bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Aldosterone Synthase Promoter Polymorphism and Cardiovascular Phenotypes in a Large, Multiethnic Population-Based Study
Authors: Byrd James Brian , Auchus Richard J. , White Perrin C. 
Published: October 2015

Background A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) promoter [−344C/T, rs1799998] has been reported to associate with cardiovascular phenotypes. Methods The Dallas Heart Study is a large, multiethnic cohort with a high prevalence of hypertension. We genotyped 3452 Dallas Heart Study participants for −344C/T. Generalized linear models were used to assess whether variation at −344C/T associated with plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), plasma glucose (in persons with no diabetes), HOMA IR (Homeostasis Model Assessment as an Index of Insulin Resistance), and left ventricular (LV) mass indexed to height. Systolic blood pressure and DBP were significantly higher in blacks compared with whites ( P < 0.001 for SBP and for DBP) and Hispanics ( P < 0.001 for SBP and for DBP). Log-transformed body mass index was also significantly higher in blacks compared with whites ( P < 0.001), but not Hispanics ( P = 0.10). Log-transformed PAC was higher in whites compared with blacks ( P < 0.001), but did not differ significantly in whites compared with Hispanics ( P = 0.73). In univariate and multivariable analysis, −344C/T was not significantly associated with PAC within any ethnicity. In univariate and multivariable analysis, −344C/T was not associated with SBP or DBP within any ethnicity. After adjustment for multiple testing, univariate and multivariable analyses revealed no association between −344C/T and plasma glucose in patients with no diabetes, HOMA IR, or LV mass indexed to height. Conclusions We were unable to reproduce previously reported associations between −344C/T and PAC, blood pressure, plasma glucose, or LV mass. Methodological differences might explain the differences between our findings and those previously reported.
Promotional alternate reality games – more than “just” marketing
Authors: Janes Stephanie 
Published: October 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which players and producers of promotional alternate reality games (ARGs) negotiate their commercial status, similar to the way in which Matt Hills (2002) argues fan communities negotiate their position within a commercial media industry.Design/methodology/approach– In-depth interviews with game designers is combined with the results of an online player survey and qualitative analysis of discussion on player forums. This provides a strong platform from which to discuss player and producer attitudes towards the status of promotional ARGs as marketing materials.Findings– Both players and producers use various strategies which allow them to negotiate their relationship to the commercial nature of promotional ARGs. These include a focus on the immersive nature of the games (also known as the “This Is Not a Game” philosophy), defining their creative interests strongly against the perceived commercial interests of corporate media companies and an emphasis on the personal, emotional or affective impact of the games.Originality/value– In the very slim body of academic work on promotional ARGs, few scholars have considered the status of the games as marketing from the perspective of the audience. The paper provides original audience research which is of value and interest to scholars in a diverse variety of disciplines, and to anyone involved in the production or consumption of ARGs.
The influence of transformational leadership on followers’ affective commitment
Authors: Stinglhamber Florence , Marique Géraldine , Caesens Gaëtane , Hanin Dorothée , De Zanet Fabrice 
Published: October 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine why and when followers of transformational leaders exhibit increased affective organizational commitment. Particularly, the authors examined the role played by perceived organizational support (POS) and supervisor’s organizational embodiment (SOE), i.e. a perception concerning the extent to which employees identify their supervisor with the organization, in this relationship.Design/methodology/approach– In total, 287 employees of a water producer organization responded to a questionnaire.Findings– The results show that, when employees strongly identify their supervisor with the organization, transformational leadership is positively related to POS, with positive consequences in terms of emotional attachment to this organization. In contrast, when the supervisor is not identified to the organization, his/her transformational leadership does not extend to POS and, finally, to affective organizational commitment.Practical implications– The findings suggest that a high transformational leadership and a high SOE together engender the highest POS and affective commitment. Organizations should thus provide their managers with training programs and feedbacks over their performance as leaders to promote transformational leadership. Furthermore, to foster perceptions of SOE, organizations might implement socialization tactics aiming to strengthen managers’ organizational identification or person-organization fit, and give managers more power and influence in their day-to-day work to increase employees’ attributions of informal organizational status to managers.Originality/value– By showing that POS and SOE are important mechanisms in the transformational leadership-affective commitment relationship, this research explains why and when transformational leadership of supervisors has spillover effect on organization-directed attitudes.
Airosonic Travels Private Limited: staying competitive through IT development
Authors: Thakurta Rahul , Rao Umesh Hodeghatta 
Published: October 2015

Subject area
Information technology (IT) project risks.

Study level/applicability
This case is suitable for the students who are enrolled in masters or executive programmes in management. Considering the masters programme in management, the case can be introduced in the MIS course in sessions related to IT project risks. The case will also be appropriate for discussion in elective courses, such as IT project management. Here the case can be introduced in discussions related to understanding IT project outsourcing risks. The case will also fit well with the audience of the executive programme in sessions on IT project risks. The assignment questions provided below are designed from the perspective of teaching this case to a business student audience. The case could certainly be adjusted to fit the needs of students in more technical disciplines.

Case overview
This case presents an organization (Airosonic Travels Private Limited) which was set up in 1988. The organization provided travel-related services (i.e. ticketing, hotels bookings, car rentals and cruises to exotic destinations) to meet the requirements of corporate users such as organization employees, vendors, dealers and customers. The packages were provided though the portal www.corporatetravels.in/. With cut-throat completion from other vendors, the organization acquired the globally preferred airline reservation system Galileo to gain market share in the computer reservation system market. This acquisition, however, led to a series of deliberations on how the new system could be put to use and integrated with the portal so that it helped Airosonic to achieve efficiency in its day-to-day processes. The integration was necessary, as this would entirely eliminate third-party requirements (such as travel agents) and also make travel planning easy, cost-effective and hassle-free. The different alternatives available to the governing body were to develop and manage the entire thing in-house, outsource the development to a third part, or delegate the entire responsibility to the third party. The analysis of the case takes into account the different risks that are associated with each of these decision alternatives and the possible ways forward for the Airosonic management.

Expected learning outcomes
The objective of this teaching case is as follows: to understand the different risk elements that influence development of a software initiative, to differentiate between different categories of risks including project development risks and project management risks, to appreciate the differences in the types of risks that influence different project execution scenarios such as in-house development and outsourcing and to understand how an organization can address and manage the risks facing a software initiative.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
LibanPost: a successful strategy for a private-public partnership
Authors: Yaacoub Hala Khayr , Aziz Shaza Abdul , Wehbeh Ramona , Debs Rania El 
Published: October 2015

Subject area
This case gives readers the opportunity to think about strategies employed in the postal sector amid sector, technological, national and global challenges. It highlights the importance of thinking about real options, and real solutions to counter the failures of the past and the uncertainties of the future.

Study level/applicability
The case will be particularly useful for master's degrees, Master of Business Administration, doctorate students or undergraduate specialized courses of strategy, public sector management and privatization.

Case overview
This case study aims to analyze the manner in which LibanPost transformed itself from a government bureaucracy to a commercial company and how, through diversification, it was transformed from a traditional postal operator to a high-end service provider. In addition, it attempts to examine the stages that have led to LibanPost's success, shedding the light on the major barriers and enablers for its reform.

Expected learning outcomes
The students will be able to examine how a privately owned postal company succeeded in transforming a courier company from a bureaucratic public administration incurring substantial losses to a profitable commercial company, through privatization, and grasp the major success barriers and enablers for LibanPost, while exploring the reasons behind the failure of the foreign–national partnership.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Boycott and racism: a loaf of bread is just a loaf of bread
Authors: Abdul-Latif Samshul-Amry , Abdul-Talib Asmat-Nizam 
Published: October 2015

Subject area
This case study can be used for courses under marketing management, international marketing or public relations.

Study level/applicability
This case study may be suitable for courses which discuss decision-making and/or executive actions and execution, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It could also be used in graduate classes as some open-ended questions are also included to illicit critical thoughts and fresh ideas.

Case overview
Companies can be boycotted for many reasons; for example, a company may be associated with or engage in egregious acts which trigger a consumer boycott. However, it is unusual for racial and political elements to form the basis of a consumer boycott. This paper describes how a current leader in the packaged bread market, Gardenia Bakeries Sdn Bhd (GBKL), responded to one such online campaign. This case study highlights the importance of effective communications and marketing strategies for responding to sensitive issues involving racism and politics.

Expected learning outcomes
Students are introduced to the concept of consumer boycotts and how this may affect a business. Students are exposed to the development of appropriate public relation strategies and explore creative methods to combat bad publicity and/or a smear campaign. Students can learn to appreciate the sensitivity of allegations of racism in a multi-ethnic country and understand how multi-ethnic consumers respond to these types of issues. Students are exposed to the effects of political and socio-demographic influences on purchase behavior in a particular market or country. Students may explore the effects of consumer activism on a company's brand image.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
New life luxury: upcycled Scottish heritage textiles
Authors: Keith Sara , Silies Maria 
Published: October 2015

Purpose
– The term luxury and sustainability, within the fashion and textile industries are seldom seen as natural bedfellows. Recently however, the perception of luxury has begun to include a definition left behind in the twentieth century; beautifully hand crafted artefacts valued for the time, skill and design invested in them. It is possible though, for the concept of luxury textiles to embrace this definition and that of the sustainable credentials of a “Cradle to Cradle” (McDonough and Braungart, 2002) mindset (that of a life beyond original creation) and be fashionable. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– Utilising a variety of methodologies including case studies, reflective practice and a practice-based approach; this paper examines the use of pre-consumer waste in the creation of new luxury textiles. Several projects are cited, offering examples of collaboration between textile mills and designers in the creation of new fabrics made from luxury by-products. This luxury waste is routinely shredded for automobile seat filling or landfill, however current sustainable thinking encourages a more creative solution to this circumstance. Designers have a crucial role to play in converting an unwanted by-product to one that is highly desirable.

Findings
– Traditional values of what constitutes a luxury item include the concept of time invested in making a unique handmade artefact. More recently, this premise has been overlooked in favour of branded goods. The slow fashion movement advocates the inherent value of craftsmanship coupled with the ethical use of sustainable and or local materials and processes. The traditional techniques of felting, weave and stitch are utilised to create beautiful, original textiles from discarded waste. By collaborating with local mills, designers provide solutions to something that could be perceived as a problem.

Originality/value
– The embedded narrative within these layered textiles provides an original quality and added value, building on their Scottish heritage. The resulting textiles reflect their provenance; the landscape they come from and the people who created them. As a result of purchase, the story continues with the new custodian, adding to the ongoing history of the textile. The design work and collaboration that this paper outlines embodies a transferable model for sustainable upcycled luxury textiles.
Selling luxury goods online: effects of online accessibility and price display
Authors: Kluge Philipp Nikolaus , Fassnacht Martin 
Published: October 2015

Purpose
– Luxury goods manufacturers have long been hesitant to adopt the internet as a channel of distribution. A luxury brand’s concept of exclusiveness is seemingly incompatible with the ubiquitous accessibility provided by the mass medium internet. The purpose of this paper is to address the apparent contradiction by examining consumer responses to the online accessibility and price display of luxury goods.

Design/methodology/approach
– Three studies are presented: first, a qualitative pre-study with luxury industry experts is conducted to identify the current managerial discussion on the online distribution of luxury goods. Second, an experiment with 183 high-income individuals is conducted to test the effects of online accessibility on consumer perceived scarcity and desirability. Third, a second experiment with 142 qualified luxury insiders is conducted to test consumer responses to the online accessibility and price display of luxury goods.

Findings
– Results indicate that the online accessibility of luxury goods does not affect consumer perceived scarcity and, hence, does not dilute brand desirability. This “no-dilution” finding applies to both high- and low-involvement goods and persists independently of whether or not retail prices are explicitly displayed.

Originality/value
– Whether or not to sell luxury goods online has been controversially discussed among both marketing scholars and executives. To the authors’ knowledge, the present paper is the first to empirically examine consumer responses to the online accessibility and price display of luxury goods.
Presidential parties, monetary regimes, and health care returns
Authors: Bredthauer Jeffery Scott , Payne Brian C. , Tresl Jiri , Karels Gordon V. 
Published: October 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the absolute and risk-adjusted stock return performance of the US health care industry conditional upon the presidential administration’s political party and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance. It evaluates this return behavior across the 60-year time period from 1954 to 2013, and sub-divides this entire period into the pre-Medicare period (1954-1964), Medicare period (1965-1984), and Medicare-plus-high-health-care-inflation period (1985-2013).

Design/methodology/approach
– The study uses monthly returns to the health care industry and overall market, characterizing each sample month as either having a Republican or Democratic president and either a contractionary or expansionary monetary policy regime determined by whether the Federal Reserve is increasing or decreasing interest rates, respectively. It incorporates univariate and multivariate analysis to quantify the return behavior of both the health care industry and the overall market during the entire period and all three sub-periods. Additionally, it utilizes a common four-factor multivariate regression model and associated hypothesis testing to characterize risk-adjusted excess returns (i.e. α) to the health care industry during the entire period and all three sub-periods.

Findings
– The health care industry has earned robust, positive risk-adjusted returns with the magnitude of the returns sensitive to the political party of the administration and the monetary policy regime. The authors find that prior to 1965 (1954-1964), when the president was a Republican, during times of monetary contraction, health care earned an excess risk-adjusted return. There was no association between Democratic administrations and excess health care returns prior to 1965. In contrast, the authors find that after 1965 this relationship changes. The authors find that returns to health care were positive for Republicans during times of monetary expansion and positive for Democrats during monetary contraction. The authors also find this relationship has become more pronounced after 1984.

Originality/value
– The study extends prior literature, which has shown that the health care industry is a priced factor in the US stock market and that it provides significant risk-adjusted returns in the recent past. Uniquely, this study shows that the excess returns to health care vary considerably over the past 60 years, and that these excess returns are quite sensitive to political policy, proxied by the presidential administration party, and monetary policy, as measured using Fed discount rate changes. These findings have implications for management and shareholders of highly regulated and subsidized industries and firms.
Copper homeostasis at the host vibrio interface: lessons from intracellular vibrio transcriptomics
Authors: Vanhove Audrey S. , Rubio Tristan P. , Nguyen An N. , Lemire Astrid , Roche David , Nicod Julie , Vergnes Agnès , Poirier Aurore C. , Disconzi Elena , Bachère Evelyne , Le Roux Frédérique , Jacq Annick , Charrière Guillaume M. , Destoumieux‐Garzón Delphine 
Published: October 2015

SummaryRecent studies revealed that several vibrio species have evolved the capacity to survive inside host cells. However, it is still often ignored if intracellular stages are required for pathogenicity. Virulence of Vibrio tasmaniensis LGP32, a strain pathogenic for Crassostrea gigas oysters, depends on entry into hemocytes, the oyster immune cells. We investigated here the mechanisms of LGP32 intracellular survival and their consequences on the host–pathogen interaction. Entry and survival inside hemocytes were required for LGP32‐driven cytolysis of hemocytes, both in vivo and in vitro. LGP32 intracellular stages showed a profound boost in metabolic activity and a major transcription of antioxidant and copper detoxification genes, as revealed by RNA sequencing. LGP32 isogenic mutants showed that resistance to oxidative stress and copper efflux are two main functions required for vibrio intracellular stages and cytotoxicity to hemocytes. Copper efflux was also essential for host colonization and virulence in vivo. Altogether, our results identify copper resistance as a major mechanism to resist killing by phagocytes, induce cytolysis of immune cells and colonize oysters. Selection of such resistance traits could arise from vibrio interactions with copper‐rich environmental niches including marine invertebrates, which favour the emergence of pathogenic vibrios resistant to intraphagosomal killing across animal species.
Determination of certain quality characteristics, thermal and sensory properties of ice creams produced with dried Besni grape (Vitis vinifera L.)
Authors: Kavaz Arzu , Yüksel Mehmet , Dağdemir Elif 
Published: October 2015

In this study, the effect of adding dried Besni grape (BG) at different concentrations on the physico‐chemical characteristics, colour values, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, glass transition (), melting (), freezing (Tf) and melting (Tm) point temperatures, and sensory properties of ice creams was investigated. Generally, the addition of BG caused a statistically significant (P < 0.01) increase in total solids, ash, fat, viscosity, first dripping times, complete melting times and a* colour values, while it decreased protein, pH, overrun, L*, b*, , , Tf and Tm values. The colour scores of ice cream samples showed a statistically significant increase (P < 0.05) with the increment of BG concentration, while the effects of BG addition on texture, resistance to melting, flavour, gumming structure and overall acceptability scores were not statistically significant.
Nursing Care Plans Based on NANDA, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcomes Classification: The Investigation of the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention in Greece
Authors: Patiraki Elisabeth , Katsaragakis Stylianos , Dreliozi Angeliki , Prezerakos Panagiotis 
Published: October 2015

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on home nursing care plans based on NANDA, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcomes Classification for registered nurses working at primary healthcare settings in Greece.MethodsThis is a quasi‐experimental study without a control group. The sample consisted of 19 registered nurses. The study tool was a questionnaire administered pre‐ and post‐educational intervention.FindingsThe intervention improved their skills on nursing diagnoses' nomination, proper formulation, and individualization of defining characteristics, but it did not improve them in desired outcomes formulation.ConclusionsA significant effect of an educational intervention on nursing care plans was demonstrated.Implications for Nursing PracticeNurses' knowledge and attitudes are important for understanding and integrating documentation within the nursing process.