bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A study of the effects of colocation on office workers' perception
Authors: Rashid Mahbub
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of colocation on office workers' perception of workplace design and interaction freedom in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted at six different departments of an office organization that moved from geographically dispersed office buildings to one office building. The pre‐move data were collected three to six months before the move, and the post‐move data were collected almost one year after the move through questionnaire surveys. Out of 284 workers, 169 office workers filled out the questionnaire in the pre‐move survey, and 175 filled out the questionnaire in the post‐move survey.

Findings

Based on statistical analyses of the data, the study found that colocation did not help improve office workers' overall perception of interaction freedom in the organization, but it helped eliminate perceptual disparities concerning interaction freedom among its different departments. The study also found that office workers' perception of workplace design support for interaction and workstation location were strong predictors of their perception of interaction freedom in the organization. Overall, the findings of the study indicated that the purpose of colocation might be defeated if organizational behavior and culture were not modified simultaneously to promote workers' perception in support of interaction freedom.

Research limitations/implications

The study considered only one type of colocation that involved bringing people of different organizational units together from geographically dispersed places to one place. Therefore, these findings cannot be generalized for all other types of colocation.

Practical implications

The findings of the study are important for corporate real estate (CRE) strategists and organizational leaders who are actively considering colocation as a strategy to improve interaction and team effectiveness in the organization.

Originality/value

The study investigates different mechanisms involving the effects of colocation on office workers' perception of workplace design and interaction freedom in organizations; and identifies important distinctions to consider for achieving the benefits of colocation in terms of face‐to‐face interactions in the workplace.
In‐house counsel claims against a corporate employer and access to privileged corporate communications
Authors: Gergacz John W.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate in‐house counsel's dual role in the context of a wrongful discharge claim against his corporate employer and its effect on privileged corporate communications.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of legal research and analysis.

Findings

A multipart factors test is proposed focusing on three areas: first, rationale for discharge; second, in‐house counsel's claim; and third, risks to privileged corporate information.

Originality/value

The paper creates new means to evaluate corporate privilege and in‐house counsel access.
The INTERLINKS framework for long‐term care of older people in Europe
Authors: Billings Jenny
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to describe the methodological approach to and outcomes of a European multi‐consortium EU 7th Framework funded project entitled “INTERLINKS”. The project sought to develop a concept and method to describe and analyse long‐term care and its links with the health and social care systems, and formal and informal care.

Design/methodology/approach

Through the development of a template, it accumulated and validated practice examples that described good policy and practice, transferable across EU member states.

Findings

The outcome was to assemble a range of themes, sub‐themes and 135 key issues into a web‐based framework for LTC that is illustrated by over 100 examples of validated practice in LTC for older people.

Research limitations/implications

Key messages emanating from the project are provided, with an emphasis on the need for greater investment and pluralist evaluation of initiatives that seek to address the interfaces and links between care services.

Originality/value

The project is unique in that it provides a comprehensive and accessible interactive European database of policy and projects that directly address the problems of interfaces between service provision for older people, and contributes towards the evidence base in discrete areas of LTC.
Local Education and Training Boards: key messages for promoting integrated care
Authors: McCririck Virginia , Hughes Rhidian
Published: June 2013

Purpose

NHS reforms in England led to the establishment of Local Education and Training Board (LETBs) to ensure the future supply of staff. LETBs have an important role in addressing health and social care integration. This paper aims to stimulate debate, ideas and opportunities to improve integrated workforce planning, practice and policy.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a thought leadership article which presents a distillation of key policy and strategy, drawing out implications for policy makers and workforce planners at a strategic level.

Findings

The paper describes and critically appraises the role of LETBs in supporting integration between health and social care. The key messages include: ensure social care and public health representation on the board, track education and training decisions against commissioning priorities, focus on outcomes and transition points, build health‐related skills in social care, support providers and use performance measures of integration.

Practical implications

LETBs need to demonstrate an open and transparent approach to workforce education and planning. All partners need to engage including social care and public health service commissioners and providers.

Originality/value

There is a substantial body of literature on integration, although much less is devoted to examining workforce. This article will be of particular interest to LETB leaders, those responsible for reviewing and assessing the performance of LETBs as well as social care leaders and workforce planners. In addition the article will be of interest to those supporting integrated workforce planning and development across the UK and internationally.
Modern to postmodern management: developments in scientific management
Authors: Kemp Linzi J.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to evidence the development of scientific management through the lens of postmodernism.

Design/methodology/approach

The four principles of scientific management are deconstructed through a postmodern lens. Current management practices are analyzed for indicators of development in scientific management.

Findings

The principles of scientific management are found within current management examples; measurement of knowledge production; empowerment; total quality management; teamwork. Scientific management, when deconstructed through the lens of postmodernism, is discovered to have developed over time.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation to this study is a precise definition for postmodernism and postmodern management against which to “prove” any findings. The implication is to extend research on the development of scientific management in postmodern management.

Practical implications

A practical implication for management practitioners is to apply a tenet of postmodernism to management i.e. there are a myriad of managerial approaches that work.

Originality/value

The paper's contribution is that the principles of scientific management originated in modern times and are developed in postmodern management.
Managing uncertainty: lessons from Xenophon's retreat
Authors: King David R.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The article's purpose is to address complementary perspectives for managing uncertainty by looking at a historical example.

Design/methodology/approach

This is done using a case study of the experience of ancient Greek mercenaries that fought in and out of Persia over two years and approximately 2,000 miles.

Findings

An unexpected finding is that the size of an organization can be instrumental to its environment fit.

Research limitations/implications

An implication is that the application of existing models to the historical example suggests existing perspectives of change do not appear adequate individually in explaining or preparing organizations for change.

Practical implications

A wider implication of the study involves confirming the need for research and society to better understand the role of organization politics in outcomes.

Originality/value

The study uses a unique historical example to examine organizational responses to uncertainty that range between rational and haphazard explanations and it offers insights for management thought and practice today.
InvokingBlack Athenaand its debates
Authors: Riad Sally , Jones Deborah
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The authors use the debates instigated by Bernal'sBlack Athenato rethink the concepts of “race”, “culture” and “diversity” in organization and aim to examine their intersection with academic authority.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the works of Derrida and Hegel, the authors question the pursuit of origins and illustrate its role in essentializing race, culture and diversity. The paper examines these through binaries including white/black, nature/culture, purity/diversity and diversity/university.

Findings

First, both theBlack Athenadebates and the organizational literature turn to origins to ground concepts of difference. This attests to the power of narratives of descent in defining current interests. Second, organization studies have relied on images of a clear past which had eliminated racialization and its implications. Whereas culture is considered progressive, as a user‐friendly term it has served as a “surrogate” or “homologue” for race. Diversity, in turn, has been deployed both to harbour and to control difference in organization.

Research limitations/implications

TheBlack Athenadebates alert people to the authority of scholars and practitioners in normalising identity categories in organization. They challenge people to develop theories and practices of organizational diversity that are open to ongoing difference rather than essence and origin.

Originality/value

Derrida's contribution has rarely been used in organizational history, particularly its implication with Hegel's legacy to the historical and cultural canon. The paper invites readers to rethink the notions of race, culture and diversity by examining their historical development and considering the history of their inclusion into the canons of management and organization. Historicising can unsettle entrenched assumptions, but the cautionary word is that it can also legitimate current practices by identifying their relevance since “the beginning”.
Investor attention for retail and institutional investors: a test on the real estate market
Authors: Mattarocci Gianluca , Siligardos Georgios
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The paper aims to investigate the relationship between different investor attention proxies for different types of funds (retail vs institutional ones) looking at a sample of real estate funds.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collect data about searching frequency on Google and all the news published in Italian specialized newspapers for a set of real estate funds. Following the approach proposed by Da, Engelberg and Gao, the authors construct a set of attention proxies and they compare the ranking with some summary statistics and evaluate the causality relationship among them using a Granger causality test.

Findings

Results demonstrate that online search frequency is relevant for both institutional and retail funds and normally internet data are able to anticipate the news that will be published in the newspapers.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis proposed is focused only on a small real estate market (Italy) where funds are specialized for the type of investor. A wider database can allow excluding that results achieved are biased by the specific features of the market analysed.

Practical implications

The role of internet proxies attention measures also for institutional investors demonstrate that the managing companies offering financial instruments reserved to institutional investors should consider both channels of information – newspapers and the internet – to measure any positive or negative sign of investor attention to their products.

Originality/value

The article represents the first analysis of investor attention proxies on the real estate market and the first comparison of investor attention proxies for retail and institutional investors.
Principles of public‐private partnership financing – Polish experience
Authors: Wojewnik‐Filipkowska Anna , Trojanowski Dariusz
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Public‐private partnerships (PPP) are contractual relationships influenced by different legal traditions. The main purpose of the paper is to provide insight into the principles of PPP financing and the impact of two legal provisions in Poland.

Design/methodology/approach

Appropriate regulation and documentation were investigated. Discounted subsidies, internal rate of return (IRR), economic internal rate of return (EIRR) were calculated and risk was analysed for three variants of a selected case study.

Findings

The two PPP‐related legal provisions are well‐suited for cooperation, although they do not generally correlate. Partnership is just one of the available modes of cooperation; therefore, a complete financial and economic analysis should be performed to prove value for money.

Research limitations/implications

The paper was limited to one case study in three variants. Additional cases can be studied to confirm the findings and increase the usefulness of the methodological framework and improve its application.

Practical implications

The interrelation of the two PPP‐related legal provisions is useful for public managers searching for partners and private investors looking for opportunities. Since the proposed framework supports assessing investment advantages from the perspective of the two provisions, it supports decision makers. The experience of the Polish market also may support development of public‐private partnerships in other countries.

Originality/value

The two PPP‐related legal provisions are compared to determine which provides the optimal method for management of PPPs. Studying both successful and abandoned projects can help towards better management and understanding of PPPs. The work is novel providing insights into PPP financing from a legal perspective and addressed financial consequences.
Generalising the Kőnig‐Egerváry theorem
Authors: Andrew Alex
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider extension of the Kőnig‐Egerváry theorem to apply to matrices of dimensionality greater the two. It is shown that the theorem holds for matrices of any dimensionality, in the standard case where “cover” of selected elements is by lines, and the criterion for independence is also with reference to lines. Attention is also given to the case where cover and (hyper‐independence) are with reference to planes, or submatrices of higher dimensionality, rather than lines, and counter‐examples are given that show the theorem does not then hold universally. A preliminary survey is made of the diverse proofs that have been devised for the basic theorem, and in an Appendix an approach to the multidimensional Transportation Problem is reviewed.

Design/methodology/approach

Interest in generalisation of the theorem arose from the attempt to extend the Hungarian Method for the Assignment Problem to higher dimensionality. The results are also interesting as purely mathematical theory.

Findings

The theorem has been shown to extend to the multidimensional case when cover and independence are defined with reference to lines, but not universally otherwise.

Practical implications

Extension of the theorem to higher dimensionality has not produced a rigorous corresponding extension of the Hungarian Method, but may stimulate further studies. An approximate extension of the method (approximate insofar as it gives no guarantee of convergence on an optimum) will be described in a later publication. The study of the multidimensional Transportation Problem, reviewed in the Appendix, confirms the general difficulty of extending a class of methods from elegant solutions in the two‐dimensional case to versions for higher dimensionality.

Originality/value

The paper's results are believed to be original. Their main value is likely to be in stimulating interest that may lead to further developments as suggested.
Licensing and negotiations for commercial e‐resources in African libraries
Authors: Mapulanga Patrick
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how libraries in Malawi are accessing e‐resources.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopted a case study approach. Quantitative data were collected and analysed. Data was collected through MALICO and INASP documentary. Usage statistics provided by counter compliant publishers and collated by INASP from 2008 to 2012 was the other source of information. Annual member contributions and e‐resource subscription sheets from MALICO were used for data collection. Qualitative data have been presented and analysed in the form of tables and graphs.

Findings

Libraries in Malawi have access to peer reviewed and impact factored journals courtesy of EIFL, INASP, HINARI, OARE, AGORA and other international organisations. Libraries in Malawi contribute towards the e‐resources to the consortia, MALICO, at heavily discounted rates done through negotiations by eIFL and INASP with the publishers. Currently, the libraries are failing to contribute their portion towards e‐resources due to inadequate budgets. Libraries in Malawi have resorted to digitising local content and establishing locally available institutional repositories.

Practical implications

Libraries in Malawi are making enormous strides in building digital libraries and institutional repositories based on local content.

Originality/value

There is little researched information on the funding levels and use of e‐resources in libraries in Malawi. This paper seeks to bridge the gap by providing some information on the state of e‐resources for libraries in Malawi.
Motivating and discouraging factors for Wikipedians: the case study of Persian Wikipedia
Authors: Asadi Saeid , Ghafghazi Shadi , Jamali Hamid R.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Wikipedians are motivated, or discouraged, to contribute to Farsi (Persian) Wikipedia.

Design/methodology/approach

In this grounded theory study, face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 15 active users of Persian Wikipedia. The interviews then were transcribed and coded using Strauss and Corbin's method which included constant comparison of data.

Findings

Editing and writing incentives, as well as deterrents, were extracted from the data. Findings indicated that motivating factors can be classified into two categories of internal and external. Internal motivations could be individual or cognitive motivations or be related to Wikipedia structure. Also, some factors such as permanent access to the internet can be considered as external motivations for contribution to Wikipedia. On the other hand, content production and improvement of Wikipedia in local language was the strongest reason for contribution; entertainment was the weakest motivation. Positive feedback from other users can be the strongest factor that encourages users to stay in Wikipedia and continue their contribution.

Originality/value

This is the first study on Persian Wikipedia and one of the few qualitative studies on Wikipedia. It proposes a new categorization of encouraging and discouraging factors for Wikipedians.
Is environmental management accounting a discipline? A bibliometric literature review
Authors: Schaltegger Stefan , Gibassier Delphine , Zvezdov Dimitar
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the body of literature on environmental management accounting (EMA) and provides a quantitative overview of the academic as well as the professional literature constituting the field. By doing so, the paper discusses whether EMA has developed as a discipline.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a database containing 814 (396 of them published in academic journals) publications in English, German and French with a publication date prior to 2012 a bibliometric analysis is conducted. Data on the publications, journals, authors and citations were collected, double‐checked and examined by applying bibliometric measures.

Findings

The bibliometric analysis identifies trends in EMA research publications which show that EMA has developed as a young discipline, but is still faces challenges to get better established in mainstream accounting and management research. Although the publication number is growing, a substantial part of the publications have been published outside mainstream accounting journals in non‐accounting journals, books and reports. A recent trend towards establishing specialised environmental (and sustainability) accounting journals is also rendered apparent. The low number of highly cited publications of few authors, however, indicates that EMA is still to become a mainstream field of research.

Originality/value

The paper discusses with the help of bibliometric analysis and measures whether EMA has developed as a discipline and whether it has become part of mainstream accounting research.
Positive social behaviors and suggestive selling in the same service encounter
Authors: Söderlund Magnus
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This study aims to examine customers’ reactions in service encounters in which the customer contact person (CCP) initially engages in positive social behaviors and then turns to suggestive selling.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental between‐subjects design was employed. The participants interacted in a service encounter with a CCP who engaged in positive social behaviors. At the end of the service encounter, participants were exposed to: no suggestive selling; congruent suggestive selling; or incongruent suggestive selling.

Findings

Customers’ intentions to buy additional products were lower in the two suggestive selling conditions than in the condition without suggestive selling. This outcome should be viewed in light of the contrast effect that occurs when the CCP's role comprises both rapport‐building activities and sales activities: suggestive selling near the end of a service encounter may “break the spell” of initial positive social behaviors. However, in terms of the customer's attitude toward the CCP, it was mainly the incongruent suggestive sales attempt that had a negative effect, presumably because congruent suggestive selling contrasts less with positive social behaviors than incongruent suggestive selling.

Originality/value

Researchers have acknowledged that many CCPs who are instructed to engage in positive social behaviors in service encounters are under increasing pressure to also actively engage in sales efforts. However, few studies have examined the reactions of customers exposed to both activities within the same service encounter.
Knowledge dissemination in the global service marketing community
Authors: Lages Cristiana R. , Simões Cláudia M.N. , Fisk Raymond P. , Kunz Werner H.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The evolution of the service marketing field was marked by the emergence of a global, vigorous and tolerant community of service marketing researchers. This paper seeks to examine the history of the service marketing community and argues that it may be an archetype for building the emergent global service research community.

Design/methodology/approach

The study combines qualitative and quantitative approaches. The authors interviewed four pioneering service scholars and also collected descriptive data (e.g. Authorship, Affiliation, Title, Keywords) of all service related articles published in 13 top peer‐reviewed marketing and service journals over the last 30 years (5,432 articles; 6,450 authors). In a dynamic analysis the authors mapped global collaboration between countries over time and detected clusters of international collaboration.

Findings

Findings suggest a growing international collaboration for the USA and the UK, while for other countries like Israel the global collaboration started from a high level and decreases now. Further, the service marketing community never became polarized and there were always contributions from researchers all over the world.

Research limitations/implications

As the global service research community is developing, service marketing becomes a research neighborhood within the broader service research community. Simultaneously, other research neighborhoods are emerging within this new community (e.g. service arts, service management, service engineering, service science).

Originality/value

Anchored on the social evolution and biological evolution metaphors, this study explains the evolution of the service marketing field from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Furthermore, it explains the development of the service marketing community as an archetype for building the global service research community.
Accelerating strategic change through action learning
Authors: Younger Jon , Sorensen René , Cleemann Christine , Younger Aaron , Freed Allan , Moller Sanne
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how a leading global company used action‐learning based leadership development to accelerate strategic culture change.

Design/methodology/approach

It describes the need for change, and the methodology and approach by which the initiative, Impact, generated significant benefits.

Findings

The initiative led to financial benefit, as well as measurable gains in customer centricity, collaboration, and innovation. It was also a powerful experience for participants in their journey as commercial leaders.

Originality/value

Impact was created using comprehensive customer feedback and its delivery involved key customers.
Team identity and performance‐based compensation effects on performance
Authors: Blazovich Janell L.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether team members work harder and perform better when they are compensated based on both team and individual performance than either alone and whether teammates' familiarity with one another influences the effectiveness of the compensation scheme.

Design/methodology/approach

Four‐member ad hoc student teams repeatedly complete an interdependent task on the computer in an experiment which manipulates individual compensation plan, team compensation plan, and teammate familiarity.

Findings

Results indicate that offering a combination of individual and team performance‐based compensation results in comparable performance under both strong and weak team identity, suggesting that the lower productivity levels associated with weak team identity can be overcome with performance‐based compensation.

Research limitations/implications

The data are collected from an experimental game created to resemble one interdependent production environment, thus reducing the generalizability of the results. An experimental environment was chosen because it allowed testing of only the variables of interest – team compensation, individual compensation, and team identity, while holding other factors (i.e. task and compensation variation) constant.

Practical implications

The results suggest that, regardless of team identity, firms can benefit from offering both team and individual performance‐based compensation.

Originality/value

This study examines individual and team compensation simultaneously, in contrast to studying each in isolation. Additionally, this study investigates whether teammate familiarity moderates the effect of performance‐based compensation on performance.
On spirit writing: materialities of language and the religious work of transduction
Authors: Keane Webb
Published: June 2013

This is a speculative essay in comparative possibilities. It looks at some widely separated religious contexts in which a power‐laden relationship across ontological difference – for instance, between living humans and a world of gods or spirits – is mediated by operations on the materiality of the written sign. These operations typically result in either materializing something immaterial or dematerializing something material. But they may also involve other activities that take advantage of specific physical properties of the written word such as being persistent, transportable, perishable, alienable, and so forth. Once divine words are rendered into script, they possess a distinctively material quality and form. They appear on some physical medium, and so are both durable and potentially destructible. Anything that can happen to another artefact can happen to them. The practices I dub ‘spirit writing’ subject the written word to radical transformation, taking advantage of its very materiality in order to dematerialize it, even if only in order to be rematerialized in yet some other form (such as a person's body). Many such practices seek to generate or control religious powers by means of transduction across semiotic modalities, material activities that help render experience‐transcending forces realistic or at least readily imaginable.
‘Signs of the times’: confession and the semiotic production of inner truth
Authors: Carr E. Summerson
Published: June 2013

How is it that confession – a highly ritualized, dialogically structured speech act – appears to transparently reflect and reveal the inner states of confessants? This article explores this question by closely engaging select post‐VaticanIIdefences of the Sacrament of Penance, which lay out the requirements of ‘modern’ confession in striking detail. A close reading of these theological texts demonstrates that felicitous confession is the product of three correlated (meta‐)semiotic processes: (1) the figuration of the pentinent memory as a storehouse for sin; (2) the management of ritual time into discrete stages of ‘private’ meaning‐making and ‘public’ pronouncement; and (3) the erasure of the social scenery of the confessional utterance. In concert, these processes render indexical signs as iconic ones and, in so doing, naturalize confession as the cathartic revelation of inner truths, already constituted as such.
Medieval European conceptions of blood: truth and human integrity
Authors: Bildhauer Bettina
Published: June 2013

Blood had extraordinary prominence in medieval Europe across medical, religious, legal, courtly, and fictional discourses: for example, in humoral theory, in the Eucharist, in Christ's Passion, and in warfare. This paper provides an overview of the main characteristics ascribed to blood: it worked as an authenticity effect; as part of a body‐soul unit; and by defining the outlines of the person. Christ's blood was regarded as exceptional, and for some people it was impossible to achieve integrity as regards blood. The article shows that blood was believed to grant access to the truth and to hold body and soul together, separate from the external world, but always precariously so.
Animal disease and the limits of local knowledge: dealing with ticks and tick‐borne diseases in South Africa
Authors: Brown Karen , Ainslie Andrew , Beinart William
Published: June 2013

Some proponents of local knowledge, such as Paul Sillitoe, have expressed second thoughts about its capacity to effect development on the ‘revolutionary’ scale once predicted. Our argument in this article follows a similar route. Recent research into the management of livestock in South Africa makes clear that rural African livestock farmers experience uncertainty in relation to the control of stock diseases. State provision of veterinary services has been significantly reduced over the past decade. Both white and African livestock owners are to a greater extent left to their own devices. In some areas of animal disease management, African livestock owners have recourse to tried‐and‐tested local remedies, which are largely plant‐based. But especially in the critical sphere of tick control, efficacious treatments are less evident, and livestock owners struggle to find adequate solutions to high tickloads. This is particularly important in South Africa in the early twenty‐first century because land reform and the freedom to purchase land in the post‐apartheid context afford African stockowners opportunities to expand livestock holdings. Our research suggests that the limits of local knowledge in dealing with ticks is one of the central problems faced by African livestock owners. We judge this in relation not only to efficacy but also to the perceptions of livestock owners themselves. While confidence and practice vary, and there is increasing resort to chemical acaricides, we were struck by the uncertainty of livestock owners over the best strategies.
Verticality
Authors: O'Neill Kevin Lewis , Fogarty‐Valenzuela Benjamin
Published: June 2013

Anthropological critiques of urban segregation tend to maintain a horizontal frame. Walls and gates keep undesirable people over there as opposed to here. Insightful as this approach has been, this article pairs everyday perspectives with the built form to assess the politics of vertical segregation in Guatemala City. With more than one hundred office towers and condominium complexes constructed in the last decade, Guatemala City presents a vivid and visually stunning example of how the rich lift themselves above the rest. This article argues that vertical segregation is yet one more strategy employed by elites to abandon public space. Guatemala City sprouted a skyline in little less than a decade. Although the city was low level for centuries, kept at one or two storeys by earthquakes, a recent surge in foreign investment has prompted the construction of more than one hundred new office towers and condominium complexes over the last ten years. Each is over ten storeys. Each is exclusive. Given that most capital cities across the Americas went vertical in the early twentieth century, Guatemala City's newfound height presents an opportunity to consider the ‘verticality’ of urban segregation.
Oil Price Shocks and Volatility in Australian Stock Returns
Authors: Ratti Ronald A. , Hasan M. Zahid
Published: June 2013

This paper examines the effect of oil shocks on return and volatility in the sectors of Australian stock market and finds significant effects for most sectors. For the overall market index, an increase in oil price return significantly reduces return, and an increase in oil price return volatility significantly reduces volatility. An advantage of looking at sector returns rather than a general index of stock returns is that sectors may well differ markedly in how they respond to oil price shocks. The energy and material sectors (as expected) and the financial sector (surprisingly) are out of step (in different ways) with results for the other sectors and for the overall index. A rise in oil price increases returns in the energy and material sectors and an increase in oil price return volatility increases stock return volatility in the financial sector. Explanation for the negative (positive) association between oil return (oil return volatility) and returns (volatility of returns) in the financial sector must be based on the association via lending to and/or holdings of corporate bonds issued by firms with significant exposure to oil price fluctuations and their speculative positions in oil‐related instruments.
Modelling the Relationship between Child Abuse and Long‐Term Health Care Costs and Wellbeing: Results from an Australian Community‐Based Survey
Authors: Reeve Rebecca , van Gool Kees
Published: June 2013

Childhood abuse is a serious social and economic problem. In Australia, there are 17,000 substantiated cases of physical and sexual child abuse each year. We model the relationship between childhood abuse and long‐term health, health care costs and well being using data from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. We find that adults with a history of childhood abuse suffer from significantly more health conditions, incur higher annual health care costs and are more likely to harm themselves. Our results suggest that child abuse has long‐lasting economic and welfare costs. The costs are greatest for those who experienced both physical and sexual abuse.
Productivity Benchmarking the Australian Water Utilities
Authors: Cunningham Michael B.
Published: June 2013

This article presents a productivity benchmarking study of Australian water utilities using stochastic frontier analysis of the input distance function. It identifies total factor productivity (TFP) trends and comparative levels and, through decomposition, explores some of the reasons for productivity change. Productivity is found to have declined between 2006 and 2010 over all regions, with the smallest declines in the four major urban Victorian utilities and the largest declines among the regional Victorian urban water utilities and the major utilities in other states. Comparative technical efficiency analysis finds the major urban Victorian utilities were more efficient than the average water utility, while the regional Victorian urban water utilities and the major utilities in other states were of below‐average technical efficiency. The benchmarking method employed in the study may be relevant to economic regulation.
Analysis of long‐term survival after hepatectomy for isolated liver metastasis of gastrointestinal stromal tumour
Authors: Cheung Tan To , Chok Kenneth S. H. , Chan Albert C. Y. , Yau Thomas C. C. , Chan See Ching , Poon Ronnie T. P. , Fan Sheung Tat , Lo Chung Mau
Published: June 2013

Background

In the treatment of liver metastasis of gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST), the role of hepatectomy is controversial. This study tried to identify such role by investigating the immediate and long‐term surgical outcomes.

Methods

Data of patients who underwent hepatectomy to treat their metastatic disease were reviewed. Patients whose liver tumours were confirmed to be metastatic GISTs were included for analysis. Clinicopathological characteristics of the primary disease, time of metastasis development and modes of treatment were recorded. Immediate outcome and long‐term survival after hepatectomy were analysed.

Results

Ten patients were confirmed to have isolated liver metastasis of GIST. Their median age was 61 (42–74) years. All of them had normal liver function and no cirrhosis. Seven patients received major hepatectomy and three patients received minor hepatectomy. The median operation time was 319.5 (122–735) min. The median tumor size was 5.5 (1.5–15) cm. No hospital death occurred. The 1‐, 3‐ and 5‐year overall survival rates were 100, 75 and 50%, respectively and the corresponding disease‐free survival rates were 70, 42 and 14%, respectively.

Conclusion

Treating isolated liver metastasis of GIST with hepatectomy is effective and safe. Favourable long‐term overall survival and disease‐free survival can be achieved.
Stage managing bipolar disorder
Authors: Berk Michael , Berk Lesley , Dodd Seetal , Cotton Sue , Macneil Craig , Daglas Rothanthi , Conus Philippe , Bechdolf Andreas , Moylan Steven , Malhi Gin S
Published: June 2013

Objectives

Clinical staging is widespread in medicine – it informs prognosis, clinical course, and treatment, and assists individualized care. Staging places an individual on a probabilistic continuum of increasing potential disease severity, ranging from clinically at‐risk or latency stage through first threshold episode of illness or recurrence, and, finally, to late or end‐stage disease. The aim of the present paper was to examine and update the evidence regarding staging in bipolar disorder, and how this might inform targeted and individualized intervention approaches.

Methods

We provide a narrative review of the relevant information.

Results

In bipolar disorder, the validity of staging is informed by a range of findings that accompany illness progression, including neuroimaging data suggesting incremental volume loss, cognitive changes, and a declining likelihood of response to pharmacological and psychosocial treatments. Staging informs the adoption of a number of approaches, including the active promotion of both indicated prevention for at‐risk individuals and early intervention strategies for newly diagnosed individuals, and the tailored implementation of treatments according to the stage of illness.

Conclusions

The nature of bipolar disorder implies the presence of an active process of neuroprogression that is considered to be at least partly mediated by inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and changes in neurogenesis. It further supports the concept of neuroprotection, in that a diversity of agents have putative effects against these molecular targets. Clinically, staging suggests that the at‐risk state or first episode is a period that requires particularly active and broad‐based treatment, consistent with the hope that the temporal trajectory of the illness can be altered. Prompt treatment may be potentially neuroprotective and attenuate the neurostructural and neurocognitive changes that emerge with chronicity. Staging highlights the need for interventions at a service delivery level and implementing treatments at the earliest stage of illness possible.
Radical prostatectomy vs radiotherapy vs observation among older patients with clinically localized prostate cancer: a comparative effectiveness evaluation
Authors: Sun Maxine , Sammon Jesse D. , Becker Andreas , Roghmann Florian , Tian Zhe , Kim Simon P. , Larouche Alexandre , Abdollah Firas , Hu Jim C. , Karakiewicz Pierre I. , Trinh Quoc‐Dien
Published: June 2013

Objective

To compare efficacy between radical prostatectomy (RP), radiotherapy and observation with respect to overall survival (OS) in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa).

Methods

Using data (1988–2005) from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare linked database, 67 087 men with localized PCa were identified.

The prevalence of the initial treatment strategy was quantified according to patients' life expectancy ([LE] <10 vs ≥10 years) at initial diagnosis and according to tumour stage. To reduce the unmeasured bias associated with treatment, we performed an instrumental variable analysis.

Stratified (by stage and LE) Cox regression and competing‐risks regression analyses were generated for the prediction of OS and cancer‐specific mortality, respectively.

Results

Among patients with <10 years of LE, most were treated with radiotherapy (49%) or observation (47%). Among patients with ≥10 years of LE, most received radiotherapy (49%), followed by RP (26%).

In men with <10 years of LE, RP and radiotherapy were not different with respect to OS (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.45–1.48, P = 0.499). Conversely, in men with ≥10 years of LE, RP was associated with an improved OS compared with observation (HR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.49–0.71, P < 0.001) and radiotherapy (HR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.56–0.79, P < 0.001).

Similar results were recorded in competing‐risks regression analyses.

Conclusion

In patients with an estimated LE ≥10 years at initial diagnosis, RP was associated with improved survival compared with radiotherapy and observation, regardless of disease stage.
Prognostic significance of venous tumour thrombus consistency in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC)
Authors: Weiss Valerie L. , Braun Martin , Perner Sven , Harz Andreas , Vorreuther Roland , Kristiansen Glen , Müller Stefan C. , Ellinger Jörg
Published: June 2013

Objectives

To identify the prognostic impact of venous tumour thrombus (VTT) in locally advanced renal cell carcinomas (RCCs).

To further differentiate the clinical course of patients with VTT who have similar clinicopathological characteristics.

Patients and Methods

We determined the VTT consistency (solid vs friable) in a retrospective cohort of 200 patients with RCC who had undergone nephrectomy between 1994 and 2011.

We examined the correlation of VTT consistency in these patients with clinical and pathological variables.

Results

A total of 65% of the patients had solid VTT and 35% had friable VTT, which has a significantly lower amount of cell‐cell adhesion molecules and connective tissue than solid VTT.

We found that friable VTT was associated with advanced pT stage, higher VTT level, papillary RCC subtype and a lower age.

Patients with friable VTT had a significantly shorter median overall survival than those with solid VTT (29 vs 89 months), but VTT consistency was not found to be an independent predictor of patients' survival in the multivariate Cox analysis.

We found that VTT consistency was an independent significant predictor of overall survival in patients without evidence of distant and nodal metastases (N = 119).

Conclusions

The VTT consistency is caused by the tumour and not by different surgical handling.

Friable VTT is an important adverse prognostic predictor of overall survival in patients with non‐metastatic RCC.
Lithostratigraphy and Optically Stimulated Luminescence age determinations of pre‐Late Weichselian deposits in the Suupohja area, western Finland
Authors: Pitkäranta Reijo , Lunkka Juha‐Pekka , Eskola Kari O.
Published: June 2013

The lithostratigraphy of pre‐Late Weichselian sediments and OSL‐dating results from four localities in the Suupohja area of western Finland, adjacent to the centre of the former Scandinavian glaciations, are presented. The studied sections expose glacifluvial, quiet‐water, littoral and aeolian deposits overlain by Middle and/or Late Weichselian tills. Litho‐ and biostratigraphical results together with seven OSL age determinations on buried glacifluvial sediment at Rävåsen (94±15 ka) and on till‐covered littoral and aeolian sediments at Risåsen, Rävåsen, Jätinmäki and Kiviharju (79±10 to 54±8 ka), accompanied by previous datings and interpretations, suggest that the glacifluvial sediments at Risåsen were deposited at the end of the Saalian Stage (MIS 6) and those at Risåsen were deposited possibly in the Early Weichselian Substage (MIS 5d?). Palaeosol horizons and ice‐wedge casts together with the dated littoral and aeolian sediments between the Harrinkangas Formation (Saalian) and the overlying till(s) indicate that western Finland was ice‐free during most of the Weichselian time. Littoral deposits, dated to the Middle Weichselian (MIS 4–3), occur at altitudes of 50–90 m a.s.l., which indicates significant glacio‐isostatic depression. The depression resulted from expansion of the ice sheet in the west of Finland at that time.
Why Do Only Some Institutionalized Children Become Indiscriminately Friendly? Insights From the Study of Williams Syndrome
Authors: Soares Isabel , Belsky Jay , Mesquita Ana R. , Osório Ana , Sampaio Adriana
Published: June 2013

Why do some institutionalized children develop indiscriminate behavior (IB) while others do not? Considering children with Williams syndrome (WS) may provide an answer because IB has been observed routinely among individuals with this rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder. By conceiving WS as a natural genetic model that mimics the indiscriminate phenotype and, more importantly, is associated with the deletion of genes in a specific region, we propose an integrative conceptual framework that underscores the dynamic developmental interplay between genes, endophenotypes, and environment. In this article, we consider the etiology of IB among institutionalized children, which emphasizes environmental factors, followed by the effect of such behavior on WS children's hypersociability, which highlights the crosstalk between genes and neuropsychological features in programming their distinctive social‐emotional and behavioral phenotype. We propose new hypotheses regarding the etiopathogeny of IBs in institutionalized children, particularly the prediction of specific Gene × Environment interactions.