bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Extended Pterional Craniotomy: A Contemporary and Balanced Approach
Authors: Hendricks Benjamin K , Cohen-Gadol Aaron A
Published: June 2019

Pterional craniotomy is the workhorse approach among cranial operative corridors. It is a highly flexible skull base approach that affords excellent exposure of the anterior cranial fossa, the circle of Willis, and the interpeduncular region. Its strategic use via dynamic retraction can obviate the need to use a more extensive skull base route, such as orbitozygomatic osteotomy, in select cases. The focus of the surgeon should be reaching the surgical target effectively while minimizing disruption of normal anatomy. In other words, the focus should be less on “how to get there” and more on “what to do when you are there.” This multimedia presentation summarizes an efficient execution of this route and its expansion and demonstrates the surgical corridor via 3-dimensional virtual reality models.
Perioperative Opioid Prescribing Patterns and Readmissions After Total Knee Arthroplasty in a National Cohort of Veterans Health Administration Patients
Authors: Mudumbai Seshadri C , Chung Paul , Nguyen Nick , Harris Brooke , Clark J David , Wagner Todd H , Giori Nicholas J , Stafford Randall S , Mariano Edward R
Published: June 2019

Objective

Among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) nationally, what are the underlying readmission rates and associations with perioperative opioid use, and are there associations with other factors such as preoperative health care utilization?

Methods

We retrospectively examined the records of 5,514 TKA patients (primary N = 4,955, 89.9%; revision N = 559, 10.1%) over one fiscal year (October 1, 2010–September 30, 2011) across VHA hospitals nationwide. Opioid use was classified into no opioids, tramadol only, short-acting only, or any long-acting. We measured readmission within 30 days and the number of days to readmission within 30 days. Extended Cox regression models were developed.

Results

The overall 30-day hospital readmission rate was 9.6% (N = 531; primary 9.5%, revision 11.1%). Both readmitted patients and the overall sample were similar on types of preoperative opioid use. Relative to patients without opioids, patients in the short-acting opioids only tier had the highest risk for 30-day hospital readmission (hazard ratio = 1.38, 95% confidence interval = 1.14–1.67). Preoperative opioid status was not associated with 30-day readmission. Other risk factors for 30-day readmission included older age (≥66 years), higher comorbidity and diagnosis-related group weights, greater preoperative health care utilization, an urban location, and use of preoperative anticonvulsants.

Conclusions

Given the current opioid epidemic, the routine prescribing of short-acting opioids after surgery should be carefully considered to avoid increasing risks of 30-day hospital readmissions and other negative outcomes, particularly in the context of other predisposing factors.
Vulnerability to xylem embolism correlates to wood parenchyma fraction in angiosperms but not in gymnosperms
Authors: Kiorapostolou Natasa , Da Sois Luca , Petruzzellis Francesco , Savi Tadeja , Trifilò Patrizia , Nardini Andrea , Petit Giai
Published: June 2019

Understanding which structural and functional traits are linked to species’ vulnerability to embolism formation (P50) may provide fundamental knowledge on plant strategies to maintain an efficient water transport. We measured P50, wood density (WD), mean conduit area, conduit density, percentage areas occupied by vessels, parenchyma cells (PATOT) and fibers (FA) on branches of angiosperm and gymnosperm species. Moreover, we compiled a dataset of published hydraulic and anatomical data to be compared with our results. Species more vulnerable to embolism had lower WD. In angiosperms, the variability in WD was better explained by PATOT and FA, which were highly correlated. Angiosperms with a higher P50 (less negative) had a higher amount of PATOT and total amount of nonstructural carbohydrates. Instead, in gymnosperms, P50 vs PATOT was not significant. The correlation between PATOT and P50 might have a biological meaning and also suggests that the causality of the commonly observed relationship of WD vs P50 is indirect and dependent on the parenchyma fraction. Our study suggests that angiosperms have a potential active embolism reversal capacity in which parenchyma has an important role, while in gymnosperms this might not be the case.
Evaluation of Dose Derived From HTO for Adults in the Vicinity of Qinshan Nuclear Power Base
Authors: Qin Lailai , Dai Zhongqin , Xia Zhenghai , Ma Yuhua , Deng Ke , Liu Jiayu , Ma Zhaowei , Zhang Qin , Yang Guo , Wei Fei , Wu Shengwei , Bao Guangliang , Liu Wei , Liu Guimin
Published: June 2019

Tritium that is released from nuclear facilities, especially from nuclear reactor units, may be the main origination of tritium in the environment. Atmospheric tritiated water (HTO) is the main chemical form of tritium that is released from nuclear reactor units. HTO in the air, drinking water and foods should be monitored routinely to protect public from the radiological hazards of tritium. Here, concentrations of HTO in the air, drinking water and foods in the vicinity of Qinshan Nuclear Power (QNP) base were measured from 2012 to 2016. And based on the concentrations of HTO measured, annual dose equivalent and collective dose equivalent for adults were calculated to evaluate the radiological hazards derived from HTO. The annual dose equivalent for adults in Qinshan and Wuyuan communities were both far below the dose limit for public exposure, and both showed an increasing trend, indicating that great attention still should be payed to the releasing of tritium from nuclear reactor units in the QNP base.
Biological Dosimetry Network in Africa: Establishment of a Dose-Response Curve Using Telomere and Centromere Staining
Authors: Soumboundou Mamadou , Nkengurutse Innocent , Dossou Julien , Colicchio Bruno , Djebou Catherine , Gadji Macoura , Houenon Germain , Dem Ahmadou , Dedjan Alexandre , Diarra Mounibé , Adjibade Rachad , Finot Francis , Hempel William , Dieterlen Alain , Jeandidier Eric , Rodriguez-Lafrasse Claire , M’kacher Radhia
Published: June 2019

Purpose: Biological dosimetry, based on the relationship between the absorbed dose after exposure to ionizing radiation and the frequency of scored aberrations, has been and continues to be an important tool for estimating the dose after exposure. Dicentric chromosomes are considered to be the most specific and sensitive aberration related to radiation exposure. Here, we established the dose-response curve following in vitro irradiation of circulating lymphocytes from healthy donors from three African countries after scoring unstable chromosomal aberrations.

Materials and methods: Blood samples from 16 African donors were exposed to various doses (0 to 4 Gy) using an X-RAD320 x-ray system with a maximum photon energy of 250 kV at a dose rate of 0.1 Gy min−1. Blood lymphocytes were cultured for 48 h, and chromosomal aberrations were scored during the first mitosis by telomere and centromere staining. The distribution of dicentric chromosomes was determined.
Results: No dicentric chromosomes were found after the analysis of 2,669 first-division metaphases before in vitro exposure. We established a linear-quadratic dose-response curve based on the frequency of dicentric and ring chromosomes and calculated double-strand breaks, taking into account all scored aberrations.

Conclusion: The generation of a specific dose-response curve for African donors will allow the practice of precise biological dosimetry in these countries. This work is the first step towards realizing an African biodosimetry network and the establishment of a biological dosimetry laboratory, which could play a major role in the application of radioprotection norms.
Histopathologic Characteristics of Internal Auditory Canal Diverticula
Authors: Muelleman Thomas , Maxwell Anne K. , Lopez Ivan , Linthicum Fred , Ishiyama Akira , Ledbetter Luke , Lin James , Staecker Hinrich , Miller Mia
Published: June 2019

Hypothesis:

We hypothesize that internal auditory canal (IAC) diverticula occur independent of otosclerosis as demonstrated by temporal bone histopathology.

Background:

Diverticula at the anterior-inferior aspect of the IAC have been described histologically in the setting of cavitary otosclerosis. Recent radiographic studies show the prevalence of IAC diverticula that is higher than what can be accounted for by cavitary otosclerosis alone.

Methods:

We examined hematoxylin and eosin temporal bone histopathology slides with otosclerosis involving the IAC. We also examined bones from normal hearing subjects with normal histologic findings. Temporal bones were included if donors were more than 18 years of age at time of death and adequate horizontal cuts were available to evaluate the area of interest.

Results:

IAC diverticula were found in 33 of 47 (70%) temporal bones with IAC otosclerosis and in 5 of 20 (25%) normal temporal bones. The difference in mean pure tone averages (PTA) in the normal temporal bones with (PTA 7.3 ± 7) and without (PTA 8 ± 2) diverticula was not statistically significant (p = 0.86).

Conclusion:

IAC diverticula which have been previously demonstrated to occur in the setting of cavitary otosclerosis can also occur independent from otosclerosis. Subjects with diverticula but without other temporal bone pathology have normal hearing thresholds.
Clinical Applicability of a Preoperative Angular Insertion Depth Prediction Method for Cochlear Implantation
Authors: Rathgeb Christoph , Demattè Marco , Yacoub Abraam , Anschuetz Lukas , Wagner Franca , Mantokoudis Georgios , Caversaccio Marco , Wimmer Wilhelm
Published: June 2019

Objective:

Evaluation of the accuracy and clinical applicability of a single measure cochlear implant angular insertion depth prediction method.

Background:

Cochlear implantation outcomes still vary extensively between patients. One of the possible reasons could be variability in intracochlear electrode array placement. For this reason, single measure methods were suggested to preoperatively predict angular insertion depths. Based on a previously performed accuracy study in human temporal bones, we were interested in determining the extent to which the method could be applied in a clinical setting.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis was performed on pre- and postoperative radiographic images of 50 cochlear implant recipients. Preoperatively predicted angular insertion depths were compared with angular insertion depths measured on postoperative ground truth. The theoretical prediction error was computed under the assumption that all achieved insertions were matching the preoperatively assumed linear insertion depth. More importantly, the clinical prediction error was assessed using two different software tools performed by three experienced surgeons.

Results:

Using the proposed method we found a theoretical prediction error of 5 degrees (SD = 41 degrees). The clinical prediction error including the cases with extracochlear electrodes was 70 degrees (SD = 96 degrees).

Conclusions:

The presented angular insertion depth prediction method is a first practical approach to support the preoperative selection of cochlear implant electrode arrays. However, the presented procedure is limited in that it is unable to predict the occurrence of insertion results with extracochlear electrodes and requires user training.
Characteristics and Outcomes of Pancreatic Cancer by Histological Subtypes
Authors: Luo Guopei , Fan Zhiyao , Gong Yitao , Jin Kaizhou , Yang Chao , Cheng He , Huang Dan , Ni Quanxing , Liu Chen , Yu Xianjun
Published: June 2019

Objectives

Except pancreatic adenocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer has several uncommon histological subtypes, including invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (pNET), adenosquamous carcinoma, invasive mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN), acinar cell carcinoma (ACC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and invasive solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT). However, features of theses uncommon subtypes are not systematically analyzed.

Methods

Subjects with different histological subtypes of pancreatic cancers were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry. Characteristics and behaviors of uncommon subtypes were compared.

Results

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (85.8%) represented most primary pancreatic cancers, and other subtypes were rare (14.2%). Features of uncommon subtypes included females with SPT and MCN, located at the pancreatic body/tail of pNET, SPT, and MCN; poor differentiation of adenosquamous carcinoma and SCC; and large size of MCN, SPT, ACC, and SCC. In addition, IPMN, pNET, MCN, ACC, and SPT were indolent. For indolent subtypes, patients with locoregional tumor had prominent prognosis compared with patients with distant disease, especially for invasive IPMN (median survival, localized, 30.0 months; regional, 11.0 months; distant, 4.0 months).

Conclusions

The study systematically summarizes characteristics and behaviors of primary pancreatic cancer by histological subtypes, which can facilitate the management of pancreatic cancer.
Iowa TelePrEP: A Public-Health-Partnered Telehealth Model for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Preexposure Prophylaxis Delivery in a Rural State
Authors: Hoth Angela B. , Shafer Cody , Dillon Dena Behm , Mayer Randy , Walton George , Ohl Michael E.
Published: June 2019

Background

Access to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is often poor in small urban and rural areas because of stigma and long distances to providers. The Iowa Department of Public Health and The University of Iowa created a regional telehealth program to address these barriers (“Iowa TelePrEP”). We describe initial TelePrEP results and share lessons learned.

Methods

Iowa Department of Public Health personnel in sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics, disease intervention specialist and partner services, and HIV testing programs referred clients to pharmacists at University of Iowa. Clients could also self-refer via a website. Pharmacists completed video visits with clients in the community on smartphones and other devices, arranged local laboratory studies, and mailed medications. We performed a retrospective record review to quantify rates of PrEP referral, initiation, retention, guideline-concordant laboratory monitoring, and STI identification and treatment.

Results

Between February 2017 and October 2018, TelePrEP received 186 referrals (37% from public health) and completed 127 (68%) initial video visits with clients. Median client age was 32; 91% were men who have sex with men. Most clients with video visits (91%) started PrEP. Retention in TelePrEP at 6 months was 61%, and 96% of indicated laboratory monitoring tests were completed. Screening identified 37 STIs (8 syphilis, 10 gonorrhea, 19 chlamydia). Disease intervention specialist and partner services linked all clients with STIs to local treatment within 14 days (80% in 3 days).

Conclusions

Using widely available technology and infrastructure, public health departments and health care systems can collaborate to develop regional telehealth programs to deliver PrEP in small urban and rural settings.
Increases in the Estimated Number of Reported Gonorrhea Cases Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: The Role of Testing
Authors: Williams Austin M. , Weston Emily J. , Gift Thomas L. , Torrone Elizabeth
Published: June 2019

The rate of reported gonorrhea among men who have sex with men has been steadily increasing in recent years, but little is known about how much changing testing practices and incidence each contribute to this trend. We report that both factors are likely contributing to the observed rate increases.
Preliminary Aquatic Physical Therapy Core Sets for Children and Youth With Neurological Disorders: A Consensus Process
Authors: Güeita-Rodríguez Javier , García-Muro Francisco , Rodríguez-Fernández Ángel L. , Cano-Díez Beatriz , Chávez-Santacruz David , Palacios-Ceña Domingo
Published: June 2019

Purpose:

To report on the preliminary aquatic physical therapy core sets for children and youth with neurological disorders using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-children and youth version.

Methods:

A formal and structured consensus process was developed, integrating the findings of preparatory studies: a systematic literature review, expert survey with 69 participants, and a qualitative study with 43 participants.

Results:

Five preliminary aquatic physical therapy core sets were described: a Comprehensive Core Set (64 categories); a Common Brief (13 categories); and 3 age-specific Core Sets: infant (below 6 years, 18 categories), school-age (from 6 to <14 years, 22 categories), and youth (from 14 to 18 years, 19 categories).

Conclusions:

Consensus among aquatic physical therapists' expert opinions identified the relevant intervention categories available when treating children and youth with neurological disorders. This list of intervention categories can be used in practice, research, education, and health administration.
Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound-Guided Interventions—The New Sheriff in Town?
Authors: Caserta Melanie P. , Dahiya Nirvikar , Tchelepi Hisham
Published: June 2019

Ultrasound (US)–guided intervention is a well-established medical procedure and offers advantages such as real-time guidance, portability, reduced cost, shortened procedure time compared with computed tomography, and lack of ionizing radiation. Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) are a useful adjunct to US-guided procedures. The addition of microbubble UCAs during US-guided interventions can assist with biopsy planning and lesion selection, aid in identification of target lesions, and direct the biopsy toward viable tissue. Ultrasound contrast agents have been in use outside of the United States for many years and have been used off label at select institutions across the United States before the Food and Drug Administration approval of Lumason (Bracco Diagnostics) for liver lesion evaluation in April 2016. After Food and Drug Administration approval, the use of UCAs has expanded rapidly, and UCAs are being used for a variety of clinical applications. Ultrasound contrast agents have been shown to be safe, and there is no renal toxicity. In this article, we will discuss the indications and techniques for using contrast-enhanced ultrasound during US-guided interventions, and we will present case examples where contrast-enhanced ultrasound added value.
A Review of Wound Infusion With Local Anesthetics in Plastic Surgery
Authors: Roy Catherine F. , Azzi Alain J. , Davison Peter
Published: June 2019

Background

Suboptimal pain management is a common, yet largely unrecognized, problem in the postsurgical patient population. Current treatment protocols heavily rely on opioid use and, though generally effective in providing pain relief, are associated with multiple side effects. The present systematic review aims to offer plastic surgeons insight into the current state of literature on prolonged local anesthetic wound infusion regimens, evaluating both their efficacy in lowering pain scores and the potential opioid-sparing effect.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search of the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was performed to identify relevant studies published between 1980 and December 2017 evaluating the use of prolonged local anesthetic wound infusion for postoperative pain management in plastic surgery.

Results

A total of 28 articles were selected, including 3904 patients. The overall infection rate in all patients treated with postsurgical local anesthetic wound infiltration was 0.28% (7/2536). There were no reported cases of systemic toxicity. An opioid-sparing effect was found in 92% (12/13) of studies when compared to an active comparator and 88% (7/8) of those comparing to placebo. Pain scores were decreased in 90% (9/10) of studies comparing wound infiltration to narcotic-based regimens and in 67% (6/9) of those comparing to placebo.

Conclusions

Continuous or intermittent wound infusion is safe and effective in reducing pain scores and opioid consumption in plastic surgery. Though the overall pain-lowering effect appears to be modest, ease of catheter insertion and patient satisfaction make this technique an alluring alternative to more validated approaches such as neuraxial or peripheral nerve blocks.
Host engineering for improved valerolactam production inPseudomonas putida
Authors: Thompson Mitchell G. , Valencia Luis E. , Blake-Hedges Jacquelyn M. , Cruz-Morales Pablo , Velasquez Alexandria E. , Pearson Allison N. , Sermeno Lauren N. , Sharpless William A. , Benites Veronica T. , Chen Yan , Baidoo Edward E. K. , Petzold Christopher J. , Deutschbauer Adam M. , Keasling Jay D.
Published: June 2019

Pseudomonas putidais a promising bacterial chassis for metabolic engineering given its ability to metabolize a wide array of carbon sources, especially aromatic compounds derived from lignin. However, this omnivorous metabolism can also be a hindrance when it can naturally metabolize products produced from engineered pathways. Herein we show thatP. putidais able to use valerolactam as a sole carbon source, as well as degrade caprolactam. Lactams represent important nylon precursors, and are produced in quantities exceeding one million tons per year[1]. To better understand this metabolism we use a combination of Random Barcode Transposon Sequencing (RB-TnSeq) and shotgun proteomics to identify theoplBAlocus as the likely responsible amide hydrolase that initiates valerolactam catabolism. Deletion of theoplBAgenes preventedP. putidafrom growing on valerolactam, prevented the degradation of valerolactam in rich media, and dramatically reduced caprolactam degradation under the same conditions. Deletion ofoplBA, as well as pathways that compete for precursors L-lysine or 5-aminovalerate, increased the titer of valerolactam from undetectable after 48 hours of production to ~90 mg/L. This work may serve as a template to rapidly eliminate undesirable metabolism in non-model hosts in future metabolic engineering efforts.
RMetD2: a tool for integration of relative transcriptomics data into Genome-scale metabolic models
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Lee Sunjae , Bidkhori Gholamreza , Benfeitas Rui , Lovric Alen , Chen Shuqi , Uhlen Mathias , Nielsen Jens , Mardinoglu Adil
Published: June 2019

Relative Metabolic Differences version 2 (RMetD2) is a tool for integration of differentially expressed (DE) genes into genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) for revealing the altered metabolism between two biological conditions. This method provides a robust evaluation of the metabolism by using flux ranges instead of a single set of flux distributions. RMetD2 classifies reactions into three different groups, namely up-regulated, down-regulated and unchanged, which enables systematic interpretation of the metabolic differences between two different conditions. We employed this method in three different case studies using mice and human datasets, and compared it with state-of-the-art methods used for studying condition-specific metabolic differences using GEMs. We observed that RMetD2 is capable of capturing experimentally-observed features that are missed by other methods, highlighting its potential use in biotechnology and systems medicine applications. RMetD2 is implemented in Matlab and it is available without any limitation at https://sourceforge.net/projects/rmetd.
GABAergic cell loss in mice lacking autism-associated geneSema6A
Authors: Menzel Karlie , Szabó Gábor , Yanagawa Yuchio , Cocksaygan Turhan , Plachez Céline
Published: June 2019

Background

During brain development, a multitude of neuronal networks form as neurons find their correct position within the brain and send out axons to synapse onto specific targets. Altered neuronal connectivity within these complex networks has been reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), leading to alterations in brain function and multisensory integration. Semaphorins (also referred to as Semas), a large protein family of about 30 members, have been shown to play an important role in neuronal circuit formation and have been implicated in the etiology of ASD. The purpose of the current study is to investigate howSema6Amutation affects neuronal connectivity in ASD. SinceSema6Ais involved in cell migration, we hypothesized that during brain development the migration of GABAergic interneurons is affected by the loss ofSema6Agene, leading to alterations in Excitatory/Inhibitory (E/I) balance.

Methods

Sema6Atransgenic mice were crossed with either GAD65-GFP mice or GAD67-GFP mice to allow for both a reliable and robust staining of the GABAergic interneuron population within theSema6Amouse line. Using histological techniques we studies the expression of interneurons subtypes in the Sema6A mutant mice.

Results

Analysis ofSema6Amutant mice crossed with either GAD65-GFP or GAD67-GFP knock-in mice revealed a reduced number of GABAergic interneurons in the primary somatosensory cortex, hippocampus, and reticular thalamic nucleus (RTN) in adultSema6Amutant mice. This reduction in cell number appeared to be targeted to the Parvalbumin (PV) interneuron cell population since neither the Calretinin nor the Calbindin expressing interneurons were affected by theSema6Amutation.

Limitations

Although the use of animal models has been crucial for understanding the biological basis of autism, the complexity of the human brain can never truly be replicated by these models.

Conclusions

Taken together, these findings suggest thatSema6Agene loss affects only the fast spiking-PV population and reveal the importance of an axon guidance molecule in the formation of GABAergic neuronal networks and provide insight into the molecular pathways that may lead to altered neuronal connectivity and E/I imbalance in ASD.
De novo loss-of-function variants in NSD2 (WHSC1) associate with a subset of Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome
Authors: Barrie Elizabeth S. , Alfaro Maria P. , Pfau Ruthann B. , Goff Melanie J. , McBride Kim L. , Manickam Kandamurugu , Zmuda Erik J.
Published: June 2019

Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a rare but recurrent microdeletion syndrome associated with hemizygosity of an interstitial segment of Chromosome 4 (4p16.3). Consistent with historical reports in which overlapping deletions defined a minimal critical region in WHS patients, recent reports from exome sequence analysis have provided further evidence that haploinsufficiency of a specific gene within this critical region, NSD2 (WHSC1), is causal for many features of the syndrome. In this report, we describe three unrelated patients with loss-of-function alterations in NSD2 who presented clinically with WHS features including intrauterine growth retardation and global developmental delay. Two of the three patients also had overlapping features of failure to thrive, short stature, constipation, and hypotonia. This series adds additional cases to expand the phenotypic spectrum of WHS and reports novel NSD2 variants.
Employees’ customer orientation and customer satisfaction in the public utility sector
Authors: Li Wenyuan , Pomegbe Wisdom Wise Kwabla , Dogbe Courage Simon Kofi , Novixoxo Jewel Dela
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how perceived service quality mediates employees’ customer orientation and customer satisfaction in the public utility sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The study focused on the commercial customers (small and medium-scale enterprises– (SMEs)) of Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd. There were 350 SMEs sampled for the study, and each had no more than 99 employees. Respondents were either owner-managers or employee-managers. Structural equation model (SEM) was used in estimating the effects among the variables studied.

Findings

Most public institutions have a built-in customer base, and therefore places less emphasis on employees’ customer orientation. This notwithstanding, findings revealed that employees’ customer orientation behaviors significantly impacted customers’ perceived service quality and satisfaction toward public institutions. Similarly, customers’ perceived service quality influenced their satisfaction toward public institutions. SMEs serve as an engine for economic growth in an economy, and therefore public institutions must consider their peculiar needs in the delivery of service to them.

Originality/value

This study pointed out that, employees’ customer orientation behaviors of public institutions have an influence on customers’ perceived service quality and satisfaction. Previous studies on these concepts have largely focused on the private sector, where there are lots of competition. This study also specifically studied commercial customers (SMEs) of public institution, which is quite novel, especially in relation to the concepts studied. And the contribution of SMEs to economic growth makes their study even much more important.
Ibn Khaldun’s ‘ilm al ‘umran: a model for planning the sustainable city in the Arab region
Authors: El-Kholei Ahmed O.
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Sustainable development is an attempt to achieve three competing aims: economic development, social justice and environmental conservation. Localising sustainable development in the Arabian city might require a framework that originates from its reality manifested in the region’s history, culture and religion. Ibn Khaldun’s model seems suitable for planning a sustainable city in the Arab world. The purpose of this paper is to discuss suitability of Ibn Khaldun’s writing to localising sustainable development in the Arabian cities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used a qualitative research methodology. The researcher investigated the writings of Ibn Khaldun and other scholars who studied his work to derive lessons for planning the sustainable Arab city.

Findings

Many of Ibn Khaldun’s concepts lost their accuracy, meanings and intentions in the course of translating his work. Ibn Khaldun’s writings can be the source from which scholars, planners and city administrators derive lessons to assure the sustainable development of human settlements, particularly in the Arab region. The writings of Ibn Khaldun are relevant to the Arab countries. His writings are sensitive to the realities of the Arab world, including geography, environment, history, religion and culture. His writings can support efforts for localising sustinable development in the Arabian cities.

Originality/value

Interrogating Ibn Khaldun’s writings can enable scholars, planners, architects and city administrators to elaborate and implement plans for the sustainable Arabian city. The findings of the paper assure that Ibn Khaldun’s analysis is suitable for addressing the urban ills of the contemporary Arabian metropolis as they were in his time.
The interplay of external ties and internal knowledge base
Authors: Ye Jiangfeng , Wu Yunqiao , Hao Bin , Chen Zusheng
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between two types of informal ties and radical innovation in the context of China’s university spin-offs and the moderating roles of knowledge breadth and depth in such relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review of literature on informal ties, internal knowledge base and radical innovation provides the theoretical foundation of the research framework and hypotheses. Using a sample of 158 China’s university spin-offs, the authors conduct a regression analysis on the theoretical framework and hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that business and university ties are positively related to radical innovation. Moreover, the effects of business and university ties on radical innovation are contingent on knowledge breadth and depth in opposite ways. In particular, the positive effect of business ties on radical innovation depends significantly on internal knowledge depth rather than on knowledge breadth, and the positive effect of university ties on radical innovation will be affected by internal knowledge breadth rather than knowledge depth.

Practical implications

Managers of university spin-offs must examine informal ties they already have and identify their nature, content and embedded advantages and promptly adjust their strategy of informal ties to adapt to their firms’ internal knowledge base.

Originality/value

This study highlights the positive role of managers’ personal connections with different external parties in facilitating radical innovation and advances the understanding of informal ties by proposing that the effects of informal ties on radical innovation are contingent on a firm’s internal knowledge base in the context of China’s university spin-offs.
Photonic curing of silver paths on 3D printed polymer substrate
Authors: Krzeminski Jakub , Blicharz Bartosz , Skalski Andrzej , Wroblewski Grzegorz , Jakubowska Małgorzata , Sloma Marcin
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Despite almost limitless possibilities of rapid prototyping, the idea of 3D printed fully functional electronic device still has not been fulfilled – the missing point is a highly conductive material suitable for this technique. The purpose of this paper is to present the usage of the photonic curing process for sintering highly conductive paths printed on the polymer substrate.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper evaluates two photonic curing processes for the conductive network formulation during the additive manufacturing process. Along with the xenon flash sintering for aerosol jet-printed paths, this paper examines rapid infrared sintering for thick-film and direct write techniques.

Findings

This paper proves that the combination of fused deposition modeling, aerosol jet printing or paste deposition, along with photonic sintering, is suitable to obtain elements with low resistivity of 3,75·10−8 Ωm. Presented outcomes suggest the solution for fabrication of the structural electronics systems for daily-use applications.

Originality/value

The combination of fused deposition modelling (FDM) and aerosol jet printing or paste deposition used with photonic sintering process can fill the missing point for highly conductive materials for structural electronics.
Predicting drug–disease associations by network embedding and biomedical data integration
Authors: Wei Xiaomei , Zhang Yaliang , Huang Yu , Fang Yaping
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The traditional drug development process is costly, time consuming and risky. Using computational methods to discover drug repositioning opportunities is a promising and efficient strategy in the era of big data. The explosive growth of large-scale genomic, phenotypic data and all kinds of “omics” data brings opportunities for developing new computational drug repositioning methods based on big data. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

Here, a new computational strategy is proposed for inferring drug–disease associations from rich biomedical resources toward drug repositioning. First, the network embedding (NE) algorithm is adopted to learn the latent feature representation of drugs from multiple biomedical resources. Furthermore, on the basis of the latent vectors of drugs from the NE module, a binary support vector machine classifier is trained to divide unknown drug–disease pairs into positive and negative instances. Finally, this model is validated on a well-established drug–disease association data set with tenfold cross-validation.

Findings

This model obtains the performance of an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 90.3 percent, which is comparable to those of similar systems. The authors also analyze the performance of the model and validate its effect on predicting the new indications of old drugs.

Originality/value

This study shows that the authors’ method is predictive, identifying novel drug–disease interactions for drug discovery. The new feature learning methods also positively contribute to the heterogeneous data integration.
LBM modelling unsteady flow past and through permeable diamond-shaped cylinders
Authors: Zhang Yingchun , Ozalp Nesrin , Xie Gongnan
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unsteady flow past through a permeable diamond-shaped cylinder and to study the effects of the aspect ratios and Darcy numbers of the cylinder.

Design/methodology/approach

The lattice Boltzmann method with D2Q9 lattice model was used to simulate the unsteady flow through permeable diamond-shaped cylinders. The present numerical method is validated against the available data.

Findings

The key findings are that increasing the permeability enhances the suppression of vortex shedding, and that the Strouhal number is directly proportion to the Darcy number, Reynolds number and the aspect ratio of the porous cylinder.

Originality/value

The present study considers unsteady laminar flow past through single permeable diamond-shaped cylinder. According to the authors’ knowledge, very few studies have been found in this field. The present findings are novel and original, which in turn can attract wide attention and citations.
Gentrification, touristification and revitalization of the Monumental Zone of Pontevedra, Spain
Authors: Torres Outón Sara María
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore, through the analysis case, how the revitalization of a historic centre has been carried out and the role of tourism in this process.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study area is well-documented as there has been extensive fieldwork on the transformation of the commercial sector in the Monumental Zone of Pontevedra in the last three decades. In order to prepare this paper, a bibliographic review, in-depth interviews, premises registration data and population data have been used.

Findings

The findings show that the processes of change and revitalization do not conform to a single reality common to all historical centres, although similar strategies are developed, the role of the participating actors and, especially, the idiosyncrasy of these spaces change the outcomes. On the one hand, gentrification does not occur and the increase of residential uses is still a goal. On the other hand, the tourism strategy brings more visitors and complements the commerce activity and attraction.

Social implications

The new challenge of these spaces, and the urban contribution from this research, is that in the appropriation of space by citizens, tourism may be a complement for commerce, and shops and hospitality (facilities) make these spaces more livable. Although tourism does not necessarily increase the number of residents, the revenue from tourism may prevent the reoccurrence of abandonment.

Originality/value

The paper focusses on both gentrification and touristification; processes that have led to the substitution of residents and activities and the conflict with the local population and the normalization of urban life. This case has been selected because despite a seemingly successful revitalization process, recently some old threats seem to be returning.
Online shopping environments and consumer’s Need for Touch
Authors: Rathee Rupa , Rajain Pallavi
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Online shopping has become a commonplace thing nowadays as people can buy products from the comfort of their home. But such environments do not offer a complete sensory interaction as consumers are unable to touch products which is quite important for certain categories of products such as apparels. Therefore, in order to find whether every individual seeks touch equally, the purpose of this paper is to deal with the differences in an individual’s preferences for touch. The study also evaluates customer responses towards the introduction of touch-enabling technology which can, to some extent, compensate for the lack of touch. Lastly, the study includes customers’ views regarding showrooming and webrooming.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 203 responses were received through online and offline questionnaires. The data were analysed using ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis through SPSS version 23.

Findings

The results revealed that gender influenced the Need for Touch (NFT) with women having higher NFT. The people who were high in NFT preferred to buy in-store, whereas their low NFT counterparts were comfortable with both online and in-store options. Lastly, it was found that there was a significant impact of NFT on online buying behaviour. The new technology when used by online retailers would break the barriers that exist between real touch and virtual touch.

Originality/value

Although previous authors have given several options like mental representations, verbal details and brand image as alternatives to touch but the use of touch-enabling technology can revolutionise the way online products are perceived. The study adds value by relating NFT with online preferences, showrooming and webrooming.
Improving relationship performance on platforms: the role of platform technology usage in promoting justice
Authors: Yang Qian , Wang Qiang , Zhao Xiande
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Technology has dramatically changed the nature of interorganizational relationships and the ways partners interact with each other. In the new platform business model, platform technology usage seems to work as a governance mechanism to regulate operations and manage platform builder–platform participant relationships. To respond to these changes, this study aims to examine how platform technology usage in platform operations influenced the relationship quality between the platform builder and platform participants by promoting perceptions of three types of justice (procedural, distributive and informational).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose that it is through the perception of three types of justice (procedural, distributive and informational) that platform technology usage exerts its governance effect on the platform relationship. In doing this, the authors seek to answer the following two related research questions in the platform setting: How does platform technology usage drive relationship performance via different types of justice perceptions? Which type of justice affects relationship performance most effectively?

Findings

The results from a survey of 384 participant firms from two of the largest digital platforms for mobile/PC application in China reveal that platform technology usage leads to better relationship performance through enhanced perceptions of procedural, distributive, and informational justice. The positive impacts of procedural justice and distributive justice on relationship performance are greater than that of informational justice, while the impacts of procedural justice and distributive justice show no significant differences.

Originality/value

These findings provide novel insights into the role and mechanisms of platform technology usage in platform relationship management.
“It’s a delicate dance”: understanding CSR relationships from the nonprofit perspective
Authors: Harrison Virginia
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) partnerships from the often-overlooked perspective of nonprofit beneficiaries, situated in the rapidly evolving higher education funding environment.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth interviews with corporate relations officers from public research universities across the USA were conducted. Qualitative coding procedures from Lindlof and Taylor (2019) were employed to analyze transcript data.

Findings

Three main factors have contributed to a rapidly evolving climate for corporate partnerships: CSR partnerships help universities build their reputations rather than endowments; feature new preferences in communication-based stewardship practices; and raise questions about university autonomy and authority.

Research limitations/implications

New interpretations of interdependent relationships and stewardship may be needed to explain new corporate funding models, while threats to nonprofit organizational authority and autonomy may be growing.

Practical implications

Nonprofit practitioners may better understand how to position their organizations as more attractive to corporations while learning how to advocate for mutual benefits. They may also benefit from a new understanding of corporate stewardship.

Originality/value

While previous research has documented detrimental effects to nonprofits in CSR partnerships, higher education fundraisers in this study detail their struggles with new models of measuring success, new expectations for stewarding corporate partners and perceived threats to autonomy. Their voices add to a fuller understanding of rapidly evolving relationship management practices in higher education.
Reliable, valid and efficient evaluation of media messages
Authors: Kim Minji , Cappella Joseph N.
Published: June 2019

Purpose

In the field of public relations and communication management, message evaluation has been one of the starting points for evaluation and measurement research at least since the 1970s. Reliable and valid message evaluation has a central role in message effects research and campaign design in other disciplines as well as communication science. The purpose of this paper is to offer a message testing protocol to efficiently acquire valid and reliable message evaluation data.

Design/methodology/approach

A message testing protocol is described in terms of how to conceptualize and evaluate the content and format of messages, in terms of procedures for acquiring and testing messages and in terms of using efficient, reliable and valid measures of perceived message effectiveness (PME) and perceived argument strength (PAS). The evidence supporting the reliability and validity of PME and PAS measures is reviewed.

Findings

The message testing protocol developed and reported is an efficient, reliable and valid approach for testing large numbers of messages.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers’ ability to select candidate messages for subsequent deeper testing, for various types of communication campaigns, and for research in theory testing contexts is facilitated. Avoiding the limitations of using a single instance of a message to represent a category (also known as the case-category confound) is reduced.

Practical implications

Communication campaign designers are armed with tools to assess messages and campaign concepts quickly and efficiently, reducing pre-testing time and resources while identifying “best-in-show” examples and prototypes.

Originality/value

Message structures are conceptualized in terms of content and format features using theoretically driven constructs. Measures of PAS and PME are reviewed for their reliability, construct and predictive validity, finding that the measures are acceptable surrogates for actual effectiveness for a wide variety of messages and applications. Coupled with procedures that reduce confounding by randomly nesting messages within respondents and respondents to messages, the measures used and protocol deployed offer an efficient and utilitarian approach to message testing and modeling.