bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The impact of purchase goal on wine purchase decisions
Authors: Dobele Angela R. , Greenacre Luke , Fry Jane
Published: February 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of purchasing occasion on product value indicators for a selection of Australian and New Zealand branded wines, as evaluated by consumers. Value indicators were defined as conspicuous or inconspicuous. Conspicuous indicators include corporate advertising, such as the vineyard, region or brand, and are considered the same (or equal) for all recipients. Inconspicuous indicators are less visible and may differ from recipient to recipient, such as referrals. Purchasing occasions are either home (personal and private) or restaurant consumption (personal and public) or as a gift (impersonal and public).

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was used to understand the changing importance of value indicators based on differing purchase goals. The snowball sample was comprised of marketing professionals, who are highly educated and likely to be of prime working age (25-55 years). Initial participants were then asked to forward the email invitation to their networks. The majority of the 298 survey respondents were Australian-born and described themselves as Anglo-Saxon.

Findings

Conspicuous indicators, such as advertising, are given more consideration for impersonal consumption experiences such as gifts or to drink in public. Less conspicuous, but more trustworthy, indicators, (personal recommendations), are more important for personal consumption experiences. These results offer insight into the indicators of product value that marketers could emphasise in their marketing mixes to target consumers buying with different purchase goals in mind and seek new markets.

Research limitations/implications

This study was limited in geographical selection, and the methodology comprised an online survey. The nature of the purchase contexts was deliberately kept broad to highlight the overall impact of value indicators.

Originality/value

While there have been some studies centering on wine purchase and consumption in different situations, direct comparisons between contexts are rare. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by comparing consumer behaviour across wine purchase contexts. The value of this paper stems from deepening understanding of the role of context in purchase decision-making and the implications for marketing practitioners and clearly identified opportunities for future research.
Brand equity in the Portuguese vinho verde “green wine” market
Authors: Brochado Ana , Oliveira Fernando
Published: February 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the main determinants of brand equity in the context of brands defined by their region of origin, as is the case for Portuguese green wine.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from a sample of wine consumers in Portugal through personal interviews (N = 200). Structural equation modelling was then applied to study the causal relationships between brand equity and its dimensions (i.e. brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand association) for top-of-mind green wine brands, based on Aaker’s conceptual Framework (Aaker, 1991).

Findings

The study’s results reveal that brand loyalty is the most influential dimension of brand equity for Portuguese green wine and that the links between brand equity and both brand association and perceived quality are significant. These findings can help Portuguese wineries to prioritise – and allocate resources across – brand equity dimensions.

Originality/value

Although the literature identifies dimensions of brand equity in other industries, the literature on the wine market is still sparse. This study, therefore, contributes to expanding this body of knowledge.
Social value, content value, and brand equity in social media brand communities
Authors: Jiao Yongbing , Ertz Myriam , Jo Myung-Soo , Sarigollu Emine
Published: February 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of culture, personality, and motivation on social and content value, which in turn affect brand equity in social media brand community (SMBC) setting.

Design/methodology/approach

Online surveys were conducted with 595 SMBC participants in China and the USA. AMOS is used in SEM analysis.

Findings

Consumers with collectivistic, extroverted, and extrinsic orientation experience social value through social media participation. In contrast, consumers with individualistic and intrinsic orientation demonstrate content value. Furthermore, Chinese consumers show more social value and the US consumers more content value. Accordingly, the effect of social value (content value) on brand equity is stronger for Chinese (US) consumers.

Research limitations/implications

Culture was assessed only by individualism/collectivism, personality by extroversion/introversion and motivation by extrinsic/intrinsic. Future research should verify external generalizability beyond China and the USA.

Practical implications

Enhanced social and content value through consumers’ social media participation can increase brand equity. Thus, companies should motivate consumers to experience more value via social media participation, and, cultivate a multicultural climate and facilitate the exchange of culture.

Originality/value

First, this research redefines customer value into two components: social and content value. Second, this paper is the first to investigate the antecedents (i.e. culture, personality, and motivation) and the consequence (i.e. brand equity) of customer value in social media community settings. Third, this study illustrates differences in social media customer value experiences of Chinese vs US consumers.
How to improve healthcare? Identify, nurture and embed individuals and teams with “deep smarts”
Authors: Eljiz Kathy , Greenfield David , Molineux John , Sloan Terry
Published: February 2018

Purpose

Unlocking and transferring skills and capabilities in individuals to the teams they work within, and across, is the key to positive organisational development and improved patient care. Using the “deep smarts” model, the purpose of this paper is to examine these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The “deep smarts” model is described, reviewed and proposed as a way of transferring knowledge and capabilities within healthcare organisations.

Findings

Effective healthcare delivery is achieved through, and continues to require, integrative care involving numerous, dispersed service providers. In the space of overlapping organisational boundaries, there is a need for “deep smarts” people who act as “boundary spanners”. These are critical integrative, networking roles employing clinical, organisational and people skills across multiple settings.

Research limitations/implications

Studies evaluating the barriers and enablers to the application of the deep smarts model and 13 knowledge development strategies proposed are required. Such future research will empirically and contemporary ground our understanding of organisational development in modern complex healthcare settings.

Practical implications

An organisation with “deep smarts” people – in managerial, auxiliary and clinical positions – has a greater capacity for integration and achieving improved patient-centred care.

Originality/value

In total, 13 developmental strategies, to transfer individual capabilities into organisational capability, are proposed. These strategies are applicable to different contexts and challenges faced by individuals and teams in complex healthcare organisations.
The ethical gap of firms’ marketing practices
Authors: Oliva Fabio Lotti , Kelle Peter
Published: February 2018

Purpose

The corporate ethical behavior is a subject that instigates the reflection and practice of researchers and managers in general. Companies dedicate efforts to offer something valuable to society, making profits and usually doing it in compliance with the current legal system. Specifically in marketing activities, there is a higher potential for conflict between the business conduct and the expectations of society. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ethical gap of the marketing activities of companies in the Brazilian and French markets.

Design/methodology/approach

As a conceptual framework, the authors adopted the main theories on marketing activities, ethical behavior in marketing and business conduct. The field research was divided into three stages: qualitative research with experts, quantitative research with business managers and validation of results with experts. The analysis of results of the quantitative research with business managers was supported by multivariate analysis techniques, namely, descriptive analysis, cluster analysis and regression analysis.

Findings

In the analysis of results of this study, the authors present the main marketing behaviors in the perception of business ethics in the Brazilian and French markets. In addition, as the main result of the research studies, the authors propose a model for the analysis of ethical gaps in marketing.

Practical implications

The paper proposes a model of analysis of ethical gaps in marketing that relates the omissive and comissive behaviors according to the pressure that society imposes on markets.

Social implications

The paper presents the main marketing behaviors in the perception of business ethics in the Brazilian and French markets. Thus, understanding what are the main marketing behaviors associated with the perception of business ethics allows the organization to leverage its marketing behaviors that are more positive and further develop less positive marketing behaviors.

Originality/value

As the main contribution, this paper proposes a model of analysis of ethical gaps in marketing that relates the omissive and comissive behaviors according to the pressure that society imposes on markets. The model allows the identification of the negative marketing behaviors in the four quadrants designated as opportunism, negligence, recklessness and incompetence. By mapping the problems, it is possible to minimize or eliminate the differences between the marketing behaviors of the company and the expectations of society.
Coal saving in China: from Pareto-Koopmans to Kaldor-Hicks criterion
Authors: Wang Jianlin , Tian Yi , Song Malin , Zhao Jiajia , Li Hongzhou
Published: February 2018

Purpose

In the creation of coal consumption reduction policy, the Chinese Government selected eight provinces as key provinces and encouraged them to replace coal with other non-coal energy, involving Kaldor-Hicks improvement. The purpose of this paper is to answer how much coal can be conserved if Kaldor-Hicks improvement is considered.

Design/methodology/approach

A DEA model reflecting Kaldor-Hicks improvement is suggested to calculate the potential of coal reduction, and an endogenous directional distance function model is proposed to calculate the energy consumption efficiency.

Findings

The results show that the non-key provinces wasted more coal than the key provinces, although the latter are of more concern. From the Kaldor-Hicks criterion, ten non-key provinces in a certain year can save more coal from an energy substitution policy and eight key provinces cannot. Through measurement of coal and energy efficiency, it is also found that provinces with an abundance of coal perform the worst in China.

Originality/value

Previous studies measuring Chinese saving potential of coal mainly focused on Pareto-Koopmans criterion, not consistent to policy practices. This study changes to Kaldor-Hicks criterion, allowing to make some factors better off and other factors worse off.
Actor engagement valence
Authors: Li Loic Pengtao , Juric Biljana , Brodie Roderick J.
Published: February 2018

Purpose

Valence is one of the key dimensions underlying actor engagement, yet there is limited research to provide a comprehensive understanding of the concept. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise engagement valence in actor networks and develop an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The exploration of the psychological foundations of the concept of valence and a systematic literature review from a multiple database search contribute to four sets of propositions defining the domain of the concept of actor engagement valence.

Findings

The propositions posit that valence resides in the engaging actor’s past, current and future psychological dispositions, which can shift between positive, negative and ambivalence. Actor engagement valence is triggered by the engagement objects and value propositions of other actors in the network. The antecedents of actor engagement valence comprise individual factors such as cognitive evaluations and hedonic feelings, as well as network-related factors such as social norms and shared beliefs, and the network structure. The net balance of actor engagement valence determines the actor’s engagement behaviours, and this relationship is moderated by individual and network factors.

Originality/value

This is the first study to conceptualise actor engagement valence, which contributes to the refinement of the actor engagement concept. This research defines the conceptual domain, deepens the understanding and provides an agenda for future research into the valence of engagement among actors in networks. The study recognises the institutional influences on actor engagement valence, and contributes to an understanding of the nature of actors’ psychological dispositions and how their valence determines the actors’ behavioural engagement manifestations.
Nurses first: so that patients can receive first rate care
Authors: Wood Rachel Louise
Published: February 2018

Purpose

Through the discussion of two case studies, the purpose of this paper is to suggest that nurses may drive themselves to achieve the impossible. Professional bodies and health care expert emphasise the importance of always putting the interests, health and wellbeing of patients first. Could this be at the expense of nurses’ health, thus limiting their capacity to provide quality care for their patients?

Design/methodology/approach

The two case studies discussed offer examples of how two nurses nearly lost their lives in their personal drive to deliver quality nursing care in adverse conditions. The paper is based upon the hypothesis that an organisation which invests in the development of a healthy workplace culture, in which staff are put first, will not only enhance the health and wellbeing of its staff, but will ultimately result in the development of a culture which will empower staff to deliver the highest quality of care.

Findings

These case studies not only offer an example of the risk of neglecting self-care, the risk to Ben and Lily who quickly changed roles from nurse to patient, but also the risk to the quality of health care as a consequence of not paying due attention to the health and wellbeing of nurses (Crane and Ward, 2016). This paper suggests a radical and no doubt controversial shift of focus. Treat nurses as patients, obsess about the quality of their care, to create a culture in which nurses are nurtured so that they can in turn, and they will, nurture their patients.

Social implications

The Royal College of Nursing, the nursing professional body and trade union for all nurses have actively campaigned for a safe and health workplace for the last three years. They support RCN Safety Representatives to work with employers to develop a safe and health working environment for Staff. An important part of this work is the Healthy You Campaign. This has resulted in a series of learning and development workshops for nurses and the development of supporting resources to empower nurses to take care of themselves (www.rcn.org.uk/healthy-workplace).

Originality/value

These case studies and the resulting discussions are the author’s own original work, and have not previously been submitted for publication elsewhere.
Professional identity in service work: why front-line employees do what they do
Authors: Echeverri Per , Åkesson Maria
Published: February 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key elements of professional identity in service work in order to provide more in-depth theoretical explanations as to why service workers do as they do while co-creating service.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes a multi-perspective on professional identity, i.e. using both an employee and a customer perspective, arguing that the phenomenon mainly consists of what these interactants jointly do during the service interaction and of the meanings that are attributed to it. The authors draw on a detailed empirical study of professionals working at a customer centre. Methodologically, the study is based on practice theory, which helps us to illuminate and analyse both the micro practices and the meaning attributed to the professional identity of service workers.

Findings

The key elements of professional identity in service work are outlined within a framework that describes and explains three different facets of the service workers’ professional identity, i.e. as a core (i.e. individual resources, cognitive understanding, interaction), as conditions (i.e. service prerequisites), and as contour (i.e. demeanour and functions).

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on an empirical data set from a public transport customer centre. As the results are limited to one context, they do not provide statistical generalizability. Although limited to one service industry, the findings may still be of high relevance to a wide range of service organisations.

Practical implications

The study shows the significance of managers not just talking about the importance of being service-minded; more exactly, a wide range of service prerequisites, beyond cognitive understanding, needs to be in place. It is crucial that service workers are given the time to develop their contextual knowledge of their customers, and of other parts of the service organisation.

Originality/value

This study offers original empirical contributions concerning the key elements of professional identity. An alternative conceptualization of professional identity is provided, through which the paper adds to service research, explaining more specifically what kinds of knowledge and skills are in use during the co-creation of services.
Parental control application on Android platform
Authors: Widyatri Irwanto , Salman Afan Galih , Kanigoro Bayu
Published: February 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to build the Android-based applications for parent to supervise, control and restrict the children’s usage of the smartphone and tablet.

Design/methodology/approach

The method used is the method of analysis, i.e. collection of necessary data. The data are collected from journals, articles, books, questionnaires and the similar application analysis.

Findings

The GPS tracking feature of the parental control application facilitates searching the children’s location by indicating the location where they used their Android device. The history feature of the parental control facilitates finding out what application was accessed by their children through their Android-based application, and the time limit feature of the parental control application facilitates restriction on time that the children spend on their Android-based gadgets, so that they will not be addicted to the gadget.

Originality/value

The parental control application for the Android platform provides users or parents a means for managing the young generation’s usage of an Android-based mobile device.
Fast and furious: how the open vs closed dilemma affects the technology diffusion dynamic
Authors: Parmentola Adele , Simoni Michele , Tutore Ilaria
Published: February 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive theoretical framework to explain the different diffusion dynamics of a technology realized under an open source (OS) regime vs a technology realized under a closed-proprietary (CP) regime.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a systematic combining approach, theoretical predictions derived from literature on diffusion of innovation and on open innovation were matched with empirical observations derived from a case study of two mobile operation systems, which were released under different technological regimes.

Findings

This paper proposes a theoretical framework and a set of original theoretical propositions that can help to explain the differences in the diffusion dynamics of technologies that are released under different regimes (i.e. CP vs OS).

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides managers a better understanding of the diffusion dynamics of technologies released according to an open innovation strategy. In addition, the empirical case study improves the understanding of an important industry (the MOS industry) that has not been fully investigated from the innovation diffusion perspective. Nevertheless, the efficacy and generalizability of the theoretical framework proposed in this paper require future empirical tests.

Originality/value

This paper makes an original contribution to the open innovation and innovation diffusion literature by linking, in a conceptual model, three antecedents of the diffusion of a new technology that previous literature has considered only separately: the regime under which the technology is released (OS vs CP), the contingencies related to the characteristics of the technology and to the network of its adopters, and the resulting barriers to adoption.
Analyzing National Electronic Theses and Dissertations programs from business model perspective
Authors: Rasuli Behrooz , Alipour-Hafezi Mehdi , Solaimani Sam
Published: February 2018

Purpose

Implementing and maintaining Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) program at a national level encounters numerous difficulties in particular from technical, legal, business, and financial perspective. Business model (BM) is a tool to help to address business-driven challenges, such as business feasibility and viability, as one of the important aspects. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the BM practiced by different national Electronic Theses and Dissertations (NETDs) cases.

Design/methodology/approach

BM of seven NETDs programs have been studied through an online questionnaire; besides, programs’ websites were observed and related documents were examined. Business model canvas (BMC) was used to describe the business rationale behind the selected cases.

Findings

Most of the NETDs programs lack a documented BM. The main value of these programs is sharing ETDs which is offered to academics through online channels; skillful staff and proper hardware/software are their main resources to do so. Furthermore, their key activities are developing hardware/software and negotiating with ETDs owners as their key partners. All these activities required huge cost which is generally covered by public funding.

Originality/value

This study pioneers in applying BM concept into field of NETDs. Therefore, the major contribution of this study is to provide an analysis of NETDs programs’ BM through BMC. Furthermore, the paper provides recommendations on how ETDs could be implemented in a cost effective, sustainable, and viable way.
From sPassion to sWOM: the role of flow
Authors: Herrando Carolina , Jimenez-Martinez Julio , Martin De Hoyos M. Jose
Published: February 2018

Purpose

Social commerce websites entail a completely new scenario for sharing experiences and opinions due to its richness in terms of social interactions. Nowadays, users can interact with the company and with other users; hence, it seems important to study how social stimuli affect users. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response framework and flow theory, the purpose of this paper is to propose that the social stimulus (named social passion (sPassion)) has a positive effect on the organism (state of flow), which leads to a users’ positive response (via social word of mouth (sWOM)).

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected through an online survey in 2015. The sample consists of 771 users of social commerce websites, of which 51 percent are male and 49 percent female, aged between 16 and 80 years old. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data with the statistical software SPSS version 22 and EQS 6.

Findings

The empirical results confirm that passionate users are prone to experience a state of flow and, as a consequence, share positive sWOM.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on customers’ online participation, and the findings are hoped to help companies in developing social commerce websites that boost users’ exchange of information.
Non-wearable human identification sensors for smart home environment: a review
Authors: Mokhtari Ghassem , Bashi Nazli , Zhang Qing , Nourbakhsh Ghavam
Published: February 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a review of different types of non-wearable human identification sensors which can be applied for smart home environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors performed a systematic review to assess and compare different types of non-wearable and non-intrusive human identification sensors used in smart home environment. The literature research adds up to 5,567 records from 2000 to 2016, out of which 40 articles were screened and selected for this review.

Findings

In this review, the authors classified non-wearable human identification technologies into four main groups, namely, object-based, footstep-based, body shape-based and gait-based identification technologies. Assessing these four group of identification technologies showed that the maturity of non-wearable identification is not high and most of these technologies are verified in a lab environment. Additionally, footstep-based identification is the most popular identification approach listed in the literature.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on human identification technologies in several ways. This paper identifies the state-of-the-art regarding non-wearable technologies which can be used in smart home environment. Moreover, the results of this paper can provide a better understanding of advantages and disadvantages of the non-wearable identification technologies.
Overhead ground wire detection by fusion global and local features and supervised learning method for a cable inspection robot
Authors: Ye Xuhui , Wu Gongping , Fan Fei , Peng XiangYang , Wang Ke
Published: February 2018

Purpose

An accurate detection of overhead ground wire under open surroundings with varying illumination is the premise of reliable line grasping with the off-line arm when the inspection robot cross obstacle automatically. This paper aims to propose an improved approach which is called adaptive homomorphic filter and supervised learning (AHSL) for overhead ground wire detection.

Design/methodology/approach

First, to decrease the influence of the varying illumination caused by the open work environment of the inspection robot, the adaptive homomorphic filter is introduced to compensation the changing illumination. Second, to represent ground wire more effectively and to extract more powerful and discriminative information for building a binary classifier, the global and local features fusion method followed by supervised learning method support vector machine is proposed.

Findings

Experiment results on two self-built testing data sets A and B which contain relative older ground wires and relative newer ground wire and on the field ground wires show that the use of the adaptive homomorphic filter and global and local feature fusion method can improve the detection accuracy of the ground wire effectively. The result of the proposed method lays a solid foundation for inspection robot grasping the ground wire by visual servo.

Originality/value

This method AHSL has achieved 80.8 per cent detection accuracy on data set A which contains relative older ground wires and 85.3 per cent detection accuracy on data set B which contains relative newer ground wires, and the field experiment shows that the robot can detect the ground wire accurately. The performance achieved by proposed method is the state of the art under open environment with varying illumination.
Burden of atopic dermatitis in Japanese adults: Analysis of data from the 2013 National Health and Wellness Survey
Authors: Arima Kazuhiko , Gupta Shaloo , Gadkari Abhijit , Hiragun Takaaki , Kono Takeshi , Katayama Ichiro , Demiya Sven , Eckert Laurent
Published: February 2018

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. The objective of this study was to characterize the burden of atopic dermatitis in Japanese adult patients relative to the general population. Japanese adults (≥18 years) with a self‐reported diagnosis of atopic dermatitis and adult controls without atopic dermatitis/eczema/dermatitis were identified from the 2013 Japan National Health and Wellness Survey. Atopic dermatitis patients were propensity‐score matched with non‐atopic dermatitis controls (1:2 ratio) on demographic variables. Patient‐reported outcome data on comorbidities, mood and sleep disorders, health‐related quality of life, work productivity and activity impairment, and health‐care resource utilization were analyzed in atopic dermatitis patients and matched controls. A total of 638 Japanese adult patients with atopic dermatitis were identified, of whom 290 (45.5%) rated their disease as “moderate/severe” and 348 (54.5%) as “mild”. The analysis cohort comprised 634 atopic dermatitis patients and 1268 matched controls. Atopic dermatitis patients reported a significantly higher prevalence of arthritis, asthma, nasal allergies/hay fever, anxiety, depression and sleep disorders compared with controls (all P < 0.001). Atopic dermatitis patients also reported a significantly poorer health‐related quality of life, higher overall work and activity impairment, and higher health‐care resource utilization (all P < 0.001). Self‐rated disease severity was not associated with disease burden, except for a significantly higher overall work and activity impairment. In conclusion, Japanese adult patients with atopic dermatitis reported a substantial disease burden relative to adults without atopic dermatitis, suggesting an unmet need for effective strategies targeting disease management.
Special AT‐rich sequence binding protein 1 is required for maintenance of T cell receptor responsiveness and development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Akiba Yasushi , Kuwabara Taku , Mukozu Takanori , Mikami Tetuo , Kondo Motonari
Published: February 2018

The genome organizer special AT‐rich sequence binding protein 1 (SATB1) regulates specific functions through chromatin remodeling in T helper cells. It was recently reported by our team that T cells from SATB1 conditional knockout (SATB1cKO) mice, in which the Satb1 gene is deleted from hematopoietic cells, impair phosphorylation of signaling molecules in response to T cell receptor (TCR) crosslinking. However, in vivo T cell responses upon antigen presentation in the absence of SATB1 remain unclear. In the current study, it was shown that SATB1 modulates T cell antigen responses during the induction and effector phases. Expression of SATB1 was upregulated in response to TCR stimulation, suggesting that SATB1 is important for this antigen response. The role of SATB1 in TCR responses and induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was therefore examined using the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide 35‐55 (MOG35‐55) and pertussis toxin. SATB1cKO mice were found to be resistant to EAE and had defects in IL‐17‐ and IFN‐γ‐producing pathogenic T cells. Thus, SATB1 expression appears necessary for T cell function in the induction phase. To examine SATB1 function during the effector phase, a tamoxifen‐inducible SATB1 deletion system, SATB1cKO‐ER‐Cre mice, was used. Encephalitogenic T cells from MOG35‐55‐immunized SATB1cKO‐ER‐Cre mice were transferred into healthy mice. Mice that received tamoxifen before the onset of paralysis were resistant to EAE. Furthermore, no disease progression occurred in recipient mice treated with tamoxifen after the onset of EAE. Thus, SATB1 is essential for maintaining TCR responsiveness during the induction and effector phases and may provide a novel therapeutic target for T cell‐mediated autoimmune diseases.
Myanmar's gender paradox
Authors: McKay Melyn , Win Khin Chit
Published: February 2018

The tendency to conflate Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis with anti‐Muslim sentiment in the country more broadly, confuses analyses of influential institutions, notably the civilian government, military, and Buddhist Sangha. The authors discuss the perspectives of female religious nationalists in Myanmar as a means of exploring anti‐Muslim sentiment and grassroots support for Burmese Buddhist chauvinism. They suggest that women’s perspectives help to make sense of the disjuncture between Burmese and international interpretations of the events in Rakhine state and that though women currently play an important role in normalizing anti‐Muslim discourse, there are opportunities to reach them through dialogue that acknowledges their experiences of marginalization.
Crimes against cultural heritage in Timbuktu
Authors: Joy Charlotte Louise
Published: February 2018

On 3 March 2016, Ahmad al‐Faqi al‐Mahdi sat in a courtroom at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and became the first person to be prosecuted for the destruction of cultural sites as a war crime. In this article, the author argues that it is no coincidence that the first case the ICC has brought to justice involves a UNESCO World Heritage site. She charts the history of the relationship between Mali and UNESCO and the history of Islam in Mali. Through taking a historical perspective, current events can be seen as part of an ongoing ‘conversation’ about the future of the country. The ICC trial also has wider ramifications for the anthropological study of material culture and cultural heritage as it resists a plural understanding of people’s entanglement with sites and objects and demands instead a return to certainty.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): The ritual moment of social death
Authors: Parish Jane
Published: February 2018

This article is an ethnographic study of individuals self‐diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in Liverpool, UK. While much research on OCD has concentrated upon superstitious belief, psychosis and anxiety provoking disorder, the article focuses upon the relationship between the familiar and the strange in ordinary life, the ‘disquieting familiar’, captured by the Freudian idea of the uncanny. It investigates how misfortune, as opposed to psychological neurosis, becomes attached to mass‐produced objects and routines – the obsessive touching of kitchen taps, the compulsive checking of bank cards – and how repetitive rituals enacted by individuals are revealing of the effort to prevent the emergence of apprehension concealed in everyday habitus and physical, concrete activity.
Political differentiation and the problem of dominance: Segmentation and hegemony
Authors: ERIKSEN ERIK O.
Published: February 2018

At first glance, one might view the political differentiation in the European Union as a reflection of the autonomy of its member states, signifying flexibility and the dispersion of democratic control. However, under conditions of complex interdependence and economic integration, political differentiation can undermine the fundamental conditions for democratic self‐rule. Political differentiation may cause dominance. It is argued in this article that we must move beyond Philip Pettit's conception of dominance as the capacity to interfere with others on an arbitrary basis, in order to properly identify the undemocratic consequences of differentiation. Political freedom is also a question of institutional provisions to co‐determine laws. From this vantage point, differentiation raises the spectre of dominance in the form of decisional exclusion and the pre‐emption of political autonomy. Drawing on a re‐conceptualisation of dominance, the effects of differentiation on the possibility of self‐rule are examined, and two systematic effects of political differentiation are identified. It is argued thatsegmentationis the systemic effect of differentiation in the vertical dimension of integration. Here, dominance occurs in the form of exclusion from decision‐making bodies and the denial of choice opportunities. In the external horizontal dimension, the systemic effect of differentiation ishegemony. Some states are vulnerable to arbitrary interference and the pre‐emption of public autonomy. The article discusses developments within the Eurozone as a case of segmentation and the statues of associated non‐members as a case of hegemony. With regard to the latter, we are faced with the phenomenon of self‐incurred dominance.
Immune response‐related genes associated to blocking midgut dengue virus infection in Aedes aegypti strains that differ in susceptibility
Authors: Caicedo Paola A. , Serrato Idalba Mildred , Sim Shuzhen , Dimopoulos George , Coatsworth Heather , Lowenberger Carl , Ocampo Clara B.
Published: February 2018

Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti, the principal global vector of dengue viruses, has differences in its susceptibility to dengue virus infection. We compared the global expression of genes in the midguts of Colombian Ae. aegypti dengue‐susceptible (Cali‐S) and dengue‐refractory (Cali‐MIB) field derived strains after ingesting either a sugarmeal, a bloodmeal, or a bloodmeal containing dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV‐2). Microarray‐based transcriptome analysis among treatments indicated a total of 4725 transcripts with differential expression between the two strains. Eleven genes were selected from different functional groups based on their significant up or down expression levels as well as reports in the literature suggesting they are associated with dengue virus elimination. We measured mRNA abundance of these 11 genes at 0, 8, 24, and 36 h postinfection using quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) to confirm the microarray results and assess any temporal patterns. Four genes were selected (Gram‐negative binding protein—GNBP [AAEL009176], Niemann Pick Type‐C2—NPC2 [AAEL015136], Keratinocyte lectin [AAEL009842], and Cathepsin‐b [AAEL007585]) for knockdown experiments using RNA interference (RNAi) methodology to determine the phenotype (DENV‐2 susceptible or refractory). Silencing GNBP, Cathepsin‐b and Keratinocyte lectin reduced the percentage of mosquitoes with disseminated virus in the Cali‐S strain to 8%, 20%, and 12% respectively compared with 96% in the controls. Silencing of NPC2 increased the percentage of mosquitos with disseminated virus infections in Cali‐MIB to 66% compared with 35% in the controls. This study provides insight into genes that may contribute to the Cali‐S susceptible and Cali‐MIB refractory phenotypes in Ae. aegypti.
Effects of Emulsifier, Overrun and Dasher Speed on Ice Cream Microstructure and Melting Properties
Authors: Warren Maya M. , Hartel Richard W.
Published: February 2018

Ice cream is a multiphase frozen food containing ice crystals, air cells, fat globules, and partially coalesced fat globule clusters dispersed in an unfrozen serum phase (sugars, proteins, and stabilizers). This microstructure is responsible for ice cream's melting characteristics. By varying both formulation (emulsifier content and overrun) and processing conditions (dasher speed), the effects of different microstructural elements, particularly air cells and fat globule clusters, on ice cream melt‐down properties were studied.

Factors that caused an increase in shear stress within the freezer, namely increasing dasher speed and overrun, caused a decrease in air cell size and an increase in extent of fat destabilization. Increasing emulsifier content, especially of polysorbate 80, caused an increase in extent of fat destabilization. Both overrun and fat destabilization influenced drip‐through rates. Ice creams with a combination of low overrun and low fat destabilization had the highest drip‐through rates. Further, the amount of remnant foam left on the screen increased with reduced drip‐through rates. These results provide a better understanding of the effects of microstructure components and their interactions on drip‐through rate.

Practical Applications

Manipulating operating and formulation parameters in ice cream manufacture influences the microstructure (air cells, ice crystals, and fat globule clusters). This work provides guidance on which parameters have most effect on air cell size and fat globule cluster formation. Further, the structural characteristics that reduce melt‐down rate were determined. Ice cream manufacturers will use these results to tailor their products for the desired quality attributes.
Endoscopic suturing for the management of recurrent dislodgment of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy‐jejunostomy tube
Authors: Agnihotri Abhishek , Barola Sindhu , Hill Christine , Mishra Priya , Fayad Lea , Dunlap Margo , Moran Robert A , Singh Vikesh K , Kalloo Anthony N , Khashab Mouen A , Kumbhari Vivek
Published: February 2018

Objective

To describe a novel technique for the prevention of recurrent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy‐jejunostomy (PEG‐J) tube dislodgements and assess its feasibility and efficacy. This technique utilizes endoscopic suturing to secure the PEG‐J tube to the gastric wall.

Methods

This was a retrospective analysis of consecutive cases of recurrent PEG‐J tube dislodgements referred to a single endoscopist between June 2016 and June 2017, using an endoscopic suturing system to secure the PEG‐J tube directly to the gastric wall. Technical success rates, the procedure time and related adverse events were analyzed.

Results

There were five patients in total (three females). The procedure was technically successful in all patients. There were no procedure‐related adverse events. The mean duration of follow‐up was 7.8 ± 5.1 months. Two patients had accidental dislodgement at 8.5 and 12 months, respectively. There were no other unintended dislodgements.

Conclusion

Endoscopic suturing with internal fixation of PEG‐J tube is a safe and feasible approach to manage recurrent unintended dislodgements.
An Investigation of Errors in Distributed Models' Stream Discharge Prediction Due to Channel Routing
Authors: ElSaadani Mohamed , Krajewski Witold F. , Goska Radoslaw , Smith Michael B.
Published: February 2018

Over the summer of 2015, the National Water Center hosted the National Flood Interoperability Experiment (NFIE) Summer Institute. The NFIE organizers introduced a national‐scale distributed hydrologic modeling framework that can provide flow estimates at around 2.67 million reaches within the continental United States. The framework generates discharges by coupling a given Land Surface Model (LSM) with the Routing Application for Parallel Computation of Discharge (RAPID). These discharges are then accumulated through the National Hydrography Dataset Plus stream network. The framework can utilize a variety of LSMs to provide the runoff maps to the routing component. The results obtained from this framework suggested that there still exists room for further enhancements to its performance, especially in the area of peak timing and magnitude. The goal of our study was to investigate a single source of the errors in the framework's discharge estimates, which is the routing component. The authors substitute RAPID which is based on the simplified linear Muskingum routing method by the nonlinear routing component the Iowa Flood Center have incorporated in their full hydrologic Hillslope‐Link Model. Our results show improvement in model performance across scales due to incorporating new routing methodology.
A fungal mock community control for amplicon sequencing experiments
Authors: Bakker Matthew G.
Published: February 2018

Microbial ecology has been profoundly advanced by the ability to profile complex microbial communities by sequencing of marker genes amplified from environmental samples. However, inclusion of appropriate controls is vital to revealing the limitations and biases of this technique. “Mock community” samples, in which the composition and relative abundances of community members are known, are particularly valuable for guiding library preparation and data processing decisions. I generated a set of three mock communities using 19 different fungal taxa and demonstrate their utility by contrasting amplicon sequencing data obtained for the same communities under modifications to PCR conditions during library preparation. Increasing the number of PCR cycles elevated rates of chimera formation, and of errors in the final data set. Extension time during PCR had little impact on chimera formation, error rate or observed community structure. Polymerase fidelity impacted error rates significantly. Despite a high error rate, a master mix optimized to minimize amplification bias yielded profiles that were most similar to the true community structure. Bias against particular taxa differed among ITS1 vs. ITS2 loci. Preclustering nearly identical reads substantially reduced error rates, but did not improve similarity to the expected community structure. Inaccuracies in amplicon sequence‐based estimates of fungal community structure were associated with amplification bias and size selection processes, as well as variable culling rates among reads from different taxa. In some cases, the numerically dominant taxon was completely absent from final data sets, highlighting the need for further methodological improvements to avoid biased observations of community profiles.
Clinical patterns and management of primary mucosal melanoma: a single centre experience
Authors: Ng Yvonne Y. R. , Tan Grace H. C. , Quek Richard H. H. , Farid Mohamad B. H. R. , Soo Khee Chee , Teo Melissa C. C.
Published: February 2018

Background

Primary mucosal melanomas (MM) are rare neoplasms arising from melanocytes in mucosal membranes. Delayed diagnosis and aggressive disease biology contribute to a poorer prognosis. The clinical patterns of MMs treated in a large tertiary centre, and the differences between MMs in the head and neck versus other anatomical sites are described.

Methods

A retrospective review of 43 patients diagnosed with MM in the head and neck, urogenital, esophageal and anorectal sites from 1993 to 2015 was conducted.

Results

Distribution of head and neck, urogenital and gastrointestinal MM were 42, 30 and 28% respectively. Disease extent was local in 44%, regional in 40% and distal in 12% at diagnosis. Head and neck MMs were more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier stage as compared to other sites (P = 0.04). Surgery was performed with curative intent in 72%, while 2% had palliative surgery for symptom control. Of the remaining patients who did not undergo surgery, four had palliative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Median disease‐free survival was 13 months (1–179 months). There was a significantly longer time to locoregional recurrence in head and neck MM (16 months) compared to other sites (11 months) (P = 0.03). The 2‐year overall survival was also significantly higher in head and neck MM (P = 0.003).

Conclusion

MM of the head and neck is diagnosed at an earlier stage and associated with a longer time to locoregional recurrence. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment and may offer long‐term survival benefit in selected patients.