bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immediate Breast Reconstruction with Abdominal Free Flap and Adjuvant Radiotherapy: Evaluation of Quality of Life and Outcomes
Authors: Pont Luis Parra , Marcelli Stefano , Robustillo Manuel , Song Dajiang , Grandes Daniel , Martin Marcos , Iglesias Israel , Aso Jorge , Laloumet Iñaki , Díaz Antonio J.
Published: June 2017

Background:

The effects of postoperative radiotherapy on free flap–based breast reconstruction are still controversial. Poor outcomes, breast distortion, and fat necrosis have been traditionally documented. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether adjuvant radiotherapy affects the quality of life, satisfaction, and cosmetic result in patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction with autologous free flap.

Methods:

Between January of 2013 and December of 2016, 230 patients underwent mastectomy with immediate free flap reconstruction at the authors’ institution. Patients were divided into two groups depending on whether they received postmastectomy radiotherapy. Quality of life measured with the BREAST-Q questionnaire, self-reported aesthetic outcomes, and general satisfaction were assessed and compared. Fat necrosis of the flap and its severity were also analyzed as the main surgical outcomes.

Results:

Mean follow-up time after reconstruction was 23 months (range, 6 to 48 months). No significant difference in quality of life or satisfaction scores were found between patients that underwent postmastectomy radiotherapy and patients who did not receive adjuvant radiotherapy. There were no significant differences in rates of fat necrosis between the groups (11.1 percent versus 13.76 percent; p = 0.75).

Conclusions:

Postmastectomy radiotherapy in patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction with free flaps does not seem to affect quality of life, satisfaction with the outcome, or the cosmetic result as perceived by the patients. The potential need for postoperative radiotherapy should not hinder women from the benefits of autologous immediate breast reconstruction.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:

Therapeutic, III.
Novel Approach for Maximizing Follow-Up in Cosmetic Surgery Clinical Trials: The Ideal Implant Core Trial Experience
Authors: Mueller Melissa A. , Nichter Larry S. , Hamas Robert S.
Published: June 2017

Background:

High follow-up rates are critical for robust research with minimal bias, and are particularly important for breast implant Core Studies seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. The Core Study for IDEAL IMPLANT, the most recently U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved breast implant, used a novel incentive payment model to achieve higher follow-up rates than in previous breast implant trials.

Methods:

At enrollment, $3500 was deposited into an independent, irrevocable trust for each of the 502 subjects and invested in a diversified portfolio. If a follow-up visit is missed, the subject is exited from the study and compensated for completed visits, but the remainder of her share of the funds stay in the trust. At the conclusion of the 10-year study, the trust will be divided among those subjects who completed all required follow-up visits. For primary and revision augmentation cohorts, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published follow-up rates from Core Studies were compared for all currently available breast implants.

Results:

Five-year follow-up rates for the IDEAL IMPLANT Core Study are higher for both primary augmentation and revision augmentation cohorts (94.9 percent and 96.7 percent, respectively) when compared to all other trials that have used U.S. Food and Drug Administration standardized follow-up reporting (MemoryShape, Allergan 410, and Sientra Core Studies).

Conclusions:

This trial demonstrates the utility of a novel incentive strategy to maximize follow-up in cosmetic surgery patients. This strategy may benefit future cosmetic surgery trials and perhaps any prospective research trial by providing more complete data.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:

Therapeutic, IV.
The challenges of hydrogen and metals
Authors: Paxton A. T. , Sutton A. P. , Finnis M. W.
Published: June 2017

The Royal Society Scientific Discussion Meeting ‘The challenges of hydrogen and metals’ was held in Carlton House Terrace, London, UK, on 16–18 January 2017. This is the introductory article to the discussion meeting issue which includes contributed papers and seven discussion papers. Here, we introduce the motivation to hold the Meeting and give a brief overview of the contents. We conclude with acknowledgements.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The challenges of hydrogen and metals’.
An anti-cancer binary system activated by bacteriophage HK022 Integrase
Authors: Elias Amer , Spector Itay , Gritsenko Natasha , Zilberstein Yael , Gorovits Rena , Prag Gali , Kolot Mikhail
Published: June 2017

Cancer gene therapy is a great promising tool for cancer therapeutics due to the specific targeting based on the cancerous gene expression background. Binary systems based on site-specific recombination are one of the most effective potential approaches for cancer gene therapy. In these systems, a cancer specific promoter expresses a site-specific recombinase/integrase that in turn controls the expression of a toxin gene. In the current study, we have developed a new HK022 bacteriophage Integrase (Int) based binary system activating a Diphtheria toxin (DTA) gene expression specifically in cancer cells. We have demonstrated the efficiency, and the high specificity of the systemin vitroin cell cultures andin vivoin a lung cancer mouse model. Strikingly, different apoptotic and anti-apoptotic factors demonstrated a remarkable efficacy killing capability of the Int-based binary system compared to the conventionalhTERT-DTAmono system in the LLC-Kat lung cancer mice model; we observed that the activehTERTpromoter down regulation by the transcription factors Mad-1 is the cornerstone of this phenomenon. The new Int-based binary system offers advantages over already known counterparts and may therefore be developed into a safer and efficient cancer treatment technology.
Genetic mapping of species differences via “in vitrocrosses” in mouse embryonic stem cells
Authors: Lazzarano Stefano , Kučka Marek , Castro João P. L. , Naumann Ronald , Medina Paloma , Fletcher Michael N. C. , Wombacher Rebecka , Gribnau Joost , Hochepied Tino , Libert Claude , Chan Yingguang Frank
Published: June 2017

Discovering the genetic changes underlying species differences is a central goal in evolutionary genetics. However, hybrid crosses between species in mammals often suffer from hybrid sterility, greatly complicating genetic dissection of trait variation. Here we describe a simple, robust and transgene-free technique to make “in vitrocrosses” in hybrid mouse embryonic stem cells by inducing random mitotic crossovers with the drug ML216, which inhibitsBloom syndrome(BLM). Starting with an interspecific hybrid (betweenMus musculusandMus spretus) embryonic stem cell line spanning 1.5 million years of divergence, we demonstrate the feasibility of mapping enzymatic differences across species within weeks and the possibility of re-deriving whole mice. Our work shows howin vitrocrosses can overcome major bottlenecks like hybrid sterility in traditional mouse breeding to address fundamental questions in evolutionary biology.

Impact Statement

By mixing hybrid mouse genomes in stem cells via mitotic recombination, genetic mapping and hybrid mosaic mice can be achieved in weeks, even across species barriers.
Strain-Specific Human Natural Killer Cell Recognition of Influenza A Virus
Authors: Kronstad Lisa M. , Seiler Christof , Vergara Rosemary , Holmes Susan P. , Blish Catherine A.
Published: June 2017

Innate Natural killer (NK) cells employ an array of surface receptors to detect ‘altered self’ induced by infection or malignancy. Despite their decisive role in early antiviral immunity, the cellular mechanisms governing if or how they discriminate between viral infections remain unresolved. Here, we demonstrate that while human NK cells are capable of reducing infection levels of distinct influenza A strains, the A/California/07/2009 (pH1N1) strain induces a significantly more robust IFN-γ response than A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2) and all other strains tested. This surprising degree of strain specificity results in part from the inability of the pH1N1 strain to downregulate the activating ligands CD112 (Nectin-2) and CD54 (ICAM-1) as efficiently as the H3N2 strain, leading to enhanced NK cell detection and IFN-γ secretion. A network analysis of differentially expressed transcripts identifies the interferon α/β receptor (IFNAR) pathway as an additional, critical determinant of this strain-specific response. Strain-specific downregulation of NK cell activating ligands and modulation of type I IFN production represents a previously unrecognized influenza immunoevasion tactic and could present new opportunities to modulate the quality and quantity of the innate antiviral response for therapeutic benefit.

One Sentence Summary

Human natural killer cells distinguish between Influenza A strains using a combinatorial cytokine priming and receptor-ligand signaling mechanism.
PhenoSpD: an integrated toolkit for phenotypic correlation estimation and multiple testing correction using GWAS summary statistics
Authors: Zheng Jie , Richardson Tom G. , Millard Louise A. C. , Hemani Gibran , Raistrick Christopher , Vilhjalmsson Bjarni , Haycock Philip , Gaunt Tom R
Published: June 2017

Background

Identifying phenotypic correlations between complex traits and diseases can provide useful etiological insights. Restricted access to individual-level phenotype data makes it difficult to estimate large-scale phenotypic correlation across the human phenome. State-of-the-art methods, metaCCA and LD score regression, provide an alternative approach to estimate phenotypic correlation using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics.

Results

Here, we present an integrated R toolkit, PhenoSpD, to 1) apply metaCCA (or LD score regression) to estimate phenotypic correlations using GWAS summary statistics; and 2) to utilize the estimated phenotypic correlations to inform correction of multiple testing for complex human traits using the spectral decomposition of matrices (SpD). The simulations suggest it is possible to estimate phenotypic correlation using samples with only a partial overlap, but as overlap decreases correlations will attenuate towards zero and multiple testing correction will be more stringent than in perfectly overlapping samples. In a case study, PhenoSpD using GWAS results suggested 324.4 independent tests among 452 metabolites, which is close to the 296 independent tests estimated using true phenotypic correlation. We further applied PhenoSpD to estimated 7,503 pair-wise phenotypic correlations among 123 metabolites using GWAS summary statistics from Kettunen et al. and PhenoSpD suggested 44.9 number of independent tests for theses metabolites.

Conclusion

PhenoSpD integrates existing methods and provides a simple and conservative way to reduce dimensionality for complex human traits using GWAS summary statistics, which is particularly valuable for post-GWAS analysis of complex molecular traits.

Availability

R code and documentation for PhenoSpD V1.0.0 is available online (https://github.com/MRCIEU/PhenoSpD).
Genetics and epigenetic alterations of hexaploid early generation derived from hybrid betweenBrassica napusandB. oleracea
Authors: Li Qinfei , Xiong Zhiyong , Mei Jiaqin , Song Hongyuan , Qian Wei
Published: June 2017

Good fertility was observed previously in hexaploid derived from hybrid (ACC) between calona ‘Zhongshuang 9’(Brassica napus, 2n = 38, AACC) and kale ‘SWU01’ (B. oleracea var. acephala, 2n = 18, CC). However, the mechanism to underlying the character is unknown. In the present study, genetic and epigenetic alterations of S0, 6 S1, and 18 of their S2 progenies with hexaploid chromosome conformation (20A + 36C) were selected to compare with ACC and their parental species. 13.08% and 26.45% polymorphism alleles different from two parental species were identified in ACC via 58 SSR (simple sequence repeats) and 14 MSAP (methylation sensitive amplified polymorphism), respectively. 33.74% new alleles in DNA methylation, but not in DNA sequence were detected in S0 after chromosome doubling of ACC. DNA profilling revealed a little genetic but much epigenetic differences among S0, S1 and S2 generations. Genetic alteration was relatively stable, because only 8.09% and 3.21% alleles inheriated from ACC were changed in S2 and S1, respectively. While on average of 52.44 ± 5.32% DNA methylation site inherited from ACC were detected in S1, and 41.52 ± 9.04% in S2 due to dramatic epigenetic variance among early generations. New DNA methylation sites occurred in S0 would inheritated into the successive generations, but the frequency was decreased because some new site might be recovered. It demonstrated that much DNA methylation but a little DNA sequence variance was occurred in hexaploid early generation.
Spatial resource heterogeneity increases diversity and evolutionary potential
Authors: Dolson Emily L. , Pérez Samuel G. , Olson Randal S. , Ofria Charles
Published: June 2017

Spatial heterogeneity is believed to be an evolutionary driver of biodiversity. Variability in the distribution of resource patches can allow an environment to support a wider variety of phenotypes for selection to act upon at the ecosystem level, which may lead to more species. However, the generality of this principle has not been thoroughly tested, as the relevant adaptive dynamics occur on evolutionary timescales. We overcame this challenge by performing experiments on populations of digital organisms in the Avida Digital Evolution Platform, in which we investigated the impact of spatial resource heterogeneity on phenotypic diversity. Since an important benefit of diversity may be increased evolutionary potential, we also tracked the probability of a complex trait evolving in the context of various levels of spatial heterogeneity. We found that spatial entropy and phenotypic diversity have a strong positive correlation and this relationship is consistent across various spatial configurations. Diversity also increases evolutionary potential, but has a much smaller impact than other components of environmental composition. The most important of these components was the mean number of resources present in locations across the environment, likely owing to the importance of building blocks for the evolution of complex features. These results suggest that a general relationship exists between spatial heterogeneity and diversity, beyond the specific ecosystems and timescales in which it has previously been studied. By examining this relationship in the context of phenotypic evolution, we advance a mechanistic understanding of the resulting dynamics. Moreover, our results suggest that the likelihood of evolving various traits can be impacted by the spatial configuration of patches in which these traits are advantageous. These findings have implications for both evolutionary biology and evolutionary computation, as generating and maintaining diversity is critical to all forms of evolution.
The creation and selection of mutations resistant to a gene drive over multiple generations in the malaria mosquito
Authors: Hammond Andrew , Kyrou Kyros , Bruttini Marco , North Ace , Galizi Roberto , Karlsson Xenia , Carpi Francesco M , D’Aurizio Romina , Crisanti Andrea , Nolan Tony
Published: June 2017

Gene drives have enormous potential for the control of insect populations of medical and agricultural relevance. By preferentially biasing their own inheritance gene drives can rapidly introduce genetic traits even if these confer a negative fitness on the population.

We have recently developed gene drives based on a CRISPR nuclease construct that is designed to disrupt key genes essential for female fertility in the malaria mosquito. The construct copies itself and the associated genetic disruption from one homologous chromosome to another during gamete formation, in a process called homing that ensures the majority of offspring inherit the drive. Such drives have the potential to cause long-lasting, sustainable population suppression though they are also expected to impose a large selection pressure for resistance in the mosquito. One of these population suppression gene drives showed rapid invasion of a caged population over 4 generations, establishing proof of principle for this technology. In order to assess the potential for the emergence of resistance to the gene drive in this population we allowed it to run for 25 generations and monitored the frequency of the gene drive over time. Following the initial increase of the gene drive we noticed a gradual decrease in its frequency that was accompanied emergence of small, nuclease-induced mutations at the target gene that are resistant to further cleavage and restore its functionality. Such mutations show rates of increase consistent with positive selection in the face of the gene drive. Our findings represent the first documented example of selection for resistance to a synthetic gene drive and lead to important design recommendations and considerations in order to mitigate for resistance for future gene drive applications.
A Growing Microcolony can Survive and Support Persistent Propagation of Virulent Phages
Authors: Eriksen Rasmus Skytte , Svenningsen Sine Lo , Sneppen Kim , Mitarai Namiko
Published: June 2017

Bacteria form colonies and secrete extracellular polymeric substances that surround the individual cells. These spatial structures are often associated with collaboration and quorum sensing between the bacteria. Here we investigate the mutual protection provided by spherical growth of a monoclonal colony during exposure to phages that proliferate on its surface. As a proof of concept we exposed growing colonies ofEscherichia colito a virulent mutant of phage P1. When the colony consists of less than ~ 50000 members it is eliminated, while larger initial colonies allow long-term survival because the growth of bacteria throughout the spherical colony exceeds the killing of bacteria on the surface. A mathematical model pinpoints how this critical colony size depends on key parameters in the phage infection cycle. Surprisingly, we predict that a higher phage adsorption rate would allow substantially smaller colonies to survive a virulent phage.

Significance Statement

Bacteria are repeatedly exposed to an excess of phages, and carry evidence of this in terms of multiple defense mechanisms encoded in their genome. In addition to molecular mechanisms, bacteria may exploit the defense of spatial refuges. Here we demonstrate how bacteria can limit the impact of a virulent phage attack by growing as a colony which only exposes its surface to phages. We identify a critical size of the initial colony, below which the phages entirely eliminates the colony, and above which the colony continues to grow despite the presence of phages. Our study suggests that coexistence of phages and bacteria is strongly influenced by the spatial composition of microcolonies of susceptible bacteria.
To include or not to include: The impact of gene filtering on species tree estimation methods
Authors: Molloy Erin K. , Warnow Tandy
Published: June 2017

Species tree estimation from loci sampled from multiple genomes is now common, but is challenged by the heterogeneity across the genome due to multiple processes, such as gene duplication and loss, horizontal gene transfer, and incomplete lineage sorting. Although methods for estimating species trees have been developed that address gene tree heterogeneity due to incomplete lineage sorting, many of these methods operate by combining estimated gene trees and are hence vulnerable to gene tree quality. There is also the added concern that missing data, which is frequently encountered in genome-scale datasets, will impact species tree estimation.

Our study addresses the impact of gene filtering on species trees inferred from multi-gene datasets. We address these questions using a large and heterogeneous collection of simulated datasets both with and without missing data. We compare several established coalescent-based methods (ASTRAL, ASTRID, MP-EST, and SVDquartets within PAUP*) as well as unpartitioned concatenation using maximum likelihood (RAxML).

Our study shows that gene tree error and missing data impact all methods (and some methods degrade more than others), but the degree of incomplete lineage sorting and gene tree estimation error impacts the absolute and relative performance of methods as well as their response to gene filtering strategies. We find that filtering genes based on the degree of missing data is either neutral or else reduces the accuracy of all five methods examined, and so is not recommended. Filtering genes based on gene tree estimation error shows somewhat different trends. Under low levels of incomplete lineage sorting, removing genes with high gene tree estimation errorcanimprove the accuracy of summary methods, but only if not too many genes are removed. Otherwise, filtering genes tends to increase error, especially under high levels of incomplete lineage sorting. Hence, while filtering genes based on missing data is not recommended, there are conditions under which removing high error gene trees can improve species tree estimation. This study provides insights into prior studies and suggests approaches for analyzing phylogenomic datasets.
Patterns of divergence across the geographic and genomic landscape of a butterfly hybrid zone associated with a climatic gradient
Authors: Ryan Sean F. , Fontaine Michael C. , Scriber J. Mark , Pfrender Michael E. , O’Neil Shawn T. , Hellmann Jessica J.
Published: June 2017

Hybrid zones are a valuable tool for studying the process of speciation and for identifying the genomic regions undergoing divergence and the ecological (extrinsic) and non-ecological (intrinsic) factors involved. Here, we explored the genomic and geographic landscape of divergence in a hybrid zone betweenPapilio glaucusandPapilio canadensis. Using a genome scan of 28,417 ddRAD SNPs, we identified genomic regions under possible selection and examined their distribution in the context of previously identified candidate genes for ecological adaptations. We showed that differentiation was genome-wide, including multiple candidate genes for ecological adaptations, particularly those involved in seasonal adaptation and host plant detoxification. The Z-chromosome and four autosomes showed a disproportionate amount of differentiation, suggesting genes on these chromosomes play a potential role in reproductive isolation. Cline analyses of significantly differentiated genomic SNPs, and of species diagnostic genetic markers, showed a high degree of geographic coincidence (81%) and concordance (80%) and were associated with the geographic distribution of a climate-mediated developmental threshold (length of the growing season). A relatively large proportion (1.3%) of the outliers for divergent selection were not associated with candidate genes for ecological adaptations and may reflect the presence of previously unrecognized intrinsic barriers between these species. These results suggest that exogenous (climate-mediated) and endogenous (unknown) clines may have become coupled and act together to reinforce reproductive isolation. This approach of assessing divergence across both the genomic and geographic landscape can provide insight about the interplay between the genetic architecture of reproductive isolation and endogenous and exogenous selection.
DRUID: A pipeline for reproducible transcriptome-wide measurements of mRNA stability
Authors: Lugowski Andrew , Nicholson Beth , Rissland Olivia S.
Published: June 2017

Control of messenger RNA (mRNA) stability is an important aspect of gene regulation. The gold standard for measuring mRNA stability transcriptome-wide uses metabolic labeling, biochemical isolation of labeled RNA populations, and high-throughput sequencing. However, difficult normalization procedures and complex computational algorithms have inhibited widespread adoption of this approach. Here, we present DRUID (for Determination of Rates Using Intron Dynamics), a computational pipeline that is robust, easy to use, and freely available. Our pipeline uses endogenous introns to normalize time course data and yields more reproducible half-lives than other methods, even with datasets that were otherwise unusable. DRUID can handle datasets from a variety of organisms, spanning yeast to humans, and we even applied it retroactively on published datasets. We anticipate that DRUID will allow broad application of metabolic labeling for studies of mRNA stability.
Very efficient spin polarization analysis (VESPA): new exchange scattering-based setup for spin-resolved ARPES at APE-NFFA beamline at Elettra
Authors: Bigi Chiara , Das Pranab K. , Benedetti Davide , Salvador Federico , Krizmancic Damjan , Sergo Rudi , Martin Andrea , Panaccione Giancarlo , Rossi Giorgio , Fujii Jun , Vobornik Ivana
Published: June 2017

Complete photoemission experiments, enabling measurement of the full quantum set of the photoelectron final state, are in high demand for studying materials and nanostructures whose properties are determined by strong electron and spin correlations. Here the implementation of the new spin polarimeter VESPA (Very Efficient Spin Polarization Analysis) at the APE-NFFA beamline at Elettra is reported, which is based on the exchange coupling between the photoelectron spin and a ferromagnetic surface in a reflectometry setup. The system was designed to be integrated with a dedicated Scienta-Omicron DA30 electron energy analyzer allowing for two simultaneous reflectometry measurements, along perpendicular axes, that, after magnetization switching of the two targets, allow the three-dimensional vectorial reconstruction of the spin polarization to be performed while operating the DA30 in high-resolution mode. VESPA represents the very first installation for spin-resolved ARPES (SPARPES) at the Elettra synchrotron in Trieste, and is being heavily exploited by SPARPES users since autumn 2015.
Value conflicts and organizational commitment of internal construction stakeholders
Authors: Panahi Babak , Moezzi Elena , Preece Christopher Nigel , Wan Zakaria Wan Normeza
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The possible effect of conflicts as the consequence of differences between personal and organizational values (OV) on organizational commitment (OC) of internal construction stakeholders was an unclear issue in the areas of organizational behaviour in the construction industry, especially in Malaysia. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to focus on this issue in the Malaysian construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper targeted professional project consultants, who are identified as architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors, as the internal construction stakeholders. The personal-OV and the level of OC of the stakeholders were evaluated through a questionnaire survey. To achieve the research objective, comparative and hierarchical regression analyses were performed.

Findings

The results generated by the analyses indicated a high level of value conflicts in the construction organizations which significantly and negatively affected commitment of the internal stakeholders.

Originality/value

Value conflicts in construction organizations are the agenda of this paper while not many empirical studies have been conducted on this issue in Malaysia. This paper through investigating the potential effect of value conflicts on the stakeholders’ commitment reveals the importance of interaction between personal and OV in construction organizations which contributes to the extant literature of organizational behaviour as to the construction literature.
Total factor productivity measurement with carbon reduction
Authors: Hu Xiancun , Liu Chunlu
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an approach for productivity measurement that considers both construction growth and carbon reduction.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach applied is a sequential Malmquist-Luenberger productivity analysis based on a directional distance function and sequential benchmark technology using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique. The sequential Malmquist-Luenberger productivity change index is decomposed into pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and technological change indices, in order to investigate the driving forces for productivity change.

Findings

The construction industries of the Australian states and territories were selected implement the new approach. The results indicate that construction growth and carbon reduction can be achieved simultaneously through the learning of techniques from benchmarks.

Practical implications

Current research on total factor productivity (TFP) in construction generally neglects carbon emissions. This does not accurately depict the nature of construction and therefore yields biased estimation results. TFP measurement should consider carbon reduction, which is beneficial for policymakers to promote sustainable productivity development in the construction industry.

Originality/value

The approach developed here is generic and enhances productivity and DEA research levels in construction. This research can be used to formulate policies for evaluating performance in worldwide construction projects, organizations and industries by considering undesirable outputs and desirable outputs simultaneously, and for promoting sustainable development in construction by identifying competitiveness factors.
Science-industry R&D cooperation effects on firm’s appropriation strategy
Authors: Milesi Dario , Verre Vladimiro , Petelski Natalia
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how science-industry R&D cooperation (SIRC) generates effects on the strategy developed by firms to appropriate the benefits of innovations. Given the plurality of cooperation patterns between firms and public R&D institutions and the variety of appropriation mechanisms used by firms to protect generated knowledge or to strengthen their market position, this paper investigates to what extent different forms of cooperation are associated with different effects on appropriation strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

As evidence of this, the authors carry out a multiple case study, covering nine biopharmaceutical Argentine firms whose innovation projects are developed in cooperation with public R&D institutions. Using critical dimensions identified by public-private R&D cooperation literature, the paper analyzes the characteristics of cooperation in the cases studied, looking for different patterns. Given the existence of various appropriation mechanisms identified by appropriability literature, the paper analyzes how firms use (or not) those mechanisms within the specific context of jointly generated innovation.

Findings

The paper shows that SIRC generates opposing effects on the various appropriation mechanisms used by firms, both challenging and strengthening them. Likewise, the identification of three cooperation patterns in Argentine biopharmaceutical sector, namely, contract R&D, internalization and coordination, allows appreciating how each pattern affects differently the appropriation mechanisms used by firms, being the coordination one, the most functional to the appropriation strategy of firms analyzed.

Research limitations/implications

The arguments presented here are necessarily limited to the biopharmaceutical Argentine sector, which is strategic to the country, for accumulated capabilities in scientific and business aspects. The analysis could be enriched by extending it to other industries with similar innovation characteristics and to other countries, where patents have a similar weight (emerging countries) or a different one (developed countries).

Practical implications

Innovation and public-private collaboration policies may benefit from the analysis presented here, which helps to assess advantages and challenges of different SIRC logics on firms’ appropriation issues and to considerate which aspects allow cooperation and appropriation combining in a more virtuous form.

Originality/value

There is no paper that explicitly examines the effects generated by different SIRC patterns on the appropriation strategy of firms, conceived as a combination of different mechanisms which may include patents but is not limited to them.
Innovation performance of Italian manufacturing firms
Authors: Paula Fabio de Oliveira , Silva Jorge Ferreira da
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain how internal and external sources of knowledge influence the innovation performance (IP) in Italian manufacturing firms and how different these relationships are for low-technology (LT) and high-technology (HT) firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The study proposed a model relating external knowledge, internal knowledge and IP that was tested using Bayesian structural equation modeling with a sample of Italian manufacturing firms of Community Innovation Survey 2010. It was run separately for high-tech firms (including HT and medium-HT aggregations of manufacturing industries of NACE Rev. 2) and low-tech firms (including LT and medium-LT aggregations).

Findings

The results showed a difference between high-tech and low-tech manufacturing firms in Italy. The investments to leverage internal knowledge sources are important for high-techs and not significant for low-techs. On the other hand, the level of external KS improves significantly the IP of low-techs and has a negative effect for high-techs. The level of absorptive capacity is central to improve the positive effect of the external knowledge on the IP for all firms, but it is still underdeveloped.

Originality/value

The effects of 2008 economic crisis hit the Italian manufacturing industry specifically hard and are still felt. Innovation is a solution for firms’ growth and Italy is considered a below-average innovator country in Europe. The study could identify important gaps in Italian manufacturing firms that hinder their innovative performance improvement.
Intervention research and its influence on nonintervention research in human resource development
Authors: Park Sunyoung , Chae Chungil
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify how intervention research weighed in nonintervention research in the field of human resource development (HRD) by examining the number, citation frequency and use of experimental studies in HRD academic journals.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 2,700 articles published between 1990 and 2014 fromAdvances in Developing Human Resources(ADHR),European Journal of Training and Development(EJTD),Human Resource Development International(HRDI) andHuman Resource Development Quarterly(HRDQ) were reviewed and analyzed to identify 91 experimental studies in the field.

Findings

The total citation frequency of the 91 articles was 1,100 (14 fromADHR, 222 fromEJTD, 56 fromHRDIand 808 fromHRDQ). The authors reviewed the 1,100 subsequent studies that cited 91 experimental research studies and coded them to identify the research methods that each article adopted and to determine whether the studies used the citation to make causal statements. As a result, the authors found 459 causal statements from 1,100 citations. In particular, they identified the citation frequency of the causal statements used in nonintervention research to examine how often nonintervention studies used causal statements from intervention studies.

Research limitations/implications

The results of the citation frequency could be different according to the search engines and timeframes. Books, technical reports, non-English studies, non-academic articles and inaccessible articles were not considered in this study. Theoretically, this study aimed to illuminate the magnitude of HRD experimental research conducted over 25 years and to what extent it influenced non-experimental studies. In addition, this study emphasized the importance of using the causal statements from experimental research to improve empirical validation in other studies.

Practical implications

When HRD practitioners need to identify alternative interventions to replace previous ones or to justify the use of specific interventions, they could consider causal statements from empirical studies as valid evidence. Further, HRD practitioners might collaborate with researchers to receive more direct and relevant information from experimental research.

Originality/value

Significantly, this study provides an integrative review of experimental research conducted in the field of HRD in terms of the number, citation frequency and proportion of using experimental research. An additional contribution is that it summarizes the research methods used in HRD studies over 25 years.
Women’s leadership development in sport settings
Authors: Megheirkouni Majd , Roomi Muhammad Azam
Published: June 2017

Purpose

This study explores the positive and negative factors influencing transformational learning experiences of female leaders in women’s leadership development programmes in sports and examines the differences in learning/change factors cited by those who successfully addressed them and those who failed.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a qualitative research method, using phone interviews with women leaders in a sports setting.

Findings

The findings revealed that participants presented clear progress in terms of leadership skills, but they failed to report whether this progress can be achieved if the programme is running within a specific sports organisation, targeting a specific kind of sports leadership in the long term.

Research limitations/implications

There were a number of limitations for this study, e.g. selection of participants, sample size, exploratory methodology, which affected generalising the findings to other sports organisations or other countries.

Originality/value

The study provides a starting point for the exploration of the effectiveness of women leadership development programmes and how designers can evaluate the outcome of such initiatives in the UK.
Taking stock of the waqf-based Islamic microfinance model
Authors: Abdullah Rose , Ismail Abdul Ghafar
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore two main aspects of waqf: the characteristics of waqf property and the management of waqf. This paper also discusses the governance of waqf management as a source of funds for Islamic microfinance institutions (MFIs).

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses content analysis method to examine various literatures that discuss the concept and management of waqf.

Findings

The characteristics of cash waqf such as permanence, irrevocability and perpetuity differentiate waqf from other type of donations. Therefore, cash waqf-based Islamic microfinance needs to be sustainable. Good corporate governance is vital to ensure the sustainability. As the donors of cash waqf do not aim to make financial profit, waqf-based Islamic MFIs will be able to provide low-cost capital to the poor entrepreneurs. Furthermore, to ensure the perpetuity of the waqf, it is suggested that only revenue from the waqf property should be used for microfinance fund.

Social implications

The cash waqf-based Islamic microfinance will help the micro entrepreneurs to get low-cost capital without collateral. At the same time, public can donate any amount they afford to contribute to cash waqf.

Originality/value

The creation of a cash waqf-based Islamic MFI must observe the issues of agency conflicts and the right of stakeholders to a transparent management. This paper emphasizes the importance of good governance in managing the waqf property as a source of fund for Islamic MFIs.
Multidimensional poverty status of rural households in Nigeria
Authors: Adepoju Abimbola Oluyemisi , Akinluyi Oluwatofunmi Ibukun
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the use of family planning and its link with multidimensional poverty in rural Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The Alkire and Foster measure of poverty as well as the Logistic and Probit models were used to identify the factors influencing the use of family planning and its effect on the multidimensional poverty status of rural households in Nigeria.

Findings

The results indicate that 31.1 percent of rural households were poor with deprivations in health and education contributing the most to multidimensional poverty. The low use of contraception was closely linked to low level of literacy, lack of awareness of the different methods and high levels of poverty. The use of contraception reduced the level of poverty in the household.

Social implications

The intensity of poverty should be considered in the design of policies and programs. The wide and proper use of family planning is a sine qua non for any significant reduction in poverty. Potent and assertive family planning programs by government could be achieved through public-private sector partnership and assistance of international development partners.

Originality/value

This paper attempts to bridge the knowledge gap in the empirical literature on the link between multidimensional poverty and family planning. In particular`, its application to the rural context, often characterized by high rate of poverty and unmet needs for family planning employing nationally representative data is of immense value for social policy.
How Chinese executives view economic challenges and global opportunities
Authors: Davidson Steven , Ding Wei , Marshall Anthony
Published: June 2017

Purpose

To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing China, the IBM Institute for Business Value in cooperation with Oxford Economics surveyed 1,150 executives from across China. Survey respondents represented a variety of industries and included executives from Chinese corporations, start-up enterprises, the government sector and educational institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

This report shares the executives’ vision for the Chinese economy, and proposes actions to help spark growth and positive change.

Findings

The Chinese executives surveyed see the current economic environment in China as encompassing five main challenges – immature services sector, declining domestic consumption growth, lending decisions creating over investment in some sectors, declining export growth and environmental issues impacting economic development.

Practical implications

The article identifies the six most important ways to accelerate China’s growth according to the executives:

Originality/value

Despite challenges, Chinese executives are optimistic about the country’s economic growth prospects. In fact, 93 percent of executives believe China will maintain stable to high growth of more than 5 percent over the next five years. And almost a quarter of them believe China will be able to return to its recent very high growth rates in excess of 8 percent.
Do Parent Units Benefit from Reverse Knowledge Transfer?
Authors: Nair Smitha R. , Demirbag Mehmet , Mellahi Kamel , Pillai Kishore Gopalakrishna
Published: June 2017

Emerging market multinationals resort to knowledge acquisitions from their overseas subsidiaries to springboard and realize their global ambitions. Drawing from the knowledge‐based view and social capital perspective, this study explores the effects of organizational collaboration and tacitness on multiple dimensions of reverse knowledge transfer (RKT). Data were collected through a survey, from senior and middle level managers of parent Indian multinationals, pertaining to RKT from their overseas subsidiaries. The hypotheses are analysed using partial least squares modelling. The results demonstrate positive effects between the extent and benefits of RKT. Collaboration was found to have a positive influence on both dimensions of RKT. Tacitness also has a positive impact on the benefits from RKT. The implications of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed along with suggestions for future research.
A Five‐Tier System for Improving the Categorization of Transplant Program Performance
Authors: Wey Andrew , Salkowski Nicholas , Kasiske Bertram L. , Israni Ajay K. , Snyder Jon J.
Published: June 2017

Objective

To better inform health care consumers by better identifying differences in transplant program performance.

Data Source

Adult kidney transplants performed in the United States, January 1, 2012–June 30, 2014.

Study Design

In December 2016, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients instituted a five‐tier system for reporting transplant program performance. We compare the differentiation of program performance and the simulated misclassification rate of the five‐tier system with the previous three‐tier system based on the 95 percent credible interval.

Data Collection

Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database.

Principal Findings

The five‐tier system improved differentiation and maintained a low misclassification rate of less than 22 percent for programs differing by two tiers.

Conclusion

The five‐tier system will better inform health care consumers of transplant program performance.
Temperature‐dependent Development of Parasarcophaga similis (Meade 1876) and its Significance in Estimating Postmortem Interval
Authors: Yang Lijun , Wang Yu , Li Liangliang , Wang Jiangfeng , Wang Min , Zhang Yingna , Chu Jun , Liu Kun , Hou Yiding , Tao Luyang
Published: June 2017

Flesh flies are commonly found insects on decaying corpses that appears slightly later than blowflies, and their development patterns are significant indicators for minimum postmortem interval (PMImin) estimation. In this study, the flesh fly Parasarcophaga similis (Meade 1876) was reared at nine constant temperatures ranging from 15°C to 35°C to examine indicators for estimating their age. We generated three development models, including isomorphen diagram, isomegalen diagram, and thermal summation model. Larval body length at different rearing temperatures was fit into an L = a + bT + cT2 + dT3 equation with which the relationship between the larval body length (L) and the time after larviposition (T) was confirmed. The pupal stage was categorized into 13 substages according to intrapuparial morphological changes, and a detailed table was generated of the pupal developmental stages at five rearing temperatures, 15°C, 20°C, 25°C, 30°C, and 35°C. This study provides fundamental data in supporting P. similis as an indicator for PMImin estimation.