bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Curriculum in early childhood education: critical questions about content, coherence, and control
Authors: Wood Elizabeth , Hedges Helen 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACTA continuing struggle over curriculum in early childhood education is evident in contemporary research and debate at national and international levels. This reflects the dominant influence of developmental psychology in international discourses, and in policy frameworks that determine approaches to curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. Focusing on early childhood education, we argue that this struggle generates critical questions about three significant themes within curriculum theory: content, coherence, and control. We outline two positions from which these themes can be understood: Developmental and Educational Psychology and contemporary policy frameworks. We argue that within and between these positions, curriculum content, coherence, and control are viewed in different and sometimes oppositional ways. Following this analysis, we propose that a focus on ‘working theories’ as a third position offers possibilities for addressing some of these continuing struggles, by exploring different implications for how content, coherence, and control might be understood. We conclude that asking critical questions of curriculum in early childhood education is a necessary endeavour to develop alternative theoretical frameworks for understanding the ways in which curriculum can be considered alongside pedagogy, assessment, play, and learning.
Institutions of economic freedom and generalized trust: evidence from the Eurobarometer surveys
Authors: Saravia Antonio 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT
We investigate the correlation between institutions of economic freedom and generalized trust. The data we use are derived from the Eurobarometer surveys and measure how trustworthy nationals of a particular country are in the eyes of nationals of other countries. By using these data we avoid the presence of double causality between institutions of economic freedom and generalized trust that has been recognized as a major challenge in the literature. Indeed, external perceptions of trustworthiness are exogenous to the internal institutional building process. We find that during the 1980s and 1990s a 10% increase in the Economic Freedom of the World Index was associated with a 2.5% increase in generalized trust in the countries in our sample.
Confirmation of PDZD7 as a Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss Gene
Authors: Vona Barbara , Lechno Stanislav , Hofrichter Michaela A. H. , Hopf Susanne , Läßig Anne K. , Haaf Thomas , Keilmann Annerose , Zechner Ulrich , Bartsch Oliver 
Published: February 2016

Objective:

PDZD7 was identified in 2009 in a family with apparent nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss. However, subsequent clinical reports have associated PDZD7 with digenic Usher syndrome, the most common cause of deaf-blindness, or as a modifier of retinal disease. No further reports have validated this gene for nonsyndromic hearing loss, intuitively calling correct genotype–phenotype association into question. This report describes a validating second case for biallelic mutations in PDZD7 causing nonsyndromic mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss. It also provides detailed audiometric and ophthalmologic data excluding Usher syndrome in both the present proband (proband 1) and the first proband described in 2009 (proband 2).

Design:
Proband 1 was sequenced using a custom-designed next generation sequencing panel consisting of 151 deafness genes. Bioinformatics analysis and filtering disclosed two PDZD7 sequence variants (c.1648C>T, p.Q550* and c.2107del, p.S703Vfs*20). Segregation testing followed in the family. For both probands, audiograms were collected and analyzed for progressive hearing loss and detailed ophthalmic evaluations were performed including electroretinography.

Results:
Proband 1 demonstrated a prelingual, nonsyndromic, sensorineural hearing loss that progressed in the higher frequencies between 4 and 9 years old. PDZD7 segregation analysis confirmed biallelic inheritance (compound heterozygosity). Mutation analysis determined the c.1648C>T mutation as novel and reported the c.2107del deletion as rs397516633 with a calculated minor allele frequency of 0.000018. Clinical evaluation spanning well over a decade in proband 2 disclosed bilateral, nonprogressive hearing loss. Both probands showed healthy retinas, excluding Usher syndrome-like changes in the eye.

Conclusions:

PDZD7 is confirmed as a bona fide autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss gene. In both probands, there was no evidence of impaired vision or ophthalmic pathology. As the current understanding of PDZD7 mutations bridge Mendelian and complex phenotypes, the authors recommend careful variant interpretation, since PDZD7 is one of many genes associated with both Usher syndrome and autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss. Additional reports are required for understanding the complete phenotypic spectrum of this gene, including the possibility of high-frequency progression, as well as noise-induced hearing loss susceptibility in adult carriers. This report rules out all forms of Usher syndrome with an onset before 12 and 15 years old in probands 1 and 2, respectively. However, due to the young ages of the probands, this report is uninformative regarding older patients.
Risk factors associated with refractoriness to esophageal dilatation for benign dysphagia
Authors: Rodrigues-Pinto Eduardo , Pereira Pedro , Ribeiro Armando , Lopes Susana , Moutinho-Ribeiro Pedro , Silva Marco , Peixoto Armando , Gaspar Rui , Macedo Guilherme 
Published: February 2016

Background
Benign esophageal strictures need repeated dilatations to relieve dysphagia. Literature is scarce on the risk factors for refractoriness of these strictures.

Aim
This study aimed to assess the risk factors associated with refractory strictures.

Materials and methods
This is a retrospective study of patients with benign esophageal strictures who were referred for esophageal dilatation over a period of 3 years.

Results
A total of 327 esophageal dilatations were performed in 103 patients; 53% of the patients reported dysphagia for liquids. Clinical success was achieved in 77% of the patients. There was a need for further dilatations in 54% of patients, being more frequent in patients with dysphagia for liquids [78 vs. 64%, P=0.008, odds ratio (OR) 1.930], in those with caustic strictures (89 vs. 70%, P=0.007, OR 3.487), and in those with complex strictures (83 vs. 70%, P=0.047, OR 2.132). Caustic strictures, peptic strictures, and complex strictures showed statistical significance in the multivariate analysis. Time until subsequent dilatations was less in patients with dysphagia for liquids (49 vs. 182 days, P<0.001), in those with peptic strictures (49 vs. 98 days, P=0.004), in those with caustic strictures (49 vs. 78 days, P=0.005), and in patients with complex strictures (47 vs. 80 days P=0.009). In multivariate analysis, further dilatations occurred earlier in patients with dysphagia for liquids [hazard ratio (HR) 1.506, P=0.004], in those with peptic strictures (HR 1.644, P=0.002), in those with caustic strictures (HR 1.581, P=0.016), and in patients with complex strictures (HR 1.408, P=0.046).

Conclusion
Caustic, peptic, and complex strictures were associated with a greater need for subsequent dilatations. Time until subsequent dilatations was less in patients with dysphagia for liquids and in those with caustic, peptic, and complex strictures.
Reaction-Diffusion Model of PDGF-driven Recruitment in Experimental Glioblastoma
Authors: Massey Susan Christine , Swanson Kristin R. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractPlatelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) drives the formation of gliomas in an experimental animal model, which notably involves the recruitment of large numbers of glial progenitor cells. (Assanah 2006). In order to understand the underlying mechanism, particularly what factors influence the degree of recruitment, and how varied amounts of PDGF would affect the gross characteristics and overall appearance of tumors in the brain, we adapted a reaction diffusion model of glioma, which has been used for analyzing clinical data, to model the interactions at play in these experimental models.
Information-dependent Enrichment Analysis Reveals Time-dependent Transcriptional Regulation of the Estrogen Pathway of Toxicity
Authors: Pendse Salil N. , Maertens Alexandra , Rosenberg Michael , Roy Dipanwita , Fasani Rick A. , Vantangoli Marguerite M. , Madnick Samantha J. , Boekelheide Kim , Fornace Albert J. , Yager James D. , Hartung Thomas , Andersen Melvin E. , McMullen Patrick D. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe twenty-first century vision for toxicology involves a transition away from high-dose animal studies and intoin vitroand computational models. This movement requires mapping pathways of toxicity through an understanding of howin vitrosystems respond to chemical perturbation. Uncovering transcription factors responsible for gene expression patterns is essential for defining pathways of toxicity, and ultimately, for determining chemical mode of action, through which a toxicant acts. Traditionally this is achieved via chromatin immunoprecipitation studies and summarized by calculating, which transcription factors are statistically associated with the up-and down-regulated genes. These lists are commonly determined via statistical or fold-change cutoffs, a procedure that is sensitive to statistical power and may not be relevant to determining transcription factor associations. To move away from an arbitrary statistical or fold-change based cutoffs, we have developed in the context of the Mapping the Human Toxome project, a novel enrichment paradigm called Information Dependent Enrichment Analysis (IDEA) to guide identification of the transcription factor network. We used the test case of endocrine disruption of MCF-7 cells activated by 17β estradiol (E2). Using this new approach, we were able to establish a time course for transcriptional and functional responses to E2. ERα and ERβ are associated with short-term transcriptional changes in response to E2. Sustained exposure leads to the recruitment of an additional ensemble of transcription factors and alteration of cell-cycle machinery. TFAP2C and SOX2 were the transcription factors most highly correlated with dose. E2F7, E2F1 and Foxm1, which are involved in cell proliferation, were enriched only at 24h. IDEA is, therefore, a novel tool to identify candidate pathways of toxicity, clearly outperforming Gene-set Enrichment Analysis but with similar results as Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis, which helps to identify genes not annotated to pathways.
Context, not predictions: a field study of financial analysts
Authors: Imam Shahed , Spence Crawford 
Published: February 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the nature of the work that financial analysts actually do in the context of the market for information and to further open up research in this area to qualitative and sociological inquiry.

Design/methodology/approach
– A field study with 49 financial analysts (both buy-side and sell-side) was undertaken in order to understand the work that they actually do. This field study was theoretically informed by the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu.

Findings
– The authors find, in contrast to both conventional wisdom and assumptions in prior (mostly quantitative) literature, that the primary value of sell-side analyst work lies not in the recommendations that analysts ultimately produce, but in the rich contextual information that they provide to buy-side analysts. In order to successfully provide this information, analysts have to embody large amounts of technical capital into their habitus.

Research limitations/implications
– Much research in this area erroneously presumes that forecasting is the primary function of analysts. Analyst work needs to be understood as multifarious and requiring a well-developed habitus that is attuned to the accumulation of both technical and social capital. Future qualitative research might usefully explore in more detail the way in which corporate managers interact with analysts. The present study solicits the viewpoints only of the analysts themselves. The organisational context of the analysts was not explored in detail and the interviews were pre-crisis, which possibly explains why the technical capital of sell-side analysts was extolled by interviewees rather than lambasted.

Originality/value
– The paper is one of few studies to look at analysts from a qualitative and sociological perspective. It both complements and extends both emerging sociological work on financial intermediaries and qualitative work on the “market for information”.
Accounting in new public management (NPM) and shifting organizational boundaries
Authors: Kartalis Nikos , Tsamenyi Mathew , Jayasinghe Kelum 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how accounting is implicated in the creation and maintenance of organizational boundaries. The analysis focuses on organizations subjected to conflicting objectives as a result of new public management (NPM) reforms.Design/methodology/approach– The analysis is based on case studies of four cultural organizations (Show Caves) in Greece. Data are collected from semi-structured interviews, informal discussions and document analysis. The paper draws on Bourdieu’s concepts of “field”, “capital” and “habitus” and Llewellyn’s analysis of organizational boundary maintenance.Findings– The study observes that NPM reforms contributed to shifting organizational boundaries – from cultural/archaeological to economic/financial and this resulted in conflicting organizational objectives. This subsequently created conflicts between key actors (municipal politicians, professional managers and anthropologists). These actors, depending on the positions (and habitus) they occupy, and the capital (political, cultural and symbolic) they hold, are able to bargain for resources (economic capital). The conflicting objectives (archaeological/cultural/historical, political and commercial) that emerged and the tensions that arose between the key players shaped the identities and boundaries of the Show Caves.Originality/value– The study makes an original contribution by revealing the complexity and struggle between actors and the role of accounting in managing the boundaries. For example, the study explains how financial threshold and accountability structures function within these cultural organizations that are subjected to conflicting objectives in the context of NPM reforms.
Halal endorsements: stirring controversy or gaining new customers?
Authors: Schlegelmilch Bodo B. , Khan Mubbsher Munawar , Hair Joe F. 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– Halal food endorsements perceived positively by the focal target group may lead to a negative reaction of consumers that harbor animosity against this target group. For such potentially controversial endorsements, in-group animosity against out-group associated product endorsements could lead to a rejection and even an outspoken disapproval of these food products. The purpose of this paper is to explain what drives in-group reactions to Halal endorsements.Design/methodology/approach– The authors use Social Identity Theory and the Social Dominance Theory in explaining animosity toward out-groups and willingness to buy products with Halal endorsements. Specifically, the authors analyze the reaction of more than 800 in-group majority Christians toward out-group minority Muslim directed Halal endorsements. Following the development of hypotheses and a conceptual model, structural equation modeling is used to measure the relationships between the constructs.Findings– Constructs based on Social Dominance Theory and Social Identity Theory predict animosity toward out-group endorsements, but the relationship between Social Dominance Theory and animosity is much stronger. Animosity is a mediator between these two constructs and willingness to purchase products with out-group focussed endorsements (Halal).Research limitations/implications– The research has been conducted in one particular country (Austria) and focusses on a specific type of controversial endorsement, namely a religious (Halal) endorsement. Other research contexts (i.e. other countries and/or different types of controversial endorsements) should be used to widen the empirical base and validate the findings.Practical implications– Marketers should be aware of a possible negative impact of out-group focussed endorsements. In particular, they should be cognizant that racism and ethnocentrism prevailing in a society could reduce the purchase intent of in-groups.Social implications– Efforts are required to combat the drivers of animosity between in-groups and out-groups. This paper provides insights on how this may be achieved.Originality/value– This study focusses on a hitherto neglected phenomenon, i.e. controversial endorsements. It uses two alternative theories and advances the understanding of the role of animosity in a domestic consumer setting; an issue that has nearly exclusively been discussed with regard to cross-border purchasing.
National habitus: an antidote to the resilience of Hofstede’s “national culture”?
Authors: Touburg Giorgio 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize Geert Hofstede’s conceptualization of national culture and provide an alternative beyond purely constructivist conceptualizations of culture for cross-cultural management scholars and practitioners.Design/methodology/approach– Hofstede’s conceptualization of national culture is discussed and criticized. Subsequently, alternatives are being discussed. Eventually, a more feasible alternative is suggested and the ways in which it can be applied are briefly mentioned.Findings– Several objections to Hofstede’s idea and measurement of national culture are listed: it assumes people are cultural dopes, it ignores the influence of non-cultural factors, it reifies culture, it assumes internal coherence, it does not account for change, it arbitrarily uses the nation-state as the preferred locus of culture, and it has an in-built Western bias. Several authors have argued for a constructivist conceptualization of culture, which sees culture as a repertoire, from which ideas and possible actions can be selected. The downside, however, is that it has no practical value for managers. In an attempt to solve this, the paper explores the possibilities of using the concept of national habitus, which shows how dispositions are shaped on a national level and how these dispositions change under the influence of other, non-national social forces.Practical implications– The paper briefly explores how a national habitus-centered approach can help cross-cultural managers.Originality/value– The paper’s added value lies in the use of a relatively recently extended sociological concept for cross-cultural management.
Managing research projects: the rhetoric of judgment as a source of creativity
Authors: Nadal-Burgues Nuria , Bonet Eduard 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present new aspects of the tension between creativity and productivity and improve the understanding on how research can be developed in very restricted environments, such as the context of an organization managed using the methods of Project Management. And more generally, it introduces the rhetoric of judgment as a fundamental aspect involved in the development and specification of projects.Design/methodology/approach– The theoretical approach is based on the phenomenological theory of human intentional action developed by Alfred Schutz, in which the notion of mental project is more flexible than that of project management. In it the concepts of subaction and repeated action are considered a combination of similar actions already performed. The Kantian notion of judgment is introduced to outline self-persuasion as a fundamental source of creativity.Findings– The introduction of an extended notion of project and routine involving judgment expands the rational, generic and technical notion of project management. And the rhetorical aspect of judgment, at the individual level, establishes the possibility to deliver unexpected outcomes that are considered creative.Originality/value– The proposed notions of project and routines mediated through the rhetoric of judgment present theoretical and practical progress in the subject of managing projects.
Time had but effaced his image when the show began
Authors: van Engeldorp Gastelaars Frits 
Published: February 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to outline the background and the plot of the academic career of Slawomir Magala, particularly from the point of view represented by the author who had co-created significant international conference on critical theory and the sciences of management which triggered off the critical management studies in the British and subsequently global academic research networks.

Design/methodology/approach
– The content of the research is based on a mixture of a historical account of a conference on the Frankfurt school of social research, observations and participatory observations, qualitative content analysis and a bibliographical case study.

Findings
– The long-term effects of an international networking event are hard to predict and almost never respect the academic borders and gate keepers.

Research limitations/implications
– This paper is a very personal point of view.

Practical implications
– This paper is a case study of academic school emergence.

Social implications
– This paper is a case study of social and political relevance of managerial research.

Originality/value
– The unique selling point of this paper is that it is based on a critical event in uncritical sciences.
Consumer action in response to ethical violations by service operations firms
Authors: Chipulu Max , Ojiako Udechukwu , Marshall Alasdair 
Published: February 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to examine whether individual demographic and socio-cultural factors affect actions taken by consumers in relation to ethical violations and failure (or perceived ethical violations and failure) by service operations firms.

Design/methodology/approach
– Data collection was undertaken over a two-year period, from 2011 to 2013, and involved sampling 3,155 respondents from 19 countries. Data analysis was undertaken utilizing hierarchical linear modelling (HLM).

Findings
– Findings suggest that although both individual demographic factors (age and gender) and societal differences do affect ethical actions taken by service consumers, inter-societal cluster variations have a more significant effect on the ethical action than individual demographic differences do.

Originality/value
– For service operations firms, the study findings offer evidence on the need for constant readjustment of service attributes in line with the ethical dispositions of the different demographic and socio-cultural clusters within the consumer base.