bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Understanding the normative expectations of customers toward Buddhism-themed hotels
Authors: Hung Kam , Wang Sha , Tang Chaohua
Published: September 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to understand the normative expectations of travelers on the services and experiences provided by Buddhism-themed hotels as well as how service providers perceive such expectations. The growth of religion-themed hotels in China follows a larger and more generalized global marketing trend in terms of providing tourists and consumers with “themed” experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using the service quality model, this study investigates these expectations of Buddhism-themed hotels in China. The Delphi method was used with two expert panels, namely, travelers and tourism/hotel practitioners. Preliminary interviews revealed 98 normative expectations from Buddhism-themed hotels. Two sets of Delphi questionnaires were used to compare tourist expectations with practitioner perceptions.

Findings

– Results show a wide range of expectations of travelers staying in Buddhism-themed hotels. They also reveal how the expectations of the two groups aligned as well as differed.

Research limitations/implications

– This study extends the application of the service quality model to the context of religion-themed hotels. As this study adopted the Delphi technique through criterion sampling, future studies should use a larger random sample to verify the results of this study.

Practical implications

– The results help religion-themed hoteliers to understand their customer expectations better.

Originality/value

– Given the lack of studies on religion-themed hotels, especially on the gap between tourist expectations and service providers’ perceptions, this study is a timely contribution to improve the understanding on the needs and expectations of customers when visiting religion-themed hotels.
SCM competencies in construction: issues and challenges in New Zealand
Authors: Ying J. Fei , Tookey John , Roberti Johannes
Published: September 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature and extent of current practice of construction supply chain management (CSCM) in the New Zealand (NZ) construction industry; consequently, to examine the challenges and issues that the industry is confronted in implementing an efficient CSCM. The construction industry, which contributes around 5 per cent to gross domestic product, is a vitally important industry in NZ. With over 50,000 businesses, the construction industry is the third largest industry by business count in NZ’s economy (Statistics New Zealand, 2009). Although it is widely accepted that productivity can be improved by adoption of effective supply chain management (SCM), no studies have investigated this at the tactical level in the NZ context.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case study approach is used for probing SCM practice on a NZ$75-million commercial project located in Auckland Central Business District. The supply chain network of the principal ground works and superstructure construction stages was studied.

Findings

– The key findings of the case study suggest that the flow of materials remains the main focus of CSCM practice. It was found that essential skills training for CSCM was extremely limited and largely ill-defined in terms of its nature and content. Finally, it was identified that as the NZ construction industry moves towards a significantly more collaborative framework, the efficacy of CSCM operations is expected to substantially improve. However, this last point did not negate the requirement to expand and improve skills training in CSCM.

Originality/value

– The results of the case study present that our best industry proponents are inadequate in their knowledge of CSCM as a result of education and training. This is a key issue that needs to be addressed through education at all levels. Similarly, they have virtually nil capability with logistics and the efficiency of transportation as a result of standard contractual costing procedures. Until the SCM/logistics knowledge gap is recognised and addressed, the improvements in logistics and, therefore, SCM will not occur in the NZ construction industry. That said, the findings related to partnering and collaborative thinking in NZ are encouraging. NZ has these elements largely in place already and a willingness to engage, particularly in alliances, in the future. It remains to be seen whether there will be sufficient energy expended in NZ by the leading players to create effective partnering and alliancing through improving SCM and logistics competencies.
Evidence and leading indicators of change success
Authors: Arnold Paul
Published: September 2015

Purpose

– This paper discusses the important issues relating to the management of corporate change and includes an appropriate case study. It will benefit all business leaders, particularly those involved with the development of change strategies and the implementation of those strategies. Paul Arnold’s experience will improve their understanding of change management by providing the tools that will enable them to effectively understand and assess the progress of change initiatives in their organization.

Findings

– Every organization is subject to change, and virtually, everyone within the organization will be affected by change. Such is the impact of a rapidly evolving marketplace that organizational change management has become a permanent feature of the business landscape. To be effective, organizational change must be able to genuinely transform the business. Yet in the relentless search for new techniques to revolutionize the way things are done, and in the haste to manage technological discontinuities, many organizations fail to adequately develop, communicate and execute their vision for the change.

Originality/value

– The recently developed Change Index discussed in this paper provides a concrete and clear measurement system that enables management to effectively understand and assess progress of change initiatives in their organization. The paper benefits all business leaders, particularly those involved with the development of change strategies and the implementation of those strategies.
Understanding the relationship between mental models, conflict and conflict asymmetry
Authors: Bergiel Erich B. , Gainey Thomas W. , Bergiel Blaise J.
Published: September 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to test theoretically based hypotheses linking task and team-shared mental models (SMMs) with multiple dimensions of conflict and conflict asymmetry. SMMs are viewed as an underlying mechanism of team processes. While current research has begun to clarify their influence on functional team processes, their influence on dysfunctional processes is still unknown.

Design/methodology/approach

– The survey was administered to 17 graduate business classes working on intense semester-long group projects. A total of 295 individual responses were received which comprised 90 (N= 90) teams.

Findings

– Results suggest that team SMMs reduce all dimensions of conflict and relationship conflict asymmetry, while task SMMs increase all dimensions of conflict and relationship conflict asymmetry.

Research limitations/implications

– This study captured the influence of SMMs on conflict at one stage of group development. Future research should examine the impact of SMMs on conflict at multiple stages of group development.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to the literature on both mental models and conflict. In addition, based on our literature review, it was the first to empirically link SMMs and conflict asymmetry.
A novel metalloproteinase virulence factor is involved in Bacillus thuringiensis pathogenesis in nematodes and insects
Authors: Peng Donghai , Lin Jian , Huang Qiong , Zheng Wen , Liu Guoqiang , Zheng Jinshui , Zhu Lei , Sun Ming
Published: September 2015

The Gram‐positive soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis has been developed as the leading microbial insecticide for years. The pathogenesis of B. thuringiensis requires common extracellular factors that depend on the PlcR regulon, which regulates a large number of virulence factors; however, the precise role of many of these proteins is not known. In this study, we describe the complete lifecycle of a nematicidal B. thuringiensis strain in the free living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans using in vitro and in vivo molecular techniques to follow host and bacterial effectors during the infection process. We then focus on the metalloproteinase ColB, a collagenase, which was found highly important for destruction of the intestine thereby facilitates the adaptation and colonization of B. thuringiensis in C. elegans. In vivo green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter‐gene studies showed that ColB expression is highly induced and regulated by the global activator PlcR. Finally, we demonstrated that ColB also takes part in B. thuringiensis virulence in an insect model following injection and oral infection. Indeed, addition of purified ColB accelerates the action of Cry toxin proteins in insects, too. These results give novel insights into host adaptation for B. thuringiensis and other B. cereus group bacteria and highlight the role of collagenase metalloproteases to synergize infection process.
Diverse seed banks favour adaptation of microalgal populations to future climate conditions
Authors: Kremp Anke , Oja Johanna , LeTortorec Anniina H. , Hakanen Päivi , Tahvanainen Pia , Tuimala Jarno , Suikkanen Sanna
Published: September 2015

Selection of suitable genotypes from diverse seed banks may help phytoplankton populations to cope with environmental changes. This study examines whether the high genotypic diversity found in the Baltic cyst pool of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii is coupled to phenotypic variability that could aid short‐term adaptation. Growth rates, cellular toxicities and bioluminescence of 34 genetically different clones isolated from cyst beds of four Baltic bloom sites were determined in batch culture experiments along temperature and salinity gradients covering present and future conditions in the Baltic Sea. For all parameters a significant effect of genotype on the response to temperature and salinity changes was identified. General or site‐specific effects of the two factors remained minor. Clones thriving at future conditions were different from the best performing at present conditions, suggesting that genotypic shifts may be expected in the future. Increased proportions of highly potent saxitoxin were observed as a plastic response to temperature increase, indicating a potential for higher toxicity of future blooms. The observed standing variation in Baltic seed banks of A. ostenfeldii suggests that the population is likely to persist under environmental change.
What's in a name? Clients’ experiences of single session therapy
Authors: O'Neill Imogen
Published: September 2015

A growing body of research suggests that single session therapy (SST) can offer an efficient and effective service. In order to complement this research a recent exploratory study set out to examine client experiences of participating in a service offering single session family therapy. Telephone interviews were conducted with twenty‐five clients to explore their experience of SST and their satisfaction with the service they had received. Although the study was limited in scope and design, the results suggest that (i) most clients found SST had been helpful and responsive to their needs and (ii) most respondents did not report being discomforted or discouraged at the prospect that their contact with the service might involve one or two contacts. Though a small minority of clients expressed some concerns that SST might indicate a lack of availability of service, these worries were alleviated once they had met the therapist.

Practitioner points

SST therapy is a framework for family therapy practice that is generally experienced by clients as helpful and responsive to their needs.

Therapists can maximize their potential effectiveness with clients by viewing every contact with families as complete in itself.

SST therapy offers opportunities for family therapists to make their services more accessible.
‘We usually just start dancing our Indian dances’: urban American Indian (AI) female youths’ negotiation of identity, health and the body
Authors: Jette Shannon , Roberts Erica Blue
Published: September 2015

In this article, we utilise qualitative research techniques to explore how 14 urban American Indian (AI) females (aged 11–17) living in the state of Maryland discursively construct and experience health and the body, as well as how/if traditional culture shapes their understandings. In doing so, we address a significant gap in the knowledge base concerning the health beliefs of urban AI youth, and build upon research utilising a decolonising approach. Using a two‐step process of thematic analysis and poststructuralist discourse analysis, we arrived at three key findings: (1) while youths are taught (and learn) mainstream lessons about health and bodily norms (mostly at school), they negotiate these lessons in complex and at times contradictory ways; (2) they do not view their AI status as conferring more or less risk upon them or their community; and (3) AI identity appears to be fluid in nature, becoming more salient, even a resource, in certain situations. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of spaces within the urban context in shaping youths' embodied subjectivities, and in particular, contrast the space of the school with that of the urban AI community centre.
Collaboration across cultures: planning and delivering professional development for inclusive education in India
Authors: Rose Richard , Doveston Mary
Published: September 2015

In recent years a number of western universities have established professional development courses in international contexts. These have often involved tutors travelling to countries with which they may have previously had little contact, in order to deliver courses that have been long established in their own universities. This article discusses some of the challenges of working in international contexts, and suggests that respectful professional development must be founded upon equitable partnerships that involve local colleagues. It is suggested that time needs to be invested in understanding national and local initiatives in order to place these within the context of international developments, and that knowledge of local schools and resources is essential to the effective development and delivery of courses. The article is based upon the experiences of tutors from the UK who have been working alongside colleagues from India in the delivery of professional development over many years, and more recently in the management of an MA programme in Special and Inclusive Education in Bangalore.
The impact of differing maternal expectations on the academic achievements of primary school children in Urban Bangalore, South: a comparison between boys and girls
Authors: Haridarshan Pooja
Published: September 2015

Education of girls in India lags behind that of boys and several communities in India fare worse than others. Because of their secondary status in the society, Indian girls tend to suffer from low self‐esteem. Thus, it is necessary to study the reasons why girls are being discouraged from attending and completing school as well as what are the expectations mothers have from them when compared to their male siblings. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews with the participants. Of 15 mothers, 12 completed the questionnaires; of these, five mothers were interviewed, and their data was used to present the findings of a comparative study on the maternal expectations on academic achievements in primary school children residing in Urban Bangalore, South. This study also throws light on some of the peripheral issues that emerge while considering maternal expectations on academic outcomes. The study examines how maternal expectations might differ in the case of boys versus girls within an Indian context, particularly within an urban setting in Bangalore, Karnataka. No differences were seen in the expectations mothers had of their sons compared to their daughters, but several other issues emerged. The results of this study may not be used conclusively as this is just a small‐scale research project and hence no generalisation can be made to address such prevalent cultural issues in India, particularly in Urban South Bangalore, Karnataka, South India. The results of this study illustrate the need for more literature within the Indian context.
Culture and poverty: a case study of a girl with special educational needs from a poor community in South India
Authors: Philip Neetha
Published: September 2015

Girls with disabilities from lower economic homes are disadvantaged (in terms of gender, disability and poverty) in India, and are often regarded as useless by their communities. There is a need to improve and provide a chance for self‐sufficiency among women with disabilities in India.

The purpose of this study was to examine the life‐chances (i.e. the likelihood of living a self‐sufficient life) of girls with disabilities in rural India and subsequently suggest ways through which one can improve these life chances. The study was a single‐case study that used data from semi‐structured interviews carried out in rural Bangalore.

It was found, based on the interviews and available literature on the issue, that women with disabilities are at a disadvantage, especially those in rural settings. The most significant factors that seem to affect the life chances of the subject in the study were parental hesitation, a lack of opportunities and low self‐esteem and confidence. The study suggests awareness programmes, counselling and the implementation of home‐based education services as some ways through which the life‐chances of girls with disabilities are likely to improve.
Providing effective support to teachers in addressing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in mainstream classrooms in a Bangalore pre‐primary school
Authors: D'Souza Mildred , Jament Johnson
Published: September 2015

This article reports a study conducted on children's social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) in a single pre‐primary school in Bangalore, with the objective of developing a behaviour management policy for use by teachers. Limited evidence is available in the Indian literature in the area of SEBD and it remains important to know how the teachers address behaviour in their classrooms and what proposals they have for the provision of effective support for these children in schools. Eight teachers who had expressed concerns about children's SEBD were selected for the study. Questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews were used to gather data from these teachers. The first part of the study was focused upon the teachers' understanding of the concept of SEBD and the characteristics associated with this label that they encounter in the classroom. Further attempts were made to explore teachers' strategies and ‘solutions’ to meet such difficulties in their classrooms. The paper discusses the adaptable framework with guidelines for teachers, formulated from the data gathered from the study, together with ideas accumulated through the use of relevant literature to address SEBD in early years settings in India.
Taking an Attention‐Grabbing “Headlines First!” Approach to Engage Students in a Lecture Setting
Authors: Harris G. Keith , Stevenson Clint , Joyner Helen
Published: September 2015

Let's face it. Traditional lectures do not consistently capture our students’ attention, especially when they are PowerPoint‐driven and lack student/instructor interaction. Most of us have had the unfortunate feeling that our students were not fully engaged in our lectures, despite hours of preparation on our part. This sense of “wasted” investment of time can be especially frustrating for pretenure faculty, who must balance teaching, research, extension and administrative (as well as personal) responsibilities in order to be successful. How can we engage students in our course content, given limited time and resources to prepare lecture material and demonstrations? Active learning strategies are a possibility, but shifting courses from a lecture format to problem‐based learning or a flipped format requires a significant time and effort investment from the instructor. Why not start by making lecture more fun and engaging for our students? Storytelling is an effective and efficient means of getting and maintaining our students’ attention and interest during lecture to drive home key points. The BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) 5E Instructional Model provides a conceptual framework that emphasizes the primacy of student engagement in science education (Bybee). Our goal here is to provide practical examples and external references to show how “Headlines First!” storytelling can be used effectively to engage students in the science classroom.
Suicide by Shotgun in Southeastern Minnesota
Authors: Blessing Melissa M. , Lin Peter T.
Published: September 2015

Suicide by shotgun is a common method of suicide with high regional variation. We sought to describe their distinct, challenging features and provide demographic and risk characteristics. We reviewed 228 gunshot wounds autopsied at Mayo Clinic from 1994 to 2014; of these, 75 (32.9%) were shotgun wounds. All were suicides and contact range. Ages ranged from 14 to 92 years old; of these, 97% were men. The majority involved the head (70.9%), were intraoral (48.2%), and had upward (73.2%) and backward (73.2%) directionality. Next most common was the chest (21.5%), with backward (94.1%) and downward (64.7%) directionality. Four involved multiple wounds. Wadding was recovered in 16 (21.3%) cases. Six (8.0%) had a survival period. Most (66.7%) took place at home. Seventy‐one percent had a known psychiatric history; 32.4% had positive toxicology. Although contact range shotgun wounds cause severe destruction, entrance wound and other characteristic are identifiable with thorough scene, autopsy, and radiographic documentation.
Application of Sensory Evaluation, HS‐SPME GC‐MS, E‐Nose, and E‐Tongue for Quality Detection in Citrus Fruits
Authors: Qiu Shanshan , Wang Jun
Published: September 2015

In this study, electronic tongue (E‐tongue), headspace solid‐phase microextraction gas chromatography‐mass spectrometer (GC‐MS), electronic nose (E‐nose), and quantitative describe analysis (QDA) were applied to describe the 2 types of citrus fruits (Satsuma mandarins [Citrus unshiu Marc.] and sweet oranges [Citrus sinensis {L.} Osbeck]) and their mixing juices systematically and comprehensively. As some aroma components or some flavor molecules interacted with the whole juice matrix, the changes of most components in the fruit juice were not in proportion to the mixing ratio of the 2 citrus fruits. The potential correlations among the signals of E‐tongue and E‐nose, volatile components, and sensory attributes were analyzed by using analysis of variance partial least squares regression. The result showed that the variables from the sensor signals (E‐tongue system and E‐nose system) had significant and positive (or negative) correlations to the most variables of volatile components (GC‐MS) and sensory attributes (QDA). The simultaneous utilization of E‐tongue and E‐nose obtained a perfect classification result with 100% accuracy rate based on linear discriminant analysis and also attained a satisfying prediction with high coefficient association for the sensory attributes (R2 > 0.994 for training sets and R2 > 0.983 for testing sets) and for the volatile components (R2 > 0.992 for training sets and R2 > 0.990 for testing sets) based on random forest. Being easy‐to‐use, cost‐effective, robust, and capable of providing a fast analysis procedure, E‐nose and E‐tongue could be used as an alternative detection system to traditional analysis methods, such as GC‐MS and sensory evaluation by human panel in the fruit industry.
Mechanism of Polyphosphates Hydrolysis by Purified Polyphosphatases from the Dorsal Muscle of Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix) as Detected by 31P NMR
Authors: Liu Wei , Xu Meng , Zhang Yawei , Wang Fulong , Hui Teng , Cui Baowei , Guo Xiuyun , Peng Zengqi
Published: September 2015

The dynamic hydrolysis of tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and polyphosphate compound, which was catalyzed by purified pyrophosphatase (PPase) and myosin‐ tripolyphosphatase (TPPase) from the silver carp dorsal muscle, was studied using 31P NMR spectroscopy. In the PPase + TSPP system, the pyrophosphate (PP) was hydrolyzed quickly and completely within 8 h and the hydrolysis rate of PP was 12.51%/h. In the TPPase + STPP system, the first‐order hydrolysis of tripolyphosphate (TPP) was not yet complete after 48 h, and the derived PP accumulated progressively. Given the coexistence of PPase and TPPase, only 1.20% of TPP in STPP alone remained after 48 h. However, the generation rate of Pi in the polyphosphate compound (TSPP: STPP: sodium hexametaphosphate = 1: 8: 1) was 0.76%/h, which was less than 0.88%/h in STPP alone. In the presence of polyphosphatases, the decrease of PP or TPP content in the polyphosphate compound was not as rapid as that in TSPP or STPP alone due to the inhibitory effect of PP on TPPase and the effect of low system pH on PPase. The understanding of polyphosphates hydrolysis mechanism was capable of developing the advanced polyphosphate mixture in order to reduce the phosphate residue in fish products.
Homeostatic dysregulation proceeds in parallel in multiple physiological systems
Authors: Li Qing , Wang Shengrui , Milot Emmanuel , Bergeron Patrick , Ferrucci Luigi , Fried Linda P. , Cohen Alan A.
Published: September 2015

An increasing number of aging researchers believes that multi‐system physiological dysregulation may be a key biological mechanism of aging, but evidence of this has been sparse. Here, we used biomarker data on nearly 33 000 individuals from four large datasets to test for the presence of multi‐system dysregulation. We grouped 37 biomarkers into sixa priorigroupings representing physiological systems (lipids, immune, oxygen transport, liver function, vitamins, and electrolytes), then calculated dysregulation scores for each system in each individual using statistical distance. Correlations among dysregulation levels across systems were generally weak but significant. Comparison of these results to dysregulation in arbitrary ‘systems’ generated by random grouping of biomarkers showed thata prioriknowledge effectively distinguished the true systems in which dysregulation proceeds most independently. In other words, correlations among dysregulation levels were higher using arbitrary systems, indicating that onlya priorisystems identified distinct dysregulation processes. Additionally, dysregulation of most systems increased with age and significantly predicted multiple health outcomes including mortality, frailty, diabetes, heart disease, and number of chronic diseases. The six systems differed in how well their dysregulation scores predicted health outcomes and age. These findings present the first unequivocal demonstration of integrated multi‐system physiological dysregulation during aging, demonstrating that physiological dysregulation proceeds neither as a single global process nor as a completely independent process in different systems, but rather as a set of system‐specific processes likely linked through weak feedback effects. These processes – probably many more than the six measured here – are implicated in aging.
CALHM1 and its polymorphism P86L differentially control Ca2+ homeostasis, mitogen‐activated protein kinase signaling, and cell vulnerability upon exposure to amyloid β
Authors: Moreno‐Ortega Ana José , Buendia Izaskun , Mouhid Lamia , Egea Javier , Lucea Susana , Ruiz‐Nuño Ana , López Manuela G. , Cano‐Abad María F.
Published: September 2015

The mutated form of the Ca2+ channel CALHM1 (Ca2+ homeostasis modulator 1), P86L‐CALHM1, has been correlated with early onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). P86L‐CALHM1 increases production of amyloid beta (Aβ) upon extracellular Ca2+ removal and its subsequent addback. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the overexpression of CALHM1 and P86L‐CALHM, upon Aβ treatment, on the following: (i) the intracellular Ca2+ signal pathway; (ii) cell survival proteins ERK1/2 and Ca2+/cAMP response element binding (CREB); and (iii) cell vulnerability after treatment with Aβ. Using aequorins to measure the effect of nuclear Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]n) and cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]c) on Ca2+ entry conditions, we observed that baseline [Ca2+]n was higher in CALHM1 and P86L‐CALHM1 cells than in control cells. Moreover, exposure to Aβ affected [Ca2+]c levels in HeLa cells overexpressing CALHM1 and P86L‐CALHM1 compared with control cells. Treatment with Aβ elicited a significant decrease in the cell survival proteins p‐ERK and p‐CREB, an increase in the activity of caspases 3 and 7, and more frequent cell death by inducing early apoptosis in P86L‐CALHM1‐overexpressing cells than in CALHM1 or control cells. These results suggest that in the presence of Aβ, P86L‐CALHM1 shifts the balance between neurodegeneration and neuronal survival toward the stimulation of pro‐cytotoxic pathways, thus potentially contributing to its deleterious effects in AD.
Drug hypersensitivity in children: report from the pediatric task force of theEAACIDrug Allergy Interest Group
Authors: Gomes E. R. , Brockow K. , Kuyucu S. , Saretta F. , Mori F. , Blanca‐Lopez N. , Ott H. , Atanaskovic‐Markovic M. , Kidon M. , Caubet J.‐C. , Terreehorst I. ,   the ENDA/EAACI Drug Allergy Interest Group
Published: September 2015

When questioned, about 10% of the parents report suspected hypersensitivity to at least one drug in their children. However, only a few of these reactions can be confirmed as allergic after a diagnostic workup. There is still a lack of knowledge on drug hypersensitivity (DH) epidemiology, clinical spectrum, and appropriate diagnostic methods particularly in children. Meanwhile, the tools used for DH management in adults are applied also for children. Whereas this appears generally acceptable, some aspects of DH and management differ with age. Most reactions in children are still attributed to betalactams. Some manifestations, such as nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug‐associated angioedema and serum sickness‐like reactions, are more frequent among young patients as compared to adults. Risk factors such as viral infections are particularly frequent in children, making the diagnosis challenging. The practicability and validity of skin test and other diagnostic procedures need further assessment in children. This study presents an up‐to‐date review on epidemiology, clinical spectrum, diagnostic tools, and current management of DH in children. A new general algorithm for the study of these reactions in children is proposed. Data are presented focusing on reported differences between pediatric and adult patients, also identifying unmet needs to be addressed in further research.
Peri‐operative management of the surgical patient with diabetes 2015
Authors:   Membership of the Working Party, Barker P. , Creasey P. E. , Dhatariya K. , Levy N. , Lipp A. , Nathanson M. H. , Penfold N. , Watson B. , Woodcock T.
Published: September 2015

Diabetes affects 10–15% of the surgical population and patients with diabetes undergoing surgery have greater complication rates, mortality rates and length of hospital stay. Modern management of the surgical patient with diabetes focuses on: thorough pre‐operative assessment and optimisation of their diabetes (as defined by a HbA1c < 69 mmol.mol−1); deciding if the patient can be managed by simple manipulation of pre‐existing treatment during a short starvation period (maximum of one missed meal) rather than use of a variable‐rate intravenous insulin infusion; and safe use of the latter when it is the only option, for example in emergency patients, patients expected not to return to a normal diet immediately postoperatively, and patients with poorly controlled diabetes. In addition, it is imperative that communication amongst healthcare professionals and between them and the patient is accurate and well informed at all times. Most patients with diabetes have many years of experience of managing their own care. The purpose of this guideline is to provide detailed guidance on the peri‐operative management of the surgical patient with diabetes that is specific to anaesthetists and to ensure that all current national guidance is concordant.
Enhancement of Mechanical Properties and Testing of Nitinol Stents in Cerebral Aneurysm Simulation Models
Authors: Nam Hyo Geun , Yoo Chang Min , Baek Seoung Min , Kim Han Ki , Shin Jae Hee , Hwang Min Ho , Jo Ga Eun , Kim Kyong Soo , Cho Jae Hwa , Lee Seung Hoon , Kim Ho Chul , Lim Chun Hak , Choi Hyuk , Sun Kyung
Published: September 2015

Stents are promising medical devices widely used in the prevention of cerebral aneurysm rupture. As the performance of stents depends on their mechanical properties and cell configuration, the aim of this study was to optimize the stent design and test the hemodynamic properties by using computational solid mechanics and computational fluid dynamics. In order to test their performance, computer‐based cerebral aneurysm models that mimic the conditions present after implantation into the human brain were tested. The strut configuration selected was the closed‐cell type, and nitinol was chosen as the material for stent manufacture because the innate characteristics of this material increase stent flexibility. Three ideal sample stent types with different cell configurations were manufactured. Computational solid mechanics analysis of the sample stents showed over 30% difference in flexibility between stents. Furthermore, using a cerebral aneurysm model simulation, we found that the stents eased the hemodynamic factors of the cerebral aneurysm and lessened the flow velocity influx into the sac. A decrease in flow velocity led to a 50–60% reduction in wall shear stress, which is expected to prevent aneurysm rupture under clinical conditions. Stent design optimization was carried out by simulation and electropolishing. Corrosion resistance and surface roughness were evaluated after electropolishing performed under variable conditions, but 40 V and 10 s were the most optimal.
1 The Materiality of Everyday Life: An Introduction
Authors: Overholtzer Lisa , Robin Cynthia
Published: September 2015

This volume explores the analytical productivity of the convergence of two bodies of theory: materiality, defined here as the mutually constitutive relationships between people and the material world, and everyday life, conceived of as the ordinary practices that comprise most of human existence. An engagement with materiality and everyday life reveals three interventions critical to archaeological research. First, archaeological studies of the somewhat ethereal concept of materiality benefit from a grounding in the context of material engagements in everyday life. Second, the seemingly mundane and ordinary material practices of everyday life are of crucial significance for society in such varied arenas as politics, commerce, and cosmology. Third, the study of the materiality of everyday life necessarily implicates fruitful attention to multiple social and temporal scales.
6 Material Culture and Diasporic Experiences: A Case of Medieval Hanse Merchants in the Baltic
Authors: Naum Magdalena
Published: September 2015

The Hanseatic League, a late medieval merchant association with roots in northern German towns, is credited with the establishment of extensive economic and geographic connections and considerable impact on the development of urban culture around the Baltic and the North Sea. Its merchants, regularly crossing the Seas and settling in foreign ports, created a network of diasporic communities often maintaining close physical and emotional connections with their home towns. This chapter focuses on the late medieval German diaspora in Kalmar (Sweden) and Tallinn (Estonia) and examines cultural and material practices of these communities. It theorizes about the role and meaning of everyday material culture for Hanseatic merchants and their families, and investigates how material objects figured in the experience of relocation. It discusses the centrality of everyday things in rebuilding the migrants’ lives after relocation, constructing a sense of diaspora community and maintaining connections with families they left behind.
2 How Material Culture Acted on the Ancient Maya of Yucatan, Mexico
Authors: Hutson Scott R. , Davies Gavin
Published: September 2015

This paper looks at how materiality in a specific sense (e.g., aspects of raw materials) contributes to materiality in a broader sense (e.g., the mutually constitutive relations between people and things). We embark from the point that common materials, such as stone and perishable containers (baskets, gourds), shape people's social interactions and their physical sensibilities. The use of very large stones for buildings in and around Ucí, a local political center in the northern Maya Lowlands of Yucatan, Mexico, required people to draw on a large web of social relations in order to get access to the right stone and the right labor. Furthermore, hauling such stones and placing them in walls required a very literal form of physical dialogue between laborers that is otherwise quite rare, akin to carrying a couch. We believe that the closely coordinated and intimately shared physical maneuvers required to haul and place a 150 kg stone intensified the bonds between co‐actors, who were likely part of the same household. This suggests that the stability of households depends not just on what people do, but how they do these things together. Many households at two sites near Ucí—Kancab and 21 de Abril—depended heavily on baskets and gourds since pottery was scarce. Aspects of the making of these tools, such as the procurement of materials for baskets, sent people beyond their homes and into contact with many others. Thus, we argue that discussions of materials in craftwork should expand to consider the social entanglements entailed in the procurement of materials. Furthermore, we argue that the specific tactile characteristics of perishable goods such as baskets and gourds help create different kinds of people. In households with less pottery, day to day use of baskets and gourds would have inculcated non‐discursive senses of touch that rose to discursive consciousness at community wide occasions at households that served meals on pottery. Such events would have been diacritical, making participants aware of the differences between themselves. In sum, raw materials such as stone and gourds play a large role in making actors who they were and creating social networks.
4 Of Earth and Stone: The Materiality of Maya Farmers’ Everyday Lives at Chan, Belize
Authors: Robin Cynthia
Published: September 2015

This chapter explores the materials and materiality of the everyday lives of farmers living in the ancient Maya farming community of Chan located in west central Belize. Limestone bedrock and soil matrix were the substance of Chan's landscape. In constructing their community and across their daily lives, Chan's residents used, modified, and transformed earth and stone to build houses, agricultural terraces, quarries, and workshops that were the basis of everyday life at Chan. The local resources and products that residents created from earth and stone were critical in their development of a resilient community. Exploring the materiality of the everyday lives of Maya farmers provides a fertile ground for understanding the significance of ordinary people's daily lives in the past.
Mind the gap: gender disparities still to be addressed in UK Higher Education geography
Authors: Maddrell Avril , Strauss Kendra , Thomas Nicola J. , Wyse Stephanie
Published: September 2015

This paper evidences persistent gender inequalities in UK higher education (HE) geography departments. The two key sources of data used are: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data for staff and students, which affords a longitudinal response to earlier surveys by McDowell and McDowell and Peake of women in UK university geography departments, and a qualitative survey of the UK HE geography community undertaken in 2010 that sought more roundly to capture respondent reflections on their careers, choices, status and experiences. Findings show that although the gender gap is closing within HE geography in the UK there are significant ongoing gender disparities. Therefore, the paper argues that the long and demanding process of reducing gender inequalities (alongside other, equally vital intersectional inequalities) requires continued commitment. Furthermore, respondents evidence the cost of these inequalities: enablers and barriers to job security and career progression can have long‐term impacts on quality of life and financial security, and affect personal life decisions. In recent years the UK‐based Athena Swan and Gender Equality Charter Mark agendas have prompted universities to address gendered disparities and the authors note a changing zeitgeist. The survey findings point to the need for sustained leadership within geography departments to address the day‐to‐day gender – and other – inequalities experienced in the workplace.
Economic Citizenship and Workplace Conflict in Anglo‐American Industrial Relations Systems
Authors: Currie Denise , Teague Paul
Published: September 2015

This article argues that the expansion of individual employment rights is presenting a series of challenges to the collective model of economic citizenship that prevailed in most of the Anglo‐American world during the last century. We examine developments in the management of workplace conflict in Anglo‐American countries to highlight the institutional manoeuvrings that have been taking place to mould the nature of national regimes of employment rights. We argue that Governments almost everywhere are actively seeking to create institutional regimes that weaken the impact of employment legislation and we find that statutory dispute resolution agencies are eagerly trying to develop organizational identities that are aligned with rights‐based employment disputes.
Happier with the Same: Job Satisfaction of Disadvantaged Workers
Authors: Perales Francisco , Tomaszewski Wojtek
Published: September 2015

Job satisfaction evaluations depend not only on the objective circumstances that workers experience in their jobs, but also on their subjective dispositions, such as their aspirations, expectations, feelings of entitlement or personal evaluation criteria. We use matched employer–employee data from the United Kingdom to examine whether and how subjective dispositions influencing job satisfaction vary across workers with different socio‐demographic traits. We approximate jobs using detailed occupations within workplaces and find that most of the variability in job satisfaction is at the worker rather than the proximate‐job level, and that workers with disadvantaged statuses report higher satisfaction with the same jobs than those with advantaged statuses.
Molecular phylogeny of Harpactorinae and Bactrodinae uncovers complex evolution of sticky trap predation in assassin bugs (Heteroptera: Reduviidae)
Authors: Zhang Junxia , Weirauch Christiane , Zhang Guanyang , Forero Dimitri
Published: September 2015

Sticky trap predation, the use of adhesive substances to trap and capture prey, is an intriguing yet poorly studied predatory strategy. Unique among known sticky trap predators, assassin bugs (Reduviidae) have evolved both exogenous and endogenous sticky trap predatory mechanisms: some trap their prey with sticky plant resins, some scavenge insects entrapped by sticky plant trichomes and others self‐produce sticky secretions. The evolution of these different strategies in assassin bugs is poorly understood due to the lack of comprehensive phylogenies. We reconstruct a phylogeny of Reduviidae (141 taxa; > 5000 bp) focusing on the Harpactorinae and Bactrodinae that engage in sticky trap predation. Ancestral state reconstruction, and temporal and geographical divergence analyses show that sticky trap predation techniques in assassin bugs evolved at least seven times independently since the late Cretaceous: use of sticky plant trichomes evolved as many as four times, resin‐use twice independently and once as a transition from trichome use, and ‘self‐stickiness’ once. Exogenous and endogenous sticky traps first appeared in the Neotropics, with the two exogenous mechanisms (resin and trichome use) subsequently evolving independently in the Old World. This study illustrates, for the first time, the complex evolutionary pattern of sticky trap predation within assassin bugs.
The impact of cardiopulmonary exercise testing on patients over the age of 80 undergoing elective colorectal cancer surgery
Authors: Chan K. E. , Pathak S. , Smart N. J. , Batchelor N. , Daniels I. R.
Published: September 2015

Aim

Advanced age and occult cardiorespiratory disease are associated with increased morbidity and mortality following surgery. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) may allow the identification of high‐risk patients and facilitate planned postoperative critical care support. The aim of this study was to determine whether preoperative CPET in patients aged over 80 undergoing elective colorectal cancer resection was associated with improved outcome.

Method

All patients aged 80 years and above undergoing elective colorectal cancer resection between 1 March 2011 and 1 September 2013 were retrospectively analysed. Referral for CPET testing was at the discretion of the operating surgeon. Postoperative critical care unit (CCU) admission was based upon the CPET results.

Results

Ninety‐four patients were identified, of whom 48 underwent CPET testing. The CPET group were significantly older than the non‐CPET group (85 vs 83 years, P = 0.04) and were more likely to have a planned admission to CCU postoperatively (P < 0.0001). Despite the increased use of CCU resources, the overall CCU length of stay (LOS) in the CPET group did not differ from the non‐CPET group, but the non‐CPET group had a higher proportion of Level‐3 care. There were no differences in the incidence of unplanned CCU admission between the CPET and the non‐CPET group (P = 0.23). There were no differences in overall LOS between the two groups (P = 0.42). There was no difference in mortality (P = 0.11), overall complications (P = 0.53) or severe complications (P = 0.3).

Conclusion

Preoperative CPET testing in patients aged over 80 undergoing elective colorectal cancer resection allows identification of higher‐risk patients and mitigation of risk by preemptive admission to a CCU. This stratification allows equivalent results to be achieved in high‐ and low‐risk elderly patients undergoing colorectal surgery.