What does a transdiagnostic approach have to offer the treatment of anxiety disorders?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the rationale for 'transdiagnostic' approaches to the understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders. Methods: Databases searches and examination of the reference lists of relevant studies were used to identify papers of relevance. Results: There is increasing recognition that diagnosis-specific interventions for single anxiety-disorders are of less value than might appear since a large proportion of patients have more than one co-existing anxiety disorder and the treatment of one anxiety disorder does not necessarily lead to the resolution of others. As transdiagnostic approaches have the potential to address multiple co-existing anxiety disorders they are potentially more clinically relevant than single anxiety disorder interventions. They may also have advantages in ease of dissemination and in treating anxiety disorder not otherwise specified. Conclusions: The merits of the various transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral approaches that have been proposed are reviewed. Such approaches have potential benefits, particularly in striking the balance between completely idiosyncratic formulations and diagnosis-driven treatments of anxiety disorders. However, caution is needed to ensure that transdiagnostic theories and treatments benefit from progress made by research on diagnosis-specific treatments, and further empirical work is needed to identify the shared maintaining processes that need to be targeted in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Quality of tender documents: case studies from the UK

Tendering is one of the stages in construction procurement that requires extensive information and documents exchange. However, tender documents are not always clear in practice. The aim of this study was to ascertain the clarity and adequacy of tender documents used in practice. Access was negotiated into two UK construction firms and the whole tender process for two projects was shadowed for 6-7 weeks in each firm using an ethnographic approach. A significant amount of tender queries, amendments and addenda were recorded. This showed that quality of tender documentation is still a problem in construction despite the existence of standards like Co-ordinated Project Information (1987) and British Standard 1192 (1984 and 1990) that are meant to help in producing clear and consistent project information. Poor quality tender documents are a source of inaccurate estimates, claims and disputes on contracts. Six recommendations are presented to help in improving the quality of tender documentation. Further research is needed into the recommendations to help improve the quality of tender documents, perhaps in conjunction with an industry-wide investigation into the level of incorporation of CPI principles in practice.

Risk accountability in the tender process of contractors in Ghana and UK

The process of how contractors take account of risk when calculating their bids for construction work is investigated based on preliminary investigations and case studies in Ghana and UK. Ghana and UK were chosen, more or less arbitrarily, for the purpose of case studies, and to test the idea that there are systematic differences between the approaches in different places. Clear differences were found in the risk pricing approaches of contractors in the two countries. The difference appeared to emanate from the professional knowledge and competence of the bid team members, company policy, corporate accountability and the business environments in which the contractors operate. Both groups of contractors take account of risk in estimates. However, risk accountability was found to be higher on the agenda in the tender process of UK contractors, documented more systematically, and assessed and managed more rigorously with input from the whole bid team. Risk accountability takes place at three levels of the tender process and is dictated strongly by market forces and company circumstances.

Alternatives to Sedum on green roofs: Can broad leaf perennial plants offer better ‘cooling service’?

Green roof plants alter the microclimate of building roofs and may improve roof insulation. They act by providing cooling by shading, but also through transpiration of water through their stomata. However, leaf surfaces can become warmer when plants close the stomata and decrease water loss in response to drying substrate (typically associated with green roofs during summers), also reducing transpirational cooling. By using a range of contrasting plant types (Sedum mix – an industry green roof ‘standard’, Stachys byzantina, Bergenia cordifolia and Hedera hibernica) we tested the hypothesis that plants differ in their ‘cooling potential’. We firstly examined how leaf morphology influenced leaf temperature and how drying substrate altered that response. Secondly, we investigated the relationship between leaf surface temperatures and the air temperatures immediately above the canopies (i.e. potential to provide aerial cooling). Finally we measured how the plant type influenced the substrate temperature below the canopy (i.e. potential for building cooling). In our experiments Stachys outperformed the other species in terms of leaf surface cooling (even in drying substrate, e.g. 5 oC cooler compared with Sedum), substrate cooling beneath its canopy (up to 12 oC) and even - during short intervals over hottest still periods - the air above the canopy (up to 1 oC, when soil moisture was not limited). We suggest that the choice of plant species on green roofs should not be entirely dictated by what survives on the shallow substrates of extensive systems, but consideration should be given to supporting those species providing the greatest eco-system service potential.

Do smart grids offer a new incentive for SME carbon reduction?

Collectively small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are significant energy users although many are unregulated by existing policies due to their low carbon emissions. Carbon reduction is often not a priority but smart grids may create a new opportunity. A smart grid will give electricity suppliers a picture of real-time energy flows and the opportunity for consumers to receive financial incentives for engaging in demand side management. As well as creating incentives for local carbon reduction, engaging SMEs with smart grids has potential for contributing to wider grid decarbonisation. Modelling of buildings, business activities and technology solutions is needed to identify opportunities for carbon reduction. The diversity of the SME sector complicates strategy development. SMEs are active in almost every business area and occupy the full range of property types. This paper reviews previous modelling work, exposing valuable data on floor space and energy consumption associated with different business activities. Limitations are seen with the age of this data and an inability to distinguish SME energy use. By modelling SME energy use, electrical loads are identified which could be shifted on demand, in a smart network. Initial analysis of consumption, not constrained by existing policies, identifies heating and cooling in retail and commercial offices as having potential for demand response. Hot water in hotel and catering and retail sectors may also be significant because of the energy storage potential. Areas to consider for energy efficiency schemes are also indicated.

Barn som offer och aktörer

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

The role of brand orientation in explaining retail offer advantage

We provide a conceptualisation and operationalisation of brand orientation within the context of retailing. We then empirically test this operationalisation in terms of a retail offer advantage across the dimensions of merchandise, trading format, customer service and customer communication. Our results suggest that the degree to which a retailer values brands and its practices are oriented towards building brand capabilities provides a valuable theoretical framework to explain variations in retailers' advantage over their competitors.

Explaining retail offer adaptation through psychic distance

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine empirically the relationship between psychic distance and adaptation of the retail offer across a range of countries.

Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected using a mail survey of randomly selected non-food retailers that operated stores in at least three foreign countries.

Findings – Findings of this study suggest that a substantial proportion of retail offer adaptation is explained by psychic distance. In particular, differences in market structure, business practices and language between the home and foreign market significantly increase the extent to which retailers adapt their offer.

Research limitations/implications – The research findings may be limited in terms of their generalisability across retail sectors, as the study focused on non-food retailers only.

Practical implications – These results have implications for researchers and managers in suggesting that we need to go beyond consumer behaviour differences to explain fully the degree to which international firms standardise or adapt their strategies in foreign markets.

Originality/value – Much of the existing research into standardisation and adaptation is limited in terms of geographic scope and a focus on the marketing strategies of manufacturing and export firms. Thus, this paper addresses a substantial gap in existing research by empirically examining the relationship between psychic distance and adaptation in a retail context and across a range of countries.

Evidence-based public health: what does it offer developing countries?

The global burden of disease and illness is primarily situated in developing countries. As developing countries have limited resources, it is particularly important to invest in public health and health promotion strategies that are effective. Systematic reviews are central to evidence-based public health and health promotion practice and policy. This paper discusses issues surrounding the relevance of evidence-based public health and systematic reviews to the health of developing countries. It argues that there is a lack of systematic reviews relevant to the health priorities of developing countries; many interventions reviewed can not be implemented in resource-poor situations; and, a limited amount of primary research is conducted in developing countries. The paper further argues that improvements in public health are determined not only by effective health services and interventions, but through an approach that includes other sectors and influences broader structural and systematic barriers to health. Given the social complexity of human development, and the inter-sections amongst different development goals, there is no question that gains in developing country public health are unlikely to emerge from systematic reviews alone, but will require decisions about inter-sectoral collaboration and social policy initiatives. Nonetheless, evidence around intervention effectiveness has an important role to play in addressing health priorities in developing countries and resource-poor areas. The public health evidence base urgently needs strengthening, with dedicated effort towards increasing the relevance of primary evidence and systematic reviews.

Factors affecting the offer of pulmonary rehabilitation to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by primary care professionals : a qualitative study

Aim: To explore health professionals’ experiences of barriers and facilitators to referring patients for pulmonary rehabilitation in a primary care setting.

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation involves a multidisciplinary teamwork approach to improving
the quality of life for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study aimed to find out about health care professionals’ experiences when referring patients. Reports suggest that a health care professional’s attitude towards a treatment affects the willingness of patients to accept advice.

Methods: Five focus group interviews were undertaken with 21 health professionals from North Midlands, UK. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis drawing on the techniques of grounded theory.

Findings: Chronic disease management has been delegated to Practice Nurses in many cases leaving some nurses feeling unsupported and some General Practitioners feeling deskilled. Problems with communication, a lack of adequate and timely local service provision, a difficult referral process, time pressures and lack of information were barriers to health care professionals making an offer of pulmonary rehabilitation. An explanatory model is proposed to describe how addressing barriers to referral may improve health care professionals views about pulmonary rehabilitation and therefore may mean that they present it in a more positive manner.

Sindbis virus vectors elicit hemagglutinin-specific humoral and cellular immune responses and offer a dose-sparing strategy for vaccination

We report here on the use of a Sindbis virus-based DNA-launch RNA replicon vector (pSIN-HA) that expresses influenza hemagglutinin (HA) as an immunogen. Immunization of mice with pSIN-HA generated anti-HA antibody and CTL responses and resulted in lower lung viral titers after influenza challenge when compared to controls. Importantly, immunization with a low dose of pSIN-HA mediated significantly reduced lung viral titers following challenge at 43 weeks after the final immunization. In contrast, immunization with a non-replicon DNA vector expressing HA failed to mediate reduced lung viral titer at the same dose. This demonstrated the dose-sparing capacity of the SIN vector system and its ability to stimulate long-term memory responses, properties that are highly desirable in any vaccine formulation.

Asset-selling problem with an uncertain deadline, quitting offer, and search skipping option

This paper presents a discrete-time sequential stochastic asset-selling problem with an infinite planning horizon, where the process of selling the asset may reach a deadline at any point in time with a probability. It is assumed that a quitting offer is available at every point in time and search skipping is permitted. Thus, decisions must be made as to whether or not to accept the quitting offer, to accept an appearing buyer’s offer, and to conduct a search for a buyer. The main purpose of this paper is to clarify the properties of the optimal decision rules in relation to the model’s parameters.

An Arakawa and Gins experimental teaching space - a feasibility study

Many researchers and practitioners currently teaching at Universities use the works of Arakawa and Gins within their courses and some go as far as structuring entire courses on their work. This indcates the value of Arakawa and Gins’ insight which offers many opportunities to intensify the relationship of theory to practice, disciplinary inquiry to knowledge and art to life. Having spent time in each of Arakawa and Gins’ built works, I have experienced and evaluated the benefits of constructing relationships among bodily movement, tactically posed surrounds and the discursive sequences that best constrain them. Based on my experience, I advocate going beyond the study of finished products towards the practice of coordinating history, community, person and body that occurs when inventing and assembling architectural procedures. This paper will outline my efforts over the last eighteen months to produce a feasibility study for building an experimental teaching space at my University (Griffith University, Australia). The experimental teaching space that I am proposing would commission and enact the architectural procedures of Arakawa and Gins in a constantly changing built (in-the-process-of-being-built) environment, where the guided construction of the teaching space is the curriculum. This approach would offer an alternative to the design trend in teaching and learning environments toward technologically driven smart spaces. An experimental space based on “perceptual learning”, “sited awareness” and “daily reserach” would address the disconnection between current research from the life sciences, developmental psychology, rehabilitation science and blended learning—and the enrivonments in which learning occurs. My discussions will address two issues: the link between pedagogical concerns of advanced study with the production of commual space (organism-person-surrounds) and how these goals can be implemented within the institutional planning processes while adhering to new federal funding guidelines, new performance indicatiors, and public tender guidelines. Throughout my paper, I argue that an experimental teaching space would accentuate multidisciplinarity and offer budding teachers, life scientists, sociologists, historians, and artists the enactive tools by which to affect change and provide grounded cultural leadership.