Neuropathological changes in ten cases of neuronal intermediate filament inclusion disease (NIFID):A study using α-internexin immunohistochemistry and principal components analysis (PCA)

Ten cases of neuronal intermediate filament inclusion disease (NIFID) were studied quantitatively. The α-internexin positive neurofilament inclusions (NI) were most abundant in the motor cortex and CA sectors of the hippocampus. The densities of the NI and the swollen achromatic neurons (SN) were similar in laminae II/III and V/VI but glial cell density was greater in V/VI. The density of the NI was positively correlated with the SN and the glial cells. Principal components analysis (PCA) suggested that PC1 was associated with variation in neuronal loss in the frontal/temporal lobes and PC2 with neuronal loss in the frontal lobe and NI density in the parahippocampal gyrus. The data suggest: 1) frontal and temporal lobe degeneration in NIFID is associated with the widespread formation of NI and SN, 2) NI and SN affect cortical laminae II/III and V/VI, 3) the NI and SN affect closely related neuronal populations, and 4) variations in neuronal loss and in the density of NI were the most important sources of pathological heterogeneity. © Springer-Verlag 2005.

Material artifacts:practices for doing strategy with 'stuff'

This paper addresses the dearth of research into material artifacts and how they are engaged in strategizing activities. Building on the strategy-as-practice perspective, and the notion of epistemic objects, we develop a typology of strategy practices that show how managers use material artifacts to strategize by a dual process of knowledge abstraction and substitution. Empirically, we study the practice of underwriting managers in reinsurance companies. Our findings first identify the artifacts – pictures, maps, data packs, spreadsheets and graphs – that these managers use to appraise reinsurance deals. Second, the analysis of each artifact’s situated use led to the identification of five practices for doing strategy with artifacts: physicalizing, locating, enumerating, analyzing, and selecting. Last, we developed a typology that shows how practices vary in terms of their level of abstraction from the physical properties of the risk being reinsured and unfold through a process of substituting. Our conceptual framework extends existing work in the strategy-as-practice field that calls for research into the role of material artifacts.

James Paul Gee, How to Do Discourse Analysis: A Toolkit, New York: Routledge, 2011; ix + 206 pp., €25.00/US$33.00 (pbk)

Book reviews

Conclusion : on multiple levels of analysis, context, contingency and capital

In this concluding chapter, we bring together the threads and reflections on the chapters contained in this text and show how they relate to multi-level issues. The book has focused on the world of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the systems and practices it must put in place to foster innovation. Many of the contributions argue that in order to bring innovation about, organisations have to think carefully about the way in which they will integrate what is, in practice, organisationally relevant — but socially distributed — knowledge. They need to build a series of knowledge-intensive activities and networks, both within their own boundaries and across other important external inter-relationships. In so doing, they help to co-ordinate important information structures. They have, in effect, to find ways of enabling people to collaborate with each other at lower cost, by reducing both the costs of their co-ordination and the levels of unproductive search activity. They have to engineer these behaviours by reducing the risks for people that might be associated with incorrect ideas and help individuals, teams and business units to advance incomplete ideas that are so often difficult to codify. In short, a range of intangible assets must flow more rapidly throughout the organisation and an appropriate balance must be found between the rewards and incentives associated with creativity, novelty and innovation, versus the risks that innovation may also bring.

Quantifying evidence for forensic authorship analysis

The judicial interest in ‘scientific’ evidence has driven recent work to quantify results for forensic linguistic authorship analysis. Through a methodological discussion and a worked example this paper examines the issues which complicate attempts to quantify results in work. The solution suggested to some of the difficulties is a sampling and testing strategy which helps to identify potentially useful, valid and reliable markers of authorship. An important feature of the sampling strategy is that these markers identified as being generally valid and reliable are retested for use in specific authorship analysis cases. The suggested approach for drawing quantified conclusions combines discriminant function analysis and Bayesian likelihood measures. The worked example starts with twenty comparison texts for each of three potential authors and then uses a progressively smaller comparison corpus, reducing to fifteen, ten, five and finally three texts per author. This worked example demonstrates how reducing the amount of data affects the way conclusions can be drawn. With greater numbers of reference texts quantified and safe attributions are shown to be possible, but as the number of reference texts reduces the analysis shows how the conclusion which should be reached is that no attribution can be made. The testing process at no point results in instances of a misattribution.

Cultural value systems of East European countries:a gender based analysis

This study examines the cultural value systems of employees working in major industrial and commercial centers of six ex-communist Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) and the former Soviet Republics (FSR). The study throws light on how human resources are managed in these countries and has key messages for overseas operators who are already doing business or planning to start on in these countries.

Using QFD for e-business planning and analysis in a micro-sized enterprise

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show how QFD can be used as part of a structured planning and analysis framework for micro-sized enterprises to build-up their e-business capabilities. Design/methodology/approach - This case study has been produced using a new framework which integrates the balanced scorecard, value chain and quality function deployment techniques into an integrated framework known as the E-Business Planning and Analysis Framework (E-PAF). It has been produced using an action research approach. Findings - A new framework with a supporting case study is provided. This case study has demonstrated that the framework can be applied successfully to micro-sized enterprises (those with less than ten employees) to successfully plan new strategic and technical developments. This will enhance the online service that the company is able to provide. Research limitations/implications - This paper presents a single case study. The technical recommendations are currently being implemented. Originality/value - Such analytical techniques are most commonly associated with large organisations, and are not specifically associated with e-business planning. This paper provides a new framework that will be of general applicability to other similarly sized enterprises that are looking to improve e-business capabilities. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Midterm to long-term longitudinal outcome of autologous chondrocyte implantation in the knee joint:a multilevel analysis

Background Autologous chondrocyte implantation is a cell therapeutic approach for the treatment of chondral and osteochondral defects in the knee joint. The authors previously reported on the histologic and radiologic outcome of autologous chondrocyte implantation in the short- to midterm, which yields mixed results. Purpose The objective is to report on the clinical outcome of autologous chondrocyte implantation for the knee in the midterm to long term. Study Design Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods Eighty patients who had undergone autologous chondrocyte implantation of the knee with mid- to long-term follow-up were analyzed. The mean patient age was 34.6 years (standard deviation, 9.1 years), with 63 men and 17 women. Seventy-one patients presented with a focal chondral defect, with a median defect area of 4.1 cm2 and a maximum defect area of 20 cm2. The modified Lysholm score was used as a self-reporting clinical outcome measure to determine the following: (1) What is the typical pattern over time of clinical outcome after autologous chondrocyte implantation; and (2) Which patient-related predictors for the clinical outcome pattern can be used to improve patient selection for autologous chondrocyte implantation? Results The average follow-up time was 5 years (range, 2.7–9.3). Improvement in clinical outcome was found in 65 patients (81%), while 15 patients (19%) showed a decline in outcome. The median preoperative Lysholm score of 54 increased to a median of 78 points. The most rapid improvement in Lysholm score was over the 15-month period after operation, after which the Lysholm score remained constant for up to 9 years. The authors were unable to identify any patient-specific factors (ie, age, gender, defect size, defect location, number of previous operations, preoperative Lysholm score) that could predict the change in clinical outcome in the first 15 months. Conclusion Autologous chondrocyte implantation seems to provide a durable clinical outcome in those patients demonstrating success at 15 months after operation. Comparisons between other outcome measures of autologous chondrocyte implantation should be focused on the clinical status at 15 months after surgery. The patient-reported clinical outcome at 15 months is a major predictor of the mid- to long-term success of autologous chondrocyte implantation.

Being female doing gender:narratives of women in education management

The paper explores gender relations in academia and discusses how gender is constructed within academic institutions. It is based upon the study of a business school, part of a British university. The construction of gender relations within this institution was of special interest because the majority of managerial roles were occupied by women. All female academic managers (dean, associate deans and heads of department) and a random selection of female and male academics were interviewed. The process of construction of gender relations is investigated through the analysis of the discrepancy between the ‘masculine culture’ of high education institutions and the dominance of women managers within this organization. It is suggested that the numerical dominance of women managers may create tensions between their individual identities as women and their managerial identities, due to the predominance of masculine practices and values within the organization. Additionally, it emerged that the maintenance of masculine ideals and practices is also associated with downplaying women’s achievements.