Childhood leukaemia and socioeconomic status: what is the evidence?

The objectives of this systematic review are to summarise the current literature on socioeconomic status (SES) and the risk of childhood leukaemia, to highlight methodological problems and formulate recommendations for future research. Starting from the systematic review of Poole et al. (Socioeconomic status and childhood leukaemia: a review. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2006;35(2):370-384.), an electronic literature search was performed covering August 2002-April 2008. It showed that (1) the results are heterogeneous, with no clear evidence to support a relation between SES and childhood leukaemia; (2) a number of factors, most importantly selection bias, might explain inconsistencies between studies; (3) there is some support for an association between SES at birth (rather than later in childhood) and childhood leukaemia and (4) if there are any associations, these are weak, limited to the most extreme SES groups (the 10-20% most or least deprived). This makes it unlikely that they would act as strong confounders in research addressing associations between other exposures and childhood leukaemia. Future research should minimise case and control selection bias, distinguish between different SES measures and leukaemia subtypes and consider timing of exposures and cancer outcomes.     

Scientometric definition of science: In what respect is the humanities more scientific than mathematical and social sciences?

“What is science” is not only intellectually interesting but also politically crucial in the proper allocation of budget. As science does not define itself and only philosophy defines everything including science, this paper first sketches the philosophical view of science. Then, hypotheses are presented as to what definition is actually given for science by scientific circles themselves. The hypotheses are tested in a scientometric way by observing the trend in the magazine Science. Unexpected results are obtained. The actual trend in Science does not reflect what has long been considered about science. Specifically, chemistry is at the top in the number of papers, far above physics. More papers are in historical sciences (part of the humanities) than in mathematics, computer science and social science. It is discussed in what respect chemistry is the most scientific, and the humanities is more scientific than the abovementioned three scientific fields. It is interpreted that, out of the two aspects in Galilei’s view of science (metodo compositivo and metodo risolutivo.), the latter (empirical solution of problems by using technical instruments) dominates the former (systematic theory using mathematics) in Science.     

An analysis of dimensionality using factor analysis (true-score theory) and Rasch measurement: what is the difference? Which method is better?

One often hears the question asked, "For questionnaire data measuring a variable, what difference does it make to use factor analysis/principal components analysis (true-score theory) or Rasch measurement in testing for dimensionality?" This paper reports both factor analysis and Rasch measurement analysis for two sets of data. One set of data measures social anxiety for primary school students (N=436, I=10) and the second measures attitude to mathematics for primary-aged students (N=774, I=10). For both sets of data, the factor analysis suggests that the scores are reliable, and that inferences can be made that are valid for measuring school anxiety and attitude to mathematics. For both sets of data analyzed with Rasch measurement techniques, the reliability of the measures, the dimensionality of the measures, and the initial conceptualisation of the items, are called into question. It suggests that one cannot make valid inferences from the measures that were initially set up for true-score theory. The Rasch analysis suggests that items intended to measure a variable should be initially developed on a conceptualized scale from easy to hard, and that students should answer the items from this perspective, so that the Rasch analysis of the data tests this conceptualisation, and a linear scale can be created based on a mathematical measurement model with consistent units (logits).     

Innovating routines in the business firm: what corporate tasks should they be accomplishing?

One challenge in evolutionary economics is to give greater operationalcontent to the notion of ‘innovating routines’ insidethe firm. Historical and contemporary evidence suggests thatsuch routines always have to deal with increasing specializationin knowledge production, increasing depth in knowledge sourcesand complexity in physical artefacts, and with the continuousmatching of specific corporate competencies and organizationalpractices to the market opportunities offered by specific technologies.As a consequence, some innovating routines have always beenimportant, such as those dealing with the tasks of co-ordinationand integration within the firm, and of reducing uncertaintythrough learning. Others are becoming more so, such as thoseco-ordinating technological resources external to the firm,coping with systems and simulations, and adapting organizationalpractices to the requirements of radically changing technologicalopportunities.     

What is the role of the accessibility of wood hydroxyl groups in controlling moisture content?

It has often been claimed that the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of wood is controlled by the available hydroxyl group content and their accessibility, but this has not been proven. In the present study, the accessibility of the hydroxyl groups were analysed by deuterium exchange in a dynamic vapour sorption apparatus, and generally poor correlation with the EMC and hydroxyl group accessibility was found. Therefore, the role of the accessibility of wood hydroxyl groups in relation to exerting sole influence on the EMC is disputable. It is concluded that there has to be an additional mechanism to exercise control over the EMC in addition to hydroxyl group accessibility.     

Large area germanium detector arrays for lung counting: what is the optimum number of detectors?

Using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) torso phantom to calibrate a lung counting system can lead to the conclusion that three large area (i.e. >70 mm diameter) Ge detectors will outperform a four-detector array and provide a lower MDA as a four-detector array of large area Ge detectors covers a significant portion of inactive tissue (i.e. non-lung tissue). The lungs of the LLNL phantom, which are approximately 10 cm too short compared with real lungs, also suggests that a two-detector array could be used under limited circumstances. When tested with modified lungs that are more human-like, it was found that the four-detector array showed the best counting efficiency and the lowest MDA. Fortunately, these findings indicate that, although the LLNL phantom's lungs are too short, there is no adverse impact on the calibration of a lung counter.     

Mid-infrared spectroscopy of biochars and spectral similarities to coal and kerogens: what are the implications?

Biochar is the solid residue produced by the pyrolysis of any bio-organic material under low, or no, oxygen conditions and has generated considerable interest as a means to sequester carbon in, and improve the quality of, soils. However, the exact properties of biochar depend on its composition, which in turn depends on the composition of the starting material and the temperature and conditions under which the biochar is produced. Mid-infrared spectroscopy offers an excellent and rapid method for characterizing both the starting materials and the resulting biochar. Results using diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) have shown that spectral changes can be easily correlated with the production temperature and that DRIFTS offers a rapid method for biochar characterization. It was demonstrated that as the temperature increases biochars become increasingly more aromatic and carbonaceous in nature. We also showed that biochars are spectrally very similar to kerogens and coals; therefore, the methods and knowledge developed from decades of studies on these materials should greatly improve our understanding of biochar composition and effects in soil. This work indicates that rapid characterization using DRIFTS can be used to predict the nature of biochar and to determine the production conditions needed to produce a so-called "Designer Biochar" which will have properties of benefit to soil quality as well as sequestering carbon.     

Risk as social process: the end of 'the age of appealing to the facts'?

This paper utilises the notion of the risk society to argue that the ways in which technical practices, knowledge and rationality have become structured into governance are counter-productive and now instrumental to the proliferation of risk and destabilisation of governance. This problem is epitomised by how decisions have evolved to become a matter determined by 'facts' rather than by a determination of the community impact of outcomes and further compounded by the institutionally embedded blindness to wider social concerns that this entails. It is argued that what are required are processes integrating 'factual' technical and 'value-laden' societal concerns and avenues for this and their ramifications are elaborated and explored. Central to such developments will be a democratisation of technical practices and the institutions in which they are embedded. The broader political implications of these developments are examined and found to involve a radical extension of democracy involving an extensive reshaping of the topography of governance.     

What is the role of value-added service in a remanufacturing closed-loop supply chain?

While the previous literature overlooks value-added service in a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC), we consider new research problems with embedding value-added service into remanufacturing models. In this paper, we mainly study the role of value-added service in a CLSC and investigate how the value-added service influences profits and other decision variables. Then, we evaluate the performance of the CLSC in different service structures, where a manufacturer or a retailer provide the value-added service. Systematic comparisons and numerical studies show that the supply chain is more effective when service is provided by a manufacturer rather than by a retailer. Also, value-added service improves the whole supply chain performance and plays a regulatory role in a CLSC and influences the decisions of supply chain members. We also show that while a service cost-sharing mechanism can only optimise rather than achieve the supply chain coordination, and the degree of optimisation depends on cost-sharing percentage, the two-part tariff contract can be an effective mechanism to coordinate decentralised service scenarios by generating the same supply chain performance in a centralised service architecture model.     

Is there a fallacy of composition of external R&D? An empirical assessment of the impact of quasi-internal,external and offshored R&D

Empirical studies at the individual firm level often find a positive impact of external R&D on innovation. However, external R&D sourcing might produce an impoverishment of the local knowledge base and thus damage innovation production at the regional level. To address this possible fallacy of composition, we first review the various forms of ‘external’ R&D. We then use the French R&D survey to assess the impact of four different ways of transacting or collaborating on R&D: onshore affiliate external R&D, offshore affiliate external R&D, onshore non-affiliate and offshore non-affiliate external R&D. We then estimate knowledge production functions on the 94 metropolitan French NUTS3 regions observed between 1997 and 2008, differentiating internal R&D and these categories of external R&D. We obtain that the impact of onshore non-affiliate external R&D is significantly negative. The other external R&D categories are non-significant and we do not detect any complementarity between internal and external R&D.     

Energy deposition stochastics and track structure: what about the target?

The broad field of microdosimetry, as reflected in the proceedings of the 13 previous symposia in this series, has been largely concerned with the microscopic stochastics of energy deposition from ionising radiations of different qualities, the ways in which these can be described and the information that they can provide towards mechanistic understanding of the biological effects of radiation and for practical applications. Directions of the research have been strongly influenced by technical developments at particular times, most notably the tissue-equivalent proportional counter and later Monte Carlo track-structure simulation methods. Essential to the research have been evolving notions as to characteristics of the relevant biological targets, and in particular their sizes and structures in relation to the microscopic features of the radiation. Over the decades since the first Symposium on Microdosimetry, in 1967, emphasis has fluctuated from key targets being assumed to be of nanometre dimensions, then up to one micrometer, ten micrometers, and then back again to a few nanometres. Some of these historical threads are traced through the successive symposia, culminating in current emphasis on the predominant importance of clustered damage in DNA, first revealed by track-structure simulations, but tempered by recognition also of the contribution that novel 'non-targeted' effects may play in the overall biological consequences of radiation.     

Patient-specific scaling of reference S-values for cross-organ radionuclide S-values: what is appropriate?

The Medical Internal Radiation Dose Committee (MIRD) formalism assumes reference mass values for the organs (source and target) and the total body. MIRD publication 11 provides guidance on how patient-specific scaling of reference radionuclide S-values are to be performed for the electron component of the emission spectrum. However, guidance on patient-specific scaling of the photon contributions to the S-value is given only for those cases where the source and target organs are either far apart or are the same. The photon component of the S-value is derived from photon-Specific Absorbed Fractions (SAFs). These are obtained by Monte Carlo calculation of photon transport. The objective of this work is to verify the MIRD 11 guidance and to examine the relationship between photon SAFs and source/target organ mass when the conditions listed above do not apply. Furthermore, the scaling for photon cross-dose to distributed organs is at present not defined due to lack of data for models other than the reference model. The validity of mass scaling for cross irradiation from near and distant photons sources, especially for Red Bone Marrow (RBM) as a target tissue is also investigated. This is achieved by comparing Monte Carlo-derived SAFs for different source organs to RBM across the GSF voxel phantom series. The results show that, for photon energies greater than 100 keV, the SAF of most source organs to RBM need not be corrected for target mass (error < 5%). In contrast to the results obtained for well-defined source organs, the SAF for RBM irradiating RBM gives a deviation of up to 16% across the different GSF voxel phantoms.     

Energy and entropy of crystals,melts and glasses or what is wrong in Kauzmann's paradox?

In order to understand the thermodynamic properties of solids and melts one has to consider simultaneously their entropy and energy as a function of temperature. Therefore, the molar entropy, S, and enthalpy (energy), H, of crystals, glasses and melts of the same one‐component systems have been suitably depicted including the transformation from the melt into a solid, i. e. a glass or crystal. S and H of glasses correspond to a simple continuation of these functions from the molten state to lower temperatures. Since crystallisation occurs spontaneously such a process necessarily produces entropy causing the temperature to increase. Thus, the glassy and the crystalline state are not connected by an isothermal process, which is in contrast to the assumption in the classical nucleation and crystallisation theory as well as in the arguments causing Kauzmann's paradox. For the temperature T → 0K the enthalpy and entropy of the glass are larger by ΔH₀ and ΔS₀ as compared to the stable crystal. The calculations are illustrated using experimental data for quartz and silica glass from P. Richet, Y. Bottinga, L. Deniélou, J. P. Petitet and C. Téqui.     

To what extent is researchers' data-sharing motivated by formal mechanisms of recognition and credit?

Scientometrics - Data sharing by researchers is a centerpiece of Open Science principles and scientific progress. For a sample of 6019 researchers, we analyze the extent/frequency of their data...     

The new paradigm of crew resource management: just what is needed to re-engage the stalled collaborative movement?

The literature is replete with examples of collaborative studies and research from 1960 to about 1995, after which the movement seems to have lost momentum. With the emergence and focus on patient safety issues, the importance of collaboration and a team approach to patient care has become paramount. CRM is a communication methodology developed by the aviation industry, based on team-centered decision making systems. Once we have identified the key components of a successful collaborative model, it is imperative that we incorporate them into the health care providers' educational curriculum, both in training as well as in the practice setting. Effective communication must be identified as a necessary skill, and collaboration as a conscious, learned behavior. The dream of collaboration has been deferred long enough, and CRM shows promise for re-igniting the collaborative movement.     

40 years of research on internationalization and firm performance: More questions than answers?

Abstract and Key Results

Innovation and growth in KIBS: the role of clients’ collaboration and service customisation

In this paper, we analyse KIBS firms and posit that two core attributes of KIBS, namely collaborative relationships with clients and product customisation, foster the ability to develop successful, new product innovations. We disentangle the role of customisation and collaboration choices by looking at how they jointly affect the impact of innovation over firms’ performance, asking to what extent and how firms should collaborate with clients and customise their services. We test our hypotheses on a sample of Italian KIBS firms. Our results show that product innovations that are new to the industry are relevant and, counter intuitively, show that most growing KIBS firms do not have the highest service customisation and collaboration breadth with their clients. Most growing firms develop mass customisation strategies and they leverage on focused collaboration strategies with clients.     

Why Internet use? A quantitative examination of the role of everyday life and Internet policy and regulation

Regardless of the technological advances achieved so far and the often techno-deterministic approaches to the information society, inequalities in the access to, distribution and use of ICTs such as the Internet still highlight the importance of digital divides. The complex nature and continuing importance of the unequal rates of use of ICTs such as the Internet invite research to examine their drivers. Ordinary people’s everyday life and their awareness and evaluation of policy and regulation are influential factors in how Internet use takes shape today. This is the argument made by this article and supported by a survey of 1001 Internet users and non-users in Greece. Particular attention is paid to how aspects of everyday life and culture, such as resistance to ICTs, and people’s awareness and evaluation of Internet policy and regulation in areas such as online security and privacy can explain Internet use.     

Can a bibliometric indicator predict the success of an analgesic?

In the assessment of success of new analgesic drugs over the past 50 years (Kissin, Anesth Analg 110:780–789, 2010) we observed a difference in the publication response to a new drug between biomedical journals in general and top journals: number of published articles on a drug increased (and declined) more rapidly in the top journals. Based on this phenomenon we present a new publication indicator—the Top Journal Selectivity Index (TJSI). It represents the ratio between the number of all types of articles in the top 20 biomedical journals and the number of articles in all (>5,000) journals covered by Medline, over 5 years after a drug’s introduction. Ten analgesics developed during the period 1986–2009 were selected for analysis. Three publication indices were used for assessment: the number of all types of articles presented in Medline, the number of articles covering only randomized controlled trials (RCT), and the Top Journal Selectivity Index. We also assessed the success score in the development of these analgesics based on the following criteria: novelty of molecular target, analgesic efficacy, and response by the pharmaceutical market. The relationships between the publication indices and analgesic’s success score were determined with the use of the Pearson correlation coefficient. Positive relationship was found only with the Top Journal Selectivity Index (r = 0.876, p < 0.001). We suggest that this index can predict success in drug development at least in the field of analgesics.