bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking the viability of SCM for entrepreneurial business model design
Authors: Fawcett Stanley E. , Allred Chad , Magnan Gregory M. , Ogden Jeffrey 
Published: February 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to benchmark the viability of collaborative supply chain (SC) business models for small businesses.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data was collected from 81 companies with 100 or fewer employees, 169 companies with 101‐500 employees, and 308 companies with more than 500 employees. To help contextualize the findings, eight in‐depth interviews with small firms were conducted.FindingsBenchmarking the viability of collaborative SC business models using a contingency, resource‐based‐view assessment paradigm reveals a perplexing paradox. Managers at small firms suggest that the majority of the benefits of SCM are within their reach. They also note that the barriers to implementation do not intimidate them. However, they also report that they are not actively pursuing SCM as a strategic weapon. Our research shows that the best way to avoid the cost squeeze and death spiral encountered by small business in today's global SC environment is to create the collaborative capabilities promoted by SCM. That is, while large firms leverage size firms must leverage creative collaboration to insinuate themselves into competitive SC teams to drive long‐term growth. We recommend three alternative SCM strategies based on the small firm's growth strategy.Originality/valueThe small‐business literature on supply chain management (SCM) is relatively scant and provides conflicting views of SCM's viability. This research represents a unique multi‐method approach that shows that SCM is applicable to the world of small business.
Benchmarking service quality in UK electricity distribution networks
Authors: Sum Chau Vinh 
Published: February 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the evolution and development of customer service performance measures in the electricity sector since privatization in 1989, and then examine the impact of a specific recent energy regulatory requirement (known as information and incentives project (IIP)) on the organizational management of an exemplar electricity distribution company. Also discussed is how the sector has tried to learn from benchmarks from a number of such literary disciplines as economics, marketing service quality, and total quality management.Design/methodology/approachThe research first presents a survey of the historical development of performance standards based on archival documentation. It is then augmented by the employment of a longitudinal “tracer study”, involving the isolation and firsthand real time qualitative observations of a company's key strategic and operational activities, to understand how they related to the other organizational phenomena at large. This process spanned an investigative period of two years.FindingsThe paper finds that much of the early standards used in electricity immediately after the sector's privatization rested much on those in the water and gas safety sectors, which themselves were then admittedly inadequate in UK. The IIP, a complementary set of service quality standards, worked on these early problems, but the implementation of the new scheme proved problematic and warranted major organizational reengineering, as shown in the exemplar company, ElectriCo. IIP has impacted on organizational management mostly in the areas of: higher‐level strategic change, causing noticeable internal confusion during strategic transitions, building a performance management system, improvements in performance data, and establishing more effective ways for management.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the case example used in the research is a regional monopoly and is a good representation of the context in which the service standards operate, the findings are limited to the one company. It is a UK specific context without international comparison.Originality/valueThe research has combined archival research with an innovative firsthand methodological approach (tracer studies). Its value is in how the story of service standards in electricity (and specifically distribution) has been augmented from the early customer service standards to the most recent IIP considerations. It also looks from within the company, which has been missing in longstanding research in the more traditional disciplines such as economics.
Computer‐based psychological treatment for comorbid depression and problematic alcohol and/or cannabis use: a randomized controlled trial of clinical efficacy
Authors: Kay‐Lambkin Frances J. , Baker Amanda L. , Lewin Terry J. , Carr Vaughan J. 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACTAims  To evaluate computer‐ versus therapist‐delivered psychological treatment for people with comorbid depression and alcohol/cannabis use problems.Design  Randomized controlled trial.Setting  Community‐based participants in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.Participants  Ninety‐seven people with comorbid major depression and alcohol/cannabis misuse.Intervention  All participants received a brief intervention (BI) for depressive symptoms and substance misuse, followed by random assignment to: no further treatment (BI alone); or nine sessions of motivational interviewing and cognitive behaviour therapy (intensive MI/CBT). Participants allocated to the intensive MI/CBT condition were selected at random to receive their treatment ‘live’ (i.e. delivered by a psychologist) or via a computer‐based program (with brief weekly input from a psychologist).Measurements  Depression, alcohol/cannabis use and hazardous substance use index scores measured at baseline, and 3, 6 and 12 months post‐baseline assessment.Findings  (i) Depression responded better to intensive MI/CBT compared to BI alone, with ‘live’ treatment demonstrating a strong short‐term beneficial effect which was matched by computer‐based treatment at 12‐month follow‐up; (ii) problematic alcohol use responded well to BI alone and even better to the intensive MI/CBT intervention; (iii) intensive MI/CBT was significantly better than BI alone in reducing cannabis use and hazardous substance use, with computer‐based therapy showing the largest treatment effect.Conclusions  Computer‐based treatment, targeting both depression and substance use simultaneously, results in at least equivalent 12‐month outcomes relative to a ‘live’ intervention. For clinicians treating people with comorbid depression and alcohol problems, BIs addressing both issues appear to be an appropriate and efficacious treatment option. Primary care of those with comorbid depression and cannabis use problems could involve computer‐based integrated interventions for depression and cannabis use, with brief regular contact with the clinician to check on progress.
School‐based alcohol education: results of a cluster‐randomized controlled trial
Authors: Morgenstern Matthis , Wiborg Gudrun , Isensee Barbara , Hanewinkel Reiner 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACTObjective This study aimed to examine the effects of a school‐based alcohol education intervention.Design Two‐arm three‐wave cluster‐randomized controlled trial, with schools as the unit for randomization. Surveys were conducted prior to intervention implementation, then 4 and 12 months after baseline.Setting A total of 30 public schools in Schleswig‐Holstein, Germany.Participants Baseline data were obtained from 1686 7th graders. The retention rate was 85% over 12 months.Intervention The intervention consisted of four interactive lessons conducted by teachers, booklets for students and booklets for parents.Measures Knowledge, attitudes, life‐time alcohol consumption (ever use alcohol without parental knowledge, ever been drunk and ever binge drinking) and past‐month alcohol use.Results Intention‐to‐treat analyses revealed that intervention status was associated with more general knowledge about alcohol and lower levels of life‐time binge drinking. No effects were found with respect to students' self‐reported attitudes, intentions to drink, life‐time alcohol use and past‐month alcohol use.Conclusions The results indicate that this brief school‐based intervention had a small short‐term preventive effect on alcohol misuse.
Changes in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure over a 20‐year period: cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses
Authors: Jefferis Barbara J. , Thomson Andrew G. , Lennon Lucy T. , Feyerabend Colin , Doig Mira , McMeekin Laura , Wannamethee S. Goya , Cook Derek G. , Whincup Peter H. 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACTAims  To examine long‐term changes in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in British men between 1978 and 2000, using serum cotinine.Design  Prospective cohort: British Regional Heart Study.Setting  General practices in 24 towns in England, Wales and Scotland.Participants  Non‐smoking men: 2125 studied at baseline [questionnaire (Q1): 1978–80, aged 40–59 years], 3046 studied 20 years later (Q20: 1998–2000, aged 60–79 years) and 1208 studied at both times. Non‐smokers were men reporting no current smoking with cotinine < 15 ng/ml at Q1 and/or Q20.Measurements  Serum cotinine to assess ETS exposure.Findings  In cross‐sectional analysis, geometric mean cotinine level declined from 1.36 ng/ml [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.31, 1.42] at Q1 to 0.19 ng/ml (95% CI: 0.18, 0.19) at Q20. The prevalence of cotinine levels ≤ 0.7 ng/ml [associated with low coronary heart disease (CHD) risk] rose from 27.1% at Q1 to 83.3% at Q20. Manual social class and northern region of residence were associated with higher mean cotinine levels both at Q1 and Q20; older age was associated with lower cotinine level at Q20 only. Among 1208 persistent non‐smokers, cotinine fell by 1.47 ng/ml (95% CI: 1.37, 1.57), 86% decline. Absolute falls in cotinine were greater in manual occupational groups, in the Midlands and Scotland compared to southern England, although percentage decline was very similar across groups.Conclusions  A marked decline in ETS exposure occurred in Britain between 1978 and 2000, which is likely to have reduced ETS‐related disease risks appreciably before the introduction of legislation banning smoking in public places.
Can invasion patches of Acacia mearnsii serve as colonizing sites for native plant species on Réunion (Mascarene archipelago)?
Authors: Tassin J. , Médoc J. M. , Kull C. A. , Rivière J. N. , Balent G. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThere is need for documenting the long‐term effects of plant invasions at the landscape scale. We investigated the possible catalytic effect of invasive Acacia mearnsii De Wild. on the colonization of rural landscapes by native plant species on Réunion Island (Mascarene Archipelago, Indian Ocean). Data were recorded from 182 circular plots of 50 m2 within a set of 48 large invasion patches, aged from 1 to 48+ years. Only eighteen native plant species were present in the invaded patches and these in only 21 of the 48 patches. The Acacia invasion patches colonized by native flora were older and closer to the closest forest remnant. Most invasion patches colonized by native species were located <200 m from forest remnants. Results are consistent with studies on colonization rates of nonindigenous forest plantations, which increase with age and decrease with distance to seeds sources. Yet, the rate of Acacia invasion patches colonized by native flora remained very low compared to studies on the colonization of exotic plantations in other tropical countries. We conclude that invasion patches of Acacia mearnsii are poor colonizing sites for native plant species. Allelopathy is suspected as one of the strongest factors, which prevent this colonization.
Bacterial infection and neutropenia during peginterferon plus ribavirin combination therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C with and without baseline neutropenia in clinical practice
Authors: YANG J.‐F. , HSIEH M.‐Y. , HOU N.‐J. , DAI C.‐Y. , HUANG J.‐F. , LIN Z.‐Y. , CHEN S.‐C. , HSIEH M.‐Y. , WANG L.‐Y. , CHUANG W.‐L. , YU M.‐L. 
Published: February 2009

SummaryBackground Peginterferon‐α–based therapy frequently leads to neutropenia. It remains unclear whether neutropenia is associated with bacterial infection in chronic hepatitis C (CHC).Aim To evaluate the risk of bacterial infection and neutropenia in patients with CHC treated with peginterferon‐α/ribavirin.Methods In all, 207 patients with CHC with (group A,n = 30) and without (group B,n = 177) baseline neutropenia were treated with peginterferon‐α/ribavirin.Results Group A had significantly higher rates of moderate (<750 cells/μL) and severe (<500 cells/μL) neutropenia than group B (70.0% and 26.7% vs. 20.3% and 8.5% respectively, bothP < 0.0001). The sustained virological response rate was similar between patients with and without neutropenia, at baseline or during treatment. Bacterial infection occurred in 4.3% of patients. Group A and patients with lower baseline neutrophil counts had substantially higher rates of bacterial infection. Patients with cirrhosis had significantly higher rates of infection during combination therapy than those without cirrhosis (15%, 3 of 20 vs. 3.2%, 6 of 187,P = 0.045). Nadir neutrophil counts were not correlated to infection episodes.Conclusions Bacterial infection during peginterferon‐based therapy for CHC was associated with comorbidity of cirrhosis, but not with neutropenia, whether at baseline or during treatment. Neutropenic CHC patients might be treated safely with close monitoring.
Intestinal decontamination improves liver haemodynamics in patients with alcohol‐related decompensated cirrhosis
Authors: VLACHOGIANNAKOS J. , SAVERIADIS A. S. , VIAZIS N. , THEODOROPOULOS I. , FOUDOULIS K. , MANOLAKOPOULOS S. , RAPTIS S. , KARAMANOLIS D. G. 
Published: February 2009

SummaryBackground  Endotoxaemia is commonly seen in cirrhotic patients with ascites and this may be associated with increased portal pressure.Aim  To investigate the effect of intestinal decontamination on liver haemodynamics in alcohol‐related cirrhotic patients with ascites.Methods  We included 30 patients. At day 0, systemic and splanchnic circulation endotoxin levels were determined and HVPG measurement performed. Patients received rifaximin (1200 mg/day) for 28 days. At day 29, systemic and splanchnic circulation endotoxin levels were determined and HVPG measurement performed again.Results  Median (range) plasma endotoxin levels decreased significantly after rifaximin administration both in systemic [1.45(0–3.1) vs. 0.7(0–2.7), P < 0.0001] and splanchnic circulation [1.8(0–3.4) vs. 0.8(0–2.1), P < 0.0001]. Meanwhile, the difference seen in endotoxin levels between the splanchnic and systemic circulation at day 0 (P = 0.001) was not noted at day 29 (P = 0.137). HVPG measurement was possible in 28 patients. Median (range) HVPG values were 18 mmHg (12.7–26.3) on day 0 vs. 14.7 mmHg (7–20) on day 29 (P < 0.0001). HVPG decreased after rifaximin in 23, remained stable in two and increased in three patients.Conclusion  Hepatic venous pressure gradient values decreased significantly after intestinal decontamination with rifaximin in patients with alcohol‐related decompensated cirrhosis and this might have been achieved through significant reduction of plasma endotoxin levels.
Patients with chemotherapy‐refractory mantle cell lymphoma experience high response rates and identical progression‐free survivals compared with patients with relapsed disease following treatment with single agent bortezomib: results of a multicentre phase 2 clinical trial
Authors: O’Connor Owen A. , Moskowitz Craig , Portlock Carol , Hamlin Paul , Straus David , Dumitrescu Otilia , Sarasohn Debra , Gonen Mithat , Butos John , Neylon Ellen , Hamelers Rachel , Mac‐Gregor Cortelli Barbara , Blumel Susan , Zelenetz Andrew D. , Gordon Leo , Wright John J. , Vose Julie , Cooper Brenda , Winter Jane 
Published: February 2009

SummaryThe recent approval of bortezomib for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) by the US Food and Drug Administration is based on the results of the multicentre PINNACLE study with supportive data from a number of single and multicentre Phase 2 studies. This multicentre Phase 2 study enroled 40 patients with heavily pretreated MCL. The overall response rate (ORR) was 47%, including 5 complete remissions and 14 partial remissions. Overall, these remissions are relatively durable. The ORR in relapsed and refractory patients was 50% and 43% respectively (P = 0·74), while both populations of patients exhibited essentially similar progression‐free survival (PFS; 5·6 months vs. 3·9 months, P = 0·81). Responding patients experienced a PFS from bortezomib that was similar to their line of prior therapy (7·8 months vs. 8·4 months, respectively). The data showed similar responses in relapsed and refractory patients as well as remission durations similar to prior therapy, suggesting that there may be little cross‐resistance with other conventional cytotoxic agents. Importantly, these data suggest that MCL patients with refractory or poorly responsive disease may still derive meaningful clinical benefit from treatment with bortezomib.
Poleward shifts in breeding bird distributions in New York State
Authors: ZUCKERBERG BENJAMIN , WOODS ANNE M. , PORTER WILLIAM F. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractLike other regions of the northern hemisphere, the northeastern United States has experienced a general increase in regional temperatures over the past 20 years. Quantifying the ecological implications of these changing temperatures has been severely constrained by a lack of multispecies distributional data by which to compare long‐term changes. We used the New York State Breeding Bird Atlas, a statewide survey of 5332 25 km2 blocks surveyed in 1980–1985 and 2000–2005, to test several predictions that the birds of New York State are responding to climate change. Our objective was to use an information‐theoretic approach to analyze changes in three geographic range characteristics, the center of occurrence, range boundaries, and states of occurrence to address several predictions that the birds of New York State are moving polewards and up in elevation. As expected, we found all bird species (n=129) included in this analysis showed an average northward range shift in their mean latitude of 3.58 km [Prob(Ha|data)=0.87)]. Past studies have found that northern range boundaries are more likely to be influenced by climatic factors than southern range boundaries. Consequently, we predicted that northward shifts would be more evident in northern as opposed to southern range boundaries. We found, however, that the southern range boundaries of northerly birds moved northward by 11.4 km [n=43, Prob(Ha|data)=0.92], but this pattern was less evident in northern range boundaries of southerly birds. In addition, we found that bird species demonstrated a general shift downhill in their mean elevation, but demonstrated little change in their elevational boundaries. The repeated pattern of a predicted northward shift in bird ranges in various geographic regions of the world provides compelling evidence that climate change is driving range shifts.
Interactive effects of warming and increased nitrogen deposition on 15N tracer retention in a temperate old field: seasonal trends
Authors: TURNER MICHELLE M. , HENRY HUGH A. L. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe extent to which increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition will drive changes in plant productivity and species composition over the next century will depend on how other influential global change factors, such as climate warming, affect the N retention of ecosystems. We examined the interactive effects of simulated climate warming and N deposition on the recoveries of 15N‐labeled ammonium and 15N‐labeled nitrate tracers added as a pulse to grass‐dominated, temperate old‐field plots at spring thaw. In addition to the year‐round warming treatment, a winter‐only warming treatment was applied to a set of plots to explore the contribution of this component of climate warming to the overall warming effect. By the end of the plant growing season, there was approximately twice as much 15N enrichment in the plant roots and bulk soil from 15NH4+‐addition plots than from 15NO3−‐addition plots, but there were no effects of warming or N fertilization on 15N recovery. Over winter, approximately half of the excess 15N present in plant shoots was lost, which corresponded with large 15N losses from bulk soil in N fertilized plots and large 15N increases in bulk soil in nonfertilized plots. By the next spring, there was decreased 15N recovery in plants in response to N fertilization, which was largely offset by increases in plant 15N recovery in response to year‐round warming. However, 15N retention in bulk soil, where the major part of the 15N label was recovered, was approximately 40% higher in nonfertilized plots than in N fertilized plots. Overall, our results indicate that climate warming increases plant N sequestration in this system but this effect is overwhelmed by the overall effect of nitrogen deposition on ecosystem N losses.
Interaction between tool and talk: how instruction and tools support consensus building in collaborative inquiry‐learning environments
Authors: Gijlers H. , Saab N. , Van Joolingen W.R. , De Jong T. , Van Hout‐Wolters B.H.A.M. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe process of collaborative inquiry learning requires maintaining a mutual understanding of the task, along with reaching consensus on strategies, plans and domain knowledge. In this study, we explore how different supportive measures affect students' consensus‐building process, based on a re‐analysis of data from four studies. We distinguish between scaffolds that aim at supporting students' collaborative processes and scaffolds that aim primarily at supporting the inquiry learning process. The overall picture that emerges from the re‐analysis is that integration‐oriented consensus‐building activities are facilitated by scaffolds that provide explicit instruction in rules for effective collaboration and by scaffolds that encourage students to collaboratively construct a representation. Scaffolds that display inter‐individual differences between students' opinions resulted primarily in quick consensus‐building activities.
Sec6‐dependent sorting of fungal extracellular exosomes and laccase of Cryptococcus neoformans
Authors: Panepinto John , Komperda Kazimierz , Frases Susana , Park Yoon‐Dong , Djordjevic Julianne T. , Casadevall Arturo , Williamson Peter R. 
Published: February 2009

SummaryThe cell wall of pathogenic fungi such as Cryptococcus neoformans, provides a formidable barrier to secrete virulence factors that produce host cell damage. To study secretion of virulence factors to the cell periphery, sec6 RNAi mutant strains of C. neoformans were tested for virulence factor expression. The studies reported here show that SEC6 RNAi mutant strains were defective in a number of virulence factors including laccase, urease as well as soluble polysaccharide and demonstrated attenuated virulence in mice. Further analysis by transmission electron microscopy detected the production of abundant extracellular exosomes in wild‐type strains containing empty plasmid, but a complete absence in the iSEC6 strain. In addition, a green fluorescent protein–laccase fusion protein demonstrated aberrant localization within cytoplasmic vesicles in iSEC6 strains. In contrast, iSEC6 strains retained normal growth at 37°C, as well as substantially normal capsule formation, phospholipase activity and total secreted protein. These results provide the first molecular evidence for the existence of fungal exosomes and associate these vesicles with the virulence of C. neoformans.