bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adaptation of Lean Six Sigma Methodologies for the Evaluation of Veterans Choice Program at 3 Urban Veterans Affairs Medical Centers
Authors: Ball Sherry L. , Stevenson Lauren D. , Ladebue Amy C. , McCreight Marina S. , Lawrence Emily C. , Oestreich Taryn , Lambert-Kerzner Anne C.
Published: April 2017

Objective:

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is adapting to meet the changing needs of our Veterans. VHA leaders are promoting quality improvement strategies including Lean Six Sigma (LSS). This study used LSS tools to evaluate the Veterans Choice Program (VCP), a program that aims to improve access to health care services for eligible Veterans by expanding health care options to non-VHA providers.

Research Design:

LSS was utilized to assess the current process and efficiency patterns of the VCP at 3 VHA Medical Centers. LSS techniques were used to assess data obtained through semistructured interviews with Veterans, staff, and providers to describe and evaluate the VCP process by identifying wastes and defects.

Results:

The LSS methodology facilitated the process of targeting priorities for improvement and constructing suggestions to close identified gaps and inefficiencies. Identified key process wastes included inefficient exchange of clinical information between stakeholders in and outside of the VHA; poor dissemination of VCP programmatic information; shortages of VCP-participating providers; duplication of appointments; declines in care coordination; and lack of program adaptability to local processes. Recommendations for improvement were formulated using LSS.

Conclusions:

This evaluation illustrates how LSS can be utilized to assess a nationally mandated health care program. By focusing on stakeholder, staff, and Veteran perspectives, process defects in the VCP were identified and improvement recommendations were made. However, the current LSS language used is not intuitive in health care and similar applications of LSS may consider using new language and goals adapted specifically for health care.
Multiple Sources of Prescription Payment and Risky Opioid Therapy Among Veterans
Authors: Becker William C. , Fenton Brenda T. , Brandt Cynthia A. , Doyle Erin L. , Francis Joseph , Goulet Joseph L. , Moore Brent A. , Torrise Virginia , Kerns Robert D. , Kreiner Peter W.
Published: April 2017

Background:

Opioid overdose and other related harms are a major source of morbidity and mortality among US Veterans, in part due to high-risk opioid prescribing.

Objectives:

We sought to determine whether having multiple sources of payment for opioids—as a marker for out-of-system access—is associated with risky opioid therapy among veterans.

Research Design:

Cross-sectional study examining the association between multiple sources of payment and risky opioid therapy among all individuals with Veterans Health Administration (VHA) payment for opioid analgesic prescriptions in Kentucky during fiscal year 2014–2015.

Measures:

Source of payment categories: (1) VHA only source of payment (sole source); (2) sources of payment were VHA and at least 1 cash payment [VHA+cash payment(s)] whether or not there was a third source of payment; and (3) at least one other noncash source: Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance [VHA+noncash source(s)]. Our outcomes were 2 risky opioid therapies: combination opioid/benzodiazepine therapy and high-dose opioid therapy, defined as morphine equivalent daily dose ≥90 mg.

Results:

Of the 14,795 individuals in the analytic sample, there were 81.9% in the sole source category, 6.6% in the VHA+cash payment(s) category, and 11.5% in the VHA+noncash source(s) category. In logistic regression, controlling for age and sex, persons with multiple payment sources had significantly higher odds of each risky opioid therapy, with those in the VHA+cash having significantly higher odds than those in the VHA+noncash source(s) group.

Conclusions:

Prescribers should examine the prescription monitoring program as multiple payment sources increase the odds of risky opioid therapy.
Patient-derived tumor xenografts of lymphoproliferative disorders: are they surrogates for the human disease?
Authors: Pizzi Marco , Inghirami Giorgio
Published: April 2017

Purpose of review

Patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDTXs) have emerged as powerful platforms in medical oncology. A plethora of PDTXs were generated to study solid cancers, but limited data are as yet available on hematological diseases. The aim of this review is to describe the state of art of lymphoma PDTXs, discussing future directions for the development of integrated/personalized cancer programs.

Recent findings

In the last decades, several PDTXs of lymphoproliferative disorders have been produced. Most studies focused on acute lymphoblastic leukemias, but consistent results have recently been obtained also for indolent and aggressive B-/T-cell lymphomas. These models have contributed to characterize lymphoma biology and therapy, despite technical and scientific issues have partially limited their application (e.g. high costs, relatively low engraftment rates, lack of human-derived tumor microenvironment, clonal selection of engrafted cells, limited characterization of tumor grafts). In the next future, such limitations should be overcome by new technical approaches and dedicated multiinstitutional programs.

PDTXs represent an unprecedented opportunity to study the biology and clinical management of lymphoproliferative disorders. Many of the current models display limitations, which will be resolved by rigorous approaches and comprehensive libraries, recapitulating the extreme heterogeneity of such neoplasms.
Regulation of the hematopoietic stem cell lifecycle by the endothelial niche
Authors: Ramalingam Pradeep , Poulos Michael G. , Butler Jason M.
Published: April 2017

Purpose of review

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) predominantly reside either in direct contact or in close proximity to the vascular endothelium throughout their lifespan. From the moment of HSC embryonic specification from hemogenic endothelium, endothelial cells (ECs) act as a critical cellular-hub that regulates a vast repertoire of biological processes crucial for HSC maintenance throughout its lifespan. In this review, we will discuss recent findings in endothelial niche-mediated regulation of HSC function during development, aging and regenerative conditions.

Recent findings

Studies employing genetic vascular models have unequivocally confirmed that ECs provide the essential instructive cues for HSC emergence during embryonic development as well as adult HSC maintenance during homeostasis and regeneration. Aging of ECs may impair their ability to maintain HSC function contributing to the development of aging-associated hematopoietic deficiencies. These findings have opened up new avenues to explore the therapeutic application of ECs. ECs can be adapted to serve as an instructive platform to expand bona fide HSCs and also utilized as a cellular therapy to promote regeneration of the hematopoietic system following myelosuppressive and myeloablative injuries.

ECs provide a fertile niche for maintenance of functional HSCs throughout their lifecycle. An improved understanding of the EC-HSC cross-talk will pave the way for development of EC-directed strategies for improving HSC function during aging.
Experiences of Oncology and Palliative Care Nurses When Supporting Parents Who Have Cancer and Dependent Children
Authors: Arber Anne , Odelius Anki
Published: April 2017

Background:

It is important not to ignore the impact of parental cancer on children, and this is where oncology and palliative care nurses can play a key role, providing support to parents as a regular aspect of oncological nursing care.

Objectives:

This study explored the experience, needs, and confidence of nurses working in acute cancer services when supporting parents with cancer who have dependent children.

Methods:

Two focus group interviews were conducted with oncology and palliative care nurses in 1 acute hospital trust in the south of England.

Results:

Nurses described how they identified with their patients as a parent themselves. This identification with patients added to the emotionally charged context of care and resulted in nurse avoidance of the troubling issue of dependent children. Nurses identified the importance of peer support with regular opportunities to reflect on practice when dealing with issues relevant to parents and children.

Conclusions:

Oncology and palliative care nurses take a reactive approach to family centred care, taking their cue from patients to initiate or request support for their children.

Implications for Practice:

Guidance was needed on children’s developmental stages and how to communicate with children of different ages. In addition, guidance was needed on assessing family needs and access to up to date resources. To enable nurses to engage with the issue of children, strategies of peer support and further educational opportunities need to be implemented.
Three Hypothetical Inflammation Pathobiology Phenotypes and Pediatric Sepsis-Induced Multiple Organ Failure Outcome*
Authors: Carcillo Joseph A. , Halstead E. Scott , Hall Mark W. , Nguyen Trung C. , Reeder Ron , Aneja Rajesh , Shakoory Bita , Simon Dennis
Published: April 2017

Objectives:

We hypothesize that three inflammation pathobiology phenotypes are associated with increased inflammation, proclivity to develop features of macrophage activation syndrome, and multiple organ failure-related death in pediatric severe sepsis.

Design:

Prospective cohort study comparing children with severe sepsis and any of three phenotypes: 1) immunoparalysis-associated multiple organ failure (whole blood ex vivo tumor necrosis factor response to endotoxin < 200 pg/mL), 2) thrombocytopenia-associated multiple organ failure (new onset thrombocytopenia with acute kidney injury and a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 activity < 57%), and/or 3) sequential multiple organ failure with hepatobiliary dysfunction (respiratory distress followed by liver dysfunction with soluble Fas ligand > 200 pg/mL), to those without any of these phenotypes.

Setting:

Tertiary children’s hospital PICU.

Patients:

One hundred consecutive severe sepsis admissions.

Interventions:

Clinical data were recorded daily, and blood was collected twice weekly.

Measurements and Main Results:

Multiple organ failure developed in 75 cases and eight died. Multiple organ failure cases with any of the three inflammation phenotypes (n = 37) had higher inflammation (C-reactive protein, p = 0.009 and ferritin, p < 0.001) than multiple organ failure cases without any of these phenotypes (n = 38) or cases with only single organ failure (n = 25). Development of features of macrophage activation syndrome and death were more common among multiple organ failure cases with any of the phenotypes (macrophage activation syndrome: 10/37, 27%; death: 8/37, 22%) compared to multiple organ failure cases without any phenotype (macrophage activation syndrome: 1/38, 3%; p = 0.003 and death: 0/38, 0%; p = 0.002).

Conclusions:

Our approach to phenotype categorization remains hypothetical, and the phenotypes identified need to be confirmed in multicenter studies of pediatric multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
Community-Level HIV Stigma as a Driver for HIV Transmission Risk Behaviors and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Study
Authors: Daniel Kelly J. , Reid Michael J. , Lahiff Maureen , Tsai Alexander C. , Weiser Sheri D.
Published: April 2017

Introduction:

Although HIV stigma has been identified as an important risk factor for HIV transmission risk behaviors, little is known about the contribution of community-level HIV stigma to HIV transmission risk behaviors and self-reported sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or how gender may modify associations.

Methods:

We pooled data from the 2008 and 2013 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Surveys. For HIV stigma, we examined HIV stigmatizing attitudes and HIV disclosure concerns at both individual and community levels. Outcomes of HIV transmission risk behaviors were recent condom usage, consistent condom usage, and self-reported STDs. We assessed associations with multivariable logistic regressions. We also analyzed gender as an effect modifier of these associations.

Results:

Of 34,574 respondents, 24,030 (69.5%) who had heard of HIV were included in this analysis. Community-level HIV stigmatizing attitudes and disclosure concerns were associated with higher odds of self-reported STDs (adjusted odds ratio = 2.07; 95% confidence interval: 1.55 to 2.77; adjusted odds ratio = 2.95; 95% confidence interval: 1.51 to 5.58). Compared with men, community-level HIV stigmatizing attitudes among women were a stronger driver of self-reported STDs (interaction P = 0.07). Gender modified the association between community-level HIV disclosure concerns and both recent and consistent condom usage (interaction P = 0.03 and P = 0.002, respectively). Community-level HIV disclosure concerns among women were observed to be a driver of risky sex and self-reported STDs.

Conclusions:

This study shows that community-level HIV stigma may be a driver for risky sex and self-reported STDs, particularly among women. Our findings suggest that community-held stigmatizing beliefs and HIV disclosure concerns among women might be important targets for HIV stigma reduction interventions.
Assessing the role of inhibition in stabilizing neocortical networks requires large-scale perturbation of the inhibitory population
Authors: Sadeh Sadra , Silver R. Angus , Mrsic-Flogel Thomas , Richard Muir Dylan
Published: April 2017

Neurons within cortical microcircuits are interconnected with recurrent excitatory synaptic connections that are thought to amplify signals (Douglas and Martin, 2007), form selective subnetworks (Ko et al., 2011) and aid feature discrimination. Strong inhibition (Haider et al., 2013) counterbalances excitation, enabling sensory features to be sharpened and represented by sparse codes (Willmore et al., 2011). This “balance” between excitation and inhibition makes it difficult to assess the strength, or gain, of recurrent excitatory connections within cortical networks, which is key to understanding their operational regime and the computations they perform. Networks of neurons combining an unstable high-gain excitatory population with stabilizing inhibitory feedback are known as inhibition-stabilized networks (ISNs; Tsodyks et al. 1997). Theoretical studies using reduced network models predict that ISNs produce paradoxical responses to perturbation, but experimental perturbations failed to find evidence for ISNs in cortex (Atallah et al., 2012). We re-examined this question by investigating how cortical network models consisting of many neurons behave following perturbations, and found that results obtained from reduced network models fail to predict responses to perturbations in more realistic networks. Our models predict that a large proportion of the inhibitory network must be perturbed in order to robustly detect an ISN regime in cortex. We propose that wide-field optogenetic suppression of inhibition under a promoter targeting all inhibitory neurons may provide a perturbation of sufficient strength to reveal the operating regime of cortex. Our results suggest that detailed computational models of optogenetic perturbations are necessary to interpret the results of experimental paradigms.

Significance statement

Many useful computational mechanisms proposed for cortex require local excitatory recurrence to be very strong, such that local inhibitory feedback is necessary to avoid epileptiform runaway activity (an “inhibition-stabilized network” or “ISN” regime). However, recent experimental results suggest this regime may not exist in cortex. We simulated activity perturbations in cortical networks of increasing realism, and found that in order to detect ISN-like properties in cortex, large proportions of the inhibitory population must be perturbed. Current experimental methods for inhibitory perturbation are unlikely to satisfy this requirement, implying that existing experimental observations are inconclusive about the computational regime of cortex. Our results suggest that new experimental designs, targetting a majority of inhibitory neurons, may be able to resolve this question.
Case fatality as an indicator for the human toxicity of pesticides - a systematic review on the availability and variability of severity indicators of pesticide poisoning
Authors: Moebus Susanne , Boedeker Wolfgang
Published: April 2017

Objective

To investigate if case fatality and other indicators of severity of human pesticide poisonings can be used to prioritize pesticides of public health concern. To study the heterogeneity of data across countries, cause of poisonings, and treatment facilities.

Methods

We searched literature databases as well as the internet for studies on case-fatality and severity scores of pesticide poisoning. Studies published between 1990 and 2014 providing information on active ingredients in pesticides or chemical groups of active ingredients were included. The variability of case-fatality-ratios was analyzed by computing the coefficient of variation as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean.

Findings

We identified 145 studies of which 67 could be included after assessment. Case-fatality-ratio (CFR) on 68 active ingredients and additionally on 13 groups of active ingredients were reported from 20 countries. Mean CFR for group of pesticides is 12 %, for single pesticides 15 %. Of those 12 active ingredients with a CFR above 20 % only two are WHO-classified as “extremely hazardous” or “highly hazardous”, respectively. Two of seven pesticides considered “unlikely to present hazard in normal use” show CFR above 20 %. The variability of reported case fatality was rather low.

Conclusion

Although human pesticide poisoning is a serious public health problem an unexpected small number of publications report on the clinical outcomes. However, CFR of acute human pesticide poisoning are available for several groups of pesticides as well as for active ingredients and show little variability. Therefore the CFR might be utilized to prioritize highly hazardous pesticides especially since there is limited correspondence between the animal-test-based hazard classification and the human CFR of the respective pesticide. Reporting of available poisoning data should be improved, human case-fatality data are a reasonable tool to be included systematically in pesticide registration and regulation.
Individual variation of natural D. melanogaster associated bacterial communities
Authors: Wang Yun , Staubach Fabian
Published: April 2017

D. melanogaster has become an important model organism to study host-microbe interaction. However, we still know little about the natural microbial communities that are associated with D. melanogaster. Especially, information on inter-individual variation is still lacking because most studies so far have used pooled material from several flies. Here, we collected bacterial 16S rRNA gene community profiles from a set of 32 individuals from a single population and compare the variation to that of samples collected from different substrates and locations. While community differences were on average larger between samples collected from different substrates, there was still a surprising amount of variation of microbial communities between individual flies. The samples clustered into two groups suggesting that there are yet unknown factors that affect the composition of natural fly associated microbial communities and need research.

Importance

D. melanogaster is an important model organism in evolutionary biology and also for the study of host-microbe interaction. In order to connect these to aspects of D. melanogaster biology, it is crucial to better understand the natural D. melanogaster microbiota because only the natural microbiota can affect the evolution of the host. We present, to our knowledge, the first data set that captures inter-individual variation of D. melanogaster associated bacterial communities. Clustering of communities into two larger groups suggests that there are important drivers of these communities that we do not understand yet suggesting in return that more research on the natural microbiota of D. melanogaster is needed.
Last and corresponding authorship practices in ecology
Authors: Duffy Meghan A.
Published: April 2017

Authorship is intended to convey information regarding credit and responsibility for manuscripts. However, while there is general agreement within ecology that the first author is the person who contributed the most to a particular project, there is less agreement regarding whether being last author is a position of significance and regarding what is indicated by someone being the corresponding author on a manuscript. Using an analysis of papers published inAmerican Naturalist,Ecology,Evolution,andOikos,I found that: 1) the number of authors on papers is increasing over time; 2) the proportion of first authors as corresponding author has increased over time, as has the proportion of last authors as corresponding author; 3) 84% of papers published in 2016 had the first author as corresponding author; and 4) geographic regions differed in the likelihood of having the first (or last) author as corresponding author. I also carried out an online survey to better understand views on last and corresponding authorship. This survey revealed that most ecologists view the last author as the “senior” author on a paper (that is, the person who runs the research group in which most of the work was carried out), and most ecologists view the corresponding author as the person taking full responsibility for a paper. However, there was substantial variation in views on authorship, especially corresponding authorship. Given these results, I suggest that discussions of authorship have as their starting point that the first author will be corresponding author and the senior author will be last author. I also suggest ways of deciding author order in cases where two senior authors contributed equally.
Transcriptome-wide prediction of lncRNA-RNA interactions by a thermodynamics algorithm
Authors: Antonov Ivan , Marakhonov Andrey , Zamkova Maria , Skoblov Mikhail , Medvedeva Yulia
Published: April 2017

Motivation

The discovery of thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in mammals raises a question about their functionality. It has been shown that some of them function post-transcriptionally via formation of inter-molecular duplexes. Sequence alignment tools are frequently used for transcriptome-wide prediction of RNA-RNA interactions. However, such approaches have poor prediction accuracy since they ignore RNA secondary structure and interaction energy. On the other hand, application of the thermodynamics-based algorithms to long transcripts is not computationally feasible on a large scale.

Results

Here we describe a new computational pipeline ASSA that combines sequence alignment and thermodynamics tools for efficient prediction of RNA-RNA interactions between long transcripts. ASSA outperforms four other tools in terms of the Area Under the Curve. ASSA predictions for the lncRNAHOTAIRconfirm that it binds to the chromatin through hybridization with the nascent transcripts. Analysis of the 49 murine lncRNA knockdown experiments reveals one transcript that may regulate its targets via RNA-RNA interactions.

Availability

ASSA is available athttp://assa.sourceforge.net/.

Contact

ivan.antonov@gatech.edu
MAPseq: improved speed, accuracy and consistency in ribosomal RNA sequence analysis
Authors: Matias Rodrigues João F , Schmidt Thomas SB , Tackmann Janko , von Mering Christian
Published: April 2017

Metagenomic sequencing has become crucial to studying microbial communities, but meaningful taxonomic analysis and inter-comparison of such data are still hampered by technical limitations, between-study design variability and inconsistencies between taxonomies used. Here we present MAPseq, a framework for reference-based rRNA metagenomic analysis that is up to 30% more accurate (F1/2score) and up to one hundred times faster than existing solutions, providing in a single run multiple taxonomy classifications and hierarchical OTU mappings, for both amplicon and shotgun sequencing strategies, and for datasets of virtually any size. Availability: Source code and binaries are freely available athttp://meringlab.org/software/mapseq/
Estimation of immune cell content in tumour tissue using single-cell RNA-seq data
Authors: Schelker Max , Feau Sonia , Du Jinyan , Ranu Nav , Klipp Edda , MacBeath Gavin , Schoeberl Birgit , Raue Andreas
Published: April 2017

As interactions between the immune system and tumour cells are governed by a complex network of cell-cell interactions, knowing the specific immune cell composition of a solid tumour may be essential to predict a patient’s response to immunotherapy. Here, we analyse in depth how to derive the cellular composition of a solid tumour from bulk gene expression data by mathematical deconvolution, using indication- and cell type-specific reference gene expression profiles (RGEPs) from tumour-derived single-cell RNA sequencing data. We demonstrate that tumour-derived RGEPs are essential for the successful deconvolution and that RGEPs from peripheral blood are insufficient. We distinguish nine major cell types as well as three T cell subtypes. As the ratios of CD4+, CD8+ and regulatory T cells have been shown to predict overall survival, we extended our analysis to include the estimation of prognostic ratios that may enable the application in a clinical setting. Using the tumour derived RGEPs, we can estimate, for the first time, the content of cancer associated fibroblasts, endothelial cells and the malignant cells in a patient sample by a deconvolution approach. In addition, improved tumour cell gene expression profiles can be obtained by this method by computationally removing contamination from non-malignant cells. Given the difficulty around sample preparation and storage to obtain high quality single-cell RNA-seq data in the clinical context, the presented method represents a computational solution to derive the cellular composition of a tissue sample.
Bacterial community composition and dynamics spanning five years in freshwater bog lakes
Authors: Linz Alexandra M. , Crary Benjamin C. , Shade Ashley , Owens Sarah , Gilbert Jack A. , Knight Rob , McMahon Katherine D.
Published: April 2017

Bacteria play a key role in freshwater biogeochemical cycling, but long-term trends in freshwater bacterial community composition and dynamics are not yet well characterized. We used a multi-year time series of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data from eight bog lakes to census the freshwater bacterial community and observe annual and seasonal trends in abundance. Multiple sites and sampling events were necessary to begin to fully describe the bacterial communities. Each lake and layer contained a distinct bacterial community, with distinct levels of richness and indicator taxa that likely reflected the environmental conditions of each site. The community present in each year and site was also unique. Despite high interannual variability in community composition, we detected a core community of ubiquitous freshwater taxa. Although trends in abundance did not repeat annually, each freshwater lineage within the communities had a consistent lifestyle, defined by persistence, abundance, and variability. The results of our analysis emphasize the importance of long-term observations, as analyzing only a single year of data would not have allowed us to describe the dynamics and composition of these freshwater bacterial communities to the extent presented here.

Importance

Lakes are excellent systems for investigating bacterial community dynamics because they have clear boundaries and strong environmental gradients. The results of our research demonstrate that bacterial community dynamics operate on multi-year timescales, a finding which likely applies to other ecosystems, with implications for study design and interpretation. Understanding the drivers and controls of bacterial communities on long time scales would improve both our knowledge of fundamental properties of bacterial communities, and our ability to predict community states. In this specific ecosystem, bog lakes play a disproportionately large role in global carbon cycling, and the information presented here may ultimately help refine carbon budgets for these lakes. Finally, all data and code in this study are publicly available. We hope that this will serve as a resource to anyone seeking to answer their own microbial ecology questions using a multi-year time series.
Threefold rotational symmetry in hexagonally shaped core–shell (In,Ga)As/GaAs nanowires revealed by coherent X-ray diffraction imaging
Authors: Davtyan Arman , Krause Thilo , Kriegner Dominik , Al-Hassan Ali , Bahrami Danial , Mostafavi Kashani Seyed Mohammad , Lewis Ryan B. , Küpers Hanno , Tahraoui Abbes , Geelhaar Lutz , Hanke Michael , Leake Steven John , Loffeld Otmar , Pietsch Ullrich
Published: April 2017

Coherent X-ray diffraction imaging at symmetric hhh Bragg reflections was used to resolve the structure of GaAs/In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs core–shell–shell nanowires grown on a silicon (111) substrate. Diffraction amplitudes in the vicinity of GaAs 111 and GaAs 333 reflections were used to reconstruct the lost phase information. It is demonstrated that the structure of the core–shell–shell nanowire can be identified by means of phase contrast. Interestingly, it is found that both scattered intensity in the (111) plane and the reconstructed scattering phase show an additional threefold symmetry superimposed with the shape function of the investigated hexagonal nanowires. In order to find the origin of this threefold symmetry, elasticity calculations were performed using the finite element method and subsequent kinematic diffraction simulations. These suggest that a non-hexagonal (In,Ga)As shell covering the hexagonal GaAs core might be responsible for the observation.
Innovations in genetically modified agricultural technologies in China’s public sector
Authors: Cai Jinyang , Hu Ruifa , Huang Jikun , Wang Xiaobing
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether China’s public sector can continue to generate advanced genetically modified (GM) technologies that will be competitive in the market.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigated all the research teams that have been conducting research projects under the variety development special program. The data collected include detail information on research capacity, research areas, performance, and process of their research projects. Based on the survey data, the authors assessed the innovations and progress of the variety development special program.

Findings

Unlike other countries, most GM products in China are developed by public research institutes. There is rising concern on the ability of China’s public sector to continuously generate indigenous GM technology that can compete with multinational companies. The study surveyed 197 research institutes and 487 research teams and found that the GM program in China lacks coordination: researchers do not want to share their research materials with others. Due to the lack of coordination, most of the hundreds of research teams often worked independently in the year 2008-2010. Moreover, the authors found the lack of coordination may be due to the reason that the interests of researchers are not well protected. This paper also provided the recent progress and policy changes of GM program in China, and it found that the efficiency in the later three years improved a lot. In order to establish a competitive national public GM research system, China should continuously consolidate and integrate the upstream, midstream, and downstream activities of the whole GM innovation process. China’s public sector may also need to work more closely with both the domestic and international private sectors.

Originality/value

This paper is a comprehensive analysis on the development of transgenic technology in China. The results of this paper can provide evidence for the dynamic adjustment of the policies in the variety development special program and can also provide reference for the future assessment of the variety development special program.
Architects’ perception of the innovativeness of the Swedish construction industry
Authors: Hemström Kerstin , Mahapatra Krushna , Gustavsson Leif
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to enhance the understanding of architects’ perceptions of the propensity to adopt innovations in building construction.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a theoretical underpinning of the multilevel perspective on socio-technical transitions, a web-based questionnaire (n = 412) was used to empirically investigate Swedish architects’ perceptions of innovativeness in the building construction industry. Specifically, the study looks at perceptions of the level of innovativeness (propensity to adopt innovations), relevant barriers to the adoption of innovations, the influence of different actors and ways of facilitating innovativeness.

Findings

Architects perceive a low level of innovativeness in the Swedish building construction industry because of a number of barriers of varying relevance. These barriers belong to interwoven regulative, normative and cognitive rules (i.e. institutions) that guide actor behaviour, which contribute to the path dependency of the industry. The site-specific nature of building construction, promotional activities from suppliers and the level of competition in the industry is perceived as being of little relevance. The findings suggest that a number of interventions are necessary to facilitate innovativeness of the Swedish construction industry. To change the lock-in mechanisms of the established cognitive and normative rules, regulative rules need to change as well. According to architects, contractors and construction clients are the most influential and therefore have the most power to change the rules associated with path dependency.

Research limitations/implications

The focus on a single construction professional in Sweden necessitates a discussion on these perceptions from the standpoint of other actors.

Practical implications

Architects perceive a need for change in the construction industry and suggest that changed regulative rules can help overcome path dependency and facilitate innovativeness. Considering the strong interrelatedness of the lock-in mechanisms that guide the actors of the industry, policies may be needed to encourage and support the establishment for more sustainable development.

Originality/value

A multilevel perspective is used to analyse the type of barriers to innovativeness that the architects perceive as relevant and how they contribute to the resistance to change and path dependency in the building construction sector.
Time-varying dependence measures: a comparative analysis through wavelet approach
Authors: Trimech Anyssa
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the pattern of dependence between crude oil price and energy consumption of the most important economic sectors in the USA, over different time periods, using monthly data set from January 1986 to July 2014 and a comparative study between linear correlation versus copula correlation as a measure of dependence over the single scale and the multiscale analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed method is based on the multiresolution analysis which gives more extensive and detailed description of the dependence price-consumption pattern over different periods of time.

Findings

The empirical results show that the dependence between variables is strongly sensitive to the time varying and generally increasing with time scale. In particular, the Pearson coefficients are less than the dependence copula measures. The single-scale analysis covers many time-varying dependences which are made clear, flexible and comprehensive by the description given by the multiscale approach. It explains better the structure of relationships between variables and helps understand the variations and improve forecasts of the crude oil price and energy consumption over different time scales.

Originality/value

The proposed methodology offers the opportunity to construct dynamic management strategies by taking into account the multiscale nature of crude oil price and consumption relationship. Moreover, the paper uses wavelets as a relatively new and powerful tool for statistical analysis in addition to the copula technique that allows a new understanding of variable correlation. The paper will be of interest not only for academics in the field of data dependencies analysis but also for fund managers and market investors.
Design of electricity tariff plans using gap statistic for K-means clustering based on consumers monthly electricity consumption data
Authors: Rathod Ravindra R. , Garg Rahul Dev
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Electricity consumption around the world and in India is continuously increasing over the years. Presently, there is a huge diversity in electricity tariffs across states in India. This paper aims to focus on development of new tariff design method using K-means clustering and gap statistic.

Design/methodology/approach

Numbers of tariff plans are selected using gap-statistic for K-means clustering and regression analysis is used to deduce new tariffs from existing tariffs. The study has been carried on nearly 27,000 residential consumers from Sangli city, Maharashtra State, India.

Findings

These tariff plans are proposed with two objectives: first, possibility to shift consumer’s from existing to lower tariff plan for saving electricity and, second, to increase revenue by increasing tariff charges using Pay-by-Use policy.

Research limitations/implications

The study can be performed on hourly or daily data using automatic meter reading and to introduce Time of Use or demand based tariff.

Practical implications

The proposed study focuses on use of data mining techniques for tariff planning based on consumer’s electricity usage pattern. It will be helpful to detect abnormalities in consumption pattern as well as forecasting electricity usage.

Social implications

Consumers will be able to decide own monthly electricity consumption and related tariff leading to electricity savings, as well as high electricity consumption consumers have to pay more tariff charges for extra electricity usage.

Originality/value

To remove the disparity in various tariff plans across states and country, proposed method will help to provide a platform for designing uniform tariff for entire country based on consumer’s electricity consumption data.
A phase model for solution relationship development: a case study in the aerospace industry
Authors: Ferreira Fabiana Nogueira Holanda , Cova Bernard , Spencer Robert , Proença João F.
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The evolution of the business-to-business (BtoB) realm toward solution business calls for a better understanding of how relationships develop over time in such a renewed context. This paper aims to propose a phase model for solution relationship development, considering triadic relationships in complex engineering solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

To depict how relationships develop in solution business, the authors adopt a qualitative approach which allows to detail the episodes of interactions between the actors. A case study approach in an extreme sector – the aerospace industry – allows highlighting certain key traits. Extending conventional dyadic analysis, this empirical study focuses on the aerospace industry, using a case study approach to analyze relationship developments between a worldwide leading aircraft manufacturer, one of its customer and four providers of products and services. The authors adopt a triadic perspective in the selection of cases, considering a total of four manufacturer-provider-customer triads.

Findings

Four dynamic phases which track solution provision dynamics and involving dyadic and triadic relationship evolution are identified: matching; combining; mixing; and sharing. Each phase calls, from a management perspective, for specific competencies and resources of the actors in interaction.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the gap about solution relationship development in a changing BtoB landscape. Considering the lens of a triadic approach, the paper also helps to fill the as-yet unattended to gap between dyads and triads in the literature.
Individualism, collectivism, and consumer animosity in emerging Asia: evidence from Korea
Authors: Han C. Min
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how the consumer values of individualism and collectivism (IC) affect consumer animosity toward foreign brands in emerging Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys were conducted with Korean consumers on their animosity toward Japanese brands.

Findings

The study found that the IC value can precede consumer animosity and also moderate the effects of consumer animosity on purchase intentions. When horizontal and vertical dimensions of IC were examined, collectivism and vertical individualism were found to have strong effects on consumer animosity. In addition, both horizontal and vertical individualism negatively moderated the consumer animosity effects.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that future consumers in Asia and perhaps other emerging countries as well may be less affected by consumer animosity in brand choice as they become more Westernized and individualistic.

Originality/value

This study may enhance the understanding on changing consumer animosity and behavior in emerging countries in general.
Adverse childhood experiences, paraphilias, and serious criminal violence among federal sex offenders
Authors: Drury Alan , Heinrichs Tim , Elbert Michael , Tahja Katherine , DeLisi Matt , Caropreso Daniel
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a broad conceptual framework in the social sciences that have only recently been studied within criminology. The purpose of this paper is to utilize this framework by applying it to one of the most potentially dangerous forensic populations.

Design/methodology/approach

Archival data from 225 federal sex offenders was used to perform descriptive, correlational, and negative binomial regression models.

Findings

There was substantial evidence of ACEs including father abandonment/neglect (36 percent), physical abuse (nearly 28 percent), verbal/emotional abuse (more than 24 percent), and sexual abuse (approximately 27 percent). The mean age of sexual victimization was 7.6 years with the youngest age of victimization occurring at the age of 3. Offenders averaged nearly five paraphilias, the most common were pedophilia (57 percent), pornography addiction (43 percent), paraphilia not otherwise specified (35 percent), exhibitionism (26 percent), and voyeurism (21 percent). The offenders averaged 4.7 paraphilias and the range was substantial (0 to 19). Negative binomial regression models indicated that sexual sadism was positively and pornography addiction was negatively associated with serious criminal violence. Offenders with early age of arrest onset and more total arrest charges were more likely to perpetrate kidnaping, rape, and murder.

Originality/value

ACEs are common in the life history of federal sex offenders, but have differential associations with the most serious forms of crime.
Risk culture and banking supervision
Authors: Carretta Alessandro , Farina Vincenzo , Schwizer Paola
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to analyzing the main risk culture traits of a sample of Central Banks and Supervisory Authorities in Europe as well as of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Design/methodology/approach

Risk culture is measured through text data processing of the official discourses made by the head Supervisory Authorities, during the years from 1999 to 2012.

Findings

Results highlight heterogeneous but converging risk cultures for European Union (EU) supervisors and the presence of a “distance” between these cultures and the risk culture of the ECB.

Originality/value

The paper points out that cultural differences, especially in presence of credit markets still characterized by poor integration, could create unwanted distortion effects during the initial stages of the Banking Union.
Regulatory issues in blockchain technology
Authors: Yeoh Peter
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the key regulatory challenges impacting blockchains, innovative distributed technologies, in the European Union (EU) and the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative perspective underpins the study. This paper relies on primary data from applicable statutes and secondary data from the public domain including relevant case study insights.

Findings

The smart regulatory hands-off approach adopted in the EU and the USA to a large extent bodes well for future innovative contributions of blockchains in the financial services and related sectors and toward enhanced financial inclusiveness.

Practical implications

The paper’s findings provide support for blockchain technology to advance with minimum regulatory brakes for greater value-adding and efficiency advancement, especially for financial services, thereby expanding accessibility and therefore financial inclusiveness.

Originality/value

This paper helps to draw greater attention to the technology underpinning virtual currencies. It also highlights other economic potentials flowing from blockchain advancement.
Matching organizational climate and control mechanisms for fast strategic change in transitional economics
Authors: Shen Hao , Gao Yu , Yang Xiuyun
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizational climate impacts the speed of strategic change (SSC) for firms in transitional economies and whether if the effects were contingent on internal control mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model including five constructs is developed. The questionnaire survey is deployed to scale main constructs, including organizational climate, such as open communication and hierarchical bureaucracy, internal controls such as strategic and financial control, and SSC. The moderation regression method in five steps is employed to test all hypotheses using the survey data from the 120 sampled Chinese firms.

Findings

The findings show that open communication has a positive effect on SCC, whereas hierarchical bureaucracy has a negative effect on SSC. Furthermore, strategic control positively moderates the relationship between open communication and SSC but negatively moderates the relationship between hierarchical bureaucracy and SSC; meanwhile, financial control negatively moderates the relationship between open communication and SSC but positively moderates the relationship between hierarchical bureaucracy and SSC.

Originality/value

This research integrates organizational climate and internal control mechanisms into the framework of strategic change to investigate how firms achieve fast strategic change through aligning organizational climate with proper organizational control mechanisms. The findings advance the authors’ understanding of the organizational climate, internal controls, and strategic change literature, and offer valuable managerial insights for managers in situations when strategic change is of central importance in the transitional economies.