bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Engaging ‘communities’: anthropological insights from the West African Ebola epidemic
Authors: Wilkinson A. , Parker M. , Martineau F. , Leach M.
Published: April 2017

The recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa highlights how engaging with the sociocultural dimensions of epidemics is critical to mounting an effective outbreak response. Community engagement was pivotal to ending the epidemic and will be to post-Ebola recovery, health system strengthening and future epidemic preparedness and response. Extensive literatures in the social sciences have emphasized how simple notions of community, which project solidarity onto complex hierarchies and politics, can lead to ineffective policies and unintended consequences at the local level, including doing harm to vulnerable populations. This article reflects on the nature of community engagement during the Ebola epidemic and demonstrates a disjuncture between local realities and what is being imagined in post-Ebola reports about the lessons that need to be learned for the future. We argue that to achieve stated aims of building trust and strengthening outbreak response and health systems, public health institutions need to reorientate their conceptualization of ‘the community’ and develop ways of working which take complex social and political relationships into account.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The 2013–2016 West African Ebola epidemic: data, decision-making and disease control’.
What we have learnt about the World Health Organization from the Ebola outbreak
Authors: Wenham Clare
Published: April 2017

The World Health Organization's (WHO) reputation became irrefutably damaged during the Ebola outbreak, with a general consensus in the global health community that it fell short of its leadership responsibilities. This commentary offers a brief synopsis of the WHO's role during the outbreak and suggests that the disease outbreak demonstrates the tension that exists between the organization's normative and operational roles in health crises. While the WHO did offer some normative leadership during the Ebola outbreak, as per its constitution, it did not provide an effective operational response, yet nor did it have a mandate to do so. This division between the normative and operational was further highlighted by the discrepancy between what the global community expects the WHO to do in a health emergency, and what it is able to do with its financial and organizational constraints. Finally, the commentary considers the introduction of the WHO Health Emergency Programme, but suggests that this too may suffer from the same structural concerns that need to be addressed if the WHO is to continue in the role the global health community expects it to play, as both a normative and operational leader in global disease control.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The 2013–2016 West African Ebola epidemic: data, decision-making and disease control’.
Assessing the causal role of body mass index on cardiovascular health in young adults: Mendelian randomization and recall-by-genotype analyses
Authors: Wade Kaitlin H. , Chiesa Scott T. , Hughes Alun D. , Chaturvedi Nish , Charakida Marietta , Rapala Alicja , Muthurangu Vivek , Khan Tauseef , Finer Nicholas , Sattar Naveed , Howe Laura D. , Fraser Abigail , Lawlor Debbie A. , Smith George Davey , Deanfield John E. , Timpson Nicholas J.
Published: April 2017

Background

Mendelian randomization (MR) studies of body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular health in mid-to-late life suggest causal relationships, but the nature of these has not been explored systematically at younger ages. Using complementary MR and recall-by-genotype (RbG) methodologies, our objective was to estimate the causal effect of BMI on detailed measures of cardiovascular health in a population of young healthy adults.

Methods and Findings

Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were used. For MR analyses, a genetic risk score (GRS) comprising 97 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and constructed using external weighting was used as an instrument to test the causal effect of each unit increase in BMI (kg/m2) on selected cardiovascular phenotypes measured at age 17 (N=7909). An independent enriched sample from the same cohort participated in a RbG study at age 21, which enabled more detailed cardiovascular phenotyping (N=418; 191/227 from the lower/upper ∼30% of a genome-wide GRS distribution predicting variation in BMI). The causal effect of BMI on the additional cardiovascular phenotypes was assessed by comparing the two recalled groups. Difference in mean BMI between RbG groups was 3.85kg/m2(95% CI: 2.53, 4.63;P=6.09×1011). In both MR and RbG analyses, results indicated that higher BMI causes higher blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular mass (indexed to height2.7, LVMI) in young adults (e.g. difference in LVMI per kg/m2using MR: 1.07g/m2.7; 95% CI: 0.62, 1.52; P=3.87×10−06and per 3.58kg/m2using RbG: 1.65g/m2.795% CI: 0.83, 2.47; P=0.0001). Additionally, RbG results indicated a causal role of higher BMI on higher stroke volume (SV; difference per 3.58kg/m2: 1.49ml/m2.04; 95% CI: 0.62, 2.35;P=0.001) and cardiac output (CO; difference per 3.58kg/m2: 0.11l /min/m1.83; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.19;P=0.01). Neither analysis supported a causal role of higher BMI on heart rate.

Conclusions

Complementary MR and RbG causal methodologies, together with a range of appropriate sensitivity analyses, showed that higher BMI is likely to cause worse cardiovascular health, specifically higher BP and LVMI, even in youth. These consistent results support efforts to prevent or reverse obesity in the young.
Increasing antibiotic susceptibility inStaphylococcus aureusin Boston, Massachusetts, 2000-2014: an observational study
Authors: Kanjilal Sanjat , Sater Mohamad R. Abdul , Thayer Maile , Lagoudas Georgia , Kim Soohong , Blainey Paul C. , Grad Yonatan H.
Published: April 2017

Background

Methicillin resistantS. aureus(MRSA) has been declining over the past decade, but changes inS. aureusoverall and the implications for trends in antibiotic resistance remain unclear.

Objective

To determine whether the decline in rates of infection by MRSA has been accompanied by changes in rates of infection by methicillin susceptible, penicillin resistantS. aureus(MSSA) and penicillin susceptibleS. aureus(PSSA). We test if these dynamics are associated with specific genetic lineages and evaluate gains and losses of resistance at the strain level.

Methods

We conducted a 15 year retrospective observational study at two tertiary care institutions in Boston, MA of 31,589 adult inpatients withS. aureusinfections. Surveillance swabs and duplicate specimens were excluded. We also sequenced a sample of contemporary isolates (n = 180) obtained between January 2016 and July 2016. We determined changes in the annual rates of infection per 1,000 inpatient admissions byS. aureussubtype and in the annual mean antibiotic resistance by subtype. We performed phylogenetic analysis to generate a population structure and infer gain and loss of the genetic determinants of resistance.

Results

Of the 43,954S. aureusinfections over the study period, 21,779 were MRSA, 17,565 MSSA and 4,610 PSSA. After multivariate adjustment, annual rates of infection byS. aureusdeclined from 2003 to 2014 by 2.9% (95% CI, 1.6%-4.3%), attributable to an annual decline in MRSA of 9.1% (95% CI, 6.3%-11.9%) and in MSSA by 2.2% (95% CI, 0.4%-4.0%). PSSA increased over this time period by 4.6% (95% CI, 3.0%-6.3%) annually. Resistance inS. aureusdecreased from 2000 to 2014 by 0.86 antibiotics (95% CI, 0.81-0.91). By phylogenetic inference, 5/35 MSSA and 2/20 PSSA isolates in the common MRSA lineages ST5/USA100 and ST8/USA300 arose from the loss of genes conferring resistance.

Conclusions and relevance

At two large tertiary care centers in Boston, MA,S. aureusinfections have decreased in rate and have become more susceptible to antibiotics, with a rise in PSSA making penicillin an increasingly viable and important treatment option.
Par3/Baz levels control epithelial folding at actomyosin-enriched compartmental boundaries
Authors: Urbano Jose M. , Naylor Huw W. , Scarpa Elena , Muresan Leila , Sanson Bénédicte
Published: April 2017

Epithelial folding is crucial to shape embryos and tissues during development. Here we investigate the coupling between epithelial folding and actomyosin-rich boundaries. The mechanistic relationship between the two is unclear, since actomyosin-rich boundaries can be either associated with folds or not, while epithelial folding has been found to be either dependent or independent of actomyosin contractility. Here we investigate the shallow folds that form at compartmental parasegment boundaries (PSBs) in the earlyDrosophilaembryo. First, we demonstrate that formation of these folds is dependent on the contractility of supracellular actomyosin cables. When the Myosin II phosphatase Flawing is depleted at the PSBs, actomyosin contractility increases, resulting in deeper folds. Conversely, inwinglessmutants, actomyosin enrichment and increased contractility at PSBs are lost and this correlates with an absence of folding. Furthermore, when we make ectopic PSBs by expressing Wingless ubiquitously, the ectopic boundaries become enriched in actomyosin and epithelial folds form. Ectopic PSB folds, however, are much deeper than endogenous ones, indicating that epithelial folding is normally under inhibitory control. We present evidence that depletion of Bazooka/Par-3 levels at PSB cell-cell contacts, which is under Wingless signaling control, is responsible for this inhibition. Bazooka is found depleted at endogenous but not ectopic PSBs. In embryos overexpressing Bazooka, endogenous PSB folds form earlier and are much deeper. To ask how local signaling at the boundaries control Bazooka levels at cell-cell contacts, we examined embryos that ectopically expressed Wingless in anhedgehogmutant background. In these embryos, inhibition of folding is rescued, with ectopic PSBs now forming shallow folds as endogenous PSBs. Bazooka is depleted at these ectopic PSBs in absence of Hedgehog, suggesting an opposite effect of Wingless and Hedgehog signaling on Bazooka levels at PSB cell-cell contacts. This uncovers a new role of Bazooka in controlling fold formation at actomyosin-rich compartmental boundaries.
Modeling the consequences of regional heterogeneity in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination uptake on transmission in Switzerland
Authors: Riesen Maurane , Garcia Victor , Low Nicola , Althaus Christian L.
Published: April 2017

Background

Completed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination by age 16 years among women in Switzerland ranges from 17 to 75% across 26 cantons. The consequences of regional heterogeneity in vaccination coverage on transmission and prevalence of HPV-16 are unclear.

Methods

We developed a deterministic, population-based model that describes HPV-16 transmission among young adults within and between the 26 cantons of Switzerland. We parameterized the model using sexual behavior data from Switzerland and data from the Swiss National Vaccination Coverage Survey. First, we investigated the general consequences of heterogeneity in vaccination uptake between two sub-populations. We then compared the predicted prevalence of HPV-16 after the introduction of heterogeneous HPV vaccination uptake in all of Switzerland with homogeneous vaccination at an uptake that is identical to the national average (52%).

Results

HPV-16 prevalence in women is 3.34% when vaccination is introduced and begins to diverge across cantons, ranging from 0.14 to 1.09% after 15 years of vaccination. After the same time period, overall prevalence of HPV-16 in Switzerland is only marginally higher (0.55 %) with heterogeneous vaccination uptake than with homogeneous uptake (0.49%). Assuming inter-cantonal sexual mixing, cantons with low vaccination uptake benefit from a reduction in prevalence at the expense of cantons with high vaccination uptake.

Conclusions

Regional variations in uptake diminish the overall effect of vaccination on HPV-16 prevalence in Switzerland, although the effect size is small. Cantonal efforts towards HPV-prevalence reduction by increasing vaccination uptake are impaired by cantons with low vaccination uptake. Harmonization of cantonal vaccination programs would reduce inter-cantonal differences in HPV-16 prevalence.
Polymorphisms in the yeast galactose sensor underlie a natural continuum of nutrient-decision phenotypes
Authors: Lee Kayla B. , Wang Jue , Palme Julius , Escalante-Chong Renan , Hua Bo , Springer Michael
Published: April 2017

In nature, microbes often need to “decide” which of several available nutrients to utilize, a choice that depends on a cell’s inherent preference and external nutrient levels. While natural environments can have mixtures of different nutrients, phenotypic variation in microbes’ decisions of which nutrient to utilize is poorly studied. Here, we quantified differences in the concentration of glucose and galactose required to induce galactose-responsive (GAL) genes across 36 wildS. cerevisiaestrains. Using bulk segregant analysis, we found that a locus containing the galactose sensorGAL3was associated with differences in GAL signaling in eight different crosses. Using allele replacements, we confirmed thatGAL3is the major driver of GAL induction variation, and thatGAL3allelic variation alone can explain as much as 90% of the variation in GAL induction in a cross. TheGAL3variants we found modulate the diauxic lag, a selectable trait. These results suggest that ecological constraints on the galactose pathway may have led to variation in a single protein, allowing cells to quantitatively tune their response to nutrient changes in the environment.

Author summary

In nature, microbes often need to decide which of many potential nutrients to consume. This decision making process is complex, involving both intracellular constraints and the organism’s perception of the environment. To begin to mimic the complexity of natural environments, we grew cells in mixtures of two sugars, glucose and galactose. We find that in mixed environments, the sugar concentration at which cells decides to induce galactose-utilizing (GAL) genes is highly variable in natural isolates of yeast. By analyzing crosses of phenotypically different strains, we identified a locus containing the galactose sensor, a gene that in theory could allow cells to tune their perception of the environment. We confirmed that the galactose sensor can explain upwards of 90% of the variation in the decision to induce GAL genes. Finally, we show that the variation in the galactose sensor can modulate the time required for cells to switch from utilizing glucose to galactose. Our results suggest that signaling pathways can be highly variable across strains and thereby might allow for rapid adaption in fluctuating environments.
Sub-minute phosphoregulation of cell-cycle systems duringPlasmodiumgamete formation
Authors: Invergo Brandon M. , Brochet Mathieu , Yu Lu , Choudhary Jyoti , Beltrao Pedro , Billker Oliver
Published: April 2017

Malaria parasites are protists of the genusPlasmodium, whose transmission to mosquitoes is initiated by the production of gametes. Male gametogenesis is an extremely rapid process that is tightly controlled to produce eight flagellated microgametes from a single haploid gametocyte within 10 minutes after ingestion by a mosquito. Regulation of the cell cycle is poorly understood in divergent eukaryotes likePlasmodium, where the highly synchronous response of gametocytes to defined chemical and physical stimuli from the mosquito has proved to be a powerful model to identify specific phosphorylation events critical for cell-cycle progression. To reveal the wider network of phosphorylation signalling in a systematic and unbiased manner, we have measured a high-resolution time course of the phosphoproteome ofP. bergheigametocytes during the first minute of gametogenesis. The data show an extremely broad response in which distinct cell-cycle events such as initiation of DNA replication and mitosis are rapidly induced and simultaneously regulated. We identify several protein kinases and phosphatases that are likely central in the gametogenesis signalling pathway and validate our analysis by investigating the phosphoproteomes of mutants in two of them, CDPK4 and SRPK1. We show these protein kinases to have distinct influences over the phosphorylation of similar downstream targets that are consistent with their distinct cellular functions, which is revealed by a detailed phenotypic analysis of an SRPK1 mutant. Together, the results show that key cell-cycle systems inPlasmodiumundergo simultaneous and rapid phosphoregulation. We demonstrate how a highly resolved time-course of dynamic phosphorylation events can generate deep insights into the unusual cell biology of a divergent eukaryote, which serves as a model for an important group of human pathogens.
Understanding physical activity in cancer patients and survivors: new methodology, new challenges, and new opportunities
Authors: Schrack Jennifer A. , Gresham Gillian , Wanigatunga Amal A.
Published: April 2017

Since the early 1990s, accumulating evidence has suggested that regular, sustained participation in physical activity may help prevent the onset and development of certain types of cancer. Given the worldwide incidence and prevalence of cancer, there is increasing interest in physical activity as a nonpharmacological intervention and prevention method. Moreover, the effectiveness of new and improved cancer therapies has also increased interest in the potential health benefits of physical activity during and after treatment. The development of wearable device technology (e.g., accelerometers) to monitor physical activity has created unprecedented opportunities to better understand the potential health benefits of physical activity in cancer patients and survivors by allowing researchers to observe, quantify, and define physical activity in real-world settings. This granular, detailed level of measurement provides the opportunity for researchers and clinicians to obtain a greater understanding of the health benefits of daily physical activity beyond the well-established benefits of “moderate-to-vigorous” physical activity and to tailor recommendations to a feasible level of activity for older and/or sicker patients and survivors. This article provides an overview of accelerometers, the potential benefits—and challenges—of using these devices in the research and clinical settings, and recommendations for future applications.
A pipeline approach to single-particle processing inRELION
Authors: Fernandez-Leiro Rafael , Scheres Sjors H. W.
Published: April 2017

The formal concept of a workflow to single-particle analysis of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) images in theRELIONprogram is described. In this approach, the structure-determination process is considered as a graph, where intermediate results in the form of images or metadata are the vertices, and different functionalities of the program are the edges. The new implementation automatically logs all user actions, facilitates file management and disk cleaning, and allows convenient browsing of the history of a project. Moreover, new functionality to iteratively execute consecutive jobs allows on-the-fly image processing, which will lead to more efficient data acquisition by providing faster feedback on data quality. The possibility of exchanging data-processing procedures among users will contribute to the development of standardized image-processing procedures, and hence increase accessibility for new users in this rapidly expanding field.
Cryo-electron microscopy of chromatin biology
Authors: Wilson Marcus D. , Costa Alessandro
Published: April 2017

The basic unit of chromatin, the nucleosome core particle (NCP), controls how DNA in eukaryotic cells is compacted, replicated and read. Since its discovery, biochemists have sought to understand how this protein–DNA complex can help to control so many diverse tasks. Recent electron-microscopy (EM) studies on NCP-containing assemblies have helped to describe important chromatin transactions at a molecular level. With the implementation of recent technical advances in single-particle EM, our understanding of how nucleosomes are recognized and read looks to take a leap forward. In this review, the authors highlight recent advances in the architectural understanding of chromatin biology elucidated by EM.
How consumer mindsets in ethnic Chinese societies affect the intention to buy Fair Trade products
Authors: Yen Ghi-Feng , Wang Ru-Yu , Yang Hsin-Ti
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how psychological antecedents (i.e. consumer mindsets) and individual difference characteristics (i.e. moral identity) affect the intention to purchase Fair Trade products based on the triadic reciprocal causation model in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). The primary factors that influence ethical consumption decisions in ethnic Chinese societies were explored by integrating the unique cultural environment of the Chinese.

Design/methodology/approach

The study effective sample comprised university students and professors. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses and indirect effects. Results showed that moral identity internalization had a mediating effect on the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products.

Findings

A high moral identity symbolization had a moderating effect on the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products. This demonstrated that the two dimensions of moral identity, internalization and symbolization, play different roles and have different functions in regards to the intention to purchase Fair Trade products.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies are urged to examine this issue at a cultural level by performing a cross-cultural comparison and to integrate consumer heterogeneity for a deeper examination of the interaction between demographic factors and psychological traits on consumer behaviours regarding Fair Trade products.

Originality/value

This study indicates that moral identity internalization is the primary factor that influences ethical consumption decisions in Chinese societies. In terms of the moderating effect of moral identity symbolization, results showed that the higher an individual’s moral identity symbolization, the stronger the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products is. These results can serve as a reference for marketing communications and market segmentation policies in the business world.
Evaluating the brand image of a rock festival using positive critical incidents
Authors: Kinnunen Maarit , Uhmavaara Kerttu , Jääskeläinen Maiju
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Since effective and successful branding increases the popularity and loyalty of the festival, and its economic success factors like positive media coverage and sponsors’ interest, it is essential that the festival brand image is credible and strong. The purpose of this paper is to focus on interpreting audience’s perceptions on a rock festival brand image to find out the factors that influence the brand image of the festival and how organisers could contribute to it.

Design/methodology/approach

Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was used in defining the factors influencing a rock festival brand.

Findings

The attending public co-produce the festival brand, and the brand image was created by the festival community where the importance of social and inclusive behaviour towards strangers was essential.

Research limitations/implications

The data were collected as a voluntary response sample which led to a biased sample. Another limitation is that the informants were asked to describe only positive incidents.

Practical implications

The festival brand image cannot be produced solely by organisers; rather, volunteers, artists and especially audience members are crucial for the success and creditability of the brand. This should be considered in marketing and event management.

Originality/value

The use of CIT in the festival brand image evaluation introduces new possibilities in the field.
Sponsorship and patronage and beyond
Authors: Settembre Blundo Davide , García Muiña Fernando Enrique , Fernández del Hoyo Alfonso Pedro , Riccardi Maria Pia , Maramotti Politi Anna Lucia
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present alternative management practice methods for the cultural heritage sector apart from the traditional public support model. These alternatives rely on sponsorship and patronage as well as the newer and more innovative public-private partnership (PPP).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is organized in two conceptual sections based on a literature review. The first section presents and compares two closely associated business strategy forms that are increasingly becoming popular within companies: sponsorship and patronage. These strategies are analyzed to show their advantages and disadvantages and are assessed based on their best uses in terms of the benefits from their implementation to all stakeholders involved (benefactors, recipients and the public) and, more particularly, to the benefactor’s company communication policy. The second section analyzes the PPP as a newer innovative practice in the cultural heritage sector, a recent development that has great potential, especially during an economic crisis where public funds are reduced, which risks the future recovery and proper maintenance of sites.

Findings

In the paper, the authors stressed that sponsorship, patronage and PPP are not merely alternative ways of primarily obtaining government funding for the cultural heritage sector but are also new strategic management practices that, when properly performed, will not only preserve and improve the sector but also allow more value to be distributed among all stakeholders.

Originality/value

Although the topic of PPP is treated fairly in the scientific literature, especially with regard to infrastructure, there are few cases of the application of this model to cultural heritage management.
Does lean manufacturing improve firm value?
Authors: Zhu Xuechang , Lin Yu
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of lean manufacturing on firm value. In particular, it analyses the effects of R&D investment on the relationship between lean manufacturing and firm value.

Design/methodology/approach

In this empirical analysis of the relationship between lean manufacturing and firm value, the authors use a propensity score matching (PSM) with a difference-in-difference (DID) estimator to control selection bias and reduce endogenous problems. They also use the triple difference estimator to explore the role of R&D investment.

Findings

The results suggest that the achievement of positive and significant effects of lean manufacturing implementation on firm value for a long time and R&D can accelerate this progress.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlights the role of R&D investment in accelerating the achievement of positive effects of lean manufacturing on firm value. However, the results may not be entirely generalizable because the empirical data are based solely on Chinese manufacturing firms.

Practical implications

Managers need to perform long-term planning while implementing lean manufacturing and should not over-expect a significant short-term improvement in performance. The authors also recommend that enterprises should pay attention to R&D while implementing lean manufacturing.

Originality/value

This paper may be the first study to empirically examine the relationship between lean manufacturing and firm value in China by combining a PSM model with the DID estimator to reduce endogenous problems.
High task interdependence: job rotation and other approaches for overcoming ingroup favoritism
Authors: Wagner Jürgen P. , Grigg Nigel , Mann Robin , Mohammad Musli
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the basic problem of ingroup favoritism in a setting of high task interdependence is addressed through an intervention strategy combining different approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports on evidence from extensive field-based case research. It focuses on the holistic description of a single high-performance logistics setting and discusses the distinct but interrelated managerial approaches against the backdrop of behavioral theory.

Findings

Most notably, the authors examine how culturally specific factors such as people’s social ingroup-outgroup categorization is reduced through a continual rotation of jobs. Work relationships are purposefully depersonalized and consequently socially reframed through reference to the corporate philosophy. Likewise, behaviors, roles and responsibilities are redefined based on a purposeful reinterpretation of the corporate philosophy. The authors evaluate these desired behaviors against the background of the perceptions of work group members and describe how these guide actual behaviors.

Practical implications

The insights of this study exemplify how adverse behavioral effects that may occur in some socio-cultural contexts may be avoided through the appropriate design of operations.

Originality/value

This study employs a holistic approach to provide valuable insights into both practitioners and academics in the field of OM to counteract detrimental behavioral effects in real-world operations.
Differences in implementing corporate social responsibility through SA8000 and ISO 26000 standards
Authors: Chiarini Andrea , Vagnoni Emidia
Published: April 2017

Purpose

There are different ways of implementing a corporate social responsibility (CSR) system. One interesting way of implementing a CSR system is based on standards such as SA8000 and ISO 26000. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences brought by the two standards in European manufacturing in CSR implementation using a survey.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight hypotheses were derived from an analysis of the implementation pattern for a CSR management system revealed from a review of the literature as well as from the actual two investigated standards. A questionnaire based on these hypotheses was administered to the CSR managers of 326 European manufacturing companies. A χ2 and Cramer’s V-tests were used to validate the results. The CSR managers also added comments to their responses. The qualitative results gathered from the respondents’ comments helped the authors’ to better understand the quantitative data.

Findings

The results showed differences in how the standards affect strategies, economic and financial issues, stakeholders involved, environmental management, customer and market issues, supply chain management and CSR key performance indicators. The results indicated that it is not clear how production and technical departments can be involved in and committed to such standards or, in general, to a CSR system.

Research limitations/implications

The research is based on a sample of European manufacturing managers and limited to the implementation of two specific CSR standards.

Practical implications

The differences between the standards should be interesting to practitioners who are thinking of implementing a CSR system in a manufacturing context and weighing the pros and cons of each standard.

Originality/value

This research analyses, for the first time, the differences in CSR implementation brought by SA8000 and ISO 26000 in manufacturing and, in particular, in production and technical departments.
The role of staff engagement in facilitating staff-led value co-creation
Authors: Merrilees Bill , Miller Dale , Yakimova Raisa
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The study extends customer-led co-creation research to the related staff-led value co-creation domain. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of staff engagement as a facilitator of staff-led value co-creation.

Design/methodology/approach

A new conceptual framework develops a model of staff-led value-creation, using three types of staff-led co-creation. A quantitative approach is used. Survey collection yielded a sample of 1,165 employees in an Australian not-for-profit context across 19 organizations. AMOS structural equation modeling analyzes the data.

Findings

A major finding is the nexus between staff engagement and staff-led value co-creation. The nexus applies for three types of staff-led co-creation and three staff categories. Different explanatory mechanisms apply to each type of staff-led value co-creation.

Research limitations/implications

The not-for-profit context may not generalize to the for-profit sector, but future research could clarify this matter.

Practical implications

The results can inform organizations wishing to create greater service contributions through greater staff participation, which can include a staff-initiating (staff-led) role. Different value co-creation targets require different corporate triggers, reflecting the different explanatory mechanisms of each co-creation type.

Social implications

Not-for-profit context ensures major social implications.

Originality/value

The emphasis on staff-led value co-creation augments the customer-led co-creation literature. Additionally, exploring the (staff) engagement to (staff) value co-creation nexus is a novel contribution.
Smile for a while: the effect of employee-displayed smiling on customer affect and satisfaction
Authors: Otterbring Tobias
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of employee-displayed smiling on customers’ affective states (pleasure, arousal, and dominance) and satisfaction. Building on the stimulus-organism-response framework and theories of emotional contagion and feelings-as-information, the main hypothesis was that a smiling (vs non-smiling) employee significantly increases customer satisfaction through the mediating influence of pleasure.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a quasi-experimental two-group between-subjects design. A total of 210 customers at a large retail bank had a brief service encounter at the store entrance with a smiling (vs non-smiling) bank teller. Customers then went into the bank to do what they came to do. Before leaving the bank, customers completed a survey that included demographic information, affect (pleasure, arousal, and dominance), and measures of customer satisfaction.

Findings

A smiling (vs non-smiling) employee had a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction. This effect was mediated by pleasure, but also, to a weaker extent, by dominance. These results contradict previous claims that smiling-induced emotional contagion does not remain throughout the completion of a service encounter.

Practical implications

Managers should encourage, and potentially train, employees to act in ways associated with positive emotions. Managers could also hire employees based on how good they are at acting and expressing themselves in a genuinely positive manner and create a pleasant store atmosphere so that the feelings and behaviors displayed by frontline employees are genuine rather than inauthentic.

Originality/value

This is the first experimental field study to examine the isolated effect that employee-displayed smiling has on customers’ affective states and satisfaction. The results provide more direct evidence for the psychological processes justified by emotional contagion and feelings-as-information theories. Furthermore, the finding that dominance mediates the smiling-satisfaction link has never been shown before.
Making Santorini: reflecting on the past, imagining the future
Authors: Lichrou Maria , O’Malley Lisa , Patterson Maurice
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Strategic analyses of Mediterranean destinations have well documented the impacts of mass tourism, including high levels of seasonality and landscape degradation as a result of the “anarchic” nature of tourism development in these destinations. The lack of a strategic framework is widely recognised in academic and popular discourse. What is often missing, however, is local voice and attention to the local particularities that have shaped the course of tourism development in these places. Focusing on narratives of people living and working in Santorini, Greece, this paper aims to examine tourism development as a particular cultural experience of development.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted narrative interviews with 22 local residents and entrepreneurs. Participants belonged to different occupational sectors and age groups. These are supplemented with secondary data, consisting of books, guides, documentaries and online news articles on Santorini.

Findings

The analysis and interpretation by the authors identify remembered, experienced and imagined phases of tourism development, which we label as romancing tourism, disenchantment and reimagining tourism.

Research limitations/implications

Professionalisation has certainly allowed the improvement of quality standards, but in transforming hosts into service providers, a distance and objectivity is created that results in a loss of authenticity. Authenticity is not just about what the tourists seek but also about what a place is or can be, and the “sense of place” that residents have and use in their everyday lives.

Social implications

Local narratives offer insights into the particularities of tourism development and the varied, contested and dynamic meanings of places. Place narratives can therefore be a useful tool in developing a reflexive and participative place-making process.

Originality/value

The study serves the understanding of how tourism, subject to the global-local relations, is a particular experience of development that shapes a place’s identity. The case of Santorini shows how place-making involves changing, multilayered desires and contradictory visions of tourism and development. This makes socio-cultural and environmental challenges hard to resolve. It is thus challenging to change the course of development, as various actors at the local level and beyond have diverse interests and interpretations of what is desirable for the place.
How does household debt affect financial asset holdings? Evidence from euro area countries
Authors: Kukk Merike
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The paper aims to investigate the impact of financial liabilities on households’ holdings of financial assets. The debt-to-income ratio of the household sector increased from 75 per cent in 2000 to 99 per cent in 2010 in the euro area on average, and the rapid accumulation of household debt has induced the need to study how indebtedness affects the behaviour of households beyond their borrowing decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the first wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey from 2009-2010 covering euro area countries. The paper estimates a system of equations for households’ financial liabilities and assets, taking account of endogeneity and selection bias.

Findings

The results indicate that higher household liabilities are related to lower holdings of financial assets. The results are confirmed by a large number of robustness tests. The findings support the hypothesis that credit availability reduces precautionary savings as income shocks can be smoothed by borrowing, meaning fewer assets are held for self-insurance against consumption risk.

Practical implications

The results are obtained from a recession period when households faced aggregate shocks, whereas credit constraints were tighter than during good times. The implications of lower incentives to keep financial assets by indebted households is that they are actually more vulnerable to aggregate shocks, as they have fewer resources available when they are hit by a negative shock.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to investigate the effect of liabilities on financial assets using household level data. The paper takes a holistic view and models financial assets and liabilities jointly while controlling for endogeneity and selection bias.
Predator foraging response to a resurgent dangerous prey
Authors: Tallian Aimee , Smith Douglas W. , Stahler Daniel R. , Metz Matthew C. , Wallen Rick L. , Geremia Chris , Ruprecht Joel , Wyman C. Travis , MacNulty Daniel R.
Published: April 2017

Prey switching occurs when a generalist predator kills disproportionately more of an abundant prey species and correspondingly spares a rarer species. Although this behaviour is a classic stabilizing mechanism in food web models, little is known about its operation in free‐living systems which often include dangerous prey species that resist predation.

We used long‐term (1995–2015) data from a large mammal system in northern Yellowstone National Park,USA, to understand how prey preference of a wild, generalist predator (Canis lupus) responds to a shift in prey species evenness involving rising numbers of dangerous prey (Bison bison) and dropping numbers of relatively safer prey (Cervus elaphus).

Contrary to the prey switching hypothesis, wolves attacked and killed disproportionately more of the rarer, but safer, species. Wolves maintained a strong preference against bison even when this species was nearly twice as abundant as elk. [Correction added after online publication on 26 April 2017: ‘more than’ changed to ‘nearly’]. There was also evidence that wolves were increasingly averse to hunting bison as relative bison abundance increased.

Wolves seldom hunted bison because capture success was limited to a narrow set of conditions: larger packs (>11 wolves) chasing smaller herds (10–20 bison) with calves. Wolves scavenged bison carrion instead and did so more frequently as bison abundance increased.

Our study demonstrates the overarching importance of prey vulnerability to understanding the prey preferences of generalist predators in ecological communities with dangerous prey. The formidable defences of such prey diminish the potential for switching and its stabilizing influence on population dynamics. In these communities, shifts from hunting to scavenging are perhaps more likely than shifts in prey preference. The assumption of switching may therefore overestimate the stability of multi‐prey systems that include dangerous prey species.

Alay summaryis available for this article.
How rough sea affects marine seismic data and deghosting procedures
Authors: Egorov Anton , Glubokovskikh Stanislav , Bóna Andrej , Pevzner Roman , Gurevich Boris , Tokarev Mikhail
Published: April 2017

Most seismic processing algorithms generally consider the sea surface as a flat reflector. However, acquisition of marine seismic data often takes place in weather conditions where this approximation is inaccurate. The distortion in the seismic wavelet introduced by the rough sea may influence (for example) deghosting results, as deghosting operators are typically recursive and sensitive to the changes in the seismic signal. In this paper, we study the effect of sea surface roughness on conventional (5–160 Hz) and ultra‐high‐resolution (200–3500 Hz) single‐component towed‐streamer data. To this end, we numerically simulate reflections from a rough sea surface using the Kirchhoff approximation. Our modelling demonstrates that for conventional seismic frequency band sea roughness can distort results of standard one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional deterministic deghosting. To mitigate this effect, we introduce regularisation and optimisation based on the minimum‐energy criterion and show that this improves the processing output significantly. Analysis of ultra‐high‐resolution field data in conjunction with modelling shows that even relatively calm sea state (i.e., 15 cm wave height) introduces significant changes in the seismic signal for ultra‐high‐frequency band. These changes in amplitude and arrival time may degrade the results of deghosting. Using the field dataset, we show how the minimum‐energy optimisation of deghosting parameters improves the processing result.
Soluble‐HLA‐E: A follow up biomarker in Takayasu arteritis, independent of HLA‐E genotype
Authors: Goel Ruchika , Kabeerdoss Jayakanthan , Mohan Hindhumathi , Danda Sumita , Jayaseelan Visali , Kumar T. Sathish , Jude John , Bacon Paul , Joseph George , Danda Debashish
Published: April 2017

Aim

Disease activity assessment in Takayasu arteritis (TA) is challenging. Human leukocyte antigen E (HLA‐E) is shed from endothelium into serum as a soluble molecule (sHLA‐E) in response to inflammation. We aimed to study: (i) utility of sHLA‐E as a biomarker of disease activity; and (ii) association of HLA‐E polymorphism rs1264457 with clinical disease in Asian‐Indian TA patients.

Materials and Methods

In phase‐1, sHLA‐E levels were estimated in sera of 50 consecutive TA patients at baseline visit and 27 healthy controls. Serial estimations were performed in 27 of them. In phase‐2, DNA of 150 TA patients and 264 healthy controls were genotyped for rs1264457 polymorphism.

Results

At baseline visit, disease was classified as active, stable and grumbling in 23, 18 and nine patients, respectively. sHLA‐E levels were higher in active TA (43; interquartile range [IQR]: 25.3–64.6) pg/mL) than stable disease (12.9; IQR: 7.6–21.6 pg/mL) (P = 0.001). At first follow‐up visit, sHLA‐E levels were numerically higher in active disease than stable disease (P = 0.06) but this trend was blunted at second follow‐up. sHLA‐E levels increased in 54% versus 25% of patients with persistently active/relapsing and persistent stable course, respectively. rs1264457 polymorphism was not associated with susceptibility to TA and did not affect sHLA‐E levels.

Conclusion

sHLA‐E level is useful as a biomarker of disease activity and course in TA patients. rs1264457 polymorphism is neither associated with susceptibility nor did it influence sHLA‐E levels in TA.
Accounting Research in Abacus, A&F, AAR, and AJM from 2008–2015: A Review and Research Agenda
Authors: Linnenluecke Martina K. , Birt Jacqueline , Chen Xiaoyan , Ling Xin , Smith Tom
Published: April 2017

This paper uses bibliographic mapping techniques to map the research conversation in four Pacific Basin accounting journals listed on the Social Sciences Citation Index (Abacus, Accounting and Finance, Australian Accounting Review, and the Australian Journal of Management). We identify the main research streams in these journals as Accounting Standards, Environmental Accounting, Earnings Management, Disclosure, Conservatism, Auditing, Impairment, Cost of Capital, and Corporate Governance. We critically review each research stream, identify emerging research trends, and suggest an agenda for future research on accounting in the Pacific Basin.