bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A case study of the successful implementation of workload control
Authors: Silva Cristóvão , Stevenson Mark , Thurer Matthias
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– Workload control (WLC) is a Production Planning and Control concept of particular relevance to small and medium sized make-to-order companies. Despite the simplicity of its core principles, few successful implementations have been reported, and both understanding and awareness of the concept amongst practitioners is limited. The authors describe a rare successful implementation of WLC in which elements of the concept were embedded in a company to support both customer enquiry management and order release. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implementation process itself rather than the impact on performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– A particularly novel aspect of the case is that the implementation was practitioner (rather than researcher) led. A manager chose to read up on and implement the concept, creating a strong in-house commitment to the initiative. The researchers played a facilitating role, e.g. intervening where necessary to answer questions and advise. A factory visit/tour and interview were also conducted post implementation to reflect on the process.

Findings

– The authors identify the elements of WLC implemented by the practitioner and how they were refined to meet company requirements, with implications for improving the alignment between theory and practice. The paper also informs the implementation process, for example, by highlighting the importance of managerial championing for implementation success and how WLC can be implemented based on a reasonably simple Excel© spreadsheet.

Research limitations/implications

– More empirical evidence is required to assess the generality of some of the adaptations made by the practitioner; and to collect longitudinal quantitative evidence on the performance of WLC over time. Simulations could also be conducted to confirm the effectiveness of adaptations observed in the study.

Practical implications

– The case has implications for the process of implementing WLC and may provoke a rethink in terms of the range of companies for which the concept is thought to be appropriate – the case described is of a larger, higher volume company than most previous WLC implementations.

Originality/value

– A rare case of a successful implementation of WLC at both the customer enquiry management and order release levels; the only practitioner-led implementation of WLC reported in the literature to date.
A technique for integrated modelling of manual and automatic assembly
Authors: Cohen Yuval
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe a comprehensive modelling technique that supports the assembly of very complex products that require intensive use of both computerized worker guidance and automation. The modelling enables the planning of this complex process.

Design/methodology/approach

– The proposed approach utilizes and extends typical product documentation (such as route cards and bill of materials (BOM)) to form hierarchical Petri net in a stepwise process. The suggested framework models the dynamic progress of the assembly process, and can generate route card instructions for manual operations, or ladder diagrams (LDs) for automation.

Findings

– The model can help the generation of computerized control over route cards for manual assembly operations. For automated processes, the translation algorithm of the model to LD enables its application on currently available equipment (programmable logic controllers (PLCs)).

Research limitations/implications

– The proposed framework heavily depends on the BOM data quality. So it is crucial to verify that the BOM data is not ill-defined before applying the proposed framework. Future research could report on the implementation of this model in assembly processes, or suggest another modelling technique.

Practical implications

– The model enables the integration of computer control over both manual and automated assembly processes. This enables seamless transition between these two very different operations. This ability carries the promise of reducing the cost of code generation and maintenance, and contributes to the progress towards more flexible automation.

Originality/value

– This paper presents a new comprehensive modelling technique that may support planning, simulating, tracing, and controlling the assembly process. The technique for the first time integrates modelling of both manual and automated assembly operation.
A variable neighbourhood search algorithm for disassembly lines
Authors: Kalayci Can  B. , Polat Olcay , Gupta Surendra M.
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to efficiently solve disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP) and the sequence-dependent disassembly line balancing problem (SDDLBP) which are both known to be NP-complete.

Design/methodology/approach

– This manuscript utilizes a well-proven metaheuristics solution methodology, namely, variable neighborhood search (VNS), to address the problem.

Findings

– DLBPs are analyzed using the numerical instances from the literature to show the efficiency of the proposed approach. The proposed algorithm showed superior performance compared to other techniques provided in the literature in terms of robustness to reach better solutions.

Practical implications

– Since disassembly is the most critical step in end-of-life product treatment, every step toward improving disassembly line balancing brings us closer to cost savings and compelling practicality.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first adaptation of VNS algorithm for solving DLBP and SDDLBP.
An experimental investigation of lean management in aviation
Authors: Kumar BR Raghu , Sharma Milind Kumar , Agarwal Ashish
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify important factors those which constrain implementation and sustenance of lean strategies in aviation sector and ways to avoid slow attrition within annals of lean.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research is exploratory in nature and survey methodology is used for assessing the post lean management implementation environment. The focus of study is cross-sectional, within aircraft industry based on the information collected through survey and a case study.

Findings

– The reasons for the weak sustenance of lean initiative have been identified. The measures as undertaken in the case study implied a successful turnaround of specific department. Comparison with automobile industry indicates suggestions and pitfalls to be avoided with suitable illustration.

Research limitations/implications

– The target of the study is the aircraft manufacturer and hence it has the limitation in terms of the scope. However, overall results are encouraging with the survey generating expected inputs and underline the need for similar research in the aerospace sector. The study has implications for managers in all types of industrial environment, especially in aviation, in the era of globalized lean supply chain establishment.

Practical implications

– Inputs obtained are from both industrial research in a live environment and a case study which impacts lean management in industries.

Originality/value

– This paper presents novel inputs regarding post lean implementation scenario in aviation sector, which has complicated internal processes. It also tries to establish factors relevant for any organization in assessing lean initiatives.
Determination of the contamination profile of groundwater in the vicinity of petroleum products retailing stations in Nigeria
Authors: Adebiyi Festus M. , Adeyemi Adewale F.
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The quality of groundwater in the vicinity of petroleum products retailing stations in Ile-Ife, Nigeria was investigated with a view to providing valuable information on the organic and other physico-chemical parameters associated with the contamination of the groundwaters by petroleum products. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Three sets of samples were collected per season from artesian wells within petroleum products retailing stations for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), trace metals and other physico-chemical parameters analysis. Extraction, cleaned-up and concentration of the PAHs were done using certified analytical methods. Levels of the PAHs and metals were determined using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector and bulk scientific atomic absorption spectrophotometer, respectively, while other pollution indicators were measured using standard analytical procedures.

Findings

– The groundwaters contained elevated levels of PAHs, Cu, Zn, Mn, Pb, Cr, V, Ni, Fe and total dissolved solids than their maximum allowable limits for drinking water. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results confirmed that both seasonal variation and location had much influence on the levels of most of the analyzed parameters. Some of the parameters showed strong positive correlation with each other, while Cr/Pb and Na/Pb displayed strong negative correlation with each other, indicating similar source(s) and/or chemical affinity and vice versa, respectively. Cross-plot analysis results using metals and PAHs concentrations as variables showed significant positive correlations (R2=0.99) and (R2=0.60), respectively, suggesting similar source(s) of contamination of the two sets of samples.

Originality/value

– The level of the groundwater contamination was an indication of indiscriminate discharge of petroleum products and/or underground tank leakage within the study areas.
Sustainable biofuel strategy in Karnataka state a review
Authors: Lokesh Adappa Chandrashekar , Mahesh Naranapur Somashekhar , Gowda Balakrishna , White Peter
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a review of strategy developed by University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore in Biofuel Park, Hassan (Government of Karnataka, initiative to develop biofuel programme in India) for promoting sustainable biodiesel production using oil extracted from tree borne oil species. The main aim of this study was to analyse the current strategy, identify the limitations and propose sustainable biodiesel production strategies for rural Karnataka.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper presents critical analysis of current Biofuel Park strategy using strength weakness opportunities and threat (SWOT) method. The data for SWOT analysis were collected from Biofuel Park log books, followed by interviews with around 50 associations of biofuel feed stock growers. Further, to evolve sustainable strategies, a case study was carried out at a local village assessing sustainability of biodiesel production and use from four local tree species oil namely; Pongamia pinnata, Azadiractha indica, Madhuca indica and Simarouba glauca. The evolved strategies were brainstormed with local farming community and the deliberations were used to lay a road map for implementing the evolved strategies.

Findings

– The strategies proposed in the paper would help in sustainability of villages with respect to local energy needs and generate employment. The roadmap proposed would minimise green house gas (GHG) emission compared to Biofuel Park model/strategy and minimise biomass displacement.

Originality/value

– This paper fulfils a need to study biofuel strategies adopted by government bodies, analyse the same for sustainability and propose alternatives to overcome the limitations of the practiced strategy.
Critical analysis of assessment methodologies for intraorganizational sustainability
Authors: Satolo Eduardo Guilherme , Simon Alexandre Tadeu
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– Sustainability is in vogue nowadays. It is a new concept and it has yet to be studied in more depth and rigor to create a stronger understanding. There are several lines of research and development in this area, each one using a specific template for measuring sustainability what poses even greater difficulties to those interested in the subject. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and compare current models for measuring organizational sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper presents a literature review identifying six models that have synergies in their structures and methods for measuring sustainability. It also analyzes each model highlighting key individual features identifying similarities and differences.

Findings

– Results indicates it is necessary to improve existing models and gathering positive features of each model may be the starting point for obtaining a measurement model of sustainability.

Research limitations/implications

– This work is restricted to perform a critical analysis of models for measuring intra-organizational sustainability.

Originality/value

– This is one of the first studies to investigate models that assess sustainability from the intra-organizational perspective.
Isolation of New Delhi metallo‐β‐lactamase 1‐producing Vibrio cholerae non‐O1, non‐O139 strain carrying ctxA, st and hly genes in southern Vietnam
Authors: Diep Tai The , Nguyen Nhi Thi Ngoc , Nguyen Thi Ngoc Cat , An Huy Khac , Nguyen Truong Quang , Nguyen Vu Hoang , Nguyen Thuong Van , Nguyen Thu Ngoc Anh , Izumiya Hidemasa , Ohnishi Makoto , Yamashiro Tetsu , Nguyen Lan Thi Phuong
Published: February 2015

Vibrio cholerae non‐O1, non‐O139 (VC_NAG) organisms are universally present in the aquatic environment and regarded as non‐pathogenic bacteria. However, considering that they do occasionally induce gastroenteritis, a study of their virulence and antibiotic resistance genes is important. The presence of enteropathogenic genes, including ctxA, VC_NAG‐specific heat‐stable toxin gene (st), hemolysin (hly), and zona occludens toxin (zot) was determined by PCR in 100 VC_NAG strains isolated in southern Vietnam in 2010–2013 from 94 environmental and six human origins. These 100 VC_NAG strains were also tested phenotypically and genotypically for the presence of the New Delhi metallo‐β‐lactamase (NDM‐1). Of the 100 VC_NAG strains tested, six were positive for ctxA; five from the environment and one of human origin. The st gene was detected in 17 isolates, 15 and two of which were of environmental and human origins, respectively. Gene hly was detected in 19 VC_NAG strains examined, two of which were isolated from humans and 17 from environments. The zot gene was not detected in any of the strains tested. Three VC_NAG strains of environmental origin were confirmed to produce NDM‐1 and the blaNDM‐1 gene was detected in those strains by PCR. Of note, one of the three NDM‐1‐producing VC_NAG strains was confirmed to carry ctxA, st and hly genes concurrently. This is the first report of isolation of NDM‐1‐producing VC_NAG strains in Vietnam.
Myocardial glycogen dynamics: New perspectives on disease mechanisms
Authors: Chandramouli Chanchal , Varma Upasna , Stevens Ellie M , Xiao Rui‐Ping , Stapleton David I , Mellor Kimberley M , Delbridge Lea MD
Published: February 2015

Cardiac glycogen regulation involves a complex interplay between multiple signalling pathways, allosteric activation of enzymes, and sequestration for autophagic degradation. Signalling pathways appear to converge on glycogen regulatory enzymes via insulin (glycogen synthase kinase 3β, protein phosphatase 1, allosteric action of glucose‐6‐phosphate), β–adrenergic (phosphorylase kinase protein phosphatase 1 inhibitor), and 5′ adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase (allosteric action of glucose‐6‐phosphate, direct glycogen binding, insulin receptor). While cytosolic glycogen synthesis and breakdown are relatively well understood, recent findings relating to phagic glycogen degradation highlight a new area of investigation in the heart. It has been recently demonstrated that a specific glycophagy pathway is operational in the myocardium. Proteins involved in recruiting glycogen to the forming phagosome have been identified. Starch–binding domain‐containing protein 1 is involved in binding glycogen and mediating membrane anchorage via interaction with a homologue of the phagosomal protein light‐chain 3. Specifically, it has been shown that starch–binding domain‐containing protein 1 and light‐chain 3 have discrete phagosomal immunolocalization patterns in cardiomyocytes, indicating that autophagic trafficking of glycogen and protein cargo in cardiomyocytes can occur via distinct pathways. There is strong evidence from glycogen storage diseases that phagic/lysosomal glycogen breakdown is important for maintaining normal cardiac glycogen levels and does not simply constitute a redundant ‘alternative’ breakdown route for glycogen. Advancing understanding of glycogen handling in the heart is an important priority with relevance not only to genetic glycogen storage diseases but also to cardiac metabolic stress disorders such as diabetes and ischaemia.
Multiphyletic origins of methylotrophy in Alphaproteobacteria, exemplified by comparative genomics of Lake Washington isolates
Authors: Beck David A. C. , McTaggart Tami L. , Setboonsarng Usanisa , Vorobev Alexey , Goodwin Lynne , Shapiro Nicole , Woyke Tanja , Kalyuzhnaya Marina G. , Lidstrom Mary E. , Chistoserdova Ludmila
Published: February 2015

We sequenced the genomes of 19 methylotrophic isolates from Lake Washington, which belong to nine genera within eight families of the Alphaproteobacteria, two of the families being the newly proposed families. Comparative genomic analysis with a focus on methylotrophy metabolism classifies these strains into heterotrophic and obligately or facultatively autotrophic methylotrophs. The most persistent metabolic modules enabling methylotrophy within this group are the N‐methylglutamate pathway, the two types of methanol dehydrogenase (MxaFI and XoxF), the tetrahydromethanopterin pathway for formaldehyde oxidation, the serine cycle and the ethylmalonyl‐CoA pathway. At the same time, a great potential for metabolic flexibility within this group is uncovered, with different combinations of these modules present. Phylogenetic analysis of key methylotrophy functions reveals that the serine cycle must have evolved independently in at least four lineages of Alphaproteobacteria and that all methylotrophy modules seem to be prone to lateral transfers as well as deletions.
The LysR‐type transcription factor PacR is a global regulator of photosynthetic carbon assimilation in Anabaena
Authors: Picossi Silvia , Flores Enrique , Herrero Antonia
Published: February 2015

Cyanobacteria perform water‐splitting photosynthesis and are important primary producers impacting the carbon and nitrogen cycles at global scale. They fix CO2 through ribulose‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) and have evolved a distinct CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) that builds high CO2 concentrations in the vicinity of RuBisCo favouring its carboxylase activity. Filamentous cyanobacteria such as Anabaena fix CO2 in photosynthetic vegetative cells, which donate photosynthate to heterocysts that rely on a heterotrophic metabolism to fix N2. CCM elements are induced in response to inorganic carbon limitation, a cue that exposes the photosynthetic apparatus to photodamage by over‐reduction. An Anabaena mutant lacking the LysR‐type transcription factor All3953 grew poorly and dies under high light. The rbcL operon encoding RuBisCo was induced upon carbon limitation in the wild type but not in the mutant. ChIP‐Seq analysis was used to globally identify All3953 targets under carbon limitation. Targets include, besides rbcL, genes encoding CCM elements, photorespiratory pathway‐ photosystem‐ and electron transport‐related components, and factors, including flavodiiron proteins, with a demonstrated or putative function in photoprotection. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis of selected All3953 targets showed regulation in the wild type but not in the mutant. All3953 (PacR) is a global regulator of carbon assimilation in an oxygenic photoautotroph.
Genetic variability and bottleneck detection of four Tricholoma matsutake populations from northeastern and southwestern China
Authors: Zeng Dong‐Fang , Chen Bin
Published: February 2015

The excessive commercial collection of matsutake mushrooms can lead to extreme reduction of population size, which may cause genetic bottleneck and decrease genetic diversity of Tricholoma matsutake. Here, six polymorphic microsatellite loci markers were used to examine the genetic diversity of four natural T. matsutake populations from two main producing regions of China. The minimum combinations of four loci were able to discriminate total 86 sampled individuals with distinctive multilocus genotypes. Our analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that about 80% and 20% of the overall genetic variation were respectively partitioned within and among populations. The principal‐coordinate analyses (PCA) distinguished the four tested populations into three genetic clusters, each of which was correlated with respective endemic host plants on a geographical basis. The AMOVA, PCA and pairwise population FST estimates consistently displayed the same genetic divergence patterns and spatial structure of T. matsutake mediated by host plants in China. The significant heterozygosity excesses demonstrated that a recent genetic bottleneck occurred in each population tested. The complementary M‐ratio test indicated past genetic bottleneck events over longer periods. Only four individuals were identified as putative first generation migrants within northeastern China, which implies restricted interpopulation gene flow in T. matsutake. We discuss that the significant genetic differentiation among populations of T. matsutake is most likely a function of host adaptation, host specificity, genetic bottleneck, limited dispersal and habitat fragmentation.
Politics of Evidence: The Communication of Evidence by ‘Stakeholders’ when Advocating for Tobacco Point‐of‐sale Display Bans in Australia
Authors: Cenko Clinton , Pulvirenti Mariastella
Published: February 2015

There is a tension in the policy field about the way that the policy process should occur and the manner in which evidence should inform policy decisions. This article presents findings from a qualitative study on the introduction of point‐of‐sale tobacco display bans in Australia to provide an insight into the way this public policy was introduced and the way that evidence was used and communicated to influence the policy outcome.

This study highlights that tobacco control policy does not merely consist of a series of segmented and unconnected decisions. It is an ongoing process, whereby the acceptability of forms of knowledge has shifted over time. This has enabled the introduction of tobacco control initiatives on the basis of good judgement when there is a paucity of specific evaluation information to support a policy's introduction.
Exam‐centred Meritocracy in Taiwan: Hiring by Merit or Examination?
Authors: So Bennis Wai Yip
Published: February 2015

As a legacy of Imperial China, the Taiwan civil service entrance examination (CSEE) represents the hallmark of a unique exam‐centred meritocracy, in which government agencies and public managers are deprived of selection power. This system diverges from the trend of managerialism in Anglo‐Saxon countries. This paper argues that the evolution of meritocracy in Taiwan has been built around the CSEE and has contributed to a top‐down state‐building approach. The current system is a product of a long‐term power struggle among the Examination Yuan, government agencies, and civil service examinees. In contrast to the popular framework of patronage versus merit, the policy debate in Taiwan is better framed as whether or not recruitments are made on the basis of competitive examination. The value of ‘equality’ is upheld at the expense of the value of ‘competence’.
Do Media Respond to Party Conflict? Debates on European Integration in British, Dutch and German Party Manifestos and Newspapers, 1987–2006
Authors: Van der Pas Daphne J. , Vliegenthart Rens
Published: February 2015

How do policy issues reach the political agenda? This question has received ample scholarly attention over the last decades, yet only recently have researchers explicitly examined the ways in which the agendas of political parties and media interact. This study builds on this ongoing work to examine how the conflict among parties in terms of the policy stances they propose (positional conflict) and the frames they attach to policy issues (discursive conflict) affect media attention. By focusing on party debates on European integration in British, Dutch and German election campaigns between 1987 and 2006 and employing a pooled time-series analysis, the study shows that both positional and discursive conflict among parties boost media reporting on issues. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the dynamics of media attention in relation to particular policy issues, as well as the way in which parties and media interact within election campaigns.
Paradoxical Politics: Emergency, Security and the Depoliticisation of Flooding
Authors: Wood Matthew
Published: February 2015

Existing research on depoliticisation emphasises how blame is shifted away from governments due to tactics employed by politicians. The argument of this article is that the analytical utility of this approach can be significantly enhanced by also examining the conduct of non-state actors, and broader contextual factors. Using a detailed case study of record flooding in the UK in 2007, the article shows how, despite significant failures in flood preparation, the agenda-setting and preference-shaping actions of politicians and the media, and the ‘path-shaping’ effects of a benign political context and volatile and unstable policy area, the government was largely absolved of blame in the eyes of the public. In particular, the article highlights a paradox of drivers that appear simultaneously politicising and depoliticising, but lead ultimately to depoliticisation. It is argued that these ‘paradoxical’ factors can be conceptualized usefully through a distinctive model of depoliticisation and securitisation.
Political Institutions and the Distributional Consequences of Suffrage Extension
Authors: Abou-Chadi Tarik , Orlowski Matthias
Published: February 2015

In this article, it is demonstrated that suffrage extension positively affects public goods provision and redistribution. This effect, however, depends on the political-institutional context within countries – namely the electoral system and the existence of veto points. Since they incentivise more targeted spending, majoritarian systems decrease the positive effect that suffrage extension has on public goods provision. The relocation of the median voter through suffrage extension does not lead to more redistribution where second chambers with veto rights reduce the power of the working class to induce policy change. Empirical support is provided for this argument by analysing the conditional effects of suffrage extension through difference-in-difference estimation utilising data on government spending and inheritance taxation in eleven Western European countries between 1880 and 1938. These findings emphasise the importance of taking into account political institutions when assessing the determinants and consequences of democratisation.
‘You have to do 60 minutes of physical activity per day … I saw it on TV’: Children's constructions of play in the context of Canadian public health discourse of playing for health.
Authors: Alexander Stephanie A. , Fusco Caroline , Frohlich Katherine L.
Published: February 2015

Public health institutions in many industrialised countries have been launching calls to address childhood obesity. As part of these efforts, Canadian physical activity campaigns have recently introduced children's play as a critical component of obesity prevention strategies. We consider this approach problematic as it may reshape the meanings and affective experiences of play for children. Drawing on the analytical concept of biopedagogies, we place Canadian public health discourse on play in dialogue with children's constructions of play to examine first, how play is promoted within obesity prevention strategies and second, whether children take up this public health discourse. Our findings suggest that: (i) the public health discourse on active play is taken up and reproduced by some children. However, for other children sedentary play is important for their social and emotional wellbeing; (ii) while active play is deemed to be a solution to the risk of obesity, it also embodies contradictions over risk in play, which children have to negotiate. We argue that the active play discourse, which valorises some representations of play (that is, active) while obscuring others (that is, sedentary), is reshaping meanings of play for children, and that this may have unintended consequences for children's wellbeing.
Social class, anxieties and mothers' foodwork
Authors: Wright Jan , Maher JaneMaree , Tanner Claire
Published: February 2015

In the context of concerns about childhood obesity, mothers are placed at the forefront of responsibility for shaping the eating behaviour and consequently the health of their young children. This is evident in a multitude of diverse sites such as government reports, health promotion materials, reality TV shows and the advice of childcare nurses and preschools. These sites produce a range of resources available to mothers to draw on to constitute themselves as mothers in terms of caring for their children's health. Drawing on a qualitative study of mothers recruited through three Australian preschool centres, this article examines how the working‐class and middle‐class mothers of preschool‐aged children engage with knowledge about motherhood, children and health and how those engagements impact on their mothering, their foodwork and their children. We argue that, unlike the working‐class mothers pathologised in some literature on obesity, these working‐class mothers demonstrated a no‐nonsense (but still responsibilised) approach to feeding their children. The middle‐class mothers, on the other hand, were more likely to engage in practices of self‐surveillance and to demonstrate considerable anxieties about the appropriateness of their practices for their children's current and future health.
Obesity in question: understandings of body shape, self and normalcy among children in Malta
Authors: Martin Gillian M.
Published: February 2015

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern in contemporary Malta. This article applies a critical realist approach to exploring body shape in young children, recognising fatness and obesity to be both a biologically and a socially constructed phenomenon. The agentic status of the child is central to the research design aimed at exploring understandings of body shape and how they impact on relational dynamics in the lived experiences of young children in Malta. Ethnographic methods were used in a school setting, working with children (n = 134) in two age groups: 5 and 10‐year olds. The findings show a marked difference in the two groups. The obese 5‐year‐olds, buffered by robust protective strategies in their primary group, seem to be unaware of any difference in body shape. This situation changes in the older group where the fat body is stigmatised and obese children develop private coping strategies to deal with the physical disadvantages, taunting and exclusion by their peers. The data show that there is a culturally entrenched fluidity in the lay concept of obesity that impacts on the process of embodiment in young children and may have a lasting effect on body shape and weight.
Existential multiplicity and the late‐modern smoker: negotiating multiple identities in a support group for smoking cessation
Authors: Nachtigal Anat , Kidron Carol A.
Published: February 2015

To examine identity work of smokers attempting to quit, we undertook participant observation at an Israeli cessation support group. Grounded theory and thematic analysis of group dialogue permitted identification of recurring themes and the presentation of illustrative vignettes. We found that, rather than the linear, goal‐oriented constitution of a univocal non‐smoking identity, identity work entailed re‐appraisals of the experience of liminality between smoking and non‐smoking selves. Although the group participants reduced their tobacco consumption and some even quit, specific technologies of self sustained the smoking self alongside the non‐smoking self. We propose that the social contextualisation of the smoker in the context of late modernity may explain the tolerance of chronic ambivalence and the constitution of a ‘resistant’ smoking– non‐smoking self. Phenomenological accounts of the experience of this hybrid self may more fully explain protracted or failed cessation and further deconstruct binary readings of indulgence or control, addiction or abstinence and illness or wellness. Our findings call for the re‐conceptualisation of the experience and outcome of protracted cessation and a tolerant policy‐driven intervention.
Taboo and the different death? Perceptions of those bereaved by suicide or other traumatic death
Authors: Chapple Alison , Ziebland Sue , Hawton Keith
Published: February 2015

Views differ on how far the subject of death has ever been taboo in Western Society. Walter (1991) criticised the way the ‘taboo thesis’ has been presented, arguing that it has often been ‘grossly overdrawn and lacking in subtlety’. Research suggests that suicide and other traumatic death may be particularly difficult for people to talk about or even acknowledge. We interviewed 80 people bereaved due to suicide, or other traumatic death and used interpretative thematic analysis to consider whether the ‘death taboo’ is evident in these bereavement narratives. People referred to suicide as a different, even stigmatised, death but we also found that those bereaved through other traumatic death felt that their reactions had to be contained and relatively silent. The exception was those bereaved through terrorism or train crash, who were encouraged to grieve openly and angrily: reactions to deaths which are seen as ‘private troubles’ differ from reactions to deaths which are seen as ‘public issues’. Using a symbolic interactionist approach we conclude that the shock and suddenness of the death is tied up both with the circumstances of the death (suicide, murder, accident, terrorism) and the attendant consequences for the social acceptance of public displays of mourning.
Contesting medicalisation, doubting the diagnosis: patients' ambivalence towards the diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Authors: Zarhin Dana
Published: February 2015

Whereas social scientific studies have investigated the emergence of the category Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), the most commonly diagnosed sleep disorder, no study has examined whether and how the ways in which OSA emerged affect patients' reception of the diagnosis. This article fills this gap by drawing upon in‐depth interviews with 65 Israelis who received a laboratory diagnosis of OSA. This study finds that many patients doubt the accuracy of their diagnosis, and argues that this scepticism derives from contested macro‐level medicalisation processes that preceed and surround the development of OSA as a diagnostic category. Specifically, past and present controversies over the definitions of OSA and its precursor the ‘Pickwickian syndrome’ created images of ‘OSA patients’ as sleepy and obese. Consequently, patients whose self‐perception conflicted with this image questioned their diagnosis. Other patients argued that one night of sleep at a laboratory could not reflect their quality of sleep at home, thereby implicitly criticising the ways in which OSA was medicalised. This study enhances our understanding of the underexplored dynamics between the macro and micro levels of medicalisation.
Socioeconomic inequalities in health trajectories in Switzerland: are trajectories diverging as people age?
Authors: Cullati Stéphane
Published: February 2015

Do socioeconomic differences in health status increase as people age, reflecting cumulative advantage or disadvantage in health trajectories? Life course research hypothesises that cumulative advantage/disadvantage (CAD) is an important underlying social process that shape inequalities as people age. The objective of this study is to examine whether health trajectories are diverging as people age across socioeconomic positions (education, employment status and income). In a random sample of 3,665 respondents living in Switzerland (Swiss Household Panel 2004‐2011), trajectories of self‐rated health, body mass index, depression and medicated functioning were examined with multilevel regression models. The results showed that employment status and income were associated with diverging health trajectories among men; however, only a few associations supported the CAD hypothesis. Education was rarely associated with diverging health trajectories. In conclusion, little evidence was found to support the CAD model.
Alerting a Campus Community: Emergency Notification from a Public's Perspective
Authors: Madden Stephanie
Published: February 2015

Emergency notification systems have become an essential part of campus security since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting in the United States. This study explored how a public‐centred perspective can inform campus‐alerting practices. In particular, this study provided depth to two independent variables of the situational theory of publics: constraint recognition and level of involvement. Additionally, this study proposed the development of a subcategorisation of hot‐issue publics called transient publics.
Politicisation, Depoliticisation and Anti-Politics: Towards a Multilevel Research Agenda
Authors: Wood Matthew
Published: February 2015

The concepts of ‘politicisation’ and ‘depoliticisation’ have become increasingly used by political scientists over the last decade, in light of the presumed ‘triumph’ of neoliberal ideology in the 1990s, and its subsequent challenge (‘re-politicisation’) by the 2008 ﬁnancial crisis. Debate has emerged in the literature, however, over what conceptual strategy is best for critically analysing depoliticisation – ‘broad’ or ‘narrow’. This article argues for attempting to ﬁnd common ground among ‘competing’ deﬁnitions, by viewing politicisation and depoliticisation as ‘multilevel’ concepts, with theoretical, analytical and empirical purchase. The uniting theme, it is argued, is a critical analysis of the dynamics of neoliberalism as a paradigm of political thought, and how that paradigm allegedly leads to the rise of ‘anti-politics’. Thinking about (de)politicisation in this way helps avoid facile conceptual reinvention and stimulates a coherent yet pluralistic research agenda focused on translating insights and criticism across macro, meso and micro levels.
The Rise of Precaution and the Global Governance of Risks
Authors: Balzacq Thierry
Published: February 2015

Recent research shows that interpretations and uses of the precautionary principle can exacerbate the relations between states. Indeed, the precautionary principle increasingly plays a pivotal role in explaining how actors position themselves on various issues related to health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks. However, the books under review tend to subscribe to the approach that separates out precaution from risk assessment. In contrast, it is suggested in this article that the precautionary reasoning is a distinctive view of risk regulation, which reworks rather than repudiates risk assessment. This turn might help scholars to embark on the difficult task of understanding the extent to which the precautionary principle affects how HSE norms on risks are crafted, the channels through which they spread and the mechanisms that enable them to operate effectively.
Detecting Submerged Bodies: Controlled Research Using Side‐Scan Sonar to Detect Submerged Proxy Cadavers
Authors: Healy Carrie A. , Schultz John J. , Parker Kenneth , Lowers Bim
Published: February 2015

Forensic investigators routinely deploy side‐scan sonar for submerged body searches. This study adds to the limited body of literature by undertaking a controlled project to understand how variables affect detection of submerged bodies using side‐scan sonar. Research consisted of two phases using small and medium‐sized pig (Sus scrofa) carcasses as proxies for human bodies to investigate the effects of terrain, body size, frequency, swath width, and state of decomposition. Results demonstrated that a clear, flat, sandy pond floor terrain was optimal for detection of the target as irregular terrain and/or vegetation are major limitations that can obscure the target. A higher frequency towfish was preferred for small bodies, and a 20 m swath width allowed greater visibility and easier maneuverability of the boat in this environment. Also, the medium‐sized carcasses were discernable throughout the 81‐day study period, indicating that it is possible to detect bodies undergoing decomposition with side‐scan sonar.
Is Fluorescence Under an Alternate Light Source Sufficient to Accurately Diagnose Subclinical Bruising?
Authors: Lombardi Maria , Canter Jennifer , Patrick Patricia A. , Altman Robin
Published: February 2015

This single‐blinded, randomized validation study was conducted to evaluate whether fluorescence under alternate light sources (ALS) is sufficient to diagnose subclinical bruising (bruising not visible under white light). Standardized trauma was induced on randomly selected ventral forearms. On days 1, 7, and 14 investigators independently examined case forearms under white light for perceived bruising and underALSfor fluorescence and compared body maps. 56 case and 62 control forearms (n = 118) were examined. Sensitivity ofALSon days 1, 7, and 14 was 76.8%, 69.6%, and 60.7%, respectively, compared to 69.6%, 60.0%, and 32.1% for white light. The specificity ofALSon days 1, 7, and 14 was 51.6%, 59.7%, and 53.2%, respectively, compared to 71.0%, 81.4%, and 86.9% for white light.ALShas increased sensitivity yet low specificity compared to white light in accurately detecting bruises. Fluorescence underALSis not sufficient to accurately or responsibly diagnose subclinical bruising.
The Eyeball Killer: Serial Killings with Postmortem Globe Enucleation
Authors: Coyle Julie , Ross Karen F. , Barnard Jeffrey J. , Peacock Elizabeth , Linch Charles A. , Prahlow Joseph A.
Published: February 2015

Although serial killings are relatively rare, they can be the cause of a great deal of anxiety while the killer remains at‐large. Despite the fact that the motivations for serial killings are typically quite complex, the psychological analysis of a serial killer can provide valuable insight into how and why certain individuals become serial killers. Such knowledge may be instrumental in preventing future serial killings or in solving ongoing cases. In certain serial killings, the various incidents have a variety of similar features. Identification of similarities between separate homicidal incidents is necessary to recognize that a serial killer may be actively killing. In this report, the authors present a group of serial killings involving three prostitutes who were shot to death over a 3‐month period. Scene and autopsy findings, including the unusual finding of postmortem enucleation of the eyes, led investigators to recognize the serial nature of the homicides.
Characterization of the Bombyx mori Cecropin A1 promoter regulated by IMD pathway
Authors: Hua Xiao‐Ting , Ma Xiao‐Juan , Xue Ren‐Ju , Cheng Ting‐Cai , Wang Fei , Xia Qing‐You
Published: February 2015

Cecropin A1 (CecA1) promoter from Bombyx mori was cloned and characterized to provide insight into the transcriptional control of this antimicrobial peptide gene upon immune challenges. Reporter gene assays demonstrated that both Escherichia coli and lipopolysaccharide could induce expression in BmE cells but B. bombyseptieus or peptidoglycan failed, and the induction pattern of the reporter gene was coincident with the endogenous CecA1. Analysis of deletion and mutation constructs revealed that the regulatory region was the κB motif located between ‐176 and ‐166, and no other predicted elements on CecA1 promoter affected its inducibility. Insertion of additional κB motifs increased the activity of CecA1 promoter. Furthermore, binding of Relish to κB motif was confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. These findings indicate the regulatory mechanism of CecA1 expression in IMD pathway and suggest an approach of engineering antimicrobial peptide promoter with enhanced activities that may lead to broad applications.
Anticlericalism and the Early Tudor Parliament
Authors: Cavill P.R.
Published: February 2015

This article reconsiders one aspect of Christopher Haigh's influential article ‘Anticlericalism and the English Reformation’. His article argued that anticlericalism in early 16th‐century England had been exaggerated, mislabelled and (in effect) invented as a scholarly construct. Dr Haigh proceeded to dismantle the foundations of anticlericalism in literature, in litigation, and in legislation. Evidence of anticlericalism in parliament, he maintained, was discontinuous, opportunistic and unrepresentative. This article suggests, however, that Haigh's claim makes insufficient allowance for the scarcity of the sources, underestimates the degree of continuity before and after 1529, and fails to take into account the inherently public character of parliamentary petitioning. It proposes, instead, that the challenging of the Church's wealth, the criticizing of clerical abuses, and the questioning of ecclesiastical jurisdiction recurred in early Tudor parliaments, and that the significance of such thwarted attempts at legislative reform crossed sessions and became cumulative.
Staging the Settlement: Shekhar Kapur and the Parliament of 1559
Authors: Dean David
Published: February 2015

This article offers an assessment of Shekhar Kapur's depiction of the parliamentary making of the Elizabethan settlement in his 1998 film, Elizabeth. The settlement has always been a controversial subject, as indeed have Kapur's cinematic stagings of Elizabethan history. After surveying historians' accounts of the settlement, the author subjects the film's settlement sequence to a careful analysis, reading it as cinema as well as history, and argues that, despite a significant number of historical inaccuracies, the film captures much of value as a filmic representation of the past.