limitations/implications

This research focusses on the maintenance priorities of facilities services and their effects to maintenance cost. However, it is undeniable that the maintenance cost can be affected by other factors, contributing to a lower percentage of the total variance in the regression model. Thus, it creates research opportunity to study the factors (i.e. manpower, materials, wear and tear, etc.) affecting the variance of maintenance cost.

Practical implications

This study is useful to property managers in efforts to enhance the cost performance via appropriate maintenance prioritisation. The essential facilities services should be highly prioritised compared to the value-added facilities services.

Originality/value

The paper signifies the importance of maintenance prioritisation. It serves as a guide to plan and execute maintenance planning in a more logical way within budget and time constraints.
Design for occupational safety and health: key attributes for organisational capability
Authors: Manu Patrick , Poghosyan Anush , Mahamadu Abdul-Majeed , Mahdjoubi Lamine , Gibb Alistair , Behm Michael , Akinade Olugbenga O.
Published: May 2019

Purpose

Against the backdrop of the contribution of design to the occurrence of occupational injuries and illnesses in construction, design for occupational safety and health (DfOSH) is increasingly becoming prominent in the construction sector. To ensure that design interventions are safe for construction workers to build and maintain, design firms need to have the appropriate organisational capability in respect of DfOSH. However, empirical insight regarding the attributes that constitute DfOSH organisational capability is lacking. The purpose of this paper, which trailblases the subject of DfOSH organisational capability in construction, is to address two key questions: what organisational attributes determine DfOSH capability? What is the relative priority of the capability attributes?

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed three iterations of expert focus group discussion and a subsequent three-round Delphi technique accompanied by the application of voting analytic hierarchy process.

Findings

The study revealed 18 capability attributes nested within six categories, namely: competence (the competence of organisation’s design staff); strategy (the consideration of DfOSH in organisation’s vision as well as the top management commitment); corporate experience (organisation’s experience in implementing DfOSH on projects); systems (systems, processes and procedures required for implementing DfOSH); infrastructure (physical, and information and communication technology resources); and collaboration (inter- and intra-organisational collaboration to implement DfOSH on projects). Whilst these categories and their nested attributes carry varying weights of importance, collectively, the competence-related attributes are the most important, followed by strategy.

Originality/value

The findings should enable design firms and other key industry stakeholders (such as the clients who appoint them) to understand designers’ DfOSH capability better. Additionally, design firms should be able to prioritise efforts/investment to enhance their DfOSH capability.
Developing theoretical coherence in teaching and learning: case of neuroscience-framed learning study
Authors: Tan Yuen Sze Michelle , Amiel Joshua Johnstone , Yaro Kwesi
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe two cycles of learning study (LS) involving eight elementary teachers in British Columbia, Canada. The study explored the teachers’ experiences of learning to plan and teach lessons as informed by recent brain research.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study was constructed using data sources including teacher semi-structured interviews (pre-study, post-study and delayed post-study), classroom materials (including student assignments), LS training materials, fieldnotes and recordings of meetings and research lessons; sources were triangulated. Thematic analysis was applied. Contemporary neuroscience perspectives framed the LS discourse and analysis.

Findings

The teachers developed theoretical coherence and could better articulate reasons for their pedagogy. They developed understandings of the cognitive architecture underlying functions like learning and memory, allowing them to identify pedagogical actions that are consistent with human biology and understand why these actions are effective in promoting learning.

Practical implications

LS is shown to be an effective professional development (PD) model where theoretical knowledge, like neuroscience, could be employed and tested in classroom settings to provide depth to support teachers’ praxis. This teaching–research nexus supports exploration of fruitful connections between theoretical knowledge and education to advance the science of learning and the science of instruction.

Originality/value

Findings demonstrated how LS could be employed with alternative theoretical perspectives to promote teacher PD, thus extending beyond the dominant use of variation theory. Also, illustrated is the potential use of LS to bridge the knowledge gap between neuroscience and education.
Factors affecting transaction costs and collaboration in projects
Authors: Haaskjold Haavard , Andersen Bjørn , Lædre Ola , Aarseth Wenche
Published: May 2019

Purpose

Transaction costs in projects can be reduced through improved collaboration between contractors and clients. The purpose of this paper is to respond to the call for further research on the framework suggested by Li et al. (2015) who presented 26 factors that determine project transaction costs. The objective is to empirically test the framework to identify factors that have the greatest influence on project collaboration so that practitioners can prioritize their efforts on the most salient factors that will improve collaboration and reduce transaction costs.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employed interviews with 38 project practitioners from three different industries in Norway. The respondents had in average 20 years of professional experience.

Findings

The quality of communication, project uncertainty, owner’s organizational efficiency, change orders and trust were the five most frequently found factors that influence both project transaction costs and collaboration level. When the authors compared findings between different industries the authors found that the quality of communication was important for all industries. The owner’s organizational efficiency was also highly important in oil and gas and ICT projects. Trust was particularly important in oil and gas projects while frequency of claims was particularly important in construction projects.

Practical implications

This paper identifies the five most important factors for project practitioners to prioritize in order to reduce transaction costs through improved collaboration.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the conceptual theory of transaction costs and collaboration as it empirically tests and extends the framework developed by Li et al. (2015).
Perceived image study with online data from social media: the case of boutique hotels in China
Authors: Wang Wanfei , Ying Shun , Lyu Jiaying , Qi Xiaoguang
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deconstruct the multi-faceted dimensions of Chinese travellers’ image of boutique hotels with a large amount of online textual data from social media (53,427 reviews written from 2014 to 2018), reinforcing the value creation of user-generated content via social media.

Design/methodology/approach

With the aid of Python, a computer language, online textual reviews (53,427 reviews) of 86 high-end boutique hotels in seven cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Qingdao and Sanya) were collected from the top-ranked online travel agency in China, Ctrip.com. Then, the overall perceived image of boutique hotels was revealed with the aid of Python.

Findings

The results showed multiple dimensions of the image of boutique hotels. The overall image can be grouped into eight dimensions (room, service, food, environment, entertainment, location, price and value, and uniqueness). An affective image based on eight dimensions was further developed in the Chinese boutique hotel context. It appears that online data from social media are beneficial for hotel managers to learn travellers’ overall perceptions of boutique hotels and help put more effective management strategies in place in the hospitality industry.

Research limitations/implications

The relationship between cognitive image and affective image should be further investigated in future research. Theoretical implications are discussed from both cognitive image and affective image perspectives in the boutique hotel context. Managerial implications are highlighted to help industry managers understand the travellers’ perceptions of the hotels, via online data from social media, and put more effective hotel strategies in hospitality industry.

Originality/value

By using textual online data from social media, this paper deconstructs both the cognitive image and the affective image of boutique hotels. The dimensions of the most frequently mentioned concepts related to the Chinese boutique hotel industry are profoundly deconstructed, as is the uniqueness of the image of boutique hotels. The work is valuable for promoting effective marketing strategies in the hotel industry.
Evaluating the impact of human resource planning programs in addressing the strategic goal of the firm
Authors: Chakraborty Debarun , Biswas Wendrila
Published: May 2019

Purpose

Today, the employees stand firm as an integral part of the organization and are a precious asset. They are willing to learn, accept challenges and strive hard to deliver their level best. The role of the employees has become pronounced and significant, and it is no more conventional. They are now taking up responsibilities in strategic planning and development of the organization. Thus, HR department plays a profuse role in planning for the human resource of the firm to optimize the utilization of their potentials that would help support and meet the business as well as strategic goal of the firm. These HR planning programs ensure managing people within a planned framework and make them develop their performance that becomes a source of sustained competitive advantage for the firm. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive research has been conducted with cross-sectional survey through a formalized questionnaire. Multistage sampling has been used in the study. Primary data have been collected from different manufacturing industries of India. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis have been conducted on the hypothesized research model. Structural equation modeling has been done to specify the relation between the measured and latent variables.

Findings

The HR planning programs, namely, staffing plan and succession plan, yield a better result in addressing the strategic goal of the company. Succession plan, staffing plan and talent management strategies augment the efficacious performance of the firm. Effectual performance aids in gaining a competitive advantage for the firm in a substantial way. Job analysis and design have no impact in achieving the strategic intent of the organization.

Originality/value

The study gives a comprehensive scenario of the HR planning programs that can help the organization to meet and uphold their strategic goals. The study provides a model that can solidify and bind the organization toward securing organizational intent and leading a steadfast business process in this dynamic competitive marketplace.
Academia a new knowledge supplier to the industry! Uncovering barriers in the process
Authors: Kashyap Ankur , Agrawal Rajat
Published: May 2019

Purpose

In the era of Industry 4.0, knowledge component plays a vital role in manufacturing. For tacking the new complexities of the business, a concept of knowledge supply chain (KSC) is being proposed, which takes into account of knowledge component. Higher education institutes (HEIs) which are primary creator of knowledge are important foundations of such supply chain and act as the “knowledge supplier.” The purpose of this paper is to focus on why the HEIs are failed to become knowledge supplier in developing country like India.

Design/methodology/approach

This research paper adopts a resource-based theory to explore the concept and identify barriers which obstructs the progress of HEIs to become prominent knowledge supplier to industry. To tackle the research problem, an integrated hybrid approach of interpretive structural modeling–analytic hierarchy process is used. Expert elicitation was engaged to find out the prominence of each barrier and the interrelations among them.

Findings

Based on literature review, eight critical barriers were recognized. The findings put forward a four layer structural model. Based on this model, various remedial actions are also suggested to eliminate the barriers or lessen their negative effects on KSC.

Practical implications

This study finds its practical implication in higher education reforms as the identified barriers could enhance the decision-making quality regarding academia–industry interaction.

Social implications

Using the results of the study, HEIs could improve their social sustainability as they have different stakeholders covering wider sections of society and one being industry.

Originality/value

Most of the existing studies talk about short-term interactions like technology transfer. This study takes into account the barriers which are acting as roadblocks in long-term knowledge supplying role of HEIs.
Arcs of communication and small- and medium-sized enterprise performance
Authors: Yanes-Estévez Vanessa , García-Pérez Ana María , Oreja-Rodríguez Juan Ramón
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the information shared by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers and its implications on their performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper puts forward the concept of arcs of communication based on the frequency and direction of the information exchanged by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers. SMEs are classified by the arc of communication they belong to using data from a survey carried out in the Canary Islands (Spain). The Rasch Measurement Theory is applied.

Findings

The largest group of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shares information frequently with both customers and suppliers (broad arc of communication). Differences were detected in the performance of SMEs belonging to this broad arc, as well as, in those firms that communicated frequently with their main suppliers (asymmetrical arc of communication towards suppliers). In both cases, these firms were better than their competitors in innovation.

Practical implications

This study demonstrates the need for better management of the links between SMEs and their suppliers and with their customers in accordance with their strategies, promoting a greater cooperative behaviour throughout the supply chain.

Originality/value

SMEs’ customers and suppliers are their main sources of information compared to large firms, which have greater resources to search for and acquire information. This paper investigates the information exchanged by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers from a strategic focus by adding to the literature the concept of arcs of communication. It also has the added value of applying the Rasch Measurement Theory (Rasch, 1960/1980).
Monte Carlo simulation in a financial strategy for urban development using land value capture
Authors: Vetter David M. , Vetter Marcia
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) could have enhanced understanding of the risks involved in the financial strategy for revitalization of Rio de Janeiro’s central city based on the capture of value generated by government interventions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study first describes the process involved in developing the financial strategy and model without MCS. Then, it shows how the MCS could have been integrated into this process and evaluates its potential impacts on the quality of risk analysis.

Findings

If MCS is fully integrated into the decision-making process, it can serve as a heuristic tool that helps team members to better understand risks by generating forecasts of land value and other variables as a probability distributions. By showing the variance of the forecasted variable, MCS integrates elements of modern risk analysis into financial model development in a cost-effective manner.

Research limitations/implications

MCS covers only the risks associated with the variables in the financial model. Events that seem extremely unlikely (i.e. “black swans”) can occur and must be assessed separately.

Practical implications

MCS can help analysts to understand the financial risks of large-scale development projects involving value capture, even in the prefeasibility stage.

Social implications

By facilitating value capture, MCS could help close the financing gap for sustainable urban development and subsidies for lower income families.

Originality/value

The study “retrofits” MCS on a successfully completed financial prefeasibility study to assess its usefulness as a heuristic tool.
US real estate as target assets for European investors
Authors: Oertel Cay , Gütle Thomas , Klisa Benjamin , Bienert Sven
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze potential diversification benefits of American real estate assets for European investors. Since European real estate yields are compressed due to several reasons, including high market liquidity and low interest rates, investment managers seek opportunities to provide attractive risk-return profiles for investors. Therefore, empirical proof for improvements to risk-return profiles is highly necessary in the outlined market environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study uses a classic mean-variance optimization approach. In order to isolate potential diversification benefits two investment environments are compared: first, an optimization for the European investment horizon is carried out. Subsequently, the same optimization is performed for European and American assets. For both scenarios, risk-return profiles are obtained and compared.

Findings

Two major findings can be stated: first, higher correlations between European and American markets can be observed for the present data in comparison to older studies. Second, the mean-variance optimization of solely European and then mixed European-American portfolios show improvements in risk-return profiles for the latter. Thus, diversification benefits of American properties for European real estate investors can be confirmed.

Practical implications

The empirical study reveals diversification benefits for European investors. Thus, the asset allocation of European investors could be affected by allocating capital toward the USA in order to improve risk-return profiles.

Originality/value

The value of the paper is a precise analysis of two markets, namely Europe as well as the US. Thus, the paper isolates the practical implications for European investors, who are trying to improve risk-returns profile by allocating capital toward the USA.
Structural analysis of the tourism impacts in the form of future study in developing countries (case study: Iran)
Authors: Nematpour Mohammad , Faraji Amin
Published: May 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the positive and negative impacts of tourism on the process of tourism growth at a national scale in Iran, by taking into account the reviews of previous studies, views of experts and structural analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

In this investigation, structural analysis technique has been used to identify the correlation between variables by using mix method data analysis. By using cross-impact analysis (N × N integer matrix) in the form of the Micmac method, the economic, sociocultural and environmental factors have been evaluated.

Findings

The results of the distribution of factors in the coordinate axes and the graphs between them indicate their features, and for reaching a sustainable system of tourism development, at first, priority should be given to the negative influential factors, especially the environmental fields, and then the focus should be on the decrease of the dual and risk variables as they cannot be anticipated.

Originality/value

For the rapid growth of tourism in many countries, governments ensure that policies have been heeded in designing and preparing general plans of the country to understand how the development trend is moving on. In this respect, arisen impacts of tourism system are one of the important issues during the development path and in the field of tourism future. Because of the complexity and broadness of tourism activities, these impacts have also many interconnected dimensions that should also be considered while studying tourism impacts.
Unilateral acts and peremptory norms (Jus Cogens) in the international law commission’s work
Authors: Menshawy Ibrahim Sief Abdel Hameed
Published: May 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the evolution of the notion of peremptory norms (Jus Cogens) in international law through the work of the International Law Commission on unilateral acts.

Design/methodology/approach

The study depended on analyzing the work of the International Law Commission on two topics: Unilateral Acts 2006 and Reservations to treaties 2011 to reveal the relation between jus cogens and unilateral acts.

Findings

Jus cogens restrict unilateral acts like treaties due to the recognition of the importance and necessity of the concept of Jus cogens in protecting the fundamental interests of the international community.

Practical implications

States must be compatible with jus cogens when making any reservation on a treaty and also when taking any unilateral act.

Originality/value

This paper reveals the importance of jus cogens in promoting the values of the international community and the need of such notion to protect the common interest of that community.
Exploring the role of corporate social responsibility skepticism in ethical purchase intention
Authors: Isa Salmi Mohd , Chin Phaik Nie , Liew Irene
Published: May 2019

Purpose

Few studies exist which delve into the possible factors that prevent ethically minded consumers from translating their ethical perceptions into ethical purchase intention (EPI). Thus, this study aims to explore how consumers assess corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on several influencing factors toward EPI, with CSR skepticism (SKP) as a moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional study is conducted through a self-administered questionnaire and uses a positive research approach with a quantitative basis of enquiry. The partial least squares–structural equation modeling- model is used to examine the causal relationship between seven independent variables of CSR assessment (i.e. CSR awareness, knowledge of CSR position of company, cause importance, price consciousness, CSR image of company, credibility of CSR efforts and peer influence) with EPI. In addition, this study also examines the moderating effect of SKP in the relationship.

Findings

The findings show that CSR assessment factors are important to convert mere purchase criteria into EPI and SKP does play a significant role in weakening the relationship.

Originality/value

This study examines the moderating effect of CSR skepticism, the exploration of which still remains very limited in current literature.
Implementation of a simplified self‐releasing biliary stent in choledocholithiasis: Experience in 150 cases
Authors: Yang Junfeng , He Zirui , Zhang Sen , Zhao Xuan , Sun Jing , Mao Zhihai
Published: May 2019

Introduction

Our aim was to introduce a simple way of making a self‐releasing biliary stent for laparoscopic common biliary duct exploration.

Methods

To make a self‐releasing biliary stent, an absorbable thread was sutured to a J‐shape polyurethane biliary stent. After the evacuation of the calculi, a guide wire was placed into the duodenum antegradely, facilitating the insertion of the biliary stent. The pigtail of the stent was left in the duodenum. The choledochotomy was then sutured, with the absorbable thread left outside the bile duct.

Results

This study consisted of 150 patients with choledocholithiasis. The mean operating time was 126 ± 36 minutes. The postoperative hospital stay was 6.5 ± 3.6 days. In 149 cases, the biliary stents were released and discharged out of the body with feces. The inside body time of the rapid‐releasing stent was 13.6 ± 2.6 days, and it was 28.0 ± 4.6 days for the slow‐releasing stent. One stent was removed by endoscopy. Transient hyperamylasemia occurred in 32 patients (21.3%) without clinical onset of pancreatitis. Bile leakage occurred in three patients (2.0%), all of whom recovered after treatment. Residual lithiasis was found in one patient (0.7%) and was retracted by endoscopy 30 days after the first procedure. No infection or dislocation of the stent was found.

Conclusion

For laparoscopic common biliary duct exploration for choledocholithiasis, this method provides an alternative way to make a simple and safe self‐releasing stent. It enables the endoscopic retraction of biliary stents to be avoided.
The ethical sensations of im‐mediacy: Embodiment and multiple literacies in animal rights activists’ learning with media technologies
Authors: Vea Tanner
Published: May 2019

In this paper, I consider a social movement for animal rights as a site of learning about a particular form of ethics. I use a multiliteracies framework, which emphasizes critical consumption and creation across a range of media forms, to consider how learning unfolds using a different kind of medium: the affective body. Activists in this study learned to read the signs of their embodied encounters with nonhuman animals as a privileged mode for understanding their ethical truth. Then they used other forms of digital mediation to produce and spread the feelings of being present with animals for others. I discuss social media memes and virtual reality as two examples. I employ the term “im‐mediacy” to emphasize both the affects of feeling present and the sense‐making involved in mediation and its ideologies. This approach considers affect and semiosis as mutually constitutive processes in learning. The findings also suggest the need to consider the affects produced in learning environments that bring bodies in proximity to one another, or that use technology to mediate feelings of proximity, as well as what I describe as embodied literacies for sensing the needs of others and responding with care.
The G‐protein‐biased agents PZM21 and TRV130 are partial agonists of μ‐opioid receptor‐mediated signalling to ion channels
Authors: Yudin Yevgen , Rohacs Tibor
Published: May 2019

Background and Purpose

Opioids remain the most efficient medications against severe pain; they act on receptors that couple to heterotrimeric G‐proteins in the Gαi/o family. Opioids exert many of their acute effects through modulating ion channels via Gβγ subunits. Many of their side effects are attributed to β‐arrestin recruitment. Several biased agonists that do not recruit β‐arrestins, but activate G‐protein‐dependent pathways, have recently been developed. While these compounds have been proposed to be full agonists of G‐protein signalling in several high throughput pharmacological assays, their effects were not studied on ion channel targets.

Experimental Approach

Here, we used patch‐clamp electrophysiology and Ca2+ imaging to test the effects of TRV130, PZM21, and herkinorin, three G‐protein‐biased agonists of μ‐opioid receptors, on ion channel targets of Gαi/o/Gβγ signalling. We also studied G‐protein dissociation using a FRET‐based assay.

Key Results

All three biased agonists induced smaller activation of G‐protein‐coupled inwardly rectifying K+ channels (Kir3.2) and smaller inhibition of transient receptor potential melastatin (TRPM3) channels than the full μ receptor agonist DAMGO. Co‐application of TRV130 or PZM21, but not herkinorin, alleviated the effects of DAMGO on both channels. PZM21 and TRV130 also decreased the effect of morphine on Kir3.2 channels. The CaV2.2 channel was also inhibited less by PZM21 and TRV130 than by DAMGO. We also found that TRV130, PZM21, and herkinorin were less effective than DAMGO at inducing dissociation of the Gαi/Gβγ complex.

Conclusion and Implications

TRV130, PZM21, and potentially herkinorin are partial agonists of μ receptors.
Early toll‐like receptor 4 blockade reduces ROS and inflammation triggered by microglial pro‐inflammatory phenotype in rodent and human brain ischaemia models
Authors: Parada Esther , Casas Ana I. , Palomino‐Antolin Alejandra , Gómez‐Rangel Vanessa , Rubio‐Navarro Alfonso , Farré‐Alins Victor , Narros‐Fernandez Paloma , Guerrero‐Hue Melania , Moreno Juan Antonio , Rosa Juliana M. , Roda José M. , Hernández‐García Borja J. , Egea Javier
Published: May 2019

Background and Purpose

Ischaemic stroke is a leading cause of death, disability, and a high unmet medical need. Post‐reperfusion inflammation and an up‐regulation of toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4), an upstream sensor of innate immunity, are associated with poor outcome in stroke patients. Here, we identified the therapeutic effect of targeting the LPS/TLR4 signal transduction pathway.

Experimental Approach

We tested the effect of the TLR4 inhibitor, eritoran (E5564) in different in vitro ischaemia‐related models: human organotypic cortex culture, rat organotypic hippocampal cultures, and primary mixed glia cultures. We explored the therapeutic window of E5564 in the transient middle cerebral artery occlusion model of cerebral ischaemia in mice.

Key Results

In vivo, administration of E5564 1 and 4 hr post‐ischaemia reduced the expression of different pro‐inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, infarct volume, blood–brain barrier breakdown, and improved neuromotor function, an important clinically relevant outcome. In the human organotypic cortex culture, E5564 reduced the activation of microglia and ROS production evoked by LPS.

Conclusion and Implications

TLR4 signalling has a causal role in the inflammation associated with a poor post‐stroke outcome. Importantly, its inhibition by eritoran (E5564) provides neuroprotection both in vitro and in vivo, including in human tissue, suggesting a promising new therapeutic approach for ischaemic stroke.
Dermal elastolysis in the setting of combination immunotherapy
Authors: Dickinson Kirsten E. , Price Lulit , Wanat Karolyn A. , Swick Brian L.
Published: May 2019

Multiple cutaneous side effects have been reported with the use of immunotherapies including programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitors. We report 2 patients who presented with papillary dermal elastolysis presenting as multiple, skin‐colored, wrinkled papules and atrophic macules following an inflammatory eruption in the setting of combination chemotherapy with nivolumab and cabiralizumab. These two cases highlight a novel finding, elastolysis in the setting of chemotherapy with nivolumab and cabiralizumab.
The detection of DNA methylation of tumour suppressor genes in cervical high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion: A prospective cytological‐histological correlation study of 70 cases
Authors: Ondič Ondrej , Němcová Jana , Alaghehbandan Reza , Černá Kateřina , Gomolčáková Barbora , Kinkorová‐Luňáčková Iva , Chytra Jan , Šidlová Henrieta , Májek Ondřej , Bouda Jiří
Published: May 2019

Background

DNA methylation has been suggested as one of the epigenetic changes promoting carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the methylation status of CADM 1, MAL and hsa‐miR‐124 genes in high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) liquid‐based cytology (LBC) samples with a histological correlation.

Methods

Seventy histologically confirmed cases of HSIL paired with prior screening LBC diagnosis of HSIL within a 3‐month interval were selected. Histologically, the lesions were reviewed and assessed including: (a) number of blocks harbouring dysplastic squamous epithelium; (b) number of blocks containing glandular extension of dysplastic epithelium; and (c) the depth of glandular extension (which was assessed semi‐quantitatively as graded 1‐3). Human papillomavirus (HPV) subtyping was performed from residual LBC materials using the LINEAR ARRAY HPV Genotyping Test and in‐house polymerase chain reaction targeting the HPV E1 gene. The detection of methylation silencing of tumour suppressor genes CADM1, MAL and hsa‐miR‐124 was performed by multiplex methylation‐specific real‐time polymerase chain reaction.

Results

A positive methylation status was detected in 41 cases (58.6%). The number of blocks with HSIL varied from one to 13. Glandular extension was seen in 44 cases with the number of blocks involved ranging from one to 10. The depth of HSIL glandular extension varied.

Conclusion

The DNA methylation test allows HSIL lesions to be divided into two distinct groups of methylated HSIL in significantly older patients and unmethylated HSIL in younger patients. This study was not able to prove that methylation status in cervical HSIL correlates with the size of the lesion (measured by the number of blocks involved) or with HSIL propensity for endocervical glandular extension, nor with HPV type or multi‐infection.
Communication in Angelman syndrome: a scoping review
Authors: Pearson Effie , Wilde Lucy , Heald Mary , Royston Rachel , Oliver Chris
Published: May 2019

Aim

A scoping review was conducted to examine and evaluate empirical data on the communication profile of Angelman syndrome beyond the described dissociation between receptive language and speech.

Method

Three databases (PsycINFO, Embase, and Web of Science) were searched to retrieve articles investigating communication in Angelman syndrome. Seventeen articles investigating the broader communication profile were found; their methodology was evaluated against quality criteria.

Results

Despite the absence of speech, individuals with Angelman syndrome have a wide repertoire of non‐verbal communicative behaviours, mainly characterized by gestures, although advanced forms such as symbolic communication are used by some individuals. The use of communicative forms differs between the genetic aetiologies of Angelman syndrome; individuals with non‐deletion aetiologies typically have greater communicative abilities.

Interpretation

The broader communication profile of Angelman syndrome is characterized by diverse and multimodal abilities, including some use of symbolic forms of communication that appears atypical given the absence of speech. This is suggestive of a probable dissociation between speech and other expressive forms of communication, indicating an isolated speech production impairment. This highlights a need in this population for alternative communication and specific input from services tailored to support the nuances of the communication profile of Angelman syndrome.

What this paper adds

Although absent speech is near universal, a diverse profile of other communicative abilities has been reported.

Parental reporting has been predominantly used to assess the communication profile of Angelman syndrome.

Literature that investigates the specificities and possible dissociations in such a communication profile is limited.
Autonomy, Cognitive Offloading, and Education
Authors: Carter J. Adam
Published: May 2019

If we want our intellectual lives to go as well as possible, should we be “delegating” as many information‐gobbling tasks to our gadgets as we can? If not, then how much cognitive outsourcing is too much and, relatedly, what kinds of considerations are relevant to determining this? In this article, J. Adam Carter submits that one particular dimension of intellectual flourishing that will be helpful for the purpose of exploring such questions is that of intellectual autonomy, in particular what he describes as the value of one's freedom to achieve. Several related conclusions are drawn and then applied to recent discussions in the philosophy of education concerning education's epistemic aims.
Might Knowledge Be Insertable?
Authors: Tillson John
Published: May 2019

Can we coherently conceive of our having knowledge inserted into our minds, bypassing forms of knowledge acquisition hitherto relied on? In this article, John Tillson contends that there is value in giving serious consideration to this question. First, insofar as technology develops apace, it is wise to start thinking about how we would use it before its uses are available to us lest we should unreflectively abuse it. Second, even though having knowledge inserted might turn out to be physically impossible, its metaphysical possibility would still make reflecting on its desirability fruitful, since evaluating this will help us to better understand what it is that we value about education and about knowledge. While handling practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge (or “knowledge how” and “knowledge that”) somewhat separately, Tillson argues that, for each, insertion is conceivable. He contends that if (a) we seem to be able to imagine inserting knowledge, (b) our seeming to be able to imagine it survives extended critical reflection, and (c) we can elaborate what it would consist of with plausible detail, then we have defeasible reason for thinking that inserting knowledge is in fact metaphysically possible. In the first section, Tillson begins by motivating the question, next briefly considers an imaginary scenario presented in the film The Matrix as an example of what is meant by implanting or inserting knowledge, and then fleshes out the scenario with some more plausible details to help make the case for its coherent conceivability. In the second section, he discusses five objections to the thesis, so as to subject the case to extended critical reflection. These include arguments that inserting knowledge requires inserting justification, but that justification cannot be inserted; that the possibility of inserting false beliefs undermines the possibility of self‐trust, which is crucial to knowledge; that inserted content has the wrong causal history to count as knowledge; and that inserted knowledge would lack the appropriate connections to other mental items in order to count as knowledge. Upon answering each of these objections, Tillson concludes that the notion of knowledge insertion as coherently conceivable can survive extended critical reflection.
Cheating Education and the Insertion of Knowledge
Authors: Aldridge David
Published: May 2019

This article by David Aldridge concerns the promise of knowledge “insertion.” The promise can be elucidated as follows: knowledge could be inserted by a less time‐consuming (and possibly in many senses less expensive) technological process than traditional learning, whereby, for example, some relatively swift procedure of implanting or more radically transforming the structure of the brain could save its subject the trouble of spending several years studying for a university degree. Such a promise, if coherent and realizable, would certainly count as an instance of “cheating education” in that it would appear to circumvent or evade the learning process. Here, Aldridge develops a phenomenological account of knowing that emphasizes a background of practical understanding, which he then contrasts with an account of knowing as the possession of an internal representation that he understands as underpinning claims for the promise of knowledge insertion. The incoherence of “knowledge insertion” is not, however, the end of the story, according to Aldridge. He closes by exploring how a flawed concept of “information insertion” already pervades contemporary educational thinking and practice. It is not, that is to say, merely an impossible science fiction dream, but an example of how technological modes of thought do indeed threaten to “cheat” education — not by helping us to “cheat” in our learning, but by cheating us of an experience that might properly be called educational.