bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dialogic collaging to cultivate shame resilience in writing classrooms
Authors: Juzwik Mary , Antonucci Sal
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Recently, practitioner literature in English education has taken up the issue of writing-related shame in classrooms, calling for teachers to help students develop resilience. One possible approach for nurturing shame resilience around writing is dialogic collaging: students make and dialogically engage with collages and with colleagues to explore the self-as-writer and to connect with others around writing struggles and joys. The purpose of this paper is to share and critically reflect on this pedagogical approach.

Design/methodology/approach

To share, interpret and consider the limitations and implications of the dialogic collaging pedagogy in service of writing-related shame resilience, the authors offer a multi-voiced narrative about one classroom instantiation of college, from the perspective of a university writing teacher and a student of writing.

Findings

On the interpretation, this story unfolds three central themes as follows: dialogic collaging can help students to develop a more realistic and situated sense of self-as-writer. That is, students can come to appreciate how “becoming a writer” is a process they – and others around them – are already in, rather than an unreachable achievement at which they will inevitably fail. The stance of playfulness nurtured through the dialogic collage process can provide a helpful distance between self and writing. These processes may – under certain conditions – support shame resilience.

Research limitations/implications

The conclusion reflects on whether more explicit attention to shame could be fruitful and on the dynamics of teacher vulnerability in writing classrooms.

Practical implications

The authors hope to inspire writing teachers – particularly in secondary, post-secondary and adult education – to engage with dialogic collaging as part of their pedagogical repertoires.

Originality/value

Dialogic collaging is a pedagogical approach not previously discussed in the literature on secondary and post-secondary writing instruction, offering one promising way to address writing-related shame. It can make visible and build solidarity around how others are also in the midst of a process of becoming – as writers and/or with writing. This appreciation can help nurture a more realistic, playful and shame-resilient stance toward self-as-writer.
Knowledge and organizational performance in franchised restaurants in Colombia
Authors: Bernal César-Augusto , Amaya Norbey , Gaviria-Peñaranda Alicia , Zwerg-Villegas Anne Marie
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The aim of this study is to analyze the importance of knowledge in reaching organizational objectives (long-term organizational goals) and in constructing competitive advantage (value-added) and identifying the impact of this knowledge on organizational performance of franchised restaurants in an emerging market.

Design/methodology/approach

Likert-scale surveys were applied to 50 managers representing 80% of the franchised restaurant business in Bogotá, Colombia. Data processing was performed through descriptive statistics, multiple correspondences analysis (MCA) and logit regression (LR).

Findings

Results indicate that 1) of the set of factors that contribute to the achievement of franchise objectives, personnel motivation and continuous environmental scanning are the most important; 2) the primary sources of knowledge for construction of competitive advantage are clients and providers; and 3) the most significant impact of knowledge occurs in human resource and organizational development and in increased earnings.

Practical implications

The study provides evidence of the role and the impact of knowledge in the performance of franchised restaurants and thereby contributes to academic analysis and managerial decision-making.

Originality

This study provides aggregated and disaggregated analysis of empirical data on the role of knowledge in franchised restaurants, a sector with limited extant research in the context of emerging markets.
Robust malmquist productivity measurement: evidence from Spanish hotel industry during the Great Recession
Authors: Tzeremes Nickolaos G.
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a robust version of the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) in order to evaluate hotels' productivity levels during the Great Recession.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the order-m frontiers, we apply a robust version of an MPI. We decompose the productivity into three robust components. We use a sample of hotels operating in the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, and we decompose and evaluate their productivity levels during the period 2004–2013. Moreover, we evaluate hotels' productivity performance during the pre-crisis period, the US subprime crisis period, the global financial crisis (GFC), the sovereign debt crisis period and the after-crisis period.

Findings

Our findings show that productivity did not deteriorate due to the adverse effects of economic crisis. This is mainly driven by increased technical change and the ability to operate at optimal scales. The long-term investment in innovation policies which are related to services and processes, appear to be the dominating feature behind hotels' productivity levels, which helped the hotel industry to recover quickly from the Great Recession.

Originality/value

The vast majority of empirical studies evaluating the productivity change in the hotel industry apply MPIs which are based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). However, the productivity measurement which is based on the nonparametric framework is sensitive to sample characteristics. In order to avoid such shortcomings, we apply a robust version of the MPI.
Improved fatigue damage accumulation analysis based on material memory property
Authors: Xu Xu , Xue Qiwen , Ku Zhaoyu , Li Hanlun , Hu Jinxiu
Published: April 2020

Purpose

For the difference of the change law of material memory performance and the influence of damage state on memory performance, this paper aims to establish a general model of fatigue damage accumulation based on dynamic residual S–N curve and material memory characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces the material memory characteristics, combined with the residual S–N curve method, and uses the exponential decay function of the load cycle to construct the material memory performance function. While considering the damage state, the loading order can be fully considered. The parameter d in the function not only represents the variation of the material's memory property, but also considers the influence of the damage state.

Findings

According to the test data of welding joints of common materials, alloy materials and other materials, the validity and feasibility of the fatigue cumulative damage model constructed were verified. The numerical results show that under the grading load, the fatigue cumulative damage model can be used to predict the fatigue life of welded structures and has high prediction accuracy and more approximate to the actual experiment results. It can be directly applied to the fatigue life prediction and design of actual engineering welded structures.

Originality/value

The model not only considers the effect of damage state and loading order on damage accumulation, but also contains only one material parameter, which is easy to obtain. The prediction accuracy and engineering practicability of fatigue were significantly improved.
The interplay of roles and routines: situating, performances and patterning in the emergency department
Authors: Rosales Virginia
Published: April 2020

Purpose

While previous research acknowledges the influence of roles on routine dynamics, roles are largely taken for granted. The purpose of this paper aims at examining how roles and routines interplay in accomplishing work in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A four-year ethnography of an emergency department (ED) at a university hospital was conducted through observations, interviews and documents.

Findings

Roles and routines are formed by scripted and unscripted patterns, which are brought into performances following a situational assessment. Performances trigger patterning processes prompting the co-construction of role and routine patterns.

Practical implications

This study highlights the importance of designing flexible structures. Managers can benefit from identifying unscripted patterns critical to work performance and making them part of scripted patterns. Managers should contemplate the influence that individuals, their relations and context have on how work is done.

Social implications

This study suggests that the existence of different patterns impacts the length of wait times in EDs, a societal issue worldwide because of the effects that waiting can have on the patient's health condition and the unnecessary costs it carries. This study can help design solutions to decrease wait times.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to research on routine dynamics by providing a more nuanced explanation of the sources of endogenous change and how these enable organizational stability and flexibility.
Do companies disclose intellectual capital in their annual reports? New evidence from explorative content analysis
Authors: Parshakov Petr , Shakina Elena
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This study suggests an alternative to confirmatory content analysis (CA) and empirically demonstrates that explorative CA enables new insights into the mechanism of intellectual capital (IC) disclosure. In so doing, this research contributes to both methodological and empirical advancements in IC disclosure research.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing the assumptions of positive accounting theory and taking book value of intangible assets as a reference, our research design utilizes well-established text-mining (TM) tools based on a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression. We assume that the degree of cohesion between officially disclosed and evaluated intangible assets on balance sheets and those contextually delivered in narrative form may affect how IC is ultimately disclosed in annual reports.

Findings

Our main finding is in line with the results and criticism of previous studies. We show that companies do not extensively disclose IC in their annual reports. However, some narrative forms for IC disclosure are identified and confirmed by several robustness checks.

Research limitations/implications

First, the findings provide internal validity only for large US enterprises. These firms have similar, well-structured reporting requirements. This analysis might be enriched by an examination and a comparison of different institutional contexts, such as emerging countries. Second, following previous studies, annual reports serve as the source of data. Consequently, the findings are relevant only for mandatory and voluntary disclosure of IC, mitigating the relevance of this study for contexts of involuntary disclosure.

Originality/value

This study makes two contributions. First, we add to the empirical literature by offering one more piece of evidence on whether and, if so, the extent to which companies disclose IC in their annual reports. Second, we provide further examination of confirmatory CA by proposing a number of statistically validated codes and tokens that are indicators of IC communication by companies.
Human Capital 4.0: a workforce competence typology for Industry 4.0
Authors: Flores Emmanuel , Xu Xun , Lu Yuqian
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to raise and address an important change for the human capital in the future of Industry 4.0, and to propose a human-focused perspective for companies underneath the new Industrial Revolution.

Design/methodology/approach

The research study follows a state-of-the-art literature review process. The nature of the selected approach enables to cover the extensive aim of the paper with sufficient scientific solidity that should support the understanding of every topic.

Findings

This work has presented three relevant aspects for Industry 4.0 and its human labour force: a workforce architecture with new interactions, a term to embrace the human capital of the future and a typology for referencing the required competences for Industry 4.0.

Research limitations/implications

The paper sheds light on an important aspect for the emerging Industrial Revolution, the human force. The result and conclusion sections suggest future implications for academia and the private sector, due to changes at the conceptual and practical levels of human operation in the industry – for example, new structural interactions among employees, additional qualities to human capital and different ways to identify the competences for the workforce.

Originality/value

This is an interdisciplinary study that tries to bring together a modern industrial term, a social focus and a company scenario. From this, it was possible to obtain a new social term, a novel typology of competences and a new company-scenario interaction.
Improving perceptions of STEM careers through informal learning environments
Authors: Vela Katherine N. , Pedersen Rachelle M. , Baucum Macie N.
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper investigated the impact a camp on informal science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) had on students' perceptions of STEM fields and careers.

Design/methodology/approach

A quasiexperimental design was used to assess students' perceptions toward STEM fields and careers. Secondary students (n = 57) who participated in the STEM summer camp completed STEM projects, went on lab tours and attended panels during the one- or two-week residential camps. Students completed a STEM Semantics survey to assess their perceptions prior to and after attending the camp. Descriptive statistics, Cohen'sdeffect sizes, paired samplet-tests and Pearson's correlation were conducted to analyze the data.

Findings

Results suggested that although there was no significant change in students' dispositions toward each individual STEM field, there was a statistically significant improvement of students' perceptions of STEM careers (p = 0.04;d = 0.25). Furthermore, the results of the Pearson's correlation indicated that there was a statistically significant positive association between perceptions of a STEM career and perceptions in science, mathematics and engineering.

Research limitations/implications

This suggests that various components of the informal learning environment positively contributed to students' perceptions toward STEM careers. Implications from the study indicate that when students are engaged in hands-on science or STEM PBL activities and have opportunities to be exposed to various STEM careers, their perceptions of STEM pathways will improve.

Originality/value

These results may influence future curriculum and the organization of future STEM camps by encouraging teachers and camp directors to integrate practical hands-on STEM projects and expose students to potential STEM pathways through lab tours and panels of STEM professionals.
Artificial intelligence: disrupting what we know about services
Authors: Bock Dora E. , Wolter Jeremy S. , Ferrell O.C.
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently having a dramatic impact on marketing. Future manifestations of AI are expected to bring even greater change, possibly ushering in the realization of the fourth industrial revolution. In accord with such expectations, this paper aims to examine AI’s current and potential impact on prominent service theories as related to the service encounter.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews dominant service theories and their relevance to AI within the service encounter.

Findings

In doing so, this paper presents an integrated definition of service AI and identifies the theoretical upheaval it creates, triggering a plethora of key research opportunities.

Originality/value

Although scholars and practitioners are gaining a deeper understanding of AI and its role in services, this paper highlights that much is left to be explored. Therefore, service AI may require substantial modifications to existing theories or entirely new theories.
Organizational injustice and knowledge hiding: the roles of organizational dis-identification and benevolence
Authors: Jahanzeb Sadia , De Clercq Dirk , Fatima Tasneem
Published: April 2020

Purpose

With a basis in social identity and equity theories, this study investigates the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational injustice and their knowledge hiding, along with the mediating role of organizational dis-identification and the potential moderating role of benevolence.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested with three-wave survey data collected from employees in Pakistani organizations.

Findings

The experience of organizational injustice enhances knowledge hiding because employees psychologically disconnect from their organization. This mediation by organizational dis-identification is buffered by benevolence or tolerance for inequity, which reduces employees' likelihood of reacting negatively to the unfavourable experience of injustice.

Practical implications

For practitioners, this study identifies organizational dis-identification as a key mechanism through which employees' perceptions of organizational injustice spur their propensity to conceal knowledge, and it reveals how this process might be mitigated by a sense of obligation to contribute or “give” to organizational well-being.

Originality/value

This study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between employees' perceptions of organizational injustice and their knowledge hiding, with particular attention devoted to hitherto unspecified factors that explain or influence this process.
Intelligent decision-making model based on minority game for resource allocation in cloud manufacturing
Authors: Carlucci Daniela , Renna Paolo , Materi Sergio , Schiuma Giovanni
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper proposes a model based on minority game (MG) theory to support the decision-making regarding the efficient allocation and exploitation of resources/services among the partners of a cloud manufacturing (CMfg) system. CMfg system is a new manufacturing paradigm to share manufacturing capabilities and resources on a cloud platform. The use of a decision model to organize and manage the resources and services provided by the autonomous participants of a CMfg has crucial relevance for the system's effectiveness and efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

This research proposes a noncooperation model based on MG theory. The MG is designed to make decisions on the use of resources/services among the partners of CMfg with private information. A simulation environment was developed to test the efficiency of the proposed decision model. Moreover, an ideal decision model with complete information among the partners was used as a benchmark model.

Findings

The simulation results show how the application of the proposed MG model outperforms the MG model usually proposed in the literature. In particular, the proposed decision model based on private information has an efficiency closer to the ideal model with complete information among the partners of a CMfg.

Originality/value

This paper advances knowledge about the application of MG in the field of CMfg system. The proposed decision-making model based on MG is a promising approach to help enterprises, and especially small and medium enterprises, to participate in CMfg initiatives and to develop their business.
Corporate brand alignment in business markets: a practice perspective
Authors: Pranjal Piyush , Sarkar Soumya
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study practices associated with corporate brand alignment enacted by marketing managers in an emerging business to business market.

Design/methodology/approach

The “Marketing-as-practice” perspective is used to examine brand alignment-related practices. A five months fieldwork was undertaken wherein primary data were collected using in-depth interviews of 30 managers representing steel, mining, energy, engineering consulting and Information Technology/Information Technology-Enabled Services' sectors along with observational data from event sites and industry meets. Secondary data stemmed from marketing plans and events' rosters. Data were analysed adopting the practice turn.

Findings

The constitution of three practices concerning brand alignment is unearthed: (1) practice of identifying key stakeholders, (2) practice of narrativization of brand promises and (3) practice of engaging key stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlights the dynamic nature of corporate brand alignment requiring a continuous gap analysis to verify coherency between internal and external brand elements. It also highlights the elicited relation between alignment, authenticity and advocacy. Suggestions for further research are provided.

Practical implications

This study elucidates managers' role as intrapreneurs in the process of alignment and provides a possible solution to the new marketing myopia which impairs stakeholder management.

Originality/value

This research identifies that brand alignment is not an abstract concept but a set of practices that help convert the symbolic capital held in brands into cultural and social capital.
Career capital development of women in the Arab Middle East context: addressing the pipeline block
Authors: Jayashree Payyazhi , Lindsay Valerie , McCarthy Grace
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Taking a career capital approach, this paper addresses the issue of “pipeline block” frequently experienced by women seeking career advancement. Focusing on the Arab Middle East (AME) region, the authors take a contextually relevant multi-level approach to examine these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a qualitative, interview-based approach, drawing on data obtained from women leaders from the AME region. Drawing on Bourdieu's capital-field-habitus framework, we explore how women in the AME developed career capital in particular organisational fields.

Findings

The findings show the importance of human and social capital, as well as the influence of habitus for women's career advancement in specific fields. The study also highlights the unique contribution of cultural capital in helping women to navigate organisational fields where it is necessary to both challenge, and conform to, traditional norms.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of the study include assumptions of homogeneity across countries of the AME, whereas differences are known to exist. Future research should consider these contextual differences, and also include a study of women who were not successful in gaining career advancement.

Practical implications

The study’s multi-level approach highlights practical implications for women, organisations and society. For organisations, the authors propose some context-relevant coaching strategies that can help women to attain leadership positions.

Social implications

The study’s multi-level approach highlights practical implications for women, organisations,and society. Focusing on organisations, the authors propose some context-relevant coaching strategies that can help women to attain advancement in their careers.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates originality in the findings by showing how women overcome the pipeline block in relation to their career advancement. The use of the Bourdieusian framework, an in-depth qualitative approach, and the AME context also add to the study's originality.
The role of risk management in buyer-supplier relationships with a preferred customer status for total quality management
Authors: Pellegrino Roberta , Costantino Nicola , Tauro Danilo
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper provides a comprehensive risk management framework for buyer-supplier relationships where the buyer has the status of a preferred customer with the supplier.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical evidence is offered with a case study on a large multinational organization in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, with some real-life perspectives on the main risks, mitigation strategies, and issues faced when applying the risk management framework.

Findings

The results show that several risks may affect buyer-supplier relationships: not only traditional supply risks but also risks linked to specific initiatives and/or relationships, as well as risks specific to buyer-supplier relationships with a preferred customer status. Customer attractiveness and supplier satisfaction are found as core drivers for the mitigation strategies, which are built to protect the relationship with the supplier, rather than the buying firm alone, knowing that being a preferred customer with preferential resources allocation may increase a firm’s competitive advantage.

Originality/value

The research brings important contributions to the academic literature and interesting insights to strategic purchasing practitioners, by enhancing the existing knowledge on supply risk management in buyer-supplier relationships with a preferred customer status, as well as providing strategic purchasing practitioners a comprehensive view of the risks, which may affect the relationships with a preferred customer status, as well as possible ways to mitigate them.
On the contingent value of knowledge base for radical innovation capability
Authors: Yang Yinjuan
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how to build firm’s radical innovation capability from its own knowledge resources. It proposes the impact of knowledge base on radical innovation and outlines why and how appropriability regimes are important throughout the radical innovation capability development process.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to empirically test the relationship between knowledge base, appropriability regimes and radical innovation capability. To correct for potential endogeneity, a two-stage regression model was used to test the interaction effects

Findings

By examining 237 firms involved in R&D activities in high-tech manufacturing firms in China, this paper finds that when a firm have a deep knowledge base, strategic appropriability regime may reduce concerns about problems such as knowledge leakage and innovation appropriation associated with deep knowledge bases. In contrast, legal appropriability regime will also tend to strengthen the positive effect of knowledge breadth on radical innovation capability.

Research limitations/implications

In this study, self-reported measures are used because of their potential for concept specific accuracy; future research might wish to replicate our model and test it with objective data.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the fit between the existing internal knowledge base and the way a firm appropriates from its knowledge, and provides entrepreneurs and managers with direct implications about how to manage knowledge resources for radical innovation capability development.

Originality/value

This paper provides a more nuanced understanding of how knowledge base and value appropriability mechanisms jointly affect radical innovation capability development.
Is it time to include legumes in plant silicon research?
Authors: Putra Rocky , Powell Jeff R. , Hartley Susan E. , Johnson Scott N.
Published: April 2020

To date, the functional role of plant silicon has mostly been investigated in grasses (Poaceae). This potentially overlooks the importance of silicon in other plant functional groups such as legumes (Fabaceae). Legumes form a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen‐fixing bacteria (rhizobia) inside the root nodules for fixing atmospheric nitrogen. A small, but growing number of studies suggest that silicon promotes this symbiotic relationship.

We consider how legumes may take up and deposit silicon relative to what is known about these processes in grasses. We synthesize information about how silicon affects legume growth and function in the context of environmental stresses and the legume–rhizobia symbiosis.

The available literature indicates that silicon is broadly beneficial to legumes, alleviating the effects of stresses including metal toxicity, salinity, alkalinity and pathogens. Crucially, there is also evidence that silicon promotes the legume–rhizobia interaction including increased root nodulation, numbers of bacteroids and nitrogen fixation across several legume species.

We propose a model for how silicon may benefit the legume–rhizobia interaction. We hypothesize that silicification in the tissues may reduce the high metabolic cost of carbon‐based compounds in cell wall construction, optimize solute transport and gas exchange in root nodules and/or promote protection against environmental stresses. We therefore propose a hypothetical framework to better understanding the impacts of silicon on legume–rhizobia relationships.

We also suggest potential research priorities that would help us to better understand the functional role of silicon in nitrogen‐fixing legumes. These research priorities focus on characterizing how silicon affects the chemical dialogues between the host plant and its rhizobial partner, how silicon is deposited in legume roots and how resources are exchanged by the two. Given the growing importance of legumes at a global scale, silicon could play a vital role in improving legume health and productivity with manifold environmental benefits.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Plant diversity enhances the reclamation of degraded lands by stimulating plant–soil feedbacks
Authors: Jia Pu , Liang Jie‐liang , Yang Sheng‐xiang , Zhang Sheng‐chang , Liu Jun , Liang Zhi‐wei , Li Feng‐mei , Zeng Qing‐wei , Fang Zhou , Liao Bin , Shu Wen‐sheng , Cadotte Marc W. , Li Jin‐tian
Published: April 2020

Despite a rich history of theoretical and empirical work showing that increasing biodiversity results in higher ecosystem function, this research has not made a commensurate impact on the reclamation of degraded lands, where enhancing ecosystem function is of primary importance.

In this study, we manipulated plant diversity on heavily degraded mine lands and showed that increasing plant diversity greatly enhanced the reclamation of these lands. We found that high‐diversity assemblages were often associated with more biomass, higher stability and less toxic foliage than low diversity treatments, although the monocultures of Miscanthus sinensis (the most productive species) performed equally well as some of the polycultures.

Our results showed that species composition and richness explained most of the total variation in biomass yield of the experimental plots, indicating that both the selection and complementarity effects influenced the positive diversity effects observed in this study.

Miscanthus sinensis and legumes (as a functional group) were found to be the main contributors to the selection effect. The plots with M. sinensis tended to harbour fewer soil fungal pathogens than those without it and a similar pattern was observed for the legumes, indicating a poorly known plant–soil fungal pathogen feedback for these plants. This kind of feedback appeared to play an important role also in shaping the positive plant species richness–ecosystem function relationships recorded in the degraded mine land. More importantly, we provide the first evidence that the observed plant–soil fungal pathogen feedbacks were likely mediated by chitinolytic bacteria that release anti‐fungal enzymes. Cellulose‐degrading bacteria that aid in plant decomposition and nutrient cycling also attained higher abundances in plots with higher plant diversity, suggesting the contribution of another kind of plant–soil feedback to the positive diversity effects.

Synthesis and applications. Our findings reveal that highly diverse plant assemblages are better able to spur plant–soil feedbacks and that increasing plant diversity is an important strategy to enhance land reclamation efficiency after contamination. Meanwhile, our results also indicate that some plants such as Miscanthus sinensis and legumes should be preferentially used to establish diverse plant communities for rapid reclamation of degraded lands.
Atorvastatin attenuates vascular remodelling in spontaneously hypertensive rats via the protein kinase D/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 5 pathway
Authors: Yuan Haitao , Wang Deyu , Zhang Yuying , Geng Jing
Published: April 2020

The present study was conducted to determine whether atorvastatin reduces hypertension‐induced vascular remodelling and whether its effects involve protein kinase D (PKD) and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 5 (ERK5). We used 16‐week‐old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and age‐matched Wistar‐Kyoto (WKY) rats. The blood pressure and serum lipid concentration were measured. Changes in the vascular morphology and histology were examined using H&E, Masson’s trichrome, and Sirius Red staining. The media thickness (MT), ratio of MT to lumen diameter (LD) (MT/LD), collagen volume fraction (CVF) and hydroxyproline content were measured to evaluate vascular remodelling. Atorvastatin (50 mg/kg/day) was administered for 8 weeks. Increased blood pressure and vascular remodelling were more prominent in SHRs than in WKY rats. SHRs also had elevated PKD and ERK5 activation. The systolic blood pressure, MT/LD ratio, and hydroxyproline content were positively correlated with the activation level of PKD and ERK5 in SHRs. Atorvastatin significantly attenuated the activation of PKD and ERK5. Overall, this study demonstrated that atorvastatin could reverse vascular remodelling in SHRs. The PKD/ERK5 signalling pathway might be important for elucidating the beneficial pleiotropic effects of atorvastatin on vascular remodelling.
The Silent Majority: Private U.S. Firms and Financial Reporting Choices
Authors: LISOWSKY PETRO , MINNIS MICHAEL
Published: April 2020

This study uses a comprehensive panel of tax returns to examine the financial reporting choices of medium‐to‐large private U.S. firms, a setting that controls over $9 trillion in capital, vastly outnumbers public U.S. firms across all industries, yet has no financial reporting mandates. We find that nearly two‐thirds of these firms do not produce audited GAAP financial statements. Guided by an agency theory framework, we find that size, ownership dispersion, external debt, and trade credit are positively associated with the choice to produce audited GAAP financial statements, while asset tangibility, age, and internal debt are generally negatively related to this choice. Our findings reveal that (1) equity capital and trade credit exhibit significant explanatory power, suggesting that the primary focus in the literature on debt is too narrow; (2) firm youth, growth, and R&D are positively associated with audited GAAP reporting, reflecting important monitoring roles of financial reporting; and (3) many firms violate standard explanations for financial reporting choices and substantial unexplained heterogeneity in financial reporting remains. We conclude by identifying opportunities for future research.
To measure globally, aggregate locally: Urban land, submarkets, and biased estimates of the housing stock
Authors: Malone Thom , Redfearn Christian L.
Published: April 2020

This article highlights the role of land and housing submarkets in the construction of aggregate house price indexes and in the estimated value of the housing stock. We document idiosyncratic house price appreciation and sales volumes across submarkets within metropolitan areas that result in a sample of sold homes that are representative neither of the housing stock nor its appreciation over time. Commonly used aggregate price indexes, like the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Case‐Shiller indexes, fail to capture these local dynamics and produce indexes and estimates of the value of the stock that are biased. Our approach is to build “locally‐pooled” indexes and then weight these local price indexes by their submarket's share of the housing stock to estimate our metropolitan‐level index. This allows for more accurate movements in urban land prices, which is especially important in higher cost land markets. We show traditional globally pooled indexes exhibit significant bias. This may complicate research that makes use of the traditional house price indexes.
Informing emergency care for COVID‐19 patients: The COVID‐19 Emergency Department Quality Improvement Project protocol
Authors: O'Reilly Gerard M , Mitchell Rob D , Noonan Michael P , Hiller Ryan , Mitra Biswadev , Brichko Lisa , Luckhoff Carl , Paton Andrew , Smit De Villiers , Santamaria Mark J , Cameron Peter A
Published: April 2020

Objectives: There is an urgency to support Australian ED clinicians with real‐time tools as the COVID‐19 pandemic evolves. The COVID‐19 Emergency Department (COVED) Quality Improvement Project has commenced and will provide flexible and responsive clinical tools to determine the predictors of key ED‐relevant clinical outcomes.

Methods: The COVED Project includes all adult patients presenting to a participating ED and meeting contemporary testing criteria for COVID‐19. The dataset has been embedded in the electronic medical record and the COVED Registry has been developed.

Results: Outcomes measured include being COVID‐19 positive and requiring intensive respiratory support. Regression methodology will be used to generate clinical prediction tools.

Conclusion: This project will support EDs during this pandemic.
Employee voice in a semi‐rural hospital: impact of resourcing, decision‐making and culture
Authors: Almeida Shamika , Frino Betty , Milosavljevic Marianna
Published: April 2020

The purpose of this paper is to understand current employee voice arrangements within a semi‐rural hospital and the implications for the engagement of healthcare professionals. The Job Demands‐Resources (JDR) model is used to explore how organisational mechanisms (resourcing, decision‐making processes and culture) provide a voice for staff. We adopt a single case study approach using in‐depth interviews with healthcare professionals in a semi‐rural public hospital in Australia. The study found that the semi‐rural context, characterised by high levels of centralised decision‐making and resourcing and low levels of confidentiality and anonymity, has limited employee voice and the ability for staff to participate in decisions affecting their work. This lack of voice has consequently had negative effects on engagement levels. We propose that employee voice be viewed as a distinct job resource, manifest through an organisation’s resourcing, decision‐making processes and culture, to generate a direct and positive effect on employee engagement.
The Commitment to Income‐Decreasing Accounting Choices as a Credible Signal to Reducing Information Asymmetry: The Case of Asset Revaluations*
Authors: da Costa Fábio Moraes , Liu Carol , Rosa Gina Cavalier , Tiras Samuel L.
Published: April 2020

Bagnoli and Watts (2005) proposed that a manager could reduce information asymmetry by choosing an income‐decreasing accounting choice that signals the firm's relatively good future prospects. A limitation in testing this theory is that most income‐decreasing accounting choices over time reverse such that aggregated earnings would be the same, regardless of the choice. One income‐decreasing accounting choice that never reverses is the choice of upward asset revaluation, where the resulting gains are recognized through other comprehensive income and reduce future earnings by increasing future depreciation expense. In the United Kingdom, prior to FRS15, firms had the option to upwardly revalue on a one‐time basis. FRS15, and subsequently International Financial Reporting Standards, however, require those firms that upwardly revalue precommit to revalue on a consistent basis. This precommitment sacrifices future reporting discretion, which, according to the aforementioned study, serves as a costly signal of a firm's relatively good future prospects that reduces information asymmetry. The choice not to upwardly revalue, therefore, serves as a signal of a firm's relatively poor future prospects and also reduces information asymmetry, but this choice does not require precommitment such that the reduction in information asymmetry would be less than the choice to precommit to upward revaluations. Using a propensity‐score matched‐pair design on a sample of United Kingdom firms to test our predictions during the period requiring precommitment, we find lower forecast dispersion, lower return volatility, and a lower cost of capital for firms that precommit to upward asset revaluations, relative to those firms that choose not to upwardly revalue their operating assets.

Keywords: upward asset revaluations, income‐decreasing accounting choice, information asymmetry, precommitment
Caring for patients with pain during the COVID‐19 pandemic: consensus recommendations from an international expert panel
Authors: Shanthanna H. , Strand N. H. , Provenzano D. A. , Lobo C. A. , Eldabe S. , Bhatia A. , Wegener J. , Curtis K. , Cohen S. P. , Narouze S.
Published: April 2020

Chronic pain causes significant suffering, limitation of daily activities and reduced quality of life. Infection from COVID‐19 is responsible for an ongoing pandemic that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, leading to systemic complications and death. Led by the World Health Organization, healthcare systems across the world are engaged in limiting the spread of infection. As a result, all elective surgical procedures, outpatient procedures and patient visits, including pain management services, have been postponed or cancelled. This has affected the care of chronic pain patients. Most are elderly with multiple comorbidities, which puts them at risk of COVID‐19 infection. Important considerations that need to be recognised during this pandemic for chronic pain patients include: ensuring continuity of care and pain medications, especially opioids; use of telemedicine; maintaining biopsychosocial management; use of anti‐inflammatory drugs; use of steroids; and prioritising necessary procedural visits. There are no guidelines to inform physicians and healthcare providers engaged in caring for patients with pain during this period of crisis. We assembled an expert panel of pain physicians, psychologists and researchers from North America and Europe to formulate recommendations to guide practice. As the COVID‐19 situation continues to evolve rapidly, these recommendations are based on the best available evidence and expert opinion at this present time and may need adapting to local workplace policies.
Pregnancy loss: A 40‐year nationwide assessment
Authors: Lidegaard Øjvind , Mikkelsen Anders P. , Egerup Pia , Kolte Astrid M. , Rasmussen Steen Christian , Nielsen Henriette S.
Published: April 2020

Introduction

Pregnancy loss is frequent. We aimed to assess the frequency and trends in pregnancy losses according to female age and mode of conception over a 40‐year follow‐up period.

Material and methods

In a national historical prospective cohort study, we followed all Danish women 10‐49 years over the 40‐year study period 1978‐2017. Data on pregnancies and their outcomes were obtained from the National Health Registry, the Medical Birth Registry and the National Fertility Registry. Incidence rates per 100 pregnancies and per 1,000 women‐years as well as lifetime risks per 100 women were calculated. Women included in the lifetime analysis were followed from age 12  to age 49. Pregnancy loss included spontaneous abortion, missed abortion and anembryonic pregnancy.

Results

In 3 519 455 recorded pregnancies, 337 008, or 9.6%, were diagnosed with a pregnancy loss. The proportion increased from 7.5% in 1978‐1979, peaked at 10.7% in 2000 and thereafter decreased to 9.1% in 2015‐2017. Pregnancy loss rate in women 10‐14 years was 3.9%, increasing gradually with age to 26.9% in pregnant women 45‐49 years, a 6.9‐fold increase. Loss rates were slightly lower in naturally conceived pregnancies than in assisted pregnancies except for women above 45 years, where the risk of loss was higher in the spontaneously conceived group. Lifetime risk of specific numbers of losses were: 0: 76.9%, 1: 17.9%, 2: 3.9%, 3: 0.87%, and 4+: 0.35%.

Conclusions

The proportion of women experiencing pregnancy loss has changed little throughout four decades and is still primarily influenced by female age. More than 75% of pregnant women are never recorded with a pregnancy loss, and <1.5% will experience three or more losses.
Pre‐treatment metabolic tumour volume and total lesion glycolysis are superior to conventional positron‐emission tomography/computed tomography variables for outcome prediction in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in clinical practice
Authors: Terao Toshiki , Machida Youichi , Tsushima Takafumi , Miura Daisuke , Narita Kentaro , Kitadate Akihiro , Takeuchi Masami , Matsue Kosei
Published: April 2020

Metabolic tumour volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) are positron‐emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) variables for predicting multiple myeloma’s (MM) outcome. We retrospectively investigated and compared the predictive value of MTV, TLG and high‐risk PET/CT variables in clinical practice in 185 patients with newly diagnosed symptomatic MM. High‐risk PET/CT findings were defined as the presence of at least one of the following: more than three focal lesions, maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) >4·2 and extramedullary disease. MTV was defined as the volume of myeloma lesions visualised on PET/CT with SUV ≥ 2·5. TLG was calculated as the sum of the product of the average SUV and MTV of all lesions. The mortality prediction optimal cut‐off values for MTV and TLG were 56·4 cm3 and 166·4 g, respectively. High‐burden MTV (≥56·4 cm3), TLG (≥166·4 g) and high‐risk PET/CT findings differed significantly in progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). High‐burden MTV and TLG findings also predicted survival outcomes in young patients (age <75 years) and patients with high‐risk chromosomal abnormalities. High‐burden MTV and TLG independently predicted both worse PFS and OS. Pre‐treatment MTV and TLG independently predicted survival outcomes in clinical practice and may be more useful than high‐risk PET/CT variables.