bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Store image influences in consumers’ perceptions of store brands: the moderating role of value consciousness
Authors: Delgado-Ballester Elena , Hernandez-Espallardo Miguel , Rodriguez-Orejuela Augusto
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to develop and test a conceptual model of the moderating effect of customers’ value consciousness (CVC) on the relationship of store image (SI) with four dimensions of the perceived risk associated to the purchase of a store brand over a manufacturers’ brand, and the direct effect of those variables on the perceived unfairness of manufacturers’ brand prices.

Design/methodology/approach

– A mall-intercept survey of 600 shoppers in Colombia (South America) gathered data on their consumption experiences of a store brand and manufacturer’s brand across six product categories and two supermarket chains.

Findings

– Results suggest that SI exerts different influences on the four categories of perceived risk, the strength of which varies with value-consciousness. Perceptions of the price unfairness of manufacturers’ brands are attenuated by the financial and functional risk of buying store brands but increased by the social and psychological risk.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings may not be generally applicable to other shopping contexts or customers. The functional perspective on SI may mean that the results are not directly comparable with other studies adopting different perspectives.

Practical implications

– For retailers, the key implications concern awareness and management of customers’ perceptions of relative risks and the impact of value-consciousness on the use of SI as a heuristic decision-making cue. For manufacturers, they are the need to demonstrate clear product differentiation as a rationale for higher prices.

Originality/value

– This is the first study to encompass value-consciousness, SI, perceived risk and perceptions of price unfairness in a single field survey.
Does channel decentralization lead to low quality product lines?
Authors: Chung Hwan , Lee Eunkyu
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to analyze the problem of optimal product line design in marketing channels.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper develops a game theoretic model, in which a firm markets a line of a limited number of products at different quality levels to serve a market composed of multiple consumer segments. The consumer segments are modeled as clusters of somewhat heterogeneous consumers as typically observed in the real world. These model characteristics allow us to consider a broader set of targeting strategies such as sub-segmentation and partial cannibalization which have not been considered previously. By considering both a vertically integrated channel and a decentralized channel, we investigate how channel structure influences optimal product line design. We analyze the model mathematically with supplemental numerical analyses.

Findings

– Our analysis shows that “quality distortion” in product line design is not limited to the low-end product, as previously reported, but can happen to the high-end product. The direction of these quality distortions may be downward or upward, leading to either increased or decreased differentiation between the two products. Furthermore, channel decentralization makes it more likely for the firm to strategically choose upward partial cannibalization or sub-segmentation. Consequently, contrary to previous studies, we demonstrate that there exist conditions under which channel decentralization leads to higher product quality.

Originality/value

– Our model reflects a more realistic market environment and a firm’s practical constraints than previous studies, which typically assume perfect homogeneity within each segment and/or the feasibility of offering an infinite number of products. This extension produces interesting new results and insights that provide more practical implications for a firm’s optimal product line design strategy.
User-generated content behaviour of the dissatisfied service customer
Authors: Presi Caterina , Saridakis Charalampos , Hartmans Susanna
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– This study aims to focus on the motivation of service customers to create user-generated content (UGC) after a negative service experience. In examining this relationship, the moderating role of “extraversion” personality trait is also taken into consideration. Furthermore, the paper examines how differently motivated service customers react to a firm’s service recovery strategies, whilst insights into the relationship between UGC creation and specific online platform usage are also provided.

Design/methodology/approach

– Structural Equation Modeling is used to test the conceptual model, based on an empirical dataset collected from an online survey research of 239 service customers. The dataset pertains to international travellers and their UGC behaviour after a negative travel experience.

Findings

– Altruistic, vengeance and economic motivations are strong drivers for UGC creation after a negative service experience. Motivations also correlate to participation in specific online platforms. Furthermore, it is shown that highly extraverted customers create more UGC after a negative service experience when motivated by vengeance. Finally, higher levels of altruistic and self-enhancement motivations correlate with a positive attitude towards a firm’s response, whereas customers who are motivated by vengeance have a negative attitude towards a firm’s response.

Practical implications

– Customers who share their negative service experience by creating UGC in social media can be segmented according to their motivation. Service providers should inspect the UGC of their customers to understand the motivation behind it. The motivation to create UGC varies across platforms, and hence, customized service recovery strategies are required.

Originality/value

– This paper examines UGC creation in relation to motivation, extraversion, and attitude towards a firm’s response. This is the first reported application which collectively examines important issues like these in a unified theoretical framework.
Promoting boundary-spanning behavior among service personnel
Authors: (Jay) Yoo Jaewon , J. Arnold Todd , L. Frankwick Gary
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this model is to explain how person – organization fit (P – O fit) and competitive intensity, conceptualized as a job resource and a job demand, respectively, ultimately affect the development of frontline employee boundary-spanning behavior (BSB).

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey methodology was used in collecting data from a sample of bank employees in South Korea. To analyze the data, a structural equation model procedure using LISREL 8.5 was used (Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1996).

Findings

– Results suggest that a frontline employee’s P – O fit decreases emotional exhaustion and increases achievement-striving motivation. Competitive intensity significantly reduces achievement-striving motivation. Results also show that competitive intensity significantly attenuates the positive relationship between P – O fit and employee achievement-striving motivation, highlighting the importance of contextual industry stressors upon internal organizational behaviors. Both emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation are found to ultimately affect BSBs except for the link between emotional exhaustion and service delivery.

Originality/value

– The current study applies the job-demands resources model to demonstrate how both an externally initiated job demand (competitive intensity) and an internally oriented job resource (person – organization fit) influence employee experience of emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation. Interaction effects of P – O fit and competitive intensity on employee’s psychological states (emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation) are also examined. Further, it is demonstrated that both emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation will directly influence service employee boundary-spanning behaviors, but in differential manners. This highlights the importance of exhaustion and motivation as mediators for the ultimate effect of a job resource (P – O fit), answering a call for such understanding of the developmental process for BSBs (Podsakoffet al., 2000). This is the first empirical study to link both internal and external elements to illuminate the process for developing job demands and resources, as well as boundary spanning behaviors.
Gender, power and succession in family farm business
Authors: L. Glover Jane
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the paper is to present a case example of the power struggles and gender issues one daughter faced when she became a partner, and future successor, in the family business. This paper uses an ethnographic approach in order to study a small family farm in England. The case focuses on a small family farm, these businesses are unique in terms of their values and expectations for succession (Haberman and Danes, 2007), and identified by Wang (2010) as a fruitful avenue for research on daughter succession.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical work was gathered through the use of a single site ethnographic case study involving participant observation as the researcher worked on the family farm and semi-structured interviews with family members over two years.

Findings

– The results shed light on some of the social complexities of small family farms and power struggles within the family exacerbated by perceived gender issues. The work also highlights the potential threat to the daughter’s position as a partner, from her father’s favouritism of male employees.

Practical implications

– Institutions that provide help to family farm businesses need to be aware of the potential power issues within the family specifically related to gender, particularly in terms of succession planning.

Originality/value

– Using ethnography in family firms allows the researcher to be a part of the real-life world of family farmers, providing rich data to explore daughter succession.
Revisiting women’s entrepreneurship
Authors: Barrett Mary
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study women’s entrepreneurship from the family-firm context and radical subjectivist (RS) economics. While women’s entrepreneurship is a long-standing topic of research interest, there have been calls for more theory-oriented research and research which takes context factors in women’s entrepreneurship seriously. The paper responds to this by using an RS’s view of economics as a theoretical lens to consider women’s entrepreneurship in family firms.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper briefly reviews the potential of the family-firm context for examining women’s entrepreneurship in a non-reductive fashion, then outlines radical subjectivism (RS). The three main elements of RS’s “entrepreneurial imagination” are explained, then linked with other theories of family-firm behaviour and applied to casework on women entrepreneurs in family firms.

Findings

– Each element of the entrepreneurial imagination, empathy, modularity and self-organization, generates new research questions which contest previous apparently settled views about women entrepreneurs. Protocols for investigating the questions are suggested. The third element, self-organization, while more difficult to operationalize for empirical testing, suggests how women’s entrepreneurship might generate new industries.

Research limitations/implications

– While this is primarily a conceptual study, its case studies invite further exploration of both women entrepreneurs and family firms. The RS perspective could also increase understanding of shared leadership and innovation in family firms. Specific research questions and protocols for investigating them are offered.

Practical implications

– Insights from the research have practical implications for entrepreneurship education, for understanding entrepreneurship at the level of society, the firm and the individual.

Social implications

– The importance of both family firms and women entrepreneurs to society makes it important to understand both of them better. The RS perspective can help.

Originality/value

– The paper highlights the value of combining attention to entrepreneurial context (family firms) and theory (RS) to reinvigorate some old research questions about women entrepreneurs. The combination of family firms and RS is also novel.
An international and comparative study of perceived justice in Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish hospitals
Authors: C. Sosa Varela Juan , Magaña Irma , Padin Carmen , Otero-Neira Carmen , de los M. Santos Corrada Maria , Svensson Goran
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper was to test a construct of perceived justice and its dimensions in negative service encounters across Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish hospitals. Also to compare similarities and differences of perceived justice in negative service encounters in these countries.

Design/methodology/approach

– Includes Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards who have experienced service failures at hospital settings. A descriptive research design was followed and a self-administered questionnaire was applied to gather the data from respondents. The researchers applied convenience sampling, and a pre-screening of respondents was included to verify that respondents were appropriate to participate in the study. A total number of 937 usable questionnaires were obtained from the hospital settings.

Findings

– The empirical findings across three Spanish-speaking countries indicate that the construct of perceived justice in negative service encounters consists of merely 15 items, divided into three dimensions, namely, distributional, interactional and procedural.

Research limitations/implications

– The empirical findings provide satisfactory validity and reliability across three countries, but there are acknowledged research limitations. These offer an opportunity for further research to verify or falsify the validity, reliability and generalization of the current findings.

Practical implications

– Service providers may use the three-dimensional construct of perceived justice as a guide when developing, implementing and managing processes and procedures of service failures in negative service encounters.

Originality/value

– The current international study in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain complements and fortifies previous research and existing theory of perceived justice in negative service encounters, and possible actions of complaint handling as well as service recovery.
The False Claims Act: a review and policy recommendations
Authors: E. Schramm Mary , L. Herbst Jennifer , Mattie Angela
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the study is to review The False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and challenges facing the industry to suggest the motivation behind firms’ alleged fraudulent activity. FCA has been applied against pharmaceutical companies by the US Government to combat marketing fraud including kickbacks, improper pricing and off-label promotion. The interests of the US Government and medical professionals are also considered. Changes to the law governing pharmaceutical marketing practices are recommended.

Design/methodology/approach

– Cases settled under the FCA between 2005 and 2012 were identified by accessing the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Corporate Integrity Agreements Web site and annual reports and thequitamhelp.comWeb site. Case details were collected from US Department of Justice press releases, DHHS annual reports, and case documents in the Public Access to Court Electronic Records database.

Findings

– Of the settled cases in the final sample, improper pricing practices were evident in 33 per cent of the cases; off-label promotion in 52 per cent; and both in 15 per cent of the cases. Forty-eight per cent of the alleged fraudulent marketing activity occurred within the brands’ first year and 68 per cent within the first two years on the market. Reported settlements ranged from US$4 million to US$4.3 billion.

Originality/value

– This research simultaneously considers business issues facing the pharmaceutical industry and alleged fraudulent marketing activity to recommend changes to the law governing drug promotion. Changes have the potential to improve the balance between the respective interests of industry, medicine and government and to improve compliance and patient care in the future.
An Islamic perspective on the true and fair view override principle
Authors: Salihin Abang , Fatima A.H. , Anam Ousama Abdulrahman
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to determine whether the “true and fair view override” (TFVO) principle is relevant and applicable in Islamic accounting. In addition, the paper examines the roles that TFVO could play in Islamic accounting and auditing.

Design/methodology/approach

– A qualitative research method was used based on documentary and textual analysis of the Shari’ah fundamentals (Islamic legal sources) and relevant accounting standards and regulations.

Findings

– The paper found that the TFVO is relevant and applicable in Islamic accounting and auditing and not contradictory to the rules of the Shari’ah. Therefore, the concept is acceptable for use in Islamic accounting. Moreover, based on the several roles played by the TFVO, in the Islamic context, the practicality of this concept in Islamic accounting provides further justification for its continued usage.

Practical implications

– The findings of the paper provide a basis to support the inclusion of the TFVO in Islamic accounting standards, as well as possible usage by Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). Thus, regulators of IFIs and Islamic accounting standards setting bodies can consider it in their challenging task of standardizing accounting practices due to the different interpretations of transactions from the various Madhahib and multiple accounting concepts and practices. In addition, the discussion in the paper reminds accountants and auditors of IFIs and Islamic organizations that providing a true and fair view (TFV) is paramount; thus an override of inapplicable accounting standards and regulation is allowed, but not Shari’ah. Thus, TFVO can assist accountants to record transactions that reflect the economic reality of the IFIs, especially prior to accounting regulations keeping pace with the rapid business environment.

Originality/value

– The paper has highlighted a very important issue relating to the TFV, specifically the TFVO, from the Islamic perspective. The paper is considered as the first paper that contextually analyses this issue based on Islamic legal sources using a qualitative approach. In addition, the paper has contributed to the literature in Islamic accounting and auditing.
Science parks and intellectual capital
Authors: Romano Marco , Catalfo Pierluigi , Nicotra Melita
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– Dealing with intellectual capital (IC), the purpose of this paper is to provide a strategic tool for management activities in knowledge-based organizations. In particular, in the contribution, an integrated framework for intangibles’ representation, evaluation and control in Science Parks is developed.

Design/methodology/approach

– Starting from a review of the main instruments for measuring intangible resources in an organization, an integrated model of IC for Science Parks is formulated.

Findings

– The paper demonstrates that Science Parks are big repositories of knowledge but they are neither familiar with the IC management nor with the use of methodologies functional for the resources representations and for the variations dynamics of their value. Thereby it answers to questions related to the IC process representation, responding to managerial exigencies and to measurability and repeatability as strategic activities for business running.

Originality/value

– Unlike the great number of studies on IC that formulate objective metrics of the value of firms’ intangible assets, the paper presents a model not to describe but to shape processes in a knowledge-based organization and to achieve and communicate results both for management and for increasing transparency of communication with external stakeholders.
From services dealers to innovation brokers
Authors: Macchi Marika , Rizzo Ugo , Ramaciotti Laura
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies business incubators (BI) adopt in respect to the creation of incubatee intellectual capital, and it focuses in particular on links between BI structural capital and the creation of incubatee relational capital (RC). By crossing IC literature with the open innovation paradigm the authors consider the incubator as an innovation intermediary and the authors investigate how different incubator strategies of knowledge exchange take place within and across incubator boundaries. The main issues the authors seek to explore regard the mechanisms by which incubators shape the exchange of knowledge within and across their boundaries and the rationale underlying such an approach.

Design/methodology/approach

– The analysis is based on a multiple case study research involving five Italian incubators. Primary and secondary data were gathered through interviews with each incubator managing director and with relevant actors.

Findings

– The analysis allows us to propose a theoretical framework and to highlight how different structural capital shape heterogeneous processes by which incubatees build their RC. The authors find that important differences in RC formation are present both at an exchange of knowledge level within the incubator, and across incubator boundaries.

Research limitations/implications

– The main limitations of this study regard the generalizability of results. This is mostly an exploratory work and further research based on quantitative rather than qualitative analysis, would provide stronger evidence in order to validate the results with respect to the population of incubators and consequently lead to more precise policy implications.

Originality/value

– The analysis points to the importance of recognizing different BI approaches regarding the mechanisms by which incubatees develop their RC, and allows us to gain a knowledge-based conceptualization of incubators. This definition moves beyond the more diffuse classification based on public vs private and sectoral specificities, and introduces some new insights for further research.
University knowledge, open innovation and technological capital in Spanish science parks
Authors: Villasalero Manuel
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the connection between university research and technological capital developed by science park (SCP) firms in order to elucidate whether the causal linkage is owing to non-pecuniary research spillovers or pecuniary technology transfer activities.

Design/methodology/approach

– Two publicly available surveys, one dealing with the research and transfer activities of 45 Spanish universities and another with the patenting activities of 44 Spanish SCPs, are matched in such a way that hypotheses can be tested using regression analysis.

Findings

– The patenting performance of SCP firms is positively related to the competitive R&D projects undertaken by the universities to which they are affiliated and negatively related to the technology transfer activities carried out by those universities. These findings suggest that the scientific knowledge produced by universities principally contributes to private technology-based firms’ technological capital through non-pecuniary research spillovers, whereas the pecuniary technology transfer agreements remain uncertain or may even prove to be detrimental.

Practical implications

– Firms that are considering locating or remaining in a university-affiliated SCP should be aware that the university's pecuniary orientation when managing its intellectual capital may become a barrier as regards the firm filling its technological capital shortages. From a university administrator perspective, the complementary or substitute role of technology transfer officesvis-à-visSCPs should be considered in the light of the selling or revealing approach adopted by the university in order to commercialize and diffuse potential inventions.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to existing literature by shedding light on the causal linkage between university research and firm innovation, obtaining evidence in favor of an upstream, non-pecuniary and revealing role of universities in support of the accumulation of technological capital amongst SCPs tenant firms.
Creating conditions for innovative performance of science parks in Europe. How manage the intellectual capital for converting knowledge into organizational action
Authors: Campanella Francesco , Rosaria Della Peruta Maria , Del Giudice Manlio
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of innovative performances for science parks as a framework for understanding how effectively human and structural capital (i.e. intellectual assets) are leveraged. The key point is fostering main determinants to investigate and/or make sense of key management activities/factors shaping the evolution and performance of knowledge creating processes.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study was based on the quantitative and qualitative values, for the period 2000-2011, gathered from a sample of 901 public and private organizations located in the 21 European Union (EU) countries. With regard to the methodology, the hypothesis testing first required an analysis of the correlations between the investigation variables, and then the use of regression analysis to study the relationships between the innovative performance of the research institutions, and the financial, organizational and knowledge characteristics of the science parks investigated.

Findings

– The empirical research shows that: the allocation of public resources does not influence most of the selected indicators of performance, with the exception of the negative effect seen for the number of patents; the resources provided by venture capitalists have a positive effect on all of the indicators of performance of the science park; the science parks of greater dimensions have better performances; the positive impact of the systemic relationships seems to have an effect that is limited to the increase in the number of contracts stipulated with industry; the number of publications produced by researchers of the science parks seems to have an unclear effect on the innovative performance; and an increase in the number of researchers enhances the innovative performance of the science parks.

Research limitations/implications

– It seems appropriate to suggest some research lines that arise from the limits of this work. In particular, it should be stressed that there is a need to enlarge the sample investigated to embrace local innovation systems outside the EU, so as to provide further validation to the empirical results of this research.

Practical implications

– This research has some practical implications of notable interest at the level of European policies. Interventions of public policies supporting innovation should not be concentrated on the increase of public funding but on increasing private capital investment.

Originality/value

– This paper aims to extend literature about factors explaining the financial, organizational and cognitive performance of science parks in Europe.
The intellectual capital of business incubators
Authors: Calza Francesco , Dezi Luca , Schiavone Francesco , Simoni Michele
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework to analyze the intellectual capital (IC) of new generation business incubators.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper carries out a literature-based analysis of the different components of the IC of business incubators and develops a conceptual framework that links the business incubators’ IC to the IC of incubated firms.

Findings

– The paper provides an analytical model able to support practitioners and scholars to better understand and evaluate the IC criticalities and requirements of incubators. The notion of incubation path is developed.

Originality/value

– The paper contributes to the extant literature about the intangible assets of business incubators by analyzing in detail how these structures use their IC to perform their activities.
Building intellectual capital in incubated technology firms
Authors: G. Gately Clare , A. Cunningham James
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The value of relational capital generated by entrepreneurs with their internal and external environment (Hormigaet al., 2011a, b), provides considerable resources when properly leveraged. It is particularly important in environments such as the high tech sector of incomplete information and weak economic markets such as new products, markets or technologies (Davidsson and Honig, 2003). The purpose of this paper is to examine how incubated technology entrepreneurs build relational capital for a new venture formation in the social context of a Higher Education Institution.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study took a qualitative approach based on content analysis of business plans and in-depth interviews with 25 technology entrepreneurs on an incubation programme – South East Enterprise Platform Programme – for technology graduates in the South East of Ireland.

Findings

– The study found that technology entrepreneurs during new venture formation engaged in four types of relational capital activities, namely, development of networks and contacts, relationship building, accessing and leveraging knowledge experts and members of associations.

Practical implications

– Incubator programmes need to actively support social building activities of technology entrepreneurs. Higher Education Institutes knowledge assets and networks are critical elements in supporting incubator technology entrepreneurs.

Originality value

– The study identified four types of relational capital building. The authors also found using Jones-Evans (1995) categorisation of technology entrepreneurs that users, producers, opportunists and non-technical entrepreneurs engaged in client focused relational capital building, whereas researcher types networked with service providers and displayed arms length relational capital building styles.
Sex‐specific differences in ecomorphological relationships in lizards of the genus Gallotia
Authors: Lopez‐Darias Marta , Vanhooydonck Bieke , Cornette Raphael , Herrel Anthony
Published: October 2014

Males and females often differ from one another in phenotypic traits due to differential investment in traits relevant to the fitness of each sex. However, how differences in sexually dimorphic traits affect ecologically relevant performance traits and whether these are correlated with variation in ecology remains poorly understood.

Here, we test the co‐evolution of head shape, bite force capacity and diet in male and female lizards (Gallotia) from the Canary Islands, known to be sexually dimorphic. We collected data on bite force and head size and shape for both sexes of all seven extant species on all seven islands of the archipelago (ten evolutionary‐independent lineages). Moreover, we collected diet data for five out of the seven species (eight lineages).

Our results show that the evolution of head morphology is associated with the evolution of bite force in both sexes. However, only in females is the evolution of head morphology and bite force associated with the evolution of diet. In males, head morphology and bite force are decoupled from the evolution of diet. In conjunction with the male head shape characterized by a broad rostrum, this suggests that head shape and bite force may be evolving principally under sexual selection in males.

Our data thus suggest that head morphology and associated functional traits may evolve under different selective pressures in the two sexes.
The Promises of Practice
Authors: Gad Christopher , Jensen Casper Bruun
Published: October 2014

Practice has become a topic of increasing empirical and conceptual concern within sociology and neighbouring fields. ‘Practice’ can refer to a location or it can refer to action. It is possible to be ‘in practice’, to ‘have a practice’ or to be ‘constituted by practice’. Practice can be a cause, an effect or an explanation. Within science and technology studies (STS), the practice orientation is simultaneously analytical – in the form of various practice theories – and empirical, in that research objects are often defined as ‘practices’. Focusing on a range of examples, especially ethnomethodological, this paper examines some implications and problems that follow when practice slides unnoticed between empirical and conceptual registers. Arguing that a reconsideration of practice thinking is important in order to retain its vigour, we outline a view of practice as a ‘factish’, at once conceptual and empirical, which facilitates analyses of practical ontologies and their transformations. This informs a final discussion of the politics and promises of practice.
Discrimination of Chicken Seasonings and Beef Seasonings Using Electronic Nose and Sensory Evaluation
Authors: Tian Huaixiang , Li Fenghua , Qin Lan , Yu Haiyan , Ma Xia
Published: October 2014

This study examines the feasibility of electronic nose as a method to discriminate chicken and beef seasonings and to predict sensory attributes. Sensory evaluation showed that 8 chicken seasonings and 4 beef seasonings could be well discriminated and classified based on 8 sensory attributes. The sensory attributes including chicken/beef, gamey, garlic, spicy, onion, soy sauce, retention, and overall aroma intensity were generated by a trained evaluation panel. Principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant factor analysis (DFA), and cluster analysis (CA) combined with electronic nose were used to discriminate seasoning samples based on the difference of the sensor response signals of chicken and beef seasonings. The correlation between sensory attributes and electronic nose sensors signal was established using partial least squares regression (PLSR) method. The results showed that the seasoning samples were all correctly classified by the electronic nose combined with PCA, DFA, and CA. The electronic nose gave good prediction results for all the sensory attributes with correlation coefficient (r) higher than 0.8. The work indicated that electronic nose is an effective method for discriminating different seasonings and predicting sensory attributes.
Early screening to identify patients at risk of developing intra‐abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome
Authors: IYER D. , RASTOGI P. , ÅNEMAN A. , D'AMOURS S.
Published: October 2014

Background

To develop a screening tool to identify patients at risk of developing intra‐abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) within 24 h of a patient's admission to intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods

Prospective, observational study of 403 consecutively enrolled patients with an indwelling catheter, admitted to a mixed medical‐surgical ICU in a tertiary referral, university hospital. Intra‐abdominal pressure was measured at least twice daily and IAH and ACS defined as per consensus definitions.

Results

Thirty‐nine per cent of patients developed IAH and 2% developed ACS. Abdominal distension, hemoperitoneum/pneumoperitoneum/intra‐peritoneal fluid collection, obesity, intravenous fluid received > 2.3 l, abbreviated Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score > 4 points and lactate > 1.4 mmol/l were identified as independent predictors of IAH upon admission to ICU. The presence of three or more of these risk factors at admission identified patients that would develop IAH with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 76%, the development of grades II, III and IV IAH with a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 62%. Patients that developed IAH required a significantly longer duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU care. Patients that developed grades II–IV IAH had a significantly higher rate of ICU mortality.

Conclusion

IAH is a common clinical entity in the intensive care setting that is associated with morbidity and mortality. A screening tool, based on data readily available within a patient's first 24 h in ICU, was developed and effectively identified patients that required intra‐abdominal pressure monitoring.
Patient fear of anesthesia complications according to surgical type: potential impact on informed consent for anesthesia
Authors: BURKLE C. M. , MANN C. E. , STEEGE J. R. , STOKKE J. S. , JACOB A. K. , PASTERNAK J. J.
Published: October 2014

Background

Past research has explored patients' expectations about the informed consent process. However, it is currently unknown if the complexity of the surgical procedure influences the type of anesthesia‐related risks that patients wish disclosed. This study explored fears of anesthesia‐related complications and whether these changed based on severity of surgery classification.

Methods

Patients presenting to our pre‐operative evaluation clinic from February 2013 to May 2013 were asked to participate in a survey‐based study meant to evaluate their perception of five possible anesthetic risks (peripheral nerve injury, death, nausea and vomiting, heart attack and stroke) when confronted with differing levels of surgical severity.

Results

One thousand surveys were administered, and 894 were returned for an overall response rate of 89%. Fear of death was the greatest concern as compared to the other risk factors independent of the severity of surgery. The level of fear for all risk factors, with the exception of stroke and heart attack, were dependent on the severity of surgery. Fear of death decreased as the severity of surgery decreased (major 46%, moderate 38%, minor 25%). For major surgery, the fear of perioperative death differed significantly with age (P < 0.001); specifically, with increasing age came a lessened fear of death.

Conclusion

Awareness by anesthesia providers of those fears that patients report may allow for a more personalized approach to providing information that may better allay anxiety. Further, these results may better tailor the informed consent process to one that meets particular patient concerns.
Historical demographic profiles and genetic variation of the East African Butana and Kenana indigenous dairy zebu cattle
Authors: Salim Bashir , Taha Khalid M. , Hanotte Olivier , Mwacharo Joram M.
Published: October 2014

Butana and Kenana breeds from Sudan are part of the East African zebu Bos indicus type of cattle. Unlike other indigenous zebu cattle in Africa, they are unique due to their reputation for high milk production and are regarded as dairy cattle, the only ones of their kind on the African continent. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D‐loop of 70 animals to understand the maternal genetic variation, demographic profiles and history of the two breeds in relation to the history of cattle pastoralism on the African continent. Only taurine mtDNA sequences were identified. We found very high mtDNA diversity but low level of maternal genetic structure within and between the two breeds. Bayesian coalescent‐based analysis revealed different historical and demographic profiles for the two breeds, with an earlier population expansion in the Butana vis a vis the Kenana. The maternal ancestral populations of the two breeds may have diverged prior to their introduction into the African continent, with first the arrival of the ancestral Butana population. We also reveal distinct demographic history between the two breeds with the Butana showing a decline in its effective population size (Ne) in the recent past ~590 years. Our results provide new insights on the early history of cattle pastoralism in Sudan indicative of a large ancient effective population size.
Effect of non‐invasive tear stability assessment on tear meniscus height
Authors: Koh Shizuka , Ikeda Chikako , Watanabe Shinya , Oie Yoshinori , Soma Takeshi , Watanabe Hitoshi , Maeda Naoyuki , Nishida Kohji
Published: October 2014

Purpose

To investigate the effect of non‐invasive tear stability assessment with forced eye opening on the lower tear meniscus.

Methods

Twenty‐three eyes of 23 patients with aqueous‐deficient dry eye and 23 eyes of 23 normal subjects were enrolled. All subjects underwent imaging with a Keratograph 5M equipped with a modified tear film scanning function. Lower tear meniscus images were captured, and tear meniscus height (TMH) was measured with an integrated ruler before and after non‐invasive Keratograph break‐up time (NIKBUT) measurements in each subject. Subjects were instructed to keep their eyes open as long as possible during NIKBUT measurements, and the recording was discontinued at the next blink.

Results

The TMH values of the normal and dry eye groups were 0.20 ± 0.05 mm and 0.14 ± 0.03 mm, respectively, at baseline. The TMH values of dry eyes were significantly smaller than those of normal eyes (p < 0.001). Significant increases in TMH values were observed in both normal (0.10 ± 0.12 mm) and dry eyes (0.04 ± 0.09 mm) with the NIKBUT measurement (p < 0.001, p = 0.039). A moderate negative correlation was observed between increased TMH and baseline TMH in dry eyes (r = −0.44, p = 0.03), whereas no correlation was observed in normal eyes (r = 0.04, p = 0.85).

Conclusions

Forced eye opening required for the non‐invasive tear stability assessment influences the TMH measurement possibly due to reflex tear secretion, even in patients with aqueous‐deficient dry eye. TMH should be assessed before tests that require forced eye opening.
Contrast sensitivity and the effect of 60‐hour sleep deprivation
Authors: Koefoed Vilhelm F. , Aßmus Jörg , Gould Kristian S. , Hövding Gunnar , Moen Bente E.
Published: October 2014

Purpose

The study aimed to evaluate the possible influence of prolonged sleep deprivation on achromatic and chromatic (red–green and blue–yellow) contrast sensitivity (CS).

Methods

During 60‐hr sleep deprivation, CS was measured in 11 naval officers every sixth hour using videographic (Vigra‐C) sine‐wave‐generated stimuli.

Results

When comparing the CS measurements obtained in the first and last 24 hr of the study, no statistically significant mean changes of achromatic CS (2.0, 5.9 and 11.8 cpd) or yellow–blue CS (0.6, 2.0 and 4.7 cpd) were found, while a significantly increased mean red–green CS at 2.0 and 4.7 cpd was recorded in the last 24 hr (p = 0.003 in both). The variance of achromatic and chromatic CS measurements in the group did not differ significantly in the first and last 24 hr test periods.

Conclusions

Prolonged sleep deprivation does apparently not cause clinically or occupationally significant changes of contrast sensitivity in otherwise healthy subjects with normal visual acuity.
Renal cell cancer histological subtype distribution differs by race and sex
Authors: Lipworth Loren , Morgans Alicia K. , Edwards Todd L. , Barocas Daniel A. , Chang Sam S. , Herrell S. Duke , Penson David F. , Resnick Matthew J. , Smith Joseph A. , Clark Peter E.
Published: October 2014

Objectives

To examine racial differences in the distribution of histological subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and associations with established RCC risk factors by subtype.

Materials and Methods

Tumours from 1532 consecutive patients with RCC who underwent nephrectomy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (1998–2012) were classified as clear‐cell, papillary, chromophobe and other subtypes. In pairwise comparisons, we used multivariate logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between race, sex, age, end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) and body mass index at diagnosis according to histological subtype.

Results

The RCC subtype distribution was significantly different in black people from that in white people (P < 0.001), with a substantially higher proportion of patients with papillary RCC among black people than white people (35.7 vs 13.8%). In multivariate analyses, compared with clear‐cell RCC, people with papillary RCC were significantly more likely to be black (OR 4.15; 95% CI 2.64–6.52) and less likely to be female (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.43–0.83). People with chromophobe RCC were significantly more likely to be female (OR 2.32; 95% CI 1.44–3.74). Both people with papillary RCC (OR 6.26; 95% CI 2.75–14.24) and those with chromophobe RCC (OR 7.07; 95% CI 2.13–23.46) were strongly and significantly more likely to have ESRD, compared with those with clear‐cell RCC.

Conclusion

We observed marked racial differences in the proportional subtype distribution of RCCs diagnosed at a large tertiary care academic centre. To our knowledge, no previous study has examined racial differences in the distribution of RCC histologies while adjusting for ESRD, which was the factor most strongly associated with papillary and chromophobe RCC compared with clear‐cell RCC.
ATP release from freshly isolated guinea‐pig bladder urothelial cells: a quantification and study of the mechanisms involved
Authors: McLatchie Linda M. , Fry Christopher H.
Published: October 2014

Objectives

To quantify the amount of ATP released from freshly isolated bladder urothelial cells, study its control by intracellular and extracellular calcium and identify the pathways responsible for its release.

Materials and Methods

Urothelial cells were isolated from male guinea‐pig urinary bladders and stimulated to release ATP by imposition of drag forces by repeated pipetting. ATP was measured using a luciferin‐luciferase assay and the effects of modifying internal and external calcium concentration and blockers of potential release pathways studied.

Results

Freshly isolated guinea‐pig urothelial cells released ATP at a mean (sem) rate of 1.9 (0.1) pmoles/mm2 cell membrane, corresponding to about 700 pmoles/g of tissue, and about half [49 (6)%, n = 9) of the available cell ATP. This release was reduced to a mean (sem) of 0.46 (0.08) pmoles/mm2 (160 pmoles/g) with 1.8 mm external calcium, and was increased about two‐fold by increasing intracellular calcium. The release from umbrella cells was not significantly different from a mixed intermediate and basal cell population, suggesting that all three groups of cells release a similar amount of ATP per unit area. ATP release was reduced by ≈50% by agents that block pannexin and connexin hemichannels. It is suggested that the remainder may involve vesicular release.

Conclusions

A significant fraction of cellular ATP is released from isolated urothelial cells by imposing drag forces that cause minimal loss of cell viability. This release involves multiple release pathways, including hemichannels and vesicular release.