bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factor selection for service quality evaluation: a hospital case study
Authors: Ameryoun Ahmad , Najafi Seyedvahid , Nejati-Zarnaqi Bayram , Khalilifar Seyed Omid , Ajam Mahdi , Ansarimoghadam Ahmad
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a systematic approach to predict service quality dimension’s influence on service quality using a novel analysis based on data envelopment and SERVQUAL.

Design/methodology/approach

To assess hospital service quality in Tehran, expectation and perception of those who received the services were evaluated using SERVQUAL. The hospital service quality dimensions were found by exploratory factor analysis (EFA). To compare customer expectation and perception, perceived service quality index (PSQI) was measured using a new method based on common weights. A novel sensitivity approach was used to test the service quality factor’s impact on the PSQI.

Findings

A new service quality dimension named “trust in services” was found using EFA, which is not an original SERVQUAL factor. The approach was applied to assess the hospital’s service quality. Since the PSQI value was 0.76 it showed that improvements are needed to meet customer expectations. The results showed the factor order that affect PSQI. “Trust in services” has the strongest influence on PSQI followed by “tangibles,” “assurance,” “empathy,” and “responsiveness,” respectively.

Practical implications

This work gives managers insight into service quality by following a systematic method; i.e., measuring perceived service quality from the customer viewpoint and service factors’ impact on customer perception.

Originality/value

The procedure helps managers to select the required service quality dimensions which need improvement and predict their effects on customer perception.
Nursing home care quality: a cluster analysis
Authors: Grøndahl Vigdis Abrahamsen , Fagerli Liv Berit
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore potential differences in how nursing home residents rate care quality and to explore cluster characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional design was used, with one questionnaire including questions from quality from patients’ perspective and Big Five personality traits, together with questions related to socio-demographic aspects and health condition. Residents (n=103) from four Norwegian nursing homes participated (74.1 per cent response rate). Hierarchical cluster analysis identified clusters with respect to care quality perceptions. χ2 tests and one-way between-groups ANOVA were performed to characterise the clusters (p<0.05).

Findings

Two clusters were identified; Cluster 1 residents (28.2 per cent) had the best care quality perceptions and Cluster 2 (67.0 per cent) had the worst perceptions. The clusters were statistically significant and characterised by personal-related conditions: gender, psychological well-being, preferences, admission, satisfaction with staying in the nursing home, emotional stability and agreeableness, and by external objective care conditions: healthcare personnel and registered nurses.

Research limitations/implications

Residents assessed as having no cognitive impairments were included, thus excluding the largest group. By choosing questionnaire design and structured interviews, the number able to participate may increase.

Practical implications

Findings may provide healthcare personnel and managers with increased knowledge on which to develop strategies to improve specific care quality perceptions.

Originality/value

Cluster analysis can be an effective tool for differentiating between nursing homes residents’ care quality perceptions.
The impact of shop floor culture and subculture on lean production practices
Authors: Losonci Dàvid , Kása Richárd , Demeter Krisztina , Heidrich Balázs , Jenei István
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper to examine the impact of shop floor (SF) culture (organizational culture (OC) perceived by workers) and SF subcultures assessed by the competing values framework (CVF) on the perceived use of lean production (LP) practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyse questionnaires completed by workers at the single case company undergoing a commonplace lean transformation. The survey items cover both LP items and CVF statements. The propositions are analysed applying cluster analysis and regression.

Findings

At the case company, the multidimensionality of SF culture only partially exists, and the perceived use of LP practices shows little connection to OC. The considerable differences between SF culture and SF subcultures on the one hand and among SF subcultures on the other hand indicate the existence of a special multidimensional SF culture. Altogether, SF culture’s impact on LP is weak.

Practical implications

Managers should rethink the usual lean implementation pathways and understand how values pervade SF culture and how culture types impact the perceived use of LP practices at the SF. Managers could face a trade-off: smoother lean transition by engaging in SF subculture-specific transitions and reinforcing it or by developing a homogenous lean SF culture.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical attempt to understand the impact of SF culture on the perceived use of LP practices by adopting a validated OC measurement tool. Furthermore, the study provides insight into workers’ subcultures.
Two dimensional efficiency measurements in vocational education
Authors: Fieger Peter , Villano Renato Andrin , Rice John , Cooksey Ray
Published: January 2017

Purpose

In Australia, the vocational education and training (VET) sector accounts for approximately A$8 billion of public spending, of which around A$6.6 billion is spent on government providers that include Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. The TAFE institutes in Australia are large, public VET providers, generally funded and managed by state government. Measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of TAFE institutes is of great interest to policy makers, regulators, consumers and to the institutions themselves. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study the authors use data relating to student cohort demographics, institutional characteristics and educational outcome data, while employing stochastic frontier analysis, to develop two distinct efficiency measures and models. The first model examines institutional efficiency in the transformation of financial resources into teaching loads. The second model evaluates efficiency in the transformation of institutional resources into post-study employment outcomes.K-means cluster analysis is used to establish groupings of similar institutes and subsequent canonical discriminant analysis is employed to develop a typology of these clusters.

Findings

In both models the authors find significant inefficiencies in the Australian TAFE system. The relationship between both efficiency measures is then assessed. While there is no direct linear relationship, a distinct pattern could be detected. Finally the authors develop a typology of efficient institutions.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing research by defining efficiency in vocational education in two distinct ways and by the utilisation of the derived efficiencies in the development of a typology of efficient institutes. In doing so, this research makes an original contribution to the understanding of the drivers of efficiency in vocational education.
Public investments, productivity and economic growth
Authors: Murova Olga , Khan Aman
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to estimate the efficiency of public investments and their impact on economic growth in the USA using panel data. Results of the study show highly significant and positive relationships between gross state product (GSP) and expenditures on education, transportation, health, welfare, and public safety (police and fire), and negative but significant relationships between output and employment in health care and public safety services. Inefficiencies in the study are measured using per capita tax revenue and time. Tax revenue has a very minimal positive and significant effect on efficiency, while time inversely relates to efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study uses SFA to investigate the efficiency of government expenditures in five service sectors – education, transportation, health, welfare, and public safety (police and fire), using recent data and economic trends. The study hypothesizes that changes in the current levels of expenditures in the public sector have a significant impact on the aggregate economy, as measured by GSP. The study uses GSP as the dependent (output) variable, and government expenditure on the five service sectors as the independent (input) variables.

Findings

Analysis of efficiency for individual states for all 21 years produced interesting results. Overall, the technical efficiency of the public sector was quite high. The average TE score across all years and all states was 0.878. This suggests that public sector operates at a relatively high efficiency level.

Originality/value

The current SFA model followed Battese and Coelli approach of estimating efficiency of public sectors in each state of the USA. It allowed estimation of policy impact on the overall efficiency. It was applied to macroeconomic panel data.
Push and pull factors associated with the CTTSL game events between on-site and online consumers
Authors: Zhang Yi , Byon Kevin K.
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the push and pull factors associated with the consumption of Chinese Table Tennis Super League (CTTSL) game events by online audiences and on-site attendants.

Design/methodology/approach

Conducting a comprehensive review of literature and a test of content validity, a questionnaire was formulated to assess push and pull motives, event consumption, and sociodemographic variables. A total of 433 CTTSL event consumers, including 225 respondents who primarily followed CTTSL game events via television and webcasting and 208 respondents who primarily consumed the events by attending live game events.

Findings

Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that for online consumers, two push factors, self-esteem and drama excitement, were found to be positively related to the event consumption factors; whereas, social interaction and sport performance factors were found to be negatively predictive of event consumption factors. For on-site consumers, none of the push and pull factors were found to be related to the consumption factors.

Research limitations/implications

These results indicate that unlike research findings derived in other research settings mainly conducted in Western countries, push and pull factors are more functional for online CTTSL consumers who are of comparatively stronger fandom level, which are likely affected by CTTSL’s contemporary operations.

Originality/value

Enriching the dual process theory through examining its applicability in studying sport consumer behavior, from both perspectives of internal and external motivations; applying theories and research findings of internal and external motivations that have primarily been derived in Western countries into a professional sport setting in China; identifying unique and diverse perspectives of professional table tennis consumers in China between online and on-site consumers; contrary to the findings derived in Western countries, the motivational factors are more functional for online CTTSL consumers who are of comparatively stronger fandom level, which are likely affected by CTTSL’s contemporary operations; and conducting micro-perspective analyses to study Chinese sport consumer behaviors, which has rarely been done in contemporary scholarly inquiries in China.
Values and goals of Chinese sport consumers contrary to American counterparts
Authors: Lee DongHun , Zhang Yinghui , Cottingham Michael , Park JungKun , Yu Ho Yeol
Published: January 2017

Purpose

Existing studies suggest the importance of research related to values and goals and their impacts on consumer involvement. However, cross-cultural examination of values and goals in the context of sport is scarce. To broaden our understanding of the cultural impact of values and goals on sport involvement, the purpose of this paper is to compare perspectives between Easterners (Chinese) and Westerners (Americans).

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory research utilized both online and written surveys to collect two convenience samples from 281 American and 636 Chinese participants. Analysis included descriptive statistics, correlations, and regression analyses.

Findings

Results indicated both populations perceived values and goals differently; Chinese responded less favorably to values and goals than American counterparts. Values and goals predicted cognitive and behavioral sport involvement with variance in each population. Results generally supported a large cultural variation between the cultures. Lastly, similarities and differences in the perceived importance of values and goals and their subsequent impacts on cognitive and behavioral sport involvement suggest a need for a unique managerial approach when American businesses enter new cultural boundaries like China.

Originality/value

This research is significant because studies exploring values and goals and their influences on sport consumption at the cross-cultural level are still limited in sport literature. Furthermore, an empirical examination of the impact of values and goals on sport consumers across cultures will help increase generalizability of the findings to sport literature.
When the future of Chinese soccer is at stake
Authors: Qian Tyreal Yizhou , Wang Jerred Junqi , Chou Winston Wen-hao , Kim Euisoo , Zhang James J. , Gong Bo
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Chinese youth’s attention to and involvement with Chinese soccer and its professional league, the Chinese Super League (CSL), on their level of satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey study was employed to test the hypotheses. Research participants (n=948) were students from five major universities that represented each of the five main geographic regions of China. Data were randomly assigned into two halves: one half for CFA (n=474) and the other half for structural equation modeling (SEM) (n=474). Mplus 7.0 was used to conduct both the CFA and SEM.

Findings

The findings of this study indicated an overall lack of attention to and involvement with Chinese soccer and CSL among Chinese youths. Discussions have been presented on the causes of the lack of youth passion for Chinese soccer and suggestions have been articulated to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy formulation, business operation and marketing strategy.

Originality/value

The present study built on the extant sport management literature, demonstrated the complexity of consumers’ cognition and conation in the professional soccer setting, and revealed counter-intuitive relationship between attitudinal traits and behavioral patterns, which in turn provided unique insights for Chinese professional soccer marketers, managers and administrators.
Sustainable management models: innovating through Permaculture
Authors: Vitari Claudio , David Christophe
Published: January 2017

Purpose

Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises is a key challenge. How firms innovate and change depends strongly on their management models. Permaculture concepts and principles could help the transition toward more sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to understand how management models could rely on Permaculture principles to facilitate innovations and changes toward sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper helps meet this challenge by exploring possible innovative management models that could help in pursuing sustainability by aligning enterprises with socio-ecological realities. The possible innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts will be the object of analysis for this study.

Findings

The literature review shows that there could be innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts, a potential alternative to western “traditional” management models. They would give preference to long-term objectives, intrinsic motivation, emergent coordination, and collective wisdom in decision making.

Originality/value

It is strategically important to find new concepts, models, methods, and practices that will lead society to be ecologically sustainable and socially responsible, besides being economically efficient. These socio-cultural and economic challenges are central to the design and construction of a society in which all individuals feel integrated and responsible.
Modeling and performance evaluation of agility coupled with sustainability for business planning
Authors: Singh Adarsh Kumar , Vinodh Sekar
Published: January 2017

Purpose

Agility and sustainability are different manufacturing paradigms. Ideally, companies should merge the two concepts so as to enhance competitive advantage. Agility, which has evolved from lean manufacturing, is the ability of an enterprise to respond quickly to a wide range of customer demands. On the other hand sustainability is a condition in which a company optimizes economic, social and environmental factors by taking into account indirect and long-term consequences. Merging the two concepts could result in holistically improving the system, by fulfilling performance without depleting available resources. Thus, identifying and simultaneously improving two areas with common goals could lead to developing a successful and an emerging enterprise. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors identify agility-sustainability criteria which complement each other from amongst a set of differentiating criteria. The conceptual model is built by integrating five enablers with 25 criteria and 75 attributes. The combined criteria are modeled using graph theory which considers interdependencies and contributing factors on the organization. Within each enabler, the authors investigate the interdependencies between criteria and focus further on those that have potential to improve overall score. The methodology was applied in a manufacturing organization that operates on ad hoc basis depending on projects’ availability.

Findings

The model determines a range of values for extreme scenarios under theoretical and practical situations, along with the current level of business. The scenarios are tested for assessing performance by identifying the gaps in the weaker areas.

Research limitations/implications

Approach can serve as a managerial tool for monitoring performance of the organization along agility and sustainability dimensions. Further, government entities can use the approach in devising policy for improving economies by considering holistic approach rather than only environmental aspect. Biased and conflicting opinions of experts might deter chances for comprehensive and consistent decision.

Originality/value

The study integrates a framework for modeling and performance evaluation for a system that incorporates agility and sustainability characteristics. The study will enable practicing managers and decision makers to identify suitable characteristics that would simultaneously improve an organization’s agile performance by considering aspects of sustainability.
Means, motive and opportunity: exploring board volunteering
Authors: Walton Michael A. , Clerkin Richard M. , Christensen Robert K. , Paarlberg Laurie E. , Nesbit Rebecca , Tschirhart Mary
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the conditions associated with serving on boards by investigating the factors that distinguish older volunteers who serve on nonprofit boards from those who only volunteer programmatically.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys of 354 residents of Southeastern North Carolina over age 50. Measures include education, wealth, retirement status, public service motivation (PSM), patterns of residential mobility, secular and religious organization meeting attendance, and volunteer activity in the past year. Data were analyzed using a Heckman probit selection model.

Findings

Respondents who have higher levels of education, are retired, or have lived in the community for longer periods are more likely to report board volunteering, but are not any more likely to volunteer programmatically. Those with higher levels of PSM are more likely to report general volunteering, but are not any more likely to volunteer on boards. Two measures reveal divergent findings based on type of volunteering: moving frequently in one’s lifetime and attending weekly religious services are associated with a greater likelihood of programmatic volunteering but a reduced likelihood of serving as a board member.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include self-reported, cross-sectional data, and a geographically restricted American sample that is older, more educated, and more likely to own a second home than average.

Practical implications

In order to better address board member recruitment, nonprofits should consider extending opportunities through strategies targeting retired community newcomers.

Originality/value

This study contributes an analysis of PSM among nonprofit board members, and identifies factors that distinguish programmatic and board volunteers, in order to better understand the conditions associated with board service.
What do we need for creativity? The interaction of perfectionism and overall justice on creativity
Authors: Kim Seckyoung Loretta , Kim Myungsun , Yun Seokhwa
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold, applying an interactive perspective. First, the authors examine the effects of perfectionism, specifically self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism on creativity. Understanding the distinctive effects of two dimensions of perfectionism (Leonard and Harvey, 2008), the authors propose the positive effect of self-oriented perfectionism on creativity while the negative effect of socially prescribed perfectionism on creativity. Second, the authors explore the role of overall justice by examining the direct and interacting effects of the two dimensions of perfectionism on creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using questionnaires distributed to employees and their direct supervisors located in South Korea. Hierarchal regression analyses were used to examine the main and moderating effects.

Findings

The authors’ results demonstrated that self-oriented perfectionism was positively related to employee’s creativity; while, socially prescribed perfectionism was not significantly related to employee’s creativity. Furthermore, the study examined the critical context factor of overall justice in determining individual creativity. The result demonstrated that the positive relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and creativity was stronger when overall justice is low rather than high in line with trait activation theory.

Research limitations/implications

A cross-sectional design may be a concern. Future research needs to take a more careful approach to avoid this potential problem.

Originality/value

This study enriches our understanding of the two domains of perfectionism (self-oriented and social prescribed perfectionism) and overall justice as critical factors for creativity. Applying an interactive perspective, this study demonstrated how perfectionism and overall justice play important roles in influencing employees’ creativity independently and jointly.
‘A Great Turkish Policy’: Winston Churchill, the Ottoman Empire and the Origins of the Dardanelles Campaign
Authors: DOCKTER A. WARREN
Published: January 2017

One of the most important players in British/Ottoman relations and the ultimate breakdown of those relations during the Edwardian period and war years was Winston Churchill. Diplomatic historians and Churchill biographers have focused on Churchill's role in the attempted naval conquest of the Dardanelles, the unsuccessful Gallipoli campaign and Churchill's wartime disdain for the Ottomans. In doing so, they tend to portray Churchill's relationship with the Ottoman empire in a negative light, assuming that he, like much of the war cabinet, based his strategies and diplomacy on ideas of European superiority and oriental weakness. However, new archival evidence has come to light which paints a much more nuanced account of Churchill's role in British/Ottoman diplomacy.

Using these new sources such as Churchill's personal correspondence with Ottoman leaders such as Djavid Bey and Enver Pasha, this article will explore Churchill's relationship with the Ottoman empire and his role in shaping British/Ottoman diplomacy. Taking into account the history of Churchill's opinions, attitudes and policies, this article will reveal that Churchill was initially supportive of an Anglo‐Ottoman alliance, only to be thwarted by the First World War. It will demonstrate that Churchill's support for an Ottoman alliance owed partially to his Victorian Tory background and to a greater extent, a fear of a pan‐Islamic uprising. Ultimately this article will reveal that Churchill's relationship with the Ottoman empire was far more complex than is typically thought and was built on a unique blend of Victorian orientalism, geopolitical strategy and personal sympathies.
The Parish Elite at Play? Cricket, Community and the ‘Middling Sort’ in Eighteenth‐Century Kent
Authors: CRAGOE MATTHEW
Published: January 2017

This article aims to extend understanding of the rural middling sort by exploring their engagement with cricket. Cricket enjoyed considerable popularity across the south‐eastern counties by the mid‐eighteenth century; however, very few sources have survived and so our knowledge of the game – especially at the grass roots – is very limited. The article focuses on a unique set of scorecards from a club founded in 1773 in the Kentish village of Wingham, and uses these to examine both who was playing village cricket in this period, and the nature of the social and cultural networks in which it was embedded. As will be seen, those engaging in the game were closely associated with the larger farmers, tradesmen and artisans in the village. The same groups ran the parish vestry, and it is suggested that cricket flourished in this period because it provided a suitable outlet for the middling sort to display their social status both within and beyond the bounds of their own parishes.
Experiences, Images and Political Reflections on the First World War in Italian Interwar Literature
Authors: VALENT LUCIO
Published: January 2017

The historiography of the First World War has become well‐established branch of contemporary history in its own right. In the past years, it has analysed in depth a boundless number of issues on the basis of diaries and memoirs written by soldiers during and after their experiences in the trenches. These studies have improved our knowledge of the war and of the soldiers’ reactions to their tragic familiarity with death. Recently, historians have focused on the social aspects of the Great War and its aftermath. In particular, they have considered war memorials, life behind the frontline, practical mobilization of a national system, and supply problems both in the trenches and within civil societies. However, in this excellent historical research the lion's share is made up of British, French and German diaries, memoirs and war books. Experiences lived by soldiers of different nationalities are known to a lesser degree. In this article I will try to explain how, in the years between the two world wars, Italian war veterans described to their reading public what they experienced during the conflict. I believe that a general analysis of Italian interventionism, of the expectations it created and the disappointments over a conflict that was showing the nation's unpreparedness, still remains of great importance. The present article will not only show the extent to which Italian war literature was permeated by piety and emotion towards comrades and, sometimes, enemies who shared the devastating ordeal of the trenches, it will also highlight how it was pervaded by political implications that were peculiar to Italian social and political conditions of the time.
Geography, Not Health System Affiliations, Determines Patients’ Revisits to the Emergency Department
Authors: Rising Kristin L. , Karp David N. , Powell Rhea E. , Victor Timothy W. , Carr Brendan G.
Published: January 2017

Objectives

To determine how frequently patients revisit the emergency department after an initial encounter, and to describe revisit capture rates for the same hospital, health system, and geographic region.

Data Sources/Study Setting

Florida state data from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011, from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.

Study Design

This is a retrospective cohort study of emergency department return visits among Florida adults over an 18‐month period. We evaluated pairs of index and 30‐day return emergency department visits and compared capture rates for hospital, health system, and geographic units.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Data were obtained from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey Database.

Principal Findings

Among 9,416,212 emergency department visits, 22.6 percent (2,124,441) were associated with a 30‐day return. Seventy percent (1,477,772) of 30‐day returns occurred to the same hospital. The 30‐day return capture rates were highest within the same geographic area: county‐level capture at 92 percent (IQR=86–96 percent) versus health system capture at 75 percent (IQR = 68–81 percent).

Conclusions

Acute care utilization patterns are often independent of health system boundaries. Current population‐based health care models that attribute patients to a single provider or health system may be strengthened by considering geographic patterns of acute care utilization.
Reanalysis of Korean War Anthropological Records to Support the Resolution of Cold Cases
Authors: Wilson Emily K.
Published: January 2017

Re‐investigation of previously unidentified remains from the Korean War has yielded 55 new identifications, each with corresponding records of prior anthropological analyses. This study compares biological assessments for age at death, stature, and ancestry across (i) anthropological analyses from the 1950s, (ii) recent anthropological analyses of those same sets of remains, and (iii) the reported antemortem biological information for the identified individual. A comparison of long bone measurements from both the 1950s and during reanalysis is also presented. These comparisons demonstrate commonalities and continuing patterns of errors that are useful in refining both research on Korean War cold case records and forensic anthropological analyses performed using methods developed from the 1950s identifications.
Evaluation of the Ability of Polyphenol Extracts of Cocoa and Red Grape to Promote the Antioxidant Response in Yeast Using a Rapid Multiwell Assay
Authors: Peláez‐Soto Ana , Fernández‐Espinar María Teresa , Roig Patricia , Gil José Vicente
Published: January 2017

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used as a model organism to study the capacity of cocoa and red grape extracts to trigger an antioxidant response. A methodology adapted to microtiter plates has been developed to monitor yeast growth after culture preincubation with food ingredients and exposure to oxidative stress by hydrogen peroxide and menadione. This methodology proved effective in measuring the ability of cocoa and red grape extracts to promote an antioxidant response in yeast, and also the prospect of conducting dose–response studies. Additionally, the method has proven useful to perform studies with mutant strains lacking genes that may be related to the mechanism of action underlying the antioxidant properties. Thus, in a single assay, it is possible to elucidate the sensitivity of strains to oxidative stress, the ability of an ingredient to promote an antioxidant response, and the possible implication of certain genes.

Results of assays using strain hst3Δ showed that the antioxidant protection provided by exposure to cocoa and red grape extracts was not present in the strain lacking gene HST3 when H2O2 and menadione were used as oxidizing agents. This effect was previously reported for cocoa extract only, with H2O2 as stressor. Moreover, the results showed that the mutant strain hst3Δ is more resistant to menadione and H2O2 in the absence of preincubation with cocoa and red grape extract, hinting at the possible implication of sirtuin Hst3 in the antioxidant cellular response.
Implications of student‐generated screencasts on final examination performance
Authors: Wakefield James , Tyler Jonathan , Dyson Laurel E. , Frawley Jessica K.
Published: January 2017

While educational technologies can play a vital role in students’ active participation in introductory accounting subjects, learning outcome implications are less clear. We believe this is the first accounting education study examining the implications of student‐generated screencast assignments. We find benefits in developing the graduate attributes of communication, creativity and multimedia skills, consistent with calls by the profession. Additionally, we find improvement in final examination performance related to the assignment topic, notably in lower performing students. The screencast assignment was optional, and the findings suggest a tailored approach to assignment design related to students’ developmental needs is appropriate.
A review of research on regulation changes in the Asia‐Pacific region
Authors: Chang Millicent , Jackson Andrew B. , Wee Marvin
Published: January 2017

In this study, we review the financial research on regulation in the Asia‐Pacific region. We do this by analysing six leading regional accounting and finance journals – Abacus, Accounting & Finance, Australian Accounting Review, Australian Journal of Management, International Review of Finance and the Pacific‐Basin Finance Journal. We identify five main themes of regulation research relating to: (i) banking and financial institutions, (ii) markets and trading, (iii) corporate governance, (iv) disclosure and (v) accounting standard setting. Our paper synthesises the regional literature in these areas and provide some suggestions for future directions.
Dropout in clinical trials of pharmacological treatment for methamphetamine dependence: the role of initial abstinence
Authors: Cook Ryan , Quinn Brendan , Heinzerling Keith , Shoptaw Steve
Published: January 2017

Background and Aims

High rates of loss to follow‐up represent a significant challenge to clinical trials of pharmacological treatments for methamphetamine (MA) use disorder. We aimed to estimate and test the relationship between achieving and maintaining abstinence in the initial weeks of study participation and subsequent retention in such trials, hypothesizing that participants able to achieve early abstinence would be less likely to drop out.

Design

Data from four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of pharmacological treatments for MA use disorder were pooled and analyzed using a random‐effects approach.

Setting

All trials were conducted in the greater Los Angeles, CA, USA area.

Participants

A total of 440 participants were included; trials were conducted between 2004 and 2014.

Measurements

Participants’ ability to achieve a brief period of initial abstinence was measured as the number of MA‐negative urine screens completed in the first 2 weeks of the trials. Outcomes were the likelihood of dropout, i.e. missing two consecutive weeks of scheduled urine drug screens, and the number of days participants were retained in the trials.

Findings

Study participants achieved an average of three (of six possible) negative urine screens during the first 2 weeks of the trials, 51% dropped out and the average number of days retained was 60 (of 90 maximum). Each additional negative urine screen achieved during the first 2 weeks of the study reduced multiplicatively the odds of dropout by 41% [odds ratio (OR) = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.53, 0.66]. Abstinence was also a significant predictor of retention time; the hazard ratio for non‐completion was 0.75 per additional negative urine screen (95% CI = 0.71, 0.80).

Conclusions

Participants in randomized controlled trials of pharmacological treatments for methamphetamine use disorder who are able to achieve a brief period of early abstinence are retained longer in the trials and are less likely to drop out overall.
Food acid content and erosive potential of sugar‐free confections
Authors: Shen P , Walker GD , Yuan Y , Reynolds C , Stacey MA , Reynolds EC
Published: January 2017

Background

Dental erosion is an increasingly prevalent problem associated with frequent consumption of acidic foods and beverages. The aim of this study was to measure the food acid content and the erosive potential of a variety of sugar‐free confections.

Methods

Thirty sugar‐free confections were selected and extracts analysed to determine pH, titratable acidity, chemical composition and apparent degree of saturation with respect to apatite. The effect of the sugar‐free confections in artificial saliva on human enamel was determined in an in vitro dental erosion assay using change in surface microhardness.

Results

The change in surface microhardness was used to categorize the confections as high, moderate or low erosive potential. Seventeen of the 30 sugar‐free confections were found to contain high concentrations of food acids, exhibit low pH and high titratable acidity and have high erosive potential. Significant correlations were found between the dental erosive potential (change in enamel surface microhardness) and pH and titratable acidity of the confections. Ten of these high erosive potential confections displayed dental messages on the packaging suggesting they were safe for teeth.

Conclusions

Many sugar‐free confections, even some with ‘Toothfriendly’ messages on the product label, contain high contents of food acids and have erosive potential.
Do the EU countries import at the same price? The case of coffee
Authors: Cerasa Andrea , Buscaglia Daniela
Published: January 2017

The establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union was expected to determine price convergence in the market of the European Union, leading to the equilibrium theorized by the law of one price. This article investigates prices convergence in the coffee market among European importers. Coffee is not only a tradable and traded good, but also one of the most valuable traded commodities. We account for different qualities of coffee in a hedonic regression model, which isolate and remove the effects of factors that might affect price dispersion. Adjusted import prices result to be significantly different between European Member States, and do not support the hypothesis of a deepening European market integration.
The impact of co‐existing immune‐mediated diseases on phenotype and outcomes in inflammatory bowel diseases
Authors: Conway G. , Velonias G. , Andrews E. , Garber J. J. , Yajnik V. , Ananthakrishnan A. N.
Published: January 2017

Background

Inflammatory bowel diseases lead to progressive bowel damage and need for surgery. While the increase in prevalence of other immune‐mediated diseases in IBD is well recognised, the impact of this on the natural history of IBD is unknown.

Aim

To determine the impact of concomitant immune‐mediated diseases on phenotypes and outcomes in IBD.

Methods

Patients with IBD enrolled in a prospective registry were queried about the presence of other immune‐mediated diseases, defined as those where immune dysregulation plays a role in pathogenesis. Demographics and disease‐related information were obtained. Subjects also completed measures of quality of life. Multivariable regression models compared disease phenotype and outcomes of IBD patients with and without other immune‐mediated diseases.

Results

The cohort included 2145 IBD patients among whom 458 (21%) had another immune‐mediated disease. There was no difference in CD phenotype between the two groups. UC patients were more likely to have pancolitis in the presence of another immune‐mediated disease (62%) compared to those without (52%, P = 0.02). IBD patients with another immune‐mediated disease had higher rates of needing anti‐TNF biologics [Odds ratio (OR) 1.31, 95% CI 1.05–1.63] and surgery (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.99–1.61). The presence of another immune‐mediated disease was also associated with lower disease‐specific and general physical quality of life.

Conclusions

The presence of another immune‐mediated disease in IBD patients was associated with higher likelihood of pancolonic involvement in UC, and a modest increase in need for IBD‐related surgery and anti‐TNF biological therapy. Such patients also experienced worse quality of life.
Derivation and validation of a diagnostic test for irritable bowel syndrome using latent class analysis
Authors: Sood R. , Gracie D. J. , Gold M. J. , To N. , Pinto‐Sanchez M. I. , Bercik P. , Moayyedi P. , Ford A. C. , Law G. R.
Published: January 2017

Background

The accuracy of symptom‐based diagnostic criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is modest.

Aims

To derive and validate a new test that utilises latent class analysis.

Methods

Symptom, colonoscopy, and histology data were collected from 1981 patients and 360 patients in two cohorts referred to secondary care for investigation of their gastrointestinal symptoms in Canada and the UK, respectively. Latent class analysis was used to identify naturally occurring clusters in patient‐reported symptoms in the Canadian dataset, and the latent class model derived from this was then applied to the UK dataset in order to validate it. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) were calculated for the latent class models.

Results

In the Canadian cohort, the model had a sensitivity of 44.7% (95% CI 40.0–50.0) and a specificity of 85.3% (95% CI 83.4–87.0). Positive and negative LRs were 3.03 (95% CI 2.57–3.56) and 0.65 (95% CI 0.59–0.71) respectively. A maximum positive LR of 3.93 was achieved following construction of a receiver operating characteristic curve. The performance in the UK cohort was similar, with a sensitivity and specificity of 52.5% (95% CI 42.2–62.7) and 84.3% (95% CI 79.3–88.6), respectively. Positive and negative LRs were 3.35 (95% CI 2.38–4.70) and 0.56 (95% CI 0.45–0.68), respectively, with a maximum positive LR of 4.15.

Conclusions

A diagnostic test for IBS, utilising patient‐reported symptoms incorporated into a latent class model, performs as accurately as symptom‐based criteria. It has potential for improvement via addition of clinical markers, such as coeliac serology and faecal calprotectin.
Continuous treatment with lenalidomide and low‐dose dexamethasone in transplant‐ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in Asia: subanalysis of the FIRST trial
Authors: Lu Jin , Lee Jae H. , Huang Shang‐Yi , Qiu Lugui , Lee Je‐Jung , Liu Ting , Yoon Sung‐Soo , Kim Kihyun , Shen Zhi X. , Eom Hyeon S. , Chen Wen M. , Min Chang K. , Kim Hyo J. , Lee Jeong O. , Kwak Jae Y. , Yiu Wai , Chen Guang , Ervin‐Haynes Annette , Hulin Cyrille , Facon Thierry
Published: January 2017

The phase 3 FIRST (Frontline Investigation of REVLIMID + Dexamethasone Versus Standard Thalidomide) trial demonstrated that lenalidomide plus low‐dose dexamethasone (Rd) until disease progression (Rd continuous) is an effective treatment option for transplant‐ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). Given genetic differences between Asian and Western populations, this subanalysis of the FIRST trial examined the safety and efficacy of Rd (given continuously or for 18 cycles [Rd18]) and MPT (melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide) in 114 Asian patients from Mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. Efficacy and safety with Rd continuous in Asian patients were consistent with those in the overall study population. The overall response rates were 77·8% for Rd continuous, 57·5% for MPT and 65·8% for Rd18. The risk of progression or death was reduced by 39% with Rd continuous versus MPT and by 35% with Rd continuous versus Rd18. Rd continuous improved the 3‐year survival rate compared with MPT (70·2% vs. 56·4%) and Rd18 (58·1%). Common grade 3/4 adverse events in the Rd continuous and MPT arms were neutropenia (25·0% vs. 43·6%), infection (19·4% vs. 28·2%) and anaemia (19·4% vs. 15·4%), respectively. Thromboembolic event rates were low, and no second primary malignancies were observed. Rd continuous is safe and effective in transplant‐ineligible Asian patients with NDMM.
Dishevelled segment polarity protein 3 (DVL3): a novel and easily applicable recurrence predictor in localised prostate adenocarcinoma
Authors: Kim Pil‐Jong , Park Ji Y. , Kim Hong‐Gee , Cho Yong Mee , Go Heounjeong
Published: January 2017

Objective

To identify new biomarkers for biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate adenocarcinoma.

Patients and Methods

Clinical information of 500 patients with prostate adenocarcinoma and their 152 RNA‐sequencing and protein‐array data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were separated into a discovery set and a validation set. Each dataset was analysed according to the Gleason grade groups reflecting BCR. The results obtained from the analysis using TCGA dataset were confirmed by immunohistochemistry analyses of a confirmation cohort composed of 395 patients with localised prostate adenocarcinoma.

Results

TCGA discovery set was subgrouped into lower‐ and higher‐risk groups for recurrence‐free survival (RFS) (P < 0.001). Cyclin B1 (CCNB1), dishevelled segment polarity protein 3 (DVL3), paxillin (PXN), RAF1, transferrin, X‐ray repair cross complementing 5 (XRCC5) and BIM had lower expression in the lower‐risk group than that in the higher‐risk group (all, P < 0.05). In TCGA validation set, CCNB1, DVL3, transferrin, XRCC5 and BIM were also differently expressed between the two groups. Immunohistochemically, DVL3 positivity was associated with high prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels, resection margin involvement, and BCR (all, P < 0.05). A high Gleason score indicated a marginal relationship (P = 0.055). BIM positivity was related to high PSA levels, lymphovascular invasion, and BCR (all, P < 0.05). Both DVL3 positivity (P = 0.010) and BIM positivity (P = 0.024) were associated with shorter RFS, but statistical significance was lost when the multivariate Cox regression model included all patients. In the lower‐risk group, the multivariate Cox model confirmed that DVL3 was an independent predictor for poor RFS (hazard ratio 1.80, P = 0.040), and the concordance index (C‐index) was 0.805.

Conclusions

DVL3 and BIM were expressed in patients with a higher risk of BCR. DVL3 may be a novel and easily applicable recurrence predictor of localised prostate adenocarcinoma.