bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A survey on information re‐finding techniques
Authors: Deng Tangjian , Feng Ling
Published: November 2011

Purpose

Observing that people re‐access what they have seen or used in the past is very common in real lives. The purpose of this paper is to review the subject of information re‐finding comprehensively, and introduce to readers the underlying techniques and mechanisms used in information re‐finding.

Design/methodology/approach

After analyzing users' information re‐finding behaviors and their requirements, the paper studies the natural way of re‐finding in human memory, and reviews state‐of‐the‐art techniques and tools developed in the fields of web and personal information management for information re‐finding.

Findings

Four main re‐finding support techniques on the Web are: re‐finding tools in Web browsers; history service; re‐finding search engine; and voice‐based re‐finding. Three main re‐finding approaches are used in PIM: browse‐based approaches; content‐based search; and context‐based search.

Practical implications

Following the recalling mechanisms in human memory, the method of recall‐by‐context in both fields of web usage and personal information management can make users feel easy to re‐find information.

Originality/value

The paper gives a comprehensive overview of information re‐finding techniques.
ReClose: web page summarization combining summary techniques
Authors: Wenerstrom Brent , Kantardzic Mehmed
Published: November 2011

Purpose

Search engine users are faced with long lists of search results, each entry being of a varying degree of relevance. Often users' expectations based on the short text of a search result hold false expectations about the linked web page. This leads users to skip relevant information, missing valuable insights, and click on irrelevant web pages wasting time. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new summary generation technique, ReClose, which combines query‐independent and query‐biased summary techniques to improve the accuracy of users' expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tested the effectiveness of ReClose summaries against Google summaries by surveying 34 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to use one type of summary approach. Summary effectiveness was judged based on the accuracy of each user's expectations.

Findings

It was found that individuals using ReClose summaries showed a 10 per cent increase in the expectation accuracy over individuals using Google summaries, and therefore better user satisfaction.

Practical implications

The survey demonstrates the effectiveness of using ReClose summaries to improve the accuracy of user expectations.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel summary generation technique called ReClose, a new approach to summary evaluation and improvements upon previously proposed summary generation techniques.
Result‐reconstruction method to return useful XML elements
Authors: Keyaki Atsushi , Hatano Kenji , Miyzaki Jun
Published: November 2011

Purpose

Nowadays there are a large number of XML documents on the web. This means that information retrieval techniques for searching XML documents are very important and necessary for internet users. Moreover, it is often said that users of search engines want to browse only relevant content in each document. Therefore, an effective XML element search aims to produce only the relevant elements or portions of an XML document. Based on the demand by users, the purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate a method for obtaining more accurate search results in XML search.

Design/methodology/approach

The existing approaches generate a ranked list in descending order of each XML element's relevance to a search query; however, these approaches often extract irrelevant XML elements and overlook more relevant elements. To address these problems, the authors' approach extracts the relevant XML elements by considering the size of the elements and the relationships between the elements. Next, the authors score the XML elements to generate a refined ranked list. For scoring, the authors rank high the XML elements that are the most relevant to the user's information needs. In particular, each XML element is scored using the statistics of its descendant and ancestor XML elements.

Findings

The experimental evaluations show that the proposed method outperforms BM25E, a conventional approach, which neither reconstructs XML elements nor uses descendant and ancestor statistics. As a result, the authors found that the accuracy of an XML element search can be improved by reconstructing the XML elements and emphasizing the informative ones by applying the statistics of the descendant XML elements.

Research limitations/implications

This work focused on the effectiveness of XML element search and the authors did not consider the search efficiency in this paper. One of the authors' next challenges is to reduce search time.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a method for improving the effectiveness of XML element search.
Load distribution by using Web Workers for a real‐time web application
Authors: Okamoto Shusuke , Kohana Masaki
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a load distribution technique for a web server. It utilizes Web Workers, which is a new feature of Javascript.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have been implementing a web‐based MORPG as an interactive, real‐time web application; previously, the web server alone was responsible for manipulating the behavior of all the game characters. As more users logged in, the workload on the server was increased. Hence, the authors have implemented a technique whereby the CPU load of the server is distributed among the clients.

Findings

The authors found that some caching mechanism is useful for utilizing client‐side calculation. The caching suppresses the increase of communication load. A performance evaluation reveals that the technique plays a role in decreasing the CGI latency of both low‐end server and high‐end server. The average latency is reduced to 59.5 percent of the original system.

Originality/value

Web Workers allows scripts to be executed with keeping the page response on a web browser. It is intended to be used for raising user experience. This technique utilizes Web Workers for a web server to distribute the load to its clients.
Modelling a web site quality‐based recommendation system
Authors: Rohrer Edelweis , Motz Regina , Diaz Alicia
Published: November 2011

Purpose

Web site recommendation systems help to get high quality information. The modelling of recommendation systems involves the combination of many features: metrics of quality, quality criteria, recommendation criteria, user profile, and specific domain concepts, among others. At the moment of the specification of a recommendation system it must be guaranteed a right interrelation of all of these features. The purpose of this paper is to model a web site quality‐based recommendation system by an ontology network.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors propose an ontology network based process for web site recommendation modelling. The ontology network conceptualizes the different domains (web site domain, quality assurance domain, user context domain, recommendation criteria domain, specific domain) in a set of interrelated ontologies. Particularly, this approach is illustrated for the health domain.

Findings

Basically, this work introduces the semantic relationships that were used to construct this ontology network. Moreover, it shows the usefulness of this ontology network for the detection of possible inconsistencies when specifying recommendation criteria.

Originality/value

Recommendation systems based on ontologies that model the user profile and the domain of resources to be recommended are quite common. However, it is uncommon to find models that explicitly represent the criteria used by the recommender systems, that express the quality dimensions of resources and on which criteria are applied, and consider the user context at the moment of the query.
Behavioral aspects of cell phone usage among youth: an exploratory study
Authors: Haverila Matti
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate cell phone use and broad cell phone feature preferences among youth in Finland. Of particular interest is the issue of gender differences regarding the behavioral aspects of the cell phones, and their conceptualization.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants of the study are undergraduate students from a large university located in Tampere, Finland. The JMP 1‐2‐3‐software was used for statistical analysis.

Findings

Significant differences between genders regarding the behavioral factors and specific behaviors were identified in three out of six behavioral factors and in 14 out 30 specific behaviors. The conceptualization of the cell phone behaviors by different genders was analyzed, and differences in the conceptualization were discovered. Finally a cluster analysis was performed with both genders in order to discover distinct and unique user groups on the basis of the differences in the behavioral variables.

Practical implications

Designers and marketers of cell phones should pay attention to behavioral aspects of cell phone usage. In addition gender differences in these behaviors and their conceptualizations should be carefully appraised.

Originality/value

Cell phone behaviors and the relevant customer clusters are compared. Also the conceptualization of the broad cell phone behaviors between the genders are compared.
Generation Y's athlete role model perceptions on PWOM behaviour
Authors: Buksa Ivan , Mitsis Ann
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the Generation Y segment in Australia perceive athletes as role models, and if so, do they engage in positive word‐of‐mouth (POWM) recommendation behaviour. This paper also explores the influence of gender and English language enculturation on PWOM recommendation behaviours of Generation Y.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviewer administered questionnaires were conducted on members of Generation Y in Melbourne, Australia. A series of correlation and OLS regression analyses were performed on a sample of 221 Generation Y consumers.

Findings

This study found that Generation Y generally perceives athletes as role models and this influenced the Generation Y segment to engage in POWM recommendation behaviours for products/services/brands endorsed by the athlete role model. The results indicate that gender does not play a significant role in this process. However non‐English language enculturated members of Generation Y were found to be more likely to engage in POWM recommendation behaviours for endorsed products/services/brands.

Practical implications

Athlete endorsement strategies are expected to be effective in reaching and communicating with the lucrative Generation Y population. As a result, firms and marketing practitioners should strongly consider utilising favourite athletes of Generation Y to endorse products/services/brands to this consumer segment.

Originality/value

Past studies suggest that gender is a common differentiator in Generation Y's willingness to engage in POWM recommendation behaviour about endorsed products/services/brands by their favourite athlete. This study suggests that English language enculturation may be more effective in differentiating such behaviour, particularly in an Australian context.
An empirical investigation of the variations in direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising
Authors: Sen Kabir C.
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The present paper aims to understand the underpinnings of the variations in brand level direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising through a two‐part study. First, it seeks to examine the various influences on advertising intensity (operationalized by advertising to sales ratios) in the context of DTC advertising. Second, it aims to analyze how changes in share of voice impact changes in market share.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on brand level advertising as well as sales were collected from different government and industry sources. This is used to compute the ratio of DTC advertising to sales as well as changes in share of voice, market share and average drug prices. A log‐log model is used to find parameter estimates based on OLS regression.

Findings

Market share has a negative influence on the ratio of advertising to sales. Drugs which have a greater degree of innovation (as judged by the FDA) appear to spend more on DTC advertising relative to sales. The paper also finds that an increase in share of voice is not associated with increased average drug prices, but is related to a growth of market share because of a change in the share of total prescriptions dispensed.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the few to examine the factors influencing advertising to sales ratios in the context of DTC advertising. It is also one of the first to investigate the relationship of changes in the share of voice with changes in market share.
Orphan drugs: pricing, reimbursement and patient access
Authors: Barak Adam , Shankar Nandi Jyoti
Published: November 2011

Purpose

This article aims to provide a description of principal aspects of policy and practice associated with orphan drugs and treatments of rare diseases, and give perspectives for 2011 on new and emerging approaches for addressing patient access.

Design/methodology/approach

Information has been synthesized from a wide variety of sources including the authors' experience and familiarity with this topic, having over the past ten years developed market access strategies for many orphan drugs. This is supplemented by pertinent information from conferences, meetings and articles published over the last 20 years and from policy documents released by relevant regulatory bodies.

Findings

While a small number of people suffer from any one rare disease, approximately 30 million in the EU and 25 million in the USA are affected by such diseases. Annual orphan drug treatment costs may approach $500,000. High costs coupled with relatively sparse supportive clinical data and difficulty in meeting standard cost‐effectiveness benchmarks raise significant issues for payers in allocating finite budgetary resources. Since the US (1983) and European (European Parliament, 2000) orphan drug regulations were approved, hundreds of agents have been granted orphan status although many fewer have achieved marketing authorization. Agencies have introduced a slew of incentives to help sponsors develop and market orphan medicinal products. The nature and focus of the programs are undergoing a metamorphosis as access to funding is becoming as important as supporting development.

Originality/value

The article represents a contemporary examination of orphan drug policy and practice, bringing together historic elements which influenced practice up to 2010 and the latest, emerging trends and approaches which stakeholders are now embracing and which will shape procedures from 2011.
Yin yang and company growth: a case study of a coal company of Shanxi in China
Authors: Li Jingfeng , Wang Jiguang , Fan Wenbin
Published: November 2011

Purpose

China has long been dedicated to introducing the Western management ideas to the local enterprise practice. But the situation has changed since the financial crisis, and the China model has become a hot word with its fast recovery from crisis. Moreover, Chinese traditional culture has become increasingly popular. Yin and yang are the most familiar Chinese philosophical terms to Western minds, and also the core concept of Chinese Taoist philosophy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the yin yang or lao‐tzu influences a firm's core competence and performance, and to demonstrate that the Taoist‐oriented Chinese culture remains meaningful and in many situations powerful in enterprise practice.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study is carried out from Town Star Ltd, established in 2001, and located in Linfen city, Shanxi province, China, a city which topped the list of the world's most polluted cities. It is an integrated joint‐stock company, specializing in coal coking chemical industry, gardening, logistics and technology development. Based on the humanized management doctrine, the company has formed the 5S management model which boosts its rapid and sustainable development. It coped well in major junctures such as industry restructuring and transferring, financial crisis, etc. Five key dimensions of the yin and yang, which were applied to the leader's daily behaviors and management style, are: Wu‐wei (inaction), Wu (emptiness), hardness with softness, moderation and He‐xie (harmony). First, this paper built a dynamic company growth model based on this philosophy which enhanced the core competitiveness effectively by emotional management innovation and personalized HRM, among which its pivotal regulator of variables is just yin yang conversion degree. Then an approach is provided to validate the model with empirical data collected from the years 2001‐2010 (2001‐2005, 2006‐2008, 2009‐2010) of Town Star Ltd.

Findings

It is demonstrated that yin yang ideology embedded in the company growth model organically is an important means to increase marginal benefit. In practice, the firm with yin yang philosophical ideology would shape a management paradigm which combined rules and human nature appropriately to a family‐oriented business atmosphere. Based on the above philosophical wisdom, Town Star Ltd has harvested good economic and social benefits, strong core competence through the elaborately constructed unique management model and harmonious humanity environment.

Originality/value

This paper opens an avenue for indigenous firms, as a framework for guiding management research and practice in coping with the post‐crisis era. In addition, it is expected to attract more attention from scholars, entrepreneurs both in China and in the rest of the world, to contribute to knowledge creation in Chinese management studies.
Generator maintenance management using bio‐inspired search algorithm
Authors: Subramanian S. , Anandhakumar R. , Ganesan S.
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to solve the maintenance management problems of generating units under the reliability criterion.

Design/methodology/approach

The problem has been formulated as a combinatorial optimization task, with explicit and simultaneous treatment of multiple objectives: maximization of reliability, minimization of fuel costs and minimization of constraint violations. This paper formulates a general generator maintenance management (GMM) problem using a reliability criterion and a novel bio‐inspired search technique, namely, artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is applied to determine the optimal generator maintenance schedule.

Findings

A novel meta‐heuristic search technique based algorithm has been developed to determine the optimal maintenance schedule of generating units to improve the system reliability.

Originality/value

The contribution of the paper is that an efficient bio‐inspired algorithm based solution technique has been developed to solve a very important problem for a power utility, i.e. the economical and reliable operation of a power system.
Development of fuzzy cognitive map (FCM)‐based scenarios for wind energy
Authors: Amer Muhammad , Jetter Antonie , Daim Tugrul
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore a very new approach of creating scenarios with fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM); specifically to create scenarios for wind energy deployment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper a small exercise is conducted to illustrate the usefulness of FCM‐based scenarios.

Findings

Scenario‐based planning is often used in technology management and scenarios are generated to cater for uncertainty and facilitate development of responsive and robust strategic plans. Scenario analysis helps to identify different alternatives of the future state of technologies, needs, policies and environment. Scenario planning helps to overcome thinking limitations by presenting multiple futures. FCMs are based on causal cognitive maps and combine the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Domain knowledge of multiple experts can be integrated into an FCM to present collective knowledge base.

Originality/value

This is a conceptual paper exploring use of fuzzy cognitive maps to create scenarios for wind energy deployment. The paper provides scenarios and a way to integrate them into technology roadmaps.
Use of shift work in globally distributed software development
Authors: Wickramasinghe Vathsala , De Silva Chandana
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore information technology (IT) professionals' perception towards shift‐based work pattern used by globally distributed software development (GDSD) firms in Sri Lanka, in terms of the effects of shift work on them and strategies they used to cope with shift work.

Design/methodology/approach

A self‐administered survey questionnaire was chosen as the mode for data collection. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used for data analysis.

Findings

The findings led to identifying the characteristics of shift work environment, benefits and drawbacks of shift work for IT professionals, strategies used by IT professionals to cope with shift work, and their overall evaluation of the shift work environment.

Research limitations/implications

The results of the questionnaire survey provided access to breadth of experience. If qualitative data had also been obtained they could have provided depth by adding insight and substance to the questionnaire survey.

Practical implications

The findings of the study suggest that shift work creates problems for IT professionals' health that call for improvements in the areas that are deleterious while retaining or enhancing those that are beneficial for the shift‐based workforce.

Social implications

The paper provides an understanding of the consequences of shift work for the rhythm of minds and bodies, families and social lives and the routines of rest of the community, and ways to cope with shift work may help the industry to flourish at large.

Originality/value

Minimal literature has been found specific to the cohort of IT professionals engaged full‐time in GDSD on shift basis with respect to their view of it and issues related to their employment arrangement. It is expected that the findings of this study will provide insight into benefits, challenges and issues associated with shift work to allow individuals and organizational leaders to better understand and utilize shift‐based work pattern in GDSD. Further, it is expected that the findings of this study will be a source of general guidance in stimulating future research in this area.
Factors influencing the outsourcing decisions: a study of the banking sector in India
Authors: Jain Ravi Kumar , Natarajan Ramachandran
Published: November 2011

Purpose

This paper is an empirical study of outsourcing practices in the banking sector in India. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the impact of factors which influence the decision makers' attitude towards outsourcing.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a review of the existing literature, an attitudinal model of outsourcing was developed. This model was used to: identify the key factors of benefits, risks, roadblocks, and criticality of outsourcing; develop the instrument to measure the factors; and formulate hypotheses concerning the impact of these factors. The constructs in the instrument that measured these factors were validated by factor analysis.

Findings

The impacts of perceived benefits, perceived roadblocks, and perceived criticality on the attitudes towards outsourcing were found to be strong and statistically significant. The impact of perceived risk was weak and statistically insignificant. The model explaining the combined impact of these four factors on outsourcing attitudes was also statistically significant.

Research limitations/implications

An important insight from this study is that the clients, at least in the banking sector in India, tend to value in outsourcing quality factors such as process improvement, services improvement and cost transparency more than cost savings. The results of the study provide a basis for rethinking the value proposition offered by outsourcing vendors and for refocusing the research on outsourcing of services in particular.

Originality/value

While most studies on outsourcing tend to be theoretical and/or focus on outsourcing from developed to developing countries, this is an empirical study focusing on outsourcing by organizations based in developing countries such as India. Therefore, the results are not confounded by differences in culture‐specific communications, business practices, and regulatory regimes between the countries.
Factors influencing Shaanxi and Gansu farmers' willingness to purchase weather insurance
Authors: Kong Rong , Turvey Calum G. , He Guangwen , Ma Jiujie , Meagher Patrick
Published: November 2011

Purpose

China frequently suffers from weather‐related natural disasters and weather risk is recognized as a source of wide‐spread systemic risk throughout large swaths of China. During these periods farmers' crops are at risk and for a largely poor population few can afford the turmoil to livelihoods that goes along with drought. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the willingness of Shaanxi and Gansu farmers to purchase weather insurance.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on surveyed results of 890 farm households in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. The survey was designed specifically to extract willingness to pay for weather insurance. Factor affecting willingness to pay are explained using linear regression.

Findings

The authors find strong evidence that the demand for drought insurance is downward sloping and also believe from the analysis that the demand is fairly elastic. This suggests that price matters and the results suggest that in order for wide spread adoption of weather insurance farmers will require a substantial premium, perhaps in the order of 80 per cent, as is being applied to current crop insurance initiatives. The authors find, as expected, that crop producers would be willing to pay more for insurance than livestock producers, but also find, as one would expect, that the key indicator is risk. Using a Pert distribution, the authors constructed from information gathered from farmers the expected values and standard deviations of gross revenues and yields of the most prominent crop and constructed the coefficient of variation. It was found in both cases that the higher the CV the greater the willingness to pay.

Originality/value

The authors believe that this is the first willingness‐to‐pay study of weather insurance uptake in China. The authors used a unique “experimental” design and investigation technique to determine weather insurance demand.
Factors affecting crop insurance purchases in China: the Inner Mongolia region
Authors: Boyd Milton , Pai Jeffrey , Zhang Qiao , Holly Wang H. , Wang Ke
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain the factors affecting crop insurance purchases by farmers in Inner Mongolia, China.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of farmers in Inner Mongolia, China, is undertaken. Selected variables are used to explain crop insurance purchases, and a probit regression model is used for the analysis.

Findings

Results show that a number of variables explain crop insurance purchases by farmers in Inner Mongolia. Of the eight variables in the model, seven are statistically significant. The eight variables used to explain crop insurance purchases are: knowledge of crop insurance, previous purchases of crop insurance, trust of the crop insurance company, amount of risk taken on by the farmer, importance of low crop insurance premium, government as the main information source for crop insurance, role of head of village, and number of family members working in the city.

Research limitations/implications

A possible limitation of the study is that data includes only one geographic area, Inner Mongolia, China, and so results may not always fully generalize to all regions of China, for all situations.

Practical implications

Crop insurance has been recently expanded in China, and the information from this study should be useful for insurance companies and government policy makers that are attempting to increase the adoption rate of crop insurance in China.

Social implications

Crop insurance may be a useful approach for stabilizing the agricultural sector, and for increasing agricultural production and food security in China.

Originality/value

This is the first study to quantitatively model the factors affecting crop insurance purchases by farmers in Inner Mongolia, China.
Selection of critical processes for “process improvement”
Authors: Sarkar Ashok , Ranjan Mukhopadhyay Arup , Ghosh Sadhan Kumar
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a criterion for selection of critical sub‐processes when all the sub‐processes cannot be taken up simultaneously for improvement. There exist various methods but the practitioners get utterly confused because of the existence of these multiple options. In this paper, the goal is to assist practitioners in the selection of the critical sub‐processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors discuss various statistical methods such as correlation and regression, simulation, basic statistics such as average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation % (C.V.%), etc. for the selection and identification of the critical sub‐processes. The strengths and weaknesses of these methods have been compared through empirical analysis based on real‐life case examples.

Findings

The stepwise regression and simulation have been found to yield identical results. However, from the perspective of application, stepwise regression has been found to be a preferred option.

Originality/value

The roadmap thus evolved for the selection of the critical sub‐processes will be of great value to the practitioner, as it will help them understand the ground reality in an unambiguous manner, resulting in a superior strategy for process improvement.
Developing a specialist neuropsychiatric clinic for people with intellectual disabilities
Authors: Pickard Max , MacDonald Bridget , Liddiard Heather
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to share and report on practice development.

Design/methodology/approach

A description of a joint neuropsychiatric clinic, including demographics of patients seen, is provided.

Findings

The paper expresses the opinion that the experience of running a joint clinic for complex cases with neurological and psychiatric pathology was professionally rewarding and that clinicians found it a more effective way of delivering care.

Originality/value

This is the first description of such a clinic to the authors' knowledge. Development of similar services may be of value.
How crucial incidents analysis support Chinese lesson study
Authors: Yang Yudong , Ricks Thomas E.
Published: November 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe two kinds of crucial incidents analysis that Chinese teachers employ during traditional Chinese Teaching Research Group (TRG) activities to analyze their lessons.

Design/methodology/approach

Chinese educators have engaged for several decades in Teaching Research Group (TRG) activities. The paper describes the methods they use.

Findings

The methods employed by teachers were: first, quaternary analysis of a lesson's key point, difficult point, and critical point; and second, part‐to‐whole analysis (experienced teachers' ways of discussing a lesson).

Originality/value

The authors hope that recognition of these two kinds of teaching analysis can help teachers to better understand the essence of traditional TRG activities, and to employ them more consciously during their lesson study activities.
Young people's beliefs about the harmfulness of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco for mental disorders: findings from two Australian national youth surveys
Authors: Yap Marie Bee Hui , Reavley Nicola J. , Jorm Anthony Francis
Published: November 2011

Aims  Using cross‐sectional national survey data, we assessed young peoples' beliefs about the role of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders as well as the predictors of these beliefs. We also compared these findings with those from a similar survey carried out in 2006.

Design, setting and participants   Between January and May 2011, a national computer‐assisted telephone survey was conducted on a representative sample of Australian youths aged 15–25 years. A total of 3021 young people were presented with a case vignette portraying depression, depression with suicidal thoughts, psychosis, social phobia, depression with alcohol misuse or post‐traumatic stress disorder in a young person.

Measurements  Respondents were asked about their beliefs regarding the role of using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana in preventing or dealing with the mental disorders described in the vignettes. Level of psychological distress was assessed by the Kessler 6 scale (K6).

Findings  More than 75% of respondents agreed that the three substances were harmful for the young people in the vignettes, and that not using marijuana or drinking alcohol in excess is preventive. Males, young adults and more distressed respondents were less likely to endorse these beliefs. No significant changes were observed between surveys.

Conclusions  Most young people in Australia are aware of the negative impact of substance use on mental disorders, but a few high‐risk groups remain: males, young adults and those with more psychological distress. Future public health campaigns need to target these groups and focus on translating young people's substance use beliefs into behavioural change.
A randomized controlled trial of stage‐matched intervention for smoking cessation in cardiac out‐patients
Authors: Chan Sophia S. C. , Leung Doris Y. P. , Wong David C. N. , Lau Chu‐Pak , Wong Vivian T. , Lam Tai‐Hing
Published: November 2011

Aim  To examine the effectiveness of a stage‐matched smoking cessation counselling intervention for smokers who had cardiac diseases.

Methods  A total of 1860 Chinese cardiac patients who smoked at least one cigarette in the past 7 days and aged 18 years or above recruited from cardiac out‐patient clinics in Hong Kong hospitals were allocated randomly to an intervention group or control group. The intervention group (n = 938) received counselling matched with their stage of readiness to quit by trained counsellors at baseline, 1 week and 1 month. The control group (n = 922) received brief counselling on healthy diet at baseline. The primary outcomes were self‐reported 7‐day and 30‐day point prevalence (PP) of tobacco abstinence at 12 months after baseline. The secondary outcome measures included biochemically validated abstinence at 12‐month follow‐up, self‐reported 7‐day and 30‐day PP abstinence and reduction of cigarette consumption by 50% at 3 and 6 months.

Results  By intention‐to‐treat analysis, the intervention and control groups showed no significant difference in self‐reported 7‐day PP abstinence (intervention: 26.5% versus control: 25.5%; P = 0.60) and 30‐day PP (intervention: 25.4% versus control: 24.2%; P = 0.55), biochemically validated abstinence (intervention: 6.6% versus control: 4.9%; P = 0.14) and overall quit attempts of least 24 hours (intervention: 40.3% versus control: 34.3%; P = 0.007) at the 12‐month follow‐up, adjusted for the baseline stage of readiness to quit smoking.

Conclusions  An intervention, based on the Stages of Change model, to promote smoking cessation in cardiac patients in China failed to find any long‐term benefit.
Immunology in clinic review series; focus on autoinflammatory diseases: role of inflammasomes in autoinflammatory syndromes
Authors: Ozkurede V U , Franchi L
Published: November 2011

OTHER THEMES PUBLISHED IN THIS IMMUNOLOGY IN THE CLINIC REVIEW SERIES

Allergy, Host Responses, Cancer, Type 1 diabetes and viruses, Metabolic diseases.

Autoinflammatory syndromes are disorders characterized by the hyperactivation of the innate immune system in the absence of microbial infection or autoantibody production. Some autoinflammatory syndromes are associated with recurrent episodes of fever and systemic inflammation that are caused by dysregulated activation of inflammasomes, molecular platforms responsible for the activation of caspase-1 and the production of interleukin (IL)-1β. In this review we will discuss the role of IL-1β and the inflammasomes in host defence and how mutations of two genes, NLRP3 and PYRIN, leads to the autoinflammatory syndromes, cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Both CAPS and FMF are characterized by increased inflammasome activity and overproduction of IL-1β which is ultimately responsible for disease manifestations. Importantly, understanding the molecular mechanisms of these syndromes has led to effective treatment for these rare diseases with biological drugs that target IL-1β-mediated signalling.
Multifunctional CD4+T cells in patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis
Authors: Macedo A B B , Sánchez-Arcila J C , Schubach A O , Mendonça S C F , Marins-Dos-Santos A , de Fatima Madeira M , Gagini T , Pimentel M I F , De Luca P M
Published: November 2011

Leishmaniasis is a group of important parasitic diseases affecting millions worldwide. To understand more clearly the quality of T helper type 1 (Th1) response stimulated after Leishmania infection, we applied a multiparametric flow cytometry protocol to evaluate multifunctional T cells induced by crude antigen extracts obtained from promastigotes of Leishmania braziliensis (LbAg) and Leishmania amazonensis (LaAg) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healed cutaneous leishmaniasis patients. Although no significant difference was detected in the percentage of total interferon (IFN)-γ-producing CD4+T cells induced by both antigens, multiparametric flow cytometry analysis revealed clear differences in the quality of Th1 responses. LbAg induced an important proportion of multifunctional CD4+ T cells (28% of the total Th1 response evaluated), whereas LaAg induced predominantly single-positive cells (68%), and 57% of those were IFN-γ single-positives. Multifunctional CD4+T cells showed the highest mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) for the three Th1 cytokines assessed and MFIs for IFN-γ and interleukin-2 from those cells stimulated with LbAg were significantly higher than those obtained after LaAg stimulation. These major differences observed in the generation of multifunctional CD4+ T cells suggest that the quality of the Th1 response induced by L. amazonensis antigens can be involved in the mechanisms responsible for the high susceptibility observed in L. amazonensis-infected individuals. Ultimately, our results call attention to the importance of studying a Th1 response regarding its quality, not just its magnitude, and indicate that this kind of evaluation might help understanding of the complex and diverse immunopathogenesis of American tegumentary leishmaniasis.
Reliability and validity of a self‐efficacy instrument for hepatitis C antiviral treatment regimens
Authors: Bonner J. E. , Esserman D. , Evon D. M.
Published: November 2011

Summary.  Self‐efficacy or confidence in one’s ability to successfully engage in goal‐directed behaviour has been shown to influence medication adherence across many chronic illnesses. In the present study, we investigated the psychometric properties of a self‐efficacy instrument used during treatment for chronic hepatitis C viral infection (HCV). Baseline (n = 394) and treatment week 24 (n = 254) data from the prospective, longitudinal Viral Resistance to Antiviral Therapy of Chronic Hepatitis C study were examined. Baseline participants were randomly split into two equal‐sized subsamples (S1 and S2). Initial exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA/CFA) were performed on S1, while S2 was used to validate the factor structure of the S1 results using CFA. An additional CFA was performed on the treatment week 24 participants. Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed by comparing the revised instrument with other psychosocial measures: depression, social support, quality of life and medication‐taking behaviour. Our findings supported a reduced 17‐item global measure of HCV treatment self‐efficacy (HCV‐TSE) with four underlying factors: patient communication self‐efficacy, general physical coping self‐efficacy, general psychological coping self‐efficacy and adherence self‐efficacy. The global score (0.92–0.94) and four factors (0.85–0.96) demonstrated good internal consistency. Correlations of convergent and discriminant validity yielded low to moderate associations with other measures of psychosocial functioning. The revised HCV‐TSE instrument provides a reliable and valid global estimate of confidence in one’s ability to engage in and adhere to HCV antiviral treatment. The four‐factor structure suggests different types of efficacy beliefs may function during HCV treatment and should be explored further in relation to clinical outcomes.
Population structure and migration pattern of a conifer pathogen,Grosmannia clavigera, as influenced by its symbiont, the mountain pine beetle
Authors: TSUI CLEMENT K. M. , ROE AMANDA D. , EL‐KASSABY YOUSRY A. , RICE ADRIANNE V. , ALAMOUTI SEPIDEH M. , SPERLING FELIX A. H. , COOKE JANICE E. K. , BOHLMANN JÖRG , HAMELIN RICHARD C.
Published: November 2011

We investigated the population structure ofGrosmannia clavigera(Gc), a fungal symbiont of the mountain pine beetle (MPB) that plays a crucial role in the establishment and reproductive success of this pathogen. This insect–fungal complex has destroyed over 16 million ha of lodgepole pine forests in Canada, the largest MPB epidemic in recorded history. During this current epidemic, MPB has expanded its range beyond historically recorded boundaries, both northward and eastward, and has now reached the jack pine of Alberta, potentially threatening the Canadian boreal forest. To better understand the dynamics between the beetle and its fungal symbiont, we sampled 19 populations in western North America and genotyped individuals from these populations with eight microsatellite markers. The fungus displayed high haplotype diversity, with over 250 unique haplotypes observed in 335 single spore isolates. Linkage equilibria in 13 of the 19 populations suggested that the fungus reproduces sexually. Bayesian clustering and distance analyses identified four genetic clusters that corresponded to four major geographical regions, which suggested that the epidemic arose from multiple geographical sources. A genetic cluster north of the Rocky Mountains, where the MPB has recently become established, experienced a population bottleneck, probably as a result of the recent range expansion. The two genetic clusters located north and west of the Rocky Mountains contained many fungal isolates admixed from all populations, possibly due to the massive movement of MPB during the epidemic. The general agreement in north–south differentiation of MPB andG. clavigerapopulations points to the fungal pathogen’s dependence on the movement of its insect vector. In addition, the patterns of diversity and the individual assignment tests of the fungal associate suggest that migration across the Rocky Mountains occurred via a northeastern corridor, in accordance with meteorological patterns and observation of MPB movement data. Our results highlight the potential of this pathogen for both expansion and sexual reproduction, and also identify some possible barriers to gene flow. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of this fungus–beetle association is important for the modelling and prediction of MPB epidemics.
Evidence for evolutionary change associated with the recent range expansion of the British butterfly, Aricia agestis, in response to climate change
Authors: BUCKLEY JAMES , BUTLIN ROGER K. , BRIDLE JON R.
Published: November 2011

Poleward range expansions are widespread responses to recent climate change and are crucial for the future persistence of many species. However, evolutionary change in traits such as colonization history and habitat preference may also be necessary to track environmental change across a fragmented landscape. Understanding the likelihood and speed of such adaptive change is important in determining the rate of species extinction with ongoing climate change. We conducted an amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)‐based genome scan across the recently expanded UK range of the Brown Argus butterfly, Aricia agestis, and used outlier‐based (DFDIST and BayeScan) and association‐based (Isolation‐By‐Adaptation) statistical approaches to identify signatures of evolutionary change associated with range expansion and habitat use. We present evidence for (i) limited effects of range expansion on population genetic structure and (ii) strong signatures of selection at approximately 5% AFLP loci associated with both the poleward range expansion of A. agestis and differences in habitat use across long‐established and recently colonized sites. Patterns of allele frequency variation at these candidate loci suggest that adaptation to new habitats at the range margin has involved selection on genetic variation in habitat use found across the long‐established part of the range. Our results suggest that evolutionary change is likely to affect species’ responses to climate change and that genetic variation in ecological traits across species’ distributions should be maximized to facilitate range shifts across a fragmented landscape, particularly in species that show strong associations with particular habitats.
Subunit Vaccine Candidate AMM Down‐Regulated the Regulatory T Cells and Enhanced the Protective Immunity of BCG on a Suitable Schedule
Authors: Luo Y. , Jiang W. , Da Z. , Wang B. , Hu L. , Zhang Y. , An R. , Yu H. , Sun H. , Tang K. , Tang Z. , Wang Y. , Jing T. , Zhu B.
Published: November 2011

Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette‐Guérin (BCG) priming and subunit vaccine boosting strategies are urgently needed to improve the protective efficacy of BCG in adult population. However, the schedule of subunit vaccine boosting is not well investigated, especially the optimal immune responses and vaccine immunization schedules are still not clear. We have constructed a novel subunit vaccine candidate consisting of fusion protein Ag85B‐Mpt64 (190‐198)‐Mtb8.4 (AMM) in a complex adjuvant composed of dimo‐thylidioctyl ammonium bromide (DDA) and BCG polysaccharide nucleic acid (BCG‐PSN). In this study, we compared the effect of different boosting schedules of the subunit vaccine in the prime‐boost strategies. C57BL/6 mice were primed with BCG first and then boosted with the AMM vaccine once at 10th week, twice at 8th, 10th week, or thrice at 6th, 8th, 10th week, respectively. The immune responses were evaluated at the 14th and 20th weeks, respectively. Twelve weeks after the last immunization, the mice were challenged with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv, and the protective effect was evaluated. The results showed that BCG priming and the AMM vaccine boosting twice induced the strongest antigen‐specific IFN‐γ and IL‐2 production, down‐regulated CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and had the best protective effect among all groups, while boosting thrice induced the strongest IL‐4 production and did not improve BCG‐primed protection significantly. Boosting BCG with the AMM vaccine twice instead of once or thrice induced strong Th1‐type immunity and down‐regulated Tregs significantly, which correlated with the best protection against M. tuberculosis infection in mice.