bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient-controlled Analgesia with Target-controlled Infusion of Hydromorphone in Postoperative Pain Therapy
Authors: Jeleazcov Christian , Ihmsen Harald , Saari Teijo I. , Rohde Doris , Mell Jan , Fröhlich Katharina , Krajinovic Ljubica , Fechner Jörg , Schwilden Helmut , Schüttler Jürgen
Published: November 2015

AbstractAbstract

Using hydromorphone-specific pharmacokinetic parameters, accurate target-controlled infusions can be delivered. Using combined target-controlled infusion with patient-controlled analgesia, satisfactory postoperative pain control can be delivered with moderate levels of opioid-related side effects.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

Background

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a common method for postoperative pain therapy, but it is characterized by large variation of plasma concentrations. PCA with target-controlled infusion (TCI-PCA) may be an alternative. In a previous analysis, the authors developed a pharmacokinetic model for hydromorphone. In this secondary analysis, the authors investigated the feasibility and efficacy of TCI-PCA for postoperative pain therapy with hydromorphone.

Methods

Fifty adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery were enrolled in this study. Postoperatively, hydromorphone was applied intravenously during three sequential periods: (1) as TCI with plasma target concentrations of 1 to 2 ng/ml until extubation; (2) as TCI-PCA with plasma target concentrations between 0.8 and 10 ng/ml during the following 6 to 8 h; and (3) thereafter as PCA with a bolus dose of 0.2 mg until the next morning. During TCI-PCA, pain was regularly assessed using the 11-point numerical rating scale (NRS). A pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model was developed using ordinal logistic regression based on measured plasma concentrations.

Results

Data of 43 patients aged 40 to 81 yr were analyzed. The hydromorphone dose during TCI-PCA was 0.26 mg/h (0.07 to 0.93 mg/h). The maximum plasma target concentration during TCI-PCA was 2.3 ng/ml (0.9 to 7.0 ng/ml). The NRS score under deep inspiration was less than 5 in 83% of the ratings. Nausea was present in 30%, vomiting in 9%, and respiratory insufficiency in 5% of the patients. The EC50 of hydromorphone for NRS of 4 or less was 4.1 ng/ml (0.6 to 12.8 ng/ml).

Conclusion

TCI-PCA with hydromorphone offered satisfactory postoperative pain therapy with moderate side effects.
Sleep Homeostasis and General Anesthesia
Authors: Gardner Benjamin , Strus Ewa , Meng Qing Cheng , Coradetti Thomas , Naidoo Nirinjini N. , Kelz Max B. , Williams Julie A.
Published: November 2015

AbstractAbstract

Propofol produced anesthesia in the fruit fly Drosophila, but it did not dissipate sleep debt or satisfy the homeostatic need for sleep in contrast to rodents. Further studies will be required to validate the findings in both rodents and flies and reconcile the apparent species-specific differences in the interactions between natural sleep and general anesthesia.

Background

Shared neurophysiologic features between sleep and anesthetic-induced hypnosis indicate a potential overlap in neuronal circuitry underlying both states. Previous studies in rodents indicate that preexisting sleep debt discharges under propofol anesthesia. The authors explored the hypothesis that propofol anesthesia also dispels sleep pressure in the fruit fly. To the authors’ knowledge, this constitutes the first time propofol has been tested in the genetically tractable model, Drosophila melanogaster.

Methods

Daily sleep was measured in Drosophila by using a standard locomotor activity assay. Propofol was administered by transferring flies onto food containing various doses of propofol or equivalent concentrations of vehicle. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to measure the tissue concentrations of ingested propofol. To determine whether propofol anesthesia substitutes for natural sleep, the flies were subjected to 10-h sleep deprivation (SD), followed by 6-h propofol exposure, and monitored for subsequent sleep.

Results

Oral propofol treatment causes anesthesia in flies as indicated by a dose-dependent reduction in locomotor activity (n = 11 to 41 flies from each group) and increased arousal threshold (n = 79 to 137). Recovery sleep in flies fed propofol after SD was delayed until after flies had emerged from anesthesia (n = 30 to 48). SD was also associated with a significant increase in mortality in propofol-fed flies (n = 44 to 46).

Conclusions

Together, these data indicate that fruit flies are effectively anesthetized by ingestion of propofol and suggest that homologous molecular and neuronal targets of propofol are conserved in Drosophila. However, behavioral measurements indicate that propofol anesthesia does not satisfy the homeostatic need for sleep and may compromise the restorative properties of sleep.
Intussusception in Children Presenting to the Emergency Department
Authors: Yap Shiyi Eileen , Ganapathy Sashikumar
Published: November 2015

Objective

This project examines the presenting complaints of children with intussusception in the emergency department in an Asian population, with a focus on older children, which has not been well described in previous studies.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted on children aged 6 months to 15 years, whose conditions were diagnosed with intussusception in KK Women's and Children's Hospital for a 5-year period (2009–2013), based on the case definition established by the Brighton Collaborate Intussusception Working Group.

Results

Three hundred ninety-one cases were identified to fulfill the case definition as per the Brighton Collaborative Intussusception Working Group. The mean age of children diagnosed with intussusception is 2.59 years, predominantly in males (65.22%). A total of 3.33% were 10 years or older. Only 3.58% presented with the classical triad—intermittent abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody stools. In contrast, 22.51% of our Asian patients presented with a triad of intermittent abdominal pain, indrawing of legs, and vomiting. A total of 76.73% of our subjects were treated by air enema only, whereas 22 required surgical treatment after unsuccessful attempts of air enema, and 63 resolved spontaneously, including 7 with ileoileal intussusception. No mortality was documented.

Conclusions

Intussusception is usually diagnosed in the younger population (age <1 year) and predominantly in males. Our study has established that older Asian children can also have intussusception. The classical triad is not a very sensitive diagnostic tool, but the combination of abdominal pain, indrawing of legs, and vomiting may be a more common presenting triad in Asian children.
Medulloblastoma With Obstructive Hydrocephalus in a Young Infant
Authors: Abaya Ruth , Belasco Jean B. , Ellison Angela M.
Published: November 2015

Medulloblastoma is the most common posterior fossa tumor diagnosed in young infants. The presentation of posterior fossa tumors in neonates is highly variable. We report the case of a 2-month-old child who presented with poor feeding and lethargy and was noted to have a fixed downward gaze. Head computed tomography revealed a posterior fossa mass that was pathologically consistent with a medulloblastoma. This case demonstrates the uncommon presentation of posterior fossa tumors in young infants.
Evolution of eumetazoan nervous systems: insights from cnidarians
Authors: Kelava Iva , Rentzsch Fabian , Technau Ulrich
Published: November 2015

Cnidarians, the sister group to bilaterians, have a simple diffuse nervous system. This morphological simplicity and their phylogenetic position make them a crucial group in the study of the evolution of the nervous system. The development of their nervous systems is of particular interest, as by uncovering the genetic programme that underlies it, and comparing it with the bilaterian developmental programme, it is possible to make assumptions about the genes and processes involved in the development of ancestral nervous systems. Recent advances in sequencing methods, genetic interference techniques and transgenic technology have enabled us to get a first glimpse into the molecular network underlying the development of a cnidarian nervous system—in particular the nervous system of the anthozoanNematostella vectensis. It appears that much of the genetic network of the nervous system development is partly conserved between cnidarians and bilaterians, with Wnt and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling, andSoxgenes playing a crucial part in the differentiation of neurons. However, cnidarians possess some specific characteristics, and further studies are necessary to elucidate the full regulatory network. The work on cnidarian neurogenesis further accentuates the need to study non-model organisms in order to gain insights into processes that shaped present-day lineages during the course of evolution.
Identification and analysis of integrons and cassette arrays in bacterial genomes
Authors: Cury Jean , Jové Thomas , Touchon Marie , Néron Bertrand , Rocha Eduardo PC
Published: November 2015

Integrons recombine gene arrays and favor the spread of antibiotic resistance. Their broader roles in bacterial adaptation remain mysterious, partly due to lack of computational tools. We made a program – IntegronFinder – to identify integrons with high accuracy and sensitivity. IntegronFinder is available as a standalone program and as a web application. It searches forattCsites using covariance models, for integron-integrases using HMM profiles, and for other features (promoters,attlsite) using pattern matching. We searched for integrons, integron-integrases lackingattCsites, and clusters ofattC siteslacking a neighboring integron-integrase in bacterial genomes. All these elements are especially frequent in genomes of intermediate size. They are missing in some key phyla, such as α-Proteobacteria, which might reflect selection against cell lineages that acquire integrons. The similarity betweenattCsites is proportional to the number of cassettes in the integron, and is particularly low in clusters ofattCsites lacking integron-integrases. The latter are unexpectedly abundant in genomes lacking integron-integrases or their remains, and have a large novel pool of cassettes lacking homologs in the databases. They might represent an evolutionary step between the acquisition of genes within integrons and their stabilization in the new genome.
Crystal structure of di-μ-acetato-diacetatobis(μ-6,6′-dimethoxy-2,2′-{[(propane-1,3-diylbis(azanylylidene)]bis(methanylylidene)}diphenolato)tetrazinc
Authors: Cai Xue , Ning Hui
Published: November 2015

The tetranuclear title complex, [Zn4(C19H20N2O4)2(CH3COO)4], is formed from two dinuclear motifs related by an inversion centre. The two crystallographically independent ZnIIions in the asymmetric unit are in different coordination environments. One is square-based pyramidal with one O atom of an acetate group occupying the axial position and two N and O atoms of one bmspd [H2bmspd =N,N′-bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)propylene-1,3-diamine] Schiff base ligand forming the basal plane. The other ZnIIatom is six-coordinated by four O atoms of the bmspd ligand forming the equatoral plane and two O atoms of different acetate groups located in the axial positions. As a result, the two phenolic planes of the bicompartmental Schiff base ligand are distorted slightly. However, the planes of the two Schiff base ligands are parallel. In addition, the Zn—N and Zn—O bond lengths span the reasonable ranges 2.062 (2)–2.073 (2) and 1.9261 (15)–2.4356 (16) Å, respectively. The Zn...Zn distances separated by phenolic O atoms are 3.2466 (4) Å while the Zn...Zn distances bridged by acetate groups are 5.9835 (6) Å. The tetranuclear moieties are connected by van der Waals interactions, and form a chain alongcaxis.
Crystal structure of 2-(thiophen-3-yl)ethyl pyrene-1-carboxylate
Authors: Valderrama-García Bianca X. , Reyes-Martínez Reyna , Hernández-Ortega Simón , Morales-Morales David , Rivera Ernesto
Published: November 2015

In the title compound, C23H16O2S, the thiophene group is rotationally disordered into two fractions almost parallel to each other, with occupation factors of 0.523 (7) and 0.477 (7), and subtending dihedral angles of 10.5 (5) and 9.3 (5)°, respectively, to the thiophene group. The molecules are held together by weak C—H...O and C—H...π hydrogen bonds, producing a laminar arrangement, which are further connected in a perpendicular fashion by S...π contacts [S...centroid = 3.539 (8) and 3.497 (8) Å]. In spite of the presence of the entended pyrene group, the structure does not present any parallel π–π stacking interactions. The structure was refined as an inversion twin.
Crystal structure of 1-(cyclopentylideneamino)-3-(prop-2-en-1-yl)thiourea
Authors: Mohamed Shaaban K. , Mague Joel T. , Akkurt Mehmet , Hassan Alaa A. , Abdel-Aziz Ahmed T. , Albayati Mustafa R.
Published: November 2015

In the title compound, C9H15N3S, the cyclopentyl ring adopts an envelope conformation with one of the methylene C atoms as the flap. The thiosemicarbazide fragment is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.038 Å) and a short intramolecular N—H...N contact occurs. In the crystal, molecules are linked into helical (41symmetry) chains propagating in [001] by N—H...N and N—H...S hydrogen bonds. A very weak C—H...S interaction is also observed.
Crystal structure of diaqua[5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrinato-κ4N]iron(III) diaqua(18-crown-6)potassium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonate)–18-crown-6 (1/2)
Authors: Ben Haj Hassen Leila , Denden Zouhour , Rousselin Yoann , Nasri Habib
Published: November 2015

In the title compound, [FeIII(C48H36N4O2)(H2O)2][K(C12H24O6)(H2O)2](SO3CF3)2·2C12H24O6, the FeIIIatom is situated on an inversion centre and is octahedrally coordinated by four pyrrole N atoms of the deprotenated 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrinate ligand and two water molecules. The average equatorial Fe—N(pyrrole) bond length [2.043 (6) Å] is consistent with a high-spin (S= 5/2) iron(III) metalloporphyrin derivative. The K+cation, which also lies on an inversion centre, is chelated by the six O atoms of one 18-crown-6 molecule and is additionally coordinated by two water molecules in a distorted hexagonal–bipyramidal geometry. In the crystal, the cations, anions and one non-coordinating 18-crown-6 molecule are linked by classical O—H...O hydrogen bonds and non-conventional C—H...O hydrogen bonds, leading to a one-dimensional supramolecular architecture along [10-1]. The crystal packing is further stabilized by weak C—H...π interactions involving pyrrole and phenyl rings of the porphyrins, as well as weak C—H...F contacts involving the (SO3CF3)−counter-ion and the 18-crown-6 molecules.
Noticing the unusual: a self-prompt strategy for adults with autism
Authors: Silver Kate , Parsons Sarah
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– There is a substantial lack of research focusing on how to support the social understanding of high-functioning adults with autism (HFA). The perspectives of three adults with HFA were used to develop and implement self-prompt systems to increase knowledge and awareness of social situations. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Semi-structured interviews and diaries were used to support individuals to reflect on video-based and real-life social situations, within a qualitative participatory case study design. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically.

Findings

– Participants developed and used a self-prompt system to support their social understanding in a range of situations. “Noticing the unusual” in social situations, consideration of the potential impact of others’ behavior on them personally, and guessing the intention of others were identified as useful strategies. Basing social judgments on the facial expressions of others was not useful.

Research limitations/implications

– This was a small-scale study with only three high-functioning participants and so the research needs to be extended to a wider group.

Practical implications

– There is considerable potential for this approach to be used with adults accessing support services because the strategies identified can be easily applied and personalized.

Social implications

– Independent, unplanned use of the self-prompt strategy enabled participants to reduce dependence on others in social situations through supporting their independent thinking and actions.

Originality/value

– This study moves away from a deficit-focussed model of intervention to one that seeks to uncover strengths in order to empower individuals to use their existing knowledge.
A proposed framework for renewable energy technology commercialization and partnership synergy
Authors: Manoukian Agassy , HassabElnaby Hassan R. , Odabashian Vahe
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework for renewable energy (RE) technology commercialization and partnership synergy. The interrelations/influences between external/internal factors, stakeholders’ partnership synergy, and resources in the form of dynamic capabilities and implementation mechanisms are used in this framework to explore the path toward overcoming non-technical barriers for RE technologies commercialization success.

Design/methodology/approach

– Prior relevant research/literature is reviewed to derive the proposed theoretical framework constructs, while insight information on relationship between them is gained through case study methodology. The results of four case studies along with 16 validity/checkpoint interviews were used to support/reject 25 propositions linking the constructs.

Findings

– The findings of the study supported 24 out of 25 propositions representing these relations, whereas one was rejected. The framework suggests that partnership synergy, if achieved, produces a unique internal and external resource combination that will result in successful technology commercialization.

Research limitations/implications

– This study is limited to RE technologies and did not focus individually on non-technical barriers. Future research may extend into other industries and explore the impact of partnership synergy on each non-technical barrier of technology commercialization.

Originality/value

– Due to absence of economic theory of synergy there is a gap in academic literature regarding partnership between stakeholders of innovative technologies, the level of its synergy and their relation to successful commercialization. The study attempts to fill this gap to some extent through the produced theoretical framework, which might also help a broad array of RE projects’ participants maximize the returns by realizing full advantage of collaboration with other stakeholders.
Tax enforcement, corporate tax aggressiveness, and cash holdings
Authors: Wang Liangliang
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between corporate tax aggressiveness and cash holdings and that between corporate tax aggressiveness and the value of cash. Further, this study explores the impact of the tax enforcement level on the above associations.

Design/methodology/approach

– Under a Chinese special institutional background, this study constructs tax aggressiveness and tax enforcement measures. On this basis, using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies over the period from 1990 to 2010, this study empirically tests the association between tax enforcement, corporate tax aggressiveness, and cash holdings.

Findings

– By empirically testing with Chinese listed companies as the sample, this paper finds the following: with the increase in the tax avoidance level, the precautionary incentives of cash, and the level of financial constraint likewise increase, which will make the level of firm cash savings increase. Meanwhile, although tax avoidance will induce lower transparency and higher agency costs, the marginal value of the cash held by the more aggressive firms is higher due to the higher market competition effect of the cash. Additional tests suggest that, the tax enforcement level can weaken the effect of tax avoidance on the transparency and agency problem; however, because the tax enforcement level can also increase the tax risk of the firm, the positive relation between firm’s tax avoidance and cash savings is strengthened correspondingly. On the value of cash holdings, the tax enforcement level can also make the marginal value of tax aggressive firms higher.

Originality/value

– First, this paper provides new evidence on the determinants of firm’s cash holdings from the perspective of cash savings. Second, this paper examines the association between Chinese firm’s tax aggressiveness and the value of cash, which not only provides evidence for the local tax literature but also has reference value for the foreign literature. Third, this paper has reference value for research on the association between corporate tax avoidance activities and other operating decisions. Finally, this paper not only provides new evidence on the association between tax enforcement and corporate governance, but also extends the prior literature on the association between corporate tax aggressiveness and cash holdings.
Which cues cause consumers to perceive brands as more global? A conjoint analysis
Authors: De Meulenaer Sarah , Dens Nathalie , De Pelsmacker Patrick
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the globalization (vs localization) of different cues (advertising copy, brand name, spokesperson, brand logo) influences consumers’ perceived brand globalness.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conducted conjoint analyses for two products differing in product category involvement (chocolates vs computer) with 200 consumers from the Netherlands. Additionally, based on cluster analysis, the authors divide respondents into two groups: local vs global consumer culture individuals, and the authors compare the results of the conjoint analysis for these two clusters.

Findings

– Advertising copy is most important in determining perceived brand globalness. The spokesperson and the brand logo determine perceived brand globalness more strongly for a low-involvement product, whereas the brand name is more important for a high-involvement product. Further, the spokesperson and the brand logo are relatively more important for global consumer culture individuals, while local consumer culture individuals find the brand name and advertising copy relatively more important.

Practical implications

– The most important cue to position a brand as global is the advertising copy. Brand managers of a low-involvement product and/or targeting global-minded consumers should concentrate on the spokesperson and the brand logo to position their brand. Managers of a high-involvement product and/or targeting local-minded people should focus on the brand name.

Originality/value

– While a number of researchers have emphasized the importance of perceived brand globalness for international consumer behavior, the present study is the first to the authors’ knowledge to investigate the relative importance of different cues in creating perceptions of brand globalness.
Export relational governance and control mechanisms
Authors: Yang Dorothy Liu , Ju Min , Gao Gerald Yong
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and interaction effects of relational governance and two control mechanisms, output control and process control in the context of international exchange relationships. Cross-border exchange relationships receive growing attention in the literature. Yet extant research has mainly examined single governance mechanisms. Among the few studies that investigate the interaction effects of relational governance and control mechanisms, some believe that the two mechanisms have conflicting effects, whereas others argue that they are complementary in nature.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on a sample of 184 Chinese export ventures, the empirical paper adopts the hierarchical moderated multiple regression approach.

Findings

– The authors find that relational governance contributes positively to export performance, while output control leads negatively to export performance. The findings further suggest that output control complements relational governance to enhance export performance when combined. However, process control and relational governance substitute each other and reduce effectiveness when used simultaneously.

Research limitations/implications

– The study sheds new light on the ongoing debate about whether control mechanisms substitute or complement relational governance.

Originality/value

– The study is novel in addressing the issue of how relational governance interacts differently with two control mechanisms in the international exchange relationships.
Cross-cultural research in international marketing: clearing up some of the confusion
Authors: de Mooij Marieke
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the discussion of cross-cultural research, in particular the use of dimensions of national culture, for international marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

– Discuss definitions of values and culture, analyze cultural models as to purpose and design and applications of models to international marketing.

Findings

– International marketers benefit from applying dimensions of national culture, but researchers make mistakes in applying and interpreting such dimensions, thus discrediting useful means of research for international marketing.

Practical implications

– Researchers should understand the problems of multi-level research and interpret dimensions better when using them for research.

Originality/value

– The value of this paper is in clearing up some of the misunderstandings about dimensions of national culture.
An initial field trial of a haptic navigation system for persons with a visual impairment
Authors: Innala Ahlmark Daniel , Prellwitz Maria , Röding Jenny , Nyberg Lars , Hyyppä Kalevi
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe conceptions of feasibility of a haptic navigation system for persons with a visual impairment (VI).

Design/methodology/approach

– Six persons with a VI who were white cane users were tasked with traversing a predetermined route in a corridor environment using the haptic navigation system. To see whether white cane experience translated to using the system, the participants received no prior training. The procedures were video-recorded, and the participants were interviewed about their conceptions of using the system. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis, where inductively generated codes that emerged from the data were clustered together and formulated into categories.

Findings

– The participants quickly figured out how to use the system, and soon adopted their own usage technique. Despite this, locating objects was difficult. The interviews highlighted the desire to be able to feel at a distance, with several scenarios presented to illustrate current problems. The participants noted that their previous white cane experience helped, but that it nevertheless would take a lot of practice to master using this system. The potential for the device to increase security in unfamiliar environments was mentioned. Practical problems with the prototype were also discussed, notably the lack of auditory feedback.

Originality/value

– One novel aspect of this field trial is the way it was carried out. Prior training was intentionally not provided, which means that the findings reflect immediate user experiences. The findings confirm the value of being able to perceive things beyond the range of the white cane; at the same time, the participants expressed concerns about that ability. Another key feature is that the prototype should be seen as a navigation aid rather than an obstacle avoidance device, despite the interaction similarities with the white cane. As such, the intent is not to replace the white cane as a primary means of detecting obstacles.
What has happened today? Memory visualisation of a robot companion to assist user’s memory
Authors: Saez-Pons Joan , Syrdal Dag Sverre , Dautenhahn Kerstin
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– Memory deterioration is one of the most common cognitive issues associated with ageing. Not being able to remember daily routines (e.g. taking medicine) poses a serious threat to personal independence. Smart homes combined with assistive robots have been suggested as an acceptable solution to support the independent living of the older people. The purpose of this paper is to develop a memory visualisation tool in robots and smart houses following the hypothesis that the use of memory aids will have a positive effect on the cognitive capabilities of older people.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper describes the iterative development process and evaluation of a novel interface to visualise the episodic memory of a socially assistive robotic system which could help to improve the memory capabilities of older users. Two experimental studies were carried out to assess usability, usefulness and envisaged use of such a system.

Findings

– Results show that users find a memory tool for the robot useful to help them remember daily routines and when trying to recall previous events. Usability results emphasise the need to tailor the memory tool to specific age ranges.

Originality/value

– The research to date provides support that for assistive robots to be a truly useful tool, they must be able to deliver episodic memory visualisation tools that enhance day-to-day living (i.e. environmental information, data on the robot’s actions and human-robot interaction episodes). Equipping a robotic companion with a novel memory visualisation tool for episodic memory is an excellent opportunity to have a robot provide such a functionality (cognitive prosthetics).
Banking on experiments?
Authors: Dufwenberg Martin
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– How can laboratory experiments help us understand banking crises, including the usefulness of various policy responses? After giving a concise introduction to the field of experimental economics more generally, the author attempts to provide answers. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author discusses methodology and surveys relevant work.

Findings

– History is often too complicated to be meaningfully revamped or modified in the lab, for purposes of insight-by-analogy. But as people argue about how to understand financial history, they bring ideas to the table. It is possible and useful to test the empirical relevance of these ideas in lab experiments.

Originality/value

– The paper pioneers broad discussion of how lab experiments may shed light on banking crises.
Do expectations and decisions respond to monetary policy?
Authors: Petersen Luba
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the ability of monetary policy to generate real effects in laboratory general equilibrium production economies.

Design/methodology/approach

– To understand why monetary policy is not consistently effective at stabilizing economic activity, the author vary the types of agents interacting in the economy and consider treatments where subjects are playing the role of households (firms) in an economy where automated firms (households) are programmed to behave rationally.

Findings

– While the majority of participants’ expectations respond to monetary policy in the direction intended, subjects do form expectations adaptively, relying heavily on past variables and forecasts in forming two-steps-ahead forecasts. Moreover, in the presence of counterparts that are boundedly rational, forecast accuracy worsens significantly. When interacting with automated households, updating firms’ prices respond modestly to monetary policy and significantly to anticipated marginal costs and future prices. The greatest deviations in behavior from theoretical predictions arise from human households (HH). Households persistent oversupply of labor and under-consumption is attributed to precautionary saving and debt aversion. The results provide evidence that the effects of monetary policy on decision making hinge on the distribution of indebtedness of households.

Originality/value

– The author present causal evidence of the effects of potential bounded rationality on agents’ consumption and labor decisions.
How hospitalists work to pull healthcare teams together
Authors: Chesluk Benjamin , Bernabeo Elizabeth , Reddy Siddharta , Lynn Lorna , Hess Brian , Odhner Thor , Holmboe Eric
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to document everyday practices by which hospitalist physicians negotiate barriers to effective teamwork.

Design/methodology/approach

– Ethnographic observation with a sample of hospitalists chosen to represent a range of hospital and practice types.

Findings

– Hospitals rely on effective, interprofessional teamwork but typically do not support it. Hospitalist physicians must bridge the internal boundaries within their hospitals to coordinate their patients’ care, but they face challenges – scattered patients, fragmented information, uncoordinated teams, and unreliable processes – that can impact the timeliness and safety of care. Hospitalists largely rely on personal presence and memory to deal with these challenges. Some invent low-tech supports for teamwork, but these are typically neither tested nor shared with others. Formal support for teamwork, primarily case management rounds, is applied unevenly and may not be respected by all team members.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings are drawn from observation over a limited period of time with a small, purposefully chosen sample of physicians and hospitals.

Practical implications

– Hospitals must recognize the issues hospitalists and other providers face, evaluate and disseminate supports for teamwork, and make interprofessional teamwork a core feature of hospital design and evaluation.

Originality/value

– The authors show the nuances of how hospitalists struggle to practice teamwork in a challenging context, and how the approaches they take (relying on memory and personal presence) do not address, and may actually contribute to, the system-level problems they face.
Research “push”, long term-change, and general practice
Authors: Morden Andrew , Brooks Lauren , Jinks Clare , Porcheret Mark , Ong Bie Nio , Dziedzic Krysia
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– Intervention evaluations have not always accounted for long-term implementation of interventions. The purpose of this paper is to explore implementation of a primary care intervention during the lifespan of the trial and beyond.

Design/methodology/approach

– Eight general practices participated in the trial (four control and four intervention). In-depth interviews (with nine GPs and four practices nurses who delivered the intervention) and observation methods were employed. Thematic analysis was utilized and Normalization Process Theory (NPT) constructs were compared with emergent themes.

Findings

– Macro-level policy imperatives shaped practice priorities which resulted in the “whole system” new intervention not being perceived to be sustainable. Continued routinization of the intervention into usual care beyond the lifespan of the funded study was dependent on individualized monitoring and taking forward tacit knowledge.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors discuss the implications of these findings for sociological theories of implementation and understanding outcomes of research led complex interventions.

Originality/value

– The study describes the complex interplay between macro processes and individual situated practices and contributes to understanding if, how, and why interventions are sustained beyond initial “research push”. The value of the study lies in describing the conditions and potential consequences of long-term implementation, which might be translated to other contexts.
Managing different forms of distances in Dutch healthcare organizations
Authors: Stoopendaal Annemiek
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– Dichotomous “gap” thinking about professionals and managers has important limits. The purpose of this paper is to study the specific ontology of “the gap” in which different forms of distances are defined.

Design/methodology/approach

– In order to deepen the knowledge of the actual day-to-day tasks of Dutch healthcare executives an ethnographic study of the daily work of Dutch healthcare executives and an ontological exploration of the concept “gap” was provided. The study empirically investigates the meaning given to the concept of “distance” in healthcare governance practices.

Findings

– The study reveals that healthcare executives have to fulfil a dual role of maintaining distance and creating proximity. Coping with different forms of distances seems to be an integral part of their work. They make use of four potential mechanisms to cope with distance in their healthcare organization practices.

Originality/value

– The relationship between managers and professionals is often defined as a dichotomous gap. The findings in this research suggest a more dynamic picture of the relationship between managers and professionals than is currently present in literature. This study moves “beyond” the gap and investigates processes of distancing in-depth.
Hospital management training for the Eastern Mediterranean Region: time for a change?
Authors: Rabbani Fauziah , Hashmani Farah Naz , Mukhi Aftab A Ali , Gul Xaher , Pradhan Nousheen , Hatcher Peter , Farag Mounir , Abbas Farhat
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office has emphasized health system strengthening among the top five strategic priorities. One of the integral elements of health systems are the hospitals. The purpose of this paper is to review the need for formalized training in hospital management to improve the quality of care.

Design/methodology/approach

– Literature review and hands on experience of conducting a regional training in hospital management for Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries.

Findings

– Majority of patients in EMR bypass Primary Health Care facilities due to inadequate quality of services and prefer seeking specialized care at a tertiary level. There is mounting evidence of mediocre to poor patient satisfaction due to inefficient health care practices in hospitals of EMR. Strengthening the management capacity of the hospitals through a formal training programme is therefore necessary for improving the performance of health care delivery and the overall health system. Hospital management encompasses hospital planning and operational activities including development and implementation of organizational strategies to ensure adequate numbers and quality of trained human resources and effective financial management, disaster management, health management information system utilization, support services, biomedical engineering, transport and waste management. Such training will prepare health care professionals with leadership skills to deliver quality hospital services.

Originality/value

– This is one of the first papers emphasizing the need for a formal structured regional training in hospital management for the countries of EMR. A modular incremental training approach developing an EMR Credit Transfer and Accumulation system is proposed.
Responses to professional identity threat
Authors: van Os Annemiek , de Gilder Dick , van Dyck Cathy , Groenewegen Peter
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore sensemaking of incidents by health care professionals through an analysis of the role of professional identity in narratives of incidents. Using insights from social identity theory, the authors argue that incidents may create a threat of professional identity, and that professionals make use of identity management strategies in response to this identity threat.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws on a qualitative analysis of incident narratives in 14 semi-structured interviews with physicians, nurses, and residents at a Dutch specialist hospital. The authors used an existing framework of identity management strategies to categorize the narratives.

Findings

– The analysis yielded two main results. First, nurses and residents employed multiple types of identity management strategies simultaneously, which points to the possible benefit of combining different strategies. Second, physicians used the strategy of patronization of other professional groups, a specific form of downward comparison.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors discuss the implications of the findings in terms of the impact of identity management strategies on the perpetuation of hierarchical differences in health care.

Practical implications

– The authors argue that efforts to manage incident handling may profit from considering social identity processes in sensemaking of incidents.

Originality/value

– This is the first study that systematically explores how health care professionals use identity management strategies to maintain a positive professional identity in the face of incidents. This study contributes to research on interdisciplinary cooperation in health care.
Firm-level determinants of job creation by SMEs: Swedish empirical evidence
Authors: Yazdanfar Darush , Öhman Peter
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– Using a resource-based approach, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the firm-level determinants financial leverage and liquidity on job creation at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in six industry sectors in Sweden.

Design/methodology/approach

– The generalized method of moments system model was used to analyse an extensive panel data set of 26,721 Swedish SMEs over the 2008-2011 period.

Findings

– The empirical results indicate that job creation is positively related to SMEs’ financial leverage and liquidity, and to their size and age. SMEs’ financial leverage and size are the most important firm-level determinants of job creation. Although there are differences between industry sectors, the results confirm the general pattern of the effect of financial leverage and liquidity on job creation.

Research limitations/implications

– Due to the importance of job creation for economic growth, the relationship between SMEs’ capital structure and job creation should be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. In investigating the importance of financial leverage and liquidity to labour demand dynamics, this study analyses the firm-level factors that influence job creation by SMEs.

Originality/value

– Since there is limited empirical research focusing on this relationship at firm level in the context of SME, the current research aims at investigating the determinants of job creation at the firm level empirically.
The finals stretch: exams week library outreach surveyed
Authors: Meyers-Martin Coleen , Borchard Laurie
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this article is to explore the outreach programming and support services offered at academic libraries during final exams week. The article discusses the need to provide this specialized programming, and its impact on the role of the librarian, and the use of library space.

Design/methodology/approach

– A 21-question online survey was sent to nine library listservs. Respondents were asked about their library’s planning, implementation and assessment of their programming. Participants described their library’s final exams week outreach activities and offerings.

Findings

– The survey garnered 279 responses. Nearly 40 per cent of respondents collaborate with campus and non-campus partners to provide programming. Most common offerings include extended library hours; therapy animals; as well as games; and arts and crafts. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents reported utilizing virtual media outlets for communication of final exams week events. Most common challenges included lack of funding and staffing issues.

Practical implications

– The survey results reflect the efforts of librarians and library staff members who are addressing the study break needs of students during the most stressful time in the semester.

Originality/value

– This paper provides an overview of academic library final exams week outreach initiatives and activities at institutions located in the USA and Canada.
Case studies and pervasive instruction
Authors: Noe Jennifer
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore whether journalism education techniques can be adapted for use in the information literacy classroom as a means of teaching the ethical use of information.

Design

– The author uses personal experience as a journalist and graduate of journalism education programs to examine the similarities between journalism pedagogy and information literacy and whether any aspect of journalism pedagogy is transferrable to the information literacy classroom.

Findings

– Journalism educators deliver a potent anti-plagiarism message using case studies and “war stories” from the newsroom delivered through the pervasive instruction method or stand-alone ethics class. Using case studies from a variety of different disciplines in information literacy classes could help students make a stronger connection between honest writing in all subjects. However, until information literacy is taught more widely in libraries as semester-long classes, it would be difficult to use journalism’s pervasive method of instruction. The same holds true with the stand-alone class, which does not appear to be used as a part of information literacy education.

Originality/value

– Given the many commonalities between journalism pedagogy and information literacy, there have been very few attempts to see whether it would be efficacious to adapt journalism education’s methodology to the information literacy classroom.
Writing a research paper: students explain their process
Authors: Dubicki Eleonora
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to explore how students conceptualize the research process, describing in their own words the strategies they used, as well as the successes and challenges they encountered. Areas of review include: thesis definition; search strategies; quality, variety and depth of resources; and source evaluation and citation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study analyzes 76 essays written by undergraduate and graduate students, describing their research process. Quotations from the students’ essays have been incorporated into the study results to provide a unique perspective from the researchers’ own reflections on the processes and techniques they used to complete their research papers.

Findings

– Many students encountered difficulties when writing a rigorous research paper, even though they had previously completed research assignments for other classes. There was a clear indication that instruction and support from librarians continues to be valuable, even for experienced students.

Practical implications

– The students’ reflections provide a better perspective on how students conduct their research for upper-level research papers and new insights on optimal timing for support services. The findings will be shared with faculty, along with strategies that librarians and faculty can utilize to improve students’ research papers.

Originality/value

– The essays reviewed in this study provide a unique personal perspective as students reflect on their own behaviors during the research process. This research offers an alternative approach to faculty and librarian assessments of student papers and research skills.