bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sharing #MeToo on Twitter: incidents, coping responses, and social reactions
Authors: Schneider Kimberly T. , Carpenter Nathan J.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine 2,102 #MeToo tweets and focuses on the content of the tweets and social reactions to these tweets. For a subsample of 912 tweets that included disclosures of sexual assault or harassment, the incident type and context, along with coping were also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

#MeToo tweets were retrieved from a 24 h time period immediately after the initial tweet prompting responses. Both sentiment analysis and content and context analyses were performed.

Findings

Although the overall sentiment of tweets indicated a negative tone, the majority of positive social reactions indicated validation and belief of survivors, offered emotional support and called for social change. Targets who disclosed generally described workplace harassment and assertive coping responses.

Research limitations/implications

Sentiment analysis can be limited given a lack of context. Not all targets using #MeToo shared details of their harassment or assault; those who did reported using more assertive coping responses than traditional samples of survivors.

Practical implications

Social media platforms offer unique opportunities for targets to share personal stories and receive emotional and social support they may not have access in-person.

Social implications

#MeToo provided targets with a groundswell of social and emotional support, along with a less frequent amount of backlash against the movement.

Originality/value

A multimethod approach was used with both sentiment analysis and text coding to examine #MeToo, allowing for a description of types of incidents shared, coping strategies and social reactions.
Polypharmacy and drug-drug interactions among older and younger male prisoners in Switzerland
Authors: Annaheim Beatrice , Wangmo Tenzin , Bretschneider Wiebke , Handtke Violet , Elger Bernice S. , Belardi Angelo , Meyer Andrea H. , Hösli Raphael , Lutters Monika
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of polypharmacy and drug–drug interactions (DDIs) in older and younger prisoners, and compared if age group is associated with risks of polypharmacy and DDIs.

Design/methodology/approach

For 380 prisoners from Switzerland (190 were 49 years and younger; 190 were 50 years and older), data concerning their medication use were gathered. MediQ identified if interactions of two or more substances could lead to potentially adverse DDI. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and generalised linear mixed models.

Findings

On average, older prisoners took 3.8 medications, while younger prisoners took 2.1 medications. Number of medications taken on one reference day was higher by a factor of 2.4 for older prisoners when compared to younger prisoners (p= 0.002). The odds of polypharmacy was significantly higher for older than for younger prisoners (>=5 medications: odds ratio = 5.52,p= 0.035). Age group analysis indicated that for potentially adverse DDI there was no significant difference (odds ratio = 0.94;p= 0.879). However, when controlling for the number of medication, the risk of adverse DDI was higher in younger than older prisoners, but the result was not significant.

Originality/value

Older prisoners are at a higher risk of polypharmacy but their risk for potentially adverse DDI is not significantly different from that of younger prisoners. Special clinical attention must be given to older prisoners who are at risk for polypharmacy. Careful medication management is also important for younger prisoners who are at risk of very complex drug therapies.
Social media as micro-encounters
Authors: Zavattaro Staci M. , Brainard Lori A.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework for understanding how millennial social media use preferences can help public administrators change their delivery ethos to foster meaningful micro-encounters in digital spaces to then create public value. Ideally, these micro-encounters encourage public values creation from both the user (government) and audience side. Traditional government social media use often is one-way push without much care for dialogue and discussion. This revised framework shifts that thinking from the social media creation phase, allowing public administrators to use the tools in a more creative way.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach to the paper is theoretical, meaning the theoretical framework brings together lines of scholarship that have previously run parallel: millennial social media use preferences, government social media, and public values creation.

Findings

The theoretical framework offers propositions for future inquiry. The framework shows how traditional public sector social media use fails when it comes to creating meaningful spaces for interaction, which ideally is the purpose of social media.

Practical implications

The framework offered herein can help practitioners change the way they set up and even currently use social media tools to engage with the public. Though the framework is based on millennial social media preferences, any generation can benefit from a more open, inclusive platform that strives to foster public values such as collaboration, dialogue and transparency.

Originality/value

The theoretical framework generated for this paper brings together usually separate literatures to create a more holistic picture of social media use for public administrators.
The Citipreneur
Authors: Tomor Zsuzsanna
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of local entrepreneurs, embedded in both the civil and the business arena, in creating public value by establishing strategic collaboration around smart technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper suggests a novel – the local entrepreneurial – type of smart bottom-up initiative between civil grassroots and market-based initiatives. This idea is further evolved in the paper to define the patterns of this alternative type of smart bottom-up initiative. For this purpose, the paper conducts a case study of a community-based sustainable energy and mobility system launched by a local entrepreneur in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Findings

The local entrepreneur has played a catalyzing role in public value creation by initiating and upscaling cooperative practices around smart technologies. This success has mainly been achieved due to the entrepreneurial attitudes of pioneering and risk-taking as well as the capability to bridge between the state, the market and society to accelerate urban sustainability transition.

Practical implications

This paper offers a practical illustration of the potential of local entrepreneurs to evolve cooperative practices with smart technologies for societal change. It also shows the vital role of local governments in the achievement of bottom-up initiatives contributing to urban smartness. However, in the case of commercializing initiatives, governments also need to take a balancing role to safeguard the needs of all citizens based on fairness and equity, which is at the core of public value creation.

Originality/value

The study adds to the citizen participation literature by revealing a novel type of active citizen grasping technological opportunities to mobilize networks to cooperate for the collective good. The research also contributes to a better understanding of the bottom-up smart city as a form of governance, and its advantages as well as drawbacks concerning public value creation.
Brand love: the emotional bridge between experience and engagement, generation-M perspective
Authors: Junaid Muhammad , Hou Fujun , Hussain Khalid , Kirmani Ali Ashiq
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact on brand love of consumption experience at the dimensional level and to determine whether brand love mediates between consumption experience and customer engagement in the context of Generation M.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 265 Muslim smartphone users responded to a structured questionnaire adapted from existing literature. First, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out, and then data were analyzed through structural equation modeling using MPlus.

Findings

The findings indicate that hedonic pleasure and escapism directly, while flow, challenge and learning indirectly affect brand love and that brand love mediates the relationship between consumption experience and customer engagement.

Practical implications

This paper explicates Generation M’s consumption experience, ascertains ways to supplement their love for brand and engage them in gainful relationships and provides suggestions for further investigation. From a managerial perspective, the paper has implications for the management of consumer experience, identifies the most valuable dimensions of consumption experience and proposes that managers can develop customer-engagement strategies via brand love.

Originality/value

The paper validates the mediating role of brand love in the relationship between consumption experience and customer engagement; is the first to investigate the relationship between all dimensions of consumption experience and brand love; is one of few studies to investigate consumption experience, brand love and customer engagement in developing countries; and is one of first investigations to use a sample of Generation M.
Users and non-users of counterfeits: motivations, emotional outcomes and neutralization processes
Authors: Omeraki Çekirdekci Şahver , Baruonu Latif Fatma Ozge
Published: March 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how socio-economic status (SES) shapes consumers’ purchase behavior of genuine brands and counterfeits. It also forms a typology based on the decision-making processes of these two groups by exploring neutralization processes and emotional outcomes related to their behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 42 users and non-users of counterfeits from different SES groups.

Findings

This paper develops a consumer typology based on the customer behavior of counterfeit and genuine brand users, as well as emotional outcomes and neutralization strategies used to justify their actions according to their SES group. These categories are defined as the black chameleons, the counterfeit owners, the genuine brand owners and the authenticity seekers.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the counterfeit literature by examining the consumption practices of each SES group of users and non-users of counterfeits by focusing on motivations, emotional outcomes and neutralization processes. The study shows how consumers’ end consumption practices and their SES group explains the mix findings on the counterfeit literature.
Core recovery: a damage diagnosis tool for thermally deteriorated concrete
Authors: Kulkarni Kishor S. , Yaragal Subhash C. , S.K. Babu Narayan
Published: March 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to study and assess residual strengths of concrete specimen exposed to elevated temperatures by core recovery tests.

Design/methodology/approach

The appraisal of concrete structures is typically carried out by means of partially destructive tests such as tests on concrete cores taken from the structure and non-destructive testing.

Findings

This paper presents results associated with determination of residual compressive strengths of plain and reinforced concrete elements exposed to elevated temperatures by core recovery test. Physical observations and results of compressive strengths of cores extracted from plain cement concrete, as well as from reinforced concrete beam elements exposed to elevated temperatures, have been presented.

Originality/value

The empirical relations have been proposed between standard cube and core extracted for compressive strength of concretes exposed to elevated temperatures are useful for damage diagnosis.
Corporate social responsibility, ambidextrous leadership, and service excellence
Authors: Luu Tuan , Viet Le , Masli Eryadi , Rajendran Diana
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to delve into the interactive effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ambidextrous leadership on customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (customer-oriented OCB) and service recovery performance among tourism industry workers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from participants working in tour companies based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The associations among the constructs in the research model were tested through multilevel structural equation modeling.

Findings

Data analysis supported the positive links between CSR and customer-oriented OCB and service recovery performance. Customer-oriented job-crafting emerged as a mediator for such relationships. Ambidextrous leadership played a moderating role to attenuate the positive impacts of CSR on customer-oriented job crafting, customer-oriented OCB and service recovery performance.

Originality/value

The study extends the tourism management literature by linking CSR to customer-oriented OCB and service recovery performance among tourism employees via customer-oriented job crafting as a mediator and ambidextrous leadership as a moderator.
Transformation of firm innovation activities into brand effect
Authors: Zameer Hashim , Wang Ying , Yasmeen Humaira
Published: March 2019

Purpose

Brand effect is an important source of innovation performance, but rarely any study in the past has paid attention to explore the way firm innovation activities transform into brand effect. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how firm innovation activities transform into brand effect.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of hypothesis has been developed to show the relationships among firm innovation activities, brand prototype, brand preference and brand recommendation. The online survey method was used for data collection. In total, 546 valid questionnaires were retrieved. The study used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling technique to test the hypothesis.

Findings

Results indicate that brand prototype leads the process of cognitive processing from innovation activities’ perception to brand preference and recommendation. The consumer perception of process innovation, marketing innovation, product innovation and the store environment have direct impact on brand prototype that further influences product sophistication, brand preference and brand recommendation. But, the most powerful influence is on brand preference. Moreover, product sophistication–attribute-specific brand knowledge has direct impact on brand preference and indirect impact on the brand recommendation. The whole process from brand prototype to brand preference and brand recommendation mainly reflects the strength of the brand effect formation.

Practical implications

This study provides useful managerial insights so that firms can learn the way to maximize brand effect through the management of innovation perception and cultivation of innovation soft capability to enhance innovation performance.

Originality/value

This study unfolds the transformation of firm innovation activities into brand effect that provides a new theoretical explanation and a holistic framework for the source of innovation performance.
What drives brand supportive intentions?
Authors: Wu Hung-Che , Chang Ya-Yuan
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relationship between brand supportive intentions and their seven drivers.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from respondents who had purchased ASUS products, obtaining 546 valid samples which were analyzed with structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression modeling.

Findings

Results indicate that positive brand perceptual evaluation and brand co-creation significantly positively influence brand experiential satisfaction, whereas brand regret significantly negatively influences brand experiential satisfaction. In addition, brand experiential satisfaction has a positive influence on brand love, which, in turn, leads to brand supportive intentions. Moreover, brand supportive intentions are positively influenced by brand experiential satisfaction. In addition, brand need for cognition moderates the effect of brand experiential satisfaction on brand supportive intentions.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies should focus on the respondents who purchase other branded products and compare their findings with this study.

Practical implications

Investing resources in the increase of brand perceptual evaluation, brand co-creation, brand experiential satisfaction, brand love and brand need for cognition and the decrease of brand regret is helpful to enhance brand supportive intentions.

Originality/value

This paper provides data that lead to a better understanding of the relationship between relationship brand supportive intentions and their seven drivers in a branding context.
Impact of interactive eReferral on tourists behavioral intentions
Authors: Al-Htibat Ameen , Garanti Zanete
Published: March 2019

Purpose

Despite recognizing the importance of eReferral in shaping tourists’ behavioral intentions, researchers have rarely explored its dynamics. In the recent years, interest in the superiority of interactive eReferral over eWOM has burgeoned, thus increasing theoretical and empirical quest, which has generated many inconsistencies. Drawing on social identity, trust transfer and social tie theories, the purpose of this paper is to explore an integrative model that investigates the impact of interactive eReferral on tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit. Besides the direct influences of interactive eReferral on tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit, the authors assess the mediating role of tourist engagement on the relationship between these concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing survey data, variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM) was applied to diagnose the proposed model.

Findings

VB-SEM results suggest that interactive eReferral has a positive impact on tourist engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit. Tourist engagement mediates the link between interactive eReferral and eReferral sharing behavior, and intention to visit.

Originality/value

By examining the relationship between interactive eReferral, tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit, the model departs from existing views to shed new light on the interactivity of eReferral. Implications for marketing practices and research are discussed.
A framework for electronic records management in support of e-government in Kenya
Authors: Ambira Cleophas Mutundu , Kemoni Henry Nyabuto , Ngulube Patrick
Published: March 2019

Purpose

This paper is based on the doctoral study conducted in 2016 at the University of South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the current state of management of electronic records in Kenya facilitates or undermines implementation of e-government with a view to develop a best-practice framework for management of electronic records in support of e-government.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the interpretive research paradigm and adopted qualitative research methodology using phenomenological design. Maximum variation sampling was used to identify the research sample for the study.

Findings

The findings established that the general status of management of e-records (MER) in government ministries is inadequately positioned to support e-government; use of e-government in Kenya had grown significantly and more ministries were adopting e-government services; although some initiatives have been undertaken to enhance MER, the existing practices for MER require improvement to ensure they adequately support e-government.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations were access to respondents and the challenge of self-reported data.

Practical implications

Recommendations and a best-practice framework for managing electronic records in support of e-government have been provided. A proposal for implementation of the recommendations on a priority basis has also been provided.

Social implications

The study’s contribution to scholarly works and literature in the field resides in its findings and a framework that can be practically adopted for management of e-records in support of e-government. By establishing the nexus between management of e-records and e-government in Kenya, it is hoped that it will provide input to policymakers to consider records managers as key stakeholders in e-government.

Originality/value

The originality of this study stems from two aspects: original topic and understudied area.
Trialling technologies to reduce hospital in‐patient falls: an agential realist analysis
Authors: Timmons Stephen , Vezyridis Paraskevas , Sahota Opinder
Published: March 2019

This paper analyses the ‘failure' of a patient safety intervention. Our study was part of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of bed and bedside chair pressure sensors linked to radio pagers to prevent bedside falls in older people admitted to hospital. We use agential realism within science and technology studies to examine the fall and its prevention as a situated phenomenon of knowledge that is made and unmade through intra‐actions between environment, culture, humans and technologies. We show that neither the intervention (the pressure sensor system), nor the outcome (fall prevention) could be disentangled from the broader sociomaterial context of the ward, the patients, the nurses and (especially) their work through the RCT. We argue that the RCT design, by virtue of its unacknowledged assumptions, played a part in creating the negative findings. The study also raises wider questions about the kind of subjectivities, agencies and power relations these entanglements might effect and (re)produce in the hospital ward.
National protest agenda and the dimensionality of party politics: Evidence from four East‐Central European democracies
Authors: CÍSAŘ ONDŘEJ , VRÁBLÍKOVÁ KATEŘINA
Published: March 2019

Contemporary democracies show considerable differences in the issue composition of their protest politics, which tends to remain relatively stable over time. In countries like Germany or the Czech Republic, the vast majority of protests have been mobilised around sociocultural issues, such as human rights, peace, nuclear power or the environment, and only a tiny portion of protest has focused on economic issues. At the opposite extreme, protest in France or Poland usually has a strongly economic character and voices demands relating to material redistribution and social policy. What lies behind the cross‐country differences in national protest agendas? In this article, the national protest agenda depends on what issues mainstream political parties are contesting: the content and strength of the master‐issue dimension. In reference to the literature on the multidimensional political space and niche political parties, one should expect that there is a substitutive effect; where the stronger a specific master‐issue dimension is in party politics, the less salient that issue dimension is in protest politics. This substitutive effect results from the tendency of electoral politics to reduce political conflict to a single‐dimension equilibrium, which decreases the importance of other issues and relegates the contest over secondary, niche issues to the realm of policy‐seeking strategies, with protest being a common type of this political strategy. In party systems where single‐dimension equilibrium does not exist and the master‐issue dimension is weaker, the same dynamics result in a more convergent relationship between party and protest politics and a greater similarity between the protest‐ and party‐system agendas. To investigate this theory, the national protest agendas in four countries are examined. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia show four combinations of two crucial factors that are not available in the old Western democracies: the content and the strength of the master‐issue dimension. The study draws on an original dataset of protest events organised in the four countries between 1993 and 2010, and on qualitative and quantitative data on issue dimensions of party politics obtained from studies on party politics and expert surveys. The results show that in the Czech Republic, where the master‐issue dimension has remained strongly economic, protest has been predominantly sociocultural. In Poland between 1993 and 2001 and Hungary between 1993 and 2006, the master‐issue dimensions are strongly sociocultural, while protest is predominantly economic. There is no single‐dimension equilibrium in party politics in Slovakia or in post‐2001 Poland and mainstream parties compete on both economic and sociocultural issues. Consequently, the substitutive dynamics between party and protest politics is weaker and the issue agendas in party and protest arenas are here more alike.
Fresh pipes with dirty water: How quality of government shapes the provision of public goods in democracies
Authors: POVITKINA MARINA , BOLKVADZE KETEVAN
Published: March 2019

A large strand of research holds that democracy with its broad representation and electoral accountability is beneficial for the provision of public goods. Yet, there is a large variation in how democracies perform, indicating that democratic institutions alone do not suffice for securing citizens’ wellbeing. Recent studies have stressed the equal importance of state capacity for public goods delivery. These studies, however, rarely investigate how the lack of state capacity mutes the effects of democratic institutions on public goods provision. This article addresses this gap by using a mixed methods design. First, the conditional effects of democracy and quality of government (QoG) are tested on the previously under‐researched domain of the provision of clean water. The results show that democracy is associated with higher water quality only in countries where QoG is high. If QoG is low, more democracy is even related to lower water quality. The second stage of the analysis proceeds by examining how poor QoG disrupts the effects of democracy on public access to safe drinking water using interview data from a typical case of Moldova. The analysis illustrates that democracy has a number of positive effects and incentivises politicians to focus on the visible aspects of water provision, including the expansion of the water pipe network. However, low QoG hampers adoption and implementation of long‐term policies necessary for securing an aspect of water provision that is harder to achieve – namely water quality. This leaves the fresh pipes with dirty water.
Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis: A 14‐year experience
Authors: Domínguez‐Comesaña Elías , Tojo‐Artos Iria , Domínguez‐Fernández Rubén , Rial‐Durán Agata , Tojo‐Ramallo Sergio , Estevez‐Fernandez Sergio
Published: March 2019

Aim

Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis (XGC) is a rare disease. The present study was conducted to evaluate the results of both open cholecystectomy (OC) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), in patients with XGC.

Patients and Methods

A retrospective study was performed including 4228 patients who underwent an OC or LC between January 2003 and November 2017. Sixty‐three patients with XGC were identified, and their clinical and operative details were analysed.

Results

The incidence of XGC was 1.49 per cent. The mean age of the patients was 65.8 years, and 57 per cent were male. The most common clinical presentation was acute cholecystitis (44.4 per cent). Forty‐five patients (71.4 per cent) underwent an LC, with a conversion rate of 40 per cent. The mean operative times were 127.2 min for OC, 82.2 min for LC and 141.6 min for LC to OC conversion (LOC). The mean operative time was significantly longer for OC compared with LC (P = 0.02). Fifteen patients (23.8 per cent) had some postoperative complications, of which the most frequent was incisional surgical site infection (6.34 per cent). Two patients died (3.2 per cent). The mean postoperative stay was 5.07 days for LC and 11.77 days for OC (P = 0.005).

Conclusions

XGC is a rare disease associated with prolonged surgical times, high morbidity and a high LOC rate.
Radiofrequency ablation is safe and effective in the treatment of Chinese patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: A single‐center prospective study
Authors: Liu Pei Pei , Meng Qian Qian , Lin Han , Han Yan , Qian Wei , Li Zhao Shen , Wang Luo Wei
Published: March 2019

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficiency of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in Chinese patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Methods

This was a single‐center, prospective study including 27 Chinese patients with GERD. The outcomes in all patients were evaluated before and at 3, 6, and 12 months after RFA, including their GERD health‐related quality of life (GERD‐HRQL) score, esophageal acid exposure, DeMeester score, lower esophageal sphincter (LES) resting pressure, and patient's satisfaction with symptom control. Furthermore, rabeprazole sodium (RS) administration, reflux esophagitis (RE), and intraoperative and postoperative complications were also evaluated.

Results

RFA treatment significantly reduced the GERD‐HRQL score, the percentage of time that esophageal pH < 4, and the DeMeester score, and significantly increased the LES resting pressure in GERD patients. A need for RS administration was reduced and RE symptoms were relieved. Satisfaction rate of 92.6% and 96.3% was reported by these patients at 6 and 12 months post‐treatment, respectively. Mild bleeding (<20 mL) occurred in one patient during RFA, and no serious intraoperative and postoperative complications were observed.

Conclusion

RFA is safe and effective in the treatment of GERD in Chinese patients.
Traumatic dural venous sinus gas predicts a higher likelihood of dural venous sinus thrombosis following blunt head trauma
Authors: So Tiffany Y , Dixon Andrew , Kavnoudias Helen , Paul Eldho , Maclaurin William
Published: March 2019

Introduction

The aim of this study was to assess the association between intrasinus gas and dural venous sinus thrombosis (DVST) in patients with blunt head trauma.

Methods

One hundred and two consecutive patients with blunt head trauma imaged with non‐enhanced CT and CT head venography at our institution between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2016 were included. Image review was performed by two independent reviewers to assess for the presence of intrasinus or perisinus gas and DVST. Skull fractures involving a dural venous sinus, sinus hyperdensity, extraaxial haematoma, and/or extrinsic dural venous sinus compression were also recorded. Univariate and multivariate analyses estimated the associations between the imaging variables and DVST.

Results

Thirty‐seven cases of DVST were confirmed with CT venography: 10 (27.0%) occlusive, and 27 (73.0%) non‐occlusive. We detected 24 cases of intrasinus gas, all occurring with skull fractures. Gas localized to the sinus involved by the fracture in 23 (95.8%) of 24 cases. Additional gas within a contiguous sinus was present in nine (37.5%) cases. The association between intrasinus gas and DVST of the respective sinus was statistically significant (OR: 11.3, CI: 3.9–32.9, P < 0.0001). DVST was also significantly associated with the presence of a skull fracture (P = 0.04), fractures involving the sigmoid sinus (P = 0.0001), and sinus hyperdensity (P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Traumatic intrasinus gas is associated with DVST in patients with blunt head trauma. Its detection on non‐enhanced CT examinations in the emergency care setting infers a higher risk of DVST and should prompt consideration of CT venography.
Incidental hepatic steatosis on unenhanced computed tomography performed for suspected renal colic: Gaps in reporting and documentation
Authors: Kutaiba Numan , Richmond Danielle , Morey Matthew , Brennan Daniel , Rotella Joe‐Anthony , Ardalan Zaid , Goodwin Mark
Published: March 2019

Introduction

Hepatic steatosis is a common incidental finding on computed tomography (CT) in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). The aims of our study were to assess the prevalence of hepatic steatosis in ED patients with suspected renal colic and to assess documentation in radiology reports and medical charts correlated with alanine transaminase (ALT) levels.

Methods

Over 18 months from January 2016 to June 2017, all unenhanced CTs performed for suspected renal colic were reviewed. Quantitative assessment measuring hepatic and splenic attenuation in Hounsfield Units was performed. Hepatic steatosis was defined using multiple CT criteria including liver/spleen (L/S) ratio. Radiology reports, medical charts and ALT levels, if collected within 24 h of CT, were reviewed.

Results

A total of 1290 patients were included with a median age 52.5 years (range 16–98) and male predominance (835 [64.7%]). A total of 336 (26%) patients had hepatic steatosis measured by L/S ratio of ≤ 1.0. Ninety‐four patients (28%) had radiology reports noting steatosis. Documentation in medical charts was noted in 18 of the 94 patients (19.1%) for whom steatosis was reported. Liver enzymes were available for 704 (54.6%) patients. There was a significantly higher mean ALT level in patients with hepatic steatosis (42.2 U/L; 95% CI 38.4–46.0) compared to patients without (28.8 U/L; 95% CI 25.7–31.9) (P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Our findings highlight multiple gaps in the reporting and evaluation of hepatic steatosis among radiologists and emergency clinicians alike. Recognising and reporting this incidental finding may impact health outcomes.
Phylin 2.0: Extending the phylogeographical interpolation method to include uncertainty and user‐defined distance metrics
Authors: Tarroso Pedro , Carvalho Sílvia B. , Velo‐Antón Guillermo
Published: March 2019

Estimating geographical ranges of intra‐specific evolutionary lineages is crucial to the fields of biogeography, evolution, and biodiversity conservation. Models of isolation mechanisms often consider multiple distances in order to explain genetic divergence. Yet, the available methods to estimate the geographical ranges of lineages are based on direct geographical distances, neglecting other distance metrics that can better explain the spatial genetic structure. We extended the phylogeographical interpolation method (phylin) in order to accommodate user‐defined distance metrics and to incorporate the uncertainty associated with genetic distance calculation. These new features were tested with simulated and empirical data sets. Multiple distance matrices were generated including geographical, resistance, and environmental distances to derive maps of lineage occurrence. The new additions to this method improved the ability to predict lineage occurrence, even with low sample size. We used a regression framework to quantify the relationship between the genetic divergence and competing distance matrices representing potential isolation processes that are subsequently used in the interpolation process. Including uncertainty in tree topology and the different distance matrices improved the robustness of the variograms, allowing a better fit of the theoretical model of spatial dependence. The improvements to the method increase its potential application in other fields. Accurately mapping genetic divergence can help to locate potential contact zones between lineages as well as barriers to gene flow, which has a broad interest in biogeographical and evolutionary studies. Additionally, conservation efforts could benefit from the integration of genetic variation and landscape features in a spatially explicit framework.
Psychiatric Outcomes of Patients With Severe Agitation Following Administration of Prehospital Ketamine
Authors: Lebin Jacob A. , Akhavan Arvin R. , Hippe Daniel S. , Gittinger Melissa H. , Pasic Jagoda , McCoy Andrew M. , Vrablik Marie C.
Published: March 2019

Background

Ketamine is an emerging drug used in the management of undifferentiated, severe agitation in the prehospital setting. However, prior work has indicated that ketamine may exacerbate psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of this study was to describe psychiatric outcomes in patients who receive prehospital ketamine for severe agitation.

Methods

This is a retrospective cohort study, conducted at two tertiary academic medical centers, utilizing chart review of patients requiring prehospital sedation for severe agitation from January 1, 2014, to June 30, 2016. Patients received either intramuscular (IM) versus intravenous (IV) ketamine or IM versus IV benzodiazepine. The primary outcome was psychiatric inpatient admission with secondary outcomes including ED psychiatric evaluation and nonpsychiatric inpatient admission. Generalized estimating equations and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare cohorts.

Results

During the study period, 141 patient encounters met inclusion with 59 (42%) receiving prehospital ketamine. There were no statistically significant differences between the ketamine and benzodiazepine cohorts for psychiatric inpatient admission (6.8% vs. 2.4%, difference = 4.3%, 95% CI = –2% to 12%, p = 0.23) or ED psychiatric evaluation (8.6% vs. 15%, difference = –6.8%, 95% CI = –18% to 5%, p = 0.23). Patients with schizophrenia who received ketamine did not require psychiatric inpatient admission (17% vs. 10%, difference = 6.7%, 95% CI = –46% to 79%, p = 0.63) or ED psychiatric evaluation (17% vs. 50%, difference = –33%, 95% CI = –100% to 33%, p = 0.55) significantly more than those who received benzodiazepines, although the subgroup was small (n = 16). While there was no significant difference in the nonpsychiatric admission rate between the ketamine and benzodiazepine cohorts (35% vs. 51%, p = 0.082), nonpsychiatric admissions in the benzodiazepine cohort were largely driven by intubation (63% vs. 3.8%, difference = 59%, 95% CI = 38% to 79%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Administration of prehospital ketamine for severe agitation was not associated with an increase in the rate of psychiatric evaluation in the emergency department or psychiatric inpatient admission when compared with benzodiazepine treatment, regardless of the patient's psychiatric history.
Measurement‐based care: the implementation challenge
Authors: McCarty Dennis
Published: March 2019

Commentary to: Measurement‐based care using DSM‐5 for opioid use disorder: can we make opioid medication treatment more effective?
Facilitators and barriers to advance care planning implementation in Australian aged care settings: A systematic review and thematic analysis
Authors: Batchelor Frances , Hwang Kerry , Haralambous Betty , Fearn Marcia , Mackell Paulene , Nolte Linda , Detering Karen
Published: March 2019

Objectives

There are many studies investigating implementation of advance care planning (ACP) in aged care around the world, but few studies have investigated Australian settings. The objective of this study was to determine facilitators and barriers to implementation of ACP in Australian residential and community aged care.

Methods

Evidence from Australian studies published between 2007 and September 2017 of ACP in residential and community aged care was sourced from electronic databases using predetermined search strategies. Data were extracted and synthesised using thematic analysis, and summarised according to themes.

Results

Nine studies described facilitators and barriers of ACP implementation. Six themes were identified: “Education and Knowledge,” “Skills and Training,” “Procedures and Resources,” “Perceptions and Culture,” “Legislation” and “Systems.”

Conclusions

A whole of systems approach is necessary to facilitate uptake of ACP in residential aged care settings. More research is needed to understand facilitators and barriers to ACP in community aged care.
A multicenter observational study of the real‐world use of docetaxel for metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer in China
Authors: He Dalin , Sun Zhongquan , Guo Jianming , Zhang Zhigen , Shan Yuxi , Ma Lulin , Li Hanzhong , Jin Jie , Huang Yiran , Xiao Jiaquan , Wei Qiang , Ye Dingwei
Published: March 2019

Aim

To investigate the use of docetaxel for the treatment of metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in real‐world clinical practice in China.

Methods

This single‐arm, prospective, observational study was conducted at 32 study centers in China and included male patients aged ≥18 years with histologically confirmed prostate cancer who received ≥1 dose of docetaxel following failure of hormonal therapy (disease progression with serum testosterone <50 ng/dL). The primary aim was to investigate patterns of docetaxel treatment.

Results

Overall 403 patients were included between August 2011 and June 2016; patients initiated docetaxel after failure of first‐ (42.2% [170]), second‐ (31.0% [125]) and ≥third‐line (12.7% [51]) hormonal therapy, estramustine (11.4% [46]) or other (2.7% [11]). The planned cycles of docetaxel therapy were completed by 30.8% of patients, and the mean (SD) number of cycles received was 4.4 (2.86). Median overall survival (mOS) was 22.4 (95% CI, 20.4–25.8) months and the prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) response rate in patients with available data was 70.9% (168/237), with no differences in mOS and PSA response rates between treatment settings. Subgroup analysis revealed higher mOS in patients without visceral metastasis versus those with such metastases (22.9 vs. 17.4 months; P = 0.022). No new safety signals were observed and the most common adverse events associated with docetaxel were granulocytopenia (5%) and leukopenia (4.5%).

Conclusion

Data from this study showed that around three‐quarters of Chinese patients with mCRPC treated with docetaxel initiated treatment following first‐ or second‐line hormonal therapy and no new safety signals were observed.
The efficacy and safety of glecaprevir plus pibrentasvir in 141 patients with severe renal impairment: a prospective, multicenter study
Authors: Atsukawa Masanori , Tsubota Akihito , Toyoda Hidenori , Takaguchi Koichi , Nakamuta Makoto , Watanabe Tsunamasa , Michitaka Kojiro , Ikegami Tadashi , Nozaki Akito , Uojima Haruki , Fukunishi Shinya , Genda Takuya , Abe Hiroshi , Hotta Naoki , Tsuji Kunihiko , Ogawa Chikara , Tachi Yoshihiko , Shima Toshihide , Shimada Noritomo , Kondo Chisa , Akahane Takehiro , Aizawa Yoshio , Tanaka Yasuhito , Kumada Takashi , Iwakiri Katsuhiko
Published: March 2019

Background

Patients with chronic hepatitis C are often complicated by chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Aim

To evaluate the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in patients with severe renal impairment.

Methods

In a prospective, multicentre study involving 35 medical institutions, 832 genotype 1‐3 patients were treated with glecaprevir/pibrentasvir. The efficacy and safety of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir were analysed for patients with CKD stage 4 or 5. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with the most frequently observed adverse event. In patients undergoing haemodialysis, a pharmacokinetic study was conducted to investigate the dialysability of the drugs: plasma samples were obtained from the arterial and venous sides of a dialyser to serially measure drug concentrations.

Results

The subjects comprised 141 patients (32 with CKD stage 4 and 109 with CKD stage 5), of whom 100 were undergoing haemodialysis. All but one stage 5 CKD patients undergoing haemodialysis achieved sustained virologic response (99.3%). Adverse events were observed in 39.7% of subjects: pruritus was the most frequent (30.5%), and was significantly associated with haemodialysis. In the pharmacokinetic study, no arterial‐venous differences in the plasma concentrations of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir were detected during the haemodialysis sessions.

Conclusions

Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir was highly effective and safe in chronic hepatitis C patients with severe renal impairment. Haemodialysis was associated with increased incidence of pruritus, which was the most frequent adverse event, but had little or no influence on the drug concentrations, which indicated that their dialysability is very low and that no dose modification is required in patients undergoing haemodialysis. (UMIN registration no. 000032073).
Enriching the analysis of commercial movement: Convergence and the blurring of trade flows on a border in Southern Africa
Authors: Blaszkiewicz Hélène
Published: March 2019

Analyses of the flow of trade are based on three traditional trends, each of which focuses on one component of movement: commodity, infrastructures and actors. Based on these three models’ limitations and the use of qualitative economic geography and ethnography, this paper enriches our understanding of the flows of cross‐border trade, crossing of bodies of literature and theories. It offers a description of commercial traffic in the Central African Copperbelt and calls for a better comprehension of the specific conditions for executing commercial movements, where infrastructures, commodities and actors influence each other to allow the movement of things.
Checking the pregnancy checkbox: Evaluation of a four‐state quality assurance pilot
Authors: Daymude Anna E. C. , Catalano Andrea , Goodman Dave
Published: March 2019

Background

The 2003 revision of the standard United States death certificate included a set of “pregnancy checkboxes” to ascertain whether a woman was pregnant at the time of her death or within the preceding year. Studies validating the pregnancy checkbox have indicated a potentially high number of errors, resulting in inflated maternal mortality rates. In response to concerns about pregnancy checkbox data quality, four state health departments implemented a quality assurance pilot project examining the accuracy of the pregnancy checkbox for 2016 deaths.

Methods

State staff conducted searches for birth or fetal death reports that matched a death certificate, within a year of death. If a pregnancy checkbox was marked, but no match was found between certificates, confirmation of the pregnancy was attempted through active follow‐up with the death certifier. From December 2017 to January 2018, the quality assurance pilot was evaluated through three focus groups with key stakeholders. The evaluation aimed to describe opportunities and challenges to implementation, sustainability, and lessons learned.

Results

Opportunities for implementing the pilot included written documentation of the quality assurance process, improved certifier response, improved data quality, and increased data timeliness for Maternal Mortality Review Committees. Challenges included initial delays in certifier response, staff turnover, high caseloads in relation to resources, and lack of pilot prioritization in the health department. All four pilot states plan to sustain the pregnancy checkbox quality assurance process in some capacity.

Conclusions

Implementing quality assurance processes for the pregnancy checkbox may ultimately improve state and national maternal death data quality.