bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Innovative ways for information transfer in biobanking
Authors: Macheiner Tanja , Huppertz Berthold , Sargsyan Karine
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– Biobanks are collections of biological samples (e.g. tissue samples and body fluids) and their associated data intended for various approaches in medical research. The field of biobanking evolves rapidly as an interdisciplinary branch of research and requires educational efforts to provide skilled experts in Europe and beyond. New ways in research and research education play a pivotal role in the future of biobanking.

Design/methodology/approach

– The increasing of requests and potential uses of biospecimens from biobanks necessitates an international and national intensified transfer of forward looking knowledge and know-how. In Austria, this could be realized by special trainings as well as a postgraduate education. Furthermore, the forward looking research and further development of infrastructure will play a pivotal role in biobanks in the future.

Findings

– Few opportunities are available for specific education on biobanking in Europe. This could be remedied by the creation networks of ISO-certified biobanks and co-operation with interested parties.

Research limitations/implications

– The current research focuses on the situation of information transfer in the field of biobanking in Europe. A wider investigation in better harmonization and standardization of methods in other parts of the world would be beneficial.

Originality/value

– The value of biomolecular resources such as biobanks has previously been discussed in detail, e.g. by the Time magazine. The paper focuses on demonstrating the importance for education in the future of biobanking in general.
Education as a global “soft power” for sustainable development
Authors: Nikolayevich Sayamov Yury
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse various aspects of education for sustainable development (ESD) drawing attention to the approaching end of the UN Decade on ESD (DESD) in 2014 and to the necessity of the continuation of ESD activities. Defining the internationalisation of education as an ever more significant part of globalisation, the paper insists that the education should be recognised as the foundation for sustainable development and building of the global knowledge society.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author presents a vision of the education as of a global “soft power” thus introducing a new understanding and a different application of the notion used mainly in a negative sense which, in author's opinion, can serve as educational instrument and technology of attraction. The author's methodology and approach take note of the basic principles of the globalisation theory and include the recognition of the fact that the contradiction between global interdependent problems of the planetary scale on one side and the existing rather fragmentary and desultory way of acquiring knowledge on the other side is the main challenge to the present and future quality of the human potential.

Findings

– Considering ways how to continue the work on ESD after the end of the UN DESD in 2014, the author expresses a point of view that it should be an innovation project requiring state, public, law and financial support. United Nations Organization for Science, Culture and Education (UNESCO) Chairs have an important role to play as a new instrument of the global educational “soft power” inspired to promote knowledge and scientific experience worldwide.

Originality/value

– Authentic experience of the UNESCO Chair creation and activity at the Faculty of Global Studies at Moscow State University is shown. The author having about 40 years of experience of cooperation with UNESCO as a member of a group of experts at the Director General, later – as a diplomat at UNESCO and recently – as UNESCO Chairholder presents an original point of view based on personal findings and conclusions.
Topology optimization with efficient rules of cellular automata
Authors: Bochenek Bogdan , Tajs-Zielinska Katarzyna
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– Biologically inspired techniques like cellular automata (CA) are gaining nowadays attention of designers. This is because they are effective, do not require gradient information, and one can easily combine this type of algorithm with any finite element structural analysis code. The purpose of this paper is to develop a CA algorithm based on novel local rules oriented at solving compliance-based topology optimization problems.

Design/methodology/approach

– The design domain is divided into lattice of cells, states of which are updated synchronously. The proposed rules include information coming from an individual cell and from its neighborhood, and by introducing weighting parameters allow to control and modify topology generation process.

Findings

– The performance of the developed algorithm is very satisfactory, and a comparison with results of other authors, obtained with the use of various optimization techniques, shows efficiency of the present topology generation process. The results found within approach of this paper are in a good agreement with the ones already reported, both for optimal topologies and values of minimal compliance, which in some cases are found even improved.

Practical implications

– The algorithm presented in the paper is quite general what allows its easy application to engineering design problems. Moreover, the local update rules are simple, so they can be easily implemented into professional FEM analysis codes, as an efficient add-on module for topology optimization.

Originality/value

– The main advantage of the developed algorithm is that it is a fast convergent technique and usually requires far less iterations as to achieve the solution, when compared to other approaches. What is also important does not require any additional density filtering. It also overcomes some drawbacks of traditional approaches so that changing mesh density does not influence resulting topologies and solutions are free from checkerboard effect.
Lite GPS pseudo-code generation using genetic algorithms
Authors: Sosa Javier , Alcaraz Real-Arce Daniel , Bautista Tomás , A. Montiel-Nelson Juan , Garcia-Alonso S. , M. Monzón-Verona José , Nooshabadi Saeid
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– In a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, one of the most time-consuming tasks is to identify and track the visible satellites. The paper aims to propose and examine in detail new and shorter identification patterns or lite pseudo-codes – pseudo-random numbers (PRNs) – that allow GPS receivers to reduce dramatically the computational effort to identify and track GPS satellites. Obtaining lite pseudo-codes is a multi-objective optimization problem that the paper resolves using genetic algorithms (GAs).

Design/methodology/approach

– The lite PRNs are obtained by using NSGA-II and omni-optimizer multi-objective optimization techniques.

Findings

– The new PRNs obtained with the proposed single/multi-objective solutions are always better than previously presented when the highest detection peak (DP) is required for the GPS receiver.

Originality/value

– Results demonstrate that the problem of “obtaining lite pseudo-codes” is a multi-objective optimization problem. In other words, the solutions obtained with the single-objective approach could belong to a local minimum. The multi-objective approach provides a better solution than the single-objective approach in a 37 percent of the satellites while in other cases the multi-objective approach reaches the same DPs with a similar noise.
Making sense of the Latin American “other”: executive women in Argentina
Authors: Ines Paludi Mariana , Helms Mills Jean
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the critical management literature through a fusion of Latin and North American lenses (one author is from Argentina and one from Canada), to question the extant women in management literature, which is rooted in an epistemology that serves to construct the notion of a broad, universal set of expectations of the role of men, women and managers, in which other ethnic groups, in this case men and women from so-called Latin American countries, are taken for granted.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a critical sensemaking lens, the paper explores the narratives of female executives in Argentina to help us understand how these women make sense of their careers within a Latin American context and the implications and outcomes of this understanding. The paper's approach involves three interrelated elements – feminist poststructuralism, postcolonialism and critical sensemaking.

Findings

– The narratives from the Argentinian executives reveals the tension between different cultures and idiosyncrasies among countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico; and that the way to navigate those differences entails understanding and learning about the other. These executive women from Argentina – las jefas – are heard mainly because they represent the managerial identity that multi-national corporations foster in any overseas branch.

Research limitations/implications

– In terms of the data used in this study, the paper acknowledges that this is an exploratory study that allows us to access women's stories from a pre-existing source. The paper recognizes that the authors are limited by the texts that are secondary sources, and if the authors had been able to conduct the interviews themselves they might have asked different questions.

Practical implications

– The findings of this research can help organizations to develop and implement a pluriversal and inclusive equity training programme through and awareness of the sensemaking of those involved.

Originality/value

– The use of a critical framework on postcolonialism, feminism and postructuralism together with critical sensemaking to understand female executives from the South of America.
Graduating to globalisation: a study of Southern multinationals
Authors: Demirbas Dilek , Patnaik Ila , Shah Ajay
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– Recent developments in the literature on international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) emphasise the role of firm characteristics in shaping firm participation in exports and FDI. The seminal work of Melitz and Helpman-Melitz-Yeaple (HMY) places heterogeneity in firm productivity at the heart of exporting and FDI. While the HMY hypothesis finds support for firms in the industrialised economies, the evidence from developing economies is limited. This paper attempts to contribute empirical insights into the theoretical framework laid out by Melitz, Helpman et al., Head and Ries with evidence from India.

Design/methodology/approach

– While related literature takes into account several firm-specific and country-specific characteristics to explain outward FDI, the paper unifies the firms
'
choice of markets (domestic versus foreign) and mode of serving foreign markets (export versus FDI) in a single framework in the line of the HMY model. The paper uses an ordered probit model that combines domestic market-oriented, exporting and outward FDI-oriented firms in a quality ladder.

Findings

– The findings are that there are strong differences between the characteristics of domestic firms, exporting firms, and firms that invest abroad. The differences between these firms are consistent with the HMY model. The most productive firms appear to walk up this ladder of quality and graduate to globalisation through exporting and then through FDI.

Originality/value

– A key innovation of this paper is an ordered probit model that combines domestic market-oriented, exporting and outward FDI-oriented firms in a quality ladder. The paper also brings empirical insights into the theoretical framework laid out by Melitz, Helpman et al., Head and Ries with evidence from India.
Tackling disinvestment in health care services
Authors: Daniels Tom , Williams Iestyn , Robinson Suzanne , Spence Katie
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The aims of this paper are to explore the experiences of budget holders within the English National Health Service (NHS), in their attempts to implement programmes of disinvestment, and to consider factors which influence the success (or otherwise) of this activity.

Design/methodology/approach

– Between 24 January and 15 March 2011 semi-structured, telephone interviews were conducted with representatives of 12 Primary Care Trusts in England. Interviews focussed on: understanding of the term “disinvestment”; current activities, and perceived determinants of successful disinvestment decision making and implementation. Data were organised into themes according to standard qualitative data coding practices.

Findings

– Findings indicate that experiences of disinvestment are varied and that organisations are currently adopting a range of approaches. There are a number of apparently influential determinants of disinvestment which relate to both health system features and organisational characteristics. According to the experiences of the interviewees, many of the easier disinvestment options have now been taken and more ambitious plans, which require wider engagement and more thorough project management, will be required in the future.

Research limitations/implications

– Findings from the research suggest that issues around understanding and usage of disinvestment terminology should be addressed and that a more in-depth and ethnographic research agenda will be of most value in moving forward both the theory and practice of disinvestment.

Originality/value

– This research suggests that, in the English NHS at least, there is a disjuncture between common usage of the term “disinvestment” and the way that it has previously been understood by the wider research community. In addition to this, the research also highlights a broader range of potential determinants of disinvestment than are considered in the extant literature.
Qualitative identification of learning effectiveness indicators among mainland Chinese students in culturally dislocated study environments
Authors: Rajaram Kumaran , B. Collins John
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– This exploratory research project investigated how mainland Chinese business students studying overseas conceptualize and describe the learning effectiveness of ten different instructional techniques commonly encountered in their business courses. A large numbers of mainland Chinese students enroll in business courses in private international institutions in Singapore – dislocated from their home cultures – but needing to adapt to Western learning curricula and ultimately to acquire proficiency in Western business practices. Certain instructional techniques are likely to bridge the cultural gap better than others. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Twenty consenting students selected from 400+ geographically diverse Chinese students participating in a larger study provided face-to-face interview information on how different instructional techniques stimulated different aspects of content acquisition, learner group dynamics, decision-making, learning efficiency, comfort, flexibility, familiarity, and applicability.

Findings

– Interviewees' free-form descriptions of “learning effectiveness” included phrases such as “quality of learning”, “control over my learning”, “scope of knowledge”, “efficiency of learning”, “gaining/acquiring knowledge”, “understanding theories”, “flexibility in time and place”, “applicability of new information”, “attractive learning environment”, “[absence of] ambiguity and uncertainty”, “security and ease of mind”, etc. Their 340 descriptors were classified into 30 qualitative indicator categories, four of them common to many instructional techniques and ten more specific to individual techniques.

Originality/value

– Although Chinese mainland students generally prefer rote-learning styles of instructional techniques due to their prolonged exposure to it, rote-style techniques may not always be the preferred choices for learning effectiveness and adaptation to new culture norms and practices. This paper reports qualitative “consultations” with learners in new cultures and argues for holistic and engaged approaches to learning effectiveness for students dislocated from their home cultures while providing a starting-point for further research in mainland Chinese students' Western-based business education in Singapore and elsewhere.
International experience required: lessons from the Carlson School of Management
Authors: M. Alexejun Kirsten , M. D'Angelo Anne
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– This article aims to explore the implications of sending all undergraduate students abroad to study to assist international educators and their institutions whose goals are to increase student participation in study abroad.

Design/methodology/approach

– This case examines the Carlson School of Management experience, including internationalization efforts that led to the historic faculty vote, motivations, interdepartmental collaboration, successes, challenges and evaluation strategy.

Findings

– Findings include best practices and lessons learned, as well as preliminary learning outcomes.

Originality/value

– The case illustrates an innovative practice for undergraduate business education abroad as an example of the full integration of study abroad into the business curriculum.
A complete agro-financial service framework for emerging economies
Authors: Goel Kunal
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for a comprehensive agricultural financial service to address the problems faced by the farmers and the insurance companies and to suggest the product delivery method to increase the acquisition rate of the product.

Design/methodology/approach

– A theoretical framework is proposed based on the pros and cons of various insurance services floated out earlier as well as the various risks faced by the farmers. Subsequently, on the basis of the factors that affect the take up rate of insurance products, the paper proposes an adequate delivery strategy.

Findings

– An efficient integrated framework for risk management in agriculture has been developed by interlinking various elements like price risk, yield risk and demand risk in addition to providing additional advisory and credit services. Other services only cover one or two of these and hence, are not adequate. Also, illiteracy of farmers is the main bottleneck that decreases the take up rate and can be addressed by appointing agro-financial agents.

Practical implications

– The frameworks proposed if brought into practice will lead to a holistic agro-financial service and help in overall advancement of the agricultural sector and economy.

Originality/value

– This paper would help insurance companies to come out with better insurance products for the agricultural community that will be easier to administer and economically more viable and thus fulfils the criteria for a holistic insurance framework.
Increasing customer satisfaction in the new venture context
Authors: George Nagy Brian , Michele Kacmar K.
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to test the effects of cognitive legitimacy and the assets of newness in the new venture context. The authors wish to provide evidence related to how best to market and manage some of the assets and liabilities of newness.

Design/methodology/approach

– 236 customers of three recently opened retailing businesses were surveyed to investigate the relationships among organizational energy, organizational flexibility, cognitive legitimacy, and customer satisfaction. A mediation model including all four variables is developed and tested in the paper.

Findings

– Evidence is presented suggesting cognitive legitimacy plays a significant mediating role in both the positive relationship between organizational energy and customer satisfaction, and the positive relationship between organizational flexibility and customer satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper offers thoughts regarding the theoretical implications of the study, as well as future research opportunities related to future marketing and entrepreneurship studies.

Practical implications

– Entrepreneurs are informed how to further market and manage the characteristics that mark their new ventures.

Originality/value

– The study is the first to link the assets of newness, cognitive legitimacy, and customer satisfaction. Given the importance of customer perceptions in the new venture context, the manuscript offers insight into how to possibly increase customer satisfaction by managing the perceptions of customers related to newness.
Pre-crisis damage containment and leadership policy in health services
Authors: V. Canyon Deon
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– Crisis-prone organizations are reactive and unprepared, and are characterized by deficiencies in damage containment mechanisms (DCMs), which are tools and processes intended to prevent and/or manage crises. In the literature, DCMs are usually studied piecemeal and have not been studied in health organizations in a broader organizational context. Thus, this study aims to identify the use of DCMs and the frequency with which they are inspected, maintained and reviewed for design flaws.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were obtained by questionnaire from decision-making executives in hospitals, medical centers, aged care, pharmacies, dental clinics and practices in physiotherapy, chiropractic and podiatry.

Findings

– Heavy reliance was placed on planning and technological DCMs while human and social methods were typically not considered. Organizations considered limited crisis types and there was a disconnect between the types of DCMs and the crises they targeted. Over half the organizations reviewed DCMs annually or more frequently. Backup DCMs mostly consisted of on-call staff and first responders with some auxiliary communications systems. Interviewees stated that these were designed to prevent financial, equipment breakdown, human resource and occupational safety crises.

Originality/value

– Most organizations had inadequate DCMs due to a lack of top-down support, planning and foresight. Furthermore, these health organizations demonstrated a lack of understanding of what DCMs are and how they function. The conclusion is that most of the health organizations surveyed are crisis-prone and health leaders need to put more effort into looking broadly at DCMs to improve organizational preparedness.
Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in development: from risk to resilience – a report on first session of NPDRR at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, India
Authors: Ghosh Maitrayee
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– Due to climate change and a considerable increase in man-made disasters, disaster risk management has gained a lot of importance. This article aims to summarize the proceedings of two days of discussion on natural and human-induced disasters organized by National Institute of Disaster Management at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The objective is to evolve a holistic national strategy for inclusion of disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies and programs into the mainstream of developmental activities. The libraries worldwide are witnessing a series of disasters, and DRR is one of the much-discussed topics within the library community. The literature on disaster risk management in libraries is scanty, and with less research being done, needs urgent attention. The library conferences in India and abroad hardly address the theme “DRR”; therefore, this report will be of interest to librarians and policy makers for libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

– This report includes selected presentations and discussion during thematic and plenary sessions and provides a review of some of the events of the first session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR). The author's observation/participation and discussion on vital areas, namely disaster resilience, capacity building, risk insurance, global warming and climate change, created insight in preparation of this report.

Findings

– A multi-stakeholder NPDRR has been constituted by the Government of India, with Home Minister as Chairman, in Resolution No. 47-31/2012-DM-III on 26 February 2013. The event was attended by various stakeholders such as policy makers, administrators, professional disaster managers, UN organizations, multilateral organizations, scientists, technocrats, academicians, corporate and private sectors, community leaders, representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (grass roots-level institutions in India preferably called a “village panchayat”), and NGOs. India is amongst 80 countries which have a national platform on disaster risk management like the NPDRR. The theme generated a lot of discussion on risk financing mechanisms, long-term recovery and rehabilitation, and holistic strategy for multi-hazard DRR.

Originality/value

– This is an important topic in the area of disaster risk management which includes disaster resilience, capacity development, and policy planning. This discussion forum facilitated the enhancement of knowledge and the integration of DRR into the mainstream of development.
The effect of expensing share-based payments on basic earnings per share of South African listed companies
Authors: Pretorius Denice , de Villiers Charl
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– This study aims to investigate the post-implementation impact of expensing share-based payment transactions on basic earnings per share. In recent years, IFRS 2 was one of the most opposed and controversial standards issued by the IASB.

Design/methodology/approach

– The sample relates to the period immediately after implementation (2006-2009) and consists of the 531 firm-year observations where share-based payments were present among Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed companies. The effect of share-based payments on basic earnings per share is assessed.

Findings

– The findings of this study show a statistically significant impact on basic earnings per share, but the results are more modest than suggested by prior studies. The number of companies reporting a share-based payment expense increased over the five-year period 2005-2009.

Originality/value

– The introduction of IFRS 2 caused small but not necessarily immaterial changes to the income profile of companies. This is important for analysts and general users of financial information who need to be aware of these changes. The results also suggest that IFRS 2 did not merely cause accounting policy changes, but has impacted on the way share-based payment transactions are used by companies.
Does accounting construct the identity of firms as purely self-interested or as socially responsible?
Authors: Raymond Lawrence Stewart , Botes Vida , Collins Eva , Roper Juliet
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to argue that it is time for change in the way the paper teach, theories and practice accounting. Traditional accounting practice constructs the identity of the accountable entity as purely self-interested. Yet, there is evidence that firms do engage in broader activities. This paper aims to explain and illustrate that there are groups of firms that engage in socially responsible activities, yet their accounting systems still assume autopoietic behavior. Accounting should resonate with social expectations, but at present it does not.

Design/methodology/approach

– Literature concerning theories of biological autopoiesis and social equivalents are reviewed. They are related to accounting practices, and to concepts of open and closed systems. The theories are related to survey results of socially responsible activities practiced by firms. National surveys undertaken in New Zealand at three-year intervals are the basis of the empirical content of the paper.

Findings

– There is evidence that firms behave socially and environmentally responsibly. Yet accounting practice does not encourage such behaviour. Accounting practice has to be able to construct the identity of the accountable entity so that it pursues more than its own self-interest, and resonate with societal expectations.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper is unconventional. It challenges extant practice. Its theoretical content may not appeal to many traditional accountants.

Originality/value

– The theory and empirics are original. The theory of autopoiesis is illustrated through survey evidence of business practices.
Strategic investment decision-making processes: the influence of contextual factors
Authors: Alkaraan Fadi , Northcott Deryl
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to examine the relationship between key contextual factors (type of strategic investment decision-making (SIDM), decision uncertainty, organizational goals, financial and non-financial corporate performance, firm size, and decision-maker background) and three significant dimensions of SIDM processes (procedural rationality, strategy formulation and political behaviour).

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was mailed to the financial directors of manufacturing companies selected from the UK Financial Analysis Made Easy database. Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the survey results.

Findings

– The findings reveal that SIDM is more complex and less systematic than the normative literature suggests, with a combination of contextual factors influencing the decision-making process. Further, the regression results suggest that SIDM is shaped by the interplay of procedural rationality, strategy formulation and political behaviour and that none of these on its own can sufficiently explain SIDM practice.

Research limitations/implications

– The survey data are drawn from UK manufacturing companies, so the findings may not be generalisable beyond that context.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest a need for firms to recognise that strategy formulation and political aspects of decision-making are as important as “rational” financial analysis in SIDM practice. Further, since SIDM practice is shaped by a combination of contextual factors, a comprehensive overview of these factors is necessary to direct SIDM outcomes.

Originality/value

– This study adds to the limited prior research examining the links between contextual factors and SIDM processes. Prior studies have tended to focus on only one dimension, or on limited factors, and have reported inconsistent findings. This paper provides a broader view of the complex nature of SIDM processes.
Modeling and optimization of flux cored arc welding by genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm
Authors: Katherasan D. , V. Elias Jiju , Sathiya P. , Noorul Haq A.
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to optimize the process parameters (wire feed rate (F), voltage (V), welding speed (S) and torch angle (A)) in order to obtain the optimum bead geometry (bead width (W), reinforcement (R) and depth of penetration (P)), considering the ranges of the process parameters using evolutionary algorithms, namely genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA) algorithm.

Design/methodology/approach

– The modeling of welding parameters in flux cored arc welding process using a set of experimental data and regression analysis, and optimization using GA and SA algorithm.

Findings

– The adequate mathematical model was developed. The multiple objectives were optimized satisfactorily by the GA and SA algorithms. The feasible solution results are very closer to the optimized results and the percentage error was found to be negligibly small.

Originality/value

– The optimal welding parameters were identified in order to increase the productivity. The welding input parameters effect was found.
The usefulness of componentization for specialized public service providers
Authors: Helge Aas Tor , Egil Pedersen Per
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– Componentization is a common approach in manufacturing that is suggested to lead to increased innovativeness at the firm level. Componentization has recently been given attention as a relevant approach for service providers. However, due to differences between services and manufactured products, and due to the diversity of the service sector, it is not obvious to what degree the application of componentization is relevant for all service providers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of componentization for specialized service providers in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper applies an interventionist research design, in which the componentization approach is implemented in one case organization.

Findings

– The paper finds that componentization increases the service orientation of specialized public sector organizations (PSOs) and improves the ability of the top management to manage and control specialized PSOs. Perhaps most importantly, the paper determines that componentization represents a foundation and a baseline for identifying service innovation ideas in specialized PSOs.

Practical implications

– The practical experiences reported in the paper may provide guidance to managers of specialized service providers who are seeking for ways to increase the efficiency, flexibility, and innovativeness of their organization.

Originality/value

– By empirically testing and evaluating a componentization approach, the paper contributes to the knowledge base of how componentization increases the efficiency, flexibility, and innovativeness of specialized service providers. In addition, the paper demonstrates that the application of an interventionist research approach may be useful when the research aims to develop, adopt, or evaluate new service management methodologies.
Acts that matter – an analysis of Kiva
Authors: Timm Knudsen Britta , Ellerup Nielsen Anne
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– The goal of this paper is to provide insight into how global social responsibility is performed through economic, mental and even physical investment and engagement by consumers and organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

– An illustrative analysis from the corporate website and blogs of an ethical organisation is undertaken. The analytical approach is communicative and inspired by discourse and legitimation studies and more particularly based on the framework of legitimation in discourse and communication developed by Theo van Leeuwen.

Findings

– The paper claims that new forms of value creation and a new relational logic of ethics – a so-called “logic of matter” – are emerging. From the three types of relational logic of matter ethics – an ethics of care, an ethics of reversibility and an ethics of activism – the ethics of activism plays the most important role in our material.

Research limitations/implications

– The analytical examples presented in this paper demonstrate how the new relational ethics seem to transcend the dichotomy of self-interest and the interests of the other.

Practical implications

– The paper provides insights into understanding how new forms of relational and reversible relationships are constructed.

Originality/value

– To the authors' knowledge, similar studies on the emergence of new relational studies in light of the new economy have not previously been undertaken.
Business opportunity and food education in Japan
Authors: Takano Kaori
Published: October 2013

Purpose

– This qualitative research aims to examine through their voices, why Japanese teachers who invited corporate lessons into their classrooms first became involved with business people and how their perceptions towards business may have changed.

Design/methodology/approach

– Out of 275 food companies in Japan, three leading companies were selected as cases. Their corporate websites were examined to identify the participating public schools and the teachers who had been recruited to evaluate their experiences with corporate programs.

Findings

– Teachers learned about corporate programs through governmental sources and direct mailings from the companies. They were motivated to use corporate lessons because of food education, creative experience-based activity, and a newly created school subject termed “integrated study”, which became a great receptor for corporate programs. This study suggested that corporate lessons positively changed the perceptions of teachers toward the business community.

Research limitations/implications

– Because this is a case study, the findings may not be generalized to other situations or other countries. Schools that may have corporate programs but refused to be included on company websites were not counted because this research relied on corporate websites to identify participating schools.

Practical implications

– More companies should consider public schools for effective CSR communication channels, and more strategic CSR is imperative to capture the battleground of the “integrated study” market.

Originality/value

– No previous study has examined food education as social responsibility activity as meeting the emerging educational needs of the society with a focus on “integrated study” as a receptor for corporate food education lessons in Japan.
The quantitative genetics of physiological and morphological traits in an invasive terrestrial snail: additive vs. non‐additive genetic variation
Authors: Nespolo Roberto F. , Bartheld José L. , González Avia , Bruning Andrea , Roff Derek A. , Bacigalupe Leonardo D. , Gaitán‐Espitia Juan D.
Published: October 2013

The distribution of additive vs. non‐additive genetic variation in natural populations represents a central topic of research in evolutionary/organismal biology. For evolutionary physiologists, functional or whole‐animal performance traits (‘physiological traits’) are frequently studied assuming they are heritable and variable in populations.

Physiological traits of evolutionary relevance are those functional capacities measured at the whole‐organism level, with a potential impact on fitness. They can be classified ascapacities(or performances) orcosts, the former being directly correlated with fitness and the latter being inversely correlated with fitness (usually assumed as constraints).

In spite of their obvious adaptive significance, the additive genetic variation in physiological traits, and its relative contribution to phenotypic variance (or narrow‐sense heritability) in comparison with maternal, dominance or epistatic variance, is known only for a few groups such as insects and mammals.

In this study, we assessed the additive and maternal/non‐additive genetic variation in a suite of physiological and morphological traits in populations of the land snailCornu aspersum.

Except for dehydration rate (h2 = 0·32 ± 0·15), egg mass (h2 = 0·82 ± 0·30) and hatchling mass (h2 = 1·01 ± 0·31; population = fixed effect), we found very low additive genetic variation. Large non‐additive/maternal effects were found in all traits. Cage effects did not change the results, indicating low contribution of common environmental variance to our results. No differences were found between the phenotypic and non‐additive genetic variance/covariance matrices.

Even though we compared populations across 1300 km in a common garden set‐up, our results suggest an absence of physiological as well as morphological differentiation in these populations.

These results contrast with previous analyses in the original distributional range of this species, which found high additive genetic variation in morphological traits. These are intriguing results demanding further quantitative genetic studies in the original distributional range of this species as well as the history of colonization of this invasive species.
Nesting Horizontal and Vertical Differentiation with Location Choices
Authors: Guo Wen‐Chung , Lai Fu‐Chuan
Published: October 2013

This study solves a location‐then‐price game in which horizontal and vertical differentiation are combined using an asymmetric distribution of consumers’ taste. Boundary locations are robust when the taste disparity of the population is not large and out‐of‐market locations are not allowed. Firms may have incentives to move either inside or outside the market in other situations, so the equilibrium prices are never differentiated. The restrictions of vertical differentiation under this framework are further examined. A model with the entrance of a vertically differentiated product is also discussed.
Intracellular and extracellular adenosine triphosphate in regulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells (细胞内外三磷酸腺苷对胰岛β细胞胰岛素分泌的调控作用)
Authors: Wang Chunjiong , Geng Bin , Cui Qinghua , Guan Youfei , Yang Jichun
Published: October 2013

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis and release in mitochondria play critical roles in regulating insulin secretion in pancreatic β cells. Mitochondrial dysfunction is mainly characterized by a decrease in ATP production, which is a central event in the progression of pancreatic β cell dysfunction and diabetes. ATP has been demonstrated to regulate insulin secretion via several pathways: (i) Intracellular ATP directly closes ATP‐sensitive potassium channel to open L‐type calcium channel, leading to an increase in free cytosolic calcium levels and exocytosis of insulin granules; (ii) A decrease in ATP production is always associated with an increase in production of reactive oxygen species, which exerts deleterious effects on pancreatic β cell survival and insulin secretion; and (iii) ATP can be co‐secreted with insulin from pancreatic β cells, and the released ATP functions as an autocrine signal to modulate insulin secretory process via P2 receptors on the cell membrane. In this review, the recent findings regarding the role and mechanism of ATP synthesis and release in regulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells will be summarized and discussed.
MicroRNA‐7 inhibition rescues age‐associated loss of epidermal growth factor receptor and hyaluronan‐dependent differentiation in fibroblasts
Authors: Midgley Adam C. , Bowen Timothy , Phillips Aled O. , Steadman Robert
Published: October 2013

Age‐related defects in fibroblast differentiation were previously shown to be associated with impaired hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) function, with both required for normal fibroblast functionality. In fibroblasts, transforming growth factor‐beta 1 (TGF‐β1)‐dependent phenotypic activation uses two distinct but co‐operating pathways that involve TGF‐β receptor (TGF‐βR)/Smad2 activation and HA‐mediated CD44‐EGFR co‐localization and signalling through extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). The HA‐mediated CD44‐EGFR pathway was found to be compromised with in vitro aging, through loss of EGFR expression and a reduced movement of CD44 throughout the cellular membrane. Here, we also investigate the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in age‐related loss of differentiation, through investigation of miRNA‐7 (miR‐7) regulation of the HA‐mediated EGFR‐signalling pathway. The transcription of miR‐7 was found to be upregulated in aged cells. In young cells, age‐related loss of differentiation could be mimicked through transfection of pre‐miR‐7, and in aged cells, could be reversed through transfection of locked nucleic acids (LNA) targeting miR‐7. Additionally, miR‐7 was found to be involved in the regulation of CD44 membrane motility, which was downregulated in instances of miR‐7 upregulation, and partially restorable through either miR‐7 inhibition or HAS2 overexpression. The altered dynamics of CD44 in the cell membrane demonstrated a further action of miR‐7 in regulating the HA‐dependent CD44/EGFR pathway. We explain this novel mechanism of age‐associated functional consequence due to miR‐7 upregulation and demonstrate that it is reversible; highlighting miR‐7 as a potential target for restoring the healing capabilities in chronic wounds in the elderly.
Tobacco use disorder and the risk of suicide mortality
Authors: Bohnert Kipling M. , Ilgen Mark A. , McCarthy John F. , Ignacio Rosalinda V. , Blow Frederic C. , Katz Ira R.
Published: October 2013

Background and aims

Tobacco use may be a risk factor for suicide mortality; however, prior research has produced equivocal findings and has been limited by relatively small sample sizes to study the rare event of suicide, as well as a lack of adjustment for other important factors, including psychiatric illness. We estimate the predictive association between tobacco use disorder and the risk of suicide mortality, adjusting for other important variables.

Design

A prospective cohort study.

Setting

TheUnitedStatesVeteransHealthAdministration (VHA).

Participants

All individuals who receivedVHAservices in fiscal year (FY) 2005 and were alive at the start of FY 2006 (n = 4 863 086).

Measurements

Tobacco use disorder was assessed via FYs 2004–05VHANationalPatientCareDatabase records. The outcome of suicide mortality was assessed during the follow‐up interval from the beginning of FY 2006 to the end of FY 2008 usingNationalDeathIndex records.

Findings

Of the 4 863 086 individuals in the study, 4823 died by suicide during the follow‐up interval. In the unadjusted model, tobacco use disorder was associated with an increased risk of suicide [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.76, 2.02]. After adjustment for model covariates, the association remained statistically significant, although attenuated (HR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.27, 1.46).

Conclusions

Tobacco use disorder may confer a modest excess risk of death by suicide. Psychiatric disorders may partially explain the relationship between tobacco use disorder and suicide.
Prophylaxis of neutropenic fever with ciprofloxacin in patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated with intensive chemotherapy
Authors: Ghadiany Mojtaba , Rahimi Hossein , Rezvani Hamid , Mohammad Alizadeh Afshin , Zamani Nasim , Mehdizadeh Mahshid , Foratyazdi Mohammad
Published: October 2013

Aims

Neutropenic fever is one of the most serious complications after induction chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Prophylaxis with antibiotics for prevention of neutropenic fever in AML is controversial and there are few studies on this issue from developing countries.

Methods

In this retrospective study, we analyzed the clinical data and outcome of patients with AML who did or did not receive prophylactic ciprofloxacin 500 mg BD for neutropenic fever.

Results

A total of 69 AML patients were treated by “3 + 7” protocol for their first induction chemotherapy. Prophylaxis was given to 25 of them. Incidence of neutropenic fever was the same in both groups (80% vs 82%). Duration of fever and the mortality rate were also similar in both groups.

Conclusion

It seems that in developing countries, using prophylactic ciprofloxacin has no significant effect on the incidence of neutropenic fever and the outcome of the AML patients.