bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Participation in medical college activities: a case study of the Australasian experience
Authors: McNeil Nicola , Leggat Sandra , Bartram Timothy 
Published: November 2015

Purpose– Medical Colleges rely on the volunteer labour of their Fellows to undertake their key functions. In the Australasian context, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Fellow participation is declining. The purpose of this paper is to examine the main factors that influence Fellows’ participation in the activities of a Medical College.Design/methodology/approach– The authors conducted three focus groups with Fellows who exhibit varying levels of participation with the Medical College in 2012.Findings– The research identified individual and organisational factors which influence the propensity of Fellows to volunteer their time to the Medical College. At an individual level, Fellows cite a number of factors which motivate them to volunteer their time to the Medical College, including: altruistic reasons; giving back to the profession and community; and the benefits that Fellow’s receive from their participation in College activities, including enhancing their status within the profession. However, Fellows also report issues of work-family integration, balancing Medical College and work-related responsibilities as factors precluding them from participating in Medical College activities. Fellows also noted several factors related to the operation of the Medical College which inhibited their participation in the Medical College, including the perceived exclusivity of the Medical College, a lack of service orientation towards Fellows, a lack of recognition of the work of Fellows and a perceived lack of advocacy on the part of the Medical College.Originality/value– This paper highlights that the participation of Fellows in their Medical Colleges is essential to maintaining quality standards and the effective operation of Australasian healthcare. These preliminary results indicate that there are several factors which discourage Fellow participation in Medical College activities, suggesting a need for Medical Colleges to develop strategies to address these issues.
Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in Australia: chance or choice?
Authors: Samaratunge Ramanie , Barrett Rowena , Rajapakse Tissa 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– Ethnic entrepreneurship is, and always has been, a means of survival. However, there is limited literature on ethnic entrepreneurship in Australia and therefore, an understanding of ethnic entrepreneurs’ motivations to become self-employed. The purpose of this paper is to report the influential factors in the decision to engage in self-employment through case studies of members of Melbourne’s Sri Lankan community informed by the mixed embeddedness approach.

Design/methodology/approach
– The mixed embeddedness approach frames the study where the authors examine the motivations for business of five Sri Lankan entrepreneurs. Narratives are used to construct individual case studies, which are then analyzed in terms of the motivations for, resources used and challenges faced on the entrepreneurial journey.

Findings
– For these ethnic entrepreneurs, their entrepreneurial activity results from a dynamic match between local market opportunities and the specific ethnic resources available to them at the time of founding. The self-employment decision was not prompted by a lack of human capital but an inability to use that human capital in alternative means of employment at specific points in time. Moreover the authors highlight the importance of social and cultural capital as resources used to overcome challenges on the entrepreneurial journey.

Originality/value
– In this community, entrepreneurship was not a result of a lack of human capital but how it was utilized in combination with social and cultural capitals in the given opportunity structure. The mixed embeddedness approach enables the uncovering of how ethnic network ties were used in light of the opportunities available to build entrepreneurial activity.
Uses and gratifications of social media: a comparison of microblog and WeChat
Authors: Gan Chunmei , Wang Weijun 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to explore the general and specific gratifications obtained from using microblog and WeChat.

Design/methodology/approach
– To shed light on the difference of gratifications to use microblog and WeChat, 18 interviews with social media users in China were conducted.

Findings
– Results reveal that three types of gratifications were obtained from using both microblog and WeChat: content gratification, social gratification and hedonic gratification. Also, the strength and components of each gratification for microblog and WeChat were different. Content gratification plays the most salient role in using microblog, while social gratification is the most important for WeChat usage. In addition, content gratification of microblog usage is related to information seeking and information sharing, while social gratification of WeChat usage is constituted by private social networking and convenient communication. Furthermore, content gratification of WeChat usage refers to high-quality information provided and information sharing, and entertainment and passing time develop hedonic gratification of microblog usage, while that of WeChat usage refers to entertainment.

Originality/value
– Extant research has mainly focused on the gratifications of one social media and lacks studies comparing the motivations in using different social media. Also, only little research has identified the components of different gratifications and how they affect the adoption of different social media. The current study attempts to fill these research gaps.
From steps to home range formation: species‐specific movement upscaling among sympatric ungulates
Authors: Tablado Zulima , Revilla Eloy , Dubray Dominique , Saïd Sonia , Maillard Daniel , Loison Anne 
Published: November 2015

Summary

Animals move to interact with the environment in order to find food resources and cover. Intrinsic characteristics affecting feeding and antipredatory strategies likely shape variation in movement patterns and home range formation between individuals, populations and species.
Browsing herbivores selectively forage on patchily distributed resources in areas with more canopy cover, whereas mixed feeders and grazers feed on more open grasslands and tend to aggregate as an antipredatory strategy. We therefore predicted that at small temporal scales, browsers will show greater net displacements (i.e. typical of searching patterns) than mixed feeders or grazers; but at larger temporal scales, we expect the opposite pattern, since gregarious species will need to use larger areas to feed the whole herd. We also predicted that the feeding/antipredatory strategy will determine the behavioural responses to other environmental factors.
To test this, we compared spatial movement patterns at multiple scales (from 20‐min intervals to annual home ranges) of three sympatric, similar‐sized, alpine ungulates which differ in their feeding/antipredatory strategy: roe deer (solitary browsers), mouflon (gregarious grazers) and chamois (intermediate feeders in smaller groups). We used location data from GPS‐collared females of the three species in the French Alps.
As predicted, we found that multi‐scale spatial patterns depended on the feeding/antipredatory strategy. Browsers foraged within smaller range areas, searching back and forth. Mixed feeders and, especially, grazers covered larger areas, presumably to satisfy herd needs. The feeding/antipredatory strategies also determined the interspecific variability in behavioural responses to factors such as maternal status, weather, habitat type or human disturbance, supporting our hypothesis.
Exploring interspecific variability, we showed how movement behaviour and home range formation vary substantially, even among species within the same guild. This mechanism might be important to maintain intra‐guild multi‐species associations and increase biodiversity, through contributing to niche segregation and, thus, coexistence.
Tick exposure and extreme climate events impact survival and threaten the persistence of a long‐lived lizard
Authors: Jones Alice R. , Bull C. Michael , Brook Barry W. , Wells Konstans , Pollock Kenneth H. , Fordham Damien A. 
Published: November 2015

Summary

Assessing the impacts of multiple, often synergistic, stressors on the population dynamics of long‐lived species is becoming increasingly important due to recent and future global change.

Tiliqua rugosa (sleepy lizard) is a long‐lived skink (>30 years) that is adapted to survive in semi‐arid environments with varying levels of parasite exposure and highly seasonal food availability. We used an exhaustive database of 30 years of capture–mark–recapture records to quantify the impacts of both parasite exposure and environmental conditions on the lizard's survival rates and long‐term population dynamics.

Lizard abundance was relatively stable throughout the study period; however, there were changing patterns in adult and juvenile apparent survival rates, driven by spatial and temporal variation in levels of tick exposure and temporal variation in environmental conditions. Extreme weather events during the winter and spring seasons were identified as important environmental drivers of survival.

Climate models predict a dramatic increase in the frequency of extreme hot and dry winter and spring seasons in our South Australian study region; from a contemporary probability of 0·17 up to 0·47–0·83 in 2080 depending on the emissions scenario. Our stochastic population model projections showed that these future climatic conditions will induce a decline in the abundance of this long‐lived reptile of up to 67% within 30 years from 2080, under worst case scenario modelling.

The results have broad implications for future work investigating the drivers of population dynamics and persistence. We highlight the importance of long‐term data sets and accounting for synergistic impacts between multiple stressors. We show that predicted increases in the frequency of extreme climate events have the potential to considerably and negatively influence a long‐lived species, which might previously have been assumed to be resilient to environmental perturbations.
The March Towards Post‐Democracy, Ten Years On
Authors: Crouch Colin 
Published: November 2015

AbstractEvents since I published my book Post‐democracy in 2004 suggest that democracy continues to decline in effectiveness in those parts of the world where it has been most strongly established. The global financial crisis, the consequent euro crisis, the likely shape of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and growing evidence of the political power of giant mass media corporations all suggest that the dominant forces in today's politics are not those of democratic will. Movements like Syriza in Greece possibly suggest a democratic reawakening, but that is too early to determine. Meanwhile, it is important also to be aware of democracy's limits, and to try to resolve the problem of post‐democracy by extending its reach beyond its competence.
Sensemaking and the co‐production of safety: a qualitative study of primary medical care patients
Authors: Rhodes Penny , McDonald Ruth , Campbell Stephen , Daker‐White Gavin , Sanders Caroline 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThis study explores the ways in which patients make sense of ‘safety’ in the context of primary medical care. Drawing on qualitative interviews with primary care patients, we reveal patients’ conceptualisation of safety as fluid, contingent, multi‐dimensional, and negotiated. Participant accounts drew attention to a largely invisible and inaccessible (but taken for granted) architecture of safety, the importance of psycho‐social as well as physical dimensions and the interactions between them, informal strategies for negotiating safety, and the moral dimension of safety. Participants reported being proactive in taking action to protect themselves from potential harm. The somewhat routinised and predictable nature of the primary medical care consultation, which is very different from ‘one off’ inpatient spells, meant that patients were not passive recipients of care. Instead they had a stock of accumulated knowledge and experience to inform their actions. In addition to highlighting the differences and similarities between hospital and primary care settings, the study suggests that a broad conceptualisation of patient safety is required, which encompasses the safety concerns of patients in primary care settings.
Locating care at the end of life: burden, vulnerability, and the practical accomplishment of dying
Authors: MacArtney John I , Broom Alex , Kirby Emma , Good Phillip , Wootton Julia , Adams Jon 
Published: November 2015

AbstractHome is frequently idealised as the preferred location for end‐of‐life care, while in‐patient hospital care is viewed with suspicion and fear. Yet many people with a terminal illness spend their final days in some form of medicalised institutional setting, such as a specialist palliative care in‐patient unit. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with in‐patients at a specialist palliative care unit, we focus on their difficulties in finding a better place of care at the end of their life. We found that participants came to conceptualise home though a sense of bodily vulnerabilities and that they frequently understood institutional care to be more about protecting their family from the social, emotional and relational burdens of dying. For a significant number of participants the experience of dying came to be understood through what could be practically accomplished in different locales. The different locales were therefore framed around providing the best care for the patient and their family.
Health risks, social relations and class: an analysis of occupational health discourse in Finnish newspaper and women's magazine articles 1961–2008
Authors: Varje Pekka , Väänänen Ari 
Published: November 2015

AbstractIn this article we examine the treatment of psychosocial risks in public occupational health discourse in Finnish newspaper and magazine articles between the 1960s and 2000s, using discourse analysis. Building on class theories, our aim is to investigate how class expectations have been linked with the redefinition of occupational health risks during this period. Our results suggest that as social relations at the workplace became problematised in the occupational health discussions after the 1970s, the image of the hierarchical and naturally conflictual organisation was replaced by idealised middle‐class notions of smoothly functioning, harmonious organisations that offered rewarding work experiences. However, this same period since the late 1970s has also been characterised by increasing economic competition and neoliberal market ideology. We conclude that the concern about work‐related psychosocial risks and health problems expressed in Finnish newspaper and magazine articles during the last three decades has been shaped in many respects by a collision between the dominant middle‐class expectations of harmony and equality and the neoliberal production of competition and inequality.
Antenatal corticosteroid treatment in singleton, small‐for‐gestational‐age infants born at 24–31 weeks’ gestation: a population‐based study
Authors: Riskin‐Mashiah S , Riskin A , Bader D , Kugelman A , Boyko V , Lerner‐Geva L , Reichman B ,   in collaboration with the Israel Neonatal Network
Published: November 2015

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of antenatal corticosteroid therapy on mortality and severe morbidities in preterm, small‐for‐gestational‐age (SGA) neonates compared with preterm non‐SGA neonates.DesignPopulation‐based study.Setting/populationIsrael National Very Low Birth Weight infant database from 1995–2012.MethodsSingleton infants of 24–31 weeks’ gestation, without major malformations. Antenatal corticosteroids were considered either any treatment or no treatment.Main outcome measuresUnivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the effect of antenatal corticosteroids on neonatal mortality and a composite adverse outcome of mortality or severe neonatal morbidity.ResultsAmong the 10 887 study infants, 1771 were SGA. Of these, 70.4% of SGA and 66.7% of non‐SGA neonates were exposed to antenatal corticosteroids. Among SGA neonates, antenatal corticosteroids were associated with decreased mortality (32.2 versus 19.3%, P < 0.0001) and composite adverse outcome (54.1 versus 43.4%, P < 0.0001), similar to the effect in non‐SGA neonates (mortality 26.7 versus 12.2%, P < 0.0001; composite outcome 50.5 versus 34.6%, P < 0.0001). Multivariable logistic regression analyses demonstrated a 50% reduction in mortality risk among SGA and 57% reduction in non‐SGA neonates exposed to corticosteroids [OR = 0.50, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.39–0.64 and OR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.38–0.47, respectively], P‐value for interaction = 0.08. Composite adverse outcome risk was significantly reduced in SGA (OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.54–0.83) and non‐SGA infants (OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.52–0.63), P‐value for interaction = 0.04.ConclusionsAntenatal corticosteroids significantly reduced mortality and severe morbidities among preterm SGA neonates, with slightly a less pronounced effect compared with non‐SGA preterm infants. Antenatal corticosteroids should be given to fetuses suspected of intrauterine growth retardation, at risk for preterm delivery, in order to improve perinatal outcome.Tweetable abstractAntenatal steroids reduced mortality and severe morbidities among singleton, preterm SGA neonates.
Inhibitory Effect of Epigallocatechin Gallate on the Virulence of Clostridium difficile PCR Ribotype 027
Authors: Yun Bohyun , Oh Seunghan , Song Minyu , Hong Young‐Shick , Park Sungsu , Park Dong‐June , Griffiths Mansel W. , Oh Sejong 
Published: November 2015

AbstractClostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most prevalent cause of health‐care‐associated infections. CDI‐related health‐care costs and deaths are both increasing annually on a global scale. C. difficile have been reported in food products in Canada, Europe, and the United States; however, the systematic transmission of C. difficile between humans and animals is yet to be understood. Because of the limitations of current therapeutic options, there is a need for the development of new patient treatments. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a major catechin compound found in green tea extracts and exhibits antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. This study was conducted to investigate the inhibitory effects of EGCG on the expression of virulence genes in C. difficile and in C. difficile‐associated diseases by inhibition of quorum sensing. The protein expression of autoinducer‐2 (AI‐2) was evaluated by AI‐2 activity. EGCG at various concentrations had an inhibitory effect on AI‐2 production, especially at 10 μg/mL. EGCG also significantly repressed the transcription of virulence genes, including luxS and tcdA, and prolonged the survival of Caenorhabditis elegans infected with C. difficile. Furthermore, treatment with EGCG effectively protected C. difficile‐infected mice from C. difficile‐induced death. Histological analysis of the colon and cecum of these mice revealed that EGCG protected tissues of the lower intestinal tract from damage. EGCG exerted growth‐inhibitory and bactericidal activities on C. difficile in C. difficile‐infected mice. Our results suggest that EGCG has significant antipathogenic effects on C. difficile and can be used to prevent or treat C. difficile‐associated diseases or C. difficile infections.
Using latent variable models to identify large networks of species‐to‐species associations at different spatial scales
Authors: Ovaskainen Otso , Abrego Nerea , Halme Panu , Dunson David 
Published: November 2015

Summary

We present a hierarchical latent variable model that partitions variation in species occurrences and co‐occurrences simultaneously at multiple spatial scales. We illustrate how the parameterized model can be used to predict the occurrences of a species by using as predictors not only the environmental covariates, but also the occurrences of all other species, at all spatial scales.
We leverage recent progress in Bayesian latent variable models to implement a computationally effective algorithm that enables one to consider large communities and extensive sampling schemes.
We exemplify the framework with a community of 98 fungal species sampled in c. 22 500 dead wood units in 230 plots in 29 beech forests.
The networks identified by correlations and partial correlations were consistent, as were networks for natural and managed forests, but networks at different spatial scales were dissimilar.
Accounting for the occurrences of the other species roughly doubled the predictive powers of the models compared to accounting for environmental covariates only
.
Uncovering hidden spatial structure in species communities with spatially explicit joint species distribution models
Authors: Ovaskainen Otso , Roy David B. , Fox Richard , Anderson Barbara J. 
Published: November 2015

Summary

Modern species distribution models account for spatial autocorrelation in order to obtain unbiased statistical inference on the effects of covariates, to improve the model's predictive ability through spatial interpolation and to gain insight in the spatial processes shaping the data. Somewhat analogously, hierarchical approaches to community‐level data have been developed to gain insights into community‐level processes and to improve species‐level inference by borrowing information from other species that are either ecologically or phylogenetically related to the focal species.

We unify spatial and community‐level structures by developing spatially explicit joint species distribution models. The models utilize spatially structured latent factors to model missing covariates as well as species‐to‐species associations in a statistically and computationally effective manner.

We illustrate that the inclusion of the spatial latent factors greatly increases the predictive performance of the modelling approach with a case study of 55 species of butterfly recorded on a 10 km × 10 km grid in Great Britain consisting of 2609 grid cells.
Reduced Circulating Concentration of Brain‐derived Neurotrophic Factor is Associated with Peri‐ and Post‐implantation Failure following In Vitro Fertilization–Embryo Transfer
Authors: Ramer Ilana , Kruczek Alexis , Doulaveris Georgios , Orfanelli Theofano , Shulman Brittney , Witkin Steven S. , Spandorfer Steven D. 
Published: November 2015

ProblemWe evaluated associations between brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin‐4 (NT4) and pregnancy outcome in women undergoing in vitro fertilization–embryo transfer (IVF‐ET).Method of studySera obtained on days 24 and 28 of an IVF cycle from women with a live birth, spontaneous abortion, biochemical pregnancy, not pregnant, or an ectopic pregnancy were retrospectively analyzed for BDNF and NT4 by ELISA.ResultsMedian BDNF levels were higher in women with a live birth compared to women with an ectopic pregnancy (P < 0.0001), spontaneous abortion (P < 0.0001), or a biochemical pregnancy (P = 0.0004), but not in women who did not become pregnant. NT4 was detected in <25% of sera and did not differ by outcome. There was no association between BDNF level and oocyte or pre‐transfer embryo parameters.ConclusionDecreased circulating BDNF early in an IVF cycle is associated with adverse peri‐ and/or post‐implantation events and subsequent pregnancy failure.