bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antecedents and consequences of sales representatives' relationship termination competence
Authors: Geersbro Jens , Ritter Thomas
Published: March 2013

Purpose

– Most firms have a number of unprofitable customer relationships that drain the firms' resources. However, firms in general and sales representatives in particular hesitate to address this problem and, ultimately, to terminate business relationships. This paper therefore aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of sales representatives' relationship termination competence.

Design/methodology/approach

– A model of antecedents of sales representatives' relationship termination competence is developed and tested using a cross-sectional survey of more than 800 sales representatives. The impact of the constructs “termination acceptance”, “definition of non-customer”, “termination routines” and “termination incentives” on termination competence are analyzed using PLS.

Findings

– A sales representative's termination competence is positively influenced by greater clarity and wider dissemination of the definition of a “non-customer”, higher prevalence of termination routines, and increasing degrees of termination incentives. Acceptance of relationship termination at the firm level does not appear to have a significant impact on sales representatives' relationship termination competence. In addition, termination competence significantly affects the value of customer portfolios.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest that managers should more actively consider relationship termination as a legitimate option in customer relationship management. In order to increase the value of a firm's customer portfolio, managers must not only provide a clear definition of the types of customers the organization does not want to serve, but must also implement termination routines within the organization. Managers also need to establish incentives for sales representatives to terminate relationships with unprofitable customers.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to the currently scarce research on relationship termination by documenting results from a large-scale analysis of relationship termination.
REIT stock dividends: the policy and intra‐industry wealth effects
Authors: Lee Ming‐Long , Chiang Kevin C.H. , Lin Chia‐Wei
Published: March 2013

Purpose

During the height of the financial/credit crisis of 2008, the US Internal Revenue Service issued temporary guidance that permits REITs (real estate investment trusts) to retain cash and pay “effective stock dividends” through 2009 to meet their income distribution requirement. The purpose of this study is to investigate the policy implications of this guidance on shareholders' wealth and the intra‐industry effects for non‐event, rival REITs when event REITs announced elective stock dividends.

Design/methodology/approach

This study identified the announcements of the Revenue Procedures 2008‐68 and 2009‐15 and subsequent six equity REITs announcing the distribution of effective stock dividends in the first quarter of 2009. To assess their implications, this study adopted the event study methodology and multivariate regressions to examine the REIT price reactions and their distribution to the Revenue Procedure announcements and to the elective stock dividend announcements, respectively.

Findings

The Revenue Procedure announcements have positive wealth effects on the entire REIT market and REITs with higher leverage enjoy larger abnormal returns. During firm stock dividend announcement windows, non‐event, rival REITs have higher positive price reactions when the event firm and the non‐event firm are not alike and their returns have a low correlation coefficient, when the event firm has a large negative abnormal price reaction, and when the event firm pays cash/stock dividends in the mixture of 40 percent:60 percent, instead of 10 percent:90percent.

Practical implications

The results will help REIT investors to make better decisions. This study produces important implications for investors to pick REITs which are likely to experience higher returns at periods of turmoil when announcements about dividend policy changes are expected.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study looking into intra‐industry effects of REIT dividend announcements and the policy implications of the elective REIT stock dividends permitted by the US Internal Revenue Service. The results of this study show that the informational signals associated with these announcement events are rich and have intra‐industry implications on REIT share prices.
Elective stock dividend in REITs: market reaction and determinants
Authors: Sah Vivek , Zhou Xiaorong
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to look at the market reaction to stock dividend announcements of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and further look at their determinants.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses standard event methodology for market reaction to determine abnormal returns and CARs. Additionally the paper uses a logistic regression to analyze determinants.

Findings

Using a sample of 37 announcements from fourth quarter 2008 till first quarter 2010, the paper finds a mean negative abnormal return of −1.23 percent on the day of the announcement. Further, following the announcement day, the paper finds a weak significant positive abnormal return on the day after that (+1), which may convey some optimism from the investors. Further, when the paper looks at the characteristics of such REITs, it finds that REITs with higher leverage ratio and larger asset bases are more likely to issue stock dividend. Additionally, the results also indicate that the stock dividend announcement lead to an abnormal turnover of 0.24 percent for these REITs on the day following the announcement. This may suggest an increase in the marketability of the stock dividend REITs after the announcement date.

Practical implications

First, the reaction of the market will help gauge the response of investors to such announcements. This could provide REIT managers information on ex‐ante investor reaction to such dividend decisions. Second, this study will help identify the characteristics of REITs that declare stock dividends. For investors who rely on market trading information, study in this regard will help them to build up their portfolios.

Originality/value

This is the only study that looks exclusively at stock dividends in REITs and the second study to look at stock dividends in REITs in general. It is different from the other study in this field because of its methodology, sample size and some distinct results.
Sustainable real estate
Authors: DeLisle James , Grissom Terry , Högberg Lovisa
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of sustainability and research reporting price premiums for LEED‐certified buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper explores the notion of sustainability and research reporting price premiums for LEED‐certified buildings. The durability of certification levels is explored by converting projects developed under the initial NC2‐series system to a new vintage rating adopted in 2009. This conversion is made by applying Lagrangian multipliers to model stochastic impacts.

Findings

The study reveals that 18 percent of 591 projects developed under the NC2‐Series were “misclassified” in terms of certification levels when converted to new NCv2009 standards. To the extent the market has pursued LEED certification levels, the unanticipated changes may have led to the adoption short‐term solutions that are inappropriate due to the long‐term nature of real estate assets.

Research limitations/implications

Given the complexity of the LEED rating system, it is unknown how the market will react to the lack of durability and approach pricing over the long‐term.

Practical implications

The results indicate market participants should adopt a proactive approach to LEED certification.

Originality/value

The study identifies significant dynamics in the LEED certification system for new construction and behavioural responses that have not been reported in the literature.
Regional and global contagion in real estate investment trusts
Authors: Milunovich George , Trück Stefan
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate contagion between real estate investment trusts (REITs) within and across three geographical regions: North America, Europe and Asia‐Pacific. The paper also examines excess comovement between the considered national REIT markets on the one hand, and broad equity indices on the other. In particular, the authors are interested in contagion between the considered markets during the 2007‐2009 GFC period in comparison to the entire 2004‐2011 sample period.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an international factor pricing framework similar to Bekaert, Harvey and Ng, the paper defines contagion as excess comovement between two financial markets, after removing the effects of the underlying economic fundamentals, i.e. risk factors, and time‐changing volatility. Controlling for economic factors is important for distinguishing between pure contagion and information spillovers, which may transmit through existing economic channels. The authors then analyse excess correlations between the derived standardized residuals, for REITS and equity markets in order to investigate excess comovement between the indices during the whole sample and GFC period.

Findings

The paper finds no evidence of excess comovement between the considered REIT and equity indices during non‐crisis sample intervals. However, the paper finds contagion between several national REITs and regional or global equity markets during the GFC period. The paper reports statistically significant excess correlations between national REITs and regional and world real estate markets during the entire sample period, while there is only limited evidence to suggest that the correlation amongst REIT markets has increased during the GFC period. The paper concludes that a similar degree of dependence persisted among national REIT markets over the crisis and non‐crisis sample periods for most markets.

Originality/value

Despite the ongoing debate on contagion in financial markets, there is only a small body of literature investigating contagion specifically for property or real estate markets. This is even more surprising, since the GFC originated from a subprime mortgage crisis and was, therefore, heavily related to real estate. The paper extends the literature by testing for contagion between REITs considering eleven national markets across three geographical regions. In contrast, the existing literature is typically constrained to a significantly smaller number of markets. The paper also explicitly takes into account the impact of the recent GFC, and tests for contagion over this period.
Towards sustainable data centre operations in the UK
Authors: Jones Peter , Hillier David , Comfort Daphne , Clarke‐Hill Colin
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this practice briefing paper is to provide an exploratory review of the sustainability agendas being addressed and publicly reported by the UK's leading data centre operators.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper begins with a short discussion of the characteristics of sustainability and an outline of the origins and development of data centres within the UK. The paper draws its empirical material from the most recent information on sustainability posted on the UK's leading data centre operators' corporate web sites.

Findings

The findings reveal that all the UK's leading data centre operators provide only limited information on their commitment to sustainability with the dominant focus being on its environmental dimension and with little attention being paid to social and economic issues. More critically the authors argue that these commitments are driven more by the search for efficiency gains, that they are couched within existing business models centred on continuing growth and that as such the UK's leading data centre operators are pursuing a “weak” rather than a “strong” model of sustainability.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that leading data centre operating companies may need to extend their sustainability reporting and to introduce external assurance procedures.

Originality/value

The paper provides an accessible review of the sustainability agendas being pursued by the UK's leading data centre operators and as such it will interest academics, students and practitioners interested in both sustainability and data centre operations and developments.
Pricing of New Zealand dairy farmland
Authors: Shi Song , McCarthy Iona
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between dairy farmland prices and farmland rental incomes in New Zealand from 1982 to 2009.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the net cash income received under a 50/50 share‐milking agreement to proxy the net cash rent, the paper attempts to explore the prices and rental incomes relationship using the present value model and then apply them in a pool regression model to show how farmers formulate their price bids.

Findings

Results show that over the long‐term dairy farmland price growth tends to be in line with rental growth. However, there is substantially higher growth in land prices in relation to the rental growth since 2002. Moreover, the risk premium placed by farmland owners on future rental cash flows since 2002 appears substantially below the historical average. The research further shows that farmers nowadays place more emphasis on the current season's payout than historical incomes in their price bids.

Practical implications

As a consequence the recent high land prices will be extremely sensitive to a permanent change to the low interest rate environment and future growth of dairy income. A policy recommendation is also highlighted.

Originality/value

The results of this paper indicates that the rapid price appreciation for New Zealand dairy farmland since 2000s might give rise to bubbles.
Time‐varying correlations between stock and direct real estate returns
Authors: Foo Sing Tien , Yao Tan Zhuang
Published: March 2013

Purpose

Understanding correlations between stock and direct real estate returns, which is the key factor that determines diversification benefits in a portfolio, helps formulate and implement better investors' asset allocation and risk management strategies. The past studies find that direct real estate returns have a low unconditionally (long‐run) correlation with the returns of equities. However, assuming that such correlation is constant throughout all periods is implausible. The purpose of this study is to test the time‐varying correlations of returns between general stocks and direct real estate.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) model, which is a simplified version of the multivariate generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model, proposed by Engle to test the time‐varying correlations between stock and direct real estate returns in six markets, which include the USA, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Findings

The empirical results show significant time‐varying effects in the conditional covariance between stock returns and direct real estate returns. The results vary across different real estate sub‐sectors, and across different countries. It is observed that the conditional covariance increases in the boom markets, but becomes weaker in the post‐crisis periods. The authors observed significant jumps in the conditional covariance between the two asset markets in Singapore and Hong Kong in the post‐1977 Asian Financial crisis periods and in the post‐2007 US Sub‐prime crisis periods.

Originality/value

The past studies find that direct real estate returns have a low unconditionally (long‐run) correlation with the returns of equities. However, assuming that such correlation is constant throughout all periods is implausible. This study fills in the gap by using the dynamic conditional correlation models to allow for time‐varying effects in the correlations between stock and real estate returns.
Women directors on boards of Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts
Authors: Dimovski William , Lombardi Luisa , Cooper Barry
Published: March 2013

Purpose

This is the first paper which aims to investigate factors that might influence the gender composition of boards of directors of Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A‐REITs).

Design/methodology/approach

This study follows Mateos de Cabo, Gimeno and Nieto and the gender diversity literature and investigates the existence and number of women directors on the boards of directors of 37 A‐REITs from 2006 to 2011.

Findings

There is evidence that larger (by market capitalization) A‐REITs are more likely to employ a woman director and that A‐REITs with larger boards are more likely to employ a woman director and indeed more women directors. It also appears that A‐REITs whose head office is in Sydney are more likely to employ a woman director and also more women directors.

Practical implications

Women seeking to be engaged as directors of A‐REITs are more likely to be employed by larger A‐REITs (by market capitalization), those with larger boards and those located in Sydney.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the existing literature on gender diversity by examining the factors that appear to influence the employment of women on A‐REIT Boards.
Habitat‐dependent prey availability and offspring provisioning explain an ecological trap in a migratory bird
Authors: Hollander Franck A. , Titeux Nicolas , Van Dyck Hans
Published: March 2013

Ecological trapping implies a preference for low‐quality habitats over higher‐quality options. Although such a maladaptive decision‐making has been shown in a range of organisms, the mechanisms that underlie this habitat selection pattern often remain unidentified. We tested in a human‐modified environment whether food availability and food use of a migratory species operate as functional drivers of an ecological trap.

The Red‐backed shrike (Lanius collurio) is a migratory bird that was shown to breed preferentially in forest plantation clearcuts where reproductive performance is however markedly lower than in the traditional farmland habitat. We examined whether differences in food availability between forest and farmland habitats resulted in contrasting food provisioning to the offspring with, in turn, significant impact on the quality of the offspring.

Invertebrate prey items for shrikes were 41% more abundant in farmland, and prey size was 6% larger in forest habitat. Opposite to the pattern of prey size availability, larger prey items were delivered to the offspring in farmland than in forest habitat. Feeding visits by the parents were 22% more frequent in farmland, and evidence of strong among‐nestling competition for food was found in forest only.

This study demonstrates the existence of food limitation for an organism in a habitat type associated with high preference but low reproductive performance. This result offers a functional explanation for the mismatch between habitat preference and quality, and hence, for an ecological trap in the wild.

Beyond the case of migratory birds, this study draws attention to the point that human‐modified environments may lead to a biased perception of habitat quality relative to food availability and may induce an ecological trap for organisms that allocate only a limited time budget to habitat selection decision‐making.
Plant ecology's guilty little secret: understanding the dynamics of plant competition
Authors: Trinder Clare J. , Brooker Rob W. , Robinson David
Published: March 2013

Plant competition has been studied for decades. Yet, it is still an elusive concept that means different things to different people, is resistant to direct study and is shrouded in semantic and statistical complexity. We still lack basic information about many competitive mechanisms, processes and outcomes and their relationship to other ecological processes, and about how local interactions between individuals are propagated through communities. We suggest here that two critical issues have been overlooked in previous studies.

First, there is a need for direct measurements of the process of competition as opposed to indirect mechanisms of competitive outcomes. Biomass has become the ‘industry standard’ for measuring competition, but we suggest that biomass cannot provide unambiguous insights into plant competition because it is the product of too great a range of factors and processes.

Second, the use of a single measure of competition at an arbitrarily assigned end point of an experiment misses much of the complexity of dynamic interactions between competing plants and can lead to erroneous interpretations. Here, we suggest approaches to handle these difficulties, using new techniques or the application of well‐known methods in a novel way. We also provide examples of systems or questions where the improved understanding these approaches could bring would be of particular benefit.

Ultimately, we suggest the need for a major shift in the way in which we consider and measure plant competition to identify broadly agreed rules for variation in its importance, its role in different communities and habitats, and how and whether it influences or drives patterns of species diversity and abundance.
Correlation between global genome methylation and mutation at CpG codons of p53 gene
Authors: Najjar Sadeghi Rouhallah , Vahedi Mohsen , Zojaji Homayon , Zali Mohamad Reza
Published: March 2013

Objective

Hypomethylation within the body of the p53 gene, which is normally methylated, has been found in neoplasms. Also, the CG → TA transition was not detected in the CpG codons of the p53 gene in gastritis lesions in Iranian patients. Therefore, an evaluation of the probable correlation between global genome methylation and alteration at CpG codons of p53 gene was needed.

Methods

For defining the genotypes of CpG codons, DNA sequencing was performed on 90 paired samples of gastritis and normal tissues. To measure global genome methylation status, the extracted DNA was digested with HpaII (methylation sensitive) and MspI (insensitive). Then, enzymatic digestion was quantitated using Pyrosequencing as peak height. By calculating the HpaII/ MspI peak ratio it is possible to evaluate the methylation level of normal and gastritis tissues.

Results

Codons 9, 245 and 248 underwent a CG → AT transversion but not a CG → TA transition. In addition, the mean methylation level was significantly different between the patients with GG and GT genotypes at codon 245 (P = 0.019).

Conclusions

As CG → AT transversion at codon 245 is associated with global genome methylation, GG hypomethylation may induce different pattern of mutations, for example, C → A instead of C → T at the CpG codons of the p53 gene during gastritis development in Iranian patients.
MeCP2 regulates ethanol sensitivity and intake
Authors: Repunte‐Canonigo Vez , Chen Jihuan , Lefebvre Celine , Kawamura Tomoya , Kreifeldt Max , Basson Oan , Roberts Amanda J. , Sanna Pietro Paolo
Published: March 2013

We have investigated the expression of chromatin‐regulating genes in the prefrontal cortex and in the shell subdivision of the nucleus accumbens during protracted withdrawal in mice with increased ethanol drinking after chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) vapor exposure and in mice with a history of non‐dependent drinking. We observed that the methyl‐CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) was one of the few chromatin‐regulating genes to be differentially regulated by a history of dependence. As MeCP2 has the potential of acting as a broad gene regulator, we investigated sensitivity to ethanol and ethanol drinking in MeCP2308/Y mice, which harbor a truncated MeCP2 allele but have a milder phenotype than MeCP2 null mice. We observed that MeCP2308/Y mice were more sensitive to ethanol's stimulatory and sedative effects than wild‐type (WT) mice, drank less ethanol in a limited access 2 bottle choice paradigm and did not show increased drinking after induction of dependence with exposure to CIE vapors. Alcohol metabolism did not differ in MeCP2308/Y and WT mice. Additionally, MeCP2308/Y mice did not differ from WT mice in ethanol preference in a 24‐hour paradigm nor in their intake of graded solutions of saccharin or quinine, suggesting that the MeCP2308/Y mutation did not alter taste function. Lastly, using the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis algorithm, we found a significant overlap in the genes regulated by alcohol and by MeCP2. Together, these results suggest that MeCP2 contributes to the regulation of ethanol sensitivity and drinking.
Characterization of different courses of atopic dermatitis in adolescent and adult patients
Authors: Garmhausen D. , Hagemann T. , Bieber T. , Dimitriou I. , Fimmers R. , Diepgen T. , Novak N.
Published: March 2013

Background

Atopic dermatitis (AD) starts most often during the first years of life and goes into remission in a high proportion of cases during childhood. However, in severe cases, AD persists until adulthood or starts and relapses later in life. So far, studies investigating the natural course of AD during adolescence and adulthood are rare. The aim of our study was to classify different courses of AD and to correlate these with specific risk factors for severe variants of AD.

Methods

A detailed clinical examination and retrospective evaluation of the history of the disease were performed in a collective of 725 adolescent and adult patients with AD. Laboratory data including total and specific IgE were evaluated.

Results

Six hundred and seven patients of 725 patients could be classified into course types. Of these 607 patients 85.7% could be classified into five main different course types of all 31 course types recorded. The highest differences in the number of sensitizations, total immunoglobulin E serum levels and predilection of the skin lesions were observed between patients with an early type of onset of AD and a chronic persisting course until adulthood and patients with a late type of onset of AD, that is, after the 20th year of life.

Conclusion

Our data show that the natural course of AD can be divided into subgroups that display different clinical features. The data support the assumption of a broad heterogeneity of AD in adolescence and adulthood and emphasize the future need for careful stratification of patients with AD.
Attenuated allergic airway inflammation in Cd39 null mice
Authors: Idzko M. , K. Ayata C. , Müller T. , Dürk T. , Grimm M. , Baudiß K. , Vieira R. P. , Cicko S. , Boehlke C. , Zech A. , Sorichter S. , Pelletier J. , Sévigny J. , Robson S. C.
Published: March 2013

Background

Extracellular Adenosine‐5′‐Triphosphate (ATP) is known to accumulate in the lung, following allergen challenge, and contributes via activation of purinergic receptors on dendritic cells (DC), to the development of allergic airway inflammation (AAI). Extracellular ATP levels in the airways are normally tightly regulated by CD39. This ectonucleotidase is highly expressed by DC purified from skin (Langerhans cells) and bone marrow, and has been shown to modulate DC adaptive/haptenic immune responses. In this study, we have evaluated the impact of Cd39 deletion and associated perturbation of purinergic signaling in AAI.

Methods

Standard ovalbumin (OVA)–alum and house dust mite (HDM) bone marrow‐derived DC (BMDC)‐dependent models of AAI were used to study effects of Cd39. Migration assays, time lapse microscopy, and T‐cell priming assays were further used to determine functional relevance of Cd39 expression on BMDC in the setting of immune and Th2‐mediated responses in these models.

Results

Cd39−/− mice exhibited marked increases in BALF ATP levels but paradoxically exhibited limited AAI in both OVA–alum and HDM models. These pathophysiological abnormalities were associated with decreased myeloid DC activation and chemotaxis toward ATP, and were linked to purinergic receptor desensitization responses. Further, Cd39−/− DCs exhibited limited capacity to both prime Th2 responses and form stable immune synaptic interactions with OVA‐transgenic naïve T cells.

Conclusions

Cd39‐deficient DCs exhibit limited capacity to induce Th2 immunity in a DC‐driven model of AAI in vivo. Our data demonstrate a role of CD39 and perturbed purinergic signaling in models of AAI.
Changes in exhaled breath condensate pH in healthy and asthmatic pregnant women
Authors: Eszes Noémi , Bikov András , Lázár Zsófia , Bohács Anikó , Müller Veronika , Stenczer Balázs , Rigó János , Losonczy György , Horváth Ildikó , Tamási Lilla
Published: March 2013

Objective

Asthma is a common chronic disease complicating pregnancy with a risk for perinatal complications. Control of airway inflammation in the asthmatic pregnancy improves pregnancy outcomes. Our aim was to evaluate pH of exhaled breath condensate (EBC), a non‐invasive method for the assessment of asthmatic airway inflammation, in healthy and asthmatic pregnancies.

Design

Cross‐sectional study.

Setting

Hungarian university clinics.

Population

Seventeen healthy pregnant women, 21 asthmatic pregnant women, 23 healthy non‐pregnant women and 22 asthmatic non‐pregnant women.

Methods

EBC samples were collected using a portable condenser, EBC pH was measured after argon deaeration.

Main outcome measure

EBC pH.

Results

EBC pH (mean ± SD) of healthy non‐pregnant and asthmatic non‐pregnant women was similar (7.75 ± 0.27 vs. 7.54 ± 0.57; p = 0.118), probably indicating an optimal control of airway inflammation in asthmatic women. On the other hand, EBC pH was higher in healthy pregnant women compared with healthy non‐pregnant women (8.02 ± 0.43 vs. 7.75 ± 0.27; p = 0.017). Higher EBC pH accompanying healthy pregnancy was absent in asthmatic pregnant patients whose EBC pH was lower (7.65 ± 0.38) than that of healthy pregnant women (p = 0.006), and it was similar to that in asthmatic and healthy non‐pregnant women (p = 0.470 and p = 0.300, respectively). The EBC pH in asthmatic pregnant women correlated positively with birthweight (r = 0.49, p = 0.047) and negatively with forced vital capacity (r = 0.45, p = 0.039). EBC pH was not related to blood pH.

Conclusions

EBC pH is higher in healthy pregnant women but not in asthmatic pregnant women compared with data from healthy non‐pregnant women, indicating that oxidative inflammatory processes induced by asthma may compromise the regulatory mechanisms causing alkaline pH in the airways during pregnancy.
Diagnostic accuracy of risk of malignancy index in predicting complete tumor removal at primary debulking surgery for ovarian cancer patients
Authors: Fagö‐Olsen Carsten L. , Håkansson Fanny , Antonsen Sofie L. , Høgdall Estrid , Lundvall Lene , Nedergaard Lotte , Engelholm Svend A. , Høgdall Claus
Published: March 2013

Ovarian cancer patients in whom complete tumor removal is impossible with primary debulking surgery (PDS) may benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval debulking surgery. However, the task of performing a pre‐operative evaluation of the feasibility of PDS is difficult. We aimed to investigate whether the risk of malignancy index (RMI) was a useful marker for this evaluation. RMI and surgical outcome were investigated in 164 patients, 49 of whom had no residual tumor after PDS. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed an area under the curve of 0.72 (confidence interval: 0.64–0.80). The possibility of complete tumor removal decreased with increasing RMI and there was a tendency towards higher RMI in patients with residual tumor after PDS, but no single cut‐off value of RMI produced useful clinical predictive values. In conclusion, RMI alone is not an optimal method to determine whether complete tumor removal is possible with PDS.
Gender and geopolitics in ‘secular time’
Authors: Olson Elizabeth
Published: March 2013

This article argues that gender must be central to our theorisations of emergent religious geopolitics. It does so through an engagement with Butler's reflections upon secular time (Butler J 2008 Secular politics, torture, and secular time The British Journal of Sociology 59 1–23), and the ‘cultural reanimation’ of Roman Catholic cultural underpinnings of French culture in the defence of the torture and maltreatment of Islamic bodies. Drawing from both the broader, tactical gender geopolitics of the Catholic Church and the embodied experiences of Catholic faithful in Latin America, the paper argues that the concept of cultural reanimation fails to capture the skilful way in which the Holy See asserts a gender theology that transcends the individual faithful body, through to the body of humanity. The ambiguous position of religious institutions in contemporary geopolitics as both cultural and political facilitates the construction of boundaries and territories that transcend and cut through the politics of the state.
Assessing does not mean threatening: The purpose of assessment as a key determinant of girls' and boys' performance in a science class
Authors: Souchal Carine , Toczek Marie‐Christine , Darnon Céline , Smeding Annique , Butera Fabrizio , Martinot Delphine
Published: March 2013

Background

Is it possible to reach performance equality between boys and girls in a science class? Given the stereotypes targeting their groups in scientific domains, diagnostic contexts generally lower girls' performance and non‐diagnostic contexts may harm boys' performance.

Aim

The present study tested the effectiveness of a mastery‐oriented assessment, allowing both boys and girls to perform at an optimal level in a science class.

Sample

Participants were 120 boys and 72 girls (all high‐school students).

Methods

Participants attended a science lesson while expecting a performance‐oriented assessment (i.e., an assessment designed to compare and select students), a mastery‐oriented assessment (i.e., an assessment designed to help students in their learning), or no assessment of this lesson.

Results

In the mastery‐oriented assessment condition, both boys and girls performed at a similarly high level, whereas the performance‐oriented assessment condition reduced girls' performance and the no‐assessment condition reduced boys' performance.

Conclusions

One way to increase girls' performance on a science test without harming boys' performance is to present assessment as a tool for improving mastery rather than as a tool for comparing performances.
Employment Change after Takeovers: The Role of Executive Ownership
Authors: Kuvandikov Azimjon , Pendleton Andrew , Higgins David
Published: March 2013

The article examines the impact of executive ownership and other ownership and governance factors on employment change after takeovers. Drawing on a dataset of 235 takeovers, the results show that there is a reduction in employment in just over 50 per cent of the sample. Higher levels of executive share ownership are associated with lower probabilities of employee layoffs post‐takeover, and there is a positive relationship between executive ownership and employment growth. The effect of executive options on employment change is generally insignificant, as are the effects of other features of ownership and governance. The evidence suggests that executives with higher levels of ownership tend to mount takeovers of better‐performing firms and to implement takeovers aimed at growth.
Current clinical practice gaps in the treatment of intermediate‐ and high‐risk non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with emphasis on the use of bacillus Calmette‐Guérin (BCG): results of an international individual patient data survey (IPDS)
Authors: Witjes J. Alfred , Palou Joan , Soloway Mark , Lamm Donald , Kamat Ashish M. , Brausi Maurizio , Persad Raj , Buckley Roger , Colombel Marc , Böhle Andreas
Published: March 2013

Objectives

To examine the management of intermediate‐ and high‐risk non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), particularly with regard to the use of bacillus Calmette‐Guérin (BCG) therapy, in North America and Europe.

To compare NMIBC management practices to European Association of Urology (EAU) and American Urological Association (AUA) guideline recommendations for the management of intermediate‐ and high‐risk NMIBC.

Patients and Methods

In all, 102 urologists from Europe and North America participated in this retrospective on‐line chart review, which was conducted between 1 April 2011 and 30 April 2012.

Participants selected the charts of the first 10 intermediate‐ (defined as multiple or recurrent low‐grade tumours) or high‐risk (defined as any T1 and/or high‐grade/G3 tumours and/or carcinoma in situ) patients who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumour in 2009.

Physicians retrospectively reviewed the charts and completed an on‐line survey consisting of questions related to diagnosis, planned treatment, treatment status and follow‐up.

In all, 971 patients (197 intermediate‐risk; 774 high‐risk) were included in the analysis; frequency counts and associated percentages were used to analyse treatment variables.

Results

In all, 47% of intermediate‐risk patients received EAU or AUA guideline‐recommended intravesical therapy: intravesical chemotherapy, BCG induction therapy or BCG induction plus maintenance.

Of the high‐risk patients, 50% received maintenance BCG as recommended by the EAU and the AUA; although not recommended for high‐risk NMIBC, 12.5% received intravesical chemotherapy.

Of patients prescribed maintenance BCG, 93% were scheduled for at least 1 year of therapy.

Notably, only 15% discontinued BCG maintenance and, of these discontinuations, 65% were due to reasons unrelated to BCG‐associated adverse events.

Conclusions

There is significant non‐adherence to EAU and AUA guideline recommendations for BCG use in intermediate‐ and high‐risk NMIBC.

However, most of those patients prescribed BCG maintenance therapy are scheduled for at least 1 year of therapy, as recommended by current guidelines for NMIBC management, and BCG maintenance discontinuation is low.
The Parental Dental Concerns Scale (PDCS): its development and initial psychometric properties
Authors: Chambers Stephanie , Humphris Gerry , Freeman Ruth
Published: March 2013

Objectives

To assess the validity and reliability of a Parental Dental Concerns Scale (PDCS) to identify parents unable to access preventive dental care for their children.

Methods

Two studies were conducted. In Study One, a purposive convenience sample of 399 Scottish parents answered questions on going to the dentist, family life and demographics. Parents were retested eight weeks later. In Study Two, 574 Scottish parents participating in a preventive oral health programme were posted the same questionnaire. Information on child dental attendance was gained from dental records. Data were analysed using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis. Internal consistency and test–retest correlations provided reliability estimates. Validity was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis, correlations and independent t‐tests.

Results

EFA indicated that the PDCS had a four factor structure, supported by a subsequent CFA. The PDCS and its four subscales had good internal consistency, concurrent validity and test–retest reliability. Further work is required to confirm the scale's predictive validity in discriminating between children and parents who did and did not attend the dental practice.

Conclusions

The PDCS is a reliable scale, which demonstrates good construct validity. Further testing is required to confirm its predictive validity.
Assessing the contribution of 38 genetic loci to the risk of type 2 diabetes in the Saudi Arabian Population
Authors: Al‐Daghri Nasser M. , Alkharfy Khalid M. , Alokail Majed S. , Alenad Amal M. , Al‐Attas Omar S. , Mohammed Abdul Khader , Sabico Shaun , Albagha Omar M. E.
Published: March 2013

Background

Previous genome‐wide association studies have identified multiple type 2 diabetes (T2D) genetic risk loci in many populations. However, the contribution of these loci to T2D in the Middle Eastern populations with high T2D prevalence is unknown.

Methods

Here, we investigated the association of 38 T2D risk loci in the Saudi Arabian population (1166 patients with T2D and 1235 healthy controls), which has one of the world's highest prevalence of T2D.

Results

Eight common genetic variants showed a significant association with T2D in our study population. The effect sizes of these loci were comparable to those previously identified in other populations with the exception of HNF4A, which showed a trend for larger effect size in our study population (OR = 1·27) compared to that reported in South Asian populations (OR = 1·09; I2 = 65·9). Analysis of risk allele scores (RASs) defined by the 8 loci showed that subjects in the top RAS quintile (n = 480) had 2·5‐fold increase in disease risk compared to those in the bottom quintile (n = 480; P = 9·5 × 10−12). RASs were also associated with fasting glucose level (β = 0·12; P = 2·2 × 10−9), but not with BMI (P = 0·19). Analysis of a subgroup of subjects with BMI≤30 resulted in two additional loci (SLC30A8; P = 0·03, HMG20A; P = 0·02) showing significant association with T2D.

Conclusions

We have shown for the first time that variants at WFS1, JAZF1, SLC30A8, CDKN2A/B, TCF7L2, KCNQ1, HMG20A, HNF4A and DUSP9 are associated with T2D in the Saudi population. Our findings also suggest substantial overlap of T2D risk loci across many ethnic groups regardless of disease prevalence.
Prospective association of 25(OH)D with metabolic syndrome
Authors: Kayaniyil Sheena , Harris Stewart B. , Retnakaran Ravi , Vieth Reinhold , Knight Julia A. , Gerstein Hertzel C. , Perkins Bruce A. , Zinman Bernard , Hanley Anthony J.
Published: March 2013

Context

Vitamin D may play a role in the aetiology of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), yet the majority of previous studies have been cross‐sectional, and the limited number of prospective studies has yielded inconsistent results.

Objective

To examine the prospective association of vitamin D [25‐hydroxyvitamin D, 25(OH)D] with MetS in a multi‐ethnic cohort of adults in Ontario, Canada.

Design

Nondiabetic individuals with pre‐existing MetS risk factors were recruited for participation in the PROspective Metabolism and ISlet cell Evaluation (PROMISE) cohort study, a longitudinal study of the determinants of insulin resistance and MetS.

Methods

Of the 654 participants enrolled at baseline, 489 attended a 3‐year follow‐up visit. There were 301 participants eligible for the analysis of 25(OH)D with incident MetS (age 49·2 ± 9·3 years old, 75·4% female), after excluding 188 (38·5%) prevalent MetS cases at baseline. Longitudinal change in MetS components was assessed in the entire follow‐up cohort.

Results

There were 76 (15·5%) participants who developed MetS over the 3‐years of follow‐up. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated a decreased risk of MetS at follow‐up per standard deviation increase in baseline 25(OH)D after adjustment for sociodemographics, season, baseline and change in supplement use and physical activity and insulin resistance (OR = 0·63, 95% CI 0·44–0·90). Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed a significant inverse association of baseline 25(OH)D with fasting glucose at follow‐up (β = −0·0005, P = 0·025).

Conclusions

There was a significant inverse association of baseline 25(OH)D with incident MetS, which may be partly driven by its association with glucose homoeostasis.
Accounting for uncertainty in oil and gas development impacts to wildlife in Alaska
Authors: Wilson Ryan R. , Liebezeit Joseph R. , Loya Wendy M.
Published: March 2013

Around the world, oil and gas exploration and development are moving into areas previously undisturbed by industrial development. These activities and associated infrastructure can significantly impact wildlife populations and their habitat. Uncertainty in the location of oil and gas accumulations, however, makes it difficult to assess potential impacts to wildlife populations from future development. We present a modeling approach that takes this uncertainty into account by randomly sampling the locations of oil and gas accumulations across the landscape and building out simulated infrastructure. We evaluated four management alternatives outlined for the National Petroleum Reserve‐Alaska to demonstrate how this model can quantify the relative impacts to caribou (Rangifer tarandus) calving habitat and passerine nest survival. We were able to identify clear differences in impacts for wildlife under the four alternatives and highlighted the range of variability in how development might proceed under each scenario.
Acting Optimally for Biodiversity in a World Obsessed with REDD+
Authors: Venter Oscar , Hovani Lex , Bode Michael , Possingham Hugh
Published: March 2013

REDD+ presents novel options for conservation in the tropics, yet it is unclear how biodiversity‐focused organizations or actors should react to these carbon‐focused opportunities. Here, we critically assess for the first time the expected outcomes of five contrasting scenarios of engagement between a biodiversity actor and REDD+. We discover that in the Berau regency, Indonesia, it is usually beneficial for a biodiversity actor to react in some way to REDD+, but the preferred reaction depends on whether a REDD+ project is already developing in the region, and the scale and type of conservation objectives. In general, from a strict biodiversity perspective, the most cost efficient reaction to the presence of REDD+ is to use biodiversity funds to protect areas neglected by REDD+. Our results demonstrate that if biodiversity actors fail to adapt the way they pursue conservation in the tropics, REDD+ opportunities could go largely untapped.
Clumped perinuclear BAP1 expression is a frequent finding in sporadic epithelioid Spitz tumors
Authors: Gammon Bryan , Traczyk Tom N. , Gerami Pedram
Published: March 2013

Background

BRCA1‐associated protein 1 (BAP1) represents a recently identified tumor suppressor protein. Loss of BAP1 has been observed in cutaneous epithelioid Spitz tumors. These cutaneous melanocytic tumors show a distinct histopathologic phenotype characterized by an intradermal sheet‐like proliferation of epithelioid melanocytes.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes, histopathologic findings and immunophenotype in spitzoid melanocytic neoplasms with the morphologic features seen in BAP1 mutated Spitz tumors. Cases were obtained from our files. BAP1 immunohistochemistry was evaluated dichotomously for the presence of nuclear staining.

Results

Fifteen of 19 cases showed loss of nuclear BAP1 expression. Of the 15 cases displaying nuclear loss of BAP1, clumped perinuclear staining was observed in 8 cases while 7 cases showed complete loss. Follow up ranging from 0–45 months (mean 17 months) was uneventful.

Conclusions

Our data are consistent with an indolent overall clinical course for epithelioid Spitz tumors with loss of BAP1. Furthermore, a large subset of epithelioid Spitz tumors display loss of nuclear expression but show a reproducible clumped perinuclear staining pattern.
Those Little Pieces of White Bread: Early Lutheran Initiatives among the Hungry Poor
Authors: Torvend Samuel
Published: March 2013

Abstract:  Martin Luther's theological and sacramental convictions shaped his commitments to social reform, especially the reform of social welfare and the distribution of money and goods in early modern northern Europe. His early critique of merchant capitalism, political lobbyists, and global economic monopolies prompts contemporary questions about the just distribution of wealth in a world where too many have too little.
Subsets of preterm and term infants: call for consistency in terminology
Authors: Chabra Shilpi
Published: March 2013

Please also see the reply to this letter by Cserjesi et al 674.