Contextualising accounts of illness:Notions of responsibility and blame in white and South Asian respondents' accounts of diabetes causation

We undertook a secondary analysis of in-depth interviews with white (n = 32) and Pakistani and Indian (n = 32) respondents who had type 2 diabetes, which explored their perceptions and understandings of disease causation. We observed subtle, but important, differences in the ways in which these respondent groups attributed responsibility and blame for developing the disease. Whereas Pakistani and Indian respondents tended to externalise responsibility, highlighting their life circumstances in general and/or their experiences of migrating to Britain in accounting for their diabetes (or the behaviours they saw as giving rise to it), white respondents, by contrast, tended to emphasise the role of their own lifestyle 'choices' and 'personal failings'. In seeking to understand these differences, we argue for a conceptual and analytical approach which embraces both micro- (i.e. everyday) and macro- (i.e. cultural) contextual factors and experiences. In so doing, we provide a critique of social scientific studies of lay accounts/understandings of health and illness. We suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to the research encounter (that is, to who is looking at whom and in what circumstances) to understand the different kinds of contexts researchers have highlighted in presenting and interpreting their data. © 2007 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The role of line managers in employee career management:an attachment theory perspective

Line managers increasingly play a key role in organizational career development systems, yet few studies have examined the nature of this role or its implications for employee career attitudes and behaviors. In two studies, we used attachment theory to explore this issue. In Study 1, in-depth interviews (N = 20) showed that employees viewed career management as a relational process in which line managers are expected to act as ‘caregiver’ to support individualized career development. Study 2 was a large-scale international survey (N = 891). Participants scoring higher on attachment avoidance in their line manager relationships reported more negative perceptions of career growth opportunities, lower participation in organizational career development activities and higher turnover intentions. Trust in the organization partially mediated the relationship. Theoretical and practical implications for HRM are discussed.

Can production subsidies explain China's export performance? Evidence from firm-level data

This paper analyses the relationship between production subsidies and firms’ export performance using a very comprehensive and recent firm-level database and controlling for the endogeneity of subsidies. It documents robust evidence that production subsidies stimulate export activity at the intensive margin, although this effect is conditional on firm characteristics. In particular, the positive relationship between subsidies and the intensive margin of exports is strongest among profit-making firms, firms in capital-intensive industries, and those located in non-coastal regions. Compared to firm characteristics, the extent of heterogeneity across ownership structure (SOEs, collectives, and privately owned firms) proves to be relatively less important.

The impact of buddying on psychological capital, work engagement and turnover intentions:an empirical study of socialization in the professional services sector

This article reports on a study investigating the impact of new employees' satisfaction with buddying on work engagement and explores the role of psychological capital in mediating this relationship. The study took place within a professional services organization wherein data were collected from 78 graduate newcomers in receipt of buddying. Satisfaction with buddying was found to have a positive relationship to both work engagement and psychological capital. The satisfaction with the buddy/work engagement relationship was fully mediated by psychological capital, providing support for Saks & Gruman's (2011) socialization resources theory. The results underscore the valuable role buddying can play as part of organizational socialization from a positive organizational behavior perspective. The research contributes to the growing evidence that positively oriented human resource practices can develop personal resources of newcomers within organizations. Recommendations are made for how the organization can improve and build upon this resource, thus developing the psychological capital of newcomers. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Elevated placental soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 inhibits angiogenesis in preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is an inflammatory disorder in which serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1, also known as sFlt-1) are elevated. We hypothesize that VEGF and placenta growth factor (PlGF) are dysregulated in preeclampsia due to high levels of sVEGFR-1, which leads to impaired placental angiogenesis. Analysis of supernatants taken from preeclamptic placental villous explants showed a four-fold increase in sVEGFR-1 than normal pregnancies, suggesting that villous explants in vitro retain a hypoxia memory reflecting long-term fetal programming. The relative ratios of VEGF to sVEGFR-1and PlGF to sVEGFR-1 released from explants decreased by 53% and 70%, respectively, in preeclampsia compared with normal pregnancies. Exposure of normal villous explants to hypoxia increased sVEGFR-1 release compared with tissue normoxia (P<0.001), as did stimulation with tumor necrosis factor-α (P<0.01). Conditioned medium (CM) from normal villous explants induced endothelial cell migration and in vitro tube formation, which were both attenuated by pre-incubation with exogenous sVEGFR-1 (P<0.001). In contrast, endothelial cells treated with preeclamptic CM showed substantially reduced angiogenesis compared withnormal CM (P<0.001), which was not further decreased by the addition of exogenous sVEGFR-1, indicating a saturation of the soluble receptor.Removal of sVEGFR-1 by immunoprecipitation from preeclamptic CM significantly restored migration (P<0.001) and tube formation (P<0.001) to levels comparable to that induced by normal CM, demonstrating that elevated levels of sVEGFR-1 in preeclampsia are responsible for inhibiting angiogenesis. Our finding demonstrates the dysregulation of the VEGF/PlGF axis in preeclampsiaand offers an entirely new therapeutic approach to its treatment.

Microporous organic polymers based on hexaphenylbiadamantane:synthesis, ultra-high stability and gas capture

Hexaphenylbiadamantane-based microporous organic polymers (MOPs) were successfully synthesized by Suzuki coupling under mild conditions. The obtained MOPs show high surface area (891 m2 g−1), ultra-high thermal (less than 40% mass loss at temperatures up to 1000 °C) and chemical (no apparent decomposition in organic solvents for more than 7 days) stability, gas (H2, CO2, CH4) capture capabilities and vapor (benzene, hexane) adsorption. These combined abilities render the synthesized MOPs an attractive candidate as thermo-chemically stable adsorbents for practical use in gas storage and pollutant vapor adsorption.